搜索结果: 'methocult media formulations for human hematopoietic cells serum containing'

BACKGROUND The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Notch signaling pathways have been implicated in self-renewal of normal breast stem cells. We investigated the involvement of these signaling pathways in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. METHODS Samples of normal breast tissue (n = 15),pure DCIS tissue of varying grades (n = 35),and DCIS tissue surrounding an invasive cancer (n = 7) were used for nonadherent (i.e.,mammosphere) culture. Mammosphere cultures were treated at day 0 with gefitinib (an EGFR inhibitor),DAPT (N-[N-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl-L-alanyl)]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester) (a gamma-secretase inhibitor),or Notch 4-neutralizing antibody. Mammosphere-forming efficiency (MFE) was calculated by dividing the number of mammospheres of 60 microm or more formed by the number of single cells seeded and is expressed as a percentage. The Notch 1 intracellular domain (NICD) was detected immunohistochemically in paraffin-embedded DCIS tissue from 50 patients with at least 60 months of follow-up. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS DCIS had a greater MFE than normal breast tissue (1.5% versus 0.5%,difference = 1%,95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62% to 1.25%,Ptextless.001). High-grade DCIS had a greater MFE than low-grade DCIS (1.6% versus 1.09%,difference = 0.51%,95% CI = 0.07% to 0.94%,P = .01). The MFE of high-grade DCIS treated with gefitinib in the absence of exogenous EGF was lower than that of high-grade DCIS treated with mammosphere medium lacking gefitinib and exogenous EGF (0.56% versus 1.36%,difference 0.8%,95% CI = 0.33% to 1.4%,P = .004). Increased Notch signaling as detected by NICD staining was associated with recurrence at 5 years (P = .012). DCIS MFE was reduced when Notch signaling was inhibited using either DAPT (0.89% versus 0.51%,difference = 0.38%,95% CI = 0.2% to 0.6%,Ptextless.001) or a Notch 4-neutralizing antibody (0.97% versus 0.2%,difference = 0.77%,95% CI = 0.52% to 1.0%,Ptextless.001). CONCLUSION We describe a novel primary culture technique for DCIS. Inhibition of the EGFR or Notch signaling pathways reduced DCIS MFE. View Publication

The bioorthogonal keto group has attracted interest for the site-specific chemical conjugation of recombinant proteins under mild conditions,e.g. with aminooxy-functionalised fluorescent probes,radiometal chelates,toxins or polymers. However,the cotranslational incorporation of the corresponding non-canonical amino acid p-acetyl-L-phenylalanine (Apa) into proteins expressed in Escherichia coli by means of amber suppression using a previously described system with a mutated tRNA and an engineered tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase from Methanococcus jannaschii shows limited efficiency and considerable promiscuity towards endogenous amino acids. Employing a one-plasmid system that encodes all three components required for selection,i.e. the modified aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS),the cognate amber suppressor tRNA and the enhanced green fluorescent protein equipped with an amber stop codon and serving as reporter,we have generated an Apa-specific aaRS&tRNA pair with considerably improved efficiency (17-fold increased expression) and also fidelity (6-fold). To this end,both the aaRS and the tRNA were subjected to doped random mutagenesis and selection in altogether four evolutionary cycles using fluorescence-activated bacterial cell sorting as well as automated screening of microcultures. The resulting aaRS&tRNA pair was applied to the functionalisation of an Anticalin with specificity towards oncofetal fibronectin by introducing a keto group at a permissible site for subsequent conjugation with a fluorescent dye,thus allowing visualisation of this tumour target under the microscope. View Publication

Sphingolipids,particularly gangliosides,are enriched in neuronal membranes where they have been implicated as mediators of various regulatory events. We recently provided evidence that sphingolipid synthesis is necessary to maintain neuronal growth by demonstrating that in hippocampal neurons,inhibition of ceramide synthesis by Fumonisin B1 (FB1) disrupted axonal outgrowth (Harel,R. and Futerman,A. H. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268,14476-14481). We now analyze further the relationship between neuronal growth and sphingolipid metabolism by examining the effect of an inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthesis,D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1- propanol (PDMP) and by examining the effects of both FB1 and PDMP at various stages of neuronal development. No effects of FB1 or PDMP were observed during the first 2 days in culture,but by day 3 axonal morphology was significantly altered,irrespective of the time of addition of the inhibitors to the cultures. Cells incubated with FB1 or PDMP had a shorter axon plexus and less axonal branches. FB1 appeared to cause a retraction of axonal branches between days 2 and 3,although long term incubation had no apparent effect on neuronal morphology or on the segregation of axonal or dendritic proteins. In contrast,incubation of neurons with conduritol B-epoxide,an inhibitor of glucosylceramide degradation,caused an increase in the number of axonal branches and a corresponding increase in the length of the axon plexus. A direct correlation was observed between the number of axonal branch points per cell and the extent of inhibition of either sphingolipid synthesis or degradation. These results suggest that sphingolipids play an important role in the formation or stabilization of axonal branches. View Publication

An in vivo transplantation system has been used to evaluate the developmental capacities of specific mouse mammary epithelial cell populations. Specifically,mouse mammary epithelial cells with distinctly limited developmental potentials have been identified using this procedure. Two distinct epithelial cell progenitors have been identified by experiments designed to determine whether basal lobular and ductal phenotypes could develop independently under conditions imposed by a limiting dilution. The prediction that these separate epithelial progenitors must exist was based upon the results from transplantation experiments carried out in epithelium-divested mammary fat pads of syngeneic mice with mammary epithelium from two different transgenic mouse models. The results presented here demonstrate the following points: 1) lobular,i.e. secretory,progenitor cells are present as distinct entities among the mammary epithelial cells found in immature virgin female mice; 2) similarly,ductal epithelial progenitors are present within the same population; 3) lobular progenitors are present in greater numbers,although both cell populations are extremely small; 4) as expected,some inocula produce outgrowths with simultaneous development of both lobular and ductal phenotypes--it is not known whether this indicates cooperative interaction between the two epithelial progenitors or signals the presence of a third progenitor type capable of producing both ductular and lobular committed daughters; 5) these findings have important consequences in the design of experiments aimed at testing the effects of known and putative mammary oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes,using techniques which include cellular transformation in vitro followed by in vivo cultivation and evaluation. View Publication

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor achaete-scute complex homologue 1 (ASCL1) is essential for the development of normal lung neuroendocrine cells as well as other endocrine and neural tissues. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-SCLC with neuroendocrine features express ASCL1,where the factor may play a role in the virulence and primitive neuroendocrine phenotype of these tumors. In this study,RNA interference knockdown of ASCL1 in cultured SCLC resulted in inhibition of soft agar clonogenic capacity and induction of apoptosis. cDNA microarray analyses bolstered by expression studies,flow cytometry,and chromatin immunoprecipitation identified two candidate stem cell marker genes,CD133 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1),to be directly regulated by ASCL1 in SCLC. In SCLC direct xenograft tumors,we detected a relatively abundant CD133(high)-ASCL1(high)-ALDH1(high) subpopulation with markedly enhanced tumorigenicity compared with cells with weak CD133 expression. Tumorigenicity in the CD133(high) subpopulation depended on continued ASCL1 expression. Whereas CD133(high) cells readily reconstituted the range of CD133 expression seen in the original xenograft tumor,CD133(low) cells could not. Our findings suggest that a broad range of SCLC cells has tumorigenic capacity rather than a small discrete population. Intrinsic tumor cell heterogeneity,including variation in key regulatory factors such as ASCL1,can modulate tumorigenicity in SCLC. View Publication

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase that is overexpressed in many types of tumors,including pancreatic cancer,and plays an important role in cell adhesion and survival signaling. Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease and is very resistant to chemotherapy,and FAK has been shown recently to assist in tumor cell survival. Therefore,FAK is an excellent potential target for anti-cancer therapy. We identified a novel small molecule inhibitor (1,2,4,5-Benzenetetraamine tetrahydrochloride,that we called Y15) targeting the main autophosphorylation site of FAK and hypothesized that it would be an effective treatment strategy against human pancreatic cancer. Y15 specifically blocked phosphorylation of Y397-FAK and total phosphorylation of FAK. It directly inhibited FAK autophosphorylation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore,Y15 increased pancreatic cancer cell detachment and inhibited cell adhesion in a dose-dependent manner. Y15 effectively caused human pancreatic tumor regression in vivo,when administered alone and its effects were synergistic with gemcitabine chemotherapy. This was accompanied by a decrease in Y397-phosphorylation of FAK in the tumors treated with Y15. Thus,targeting the Y397 site of FAK in pancreatic cancer with the small molecule inhibitor,1,2,4,5-Benzenetetraamine tetrahydrochloride,is a potentially effective treatment strategy in this deadly disease. View Publication

Gfi-1B is a transcriptional repressor that is crucial for erythroid differentiation: inactivation of the GFI1B gene in mice leads to embryonic death due to failure to produce differentiated red cells. Accordingly,GFI1B expression is tightly regulated during erythropoiesis,but the mechanisms involved in such regulation remain partially understood. We here identify HMGB2,a high-mobility group HMG protein,as a key regulator of GFI1B transcription. HMGB2 binds to the GFI1B promoter in vivo and up-regulates its trans-activation most likely by enhancing the binding of Oct-1 and,to a lesser extent,of GATA-1 and NF-Y to the GFI1B promoter. HMGB2 expression increases during erythroid differentiation concomitantly to the increase of GfI1B transcription. Importantly,knockdown of HMGB2 in immature hematopoietic progenitor cells leads to decreased Gfi-1B expression and impairs their erythroid differentiation. We propose that HMGB2 potentiates GATA-1-dependent transcription of GFI1B by Oct-1 and thereby controls erythroid differentiation. View Publication

Molecular mimicry between microbial and self-components is postulated as the mechanism that accounts for the antigen and tissue specificity of immune responses in postinfectious autoimmune diseases. Little direct evidence exists,and research in this area has focused principally on T cell-mediated,antipeptide responses,rather than on humoral responses to carbohydrate structures. Guillain-Barré syndrome,the most frequent cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis,occurs 1-2 wk after various infections,in particular,Campylobacter jejuni enteritis. Carbohydrate mimicry [Galbeta1-3GalNAcbeta1-4(NeuAcalpha2-3)Galbeta1-] between the bacterial lipooligosaccharide and human GM1 ganglioside is seen as having relevance to the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome,and conclusive evidence is reported here. On sensitization with C. jejuni lipooligosaccharide,rabbits developed anti-GM1 IgG antibody and flaccid limb weakness. Paralyzed rabbits had pathological changes in their peripheral nerves identical with those present in Guillain-Barré syndrome. Immunization of mice with the lipooligosaccharide generated a mAb that reacted with GM1 and bound to human peripheral nerves. The mAb and anti-GM1 IgG from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome did not induce paralysis but blocked muscle action potentials in a muscle-spinal cord coculture,indicating that anti-GM1 antibody can cause muscle weakness. These findings show that carbohydrate mimicry is an important cause of autoimmune neuropathy. View Publication

Staphylococcus aureus is both an important pathogen and a human commensal. To explore this ambivalent relationship between host and microbe,we analysed the memory humoral response against IsdB,a protein involved in iron acquisition,in four healthy donors. Here we show that in all donors a heavily biased use of two immunoglobulin heavy chain germlines generated high affinity (pM) antibodies that neutralize the two IsdB NEAT domains,IGHV4-39 for NEAT1 and IGHV1-69 for NEAT2. In contrast to the typical antibody/antigen interactions,the binding is primarily driven by the germline-encoded hydrophobic CDRH-2 motifs of IGHV1-69 and IGHV4-39,with a binding mechanism nearly identical for each antibody derived from different donors. Our results suggest that IGHV1-69 and IGHV4-39,while part of the adaptive immune system,may have evolved under selection pressure to encode a binding motif innately capable of recognizing and neutralizing a structurally conserved protein domain involved in pathogen iron acquisition. View Publication

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE),a cell monolayer essential for photoreceptor survival,and is the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly. There are no disease-altering therapies for dry AMD,which is characterized by accumulation of subretinal drusen deposits and complement-driven inflammation. We report the derivation of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from patients with diagnosed AMD,including two donors with the rare ARMS2/HTRA1 homozygous genotype. The hiPSC-derived RPE cells produce several AMD/drusen-related proteins,and those from the AMD donors show significantly increased complement and inflammatory factors,which are most exaggerated in the ARMS2/HTRA1 lines. Using a panel of AMD biomarkers and candidate drug screening,combined with transcriptome analysis,we discover that nicotinamide (NAM) ameliorated disease-related phenotypes by inhibiting drusen proteins and inflammatory and complement factors while upregulating nucleosome,ribosome,and chromatin-modifying genes. Thus,targeting NAM-regulated pathways is a promising avenue for developing therapeutics to combat AMD. View Publication