搜索结果: 'gmp t cell activator'

By assessing the contribution of deregulated E2F activity to erythroid defects in Rb null mice,we have identified E2f-2 as being upregulated in end-stage red cells,where we show it is the major pRb-associated E2f and the predominant E2f detected at key target gene promoters. Consistent with its expression pattern,E2f-2 loss restored terminal erythroid maturation to Rb null red cells,including the ability to undergo enucleation. Deletion of E2f-2 also extended the life span of Rb null mice despite persistent defects in placental development,indicating that deregulated E2f-2 activity in differentiating erythroblasts contributes to the premature lethality of Rb null mice. We show that the aberrant entry of Rb null erythroblasts into S phase at times in differentiation when wild-type erythroblasts are exiting the cell cycle is inhibited by E2f-2 deletion. E2f-2 loss induced cell cycle arrest in both wild-type and Rb null erythroblasts and was associated with increased DNA double-strand breaks. These results implicate deregulated E2f-2 in the cell cycle defects observed in Rb null erythroblasts and reveal a novel role for E2f-2 during terminal red blood cell differentiation. The identification of a tissue-restricted role for E2f-2 in erythropoiesis highlights the nonredundant nature of E2f transcription factor activities in cell growth and differentiation. View Publication

Under standard culture conditions,tumor cells are exposed to 20% O(2),whereas the mean tumor oxygen levels within the tumor are much lower. We demonstrate,using low-passaged human tumor cell cultures established from glioma,that a reduction in the oxygen level in these cell cultures dramatically increases the percentage of CD133 expressing cells. View Publication

Mature mammary epithelial cells are generated from undifferentiated precursors through a hierarchical process,but the molecular mechanisms involved,particularly in the human mammary gland,are poorly understood. To address this issue,we isolated highly purified subpopulations of primitive bipotent and committed luminal progenitor cells as well as mature luminal and myoepithelial cells from normal human mammary tissue and compared their transcriptomes obtained using three different methods. Elements unique to each subset of mammary cells were identified,and changes that accompany their differentiation in vivo were shown to be recapitulated in vitro. These include a stage-specific change in NOTCH pathway gene expression during the commitment of bipotent progenitors to the luminal lineage. Functional studies further showed NOTCH3 signaling to be critical for this differentiation event to occur in vitro. Taken together,these findings provide an initial foundation for future delineation of mechanisms that perturb primitive human mammary cell growth and differentiation. View Publication

Endogenous neural stem/precursor cells (NPCs) are considered a functional reservoir for promoting tissue homeostasis and repair after injury,therefore regenerative strategies that mobilize these cells have recently been proposed. Despite evidence of increased neurogenesis upon acute inflammatory insults (e.g. ischaemic stroke),the plasticity of the endogenous brain stem cell compartment in chronic CNS inflammatory disorders remains poorly characterized. Here we show that persistent brain inflammation,induced by immune cells targeting myelin,extensively alters the proliferative and migratory properties of subventricular zone (SVZ)-resident NPCs in vivo leading to significant accumulation of non-migratory neuroblasts within the SVZ germinal niche. In parallel,we demonstrate a quantitative reduction of the putative brain stem cells proliferation in the SVZ during persistent brain inflammation,which is completely reversed after in vitro culture of the isolated NPCs. Together,these data indicate that the inflamed brain microenvironment sustains a non cell-autonomous dysfunction of the endogenous CNS stem cell compartment and challenge the potential efficacy of proposed therapies aimed at mobilizing endogenous precursors in chronic inflammatory brain disorders. View Publication

Human skin-migratory dendritic cells (DCs) have the ability to prime and bias Th1 and Th2 CD4+ T lymphocytes. However,whether human cutaneous DCs are capable of initiating proinflammatory Th17 responses remains undetermined. We report that skin-migratory DCs stimulate allogeneic naive CD4+ T cells that differentiate simultaneously into two distinct effector Th17 and Th1 populations capable of homing to the skin,where they induce severe cutaneous damage. Skin-migratory Langerhans cells (smiLCs) were the main cutaneous DC subset capable of inducing Th17 responses dependent on the combined effects of IL-15 and stabilized IL-6,which resulted in IL-6 trans-signaling of naive CD4+ T cells. Different from smiLCs,purified skin-migratory dermal DCs did not synthesize IL-15 and were unable to bias Th17 responses. Nevertheless,these dermal DCs were capable of differentiating Th17 cells in mixed leukocyte cultures supplemented with IL-15 and stabilized IL-6. Overall,our data demonstrate that human epidermal smiLCs induce Th17 responses by mechanisms different from those previously described and highlight the need to target clinical treatments based on these variations. View Publication

The molecular mechanisms governing breast tumor cellular self-renewal contribute to breast cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. The ErbB2 oncogene is overexpressed in approximately 30% of human breast cancers. c-Jun,the first cellular proto-oncogene,is overexpressed in human breast cancer. However,the role of endogenous c-Jun in mammary tumor progression is unknown. Herein,transgenic mice expressing the mammary gland-targeted ErbB2 oncogene were crossed with c-jun(f/f) transgenic mice to determine the role of endogenous c-Jun in mammary tumor invasion and stem cell function. The excision of c-jun by Cre recombinase reduced cellular migration,invasion,and mammosphere formation of ErbB2-induced mammary tumors. Proteomic analysis identified a subset of secreted proteins (stem cell factor (SCF) and CCL5) induced by ErbB2 expression that were dependent upon endogenous c-Jun expression. SCF and CCL5 were identified as transcriptionally induced by c-Jun. CCL5 rescued the c-Jun-deficient breast tumor cellular invasion phenotype. SCF rescued the c-Jun-deficient mammosphere production. Endogenous c-Jun thus contributes to ErbB2-induced mammary tumor cell invasion and self-renewal. View Publication

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive primary brain tumor and is resistant to all therapeutic regimens. Relapse occurs regularly and might be caused by a poorly characterized tumor stem cell (TSC) subpopulation escaping therapy. We suggest aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) as a novel stem cell marker in human GBM. Using the neurosphere formation assay as a functional method to identify brain TSCs,we show that high protein levels of ALDH1 facilitate neurosphere formation in established GBM cell lines. Even single ALDH1 positive cells give rise to colonies and neurospheres. Consequently,the inhibition of ALDH1 in vitro decreases both the number of neurospheres and their size. Cell lines without expression of ALDH1 do not form tumor spheroids under the same culturing conditions. High levels of ALDH1 seem to keep tumor cells in an undifferentiated,stem cell-like state indicated by the low expression of beta-III-tubulin. In contrast,ALDH1 inhibition induces premature cellular differentiation and reduces clonogenic capacity. Primary cell cultures obtained from fresh tumor samples approve the established GBM cell line results. View Publication

Consistent and robust manufacturing is essential for the translation of cell therapies,and the utilisation automation throughout the manufacturing process may allow for improvements in quality control,scalability,reproducibility and economics of the process. The aim of this study was to measure and establish the comparability between alternative process steps for the culture of hiPSCs. Consequently,the effects of manual centrifugation and automated non-centrifugation process steps,performed using TAP Biosystems' CompacT SelecT automated cell culture platform,upon the culture of a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line (VAX001024c07) were compared. This study,has demonstrated that comparable morphologies and cell diameters were observed in hiPSCs cultured using either manual or automated process steps. However,non-centrifugation hiPSC populations exhibited greater cell yields,greater aggregate rates,increased pluripotency marker expression,and decreased differentiation marker expression compared to centrifugation hiPSCs. A trend for decreased variability in cell yield was also observed after the utilisation of the automated process step. This study also highlights the detrimental effect of the cryopreservation and thawing processes upon the growth and characteristics of hiPSC cultures,and demonstrates that automated hiPSC manufacturing protocols can be successfully transferred between independent laboratories. View Publication

Human amniotic membrane is a standard substratum used to culture limbal epithelial stem cells for transplantation to patients with limbal stem cell deficiency. Various methods were developed to decellularize amniotic membrane,because denuded membrane is poorly immunogenic and better supports repopulation by dissociated limbal epithelial cells. Amniotic membrane denuding usually involves treatment with EDTA and/or proteolytic enzymes; in many cases additional mechanical scraping is required. Although ensuring limbal cell proliferation,these methods are not standardized,require relatively long treatment times and can result in membrane damage. We propose to use 0.5 M NaOH to reliably remove amniotic cells from the membrane. This method was used before to lyse cells for DNA isolation and radioactivity counting. Gently rubbing a cotton swab soaked in NaOH over the epithelial side of amniotic membrane leads to nearly complete and easy removal of adherent cells in less than a minute. The denuded membrane is subsequently washed in a neutral buffer. Cell removal was more thorough and uniform than with EDTA,or EDTA plus mechanical scraping with an electric toothbrush,or n-heptanol plus EDTA treatment. NaOH-denuded amniotic membrane did not show any perforations compared with mechanical or thermolysin denuding,and showed excellent preservation of immunoreactivity for major basement membrane components including laminin α2,γ1-γ3 chains,α1/α2 and α6 type IV collagen chains,fibronectin,nidogen-2,and perlecan. Sodium hydroxide treatment was efficient with fresh or cryopreserved (10% dimethyl sulfoxide or 50% glycerol) amniotic membrane. The latter method is a common way of membrane storage for subsequent grafting in the European Union. NaOH-denuded amniotic membrane supported growth of human limbal epithelial cells,immortalized corneal epithelial cells,and induced pluripotent stem cells. This simple,fast and reliable method can be used to standardize decellularized amniotic membrane preparations for expansion of limbal stem cells in vitro before transplantation to patients. View Publication

Increasing evidence supports the importance of cell extrinsic regulation in stem cell fate control. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are responsive to local signals from their niche and to systemic feedback from progenitors and mature cells. The Notch ligand Delta-1 (DL1),a key component of the stem cell niche,regulates human hematopoietic lineage development in a dose-dependent manner and has been used clinically for primitive progenitor expansion. How DL1 acts to regulate HSC fate and whether these actions are related to its lineage skewing effects are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that,although DL1 activates signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling similarly to the gp130-activating cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6),it has opposite effects on myeloid cell production. Mechanistically,these different outcomes are attributable to a DL1-mediated reduction in membrane (m)-bound IL-6 receptor (R) expression,converting progenitor cells from being directly IL-6 responsive to requiring both IL-6 and soluble (s) IL-6R for activation. Concomitant reduction of both mIL-6R (by DL1 supplementation) and sIL-6R (using dynamically fed cultures) reduced myeloid cell production and led to enhanced outputs of human HSCs. This work describes a new mode of cytokine action in which DL1 changes cytokine receptor distributions on hematopoietic cells,altering feedback networks and their impact on stem cell fate. View Publication

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold great promise for regenerative medicine and biopharmaceutical applications. Currently,optimal culture and efficient expansion of large amounts of clinical-grade hPSCs are critical issues in hPSC-based therapies. Conventionally,hPSCs are propagated as colonies on both feeder and feeder-free culture systems. However,these methods have several major limitations,including low cell yields and generation of heterogeneously differentiated cells. To improve current hPSC culture methods,we have recently developed a new method,which is based on non-colony type monolayer (NCM) culture of dissociated single cells. Here,we present detailed NCM protocols based on the Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632. We also provide new information regarding NCM culture with different small molecules such as Y-39983 (ROCK I inhibitor),phenylbenzodioxane (ROCK II inhibitor),and thiazovivin (a novel ROCK inhibitor). We further extend our basic protocol to cultivate hPSCs on defined extracellular proteins such as the laminin isoform 521 (LN-521) without the use of ROCK inhibitors. Moreover,based on NCM,we have demonstrated efficient transfection or transduction of plasmid DNAs,lentiviral particles,and oligonucleotide-based microRNAs into hPSCs in order to genetically modify these cells for molecular analyses and drug discovery. The NCM-based methods overcome the major shortcomings of colony-type culture,and thus may be suitable for producing large amounts of homogeneous hPSCs for future clinical therapies,stem cell research,and drug discovery. View Publication

The intestinal mucosa undergoes a continual process of proliferation,differentiation and apoptosis,which is regulated by multiple signaling pathways. Notch signaling is critical for the control of intestinal stem cell maintenance and differentiation. However,the precise mechanisms involved in the regulation of differentiation are not fully understood. Previously,we have shown that tuberous sclerosis 2 (TSC2) positively regulates the expression of the goblet cell differentiation marker,MUC2,in intestinal cells. Using transgenic mice constitutively expressing a dominant negative TSC2 allele,we observed that TSC2 inactivation increased mTORC1 and Notch activities,and altered differentiation throughout the intestinal epithelium,with a marked decrease in the goblet and Paneth cell lineages. Conversely,treatment of mice with either Notch inhibitor dibenzazepine (DBZ) or mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin significantly attenuated the reduction of goblet and Paneth cells. Accordingly,knockdown of TSC2 activated,whereas knockdown of mTOR or treatment with rapamycin decreased,the activity of Notch signaling in the intestinal cell line LS174T. Importantly,our findings demonstrate that TSC2/mTORC1 signaling contributes to the maintenance of intestinal epithelium homeostasis by regulating Notch activity. View Publication