技术资料

The identification and targeted therapy of cells involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence remain challenging. Here,we generated a monoclonal antibody against recurrent HCC,1B50-1,that bound the isoform 5 of the α2δ1 subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels and identified a subset of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) with stem cell-like properties. A surgical margin with cells detected by 1B50-1 predicted rapid recurrence. Furthermore,1B50-1 had a therapeutic effect on HCC engraftments by eliminating TICs. Finally,α2δ1 knockdown reduced self-renewal and tumor formation capacities and induced apoptosis of TICs,whereas its overexpression led to enhanced sphere formation,which is regulated by calcium influx. Thus,α2δ1 is a functional liver TIC marker,and its inhibitors may serve as potential anti-HCC drugs. View Publication

Raman spectra often contain undesirable,randomly positioned,intense,narrow-bandwidth,positive,unidirectional spectral features generated when cosmic rays strike charge-coupled device cameras. These must be removed prior to analysis,but doing so manually is not feasible for large data sets. We developed a quick,simple,effective,semi-automated procedure to remove cosmic ray spikes from spectral data sets that contain large numbers of relatively homogenous spectra. Although some inhomogeneous spectral data sets can be accommodated—it requires replacing excessively modified spectra with the originals and removing their spikes with a median filter instead—caution is advised when processing such data sets. In addition,the technique is suitable for interpolating missing spectra or replacing aberrant spectra with good spectral estimates. The method is applied to baseline-flattened spectra and relies on fitting a third-order (or higher) polynomial through all the spectra at every wavenumber. Pixel intensities in excess of a threshold of 3× the noise standard deviation above the fit are reduced to the threshold level. Because only two parameters (with readily specified default values) might require further adjustment,the method is easily implemented for semi-automated processing of large spectral sets. View Publication

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease,characterized by motor neuron (MN) death,for which there are no truly effective treatments. Here,we describe a new small molecule survival screen carried out using MNs from both wild-type and mutant SOD1 mouse embryonic stem cells. Among the hits we found,kenpaullone had a particularly impressive ability to prolong the healthy survival of both types of MNs that can be attributed to its dual inhibition of GSK-3 and HGK kinases. Furthermore,kenpaullone also strongly improved the survival of human MNs derived from ALS-patient-induced pluripotent stem cells and was more active than either of two compounds,olesoxime and dexpramipexole,that recently failed in ALS clinical trials. Our studies demonstrate the value of a stem cell approach to drug discovery and point to a new paradigm for identification and preclinical testing of future ALS therapeutics. View Publication

BackgroundmicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in the control of many biological processes and their deregulation has been associated with many cancers. In recent years,the cancer stem cell (CSC) concept has been applied to many cancers including pediatric. We hypothesized that a common signature of deregulated miRNAs in the CSCs fraction may explain the disrupted signaling pathways in CSCs.Methodology/ResultsUsing a high throughput qPCR approach we identified 26 CSC associated differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs). Using BCmicrO algorithm 865 potential CSC associated DEmiR targets were obtained. These potential targets were subjected to KEGG,Biocarta and Gene Ontology pathway and biological processes analysis. Four annotated pathways were enriched: cell cycle,cell proliferation,p53 and TGF-beta/BMP. Knocking down hsa-miR-21-5p,hsa-miR-181c-5p and hsa-miR-135b-5p using antisense oligonucleotides and small interfering RNA in cell lines led to the depletion of the CSC fraction and impairment of sphere formation (CSC surrogate assays).ConclusionOur findings indicated that CSC associated DEmiRs and the putative pathways they regulate may have potential therapeutic applications in pediatric cancers. View Publication

Zoledronic acid,a third-generation bisphosphonate,has been shown to reduce cell migration,invasion,and metastasis. However,the effects of zoledronic acid on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT),a cellular process essential to the metastatic cascade,remain unclear. Therefore,the effects of zoledronic acid on EMT,using triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells as a model system,were examined in more detail. Zoledronic acid treatment decreased the expression of mesenchymal markers,N-cadherin,Twist,and Snail,and subsequently upregulated expression of E-cadherin. Zoledronic acid also inhibited cell viability,induced cell-cycle arrest,and decreased the proliferative capacity of TNBC,suggesting that zoledronic acid inhibits viability through reduction of cell proliferation. As EMT has been linked to acquisition of a self-renewal phenotype,the effects of zoledronic acid on self-renewal in TNBC were also studied. Treatment with zoledronic acid decreased expression of self-renewal proteins,BMI-1 and Oct-4,and both prevented and eliminated mammosphere formation. To understand the mechanism of these results,the effect of zoledronic acid on established EMT regulator NF-$$B was investigated. Zoledronic acid inhibited phosphorylation of RelA,the active subunit of NF-$$B,at serine 536 and modulated RelA subcellular localization. Treatment with zoledronic acid reduced RelA binding to the Twist promoter,providing a direct link between inactivation of NF-$$B signaling and loss of EMT transcription factor gene expression. Binding of Twist to the BMI-1 promoter was also decreased,correlating modulation of EMT to decreased self-renewal. On the basis of these results,it is proposed that through inactivation of NF-$$B,zoledronic acid reverses EMT,which leads to a decrease in self-renewal. View Publication

Recently,the use of herbal medicines has been increased all over the world due to their therapeutic effects and fewer adverse effects as compared to the modern medicines. However,many herbal drugs and herbal extracts despite of their impressive in-vitro findings demonstrates less or negligible in-vivo activity due to their poor lipid solubility or improper molecular size,resulting in poor absorption and hence poor bioavailability. Nowadays with the advancement in the technology,novel drug delivery systems open the door towards the development of enhancing bioavailability of herbal drug delivery systems. For last one decade many novel carriers such as liposomes,microspheres,nanoparticles,transferosomes,ethosomes,lipid based systems etc. have been reported for successful modified delivery of various herbal drugs. Many herbal compounds including quercetin,genistein,naringin,sinomenine,piperine,glycyrrhizin and nitrile glycoside have demonstrated capability to enhance the bioavailability. The objective of this review is to summarize various available novel drug delivery technologies which have been developed for delivery of drugs (herbal),and to achieve better therapeutic response. An attempt has also been made to compile a profile on bioavailability enhancers of herbal origin with the mechanism of action (wherever reported) and studies on improvement in drug bioavailability,exhibited particularly by natural compounds. View Publication

AbstractIntroduction
Preeclampsia and other placental pathologies are characterized by a lack of spiral artery remodeling associated with insufficient invasion by extravillous trophoblast cells (EVT). Because trophoblast invasion occurs in early pregnancy when access to human placental tissue is limited,there is a need for model systems for the study of trophoblast differentiation and invasion. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) treated with BMP4- differentiate to trophoblast,and express HLA-G,a marker of EVT. The goals of the present study were to further characterize the HLA-G+ cells derived from BMP4-treated hESC,and determine their suitability as a model.
Methods
HESC were treated with BMP4 under 4% or 20% oxygen and tested in Matrigel invasion chambers. Both BMP4-treated hESC and primary human placental cells were separated into HLA-G+ and HLA-G−/TACSTD2+ populations with immunomagnetic beads and expression profiles analyzed by microarray.
Results
There was a 10-fold increase in invasion when hESC were BMP4-treated. There was also an independent,stimulatory effect of oxygen on this process. Invasive cells expressed trophoblast marker KRT7,and the majority were also HLA-G+. Gene expression profiles revealed that HLA-G+,BMP4-treated hESC were similar to,but distinct from,HLA-G+ cells isolated from first trimester placentas. Whereas HLA-G+ and HLA-G− cells from first trimester placentas had highly divergent gene expression profiles,HLA-G+ and HLA-G− cells from BMP4-treated hESC had somewhat similar profiles,and both expressed genes characteristic of early trophoblast development.
Conclusions
We conclude that hESC treated with BMP4 provide a model for studying transition to the EVT lineage. View Publication

The nucleolus is a prominent subnuclear structure whose major function is the transcription and assembly of ribosome subunits. The size of the nucleolus varies with the cell cycle,proliferation rate and stress. Changes in nucleolar size,number,chemical composition,and shape can be used to characterize malignant cells. We used spontaneous Raman microscopy as a label-free technique to examine nucleolar spatial and chemical features. Raman images of the 1003 cm(-1) phenylalanine band revealed large,well-defined subnuclear protein structures in MFC-7 breast cancer cells. The 783 cm(-1) images showed that nucleic acids were similarly distributed,but varied more in intensity,forming observable high-intensity regions. High subnuclear RNA concentrations were observed within some of these regions as shown by 809 cm(-1) Raman band images. Principal component analyses of sub-images and library spectra validated the subnuclear presence of RNA. They also revealed that an actin-like protein covaried with DNA within the nucleolus,a combination that accounted for 64% or more of the spectral variance. Embryonic stem cells are another rapidly proliferating cell type,but their nucleoli were not as large or well defined. Estimating the size of the larger MCF-7 nucleolus was used to show the utility of Raman microscopy for morphometric analyses. It was concluded that imaging based on Raman microscopy provides a promising new method for the study of nucleolar function and organization,in the evaluation of drug and experimental effects on the nucleolus,and in clinical diagnostics and prognostics. View Publication

Recent clinical studies suggest that adoptive transfer of donor-derived natural killer (NK) cells may improve clinical outcome in hematological malignancies and some solid tumors by direct anti-tumor effects as well as by reduction of graft versus host disease (GVHD). NK cells have also been shown to enhance transplant engraftment during allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for hematological malignancies. The limited ex vivo expansion potential of NK cells from peripheral blood (PB) or umbilical cord blood (UCB) has however restricted their therapeutic potential. Here we define methods to efficiently generate NK cells from donor-matched,full-term human placenta perfusate (termed Human Placenta-Derived Stem Cell,HPDSC) and UCB. Following isolation from cryopreserved donor-matched HPDSC and UCB units,CD56+CD3- placenta-derived NK cells,termed pNK cells,were expanded in culture for up to 3 weeks to yield an average of 1.2 billion cells per donor that were textgreater80% CD56+CD3-,comparable to doses previously utilized in clinical applications. Ex vivo-expanded pNK cells exhibited a marked increase in anti-tumor cytolytic activity coinciding with the significantly increased expression of NKG2D,NKp46,and NKp44 (p textless 0.001,p textless 0.001,and p textless 0.05,respectively). Strong cytolytic activity was observed against a wide range of tumor cell lines in vitro. pNK cells display a distinct microRNA (miRNA) expression profile,immunophenotype,and greater anti-tumor capacity in vitro compared to PB NK cells used in recent clinical trials. With further development,pNK may represent a novel and effective cellular immunotherapy for patients with high clinical needs and few other therapeutic options. View Publication

Reprogramming of somatic cells into patient-specific pluripotent analogues of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) emerges as a prospective therapeutic angle in molecular medicine and a tool for basic stem cell biology. However,the combination of relative inefficiency and high variability of non-defined culture conditions precluded the use of this technique in a clinical setting and impeded comparability between laboratories. To overcome these obstacles,we sequentially devised a reprogramming protocol using one lentiviral-based polycistronic reprogramming construct,optimized for high co-expression of OCT4,SOX2,KLF4 and MYC in conjunction with small molecule inhibitors of non-permissive signaling cascades,such as transforming growth factor $\$(SB431542),MEK/ERK (PD0325901) and Rho-kinase signaling (Thiazovivin),in a defined extracellular environment. Based on human fetal liver fibroblasts we could efficiently derive induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) within 14 days. We attained efficiencies of up to 10.97±1.71% resulting in 79.5- fold increase compared to non-defined reprogramming using four singular vectors. We show that the overall increase of efficiency and temporal kinetics is a combinatorial effect of improved lentiviral vector design,signaling inhibition and definition of extracellular matrix (Matrigel®) and culture medium (mTESR®1). Using this protocol,we could derive iPSCs from patient fibroblasts,which were impermissive to classical reprogramming efforts,and from a patient suffering from familial platelet disorder. Thus,our defined protocol for highly efficient reprogramming to generate patient-specific iPSCs,reflects a big step towards therapeutic and broad scientific application of iPSCs,even in previously unfeasible settings. View Publication

Human pluripotent stem cells are a powerful tool for modeling brain development and disease. The human cortex is composed of two major neuronal populations: projection neurons and local interneurons. Cortical interneurons comprise a diverse class of cell types expressing the neurotransmitter GABA. Dysfunction of cortical interneurons has been implicated in neuropsychiatric diseases,including schizophrenia,autism,and epilepsy. Here,we demonstrate the highly efficient derivation of human cortical interneurons in an NKX2.1::GFP human embryonic stem cell reporter line. Manipulating the timing of SHH activation yields three distinct GFP+ populations with specific transcriptional profiles,neurotransmitter phenotypes,and migratory behaviors. Further differentiation in a murine cortical environment yields parvalbumin- and somatostatin-expressing neurons that exhibit synaptic inputs and electrophysiological properties of cortical interneurons. Our study defines the signals sufficient for modeling human ventral forebrain development in vitro and lays the foundation for studying cortical interneuron involvement in human disease pathology. View Publication

Label-retaining cancer cells (LRCCs) represent a novel population of stem-like cancer cells exhibiting slow cycling,chemoresistance and tumor-initiating capacities; however,their properties remain unclear,and approaches to eradicate LRCCs remain elusive. Here,we report that colon cancer cells with high fluorescent intensity,referred to as LRCCs,have the greatest cancer stem cell (CSC)-like capacities and that they preferentially express CSC markers and stemness-related genes. Moreover,we found that Lgr5,which has been reported to be a marker of rapid cycling CSCs,is almost negatively expressed in LRCCs but that its expression is gradually increased in the differentiation process of LRCCs. Interestingly,we found that LRCCs are especially sensitive to the pro-apoptotic effect of IFN-γ treatment both in vitro and in vivo because LRCCs possess higher IFN-γR levels compared with non-LRCCs,which results in the upregulation of the apoptosis pathway after IFN-γ treatment. Furthermore,we found that IFN-γ shows synergistic effects with the conventional anticancer drug Oxaliplatin to eliminate both LRCCs and non-LRCCs. In conclusion,this is the first study to suggest that LRCCs,as a distinct tumor-initiating population,can be selectively eradicated by IFN-γ,which may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for colon cancer treatment. View Publication