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BACKGROUND: Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine kinase involved in multiple intracellular signaling pathways promoting tumor growth. mTOR is aberrantly activated in a significant portion of breast cancers and is a promising target for treatment. Rapamycin and its analogues are in clinical trials for breast cancer treatment. Patterns of gene expression (metagenes) may also be used to simulate a biologic process or effects of a drug treatment. In this study,we tested the hypothesis that the gene-expression signature regulated by rapamycin could predict disease outcome for patients with breast cancer. RESULTS: Colony formation and sulforhodamine B (IC50 textless 1 nM) assays,and xenograft animals showed that MDA-MB-468 cells were sensitive to treatment with rapamycin. The comparison of in vitro and in vivo gene expression data identified a signature,termed rapamycin metagene index (RMI),of 31 genes upregulated by rapamycin treatment in vitro as well as in vivo (false discovery rate of 10%). In the Miller dataset,RMI did not correlate with tumor size or lymph node status. High (textgreater75th percentile) RMI was significantly associated with longer survival (P = 0.015). On multivariate analysis,RMI (P = 0.029),tumor size (P = 0.015) and lymph node status (P = 0.001) were prognostic. In van 't Veer study,RMI was not associated with the time to develop distant metastasis (P = 0.41). In the Wang dataset,RMI predicted time to disease relapse (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Rapamycin-regulated gene expression signature predicts clinical outcome in breast cancer. This supports the central role of mTOR signaling in breast cancer biology and provides further impetus to pursue mTOR-targeted therapies for breast cancer treatment. View Publication

Experimentation with the progenitor/stem cells in adult prostate epithelium can be inconvenient due to a tight time line from tissue acquisition to cell isolation and to downstream experiments. To circumvent this inconvenience,we developed a simple technical procedure for culturing epithelial cells derived from human prostate tissue. In this study,benign prostate tissue was enzymatically digested and fractionated into epithelium and stroma,which were then cultured in the medium designed for prostate epithelial and stromal cells,respectively. The cultured cells were analyzed by immunocytochemical staining and flow cytometry. Prostate tissue-regenerating capacity of cultured cells in vitro was determined by co-culturing epithelial and stromal cells in dihydrotestosterone-containing RPMI. Cell lineages in formed acini-like structures were determined by immunohistochemistry. The culture of epithelial cells mainly consisted of basal cells. A minor population was negative for known lineage markers and positive for CD133. The culture also contained cells with high activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase. After co-culturing with stromal cells,the epithelial cells were able to form acini-like structures containing multiple cell lineages. Thus,the established culture of prostate epithelial cells provides an alternative source for studying progenitor/stem cells of prostate epithelium. View Publication

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) tegument proteins are released into the cytoplasm during viral entry and hence are among the first viral proteins encountered by an infected cell. Despite the implied importance of these proteins in the evasion of host defenses,the function of some,like virion protein 11/12 (VP11/12),have not been clearly defined. Previously,we reported that VP11/12 is strongly tyrosine phosphorylated during the infection of lymphocytes but not in fibroblasts or an epithelial cell line (G. Zahariadis,M. J. Wagner,R. C. Doepker,J. M. Maciejko,C. M. Crider,K. R. Jerome,and J. R. Smiley,J. Virol. 82:6098-6108,2008). We also showed that tyrosine phosphorylation depends in part on the activity of the lymphocyte-specific Src family kinase (SFK) Lck in Jurkat T cells. These data suggested that VP11/12 is a substrate of Lck and that Lck is activated during HSV infection. Here,we show that HSV infection markedly increases the fraction of Lck phosphorylated on its activation loop tyrosine (Y394),a feature characteristic of activated Lck. A previous report implicated the immediate-early protein ICP0 and the viral serine/threonine kinases US3 and UL13 in the induction of a similar activated phenotype of SFKs other than Lck in fibroblasts and suggested that ICP0 interacts directly with SFKs through their SH3 domain. However,we were unable to detect an interaction between ICP0 and Lck in T lymphocytes,and we show that ICP0,US3,and UL13 are not strictly required for Lck activation. In contrast,VP11/12 interacted with Lck or Lck signaling complexes and was strictly required for Lck activation during HSV infection. Thus,VP11/12 likely modulates host cell signaling pathways for the benefit of the virus. View Publication

Mtb influences DC activity and T cell-mediated immune responses. We show that the treatment of immature monocyte-derived DC with Mtb elicited the formation of mature DC,producing TNF-alpha,IL-1beta,IL-6,and IL-23 and instructing CD4(+) cells to secrete IFN-gamma and IL-17. Mtb-induced cytokine release by DC depended on dectin-1 receptor engagement,whereas MR or DC-SIGN stimulation inhibited this process. A selective dectin-1 binding by the receptor agonist glucan was sufficient to enable DC to generate Th1/Th17 lymphocytes,showing features comparable with those induced by Mtb-treated DC. Interestingly,DC-SIGN or MR engagement inhibited Th17 and increased Th1 generation by glucan- or Mtb-treated DC. Our results indicate that Mtb modulates the lymphocyte response by affecting DC maturation and cytokine release. Dectin-1 engagement by Mtb enables DC to promote a Th1/Th17 response,whereas DC-SIGN and MR costimulation limits dectin-1-dependent Th17 generation and favors a Th1 response,probably by interfering with release of cytokines. View Publication

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stromal cells are employed in various different clinical settings in order to modulate immune response. However,relatively little is known about the mechanisms responsible for their immunomodulatory effects,which could be influenced by both the cell source and culture conditions. DESIGN AND METHODS: We tested the ability of a 5% platelet lysate-supplemented medium to support isolation and ex vivo expansion of mesenchymal stromal cells from full-term umbilical-cord blood. We also investigated the biological/functional properties of umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stromal cells,in comparison with platelet lysate-expanded bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells. RESULTS: The success rate of isolation of mesenchymal stromal cells from umbilical cord blood was in the order of 20%. These cells exhibited typical morphology,immunophenotype and differentiation capacity. Although they have a low clonogenic efficiency,umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stromal cells may possess high proliferative potential. The genetic stability of these cells from umbilical cord blood was demonstrated by a normal molecular karyotype; in addition,these cells do not express hTERT and telomerase activity,do express p16(ink4a) protein and do not show anchorage-independent cell growth. Concerning alloantigen-specific immune responses,umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stromal cells were able to: (i) suppress T- and NK-lymphocyte proliferation,(ii) decrease cytotoxic activity and (iii) only slightly increase interleukin-10,while decreasing interferon-gamma secretion,in mixed lymphocyte culture supernatants. While an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-specific inhibitor did not reverse mesenchymal stromal cell-induced suppressive effects,a prostaglandin E(2)-specific inhibitor hampered the suppressive effect of both umbilical cord blood- and bone marrow-mesenchymal stromal cells on alloantigen-induced cytotoxic activity. Mesenchymal stromal cells from both sources expressed HLA-G. CONCLUSIONS: Umbilical cord blood- and bone marrow-mesenchymal stromal cells may differ in terms of clonogenic efficiency,proliferative capacity and immunomodulatory properties; these differences may be relevant for clinical applications. View Publication

Although activation of the B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathway is implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL),its clinical impact and the molecular correlates of such response are not clearly defined. T-cell leukemia 1 (TCL1),the AKT modulator and proto-oncogene,is differentially expressed in CLL and linked to its pathogenesis based on CD5(+) B-cell expansions arising in TCL1-transgenic mice. We studied here the association of TCL1 levels and its intracellular dynamics with the in vitro responses to BCR stimulation in 70 CLL cases. The growth kinetics after BCR engagement correlated strongly with the degree and timing of induced AKT phospho-activation. This signaling intensity was best predicted by TCL1 levels and the kinetics of TCL1-AKT corecruitment to BCR membrane activation complexes,which further included the kinases LYN,SYK,ZAP70,and PKC. High TCL1 levels were also strongly associated with aggressive disease features,such as advanced clinical stage,higher white blood cell counts,and shorter lymphocyte doubling time. Higher TCL1 levels independently predicted an inferior clinical outcome (ie,shorter progression-free survival,P textless .001),regardless of therapy regimen,especially for ZAP70(+) tumors. We propose TCL1 as a marker of the BCR-responsive CLL subset identifying poor prognostic cases where targeting BCR-associated kinases may be therapeutically useful. View Publication

Genetic reprogramming of somatic cells to a pluripotent state (induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs) by over-expression of specific genes has been accomplished using mouse and human cells. However,it is still unclear how similar human iPSCs are to human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs). Here,we describe the transcriptional profile of human iPSCs generated without viral vectors or genomic insertions,revealing that these cells are in general similar to hESCs but with significant differences. For the generation of human iPSCs without viral vectors or genomic insertions,pluripotent factors Oct4 and Nanog were cloned in episomal vectors and transfected into human fetal neural progenitor cells. The transient expression of these two factors,or from Oct4 alone,resulted in efficient generation of human iPSCs. The reprogramming strategy described here revealed a potential transcriptional signature for human iPSCs yet retaining the gene expression of donor cells in human reprogrammed cells free of viral and transgene interference. Moreover,the episomal reprogramming strategy represents a safe way to generate human iPSCs for clinical purposes and basic research. View Publication

The dose response curve is the gold standard for measuring the effect of a drug treatment,but is rarely used in genomic scale transcriptional profiling due to perceived obstacles of cost and analysis. One barrier to examining transcriptional dose responses is that existing methods for microarray data analysis can identify patterns,but provide no quantitative pharmacological information. We developed analytical methods that identify transcripts responsive to dose,calculate classical pharmacological parameters such as the EC50,and enable an in-depth analysis of coordinated dose-dependent treatment effects. The approach was applied to a transcriptional profiling study that evaluated four kinase inhibitors (imatinib,nilotinib,dasatinib and PD0325901) across a six-logarithm dose range,using 12 arrays per compound. The transcript responses proved a powerful means to characterize and compare the compounds: the distribution of EC50 values for the transcriptome was linked to specific targets,dose-dependent effects on cellular processes were identified using automated pathway analysis,and a connection was seen between EC50s in standard cellular assays and transcriptional EC50s. Our approach greatly enriches the information that can be obtained from standard transcriptional profiling technology. Moreover,these methods are automated,robust to non-optimized assays,and could be applied to other sources of quantitative data. View Publication

Stem cells derived from pre-implantation human embryos or from somatic cells by reprogramming are pluripotent and self-renew indefinitely in culture. Pluripotent stem cells are unique in being able to differentiate to any cell type of the human body. Differentiation towards the cardiac lineage has attracted significant attention,initially with a strong focus on regenerative medicine. Although an important research area,the heart has proven challenging to repair by cardiomyocyte replacement. However,the ability to reprogramme adult cells to pluripotent stem cells and genetically manipulate stem cells presented opportunities to develop models of human disease. The availability of human cardiomyocytes from stem cell sources is expected to accelerate the discovery of cardiac drugs and safety pharmacology by offering more clinically relevant human culture models than presently available. Here we review the state-of-the-art using stem cell-derived human cardiomyocytes in drug discovery,drug safety pharmacology,and regenerative medicine. View Publication

AIMS Contradictory outcomes from recent clinical trials investigating the transplantation of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell (BM-MNC) fraction containing stem/progenitor cells to damaged myocardium,following acute myocardial infarction,may be,in part,due to the different cell isolation protocols used. We compared total BM-MNC numbers and its cellular subsets obtained following isolation using Ficoll-Paque and Lymphoprep - two different density gradient media used in the clinical trials. MATERIALS & METHODS Bone marrow samples were taken from patients entered into the REGENERATE-IHD clinical trial after 5 days of subcutaneous granulocyte colony-stimulating factor injections. Each sample was divided equally for BM-MNC isolation using Ficoll-Paque and Lymphoprep,keeping all other procedural steps constant. Isolated fractions were characterized for hematopoietic stem cells,endothelial progenitor cells,T lymphocytes,B lymphocytes and NK cells using cell surface markers CD34(+),CD133(+)VEGFR2(+),CD45(+)CD3(+),CD45(+)CD19(+) and CD45(+)CD16(+)CD56(+),respectively. There were no significant differences in the absolute numbers and percentage cell recovery of various mononuclear cell types recovered following separation using either density gradient media. Cell viability and the proportion of various cell phenotypes investigated were similar between the two media. They were also equally efficient in excluding unwanted red blood cells,granulocytes and platelets from the final cell products. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that the composition and quantity of cell types found within therapeutic BM-MNC preparations for use in clinical trials of cardiac stem cell transplantation are not influenced by the type of density gradient media used when comparing Ficoll-Paque and Lymphoprep. View Publication

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The stability of the Wnt pathway transcription factor beta-catenin is tightly regulated by the multi-subunit destruction complex. Deregulated Wnt pathway activity has been implicated in many cancers,making this pathway an attractive target for anticancer therapies. However,the development of targeted Wnt pathway inhibitors has been hampered by the limited number of pathway components that are amenable to small molecule inhibition. Here,we used a chemical genetic screen to identify a small molecule,XAV939,which selectively inhibits beta-catenin-mediated transcription. XAV939 stimulates beta-catenin degradation by stabilizing axin,the concentration-limiting component of the destruction complex. Using a quantitative chemical proteomic approach,we discovered that XAV939 stabilizes axin by inhibiting the poly-ADP-ribosylating enzymes tankyrase 1 and tankyrase 2. Both tankyrase isoforms interact with a highly conserved domain of axin and stimulate its degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Thus,our study provides new mechanistic insights into the regulation of axin protein homeostasis and presents new avenues for targeted Wnt pathway therapies. View Publication