技术资料

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and PUF (for Pumilio and FBF [fem-3 binding factor]) RNA-binding proteins control many cellular processes critical for animal development and tissue homeostasis. In the present work,we report that PUF proteins act directly on MAPK/ERK-encoding mRNAs to downregulate their expression in both the Caenorhabditis elegans germline and human embryonic stem cells. In C. elegans,FBF/PUF binds regulatory elements in the mpk-1 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) and coprecipitates with mpk-1 mRNA; moreover,mpk-1 expression increases dramatically in FBF mutants. In human embryonic stem cells,PUM2/PUF binds 3'UTR elements in both Erk2 and p38alpha mRNAs,and PUM2 represses reporter constructs carrying either Erk2 or p38alpha 3' UTRs. Therefore,the PUF control of MAPK expression is conserved. Its biological function was explored in nematodes,where FBF promotes the self-renewal of germline stem cells,and MPK-1 promotes oocyte maturation and germ cell apoptosis. We found that FBF acts redundantly with LIP-1,the C. elegans homolog of MAPK phosphatase (MKP),to restrict MAPK activity and prevent apoptosis. In mammals,activated MAPK can promote apoptosis of cancer cells and restrict stem cell self-renewal,and MKP is upregulated in cancer cells. We propose that the dual negative regulation of MAPK by both PUF repression and MKP inhibition may be a conserved mechanism that influences both stem cell maintenance and tumor progression. View Publication

It is well known that hepatic stellate cells (HSC) develop into cells,which are thought to contribute to liver fibrogenesis. Recent data suggest that HSC are progenitor cells with the capacity to differentiate into cells of endothelial and hepatocyte lineages. The present study shows that beta-catenin-dependent canonical Wnt signaling is active in freshly isolated HSC of rats. Mimicking of the canonical Wnt pathway in cultured HSC by TWS119,an inhibitor of the glycogen synthase kinase 3beta,led to reduced beta-catenin phosphorylation,induced nuclear translocation of beta-catenin,elevated glutamine synthetase production,impeded synthesis of alpha-smooth muscle actin and Wnt5a,but promoted the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein,Wnt10b,and paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2c. In addition,canonical Wnt signaling lowered DNA synthesis and hindered HSC from entering the cell cycle. The findings demonstrate that beta-catenin-dependent Wnt signaling maintains the quiescent state of HSC and,similar to stem and progenitor cells,influences their developmental fate. View Publication

Pluripotency pertains to the cells of early embryos that can generate all of the tissues in the organism. Embryonic stem cells are embryo-derived cell lines that retain pluripotency and represent invaluable tools for research into the mechanisms of tissue formation. Recently,murine fibroblasts have been reprogrammed directly to pluripotency by ectopic expression of four transcription factors (Oct4,Sox2,Klf4 and Myc) to yield induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Using these same factors,we have derived iPS cells from fetal,neonatal and adult human primary cells,including dermal fibroblasts isolated from a skin biopsy of a healthy research subject. Human iPS cells resemble embryonic stem cells in morphology and gene expression and in the capacity to form teratomas in immune-deficient mice. These data demonstrate that defined factors can reprogramme human cells to pluripotency,and establish a method whereby patient-specific cells might be established in culture. View Publication

The relatively new field of stem cell biology is hampered by a lack of sufficient means to accurately determine the phenotype of cells. Cell-type-specific markers,such as cell surface proteins used for flow cytometry or fluorescence-activated cell sorting,are limited and often recognize multiple members of a stem cell lineage. We sought to develop a complementary approach that would be less dependent on the identification of particular markers for the subpopulations of cells and would instead measure their overall character. We tested whether a microfluidic system using dielectrophoresis (DEP),which induces a frequency-dependent dipole in cells,would be useful for characterizing stem cells and their differentiated progeny. We found that populations of mouse neural stem/precursor cells (NSPCs),differentiated neurons,and differentiated astrocytes had different dielectric properties revealed by DEP. By isolating NSPCs from developmental ages at which they are more likely to generate neurons,or astrocytes,we were able to show that a shift in dielectric property reflecting their fate bias precedes detectable marker expression in these cells and identifies specific progenitor populations. In addition,experimental data and mathematical modeling suggest that DEP curve parameters can indicate cell heterogeneity in mixed cultures. These findings provide evidence for a whole cell property that reflects stem cell fate bias and establish DEP as a tool with unique capabilities for interrogating,characterizing,and sorting stem cells. View Publication

Definitive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSCs/Ps) originating from the yolk sac and/or para-aorta-splanchno-pleura/aorta-gonad-mesonephros are hypothesized to colonize the fetal liver,but mechanisms involved are poorly defined. The Rac subfamily of Rho GTPases has been shown to play essential roles in HSC/P localization to the bone marrow following transplantation. Here,we study the role of Rac1 in HSC/P migration during ontogeny and seeding of fetal liver. Using a triple-transgenic approach,we have deleted Rac1 in HSCs/Ps during very early embryonic development. Without Rac1,there was a decrease in circulating HSCs/Ps in the blood of embryonic day (E) 10.5 embryos,while yolk sac definitive hematopoiesis was quantitatively normal. Intraembryonic hematopoiesis was significantly impaired in Rac1-deficient embryos,culminating with absence of intra-aortic clusters and fetal liver hematopoiesis. At E10.5,Rac1-deficient HSCs/Ps displayed decreased transwell migration and impaired inter-action with the microenvironment in migration-dependent assays. These data suggest that Rac1 plays an important role in HSC/P migration during embryonic development and is essential for the emergence of intraembryonic hematopoiesis. View Publication

microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles are often characteristic of specific cell types. The mouse mammary epithelial cell line,Comma-Dbeta,contains a population of self-renewing progenitor cells that can reconstitute the mammary gland. We purified this population and determined its miRNA signature. Several microRNAs,including miR-205 and miR-22,are highly expressed in mammary progenitor cells,while others,including let-7 and miR-93,are depleted. Let-7 sensors can be used to prospectively enrich self-renewing populations,and enforced let-7 expression induces loss of self-renewing cells from mixed cultures. View Publication

Neural stem cell differentiation and the determination of lineage decision between neuronal and glial fates have important implications in the study of developmental,pathological,and regenerative processes. Although small molecule chemicals with the ability to control neural stem cell fate are considered extremely useful tools in this field,few were reported. AICAR is an adenosine analog and extensively used to activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK),a metabolic fuel gauge" of the biological system. In the present study� View Publication

Kinase inhibitors constitute an important new class of cancer drugs,whose selective efficacy is largely determined by underlying tumor cell genetics. We established a high-throughput platform to profile 500 cell lines derived from diverse epithelial cancers for sensitivity to 14 kinase inhibitors. Most inhibitors were ineffective against unselected cell lines but exhibited dramatic cell killing of small nonoverlapping subsets. Cells with exquisite sensitivity to EGFR,HER2,MET,or BRAF kinase inhibitors were marked by activating mutations or amplification of the drug target. Although most cell lines recapitulated known tumor-associated genotypes,the screen revealed low-frequency drug-sensitizing genotypes in tumor types not previously associated with drug susceptibility. Furthermore,comparing drugs thought to target the same kinase revealed striking differences,predictive of clinical efficacy. Genetically defined cancer subsets,irrespective of tissue type,predict response to kinase inhibitors,and provide an important preclinical model to guide early clinical applications of novel targeted inhibitors. View Publication

Bacterial endotoxin is a potent inducer of inflammatory response,including the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and nitric oxide (NO) production,and the expression of cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in inflammatory cells. In the present study,we investigated the effects of pharmacological inhibition of Janus kinase (JAK) 3 on the production of these proinflammatory molecules in macrophages exposed to bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide; LPS). JAK3 inhibitors WHI-P154 (4-(3'-bromo-4'-hydroxylphenyl)-amino-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline) and its derivative WHI-P131 inhibited LPS-induced iNOS expression and NO production in a dose-dependent manner. WHI-P154 inhibited the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 and the expression of iNOS mRNA but it had no effect on iNOS mRNA decay when determined by actinomycin D assay. The JAK3 inhibitor had no effect on COX-2 expression,and TNF-alpha production was slightly inhibited only at higher drug concentrations (30 microM). In addition,WHI-P154 inhibited iNOS expression and NO production also in human epithelial cells. Our results suggest that JAK3 inhibition modulates human and murine iNOS expression and NO production in response to inflammatory stimuli. View Publication

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is enriched in ascites of ovarian cancer patients and is involved in growth and invasion of ovarian cancer cells. Accumulating evidence suggests cancer-associated myofibroblasts play a pivotal role in tumorigenesis through secreting stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1). In the present study,we demonstrate that LPA induces expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA),a marker for myofibroblasts,in human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs). The LPA-induced expression of alpha-SMA was completely abrogated by pretreatment of the cells with Ki16425,an antagonist of LPA receptors,or by silencing LPA(1) or LPA(2) isoform expression with small interference RNA (siRNA). LPA elicited phosphorylation of Smad2/3,and siRNA-mediated depletion of endogenous Smad2/3 or adenoviral expression of Smad7,an inhibitory Smad,abrogated the LPA induced expression of alpha-SMA and phosphorylation of Smad2/3. LPA-induced secretion of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 in hADSCs,and pretreatment of the cells with SB431542,a TGF-beta type I receptor kinase inhibitor,or anti-TGF-beta1 neutralizing antibody inhibited the LPA-induced expression of alpha-SMA and phosphorylation of Smad2. Furthermore,ascites from ovarian cancer patients or conditioned medium from ovarian cancer cells induced expression of alpha-SMA and phosphorylation of Smad2,and pretreatment of the cells with Ki16425 or SB431542 abrogated the expression of alpha-SMA and phosphorylation of Smad2. In addition,LPA increased the expression of SDF-1 in hADSCs,and pretreatment of the cells with Ki16425 or SB431562 attenuated the LPA-stimulated expression of SDF-1. These results suggest that cancer-derived LPA stimulates differentiation of hADSCs to myofibroblast-like cells and increases SDF-1 expression through activating autocrine TGF-beta1-Smad signaling pathway. View Publication

Transplanted adult progenitor cells distribute to peripheral organs and can promote endogenous cellular repair in damaged tissues. However,development of cell-based regenerative therapies has been hindered by the lack of preclinical models to efficiently assess multiple organ distribution and difficulty defining human cells with regenerative function. After transplantation into beta-glucuronidase (GUSB)-deficient NOD/SCID/mucopolysaccharidosis type VII mice,we characterized the distribution of lineage-depleted human umbilical cord blood-derived cells purified by selection using high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity with CD133 coexpression. ALDH(hi) or ALDH(hi)CD133+ cells produced robust hematopoietic reconstitution and variable levels of tissue distribution in multiple organs. GUSB+ donor cells that coexpressed human leukocyte antigen (HLA-A,B,C) and hematopoietic (CD45+) cell surface markers were the primary cell phenotype found adjacent to the vascular beds of several tissues,including islet and ductal regions of mouse pancreata. In contrast,variable phenotypes were detected in the chimeric liver,with HLA+/CD45+ cells demonstrating robust GUSB expression adjacent to blood vessels and CD45-/HLA- cells with diluted GUSB expression predominant in the liver parenchyma. However,true nonhematopoietic human (HLA+/CD45-) cells were rarely detected in other peripheral tissues,suggesting that these GUSB+/HLA-/CD45- cells in the liver were a result of downregulated human surface marker expression in vivo,not widespread seeding of nonhematopoietic cells. However,relying solely on continued expression of cell surface markers,as used in traditional xenotransplantation models,may underestimate true tissue distribution. ALDH-expressing progenitor cells demonstrated widespread and tissue-specific distribution of variable cellular phenotypes,indicating that these adult progenitor cells should be explored in transplantation models of tissue damage. View Publication

Successful reprogramming of differentiated human somatic cells into a pluripotent state would allow creation of patient- and disease-specific stem cells. We previously reported generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells,capable of germline transmission,from mouse somatic cells by transduction of four defined transcription factors. Here,we demonstrate the generation of iPS cells from adult human dermal fibroblasts with the same four factors: Oct3/4,Sox2,Klf4,and c-Myc. Human iPS cells were similar to human embryonic stem (ES) cells in morphology,proliferation,surface antigens,gene expression,epigenetic status of pluripotent cell-specific genes,and telomerase activity. Furthermore,these cells could differentiate into cell types of the three germ layers in vitro and in teratomas. These findings demonstrate that iPS cells can be generated from adult human fibroblasts. View Publication