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We have examined a number of reagents for their ability to modulate activity of the Hh signaling pathway during embryonic development of Xenopus. In particular we have focused on regulation of events occurring during tailbud stages and later. Two inducible protein reagents based on the Gli1 and Gli3 transcription factors were generated and the activity of these proteins was compared to the Hh signaling pathway inhibitor,cyclopamine,and the activators,Smoothened agonist (SAG) and purmorphamine (PMA). Effectiveness of reagents was assayed using both molecular biological techniques and biological readouts. We found that the small molecule modulators of the Hh pathway were highly specific and effective and produced results generally superior to the more conventional protein reagents for examination of later stage developmental processes. View Publication

Although BMP9 is highly capable of promoting osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs),the molecular mechanism involved remains to be fully elucidated. Here,we explore the possible involvement and detail role of JNKs (c-Jun N-terminal kinases) in BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. It was found that BMP9 stimulated the activation of JNKs in MSCs. BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs was dramatically inhibited by JNKs inhibitor SP600125. Moreover,BMP9-activated Smads signaling was decreased by SP600125 treatment in MSCs. The effects of inhibitor are reproduced with adenoviruses expressing siRNA targeted JNKs. Taken together,our results revealed that JNKs was activated in BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. What is most noteworthy,however,is that inhibition of JNKs activity resulted in reduction of BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs,implying that activation of JNKs is essential for BMP9 osteoinductive activity. View Publication

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subset of cancer cells with indefinite potential for self-renewal and the capacity to drive tumorigenesis. Brefeldin A (BFA) is an antibiotic that is known to block protein transport and induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in eukaryotic cells,but its effects on colorectal CSCs are unknown. We investigated the inhibitory effect of BFA on human colorectal cancer Colo 205 cells. We found that BFA effectively reduced the survival of suspension Colo 205 cells (IC₅₀ = ˜15 ng/mL) by inducing apoptosis,and inhibited the clonogenic activity of Colo 205 CSCs in tumorsphere formation assay and soft agar colony formation assay in the same nanogram per milliliter range. We also discovered that at such low concentrations,BFA effectively induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response as indicated by the increased mRNA expression of ER stress-related genes,such as glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78),X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1),and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP). Finally,we found that BFA reduced the activity of matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9). These findings suggest that BFA can effectively suppress the progression of colorectal cancer during the tumorigenesis and metastasis stages. These results may lead to the development of novel therapies for the treatment of colorectal cancer. View Publication

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for tumor progression,metastases,resistance to therapy,and tumor recurrence. Therefore,the identification of molecules involved in CSC self-renewal is a necessary step toward more effective therapies. To this aim,through the transcription profiling of the murine ErbB2(+) tumor cell line TUBO vs. derived CSC-enriched mammospheres,Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) was identified as 2-fold overexpressed in CSCs,as confirmed by qPCR and cytofluorimetric analysis. TLR2 signaling inhibition impaired in vitro mammosphere generation in murine TUBO (60%) and 4T1 (30%) and human MDA-MB-231 (50%),HCC1806 (60%),and MCF7 (50%) cells. In CSC,TLR2 was activated by endogenous high-mobility-group box 1 (HMGB1),inducing I$$B$$ phosphorylation,IL-6 and TGF$$ secretion,and,consequently,STAT3 and Smad3 activation. In vivo TLR2 inhibition blocked TUBO tumor takes in 9/14 mice and induced a 2-fold reduction in lung metastases development by decreasing cell proliferation and vascularization and increasing apoptosis. Collectively,these results demonstrate that murine and human mammary CSCs express TLR2 and its ligand HMGB1; this autocrine loop plays a pivotal role in CSC self-renewal,tumorigenesis,and metastatic ability. These findings,while providing evidence against the controversial use of TLR2 agonists in antitumor therapy,lay out new paths toward the design of anticancer treatments. View Publication

PURPOSE High aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) has been suggested to selectively mark cells with high tumorigenic potential in established prostate cancer cell lines. However,the existence of cells with high ALDH activity (ALDH(bright)) in primary prostate cancer specimens has not been shown so far. We investigated the presence,phenotype,and clinical significance of ALDH(bright) populations in clinical prostate cancer specimens. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We used ALDEFLUOR technology and fluorescence-activated cell-sorting (FACS) staining to identify and characterize ALDH(bright) populations in cells freshly isolated from clinical prostate cancer specimens. Expression of genes encoding ALDH-specific isoforms was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR in normal prostate,benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH),and prostate cancer tissues. ALDH1A1-specific expression and prognostic significance were assessed by staining two tissue microarrays that included more than 500 samples of BPH,prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN),and multistage prostate cancer. RESULTS ALDH(bright) cells were detectable in freshly excised prostate cancer specimens (n = 39) and were mainly included within the EpCAM((+)) and Trop2((+)) cell populations. Although several ALDH isoforms were expressed to high extents in prostate cancer,only ALDH1A1 gene expression significantly correlated with ALDH activity (P textless 0.01) and was increased in cancers with high Gleason scores (P = 0.03). Most importantly,ALDH1A1 protein was expressed significantly more frequently and at higher levels in advanced-stage than in low-stage prostate cancer and BPH. Notably,ALDH1A1 positivity was associated with poor survival (P = 0.02) in hormone-naïve patients. CONCLUSIONS Our data indicate that ALDH contributes to the identification of subsets of prostate cancer cells of potentially high clinical relevance. View Publication

The cell cycle is a series of integrated and coordinated physiological events that results in cell growth and replication. Besides observing the event of cell division it is not feasible to determine the cell cycle phase without fatal and/or perturbing invasive procedures such as cell staining,fixing,and/or dissociation. Raman microspectroscopy (RMS) is a chemical imaging technique that exploits molecular vibrations as a contrast mechanism; it can be applied to single living cells noninvasively to allow unperturbed analysis over time. We used RMS to determine the cell cycle phase based on integrating the composite 783 cm(-1) nucleic acid band intensities across individual cell nuclei. After correcting for RNA contributions using the RNA 811 cm(-1) band,the measured intensities essentially reflected DNA content. When quantifying Raman images from single cells in a population of methanol-fixed human embryonic stem cells,the histogram of corrected 783 cm(-1) band intensities exhibited a profile analogous to that obtained using flow-cytometry with nuclear stains. The two population peaks in the histogram occur at Raman intensities corresponding to a 1-fold and 2-fold diploid DNA complement per cell,consistent with a distribution of cells with a population peak due to cells at the end of G1 phase (1-fold) and a peak due to cells entering M phase (2-fold). When treated with EdU to label the replicating DNA and block cell division,cells with higher EdU-related fluorescence generally had higher integrated Raman intensities. This provides proof-of-principle of an analytical method for label-free RMS determination in situ of cell cycle phase in adherent monolayers or even single adherent cells. View Publication

Although activated inflammatory monocytes (IMCs) and inflammatory dendritic cells (IDCs) are potent T cell suppressors,nonactivated IMCs and IDCs promote T cell activation and Th1/Th17 cell differentiation. In this study,we investigated how to reduce the proinflammatory properties of IMCs and IDCs and further convert them into immune regulatory dendritic cells (DCs). We found that IL-4 and retinoic acid (RA) cotreatment of GM-CSF-differentiated IDCs synergistically induced the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1,subfamily A2,a rate-limiting enzyme for RA synthesis in DCs. IL-4 plus RA-treated IDCs upregulated CD103 expression and markedly reduced the production of proinflammatory cytokines upon activation. IL-4 plus RA-treated IDCs strongly induced CD4�?�Foxp3�?� regulatory T cell differentiation and suppressed Th1 and Th17 differentiation. Mechanistically,the transcription factors Stat6 and RA receptor $$ play important roles in aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1,subfamily A2,induction. In addition,IL-4 and RA signaling pathways interact closely to enhance the regulatory function of treated DCs. Adoptive transfer of IL-4 plus RA-treated DCs significantly increased regulatory T cell frequency in vivo. Direct treatment with IL-4 and RA also markedly suppressed actively induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Our data demonstrate the synergistic effect of IL-4 and RA in inducing a regulatory phenotype in IDCs,providing a potential treatment strategy for autoimmune diseases. View Publication

Developing efficacious vaccines against enteric diseases is a global challenge that requires a better understanding of cellular recruitment dynamics at the mucosal surfaces. The current paradigm of T cell homing to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract involves the induction of $$4$$7 and CCR9 by Peyer's patch and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) dendritic cells (DCs) in a retinoic acid-dependent manner. This paradigm,however,cannot be reconciled with reports of GI T cell responses after intranasal (i.n.) delivery of antigens that do not directly target the GI lymphoid tissue. To explore alternative pathways of cellular migration,we have investigated the ability of DCs from mucosal and nonmucosal tissues to recruit lymphocytes to the GI tract. Unexpectedly,we found that lung DCs,like CD103(+) MLN DCs,up-regulate the gut-homing integrin $$4$$7 in vitro and in vivo,and induce T cell migration to the GI tract in vivo. Consistent with a role for this pathway in generating mucosal immune responses,lung DC targeting by i.n. immunization induced protective immunity against enteric challenge with a highly pathogenic strain of Salmonella. The present report demonstrates novel functional evidence of mucosal cross talk mediated by DCs,which has the potential to inform the design of novel vaccines against mucosal pathogens. View Publication

Although promising new radiation therapy techniques such as hadrontherapy are currently being evaluated in the treatment of head and neck malignancies,local control of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains low. Here,we investigated the involvement of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) in a radioresistant HNSCC cell line (SQ20B). Stem-like cells SQ20B/SidePopulation(SP)/CD44(+)/ALDH(high) were more resistant to both photon and carbon ion irradiation compared with non-CSCs. This was confirmed by a BrdU labeling experiment,which suggests that CSCs were able to proliferate and to induce tumorigenicity after irradiation. SQ20B/SP/CD44(+)/ALDH(high) were capable of an extended G2/M arrest phase in response to photon or carbon ion irradiation compared with non-CSCs. Moreover,our data strongly suggest that resistance of CSCs may result from an imbalance between exacerbated self-renewal and proliferative capacities and the decrease in apoptotic cell death triggering. In order to modulate these processes,two targeted pharmacological strategies were tested. Firstly,UCN-01,a checkpoint kinase (Chk1) inhibitor,induced the relapse of G2/M arrest and radiosensitization of SQ20B-CSCs. Secondly,all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) resulted in an inhibition of ALDH activity,and induction of the differentiation and radiosensitization of SQ20B/SP/CD44(+)/ALDH(high) cells. The combination of ATRA and UCN-01 treatments with irradiation drastically decreased the surviving fraction at 2Gy of SQ20B-CSCs from 0.85 to 0.38 after photon irradiation,and from 0.45 to 0.21 in response to carbon ions. Taken together,our results suggest that the combination of UCN-01 and ATRA represent a promising pharmacological-targeted strategy that significantly sensitizes CSCs to photon or carbon ion radiation. View Publication

In vitro neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is an advantageous system for studying early neural development. The process of early neural differentiation in hESCs begins by initiation of primitive neuroectoderm,which is manifested by rosette formation,with consecutive differentiation into neural progenitors and early glial-like cells. In this study,we examined the involvement of early neural markers - OTX2,PAX6,Sox1,Nestin,NR2F1,NR2F2,and IRX2 - in the onset of rosette formation,during spontaneous neural differentiation of hESC and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) colonies. This is in contrast to the conventional way of studying rosette formation,which involves induction of neuronal differentiation and the utilization of embryoid bodies. Here we show that OTX2 is highly expressed at the onset of rosette formation,when rosettes comprise no more than 3-5 cells,and that its expression precedes that of established markers of early neuronal differentiation. Importantly,the rise of OTX2 expression in these cells coincides with the down-regulation of the pluripotency marker OCT4. Lastly,we show that cells derived from rosettes that emerge during spontaneous differentiation of hESCs or hiPSCs are capable of differentiating into dopaminergic neurons in vitro,and into mature-appearing pyramidal and serotonergic neurons weeks after being injected into the motor cortex of NOD-SCID mice. ?? 2013 Elsevier B.V. View Publication

Human macrophages are specialised hosts for HIV-1,dengue virus,Leishmania and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Yet macrophage research is hampered by lack of appropriate cell models for modelling infection by these human pathogens,because available myeloid cell lines are,by definition,not terminally differentiated like tissue macrophages. We describe here a method for deriving monocytes and macrophages from human Pluripotent Stem Cells which improves on previously published protocols in that it uses entirely defined,feeder- and serum-free culture conditions and produces very consistent,pure,high yields across both human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) and multiple human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (hiPSC) lines over time periods of up to one year. Cumulatively,up to ∼3×10(7) monocytes can be harvested per 6-well plate. The monocytes produced are most closely similar to the major blood monocyte (CD14(+),CD16(low),CD163(+)). Differentiation with M-CSF produces macrophages that are highly phagocytic,HIV-1-infectable,and upon activation produce a pro-inflammatory cytokine profile similar to blood monocyte-derived macrophages. Macrophages are notoriously hard to genetically manipulate,as they recognise foreign nucleic acids; the lentivector system described here overcomes this,as pluripotent stem cells can be relatively simply genetically manipulated for efficient transgene expression in the differentiated cells,surmounting issues of transgene silencing. Overall,the method we describe here is an efficient,effective,scalable system for the reproducible production and genetic modification of human macrophages,facilitating the interrogation of human macrophage biology. View Publication

Safety and reliability of transgene integration in human genome continue to pose challenges for stem cell-based gene therapy. Here,we report a baculovirus-transcription activator-like effector nuclease system for AAVS1 locus-directed homologous recombination in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). This viral system,when optimized in human U87 cells,provided a targeted integration efficiency of 95.21% in incorporating a Neo-eGFP cassette and was able to mediate integration of DNA insert up to 13.5 kb. In iPSCs,targeted integration with persistent transgene expression was achieved without compromising genomic stability. The modified iPSCs continued to express stem cell pluripotency markers and maintained the ability to differentiate into three germ lineages in derived embryoid bodies. Using a baculovirus-Cre/LoxP system in the iPSCs,the Neo-eGFP cassette at the AAVS1 locus could be replaced by a Hygro-mCherry cassette,demonstrating the feasibility of cassette exchange. Moreover,as assessed by measuring γ-H2AX expression levels,genome toxicity associated with chromosomal double-strand breaks was not detectable after transduction with moderate doses of baculoviral vectors expressing transcription activator-like effector nucleases. Given high targeted integration efficiency,flexibility in transgene exchange and low genome toxicity,our baculoviral transduction-based approach offers great potential and attractive option for precise genetic manipulation in human pluripotent stem cells. View Publication