参考文献

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study were to evaluate the allosteric mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor BAY 86-9766 in monotherapy and in combination with sorafenib in orthotopic and subcutaneous hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models with different underlying etiologies in two species. DESIGN: Antiproliferative potential of BAY 86-9766 and synergistic effects with sorafenib were studied in several HCC cell lines. Relevant pathway signaling was studied in MH3924a cells. For in vivo testing,the HCC cells were implanted subcutaneously or orthotopically. Survival and mode of action (MoA) were analyzed. RESULTS: BAY 86-9766 exhibited potent antiproliferative activity in HCC cell lines with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 33 to 762 nM. BAY 86-9766 was strongly synergistic with sorafenib in suppressing tumor cell proliferation and inhibiting phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). BAY 86-9766 prolonged survival in Hep3B xenografts,murine Hepa129 allografts,and MH3924A rat allografts. Additionally,tumor growth,ascites formation,and serum alpha-fetoprotein levels were reduced. Synergistic effects in combination with sorafenib were shown in Huh-7,Hep3B xenografts,and MH3924A allografts. On the signaling pathway level,the combination of BAY 86-9766 and sorafenib led to inhibition of the upregulatory feedback loop toward MEK phosphorylation observed after BAY 86-9766 monotreatment. With regard to the underlying MoA,inhibition of ERK phosphorylation,tumor cell proliferation,and microvessel density was observed in vivo. CONCLUSION: BAY 86-9766 shows potent single-agent antitumor activity and acts synergistically in combination with sorafenib in preclinical HCC models. These results support the ongoing clinical development of BAY 86-9766 and sorafenib in advanced HCC. View Publication

Invasion and metastasis are the major cause of deaths in patients with esophageal cancer. In this study,we isolated cancer stem-like cells from an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line EC109 based on aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1),and found that ALDH1A1(high) cells possessed the capacities of self-renewal,differentiation and tumor initiation,indications of stem cell properties. To support their stemness,ALDH1A1(high) cells exhibited increased potential of invasion and metastasis as compared with ALDH1A1(low) cells. ALDH1A1(high) esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells expressed increased levels of mRNA for vimentin,matrix metalloproteinase 2,7 and 9 (MMP2,MMP7 and MMP9),but decreased the level of E-cadherin mRNA,suggesting that epithelial-mesenchymal transition and secretary MMPs may be attributed to the high invasive and metastatic capabilities of ALDH1A1(high) cells. Furthermore,we examined esophageal squamous cell carcinoma specimens from 165 patients and found that ALDH1A1(high) cells were associated with esophageal squamous dysplasia and the grades,differentiation and invasion depth,lymph node metastasis and UICC stage of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,as well as poor prognosis of patients. Our results provide the strong evidence that ALDH1A1(high) cancer stem-like cells contribute to the invasion,metastasis and poor outcome of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. View Publication

A significant clinical need exists to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into cardiomyocytes,enabling tissue modeling for in vitro discovery of new drugs or cell-based therapies for heart repair in vivo. Chemical and mechanical microenvironmental factors are known to impact the efficiency of stem cell differentiation,but cardiac differentiation protocols in hPSCs are typically performed on rigid tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) surfaces,which do not present a physiological mechanical setting. To investigate the temporal effects of mechanics on cardiac differentiation,we cultured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their derivatives on polyacrylamide hydrogel substrates with a physiologically relevant range of stiffnesses. In directed differentiation and embryoid body culture systems,differentiation of hESCs to cardiac troponin T-expressing (cTnT+) cardiomyocytes peaked on hydrogels of intermediate stiffness. Brachyury expression also peaked on intermediate stiffness hydrogels at day 1 of directed differentiation,suggesting that stiffness impacted the initial differentiation trajectory of hESCs to mesendoderm. To investigate the impact of substrate mechanics during cardiac specification of mesodermal progenitors,we initiated directed cardiomyocyte differentiation on TCPS and transferred cells to hydrogels at the Nkx2.5/Isl1+ cardiac progenitor cell stage. No differences in cardiomyocyte purity with stiffness were observed on day 15. These experiments indicate that differentiation of hESCs is sensitive to substrate mechanics at early stages of mesodermal induction,and proper application of substrate mechanics can increase the propensity of hESCs to differentiate to cardiomyocytes. textcopyright 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. View Publication

Cellular plasticity contributes to the regenerative capacity of plants,invertebrates,teleost fishes and amphibians. In vertebrates,differentiated cells are known to revert into replicating progenitors,but these cells do not persist as stable stem cells. Here we present evidence that differentiated airway epithelial cells can revert into stable and functional stem cells in vivo. After the ablation of airway stem cells,we observed a surprising increase in the proliferation of committed secretory cells. Subsequent lineage tracing demonstrated that the luminal secretory cells had dedifferentiated into basal stem cells. Dedifferentiated cells were morphologically indistinguishable from stem cells and they functioned as well as their endogenous counterparts in repairing epithelial injury. Single secretory cells clonally dedifferentiated into multipotent stem cells when they were cultured ex vivo without basal stem cells. By contrast,direct contact with a single basal stem cell was sufficient to prevent secretory cell dedifferentiation. In analogy to classical descriptions of amphibian nuclear reprogramming,the propensity of committed cells to dedifferentiate is inversely correlated to their state of maturity. This capacity of committed cells to dedifferentiate into stem cells may have a more general role in the regeneration of many tissues and in multiple disease states,notably cancer. View Publication

Human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells have great potential in research and thera-pies. The current in vitro culture systems for human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) do not mimic the three-dimensional (3D) in vivo stem cell niche that transiently supports stem cell proliferation and is subject to changes which facilitate subsequent differentiation during development. Here,we demonstrate,for the first time,that a novel plant-derived nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) hydrogel creates a flexible 3D environment for hPSC culture. The pluripotency of hPSCs cultured in the NFC hydrogel was maintained for 26 days as evidenced by the expression of OCT4,NANOG,and SSEA-4,in vitro embryoid body formation and in vivo teratoma formation. The use of a cellulose enzyme,cellulase,enables easy cell propagation in 3D culture as well as a shift between 3D and two-dimensional cultures. More importantly,the removal of the NFC hydrogel facilitates differentiation while retaining 3D cell organization. Thus,the NFC hydrogel represents a flexible,xeno-free 3D culture system that supports pluripotency and will be useful in hPSC-based drug research and regenerative medicine. View Publication

Metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) is incurable for most patients. Since mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been suggested as a crucial modulator of tumor biology,we aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of mTOR targeting for CRC therapy. To this purpose,we analyzed mTOR expression and the effect of mTOR inhibition in cancer stem-like cells isolated from three human metastatic CRCs (CoCSCs). CoCSCs exhibited a strong mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) expression,and a rare expression of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1). This latter correlated with differentiation,being expressed in CoCSC-derived xenografts. We indicate Serum/glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) as the possible main mTORC2 effector in CoCSCs,as highlighted by the negative effect on cancer properties following its knockdown. mTOR inhibitors affected CoCSCs differently,resulting in proliferation,autophagy as well as apoptosis induction. The apoptosis-inducing mTOR inhibitor Torin-1 hindered growth,motility,invasion,and survival of CoCSCs in vitro,and suppressed tumor growth in vivo with a concomitant reduction in vessel formation. Torin-1 also affected the expression of markers for cell proliferation,angio-/lympho-genesis,and stemness in vivo,including Ki67,DLL1,DLL4,Notch,Lgr5,and CD44. Importantly,Torin-1 did not affect the survival of normal colon stem cells in vivo,suggesting its selectivity towards cancer cells. Thus,we propose Torin-1 as a powerful drug candidate for metastatic CRC therapy. View Publication

Development of resistance to therapy continues to be a serious clinical problem in breast cancer management. Cancer stem/progenitor cells have been shown to play roles in resistance to chemo? and radiotherapy. Here,we examined their role in the development of resistance to the oestrogen receptor antagonist tamoxifen. Tamoxifen?resistant cells were enriched for stem/progenitors and expressed high levels of the stem cell marker Sox2. Silencing of the SOX2 gene reduced the size of the stem/progenitor cell population and restored sensitivity to tamoxifen. Conversely,ectopic expression of Sox2 reduced tamoxifen sensitivity in vitro and in vivo. Gene expression profiling revealed activation of the Wnt signalling pathway in Sox2?expressing cells,and inhibition of Wnt signalling sensitized resistant cells to tamoxifen. Examination of patient tumours indicated that Sox2 levels are higher in patients after endocrine therapy failure,and also in the primary tumours of these patients,compared to those of responders. Together,these results suggest that development of tamoxifen resistance is driven by Sox2?dependent activation of Wnt signalling in cancer stem/progenitor cells. View Publication

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts,and can be preserved in vitro in a naive inner-cell-mass-like configuration by providing exogenous stimulation with leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and small molecule inhibition of ERK1/ERK2 and GSK3β signalling (termed 2i/LIF conditions). Hallmarks of naive pluripotency include driving Oct4 (also known as Pou5f1) transcription by its distal enhancer,retaining a pre-inactivation X chromosome state,and global reduction in DNA methylation and in H3K27me3 repressive chromatin mark deposition on developmental regulatory gene promoters. Upon withdrawal of 2i/LIF,naive mouse ES cells can drift towards a primed pluripotent state resembling that of the post-implantation epiblast. Although human ES cells share several molecular features with naive mouse ES cells,they also share a variety of epigenetic properties with primed murine epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs). These include predominant use of the proximal enhancer element to maintain OCT4 expression,pronounced tendency for X chromosome inactivation in most female human ES cells,increase in DNA methylation and prominent deposition of H3K27me3 and bivalent domain acquisition on lineage regulatory genes. The feasibility of establishing human ground state naive pluripotency in vitro with equivalent molecular and functional features to those characterized in mouse ES cells remains to be defined. Here we establish defined conditions that facilitate the derivation of genetically unmodified human naive pluripotent stem cells from already established primed human ES cells,from somatic cells through induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell reprogramming or directly from blastocysts. The novel naive pluripotent cells validated herein retain molecular characteristics and functional properties that are highly similar to mouse naive ES cells,and distinct from conventional primed human pluripotent cells. This includes competence in the generation of cross-species chimaeric mouse embryos that underwent organogenesis following microinjection of human naive iPS cells into mouse morulas. Collectively,our findings establish new avenues for regenerative medicine,patient-specific iPS cell disease modelling and the study of early human development in vitro and in vivo. View Publication

Stem cell differentiation is regulated by complex repertoires of signaling ligands which often use multivalent interactions,where multiple ligands tethered to one entity interact with multiple cellular receptors to yield oligomeric complexes. One such ligand is Sonic hedgehog (Shh),whose posttranslational lipid modifications and assembly into multimers enhance its biological potency,potentially through receptor clustering. Investigations of Shh typically utilize recombinant,monomeric protein,and thus the impact of multivalency on ligand potency is unexplored. Among its many activities,Shh is required for ventralization of the midbrain and forebrain and is therefore critical for the development of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) and forebrain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibitory neurons. We have designed multivalent biomaterials presenting Shh in defined spatial arrangements and investigated the role of Shh valency in ventral specification of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into these therapeutically relevant cell types. Multivalent Shh conjugates with optimal valencies,compared to the monomeric Shh,increased the percentages of neurons belonging to mDA or forebrain GABAergic fates from 33% to 60% or 52% to 86%,respectively. Thus,multivalent Shh bioconjugates can enhance neuronal lineage commitment of pluripotent stem cells and thereby facilitate efficient derivation of neurons that could be used to treat Parkinson's and epilepsy patients. View Publication

We describe here the effects of three drugs that are either approved or have the potential for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) patients through the in vitro activities of human natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells (DCs). Our results indicate that 1,25(OH)2D3,the biologically active metabolite of vitamin D3,calcipotriol and FTY720 augment IL-2-activated NK cell lysis of K562 and RAJI tumor cell lines as well as immature (i) and mature (m) DCs,with variable efficacies. These results are corroborated with the ability of the drugs to up-regulate the expression of NK cytotoxicity receptors NKp30 and NKp44,as well as NKG2D on the surfaces of NK cells. Also,they down-regulate the expression of the killer inhibitory receptor CD158. The three drugs down-regulate the expression of CCR6 on the surface of iDCs,whereas vitamin D3 and calcipotriol tend to up-regulate the expression of CCR7 on mDCs,suggesting that they may influence the migration of DCs into the lymph nodes. Finally,vitamin D3,calcipotriol and FTY720 enhance NK17/NK1 cell lysis of K562 cells,suggesting that a possible mechanism of action for these drugs is via activating these newly described cells. In conclusion,our results show novel mechanisms of action for vitamin D3,calcipotriol and FTY720 on cells of the innate immune system. View Publication