Browsing by Subject "Transplantation, Heterologous"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    G-protein-coupled receptor genes as protooncogenes: constitutively activating mutation of the alpha 1B-adrenergic receptor enhances mitogenesis and tumorigenicity.
    (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1991-12-15) Allen, LF; Lefkowitz, RJ; Caron, MG; Cotecchia, S
    The alpha 1B-adrenergic receptor (alpha 1B-ADR) is a member of the G-protein-coupled family of transmembrane receptors. When transfected into Rat-1 and NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, this receptor induces focus formation in an agonist-dependent manner. Focus-derived, transformed fibroblasts exhibit high levels of functional alpha 1B-ADR expression, demonstrate a catecholamine-induced enhancement in the rate of cellular proliferation, and are tumorigenic when injected into nude mice. Induction of neoplastic transformation by the alpha 1B-ADR, therefore, identifies this normal cellular gene as a protooncogene. Mutational alteration of this receptor can lead to activation of this protooncogene, resulting in an enhanced ability of agonist to induce focus formation with a decreased latency and quantitative increase in transformed foci. In contrast to cells expressing the wild-type alpha 1B-ADR, focus formation in "oncomutant"-expressing cell lines appears constitutively activated with the generation of foci in unstimulated cells. Further, these cell lines exhibit near-maximal rates of proliferation even in the absence of catecholamine supplementation. They also demonstrate an enhanced ability for tumor generation in nude mice with a decreased period of latency compared with cells expressing the wild-type receptor. Thus, the alpha 1B-ADR gene can, when overexpressed and activated, function as an oncogene inducing neoplastic transformation. Mutational alteration of this receptor gene can result in the activation of this protooncogene, enhancing its oncogenic potential. These findings suggest that analogous spontaneously occurring mutations in this class of receptor proteins could play a key role in the induction or progression of neoplastic transformation and atherosclerosis.
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    Localisation of [131I]MIBG in nude mice bearing SK-N-SH human neuroblastoma xenografts: effect of specific activity.
    (Br J Cancer, 1996-05) Vaidyanathan, G; Friedman, HS; Keir, ST; Zalutsky, MR
    The biodistribution of no-carrier-added (n.c.a.) meta-[131I]iodobenzylguanidine ([131I]MIBG) and that prepared by the standard isotopic exchange method were compared in athymic mice bearing SK-N-SH human neuroblastoma xenografts. No advantage in tumour uptake was observed for the n.c.a. preparation. BALB/c nu/nu mice exhibited lower uptake in highly innervated normal tissues (heart and adrenals) than normal BALB/c mice. In another experiment, the distribution of n.c.a. [131I]MIBG in the absence or presence (3-9 micrograms) of MIBG carrier was determined. At both 4 h and 24 h, the heart uptake was reduced by a factor of 1.5 even at a dose of 3 micrograms MIBG. Tumour uptake was not significantly altered by various amounts of unlabelled MIBG at either time point.
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    MicroRNA antagonism of the picornaviral life cycle: alternative mechanisms of interference.
    (PLoS Pathog, 2010-03-19) Kelly, Elizabeth J; Hadac, Elizabeth M; Cullen, Bryan R; Russell, Stephen J
    In addition to modulating the function and stability of cellular mRNAs, microRNAs can profoundly affect the life cycles of viruses bearing sequence complementary targets, a finding recently exploited to ameliorate toxicities of vaccines and oncolytic viruses. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying microRNA-mediated antiviral activity, we modified the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of Coxsackievirus A21 to incorporate targets with varying degrees of homology to endogenous microRNAs. We show that microRNAs can interrupt the picornavirus life-cycle at multiple levels, including catalytic degradation of the viral RNA genome, suppression of cap-independent mRNA translation, and interference with genome encapsidation. In addition, we have examined the extent to which endogenous microRNAs can suppress viral replication in vivo and how viruses can overcome this inhibition by microRNA saturation in mouse cancer models.
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    Red blood cell phenotype fidelity following glycerol cryopreservation optimized for research purposes.
    (PloS one, 2018-01) Rogers, Stephen C; Dosier, Laura B; McMahon, Timothy J; Zhu, Hongmei; Timm, David; Zhang, Hengtao; Herbert, Joseph; Atallah, Jacqueline; Palmer, Gregory M; Cook, Asa; Ernst, Melanie; Prakash, Jaya; Terng, Mark; Towfighi, Parhom; Doctor, Reid; Said, Ahmed; Joens, Matthew S; Fitzpatrick, James AJ; Hanna, Gabi; Lin, Xue; Reisz, Julie A; Nemkov, Travis; D'Alessandro, Angelo; Doctor, Allan
    Intact red blood cells (RBCs) are required for phenotypic analyses. In order to allow separation (time and location) between subject encounter and sample analysis, we developed a research-specific RBC cryopreservation protocol and assessed its impact on data fidelity for key biochemical and physiological assays. RBCs drawn from healthy volunteers were aliquotted for immediate analysis or following glycerol-based cryopreservation, thawing, and deglycerolization. RBC phenotype was assessed by (1) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and standard morphometric RBC indices, (2) osmotic fragility, (3) deformability, (4) endothelial adhesion, (5) oxygen (O2) affinity, (6) ability to regulate hypoxic vasodilation, (7) nitric oxide (NO) content, (8) metabolomic phenotyping (at steady state, tracing with [1,2,3-13C3]glucose ± oxidative challenge with superoxide thermal source; SOTS-1), as well as in vivo quantification (following human to mouse RBC xenotransfusion) of (9) blood oxygenation content mapping and flow dynamics (velocity and adhesion). Our revised glycerolization protocol (40% v/v final) resulted in >98.5% RBC recovery following freezing (-80°C) and thawing (37°C), with no difference compared to the standard reported method (40% w/v final). Full deglycerolization (>99.9% glycerol removal) of 40% v/v final samples resulted in total cumulative lysis of ~8%, compared to ~12-15% with the standard method. The post cryopreservation/deglycerolization RBC phenotype was indistinguishable from that for fresh RBCs with regard to physical RBC parameters (morphology, volume, and density), osmotic fragility, deformability, endothelial adhesivity, O2 affinity, vasoregulation, metabolomics, and flow dynamics. These results indicate that RBC cryopreservation/deglycerolization in 40% v/v glycerol final does not significantly impact RBC phenotype (compared to fresh cells).
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    Targeting A20 decreases glioma stem cell survival and tumor growth.
    (PLoS Biol, 2010-02-23) Hjelmeland, AB; Wu, Q; Wickman, S; Eyler, C; Heddleston, J; Shi, Q; Lathia, JD; Macswords, J; Lee, J; McLendon, RE; Rich, JN
    Glioblastomas are deadly cancers that display a functional cellular hierarchy maintained by self-renewing glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). GSCs are regulated by molecular pathways distinct from the bulk tumor that may be useful therapeutic targets. We determined that A20 (TNFAIP3), a regulator of cell survival and the NF-kappaB pathway, is overexpressed in GSCs relative to non-stem glioblastoma cells at both the mRNA and protein levels. To determine the functional significance of A20 in GSCs, we targeted A20 expression with lentiviral-mediated delivery of short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Inhibiting A20 expression decreased GSC growth and survival through mechanisms associated with decreased cell-cycle progression and decreased phosphorylation of p65/RelA. Elevated levels of A20 in GSCs contributed to apoptotic resistance: GSCs were less susceptible to TNFalpha-induced cell death than matched non-stem glioma cells, but A20 knockdown sensitized GSCs to TNFalpha-mediated apoptosis. The decreased survival of GSCs upon A20 knockdown contributed to the reduced ability of these cells to self-renew in primary and secondary neurosphere formation assays. The tumorigenic potential of GSCs was decreased with A20 targeting, resulting in increased survival of mice bearing human glioma xenografts. In silico analysis of a glioma patient genomic database indicates that A20 overexpression and amplification is inversely correlated with survival. Together these data indicate that A20 contributes to glioma maintenance through effects on the glioma stem cell subpopulation. Although inactivating mutations in A20 in lymphoma suggest A20 can act as a tumor suppressor, similar point mutations have not been identified through glioma genomic sequencing: in fact, our data suggest A20 may function as a tumor enhancer in glioma through promotion of GSC survival. A20 anticancer therapies should therefore be viewed with caution as effects will likely differ depending on the tumor type.
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    Tocopherol-associated protein suppresses prostate cancer cell growth by inhibition of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway.
    (Cancer research, 2005-11) Ni, Jing; Wen, Xingqiao; Yao, Jorge; Chang, Hong-Chiang; Yin, Yi; Zhang, Min; Xie, Shaozhen; Chen, Ming; Simons, Brenna; Chang, Philip; di Sant'Agnese, Anthony; Messing, Edward M; Yeh, Shuyuan
    Epidemiologic studies suggested that vitamin E has a protective effect against prostate cancer. We showed here that tocopherol-associated protein (TAP), a vitamin E-binding protein, promoted vitamin E uptake and facilitated vitamin E antiproliferation effect in prostate cancer cells. Interestingly, without vitamin E treatment, overexpression of TAP in prostate cancer cells significantly suppressed cell growth; knockdown of endogenous TAP by TAP small interfering RNA (siRNA) in nonmalignant prostate HPr-1 cells increased cell growth. Further mechanism dissection studies suggested that the tumor suppressor function of TAP was via down-regulation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling, but not by modulating cell cycle arrest or androgen receptor signaling. Immunoprecipitation results indicated that TAP inhibited the interaction of PI3K subunits, p110 with p85, and subsequently reduced Akt activity. Constitutively active Akt could negate the TAP-suppressive activity on prostate cancer cell growth. Moreover, stable transfection of TAP in LNCaP cells suppressed LNCaP tumor incidence and growth rate in nude mice. Furthermore, TAP mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly down-regulated in human prostate cancer tissue samples compared with benign prostate tissues as measured by reverse transcription-PCR, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry. Together, our data suggest that TAP not only mediates vitamin E absorption to facilitate vitamin E antiproliferation effect in prostate cancer cells, but also functions like a tumor suppressor gene to control cancer cell viability through a non-vitamin E manner. Therefore, TAP may represent a new prognostic marker for prostate cancer progression.