Multiple roles of mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 in tumorigenesis,stem cells,drug resistance,and cancer therapy

The transforming growth factor(TGF)-βsignaling pathway controls many cellular processes,including proliferation,differentiation,and apoptosis.Abnormalities in the TGF-βsignaling pathway and its components are closely related to the occurrence of many human diseases,including cancer.Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4(Smad4),also known as deleted in pancreatic cancer locus 4,is a typical tumor suppressor candidate gene locating at q21.1 of human chromosome 18 and the common mediator of the TGF-β/Smad and bone morphogenetic protein/Smad signaling pathways.It is believed that Smad4 inactivation correlates with the development of tumors and stem cell fate decisions.Smad4 also interacts with cytokines,miRNAs,and other signaling pathways,jointly regulating cell behavior.However,the regulatory function of Smad4 in tumorigenesis,stem cells,and drug resistance is currently controversial.In addition,Smad4 represents an attractive therapeutic target for cancer.Elucidating the specific role of Smad4 is important for understanding the mechanism of tumorigenesis and cancer treatment.Here,we review the identification and characterization of Smad4,the canonical TGF-β/Smad pathway,as well as the multiple roles of Smad4 in tumorigenesis,stem cells,and drug resistance.Furthermore,we provide novel insights into the prospects of Smad4-targeted cancer therapy and the challenges that it will face in the future.     

Activity identification of ribozyme and U1 snRNA chimeric ribozyme against TGFβ1 in cell-free system and in hepatic Stellate cells

The transforming growth factor (TGF) β1 are members of the essential, multifunctional family of cytokines. Of them, TGFβ1 is the most extensively studied and the best characterized. To current knowledge, TGFβ1 is known to be intimately involved in many…     

转化生长因子-β信号传导的Smad通路

转化生长因子-β(TGF-b)的信号传导主要通过激活Smad通路实现, Smads复合物与靶基因启动子结合完成对基因转录的调控作用. 多种转录共激活因子和转录共抑制因子与Smads直接结合, 从而协同参与Smads与基因启动子的结合以及对基因转录的调控. 泛素-蛋白水解酶复合体通路(UPP)对Smads的降解是Smad通路的终止机制. TGF- β也能激活MAPK通路等其他信号通路. Smad通路和其他信号通路之间的对话构成了TGF-β信号传导的复杂调节网络.     

A new interaction between Abi.1 and βPIX involved in PDGF.activated actin cytoskeleton reorganisation

Members of the Rho family of GTPases are key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. In particular, activated Racl stimulates membrane dorsal ruffle formation in response to platelet-derived growth factor （PDGF）. Abl-interactor （Abi）- 1 and βP1X, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Racl, localise at these Rac1-induced actin structures and play important roles in the induction of membrane dorsal ruffling in response to PDGF in fibroblasts. Here, we demonstrate a novel interaction between Abi-1 and βPIX using the yeast two-hybrid system, in vitro pull-down assays, and in vivo co-immunoprecipitation experiments. In vitro, the C-terminal fragment of βPIX interacted with Abi-1, while in vivo the N-terminal fragment of βPIX interacted with Abi-1. The biological function of this interaction was investigated in mouse fibroblasts in response to PDGF stimulation. Abi-1 and βPIX co-localised in the cytoplasm and to membrane dorsal ruffles after PDGF treatment. We show that the co-expression of Abi-1 and truncated forms of βPIX in mouse fibroblasts blocked PDGF-induced membrane dorsal ruffles. Together, these results show that the interaction between Abi-1 and βPIX is involved in the formation of growth factor-induced membrane dorsal ruffles.     

Neurotrophin signaling and visceral hypersensitivity

Neurotrophin family are traditionally recognized for their nerve growth promoting function and are recently identified as crucial factors in regulating neuronal activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The family members including nerve growth factor （NGF）, brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF）, and neurotrophin-3 （NT-3） are reported to have distinct roles in the development and maintenance of sensory phenotypes in normal states and in the modulation of sensory activity in disease. This paper highlights receptor tyrosine kinase （Trk） -mediated signal transduction by which neurotrophins regulate neuronal activity in the visceral sensory reflex pathways with emphasis on the distinct roles of NGF and BDNF signaling in physiologic and pathophysiological processes. Viscero-visceral cross-organ sensitization exists widely in human diseases. The role of neurotrophins in mediating neural cross talk and interaction in primary afferent neurons in the dorsal root ganglia （DRG） and neurotrophin signal transduction in the context of cross-organ sensitization are also discussed.     

Roles of insulin-like growth factor Ⅱ in regulating female reproductive physiology

The number of growth factors involved in female fertility has been extensively studied, but reluctance to add essential growth factors in culture media has limited progress in optimizing embryonic growth and implantation outcomes, a situation that has ultimately led to reduced pregnancy outcomes. Insulin-like growth factor Ⅱ(IGF-Ⅱ) is the most intricately regulated of all known reproduction-related growth factors characterized to date, and is perhaps the predominant growth factor in human ovarian follicles. This review aims to concisely summarize what is known about the role of IGF-Ⅱ in follicular development, oocyte maturation, embryonic development, implantation success, placentation, fetal growth, and in reducing placental cell apoptosis, as well as present strategies that use growth factors in culture systems to improve the developmental potential of oocytes and embryos in different species. Synthesizing the present knowledge about the physiological roles of IGF-Ⅱ in follicular development, oocyte maturation, and early embryonic development should, on the one hand, deepen our overall understanding of the potential beneficial effects of growth factors in female reproduction and on the other hand support development(optimization) of improved outcomes for assisted reproductive technologies.     

Comparative genetic analysis of,Arabidopsis purple acid phosphatases AtPAP10, AtPAP12, and AtPAP26 provides new insights into their roles in plant adaptation to phosphate deprivation

Induction and secretion of acid phosphatases （APases） is thought to be an adaptive mechanism that helps plants survive and grow under phosphate （Pi） deprivation, in Arabidopsis, there are 29 purple acid phosphatase （AtPAP） genes. To systematically investigate the roles of different AtPAPs, we first identified knockout or knock-down T-DNA lines for all 29 AtPAP genes. Using these atpap mutants combined with in-gel and quantitative APase enzyme assays, we demonstrated that AtPAP12 and AtPAP26 are two major intracellular and secreted APases in Arabidopsis while AtPAPlo is mainly a secreted APase. On Pi-deficient （P-） medium or P- medium supplemented with the organophosphates ADP and fructose-6-phosphate （Fru-6-P）, growth of atpaplo was significantly reduced whereas growth of atpap12 was only moderately reduced, and growth of atpap26 was nearly equal to that of the wild type （WT）. Overexpression of the AtPAP12 or AtPAP26 gene, however, caused plants to grow better on P- or P- medium supplemented with ADP or Fru-6-P. Interest-ingly, Pi levels are essentially the same for the WT and overexpressing lines, although these two types of plants have significantly different growth phenotypes. These results suggest that the APases may have other roles besides enhancing internal Pi recycling or releasing Pi from external organophosphates for plant uptake.     

Paracrine signaling in stem cell renewal and in neoplastic tumor growth

Paracrine pathway activities are being increasingly recognized as instrumental regulatory mechanisms of epithelial-stromal interactions that play important roles in physiological and pathological self-renewal of stem cells and in the initiation and maintenance of neoplastic tumor development.Stromal-specific Hedgehog(Hh)responses and epithelial-associated Wnt pathway activities have been recently appreciated as important factors in stem cell self-renewal and carcinogenesis.Furthermore,Hh and Wnt pathways frequently crosstalk with each other to regulate the growth of epithelial cells in a context-dependent manner.Because small molecule modulators of Hh and Wnt pathway activities are readily available,emerging roles of Hh-Wnt pathway crosstalk in epithelial-stromal interactions will shed light on the development of regenerative and anti-cancer medicines.     

Proliferation and tenogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in a porous collagen sponge scaffold

BACKGROUND Collagen is one of the most commonly used natural biomaterials for tendon tissue engineering.One of the possible practical ways to further enhance tendon repair is to combine a porous collagen sponge scaffold with a suitable growth factor or cytokine that has an inherent ability to promote the recruitment,proliferation,and tenogenic differentiation of cells.However,there is an incomplete understanding of which growth factors are sufficient and optimal for the tenogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs)in a collagen sponge-based 3D culture system.AIM To identify one or more ideal growth factors that benefit the proliferation and tenogenic differentiation of rat BMSCs in a porous collagen sponge scaffold.METHODS We constructed a 3D culture system based on a type I collagen sponge scaffold.The surface topography of the collagen sponge scaffold was observed by scanning electron microscopy.Primary BMSCs were isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats.Cell survival on the surfaces of the scaffolds with different growth factors was assessed by live/dead assay and CCK-8 assay.The mRNA and protein expression levels were confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot,respectively.The deposited collagen was assessed by Sirius Red staining.RESULTS Transforming growth factorβ1(TGF-β1)showed great promise in the tenogenic differentiation of BMSCs compared to growth differentiation factor 7(GDF-7)and insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF-1)in both the 2D and 3D cultures,and the 3D culture enhanced the differentiation of BMSCs into tenocytes well beyond the level of induction in the 2D culture after TGF-β1 treatment.In the 2D culture,the proliferation of the BMSCs showed no significant changes compared to the control group after TGF-β1,IGF-1,or GDF-7 treatment.However,TGF-β1 and GDF-7 could increase the cell proliferation in the 3D culture.Strangely,we also found more dead cells in the BMSC-collagen sponge constructs that were treated with TGF-β1.Moreover,TGF-β1 promoted more collagen deposition in both the 2D and 3D cultures.CONCLUSION Collagen sponge-based 3D culture with TGF-β1 enhances the responsiveness of the proliferation and tenogenic differentiation of rat BMSCs.