Adiponectin inhibits induction of TNF-alpha/RANKL-stimulated NFATc1 via the AMPK signaling

We investigated here whether adiponectin can exhibit an inhibitory effect on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)- and receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis by using RAW264 cell D clone with a high efficiency to form osteoclasts. Globular adiponectin (gAd) strongly inhibited TNF-alpha/RANKL-induced differentiation of osteoclasts by interfering with TNF receptor-associated factor 6 production and calcium signaling; consequently, the induction of nuclear factor of activated T cells c1 (NFATc1) was strongly inhibited. Moreover, we observed that inhibition of AMP-activated protein kinase abrogated gAd inhibition for TNF-alpha/RANKL-induced NFATc1 expression. Our data suggest that adiponectin acts as a potent regulator of bone resorption observed in diseases associated with cytokine activation.     

Platelet-activating factor-induced NF-kappaB activation enhances VEGF expression through a decrease in p53 activity

We investigated the role of p53 in nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB dependent, platelet-activating factor (PAF)-induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Transfected NF-kappaB subunits in ECV304 cells increased the tumor necrosis factor-alpha promoter activity, which was completely inhibited by p53. Transfected p53 increased p53RE promoter activity, which was completely inhibited by NF-kappaB subunits, indicating that cross-regulation occurs between NF-kappaB and p53. PAF-induced increase in VEGF expression was correlated with decreased p53 activity. These data suggest that NF-kappaB-dependency of the PAF-induced increase in VEGF expression is due to decreased p53 activity, which is reciprocally regulated by increased NF-kappaB activity.     

Dendritic cells in colorectal cancer correlate with other tumor-infiltrating immune cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most efficient antigen-presenting cells and play a key role in a cellular antitumor immune response. In this study we investigated the exact localization of DCs within colorectal tumors and their relationship to tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes as well as clinical outcome of the patients. Primary tumor specimens of 104 patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer were identified retrospectively and analyzed with the dendritic cell markers S-100 protein and human leukocyte antigens (HLA) class II. The markers were individually combined with laminin as a second marker to facilitate the observation of the different tumor localizations. S-100 or HLA class II positive cells were found in the three different compartments of colorectal tumors: tumor epithelium, tumor stroma, and advancing tumor margin, but mainly present in tumor stroma and advancing tumor margin. S-100-positive tumor-infiltrating DCs in direct contact with tumor cells, i.e., in tumor epithelium, significantly correlated to the intraepithelial infiltration of CD4+ (p=0.02) and CD8+ (p=0.01) lymphocytes. High HLA class II+ cell infiltration in the tumor stroma correlated to a lower intraepithelial infiltration of CD8+ (p=0.02) lymphocytes. High intraepithelial infiltration of S-100-positive DCs suggested increased disease-free survival, but was not statistically significant, while high amounts of HLA class II+ cells in the tumor stroma correlated with an adverse survival outcome. Our results show that the infiltration of DCs in colorectal cancer, depending on both location and type of marker, is correlated with local immune interactions and patient prognosis, suggesting a central role for DCs in controlling local tumor immunity.     

FOXQ1在肝癌中的临床意义及其对SMMC-7721细胞体外血管形成的影响

探讨叉头框蛋白Q1(forkhead box Q1, FOXQ1)基因在肝癌中的临床意义及对肝癌细胞体外血管生成作用.利用 qRT-PCR法及Western印迹法,检测24例肝癌、癌旁组织、正常肝细胞L02及肝癌细胞SMMC-7721中FOXQ1的mRNA和蛋白质的表达;利用免疫组织化学法检测68例肝癌及癌旁组织中FOXQ1的蛋白质表达.合成shRNA-FOXQ1及shRNA-NC慢病毒,转染到SMMC-7721细胞.用体外血管生成实验检测转染shRNA-FOXQ1的肝癌细胞血管生成能力. 用qRT-PCR和Western印迹法检测细胞间FOXQ1、VEGF基因和蛋白质的表达.结果显示,癌组织和SMMC-7721细胞中FOXQ1 mRNA和蛋白质的表达均高于癌旁组织和正常肝细胞(P<0.05),FOXQ1蛋白的表达与TNM分期、肿瘤分化程度、肿瘤数目、肿瘤大小等参数差异显著(P<0.05).shRNA-FOXQ1组血管生成能力明显低于shRNA-NC组和空白组(P<0.05),FOXQ1、VEGF基因和蛋白质的表达也明显低于shRNA-NC组和空白组(P<0.05).研究结果证实,FOXQ1在肝癌中高表达,如果沉默FOXQ1的表达可抑制肝癌细胞血管生成,与肝癌的临床病理特征密切相关.     

Angiotensin II modulates interleukin-1β-induced inflammatory gene expression in vascular smooth muscle cells via interfering with ERK-NF-κB crosstalk

Angiotensin II is implicated in cardiovascular diseases, which is associated with a role in increasing vascular inflammation. The present study investigated how angiotensin II modulates vascular inflammatory signaling and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1. In cultured rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), angiotensin II suppressed interleukin-1β-induced prolonged phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK)-1, and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, leading to decreased iNOS but enhanced VCAM-1 expression, associated with an up-regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 expression. Knock-down of RSK1 selectively down regulated interleukin-1β-induced iNOS expression without influencing VCAM-1 expression. In vivo experiments showed that interleukin-1β, iNOS, and VCAM-1 expression were detectable in the aortic arches of both wild-type and apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE^−/−) mice. VCAM-1 and iNOS expression were higher in ApoE^−/− than in wild type mouse aortic arches. Angiotensin II infusion (3.2 mg/kg/day, for 6 days, via subcutaneous osmotic pump) in ApoE^−/− mice enhanced endothelial and adventitial VCAM-1 and iNOS expression, but reduced medial smooth muscle iNOS expression associated with reduced phosphorylation of ERK and RSK-1. These results indicate that angiotensin II can differentially modulate inflammatory gene expression in aortic smooth muscle cells through influencing ERK-NF-κB crosstalk, which may contribute to angiotensin II-induced inflammatory disorders related to cardiovascular diseases.     

Semaphorin-plexin signalling genes associated with human breast tumourigenesis

Introduction

Gene expression profiling has enabled us to demonstrate the heterogeneity of breast cancers. The potential of a tumour to grow and metastasise is partly dependant on its ability to initiate angiogenesis or growth and remodelling of new blood vessels, usually from a pre-existing vascular network, to ensure delivery of oxygen, nutrients, and growth factors to rapidly dividing transformed cells along with access to the systemic circulation. Cell-cell signalling of semaphorin ligands through interaction with their plexin receptors is important for the homeostasis and morphogenesis of many tissues and has been widely studied for a role in neural connectivity, cancer, cell migration and immune responses. This study investigated the role of four semaphorin/plexin signalling genes in human breast cancers in vivo and in vitro.

Materials and methods

mRNA was extracted from formalin fixed paraffin embedded archival breast invasive ductal carcinoma tissue samples of progressive grades (grades I-III) and compared to tissue from benign tumours. Gene expression profiles were determined by microarray using the Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Arrays and validated by Q-PCR using a Corbett RotorGene 6000. Following validation, the gene expression profile of the identified targets was correlated with those of the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MD-231.

Results

The array data revealed that 888 genes were found to be significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differentially expressed between grades I and II tumours and 563 genes between grade III and benign tumours. From these genes, we identified four genes involved in semaphorin-plexin signalling including SEMA4D which has previously been identified as being involved in increased angiogenesis in breast cancers, and three other genes, SEMA4F, PLXNA2 and PLXNA3, which in the literature were associated with tumourigenesis, but not directly in breast tumourigenesis. The microarray analysis revealed that SEMA4D was significantly (P = 0.0347) down-regulated in the grade III tumours compared to benign tumours; SEMA4F, was significantly (P = 0.0159) down-regulated between grades I and II tumours; PLXNA2 was significantly (P = 0.036) down-regulated between grade III and benign tumours and PLXNA3 significantly (P = 0.042) up-regulated between grades I and II tumours. Gene expression of SEMA4D was validated using Q-PCR, demonstrating the same expression profile in both data sets. When the sample set was increased to incorporate more cases, SEMA4D continued to follow the same expression profile, including statistical significance for the differences observed and small standard deviations. In vitro the same pattern was present where expression for SEMA4D was significantly higher in MDA-MB-231 cells when compared to MCF-7 cells. The expression of SEMA4F, PLXNA2 and PLXNA3 could not be validated using Q-PCR, however in vitro analysis of these three genes revealed that both SEMA4F and PLXNA3 followed the microarray trend in expression, although they did not reach significance. In contrast, PLXNA2 demonstrated statistical significance and was in concordance with the literature.

Discussion

We, and others, have proposed SEMA4D to be a gene with a potentially protective effect in benign tumours that contributes to tumour growth and metastatic suppression. Previous data supports a role for SEMA4F as a tumour suppressor in the peripheral nervous system but our data seems to indicate that the gene is involved in tumour progression in breast cancer. Our in vitro analysis of PLXNA2 revealed that the gene has higher expression in more aggressive breast cancer cell types. Finally, our in vitro analysis on PLXNA3 also suggest that this gene may have some form of growth suppressive role in breast cancer, in addition to a similar role for the gene previously reported in ovarian cancer. From the data obtained in this study, SEMA4D may have a role in more aggressive and potentially metastatic breast tumours.

Conclusions

Semaphorins and their receptors, the plexins, have been implicated in numerous aspects of neural development, however their expression in many other epithelial tissues suggests that the semaphorin-plexin signalling system also contributes to blood vessel growth and development. These findings warrant further investigation of the role of semaphorins and plexins and their role in normal and tumour-induced angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro. This may represent a new front of attack in anti-angiogenic therapies of breast and other cancers.     

Positioning the expanded akirin gene family of Atlantic salmon within the transcriptional networks of myogenesis

Vertebrate akirin genes usually form a family with one-to-three members that regulate gene expression during the innate immune response, carcinogenesis and myogenesis. We recently established that an expanded family of eight akirin genes is conserved across salmonid fish. Here, we measured mRNA levels of the akirin family of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) during the differentiation of primary myoblasts cultured from fast-skeletal muscle. Using hierarchical clustering and correlation, the data was positioned into a network of expression profiles including twenty further genes that regulate myogenesis. akirin1(2b) was not significantly regulated during the maturation of the cell culture. akirin2(1a) and 2(1b), along with IGF-II and several igfbps, were most highly expressed in mononuclear cells, then significantly and constitutively downregulated as differentiation proceeded and myotubes formed/matured. Conversely, akirin1(1a), 1(1b), 1(2a), 2(2a) and 2(2b) were expressed at lowest levels when mononuclear cells dominated the culture and highest levels when confluent layers of myotubes were evident. However, akirin1(2a) and 2(2a) were first upregulated earlier than akirin1(1a), 1(1b) and 2(2b), when rates of myoblast proliferation were highest. Interestingly, akirin1(1b), 1(2a), 2(2a) and 2(2b) formed part of a module of co-expressed genes involved in muscle differentiation, including myod1a, myog, mef2a, 14-3-3β and 14-3-3γ. All akirin paralogues were expressed ubiquitously across ten tissues, although mRNA levels were regulated between cell-types and family members. Gene expression patterns were often highly correlated between akirin paralogues, suggesting that natural selection has maintained an intricate network of co-regulation among family members. We concluded that the Atlantic salmon akirin family performs a multifaceted role during myogenesis and has physiological functions spanning many cell-types.