Histone deacetylase inhibition alters dendritic cells to assume a tolerogenic phenotype and ameliorates arthritis in SKG mice

Introduction  

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of histone deacetylase inhibition on the phenotype and function of dendritic cells and on arthritis in SKG mice.     

Comprehensive characterization of neuroblastoma cell line subtypes reveals bilineage potential similar to neural crest stem cells

Background  

Neuroblastic tumors (NBT) derive from neural crest stem cells (NCSC). Histologically, NBT are composed by neuroblasts and Schwannian cells. In culture, neuroblastic (N-), substrate-adherent (S-) and intermediate phenotype (I-) cell subtypes arise spontaneously.     

Influence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">RAR</Emphasis> α gene on <Emphasis Type="Italic">MDR1</Emphasis> expression and P-glycoprotein function in human leukemic cells

Background  

Multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype of malignant cells is the major problem in the chemotherapy of neoplasia. The treatment of leukemia with retinoids is aimed on the induction of leukemic cells differentiation. However the interconnections between retinoid regulated differentiation of leukemic cells and regulation of MDR remains unclear.     

Validation of a constraint-based model of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia pastoris</Emphasis> metabolism under data scarcity

Background  

Constraint-based models enable structured cellular representations in which intracellular kinetics are circumvented. These models, combined with experimental data, are useful analytical tools to estimate the state exhibited (the phenotype) by the cells at given pseudo-steady conditions.     

Proteome-level display by 2-dimensional chromatography of extracellular matrix-dependent modulation of the phenotype of bladder cancer cells

Background  

The extracellular matrix can have a profound effect upon the phenotype of cancer cells. Previous work has shown that growth of bladder cancer cells on a matrix derived from normal basement membrane suppresses many malignant features that are displayed when the cells are grown on a matrix that has been modified by malignant tumors. This work was undertaken to investigate proteome-level changes as determined by a new commercially available proteome display involving 2-dimensional chromatography for bladder cancer cells grown on different extracellular matrix preparations that modulate the expression of the malignant phenotype.     

Rheumatoid synovial fluid interleukin-17-producing CD4 T cells have abundant tumor necrosis factor-alpha co-expression,but little interleukin-22 and interleukin-23R expression

Introduction  

Th17 cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to systematically analyse the phenotype, cytokine profile and frequency of interleukin-17 (IL-17) producing CD4-positive T cells in mononuclear cells isolated from peripheral blood, synovial fluid and synovial tissue of RA patients with established disease, and to correlate cell frequencies with disease activity.     

Computational investigation of epithelial cell dynamic phenotype in vitro

Background  

When grown in three-dimensional (3D) cultures, epithelial cells typically form cystic organoids that recapitulate cardinal features of in vivo epithelial structures. Characterizing essential cell actions and their roles, which constitute the system's dynamic phenotype, is critical to gaining deeper insight into the cystogenesis phenomena.     

Spontaneous focal activation of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in mouse liver and kidney

Background  

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells differ from other T cells by their hyperactive effector T-cell status, in addition to the expression of NK lineage receptors and semi-invariant T-cell receptors. It is generally agreed that the immune phenotype of iNKT cells is maintained by repeated activation in peripheral tissues although no explicit evidence for such iNKT cell activity in vivo has so far been reported.     

Cancer treatments transform residual cancer cell phenotype

Background  

Physiologic wound repair and tissue regeneration are associated with distinct cellular behaviors triggered by tissue damage. Normally quiescent stem cells proliferate to regenerate damaged tissue, while relatively immobile epithelial cells can transform into a motile, tissue invasive phenotype through a partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition. These distinct cellular behaviors may have particular relevance to how cancer cells can be predicted to behave after treatments damaging a tumor.     

FoxP3 and Bcl-xL cooperatively promote regulatory T cell persistence and prevention of arthritis development

Introduction  

Forkhead box p3 (FoxP3)-expressing regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been clearly implicated in the control of autoimmune disease in murine models. In addition, ectopic expression of FoxP3 conveys a Treg phenotype to CD4⁺ T cells, lending itself to therapeutic use in the prevention of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this study, we generated therapeutically active Tregs with an increased life span and hence greater therapeutic potential.     

Transcriptional profiling of bovine intervertebral disc cells: implications for identification of normal and degenerate human intervertebral disc cell phenotypes

Introduction  

Nucleus pulposus (NP) cells have a phenotype similar to articular cartilage (AC) cells. However, the matrix of the NP is clearly different to that of AC suggesting that specific cell phenotypes exist. The aim of this study was to identify novel genes that could be used to distinguish bovine NP cells from AC and annulus fibrosus (AF) cells, and to further determine their expression in normal and degenerate human intervertebral disc (IVD) cells.     

Catabolic efficiency of aerobic glycolysis: The Warburg effect revisited

Background  

Cancer cells simultaneously exhibit glycolysis with lactate secretion and mitochondrial respiration even in the presence of oxygen, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. The maintenance of this mixed metabolic phenotype is seemingly counterintuitive given that aerobic glycolysis is far less efficient in terms of ATP yield per moles of glucose than mitochondrial respiration.     

Exogenous Cx43 expression decrease cell proliferation rate in rat hepatocarcinoma cells independently of functional gap junction

Background  

Gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) is considered to play a role in the regulation of homeostasis because it regulates important processes, such as cell proliferation and cell differentiation. A reduced or lost GJIC capacity has been observed in solid tumors and studies have demonstrated that GJIC restoration in tumor cells contribute to reversion of the transformed phenotype. This observation supports the idea that restoration of the functional channel is essential in this process. However, in the last years, reports have proposed that just the increase in the expression of specific connexins can contribute to reversion of the malign phenotype in some tumor cells. In the present work, we studied the effects of exogenous Connexin 43 (Cx43) expression on the proliferative behavior and phenotype of rat hepatocarcinoma cells.     

Loss of cellular adhesion to matrix induces p53-independent expression of PTEN tumor suppressor

Background  

The tumor suppressor gene PTEN has been found mutated in many types of advanced tumors. When introduced into tumor cells that lack the wild-type allele of the gene, exogenous PTEN was able to suppress their ability to grow anchorage-independently, and thus reverted one of the typical characteristics of tumor cells. As these findings indicated that PTEN might be involved in the regulation of anchorage-dependent cell growth, we analyzed this aspect of PTEN function in non-tumor cells with an anchorage-dependent phenotype.     

The chemopreventive properties of chlorogenic acid reveal a potential new role for the microsomal glucose-6-phosphate translocase in brain tumor progression

Background  

Chlorogenic acid (CHL), the most potent functional inhibitor of the microsomal glucose-6-phosphate translocase (G6PT), is thought to possess cancer chemopreventive properties. It is not known, however, whether any G6PT functions are involved in tumorigenesis. We investigated the effects of CHL and the potential role of G6PT in regulating the invasive phenotype of brain tumor-derived glioma cells.     

Effect of 5-azacytidine and galectin-1 on growth and differentiation of the human b lymphoma cell line bl36

Background  

5-AzaCytidine (AzaC) is a DNA demethylating drugs that has been shown to inhibit cell growth and to induce apoptosis in certain cancer cells. Induced expression of the galectin1 (Gal1) protein, a galactoside-binding protein distributed widely in immune cells, has been described in cultured hepatoma-derived cells treated with AzaC and this event may have a role in the effect of the drug. According to this hypothesis, we investigated the effect of AzaC and Gal1 on human lymphoid B cells phenotype.     

Expression and loss of alleles in cultured mouse embryonic fibroblasts and stem cells carrying allelic fluorescent protein genes

Background  

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) contributes to many cancers, but the rate at which these events occur in normal cells of the body is not clear. LOH would be detectable in diverse cell types in the body if this event were to confer an obvious cellular phenotype. Mice that carry two different fluorescent protein genes as alleles of a locus would seem to be a useful tool for addressing this issue because LOH would change a cell's phenotype from dichromatic to monochromatic. In addition, LOH caused by mitotic crossing over might be discernable in tissues because this event produces a pair of neighboring monochromatic cells that are different colors.     

Compensatory evolution for a gene deletion is not limited to its immediate functional network

Background  

Genetic disruption of an important phenotype should favor compensatory mutations that restore the phenotype. If the genetic basis of the phenotype is modular, with a network of interacting genes whose functions are specific to that phenotype, compensatory mutations are expected among the genes of the affected network. This perspective was tested in the bacteriophage T3 using a genome deleted of its DNA ligase gene, disrupting DNA metabolism.     

A methodology for distinguishing divergent cell fates within a common progenitor population: adenoma- and neuroendocrine-like cells are confounders of rat ileal epithelial cell (IEC-18) culture

Background  

IEC-18 cells are a non-transformed, immortal cell line derived from juvenile rat ileal crypt cells. They may have experimental advantages over tumor-derived gastrointestinal lineages, including preservation of phenotype, normal endocrine responses and retention of differentiation potential. However, their proclivity for spontaneous differentiation / transformation may be stereotypical and could represent a more profound experimental confounder than previously realized. We hypothesized that IEC-18 cells spontaneously diverge towards a uniform mixture of epigenetic fates, with corresponding phenotypes, rather than persist as a single progenitor lineage.     

Notochordal conditioned media from tissue increases proteoglycan accumulation and promotes a healthy nucleus pulposus phenotype in human mesenchymal stem cells

Introduction  

Notochordal cells (NCs) are influential in development of the intervertebral disc (IVD) and species that retain NCs do not degenerate. IVD repair using bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is an attractive approach and the harsh microenvironment of the IVD suggests pre-differentiation is a necessary first step. The goal of this study was to use soluble factors from NCs in alginate and NCs in their native tissue to differentiate human MSCs to a young nucleus pulposus (NP) phenotype.