免疫系统人源化小鼠模型构建技术探讨

探讨免疫系统人源化小鼠模型构建技术的方法和技巧,能够提高免疫系统人源化小鼠模型构建的成功率,并为后续的肿瘤免疫治疗药物研发提供临床前动物模型。利用不同移植数量和供体的HuPB-MNC细胞尾静脉注射重度免疫缺陷小鼠NCG,建立免疫系统人源化小鼠模型。每周观察2次,并记录小鼠体重及死亡情况;实验第7、14、21、28和35天眼眶静脉丛试血,流式细胞术监测NCG小鼠外周血中人CD45⁺T细胞的重建水平。NCG小鼠外周血中人CD45⁺T细胞水平随注射后时间逐渐升高,约在3～4周达到25%以上。研究结果表明,免疫系统人源化小鼠模型构建应该从构建方法、免疫缺陷小鼠品系、性别和饲养、免疫细胞的供体和数量及细胞状态等各个方面进行考虑,通过采用多种供体克服差异性,优化肿瘤模型和免疫细胞供体联合接种方案最大化利用窗口期等策略提高模型构建成功率及应用转化率,进一步完善实验室免疫系统人源化小鼠模型构建方法,以期为肿瘤免疫疗法提供更有利的药物研发工具。     

人源化小鼠人源细胞检测方法

目的人源化小鼠在人类疾病与再生医学研究中具有广泛应用,为获得一种理想的人源化小鼠检测方法,研究人特异性线粒体序列扩增作为人源化动物模型中人类DNA检测方法的可行性。方法设计人线粒体DNA特异性引物,并用该引物对人脐血造血干细胞嵌合体小鼠进行了检测。结果在人源化动物模型的人类DNA检测中,这种人线粒体DNA的PCR检测方法能够达到理想的特异性与灵敏性,是一种理想的嵌合体小鼠检测方法。结论获得了一种理想的人源化小鼠人源细胞检测方法。     

用于肝脏疾病研究的人源化小鼠模型概述

肝脏疾病是危害人类健康的重要疾病之一,合适的小动物模型的缺乏在很大程度上制约了肝脏疾病的相关研究。人源化小鼠作为重要动物模型之一,在肝脏疾病的研究中有巨大的应用价值。本文对早期的uPA小鼠、FAH小鼠、TK-NOG小鼠和近年来的AFC8小鼠等几种应用较为广泛且有代表性的人源化小鼠模型及其在肝脏疾病研究中的应用进行了对比分析,阐述了它们各自的模型原理和优缺点,以期对人源化小鼠应用于人类肝脏疾病的研究具有较为直观的认识。     

转基因小鼠在抗体药物研发中的应用

自1890年德国学者Behring及日本学者北里发现白喉抗毒素以来,经过120年的发展,抗体药物依靠其安全性、特异性以及强大的功能性已经成为全球药物开发的焦点。抗体药物的发展从免疫原性角度讲,经历了异源性抗体→人源化抗体（包括嵌合抗体）→全人抗体3个阶段。理论上讲,全人抗体是理想的人用药物分子。早在杂交瘤技术诞生初期,     

人源化小鼠在呼吸道病原研究中的应用与发展

小鼠模型对于呼吸道病原的研究有着重要意义。然而进化所带来的肺及免疫系统的物种差异,使小鼠模型难以精准模拟人体的呼吸道病原感染。通过构建免疫系统人源化小鼠,可更好地再现人体免疫系统对呼吸道病原感染的应答。构建肺组织人源化小鼠和肺/免疫系统双人源化小鼠可实现人特异性的呼吸道病原感染及其免疫响应。本综述将从免疫系统、肺、肺/免疫系统双人源化3个方面,回顾人源化小鼠在人类呼吸道病原研究方面的进展。     

人造血干细胞人源化小鼠的疝气表型分析

目的研究成年雄性人源化小鼠个体出现疝气症状的原因和对人源化小鼠的影响。方法利用显微注射法构建人造血干细胞人源化小鼠,对疝气表型特征、小鼠行为、生理和病理变化进行了研究。结果 2月龄雄性人源化小鼠出现直接性疝气症状,腹股沟区致密结缔组织结构减少可能是疝气形成的主要原因。疝气小鼠同时伴有耐力和运动协调性下降,但疝气对小鼠的繁殖系统无显著影响。结论雄性人造血干细胞人源化小鼠具有显著的疝气症状,其发生机理有待进一步研究。     

转基因人源化ACE2裸小鼠模型的建立

目的 建立BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠为背景的人源化ACE2(hACE2)转基因裸小鼠动物模型。方法 利用hACE2转基因小鼠与雄性BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠杂交获得F1代,将F1代hACE2小鼠与BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠回交获得F2代,再将F2代hACE2小鼠互交获得F3代hACE2转基因裸小鼠。对F3代中hACE2转基因裸小鼠的生长发育、生理指标及免疫指标与C57BL/6J野生型小鼠、hACE2小鼠和BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠对比分析。结果 (1)hACE2转基因裸小鼠生长发育指标与C57BL/6J野生型小鼠、hACE2小鼠和BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠无明显差异。(2)hACE2转基因裸小鼠生理指标中,建立的hACE2转基因裸小鼠与BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠相似,病理解剖观察发现,小鼠体内均无胸腺。脏器系数结果与BALB/c-Nude裸小鼠比较,脾系数和肝系数出现显著性差异(P<0.05)。血常规检测指标与C57BL/6J野生型小鼠、hACE2小鼠比较,中性粒细胞百分比(NEU)、淋巴细胞百分比(LYM)和单核细胞百分比(MONO)均出现显著性差异(P<0....     

胰腺癌免疫系统人源化小鼠模型的构建及评估

目的 构建并评估胰腺癌免疫系统人源化小鼠模型,以期为胰腺癌的免疫治疗研究提供理想的临床前模型。方法 应用Ficoll密度梯度离心法,从健康人外周血中分离出新鲜的单个核细胞(peripheral blood mononucear cells, PBMC),经尾静脉注射植入重度联合免疫缺陷小鼠NCG体内,以构建免疫系统人源化小鼠模型,随后在小鼠皮下植入人胰腺癌细胞系Aspc1,并定期监测肿瘤生长情况,在PBMC植入后第3周,应用断尾法采集小鼠外周血进行流式分析,检测人CD45⁺细胞的水平,当肿瘤生长至100～200 mm³时开始给予抗PD-1单抗治疗,持续治疗3周后,对小鼠施行安乐死并取材,应用流式细胞术、免疫组化等方法分析胰腺癌免疫系统人源化小鼠外周血、脾、骨髓及肿瘤组织中人免疫细胞的浸润及活化情况。结果 植入人PBMC 3周后,在小鼠外周血、脾及骨髓中可检测到较高水平的人CD45⁺细胞;重建的人源免疫系统能够显著抑制人胰腺癌肿瘤的生长(P<0.01,P<0.001),并被人抗PD-1单抗活化,促进肿瘤组织中细...     

《自然》：首个人源化丙肝遗传工程小鼠模型问世

近日来自洛克菲勒大学和斯克斯普斯研究所的科学家们成功地构建出了第一个人源化丙型肝炎遗传工程小鼠模型,这一研究成果将推动研究人员研发出用于人类身上的丙肝疫苗。相关研究论文在线发表在6月9日的《自然》（Nature）杂志上。     

用于病毒研究的人源化小鼠研究进展简

人源化小鼠从起初的入-鼠嵌合体到目前具有人体免疫活性的模型不断演进,已用于人免疫缺陷病毒、EB病毒、丙型肝炎病毒和登革病毒等病原体的感染、发病机制和防治的研究,取得了很大进展。我们简要介绍几种有代表性的人源化小鼠模型及其在病毒研究中的应用。     

The implication of the SUMOylation pathway in breast cancer pathogenesis and treatment

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in woman worldwide, and is the second most common cause of death in developed countries. The transformation of a normal cell into a malignant derivate requires the acquisition of diverse genomic and proteomic changes, including enzymatic post-translational modifications (PTMs) on key proteins encompassing critical cell signaling events. PTMs occur on proteins after translation, and regulate several aspects of proteins activity, including their localization, activation and turnover. Deregulation of PTMs can potentially lead to tumorigenesis, and several de-regulated PTM pathways contribute to abnormal cell proliferation during breast tumorigenesis. SUMOylation is a PTM that plays a pivotal role in numerous aspects of cell physiology, including cell cycle regulation, protein trafficking and turnover, and DNA damage repair. Consistently with this, the deregulation of the SUMO pathway is observed in different human pathologies, including breast cancer. In this review we will describe the role of SUMOylation in breast tumorigenesis and its implication for breast cancer therapy.     

Up-regulation of base excision repair activity for 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in the mouse brain after forebrain ischemia-reperfusion

The repair enzyme 8-oxoguanine glycosylase/ apyrimidinic/apurinic lyase (OGG) removes 8-hydroxy-2'deoxyguanosine (oh8dG) in human cells. Our goal was to examine oh8dG-removing activity in the cell nuclei of male C57BL/6 mouse brains treated with either forebrain ischemia-reperfusion (FblR) or sham operations. We found that the OGG activity in nuclear extracts, under the condition in which other nucleases did not destroy the oligodeoxynucleotide duplex, excised oh8dG with the greatest efficiency on the oligodeoxynucleotide duplex containing oh8dG/dC and with less efficiency on the heteroduplex containing oh8dG/dT, oh8dG/dG, or oh8dG/dA. This specificity was the same as for the recombinant type 1 OGG (OGG1) of humans. We observed that the OGG1 peptide and its activity in the mouse brain were significantly increased after 90 min of ischemia and 20-30 min of reperfusion. The increase in the protein level and in the activity of brain OGG1 correlated positively with the elevation of FblR-induced DNA lesions in an indicator gene (the c-fos gene) of the brain. The data suggest a possibility that the OGG1 protein may excise oh8dG in the mouse brain and that the activity of OGG1 may have a functional role in reducing oxidative gene damage in the brain after FblR.     

Mass spectrometry and illicit drug testing: analytical challenges of the anti-doping laboratories

The individualization of radiotherapy treatment would be beneficial for cancer patients; however, there are no predictive biomarkers of radiotherapy resistance in routine clinical use. This article describes the body of work in this field where comparative proteomics methods have been used for the discovery of putative biomarkers associated with radiotherapy resistance. A large number of differentially expressed proteins have been reported, mostly from the study of novel radiotherapy-resistant cell lines. Here, we have assessed these putative biomarkers through the discovery, confirmation and validation phases of the biomarker pipeline, and inform the reader on the current status of proteomics-based findings. Suggested avenues for future work are discussed.     

The Yin and Yang functions of the Myc oncoprotein in cancer development and as targets for therapy

The Myc proto-oncoprotein coordinates a number of normal physiological processes necessary for growth and expansion of somatic cells by controlling the expression of numerous target genes. Deregulation of MYC as a consequence of carciogenic events enforces cells to undergo a transition to a hyperproliferative state. This increases the risk of additional oncogenic mutations that in turn can result in further tumor progression. However, Myc activation also provokes intrinsic tumor suppressor mechanisms including apoptosis, cellular senescence and DNA damage responses that act as barriers for tumor development and therefore needs to be overcome during tumorigenesis. Myc thus possesses two seemingly contradictory “faces” here referred to as “Yin and Yang”. Observations that many tumor suppressor pathways remain intact but are latent in tumor cells opens the possibility that pharmacological inhibition of the Yin or activation of the Yang functions can prevail and offer new attractive approaches for treating diverse types of cancer.     

The location and phenotype of proliferating neural-crest-derived cells in the developing mouse gut

Neural crest cells that originate in the caudal hindbrain migrate into and along the developing gastrointestinal tract to form the enteric nervous system. While they are migrating, neural-crest-derived cells are also proliferating. Previous studies have shown that the expression of glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and endothelin-3 is highest in the embryonic caecum, and that GDNF alone or in combination with endothelin-3 promotes the proliferation of enteric neural-crest-derived cells in vitro. However, whether neural proliferative zones, like those in the central nervous system, are found along the developing gut is unknown. We used a fluorescent nucleic acid stain to identify dividing cells or BrdU labelling (2 h after administration of BrdU to the mother), combined with antibodies specific to neural crest cells to determine the percentage of proliferating crest-derived cells in various gut regions of embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) and E12.5 mice. The rate of proliferation of crest-derived cells did not vary significantly in different regions of the gut (including the caecum) or at different distances from the migratory wavefront of vagal crest-derived cells. The phenotype of mitotic enteric crest-derived cells was also examined. Cells expressing the pan-neuronal markers, neurofilament-M and Hu, or the glial marker, S100b, were observed undergoing mitosis. However, no evidence was found for proliferation of cells expressing neuron-type-specific markers, such as nitric oxide synthase (at E12.5) or calcitonin gene-related peptide (at E18.5). Thus, for enteric neurons, exit from the cell cycle appears to occur after the expression of pan-neuronal proteins but prior to the expression of markers of terminally differentiated neurons.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (DP0345298) and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Project grant 145628 and Senior Research Fellowship 170224).     

Computational experiments reveal the efficacy of targeting CDK2 and CKIs for significantly lowering cellular senescence bar for potential cancer treatment

Lowering the threshold of cellular senescence, the process employed by cells to thwart abnormal cell proliferation, though inhibition of CDK2 or Skp2 (regulator of CDK inhibitors) has been recently suggested as a potential avenue for cancer treatment. In this study, we employ a published mathematical model of G1/S transition involving the DNA-damage signal transduction pathway to conduct carefully constructed computational experiments to highlight the effectiveness of manipulating cellular senescence in inhibiting damaged cell proliferation. We first demonstrate the suitability of the mathematical model to explore senescence by highlighting the overlap between senescence pathways and those involved in G1/S transition and DNA damage signal transduction. We then investigate the effect of CDK2 deficiency on senescence in healthy cells, followed by effectiveness of CDK2 deficiency in triggering senescence in DNA damaged cells. For this, we focus on the behaviour of CycE, whose peak response indicates G1/S transition, for several reduced CDK2 levels in healthy as well as two DNA-damage conditions to calculate the probability (β) or the percentage of CDK2 deficient cells passing G1/S checkpoint ((1 - β) indicates level of senescence). Results show that 50% CDK2 deficiency can cause senescence in all healthy cells in a fairly uniform cell population; whereas, most healthy cells (≈67%) in a heterogeneous population escape senescence. This finding is novel to our study. Under both low- and high-DNA damaged conditions, 50% CDK deficiency can cause 65% increase in senescence in a heterogeneous cell population. Furthermore, the model analyses the relationship between CDK2 and its CKIs (p21, p27) to help search for other effective ways to bring forward cellular senescence. Results show that the degradation rate of p21 and initial concentration of p27 are effective in lowering CDK2 levels to lower the senescence threshold. Specifically, CDK2 and p27 are the most effective in triggering senescence while p21 having a smaller influence. While receiving experimental support, these findings specify in detail the inhibitory effects of CKIs. However, simultaneous variation of CDK2 and CKIs produces a dramatic reduction of damage cells passing the G1/S with CDK2&p27 combination causing senescence in almost all damaged cells. This combined effect of CDK2&CKIs on senescence is a novel contribution in this study. A review of the crucial protein complexes revealed that the concentration of active CycE/CDK2-p that controls cell cycle arrest provides support for the above findings with CycE/CDK2-p undergoing the largest reduction (over 100%) under the combined CDK2&CKI conditions leading to the arrest of most of the damaged cells. Our study thus provides quantitative assessments for the previously published qualitative findings on senescence and highlights new avenues for bringing forward senescence bar.     

The anti-cancer drug etoposide can induce caspase-8 processing and apoptosis in the absence of CD95 receptor-ligand interaction

Caspase-8 (FLICE) can associate with and be activated by CD95 (APO-1/Fas), an apoptosis-inducing member of the Tumour Necrosis Factor receptor family. We find that, in Jurkat T cells, the DNA damaging anti-cancer drug etoposide induces apoptosis and, surprisingly, processing of caspase-8. Therefore, we have investigated whether etoposide involves CD95 receptor activation. We find that etoposide does not induce CD95 ligand expression at the mRNA level. In addition, blocking of CD95 receptor function with a specific antibody does not inhibit etoposide-induced apoptosis. Apparently, in Jurkat cells, etoposide can induce caspase-8 processing and apoptosis in a CD95-independent fashion. Likewise, we find that thymocytes from the CD95-deficient lpr/lpr mouse strain readily undergo apoptosis in response to etoposide. Moreover, since inhibition of the secretory pathway with brefeldin A does not inhibit etoposide-induced apoptosis, we exclude the requirement for a newly synthesizedreceptor ligand to induce the apoptotic pathway. We conclude that, at least in certain cell types, etoposide does not require CD95 receptor function to induce caspase-8 processing and apoptosis.     

Gap-filling and bypass at the replication fork are both active mechanisms for tolerance of low-dose ultraviolet-induced DNA damage in the human genome

Ultraviolet (UV)-induced DNA damage are removed by nucleotide excision repair (NER) or can be tolerated by specialized translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases, such as Polη. TLS may act at stalled replication forks or through an S-phase independent gap-filling mechanism. After UVC irradiation, Polη-deficient (XP-V) human cells were arrested in early S-phase and exhibited both single-strand DNA (ssDNA) and prolonged replication fork stalling, as detected by DNA fiber assay. In contrast, NER deficiency in XP-C cells caused no apparent defect in S-phase progression despite the accumulation of ssDNA and a G2-phase arrest. These data indicate that while Polη is essential for DNA synthesis at ongoing damaged replication forks, NER deficiency might unmask the involvement of tolerance pathway through a gap-filling mechanism. ATR knock down by siRNA or caffeine addition provoked increased cell death in both XP-V and XP-C cells exposed to low-dose of UVC, underscoring the involvement of ATR/Chk1 pathway in both DNA damage tolerance mechanisms. We generated a unique human cell line deficient in XPC and Polη proteins, which exhibited both S- and G2-phase arrest after UVC irradiation, consistent with both single deficiencies. In these XP-C/Polη^KD cells, UVC-induced replicative intermediates may collapse into double-strand breaks, leading to cell death. In conclusion, both TLS at stalled replication forks and gap-filling are active mechanisms for the tolerance of UVC-induced DNA damage in human cells and the preference for one or another pathway depends on the cellular genotype.