Scalable 96-well Plate Based iPSC Culture and Production Using a Robotic Liquid Handling System

Continued advancement in pluripotent stem cell culture is closing the gap between bench and bedside for using these cells in regenerative medicine, drug discovery and safety testing. In order to produce stem cell derived biopharmaceutics and cells for tissue engineering and transplantation, a cost-effective cell-manufacturing technology is essential. Maintenance of pluripotency and stable performance of cells in downstream applications (e.g., cell differentiation) over time is paramount to large scale cell production. Yet that can be difficult to achieve especially if cells are cultured manually where the operator can introduce significant variability as well as be prohibitively expensive to scale-up. To enable high-throughput, large-scale stem cell production and remove operator influence novel stem cell culture protocols using a bench-top multi-channel liquid handling robot were developed that require minimal technician involvement or experience. With these protocols human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were cultured in feeder-free conditions directly from a frozen stock and maintained in 96-well plates. Depending on cell line and desired scale-up rate, the operator can easily determine when to passage based on a series of images showing the optimal colony densities for splitting. Then the necessary reagents are prepared to perform a colony split to new plates without a centrifugation step. After 20 passages (~3 months), two iPSC lines maintained stable karyotypes, expressed stem cell markers, and differentiated into cardiomyocytes with high efficiency. The system can perform subsequent high-throughput screening of new differentiation protocols or genetic manipulation designed for 96-well plates. This technology will reduce the labor and technical burden to produce large numbers of identical stem cells for a myriad of applications.     

Using Satellite Tracking and Isotopic Information to Characterize the Impact of South American Sea Lions on Salmonid Aquaculture in Southern Chile

Apex marine predators alter their foraging behavior in response to spatial and/or seasonal changes in natural prey distribution and abundance. However, few studies have identified the impacts of aquaculture that represents a spatially and temporally predictable and abundant resource on their foraging behavior. Using satellite telemetry and stable isotope analysis we examined the degree of spatial overlap between the South American sea lion (SASL) and salmon farms, and quantify the amount of native prey versus farmed salmonids in SASL diets. We instrumented eight SASL individuals with SRDL-GPS tags. Vibrissae, hair and skin samples were collected for δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analyses from five of the tagged individuals and from four males captured in a haul-out located adjacent to salmon farms. Tracking results showed that almost all the foraging areas of SASL are within close proximity to salmon farms. The most important prey for the individuals analyzed was farmed salmonids, with an estimated median (±SD) contribution of 19.7 ± 13.5‰ and 15.3 ± 9.6‰ for hair and skin, respectively. Using vibrissae as a temporal record of diet for each individual, we observed a remarkable switch in diet composition in two SASL, from farmed salmonids to pelagic fishes, which coincided with the decrease of salmon production due to the infectious salmon anemia virus that affected salmon farms in Chile at the end of 2008. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of integrating stable isotope derived dietary data with movement patterns to characterize the impacts of a non-native prey on the foraging ecology of an apex marine predator, providing important applied implications in situations where interactions between aquaculture and wildlife are common.     

Mapping-by-Sequencing Identifies HvPHYTOCHROME C as a Candidate Gene for the early maturity 5 Locus Modulating the Circadian Clock and Photoperiodic Flowering in Barley

Phytochromes play an important role in light signaling and photoperiodic control of flowering time in plants. Here we propose that the red/far-red light photoreceptor HvPHYTOCHROME C (HvPHYC), carrying a mutation in a conserved region of the GAF domain, is a candidate underlying the early maturity 5 locus in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We fine mapped the gene using a mapping-by-sequencing approach applied on the whole-exome capture data from bulked early flowering segregants derived from a backcross of the Bowman(eam5) introgression line. We demonstrate that eam5 disrupts circadian expression of clock genes. Moreover, it interacts with the major photoperiod response gene Ppd-H1 to accelerate flowering under noninductive short days. Our results suggest that HvPHYC participates in transmission of light signals to the circadian clock and thus modulates light-dependent processes such as photoperiodic regulation of flowering.     

Using stable isotope biogeochemistry to study marine mammal ecology

Stable isotope analysis (SIA) has emerged as a common tool in ecology and has proven especially useful in the study of animal diet, habitat use, movement, and physiology. SIA has been vigorously applied to the study of marine mammals, because most species live in habitats or undergo large migrations/movements that make them difficult to observe. Our review supplies a complete list of published SIA contributions to marine mammal science and highlights informative case examples in four general research areas: (1) physiology and fractionation, (2) foraging ecology and habitat use, (3) ecotoxicology, and (4) historic ecology and paleoecology. We also provide a condensed background of isotopic nomenclature, highlight several physiological considerations important for accurate interpretation of isotopic data, and identify research areas ripe for future growth. Because it is impossible to conduct controlled laboratory experiments on most marine mammal species, future studies in marine mammal ecology must draw on isotopic data collected from other organisms and be cognizant of key assumptions often made in the application of SIA to the study of animal ecology. The review is designed to be accessible to all audiences, from students unfamiliar with SIA to those who have utilized it in published studies.     

Migration Stimulating Factor (MSF) promotes fibroblast migration by inhibiting AKT

The protein kinase AKT is activated strongly by many motogenic growth factors, yet has recently been shown capable of inhibiting migration in several cell types. Here we report that treatment with Migration Stimulating Factor (MSF), a truncated form of fibronectin that promotes the migration of many cell types, inhibits AKT activity in human fibroblasts and endothelial cells. In fibroblasts, treatment with either MSF or the AKT inhibitor, Akti-1/2, stimulated migration into 3D collagen gels to a similar extent and the effects of Akti-1/2 on migration could be blocked by the expression of an inhibitor-resistant mutant, AKT1 W80A. These data indicate that MSF promotes fibroblast migration, at least in part, by inhibiting the activity of AKT.     

Ethacrynic acid analogues lacking the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl unit—Potential anti-metastatic drugs

A series of ethacrynic acid analogues, lacking the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl unit, was synthesized and subsequently evaluated for their ability to inhibit the migration of human breast cancer cells, MCF-7/AZ. Several of the analogues were already active in the low micromolar range, whereas ethacrynic acid itself shows no potential to inhibit the migration of these cancer cells. Preliminary studies show that the presence of one or more methoxy groups at the phenyl ring of ethacrynic acid is important in order for the ethacrynic acid analogues to demonstrate an inhibitory effect on the migration.     

Interaction of Bacillus thuringiensis Vegetative Insecticidal Protein with Ribosomal S2 Protein Triggers Larvicidal Activity in Spodoptera frugiperda

Vegetative insecticidal protein (Vip3A) is synthesized as an extracellular insecticidal toxin by certain strains of Bacillus thuringiensis. Vip3A is active against several lepidopteran pests of crops. Polyphagous pest, Spodoptera frugiperda, and its cell line Sf21 are sensitive for lyses to Vip3A. Screening of cDNA library prepared from Sf21 cells through yeast two-hybrid system with Vip3A as bait identified ribosomal protein S2 as a toxicity-mediating interacting partner protein. The Vip3A-ribosomal-S2 protein interaction was validated by in vitro pulldown assays and by RNA interference-induced knockdown experiments. Knockdown of expression of S2 protein in Sf21 cells resulted in reduced toxicity of the Vip3A protein. These observations were further extended to adult fifth-instar larvae of Spodoptera litura. Knockdown of S2 expression by injecting corresponding double-stranded RNA resulted in reduced mortality of larvae to Vip3A toxin. Intracellular visualization of S2 protein and Vip3A through confocal microscopy revealed their interaction and localization in cytoplasm and surface of Sf21 cells.Insecticidal proteins produced by strains of Bacillus thuringiensis can broadly be classified into two major categories based on their site of accumulation. Category I consist of proteins that are deposited as crystals in sporangia and are referred to as insecticidal crystalline proteins (ICPs). The second category consists of recently described group of insecticidal proteins, called vegetative insecticidal proteins (8). These proteins are synthesized during the vegetative growth of Bacillus cells and are secreted into the culture medium. Irrespective of the site of accumulation of insecticidal proteins, their ingestion by susceptible insect larvae leads to disruption and lysis of epithelial tissue from the midgut, resulting in larval death (12). The mechanism of lysis of gut epithelial tissue by ICPs has been investigated in detail in several insects (16). Ingestion of ICPs triggers a sequence of biochemical cascade that involves its solubilization and subsequent activation by gut proteases. The activated toxin interacts with specific receptors located at the midgut epithelial tissue. In this sequence of events, the interaction with the receptor is the most significant event since subsequent to interaction, pore formation is initialized, and that leads to lysis of epithelial cells. The identification and characterization of receptors from various insect larvae has led to the identification of following molecules as receptor to ICPs, such as cadherinlike protein (21), glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored aminopeptidase N (APN) (1, 9, 11, 17, 19, 20), a GPI-anchored alkaline phosphatase (10, 14), and a 270-kDa glycoconjugate (see references 2, 7, 9, and 16 and references therein for an extensive list of receptors). In addition, certain glycopeptides have been identified as lysis-initiating receptor molecules. Although there is extensive information about the receptor-toxin interaction for ICPs, negligible work has been done toward the identification of receptors to vegetative insecticidal proteins. The ultrastructural changes induced at the midgut epithelial tissue, upon ingestion of ICPs or Vip3As, are common (12). Both ICPs and Vip3As interact at the epithelial layer of midgut, enlarging the affected cells due to osmotic imbalance and eventually causing lysis. In spite of inflicting nearly identical structural damage, the interacting receptor for the Vip3A is not identical (12). In fact, the receptor to Vip3As has not yet been characterized.Our group has been working on the identification, cloning, and evaluation of vegetative insecticidal proteins from strains of B. thuringiensis held in our collection. We have characterized the Vip3A (EMBL accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"Y17158","term_id":"3135740","term_text":"Y17158"}}Y17158) class of protein and evaluated its toxicity profile (2, 8, 18). Vip3A is active against larvae of Spodoptera litura, among several other lepidopteran pests. In a parallel series of experiments, we identified APN as a receptor to the B. thuringiensis protein Cry1C in S. litura. The heterologously expressed APN did not interact with Vip3A, suggesting that Vip3A toxicity in this insect is not through interaction with APN (1). Our preliminary results on the toxicity of Vip3A revealed that purified insecticidal protein could lyse Sf21 cells, suggesting the presence of receptors in the insect cell line. In the present study, we identified the Vip3A interacting protein in Sf21 cells and the larvae of S. litura. The specificity of the interaction has been examined by a combination of ex vivo and in vitro assays. These assays identified ribosomal S2 protein as the interacting partner of Vip3A. The functional significance of S2-Vip3A protein interaction was examined by monitoring the reduction in Vip3A toxicity in Sf21 cells and larvae of S. litura by the RNA interference-induced knockdown of S2 protein. The results of these experiments are discussed in the context of colocalization of the S2-Vip3A protein interacting complex by confocal microscopy.