Hepatocyte growth factor stimulates adenoviral-mediated gene transfer across the apical membrane of epithelial cells

BACKGROUND: The apical surface of polarized epithelial cells is relatively resistant to gene delivery by various agents including adenoviral vectors. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) dedifferentiates previously well-polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell monolayers by altering cell-surface polarity and inhibiting tight junction function. METHODS: We used an in vitro model of polarized MDCK cells grown on permeable supports to examine the effects of HGF pretreatment on adenoviral (Ad)-mediated gene delivery through the apical surface of epithelial cell monolayers. RESULTS: HGF pretreatment of MDCK cell monolayers for 72 h increased Ad-mediated gene transfer and expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and luciferase in a dose-dependent fashion. Time-course analysis of HGF-induced stimulation of Ad-mediated gene transfer was seen after 24 h and increased further with pretreatment periods extending to 72 h. HGF pretreatment increased Ad-mediated gene transfer at varying multiplicity of infection (MOI; ranging from 0.2-2000). PCR analysis for adenoviral DNA in control and HGF-pretreated MDCK cells suggested increased entry of viral constructs into HGF-pretreated MDCK cell monolayers. HGF-induced alterations in cell polarity are reversible upon removal of HGF. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that HGF pretreatment of MDCK cells increases the sensitivity of the cells to Ad-mediated gene delivery. The mechanism by which this occurs appears to be through increased entry of adenovirus into epithelial cells. These data provide evidence that biological agents that transiently alter epithelial cell polarity and tight junction function can be used to augment Ad-mediated gene delivery into epithelial cells from the apical surface.     

Gene therapy of cancer: activation of nucleoside prodrugs with E. coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase.

During the last few years, many gene therapy strategies have been developed for various disease targets. The development of anticancer gene therapy strategies to selectively generate cytotoxic nucleoside or nucleotide analogs is an attractive goal. One such approach involves the delivery of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase followed by the acyclic nucleoside analog ganciclovir. We have developed another gene therapy methodology for the treatment of cancer that has several significant attributes. Specifically, our approach involves the delivery of E. coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase, followed by treatment with a relatively non-toxic nucleoside prodrug that is cleaved by the enzyme to a toxic compound. This presentation describes the concept, details our search for suitable prodrugs, and summarizes the current biological data.     

Extracellular zinc and ATP restore chloride secretion across cystic fibrosis airway epithelia by triggering calcium entry

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by defective cyclic AMP-dependent cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator Cl(-) channels. Thus, CF epithelia fail to transport Cl(-) and water. A postulated therapeutic avenue in CF is activation of alternative Ca(2+)-dependent Cl(-) channels. We hypothesized that stimulation of Ca(2+) entry from the extracellular space could trigger a sustained Ca(2+) signal to activate Ca(2+)-dependent Cl(-) channels. Cytosolic [Ca(2+)](i) was measured in non-polarized human CF (IB3-1) and non-CF (16HBE14o(-)) airway epithelial cells. Primary human CF and non-CF airway epithelial monolayers as well as Calu-3 monolayers were used to assess anion secretion. In vivo nasal potential difference measurements were performed in non-CF and two different CF mouse (DeltaF508 homozygous and bitransgenic gut-corrected but lung-null) models. Zinc and ATP induced a sustained, reversible, and reproducible increase in cytosolic Ca(2+) in CF and non-CF cells with chemistry and pharmacology most consistent with activation of P2X purinergic receptor channels. P2X purinergic receptor channel-mediated Ca(2+) entry stimulated sustained Cl(-) and HCO(3)(-) secretion in CF and non-CF epithelial monolayers. In non-CF mice, zinc and ATP induced a significant Cl(-) secretory response similar to the effects of agonists that increase intracellular cAMP levels. More importantly, in both CF mouse models, Cl(-) permeability of nasal epithelia was restored in a sustained manner by zinc and ATP. These effects were reversible and reacquirable upon removal and readdition of agonists. Our data suggest that activation of P2X calcium entry channels may have profound therapeutic benefit for CF that is independent of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator genotype.     

Assessing cell-specific effects of genetic variations using tRNA microarrays

Background

Short-read resequencing of genomes produces abundant information of the genetic variation of individuals. Due to their numerous nature, these variants are rarely exhaustively validated. Furthermore, low levels of undetected variant miscalling will have a systematic and disproportionate impact on the interpretation of individual genome sequence information, especially should these also be carried through into in reference databases of genomic variation.

Results

We find that sequence variation from short-read sequence data is subject to recurrent-yet-intermittent miscalling that occurs in a sequence intrinsic manner and is very sensitive to sequence read length. The miscalls arise from difficulties aligning short reads to redundant genomic regions, where the rate of sequencing error approaches the sequence diversity between redundant regions. We find the resultant miscalled variants to be sensitive to small sequence variations between genomes, and thereby are often intrinsic to an individual, pedigree, strain or human ethnic group. In human exome sequences, we identify 2–300 recurrent false positive variants per individual, almost all of which are present in public databases of human genomic variation. From the exomes of non-reference strains of inbred mice, we identify 3–5000 recurrent false positive variants per mouse – the number of which increasing with greater distance between an individual mouse strain and the reference C57BL6 mouse genome. We show that recurrently miscalled variants may be reproduced for a given genome from repeated simulation rounds of read resampling, realignment and recalling. As such, it is possible to identify more than two-thirds of false positive variation from only ten rounds of simulation.

Conclusion

Identification and removal of recurrent false positive variants from specific individual variant sets will improve overall data quality. Variant miscalls arising are highly sequence intrinsic and are often specific to an individual, pedigree or ethnicity. Further, read length is a strong determinant of whether given false variants will be called for any given genome – which has profound significance for cohort studies that pool datasets collected and sequenced at different points in time.

     

Recent shoreline changes in the Volta River delta,West Africa: the roles of natural processes and human impacts§

The Volta River delta developed as an asymmetric lobe in a tectonic offset on the coast of Ghana. The delta comprises a large curvilinear spit that widens in its central portion due to the adjunction of successive sandy beach ridges. The appearance of a distinct spit, in lieu of a continuous barrier from the present mouth of the Volta River to the Bight of Benin coast, may be an outgrowth of a natural change in the location of the mouth of the Volta. The spit marks a segmentation of the unique sand drift cell that hitherto prevailed on this bight coast. Spit growth has been accompanied by a wave of erosion over the last century of the immediate downdrift sector of the bight coast, endangering the town of Keta. Erosion since the 1960s may have been aggravated by the construction of the Akosombo hydropower dam. The tip of the spit has recently welded to the shoreline, thus assuring resumption of sand supply from the Volta towards the rest of this formerly sand-starved sector of the bight coast. Blocking of sediment by the Akosombo Dam is, in due course, likely to become the overarching factor in delta shoreline stability.     

Sexually dimorphic gall structures correspond to differential phytohormone contents in male and female wasp larvae

Sexually dimorphic galls are rare among gall‐inducing insects and the reason for their occurrence is unknown. The pteromalid wasp Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae, which induces galls on Acacia longifolia, is one such species. In the present study, the anatomical and physiological attributes of male and female galls of T. acaciaelongifoliae are examined and compared. Histological preparations are used to characterize anatomical differences between male and female gall chambers. Bioassays, high‐performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry and an enzyme immunoassay are used to measure concentrations of auxin and cytokinin in normal buds, galled tissues, and larvae of both sexes. Female chambers are found to be 3.3‐fold larger, and are associated with 1.5‐fold more storage tissue and 3.5‐fold more vascular tissues than male chambers. Tissues from female chambers induce stronger cytokinin‐like bioactivity than tissues from male chambers. Female larvae have considerably higher concentrations of cytokinin free bases, ribosides, glucosides and monophosphates than male larvae; higher auxin‐like bioactivity than in normal or galled plant tissues; and almost twice the concentration of auxin than male larvae. Both male and female larvae contain much higher auxin concentrations than either galled or normal plant tissues. These findings suggest that differing levels of phytohormones are involved in the development of sexual dimorphism of gall structures in this species.     

Phosphorylation of a single subunit of the epithelial Na+ channel protein following vasopressin treatment of A6 cells

Arginine vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone, ADH) stimulation of sodium transport in high electrical resistance epithelia is accompanied by adenylate cyclase stimulation and cAMP accumulation. The hypothesis of direct phosphorylation of the purified amiloride-blockable epithelial Na+ channel protein by cAMP-dependent protein kinase A after ADH treatment of cultured cells was investigated in this study. Phosphate-depleted A6 cells (a cell line derived from toad kidney) were exposed to 32PO4(3-) in the absence or presence of basolateral ADH (100 milliunits/ml). After 20 min (the time needed for ADH to increase maximally Na+ transport), the Na+ channels were extracted from the cells and purified. At every stage of purification, only one subunit of the Na+ channel, namely, the 315-kDa subunit, was specifically phosphorylated as assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography or scintillation counting. In addition, a polyclonal antibody raised against purified epithelial Na+ channel protein was able to immunoprecipitate the phosphorylated channel protein from a detergent-solubilized fraction of vasopressin-treated A6 cells. This same subunit was also specifically phosphorylated in vitro when the purified Na+ channel protein was incubated with gamma-[32P]ATP and the purified catalytic subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Thus, only a single component, the 315-kDa subunit, of the Na+ channel protein complex (which is composed of six subunits) can be phosphorylated both in vivo and in vitro. This subunit is selectively phosphorylated by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase to a level of 2-3 mol of 32P/mol of protein.