Search results for "init"
showing 10 items of 6629 documents
Cinnamon extract inhibits allergen-specific immune responses in human and murine allergy models.
2019
Background Ceylon cinnamon has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties in many diseases including allergic inflammation. Objective The aim of this study was to analyse in more detail the effects of cinnamon extract (CE) and its major compounds p-cymene and trans-cinnamaldehyde (CA) on allergen-specific immune responses in vitro and in vivo. Methods Therefore, monocyte-derived mature dendritic cells (DC) from grass or birch pollen allergic donors were pulsed with the respective allergen in the presence or absence of CE, p-cymene, CA or the solvent ethanol and co-cultured with autologous CD4+ T cells. Furthermore, basophil activation test was performed with or without CE or ethanol…
Extracellular Vesicles Shed by Melanoma Cells Contain a Modified Form of H1.0 Linker Histone and H1.0 mRNA-binding Proteins
2016
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are shed in the extracellular environment by both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Although produced from both normal and cancer cells, malignant cells release a much higher amount of EVs, which also contain tumor-specific proteins and RNAs. We previously found that G26/24 oligodendroglioma cells shed EVs that contain the pro-apoptotic factors FasL and TRAIL1-2. Interestingly, G26/24 release, via EVs, extracellular matrix remodelling proteases3, and H1° histone protein4, and mRNA. To shed further light on the role of EVs in discarding proteins and mRNAs otherwise able to counteract proliferative signals, we studied a melanoma cell line (A375). We found that also thes…
Targeting chemoresistant colorectal cancer via systemic administration of a BMP7 variant
2020
Abstract Despite intense research and clinical efforts, patients affected by advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) have still a poor prognosis. The discovery of colorectal (CR) cancer stem cell (CSC) as the cell compartment responsible for tumor initiation and propagation may provide new opportunities for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Given the reduced sensitivity of CR-CSCs to chemotherapy and the ability of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) to promote colonic stem cell differentiation, we aimed to investigate whether an enhanced variant of BMP7 (BMP7v) could sensitize to chemotherapy-resistant CRC cells and tumors. Thirty-five primary human cultures enriched in CR-CSCs, includ…
MYC-driven epigenetic reprogramming favors the onset of tumorigenesis by inducing a stem cell-like state
2018
Breast cancer consists of highly heterogeneous tumors, whose cell of origin and driver oncogenes are difficult to be uniquely defined. Here we report that MYC acts as tumor reprogramming factor in mammary epithelial cells by inducing an alternative epigenetic program, which triggers loss of cell identity and activation of oncogenic pathways. Overexpression of MYC induces transcriptional repression of lineage-specifying transcription factors, causing decommissioning of luminal-specific enhancers. MYC-driven dedifferentiation supports the onset of a stem cell-like state by inducing the activation of de novo enhancers, which drive the transcriptional activation of oncogenic pathways. Furthermo…
The activation of Wnt signaling by a STAT6-dependent macrophage phenotype promotes mucosal repair in murine IBD
2016
The complete repair of the mucosa constitutes a key goal in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. The Wnt signaling pathway mediates mucosal repair and M2 macrophages that coordinate efficient healing have been related to Wnt ligand expression. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) mediates M2 polarization in vitro and we hypothesize that a STAT6-dependent macrophage phenotype mediates mucosal repair in acute murine colitis by activating the Wnt signaling pathway. Our results reveal an impaired mucosal expression of M2 macrophage-associated genes and delayed wound healing in STAT6(-/-) mice treated with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). These mice also ex…
CRISPR-Cas9 screen reveals a MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma dependency on EZH2.
2018
Pharmacologically difficult targets, such as MYC transcription factors, represent a major challenge in cancer therapy. For the childhood cancer neuroblastoma, amplification of the oncogene MYCN is associated with high-risk disease and poor prognosis. Here, we deployed genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 screening of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma and found a preferential dependency on genes encoding the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) components EZH2, EED, and SUZ12. Genetic and pharmacological suppression of EZH2 inhibited neuroblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, compared with neuroblastomas without MYCN amplification, MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas expressed higher levels of EZH2. ChIP…
Structural Basis of TRPV4 N Terminus Interaction with Syndapin/PACSIN1-3 and PIP2
2018
Summary Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are polymodally regulated ion channels. TRPV4 (vanilloid 4) is sensitized by PIP2 and desensitized by Syndapin3/PACSIN3, which bind to the structurally uncharacterized TRPV4 N terminus. We determined the nuclear magnetic resonance structure of the Syndapin3/PACSIN3 SH3 domain in complex with the TRPV4 N-terminal proline-rich region (PRR), which binds as a class I polyproline II (PPII) helix. This PPII conformation is broken by a conserved proline in a cis conformation. Beyond the PPII, we find that the proximal TRPV4 N terminus is unstructured, a feature conserved across species thus explaining the difficulties in resolving it in previous …
A community resource of experimental data for NMR / X-ray crystal structure pairs
2015
We have developed an online NMR / X-ray Structure Pair Data Repository. The NIGMS Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) has provided many valuable reagents, 3D structures, and technologies for structural biology. The Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium was one of several PSI centers. NESG used both X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy for protein structure determination. A key goal of the PSI was to provide experimental structures for at least one representative of each of hundreds of targeted protein domain families. In some cases, structures for identical (or nearly identical) constructs were determined by both NMR and X-ray crystallography. NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction …
Cohesive Model for the Simulation of Crack Initiation and Propagation in Mixed-Mode I/II in Composite Materials
2019
A cohesive element able to connect and simulate crack growth between independently modeled finite element subdomains with non-matching meshes is proposed and validated. The approach is based on penalty constraints and has several advantages over conventional FE techniques in disconnecting two regions of a model during crack growth. The most important is the ability to release portion of the interface that are smaller than the local finite element length. Thus, the growth of delamination is not limited to advancing by releasing nodes of the FE model, which is a limitation common to the methods found in the literature. Furthermore, it is possible to vary the penalty parameter within the cohes…
EFMviz
2020
Elementary Flux Modes (EFMs) are a tool for constraint-based modeling and metabolic network analysis. However, systematic and automated visualization of EFMs, capable of integrating various data types is still a challenge. In this study, we developed an extension for the widely adopted COBRA Toolbox, EFMviz, for analysis and graphical visualization of EFMs as networks of reactions, metabolites and genes. The analysis workflow offers a platform for EFM visualization to improve EFM interpretability by connecting COBRA toolbox with the network analysis and visualization software Cytoscape. The biological applicability of EFMviz is demonstrated in two use cases on medium (Escherichia coli, iAF1…