Search results for "proteoglycans"
showing 10 items of 80 documents
Methodological Approach to Use Fresh and Cryopreserved Vessels as Tools to Analyze Pharmacological Modulation of the Angiogenic Growth
2016
The sprouting of new vessels is greatly influenced by the procedure chosen. We sought to optimize the experimental conditions of the angiogenic growth of fresh and cryopreserved vessels cultured in Matrigel with the aim to use this system to analyze the pharmacological modulation of the process. Segments of second-order branches of rat mesenteric resistance arteries, thoracic aorta of rat or mouse, and cryopreserved rat aorta and human femoral arteries were cultured in Matrigel for 7-21 days in different mediums, as well as in the absence of endothelial or adventitia layer. Quantification of the angiogenic growth was performed by either direct measurement of the mean length of the neovessel…
SPOC1, a novel PHD-finger protein: association with residual disease and survival in ovarian cancer.
2005
We report the identification of a novel human gene (SPOC1) which encodes a protein with a PHD-finger domain. The gene is located in chromosomal region 1p36.23, a region implicated in tumor development and progression. RNA in situ hybridization experiments showed strong SPOC1 expression in some rapidly proliferating cell types, such as spermatogonia, but not in nonproliferating mature spermatocytes. In addition, high SPOC1 mRNA expression was observed in several ovarian cancer cell lines. This prompted us to systematically examine SPOC1 expression in ovarian cancer in relation to prognosis. SPOC1 mRNA expression was quantified in tumor tissue of 103 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. I…
Glia talk back.
2014
This study shows that the activity of neurons can trigger shedding of a protein, NG2, from the surface of oligodendrocyte precursor cells; this protein in turn modulates synaptic transmission, revealing a two-way conversation between neurons and glia.
Modeling human osteosarcoma in mice through 3AB‐OS cancer stem cell xenografts
2012
Osteosarcoma is the second leading cause of cancer-related death for children and young adults. In this study, we have subcutaneously injected—with and without matrigel—athymic mice (Fox1nu/nu) with human osteosarcoma 3AB-OS pluripotent cancer stem cells (CSCs), which we previously isolated from human osteosarcoma MG63 cells. Engrafted 3AB-OS cells were highly tumorigenic and matrigel greatly accelerated both tumor engraftment and growth rate. 3AB-OS CSC xenografts lacked crucial regulators of beta-catenin levels (E-cadherin, APC, and GSK-3beta), and crucial factors to restrain proliferation, resulting therefore in a strong proliferation potential. During the first weeks of engraftment 3AB-…
Acute cardio-respiratory effects in rats of PS4α, an antineoplastic peptidoglycan from Mycobacterium vaccae
2001
Abstract PS4α is a high molecular weight peptidoglycan extracted from Mycobacterium vaccae, which has demonstrated considerable antineoplastic activity in-vivo without apparent toxicity. Available for testing in only small quantities, a sensitive in-vivo method for measuring pulse and breathing rates in cannulated rats was applied to this compound at doses of 5, 50 and 500 μg kg−1. Various parameters (mean arterial pressure, maximum transpulmonary pressure, compliance, heart rate, minute volume, respiratory rate and tidal volume) were followed for up to 1 h and demonstrated no significant deviation in the baseline values obtained before injection. This compound at doses up to 500 μg kg−1 ha…
Is Endocan a Diagnostic Marker for Pneumonia After Cardiac Surgery? The ENDOLUNG Study
2017
Background Postoperative pneumonia is frequent after cardiac surgery and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We tested the hypothesis that endocan is an early biomarker for the detection of pneumonia after cardiac surgery. Methods Between January and May 2016, 155 patients scheduled to undergo elective cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were prospectively included in the study. Serum level of endocan was measured at five timepoints (preoperative, and at 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the end of surgery). Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein were measured at 24 and 72 hours. The preoperative and postoperative characteristics of the patients were recorded. Independen…
Mechanical strain causes adaptive change in bronchial fibroblasts enhancing profibrotic and inflammatory responses
2016
Asthma is characterized by periodic episodes of bronchoconstriction and reversible airway obstruction; these symptoms are attributable to a number of factors including increased mass and reactivity of bronchial smooth muscle and extracellular matrix (ECM) in asthmatic airways. Literature has suggested changes in cell responses and signaling can be elicited via modulation of mechanical stress acting upon them, potentially affecting the microenvironment of the cell. In this study, we hypothesized that mechanical strain directly affects the (myo)fibroblast phenotype in asthma. Therefore, we characterized responses of bronchial fibroblasts, from 6 normal and 11 asthmatic non-smoking volunteers,…
Oligodendrocyte precursor cells modulate the neuronal network by activity-dependent ectodomain cleavage of glial NG2.
2014
The role of glia in modulating neuronal network activity is an important question. Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPC) characteristically express the transmembrane proteoglycan nerve-glia antigen 2 (NG2) and are unique glial cells receiving synaptic input from neurons. The development of NG2+ OPC into myelinating oligodendrocytes has been well studied, yet the retention of a large population of synapse-bearing OPC in the adult brain poses the question as to additional functional roles of OPC in the neuronal network. Here we report that activity-dependent processing of NG2 by OPC-expressed secretases functionally regulates the neuronal network. NG2 cleavage by the α-secretase ADAM10 yields…
Partial Sleep Restriction Activates Immune Response-Related Gene Expression Pathways: Experimental and Epidemiological Studies in Humans
2013
Epidemiological studies have shown that short or insufficient sleep is associated with increased risk for metabolic diseases and mortality. To elucidate mechanisms behind this connection, we aimed to identify genes and pathways affected by experimentally induced, partial sleep restriction and to verify their connection to insufficient sleep at population level. The experimental design simulated sleep restriction during a working week: sleep of healthy men (N = 9) was restricted to 4 h/night for five nights. The control subjects (N = 4) spent 8 h/night in bed. Leukocyte RNA expression was analyzed at baseline, after sleep restriction, and after recovery using whole genome microarrays complem…
Perlecan controls neurogenesis in the developing telencephalon.
2006
This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-213X/7/29