Search results for "type"

Lipid Mediators in the Regulation of Emotions, Memory, and Cognitive Functions

2017

This chapter aims at highlighting the diverse roles of endocannabinoids in the coordination of balanced neuronal activities, which finally set the basis for the organism’s characteristics to store and remember important and useful things, to forget non-useful things, and to cope with new challenges. Altogether, the fine-tuned regulation of these processes is crucial for optimal life and survival. The endocannabinoid system appears to be a central intrinsic homeostatic factor in the organism, modulating these processes. Receptors for (endo)cannabinoids are also targets for exogenous cannabinoids, putting also relevance of external substances in the interference with these processes. The gene…

The Drosophila Hox gene Ultrabithorax acts both in muscles and motoneurons to orchestrate formation of specific neuromuscular connections

2016

Hox genes are known to specify motoneuron pools in the developing vertebrate spinal cord and to control motoneuronal targeting in several species. However, the mechanisms controlling axial diversification of muscle innervation patterns are still largely unknown. We present data showing that the Drosophila Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) acts in the late embryo to establish target specificity of ventrally projecting RP motoneurons. In abdominal segments A2 to A7, RP motoneurons innervate the ventrolateral muscles VL1-4, with VL1 and VL2 being innervated in a Wnt4-dependent manner. In Ubx mutants, these motoneurons fail to make correct contacts with muscle VL1, a phenotype partially resembling t…

Deregulated miRNAs in bone health: Epigenetic roles in osteoporosis.

2019

MicroRNA (miRNA) has shown to enhance or inhibit cell proliferation, differentiation and activity of different cell types in bone tissue. The discovery of miRNA actions and their targets has helped to identify them as novel regulations actors in bone. Various studies have shown that miRNA deregulation mediates the progression of bone-related pathologies, such as osteoporosis. The present review intends to give an exhaustive overview of miRNAs with experimentally validated targets involved in bone homeostasis and highlight their possible role in osteoporosis development. Moreover, the review analyzes miRNAs identified in clinical trials and involved in osteoporosis.

Epithelium‐specific MyD88 signaling, but not DCs or macrophages, control acute intestinal infection with Clostridium difficile

2019

Infection with Clostridium difficile is one of the major causes of health care acquired diarrhea and colitis. Signaling though MyD88 downstream of TLRs is critical for initiating the early protective host response in mouse models of C. difficile infection (CDI). In the intestine, MyD88 is expressed in various tissues and cell types, such as the intestinal epithelium and mononuclear phagocytes (MNP), including DC or macrophages. Using a genetic gain-of-function system, we demonstrate here that restricting functional MyD88 signaling to the intestinal epithelium, but also to MNPs is sufficient to protect mice during acute CDI by upregulation of the intestinal barrier function and recruitment o…

NF-κB-inducing kinase is essential for B-cell maintenance in mice

2015

NF-κB-inducing kinase (NIK) is a key mediator of the noncanonical NF-κB signaling pathway, which is critical for normal B-cell development and function. It is well established that the complete deletion of NIK in mice results in defective B cells and impaired secondary lymphoid organogenesis. To address the role of NIK deficiency specifically in B cells, we generated a new mouse strain for the conditional deletion of this kinase. Deletion of NIK during B-cell development results in a drastic reduction of mature B cells from the transitional 2 stage on, while B-1 B cells are less affected. Moreover, deletion of NIK in the germinal centers decreases the numbers of germinal center B cells and …

Signalling strength determines proapoptotic functions of STING

2017

Mammalian cells use cytosolic nucleic acid receptors to detect pathogens and other stress signals. In innate immune cells the presence of cytosolic DNA is sensed by the cGAS–STING signalling pathway, which initiates a gene expression programme linked to cellular activation and cytokine production. Whether the outcome of the STING response varies between distinct cell types remains largely unknown. Here we show that T cells exhibit an intensified STING response, which leads to the expression of a distinct set of genes and results in the induction of apoptosis. Of note, this proapoptotic STING response is still functional in cancerous T cells and delivery of small molecule STING agonists prev…

Influence of different calcium phosphate ceramics on growth and differentiation of cells in osteoblast-endothelial co-cultures

2016

Strategies for improvement of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis using different cells and materials are paramount aims in the field of bone tissue engineering. Thereby, the interaction between different cell types and scaffold materials is crucial for growth, differentiation, and long-term outcomes of tissue-engineered constructs. In this study, we evaluated the interaction of osteoblasts and endothelial cells in three-dimensional tissue-engineered constructs using beta tricalciumphosphate (β-TCP, [s-Ca3 (PO4 )2 ]) and calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA, [Ca9 (PO4 )5 (HPO4 )OH]) ceramics as scaffolds. We focused on initial cell organization, cell proliferation, and differential expression…

Taking Advantage of Nature’s Gift: Can Endogenous Neural Stem Cells Improve Myelin Regeneration?

2016

Irreversible functional deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS) are directly correlated to axonal damage and loss. Neurodegeneration results from immune-mediated destruction of myelin sheaths and subsequent axonal demyelination. Importantly, oligodendrocytes, the myelinating glial cells of the central nervous system, can be replaced to some extent to generate new myelin sheaths. This endogenous regeneration capacity has so far mainly been attributed to the activation and recruitment of resident oligodendroglial precursor cells. As this self-repair process is limited and increasingly fails while MS progresses, much interest has evolved regarding the development of remyelination-promoting strateg…

2019

Resveratrol has been proposed to prevent tumor growth and the different steps of carcinogenesis; nevertheless, these biological effects are sometimes discordant between different cell types. Several hypotheses and works have suggested that the metabolism of resveratrol could be at the origin of a different cellular response. We show here, using colorectal tumor cell lines, that the biological effects of RSV result mainly from its carriage by carriers of the superfamily of ABC transporter, i.e., P-gP, MRP, or BCRP. Using cell lines overexpressing these different transporters, we have been able to highlight the importance of P-gP in the response of cells to RSV. These results were confirmed b…

Comparative study of the osteogenic potential of mesenchymal stem cells derived from different sources

2017

Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can regenerate missing tissues and treat diseases. Hence, the current work aimed to compare the proliferation rate and the osteogenic differentiation potential of bone marrow MSCs (BMSCs), gingival MSCs (GMSCs) and submandibular MSCs (SMSCs). Material and Methods MSCs derived from bone marrow, gingiva and submandibular salivary gland were isolated and cultured from rats. The proliferation capacity was judged by MTT proliferation Assay. Osteogenic differentiation was assessed by Alzarin red stain and quantitative RT-PCR was performed for Runx-2 and MMP-13. Results The highest significant proliferation was estimated in the BMSCs compared to GMSCs and S…