Purpose
Immunosuppression is one of hallmark features in many cancers including glioma. Triptolide, a natural compound purified from the Chinese herb
Tripterygium wilfordii
, has been reported to ...inhibit PD-L1 otherwise known as the B7 homolog 1 (B7-H1) expression in breast cancer. The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of Triptolide on T cell inhibition in glioma cells.
Methods
We labeled T cells and cocultured with Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and Triptolide treated glioma cells. The effect on inhibition of T cells as well as subtypes of T cells was measured by Flow Cytometry. We also tested the expression of PD-L1 in six glioma cell lines.
Results
We found that Triptolide could reverse T cell inhibition especially CD4+ T cell and induced IFN-γ secretion. In addition, Triptolide could also induce interleukin-2 secretion and overcome interleukin-10 inhibition caused by glioma cells under IFN-γ treated condition. Triptolide could also down-regulate IFN-γ induced PD-L1 surface expression in glioma cells.
Conclusions
These results suggest that Triptolide may be used to reverse CD4+ T cell inhibition caused by glioma cells and is an alternative candidate for targeting PD-L1, one of the checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of glioma.
Purpose
The clinical diagnosis and classification of Alexander disease (AxD) relies in part on qualitative neuroimaging biomarkers; however, these biomarkers fail to distinguish and discriminate ...different subtypes of AxD, especially in the presence of overlap in clinical symptoms. To address this gap in knowledge, we applied neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) to an innovative CRISPR‐Cas9 rat genetic model of AxD to gain quantitative insights into the neural substrates and brain microstructural changes seen in AxD and to potentially identify novel quantitative NODDI biomarkers of AxD.
Methods
Multi‐shell DWI of age‐ and sex‐matched AxD and wild‐type Sprague Dawley rats (n = 6 per sex per genotype) was performed and DTI and NODDI measures calculated. A 3 × 2 × 2 analysis of variance model was used to determine the effect of genotype, biological sex, and laterality on quantitative measures of DTI and NODDI across regions of interest implicated in AxD.
Results
There is a significant effect of genotype in the amygdala, hippocampus, neocortex, and thalamus in measures of both DTI and NODDI brain microstructure. A genotype by biological sex interaction was identified in DTI and NODDI measures in the corpus callosum, hippocampus, and neocortex.
Conclusion
We present the first application of NODDI to the study of AxD using a rat genetic model of AxD. Our analysis identifies alterations in NODDI and DTI measures to large white matter tracts and subcortical gray nuclei. We further identified genotype by sex interactions, suggesting a possible role for biological sex in the neuropathogenesis of AxD.
Many Korean American churches have several different worship services on a given Sunday that cater to different age and language groups. The intent is to cater to the different needs of each group, ...where each group can worship in an age-appropriate setting with the language they are comfortable with. However, it has also had the unintended consequence of creating factions and divisions within the church. It is not uncommon to hear about conflicts and quarrels between Korean Ministry (KM) and English Ministry (EM), from the leadership level down to the congregation members. While there may be several other contributing factors to church conflicts, one key reason is worshipping separately, which creates different spiritual identities within the church. This article proposes that through a creative and engaging bilingual, intergenerational worship and ministry, different generations in Korean American churches, and perhaps other immigrant churches in multilingual and multicultural settings, can worship and learn together as one community with a common spiritual identity. Careful planning of liturgy that is meaningful to different age and language groups is the key. A project conducted at True Light Community Church, a Korean American congregation in the Metro-Denver area, shows that different generations can be brought together in unity as they worship together regularly. In this project, basic qualitative research tools were used to plan a six-month worship and ministry program. The results show that while it is difficult to provide a meaningful, spiritual experience for every single person or generation, bilingual, intergenerational worship and ministry can bring different generations together.
Upon assembling the first Gossypium herbaceum (A
) genome and substantially improving the existing Gossypium arboreum (A
) and Gossypium hirsutum ((AD)
) genomes, we showed that all existing ...A-genomes may have originated from a common ancestor, referred to here as A
, which was more phylogenetically related to A
than A
. Further, allotetraploid formation was shown to have preceded the speciation of A
and A
. Both A-genomes evolved independently, with no ancestor-progeny relationship. Gaussian probability density function analysis indicates that several long-terminal-repeat bursts that occurred from 5.7 million years ago to less than 0.61 million years ago contributed compellingly to A-genome size expansion, speciation and evolution. Abundant species-specific structural variations in genic regions changed the expression of many important genes, which may have led to fiber cell improvement in (AD)
. Our findings resolve existing controversial concepts surrounding A-genome origins and provide valuable genomic resources for cotton genetic improvement.
The complex allotetraploid nature of the cotton genome (AADD; 2n = 52) makes genetic, genomic and functional analyses extremely challenging. Here we sequenced and assembled the Gossypium arboreum ...(AA; 2n = 26) genome, a putative contributor of the A subgenome. A total of 193.6 Gb of clean sequence covering the genome by 112.6-fold was obtained by paired-end sequencing. We further anchored and oriented 90.4% of the assembly on 13 pseudochromosomes and found that 68.5% of the genome is occupied by repetitive DNA sequences. We predicted 41,330 protein-coding genes in G. arboreum. Two whole-genome duplications were shared by G. arboreum and Gossypium raimondii before speciation. Insertions of long terminal repeats in the past 5 million years are responsible for the twofold difference in the sizes of these genomes. Comparative transcriptome studies showed the key role of the nucleotide binding site (NBS)-encoding gene family in resistance to Verticillium dahliae and the involvement of ethylene in the development of cotton fiber cells.
Abstract
In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), neurodegenerative processes are ongoing for years prior to the time that cortical atrophy can be reliably detected using conventional neuroimaging techniques. ...Recent advances in diffusion-weighted imaging have provided new techniques to study neural microstructure, which may provide additional information regarding neurodegeneration. In this study, we used neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), a multi-compartment diffusion model, in order to investigate cortical microstructure along the clinical continuum of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD dementia. Using gray matter-based spatial statistics (GBSS), we demonstrated that neurite density index (NDI) was significantly lower throughout temporal and parietal cortical regions in MCI, while both NDI and orientation dispersion index (ODI) were lower throughout parietal, temporal, and frontal regions in AD dementia. In follow-up ROI analyses comparing microstructure and cortical thickness (derived from T1-weighted MRI) within the same brain regions, differences in NODDI metrics remained, even after controlling for cortical thickness. Moreover, for participants with MCI, gray matter NDI—but not cortical thickness—was lower in temporal, parietal, and posterior cingulate regions. Taken together, our results highlight the utility of NODDI metrics in detecting cortical microstructural degeneration that occurs prior to measurable macrostructural changes and overt clinical dementia.
Recently, a small population of cancer stem cells in adult and pediatric brain tumors has been identified. Some evidence has suggested that CD133 is a marker for a subset of leukemia and glioblastoma ...cancer stem cells. Especially, CD133 positive cells isolated from human glioblastoma may initiate tumors and represent novel targets for therapeutics. The gene expression and the drug resistance property of CD133 positive cancer stem cells, however, are still unknown.
In this study, by FACS analysis we determined the percentage of CD133 positive cells in three primary cultured cell lines established from glioblastoma patients 10.2%, 69.7% and 27.5%, respectively. We also determined the average mRNA levels of markers associated with neural precursors. For example, CD90, CD44, CXCR4, Nestin, Msi1 and MELK mRNA on CD133 positive cells increased to 15.6, 5.7, 337.8, 21.4, 84 and 1351 times, respectively, compared to autologous CD133 negative cells derived from cell line No. 66. Additionally, CD133 positive cells express higher levels of BCRP1 and MGMT mRNA, as well as higher mRNA levels of genes that inhibit apoptosis. Furthermore, CD133 positive cells were significantly resistant to chemotherapeutic agents including temozolomide, carboplatin, paclitaxel (Taxol) and etoposide (VP16) compared to autologous CD133 negative cells. Finally, CD133 expression was significantly higher in recurrent GBM tissue obtained from five patients as compared to their respective newly diagnosed tumors.
Our study for the first time provided evidence that CD133 positive cancer stem cells display strong capability on tumor's resistance to chemotherapy. This resistance is probably contributed by the CD133 positive cell with higher expression of on BCRP1 and MGMT, as well as the anti-apoptosis protein and inhibitors of apoptosis protein families. Future treatment should target this small population of CD133 positive cancer stem cells in tumors to improve the survival of brain tumor patients.
Cancer stem cells (CSC) play a pivotal role in cancer metastasis and resistance to therapy. Previously, we compared the phosphoproteomes of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) enriched subpopulation and ...non-BCSCs sorted from breast cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX), and identified a function unknown protein, transmembrane and coiled-coil domain family 3 (TMCC3) to be a potential enrichment marker for BCSCs. We demonstrated greater expression of TMCC3 in BCSCs than non-BCSCs and higher expression of TMCC3 in metastatic lymph nodes and lungs than in primary tumor of breast cancer PDXs. TMCC3 silencing suppressed mammosphere formation, ALDH activity and cell migration in vitro, along with reduced tumorigenicity and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that AKT activation was reduced by TMCC3 silencing, but enhanced by TMCC3 overexpression. We further demonstrated that TMCC3 interacted directly with AKT through its 1-153 a.a. domain by cell-free biochemical assay in vitro and co-immunoprecipitation and interaction domain mapping assays in vivo. Based on domain truncation studies, we showed that the AKT-interacting domain of TMCC3 was essential for TMCC3-induced AKT activation, self-renewal, and metastasis. Clinically, TMCC3 mRNA expression in 202 breast cancer specimens as determined by qRT-PCR assay showed that higher TMCC3 expression correlated with poorer clinical outcome of breast cancer, including early-stage breast cancer. Multivariable analysis identified TMCC3 expression as an independent risk factor for survival. These findings suggest that TMCC3 is crucial for maintenance of BCSCs features through AKT regulation, and TMCC3 expression has independent prognostic significance in breast cancer. Thus, TMCC3 may serve as a new target for therapy directed against CSCs.
Despite significant efforts to improve glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treatment, GBM remains one of the most lethal cancers. Effective GBM treatments require sensitive intraoperative tumor ...visualization and effective postoperative chemotherapeutic delivery. Unfortunately, the diffusive and infiltrating nature of GBM limits the detection of GBM tumors, and current intraoperative visualization methods limit complete tumor resection. In addition, although chemotherapy is often used to eliminate any cancerous tissue remaining after surgery, most chemotherapeutic drugs do not effectively cross the brain–blood barrier (BBB) or enter GBM tumors. As a result, GBM has limited treatment options with high recurrence rates, and methods that improve its complete visualization during surgery and treatment are needed. Herein, we report a fluorescent nanoparticle platform for the near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF)-based tumor boundary visualization and image-guided drug delivery into GBM tumors. Our nanoplatform is based on ferumoxytol (FMX), an FDA-approved magnetic resonance imaging-sensitive superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle, which is conjugated with hepthamethine cyanine (HMC), a NIRF ligand that specifically targets the organic anion transporter polypeptides that are overexpressed in GBM. We have shown that HMC-FMX nanoparticles cross the BBB and selectively accumulate in the tumor using orthotopic GBM mouse models, enabling NIRF-based visualization of infiltrating tumor tissue. In addition, HMC-FMX can encapsulate chemotherapeutic drugs, such as paclitaxel or cisplatin, and deliver these agents into GBM tumors, reducing tumor size and increasing survival. Taken together, these observations indicate that HMC-FMX is a promising nanoprobe for GBM surgical visualization and drug delivery.
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