scholarly journals Probing coordinated co-culture cancer related motility through differential micro-compartmentalized elastic substrates

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Szu-Yuan Chou ◽  
Chang-You Lin ◽  
Theresa Cassino ◽  
Li Wan ◽  
Philip R. LeDuc

Abstract Cell development and behavior are driven by internal genetic programming, but the external microenvironment is increasingly recognized as a significant factor in cell differentiation, migration, and in the case of cancer, metastatic progression. Yet it remains unclear how the microenvironment influences cell processes, especially when examining cell motility. One factor that affects cell motility is cell mechanics, which is known to be related to substrate stiffness. Examining how cells interact with each other in response to mechanically differential substrates would allow an increased understanding of their coordinated cell motility. In order to probe the effect of substrate stiffness on tumor related cells in greater detail, we created hard–soft–hard (HSH) polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with alternating regions of different stiffness (200 and 800 kPa). We then cultured WI-38 fibroblasts and A549 epithelial cells to probe their motile response to the substrates. We found that when the 2 cell types were exposed simultaneously to the same substrate, fibroblasts moved at an increased speed over epithelial cells. Furthermore, the HSH substrate allowed us to physically guide and separate the different cell types based on their relative motile speed. We believe that this method and results will be important in a diversity of areas including mechanical microenvironment, cell motility, and cancer biology.

1988 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-77
Author(s):  
A. Harris ◽  
L. Coleman

The establishment of a tissue-culture system for epithelial cells derived from human foetal pancreas has recently been reported. Further analyses have now been made on these cells in vitro, together with parallel investigation of the distribution of different cell types within the intact foetal pancreas. Results support the view that the cultured cells are ductal in origin and nature. Pancreatic epithelial cell cultures have also been established from foetuses with cystic fibrosis.


1986 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
T M Miller ◽  
D A Goodenough

Lens epithelial cells communicate with two different cell types. They communicate with other epithelial cells via gap junctions on their lateral membranes, and with fiber cells via junctions on their apices. We tested independently these two routes of cell-cell communication to determine if treatment with a 90% CO2-equilibrated medium caused a decrease in junctional permeability; the transfer of fluorescent dye was used as the assay. We found that the high-CO2 treatment blocked intraepithelial dye transfer but not fiber-to-epithelium dye transfer. The lens epithelial cell thus forms at least two physiologically distinct classes of gap junctions.


Author(s):  
Thibaut Brunet ◽  
Marvin Albert ◽  
William Roman ◽  
Danielle C. Spitzer ◽  
Nicole King

The evolution of different cell types was a key process of early animal evolution1–3. Two fundamental cell types, epithelial cells and amoeboid cells, are broadly distributed across the animal tree of life4,5 but their origin and early evolution are unclear. Epithelial cells are polarized, have a fixed shape and often bear an apical cilium and microvilli. These features are shared with choanoflagellates – the closest living relatives of animals – and are thought to have been inherited from their last common ancestor with animals1,6,7. The deformable amoeboid cells of animals, on the other hand, seem strikingly different from choanoflagellates and instead evoke more distantly related eukaryotes, such as diverse amoebae – but it has been unclear whether that similarity reflects common ancestry or convergence8. Here, we show that choanoflagellates subjected to spatial confinement differentiate into an amoeboid phenotype by retracting their flagella and microvilli, generating blebs, and activating myosin-based motility. Choanoflagellate cell crawling is polarized by geometrical features of the substrate and allows escape from confined microenvironments. The confinement-induced amoeboid switch is conserved across diverse choanoflagellate species and greatly expands the known phenotypic repertoire of choanoflagellates. The broad phylogenetic distribution of the amoeboid cell phenotype across animals9–14 and choanoflagellates, as well as the conserved role of myosin, suggests that myosin-mediated amoeboid motility was present in the life history of their last common ancestor. Thus, the duality between animal epithelial and crawling cells might have evolved from a temporal phenotypic switch between flagellate and amoeboid forms in their single-celled ancestors3,15,16.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. H67-H73
Author(s):  
Xuechong Hong ◽  
Wenduo Gu

Vascular remodeling is a complex and dynamic pathological process engaging many different cell types that reside within the vasculature. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) refer to a heterogeneous cell population with the plasticity to differentiate toward multiple mesodermal lineages. Various types of MSC have been identified within the vascular wall that actively contribute to the vascular remodeling process such as atherosclerosis. With the advances of genetic mouse models, recent findings demonstrated the crucial roles of MSCs in the progression of vascular diseases. This review aims to provide an overview on the current knowledge of the characteristics and behavior of vascular resident MSCs under quiescence and remodeling conditions, which may lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches for cardiovascular diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Isla-Magrané ◽  
Anna Veiga ◽  
José García-Arumí ◽  
Anna Duarri

Abstract Background Recently, great efforts have been made to design protocols for obtaining ocular cells from human stem cells to model diseases or for regenerative purposes. Current protocols generally focus on isolating retinal cells, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), or corneal cells and fail to recapitulate the complexity of the tissue during eye development. Here, the generation of more advanced in vitro multiocular organoids from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is demonstrated. Methods A 2-step method was established to first obtain self-organized multizone ocular progenitor cells (mzOPCs) from 2D hiPSC cultures within three weeks. Then, after the cells were manually isolated and grown in suspension, 3D multiocular organoids were generated to model important cellular features of developing eyes. Results In the 2D culture, self-formed mzOPCs spanned the neuroectoderm, surface ectoderm, neural crest, and RPE, mimicking early stages of eye development. After lifting, mzOPCs developed into different 3D multiocular organoids composed of multiple cell lineages including RPE, retina, and cornea, and interactions between the different cell types and regions of the eye system were observed. Within these organoids, the retinal regions exhibited correct layering and contained all major retinal cell subtypes as well as retinal morphological cues, whereas the corneal regions closely resembled the transparent ocular-surface epithelium and contained of corneal, limbal, and conjunctival epithelial cells. The arrangement of RPE cells also formed organoids composed of polarized pigmented epithelial cells at the surface that were completely filled with collagen matrix. Conclusions This approach clearly demonstrated the advantages of the combined 2D-3D construction tissue model as it provided a more ocular native-like cellular environment than that of previous models. In this complex preparations, multiocular organoids may be used to model the crosstalk between different cell types in eye development and disease. Graphical abstract


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ao Zhou ◽  
Xia Dong ◽  
Mengyun Liu ◽  
Bin Tang

Influenza A virus (IAV) has a higher genetic variation, leading to the poor efficiency of traditional vaccine and antiviral strategies targeting viral proteins. Therefore, developing broad-spectrum antiviral treatments is particularly important. Host responses to IAV infection provide a promising approach to identify antiviral factors involved in virus infection as potential molecular drug targets. In this study, in order to better illustrate the molecular mechanism of host responses to IAV and develop broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, we systematically analyzed mRNA expression profiles of host genes in a variety of human cells, including transformed and primary epithelial cells infected with different subtypes of IAV by mining 35 microarray datasets from the GEO database. The transcriptomic results showed that IAV infection resulted in the difference in expression of amounts of host genes in all cell types, especially those genes participating in immune defense and antiviral response. In addition, following the criteria of P<0.05 and |logFC|≥1.5, we found that some difference expression genes were overlapped in different cell types under IAV infection via integrative gene network analysis. IFI6, IFIT2, ISG15, HERC5, RSAD2, GBP1, IFIT3, IFITM1, LAMP3, USP18, and CXCL10 might act as key antiviral factors in alveolar basal epithelial cells against IAV infection, while BATF2, CXCL10, IFI44L, IL6, and OAS2 played important roles in airway epithelial cells in response to different subtypes of IAV infection. Additionally, we also revealed that some overlaps (BATF2, IFI44L, IFI44, HERC5, CXCL10, OAS2, IFIT3, USP18, OAS1, IFIT2) were commonly upregulated in human primary epithelial cells infected with high or low pathogenicity IAV. Moreover, there were similar defense responses activated by IAV infection, including the interferon-regulated signaling pathway in different phagocyte types, although the differentially expressed genes in different phagocyte types showed a great difference. Taken together, our findings will help better understand the fundamental patterns of molecular responses induced by highly or lowly pathogenic IAV, and the overlapped genes upregulated by IAV in different cell types may act as early detection markers or broad-spectrum antiviral targets.


Author(s):  
I. Dardick ◽  
A.W.P. van Nostrand ◽  
Diane Jeans ◽  
P. Rippstein ◽  
V. Edwards

Hospital, Ottawa, Canada and ^Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Survey-type electron micrographs correlated with semithin plastic sections (Fig. 2) were used in an ultrastructural study of 24 cases of salivary gland pleomorphic adenoma in order to assess tumor cell types and their organization in cellular regions and the gradual alterations occurring with the development of myxoid areas. Such micrographs confirm the presence of two principal cell types with smaller numbers of highly organized luminal epithelial cells forming duct- or acinar-like structures and more numerous, angular, mosaically or loosely arranged tumor cells surrounding luminal type cells. As is evident in Figure 1, darker staining, angular tumor cells just external to duct luminal cells have a specific and intimate association with luminal cells through cell processes and well developed desmosomes. Despite the lack of classical features of myoepithelial cells, the organizational arrangement of the two cell types and the distinctly different cytologic features of tumor cells external to luminal epithelial cells suggests that the former cell type represents myoepithelial cells modified as a result of neoplastic induction (Figs. 1 and 2).


1987 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-203
Author(s):  
J. Wehland ◽  
K. Weber

Monoclonal antibodies specific for either the tyrosinated (Tyr) or the detyrosinated (Glu) form of alpha-tubulin were elicited with synthetic peptides spanning the carboxy-terminal sequences of the two forms. While almost all microtubules (MTs) are usually of the Tyr-tubulin type (Tyr-rich MTs) some MTs containing noticeable amounts of Glu-tubulin (Glu-rich MTs) were found in many but not all cell lines studied. Glu-rich MTs seemed absent from proliferating CHO and N115 neuroblastoma cells. When differentiation of these cells was initiated by the addition of forskolin for CHO, or by serum deprivation for N115, elevated levels of microtubular Glu-tubulin were observed. In differentiated N115 cells Glu-tubulin was restricted to MT of elongated cell processes and was not found in growth cones and many MT of the cell body. Elevated levels of Glu-tubulin were also characteristic of other differentiated cell types, including neurones and myotubes but were not found in glial cells, astrocytes and fibroblasts in the same primary cultures. Additional experiments suggested that the restricted distribution of Glu-tubulin is the result of MT subsets with different stabilities. Results with mitotic drugs indicated that detyrosination occurs on MTs rather than on soluble tubulin and that stabilization of MTs usually favours the detyrosination process. Evidence for a functional alpha-tubulin cycle involving an inherent carboxypeptidase and a recharging ligase was apparent in 3T3 cells from the preponderance of Glu-rich MTs induced by taxol treatment or the micro-injection of certain antibodies either protecting the detyrosinated form (Glu-tubulin antibodies) or inhibiting retyrosination (ligase antibodies). As the same treatment of CHO cells resulted in comparable arrays of Glu-rich MTs only when forskolin was also present, different cell types may differ in the level of active carboxypeptidase. The results are discussed in terms of possible functions of the tyrosination/detyrosination cycle of alpha-tubulin. While most results can be explained on the basis of ‘older’ and, consequently, more detyrosinated MTs, others raise the possibility that cyclic-AMP-dependent events and certain environmental influences known to induce either a morphological transformation or a differentiation event may influence the carboxypeptidase inherent in the alpha-tubulin cycle.


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 811-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Liu ◽  
Jessica R. Lague ◽  
David P. Nunes ◽  
Paul Toselli ◽  
Frank G. Oppenheim ◽  
...  

Mucins are high molecular weight glycoproteins secreted by salivary glands and epithelial cells lining the digestive, respiratory, and reproductive tracts. These glyco-proteins, encoded in at least 13 distinct human genes, can be subdivided into gel-forming and membrane-associated forms. The gel-forming mucin MUC5B is secreted by mucous acinar cells in major and minor salivary glands, but little is known about the expression pattern of membrane-associated mucins. In this study, RT-PCR and Northern blotting demonstrated the presence of transcripts for MUC1 and MUC4 in both parotid and submandibular glands, and in situ hybridization localized these transcripts to epithelial cells lining striated and excretory ducts and in some serous acinar cells. The same cellular distribution was observed by immunohistochemistry. Soluble forms of both mucins were detected in parotid secretion after immunoprecipitation with mucin-specific antibodies. These studies have shown that membrane-associated mucins are produced in both parotid and submandibular glands and that they are expressed in different cell types than gel-forming mucins. Although the function of these mucins in the oral cavity remains to be elucidated, it is possible that they both contribute to the epithelial protective mucin layer and act as receptors initiating one or more intracellular signal transduction pathways.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (2) ◽  
pp. F192-F201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Brown

Epithelial cells in the kidney have highly specialized transport mechanisms that differ among the many tubule segments, and among the different cell types that are present in some regions. The purpose of this brief review is to examine some of the major intracellular mechanisms by which the membrane proteins that participate in these differentiated cellular functions are addressed, sorted, and delivered to specific membrane domains of epithelial cells. Unraveling these processes is important not only for our understanding of normal cellular function but is also critical for the interpretation of pathophysiological dysfunction in the context of newly generated molecular and cellular information concerning hereditary and acquired transporter abnormalities. Among the topics covered are sorting signals on proteins, role of the cytoskeleton, vesicle coat proteins, the fusion machinery, and exo- and endocytosis of recycling proteins. Examples of these events in renal epithelial cells are highlighted throughout this review and are related to the physiology of the kidney.


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