scholarly journals The Immunomodulatory Properties of Amniotic Cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Magatti ◽  
Elsa Vertua ◽  
Anna Cargnoni ◽  
Antonietta Silini ◽  
Ornella Parolini

Among the many cell types useful in developing therapeutic treatments, human amniotic cells from placenta have been proposed as valid candidates. Both human amniotic epithelial and mesenchymal stromal cells, and the conditioned medium generated from their culture, exert multiple immunosuppressive activities. Indeed, they inhibit T and B cell proliferation, suppress inflammatory properties of monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils, and natural killer cells, while promoting induction of cells with regulatory functions such as regulatory T cells and anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages. These properties have laid the foundation for their use for the treatment of inflammatory-based diseases, and encouraging results have been obtained in different preclinical disease models where exacerbated inflammation is present. Moreover, an immune-privileged status of amniotic cells has been often highlighted. However, even if long-term engraftment of amniotic cells has been reported into immunocompetent animals, only few cells survive after infusion. Furthermore, amniotic cells have been shown to be able to induce immune responses in vivo and, under specific culture conditions, they can stimulate T cell proliferation in vitro. Although immunosuppressive properties are a widely recognized characteristic of amniotic cells, immunogenic and stimulatory activities appear to be less reported, sporadic events. In order to improve therapeutic outcome, the mechanisms responsible for the suppressive versus stimulatory activity need to be carefully addressed. In this review, both the immunosuppressive and immunostimulatory activity of amniotic cells will be discussed.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e2608-e2608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongfeng Yuan ◽  
Brandon Tan ◽  
Shou-Jiang Gao

Abstract Tenovin-6 has attracted significant interest because it activates p53 and inhibits sirtuins. It has anti-neoplastic effects on multiple hematopoietic malignancies and solid tumors in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Tenovin-6 was recently shown to impair the autophagy pathway in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells and pediatric soft tissue sarcoma cells. However, whether tenovin-6 has a general inhibitory effect on autophagy and whether there is any involvement with SIRT1 and p53, both of which are regulators of the autophagy pathway, remain unclear. In this study, we have demonstrated that tenovin-6 increases microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3-II) level in diverse cell types in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, the increase of LC3-II by tenovin-6 is caused by inhibition of the classical autophagy pathway via impairing lysosomal function without affecting the fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes. Furthermore, we have revealed that tenovin-6 activation of p53 is cell type dependent, and tenovin-6 inhibition of autophagy is not dependent on its regulatory functions on p53 and SIRT1. Our results have shown that tenovin-6 is a potent autophagy inhibitor, and raised the precaution in interpreting results where tenovin-6 is used as an inhibitor of SIRT1.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan P. Metz ◽  
Erin L. Wuebben ◽  
Phillip J. Wilder ◽  
Jesse L. Cox ◽  
Kaustubh Datta ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Quiescent tumor cells pose a major clinical challenge due to their ability to resist conventional chemotherapies and to drive tumor recurrence. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that promote quiescence of tumor cells could help identify therapies to eliminate these cells. Significantly, recent studies have determined that the function of SOX2 in cancer cells is highly dose dependent. Specifically, SOX2 levels in tumor cells are optimized to promote tumor growth: knocking down or elevating SOX2 inhibits proliferation. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that quiescent tumor cells express higher levels of SOX2 compared to adjacent proliferating cells. Currently, the mechanisms through which elevated levels of SOX2 restrict tumor cell proliferation have not been characterized. Methods To understand how elevated levels of SOX2 restrict the proliferation of tumor cells, we engineered diverse types of tumor cells for inducible overexpression of SOX2. Using these cells, we examined the effects of elevating SOX2 on their proliferation, both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we examined how elevating SOX2 influences their expression of cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and p27Kip1. Results Elevating SOX2 in diverse tumor cell types led to growth inhibition in vitro. Significantly, elevating SOX2 in vivo in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, medulloblastoma, and prostate cancer cells induced a reversible state of tumor growth arrest. In all three tumor types, elevation of SOX2 in vivo quickly halted tumor growth. Remarkably, tumor growth resumed rapidly when SOX2 returned to endogenous levels. We also determined that elevation of SOX2 in six tumor cell lines decreased the levels of cyclins and CDKs that control each phase of the cell cycle, while upregulating p27Kip1. Conclusions Our findings indicate that elevating SOX2 above endogenous levels in a diverse set of tumor cell types leads to growth inhibition both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, our findings indicate that SOX2 can function as a master regulator by controlling the expression of a broad spectrum of cell cycle machinery. Importantly, our SOX2-inducible tumor studies provide a novel model system for investigating the molecular mechanisms by which elevated levels of SOX2 restrict cell proliferation and tumor growth.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Maria Cozzolino ◽  
Valeria Noce ◽  
Cecilia Battistelli ◽  
Alessandra Marchetti ◽  
Germana Grassi ◽  
...  

In many cell types, several cellular processes, such as differentiation of stem/precursor cells, maintenance of differentiated phenotype, motility, adhesion, growth, and survival, strictly depend on the stiffness of extracellular matrix that,in vivo, characterizes their correspondent organ and tissue. In the liver, the stromal rigidity is essential to obtain the correct organ physiology whereas any alteration causes liver cell dysfunctions. The rigidity of the substrate is an element no longer negligible for the cultivation of several cell types, so that many data so far obtained, where cells have been cultured on plastic, could be revised. Regarding liver cells, standard culture conditions lead to the dedifferentiation of primary hepatocytes, transdifferentiation of stellate cells into myofibroblasts, and loss of fenestration of sinusoidal endothelium. Furthermore, standard cultivation of liver stem/precursor cells impedes an efficient execution of the epithelial/hepatocyte differentiation program, leading to the expansion of a cell population expressing only partially liver functions and products. Overcoming these limitations is mandatory for any approach of liver tissue engineering. Here we propose cell lines asin vitromodels of liver stem cells and hepatocytes and an innovative culture method that takes into account the substrate stiffness to obtain, respectively, a rapid and efficient differentiation process and the maintenance of the fully differentiated phenotype.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4804
Author(s):  
Vincent van Duinen ◽  
Wendy Stam ◽  
Eva Mulder ◽  
Farbod Famili ◽  
Arie Reijerkerk ◽  
...  

To advance pre-clinical vascular drug research, in vitro assays are needed that closely mimic the process of angiogenesis in vivo. Such assays should combine physiological relevant culture conditions with robustness and scalability to enable drug screening. We developed a perfused 3D angiogenesis assay that includes endothelial cells (ECs) from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and assessed its performance and suitability for anti-angiogenic drug screening. Angiogenic sprouting was compared with primary ECs and showed that the microvessels from iPSC-EC exhibit similar sprouting behavior, including tip cell formation, directional sprouting and lumen formation. Inhibition with sunitinib, a clinically used vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor type 2 inhibitor, and 3-(3-pyridinyl)-1-(4-pyridinyl)-2-propen-1-one (3PO), a transient glycolysis inhibitor, both significantly reduced the sprouting of both iPSC-ECs and primary ECs, supporting that both cell types show VEGF gradient-driven angiogenic sprouting. The assay performance was quantified for sunitinib, yielding a minimal signal window of 11 and Z-factor of at least 0.75, both meeting the criteria to be used as screening assay. In conclusion, we have developed a robust and scalable assay that includes physiological relevant culture conditions and is amenable to screening of anti-angiogenic compounds.


Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Copp ◽  
J.A. Crolla ◽  
F.A. Brook

Homozygous mutant curly tail mouse embryos developing spinal neural tube defects (NTD) exhibit a cell-type-specific abnormality of cell proliferation that affects the gut endoderm and notochord but not the neuroepithelium. We suggested that spinal NTD in these embryos may result from the imbalance of cell proliferation rates between affected and unaffected cell types. In order to test this hypothesis, curly tail embryos were subjected to influences that retard growth in vivo and in vitro. The expectation was that growth of unaffected rapidly growing cell types would be reduced to a greater extent than affected slowly growing cell types, thus counteracting the genetically determined imbalance of cell proliferation rates and leading to normalization of spinal neurulation. Food deprivation of pregnant females for 48 h prior to the stage of posterior neuropore closure reduced the overall incidence of spinal NTD and almost completely prevented open spina bifida, the most severe form of spinal NTD in curly tail mice. Analysis of embryos earlier in gestation showed that growth retardation acts by reducing the incidence of delayed neuropore closure. Culture of embryos at 40.5 degrees C for 15–23 h from day 10 of gestation, like food deprivation in vivo, also produced growth retardation and led to normalization of posterior neuropore closure. Labelling of embryos in vitro with [3H]thymidine for 1 h at the end of the culture period showed that the labelling index is reduced to a greater extent in the neuroepithelium than in other cell types in growth-retarded embryos compared with controls cultured at 38 degrees C.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1986 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-280
Author(s):  
R.A. Clark ◽  
J.M. Folkvord ◽  
L.D. Nielsen

Recently, we have presented evidence that proliferating blood vessels produce and deposit fibronectin in situ during the angiogenesis of wound repair. This report extends these observations by demonstrating that human endothelial cells from both large and small vessels depend on fibronectin for their adherence in vitro. Endothelial cells were grown from human umbilical veins (HUVEC) by the method of Gimbrone and from the microvasculature of human omentum by the method of Kern, Knedler and Eckel. Second-passage cells were plated into microtitre wells that had been coated with 100 micrograms ml-1 of fibronectin, types I and III collagen, type IV collagen or laminin. After a 3-h incubation, adherent cells were solubilized with Zap-Isoton and quantified on a Coulter Counter. Under normal culture conditions HUVEC showed no preference for fibronectin substrates while microvascular cells always demonstrated a striking preference for fibronectin substrates. However, when HUVEC were exposed to 2.5 or 25 micrograms ml-1 of cycloheximide for 4 h before and during the adherence assays, the adherence to fibronectin was 50–200% greater than to types I and III collagen. Immunofluorescence studies showed that while HUVEC expressed a large quantity of surface fibronectin, microvascular cells expressed very little. Metabolic labelling studies confirmed that HUVEC cultures had substantial quantities of fibronectin in their cell layer while microvascular cells did not. In antibody blocking experiments, preincubation of fibronectin-coated surfaces with anti-fibronectin antibodies totally blocked microvascular cell adhesion but only abrogated HUVEC adherence by 50%, presumably since these latter cells were able to deposit additional fibronectin onto the surface during the 3 h assay period. In the presence of cycloheximide anti-fibronectin antibodies totally blocked HUVEC adherence. These results demonstrate that both endothelial cell types rely, at least in part, on fibronectin for adherence in vitro. HUVEC can synthesize, secrete and deposit enough fibronectin for their adherence in vitro, while microvascular cells rely on an exogenous source of fibronectin under these culture conditions. Thus, the increased blood vessel fibronectin observed during angiogenesis in vivo may mediate adherence of the proliferating and migrating endothelial cells.


2020 ◽  
pp. jlr.TR120000806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raju V. S. Rajala

The field of phosphoinositide signaling has expanded significantly in recent years. Phosphoinositides (PIs) are universal signaling molecules that directly interact with membrane proteins or with cytosolic proteins containing domains that directly bind phosphoinositides and are recruited to cell membranes. Through the activities of PI kinases and PI phosphatases, seven distinct phosphoinositide lipid molecules are formed from the parent molecule phosphatidylinositol. PI signals regulate a wide range of cellular functions, including cytoskeletal assembly, membrane binding and fusion, ciliogenesis, vesicular transport, and signal transduction. Given the many excellent reviews on phosphoinositide kinases, phosphoinositide phosphatases, and PIs in general, in this review, we discuss recent studies and advances in PI lipid signaling in the retina. We specifically focus on PI lipids from vertebrate (e.g. bovine, rat, mice, toad, and zebrafish) and invertebrate (e.g. drosophila, horseshoe crab, and squid) retinas. We also discuss the importance of PIs revealed from animal models and human diseases, and methods to study PI levels both in vitro and in vivo. We propose that future studies should investigate the function and mechanism of activation of PI-modifying enzymes/phosphatases and further unravel PI regulation and function in the different cell types of the retina.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0244070
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Leedale ◽  
Baltasar Lucendo-Villarin ◽  
Jose Meseguer-Ripolles ◽  
Alvile Kasarinaite ◽  
Steven D. Webb ◽  
...  

A major bottleneck in the study of human liver physiology is the provision of stable liver tissue in sufficient quantity. As a result, current approaches to modelling human drug efficacy and toxicity rely heavily on immortalized human and animal cell lines. These models are informative but do possess significant drawbacks. To address the issues presented by those models, researchers have turned to pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). PSCs can be generated from defined genetic backgrounds, are scalable, and capable of differentiation to all the cell types found in the human body, representing an attractive source of somatic cells for in vitro and in vivo endeavours. Although unlimited numbers of somatic cell types can be generated in vitro, their maturation still remains problematic. In order to develop high fidelity PSC-derived liver tissue, it is necessary to better understand the cell microenvironment in vitro including key elements of liver physiology. In vivo a major driver of zonated liver function is the oxygen gradient that exists from periportal to pericentral regions. In this paper, we demonstrate how cell culture conditions for PSC-derived liver sphere systems can be optimised to recapitulate physiologically relevant oxygen gradients by using mathematical modelling. The mathematical model incorporates some often-understated features and mechanisms of traditional spheroid systems such as cell-specific oxygen uptake, media volume, spheroid size, and well dimensions that can lead to a spatially heterogeneous distribution of oxygen. This mathematical modelling approach allows for the calibration and identification of culture conditions required to generate physiologically realistic function within the microtissue through recapitulation of the in vivo microenvironment.


1971 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 520-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresita Tan ◽  
Julius Gordon

Spleen cells of unprimed CBA mice were shown to produce anti-sheep red blood cell antibodies comparable in amount in vivo and in vitro. Under identical culture conditions spleen cells of C57BL mice did not respond. CBA spleen cells, passed through columns of cotton wool (CBAf), were equally inactive in vitro. However combined cultures containing both CBAf and C57BL cells yielded as many or more plaque-forming cells than the same number of unfractionated CBA spleen cells. Analysis of the contribution of each cell population to the synthesis of antibody in the combined cultures has disclosed the participation of three cell types. A thymus-dependent, radiosensitive cell was derived from the CBAf population, while the C57BL was the source of the precursor of the antibody-forming cell and of a radioresistant cell. The latter two were partially separated in a Staput apparatus.


2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (8) ◽  
pp. 1473-1482 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Zerega ◽  
L. Camardella ◽  
S. Cermelli ◽  
R. Sala ◽  
R. Cancedda ◽  
...  

Avidin is a major [(35)S]methionine-labeled protein induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in cultured chick embryo myoblasts and chondrocytes. It was identified by N-terminal sequencing of the protein purified from conditioned culture medium of LPS-stimulated myoblasts. In addition, avidin was secreted by unstimulated myoblasts and chondrocytes during in vitro differentiation; maximal expression being observed in differentiated myofibers and hypertrophic chondrocytes. In developing chick embryos, immunohistochemistry revealed avidin in skeletal muscles and growth plate hypertrophic cartilage. Avidin was secreted into culture as a biologically active tetramer. Exogenous avidin added to the medium of proliferating chondrocytes progressively inhibited cell proliferation, whereas addition of avidin to differentiating chondrocytes in suspension allowed full cell differentiation. No toxic effects for the cells were observed in both culture conditions. Western blots of samples from cytosolic extracts using alkaline-phosphatase-conjugated streptavidin showed three biotin-containing proteins. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase was identified by specific antibodies. Based on these data, we propose that avidin binds extracellular biotin and regulates cell proliferation by interfering with fatty acid biosynthesis during terminal cell differentiation and/or in response to inflammatory stimuli.


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