QCM与光学显微镜共同应用于研究细胞–细胞相互作用对细胞–基质黏附的影响

细胞–基质黏附是一个动态而复杂的过程。在细胞培养与伤口愈合等细胞集体迁移过程中,细胞不同密度或细胞–细胞间不同相互作用势必影响细胞–基质间黏附,可有关这种影响的动态研究尚少。石英晶体微天平技术以细胞群为研究对象,能够实时监测细胞与传感元件表面之间的黏附相互作用及细胞黏弹性变化。该文通过培养不同细胞数目以模拟细胞–细胞间不同相互作用,将QCM技术与光学显微镜技术共同应用于研究人脐静脉内皮细胞细胞–细胞相互作用对细胞–基质间黏附的影响。结果显示,细胞–细胞间相互作用对细胞黏附的影响不具有单调性,需分强度范围讨论。当细胞–细胞间相互作用处于较弱范围时,细胞–细胞间相互作用可促进细胞铺展和细胞黏着斑的形成,最终强化细胞黏附,而强劲的细胞–细胞间相互作用会约束细胞铺展,减小黏着斑面积,细胞黏附因此减弱。

Hepatocellular carcinoma and macrophage interaction induced tumor immunosuppressionvia Treg requires TLR4 signaling

AIM: To investigated the interaction between toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-activated hepatoma cells and macrophages in the induction of tumor-immune suppression mediated by CD4+CD25high family of transcription factor P3 (FOXP3) regulatory T cells (Tregs). METHODS: The proportion of FOXP3+ Tregs was identified in peripheral blood and tumor tissues of 60 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. TLR4 expression was examined in tumor tissues and cell lines. The correlation was examined between FOXP3+ Tregs in peripheral blood and TLR4 expression of HCC tissues. Following activation of TLR4 in H22 murine hepatoma cells pre-incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and co-cultured with macrophage cell line RAW246.7, the synthesis of cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, CCL22, and interleukin (IL)-10 by the two cell lines was detected and analyzed. RESULTS: FOXP3+ Tregs were enriched in tumor sites, and circulating FOXP3+ Tregs were increased in HCC patients in correlation with multiple tumor foci and up-regulated TLR4 expression in HCC tissues. Semi-quantitative analysis indicated that TLR4 was over-expressed in HCC compared with the matched normal tissues. Cell cultivation experiments indicated that the mRNAs of IL-10 and CCL22 were significantly up-regulated in the RAW246.7 cell line when co-cultured with LPS preincubated H22 cells. CONCLUSION: In hepatoma cell lines, TLR4 may indirectly facilitate the recruitment of Tregs to the tumor site and promote intrahepatic metastasis through its interaction with macrophages.

Interaction between Colon Cancer Cells and Human Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells Promotes Liver Metastasis of Tumor Cells

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of co-culture between colon cancer cells （SW1116） and human liver sinusoidal endothelial cells （HLSECs） on cancer cell metastasis, and to provide a novel model for studying the mechanism of colon cancer liver metastasis. METHODS HLSECs and SW1116 were co-cultured for 21 rounds in vitro. Transwell migration, gelatin-zymography, CCK-8 proliferation and colony formation assays were used to examine the invasion, proliferation, and colony forming ability of cancer cells. Assays were carried out to examine tumor growth ability and liver metastasis. The associated molecular change was examined by western blotting. RESULTS After 21 selection rounds, colon cancer cells SWl 1161）21 displayed a clear boundary. Compared with the 5W1116 cells, SW1116P21 cells had a greater invasive ability, cell proliferation and colony formation in soft agar. A gelatin-zymography assay showed that the ability of SW1116P21 cells to secrete matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 was significantly greater than that of SWl116 cells. Additionally, the capacity for subcutaneous tumor formation of SW1116P21 was significantly increased. It was found that mice injected with SW1116P21 cells developed significantly more visually observable liver nodules than mice injected with SW1116 cells. Western blotting showed increased vimentin expression and decreased E-cadherin expression in the SW1116P21 cells, compared with the SWl 116 cells. CONCLUSION The interaction between SW1116 and HLSECs may promote tumor cell invasion, proliferation and colony formation in vitro, and tumor formation and liver metastasis in vivo. An epithelial-mesenchymal transition occurs in SWl 116P21 cells, which contributes to the change in the characteristics of tumor cells.

Fibronectin: Functional character and role in alcoholic liver disease

Fibronectins are adhesive glycoproteins that can be found in tissue matrices and circulating in various fluids of the body. The variable composition of fibronectin molecules facilitates a diversity of interactions with cell surface receptors that suggest a role for these proteins beyond the structural considerations of the extracellular matrix. These interactions implicate fibronectin in the regulation of mechanisms that also determine cell behavior and activity. The two major forms, plasma fibronectin (pFn) and cellular fibronectin (cFn), exist as balanced amounts under normal physiological conditions. However, during injury and/or disease, tissue and circulating levels of cFn become disproportionately elevated. The accumulating cFn, in addition to being a consequence of prolonged tissue damage, may in factstimulate cellular events that promote further damage. In this review, we summarize what is known regarding such interactions between fibronectin and cells that may influence the biological response to injury. We elaborate on the effects of cFn in the liver, specifically under a condition of chronic alcohol-induced injury. Studies have revealed that chronic alcohol consumption stimulates excess production of cFn by sinusoidal endothelial cells and hepatic stellate cells while impairing its clearance by other cell types resulting in the build up of this glycoprotein throughout the liver and its consequent increased availability to influence cellular activity that could promote the development of alcoholic liver disease. We describe recent findings by our laboratory that support a plausible role for cFn in the promotion of liver injury under a condition of chronic alcohol abuse and the implications of cFn stimulation on the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease. These findings suggest an effect of cFn in regulating cell behavior in the alcohol-injured liver that is worth further characterizing not only to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the role this reactive glycoprotein plays in the progression of injury but also for the insight further studies could provide towards the development of novel therapies for alcoholic liver disease.

Entry of hepatitis C virus into the cell: A therapeutic target

Several receptors have been identified as implicated on viral entry into the hepatocyte; and, this interaction between the virus and potential receptors could modulate infection, spontaneous viral clearance, persistence of the infection and the widespread of the virus as outbreak. Nevertheless, the playing role of each of them remains controversial. The NiemannPick type C1 like 1 gene (NPC1L1) receptor has been recently implicated on hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry into the cell and ezetimibe, an anti-cholesterol drug seems to block that, emerging the idea to control hepatitis C outbreak modulating lipid-related receptors. Hepatitis C infection seems to modulate lipid metabolism according to host genetic background. Indeed, it circulates like a lipoviroparticle. The main aim of this field of vision would be to discuss the role of hepatocyte receptors implicated on virus entry, especially NPC1L1 and the therapeutic options derived from the better knowledge about HCV-lipidsreceptors interaction.

Oncologic Trogocytosis Protects Tumour Stromal Cells from γδ Cell Cytotoxicity

Tumours progressively develop chemoresistance and immunoescape abilities thanks to support from their stromal microenvironment. In ovarian carcinomas, for instance, tumour-associated mesenchymal stem cells （TAMC） can transfer multi-drug-resistant proteins to develop metastases. However, since the microenvironment of such carcinomas is frequently infiltrated by both TAMC and γδ T lymphocytes, the consequences of interactions between these cell types were unclear. Here, we report that whilst γδ T lymphocytes were not activated when co-incubated in vitro with TAMC, their cell membranes were trogocytosed by the TAMC. Since TAMC constitutively express a low level of HLA class I, which is increased by trogocytosis of γδ cell-derived HLA class I, the interaction increased the expression of HLA class-I molecules on TAMC. In addition, γδ T lymphocytes are HLA-unrestricted cytolytic cells and their activity is regulated by inhibitory receptors （KIR） for self-HLA class I. Hence, although the lytic activity of γδ T lymphocytes for unrelated target cells was unaffected by trogocytosis, it spared the TAMC. Therefore, interactions between TAMC and cytolytic γδ T cells avoided the killing of these stromal cells due to an active transfer of their protective HLA class-I molecules. These results suggest that trogocytosis contributes to the maintenance of cancer-associated stromal cells.

Cellular Response to Irradiation

To explore the nonlinear activities of the cellular signaling system composed of one transcriptional arm and one protein-interaction arm, we use an irradiation-response module to study the dynamics of stochastic interactions. It is shown that the oscillatory behavior could be described in a unified way when the radiation-derived signal and noise are incorporated.

Interaction between Spermatozoa and the Different Epithelia along the Female Reproductive Tract of Mustelus schmitti

The presence of sperm was observed in different organs of the reproductive tract of M. schmitti. These were the club, baffle and terminal zone of the oviducal gland, posterior portion of the uterus and in the cervix. This fact allowed for consideration not only its storage but its interaction with the female reproductive tract epithelia as well. SEM （microscopic observation studies） detected loose and sole spermatozoa in the club and baffle zones in a pregnant female. On the other hand, histochemical techniques showed sperm storage tubules of the terminal zone, which contain bundles of sperm, do not stain AB （alcian blue） or PAS （periodic acid schiff）. Disintegration of some of the male gametes was observed in the posterior part of the uterus with TEM （transmission electron microscopy） studies which would indicate a first uterine sperm selection. The uterine epithelial cells involved in this process showed an important level of secretion vacuoles suggesting an interaction with sperm cells. Sperm in the cervix was found without the matrix that constitutes the spermatozeugmata formed in the male tract. Some heads of the sperm were uncurled while they were interacting with the cervical cells.

Effects of temperature and cellular interactions on the mechanics and morphology of human cancer cells investigated by atomic force microscopy

Cell mechanics plays an important role in cellular physiological activities. Recent studies have shown that cellular mechanical properties are novel biomarkers for indicating the cell states. In this article, temperature-controllable atomic force microscopy(AFM) was applied to quantitatively investigate the effects of temperature and cellular interactions on the mechanics and morphology of human cancer cells. First, AFM indenting experiments were performed on six types of human cells to investigate the changes of cellular Young's modulus at different temperatures and the results showed that the mechanical responses to the changes of temperature were variable for different types of cancer cells. Second, AFM imaging experiments were performed to observe the morphological changes in living cells at different temperatures and the results showed the significant changes of cell morphology caused by the alterations of temperature. Finally, by co-culturing human cancer cells with human immune cells, the mechanical and morphological changes in cancer cells were investigated. The results showed that the co-culture of cancer cells and immune cells could cause the distinct mechanical changes in cancer cells, but no significant morphological differences were observed. The experimental results improved our understanding of the effects of temperature and cellular interactions on the mechanics and morphology of cancer cells.

Viral proteomics: The emerging cutting-edge of virus research

Viruses replicate and proliferate in host cells while continuously adjusting to and modulating the host environment.They encode a wide spectrum of multifunctional proteins,which interplay with and modify proteins in host cells.Viral genomes were chronologically the first to be sequenced.However,the corresponding viral proteomes,the alterations of host proteomes upon viral infection,and the dynamic nature of proteins,such as post-translational modifications,enzymatic cleavage,and activation or destruction by proteolysis,remain largely unknown.Emerging high-throughput techniques,in particular quantitative or semi-quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis of viral and cellular proteomes,have been applied to define viruses and their interactions with their hosts.Here,we review the major areas of viral proteomics,including virion proteomics,structural proteomics,viral protein interactomics,and changes to the host cell proteome upon viral infection.

A cellular response protein induced during HSV-1 infection inhibits viral replication by interacting with ATF5

Studies of herpes simplex virus type 1 （HSV-1） infection have shown that many known and unknown cellular molecules in- volved in viral proliferation are up-regulated following HSV-1 infection. In this study, using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, we found that the expression of the HSV-1 infection response repressive protein （HIRRP, GI 16552881） was up-regulated in human L02 cells infected with HSV-1. HIRRP, an unknown protein, was initially localized in the cytoplasm and then translocated into the nucleus of HSV-l-infected cells. Further analysis showed that HIRRP represses HSV-1 proliferation by inhibiting transcription of the viral genome by interacting with the cellular transcription factor, ATFS, via its N-terminal domain. ATF5 represses the transcription of many host genes but can also act as an activator of genes containing a specific motif. We found that ATF5 promotes the proliferation of HSV-1 via a potential mechanism by which ATF5 enhances the transcription of viral genes during the course of an HSV-1 infection; HIRRP then induces feedback repression of this tran- scription by interacting with ATFS.

NK cells play a significant role in immunosurveillance at the early stage of MLL-AF9 acute myeloid leukemia via CD226/CD155 interactions

Acute myeloid leukemia(AML) is an aggressive hematological malignancy, and the mechanism underlying immune system involvement in leukemia development is unclear. In the present study, we utilized a myeloid/lymphoid or mixed-lineage leukemia; translocated to, 3(MLLT3/MLL-AF9)-induced AML mouse model with or without exposure to irradiation. We found that the leukemia cells could survive and expand in hosts with intact immune systems, whereas leukemia progression was accelerated in mice with impaired immune systems. Moreover, the leukemia cells escaped from host immunosurveillance via editing their immunogenicity, including the up-regulation of an inhibitory antigen(i.e., CD47) and the down-regulation of active antigens(i.e., CD86, CD54, retinoic acid early transcript(RAE), histocompatibility 2, D region locus b(H2-Db) and H2-Dd). Natural killer(NK) cells were activated in the early phase of AML progression, whereas T cells were stimulated in the late phase. Furthermore, NK cell depletion showed that NK cells were necessary for the elimination of leukemia cells in our AML mouse model. Notably, CD155/CD226 primarily mediated the interaction between NK cells and leukemia cells and contributed to the antitumor effects of NK cells during the early phase of AML. Clinical data from patients with diverse hematological malignancies showed that CD155 expression was decreased in hematological malignancies. Taken together, our results demonstrate that NK cells play a pivotal role in immunosurveillance against leukemia cells during the early stage of AML primarily through the CD226/CD155 interaction; however, NK cells are not sufficient to eliminate leukemia cells.

The effect of vaccination to dendritic cell and immune cell interaction in HIV disease progression

In this research paper, our main objective is to find out the meticulous role of activated dendritic cells （DCs） during the human immunodeficiency virus （HIV） infection process. DCs play a dual role by enhancing both HIV infection progression, as well as antiviral immune response. To explore the implications of these dual roles, we have formulated our mathematical model and analyzed the model by both analytical and numerical approaches. By using an impulsive differential equation, we have studied the effect of DC-based vaccination. Analytically we have determined the threshold value of drug dosage and dosing interval for optimum levels of injection. We have also investigated the effect of perfect adherence of drug dose on the immune cell count in extreme cases and observed that, systematic drug dose of the immune cells leads to its maximum level.