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Sample records for insect cell lines

  1. Development of serum-free media for lepidopteran insect cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agathos, Spiros N

    2007-01-01

    Lepidopteran insect cell culture technology has progressed to the point of becoming an essential part of one of the most successful eukaryotic expression systems and is increasingly used industrially on a large scale. Therefore, there is a constant need for convenient and low-cost culture media capable of supporting good insect cell growth and ensuring high yield of baculovirus as well as the strong expression of recombinant proteins. Vertebrate sera or invertebrate hemolymph were essential supplements in first-generation insect cell media. These supplements, however, are cumbersome and expensive for routine large-scale culture; thus, their use is now circumvented by substituting the essential growth factors present in these supplements with serum-free substances. Such non-serum supplements are typically of non-animal origin and include protein hydrolysates, lipid emulsions, and specialized substances (e.g., surfactants and shear damage protecting chemicals). These supplements need to complement the defined, synthetic basal medium to ensure that the fundamental nutritional needs of the cells are satisfied. Although there is a significant number of proprietary serum-free and low-protein or protein-free media on the market, the lack of information concerning their detailed composition is a drawback in their adoption for different applications, including their adaptation to the metabolic and kinetic analysis and monitoring of a given insect cell based bioprocess. Hence, there is wide appeal for formulating serum-free media based on a rational assessment of the metabolic requirements of the lepidopteran cells during both the growth and the production phases. Techniques such as statistical experimental design and genetic algorithms adapted to the cellular behavior and the bioreactor operation mode (batch, fed-batch, or perfusion) permit the formulation of versatile serum- and protein-free media. These techniques are illustrated with recent developments of serum

  2. Toxicity of the mycotoxin fumonisin B1 on the insect Sf9 cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, He; Zhang, Liyang; Diao, Xue; Li, Na; Liu, Chenglan

    2017-04-01

    Fumonisins are a type of mycotoxin produced by Fusarium spp., mainly F. proliferatum and F. vertieilliodes, and represent a potential hazard to the health of animals and human beings. The toxicity and mechanism of action of fumonisins is ambiguous, and it is unclear whether fumonisins are toxic to insect cells. This study examines the toxicity of fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ) and its mechanism of action in the Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cell line. We found that FB 1 inhibited Sf9 cellular proliferation and arrested cell growth at the G 2 /M phase. Morphological observation showed that FB 1 induced swelling, vacuole formation, and loss of adhesion in Sf9 cells. Flow cytometry analysis showed that FB 1 caused depolarization of the cell membrane potential and hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane potential. To uncover potential genes associated with the molecular mechanisms of FB 1 , 41 differentially expressed genes were identified by transcriptome analyses after FB 1 treatment. These genes are putatively involved in detoxification metabolism, insect hormone regulation, cell apoptosis, and other related processes. Finally, six differentially expressed genes were chosen and validated by quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR). Our test could provide a reference for other kinds of insect cells studies on FB 1 stress. At the same time, our studies try to provide a possible for FB 1 as a precursor compounds of biological insecticide. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Recombinant Protein Production and Insect Cell Culture and Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spaulding, Glenn F. (Inventor); Goodwin, Thomas J. (Inventor); OConnor, Kim C. (Inventor); Francis, Karen M. (Inventor); Andrews, Angela D. (Inventor); Prewett, Tracey L. (Inventor)

    1997-01-01

    A process has been developed for recombinant production of selected polypeptides using transformed insect cells cultured in a horizontally rotating culture vessel modulated to create low shear conditions. A metabolically transformed insect cell line is produced using the culture procedure regardless of genetic transformation. The recombinant polypeptide can be produced by an alternative process using virtually infected or stably transformed insect cells containing a gene encoding the described polypeptide. The insect cells can also be a host for viral production.

  4. Insect Cell Culture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oers, van M.M.; Lynn, D.E.

    2010-01-01

    Insect cell cultures are widely used in studies on insect cell physiology, developmental biology and microbial pathology. In particular, insect cell culture is an indispensable tool for the study of insect viruses. The first continuously growing insect cell cultures were established from

  5. Radiosensitivity of cultured insect cells: I. Lepidoptera

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koval, T.M.

    1983-01-01

    The radiosensitivity of five lepidopteran insect cell lines representing five different genera has been investigated. These lines are: (1) TN-368, Trichoplusia ni; (2) IPLB-SF-1254, Spodoptera frugiperda; (3) IPLB-1075, Heliothis zea; (4) MRRL-CHl, clone GVl, Manduca sexta; and (5) IAL-PID2, Plodia interpunctella. The cell lines grew at different rates and had population doubling times that ranged from 19 to 52 hr. All of the lines are highly heteroploid and have approximate chromosome numbers near or above 100. The chromosomes are very small. All of the lines are extremely radioresistant; cell populations are able to recover from 260 kVp X-ray exposures up to and including 400 Gy, the highest dose examined. Cell survival curves were obtainable for only the TN-368 and IPLB-SF-1254 lines. The TN-368 cells displayed a biphasic survival response with D 0 , d/sub q/, and n values of 65.7 and 130.2 Gy, 9.0 and -36.1 Gy, and 1.2 and 0.8, respectively, for the steep and shallow portions of the curve. The IPLB-SF-1254 cells had a D 0 of 63.9 Gy. D/sub q/ of 19.0 Gy, and n value of 1.4. These studies provide definitive evidence of the radioresistance of lepidopteran cells, and suggest that this radioresistance is a characteristic of lepidopteran insects

  6. Radiosensitivity of cultured insect cells: II. Diptera

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koval, T.M.

    1983-01-01

    The radiosensitivity of five dipteran cell lines representing three mosquito genera and one fruit fly genus were examined. These lines are: (1) ATC-10, Aedes aegypti; (2) RU-TAE-14, Toxorhynchites amboinensis; (3) RU-ASE-2A, Anopheles stephensi; (4) WR69-DM-1, Drosophila melanogaster; and (5) WR69-DM-2, Drosophila melanogaster. Population doubling times for these lines range from approximately 16 to 48 hr. Diploid chromosome numbers are six for the mosquito cells and eight for the fruit fly cells D 0 values are 5.1 and 6.5 Gy for the Drosophila cell lines and 3.6, 6.2, and 10.2 Gy for the mosquito cell lines. The results of this study demonstrate that dipteran insect cells are a few times more resistant to radiation than mammalian cells, but not nearly as radioresistant as lepidopteran cells

  7. Bimodal cell death induced by high radiation doses in the radioresistant sf9 insect cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chandna, S.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: This study was conducted to investigate the mode(s) of cell death induced by high radiation doses in the highly radioresistant Sf9 insect ovarian cell line. Methods: Cells were exposed to γ-radiation doses 200Gy and 500Gy, harvested at various time intervals (6h-72h) following irradiation, and subjected to cell morphology assay, DNA agarose gel electrophoresis, single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE; comet assay) and Annexin-V labeling for the detection of membrane phosphatidylserine externalization. Cell morphology was assessed in cells entrapped and fixed in agarose gel directly from the cell suspension, thus preventing the possible loss of fragments/ apoptotic bodies. Surviving fraction of Sf9 cells was 0.01 at 200Gy and 98%) undergoing extensive DNA fragmentation at 500Gy, whereas the frequency of cells with DNA fragmentation was considerably less (∼12%) at 200Gy. Conclusions: While the mode of cell death at 200Gy seems to be different from typical apoptosis, a dose of 500Gy induced bimodal cell death, with typical apoptotic as well as the atypical cell death observed at 200Gy

  8. Developing baculovirus-insect cell expression systems for humanized recombinant glycoprotein production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jarvis, Donald L.

    2003-01-01

    The baculovirus-insect cell expression system is widely used to produce recombinant glycoproteins for many different biomedical applications. However, due to the fundamental nature of insect glycoprotein processing pathways, this system is typically unable to produce recombinant mammalian glycoproteins with authentic oligosaccharide side chains. This minireview summarizes our current understanding of insect protein glycosylation pathways and our recent efforts to address this problem. These efforts have yielded new insect cell lines and baculoviral vectors that can produce recombinant glycoproteins with humanized oligosaccharide side chains

  9. A silencing suppressor protein (NSs) of a tospovirus enhances baculovirus replication in permissive and semipermissive insect cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Virgínia Carla; Bartasson, Lorrainy; de Castro, Maria Elita Batista; Corrêa, José Raimundo; Ribeiro, Bergmann Morais; Resende, Renato Oliveira

    2011-01-01

    The nonstructural protein (NSs) of the Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) has been identified as an RNAi suppressor in plant cells. A recombinant Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) designated vAcNSs, containing the NSs gene under the control of the viral polyhedrin (polh) gene promoter, was constructed and the effects of NSs in permissive, semipermissive and nonpermissive insect cells to vAcNSs infection were evaluated. vAcNSs produced more budded virus when compared to wild type in semipermissive cells. Co-infection of vAcNSs with wild type baculoviruses clearly enhanced polyhedra production in all host cells. Confocal microscopy analysis showed that NSs accumulated in abundance in the cytoplasm of permissive and semipermissive cells. In contrast, high amounts of NSs were detected in the nuclei of nonpermissive cells. Co-infection of vAcNSs with a recombinant AcMNPV containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp) gene, significantly increased EGFP expression in semipermissive cells and in Anticarsia gemmatalis-hemocytes. Absence of small RNA molecules of egfp transcripts in this cell line and in a permissive cell line indicates the suppression of gene silencing activity. On the other hand, vAcNSs was not able to suppress RNAi in a nonpermissive cell line. Our data showed that NSs protein of TSWV facilitates baculovirus replication in different lepidopteran cell lines, and these results indicate that NSs could play a similar role during TSWV-infection in its thrips vector. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Characterization of cell lines developed from the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamita, Shizuo G; Do, Zung N; Samra, Aman I; Hagler, James R; Hammock, Bruce D

    2005-01-01

    Four continuous cell lines were established from the embryos of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata (Say), an economically important insect vector of bacterial pathogens of grape, almond, citrus, oleander, and other agricultural and ornamental plantings. The cell lines were designated GWSS-Z10, GWSS-Z15, GWSS-G3, and GWSS-LH. The GWSS-Z10, GWSS-Z15, and GWSS-G3 lines were cultured in Ex-Cell 401 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), whereas the GWSS-LH line was cultured in LH medium supplemented with 20% FBS. The cell lines were characterized in terms of their morphology, growth, protein composition, and polymerase chain reaction- amplification patterns of their chromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid. The population doubling times of GWSS-Z10, GWSS-Z15, GWSS-G3, and GWSS-LH were 46.2, 90.9, 100.3, and 60.2 h, respectively. These lines should be useful for the study of insect-pathogenic viruses of leafhoppers, aphids, treehoppers, and other related insects as well as plant-pathogenic viruses that are transmitted by these insects.

  11. Characterization of an Sf-rhabdovirus-negative Spodoptera frugiperda cell line as an alternative host for recombinant protein production in the baculovirus-insect cell system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maghodia, Ajay B; Geisler, Christoph; Jarvis, Donald L

    2016-06-01

    Cell lines derived from the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf), are widely used as hosts for recombinant protein production in the baculovirus-insect cell system (BICS). However, it was recently discovered that these cell lines are contaminated with a virus, now known as Sf-rhabdovirus [1]. The detection of this adventitious agent raised a potential safety issue that could adversely impact the BICS as a commercial recombinant protein production platform. Thus, we examined the properties of Sf-RVN, an Sf-rhabdovirus-negative Sf cell line, as a potential alternative host. Nested RT-PCR assays showed Sf-RVN cells had no detectable Sf-rhabdovirus over the course of 60 passages in continuous culture. The general properties of Sf-RVN cells, including their average growth rates, diameters, morphologies, and viabilities after baculovirus infection, were virtually identical to those of Sf9 cells. Baculovirus-infected Sf-RVN and Sf9 cells produced equivalent levels of three recombinant proteins, including an intracellular prokaryotic protein and two secreted eukaryotic glycoproteins, and provided similar N-glycosylation patterns. In fact, except for the absence of Sf-rhabdovirus, the only difference between Sf-RVN and Sf9 cells was SF-RVN produced higher levels of infectious baculovirus progeny. These results show Sf-RVN cells can be used as improved, alternative hosts to circumvent the potential safety hazard associated with the use of Sf-rhabdovirus-contaminated Sf cells for recombinant protein manufacturing with the BICS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Insect biofuel cells using trehalose included in insect hemolymph leading to an insect-mountable biofuel cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoji, Kan; Akiyama, Yoshitake; Suzuki, Masato; Hoshino, Takayuki; Nakamura, Nobuhumi; Ohno, Hiroyuki; Morishima, Keisuke

    2012-12-01

    In this paper, an insect biofuel cell (BFC) using trehalose included in insect hemolymph was developed. The insect BFC is based on trehalase and glucose oxidase (GOD) reaction systems which oxidize β-glucose obtained by hydrolyzing trehalose. First, we confirmed by LC-MS that a sufficient amount of trehalose was present in the cockroach hemolymph (CHL). The maximum power density obtained using the insect BFC was 6.07 μW/cm(2). The power output was kept more than 10 % for 2.5 h by protecting the electrodes with a dialysis membrane. Furthermore, the maximum power density was increased to 10.5 μW/cm(2) by using an air diffusion cathode. Finally, we succeeded in driving a melody integrated circuit (IC) and a piezo speaker by connecting five insect BFCs in series. The results indicate that the insect BFC is a promising insect-mountable battery to power environmental monitoring micro-tools.

  13. Characterization of oligosaccharide structures on a chimeric respiratory syncytial virus protein expressed in insect cell line Sf9

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wathen, M.W.; Aeed, P.A.; Elhammer, A.P.

    1991-01-01

    The oligosaccharide structures added to a chimeric protein (FG) composed of the extracellular domains of respiratory syncytial virus F and G proteins, expressed in the insect cell line Sf9, were investigated. Cells were labeled in vivo with [ 3 H]glucosamine and infected wit a recombinant baculovirus containing the FG gene. The secreted chimeric protein was isolated by immunoprecipitation and subjected to oligosaccharide analysis. The FG protein contains two types of O-linked oligosaccharides: GalNAc and Galβ1-3GalNAc constituting 17 and 66% of the total number of structures respectively. Only one type of N-linked oligosaccharide, constituting the remaining 17% of the structures on FG, was detected: a trimannosyl core structure with a fucose residue linked α1-6 to the asparagine-linked N-acetylglucosamine

  14. Evaluation of different glycoforms of honeybee venom major allergen phospholipase A2 (Api m 1) produced in insect cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blank, Simon; Seismann, Henning; Plum, Melanie

    2011-01-01

    for the first time in insect cells. Using baculovirus infection of different insect cell lines allergen versions providing a varying degree of cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants as well as a non glycosylated variant could be obtained as secreted soluble proteins in high yields. The resulting molecules...... were analyzed for their glycosylation and proved to show advantageous properties regarding cross-reactivity in sIgE-based assays. Additionally, in contrast to the enzymatically active native protein the inactivated allergen did not induce IgE-independent effector cell activation. Thus, insect cell...

  15. A Quasi-Steady Lifting Line Theory for Insect-Like Hovering Flight.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mostafa R A Nabawy

    Full Text Available A novel lifting line formulation is presented for the quasi-steady aerodynamic evaluation of insect-like wings in hovering flight. The approach allows accurate estimation of aerodynamic forces from geometry and kinematic information alone and provides for the first time quantitative information on the relative contribution of induced and profile drag associated with lift production for insect-like wings in hover. The main adaptation to the existing lifting line theory is the use of an equivalent angle of attack, which enables capture of the steady non-linear aerodynamics at high angles of attack. A simple methodology to include non-ideal induced effects due to wake periodicity and effective actuator disc area within the lifting line theory is included in the model. Low Reynolds number effects as well as the edge velocity correction required to account for different wing planform shapes are incorporated through appropriate modification of the wing section lift curve slope. The model has been successfully validated against measurements from revolving wing experiments and high order computational fluid dynamics simulations. Model predicted mean lift to weight ratio results have an average error of 4% compared to values from computational fluid dynamics for eight different insect cases. Application of an unmodified linear lifting line approach leads on average to a 60% overestimation in the mean lift force required for weight support, with most of the discrepancy due to use of linear aerodynamics. It is shown that on average for the eight insects considered, the induced drag contributes 22% of the total drag based on the mean cycle values and 29% of the total drag based on the mid half-stroke values.

  16. Comparative venom toxicity between Pteromalus puparum and Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) toward the hemocytes of their natural hosts, non-target insects and cultured insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhong; Ye, Gong-Yin; Cai, Jun; Hu, Cui

    2005-09-01

    Crude venoms from two parasitoid species, Pteromalus puparum and Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) were assayed for biological activities toward hemocytes from two species of their natural hosts and eight species of their non-natural hosts as well as two lines of cultured Lepidoptera cells, respectively. By inhibiting the spreading and viability of insect hemocytes, the venom from P. puparum displayed significantly higher activities toward plasmatocytes and granular cells from both larvae and pupae of two natural hosts, Pieris rapae and Papilio xuthus, and lower activity toward those from Spodoptera litura, Musca domestica and Sarcophaga peregrina. However, no effect was found towards any type of hemocytes from other five insects tested, namely, Ectropis oblique, Galleria mellonella, Sesamia inferens, Bombyx mori and Parnara guttata. In contrast, the venom from N. vitripennis showed a narrower range of targeted insects. It appeared to have highly adverse effects on the spreading and viability of plasmatocytes and granular cells only from the natural hosts, M. domestica and S. peregrina, little toxicity to cells from P. rapae and P. xuthus, and no effect on any of the other insects tested. Pteromalus puparum venom also apparently presented a high ability to block the spreading of Tn-5B1-4 cells derived from Trichoplusia ni, and high cytotoxicity to the cells and Ha cells derived from Helicoverpa armigera. Nasonia vitripennis venom, however, only had a marked lethal effect to Ha cells. In addition, the possibility that the host range of a defined parasitoid could be assessed using our method of treating hemocytes from candidate insects with venom in vitro, and the potential of our venoms tested in the development of bio-insecticides, insect-resistant transgenic plants, are discussed.

  17. Cytotoxicity analysis of three Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis δ-endotoxins towards insect and mammalian cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Franco Teixeira Corrêa

    Full Text Available Three members of the δ-endotoxin group of toxins expressed by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis, Cyt2Ba, Cry4Aa and Cry11A, were individually expressed in recombinant acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis strains for in vitro evaluation of their toxic activities against insect and mammalian cell lines. Both Cry4Aa and Cry11A toxins, activated with either trypsin or Spodoptera frugiperda gastric juice (GJ, resulted in different cleavage patterns for the activated toxins as seen by SDS-PAGE. The GJ-processed proteins were not cytotoxic to insect cell cultures. On the other hand, the combination of the trypsin-activated Cry4Aa and Cry11A toxins yielded the highest levels of cytotoxicity to all insect cells tested. The combination of activated Cyt2Ba and Cry11A also showed higher toxic activity than that of toxins activated individually. When activated Cry4Aa, Cry11A and Cyt2Ba were used simultaneously in the same assay a decrease in toxic activity was observed in all insect cells tested. No toxic effect was observed for the trypsin-activated Cry toxins in mammalian cells, but activated Cyt2Ba was toxic to human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 when tested at 20 µg/mL.

  18. Effect of selected insecticides on SF9 insect cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saleh, M.; Rahmo, A.; Hajjar, J.

    2013-01-01

    The toxic effect of three insecticides: dimethoate (organophosphate insecticide), acetamiprid (neonicotinoid insecticide) and deltamethrin (pyrethroid insecticide) were evaluated in vitro on cultured Sf9 cell line. Cell growth inhibition was measured by the 3- (4,5- dimethylthiazol - 2-yl) - 2,5 - diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Regression Analysis was used to estimate the 20% inhibition of cells growth (IC 20). The IC 20 values obtained for deltamethrin, acetamipridand dimethoate were: 46.8, 61.6 and 68.9 μM, respectively. The proportion of phagocytic cells was positively correlated with the applied concentrations of the insecticides. (author)

  19. Identification of a novel rhabdovirus in Spodoptera frugiperda cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Hailun; Galvin, Teresa A; Glasner, Dustin R; Shaheduzzaman, Syed; Khan, Arifa S

    2014-06-01

    The Sf9 cell line, derived from Spodoptera frugiperda, is used as a cell substrate for biological products, and no viruses have been reported in this cell line after extensive testing. We used degenerate PCR assays and massively parallel sequencing (MPS) to identify a novel RNA virus belonging to the order Mononegavirales in Sf9 cells. Sequence analysis of the assembled virus genome showed the presence of five open reading frames (ORFs) corresponding to the genes for the N, P, M, G, and L proteins in other rhabdoviruses and an unknown ORF of 111 amino acids located between the G- and L-protein genes. BLAST searches indicated that the S. frugiperda rhabdovirus (Sf-rhabdovirus) was related in a limited region of the L-protein gene to Taastrup virus, a newly discovered member of the Mononegavirales from a leafhopper (Hemiptera), and also to plant rhabdoviruses, particularly in the genus Cytorhabdovirus. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences in the L-protein gene indicated that Sf-rhabdovirus is a novel virus that branched with Taastrup virus. Rhabdovirus morphology was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy of filtered supernatant samples from Sf9 cells. Infectivity studies indicated potential transient infection by Sf-rhabdovirus in other insect cell lines, but there was no evidence of entry or virus replication in human cell lines. Sf-rhabdovirus sequences were also found in the Sf21 parental cell line of Sf9 cells but not in other insect cell lines, such as BT1-TN-5B1-4 (Tn5; High Five) cells and Schneider's Drosophila line 2 [D.Mel.(2); SL2] cells, indicating a species-specific infection. The results indicate that conventional methods may be complemented by state-of-the-art technologies with extensive bioinformatics analysis for identification of novel viruses. The Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cell line is used as a cell substrate for the development and manufacture of biological products. Extensive testing has not previously identified any viruses in this cell

  20. Cloning of fusion protein gene of Newcastle disease virus into a baculovirus derived bacmid shuttle vector, in order to express it in insect cell line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hashemzadeh MS

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: Newcastle disease virus (NDV is one of the major pathogens in poultry and vaccination is intended to control the disease, as an effective solution, yet. Fusion protein (F on surface of NDV, has a fundamental role in virus pathogenicity and can induce protective immunity, alone. With this background, here our aim was to construct a baculovirus derived recombinant bacmid shuttle vector (encoding F-protein in order to express it in insect cell line. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, at first complete F gene from avirulent strain La Sota of NDV was amplified by RT-PCR to produce F cDNA. The amplicon was cloned into T/A cloning vector and afterwards into pFastBac Dual donor plasmid. After the verification of cloning process by two methods, PCR and enzymatic digestion analysis, the accuracy of F gene sequence was confirmed by sequencing. Finally, F-containing recombinant bacmid was subsequently generated in DH10Bac cell and the construct production was confirmed by a special PCR panel, using F specific primers and M13 universal primers. Results: Analysis of confirmatory tests showed that the recombinant bacmid, expressing of F-protein gene in correct sequence and framework, has been constructed successfully. Conclusion: The product of this F-containing recombinant bacmid, in addition to its independent application in the induction of protective immunity, can be used with the other individual recombinant baculoviruses, expressing HN and NP genes to produce NDV-VLPs in insect cell line.

  1. Increasing cell-device adherence using cultured insect cells for receptor-based biosensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terutsuki, Daigo; Mitsuno, Hidefumi; Sakurai, Takeshi; Okamoto, Yuki; Tixier-Mita, Agnès; Toshiyoshi, Hiroshi; Mita, Yoshio; Kanzaki, Ryohei

    2018-03-01

    Field-effect transistor (FET)-based biosensors have a wide range of applications, and a bio-FET odorant sensor, based on insect (Sf21) cells expressing insect odorant receptors (ORs) with sensitivity and selectivity, has emerged. To fully realize the practical application of bio-FET odorant sensors, knowledge of the cell-device interface for efficient signal transfer, and a reliable and low-cost measurement system using the commercial complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) foundry process, will be indispensable. However, the interfaces between Sf21 cells and sensor devices are largely unknown, and electrode materials used in the commercial CMOS foundry process are generally limited to aluminium, which is reportedly toxic to cells. In this study, we investigated Sf21 cell-device interfaces by developing cross-sectional specimens. Calcium imaging of Sf21 cells expressing insect ORs was used to verify the functions of Sf21 cells as odorant sensor elements on the electrode materials. We found that the cell-device interface was approximately 10 nm wide on average, suggesting that the adhesion mechanism of Sf21 cells may differ from that of other cells. These results will help to construct accurate signal detection from expressed insect ORs using FETs.

  2. Replication of Syngrapha falcifera Multiple-Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus-D in Different Insect Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalid Nessr Alhag, Sadeq; Xin, Peng Jian

    Six insect cell lines were tested for susceptibility to Syngrapha falcifera multiple nucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus-D (SfaMNPV-D) infection by use of a typical endpoint assay procedure. Cell lines from Trichoplusia ni (Tn5B1-4), (L105-clone), Spodoptera litura (SL-ZSU-1), Spodoptera frugiperda (IPLB-SF-21), Pieris rapaeb (Pr-E-HNU9) and Helicoverpa zea (BCIRL-HZ-AM1) in 96-well tissue culture plates were infected with dilutions of extra cellular virus suspensions of (SfaMNPV-D). Each cell/virus combination was incubated at temperatures 27°C and wells were scored for positive infection at 2 to 4 day intervals. The resulting data were analyzed by Reed and Muench method, providing virus titers for each combination of virus, cell line. The results were categorized by accuracy and by rapidity of maximum titer. Virus titer of Tn5B-4 was higher than other cell lines TCID50 8.7x108, the lowest level detected in infected was in (Pr-E-HNU9) cells TCID50 2.4x108. No Virions or polyhedral inclusion bodies were detected in infected SL-ZSU-1 cells.

  3. Validation of Aedes aegypti Aag-2 cells as a model for insect immune studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barletta, Ana Beatriz Ferreira; Silva, Maria Clara L Nascimento; Sorgine, Marcos H Ferreira

    2012-07-24

    The understanding of mosquito immune responses can provide valuable tools for development of novel mosquito control strategies. Aiming the study at insect innate immunity, continuous insect cell lines have been established and used as research tools due to the fact that they constitute more homogeneous, sensitive, and reproducible systems than the insects from which they originated. More recently, Aag-2, an Aedes aegypti cell lineage, began to be frequently used as a model for studies of mosquito immunity. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, no study has systematically characterized the responses of Aag-2 cell line against different kinds of pathogens and compared its response to those exhibited by whole mosquitoes. For this reason, in this study we characterized gene expression profiles of the Aag-2 cell line in response to different kinds of immune challenges, such as Gram negative and positive bacteria, fungi and viruses, comparing the obtained results with the ones already described in the literature for whole mosquitoes. Aedes aegypti Aag-2 cells were exposed to different immune stimuli (gram-positive and gram negative heat inactivated bacteria, zymosan or Sindbis virus) for 24 hours and the expression of selected marker genes from toll, IMD and Jak/STAT pathways was analyzed by qPCR. Also, cells were incubated with fluorescent latex beads for evaluation of its phagocytosis capacity. Aag-2 cells were stimulated with two concentrations of heat-killed Gram negative (Enterobacter cloacae) or Gram positive (Micrococcus luteus) bacteria, Zymosan or infected with Sindbis virus and the expression of key genes from the main immune related pathways, Toll, IMD and Jak/STAT, were investigated. Our results suggest that Toll and IMD pathways are activated in response to both Gram positive and negative bacteria and Zymosan in Aag-2 cells, displaying an immune profile similar to those described in the literature for whole mosquitoes. The same stimuli were also capable of

  4. Cell lines derived from the squash bug, Anasa tristis (Coreidae: Hemiptera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Cynthia L; Ringbauer, Joseph A; Li, Yao-Fa; Lincoln, Tamra Reall; Stanley, David

    2017-05-01

    The squash bug, Anasa tristis, is a pest of cucurbits that exerts direct damage on crops and is a vector of plant pathogens. We established cell lines from this insect to serve as tools for basic biology, including virology and immunology, as well as applied studies, such as insecticide development programs. We initiated 15 cell cultures, using nine media or combinations of media. The media yielding the best results were a modification of Kimura's medium and a combination of two commercially available cell culture media (EX-CELL 420 and L15). We designated the two cell lines as BCIRL-AtE-CLG11 and BCIRL-AtE-CLG15. From the AtE-CLG15 line, we isolated two sub-lines, A and B. Of these, the most consistently replicating line was AtE-CLG15A. We determined the doubling time of this line (190 h) and its mean cell diameter (14.5 ± 0.7 μm). We characterized the AtE-CLG15A line using DAF-PCR. The BCIRL-AtE-CLG15A cell line is now available for researchers world-wide.

  5. Activity of insulin growth factors and shrimp neurosecretory organ extracts on a lepidopteran cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatt, P J; Liebon, C; Morinière, M; Oberlander, H; Porcheron, P

    1997-01-01

    Ecdysteroids, or molting hormones, have been proven to be key differentiation regulators for epidermal cells in the postembryonic development of arthropods. Regulators of cell proliferation, however, remain largely unknown. To date, no diffusible insect peptidic growth factors have been characterized. Molecules structurally related to insulin have been discovered in insects, as in other eucaryotes. We developed in vitro tests for the preliminary characterization of potential growth factors in arthropods by adapting the procedures designed to detect such factors in vertebrates to an insect cell line (IAL-PID2) established from imaginal discs of the Indian meal moth. We verified the ability of these tests to measure the proliferation of IAL-PID2 cells. We tested mammalian insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I, IGF-II). Following an arrest of cell proliferation by serum deprivation, IGF-I and IGF-II caused partial resumption of the cell cycle, evidenced by DNA synthesis. In contrast, the addition of 20-hydroxyecdysone arrested the proliferation of the IAL-PID2 cells. The cell line was then used in a test for functional characterization of potential growth factors originating from the penaeid shrimp, Penaeus vannamei. Crude extracts of neurosecretory and nervous tissues, eyestalks, and ventral neural chain compensated for serum deprivation and stimulated completion of mitosis. Arch.

  6. Insect Cells as Hosts for Recombinat Proteins

    OpenAIRE

    Murwani, Retno

    1997-01-01

    Since the development of recombinant baculovirus expression system, insect cell culture has rapidly gain popularity as the method of choice for production of a variety of biologically active proteins. Up to date tens of recombinant protein have been produced by this method commercially or non-commercially and have been widely used for research. This review describes the basic concept of baculovirus expression vector and the use of insect cells as host for recombinant proteins. Examples of the...

  7. Transient Expression and Cellular Localization of Recombinant Proteins in Cultured Insect Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fabrick, Jeffrey A; Hull, J Joe

    2017-04-20

    Heterologous protein expression systems are used for the production of recombinant proteins, the interpretation of cellular trafficking/localization, and the determination of the biochemical function of proteins at the sub-organismal level. Although baculovirus expression systems are increasingly used for protein production in numerous biotechnological, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications, nonlytic systems that do not involve viral infection have clear benefits but are often overlooked and underutilized. Here, we describe a method for generating nonlytic expression vectors and transient recombinant protein expression. This protocol allows for the efficient cellular localization of recombinant proteins and can be used to rapidly discern protein trafficking within the cell. We show the expression of four recombinant proteins in a commercially available insect cell line, including two aquaporin proteins from the insect Bemisia tabaci, as well as subcellular marker proteins specific for the cell plasma membrane and for intracellular lysosomes. All recombinant proteins were produced as chimeras with fluorescent protein markers at their carboxyl termini, which allows for the direct detection of the recombinant proteins. The double transfection of cells with plasmids harboring constructs for the genes of interest and a known subcellular marker allows for live cell imaging and improved validation of cellular protein localization.

  8. Process analytical technology (PAT) in insect and mammalian cell culture processes: dielectric spectroscopy and focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Druzinec, Damir; Weiss, Katja; Elseberg, Christiane; Salzig, Denise; Kraume, Matthias; Pörtner, Ralf; Czermak, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Modern bioprocesses demand for a careful definition of the critical process parameters (CPPs) already during the early stages of process development in order to ensure high-quality products and satisfactory yields. In this context, online monitoring tools can be applied to recognize unfavorable changes of CPPs during the production processes and to allow for early interventions in order to prevent losses of production batches due to quality issues. Process analytical technologies such as the dielectric spectroscopy or focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM) are possible online monitoring tools, which can be applied to monitor cell growth as well as morphological changes. Since the dielectric spectroscopy only captures cells with intact cell membranes, even information about dead cells with ruptured or leaking cell membranes can be derived. The following chapter describes the application of dielectric spectroscopy on various virus-infected and non-infected cell lines with respect to adherent as well as suspension cultures in common stirred tank reactors. The adherent mammalian cell lines Vero (African green monkey kidney cells) and hMSC-TERT (telomerase-immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells) are thereby cultured on microcarrier, which provide the required growth surface and allow the cultivation of these cells even in dynamic culture systems. In turn, the insect-derived cell lines S2 and Sf21 are used as examples for cells typically cultured in suspension. Moreover, the FBRM technology as a further monitoring tool for cell culture applications has been included in this chapter using the example of Drosophila S2 insect cells.

  9. Field screening of experimental corn hybrids and inbred lines for multiple ear-feeding insect resistance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Xinzhi; Xu, Wenwei; Krakowsky, Matthew D; Buntin, G David; Brown, Steve L; Lee, R Dewey; Coy, Anton E

    2007-10-01

    Identifying and using native insect resistance genes is the core of integrated pest management. In this study, 10 experimental corn, Zea mays L., hybrids and 10 inbred lines were screened for resistance to major ear-feeding insects in the southeastern Coastal Plain region of the United States during 2004 and 2005. Ear-feeding insect damage was assessed at harvest by visual damage rating for the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and by the percentage of kernels damaged by the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, and stink bugs [combination of Euschistus servus (Say) and southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.)]. Among the eight inbred lines and two control populations examined, C3S1B73-5b was resistant to corn earworm, maize weevil, and stink bugs. In contrast, C3S1B73-4 was resistant to corn earworm and stink bugs, but not to maize weevil. In a similar manner, the corn hybrid S1W*CML343 was resistant to all three ear-feeding insects, whereas hybrid C3S1B73-3*Tx205 was resistant to corn earworm and maize weevil in both growing seasons, but susceptible to stink bugs in 2005. The silk-feeding bioassay showed that corn earworm developed better on corn silk than did fall armyworm. Among all phenotypic traits examined (i.e., corn ear size, husk extension, and husk tightness), only corn ear size was negatively correlated to corn earworm damage in the inbred lines examined, whereas only husk extension (i.e., coverage) was negatively correlated to both corn earworm and maize weevil damage on the experimental hybrids examined. Such information could be used to establish a baseline for developing agronomically elite corn germplasm that confers multiple ear-feeding insect resistance.

  10. Real-time cell analysis and heat shock protein gene expression in the TcA Tribolium castaneum cell line in response to environmental stress conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Reina, Andrés; Rodríguez-García, María Juliana; Ramis, Guillermo; Galián, José

    2017-06-01

    The rust red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is a pest of stored grain and one of the most studied insect model species. Some of the previous studies involved heat response studies in terms of survival and heat shock protein expression, which are regulated to protect other proteins against environmental stress conditions. In the present study, we characterize the impedance profile with the xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analyzer and study the effect of increased temperature in cell growth and viability in the cell line BCIRL-TcA-CLG1 (TcA) of T. castaneum. This novel system measures cells behavior in real time and is applied for the first time to insect cells. Additionally, cells are exposed to heat shock, increased salinity, acidic pH and UV-A light with the aim of measuring the expression levels of Hsp27, Hsp68a, and Hsp83 genes. Results show a high thermotolerance of TcA in terms of cell growth and viability. This result is likely related to gene expression results in which a significant up-regulation of all studied Hsp genes is observed after 1 h of exposure to 40 °C and UV light. All 3 genes show similar expression patterns, but Hsp27 seems to be the most affected. The results of this study validate the RTCA method and reveal the utility of insect cell lines, real-time analysis and gene expression studies to better understand the physiological response of insect cells, with potential applications in different fields of biology such as conservation biology and pest management. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  11. A Continuous-Exchange Cell-Free Protein Synthesis System Based on Extracts from Cultured Insect Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stech, Marlitt; Quast, Robert B.; Sachse, Rita; Schulze, Corina; Wüstenhagen, Doreen A.; Kubick, Stefan

    2014-01-01

    In this study, we present a novel technique for the synthesis of complex prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins by using a continuous-exchange cell-free (CECF) protein synthesis system based on extracts from cultured insect cells. Our approach consists of two basic elements: First, protein synthesis is performed in insect cell lysates which harbor endogenous microsomal vesicles, enabling a translocation of de novo synthesized target proteins into the lumen of the insect vesicles or, in the case of membrane proteins, their embedding into a natural membrane scaffold. Second, cell-free reactions are performed in a two chamber dialysis device for 48 h. The combination of the eukaryotic cell-free translation system based on insect cell extracts and the CECF translation system results in significantly prolonged reaction life times and increased protein yields compared to conventional batch reactions. In this context, we demonstrate the synthesis of various representative model proteins, among them cytosolic proteins, pharmacological relevant membrane proteins and glycosylated proteins in an endotoxin-free environment. Furthermore, the cell-free system used in this study is well-suited for the synthesis of biologically active tissue-type-plasminogen activator, a complex eukaryotic protein harboring multiple disulfide bonds. PMID:24804975

  12. The effects of ultraviolet light on aspects of DNA metabolism in cell lines derived from plodia interpunctella and Trichoplusia ni

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Styer, S.C.

    1991-01-01

    Insect cells are significantly more resistant to the lethal effects of 254 nm ultraviolet light (UV) than mammalian cells. The predominant photoproduct produced by UV is the (5-6) cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimer. There is controversy whether this lesion, or another, the pyrimidine (6-4) pyrimidone, is responsible for the biological effects of UV. Insect cells contain a photolyase which selectively removes the (5-6), but not the (6-4) lesion, so that the relative roles of these lesions can be studied. Insect cell lines derived from the cabbage looper and the Indian meal moth were exposed to UV and analyzed for their ability to incorporate 3 H-thymidine. After exposure, cells from the Indian meal moth exhibited a rapid and prolonged depression in the rate of thymidine incorporation, whereas cells from the cabbage looper showed only a slight drop in incorporation and a rapid recovery. The extent of depression in thymidine incorporation was not correlated to the amount of cell killing by UV in these cell lines. Blockage of fork progression was correlated to the depression in thymidine incorporation. Photoreactivation did not entirely relieve blockage, depression in thymidine incorporation or cell killing, indicating that although the (5-6) dimer appears to be the major lesion responsible for these effects, other lesions, such as the (6-4) photoproduct, may play a role. In addition, activation of alternative sites of replicon initiation appeared to correlate with the depression in thymidine incorporation and the excision capabilities in these cells. The resistance to UV in these insect cells compared to mammalian cells may be due to their ability to rapidly remove the (5-6) lesion, which is the critical lesion in these insect cells

  13. Insect cell transformation vectors that support high level expression and promoter assessment in insect cell culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    A somatic transformation vector, pDP9, was constructed that provides a simplified means of producing permanently transformed cultured insect cells that support high levels of protein expression of foreign genes. The pDP9 plasmid vector incorporates DNA sequences from the Junonia coenia densovirus th...

  14. Establishment of a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus, Lepidoptera: Danaidae) Cell Line and its Susceptibility to Insect Viruses

    Science.gov (United States)

    A cell line from the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus designated BCIRL-DP-AM/JG was established from adult ovaries. The cell line consisted mainly of round cells and took a prolonged period of time in the growth medium ExCell 401 containing 10% fetal bovine serum and antibiotics before it could be...

  15. Effect of gamma irradiation on proliferation and survival of Sf9 cells: radioresistance in a Lepidopteran insect cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seth, R.K.; Lovell, K.V.; Reynolds, S.E.

    2003-01-01

    Sf9 cells of Spodoptera frugiperda, when exposed to gamma-irradiation from a 60 Co source, were found markedly less sensitive to ionising radiation than mammalian cells in terms of both growth kinetics and survival. Following irradiation at 1.2 Gy S -1 there was a dose-dependent delay in Sf9 cell proliferation and plateau cell density was reduced. These effects were dependent on dose rate too. In the range 0.3 - 1.2 Gy s -1 , growth was delayed longer and reached a lower plateau with increasing dose rate. Exposure to radiation caused a decrease in adherence of cells to the substrate, and an increase in number of enlarged ('giant') cells. Analysis of colony formation after irradiation at 1.2 Gy s -1 gave a survival curve of conventional shape but with a very large D o value of 24 Gy. Extrapolation number (N) was 2.9, a value within the normal range for mammalian cells. At 0.12 Gy s -1 N had a similar value of 3.2, but D o was higher (30 Gy) than at the higher dose rate. This study indicates that the relative insensitivity of lepidoptera insects may be attributed to some extent to the intrinsic properties of their constituent cells. (author)

  16. Cultivating Insect Cells To Produce Recombinant Proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spaulding, Glenn; Goodwin, Thomas; Prewett, Tacey; Andrews, Angela; Francis, Karen; O'Connor, Kim

    1996-01-01

    Method of producing recombinant proteins involves growth of insect cells in nutrient solution in cylindrical bioreactor rotating about cylindrical axis, oriented horizontally and infecting cells with viruses into which genes of selected type cloned. Genes in question those encoding production of desired proteins. Horizontal rotating bioreactor preferred for use in method, denoted by acronym "HARV", described in "High-Aspect-Ratio Rotating Cell-Culture Vessel" (MSC-21662).

  17. The silencing suppressor (NSs) protein of the plant virus Tomato spotted wilt virus enhances heterologous protein expression and baculovirus pathogenicity in cells and lepidopteran insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Virgínia Carla; da Silva Morgado, Fabricio; Ardisson-Araújo, Daniel Mendes Pereira; Resende, Renato Oliveira; Ribeiro, Bergmann Morais

    2015-11-01

    In this work, we showed that cell death induced by a recombinant (vAcNSs) Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) expressing the silencing suppressor (NSs) protein of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) was enhanced on permissive and semipermissive cell lines. The expression of a heterologous gene (firefly luciferase) during co-infection of insect cells with vAcNSs and a second recombinant baculovirus (vAgppolhfluc) was shown to increase when compared to single vAgppolhfluc infections. Furthermore, the vAcNSs mean time-to-death values were significantly lower than those for wild-type AcMNPV on larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda and Anticarsia gemmatalis. These results showed that the TSWV-NSs protein could efficiently increase heterologous protein expression in insect cells as well as baculovirus pathogenicity and virulence, probably by suppressing the gene-silencing machinery in insects.

  18. Ecdysteroid-stimulated synthesis and secretion of an N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-rich glycopeptide in a lepidopteran cell line derived from imaginal discs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porcheron, P; Morinière, M; Coudouel, N; Oberlander, H

    1991-01-01

    Hormone-regulated processing of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine was studied in an insect cell line derived from imaginal wing discs of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner). The cell line, IAL-PID2, responded to treatment with 20-hydroxyecdysone with increased incorporation of GlcNAc into glycoproteins. Cycloheximide and tunicamycin counteracted the action of the hormone. In particular, treatment with 20-hydroxyecdysone resulted in the secretion of a 5,000 dalton N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-rich glycopeptide by the IAL-PID2 cells. Accumulation of this peptide was prevented by the use of teflubenzuron, a potent chitin synthesis inhibitor. A glycopeptide of similar molecular weight was observed in imaginal discs of P. interpunctella treated with 20-hydroxyecdysone in vitro, under conditions that induce chitin synthesis. Although the function of the 5,000 dalton glycopeptide is not known, we believe that the PID2 cell line is a promising model for molecular analysis of ecdysteroid-regulated processing of aminosugars by epidermal cells during insect development.

  19. Functional characterization of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus late gene transcription and genome replication factors in the non-permissive insect cell line SF-21

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berretta, Marcelo F.; Deshpande, Mandar; Crouch, Erin A.; Passarelli, A. Lorena

    2006-01-01

    We compared the abilities of late gene transcription and DNA replication machineries of the baculoviruses Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) and Bombyx mori NPV (BmNPV) in SF-21 cells, an insect-derived cell line permissive for AcMNPV infection. It has been well established that 19 AcMNPV late expression factors (lefs) stimulate substantial levels of late gene promoter activity in SF-21 cells. Thus, we constructed a set of clones containing the BmNPV homologs of the AcMNPV lefs under control of the constitutive Drosophila heat shock 70 protein promoter and tested their ability to activate an AcMNPV late promoter-reporter gene cassette in SF-21 cells. We tested the potential of individual or predicted functional groups of BmNPV lefs to successfully replace the corresponding AcMNPV gene(s) in transient late gene expression assays. We found that most, but not all, BmNPV lefs were able to either fully or partially substitute for the corresponding AcMNPV homolog in the context of the remaining AcMNPV lefs with the exception of BmNPV p143, ie-2, and p35. BmNPV p143 was unable to support late gene expression or be imported into the nucleus of cells in the presence of the AcMNPV or the BmNPV LEF-3, a P143 nuclear shuttling factor. Our results suggest that host-specific factors may affect the function of homologous proteins

  20. Preparation of ubiquitin-conjugated proteins using an insect cell-free protein synthesis system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Takashi; Ezure, Toru; Ando, Eiji; Nishimura, Osamu; Utsumi, Toshihiko; Tsunasawa, Susumu

    2010-01-01

    Ubiquitination is one of the most significant posttranslational modifications (PTMs). To evaluate the ability of an insect cell-free protein synthesis system to carry out ubiquitin (Ub) conjugation to in vitro translated proteins, poly-Ub chain formation was studied in an insect cell-free protein synthesis system. Poly-Ub was generated in the presence of Ub aldehyde (UA), a de-ubiquitinating enzyme inhibitor. In vitro ubiquitination of the p53 tumor suppressor protein was also analyzed, and p53 was poly-ubiquitinated when Ub, UA, and Mdm2, an E3 Ub ligase (E3) for p53, were added to the in vitro reaction mixture. These results suggest that the insect cell-free protein synthesis system contains enzymatic activities capable of carrying out ubiquitination. CBB-detectable ubiquitinated p53 was easily purified from the insect cell-free protein synthesis system, allowing analysis of the Ub-conjugated proteins by mass spectrometry (MS). Lys 305 of p53 was identified as one of the Ub acceptor sites using this strategy. Thus, we conclude that the insect cell-free protein synthesis system is a powerful tool for studying various PTMs of eukaryotic proteins including ubiqutination presented here.

  1. DNA double strand break repair in a radioresistant cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koval, T.M.; Kazmar, E.R.

    1987-01-01

    TN-368 lepidopteran insect cells are on the order of 100 times more resistant to the lethal effects of ionizing radiation than cultured mammalian cells. DNA double strand breaks (DSB) are believed by many to be the critical molecular lesion leading to cell death. The authors therefore measured the rejoining of DSB in TN-368 and V79 Chinese hamster cells. Cells were irradiated on ice with /sup 137/Cs γ rays at a dose rate of 2.5 Gy/min, incubated for various periods of time, and assayed for DNA DSB using the method of neutral elution. The kinetics of DSB rejoining following a dose of 90.2 Gy are similar for both cell lines. Approximately 80% of the DSB are rejoined in both lines by 1 hr postirradiation. However, no further rejoining occurs in the TN-368 cells through at least 6 hr postirradiation, whereas 90% of the DSB are rejoined in the V79 cells by 2 hr postirradiation. Other studies (from 22.6 to 226 Gy) demonstrate that the amount of rejoining of DSB varies inversely with dose for the V79 cells but remains constant for the TN-368 cells. These findings do not support the hypothesis that unrejoined DNA DSB represent the major lesion resulting in cell death

  2. Insulated piggyBac vectors for insect transgenesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Horn Carsten

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Germ-line transformation of insects is now a widely used method for analyzing gene function and for the development of genetically modified strains suitable for pest control programs. The most widely used transposable element for the germ-line transformation of insects is piggyBac. The site of integration of the transgene can influence gene expression due to the effects of nearby transcription enhancers or silent heterochromatic regions. Position effects can be minimized by flanking a transgene with insulator elements. The scs/scs' and gypsy insulators from Drosophila melanogaster as well as the chicken β-globin HS4 insulator function in both Drosophila and mammalian cells. Results To minimize position effects we have created a set of piggyBac transformation vectors that contain either the scs/scs', gypsy or chicken β-globin HS4 insulators. The vectors contain either fluorescent protein or eye color marker genes and have been successfully used for germ-line transformation of Drosophila melanogaster. A set of the scs/scs' vectors contains the coral reef fluorescent protein marker genes AmCyan, ZsGreen and DsRed that have not been optimized for translation in human cells. These marker genes are controlled by a combined GMR-3xP3 enhancer/promoter that gives particularly strong expression in the eyes. This is also the first report of the use of the ZsGreen and AmCyan reef fluorescent proteins as transformation markers in insects. Conclusion The insulated piggyBac vectors should protect transgenes against position effects and thus facilitate fine control of gene expression in a wide spectrum of insect species. These vectors may also be used for transgenesis in other invertebrate species.

  3. Evidence against a germ plasm in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a hemimetabolous insect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ben Ewen-Campen

    2013-04-01

    Primordial germ cell (PGC formation in holometabolous insects like Drosophila melanogaster relies on maternally synthesised germ cell determinants that are asymmetrically localised to the oocyte posterior cortex. Embryonic nuclei that inherit this “germ plasm” acquire PGC fate. In contrast, historical studies of basally branching insects (Hemimetabola suggest that a maternal requirement for germ line genes in PGC specification may be a derived character confined principally to Holometabola. However, there have been remarkably few investigations of germ line gene expression and function in hemimetabolous insects. Here we characterise PGC formation in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a member of the sister group to Holometabola, thus providing an important evolutionary comparison to members of this clade. We examine the transcript distribution of orthologues of 19 Drosophila germ cell and/or germ plasm marker genes, and show that none of them localise asymmetrically within Oncopeltus oocytes or early embryos. Using multiple molecular and cytological criteria, we provide evidence that PGCs form after cellularisation at the site of gastrulation. Functional studies of vasa and tudor reveal that these genes are not required for germ cell formation, but that vasa is required in adult males for spermatogenesis. Taken together, our results provide evidence that Oncopeltus germ cells may form in the absence of germ plasm, consistent with the hypothesis that germ plasm is a derived strategy of germ cell specification in insects.

  4. Evidence against a germ plasm in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a hemimetabolous insect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewen-Campen, Ben; Jones, Tamsin E M; Extavour, Cassandra G

    2013-06-15

    Primordial germ cell (PGC) formation in holometabolous insects like Drosophila melanogaster relies on maternally synthesised germ cell determinants that are asymmetrically localised to the oocyte posterior cortex. Embryonic nuclei that inherit this "germ plasm" acquire PGC fate. In contrast, historical studies of basally branching insects (Hemimetabola) suggest that a maternal requirement for germ line genes in PGC specification may be a derived character confined principally to Holometabola. However, there have been remarkably few investigations of germ line gene expression and function in hemimetabolous insects. Here we characterise PGC formation in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a member of the sister group to Holometabola, thus providing an important evolutionary comparison to members of this clade. We examine the transcript distribution of orthologues of 19 Drosophila germ cell and/or germ plasm marker genes, and show that none of them localise asymmetrically within Oncopeltus oocytes or early embryos. Using multiple molecular and cytological criteria, we provide evidence that PGCs form after cellularisation at the site of gastrulation. Functional studies of vasa and tudor reveal that these genes are not required for germ cell formation, but that vasa is required in adult males for spermatogenesis. Taken together, our results provide evidence that Oncopeltus germ cells may form in the absence of germ plasm, consistent with the hypothesis that germ plasm is a derived strategy of germ cell specification in insects.

  5. Ebola virus-like particles produced in insect cells exhibit dendritic cell stimulating activity and induce neutralizing antibodies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye Ling; Lin Jianguo; Sun Yuliang; Bennouna, Soumaya; Lo, Michael; Wu Qingyang; Bu Zhigao; Pulendran, Bali; Compans, Richard W.; Yang Chinglai

    2006-01-01

    Recombinant baculoviruses (rBV) expressing Ebola virus VP40 (rBV-VP40) or GP (rBV-GP) proteins were generated. Infection of Sf9 insect cells by rBV-VP40 led to assembly and budding of filamentous particles from the cell surface as shown by electron microscopy. Ebola virus-like particles (VLPs) were produced by coinfection of Sf9 cells with rBV-VP40 and rBV-GP, and incorporation of Ebola GP into VLPs was demonstrated by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. Recombinant baculovirus infection of insect cells yielded high levels of VLPs, which were shown to stimulate cytokine secretion from human dendritic cells similar to VLPs produced in mammalian cells. The immunogenicity of Ebola VLPs produced in insect cells was evaluated by immunization of mice. Analysis of antibody responses showed that most of the GP-specific antibodies were of the IgG2a subtype, while no significant level of IgG1 subtype antibodies specific for GP was induced, indicating the induction of a Th1-biased immune response. Furthermore, sera from Ebola VLP immunized mice were able to block infection by Ebola GP pseudotyped HIV virus in a single round infection assay, indicating that a neutralizing antibody against the Ebola GP protein was induced. These results show that production of Ebola VLPs in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses represents a promising approach for vaccine development against Ebola virus infection

  6. Insects vis a vis radiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Srivastava, Meera

    2014-01-01

    Insects have turned out to be much more radiation resistant. For most insects a dose of about 500-700 Gy is required to kill them within a few weeks of exposure; although cockroaches require 900-1000 Gy. Killing insects in less than a few days requires much higher doses. These doses are for mature insects, the immature stages of some insects can be killed by doses as low as 40 Gy. Some insects can be sterilized at even lower doses, and this has application in insect control. Screw-worms, for example, can be sterilized with doses of 25-50 Gy. By contrast, doses as low as 3 Gy caused death of humans in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and doses of about 6 Gy caused death of fire fighters in the Chernobyl accident. It is not exactly certain what the basis is for the resistance of insects to ionizing radiation. It is not animal size by itself, nor lack of penetration. It is also not because of few dividing cells as these are more radiosensitive than non-dividing ones. The speculation that insects might have lower oxygen tensions, and the lack of oxygen is known to protect cells from radiation also does not work. Insect cells might have an enhanced capacity to repair radiation damage also could not be proven. The number of chromosomes influenced radio-sensitivity, and that insects had fewer chromosomes could be true. The radiation resistance is inherent to the cells, since cells derived from insects are also radiation resistant when grown in cell culture. For example, a dose of 60 Gy is required to produce a 80% kill of insect cells, while doses of 1-2 Gy are sufficient to generate this level of killing in mammalian cells. But, nevertheless, according to recent researches, radiation from Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear plant has caused mutations in some butterflies. It is therefore clear that insects are resistant to ionizing radiation and that this resistance is an inherent property of their cells. But it is not clear exactly what the basis of this cellular resistance is

  7. Bacterial cell motility of Burkholderia gut symbiont is required to colonize the insect gut.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jun Beom; Byeon, Jin Hee; Jang, Ho Am; Kim, Jiyeun Kate; Yoo, Jin Wook; Kikuchi, Yoshitomo; Lee, Bok Luel

    2015-09-14

    We generated a Burkholderia mutant, which is deficient of an N-acetylmuramyl-l-alanine amidase, AmiC, involved in peptidoglycan degradation. When non-motile ΔamiC mutant Burkholderia cells harboring chain form were orally administered to Riptortus insects, ΔamiC mutant cells were unable to establish symbiotic association. But, ΔamiC mutant complemented with amiC gene restored in vivo symbiotic association. ΔamiC mutant cultured in minimal medium restored their motility with single-celled morphology. When ΔamiC mutant cells harboring single-celled morphology were administered to the host insect, this mutant established normal symbiotic association, suggesting that bacterial motility is essential for the successful symbiosis between host insect and Burkholderia symbiont. Copyright © 2015 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Characterizing Enterovirus 71 and Coxsackievirus A16 virus-like particles production in insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somasundaram, Balaji; Chang, Cindy; Fan, Yuan Y; Lim, Pei-Yin; Cardosa, Jane; Lua, Linda

    2016-02-15

    Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) are two viruses commonly responsible for hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in children. The lack of prophylactic or therapeutic measures against HFMD is a major public health concern. Insect cell-based EV71 and CVA16 virus-like particles (VLPs) are promising vaccine candidates against HFMD and are currently under development. In this paper, the influence of insect cell line, incubation temperature, and serial passaging effect and stability of budded virus (BV) stocks on EV71 and CVA16 VLP production was investigated. Enhanced EV71 and CVA16 VLP production was observed in Sf9 cells compared to High Five™ cells. Lowering the incubation temperature from the standard 27°C to 21°C increased the production of both VLPs in Sf9 cells. Serial passaging of CVA16 BV stocks in cell culture had a detrimental effect on the productivity of the structural proteins and the effect was observed with only 5 passages of BV stocks. A 2.7× higher production yield was achieved with EV71 compared to CVA16. High-resolution asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation couple with multi-angle light scattering (AF4-MALS) was used for the first time to characterize EV71 and CVA16 VLPs, displaying an average root mean square radius of 15±1nm and 15.3±5.8 nm respectively. This study highlights the need for different approaches in the design of production process to develop a bivalent EV71 and CVA16 vaccine. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Arbovirus vaccines: opportunities for the baculovirus-insect cell expression system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Metz, S.W.H.; Pijlman, G.P.

    2011-01-01

    The baculovirus-insect cell expression system is a well-established technology for the production of heterologous viral (glyco)proteins in cultured cells, applicable for basic scientific research as well as for the development and production of vaccines and diagnostics. Arboviruses form an emerging

  10. Identification of multiple ear-colonizing insect and disease resistance in CIMMYT maize inbred lines with varying levels of silk maysin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Xinzhi; Krakowsky, Matthew D; Buntin, G David; Rector, Brian G; Guo, Baozhu; Snook, Maurice E

    2008-08-01

    Ninety four corn inbred lines selected from International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT) in Mexico were evaluated for levels of silk maysin in 2001 and 2002. Damage by major ear-feeding insects [i.e., corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae); maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say); southern green stink bugs, Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)], and common smut [Ustilago maydis DC (Corda)] infection on these inbred lines were evaluated in 2005 and 2006 under subtropical conditions at Tifton, GA. Ten inbred lines possessing good agronomic traits were also resistant to the corn earworm. The correlation between ear-feeding insect damage or smut infection and three phenotypic traits (silk maysin level, husk extension, and husk tightness of corn ears) was also examined. Corn earworm and stink bug damage was negatively correlated to husk extension, but not to either silk maysin levels or husk tightness. In combination with the best agronomic trait ratings that show the least corn earworm and stink bug damage, lowest smut infection rate, and good insect-resistant phenotypic traits (i.e., high maysin and good husk coverage and husk tightness), 10 best inbred lines (CML90, CML92, CML94, CML99, CML104, CML108, CML114, CML128, CML137, and CML373) were identified from the 94 lines examined. These selected inbred lines will be used for further examination of their resistance mechanisms and development of new corn germplasm that confers multiple ear-colonizing pest resistance.

  11. Natural aquatic insect carriers of Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sudhakaran, R; Haribabu, P; Kumar, S Rajesh; Sarathi, M; Ahmed, V P Ishaq; Babu, V Sarath; Venkatesan, C; Hameedl, A S Sahul

    2008-04-01

    Five different species of aquatic insects were collected from nursery ponds containing the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii infected with Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV). The insects were screened as potential natural carriers of MrNV and XSV. RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) analysis gave positive results for MrNV and XSV in Belostoma sp., Aesohna sp., Cybister sp. and Notonecta sp., and negative results for Nepa sp. An Aedes albopictus mosquito cell line (C6/36) was used for infectivity assays, with viral inoculum prepared from the aquatic insects, since C6/36 cells have recently been shown to be susceptible to infection with MrNV and XSV. The C6/36 cells were harvested 4 d post-challenge for examination by electron microscopy. This revealed aggregation of viral particles throughout the cytoplasm for cells challenged with inocula from all the insect species except Nepa sp. Our results indicate that several aquatic insect species may present a risk for MrNV and XSV transmission to M. rosenbergii.

  12. Difference in membrane repair capacity between cancer cell lines and a normal cell line

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frandsen, Stine Krog; McNeil, Anna K.; Novak, Ivana

    2016-01-01

    repair was investigated by disrupting the plasma membrane using laser followed by monitoring fluorescent dye entry over time in seven cancer cell lines, an immortalized cell line, and a normal primary cell line. The kinetics of repair in living cells can be directly recorded using this technique...... cancer cell lines (p immortalized cell line (p

  13. The Tribolium castaneum cell line TcA: a new tool kit for cell biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silver, Kristopher; Jiang, Hongbo; Fu, Jinping; Phillips, Thomas W; Beeman, Richard W; Park, Yoonseong

    2014-10-30

    The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, is an agriculturally important insect pest that has been widely used as a model organism. Recently, an adherent cell line (BCIRL-TcA-CLG1 or TcA) was developed from late pupae of the red flour beetle. Next generation transcriptome sequencing of TcA cells demonstrated expression of a wide variety of genes associated with specialized functions in chitin metabolism, immune responses and cellular and systemic RNAi pathways. Accordingly, we evaluated the sensitivity of TcA cells to dsRNA to initiate an RNAi response. TcA cells were highly sensitive to minute amounts of dsRNA, with a minimum effective dose of 100 pg/mL resulting in significant suppression of gene expression. We have also developed a plasmid containing two TcA-specific promoters, the promoter from the 40S ribosomal protein subunit (TC006550) and a bi-directional heat shock promoter (TcHS70) from the intergenic space between heat shock proteins 68a and b. These promoters have been employed to provide high levels of either constitutive (TC006550) or inducible (TcHS70) gene expression of the reporter proteins. Our results show that the TcA cell line, with its sensitivity to RNAi and functional TcA-specific promoters, is an invaluable resource for studying basic molecular and physiological questions.

  14. Establishment of a highly efficient virus-inducible CRISPR/Cas9 system in insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Zhan-Qi; Chen, Ting-Ting; Zhang, Jun; Hu, Nan; Cao, Ming-Ya; Dong, Fei-Fan; Jiang, Ya-Ming; Chen, Peng; Lu, Cheng; Pan, Min-Hui

    2016-06-01

    Although current antiviral strategies can inhibit baculovirus infection and decrease viral DNA replication to a certain extent, novel tools are required for specific and accurate elimination of baculovirus genomes from infected insects. Using the newly developed clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/associated protein 9 nuclease (CRISPR/Cas9) technology, we disrupted a viral genome in infected insect cells in vitro as a defense against viral infection. We optimized the CRISPR/Cas9 system to edit foreign and viral genome in insect cells. Using Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) as a model, we found that the CRISPR/Cas9 system was capable of cleaving the replication key factor ie-1 in BmNPV thus effectively inhibiting virus proliferation. Furthermore, we constructed a virus-inducible CRISPR/Cas9 editing system, which minimized the probability of off-target effects and was rapidly activated after viral infection. This is the first report describing the application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in insect antiviral research. Establishment of a highly efficient virus-inducible CRISPR/Cas9 system in insect cells provides insights to produce virus-resistant transgenic strains for future. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Expression, purification and auto-activation of cathepsin E from insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Železnik, Tajana Z; Puizdar, Vida; Dolenc, Iztok

    2015-01-01

    Cathepsin E is an aspartic protease that belongs to the pepsin family. This protease is similar to cathepsin D but differs in its tissue distribution and cell localization. Elevated levels of this enzyme are linked to several tumors, including devastating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In this manuscript, we present a new protocol for the high-yield purification of recombinant human cathepsin E in the baculovirus expression system. The recombinant protein was produced by the Sf9 insect cell line and secreted into the medium in the form of an inactive zymogen. Procathepsin E was purified using ion-exchange and size exclusion chromatographies followed by pepstatin- and heparin-affinity chromatography steps. The zymogen was activated at an acidic pH, resulting in a high yield of the activated intermediate of cathepsin E. The enzymatic activity, stability, and molecular weight corresponded to those of cathepsin E. The new purification procedure will promote further studies of this enzyme to improve the understanding of its structure-function relationship and consequently enable the development of better therapeutic approaches.

  16. Characterization of growth and Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus production in attached cultures of the DSIR-HA-1179 coleopteran insect cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pushparajan, Charlotte; Claus, Juan Daniel; Marshall, Sean David Goldie; Visnovsky, Gabriel

    2013-12-01

    The DSIR-HA-1179 coleopteran cell line is a susceptible and permissive host to the Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus (OrNV), which has been used as a biocontrol agent against the coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros); a pest of palms in the Asia-Pacific region. However, little is known about growth and metabolism of this cell line, knowledge of which is necessary to develop an in vitro large-scale OrNV production process. The strong anchorage-dependent characteristics of the cell line, its particular fragility and its tendency to form dense clumps when manipulated, are the most likely reasons that have precluded further development of the cell line. In order to characterize DSIR-HA-1179 cells, there was first a need for a reliable technique to count the cells. A homogenous cell suspension suitable for enumeration could be produced by treatment with TrypLE Express™ with optimum mean time for cell release calculated as 30 min. The cell line was adapted to grow in four serum-supplemented culture media namely TC-100, IPL-41, Sf-900 II and Sf-900 III and cell growth, glucose consumption, lactate and ammonia production were assessed from static-batch cultures. The maximum viable cell density was reached in Sf-900 II (17.9 × 10(5) cells/ml), with the maximum specific growth rate observed in this culture medium as well (0.0074 h(-1)). Higher production of OrNV was observed in IPL-41 and TC-100 (4.1 × 10(7) TCID50/ml) than in cultures infected in Sf-900 III (2.0 × 10(7) TCID50/ml) and Sf-900 II (1.4 × 10(7) TCID50/ml). At the end of the growth period, glucose was completely consumed in cultures grown in TC-100, while remained in excess in the other three culture media. The cell line produced lactate and ammonia to very low levels in the TC-100 culture medium which is a promising aspect for its cultivation at large-scale.

  17. The sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis LL5 embryonic cell line has active Toll and Imd pathways and shows immune responses to bacteria, yeast and Leishmania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinoco-Nunes, Bruno; Telleria, Erich Loza; da Silva-Neves, Monique; Marques, Christiane; Azevedo-Brito, Daisy Aline; Pitaluga, André Nóbrega; Traub-Csekö, Yara Maria

    2016-04-20

    Lutzomyia longipalpis is the main vector of visceral leishmaniasis in Latin America. Sandfly immune responses are poorly understood. In previous work we showed that these vector insects respond to bacterial infections by modulating a defensin gene expression and activate the Imd pathway in response to Leishmania infection. Aspects of innate immune pathways in insects (including mosquito vectors of human diseases) have been revealed by studying insect cell lines, and we have previously demonstrated antiviral responses in the L. longipalpis embryonic cell line LL5. The expression patterns of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and transcription factors were evaluated after silencing the repressors of the Toll pathway (cactus) and Imd pathway (caspar). AMPs and transcription factor expression patterns were also evaluated after challenge with heat-killed bacteria, heat-killed yeast, or live Leishmania. These studies showed that LL5 cells have active Toll and Imd pathways, since they displayed an increased expression of AMP genes following silencing of the repressors cactus and caspar, respectively. These pathways were also activated by challenges with bacteria, yeast and Leishmania infantum chagasi. We demonstrated that L. longipalpis LL5 embryonic cells respond to immune stimuli and are therefore a good model to study the immunological pathways of this important vector of leishmaniasis.

  18. Participation of 14-3-3ε and 14-3-3ζ proteins in the phagocytosis, component of cellular immune response, in Aedes mosquito cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trujillo-Ocampo, Abel; Cázares-Raga, Febe Elena; Del Angel, Rosa María; Medina-Ramírez, Fernando; Santos-Argumedo, Leopoldo; Rodríguez, Mario H; Hernández-Hernández, Fidel de la Cruz

    2017-08-01

    Better knowledge of the innate immune system of insects will improve our understanding of mosquitoes as potential vectors of diverse pathogens. The ubiquitously expressed 14-3-3 protein family is evolutionarily conserved from yeast to mammals, and at least two isoforms of 14-3-3, the ε and ζ, have been identified in insects. These proteins have been shown to participate in both humoral and cellular immune responses in Drosophila. As mosquitoes of the genus Aedes are the primary vectors for arboviruses, causing several diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika and chikungunya fevers, cell lines derived from these mosquitoes, Aag-2 from Aedes aegypti and C6/36 HT from Aedes albopictus, are currently used to study the insect immune system. Here, we investigated the role of 14-3-3 proteins (ε and ζ isoform) in phagocytosis, the main cellular immune responses executed by the insects, using Aedes spp. cell lines. We evaluated the mRNA and protein expression of 14-3-3ε and 14-3-3ζ in C6/36 HT and Aag-2 cells, and demonstrated that both proteins were localised in the cytoplasm. Further, in C6/36 HT cells treated with a 14-3-3 specific inhibitor we observed a notable modification of cell morphology with filopodia-like structure caused through cytoskeleton reorganisation (co-localization of 14-3-3 proteins with F-actin), more importantly the decrease in Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli phagocytosis and reduction in phagolysosome formation. Additionally, silencing of 14-3-3ε and 14-3-3ζ expression by mean of specific DsiRNA confirmed the decreased phagocytosis and phagolysosome formation of pHrodo labelled E. coli and S. aureus bacteria by Aag-2 cells. The 14-3-3ε and 14-3-3ζ proteins modulate cytoskeletal remodelling, and are essential for phagocytosis of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in Aedes spp. cell lines.

  19. Radiosensitivity of mesothelioma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haekkinen, A.M.; Laasonen, A.; Linnainmaa, K.; Mattson, K.; Pyrhoenen, S.

    1996-01-01

    The present study was carried out in order to examine the radiosensitivity of malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines. Cell kinetics, radiation-induced delay of the cell cycle and DNA ploidy of the cell lines were also determined. For comparison an HeLa and a human foetal fibroblast cell line were simultaneously explored. Six previously cytogenetically and histologically characterized mesothelioma tumor cell lines were applied. A rapid tiazolyl blue microtiter (MTT) assay was used to analyze radiosensitivity and cell kinetics and DNA ploidy of the cultured cells were determined by flow cytometry. The survival fraction after a dose of 2 Gy (SF2), parameters α and β of the linear quadratic model (LQ-model) and mean inactivation dose (D MID ) were also estimated. The DNA index of four cell lines equaled 1.0 and two cell lines equaled 1.5 and 1.6. Different mesothelioma cell lines showed a great variation in radiosensitivity. Mean survival fraction after a radiation dose of 2 Gy (SF2) was 0.60 and ranged from 0.36 to 0.81 and mean α value was 0.26 (range 0.48-0.083). The SF2 of the most sensitive diploid mesothelioma cell line was 0.36: Less than that of the foetal fibroblast cell line (0.49). The survival fractions (0.81 and 0.74) of the two most resistant cell lines, which also were aneuploid, were equal to that of the HeLa cell line (0.78). The α/β ratios of the most sensitive cell lines were almost an order of magnitude greater than those of the two most resistant cell lines. Radiation-induced delay of the most resistant aneuploid cell line was similar to that of HeLa cells but in the most sensitive (diploid cells) there was practically no entry into the G1 phase following the 2 Gy radiation dose during 36 h. (orig.)

  20. Radiosensitivity of mesothelioma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haekkinen, A.M. [Dept. of Oncology, Univ. Central Hospital, Helsinki (Finland); Laasonen, A. [Dept. of Pathology, Central Hospital of Etelae-Pohjanmaa, Seinaejoki (Finland); Linnainmaa, K. [Dept. of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, Inst. of Occupational Health, Helsinki (Finland); Mattson, K. [Dept. Pulmonary Medicine, Univ. Central Hospital, Helsinki (Finland); Pyrhoenen, S. [Dept. of Oncology, Univ. Central Hospital, Helsinki (Finland)

    1996-10-01

    The present study was carried out in order to examine the radiosensitivity of malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines. Cell kinetics, radiation-induced delay of the cell cycle and DNA ploidy of the cell lines were also determined. For comparison an HeLa and a human foetal fibroblast cell line were simultaneously explored. Six previously cytogenetically and histologically characterized mesothelioma tumor cell lines were applied. A rapid tiazolyl blue microtiter (MTT) assay was used to analyze radiosensitivity and cell kinetics and DNA ploidy of the cultured cells were determined by flow cytometry. The survival fraction after a dose of 2 Gy (SF2), parameters {alpha} and {beta} of the linear quadratic model (LQ-model) and mean inactivation dose (D{sub MID}) were also estimated. The DNA index of four cell lines equaled 1.0 and two cell lines equaled 1.5 and 1.6. Different mesothelioma cell lines showed a great variation in radiosensitivity. Mean survival fraction after a radiation dose of 2 Gy (SF2) was 0.60 and ranged from 0.36 to 0.81 and mean {alpha} value was 0.26 (range 0.48-0.083). The SF2 of the most sensitive diploid mesothelioma cell line was 0.36: Less than that of the foetal fibroblast cell line (0.49). The survival fractions (0.81 and 0.74) of the two most resistant cell lines, which also were aneuploid, were equal to that of the HeLa cell line (0.78). The {alpha}/{beta} ratios of the most sensitive cell lines were almost an order of magnitude greater than those of the two most resistant cell lines. Radiation-induced delay of the most resistant aneuploid cell line was similar to that of HeLa cells but in the most sensitive (diploid cells) there was practically no entry into the G1 phase following the 2 Gy radiation dose during 36 h. (orig.).

  1. Insect barcode information system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratheepa, Maria; Jalali, Sushil Kumar; Arokiaraj, Robinson Silvester; Venkatesan, Thiruvengadam; Nagesh, Mandadi; Panda, Madhusmita; Pattar, Sharath

    2014-01-01

    Insect Barcode Information System called as Insect Barcode Informática (IBIn) is an online database resource developed by the National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects, Bangalore. This database provides acquisition, storage, analysis and publication of DNA barcode records of agriculturally important insects, for researchers specifically in India and other countries. It bridges a gap in bioinformatics by integrating molecular, morphological and distribution details of agriculturally important insects. IBIn was developed using PHP/My SQL by using relational database management concept. This database is based on the client- server architecture, where many clients can access data simultaneously. IBIn is freely available on-line and is user-friendly. IBIn allows the registered users to input new information, search and view information related to DNA barcode of agriculturally important insects.This paper provides a current status of insect barcode in India and brief introduction about the database IBIn. http://www.nabg-nbaii.res.in/barcode.

  2. DNA microarrays of baculovirus genomes: differential expression of viral genes in two susceptible insect cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamagishi, J; Isobe, R; Takebuchi, T; Bando, H

    2003-03-01

    We describe, for the first time, the generation of a viral DNA chip for simultaneous expression measurements of nearly all known open reading frames (ORFs) in the best-studied members of the family Baculoviridae, Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) and Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV). In this study, a viral DNA chip (Ac-BmNPV chip) was fabricated and used to characterize the viral gene expression profile for AcMNPV in different cell types. The viral chip is composed of microarrays of viral DNA prepared by robotic deposition of PCR-amplified viral DNA fragments on glass for ORFs in the NPV genome. Viral gene expression was monitored by hybridization to the DNA fragment microarrays with fluorescently labeled cDNAs prepared from infected Spodoptera frugiperda, Sf9 cells and Trichoplusia ni, TnHigh-Five cells, the latter a major producer of baculovirus and recombinant proteins. A comparison of expression profiles of known ORFs in AcMNPV elucidated six genes (ORF150, p10, pk2, and three late gene expression factor genes lef-3, p35 and lef- 6) the expression of each of which was regulated differently in the two cell lines. Most of these genes are known to be closely involved in the viral life cycle such as in DNA replication, late gene expression and the release of polyhedra from infected cells. These results imply that the differential expression of these viral genes accounts for the differences in viral replication between these two cell lines. Thus, these fabricated microarrays of NPV DNA which allow a rapid analysis of gene expression at the viral genome level should greatly speed the functional analysis of large genomes of NPV.

  3. Identification and characteristics of microRNAs from army worm, Spodoptera frugiperda cell line Sf21.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kakumani, Pavan Kumar; Chinnappan, Mahendran; Singh, Ashok K; Malhotra, Pawan; Mukherjee, Sunil K; Bhatnagar, Raj K

    2015-01-01

    microRNAs play important regulatory role in all intrinsic cellular functions. Amongst lepidopteran insects, miRNAs from only Bombyx mori have been studied extensively with a little focus on Spodoptera sp. In the present study, we identified a total of 226 miRNAs from Spodoptera frugiperda cell line Sf21. Of the total, 116 miRNAs were well conserved within other insects, like B. mori, Drosophila melanogaster and Tribolium castenum while the remaining 110 miRNAs were identified as novel based on comparative analysis with the insect miRNA data set. Landscape distribution analysis based on Sf21 genome assembly revealed clustering of few novel miRNAs. A total of 5 miRNA clusters were identified and the largest one encodes 5 miRNA genes. In addition, 12 miRNAs were validated using northern blot analysis and putative functional role assignment for 6 Sf miRNAs was investigated by examining their relative abundance at different developmental stages of Spodoptera litura and body parts of 6th instar larvae. Further, we identified a total of 809 potential target genes with GO terms for selected miRNAs, involved in different metabolic and signalling pathways of the insect. The newly identified miRNAs greatly enrich the repertoire of insect miRNAs and analysis of expression profiles reveal their involvement at various steps of biochemical pathways of the army worm.

  4. RF and microwave dielectric properties of stored-grain insects and their implications for potential insect control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, S.O.; Bartley, P.G. Jr.; Lawrence, K.C.

    1998-01-01

    The permittivities of bulk samples of adult insects of the rice weevil, red flour beetle, sawtoothed grain beetle, and lesser grain borer were measured at single frequencies of 9.4 and 11.7 Ghz in X-band waveguide at about 23 degrees C, and permittivities of homogenized samples of the same species were measured from 0.2 to 20 GHz at temperatures from 10 to 70 degrees C with an open-ended coaxial-line probe and network analyzer. Sample densities for the coaxial-line probe measurements were determined from the X-band measurements with a linear relationship between the cube root of the dielectric constant and sample bulk density determined from permittivity measurements on bulk samples of the adult insects in a waveguide sample holder taken with the short-circuited line technique. Since linearity of the cube root of the dielectric constant with bulk density is consistent with the Landau and Lifshitz, Looyenga dielectric mixture equation, this equation was used to calculate estimated dielectric constants and loss factors of the insects from measured permittivities and volume fractions determined from measured bulk density and adult insect density determined by air-comparison pycnometer measurements. Estimated dielectric constants and loss factors of the insects are presented graphically for temperatures from 10 to 70 degrees C, and tabulated data are provided for range information and comparative purposes

  5. Cell lines authentication and mycoplasma detection as minimun quality control of cell lines in biobanking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corral-Vázquez, C; Aguilar-Quesada, R; Catalina, P; Lucena-Aguilar, G; Ligero, G; Miranda, B; Carrillo-Ávila, J A

    2017-06-01

    Establishment of continuous cell lines from human normal and tumor tissues is an extended and useful methodology for molecular characterization of cancer pathophysiology and drug development in research laboratories. The exchange of these cell lines between different labs is a common practice that can compromise assays reliability due to contamination with microorganism such as mycoplasma or cells from different flasks that compromise experiment reproducibility and reliability. Great proportions of cell lines are contaminated with mycoplasma and/or are replaced by cells derived for a different origin during processing or distribution process. The scientific community has underestimated this problem and thousand of research experiment has been done with cell lines that are incorrectly identified and wrong scientific conclusions have been published. Regular contamination and authentication tests are necessary in order to avoid negative consequences of widespread misidentified and contaminated cell lines. Cell banks generate, store and distribute cell lines for research, being mandatory a consistent and continuous quality program. Methods implementation for guaranteeing both, the absence of mycoplasma and authentication in the supplied cell lines, has been performed in the Andalusian Health System Biobank. Specifically, precise results were obtained using real time PCR detection for mycoplasma and 10 STRs identification by capillary electrophoresis for cell line authentication. Advantages and disadvantages of these protocols are discussed.

  6. Histology and cell wall biochemistry of stone cells in the physical defence of conifers against insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitehill, Justin G A; Henderson, Hannah; Schuetz, Mathias; Skyba, Oleksandr; Yuen, Macaire Man Saint; King, John; Samuels, A Lacey; Mansfield, Shawn D; Bohlmann, Jörg

    2016-08-01

    Conifers possess an array of physical and chemical defences against stem-boring insects. Stone cells provide a physical defence associated with resistance against bark beetles and weevils. In Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), abundance of stone cells in the cortex of apical shoots is positively correlated with resistance to white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi). We identified histological, biochemical and molecular differences in the stone cell phenotype of weevil resistant (R) or susceptible (S) Sitka spruce genotypes. R trees displayed significantly higher quantities of cortical stone cells near the apical shoot node, the primary site for weevil feeding. Lignin, cellulose, xylan and mannan were the most abundant components of stone cell secondary walls, respectively. Lignin composition of stone cells isolated from R trees contained a higher percentage of G-lignin compared with S trees. Transcript profiling revealed higher transcript abundance in the R genotype of coumarate 3-hydroxylase, a key monolignol biosynthetic gene. Developing stone cells in current year apical shoots incorporated fluorescent-tagged monolignol into the secondary cell wall, while mature stone cells of previous year apical shoots did not. Stone cell development is an ephemeral process, and fortification of shoot tips in R trees is an effective strategy against insect feeding. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Both cell-autonomous mechanisms and hormones contribute to sexual development in vertebrates and insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bear, Ashley; Monteiro, Antónia

    2013-08-01

    The differentiation of male and female characteristics in vertebrates and insects has long been thought to proceed via different mechanisms. Traditionally, vertebrate sexual development was thought to occur in two phases: a primary and a secondary phase, the primary phase involving the differentiation of the gonads, and the secondary phase involving the differentiation of other sexual traits via the influence of sex hormones secreted by the gonads. In contrast, insect sexual development was thought to depend exclusively on cell-autonomous expression of sex-specific genes. Recently, however, new evidence indicates that both vertebrates and insects rely on sex hormones as well as cell-autonomous mechanisms to develop sexual traits. Collectively, these new data challenge the traditional vertebrate definitions of primary and secondary sexual development, call for a redefinition of these terms, and indicate the need for research aimed at explaining the relative dependence on cell-autonomous versus hormonally guided sexual development in animals. © 2013 The Authors. BioEssays published by WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Nutritional demands and metabolic characteristics of the DSIR-HA-1179 insect cell line during growth and infection with the Oryctes nudivirus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pushparajan, Charlotte; Claus, Juan Daniel; Marshall, Sean D G; Visnovsky, Gabriel

    2017-12-01

    The DSIR-HA-1179 coleopteran cell line has been identified as a susceptible and permissive host for the in vitro replication of the Oryctes nudivirus, which can be used as a biopesticide against the coconut rhinoceros beetle, pest of palms. The major challenge to in vitro large-scale Oryctes nudivirus production is ensuring process economy. This rests, among other requisites, on the use of low-cost culture media tailored to the nutritional and metabolic needs of the cell line, both in uninfected and infected cultures. The aim of the present study was to characterize the nutritional demands and the metabolic characteristics of the DSIR-HA-1179 cell line during growth and subsequent infection with Oryctes nudivirus in the TC-100 culture medium. Serum-supplementation of the culture medium was found to be critical for cell growth, and addition of 10% fetal bovine serum v/v led to a maximum viable cell density (16.8 × 10 5 cells ml -1 ) with a population doubling time of 4.2 d. Nutritional and metabolic characterization of the cell line revealed a trend of glucose and glutamine consumption but minimal uptake of other amino acids, negligible production of lactate and ammonia, and the accumulation of alanine, both before and after infection. The monitoring of virus production kinetics showed that the TC-100 culture medium was nutritionally sufficient to give a peak yield of 7.38 × 10 7 TCID 50 ml -1 of OrNV at the 6th day post-infection in attached cultures of DSIR-HA-1179 cells in 25 cm 2 T-flasks. Knowledge of the cell line's nutritional demands and virus production kinetics will aid in the formulation of a low-cost culture medium and better process design for large-scale OrNV production in future.

  9. Radiation sensitivity of Merkel cell carcinoma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leonard, J.H.; Ramsay, J.R.; Birrell, G.W. [Queensland Institute of Medical Research (Australia)] [and others

    1995-07-30

    Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), being a small cell carcinoma, would be expected to be sensitive to radiation. Clinical analysis of patients at our center, especially those with macroscopic disease, would suggest the response is quite variable. We have recently established a number of MCC cell lines from patients prior to radiotherapy, and for the first time are in a position to determine their sensitivity under controlled conditions. Some of the MCC lines grew as suspension cultures and could not be single cell cloned; therefore, it was not possible to use clonogenic survival for all cell lines. A tetrazolium based (MTT) assay was used for these lines, to estimate cell growth after {gamma} irradiation. Control experiments were conducted on lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) and the adherent MCC line, MCC13, to demonstrate that the two assays were comparable under the conditions used. We have examined cell lines from MCC, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), malignant melanomas, Epstein Barr virus (EBV) transformed lymphocytes (LCL), and skin fibroblasts for their sensitivity to {gamma} irradiation using both clonogenic cell survival and MTT assays. The results show that the tumor cell lines have a range of sensitivities, with melanoma being more resistant (surviving fraction at 2 Gy (SF2) 0.57 and 0.56) than the small cell carcinoma lines, MCC (SF2 range 0.21-0.45, mean SF2 0.30, n = 8) and SCLC (SF2 0.31). Fibroblasts were the most sensitive (SF2 0.13-0.20, mean 0.16, n = 5). The MTT assay, when compared to clonogenic assay for the MCC13 adherent line and the LCL, gave comparable results under the conditions used. Both assays gave a range of SF2 values for the MCC cell lines, suggesting that these cancers would give a heterogeneous response in vivo. The results with the two derivative clones of MCC14 (SF2 for MCC14/1 0.38, MCC14/2 0.45) would further suggest that some of them may develop resistance during clonogenic evolution. 25 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

  10. Radiation sensitivity of Merkell cell carcinoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leonard, J. Helen; Ramsay, Jonathan R.; Kearsley, John H.; Birrell, Geoff W.

    1995-01-01

    Purpose: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), being a small cell carcinoma, would be expected to be sensitive to radiation. Clinical analysis of patients at our center, especially those with macroscopic disease, would suggest the response is quite variable. We have recently established a number of MCC cell lines from patients prior to radiotherapy, and for the first time are in a position to determine their sensitivity under controlled conditions. Methods and Materials: Some of the MCC lines grew as suspension cultures and could not be single cell cloned; therefore, it was not possible to use clonogenic survival for all cell lines. A tetrazolium based (MTT) assay was used for these lines, to estimate cell growth after γ irradiation. Control experiments were conducted on lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) and the adherent MCC line, MCC13, to demonstrate that the two assays were comparable under the conditions used. Results: We have examined cell lines from MCC, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), malignant melanomas, Epstein Barr virus (EBV) transformed lymphocytes (LCL), and skin fibroblasts for their sensitivity to γ irradiation using both clonogenic cell survival and MTT assays. The results show that the tumor cell lines have a range of sensitivities, with melanoma being more resistant (surviving fraction at 2 Gy (SF2) 0.57 and 0.56) than the small cell carcinoma lines, MCC (SF2 range 0.21-0.45, mean SF2 0.30, n = 8) and SCLC (SF2 0.31). Fibroblasts were the most sensitive (SF2 0.13-0.20, mean 0.16, n = 5). The MTT assay, when compared to clonogenic assay for the MCC13 adherent line and the LCL, gave comparable results under the conditions used. Conclusion: Both assays gave a range of SF2 values for the MCC cell lines, suggesting that these cancers would give a heterogeneous response in vivo. The results with the two derivative clones of MCC14 (SF2 for MCC14/1 0.38, MCC14/2 0.45) would further suggest that some of them may develop resistance during clonogenic evolution

  11. Chromatin condensation and differential sensitivity of mammalian and insect cells to DNA strand breaks induced by bleomycin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez-Larraza, Daniel M.; Padron, Juan; Ronci, Natalia E.; Vidal Rioja, Lidia A.

    2006-01-01

    Bleomycin (BLM) induces DNA damage in living cells. In this report we analyzed the role of chromatin compactness in the differential response of mosquito (ATC-15) and mammalian (CHO) cells to DNA strand breaks induced by BLM. We used cells unexposed and exposed to sodium butyrate (NaB), which induces chromatin decondensation. By nucleoid sedimentation assay and digestions of nuclei with DNAse I, untreated mosquito cells (no BLM; no NaB) were shown to have more chromatin condensation than untreated CHO cells. By alkaline unwinding ATC-15 cells treated with NaB showed more BLM-induced DNA strand breaks than NaB-untreated CHO cells. The time-course of BLM-induced DNA damage to nuclear DNA was similar for NaB-untreated mammalian and insect cells, but with mosquito cells showing less DNA strand breaks, both at physiological temperatures and at 4 o C. However, when DNA repair was inhibited by low temperatures and chromatin was decondensed by NaB treatments, differences in BLM-induced DNA damage between these cells lines were no longer observed. In both cell lines, NaB did not affect BLM action on cell growth and viability. On the other hand, the low sensitivity of ATC-15 cells to BLM was reflected in their better growth efficiency. These cells exhibited a satisfactory growth at BLM doses that produced a permanent arrest of growth in CHO cells. The data suggest that mosquito cells might have linker DNAs shorter than those of mammalian cells, which would result in the observed both greater chromatin condensation and greater resistance to DNA damage induced by BLM as compared to CHO cells

  12. Chromatin condensation and differential sensitivity of mammalian and insect cells to DNA strand breaks induced by bleomycin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez-Larraza, Daniel M. [IMBICE, C.C. 403, 1900 La Plata (Argentina)]. E-mail: danielop@imbice.org.ar; Padron, Juan [IMBICE, C.C. 403, 1900 La Plata (Argentina); Ronci, Natalia E. [IMBICE, C.C. 403, 1900 La Plata (Argentina); Vidal Rioja, Lidia A. [IMBICE, C.C. 403, 1900 La Plata (Argentina)

    2006-08-30

    Bleomycin (BLM) induces DNA damage in living cells. In this report we analyzed the role of chromatin compactness in the differential response of mosquito (ATC-15) and mammalian (CHO) cells to DNA strand breaks induced by BLM. We used cells unexposed and exposed to sodium butyrate (NaB), which induces chromatin decondensation. By nucleoid sedimentation assay and digestions of nuclei with DNAse I, untreated mosquito cells (no BLM; no NaB) were shown to have more chromatin condensation than untreated CHO cells. By alkaline unwinding ATC-15 cells treated with NaB showed more BLM-induced DNA strand breaks than NaB-untreated CHO cells. The time-course of BLM-induced DNA damage to nuclear DNA was similar for NaB-untreated mammalian and insect cells, but with mosquito cells showing less DNA strand breaks, both at physiological temperatures and at 4 {sup o}C. However, when DNA repair was inhibited by low temperatures and chromatin was decondensed by NaB treatments, differences in BLM-induced DNA damage between these cells lines were no longer observed. In both cell lines, NaB did not affect BLM action on cell growth and viability. On the other hand, the low sensitivity of ATC-15 cells to BLM was reflected in their better growth efficiency. These cells exhibited a satisfactory growth at BLM doses that produced a permanent arrest of growth in CHO cells. The data suggest that mosquito cells might have linker DNAs shorter than those of mammalian cells, which would result in the observed both greater chromatin condensation and greater resistance to DNA damage induced by BLM as compared to CHO cells.

  13. Effective chikungunya virus-like particle vaccine produced in insect cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan W Metz

    Full Text Available The emerging arthritogenic, mosquito-borne chikungunya virus (CHIKV causes severe disease in humans and represents a serious public health threat in countries where Aedes spp mosquitoes are present. This study describes for the first time the successful production of CHIKV virus-like particles (VLPs in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses. This well-established expression system is rapidly scalable to volumes required for epidemic responses and proved well suited for processing of CHIKV glycoproteins and production of enveloped VLPs. Herein we show that a single immunization with 1 µg of non-adjuvanted CHIKV VLPs induced high titer neutralizing antibody responses and provided complete protection against viraemia and joint inflammation upon challenge with the Réunion Island CHIKV strain in an adult wild-type mouse model of CHIKV disease. CHIKV VLPs produced in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses thus represents as a new, safe, non-replicating and effective vaccine candidate against CHIKV infections.

  14. Humoral immune response to the entire human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein made in insect cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rusche, J.R.; Lynn, D.L.; Robert-Guroff, M.; Langlois, A.J.; Lyerly, H.K.; Carson, H.; Krohn, K.; Ranki, A.; Gallo, R.C.; Bolognesi, D.P.; Putney, S.D.

    1987-10-01

    The human immunodeficiency virus envelope gene was expressed in insect cells by using a Baculovirus expression vector. The protein has an apparent molecular mass of 160 kDa, appears on the surface of infected insect cells, and does not appear to be cleaved to glycoproteins gp120 and gp41. Goats immunized with the 160-kDa protein have high titers of antibody that neutralizes virus infection as measured by viral gene expression or cell cytolysis. In addition, immune sera can block fusion of human immunodeficiency virus-infected cells in culture. Both neutralization and fusion-blocking activities are bound to and eluted from immobilized gp120.

  15. Humoral immune response to the entire human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein made in insect cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rusche, J.R.; Lynn, D.L.; Robert-Guroff, M.

    1987-01-01

    The human immunodeficiency virus envelope gene was expressed in insect cells by using a Baculovirus expression vector. The protein has an apparent molecular mass of 160 kDa, appears on the surface of infected insect cells, and does not appear to be cleaved to glycoproteins gp120 and gp41. Goats immunized with the 160-kDa protein have high titers of antibody that neutralizes virus infection as measured by viral gene expression or cell cytolysis. In addition, immune sera can block fusion of human immunodeficiency virus-infected cells in culture. Both neutralization and fusion-blocking activities are bound to and eluted from immobilized gp120

  16. Cell Line Data Base: structure and recent improvements towards molecular authentication of human cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romano, Paolo; Manniello, Assunta; Aresu, Ottavia; Armento, Massimiliano; Cesaro, Michela; Parodi, Barbara

    2009-01-01

    The Cell Line Data Base (CLDB) is a well-known reference information source on human and animal cell lines including information on more than 6000 cell lines. Main biological features are coded according to controlled vocabularies derived from international lists and taxonomies. HyperCLDB (http://bioinformatics.istge.it/hypercldb/) is a hypertext version of CLDB that improves data accessibility by also allowing information retrieval through web spiders. Access to HyperCLDB is provided through indexes of biological characteristics and navigation in the hypertext is granted by many internal links. HyperCLDB also includes links to external resources. Recently, an interest was raised for a reference nomenclature for cell lines and CLDB was seen as an authoritative system. Furthermore, to overcome the cell line misidentification problem, molecular authentication methods, such as fingerprinting, single-locus short tandem repeat (STR) profile and single nucleotide polymorphisms validation, were proposed. Since this data is distributed, a reference portal on authentication of human cell lines is needed. We present here the architecture and contents of CLDB, its recent enhancements and perspectives. We also present a new related database, the Cell Line Integrated Molecular Authentication (CLIMA) database (http://bioinformatics.istge.it/clima/), that allows to link authentication data to actual cell lines.

  17. Ao38, a new cell line from eggs of the black witch moth, Ascalapha odorata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, is permissive for AcMNPV infection and produces high levels of recombinant proteins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Sheng

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The insect cell line is a critical component in the production of recombinant proteins in the baculovirus expression system and new cell lines hold the promise of increasing both quantity and quality of protein production. Results Seventy cell lines were established by single-cell cloning from a primary culture of cells derived from eggs of the black witch moth (Ascalapha odorata; Lepidoptera, Noctuidae. Among 8 rapidly growing lines, cell line 38 (Ao38 was selected for further analysis, based on susceptibility to AcMNPV infection and production of secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP from a baculovirus expression vector. In comparisons with low-passage High Five (BTI-Tn-5B1-4 cells, infected Ao38 cells produced β-galactosidase and SEAP at levels higher (153% and 150%, respectively than those measured from High Five cells. Analysis of N-glycans of SEAP produced in Ao38 cells revealed two N-glycosylation sites and glycosylation patterns similar to those reported for High Five and Sf9 cells. Glycopeptide isoforms consisted of pauci- or oligomannose, with and without fucose on N-acetylglucosamine(s linked to asparagine residues. Estimates of Ao38 cell volume suggest that Ao38 cells are approximately 2.5× larger than Sf9 cells but only approximately 74% of the size of High Five cells. Ao38 cells were highly susceptible to AcMNPV infection, similar to infectivity of Sf9 cells. Production of infectious AcMNPV budded virions from Ao38 cells peaked at approximately 4.5 × 107 IU/ml, exceeding that from High Five cells while lower than that from Sf9 cells. Ao38 cells grew rapidly in stationary culture with a population doubling time of 20.2 hr, and Ao38 cells were readily adapted to serum-free medium (Sf-900III and to a suspension culture system. Analysis of Ao38 and a parental Ascalapha odorata cell line indicated that these lines were free of the alphanodavirus that was recently identified as an adventitious agent in High Five cell

  18. CLO : The cell line ontology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sarntivijai, Sirarat; Lin, Yu; Xiang, Zuoshuang; Meehan, Terrence F.; Diehl, Alexander D.; Vempati, Uma D.; Schuerer, Stephan C.; Pang, Chao; Malone, James; Parkinson, Helen; Liu, Yue; Takatsuki, Terue; Saijo, Kaoru; Masuya, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Yukio; Brush, Matthew H.; Haendel, Melissa A.; Zheng, Jie; Stoeckert, Christian J.; Peters, Bjoern; Mungall, Christopher J.; Carey, Thomas E.; States, David J.; Athey, Brian D.; He, Yongqun

    2014-01-01

    Background: Cell lines have been widely used in biomedical research. The community-based Cell Line Ontology (CLO) is a member of the OBO Foundry library that covers the domain of cell lines. Since its publication two years ago, significant updates have been made, including new groups joining the CLO

  19. Expression of the human multidrug transporter in insect cells by a recombinant baculovirus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Germann, U.A.; Willingham, M.C.; Pastan, I.; Gottesman, M.M.

    1990-01-01

    The plasma membrane associated human multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene product, known as the 170-kDa P-glycoprotein or the multidrug transporter, acts as an ATP-dependent efflux pump for various cytotoxic agents. The authors expressed recombinant human multidrug transporter in a baculovirus expression system to obtain large quantities and further investigate its structure and mechanism of action. MDR1 cDNA was inserted into the genome of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus under the control of the polyhedrin promoter. Spodoptera frugiperda insect cells synthesized high levels of recombinant multidrug transporter 2-3 days after infection. The transporter was localized by immunocytochemical methods on the external surface of the plasma membranes, in the Golgi apparatus, and within the nuclear envelope. The human multidrug transporter expressed in insect cells is not susceptible to endoglycosidase F treatment and has a lower apparent molecular weight of 140,000, corresponding to the nonglycosylated precursor of its authentic counterpart expressed in multidrug-resistant cells. Labeling experiments showed that the recombinant multidrug transporter is phosphorylated and can be photoaffinity labeled by [ 3 H]azidopine, presumably at the same two sites as the native protein. Various drugs and reversing agents compete with the [ 3 H]azidopine binding reaction when added in excess, indicating that the recombinant human multidrug transporter expressed in insect cells is functionally similar to its authentic counterpart

  20. Expression and characterization of human group C rotavirus virus-like particles in insect cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, Kristina B.; Lin, S.-C.; Humphrey, Charles; Foytich, Kimberly; Esona, Mathew; Wang Yuhuan; Liu, Merry; Jiang Baoming

    2009-01-01

    Group C rotavirus (GpC RV) is a causative agent of acute gastroenteritis in children and adults. We expressed the three major capsid proteins VP2, VP6 and VP7 of human GpC RV in baculovirus and demonstrated the self-assembly of VP2/6/7 or VP6/7 virus-like particles (VLPs) in insect cells. We examined a number of parameters, including the kinetics of protein synthesis in different cell lines and media, to optimize the most favorable conditions for the synthesis of recombinant viral proteins and the production of VLPs in Sf9 cells. Hyperimmune serum to VP2/6/7 and VP6/7 VLPs recognized individual recombinant proteins of human GpC RV by Western blot analysis. This serum also showed specific reactivities with the corresponding GpC VLPs but not GpA RV by using immune electron microscopy (IEM) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The ability to produce an unlimited amount of GpC RV antigen and the availability of high quality antibody will allow us to develop sensitive and specific diagnostic assays to better determine the epidemiology and disease burden of GpC RV in humans.

  1. Growth and viability of Aedes albopictus cell line in vitro after cesium-137 gamma irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blakely, E.A.

    1975-01-01

    The radiosensitivity of the cultured mosquito cell line Aedes albopictus (Skuse) was investigated. Population growth was followed by total cell counts and by viable cell counts on aliquots of cultures exposed to various doses of gamma radiation during exponential growth. Viable cell determinations were based on the cellular exclusion of the dye, alcian blue, in a procedure adapted to the insect cells in culture. Viability determinations in the irradiated exponential cultures indicated that initially there was some increase in the gestation, suggesting that gonadal steroids may have unusual effects on uterine physiology and biochemistry in this species. Consequently, studies were undertaken to elucidate some of the basic responses of hamster uteri to estradiol benzoate and progesterone under conditions of protein malnutrition, actinomycin D administration and corticosterone injection. Furthermore, the effects of gonadal steroids on uteri of pregnant ovariectomized hamsters were studied

  2. Authentication of M14 melanoma cell line proves misidentification of MDA‐MB‐435 breast cancer cell line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korch, Christopher; Hall, Erin M.; Dirks, Wilhelm G.; Ewing, Margaret; Faries, Mark; Varella‐Garcia, Marileila; Robinson, Steven; Storts, Douglas; Turner, Jacqueline A.; Wang, Ying; Burnett, Edward C.; Healy, Lyn; Kniss, Douglas; Neve, Richard M.; Nims, Raymond W.; Reid, Yvonne A.; Robinson, William A.

    2017-01-01

    A variety of analytical approaches have indicated that melanoma cell line UCLA‐SO‐M14 (M14) and breast carcinoma cell line MDA‐MB‐435 originate from a common donor. This indicates that at some point in the past, one of these cell lines became misidentified, meaning that it ceased to correspond to the reported donor and instead became falsely identified (through cross‐contamination or other means) as a cell line from a different donor. Initial studies concluded that MDA‐MB‐435 was the misidentified cell line and M14 was the authentic cell line, although contradictory evidence has been published, resulting in further confusion. To address this question, we obtained early samples of the melanoma cell line (M14), a lymphoblastoid cell line from the same donor (ML14), and donor serum preserved at the originator's institution. M14 samples were cryopreserved in December 1975, before MDA‐MB‐435 cells were established in culture. Through a series of molecular characterizations, including short tandem repeat (STR) profiling and cytogenetic analysis, we demonstrated that later samples of M14 and MDA‐MB‐435 correspond to samples of M14 frozen in 1975, to the lymphoblastoid cell line ML14, and to the melanoma donor's STR profile, sex and blood type. This work demonstrates conclusively that M14 is the authentic cell line and MDA‐MB‐435 is misidentified. With clear provenance information and authentication testing of early samples, it is possible to resolve debates regarding the origins of problematic cell lines that are widely used in cancer research. PMID:28940260

  3. A novel medium for expression of proteins selectively labeled with 15N-amino acids in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brueggert, Michael; Rehm, Till; Shanker, Sreejesh; Georgescu, Julia; Holak, Tad A.

    2003-01-01

    Whereas bacterial expression systems are widely used for production of uniformly or selectively 15 N-labeled proteins the usage of the baculovirus expression system for labeling is limited to very few examples in the literature. Here we present the complete formulations of the two insect media, IML406 and 455, for the high-yield production of selectively 15 N-labeled proteins in insect cells. The quantities of 15 N-amino acids utilized in the production of labeled GST were similar in the case of bacterial and viral expression. For the most studied amino acids essential for insect cells the 15 N-HSQC spectra, recorded with GST labeled in insect cells, showed no cross labeling and provided therefore spectra of better quality compared to NMR spectra of GST expressed in E. coli. Also in the case of amino acids not essential for Sf9 cells we were able to label a defined number of amino acid species. Therefore the selective labeling using the baculovirus expression vector system represents a complement or even an alternative to the bacterial expression system. Based on these findings we can provide a first simple overview of the network of the amino acid metabolism in E. coli and insect cells focused on nitrogen. For some amino acids the expression of labeled proteins in insect cells can replace the cell-free protein expression

  4. Efficient production of antibody Fab fragment by transient gene expression in insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mori, Keita; Hamada, Hirotsugu; Ogawa, Takafumi; Ohmuro-Matsuyama, Yuki; Katsuda, Tomohisa; Yamaji, Hideki

    2017-08-01

    Transient gene expression allows a rapid production of diverse recombinant proteins in early-stage preclinical and clinical developments of biologics. Insect cells have proven to be an excellent platform for the production of functional recombinant proteins. In the present study, the production of an antibody Fab fragment by transient gene expression in lepidopteran insect cells was investigated. The DNA fragments encoding heavy-chain (Hc; Fd fragment) and light-chain (Lc) genes of an Fab fragment were individually cloned into the plasmid vector pIHAneo, which contained the Bombyx mori actin promoter downstream of the B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) IE-1 transactivator and the BmNPV HR3 enhancer for high-level expression. Trichoplusia ni BTI-TN-5B1-4 (High Five) cells were co-transfected with the resultant plasmid vectors using linear polyethyleneimine. When the transfection efficiency was evaluated, a plasmid vector encoding an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene was also co-transfected. Transfection and culture conditions were optimized based on both the flow cytometry of the EGFP expression in transfected cells and the yield of the secreted Fab fragments determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Under optimal conditions, a yield of approximately 120 mg/L of Fab fragments was achieved in 5 days in a shake-flask culture. Transient gene expression in insect cells may offer a promising approach to the high-throughput production of recombinant proteins. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Biofuel cell backpacked insect and its application to wireless sensing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoji, Kan; Akiyama, Yoshitake; Suzuki, Masato; Nakamura, Nobuhumi; Ohno, Hiroyuki; Morishima, Keisuke

    2016-04-15

    This study investigated an enzymatic biofuel cell (BFC) which can be backpacked by cockroaches. The BFC generates electric power from trehalose in insect hemolymph by the trehalase and glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) reaction systems which dehydrogenate β-glucose obtained by hydrolyzing trehalose. First, an insect-mountable BFC (imBFC) was designed and fabricated with a 3D printer. The electrochemical reaction of anode-modified poly-L-lysine, vitamin K3, diaphorase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, GDH and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) in the imBFC was evaluated and an oxidation current of 1.18 mAcm(-2) (at +0.6 V vs. Ag|AgCl) was observed. Then, the performance of the imBFC was evaluated and a maximum power output of 333 μW (285 μW cm(-)(2)) (at 0.5 V) was obtained. Furthermore, driving of both an LED device and a wireless temperature and humidity sensor device were powered by the imBFC. These results indicate that the imBFC has sufficient potential as a battery for novel ubiquitous robots such as insect cyborgs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. A novel medium for expression of proteins selectively labeled with {sup 15}N-amino acids in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brueggert, Michael; Rehm, Till; Shanker, Sreejesh; Georgescu, Julia; Holak, Tad A. [Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry (Germany)], E-mail: holak.biochem@mpg.de

    2003-04-15

    Whereas bacterial expression systems are widely used for production of uniformly or selectively {sup 15}N-labeled proteins the usage of the baculovirus expression system for labeling is limited to very few examples in the literature. Here we present the complete formulations of the two insect media, IML406 and 455, for the high-yield production of selectively {sup 15}N-labeled proteins in insect cells. The quantities of {sup 15}N-amino acids utilized in the production of labeled GST were similar in the case of bacterial and viral expression. For the most studied amino acids essential for insect cells the {sup 15}N-HSQC spectra, recorded with GST labeled in insect cells, showed no cross labeling and provided therefore spectra of better quality compared to NMR spectra of GST expressed in E. coli. Also in the case of amino acids not essential for Sf9 cells we were able to label a defined number of amino acid species. Therefore the selective labeling using the baculovirus expression vector system represents a complement or even an alternative to the bacterial expression system. Based on these findings we can provide a first simple overview of the network of the amino acid metabolism in E. coli and insect cells focused on nitrogen. For some amino acids the expression of labeled proteins in insect cells can replace the cell-free protein expression.

  7. Insect anaphylaxis: addressing clinical challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tracy, James M; Lewis, Elena J; Demain, Jeffrey G

    2011-08-01

    Few allergic reactions are as potentially life-threatening, or frightening to the patient, as anaphylaxis. Food, medications, and insect stings are the three most common triggers of anaphylaxis, but insect allergy provides the best opportunity to understand the biology of anaphylaxis. If the physician can establish a diagnosis of insect allergy, treatment with nearly 98% effectiveness can be initiated. However, sometimes patients have a compelling history of insect sting anaphylaxis, but negative skin and blood tests. This situation presents us with a fascinating opportunity to understand the biology of insect anaphylaxis. Recent and ongoing work shows that occult mast cell disease may be critical in insect anaphylaxis. Mastocytosis, serum tryptase and basophil biology are key elements; genetic markers may potentially help us diagnose at-risk individuals and determine proper treatment. Understanding basophil activation may play an additional role both in diagnosis and knowing when therapy might be terminated. Mast cell disease, serum tryptase and basophil biology are providing an opportunity to better understand and manage insect allergy. This evolving understanding should improve long-term management of insect anaphylaxis and help us to better understand the clinical dilemma of appropriate management of the history-positive patient in which testing is unable to detect venom-specific IgE. Furthermore, omalizumab's immunomodulatory effects may play a role in difficult-to-treat insect allergy and mastocytosis. Finally, unrelated to these, but still important as an ongoing risk factor, is the continued underutilization of epinephrine for both acute and long-term management of insect anaphylaxis.

  8. How the Venom from the Ectoparasitoid Wasp Nasonia vitripennis Exhibits Anti-Inflammatory Properties on Mammalian Cell Lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danneels, Ellen L.; Gerlo, Sarah; Heyninck, Karen; Van Craenenbroeck, Kathleen; De Bosscher, Karolien; Haegeman, Guy; de Graaf, Dirk C.

    2014-01-01

    With more than 150,000 species, parasitoids are a large group of hymenopteran insects that inject venom into and then lay their eggs in or on other insects, eventually killing the hosts. Their venoms have evolved into different mechanisms for manipulating host immunity, physiology and behavior in such a way that enhance development of the parasitoid young. The venom from the ectoparasitoid Nasonia vitripennis inhibits the immune system in its host organism in order to protect their offspring from elimination. Since the major innate immune pathways in insects, the Toll and Imd pathways, are homologous to the NF-κB pathway in mammals, we were interested in whether a similar immune suppression seen in insects could be elicited in a mammalian cell system. A well characterized NF-κB reporter gene assay in fibrosarcoma cells showed a dose-dependent inhibition of NF-κB signaling caused by the venom. In line with this NF-κB inhibitory action, N. vitripennis venom dampened the expression of IL-6, a prototypical proinflammatory cytokine, from LPS-treated macrophages. The venom also inhibited the expression of two NF-κB target genes, IκBα and A20, that act in a negative feedback loop to prevent excessive NF-κB activity. Surprisingly, we did not detect any effect of the venom on the early events in the canonical NF-κB activation pathway, leading to NF-κB nuclear translocation, which was unaltered in venom-treated cells. The MAP kinases ERK, p38 and JNK are other crucial regulators of immune responses. We observed that venom treatment did not affect p38 and ERK activation, but induced a prolonged JNK activation. In summary, our data indicate that venom from N. vitripennis inhibits NF-κB signaling in mammalian cells. We identify venom-induced up regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor-regulated GILZ as a most likely molecular mediator for this inhibition. PMID:24821138

  9. Induction of Autophagy and Apoptosis via PI3K/AKT/TOR Pathways by Azadirachtin A in Spodoptera litura Cells

    OpenAIRE

    Xuehua Shao; Duo Lai; Ling Zhang; Hanhong Xu

    2016-01-01

    Azadirachtin is one of the most effective botanical insecticides and has been widely used in pest control. Toxicological reports show that azadirachtin can induce apoptosis in various insect cell lines. However, studies of azadirachtin-induced autophagy in cultured insect cells are lacking. This study reports that azadirachtin A significantly inhibits cell proliferation by inducing autophagic and apoptotic cell death in Spodoptera litura cultured cell line (SL-1 cell). Characteristic autophag...

  10. Display of a Maize cDNA library on baculovirus infected insect cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jones Ian M

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Maize is a good model system for cereal crop genetics and development because of its rich genetic heritage and well-characterized morphology. The sequencing of its genome is well advanced, and new technologies for efficient proteomic analysis are needed. Baculovirus expression systems have been used for the last twenty years to express in insect cells a wide variety of eukaryotic proteins that require complex folding or extensive posttranslational modification. More recently, baculovirus display technologies based on the expression of foreign sequences on the surface of Autographa californica (AcMNPV have been developed. We investigated the potential of a display methodology for a cDNA library of maize young seedlings. Results We constructed a full-length cDNA library of young maize etiolated seedlings in the transfer vector pAcTMVSVG. The library contained a total of 2.5 × 105 independent clones. Expression of two known maize proteins, calreticulin and auxin binding protein (ABP1, was shown by western blot analysis of protein extracts from insect cells infected with the cDNA library. Display of the two proteins in infected insect cells was shown by selective biopanning using magnetic cell sorting and demonstrated proof of concept that the baculovirus maize cDNA display library could be used to identify and isolate proteins. Conclusion The maize cDNA library constructed in this study relies on the novel technology of baculovirus display and is unique in currently published cDNA libraries. Produced to demonstrate proof of principle, it opens the way for the development of a eukaryotic in vivo display tool which would be ideally suited for rapid screening of the maize proteome for binding partners, such as proteins involved in hormone regulation or defence.

  11. Curcumin induces autophagic cell death in Spodoptera frugiperda cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veeran, Sethuraman; Shu, Benshui; Cui, Gaofeng; Fu, Shengjiao; Zhong, Guohua

    2017-06-01

    The increasing interest in the role of autophagy (type II cell death) in the regulation of insect toxicology has propelled study of investigating autophagic cell death pathways. Turmeric, the rhizome of the herb Curcuma longa (Mañjaḷ in Tamil, India and Jiānghuáng in Chinese) have been traditionally used for the pest control either alone or combination with other botanical pesticides. However, the mechanisms by which Curcuma longa or curcumin exerts cytotoxicity in pests are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the potency of Curcuma longa (curcumin) as a natural pesticide employing Sf9 insect line. Autophagy induction effect of curcumin on Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells was investigated using various techniques including cell proliferation assay, morphology analysis with inverted phase contrast microscope and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) analysis. Autophagy was evaluated using the fluorescent dye monodansylcadaverine (MDC). Cell death measurement was examined using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) within the concentrations of 5-15μg/mL. Curcumin inhibited the growth of the Sf9 cells and induced autophagic cell death in a time and dose dependent manner. Staining the cells with MDC showed the presence of autophagic vacuoles while increased in a dose and time dependent manner. At the ultrastructural level transmission electron microscopy, cells revealed massive autophagy vacuole accumulation and absence of chromatin condensation. Protein expression levels of ATG8-I and ATG8-II, well-established markers of autophagy related protein were elevated in a time dependent manner after curcumin treatment. The present study proves that curcumin induces autophagic cell death in Sf9 insect cell line and this is the first report of cytotoxic effect of curcumin in insect cells and that will be utilized as natural pesticides in future. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. Tuft (caveolated) cells in two human colon carcinoma cell lines.

    OpenAIRE

    Barkla, D. H.; Whitehead, R. H.; Foster, H.; Tutton, P. J.

    1988-01-01

    The presence of an unusual cell type in two human colon carcinoma cell lines is reported. The cells show the same morphology as "tuft" (caveolated) cells present in normal gastrointestinal epithelium. Tuft cells were seen in cell line LIM 1863 growing in vitro and in human colon carcinoma cell line LIM 2210 growing as subcutaneous solid tumour xenografts in nude mice. Characteristic morphologic features of tuft cells included a wide base, narrow apex and a tuft of long microvilli projecting f...

  13. Characterization of a Merkel Cell Polyomavirus-Positive Merkel Cell Carcinoma Cell Line CVG-1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velásquez, Celestino; Amako, Yutaka; Harold, Alexis; Toptan, Tuna; Chang, Yuan; Shuda, Masahiro

    2018-01-01

    Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) plays a causal role in ∼80% of Merkel cell carcinomas (MCC). MCV is clonally integrated into the MCC tumor genome, which results in persistent expression of large T (LT) and small T (sT) antigen oncoproteins encoded by the early locus. In MCV-positive MCC tumors, LT is truncated by premature stop codons or deletions that lead to loss of the C-terminal origin binding (OBD) and helicase domains important for replication. The N-terminal Rb binding domain remains intact. MCV-positive cell lines derived from MCC explants have been valuable tools to study the molecular mechanism of MCV-induced Merkel cell carcinogenesis. Although all cell lines have integrated MCV and express truncated LT antigens, the molecular sizes of the LT proteins differ between cell lines. The copy number of integrated viral genome also varies across cell lines, leading to significantly different levels of viral protein expression. Nevertheless, these cell lines share phenotypic similarities in cell morphology, growth characteristics, and neuroendocrine marker expression. Several low-passage MCV-positive MCC cell lines have been established since the identification of MCV. We describe a new MCV-positive MCV cell line, CVG-1, with features distinct from previously reported cell lines. CVG-1 tumor cells grow in more discohesive clusters in loose round cell suspension, and individual cells show dramatic size heterogeneity. It is the first cell line to encode an MCV sT polymorphism resulting in a unique leucine (L) to proline (P) substitution mutation at amino acid 144. CVG-1 possesses a LT truncation pattern near identical to that of MKL-1 cells differing by the last two C-terminal amino acids and also shows an LT protein expression level similar to MKL-1. Viral T antigen knockdown reveals that, like other MCV-positive MCC cell lines, CVG-1 requires T antigen expression for cell proliferation.

  14. The Cellosaurus, a Cell-Line Knowledge Resource

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bairoch, Amos

    2018-01-01

    The Cellosaurus is a knowledge resource on cell lines. It aims to describe all cell lines used in biomedical research. Its scope encompasses both vertebrates and invertebrates. Currently, information for >100,000 cell lines is provided. For each cell line, it provides a wealth of information, cross-references, and literature citations. The Cellosaurus is available on the ExPASy server (https://web.expasy.org/cellosaurus/) and can be downloaded in a variety of formats. Among its many uses, the Cellosaurus is a key resource to help researchers identify potentially contaminated/misidentified cell lines, thus contributing to improving the quality of research in the life sciences. PMID:29805321

  15. Detection of insect damage in almonds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Soowon; Schatzki, Thomas F.

    1999-01-01

    Pinhole insect damage in natural almonds is very difficult to detect on-line. Further, evidence exists relating insect damage to aflatoxin contamination. Hence, for quality and health reasons, methods to detect and remove such damaged nuts are of great importance in this study, we explored the possibility of using x-ray imaging to detect pinhole damage in almonds by insects. X-ray film images of about 2000 almonds and x-ray linescan images of only 522 pinhole damaged almonds were obtained. The pinhole damaged region appeared slightly darker than non-damaged region in x-ray negative images. A machine recognition algorithm was developed to detect these darker regions. The algorithm used the first order and the second order information to identify the damaged region. To reduce the possibility of false positive results due to germ region in high resolution images, germ detection and removal routines were also included. With film images, the algorithm showed approximately an 81 percent correct recognition ratio with only 1 percent false positives whereas line scan images correctly recognized 65 percent of pinholes with about 9 percent false positives. The algorithms was very fast and efficient requiring only minimal computation time. If implemented on line, theoretical throughput of this recognition system would be 66 nuts/second.

  16. A new theraphosid spider toxin causes early insect cell death by necrosis when expressed in vitro during recombinant baculovirus infection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo

    Full Text Available Baculoviruses are the most studied insect viruses in the world and are used for biological control of agricultural and forest insect pests. They are also used as versatile vectors for expression of heterologous proteins. One of the major problems of their use as biopesticides is their slow speed to kill insects. Thus, to address this shortcoming, insect-specific neurotoxins from arachnids have been introduced into the baculovirus genome solely aiming to improve its virulence. In this work, an insecticide-like toxin gene was obtained from a cDNA derived from the venom glands of the theraphosid spider Brachypelma albiceps. The mature form of the peptide toxin (called Ba3 has a high content of basic amino acid residues, potential for three possible disulfide bonds, and a predicted three-stranded β-sheetDifferent constructions of the gene were engineered for recombinant baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nuclepolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV expression. Five different forms of Ba3 were assessed; (1 the full-length sequence, (2 the pro-peptide and mature region, (3 only the mature region, and the mature region fused to an (4 insect or a (5 virus-derived signal peptide were inserted separately into the genome of the baculovirus. All the recombinant viruses induced cell death by necrosis earlier in infection relative to a control virus lacking the toxin gene. However, the recombinant virus containing the mature portion of the toxin gene induced a faster cell death than the other recombinants. We found that the toxin construct with the signal peptide and/or pro-peptide regions delayed the necrosis phenotype. When infected cells were subjected to ultrastructural analysis, the cells showed loss of plasma membrane integrity and structural changes in mitochondria before death. Our results suggest this use of baculovirus is a potential tool to help understand or to identify the effect of insect-specific toxic peptides when produced during infection of insect

  17. Ecdysteroids Sensitize MDR and Non-MDR Cancer Cell Lines to Doxorubicin, Paclitaxel, and Vincristine but Tend to Protect Them from Cisplatin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Martins

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Ecdysteroids, analogs of the insect molting hormone, are known for their various mild, nonhormonal bioactivities in mammals. Previously, we reported that less-polar ecdysteroids can modulate the doxorubicin resistance of a multidrug resistant (MDR mouse lymphoma cell line expressing the human ABCB1 transporter. Here, we describe the ability of 20-hydroxyecdysone (1 and its mono- (2 and diacetonide (3 derivatives to sensitize various MDR and non-MDR cancer cell lines towards doxorubicin, paclitaxel, vincristine, or cisplatin. Drug IC50 values with or without ecdysteroid were determined by MTT assay. Compound 3 significantly sensitized all cell lines to each chemotherapeutic except for cisplatin, whose activity was decreased. In order to overcome solubility and stability issues for the future in vivo administration of compound 3, liposomal formulations were developed. By means of their combination index values obtained via checkerboard microplate method, a formulation showed superior activity to that of compound 3 alone. Because ecdysteroids act also on non-ABCB1 expressing (sensitive cell lines, our results demonstrate that they do not or not exclusively exert their adjuvant anticancer activity as ABCB1 inhibitors, but other mechanisms must be involved, and they opened the way towards their in vivo bioactivity testing against various cancer xenografts.

  18. Developmental constraint of insect audition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Strauß Johannes

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Insect ears contain very different numbers of sensory cells, from only one sensory cell in some moths to thousands of sensory cells, e.g. in cicadas. These differences still await functional explanation and especially the large numbers in cicadas remain puzzling. Insects of the different orders have distinct developmental sequences for the generation of auditory organs. These sensory cells might have different functions depending on the developmental stages. Here we propose that constraints arising during development are also important for the design of insect ears and might influence cell numbers of the adults. Presentation of the hypothesis We propose that the functional requirements of the subadult stages determine the adult complement of sensory units in the auditory system of cicadas. The hypothetical larval sensory organ should function as a vibration receiver, representing a functional caenogenesis. Testing the hypothesis Experiments at different levels have to be designed to test the hypothesis. Firstly, the neuroanatomy of the larval sense organ should be analyzed to detail. Secondly, the function should be unraveled neurophysiologically and behaviorally. Thirdly, the persistence of the sensory cells and the rebuilding of the sensory organ to the adult should be investigated. Implications of the hypothesis Usually, the evolution of insect ears is viewed with respect to physiological and neuronal mechanisms of sound perception. This view should be extended to the development of sense organs. Functional requirements during postembryonic development may act as constraints for the evolution of adult organs, as exemplified with the auditory system of cicadas.

  19. Lulo cell line derived from Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae): a novel model to assay Leishmania spp. and vector interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Côrtes, Luzia Mc; Silva, Roger Mm; Pereira, Bernardo As; Guerra, Camila; Zapata, Angela C; Bello, Felio J; Finkelstein, Léa C; Madeira, Maria F; Brazil, Reginaldo P; Côrte-Real, Suzana; Alves, Carlos R

    2011-11-14

    Leishmania (Vianna) braziliensis, Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis and Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi are important parasites in the scenario of leishmaniasis in Brazil. During the life cycle of these parasites, the promastigote forms adhere to the midgut epithelial microvillii of phlebotomine insects to avoid being secreted along with digestive products. Lulo cells are a potential model that will help to understand the features of this adhesion phenomenon. Here, we analyze the interaction between Leishmania spp. promastigotes and Lulo cells in vitro, specifically focusing on adhesion events occurring between three Leishmania species and this cell line. Confluent monolayers of Lulo cells were incubated with promastigotes and adhesion was assessed using both light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that species from the subgenera Leishmania and Viannia have great potential to adhere to Lulo cells. The highest adherence rate was observed for L. (L.) chagasi after 24 h of incubation with Lulo cells (27.3 ± 1.8% of cells with adhered promastigotes), followed by L. (L.) amazonensis (16.0 ± 0.7%) and L. (V.) braziliensis (3.0 ± 0.7%), both after 48 h. In the ultrastructural analysis, promastigote adherence was also assessed by scanning electron microscopy, showing that, for parasites from both subgenera, adhesion occurs by both the body and the flagellum. The interaction of Lulo cells with Leishmania (L.) chagasi showed the participation of cytoplasmic projections from the former closely associating the parasites with the cells. We present evidence that Lulo cells can be useful in studies of insect-parasite interactions for Leishmania species.

  20. Expression of recombinant proteinase 3, the autoantigen in Wegener's granulomatosis, in insect cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van der Geld, YM; Smook, MLF; Huitema, MG; Harmsen, MC; Limburg, PC; Kallenberg, CGM

    2002-01-01

    Proteinase 3 (PR3) is the major autoantigen for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis. Little is known about the major antigenic sites on PR3. To facilitate epitope mapping, PR3 was cloned in insect cells using a baculovirus expression system. Four

  1. Monitoring cell line identity in collections of human induced pluripotent stem cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raquel Sarafian

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The ability to reprogram somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs has led to the generation of large collections of cell lines from thousands of individuals with specific phenotypes, many of which will be shared among different research groups as invaluable tools for biomedical research. As hiPSC-based research involves extensive culture of many cell lines, the issue periodic cell line identification is particularly important to ensure that cell line identity remains accurate. Here we analyzed the different commercially available genotyping methods considering ease of in-house genotyping, cost and informativeness, and applied one of them in our workflow for hiPSC generation. We show that the chosen STR method was able to establish a unique DNA profile for each of the 35 individuals/hiPSC lines at the examined sites, as well as identify two discrepancies resulting from inadvertently exchanged samples. Our results highlight the importance of hiPSC line genotyping by an in-house method that allows periodic cell line identification and demonstrate that STR is a useful approach to supplement less frequent karyotyping and epigenetic evaluations. Keywords: Induced pluripotent stem cells, Genotyping, Cell line identification, Short tandem repeats, Quality control

  2. The cytoskeleton of Drosophila-derived Schneider line-1 and Kc23 cells undergoes significant changes during long-term culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schatten, H.; Hedrick, J.; Chakrabarti, A.

    1998-01-01

    Insect cell cultures derived from Drosophila melanogaster are increasingly being used as an alternative system to mammalian cell cultures, as they are amenable to genetic manipulation. Although Drosophila cells are an excellent tool for the study of genes and expression of proteins, culture conditions have to be considered in the interpretation of biochemical results. Our studies indicate that significant differences occur in cytoskeletal structure during the long-term culture of the Drosophila-derived cell lines Schneider Line-1 (S1) and Kc23. Scanning, transmission-electron, and immunofluorescence microscopy studies reveal that microfilaments, microtubules, and centrosomes become increasingly different during the culture of these cells from 24 h to 7-14 days. Significant cytoskeletal changes are observed at the cell surface where actin polymerizes into microfilaments, during the elongation of long microvilli. Additionally, long protrusions develop from the cell surface; these protrusions are microtubule-based and establish contact with neighboring cells. In contrast, the microtubule network in the interior of the cells becomes disrupted after four days of culture, resulting in altered transport of mitochondria. Microtubules and centrosomes are also affected in a small percent of cells during cell division, indicating an instability of centrosomes. Thus, the cytoskeletal network of microfilaments, microtubules, and centrosomes is affected in Drosophila cells during long-term culture. This implies that gene regulation and post-translational modifications are probably different under different culture conditions.

  3. Establishment of cell lines with rat spermatogonial stem cell characteristics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Pelt, Ans M. M.; Roepers-Gajadien, Hermien L.; Gademan, Iris S.; Creemers, Laura B.; de Rooij, Dirk G.; van Dissel-Emiliani, Federica M. F.

    2002-01-01

    Spermatogonial cell lines were established by transfecting a mixed population of purified rat A(s) (stem cells), A(pr) and A(al) spermatogonia with SV40 large T antigen. Two cell lines were characterized and found to express Hsp90alpha and oct-4, specific markers for germ cells and A spermatogonia,

  4. Phytoplasma protein effector SAP11 enhances insect vector reproduction by manipulating plant development and defense hormone biosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugio, Akiko; Kingdom, Heather N; MacLean, Allyson M; Grieve, Victoria M; Hogenhout, Saskia A

    2011-11-29

    Phytoplasmas are insect-transmitted phytopathogenic bacteria that can alter plant morphology and the longevity and reproduction rates and behavior of their insect vectors. There are various examples of animal and plant parasites that alter the host phenotype to attract insect vectors, but it is unclear how these parasites accomplish this. We hypothesized that phytoplasmas produce effectors that modulate specific targets in their hosts leading to the changes in plant development and insect performance. Previously, we sequenced and mined the genome of Aster Yellows phytoplasma strain Witches' Broom (AY-WB) and identified 56 candidate effectors. Here, we report that the secreted AY-WB protein 11 (SAP11) effector modulates plant defense responses to the advantage of the AY-WB insect vector Macrosteles quadrilineatus. SAP11 binds and destabilizes Arabidopsis CINCINNATA (CIN)-related TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, CYCLOIDEA, PROLIFERATING CELL FACTORS 1 and 2 (TCP) transcription factors, which control plant development and promote the expression of lipoxygenase (LOX) genes involved in jasmonate (JA) synthesis. Both the Arabidopsis SAP11 lines and AY-WB-infected plants produce less JA on wounding. Furthermore, the AY-WB insect vector produces more offspring on AY-WB-infected plants, SAP11 transgenic lines, and plants impaired in CIN-TCP and JA synthesis. Thus, SAP11-mediated destabilization of CIN-TCPs leads to the down-regulation of LOX2 expression and JA synthesis and an increase in M. quadrilineatus progeny. Phytoplasmas are obligate inhabitants of their plant host and insect vectors, in which the latter transmits AY-WB to a diverse range of plant species. This finding demonstrates that pathogen effectors can reach beyond the pathogen-host interface to modulate a third organism in the biological interaction.

  5. Comparison of steroid receptors from the androgen responsive DDT1 cell line and the nonresponsive HVP cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norris, J S; Kohler, P O

    1978-01-01

    Two hamster cell lines have been isolated from androgen target tissue. The DDT1 cells derived from ductus deferens tissue exhibit a growth response to androgens, while the HVP cells derived from ventral prostate are androgen unresponsive. Both cell lines contain androgen receptors, that are similar when compared by kinetic methods, sedimentation velocity, chromatographic procedures or nuclear translocation ability. The forms of the high salt extracted nuclear receptors are indistinguishable chromatographically. Therefore, we postulate that the lesion preventing androgen induced growth in the HVP cell line is subseqent to nuclear translocation of the steroid receptor complex.

  6. Baculovirus IE2 Stimulates the Expression of Heat Shock Proteins in Insect and Mammalian Cells to Facilitate Its Proper Functioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tung, Hsuan; Wei, Sung-Chan; Lo, Huei-Ru; Chao, Yu-Chan

    2016-01-01

    Baculoviruses have gained popularity as pest control agents and for protein production in insect systems. These viruses are also becoming popular for gene expression, tissue engineering and gene therapy in mammalian systems. Baculovirus infection triggers a heat shock response, and this response is crucial for its successful infection of host insect cells. However, the viral protein(s) or factor(s) that trigger this response are not yet clear. Previously, we revealed that IE2-an early gene product of the baculovirus-could form unique nuclear bodies for the strong trans-activation of various promoters in mammalian cells. Here, we purified IE2 nuclear bodies from Vero E6 cells and investigated the associated proteins by using mass spectrometry. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) were found to be one of the major IE2-associated proteins. Our experiments show that HSPs are greatly induced by IE2 and are crucial for the trans-activation function of IE2. Interestingly, blocking both heat shock protein expression and the proteasome pathway preserved the IE2 protein and its nuclear body structure, and revived its function. These observations reveal that HSPs do not function directly to assist the formation of the nuclear body structure, but may rather protect IE2 from proteasome degradation. Aside from functional studies in mammalian cells, we also show that HSPs were stimulated and required to determine IE2 protein levels, in insect cells infected with baculovirus. Upon inhibiting the expression of heat shock proteins, baculovirus IE2 was substantially suppressed, resulting in a significantly suppressed viral titer. Thus, we demonstrate a unique feature in that IE2 can function in both insect and non-host mammalian cells to stimulate HSPs, which may be associated with IE2 stabilization and lead to the protection of the its strong gene activation function in mammalian cells. On the other hand, during viral infection in insect cells, IE2 could also strongly stimulate HSPs and

  7. Correlation of cell surface proteins of distinct Beauveria bassiana cell types and adaption to varied environment and interaction with the host insect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhi; Jiang, Hongyan; Zhao, Xin; Lu, Zhuoyue; Luo, Zhibing; Li, Xuebing; Zhao, Jing; Zhang, Yongjun

    2017-02-01

    The insect fungal pathogen Beauveria bassiana produces a number of distinct cell types that include aerial conidia, blastospores and haemolymph-derived cells, termed hyphal bodies, to adapt varied environment niches and within the host insect. These cells display distinct biochemical properties and surface structures, and a highly ordered outermost brush-like structure uniquely present on hyphal bodies, but not on any in vitro cells. Here, we found that the outermost structure on the hyphal bodies mainly consisted of proteins associated to structural wall components in that most of it could be removed by dithiothreitol (DTT) or proteinase K. DTT-treatment also caused delayed germination, decreased tolerance to ultraviolet irradiation and virulence of conidia or blastospores, with decreased adherence and alternated carbohydrate epitopes, suggesting involvement in fungal development, stress responses and virulence. To characterize these cell surface molecules, proteins were released from the living cells using DTT, and identified and quantitated using label-free quantitative mass spectrometry. Thereafter, a series of bioinformatics programs were used to predict cell surface-associated proteins (CSAPs), and 96, 166 and 54 CSAPs were predicted from the identified protein pools of conidia, blastospores and hyphal bodies, respectively, which were involved in utilization of carbohydrate, nitrogen, and lipid, detoxification, pathogen-host interaction, and likely other cellular processes. Thirteen, sixty-nine and six CSAPs were exclusive in conidia, blastospores and hyphal bodies, respectively, which were verified by eGFP-tagged proteins at their N-terminus. Our data provide a crucial cue to understand mechanism of B. bassiana to adapt to varied environment and interaction with insect host. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Functional characterization of the human multidrug transporter, ABCG2, expressed in insect cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ozvegy, C.; Litman, Thomas; Szakacs, G.

    2001-01-01

    ABCG2 (also called MXR (3), BCRP (4), or ABCP (5) is a recently-identified ABC half-transporter, which causes multidrug resistance in cancer. Here we report that the expression of the ABCG2 protein in Sf9 insect cells resulted in a high-capacity, vanadate-sensitive ATPase activity in isolated...

  9. The neonicotinoid insecticide Clothianidin adversely affects immune signaling in a human cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Prisco, Gennaro; Iannaccone, Marco; Ianniello, Flora; Ferrara, Rosalba; Caprio, Emilio; Pennacchio, Francesco; Capparelli, Rosanna

    2017-10-18

    Clothianidin is a widely used neonicotinoid insecticide, which is a potent agonist of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in insects. This neurotoxic compound has a negative impact on insect immunity, as it down-regulates the activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. Given the evolutionary conserved role of NF-κB in the modulation of the immune response in the animal kingdom, here we want to assess any effect of Clothianidin on vertebrate defense barriers. In presence of this neonicotinoid insecticide, a pro-inflammatory challenge with LPS on the human monocytic cell line THP-1 results both in a reduced production of the cytokine TNF-α and in a down-regulation of a reporter gene under control of NF-κB promoter. This finding is corroborated by a significant impact of Clothianidin on the transcription levels of different immune genes, characterized by a core disruption of TRAF4 and TRAF6 that negatively influences NF-κB signaling. Moreover, exposure to Clothianidin concurrently induces a remarkable up-regulation of NGFR, which supports the occurrence of functional ties between the immune and nervous systems. These results suggest a potential risk of immunotoxicity that neonicotinoids may have on vertebrates, which needs to be carefully assessed at the organism level.

  10. Pathway-specific differences between tumor cell lines and normal and tumor tissue cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tozeren Aydin

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cell lines are used in experimental investigation of cancer but their capacity to represent tumor cells has yet to be quantified. The aim of the study was to identify significant alterations in pathway usage in cell lines in comparison with normal and tumor tissue. Methods This study utilized a pathway-specific enrichment analysis of publicly accessible microarray data and quantified the gene expression differences between cell lines, tumor, and normal tissue cells for six different tissue types. KEGG pathways that are significantly different between cell lines and tumors, cell lines and normal tissues and tumor and normal tissue were identified through enrichment tests on gene lists obtained using Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM. Results Cellular pathways that were significantly upregulated in cell lines compared to tumor cells and normal cells of the same tissue type included ATP synthesis, cell communication, cell cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, purine, pyrimidine and pyruvate metabolism, and proteasome. Results on metabolic pathways suggested an increase in the velocity nucleotide metabolism and RNA production. Pathways that were downregulated in cell lines compared to tumor and normal tissue included cell communication, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs, and ECM-receptor interaction. Only a fraction of the significantly altered genes in tumor-to-normal comparison had similar expressions in cancer cell lines and tumor cells. These genes were tissue-specific and were distributed sparsely among multiple pathways. Conclusion Significantly altered genes in tumors compared to normal tissue were largely tissue specific. Among these genes downregulation was a major trend. In contrast, cell lines contained large sets of significantly upregulated genes that were common to multiple tissue types. Pathway upregulation in cell lines was most pronounced over metabolic pathways including cell nucleotide metabolism and oxidative

  11. Characterization of stem-like cells in a new astroblastoma cell line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coban, Esra Aydemir; Kasikci, Ezgi [Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, Istanbul (Turkey); Karatas, Omer Faruk [Molecular Biology and Genetics Department, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum (Turkey); Suakar, Oznur; Kuskucu, Aysegul [Department of Medical Genetics, Yeditepe University Medical School and Yeditepe University Hospital, Istanbul (Turkey); Altunbek, Mine [Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, Istanbul (Turkey); Türe, Uğur [Department of Neurosurgery, Yeditepe University School of Medicine, Istanbul (Turkey); Sahin, Fikrettin [Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, Istanbul (Turkey); Bayrak, Omer Faruk, E-mail: ofbayrak@yeditepe.edu.tr [Department of Medical Genetics, Yeditepe University Medical School and Yeditepe University Hospital, Istanbul (Turkey)

    2017-03-15

    Cell lines established from tumors are the most commonly used models in cancer research, and their use in recent years has enabled a greater understanding of the biology of cancer and the means to develop effective treatment strategies. Astroblastomas are uncommon neuroepithelial tumors of glial origin, predominantly affecting young people, mainly teenagers and children, predominantly females. To date, only a single study has reported that astroblastomas contain a large number of neural stem-like cells, which had only a partial proliferation capacity and differentiation. Our objective was to establish an astroblastoma cell line to investigate the presence of astroblastic cells and cancer stem-like cells. The migratory and invasion abilities of the cells were quantified with invasion and migration assays and compared to a glioblastoma cell line. The presence of stem cells was detected with surface-marker analysis by using flow cytometry, and measuring the differentiation ability with a differentiation assay and the self-renewal capacity with a sphere-forming assay. These characteristics may determine whether this novel cell line is a model for astroblastomas that may have stem-cell characteristics. With this novel cell line, scientists can investigate the molecular pathways underlying astroblastomas and develop new therapeutic strategies for patients with these tumors. - Highlights: • An establishment of a novel astroblastoma cell line was proposed. • The presence of astroblastic cells and cancer stem-like cells was investigated. • The molecular pathways underlying astroblastomas may be investigated. • New therapeutic strategies for patients with astroblastoma may be developed.

  12. Biogenic Amines in Insect Antennae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianna I. Zhukovskaya

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Insect antenna is a multisensory organ, each modality of which can be modulated by biogenic amines. Octopamine (OA and its metabolic precursor tyramine (TA affect activity of antennal olfactory receptor neurons. There is some evidence that dopamine (DA modulates gustatory neurons. Serotonin can serve as a neurotransmitter in some afferent mechanosensory neurons and both as a neurotransmitter and neurohormone in efferent fibers targeted at the antennal vessel and mechanosensory organs. As a neurohormone, serotonin affects the generation of the transepithelial potential by sensillar accessory cells. Other possible targets of biogenic amines in insect antennae are hygro- and thermosensory neurons and epithelial cells. We suggest that the insect antenna is partially autonomous in the sense that biologically active substances entering its hemolymph may exert their effects and be cleared from this compartment without affecting other body parts.

  13. Multiorganismal insects: diversity and function of resident microorganisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, Angela E

    2015-01-07

    All insects are colonized by microorganisms on the insect exoskeleton, in the gut and hemocoel, and within insect cells. The insect microbiota is generally different from microorganisms in the external environment, including ingested food. Specifically, certain microbial taxa are favored by the conditions and resources in the insect habitat, by their tolerance of insect immunity, and by specific mechanisms for their transmission. The resident microorganisms can promote insect fitness by contributing to nutrition, especially by providing essential amino acids, B vitamins, and, for fungal partners, sterols. Some microorganisms protect their insect hosts against pathogens, parasitoids, and other parasites by synthesizing specific toxins or modifying the insect immune system. Priorities for future research include elucidation of microbial contributions to detoxification, especially of plant allelochemicals in phytophagous insects, and resistance to pathogens; as well as their role in among-insect communication; and the potential value of manipulation of the microbiota to control insect pests.

  14. Cell fusion induced by ionizing radiation in various cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khair, M.B.

    1994-07-01

    Cell fusion induced by ionizing radiation has been studied in rat's hepatocytes in vivo and in different cell lines in vitro. These cell lines were: Hela cells, V-79 fibroblasts, human and rat lymphocytes. For irradiation, 0.85 MeV fission neutrons and 14 MeV fast neutrons were used. Cell analyses were performed by fluorescent dyes using immunofluorescent microscope and flow cytometre. Our results in vivo showed that, regardless the dose-rate, a dose of 1 Gy approximately was enough to induce a significant level of cell fusion depending on neutron energy and the age of rats. The level of cell fusion was also significant in Hela cells at a dose of 0.5 Gy. Similar effect, but to a lesser extent, was observed in V-79 cells. Whereas, in lymphocytes insignificant cell fusion was noticed. The varying levels of cell-fusion in different cell lines could be attributed to the type of cells and mutual contact between cells. Furthermore irradiation did not show any influence on cell division ability in both hepatocytes and Hela cells and that fused cells were also able to divide forming a new generation of cells. (author). 36 refs., 8 figs., 10 tabs

  15. Enhanced Methanol Production in Plants Provides Broad Spectrum Insect Resistance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixit, Sameer; Upadhyay, Santosh Kumar; Singh, Harpal; Sidhu, Om Prakash; Verma, Praveen Chandra; K, Chandrashekar

    2013-01-01

    Plants naturally emit methanol as volatile organic compound. Methanol is toxic to insect pests; but the quantity produced by most of the plants is not enough to protect them against invading insect pests. In the present study, we demonstrated that the over-expression of pectin methylesterase, derived from Arabidopsis thaliana and Aspergillus niger, in transgenic tobacco plants enhances methanol production and resistance to polyphagous insect pests. Methanol content in the leaves of transgenic plants was measured using proton nuclear spectroscopy (1H NMR) and spectra showed up to 16 fold higher methanol as compared to control wild type (WT) plants. A maximum of 100 and 85% mortality in chewing insects Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura larvae was observed, respectively when fed on transgenic plants leaves. The surviving larvae showed less feeding, severe growth retardation and could not develop into pupae. In-planta bioassay on transgenic lines showed up to 99 and 75% reduction in the population multiplication of plant sap sucking pests Myzus persicae (aphid) and Bemisia tabaci (whitefly), respectively. Most of the phenotypic characters of transgenic plants were similar to WT plants. Confocal microscopy showed no deformities in cellular integrity, structure and density of stomata and trichomes of transgenic plants compared to WT. Pollen germination and tube formation was also not affected in transgenic plants. Cell wall enzyme transcript levels were comparable with WT. This study demonstrated for the first time that methanol emission can be utilized for imparting broad range insect resistance in plants. PMID:24223989

  16. Enhanced methanol production in plants provides broad spectrum insect resistance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sameer Dixit

    Full Text Available Plants naturally emit methanol as volatile organic compound. Methanol is toxic to insect pests; but the quantity produced by most of the plants is not enough to protect them against invading insect pests. In the present study, we demonstrated that the over-expression of pectin methylesterase, derived from Arabidopsis thaliana and Aspergillus niger, in transgenic tobacco plants enhances methanol production and resistance to polyphagous insect pests. Methanol content in the leaves of transgenic plants was measured using proton nuclear spectroscopy (1H NMR and spectra showed up to 16 fold higher methanol as compared to control wild type (WT plants. A maximum of 100 and 85% mortality in chewing insects Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura larvae was observed, respectively when fed on transgenic plants leaves. The surviving larvae showed less feeding, severe growth retardation and could not develop into pupae. In-planta bioassay on transgenic lines showed up to 99 and 75% reduction in the population multiplication of plant sap sucking pests Myzus persicae (aphid and Bemisia tabaci (whitefly, respectively. Most of the phenotypic characters of transgenic plants were similar to WT plants. Confocal microscopy showed no deformities in cellular integrity, structure and density of stomata and trichomes of transgenic plants compared to WT. Pollen germination and tube formation was also not affected in transgenic plants. Cell wall enzyme transcript levels were comparable with WT. This study demonstrated for the first time that methanol emission can be utilized for imparting broad range insect resistance in plants.

  17. Social insect symbionts: evolution in homeostatic fortresses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hughes, David P; Pierce, Naomi E; Boomsma, Jacobus J

    2008-01-01

    The massive environmentally buffered nests of some social insects can contain millions of individuals and a wide variety of parasites, commensals and mutualists. We suggest that the ways in which these homeostatic fortress environments affect the evolution of social insect symbionts are relevant...... in these nests. We hypothesize that biodiversity gradients in these hotspots might be less affected by abiotic latitudinal clines than gradients in neighboring 'control' habitats. We suggest several research lines to test these ideas....

  18. COMPARATIVE ASPECTS OF PLANT-CELL WALL DIGESTION IN INSECTS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    PRINS, RA; KREULEN, DA

    Although many phytophagous and wood-eating invertibrates form their own cellulases, there is an overwhelming variety of symbioses between plant- and wood-utilising insects and microorganisms. In one type of symbiosis (endosymbiosis), insects (rhinoceros beetle, cockroach, lower termites) host

  19. Characterization of canine herpesvirus glycoprotein C expressed by a recombinant baculovirus in insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xuan, X; Maeda, K; Mikami, T; Otsuka, H

    1996-12-01

    The gene encoding the canine herpesvirus (CHV) glycoprotein C (gC) homologue has been identified by sequence homology analyses with other well studied herpesviruses. Previously, we have identified three CHV glycoproteins, gp145/112, gp80 and gp47 using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). To determine which CHV glycoprotein corresponds to gC, a recombinant baculovirus which contains the putative CHV gC structural gene under the baculovirus polyhedrin promoter was constructed. The recombinant baculovirus expressed gC-related polypeptides (44-62 kDa), which reacted only with MAbs against CHV gp80, indicating that the previously identified CHV gp80 is the translation product of the gC gene. The baculovirus expressed gC was glycosylated and transported to the surface of infected cells. At least seven neutralizing epitopes were conserved on the gC produced in insect cells. It was found that the recombinant baculovirus infected cells adsorbed murine erythrocytes as is the case for CHV-infected cells. The hemadsorption activity was inhibited by heparin, indicating that the CHV gC binds to heparan sulfate on the surface of murine erythrocytes. Mice immunized with the recombinant gC produced strong neutralizing antibodies. Our results suggest that CHV gC produced in insect cells may be useful as a subunit vaccine to control CHV infections.

  20. Feeder-cell-independent culture of the pig-embryonic-stem-cell-derived exocrine pancreatic cell line, PICM-31

    Science.gov (United States)

    The adaptation to feeder-independent growth of a pig embryonic stem cell-derived pancreatic cell line is described. The parental PICM-31 cell line, previously characterized as an exocrine pancreas cell line, was colony-cloned two times in succession resulting in the subclonal cell line, PICM-31A1. P...

  1. Application of DNA fingerprints for cell-line individualization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, D A; Reid, Y A; Gail, M H; Pee, D; White, C; Hay, R J; O'Brien, S J

    1990-09-01

    DNA fingerprints of 46 human cell lines were derived using minisatellite probes for hypervariable genetic loci. The incidence of 121 HaeIII DNA fragments among 33 cell lines derived from unrelated individuals was used to estimate allelic and genotypic frequencies for each fragment and for composite individual DNA fingerprints. We present a quantitative estimate of the extent of genetic difference between individuals, an estimate based on the percentage of restriction fragments at which they differ. The average percent difference (APD) among pairwise combinations from the population of 33 unrelated cell lines was 76.9%, compared with the APD in band sharing among cell lines derived from the same individual (less than or equal to 1.2%). Included in this survey were nine additional cell lines previously implicated as HeLa cell derivatives, and these lines were clearly confirmed as such by DNA fingerprints (APD less than or equal to 0.6%). On the basis of fragment frequencies in the tested cell line population, a simple genetic model was developed to estimate the frequencies of each DNA fingerprint in the population. The median incidence was 2.9 X 10(-17), and the range was 2.4 X 10(-21) to 6.6 X 10(-15). This value approximates the probability that a second cell line selected at random from unrelated individuals will match a given DNA fingerprint. Related calculations address the chance that any two DNA fingerprints would be identical among a large group of cell lines. This estimate is still very slight; for example, the chance of two or more common DNA fingerprints among 1 million distinct individuals is less than .001. The procedure provides a straightforward, easily interpreted, and statistically robust method for identification and individualization of human cells.

  2. Natural killer cells for immunotherapy – Advantages of cell lines over blood NK cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hans eKlingemann

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Natural killer cells are potent cytotoxic effector cells for cancer therapy and potentially for severe viral infections. However, there are technical challenges to obtain sufficient numbers of functionally active NK cells form a patient’s blood since they represent only 10% of the lymphocytes. Especially, cancer patients are known to have dysfunctional NK cells. The alternative is to obtain cells from a healthy donor, which requires depletion of the allogeneic T-cells. Establishing cell lines from donor blood NK cells have not been successful, in contrast to blood NK cells obtained from patients with a clonal NK cell lymphoma. Those cells can be expanded in culture in the presence of IL-2. However, except for the NK-92 cell line none of the other six known cell lines has consistent and reproducibly high anti-tumor cytotoxicity, nor can they be easily genetically manipulated to recognize specific tumor antigens or to augment monoclonal antibody activity through ADCC. NK-92 is also the only cell line product that has been widely given to patients with advanced cancer with demonstrated efficiency and minimal side effects.

  3. Susceptibility testing of fish cell lines for virus isolation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ariel, Ellen; Skall, Helle Frank; Olesen, Niels Jørgen

    2009-01-01

    and laboratories, but also between lineages of the same cell line. To minimise the occurrence of false negatives in a cell culture based surveillance system, we have investigated methods, to select cell lineages that are relatively superior in their susceptibility to a panel of virus isolates. The procedures...... cell lineages, we increased the number of isolates of each virus, propagated stocks in a given cell line and tested all lineages of that line in use in the laboratory. Testing of relative cell line susceptibility between laboratories is carried out annually via the Inter-laboratory Proficiency Test...... sensitivity for surveillance purposes within a cell line and between laboratories.In terms of economic and practical considerations as well as attempting to approach a realistic test system, we suggest the optimal procedure for susceptibility testing of fish cell lines for virus isolation to be a combination...

  4. Expression of variable viruses as herpes simplex glycoprotein D and varicella zoster gE glycoprotein using a novel plasmid based expression system in insect cell

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.M. Al-Sulaiman

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Several prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems have been used for in vitro production of viruses’ proteins. However eukaryotic expression system was always the first choice for production of proteins that undergo post-translational modification such as glycosylation. Recombinant baculoviruses have been widely used as safe vectors to express heterologous genes in the culture of insect cells, but the manipulation involved in creating, titrating, and amplifying viral stocks make it time consuming and laborious. Therefore, to facilitate rapid expression in insect cell, a plasmid based expression system was used to express herpes simplex type 1 glycoprotein D (HSV-1 gD and varicella zoster glycoprotein E (VZV gE. Recombinant plasmids were generated, transfected into insect cells (SF9, and both glycoproteins were expressed 48 h post-infection. A protein with approximately molecular weight of 64-kDa and 98-kDa for HSV-1 gD and VZV gE respectively was expressed and confirmed by SDS. Proteins were detected in insect cells cytoplasm and outer membrane by immunofluorescence. The antigenicity and immunoreactivity of each protein were confirmed by immunoblot and ELISA. Results suggest that this system can be an alternative to the traditional baculovirus expression for small scale expression system in insect cells.

  5. 3-Bromopyruvate induces necrotic cell death in sensitive melanoma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qin, J.-Z.; Xin, H. [Oncology Institute, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center (United States); Nickoloff, B.J., E-mail: bnickol@lumc.edu [Oncology Institute, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center (United States)

    2010-05-28

    Clinicians successfully utilize high uptake of radiolabeled glucose via PET scanning to localize metastases in melanoma patients. To take advantage of this altered metabolome, 3-bromopyruvate (BrPA) was used to overcome the notorious resistance of melanoma to cell death. Using four melanoma cell lines, BrPA triggered caspase independent necrosis in two lines, whilst the other two lines were resistant to killing. Mechanistically, sensitive cells differed from resistant cells by; constitutively lower levels of glutathione, reduction of glutathione by BrPA only in sensitive cells; increased superoxide anion reactive oxygen species, loss of outer mitochondrial membrane permeability, and rapid ATP depletion. Sensitive cell killing was blocked by N-acetylcysteine or glutathione. When glutathione levels were reduced in resistant cell lines, they became sensitive to killing by BrPA. Taken together, these results identify a metabolic-based Achilles' heel in melanoma cells to be exploited by use of BrPA. Future pre-clinical and clinical trials are warranted to translate these results into improved patient care for individuals suffering from metastatic melanoma.

  6. 3-Bromopyruvate induces necrotic cell death in sensitive melanoma cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, J-Z; Xin, H; Nickoloff, B J

    2010-05-28

    Clinicians successfully utilize high uptake of radiolabeled glucose via PET scanning to localize metastases in melanoma patients. To take advantage of this altered metabolome, 3-bromopyruvate (BrPA) was used to overcome the notorious resistance of melanoma to cell death. Using four melanoma cell lines, BrPA triggered caspase independent necrosis in two lines, whilst the other two lines were resistant to killing. Mechanistically, sensitive cells differed from resistant cells by; constitutively lower levels of glutathione, reduction of glutathione by BrPA only in sensitive cells; increased superoxide anion reactive oxygen species, loss of outer mitochondrial membrane permeability, and rapid ATP depletion. Sensitive cell killing was blocked by N-acetylcysteine or glutathione. When glutathione levels were reduced in resistant cell lines, they became sensitive to killing by BrPA. Taken together, these results identify a metabolic-based Achilles' heel in melanoma cells to be exploited by use of BrPA. Future pre-clinical and clinical trials are warranted to translate these results into improved patient care for individuals suffering from metastatic melanoma. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. 3-Bromopyruvate induces necrotic cell death in sensitive melanoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qin, J.-Z.; Xin, H.; Nickoloff, B.J.

    2010-01-01

    Clinicians successfully utilize high uptake of radiolabeled glucose via PET scanning to localize metastases in melanoma patients. To take advantage of this altered metabolome, 3-bromopyruvate (BrPA) was used to overcome the notorious resistance of melanoma to cell death. Using four melanoma cell lines, BrPA triggered caspase independent necrosis in two lines, whilst the other two lines were resistant to killing. Mechanistically, sensitive cells differed from resistant cells by; constitutively lower levels of glutathione, reduction of glutathione by BrPA only in sensitive cells; increased superoxide anion reactive oxygen species, loss of outer mitochondrial membrane permeability, and rapid ATP depletion. Sensitive cell killing was blocked by N-acetylcysteine or glutathione. When glutathione levels were reduced in resistant cell lines, they became sensitive to killing by BrPA. Taken together, these results identify a metabolic-based Achilles' heel in melanoma cells to be exploited by use of BrPA. Future pre-clinical and clinical trials are warranted to translate these results into improved patient care for individuals suffering from metastatic melanoma.

  8. Tuft (caveolated) cells in two human colon carcinoma cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barkla, D H; Whitehead, R H; Foster, H; Tutton, P J

    1988-09-01

    The presence of an unusual cell type in two human colon carcinoma cell lines is reported. The cells show the same morphology as "tuft" (caveolated) cells present in normal gastrointestinal epithelium. Tuft cells were seen in cell line LIM 1863 growing in vitro and in human colon carcinoma cell line LIM 2210 growing as subcutaneous solid tumour xenografts in nude mice. Characteristic morphologic features of tuft cells included a wide base, narrow apex and a tuft of long microvilli projecting from the apical surface. The microvilli are attached by a core of long microfilaments passing deep into the apical cytoplasm. Between the microvilli are parallel arrays of vesicles (caveoli) containing flocculent material. Two different but not mutually exclusive explanations for the presence of tuft cells are proposed. The first explanation is that tuft cells came from the resected tumour and have survived by mitotic division during subsequent passages. The second explanation suggests that tuft cells are the progeny of undifferentiated tumour cells. Descriptions of tuft cells in colon carcinomas are uncommon and possible reasons for this are presented. The morphology of tuft cells is consistent with that of a highly differentiated cell specialised for absorption, and these new models provide an opportunity to further investigate the structure and function of tuft cells.

  9. PLE-wu, a new member of piggyBac transposon family from insect, is active in mammalian cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chunxiao; Wang, Shu

    2014-10-01

    piggyBac, a highly active transposon in insect and mammalian cells, is a very useful tool in genome manipulation. A new piggyBac-like element (PLE), named PLE-wu, was identified from a mutant baculovirus cultured in sf9 insect cells. This new transposon is 2931 bp in length and encodes two active forms of transposase, a 708-amino acid-long transposase and a short 576-residue-long transposase translated from a downstream in-frame initiation codon. PLE-wu has asymmetric terminal structures, containing 6-bp inverted terminal repeats, 32-bp imperfect inverted and direct sub-terminal repeats. Similar to piggyBac, PLE-wu exhibits traceless excision activity in both insect and mammalian cells, restoring the original TTAA target sequence upon excision. It also retains the insertion activity in mammalian cells with a plasmid to chromosome transposition rate about 10-fold higher than random integration. Plasmid rescue assays revealed that the TTAA target sequence was duplicated at the junctions of the insertion site. Deletion of the terminal sequences including the sub-terminal repeats decreased the transposition activity of the 708-residue-long transposase, while the transposition activity of the short form of transposase was not affected. With its low sequence similarity to piggyBac, PLE-wu will contribute to the understanding the mechanism of PLE transposition, as well as design of new transposon systems with higher activity. Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Environmental RNAi in herbivorous insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivashuta, Sergey; Zhang, Yuanji; Wiggins, B Elizabeth; Ramaseshadri, Partha; Segers, Gerrit C; Johnson, Steven; Meyer, Steve E; Kerstetter, Randy A; McNulty, Brian C; Bolognesi, Renata; Heck, Gregory R

    2015-05-01

    Environmental RNAi (eRNAi) is a sequence-specific regulation of endogenous gene expression in a receptive organism by exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Although demonstrated under artificial dietary conditions and via transgenic plant presentations in several herbivorous insects, the magnitude and consequence of exogenous dsRNA uptake and the role of eRNAi remains unknown under natural insect living conditions. Our analysis of coleopteran insects sensitive to eRNAi fed on wild-type plants revealed uptake of plant endogenous long dsRNAs, but not small RNAs. Subsequently, the dsRNAs were processed into 21 nt siRNAs by insects and accumulated in high quantities in insect cells. No accumulation of host plant-derived siRNAs was observed in lepidopteran larvae that are recalcitrant to eRNAi. Stability of ingested dsRNA in coleopteran larval gut followed by uptake and transport from the gut to distal tissues appeared to be enabling factors for eRNAi. Although a relatively large number of distinct coleopteran insect-processed plant-derived siRNAs had sequence complementarity to insect transcripts, the vast majority of the siRNAs were present in relatively low abundance, and RNA-seq analysis did not detect a significant effect of plant-derived siRNAs on insect transcriptome. In summary, we observed a broad genome-wide uptake of plant endogenous dsRNA and subsequent processing of ingested dsRNA into 21 nt siRNAs in eRNAi-sensitive insects under natural feeding conditions. In addition to dsRNA stability in gut lumen and uptake, dosage of siRNAs targeting a given insect transcript is likely an important factor in order to achieve measurable eRNAi-based regulation in eRNAi-competent insects that lack an apparent silencing amplification mechanism. © 2015 Ivashuta et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

  11. Sterilizing insects with ionizing radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bakri, A.; Mehta, K.; Lance, D.R.

    2005-01-01

    Exposure to ionizing radiation is currently the method of choice for rendering insects reproductively sterile for area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes that integrate the sterile insect technique (SIT). Gamma radiation from isotopic sources (cobalt-60 or caesium-137) is most often used, but high-energy electrons and X-rays are other practical options. Insect irradiation is safe and reliable when established safety and quality-assurance guidelines are followed. The key processing parameter is absorbed dose, which must be tightly controlled to ensure that treated insects are sufficiently sterile in their reproductive cells and yet able to compete for mates with wild insects. To that end, accurate dosimetry (measurement of absorbed dose) is critical. Irradiation data generated since the 1950s, covering over 300 arthropod species, indicate that the dose needed for sterilization of arthropods varies from less than 5 Gy for blaberid cockroaches to 300 Gy or more for some arctiid and pyralid moths. Factors such as oxygen level, and insect age and stage during irradiation, and many others, influence both the absorbed dose required for sterilization and the viability of irradiated insects. Consideration of these factors in the design of irradiation protocols can help to find a balance between the sterility and competitiveness of insects produced for programmes that release sterile insects. Many programmes apply 'precautionary' radiation doses to increase the security margin of sterilization, but this overdosing often lowers competitiveness to the point where the overall induced sterility in the wild population is reduced significantly. (author)

  12. Characterization of cloned cells from an immortalized fetal pulmonary type II cell line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Henderson, R.F.; Waide, J.J.; Lechner, J.F.

    1995-12-01

    A cultured cell line that maintained expression of pulmonary type II cell markers of differentiation would be advantageous to generate a large number of homogenous cells in which to study the biochemical functions of type II cells. Type II epithelial cells are the source of pulmonary surfactant and a cell of origin for pulmonary adenomas. Last year our laboratory reported the induction of expression of two phenotypic markers of pulmonary type II cells (alkaline phosphatase activity and surfactant lipid synthesis) in cultured fetal rat lung epithelial (FRLE) cells, a spontaneously immortalized cell line of fetal rat lung type II cell origin. Subsequently, the induction of the ability to synthesize surfactant lipid became difficult to repeat. We hypothesized that the cell line was heterogenuous and some cells were more like type II cells than others. The purpose of this study was to test this hypothesis and to obtain a cultured cell line with type II cell phenotypic markers by cloning several FRLE cells and characterizing them for phenotypic markers of type II cells (alkaline phosphatase activity and presence of surfactant lipids). Thirty cloned cell lines were analyzed for induced alkaline phosphatase activity (on x-axis) and for percent of phospholipids that were disaturated (i.e., surfactant).

  13. Change of cell cycle arrest of tumor cell lines after 60Co γ-irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang Yi; Liu Wenli; Zhou Jianfeng; Gao Qinglei; Wu Jianhong

    2003-01-01

    Objective: To observe the cell cycle arrest changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) of normal persons and several kinds of tumor cell lines after 60 Co γ-irradiation. Methods: PBMNCs of normal persons, HL-60, K562, SiHA and 113 tumor cell lines were irradiated with 60 Co γ-rays at the absorbed doses of 6, 10,15 Gy. Cell cycles changes were checked 6, 12, 24, 48 and 60 h after the irradiation. Results: A stasis state was observed in normal person PBMNCs, 95 percents of which were in G 1 phase, and they still remained stasis after the irradiation. Except the 113 cell line manifesting G 1 phase arrest, all other tumor cell lines showed G 2 /M phase arrest after irradiation. The radiation sensitivity of HL-60 was higher than that of SiHA cell line. Conclusion: Different cell lines have different cell cycle arrest reaction to radiation and their radiation sensitivity are also different

  14. The role of iron in the proliferation of Drosophila l(2)mbn cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Metzendorf, Christoph [Department of Comparative Physiology, Uppsala University, Norbyvaegen 18A, SE-752 36 Uppsala (Sweden); Lind, Maria I., E-mail: maria.lind@ebc.uu.se [Department of Comparative Physiology, Uppsala University, Norbyvaegen 18A, SE-752 36 Uppsala (Sweden)

    2010-09-24

    Research highlights: {yields} Establishment of a model system to study the role of iron during proliferation. {yields} Iron deprivation of insect tumorous cell line inhibits cell proliferation. {yields} Iron deprivation causes a reversible cell cycle arrest in G1/S-phase. {yields} Iron deprivation promotes decreased gene expression of cycE. -- Abstract: Iron is essential for life and is needed for cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. Iron deprivation results first in cell cycle arrest and then in apoptosis. The Drosophila tumorous larval hemocyte cell line l(2)mbn was used to study the sensitivity and cellular response to iron deprivation through the chelator desferrioxamine (DFO). At a concentration of 10 {mu}M DFO or more the proliferation was inhibited reversibly, while the amount of dead cells did not increase. FACS analysis showed that the cell cycle was arrested in G1/S-phase and the transcript level of cycE was decreased to less than 50% of control cells. These results show that iron chelation in this insect tumorous cell line causes a specific and coordinated cell cycle arrest.

  15. Evolutionary conservation and changes in insect TRP channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuura, Hironori; Sokabe, Takaaki; Kohno, Keigo; Tominaga, Makoto; Kadowaki, Tatsuhiko

    2009-09-10

    TRP (Transient Receptor Potential) channels respond to diverse stimuli and thus function as the primary integrators of varied sensory information. They are also activated by various compounds and secondary messengers to mediate cell-cell interactions as well as to detect changes in the local environment. Their physiological roles have been primarily characterized only in mice and fruit flies, and evolutionary studies are limited. To understand the evolution of insect TRP channels and the mechanisms of integrating sensory inputs in insects, we have identified and compared TRP channel genes in Drosophila melanogaster, Bombyx mori, Tribolium castaneum, Apis mellifera, Nasonia vitripennis, and Pediculus humanus genomes as part of genome sequencing efforts. All the insects examined have 2 TRPV, 1 TRPN, 1 TRPM, 3 TRPC, and 1 TRPML subfamily members, demonstrating that these channels have the ancient origins in insects. The common pattern also suggests that the mechanisms for detecting mechanical and visual stimuli and maintaining lysosomal functions may be evolutionarily well conserved in insects. However, a TRPP channel, the most ancient TRP channel, is missing in B. mori, A. mellifera, and N. vitripennis. Although P. humanus and D. melanogaster contain 4 TRPA subfamily members, the other insects have 5 TRPA subfamily members. T. castaneum, A. mellifera, and N. vitripennis contain TRPA5 channels, which have been specifically retained or gained in Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Furthermore, TRPA1, which functions for thermotaxis in Drosophila, is missing in A. mellifera and N. vitripennis; however, they have other Hymenoptera-specific TRPA channels (AmHsTRPA and NvHsTRPA). NvHsTRPA expressed in HEK293 cells is activated by temperature increase, demonstrating that HsTRPAs function as novel thermal sensors in Hymenoptera. The total number of insect TRP family members is 13-14, approximately half that of mammalian TRP family members. As shown for mammalian TRP channels, this

  16. Evolutionary conservation and changes in insect TRP channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tominaga Makoto

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background TRP (Transient Receptor Potential channels respond to diverse stimuli and thus function as the primary integrators of varied sensory information. They are also activated by various compounds and secondary messengers to mediate cell-cell interactions as well as to detect changes in the local environment. Their physiological roles have been primarily characterized only in mice and fruit flies, and evolutionary studies are limited. To understand the evolution of insect TRP channels and the mechanisms of integrating sensory inputs in insects, we have identified and compared TRP channel genes in Drosophila melanogaster, Bombyx mori, Tribolium castaneum, Apis mellifera, Nasonia vitripennis, and Pediculus humanus genomes as part of genome sequencing efforts. Results All the insects examined have 2 TRPV, 1 TRPN, 1 TRPM, 3 TRPC, and 1 TRPML subfamily members, demonstrating that these channels have the ancient origins in insects. The common pattern also suggests that the mechanisms for detecting mechanical and visual stimuli and maintaining lysosomal functions may be evolutionarily well conserved in insects. However, a TRPP channel, the most ancient TRP channel, is missing in B. mori, A. mellifera, and N. vitripennis. Although P. humanus and D. melanogaster contain 4 TRPA subfamily members, the other insects have 5 TRPA subfamily members. T. castaneum, A. mellifera, and N. vitripennis contain TRPA5 channels, which have been specifically retained or gained in Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Furthermore, TRPA1, which functions for thermotaxis in Drosophila, is missing in A. mellifera and N. vitripennis; however, they have other Hymenoptera-specific TRPA channels (AmHsTRPA and NvHsTRPA. NvHsTRPA expressed in HEK293 cells is activated by temperature increase, demonstrating that HsTRPAs function as novel thermal sensors in Hymenoptera. Conclusion The total number of insect TRP family members is 13-14, approximately half that of mammalian TRP

  17. Derivation and characterization of a pig embryonic stem cell-derived exocrine pancreatic cell line

    Science.gov (United States)

    The establishment and initial characterization of a pig embryonic stem cell-derived pancreatic cell line, PICM-31, and a colony-cloned derivative cell line, PICM-31A, is described. The cell lines were propagated for several months at split ratios of 1:3 or 1:5 at each passage on STO feeder cells af...

  18. Radiation-induced apoptosis and cell cycle checkpoints in human colorectal tumour cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Playle, L.C.

    2001-03-01

    The p53 tumour suppressor gene is mutated in 75% of colorectal carcinomas and is critical for DNA damage-induced G1 cell cycle arrest. Data presented in this thesis demonstrate that after treatment with Ionizing Radiation (IR), colorectal tumour cell lines with mutant p53 are unable to arrest at G1 and undergo cell cycle arrest at G2. The staurosporine derivative, UCN-01, was shown to abrogate the IR-induced G2 checkpoint in colorectal tumour cell lines. Furthermore, in some cell lines, abrogation of the G2 checkpoint was associated with radiosensitisation. Data presented in this study demonstrate that 2 out of 5 cell lines with mutant p53 were sensitised to IR by UCN-01. In order to determine whether radiosensitisation correlated with lack of functional p53, transfected derivatives of an adenoma-derived cell line were studied, in which endogenous wild type p53 was disrupted by expression of a dominant negative p53 mutant protein (and with a vector control). In both these cell lines UCN-01 abrogated the G2 arrest however this was not associated with radiosensitisation, indicating that radiosensitisation is a cell type-specific phenomenon. Although 2 colorectal carcinoma cell lines, with mutant p53, were sensitised to IR by UCN-01, the mechanisms of p53-independent IR-induced apoptosis in the colon are essentially unknown. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways (that is the JNK, p38 and ERK pathways) have been implicated in apoptosis in a range of cell systems and in IR-induced apoptosis in some cell types. Data presented in this study show that, although the MAPKs can be activated by the known activator anisomycin, there is no evidence of a role for MAPKs in IR-induced apoptosis in colorectal tumour cell lines, regardless of p53 status. In summary, some colorectal tumour cell lines with mutant p53 can be sensitised to IR-induced cell death by G2 checkpoint abrogation and this may be an important treatment strategy, however mechanisms of IR-induced p53

  19. Polymer encapsulated dopaminergic cell lines as "alternative neural grafts".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaeger, C B; Greene, L A; Tresco, P A; Winn, S R; Aebischer, P

    1990-01-01

    Our preliminary findings (Jaeger et al., 1988; Aebischer et al., 1989; Tresco et al., 1989) and the studies in progress show that encapsulated dopaminergic cell lines survive enclosure within a semi-permeable membrane. The encapsulated cells remained viable for extended time periods when maintained in vitro. Moreover, encapsulated PC12 and T28 cells have the potential to survive following their implantation into the forebrain of rats. Cell lines are essentially "immortal" because they continue to divide indefinitely. This property allows perpetual "self-renewal" of a given cell population. However, the capacity of continuous uncontrolled cell division may also lead to tumor formation. This in fact is the case for unencapsulated PC12 cell implants placed into the brain of young Sprague Dawley rats (Jaeger, 1985). Cell line encapsulation has the potential to prevent tumor growth (Jaeger et al., 1988). Survival for 6 months in vitro suggests that encapsulation does not preclude long-term maintenance of an homogeneous cell line like PC12 cells. The presence of mitotic figures in the capsules further supports the likelihood of propagation and self renewal of the encapsulated population. Another significant property of cell lines is that they consist of a single, genetically homogeneous cell type. They do not require specific synaptic interactions for their survival. In the case of PC12 and T28 lines, the cells synthesize and release neurotransmitters. Our data show that PC12 and T28 cells continue to release dopamine spontaneously and to express specific transmitters and enzymes following encapsulation. Thus, cell lines such as these may constitute relatively simple "neural implants" exerting their function via humoral release.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  20. Discovery of HeLa Cell Contamination in HES Cells: Call for Cell Line Authentication in Reproductive Biology Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kniss, Douglas A; Summerfield, Taryn L

    2014-08-01

    Continuous cell lines are used frequently in reproductive biology research to study problems in early pregnancy events and parturition. It has been recognized for 50 years that many mammalian cell lines contain inter- or intraspecies contaminations with other cells. However, most investigators do not routinely test their culture systems for cross-contamination. The most frequent contributor to cross-contamination of cell lines is the HeLa cell isolated from an aggressive cervical adenocarcinoma. We report on the discovery of HeLa cell contamination of the human endometrial epithelial cell line HES isolated in our laboratory. Short tandem repeat analysis of 9 unique genetic loci demonstrated molecular identity between HES and HeLa cells. In addition, we verified that WISH cells, isolated originally from human amnion epithelium, were also contaminated with HeLa cells. Inasmuch as our laboratory did not culture HeLa cells at the time of HES cell derivations, the source of contamination was the WISH cell line. These data highlight the need for continued diligence in authenticating cell lines used in reproductive biology research. © The Author(s) 2014.

  1. THP-1 cell line: an in vitro cell model for immune modulation approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chanput, Wasaporn; Mes, Jurriaan J; Wichers, Harry J

    2014-11-01

    THP-1 is a human leukemia monocytic cell line, which has been extensively used to study monocyte/macrophage functions, mechanisms, signaling pathways, and nutrient and drug transport. This cell line has become a common model to estimate modulation of monocyte and macrophage activities. This review attempts to summarize and discuss recent publications related to the THP-1 cell model. An overview on the biological similarities and dissimilarities between the THP-1 cell line and human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) derived-monocytes and macrophages, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the use of THP-1 cell line, is included. The review summarizes different published co-cultivation studies of THP-1 cells with other cell types, for instance, intestinal cells, adipocytes, T-lymphocytes, platelets, and vascular smooth muscle cells, which can be an option to study cell-cell interaction in vitro and can be an approach to better mimic in vivo conditions. Macrophage polarization is a relatively new topic which gains interest for which the THP-1 cell line also may be relevant. Besides that an overview of newly released commercial THP-1 engineered-reporter cells and THP-1 inflammasome test-cells is also given. Evaluation of recent papers leads to the conclusion that the THP-1 cell line has unique characteristics as a model to investigate/estimate immune-modulating effects of compounds in both activated and resting conditions of the cells. Although the THP-1 response can hint to potential responses that might occur ex vivo or in vivo, these should be, however, validated by in vivo studies to draw more definite conclusions. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  2. Differential heat shock response of primary human cell cultures and established cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Richter, W W; Issinger, O G

    1986-01-01

    degrees C treatment, whereas in immortalized cell lines usually 90% of the cells were found in suspension. Enhanced expression of the major heat shock protein (hsp 70) was found in all heat-treated cells. In contrast to the primary cell cultures, established and transformed cell lines synthesized...

  3. Radiation response of haematopoietic cell lines of human origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehnert, S.; Rybka, W.B.; Suissa, S.; Giambattisto, D.

    1986-01-01

    Six human haematopoietic cell lines, five of leukaemic origin, including cells with myeloid, lymphoid and undifferentiated phenotype have been studied with respect to radiation response. The intrinsic radio-sensitivity of the cells varied widely, the D 0 s ranging from 0.53 to 1.39 Gy. Five of the cell lines showed some capacity to accumulate sublethal damage; in three of these, enhanced survival was demonstrated in split-dose experiments. One cell line (HL-60) was anomalous in that although little accumulation of sublethal damage was demonstrable, survival was enhanced by fractionation of the dose. Five of the six cell lines studied were of leukaemic origin. The results support the belief that, in contrast to the almost constant radiosensitivity of normal haematopoietic cell progenitors, leukaemic cell progenitors may show a wide range of radiosensitivities. (author)

  4. Human rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines for rhabdomyosarcoma research: Utility and pitfalls

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashley R.P. Hinson

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Despite intergroup clinical trials conducted in Europe and North America, outcomes for high risk patients with this disease have not significantly improved in the last several decades, and survival of metastatic or relapsed disease remains extremely poor. Accrual into new clinical trials is slow and difficult, so in vitro cell line research and in vivo xenograft models present an attractive alternative for preclinical research for this cancer type. Currently, 30 commonly used human RMS cell lines exist, with differing origins, karyotypes, histologies, and methods of validation. Selecting an appropriate cell line for RMS research has important implications for outcomes. There are also potential pitfalls in using certain cell lines including contamination with murine stromal cells, cross-contamination between cell lines, discordance between the cell line and its associated original tumor, imposter cell lines, and nomenclature errors that result in the circulation of two or more presumed unique cell lines that are actually from the same origin. These pitfalls can be avoided by testing for species-specific isoenzymes, microarray analysis, assays for subtype-specific fusion products, and short tandem repeat analysis.

  5. Human Rhabdomyosarcoma Cell Lines for Rhabdomyosarcoma Research: Utility and Pitfalls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinson, Ashley R. P.; Jones, Rosanne; Crose, Lisa E. S.; Belyea, Brian C.; Barr, Frederic G.; Linardic, Corinne M.

    2013-01-01

    Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Despite intergroup clinical trials conducted in Europe and North America, outcomes for high risk patients with this disease have not significantly improved in the last several decades, and survival of metastatic or relapsed disease remains extremely poor. Accrual into new clinical trials is slow and difficult, so in vitro cell-line research and in vivo xenograft models present an attractive alternative for preclinical research for this cancer type. Currently, 30 commonly used human RMS cell lines exist, with differing origins, karyotypes, histologies, and methods of validation. Selecting an appropriate cell line for RMS research has important implications for outcomes. There are also potential pitfalls in using certain cell lines including contamination with murine stromal cells, cross-contamination between cell lines, discordance between the cell line and its associated original tumor, imposter cell lines, and nomenclature errors that result in the circulation of two or more presumed unique cell lines that are actually from the same origin. These pitfalls can be avoided by testing for species-specific isoenzymes, microarray analysis, assays for subtype-specific fusion products, and short tandem repeat analysis. PMID:23882450

  6. Radiation sensitivity of human lung cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carmichael, J.; Degraff, W.G.; Gamson, J.; Russo, G.; Mitchell, J.B.; Gazdar, A.F.; Minna, J.D.; Levitt, M.L.

    1989-01-01

    X-Ray survival curves were determined using a panel of 17 human lung cancer cell lines, with emphasis on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In contrast to classic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines, NSCLC cell lines were generally less sensitive to radiation as evidenced by higher radiation survival curve extrapolation numbers, surviving fraction values following a 2Gy dose (SF2) and the mean inactivation dose values (D) values. The spectrum of in vitro radiation responses observed was similar to that expected in clinical practice, although mesothelioma was unexpectedly sensitive in vitro. Differences in radiosensitivity were best distinguished by comparison of SF2 values. Some NSCLC lines were relatively sensitive, and in view of this demonstrable variability in radiation sensitivity, the SF2 value may be useful for in vitro predictive assay testing of clinical specimens. (author)

  7. Generation of genome-modified Drosophila cell lines using SwAP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franz, Alexandra; Brunner, Erich; Basler, Konrad

    2017-10-02

    The ease of generating genetically modified animals and cell lines has been markedly increased by the recent development of the versatile CRISPR/Cas9 tool. However, while the isolation of isogenic cell populations is usually straightforward for mammalian cell lines, the generation of clonal Drosophila cell lines has remained a longstanding challenge, hampered by the difficulty of getting Drosophila cells to grow at low densities. Here, we describe a highly efficient workflow to generate clonal Cas9-engineered Drosophila cell lines using a combination of cell pools, limiting dilution in conditioned medium and PCR with allele-specific primers, enabling the efficient selection of a clonal cell line with a suitable mutation profile. We validate the protocol by documenting the isolation, selection and verification of eight independently Cas9-edited armadillo mutant Drosophila cell lines. Our method provides a powerful and simple workflow that improves the utility of Drosophila cells for genetic studies with CRISPR/Cas9.

  8. Peptidomic analysis of human cell lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelman, Julia S.; Sironi, Juan; Castro, Leandro M.; Ferro, Emer S.; Fricker, Lloyd D.

    2011-01-01

    Peptides have been proposed to function in intracellular signaling within the cytosol. Although cytosolic peptides are considered to be highly unstable, a large number of peptides have been detected in mouse brain and other biological samples. In the present study, we evaluated the peptidome of three diverse cell lines: SH-SY5Y, MCF7, and HEK293 cells. A comparison of the peptidomes revealed considerable overlap in the identity of the peptides found in each cell line. The majority of the observed peptides are not derived from the most abundant or least stable proteins in the cell, and approximately half of the cellular peptides correspond to the N- or C- termini of the precursor proteins. Cleavage site analysis revealed a preference for hydrophobic residues in the P1 position. Quantitative peptidomic analysis indicated that the levels of most cellular peptides are not altered in response to elevated intracellular calcium, suggesting that calpain is not responsible for their production. The similarity of the peptidomes of the three cell lines and the lack of correlation with the predicted cellular degradome implies the selective formation or retention of these peptides, consistent with the hypothesis that they are functional in the cells. PMID:21204522

  9. A cell-cell signaling sensor is required for virulence and insect transmission of Xylella fastidiosa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, Subhadeep; Wistrom, Christina; Lindow, Steven E

    2008-02-19

    Cell-cell signaling in Xylella fastidiosa, a xylem-colonizing plant pathogenic bacterium, mediated by a fatty acid Diffusible Signaling Factor (DSF), is required to colonize insect vectors and to suppress virulence to grape. Here, we show that a hybrid two-component regulatory protein RpfC is involved in negative regulation of DSF synthesis by RpfF in X. fastidiosa. X. fastidiosa rpfC mutants hyperexpress rpfF and overproduce DSF and are deficient in virulence and movement in the xylem vessels of grape. The expression of the genes encoding the adhesins FimA, HxfA, and HxfB is much higher in rpfC mutants, which also exhibit a hyperattachment phenotype in culture that is associated with their inability to migrate in xylem vessels and cause disease. rpfF mutants deficient in DSF production have the opposite phenotypes for all of these traits. RpfC is also involved in the regulation of other signaling components including rpfG, rpfB, a GGDEF domain protein that may be involved in intracellular signaling by modulating the levels of cyclic-di-GMP, and the virulence factors tolC and pglA required for disease. rpfC mutants are able to colonize the mouthparts of insect vectors and wild-type strains but are not transmitted as efficiently to new host plants, apparently because of their high levels of adhesiveness. Because of the conflicting contributions of adhesiveness and other traits to movement within plants and vectoring to new host plants, X. fastidiosa apparently coordinates these traits in a population-size-dependent fashion involving accumulation of DSF.

  10. The transcriptional diversity of 25 Drosophila cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cherbas, Lucy [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); Willingham, Aarron [Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States); Zhang, Dayu [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); Yang, Li [University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut (United States); Zou, Yi [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); Eads, Brian D. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); Carlson, Joseph W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Landolin, Jane M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kapranov, Philipp [Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States); Dumais, Jacqueline [Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States); Samsonova, Anastasia [Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); Choi, Jeong-Hyeon [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); Roberts, Johnny [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); Davis, Carrie A. [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (United States); Tang, Haixu [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States); van Baren, Marijke J. [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Ghosh, Srinka [Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States); Dobin, Alexander [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (United States); Bell, Kim [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (United States); Lin, Wei [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (United States); Langton, Laura [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Duff, Michael O. [University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut (United States); Tenney, Aaron E. [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Zaleski, Chris [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (United States); Brent, Michael R. [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Hoskins, Roger A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kaufman, Thomas C. [Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (United States); Andrews, Justen [Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (United States); Graveley, Brenton R. [University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut (United States); Perrimon, Norbert [Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA (United States); Celniker, Susan E. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Gingeras, Thomas R. [Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States); Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (United States); Cherbas, Peter [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)

    2010-12-22

    Drosophila melanogaster cell lines are important resources for cell biologists. In this article, we catalog the expression of exons, genes, and unannotated transcriptional signals for 25 lines. Unannotated transcription is substantial (typically 19% of euchromatic signal). Conservatively, we identify 1405 novel transcribed regions; 684 of these appear to be new exons of neighboring, often distant, genes. Sixty-four percent of genes are expressed detectably in at least one line, but only 21% are detected in all lines. Each cell line expresses, on average, 5885 genes, including a common set of 3109. Expression levels vary over several orders of magnitude. Major signaling pathways are well represented: most differentiation pathways are ‘‘off’’ and survival/growth pathways ‘‘on.’’ Roughly 50% of the genes expressed by each line are not part of the common set, and these show considerable individuality. Thirty-one percent are expressed at a higher level in at least one cell line than in any single developmental stage, suggesting that each line is enriched for genes characteristic of small sets of cells. Most remarkable is that imaginal disc-derived lines can generally be assigned, on the basis of expression, to small territories within developing discs. These mappings reveal unexpected stability of even fine-grained spatial determination. No two cell lines show identical transcription factor expression. We conclude that each line has retained features of an individual founder cell superimposed on a common ‘‘cell line‘‘ gene expression pattern. We report the transcriptional profiles of 25 Drosophila melanogaster cell lines, principally by whole-genome tiling microarray analysis of total RNA, carried out as part of the modENCODE project. The data produced in this study add to our knowledge of the cell lines and of the Drosophila transcriptome in several ways. We summarize the expression of previously annotated genes in each of the 25

  11. Investigation of the selenium metabolism in cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lunøe, Kristoffer; Gabel-Jensen, Charlotte; Stürup, Stefan

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this work was to compare different selenium species for their ability to induce cell death in different cancer cell lines, while investigating the underlying chemistry by speciation analysis. A prostate cancer cell line (PC-3), a colon cancer cell line (HT-29) and a leukaemia cell line...... (Jurkat E6-1) were incubated with five selenium compounds representing inorganic as well as organic Se compounds in different oxidation states. Selenomethionine (SeMet), Se-methylselenocysteine (MeSeCys), methylseleninic acid (MeSeA), selenite and selenate in the concentration range 5-100 mu M were...... incubated with cells for 24 h and the induction of cell death was measured using flow cytometry. The amounts of total selenium in cell medium, cell lysate and the insoluble fractions was determined by ICP-MS. Speciation analysis of cellular fractions was performed by reversed phase, anion exchange and size...

  12. Malignant hematopoietic cell lines: in vitro models for the study of natural killer cell leukemia-lymphoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drexler, H G; Matsuo, Y

    2000-05-01

    Malignancies involving natural killer (NK) cells are rare disorders. The complexity of NK cell-involving disorders has only recently been appreciated. Modern classifications discern immature (precursor) from mature NK cell leukemias-lymphomas. Continuous NK leukemia-lymphoma cell lines represent important model systems to study these neoplasms. While there are a number of putative NK cell lines which are, however, either not characterized, not immortalized, non-malignant, non-NK, or plain false cell lines, six bona fide malignant NK cell lines have been established and are sufficiently well characterized: HANK1, KHYG-1, NK-92, NKL, NK-YS and YT. Except for YT which was derived from a not further defined acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, these cell lines were established from patients with various NK cell malignancies. Five of the six cell lines are constitutively interleukin-2-dependent. Their immunoprofile is remarkably similar: CD1-, CD2+, surface CD3 (but cytoplasmic CD3epsilon+), CD4-, CD5-, CD7+, CD8-, CD16-, CD56+, CD57-, TCRalphabeta-, TCRgammadelta-, negative for B cell and myelomonocytic markers. The immunoglobulin heavy chain and T cell receptor genes are all in germline configuration. All six lines show complex chromosomal alterations, with both numerical and structural aberrations, attesting to their malignant and monoclonal nature. Functionally, these cells which contain azurophilic granules in their cytoplasm are nearly universally positive in NK activity assays. Three of five cell lines are Epstein-Barr virus-positive (type II latency). The composite data on these six cell lines allow for the operational definition of a typical malignant NK cell line profile. NK leukemia-lymphoma cell lines will prove invaluable for studies of normal and malignant NK cell biology.

  13. Parametric structural modeling of insect wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mengesha, T E; Vallance, R R; Barraja, M; Mittal, R

    2009-01-01

    Insects produce thrust and lift forces via coupled fluid-structure interactions that bend and twist their compliant wings during flapping cycles. Insight into this fluid-structure interaction is achieved with numerical modeling techniques such as coupled finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, but these methods require accurate and validated structural models of insect wings. Structural models of insect wings depend principally on the shape, dimensions and material properties of the veins and membrane cells. This paper describes a method for parametric modeling of wing geometry using digital images and demonstrates the use of the geometric models in constructing three-dimensional finite element (FE) models and simple reduced-order models. The FE models are more complete and accurate than previously reported models since they accurately represent the topology of the vein network, as well as the shape and dimensions of the veins and membrane cells. The methods are demonstrated by developing a parametric structural model of a cicada forewing.

  14. Menadione inhibits MIBG uptake in two neuroendocrine cell lines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cornelissen, J.; Tytgat, G. A.; van den Brug, M.; van Kuilenburg, A. B.; Voûte, P. A.; van Gennip, A. H.

    1997-01-01

    In this paper we report on our studies of the effect of menadione on the uptake of MIBG in the neuroendocrine cell lines PC12 and SK-N-SH. Menadione inhibits the uptake of MIBG in both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of MIBG uptake is most pronounced in the PC12 cell line.

  15. Antiproliferative effect of Tualang honey on oral squamous cell carcinoma and osteosarcoma cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail Noorliza M

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The treatment of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC and human osteosarcoma (HOS includes surgery and/or radiotherapy which often lead to reduced quality of life. This study was aimed to study the antiproliferative activity of local honey (Tualang on OSCC and HOS cell lines. Methods Several concentrations of Tualang honey (1% - 20% were applied on OSCC and HOS cell lines for 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours. Morphological characteristics were observed under light and fluorescent microscope. Cell viability was assessed using MTT assay and the optical density for absorbance values in each experiment was measured at 570 nm by an ELISA reader. Detection of cellular apoptosis was done using the Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Detection Kit. Results Morphological appearance showed apoptotic cellular changes like becoming rounded, reduction in cell number, blebbed membrane and apoptotic nuclear changes like nuclear shrinkage, chromatin condensation and fragmented nucleus on OSCC and HOS cell lines. Cell viability assay showed a time and dose-dependent inhibitory effect of honey on both cell lines. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50 for OSCC and HOS cell lines was found to be 4% and 3.5% respectively. The maximum inhibition of cell growth of ≥80% was obtained at 15% for both cell lines. Early apoptosis was evident by flow cytometry where percentage of early apoptotic cells increased in dose and time dependent manner. Conclusion Tualang honey showed antiproliferative effect on OSCC and HOS cell lines by inducing early apoptosis.

  16. Production of Hev b5 as a fluorescent biotin-binding tripartite fusion protein in insect cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nordlund, Henri R.; Laitinen, Olli H.; Uotila, Sanna T.H.; Kulmala, Minna; Kalkkinen, Nisse; Kulomaa, Markku S.

    2005-01-01

    The presented green fluorescent protein and streptavidin core-based tripartite fusion system provides a simple and efficient way for the production of proteins fused to it in insect cells. This fusion protein forms a unique tag, which serves as a multipurpose device enabling easy optimization of production, one-step purification via streptavidin-biotin interaction, and visualization of the fusion protein during downstream processing and in applications. In the present study, we demonstrate the successful production, purification, and detection of a natural rubber latex allergen Hev b5 with this system. We also describe the production of another NRL allergen with the system, Hev b1, which formed large aggregates and gave small yields in purification. The aggregates were detected at early steps by microscopical inspection of the infected insect cells producing this protein. Therefore, this fusion system can also be utilized as a fast indicator of the solubility of the expressed fusion proteins and may therefore be extremely useful in high-throughput expression approaches

  17. Production of Hev b5 as a fluorescent biotin-binding tripartite fusion protein in insect cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordlund, Henri R; Laitinen, Olli H; Uotila, Sanna T H; Kulmala, Minna; Kalkkinen, Nisse; Kulomaa, Markku S

    2005-10-14

    The presented green fluorescent protein and streptavidin core-based tripartite fusion system provides a simple and efficient way for the production of proteins fused to it in insect cells. This fusion protein forms a unique tag, which serves as a multipurpose device enabling easy optimization of production, one-step purification via streptavidin-biotin interaction, and visualization of the fusion protein during downstream processing and in applications. In the present study, we demonstrate the successful production, purification, and detection of a natural rubber latex allergen Hev b5 with this system. We also describe the production of another NRL allergen with the system, Hev b1, which formed large aggregates and gave small yields in purification. The aggregates were detected at early steps by microscopical inspection of the infected insect cells producing this protein. Therefore, this fusion system can also be utilized as a fast indicator of the solubility of the expressed fusion proteins and may therefore be extremely useful in high-throughput expression approaches.

  18. Establishment and characterization of rat portal myofibroblast cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michel Fausther

    Full Text Available The major sources of scar-forming myofibroblasts during liver fibrosis are activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC and portal fibroblasts (PF. In contrast to well-characterized HSC, PF remain understudied and poorly defined. This is largely due to the facts that isolation of rodent PF for functional studies is technically challenging and that PF cell lines had not been established. To address this, we have generated two polyclonal portal myofibroblast cell lines, RGF and RGF-N2. RGF and RGF-N2 were established from primary PF isolated from adult rat livers that underwent culture activation and subsequent SV40-mediated immortalization. Specifically, Ntpdase2/Cd39l1-sorted primary PF were used to generate the RGF-N2 cell line. Both cell lines were functionally characterized by RT-PCR, immunofluorescence, immunoblot and bromodeoxyuridine-based proliferation assay. First, immortalized RGF and RGF-N2 cells are positive for phenotypic myofibroblast markers alpha smooth muscle actin, type I collagen alpha-1, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1, PF-specific markers elastin, type XV collagen alpha-1 and Ntpdase2/Cd39l1, and mesenchymal cell marker ecto-5'-nucleotidase/Cd73, while negative for HSC-specific markers desmin and lecithin retinol acyltransferase. Second, both RGF and RGF-N2 cell lines are readily transfectable using standard methods. Finally, RGF and RGF-N2 cells attenuate the growth of Mz-ChA-1 cholangiocarcinoma cells in co-culture, as previously demonstrated for primary PF. Immortalized rat portal myofibroblast RGF and RGF-N2 cell lines express typical markers of activated PF-derived myofibroblasts, are suitable for DNA transfection, and can effectively inhibit cholangiocyte proliferation. Both RGF and RGF-N2 cell lines represent novel in vitro cellular models for the functional studies of portal (myofibroblasts and their contribution to the progression of liver fibrosis.

  19. Casein gene expression in mouse mammary epithelial cell lines: Dependence upon extracellular matrix and cell type

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medina, D.; Oborn, C.J.; Li, M.L.; Bissell, M.J.

    1987-01-01

    The COMMA-D mammary cell line exhibits mammary-specific functional differentiation under appropriate conditions in cell culture. The cytologically heterogeneous COMMA-D parental line and the clonal lines DB-1, TA-5, and FA-1 derived from the COMMA-D parent were examined for similar properties of functional differentiation. In monolayer cell culture, the cell lines DB-1, TA-5, FA-1, and MA-4 were examined for expression of mammary-specific and epithelial-specific proteins by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. The clonal cell lines were relatively homogeneous in their respective staining properties and seemed to represent three subpopulations found in the heterogeneous parental COMMA-D lines. None of the four clonal lines appeared to represent myoepithelial cells. The cell lines were examined for expression of β-casein mRNA in the presence or absence of prolactin. The inducibility of β-casein in the COMMA-D cell line was further enhanced by a reconstituted basement membrane preparation enriched in laminin, collagen IV, and proteoglycans. These results support the hypothesis that the functional response of inducible mammary cell populations is a result of interaction among hormones, multiple extracellular matrix components, and specific cell types

  20. 9-β-arabinofuranosyladenine preferentially sensitizes radioresistant squamous cell carcinoma cell lines to x-rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heaton, D.

    1992-06-01

    The effect of 9-β-arabinofuranosyladenine (ara-A) on sensitivity to the deleterious effects of x-rays was studied in six squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Three lines were relatively radioresistant, having D 0 values of 2.31 to 2.89 Gy, and the other three lines were relatively radiosensitive, having D 0 values of between 1.07 and 1.45 Gy. Ara-A (50 or 500 μM) was added to cultures 30 min prior to irradiation and removed 30 min after irradiation, and sensitivity was measured in terms of cell survival. The radiosensitizing effect of ara-A was very dependent on the inherent radiosensitivity of the tumor cell line. Fifty micromolar concentrations of ara-A sensitized only the two most radioresistant lines, SCC-12B.2 and JSQ-3. Five hundred micromolar concentrations of ara-A sensitized the more sensitive cell lines, SQ-20B and SQ-9G, but failed to have any effect on the radiation response of the two most sensitive cell lines, SQ-38 and SCC-61. Concentrations of ara-A as low as 10 μM were equally efficient in inhibiting DNA synthesis in all six cell lines. These results suggest that the target for the radiosensitizing effect of ara-A is probably related to the factor controlling the inherent radiosensitivity of human tumor cells. Therefore, ara-A might be useful in overcoming radiation resistance in vivo

  1. 9-{beta}-arabinofuranosyladenine preferentially sensitizes radioresistant squamous cell carcinoma cell lines to x-rays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heaton, D. [Rush Univ. Medical Center, Chicago, IL (United States). Therapeutic Radiology; Mustafi, R. [Chicago Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Radiation and Cellular Oncology; Schwartz, J.L. [Chicago Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Radiation and Cellular Oncology]|[Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

    1992-06-01

    The effect of 9-{beta}-arabinofuranosyladenine (ara-A) on sensitivity to the deleterious effects of x-rays was studied in six squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Three lines were relatively radioresistant, having D{sub 0} values of 2.31 to 2.89 Gy, and the other three lines were relatively radiosensitive, having D{sub 0} values of between 1.07 and 1.45 Gy. Ara-A (50 or 500 {mu}M) was added to cultures 30 min prior to irradiation and removed 30 min after irradiation, and sensitivity was measured in terms of cell survival. The radiosensitizing effect of ara-A was very dependent on the inherent radiosensitivity of the tumor cell line. Fifty micromolar concentrations of ara-A sensitized only the two most radioresistant lines, SCC-12B.2 and JSQ-3. Five hundred micromolar concentrations of ara-A sensitized the more sensitive cell lines, SQ-20B and SQ-9G, but failed to have any effect on the radiation response of the two most sensitive cell lines, SQ-38 and SCC-61. Concentrations of ara-A as low as 10 {mu}M were equally efficient in inhibiting DNA synthesis in all six cell lines. These results suggest that the target for the radiosensitizing effect of ara-A is probably related to the factor controlling the inherent radiosensitivity of human tumor cells. Therefore, ara-A might be useful in overcoming radiation resistance in vivo.

  2. In vitro culture of human osteosarcoma cell lines: a comparison of functional characteristics for cell lines cultured in medium without and with fetal calf serum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruserud, Oystein; Tronstad, Karl Johan; Berge, Rolf

    2005-06-01

    Experimental in vitro models including well-characterised cell lines can be used to identify possible new therapeutic targets for the treatment of osteosarcoma. Culture media including inactivated serum is often recommended for in vitro culture of osteosarcoma cells, but the serum component then represents a nonstandardised parameter including a wide range of unidentified mediators. To improve the standardisation we have investigated whether serum-free culture media can be used in experimental in vitro studies of osteosarcoma cell lines. The seven osteosarcoma cell lines Cal72, SJSA-1, Saos-2, SK-ES-1, U2OS, 143.98.2, and KHOS-32IH were cultured in vitro in various serum-free media and media supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum (FCS). Although proliferation often was relatively low in serum-free media (X-vivo 10, X-vivo 15, X-vivo 20, Stem Span SFEM), some cell lines (Cal72, KHOS-32IH, Saos-2) showed proliferation comparable with the recommended FCS-containing media even when using serum-free conditions. The optimal serum-free medium then varied between cell lines. We also compared 6 different FCS-containing media (including Stem Span with 10% FCS) and the optimal FCS-containing medium varied between cell lines. However, all cell lines proliferated well in Stem Span with FCS, and this medium was regarded as optimal for four of the lines. FCS could not be replaced by fatty acids or low density lipoprotein when testing the Stem Span medium. The release of a wide range of soluble mediators showed only minor differences when using serum-free and FCS-containing media (including Stem Span with and without FCS), and serum-free Stem Span could also be used for in vitro studies of mitogen-stimulated T cell activation in the presence of accessory osteosarcoma cells. The use of Stem Span with 10% FCS allowed the release of a wide range of chemokines by osteosarcoma cell lines (Cal72, SJSA-1), and the chemokine release profile was very similar to the

  3. Clonogenic cell line survival of a human liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721 after carbon ion irradiation with different LET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei Suwen; Su Xu; Wang Jifang; Li Wenjian

    2003-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the survival fraction of a human liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721 following irradiation with carbon ions with different LET. Methods: cells of the human liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721 were irradiated with carbon ions (LET=30 and 70 keV/μm). The survival fraction was determined with clonogenic assay after 9 days incubation in a 5% CO 2 incubator at 37 degree C. Results: When the survival fractions of 70 keV/μm were D s = 0.1 and D s=0.01 absorption dose were 2.94 and 5.88 Gy respectively, and those of 30 keV/μm were 4.00 and 8.00 Gy respectively. Conclusion: For the SMMC-7721 cell line, 70 keV/μm is more effective for cell killing than 30 keV/μm

  4. Development of an influenza virus vaccine using the baculovirus-insect cell expression system : implications for pandemic preparedness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cox, M.M.J.

    2009-01-01

    Key word

    Influenza, rHA, vaccine, baculovirus, insect cells, production, pandemic preparedness

    Influenza (or flu) is a highly contagious, acute viral respiratory disease that occurs seasonally in most parts of the world and is caused by influenza viruses. Influenza

  5. Yellow fever virus envelope protein expressed in insect cells is capable of syncytium formation in lepidopteran cells and could be used for immunodetection of YFV in human sera

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagata Tatsuya

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Yellow fever is an haemorrhagic disease caused by a virus that belongs to the genus Flavivirus (Flaviviridae family and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Among the viral proteins, the envelope protein (E is the most studied one, due to its high antigenic potencial. Baculovirus are one of the most popular and efficient eukaryotic expression system. In this study a recombinant baculovirus (vSynYFE containing the envelope gene (env of the 17D vaccine strain of yellow fever virus was constructed and the recombinant protein antigenicity was tested. Results Insect cells infected with vSynYFE showed syncytium formation, which is a cytopathic effect characteristic of flavivirus infection and expressed a polypeptide of around 54 kDa, which corresponds to the expected size of the recombinant E protein. Furthermore, the recombinant E protein expression was also confirmed by fluorescence microscopy of vSynYFE-infected insect cells. Total vSynYFE-infected insect extracts used as antigens detected the presence of antibodies for yellow fever virus in human sera derived from yellow fever-infected patients in an immunoassay and did not cross react with sera from dengue virus-infected patients. Conclusions The E protein expressed by the recombinant baculovirus in insect cells is antigenically similar to the wild protein and it may be useful for different medical applications, from improved diagnosis of the disease to source of antigens for the development of a subunit vaccine.

  6. A new nidovirus (NamDinh virus NDiV): Its ultrastructural characterization in the C6/36 mosquito cell line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thuy, Nguyen Thanh, E-mail: ngtthuy02@yahoo.com [National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, 1 Yersin Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Huy, Tran Quang, E-mail: huytq@nihe.org.vn [National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, 1 Yersin Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Nga, Phan Thi [National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, 1 Yersin Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Morita, Kouichi [Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Global COE Program, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki (Japan); Dunia, Irene; Benedetti, Lucio [Institut Jacques Monod, UMR7592 Université Paris Diderot/CNRS, Paris (France)

    2013-09-15

    We describe the ultrastructure of the NamDinh virus (NDiV), a new member of the order Nidovirales grown in the C6/36 mosquito cell line. Uninfected and NDiV-infected cells were investigated by electron microscopy 24–48 h after infection. The results show that the viral nucleocapsid-like particles form clusters concentrated in the vacuoles, the endoplasmic reticulum, and are scattered in the cytoplasm. Mature virions of NDiV were released as budding particles on the cell surface where viral components appear to lie beneath and along the plasma membrane. Free homogeneous virus particles were obtained by ultracentrifugation on sucrose gradients of culture fluids. The size of the round-shaped particles with a complete internal structure was 80 nm in diameter. This is the first study to provide information on the morphogenesis and ultrastructure of the first insect nidovirus NDiV, a missing evolutionary link in the emergence of the viruses with the largest RNA genomes. - Highlights: • NamDinh virus (NDiV), a new member of the order Nidovirales was tested in cultured cell line. • The morphogenesis and ultrastructure of NDiV were investigated by electron microscopy. • The viral nucleocapsid-like particles clustered and scattered in the cytoplasm. • NDiVs were released as budding particles on the cell surface. • The size of the viral particles with a complete internal structure was 80 nm in diameter.

  7. Probability to produce animal vaccines in insect baculovirus ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The insect baculovirus expression system is a valuable tool for the production of vaccine. Many subunit vaccines have been expressed in this system. The first vaccine produced in insect cells for animal use is now in the market. In this study, we reviewed recent progress of animal's vaccine production for different expression ...

  8. In vitro invasion of small-cell lung cancer cell lines correlates with expression of epidermal growth factor receptor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damstrup, L; Rude Voldborg, B; Spang-Thomsen, M

    1998-01-01

    receptor (EGFR) in a panel of 21 small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines. We have previously reported that ten of these cell lines expressed EGFR protein detected by radioreceptor and affinity labelling assays. In 11 small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines, EGFR mRNA was detected by Northern blot...... analysis. In vitro invasion in a Boyden chamber assay was found in all EGFR-positive cell lines, whereas no invasion was detected in the EGFR-negative cell lines. Quantification of the in vitro invasion in 12 selected SCLC cell lines demonstrated that, in the EGFR-positive cell lines, between 5% and 16......-PCR). However, in vitro invasive SCLC cell lines could not be distinguished from non-invasive cell lines based on the expression pattern of these molecules. In six SCLC cell lines, in vitro invasion was also determined in the presence of the EGFR-neutralizing monoclonal antibody mAb528. The addition...

  9. An economic approach to efficient isotope labeling in insect cells using homemade 15N-, 13C- and 2H-labeled yeast extracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Opitz, Christian; Isogai, Shin; Grzesiek, Stephan

    2015-01-01

    Heterologous expression of proteins in insect cells is frequently used for crystallographic structural studies due to the high yields even for challenging proteins requiring the eukaryotic protein processing capabilities of the host. However for NMR studies, the need for isotope labeling poses extreme challenges in eukaryotic hosts. Here, we describe a robust method to achieve uniform protein 15 N and 13 C labeling of up to 90 % in baculovirus-infected insect cells. The approach is based on the production of labeled yeast extract, which is subsequently supplemented to insect cell growth media. The method also allows deuteration at levels of >60 % without decrease in expression yield. The economic implementation of the labeling procedures into a standard structural biology laboratory environment is described in a step-by-step protocol. Applications are demonstrated for a variety of NMR experiments using the Abelson kinase domain, GFP, and the beta-1 adrenergic receptor as examples. Deuterated expression of the latter provides spectra of very high quality of a eukaryotic G-protein coupled receptor

  10. RNA Interference in Insect Vectors for Plant Viruses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Surapathrudu Kanakala

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Insects and other arthropods are the most important vectors of plant pathogens. The majority of plant pathogens are disseminated by arthropod vectors such as aphids, beetles, leafhoppers, planthoppers, thrips and whiteflies. Transmission of plant pathogens and the challenges in managing insect vectors due to insecticide resistance are factors that contribute to major food losses in agriculture. RNA interference (RNAi was recently suggested as a promising strategy for controlling insect pests, including those that serve as important vectors for plant pathogens. The last decade has witnessed a dramatic increase in the functional analysis of insect genes, especially those whose silencing results in mortality or interference with pathogen transmission. The identification of such candidates poses a major challenge for increasing the role of RNAi in pest control. Another challenge is to understand the RNAi machinery in insect cells and whether components that were identified in other organisms are also present in insect. This review will focus on summarizing success cases in which RNAi was used for silencing genes in insect vector for plant pathogens, and will be particularly helpful for vector biologists.

  11. Isolation of two chloroethylnitrosourea-sensitive Chinese hamster cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hata, H.; Numata, M.; Tohda, H.; Yasui, A.; Oikawa, A.

    1991-01-01

    1-[(4-Amino-2-methylpyrimidin-5-yl)methyl]-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3- nitrosourea hydrochloride (ACNU), a cancer chemotherapeutic bifunctional alkylating agent, causes chloroethylation of DNA and subsequent DNA strand cross-linking through an ethylene bridge. We isolated and characterized two ACNU-sensitive mutants from mutagenized Chinese hamster ovary cells and found them to be new drug-sensitive recessive Chinese hamster mutants. Both mutants were sensitive to various monofunctional alkylating agents in a way similar to that of the parental cell lines CHO9. One mutant (UVS1) was cross-sensitive to UV and complemented the UV sensitivity of all Chinese hamster cell lines of 7 established complementation groups. Since UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis was very low, a new locus related to excision repair is thought to be defective in this cell line. Another ACNU-sensitive mutant, CNU1, was slightly more sensitive to UV than the parent cell line. CNU1 was cross-sensitive to 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea and slightly more sensitive to mitomycin C. No increased accumulation of ACNU and a low level of UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis in this cell as compared with the parental cell line suggest that there is abnormality in a repair response of this mutant cell to some types of DNA cross-links

  12. Construction and Characterization of Insect Cell-Derived Influenza VLP: Cell Binding, Fusion, and EGFP Incorporation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi-Shin Pan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We have constructed virus-like particles (VLPs harboring hemagglutinin (HA, neuraminidase (NA, matrix protein 1 (M1 ,and proton channel protein (M2 using baculovirus as a vector in the SF9 insect cell. The size of the expressed VLP was estimated to be ~100 nm by light scattering experiment and transmission electron microscopy. Recognition of HA on the VLP surface by the HA2-specific monoclonal antibody IIF4 at acidic pH, as probed by surface plasmon resonance, indicated the pH-induced structural rearrangement of HA. Uptake of the particle by A549 mediated by HA-sialylose receptor interaction was visualized by the fluorescent-labeled VLP. The HA-promoted cell-virus fusion activity was illustrated by fluorescence imaging on the Jurkat cells incubated with rhodamine-loaded VLP performed at fusogenic pH. Furthermore, the green fluorescence protein (GFP was fused to NA to produce VLP with a pH-sensitive probe, expanding the use of VLP as an antigen carrier and a tool for viral tracking.

  13. Lining cells on normal human vertebral bone surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henning, C.B.; Lloyd, E.L.

    1982-01-01

    Thoracic vertebrae from two individuals with no bone disease were studied with the electron microscope to determine cell morphology in relation to bone mineral. The work was undertaken to determine if cell morphology or spatial relationships between the bone lining cells and bone mineral could account for the relative infrequency of bone tumors which arise at this site following radium intake, when compared with other sites, such as the head of the femur. Cells lining the vertebral mineral were found to be generally rounded in appearance with varied numbers of cytoplasmic granules, and they appeared to have a high density per unit of surface area. These features contrasted with the single layer of flattened cells characteristic of the bone lining cells of the femur. A tentative discussion of the reasons for the relative infrequency of tumors in the vertebrae following radium acquisition is presented

  14. Susceptibility of various cell lines to Neospora caninum tachyzoites cultivation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khordadmehr, M.,

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Neospora caninum is a coccidian protozoan parasite which is a major cause of bovine abortions and neonatal mortality in cattle, sheep, goat and horse. Occasionally, cultured cells are used for isolation and multiplication of the agent in vitro with several purposes. In this study the tachyzoite yields of N. caninum were compared in various cell cultures as the host cell lines. Among the cell cultures tested, two presented good susceptibility to the agent: cell lines Vero and MA-104. SW742 and TLI (in vitro suspension culture of lymphoid cells infected with Theileria lestoquardi showed moderate sensitivity. No viable tachyzoite were detected in the culture of MDCK and McCoy cell lines. These results demonstrate that MA-104 and SW742 cells present adequate susceptibility to N. caninum compared to Vero cells, which have been largely used to multiply the parasite in vitro. Moreover, these have easy manipulation, fast multiplication and relatively low nutritional requirements. In addition, the result of this study showed that TLI cell line as a suspension cell culture is susceptible to Nc-1 tachyzoites infection and could be used as an alternative host cell line for tachyzoites culture in vitro studies.

  15. Field damage of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) with reduced lignin levels by naturally occurring insect pests and pathogens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mutant lines of sorghum with low levels of lignin are potentially useful for bioenergy production, but may have problems with insects or disease. Field grown normal and low lignin bmr6 and bmr12 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) were examined for insect and disease damage in the field, and insect damage in ...

  16. Molecular characterization of breast cancer cell lines through multiple omic approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Shari E; Mellor, Paul; Ward, Alison K; Kendall, Stephanie; McDonald, Megan; Vizeacoumar, Frederick S; Vizeacoumar, Franco J; Napper, Scott; Anderson, Deborah H

    2017-06-05

    Breast cancer cell lines are frequently used as model systems to study the cellular properties and biology of breast cancer. Our objective was to characterize a large, commonly employed panel of breast cancer cell lines obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 30-4500 K) to enable researchers to make more informed decisions in selecting cell lines for specific studies. Information about these cell lines was obtained from a wide variety of sources. In addition, new information about cellular pathways that are activated within each cell line was generated. We determined key protein expression data using immunoblot analyses. In addition, two analyses on serum-starved cells were carried out to identify cellular proteins and pathways that are activated in these cells. These analyses were performed using a commercial PathScan array and a novel and more extensive phosphopeptide-based kinome analysis that queries 1290 phosphorylation events in major signaling pathways. Data about this panel of breast cancer cell lines was also accessed from several online sources, compiled and summarized for the following areas: molecular classification, mRNA expression, mutational status of key proteins and other possible cancer-associated mutations, and the tumorigenic and metastatic capacity in mouse xenograft models of breast cancer. The cell lines that were characterized included 10 estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, 12 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-amplified and 18 triple negative breast cancer cell lines, in addition to 4 non-tumorigenic breast cell lines. Within each subtype, there was significant genetic heterogeneity that could impact both the selection of model cell lines and the interpretation of the results obtained. To capture the net activation of key signaling pathways as a result of these mutational combinations, profiled pathway activation status was examined. This provided further clarity for which cell lines were particularly deregulated

  17. Effect of UV on DNA synthesis in UV-resistant insect cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Styer, S.C.; Meechan, P.J.; Griffiths, T.D.

    1987-01-01

    Insect cells are most resistant to killing by 254 nm ultraviolet light (UV) than mammalian cells. Because they have an active photolyase, it may be possible to generate a higher number of [6-4] PyC lesions per genome, allowing the possibility to distinguish between the effects of [5-6] pyrimidine lesions and the nonphotoreactable [6-4] lesions on DNA replication. IAL-PID2 cells, derived from imaginal wing discs of the Indian meal moth were exposed to UV followed by photoreactivating light (PR) or sham treatment and then analyzed by measuring the incorporation of [/sup 3/H]-thymidine into acid precipitable form. As expected, there was a fluence-dependent decrease in the amount of thymidine incorporated after exposure to UV. The response was similar to that observed in wild type CHO cells (AAS) except that the rate of decline was more rapid. When PR followed UV, there was less of a decline in thymidine incorporation and a more rapid recovery. However, thymidine incorporation did not return to control levels as rapidly as expected if [5-6] lesions were the only lesions involved in the disruption of DNA synthesis after exposure to UV

  18. Assessment of citalopram and escitalopram on neuroblastoma cell lines: Cell toxicity and gene modulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakka, Laurent; Delétage, Nathalie; Chalus, Maryse; Aissouni, Youssef; Sylvain-Vidal, Valérie; Gobron, Stéphane; Coll, Guillaume

    2017-01-01

    Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are common antidepressants which cytotoxicity has been assessed in cancers notably colorectal carcinomas and glioma cell lines. We assessed and compared the cytotoxicity of 2 SSRI, citalopram and escitalopram, on neuroblastoma cell lines. The study was performed on 2 non-MYCN amplified cell lines (rat B104 and human SH-SY5Y) and 2 human MYCN amplified cell lines (IMR32 and Kelly). Citalopram and escitalopram showed concentration-dependent cytotoxicity on all cell lines. Citalopram was more cytotoxic than escitalopram. IMR32 was the most sensitive cell line. The absence of toxicity on human primary Schwann cells demonstrated the safety of both molecules for myelin. The mechanisms of cytotoxicity were explored using gene-expression profiles and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Citalopram modulated 1 502 genes and escitalopram 1 164 genes with a fold change ≥ 2. 1 021 genes were modulated by both citalopram and escitalopram; 481 genes were regulated only by citalopram while 143 genes were regulated only by escitalopram. Citalopram modulated 69 pathways (KEGG) and escitalopram 42. Ten pathways were differently modulated by citalopram and escitalopram. Citalopram drastically decreased the expression of MYBL2, BIRC5 and BARD1 poor prognosis factors of neuroblastoma with fold-changes of -107 (pescitalopram. PMID:28467792

  19. Assessment of citalopram and escitalopram on neuroblastoma cell lines. Cell toxicity and gene modulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakka, Laurent; Delétage, Nathalie; Chalus, Maryse; Aissouni, Youssef; Sylvain-Vidal, Valérie; Gobron, Stéphane; Coll, Guillaume

    2017-06-27

    Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are common antidepressants which cytotoxicity has been assessed in cancers notably colorectal carcinomas and glioma cell lines. We assessed and compared the cytotoxicity of 2 SSRI, citalopram and escitalopram, on neuroblastoma cell lines. The study was performed on 2 non-MYCN amplified cell lines (rat B104 and human SH-SY5Y) and 2 human MYCN amplified cell lines (IMR32 and Kelly). Citalopram and escitalopram showed concentration-dependent cytotoxicity on all cell lines. Citalopram was more cytotoxic than escitalopram. IMR32 was the most sensitive cell line. The absence of toxicity on human primary Schwann cells demonstrated the safety of both molecules for myelin. The mechanisms of cytotoxicity were explored using gene-expression profiles and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Citalopram modulated 1 502 genes and escitalopram 1 164 genes with a fold change ≥ 2. 1 021 genes were modulated by both citalopram and escitalopram; 481 genes were regulated only by citalopram while 143 genes were regulated only by escitalopram. Citalopram modulated 69 pathways (KEGG) and escitalopram 42. Ten pathways were differently modulated by citalopram and escitalopram. Citalopram drastically decreased the expression of MYBL2, BIRC5 and BARD1 poor prognosis factors of neuroblastoma with fold-changes of -107 (pescitalopram.

  20. Establishment and conventional cytogenetic characterization of three gastric cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leal, Mariana Ferreira; Martins do Nascimento, José Luiz; da Silva, Carla Elvira Araújo; Vita Lamarão, Maria Fernanda; Calcagno, Danielle Queiroz; Khayat, André Salim; Assumpção, Paulo Pimentel; Cabral, Isabel Rosa; de Arruda Cardoso Smith, Marília; Burbano, Rommel Rodríguez

    2009-11-01

    Gastric cancer is the fourth most frequent type of cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Only a modest number of gastric carcinoma cell lines have been isolated thus far. Here we describe the establishment and cytogenetic characterization of three new gastric cancer cell lines obtained from primary gastric adenocarcinoma (ACP02 and ACP03) and cancerous ascitic fluid (AGP01) of individuals from northern Brazil. ACP02, ACP03, and AGP01 cell lines are presently in the 60th passage. The cell lines grew in a disorganized single layer with some agglomerations and heterogeneous divisions (bipolar and multipolar). All cell lines exhibited a composite karyotype with several clonal chromosome alterations. Trisomy 8 was the most frequent alteration. Chromosome 8 aneusomy was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. All cell lines also exhibited trisomy 7 and deletion of chromosome arm 17p. These results suggest that, although frequent chromosome alterations are commonly observed due to culture process, the ACP02, ACP03, and AGP01 cell lines and primary gastric cancer from individuals of northern Brazil share genetic alterations, supporting use of these cell lines as a model of gastric carcinogenesis in this population.

  1. The Relationship between Insect Resistance and Tree Age of Transgenic Triploid Populus tomentosa Plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Yachao; Zhang, Jun; Wang, Guiying; Liu, Xiaojie; Li, Li; Wang, Jinmao; Yang, Minsheng

    2018-01-01

    To explore the stability of insect resistance during the development of transgenic insect-resistant trees, this study investigated how insect resistance changes as transgenic trees age. We selected 19 transgenic insect-resistant triploid Populus tomentosa lines as plant material. The presence of exogenous genes and Cry1Ac protein expression were verified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyses. The toxicity for Clostera anachoreta and Lymantria dispar was evaluated by feeding fresh leaves to first instar larvae after the trees were planted in the field for 2 years and after the sixth year. Results of PCR showed that the exogenous genes had a long-term presence in the poplar genome. ELISA analyses showed significant differences existed on the 6-year-old transgenic lines. The insect-feeding experiment demonstrated significant differences in the mortality rates of C. anachoreta and L. dispar among different transgenic lines. The average corrected mortality rates of C. anachoreta and L. dispar ranged from 5.6-98.7% to 35.4-7.2% respectively. The larval mortality rates differed significantly between the lines at different ages. Up to 52.6% of 1-year-old transgenic lines and 42.1% of 2-year-old transgenic lines caused C. anachoreta larval mortality rates to exceed 80%, whereas only 26.3% of the 6-year-old transgenic lines. The mortality rates of L. dispar exhibited the same trend: 89.5% of 1-year-old transgenic lines and 84.2% of 2-year-old transgenic lines caused L. dispar larval mortality rates to exceed 80%; this number decreased to 63.2% for the 6-year-old plants. The proportion of 6-year-old trees with over 80% larval mortality rates was clearly lower than that of the younger trees. The death distribution of C. anachoreta in different developmental stages also showed the larvae that fed on the leaves of 1-year-old trees were killed mostly during L 1 and L 2 stages, whereas the proportion of larvae that died in L 3

  2. DNA fingerprinting of the NCI-60 cell line panel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenzi, Philip L; Reinhold, William C; Varma, Sudhir; Hutchinson, Amy A; Pommier, Yves; Chanock, Stephen J; Weinstein, John N

    2009-04-01

    The National Cancer Institute's NCI-60 cell line panel, the most extensively characterized set of cells in existence and a public resource, is frequently used as a screening tool for drug discovery. Because many laboratories around the world rely on data from the NCI-60 cells, confirmation of their genetic identities represents an essential step in validating results from them. Given the consequences of cell line contamination or misidentification, quality control measures should routinely include DNA fingerprinting. We have, therefore, used standard DNA microsatellite short tandem repeats to profile the NCI-60, and the resulting DNA fingerprints are provided here as a reference. Consistent with previous reports, the fingerprints suggest that several NCI-60 lines have common origins: the melanoma lines MDA-MB-435, MDA-N, and M14; the central nervous system lines U251 and SNB-19; the ovarian lines OVCAR-8 and OVCAR-8/ADR (also called NCI/ADR); and the prostate lines DU-145, DU-145 (ATCC), and RC0.1. Those lines also show that the ability to connect two fingerprints to the same origin is not affected by stable transfection or by the development of multidrug resistance. As expected, DNA fingerprints were not able to distinguish different tissues-of-origin. The fingerprints serve principally as a barcodes.

  3. Peroxisomal abnormalities in the immortalized human hepatocyte (IHH) cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klouwer, Femke C C; Koster, Janet; Ferdinandusse, Sacha; Waterham, Hans R

    2017-04-01

    The immortalized human hepatocyte (IHH) cell line is increasingly used for studies related to liver metabolism, including hepatic glucose, lipid, lipoprotein and triglyceride metabolism, and the effect of therapeutic interventions. To determine whether the IHH cell line is a good model to investigate hepatic peroxisomal metabolism, we measured several peroxisomal parameters in IHH cells and, for comparison, HepG2 cells and primary skin fibroblasts. This revealed a marked plasmalogen deficiency and a deficient fatty acid α-oxidation in the IHH cells, due to a defect of PEX7, a cytosolic receptor protein required for peroxisomal import of a subset of peroxisomal proteins. These abnormalities have consequences for the lipid homeostasis of these cells and thus should be taken into account for the interpretation of data previously generated by using this cell line and when considering using this cell line for future research.

  4. Cellular radiosensitivity of small-cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krarup, M; Poulsen, H S; Spang-Thomsen, M

    1997-01-01

    PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the radiobiological characteristics of a panel of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines by use of a clonogenic assay. In addition, we tested whether comparable results could be obtained by employing a growth extrapolation method based...

  5. Response to Dengue virus infections altered by cytokine-like substances from mosquito cell cultures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laosutthipong Chaowanee

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background With both shrimp and commercial insects such as honey bees, it is known that stable, persistent viral infections characterized by absence of disease can sometimes shift to overt disease states as a result of various stress triggers and that this can result in serious economic losses. The main research interest of our group is to understand the dynamics of stable viral infections in shrimp and how they can be destabilized by stress. Since there are no continuous cell lines for crustaceans, we have used a C6/36 mosquito cell line infected with Dengue virus to test hypotheses regarding these interactions. As a result, we accidentally discovered two new cytokine-like substances in 5 kDa extracts from supernatant solutions of acutely and persistently infected mosquito cells. Results Naïve C6/36 cells were exposed for 48 h to 5 kDa membrane filtrates prepared from the supernatant medium of stable C6/36 mosquito cell cultures persistently-infected with Dengue virus. Subsequent challenge of naïve cells with a virulent stock of Dengue virus 2 (DEN-2 and analysis by confocal immunofluorescence microscopy using anti-DEN-2 antibody revealed a dramatic reduction in the percentage of DEN-2 infected cells when compared to control cells. Similar filtrates prepared from C6/36 cells with acute DEN-2 infections were used to treat stable C6/36 mosquito cell cultures persistently-infected with Dengue virus. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy revealed destabilization in the form of an apoptosis-like response. Proteinase K treatment removed the cell-altering activities indicating that they were caused by small polypeptides similar to those previously reported from insects. Conclusions This is the first report of cytokine-like substances that can alter the responses of mosquito cells to Dengue virus. This simple model system allows detailed molecular studies on insect cytokine production and on cytokine activity in a standard insect cell line.

  6. Improving the efficiency of CHO cell line generation using glutamine synthetase gene knockout cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Lianchun; Kadura, Ibrahim; Krebs, Lara E; Hatfield, Christopher C; Shaw, Margaret M; Frye, Christopher C

    2012-04-01

    Although Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, with their unique characteristics, have become a major workhorse for the manufacture of therapeutic recombinant proteins, one of the major challenges in CHO cell line generation (CLG) is how to efficiently identify those rare, high-producing clones among a large population of low- and non-productive clones. It is not unusual that several hundred individual clones need to be screened for the identification of a commercial clonal cell line with acceptable productivity and growth profile making the cell line appropriate for commercial application. This inefficiency makes the process of CLG both time consuming and laborious. Currently, there are two main CHO expression systems, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)-based methotrexate (MTX) selection and glutamine synthetase (GS)-based methionine sulfoximine (MSX) selection, that have been in wide industrial use. Since selection of recombinant cell lines in the GS-CHO system is based on the balance between the expression of the GS gene introduced by the expression plasmid and the addition of the GS inhibitor, L-MSX, the expression of GS from the endogenous GS gene in parental CHOK1SV cells will likely interfere with the selection process. To study endogenous GS expression's potential impact on selection efficiency, GS-knockout CHOK1SV cell lines were generated using the zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology designed to specifically target the endogenous CHO GS gene. The high efficiency (∼2%) of bi-allelic modification on the CHO GS gene supports the unique advantages of the ZFN technology, especially in CHO cells. GS enzyme function disruption was confirmed by the observation of glutamine-dependent growth of all GS-knockout cell lines. Full evaluation of the GS-knockout cell lines in a standard industrial cell culture process was performed. Bulk culture productivity improved two- to three-fold through the use of GS-knockout cells as parent cells. The selection stringency was

  7. Derivation and Osmotolerance Characterization of Three Immortalized Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) Cell Lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardell, Alison M.; Qin, Qin; Rice, Robert H.; Li, Johnathan; Kültz, Dietmar

    2014-01-01

    Fish cell cultures are becoming more widely used models for investigating molecular mechanisms of physiological response to environmental challenge. In this study, we derived two immortalized Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) cell lines from brain (OmB) and lip epithelium (OmL), and compared them to a previously immortalized bulbus arteriosus (TmB) cell line. The OmB and OmL cell lines were generated without or with Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) inhibitor/3T3 feeder layer supplementation. Although both approaches were successful, ROCK inhibitor/feeder layer supplementation was found to offer the advantages of selecting for epithelial-like cell type and decreasing time to immortalization. After immortalization (≥ passage 5), we characterized the proteomes of the newly derived cell lines (OmB and OmL) using LCMS and identified several unique cell markers for each line. Subsequently, osmotolerance for each of the three cell lines following acute exposure to elevated sodium chloride was evaluated. The acute maximum osmotolerance of these tilapia cell lines (>700 mOsm/kg) was markedly higher than that of any other known vertebrate cell line, but was significantly higher in the epithelial-like OmL cell line. To validate the physiological relevance of these tilapia cell lines, we quantified the effects of acute hyperosmotic challenge (450 mOsm/kg and 700 mOsm/kg) on the transcriptional regulation of two enzymes involved in biosynthesis of the compatible organic osmolyte, myo-inositol. Both enzymes were found to be robustly upregulated in all three tilapia cell lines. Therefore, the newly established tilapia cells lines represent valuable tools for studying molecular mechanisms involved in the osmotic stress response of euryhaline fish. PMID:24797371

  8. Cytotoxic Effects of Fascaplysin against Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    Fascaplysin, the natural product of a marine sponge, exhibits anticancer activity against a broad range of tumor cells, presumably through interaction with DNA, and/or as a highly selective cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) inhibitor. In this study, cytotoxic activity of fascaplysin against a panel of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines and putative synergism with chemotherapeutics was investigated. SCLC responds to first-line chemotherapy with platinum-based drugs/etoposide, but relapses early with topotecan remaining as the single approved therapeutic agent. Fascaplysin was found to show high cytotoxicity against SCLC cells and to induce cell cycle arrest in G1/0 at lower and S-phase at higher concentrations, respectively. The compound generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induced apoptotic cell death in the chemoresistant NCI-H417 SCLC cell line. Furthermore, fascaplysin revealed marked synergism with the topoisomerase I-directed camptothecin and 10-hydroxy-camptothecin. The Poly(ADP-ribose)-Polymerase 1 (PARP1) inhibitor BYK 204165 antagonized the cytotoxic activity of fascaplysin, pointing to the involvement of DNA repair in response to the anticancer activity of the drug. In conclusion, fascaplysin seems to be suitable for treatment of SCLC, based on high cytotoxic activity through multiple routes of action, affecting topoisomerase I, integrity of DNA and generation of ROS. PMID:24608973

  9. MODERATE CYTOTOXICITY OF PROANTHOCYANIDINS TO HUMAN TUMOR-CELL LINES

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    KOLODZIEJ, H; HABERLAND, C; WOERDENBAG, HJ; KONINGS, AWT

    In the present study the cytotoxicity of 16 proanthocyanidins was evaluated in GLC(4), a human small cell lung carcinoma cell line, and in COLO 320, a human colorectal cancer cell line, using the microculture tetrazolium (MTT) assay. With IC50 values ranging from 18 to >200 mu m following continuous

  10. Anti-leukemic activity of bortezomib and carfilzomib on B-cell precursor ALL cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuya Takahashi

    Full Text Available Prognosis of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL has been dramatically improved. However, prognosis of the cases refractory to primary therapy is still poor. Recent phase 2 study on the efficacy of combination chemotherapy with bortezomib (BTZ, a proteasome inhibitor, for refractory childhood ALL demonstrated favorable clinical outcomes. However, septic death was observed in over 10% of patients, indicating the necessity of biomarkers that could predict BTZ sensitivity. We investigated in vitro BTZ sensitivity in a large panel of ALL cell lines that acted as a model system for refractory ALL, and found that Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+ ALL, IKZF1 deletion, and biallelic loss of CDKN2A were associated with favorable response. Even in Ph-negative ALL cell lines, IKZF1 deletion and bilallelic loss of CDKN2A were independently associated with higher BTZ sensitivity. BTZ showed only marginal cross-resistance to four representative chemotherapeutic agents (vincristine, dexamethasone, l-asparaginase, and daunorubicin in B-cell precursor-ALL cell lines. To improve the efficacy and safety of proteasome inhibitor combination chemotherapy, we also analyzed the anti-leukemic activity of carfilzomib (CFZ, a second-generation proteasome inhibitor, as a substitute for BTZ. CFZ showed significantly higher activity than BTZ in the majority of ALL cell lines except for the P-glycoprotein-positive t(17;19 ALL cell lines, and IKZF1 deletion was also associated with a favorable response to CFZ treatment. P-glycoprotein inhibitors effectively restored the sensitivity to CFZ, but not BTZ, in P-glycoprotein-positive t(17;19 ALL cell lines. P-glycoprotein overexpressing ALL cell line showed a CFZ-specific resistance, while knockout of P-glycoprotein by genome editing with a CRISPR/Cas9 system sensitized P-glycoprotein-positive t(17;19 ALL cell line to CFZ. These observations suggested that IKZF1 deletion could be a useful biomarker to predict good

  11. Cellular radiosensitivity of small-cell lung cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krarup, Marianne; Poulsen, Hans Skovgaard; Spang-Thomsen, Mogens

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine the radiobiological characteristics of a panel of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines by use of a clonogenic assay. In addition, we tested whether comparable results could be obtained by employing a growth extrapolation method based on the construction of continuous exponential growth curves. Methods and Materials: Fifteen SCLC cell lines were studied, applying a slightly modified clonogenic assay and a growth extrapolation method. A dose-survival curve was obtained for each experiment and used for calculating several survival parameters. The multitarget single hit model was applied to calculate the cellular radiosensitivity (D 0 ), the capacity for sublethal damage repair (D q ), and the extrapolation number (n). Values for α and β were determined from best-fit curves according to the linear-quadratic model and these values were applied to calculate the surviving fraction after 2-Gy irradiation (SF 2 ). Results: In our investigation, the extrapolation method proved to be inappropriate for the study of in vitro cellular radiosensitivity due to lack of reproducibility. The results obtained by the clonogenic assay showed that the cell lines studied were radiobiologically heterogeneous with no discrete features of the examined parameters including the repair capacity. Conclusion: The results indicate that SCLC tumors per se are not generally candidates for hyperfractionated radiotherapy

  12. Fraction against Human Cancer Cell Lines

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    fraction of A. sieberi against seven cancer cell lines (Colo20, HCT116, DLD, MCF7, Jurkat, HepG2 and ... The morphology of the HepG2 cell nucleus was investigated by Hoechst 33342, ..... Gong F, Liang Y, Xie P, Chau F. Information theory.

  13. A novel cell growth-promoting factor identified in a B cell leukemia cell line, BALL-1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dao, T.; Holan, V.; Minowada, J.

    1993-01-01

    A novel leukemia cell growth-promoting activity has been identified in the culture supernatant from a human B cell leukemia cell line, BALL-1. The supernatant from unstimulated cultures of the BALL-1 cells significantly promoted the growth of 16 out of 24 leukemia/lymphoma cell lines of different lineages (T, B and non-lymphoid) in a minimal concentration of fetal bovine serum (FBS), and 5 out of 12 cases of fresh leukemia cells in FBS-free medium. The growth-promoting sieve filtration and dialysis. The MW of the factor was less than 10 kDa. The growth-promoting activity was heat and acid stable and resistant to trypsin treatment. The factor isolated from the BALL-1 supernatant was distinct from known polypeptide growth factors with MW below 10 kDa, such as epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor α, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), IGF-II and insulin, as determine by specific antibodies and by cell-growth-promoting tests. The factor is the BALL-1 supernatant did not promote the proliferation of normal human fresh peripheral blood lymphocytes or mouse fibroblast cell line, BALB/C 3T3. In addition to the BALL-1 supernatant, a similar growth-promoting activity was found in the culture supernatant from 13 of 17 leukemia/lymphoma cell lines tested. The activity in these culture supernatant promoted the growth of leukemia/lymphoma cell lines in autocrine and/or paracrine fashions. These observations suggest that the low MW cell growth-promoting activity found in the BALL-1 culture supernatant is mediated by a novel factor which may be responsible for the clonal expansion of particular leukemic clones. (author)

  14. Duck hepatitis A virus structural proteins expressed in insect cells self-assemble into virus-like particles with strong immunogenicity in ducklings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Anping; Gu, Lingling; Wu, Shuang; Zhu, Shanyuan

    2018-02-01

    Duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV), a non-enveloped ssRNA virus, can cause a highly contagious disease in young ducklings. The three capsid proteins of VP0, VP1 and VP3 are translated within a single large open reading frame (ORF) and hydrolyzed by protease 3CD. However, little is known on whether the recombinant viral structural proteins (VPs) expressed in insect cells could spontaneously assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs) and whether these VLPs could induce protective immunity in young ducklings. To address these issues, the structural polyprotein precursor gene P1 and the protease gene 3CD were amplified by PCR, and the recombinant proteins were expressed in insect cells using a baculovirus expression system for the characterization of their structures and immunogenicity. The recombinant proteins expressed in Sf9 cells were detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay and Western blot analysis. Electron microscopy showed that the recombinant proteins spontaneously assembled into VLPs in insect cells. Western blot analysis of the purified VLPs revealed that the VLPs were composed with the three structural proteins. In addition, vaccination with the VLPs induced high humoral immune response and provided strong protection. Therefore, our findings may provide a framework for development of new vaccines for the prevention of duck viral hepatitis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON APOPTOSIS INDUCTION BY AZADIRACHTIN IN Spodoptera frugiperda CULTURED CELL LINE Sf9.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shu, Benshui; Wang, Wenxiang; Hu, Qingbo; Huang, Jingfei; Hu, Meiying; Zhong, Guohua

    2015-07-01

    The induction of apoptosis by azadirachtin, a well-known botanical tetranortriterpenoid isolated from the neem tree (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) and other members of the Meliaceae, was investigated in Spodoptera frugiperda cultured cell line (Sf9). Morphological changes in Sf9 cells treated by various concentrations of azadirachtin were observed at different times under light microscopy. Morphological and biochemical analysis indicated that Sf9 cells treated by 1.5 μg/mL azadirachtin showed typical morphological changes, which were indicative of apoptosis and a clear DNA ladder. The flow cytometry analysis showed the apoptosis rate reached a maximum value of 32.66% at 24 h with 1.5 μg/mL azadirachtin in Sf9 cells. The inhibition of Sf9 cell proliferation suggested that the effect of azadirachtin was dose dependent and the EC50 at 48 and 72 h was 2.727 × 10(-6) and 6.348 × 10(-9) μg/mL, respectively. The treatment of azadirachtin in Sf9 cells could significantly increase the activity of Sf caspase-1, but showed no effect on the activity of Topo I, suggesting that the apoptosis induced by azadirachtinin Sf9 cells is through caspase-dependent pathway. These results provided not only a series of morphological, biochemical, and toxicological comprehensive evidences for induction of apoptosis by azadirachtin, but also a reference model for screening insect cell apoptosis inducers from natural compounds. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Recombinant culicoides obsoletus complex allergens stimulate antigen-specific T cells on insect bite hypersensitive Shetland ponies in vitro

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meulenbroeks, C.; Meide, van der N.M.A.; Willemse, T.; Rutten, V.; Tijhaar, E.J.

    2015-01-01

    Background Ponies may suffer from Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH), an allergic IgE-mediated pruritic skin disorder, induced by allergens from biting midges of the Culicoides spp. Hypothesis/Objectives To determine whether recombinant Culicoides obsoletus allergens are able to activate T cells of

  17. Bifenthrin activates homotypic aggregation in human T-cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffman, Nataly; Tran, Van; Daniyan, Anthony; Ojugbele, Olutosin; Pryor, Stephen C; Bonventre, Josephine A; Flynn, Katherine; Weeks, Benjamin S

    2006-03-01

    Here, we addressed the concern that, despite the lack of overt toxicity, exposure to low levels of the common household pyrethroid pesticide, bifenthrin, could cause harm to the immune system. To do this, we measure the effect of bifenthrin on phytohemagglutinin (PHA) activation of homotypic aggregation in human T-cell lines. The human CD4+ H9, and Jurkat cell lines and the human promonocyte U937 cell line, were exposed to varying concentrations of bifenthrin. Cell viability was determined using the AlmarBlue Toxicity Assay. Concentrations of bifenthrin which did not reduce cell viability were determined and these concentrations were tested for the effect of bifenthrin on PHA-mediated homotypic aggregation. Blocking antibodies to ICAM and LFA-1 were used to disrupt aggregation and a nonspecific IgG was used as a control. Bifenthrin was found to be nontoxic at concentrations ranging from 10(-4) to 10(-13) M. Bifenthrin did not inhibit PHA induced cell aggregation in all cell lines tested. However, at 10(-4) M, bifenthrin to form aggregates stimulated homotypic aggregation in the H9 and Jurkat T-cell lines. The bifenthrin-induced aggregate formation, like that seen with PHA, was blocked by treating the cells with antibodies to either LFA-1 or ICAM. The results here show that bifenthrin activates T-cell function by stimulating ICAM/LFA-1 mediated homotypic aggregation. This data suggests that exposure to bifenthrin, even at "acceptable" limits, can increase the risk for and frequency of inflammatory responses and diseases such as asthma.

  18. Establishment, immortalisation and characterisation of pteropid bat cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary Crameri

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Bats are the suspected natural reservoir hosts for a number of new and emerging zoonotic viruses including Nipah virus, Hendra virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and Ebola virus. Since the discovery of SARS-like coronaviruses in Chinese horseshoe bats, attempts to isolate a SL-CoV from bats have failed and attempts to isolate other bat-borne viruses in various mammalian cell lines have been similarly unsuccessful. New stable bat cell lines are needed to help with these investigations and as tools to assist in the study of bat immunology and virus-host interactions. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: Black flying foxes (Pteropus alecto were captured from the wild and transported live to the laboratory for primary cell culture preparation using a variety of different methods and culture media. Primary cells were successfully cultured from 20 different organs. Cell immortalisation can occur spontaneously, however we used a retroviral system to immortalise cells via the transfer and stable production of the Simian virus 40 Large T antigen and the human telomerase reverse transcriptase protein. Initial infection experiments with both cloned and uncloned cell lines using Hendra and Nipah viruses demonstrated varying degrees of infection efficiency between the different cell lines, although it was possible to infect cells in all tissue types. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The approaches developed and optimised in this study should be applicable to bats of other species. We are in the process of generating further cell lines from a number of different bat species using the methodology established in this study.

  19. An insect pathogenic symbiosis between a Caenorhabditis and Serratia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, Julie; Cooper, Vaughn; Thomas, W. Kelley

    2011-01-01

    We described an association between a strain of the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae, i.e. KT0001, and the bacteria Serratia sp. SCBI (South African Caenorhabditis briggsae isolate), which was able to kill the insect Galleria (G. mellonella). Here we show that the Serratia sp. SCBI lines the gut of the nematode, similar to the Heterorhabditis-Photorhabdus complex, indicating that the association is possibly internal. We also expand on the relevance of this tripartite, i.e. insect-nematode-bacteria, interaction in the broader evolutionary context and Caenorhabditis natural history. PMID:21389770

  20. Incorrect strain information for mouse cell lines: sequential influence of misidentification on sublines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchio-Yamada, Kozue; Kasai, Fumio; Ozawa, Midori; Kohara, Arihiro

    2017-03-01

    Misidentification or cross-contamination of cell lines can cause serious issues. Human cell lines have been authenticated by short tandem repeat profiling; however, mouse cell lines have not been adequately assessed. In this study, mouse cell lines registered with the JCRB cell bank were examined by simple sequence length polymorphism (SSLP) analysis to identify their strains. Based on comparisons with 7 major inbred strains, our results revealed their strains in 80 of 90 cell lines. However, 12 of the 80 cell lines (15%) were found to differ from registered information. Of them, 4 cell lines originated from the same mouse, which had been generated through mating between two different inbred strains. The genotype of the mouse sample had not been examined after the backcross, leading to strain misidentification in those cell lines. Although 8 other cell lines had been established as sublines of a BALB/c cell line, their SSLP profiles are similar to a Swiss cell line. This affects differences in genotypes between inbred and outbred strains. Because the use of inbred samples and interbreeding between strains are not involved in human materials, our results suggest that the cause and influence of misidentification in mouse cell lines are different from those in human.

  1. Sterile insect technique and radiation in insect control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-01-01

    Out of 39 papers and 6 summaries of the poster presentations published in this proceeding series, 23 respectively fall within the INIS subject scope. Four main topics were covered: a review of the sterile insect technique against various insect pests; its application to tsetse flies in eradication programmes; quality control of mass-reared insects for release; and the development of genetic approaches to insect mass rearing and control. Other topics emphasized integrated pest management, computer models and radioisotope labelling

  2. The insect ecdysone receptor is a good potential target for RNAi-based pest control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Rong; Xu, Xinping; Liang, Yongkang; Tian, Honggang; Pan, Zhanqing; Jin, Shouheng; Wang, Na; Zhang, Wenqing

    2014-01-01

    RNA interference (RNAi) has great potential for use in insect pest control. However, some significant challenges must be overcome before RNAi-based pest control can become a reality. One challenge is the proper selection of a good target gene for RNAi. Here, we report that the insect ecdysone receptor (EcR) is a good potential target for RNAi-based pest control in the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, a serious insect pest of rice plants. We demonstrated that the use of a 360 bp fragment (NlEcR-c) that is common between NlEcR-A and NlEcR-B for feeding RNAi experiments significantly decreased the relative mRNA expression levels of NlEcR compared with those in the dsGFP control. Feeding RNAi also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of offspring per pair of N. lugens. Consequently, a transgenic rice line expressing NlEcR dsRNA was constructed by Agrobacterium- mediated transformation. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the total copy number of the target gene in all transgenic rice lines was 2. Northern blot analysis showed that the small RNA of the hairpin dsNlEcR-c was successfully expressed in the transgenic rice lines. After newly hatched nymphs of N. lugens fed on the transgenic rice lines, effective RNAi was observed. The NlEcR expression levels in all lines examined were decreased significantly compared with the control. In all lines, the survival rate of the nymphs was nearly 90%, and the average number of offspring per pair in the treated groups was significantly less than that observed in the control, with a decrease of 44.18-66.27%. These findings support an RNAi-based pest control strategy and are also important for the management of rice insect pests.

  3. Characteristics of bovine inner cell mass-derived cell lines and their fate in chimeric conceptuses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furusawa, Tadashi; Ohkoshi, Katsuhiro; Kimura, Koji; Matsuyama, Shuichi; Akagi, Satoshi; Kaneda, Masahiro; Ikeda, Mitsumi; Hosoe, Misa; Kizaki, Keiichiro; Tokunaga, Tomoyuki

    2013-08-01

    Bovine embryonic stem (ES) cells have the potential to provide significant benefits in a range of agricultural and biomedical applications. Here, we employed a combination of conventional methods using glycogen synthase kinase 3 and mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors to establish ES cell lines from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) bovine embryos. Five male cell lines were established from IVF embryos, and two female and three male cell lines from SCNT blastocysts; we named these lines bovine ES cell-like cells (bESLCs). The lines exhibited dome-shaped colonies, stained positively for alkaline phosphatase, and expressed pluripotent stem cell markers such as POU5F1, SOX2, and SSEA-1. The expression levels of these markers, especially for NANOG, varied among the cell lines. A DNA methylation assay showed the POU5F1 promoter region was hypomethylated compared to fibroblast cells. An in vitro differentiation assay showed that endoderm and ectoderm marker genes, but not mesoderm markers, were upregulated in differentiating bESLCs. To examine bESLCs in later embryonic stages, we created 22 chimeric blastocysts with a male bESLC line carrying a GFP marker gene and transferred these to a recipient cow. Four chimeric embryos were subsequently retrieved on Day 13 and retransferred to two recipient cows. One living fetus was obtained at Day 62. GFP signals were not identified in fetal cells by fluorescence microscopy; however, genomic PCR analysis detected the GFP gene in major organs. Clusters of GFP-positive cells were observed in amniotic membranes, suggesting that bESLCs can be categorized as a novel type of ICM-derived cells that can potentially differentiate into epiblast and hypoblast lineages.

  4. LET effects on normal and radiosensitive cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geard, C.R.; Travisano, M.

    1986-01-01

    Charged particles in the track segment mode were produced by the RARAF Van de Graaff accelerator and used to irradiate two CHO cell lines, a radiosensitive hypermutable line EM9 and its normal parent AA8. Asynchronous cells were irradiated attached to 6 micrometer thick Mylar with protons, deuterons and helium-3 particles at LETs ranging from 10 to 150 keV per micrometer. A 50 kVp x-ray tube integrated into the track segment facility provided a low LET comparison. Following irradiation cells were monitored for clonogenicity, and in a separate series of experiments frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges. Up to 9 experiments were carried out at each LET, with a total of 8 radiations of different LETs being compared. The optimally effective LET for cell survival was between 80 and 120 keV per micrometer, with the 150 keV per micrometer particles indicating energy wastage. The differential between the normal and radiosensitive cell lines was maintained at all LETs

  5. Radiation of different human melanoma cell lines increased expression of RHOB. Level of this tumor suppressor gene in different cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Notcovich, C.; Molinari, B.; Duran, H.; Delgado González, D.; Sánchez Crespo, R.

    2013-01-01

    Previous results of our group show that a correlation exists between intrinsic radiosensitivity of human melanoma cells and cell death by apoptosis. RhoB is a small GTPase that regulates cytoskeletal organization. Besides, is related to the process of apoptosis in cells exposed to DNA damage as radiation. Also, RhoB levels decrease in a wide variety of tumors with the tumor stage, being considered a tumor suppressor gene due to its antiproliferative and proapoptotic effect. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of RhoB in different human melanoma cell lines in relation to melanocytes, and evaluate the effect of gamma radiation on the expression of RhoB. We used the A375, SB2 and Meljcell lines, and the derived from melanocytes Pig1. It was found for all three tumor lines RhoB expression levels significantly lower than those of Pig1 (p <0.05), as assessed by semiquantitative RT-PCR . When tumor cells were irradiated to a dose of 2Gyinduction was observed at 3 hours RhoB irradiation. RhoB expression increased in all lines relative to non-irradiated control, showing a greater induction ( p< 0.05) for the more radiosensitive line SB2, consistent with apoptosis in response to radiation. The results allow for the first time in melanoma demonstrate that RhoB, as well as in other tumor types, has a lower expression in tumor cells than their normal counterparts. Moreover, induction in the expression of RhoB in irradiated cells may be associated with the process of radiation-induced apoptosis. The modulation of RhoB could be a new tool to sensitize radioresistant melanoma. (author)

  6. Anatomy of adult Megaphragma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae, one of the smallest insects, and new insight into insect miniaturization.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey A Polilov

    Full Text Available The body size, especially in cases of extreme reduction, is an important characteristic that strongly determines the morphology, physiology, and biology of animals. Miniaturization is a widespread trend in animal evolution and one of the principal directions of evolution in insects. Miniaturization-related features of insect morphology have been subject to intensive studies during the last few years, but the structure of the smallest insects remains insufficiently known. It is especially important to study hymenopterans of the genus Megaphragma, which include the smallest flying insects and a species in which an almost anucleate nervous system was recently discovered. This article is the first detailed study of the external and internal morphology of adults of Megaphragma mymaripenne and M. amalphitanum using histological methods, 3D computer modeling and other techniques. It is shown that in spite of the extremely small size the organization of Megaphragma retains a considerkable level of structural complexity. On the other hand, miniaturization leads to re-organizations of several organ systems. Unique structural features related to miniaturization have been found in both species: lysis of cell bodies and nuclei of neurons at late stages of pupal development, absence of the heart, and considerable reductions in the set of muscles. Comparative analysis of structure in the smallest insects representing different taxa has revealed common features of the evolutionary process of miniaturization in insects.

  7. Induction of apoptosis by opium in some tumor cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khaleghi, M; Farsinejad, A; Dabiri, S; Asadikaram, G

    2016-09-30

    The current study is aimed at investigation of the opium effects on the apoptosis of different cell lines in culture medium and compares such effects with one another. The study is carried out on over 8 cell lines (AA8, AGS, Hela, HepG2, MCF7, N2a, PC12, WEHI). A 2.86 x 10-4 g/ml opium concentration was prepared and added to the culture medium of the cell lines for 48 hours. Cytotoxicity was tested by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The apoptotic effect of opium on the cell lines was analyzed by Annexin-PI test. Opium with concentration of 2.86 x 10-4 g/ml in 48 hours significantly induces apoptosis in certain cell lines (i.e. AA8, N2a, WEHI), apoptosis and necrosis in some others (i.e. Hela, HepG2, MCF7, and PC12), and also solely necrosis in the AGS cell line. One could infer that the usage of opium with different levels in different tissues leads to certain disorders in some tissues and may have therapeutic effects under distinctive conditions (i.e. unchecked growth of cells) as confirmed by the results.

  8. Radiosensitivity evaluation of Human tumor cell lines by single cell gel electrophoresis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yipei; Cao Jia; Wang Yan; Du Liqing; Li Jin; Wang Qin; Fan Feiyue; Liu Qiang

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To explore the feasibility of determining radiosensitivity of human tumor cell lines in vitro using single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE). Methods: Three human tumor cell lines were selected in this study, HepG 2 , EC-9706 and MCF-7. The surviving fraction (SF) and DNA damage were detected by MTT assay, nested PCR technique and comet assay respectively. Results: MTT assay: The SF of HepG 2 and EC-9706 after irradiated by 2, 4 and 8 Gy was lower significantly than that of MCF-7, which showed that the radiosensitivity of HepG 2 and EC-9706 was higher than that of MCF-7. But there was no statistical difference of SF between HepG 2 and EC-9706. SCGE: The difference of radiosensitivity among these three tumor cell lines was significant after 8 Gy γ-ray irradiation. Conclusion: The multi-utilization of many biological parameter is hopeful to evaluate the radiosensitivity of tumor cells more objectively and exactly. (authors)

  9. Radiation-induced phosphorylation of P53 protects radioresistant Spodoptera frugiperda 9 cells by suppressing microRNA-31-Bim-Bax mediated apoptosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Ashish; Chandna, Sudhir

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we demonstrate the role of microRNA-31 (miR-31) in the regulation of radiation-induced apoptosis in model radioresistant insect cell line Sf9 (derived from the ovaries of insect Spodoptera frugiperda) which carries well-conserved apoptotic response. We also investigated the miR-31 expression regulation by p53 homologue in these cells. Our initial in silico analysis confirmed perfect conservation of mature miR-31 across various insect orders, hence we designed biotinylated probes from Bombyx mori sequence for successful detection of miR-31 in Sf9 cells

  10. Sensory hair cell regeneration in the zebrafish lateral line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lush, Mark E; Piotrowski, Tatjana

    2014-10-01

    Damage or destruction of sensory hair cells in the inner ear leads to hearing or balance deficits that can be debilitating, especially in older adults. Unfortunately, the damage is permanent, as regeneration of the inner ear sensory epithelia does not occur in mammals. Zebrafish and other non-mammalian vertebrates have the remarkable ability to regenerate sensory hair cells and understanding the molecular and cellular basis for this regenerative ability will hopefully aid us in designing therapies to induce regeneration in mammals. Zebrafish not only possess hair cells in the ear but also in the sensory lateral line system. Hair cells in both organs are functionally analogous to hair cells in the inner ear of mammals. The lateral line is a mechanosensory system found in most aquatic vertebrates that detects water motion and aids in predator avoidance, prey capture, schooling, and mating. Although hair cell regeneration occurs in both the ear and lateral line, most research to date has focused on the lateral line due to its relatively simple structure and accessibility. Here we review the recent discoveries made during the characterization of hair cell regeneration in zebrafish. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. SENSORY HAIR CELL REGENERATION IN THE ZEBRAFISH LATERAL LINE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lush, Mark E.; Piotrowski, Tatjana

    2014-01-01

    Damage or destruction of sensory hair cells in the inner ear leads to hearing or balance deficits that can be debilitating, especially in older adults. Unfortunately, the damage is permanent, as regeneration of the inner ear sensory epithelia does not occur in mammals. Zebrafish and other non-mammalian vertebrates have the remarkable ability to regenerate sensory hair cells and understanding the molecular and cellular basis for this regenerative ability will hopefully aid us in designing therapies to induce regeneration in mammals. Zebrafish not only possess hair cells in the ear but also in the sensory lateral line system. Hair cells in both organs are functionally analogous to hair cells in the inner ear of mammals. The lateral line is a mechanosensory system found in most aquatic vertebrates that detects water motion and aids in predator avoidance, prey capture, schooling and mating. Although hair cell regeneration occurs in both the ear and lateral line, most research to date has focused on the lateral line due to its relatively simple structure and accessibility. Here we review the recent discoveries made during the characterization of hair cell regeneration in zebrafish. PMID:25045019

  12. Comparison of thermoradiosensitization in two human melanoma cell lines and one fibroblast cell line by concurrent mild hyperthermia and low-dose-rate irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raaphorst, G.P.; Bussey, A.; Heller, D.P.; Ng, C.E.

    1994-01-01

    Two human melanoma cell lines, one radioresistant (Sk-MEL-3) and one radiosensitive (HT-144), and a normal human fibroblast line (AG1522) were evaluated for thermoradiosensitization of low-dose-rate irradiation by concurrent mild hyperthermia (39-41 degrees C). None of the cell lines expressed chronic thermotolerance during heating at 39-41 degrees C. The SK-MEL-3 cells were the most heat sensitive, while AG1522 and HT-144 cells had the same sensitivity at 39 and 40 degrees C but HT-144 cells were more sensitive at 41 degrees C. All cell lines expressed thermal enhancement of radiosensitivity with heating during irradiation which increased with heating temperature. The SK-MEL-3 cells, which were the most resistant to radiation and demonstrated the greatest repair of sublethal damage (SLD) during low-dose-rate irradiation, had the greatest thermal enhancement of radiosensitivity, while the HT144 cells, which were the most sensitive and expressed little repair of SLD during low-dose-rate irradiation, had the smallest thermal enhancement of radiosensitivity. These data show that concurrent mild hyperthermia during low-dose-rate irradiation may be most efficacious in radiation-resistant tumor cells which express resistance through an enhanced capacity for repair of SLD. 24 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

  13. Expression of myc family oncoproteins in small-cell lung-cancer cell lines and xenografts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rygaard, K; Vindeløv, L L; Spang-Thomsen, M

    1993-01-01

    A number of genes have altered activity in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), but especially genes of the myc family (c-myc, L-myc and N-myc) are expressed at high levels in SCLC. Most studies have explored expression at the mRNA level, whereas studies of myc family oncoprotein expression are sparse....... WE examined the expression of myc proto-oncogenes at the mRNA and protein level in 23 cell lines or xenografts. In the cell lines, the doubling time and the cell-cycle distribution, as determined by flow-cytometric DNA analysis, were examined to establish whether the level of myc......-myc. In general, the level of expression of c-myc and N-myc was similar at the mRNA and the protein level. Expression of c-myc was positively correlated with the proliferative index (sum of S and G2+M phases) of cell lines, but not with the population doubling time. In general, L-myc-expressing cell lines had...

  14. Tumourigenic canine osteosarcoma cell lines associated with frizzled-6 up-regulation and enhanced side population cell frequency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Sá Rodrigues, L C; Holmes, K E; Thompson, V; Newton, M A; Stein, T J

    2017-03-01

    An increased serum alkaline phosphatase concentration is known to be associated with a negative prognosis in canine and human osteosarcoma. To expand upon previous studies regarding the biological relevance of increased serum alkaline phosphatase as a negative prognostic factor, xenogeneic heterotopic transplants were performed using six canine primary osteosarcoma cell lines generated from patients with differing serum alkaline phosphatase concentrations (three normal and three increased). Three of the six cell lines were capable of generating tumours and tumour formation was independent of the serum alkaline phosphatase status of the cell line. Microarray analysis identified 379 genes as being differentially expressed between the tumourigenic and non-tumourigenic cell lines. Frizzled-6 was upregulated to the greatest extent (7.78-fold) in tumourigenic cell lines compared with non-tumourigenic cell lines. Frizzled-6, a co-receptor for Wnt ligands has been associated with enhanced tumour-initiating cells and poor prognosis for other tumours. The increased expression of frizzled-6 was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) and Western blot analysis. Additionally, the tumourigenic cell lines also had an increase in the percentage of side population cells compared with non-tumourigenic cell lines (5.89% versus 1.58%, respectively). There were no differences in tumourigenicity, frizzled-6 or percentage of side population cells noted between osteosarcoma cell lines generated from patients of differing serum alkaline phosphatase concentration. However, to our knowledge this is the first study to identified frizzled-6 as a possible marker of osteosarcoma cell populations with enhanced tumourigenicity and side population cells. Future work will focus on defining the role of frizzled-6 in osteosarcoma tumourigenesis and tumour-initiating cells. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Sequence and expression pattern of the germ line marker vasa in honey bees and stingless bees

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Queens and workers of social insects differ in the rates of egg laying. Using genomic information we determined the sequence of vasa, a highly conserved gene specific to the germ line of metazoans, for the honey bee and four stingless bees. The vasa sequence of social bees differed from that of other insects in two motifs. By RT-PCR we confirmed the germ line specificity of Amvasa expression in honey bees. In situ hybridization on ovarioles showed that Amvasa is expressed throughout the germarium, except for the transition zone beneath the terminal filament. A diffuse vasa signal was also seen in terminal filaments suggesting the presence of germ line cells. Oocytes showed elevated levels of Amvasa transcripts in the lower germarium and after follicles became segregated. In previtellogenic follicles, Amvasa transcription was detected in the trophocytes, which appear to supply its mRNA to the growing oocyte. A similar picture was obtained for ovarioles of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, except that Amvasa expression was higher in the oocytes of previtellogenic follicles. The social bees differ in this respect from Drosophila, the model system for insect oogenesis, suggesting that changes in the sequence and expression pattern of vasa may have occurred during social evolution. PMID:21637523

  16. Sequence and expression pattern of the germ line marker vasa in honey bees and stingless bees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Érica Donato Tanaka

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Queens and workers of social insects differ in the rates of egg laying. Using genomic information we determined the sequence of vasa, a highly conserved gene specific to the germ line of metazoans, for the honey bee and four stingless bees. The vasa sequence of social bees differed from that of other insects in two motifs. By RT-PCR we confirmed the germ line specificity of Amvasa expression in honey bees. In situ hybridization on ovarioles showed that Amvasa is expressed throughout the germarium, except for the transition zone beneath the terminal filament. A diffuse vasa signal was also seen in terminal filaments suggesting the presence of germ line cells. Oocytes showed elevated levels of Amvasa transcripts in the lower germarium and after follicles became segregated. In previtellogenic follicles, Amvasa transcription was detected in the trophocytes, which appear to supply its mRNA to the growing oocyte. A similar picture was obtained for ovarioles of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, except that Amvasa expression was higher in the oocytes of previtellogenic follicles. The social bees differ in this respect from Drosophila, the model system for insect oogenesis, suggesting that changes in the sequence and expression pattern of vasa may have occurred during social evolution.

  17. Recombinant protein production from stable mammalian cell lines and pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hacker, David L; Balasubramanian, Sowmya

    2016-06-01

    We highlight recent developments for the production of recombinant proteins from suspension-adapted mammalian cell lines. We discuss the generation of stable cell lines using transposons and lentivirus vectors (non-targeted transgene integration) and site-specific recombinases (targeted transgene integration). Each of these methods results in the generation of cell lines with protein yields that are generally superior to those achievable through classical plasmid transfection that depends on the integration of the transfected DNA by non-homologous DNA end-joining. This is the main reason why these techniques can also be used for the generation of stable cell pools, heterogenous populations of recombinant cells generated by gene delivery and genetic selection without resorting to single cell cloning. This allows the time line from gene transfer to protein production to be reduced. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Cytotoxic Effects of Fascaplysin against Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerhard Hamilton

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Fascaplysin, the natural product of a marine sponge, exhibits anticancer activity against a broad range of tumor cells, presumably through interaction with DNA, and/or as a highly selective cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4 inhibitor. In this study, cytotoxic activity of fascaplysin against a panel of small cell lung cancer (SCLC cell lines and putative synergism with chemotherapeutics was investigated. SCLC responds to first-line chemotherapy with platinum-based drugs/etoposide, but relapses early with topotecan remaining as the single approved therapeutic agent. Fascaplysin was found to show high cytotoxicity against SCLC cells and to induce cell cycle arrest in G1/0 at lower and S-phase at higher concentrations, respectively. The compound generated reactive oxygen species (ROS and induced apoptotic cell death in the chemoresistant NCI-H417 SCLC cell line. Furthermore, fascaplysin revealed marked synergism with the topoisomerase I-directed camptothecin and 10-hydroxy-camptothecin. The Poly(ADP-ribose-Polymerase 1 (PARP1 inhibitor BYK 204165 antagonized the cytotoxic activity of fascaplysin, pointing to the involvement of DNA repair in response to the anticancer activity of the drug. In conclusion, fascaplysin seems to be suitable for treatment of SCLC, based on high cytotoxic activity through multiple routes of action, affecting topoisomerase I, integrity of DNA and generation of ROS.

  19. Electrophysiological Characteristics of Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes are Cell Line-Dependent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias Hannes

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Modelling of cardiac development, physiology and pharmacology by differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs requires comparability of cardiac differentiation between different ESC lines. To investigate whether the outcome of cardiac differentiation is consistent between different ESC lines, we compared electrophysiological properties of ESC-derived cardiomyocytes (ESC-CMs of different murine ESC lines. Methods: Two wild-type (D3 and R1 and two transgenic ESC lines (D3/aPIG44 and CGR8/AMPIGX-7 were differentiated under identical culture conditions. The transgenic cell lines expressed enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP and puromycin-N-acetyltransferase under control of the cardiac specific α-myosin heavy chain (αMHC promoter. Action potentials (APs were recorded using sharp electrodes and multielectrode arrays in beating clusters of ESC-CMs. Results: Spontaneous AP frequency and AP duration (APD as well as maximal upstroke velocity differed markedly between unpurified CMs of the four ESC lines. APD heterogeneity was negligible in D3/aPIG44, moderate in D3 and R1 and extensive in CGR8/AMPIGX-7. Interspike intervals calculated from long-term recordings showed a high degree of variability within and between recordings in CGR8/AMPIGX-7, but not in D3/aPIG44. Purification of the αMHC+ population by puromycin treatment posed only minor changes to APD in D3/aPIG44, but significantly shortened APD in CGR8/AMPIGX-7. Conclusion: Electrophysiological properties of ESC-CMs are strongly cell line-dependent and can be influenced by purification of cardiomyocytes by antibiotic selection. Thus, conclusions on cardiac development, physiology and pharmacology derived from single stem cell lines have to be interpreted carefully.

  20. Insect cells are superior to Escherichia coli in producing malaria proteins inducing IgG targeting PfEMP1 on infected erythrocytes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joergensen Louise

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The PFD1235w Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1 antigen is associated with severe malaria in children and can be expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes (IE adhering to ICAM1. However, the exact three-dimensional structure of this PfEMP1 and its surface-exposed epitopes are unknown. An insect cell and Escherichia coli based system was used to express single and double domains encoded by the pfd1235w var gene. The resulting recombinant proteins have been evaluated for yield and purity and their ability to induce rat antibodies, which react with the native PFD1235w PfEMP1 antigen expressed on 3D7PFD1235w-IE. Their recognition by human anti-malaria antibodies from previously infected Tanzanian donors was also analysed. Methods The recombinant proteins were run on SDS-PAGE and Western blots for quantification and size estimation. Insect cell and E. coli-produced recombinant proteins were coupled to a bead-based Luminex assay to measure the plasma antibody reactivity of 180 samples collected from Tanzanian individuals. The recombinant proteins used for immunization of rats and antisera were also tested by flow cytometry for their ability to surface label 3D7PFD1235w-IE. Results All seven pAcGP67A constructs were successfully expressed as recombinant protein in baculovirus-infected insect cells and subsequently produced to a purity of 60-97% and a yield of 2-15 mg/L. By comparison, only three of seven pET101/D-TOPO constructs expressed in the E. coli system could be produced at all with purity and yield ranging from 3-95% and 6-11 mg/L. All seven insect cell, but only two of the E. coli produced proteins induced antibodies reactive with native PFD1235w expressed on 3D7PFD1235w-IE. The recombinant proteins were recognized in an age- and transmission intensity-dependent manner by antibodies from 180 Tanzanian individuals in a bead-based Luminex assay. Conclusions The baculovirus based insect cell

  1. Expression pattern of matrix metalloproteinases in human gynecological cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schröpfer, Andrea; Kammerer, Ulrike; Kapp, Michaela; Dietl, Johannes; Feix, Sonja; Anacker, Jelena

    2010-01-01

    Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in the degradation of protein components of the extracellular matrix and thus play an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. Their expression is related to the progression of gynecological cancers (e.g. endometrial, cervical or ovarian carcinoma). In this study we investigated the expression pattern of the 23 MMPs, currently known in humans, in different gynecological cancer cell lines. In total, cell lines from three endometrium carcinomas (Ishikawa, HEC-1-A, AN3 CA), three cervical carcinomas (HeLa, Caski, SiHa), three chorioncarcinomas (JEG, JAR, BeWo), two ovarian cancers (BG-1, OAW-42) and one teratocarcinoma (PA-1) were examined. The expression of MMPs was analyzed by RT-PCR, Western blot and gelatin zymography. We demonstrated that the cell lines examined can constitutively express a wide variety of MMPs on mRNA and protein level. While MMP-2, -11, -14 and -24 were widely expressed, no expression was seen for MMP-12, -16, -20, -25, -26, -27 in any of the cell lines. A broad range of 16 MMPs could be found in the PA1 cells and thus this cell line could be used as a positive control for general MMP experiments. While the three cervical cancer cell lines expressed 10-14 different MMPs, the median expression in endometrial and choriocarcinoma cells was 7 different enzymes. The two investigated ovarian cancer cell lines showed a distinctive difference in the number of expressed MMPs (2 vs. 10). Ishikawa, Caski, OAW-42 and BeWo cell lines could be the best choice for all future experiments on MMP regulation and their role in endometrial, cervical, ovarian or choriocarcinoma development, whereas the teratocarcinoma cell line PA1 could be used as a positive control for general MMP experiments

  2. Cell line development for biomanufacturing processes: recent advances and an outlook.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Huong; Vishwanathan, Nandita; Jacob, Nitya M; Gadgil, Mugdha; Hu, Wei-Shou

    2015-08-01

    At the core of a biomanufacturing process for recombinant proteins is the production cell line. It influences the productivity and product quality. Its characteristics also dictate process development, as the process is optimized to complement the producing cell to achieve the target productivity and quality. Advances in the past decade, from vector design to cell line screening, have greatly expanded our capability to attain producing cell lines with certain desired traits. Increasing availability of genomic and transcriptomic resources for industrially important cell lines coupled with advances in genome editing technology have opened new avenues for cell line development. These developments are poised to help biosimilar manufacturing, which requires targeting pre-defined product quality attributes, e.g., glycoform, to match the innovator's range. This review summarizes recent advances and discusses future possibilities in this area.

  3. CRISPR/Cas9 in insects: Applications, best practices and biosafety concerns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taning, Clauvis Nji Tizi; Van Eynde, Benigna; Yu, Na; Ma, Sanyuan; Smagghe, Guy

    2017-04-01

    Discovered as a bacterial adaptive immune system, CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat/CRISPR associated) is being developed as an attractive tool in genome editing. Due to its high specificity and applicability, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing has been employed in a multitude of organisms and cells, including insects, for not only fundamental research such as gene function studies, but also applied research such as modification of organisms of economic importance. Despite the rapid increase in the use of CRISPR in insect genome editing, results still differ from each study, principally due to existing differences in experimental parameters, such as the Cas9 and guide RNA form, the delivery method, the target gene and off-target effects. Here, we review current reports on the successes of CRISPR/Cas9 applications in diverse insects and insect cells. We furthermore summarize several best practices to give a useful checklist of CRISPR/Cas9 experimental setup in insects for beginners. Lastly, we discuss the biosafety concerns related to the release of CRISPR/Cas9-edited insects into the environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Trichloroethylene toxicity in a human hepatoma cell line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thevenin, E.; McMillian, J. [Medical Univ. of Charleston South Carolina, SC (United States)

    1994-12-31

    The experiments conducted in this study were designed to determine the usefullness of hepatocyte cultures and a human hepatoma cell line as model systems for assessing human susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma due to exposure to trichloroethylene. The results from these studies will then be analyzed to determine if human cell lines can be used to conduct future experiments of this nature.

  5. Investigating Engineered Ribonucleoprotein Particles to Improve Oral RNAi Delivery in Crop Insect Pests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillet, François-Xavier; Garcia, Rayssa A; Macedo, Leonardo L P; Albuquerque, Erika V S; Silva, Maria C M; Grossi-de-Sa, Maria F

    2017-01-01

    Genetically modified (GM) crops producing double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) are being investigated largely as an RNA interference (RNAi)-based resistance strategy against crop insect pests. However, limitations of this strategy include the sensitivity of dsRNA to insect gut nucleases and its poor insect cell membrane penetration. Working with the insect pest cotton boll weevil ( Anthonomus grandis ), we showed that the chimeric protein PTD-DRBD (peptide transduction domain-dsRNA binding domain) combined with dsRNA forms a ribonucleoprotein particle (RNP) that improves the effectiveness of the RNAi mechanism in the insect. The RNP slows down nuclease activity, probably by masking the dsRNA. Furthermore, PTD-mediated internalization in insect gut cells is achieved within minutes after plasma membrane contact, limiting the exposure time of the RNPs to gut nucleases. Therefore, the RNP provides an approximately 2-fold increase in the efficiency of insect gene silencing upon oral delivery when compared to naked dsRNA. Taken together, these data demonstrate the role of engineered RNPs in improving dsRNA stability and cellular entry, representing a path toward the design of enhanced RNAi strategies in GM plants against crop insect pests.

  6. Investigating Engineered Ribonucleoprotein Particles to Improve Oral RNAi Delivery in Crop Insect Pests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    François-Xavier Gillet

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Genetically modified (GM crops producing double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs are being investigated largely as an RNA interference (RNAi-based resistance strategy against crop insect pests. However, limitations of this strategy include the sensitivity of dsRNA to insect gut nucleases and its poor insect cell membrane penetration. Working with the insect pest cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis, we showed that the chimeric protein PTD-DRBD (peptide transduction domain—dsRNA binding domain combined with dsRNA forms a ribonucleoprotein particle (RNP that improves the effectiveness of the RNAi mechanism in the insect. The RNP slows down nuclease activity, probably by masking the dsRNA. Furthermore, PTD-mediated internalization in insect gut cells is achieved within minutes after plasma membrane contact, limiting the exposure time of the RNPs to gut nucleases. Therefore, the RNP provides an approximately 2-fold increase in the efficiency of insect gene silencing upon oral delivery when compared to naked dsRNA. Taken together, these data demonstrate the role of engineered RNPs in improving dsRNA stability and cellular entry, representing a path toward the design of enhanced RNAi strategies in GM plants against crop insect pests.

  7. Beneficial Insects and Insect Pollinators on Milkweed in South Georgia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Insect pollinators are essential for the reproduction of more than two-thirds of the world’s crops, and beneficial insects play an important role in managing pest insects in agricultural farmscapes. These insects depend on nectar for their survival in these farmscapes. The flowers of tropical milkwe...

  8. Stinging insect allergy: state of the art 2015.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tankersley, Michael S; Ledford, Dennis K

    2015-01-01

    Stinging insect allergy is responsible for more than 10% of all cases of anaphylaxis. The potential culprit insects are diverse and vary with geography. The incidence of insect allergy is declining in some areas and increasing in others, possibly due to effects of climate change, introduction of species into new areas, outdoor recreational activities, and movement of human populations that brings insects into contact with a greater number of people. Flying Hymenoptera and imported fire ant stings are responsible for the majority of patients evaluated for insect anaphylaxis. The most efficient means of identifying allergy to insects is skin testing although falsely positive and negative results occur. The limitations of testing coupled with the natural temporal variability of allergic sensitivity complicate the interpretation of test results. The clinical history is of paramount importance to be certain that the test results are relevant; therefore, screening or testing before a history of a sting reaction is not advisable. Mast cell disorders are associated with severe anaphylaxis from insect stings and should be considered in affected subjects. Insect immunotherapy, using venoms for most insects and whole-body extracts for imported fire ants, is proven effective in reducing the likelihood of anaphylaxis due to subsequent stings from 40%-60% to less than 5%. Future clinical application of component testing or in vitro cellular tests, such as the basophil activation test, may improve optimal choices for immunotherapy. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. Generation, isolation, and maintenance of rodent mast cells and mast cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Bettina M; Swindle, Emily J; Iwaki, Shoko

    2006-01-01

    Antigen-mediated mast cell activation, with subsequent mediator release, is a major initiator of the inflammatory allergic response associated with such conditions as asthma. A comprehensive understanding of the principles involved in this process therefore is key to the development of novel...... therapies for the treatment of these disease states. In vitro models of mast cell function have allowed significant progress to be made in the recognition of the fundamental principles of mast cell activation via the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcvarepsilonRI) and, more recently, other receptors expressed...... on mast cells. In addition to human mast cells, the major cell culture systems employed to investigate these responses are rat and mouse peritoneal mast cells, mouse bone-marrow-derived mast cells, the rat basophilic leukemia cell line RBL-2H3, and the mouse MC/9 mast cell line. In this unit, we describe...

  10. Single-cell printing to form three-dimensional lines of olfactory ensheathing cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Othon, Christina M; Ringeisen, Bradley R; Wu Xingjia; Anders, Juanita J

    2008-01-01

    Biological laser printing (BioLP(TM)) is a unique tool capable of printing high resolution two- and three-dimensional patterns of living mammalian cells, with greater than 95% viability. These results have been extended to primary cultured olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), harvested from adult Sprague-Dawley rats. OECs have been found to provide stimulating environments for neurite outgrowth in spinal cord injury models. BioLP is unique in that small load volumes (∼μLs) are required to achieve printing, enabling low numbers of OECs to be harvested, concentrated and printed. BioLP was used to form several 8 mm lines of OECs throughout a multilayer hydrogel scaffold. The line width was as low as 20 μm, with most lines comprising aligned single cells. Fluorescent confocal microscopy was used to determine the functionality of the printed OECs, to monitor interactions between printed OECs, and to determine the extent of cell migration throughout the 3D scaffold. High-resolution printing of low cell count, harvested OECs is an important advancement for in vitro study of cell interactions and functionality. In addition, these cell-printed scaffolds may provide an alternative for spinal cord repair studies, as the single-cell patterns formed here are on relevant size scales for neurite outgrowth

  11. The genome of the Hi5 germ cell line from Trichoplusia ni, an agricultural pest and novel model for small RNA biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Yu; Yang, Yujing; Zhang, Han; Farley, Gwen; Wang, Junling; Quarles, Kaycee A; Weng, Zhiping; Zamore, Phillip D

    2018-01-29

    We report a draft assembly of the genome of Hi5 cells from the lepidopteran insect pest, Trichoplusia ni , assigning 90.6% of bases to one of 28 chromosomes and predicting 14,037 protein-coding genes. Chemoreception and detoxification gene families reveal T. ni -specific gene expansions that may explain its widespread distribution and rapid adaptation to insecticides. Transcriptome and small RNA data from thorax, ovary, testis, and the germline-derived Hi5 cell line show distinct expression profiles for 295 microRNA- and >393 piRNA-producing loci, as well as 39 genes encoding small RNA pathway proteins. Nearly all of the W chromosome is devoted to piRNA production, and T. ni siRNAs are not 2´- O -methylated. To enable use of Hi5 cells as a model system, we have established genome editing and single-cell cloning protocols. The T. ni genome provides insights into pest control and allows Hi5 cells to become a new tool for studying small RNAs ex vivo. © 2018, Fu et al.

  12. Global Conservation of Protein Status between Cell Lines and Xenografts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julian Biau

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Common preclinical models for testing anticancer treatment include cultured human tumor cell lines in monolayer, and xenografts derived from these cell lines in immunodeficient mice. Our goal was to determine how similar the xenografts are compared with their original cell line and to determine whether it is possible to predict the stability of a xenograft model beforehand. We studied a selection of 89 protein markers of interest in 14 human cell cultures and respective subcutaneous xenografts using the reverse-phase protein array technology. We specifically focused on proteins and posttranslational modifications involved in DNA repair, PI3K pathway, apoptosis, tyrosine kinase signaling, stress, cell cycle, MAPK/ERK signaling, SAPK/JNK signaling, NFκB signaling, and adhesion/cytoskeleton. Using hierarchical clustering, most cell culture-xenograft pairs cluster together, suggesting a global conservation of protein signature. Particularly, Akt, NFkB, EGFR, and Vimentin showed very stable protein expression and phosphorylation levels highlighting that 4 of 10 pathways were highly correlated whatever the model. Other proteins were heterogeneously conserved depending on the cell line. Finally, cell line models with low Akt pathway activation and low levels of Vimentin gave rise to more reliable xenograft models. These results may be useful for the extrapolation of cell culture experiments to in vivo models in novel targeted drug discovery.

  13. [Effects of ezrin silencing on pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Yun-xiao; Yu, Shuang-ni; Lu, Zhao-hui; Chen, Jie

    2012-12-01

    To explore the effects of ezrin silencing on pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1. Pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1 was transfected with ezrin silencing plasmid. The proliferation and the cell cycle status were determined by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Cellular membrane protrusions/microvilli formation were visualized by scanning election microscopy. Colony formation assay was used to determine the cell anchor-independent growth ability in vitro. Trans-filter migration and invasion assays were performed with 8 µm pore inserts in a 24-well BioCoat chamber with/without Matrigel. Ezrin silencing decreased cellular protrusions/microvilli formation, anchorage-independent growth, cell migration and invasion, but had no effects on cell proliferation in vitro and cell cycle, in pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1. Ezrin expression affects the cellular protrusions/microvilli formation, anchorage-independent growth, cell migration and invasion in pancreatic cancer cell line Panc-1.

  14. Establishment of immortalized human erythroid progenitor cell lines able to produce enucleated red blood cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryo Kurita

    Full Text Available Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs is a standard and indispensable therapy in current clinical practice. In vitro production of RBCs offers a potential means to overcome a shortage of transfusable RBCs in some clinical situations and also to provide a source of cells free from possible infection or contamination by microorganisms. Thus, in vitro production of RBCs may become a standard procedure in the future. We previously reported the successful establishment of immortalized mouse erythroid progenitor cell lines that were able to produce mature RBCs very efficiently. Here, we have developed a reliable protocol for establishing immortalized human erythroid progenitor cell lines that are able to produce enucleated RBCs. These immortalized cell lines produce functional hemoglobin and express erythroid-specific markers, and these markers are upregulated following induction of differentiation in vitro. Most importantly, these immortalized cell lines all produce enucleated RBCs after induction of differentiation in vitro, although the efficiency of producing enucleated RBCs remains to be improved further. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the feasibility of using immortalized human erythroid progenitor cell lines as an ex vivo source for production of enucleated RBCs.

  15. Expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor in human small cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damstrup, L; Rygaard, K; Spang-Thomsen, M

    1992-01-01

    of EGF receptor mRNA in all 10 cell lines that were found to be EGF receptor-positive and in one cell line that was found to be EGF receptor-negative in the radioreceptor assay and affinity labeling. Our results provide, for the first time, evidence that a large proportion of a broad panel of small cell......Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor expression was evaluated in a panel of 21 small cell lung cancer cell lines with radioreceptor assay, affinity labeling, and Northern blotting. We found high-affinity receptors to be expressed in 10 cell lines. Scatchard analysis of the binding data...... demonstrated that the cells bound between 3 and 52 fmol/mg protein with a KD ranging from 0.5 x 10(-10) to 2.7 x 10(-10) M. EGF binding to the receptor was confirmed by affinity-labeling EGF to the EGF receptor. The cross-linked complex had a M(r) of 170,000-180,000. Northern blotting showed the expression...

  16. New model for gastroenteropancreatic large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: establishment of two clinically relevant cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Krieg

    Full Text Available Recently, a novel WHO-classification has been introduced that divided gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NEN according to their proliferation index into G1- or G2-neuroendocrine tumors (NET and poorly differentiated small-cell or large-cell G3-neuroendocrine carcinomas (NEC. Our knowledge on primary NECs of the GEP-system is limited due to the rarity of these tumors and chemotherapeutic concepts of highly aggressive NEC do not provide convincing results. The aim of this study was to establish a reliable cell line model for NEC that could be helpful in identifying novel druggable molecular targets. Cell lines were established from liver (NEC-DUE1 or lymph node metastases (NEC-DUE2 from large cell NECs of the gastroesophageal junction and the large intestine, respectively. Morphological characteristics and expression of neuroendocrine markers were extensively analyzed. Chromosomal aberrations were mapped by array comparative genomic hybridization and DNA profiling was analyzed by DNA fingerprinting. In vitro and in vivo tumorigenicity was evaluated and the sensitivity against chemotherapeutic agents assessed. Both cell lines exhibited typical morphological and molecular features of large cell NEC. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that both cell lines retained their malignant properties. Whereas NEC-DUE1 and -DUE2 were resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs such as cisplatin, etoposide and oxaliplatin, a high sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil was observed for the NEC-DUE1 cell line. Taken together, we established and characterized the first GEP large-cell NEC cell lines that might serve as a helpful tool not only to understand the biology of these tumors, but also to establish novel targeted therapies in a preclinical setup.

  17. Incorrect strain information for mouse cell lines: sequential influence of misidentification on sublines

    OpenAIRE

    Uchio-Yamada, Kozue; Kasai, Fumio; Ozawa, Midori; Kohara, Arihiro

    2016-01-01

    Misidentification or cross-contamination of cell lines can cause serious issues. Human cell lines have been authenticated by short tandem repeat profiling; however, mouse cell lines have not been adequately assessed. In this study, mouse cell lines registered with the JCRB cell bank were examined by simple sequence length polymorphism (SSLP) analysis to identify their strains. Based on comparisons with 7 major inbred strains, our results revealed their strains in 80 of 90 cell lines. However,...

  18. Detection of immunotoxicity using T-cell based cytokine reporter cell lines ('Cell Chip')

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ringerike, Tove; Ulleraas, Erik; Voelker, Rene; Verlaan, Bert; Eikeset, Aase; Trzaska, Dominika; Adamczewska, Violetta; Olszewski, Maciej; Walczak-Drzewiecka, Aurelia; Arkusz, Joanna; Loveren, Henk van; Nilsson, Gunnar; Lovik, Martinus; Dastych, Jaroslaw; Vandebriel, Rob J.

    2005-01-01

    Safety assessment of chemicals and drugs is an important regulatory issue. The evaluation of potential adverse effects of compounds on the immune system depends today on animal experiments. An increasing demand, however, exists for in vitro alternatives. Cytokine measurement is a promising tool to evaluate chemical exposure effects on the immune system. Fortunately, this type of measurement can be performed in conjunction with in vitro exposure models. We have taken these considerations as the starting point to develop an in vitro method to efficiently screen compounds for potential immunotoxicity. The T-cell lymphoma cell line EL-4 was transfected with the regulatory sequences of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10, interferon (IFN)-γ or actin fused to the gene for enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in either a stabile or a destabilised form. Consequently, changes in fluorescence intensity represent changes in cytokine expression with one cell line per cytokine. We used this prototype 'Cell Chip' to test, by means of flow cytometry, the immunomodulatory potential of 13 substances and were able to detect changes in cytokine expression in 12 cases (successful for cyclosporine, rapamycin, pentamidine, thalidomide, bis(tri-n-butyltin)oxide, house dust mite allergen (Der p I), 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, benzocaine, tolylene 2,4-diisocyanate, potassium tetrachloroplatinate, sodium dodecyl sulphate and mercuric chloride; unsuccessful for penicillin G). In conclusion, this approach seems promising for in vitro screening for potential immunotoxicity, especially when additional cell lines besides T-cells are included

  19. Establishment and characterization of a novel osteosarcoma cell line: CHOS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yunlu; Feng, Xiaobo; Zhang, Yukun; Jiang, Hongyan; Cai, Xianyi; Yan, Xinxin; Huang, Zengfa; Mo, Fengbo; Yang, Wen; Yang, Cao; Yang, Shuhua; Liu, Xianzhe

    2016-12-01

    Osteosarcoma has a well-recognized bimodal distribution, with the first peak in adolescence and another in the elderly age-group. The elderly patients have different clinical features and a poorer prognosis as compared to adolescents. To better understand the biological features of osteosarcoma in the elderly population, we established a new human osteosarcoma cell line from a 58-year-old man with primary chondroblastic osteosarcoma. After 6 months of continuous culture in vitro for over 50 passages, an immortalized cell line CHOS was established. The cell line was well-characterized by cytogenetic, biomarker, functional, and histological analyses. The CHOS cells exhibited a spindle-shaped morphology and a doubling time of 36 h. Cytogenetic analysis of CHOS cells revealed the loss of chromosome Y and the gain of chromosome 12. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting and/or immunofluorescence revealed the expression of chondroblastic, mesenchymal and tumor metastasis markers in the CHOS cells. Compared with the osteosarcoma cell line, the CHOS cells were found to be more sensitive to cisplatin and doxorubicin, but were resistant to methotrexate. The cell line was highly tumorigenic and maintained the histological characteristics and invasive nature of the original tumor. Furthermore, on immunohistochemical analysis, the xenografts and metastases were found to co-express collagen II, aggrecan, vimentin and S100A4 that resembled the original tumor cells. Our results indicate, the potential of CHOS cell line to serve as a useful tool for further studies on the molecular biology of osteosarcoma, especially in the elderly patients. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:2116-2125, 2016. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Comparative performance of fetal goat tongue cell line ZZ-R 127 and fetal porcine kidney cell line LFBK-αvβ6 for Foot-and-mouth disease virus isolation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukai, Katsuhiko; Morioka, Kazuki; Yamada, Manabu; Nishi, Tatsuya; Yoshida, Kazuo; Kitano, Rie; Yamazoe, Reiko; Kanno, Toru

    2015-07-01

    The fetal goat tongue cell line ZZ-R 127 and the fetal porcine kidney cell line LFBK-α(v)β(6) have been reported to have high sensitivity to various Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) strains. The suitability of ZZ-R 127 cells for FMDV isolation not only from epithelial suspensions but also from other clinical samples has already been confirmed in a previous study. However, to our knowledge, the suitability of LFBK-α(v)β(6) cells has not been evaluated using clinical samples other than epithelial materials. In addition, both cell lines have never been compared, in terms of use for FMDV isolation, under the same conditions. Therefore, in the current study, the virus isolation rates of both cell lines were compared using clinical samples collected from animals infected experimentally with FMDV. Viruses were successfully isolated from clinical samples other than epithelial suspensions for both cell lines. The virus isolation rates for the 2 cell lines were not significantly different. The Cohen kappa coefficients between the virus isolation results for both cell lines were significantly high. Taken together, these results confirmed the suitability of LFBK-α(v)β(6) cells for FMDV isolation from clinical samples other than epithelial suspensions. The levels of susceptibility of both cell lines to FMDV isolation were also confirmed to be almost the same. © 2015 The Author(s).

  1. Establishment of a novel human medulloblastoma cell line characterized by highly aggressive stem-like cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Patrícia Benites Gonçalves da; Rodini, Carolina Oliveira; Kaid, Carolini; Nakahata, Adriana Miti; Pereira, Márcia Cristina Leite; Matushita, Hamilton; Costa, Silvia Souza da; Okamoto, Oswaldo Keith

    2016-08-01

    Medulloblastoma is a highly aggressive brain tumor and one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality related to childhood cancer. These tumors display differential ability to metastasize and respond to treatment, which reflects their high degree of heterogeneity at the genetic and molecular levels. Such heterogeneity of medulloblastoma brings an additional challenge to the understanding of its physiopathology and impacts the development of new therapeutic strategies. This translational effort has been the focus of most pre-clinical studies which invariably employ experimental models using human tumor cell lines. Nonetheless, compared to other cancers, relatively few cell lines of human medulloblastoma are available in central repositories, partly due to the rarity of these tumors and to the intrinsic difficulties in establishing continuous cell lines from pediatric brain tumors. Here, we report the establishment of a new human medulloblastoma cell line which, in comparison with the commonly used and well-established cell line Daoy, is characterized by enhanced proliferation and invasion capabilities, stem cell properties, increased chemoresistance, tumorigenicity in an orthotopic metastatic model, replication of original medulloblastoma behavior in vivo, strong chromosome structural instability and deregulation of genes involved in neural development. These features are advantageous for designing biologically relevant experimental models in clinically oriented studies, making this novel cell line, named USP-13-Med, instrumental for the study of medulloblastoma biology and treatment.

  2. Identification of genes associated with cisplatin resistance in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Ping; Zhang, Zhiyuan; Zhou, Xiaojian; Qiu, Weiliu; Chen, Fangan; Chen, Wantao

    2006-01-01

    Cisplatin is widely used for chemotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, details of the molecular mechanism responsible for cisplatin resistance are still unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the expression of genes related to cisplatin resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells. A cisplatin-resistant cell line, Tca/cisplatin, was established from a cisplatin-sensitive cell line, Tca8113, which was derived from moderately-differentiated tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Global gene expression in this resistant cell line and its sensitive parent cell line was analyzed using Affymetrix HG-U95Av2 microarrays. Candidate genes involved in DNA repair, the MAP pathway and cell cycle regulation were chosen to validate the microarray analysis results. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis following cisplatin exposure were also investigated. Cisplatin resistance in Tca/cisplatin cells was stable for two years in cisplatin-free culture medium. The IC50 for cisplatin in Tca/cisplatin was 6.5-fold higher than that in Tca8113. Microarray analysis identified 38 genes that were up-regulated and 25 that were down-regulated in this cell line. Some were novel candidates, while others are involved in well-characterized mechanisms that could be relevant to cisplatin resistance, such as RECQL for DNA repair and MAP2K6 in the MAP pathway; all the genes were further validated by Real-time PCR. The cell cycle-regulated genes CCND1 and CCND3 were involved in cisplatin resistance; 24-hour exposure to 10 μM cisplatin induced a marked S phase block in Tca/cisplatin cells but not in Tca8113 cells. The Tca8113 cell line and its stable drug-resistant variant Tca/cisplatin provided a useful model for identifying candidate genes responsible for the mechanism of cisplatin resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Our data provide a useful basis for screening candidate targets for early diagnosis and further intervention in cisplatin resistance

  3. Identification of genes associated with cisplatin resistance in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Ping

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cisplatin is widely used for chemotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, details of the molecular mechanism responsible for cisplatin resistance are still unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the expression of genes related to cisplatin resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells. Methods A cisplatin-resistant cell line, Tca/cisplatin, was established from a cisplatin-sensitive cell line, Tca8113, which was derived from moderately-differentiated tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Global gene expression in this resistant cell line and its sensitive parent cell line was analyzed using Affymetrix HG-U95Av2 microarrays. Candidate genes involved in DNA repair, the MAP pathway and cell cycle regulation were chosen to validate the microarray analysis results. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis following cisplatin exposure were also investigated. Results Cisplatin resistance in Tca/cisplatin cells was stable for two years in cisplatin-free culture medium. The IC50 for cisplatin in Tca/cisplatin was 6.5-fold higher than that in Tca8113. Microarray analysis identified 38 genes that were up-regulated and 25 that were down-regulated in this cell line. Some were novel candidates, while others are involved in well-characterized mechanisms that could be relevant to cisplatin resistance, such as RECQL for DNA repair and MAP2K6 in the MAP pathway; all the genes were further validated by Real-time PCR. The cell cycle-regulated genes CCND1 and CCND3 were involved in cisplatin resistance; 24-hour exposure to 10 μM cisplatin induced a marked S phase block in Tca/cisplatin cells but not in Tca8113 cells. Conclusion The Tca8113 cell line and its stable drug-resistant variant Tca/cisplatin provided a useful model for identifying candidate genes responsible for the mechanism of cisplatin resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Our data provide a useful basis for screening candidate targets for early diagnosis

  4. Mouse DRG Cell Line with Properties of Nociceptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doran, Ciara; Chetrit, Jonathan; Holley, Matthew C; Grundy, David; Nassar, Mohammed A

    2015-01-01

    In vitro cell lines from DRG neurons aid drug discovery because they can be used for early stage, high-throughput screens for drugs targeting pain pathways, with minimal dependence on animals. We have established a conditionally immortal DRG cell line from the Immortomouse. Using immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR and calcium microfluorimetry, we demonstrate that the cell line MED17.11 expresses markers of cells committed to the sensory neuron lineage. Within a few hours under differentiating conditions, MED17.11 cells extend processes and following seven days of differentiation, express markers of more mature DRG neurons, such as NaV1.7 and Piezo2. However, at least at this time-point, the nociceptive marker NaV1.8 is not expressed, but the cells respond to compounds known to excite nociceptors, including the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin, the purinergic receptor agonist ATP and the voltage gated sodium channel agonist, veratridine. Robust calcium transients are observed in the presence of the inflammatory mediators bradykinin, histamine and norepinephrine. MED17.11 cells have the potential to replace or reduce the use of primary DRG culture in sensory, pain and developmental research by providing a simple model to study acute nociception, neurite outgrowth and the developmental specification of DRG neurons.

  5. Gene expression analysis of cell death induction by Taurolidine in different malignant cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chromik, Ansgar M; Weyhe, Dirk; Mittelkötter, Ulrich; Uhl, Waldemar; Hahn, Stephan A; Daigeler, Adrien; Flier, Annegret; Bulut, Daniel; May, Christina; Harati, Kamran; Roschinsky, Jan; Sülberg, Dominique

    2010-01-01

    The anti-infective agent Taurolidine (TRD) has been shown to have cell death inducing properties, but the mechanism of its action is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to identify potential common target genes modulated at the transcriptional level following TRD treatment in tumour cell lines originating from different cancer types. Five different malignant cell lines (HT29, Chang Liver, HT1080, AsPC-1 and BxPC-3) were incubated with TRD (100 μM, 250 μM and 1000 μM). Proliferation after 8 h and cell viability after 24 h were analyzed by BrdU assay and FACS analysis, respectively. Gene expression analyses were carried out using the Agilent -microarray platform to indentify genes which displayed conjoint regulation following the addition of TRD in all cell lines. Candidate genes were subjected to Ingenuity Pathways Analysis and selected genes were validated by qRT-PCR and Western Blot. TRD 250 μM caused a significant inhibition of proliferation as well as apoptotic cell death in all cell lines. Among cell death associated genes with the strongest regulation in gene expression, we identified pro-apoptotic transcription factors (EGR1, ATF3) as well as genes involved in the ER stress response (PPP1R15A), in ubiquitination (TRAF6) and mitochondrial apoptotic pathways (PMAIP1). This is the first conjoint analysis of potential target genes of TRD which was performed simultaneously in different malignant cell lines. The results indicate that TRD might be involved in different signal transduction pathways leading to apoptosis

  6. DNA excision repair in cell extracts from human cell lines exhibiting hypersensitivity to DNA-damaging agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansson, J.; Keyse, S.M.; Lindahl, T.; Wood, R.D.

    1991-01-01

    Whole cell extracts from human lymphoid cell lines can perform in vitro DNA repair synthesis in plasmids damaged by agents including UV or cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cis-DDP). Extracts from xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) cells are defective in repair synthesis. We have now studied in vitro DNA repair synthesis using extracts from lymphoblastoid cell lines representing four human hereditary syndromes with increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents. Extracts of cell lines from individuals with the sunlight-sensitive disorders dysplastic nevus syndrome or Cockayne's syndrome (complementation groups A and B) showed normal DNA repair synthesis in plasmids with UV photoproducts. This is consistent with in vivo measurements of the overall DNA repair capacity in such cell lines. A number of extracts were prepared from two cell lines representing the variant form of XP (XP-V). Half of the extracts prepared showed normal levels of in vitro DNA repair synthesis in plasmids containing UV lesions, but the remainder of the extracts from the same cell lines showed deficient repair synthesis, suggesting the possibility of an unusually labile excision repair protein in XP-V. Fanconi's anemia (FA) cells show cellular hypersensitivity to cross-linking agents including cis-DDP. Extracts from cell lines belonging to two different complementation groups of FA showed normal DNA repair synthesis in plasmids containing cis-DDP or UV adducts. Thus, there does not appear to be an overall excision repair defect in FA, but the data do not exclude a defect in the repair of interstrand DNA cross-links

  7. Radiation response of mouse lymphoid and myeloid cell lines. Pt. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radford, I.R.

    1994-01-01

    The sensitivity of 10 mouse lymphoid or myeloid cell lines to γ-ray- and DNA-associated 125 I-decay-induced clonogenic cell killing have been compared with their rate of loss of viability (membrane integrity) and with their putative cell type of origin. The increased sensitivity of haematopoietic cell lines to killing by DNA dsb may be related to their mode of death (apoptosis versus necrosis). Mode of cell death may thus be an important factor in determining the 'inherent radiosensitivity' of normal cells/tissues. Haematopoietic cell lines that undergo rapid interphase apoptotic death showed extreme sensitivity to DNA dsb. (author)

  8. Modelling cell population growth with applications to cancer therapy in human tumour cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basse, Britta; Baguley, Bruce C; Marshall, Elaine S; Wake, Graeme C; Wall, David J N

    2004-01-01

    In this paper we present an overview of the work undertaken to model a population of cells and the effects of cancer therapy. We began with a theoretical one compartment size structured cell population model and investigated its asymptotic steady size distributions (SSDs) (On a cell growth model for plankton, MMB JIMA 21 (2004) 49). However these size distributions are not similar to the DNA (size) distributions obtained experimentally via the flow cytometric analysis of human tumour cell lines (data obtained from the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, New Zealand). In our one compartment model, size was a generic term, but in order to obtain realistic steady size distributions we chose size to be DNA content and devised a multi-compartment mathematical model for the cell division cycle where each compartment corresponds to a distinct phase of the cell cycle (J. Math. Biol. 47 (2003) 295). We then incorporated another compartment describing the possible induction of apoptosis (cell death) from mitosis phase (Modelling cell death in human tumour cell lines exposed to anticancer drug paclitaxel, J. Math. Biol. 2004, in press). This enabled us to compare our model to flow cytometric data of a melanoma cell line where the anticancer drug, paclitaxel, had been added. The model gives a dynamic picture of the effects of paclitaxel on the cell cycle. We hope to use the model to describe the effects of other cancer therapies on a number of different cell lines. Copyright 2004 Elsevier Ltd.

  9. The evolutionary development of plant-feeding insects and their nutritional endosymbionts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skidmore, Isabel H; Hansen, Allison K

    2017-12-01

    Herbivorous insects have evolved diverse mechanisms enabling them to feed on plants with suboptimal nutrient availability. Low nutrient availability negatively impacts insect herbivore development and fitness. To overcome this obstacle numerous insect lineages have evolved intimate associations with nutritional endosymbionts. This is especially true for insects that specialize on nitrogen-poor substrates, as these insects are highly dependent on intracellular symbionts to provide nitrogen lacking in their insect host's diet. Emerging evidence in these systems suggest that the symbiont's and/or the insect's biosynthetic pathways are dynamically regulated throughout the insect's development to potentially cope with the insect's changing nutritional demands. In this review, we evaluate the evolutionary development of symbiotic insect cells (bacteriocytes) by comparing and contrasting genes and mechanisms involved in maintaining and regulating the nutritional symbiosis throughout insect development in a diversity of insect herbivore-endosymbiont associations. With new advances in genome sequencing and functional genomics, we evaluate to what extent nutritional symbioses are shaped by (i) the regulation of symbiont titer, (ii) the regulation of insect symbiosis genes, and (iii) the regulation of symbiont genes. We discuss how important these mechanisms are for the biosynthesis of essential amino acids and vitamins across insect life stages in divergent insect-symbiont systems. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research to further elucidate the evolutionary development of bacteriocytes and the impact of these nutritional symbioses on insect-plant interactions. © 2017 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  10. A molecular concept of caste in insect societies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumner, Seirian; Bell, Emily; Taylor, Daisy

    2018-02-01

    The term 'caste' is used to describe the division of reproductive labour that defines eusocial insect societies. The definition of 'caste' has been debated over the last 50 years, specifically with respect to the simplest insect societies; this raises the question of whether a simple categorisation of social behaviour by reproductive state alone is helpful. Gene-level analyses of behaviours of individuals in hymenopteran social insect societies now provide a new empirical base-line for defining caste and understanding the evolution and maintenance of a reproductive division of labour. We review this literature to identify a set of potential molecular signatures that, combined with behavioural, morphological and physiological data, help define caste more precisely; these signatures vary with the type of society, and are likely to be influenced by ecology, life-history, and stage in the colony cycle. We conclude that genomic approaches provide us with additional ways to help quantify and categorise caste, and behaviour in general. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Edible Insects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huis, van A.; Dunkel, F.V.

    2016-01-01

    The interest in insects as human food in the Western world is increasingly considered as a viable alternative to other protein sources. In tropical countries it is common practice and about 2000 insect species are eaten. Insects emit low levels of greenhouse gases, need little water, and require

  12. DNA fingerprinting of glioma cell lines and considerations on similarity measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bady, Pierre; Diserens, Annie-Claire; Castella, Vincent; Kalt, Stefanie; Heinimann, Karl; Hamou, Marie-France; Delorenzi, Mauro; Hegi, Monika E

    2012-06-01

    Glioma cell lines are an important tool for research in basic and translational neuro-oncology. Documentation of their genetic identity has become a requirement for scientific journals and grant applications to exclude cross-contamination and misidentification that lead to misinterpretation of results. Here, we report the standard 16 marker short tandem repeat (STR) DNA fingerprints for a panel of 39 widely used glioma cell lines as reference. Comparison of the fingerprints among themselves and with the large DSMZ database comprising 9 marker STRs for 2278 cell lines uncovered 3 misidentified cell lines and confirmed previously known cross-contaminations. Furthermore, 2 glioma cell lines exhibited identity scores of 0.8, which is proposed as the cutoff for detecting cross-contamination. Additional characteristics, comprising lack of a B-raf mutation in one line and a similarity score of 1 with the original tumor tissue in the other, excluded a cross-contamination. Subsequent simulation procedures suggested that, when using DNA fingerprints comprising only 9 STR markers, the commonly used similarity score of 0.8 is not sufficiently stringent to unambiguously differentiate the origin. DNA fingerprints are confounded by frequent genetic alterations in cancer cell lines, particularly loss of heterozygosity, that reduce the informativeness of STR markers and, thereby, the overall power for distinction. The similarity score depends on the number of markers measured; thus, more markers or additional cell line characteristics, such as information on specific mutations, may be necessary to clarify the origin.

  13. Insects: A nutritional alternative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dufour, P. A.

    1981-01-01

    Insects are considered as potential food sources in space. Types of insects consumed are discussed. Hazards of insect ingestion are considered. Insect reproduction, requirements, and raw materials conversion are discussed. Nutrition properties and composition of insects are considered. Preparation of insects as human food is discussed.

  14. [The characters and specific features of new human embryonic stem cells lines].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krylova, T A; Kol'tsova, A M; Zenin, V V; Gordeeva, O F; Musorina, A S; Goriachaia, T S; Shlykova, S A; Kamenetskaia, Iu K; Pinaev, G P; Polianskaia, G G

    2009-01-01

    Four continuous human embryonic stem cell lines (SC1, SC2, SC3 and SC4), derived from the blastocysts has been described. The cell lines were cultivated on mitotically inactivated human feeder cells. The cell lines SC1 and SC2 have passed through 150 population doublings and the cell lines SC3 and SC4 -- near 120 populations doublings, which exceeds Hayflick limit sufficiently. These cell lines maintain high activity of alkaline phosphatase, expression of transcription factor OCT-4 and cell surface antigens (SSEA-4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81), confirming their ESC status and human specificity. Immunofluorescent detection of antigens, characteristic of ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm confirms the ability of these cells to retain their pluripotency under in vitro condition. PCR analysis revealed expression of six genes specific for pluripotent cells (OCT-4, NANOG, DPPA3/STELLA, TDGF/CRIPTO and LEFTYA). Correlation between the level of proliferative activity and the character of DNA-bound fluorescent staining was found. Fluorescent dyes, Hoechst 33342 and PI, produced diffuse staining of the nuclei in slowly proliferating cells of the SC1 and SC2 lines. In contrast, in actively proliferating cells of the SC3 and SC4 lines, the clear staining of the nuclei was observed. Upon changing the cultivation condition, proliferative activity of SC3 and SC4 lines decreased and became similar to that of SC1 and SC2 lines. The character of the fluorescent staining of all these lines was also shown to be similar. These results show that quality of the fluorescent staining with Hoechst 33342 and PI reflects the level of proliferation. Possible causes and mechanisms of this feature of human ESC are discussed.

  15. Effect of sirolimus on urinary bladder cancer T24 cell line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oliveira Paula A

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Sirolimus is recently reported to have antitumour effects on a large variety of cancers. The present study was performed to investigate sirolimus's ability to inhibit growth in T24 bladder cancer cells. Methods T24 bladder cancer cells were treated with various concentrations of sirolimus. MTT assay was used to evaluate the proliferation inhibitory effect on T24 cell line. The viability of T24 cell line was determined by Trypan blue exclusion analysis. Results Sirolimus inhibits the growth of bladder carcinoma cells and decreases their viability. Significant correlations were found between cell proliferation and sirolimus concentration (r = 0.830; p Conclusion Sirolimus has an anti-proliferation effect on the T24 bladder carcinoma cell line. The information from our results is useful for a better understanding sirolimus's anti-proliferative activity in the T24 bladder cancer cell line.

  16. An experimental study on the low-dose radiosensitivity of tumor cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Min Sook; Koh, Kwang Joon

    1994-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to aid in the radiation therapy of head and neck cancer patients. For this study, radiation survival curves were generated for B16, MG-63 and YAC-1 cell lines using semiautomated MTT assay and Dye Exclusion Assay. Irradiation of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Gy were delivered at room temperature at a dose rate of 210.2 cGy/min using 60 COγ-ray irradiator ALDORADO 8. The viable cells were determined for each radiation dose and compared to control values. The obtained results were as follows: 1. The was significantly different absorbance at 10 Gy on B16 cell line in MTT assay (P<0.05). 2. There was significantly different absorbance at 4, 6, 8, 10 Gy on MG-63 cell line in MTT assay (P<0.05). 3. YAC-1 cell line was more sensitive than B16 or MG-63 cell line to all doses of radiation (P<0.05). 4. There was significantly different absorbance among all tumor cell lines except between B16 and MG-63 cell line at 2 Gy in MTT assay (P<0.05). 5. Good correlation was obtained between MTT assay and DEA (P<0.05). The efficient of correlation of B16, MG-63 and YAC-1 cell line was 0.845-0.824 and 0.906, respectively.

  17. Cellular and Phenotypic Characterization of Canine Osteosarcoma Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie E. Legare, Jamie Bush, Amanda K. Ashley, Taka Kato, William H. Hanneman

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Canine and human osteosarcoma (OSA have many similarities, with the majority of reported cases occurring in the appendicular skeleton, gender predominance noted, high rate of metastasis at the time of presentation, and a lack of known etiology for this devastating disease. Due to poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying OSA, we have characterized seven different OSA canine cell lines: Abrams, D17, Grey, Hughes, Ingles, Jarques, and Marisco and compared them to U2, a human OSA cell line, for the following parameters: morphology, growth, contact inhibition, migrational tendencies, alkaline phosphatase staining, heterologous tumor growth, double-strand DNA breaks, and oxidative damage. All results demonstrated the positive characteristics of the Abrams cell line for use in future studies of OSA. Of particular interest, the robust growth of a subcutaneous tumor and rapid pulmonary metastasis of the Abrams cell line in an immunocompromised mouse shows incredible potential for the future use of Abrams as a canine OSA model. Further investigations utilizing a canine cell model of OSA, such as Abrams, will be invaluable to understanding the molecular events underlying OSA, pharmaceutical inhibition of metastasis, and eventual prevention of this devastating disease.

  18. Establishment of optimized MDCK cell lines for reliable efflux transport studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gartzke, Dominik; Fricker, Gert

    2014-04-01

    Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells transfected with human MDR1 gene (MDCK-MDR1) encoding for P-glycoprotein (hPgp, ABCB1) are widely used for transport studies to identify drug candidates as substrates of this efflux protein. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on constant and comparable expression levels of Pgp to avoid false negative or positive results. We generated a cell line with homogenously high and stable expression of hPgp through sorting single clones from a MDCK-MDR1 cell pool using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). To obtain control cell lines for evaluation of cross-interactions with endogenous canine Pgp (cPgp) wild-type cells were sorted with a low expression pattern of cPgp in comparison with the MDCK-MDR1. Expression of other transporters was also characterized in both cell lines by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot. Pgp function was investigated applying the Calcein-AM assay as well as bidirectional transport assays using (3) H-Digoxin, (3) H-Vinblastine, and (3) H-Quinidine as substrates. Generated MDCK-MDR1 cell lines showed high expression of hPgp. Control MDCK-WT cells were optimized in showing a comparable expression level of cPgp in comparison with MDCK-MDR1 cell lines. Generated cell lines showed higher and more selective Pgp transport compared with parental cells. Therefore, they provide a significant improvement in the performance of efflux studies yielding more reliable results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

  19. Consuming insects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roos, N.; Huis, van A.

    2017-01-01

    How healthy are insects? This is a highly relevant question in view of the global interest in the potential of insects as a sustainable food source in food systems and diets. Edible insects, like other foods, can provide nutrients and dietary energy to meet the requirements of the human body as a

  20. Development and characterization of a cell line WAF from freshwater shark Wallago attu.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubey, Akhilesh; Goswami, Mukunda; Yadav, Kamalendra; Sharma, Bhagwati S

    2014-02-01

    A new epithelial cell line, WAF was developed from caudal fin of freshwater shark, Wallago attu. The cell line was optimally maintained at 28 °C in Leibovitz-15 (L-15) medium supplemented with 20 % fetal bovine serum. The cell line was characterized by various cytogenetic and molecular markers. The cytogenetic analysis revealed a diploid count of 86 chromosomes at different passages. The origin of the cell lines was confirmed by the amplification of 547 and 654 bp sequences of 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I genes of mitochondrial DNA, respectively. WAF cells were characterized for their growth characteristics at different temperature and serum concentration. Epithelial morphology of the cell line was confirmed using immunocytochemistry. Further cell plating efficiency, transfection efficiency and viability of cryopreserved WAF cells was also determined. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assessment of cadmium salts on WAF cells by MTT, NR and comet assay illustrated the utility of this cell line as an in vitro model for aquatic toxicological studies. The cell line will be further useful for studying oxidative stress markers against aquatic pollutants.

  1. Isolation and characterization of a radiosensitive Chinese hamster ovary cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuller, L.F.

    1987-01-01

    A x-ray sensitive Chinese hamster ovary cell line was isolated using a semi-automated procedure in which mutagenized CHO cells were allowed to form colonies on top of agar, x-irradiated, then photographed at two later times. Comparison of the photographs allowed the identification of colonies which displayed significant growth arrest. One of the colonies identified in this manner produced a stable, radiosensitive line. This cell line is normal in x-ray induced inhibition of DNA synthesis, and single- and double-strand break repair, and is moderately sensitive to ethyl methane sulfonate and UV light. The sensitive line performs only half as much x-ray-induced repair replication as the parental line and this deficiency is believed to be the primary cause of its radiosensitivity. The sensitive line produces significantly higher numbers of x-ray-induced chromosome and chromatid aberrations including chromatid aberrations following exposure during the G 1 phase of the cell cycle. The line is hypomutable compared to the parental line with x-ray exposure inducing only one-third as many 6-thioguanine resistant colonies

  2. A novel RNA sequencing data analysis method for cell line authentication.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erik Fasterius

    Full Text Available We have developed a novel analysis method that can interrogate the authenticity of biological samples used for generation of transcriptome profiles in public data repositories. The method uses RNA sequencing information to reveal mutations in expressed transcripts and subsequently confirms the identity of analysed cells by comparison with publicly available cell-specific mutational profiles. Cell lines constitute key model systems widely used within cancer research, but their identity needs to be confirmed in order to minimise the influence of cell contaminations and genetic drift on the analysis. Using both public and novel data, we demonstrate the use of RNA-sequencing data analysis for cell line authentication by examining the validity of COLO205, DLD1, HCT15, HCT116, HKE3, HT29 and RKO colorectal cancer cell lines. We successfully authenticate the studied cell lines and validate previous reports indicating that DLD1 and HCT15 are synonymous. We also show that the analysed HKE3 cells harbour an unexpected KRAS-G13D mutation and confirm that this cell line is a genuine KRAS dosage mutant, rather than a true isogenic derivative of HCT116 expressing only the wild type KRAS. This authentication method could be used to revisit the numerous cell line based RNA sequencing experiments available in public data repositories, analyse new experiments where whole genome sequencing is not available, as well as facilitate comparisons of data from different experiments, platforms and laboratories.

  3. Application of DNA fingerprints for cell-line individualization.

    OpenAIRE

    Gilbert, D A; Reid, Y A; Gail, M H; Pee, D; White, C; Hay, R J; O'Brien, S J

    1990-01-01

    DNA fingerprints of 46 human cell lines were derived using minisatellite probes for hypervariable genetic loci. The incidence of 121 HaeIII DNA fragments among 33 cell lines derived from unrelated individuals was used to estimate allelic and genotypic frequencies for each fragment and for composite individual DNA fingerprints. We present a quantitative estimate of the extent of genetic difference between individuals, an estimate based on the percentage of restriction fragments at which they d...

  4. Hematopoietic Cancer Cell Lines Can Support Replication of Sabin Poliovirus Type 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Eikenhorst, Gerco; de Gruijl, Tanja D.; van der Pol, Leo A.; Bakker, Wilfried A. M.

    2015-01-01

    Viral vaccines can be produced in adherent or in suspension cells. The objective of this work was to screen human suspension cell lines for the capacity to support viral replication. As the first step, it was investigated whether poliovirus can replicate in such cell lines. Sabin poliovirus type 1 was serially passaged on five human cell lines, HL60, K562, KG1, THP-1, and U937. Sabin type 1 was capable of efficiently replicating in three cell lines (K562, KG1, and U937), yielding high viral titers after replication. Expression of CD155, the poliovirus receptor, did not explain susceptibility to replication, since all cell lines expressed CD155. Furthermore, we showed that passaged virus replicated more efficiently than parental virus in KG1 cells, yielding higher virus titers in the supernatant early after infection. Infection of cell lines at an MOI of 0.01 resulted in high viral titers in the supernatant at day 4. Infection of K562 with passaged Sabin type 1 in a bioreactor system yielded high viral titers in the supernatant. Altogether, these data suggest that K562, KG1, and U937 cell lines are useful for propagation of poliovirus. PMID:25815312

  5. Efficient production of a gene mutant cell line through integrating TALENs and high-throughput cell cloning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Changhong; Fan, Yu; Li, Juan; Wang, Gancheng; Zhang, Hanshuo; Xi, Jianzhong Jeff

    2015-02-01

    Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are becoming powerful DNA-targeting tools in a variety of mammalian cells and model organisms. However, generating a stable cell line with specific gene mutations in a simple and rapid manner remains a challenging task. Here, we report a new method to efficiently produce monoclonal cells using integrated TALE nuclease technology and a series of high-throughput cell cloning approaches. Following this method, we obtained three mTOR mutant 293T cell lines within 2 months, which included one homozygous mutant line. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

  6. Multidrug resistance and retroviral transduction potential in human small cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Theilade, M D; Gram, G J; Jensen, P B

    1999-01-01

    Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a major problem in the successful treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). New treatment strategies are needed, such as gene therapy specifically targeting the MDR cells in the tumor. Retroviral LacZ gene-containing vectors that were either pseudotyped...... for the gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV-1) receptor or had specificity for the amphotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV-A) receptor were used for transduction of five SCLC cell lines differing by a range of MDR mechanisms. Transduction efficiencies in these cell lines were compared by calculating the percentage...... of blue colonies after X-Gal staining of the cells grown in soft agar. All examined SCLC cell lines were transducible with either vector. Transduction efficiencies varied from 5.7% to 33.5% independent of the presence of MDR. These results indicate that MDR does not severely impair transduction of SCLC...

  7. An economic approach to efficient isotope labeling in insect cells using homemade {sup 15}N-, {sup 13}C- and {sup 2}H-labeled yeast extracts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Opitz, Christian; Isogai, Shin; Grzesiek, Stephan, E-mail: Stephan.Grzesiek@unibas.ch [University of Basel, Focal Area Structural Biology and Biophysics, Biozentrum (Switzerland)

    2015-07-15

    Heterologous expression of proteins in insect cells is frequently used for crystallographic structural studies due to the high yields even for challenging proteins requiring the eukaryotic protein processing capabilities of the host. However for NMR studies, the need for isotope labeling poses extreme challenges in eukaryotic hosts. Here, we describe a robust method to achieve uniform protein {sup 15}N and {sup 13}C labeling of up to 90 % in baculovirus-infected insect cells. The approach is based on the production of labeled yeast extract, which is subsequently supplemented to insect cell growth media. The method also allows deuteration at levels of >60 % without decrease in expression yield. The economic implementation of the labeling procedures into a standard structural biology laboratory environment is described in a step-by-step protocol. Applications are demonstrated for a variety of NMR experiments using the Abelson kinase domain, GFP, and the beta-1 adrenergic receptor as examples. Deuterated expression of the latter provides spectra of very high quality of a eukaryotic G-protein coupled receptor.

  8. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV in two human glioma cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Sedo

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available There is growing evidence that dipeptidyl peptidase IV [DPP-IV, EC 3.4.14.5] takes part in the metabolism of biologically active peptides participating in the regulation of growth and transformation of glial cells. However, the knowledge on the DPP-IV expression in human glial and glioma cells is still very limited. In this study, using histochemical and biochemical techniques, the DPP-IV activity was demonstrated in two commercially available human glioma cell lines of different transformation degree, as represented by U373 astrocytoma (Grade III and U87 glioblastoma multiforme (Grade IV lines. Higher total activity of the enzyme, as well as its preferential localisation in the plasma membrane, was observed in U87 cells. Compared to U373 population, U87 cells were morphologically more pleiomorphic, they were cycling at lower rate and expressing less Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein. The data revealed positive correlation between the degree of transformation of cells and activity of DPP-IV. Great difference in expression of this enzyme, together with the phenotypic differences of cells, makes these lines a suitable standard model for further 57 studies of function of this enzyme in human glioma cells.

  9. Establishment of a pig fibroblast-derived cell line for locus-directed transgene expression in cell cultures and blastocysts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Jannik E; Li, Juan; Moldt, Brian

    2011-01-01

    We report the establishment of a spontaneously immortalized pig cell line designated Pig Flip-in Visualize (PFV) for locus-directed transgene expression in pig cells and blastocysts. The PFV cell line was isolated from pig ear fibroblasts transfected with a Sleeping Beauty DNA transposon-based do......We report the establishment of a spontaneously immortalized pig cell line designated Pig Flip-in Visualize (PFV) for locus-directed transgene expression in pig cells and blastocysts. The PFV cell line was isolated from pig ear fibroblasts transfected with a Sleeping Beauty DNA transposon...

  10. All insects are equal, but some insects are more equal than others

    OpenAIRE

    Fischer, Arnout R.H.; Steenbekkers, L.P.A.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: Lack of acceptance of insects as food is considered a barrier against societal adoption of the potentially valuable contribution of insects to human foods. An underlying barrier may be that insects are lumped together as one group, while consumers typically try specific insects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which Dutch consumers, with and without insect tasting experience, are more or less willing to eat different insects. Design/methodology/approach: In a ...

  11. Radiation response of mouse lymphoid and myeloid cell lines. Pt. 3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radford, I.R.; Murphy, T.K.

    1994-01-01

    The authors have examined the timing of γ-irradiation-induced death in relation to cell cycle progression using a panel of mouse lymphoid or myeloid cell lines. Death was found to occur immediately after irradiation ('rapid interphase' death), or after arrest in G 2 phase ('delayed interphase' death), or following one or more mitoses ('mitotic/delayed mitotic' death). In part II of this series of papers the authors demonstrated the occurrence of radiation-induced apoptosis in all these cell lines. Several of the cell lines showed different timing of death dependent upon the radiation dose used. These differences in the timing of radiation-induced death are shown to be useful indicators of the relative radiosensitivity of haematopoietic cell lines. (author)

  12. Antiproliferative activity of flavonoids on several cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawaii, S; Tomono, Y; Katase, E; Ogawa, K; Yano, M

    1999-05-01

    Twenty-seven Citrus flavonoids were examined for their antiproliferative activities against several tumor and normal human cell lines. As a result, 7 flavonoids were judged to be active against the tumor cell lines, while they had weak antiproliferative activity against the normal human cell lines. The rank order of potency was luteolin, natsudaidain, quercetin, tangeretin, eriodictyol, nobiletin, and 3,3',4',5,6,7,8-heptamethoxyflavone. The structure-activity relationship established from comparison among these flavones and flavanones showed that the ortho-catechol moiety in ring B and a C2-C3 double bond were important for the antiproliferative activity. As to polymethoxylated flavones, C-3 hydroxyl and C-8 methoxyl groups were essential for high activity.

  13. Interaction between x-irradiated plateau-phase bone marrow stromal cell lines and co-cultivated factor-dependent cell lines leading to leukemogenesis in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naparstek, E.; Anklesaria, P.; FitzGerald, T.J.; Sakakeeny, M.A.; Greenberger, J.S.

    1987-01-01

    Plateau-phase mouse clonal bone marrow stromal cell lines D2XRII and C3H cl 11 produce decreasing levels of M-CSF (CSF-1), a specific macrophage progenitor cell humoral regulator, following X-irradiation in vitro. The decrease did not go below 40% of control levels, even after irradiation doses of 50,000 rad (500 Gy). In contrast, a distinct humoral regulator stimulating growth of GM-CSF/IL-3 factor-dependent (FD) hematopoietic progenitor cell lines was detected following radiation to doses above 2000 rad. This humoral factor was not detectable in conditioned medium from irradiated cells, weakly detected using factor-dependent target cell populations in agar overlay, and was prominently detected by liquid co-cultivation of factor-dependent cells with irradiated stromal cell cultures. Subclonal lines of FD cells, derived after co-cultivation revealed karyotypic abnormalities and induced myeloblastic tumors in syngeneic mice. Five-eight weeks co-cultivation was required for induction of factor independence and malignancy and was associated with dense cell to cell contact between FD cells and stromal cells demonstrated by light and electron microscopy. Increases in hematopoietic to stromal cell surface area, total number of adherent cells per flask, total non-adherent cell colonies per flask, and cumulative non-adherent cell production were observed after irradiation. The present data may prove very relevant to an understanding of the cell to cell interactions during X-irradiation-induced leukemia

  14. The mitochondria-mediate apoptosis of Lepidopteran cells induced by azadirachtin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jingfei Huang

    Full Text Available Mitochondria have been shown to play an important role in apoptosis using mammalian cell lines. However, this seems not to be the case in Drosophila, an insect model organism; thus more in-depth studies of insect cell apoptosis are necessary. In the present study, mitochondrial involvement during azadirachtin- and camptothecin-induced apoptosis in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells (isolated from Spodoptera frugiperda pupal ovarian tissue was investigated. The results showed that both azadirachtin and camptothecin could induce apoptosis in Sf9 cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS generation, activation of mitochondrial permeability transition pores (MPTPs and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP were observed very early during apoptosis and were followed subsequently by the release of cytochrome-c from the mitochondria. Furthermore, the results also revealed that the opening of MPTPs and the loss of MMP induced by azadirachtin could be significantly inhibited by the permeability transition pore (PTP inhibitor cyclosporin A (CsA, which was used to identify the key role of mitochondria in the apoptosis of Sf9 cells. However, in camptothecin-treated Sf9 cells, CsA could not suppress the opening of MPTPs and the loss of MMP when apoptosis was induced. The data from caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity assays and detection of apoptosis by morphological observation and flow cytometry also uncovered the different effect of CsA on the two botanical apoptosis inducers. Although different mechanisms of apoptosis induction exist, our study revealed that mitochondria play a crucial role in insect cell line apoptosis.

  15. The mitochondria-mediate apoptosis of Lepidopteran cells induced by azadirachtin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jingfei; Lv, Chaojun; Hu, Meiying; Zhong, Guohua

    2013-01-01

    Mitochondria have been shown to play an important role in apoptosis using mammalian cell lines. However, this seems not to be the case in Drosophila, an insect model organism; thus more in-depth studies of insect cell apoptosis are necessary. In the present study, mitochondrial involvement during azadirachtin- and camptothecin-induced apoptosis in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells (isolated from Spodoptera frugiperda pupal ovarian tissue) was investigated. The results showed that both azadirachtin and camptothecin could induce apoptosis in Sf9 cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, activation of mitochondrial permeability transition pores (MPTPs) and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were observed very early during apoptosis and were followed subsequently by the release of cytochrome-c from the mitochondria. Furthermore, the results also revealed that the opening of MPTPs and the loss of MMP induced by azadirachtin could be significantly inhibited by the permeability transition pore (PTP) inhibitor cyclosporin A (CsA), which was used to identify the key role of mitochondria in the apoptosis of Sf9 cells. However, in camptothecin-treated Sf9 cells, CsA could not suppress the opening of MPTPs and the loss of MMP when apoptosis was induced. The data from caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity assays and detection of apoptosis by morphological observation and flow cytometry also uncovered the different effect of CsA on the two botanical apoptosis inducers. Although different mechanisms of apoptosis induction exist, our study revealed that mitochondria play a crucial role in insect cell line apoptosis.

  16. Expression and function of β-adrenergic receptors in human hematopoietic cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maeki, T.; Andersson, L.C.; Kontula, K.K.

    1992-01-01

    We investigated the expression and functional characteristics of β-adrenoceptors in a panel of 10 phenotypically different human hematopoietic cell lines. A binding assay with [ 125 I]iodocyanopindolol as the ligand revealed that cell lines of myelomonocytic or histiocytic derivation (HL-60, ML-2, RC-2A, U-937) expressed high numbers of β-adrenoceptors. An intermediate density of receptors was found in a non-T, non-B cell leukemia line (Nall-1), whereas T-cell (JM, CCRF-CEM), B-cell (Raji) or erythroleukemic cell lines (K-562, HEL) displayed minimala or undetectable binding of the radioligand. Isoprenaline-stimulated cAMP production by the cells correlated to their extent of β-adrenoceptor expression. Southern blot hybridization analysis of genomic DNA from the cell lines with a 32 P-labelled β 2 -adrenoceptor cDNA probe revealed no evidence for major rearrangement or amplification of the receptor gene. Incubation with isoprenaline in vitro suppressed the proliferation of the receptor-rich RC-2A cells but did not affect the growth rate of the receptor-deficient K-562 cells. Treatment with propranolol slightly enhanced the proliferation of the RC-2A cells but did not markedly alter the growth rate of two other cell lines, regardless of their β-adrenoceptor status. These findings indicate a regulatory influence by the sympathoadrenergic system on selected cells of the myelomonocytic lineage. (au)

  17. Snail regulates cell survival and inhibits cellular senescence in human metastatic prostate cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emadi Baygi, Modjtaba; Soheili, Zahra Soheila; Schmitz, Ingo; Sameie, Shahram; Schulz, Wolfgang A

    2010-12-01

    The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is regarded as an important step in cancer metastasis. Snail, a master regulator of EMT, has been recently proposed to act additionally as a cell survival factor and inducer of motility. We have investigated the function of Snail (SNAI1) in prostate cancer cells by downregulating its expression via short (21-mer) interfering RNA (siRNA) and measuring the consequences on EMT markers, cell viability, death, cell cycle, senescence, attachment, and invasivity. Of eight carcinoma cell lines, the prostate carcinoma cell lines LNCaP and PC-3 showed the highest and moderate expression of SNAI1 mRNA, respectively, as measured by quantitative RT-PCR. Long-term knockdown of Snail induced a severe decline in cell numbers in LNCaP and PC-3 and caspase activity was accordingly enhanced in both cell lines. In addition, suppression of Snail expression induced senescence in LNCaP cells. SNAI1-siRNA-treated cells did not tolerate detachment from the extracellular matrix, probably due to downregulation of integrin α6. Expression of E-cadherin, vimentin, and fibronectin was also affected. Invasiveness of PC-3 cells was not significantly diminished by Snail knockdown. Our data suggest that Snail acts primarily as a survival factor and inhibitor of cellular senescence in prostate cancer cell lines. We therefore propose that Snail can act as early driver of prostate cancer progression.

  18. Identification of genes associated with cisplatin resistance in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang Ping; Zhang Zhiyuan; Zhou Xiaojian; Qiu Weiliu; Chen Fangan; Chen Wantao

    2006-01-01

    Abstract Background Cisplatin is widely used for chemotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, details of the molecular mechanism responsible for cisplatin resistance are still unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the expression of genes related to cisplatin resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells. Methods A cisplatin-resistant cell line, Tca/cisplatin, was established from a cisplatin-sensitive cell line, Tca8113, which was derived from moderately-differe...

  19. Metabolic Response to NAD Depletion across Cell Lines Is Highly Variable.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Yang; Kwong, Mandy; Daemen, Anneleen; Belvin, Marcia; Liang, Xiaorong; Hatzivassiliou, Georgia; O'Brien, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a cofactor involved in a wide range of cellular metabolic processes and is a key metabolite required for tumor growth. NAMPT, nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, which converts nicotinamide (NAM) to nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), the immediate precursor of NAD, is an attractive therapeutic target as inhibition of NAMPT reduces cellular NAD levels and inhibits tumor growth in vivo. However, there is limited understanding of the metabolic response to NAD depletion across cancer cell lines and whether all cell lines respond in a uniform manner. To explore this we selected two non-small cell lung carcinoma cell lines that are sensitive to the NAMPT inhibitor GNE-617 (A549, NCI-H1334), one that shows intermediate sensitivity (NCI-H441), and one that is insensitive (LC-KJ). Even though NAD was reduced in all cell lines there was surprising heterogeneity in their metabolic response. Both sensitive cell lines reduced glycolysis and levels of di- and tri-nucleotides and modestly increased oxidative phosphorylation, but they differed in their ability to combat oxidative stress. H1334 cells activated the stress kinase AMPK, whereas A549 cells were unable to activate AMPK as they contain a mutation in LKB1, which prevents activation of AMPK. However, A549 cells increased utilization of the Pentose Phosphate pathway (PPP) and had lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels than H1334 cells, indicating that A549 cells are better able to modulate an increase in oxidative stress. Inherent resistance of LC-KJ cells is associated with higher baseline levels of NADPH and a delayed reduction of NAD upon NAMPT inhibition. Our data reveals that cell lines show heterogeneous response to NAD depletion and that the underlying molecular and genetic framework in cells can influence the metabolic response to NAMPT inhibition.

  20. Metabolic Response to NAD Depletion across Cell Lines Is Highly Variable.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yang Xiao

    Full Text Available Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD is a cofactor involved in a wide range of cellular metabolic processes and is a key metabolite required for tumor growth. NAMPT, nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, which converts nicotinamide (NAM to nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN, the immediate precursor of NAD, is an attractive therapeutic target as inhibition of NAMPT reduces cellular NAD levels and inhibits tumor growth in vivo. However, there is limited understanding of the metabolic response to NAD depletion across cancer cell lines and whether all cell lines respond in a uniform manner. To explore this we selected two non-small cell lung carcinoma cell lines that are sensitive to the NAMPT inhibitor GNE-617 (A549, NCI-H1334, one that shows intermediate sensitivity (NCI-H441, and one that is insensitive (LC-KJ. Even though NAD was reduced in all cell lines there was surprising heterogeneity in their metabolic response. Both sensitive cell lines reduced glycolysis and levels of di- and tri-nucleotides and modestly increased oxidative phosphorylation, but they differed in their ability to combat oxidative stress. H1334 cells activated the stress kinase AMPK, whereas A549 cells were unable to activate AMPK as they contain a mutation in LKB1, which prevents activation of AMPK. However, A549 cells increased utilization of the Pentose Phosphate pathway (PPP and had lower reactive oxygen species (ROS levels than H1334 cells, indicating that A549 cells are better able to modulate an increase in oxidative stress. Inherent resistance of LC-KJ cells is associated with higher baseline levels of NADPH and a delayed reduction of NAD upon NAMPT inhibition. Our data reveals that cell lines show heterogeneous response to NAD depletion and that the underlying molecular and genetic framework in cells can influence the metabolic response to NAMPT inhibition.

  1. Establishment of cell lines from adult T-cell leukemia cells dependent on negatively charged polymers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kagami, Yoshitoyo; Uchiyama, Susumu; Kato, Harumi; Okada, Yasutaka; Seto, Masao; Kinoshita, Tomohiro

    2017-07-05

    Growing adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) cells in vitro is difficult. Here, we examined the effects of static electricity in the culture medium on the proliferation of ATLL cells. Six out of 10 ATLL cells did not proliferate in vitro and thus had to be cultured in a medium containing negatively charged polymers. In the presence of poly-γ-glutamic acid (PGA) or chondroitin sulfate (CDR), cell lines (HKOX3-PGA, HKOX3-CDR) were established from the same single ATLL case using interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, and feeder cells expressing OX40L (OX40L + HK). Dextran sulfate inhibited growth in both HKOX3 cell lines. Both PGA and OX40L + HK were indispensable for HKOX3-PGA growth, but HKOX3-CDR could proliferate in the presence of CDR or OX40L + HK alone. Thus, the specific action of each negatively charged polymer promoted the growth of specific ATLL cells in vitro.

  2. Plant Virus–Insect Vector Interactions: Current and Potential Future Research Directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietzgen, Ralf G.; Mann, Krin S.; Johnson, Karyn N.

    2016-01-01

    Acquisition and transmission by an insect vector is central to the infection cycle of the majority of plant pathogenic viruses. Plant viruses can interact with their insect host in a variety of ways including both non-persistent and circulative transmission; in some cases, the latter involves virus replication in cells of the insect host. Replicating viruses can also elicit both innate and specific defense responses in the insect host. A consistent feature is that the interaction of the virus with its insect host/vector requires specific molecular interactions between virus and host, commonly via proteins. Understanding the interactions between plant viruses and their insect host can underpin approaches to protect plants from infection by interfering with virus uptake and transmission. Here, we provide a perspective focused on identifying novel approaches and research directions to facilitate control of plant viruses by better understanding and targeting virus–insect molecular interactions. We also draw parallels with molecular interactions in insect vectors of animal viruses, and consider technical advances for their control that may be more broadly applicable to plant virus vectors. PMID:27834855

  3. Towards Coleoptera-specific high-throughput screening systems for compounds with ecdysone activity: development of EcR reporter assays using weevil (Anthonomus grandis)-derived cell lines and in silico analysis of ligand binding to A. grandis EcR ligand-binding pocket.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soin, Thomas; Iga, Masatoshi; Swevers, Luc; Rougé, Pierre; Janssen, Colin R; Smagghe, Guy

    2009-08-01

    Molting in insects is regulated by ecdysteroids and juvenile hormones. Several synthetic non-steroidal ecdysone agonists are on the market as insecticides. These ecdysone agonists are dibenzoylhydrazine (DBH) analogue compounds that manifest their toxicity via interaction with the ecdysone receptor (EcR). Of the four commercial available ecdysone agonists, three (tebufenozide, methoxyfenozide and chromafenozide) are highly lepidopteran specific, one (halofenozide) is used to control coleopteran and lepidopteran insects in turf and ornamentals. However, compared to the very high binding affinity of these DBH analogues to lepidopteran EcRs, halofenozide has a low binding affinity for coleopteran EcRs. For the discovery of ecdysone agonists that target non-lepidopteran insect groups, efficient screening systems that are based on the activation of the EcR are needed. We report here the development and evaluation of two coleopteran-specific reporter-based screening systems to discover and evaluate ecdysone agonists. The screening systems are based on the cell lines BRL-AG-3A and BRL-AG-3C that are derived from the weevil Anthonomus grandis, which can be efficiently transduced with an EcR reporter cassette for evaluation of induction of reporter activity by ecdysone agonists. We also cloned the almost full length coding sequence of EcR expressed in the cell line BRL-AG-3C and used it to make an initial in silico 3D-model of its ligand-binding pocket docked with ponasterone A and tebufenozide.

  4. Nanotopography induced contact guidance of the F11 cell line during neuronal differentiation: a neuronal model cell line for tissue scaffold development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wieringa, Paul; Micera, Silvestro; Tonazzini, Ilaria; Cecchini, Marco

    2012-01-01

    The F11 hybridoma, a dorsal root ganglion-derived cell line, was used to investigate the response of nociceptive sensory neurons to nanotopographical guidance cues. This established this cell line as a model of peripheral sensory neuron growth for tissue scaffold design. Cells were seeded on substrates of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) films imprinted via nanoimprint lithography (NIL) with a grating pattern of nano-scale grooves and ridges. Different ridge widths were employed to alter the focal adhesion formation, thereby changing the cell/substrate interaction. Differentiation was stimulated with forskolin in culture medium consisting of either 1 or 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Per medium condition, similar neurite alignment was achieved over the four day period, with the 1% serum condition exhibiting longer, more aligned neurites. Immunostaining for focal adhesions found the 1% FBS condition to also have fewer, less developed focal adhesions. The robust response of the F11 to guidance cues further builds on the utility of this cell line as a sensory neuron model, representing a useful tool to explore the design of regenerative guidance tissue scaffolds. (paper)

  5. Culture of human cell lines by a pathogen-inactivated human platelet lysate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fazzina, R; Iudicone, P; Mariotti, A; Fioravanti, D; Procoli, A; Cicchetti, E; Scambia, G; Bonanno, G; Pierelli, L

    2016-08-01

    Alternatives to the use of fetal bovine serum (FBS) have been investigated to ensure xeno-free growth condition. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of human platelet lysate (PL) as a substitute of FBS for the in vitro culture of some human cell lines. PL was obtained by pools of pathogen inactivated human donor platelet (PLT) concentrates. Human leukemia cell lines (KG-1, K562, JURKAT, HL-60) and epithelial tumor cell lines (HeLa and MCF-7) were cultured with either FBS or PL. Changes in cell proliferation, viability, morphology, surface markers and cell cycle were evaluated for each cell line. Functional characteristics were analysed by drug sensitivity test and cytotoxicity assay. Our results demonstrated that PL can support growth and expansion of all cell lines, although the cells cultured in presence of PL experienced a less massive proliferation compared to those grown with FBS. We found a comparable percentage of viable specific marker-expressing cells in both conditions, confirming lineage fidelity in all cultures. Functionality assays showed that cells in both FBS- and PL-supported cultures maintained their normal responsiveness to adriamycin and NK cell-mediated lysis. Our findings indicate that PL is a feasible serum substitute for supporting growth and propagation of haematopoietic and epithelial cell lines with many advantages from a perspective of process standardization, ethicality and product safety.

  6. Insect resistance to Nilaparvata lugens and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis in transgenic indica rice and the inheritance of gna+sbti transgenes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Guiying; Xu, Xinping; Xing, Hengtai; Zhu, Huachen; Fan, Qin

    2005-04-01

    Molecular genetic analysis and insect bioassay of transgenic indica rice 'Zhuxian B' plants carrying snowdrop lectin gene (gna) and soybean trypsin inhibitor gene (sbti) were investigated in detail. PCR, 'dot' blot and PCR-Southern blot analysis showed that both transgenes had been incorporated into the rice genome and transmitted up to R3 progeny in most lines tested. Some transgenic lines exhibited Mendelian segregation, but the other showed either 1:1 (positive: negative for the transgenes) or other aberrant segregation patterns. The segregation patterns of gna gene crossed between R2 and R3 progeny. In half of transgenic R3 lines, gna and sbti transgenes co-segregated. Two independent homozygous lines expressing double transgenes were identified in R3 progeny. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that the copy numbers of integrated gna and sbti transgenes varied from one to ten in different lines. Insect bioassay data showed that most transgenic plants had better resistance to both Nilaparvata lugens (Stahl) and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee) than wild-type plants. The insect resistance of transgenic lines increased with the increase in transgene positive ratio in most of the transgenic lines. In all, we obtained nine lines of R3 transgenic plants, including one pure line, which had better resistance to both N lugens and C medinalis than wild-type plants. Copyright 2005 Society of Chemical Industry.

  7. A comparative study of the FcepsilonRI molecule on human mast cell and basophil cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Bettina Margrethe; Dissing, S; Skov, P S

    2005-01-01

    Mast cells and basophils express the high-affinity IgE receptor FcepsilonRI. We have analysed the human mast cell line LAD2 and four subclones of the basophil cell line KU812 in order to reveal possible differences concerning the FcepsilonRI surface regulation, anti-IgE-triggered activation......, FcepsilonRIalpha protein stability and the mRNA level of FcepsilonRIalpha-, beta- and the truncated beta-chain (beta(T)), and thereby determine the utility of these cell lines in investigations of the FcepsilonRI biology....

  8. Isolation, Characterization, and Establishment of Spontaneously Immortalized Cell Line HRPE-2S With Stem Cell Properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shams Najafabadi, Hoda; Soheili, Zahra-Soheila; Samiei, Shahram; Ahmadieh, Hamid; Ranaei Pirmardan, Ehsan; Masoumi, Maryam

    2017-10-01

    The retinal pigment epithelium is a monolayer of highly specialized pigmented cells located between the neural retina and the Bruch's membrane of the choroid. RPE cells play a crucial role in the maintenance and function of the underlying photoreceptors. This study introduces a spontaneously arising human retinal pigment epithelial cell line, HRPE-2S, which was isolated from primary RPE cell culture of 2 days old male donor. We characterized morphology and functional properties of the new cell line. The immortalized cell line was maintained in culture for more than 70 passages and 240 divisions. The average doubling time of the cells was approximately 22 h and got freezed at 26th passage. The cell line expressed RPE-specific markers RPE65 and cell junction protein ZO1 as an epithelial cell marker. It also expressed CHX10, PAX6, Nestin, SOX2 as stem and retinal progenitor cell markers. Ki67 as a marker of cell proliferation was expressed in all HRPE-2S cells. It represented typical epithelial cobblestone morphology and did not phenotypically change through several passages. Stem cell-like aggregations (neurospheres) were observed in SEM microscopy. The cells represented high mitotic index. They could be viable under hypoxic conditions and serum deprivation. According to functional studies, the cell line exhibited stem cell-like behaviors with particular emphasis on its self-renewal capacity. LDH isoenzymes expression pattern confirmed the same cellular source for both of the HRPE-2S cells and primary RPE cells. Characteristics of HRPE-2S cells promise it as an in vitro model for RPE stem cell-based researches. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2626-2640, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Isolation and characterization of conditionally immortalized mouse glomerular endothelial cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rops, Angelique L; van der Vlag, Johan; Jacobs, Cor W; Dijkman, Henry B; Lensen, Joost F; Wijnhoven, Tessa J; van den Heuvel, Lambert P; van Kuppevelt, Toin H; Berden, Jo H

    2004-12-01

    The culture and establishment of glomerular cell lines has proven to be an important tool for the understanding of glomerular cell functions in glomerular physiology and pathology. Especially, the recent establishment of a conditionally immortalized visceral epithelial cell line has greatly boosted the research on podocyte biology. Glomeruli were isolated from H-2Kb-tsA58 transgenic mice that contain a gene encoding a temperature-sensitive variant of the SV40 large tumor antigen, facilitating proliferative growth at 33 degrees C and differentiation at 37 degrees C. Glomerular endothelial cells were isolated from glomerular outgrowth by magnetic beads loaded with CD31, CD105, GSL I-B4, and ULEX. Clonal cell lines were characterized by immunofluorescence staining with antibodies/lectins specific for markers of endothelial cells, podocytes, and mesangial cells. Putative glomerular endothelial cell lines were analyzed for (1) cytokine-induced expression of adhesion molecules; (2) tube formation on Matrigel coating; and (3) the presence of fenestrae. As judged by immunostaining for Wilms tumor-1, smooth muscle actin (SMA), podocalyxin, and von Willebrand factor (vWF), we obtained putative endothelial, podocyte and mesangial cell lines. The mouse glomerular endothelial cell clone #1 (mGEnC-1) was positive for vWF, podocalyxin, CD31, CD105, VE-cadherin, GSL I-B4, and ULEX, internalized acetylated-low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and showed increased expression of adhesion molecules after activation with proinflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, mGEnC-1 formed tubes and contained nondiaphragmed fenestrae. The mGEnC-1 represents a conditionally immortalized cell line with various characteristics of differentiated glomerular endothelial cells when cultured at 37 degrees C. Most important, mGEnC-1 contains nondiaphragmed fenestrae, which is a unique feature of glomerular endothelial cells.

  10. Spontaneous lung metastasis formation of human Merkel cell carcinoma cell lines transplanted into scid mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knips, Jill; Czech-Sioli, Manja; Spohn, Michael; Heiland, Max; Moll, Ingrid; Grundhoff, Adam; Schumacher, Udo; Fischer, Nicole

    2017-07-01

    Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer entity that frequently leads to rapid death due to its high propensity to metastasize. The etiology of most MCC cases is linked to Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), a virus which is monoclonally integrated in up to 95% of tumors. While there are presently no animal models to study the role of authentic MCPyV infection on transformation, tumorigenesis or metastasis formation, xenograft mouse models employing engrafted MCC-derived cell lines (MCCL) represent a promising approach to study certain aspects of MCC pathogenesis. Here, the two MCPyV-positive MCC cell lines WaGa and MKL-1 were subcutaneously engrafted in scid mice. Engraftment of both MCC cell lines resulted in the appearance of circulating tumor cells and metastasis formation, with WaGa-engrafted mice showing a significantly shorter survival time as well as increased numbers of spontaneous lung metastases compared to MKL-1 mice. Interestingly, explanted tumors compared to parental cell lines exhibit an upregulation of MCPyV sT-Antigen expression in all tumors, with WaGa tumors showing significantly higher sT-Antigen expression than MKL-1 tumors. RNA-Seq analysis of explanted tumors and parental cell lines furthermore revealed that in the more aggressive WaGa tumors, genes involved in inflammatory response, growth factor activity and Wnt signalling pathway are significantly upregulated, suggesting that sT-Antigen is the driver of the observed differences in metastasis formation. © 2017 UICC.

  11. Insects and Scorpions

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... insects or scorpions can be hazardous to outdoor workers. Stinging or biting insects include bees, wasps, hornets, and fire ants. The health effects of stinging or biting insects or scorpions range ...

  12. SET-NUP214 fusion in acute myeloid leukemia- and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia-derived cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaborski Margarete

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background SET-NUP214 fusion resulting from a recurrent cryptic deletion, del(9(q34.11q34.13 has recently been described in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL and in one case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML. The fusion protein appears to promote elevated expression of HOXA cluster genes in T-ALL and may contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease. We screened a panel of ALL and AML cell lines for SET-NUP214 expression to find model systems that might help to elucidate the cellular function of this fusion gene. Results Of 141 human leukemia/lymphoma cell lines tested, only the T-ALL cell line LOUCY and the AML cell line MEGAL expressed the SET(TAF-Iβ-NUP214 fusion gene transcript. RT-PCR analysis specifically recognizing the alternative first exons of the two TAF-I isoforms revealed that the cell lines also expressed TAF-Iα-NUP214 mRNA. Results of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH and array-based copy number analysis were both consistent with del(9(q34.11q34.13 as described. Quantitative genomic PCR also confirmed loss of genomic material between SET and NUP214 in both cell lines. Genomic sequencing localized the breakpoints of the SET gene to regions downstream of the stop codon and to NUP214 intron 17/18 in both LOUCY and MEGAL cells. Both cell lines expressed the 140 kDa SET-NUP214 fusion protein. Conclusion Cell lines LOUCY and MEGAL express the recently described SET-NUP214 fusion gene. Of special note is that the formation of the SET exon 7/NUP214 exon 18 gene transcript requires alternative splicing as the SET breakpoint is located downstream of the stop codon in exon 8. The cell lines are promising model systems for SET-NUP214 studies and should facilitate investigating cellular functions of the the SET-NUP214 protein.

  13. Advances in Mammalian Cell Line Development Technologies for Recombinant Protein Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Say Kong Ng

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available From 2006 to 2011, an average of 15 novel recombinant protein therapeutics have been approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA annually. In addition, the expiration of blockbuster biologics has also spurred the emergence of biosimilars. The increasing numbers of innovator biologic products and biosimilars have thus fuelled the demand of production cell lines with high productivity. Currently, mammalian cell line development technologies used by most biopharmaceutical companies are based on either the methotrexate (MTX amplification technology or the glutamine synthetase (GS system. With both systems, the cell clones obtained are highly heterogeneous, as a result of random genome integration by the gene of interest and the gene amplification process. Consequently, large numbers of cell clones have to be screened to identify rare stable high producer cell clones. As such, the cell line development process typically requires 6 to 12 months and is a time, capital and labour intensive process. This article reviews established advances in protein expression and clone screening which are the core technologies in mammalian cell line development. Advancements in these component technologies are vital to improve the speed and efficiency of generating robust and highly productive cell line for large scale production of protein therapeutics.

  14. A bovine cell line that can be infected by natural sheep scrapie prions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anja M Oelschlegel

    Full Text Available Cell culture systems represent a crucial part in basic prion research; yet, cell lines that are susceptible to prions, especially to field isolated prions that were not adapted to rodents, are very rare. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize a cell line that was susceptible to ruminant-derived prions and to establish a stable prion infection within it. Based on species and tissue of origin as well as PrP expression rate, we pre-selected a total of 33 cell lines that were then challenged with natural and with mouse propagated BSE or scrapie inocula. Here, we report the successful infection of a non-transgenic bovine cell line, a sub-line of the bovine kidney cell line MDBK, with natural sheep scrapie prions. This cell line retained the scrapie infection for more than 200 passages. Selective cloning resulted in cell populations with increased accumulation of PrPres, although this treatment was not mandatory for retaining the infection. The infection remained stable, even under suboptimal culture conditions. The resulting infectivity of the cells was confirmed by mouse bioassay (Tgbov mice, Tgshp mice. We believe that PES cells used together with other prion permissive cell lines will prove a valuable tool for ongoing efforts to understand and defeat prions and prion diseases.

  15. Presence of dopamine D-2 receptors in human tumoral cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sokoloff, P.; Riou, J.F.; Martres, M.P.; Schwartz, J.C. (Centre Paul Broca, Paris (France))

    1989-07-31

    ({sup 125}I) Iodosulpride binding was examined on eight human cell lines derived from lung, breast and digestive tract carcinomas, neuroblastomas and leukemia. Specific binding was detected in five of these cell lines. In the richest cell line N417, derived from small cell lung carcinoma, ({sup 125}I) iodosulpride bound with a high affinity (Kd = 1.3 nM) to an apparently homogeneous population of binding site (Bmax = 1,606 sites per cell). These sites displayed a typical D-2 specificity, established with several dopaminergic agonists and antagonists selective of either D-1 or D-2 receptor subtypes. In addition, dopamine, apomorphine and RU 24926 distinguished high- and low-affinity sites, suggesting that the binding sites are associated with a G-protein. The biological significance and the possible diagnostic implication of the presence of D-2 receptors on these cell lines are discussed.

  16. Methylation Status of miR-182 Promoter in Lung Cancer Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongwen LI

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Background and objective It has been proven that the abnormal expression of miR-182 was related to the occurrence and development of tumors. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the methylation of miR-182 promoter and its expression in lung cancer cell lines. Methods Real-time quantitative PCR and methylation-specific PCR were used to detect the expression level of miR-182 and its promoter methylation status in five lung cancer cell lines (A549, L9981, NL9980, 95C and 95D. DNA sequencing was used to confirm the methylation results. Results The level of miR-182 expression significantly differs among these lung cancer cell lines. The highly metastatic human lung cancer cell lines, namely, A549 and L9981, demonstrate a relatively lower expression level of miR-182 compared with the lowly metastatic human lung cancer cell line 95C. Methylation-specific PCR and DNA sequencing assay results indicate that these lung cancer cell lines present different levels of miR-182 promoter methylation, and the highest methylation level is observed in A549 cells. Furthermore, the expression of miR-182 in these cell lines significantly increases when treated with 10 μM 5’-Aza-dC. Conclusion DNA methylation occurs in the miR-182 promoter region in lung cancer cell lines. This methylation can regulate the expression level of miR-182. Further study must be conducted to explore the function of miR-182 promoter methylation in lung cancer occurrence and development.

  17. Uveal Melanoma Cell Lines: Where do they come from? (An American Ophthalmological Society Thesis).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jager, Martine J; Magner, J Antonio Bermudez; Ksander, Bruce R; Dubovy, Sander R

    2016-08-01

    To determine whether some of the most often used uveal melanoma cell lines resemble their original tumor. Analysis of the literature, patient charts, histopathology, mutations, chromosome status, HLA type, and expression of melanocyte markers on cell lines and their primary tumors. We examined five cell lines and the primary tumors from which they were derived. Four of the five examined primary tumors were unusual: one occupied the orbit, two were recurrences after prior irradiation, and one developed in an eye with a nevus of Ota. One cell line did not contain the GNA11 mutation, but it was present in the primary tumor. Three of the primary tumors had monosomy 3 (two of these lacked BAP1 expression); however, all five cell lines showed disomy 3 and BAP1 expression. All of the cell lines had gain of 8q. Two cell lines lacked expression of melanocyte markers, although these were present in the corresponding primary tumor. All cell lines could be traced back to their original uveal melanoma. Four of the five primary tumors were unusual. Cell lines often differed from their primary tumor in chromosome status and melanocyte markers. However, their specific chromosome aberrations and capacity to continue proliferation characterize them as uveal melanoma cell lines.

  18. Maslinic acid inhibits proliferation of renal cell carcinoma cell lines and suppresses angiogenesis of endothelial cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parth Thakor

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Despite the introduction of many novel therapeutics in clinical practice, metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC remains a treatment-re-sistant cancer. As red and processed meat are considered risk factors for RCC, and a vegetable-rich diet is thought to reduce this risk, research into plant-based therapeutics may provide valuable complementary or alternative therapeutics for the management of RCC. Herein, we present the antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects of maslinic acid, which occurs naturally in edible plants, particularly in olive fruits, and also in a variety of medicinal plants. Human RCC cell lines (ACHN, Caki-1, and SN12K1, endothelial cells (human umbilical vein endothelial cell line [HUVEC], and primary cultures of kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC were treated with maslinic acid. Maslinic acid was relatively less toxic to PTEC when compared with RCC under similar experimental conditions. In RCC cell lines, maslinic acid induced a significant reduction in proliferation, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and colony formation. In HUVEC, maslinic acid induced a significant reduction in capillary tube formation in vitro and vascular endothelial growth factor. This study provides a rationale for incorporating a maslinic acid–rich diet either to reduce the risk of developing kidney cancer or as an adjunct to existing antiangiogenic therapy to improve efficacy.

  19. Single-dose and fractionated irradiation of four human lung cancer cell lines in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brodin, O.; Lennartsson, L.; Nilsson, S.

    1991-01-01

    Four established human lung cancer cell lines were exposed to single-dose irradiation. The survival curves of 2 small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) were characterized by a limited capacity for repair with small and moderate shoulders with extrapolation numbers (n) of 1.05 and 1.60 respectively. Two non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines, one squamous cell (SQCLC) and one large cell (LCLC) had large shoulders with n-values of 73 and 15 respectively. The radiosensitivity when measured as D 0 did not, however, differ as much from cell line to cell line, with values from 1.22 to 1.65. The surviving fraction after 2 Gy (SF2) was 0.24 and 0.42 respectively in the SCLC cell lines and 0.90 and 0.88 respectively in the NSCLC cell lines. Fractionated irradiation delivered according to 3 different schedules was also investigated. All the schedules delivered a total dose of 10 Gy in 5 days and were applied in 1, 2 and 5 Gy dose fractions respectively. Survival followed the pattern found after single-dose irradiation; it was lowest in the SCLC cell line with the lowest SF and highest in the two NSCLC cell lines. In the SCLC cell lines all schedules were approximately equally efficient. In the LCLC and in the SQCLC cell lines, the 5 Gy schedule killed more cells than the 1 and 2 Gy schedules. The results indicate that the size of the shoulder of the survival curve is essential when choosing the most tumoricidal fractionation schedule. (orig.)

  20. All insects are equal, but some insects are more equal than others

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fischer, Arnout R.H.; Steenbekkers, L.P.A.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: Lack of acceptance of insects as food is considered a barrier against societal adoption of the potentially valuable contribution of insects to human foods. An underlying barrier may be that insects are lumped together as one group, while consumers typically try specific insects. The purpose

  1. Enhancement of Radiation Response in Osteosarcoma and Rhabomyosarcoma Cell Lines by Histone Deacetylase Inhibition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blattmann, Claudia; Oertel, Susanne; Ehemann, Volker

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) can enhance the sensitivity of cells to photon radiation treatment (XRT) by altering numerous molecular pathways. We investigated the effect of pan-HDACIs such as suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) on radiation response in two osteosarcoma (OS) and two rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cell lines. Methods and Materials: Clonogenic survival, cell cycle analysis, and apoptosis were examined in OS (KHOS-24OS, SAOS2) and RMS (A-204, RD) cell lines treated with HDACI and HDACI plus XRT, respectively. Protein expression was investigated via immunoblot analysis, and cell cycle analysis and measurement of apoptosis were performed using flow cytometry. Results: SAHA induced an inhibition of cell proliferation and clonogenic survival in OS and RMS cell lines and led to a significant radiosensitization of all tumor cell lines. Other HDACI such as M344 and valproate showed similar effects as investigated in one OS cell line. Furthermore, SAHA significantly increased radiation-induced apoptosis in the OS cell lines, whereas in the RMS cell lines radiation-induced apoptosis was insignificant with and without SAHA. In all investigated sarcoma cell lines, SAHA attenuated radiation-induced DNA repair protein expression (Rad51, Ku80). Conclusion: Our results show that HDACIs enhance radiation action in OS and RMS cell lines. Inhibition of DNA repair, as well as increased apoptosis induction after exposure to HDACIs, can be mechanisms of radiosensitization by HDACIs.

  2. Inhibition of Zoledronic Acid on Cell Proliferation and Invasion of Lung Cancer Cell Line 95D

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingming LI

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Background and objective Abnormal proliferation and metastasis is the basic characteristic of malignant tumors. The aim of this work is to explore the effects of zoledronic acid on cell proliferation and invasion in lung cancer cell line 95D. Methods The effect of zoledrnic acid (ZOL on proliferation of lung cancer cell line 95D was detected by MTT. The expression of proliferation and invasion-relation genes and proteins were detected by Western blot, RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. Changes of invasion of lung cancer cell numbers were measured by polycarbonates coated with Matrigel. Results ZOL could inhibit the proliferation of lung cancer cell line 95D in vitro in a time-dependant and a dose-dependant manner. With time extending after ZOL treated, the mRNA expresion of VEGF, MMP9, MMP2 and protein expression of VEGF, MMP9, ERK1/ ERK2 were decreased. The results of Tanswell invasion showed the numbers of invasive cells were significantly reduced in 95D cells treated with ZOL 4 d and 6 d later. Conclusion ZOL could inhibit cell proliferation and invasion of lung cancer cell line 95D.

  3. δ-Aminolevulinic acid cytotoxic effects on human hepatocarcinoma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Siervi, Adriana; Vazquez, Elba S; Rezaval, Carolina; Rossetti, María V; Batlle, Alcira M del [Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias (CIPYP), Argentine National Research Council (CONICET), Department of Biological Chemistry, FCEN, University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    2002-01-01

    Acute Intermittent Porphyria is a genetic disorder of heme metabolism, characterized by increased levels of porphyrin precursors, δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen (PBG). ALA has been reported to generate reactive oxygen species and to cause oxidative damage to proteins, subcellular structures and DNA. It is known that oxidative stress can induce apoptosis. The aim of this work was to study the cytotoxic effect of ALA on two hepatocarcinoma cell lines. We have determined the impact of ALA on HEP G2 and HEP 3B hepatocarcinoma cell lines survival as measured by the MTT assay. ALA proved to be cytotoxic in both cell lines however; HEP G2 was more sensitive to ALA than HEP 3B. Addition of hemin or glucose diminished ALA cytotoxicity in HEP G2 cells; instead it was enhanced in HEP 3B cells. Because apoptosis is usually associated with DNA fragmentation, the DNA of ALA treated and untreated cells were analyzed. The characteristic pattern of DNA fragmentation ladders was observed in ALA treated cells. To elucidate the mechanisms of ALA induced apoptosis, we examined its effect on p53 expression. No changes in p53 mRNA levels were observed after exposure of both cell lines to ALA for 24 h. CDK2 and CDK4 protein levels were reduced after ALA treatment at physiological concentrations.

  4. δ-Aminolevulinic acid cytotoxic effects on human hepatocarcinoma cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    del Batlle Alcira M

    2002-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Acute Intermittent Porphyria is a genetic disorder of heme metabolism, characterized by increased levels of porphyrin precursors, δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA and porphobilinogen (PBG. ALA has been reported to generate reactive oxygen species and to cause oxidative damage to proteins, subcellular structures and DNA. It is known that oxidative stress can induce apoptosis. The aim of this work was to study the cytotoxic effect of ALA on two hepatocarcinoma cell lines. Results We have determined the impact of ALA on HEP G2 and HEP 3B hepatocarcinoma cell lines survival as measured by the MTT assay. ALA proved to be cytotoxic in both cell lines however; HEP G2 was more sensitive to ALA than HEP 3B. Addition of hemin or glucose diminished ALA cytotoxicity in HEP G2 cells; instead it was enhanced in HEP 3B cells. Because apoptosis is usually associated with DNA fragmentation, the DNA of ALA treated and untreated cells were analyzed. The characteristic pattern of DNA fragmentation ladders was observed in ALA treated cells. To elucidate the mechanisms of ALA induced apoptosis, we examined its effect on p53 expression. No changes in p53 mRNA levels were observed after exposure of both cell lines to ALA for 24 h. CDK2 and CDK4 protein levels were reduced after ALA treatment at physiological concentrations.

  5. δ-Aminolevulinic acid cytotoxic effects on human hepatocarcinoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Siervi, Adriana; Vazquez, Elba S; Rezaval, Carolina; Rossetti, María V; Batlle, Alcira M del

    2002-01-01

    Acute Intermittent Porphyria is a genetic disorder of heme metabolism, characterized by increased levels of porphyrin precursors, δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen (PBG). ALA has been reported to generate reactive oxygen species and to cause oxidative damage to proteins, subcellular structures and DNA. It is known that oxidative stress can induce apoptosis. The aim of this work was to study the cytotoxic effect of ALA on two hepatocarcinoma cell lines. We have determined the impact of ALA on HEP G2 and HEP 3B hepatocarcinoma cell lines survival as measured by the MTT assay. ALA proved to be cytotoxic in both cell lines however; HEP G2 was more sensitive to ALA than HEP 3B. Addition of hemin or glucose diminished ALA cytotoxicity in HEP G2 cells; instead it was enhanced in HEP 3B cells. Because apoptosis is usually associated with DNA fragmentation, the DNA of ALA treated and untreated cells were analyzed. The characteristic pattern of DNA fragmentation ladders was observed in ALA treated cells. To elucidate the mechanisms of ALA induced apoptosis, we examined its effect on p53 expression. No changes in p53 mRNA levels were observed after exposure of both cell lines to ALA for 24 h. CDK2 and CDK4 protein levels were reduced after ALA treatment at physiological concentrations

  6. Comparison of mammalian and fish cell line cytotoxicity: impact of endpoint and exposure duration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guelden, Michael; Moerchel, Sabine; Seibert, Hasso

    2005-01-01

    Comparisons of acute toxic concentrations of chemicals to fish in vivo and cytotoxic concentrations to fish cell lines in vitro reveal rather good correlations of the toxic potencies in vitro and in vivo, but a clearly lower sensitivity of the fish cells. To examine whether the low sensitivity is specific for fish cells, cytotoxic potencies of reference chemicals from the Multicenter Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity program (MEIC) reported for the fish cell lines R1 and RTG-2 were compared with those obtained with the mouse Balb/c 3T3 cell line. Cytotoxic potencies (EC 50 values) for MEIC reference chemicals were determined with exponentially growing Balb/c 3T3 cells using three different test protocols. To assess both endpoints, cell proliferation and cell survival, EC 50 values were measured for the decrease in final cell protein after 24 and 72 h of exposure and for the reduction of cell protein increase during 24 h of exposure. EC 50 values obtained with the fish cell lines R1 and RTG-2 using cell survival as endpoint were taken from the MEIC data base. The comparison of cytotoxic potencies shows that, in general, the fish cell lines and the mammalian cell line are almost equally sensitive towards the cytotoxic action of chemicals. The mammalian cell line assay, however, becomes considerably more sensitive, by factors of 3.4-8.5, than the fish cell line assays, if cell growth instead of cell survival is used as endpoint. It is concluded, that cell proliferation might be a better endpoint than cell survival and that mammalian cell lines might be suited to assess fish acute toxicity

  7. Chemo-radioresistance of small cell lung cancer cell lines derived from untreated primary tumors obtained by diagnostic bronchofiberscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanio, Yoshiro; Watanabe, Masatoshi; Inoue, Tamotsu

    1990-01-01

    New cell lines of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were established from specimens of untreated primary tumors biopsied by diagnostic bronchofiberscopy. The advantage of this method was ease of obtaining specimens from lung tumors. Establishment of cell lines was successful with 4 of 13 specimens (30%). Clinical responses of the tumors showed considerable variation, but were well correlated with the in vitro sensitivity of the respective cell lines to chemotherapeutic drugs and irradiation. One of the cell lines was resistant to all drugs tested and irradiation, while another was sensitive to all of them. Although the acquired resistance of SCLC is the biggest problem in treatment, the natural resistance to therapy is another significant problem. Either acquired or natural, resistance mechanisms of SCLC may be elucidated by the use of such cell lines derived from untreated tumors. This method and these SCLC cell lines are expected to be useful for the serial study of biologic and genetic changes of untreated and pre-treated tumors, or primary and secondary tumors. (author)

  8. Relevant principal factors affecting the reproducibility of insect primary culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogata, Norichika; Iwabuchi, Kikuo

    2017-06-01

    The primary culture of insect cells often suffers from problems with poor reproducibility in the quality of the final cell preparations. The cellular composition of the explants (cell number and cell types), surgical methods (surgical duration and surgical isolation), and physiological and genetic differences between donors may be critical factors affecting the reproducibility of culture. However, little is known about where biological variation (interindividual differences between donors) ends and technical variation (variance in replication of culture conditions) begins. In this study, we cultured larval fat bodies from the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma, and evaluated, using linear mixed models, the effect of interindividual variation between donors on the reproducibility of the culture. We also performed transcriptome analysis of the hemocyte-like cells mainly seen in the cultures using RNA sequencing and ultrastructural analyses of hemocytes using a transmission electron microscope, revealing that the cultured cells have many characteristics of insect hemocytes.

  9. Insect Repellents: Protect Your Child from Insect Bites

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Español Text Size Email Print Share Choosing an Insect Repellent for Your Child Page Content Mosquitoes, biting ... sunscreen needs to be reapplied often. Reactions to Insect Repellents If you suspect that your child is ...

  10. Development of tissue singular complex marking process on outer layer of insect skin and it's application to virulence evaluation of insect pathogens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ihara, F.; Toyama, M.; Sato, T.; Umemiya, Y.

    2004-01-01

    A relation between virulence of insect pathogenic filament germ, Metarhizium anisopliae, on bug and the germ enzyme productivity was investigated by API-ZYM process, in which several kinds of enzyme, such as alkaline phosphatase, esterase, lipase, galactosidase, glucosidase, and so on, were used. Epidermal protein on the bug was marked with L -35 S cysteine. The relations between eleven kinds of the enzyme activity pattern and the virulence of insect pathogen germ on bug, however were not cleared. An enzyme, which was produced at the outside of germ cell by the insect pathogen germ, reacted on the marked epidermis. The relations between resolution process and virulence of the enzyme, however were not cleared yet. (M. Suetake)

  11. CD40 expression in Wehi-164 cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karimi, Mohammad Hossein; Ebadi, Padideh; Pourfathollah, Ali Akbar; Soheili, Zahra Soheila; Moazzeni, Seyed Mohammad

    2010-07-01

    CD40-CD154 interaction is an important process for cellular and humoral immunity regulation and can be effective in the body's defense against tumors. In the present study, we evaluated the expression of CD40 in Wehi-164 cell line. CD40 expressions on the cell surface and in the cytoplasm were assessed by flow cytometry and intracellular staining assay, respectively. Also, the mRNA expression was identified by real time-PCR. The obtained results showed the high mRNA and cytoplasmic protein expression of CD40 but no surface expression. These results suggest that the Wehi-164 cell line down regulates expression of CD40 on the surface for evasion of immune system.

  12. The effect of resveratrol in combination with irradiation and chemotherapy. Study using Merkel cell carcinoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heiduschka, G.; Lill, C.; Brunner, M.; Thurnher, D.; Seemann, R.; Schmid, R.; Houben, R.; Bigenzahn, J.

    2014-01-01

    Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, but highly malignant tumor of the skin. In case of systemic disease, possible therapeutic options include irradiation or chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the flavonoid resveratrol enhances the effect of radiotherapy or chemotherapy in MCC cell lines. The two MCC cell lines MCC13 and MCC26 were treated with increasing doses of resveratrol. Combination experiments were conducted with cisplatin and etoposide. Colony forming assays were performed after sequential irradiation with 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 Gy and apoptosis was assessed with flow cytometry. Expression of cancer drug targets was analyzed by real-time PCR array. Resveratrol is cytotoxic in MCC cell lines. Cell growth is inhibited by induction of apoptosis. The combination with cisplatin and etoposide resulted in a partially synergistic inhibition of cell proliferation. Resveratrol and irradiation led to a synergistic reduction in colony formation compared to irradiation alone. Evaluation of gene expression did not show significant difference between the cell lines. Due to its radiosensitizing effect, resveratrol seems to be a promising agent in combination with radiation therapy. The amount of chemosensitizing depends on the cell lines tested. (orig.) [de

  13. Harnessing Insect-Microbe Chemical Communications To Control Insect Pests of Agricultural Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, John J; Vannette, Rachel L

    2017-01-11

    Insect pests cause serious economic, yield, and food safety problems to managed crops worldwide. Compounding these problems, insect pests often vector pathogenic or toxigenic microbes to plants. Previous work has considered plant-insect and plant-microbe interactions separately. Although insects are well-understood to use plant volatiles to locate hosts, microorganisms can produce distinct and abundant volatile compounds that in some cases strongly attract insects. In this paper, we focus on the microbial contribution to plant volatile blends, highlighting the compounds emitted and the potential for variation in microbial emission. We suggest that these aspects of microbial volatile emission may make these compounds ideal for use in agricultural applications, as they may be more specific or enhance methods currently used in insect control or monitoring. Our survey of microbial volatiles in insect-plant interactions suggests that these emissions not only signal host suitability but may indicate a distinctive time frame for optimal conditions for both insect and microbe. Exploitation of these host-specific microbe semiochemicals may provide important microbe- and host-based attractants and a basis for future plant-insect-microbe chemical ecology investigations.

  14. Heterogeneity of osteosarcoma cell lines led to variable responses in reprogramming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choong, Pei Feng; Teh, Hui Xin; Teoh, Hoon Koon; Ong, Han Kiat; Choo, Kong Bung; Sugii, Shigeki; Cheong, Soon Keng; Kamarul, Tunku

    2014-01-01

    Four osteosarcoma cell lines, Saos-2, MG-63, G-292 and U-2 OS, were reprogrammed to pluripotent state using Yamanaka factors retroviral transduction method. Embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like clusters started to appear between 15 to 20 days post transduction. Morphology of the colonies resembled that of ESC colonies with defined border and tightly-packed cells. The reprogrammed sarcomas expressed alkaline phosphatase and pluripotency markers, OCT4, SSEA4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81, as in ESC up to Passage 15. All reprogrammed sarcomas could form embryoid body-like spheres when cultured in suspension in a low attachment dish for up to 10 days. Further testing on the directed differentiation capacity of the reprogrammed sarcomas showed all four reprogrammed sarcoma lines could differentiate into adipocytes while reprogrammed Saos-2-REP, MG-63-REP and G-292-REP could differentiate into osteocytes. Among the 4 osteosarcoma cell lines, U-2 OS reported the highest transduction efficiency but recorded the lowest reprogramming stability under long term culture. Thus, there may be intrinsic differences governing the variable responses of osteosarcoma cell lines towards reprogramming and long term culture effect of the reprogrammed cells. This is a first report to associate intrinsic factors in different osteosarcoma cell lines with variable reprogramming responses and effects on the reprogrammed cells after prolonged culture.

  15. Heterogeneity of Osteosarcoma Cell Lines Led to Variable Responses in Reprogramming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choong, Pei Feng; Teh, Hui Xin; Teoh, Hoon Koon; Ong, Han Kiat; Choo, Kong Bung; Sugii, Shigeki; Cheong, Soon Keng; Kamarul, Tunku

    2014-01-01

    Four osteosarcoma cell lines, Saos-2, MG-63, G-292 and U-2 OS, were reprogrammed to pluripotent state using Yamanaka factors retroviral transduction method. Embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like clusters started to appear between 15 to 20 days post transduction. Morphology of the colonies resembled that of ESC colonies with defined border and tightly-packed cells. The reprogrammed sarcomas expressed alkaline phosphatase and pluripotency markers, OCT4, SSEA4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81, as in ESC up to Passage 15. All reprogrammed sarcomas could form embryoid body-like spheres when cultured in suspension in a low attachment dish for up to 10 days. Further testing on the directed differentiation capacity of the reprogrammed sarcomas showed all four reprogrammed sarcoma lines could differentiate into adipocytes while reprogrammed Saos-2-REP, MG-63-REP and G-292-REP could differentiate into osteocytes. Among the 4 osteosarcoma cell lines, U-2 OS reported the highest transduction efficiency but recorded the lowest reprogramming stability under long term culture. Thus, there may be intrinsic differences governing the variable responses of osteosarcoma cell lines towards reprogramming and long term culture effect of the reprogrammed cells. This is a first report to associate intrinsic factors in different osteosarcoma cell lines with variable reprogramming responses and effects on the reprogrammed cells after prolonged culture. PMID:25170299

  16. A nuclear insect appears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Gi Hwal

    1989-06-01

    This book is dairy of a nuclear insect in A. F. era. It consists of 6 parts, which have fun pictures and titles. The contents are the letter that is sent the Homo sapiens by insect, exodus of nuclear insect F 100 years latter. The time that a nuclear insect is attacked in F 101, the time that a nuclear dinosaur is beat in AF 102, the time that a nuclear insect struggles in AF 104 and the time that a nuclear insect drifts in AF 104.

  17. Innate immune system still works at diapause, a physiological state of dormancy in insects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, Akihiro; Miyado, Kenji; Takezawa, Youki; Ohnami, Naoko; Sato, Masahiro; Ono, Chihiro; Harada, Yuichirou; Yoshida, Keiichi; Kawano, Natsuko; Kanai, Seiya; Miyado, Mami; Umezawa, Akihiro

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Two major types of cells are present in the body fluid isolated from the thoracic region of a diapausing pupa. → Phagocytosis and encapsulation by these cells were observed when latex beads as foreign targets were microinjected into a pupa. → Such behavior by these cells was still observed even when pupae were continuously chilled at 4 o C. → Innate cellular reactions can work in diapausing insects in a dormant state. -- Abstract: Diapause is most often observed in insects and is a physiologically dormant state different from other types of dormancy, such as hibernation. It allows insects to survive in harsh environments or extend longevity. In general, larval, pupal, or adult non-diapausing insects possess an innate immune system preventing the invasion of microorganisms into their bodies; however, it is unclear whether this system works under the dormant condition of diapause. We here report the occurrence of innate cellular reactions during diapause using pupae of a giant silkmoth, Samia cynthia pryeri. Scanning electron microscopic analysis demonstrated the presence of two major types of cells in the body fluid isolated from the thoracic region of a pupa. Phagocytosis and encapsulation, characteristics of innate cellular reactions, by these cells were observed when latex beads as foreign targets were microinjected into the internal portion of a pupa. Such behavior by these cells was still observed even when pupae were continuously chilled at 4 o C. Our results indicate that innate cellular reactions can work in diapausing insects in a dormant state.

  18. Innate immune system still works at diapause, a physiological state of dormancy in insects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakamura, Akihiro [Department of Reproductive Biology, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya, Tokyo 157-8535 (Japan); Miyado, Kenji, E-mail: kmiyado@nch.go.jp [Department of Reproductive Biology, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya, Tokyo 157-8535 (Japan); Takezawa, Youki; Ohnami, Naoko [Department of Reproductive Biology, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya, Tokyo 157-8535 (Japan); Sato, Masahiro [Section of Gene Expression Regulation, Frontier Science Research Center, Kagoshima University, 1-21-20 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065 (Japan); Ono, Chihiro; Harada, Yuichirou; Yoshida, Keiichi; Kawano, Natsuko; Kanai, Seiya; Miyado, Mami; Umezawa, Akihiro [Department of Reproductive Biology, National Center for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya, Tokyo 157-8535 (Japan)

    2011-07-01

    Highlights: {yields} Two major types of cells are present in the body fluid isolated from the thoracic region of a diapausing pupa. {yields} Phagocytosis and encapsulation by these cells were observed when latex beads as foreign targets were microinjected into a pupa. {yields} Such behavior by these cells was still observed even when pupae were continuously chilled at 4 {sup o}C. {yields} Innate cellular reactions can work in diapausing insects in a dormant state. -- Abstract: Diapause is most often observed in insects and is a physiologically dormant state different from other types of dormancy, such as hibernation. It allows insects to survive in harsh environments or extend longevity. In general, larval, pupal, or adult non-diapausing insects possess an innate immune system preventing the invasion of microorganisms into their bodies; however, it is unclear whether this system works under the dormant condition of diapause. We here report the occurrence of innate cellular reactions during diapause using pupae of a giant silkmoth, Samia cynthia pryeri. Scanning electron microscopic analysis demonstrated the presence of two major types of cells in the body fluid isolated from the thoracic region of a pupa. Phagocytosis and encapsulation, characteristics of innate cellular reactions, by these cells were observed when latex beads as foreign targets were microinjected into the internal portion of a pupa. Such behavior by these cells was still observed even when pupae were continuously chilled at 4 {sup o}C. Our results indicate that innate cellular reactions can work in diapausing insects in a dormant state.

  19. Expression of the Acyl-Coenzyme A: Cholesterol Acyltransferase GFP Fusion Protein in Sf21 Insect Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahtani, H. K.; Richmond, R. C.; Chang, T. Y.; Chang, C. C. Y.; Rose, M. Franklin (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The enzyme acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is an important contributor to the pathological expression of plaque leading to artherosclerosis n a major health problem. Adequate knowledge of the structure of this protein will enable pharmaceutical companies to design drugs specific to the enzyme. ACAT is a membrane protein located in the endoplasmic reticulum.t The protein has never been purified to homogeneity.T.Y. Chang's laboratory at Dartmouth College provided a 4-kb cDNA clone (K1) coding for a structural gene of the protein. We have modified the gene sequence and inserted the cDNA into the BioGreen His Baculovirus transfer vector. This was successfully expressed in Sf2l insect cells as a GFP-labeled ACAT protein. The advantage to this ACAT-GFP fusion protein (abbreviated GCAT) is that one can easily monitor its expression as a function of GFP excitation at 395 nm and emission at 509 nm. Moreover, the fusion protein GCAT can be detected on Western blots with the use of commercially available GFP antibodies. Antibodies against ACAT are not readily available. The presence of the 6xHis tag in the transfer vector facilitates purification of the recombinant protein since 6xHis fusion proteins bind with high affinity to Ni-NTA agarose. Obtaining highly pure protein in large quantities is essential for subsequent crystallization. The purified GCAT fusion protein can readily be cleaved into distinct GFP and ACAT proteins in the presence of thrombin. Thrombin digests the 6xHis tag linking the two protein sequences. Preliminary experiments have indicated that both GCAT and ACAT are expressed as functional proteins. The ultimate aim is to obtain large quantities of the ACAT protein in pure and functional form appropriate for protein crystal growth. Determining protein structure is the key to the design and development of effective drugs. X-ray analysis requires large homogeneous crystals that are difficult to obtain in the gravity environment of earth

  20. Antiproliferative effect of isopentenylated coumarins on several cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawaii, S; Tomono, Y; Ogawa, K; Sugiura, M; Yano, M; Yoshizawa, Y; Ito, C; Furukawa, H

    2001-01-01

    33 coumarins, mainly the simple isopentenylated coumarins and derived pyrano- and furanocoumarins, were examined for their antiproliferative activity towards several cancer and normal human cell lines. The pyrano- and furanocoumarins showed strong activity against the cancer cell lines, whereas they had weak antiproliferative activity against the normal human cell lines. The decreasing rank order of potency was osthenone (10), clausarin (25), clausenidin (26), dentatin (24), nordentatin (23), imperatorin (29), seselin (27), xanthyletin (21), suberosin (17), phebalosin (8) and osthol (12). The structure-activity relationship established from the results revealed that the 1,1-dimethylallyl and isopentenyl groups have an important role for antiproliferative activity.

  1. Diversity and functions of protein glycosylation in insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walski, Tomasz; De Schutter, Kristof; Van Damme, Els J M; Smagghe, Guy

    2017-04-01

    The majority of proteins is modified with carbohydrate structures. This modification, called glycosylation, was shown to be crucial for protein folding, stability and subcellular location, as well as protein-protein interactions, recognition and signaling. Protein glycosylation is involved in multiple physiological processes, including embryonic development, growth, circadian rhythms, cell attachment as well as maintenance of organ structure, immunity and fertility. Although the general principles of glycosylation are similar among eukaryotic organisms, insects synthesize a distinct repertoire of glycan structures compared to plants and vertebrates. Consequently, a number of unique insect glycans mediate functions specific to this class of invertebrates. For instance, the core α1,3-fucosylation of N-glycans is absent in vertebrates, while in insects this modification is crucial for the development of wings and the nervous system. At present, most of the data on insect glycobiology comes from research in Drosophila. Yet, progressively more information on the glycan structures and the importance of glycosylation in other insects like beetles, caterpillars, aphids and bees is becoming available. This review gives a summary of the current knowledge and recent progress related to glycan diversity and function(s) of protein glycosylation in insects. We focus on N- and O-glycosylation, their synthesis, physiological role(s), as well as the molecular and biochemical basis of these processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Stinging Insect Matching Game

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... for Kids ▸ Stinging Insect Matching Game Share | Stinging Insect Matching Game Stinging insects can ruin summer fun for those who are ... the difference between the different kinds of stinging insects in order to keep your summer safe and ...

  3. Distribution and Spectroscopy of Green Fluorescent Protein and Acyl-CoA: Cholesterol Acytransferase in Sf21 Insect Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richmond, R. C.; Mahtani, H.; Lu, X.; Chang, T. Y.; Malak, H.; Rose, M. Franklin (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is thought to significantly participate in the pathway of cholesterol esterification that underlies the pathology of artherosclerosis. This enzyme is a membrane protein known to be preferentially bound within the endoplasmic reticulum of mammalian cells, from which location it esterifies cholesterol derived from low density lipoprotein. Cultures of insect cells were separately infected with baculovirus containing the gene for green fluroescent protein (GFP) and with baculovirus containing tandem genes for GFP and ACAT. These infected cultures expressed GFP and the fusion protein GCAT, respectively, with maximum expression occurring on the fourth day after infection. Extraction of GFP- and of GCAT-expressing cells with urea and detergent resulted in recovery of fluorescent protein in aqueous solution. Fluorescence spectra at neutral pH were identical for both GFP and GCAT extracts in aqueous solution, indicating unperturbed tertiary structure for the GFP moiety within GCAT. In a cholesterol esterification assay, GCAT demonstrated ACAT activity, but with less efficiency compared to native ACAT. It was hypothesized that the membrane protein ACAT would lead to differences in localization of GCAT compared to GFP within the respective expressing insect cells. The GFP marker directly and also within the fusion protein GCAT was accordingly used as the intracellular probe that was fluorescently analyzed by the new biophotonics technique of hyperspectral imaging. In that technique, fluorescence imaging was obtained from two dimensional arrays of cells, and regions of interest from within those images were then retrospectively analyzed for the emission spectra that comprises the image. Results of hyperspectral imaging of insect cells on day 4 postinfection showed that GCAT was preferentially localized to the cytoplasm of these cells compared to GFP. Furthermore, the emission spectra obtained for the localized GCAT displayed a peak

  4. Marine insects

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Cheng, Lanna

    1976-01-01

    .... Not only are true insects, such as the Collembola and insect parasites of marine birds and mammals, considered, but also other kinds of intertidal air-breathing arthropods, notably spiders, scorpions...

  5. Induction of expression of two phenotypic markers of pulmonary type II cells in a cultured cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henderson, R.F.; Waide, J.J.; Scott, G.G.

    1994-01-01

    The functions of pulmonary type II cells, such as synthesis of pulmonary surfactant and metabolism of inhaled xenobiotics, can be studied in primary isolates of lung cells. However, isolated type II cells, when cultured, quickly lose the phenotypic expressions characteristics of type II cells, including surfactant lipid and protein synthesis and alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity. A cultured cell line that maintained expression of type II cell markers of differentiation would be advantageous for the study of such functions as surfactant synthesis and secretion. Such a cell line would allow generation of a large number of homogeneous cells for study. The purpose of the current study was to induce markers of differentiated type II cells in a cultured cell line to facilitate studies of factors that control surfactant synthesis and secretion

  6. Colony, hanging drop, and methylcellulose three dimensional hypoxic growth optimization of renal cell carcinoma cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matak, Damian; Brodaczewska, Klaudia K; Lipiec, Monika; Szymanski, Łukasz; Szczylik, Cezary; Czarnecka, Anna M

    2017-08-01

    Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most lethal of the common urologic malignancies, comprising 3% of all human neoplasms, and the incidence of kidney cancer is rising annually. We need new approaches to target tumor cells that are resistant to current therapies and that give rise to recurrence and treatment failure. In this study, we focused on low oxygen tension and three-dimensional (3D) cell culture incorporation to develop a new RCC growth model. We used the hanging drop and colony formation methods, which are common in 3D culture, as well as a unique methylcellulose (MC) method. For the experiments, we used human primary RCC cell lines, metastatic RCC cell lines, human kidney cancer stem cells, and human healthy epithelial cells. In the hanging drop assay, we verified the potential of various cell lines to create solid aggregates in hypoxic and normoxic conditions. With the semi-soft agar method, we also determined the ability of various cell lines to create colonies under different oxygen conditions. Different cell behavior observed in the MC method versus the hanging drop and colony formation assays suggests that these three assays may be useful to test various cell properties. However, MC seems to be a particularly valuable alternative for 3D cell culture, as its higher efficiency of aggregate formation and serum independency are of interest in different areas of cancer biology.

  7. Photoacoustic trace gas sensing : application to fruit and insects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Persijn, Stefan Timotheüs

    2001-01-01

    A novel photoacoustic spectrometer has been applied to study trace gas emissions by fruit and insects. The spectrometer is based on a newly designed CO laser that can operate on 400 laser lines between 5.1-8.0 and 2.8-4.1 micrometer (delta v=1 and 2 mode, respectively). The spectrometer is equipped

  8. [Establishment and characterization of a cell line derived from human ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Q; Xu, D; Li, Z

    2001-07-01

    To establish a cell line of human ovarian cancer, and study its characterization. The cell line was established by the cultivation of subsides walls, and kept by freezing. The morphology was observed by microscope and electromicroscope. The authors studied its growth and propagation, the agglutination test of phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the chromosome analysis, heterotransplanting, immuno-histochemistry staining, the analysis of hormone, the pollution examination and the test of sensitivity to virus etc. A new human ovarian carcinoma cell line, designated ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma 685 (OMC685), was established from mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. This cell line had subcultured to 91 generations, and some had been frozen for 8 years and revived, still grew well. This cell line possessed the feature of glandular epithelium cancer cell. The cells grew exuberantly, and the agglutinating test of PHA was positive. Karyotype was subtriploid with distortion. Heterotransplantations, alcian blue periobic acid-schiff (AbPAS), mucicarmine, alcian blue stainings, estradiol (E2) and progesterone were all positive. Without being polluted, it was sensitive to polivirus-I, adenovirus 7 and measles virus. OMC685 is a distinct human ovarian tumous cell line.

  9. Targeting ceramide metabolic pathway induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vethakanraj, Helen Shiphrah; Babu, Thabraz Ahmed; Sudarsanan, Ganesh Babu; Duraisamy, Prabhu Kumar; Ashok Kumar, Sekar, E-mail: sekarashok@gmail.com

    2015-08-28

    The sphingolipid ceramide is a pro apoptotic molecule of ceramide metabolic pathway and is hydrolyzed to proliferative metabolite, sphingosine 1 phosphate by the action of acid ceramidase. Being upregulated in the tumors of breast, acid ceramidase acts as a potential target for breast cancer therapy. We aimed at targeting this enzyme with a small molecule acid ceramidase inhibitor, Ceranib 2 in human breast cancer cell lines MCF 7 and MDA MB 231. Ceranib 2 effectively inhibited the growth of both the cell lines in dose and time dependant manner. Morphological apoptotic hallmarks such as chromatin condensation, fragmented chromatin were observed in AO/EtBr staining. Moreover, ladder pattern of fragmented DNA observed in DNA gel electrophoresis proved the apoptotic activity of Ceranib 2 in breast cancer cell lines. The apoptotic events were associated with significant increase in the expression of pro-apoptotic genes (Bad, Bax and Bid) and down regulation of anti-apoptotic gene (Bcl 2). Interestingly, increase in sub G1 population of cell cycle phase analysis and elevated Annexin V positive cells after Ceranib 2 treatment substantiated its apoptotic activity in MCF 7 and MDA MB 231 cell lines. Thus, we report Ceranib 2 as a potent therapeutic agent against both ER{sup +} and ER{sup −} breast cancer cell lines. - Highlights: • Acid Ceramidase inhibitor, Ceranib 2 induced apoptosis in Breast cancer cell lines (MCF 7 and MDA MB 231 cell lines). • Apoptosis is mediated by DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest. • Ceranib 2 upregulated the expression of pro-apoptotic genes and down regulated anti-apoptotic gene expression. • More potent compared to the standard drug Tamoxifen.

  10. Targeting ceramide metabolic pathway induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vethakanraj, Helen Shiphrah; Babu, Thabraz Ahmed; Sudarsanan, Ganesh Babu; Duraisamy, Prabhu Kumar; Ashok Kumar, Sekar

    2015-01-01

    The sphingolipid ceramide is a pro apoptotic molecule of ceramide metabolic pathway and is hydrolyzed to proliferative metabolite, sphingosine 1 phosphate by the action of acid ceramidase. Being upregulated in the tumors of breast, acid ceramidase acts as a potential target for breast cancer therapy. We aimed at targeting this enzyme with a small molecule acid ceramidase inhibitor, Ceranib 2 in human breast cancer cell lines MCF 7 and MDA MB 231. Ceranib 2 effectively inhibited the growth of both the cell lines in dose and time dependant manner. Morphological apoptotic hallmarks such as chromatin condensation, fragmented chromatin were observed in AO/EtBr staining. Moreover, ladder pattern of fragmented DNA observed in DNA gel electrophoresis proved the apoptotic activity of Ceranib 2 in breast cancer cell lines. The apoptotic events were associated with significant increase in the expression of pro-apoptotic genes (Bad, Bax and Bid) and down regulation of anti-apoptotic gene (Bcl 2). Interestingly, increase in sub G1 population of cell cycle phase analysis and elevated Annexin V positive cells after Ceranib 2 treatment substantiated its apoptotic activity in MCF 7 and MDA MB 231 cell lines. Thus, we report Ceranib 2 as a potent therapeutic agent against both ER + and ER − breast cancer cell lines. - Highlights: • Acid Ceramidase inhibitor, Ceranib 2 induced apoptosis in Breast cancer cell lines (MCF 7 and MDA MB 231 cell lines). • Apoptosis is mediated by DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest. • Ceranib 2 upregulated the expression of pro-apoptotic genes and down regulated anti-apoptotic gene expression. • More potent compared to the standard drug Tamoxifen

  11. Glycoproteins and sialyl transferase of human B lymphoblastoid cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lui, S.W.L.; Ng, M.H.

    1980-01-01

    We used two radiolabeling methods to study glycoproteins on the surface of lymphoblastoid cells. One of the methods affects tritiation of residues which are oxidized with galactose oxidase and the other causes tritiation of neuraminic acid residues. This approach was shown to allow a better resolution of cell surface glycoproteins than if either method were used alone. Glycoproteins of B 1 - 19 cells which harbor the Epstein-Barr virus genomes were compared with those of its parental cell line, BJAB, which does not harbor the viral genomes. These studies did not reveal a unique viral protein. A 28,000 mol. wt. glycoprotein was found to be the most prominent neuraminic acidlabeled product of B 1 - 19 cells and also of the two other cell lines, Raji and Ly38, which harbor the EBV genomes. A similar molecular weight species from BJAB cells identified by galactose oxidase labeling might be deficient in neuraminic acid residues as it was poorly labeled by the periodate oxidation method. The neuraminic acid content and level of sialyl transferase of BJAB cells were found to be lower than those of the other cell lines studied. (auth.)

  12. Selection of radioresistant cells by vitamin A deficiency in a small cell lung cancer cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terasaki, Takeo; Shimosato, Yukio; Wada, Makio; Yokota, Jun; Terada, Masaaki

    1990-01-01

    Radiation sensitivity of a human small cell lung cancer cell line, Lu-134-B cells, cultured in serum-supplemented medium and of cells transferred to and cultured in delipidized serum-supplemented (vitamin A-deficient) medium was studied. The cells cultured in serum-supplemented medium showed the phenotype of classic small cell lung cancer sensitive to radiation, while cells transferred to delipidized serum-supplemented medium showed partial squamous cell differentiation and became resistant to radiation. These results suggest that some small cell lung cancer cells in vitro change their morphology and radiosensitivity depending on the culture conditions. The change in radiosensitivity was reproducible, and was not reversible by culture of the radioresistant cells in delipidized serum-supplemented medium with addition of retinoic acid (vitamin A-sufficient medium) for two months, although squamous cells disappeared. Acquisition of radioresistancy was considered to occur as the result of clonal selective growth in delipidized medium of a minor cell population in the original cell culture, based on a study of chromosome number. It was also found that there was no association of myc-family oncogenes with the changes of radiosensitivity in this cell line. (author)

  13. In vitro synergistic antitumor efficacy of sequentially combined chemotherapy/icotinib in non‑small cell lung cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Min-Cong; Liang, Xuan; Liu, Zhi-Yan; Cui, Jie; Liu, Ying; Jing, Li; Jiang, Li-Li; Ma, Jie-Qun; Han, Li-Li; Guo, Qian-Qian; Yang, Cheng-Cheng; Wang, Jing; Wu, Tao; Nan, Ke-Jun; Yao, Yu

    2015-01-01

    The concurrent administration of chemotherapy and epidermal growth factor receptor‑tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR‑TKIs) has previously produced a negative interaction and failed to confer a survival benefit to non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients compared with first‑line cytotoxic chemotherapy. The present study aimed to investigate the optimal schedule of the combined treatment of cisplatin/paclitaxel and icotinib in NSCLC cell lines and clarify the underlying mechanisms. HCC827, H1975, H1299 and A549 human NSCLC cell lines with wild‑type and mutant EGFR genes were used as in vitro models to define the differential effects of various schedules of cisplatin/paclitaxel with icotinib treatments on cell growth, proliferation, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, and EGFR signaling pathway. Sequence‑dependent antiproliferative effects differed among the four NSCLC cell lines, and were not associated with EGFR mutation, constitutive expression levels of EGFR or downstream signaling molecules. The antiproliferative effect of cisplatin plus paclitaxel followed by icotinib was superior to that of cisplatin or paclitaxel followed by icotinib in the HCC827, H1975, H1299 and A549 cell lines, and induced more cell apoptosis and G0/G1 phase arrest. Cisplatin and paclitaxel significantly increased the expression of EGFR phosphorylation in the HCC827 cell line. However, only paclitaxel increased the expression of EGFR phosphorylation in the H1975 cell line. Cisplatin/paclitaxel followed by icotinib influenced the expression of p‑EGFR and p‑AKT, although the expression of p‑ERK1/2 remained unchanged. The results suggest that the optimal schedule of the combined treatment of cisplatin/paclitaxel and icotinib differed among the NSCLC cell lines. The results also provide molecular evidence to support clinical treatment strategies for NSCLC patients.

  14. BETULINIC ACID WAS MORE CYTOTOXIC TOWARDS THE HUMAN BREAST CANCER CELL LINE MDA-MB-231 THAN THE HUMAN PROMYELOCYTIC LEUKAEMIA CELL LINE HL-60

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LATIFAH SAIFUL YAZAN

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Betulinic acid (BA is a pentacyclic triterpene found in several botanical sources that has been shown to cause apoptosis in a number of cell lines. This study was undertaken to determine the in vitro cytotoxic properties of BA towards the human mammary carcinoma cell line MDA-MB-231 and the human promyelocytic leukaemia cell line HL-60 and the mode of the induced cell death. The cytotoxicity and mode of cell death of BA were determined using the MTT assay and DNAfragmentation analysis, respectively. In our study, the compound was found to be cytotoxic to MDA-MB-231 and HL-60 cells with IC50 values of 58 μg/mL and 134 μg/mL, respectively. Cells treated with high concentrations of BA exhibited features characteristic of apoptosis such as blebbing, shrinking and a number of small cytoplasm body masses when viewed under an inverted light microscope after 24 h. The incidence of apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 was further confirmed bythe DNA fragmentation analysis, with the formation of DNA fragments of oligonucleosomal size (180-200 base pairs, giving a ladder-like pattern on agarose gel electrophoresis. BA was more cytotoxic towards MDA-MB-231 than HL-60 cells, and induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells.

  15. Nestin expression in the cell lines derived from glioblastoma multiforme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Veselska, Renata; Kuglik, Petr; Cejpek, Pavel; Svachova, Hana; Neradil, Jakub; Loja, Tomas; Relichova, Jirina

    2006-01-01

    Nestin is a protein belonging to class VI of intermediate filaments that is produced in stem/progenitor cells in the mammalian CNS during development and is consecutively replaced by other intermediate filament proteins (neurofilaments, GFAP). Down-regulated nestin may be re-expressed in the adult organism under certain pathological conditions (brain injury, ischemia, inflammation, neoplastic transformation). Our work focused on a detailed study of the nestin cytoskeleton in cell lines derived from glioblastoma multiforme, because re-expression of nestin together with down-regulation of GFAP has been previously reported in this type of brain tumor. Two cell lines were derived from the tumor tissue of patients treated for glioblastoma multiforme. Nestin and other cytoskeletal proteins were visualized using imunocytochemical methods: indirect immunofluorescence and immunogold-labelling. Using epifluorescence and confocal microscopy, we described the morphology of nestin-positive intermediate filaments in glioblastoma cells of both primary cultures and the derived cell lines, as well as the reorganization of nestin during mitosis. Our most important result came through transmission electron microscopy and provided clear evidence that nestin is present in the cell nucleus. Detailed information concerning the pattern of the nestin cytoskeleton in glioblastoma cell lines and especially the demonstration of nestin in the nucleus represent an important background for further studies of nestin re-expression in relationship to tumor malignancy and invasive potential

  16. Guidelines for the use of cell lines in biomedical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geraghty, R J; Capes-Davis, A; Davis, J M; Downward, J; Freshney, R I; Knezevic, I; Lovell-Badge, R; Masters, J R W; Meredith, J; Stacey, G N; Thraves, P; Vias, M

    2014-09-09

    Cell-line misidentification and contamination with microorganisms, such as mycoplasma, together with instability, both genetic and phenotypic, are among the problems that continue to affect cell culture. Many of these problems are avoidable with the necessary foresight, and these Guidelines have been prepared to provide those new to the field and others engaged in teaching and instruction with the information necessary to increase their awareness of the problems and to enable them to deal with them effectively. The Guidelines cover areas such as development, acquisition, authentication, cryopreservation, transfer of cell lines between laboratories, microbial contamination, characterisation, instability and misidentification. Advice is also given on complying with current legal and ethical requirements when deriving cell lines from human and animal tissues, the selection and maintenance of equipment and how to deal with problems that may arise.

  17. Mycoplasma hyorhinis-Contaminated Cell Lines Activate Primary Innate Immune Cells via a Protease-Sensitive Factor.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Heidegger

    Full Text Available Mycoplasma are a frequent and occult contaminant of cell cultures, whereby these prokaryotic organisms can modify many aspects of cell physiology, rendering experiments that are conducted with such contaminated cells problematic. Chronic Mycoplasma contamination in human monocytic cells lines has been associated with suppressed Toll-like receptor (TLR function. In contrast, we show here that components derived from a Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cell line can activate innate immunity in non-infected primary immune cells. Release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 by dendritic cells in response to Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cell components was critically dependent on the adapter protein MyD88 but only partially on TLR2. Unlike canonical TLR2 signaling that is triggered in response to the detection of Mycoplasma infection, innate immune activation by components of Mycoplasma-infected cells was inhibited by chloroquine treatment and sensitive to protease treatment. We further show that in plasmacytoid dendritic cells, soluble factors from Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cells induce the production of large amounts of IFN-α. We conclude that Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected cell lines release protein factors that can potently activate co-cultured innate immune cells via a previously unrecognized mechanism, thus limiting the validity of such co-culture experiments.

  18. Effects of hypoxia on human cancer cell line chemosensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Environment inside even a small tumor is characterized by total (anoxia) or partial oxygen deprivation, (hypoxia). It has been shown that radiotherapy and some conventional chemotherapies may be less effective in hypoxia, and therefore it is important to investigate how different drugs act in different microenvironments. In this study we perform a large screening of the effects of 19 clinically used or experimental chemotherapeutic drugs on five different cell lines in conditions of normoxia, hypoxia and anoxia. Methods A panel of 19 commercially available drugs: 5-fluorouracil, acriflavine, bortezomib, cisplatin, digitoxin, digoxin, docetaxel, doxorubicin, etoposide, gemcitabine, irinotecan, melphalan, mitomycin c, rapamycin, sorafenib, thalidomide, tirapazamine, topotecan and vincristine were tested for cytotoxic activity on the cancer cell lines A2780 (ovarian), ACHN (renal), MCF-7 (breast), H69 (SCLC) and U-937 (lymphoma). Parallel aliquots of the cells were grown at different oxygen pressures and after 72 hours of drug exposure viability was measured with the fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay (FMCA). Results Sorafenib, irinotecan and docetaxel were in general more effective in an oxygenated environment, while cisplatin, mitomycin c and tirapazamine were more effective in a low oxygen environment. Surprisingly, hypoxia in H69 and MCF-7 cells mostly rendered higher drug sensitivity. In contrast ACHN appeared more sensitive to hypoxia, giving slower proliferating cells, and consequently, was more resistant to most drugs. Conclusions A panel of standard cytotoxic agents was tested against five different human cancer cell lines cultivated at normoxic, hypoxic and anoxic conditions. Results show that impaired chemosensitivity is not universal, in contrast different cell lines behave different and some drugs appear even less effective in normoxia than hypoxia. PMID:23829203

  19. Imiquimod activates p53-dependent apoptosis in a human basal cell carcinoma cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Shi-Wei; Chang, Shu-Hao; Mu, Szu-Wei; Jiang, Hsin-Yi; Wang, Sin-Ting; Kao, Jun-Kai; Huang, Jau-Ling; Wu, Chun-Ying; Chen, Yi-Ju; Shieh, Jeng-Jer

    2016-03-01

    The tumor suppressor p53 controls DNA repair, cell cycle, apoptosis, autophagy and numerous other cellular processes. Imiquimod (IMQ), a synthetic toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 ligand for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma (BCC), eliminates cancer cells by activating cell-mediated immunity and directly inducing apoptosis and autophagy in cancer cells. To evaluate the role of p53 in IMQ-induced cell death in skin cancer cells. The expression, phosphorylation and subcellular localization of p53 were detected by real-time PCR, luciferase reporter assay, cycloheximide chase analysis, immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry. Using BCC/KMC1 cell line as a model, the upstream signaling of p53 activation was dissected by over-expression of TLR7/8, the addition of ROS scavenger, ATM/ATR inhibitors and pan-caspase inhibitor. The role of p53 in IMQ-induced apoptosis and autophagy was assessed by genetically silencing p53 and evaluated by a DNA content assay, immunoblotting, LC3 puncta detection and acridine orange staining. IMQ induced p53 mRNA expression and protein accumulation, increased Ser15 phosphorylation, promoted nuclear translocation and up-regulated its target genes in skin cancer cells in a TLR7/8-independent manner. In BCC/KMC1 cells, the induction of p53 by IMQ was achieved through increased ROS production to stimulate the ATM/ATR-Chk1/Chk2 axis but was not mediated by inducing DNA damage. The pharmacological inhibition of ATM/ATR significantly suppressed IMQ-induced p53 activation and apoptosis. Silencing of p53 significantly decreased the IMQ-induced caspase cascade activation and apoptosis but enhanced autophagy. Mutant p53 skin cancer cell lines were more resistant to IMQ-induced apoptosis than wildtype p53 skin cancer cell lines. IMQ induced ROS production to stimulate ATM/ATR pathways and contributed to p53-dependent apoptosis in a skin basal cell carcinoma cell line BCC/KMC1. Copyright © 2015 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology

  20. DNA methylation profiles of ovarian epithelial carcinoma tumors and cell lines.

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    Sahar Houshdaran

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Epithelial ovarian carcinoma is a significant cause of cancer mortality in women worldwide and in the United States. Epithelial ovarian cancer comprises several histological subtypes, each with distinct clinical and molecular characteristics. The natural history of this heterogeneous disease, including the cell types of origin, is poorly understood. This study applied recently developed methods for high-throughput DNA methylation profiling to characterize ovarian cancer cell lines and tumors, including representatives of three major histologies.We obtained DNA methylation profiles of 1,505 CpG sites (808 genes in 27 primary epithelial ovarian tumors and 15 ovarian cancer cell lines. We found that the DNA methylation profiles of ovarian cancer cell lines were markedly different from those of primary ovarian tumors. Aggregate DNA methylation levels of the assayed CpG sites tended to be higher in ovarian cancer cell lines relative to ovarian tumors. Within the primary tumors, those of the same histological type were more alike in their methylation profiles than those of different subtypes. Supervised analyses identified 90 CpG sites (68 genes that exhibited 'subtype-specific' DNA methylation patterns (FDR<1% among the tumors. In ovarian cancer cell lines, we estimated that for at least 27% of analyzed autosomal CpG sites, increases in methylation were accompanied by decreases in transcription of the associated gene.The significant difference in DNA methylation profiles between ovarian cancer cell lines and tumors underscores the need to be cautious in using cell lines as tumor models for molecular studies of ovarian cancer and other cancers. Similarly, the distinct methylation profiles of the different histological types of ovarian tumors reinforces the need to treat the different histologies of ovarian cancer as different diseases, both clinically and in biomarker studies. These data provide a useful resource for future studies, including those of

  1. Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LaChance, L.E.; Klassen, W.

    1991-01-01

    The sterile insect technique (SIT) is basically a novel twentieth century approach to insect birth control. It is species specific and exploits the mate seeking behaviour of the insect. The basic principle is simple. Insects are mass reared in 'factories' and sexually sterilized by gamma rays from a 60 Co source. The sterile insects are then released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produced no progeny. If enough of these matings take place, reproduction of the pest population decreases. With continued release, the pest population can be controlled and in some cases eradicated. In the light of the many important applications of the SIT worldwide and the great potential that SIT concepts hold for insect and pest control in developing countries, two special benefits should be stressed. Of greatest significance is the fact that the SIT permits suppression and eradication of insect pests in an environmentally harmless manner. It combines nuclear techniques with genetic approaches and, in effect, replaces intensive use of chemicals in pest control. Although chemicals are used sparingly at the outset in some SIT programmes to reduce the size of the pest population before releases of sterilized insects are started, the total amount of chemicals used in an SIT programme is a mere fraction of what would be used without the SIT. It is also of great importance that the SIT is not designed strictly for the eradication of pest species but can readily be used in the suppression of insect populations. In fact, the SIT is ideally suited for use in conjunction with other agricultural pest control practices such as the use of parasites and predators, attractants and cultural controls (e.g. ploughing under or destruction of crop residues) in integrated pest management programmes to achieve control at the lowest possible price and with a minimum of chemical contamination of the environment

  2. Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaChance, L E; Klassen, W [Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna (Austria)

    1991-09-01

    The sterile insect technique (SIT) is basically a novel twentieth century approach to insect birth control. It is species specific and exploits the mate seeking behaviour of the insect. The basic principle is simple. Insects are mass reared in 'factories' and sexually sterilized by gamma rays from a {sup 60}Co source. The sterile insects are then released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produced no progeny. If enough of these matings take place, reproduction of the pest population decreases. With continued release, the pest population can be controlled and in some cases eradicated. In the light of the many important applications of the SIT worldwide and the great potential that SIT concepts hold for insect and pest control in developing countries, two special benefits should be stressed. Of greatest significance is the fact that the SIT permits suppression and eradication of insect pests in an environmentally harmless manner. It combines nuclear techniques with genetic approaches and, in effect, replaces intensive use of chemicals in pest control. Although chemicals are used sparingly at the outset in some SIT programmes to reduce the size of the pest population before releases of sterilized insects are started, the total amount of chemicals used in an SIT programme is a mere fraction of what would be used without the SIT. It is also of great importance that the SIT is not designed strictly for the eradication of pest species but can readily be used in the suppression of insect populations. In fact, the SIT is ideally suited for use in conjunction with other agricultural pest control practices such as the use of parasites and predators, attractants and cultural controls (e.g. ploughing under or destruction of crop residues) in integrated pest management programmes to achieve control at the lowest possible price and with a minimum of chemical contamination of the environment.

  3. Investigating the role of caveolin-2 in prostate cancer cell line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin-Yih Low

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Prostate cancer is a worldwide problem. While the role of caveolin-1 has been extensively studied, little is known about the role of caveolin-2 (CAV2 in prostate cancer. Up-regulation of CAV2 in androgen independent PC3 cells compared to normal prostate cell line and androgen dependent prostate cancer cell lines has been observed. Recent studies suggest that up-regulation of CAV2 plays an important role in androgen independent prostate cancer. This study investigates whether CAV2 is important in mediating the aggressive phenotypes seen in androgen independent prostate cancer cells. The androgen independent prostate cancer cell line, PC3 was used that has been shown to express CAV2, and CAV2 knock down was performed using siRNA system. Changes to cell number, migration and invasion were assessed after knocking down CAV2. Our results showed that down-regulating CAV2 resulted in reduced cell numbers, migration and invasion in PC3 cells. This preliminary study suggests that CAV2 may act to promote malignant behavior in an androgen independent prostate cancer cell line. Further studies are required to fully elucidate the role of CAV2 in androgen independent prostate cancer.

  4. Characterization of N-Glycan Structures on the Surface of Mature Dengue 2 Virus Derived from Insect Cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y Lei

    Full Text Available DENV envelope glycoprotein (E is responsible for interacting with host cell receptors and is the main target for the development of a dengue vaccine based on an induction of neutralizing antibodies. It is well known that DENV E glycoprotein has two potential N-linked glycosylation sites at Asn67 and Asn153. The N-glycans of E glycoprotein have been shown to influence the proper folding of the protein, its cellular localization, its interactions with receptors and its immunogenicity. However, the precise structures of the N-glycans that are attached to E glycoprotein remain elusive, although the crystal structure of DENV E has been determined. This study characterized the structures of envelope protein N-linked glycans on mature DENV-2 particles derived from insect cells via an integrated method that used both lectin microarray and MALDI-TOF-MS. By combining these methods, a high heterogeneity of DENV N-glycans was found. Five types of N-glycan were identified on DENV-2, including mannose, GalNAc, GlcNAc, fucose and sialic acid; high mannose-type N-linked oligosaccharides and the galactosylation of N-glycans were the major structures that were found. Furthermore, a complex between a glycan on DENV and the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD of DC-SIGN was mimicked with computational docking experiments. For the first time, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the N-linked glycan profile of whole DENV-2 particles derived from insect cells.

  5. Radiosensitivity of prostatic cell lines: bicalutamide effect (Casodex), micro-RNAs actions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quero, J.L.

    2011-10-01

    The first aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of the association between bicalutamide, an androgen receptor inhibitor, and ionizing radiation in three prostate cancer cell lines. The second aim was to examine a possible correlation between the expression of miR-210 or miR-373, the tolerance to hypoxia tolerance and the responses to radiation.We found that bicalutamide produced cytostatic and cytotoxic effects in the androgen receptor- positive LNCaP cell line. The androgen receptor-negative DU145 and PC3 cell lines were more resistant to bicalutamide. However, these cell lines were affected by high bicalutamide concentration with the same endpoints as for LNCaP cells. The inhibition of proliferation by bicalutamide was associated with G1 cell cycle phase arrest, increased expression of p27KIP1 protein, and decreased expression of HER2 protein. Last but not least, bicalutamide elicited a marked radioprotective effect in LNCaP cells when associated with concomitant irradiation. This result suggests that bicalutamide and radiotherapy should not be delivered in close temporal proximity, especially in case of hypo-fractionated radiotherapy protocols.Hypoxia is a well known radioresistance factor in tumors and is associated with a bad prognosis in prostate cancer. In this study, we found that hypoxia promotes the expression of HIF-1α, CA9, VEGF and miR-210 but not miR-373 in prostate cancer cell lines irrespective of their androgen receptor status.Our findings suggest that miR-210 expression is correlated with resistance to hypoxia and could be used as a prognostic marker in prostate cancer. Conversely, miR-210 inhibition did not impact the radiation susceptibility of PC3 prostate cancer cell line under hypoxia. (author)

  6. Establishment and characterization of 7 novel hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines from patient-derived tumor xenografts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Xin

    Full Text Available Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC is a common cancer with poor prognosis worldwide and the molecular mechanism is not well understood. This study aimed to establish a collection of human HCC cell lines from patient-derived xenograft (PDX models. From the 20 surgical HCC sample collections, 7 tumors were successfully developed in immunodeficient mice and further established 7 novel HCC cell lines (LIXC002, LIXC003, LIXC004, LIXC006, LIXC011, LIXC012 and CPL0903 by primary culture. The characterization of cell lines was defined by morphology, growth kinetics, cell cycle, chromosome analysis, short tandem repeat (STR analysis, molecular profile, and tumorigenicity. Additionally, response to clinical chemotherapeutics was validated both in vitro and in vivo. STR analysis indicated that all cell lines were unique cells different from known cell lines and free of contamination by bacteria or mycoplasma. The other findings were quite heterogeneous between individual lines. Chromosome aberration could be found in all cell lines. Alpha-fetoprotein was overexpressed only in 3 out of 7 cell lines. 4 cell lines expressed high level of vimentin. Ki67 was strongly stained in all cell lines. mRNA level of retinoic acid induced protein 3 (RAI3 was decreased in all cell lines. The 7 novel cell lines showed variable sensitivity to 8 tested compounds. LIXC011 and CPL0903 possessed multiple drug resistance property. Sorafenib inhibited xenograft tumor growth of LIXC006, but not of LIXC012. Our results indicated that the 7 novel cell lines with low passage maintaining their clinical and pathological characters could be good tools for further exploring the molecular mechanism of HCC and anti-cancer drug screening.

  7. The status of intercellular junctions in established lens epithelial cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dave, Alpana; Craig, Jamie E; Sharma, Shiwani

    2012-01-01

    Cataract is the major cause of vision-related disability worldwide. Mutations in the crystallin genes are the most common known cause of inherited congenital cataract. Mutations in the genes associated with intercellular contacts, such as Nance-Horan Syndrome (NHS) and Ephrin type A receptor-2 (EPHA2), are other recognized causes of congenital cataract. The EPHA2 gene has been also associated with age-related cataract, suggesting that intercellular junctions are important in not only lens development, but also in maintaining lens transparency. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression and localization of the key cell junction and cytoskeletal proteins, and of NHS and EPHA2, in established lens epithelial cell lines to determine their suitability as model epithelial systems for the functional investigation of genes involved in intercellular contacts and implicated in cataract. The expression and subcellular localization of occludin and zona occludens protein-1 (ZO-1), which are associated with tight junctions; E-cadherin, which is associated with adherence junctions; and the cytoskeletal actin were analyzed in monolayers of a human lens epithelial cell line (SRA 01/04) and a mouse lens epithelial cell line (αTN4). In addition, the expression and subcellular localization of the NHS and EPHA2 proteins were analyzed in these cell lines. Protein or mRNA expression was respectively determined by western blotting or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and localization was determined by immunofluorescence labeling. Human SRA 01/04 and mouse αTN4 lens epithelial cells expressed either the proteins of interest or their encoding mRNA. Occludin, ZO-1, and NHS proteins localized to the cellular periphery, whereas E-cadherin, actin, and EPHA2 localized in the cytoplasm in these cell lines. The human SRA 01/04 and mouse αTN4 lens epithelial cells express the key junctional proteins. The localization patterns of these proteins suggest that

  8. Graphene Oxide Nanoribbons Induce Autophagic Vacuoles in Neuroblastoma Cell Lines

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    Emanuela Mari

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Since graphene nanoparticles are attracting increasing interest in relation to medical applications, it is important to understand their potential effects on humans. In the present study, we prepared graphene oxide (GO nanoribbons by oxidative unzipping of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs and analyzed their toxicity in two human neuroblastoma cell lines. Neuroblastoma is the most common solid neoplasia in children. The hallmark of these tumors is the high number of different clinical variables, ranging from highly metastatic, rapid progression and resistance to therapy to spontaneous regression or change into benign ganglioneuromas. Patients with neuroblastoma are grouped into different risk groups that are characterized by different prognosis and different clinical behavior. Relapse and mortality in high risk patients is very high in spite of new advances in chemotherapy. Cell lines, obtained from neuroblastomas have different genotypic and phenotypic features. The cell lines SK-N-BE(2 and SH-SY5Y have different genetic mutations and tumorigenicity. Cells were exposed to low doses of GO for different times in order to investigate whether GO was a good vehicle for biological molecules delivering individualized therapy. Cytotoxicity in both cell lines was studied by measuring cellular oxidative stress (ROS, mitochondria membrane potential, expression of lysosomial proteins and cell growth. GO uptake and cytoplasmic distribution of particles were studied by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM for up to 72 h. The results show that GO at low concentrations increased ROS production and induced autophagy in both neuroblastoma cell lines within a few hours of exposure, events that, however, are not followed by growth arrest or death. For this reason, we suggest that the GO nanoparticle can be used for therapeutic delivery to the brain tissue with minimal effects on healthy cells.

  9. HEK293T cell lines defective for O-linked glycosylation.

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    James M Termini

    Full Text Available Here we describe derivatives of the HEK293T cell line that are defective in their ability to generate mucin-type O-linked glycosylation. Using CRISPR/Cas9 and a single-cell GFP-sorting procedure, the UDP-galactose-4-epimerase (GALE, galactokinase 1 (GALK1, and galactokinase 2 (GALK2 genes were knocked out individually and in combinations with greater than 90% of recovered clones having the desired mutations. Although HEK293T cells are tetraploid, we found this approach to be an efficient method to target and disrupt all 4 copies of the target gene. Deficient glycosylation in the GALE knockout cell line could be rescued by the addition of galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc to the cell culture media. However, when key enzymes of the galactose/GalNAc salvage pathways were disrupted in tandem (GALE+GALK1 or GALE+GALK2, O-glycosylation was eliminated and could not be rescued by the addition of either galactose plus GalNAc or UDP-galactose plus UDP-GalNAc. GALK1 and GALK2 are key enzymes of the galactose/GalNAc salvage pathways. Mass spectrometry was performed on whole cell lysate of the knockout cell lines to verify the glycosylation phenotype. As expected, the GALE knockout was almost completely devoid of all O-glycosylation, with minimal glycosylation as a result of functional salvage pathways. However, the GALE+GALK1 and GALE+GALK2 knockout lines were devoid of all O-glycans. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the disruption of GALE, GALK1, and GALE+GALK2 had little effect on the N-glycome. But when GALE was knocked out in tandem with GALK1, N-glycans were exclusively of the high mannose type. Due to the well-characterized nature of these five knockout cell lines, they will likely prove useful for a wide variety of applications.

  10. Antiproliferative Evaluation of Isofuranodiene on Breast and Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

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    Michela Buccioni

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The anticancer activity of isofuranodiene, extracted from Smyrnium olusatrum, was evaluated in human breast adenocarcinomas MDA-MB 231 and BT 474, and Caucasian prostate adenocarcinoma PC 3 cell lines by MTS assay. MTS assay showed a dose-dependent growth inhibition in the tumor cell lines after isofuranodiene treatment. The best antiproliferative activity of the isofuranodiene was found on PC 3 cells with an IC50 value of 29 μM, which was slightly less than the inhibition against the two breast adenocarcinoma cell lines with IC50 values of 59 and 55 μM on MDA-MB 231 and BT 474, respectively. Hoechst 33258 assay was performed in order to study the growth inhibition mechanism in prostate cancer cell line; the results indicate that isofuranodiene induces apoptosis. Overall, the understudy compound has a good anticancer activity especially towards the PC 3. On the contrary, it is less active on Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO and human embryonic kidney (HEK 293 appearing as a good candidate as a potential natural anticancer drug with low side effects.

  11. Functional processing and secretion of Chikungunya virus E1 and E2 glycoproteins in insect cells

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    Goldbach Rob W

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Chikungunya virus (CHIKV is a mosquito-borne, arthrogenic Alphavirus that causes large epidemics in Africa, South-East Asia and India. Recently, CHIKV has been transmitted to humans in Southern Europe by invading and now established Asian tiger mosquitoes. To study the processing of envelope proteins E1 and E2 and to develop a CHIKV subunit vaccine, C-terminally his-tagged E1 and E2 envelope glycoproteins were produced at high levels in insect cells with baculovirus vectors using their native signal peptides located in CHIKV 6K and E3, respectively. Results Expression in the presence of either tunicamycin or furin inhibitor showed that a substantial portion of recombinant intracellular E1 and precursor E3E2 was glycosylated, but that a smaller fraction of E3E2 was processed by furin into mature E3 and E2. Deletion of the C-terminal transmembrane domains of E1 and E2 enabled secretion of furin-cleaved, fully processed E1 and E2 subunits, which could then be efficiently purified from cell culture fluid via metal affinity chromatography. Confocal laser scanning microscopy on living baculovirus-infected Sf21 cells revealed that full-length E1 and E2 translocated to the plasma membrane, suggesting similar posttranslational processing of E1 and E2, as in a natural CHIKV infection. Baculovirus-directed expression of E1 displayed fusogenic activity as concluded from syncytia formation. CHIKV-E2 was able to induce neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. Conclusions Chikungunya virus glycoproteins could be functionally expressed at high levels in insect cells and are properly glycosylated and cleaved by furin. The ability of purified, secreted CHIKV-E2 to induce neutralizing antibodies in rabbits underscores the potential use of E2 in a subunit vaccine to prevent CHIKV infections.

  12. Dysfunctional telomeres in human BRCA2 mutated breast tumors and cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bodvarsdottir, Sigridur K.; Steinarsdottir, Margret; Bjarnason, Hordur; Eyfjord, Jorunn E.

    2012-01-01

    In the present study the possible involvement of telomeres in chromosomal instability of breast tumors and cell lines from BRCA2 mutation carriers was examined. Breast tumors from BRCA2 mutation carriers showed significantly higher frequency of chromosome end-to-end fusions (CEFs) than tumors from non-carriers despite normal telomere DNA content. Frequent CEFs were also found in four different BRCA2 heterozygous breast epithelial cell lines, occasionally with telomere signal at the fusion point, indicating telomere capping defects. Extrachromosomal telomeric repeat (ECTR) DNA was frequently found scattered around metaphase chromosomes and interstitial telomere sequences (ITSs) were also common. Telomere sister chromatid exchanges (T-SCEs), characteristic of cells using alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), were frequently detected in all heterozygous BRCA2 cell lines as well as the two ALT positive cell lines tested. Even though T-SCE frequency was similar in BRCA2 heterozygous and ALT positive cell lines they differed in single telomere signal loss and ITSs. Chromatid type alterations were more prominent in the BRCA2 heterozygous cell lines that may have propensity for telomere based chromosome healing. Telomere dysfunction-induced foci (TIFs) formation, identified by co-localization of telomeres and γ-H2AX, supported telomere associated DNA damage response in BRCA2 heterozygous cell lines. TIFs were found in interphase nuclei, at chromosome ends, ITSs and ECTR DNA. In conclusion, our results suggest that BRCA2 has an important role in telomere stabilization by repressing CEFs through telomere capping and the prevention of telomere loss by replication stabilization.

  13. Dysfunctional telomeres in human BRCA2 mutated breast tumors and cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bodvarsdottir, Sigridur K., E-mail: skb@hi.is [Cancer Research Laboratory, BioMedical Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101 Reykjavik (Iceland); Steinarsdottir, Margret [Chromosome Laboratory, Department of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik (Iceland); Bjarnason, Hordur; Eyfjord, Jorunn E. [Cancer Research Laboratory, BioMedical Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Vatnsmyrarvegi 16, 101 Reykjavik (Iceland)

    2012-01-03

    In the present study the possible involvement of telomeres in chromosomal instability of breast tumors and cell lines from BRCA2 mutation carriers was examined. Breast tumors from BRCA2 mutation carriers showed significantly higher frequency of chromosome end-to-end fusions (CEFs) than tumors from non-carriers despite normal telomere DNA content. Frequent CEFs were also found in four different BRCA2 heterozygous breast epithelial cell lines, occasionally with telomere signal at the fusion point, indicating telomere capping defects. Extrachromosomal telomeric repeat (ECTR) DNA was frequently found scattered around metaphase chromosomes and interstitial telomere sequences (ITSs) were also common. Telomere sister chromatid exchanges (T-SCEs), characteristic of cells using alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), were frequently detected in all heterozygous BRCA2 cell lines as well as the two ALT positive cell lines tested. Even though T-SCE frequency was similar in BRCA2 heterozygous and ALT positive cell lines they differed in single telomere signal loss and ITSs. Chromatid type alterations were more prominent in the BRCA2 heterozygous cell lines that may have propensity for telomere based chromosome healing. Telomere dysfunction-induced foci (TIFs) formation, identified by co-localization of telomeres and {gamma}-H2AX, supported telomere associated DNA damage response in BRCA2 heterozygous cell lines. TIFs were found in interphase nuclei, at chromosome ends, ITSs and ECTR DNA. In conclusion, our results suggest that BRCA2 has an important role in telomere stabilization by repressing CEFs through telomere capping and the prevention of telomere loss by replication stabilization.

  14. Fungus-insect gall of Phlebopus portentosus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chun-Xia; He, Ming-Xia; Cao, Yang; Liu, Jing; Gao, Feng; Wang, Wen-Bing; Ji, Kai-Ping; Shao, Shi-Cheng; Wang, Yun

    2015-01-01

    Phlebopus portentosus is a popular edible wild mushroom found in the tropical Yunnan, China, and northern Thailand. In its natural habitats, a gall often has been found on some plant roots, around which fungal fruiting bodies are produced. The galls are different from common insect galls in that their cavity walls are not made from plant tissue but rather from the hyphae of P. portentosus. Therefore we have termed this phenomenon "fungus-insect gall". Thus far six root mealy bug species in the family Pseudococcidae that form fungus-insect galls with P. portentosus have been identified: Formicococcus polysperes, Geococcus satellitum, Planococcus minor, Pseudococcus cryptus, Paraputo banzigeri and Rastrococcus invadens. Fungus-insect galls were found on the roots of more than 21 plant species, including Delonix regia, Citrus maxima, Coffea arabica and Artocarpus heterophyllus. Greenhouse inoculation trials showed that fungus-insect galls were found on the roots of A. heterophyllus 1 mo after inoculation. The galls were subglobose to globose, fulvous when young and became dark brown at maturation. Each gall harbored one or more mealy bugs and had a chimney-like vent for ventilation and access to the gall. The cavity wall had three layers. Various shaped mealy bug wax deposits were found inside the wall. Fungal hyphae invaded the epidermis of plant roots and sometimes even the cortical cells during the late stage of gall development. The identity of the fungus inside the cavity was confirmed by molecular methods. © 2015 by The Mycological Society of America.

  15. Frequency and distribution of Notch mutations in tumor cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mutvei, Anders Peter; Fredlund, Erik; Lendahl, Urban

    2015-01-01

    Deregulated Notch signaling is linked to a variety of tumors and it is therefore important to learn more about the frequency and distribution of Notch mutations in a tumor context. In this report, we use data from the recently developed Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia to assess the frequency and distribution of Notch mutations in a large panel of cancer cell lines in silico. Our results show that the mutation frequency of Notch receptor and ligand genes is at par with that for established oncogenes and higher than for a set of house-keeping genes. Mutations were found across all four Notch receptor genes, but with notable differences between protein domains, mutations were for example more prevalent in the regions encoding the LNR and PEST domains in the Notch intracellular domain. Furthermore, an in silico estimation of functional impact showed that deleterious mutations cluster to the ligand-binding and the intracellular domains of NOTCH1. For most cell line groups, the mutation frequency of Notch genes is higher than in associated primary tumors. Our results shed new light on the spectrum of Notch mutations after in vitro culturing of tumor cells. The higher mutation frequency in tumor cell lines indicates that Notch mutations are associated with a growth advantage in vitro, and thus may be considered to be driver mutations in a tumor cell line context. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1278-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

  16. Recommendation of short tandem repeat profiling for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barallon, Rita; Bauer, Steven R; Butler, John; Capes-Davis, Amanda; Dirks, Wilhelm G; Elmore, Eugene; Furtado, Manohar; Kline, Margaret C; Kohara, Arihiro; Los, Georgyi V; MacLeod, Roderick A F; Masters, John R W; Nardone, Mark; Nardone, Roland M; Nims, Raymond W; Price, Paul J; Reid, Yvonne A; Shewale, Jaiprakash; Sykes, Gregory; Steuer, Anton F; Storts, Douglas R; Thomson, Jim; Taraporewala, Zenobia; Alston-Roberts, Christine; Kerrigan, Liz

    2010-10-01

    Cell misidentification and cross-contamination have plagued biomedical research for as long as cells have been employed as research tools. Examples of misidentified cell lines continue to surface to this day. Efforts to eradicate the problem by raising awareness of the issue and by asking scientists voluntarily to take appropriate actions have not been successful. Unambiguous cell authentication is an essential step in the scientific process and should be an inherent consideration during peer review of papers submitted for publication or during review of grants submitted for funding. In order to facilitate proper identity testing, accurate, reliable, inexpensive, and standardized methods for authentication of cells and cell lines must be made available. To this end, an international team of scientists is, at this time, preparing a consensus standard on the authentication of human cells using short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. This standard, which will be submitted for review and approval as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute, will provide investigators guidance on the use of STR profiling for authenticating human cell lines. Such guidance will include methodological detail on the preparation of the DNA sample, the appropriate numbers and types of loci to be evaluated, and the interpretation and quality control of the results. Associated with the standard itself will be the establishment and maintenance of a public STR profile database under the auspices of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The consensus standard is anticipated to be adopted by granting agencies and scientific journals as appropriate methodology for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues.

  17. Recommendation of short tandem repeat profiling for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barallon, Rita; Bauer, Steven R.; Butler, John; Capes-Davis, Amanda; Dirks, Wilhelm G.; Furtado, Manohar; Kline, Margaret C.; Kohara, Arihiro; Los, Georgyi V.; MacLeod, Roderick A. F.; Masters, John R. W.; Nardone, Mark; Nardone, Roland M.; Nims, Raymond W.; Price, Paul J.; Reid, Yvonne A.; Shewale, Jaiprakash; Sykes, Gregory; Steuer, Anton F.; Storts, Douglas R.; Thomson, Jim; Taraporewala, Zenobia; Alston-Roberts, Christine; Kerrigan, Liz

    2010-01-01

    Cell misidentification and cross-contamination have plagued biomedical research for as long as cells have been employed as research tools. Examples of misidentified cell lines continue to surface to this day. Efforts to eradicate the problem by raising awareness of the issue and by asking scientists voluntarily to take appropriate actions have not been successful. Unambiguous cell authentication is an essential step in the scientific process and should be an inherent consideration during peer review of papers submitted for publication or during review of grants submitted for funding. In order to facilitate proper identity testing, accurate, reliable, inexpensive, and standardized methods for authentication of cells and cell lines must be made available. To this end, an international team of scientists is, at this time, preparing a consensus standard on the authentication of human cells using short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. This standard, which will be submitted for review and approval as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute, will provide investigators guidance on the use of STR profiling for authenticating human cell lines. Such guidance will include methodological detail on the preparation of the DNA sample, the appropriate numbers and types of loci to be evaluated, and the interpretation and quality control of the results. Associated with the standard itself will be the establishment and maintenance of a public STR profile database under the auspices of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The consensus standard is anticipated to be adopted by granting agencies and scientific journals as appropriate methodology for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues. PMID:20614197

  18. 'Fluorescent Cell Chip' for immunotoxicity testing: Development of the c-fos expression reporter cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trzaska, Dominika; Zembek, Patrycja; Olszewski, Maciej; Adamczewska, Violetta; Ulleras, Erik; Dastych, JarosIaw

    2005-01-01

    The Fluorescent Cell Chip for in vitro immunotoxicity testing employs cell lines derived from lymphocytes, mast cells, and monocytes-macrophages transfected with various EGFP cytokine reporter gene constructs. While cytokine expression is a valid endpoint for in vitro immunotoxicity screening, additional marker for the immediate-early response gene expression level could be of interest for further development and refinement of the Fluorescent Cell Chip. We have used BW.5147.3 murine thymoma transfected with c-fos reporter constructs to obtain reporter cell lines expressing ECFP under the control of murine c-fos promoter. These cells upon serum withdrawal and readdition and incubation with heavy metal compounds showed paralleled induction of c-Fos expression as evidenced by Real-Time PCR and ECFP fluorescence as evidenced by computer-supported fluorescence microscopy. In conclusion, we developed fluorescent reporter cell lines that could be employed in a simple and time-efficient screening assay for possible action of chemicals on c-Fos expression in lymphocytes. The evaluation of usefulness of these cells for the Fluorescent Cell Chip-based detection of immunotoxicity will require additional testing with a larger number of chemicals

  19. Comparison of the effect of interferon on two human hepatoma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crespi, M; Schoub, B D; Lyons, S F; Chiu, M N [University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa). Dept. of Virology

    1985-06-01

    Two human hepatoma cell lines, the PLC/PRF/5 and the Mahlavu cells, which differ in their production of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), responded differently to interferon (IFN). After IFN treatment both cell lines were able to inhibit Sindbis virus replication. Oligo A synthetase (E enzyme) could be activated in the PLC/PRF/5 cells although they were not sensitive to exogenous 2 - 5 oligoadenylic acid (2 - 5 A). In contrast, the Mahlavu cells were sensitive to exogenous 2 - 5 A, but unable to activate the E enzyme. Both cell lines were unable to stimulate phosphorylation of the exogenous initiator factor eIF-2.

  20. Estrogenic activity of lambda-cyhalothrin in the MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Meirong; Zhang, Ying; Liu, Weiping; Xu, Chao; Wang, Lumei; Gan, Jianying

    2008-05-01

    Synthetic pyrethroids are widely used in both agricultural and urban environments for insect control. Lambda-cyhalothrin (LCT) is one of the most common pyrethroids and is used mainly for controlling mosquitoes, fleas, cockroaches, flies, and ants around households. Previous studies have addressed the environmental behaviors and acute toxicities of LCT, but little is known about its chronic toxicity, such as estrogen-like activity. In the present study, the estrogenic potential of LCT was evaluated using the MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cell line. The in vitro E-screen assay showed that 10(-7) M LCT could significantly promote MCF-7 cell proliferation, with a relative proliferative effect ratio of 45%. The cell proliferation induced by LCT could be blocked completely, however, by the addition of 10(-9) M of the estrogen receptor (ER)-antagonist ICI 182,780. The semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results showed that the Trefoil factor 1 (pS2) and progesterone receptor gene expression were up-regulated by 10(-7) M LCT for 2- and 1.5-fold, respectively. On the other hand, RT-PCR, Western blot analysis, and immunofluorescent assay demonstrated that LCT significantly repressed the mRNA and protein expression levels of ERalpha and ERbeta. These observations indicate that LCT possesses estrogenic properties and may function as a xenoestrogen, likely via a mechanism similar to that of 17beta-estradiol. The endocrine-disruption potential of LCT should be considered when assessing the safety of this compound in sensitive environmental compartments.

  1. Insects, isotopes and radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindquist, D.A.

    1987-01-01

    The article describes the increased use of nuclear techniques in controlling harmful insects. The sterile insect technique (SIT), which uses radiation to sexually sterilize insects and prevent reproduction, is particularly effective in eradication programmes. At the present time, there are approximately 10 species of insect pests being attacked by the SIT. Research and development is being conducted on other insect species and it is anticipated that the technology will be more widely used in the future

  2. Ethanolic Extract Cytotoxic Effect of Zingiber Afficinale in Breast Cancer (MCF7 Cell Line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J Tavakkol Afshari

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction & Objective: Biological activities of Zingiber afficieale plants have been reported as possessing anticancer, antibacterial, anti ulcer, antifungal, and insecticidal properties. However, its antitumor effects haven't been studied in cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate the antitumor effect of zingiber afficieale on breast cancer cell lines. Materials & Methods: This experimental study was conducted in 2010 at Mashhad University of medical Sciences. Breast cancer cell line (MCF7 and normal connective tissue cell line (L929 were cultured in DMEM medium. Ethanolic extract of Zingiber afficinale was prepared and cell lines were treated with different concentration of extract (5000 to 78 µg. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay after 24, 48, and 72 hours. The collected data were statistically analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The effects of Zingiber afficinale on cell viability were observed after 48 hours on cell lines. Ginger doses in 2500 µg concentration inhibited 50% of cell growth (IC50 in cell lines after 48 hours. Conclusion: Our study revealed that fresh ginger extract has cytotoxic effects on tumor cells, but it doesn’t have any cytotoxic effect on normal cells. It seems that ginger could be considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment.

  3. RBE of neutrons for induction of cell reproductive death and chromosome aberrations in three cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zoetelief, J.; Kuijpers, W.C.; Baten-Wittwer, A.; Barendsen, G.W.

    1983-01-01

    The authors have compared the RBE values for induction of dicentrics and centric rings with those for cell inactivation and with the mean or effective quality factors (Q) recommended for radiation protection. The induction of cell reproductive death and chromosome aberrations has been investigated in plateau phase cultures of established lines of a rat rhabdomyosarcoma, a rat ureter carcinoma and Chinese hamster cells for single doses of 300 kV X-rays and 0.5, 4.2 and 15 MeV neutrons. The different cell lines show considerable variations in sensitivity and the RBE values obtained are presented in tabular form. The mean RBE values for the rat rhabdomyosarcoma cells are lower than those for the other two relatively resistant cell lines. Those for the Chinese hamster cells extrapolated to levels according to low doses of X-rays are in good agreement with the quoted Q values. (Auth./C.F.)

  4. Development of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis embryonic stem cell lines from somatic cell nuclear transferred blastocysts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syed Mohmad Shah

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available We developed buffalo embryonic stem cell lines from somatic cell nuclear transfer derived blastocysts, produced by hand-guided cloning technique. The inner cell mass of the blastocyst was cut mechanically using a Microblade and cultured onto feeder cells in buffalo embryonic stem (ES cell culture medium at 38 °C in a 5% CO2 incubator. The stem cell colonies were characterized for alkaline phosphatase activity, karyotype, pluripotency and self-renewal markers like OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, c-Myc, FOXD3, SSEA-1, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81 and CD90. The cell lines also possessed the capability to differentiate across all the three germ layers under spontaneous differentiation conditions.

  5. Hypoxic cell turnover in different solid tumor lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ljungkvist, Anna S.E.; Bussink, Johan; Kaanders, Johannes H.A.M.; Rijken, Paulus F.J.W.; Begg, Adrian C.; Raleigh, James A.; Kogel, Albert J. van der

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: Most solid tumors contain hypoxic cells, and the amount of tumor hypoxia has been shown to have a negative impact on the outcome of radiotherapy. The efficacy of combined modality treatments depends both on the sequence and timing of the treatments. Hypoxic cell turnover in tumors may be important for optimal scheduling of combined modality treatments, especially when hypoxic cell targeting is involved. Methods and Materials: Previously we have shown that a double bioreductive hypoxic marker assay could be used to detect changes of tumor hypoxia in relation to the tumor vasculature after carbogen and hydralazine treatments. This assay was used in the current study to establish the turnover rate of hypoxic cells in three different tumor models. The first hypoxic marker, pimonidazole, was administered at variable times before tumor harvest, and the second hypoxic marker, CCI-103F, was injected at a fixed time before harvest. Hypoxic cell turnover was defined as loss of pimonidazole (first marker) relative to CCI-103F (second marker). Results: The half-life of hypoxic cell turnover was 17 h in the murine C38 colon carcinoma line, 23 h and 49 h in the human xenograft lines MEC82 and SCCNij3, respectively. Within 24 h, loss of pimonidazole-stained areas in C38 and MEC82 occurred concurrent with the appearance of pimonidazole positive cell debris in necrotic regions. In C38 and MEC82, most of the hypoxic cells had disappeared after 48 h, whereas in SCCNij3, viable cells that had been labeled with pimonidazole were still observed after 5 days. Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that the double hypoxia marker assay can be used to study changes in both the proportion of hypoxic tumor cells and their lifespan at the same time. The present study shows that large differences in hypoxic cell turnover rates may exist among tumor lines, with half-lives ranging from 17-49 h

  6. Propagation of Asian isolates of canine distemper virus (CDV in hamster cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yamaguchi Ryoji

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Backgrounds The aim of this study was to confirm the propagation of various canine distemper viruses (CDV in hamster cell lines of HmLu and BHK, since only a little is known about the possibility of propagation of CDV in rodent cells irrespective of their epidemiological importance. Methods The growth of CDV in hamster cell lines was monitored by titration using Vero.dogSLAMtag (Vero-DST cells that had been proven to be susceptible to almost all field isolates of CDV, with the preparations of cell-free and cell-associated virus from the cultures infected with recent Asian isolates of CDV (13 strains and by observing the development of cytopathic effect (CPE in infected cultures of hamster cell lines. Results Eleven of 13 strains grew in HmLu cells, and 12 of 13 strains grew in BHK cells with apparent CPE of cell fusion in the late stage of infection. Two strains and a strain of Asia 1 group could not grow in HmLu cells and BHK cells, respectively. Conclusion The present study demonstrates at the first time that hamster cell lines can propagate the majority of Asian field isolates of CDV. The usage of two hamster cell lines suggested to be useful to characterize the field isolates biologically.

  7. Identification of cholinergic synaptic transmission in the insect nervous system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thany, Steeve Hervé; Tricoire-Leignel, Hélène; Lapied, Bruno

    2010-01-01

    A major criteria initially used to localize cholinergic neuronal elements in nervous systems tissues that involve acetylcholine (ACh) as neurotransmitter is mainly based on immunochemical studies using choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), an enzyme which catalyzes ACh biosynthesis and the ACh degradative enzyme named acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Immunochemical studies using anti-ChAT monoclonal antibody have allowed the identification of neuronal processes and few types of cell somata that contain ChAT protein. In situ hybridization using cRNA probes to ChAT or AChE messenger RNA have brought new approaches to further identify cell bodies transcribing the ChAT or AChE genes. Combined application of all these techniques reveals a widespread expression of ChAT and AChE activities in the insect central nervous system and peripheral sensory neurons which implicates ACh as a key neurotransmitter. The discovery of the snake toxin alpha-bungatoxin has helped to identify nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). In fact, nicotine when applied to insect neurons, resulted in the generation of an inward current through the activation of nicotinic receptors which were blocked by alpha-bungarotoxin. Thus, insect nAChRs have been divided into two categories, sensitive and insensitive to this snake toxin. Up to now, the recent characterization and distribution pattern of insect nAChR subunits and the biochemical evidence that the insect central nervous system contains different classes of cholinergic receptors indicated that ACh is involved in several sensory pathways.

  8. Purinergic receptors and calcium signalling in human pancreatic duct cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Mette R; Krabbe, Simon; Novak, Ivana

    2008-01-01

    pancreatic duct cell lines PANC-1 and CFPAC-1. Expression of P2 receptors was examined using RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. Both cell lines, and also Capan-1 cells, express RNA transcripts for the following receptors: P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, P2Y11-14 and P2X1, P2X2, P2X4, P2X5, P2X6 and P2X7. Using Fura-2...... and single-cell imaging we tested effects of various nucleotide analogues on intracellular Ca(2+) signals in PANC-1 and CFPAC-1 cells. The cell lines responded to all nucleotides with the following efficiency: UTP >or= ATP = ATPgammaS > BzATP. ATP, UTP and ATPgammaS elicited oscillatory responses. Bz...

  9. Edible insects - defining knowledge gaps in biological and ethical considerations of entomophagy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pali-Schöll, Isabella; Binder, Regina; Moens, Yves; Polesny, Friedrich; Monsó, Susana

    2018-04-25

    While seeking novel food sources to feed the increasing population of the globe, several alternatives have been discussed, including algae, fungi or in vitro meat. The increasingly propagated usage of farmed insects for human nutrition raises issues regarding food safety, consumer information and animal protection. In line with law, insects like any other animals must not be reared or manipulated in a way that inflicts unnecessary pain, distress or harm on them. Currently, there is a great need for research in the area of insect welfare, especially regarding species-specific needs, health, farming systems and humane methods of killing. Recent results from neurophysiological, neuroanatomical and behavioral sciences prompt caution when denying consciousness and therefore the likelihood of presence of pain and suffering or something closely related to it to insects. It also needs to be determined what the costs of implementing welfare standards would be, and whether we are willing to pay the price. From an animal protection point of view, these issues should be satisfyingly solved before propagating and establishing intensive husbandry systems for insects as a new type of mini-livestock factory farming.

  10. Novel human multiple myeloma cell line UHKT-893

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Uherková, L.; Vančurová, I.; Vyhlídalová, I.; Pleschnerová, M.; Špička, I.; Mihalová, R.; Březinová, J.; Hodný, Zdeněk; Čermáková, K.; Polanská, V.; Marinov, I.; Jedelský, P.L.; Kuželová, K.; Stöckbauer, P.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 37, č. 3 (2013), s. 320-326 ISSN 0145-2126 Institutional support: RVO:68378050 Keywords : human myeloma cell line * human multiple myeloma * plasma cell * IL-6 dependence * immunoglobulin * free light chain Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 2.692, year: 2013

  11. Sulforaphane Analogues with Heterocyclic Moieties: Syntheses and Inhibitory Activities against Cancer Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ye-Hui Shi

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies have shown that sulforaphane (SFN selectively inhibits the growth of ALDH+ breast cancer stem-like cells.Herein, a series of SFN analogues were synthesized and evaluated against breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and SUM-159, and the leukemia stem cell-like cell line KG-1a. These SFN analogues were characterized by the replacement of the methyl group with heterocyclic moieties, and the replacement of the sulfoxide group with sulfide or sulfone. A growth inhibitory assay indicated that the tetrazole analogs 3d, 8d and 9d were significantly more potent than SFN against the three cancer cell lines. Compound 14c, the water soluble derivative of tetrazole sulfide 3d, demonstrated higher potency against KG-1a cell line than 3d. SFN, 3d and 14c significantly induced the activation of caspase-3, and reduced the ALDH+ subpopulation in the SUM159 cell line, while the marketed drug doxrubicin(DOX increased the ALDH+ subpopulation.

  12. Probability to produce animal vaccines in insect baculovirus ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Administrator

    2011-09-07

    Sep 7, 2011 ... The insect baculovirus expression system is a valuable tool for the production of vaccine. .... vaccine expression/delivery vehicle (Yu-Chen et al., ... baculoviruses are applied in cell-based assays for drug ... Intramuscular.

  13. Marketing insects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schiemer, Carolin; Halloran, Afton Marina Szasz; Jespersen, Kristjan

    2018-01-01

    In entering Western markets, edible insects are typically framed as the ‘solution’ to a number of challenges caused by unsustainable global food systems, such as climate change and global health issues. In addition, some media outlets also frame insects as the next ‘superfood’. Superfood is a mar......In entering Western markets, edible insects are typically framed as the ‘solution’ to a number of challenges caused by unsustainable global food systems, such as climate change and global health issues. In addition, some media outlets also frame insects as the next ‘superfood’. Superfood...... is a marketing term for nutrient-packed foods, which are successfully promoted to Western consumers with the promises of health, well-being and beauty. However, the increase in the demand in the West is argued to cause negative social, environmental, economic and cultural consequences – externalities – felt...

  14. Expression of cadherin and NCAM in human small cell lung cancer cell lines and xenografts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rygaard, K; Møller, C; Bock, E

    1992-01-01

    characterised, the cadherin family and the Ig superfamily member, neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM). We investigated expression of these two adhesion molecule families in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines and xenografts by immunoblotting. Nineteen tumours established from 15 patients with SCLC were......Tumour cell adhesion, detachment and aggregation seem to play an important part in tumour invasion and metastasis, and numerous cell adhesion molecules are expressed by tumour cells. Several families of cell-cell adhesion molecules have been described, of which two groups are particularly well...... embryonic development, which may play a role in connection with tumour invasion and metastasis, was found in 14/18 NCAM expressing SCLC tumours. Individual tumours grown as cell lines and as nude mouse xenografts showed no qualitative differences in cadherin or NCAM expression....

  15. Establishment and culture optimization of a new type of pituitary immortalized cell line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kokubu, Yuko [Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562 (Japan); Asashima, Makoto [Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562 (Japan); Life Science Center of TARA, The University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki-ken 305-8577 (Japan); Kurisaki, Akira, E-mail: akikuri@hotmail.com [Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562 (Japan); Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562 (Japan)

    2015-08-07

    The pituitary gland is a center of the endocrine system that controls homeostasis in an organism by secreting various hormones. The glandular anterior pituitary consists of five different cell types, each expressing specific hormones. However, their regulation and the appropriate conditions for their in vitro culture are not well defined. Here, we report the immortalization of mouse pituitary cells by introducing TERT, E6, and E7 transgenes. The immortalized cell lines mainly expressed a thyrotroph-specific thyroid stimulating hormone beta (Tshb). After optimization of the culture conditions, these immortalized cells proliferated and maintained morphological characteristics similar to those of primary pituitary cells under sphere culture conditions in DMEM/F12 medium supplemented with N2, B27, basic FGF, and EGF. These cell lines responded to PKA or PKC pathway activators and induced the expression of Tshb mRNA. Moreover, transplantation of the immortalized cell line into subcutaneous regions and kidney capsules of mice further increased Tshb expression. These results suggest that immortalization of pituitary cells with TERT, E6, and E7 transgenes is a useful method for generating proliferating cells for the in vitro analysis of pituitary regulatory mechanisms. - Highlights: • Mouse pituitary cell lines were immortalized by introducing TERT, E6, and E7. • The immortalized cell lines mainly expressed thyroid stimulating hormone beta. • The cell lines responded to PKA or PKC pathway activators, and induced Tshb.

  16. A novel 2,6-diisopropylphenyl-docosahexaenoamide conjugate induces apoptosis in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Altenburg, Jeffrey D.; Harvey, Kevin A.; McCray, Sharon; Xu, Zhidong [Cellular Biochemistry Laboratory, Methodist Research Institute, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, IN (United States); Siddiqui, Rafat A., E-mail: rsiddiqu@iuhealth.org [Cellular Biochemistry Laboratory, Methodist Research Institute, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, IN (United States); Department of Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN (United States); Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN (United States)

    2011-07-29

    Highlights: {yields} 2,6-Diisopropylphenyl-docosahexaenoamide conjugates (DIP-DHA) inhibits the proliferation of T-cell leukemic cell lines. {yields} DIP-DHA resulted in increased activation of caspase-3, and caspase-7. {yields} DIP-DHA significantly downregulated CXCR4 surface expression. -- Abstract: We have previously characterized the effects of 2,6-diisopropylphenyl-docosahexaenoamide (DIP-DHA) conjugates and their analogs on the proliferation and progression of breast cancer cell lines. For this study, we investigated the effects of the DIP-DHA conjugate on 2 representative T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines: CEM and Jurkat. Treatment of both cell lines with DIP-DHA resulted in significantly greater inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis than that of parent compounds, 2,6-diisopropylphenol (DIP) or docosahexaenoate (DHA). Treatment of the cells with DIP-DHA resulted in increased activation of caspase-3, and caspase-7. Furthermore, induction of apoptosis in both cell lines was reversed in the presence of a caspase family inhibitor. Treatment with DIP-DHA reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. These observations suggest that the effects are driven by intrinsic apoptotic pathways. DIP-DHA treatment also downregulated surface CXCR4 expression, an important chemokine receptor involved in cancer metastasis that is highly expressed in both CEM and Jurkat cells. In conclusion, our data suggest that the DIP-DHA conjugate exhibits significantly more potent effects on CEM and Jurkat cells than that of DIP or DHA alone. These conjugates have potential use for treatment of patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

  17. A novel 2,6-diisopropylphenyl-docosahexaenoamide conjugate induces apoptosis in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altenburg, Jeffrey D.; Harvey, Kevin A.; McCray, Sharon; Xu, Zhidong; Siddiqui, Rafat A.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → 2,6-Diisopropylphenyl-docosahexaenoamide conjugates (DIP-DHA) inhibits the proliferation of T-cell leukemic cell lines. → DIP-DHA resulted in increased activation of caspase-3, and caspase-7. → DIP-DHA significantly downregulated CXCR4 surface expression. -- Abstract: We have previously characterized the effects of 2,6-diisopropylphenyl-docosahexaenoamide (DIP-DHA) conjugates and their analogs on the proliferation and progression of breast cancer cell lines. For this study, we investigated the effects of the DIP-DHA conjugate on 2 representative T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines: CEM and Jurkat. Treatment of both cell lines with DIP-DHA resulted in significantly greater inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis than that of parent compounds, 2,6-diisopropylphenol (DIP) or docosahexaenoate (DHA). Treatment of the cells with DIP-DHA resulted in increased activation of caspase-3, and caspase-7. Furthermore, induction of apoptosis in both cell lines was reversed in the presence of a caspase family inhibitor. Treatment with DIP-DHA reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. These observations suggest that the effects are driven by intrinsic apoptotic pathways. DIP-DHA treatment also downregulated surface CXCR4 expression, an important chemokine receptor involved in cancer metastasis that is highly expressed in both CEM and Jurkat cells. In conclusion, our data suggest that the DIP-DHA conjugate exhibits significantly more potent effects on CEM and Jurkat cells than that of DIP or DHA alone. These conjugates have potential use for treatment of patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

  18. In vitro Rb-1 gene transfer to retinoblastoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Sang Wook; Ham, Yong Hoh; Kim, Mee Heui

    1994-04-01

    After transfection of Rb-vector to packaging cell line (CRIP) by Ca-P precipitation method, we could select nineteen colonies of G-418 resistant clone by ring cloning. Each colony was transduced to NIH3T3 cells to select the one which produces high titer virus. After NIH3T3 cells transduction, we could get 28 colony counts for the high, 127 for the middle, and 6 for the low viral titer. With the supernatant of the high viral titer colony (CRIPRb 2-5). We transduct retinoblastoma cell lines. 5 figs, 11 refs. (Author)

  19. Derivation of the human embryonic stem cell line RCM1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P.A. De Sousa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The human embryonic stem cell line RCM-1 was derived from a failed to fertilise egg undergoing parthenogenetic stimulation. The cell line shows normal pluripotency marker expression and differentiation to three germ layers in vitro and in vivo. It has a normal 46XX female karyotype and microsatellite PCR identity, HLA and blood group typing data is available.

  20. The antiproliferative effect of acridone alkaloids on several cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawaii, S; Tomono, Y; Katase, E; Ogawa, K; Yano, M; Takemura, Y; Ju-ichi, M; Ito, C; Furukawa, H

    1999-04-01

    Fifteen acridone alkaloids were examined for their antiproliferative activity toward monolayers and suspension of several types of cancer and normal human cell lines. As a result, atalaphyllidine (9), 5-hydroxy-N-methylseverifoline (11), atalaphyllinine (12), and des-N-methylnoracronycine (13) showed potent antiproliferative activity against tumor cell lines, whereas they have weak cytotoxicity on normal human cell lines. The structure-activity relationship established from the results revealed that a secondary amine, hydroxyl groups at C-1 and C-5, and a prenyl group at C-2 played an important role for antiproliferative activities of the tetracyclic acridones.

  1. Insect (food) allergy and allergens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Gier, Steffie; Verhoeckx, Kitty

    2018-05-03

    Insects represent an alternative for meat and fish in satisfying the increasing demand for sustainable sources of nutrition. Approximately two billion people globally consume insects. They are particularly popular in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Most research on insect allergy has focussed on occupational or inhalation allergy. Research on insect food safety, including allergenicity, is therefore of great importance. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of cases reporting allergy following insect ingestion, studies on food allergy to insects, proteins involved in insect allergy including cross-reactive proteins, and the possibility to alter the allergenic potential of insects by food processing and digestion. Food allergy to insects has been described for silkworm, mealworm, caterpillars, Bruchus lentis, sago worm, locust, grasshopper, cicada, bee, Clanis bilineata, and the food additive carmine, which is derived from female Dactylopius coccus insects. For cockroaches, which are also edible insects, only studies on inhalation allergy have been described. Various insect allergens have been identified including tropomyosin and arginine kinase, which are both pan-allergens known for their cross-reactivity with homologous proteins in crustaceans and house dust mite. Cross-reactivity and/or co-sensitization of insect tropomyosin and arginine kinase has been demonstrated in house dust mite and seafood (e.g. prawn, shrimp) allergic patients. In addition, many other (allergenic) species (various non-edible insects, arachnids, mites, seafoods, mammals, nematoda, trematoda, plants, and fungi) have been identified with sequence alignment analysis to show potential cross-reactivity with allergens of edible insects. It was also shown that thermal processing and digestion did not eliminate insect protein allergenicity. Although purified natural allergens are scarce and yields are low, recombinant allergens from cockroach, silkworm, and Indian mealmoth are

  2. Insect-resistant genetically modified rice in China: from research to commercialization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Mao; Shelton, Anthony; Ye, Gong-yin

    2011-01-01

    From the first insect-resistant genetically modified (IRGM) rice transformation in 1989 in China to October 2009 when the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture issued biosafety certificates for commercial production of two cry1Ab/Ac Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) lines, China made a great leap forward from IRGM rice basic research to potential commercialization of the world's first IRGM rice. Research has been conducted on developing IRGM rice, assessing its environmental and food safety impacts, and evaluating its socioeconomic consequences. Laboratory and field tests have confirmed that these two Bt rice lines can provide effective and economic control of the lepidopteran complex on rice with less risk to the environment than present practices. Commercializing these Bt plants, while developing other GM plants that address the broader complex of insects and other pests, will need to be done within a comprehensive integrated pest management program to ensure the food security of China and the world.

  3. Differential biological effects of iodoacetate in mammalian cell lines; radio sensitization and radio protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yadav, Usha; Anjaria, K.B.; Desai, Utkarsha N.; Chaurasia, Rajesh K.; Shirsath, K.B.; Bhat, Nagesh N.; Balakrishnan, Sreedevi; Sapra, B.K.; Nairy, Rajesha

    2014-01-01

    There are several studies where it has been shown that Iodoacetate (IA) possesses in vivo anti-tumor activity. The fact that it is a model glycolytic inhibitor makes it more interesting. As seen in recent trends, glycolytic inhibitors are emerging as new strategy for cancer therapeutic research taking advantage of glycolytic phenotype of cancerous tissues. IA has been reported to have radioprotective effects in yeast cells and human lymphocytes. Biological effects of IA in response to radiation in mammalian cell lines are not well documented. We screened IA for cytotoxicity using clonogenic assay at different concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2.5 μg/ml using three different mammalian cell lines; A-549 (human lung carcinoma cell line), MCF-7 (human mammary cancer cell line) and a noncancerous CHO (Chinese hamster ovary cell line). For studying radioprotective/radio sensitizing efficacy, cells were exposed to 4 Gy of 60 Co-γ radiation using a teletherapy source at a dose rate of 1 Gy/min, following which IA post-treatment was carried out. Clonogenic and micronucleus assay were performed to assess radioprotection/sensitization. The results indicated that IA was highly cytotoxic in cancerous cell lines A-549 (IC 50 =1.25 μg/ml) and MCF-7 (IC 50 = 1.9 μg/ml). In contrast, it was totally non-toxic in non-cancerous cell line, viz. CHO, in the same concentration range. In addition, IA exhibited radio protective effect in CHO cell line, whereas in other two cancer cell lines, viz. A-549 and MCF-7, radio sensitizing effect was seen as judged by induction of cell killing and micronuclei. In conclusion, lA, a model glycolytic inhibitor, was found to be selectively cytotoxic in cancer cells as compared to normal cells. Further, it reduced radiation induced damage (micronuclei and cell killing) in normal cells but increased it in cancer cells indicating its potential use in cancer therapy. (author)

  4. Cell lines radiosensitization of thyroid cancer by histone deacetylase inhibitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perona, M; Dagrosa, M A; Rossich, L; Casal, M; Pisarev, M A; Thomasz, L; Juvenal G J

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine neoplasia. Surgical resection and radioactive iodine is an effective treatment for well-differentiated tumors. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC-I) are agents that cause hyperacetylation of histone proteins and as a consequence remodeling of chromatin structure. They can induce growth arrest, differentiation and apoptotic cell death in different tumor cells. The use of HDAC-I agents could be of utility to enhance the response to external radiation therapy of those thyroid cancers that are refractory to most conventional therapeutic treatments. Objective: To study the effect of HDAC-I as radiosensitizers for the treatment of thyroid cancer and their ability to induce differentiation of thyroid cancer cells. Materials and methods: The human thyroid follicular (WRO) and papillary (TPC-1) carcinoma cell lines were seeded and incubated with increasing doses (0, 0.3, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mM) of the HDAC-I sodium butirate (NaB) and valproic acid (VA) to evaluate cell proliferation and iodide uptake. Cells were irradiated with a 60 Co γ-ray source (1 ± 5% Gy/min) and postirradiation survival was quantified with the colony formation assay. Survival fraction at 2 Gy (SF2) was calculated for each cell line. Cell cycle and cell death were evaluated at a dose of 3 Gy. Iodide uptake, PCR analysis and transient transfection studies were performed. Results: Cell proliferation was not significantly suppressed after 24 hours of incubation with both drugs at all assayed doses. Iodide uptake was not modified after incubation with HDAC-I of both cell lines. SF2 was reduced from 68 ± 1.6 % in the control WRO cells to 42 ± 3.8 % (P<0.001) in NaB-treated cells. In TPC-1 SF2 was reduced from 32 ± 1.1 % in the control cells to 24 ± 0.8 % (P<0.01). In VA-treated cells SF2 was reduced from 69 ± 0.02 % in control WRO cells to 56 ± 0.01 % (P<0.01) and from 31 ± 2 % in control TPC-1 cells to 11 ± 1 % (P<0.01). There was an arrest

  5. Two-dimensional analysis of metabolically and cell surface radiolabeled proteins of some human lymphoid and myeloid leukemia cell lines. II. Glycosylated and phosphorylated proteins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chorvath, B; Duraj, J; Sedlak, J; Pleskova, I

    1986-01-01

    Cell surface glycoproteins, radiolabelled by the sodium metaperiodate/tritiated borohydride technique, and cell phosphoproteins, metabolically radiolabelled with /sup 32/P-orthophosphate were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis in some myeloid and lymphoid leukemia cell lines. Some markedly expressed major glycoproteins were predominant in some of the cell lines (such as 95k and 100k glycoproteins with marked charge heterogeneity in non-T, non-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines NALM 6 and NALM 16), but markedly quantitatively reduced in other examined cell lines, such as lymphoblastoid cell line UHKT 34/2. /sup 32/P-orthophosphate radiolabelled phosphoprotein two-dimensional patterns of the examined lymphoid leukemia cell lines were essentially similar, with some minor differences, in examined lymphoid and myeloid leukemia cell lines, such as marked expression of a series of large phosphoproteins in the molecular weight range 80-100k in lymphoid cell lines and almost complete absence of these phosphoproteins on the examined myeloid leukemia cell lines. Another configuration of acidic phosphoproteins (30-35k) exhibited individual cell line variability and differences between both individual myeloid leukemia cell lines and between the lymphoid and myeloid cell lines examined. (author) 2 figs., 15 refs.

  6. Eating insects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tan, Hui Shan Grace

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, edible insects have gained global attention due to their nutritional and environmental advantages over conventional meat. While numerous species of edible insects are enjoyed in various cultures around the world, most Western consumers react with disgust and aversion towards

  7. The Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis toxin complex is active against cultured mammalian cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hares, Michelle C; Hinchliffe, Stewart J; Strong, Philippa C R; Eleftherianos, Ioannis; Dowling, Andrea J; ffrench-Constant, Richard H; Waterfield, Nick

    2008-11-01

    The toxin complex (Tc) genes were first identified in the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and encode approximately 1 MDa protein complexes which are toxic to insect pests. Subsequent genome sequencing projects have revealed the presence of tc orthologues in a range of bacterial pathogens known to be associated with insects. Interestingly, members of the mammalian-pathogenic yersiniae have also been shown to encode Tc orthologues. Studies in Yersinia enterocolitica have shown that divergent tc loci either encode insect-active toxins or play a role in colonization of the gut in gastroenteritis models of rats. So far little is known about the activity of the Tc proteins in the other mammalian-pathogenic yersiniae. Here we present work to suggest that Tc proteins in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis are not insecticidal toxins but have evolved for mammalian pathogenicity. We show that Tc is secreted by Y. pseudotuberculosis strain IP32953 during growth in media at 28 degrees C and 37 degrees C. We also demonstrate that oral toxicity of strain IP32953 to Manduca sexta larvae is not due to Tc expression and that lysates of Escherichia coli BL21 expressing the Yersinia Tc proteins are not toxic to Sf9 insect cells but are toxic to cultured mammalian cell lines. Cell lysates of E. coli BL21 expressing the Y. pseudotuberculosis Tc proteins caused actin ruffles, vacuoles and multi-nucleation in cultured human gut cells (Caco-2); similar morphology was observed after application of a lysate of E. coli BL21 expressing the Y. pestis Tc proteins to mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 cells, but not Caco-2 cells. Finally, transient expression of the individual Tc proteins in Caco-2 and NIH3T3 cell lines reproduced the actin and nuclear rearrangement observed with the topical applications. Together these results add weight to the growing hypothesis that the Tc proteins in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis have been adapted for mammalian pathogenicity. We further

  8. A stromal myoid cell line provokes thymic erythropoiesis between ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: The thymus provides an optimal cellular and humoral microenvironment for cell line committed differentiation of haematopoietic stem cells. The immigration process requires the secretion of at least one peptide called thymotaxine by cells of the reticulo-epithelial (RE) network of the thymic stromal cellular ...

  9. Characterization and drug resistance patterns of Ewing's sarcoma family tumor cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William A May

    Full Text Available Despite intensive treatment with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, over 70% of patients with metastatic Ewing's Sarcoma Family of Tumors (EFT will die of their disease. We hypothesize that properly characterized laboratory models reflecting the drug resistance of clinical tumors will facilitate the application of new therapeutic agents to EFT. To determine resistance patterns, we studied newly established EFT cell lines derived from different points in therapy: two established at diagnosis (CHLA-9, CHLA-32, two after chemotherapy and progressive disease (CHLA-10, CHLA-25, and two at relapse after myeloablative therapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation (post-ABMT (CHLA-258, COG-E-352. The new lines were compared to widely studied EFT lines TC-71, TC-32, SK-N-MC, and A-673. These lines were extensively characterized with regard to identity (short tandem repeat (STR analysis, p53, p16/14 status, and EWS/ETS breakpoint and target gene expression profile. The DIMSCAN cytotoxicity assay was used to assess in vitro drug sensitivity to standard chemotherapy agents. No association was found between drug resistance and the expression of EWS/ETS regulated genes in the EFT cell lines. No consistent association was observed between drug sensitivity and p53 functionality or between drug sensitivity and p16/14 functionality across the cell lines. Exposure to chemotherapy prior to cell line initiation correlated with drug resistance of EFT cell lines in 5/8 tested agents at clinically achievable concentrations (CAC or the lower tested concentration (LTC: (cyclophosphamide (as 4-HC and doxorubicin at CAC, etoposide, irinotecan (as SN-38 and melphalan at LTC; P<0.1 for one agent, and P<0.05 for four agents. This panel of well-characterized drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cell lines will facilitate in vitro preclinical testing of new agents for EFT.

  10. Caffeine markedly sensitizes human mesothelioma cell lines to pemetrexed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, Sang Hee; Goldman, I. David; Zhao, Rongbao

    2013-01-01

    Pemetrexed is a new generation antifolate approved for the treatment of mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer. Caffeine is known to augment radiation or chemotherapeutic drug-induced cell killing. The current study addresses the impact of caffeine on the activity of pemetrexed in mesothelioma cell lines. Caffeine enhanced pemetrexed activity in all four mesothelioma cell lines tested (H2052, H2373, H28 and MSTO-211H). Caffeine sensitized H2052 cells in a dose- and schedule-dependent manner, and was associated with a markedly decreased clonogenic survival. Caffeine sensitization occurred only in cells subjected to pulse, but not continuous, exposure to pemetrexed. Similar pemetrexed sensitization was also observed with the clinically better tolerated caffeine analog, theobromine. Pemetrexed sensitization by caffeine was associated with an increase in pemetrexed-induced phosphorylation of ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) and Chk1. These data indicate that caffeine and its analog, theobromine, may be a useful approach to enhance pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. PMID:17594092

  11. Fingerprinting of cell lines by directed amplification of minisatellite-region DNA (DAMD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silva L.M.

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available The development of in vitro propagation of cells has been an extraordinary technical advance for several biological studies. The correct identification of the cell line used, however, is crucial, as a mistaken identity or the presence of another contaminating cell may lead to invalid and/or erroneous conclusions. We report here the application of a DNA fingerprinting procedure (directed amplification of minisatellite-region DNA, developed by Heath et al. [Nucleic Acids Research (1993 21: 5782-5785], to the characterization of cell lines. Genomic DNA of cells in culture was extracted and amplified by PCR in the presence of VNTR core sequences, and the amplicons were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. After image capture with a digital camera, the banding profiles obtained were analyzed using a software (AnaGel specially developed for the storage and analysis of electrophoretic fingerprints. The fingerprints are useful for construction of a data base for identification of cell lines by comparison to reference profiles as well as comparison of similar lines from different sources and periodic follow-up of cells in culture.

  12. A human beta cell line with drug inducible excision of immortalizing transgenes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benazra, Marion; Lecomte, Marie-José; Colace, Claire; Müller, Andreas; Machado, Cécile; Pechberty, Severine; Bricout-Neveu, Emilie; Grenier-Godard, Maud; Solimena, Michele; Scharfmann, Raphaël; Czernichow, Paul; Ravassard, Philippe

    2015-01-01

    Objectives Access to immortalized human pancreatic beta cell lines that are phenotypically close to genuine adult beta cells, represent a major tool to better understand human beta cell physiology and develop new therapeutics for Diabetes. Here we derived a new conditionally immortalized human beta cell line, EndoC-βH3 in which immortalizing transgene can be efficiently removed by simple addition of tamoxifen. Methods We used lentiviral mediated gene transfer to stably integrate a tamoxifen inducible form of CRE (CRE-ERT2) into the recently developed conditionally immortalized EndoC βH2 line. The resulting EndoC-βH3 line was characterized before and after tamoxifen treatment for cell proliferation, insulin content and insulin secretion. Results We showed that EndoC-βH3 expressing CRE-ERT2 can be massively amplified in culture. We established an optimized tamoxifen treatment to efficiently excise the immortalizing transgenes resulting in proliferation arrest. In addition, insulin expression raised by 12 fold and insulin content increased by 23 fold reaching 2 μg of insulin per million cells. Such massive increase was accompanied by enhanced insulin secretion upon glucose stimulation. We further observed that tamoxifen treated cells maintained a stable function for 5 weeks in culture. Conclusions EndoC βH3 cell line represents a powerful tool that allows, using a simple and efficient procedure, the massive production of functional non-proliferative human beta cells. Such cells are close to genuine human beta cells and maintain a stable phenotype for 5 weeks in culture. PMID:26909308

  13. Derivation of Huntington Disease affected Genea046 human embryonic stem cell line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biljana Dumevska

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The Genea046 human embryonic stem cell line was derived from a donated, fully commercially consented ART blastocyst, carrying HTT gene CAG expansion of 45 repeats, indicative of Huntington Disease. Following ICM outgrowth on inactivated human feeders, karyotype was confirmed as 46, XX by CGH and STR analysis demonstrated a female Allele pattern. The hESC line had pluripotent cell morphology, 85% of cells expressed Nanog, 92% Oct4, 75% Tra1–60 and 99% SSEA4 and demonstrated Alkaline Phosphatase activity. The cell line was negative for Mycoplasma and visible contamination.

  14. Establishment and characterization of a novel head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line USC-HN1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liebertz, Daniel J; Lechner, Melissa G; Masood, Rizwan; Sinha, Uttam K; Han, Jing; Puri, Raj K; Correa, Adrian J; Epstein, Alan L

    2010-02-22

    Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an aggressive and lethal malignancy. Publically available cell lines are mostly of lingual origin, or have not been carefully characterized. Detailed characterization of novel HNSCC cell lines is needed in order to provide researchers a concrete keystone on which to build their investigations. The USC-HN1 cell line was established from a primary maxillary HNSCC biopsy explant in tissue culture. The immortalized cells were then further characterized by heterotransplantation in Nude mice; immunohistochemical staining for relevant HNSCC biomarkers; flow cytometry for surface markers; cytogenetic karyotypic analysis; human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus screening; qRT-PCR for oncogene and cytokine analysis; investigation of activated, cleaved Notch1 levels; and detailed 35,000 gene microarray analysis. Characterization experiments confirmed the human HNSCC origin of USC-HN1, including a phenotype similar to the original tumor. Viral screening revealed no HPV or EBV infection, while western blotting displayed significant upregulation of activated, cleaved Notch1. USC-HN1, a novel immortalized cell line has been derived from a maxillary HNSCC. Characterization studies have shown that the cell line is of HNSCC origin and displays many of the same markers previously reported in the literature. USC-HN1 is available for public research and will further the investigation of HNSCC and the development of new therapeutic modalities.

  15. Radiation equivalence of genotoxic chemicals - Validation in cultered mammalian cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murthy, M.S.S.

    1982-01-01

    Published data on mutations induced by ionizing radiation and 6 monofunctional alkylating agents, namely EMS, MMS, ENNG, MNNG, ENU and MNU, in different cell lines (Chinese hamster ovary, Chinese hamster lung V79, mouse lymphoma L5178 and human cells) were analysed so that radiation-equivalent chemical (REC) values could be calculated. REC values thus obtained for a given alkylating agent with different cell lines fall within a narrow range suggesting its validation in cultured mammalian cell systems including human. (orig.)

  16. Warburg and Crabtree effects in premalignant Barrett's esophagus cell lines with active mitochondria.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin T Suchorolski

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Increased glycolysis is a hallmark of cancer metabolism, yet relatively little is known about this phenotype at premalignant stages of progression. Periodic ischemia occurs in the premalignant condition Barrett's esophagus (BE due to tissue damage from chronic acid-bile reflux and may select for early adaptations to hypoxia, including upregulation of glycolysis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compared rates of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation in four cell lines derived from patients with BE (CP-A, CP-B, CP-C and CP-D in response to metabolic inhibitors and changes in glucose concentration. We report that cell lines derived from patients with more advanced genetically unstable BE have up to two-fold higher glycolysis compared to a cell line derived from a patient with early genetically stable BE; however, all cell lines preserve active mitochondria. In response to the glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose, the most glycolytic cell lines (CP-C and CP-D had the greatest suppression of extra-cellular acidification, but were able to compensate with upregulation of oxidative phosphorylation. In addition, these cell lines showed the lowest compensatory increases in glycolysis in response to mitochondrial uncoupling by 2,4-dinitrophenol. Finally, these cell lines also upregulated their oxidative phosphorylation in response to glucose via the Crabtree effect, and demonstrate a greater range of modulation of oxygen consumption. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings suggest that cells from premalignant Barrett's esophagus tissue may adapt to an ever-changing selective microenvironment through changes in energy metabolic pathways typically associated with cancer cells.

  17. Reducing the maladaptive attractiveness of solar panels to polarotactic insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horváth, Gábor; Blahó, Miklós; Egri, Adám; Kriska, György; Seres, István; Robertson, Bruce

    2010-12-01

    Human-made objects (e.g., buildings with glass surfaces) can reflect horizontally polarized light so strongly that they appear to aquatic insects to be bodies of water. Insects that lay eggs in water are especially attracted to such structures because these insects use horizontal polarization of light off bodies of water to find egg-laying sites. Thus, these sources of polarized light can become ecological traps associated with reproductive failure and mortality in organisms that are attracted to them and by extension with rapid population declines or collapse. Solar panels are a new source of polarized light pollution. Using imaging polarimetry, we measured the reflection-polarization characteristics of different solar panels and in multiple-choice experiments in the field we tested their attractiveness to mayflies, caddis flies, dolichopodids, and tabanids. At the Brewster angle, solar panels polarized reflected light almost completely (degree of polarization d ≈ 100%) and substantially exceeded typical polarization values for water (d ≈ 30-70%). Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Trichoptera), dolichopodid dipterans, and tabanid flies (Tabanidae) were the most attracted to solar panels and exhibited oviposition behavior above solar panels more often than above surfaces with lower degrees of polarization (including water), but in general they avoided solar cells with nonpolarizing white borders and white grates. The highly and horizontally polarizing surfaces that had nonpolarizing, white cell borders were 10- to 26-fold less attractive to insects than the same panels without white partitions. Although solar panels can act as ecological traps, fragmenting their solar-active area does lessen their attractiveness to polarotactic insects. The design of solar panels and collectors and their placement relative to aquatic habitats will likely affect populations of aquatic insects that use polarized light as a behavioral cue. © 2010 Society for Conservation

  18. Effect of failures and repairs on multiple cell production lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Legato, P.; Bobbio, A.; Roberti, L.

    1989-01-01

    This paper examines a production line composed of multiple stages, or cells, which are passed in sequential order to arrive to the final product. Two possible coordination disciplines are considered, namely: the classical tandem arrangement of sequential working centers with input buffer and the kanban scheme, considered the Japanese shop floor realization of the Just-In-Time (JIT) manifacturing approach. The production line is modelled and analysed by means of Stochastic Petri Nets (SPN). Finally an analysis is made of the possibility that the working cells can incur failure/repair cycles perturbing the production flow of the line and thus reduce performance indices.

  19. Drug Treatment of Cancer Cell Lines: A Way to Select for Cancer Stem Cells?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiodi, Ilaria; Belgiovine, Cristina; Donà, Francesca; Scovassi, A. Ivana; Mondello, Chiara

    2011-01-01

    Tumors are generally composed of different cell types. In recent years, it has been shown that in many types of cancers a subset of cells show peculiar characteristics, such as the ability to induce tumors when engrafted into host animals, self-renew and being immortal, and give rise to a differentiated progeny. These cells have been defined as cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor initiating cells. CSCs can be isolated both from tumor specimens and established cancer cell lines on the basis of their ability to exclude fluorescent dyes, express specific cell surface markers or grow in particular culture conditions. A key feature of CSCs is their resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, which could contribute to the remaining of residual cancer cells after therapeutic treatments. It has been shown that CSC-like cells can be isolated after drug treatment of cancer cell lines; in this review, we will describe the strategies so far applied to identify and isolate CSCs. Furthermore, we will discuss the possible use of these selected populations to investigate CSC biology and develop new anticancer drugs

  20. Development and characterization of two cell lines from gills of Atlantic salmon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gjessing, Mona C.; Aamelfot, Maria; Batts, William N.; Benestad, Sylvie L.; Dale, Ole B.; Thoen, Even; Weli, Simon C.; Winton, James R.

    2018-01-01

    Gill disease in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., causes big losses in the salmon farming industry. Until now, tools to cultivate microorganisms causing gill disease and models to study the gill responses have been lacking. Here we describe the establishment and characterization of two cell lines from the gills of Atlantic salmon. Atlantic salmon gill cell ASG-10 consisted of cells staining for cytokeratin and e-cadherin and with desmosomes as seen by transmission electron microscopy suggesting the cells to be of epithelial origin. These structures were not seen in ASG-13. The cell lines have been maintained for almost 30 passages and both cell lines are fully susceptible to infection by infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV), Atlantic salmon reovirus TS (TSRV) and Pacific salmon paramyxovirus (PSPV). While infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) did not cause visible CPE, immunofluorescent staining revealed a sub-fraction of cells in both the ASG-10 and ASG-13 lines may be permissive to infection. ASG-10 is able to proliferate and migrate to close scratches in the monolayer within seven days in vitro contrary to ASG-13, which does not appear to do have the same proliferative and migratory ability. These cell lines will be useful in studies of gill diseases in Atlantic salmon and may represent an important contribution for alternatives to experimental animals and studies of epithelial–mesenchymal cell biology.

  1. Absence of annexin I expression in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gopalakrishnan Velliyur K

    2004-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Annexin I, one of the 20 members of the annexin family of calcium and phospholipid-binding proteins, has been implicated in diverse biological processes including signal transduction, mediation of apoptosis and immunosuppression. Previous studies have shown increased annexin I expression in pancreatic and breast cancers, while it is absent in prostate and esophageal cancers. Results Data presented here show that annexin I mRNA and protein are undetectable in 10 out of 12 B-cell lymphoma cell lines examined. Southern blot analysis indicates that the annexin I gene is intact in B-cell lymphoma cell lines. Aberrant methylation was examined as a cause for lack of annexin I expression by treating cells 5-Aza-2-deoxycytidine. Reexpression of annexin I was observed after prolonged treatment with the demethylating agent indicating methylation may be one of the mechanisms of annexin I silencing. Treatment of Raji and OMA-BL-1 cells with lipopolysaccharide, an inflammation inducer, and with hydrogen peroxide, a promoter of oxidative stress, also failed to induce annexin I expression. Annexin I expression was examined in primary lymphoma tissues by immunohistochemistry and presence of annexin I in a subset of normal B-cells and absence of annexin I expression in the lymphoma tissues were observed. These results show that annexin I is expressed in normal B-cells, and its expression is lost in all primary B-cell lymphomas and 10 of 12 B-cell lymphoma cell lines. Conclusions Our results suggest that, similar to prostate and esophageal cancers, annexin I may be an endogenous suppressor of cancer development, and loss of annexin I may contribute to B-cell lymphoma development.

  2. Circadian organization in hemimetabolous insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomioka, Kenji; Abdelsalam, Salaheldin

    2004-12-01

    The circadian system of hemimetabolous insects is reviewed in respect to the locus of the circadian clock and multioscillatory organization. Because of relatively easy access to the nervous system, the neuronal organization of the clock system in hemimetabolous insects has been studied, yielding identification of the compound eye as the major photoreceptor for entrainment and the optic lobe for the circadian clock locus. The clock site within the optic lobe is inconsistent among reported species; in cockroaches the lobula was previously thought to be a most likely clock locus but accessory medulla is recently stressed to be a clock center, while more distal part of the optic lobe including the lamina and the outer medulla area for the cricket. Identification of the clock cells needs further critical studies. Although each optic lobe clock seems functionally identical, in respect to photic entrainment and generation of the rhythm, the bilaterally paired clocks form a functional unit. They interact to produce a stable time structure within individual insects by exchanging photic and temporal information through neural pathways, in which serotonin and pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) are involved as chemical messengers. The mutual interaction also plays an important role in seasonal adaptation of the rhythm.

  3. Effects of radioactive 125I seeds on A549 cell line and human embryonic lung diploid cell line 2BS cultivated in vitro and assessment of its clinical safety dose

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bian Wenchao; Qi Liangchen

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To observe the cell count changes of A549 cell line and human embryonic lung diploid cell line 2BS after irradiated by 125 I seeds with different doses, and to study the growth inhibition of 125 I on this two kinds of cell lines, and to determine its clinical safety dose in treatment of non-small cell lung. Methods: 125 I seeds with different doses (low dose: 0.2 mCi, mediate dose: 0.4 mCi, high dose: 0.8 mCi) were chosen and put into A549 cells and human embryonic lung diploid cell line 2BS in vitro, the cells on the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th days after irradiation were collected, the alive cells were counted by cells dyeing experiments, then the growth curves were drawn, and the IC 50 of the radioactive 125 I seeds to both two cell lines were calculated. Results: Compared with blank and control groups, the cell proliferation trend of A549 cells in low dose group was not significantly influenced (P>0.05), but the growth of A549 cells in mediate and high dose groups were inhibited in a time-dependent manner, there were significant differences (P<0.05), the most obvious change was on the 6th day. The IC 50 of the radioactive 125 I seeds to A549 cells was about .04 mCi. While the growth inhibition of 125 I 2BS had no statistically significant differences between various dose groups (P>0.05), and the IC 50 of the radioactive 125 I seeds to 2BS cell line was about 1.65 mCi. Conclusion: 0.4 mCi of radioactive 125 I seeds has already had the obvious damage effect on A549 cell, 0.8 mCi of radioactive 125 I seeds has the stronger effect. The IC 50 of the radioactive 125 I seeds to 2BS cells is about 1.65 mCi, so the clinical safety dosage is 0.4-0.8 mCi. (authors)

  4. Model business plan for a sterile insect production facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    For over 50 years the sterile insect technique (SIT) is a pest control strategy which has been used for eradication, and more recently for suppression, containment and prevention, of unwanted insect pest populations. Examples of successful applications of SIT, almost always applied in conjunction with other control methods in an area-wide integrated approach, are available from around the world. The development and application of SIT has relied overwhelmingly on public or donor initiative and funding throughout its history, although the private sector has always been involved as participants, cooperators or partners in funding. The demand for SIT, and therefore the market for sterile insects, has increased in recent years. This increase coincides with the introduction of new pests through the expansion of global trade and, at the same time, widespread pressure to find alternatives to pesticides. Recent improvements in the technology supporting SIT facilitate its application and suggest lower costs can be achieved. The conditions are therefore met for a greater commercialization of the technique to bring it in line with other pest control approaches that are fully integrated into a market approach. Several challenges arise, however, in pursuing sterile insect production as a commercial venture, ranging from intellectual property protection to pricing of the product. Routine insurance requirements, for instance, are complicated by the biological aspects of the business. This report is aimed at facilitating private sector involvement in the production of sterile insects for use in pest control. It provides guidelines and tools to support the development of specific business plans for a new SIT venture. By providing an international perspective on such issues as initial capital costs and recurring operational expenditures for a sterile insect facility, it may be used to evaluate the feasibility of proceeding with the construction or expansion of a sterile insect

  5. Plant breeding for resistance to insect pests: Considerations about the use of induced mutations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-01-01

    The Panel was intended to stimulate proposals on specific plant breeding objectives, for immediate and long term solution. Nine papers considered the host plant resistance to particular insect pests in a variety of cases. The desirability of achieving some measure of pest control via the development of disease-resistant mutants was discussed. In its conclusions, the Panel stressed the need to consider host plant resistance as one of the primary lines of defense in all pest management programmes. Consequently, resistance to insects was recommended to become an integral part of plant breeding programmes. Preference might need to be given to developing insect resistance in those crop plants for which practical control is lacking or where current methods of pest control present critical environmental hazards. The roles of the IAEA and FAO in such projects is outlined. Guidelines and recommendations on mutation breeding for resistance to insects are given in an appendix

  6. Differential Radiosensitizing Potential of Temozolomide in MGMT Promoter Methylated Glioblastoma Multiforme Cell Lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nifterik, Krista A. van; Berg, Jaap van den; Stalpers, Lukas J.A.; Lafleur, M. Vincent M.; Leenstra, Sieger; Slotman, Ben J.; Hulsebos, Theo J.M.; Sminia, Peter

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the radiosensitizing potential of temozolomide (TMZ) for human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell lines using single-dose and fractionated γ-irradiation. Methods and Materials: Three genetically characterized human GBM cell lines (AMC-3046, VU-109, and VU-122) were exposed to various single (0-6 Gy) and daily fractionated doses (2 Gy per fraction) of γ-irradiation. Repeated TMZ doses were given before and concurrent with irradiation treatment. Immediately plated clonogenic cell-survival curves were determined for both the single-dose and the fractionated irradiation experiments. To establish the net effect of clonogenic cell survival and cell proliferation, growth curves were determined, expressed as the number of surviving cells. Results: All three cell lines showed MGMT promoter methylation, lacked MGMT protein expression, and were sensitive to TMZ. The isotoxic TMZ concentrations used were in a clinically feasible range of 10 μmol/L (AMC-3046), 3 μmol/L (VU-109), and 2.5 μmol/L (VU-122). Temozolomide was able to radiosensitize two cell lines (AMC 3046 and VU-122) using single-dose irradiation. A reduction in the number of surviving cells after treatment with the combination of TMZ and fractionated irradiation was seen in all three cell lines, but only AMC 3046 showed a radiosensitizing effect. Conclusions: This study on TMZ-sensitive GBM cell lines shows that TMZ can act as a radiosensitizer and is at least additive to γ-irradiation. Enhancement of the radiation response by TMZ seems to be independent of the epigenetically silenced MGMT gene

  7. New directions in diagnostic evaluation of insect allergy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golden, David B K

    2014-08-01

    Diagnosis of insect sting allergy and prediction of risk of sting anaphylaxis are often difficult because tests for venom-specific IgE antibodies have a limited positive predictive value and do not reliably predict the severity of sting reactions. Component-resolved diagnosis using recombinant venom allergens has shown promise in improving the specificity of diagnostic testing for insect sting allergy. Basophil activation tests have been explored as more sensitive assays for identification of patients with insect allergy and for prediction of clinical outcomes. Measurement of mast cell mediators reflects the underlying risk for more severe reactions and limited clinical response to treatment. Measurement of IgE to recombinant venom allergens can distinguish cross-sensitization from dual sensitization to honeybee and vespid venoms, thus helping to limit venom immunotherapy to a single venom instead of multiple venoms in many patients. Basophil activation tests can detect venom allergy in patients who show no detectable venom-specific IgE in standard diagnostic tests and can predict increased risk of systemic reactions to venom immunotherapy, and to stings during and after stopping venom immunotherapy. The risk of severe or fatal anaphylaxis to stings can also be predicted by measurement of baseline serum tryptase or other mast cell mediators.

  8. The Genomic and Transcriptomic Landscape of a HeLa Cell Line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landry, Jonathan J. M.; Pyl, Paul Theodor; Rausch, Tobias; Zichner, Thomas; Tekkedil, Manu M.; Stütz, Adrian M.; Jauch, Anna; Aiyar, Raeka S.; Pau, Gregoire; Delhomme, Nicolas; Gagneur, Julien; Korbel, Jan O.; Huber, Wolfgang; Steinmetz, Lars M.

    2013-01-01

    HeLa is the most widely used model cell line for studying human cellular and molecular biology. To date, no genomic reference for this cell line has been released, and experiments have relied on the human reference genome. Effective design and interpretation of molecular genetic studies performed using HeLa cells require accurate genomic information. Here we present a detailed genomic and transcriptomic characterization of a HeLa cell line. We performed DNA and RNA sequencing of a HeLa Kyoto cell line and analyzed its mutational portfolio and gene expression profile. Segmentation of the genome according to copy number revealed a remarkably high level of aneuploidy and numerous large structural variants at unprecedented resolution. Some of the extensive genomic rearrangements are indicative of catastrophic chromosome shattering, known as chromothripsis. Our analysis of the HeLa gene expression profile revealed that several pathways, including cell cycle and DNA repair, exhibit significantly different expression patterns from those in normal human tissues. Our results provide the first detailed account of genomic variants in the HeLa genome, yielding insight into their impact on gene expression and cellular function as well as their origins. This study underscores the importance of accounting for the strikingly aberrant characteristics of HeLa cells when designing and interpreting experiments, and has implications for the use of HeLa as a model of human biology. PMID:23550136

  9. Hsa-let-7a functions as a tumor suppressor in renal cell carcinoma cell lines by targeting c-myc

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Yongchao; Yin, Bingde; Zhang, Changcun; Zhou, Libin [Department of Urology, Shanghai First People' s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200080 (China); Fan, Jie, E-mail: jief67@sina.com [Department of Urology, Shanghai First People' s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200080 (China)

    2012-01-06

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This study is the first to test the let-7a/c-myc loop in renal cell carcinoma cell lines. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Let-7a down-regulated c-myc in three renal cell carcinoma cell lines. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer c-myc target genes were down-regulated because of the let-7a-mediated down-regulation of c-myc. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The let-7a/c-myc loop has a significant function in renal cell carcinoma cell lines. -- Abstract: Widespread functions of the c-myc pathway play a crucial role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) carcinogenesis. Thus, we evaluated the connection between proto-oncogenic c-myc and anti-neoplastic hsa-let-7a (let-7a) in RCC cell lines. The levels of c-myc and let-7a in 3 RCC cell lines (769P, Caki-1 and 786O) were measured after transfecting the cells with let-7a mimics or a negative control. The change in c-myc protein level was confirmed by Western blot. The anti-neoplastic function of let-7a was evaluated using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) for proliferation analysis and cell flow cytometry for cell cycle analysis. The changes of downstream targets of c-myc were measured using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Our results suggest for the first time that let-7a acts as a tumor suppressor in RCC cell lines by down-regulating c-myc and c-myc target genes such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cyclin D1 (CCND1) and the miR17-92 cluster, which is accompanied by proliferation inhibition and cell cycle arrest.

  10. The relationship of metabolic burden to productivity levels in CHO cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Wu; Edros, Raihana; Al-Rubeai, Mohamed

    2018-03-01

    The growing demand for recombinant therapeutics has driven biotechnologists to develop new production strategies. One such strategy for increasing the expression of heterologous proteins has focused on enhancing cell-specific productivity through environmental perturbations. In this work, the effects of hypothermia, hyperosmolarity, high shear stress, and sodium butyrate treatment on growth and productivity were studied using three (low, medium, and high producing) CHO cell lines that differed in their specific productivities of monoclonal antibody. In all three cell lines, the inhibitory effect of these parameters on proliferation was demonstrated. Additionally, compared to the control, specific productivity was enhanced under all conditions and exhibited a consistent cell line specific pattern, with maximum increases (50-290%) in the low producer, and minimum increases (7-20%) in the high producer. Thus, the high-producing cell line was less responsive to environmental perturbations than the low-producing cell line. We hypothesize that this difference is most likely due to the bottleneck associated with a higher metabolic burden caused by higher antibody expression. Increased recombinant mRNA levels and pyruvate carboxylase activities due to low temperature and hyperosmotic stress were found to be positively associated with the metabolic burden. © 2017 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  11. Role of novel anticancer drug Roscovitine on enhancing radiosensitivity in carcinoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed, H.M.S.

    2009-01-01

    The present study was conducted to evaluate the radiosensitization effect of Roscovitine (cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor) in carcinoma cell lines. Three cell lines are used (HepG2 liver carcinoma cell line, U251 brain carcinoma cell line, H460 Lung carcinoma cell line) in this study .cells were treated with Roscovitine in different concentrations ranging from 0.1μM to 100 μM before exposure to radiation doses ranging from 0.5 Gy to 20 Gy according to each experiment. The cell viability by MTT assay, The cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation repair mechanism by diphenylamine were measured after Roscovitine treatment with or without radiation to explore the sensitization effect of Roscovitine. The present study conclude that Roscovitine a good candidate as radiosensitizer for modifying the ionizing radiation (IR) response in cancer cells, beside its cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor function, roscovitine can generate DNA Double strand Breaks and cooperate to enhance IR induce DNA damages . Roscovitine is currently in clinical trials, although our findings suggest that the combination of Roscovitine with IR appears to be a very promising especially for liver, brain and lung cancer treatment, further investigation is needed to evaluate the therapeutic index before tested in clinical trial

  12. Role of novel anticancer drug Roscovitine on enhancing radiosensitivity in carcinoma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noaman, E.; Sayed, H.M.; Medhat, A.M.; Morcos, N.Y.S.

    2010-01-01

    The present study was conducted to evaluate the radiosensitization effect of Roscovitine (cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor) in carcinoma cell lines. Three cell lines are used liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2), brain carcinoma cell line (U251), Lung carcinoma cell line (H460) in this study cells were treated with Roscovitine in different concentrations ranging from 0.1 ?M to 100 ?M before exposure to radiation doses ranging from 0.5 Gy to 20 Gy according to each experiment. The cell viability by MTT assay, the cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation repair mechanism by diphenylamine were measured after Roscovitine treatment with or without radiation exposure to explore the sensitization effect of Roscovitine. The present study conclude that Roscovitine a good candidate as radiosensitizer for modifying the ionizing radiation (IR) response in cancer cells, beside its cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor function, Roscovitine can generate DNA Double strand Breaks and cooperate to enhance IR induce DNA damages. Roscovitine is currently in clinical trials, although our findings suggest that the combination of Roscovitine with IR appears to be a very promising especially for liver, brain and lung cancer treatment, further investigation is needed to evaluate the therapeutic index before tested in clinical trials

  13. Sphere-forming cell subpopulations with cancer stem cell properties in human hepatoma cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Lei

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cancer stem cells (CSCs are regarded as the cause of tumor formation and recurrence. The isolation and identification of CSCs could help to develop novel therapeutic strategies specifically targeting CSCs. Methods Human hepatoma cell lines were plated in stem cell conditioned culture system allowed for sphere forming. To evaluate the stemness characteristics of spheres, the self-renewal, proliferation, chemoresistance, tumorigenicity of the PLC/PRF/5 sphere-forming cells, and the expression levels of stem cell related proteins in the PLC/PRF/5 sphere-forming cells were assessed, comparing with the parental cells. The stem cell RT-PCR array was performed to further explore the biological properties of liver CSCs. Results The PLC/PRF/5, MHCC97H and HepG2 cells could form clonal nonadherent 3-D spheres and be serially passaged. The PLC/PRF/5 sphere-forming cells possessed a key criteria that define CSCs: persistent self-renewal, extensive proliferation, drug resistance, overexpression of liver CSCs related proteins (Oct3/4, OV6, EpCAM, CD133 and CD44. Even 500 sphere-forming cells were able to form tumors in NOD/SCID mice, and the tumor initiating capability was not decreased when spheres were passaged. Besides, downstream proteins DTX1 and Ep300 of the CSL (CBF1 in humans, Suppressor of hairless in Drosophila and LAG1 in C. elegans -independent Notch signaling pathway were highly expressed in the spheres, and a gamma-secretase inhibitor MRK003 could significantly inhibit the sphere formation ability. Conclusions Nonadherent tumor spheres from hepatoma cell lines cultured in stem cell conditioned medium possess liver CSC properties, and the CSL-independent Notch signaling pathway may play a role in liver CSCs.

  14. File list: His.Lng.20.AllAg.Lung_adenocarcinoma_cell_lines [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.Lng.20.AllAg.Lung_adenocarcinoma_cell_lines hg19 Histone Lung Lung adenocarcino...ma cell lines SRX1143596,SRX1143597,SRX1143598,SRX1143599 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.Lng.20.AllAg.Lung_adenocarcinoma_cell_lines.bed ...

  15. FogBank: a single cell segmentation across multiple cell lines and image modalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalfoun, Joe; Majurski, Michael; Dima, Alden; Stuelten, Christina; Peskin, Adele; Brady, Mary

    2014-12-30

    Many cell lines currently used in medical research, such as cancer cells or stem cells, grow in confluent sheets or colonies. The biology of individual cells provide valuable information, thus the separation of touching cells in these microscopy images is critical for counting, identification and measurement of individual cells. Over-segmentation of single cells continues to be a major problem for methods based on morphological watershed due to the high level of noise in microscopy cell images. There is a need for a new segmentation method that is robust over a wide variety of biological images and can accurately separate individual cells even in challenging datasets such as confluent sheets or colonies. We present a new automated segmentation method called FogBank that accurately separates cells when confluent and touching each other. This technique is successfully applied to phase contrast, bright field, fluorescence microscopy and binary images. The method is based on morphological watershed principles with two new features to improve accuracy and minimize over-segmentation. First, FogBank uses histogram binning to quantize pixel intensities which minimizes the image noise that causes over-segmentation. Second, FogBank uses a geodesic distance mask derived from raw images to detect the shapes of individual cells, in contrast to the more linear cell edges that other watershed-like algorithms produce. We evaluated the segmentation accuracy against manually segmented datasets using two metrics. FogBank achieved segmentation accuracy on the order of 0.75 (1 being a perfect match). We compared our method with other available segmentation techniques in term of achieved performance over the reference data sets. FogBank outperformed all related algorithms. The accuracy has also been visually verified on data sets with 14 cell lines across 3 imaging modalities leading to 876 segmentation evaluation images. FogBank produces single cell segmentation from confluent cell

  16. A Vitex agnus-castus extract inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in prostate epithelial cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weisskopf, M; Schaffner, W; Jundt, G; Sulser, T; Wyler, S; Tullberg-Reinert, H

    2005-10-01

    Extracts of Vitex agnus-castus fruits (VACF) are described to have beneficial effects on disorders related to hyperprolactinemia (cycle disorders, premenstrual syndrome). A VACF extract has recently been shown to exhibit antitumor activities in different human cancer cell lines. In the present study, we explored the antiproliferative effects of a VACF extract with a particular focus on apoptosis-inducing and potential cytotoxic effects. Three different human prostate epithelial cell lines (BPH-1, LNCaP, PC-3) representing different disease stages and androgen responsiveness were chosen. The action of VACF on cell viability was assessed using the WST-8-tetrazolium assay. Cell proliferation in cells receiving VACF alone or in combination with a pan-caspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-fmk) was quantified using a Crystal Violet assay. Flow cytometric cell cycle analysis and measurement of DNA fragmentation using an ELISA method were used for studying the induction of apoptosis. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was determined as a marker of cytotoxicity. The extract inhibited proliferation of all three cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner with IC (50) values below 10 microg/mL after treatment for 48 h. Cell cycle analysis and DNA fragmentation assays suggest that part of the cells were undergoing apoptosis. The VACF-induced decrease in cell number was partially inhibited by Z-VAD-fmk, indicating a caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death. However, the concentration-dependent LDH activity of VACF treated cells indicated cytotoxic effects as well. These data suggest that VACF contains components that inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in human prostate epithelial cell lines. The extract may be useful for the prevention and/or treatment not only of benign prostatic hyperplasia but also of human prostate cancer.

  17. Effects of irradiation on the expression of the adhesion molecules (NCAM, ICAM-1) by glioma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamanaka, Ryuya; Tanaka, Ryuichi; Yoshida, Seiichi [Niigata Univ. (Japan). Brain Research Inst.

    1993-11-01

    The expression of the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) by glioma cell lines was investigated. The effects of interferon (IFN)-[gamma] or irradiation on the expression was also assessed. Two glioma cell lines showed more than 75% NCAM-positive cells. After treatment with IFN-[gamma] or irradiation, another three cell lines were induced to show more than 50% positive cells. Three glioma cell lines showed more than 50% ICAM-1-positive cells. After treatment with IFN-[gamma], another two cell lines were induced to show more than 50% positive cells. After treatment with irradiation, one more cell line was induced to show more than 50% positive cells. ICAM-1 and NCAM expression by glioma cell lines is susceptible to modulation by IFN-[gamma] or irradiation. (author).

  18. A NEW CELL CLONE DERIVED FROM TRICHOPLUSIA NI TN5B1-4 CELLS

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jian-xiaoTian; Chang-youLi; Gui-lingZheng; Guo-xunLi; PingWang; Granados

    2004-01-01

    The characteristics of a cultured cell line do not always remain stable and may change upon continuous passage. Most continuous cell lines, even after cloning, possess several genotypes that are constantly changing. There are numerous selective and adaptive culture processes, in addition to genetic instability, that may improve phenotypic change in cell growth, virus susceptibility, gene expression, and production of virus. Similar detrimental effects of long term passaging of insect cells have also been reported for continuous cell lines, for example, Tn5B 1-4 cells, which are the most widely used for the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS), provide superior production of recombinant proteins,however, this high productivity may be more evident in low passage cells. In this paper, we describe the isolation of a cell clone, Tn5B-40, from low passage Tn5B 1-4 cells. The growth characteristics,productions of virus, and high level of recombinant protein productions were determined. The results showed the susceptibility of both clone and Tn5B 1-4 cells to wild-type AcNPV was approximately the same rate with over 95% of infection; when the cloned cells were infected with recombinant baculoviruses expressing β-galactosidase and secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP), expression of the recombinant proteins from the cloned cells exceeded that from the parental Tn5B 1-4 cells.

  19. The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia enables predictive modelling of anticancer drug sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barretina, Jordi; Caponigro, Giordano; Stransky, Nicolas; Venkatesan, Kavitha; Margolin, Adam A; Kim, Sungjoon; Wilson, Christopher J; Lehár, Joseph; Kryukov, Gregory V; Sonkin, Dmitriy; Reddy, Anupama; Liu, Manway; Murray, Lauren; Berger, Michael F; Monahan, John E; Morais, Paula; Meltzer, Jodi; Korejwa, Adam; Jané-Valbuena, Judit; Mapa, Felipa A; Thibault, Joseph; Bric-Furlong, Eva; Raman, Pichai; Shipway, Aaron; Engels, Ingo H; Cheng, Jill; Yu, Guoying K; Yu, Jianjun; Aspesi, Peter; de Silva, Melanie; Jagtap, Kalpana; Jones, Michael D; Wang, Li; Hatton, Charles; Palescandolo, Emanuele; Gupta, Supriya; Mahan, Scott; Sougnez, Carrie; Onofrio, Robert C; Liefeld, Ted; MacConaill, Laura; Winckler, Wendy; Reich, Michael; Li, Nanxin; Mesirov, Jill P; Gabriel, Stacey B; Getz, Gad; Ardlie, Kristin; Chan, Vivien; Myer, Vic E; Weber, Barbara L; Porter, Jeff; Warmuth, Markus; Finan, Peter; Harris, Jennifer L; Meyerson, Matthew; Golub, Todd R; Morrissey, Michael P; Sellers, William R; Schlegel, Robert; Garraway, Levi A

    2012-03-28

    The systematic translation of cancer genomic data into knowledge of tumour biology and therapeutic possibilities remains challenging. Such efforts should be greatly aided by robust preclinical model systems that reflect the genomic diversity of human cancers and for which detailed genetic and pharmacological annotation is available. Here we describe the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE): a compilation of gene expression, chromosomal copy number and massively parallel sequencing data from 947 human cancer cell lines. When coupled with pharmacological profiles for 24 anticancer drugs across 479 of the cell lines, this collection allowed identification of genetic, lineage, and gene-expression-based predictors of drug sensitivity. In addition to known predictors, we found that plasma cell lineage correlated with sensitivity to IGF1 receptor inhibitors; AHR expression was associated with MEK inhibitor efficacy in NRAS-mutant lines; and SLFN11 expression predicted sensitivity to topoisomerase inhibitors. Together, our results indicate that large, annotated cell-line collections may help to enable preclinical stratification schemata for anticancer agents. The generation of genetic predictions of drug response in the preclinical setting and their incorporation into cancer clinical trial design could speed the emergence of 'personalized' therapeutic regimens.

  20. Cysteine modified polyaniline films improve biocompatibility for two cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yslas, Edith I., E-mail: eyslas@exa.unrc.edu.ar [Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Agencia Postal Nro3, X580BYA Río Cuarto (Argentina); Cavallo, Pablo; Acevedo, Diego F.; Barbero, César A. [Departamento de Química, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Agencia Postal Nro3, X580BYA Río Cuarto (Argentina); Rivarola, Viviana A. [Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Agencia Postal Nro3, X580BYA Río Cuarto (Argentina)

    2015-06-01

    This work focuses on one of the most exciting application areas of conjugated conducting polymers, which is cell culture and tissue engineering. To improve the biocompatibility of conducting polymers we present an easy method that involves the modification of the polymer backbone using L-cysteine. In this publication, we show the synthesis of polyaniline (PANI) films supported onto Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films, and modified using cysteine (PANI-Cys) in order to generate a biocompatible substrate for cell culture. The PANI-Cys films are characterized by Fourier Transform infrared and UV–visible spectroscopy. The changes in the hydrophilicity of the polymer films after and before the modification were tested using contact angle measurements. After modification the contact angle changes from 86° ± 1 to 90° ± 1, suggesting a more hydrophylic surface. The adhesion properties of LM2 and HaCaT cell lines on the surface of PANI-Cys films in comparison with tissue culture plastic (TCP) are studied. The PANI-Cys film shows better biocompatibility than PANI film for both cell lines. The cell morphologies on the TCP and PANI-Cys film were examined by florescence and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Microscopic observations show normal cellular behavior when PANI-Cys is used as a substrate of both cell lines (HaCaT and LM2) as when they are cultured on TCP. The ability of these PANI-Cys films to support cell attachment and growth indicates their potential use as biocompatible surfaces and in tissue engineering. - Highlights: • A new surface PANI-Cys was produced on films of polyethylene terephthalate. • The relationship between surface characteristics and biocompatibility is analyzed. • The PANI-Cys film presents good biocompatibility for two cell lines.

  1. A biocompatible micro cell culture chamber (mu CCC) for the culturing and on-line monitoring of eukaryote cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stangegaard, Michael; Petronis, Sarunas; Jørgensen, Anders Michael

    2006-01-01

    culture chip compared to cell culture flasks. The cell culture chip could without further modification support cell growth of two other cell lines. Light coming from the microscope lamp during optical recordings of the cells was the only external factor identified, that could have a negative effect...... on cell survival. Low grade light exposure was however compatible with optical recordings as well as cell viability. These results strongly indicate that a cell culture chip could be constructed that allowed for on-line optical recording of cellular events without affecting the cell culturing condition...

  2. A biocompatible micro cell culture chamber (microCCC) for the culturing and on-line monitoring of eukaryote cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stangegaard, Michael; Petronis, Sarunas; Jørgensen, A M

    2006-01-01

    culture chip compared to cell culture flasks. The cell culture chip could without further modification support cell growth of two other cell lines. Light coming from the microscope lamp during optical recordings of the cells was the only external factor identified, that could have a negative effect...... on cell survival. Low grade light exposure was however compatible with optical recordings as well as cell viability. These results strongly indicate that a cell culture chip could be constructed that allowed for on-line optical recording of cellular events without affecting the cell culturing condition...

  3. Downregulation of telomerase activity in human promyelocytic cell line using RNA interference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miri-Moghaddam, E; Deezagi, A; Soheili, Z S

    2009-12-01

    Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex. It consists of two main components, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and human telomerase RNA. High telomerase activity is present in most malignant cells, but it is barely detectable in majority of somatic cells. The direct correlation between telomerase reactivation and carcinogens has made hTERT a key target for anticancer therapeutic studies. In this study, for the first time, we evaluated the ability of the new generation of short interfering RNA (siRNA) to regulate telomerase activity in the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60). Transient transfection cell line by hTERT siRNAs resulted in statistically significant suppression of hTERT messenger RNAs which were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, while the expressed hTERT protein levels were measured by flow cytometry. The results of telomeric repeat amplification protocol showed that telomerase activity was significantly reduced upon transfection of the HL-60 cell line with hTERT siRNAs. The results of this study showed that telomerase activity and cell proliferation were efficiently inhibited in the hTERT siRNA-treated leukemic cell line.

  4. RNA interference: Applications and advances in insect toxicology and insect pest management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Young Ho; Soumaila Issa, Moustapha; Cooper, Anastasia M W; Zhu, Kun Yan

    2015-05-01

    Since its discovery, RNA interference (RNAi) has revolutionized functional genomic studies due to its sequence-specific nature of post-transcriptional gene silencing. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the recent literature and summarize the current knowledge and advances in the applications of RNAi technologies in the field of insect toxicology and insect pest management. Many recent studies have focused on identification and validation of the genes encoding insecticide target proteins, such as acetylcholinesterases, ion channels, Bacillus thuringiensis receptors, and other receptors in the nervous system. RNAi technologies have also been widely applied to reveal the role of genes encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, carboxylesterases, and glutathione S-transferases in insecticide detoxification and resistance. More recently, studies have focused on understanding the mechanism of insecticide-mediated up-regulation of detoxification genes in insects. As RNAi has already shown great potentials for insect pest management, many recent studies have also focused on host-induced gene silencing, in which several RNAi-based transgenic plants have been developed and tested as proof of concept for insect pest management. These studies indicate that RNAi is a valuable tool to address various fundamental questions in insect toxicology and may soon become an effective strategy for insect pest management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Response of BP cell lines to γ-radiation: evaluation of DNA repair and apoptosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paris, F.E.; Martin, M.; Le Rhum, Y.; May, E.; Duriez, P; Shah, G.

    1997-01-01

    In the BP cell lines, mutation of p53 gene is associated with an increased radiosensitivity. In order to understand the relation between p53 and radiosensitivity, we looked at DNA repair and cell death. Unexpectedly, after radiation the mutated p53 cell line BPp- Tu and the wild type p53 cell line BPp- Tu cells, both ell lines died by the same non necrotic process: a programmed cell death independent of their p53 status. The cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) by an ICE-related protease is considered an early and critical event during apoptosis. The fate of PARP was monitored by Western extensively in the apoptotic BPp- Tu cells than in the BPp cells. This faster PARP cleavage might be linked to the increased radiosensitivity of the BPp- Tu cells. (authors)

  6. Systematic identification of combinatorial drivers and targets in cancer cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adel Tabchy

    Full Text Available There is an urgent need to elicit and validate highly efficacious targets for combinatorial intervention from large scale ongoing molecular characterization efforts of tumors. We established an in silico bioinformatic platform in concert with a high throughput screening platform evaluating 37 novel targeted agents in 669 extensively characterized cancer cell lines reflecting the genomic and tissue-type diversity of human cancers, to systematically identify combinatorial biomarkers of response and co-actionable targets in cancer. Genomic biomarkers discovered in a 141 cell line training set were validated in an independent 359 cell line test set. We identified co-occurring and mutually exclusive genomic events that represent potential drivers and combinatorial targets in cancer. We demonstrate multiple cooperating genomic events that predict sensitivity to drug intervention independent of tumor lineage. The coupling of scalable in silico and biologic high throughput cancer cell line platforms for the identification of co-events in cancer delivers rational combinatorial targets for synthetic lethal approaches with a high potential to pre-empt the emergence of resistance.

  7. Systematic identification of combinatorial drivers and targets in cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabchy, Adel; Eltonsy, Nevine; Housman, David E; Mills, Gordon B

    2013-01-01

    There is an urgent need to elicit and validate highly efficacious targets for combinatorial intervention from large scale ongoing molecular characterization efforts of tumors. We established an in silico bioinformatic platform in concert with a high throughput screening platform evaluating 37 novel targeted agents in 669 extensively characterized cancer cell lines reflecting the genomic and tissue-type diversity of human cancers, to systematically identify combinatorial biomarkers of response and co-actionable targets in cancer. Genomic biomarkers discovered in a 141 cell line training set were validated in an independent 359 cell line test set. We identified co-occurring and mutually exclusive genomic events that represent potential drivers and combinatorial targets in cancer. We demonstrate multiple cooperating genomic events that predict sensitivity to drug intervention independent of tumor lineage. The coupling of scalable in silico and biologic high throughput cancer cell line platforms for the identification of co-events in cancer delivers rational combinatorial targets for synthetic lethal approaches with a high potential to pre-empt the emergence of resistance.

  8. Stable producer cell lines for adeno-associated virus (AAV) assembly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadeuf, Gilliane; Salvetti, Anna

    2010-10-01

    Stable producer cell lines containing both the rep and cap genes and recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors can be infected with a helper virus to provide reliable and efficient production of rAAV stocks. However, the development of these cell lines is time-consuming. The procedure described here is therefore recommended only for studies requiring the production of high amounts of rAAV, such as preclinical studies performed in large animals.

  9. Schwann cell-mediated delivery of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor restores erectile function after cavernous nerve injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    May, Florian; Buchner, Alexander; Schlenker, Boris; Gratzke, Christian; Arndt, Christian; Stief, Christian; Weidner, Norbert; Matiasek, Kaspar

    2013-03-01

    To evaluate the time-course of functional recovery after cavernous nerve injury using glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-transduced Schwann cell-seeded silicon tubes. Sections of the cavernous nerves were excised bilaterally (5 mm), followed by immediate bilateral surgical repair. A total of 20 study nerves per group were reconstructed by interposition of empty silicon tubes and silicon tubes seeded with either glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-overexpressing or green fluorescent protein-expressing Schwann cells. Control groups were either sham-operated or received bilateral nerve transection without nerve reconstruction. Erectile function was evaluated by relaparotomy, electrical nerve stimulation and intracavernous pressure recording after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks. The animals underwent re-exploration only once, and were killed afterwards. The nerve grafts were investigated for the maturation state of regenerating nerve fibers and the fascular composition. Recovery of erectile function took at least 4 weeks in the current model. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-transduced Schwann cell grafts restored erectile function better than green fluorescent protein-transduced controls and unseeded conduits. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-transduced grafts promoted an intact erectile response (4/4) at 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks that was overall significantly superior to negative controls (P cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-transduced grafts compared with negative controls (P = 0.018) and unseeded tubes (P = 0.034). Return of function was associated with the electron microscopic evidence of preganglionic myelinated nerve fibers and postganglionic unmyelinated axons. Schwann cell-mediated delivery of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor presents a viable approach for the treatment of erectile dysfunction after cavernous nerve injury. © 2013 The Japanese Urological Association.

  10. Isolation of a primate embryonic stem cell line.

    OpenAIRE

    Thomson, J A; Kalishman, J; Golos, T G; Durning, M; Harris, C P; Becker, R A; Hearn, J P

    1995-01-01

    Embryonic stem cells have the ability to remain undifferentiated and proliferate indefinitely in vitro while maintaining the potential to differentiate into derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers. Here we report the derivation of a cloned cell line (R278.5) from a rhesus monkey blastocyst that remains undifferentiated in continuous passage for > 1 year, maintains a normal XY karyotype, and expresses the cell surface markers (alkaline phosphatase, stage-specific embryonic antigen 3, st...

  11. Synthesis of Chromonylthiazolidines and Their Cytotoxicity to Human Cancer Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hoang Le Tuan Anh

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Nine new chromonylthiazolidine derivatives were successfully semi-synthesized from paeonol. All of the compounds, including starting materials, the intermediate compound and products, were evaluated for their cytotoxic effects toward eight human cancer cell lines. The synthesized chromonylthiazolidines displayed weak cytotoxic effects against the tested cancer cell lines, but selective cytotoxic effects were observed. Compounds 3a and 3b showed the most selective cytotoxic effects against human epidermoid carcinoma (IC50 44.1 ± 3.6 μg/mL and breast cancer (IC50 32.8 ± 1.4 μg/mL cell lines, respectively. The results suggest that chromoylthiazolidines are potential low-cost, and selective anticancer agents.

  12. Edible insects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huis, van A.

    2017-01-01

    Is it an impossible task to convince consumers to eat insects? This does not only apply to western consumers who are less familiar with this food habit than consumers in tropical countries. In the tropics too, many people do not consume insects, even though they are easier to collect as food than

  13. Low-risk susceptibility alleles in 40 human breast cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Riaz, Muhammad; Elstrodt, Fons; Hollestelle, Antoinette; Dehghan, Abbas; Klijn, Jan GM; Schutte, Mieke

    2009-01-01

    Low-risk breast cancer susceptibility alleles or SNPs confer only modest breast cancer risks ranging from just over 1.0 to1.3 fold. Yet, they are common among most populations and therefore are involved in the development of essentially all breast cancers. The mechanism by which the low-risk SNPs confer breast cancer risks is currently unclear. The breast cancer association consortium BCAC has hypothesized that the low-risk SNPs modulate expression levels of nearby located genes. Genotypes of five low-risk SNPs were determined for 40 human breast cancer cell lines, by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified genomic templates. We have analyzed expression of the four genes that are located nearby the low-risk SNPs, by using real-time RT-PCR and Human Exon microarrays. The SNP genotypes and additional phenotypic data on the breast cancer cell lines are presented. We did not detect any effect of the SNP genotypes on expression levels of the nearby-located genes MAP3K1, FGFR2, TNRC9 and LSP1. The SNP genotypes provide a base line for functional studies in a well-characterized cohort of 40 human breast cancer cell lines. Our expression analyses suggest that a putative disease mechanism through gene expression modulation is not operative in breast cancer cell lines

  14. Spontaneous pyrogen production by mouse histiocytic and myelomonocytic tumor cell lines in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodel, P

    1978-05-01

    Tumor-associated fever occurs commonly in acute leukemias and lymphomas. We investigated the capacity for in vitro production of pyrogen by three mouse histiocytic lymphoma cell lines (J-774, PU5-1.8, p 388 D1), one myelomonoyctic line (WEHI-3), and tow lymphoma-derived lines, RAW-8 and R-8. Pyrogen was released spontaneously into the culture medium during growth by all cell lines with macrophage or myeloid characteristics including lysozyme production; R-8 cells, of presumed B-lymphocyte origin, did not produce pyrogen. When injected into mice, the pyrogens gave fever curves typical of endogenous pyrogen, were inactived by heating to 56 degrees C and by pronase digestion, and appeared to be secreted continuously by viable cells. Two pyrogenic molecular species produced by H-774 cells were identified by Sephadex filtration, one of mol wt approximately equal to 30,000, and the other greater than or equal to 60,000. By contrast, three carcinoma cell lines of human origin and SV-40 3T3 mouse fibroblasts did not produce pyrogen in vitro. These results suggest that some malignant cells derived from phagocytic cells of bone marrow origin retain their capacity for pyrogen production, and may spontaneously secrete pyrogen during growth.

  15. A Sclerostin super-producer cell line derived from the human cell line SaOS-2: a new tool for the study of the molecular mechanisms driving Sclerostin expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-Campo, Flor M; Sañudo, Carolina; Delgado-Calle, Jesús; Arozamena, Jana; Zarrabeitia, María T; Riancho, José A

    2014-08-01

    Sclerostin, the product of the SOST gene, is a key regulator of bone homeostasis. Sclerostin interferes with the Wnt signalling pathway and, therefore, has a negative effect on bone formation. Although the importance of sclerostin in bone homeostasis is well established, many aspects of its biology are still unknown. Due to its restricted pattern of expression, in vitro studies of SOST gene regulation are technically challenging. Furthermore, a more profound investigation of the molecular mechanism controlling sclerostin expression has been hampered by the lack of a good human in vitro model. Here, we describe two cell lines derived from the human osteosarcoma cell line SaOS-2 that produce elevated levels of sclerostin. Analysis of the super-producer cell lines showed that sclerostin levels were still reduced in response to parathyroid hormone treatment or in response to mechanical loading, indicating that these regulatory mechanisms were not affected in the presented cell lines. In addition, we did not find differences between the promoter or ECR5 sequences of our clones and the SaOS-2 parental line. However, the methylation of the proximal CpG island located at the SOST promoter was lower in the super-producer clones, in agreement with a higher level of SOST transcription. Although the underlying biological causes of the elevated levels of sclerostin production in this cell line are not yet clear, we believe that it could be an extremely useful tool to study the molecular mechanisms driving sclerostin expression in humans.

  16. Insects and human nutrition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Roos, Nanna

    2018-01-01

    Despite high diversity in species as well as metamorphological life-­stages, edible insects are essentially an animal-source food contributing high quality protein and fat when viewed in the context of human nutrition. The nutritional contribution of insects to diets in populations where insects ...

  17. Transformation and Tumorigenicity Testing of Simian Cell Lines and Evaluation of Poliovirus Replication.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Dotti

    Full Text Available The key role of cell cultures in different scientific fields is worldwide recognized, both as in vitro research models alternative to laboratory animals and substrates for biological production. However, many safety concerns rise from the use of animal/human cell lines that may be tumorigenic, leading to potential adverse contaminations in cell-derived biologicals. In order to evaluate the suitability of 13 different cell lines for Poliovirus vaccine production, safety and quality, in vitro/in vivo tumorigenicity and Poliovirus propagation properties were evaluated. Our results revealed that non-human primate cell lines CYNOM-K1, FRhK-4, 4MBr-5 and 4647 are free of tumorigenic features and represent highly susceptible substrates for attenuated Sabin Poliovirus strains. In particular, FRhK-4 and 4647 cell lines are characterized by a higher in vitro replication, resulting indicated for the use in large-scale production field.

  18. Alpha-2 Heremans Schmid Glycoprotein (AHSG) Modulates Signaling Pathways in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line SQ20B

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, Pamela D.; Sakwe, Amos [Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208 (United States); Koumangoye, Rainelli [Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232 (United States); Yarbrough, Wendell G. [Division of Otolaryngology, Departments of Surgery and Pathology and Yale Cancer Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Ochieng, Josiah [Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208 (United States); Marshall, Dana R., E-mail: dmarshall@mmc.edu [Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208 (United States)

    2014-02-15

    This study was performed to identify the potential role of Alpha-2 Heremans Schmid Glycoprotein (AHSG) in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) tumorigenesis using an HNSCC cell line model. HNSCC cell lines are unique among cancer cell lines, in that they produce endogenous AHSG and do not rely, solely, on AHSG derived from serum. To produce our model, we performed a stable transfection to down-regulate AHSG in the HNSCC cell line SQ20B, resulting in three SQ20B sublines, AH50 with 50% AHSG production, AH20 with 20% AHSG production and EV which is the empty vector control expressing wild-type levels of AHSG. Utilizing these sublines, we examined the effect of AHSG depletion on cellular adhesion, proliferation, migration and invasion in a serum-free environment. We demonstrated that sublines EV and AH50 adhered to plastic and laminin significantly faster than the AH20 cell line, supporting the previously reported role of exogenous AHSG in cell adhesion. As for proliferative potential, EV had the greatest amount of proliferation with AH50 proliferation significantly diminished. AH20 cells did not proliferate at all. Depletion of AHSG also diminished cellular migration and invasion. TGF-β was examined to determine whether levels of the TGF-β binding AHSG influenced the effect of TGF-β on cell signaling and proliferation. Whereas higher levels of AHSG blunted TGF-β influenced SMAD and ERK signaling, it did not clearly affect proliferation, suggesting that AHSG influences on adhesion, proliferation, invasion and migration are primarily due to its role in adhesion and cell spreading. The previously reported role of AHSG in potentiating metastasis via protecting MMP-9 from autolysis was also supported in this cell line based model system of endogenous AHSG production in HNSCC. Together, these data show that endogenously produced AHSG in an HNSCC cell line, promotes in vitro cellular properties identified as having a role in tumorigenesis. Highlights: • Head

  19. Alpha-2 Heremans Schmid Glycoprotein (AHSG) Modulates Signaling Pathways in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line SQ20B

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, Pamela D.; Sakwe, Amos; Koumangoye, Rainelli; Yarbrough, Wendell G.; Ochieng, Josiah; Marshall, Dana R.

    2014-01-01

    This study was performed to identify the potential role of Alpha-2 Heremans Schmid Glycoprotein (AHSG) in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) tumorigenesis using an HNSCC cell line model. HNSCC cell lines are unique among cancer cell lines, in that they produce endogenous AHSG and do not rely, solely, on AHSG derived from serum. To produce our model, we performed a stable transfection to down-regulate AHSG in the HNSCC cell line SQ20B, resulting in three SQ20B sublines, AH50 with 50% AHSG production, AH20 with 20% AHSG production and EV which is the empty vector control expressing wild-type levels of AHSG. Utilizing these sublines, we examined the effect of AHSG depletion on cellular adhesion, proliferation, migration and invasion in a serum-free environment. We demonstrated that sublines EV and AH50 adhered to plastic and laminin significantly faster than the AH20 cell line, supporting the previously reported role of exogenous AHSG in cell adhesion. As for proliferative potential, EV had the greatest amount of proliferation with AH50 proliferation significantly diminished. AH20 cells did not proliferate at all. Depletion of AHSG also diminished cellular migration and invasion. TGF-β was examined to determine whether levels of the TGF-β binding AHSG influenced the effect of TGF-β on cell signaling and proliferation. Whereas higher levels of AHSG blunted TGF-β influenced SMAD and ERK signaling, it did not clearly affect proliferation, suggesting that AHSG influences on adhesion, proliferation, invasion and migration are primarily due to its role in adhesion and cell spreading. The previously reported role of AHSG in potentiating metastasis via protecting MMP-9 from autolysis was also supported in this cell line based model system of endogenous AHSG production in HNSCC. Together, these data show that endogenously produced AHSG in an HNSCC cell line, promotes in vitro cellular properties identified as having a role in tumorigenesis. Highlights: • Head

  20. Identifying anti-growth factors for human cancer cell lines through genome-scale metabolic modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ghaffari, Pouyan; Mardinoglu, Adil; Asplund, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Human cancer cell lines are used as important model systems to study molecular mechanisms associated with tumor growth, hereunder how genomic and biological heterogeneity found in primary tumors affect cellular phenotypes. We reconstructed Genome scale metabolic models (GEMs) for eleven cell lines...... based on RNA-Seq data and validated the functionality of these models with data from metabolite profiling. We used cell line-specific GEMs to analyze the differences in the metabolism of cancer cell lines, and to explore the heterogeneous expression of the metabolic subsystems. Furthermore, we predicted...... for inhibition of cell growth may provide leads for the development of efficient cancer treatment strategies....

  1. Fibronectin synthesized by a human hepatoma cell line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glasgow, J.E.; Colman, R.W.

    1984-01-01

    Fibronectin is a family of immunologically similar glycoproteins which mediate a variety of cell-cell and cell-substratum interactions. It is a constituent of the extracellular matrix of connective tissue and circulates in plasma. When suspension and adherent cultures of a human hepatoma cell line (SK-HEP-1) were incubated in serum-free medium, the resulting conditioned medium contained material which was specifically immunoprecipitated by antisera to human plasma fibronectin. By double immunodiffusion, a component in the conditioned culture medium was shown to form a line of identity with fibronectin in human plasma and to migrate as an alpha 2- to beta-globulin during immunoelectrophoresis. Human fibronectin was quantified in conditioned medium by electroimmunodiffusion, and was found to increase for at least three days at about 0.1 micrograms/10(6) cells/day. Adherent cultures of SK-HEP-1 cells were incubated with L-[ 35 S]methionine to label newly synthesized proteins. Labeled fibronectin in conditioned medium or in cell extracts comigrated with fibronectin in human plasma as shown by autoradiography following crossed-immunoelectrophoresis. Fibronectin was demonstrated in the extra-cellular matrix of adherent SK-HEP-1 cultures by immunofluorescence. It was shown previously that SK-HEP-1 cells synthesize alpha 1-protease inhibitor, one of the products of normal hepatocytes. The finding that these hepatoma cells also synthesize fibronectin supports the concept that the hepatocyte may be one source of circulating fibronectin, a possibility consistent with the established role of this cell type in blood plasma protein synthesis

  2. Neuroblastoma Cell Lines Are Refractory to Genotoxic Drug-Mediated Induction of Ligands for NK Cell-Activating Receptors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene Veneziani

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Neuroblastoma (NB, the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood, causes death in almost 15% of children affected by cancer. Treatment of neuroblastoma is based on the combination of chemotherapy with other therapeutic interventions such as surgery, radiotherapy, use of differentiating agents, and immunotherapy. In particular, adoptive NK cell transfer is a new immune-therapeutic approach whose efficacy may be boosted by several anticancer agents able to induce the expression of ligands for NK cell-activating receptors, thus rendering cancer cells more susceptible to NK cell-mediated lysis. Here, we show that chemotherapeutic drugs commonly used for the treatment of NB such as cisplatin, topotecan, irinotecan, and etoposide are unable to induce the expression of activating ligands in a panel of NB cell lines. Consistently, cisplatin-treated NB cell lines were not more susceptible to NK cells than untreated cells. The refractoriness of NB cell lines to these drugs has been partially associated with the abnormal status of genes for ATM, ATR, Chk1, and Chk2, the major transducers of the DNA damage response (DDR, triggered by several anticancer agents and promoting different antitumor mechanisms including the expression of ligands for NK cell-activating receptors. Moreover, both the impaired production of reactive oxygen species (ROS in some NB cell lines and the transient p53 stabilization in response to our genotoxic drugs under our experimental conditions could contribute to inefficient induction of activating ligands. These data suggest that further investigations, exploiting molecular strategies aimed to potentiate the NK cell-mediated immunotherapy of NB, are warranted.

  3. Neuroblastoma Cell Lines Are Refractory to Genotoxic Drug-Mediated Induction of Ligands for NK Cell-Activating Receptors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veneziani, Irene; Brandetti, Elisa; Ognibene, Marzia; Pezzolo, Annalisa; Pistoia, Vito

    2018-01-01

    Neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood, causes death in almost 15% of children affected by cancer. Treatment of neuroblastoma is based on the combination of chemotherapy with other therapeutic interventions such as surgery, radiotherapy, use of differentiating agents, and immunotherapy. In particular, adoptive NK cell transfer is a new immune-therapeutic approach whose efficacy may be boosted by several anticancer agents able to induce the expression of ligands for NK cell-activating receptors, thus rendering cancer cells more susceptible to NK cell-mediated lysis. Here, we show that chemotherapeutic drugs commonly used for the treatment of NB such as cisplatin, topotecan, irinotecan, and etoposide are unable to induce the expression of activating ligands in a panel of NB cell lines. Consistently, cisplatin-treated NB cell lines were not more susceptible to NK cells than untreated cells. The refractoriness of NB cell lines to these drugs has been partially associated with the abnormal status of genes for ATM, ATR, Chk1, and Chk2, the major transducers of the DNA damage response (DDR), triggered by several anticancer agents and promoting different antitumor mechanisms including the expression of ligands for NK cell-activating receptors. Moreover, both the impaired production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in some NB cell lines and the transient p53 stabilization in response to our genotoxic drugs under our experimental conditions could contribute to inefficient induction of activating ligands. These data suggest that further investigations, exploiting molecular strategies aimed to potentiate the NK cell-mediated immunotherapy of NB, are warranted. PMID:29805983

  4. Characterization of immortalized MARCO and SR-AI/II-deficient murine alveolar macrophage cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Imrich Amy

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Alveolar macrophages (AM avidly bind and ingest unopsonized inhaled particles and bacteria through class A scavenger receptors (SRAs MARCO and SR-AI/II. Studies to characterize the function of these SRAs have used AMs from MARCO or SR-AI/II null mice, but this approach is limited by the relatively low yield of AMs. Moreover, studies using both MARCO and SR-AI/II-deficient (MS-/- mice have not been reported yet. Hence, we sought to develop continuous cell lines from primary alveolar macrophages from MS-/- mice. Results We used in vitro infection of the primary AMs with the J2 retrovirus carrying the v-raf and v-myc oncogenes. Following initial isolation in media supplemented with murine macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF, we subcloned three AM cell lines, designated ZK-1, ZK-2 and ZK-6. These cell lines grow well in RPMI-1640-10% FBS in the absence of M-CSF. These adherent but trypsin-sensitive cell lines have a doubling time of approximately 14 hours, exhibit typical macrophage morphology, and express macrophage-associated cell surface Mac-1 (CD11b and F4/80 antigens. The cell lines show robust Fc-receptor dependent phagocytosis of opsonized red blood cells. Similar to freshly isolated AMs from MS-/- mice, the cell lines exhibit decreased phagocytosis of unopsonized titanium dioxide (TiO2, fluorescent latex beads and bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus compared with the primary AMs from wild type (WT C57BL/6 mice. Conclusion Our results indicated that three contiguous murine alveolar macrophage cell lines with MS-/- (ZK1, ZK2 and ZK6 were established successfully. These cell lines demonstrated macrophage morphology and functional activity. Interestingly, similar to freshly isolated AMs from MS-/- mice, the cell lines have a reduced, but not absent, ability to bind and ingest particles, with an altered pattern of blockade by scavenger receptor inhibitors. These cell lines will facilitate in vitro studies to further define

  5. In Vitro Iron Availability from Insects and Sirloin Beef.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latunde-Dada, Gladys O; Yang, Wenge; Vera Aviles, Mayra

    2016-11-09

    Interest in the consumption of insects (entomophagy) as an alternative environmentally sustainable source of protein in the diet of humans has recently witnessed a surge. Knowledge of the nutrient composition and, in particular, the bioavailability of minerals from insects is currently sparse. This study evaluated the availability of Fe, Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, and Zn from four commonly eaten insects and compared these to sirloin beef. Soluble iron from the samples was measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Iron bioavailability was determined using an in vitro simulated peptic-pancreatic digestion, followed by measurement of ferritin (a surrogate marker for iron absorption) in Caco-2 cells. Cricket and sirloin beef had comparably higher levels of Fe, Ca, and Mn than grasshopper, meal, and buffalo worms. However, iron solubility was significantly higher from the insect samples than from beef. The complementation of whole-wheat flour with insect or beef protein resulted in overall decreases in mineral content and iron solubility in the composite mixtures. Collectively, the data show that grasshopper, cricket, and mealworms contain significantly higher chemically available Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, and Zn than sirloin. However, buffalo worms and sirloin exhibited higher iron bioavailability comparable to that of FeSO 4 . Commonly consumed insect species could be excellent sources of bioavailable iron and could provide the platform for an alternative strategy for increased mineral intake in the diets of humans.

  6. Cytotoxic effects of local anesthesia through lidocaine/ropivacaine on human melanoma cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ding-Kun Kang

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: Local anesthetics (LAs are generally considered as safe, but cytotoxicity has been reported for several local anesthetics used in humans, which is not well investigated. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of lidocaine, ropivacaine and the combination of lidocaine and ropivacaine were evaluated on human melanoma cell lines. Melphalan, a nitrogen mustard alkylating agent, was used as a control agent for comparison of cytotoxic activity. Methods: Melanoma cell lines, A375 and Hs294T, were exposed to 1 h to different concentrations of above agents. Cell-viability after exposure was determined by flow cytometry. Results: Investigated LAs showed detrimental cytotoxicity on studied melanoma cell lines in time- (p < 0.001, concentration- (p < 0.001, and agent dependant. In both A375 and Hs294T cell lines, minimum cell viability rates were found after 72 h of exposure to these agents. Lidocaine 2% caused a reduction of vital cells to 10% ± 2% and 14% ± 2% in A375 and Hs294T, respectively after 72 h of exposure. Ropivacaine 0.75% after 72 h reduced viable cells to 15% ± 3% and 25% ± 3% in A375 and Hs294T, respectively. Minimum cell viability after 72 h exposure to the combination was 10% ± 2% and 18% ± 2% in A375 and Hs294T, respectively. Minimum cell viability after 72 h exposure to melphalan was 8% ± 1% and 12% ± 2%, in A375 and Hs294T, respectively. Conclusion: LAs have cytotoxic activity on human melanoma cell lines in a time-, concentration- and agent-dependant manner. Apoptosis in the cell lines was mediated through activity of caspases-3 and caspases-8.

  7. Insect Detectives

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2002-08-01

    Aug 1, 2002 ... all life stages of insects from and around the corpse. The collected specimens are subjected to further analysis either in the field itself or in the laboratory. A forensic entomologist has three main objectives in his mind while analyzing the insect data: determination of place, time and mode of death, each of.

  8. Insect Keepers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Virginia J.; Chessin, Debby A.; Theobald, Becky

    2010-01-01

    Insects are fascinating creatures--especially when you and your students get up close and personal with them! To that end, the authors facilitated an inquiry-based investigation with an emphasis on identification of the different types of insects found in the school yard, their characteristics, their habitat, and what they eat, while engaging the…

  9. Establishment of a novel feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-negative B-cell cell line from a cat with B-cell lymphoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mochizuki, Hiroyuki; Takahashi, Masashi; Nishigaki, Kazuo; Ide, Tetsuya; Goto-Koshino, Yuko; Watanabe, Shinya; Sato, Hirofumi; Sato, Masahiko; Kotera, Yukiko; Fujino, Yasuhito; Ohno, Koichi; Uchida, Kazuyuki; Tsujimoto, Hajime

    2011-04-15

    We established a novel feline B-cell line, MS4, from the neoplastic pleural effusion of a cat with cutaneous B-cell lymphoma. Immunophenotype staining of the MS4 cells was positive for CD20, CD79α, and IgA and negative for CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8α, CD18, CD21, CD22, IgM, IgG, Ig light chain, and MHC class II. PCR analysis for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangements revealed a monoclonal rearrangement, whereas no clonal rearrangement of the T-cell receptor γ gene was detected. Southern blotting with an exogenous feline leukemia virus (FeLV) U3 probe revealed no integration of exogenous FeLV provirus. The MS4 cell line is the first FeLV-negative feline B-cell lymphoma cell line, and may be used to investigate the pathogenesis of spontaneously occurring feline lymphoma and the development of new therapies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Hydrodynamics of insect spermatozoa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pak, On Shun; Lauga, Eric

    2010-11-01

    Microorganism motility plays important roles in many biological processes including reproduction. Many microorganisms propel themselves by propagating traveling waves along their flagella. Depending on the species, propagation of planar waves (e.g. Ceratium) and helical waves (e.g. Trichomonas) were observed in eukaryotic flagellar motion, and hydrodynamic models for both were proposed in the past. However, the motility of insect spermatozoa remains largely unexplored. An interesting morphological feature of such cells, first observed in Tenebrio molitor and Bacillus rossius, is the double helical deformation pattern along the flagella, which is characterized by the presence of two superimposed helical flagellar waves (one with a large amplitude and low frequency, and the other with a small amplitude and high frequency). Here we present the first hydrodynamic investigation of the locomotion of insect spermatozoa. The swimming kinematics, trajectories and hydrodynamic efficiency of the swimmer are computed based on the prescribed double helical deformation pattern. We then compare our theoretical predictions with experimental measurements, and explore the dependence of the swimming performance on the geometric and dynamical parameters.

  11. Fourier analysis of the cell shape of paired human urothelial cell lines of the same origin but of different grades of transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostrowski, K; Dziedzic-Goclawska, A; Strojny, P; Grzesik, W; Kieler, J; Christensen, B; Mareel, M

    1986-01-01

    The rationale of the present investigation is the observations made by many authors of changes in the molecular structure of the cell surface during the multistep process of malignant transformation. These changes may influence cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions and thereby cause changes in cell adhesiveness and cell shape. The aim of the present work was to investigate whether the development of various grades of transformation in vivo and in vitro of human urothelial cells is accompanied by significant changes in cell shape as measured by Fourier analysis. The following transformation grades (TGr) have been defined (Christensen et al. 1984; Kieler 1984): TGr I = nonmalignant, mortal cell lines that grow independently of fibroblasts and have a prolonged life span. TGr II = nonmalignant cell lines with an infinite life span. TGr III = malignant and immortal cell lines that grow invasively in co-cultures with embryonic chick heart fragments and possess tumorigenic properties after s.c. injection into nude mice. Comparisons of 4 pairs of cell lines were performed; each pair was of the same origin. Two pairs--each including a TGr I cell line (Hu 961b and Hu 1703S) compared to a TGr III cell line (Hu 961a or Hu 1703He)--were derived from two transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) containing a heterogeneous cell population. Two additional cell lines classified as TGr II (HCV-29 and Hu 609) were compared to two TGr III sublines (HCV-29T and Hu 609T, respectively) which arose by "spontaneous" transformation during propagation in vitro of the respective maternal TGr II-cell lines.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  12. Interleukin-2 production by human leukemia cell lines of pre-B cell origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holan, V.; Minowada, J.

    1993-01-01

    Cells of 7 tested human leukemia cell lines of pre-B cell origin (as characterized by immunophenotyping and by the expression of cytoplasmic micro chains, but not by surface immunoglobulins) produced after stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) a lymphokine activity which supported the growth of the interleukin-2 (IL-2)-dependent CTLL-2 cell line. Three pieces of evidence indicate that the secreted lymphokine was functionally and antigenically very similar, if not identical, to human IL-2: (1) The lymphokine supported the growth of murine IL-2-dependent CTLL-2 cells, which did not respond to human lymphokines other than IL-2, but it did not stimulate the growth of murine IL-3-dependent FDC-P2 cells, (2) the biological activity of the lymphokine was was inhibited by monoclonal antibody (mAb) anti-human-IL-2, and (3) the proliferation of IL-2-dependent cells in the presence of the active materials was completely inhibited by the inclusion of the anti-mouse-IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) mAb. Since leukemia cells of immature B-cell origin also synthesize IL-2R, the human pre-B cell leukemias could represent another type of hematological malignancy where the autocrine processes of IL-2 production and utilization are involved in the expansion of the disease. (author)

  13. Anticancer activity of Cynodon dactylon and Oxalis corniculata on Hep2 cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salahuddin, H; Mansoor, Q; Batool, R; Farooqi, A A; Mahmood, T; Ismail, M

    2016-04-30

    Bioactive chemicals isolated from plants have attracted considerable attention over the years and overwhelmingly increasing laboratory findings are emphasizing on tumor suppressing properties of these natural agents in genetically and chemically induced animal carcinogenesis models. We studied in vitro anticancer activity of organic extracts of Cynodon dactylon and Oxalis corniculata on Hep2 cell line and it was compared with normal human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) by using MTT assay. Real Time PCR was conducted for p53 and PTEN genes in treated cancer cell line. DNA fragmentation assay was also carried out to note DNA damaging effects of the extracts. The minimally effective concentration of ethanolic extract of Cynodon dactylon and methanolic extract of Oxalis corniculata that was nontoxic to HCEC but toxic to Hep2 was recorded (IC50) at a concentration of 0.042mg/ml (49.48 % cell death) and 0.048mg/ml (47.93% cell death) respectively, which was comparable to the positive control. Our results indicated dose dependent increase in cell death. P53 and PTEN did not show significant increase in treated cell line. Moreover, DNA damaging effects were also not detected in treated cancer cell line. Anticancer activity of these plants on the cancer cell line showed the presence of anticancer components which should be characterized to be used as anticancer therapy.

  14. Derivation of NEM2 affected human embryonic stem cell line Genea079

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biljana Dumevska

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The Genea079 human embryonic stem cell line was derived from a donated, fully commercially consented ART blastocyst, carrying compound heterozygous mutations in the NEB gene, exon 55 deletion & c.15110dupA, indicative of Nemaline Myopathy Type 2 (NEM2. Following ICM outgrowth on inactivated human feeders, karyotype was confirmed as 46, XY and STR analysis demonstrated a male Allele pattern. The hESC line had pluripotent cell morphology, 86% of cells expressed Nanog, 95% Oct4, 54% Tra1-60 and 98% SSEA4 and gave a PluriTest Pluripotency score of 30.25, Novelty of 1.21. The cell line was negative for Mycoplasma and visible contamination.

  15. In vitro culture of various species of microsporidia causing keratitis: Evaluation of three immortalized cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph J

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Being intracellular parasites, microsporidia can only be propagated in cell culture systems. This study evaluated three cell lines to determine the most suitable host-parasite In vitro system. Confluent monolayers of vero, SIRC, and HeLa cell lines, grown in 24-well tissue culture plates, were inoculated with varying concentrations (1 x 10 4 to 1 x 10 8 spores/mL of Vittaforma corneae, Encephalitozoon hellem, Encephalitozoon cuniculi, and Encephalitozoon intestinalis spores. Growth was compared quantitatively at weekly intervals. Encephalitozoon species showed the highest amount of growth when cultured in vero cell line, while there was no significant difference in their growth in SIRC and HeLa cell lines. In comparison, V. corneae showed the highest growth in SIRC cells, followed by vero cells. The analytical sensitivity was found to be 1 x 10 4 spores/mL for vero cell line compared to 1 x 10 5 spores/mL for SIRC cell line and 1 x 10 7 spores/mL for HeLa cell line. HeLa cells also showed rapid disruption of cells, and the spores could not be easily distinguished from cell debris. This is the first report of the comparison of vero, SIRC, and HeLa for the propagation of microsporidial spores. Vero cell line was found to be more sensitive than SIRC and HeLa cells, and we believe that the inclusion of vero cell line in the routine culture protocols of ocular parasitology laboratories would result in a significant increase in the diagnostic yield.

  16. Analysis of the regulation of fatty acid binding protein 7 expression in human renal carcinoma cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sugiyama Takayuki

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Improving the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC will depend on the development of better biomarkers for predicting disease progression and aiding the design of appropriate therapies. One such marker may be fatty acid binding protein 7 (FABP7, also known as B-FABP and BLBP, which is expressed normally in radial glial cells of the developing central nervous system and cells of the mammary gland. Melanomas, glioblastomas, and several types of carcinomas, including RCC, overexpress FABP7. The abundant expression of FABP7 in primary RCCs compared to certain RCC-derived cell lines may allow the definition of the molecular components of FABP7's regulatory system. Results We determined FABP7 mRNA levels in six RCC cell lines. Two were highly expressed, whereas the other and the embryonic kidney cell line (HEK293 were weakly expressed FABP7 transcripts. Western blot analysis of the cell lines detected strong FABP7 expression only in one RCC cell line. Promoter activity in the RCC cell lines was 3- to 21-fold higher than that of HEK293. Deletion analysis demonstrated that three FABP7 promoter regions contributed to upregulated expression in RCC cell lines, but not in the HEK293 cell. Competition analysis of gel shifts indicated that OCT1, OCT6, and nuclear factor I (NFI bound to the FABP7 promoter region. Supershift experiments indicated that BRN2 (POU3F2 and NFI bound to the FABP7 promoter region as well. There was an inverse correlation between FABP7 promoter activity and BRN2 mRNA expression. The FABP7-positive cell line's NFI-DNA complex migrated faster than in other cell lines. Levels of NFIA mRNA were higher in the HEK293 cell line than in any of the six RCC cell lines. In contrast, NFIC mRNA expression was lower in the HEK293 cell line than in the six RCC cell lines. Conclusions Three putative FABP7 promoter regions drive reporter gene expression in RCC cell lines, but not in the HEK293 cell line. BRN2 and NFI may be key

  17. A hepatocellular carcinoma cell line producing mature hepatitis B viral particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fellig, Yakov; Almogy, Gidon; Galun, Eithan; Ketzinel-Gilad, Mali

    2004-01-01

    Current in vitro models for hepatitis B virus (HBV) are based on human hepatoblastoma cell lines transfected with HBV genome. The objective of this work was to develop an in vitro, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-based system supporting HBV full replication and producing mature viral particles. The FLC4 human HCC cell line was stably transfected with a plasmid carrying a head-to-tail dimer of the adwHBV genome. One of the clones, FLC4A10 II , exhibited prolonged expression of HBV, as was demonstrated by secreted levels of HBsAg, HBeAg, and HBV DNA in the culture medium of the growing cells. Furthermore, the cells produced HBV particles that were detected by a cesium chloride density gradient performed on the culture medium. Analysis by Southern blot revealed that HBV DNA has integrated into the FLC4A10 II cell genome. The presence of HBV in the FLC4A10 II cells did not cause alterations in cell morphology and the cells continued to resemble mature hepatocytes. They do exhibit a high mitotic activity. The new HBV stably transfected cell line, FLC4A10 II , can serve as an important tool for further exploration of HBV host-pathogen interaction, viral life cycle, and for assessing new antiviral agents

  18. Degradation of endothelial basement membrane by human breast cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yee, C.; Shiu, R.P.

    1986-01-01

    During metastasis, it is believed that tumor cells destroy the basement membrane (BM) of blood vessels in order to disseminate through the circulatory system. By radioactively labeling the extracellular matrix produced by primary endothelial cells in vitro, the ability of human breast cancer cells to degrade BM components was studied. We found that T-47D, a human breast cancer line, was able to degrade significant amounts of [35S]methionine-labeled and [3H]proline-labeled BM, but not 35SO4-labeled BM. Six other tumor cell lines of human breast origin were assayed in the same manner and were found to degrade BM to varying degrees. Several non-tumor cell lines tested showed relatively little degrading activity. The use of serum-free medium greatly enhanced degradation of the BM by tumor cells, suggesting a role for naturally occurring enzyme inhibitors in the serum. Direct cell contact with the BM was required for BM degradation, suggesting that the active enzymes are cell associated. The addition of hormones implicated in the etiology of breast cancer did not significantly alter the ability of T-47D cells to degrade the BM. The use of this assay affords future studies on the mechanism of invasion and metastasis of human breast cancer

  19. Chemo-sensitivity in a panel of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines, YCUB series, derived from children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goto, Hiroaki; Naruto, Takuya; Tanoshima, Reo; Kato, Hiromi; Yokosuka, Tomoko; Yanagimachi, Masakatsu; Fujii, Hisaki; Yokota, Shumpei; Komine, Hiromi

    2009-10-01

    Sensitivity to 10 anticancer drugs was evaluated in 6 childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) cell lines. Authenticity of newly established cell lines was confirmed by genomic fingerprinting. The line YCUB-5R established at relapse was more resistant to 4-hydroperoxy-cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, L-asparaginase, topotecan, fludarabine, and etoposide than YCUB-5 from the same patient at diagnosis. Of the drugs tested, etoposide and SN-38 (irinotecan) showed highest efficacy in the panel, with 50% growth inhibition at 0.22-1.8 microg/ml and 0.57-3.6 ng/ml, respectively. This cell line panel offers an in vitro model for the development of new therapies for childhood BCP-ALL.

  20. Dihydrochalcone Compounds Isolated from Crabapple Leaves Showed Anticancer Effects on Human Cancer Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxiao Qin

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Seven dihydrochalcone compounds were isolated from the leaves of Malus crabapples, cv. “Radiant”, and their chemical structures were elucidated by UV, IR, ESI-MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR analyses. These compounds, which include trilobatin (A1, phloretin (A2, 3-hydroxyphloretin (A3, phloretin rutinoside (A4, phlorizin (A5, 6′′-O-coumaroyl-4′-O-glucopyranosylphloretin (A6, and 3′′′-methoxy-6′′-O-feruloy-4′-O-glucopyranosyl-phloretin (A7, all belong to the phloretin class and its derivatives. Compounds A6 and A7 are two new rare dihydrochalcone compounds. The results of a MTT cancer cell growth inhibition assay demonstrated that phloretin and these derivatives showed significant positive anticancer activities against several human cancer cell lines, including the A549 human lung cancer cell line, Bel 7402 liver cancer cell line, HepG2 human ileocecal cancer cell line, and HT-29 human colon cancer cell line. A7 had significant effects on all cancer cell lines, suggesting potential applications for phloretin and its derivatives. Adding a methoxyl group to phloretin dramatically increases phloretin’s anticancer activity.

  1. Antileukemic Effect of Tualang Honey on Acute and Chronic Leukemia Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nik Muhd Khuzaimi Nik Man

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Complementary medicine using natural product as antitumor is on the rise. Much research has been performed on Tualang Honey and it was shown to have therapeutic potential in wound healing, and antimicrobial activity and be antiproliferative against several cancer models such as human osteosarcoma (HOS, human breast (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, and cervical (HeLa cancer cell lines. To date, there was limited study on antileukemic properties of Tualang (Koompassia excelsa Honey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antileukemic effect of Tualang Honey on acute and chronic leukemia cell lines. Leukemia cell lines (K562 and MV4-11 and human mononuclear cell isolated from peripheral blood were grown in RPM1 1640 culture medium. The cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of Tualang Honey. After incubation, the evaluation of viability and apoptosis was performed. The morphological changes of leukemia cells were the presence of cytoplasmic blebs followed by apoptotic bodies and round shape of cells. IC50 against K562 and MV4-11 was determined. Tualang Honey gave 53.9% and 50.6% apoptosis activity on K562 and MV4-11, respectively, while on human mononuclear cell it was 37.4%. Tualang Honey has the apoptosis-inducing ability for acute and chronic myeloid leukemia (K562 and MV4-11 cell lines.

  2. Development of an in vitro skin sensitization test using human cell lines; human Cell Line Activation Test (h-CLAT). II. An inter-laboratory study of the h-CLAT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakaguchi, H; Ashikaga, T; Miyazawa, M; Yoshida, Y; Ito, Y; Yoneyama, K; Hirota, M; Itagaki, H; Toyoda, H; Suzuki, H

    2006-08-01

    Recent regulatory changes have placed a major emphasis on in vitro safety testing and alternative models. In regard to skin sensitization tests, dendritic cells (DCs) derived from human peripheral blood have been considered in the development of new in vitro alternatives. Human cell lines have been also reported recently. In our previous study, we suggested that measuring CD86 and/or CD54 expression on THP-1 cells (human monocytic leukemia cell line) could be used as an in vitro skin sensitization method. An inter-laboratory study among two laboratories was undertaken in Japan in order to further develop an in vitro skin sensitization model. In the present study, we used two human cell lines: THP-1 and U-937 (human histiocytic lymphoma cell line). First we optimized our test protocol (refer to the related paper entitled "optimization of the h-CLAT protocol" within this journal) and then we did an inter-laboratory validation with nine chemicals using the optimized protocol. We measured the expression of CD86 and CD54 on the above cells using flow cytometry after a 24h and 48h exposure to six known allergens (e.g., DNCB, pPD, NiSO(4)) and three non-allergens (e.g., SLS, tween 80). For the sample test concentration, four doses (0.1x, 0.5x, 1x, and 2x of the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50))) were evaluated. IC(50) was calculated using MTT assay. We found that allergens/non-allergens were better predicted using THP-1 cells compared to U-937 cells following a 24 h and a 48 h exposure. We also found that the 24h treatment time tended to have a better accuracy than the 48 h treatment time for THP-1 cells. Expression of CD86 and CD54 were good predictive markers for THP-1 cells, but for U-937 cells, expression of CD86 was a better predictor than CD54, at the 24h and the 48 h treatment time. The accuracy also improved when both markers (CD86 and CD54) were used as compared with a single marker for THP-1 cells. Both laboratories gave a good prediction of allergen

  3. Interference of a synthetic C18 juvenile hormone with mammalian cells in vitro, I. Effects on growth and morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zielińska, Z M; Laskowska-Bozek, H; Jastreboff, P

    1978-01-01

    Some of structural and functional analogs of juvenile hormones are now under field examinations as growth inhibitors of some pest-insect populations. So far however very little is known about the possible interference of these compounds with mammalian cells or organisms. In this research the interference of a synthetic preparation of the insect C18 juvenile hormone with mouse embryo fibroblasts (ME-cells) and mouse cells of an established line (L-cells) was studied. Aliquots of juvenile hormone solution or those of the solvent (DMSO plus ethanol, 9:1) were included into the culture medium and after defined times of contact the cells were tested for their morphology, pattern of growth, proliferation rate and viability. The data for the parameters under examination were evaluated by means of the analysis of variance and checked by the Tuckey test. The sensitivity of ME-cells and L-cells to the agent tested was compared by means of the analysis of variance of the data for mitotic indices of these cells and by evaluation of the number of dead cells in cultures under the particular conditions of the experiments. The main findings can be summarized as follows: 1. Cells of both types are evidently more sensitive to juvenile hormone than to the solvent. 2. ME-cells are more sensitive to both agents than are L-cells. 3. The concentrations of the hormone in the medium required to evoked the cytocidal effect on the mouse cells similarly as those affecting some insect non-target cells were far above concentrations found in insect blood, but they were of the same order of magnitude as those used in physiological experiments with insect organs in vitro.

  4. A New Approach to Establish a Cell Line with Reduced Risk of Endogenous Retroviruses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuma, Aiko; Yoshikawa, Rokusuke; Miyazawa, Takayuki; Yasuda, Jiro

    2013-01-01

    Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are integrated as DNA proviruses in the genomes of all mammalian species. Several ERVs are replication-competent and produced as fully infectious viruses from host cell. Thus, live-attenuated vaccines and biological substances have been prepared using the cell lines which may produce ERV. Indeed, we recently reported that several commercial live-attenuated vaccines for pets were contaminated with the infectious feline endogenous retrovirus, RD-114. In this study, to establish a cell line for vaccine manufacture with reduced risk of ERVs, we generated a cell line stably expressing human tetherin (Teth-CRFK cells). The release of infectious ERV from Teth-CRFK cells was suppressed to undetectable levels, while the production of parvovirus in Teth-CRFK cells was similar to that in parental CRFK cells. These observations suggest that Teth-CRFK cells will be useful as a cell line for the manufacture of live-attenuated vaccines or biological substances with reduced risk of ERV. PMID:23585909

  5. A new approach to establish a cell line with reduced risk of endogenous retroviruses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aiko Fukuma

    Full Text Available Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs are integrated as DNA proviruses in the genomes of all mammalian species. Several ERVs are replication-competent and produced as fully infectious viruses from host cell. Thus, live-attenuated vaccines and biological substances have been prepared using the cell lines which may produce ERV. Indeed, we recently reported that several commercial live-attenuated vaccines for pets were contaminated with the infectious feline endogenous retrovirus, RD-114. In this study, to establish a cell line for vaccine manufacture with reduced risk of ERVs, we generated a cell line stably expressing human tetherin (Teth-CRFK cells. The release of infectious ERV from Teth-CRFK cells was suppressed to undetectable levels, while the production of parvovirus in Teth-CRFK cells was similar to that in parental CRFK cells. These observations suggest that Teth-CRFK cells will be useful as a cell line for the manufacture of live-attenuated vaccines or biological substances with reduced risk of ERV.

  6. A new approach to establish a cell line with reduced risk of endogenous retroviruses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuma, Aiko; Yoshikawa, Rokusuke; Miyazawa, Takayuki; Yasuda, Jiro

    2013-01-01

    Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are integrated as DNA proviruses in the genomes of all mammalian species. Several ERVs are replication-competent and produced as fully infectious viruses from host cell. Thus, live-attenuated vaccines and biological substances have been prepared using the cell lines which may produce ERV. Indeed, we recently reported that several commercial live-attenuated vaccines for pets were contaminated with the infectious feline endogenous retrovirus, RD-114. In this study, to establish a cell line for vaccine manufacture with reduced risk of ERVs, we generated a cell line stably expressing human tetherin (Teth-CRFK cells). The release of infectious ERV from Teth-CRFK cells was suppressed to undetectable levels, while the production of parvovirus in Teth-CRFK cells was similar to that in parental CRFK cells. These observations suggest that Teth-CRFK cells will be useful as a cell line for the manufacture of live-attenuated vaccines or biological substances with reduced risk of ERV.

  7. Sterile insect supply, emergence, and release

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dowell, R.V.; Worley, J.; Gomes, P.J.

    2005-01-01

    Insect mass-rearing for a sterile insect technique (SIT) programme is designed to move beyond the large-scale rearing of insects in a laboratory to the industrial production of consistently high-quality insects for sterilization and release. Each facility reflects the unique biology of the insect reared within it, but there are some generalities for all rearing facilities. Rearing insects in self-contained modules offers flexibility, and increased safety from catastrophic occurrences, compared with using a single building which houses all facets of the rearing process. Although mechanizing certain aspects of the rearing steps helps provide a consistently high-quality insect, successful mass-rearing and delivery depends largely upon the human component. Besides production in centralized facilities, insects can be produced from purchased eggs, or nowadays, adult insects are often obtained from specialized satellite emergence/collection facilities. Interest in commercializing insect production and release is increasing. Shipping sterile insects, sometimes over long distances, is now common practice. Procedures for handling and chilling adult insects, and providing food and water prior to release, are continually being improved. Sterile insects are released via static-release receptacles, ground-release systems, or most commonly from the air. The aerial release of chilled sterile insects is the most efficient method of release, especially when aircraft flight paths are guided by a Global Positioning System (GPS) linked to a computer-controlled release mechanism. (author)

  8. In vitro radiation and chemotherapy sensitivity of established cell lines of human small cell lung cancer and its large cell morphological variants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carney, D.N.; Mitchell, J.B.; Kinsella, T.J.

    1983-01-01

    The in vitro response to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs of cell lines established from 7 patients with small cell (SC) lung cancer were tested using a soft agarose clonogenic assay. Five cell lines retained the typical morphological and biochemical amine precursor uptake decarboxylation characteristics of SC, while two cell lines had undergone ''transformation'' to large cell (LC) morphological variants with loss of amine precursor uptake decarboxylation cell characteristics of SC. The radiation survival curves for the SC lines were characterized by D0 values ranging from 51 to 140 rads and extrapolation values (n) ranging from 1.0 to 3.3. While the D0 values of the radiation survival curves of the LC variants were similar (91 and 80 rads), the extrapolation values were 5.6 and 11.1 In vitro chemosensitivity testing of the cell lines revealed an excellent correlation between prior treatment status of the patient and in vitro sensitivity or resistance. No correlation was observed between in vitro chemosensitivity and radiation response. These data suggest that transformation of SC to LC with loss of amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation characteristics is associated with a marked increase in radiation resistance (n) in vitro. The observation of a 2- to 5-fold increase in survival of the LC compared to the SC lines following 200 rads suggests that the use of larger daily radiation fractions and/or radiation-sensitizing drugs might lead to a significantly greater clinical response in patients with LC morphology. This clinical approach may have a major impact on patient response and survival

  9. Targeting chitinase gene of Helicoverpa armigera by host-induced RNA interference confers insect resistance in tobacco and tomato.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamta; Reddy, K R K; Rajam, M V

    2016-02-01

    Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a devastating agricultural insect pest with broad spectrum of host range, causing million dollars crop loss annually. Limitations in the present conventional and transgenic approaches have made it crucial to develop sustainable and environmental friendly methods for crop improvement. In the present study, host-induced RNA interference (HI-RNAi) approach was used to develop H. armigera resistant tobacco and tomato plants. Chitinase (HaCHI) gene, critically required for insect molting and metamorphosis was selected as a potential target. Hair-pin RNAi construct was prepared from the conserved off-target free partial HaCHI gene sequence and was used to generate several HaCHI-RNAi tobacco and tomato plants. Northern hybridization confirmed the production of HaCHI gene-specific siRNAs in HaCHI-RNAi tobacco and tomato lines. Continuous feeding on leaves of RNAi lines drastically reduced the target gene transcripts and consequently, affected the overall growth and survival of H. armigera. Various developmental deformities were also manifested in H. armigera larvae after feeding on the leaves of RNAi lines. These results demonstrated the role of chitinase in insect development and potential of HI-RNAi for effective management of H. armigera.

  10. Expression and autoregulation of transforming growth factor beta receptor mRNA in small-cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, P; Spang-Thomsen, M; Poulsen, H S

    1996-01-01

    In small-cell lung cancer cell lines resistance to growth inhibition by transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1, was previously shown to correlate with lack of TGF-beta receptor I (RI) and II (RII) proteins. To further investigate the role of these receptors, the expression of mRNA for RI, RII...... and beta-glycan (RIII) was examined. The results showed that loss of RII mRNA correlated with TGF-beta 1 resistance. In contrast, RI-and beta-glycan mRNA was expressed by all cell lines, including those lacking expression of these proteins. According to Southern blot analysis, the loss of type II m......RNA was not due to gross structural changes in the gene. The effect of TGF-beta 1 on expression of TGF-beta receptor mRNA (receptor autoregulation) was examined by quantitative Northern blotting in four cell lines with different expression of TGF-beta receptor proteins. In two cell lines expressing all three TGF...

  11. Immortalized human myotonic dystrophy muscle cell lines to assess therapeutic compounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arandel, Ludovic; Polay Espinoza, Micaela; Matloka, Magdalena; Bazinet, Audrey; De Dea Diniz, Damily; Naouar, Naïra; Rau, Frédérique; Jollet, Arnaud; Edom-Vovard, Frédérique; Mamchaoui, Kamel; Tarnopolsky, Mark; Puymirat, Jack; Battail, Christophe; Boland, Anne; Deleuze, Jean-Francois; Mouly, Vincent; Klein, Arnaud F.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are autosomal dominant neuromuscular diseases caused by microsatellite expansions and belong to the family of RNA-dominant disorders. Availability of cellular models in which the DM mutation is expressed within its natural context is essential to facilitate efforts to identify new therapeutic compounds. Here, we generated immortalized DM1 and DM2 human muscle cell lines that display nuclear RNA aggregates of expanded repeats, a hallmark of myotonic dystrophy. Selected clones of DM1 and DM2 immortalized myoblasts behave as parental primary myoblasts with a reduced fusion capacity of immortalized DM1 myoblasts when compared with control and DM2 cells. Alternative splicing defects were observed in differentiated DM1 muscle cell lines, but not in DM2 lines. Splicing alterations did not result from differentiation delay because similar changes were found in immortalized DM1 transdifferentiated fibroblasts in which myogenic differentiation has been forced by overexpression of MYOD1. As a proof-of-concept, we show that antisense approaches alleviate disease-associated defects, and an RNA-seq analysis confirmed that the vast majority of mis-spliced events in immortalized DM1 muscle cells were affected by antisense treatment, with half of them significantly rescued in treated DM1 cells. Immortalized DM1 muscle cell lines displaying characteristic disease-associated molecular features such as nuclear RNA aggregates and splicing defects can be used as robust readouts for the screening of therapeutic compounds. Therefore, immortalized DM1 and DM2 muscle cell lines represent new models and tools to investigate molecular pathophysiological mechanisms and evaluate the in vitro effects of compounds on RNA toxicity associated with myotonic dystrophy mutations. PMID:28188264

  12. Immortalized human myotonic dystrophy muscle cell lines to assess therapeutic compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ludovic Arandel

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1 and type 2 (DM2 are autosomal dominant neuromuscular diseases caused by microsatellite expansions and belong to the family of RNA-dominant disorders. Availability of cellular models in which the DM mutation is expressed within its natural context is essential to facilitate efforts to identify new therapeutic compounds. Here, we generated immortalized DM1 and DM2 human muscle cell lines that display nuclear RNA aggregates of expanded repeats, a hallmark of myotonic dystrophy. Selected clones of DM1 and DM2 immortalized myoblasts behave as parental primary myoblasts with a reduced fusion capacity of immortalized DM1 myoblasts when compared with control and DM2 cells. Alternative splicing defects were observed in differentiated DM1 muscle cell lines, but not in DM2 lines. Splicing alterations did not result from differentiation delay because similar changes were found in immortalized DM1 transdifferentiated fibroblasts in which myogenic differentiation has been forced by overexpression of MYOD1. As a proof-of-concept, we show that antisense approaches alleviate disease-associated defects, and an RNA-seq analysis confirmed that the vast majority of mis-spliced events in immortalized DM1 muscle cells were affected by antisense treatment, with half of them significantly rescued in treated DM1 cells. Immortalized DM1 muscle cell lines displaying characteristic disease-associated molecular features such as nuclear RNA aggregates and splicing defects can be used as robust readouts for the screening of therapeutic compounds. Therefore, immortalized DM1 and DM2 muscle cell lines represent new models and tools to investigate molecular pathophysiological mechanisms and evaluate the in vitro effects of compounds on RNA toxicity associated with myotonic dystrophy mutations.

  13. Immortalized human myotonic dystrophy muscle cell lines to assess therapeutic compounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arandel, Ludovic; Polay Espinoza, Micaela; Matloka, Magdalena; Bazinet, Audrey; De Dea Diniz, Damily; Naouar, Naïra; Rau, Frédérique; Jollet, Arnaud; Edom-Vovard, Frédérique; Mamchaoui, Kamel; Tarnopolsky, Mark; Puymirat, Jack; Battail, Christophe; Boland, Anne; Deleuze, Jean-Francois; Mouly, Vincent; Klein, Arnaud F; Furling, Denis

    2017-04-01

    Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are autosomal dominant neuromuscular diseases caused by microsatellite expansions and belong to the family of RNA-dominant disorders. Availability of cellular models in which the DM mutation is expressed within its natural context is essential to facilitate efforts to identify new therapeutic compounds. Here, we generated immortalized DM1 and DM2 human muscle cell lines that display nuclear RNA aggregates of expanded repeats, a hallmark of myotonic dystrophy. Selected clones of DM1 and DM2 immortalized myoblasts behave as parental primary myoblasts with a reduced fusion capacity of immortalized DM1 myoblasts when compared with control and DM2 cells. Alternative splicing defects were observed in differentiated DM1 muscle cell lines, but not in DM2 lines. Splicing alterations did not result from differentiation delay because similar changes were found in immortalized DM1 transdifferentiated fibroblasts in which myogenic differentiation has been forced by overexpression of MYOD1. As a proof-of-concept, we show that antisense approaches alleviate disease-associated defects, and an RNA-seq analysis confirmed that the vast majority of mis-spliced events in immortalized DM1 muscle cells were affected by antisense treatment, with half of them significantly rescued in treated DM1 cells. Immortalized DM1 muscle cell lines displaying characteristic disease-associated molecular features such as nuclear RNA aggregates and splicing defects can be used as robust readouts for the screening of therapeutic compounds. Therefore, immortalized DM1 and DM2 muscle cell lines represent new models and tools to investigate molecular pathophysiological mechanisms and evaluate the in vitro effects of compounds on RNA toxicity associated with myotonic dystrophy mutations. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  14. Application of the inter-line PCR for the analyse of genomic rearrangements in radiation-transformed mammalian cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leibhard, S.; Smida, J.

    1996-01-01

    Repetitive DNA sequences of the LINE-family (long interspersed elements) that are widely distributed among the mammalian genome can be activated or altered by the exposure to ionizing radiation [1]. By the integration at new sites in the genome alterations in the expression of genes that are involved in cell transformation and/or carcinogenesis may occur [2, 3]. A new technique -the inter-LINE PCR - has been developed in order to detect and analyse such genomic rearrangements in radiation-transformed cell lines. From the sites of transformation- or tumour-specific changes in the genome it might be possible to develop new tumour markers for diagnostic purpose. (orig.) [de

  15. Radiation Response of Cancer Stem-Like Cells From Established Human Cell Lines After Sorting for Surface Markers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Assar, Osama; Muschel, Ruth J.; Mantoni, Tine S.; McKenna, W. Gillies; Brunner, Thomas B.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: A subpopulation of cancer stem-like cells (CSLC) is hypothesized to exist in different cancer cell lines and to mediate radioresistance in solid tumors. Methods and Materials: Cells were stained for CSLC markers and sorted (fluorescence-activated cell sorter/magnetic beads) to compare foci and radiosensitivity of phosphorylated histone H2AX at Ser 139 (γ-H2AX) in sorted vs. unsorted populations in eight cell lines from different organs. CSLC properties were examined using anchorage-independent growth and levels of activated Notch1. Validation consisted of testing tumorigenicity and postirradiation enrichment of CSLC in xenograft tumors. Results: The quantity of CSLC was generally in good agreement with primary tumors. CSLC from MDA-MB-231 (breast) and Panc-1 and PSN-1 (both pancreatic) cells had fewer residual γ-H2AX foci than unsorted cells, pointing to radioresistance of CSLC. However, only MDA-MB-231 CSLC were more radioresistant than unsorted cells. Furthermore, MDA-MB-231 CSLC showed enhanced anchorage-independent growth and overexpression of activated Notch1 protein. The expression of cancer stem cell surface markers in the MDA-MB-231 xenograft model was increased after exposure to fractionated radiation. In contrast to PSN-1 cells, a growth advantage for MDA-MB-231 CSLC xenograft tumors was found compared to tumors arising from unsorted cells. Conclusions: CSLC subpopulations showed no general radioresistant phenotype, despite the quantities of CSLC subpopulations shown to correspond relatively well in other reports. Likewise, CSLC characteristics were found in some but not all of the tested cell lines. The reported problems in testing for CSLC in cell lines may be overcome by additional techniques, beyond sorting for markers.

  16. Anti-tumor effect of bisphosphonate (YM529 on non-small cell lung cancer cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Date Hiroshi

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background YM529 is a newly developed nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (BP classified as a third-generation BP that shows a 100-fold greater potency against bone resorption than pamidronate, a second-generation BP. This agent is, therefore expected to be extremely useful clinically for the treatment of osteoporosis and hypercalcemia. Recently, YM529 as well as other third-generation BPs have also been shown to exert anti-tumor effects against various types of cancer cells both in vitro or/and in vivo. In this study, we investigate the anti-tumor effect of YM529 on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC. Methods Direct anti-tumor effect of YM529 against 8 NSCLC cell lines (adenocarcinoma: H23, H1299, NCI-H1819, NCI-H2009, H44, A549, adenosquamous cell carcinoma: NCI-H125, squamous cell carcinoma: NCI-H157 were measured by MTS assay and calculated inhibition concentration 50 % (IC50 values. YM529 induced apoptosis of NCI-H1819 was examined by DNA fragmentation of 2 % agarose gel electrophoresis and flowcytometric analysis (sub-G1 method. We examined where YM529 given effect to apoptosis of NSCLC cells in signaling pathway of the mevalonate pathway by western blotting analysis. Results We found that there was direct anti-tumor effect of YM529 on 8 NSCLC cell lines in a dose-dependent manner and their IC50 values were 2.1 to 7.9 μM and YM529 induced apoptosis and G1 arrest cell cycle with dose-dependent manner and YM529 caused down regulation of phospholyration of ERK1/2 in signaling pathways of NSCLC cell line (NCI-H1819. Conclusion Our study demonstrate that YM529 showed direct anti-tumor effect on NSCLC cell lines in vitro, which supports the possibility that third-generation BPs including YM529 can be one of therapeutic options for NSCLC.

  17. Characteristics of replication and radiation response of Aedes Albopictus cell line in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, C.K.

    1974-01-01

    The radiosensitivity of the line of Aedes albopictus cells was investigated by scoring x-ray-induced chromosome aberrations as a function of dose and of time after irradiation as well as the modification by dose fractionation. In order to obtain these data, a series of studies, e.g., karyotype, cell life cycle, radiation- induced mitotic delay, and frequency and type of spontaneous aberrations, were carried out. Cells from this line had three pairs of chromosomes as a stem line chromosome number. The morphology of the chromosomes is metacentric. Somatic pairing between homologous chromosomes was observed as a common event and there was a high frequency of achromatic gaps on the chromosomes. These observations are in good agreement with those made in other laboratories. The generation time of A. albopictus cell line was approximately 32 hours, in which G 1 , S, and G 2 phases were 2 1 / 2 , 24 and 5 1 / 2 hours respectively. This generation time is in agreement with the population doubling time observed in our cell growth studies. By contrast, in most mammalian cells, G 1 usually is the longest phase and S is comparatively short. Dose fractionation studies indicated that A. albopictus cells in culture may have a faster chromosome repair system than mammalian and other cell systems. This may, at least in part; explain the difference in radiosensitivity between A. albopictus cell line and other cell systems. (Diss. Abstr.)

  18. Cancer-initiating cells derived from established cervical cell lines exhibit stem-cell markers and increased radioresistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    López, Jacqueline; Poitevin, Adela; Mendoza-Martínez, Veverly; Pérez-Plasencia, Carlos; García-Carrancá, Alejandro

    2012-01-01

    Cancer-initiating cells (CICs) are proposed to be responsible for the generation of metastasis and resistance to therapy. Accumulating evidences indicates CICs are found among different human cancers and cell lines derived from them. Few studies address the characteristics of CICs in cervical cancer. We identify biological features of CICs from four of the best-know human cell lines from uterine cervix tumors. (HeLa, SiHa, Ca Ski, C-4 I). Cells were cultured as spheres under stem-cell conditions. Flow cytometry was used to detect expression of CD34, CD49f and CD133 antigens and Hoechst 33342 staining to identify side population (SP). Magnetic and fluorescence-activated cell sorting was applied to enrich and purify populations used to evaluate tumorigenicity in nude mice. cDNA microarray analysis and in vitro radioresistance assay were carried out under standard conditions. CICs, enriched as spheroids, were capable to generate reproducible tumor phenotypes in nu-nu mice and serial propagation. Injection of 1 × 10 3 dissociated spheroid cells induced tumors in the majority of animals, whereas injection of 1 × 10 5 monolayer cells remained nontumorigenic. Sphere-derived CICs expressed CD49f surface marker. Gene profiling analysis of HeLa and SiHa spheroid cells showed up-regulation of CICs markers characteristic of the female reproductive system. Importantly, epithelial to mesenchymal (EMT) transition-associated markers were found highly expressed in spheroid cells. More importantly, gene expression analysis indicated that genes required for radioresistance were also up-regulated, including components of the double-strand break (DSB) DNA repair machinery and the metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Dose-dependent radiation assay indicated indeed that CICs-enriched populations exhibit an increased resistance to ionizing radiation (IR). We characterized a self-renewing subpopulation of CICs found among four well known human cancer-derived cell lines (HeLa, Si

  19. Exploring Sound with Insects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Laura; Meyer, John R.

    2010-01-01

    Differences in insect morphology and movement during singing provide a fascinating opportunity for students to investigate insects while learning about the characteristics of sound. In the activities described here, students use a free online computer software program to explore the songs of the major singing insects and experiment with making…

  20. Proteomics of a new esophageal cancer cell line established from Persian patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moghanibashi, Mehdi; Jazii, Ferdous Rastgar; Soheili, Zahra-Soheila; Zare, Maryam; Karkhane, Aliasghar; Parivar, Kazem; Mohamadynejad, Parisa

    2012-05-25

    Although the highest incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has repeatedly been reported from Persia (Iran), nevertheless the so far proteomic published reports were limited to one study on tissue specimens. Here we report the proteome of a newly established cell line from Persian ESCC patients and compare it with the normal primary cell proteome. Among polypeptides, whose expression was different in cell line sixteen polypeptides were identified by MALDI/TOF/TOF spectrometry. S100-A8 protein, annexin A1, annexin A2, regulatory subunit of calpain, subunit alpha type-3 of proteasome and glutamate dehydrogenase 1 were proteins down-regulated in cell line while peroxiredoxin-5, non-muscle myosin light polypeptide 6, keratin 1, annexin A4, keratin 8, tropomyosin 3, stress-induced-phosphoprotein 1 and albumin were found to be subject of up-regulation in cell line compared to the primary normal cells. The proteomic results were further verified by western blotting and RT-PCR on annexin A1 and keratin 8. In addition, among the aforementioned proteins, glutamate dehydrogenase 1, regulatory subunit of calpain, subunit alpha of type-3 proteasome and annexin A4 are proteins whose deregulation in ESCC is reported for the first time by this study. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Radiation induced expression of survivin in Ewing sarcoma cell-lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheikh-Mounessi, F.; Willich, N.; Greve, B.

    2009-01-01

    Full text: Introduction: Survivin belongs to the Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein Family (IAP), is a protein of 16.5 kD and active as a homodimer. It is overexpressed in nearly all human tumors and has a vital function in cell division and apoptotic processes. Beside its role as a relevant prognostic and predictive factor it was described to be a molecular target to improve effectiveness of radiotherapy. We investigated the radiation induced survivin expression in Ewing sarcoma cell-lines. Methods: Ewing sarcoma cells were either irradiated with 10 Gy X-ray and harvested at different time points (0, 2, 4, 6, 10 and 24 h) or irradiated with different doses (0, 2, 5 and 10 Gy) and harvested 24 h later. Protein and mRNA expression was analysed by Westernblot or Real-Time PCR. Results: Directly after irradiation with 10 Gy X-ray survivin mRNA expression was increased in relation to the reference GAPDH. Protein expression was increased in a time dependent manner and reached a maximum after 24h. Three of four investigated cell-lines showed a significant dose dependent increase of survivin protein concentration 24h after irradiation. The same three cell-lines showed a LD50 of >30 Gy. The line with the lowest dose dependent survivin induction was investigated to be most radiosensitive (LD50 = 24 Gy). Discussion: Ewing sarcoma is a childhood tumor with relatively poor prognosis. This tumor often shows significant therapeutic resistance to chemo- and/or radiotherapy. It would be of high interest to find new therapeutic approaches for its treatment. We found a remarkable overexpression of survivin in untreated Ewing sarcoma and a time and dose dependent increase of survivin protein concentration after irradiation with X-ray. The cell-line with the lowest survivin induction showed the highest radiosensitivity. In conclusion, our results show that survivin is an inducible radioresistance factor in Ewing sarcoma. This may open new therapeutic options to treat this aggressive

  2. Radiations: tool for insect pest management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swami, Kailash Kumar; Kiradoo, M.M.; Srivastava, Meera

    2012-01-01

    The discovery that X-rays or gamma radiation could cause sufficient genetic damage to insect reproductive systems to induce sterility resulted from work conducted by H.J. Muller starting in the 1920s. The sterilizing effect of radiation was noted by scientists of the US Department of Agriculture who had been seeking a method to sterilize insects for many years. These scientists had theorized that if large numbers of the target insect species were reared, sterilized, and released into the field, the sterile insects would mate with the wild insects. These mating would result in no offspring and thus a decline in the population would be obtained. They calculated that if sufficient numbers of sterile insects were released, reproductive rate for the wild population would rapidly decline and reach zero. In simple language, birth control of insects. Radiation sterilization was the answer. In a SIT operation, radiation is used to sexually sterilize insects. Since the SIT is species specific, the selection the insect pest or group of pests on which to work is of primary importance. The Joint Division of the IAEA Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been involved in the use of isotopes and radiation in insect control since 1964. Isotopes are used as tags or markers, for instance, of chemical molecules, insects, or plants. For example, with these tags one can follow the fate of insecticides within insects and the environment; the incorporation of nutrients into the insect; and the movements of insects under field conditions. They also can plants on which insects feed so that the quantity of consumed food can be measured and directly correlated with plant resistance. They can be used as well to follow parasites and predators of insects - for example, their movements, numbers, and ability to help control insect pests. Radiations therefore have come as a novel tool to combat insect pest problem and in future could be very helpful in various other ways, of be it be cost

  3. Evolution of the Insects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grimaldi, David; Engel, Michael S.

    2005-05-01

    This book chronicles the complete evolutionary history of insects--their living diversity and relationships as well as 400 million years of fossils. Introductory sections cover the living species diversity of insects, methods of reconstructing evolutionary relationships, basic insect structure, and the diverse modes of insect fossilization and major fossil deposits. Major sections then explore the relationships and evolution of each order of hexapods. The volume also chronicles major episodes in the evolutionary history of insects from their modest beginnings in the Devonian and the origin of wings hundreds of millions of years before pterosaurs and birds to the impact of mass extinctions and the explosive radiation of angiosperms on insects, and how they evolved into the most complex societies in nature. Whereas other volumes focus on either living species or fossils, this is the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of insect evolution. Illustrated with 955 photo- and electron- micrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full color and virtually all of them original, this reference will appeal to anyone engaged with insect diversity--professional entomologists and students, insect and fossil collectors, and naturalists. David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel have collectively published over 200 scientific articles and monographs on the relationships and fossil record of insects, including 10 articles in the journals Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. David Grimaldi is curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor at Cornell University, Columbia University, and the City University of New York. David Grimaldi has traveled in 40 countries on 6 continents, collecting and studying recent species of insects and conducting fossil excavations. He is the author of Amber: Window to the Past (Abrams, 2003). Michael S. Engel is an assistant professor in the

  4. A developmentally plastic adult mouse kidney cell line spontaneously generates multiple adult kidney structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Webb, Carol F., E-mail: carol-webb@omrf.org [Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Immunobiology and Cancer Research, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Ratliff, Michelle L., E-mail: michelle-ratliff@omrf.org [Immunobiology and Cancer Research, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Powell, Rebecca, E-mail: rebeccapowell@gmail.com [Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Wirsig-Wiechmann, Celeste R., E-mail: celeste-wirsig@ouhsc.edu [Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Lakiza, Olga, E-mail: olga-lakiza@ouhsc.edu [Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Obara, Tomoko, E-mail: tomoko-obara@ouhsc.edu [Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States)

    2015-08-07

    Despite exciting new possibilities for regenerative therapy posed by the ability to induce pluripotent stem cells, recapitulation of three-dimensional kidneys for repair or replacement has not been possible. ARID3a-deficient mouse tissues generated multipotent, developmentally plastic cells. Therefore, we assessed the adult mouse ARID3a−/− kidney cell line, KKPS5, which expresses renal progenitor surface markers as an alternative cell source for modeling kidney development. Remarkably, these cells spontaneously developed into multicellular nephron-like structures in vitro, and engrafted into immunocompromised medaka mesonephros, where they formed mouse nephron structures. These data implicate KKPS5 cells as a new model system for studying kidney development. - Highlights: • An ARID3a-deficient mouse kidney cell line expresses multiple progenitor markers. • This cell line spontaneously forms multiple nephron-like structures in vitro. • This cell line formed mouse kidney structures in immunocompromised medaka fish kidneys. • Our data identify a novel model system for studying kidney development.

  5. A developmentally plastic adult mouse kidney cell line spontaneously generates multiple adult kidney structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webb, Carol F.; Ratliff, Michelle L.; Powell, Rebecca; Wirsig-Wiechmann, Celeste R.; Lakiza, Olga; Obara, Tomoko

    2015-01-01

    Despite exciting new possibilities for regenerative therapy posed by the ability to induce pluripotent stem cells, recapitulation of three-dimensional kidneys for repair or replacement has not been possible. ARID3a-deficient mouse tissues generated multipotent, developmentally plastic cells. Therefore, we assessed the adult mouse ARID3a−/− kidney cell line, KKPS5, which expresses renal progenitor surface markers as an alternative cell source for modeling kidney development. Remarkably, these cells spontaneously developed into multicellular nephron-like structures in vitro, and engrafted into immunocompromised medaka mesonephros, where they formed mouse nephron structures. These data implicate KKPS5 cells as a new model system for studying kidney development. - Highlights: • An ARID3a-deficient mouse kidney cell line expresses multiple progenitor markers. • This cell line spontaneously forms multiple nephron-like structures in vitro. • This cell line formed mouse kidney structures in immunocompromised medaka fish kidneys. • Our data identify a novel model system for studying kidney development

  6. Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LaChance, L.E.; Klassen, W.

    1991-01-01

    The sterile insect technique involves the mass-rearing of insects, which are sterilized by gamma rays from a 60 Co source before being released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produce no progeny, and so if enough of these matings occur the pest population can be controlled or even eradicated. A modification of the technique, especially suitable for the suppression of the moths and butterflies, is called the F, or inherited sterility method. In this, lower radiation doses are used such that the released males are only partially sterile (30-60%) and the females are fully sterile. When released males mate with native females some progeny are produced, but they are completely sterile. Thus, full expression of the sterility is delayed by one generation. This article describes the use of the sterile insect technique in controlling the screwworm fly, the tsetse fly, the medfly, the pink bollworm and the melon fly, and of the F 1 sterility method in the eradication of local gypsy moth infestations. 18 refs, 5 figs, 1 tab

  7. O-naphthoquinone isolated from Capraria biflora L. induces selective cytotoxicity in tumor cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de S Wisintainer, G G N; Scola, G; Moura, S; Lemos, T L G; Pessoa, C; de Moraes, M O; Souza, L G S; Roesch-Ely, M; Henriques, J A P

    2015-12-21

    Biflorin is an o-naphthoquinone isolated from the roots of the plant Capraria biflora L. (Scrophulariaceae). In this study, the cytotoxic effects of biflorin were verified, and late apoptosis was detected in various cancer cell lines by in situ analysis. The cytotoxicity was further evaluated exclusively for 48 h of treatment in different tumor and non-tumor cell lines (Hep-2, HeLa, HT-29, A-375, and A-549, and HEK-293, respectively). The results indicated that biflorin induced selective cytotoxicity in tumor cells. HeLa cells were more susceptible to biflorin, followed by HT-29, A-549, A-375, and Hep-2 at all concentrations (range 5-50 μg/mL), and the highest half-maximal inhibitory concentration IC50 (56.01 ± 1.17 μg/mL) was observed in HEK-293 cells. Late apoptotic/necrotic events, observed by in situ immunostaining with Annexin V, varied with each cell line; an increase in late apoptotic events was observed corresponding to the increase in biflorin dosage. Hep-2 cells showed a greater percentage of late apoptotic events among the tumor cell lines when treated with higher concentrations of biflorin (69.63 ± 2.28%). The non-tumor HEK-293 line showed greater resistance to late apoptotic events, as well as a lower level of cytotoxicity (77.69 ± 6.68%) than the tested tumor lines. The data presented indicate that biflorin showed an important, possibly selective, cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines, thereby revealing a promising novel substance with potential anticancer activity for tumor therapy.

  8. Antiproliferative Effects of Selected Chemotherapeutics in Human Ovarian Cancer Cell Line A2780

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kateřina Caltová

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of our study was to determine the effect of selected cytostatics on a human ovarian cancer cell line A2780 as a model system for ovarian cancer treatment. This cell line is considered cisplatin-sensitive. Panel of tested cytostatics included cisplatin, paclitaxel, carboplatin, gemcitabine, topotecan and etoposide. These cytostatics have a different mechanism of action. To evaluate cytotoxic potential of the tested compounds, the methods measuring various toxicological endpoints were employed including morphological studies, MTT assay, dynamic monitoring of cell proliferation with xCELLigence, cell cycle analysis, caspase 3 activity and expression of proteins involved in cell cycle regulation and cell death. The A270 cell line showed different sensitivity towards the selected cytostatics, the highest cytotoxic effect was associated with paclitaxel and topotecan.

  9. Proliferation-dependent changes in amino acid transport and glucose metabolism in glioma cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasajima, Toshio; Miyagawa, Tadashi; Oku, Takamitsu; Gelovani, Juri G.; Finn, Ronald; Blasberg, Ronald

    2004-01-01

    Amino acid imaging is increasingly being used for assessment of brain tumor malignancy, extent of disease, and prognosis. This study explores the relationship between proliferative activity, amino acid transport, and glucose metabolism in three glioma cell lines (U87, Hs683, C6) at different phases of growth in culture. Growth phase was characterized by direct cell counting, proliferation index determined by flow cytometry, and [ 3 H]thymidine (TdR) accumulation, and was compared with the uptake of two non-metabolized amino acids ([ 14 C]aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid (ACPC) and [ 14 C]aminoisobutyric acid (AIB)), and [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Highly significant relationships between cell number (density), proliferation index, and TdR accumulation rate were observed in all cell lines (r>0.99). Influx (K 1 ) of both ACPC and AIB was directly related to cell density, and inversely related to the proliferation index and TdR accumulation in all cell lines. The volume of distribution (V d ) for ACPC and AIB was lowest during rapid growth and highest during the near-plateau growth phase in all cell lines. FDG accumulation in Hs683 and C6 cells was unaffected by proliferation rate, growth phase, and cell density, whereas FDG accumulation was correlated with TdR accumulation, growth phase, and cell density in U87 cells. This study demonstrates that proliferation rate and glucose metabolism are not necessarily co-related in all glioma cell lines. The values of K 1 and V d for ACPC and AIB under different growth conditions suggest that these tumor cell lines can up-regulate amino acid transporters in their cell membranes when their growth conditions become adverse and less than optimal. (orig.)

  10. Naturally occurring glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) receptors in human intestinal cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sams, Anette; Hastrup, Sven; Andersen, Marie; Thim, Lars

    2006-02-17

    Although clinical trials with GLP-2 receptor agonists are currently ongoing, the mechanisms behind GLP-2-induced intestinal epithelial growth remain to be understood. To approach the GLP-2 mechanism of action this study aimed to identify intestinal cell lines endogenously expressing the GLP-2 receptor. Here we report the first identification of a cell line endogenously expressing functional GLP-2 receptors. The human intestinal epithelial cell line, FHC, expressed GLP-2 receptor encoding mRNA (RT-PCR) and GLP-2 receptor protein (Western blot). In cultured FHC cells, GLP-2 induced concentration dependent cAMP accumulation (pEC(50)=9.7+/-0.04 (mean+/-S.E.M., n=4)). In addition, a naturally occurring human intestinal fibroblast cell line, 18Co, endogenously expressing GLP-2 receptor encoding mRNA (RT-PCR) and protein (Western blot) was identified. No receptor functionality (binding or G-protein signalling) could be demonstrated in 18Co cells. The identified gut-relevant cell lines provide tools for future clarification of the mechanisms underlying GLP-2-induced epithelial growth.

  11. Breast cancer cell lines: friend or foe?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burdall, Sarah E; Hanby, Andrew M; Lansdown, Mark RJ; Speirs, Valerie

    2003-01-01

    The majority of breast cancer research is conducted using established breast cancer cell lines as in vitro models. An alternative is to use cultures established from primary breast tumours. Here, we discuss the pros and cons of using both of these models in translational breast cancer research

  12. A Tetrameric Peptide Derived from Bovine Lactoferricin Exhibits Specific Cytotoxic Effects against Oral Squamous-Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solarte, Víctor A; Rosas, Jaiver E; Rivera, Zuly J; Arango-Rodríguez, Martha L; García, Javier E; Vernot, Jean-Paul

    2015-01-01

    Several short linear peptides derived from cyclic bovine lactoferricin were synthesized and tested for their cytotoxic effect against the oral cavity squamous-cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines CAL27 and SCC15. As a control, an immortalized and nontumorigenic cell line, Het-1A, was used. Linear peptides based on the RRWQWR core sequence showed a moderate cytotoxic effect and specificity towards tumorigenic cells. A tetrameric peptide, LfcinB(20-25)4, containing the RRWQWR motif, exhibited greater cytotoxic activity (>90%) in both OSCC cell lines compared to the linear lactoferricin peptide or the lactoferrin protein. Additionally, this tetrameric peptide showed the highest specificity towards tumorigenic cells among the tested peptides. Interestingly, this effect was very fast, with cell shrinkage, severe damage to cell membrane permeability, and lysis within one hour of treatment. Our results are consistent with a necrotic effect rather than an apoptotic one and suggest that this tetrameric peptide could be considered as a new candidate for the therapeutic treatment of OSCC.

  13. Diversity in host clone performance within a Chinese hamster ovary cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Callaghan, Peter M; Berthelot, Maud E; Young, Robert J; Graham, James W A; Racher, Andrew J; Aldana, Dulce

    2015-01-01

    Much effort has been expended to improve the capabilities of individual Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) host cell lines to synthesize recombinant therapeutic proteins (rPs). However, given the increasing variety in rP molecular types and formats it may be advantageous to employ a toolbox of CHO host cell lines in biomanufacturing. Such a toolbox would contain a panel of hosts with specific capabilities to synthesize certain molecular types at high volumetric concentrations and with the correct product quality (PQ). In this work, we examine a panel of clonally derived host cell lines isolated from CHOK1SV for the ability to manufacture two model proteins, an IgG4 monoclonal antibody (Mab) and an Fc-fusion protein (etanercept). We show that these host cell lines vary in their relative ability to synthesize these proteins in transient and stable pool production format. Furthermore, we examined the PQ attributes of the stable pool-produced Mab and etanercept (by N-glycan ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), respectively), and uncovered substantial variation between the host cell lines in Mab N-glycan micro-heterogeneity and etanercept N and O-linked macro-heterogeneity. To further investigate the capabilities of these hosts to act as cell factories, we examined the glycosylation pathway gene expression profiles as well as the levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria in the untransfected hosts. We uncovered a moderate correlation between ER mass and the volumetric product concentration in transient and stable pool Mab production. This work demonstrates the utility of leveraging diversity within the CHOK1SV pool to identify new host cell lines with different performance characteristics. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  14. Metabolic characterization of invaded cells of the pancreatic cancer cell line, PANC?1

    OpenAIRE

    Fujita, Mayumi; Imadome, Kaori; Imai, Takashi

    2017-01-01

    We previously reported that about 0.4% of cells in the cultured human pancreatic cancer cell line, PANC?1, can invade matrigel during the transwell invasion assay, suggesting that these invaded PANC?1 cells may have specific characteristics to keep their invasive potential. To identify the metabolic characterization specific in the invaded PANC?1 cells, metabolome analysis of the invaded PANC?1 compared with the whole cultured PANC?1 was performed using CE?TOFMS, and concentrations of 110 met...

  15. Cell surface area and membrane folding in glioblastoma cell lines differing in PTEN and p53 status.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Memmel

    Full Text Available Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM is characterized by rapid growth, invasion and resistance to chemo-/radiotherapy. The complex cell surface morphology with abundant membrane folds, microvilli, filopodia and other membrane extensions is believed to contribute to the highly invasive behavior and therapy resistance of GBM cells. The present study addresses the mechanisms leading to the excessive cell membrane area in five GBM lines differing in mutational status for PTEN and p53. In addition to scanning electron microscopy (SEM, the membrane area and folding were quantified by dielectric measurements of membrane capacitance using the single-cell electrorotation (ROT technique. The osmotic stability and volume regulation of GBM cells were analyzed by video microscopy. The expression of PTEN, p53, mTOR and several other marker proteins involved in cell growth and membrane synthesis were examined by Western blotting. The combined SEM, ROT and osmotic data provided independent lines of evidence for a large variability in membrane area and folding among tested GBM lines. Thus, DK-MG cells (wild type p53 and wild type PTEN exhibited the lowest degree of membrane folding, probed by the area-specific capacitance C m = 1.9 µF/cm(2. In contrast, cell lines carrying mutations in both p53 and PTEN (U373-MG and SNB19 showed the highest C m values of 3.7-4.0 µF/cm(2, which corroborate well with their heavily villated cell surface revealed by SEM. Since PTEN and p53 are well-known inhibitors of mTOR, the increased membrane area/folding in mutant GBM lines may be related to the enhanced protein and lipid synthesis due to a deregulation of the mTOR-dependent downstream signaling pathway. Given that membrane folds and extensions are implicated in tumor cell motility and metastasis, the dielectric approach presented here provides a rapid and simple tool for screening the biophysical cell properties in studies on targeting chemo- or radiotherapeutically the

  16. Promoter, transgene, and cell line effects in the transfection of mammalian cells using PDMAEMA-based nano-stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Raup

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Non-viral transfection protocols are typically optimized using standard cells and reporter proteins, potentially underestimating cellular or transgene effects. Here such effects were studied for two human (Jurkat, HEK-293 and two rodent (CHO-K1, L929 cell lines and three fluorescent reporter proteins. Expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP was studied under the control of the human elongation factor 1 alpha promoter and three viral promoters (SV40, SV40/enhancer, CMV, that of ZsYellow1 (yellow fluorescence and mCherry (red fluorescence for the CMV promoter. Results varied with the cell line, in particular for the Jurkat cells. Pair-wise co-transfection of the CMV controlled transgenes resulted in a significant fraction of monochromatic cells (EGFP for EGFP/YFP and EGFP/RFP co-transfections, YFP in case of YFP/RFP co-transfections. Only Jurkat cells were almost incapable of expressing YFP. Dilution of the plasmid DNA with a non-expressed plasmid showed cell line dependent effects on transfection efficiency and/or expression levels.

  17. Profound radiosensitivity in leukemic T-cell lines and T-cell-type acute lymphoblastic leukemia demonstrated by sodium [51Cr]chromate labeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakazawa, S.; Minowada, J.; Tsubota, T.; Sinks, L.F.

    1978-01-01

    Radiation sensitivity was determined by measuring spontaneous release from 51 Cr-labeled cells in various lymphoid cell populations. Among six leukemia T-cell lines originating from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, four such lines were found to be highly radiosensitive. In contrast, two of the leukemic T-cell lines and four normal control B-cell lines were not radiosensitive. Thymocytes from six patients and leukemia T-cell blasts from three patients with T-cell leukemia were likewise found to be highly radiosensitive, whereas leukemic blasts from six patients with null-cell (non-T, non-B-cell) acute lymphoblastic leukemia were not radiosensitive. Normal peripheral blood lymphocytes and mitogen-induced normal lymphoblasts were found not to be radiosensitive. The results indicate that measurement of the radiation sensitivity of acute leukemic blasts may have a therapeutic significance in coping with the heterogeneous nature of individual leukemia cases

  18. Sensitivity of breast cancer cell lines to recombinant thiaminase I.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shuqian; Monks, Noel R; Hanes, Jeremiah W; Begley, Tadhg P; Yu, Hui; Moscow, Jeffrey A

    2010-05-01

    We have previously shown that the expression of the thiamine transporter THTR2 is decreased sevenfold in breast cancer, which may leave breast cancer cells vulnerable to acute thiamine starvation. This concept was supported by the observation that MDA231 breast cancer xenografts demonstrated growth inhibition in mice fed a thiamine-free diet. We purified recombinant Bacillus thiaminolyticus thiaminase I enzyme, which digests thiamine, to study acute thiamine starvation in breast cancer. Thiaminase I enzyme was cytotoxic in six breast cancer cell lines with IC(50)s ranging from 0.012 to 0.022 U/ml. The growth inhibitory effects of the combination of thiaminase I with either doxorubicin or paclitaxel were also examined. Over a wide range of drug concentrations, thiaminase 1 was consistently synergistic or additive with doxorubicin and paclitaxel in MCF-7, ZR75, HS578T and T47D cell lines, with most combinations having a calculated combination index (CI) of less than 0.8, indicating synergy. Although thiaminase I exposure did not stimulate the energy-sensing signaling kinases AKT, AMPK and GSK-3beta in MCF-7, ZR75, HS578T and T47D cell lines, thiaminase I exposure did stimulate expression of the ER stress response protein GRP78. In summary, thiaminase I is cytotoxic in breast cancer cell lines and triggers the unfolded protein response. These findings suggest that THTR2 down-regulation in breast tumors may present a nutritional vulnerability that could be exploited by thiaminase I enzyme therapy.

  19. Growth inhibitory activity of Ankaferd hemostat on primary melanoma cells and cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyhan Turk

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Ankaferd hemostat is the first topical hemostatic agent about the red blood cell–fibrinogen relations tested in the clinical trials. Ankaferd hemostat consists of standardized plant extracts including Alpinia officinarum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Thymus vulgaris, Urtica dioica, and Vitis vinifera. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Ankaferd hemostat on viability of melanoma cell lines. Methods: Dissimilar melanoma cell lines and primary cells were used in this study. These cells were treated with different concentrations of Ankaferd hemostat to assess the impact of different dosages of the drug. All cells treated with different concentrations were incubated for different time intervals. After the data had been obtained, one-tailed T-test was used to determine whether the Ankaferd hemostat would have any significant inhibitory impact on cell growth. Results: We demonstrated in this study that cells treated with Ankaferd hemostat showed a significant decrease in cell viability compared to control groups. The cells showed different resistances against Ankaferd hemostat which depended on the dosage applied and the time treated cells had been incubated. We also demonstrated an inverse relationship between the concentration of the drug and the incubation time on one hand and the viability of the cells on the other hand, that is, increasing the concentration of the drug and the incubation time had a negative impact on cell viability. Conclusion: The findings in our study contribute to our knowledge about the anticancer impact of Ankaferd hemostat on different melanoma cells.

  20. The genomic sequence of the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cell line

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Xun; Pan, Shengkai; Liu, Xin

    2011-01-01

    Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-derived cell lines are the preferred host cells for the production of therapeutic proteins. Here we present a draft genomic sequence of the CHO-K1 ancestral cell line. The assembly comprises 2.45 Gb of genomic sequence, with 24,383 predicted genes. We associate most of...