Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Cell and Developmental Biology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Cell and Developmental Biology

The Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter Is Required For Neuromuscular Development And Function, Braulio M. De Castro, Xavier De Jaeger, Cristina Martins-Silva, Ricardo D. F. Lima, Ernani Amaral, Cristiane Menezes, Patricia Lima, Cintia M. L. Neves, Rita G. Pires, Thomas W. Gould, Ian Welch, Christopher Kushmerick, Cristina Guatimosim, Ivan Izquierdo, Martin Cammarota, Jane R. Rylett, Marcus V. Gomez, Marc G. Caron, Ronald W. Oppenheim, Marco A. M. Prado, Vania F. Prado Oct 2009

The Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter Is Required For Neuromuscular Development And Function, Braulio M. De Castro, Xavier De Jaeger, Cristina Martins-Silva, Ricardo D. F. Lima, Ernani Amaral, Cristiane Menezes, Patricia Lima, Cintia M. L. Neves, Rita G. Pires, Thomas W. Gould, Ian Welch, Christopher Kushmerick, Cristina Guatimosim, Ivan Izquierdo, Martin Cammarota, Jane R. Rylett, Marcus V. Gomez, Marc G. Caron, Ronald W. Oppenheim, Marco A. M. Prado, Vania F. Prado

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

The vesicular acetylcholine (ACh) transporter (VAChT) mediates ACh storage by synaptic vesicles. However, the VAChT-independent release of ACh is believed to be important during development. Here we generated VAChT knockout mice and tested the physiological relevance of the VAChT-independent release of ACh. Homozygous VAChT knockout mice died shortly after birth, indicating that VAChT-mediated storage of ACh is essential for life. Indeed, synaptosomes obtained from brains of homozygous knockouts were incapable of releasing ACh in response to depolarization. Surprisingly, electrophysiological recordings at the skeletal-neuromuscular junction show that VAChT knockout mice present spontaneous miniature end-plate potentials with reduced amplitude and frequency, which …


High Aldehyde Dehydrogenase And Expression Of Cancer Stem Cell Markers Selects For Breast Cancer Cells With Enhanced Malignant And Metastatic Ability, Alysha K. Croker, David Goodale, Jenny Chu, Carl Postenka, Benjamin D. Hedley, David A. Hess, Alison L. Allan Aug 2009

High Aldehyde Dehydrogenase And Expression Of Cancer Stem Cell Markers Selects For Breast Cancer Cells With Enhanced Malignant And Metastatic Ability, Alysha K. Croker, David Goodale, Jenny Chu, Carl Postenka, Benjamin D. Hedley, David A. Hess, Alison L. Allan

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have recently been identified in leukaemia and solid tumours; however, the role of CSCs in metastasis remains poorly understood. This dearth of knowledge about CSCs and metastasis is due largely to technical challenges associated with the use of primary human cancer cells in pre-clinical models of metastasis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop suitable pre-clinical model systems for studying stem-like cells in breast cancer metastasis, and to test the hypothesis that stem-like cells play a key role in metastatic behaviour. We assessed four different human breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-435, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MCF-7) …