Cells Commons^™

Cell Specific Control Of The Pallidostriatal Pathway, Shubha Verma '19

Student Publications & Research

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder of the basal ganglia. The main cause for Parkinson’s Disease is the depletion of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. The basal ganglia contains four major nuclei: the substantia nigra, the subthalamic nucleus, the external globus pallidus, and the striatum. These nuclei communicate with each other by the use of neurons.

Immune Checkpoints In Cancer Treatment, Matthew A. Cherubino

Student Publications

Despite the human immune system, cancer thrives in an extremely hostile environment. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S. with about 600,000 deaths every year, and cancer is expected to surpass heart disease as the most common cause of death in the U.S. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a novel and promising therapeutic for treating cancer in its late stages.

Alcohol Consumption Promotes Colorectal Carcinoma Metastasis Via A Ccl5-Induced And Ampk-Pathway-Mediated Activation Of Autophagy, Haodong Zhao, Danlei Chen, Rui Cao, Shiqing Wang, Dandan Yu, Yakun Liu, Yu Jiang, Mei Xu, Jia Luo, Siying Wang

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

There is a definite relationship between alcohol consumption and colorectal cancer (CRC) development. We investigated effect of alcohol consumption on CRC patients’ progression and prognosis by utilizing epidemiological data and found patients with alcohol consumption increased risks of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM), organ metastasis and poorer prognosis. Because their tumor tissues displayed increased expression of C-C chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), we hypothesized CCL5 might participate in cancer progression in such patients. Ethanol increased the secretion of CCL5 in two CRC cell lines, HT29 and DLD-1. Treatment with CCL5 directly increased migratory ability of these cells, whereas neutralization or knockdown of CCL5 can …

Melatonin-Micronutrients Osteopenia Treatment Study (Mots): A Translational Study Assessing The Effects Of Melatonin, Strontium Citrate, Vitamin D3 And Vitamin K2 On Bone Density, Bone Turnover Markers And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Postmenopausal Osteopenic Women Following A One-Year Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial And On Osteoblast-Osteoclast Co-Cultures, Sifat Maria

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess if a novel combination of melatonin and three other natural bone-aiding micronutrients: strontium citrate, vitamins D₃ and K₂ (MSDK) could improve bone health by modulating the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in favor of balanced bone remodeling and by improving the overall health-related quality of life in postmenopausal osteopenic women.

Methods: The Melatonin-micronutrients Osteopenia Treatment Study (MOTS) is a translational research study that used both clinical and in vitro approaches to assess the efficacy of MSDK on bone health in women and to identify potential mechanisms for its effects. …

A Leap To Hybrid Governance For European Union Healthcare On Organ Donations, Tasnim Ahmed

Journal of Law and Health

This article evaluates two proposals that the Organs Directive along with the commission’s Action Plan 2009-2015 can be viewed as a form of hybrid governance. The Organs Directive is the first legally-binding supranational risk regulation devised in the field of organ donation and transplantation. The Directive is modelled on the earlier Directive dealing with blood, tissue, and cells. The Action Plan, which is soft law, will complement the Directive. The Directive and Action Plan requires additional administration procedures from the Member States with the EU Commission regularly monitoring the implementation of the work programme to ensure it is manageable for …

Comparison Of Varying Tissue Freezing Methods On Murine Colonic Tissue, James Hughes

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Histology often requires a tissue specimen to be embedded so that it may be sectioned, stained, and mounted on a microscope slide for viewing. One common method of tissue embedding for rapid histology is freezing, since freezing allows tissue to be stored without the need for fixing. Frozen tissue is often embedded in a medium such as Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) compound so that it can be sectioned using a cryostat. However, factors such as ice-crystal formation during the freezing process can cause damage to the tissue. As such, the protocol used to freeze the tissue can affect the quality …

The Systemic Quantification Of Immune Cell Populations In Various Murine Models: How Age, Tumor Burden, And Immunotherapy Affect The Immune Response, Kavita Sinha

Honors Scholar Theses

Immunotherapy as a form of cancer treatment has become increasingly popular in the past few decades. Researchers have worked to figure out how to best use the body’s natural defense mechanism, the immune system, to fight off and destroy cancer cells. In particular, the goal has been to manipulate checkpoint blockades such as CTLA-4 and PD-1 in order to take the breaks off of the immune system, allowing for a prolonged immune response to the cancer. This work has led to the development of human versions of anti-CTLA4 antibodies (ipilimumab, tremelimumab) and anti-PD1 antibodies (pembrolizumab and Nivolumab) that are currently …

The Regulation Of Dna Methylation In Mammalian Development And Cancer, Nicolas Veland

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

DNA methylation is an essential epigenetic modification in mammals, as it plays important regulatory roles in multiple biological processes, such as gene transcription, maintenance of chromosomal structure and genomic stability, genomic imprinting, retrotransposon silencing, and X-chromosome inactivation. Dysregulation of DNA methylation is associated with various human diseases. For example, cancer cells usually show global hypomethylation and regional hypermenthylation, which have been implicated in genomic instability and tumor suppressor silencing, respectively. Although great progress has been made in elucidating the biological functions of DNA methylation over the last several decades, how DNA methylation patterns and levels are regulated and dysregulated is …

Enucleated Cells Reveal Differential Roles Of The Nucleus In Cell Migration, Polarity, And Mechanotransduction, Gunes Uzer

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The nucleus has long been postulated to play a critical physical role during cell polarization and migration, but that role has not been defined or rigorously tested. Here, we enucleated cells to test the physical necessity of the nucleus during cell polarization and directed migration. Using enucleated mammalian cells (cytoplasts), we found that polarity establishment and cell migration in one dimension (1D) and two dimensions (2D) occur without the nucleus. Cytoplasts directionally migrate toward soluble (chemotaxis) and surface-bound (haptotaxis) extracellular cues and migrate collectively in scratch-wound assays. Consistent with previous studies, migration in 3D environments was dependent on the nucleus. …

A Lin28b Tumor-Specific Transcript In Cancer, Weijie Guo, Zhixiang Hu, Yichao Bao, Yuchen Li, Shengli Li, Qiupeng Zheng, Dongbin Lyu, Di Chen, Tao Yu, Yan Li, Xiaodong Zhu, Jie Ding, Yingjun Zhao, Xianghuo He, Shenglin Huang

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

The diversity and complexity of the cancer transcriptome may contain transcripts unique to the tumor environment. Here, we report a LIN28B variant, LIN28B-TST, which is specifically expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and many other cancer types. Expression of LIN28B-TST is associated with significantly poor prognosis in HCC patients. LIN28B-TST initiates from a de novo alternative transcription initiation site that harbors a strong promoter regulated by NFYA but not c-Myc. Demethylation of the LIN28B-TST promoter might be a prerequisite for its transcription and transcriptional regulation. LIN28B-TST encodes a protein isoform with additional N-terminal amino acids and is critical for cancer …

A Plasma Telomeric Cell-Free Dna Level In Unaffected Women With Brca1 Or/And Brca2 Mutations: A Pilot Study, Shatovisha Dey, Natascia Marino, Kanokwan Bishop, Paige N. Dahlgren, Aditi Shendre, Anna Maria Storniolo, Chunyan He, Hiromi Tanaka

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a small DNA fragment circulating in the bloodstream originating from both non-tumor- and tumor-derived cells. A previous study showed that a plasma telomeric cfDNA level decreases in sporadic breast cancer patients compared to controls. Tumor suppressor gene products including BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1&2) play an important role in telomere maintenance. In this study, we hypothesized that the plasma telomeric cfDNA level is associated with the mutation status of BRCA1&2 genes. To test this hypothesis, we performed plasma telomeric cfDNA quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based assays to compare 28 women carriers of the BRCA1&2 mutation with age-matched controls …

Enhanced Electric Pulse Technology For The Ablation Of Pancreatic Cancer, Siqi Guo, Niculina I. Burcus, Chelsea M. Edelblute, James Hornef, Chunqi Jiang, Karl Schoenbach, Richard Heller, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

Electric pulse based technology has been developed and studied as a non-thermal ablation method for local control of pancreatic cancer. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has shown a significant survival benefit for local advanced pancreatic cancer in clinical trials. However, incomplete ablation with local recurrence and major complications limit the potential of this new technology. We have developed an integrated moderate heating electric pulse delivery system which consists of controllable tumor heating, multi-parameter monitoring and electric pulse delivery. The impedance of tumor is greatly decreased after moderate heating at 42°C for 1–2 min, which does not cause any cell death. Moderate heating …

Nanopulse Stimulation (Nps) Induces Tumor Ablation And Immunity In Orthotopic 4t1 Mouse Breast Cancer: A Review, Stephen J. Beebe, Brittany P. Lassiter, Siqi Guo

Bioelectrics Publications

Nanopulse Stimulation (NPS) eliminates mouse and rat tumor types in several different animal models. NPS induces protective, vaccine-like effects after ablation of orthotopic rat N1-S1 hepatocellular carcinoma. Here we review some general concepts of NPS in the context of studies with mouse metastatic 4T1 mammary cancer showing that the postablation, vaccine-like effect is initiated by dynamic, multilayered immune mechanisms. NPS eliminates primary 4T1 tumors by inducing immunogenic, caspase-independent programmed cell death (PCD). With lower electric fields, like those peripheral to the primary treatment zone, NPS can activate dendritic cells (DCs). The activation of DCs by dead/dying cells leads to increases …