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Full-Text Articles in Cells

Brief Pulses Of High-Level Fluid Shear Stress Enhance Metastatic Potential And Rapidly Alter The Metabolism Of Cancer Cells, Amanda N. Pope, Devon L. Moose, Guy O. Hudson, Hank R. Weresh, Marion R. Dykstra, Aabha Y. Joshi, Patrick Breheny, Eric B. Taylor, Michael D. Henry Jan 2026

Brief Pulses Of High-Level Fluid Shear Stress Enhance Metastatic Potential And Rapidly Alter The Metabolism Of Cancer Cells, Amanda N. Pope, Devon L. Moose, Guy O. Hudson, Hank R. Weresh, Marion R. Dykstra, Aabha Y. Joshi, Patrick Breheny, Eric B. Taylor, Michael D. Henry

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) face challenges to their survival, including mechanical and oxidative stresses that are different from cancer cells in solid primary and metastatic tumors. The impact of adaptations to the fluid microenvironment of the circulation on the outcome of the metastatic cascade is not well understood. Here, we find that cancer cells exposed to brief pulses of high-level fluid shear stress (FSS) exhibit enhanced invasiveness and anchorage-independent proliferation in vitro and enhanced metastatic colonization/tumor formation in vivo. Cancer cells exposed to FSS rapidly alter their metabolism in a manner that promotes survival by providing energy for cytoskeletal remodeling …


Alcohol And Metabolic Stress Synergize To Dysregulate Mitochondrial Health And Lipid Metabolism; Evidence From A Hepatocyte Spheroid Model, Eden M. Gallegos, Kaitlin Couvillion, Drake Darden, Keishla Rodriguez-Graciani, Patricia E. Molina, Liz Simon Nov 2025

Alcohol And Metabolic Stress Synergize To Dysregulate Mitochondrial Health And Lipid Metabolism; Evidence From A Hepatocyte Spheroid Model, Eden M. Gallegos, Kaitlin Couvillion, Drake Darden, Keishla Rodriguez-Graciani, Patricia E. Molina, Liz Simon

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and alcohol-associated liver disease frequently co-occur, manifesting as MetALD. Understanding the hepatocyte-specific effects of alcohol and metabolic stressors is critical to uncovering mechanisms of synergistic injury. This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of ethanol, sugars, and saturated/monounsaturated fats on hepatocyte lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function using a 3D human HepaRG spheroid model. HepaRG spheroids were treated with ethanol (50 mm), sugar (glucose and fructose), and fatty acids alone or in combination for 10 d. The combination of ethanol (E) and metabolic (sugar and fat, SF) stressors (ESF) synergistically increased triglyceride content …


Potentiation Of Gelonin Cytotoxicity By Pulsed Electric Fields, Olga N. Pakhomova, Eleni Zivla, Giedre Silkuniene, Mantas Silkunas, Andrei G. Pakhomov Jan 2025

Potentiation Of Gelonin Cytotoxicity By Pulsed Electric Fields, Olga N. Pakhomova, Eleni Zivla, Giedre Silkuniene, Mantas Silkunas, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

Gelonin is a ribosome-inactivating protein with extreme intracellular toxicity but poor permeation into cells. Targeted disruption of cell membranes to facilitate gelonin entry is explored for cancer and tissue ablation. We demonstrate a hundreds- to thousands-fold enhancement of gelonin cytotoxicity by pulsed electric fields in the T24, U-87, and CT26 cell lines. The effective gelonin concentration to kill 50% of cells (EC₅₀) after electroporation ranged from <1 nM to about 100 nM. For intact cells, the EC₅₀ was unattainable even at the highest gelonin concentration of 1000 nM, which reduced cell survival by only 5–15%. For isoeffective electroporation treatments using 300 ns, 9 µs, and 100 µs pulses, longer pulses were more efficient at lowering gelonin EC₅₀. Increasing the electric field strength of 8, 100 µs pulses from 0.65 to 1.25 kV/cm reduced gelonin EC₅₀ from 128 nM to 0.72 nM. Conversely, the presence of 100 nM gelonin enabled a more than 20-fold reduction in the number of pulses required for equivalent cell killing. Pulsed electric field-mediated delivery of gelonin shows promise for hyperplasia ablation at concentrations sufficiently low to minimize or avoid systemic toxicity.


Self And Microbiota-Derived Epitopes Induce Cd4⁺ T Cell Anergy And Conversion Into Cd4⁺Foxp3⁺ Regulatory Cells, Michal P. Kuczma, Edyta A. Szurek, Anna Cebula, Vu L. Ngo, Maciej Pietrzak, Piotr Kraj, Timothy L. Denning, Leszek Ignatowicz Jan 2021

Self And Microbiota-Derived Epitopes Induce Cd4⁺ T Cell Anergy And Conversion Into Cd4⁺Foxp3⁺ Regulatory Cells, Michal P. Kuczma, Edyta A. Szurek, Anna Cebula, Vu L. Ngo, Maciej Pietrzak, Piotr Kraj, Timothy L. Denning, Leszek Ignatowicz

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The physiological role of T cell anergy induction as a key mechanism supporting self-tolerance remains undefined, and natural antigens that induce anergy are largely unknown. In this report, we used TCR sequencing to show that the recruitment of CD4+CD44+Foxp3CD73+FR4+ anergic (Tan) cells expands the CD4+Foxp3+ (Tregs) repertoire. Next, we report that blockade in peripherally-induced Tregs (pTregs) formation due to mutation in CNS1 region of Foxp3 or chronic exposure to a selecting self-peptide result in an accumulation of Tan cells. Finally, we show that microbial antigens from Akkermansia muciniphila …


Human Retinal Organoids Release Extracellular Vesicles That Regulate Gene Expression In Target Human Retinal Progenitor Cells, Jing Zhou, Miguel Flores‑Bellver, Jianbo Pan, Alberto Benito‑Martin, Cui Shi, Onyekwere Onwumere, Jason Mighty, Jiang Qian, Xiufeng Zhong, Tasmim Hogue, Baffour Amponsah‑Antwi, Linda Einbond, Rajendra Gharbaran, Hao Wu, Bo‑Juen Chen, Zhiliang Zheng, Tatyana Tchaikovskaya, Xusheng Zhang, Hector Peinado, Maria Valeria Canto‑Soler, Stephen Redenti Jan 2021

Human Retinal Organoids Release Extracellular Vesicles That Regulate Gene Expression In Target Human Retinal Progenitor Cells, Jing Zhou, Miguel Flores‑Bellver, Jianbo Pan, Alberto Benito‑Martin, Cui Shi, Onyekwere Onwumere, Jason Mighty, Jiang Qian, Xiufeng Zhong, Tasmim Hogue, Baffour Amponsah‑Antwi, Linda Einbond, Rajendra Gharbaran, Hao Wu, Bo‑Juen Chen, Zhiliang Zheng, Tatyana Tchaikovskaya, Xusheng Zhang, Hector Peinado, Maria Valeria Canto‑Soler, Stephen Redenti

Publications and Research

The mechanisms underlying retinal development have not been completely elucidated. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are novel essential mediators of cell‑to‑cell communication with emerging roles in developmental processes. Nevertheless, the identification of EVs in human retinal tissue, characterization of their cargo, and analysis of their potential role in retina development has not been accomplished. Three‑dimensional retinal tissue derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) provide an ideal developmental system to achieve this goal. Here we report that hiPSC‑derived retinal organoids release exosomes and microvesicles with small noncoding RNA cargo. EV miRNA cargo‑predicted targetome correlates with Gene Ontology (GO) pathways involved in …


Quantification Of Lactoyl-Coa (Lactyl-Coa) By Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry In Mammalian Cells And Tissues., Erika L Varner, Sophie Trefely, David Bartee, Eliana Von Krusenstiern, Luke Izzo, Carmen Bekeova, Roddy S O'Connor, Erin L Seifert, Kathryn E Wellen, Jordan L Meier, Nathaniel W Snyder Sep 2020

Quantification Of Lactoyl-Coa (Lactyl-Coa) By Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry In Mammalian Cells And Tissues., Erika L Varner, Sophie Trefely, David Bartee, Eliana Von Krusenstiern, Luke Izzo, Carmen Bekeova, Roddy S O'Connor, Erin L Seifert, Kathryn E Wellen, Jordan L Meier, Nathaniel W Snyder

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Lysine lactoylation is a recently described protein post-translational modification (PTM). However, the biochemical pathways responsible for this acylation remain unclear. Two metabolite-dependent mechanisms have been proposed: enzymatic histone lysine lactoylation derived from lactoyl-coenzyme A (lactoyl-CoA, also termed lactyl-CoA), and non-enzymatic lysine lactoylation resulting from acyl-transfer via lactoyl-glutathione. While the former has precedent in the form of enzyme-catalysed lysine acylation, the lactoyl-CoA metabolite has not been previously quantified in mammalian systems. Here, we use liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) together with a synthetic standard to detect and validate the presence of lactoyl-CoA in cell and tissue samples. Conducting a retrospective analysis …