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

Medical Sciences Commons

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

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Medical Sciences

Uniaxial Stretch-Induced Regulation Of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase, Akt And P70s6 Kinase In The Ageing Fischer 344 × Brown Norway Rat Aorta, Kevin M. Rice, Devashish H. Desai, Deborah L. Preston, Paulette S. Wehner, Eric R. Blough Dec 2013

Uniaxial Stretch-Induced Regulation Of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase, Akt And P70s6 Kinase In The Ageing Fischer 344 × Brown Norway Rat Aorta, Kevin M. Rice, Devashish H. Desai, Deborah L. Preston, Paulette S. Wehner, Eric R. Blough

Deborah L Preston

The effects of ageing on the cardiovascular system contribute to substantial alterations in cellular morphology and function. The variables regulating these changes are unknown; however, one set of signalling molecules that may be of particular importance in mediating numerous cellular responses, including control of cell growth, differentiation and adaptation, are the proteins associated with the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling systems. The MAPKs, in conjunction with the p70 S6k signalling cascade, have emerged as critical components for regulating numerous mechanotransduction-related cellular responses. Here we investigate the ability of uniaxial stretch to activate the MAPK and p70 S6k pathways in adult …


Label-Free Enrichment Of Functional Cardiomyocytes Using Microfluidic Deterministic Lateral Flow Displacemen, Boyang Zhang, James V. Green, Shashi K. Murthy, Milica Radisic Jul 2013

Label-Free Enrichment Of Functional Cardiomyocytes Using Microfluidic Deterministic Lateral Flow Displacemen, Boyang Zhang, James V. Green, Shashi K. Murthy, Milica Radisic

Shashi K. Murthy

Progress in cardiac cell replacement therapies and tissue engineering critically depends on our ability to isolate functional cardiomyocytes (CMs) from heterogeneous cell mixtures. Label-free enrichment of cardiomyocytes is desirable for future clinical application of cell based products. Taking advantage of the physical properties of CMs, a microfluidic system was designed to separate CMs from neonatal rat heart tissue digest based on size using the principles of deterministic lateral displacement (DLD). For the first time, we demonstrate enrichment of functional CMs up to 91±2.4% directly from the digested heart tissue without any pre-treatment or labeling. Enriched cardiomyocytes remained viable after sorting …


Effect Of Receptor-Selective Retinoids On Growth And Differentiation Pathways In Mouse Melanoma Cells, Sejal H. Desai, Goran Boskovic, Linda L. Eastham, Marcia Dawson, Richard M. Niles Jun 2013

Effect Of Receptor-Selective Retinoids On Growth And Differentiation Pathways In Mouse Melanoma Cells, Sejal H. Desai, Goran Boskovic, Linda L. Eastham, Marcia Dawson, Richard M. Niles

Goran Boskovic

Treatment of B16 mouse melanoma cells with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) results in inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of differentiation. Accompanying these events is an induction of retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ) expression, an increase in protein kinase Cα (PKCα) expression, and enhanced activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcriptional activity. These cells express nuclear RARα and RARγ and nuclear retinoid X receptors (RXR) α and β constitutively. We tested the ability of receptor-selective retinoids to induce the biochemical changes found in ATRA-treated melanoma cells and also tested their effectiveness in decreasing anchorage-dependent and -independent growth. The RXR-selective ligand (2E,4E)-6-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3,5,5,8,8-pentamethyl-2-naphthalenyl)-3,7-dimethyl-2,4,6-octatrienoic acid (SR11246) was …


Global Analysis Of Gene Expression Changes During Retinoic Acid-Induced Growth Arrest And Differentiation Of Melanoma: Comparison To Differentially Expressed Genes In Melanocytes Vs Melanoma, Mary H. Estler, Goran Boskovic, James Denvir, Sarah Miles, Donald A. Primerano, Richard M. Niles Jun 2013

Global Analysis Of Gene Expression Changes During Retinoic Acid-Induced Growth Arrest And Differentiation Of Melanoma: Comparison To Differentially Expressed Genes In Melanocytes Vs Melanoma, Mary H. Estler, Goran Boskovic, James Denvir, Sarah Miles, Donald A. Primerano, Richard M. Niles

Goran Boskovic

BACKGROUND: The incidence of malignant melanoma has significantly increased over the last decade. Some of these malignancies are susceptible to the growth inhibitory and pro-differentiating effects of all-trans-retinoic acid (RA). The molecular changes responsible for the biological activity of RA in melanoma are not well understood. RESULTS: In an analysis of sequential global gene expression changes during a 4-48 h RA treatment of B16 mouse melanoma cells, we found that RA increased the expression of 757 genes and decreased the expression of 737 genes. We also compared the gene expression profile (no RA treatment) between non-malignant melan-a mouse melanocytes and …


Effect Of Receptor-Selective Retinoids On Growth And Differentiation Pathways In Mouse Melanoma Cells, Sejal H. Desai, Goran Boskovic, Linda L. Eastham, Marcia Dawson, Richard M. Niles Jun 2013

Effect Of Receptor-Selective Retinoids On Growth And Differentiation Pathways In Mouse Melanoma Cells, Sejal H. Desai, Goran Boskovic, Linda L. Eastham, Marcia Dawson, Richard M. Niles

Richard M. Niles

Treatment of B16 mouse melanoma cells with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) results in inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of differentiation. Accompanying these events is an induction of retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ) expression, an increase in protein kinase Cα (PKCα) expression, and enhanced activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcriptional activity. These cells express nuclear RARα and RARγ and nuclear retinoid X receptors (RXR) α and β constitutively. We tested the ability of receptor-selective retinoids to induce the biochemical changes found in ATRA-treated melanoma cells and also tested their effectiveness in decreasing anchorage-dependent and -independent growth. The RXR-selective ligand (2E,4E)-6-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3,5,5,8,8-pentamethyl-2-naphthalenyl)-3,7-dimethyl-2,4,6-octatrienoic acid (SR11246) was …


Effect Of Receptor-Selective Retinoids On Growth And Differentiation Pathways In Mouse Melanoma Cells, Sejal H. Desai, Goran Boskovic, Linda L. Eastham, Marcia Dawson, Richard M. Niles Jun 2013

Effect Of Receptor-Selective Retinoids On Growth And Differentiation Pathways In Mouse Melanoma Cells, Sejal H. Desai, Goran Boskovic, Linda L. Eastham, Marcia Dawson, Richard M. Niles

Linda L. Eastham

Treatment of B16 mouse melanoma cells with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) results in inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of differentiation. Accompanying these events is an induction of retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ) expression, an increase in protein kinase Cα (PKCα) expression, and enhanced activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcriptional activity. These cells express nuclear RARα and RARγ and nuclear retinoid X receptors (RXR) α and β constitutively. We tested the ability of receptor-selective retinoids to induce the biochemical changes found in ATRA-treated melanoma cells and also tested their effectiveness in decreasing anchorage-dependent and -independent growth. The RXR-selective ligand (2E,4E)-6-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3,5,5,8,8-pentamethyl-2-naphthalenyl)-3,7-dimethyl-2,4,6-octatrienoic acid (SR11246) was …


Effect Of Aging On Cellular Mechanotransduction, Miaozong Wu, Jacqueline Fannin, Kevin M. Rice, Bin Wang, Eric R. Blough May 2013

Effect Of Aging On Cellular Mechanotransduction, Miaozong Wu, Jacqueline Fannin, Kevin M. Rice, Bin Wang, Eric R. Blough

Kevin M Rice

Aging is becoming a critical heath care issue and a burgeoning economic burden on society. Mechanotransduction is the ability of the cell to sense, process, and respond to mechanical stimuli and is an important regulator of physiologic function that has been found to play a role in regulating gene expression, protein synthesis, cell differentiation, tissue growth, and most recently, the pathophysiology of disease. Here we will review some of the recent findings of this field and attempt, where possible, to present changes in mechanotransduction that are associated with the aging process in several selected physiological systems, including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, neuronal, …


Effects Of Aging On Pressure-Induced Mapk Activation In The Rat Aorta, Kevin M. Rice May 2013

Effects Of Aging On Pressure-Induced Mapk Activation In The Rat Aorta, Kevin M. Rice

Kevin M Rice

With age, the cardiovascular system experiences substantial alterations in cellular morphology and function. The factors regulating these changes are unknown; however, the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways have emerged as critical components for mediating numerous cellular responses including control of cell growth, differentiation and adaptation. Here we compare the expression, basal activation and the ability of increased pressure to activate the MAPK pathways in adult (6 month old), aged (30 month old) and very aged (36 month old) Fischer 344 x Brown Norway F1 Hybrid rats. Histochemical analysis demonstrated an age-related increase in tunica media thickness of approximately 11% …


Mussel Inspired Protein-Mediated Surface Modification To Electrospun Fibers And Their Potential Biomedical Applications, Jingwei Xie, Praveesuda Lorwattanapongsa Michael, Shaoping Zhong, Bing Ma, Matthew R. Macewan, Chwee Teck Lim Mar 2013

Mussel Inspired Protein-Mediated Surface Modification To Electrospun Fibers And Their Potential Biomedical Applications, Jingwei Xie, Praveesuda Lorwattanapongsa Michael, Shaoping Zhong, Bing Ma, Matthew R. Macewan, Chwee Teck Lim

Praveesuda Lorwattanapongsa Michael

Mussel inspired proteins have been demonstrated to serve as a versatile biologic adhesive with numerous applications. The present study illustrates the use of such Mussel inspired proteins (polydopamine) in the fabrication of functionalized bio-inspired nanomaterials capable of both improving cell response and sustained delivery of model probes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirmed the ability of dopamine to polymerize on the surface of plasma-treated, electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fiber mats to form polydopamine coating. Transmission electron microscopy images demonstrated that self-polymerization of dopamine was induced by pH shift and that the thickness of polydopamine coating was readily modulated by adjusting the concentration …


Effect Of Aging On Cellular Mechanotransduction, Miaozong Wu, Jacqueline Fannin, Kevin M. Rice, Bin Wang, Eric R. Blough Feb 2013

Effect Of Aging On Cellular Mechanotransduction, Miaozong Wu, Jacqueline Fannin, Kevin M. Rice, Bin Wang, Eric R. Blough

Bin Wang

Aging is becoming a critical heath care issue and a burgeoning economic burden on society. Mechanotransduction is the ability of the cell to sense, process, and respond to mechanical stimuli and is an important regulator of physiologic function that has been found to play a role in regulating gene expression, protein synthesis, cell differentiation, tissue growth, and most recently, the pathophysiology of disease. Here we will review some of the recent findings of this field and attempt, where possible, to present changes in mechanotransduction that are associated with the aging process in several selected physiological systems, including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, neuronal, …


Capsaicin Displays Anti-Proliferative Activity Against Human Small Cell Lung Cancer In Cell Culture And Nude Mice Models Via The E2f Pathway, Kathleen C. Brown, Theodore R. Witte, W. Elaine Hardman, Haitao Luo, Yi C. Chen, A. Betts Carpenter, Jamie K. Lau, Piyali Dasgupta Jan 2013

Capsaicin Displays Anti-Proliferative Activity Against Human Small Cell Lung Cancer In Cell Culture And Nude Mice Models Via The E2f Pathway, Kathleen C. Brown, Theodore R. Witte, W. Elaine Hardman, Haitao Luo, Yi C. Chen, A. Betts Carpenter, Jamie K. Lau, Piyali Dasgupta

A. Betts Carpenter

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by rapid progression and low survival rates. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents are urgently needed for this disease. Capsaicin, the active ingredient of chilli peppers, displays antiproliferative activity in prostate and epidermoid cancer in vitro. However, the anti-proliferative activity of capsaicin has not been studied in human SCLCs. The present manuscript fills this void of knowledge and explores the anti-proliferative effect of capsaicin in SCLC in vitro and in vivo. Methodology/Principal Findings: BrdU assays and PCNA ELISAs showed that capsaicin displays robust anti-proliferative activity in four human SCLC cell lines. Furthermore, capsaicin potently …