182 research outputs found

    Удалители для асфальтосмолопарафиновых отложений месторождений Западного Казахстана

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    Signal transducers and activators of transcriptions (STAT) are key mediators of cytokine signaling. Moreover, these transcription factors play a crucial role in oncogenic signaling where inappropriate and sustained activation of STATs, especially STAT3, is a trait of many different cancers and their derived cell lines. Constitutively active STAT3 has been reported to prevent programmed cell death and enhance cell proliferation, whereas the disruption of STAT3 signaling can inhibit tumor growth. The physiologic activation of STAT3 by cytokines has been well established; however, little is known about altered, stimulation-independent STAT3 activation. Here, we show that, in most but not all melanoma cell lines, STAT3 phosphorylation increased substantially with cell density and that this STAT3 was able to bind to DNA and to activate transcription. Inhibitor studies showed that the cell density-dependent STAT3 activation relies on Janus kinases (JAK) rather than Src kinases. Using a specific JAK inhibitor, sustained STAT3 activation was completely abrogated in all tested melanoma lines, whereas inhibition of Src or mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase 1/2 had no effect on constitutively tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT3 levels. Although STAT3 activation was completely blocked with JAK inhibitor I and to a lesser extent with the common JAK inhibitor AG490, only the latter compound markedly decreased proliferation and induced apoptosis. Taken together, variations in cell density can profoundly modify the extent of JAK-mediated persistent STAT3 phosphorylation; however, STAT3 activation was not sufficient to provide critical growth and survival signals in melanoma cell lines

    IL-24: a classic cytokine and/or a potential cure for cancer?

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    IL-24, a member of the IL-10 family of cytokines, is produced by monocytes and Th2 cells. Interestingly, immune cells do not appear to express specific IL-24 receptor chains (IL-20R1/IL-20R2 and IL-22R/IL-20R2), it is therefore unlikely that IL-24 has classical immune-modulating properties. Skin, on the other hand, seems to represent a major target tissue for IL-24 and related cytokines such as IL-19, -20, and -22. However, the initial interest in IL-24 did not arise from its physiological signalling properties through its cognate receptors but rather because of its tentative ability to selectively kill different cancer cells. In an attempt to further investigate the signalling events underlying the IL-24-induced cancer cell death, we found that melanoma cell lines did not react in the expected and previously described way. Using several different forms and delivery modes of IL-24, we were unable to detect any apoptosis-inducing properties of this cytokine in melanoma cells. In the present "Point of view" we will briefly summarise these findings and put them in context of published reports stating that IL-24 might be a long sought after treatment for several types of cancer

    Distinct Cargos of Small Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Hypoxic Cells and Their Effect on Cancer Cells

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    Hypoxia is a common hallmark of solid tumors and is associated with aggressiveness, metastasis and poor outcome. Cancer cells under hypoxia undergo changes in metabolism and there is an intense crosstalk between cancer cells and cells from the tumor microenvironment. This cross talk is facilitated by small extracellular vesicles (sEVs; diameter between 30 and 200 nm), including exosomes and microvesicles, which carry a cargo of proteins, mRNA, ncRNA and other biological molecules. Hypoxia is known to increase secretion of sEVs and has an impact on the composition of the cargo. This sEV-mediated crosstalk ultimately leads to various biological effects in the proximal tumor microenvironment but also at distant, future metastatic sites. In this review, we discuss the changes induced by hypoxia on sEV secretion and their cargo as well as their effects on the behaviour and metabolism of cancer cells, the tumor microenvironment and metastatic events

    Recombinant Interleukin-24 Lacks Apoptosis-Inducing Properties in Melanoma Cells

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    IL-24, also known as melanoma differentiation antigen 7 (mda-7), is a member of the IL-10 family of cytokines and is mainly produced by Th2 cells as well as by activated monocytes. Binding of IL-24 to either of its two possible heterodimeric receptors IL-20R1/IL-20R2 and IL-22R/IL-20R2 activates STAT3 and/or STAT1 in target tissues such as lung, testis, ovary, keratinocytes and skin. To date, the physiological properties of IL-24 are still not well understood but available data suggest that IL-24 affects epidermal functions by increasing proliferation of dermal cells. In stark contrast to its “normal” and physiological behaviour, IL-24 has been reported to selectively and efficiently kill a vast variety of cancer cells, especially melanoma cells, independent of receptor expression and Jak-STAT signalling. These intriguing properties have led to the development of adenovirally-expressed IL-24, which is currently being evaluated in clinical trials. Using three different methods, we have analysed a large panel of melanoma cell lines with respect to IL-24 and IL-24 receptor expression and found that none of the investigated cell lines expressed sufficient amounts of functional receptor pairs and therefore did not react to IL-24 stimulation with Jak/STAT activation. Results for three cell lines contrasted with previous studies, which reported presence of IL-24 receptors and activation of STAT3 following IL-24 stimulation. Furthermore, evaluating four different sources and modes of IL-24 administration (commercial recombinant IL-24, bacterially expressed GST-IL-24 fusion protein, IL-24 produced from transfected Hek cells, transiently over-expressed IL-24) no induction or increase in cell death was detected when compared to appropriate control treatments. Thus, we conclude that the cytokine IL-24 itself has no cancer-specific apoptosis-inducing properties in melanoma cells

    Signal transduction, receptors, mediators and genes: younger than ever - the 13th meeting of the Signal Transduction Society focused on aging and immunology

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    The 13th meeting of the Signal Transduction Society was held in Weimar, from October 28 to 30, 2009. Special focus of the 2009 conference was "Aging and Senescence", which was co-organized by the SFB 728 "Environmentally-Induced Aging Processes" of the University of Düsseldorf and the study group 'Signal Transduction' of the German Society for Cell Biology (DGZ). In addition, several other areas of signal transduction research were covered and supported by different consortia associated with the Signal Transduction Society including the long-term associated study groups of the German Society for Immunology and the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and for instance the SFB/Transregio 52 "Transcriptional Programming of Individual T Cell Subsets" located in Würzburg, Mainz and Berlin. The different research areas that were introduced by outstanding keynote speakers attracted more than 250 scientists, showing the timeliness and relevance of the interdisciplinary concept and exchange of knowledge during the three days of the scientific program. This report gives an overview of the presentations of the conference

    A novel nuclear antigen

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    The human oestrogen receptor (hER) mediates some effects of the steroid hormone oestrogen and functions as a ligand-dependent transcription factor in the nuclei of oestrogen-sensitive cells. The measurement of hER levels in breast cancer biopsies provides useful clinical information regarding therapy and prognosis. The current study describes a monoclonal antibody raised against hER aa 497-507 which recognises a novel nuclear antigen. Monoclonal antibodies were raised by immunising mice with a synthetic fragment of the hER (aa 497-507) conjugated to keyhole lymphocyte haemocyanin. Thirty antibody secreting hybridomas were identified. Hybridoma supernatants were characterised by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunological staining using MCF-7 cells, binding studies, and SDS-PAGE Western blotting. One supernatant (15F6) displayed nuclear staining in fixed MCF -7 cells. Staining could be abolished by pre-incubation of the supernatant with the aa 497-507 peptide and peptide conjugates, but not with an unrelated hER peptide (aa 256-275). This antibody also stained the nuclei of hER negative breast cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-330, the breast cell line T47D, and liver cell line HepG2. Immunological staining of human tissue sections reveal the antigen to be present in the nuclei of keratocytes in skin and tubule and luminal endothelial cells of the kidney. The antibody identified a 120 kD band on Western blots with cytosols prepared from human breast cell lines and in solubilised cells. The antibody does not precipitate 16a-iodooestradiol-labelled ER from MCF-7 cells. Expression-linked screening of the MCF-7 cDNA library with antibody 15F6 identified nine positive clones. Antibody staining could be blocked by pre-incubating the antibody with hER aa 497-507-BSA conjugate, but not with an unrelated hER peptide conjugate. The (260 bp) clones were found to be identical. Submission of sequence to BLAST protein and nucleotide databases revealed a lack of homology to known proteins and genes. Sequence was matched to expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from brain, liver/spleen, uterus, ovary, colon, heart, and placenta. To further define the epitope of antibody 15F6, the sequence was translated and three peptides containing potential epitopes, comparable to the hER aa 497-507 region, were synthesised and tested by ELISA. The putative epitope was shown to be contained within one of these peptides

    Systematic transcriptional profiling of responses to STAT1- and STAT3- activating cytokines in different cancer types

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    Cytokines orchestrate responses to pathogens and in inflammatory processes but they also play an important role in cancer by shaping the expression levels of cytokine response genes. Here, we conducted a large profiling study comparing miRNome and mRNA transcriptome data generated following different cytokine stimulations. Transcriptomic responses to STAT1- (IFN, IL-27) and STAT3-activating cytokines (IL6, OSM) were systematically compared in nine cancerous and nonneoplastic cell lines of different tissue origins (skin, liver and colon). The largest variation in our datasets was seen between cell lines of the three different tissues rather than stimuli. Notably, the variability in miRNome datasets was a lot more pronounced than in mRNA data. Our data also revealed that cells of skin, liver and colon tissues respond very differently to cytokines and that the cell signaling networks activated or silenced in response to STAT1- or STAT3- activating cytokines are specific to the tissue and the type of cytokine. However, globally, STAT1-activating cytokines had stronger effects than STAT3-inducing cytokines with most significant responses in liver cells, showing more genes up-regulated and with higher fold change. A more detailed analysis of gene regulations upon cytokine stimulation in these cells provided insights into STAT1- versus STAT3-driven processes in hepatocarcinogenesis. Finally, independent component analysis revealed interconnected transcriptional networks distinct between cancer cells and their healthy counterparts

    Hypoxia-Induced Adaptations of miRNomes and Proteomes in Melanoma Cells and Their Secreted Extracellular Vesicles

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    Reduced levels of intratumoural oxygen are associated with hypoxia-induced pro-oncogenic events such as invasion, metabolic reprogramming, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, metastasis and resistance to therapy, all favouring cancer progression. Small extracellular vesicles (EV) shuttle various cargos (proteins, miRNAs, DNA and others). Tumour-derived EVs can be taken up by neighbouring or distant cells in the tumour microenvironment, thus facilitating intercellular communication. The quantity of extracellular vesicle secretion and their composition can vary with changing microenvironmental conditions and disease states. Here, we investigated in melanoma cells the influence of hypoxia on the content and number of secreted EVs. Whole miRNome and proteome profiling revealed distinct expression patterns in normoxic or hypoxic growth conditions. Apart from the well-known miR-210, we identified miR-1290 as a novel hypoxia-associated microRNA, which was highly abundant in hypoxic EVs. On the other hand, miR-23a-5p and -23b-5p were consistently downregulated in hypoxic conditions, while the protein levels of the miR-23a/b-5p-predicted targetIPO11were concomitantly upregulated. Furthermore, hypoxic melanoma EVs exhibit a signature consisting of six proteins (AKR7A2, DDX39B, EIF3C, FARSA, PRMT5, VARS), which were significantly associated with a poor prognosis for melanoma patients, indicating that proteins and/or miRNAs secreted by cancer cells may be exploited as biomarkers
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