Monocytes as Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs), Another Brick in the Wall to Disentangle Tumor Angiogenesis

The project was funded by IPOLFG, EPE, by iNOVA4Health (UID/Multi/04462/2019) a program financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência, through national funds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and by Fundação para a Ciência eTecnologia (PhD student fellowship: PD/BD/128337/2017).Bone marrow contains endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) that, upon pro-angiogenic stimuli, migrate and differentiate into endothelial cells (ECs) and contribute to re-endothelialization and neo-vascularization. There are currently no reliable markers to characterize EPCs, leading to their inaccurate identification. In the past, we showed that, in a panel of tumors, some cells on the vessel wall co-expressed CD14 (monocytic marker) and CD31 (EC marker), indicating a putative differentiation route of monocytes into ECs. Herein, we disclosed monocytes as potential EPCs, using in vitro and in vivo models, and also addressed the cancer context. Monocytes acquired the capacity to express ECs markers and were able to be incorporated into blood vessels, contributing to cancer progression, by being incorporated in tumor neo-vasculature. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) push monocytes to EC differentiation, and this phenotype is reverted by cysteine (a scavenger and precursor of glutathione), which indicates that angiogenesis is controlled by the interplay between the oxidative stress and the scavenging capacity of the tumor microenvironment.publishersversionpublishe

Fibrinolytic protease production by new Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576 from Amazon lichens

Background: Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576 from Amazon lichens was studied to protease and fibrinolytic production. A 22 factorial experimental design was applied to optimize its protease enzyme production using two independent variables, namely soybean flour and glucose concentrations. Results: The optimal conditions to obtain high protease production (83.42 U/mL) were 1.26% soybean flour and 1.23% glucose concentration. A polynomial model was fitted to correlate the relationship between the two variables and protease activity. In relation to fibrinolytic activity, the highest activity of 706.5 mm2 was obtained at 1.7% soybean flour and 1.0% glucose concentration, which was 33% higher than plasmin. Fibrinolytic production was not optimized in the studied conditions. Conclusions: These results show that the optimization of the culture medium can enhance protease production, thus becoming a good process for further research. In addition, Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576, isolated from Amazon lichens, might be a potential strain for fibrinolytic protease production

Fibrinolytic protease production by new Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576 from amazon lichens

Background Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576 from Amazon lichens was studied to protease and fibrinolytic production. A 22 factorial experimental design was applied to optimize its protease enzyme production using two independent variables, namely soybean flour and glucose concentrations. Results The optimal conditions to obtain high protease production (83.42 U/mL) were 1.26% soybean flour and 1.23% glucose concentration. A polynomial model was fitted to correlate the relationship between the two variables and protease activity. In relation to fibrinolytic activity, the highest activity of 706.5 mm2 was obtained at 1.7% soybean flour and 1.0% glucose concentration, which was 33% higher than plasmin. Fibrinolytic production was not optimized in the studied conditions. Conclusions These results show that the optimization of the culture medium can enhance protease production, thus becoming a good process for further research. In addition, Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576, isolated from Amazon lichens, might be a potential strain for fibrinolytic protease production.The authors thank CAPES (National Council for the Improvement of Higher Education) for the scholarship and CNPq/RENORBIO (National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development, N. 55146/2010-3) and FACEPE (Fundacao de Amparo a Ciencia e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco, 0158-2.12/11) for the financial support

Intraocular pressure, specular microscopy, and prostaglandin E-2 concentration in dogs with mature and hypermature cataract

This study aimed to evaluate and correlate intraocular pressure (IOP), endothelial cell density (CD), and hexagonality (HEX), and the aqueous humor prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)) concentration in dogs with mature (MG, n = 8) and hypermature (HG, n = 8) cataracts. Eight laboratory beagles with no ocular abnormalities were included as a control group (CG). The IOP was measured using a digital applanation tonometer. Noncontact specular microscopy was used to evaluate CD and HEX. Samples of aqueous humor were used to determine prostaglandin E-2 concentration using enzyme-linked immunoassay. Data were compared by ANOVA and Bonferroni's multiple comparison test, and possible correlations among the PGE(2) aqueous concentration and corneal endothelium cell parameters were assessed by Person's test (P 0.05). PGE(2) values did not correlate with IOP, CD, and HEX in any group (P > 0.05). Although there were a small number of dogs studied, our results demonstrated that cataract progression from mature to hypermature did not have a significant change in PGE(2) aqueous concentration, IOP, corneal endothelial cell count, or morphology. In addition, PGE(2) concentration was not correlated with parameters of the corneal endothelium or IOP in dogs with mature or hypermature cataracts