Serial selection for invasiveness increases expression of miR-143/miR-145 in glioblastoma cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary central nervous system malignancy and its unique invasiveness renders it difficult to treat. This invasive phenotype, like other cellular processes, may be controlled in part by microRNAs - a class of small non-coding RNAs that act by altering the expression of targeted messenger RNAs. In this report, we demonstrate a straightforward method for creating invasive subpopulations of glioblastoma cells (IM3 cells). To understand the correlation between the expression of miRNAs and the invasion, we fully profiled 1263 miRNAs on six different cell lines and two miRNAs, miR-143 and miR-145, were selected for validation of their biological properties contributing to invasion. Further, we investigated an ensemble effect of both miR-143 and miR-145 in promoting invasion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>By repeated serial invasion through Matrigel^®-coated membranes, we isolated highly invasive subpopulations of glioma cell lines. Phenotypic characterization of these cells included <it>in vitro </it>assays for proliferation, attachment, and invasion. Micro-RNA expression was compared using miRCURY arrays (Exiqon). In situ hybridization allowed visualization of the regional expression of miR-143 and miR-145 in tumor samples, and antisense probes were used investigate <it>in vitro </it>phenotypic changes seen with knockdown in their expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The phenotype we created in these selected cells proved stable over multiple passages, and their microRNA expression profiles were measurably different. We found that two specific microRNAs expressed from the same genetic locus, miR-143 and miR-145, were over-expressed in our invasive subpopulations. Further, we also found that combinatorial treatment of these cells with both antisense-miRNAs (antimiR-143 and -145) will abrogated their invasion without decreasing cell attachment or proliferation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To best of our knowledge, these data demonstrate for the first time that miR-143 and miR-145 regulate the invasion of glioblastoma and that miR-143 and -145 could be potential therapeutic target for anti-invasion therapies of glioblastoma patients.</p

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Leishmania OligoC-TesT and NASBA-Oligochromatography for Diagnosis of Leishmaniasis in Sudan

The leishmaniases are a group of vector-borne diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The parasites are transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies and can cause, depending on the infecting species, three clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis: visceral leishmaniasis (VL), post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) including the mucocutaneous form. VL, PKDL as well as CL are endemic in several parts of Sudan, and VL especially represents a major health problem in this country. Molecular tests such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or nucleic acid sequence based assay (NASBA) are powerful techniques for accurate detection of the parasite in clinical specimens, but broad use is hampered by their complexity and lack of standardisation. Recently, the Leishmania OligoC-TesT and NASBA-Oligochromatography were developed as simplified and standardised PCR and NASBA formats. In this study, both tests were phase II evaluated for diagnosis of VL, PKDL and CL in Sudan

A global phylogeny of butterflies reveals their evolutionary history, ancestral hosts and biogeographic origins

Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,300 butterfly species, sampled from 90 countries and 28 specimen collections, to reconstruct a new phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera. Our phylogeny has strong support for nearly all nodes and demonstrates that at least 36 butterfly tribes require reclassification. Divergence time analyses imply an origin similar to 100 million years ago for butterflies and indicate that all but one family were present before the K/Pg extinction event. We aggregated larval host datasets and global distribution records and found that butterflies are likely to have first fed on Fabaceae and originated in what is now the Americas. Soon after the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, butterflies crossed Beringia and diversified in the Palaeotropics. Our results also reveal that most butterfly species are specialists that feed on only one larval host plant family. However, generalist butterflies that consume two or more plant families usually feed on closely related plants

Galectin-1, a gene preferentially expressed at the tumor margin, promotes glioblastoma cell invasion

BACKGROUND: High-grade gliomas, including glioblastomas (GBMs), are recalcitrant to local therapy in part because of their ability to invade the normal brain parenchyma surrounding these tumors. Animal models capable of recapitulating glioblastoma invasion may help identify mediators of this aggressive phenotype. METHODS: Patient-derived glioblastoma lines have been propagated in our laboratories and orthotopically xenografted into the brains of immunocompromized mice. Invasive cells at the tumor periphery were isolated using laser capture microdissection. The mRNA expression profile of these cells was compared to expression at the tumor core, using normal mouse brain to control for host contamination. Galectin-1, a target identified by screening the resulting data, was stably over-expressed in the U87MG cell line. Sub-clones were assayed for attachment, proliferation, migration, invasion, and in vivo tumor phenotype. RESULTS: Expression microarray data identified galectin-1 as the most potent marker (p-value 4.0 x 10(-8)) to identify GBM cells between tumor-brain interface as compared to the tumor core. Over-expression of galectin-1 enhanced migration and invasion in vitro. In vivo, tumors expressing high galectin-1 levels showed enhanced invasion and decreased host survival. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, cells at the margin of glioblastoma, in comparison to tumor core cells, have enhanced expression of mediators of invasion. Galectin-1 is likely one such mediator. Previous studies, along with the current one, have proven galectin-1 to be important in the migration and invasion of glioblastoma cells, in GBM neoangiogenesis, and also, potentially, in GBM immune privilege. Targeting this molecule may offer clinical improvement to the current standard of glioblastoma therapy, i.e. radiation, temozolomide, anti-angiogenic therapy, and vaccinotherapy

Correction to: inhibition of p38 MAPK activity leads to cell type-specific effects on the molecular circadian clock and time-dependent reduction of glioma cell invasiveness

Following publication of the original article [1], we have been notified that the tagging of one of the author names was done incorrectly in the XML version of the paper. The online and pdf versions of this paper are not affected by the change. Original and corrected tagging can be seen below. The original article has been corrected

Sustainable responses in metastatic melanoma patients with and without brain metastases after elective discontinuation of anti-PD1-based immunotherapy due to complete response

BACKGROUND Anti-PD1-based immunotherapy is currently used in most patients with advanced melanoma. Despite the remarkable data regarding overall survival, the optimal treatment duration is still unknown. METHODS We evaluated the outcome of 125 patients with advanced melanoma with and without brain metastases (MBM), treated either with anti-PD1 monotherapy (N = 97) or combined with anti-CTLA4 (N = 28) after elective treatment discontinuation due to complete response (CR) (group A, N = 86), or treatment-limiting toxicity (N = 33) and investigator's decision (ID, N = 6) (group B) with subsequent CR. RESULTS For group A, median duration of treatment (mDoT) was 22 months (range 5-49) and median time to CR 9 months (range 2-47). Accordingly, mDoT for group B was 3 months (range 0-36) and median time to CR 7 months (range 1-32). Seven patients from group A and three from group B experienced disease recurrence. Off-treatment survival was not reached. Median off-treatment response time (mOTRt) was 19 months (range 0-42) and 25 months (range 0-66), respectively. For MBM, mOTRt was 17 months (range 7-41) and 28 months (range 9-39), respectively. After a median follow-up of 38 months (range 9-70), seven (5.6%) patients had deceased, one (0.8%) due to melanoma. CONCLUSIONS Treatment discontinuation is feasible also in patients with MBM. Efficacy outcomes seemed to be similar in both groups of patients who achieved CR, regardless of reason for discontinuation. In patients who experienced disease relapse, treatment re-challenge with anti-PD1 resulted in subsequent renewed response

Additional file 1: of Inhibition of p38 MAPK activity leads to cell type-specific effects on the molecular circadian clock and time-dependent reduction of glioma cell invasiveness

Full western blots of gels from Fig. 1. (DOXC 243kb

Additional file 2: of Inhibition of p38 MAPK activity leads to cell type-specific effects on the molecular circadian clock and time-dependent reduction of glioma cell invasiveness

Full western blots of gels from Fig. 5. (DOXC 200kb

Sustainable responses in metastatic melanoma patients with and without brain metastases after elective discontinuation of anti-PD1-based immunotherapy due to complete response.

Anti-PD1-based immunotherapy is currently used in most patients with advanced melanoma. Despite the remarkable data regarding overall survival, the optimal treatment duration is still unknown. We evaluated the outcome of 125 patients with advanced melanoma with and without brain metastases (MBM), treated either with anti-PD1 monotherapy (N = 97) or combined with anti-CTLA4 (N = 28) after elective treatment discontinuation due to complete response (CR) (group A, N = 86), or treatment-limiting toxicity (N = 33) and investigator's decision (ID, N = 6) (group B) with subsequent CR. For group A, median duration of treatment (mDoT) was 22 months (range 5-49) and median time to CR 9 months (range 2-47). Accordingly, mDoT for group B was 3 months (range 0-36) and median time to CR 7 months (range 1-32). Seven patients from group A and three from group B experienced disease recurrence. Off-treatment survival was not reached. Median off-treatment response time (mOTRt) was 19 months (range 0-42) and 25 months (range 0-66), respectively. For MBM, mOTRt was 17 months (range 7-41) and 28 months (range 9-39), respectively. After a median follow-up of 38 months (range 9-70), seven (5.6%) patients had deceased, one (0.8%) due to melanoma. Treatment discontinuation is feasible also in patients with MBM. Efficacy outcomes seemed to be similar in both groups of patients who achieved CR, regardless of reason for discontinuation. In patients who experienced disease relapse, treatment re-challenge with anti-PD1 resulted in subsequent renewed response