Regulation of TGF-Β1-Induced Apoptosis and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition by Matrix Rigidity

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) plays an important role in several diseases that characteristically involve changes in tissue rigidity, such as cancer and tissue fibrosis. To determine whether matrix rigidity regulates the effects of TGF-β, we examined NMuMG and MDCK epithelial cells cultured on polyacrylamide gels with varying rigidity and treated with TGF-β1. Decreasing matrix rigidity reduced cell spreading and increased TGF-β1-induced apoptosis, while increasing matrix rigidity resulted in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). To more carefully control cell spreading, microcontact printing was used to restrict ECM area and revealed that reducing cell spreading also increased apoptosis. Apoptosis on compliant substrates was associated with decreased FAK expression, and FAK overexpression rescued cell survival but not EMT. Further investigation revealed manipulations of FAK activity, using pharmacological inhibitors or expression of FAK mutants, did not affect apoptosis or EMT, suggesting that FAK regulates apoptosis through expression but not activity. Additional investigation into the signaling pathways regulated by rigidity revealed a role for PI3K/Akt. We observed increased Akt activity with increasing rigidity, and that PI3K/Akt activity was necessary for cell survival and EMT on rigid substrates. These findings demonstrate that matrix rigidity regulates a switch in TGF-β-induced cell functions through rigidity-dependent regulation of FAK and PI3K, and suggest that changes in tissue mechanics during disease contribute to the cellular response to TGF-β

The American press and Latin American policy

This paper will attempt to define the type of image that the American press drew of America to the south during the administrations of Presidents Harding and Coolidge. Just as the ending of that period previewed the beginning of a period of friendship between the United States and Latin America, so it is hoped that the early 1960\u27s will also provide a preview of a better relationship among the Americas. This paper is intended to be an intellectual history -- a history of American thought, as reflected in the press, toward the Latin American republics other than those in South America during an eight year period

The Rustler Springs sulphur deposits

Accompanied by 1 foldout plate -- Plate 9 : Map showing locations of the Rutler Springs sulphur depositsUT Librarie

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 39, No. 3

• The General Store • Pennsylvania German in Public Life • Building a One-Room School: The Dynamics of School Board Decision-Making at the Turn of the 20th Century • Washington Hood: 500th Graduate of the United States Military Academy • Grandmother Schultz • Aldes un Neies (Old and New)https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1127/thumbnail.jp

Road-building materials in Texas

UT Librarie

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 42, No. 1

• The Trunk in the Attic was a Window • The Rural Pennsylvania-German Home and Family • The Happy Story of Georges Creek • Duties of a Rural School Board at the Turn of the Century • Aldes un Neies (Old and New)https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1135/thumbnail.jp

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 40, No. 3

• Home is Where the Hearth is • The Hearth is Where the Cook is • Philipps gehn in Amerka : The Palatinate Emigration in German Schoolbooks • The Barner Farm: A Connection to Clinton County\u27s Pennsylvania-German Heritage • A Teacher With a Heart: Carrie Frankenfield Horne • Aldes un Neies (Old and New)https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1131/thumbnail.jp

Characterization of toxic impacts on living marine resources in tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay

In 1999, the Chesapeake Bay Program completed a survey of existing data on chemical contaminants and the potential for bioeffects in 38 tidal river systems of Chesapeake Bay. This review led to the identification of 20 areas for which there were insufficient data to adequately characterize the potential for contaminant bioeffects on the Bay’s living resources. The goal of the present study was to estimate the current status of ecological condition in five of these areas and thus help to complete the overall toxics inventory for the Bay. These five systems included the Chester River, Nanticoke River, Pocomoke River, Lower Mobjack Bay (Poquosin and Back Rivers) and the South and Rhode Rivers. This study utilized a Sediment Quality Triad (SQT) approach in combination with additional water-column contaminant analysis to allow for a “weight of evidence” assessment of environmental condition. A total of 60 stations distributed among the five systems, using a probabilistic stratified random design, were sampled during the summer of 2004 to allow for synoptic measures of sediment contamination, sediment toxicity, and benthic condition. Upon completion of all analyses, stations were assigned to one of four categories based on the three legs of the triad. Stations with high sediment quality had no hits on any of the three legs of the triad; those with moderate quality had one hit; those with marginal quality had two hits; and those with poor quality had hits for all three legs of the triad. The Pocomoke River had by far the largest proportion of the total area (97.5%) classified as having high sediment quality, while the Rhode/South system had the highest proportion (11.4%) classified as poor. None of the stations in the Chester River, Nanticoke River, and Lower Mobjack Bay systems were classified as poor. More than 65% of the area of each of the five systems was classified with high to moderate sediment quality. The Rhode/South system had 30.4% of total area classified with marginally to severely poor quality. The results of this study highlight the importance of using multiple indicators and a “weight of evidence” approach to characterize environmental quality and the potential bioeffects of toxic contaminants

System size and energy dependence of near-side di-hadron correlations

Two-particle azimuthal ($\Delta\phi$) and pseudorapidity ($\Delta\eta$) correlations using a trigger particle with large transverse momentum ($p_T$) in $d$+Au, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV and 200~GeV from the STAR experiment at RHIC are presented. The \ns correlation is separated into a jet-like component, narrow in both $\Delta\phi$ and $\Delta\eta$, and the ridge, narrow in $\Delta\phi$ but broad in $\Delta\eta$. Both components are studied as a function of collision centrality, and the jet-like correlation is studied as a function of the trigger and associated $p_T$. The behavior of the jet-like component is remarkably consistent for different collision systems, suggesting it is produced by fragmentation. The width of the jet-like correlation is found to increase with the system size. The ridge, previously observed in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV, is also found in Cu+Cu collisions and in collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV, but is found to be substantially smaller at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV than at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV for the same average number of participants ($\langle N_{\mathrm{part}}\rangle$). Measurements of the ridge are compared to models.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.