19 research outputs found
An Overview of the Molecular Cues and Their Intracellular Signaling Shared by Cancer and the Nervous System: From Neurotransmitters to Synaptic Proteins, Anatomy of an All-Inclusive Cooperation
We propose an overview of the molecular cues and their intracellular signaling involved in the crosstalk between cancer and the nervous system. While “cancer neuroscience” as a field is still in its infancy, the relation between cancer and the nervous system has been known for a long time, and a huge body of experimental data provides evidence that tumor–nervous system connections are widespread. They encompass different mechanisms at different tumor progression steps, are multifaceted, and display some intriguing analogies with the nervous system’s physiological processes. Overall, we can say that many of the paradigmatic “hallmarks of cancer” depicted by Weinberg and Hanahan are affected by the nervous system in a variety of manners
Modulation of Angiopoietin 2 release from endothelial cells and angiogenesis by the synaptic protein Neuroligin 2
Inducible lectins with galectin properties and human IL1 alpha epitopes opsonize yeast during the inflammatory response of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis
Hemocytes from the ascidian Ciona intestinalis exert in vitro Ca2+-dependent cytotoxic activity
toward mammalian erythrocytes and K562 cells. To examine the lytic mechanism, hemocyte
populations were separated (B1-B6 bands) through a Percoll discontinuous density gradient, the
hemocyte cytotoxic activity (HCA) and the lytic activity of the hemocyte lysate supernatant (HLS)
were assayed. In addition the separated hemocytes were cultured and the cell free medium (CFM)
assayed after 3h culture. Results support that unilocular refractile hemocytes (URGs), enriched in
B5, are cytotoxic. The B5-HLS contains lysins and the activity of B5-CFM shows that lysisns can
be released into a culture medium. The B5 activity was blocked by D-Galactose, α-Lactose,
Lactulose, LacNAc, thiodigalactoside (TDG), L-Fucose, D-Mannose, D-Glucose, sphingomyelin
(SM), and soluble phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) inhibitors (dibucain, quinacrine). Accordingly, HLS
chemico-physical properties (alkaline medium, high termostability, Ca2+-dependence, trypsin
treatment, protease inhibitors) and SEM observations of the affected targets suggested that sPLA2
could be responsible for changes and large alterations of the target cell membrane. An apoptotic
activity, as recorded by a caspase 3, 7 assay, was found by treating K562 cells with very diluted
HLS. A lytic mechanism involving sPLA2 and lectins promptly released by URGs and morula cells
respectively is suggested, whereas target cell membrane SM could be a modulator of the enzyme
activity
FACIT collagen (1alpha-chain) is expressed by hemocytes and epidermis during the inflammatory response of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis
Based on previous cloning and sequencing study, real-time PCR and in situ hybridization
assays of the inflamed body wall of LPS-injected Ciona intestinalis showed the enhanced
gene expression of a collagen with FACIT structural features (Ci-type IX-Col 1a-chain). By
using specific antibodies raised against an opportunely chosen Ci-type IX-Col synthetic
peptide, the fibroblast property of hemocytes challenged in vitro with LPS (at 4 h) was
displayed by flow cytometry, while immunocytochemistry identified hemocytes with large
granules (morula cells) as collagen-producing cells. Hemocyte lysate supernatant analyzed
in immunoblotting contained a 60 kDa band identifiable as 1a-chain-Ci-type IX-Col.
Observations of body wall sections (immunohistochemistry method) supported the role of
hemocytes and showed that epidermis expressed Ci-type IX-Col 1a-chain in the time course
of the inflammatory reaction (within 24 h). Transcript and protein were mainly found in the
epidermis that outlined the proximal side of the tunic matrix (at 24 h after LPS injection),
in cells associated with the epidermis at 4 and 192 h. In conclusion, the C. intestinalis
inflammatory response to LPS challenge appeared to be composed of a complex reaction
set, and for the first time we showed in ascidians a granulation tissue with FACIT-collagen
production that could participate in inflammation and wound healing. Like in vertebrates,
C. intestinalis acute inflammatory reactions result in a regulated pattern of tissue repair
with collagen expression during remodelling. Ci-type IX-Col could be involved in a network
of non-fibril-forming collagens that participates in the organization of extracellular matrix
and defense responses