SV40 virus transformation down-regulates endothelin receptor

Appropriate citation of placenta cell lines 3A(tPA-30-1) and 3A-sub E [post crisis of 3A(tPA-30-1)] in medical literature

Introduction

To determine how often placenta cell lines 3A (tPA-30-1) and 3A-sub E [post crisis of 3A (tPA-30-1)] are appropriately cited, or identified, as "term"-gestation placental cell lines in medical literature.

Methods

We performed a literature search on two databases, PubMed and One Search, using the terms "3A (tPA-30-1)," "3Asub-E," "3AsubE," "tPA-30-1," "tPA30-1," and "3A AND (placenta OR placental OR trophoblast OR trophoblastic) AND (cell OR line OR cell line)." Of the 218 citations retrieved, 181 were excluded due to duplication, article content irrelevance or lack of access to a full manuscript. The remaining 37 citations were thoroughly reviewed for 1)the presence of a full citation as designated by the supplier, and 2)the identification of the placental lines as "term."

Results

Of the 37 eligible citations included in the study, five demonstrated complete identifications of the placental cell lines of interest, while 32 demonstrated partial identifications that failed to match the designations provided by the manufacturer. Furthermore, of the 37 citations, eight accurately identified the cell lines as "term," while 27 lacked any description of gestational age, and two incorrectly identified them as "first trimester" cell lines. Overall, only three citations contained both a full citation and correct identification as a "term" placenta cell line.

Discussion

Only 5 of the 37 (13.5%) publications demonstrated a complete citation and only 8 publications accurately identified the gestational age of the placenta cell line as "term". Such findings confirm the need for a representative set of standards for the documentation of cell lines to improve the quality of publications in the scientific community.

Developmental expression of endothelin receptors in postnatal swine mesenteric artery

Studies were conducted to determine whether endothelin (ET) ETA and ETB receptor protein and mRNA expression is developmentally regulated in the postnatal swine mesenteric circulation. To this end, Western blotting and real-time reverse PCR were performed on protein and total RNA isolated from the mesenteric artery harvested from 3-, 10-, and 30-d-old swine. Western blot analysis revealed that ETA and ETB receptor protein expression in the swine mesenteric artery decreased over the age range studied; thus, ETA and ETB receptor protein expression was significantly greater in the 3-d-old group then progressively declined over the first postnatal month. Similar to the Western data, real-time PCR analysis revealed that ETA and ETB receptor mRNA expression also decreased over the age range studied; thus, ETA and ETB receptor mRNA expression was significantly greater in the 3-d-old group then progressively declined over the first postnatal month. Immunohistochemistry localized the ETA receptor to the vascular smooth muscle and the ETB receptor to the endothelial cell layer. Additionally, we report a partial cDNA sequence for the swine ETB receptor. We conclude that ETA and ETB receptor protein and mRNA expression is developmentally regulated in the postnatal swine mesenteric artery, being expressed to a greater degree in younger animals.