Transdifferentiation of MALME-3M and MCF-7 Cells toward Adipocyte-like Cells is Dependent on Clathrin-mediated Endocytosis

Cancer cells as a new source of induced pluripotent stem cells

Over the last 2 decades, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have had various potential applications in various medical research areas, from personalized medicine to disease treatment. Different cellular resources are accessible for iPSC generation, such as keratinocytes, skin fibroblasts, and blood or urine cells. However, all these sources are somatic cells, and we must make several changes in a somatic cell's transcriptome and chromatin state to become a pluripotent cell. It has recently been revealed that cancer cells can be a new source of iPSCs production. Cancer cells show similarities with iPSCs in self-renewal capacity, reprogramming potency, and signaling pathways. Although genetic abnormalities and potential tumor formation in cancer cells pose a severe risk, reprogrammed cancer-induced pluripotent stem cells (cancer-iPSCs) indicate that pluripotency can transiently overcome the cancer phenotype. This review discusses whether cancer cells can be a preferable source to generate iPSCs.

Neurotropin Inhibits Lipid Accumulation by Maintaining Mitochondrial Function in Hepatocytes via AMPK Activation

The accumulation of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes, known as hepatic steatosis, is a hallmark of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Inhibiting hepatic steatosis is suggested to be a therapeutic strategy for NAFLD. The present study investigated the actions of Neurotropin (NTP), a drug used for chronic pain in Japan and China, on lipid accumulation in hepatocytes as a possible treatment for NAFLD. NTP inhibited lipid accumulation induced by palmitate and linoleate, the two major hepatotoxic free fatty acids found in NAFLD livers. An RNA sequencing analysis revealed that NTP altered the expression of mitochondrial genes. NTP ameliorated palmitate-and linoleate-induced mitochondrial dysfunction by reversing mitochondrial membrane potential, respiration, and β-oxidation, suppressing mitochondrial oxidative stress, and enhancing mitochondrial turnover. Moreover, NTP increased the phosphorylation of AMPK, a critical factor in the regulation of mitochondrial function, and induced PGC-1β expression. Inhibition of AMPK activity and PGC-1β expression diminished the anti-steatotic effect of NTP in hepatocytes. JNK inhibition could also be associated with NTP-mediated inhibition of lipid accumulation, but we did not find the association between AMPK and JNK. These results suggest that NTP inhibits lipid accumulation by maintaining mitochondrial function in hepatocytes via AMPK activation, or by inhibiting JNK.

Data quality aware analysis of differential expression in RNA-seq with NOISeq R/Bioc package

As the use of RNA-seq has popularized, there is an increasing consciousness of the importance of experimental design, bias removal, accurate quantification and control of false positives for proper data analysis. We introduce the NOISeq R-package for quality control and analysis of count data. We show how the available diagnostic tools can be used to monitor quality issues, make pre-processing decisions and improve analysis. We demonstrate that the non-parametric NOISeqBIO efficiently controls false discoveries in experiments with biological replication and outperforms state-of-the-art methods. NOISeq is a comprehensive resource that meets current needs for robust data-aware analysis of RNA-seq differential expression.