Assessment of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and its relationship with proinflammatory cytokines and parameters of disease activity in multiple myeloma patients

Ex Vivo Human Colon Tissue Exposure to Pristine Graphene Activates Genes Involved in the Binding, Adhesion and Proliferation of Epithelial Cells

Toxicology studies on pristine graphene are limited and lack significant correlations with actual human response. The goal of the current study was to determine the response of total colonic human tissue to pristine graphene exposure. Biopsy punches of colon tissues from healthy human were used to assess the biological response after ex vivo exposure to graphene at three different concentrations (1, 10, and 100 µg/mL). mRNA expression of specific genes or intestinal cytokine abundance was assessed using real-time PCR or multiplex immunoassays, respectively. Pristine graphene-activated genes that are related to binding and adhesion (GTPase and KRAS) within 2 h of exposure. Furthermore, the PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen) gene was upregulated after exposure to graphene at all concentrations. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed that STAT3 and VEGF signaling pathways (known to be involved in cell proliferation and growth) were upregulated. Graphene exposure (10 µg/mL) for 24 h significantly increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IFNγ, IL-8, IL-17, IL-6, IL-9, MIP-1α, and Eotaxin. Collectively, these results indicated that graphene may activate the STAT3-IL23-IL17 response axis. The findings in this study provide information on toxicity evaluation using a human-relevant ex vivo colon model and serve as a basis for further exploration of its bio-applications.

Transcription/Replication Conflicts in Tumorigenesis and Their Potential Role as Novel Therapeutic Targets in Multiple Myeloma

Simple Summary

Multiple myeloma is a hematologic cancer characterized by the accumulation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow. It remains a mostly incurable disease due to the inability to overcome refractory disease and drug-resistant relapse. Oncogenic transformation of PC in multiple myeloma is thought to occur within the secondary lymphoid organs. However, the precise molecular events leading to myelomagenesis remain obscure. Here, we identified genes involved in the prevention and the resolution of conflicts between the replication and transcription significantly overexpressed during the plasma cell differentiation process and in multiple myeloma cells. We discussed the potential role of these factors in myelomagenesis and myeloma biology. The specific targeting of these factors might constitute a new therapeutic strategy in multiple myeloma.

Abstract

Plasma cells (PCs) have an essential role in humoral immune response by secretion of antibodies, and represent the final stage of B lymphocytes differentiation. During this differentiation, the pre-plasmablastic stage is characterized by highly proliferative cells that start to secrete immunoglobulins (Igs). Thus, replication and transcription must be tightly regulated in these cells to avoid transcription/replication conflicts (TRCs), which could increase replication stress and lead to genomic instability. In this review, we analyzed expression of genes involved in TRCs resolution during B to PC differentiation and identified 41 genes significantly overexpressed in the pre-plasmablastic stage. This illustrates the importance of mechanisms required for adequate processing of TRCs during PCs differentiation. Furthermore, we identified that several of these factors were also found overexpressed in purified PCs from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) compared to normal PCs. Malignant PCs produce high levels of Igs concomitantly with cell cycle deregulation. Therefore, increasing the TRCs occurring in MM cells could represent a potent therapeutic strategy for MM patients. Here, we describe the potential roles of TRCs resolution factors in myelomagenesis and discuss the therapeutic interest of targeting the TRCs resolution machinery in MM.

Silencing hsa_circ_0007841 Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Promotes Cell Apoptosis via Regulating miR-507 in Multiple Myeloma Cells

Recently study has indicated that hsa_circ_0007841 is up-regulated in patients with multiple myeloma and may act as an important biomarker in Multiple myeloma. However, the mechanisms and effects of hsa_circ_0007841 remain unclear and were firstly investigated herein. The gene expression level was detected via PCR assay. The CCK-8 assay was performed to measure the cell viability. The cell proliferation capacity was evaluated via colony formation assay. The protein express level was detected by western blot and cell apoptosis via flow cytometry. The target of hsa_circ_0007841 was predicted via CircInteractome online tool and validated by luciferase reporter assay. Hsa_circ_0007841 was overexpressed and miR-507 was poorly expressed in multiple myeloma cells. Silencing hsa_circ_0007841 has anti-proliferation and pro-apoptosis effects in multiple myeloma cells. MiR-507 was found to be the target of hsa_circ_0007841. Inhibition of miR-507 relieved the effects of silencing hsa_circ_0007841 in myeloma cells. Silencing hsa_circ_0007841 suppressed cellular proliferative ability and enhanced cell apoptosis rate via targeting and up-regulating miRNA-507 in multiple myeloma cells.

Cytokine profile in multiple myeloma

BACKGROUND

Cytokines play a crucial role in the growth, survival and dissemination of malignant plasma cells in patients of multiple myeloma (MM). We estimated concentrations of five key cytokines: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor- alpha (TNF- α), B-cell activating factor (BAFF), and Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-κB ligand (RANKL) in newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM).

METHODS

The study groups include 68 newly diagnosed and 21 relapsed/refractory (RR) MM patients. 32 out of 68 newly diagnosed MM patients were evaluated for serum cytokine concentrations after their treatment. For survival analysis, the various parameters were studied in relation to both progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

The median serum levels of VEGF, IL-6, BAFF and RANKL were higher in RRMM compared with newly diagnosed patients. However, the difference was significant for BAFF levels (p = 0.04). The median serum levels of VEGF, IL-6, TNF-α, BAFF and RANKL were significantly higher in newly diagnosed and RRMM patients, compared to controls. We also observed lower plasma levels of VEGF (p=<0.0001) and BAFF (p=<0.0001) in BM compartment compared to the levels in serum from peripheral blood of newly diagnosed patients. Significant reduction in the median levels of IL-6, TNF-α, BAFF and RANKL was seen after 4-6 cycles of induction treatment in responders but not in non-responders. On survival analysis, RRMM patients had inferior median OS and PFS compared to that in newly diagnosed MM patients and found to be significantly associated with low haemoglobin representing the more aggressive disease biology in recurrent myeloma. The mean levels of IL-6 were significantly different in patients who died as compared to patients who were alive.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study demonstrates that the serum levels of VEGF, IL-6, TNF, BAFF and RANKL are significantly elevated and decrease significantly after treatment. The concentrations of circulating cytokines will reflect those of the bone marrow and could be used for subsequent analyses.

Impaired Memory in OT-II Transgenic Mice Is Associated with Decreased Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis Possibly Induced by Alteration in Th2 Cytokine Levels

Recently, an increasing number of studies have focused on the effects of CD4+ T cell on cognitive function. However, the changes of Th2 cytokines in restricted CD4+ T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire model and their effects on the adult hippocampal neurogenesis and memory are not fully understood. Here, we investigated whether and how the mice with restricted CD4+ repertoire TCR exhibit learning and memory impairment by using OT-II mice. OT-II mice showed decreased adult neurogenesis in hippocampus and short- and long- term memory impairment. Moreover, Th2 cytokines in OT-II mice are significantly increased in peripheral organs and IL-4 is significantly increased in brain. Finally, IL-4 treatment significantly inhibited the proliferation of cultured adult rat hippocampal neural stem cells. Taken together, abnormal level of Th2 cytokines can lead memory dysfunction via impaired adult neurogenesis in OT-II transgenic.

A possible serologic biomarker for maternal immune activation-associated neurodevelopmental disorders found in the rat models

Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal infection during early pregnancy increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (i.e., schizophrenia or autism) in offspring. Recently, diagnostic/stratification biomarkers for the maternal immune activation background in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders have been energetically searched for in the patient blood. Here, we report a novel serologic marker candidate for the disorders found in the maternal immune activation (MIA) rat model. Serum proteome analysis of the MIA rat showed that the immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain is reproducibly augmented. The Ig light chain in sera takes two forms - free form or bound to the Ig heavy chain. Only the former is an inflammatory disease marker, but pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the sera of the MIA rats were below detectable limits of the ELISA protocol we used. We thereby carried out serum assays of Ig light chains and pro-inflammatory cytokines of commercially available schizophrenia patient sera for research. Although the number of samples was limited, we found augmentation of free Ig light chains but not pro-inflammatory cytokines in sporadic schizophrenia patient sera. Our findings suggest that Ig light chain assay of the schizophrenia/autism patient sera would be worthy to be validated in larger scale.

Effects of IL-8 Up-Regulation on Cell Survival and Osteoclastogenesis in Multiple Myeloma

IL-8 promotes cancer cell growth, survival, angiogenesis, and metastasis in several tumors. Herein, we investigated the sources of IL-8 production in multiple myeloma (MM) and its potential roles in MM pathogenesis. We found that bone marrow cells from patients with MM secreted higher amounts of IL-8 than healthy donors. IL-8 production was detected in cultures of CD138(+) plasma cells and CD138(-) cells isolated from bone marrows of MM patients, and in three of seven human myeloma cell lines (HMCLs) analyzed. Interactions between MM and stromal cells increased IL-8 secretion by stromal cells through cell-cell adhesion and soluble factors. Interestingly, IL8 expression also increased in HMCLs, stromal cells, and osteoclasts after treatment with the antimyeloma drugs melphalan and bortezomib. In fact, the effect of bortezomib on IL-8 production was higher than that exerted by stromal-MM cell interactions. Addition of exogenous IL-8 did not affect growth of HMCLs, although it protected cells from death induced by serum starvation through a caspase-independent mechanism. Furthermore, IL-8 induced by stromal-MM cell interactions strongly contributed to osteoclast formation in vitro, because osteoclastogenesis was markedly reduced by IL-8-specific neutralizing antibodies. In conclusion, our results implicate IL-8 in myeloma bone disease and point to the potential utility of an anti-IL-8 therapy to prevent unwanted effects of IL-8 up-regulation on survival, angiogenesis, and osteolysis in MM.

Clinical significance of interleukin-22 in multiple myeloma

OBJECTIVE

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is a cytokine participating in many aspects of inflammation. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease of plasma cells with characteristic immune deregulation. We estimated serum levels of IL-22 in MM patients, both in activity and remission, in order to apprehend its possible participation in MM biology.

METHODS

We measured serum levels of IL-22 along with beta-2 microglobulin (B2M), paraprotein, and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), as well as degree of bone marrow infiltration, in 51 patients with active MM and in 22 of them in remission.

RESULTS

We found that IL-22 was higher in active MM patients, compared to both controls and patients in remission, and also in patients in remission compared to controls. Moreover, IL-22 was increasing in parallel with the disease stage and also correlated with B2M, IL1-beta, and degree of infiltration.

DISCUSSION

We suggest that the elevated levels of IL-22 in active MM patients, in parallel with disease activity, and in positive correlation with IL-1beta, may represent the inflammatory element of the disease. This increased occurrence of IL-22 may enhance myeloma proliferation and growth, and moreover, may participate in the mechanisms of immune deregulation.

Histochemistry as an irreplaceable approach for investigating functional cytology and histology

In agreement with the evolution of histochemistry over the last fifty years and thanks to the impressive advancements in microscopy sciences, the application of cytochemical techniques to light and electron microscopy is more and more addressed to elucidate the functional characteristics of cells and tissue under different physiological, pathological or experimental conditions. Simultaneously, the mere description of composition and morphological features has become increasingly sporadic in the histochemical literature. Since basic research on cell functional organization is essential for understanding the mechanisms responsible for major biological processes such as differentiation or growth control in normal and tumor tissues, histochemical Journals will continue to play a pivotal role in the field of cell and tissue biology in all its structural and functional aspects.

Ex-vivo dynamic 3-D culture of human tissues in the RCCS™ bioreactor allows the study of Multiple Myeloma biology and response to therapy

Three-dimensional (3-D) culture models are emerging as invaluable tools in tumor biology, since they reproduce tissue-specific structural features and cell-cell interactions more accurately than conventional 2-D cultures. Multiple Myeloma, which depends on myeloma cell-Bone Marrow microenvironment interactions for development and response to drugs, may particularly benefit from such an approach. An innovative 3-D dynamic culture model based on the use of the RCCS™ Bioreactor was developed to allow long-term culture of myeloma tissue explants. This model was first validated with normal and pathological explants, then applied to tissues from myeloma patients. In all cases, histological examination demonstrated maintenance of viable myeloma cells inside their native microenvironment, with an overall well preserved histo-architecture including bone lamellae and vessels. This system was then successfully applied to evaluate the cytotoxic effects exerted by the proteasome inhibitor Bortezomib not only on myeloma cells but also on angiogenic vessels. Moreover, as surrogate markers of specialized functions expressed by myeloma cells and microenvironment, β2 microglobulin, VEGF and Angiopoietin-2 levels, as well as Matrix Metalloproteases activity, were evaluated in supernatants from 3D cultures and their levels reflected the effects of Bortezomib treatment. Notably, determination of β2 microglobulin levels in supernatants from Bortezomib-treated samples and in patients'sera following Bortezomib-based therapies disclosed an overall concordance in the response to the drug ex vivo and in vivo.

Our findings indicate, as a proof of principle, that 3-D, RCCS™ bioreactor-based culture of tissue explants can be exploited for studying myeloma biology and for a pre-clinical approach to patient-targeted therapy.

On the future contents of a small journal of histochemistry

In the last three years, more than 70,000 scientific articles have been published in peer reviewed journals on the application of histochemistry in the biomedical field: most of them did not appear in strictly histochemical journals, but in others dealing with cell and molecular biology, medicine or biotechnology. This proves that histochemistry is still an active and innovative discipline with relevance in basic and applied biological research, but also demonstrates that especially the small histochemical journals should likely reconsider their scopes and strategies to preserve their authorship. A review of the last three years volumes of the European Journal of Histochemistry, taken as an example of a long-time established small journal, confirmed that the published articles were widely heterogeneous in their topics and experimental models, as in this journal's tradition. This strongly suggests that a journal of histochemistry should keep its role as a forum open to an audience as broad as possible, publishing papers on cell and tissue biology in a wide variety of models. This will improve knowledge of the basic mechanisms of development and differentiation, while helping to increase the number of potential authors since scientists who generally do not use histochemistry in their research will find hints for the applications of histochemical techniques to novel still unexplored subjects.

A soy-based product fermented by Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus helveticus inhibits the development of murine breast adenocarcinoma

PURPOSE

Soy and its fermented products are considered functional foods. The study objective was to assess three functional food - a non-fermented soy product (NFP), fermented soy product (FSP), fermented soy product enriched with isoflavones (FI) - in terms of their ability to reduce the development of adenocarcinoma in mice, as well their ability on modulating immune system.

METHODS

It was observed tumor volume and to verify correlations with the immune system it was measured levels of the cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α produced by macrophages as well as IFN-γ produced by lymphocytes using ELISA test, and nitric oxide production by macrophages using Griess reagent.

RESULTS

All products showed immunological activity, but FSP showed the most effective tumor containment, resulting in smallest tumor volumes. FI animals expressed larger amounts of nitric oxide and IL-1β and exhibited larger tumor sizes than FSP and NFP animals.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that the ingestion of FSP was most efficient in tumor containment, possibly due to a positive modulation of the immune system by when Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus helveticus are added to the soy product.

Identifying pathological biomarkers: histochemistry still ranks high in the omics era

In recent years, omic analyses have been proposed as possible approaches to diagnosis, in particular for tumours, as they should be able to provide quantitative tools to detect and measure abnormalities in gene and protein expression, through the evaluation of transcription and translation products in the abnormal vs normal tissues. Unfortunately, this approach proved to be much less powerful than expected, due to both intrinsic technical limits and the nature itself of the pathological tissues to be investigated, the heterogeneity deriving from polyclonality and tissue phenotype variability between patients being a major limiting factor in the search for unique omic biomarkers. Especially in the last few years, the application of refined techniques for investigating gene expression in situ has greatly increased the diagnostic/prognostic potential of histochemistry, while the progress in light microscopy technology and in the methods for imaging molecules in vivo have provided valuable tools for elucidating the molecular events and the basic mechanisms leading to a pathological condition. Histochemical techniques thus remain irreplaceable in pathologist's armamentarium, and it may be expected that even in the future histochemistry will keep a leading position among the methodological approaches for clinical pathology.