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Thomas SP, Spinelli MM, Rghei AD, Lopes JA, Zielinska N, McLeod BM, Pei Y, Zhang W, Thebaud B, Karimi K, Wootton SK. Analysis of the impact of pluronic acid on the thermal stability and infectivity of AAV6.2FF. BMC Biotechnol 2024; 24:22. [PMID: 38664752 DOI: 10.1186/s12896-024-00853-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The advancement of AAV vectors into clinical testing has accelerated rapidly over the past two decades. While many of the AAV vectors being utilized in clinical trials are derived from natural serotypes, engineered serotypes are progressing toward clinical translation due to their enhanced tissue tropism and immune evasive properties. However, novel AAV vectors require formulation and stability testing to determine optimal storage conditions prior to their use in a clinical setting. RESULTS Here, we evaluated the thermal stability of AAV6.2FF, a rationally engineered capsid with strong tropism for lung and muscle, in two different buffer formulations; phosphate buffered saline (PBS), or PBS supplemented with 0.001% non-ionic surfactant Pluronic F68 (PF-68). Aliquots of AAV6.2FF vector encoding the firefly luciferase reporter gene (AAV6.2FF-ffLuc) were incubated at temperatures ranging from -20°C to 55°C for varying periods of time and the impact on infectivity and particle integrity evaluated. Additionally, the impact of several rounds of freeze-thaw treatments on the infectivity of AAV6.2FF was investigated. Vector infectivity was measured by quantifying firefly luciferase expression in HEK 293 cells and AAV particle integrity was measured by qPCR quantification of encapsidated viral DNA. CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate that formulating AAV6.2FF in PBS containing 0.001% PF-68 leads to increased stability and particle integrity at temperatures between -20℃ to 21℃ and protection against the destructive effects of freeze-thaw. Finally, AAV6.2FF-GFP formulated in PBS supplemented with 0.001% PF-68 displayed higher transduction efficiency in vivo in murine lung epithelial cells following intranasal administration than vector buffered in PBS alone further demonstrating the beneficial properties of PF-68.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvia P Thomas
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Marcus M Spinelli
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Amira D Rghei
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Jordyn A Lopes
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Nicole Zielinska
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Benjamin M McLeod
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Yanlong Pei
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Wei Zhang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Bernard Thebaud
- The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4E9, Canada
| | - Khalil Karimi
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Sarah K Wootton
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
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Solé-Gil A, Úrbez C, Ferrando A, Blázquez MA. Quantification of Xylem-Specific Thermospermine-Dependent Translation of SACL Transcripts with Dual Luciferase Reporter System. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2722:79-87. [PMID: 37897601 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3477-6_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
Thermospermine (Tspm) is a polyamine found to play a crucial role in xylem development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Tspm promotes the translation of the SACL genes by counteracting the activity of a cis element in their 5'-leader region that suppresses the translation of the main ORF. Here we describe a method to test the Tspm-dependent translational regulation of the 5'-leader of the SACL mRNAs in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and A. thaliana mesophyll protoplasts with a dual luciferase assay. The dual luciferase reporter system is used to assess gene expression and is based on the detection of the Firefly luciferase luminescence driven by a specific promoter. However, it can also be used to evaluate the cis elements found in 5'-leader that influence the translation of the main ORF in a transcript. We have used a modified version of the pGreenII 0800 LUC plasmid carrying a double 35S promoter, followed by a poly-linker sequence in phase with the Firefly luciferase gene (pGreen2x35SLUC) where the full 5'-leader sequence of SACL3 was cloned. This construct was used for Agrobacterium tumefaciens infiltration of N. benthamiana leaves and for transfection of A. thaliana mesophyll protoplasts, followed by mock or Tspm treatments. The resulting translation of the Firefly luciferase in these organisms and conditions was then tested by measuring luminescence with the dual luciferase assay and a luminometer. These experiments have allowed us to quantify the positive effect of Tspm in the translation of SACL3 transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Solé-Gil
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain
| | - Cristina Úrbez
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain
| | - Alejandro Ferrando
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain
| | - Miguel A Blázquez
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain.
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Kobayashi E, Hakamata Y, Enosawa S, Shang KM, Komatsu H. Firefly Rats: Illuminating the Scientific Community in Transplantation Research. Cell Transplant 2024; 33:9636897231224174. [PMID: 38235662 PMCID: PMC10798091 DOI: 10.1177/09636897231224174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Fireflies produce light through luciferase-catalyzed reactions involving luciferin, oxygen, and adenosine triphosphate, distinct from other luminescent organisms. This unique feature has revolutionized molecular biology and physiology, serving as a valuable tool for cellular research. Luciferase-based bioluminescent imaging enabled the creation of transgenic animals, such as Firefly Rats. Firefly Rats, created in 2006, ubiquitously express luciferase and have become a critical asset in scientific investigations. These rats have significantly contributed to transplantation and tissue engineering studies. Their low immunogenicity reduces graft rejection risk, making them ideal for long-term tracking of organ/tissue/cellular engraftments. Importantly, in the islet transplantation setting, the ubiquitous luciferase expression in these rats does not alter islet morphology or function, ensuring accurate assessments of engrafted islets. Firefly Rats have illuminated the path of transplantation research worldwide for over a decade and continue accelerating scientific advancements in many fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eiji Kobayashi
- Department of Kidney Regenerative Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Division of Basic Science, School of Veterinary Nursing and Technology, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoji Hakamata
- Division of Basic Science, School of Veterinary Nursing and Technology, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shin Enosawa
- Department of Kidney Regenerative Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kuang-Ming Shang
- Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Hirotake Komatsu
- Department of Translational Research & Cellular Therapeutics, Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
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Park JS, Kim YW, Kim H, Kim SK, Park K. Development of a Novel ATP Bioluminescence Assay Based on Engineered Probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii Expressing Firefly Luciferase. J Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 33:1506-1512. [PMID: 37482802 DOI: 10.4014/jmb.2305.05019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Quantitative analysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) has been widely used as a diagnostic tool in the food and medical industries. Particularly, the pathogenesis of a few diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is closely related to high ATP concentrations. A bioluminescent D-luciferin/luciferase system, which includes a luciferase (FLuc) from the firefly Photinus pyralis as a key component, is the most commonly used method for the detection and quantification of ATP. Here, instead of isolating FLuc produced in recombinant Escherichia coli, we aimed to develop a whole-cell biocatalyst system that does not require extraction and purification of FLuc. To this end, the gene coding for FLuc was introduced into the genome of probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii using the CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system. The linear relationship (r2 = 0.9561) between ATP levels and bioluminescence generated from the engineered S. boulardii expressing FLuc was observed in vitro. To explore the feasibility of using the engineered S. boulardii expressing FLuc as a whole-cell biosensor to detect inflammation biomarker (i.e., ATP) in the gut, a colitis mouse model was established using dextran sodium sulfate as a colitogenic compound. Our findings demonstrated that the whole-cell biosensor can detect elevated ATP levels during gut inflammation in mice. Therefore, the simple and powerful method developed herein could be applied for non-invasive IBD diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Sun Park
- Department of Systems Biotechnology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong 17546, Republic of Korea
| | - Young-Woo Kim
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong 17546, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyungdong Kim
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong 17546, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun-Ki Kim
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong 17546, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyeongsoon Park
- Department of Systems Biotechnology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong 17546, Republic of Korea
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Chang MS, Lee CY, Liu ES, Chao H, Wu HY, Chang YY, Liu YL, Chen YT, Su YC, Wang YT, Cheng TL, Yen CH, Lin CW, Huang HK, Lin WW. A Low-Cost, Sensitive Reporter System Using Membrane-Tethered Horseradish Peroxidase for Efficient Gene Expression Analysis. Anal Chem 2023; 95:14341-14349. [PMID: 37715702 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/18/2023]
Abstract
Reporter gene assays are essential for high-throughput analysis, such as drug screening or determining downstream signaling activation/inhibition. However, use of this technology has been hampered by the high cost of the substrate (e.g., d-Luciferin (d-Luc)) in the most common firefly luciferase (FLuc) reporter gene assay. Although alternate luciferase is available worldwide, its substrate has remained expensive, and a more affordable option is still in demand. Here, we present a membrane-tethered horseradish peroxidase (mHRP), a new reporter system composed of a cell membrane expressing HRP that can preserve its enzymatic function on the cell surface, facilitates contact with HRP substrates (e.g., ABTS and TMB), and avoids the cell lysis process and the use of the high-priced luciferase substrate. An evaluation of the light signal sensitivity of mHRP compared to FLuc showed that both had comparable signal sensitivity. We also identified an extended substrate half-life of more than 5-fold that of d-Luc. Of note, this strategy provided a more stable detection signal, and the cell lysis process is not mandatory. Furthermore, with this strategy, we decreased the total amount of time taken for analysis and increased the time of detection limit of the reporter assay. Pricing analysis showed a one-third to one twenty-eighth price drop per single test of reporter assay. Given the convenience and stability of the mHRP reporter system, we believe that our strategy is suitable for use as an alternative to the luciferase reporter assay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mu-Shen Chang
- PhD Program in Life Science, College of Life Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Yi Lee
- Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, College of Life Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - En-Shuo Liu
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Hsuan Chao
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Yu Wu
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Yen Chang
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Ling Liu
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
| | - Yu-Tung Chen
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Cheng Su
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
| | - Yeng-Tseng Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, Post Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
| | - Tian-Lu Cheng
- Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
| | - Chia-Hung Yen
- Graduate Institute of Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Wei Lin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Kai Huang
- Department of Medical Laboratory, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung 80284, Taiwan
| | - Wen-Wei Lin
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Post Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, 80708 Taiwan
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6
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Mano H, Kushioka T, Kise S, Nagao C, Iijima A, Nishikawa M, Ikushiro S, Yasuda K, Matsuoka S, Sakaki T. Development of nanoluciferase-based sensing system that can specifically detect 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in living cells. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2023; 227:106233. [PMID: 36503079 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2022.106233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Previously, we reported a FLucN-LXXLL+LBD-FLucC system that detects VDR ligands using split firefly luciferase techniques, ligand binding domain (LBD) of VDR, and LXXLL sequences that interact with LBD after VDR ligand binding. In vivo, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) and 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25(OH)2D3) act as VDR ligands that bind to VDR, and regulate bone-related gene expression. Therefore, the amount of 25(OH)D3 and 1α,25(OH)2D3 are indicators of bone-related diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis. In this study, we have developed a novel LgBiT-LXXLL+LBD-SmBiT system using NanoLuc Binary Technology (NanoBiT), which has an emission intensity several times higher than that of the split-type firefly luciferase. Furthermore, by using genetic engineering techniques, we attempted to construct a novel system that can specifically detect 1α,25(OH)2D3. Because histidine residues at positions 305 and 397 play important roles in forming a hydrogen bond with a hydroxyl group at position C25 of 25(OH)D3 and 1α,25(OH)2D3, His305 and His397 were each substituted by other amino acids. Consequently, the three mutant VDRs, H305D, H397N, and H397E were equally useful to detect 1α,25(OH)2D3 specifically. In addition, among the 58 variants of the LXXLL sequences, LPYEGSLLLKLLRAPVEE showed the greatest increase in luminescence upon the addition of 25(OH)D3 or 1α,25(OH)2D3. Thus, our novel system using NanoBiT appear to be useful for detecting native vitamin D or its derivatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroki Mano
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Takuya Kushioka
- FANCL Research Institute, FANCL Corporation, 12-13 Kamishinano, Totsuka, Yokohama, Kanagawa 244-0806, Japan
| | - Satoko Kise
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Chika Nagao
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Ayano Iijima
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Miyu Nishikawa
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Shinichi Ikushiro
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Kaori Yasuda
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan
| | - Sayuri Matsuoka
- FANCL Research Institute, FANCL Corporation, 12-13 Kamishinano, Totsuka, Yokohama, Kanagawa 244-0806, Japan
| | - Toshiyuki Sakaki
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu, Toyama 939-0398, Japan.
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Malik A, Zavadil JA, Geusz ME. Using bioluminescence to image gene expression and spontaneous behavior in freely moving mice. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0279875. [PMID: 36662734 PMCID: PMC9858005 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of gene expression in live animals is a powerful method for monitoring development, tumor growth, infections, healing, and other progressive, long-term biological processes. BLI remains an effective approach for reducing the number of animals needed to monitor dynamic changes in gene activity because images can be captured repeatedly from the same animals. When examining these ongoing changes, it is sometimes necessary to remove rhythmic effects on the bioluminescence signal caused by the circadian clock's daily modulation of gene expression. Furthermore, BLI using freely moving animals remains limited because the standard procedures can alter normal behaviors. Another obstacle with conventional BLI of animals is that luciferin, the firefly luciferase substrate, is usually injected into mice that are then imaged while anesthetized. Unfortunately, the luciferase signal declines rapidly during imaging as luciferin is cleared from the body. Alternatively, mice are imaged after they are surgically implanted with a pump or connected to a tether to deliver luciferin, but stressors such as this surgery and anesthesia can alter physiology, behavior, and the actual gene expression being imaged. Consequently, we developed a strategy that minimizes animal exposure to stressors before and during sustained BLI of freely moving unanesthetized mice. This technique was effective when monitoring expression of the Per1 gene that serves in the circadian clock timing mechanism and was previously shown to produce circadian bioluminescence rhythms in live mice. We used hairless albino mice expressing luciferase that were allowed to drink luciferin and engage in normal behaviors during imaging with cooled electron-multiplying-CCD cameras. Computer-aided image selection was developed to measure signal intensity of individual mice each time they were in the same posture, thereby providing comparable measurements over long intervals. This imaging procedure, performed primarily during the animal's night, is compatible with entrainment of the mouse circadian timing system to the light cycle while allowing sampling at multi-day intervals to monitor long-term changes. When the circadian expression of a gene is known, this approach provides an effective alternative to imaging immobile anesthetized animals and can removing noise caused by circadian oscillations and body movements that can degrade data collected during long-term imaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astha Malik
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Jessica A. Zavadil
- Graduate Medical Education, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Michael E. Geusz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, United States of America
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Smith D, Lunghi M, Olafsson EB, Hatton O, Di Cristina M, Carruthers VB. A High-Throughput Amenable Dual Luciferase System for Measuring Toxoplasma gondii Bradyzoite Viability after Drug Treatment. Anal Chem 2023; 95:668-676. [PMID: 36548400 PMCID: PMC9850410 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c02174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
It is estimated that more than 2 billion people are chronically infected with the intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Despite this, there is currently no vaccine to prevent infection in humans, and there is no recognized curative treatment to clear tissue cysts. A major hurdle for identifying effective drug candidates against chronic-stage cysts has been the low throughput of existing in vitro assays for testing the survival of bradyzoites. We have developed a luciferase-based platform for specifically determining bradyzoite survival within in vitro cysts in a 96-well plate format. We engineered a cystogenic type II T. gondii PruΔku80Δhxgpr strain for stage-specific expression of firefly luciferase in the cytosol of bradyzoites and nanoluciferase for secretion into the lumen of the cyst (DuaLuc strain). Using this DuaLuc strain, we found that the ratio of firefly luciferase to nanoluciferase decreased upon treatment with atovaquone or LHVS, two compounds that are known to compromise bradyzoite viability. The 96-well format allowed us to test several additional compounds and generate dose-response curves for calculation of EC50 values indicating relative effectiveness of a compound. Accordingly, this DuaLuc system should be suitable for screening libraries of diverse compounds and defining the potency of hits or other compounds with a putative antibradyzoite activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Smith
- University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 734 763 2081, United States
- Moredun Research Institute, Penicuik EH26 0PZ, U.K.
| | - Matteo Lunghi
- Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia 06123, Italy
| | - Einar B. Olafsson
- University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 734 763 2081, United States
- University of Uppsala, Uppsala 751 05, Sweden
| | - Olivia Hatton
- University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 734 763 2081, United States
| | | | - Vern B. Carruthers
- University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 734 763 2081, United States
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Karimi E, Nikkhah M, Hosseinkhani S. Label-Free and Bioluminescence-Based Nano-Biosensor for ATP Detection. Biosensors (Basel) 2022; 12:918. [PMID: 36354427 PMCID: PMC9687858 DOI: 10.3390/bios12110918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
A bioluminescence-based assay for ATP can measure cell viability. Higher ATP concentration indicates a higher number of living cells. Thus, it is necessary to design an ATP sensor that is low-cost and easy to use. Gold nanoparticles provide excellent biocompatibility for enzyme immobilization. We investigated the effect of luciferase proximity with citrate-coated gold, silver, and gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles, gold nanorods, and BSA-Au nanoclusters. The effect of metal nanoparticles on the activity of luciferases was recorded by the luminescence assay, which was 3-5 times higher than free enzyme. The results showed that the signal stability in presence of nanoparticles improved and was reliable up to 6 h for analytes measurements. It has been suggested that energy is mutually transferred from luciferase bioluminescence spectra to metal nanoparticle surface plasmons. In addition, we herein report the 27-base DNA aptamer for adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) as a suitable probe for the ATP biosensor based on firefly luciferase activity and AuNPs. Due to ATP application in the firefly luciferase reaction, the increase in luciferase activity and improved detection limits may indicate more stability or accessibility of ATP in the presence of nanoparticles. The bioluminescence intensity increased with the ATP concentration up to 600 µM with a detection limit of 5 µM for ATP.
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Liu Y, Li L, Timani KA, He JJ. A Unique Robust Dual-Promoter-Driven and Dual-Reporter-Expressing SARS-CoV-2 Replicon: Construction and Characterization. Viruses 2022; 14:974. [PMID: 35632716 PMCID: PMC9143625 DOI: 10.3390/v14050974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 04/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2, SARS2) remains a great global health threat and demands identification of more effective and SARS2-targeted antiviral drugs, even with successful development of anti-SARS2 vaccines. Viral replicons have proven to be a rapid, safe, and readily scalable platform for high-throughput screening, identification, and evaluation of antiviral drugs against positive-stranded RNA viruses. In the study, we report a unique robust HIV long terminal repeat (LTR)/T7 dual-promoter-driven and dual-reporter firefly luciferase (fLuc) and green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing SARS2 replicon. The genomic organization of the replicon was designed with quite a few features that were to ensure the replication fidelity of the replicon, to maximize the expression of the full-length replicon, and to offer the monitoring flexibility of the replicon replication. We showed the success of the construction of the replicon and expression of reporter genes fLuc and GFP and SARS structural N from the replicon DNA or the RNA that was in vitro transcribed from the replicon DNA. We also showed detection of the negative-stranded genomic RNA (gRNA) and subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) intermediates, a hallmark of replication of positive-stranded RNA viruses from the replicon. Lastly, we showed that expression of the reporter genes, N gene, gRNA, and sgRNA from the replicon was sensitive to inhibition by Remdesivir. Taken together, our results support use of the replicon for identification of anti-SARS2 drugs and development of new anti-SARS strategies targeted at the step of virus replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Liu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA; (Y.L.); (L.L.); (K.A.T.)
- Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
- School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Lu Li
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA; (Y.L.); (L.L.); (K.A.T.)
- Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
- School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Khalid A. Timani
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA; (Y.L.); (L.L.); (K.A.T.)
- Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
- School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Johnny J. He
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA; (Y.L.); (L.L.); (K.A.T.)
- Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
- School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
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11
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Kim M, Gupta SK, Zhang W, Talele S, Mohammad AS, Laramy J, Mladek AC, Zhang S, Sarkaria JN, Elmquist WF. Factors Influencing Luciferase-Based Bioluminescent Imaging in Preclinical Models of Brain Tumor. Drug Metab Dispos 2022; 50:277-286. [PMID: 34887255 PMCID: PMC8969130 DOI: 10.1124/dmd.121.000597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Bioluminescent imaging (BLI) is a powerful tool in biomedical research to measure gene expression and tumor growth. The current study examined factors that influence the BLI signal, specifically focusing on the tissue distribution of two luciferase substrates, D-luciferin and CycLuc1. D-luciferin, a natural substrate of firefly luciferase, has been reported to have limited brain distribution, possibly due to the efflux transporter, breast cancer resistance protein (Bcrp), at the blood-brain barrier. CycLuc1, a synthetic analog of D-luciferin, has a greater BLI signal at lower doses than D-luciferin, especially in the brain. Our results indicate that limited brain distribution of D-luciferin and CycLuc1 is predominantly dictated by their low intrinsic permeability across the cell membrane, where the efflux transporter, Bcrp, plays a relatively minor role. Both genetic ablation and pharmacological inhibition of Bcrp decreased the systemic clearance of both luciferase substrates, significantly increasing exposure in the blood and, hence, in organs and tissues. These data also indicate that the biodistribution of luciferase substrates can be differentially influenced in luciferase-bearing tissues, leading to a "tissue-dependent" BLI signal. The results of this study point to the need to consider multiple mechanisms that influence the distribution of luciferase substrates. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Bioluminescence is used to monitor many biological processes, including tumor growth. This study examined the pharmacokinetics, brain distribution, and the role of active efflux transporters on the luciferase substrates D-luciferin and CycLuc1. CycLuc1 has a more sustained systemic circulation time (longer half-life) that can provide an advantage for the superior imaging outcome of CycLuc1 over D-luciferin. The disparity in imaging intensities between brain and peripheral sites is due to low intrinsic permeability of these luciferase substrates across the blood-brain barrier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minjee Kim
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Shiv K Gupta
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Wenjuan Zhang
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Surabhi Talele
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Afroz S Mohammad
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Janice Laramy
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Ann C Mladek
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Shuangling Zhang
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - Jann N Sarkaria
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
| | - William F Elmquist
- Brain Barriers Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.K., W.Z., S.T., A.S.M., J.L., S.Z., W.F.E.) and Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (S.K.G., A.C.M., J.N.S.)
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12
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Xie Q, Wang Q, Xu X. Firefly Luciferase Complementation-Based Analysis of Dynamic Protein-Protein Interactions Under Diurnal and Circadian Conditions in Arabidopsis. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2398:205-213. [PMID: 34674178 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1912-4_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Split firefly luciferase complementation assay (FLCA) is one of the most widely used sensitive and reliable methods for the analysis of constitutive and dynamic protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Here, we report a method for long-term in vivo detects plant protein-protein interactions in Arabidopsis F1 hybrids via Topcount™ Microplate Scintillation Counter or Deep-Cooled CCD camera. Following these protocols, we successfully detected time-dependent PPIs of EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) and EARLY FLOWERING 4 (ELF4); both of them with LUX ARRHYTHMO (LUX) belong to an evening complex which has been found to play a key role in circadian rhythms, flowering, and growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiguang Xie
- Institute of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, China.
- College of Biological Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
| | - Qiao Wang
- Institute of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Xiaodong Xu
- Institute of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
- College of Biological Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
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13
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Liang Y, Li Z. Split-Luciferase Complementation for Analysis of Virus-Host Protein Interactions. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2400:55-62. [PMID: 34905190 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1835-6_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Productive viral infection entails highly regulated and sequential protein-protein interactions between viral factors and between virus and host factors. Deciphering such interactions is of paramount importance for a better understanding of virus infection cycles and the development of new strategies for virus prevention and control. In this protocol, we describe a split-luciferase complementation (SLC ) assay for the detection of protein-protein interaction in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves following agroinfiltration-mediated transient protein expression. In this assay, the firefly luciferase protein is divided into two halves, each expressed as a fusion to a prey or bait protein, respectively. Interaction of the two candidate proteins brings the two otherwise nonfunctional halves into close proximity to restore the luciferase activity, which catalyzes the substrate D-luciferin to emit luminescence. The SLC assay allows for noninvasive, quantitative measurement of dynamic protein interactions in living cells within their native cellular compartments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhenghe Li
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insect Pests, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
- Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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14
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Taka N, Baba Y, Iwasaki Y, Yoshida W. Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer for Global DNA Methylation Quantification. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2525:267-279. [PMID: 35836075 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2473-9_20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Global hypomethylation of genomic DNA is associated with genomic instability and carcinogenic processes. The loss of DNA methylation has been reported in several cancers; therefore, global methylation levels have been considered as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Bisulfite conversion analysis has been widely used as the gold standard method for quantification of DNA methylation levels. However, this method requires cumbersome and time-consuming steps. To quantify global DNA methylation levels in homogeneous solutions, we exemplify a sensing system based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) using methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD)-fused firefly luciferase (MBD-FLuc) and unmethyl-CpG binding domain (CXXC)-fused firefly luciferase (CXXC-FLuc). MBD-FLuc and CXXC-FLuc bind to methylated and unmethylated CpGs, respectively, in the genomic DNA to excite BOBO-3, an intercalating dye on genomic DNA. These BOBO-3 emission intensities depend on the methylated and unmethylated CpG content. The global DNA methylation levels can be quantified from the BOBO-3 emission intensities. Moreover, we introduce a multicolor BRET assay using MBD-FLuc and CXXC-fused Oplophorus luciferase (CXXC-OLuc) for the simultaneous quantification of methylated and unmethylated CpG content in genomic DNA. CXXC-OLuc excites the BOBO-1 DNA-intercalating dye depending on the unmethylated CpG content. Thus, the emission intensities of BOBO-1 and BOBO-3 excited by CXXC-OLuc and MBD-FLuc, respectively, can be simultaneously measured, thereby enabling the determination of global DNA methylation level in a single step. Here, we describe the detailed protocols for the expression of MBD-FLuc, CXXC-FLuc, and CXXC-OLuc in Escherichia coli and determine the global DNA methylation levels using these BRET assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natsumi Taka
- Graduate School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuji Baba
- Graduate School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuka Iwasaki
- Graduate School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Wataru Yoshida
- Graduate School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
- School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
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15
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Niwa K, Kato DI. Biosynthesis-Inspired Deracemizative Production of D-Luciferin In Vitro by Combining Luciferase and Thioesterase. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2524:53-58. [PMID: 35821462 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2453-1_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Due to the strict enantioselectivity of firefly luciferase (FLuc), only D-luciferin can be used as a substrate for the bioluminescence (BL) reaction. Unfortunately, luciferin racemizes easily and accumulation of nonluminous L-luciferin has negative influences on the light-emitting reaction. By a detailed analysis of luciferin chirality, however, it becomes clarified that L-luciferin is the biosynthetic precursor of D-luciferin in fireflies and undergoes the enzymatic chiral inversion. By the chiral inversion reaction, the enantiopurity of luciferin can be maintained in the reaction mixture for applications using FLuc. Thus, chirality is crucial for the BL reaction and essential for investigating and applying the biosynthesis of D-luciferin. Here, we describe the methods for the analysis of chiral inversion reaction using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a chiral column. We also introduce an example of an in vitro deracemizative BL reaction system using a combination of FLuc and fatty acyl-CoA thioesterase, which is inspired by the chiral inversion mechanism in the biosynthetic pathway of D-luciferin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuki Niwa
- Research Institute for Physical Measurement, National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Dai-Ichiro Kato
- Department of Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
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16
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Castillo R, Wu D, Cao Z, Yan R, Fajardo K, Ren J, Lu Y, Wen J. Real-Time Quantification of Cell Internalization Kinetics by Bioluminescent Probes. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2525:93-107. [PMID: 35836062 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2473-9_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Alongside the intracellular transport of nutrients needed for cellular homeostasis, great efforts exist to effectively deliver substances such as proteins and genes into the cell for therapy, gene editing, disease diagnosis, and more. To evaluate the intracellular delivery of such substances, conventional methods impose semi-quantifications and discrete measures of the dynamic process of cellular internalization. Herein, we detail the methods to quantify cell internalization kinetics in real-time using individually nano-encapsulated bioluminescent Firefly Luciferase (FLuc) enzymes as probes. We include a comprehensive protocol to synthesize and characterize the encapsulated FLuc, assay the real-time bioluminescence (BL) in cells, and analyze the real-time BL profile to extract key parameters of cell internalization kinetics. Quantifying the kinetics of intracellular delivery offers the opportunity to resolve the underlying mechanisms governing membrane translocation and provide measures reflecting cellular state and metabolism while playing a critical role in the clinical development of effective vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxanne Castillo
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Di Wu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Zheng Cao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ran Yan
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Kalea Fajardo
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jie Ren
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yunfeng Lu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jing Wen
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA AIDS Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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17
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Bi Y, Zhang N, He Y. Non-invasive In Vivo Tracking of Mammalian Cells Stably Expressing Firefly Luciferase. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2524:299-306. [PMID: 35821481 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2453-1_23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Firefly luciferase (FLuc)-based in vivo optical imaging technology exerts the non-invasive monitoring of transplanted cells in experimental animal models. This chapter introduces an established cell line that stably expresses a retrovirus-delivered FLuc protein gene. The stable expression does not affect the cell morphology, proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of the parental cells. After implantation, the bioluminescence signal of FLuc cells truly reflects cell proliferation and survival in vivo, which can provide a reliable method for dynamic detection of in vivo cell transplantation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Bi
- Stem Cell Biology and Therapy Laboratory, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders (Chongqing), China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China
| | - Nannan Zhang
- Stem Cell Biology and Therapy Laboratory, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders (Chongqing), China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China
| | - Yun He
- Stem Cell Biology and Therapy Laboratory, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders (Chongqing), China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China.
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18
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Watanabe E, Isoda M, Muranaka T, Ito S, Oyama T. Detection of Uncoupled Circadian Rhythms in Individual Cells of Lemna minor using a Dual-Color Bioluminescence Monitoring System. Plant Cell Physiol 2021; 62:815-826. [PMID: 33693842 DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcab037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The plant circadian oscillation system is based on the circadian clock of individual cells. Circadian behavior of cells has been observed by monitoring the circadian reporter activity, such as bioluminescence of AtCCA1::LUC+. To deeply analyze different circadian behaviors in individual cells, we developed the dual-color bioluminescence monitoring system that automatically measured the luminescence of two luciferase reporters simultaneously at a single-cell level. We selected a yellow-green-emitting firefly luciferase (LUC+) and a red-emitting luciferase (PtRLUC) that is a mutant form of Brazilian click beetle ELUC. We used AtCCA1::LUC+ and CaMV35S::PtRLUC. CaMV35S::LUC+ was previously reported as a circadian reporter with a low-amplitude rhythm. These bioluminescent reporters were introduced into the cells of a duckweed, Lemna minor, by particle bombardment. Time series of the bioluminescence of individual cells in a frond were obtained using a dual-color bioluminescence monitoring system with a green-pass- and red-pass filter. Luminescence intensities from the LUC+ and PtRLUC of each cell were calculated from the filtered luminescence intensities. We succeeded in reconstructing the bioluminescence behaviors of AtCCA1::LUC+ and CaMV35S::PtRLUC in the same cells. Under prolonged constant light conditions, AtCCA1::LUC+ showed a robust circadian rhythm in individual cells in an asynchronous state in the frond, as previously reported. By contrast, CaMV35S::PtRLUC stochastically showed circadian rhythms in a synchronous state. These results strongly suggested the uncoupling of cellular behavior between these circadian reporters. This dual-color bioluminescence monitoring system is a powerful tool to analyze various stochastic phenomena accompanying large cell-to-cell variation in gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiri Watanabe
- Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502 Japan
| | - Minako Isoda
- Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502 Japan
| | - Tomoaki Muranaka
- Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502 Japan
- Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, Kohrimoto 1-21-24, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
| | - Shogo Ito
- Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502 Japan
| | - Tokitaka Oyama
- Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502 Japan
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19
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Hata T, Takada N, Hayakawa C, Kazama M, Uchikoba T, Tachikawa M, Matsuo M, Satoh S, Obokata J. De novo activated transcription of inserted foreign coding sequences is inheritable in the plant genome. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252674. [PMID: 34111139 PMCID: PMC8191969 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The manner in which inserted foreign coding sequences become transcriptionally activated and fixed in the plant genome is poorly understood. To examine such processes of gene evolution, we performed an artificial evolutionary experiment in Arabidopsis thaliana. As a model of gene-birth events, we introduced a promoterless coding sequence of the firefly luciferase (LUC) gene and established 386 T2-generation transgenic lines. Among them, we determined the individual LUC insertion loci in 76 lines and found that one-third of them were transcribed de novo even in the intergenic or inherently unexpressed regions. In the transcribed lines, transcription-related chromatin marks were detected across the newly activated transcribed regions. These results agreed with our previous findings in A. thaliana cultured cells under a similar experimental scheme. A comparison of the results of the T2-plant and cultured cell experiments revealed that the de novo-activated transcription concomitant with local chromatin remodelling was inheritable. During one-generation inheritance, it seems likely that the transcription activities of the LUC inserts trapped by the endogenous genes/transcripts became stronger, while those of de novo transcription in the intergenic/untranscribed regions became weaker. These findings may offer a clue for the elucidation of the mechanism by which inserted foreign coding sequences become transcriptionally activated and fixed in the plant genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takayuki Hata
- Graduate School of Life and Environfmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
- Faculty of Agriculture, Setsunan University, Hirakata-shi, Osaka, Japan
| | - Naoto Takada
- Graduate School of Life and Environfmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Chihiro Hayakawa
- Graduate School of Life and Environfmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Mei Kazama
- Graduate School of Life and Environfmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Tomohiro Uchikoba
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Makoto Tachikawa
- Graduate School of Life and Environfmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Mitsuhiro Matsuo
- Faculty of Agriculture, Setsunan University, Hirakata-shi, Osaka, Japan
| | - Soichirou Satoh
- Graduate School of Life and Environfmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Junichi Obokata
- Faculty of Agriculture, Setsunan University, Hirakata-shi, Osaka, Japan
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Abstract
Cell-free gene expression systems have been valuable tools for understanding how transcription/translation can be regulated in living cells. Many studies have investigated the determining factors that affect gene expression. Here we report the effect of the length of linearized reporter DNAs encoding the firefly luciferase gene so as to exclude the influence of supercoiling. It is found that longer DNA molecules exhibit significantly greater potency in gene expression; for example, the expression level for DNA with 25.7 kbp is 1000-times higher than that for DNA of 1.7 kbp. AFM observation of the DNA conformation indicates that longer DNA takes shrunken conformation with a higher segment density in the reaction mixture for gene expression, in contrast to the stiff conformation of shorter DNA. We propose an underlying mechanism for the favorable effect of longer DNA on gene expression in terms of the enhancement of access of RNA polymerase to the shrunken conformation. It is expected that the enhancement of gene expression efficiency with a shrunken DNA conformation would also be a rather general mechanism in living cellular environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Nishio
- Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, 610-0394, Japan
| | - Yuko Yoshikawa
- Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, 610-0394, Japan
| | - Kenichi Yoshikawa
- Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, 610-0394, Japan
| | - Shin-Ichi Sato
- Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan.
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21
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Hien LT, Back SH. Establishment of a reporter system for monitoring activation of the ER stress transducer ATF6β. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2021; 558:1-7. [PMID: 33894672 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.04.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
ATF6 has two isoforms, ATF6α and ATF6β, which are ubiquitously expressed type II transmembrane glycoproteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). While the regulatory mechanisms and transcriptional roles of ATF6α in response to ER stress have been well-studied, those of its paralogue ATF6β are less understood. Moreover, there is no specific cell-based reporter assay to monitor ATF6β activation. Here, we developed a new cell-based reporter system that can monitor activation of endogenous ATF6β. This system expresses a chimeric protein containing a synthetic transcription factor followed by the transmembrane domain and C-terminal luminal domain of ATF6β. Under ER stress conditions, the chimeric protein was cleaved by regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) to liberate the N-terminal synthetic transcription factor, which induced luciferase expression in the HeLa Luciferase Reporter cell line. This new stable reporter cell line will be an innovative tool to investigate RIP of ATF6β.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le Thi Hien
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 44610, South Korea
| | - Sung Hoon Back
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 44610, South Korea.
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22
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Ferraiolo M, Beckers P, Marquet N, Roumain M, Ruiz L, Dupuis N, Hanson J, Hermans E. β-arrestin2 recruitment at the β2 adrenergic receptor: A luciferase complementation assay adapted for undergraduate training in pharmacology. Pharmacol Res Perspect 2021; 9:e00706. [PMID: 33508174 PMCID: PMC7842874 DOI: 10.1002/prp2.706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the context of pharmacology teaching, hands-on activities constitute an essential complement to theoretical lectures. Frequently, these activities consist in exposing fresh animal tissues or even living animals to selected drugs and qualitatively or quantitatively evaluating functional responses. However, technological advancements in pharmacological research and the growing concerns for animal experimentation support the need for innovative and flexible in vitro assays adapted for teaching purposes. We herein report the implementation of a luciferase complementation assay (LCA) enabling to dynamically monitor β-arrestin2 recruitment at the β2 adrenergic receptor in the framework of pharmacological training at the faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. The assay allowed students to quantitatively characterize the competitive antagonism of propranolol, and to calculate pEC50 , pKB , and pA2 values after a guided data analysis session. Moreover, the newly implemented workshop delivered highly reproducible results and were generally appreciated by students. As such, we report that the luciferase complementation-based assay proved to be a straightforward, robust, and cost-effective alternative to experiments performed on animal tissues, constituting a useful and flexible tool to enhance and update current hands-on training in the context of pharmacological teaching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Ferraiolo
- Neuropharmacology LaboratoryInstitute of NeuroscienceUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical SciencesUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
| | - Pauline Beckers
- Neuropharmacology LaboratoryInstitute of NeuroscienceUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical SciencesUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
| | - Nicolas Marquet
- Neuropharmacology LaboratoryInstitute of NeuroscienceUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
| | - Martin Roumain
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical SciencesUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
| | - Lucie Ruiz
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical SciencesUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
| | - Nadine Dupuis
- Laboratory of Molecular PharmacologyGIGA‐Molecular Biology of DiseaseULiègeLiègeBelgium
| | - Julien Hanson
- Laboratory of Molecular PharmacologyGIGA‐Molecular Biology of DiseaseULiègeLiègeBelgium
| | - Emmanuel Hermans
- Neuropharmacology LaboratoryInstitute of NeuroscienceUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical SciencesUCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
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23
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Sun Y, Zhao J, Patil SB, Fang J, Liu J, Li X. Improved dual luciferase reporter (DLR) assay to determine the protein stability. Anal Biochem 2021; 612:114021. [PMID: 33189704 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.114021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
We developed a binary vector co-expressing firefly luciferase (FF) and Renilla luciferase (REN) to detect protein stability in response to different stimuli, and verified the functionality of the vector. The StrigoQuant-like reporter expressing FF and REN in one transcript is a sensitive tool for detecting protein abundance in different genotypes. However, we found that significant differences in the relative FF/REN ratio of empty StrigoQuant vector in different genotypes. Therefore, to determine the actual protein abundance, the relative FF/REN ratio of the protein of interest should be normalized to that of the empty vector.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinglu Sun
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, ICS, CAAS, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
| | - Jinfeng Zhao
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, ICS, CAAS, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
| | - Suyash Bhimgonda Patil
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, ICS, CAAS, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
| | - Jingjing Fang
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, ICS, CAAS, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
| | - Jun Liu
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, ICS, CAAS, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
| | - Xueyong Li
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, ICS, CAAS, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China.
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24
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Tan RP, Hallahan N, Kosobrodova E, Michael PL, Wei F, Santos M, Lam YT, Chan AHP, Xiao Y, Bilek MMM, Thorn P, Wise SG. Bioactivation of Encapsulation Membranes Reduces Fibrosis and Enhances Cell Survival. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2020; 12:56908-56923. [PMID: 33314916 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c20096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Encapsulation devices are an emerging barrier technology designed to prevent the immunorejection of replacement cells in regenerative therapies for intractable diseases. However, traditional polymers used in current devices are poor substrates for cell attachment and induce fibrosis upon implantation, impacting long-term therapeutic cell viability. Bioactivation of polymer surfaces improves local host responses to materials, and here we make the first step toward demonstrating the utility of this approach to improve cell survival within encapsulation implants. Using therapeutic islet cells as an exemplar cell therapy, we show that internal surface coatings improve islet cell attachment and viability, while distinct external coatings modulate local foreign body responses. Using plasma surface functionalization (plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII)), we employ hollow fiber semiporous poly(ether sulfone) (PES) encapsulation membranes and coat the internal surfaces with the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin (FN) to enhance islet cell attachment. Separately, the external fiber surface is coated with the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) to polarize local macrophages to an M2 (anti-inflammatory) phenotype, muting the fibrotic response. To demonstrate the power of our approach, bioluminescent murine islet cells were loaded into dual FN/IL-4-coated fibers and evaluated in a mouse back model for 14 days. Dual FN/IL-4 fibers showed striking reductions in immune cell accumulation and elevated levels of the M2 macrophage phenotype, consistent with the suppression of fibrotic encapsulation and enhanced angiogenesis. These changes led to markedly enhanced islet cell survival and importantly to functional integration of the implant with the host vasculature. Dual FN/IL-4 surface coatings drive multifaceted improvements in islet cell survival and function, with significant implications for improving clinical translation of therapeutic cell-containing macroencapsulation implants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard P Tan
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Nicole Hallahan
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Elena Kosobrodova
- Applied Plasma and Physics, A28, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Physics Road, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Praveesuda L Michael
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Fei Wei
- Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Miguel Santos
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Yuen Ting Lam
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Alex H P Chan
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
| | - Yin Xiao
- Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Marcela M M Bilek
- Applied Plasma and Physics, A28, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Physics Road, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Peter Thorn
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Steven G Wise
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
- Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, John Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
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25
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Song BR, Lee SJ, Kim JE, Choi HJ, Bae SJ, Choi YJ, Gong JE, Noh JK, Kim HS, Kang HG, Hong JT, Hwang DY. Anti-inflammatory effects of Capparis ecuadorica extract in phthalic-anhydride-induced atopic dermatitis of IL-4/Luc/CNS-1 transgenic mice. Pharm Biol 2020; 58:1263-1276. [PMID: 33355498 PMCID: PMC7782699 DOI: 10.1080/13880209.2020.1856146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT The natural products derived from Capparis ecuadorica H.H. Iltis (Capparaceae) could have great potential for anti-inflammation since they inhibited the inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. OBJECT This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects and related mechanism of methanol extract of C. ecuadorica leaves (MCE) during atopic dermatitis (AD) responses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Alterations in the phenotypical markers for AD, luciferase signal, iNOS-mediated COX-2 induction pathway, and inflammasome activation were analysed in non-Tg (n = 5) and 15% phthalic anhydride (PA) treated IL-4/Luc/CNS-1 transgenic (Tg) HR1 mice (n = 5 per group), subsequent to treatment with acetone-olive oil (AOO), vehicle (DMSO) and two dose MCE (20 and 40 mg/kg) three times a week for 4 weeks. RESULTS MCE treatment reduced the intracellular ROS level (48.2%), NO concentration (7.1 mmol/L) and inflammatory cytokine expressions (39.1%) in the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. A significant decrease was detected for ear thickness (16.9%), weight of lymph node (0.7 mg), IgE concentration (1.9 µg/mL), and epidermal thickness (31.8%) of the PA + MCE treated Tg mice. MCE treatment induced the decrease of luciferase signal derived from the IL-4 promoter and the recovery of the IL-4 downstream regulator cytokines. PA + MCE treated Tg mice showed decreasing infiltration of mast cells (42.5%), iNOS-mediated COX-2 induction pathway, MAPK signalling pathway and inflammasome activation in the ear tissue. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide the first evidence that MCE may have great potential to suppress chemical-induced skin inflammation through the suppression of IL-4 cytokine and the iNOS-mediated COX-2 induction pathway, and activation of inflammasome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Ram Song
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Su Jin Lee
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Ji Eun Kim
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Hyeon Jun Choi
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Su Ji Bae
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Yun Ju Choi
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Jeong Eun Gong
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
| | - Jin Kyung Noh
- Department of Biological Science, Universidad de Concepcion Edmundo Larenas, Concepcion, Chile
| | - Hye Sung Kim
- Department of Nano Fusion Technology, Pusan National University, Miryang-si, Korea
| | - Hyun-Gu Kang
- Laboratory of Veterinary Theriogenology, Veterinary Medical Center and College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Jin Tae Hong
- College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Dae Youn Hwang
- Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea
- CONTACT Dae Youn Hwang Department of Biomaterials Science, College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute/Laboratory Animal Resources Center, Pusan National University, 50 Cheonghak-ri, Samnangjin-eup Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 50463, Korea
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26
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Olivo Pimentel V, Yaromina A, Marcus D, Dubois LJ, Lambin P. A novel co-culture assay to assess anti-tumor CD8 + T cell cytotoxicity via luminescence and multicolor flow cytometry. J Immunol Methods 2020; 487:112899. [PMID: 33068606 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2020.112899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 08/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
T cell immunotherapies have shown great promise in patients with advanced cancer disease, revolutionizing treatment. T cell cytotoxicity is crucial in its efficacy, therefore developing ex vivo methods testing tumor and T cell interactions is pivotal. Increasing efforts have been made in developing co-culture assays with sophisticated materials and platforms aiming to mimic the tumor microenvironment (TME), but its complexity makes it difficult to develop the ideal model. In this study, we developed a simple co-culture assay, reproducible in any lab, but respecting the multicellular nature of the TME. Our goal is to combine in a single assay well-established techniques such as a luciferase assay for target cell viability analysis, a CD107a degranulation assay, and multicolor flow cytometry for the detection of cytokines and cytotoxicity markers. Cell suspensions of whole spleens and tumors containing splenic or tumor-infiltrating effector T cells of mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) or CT26 colon carcinoma tumors treated with radiation alone or in combination with immunotherapies were used for co-culture. LLC and CT26 cell lines transduced with the firefly luciferase gene were used as target cells. We demonstrated that splenocytes and tumor-infiltrating T cells derived from mice treated with combination therapy were able to kill approximately 50% of target cells after 48 h of co-culture. This effect was tumor cell-specific and dependent on CD8+ T cells evidenced by in vitro CD8+ T cell depletion. Flow cytometry demonstrated increased expression of CD107a and production of granzyme B, IFNγ, and TNFα by CD8+ T cells. Our co-culture assay is therefore suitable as proof of principle for in vivo therapeutic studies testing immunotherapies, and specifically to assess the involvement of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells in treatment response in LLC and CT26 tumor models. We also propose this assay as an ex vivo platform for high-throughput screening of immunomodulating agents to be tested in these two murine tumor models. This assay can be adapted to other tumor models after optimizations.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Carcinoma, Lewis Lung/immunology
- Carcinoma, Lewis Lung/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Lewis Lung/pathology
- Carcinoma, Lewis Lung/therapy
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Coculture Techniques
- Colonic Neoplasms/immunology
- Colonic Neoplasms/metabolism
- Colonic Neoplasms/pathology
- Colonic Neoplasms/therapy
- Cytotoxicity, Immunologic
- Flow Cytometry
- Granzymes/metabolism
- Immunotherapy
- Interferon-gamma/metabolism
- Luciferases, Firefly/biosynthesis
- Luciferases, Firefly/genetics
- Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating/immunology
- Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating/metabolism
- Lysosomal Membrane Proteins/metabolism
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Proof of Concept Study
- Radiotherapy
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/metabolism
- Tumor Microenvironment
- Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Olivo Pimentel
- The M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW - School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Ala Yaromina
- The M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW - School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Damiënne Marcus
- The M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW - School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Ludwig J Dubois
- The M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW - School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - Philippe Lambin
- The M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW - School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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Lee SB, Park H, Lee JE, Kim KS, Jeon YH. In Vivo Optical Reporter-Gene-Based Imaging of Macrophage Infiltration of DNCB-Induced Atopic Dermatitis. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21176205. [PMID: 32867320 PMCID: PMC7503337 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21176205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This study was conducted to monitor the macrophage infiltration of atopic dermatitis (AD)-like skin lesions and to evaluate the effects of anti-AD therapeutic agents in immunocompetent mice via optical reporter-gene-based molecular imaging. The enhanced firefly luciferase (effluc)-expressing macrophage cell line (Raw264.7/effluc) was intravenously introduced into mice with 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD, followed by bioluminescent imaging (BLI). After in vivo imaging, AD-like skin lesions were excised, and ex vivo imaging and Western blotting were conducted to determine the presence of infused macrophages. Finally, the therapeutic effect of dexamethasone (DEX), an AD-modulating agent, was evaluated via macrophage tracking. In vivo imaging with BLI revealed the migration of the reporter macrophages to DNCB-induced AD-like skin lesions on day 1 post-transfer. The greatest recruitment was observed on day 3, and a decline in BLI signal was observed on day 14. Notably, in vivo BLI clearly showed the inhibition of the reporter macrophage infiltration of DNCB-induced AD-like skin lesions by DEX, which was consistent with the reduced AD symptoms observed in DEX-treated mice. We successfully visualized the macrophage migration to DNCB-induced AD-like skin lesions, proving the feasibility of macrophage imaging for evaluating AD-regulating drugs in living organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang Bong Lee
- Korea Institute of Medical Microrobotics (KIMIRo), Gwangju 61011, Korea;
| | - Hyeonsoo Park
- Laboratory Animal Center, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Daegu 700-721, Korea; (H.P.); (J.-E.L.); (K.-S.K.)
- Research Center of Stickus Corporation, Haeundae-gu jaesong-dong 1050-21, Busan 48054, Korea
| | - Jae-Eon Lee
- Laboratory Animal Center, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Daegu 700-721, Korea; (H.P.); (J.-E.L.); (K.-S.K.)
- Department of Biomaterials Science, College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Pusan 50463, Korea
| | - Kil-Soo Kim
- Laboratory Animal Center, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Daegu 700-721, Korea; (H.P.); (J.-E.L.); (K.-S.K.)
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 700-721, Korea
| | - Yong Hyun Jeon
- Laboratory Animal Center, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Daegu 700-721, Korea; (H.P.); (J.-E.L.); (K.-S.K.)
- Leading-Edge Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development for Diabetes and Metabolic Disease, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu 700-721, Korea
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-53-790-5726
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28
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Kirchner S, Reuter S, Westphal A, Mrowka R. Decipher the complexity of cis-regulatory regions by a modified Cas9. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0235530. [PMID: 32614871 PMCID: PMC7332081 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding complex mechanisms of human transcriptional regulation remains a major challenge. Classical reporter studies already enabled the discovery of cis-regulatory elements within the non-coding DNA; however, the influence of genomic context and potential interactions are still largely unknown. Using a modified Cas9 activation complex we explore the complexity of renin transcription in its native genomic context. METHODS With the help of genomic editing, we stably tagged the native renin on chromosome 1 with the firefly luciferase and stably integrated a programmable modified Cas9 based trans-activation complex (SAM-complex) by lentiviral transduction into human cells. By delivering five specific guide-RNA homologous to specific promoter regions of renin we were able to guide this SAM-complex to these regions of interest. We measured gene expression and generated and compared computational models. RESULTS SAM complexes induced activation of renin in our cells after renin specific guide-RNA had been provided. All possible combinations of the five guides were subjected to model analysis in linear models. Quantifying the prediction error and the calculation of an estimator of the relative quality of the statistical models for our given set of data revealed that a model incorporating interactions in the proximal promoter is the superior model for explanation of the data. CONCLUSION By applying our combined experimental and modelling approach we can show that interactions occur within the selected sequences of the proximal renin promoter region. This combined approach might potentially be useful to investigate other genomic regions. Our findings may help to better understand the transcriptional regulation of human renin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Kirchner
- Experimental Nephrology Group, KIM III, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Stefanie Reuter
- Experimental Nephrology Group, KIM III, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Anika Westphal
- Experimental Nephrology Group, KIM III, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Ralf Mrowka
- Experimental Nephrology Group, KIM III, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Jena, Germany
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29
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Khatab S, Leijs MJ, van Buul G, Haeck J, Kops N, Nieboer M, Bos PK, Verhaar JAN, Bernsen M, van Osch GJVM. MSC encapsulation in alginate microcapsules prolongs survival after intra-articular injection, a longitudinal in vivo cell and bead integrity tracking study. Cell Biol Toxicol 2020; 36:553-570. [PMID: 32474743 PMCID: PMC7661423 DOI: 10.1007/s10565-020-09532-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are promising candidates for use as a biological therapeutic. Since locally injected MSC disappear within a few weeks, we hypothesize that efficacy of MSC can be enhanced by prolonging their presence. Previously, encapsulation in alginate was suggested as a suitable approach for this purpose. We found no differences between the two alginate types, alginate high in mannuronic acid (High M) and alginate high in guluronic acid (High G), regarding MSC viability, MSC immunomodulatory capability, or retention of capsule integrity after subcutaneous implantation in immune competent rats. High G proved to be more suitable for production of injectable beads. Firefly luciferase-expressing rat MSC were used to track MSC viability. Encapsulation in high G alginate prolonged the presence of metabolically active allogenic MSC in immune competent rats with monoiodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis for at least 8 weeks. Encapsulation of human MSC for local treatment by intra-articular injection did not significantly influence the effect on pain, synovial inflammation, or cartilage damage in this disease model. MSC encapsulation in alginate allows for an injectable approach which prolongs the presence of viable cells subcutaneously or in an osteoarthritic joint. Further fine tuning of alginate formulation and effective dosage for might be required in order to improve therapeutic efficacy depending on the target disease. Graphical Abstract ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Sohrab Khatab
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Maarten J Leijs
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Gerben van Buul
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Joost Haeck
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Nicole Kops
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Michael Nieboer
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - P Koen Bos
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jan A N Verhaar
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Monique Bernsen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Gerjo J V M van Osch
- Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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30
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Ji H, Li Y, Liu Z, Tang M, Zou L, Su F, Zhang Y, Zhang J, Li H, Li L, Ai B, Ma J, Wang L, Liu M, Xiao F. Quantitative Evaluation of the Transcriptional Activity of Steroid Hormone Receptor Mutants and Variants Using a Single Vector With Two Reporters and a Receptor Expression Cassette. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2020; 11:167. [PMID: 32296391 PMCID: PMC7137763 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing has led to the identification of a large number of truncated or mutated steroid hormone receptor (SHR) variants, their clinical relevance remains to be defined. A platform for functional analysis of these SHR variants in cells would be instrumental for better assessing their impact on normal physiology and SHR-associated diseases. Here we have developed a new reporter system that allows rapid and accurate assessment of the transcriptional activity of SHR variants in cells. The reporter is a single construct containing a firefly luciferase reporter gene, whose expression is under the control of a promoter with multiple steroid hormone responsive elements, and a Renilla luciferase reporter gene, that is constitutively expressed under the control of an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and is not regulated by steroid hormones. The corresponding SHR (wildtype or mutant/variant) is also expressed from the same construct. Using this improved reporter system, we revealed a large spectrum of transactivation activities within a set of previously identified mutations and variations of the androgen receptor (AR), the estrogen receptor α (ERα) and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). This novel reporter system enables functional analysis of SHR mutants and variants in physiological and pathological settings, offering valuable preclinical, or diagnostic information for the understanding and treatment of associated diseases.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Biological Assay/methods
- COS Cells
- Cells, Cultured
- Chlorocebus aethiops
- Cloning, Molecular/methods
- Estrogen Receptor alpha/genetics
- Estrogen Receptor alpha/physiology
- Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects
- Genes, Reporter/drug effects
- Genetic Vectors/genetics
- HEK293 Cells
- Hep G2 Cells
- Hormones/pharmacology
- Humans
- Luciferases, Firefly/genetics
- Mutant Proteins/physiology
- Mutation
- Promoter Regions, Genetic/drug effects
- Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics
- Receptors, Androgen/genetics
- Receptors, Androgen/physiology
- Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/genetics
- Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/physiology
- Receptors, Glucocorticoid/genetics
- Receptors, Glucocorticoid/physiology
- Transcriptional Activation/drug effects
- Transcriptional Activation/genetics
- Transfection/methods
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Ji
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, China
- Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Li
- Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, National Health Commissions, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhao Liu
- Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Min Tang
- Department of Oncology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lihui Zou
- The Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, National Health Commissions, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fei Su
- Clinical Biobank, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yaqun Zhang
- Department of Urology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Junhua Zhang
- The Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, National Health Commissions, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hexin Li
- Clinical Biobank, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Li
- Department of Oncology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Bin Ai
- Department of Oncology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Ma
- Center for Biotherapy, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Lunan Wang
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, China
- Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ming Liu
- Department of Urology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fei Xiao
- The Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, National Health Commissions, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- Clinical Biobank, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Pathology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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31
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Karda R, Rahim AA, Wong AMS, Suff N, Diaz JA, Perocheau DP, Tijani M, Ng J, Baruteau J, Martin NP, Hughes M, Delhove JMKM, Counsell JR, Cooper JD, Henckaerts E, Mckay TR, Buckley SMK, Waddington SN. Generation of light-producing somatic-transgenic mice using adeno-associated virus vectors. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2121. [PMID: 32034258 PMCID: PMC7005886 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59075-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
We have previously designed a library of lentiviral vectors to generate somatic-transgenic rodents to monitor signalling pathways in diseased organs using whole-body bioluminescence imaging, in conscious, freely moving rodents. We have now expanded this technology to adeno-associated viral vectors. We first explored bio-distribution by assessing GFP expression after neonatal intravenous delivery of AAV8. We observed widespread gene expression in, central and peripheral nervous system, liver, kidney and skeletal muscle. Next, we selected a constitutive SFFV promoter and NFκB binding sequence for bioluminescence and biosensor evaluation. An intravenous injection of AAV8 containing firefly luciferase and eGFP under transcriptional control of either element resulted in strong and persistent widespread luciferase expression. A single dose of LPS-induced a 10-fold increase in luciferase expression in AAV8-NFκB mice and immunohistochemistry revealed GFP expression in cells of astrocytic and neuronal morphology. Importantly, whole-body bioluminescence persisted up to 240 days. We have validated a novel biosensor technology in an AAV system by using an NFκB response element and revealed its potential to monitor signalling pathway in a non-invasive manner in a model of LPS-induced inflammation. This technology complements existing germline-transgenic models and may be applicable to other rodent disease models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajvinder Karda
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ahad A Rahim
- UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK
| | - Andrew M S Wong
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Natalie Suff
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Juan Antinao Diaz
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Dany P Perocheau
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Maha Tijani
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Joanne Ng
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Julien Baruteau
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nuria Palomar Martin
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Michael Hughes
- UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - John R Counsell
- Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, Molecular Neurosciences Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
- NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
| | - Jonathan D Cooper
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Els Henckaerts
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
- Laboratory of Viral Cell Signalling and Therapeutics, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tristan R Mckay
- Centre for Biomedicine, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Suzanne M K Buckley
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Simon N Waddington
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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32
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Fiedorowicz K, Rozwadowska N, Zimna A, Malcher A, Tutak K, Szczerbal I, Nowicka-Bauer K, Nowaczyk M, Kolanowski TJ, Łabędź W, Kubaszewski Ł, Kurpisz M. Tissue-specific promoter-based reporter system for monitoring cell differentiation from iPSCs to cardiomyocytes. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1895. [PMID: 32024875 PMCID: PMC7002699 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58050-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The possibility of using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes opens a new platform for modeling cardiac cell differentiation and disease or the development of new drugs. Progress in this field can be accelerated by high-throughput screening (HTS) technology combined with promoter reporter system. The goal of the study was to create and evaluate a responsive promoter reporter system that allows monitoring of iPSC differentiation towards cardiomyocytes. The lentiviral promoter reporter system was based on troponin 2 (TNNT2) and alpha cardiac actin (ACTC) with firefly luciferase and mCherry, respectively. The system was evaluated in two in vitro models. First, system followed the differentiation of TNNT2-luc-T2A-Puro-mCMV-GFP and hACTC-mcherry-WPRE-EF1-Neo from transduced iPSC line towards cardiomyocytes and revealed the significant decrease in both inserts copy number during the prolonged in vitro cell culture (confirmed by I-FISH, ddPCR, qPCR). Second, differentiated and contracting control cardiomyocytes (obtained from control non-reporter transduced iPSCs) were subsequently transduced with TNNT2-luc-T2A-Puro-CMV-GFP and hACTC-mcherry-WPRE-EF1-Neo lentiviruses to observe the functionality of obtained cardiomyocytes. Our results indicated that the reporter modified cell lines can be used for HTS applications, but it is essential to monitor the stability of the reporter sequence during extended cell in vitro culture.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Agnieszka Zimna
- Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Malcher
- Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Tutak
- Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Izabela Szczerbal
- Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | | | | | | | - Wojciech Łabędź
- Department of Spondyloortopaedics and Biomechanics of the Spine, W. Dega University Hospital, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Łukasz Kubaszewski
- Department of Spondyloortopaedics and Biomechanics of the Spine, W. Dega University Hospital, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Maciej Kurpisz
- Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
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33
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Sato Y, Okabe N, Note Y, Hashiba K, Maeki M, Tokeshi M, Harashima H. Hydrophobic scaffolds of pH-sensitive cationic lipids contribute to miscibility with phospholipids and improve the efficiency of delivering short interfering RNA by small-sized lipid nanoparticles. Acta Biomater 2020; 102:341-350. [PMID: 31733331 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2019.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 10/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Despite the fact that small-sized lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are important for improved tissue penetration and efficient drug delivery, their poor stability and intracellular trafficking significantly hinders their use as potent small-sized LNPs. It has been reported that both the diffusion of lipid components from LNPs and the adsorption of proteins on the surface of LNPs are responsible for their decreased potency. To overcome this issue, we focused on the chemical structure of hydrophobic scaffolds of pH-sensitive cationic lipids with various lengths and shapes. LNPs composed of a pH-sensitive cationic lipid with long, linear scaffolds induced gene silencing in a dose-dependent manner, while LNPs with a classical scaffold length (C18) failed. Replacing the helper lipid from cholesterol to egg sphingomyelin (ESM) resulted in the formation of smaller LNPs with a diameter of ~22 nm and enhanced gene silencing activity. Most of the ESMs were located in the outer layer and functioned to stabilize the LNPs. Long, linear scaffolds contributed to immiscibility with phosphocholine-containing lipids including ESM. This contribution was dependent on the scaffold length of pH-sensitive cationic lipids. Although phosphocholine-containing lipids usually inhibit membrane fusion-mediated endosomal escape, long, linear scaffolds contributed to avoiding the inhibitory effect and to enhance the potency of the LNPs. These findings provide useful information needed for the rational design of pH-sensitive cationic lipid structures and the selection of appropriate helper lipids and will facilitate the development of highly potent small-sized LNPs. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Despite the fact that small-sized lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are important for improved tissue penetration and efficient drug delivery, the size reduction-associated decrease in the stability and intracellular trafficking significantly hinders the development of potent small-sized LNPs. Our limited understanding of the mechanism underlying the reduced potency has also hindered the development of more potent small-sized LNPs. The findings of the present study indicate that long and linear hydrophobic scaffolds of pH-sensitive cationic lipids could overcome the loss of efficiency for nucleic acid delivery. In addition, the long hydrophobic scaffolds led to immiscibility with neutral phospholipids, resulting in efficient endosomal escape. These findings provide useful information needed for the rational design of pH-sensitive cationic lipid structures and will facilitate the development of highly potent small-sized LNPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Sato
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12 Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
| | - Nana Okabe
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12 Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
| | - Yusuke Note
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12 Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
| | - Kazuki Hashiba
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12 Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
| | - Masatoshi Maeki
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita 13 Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
| | - Manabu Tokeshi
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita 13 Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
| | - Hideyoshi Harashima
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12 Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
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34
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Jahangirizadeh Z, Ghafouri H, Sajedi RH, Sariri R, Hossienkhani S. Rapid and simple screening of the apoptotic compounds based on Hsp70 inhibition using luciferase as an intracellular reporter. Anal Bioanal Chem 2020; 412:149-158. [PMID: 31897564 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-019-02220-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 09/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
HSP70 is a powerful antiapoptotic protein that can block the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis. The present study describes a rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive system using luciferase as a reporter for the functional analysis of apoptotic compounds. For this approach, the co-transformation of Escherichia coli cells was performed with two expression vectors containing Hsp70 and firefly luciferase. It was found that the luciferase inactivated by heat treatment (40-46 °C for 10 min) was approximately reactivated at room temperature and regained 70% of its initial activity before heat inactivation after 60 min. The results show that the reactivation of thermally inactivated luciferase was inhibited in living cells by treatment with VER-155008 and pifitrin-μ as Hsp70 inhibitors, with half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 124 and 384 μM, respectively. The sensitivity of this method for detecting VER-155008 and pifitrin-μ was about 8 and 25 μM, respectively. Also, this reporter system showed no response to doxorubicin and dactinomycin, which bind to DNA, and we used these anticancer compounds as control compounds. Therefore, for the first time, a rapid and simple real-time system using luciferase as a reporter is introduced for the screening of apoptosis-inducing compounds based on suppression of Hsp70 in E. coli cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zohreh Jahangirizadeh
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, P.O. Box 41335-1914, Rasht, Iran
| | - Hossein Ghafouri
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, P.O. Box 41335-1914, Rasht, Iran.
| | - Reza H Sajedi
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-154, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reyhaneh Sariri
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, P.O. Box 41335-1914, Rasht, Iran
| | - Saman Hossienkhani
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-154, Tehran, Iran
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35
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Diaz JA, Geard A, FitzPatrick LM, Delhove JMKM, Buckley SMK, Waddington SN, McKay TR, Karda R. Continual Conscious Bioluminescent Imaging in Freely Moving Mice. Methods Mol Biol 2020; 2081:161-175. [PMID: 31721124 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9940-8_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
In vivo bioluminescent imaging allows the detection of reporter gene expression in rodents in real time. Here we describe a novel technology whereby we can generate somatotransgenic rodents with the use of a viral vector carrying a luciferase transgene. We are able to achieve long term luciferase expression by a single injection of lentiviral or adeno-associated virus vectors to newborn mice. Further, we describe whole body bioluminescence imaging of conscious mice in a noninvasive manner, thus enforcing the 3R's (replacement, reduction, and refinement) of biomedical animal research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Antinao Diaz
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Amy Geard
- UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | | | | | - Suzanne M K Buckley
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Simon N Waddington
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Tristan R McKay
- Centre for Biomedicine, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Rajvinder Karda
- Gene Transfer Technology Group, Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK.
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36
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de Souza Fernandes Pereira M, Fantacini DMC, Picanço-Castro V. Generation of Tumor Cells Expressing Firefly Luciferase (fLuc) to Evaluate the Effectiveness of CAR in a Murine Model. Methods Mol Biol 2019; 2086:237-250. [PMID: 31707681 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0146-4_18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Abstract
Immunotherapy has been showed as a promisor treatment, in special for hematological diseases. Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CARs) which are showing satisfactory results in early-phase cancer clinical trials can be highlighted. However, preclinical models are critical steps prior to clinical trial. In this way, a well-established preclinical model is an important key in order to confirm the proof of principle. For this purpose, in this chapter will be pointed the methods to generate tumor cells expressing firefly Luciferase. In turn, these modified cells will be used to create a subcutaneous and a systemic murine model of Burkitt's lymphoma in order to evaluate the effectiveness of CAR-T.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Burkitt Lymphoma/diagnostic imaging
- Burkitt Lymphoma/etiology
- Burkitt Lymphoma/pathology
- Burkitt Lymphoma/therapy
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Disease Models, Animal
- Gene Expression
- Genes, Reporter
- Humans
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive/methods
- Luciferases, Firefly/genetics
- Mice
- Molecular Imaging/methods
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/metabolism
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/genetics
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/metabolism
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
- Transduction, Genetic
- Treatment Outcome
- Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Virgínia Picanço-Castro
- Center for Cell-Based Therapy CTC, Regional Blood Center of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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37
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Dale R, Ohmuro-Matsuyama Y, Ueda H, Kato N. Non-Steady State Analysis of Enzyme Kinetics in Real Time Elucidates Substrate Association and Dissociation Rates: Demonstration with Analysis of Firefly Luciferase Mutants. Biochemistry 2019; 58:2695-2702. [PMID: 31125202 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Firefly luciferase has been widely used in biotechnology and biophotonics due to photon emission during enzymatic activity. In the past, the effect of amino acid substitutions (mutants) on the enzymatic activity of firefly luciferase has been characterized by the Michaelis constant, KM. The KM is obtained by plotting the maximum relative luminescence units (RLU) detected for several concentrations of the substrate (luciferin or luciferyl-adenylate). The maximum RLU is used because the assay begins to violate the quasi-steady state approximation when RLU decays as a function of time. However, mutations also affect the time to reach and decay from the maximum RLU. These effects are not captured when calculating the KM. To understand changes in the RLU kinetics of firefly luciferase mutants, we used a Michaelis-Menten model with the non-steady state approximation. In this model, we do not assume that the amount of enzyme-substrate complex is at equilibrium throughout the course of the experiment. We found that one of the two mutants analyzed in this study decreases not only the dissociation rate ( koff) but also the association rate ( kon) of luciferyl-adenylate, suggesting the narrowing of the structural pocket containing the catalytic amino acids. Furthermore, comparative analysis of the nearly complete oxidation of luciferyl-adenylate with wild-type and mutant firefly luciferase reveals that the total amount of photons emitted with the mutant is 50-fold larger than that with the wild type, on average. These two results together indicate that the slow supply of luciferyl-adenylate to the enzyme increases the total number of photons emitted from the substrate, luciferyl-adenylate. Analysis with the non-steady state approximation model is generally applicable when enzymatic production kinetics are monitored in real time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renee Dale
- Department of Biological Sciences , Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge , Louisiana 70803 , United States
- Department of Experimental Statistics , Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge , Louisiana 70803 , United States
| | - Yuki Ohmuro-Matsuyama
- Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research , Tokyo Institute of Technology , Nagatsuta-cho, Yokohama , Kanagawa 226-8503 , Japan
| | - Hiroshi Ueda
- Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research , Tokyo Institute of Technology , Nagatsuta-cho, Yokohama , Kanagawa 226-8503 , Japan
| | - Naohiro Kato
- Department of Biological Sciences , Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge , Louisiana 70803 , United States
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Wang H, Willershäuser M, Karlas A, Gorpas D, Reber J, Ntziachristos V, Maurer S, Fromme T, Li Y, Klingenspor M. A dual Ucp1 reporter mouse model for imaging and quantitation of brown and brite fat recruitment. Mol Metab 2019; 20:14-27. [PMID: 30580967 PMCID: PMC6358570 DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2018] [Revised: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates nutritional energy as heat through uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). The discovery of functional BAT in healthy adult humans has promoted the search for pharmacological interventions to recruit and activate brown fat as a treatment of obesity and diabetes type II. These efforts require in vivo models to compare the efficacy of novel compounds in a relevant physiological context. METHODS We generated a knock-in mouse line expressing firefly luciferase and near-infrared red florescent protein (iRFP713) driven by the regulatory elements of the endogenous Ucp1 gene. RESULTS Our detailed characterization revealed that firefly luciferase activity faithfully reports endogenous Ucp1 gene expression in response to physiological and pharmacological stimuli. The iRFP713 fluorescence signal was detected in the interscapular BAT region of cold-exposed reporter mice in an allele-dosage dependent manner. Using this reporter mouse model, we detected a higher browning capacity in female peri-ovarian white adipose tissue compared to male epididymal WAT, which we further corroborated by molecular and morphological features. In situ imaging detected a strong luciferase activity signal in a previously unappreciated adipose tissue depot adjunct to the femoral muscle, now adopted as femoral brown adipose tissue. In addition, screening cultured adipocytes by bioluminescence imaging identified the selective Salt-Inducible Kinase inhibitor, HG-9-91-01, to increase Ucp1 gene expression and mitochondrial respiration in brown and brite adipocytes. CONCLUSIONS In our mouse model, firefly luciferase activity serves as a bona fide reporter for dynamic regulation of Ucp1. In addition, by means of iRFP713 we are able to monitor Ucp1 expression in a non-invasive fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Wang
- EKFZ - Else Kröner-Fresenius Zentrum for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany; Chair for Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Monja Willershäuser
- EKFZ - Else Kröner-Fresenius Zentrum for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany; Chair for Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Angelos Karlas
- Chair for Biological Imaging, Technical University of Munich, Troger Str. 9, 81675 München, Germany
| | - Dimitris Gorpas
- Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr.1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Chair for Biological Imaging, Technical University of Munich, Troger Str. 9, 81675 München, Germany
| | - Josefine Reber
- Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr.1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Vasilis Ntziachristos
- Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr.1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Chair for Biological Imaging, Technical University of Munich, Troger Str. 9, 81675 München, Germany
| | - Stefanie Maurer
- EKFZ - Else Kröner-Fresenius Zentrum for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany; Chair for Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Tobias Fromme
- EKFZ - Else Kröner-Fresenius Zentrum for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany; Chair for Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Yongguo Li
- EKFZ - Else Kröner-Fresenius Zentrum for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany; Chair for Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Martin Klingenspor
- EKFZ - Else Kröner-Fresenius Zentrum for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany; Chair for Molecular Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany.
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Moncion A, Harmon JN, Li Y, Natla S, Farrell EC, Kripfgans OD, Stegemann JP, Martín-Saavedra FM, Vilaboa N, Franceschi RT, Fabiilli ML. Spatiotemporally-controlled transgene expression in hydroxyapatite-fibrin composite scaffolds using high intensity focused ultrasound. Biomaterials 2019; 194:14-24. [PMID: 30572283 PMCID: PMC6339574 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Conventional tissue engineering approaches rely on scaffold-based delivery of exogenous proteins, genes, and/or cells to stimulate regeneration via growth factor signaling. However, scaffold-based approaches do not allow active control of dose, timing, or spatial localization of a delivered growth factor once the scaffold is implanted, yet these are all crucial parameters in promoting tissue regeneration. To address this limitation, we developed a stable cell line containing a heat-activated and rapamycin-dependent gene expression system. In this study, we investigate how high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can spatiotemporally control firefly luciferase (fLuc) transgene activity both in vitro and in vivo by the tightly controlled generation of hyperthermia. Cells were incorporated into composite scaffolds containing fibrin and hydroxyapatite particles, which yielded significant increases in acoustic attenuation and heating in response to HIFU compared to fibrin alone. Using 2.5 MHz HIFU, transgene activation was observed at acoustic intensities of 201 W/cm2 and higher. Transgene activation was spatially patterned in the scaffolds by rastering HIFU at speeds up to 0.15 mm/s. In an in vivo study, a 67-fold increase in fLuc activity was observed in scaffolds exposed to HIFU and rapamycin versus rapamycin only at 2 days post implantation. Repeated activation of transgene expression was also demonstrated 8 days after implantation. No differences in in vivo scaffold degradation or compaction were observed between +HIFU and -HIFU groups. These results highlight the potential utility of using this heat-activated and rapamycin-dependent gene expression system in combination with HIFU for the controlled stimulation of tissue regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Moncion
- Applied Physics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jennifer N Harmon
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yan Li
- Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sam Natla
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Easton C Farrell
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Oliver D Kripfgans
- Applied Physics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jan P Stegemann
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Francisco M Martín-Saavedra
- Hospital Universitario La Paz-IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain
| | - Nuria Vilaboa
- Hospital Universitario La Paz-IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain
| | - Renny T Franceschi
- Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Mario L Fabiilli
- Applied Physics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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40
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Dupont M, Vosshenrich CAJ. Conditional Genetic Ablation Mouse Models as a Tool to Study Cancer Immunosurveillance In Vivo. Methods Mol Biol 2019; 1884:161-176. [PMID: 30465202 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8885-3_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Over the last decades, it has been established that the immune system is crucial for the impediment of cancer development by recognizing and destroying transformed cells. This process has been termed cancer immunosurveillance. Small animal models have significantly facilitated our understanding of it. Dissecting the contribution of any specific immune cell type participating in this process requires the ability to specifically target it while leaving the other immune components as well as the cancer model system unperturbed in vivo. Here, we provide a simple and rapid protocol for the generation of transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase in a cell type-specific manner-in our example we chose cells expressing Ncr1, which encodes for the surface protein NKp46-and the use of those mice to ablate NKp46+ cells in order to study their role in a model of cancer immunosurveillance against experimental pulmonary metastases. This protocol can easily be adapted to target other cell types and other cancer models.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Antigens, Ly/genetics
- Antigens, Ly/immunology
- Antigens, Ly/metabolism
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Female
- Genes, Reporter/genetics
- Immunologic Surveillance
- Integrases/genetics
- Intravital Microscopy/instrumentation
- Intravital Microscopy/methods
- Killer Cells, Natural/immunology
- Killer Cells, Natural/metabolism
- Luciferases, Firefly/chemistry
- Luciferases, Firefly/genetics
- Luminescent Measurements/instrumentation
- Luminescent Measurements/methods
- Lung Neoplasms/genetics
- Lung Neoplasms/immunology
- Male
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Transgenic
- Natural Cytotoxicity Triggering Receptor 1/genetics
- Natural Cytotoxicity Triggering Receptor 1/immunology
- Natural Cytotoxicity Triggering Receptor 1/metabolism
- Neoplasms, Experimental/genetics
- Neoplasms, Experimental/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
- Magali Dupont
- Unité d'Immunité Innée, Département d'Immunologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
- INSERM U1223, Paris, France
- Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - Christian A J Vosshenrich
- Unité d'Immunité Innée, Département d'Immunologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
- INSERM U1223, Paris, France.
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Lizotte PH, Hong RL, Luster TA, Cavanaugh ME, Taus LJ, Wang S, Dhaneshwar A, Mayman N, Yang A, Kulkarni M, Badalucco L, Fitzpatrick E, Kao HF, Kuraguchi M, Bittinger M, Kirschmeier PT, Gray NS, Barbie DA, Jänne PA. A High-Throughput Immune-Oncology Screen Identifies EGFR Inhibitors as Potent Enhancers of Antigen-Specific Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte Tumor Cell Killing. Cancer Immunol Res 2018; 6:1511-1523. [PMID: 30242021 PMCID: PMC6601346 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-18-0193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
We developed a screening assay in which luciferized ID8 expressing OVA was cocultured with transgenic CD8+ T cells specifically recognizing the model antigen in an H-2b-restricted manner. The assay was screened with a small-molecule library to identify compounds that inhibit or enhance T cell-mediated killing of tumor cells. Erlotinib, an EGFR inhibitor, was the top compound that enhanced T-cell killing of tumor cells. Subsequent experiments with erlotinib and additional EGFR inhibitors validated the screen results. EGFR inhibitors increased both basal and IFNγ-induced MHC class-I presentation, which enhanced recognition and lysis of tumor cell targets by CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The ID8 cell line was also transduced to constitutively express Cas9, and a pooled CRISPR screen, utilizing the same target tumor cell/T-cell assay, identified single-guide (sg)RNAs targeting EGFR that sensitized tumor cells to T cell-mediated killing. Combination of PD-1 blockade with EGFR inhibition showed significant synergistic efficacy in a syngeneic model, further validating EGFR inhibitors as immunomodulatory agents that enhance checkpoint blockade. This assay can be screened in high-throughput with small-molecule libraries and genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 libraries to identify both compounds and target genes, respectively, that enhance or inhibit T-cell recognition and killing of tumor cells. Retrospective analyses of squamous-cell head and neck cancer (SCCHN) patients treated with the combination of afatinib and pembrolizumab demonstrated a rate of clinical activity exceeding that of each single agent. Prospective clinical trials evaluating the combination of an EGFR inhibitor and PD-1 blockade should be conducted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick H Lizotte
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ruey-Long Hong
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Troy A Luster
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Megan E Cavanaugh
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Luke J Taus
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Stephen Wang
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Abha Dhaneshwar
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Naomi Mayman
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Aaron Yang
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Meghana Kulkarni
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Lauren Badalucco
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Erica Fitzpatrick
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Hsiang-Fong Kao
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Mari Kuraguchi
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Mark Bittinger
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Paul T Kirschmeier
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Nathanael S Gray
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - David A Barbie
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Pasi A Jänne
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Boston, Massachusetts.
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
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Fallon TR, Lower SE, Chang CH, Bessho-Uehara M, Martin GJ, Bewick AJ, Behringer M, Debat HJ, Wong I, Day JC, Suvorov A, Silva CJ, Stanger-Hall KF, Hall DW, Schmitz RJ, Nelson DR, Lewis SM, Shigenobu S, Bybee SM, Larracuente AM, Oba Y, Weng JK. Firefly genomes illuminate parallel origins of bioluminescence in beetles. eLife 2018; 7:e36495. [PMID: 30324905 PMCID: PMC6191289 DOI: 10.7554/elife.36495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 08/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Fireflies and their luminous courtships have inspired centuries of scientific study. Today firefly luciferase is widely used in biotechnology, but the evolutionary origin of bioluminescence within beetles remains unclear. To shed light on this long-standing question, we sequenced the genomes of two firefly species that diverged over 100 million-years-ago: the North American Photinus pyralis and Japanese Aquatica lateralis. To compare bioluminescent origins, we also sequenced the genome of a related click beetle, the Caribbean Ignelater luminosus, with bioluminescent biochemistry near-identical to fireflies, but anatomically unique light organs, suggesting the intriguing hypothesis of parallel gains of bioluminescence. Our analyses support independent gains of bioluminescence in fireflies and click beetles, and provide new insights into the genes, chemical defenses, and symbionts that evolved alongside their luminous lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy R Fallon
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical ResearchCambridgeUnited States
- Department of BiologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
| | - Sarah E Lower
- Department of Molecular Biology and GeneticsCornell UniversityIthacaUnited States
- Department of BiologyBucknell UniversityLewisburgUnited States
| | - Ching-Ho Chang
- Department of BiologyUniversity of RochesterRochesterUnited States
| | - Manabu Bessho-Uehara
- Department of Environmental BiologyChubu UniversityKasugaiJapan
- Graduate School of Bioagricultural SciencesNagoya UniversityNagoyaJapan
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research InstituteMoss LandingUnited States
| | - Gavin J Martin
- Department of BiologyBrigham Young UniversityProvoUnited States
| | - Adam J Bewick
- Department of GeneticsUniversity of GeorgiaAthensUnited States
| | - Megan Behringer
- Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of EvolutionArizona State UniversityTempeUnited States
| | - Humberto J Debat
- Center of Agronomic Research, National Institute of Agricultural TechnologyCórdobaArgentina
| | - Isaac Wong
- Department of BiologyUniversity of RochesterRochesterUnited States
| | - John C Day
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH)WallingfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Anton Suvorov
- Department of BiologyBrigham Young UniversityProvoUnited States
| | - Christian J Silva
- Department of BiologyUniversity of RochesterRochesterUnited States
- Department of Plant SciencesUniversity of California DavisDavisUnited States
| | | | - David W Hall
- Department of GeneticsUniversity of GeorgiaAthensUnited States
| | | | - David R Nelson
- Department of Microbiology Immunology and BiochemistryUniversity of Tennessee HSCMemphisUnited States
| | - Sara M Lewis
- Department of BiologyTufts UniversityMedfordUnited States
| | - Shuji Shigenobu
- NIBB Core Research FacilitiesNational Institute for Basic BiologyOkazakiJapan
| | - Seth M Bybee
- Department of BiologyBrigham Young UniversityProvoUnited States
| | | | - Yuichi Oba
- Department of Environmental BiologyChubu UniversityKasugaiJapan
| | - Jing-Ke Weng
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical ResearchCambridgeUnited States
- Department of BiologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
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Ezra-Elia R, Obolensky A, Ejzenberg A, Ross M, Mintz D, Banin E, Ofri R. Can an in vivo imaging system be used to determine localization and biodistribution of AAV5-mediated gene expression following subretinal and intravitreal delivery in mice? Exp Eye Res 2018; 176:227-234. [PMID: 30171858 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2018.08.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2018] [Revised: 07/24/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Recombinant adeno associated viruses (AAV) are the most commonly used vectors in animal model studies of gene therapy for retinal diseases. The ability of a vector to localize and remain in the target tissue, and in this manner to avoid off-target effects beyond the site of delivery, is critical to the efficacy and safety of the treatment. The in vivo imaging system (IVIS) is a non-invasive imaging tool used for detection and quantification of bioluminescence activity in rodents. Our aim was to investigate whether IVIS can detect localization and biodistribution of AAV5 vector in mice following subretinal (SR) and intravitreal (IVT) injections. AAV5 carrying firefly luciferase DNA under control of the ubiquitous cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter was injected unilaterally IVT or SR (in the central or peripheral retina) of forty-one mice. Luciferase activity was tracked for up to 60 weeks in the longest surviving animals, using repeated (up to 12 times) IVIS bioluminescence imaging. Luciferase presence was also confirmed immunohistochemically (IHC) and by PCR in representative animals. In the SR group, IVIS readings demonstrated luciferase activity in all (32/32) eyes, and luciferase presence was confirmed by IHC (4/4 eyes) and PCR (12/12 eyes). In the IVT group, IVIS readings demonstrated luciferase activity in 7/9 eyes, and luciferase presence was confirmed by PCR in 5/5 eyes and by IHC (2/2 eyes). In two SR-injected animals (one each from the central and peripheral injection sites), PCR detected luciferase presence in the ipsilateral optic nerves, a finding that was not detected by IVIS or IHC. Our results show that when evaluating SR delivery, IVIS has a sensitivity and specificity of 100% compared with the gold standard PCR. When evaluating IVT delivery, IVIS has a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 100%. These finding confirm the ability of IVIS to detect in-vivo localized expression of AAV following SR delivery in the retina up to 60 weeks post-treatment, using repeated imaging for longitudinal evaluation, without fading of the biological signal, thereby replacing the need for post mortem processing in order to confirm vector expression. However, IVIS is probably not sensitive enough, compared with genome detection, to demonstrate biodistribution to the optic nerve, as it could not detect luciferase activity in ipsilateral optic nerves following SR delivery in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raaya Ezra-Elia
- Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Alexey Obolensky
- Center for Retinal and Macular Degenerations (CRMD), Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ayala Ejzenberg
- Center for Retinal and Macular Degenerations (CRMD), Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Maya Ross
- Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Dvir Mintz
- Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Eyal Banin
- Center for Retinal and Macular Degenerations (CRMD), Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ron Ofri
- Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
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Brugler MR, Aguado MT, Tessler M, Siddall ME. The transcriptome of the Bermuda fireworm Odontosyllis enopla (Annelida: Syllidae): A unique luciferase gene family and putative epitoky-related genes. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200944. [PMID: 30089107 PMCID: PMC6082529 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The Bermuda fireworm Odontosyllis enopla exhibits an extremely tight circalunar circadian behavior that results in an impressive bioluminescent mating swarm, thought to be due to a conventional luciferase-mediated oxidation of a light-emitting luciferin. In addition, the four eyes become hypertrophied and heavily pigmented, and the nephridial system is modified to store and release gametes and associated secretions. In an effort to elucidate transcripts related to bioluminescence, circadian or circalunar periodicity, as well as epitoky-related changes of the eyes and nephridial system, we examined the transcriptomic profile of three female O. enopla during a bioluminescent swarm in Ferry Reach, Bermuda. Using the well-characterized luciferase gene of the Japanese syllid Odontosyllis undecimdonta as a reference, a complete best-matching luciferase open reading frame (329 amino acids in length) was found in all three individuals analyzed in addition to numerous other paralogous sequences in this new gene family. No photoproteins were detected. We also recovered a predicted homolog of 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (268 amino acids in length) that best matched luciferase of the firefly Luciola with the best predicted template being the crystal structure of luciferase for Photinus pyralis, the common eastern firefly. A wide variety of genes associated with periodicity were recovered including predicted homologs of clock, bmal1, period, and timeless. Several genes corresponding to putative epitoky-related changes of the eyes were recovered including predicted homologs of a phototransduction gene, a retinol dehydrogenase and carotenoid isomerooxygenase as well as a visual perception related retinal rod rhodopsin-sensitive cGMP 3',5'-cyclic phosphodiesterase. Genes correlating to putative epitoky-related changes of the nephridia included predicted homologs of nephrocystin-3 and an egg-release sex peptide receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mercer R. Brugler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America
- Biological Sciences Department, NYC College of Technology, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
| | - M. Teresa Aguado
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain
| | - Michael Tessler
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Mark E. Siddall
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America
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Mori da Cunha MGMC, Giacomazzi G, Callewaert G, Hympanova L, Russo F, Vande Velde G, Gijsbers R, Albersen M, Sampaolesi M, Deprest J. Fate of mesoangioblasts in a vaginal birth injury model: influence of the route of administration. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10604. [PMID: 30006567 PMCID: PMC6045600 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28967-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 07/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Currently cell therapy is considered as an experimental strategy to assist the healing process following simulated vaginal birth injury in rats, boosting the functional and morphologic recovery of pelvic floor muscles and nerves. However, the optimal administration route and dose still need to be determined. Mesangioblasts theoretically have the advantage that they can differentiate in skeletal and smooth muscle. We investigated the fate of mesoangioblasts transduced with luciferase and green fluorescent protein reporter genes (rMABseGFP/fLUC) using bioluminescence, immunofluorescence and RT-PCR in rats undergoing simulated birth injury. rMABseGFP/fLUC were injected locally, intravenously and intra-arterially (common iliacs and aorta). Intra-arterial delivery resulted in the highest amount of rMABseGFP/fLUC in the pelvic organs region and in a more homogeneous distribution over all relevant pelvic organs. Sham controls showed that the presence of the injury is important for recruitment of intra-arterially injected rMABseGFP/fLUC. Injection through the aorta or bilaterally in the common iliac arteries resulted in comparable numbers of rMABseGFP/fLUC in the pelvic organs, yet aortic injection was faster and gave less complications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Gabriela Monteiro Carvalho Mori da Cunha
- Centre for Surgical Technologies, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Giorgia Giacomazzi
- Translational Cardiomyology Lab, Stem Cell Biology and Embryology Unit, Department Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Geertje Callewaert
- Centre for Surgical Technologies, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Pelvic Floor Unit, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lucie Hympanova
- Centre for Surgical Technologies, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Institute for the Care of the Mother and Child, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Francesca Russo
- Centre for Surgical Technologies, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Rik Gijsbers
- Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, KU Leuven, Flanders, Belgium
| | - Maarten Albersen
- Department of Urology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maurilio Sampaolesi
- Translational Cardiomyology Lab, Stem Cell Biology and Embryology Unit, Department Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Deprest
- Centre for Surgical Technologies, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Pelvic Floor Unit, University Hospitals KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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Oh EJ, Lee HW, Kalimuthu S, Kim TJ, Kim HM, Baek SH, Zhu L, Oh JM, Son SH, Chung HY, Ahn BC. In vivo migration of mesenchymal stem cells to burn injury sites and their therapeutic effects in a living mouse model. J Control Release 2018; 279:79-88. [PMID: 29655989 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2018.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Revised: 04/06/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for tissue regeneration and repair. In this study, we non-invasively monitored the tracking of MSCs toward burn injury sites using MSCs expressing firefly luciferase (Fluc) gene in living mice, and evaluated the effects of the MSCs at the injury site. Murine MSCs co-expressing Fluc and green fluorescent protein (GFP) were established using a retroviral system (referred to as MSC/Fluc). To evaluate the ability of MSC migration toward burn injury sites, cutaneous burn injury was induced in the dorsal skin of mice. MSC/Fluc was intravenously administrated into the mice model and bioluminescence imaging (BLI) was performed to monitor MSC tracking at designated time points. BLI signals of MSC/Fluc appeared in burn injury lesions at 4 days after the cell injection and then gradually decreased. Immunoblotting analysis was conducted to determine the expression of neovascularization-related genes such as TGF-β1 and VEGF in burnt skin. The levels of TGF-β1 and VEGF were higher in the MSC/Fluc-treated group than in the burn injury group. Our observations suggested that MSCs might assist burn wound healing and that MSCs expressing Fluc could be a useful tool for optimizing MSC-based therapeutic strategies for burn wound healing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun Jung Oh
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea; Cell & Matrix Research Institute, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Ho Won Lee
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Senthilkumar Kalimuthu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Tae Jung Kim
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Hyun Mi Kim
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Se Hwan Baek
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Liya Zhu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Ji Min Oh
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Seung Hyun Son
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea
| | - Ho Yun Chung
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea.
| | - Byeong-Cheol Ahn
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea.
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Abstract
New applications for bioluminescence imaging require an expanded set of luciferase enzymes and luciferin substrates. Here, we report two novel luciferins for use in vitro and in cells. These molecules comprise regioisomeric pyridone cores that can be accessed from a common synthetic route. The analogues exhibited unique emission spectra with firefly luciferase, although photon intensities remained weak. Enhanced light outputs were achieved by using mutant luciferase enzymes. One of the luciferin-luciferase pairs produced light on par with native probes in live cells. The pyridone analogues and complementary luciferases add to a growing set of designer probes for bioluminescence imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan S. Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, 1120 Natural Sciences II, Irvine, CA 92697 (USA),
| | - Krysten A. Jones
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, 3205 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697 (USA)
| | - David C. McCutcheon
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, 1120 Natural Sciences II, Irvine, CA 92697 (USA),
| | - Jennifer A. Prescher
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, 1120 Natural Sciences II, Irvine, CA 92697 (USA),
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, 3205 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697 (USA)
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 147 Bison Modular, Irvine, CA 92697 (USA)
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Liu MD, Warner EA, Morrissey CE, Fick CW, Wu TS, Ornelas MY, Ochoa GV, Zhang B, Rathbun CM, Porterfield WB, Prescher JA, Leconte AM. Statistical Coupling Analysis-Guided Library Design for the Discovery of Mutant Luciferases. Biochemistry 2018; 57:663-671. [PMID: 29224332 PMCID: PMC6192264 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.7b01014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Directed evolution has proven to be an invaluable tool for protein engineering; however, there is still a need for developing new approaches to continue to improve the efficiency and efficacy of these methods. Here, we demonstrate a new method for library design that applies a previously developed bioinformatic method, Statistical Coupling Analysis (SCA). SCA uses homologous enzymes to identify amino acid positions that are mutable and functionally important and engage in synergistic interactions between amino acids. We use SCA to guide a library of the protein luciferase and demonstrate that, in a single round of selection, we can identify luciferase mutants with several valuable properties. Specifically, we identify luciferase mutants that possess both red-shifted emission spectra and improved stability relative to those of the wild-type enzyme. We also identify luciferase mutants that possess a >50-fold change in specificity for modified luciferins. To understand the mutational origin of these improved mutants, we demonstrate the role of mutations at N229, S239, and G246 in altered function. These studies show that SCA can be used to guide library design and rapidly identify synergistic amino acid mutations from a small library.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mira D. Liu
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Elliot A. Warner
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Charlotte E. Morrissey
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Caitlyn W. Fick
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Taia S. Wu
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Marya Y. Ornelas
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Gabriela V. Ochoa
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
| | - Brendan Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697, United States of America
| | - Colin M. Rathbun
- Department of Chemistry, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697, United States of America
| | - William B. Porterfield
- Department of Chemistry, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697, United States of America
| | - Jennifer A. Prescher
- Department of Chemistry, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697, United States of America
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California – Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697, United States of America
| | - Aaron M. Leconte
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, 91711, United States of America
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Jiang YL, Zhu Y, Moore AB, Miller K, Broome AM. Biotinylated Bioluminescent Probe for Long Lasting Targeted in Vivo Imaging of Xenografted Brain Tumors in Mice. ACS Chem Neurosci 2018; 9:100-106. [PMID: 28532151 PMCID: PMC5947857 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Bioluminescence is a useful tool for imaging of cancer in in vivo animal models that endogenously express luciferase, an enzyme that requires a substrate for visual readout. Current bioluminescence imaging, using commonly available luciferin substrates, only lasts a short time (15-20 min). To avoid repeated administration of luciferase substrate during cancer detection and surgery, a long lasting bioluminescence imaging substrate or system is needed. A novel water-soluble biotinylated luciferase probe, B-YL (1), was synthesized. A receptor-targeted complex of B-YL with streptavidin (SA) together with a biotinylated epidermal growth factor short peptide (B-EGF) (SA/B-YL/B-EGF = 1:3:1, molar ratio) was then prepared to demonstrate selective targeting. The complex was incubated with brain cancer cell lines overexpressing the EGF receptor (EGFR) and transfected with the luciferase gene. Results show that the complex specifically detects cancer cells by bioluminescence. The complex was further used to image xenograft brain tumors transfected with a luciferase gene in mice. The complex detects the tumor immediately, and bioluminescence lasts for 5 days. Thus, the complex generates a long lasting bioluminescence for cancer detection in mice. The complex with selective targeting may be used in noninvasive cancer diagnosis and accurate surgery in cancer treatment in clinics in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Lin Jiang
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Yun Zhu
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Alfred B. Moore
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Kayla Miller
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Ann-Marie Broome
- Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
- Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
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50
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Abstract
Bioluminescence imaging is a powerful, broadly utilized method for noninvasive imaging studies in cell-based assays and small animal models of normal physiology and multiple diseases. In combination with molecular engineering of cells and entire organisms using luciferase enzymes, bioluminescence imaging has enabled novel applications including studies of protein-protein interactions, ligand-receptor interactions, cell trafficking, and drug targeting in mouse models. We describe use of a novel luciferase enzyme derived from Oplophorus gracilirostris, NanoLuc, in cell-based assays bioluminescence imaging of tumor-bearing mice. We also combine NanoLuc with another luciferase enzyme, firefly luciferase, to image multiple signal transduction events in one imaging session.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne E Gibbons
- Department of Radiology, Center for Molecular Imaging, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kathryn E Luker
- Department of Radiology, Center for Molecular Imaging, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Gary D Luker
- Department of Radiology, Center for Molecular Imaging, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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