Project description:TGF-beta has an oncogenic response in glioblastoma and it is considered to be a therapeutic target. We evaluated the effect of TGF-beta inhibition in glioblastoma. Differential gene expression analysis of patient-derived primary cultured glioblastoma cells treated with the TGF-beta receptor inhibitor, LY2109761 11 patient-derived cell cultures from 11 patients were treated with 2microM of the TGF-beta receptor inhibitor, LY2109761, for 3 hours or left untreated and RNA was isolated and microarray analysis was performed
Project description:TGF-beta has an oncogenic response in glioblastoma and it is considered to be a therapeutic target. We evaluated the effect of TGF-beta inhibition in glioblastoma. Differential gene expression analysis of patient-derived primary cultured glioblastoma cells treated with the TGF-beta receptor inhibitor, LY2109761
Project description:Pedro Vizán, Daniel S. J. Miller, Ilaria Gori, Debipriya Das, Bernhard Schmierer & Caroline S. Hill. Controlling long-term signaling: receptor dynamics determine attenuation and refractory behavior of the TGF-β pathway. Science Signaling 6, 305 (2013).
Understanding the complex dynamics of growth factor signaling requires both mechanistic and kinetic information. Although signaling dynamics have been studied for pathways downstream of receptor tyrosine kinases and G protein (heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein)-coupled receptors, they have not been investigated for the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily pathways. Using an integrative experimental and mathematical modeling approach, we dissected the dynamic behavior of the TGF-β to Smad pathway, which is mediated by type I and type II receptor serine/threonine kinases, in response to acute, chronic, and repeated ligand stimulations. TGF-β exposure produced a transient response that attenuated over time, resulting in desensitized cells that were refractory to further acute stimulation. This loss of signaling competence depended on ligand binding, but not on receptor activity, and was restored only after the ligand had been depleted. Furthermore, TGF-β binding triggered the rapid depletion of signaling-competent receptors from the cell surface, with the type I and type II receptors exhibiting different degradation and trafficking kinetics. A computational model of TGF-β signal transduction from the membrane to the nucleus that incorporates our experimental findings predicts that autocrine signaling, such as that associated with tumorigenesis, severely compromises the TGF-β response, which we confirmed experimentally. Thus, we have shown that the long-term signaling behavior of the TGF-β pathway is determined by receptor dynamics, does not require TGF-β-induced gene expression, and influences context-dependent responses in vivo.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.
Project description:Analyze TGF-beta pathway transcriptional regulation in breast cancer stem cells with different responses upon TGF-beta pathway activation. Total RNA from four breast cell lines grown as mammospheres treated with recombinant TGF-beta or a TGF-beta receptor I inhibitor was used in the analysis.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of human mesenchymal stem cells comparing normoxic MSCs cells with hypoxic MSCs cells. Hypoxia may inhibit senescence of MSCs during expansion. Goal was to determine the effects of hypoxia on global MSCs gene expression.