技术资料

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal hematologic malignancy of the myeloid lineage caused by the oncogenic BCR/ABL fusion protein that promotes CML cell proliferation and protects them against drug-induced apoptosis. In this study,we determine LATS1 and LATS2 expression in CML cells derived from patients who are resistant to imatinib (IM) treatment. Significant upregulation of LATS1 and LATS2 was found in these CML patients compared to healthy donors. To further explore whether the expression of LATS1/2 contributes to the IM-resistant phenotype,IM-resistant CML cell lines generated by culturing CML-derived erythroblastic K562 cells in increasing concentrations of IM were used as in vitro models. Up-regulation of LATS1 and LATS2 was observed in IM-resistant K562 cells. Reduction of LATS using either Lats-IN-1 (TRULI),a specific LATS inhibitor,or shRNA targeting LATS1/2 significantly reduced clonogenicity,increased apoptosis and induced differentiation of K562 cells to late-stage erythroid cells. Furthermore,depletion of LATS1 and LATS2 also increased the sensitivity of K562 cells to IM. Taken together,our results suggest that LATS could be one of the key factors contributing to the rapid proliferation,reduced apoptosis,and IM resistance of CML cells. Targeting LATS could be a promising treatment to enhance the therapeutic effect of a conventional BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor such as IM. View Publication

The development of vascular networks in microfluidic chips is crucial for the long-term culture of three-dimensional cell aggregates such as spheroids,organoids,tumoroids,or tissue explants. Despite rapid advancement in microvascular network systems and organoid technologies,vascularizing organoids-on-chips remains a challenge in tissue engineering. Most existing microfluidic devices poorly reflect the complexity of in vivo flows and require complex technical set-ups. Considering these constraints,we develop a platform to establish and monitor the formation of endothelial networks around mesenchymal and pancreatic islet spheroids,as well as blood vessel organoids generated from pluripotent stem cells,cultured for up to 30 days on-chip. We show that these networks establish functional connections with the endothelium-rich spheroids and vascular organoids,as they successfully provide intravascular perfusion to these structures. We find that organoid growth,maturation,and function are enhanced when cultured on-chip using our vascularization method. This microphysiological system represents a viable organ-on-chip model to vascularize diverse biological 3D tissues and sets the stage to establish organoid perfusions using advanced microfluidics. Subject terms: Stem-cell biotechnology,Tissue engineering,Biomedical engineering,Induced pluripotent stem cells,Microfluidics View Publication

One-third of pediatric patients with osteosarcoma (OS) develop lung metastases (LM),which is the primary predictor of mortality. While current treatments of patients with localized bone disease have been successful in producing 5-year survival rates of 65–70%,patients with LM experience poor survival rates of only 19–30%. Unacceptably,this situation that has remained unchanged for 30 years. Thus,there is an urgent need to elucidate the mechanisms of metastatic spread in OS and to identify targetable molecular pathways that enable more effective treatments for patients with LM. We aimed to identify OS-specific gene alterations using RNA-sequencing of extremity and LM human tissues. Samples of extremity and LM tumors,including 4 matched sets,were obtained from patients with OS. Our data demonstrate aberrant regulation of the androgen receptor (AR) pathway in LM and predicts aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) as a downstream target. Identification of AR pathway upregulation in human LM tissue samples may provide a target for novel therapeutics for patients with LM resistant to conventional chemotherapy. Subject terms: Bone cancer,Sarcoma,Gene expression View Publication

RNA sequencing and genetic data support spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) and high affinity immunoglobulin epsilon receptor subunit gamma (FCER1G) as putative targets to be modulated for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy. FCER1G is a component of Fc receptor complexes that contain an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM). SYK interacts with the Fc receptor by binding to doubly phosphorylated ITAM (p-ITAM) via its two tandem SH2 domains (SYK-tSH2). Interaction of the FCER1G p-ITAM with SYK-tSH2 enables SYK activation via phosphorylation. Since SYK activation is reported to exacerbate AD pathology,we hypothesized that disruption of this interaction would be beneficial for AD patients. Herein,we developed biochemical and biophysical assays to enable the discovery of small molecules that perturb the interaction between the FCER1G p-ITAM and SYK-tSH2. We identified two distinct chemotypes using a high-throughput screen (HTS) and orthogonally assessed their binding. Both chemotypes covalently modify SYK-tSH2 and inhibit its interaction with FCER1G p-ITAM,however,these compounds lack selectivity and this limits their utility as chemical tools. View Publication

The emergence of immune escape is a significant roadblock to developing effective chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies against hematological malignancies,including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here,we demonstrate feasibility of targeting two antigens simultaneously by combining a GRP78-specific peptide antigen recognition domain with a CD123-specific scFv to generate a peptide-scFv bispecific antigen recognition domain (78.123). To achieve this,we test linkers with varying length and flexibility and perform immunophenotypic and functional characterization. We demonstrate that bispecific CAR T cells successfully recognize and kill tumor cells that express GRP78,CD123,or both antigens and have improved antitumor activity compared to their monospecific counterparts when both antigens are expressed. Protein structure prediction suggests that linker length and compactness influence the functionality of the generated bispecific CARs. Thus,we present a bispecific CAR design strategy to prevent immune escape in AML that can be extended to other peptide-scFv combinations. View Publication

Glycosylated mucin proteins contribute to the essential barrier function of the intestinal epithelium. The transmembrane mucin MUC13 is an abundant intestinal glycoprotein with important functions for mucosal maintenance that are not yet completely understood. We demonstrate that in human intestinal epithelial monolayers,MUC13 localized to both the apical surface and the tight junction (TJ) region on the lateral membrane. MUC13 deletion resulted in increased transepithelial resistance (TEER) and reduced translocation of small solutes. TEER buildup in ΔMUC13 cells could be prevented by addition of MLCK,ROCK or protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors. The levels of TJ proteins including claudins and occludin were highly increased in membrane fractions of MUC13 knockout cells. Removal of the MUC13 cytoplasmic tail (CT) also altered TJ composition but did not affect TEER. The increased buildup of TJ complexes in ΔMUC13 and MUC13-ΔCT cells was dependent on PKC. The responsible PKC member might be PKCδ (or PRKCD) based on elevated protein levels in the absence of full-length MUC13. Our results demonstrate for the first time that a mucin protein can negatively regulate TJ function and stimulate intestinal barrier permeability. View Publication

The peripheral immune system is important in neurodegenerative diseases,both in protecting and inflaming the brain,but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Alzheimer’s Disease is commonly preceded by a prodromal period. Here,we report the presence of large Aβ aggregates in plasma from patients with mild cognitive impairment ( n = 38). The aggregates are associated with low level Alzheimer’s Disease-like brain pathology as observed by 11 C-PiB PET and 18 F-FTP PET and lowered CD18-rich monocytes. We characterize complement receptor 4 as a strong binder of amyloids and show Aβ aggregates are preferentially phagocytosed and stimulate lysosomal activity through this receptor in stem cell-derived microglia. KIM127 integrin activation in monocytes promotes size selective phagocytosis of Aβ. Hydrodynamic calculations suggest Aβ aggregates associate with vessel walls of the cortical capillaries. In turn,we hypothesize aggregates may provide an adhesion substrate for recruiting CD18-rich monocytes into the cortex. Our results support a role for complement receptor 4 in regulating amyloid homeostasis. Subject terms: Protein aggregation,Neuroimmunology,Dementia View Publication

Windham et al. discover that APOE in astrocytes can traffic to lipid droplets (LDs),where it modulates LD composition and size. Astrocytes expressing the Alzheimer’s risk variant APOE4 form large LDs with impaired turnover and increased peroxidation sensitivity. View Publication

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract with a complex and multifactorial etiology,making it challenging to treat. While recent advances in immunomodulatory biologics,such as antitumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) antibodies,have shown moderate success,systemic administration of antibody therapeutics may lead to several adverse effects,including the risk of autoimmune disorders due to systemic cytokine depletion. Transient RNA interference using exogenous short interfering RNA (siRNA) to regulate target gene expression at the transcript level offers an alternative to systemic immunomodulation. However,siRNAs are susceptible to premature degradation and have poor cellular uptake. Graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles have been shown to be effective nanocarriers for biologics due to their reduced cytotoxicity and enhanced bioavailability. In this study,we evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of GO mediated TNF-α_siRNA using in vitro models of chronic inflammation generated by treating murine small intestines (enteroids) and large intestines (colonoids) with inflammatory agents IL-1β,TNF-α,and LPS. The organotypic mouse enteroids and colonoids developed an inflammatory phenotype similar to that of IBD,characterized by impaired epithelial homeostasis and an increased production of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-6. We assessed siRNA delivery to these inflamed organoids using three different GO formulations. Out of the three,small-sized GO with polymer and dendrimer modifications (smGO) demonstrated the highest transfection efficiency,which led to the downregulation of inflammatory cytokines,indicating an attenuation of the inflammatory phenotype. Moreover,the transfection efficiency and inflammation-ameliorating effects could be further enhanced by increasing the TNF-α_siRNA/smGO ratio from 1:1 to 3:1. Overall,the results of this study demonstrate that ex vivo organoids with disease-specific phenotypes are invaluable models for assessing the therapeutic potential of nanocarrier-mediated drug and biologic delivery systems. View Publication

The transplantation of spinal cord progenitor cells (SCPCs) derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has beneficial effects in treating spinal cord injury (SCI). However,the presence of residual undifferentiated iPSCs among their differentiated progeny poses a high risk as these cells can develop teratomas or other types of tumors post-transplantation. Despite the need to remove these residual undifferentiated iPSCs,no specific surface markers can identify them for subsequent removal. By profiling the size of SCPCs after a 10-day differentiation process,we found that the large-sized group contains significantly more cells expressing pluripotent markers. In this study,we used a sized-based,label-free separation using an inertial microfluidic-based device to remove tumor-risk cells. The device can reduce the number of undifferentiated cells from an SCPC population with high throughput (ie,>3 million cells/minute) without affecting cell viability and functions. The sorted cells were verified with immunofluorescence staining,flow cytometry analysis,and colony culture assay. We demonstrated the capabilities of our technology to reduce the percentage of OCT4-positive cells. Our technology has great potential for the “downstream processing” of cell manufacturing workflow,ensuring better quality and safety of transplanted cells. View Publication

The generation of the post-cranial embryonic body relies on the coordinated production of spinal cord neurectoderm and presomitic mesoderm cells from neuromesodermal progenitors (NMPs). This process is orchestrated by pro-neural and pro-mesodermal transcription factors that are co-expressed in NMPs together with Hox genes,which are essential for axial allocation of NMP derivatives. NMPs reside in a posterior growth region,which is marked by the expression of Wnt,FGF and Notch signalling components. Although the importance of Wnt and FGF in influencing the induction and differentiation of NMPs is well established,the precise role of Notch remains unclear. Here,we show that the Wnt/FGF-driven induction of NMPs from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) relies on Notch signalling. Using hESC-derived NMPs and chick embryo grafting,we demonstrate that Notch directs a pro-mesodermal character at the expense of neural fate. We show that Notch also contributes to activation of HOX gene expression in human NMPs,partly in a non-cell-autonomous manner. Finally,we provide evidence that Notch exerts its effects via the establishment of a negative-feedback loop with FGF signalling. View Publication

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by impaired mucociliary clearance due to defects in motile cilia. This study investigates the impact of loss-of-function mutations in the CFAP300 gene on the ciliary structure and function in three PCD patients. Using a multimodal approach,we integrated molecular genetic testing,transmission electron microscopy,the high-speed video microscopy assay and immunofluorescence staining to analyze ciliary motility and protein expression in both ex vivo and in vitro-obtained ciliary cells. Our results revealed that the pathogenic variant c.198_200delinsCC (p.Phe67ProfsTer10) in CFAP300 led to the absence of the functional CFAP300 protein,the complete loss of outer and inner dynein arms and immotile cilia. Air–liquid interface (ALI)-cultured cells from patients exhibited no ciliary beating,contrasting with healthy controls. Immunostaining confirmed the absence of CFAP300 in patient-derived cilia,underscoring its critical role in dynein arm assembly. These findings highlight the diagnostic utility of ALI cultures combined with functional and protein analyses for PCD,offering a clinically actionable framework that can be readily incorporated into standard diagnostic workflows. View Publication