Tumor Immunology Viewed from Alternative Animal Models —the Xenopus Story
AbstractPurpose of ReviewNonmammalian comparative animal models are important not only to gain fundamental evolutionary understanding of the complex interactions of tumors with the immune system but also to better predict the applicability of novel immunotherapeutic approaches to humans. After reviewing recent advances in developing alternative models, we focus on the amphibianXenopus laevis and its usefulness in deciphering the perplexing roles of MHC class I-like molecules and innate (i)T cells in tumor immunity.Recent FindingsExperiments using MHC-defined inbred and cloned animals, tumor cell lines, effective reagents, ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 25, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Retinal Degeneration and Regeneration —Lessons From Fishes and Amphibians
AbstractPurpose of ReviewRetinal degenerative diseases have immense socio-economic impact. Studying animal models that recapitulate human eye pathologies aids in understanding the pathogenesis of diseases and allows for the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies. Some non-mammalian species are known to have remarkable regenerative abilities and may provide the basis to develop strategies to stimulate self-repair in patients suffering from these retinal diseases.Recent FindingsNon-mammalian organisms, such as zebrafish andXenopus, have become attractive model systems to study retinal diseases. Additionally, many fish and...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 24, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Epigenetic and LncRNA-Mediated Regulation of X Chromosome Inactivation and Its Impact on Pathogenesis
AbstractPurpose of ReviewIn multicellular organisms, development of genetic sex determination leads to gene dosage imbalances between the sex chromosomes and the autosomes and between the sexes. In mammals with XY-based system, a dosage compensation mechanism called X chromosome inactivation (XCI) balances gene expression from unequal number of sex chromosomes between the homogametic (XX) females and heterogametic (XY) males. XCI-mediated dosage compensation involves transcriptional silencing of one of the two X chromosomes in female cells and is tightly mediated during early development.Recent FindingsThe silencing mechan...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 24, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Modeling Human Craniofacial Disorders in Xenopus
AbstractPurpose of ReviewCraniofacial disorders are among the most common human birth defects and present an enormous health care and social burden. The development of animal models has been instrumental to investigate fundamental questions in craniofacial biology, and this knowledge is critical to understand the etiology and pathogenesis of these disorders.Recent FindingsThe vast majority of craniofacial disorders arise from abnormal development of the neural crest, a multipotent and migratory cell population. Therefore, defining the pathogenesis of these conditions starts with a deep understanding of the mechanisms that ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 23, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Insights from Global Analyses of Long Noncoding RNAs in Breast Cancer
AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe goal of this review was to compare and contrast the results and implications from several recent transcriptomic studies that analyzed the expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in breast cancer. How many lncRNAs are dysregulated in breast cancer? Do dysregulated lncRNAs contribute to breast cancer etiology? Are lncRNAs viable biomarkers in breast cancer?Recent FindingsTranscriptomic profiling of breast cancer tissues, mostly from The Cancer Genome Atlas, identified thousands of long noncoding RNAs that are expressed and dysregulated in breast cancer. The expression of lncRNAs alone can div...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 22, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Xenopus Nerve-Muscle Cultures: a Novel Cell-Based Assay for Serological Diagnosis and Pathological Research of Myasthenia Gravis
AbstractPurpose of ReviewAt present, the most common diagnostic measures for the autoimmune neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis (MG) are radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and cell-based assay (CBA). Considering the pitfalls of these diagnostic assays, this review describes the advantages of usingXenopus tissue cultures for MG diagnosis and research.Recent FindingsOur recent study described a novel CBA involvingXenopus tissue cultures for MG serological diagnosis. Moreover, this CBA can potentially be applied to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms underlying acetylcholine ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 19, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
MicroRNAs in Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in Early Detection, Disease Monitoring, and Therapeutic Agents
AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe goals of this review are to examine the usefulness of microRNAs (miRNAs) as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for cancer and to evaluate the applicability of miRNAs as cancer therapeutics.Recent FindingsExamination of miRNA milieu from body fluids offers a new alternative for quick, affordable, and easy analysis of disease status in patients. Blood-based exosomal miRNAs have increased stability and are an excellent choice for clinical cancer diagnostics and prognostics. Currently, there are many miRNA signatures associated with cancer and progression but there is no consensus among multiple ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 18, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Digital and Computational Imaging in Pathology
This article explores the basic physical principles behind a number of the new technologies as examples of our current armamentarium as well as the methods used to analyze the resulting data in the context of a digitized pathology laboratory. (Source: Current Pathobiology Reports)
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - January 17, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Long-Term Culture of Intestinal Cell Progenitors: An Overview of Their Development, Application, and Associated Technologies
AbstractPurpose of ReviewLong-term culture of adult progenitor cells in 3D is a recently emerging technology that inhabits the space between 2D cell lines and organ slice culture.Recent FindingsAdaptations to defined media components in the wake of advances in ES and iPS cell culture has led to the identification of conditions that maintained intestinal cell progenitors in culture. These conditions retain cellular heterogeneity of the normal or tumour tissue, and the cultures have been shown to be genetically stable, such that substantial biobanks are being created from patient derived material. This coupled with advances ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - October 11, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Polymeric Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery in Neurological Diseases
AbstractPurpose of ReviewThis review aims at describing the state of the art concerning the design of polymeric nanoparticles for the treatment of neurological diseases. The most important methods of polymeric nanoparticle preparation as well as the required properties for neurological diseases have been summarized.Recent FindingsMany studies report the design of polymeric nanoparticles to treat diseases such as brain tumors, neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. However, none of the engineered nanoparticles have reached clinical trials. The reasons of the lack of translation of laboratory results have been ana...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - September 28, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Fluid Mechanics as a Driver of Tissue-Scale Mechanical Signaling in Organogenesis
AbstractPurpose of ReviewOrganogenesis is the process during development by which cells self-assemble into complex, multi-scale tissues. While significant focus and research effort have demonstrated the importance of solid mechanics in organogenesis, less attention has been given to the fluid forces that provide mechanical cues over tissue length scales.Recent FindingsFluid motion and pressure are capable of creating spatial gradients of forces acting on cells, thus eliciting distinct and localized signaling patterns essential for proper organ formation. Understanding the multi-scale nature of the mechanics is critically i...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - September 25, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Stromal Progenitor Cells in Mitigation of Non-hematopoietic Radiation Injuries
AbstractPurpose of ReviewTherapeutic exposure to high doses of radiation can severely impair organ function due to ablation of stem cells. Normal tissue injury is a dose-limiting toxicity for radiation therapy (RT). Although advances in the delivery of high-precision conformal RT has increased normal tissue sparing, mitigating and therapeutic strategies that could alleviate early and chronic radiation effects are urgently needed in order to deliver curative doses of RT, especially in abdominal, pelvic, and thoracic malignancies. Radiation-induced gastrointestinal injury is also a major cause of lethality from accidental or...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - September 6, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Analogies Between Cancer-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Enveloped Viruses with an Emphasis on Human Breast Cancer
AbstractPurpose of ReviewCancer cells utilize extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a means of transferring oncogenic proteins and nucleic acids to other cells to enhance the growth and spread of the tumor. There is an unexpected amount of similarities between these small, membrane-bound particles and enveloped virions, including protein content, physical characteristics (i.e., size and morphology), and mechanisms of entry and exit into target cells.Recent FindingsThis review describes the attributes shared by both cancer-derived EVs, with an emphasis on breast cancer-derived EVs, and enveloped viral particles and discusses the ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - August 26, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Microvesicles as Vehicles for Tissue Regeneration: Changing of the Guards
AbstractPurpose of ReviewMicrovesicles (MVs) have been recognised as mediators of stem cell function, enabling and guiding their regenerative effects.Recent FindingsMVs constitute one unique size class of extracellular vesicles (EVs) directly shed from the cell plasma membrane. They facilitate cell-to-cell communication via intercellular transfer of proteins, mRNA and microRNA (miRNA). MVs derived from stem cells, or stem cell regulatory cell types, have proven roles in tissue regeneration and repair processes. Their role in the maintenance of healthy tissue function throughout the life course and thus in age related healt...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - August 26, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocyte-like Cells: A Tool to Study Infectious Disease
< h3 class= " a-plus-plus " > Abstract < /h3 > < span class= " a-plus-plus abstract-section id-a-sec1 " > < h3 class= " a-plus-plus " > Purpose of Review < /h3 > < p class= " a-plus-plus " > Liver disease is an important clinical and global problem and is the 16th leading cause of death worldwide and responsible for 1 million deaths worldwide each year. Infectious disease is a major cause of liver disease specifically and overall is even a greater cause of patient morbidity and mortality. Tools to study human liver disease and infectious disease have been lacking which has significantly hampered the study of liver disease ...
Source: Current Pathobiology Reports - July 29, 2016 Category: Laboratory Medicine Source Type: research
