Extracellular Matrix News Volume 10.26 | Jul 11 2019

TOP STORY

Research Finds that a New Culprit Can Cause Breast Cancer to Spread

For decades, breast cancer was believed to be a disease that was purely genetic in origin. Mutations and other changes in DNA lead a cell to replicate uncontrollably. A tumor forms, then metastasizes. However, recent science is upending this notion by showing that the surrounding microenvironment plays a major role in tumorigenesis. [Press release from Stanford University discussing online prepublication in Nature Biomedical Engineering] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Stromal Integrin α11 Regulates PDGFR-β Signaling and Promotes Breast Cancer Progression

Mechanistically, integrin α11 pro-invasive activity relied on its ability to interact with PDGFRβ in a ligand-dependent manner and to promote its downstream JNK activation, leading to the production of tenascin C, a pro-invasive matricellular protein. Pharmacological inhibition of PDGFRβ and JNK impaired tumor cell invasion induced by integrin α11-positive cancer-associated fibroblasts. [J Clin Invest] Abstract | Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Metformin Induces Lipogenic Differentiation in Myofibroblasts to Reverse Lung Fibrosis

The authors showed that the first-line antidiabetic drug metformin exerted potent antifibrotic effects in the lung by modulating metabolic pathways, inhibiting TGFβ1 action, suppressing collagen formation, activating PPARγ signaling and inducing lipogenic differentiation in lung fibroblasts derived from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Quantitative Characterization of 3D Bioprinted Structural Elements under Cell Generated Forces

Researchers investigated mechanical behaviors of 3D printed microbeams made from living cells and ECM, bioprinting these simple structural elements into a 3D culture medium made from packed microgels, creating a mechanically controlled environment that allowed the beams to evolve under cell-generated forces. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Tenascin-C Increases Lung Metastasis by Impacting Blood Vessel Invasions

Investigators characterized blood vessels invasion as organized structures of tightly packed aggregates of proliferating tumor cells with epithelial characteristics, surrounded by Fsp1⁺ cells, internally located platelets and, a luminal monolayer of endothelial cells. They found ECM, in particular, tenascin-C, between the stromal cells and the tumor cell cluster. [Matrix Biol] Abstract

Septin 9 Isoforms Promote Tumorigenesis in Mammary Epithelial Cells by Increasing Migration and ECM Degradation through Metalloproteinase Secretion at Focal Adhesions

Functional studies revealed that septin 9 (SEPT9) upregulation was sufficient to increase the degradation of the ECM, while SEPT9 downregulation inhibited this process. The degradation pattern was peripheral and associated with focal adhesions, where it was coupled with increased expression of matrix metalloproteinases. [Oncogene] Abstract

Restoring Extracellular Matrix Synthesis in Senescent Stem Cells

The authors found that collagen type III (COL3) was significantly reduced in senescent human mesenchymal stem cells and myofibroblasts derived from patients with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. They discovered that ectopic expression of the embryonic transcription factor Nanog homeobox restored COL3 expression by restoring the activity of the TGF-β pathway that was impaired in senescent cells. [FASEB J] Abstract

Kaempferol Attenuates Liver Fibrosis by Inhibiting Activin Receptor-Like Kinase 5

Scientists demonstrated that kaempferol markedly inhibited the synthesis of collagen and activation of hepatic stellate cells both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the results of Western blotting revealed that kaempferol could down-regulate Smad2/3 phosphorylation dose-dependently. [J Cell Mol Med] Full Article

Depletion of Ras Suppressor-1 (RSU–1) Promotes Cell Invasion of Breast Cancer Cells through a Compensatory Upregulation of a Truncated Isoform

RSU-1L depletion in MCF-7 cells resulted in complete abrogation of tumor spheroid invasion in three-dimensional collagen gels, whereas it promoted MDA-MB-231-LM2 invasion, through a compensatory upregulation of RSU-1-X1. When RSU-1-X1 was also eliminated, RSU-1L-depletion-induced migration and invasion were drastically reduced being accompanied by reduced urokinase plasminogen activator expression. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Subscribe to one of our other 19 science newsletters such as Endothelial Cell News & Dermal Cell News.

Advances in Hydrogels in Organoids and Organs-on-a-Chip

The remarkable properties of defined hydrogels as proper ECM that can instruct cellular behaviors are presented. The recent trend where functional hydrogels are integrated into organoids and organs-on-a-chip (OOC) systems for the construction of 3D tissue models is highlighted. Future opportunities and perspectives in the development of advanced hydrogels toward accelerating organoids and OOC research in biomedical applications are also discussed. [Adv Mater] Abstract

Dynamic Interplay between miRNAs and the Extracellular Matrix Influences the Tumor Microenvironment

The authors highlight the importance of epigenetic regulatory factors, focusing on miRNA-mediated ECM reorganization and their functional relationships, and how matrix-mediated miRNAs affect tumor progression. [Trends Biochem Sci] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the extracellular matrix research field.

PhoreMost and inStem Enter Structural Biology Alliance

PhoreMost announced it has entered into a structural biology focused collaboration with the Centre for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, Bangalore, India. The aim of the collaboration is the structural visualization of novel druggable sites across multiple targets, to rapidly advance new therapies. [Phoremost] Press Release

Direct Biologics, LLC Announces the Launch of ExoFlo Exosomes

Direct Biologics, LLC announced the launch of ExoFlo^™ Exosomes. ExoFlo Exosomes, which are between 30nm and 150nm in size, act locally to augment the body’s natural regenerative processes assisting to decrease extracellular matrix breakdown and chronic inflammation while facilitating angiogenesis and tissue restoration. [Direct Biologics, LLC (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

University of California Loses Access to New Journal Articles Published by Elsevier after Research Access Fight

Researchers in the University of California system lost subscription access to the major publisher Elsevier, the result of a closely watched fight between the two parties over how academic research should get read and paid for. [STAT News] Editorial

As Visa Difficulties Persist, Scientists Push for Change

Individual researchers and science societies are finding solutions so colleagues around the globe can attend conferences, from remote presentations to relocating conferences. [The Scientist] Editorial

Scandal-Weary Swedish Government Takes Over Research-Fraud Investigations

Bruised by a string of high-profile scientific-misconduct cases, Sweden has laid the legislative groundwork for a government agency that will handle all allegations of serious research misconduct. The country follows in the footsteps of neighbouring Denmark, which created the world’s first such agency in 2017. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW 6^th Annual European Congress on Clinical and Translational Medicine
October 18-20, 2019
Vienna, Austria

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW PhD Position – Extracellular Matrix & Skin Immunology (University of Freiburg)

Scientist – Matrix Biology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Postdoctoral Fellow – ECM Remodeling & Cancer Invasion Research (Luxembourg Institute of Health)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Role of Collagen in Tissue Repair & Regeneration (University of Pennsylvania)

Research Lab Specialist – Tumor Microenvironment & Cell Behavior (University of Southern California)

Postdoctoral Postions – Tissue Engineering (University of Oslo)

Faculty Positions – Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics (Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Position – Bioengineering Cell Fate & Morphogeneis in Organoids (KU Leuven)

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships – Kidney Disease (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Renal Extracellular Matrix Research (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Computational Modeling of Cell-Matrix Interactions (Washington University, St. Louis)

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