Extracellular Matrix News Volume 10.39 | Oct 10 2019

TOP STORY

Tumor Cell Biodiversity Drives Microenvironmental Reprogramming in Liver Cancer

Researchers found varying degrees of heterogeneity in malignant cells within and between tumors and diverse landscapes of tumor microenvironment. Strikingly, tumors with higher transcriptomic diversity were associated with patients’ worse overall survival. [Cancer Cell] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

3D Extracellular Matrix Microenvironment in Bioengineered Tissue Models of Primary Pediatric and Adult Brain Tumors

Scientists presented a tunable 3D bioengineered brain tissue platform by integrating microenvironmental cues of native brain-derived ECMs and live imaging to systematically evaluate patient-derived brain tumor responses. [Nat Commun] Full Article | Press Release

Mitochondrial Calcium Exchange Links Metabolism with the Epigenome to Control Cellular Differentiation

Investigators demonstrated that fibrotic signaling altered gating of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter in a MICU1-dependent fashion to reduce _mCa²⁺ uptake and induce coordinated changes in metabolism. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Bmi1 Drives Hepatocarcinogenesis by Repressing the TGFβ2/SMAD Signaling Axis

The authors report that TGFβ2 was a target of Bmi1 in HCC and had a tumor-suppressing role. In Bmi1-knockout mouse livers and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, TGFβ2/SMAD cascade proteins were upregulated. [Oncogene] Abstract

Intermittent Compressive Force Promotes Osteogenic Differentiation in Human Periodontal Ligament Cells by Regulating the Transforming Growth Factor-β Pathway

Researchers report that pretreatment with an intermittent compressive force, but not a continuous compressive force, promoted human peridontal ligament cell osteogenic differentiation as determined by osteogenic marker gene expression and mineral deposition in vitro. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Galectin-3 Orchestrates the Histology of Mesentery and Protects Liver during Lupus-Like Syndrome Induced by Pristane

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) controlled intercellular and cell-extracellular matrix interactions during immunological responses. Scientists used pristane to induce lupus-like syndrome in Gal-3 deficient (Lgals3^-/-) and Lgals3^+/+ BALB/c mice. [Sci Rep] Full Article

A Novel 3D Nanofibre Scaffold Conserves the Plasticity of Glioblastoma Stem Cell Invasion by Regulating Galectin-3 and Integrin-β1 Expression

Investigators set up a new aligned polyacrylonitrile-derived nanofiber scaffold. This system was suitable for drug screening as well as discrimination of the migration potential of different glioblastoma stem cells. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Differential Role of TGF-β in Extracellular Matrix Regulation During Trypanosoma cruzi-Host Cell Interaction

The authors investigated the response of T. cruzi-infected cardiomyocytes (CM), cardiac fibroblasts (CF), and L6E9 skeletal myoblasts to transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). Cultures of CM, CF, and L6E9 were infected with T. cruzi and treated with TGF-β. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article

Tripeptide Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) Modifies the Molecular Mechanical Properties of the Non-Muscle Myosin IIA in Human Bone Marrow-Derived Myofibroblasts Seeded in a Collagen Scaffold

When mesenchymal stem cells were seeded in solid collagen scaffolds, they differentiated into myofibroblasts that were observed to strongly bind to the substrate, forming a 3D cell scaffold network that developed tension and shortening after KCl stimulation. [PLOS One] Full Article

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

Extracellular Matrix Alterations in Metastatic Processes

The authors focus on molecular mechanisms of ECM modifications occurring during cancer progression and metastatic dissemination to distant sites, with special attention to lung, liver and bone. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article

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

HHS Awards Major Funding Award to WFIRM

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is the recipient of a major research funding award from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support its lung-on-a-chip technology as a model to develop chemical injury treatments. [Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center] Press Release

Biogelx Commences International Strategy Launching 3D Bioprinting Material in Brazil

Biogelx has launched an international distribution strategy for its 3D printable inks. Working with 3D Biotechnology Solutions, the company has set its sights on the Brazilian medical sector. [Biogelx (3D Printing Industry)] Press Release

NIH Marquee Awards for ‘High Risk, High Reward’ Projects Skew Male—Again

For three of the four types of “high risk, high reward” awards, women won in numbers that met or exceeded their representation in the applicant pool. However, that representation was meager: 18% percent to 38% of the applicants for these four awards were women, although women have earned more than 50% of US PhDs in biological sciences in every year since 2008. [ScienceMagazine] Editorial

Biologists Who Decoded How Cells Sense Oxygen Win Medicine Nobel

A trio of researchers has won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for describing how cells sense and respond to changing oxygen levels by switching genes on and off — a discovery that has been key in understanding human diseases such as cancer and anemia. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Gordon Research Conference: Linking Cells, the Cytoskeleton and the Nucleus in Mechanobiology, Aging and Disease
June 7-12, 2020
West Dover, Vermont, United States

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

NEW PhD Candidate – Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RWTH Aachen University)

NEW Postdoctoral Scholarship – Cancer Biology (Lund University)

Scientist – Matrix Biology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Research Associate – Protein Structural Biology (University of Manchester)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Cell and Developmental Biology (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

PhD Student – Receptor-Independent Signaling (University Hospital of Muenster)

Postdoctoral Research Scientist – Tumor Microenvironment and Proteomics (Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Wound Healing (University of Pennsylvania)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Proteoglycans in Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis (Drexel University)

Postdoctoral Researchers – Engineering Human Tissues (Columbia University)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Have we missed an important article or publication in Extracellular Matrix News? Click here to submit!

Comments or suggestions? Submit your feedback here.