Extracellular Matrix News 9.36 September 13, 2018 | |
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TOP STORYA Tension-Mediated Glycocalyx-Integrin Feedback Loop Promotes Mesenchymal-Like Glioblastoma Mesenchymal-like glioblastoma multiformes were highly contractile and expressed elevated levels of glycoproteins that expanded their glycocalyx, and they were surrounded by a stiff extracellular matrix that potentiated integrin mechanosignalling. [Nat Cell Biol] Abstract | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)Growth of Epithelial Organoids in a Defined Hydrogel Investigators found that soft fibrin matrices provided suitable physical support, and that naturally occurring Arg-Gly-Asp adhesion domains on the scaffold, as well as supplementation with laminin-111, were key parameters required for robust organoid formation and expansion. The possibility to functionalize fibrin via factor XIII-mediated anchoring also allowed to covalently link fluorescent nanoparticles to the matrix for 3D traction force microscopy. [Adv Mater] Abstract | Full Article Researchers showed that c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling enhanced expression of the ECM and stem cell niche components osteopontin, also called secreted phosphoprotein 1, and tenascin C that promote lung metastasis. [EMBO Mol Med] Full Article | Graphical Abstract Local Integrin Activation in Pancreatic β Cells Targets Insulin Secretion to the Vasculature In cultured β cells, 3D mapping showed enriched insulin granule fusion where the cells contact ECM-coated coverslips, which depended on β1 integrin receptor activation. Culture on micro-contact printed stripes of E-cadherin and fibronectin showed that β cell contact at the fibronectin stripe selectively activated focal adhesions and enriched exocytic machinery and insulin granule fusion. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract Scientists demonstrated the potential of single-cell acoustic force spectroscopy by measuring adhesion forces and kinetics of CD4+ T lymphocytes (CD4) to fibronectin. They determined that CD4 adhesion was accelerated by interleukin-7, their main regulatory cytokine, whereas CD4 binding strength remains the same. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract Placenta-conditioned ECM induced autophagy in ERα+ breast cancer cells (BCCL), inactivated the NF-κB inhibitor and increased integrin α5 in BCCL. The autophagy mediated MCF-7 and T47D migration and the placental ECM-BCCL interactions reduced BCCL sensitivity to taxol. [Int J Cancer] Abstract Enhanced Expression of TGFBI Promotes the Proliferation and Migration of Glioma Cells Short hairpin RNA transforming growth factor beta-induced protein (sh-TGFBI) could inhibit proliferation, invasion and migration and induce apoptosis in U87 and U251 cells in vitro. The phosphorylation levels of AKT and mTOR declined significantly in sh-TGFBI transfected U81 and U251 cells when compared with control. [Cell Physiol Biochem] Full Article Integrin β3 Mediates the Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition via the Notch Pathway Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 treatment or integrin β3 overexpression significantly promoted the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition by downregulating VE-cadherin and CD31 and upregulating smooth muscle actin α and fibroblast-specific protein 1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells , and by enhancing cell migration. [Cell Physiol Biochem] Full Article Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) stimulated the production of α-smooth muscle actin and collagen type I, and stimulated the contraction of collagen gel. Pretreatment with fucoxanthin attenuated these effects. These inhibitory effects were mediated through modulation of both Smad 2/3 and Akt/signal protein-1 signaling pathways in TGF-β1-induced nasal polyp-derived fibroblasts. [Mar Drugs] Full Article Subscribe to one of our other 19 science newsletters such as Endothelial Cell News & Dermal Cell News. | |
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REVIEWSProteoglycan Chemical Diversity Drives Multifunctional Cell Regulation and Therapeutics The authors summarize major achievements and paradigm-shifting discoveries made on the proteoglycans/glycosaminoglycans chemistry-biology axis, focusing on structural variability, structure-function relationships, metabolic, molecular, and epigenetic mechanisms underlying their synthesis. [Chem Rev] Abstract | Graphical Abstract The Extracellular Matrix and Pancreatic Cancer: A Complex Relationship As preclinical studies of ECM-targeted drugs have shown promising effects, a number of clinical trials are currently investigating agents with the potential to advance the future treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Investigators seek to give an overview of the complex relationship between the ECM and PDAC. [Cancers] Full Article Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the extracellular matrix research field. | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSFifty ERC Grantees Backed to Bring Research Findings to Market The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded top-up funding to fifty ERC grant holders via its Proof of Concept Grants, to explore the commercial or societal potential of their ERC-funded frontier research results. The grants are part of the EU’s research and innovation program, Horizon 2020. [European Research Council] Press Release NSF Awards Nearly $6M to Advance STEM Graduate Education Training The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovations in Graduate Education program recently awarded $5.8 million to 12 new projects that will pilot, test and validate innovative approaches in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduate education. [National Science Foundation] Press Release HHMI Awards Hanna Gray Fellowships to 15 Early Career Scientists The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced the selection of 15 outstanding early career scientists as HHMI Hanna Gray Fellows. These recent PhD and MD/PhD recipients will continue their training as postdoctoral fellows at 12 institutions in the U.S. [Howard Hughes Medical Institute] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSEurope’s Academics Fail to Report Results for 90% of Clinical Trials European academics are failing abysmally when it comes to reporting the results of clinical trials, a study has revealed. An analysis of data from the European Union’s Clinical Trial Register — published in The BMJ — shows that around 50% of the listed trials have not complied with guidelines that say results must be reported within 12 months. [Nature News] Editorial Prominent Health Policy Researcher Resigns from Dartmouth Over Plagiarism Dispute Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, one of the country’s top health care policy scholars, has resigned from his faculty position at Dartmouth College, after an investigation by the school concluded that he had committed research misconduct. [STAT News] Editorial Lasker Awards Recognize Work on Histones, Anesthesia, RNA The winners of this year’s Lasker Awards are C. David Allis of Rockefeller University and Michael Grunstein of the University of California, Los Angeles, for discoveries about the proteins that package DNA; John “Iain” Glen, formerly a pharmaceutical researcher at AstraZeneca, for developing the drug propofol; and Yale University’s Joan Steitz for leadership and research throughout her career, the Lasker Foundation announced. [The Scientist] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW 7th Annual International Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Group Leader – Organoid Modelling of Disease (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) NEW Tenure-Track Faculty Position – Cell Signaling & ECM (University of Rochester) Postdoctoral Position – Extracellular Matrix Research (University of Pennsylvania) Postdoctoral Position – Cutaneous Wound Repair (University of Pennsylvania) Faculty Positions – Biomedical Research (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) Postdoctoral Scholar – Cellular Mechanobiology (Washington University in St. Louis) Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.
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