Intestinal Cell News Volume 4.06 | Feb 16 2018

TOP STORY

IRB Barcelona Paves the Way to the Use of Immunotherapy to Treat Aggressive Colon Tumors and Their Metastasis

A team headed by ICREA researcher Eduard Batlle discovered that immune system-stimulating treatments combined with a TGF-beta inhibitor were effective against colon cancer. [Press release from IRB Barcelona discussing online prepublication in Nature] Press Release | Abstract

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PTPN2 Regulates Inflammasome Activation and Controls Onset of Intestinal Inflammation and Colon Cancer

Scientists demonstrated that myeloid cell-specific deletion of protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 2 (PTPN2) in mice promotes intestinal inflammation but protects from colitis-associated tumor formation in an IL-1β-dependent manner. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Ikkα Is Required in the Intestinal Epithelial Cells for Tumor Stemness

The authors generated a compound mouse model with mutation in Adenomatous Polyposis Coli and lacking intestinal epithelial IKKα, produced intestinal organoids and tumor spheroids with different genetic backgrounds, and performed immunohistochemistry and RNA-seq analysis. [Br J Cancer] Abstract

Modeling Radiation Injury-Induced Cell Death and Countermeasure Drug Responses in a Human Gut-on-a-Chip

Scientists used a human Gut-on-a-Chip microfluidic device lined by human intestinal epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells to model radiation injury and assess the efficacy of radiation countermeasure drugs in vitro. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Chir99021 and Valproic Acid Reduce the Proliferative Advantage of Apc Mutant Cells

Researchers utilized intestinal organoids to compare the growth of Apc mutant and wild-type cells. Organoids derived from Apc^Min/+ mice recapitulated stages of intestinal polyposis in culture. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Plk2 Loss Commonly Occurs in Colorectal Carcinomas but Not Adenomas: Relationship to mTOR Signaling

The authors investigated Plk2’s tumor suppressor functions in relationship to mTOR signaling. Archival specimens from 12 colorectal adenocarcinomas were stained for markers including Plk2, phosphorylated mTOR and ribosomal S6. [Neoplasia] Full Article

Development of a Primary Human Small Intestine-on-a-Chip Using Biopsy-Derived Organoids

Scientists describe a method for fabricating a primary human Small Intestine-on-a-Chip containing epithelial cells isolated from healthy regions of intestinal biopsies. The primary epithelial cells were expanded as 3D organoids, dissociated, and cultured on a porous membrane within a microfluidic device with human intestinal microvascular endothelium cultured in a parallel microchannel under flow and cyclic deformation. [Sci Rep] Full Article | Press Release

Role of Intestinal Trefoil Factor in Protecting Intestinal Epithelial Cells from Burn-Induced Injury

Researchers investigated if intestinal trefoil factor (ITF) alters glutamine transport on the brush border membrane vesicles of the intestines in Sprague-Dawley rats inflicted with 30% TBSA and the underlying mechanisms. They found that ITF significantly stimulated intestinal glutamine transport in burned rats. [Sci Rep] Full Article

MicroRNA-31 and MicroRNA-155 Are Overexpressed in Ulcerative Colitis and Regulate IL-13 Signaling by Targeting Interleukin 13 Receptor α-1

Investigators determined the expression of IL13Rα1 in ulcerative colitis (UC), its potential regulation by miRs and the subsequent effect on IL-13 signaling. Inflamed mucosa of UC patients showed decreased mRNA and protein expression of IL13RA1 when compared to healthy controls. [Genes (Basel)] Full Article

High Expression of DJ-1 Promotes Growth and Invasion via the PTEN-AKT Pathway and Predicts a Poor Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer

Researchers investigated 100 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with disease stages I–IV to determine whether DJ-1 could serve as a prognostic biomarker in CRC. They showed that DJ-1 expression in CRC tissues was higher than that in normal colon tissues and was associated with the Tumor Node Metastasis stage. [Cancer Med] Full Article

Extracellular Vesicles Regulate Immune Responses and Cellular Function in Intestinal Inflammation and Repair

Scientists discuss the function of extracellular vesicles originating from innate immune cells, namely, neutrophils, monocytes and macrophages, as well as intestinal epithelial cells in healthy tissue and inflammatory disorders of the intestinal tract. [Tissue Barriers] Abstract

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Entyvio^® (Vedolizumab) Shows Higher Rates of Mucosal Healing versus TNFα-Antagonist Therapy in Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease Patients in Comparative Effectiveness Real-World Data Analysis

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced new real-world data evaluating the comparative effectiveness of Entyvio^® and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα)-antagonist therapy in patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. [Press release from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited discussing research presented at the 13^th Congress of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO), Vienna] Press Release

Dr. James Wells presents his group’s work on hPSC-derived GI organoids and their use for studying disease. Watch Now

Prometic Granted Orphan Drug Designation by FDA for Inter-Alpha-Inhibitor-Proteins for Treatment of Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC)

Prometic Life Sciences Inc. announced that an orphan drug designation status has been granted to its inter-alpha-inhibitor-proteins for the treatment of NEC by the FDA. [Prometic Life Sciences Inc.] Press Release

Cancer Research UK to Invest £45 Million in Clinical Trials

Cancer Research UK has announced that £45 million will be invested into its network of clinical trials units across the UK, one of the charity’s largest investments in clinical research to date. [Cancer Research UK] Press Release

Trump’s Science Advisor, Age 31, Has a Political Science Degree

A job that’s been held by some of the nation’s top scientists is now occupied by a 31-year-old politics major from Princeton University. And it’s unlikely to change soon, observers say, leaving President Trump without a science adviser as the administration wrestles with a severe outbreak of the flu, lead-poisoned drinking water and record-breaking disasters that many scientists say are sharpened by rising temperatures. [Scientific American] Editorial

Researchers Debate Whether Journals Should Publish Signed Peer Reviews

Scientific journals should start routinely publishing the text of peer reviews for each paper they accept, said attendees at a meeting last week of scientists, academic publishers, and funding organizations. But there was little consensus on whether reviewers should have to publicly sign their critiques, which traditionally are accessible only to editors and authors. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NIH Stays Flat, Absorbs Three Institutes in President’s 2019 Budget Proposal

Biomedical research funding was one of the budget lines saved from cuts by last-minute adjustments to President Donald Trump’s administration’s 2019 budget proposal. Still, advocates say they had hoped for more. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Cold Spring Harbor (CSH): Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer
June 6-25, 2018
Cold Spring Harbor, New York, United States

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NEW Academic Positions – Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Cedars-Sinai Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute)

NEW Clinical Research Training Fellowship – Gastro-Intestinal Pathology with Scientific Research (University College London)

NEW Postdoctoral Research Scientist – Intestinal Biology (Quadram Institute Bioscience)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Marshall University)

Postdoctoral Position – Host-Microbe Interactions and Intestinal Cancer (VIB Center for Inflammation Research)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Biology (Johns Hopkins University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Biology (University of Arkansas for Medical Science)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Cancer Biology (King’s College London)

Postdoctoral Position – Intestinal Epithelial Cell Biology and Apical Defense Mechanisms (University of Gothenburg)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Mouse Tumor Biology (Canadian Nuclear Laboratories)

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