Pulmonary Cell News Volume 2.04 | Jan 31 2013

Measles Virus Infection of Epithelial Cells in the Macaque Upper Respiratory Tract Is Mediated by Sub-Epithelial Immune Cells
Researchers showed that the crucial role of PVRL4 in mediating the spread of measles virus (MV) from immune to epithelial cells by generating a PVRL4 ‘blind’ recombinant wild-type MV and developing a novel in vitro co-culture model of B-cells with primary differentiated normal human bronchial epithelial cells. [J Virol] Abstract

Potent Elastase Inhibitors from Cyanobacteria: Structural Basis and Mechanisms Mediating Cytoprotective and Anti-Inflammatory Effects in Bronchial Epithelial Cells
To realize the therapeutic potential of cyclodepsipeptides, scientists probed the cellular effects of a novel and representative family member, symplostatin 5, which attenuated the downstream cellular effects of elastase in an epithelial lung airway model system, alleviating clinical hallmarks of chronic pulmonary diseases such as cell death, cell detachment, and inflammation. [J Med Chem] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Regulation of Apoptosis by Bcl-2 Cysteine Oxidation in Human Lung Epithelial Cells
Scientists investigated the direct effect of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) on Bcl-2 cysteine oxidation as a potential mechanism of apoptosis regulation. Exposure of human lung epithelial cells to H₂O₂ induced apoptosis in concomitant with cysteine oxidation and down-regulation of Bcl-2. [Mol Biol Cell] Abstract

Mechanical Stretch Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced KC and Tissue Factor (TF) Expression While Increasing Procoagulant Activity in Murine Lung Epithelial Cells
Researchers found that mechanical stretch significantly decreased LPS-induced KC and TF mRNA and protein expression. Investigation into potential mechanisms showed stretch significantly reduced LPS-induced surface expression of toll-like receptor 4 that was not a result of increased degradation. [J Biol Chem] Full Article

Cigarette Smoke Decreases Airway Epithelial FABP5 Expression and Promotes Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection
Researchers showed that Fatty Acid Binding Protein 5 (FABP5) is increased following bacterial infection but decreased following cigarette smoke exposure of primary normal human bronchial epithelial cells. [PLoS One] Full Article

Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Lung Inflammation through Modulation of NF-κB/HIF-1α Signaling Pathway
Scientists examined the effects of inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung inflammation and transcriptional regulation. An ER stress regulator, 4-phenylbutyrate reduced LPS-induced increases of various ER stress markers in the lung. [Sci Rep]
Full Article

Intrapulmonary Versus Nasal Transduction of Murine Airways with GP64-Pseudotyped Viral Vectors
Researchers investigated multiple potential barriers to lentiviral gene transfer in the airways of mice. They showed that GP64-feline immunodeficiency virus vector transduced primary cultures of well-differentiated murine nasal epithelia with greater efficiency than primary cultures of murine tracheal epithelia. [Mol Ther Nucleic Acids] Full Article

LUNG CANCER

Resistance to DNA-Damaging Treatment in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumor-Initiating Cells Involves Reduced DNA-PK/ATM Activation and Diminished Cell Cycle Arrest
Researchers showed that four out of eight non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (H125, A549, H1299 and H23) possess sphere-forming capacity when cultured in stem cell media and three of these display elevated levels of CD133. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Inhibition of TWIST1 Leads to Activation of Oncogene-Induced Senescence in Oncogene Driven Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Investigators examined the role of TWIST1 in oncogene driven human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Silencing of TWIST1 in KRAS mutant human NSCLC cell lines resulted in dramatic growth inhibition and either activation of a latent oncogene-induced senescence program or in some cases, apoptosis. [Mol Cancer Res] Abstract

CC-Chemokine Ligand 18 Induces Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Lung Cancer A549 Cells and Elevates the Invasive Potential
Scientists investigated the effect of CCL18 on A549, an adenocarcinoma cell line of the lung, on epithelial to mesenchymal transition and other cell functions like proliferation, chemotaxis, invasion, chemoresistance and proliferation. Exposure of A549 lung cancer cells to CCL18 in various concentrations decreases the epithelial marker E-cadherin, whereas FSP-1, a marker of the mesenchymal phenotype increases. [PLoS One]
Full Article

Neural Lineage-Specific Homeoprotein BRN2 Is Directly Involved in TTF1 Expression in Small-Cell Lung Cancer
To clarify how small-cell lung cancers express thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF1), researchers investigated the molecular mechanisms of its expression using cultivated lung cancer cells and focusing upon neural cell-specific transcription factors. [Lab Invest] Abstract

LUNGevity Foundation Launches One-of-a-Kind Lung Cancer Survivor Resource Center
LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s largest lung cancer-focused nonprofit, announces the launch of its Survivor Resource Center to fill a growing need in the lung cancer community. [LUNGevity Foundation]
Press Release

FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Approval for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Olodaterol for Maintenance Treatment of COPD
Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee recommended that clinical data included in a new drug application provide substantial and convincing evidence to support the approval of olodaterol as a once-daily maintenance bronchodilator treatment for airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. [Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH] Press Release

CytRx Receives Recommendation from Data Safety Monitoring Committee to Complete Global Phase IIb Clinical Trial with Tamibarotene as First-Line Treatment for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
CytRx Corporation announced that the Data Safety Monitoring Committee overseeing the company’s global Phase IIb clinical trial with tamibarotene in combination with chemotherapeutical agents as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer has recommended conducting the clinical trial through completion. Enrollment of at least 140 evaluable patients is expected in the first quarter of 2013. [CytRx Corporation] Press Release

National Institutes of Health (United States)

Food and Drug Administration (United States)

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

Keystone Symposium: Host Response in Tuberculosis
March 13-18, 2013
Whistler, Canada

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

Postdoctoral Fellows – Gene, RNA and Epigenetic Regulation, Protein Science, Signal Transduction, Cell and Stem Cell, Cancer and Other Diseases (Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology)

Postdoctoral Position – Host-Pathogen Interaction at Mucosal Surfaces (Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Translational Studies of Interstitial Lung Disease (University of California San Francisco)

Postdoctoral/ Research Associate/ Senior Research Associate – Lung Alveolar Epithelial Cell Biology (University of Southern California)

Scientist – Mesenchymal Cell Function in Chronic Lung Disease (Helmholtz Zentrum München)

PhD Position – Airway Inflammation (University of Heidelberg)

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