Pulmonary Cell News Volume 5.33 | Aug 25 2016

TOP STORY

The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Controls Cyclin O to Promote Epithelial Multiciliogenesis

Epithelia function as barriers against environmental insults and express the transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). However, AhR function in these tissues is unknown. Scientists showed that AhR regulates multiciliogenesis in both murine airway epithelia and in Xenopus laevis epidermis. [Nat Commun] Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Organotypic Culture in Three Dimensions Prevents Radiation-Induced Transformation in Human Lung Epithelial Cells

Investigators determined if the frequency of radiation-induced transformation and cancer progression differed in three-dimensional compared to two-dimensional culture. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Clarithromycin Suppresses CLCA1 and Inhibits IL-13-Induced Goblet Cell Hyperplasia in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Activation of the IL-13 receptor leads to signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 activation and subsequent induction of SAM pointed domain containing ETS transcription factor and chloride channel accessory 1, increasing secretion of the gel-forming mucin, MUC5AC. Researchers examined the effect of clarithromycin IL-13 signaling leading to production. [Antimicrob Agents Chemother] Abstract

Essential Oil Components Decrease Pulmonary and Hepatic Cells Inflammation Induced by Air Pollution Particulate Matter

The authors investigated the effects of four essential oil components, trans-anethole, estragole, eugenol and isoeugenol, on the reduction in inflammation induced by particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter below 2.5 μm, in human bronchial epithelial and human liver carcinoma cell lines. [Environmental Chemistry Letters] Full Article | Press Release

Expansion of Human Airway Basal Stem Cells and Their Differentiation as 3D Tracheospheres

Researchers report a protocol that dramatically increases the long-term expansion of primary human airway basal cells while maintaining their genomic stability using 3T3-J2 fibroblast coculture and ROCK inhibition. They also describe techniques for the differentiation and imaging of these expanded airway stem cells as three-dimensional tracheospheres containing basal, ciliated, and mucosecretory cells. [Methods Mol Biol] Abstract

LUNG CANCER

Down-Regulation of SerpinB2 is Associated with Gefitinib Resistance in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Enhances Invadopodia-Like Structure Protrusions

The authors report that SerpinB2 is down-regulated in gefitinib-resistant (H292-Gef) cells compared to gefitinib-sensitive (H292) cells. The low SerpinB2 levels in H292-Gef cells were also associated with an enhancement in invasiveness and increase in the length of invadopodia-like structures in the cells. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The Double Benefit of Spalax p53: Surviving Underground Hypoxia while Defying Lung Cancer Cells In Vitro via Autophagy and Caspase-Dependent Cell Death

The authors investigated the possibility that Spalax p53 can activate autophagy. Using two complementary assays, they established that over-expression of the Spalax p53 in p53-null cells, potently induces autophagy. As Spalax is considered highly resistant to cancer, they further studied the relative contribution of autophagy on the outcome of H1299 cells, following transfection with Spalax p53. [Oncotarget] Full Article

Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated Activation Mediates Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Induced MMP-13 Up-Regulation and Metastasis in Lung Cancer Cells

Scientists demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) promoted lung cancer cell migration by up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase-13. By gene silencing or kinase inhibition, they proposed that ataxia-telangiectasia mutated is a key up-stream regulator of TNF-α activated ERK/p38-NF-κB pathway. [Oncotarget] Full Article

14-3-3ζ Promotes Lung Cancer Cell Invasion by Increasing the Snail Protein Expression through Atypical Protein Kinase C (APKC)/NF-κB Signaling

Researchers showed that overexpression of 14-3-3ζ was frequently detected in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and poor outcome. [Exp Cell Res] Abstract

MicroRNA-383 Is a Tumor Suppressor and Potential Prognostic Biomarker in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Caner

The authors examined the expression and clinical significance microRNA-383 in non-small cell lung cancer both in vitro and in vivo. [Biomed Pharmacother] Abstract

B Cells in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Moving to Center Stage

The authors outline the evidence that links B cells and B cell-rich lymphoid follicles to the pathogenesis of COPD and the mechanisms involved. They also review the potential and limitations of B cells as therapeutic targets to slow the progression of human COPD. [Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the pulmonary cell research field.

DS Biopharma (DS) Announces Spin-Out Company Focused on Fibrotic Conditions and Pulmonary Disorders

DS Biopharma announced the launch of a spinout company focused solely on fibrotic conditions such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and pulmonary disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. [DS Biopharma] Press Release

Boehringer Ingelheim and Duke Clinical Research Institute Expand Collaboration to Create Largest Patient Registry for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the Duke Clinical Research Institute announced the expansion of the IPF – PROspective Outcomes (IPF-PRO) Registry, a patient registry developed to uncover insights into IPF, a rare and serious lung disease. [Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

Pamela Zeitlin, MD, PhD, Named Chair of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health

Nationally renowned Pediatric Pulmonologist Pamela Zeitlin, MD, PhD, has been named Chair of the Silverstein Family Department of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health. [National Jewish Health] Press Release

Spyryx Biosciences Expands Executive Team, Appoints Pulmonary Industry Leader, Alistair Wheeler, MD, MFPM as Chief Medical Officer

Spyryx Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory diseases, including cystic fibrosis, announced that Dr. Alistair Wheeler has joined the company in the newly created position of chief medical officer. [Spyryx Biosciences, Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

Special: Obama’s Science Legacy

The United States will elect a new president in November 2016. Nature is tracking the battle between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton — and analyzing how the election outcome could affect science. [Nature] Editorial

New Leader of NIH’s Research Watchdog Faces Staff Revolt

The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) in Rockville, Maryland, which guards against misconduct in biomedical research, usually attracts attention with its findings, not its internal workings. But two years ago, its director, David Wright, quit in a public huff, complaining that ORI was hobbled by a dysfunctional federal bureaucracy. Now, his successor is encountering her own rough waters, Science has learned. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Putin Appoints Church Historian as Science Minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a church historian as the country’s new science and education minister. The president announced that Olga Vasilyeva would succeed the current science minister, Dmitry Livanov, who will become presidential envoy on trade and economic relations with Ukraine, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. [Nature News] Editorial

Obama’s Science Legacy: Betting Big on Biomedical Science

Ambitious bids to map the brain and cure cancer have not boosted overall research funding. [Nature News] Editorial

US Personalized-Medicine Industry Takes Hit from Supreme Court

Rejections for US patents related to personalized medicine have spiked after recent Supreme Court decisions tightened the rules for such claims, an analysis of more than 39,000 patent applications reveals. [Nature News] Editorial

Chemistry Group Throws Out Election Results after Fears of Vote Rigging

Members of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry are reacting with puzzlement and shock after learning that the results of a recent online leadership election have been thrown out because of voting irregularities—raising concerns over possible manipulation. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Updated: Companies Settle Gene Technology Patent Fight that Was Shrouded in Mystery

Illumina Inc. and Oxford Nanopore Technologies have reached a settlement in this legal battle, according to a U.S. International Trade Commission document released last week. Oxford has agreed not to import or sell any product containing a pore with an amino acid sequence at least 68% similar to Mycobacterium smegmatis porin — the protein at the heart of Illumina’s infringement claim — and to destroy any inventory of such products. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Keystone Symposium: Asthma: From Pathway Biology to Precision Therapeutics
February 12-16, 2017
Keystone, United States

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

NEW Tenure-Track Faculty Positions – Inflammation and Inflammatory Lung Diseases (Temple University)

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – Translational Fibrosis Research (RWTH Aachen University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cell and Animal Models of Lung Cancer (University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center)

Bioinformatician – Genomics of Mesothelioma (Imperial College London)

Research Associate – Development of Mesothelioma (Imperial College London)

MRF Research Associate – Pathogenesis of Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease (Newcastle University)

Robert Stowell Chair – Experimental Pathology (University of California, Davis)

PhD Studentships – Pulmonary Medicine and Biology (University of Giessen School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Position – Respiratory Sciences (Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Complex Lung Diseases (National Jewish Health)

Non-Clinical Lecturer – Reader in Respiratory Science (Imperial College London)

Postdoctoral Associate – Pulmonary Genetic Medicine (Weill Cornell Medicine)

Scientific Director – Oncology (Merck)

Associate Service Fellow – Pulmonary Toxicology and Pharmacology (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)

Director Clinical Research – Medical Oncology (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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