Pulmonary Cell News Volume 6.09 | Mar 9 2017

TOP STORY

Reduced Frizzled Receptor 4 Expression Prevents WNT/β-Catenin-Driven Alveolar Lung Repair in COPD

The authors sought to identify and functionally characterize specific frizzled (FZD) receptors that control downstream WNT signaling in impaired lung repair in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). FZD receptor expression was analyzed in lung homogenates and primary alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells of never-smokers, smokers, and COPD patients, as well as two experimental emphysema models by qRT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence. The functional effects of cigarette smoke on WNT/β-catenin signaling and FZD4 function were investigated in primary ATII cells and cell lines. [Am J Respir Crit Care Med] Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

SIRT3 Deficiency Promotes Lung Fibrosis by Augmenting Alveolar Epithelial Cell Mitochondrial DNA Damage and Apoptosis

Investigators reasoned that sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) deficiency occurs in fibrotic lungs and thereby augments alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) mtDNA damage and apoptosis. Human lungs were assessed by using immunohistochemistry for SIRT3 activity via acetylated MnSODK68 Murine AEC SIRT3 and cleaved caspase-9 expression were assayed by immunoblotting with or without SIRT3 enforced expression or silencing. [FASEB J] Abstract

Toluene Diisocyanate Exposure Induces Airway Inflammation of Bronchial Epithelial Cells via the Activation of Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 8

Scientists hypothesized that transient receptor potential melastatin 8 located in airway epithelial cells may be involved in the pathogenic mechanisms of toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-induced occupational asthma and investigated its role. [Exp Mol Med] Full Article

p53 and miR-34a Feedback Promotes Lung Epithelial Injury and Pulmonary Fibrosis

Researchers found induction of tumor suppressor protein, p53, and apoptosis with suppression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and the uPA receptor in alveolar epithelial cell from the lungs of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients, and in mice with bleomycin, cigarette smoke, silica, or sepsis-induced lung injury. [Am J Pathol] Abstract

Human Rhinovirus Infection of Epithelial Cells Modulates Airway Smooth Muscle Migration

The authors investigated whether human bronchial epithelial cells infected with human rhinovirus produced mediators that are chemotactic for airway smooth muscle cells. [Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol] Abstract

Progranulin Protects Lung Epithelial Cells from Cigarette Smoking-Induced Apoptosis

Researchers aimed to evaluate the role of progranulin (PGRN) in human alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) in response to cigarette smoke (CS). Their results revealed that PGRN expression was elevated in CS-exposed mouse lungs and CS extract-treated AECs. [Respirology] Abstract

LUNG CANCER

LncRNA MEG3 Downregulation Mediated by DNMT3b Contributes to Nickel Malignant Transformation of Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells via Modulating PHLPP1 Transcription and HIF-1α Translation

Scientists discovered that environmental carcinogen nickel exposure led to maternally expressed gene (MEG3) downregulation, consequently initiating c-Jun-mediated PHLPP1 transcriptional inhibition and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) protein translation upregulation, in turn resulting in malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells. [Oncogene] Abstract

Serine Proteases Enhance Immunogenic Antigen Presentation on Lung Cancer Cells

Investigators demonstrated that lung cancer cells cross-presented the tumor-associated antigen PR1, derived from neutrophil elastase (NE) and proteinase 3 (P3). NE and P3 enhanced the expression of human leukocyte antigen class I molecules on lung cancer cells and induced unique, endogenous peptides in the immunopeptidome, as detected with mass spectrometry sequencing. [Cancer Immunol Res] Abstract

MiR-9 Is Involved in TGF-β1-Induced Lung Cancer Cell Invasion and Adhesion by Targeting SOX7

The authors investigated the role of microRNA (miR)-9 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell invasion and adhesion in vitro and explored whether miR-9 was involved in transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)-induced NSCLC cell invasion and adhesion by targeting SOX7. [J Cell Mol Med] Full Article

PIG3 Promotes NSCLC Cell Mitotic Progression and Is Associated with Poor Prognosis of NSCLC Patients

Researchers explored the potential role of p53-induced gene 3 (PIG3) in the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). [J Exp Clin Cancer Res] Full Article

The microRNA Expression Signature of Small Cell Lung Cancer: Tumor Suppressors of miR-27a-5p and miR-34b-3p and their Targeted Oncogenes

The authors newly constructed a microRNA (miRNA) expression signature of small cell lung cancer by analysis of autopsy specimens. They demonstrated that ectopic expression of both miR-27a-5p and miR-34b-3p significantly inhibited cancer cell aggressiveness. [J Hum Genet] Abstract

Extracellular Vesicles in Lung Cancer—from Bench to Bedside

Emerging data suggest that extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an important role in lung cancer pathogenesis and may have potential as biomarkers and therapeutics. The authors review current research on EVs in lung cancer. [Semin Cell Dev Biol] Abstract

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

Hitgen and Cancer Research UK’s Manchester Institute Enter License Agreement in Lung Cancer

Cancer Research UK, Cancer Research Technology, the charity’s commercial arm, and HitGen Ltd. announced that they have entered into a license agreement to develop a novel class of drugs against lung cancer. [Cancer Research UK] Press Release

BerGenBio Enters Collaboration with MSD Focused on Clinical Evaluation of BGB324 in Combination with KEYTRUDA^® (Pembrolizumab) in Advanced Lung and Breast Cancer

BerGenBio ASA announced it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. through a subsidiary, focused on the clinical evaluation of BGB324 with KEYTRUDA^® in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. [BerGenBio ASA] Press Release

Rodman & Renshaw Research Update: Cymerus^™ Technology Advances in Asthma

Cynata Therapeutics Ltd. reported that it had received the final report on a preclinical study assessing the therapeutic potential of its proprietary Cymerus^™ mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in an animal model of asthma, a chronic inflammatory lung condition afflicting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The preclinical data indicated that the Cymerus^™ MSCs could exert significant benefit on all three crucial components of asthma pathophysiology: airway hyper-responsiveness, inflammation and airway remodeling. [Cynata Therapeutics Ltd.] Press Release

Vertex to Acquire CTP-656 from Concert Pharmaceuticals for the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis

Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. under which Vertex will acquire CTP-656. CTP-656 is an investigational cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) potentiator that has the potential to be used as part of future once-daily combination regimens of CFTR modulators that treat the underlying cause of CF. [Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

Patchy Progress on Fixing Global Gender Disparities in Science

Although women are publishing more studies, being cited more often, and securing more coveted first-author positions than they were in the mid 1990s, overall progress towards gender parity in science varies widely by country and field. This is according to a massive report released on 8^th March that is the first to examine such a broad swath of disciplines and regions of the world over time. [Nature News] Editorial

Open-Data Contest Unearths Scientific Gems — and Controversy

When a prestigious medical journal challenged scientists to analyze data from a pivotal blood-pressure study in search of new findings, hundreds of researchers around the world rushed to sign up. The contest, sponsored by the New England Journal of Medicine, offered scientists a rare opportunity to access detailed trial data that otherwise might have remained proprietary for another year — if not indefinitely. But the competition, whose winners were announced on 7^th March, also illustrates the tension between speeding access to data and protecting the interests of those who labored to collect them. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Canadian Association for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (CACMID) 2017
May 3-6, 2017
Toronto, Canada

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

NEW Laboratory Head – Infection & Immunity Division (The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

Assistant Professor/Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Lung Injury and Repair (University of Tennessee)

Postdoctoral Opportunity – RNA and Cancer Biology (Yale University)

PhD Student – Asthma Research (Karolinska Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Translation Cancer Research (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Impaired Progenitors Emphysema Deficient Repair (AstraZeneca)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Airway Biology (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

PhD Student – Lung Cancer (Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research)

Principal Scientist – Translational Development (Celgene Corporation)

Postdoctoral Position – Cellular Therapeutics in Chronic Lung Disease (Helmholtz Zentrum München)

Assistant Professor – Molecular Therapeutics of Cancer (Dartmouth College)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Cancer Genetics/Epigenetics (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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