We have isolated overlapping recombinant cosmids that represent 150 kilobases of contiguous DNA sequence from the amplified dihydrofolate reductase domain of a methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line (CHOC 400). This sequence includes the 25-kilobase dihydrofolate reductase gene and an origin of DNA synthesis. Eight cosmids that span this domain have been utilized as radioactive hybridization probes to analyze the similarities among the dihydrofolate reductase amplicons in four independently derived methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster cell lines. We have observed no significant differences among the four cell lines within the 150-kilobase DNA sequence that we have examined, except for polymorphisms that result from the amplification of one or the other of two possible alleles of the dihydrofolate reductase domain. We also show that the restriction patterns of the amplicons in these four resistant cell lines are virtually identical to that of the corresponding, unamplified sequence in drug-susceptible parental cells. Furthermore, measurements of the relative copy numbers of fragments from widely separated regions of the amplicon suggest that all fragments in this 150-kilobase region may be amplified in unison. Our data show that in methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster cells, the amplified unit is large relative to the dihydrofolate reductase gene itself. Furthermore, within the 150-kilobase amplified consensus sequence that we have examined, significant rearrangements do not seem to occur during the amplification process.
Here we describe a biomimetic microsystem that reconstitutes the critical functional alveolar‐capillary interface of the human lung and exposes it to cyclic mechanical strain and fluid dynamic forces that mimic breathing and blood flow. This microdevice reproduces complex integrated organ‐level responses to bacteria and inflammatory cytokines introduced into the alveolar space by inducing expression of intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (ICAM‐1) on the microvascular endothelium surface, adhesion of circulating blood‐borne neutrophils, their transmigration across the capillary‐alveolar interface, and phagocytosis of the infectious pathogens, which can be visualized using real‐time, high‐resolution microscopy. Using this approach, we developed novel nanotoxicology models and revealed that physiological cyclic mechanical strain greatly accentuates toxic and inflammatory responses of the lung to silica nanoparticles by promoting rapid release of toxic reactive oxygen species by alveolar epithelial cells and upregulating endothelial ICAM‐1 expression. Mechanical strain also enhances nanoparticle uptake by the epithelial cells and stimulates their transport into the underlying microvasculature. This mechanically active biomimetic microsystem represents valuable new model systems for in vitro analysis of various physiological functions and disease processes, in addition to providing low‐cost alternatives to animal and clinical studies for drug screening and toxicology applications. This work was supported by grants from NIH and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
Dendritic cells (DCs)—immunomodulatory cells that initiate adaptive immune responses—have recently been shown to exert proangiogenic effects when infiltrating the tumor microenvironment. As tumors that escape immune surveillance inhibit DC maturation, we explored whether maturation status determines their ability to promote angiogenesis and whether angiogenesis depends on the presence of DCs. Using mouse xenograft models of human tumors, we show that fast-growing "angiogenic" tumors are infiltrated by a more immature DC population than respective dormant avascular tumors. Accordingly, supplementation of immature DCs, but not mature DCs, enhanced tumor growth. When DCs were mixed with Matrigel and injected subcutaneously into mice, only immature DCs promoted the ingrowth of patent blood vessels. Notably, depletion of DCs in a transgenic mouse model that allows for their conditional ablation completely abrogated basic fibroblast growth factorinduced angiogenesis in Matrigel plugs, and significantly inhibited tumor growth in these mice. Because immature DCs actively promote angiogenesis and tumor growth, whereas DC maturation or ablation suppresses this response, we conclude that angiogenesis is dependent on the presence of immature DCs. Thus, cancer immunotherapies that promote DC maturation may act by both augmenting the host immune response to the tumor and by suppressing tumor angiogenesis.—Fainaru, O., Almog, N., Yung, C. W., Nakai, K., Montoya-Zavala, M., Abollahi, A., D'Amato, R., Ingber, D. E. Tumor growth and angiogenesis are dependent on the presence of immature dendritic cells. FASEB J. 24, 1411–1418 (2010). www.fasebj.org
We have isolated overlapping recombinant cosmids that represent 150 kilobases of contiguous DNA sequence from the amplified dihydrofolate reductase domain of a methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line (CHOC 400). This sequence includes the 25-kilobase dihydrofolate reductase gene and an origin of DNA synthesis. Eight cosmids that span this domain have been utilized as radioactive hybridization probes to analyze the similarities among the dihydrofolate reductase amplicons in four independently derived methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster cell lines. We have observed no significant differences among the four cell lines within the 150-kilobase DNA sequence that we have examined, except for polymorphisms that result from the amplification of one or the other of two possible alleles of the dihydrofolate reductase domain. We also show that the restriction patterns of the amplicons in these four resistant cell lines are virtually identical to that of the corresponding, unamplified sequence in drug-susceptible parental cells. Furthermore, measurements of the relative copy numbers of fragments from widely separated regions of the amplicon suggest that all fragments in this 150-kilobase region may be amplified in unison. Our data show that in methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster cells, the amplified unit is large relative to the dihydrofolate reductase gene itself. Furthermore, within the 150-kilobase amplified consensus sequence that we have examined, significant rearrangements do not seem to occur during the amplification process.
Macrophage dysfunction is considered an important contributory factor for increased propensity of infections in uremia. Because nitric oxide (NO) is believed to be an effector molecule of macrophage cytotoxicity, we propose that the dysfunction may be related to impaired NO synthesis. To verify this hypothesis, we evaluated macrophage NO synthesis in the presence of urea, a compound that accumulates in renal failure and is believed by some to be a uremic toxin. Macrophages (RAW 264.7 cells) were incubated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide to induce NO synthesis, whereas the test groups had various concentrations of urea in addition. NO synthesis was measured by assaying the supernatant for nitrites and nitrates by chemiluminescence. We observed that urea consistently produced a dose-dependent reversible inhibition of inducible NO production in macrophages, whereas parathormone, another toxin retained in uremia, had no such inhibitory effects. Further studies revealed that mRNA for inducible NO synthase was not inhibited by urea. We thus conclude that urea inhibits inducible NO synthesis in macrophages by a posttranscriptional mechanism and that this may be important in macrophage dysfunction of uremia.
