Membrane nanotubes are ancient machinery for cell-to-cell communication and transport. Their interference with the immune system.

Nanotubular connections between mammalian cell types came into the focus only two decades ago, when "live cell super-resolution imaging" was introduced. Observations of these long-time overlooked structures led to understanding mechanisms of their growth/withdrawal and exploring some key genetic and signaling factors behind their formation. Unbelievable level of multiple supportive collaboration between tumor cells undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy, cross-feeding" between independent bacterial strains or "cross-dressing" collaboration of immune cells promoting cellular immune response, all via nanotubes, have been explored recently.

An improved 96 well plate format lipid quantification assay for standardisation of experiments with extracellular vesicles.

The field of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is an exponentially growing segment of biomedical sciences. However, the problems of normalisation and quantification of EV samples have not been completely solved. Currently, EV samples are standardised on the basis of their protein content sometimes combined with determination of the particle number.

Live cell superresolution-structured illumination microscopy imaging analysis of the intercellular transport of microvesicles and costimulatory proteins via nanotubes between immune cells.

Membrane nanotubes are transient long-distance connections between cells that can facilitate intercellular communication. These tethers can form spontaneously between many cell types, including cells of the immune and nervous systems. Traffic of viral proteins, vesicles, calcium ions, mRNA, miRNA, mitochondria, lysosomes and membrane proteins/raft domains have all been reported so far via the open ended tunneling nanotubes (TNTs).

Molecular interactions at the surface of extracellular vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles such as exosomes, microvesicles, apoptotic bodies, and large oncosomes have been shown to participate in a wide variety of biological processes and are currently under intense investigation in many different fields of biomedicine. One of the key features of extracellular vesicles is that they have relatively large surface compared to their volume. Some extracellular vesicle surface molecules are shared with those of the plasma membrane of the releasing cell, while other molecules are characteristic for extracellular vesicular surfaces.

Nanotubes connecting B lymphocytes: High impact of differentiation-dependent lipid composition on their growth and mechanics.

Nanotubes (NTs) are thin, long membranous structures forming novel, yet poorly known communication pathways between various cell types. Key mechanisms controlling their growth still remained poorly understood. Since NT-forming capacity of immature and mature B cells was found largely different, we investigated how lipid composition and molecular order of the membrane affect NT-formation.

Mast cell secretome: Soluble and vesicular components.

Mast cells are multifunctional master cells implicated in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Their role has been best characterized in allergy and anaphylaxis; however, emerging evidences support their contribution to a wide variety of human diseases. Mast cells, being capable of both degranulation and subsequent recovery, have recently attracted substantial attention as also being rich sources of secreted extracellular vesicles (including exosomes and microvesicles).

The growth determinants and transport properties of tunneling nanotube networks between B lymphocytes.

Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are long intercellular connecting structures providing a special transport route between two neighboring cells. To date TNTs have been reported in different cell types including immune cells such as T-, NK, dendritic cells, or macrophages. Here we report that mature, but not immature, B cells spontaneously form extensive TNT networks under conditions resembling the physiological environment.

Cell cycle dependent RRM2 may serve as proliferation marker and pharmaceutical target in adrenocortical cancer.

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare, but agressive malignancy with poor prognosis. Histopathological diagnosis is challenging and pharmacological options for treatment are limited. By the comparative reanalysis of the transcriptional malignancy signature with the cell cycle dependent transcriptional program of ACC, we aimed to identify novel biomarkers which may be used in the histopathological diagnosis and for the prediction of therapeutical response of ACC.

Fluorescence activated cell sorting followed by small RNA sequencing reveals stable microRNA expression during cell cycle progression.

Background: Previously, drug-based synchronization procedures were used for characterizing the cell cycle dependent transcriptional program. However, these synchronization methods result in growth imbalance and alteration of the cell cycle machinery. DNA content-based fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) is able to sort the different cell cycle phases without perturbing the cell cycle.

Synaptic mitochondria: a brain mitochondria cluster with a specific proteome.

Unlabelled: The synapse is a particularly important compartment of neurons. To reveal its molecular characteristics we isolated whole brain synaptic (sMito) and non-synaptic mitochondria (nsMito) from the mouse brain with purity validated by electron microscopy and fluorescence activated cell analysis and sorting. Two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry based proteomics revealed 22 proteins with significantly higher and 34 proteins with significantly lower levels in sMito compared to nsMito.

A dynamic network of estrogen receptors in murine lymphocytes: fine-tuning the immune response.

The actual level of circulating estrogen (17β-estradiol, E2) has a serious impact on regulation of diverse immune cell functions, where their classical cytoplasmic receptors, ERα and ERβ, act as nuclear transcriptional regulators of multiple target genes. There is growing evidence, however, for rapid, "non-nuclear" regulatory effects of E2 on lymphocytes. Such effects are likely mediated by putative membrane-associated receptor(s) (mER), but the mechanistic details and the involved signaling pathways still remained largely unknown because of their complexity.

TGFβ activated kinase 1 (TAK1) at the crossroad of B cell receptor and Toll-like receptor 9 signaling pathways in human B cells.

B cell development and activation are regulated by combined signals mediated by the B cell receptor (BCR), receptors for the B-cell activating factor of the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF-R) and the innate receptor, Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). However, the underlying mechanisms by which these signals cooperate in human B cells remain unclear. Our aim was to elucidate the key signaling molecules at the crossroads of BCR, BAFF-R and TLR9 mediated pathways and to follow the functional consequences of costimulation.

Human T cell derived, cell-bound complement iC3b is integrally involved in T cell activation.

Although the complement system is thought to be mainly involved in innate immunity and in the humoral arm of adaptive responses, evidence implicating that complement impacts T cell responses are accumulating recently. The role of the various activation products of the major complement component C3 were mainly studied so far in animal systems, and investigations regarding the effect of different C3-fragments on human T cells are sparse. Here we show that anti-CD3 activated human T lymphocytes derived from the blood and tonsil of healthy individuals produce C3, and the major cleavage fragment that appears on the T cell surface is iC3b.

The AC8 IgG3 monoclonal anti-cholesterol antibody modulates uptake and presentation of antigens for T cell activation.

Natural anti-cholesterol antibodies (ACHAs) exist in mammalian species, moreover their level sensitively changes in pathological situations, such as atherosclerosis or HIV infection. The conditions of their production and functional role, however, still remained ill defined. Recently we developed IgG3 type monoclonal ACHAs that selectively react with 'clustered cholesterol' of live immune cells, such as membrane microdomains (lipid rafts and caveolas).