Bovine Lactoferrin-Induced CCL1 Expression Involves Distinct Receptors in Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells and Their Monocyte Precursors.

Lactoferrin (LF) exhibits a wide range of immunomodulatory activities including modulation of cytokine and chemokine secretion. In this study, we demonstrate that bovine LF (bLF) up-modulates, in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, CCL1 secretion in monocytes (Mo) at the early stage of differentiation toward dendritic cells (DCs), and in fully differentiated immature Mo-derived DCs (MoDCs). In both cell types, up-modulation of CCL1 secretion is an early event following bLF-mediated enhanced accumulation of CCL1 transcripts.

Linking estrogen receptor β expression with inflammatory bowel disease activity.

Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) whose pathogenesis is only poorly understood. Estrogens have a complex role in inflammation and growing evidence suggests that these hormones may impact IBD pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrated a significant reduction (p < 0.

Lipid raft disruption protects mature neurons against amyloid oligomer toxicity.

A specific neuronal vulnerability to amyloid protein toxicity may account for brain susceptibility to protein misfolding diseases. To investigate this issue, we compared the effects induced by oligomers from salmon calcitonin (sCTOs), a neurotoxic amyloid protein, on cells of different histogenesis: mature and immature primary hippocampal neurons, primary astrocytes, MG63 osteoblasts and NIH-3T3 fibroblasts. In mature neurons, sCTOs increased apoptosis and induced neuritic and synaptic damages similar to those caused by amyloid beta oligomers.

Cellular effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields.

Purpose: The major areas of research that have characterised investigation of the impact of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields on living systems in the past 50 years are discussed. In particular, selected studies examining the role of these fields in cancer, their effects on immune and nerve cells, and the positive influence of these ELF fields on bone and nerve cells, wound healing and ischemia/reperfusion injury are explored.

Conclusions: The literature indicates that there is still no general agreement on the exact biological detrimental effects of ELF fields, on the physical mechanisms that may be behind these effects or on the extent to which these effects may be harmful to humans.

Hypoxia increases adhesion and spreading of MG-63 three-dimensional tumor spheroids.

The effects of hypoxia on adhesion and spreading of MG-63 human osteosarcoma spheroids were investigated. Hypoxia was induced in 2-day-old, small spheroids and verified by HIF-1alpha expression. Changes in adhesion were examined on both tissue culture plates and plates coated with fibronectin or collagen while spreading was analyzed in cocultures of MG-63 spheroids seeded on primary fibroblasts grown as a monolayer.

Metabolomics using 1H-NMR of apoptosis and Necrosis in HL60 leukemia cells: differences between the two types of cell death and independence from the stimulus of apoptosis used.

High-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy was used to examine and compare the metabolic variations that occur in cells of the HL60 promyelocytic leukemia cell line after induction of apoptosis by ionizing radiation and the antineoplastic drug doxorubicin as well as after induction of necrosis by heating. Apoptosis and necrosis were confirmed by fluorescence microscopy using the chromatin stain Hoechst 33258, agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA, and determination of caspase 3 enzymatic activity. The 1H-NMR experiments revealed that the spectra of both samples containing apoptotic cells were characterized by the same trend of several important metabolites.

Three-dimensional cell organization leads to a different type of ionizing radiation-induced cell death: MG-63 monolayer cells undergo mitotic catastrophe while spheroids die of apoptosis.

The type of cell death occurring in the same cell line (MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells) grown in monolayer or as three-dimensional spheroids after exposure to 5 Gy of ionizing radiation was determined. Morphological analyses using the chromatin dye Hoechst 33258 demonstrated that spheroids showed the typical characteristics of apoptosis, while monolayer cells revealed those typical of mitotic catastrophe. In order to better characterize these two types of cell death, the role of caspases was examined in irradiated monolayer cells and spheroids using the broad spectrum caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk.

Temporal dynamics of 1H-NMR-visible metabolites during radiation-induced apoptosis in MG-63 human osteosarcoma spheroids.

The metabolic changes that occur as a function of time in MG-63 osteosarcoma three-dimensional tumor spheroids undergoing radiation-induced apoptosis were studied using high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy. Specifically, the (1)H-NMR spectra of MG-63 spheroids collected at 24, 48 and 72 h after exposure to 5 Gy of ionizing radiation were compared to the spectra of their respective controls. Small spheroids (about 50-80 microm in diameter) with no hypoxic center were used.

Hypoxia and ionizing radiation: changes in adhesive properties and cell adhesion molecule expression in MG-63 three-dimensional tumor spheroids.

The effects of chemically induced hypoxia and ionizing radiation on the adhesive properties of MG-63 human osteosarcoma three-dimensional spheroids were investigated. Hypoxia was induced by addition of CoCl2 to small, nonhypoxic spheroids and verified by HIF-1alpha expression. In addition, the possible role of important cell adhesion molecules involved in tumor dissemination in inducing adhesive changes were also studied.

1H-NMR evidence for a different response to the same dose (2 Gy) of ionizing radiation of MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells and three-dimensional spheroids.

High resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy was used to examine the response of the MG-63 osteosarcoma cell line grown in monolayer and as 3-dimensional tumor spheroids to the same low dose (2 Gy) of ionizing radiation. The MG-63 cells and spheroids were irradiated at 24 h of growth and the 1H-NMR spectra of whole control and irradiated monolayer cells and of whole control and irradiated multicellular spheroids collected after another 24 h were compared. The 1H-NMR spectra of the perchloric acid extracts as well as the 2-dimensional 1H-NMR spectra of both pairs of cell systems were also obtained.

Increases in 1H-NMR mobile lipids are not always associated with overt apoptosis: evidence from MG-63 human osteosarcoma three-dimensional spheroids exposed to a low dose (2 Gy) of ionizing radiation.

The metabolic changes that occur in MG-63 osteosarcoma three-dimensional tumor spheroids exposed to 2 Gy of ionizing radiation, a dose that is comparable to radiation therapy, were studied using high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy. Specifically, the (1)H-NMR spectra of control and exposed MG-63 spheroids were compared. Small spheroids (about 50-80 microm in diameter) with no hypoxic center were used.

Increased cell compaction can augment the resistance of HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma spheroids to ionizing radiation.

One of the most important questions in tumor biology is the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the resistance of cancer cells to radiotherapy. In the present study, the possible role played by cell-cell interactions in determining the response of tumor cells to ionizing radiation was investigated. HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma spheroids were irradiated with a dose of 15 Gy in two different stages of growth characterized by diverse degrees of compaction: loosely organized spheroids (early spheroids) and compacted spheroids (late spheroids).

A 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic field does not damage MG-63 three-dimensional tumor spheroids but induces changes in their invasive properties.

The possibility that a sinusoidal 50 Hz magnetic field with a magnetic flux density of 1 mT can damage MG-63 osteosarcoma spheroids and induce variations in the invasive properties of these three-dimensional model systems after 2 days of exposure was investigated. Specifically, possible damage induced by these fields was examined by determining changes in spheroid surface morphology (light microscopy), growth (spheroid diameter and protein content determination), lactate dehydrogenase release, and reduced glutathione amount. Possible changes in the invasive properties were studied by invasion chambers.

Differential control of cholesterol and fatty acid biosynthesis in sensitive and multidrug-resistant LoVo tumor cells.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) describes the decrease in sensitivity of tumor cells to a wide variety of cytotoxic compounds. Although a central role has been ascribed to the P-glycoprotein (Pgp) pump in MDR, lipids also appear to be extremely important. However, their precise role in MDR is not yet fully understood.

MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells grown in monolayer and as three-dimensional tumor spheroids present a different metabolic profile: a (1)H NMR study.

High resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) spectroscopy was used to determine if the same cell line (MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells) grown in monolayer or as small (about 50-80 microm in diameter), three-dimensional tumor spheroids with no hypoxic center has different metabolic characteristics. Consequently, the (1)H NMR spectra were obtained from both types of cultures and then compared. The results indicate that the type of cellular spatial array determines specific changes in MG-63 cells.

Environmental fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) activates the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line even at very low concentrations as revealed by 1H NMR.

Because of the association between inhalation of airborne particulate matter (PM) and human respiratory and cardiovascular disease, it is necessary to understand the tissue damage induced by these particles. One of the cell types principally involved in the body's reaction to PM are macrophages, which remove particles in the airway passages and the lungs through phagocytosis. In fact, when macrophages are exposed to a toxic agent such as PM, they undergo a series of changes (including variations in morphology, an increase in glycolysis, and consequent lactate production and the release of cytokines such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) necessary to transform them from "resting" to "activated" macrophages.

Influence of thiol balance on micellar cholesterol handling by polarized Caco-2 intestinal cells.

The in vitro thiol redox modulation of cholesterol homeostasis was investigated in polarized Caco-2 intestinal cells. Cells were pre-incubated with the pro-oxidant compound CuSO4 or with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC), to induce a mild shift of the intracellular redox potential toward, respectively, a more oxidizing or a more reducing equilibrium, via a manipulation of intracellular soluble thiols (glutathione). Then, monolayers were exposed to micellar cholesterol and both the cholesterol uptake and export, as well as the cholesteryl ester cycle, were analyzed.

Induction of apoptosis or necrosis by ionizing radiation is dose-dependent in MG-63 osteosarcoma multicellular spheroids.

This study investigates cell growth and death (apoptosis and necrosis) in actively proliferating MG-63 osteosarcoma spheroids in response to two doses of ionizing radiation (5 and 30 Gy). Cell growth was examined by growth curves and by cell cycle analyses utilizing flow cytometry. Death was examined in both disaggregated and whole spheroids by the chromatin dye Hoechst and by Western blot analysis of the bcl-2 family of proteins known to be involved in the apoptotic process.

Effects of a 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic field on cell adhesion molecule expression in two human osteosarcoma cell lines (MG-63 and Saos-2).

The possibility that a sinusoidal 50 Hz magnetic field with a magnetic flux density of 0.5 mT can induce variations in the expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) in two human osteosarcoma cell lines (MG-63 and Saos-2) was investigated. In particular, the expression of two important integrins, VLA-2, the receptor for collagen, and VLA-5, the receptor for fibronectin, as well as CD44, were examined in both cell lines after these had been exposed for 7 and 14 days to a 50 Hz, 0.