EGFR and PDGFRA co-expression and heterodimerization in glioblastoma tumor sphere lines.

Concurrent amplifications of EGFR and PDGFRA have been reported in up to 5% of glioblastoma (GBM) and it remains unclear why such independent amplification events, and associated receptor overexpression, would be adaptive during glioma evolution. Here, we document that EGFR and PDGFRA protein co-expression occurs in 37% of GBM. There is wide cell-to-cell variation in the expressions of these receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in stable tumor sphere lines, frequently defining tumor cell subpopulations with distinct sensitivities to growth factors and RTK inhibitors.

T cells translate individual, quantal activation into collective, analog cytokine responses via time-integrated feedbacks.

Variability within isogenic T cell populations yields heterogeneous 'local' signaling responses to shared antigenic stimuli, but responding clones may communicate 'global' antigen load through paracrine messengers, such as cytokines. Such coordination of individual cell responses within multicellular populations is critical for accurate collective reactions to shared environmental cues. However, cytokine production may saturate as a function of antigen input, or be dominated by the precursor frequency of antigen-specific T cells.

Multidimensional single-cell analysis of BCR signaling reveals proximal activation defect as a hallmark of chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells.

Purpose: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is defined by a perturbed B-cell receptor-mediated signaling machinery. We aimed to model differential signaling behavior between B cells from CLL and healthy individuals to pinpoint modes of dysregulation.

Experimental Design: We developed an experimental methodology combining immunophenotyping, multiplexed phosphospecific flow cytometry, and multifactorial statistical modeling.

The IL-6/JAK/Stat3 feed-forward loop drives tumorigenesis and metastasis.

We have investigated the importance of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in promoting tumor growth and metastasis. In human primary breast cancers, increased levels of IL-6 were found at the tumor leading edge and positively correlated with advanced stage, suggesting a mechanistic link between tumor cell production of IL-6 and invasion. In support of this hypothesis, we showed that the IL-6/Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) pathway drives tumor progression through the stroma and metastatic niche.

Diversity training for signal transduction: leveraging cell-to-cell variability to dissect cellular signaling, differentiation and death.

Populations of 'identical' cells are rarely truly identical. Even when in the same state of differentiation, isogenic cells may vary in expression of key signaling regulators, activate signal transduction at different thresholds, and consequently respond heterogeneously to a given stimulus. Here, we review how new experimental and analytical techniques are suited to connect these different levels of variability, quantitatively mapping the effects of cell-to-cell variability on cellular decision-making.

Cell-to-cell variability analysis dissects the plasticity of signaling of common γ chain cytokines in T cells.

Natural variability in the abundance of signaling regulators can lead to divergence in cell fate, even within genetically identical cells that share a common differentiation state. We introduce cell-to-cell variability analysis (CCVA), an experimental and computational methodology that quantifies the correlation between variability in signaling regulator abundance and variation in the sensitivity of cells to stimuli. With CCVA, we investigated the unexpected effects of the interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor α chain (IL-2Rα) on the sensitivity of primary mouse T lymphocytes to cytokines that signal through receptors that have the common γ chain (γ(c)).

Human Langerhans cells use an IL-15R-α/IL-15/pSTAT5-dependent mechanism to break T-cell tolerance against the self-differentiation tumor antigen WT1.

Human CD34(+) progenitor-derived Langerhans-type dendritic cells (LCs) are more potent stimulators of T-cell immunity against tumor and viral antigens in vitro than are monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs). The exact mechanisms have remained elusive until now, however. LCs synthesize the highest amounts of IL-15R-α mRNA and protein, which binds IL-15 for presentation to responder lymphocytes, thereby signaling the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (pSTAT5).