Enhanced Renewal of Erythroid Progenitors in Myelodysplastic Anemia by Peripheral Serotonin.

Tryptophan as the precursor of several active compounds, including kynurenine and serotonin, is critical for numerous important metabolic functions. Enhanced tryptophan metabolism toward the kynurenine pathway has been associated with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs), which are preleukemic clonal diseases characterized by dysplastic bone marrow and cytopenias. Here, we reveal a fundamental role for tryptophan metabolized along the serotonin pathway in normal erythropoiesis and in the physiopathology of MDS-related anemia.

Human placenta expresses both peripheral and neuronal isoform of tryptophan hydroxylase.

The role of placental serotonin has been an active topic of research notably because of its crucial role in brain development. However, which cell types synthesize serotonin in human placenta remains unknown. Moreover, it is not known if the two tryptophan hydroxylase isoforms (TPH1 and TPH2), the rate-limiting enzymes in serotonin biosynthesis, are expressed in placenta.

A unique co-culture model for fundamental and applied studies of human fetoplacental steroidogenesis and interference by environmental chemicals.

Background: Experimental tools for studying the complex steroidogenic interactions that occur between placenta and fetus during human pregnancy are extremely limited.

Objectives: We aimed to develop a co-culture model to study steroidogenesis by the human fetoplacental unit and its disruption by exposure to environmental contaminants.

Methods: We cultured BeWo human choriocarcinoma cells, representing the villous cytotrophoblast, and H295R human adrenocortical carcinoma cells, representing the fetal unit, in a carefully adapted co-culture medium.

First steps for integrating sex and gender considerations into basic experimental biomedical research.

In recent decades there has been an increasing recognition of the need to account for sex and gender in biology and medicine, in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of biological phenomena and to address gaps in medical knowledge that have arisen due to a generally masculine bias in research. We have noted that as basic experimental biomedical researchers, we face unique challenges to the incorporation of sex and gender in our work, and that these have remained largely unarticulated, misunderstood, and unaddressed in the literature. Here, we describe some of the specific challenges to the incorporation of sex and gender considerations in research involving cell cultures and laboratory animals.