Lysophosphatidic Acid Initiates Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition and Induces β-Catenin-mediated Transcription in Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma.

During tumor progression, epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which influences metastatic success. Mutation-dependent activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been implicated in gain of mesenchymal phenotype and loss of differentiation in several solid tumors; however, similar mutations are rare in most EOC histotypes. Nevertheless, evidence for activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling in EOC has been reported, and immunohistochemical analysis of human EOC tumors demonstrates nuclear staining in all histotypes.

Identification of oxygen-sensitive transcriptional programs in human embryonic stem cells.

To realize the full potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), it is important to develop culture conditions that maintain hESCs in a pluripotent, undifferentiated state. A low O(2) atmosphere (approximately 4% O(2)), for example, prevents spontaneous differentiation and supports self-renewal of hESCs. To identify genes whose expression is sensitive to O(2) conditions, microarray analysis was performed on RNA from hESCs that had been maintained under either 4% or 20% O(2).

Role of triptolide as an adjunct chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

Background: Triptolide (TPL) has been identified as the active component of the Tripterygium wilfordii hook F plant and demonstrated to possess antitumor properties and induce apoptosis in a variety of tumor cell lines. Since TPL actions are associated with changes in the activities of both p53 and NF kappaB, which are implicated in the chemoresistance of ovarian cancer, the ability of TPL to be a potential chemotherapeutic for ovarian cancer was considered.

Methods: TPL actions on human ovarian cancer cells were investigated in vitro and in vivo with a nude mouse model to monitor tumor burden both in the absence or presence of other chemotherapy agents.

Effects of fgf2 and oxygen in the bmp4-driven differentiation of trophoblast from human embryonic stem cells.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) differentiate into trophoblast when treated with BMP4. Here we studied the effects of either low (4 % O(2), L) or atmospheric O(2) (20% O(2), A) in the presence and absence of FGF2 on H1 hESC cultured in presence of BMP4. Differentiation progressed from the periphery towards the center of colonies.

Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to carboplatin and allows adjunct chemotherapy treatment.

Signal transduction pathways associated with cancer progression and chemotherapeutic resistance are being investigated as molecular targets for chemotherapy. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway has been found to be frequently amplified and have increased activity in ovarian cancer. The current study investigates the efficacy of an antagonist of PI3K, LY294002, in inhibiting ovarian cancer cell growth and survival both in vitro and in vivo.

Embryonic testis cord formation and mesonephric cell migration requires the phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway.

Mesonephric cell migration and seminiferous cord formation are critical processes in embryonic testis development at the time of male sex determination. Extracellular growth factors shown to influence seminiferous cord formation such as neurotropin-3 utilize in part the phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signal transduction pathway. The current study investigates the hypothesis that the PI3K pathway is critical in seminiferous cord formation and testis development.

An in vivo mouse reporter gene (human secreted alkaline phosphatase) model to monitor ovarian tumor growth and response to therapeutics.

Purpose: Developing new anticancer therapeutic regimens requires the measurement of tumor cell growth in response to treatment. This is often accomplished by injecting immunocompromised mice with cells from cancer tissue or cell lines. After treating the animals, tumor weight or volume is measured.