Toward understanding inflorescence development and architecture in Passiflora: insights from comparative anatomy and expression of APETALA1.

Premise: The inflorescence of Passiflora species originates from a bud complex that derives from an initially undivided meristem and ultimately produces flowers and tendrils. Because the development of the inflorescence structures derived from such meristems has been variously interpreted, we investigated the ontogeny of the bud complex and the expression of APETALA1 (AP1) in Passiflora species.

Methods: The anatomical development of 15 species of Passiflora was analyzed using light and scanning electron microscopy.

Building the sugarcane genome for biotechnology and identifying evolutionary trends.

Background: Sugarcane is the source of sugar in all tropical and subtropical countries and is becoming increasingly important for bio-based fuels. However, its large (10 Gb), polyploid, complex genome has hindered genome based breeding efforts. Here we release the largest and most diverse set of sugarcane genome sequences to date, as part of an on-going initiative to provide a sugarcane genomic information resource, with the ultimate goal of producing a gold standard genome.

Higher expression and activity of metalloproteinases in human cervical carcinoma cell lines is associated with HPV presence.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) MMP-2, MMP-9, and MT1-MMP are required for basement membrane degradation in cervical carcinoma. We evaluated the expression and activity of MMPs and their inhibitors RECK and TIMP-2 in 3 human invasive cervical carcinoma cell lines. Two HPV16-positive cell lines (SiHa and CaSki) and an HPV-negative cell line (C33A) were cultured either onto a type-I collagen gel, Matrigel, or plastic, to recreate their three-dimensional growth environment and evaluate the expression of these genes using quantitative real-time PCR.

Downregulation of the RECK-tumor and metastasis suppressor gene in glioma invasiveness.

Invasive behavior is the pathological hallmark of malignant gliomas, being responsible for the failure of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are essential for proper ECM remodeling and invasion. The tumor and metastasis suppressor RECK protein regulates at least three members of the MMPs family: MMP-2, MMP-9, and MT1-MMP.

Co-localization of nestin and insulin and expression of islet cell markers in long-term human pancreatic nestin-positive cell cultures.

Strategies to differentiate progenitor cells into beta cells in vitro have been considered as an alternative to increase beta cell availability prior to transplantation. It has recently been suggested that nestin-positive cells could be multipotential stem cells capable of expressing endocrine markers upon specific stimulation; however, this issue still remains controversial. Here, we characterized short- and long-term islet cell cultures derived from three different human islet preparations, with respect to expression of nestin and islet cell markers, using confocal microscopy and semi-quantitative RT-PCR.