Publications by authors named "Zdenek Tauber"

Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) appears to be promising for the treatment of many diseases. Studies have focused on the beneficial effects of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), which are sEH substrates. However, our recent studies have shown that the sEH activity is crucial for the proper intestinal cell differentiation.

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  • Inflammation of the placenta can negatively impact both the fetus and the mother, with strong ties to diabetes during pregnancy.
  • The study analyzed immune cell responses in the placenta from patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), identifying differences in inflammatory markers and structural changes in the placental villi.
  • Results indicated that T1DM is linked with increased inflammation in placental cells, while GDM shows stable inflammatory markers but significant issues with placental development, suggesting differing impacts of the two types of diabetes on placental health.
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Intestinal epithelial differentiation is a highly organised process. It is influenced by a variety of signalling pathways and enzymes, such as the PI3K pathway and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) from arachidonic acid metabolism. We investigated the changes in the expression of enzymes and lipid messenger from the PI3K pathway, including PTEN, during intestinal cell differentiation in vitro using HT-29 and Caco2 cells and compared them with immunohistochemical patterns of these proteins in human colon.

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  • Fibrates, which help lower lipid levels, act on the PPARα receptor and were studied for their effect on activated p38 levels in colorectal cancer cell lines.
  • In undifferentiated HT-29 cells, fibrates increased p-p38 levels, while in other cases, they decreased it, with p-p38 localization differing between cell types (cytoplasmic in HT-29 and nuclear in Caco2).
  • The relationship between fibrates and p-p38 may depend on the cell's differentiation status, suggesting a complex role in cancer development that requires further investigation.
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We investigated the effects of PPARα activators fenofibrate and WY-14643 as well as the PPARα inhibitor GW6471 on the PI3K/Akt/PTEN pathway of intestinal cell differentiation. Our previous study showed that all these compounds increased the expression of villin, a specific marker of intestinal cell differentiation in HT-29 and Caco2 cells. Our current results confirmed the central role of lipid messenger phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), a known player in brush border formation, in mediating the effects of tested PPARα ligands.

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Background: In Turner syndrome (TS), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) karyotyping offers an alternative to classical karyotyping.

Objective: We tested the added value of FISH karyotyping from lymphocytes (mesodermal origin), buccal cells (ectodermal origin), and a rear-tongue smear (endodermal origin) to determine the 45,X cell line fraction and its impact on patient phenotype.

Design And Patients: Classical karyotyping and three FISH assays were done in 153 girls and women previously diagnosed with TS in four university hospitals.

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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that plays a role in various processes including differentiation of several cell types. We investigated the role of PPARα in the differentiation of intestinal cells using HT-29 and Caco2 cell lines as a model as well as human normal colon and colorectal carcinoma tissues. We detected a significant increase in PPARα expression in differentiated HT-29 cells as well as in normal surface colon epithelium where differentiated cells are localised.

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Aims: Hofbauer cells (HBCs) are placental macrophages playing various roles during normal and complicated pregnancies, and of the latter, chorioamnionitis is the most frequent.

Methods: In placenta with chorioamnionitis, we examined immunohistochemical expression profiles of IL-1β, IL-10, and their potential regulators, CYP2C8 and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), in Hofbauer cells and compared the results with our previously published data for normal placenta.

Results: We found that the expression profiles of the studied proteins in Hofbauer cells in chorioamnionitis differs from normal placenta.

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  • Software-based analyses aim to provide quantitative and objective data for immunohistochemical staining, but often require a focus on specific cells or structures, like Hofbauer cells in placental samples.
  • Two independent observers assessed staining intensities of Hofbauer cells using ImageJ, QuPath, and light microscopy, needing precise manual ROI determination.
  • The study found low inter-observer variability, with almost perfect agreement between ImageJ and QuPath, and moderate agreement with light microscopy; however, software analyses are more time-consuming, raising questions about their efficiency for selected ROIs.
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There is growing evidence that soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) may play a role in cell differentiation. sEH metabolizes biologically highly active and generally cytoprotective epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), generated from arachidonic acid metabolism by CYP epoxygenases (CYP2C and CYP2J subfamilies), to less active corresponding diols. We investigated the effect of sEH inhibitor (TPPU) on the expression of villin, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2J2, and sEH in undifferentiated and in vitro differentiated HT-29 and Caco2 cell lines.

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Aims: Turner syndrome is the only chromosome monosomy that is postnatally compatible with life. The reported incidence of TS is 1 in 2500 liveborn girls. The phenotype of these girls is highly variable, with cardiac abnormalities being life-threatening defects.

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Introduction: The success of pregnancy depends on the regulation of immunological processes in the placenta. Important mediators of an immune response include pro- and anti-inflammatory interleukins which may be regulated by CYP epoxygenases and their metabolites. The relation between interleukins and CYP epoxygenases expression in human placenta has not yet been studied vastly.

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Hofbauer cells are macrophages residing in the stroma of placental villi and play a number of roles during normal pregnancy, as well as pathological conditions. A morphometric analysis of Hofbauer cells, in particular to investigate the number of cells, their size and shape in samples of normal human placenta from 1st trimester, term and with chorioamnionitis was performed. Tissue samples were immunostained for CD206 antigen and evaluated using ImageJ software.

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Introduction: There are only sporadic references in literature regarding general medicine and dentistry student´s preparedness for Histology, study resources and how students might use them in the era of virtual microscopy.

Methods: A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate students´ opinion, with 192 students of general medicine and 82 students of dentistry responding.

Results: The dentistry students evaluate their previous knowledge of basic high school disciplines as less helpful when compared to their general medicine colleagues, but this difference diminishes during the first year of medical school studies.

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Introduction: Cytochrome (CYP) epoxygenases (CYP2C and CYP2J) and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) participate in the metabolism of arachidonic acid and may also have a potential role in enterocyte differentiation. The first critical step in the study of intestinal cell differentiation is the determination of a suitable in vitro model, which must be as similar as possible to the conditions of a living organism. It is known that HT-29 and Caco2 cell lines derived from human colorectal carcinomas can differentiate into enterocyte-like cells in appropriate culture conditions.

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  • Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunocytochemistry (ICC) are essential methods in research and diagnostics, particularly for analyzing formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues.
  • Antigen retrieval (AR) is important for breaking crosslinks in proteins, enhancing IHC results, but its application to alcohol-fixed cytology samples has been less understood.
  • The study found that heat-induced antigen retrieval (HIAR) improves staining for intracellular antigens in alcohol-fixed samples, allowing the use of more diluted antibodies while potentially harming the staining of surface antigens; thus, careful protocol validation is necessary for reliable results.
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Fibrates belong to a group of ligands of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), which play a role in the regulation of CYP epoxygenases and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), key enzymes in the metabolism of biologically highly active epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). We demonstrated that low doses of fibrates stimulate proliferation of the MCF7 cell line, while high doses suppress it. The increase in cell proliferation was accompanied by an increase in CYP epoxygenases and decrease in sEH levels.

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Heat-induced antigen retrieval (HIAR) treatment improves the antigen immunodetection in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples and it can also improve the detection of intracellular antigens in alcohol-fixed cytological samples, although it could deleteriously impact immunodetection, particularly that of membranous antigens. We examined the differences in cell surface topography on MCF7 cells fixed in methanol/acetone (M/A) or 4% paraformaldehyde (4% PFA), as well as the changes caused by HIAR treatment at three different temperatures (60, 90, and 120°C), using atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, the consequences for immunostaining of five membranous antigens [epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), E-cadherin, CD9, CD24, and CD44] were examined.

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  • The study examined how often pregnancies are terminated due to congenital heart defects (CHD) and compared fetal echocardiography (FECHO) with autopsy findings.
  • Between 2008 and 2017, out of 116,698 live births, 293 CHDs were identified, and 49% of families chose to terminate the pregnancy, with autopsy confirming CHDs in 99% of those cases.
  • FECHO demonstrated a high agreement with autopsy findings (85%) but missed some minor defects; it is effective for detecting CHD, yet not exhaustive in identifying all cardiac issues.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are commonly interconnected, and this coincidence negatively influences patients' mortality and morbidity. On the basis of the current available data originating mainly from cardiovascular studies epicardial fat (EF) has been proposed as a marker of cardiovascular risk. This review is focused on a potential role of epicardial fat as a new biomarker for risk stratification of COPD patients.

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Introduction: Virtual microscopy, used as a method to teach histology, has many undeniable advantages. However, the usefulness of this method is somewhat limited by the difficulties students face in finding their way through huge amounts of digital data, compounded by decreased interaction between students and teachers. We describe the results of a recent pilot project which combined the modern teaching methods of active learning, where students themselves present histological slides and make use of the virtual microscopy system.

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Aim: The therapeutic potential of adipose-derived stem cell conditioned medium (ASC-CM) was studied in the rabbit model of critical limb ischemia (CLI).

Methods: Rabbits received treatment with ASC-CM or placebo. Gastrocnemius muscle tissue was collected 35 days after ischemia induction.

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Obesity and insulin resistance are closely associated with chronic inflammation in adipose tissue, where macrophages play an important role. Adipose tissue macrophages can be divided into two main phenotypes: the classical M1 macrophages and alternatively activated macrophages M2. M1 macrophages produce pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, interleukin IL-6 and MCP-1) and thus contribute to the development of insulin resistance.

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BACKGROUND Paracrine factors secreted by adipose-derived stem cells can be captured, fractionated, and concentrated to produce therapeutic factor concentrate (TFC). The present study examined whether TFC effects could be enhanced by combining TFC with a biological matrix to provide sustained release of factors in the target region. MATERIAL AND METHODS Unilateral hind limb ischemia was induced in rabbits.

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