The unicellular green alga Lobomonas rostrata requires an external supply of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) for growth, which it can obtain in stable laboratory cultures from the soil bacterium Mesorhizobium loti in exchange for photosynthate. We investigated changes in protein expression in the alga that allow it to engage in this mutualism. We used quantitative isobaric tagging (iTRAQ) proteomics to...

Alternatively activated macrophages express the pattern recognition receptor scavenger receptor A (SR-A). We demonstrated previously that coculture of macrophages with tumor cells upregulates macrophage SR-A expression. We show in this study that macrophage SR-A deficiency inhibits tumor cell migration in a coculture assay. We further demonstrate that coculture of tumor-associated macrophages a...

Microglia with increased expression of the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (M-CSFR; c-fms) are found surrounding plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in mouse models for AD and after ischemic or traumatic brain injury. Increased expression of M-CSFR causes microglia to adopt an activated state that results in proliferation, release of cytokines, and enhanced phagocytosis. To de...

Partial replacement of chondrocytes by stem cells has been proposed to improve the performance of autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). Our previous studies showed that the increased cartilage production in pellet cocultures of chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is due to a trophic role of the MSCs by stimulating chondrocyte proliferation and matrix production rather than MSCs ...

Microglia with increased expression of the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (M-CSFR; c-fms) are found surrounding plaques in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and in mouse models for AD and after ischemic or traumatic brain injury. Increased expression of M-CSFR causes microglia to adopt an activated state that results in proliferation, release of cytokines, and enhanced phagocytosis. To de...

Efforts to develop functional tissue-engineered blood vessels have focused on improving the strength and mechanical properties of the vessel wall, while the functional status of the endothelium within these vessels has received less attention. Endothelial cell (EC) function is influenced by interactions between its basal surface and the underlying extracellular matrix. In this study, we utilize...

Adult human muscle cultured in monolayer was cocultured with explants of 13-14-d-old rat embryo using (a) ventral spinal cord (VSC), (b) transverse section of whole spinal cord (WSC), and (c) WSC with dorsal root ganglia (DRG) attached (WSC + DRG). AChR clusters and AChE-positive patches, both at the nerve-muscle contacts, were studied at 5, 12, and 21 d of coculture with each of the 3 spinal c...

To analyze in vitro the migration of monocytes to the subendothelial space, their differentiation into macrophages, and the subsequent formation of foam cells in vitro, we have developed a 2-coculture system with rabbit aortic endothelial cells (AECs), aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and a mixture of matrix proteins on polyethylene filters in chemotaxis chambers. AECs were seeded on a mixtur...

Stimulating lymphocytes with Ifn-γ, anti-CD3, and interleukin-2 promotes the proliferation of a cell population coexpressing T-lymphocyte surface antigens such as CD3, CD8a, and CD25 as well as natural killer cell markers such as NK1.1, CD49, and CD69. These cells, referred to as cytokine-induced killer cells (CIKs), display cytotoxic activity against tumour cells, even without prior antigen pr...

Myoendothelial gap junctional signaling mediates pulmonary arterial endothelial cell (PAEC)-induced activation of latent TGF-β and differentiation of cocultured pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), but the nature of the signal passing from PAECs to PASMCs through the gap junctions is unknown. Because PAECs but not PASMCs synthesize serotonin, and serotonin can pass through gap junct...