Abstract Three-dimensional (3-D) tissue engineered constructs provide a platform for examining how the local extracellular matrix contributes to malignancy of various cancers, including human glioblastoma multiforme. Here, we describe simple and innovative 3-D culture environment assess its potential use with stem cells (GSCs) examine diversification inside cell mass in system. The dissociated ...

Small guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein RhoB is an important stress sensor and contributes to the regulation of cytoskeletal organization, cell proliferation and survival. However, whether RhoB is involved in the hypoxic response and action of glucocorticoid (GC) is largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of hypoxia or/and GC on the expression and activition of Rh...

Systemic hypoxia produces an inflammatory response characterized by increases in reactive O(2) species (ROS), venular leukocyte-endothelial adherence and emigration, and vascular permeability. Inflammation is typically initiated by mediators released from activated perivascular cells that generate the chemotactic gradient responsible for extravascular leukocyte accumulation. These experiments w...

Purpose To assess the impact of hypoxia exposure on cellular radiation sensitivity and survival of tumor cells with diverse intrinsic radiation sensitivity under normoxic conditions. Materials and methods Three squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines, with pronounced differences in radiation sensitivity, were exposed to hypoxia prior, during or post irradiation. Cells were seeded in parallel...

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether pristimerin affects the bone metastasis, stem cell characteristics and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of prostate cancer (PCa) PC-3 cells subjected to hypoxia. The PC-3 cells were cultured under hypoxia or normoxia for 48 h and were then treated with increasing concentrations of pristimerin from 0 to 0.8 µmol/l, under normoxia. Hy...

Recently, we have shown that PFKFB4 gene which encodes the testis isoenzyme of PFKFB is also expressed in the prostate and hepatoma cancer cell lines. Here we have studied expression and hypoxic regulation of the testis isoenzyme of PFKFB4 in several malignant cell lines from a female organ--the mammary gland. Our studies clearly demonstrated that PFKFB4 mRNA is also expressed in mammary gland ...

BACKGROUND Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy residing within the bone marrow (BM). We aim to develop allogeneic Natural Killer (NK) cell immunotherapy for MM. As the BM contains hypoxic regions and the tumor environment can be immunosuppressive, we hypothesized that hypoxia inhibits NK cell anti-MM responses. METHODS NK cells were isolated from healthy donors by neg...

Cellular sodium excess is cytotoxic because it increases both the intracellular osmotic load and intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)). Because sodium levels rise during hypoxia, it is thought to contribute to hypoxic injury. Thus the present study tested the hypothesis that taurine-linked reductions in [Na(+)](i) reduce hypoxia-induced cell injury. Taurine depletion was achieved by...

A central regulator of cell growth that has been implicated in responses to stress such as hypoxia is mTOR (mammalian Target Of Rapamycin). We have shown previously that mTOR is required for angiogenesis in vitro and endothelial cell proliferation in response to hypoxia. Here we have investigated mTOR-associated signaling components under hypoxia and their effects on cell proliferation in rat a...

Differentiated embryonic chondrocyte (DEC) 1 has been reported to be involved in cell differentiation, hypoxia response, and cancer progression. Recent studies have demonstrated that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in carcinoma cells to facilitate cell invasiveness and metastasis. However, it remains unclear whether DEC1 participates in hypoxia-...