Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nicholas A. Bernier, James Teh, Derek Reichel, Joanne L. Zahorsky-Reeves, J. Manuel Perez, Alexander M. Spokoyny
Summary: Host-guest interactions are a growing research area where recent work has shown the ability to chemically manipulate both host and guest molecules. In this study, boron cluster derivatives were found to be encapsulated into iron oxide nanoparticles, with interactions not dependent on pH. This system was shown to be nontoxic and alter the biodistribution of guest molecules in mice.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Chawapon Pipatwatcharadate, Poornima Ramesh Iyer, Dakrong Pissuwan
Summary: This review summarizes recent developments in the use of MNPs for separating CTCs or non-CTCs in blood samples. Various approaches for magnetic-based cell separation for CTC detection, including the combination of MNPs with other particles, are discussed. Different methods for synthesizing MNPs are also included in this review.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Brendon Herring, Samuel Jang, Jason Whitt, Kayla Goliwas, Zviadi Aburjania, Vikas Dudeja, Bin Ren, Joel Berry, James Bibb, Andra Frost, Herbert Chen, John Bart Rose, Renata Jaskula-Sztul
Summary: This study proposes the use of an ex vivo 3D flow-perfusion bioreactor system for cultivating and studying patient-derived neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), demonstrating its utility and providing methods for evaluating therapeutic efficacy. The research suggests that the bioreactor system and similar 3D culture models may be valuable tools for culturing patient-derived NETs and monitoring their response to therapy ex vivo.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bashir M. Mohamed, Mark P. Ward, Mark Bates, Cathy D. Spillane, Tanya Kelly, Cara Martin, Michael Gallagher, Sheena Heffernan, Lucy Norris, John Kennedy, Feras Abu Saadeh, Noreen Gleeson, Doug A. Brooks, Robert D. Brooks, Stavros Selemidis, Sharon O'Toole, John J. O'Leary
Summary: We developed a new methodology to culture CTCs using primary cancer cells and found that the presence of CTC clusters is essential for long-term culture. This technique will greatly contribute to the development of CTC theranostics.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Sian Chen, Chenbin Chen, Yuanbo Hu, Ce Zhu, Xiaozhi Luo, Lizhu Wang, Xiang Wang, Xiangwei Sun, Xiaodong Chen, Wangkai Xie, Han Lou, Xielin Huang, Chao Li, Jun Xu, Xiangyang Xue, Xian Shen
Summary: The study established a 3D culturing platform to accurately predict drug responses for gastric cancer. By evaluating cell proliferation, viability, and apoptosis markers, differential sensitivities to chemotherapeutics across different patient-derived tissues were identified, enabling personalized medication plans. This rapid, cost-effective, scalable, and reproducible protocol for GC tissue culture can greatly impact future oncological research.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Nuria Carmona-Ule, Noga Gal, Carmen Abuin Redondo, Maria De La Fuente Freire, Rafael Lopez Lopez, Ana Belen Davila-Ibanez
Summary: Peptide-functionalized nanoemulsions are proposed as tools for the isolation and culture of CTCs in situ. These nanoemulsions can specifically interact with surface proteins on CTCs, providing support for cell growth.
BIOENGINEERING-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xinbang Jiang, Xiangyun Zhang, Chen Guo, Boya Ma, Zhuang Liu, Yunzheng Du, Biao Wang, Nan Li, Xinglu Huang, Lailiang Ou
Summary: Genetically engineered cell membrane-coated magnetic nanoparticles are used for the enrichment of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in this study. The nanoparticles show high purity, capture efficiency, and specificity, indicating the promising potential for CTC detection.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Nicole L. Habbit, Benjamin Anbiah, Luke Anderson, Joshita Suresh, Iman Hassani, Matthew Eggert, Andrew Brannen, Joshua Davis, Yuan Tian, Balabhaskar Prabhakarpandian, Peter Panizzi, Robert D. Arnold, Elizabeth A. Lipke
Summary: In this study, a three-dimensional in vitro prostate cancer tissue model was established and characterized based on xenograft tumor stiffness. The model can mimic the progression of prostate cancer and provide a foundation for future studies on cancer progression and drug development.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Kuan-Chou Lin, Lai-Lei Ting, Chia-Lun Chang, Long-Sheng Lu, Hsin-Lun Lee, Fang-Chi Hsu, Jeng-Fong Chiou, Peng-Yuan Wang, Thierry Burnouf, Dennis Chun-Yu Ho, Kai-Chiang Yang, Chang-Yu Chen, Chu-Huang Chen, Ching-Zong Wu, Yin-Ju Chen
Summary: This study introduces a novel strategy to predict clinical drug responses in HNC patients by using eSelect, a lab-developed biomimetic cell culture system, allowing for ex vivo expansion and drug sensitivity profiling of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Results show that the cisplatin sensitivity profiles of patient-derived CTCs expanded ex vivo correlate with a clinical response to cisplatin treatment, potentially providing predictive assays to guide HNC treatments.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Mari C. Manas-Torres, Cristina Gila-Vilchez, Francisco J. Vazquez-Perez, Pavel Kuzhir, David Momier, Jean-Claude Scimeca, Arnaud Borderie, Marianne Goracci, Fanny Burel-Vandenbos, Cristina Blanco-Elices, Ismael A. Rodriguez, Miguel Alaminos, Luis Alvarez de Cienfuegos, Modesto T. Lopez-Lopez
Summary: The incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles in hydrogel matrices has expanded the materials' application in biomedical research by allowing remote modulation of physical properties, inducing anisotropy, and improving mechanical stability. The resulting magnetic short-peptide hydrogels exhibit enhanced mechanical properties, faster self-healing, good biocompatibility, and potential for minimally invasive biomedical applications.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Satoshi Mizoguchi, Tomoshi Tsuchiya, Ryoichiro Doi, Tomohiro Obata, Mayumi Iwatake, Shintaro Hashimoto, Hirotaka Matsumoto, Hiroshi Yukawa, Hiroko Hayashi, Tao-Sheng Li, Kazuko Yamamoto, Keitaro Matsumoto, Takuro Miyazaki, Koichi Tomoshige, Takeshi Nagayasu
Summary: Two-dimensional cell cultures have played a significant role in lung cancer research, but there is increasing interest in 3D cultures as a more efficient and effective research model. This study successfully created an ex vivo lung cancer model based on bioengineered lungs, which closely replicated the 3D structure and tumor microenvironment of actual lungs. The results demonstrated the superiority of this model and its potential use in lung cancer research and pathophysiological studies.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wenxi Xia, Xiaoyan Shangguan, Miao Li, Yang Wang, Dongmei Xi, Wen Sun, Jiangli Fan, Kun Shao, Xiaojun Peng
Summary: A novel nanoformulated detection platform was developed in this study, which selectively identifies CTCs and improves detection accuracy through a specific protein switch, demonstrating the great capacity for visualizing various CTCs in peripheral blood with significantly improved detection efficiency and sensitivity.
Review
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Viktoria Hentschel, Thomas Seufferlein, Milena Armacki
Summary: Maintaining the integrity of the mucosal barrier is crucial for intestinal homeostasis and overall health, depending on a balanced signaling system between the intestinal epithelium and other cell populations. Disruptions to this communication may lead to sustained weakening of the intestinal barrier function, causing inflammation, tissue damage, and dysbiosis. Organoid-derived intestinal coculture models provide a convenient tool for studying these pathophysiological events and exploring interactions between cell populations to focus on intestinal barrier recovery and stabilization.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-GASTROINTESTINAL AND LIVER PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Gaetan Mary, Brice Malgras, Jose Efrain Perez, Irene Nagle, Nathalie Luciani, Cynthia Pimpie, Atef Asnacios, Marc Pocard, Myriam Reffay, Claire Wilhelm
Summary: This study demonstrates that anisotropic compression of tumor spheroids enhances cancer cell proliferation and metastasis, with significant increases in cancer index and liver metastasis observed in experimental animals. These findings have important implications for clinical procedures involving tumor compression.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Gulcin Cakan-Akdogan, Esra Ersoz, Sumeyra Cigdem Sozer, Emine Gelinci
Summary: Nanoparticles have shown promise in drug delivery in modern medicine. This article presents a fast and easy zebrafish larval model to study the biodistribution and cancer cell targeting capacity of serum albumin nanoparticles. The study shows that the nanoparticles are distributed to the vasculature including the brain without causing toxicity. The nanoparticles can also effectively target cancer cells in circulation. This is the first report on the biodistribution, toxicity, and anti-cancer effectiveness of serum albumin-based nanoparticles in the zebrafish model.
JOURNAL OF DRUG DELIVERY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Keitaro Yoshioka, Haruki Yamashita, Kazunori Shimizu, Sayako Shimomura, Takahiro Shibata, Jun-ichi Miyazaki, Hiroyuki Honda
Summary: This study identified new peptides with FFAR1 agonist activity as potential new drug candidates for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus. By utilizing phage display and physiochemical property prediction methods, peptides with high FFAR1 agonist activity can be screened. These findings provide new insights for drug development in treating type 2 diabetes.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Keitaro Yoshioka, Haruki Yamashita, Masaya Fujitani, Ryuji Kato, Kazunori Shimizu, Hiroyuki Honda
Summary: Hierarchical clustering was used to analyze the molecular structure of peptide libraries consisting of natural amino acid residues, leading to the identification of 12 peptides with high correlation coefficients. These peptides were synthesized and tested, resulting in the discovery of two peptide agonists with relatively high activity compared to a chemical agonist. These peptides represent the first known examples of FFAR1-activating peptides composed of natural amino acid residues.
KAGAKU KOGAKU RONBUNSHU
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Mai Ishihara, Masahiro Kikkawa, Kazunori Shimizu, Hiroaki Suzuki, Hiroyuki Honda
Summary: The developed method utilizes the phenomenon of alkaline agar becoming cloudy upon cooling to screen for pectin-degrading microorganisms, successfully isolating various strains from a soil sample.
BIOTECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Hideaki Fujita, Masanobu Horie, Kazunori Shimizu, Eiji Nagamori
Summary: C2C12 myotubes stimulated by electric pulses are of interest in muscle physiology and biotechnology due to the enhancement of sarcomere structure development and active tension generation capacity by electric pulse stimulation (EPS). However, termination of EPS results in rapid loss of active tension and disassembly of sarcomere structure. Transcriptomic analysis showed upregulation and downregulation of multiple genes after EPS termination, but no genes related to muscle atrophy were found.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCE AND BIOENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kento Imai, Kazunori Shimizu, Hiroyuki Honda
Summary: Bioactive peptides (BPs) are protein fragments with diverse physicochemical properties that have the potential to interact with various biomolecules. A new method combining BIOPEP-UWM and machine learning was developed to screen for beneficial BPs, such as novel bile acid-binding peptides.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yoshihiko Shimazawa, Kosuke Kusamori, Mari Tsujimura, Asuka Shimomura, Ryo Takasaki, Yukiya Takayama, Kazunori Shimizu, Satoshi Konishi, Makiya Nishikawa
Summary: This study demonstrated that forming multicellular spheroids of MSCs improved their pulmonary delivery and survival after intravenous injection, as well as their therapeutic potential against inflammatory pulmonary diseases.
BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Hitomi Hagawa, Kento Imai, Ziwei Gao, Masayuki Taniguchi, Kazunori Shimizu, Hiroyuki Honda
Summary: In this study, heat-treated porous silica gel (HT silica gel) was used to enrich antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from protein hydrolysates. Novel AMPs were identified through mass spectrometry, and the adsorption/desorption procedure using HT silica gel was confirmed as a convenient tool for bioactive peptide (BP) separation.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCE AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Kazuki Yamamoto, Saki Ohsumi, Takunori Nagashima, Hirokazu Akiyama, Hiroyuki Honda, Kazunori Shimizu
Summary: This study successfully screened peptides with anti-atrophic activity using photo-cleavable peptide array technology and a 96-well screening system. The results suggest that this screening approach is a powerful method for obtaining anti-atrophic peptides and that the 96-well screening system and atrophic model are practical tools for drug/functional food ingredient development.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kazunori Shimizu, Yaichi Kawakatsu, Ken-Ichi Kurotani, Masahiro Kikkawa, Ryo Tabata, Daisuke Kurihara, Hiroyuki Honda, Michitaka Notaguchi
Summary: The tobacco BY-2 cell line is widely used in plant cell biology research. A microfluidic device was developed to trap and monitor the physiological activity of BY-2 cells. The device successfully trapped cell filaments at specific locations, allowing real-time observation of cell activity. The experiments also confirmed cell survival and permeability using fluorescent proteins.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ken-ichi Kurotani, Yaichi Kawakatsu, Masahiro Kikkawa, Ryo Tabata, Daisuke Kurihara, Hiroyuki Honda, Kazunori Shimizu, Michitaka Notaguchi
Summary: Researchers used tobacco BY-2 cells and a microfluidic device to monitor the behavior of plasmodesmata, finding that recovery of H2B-GFP protein was mainly due to translocation from neighboring cells rather than de novo protein synthesis, and that sodium chloride inhibited the transport of H2B-GFP protein.
JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Yuya Mizukami, Takuma Yamaguchi, Miki Shiono, Yuki Takahashi, Kazunori Shimizu, Satoshi Konishi, Yoshinobu Takakura, Makiya Nishikawa
Summary: A novel method for fabricating drug-preloaded gelatin microspheres (GMS) using a water-in-water emulsification technique was developed. The drug-loaded GMS showed improved stability, drug-loading efficiency, and sustained release compared to conventional GMS. Incorporation of the drug-loaded GMS into multicellular spheroids enhanced cell viability and improved therapeutic efficacy in a wound healing mouse model.
EUROPEAN POLYMER JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Kazunori Shimizu, Haruo Kassai, Yuhei Kamei, Kazuki Yamamoto, Takunori Nagashima, Tadayoshi Maekawa, Hirokazu Akiyama, Hiroyuki Honda
Summary: In vitro neuromuscular junction (NMJ) models are powerful tools for studying neuromuscular disorders. This study demonstrated that a linearly patterned culture surface increases acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clustering and improves the efficiency of NMJ formation between co-cultured human skeletal muscle myotubes and motor neurons. The results suggest that the improved differentiation of myotubes on the patterned surface induces specific gene expression and enhances AChR clustering, thus facilitating the formation of functional NMJs.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Akitoshi Nagai, Masayuki Ida, Takayuki Izumo, Masaaki Nakai, Hiroyuki Honda, Kazunori Shimizu
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated the effects of l-Anserine on muscle differentiation and muscle contractile force in human skeletal muscle cells. They found that l-Anserine significantly increased myotube diameters and the expression of genes involved in muscle differentiation and sarcomere structure. Additionally, l-Anserine also increased the contractile force of engineered human skeletal muscle tissues, and this effect was attenuated by a histamine receptor 1 (H1R) antagonist. These findings suggest that l-Anserine enhances muscle differentiation and contractility via H1R.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Akari Murata, Hirokazu Akiyama, Hiroyuki Honda, Kazunori Shimizu
Summary: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released during exercise have health effects, but it is unclear if exercise increases the number of EVs released by skeletal muscle cells. This study used in vitro exercise models to investigate the effect of exercise on the quantity of EVs released from skeletal muscle cells. The results showed that tetanic contraction induced by 30 Hz electrical pulse stimulation increased the number of secreted EVs.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Cell Biology
Jeroen Eyckmans, Shoshana Das, Kazunori Shimizu, Christopher Chen
WOUND REPAIR AND REGENERATION
(2022)