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Background: Increased vulnerability to stress is a major risk factor for several mood disorders, including major depressive disorder. Although cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with depressive behaviors following stress have been identified, little is known about the mechanisms that confer the vulnerability that predisposes individuals to future damage from chronic stress., Methods: We used multisite in vivo neurophysiology in freely behaving male and female C57BL/6 mice (n = 12) to measure electrical brain network activity previously identified as indicating a latent stress vulnerability brain state. We combined this neurophysiological approach with single-cell RNA sequencing of the prefrontal cortex to identify distinct transcriptomic differences between groups of mice with inherent high and low stress vulnerability., Results: We identified hundreds of differentially expressed genes (p adjusted < .05) across 5 major cell types in animals with high and low stress vulnerability brain network activity. This unique analysis revealed that GABAergic (gamma-aminobutyric acidergic) neuron gene expression contributed most to the network activity of the stress vulnerability brain state. Upregulation of mitochondrial and metabolic pathways also distinguished high and low vulnerability brain states, especially in inhibitory neurons. Importantly, genes that were differentially regulated with vulnerability network activity significantly overlapped (above chance) with those identified by genome-wide association studies as having single nucleotide polymorphisms significantly associated with depression as well as genes more highly expressed in postmortem prefrontal cortex of patients with major depressive disorder., Conclusions: This is the first study to identify cell types and genes involved in a latent stress vulnerability state in the brain., (Copyright © 2024 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study chemotherapy response in neuroblastoma (NB) was assessed for the first time in a transplantation model comprising non-malignant human embryonic microenvironment of pluripotent stem cell teratoma (PSCT) derived from diploid bona fide hESC. Two NB cell lines with known high-risk phenotypes; the multi-resistant BE(2)-C and the drug sensitive IMR-32, were transplanted to the PSCT model and the tumour growth was exposed to single or repeated treatments with doxorubicin, and thereafter evaluated for cell death, apoptosis, and proliferation. Dose dependent cytotoxic effects were observed, this way corroborating the experimental platform for this type of analysis. Notably, analysis of doxorubicin-resilient BE(2)-C growth in the PSCT model revealed an unexpected 1,5-fold increase in Ki67-index (p<0.05), indicating that non-cycling (G0) cells entered the cell cycle following the doxorubicin exposure. Support for this notion was obtained also in vitro. A pharmacologically relevant dose (1μM) resulted in a marked accumulation of Ki67 positive BE(2)-C cells (p<0.0001), as well as a >3-fold increase in active cell cycle (i.e. cells positive staining for PH3 together with incorporation of EdU) (p<0.01). Considering the clinical challenge for treating high-risk NB, the discovery of a therapy-provoked growth-stimulating effect in the multi-resistant and p53-mutated BE(2)-C cell line, but not in the drug-sensitive p53wt IMR-32 cell line, warrants further studies concerning generality and clinical significance of this new observation.

Deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) contributes to the development and progression of many cancer types; however, their functions in the pathogenesis of testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) remain unclear. Here, we determined miRNA expression profiles of TGCTs and normal testes using small RNA sequencing, and identified several deregulated miRNAs in TGCTs, including the miR-506~514 cluster. In functional studies in vitro we demonstrated that miR-514a-3p induced apoptosis through direct regulation of the paternally expressed gene 3 (PEG3), and ectopically expressed PEG3 could rescue the apoptotic effect of miR-514a-3p overexpression. Silencing of PEG3 or miR-514a-3p overexpression reduced nuclear accumulation of p50 and NF-κB reporter activity. Furthermore, PEG3 was co-immunoprecipitated with tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) in TGCT cell lysates. We propose a model of PEG3-mediated activation of NF-κB in TGCT. Loss of miR-514a-3p expression in TGCT increases PEG3 expression that recruits TRAF2 and activates the NF-kappa B pathway, which protects germ cells from apoptosis. Importantly, we observed strong expression of PEG3 and nuclear p50 in the majority of TGCTs (83% and 78%, respectively). In conclusion, our study describes a novel function for miR-514a-3p in TGCT and highlights an unrecognized mechanism of PEG3 regulation and NF-κB activation in TGCT.

We have previously shown that human embryonic stem cell (hESC) therapy to injured rabbit vocal folds (VFs) induces human tissue generation with regained VF vibratory capacity. The aims of this study were to test the sustainability of such effect and to what extent derivatives of the transplanted hESCs are propagated in the VFs. The VFs of 14 New Zealand rabbits were injured by a localized resection. HESCs were transplanted to 22 VFs which were analyzed for persistence of hESCs after six weeks and after three months. At three months, the VFs were also analyzed for viscoelasticity, measured as dynamic viscosity and elastic modulus, for the lamina propria (Lp) thickness and relative content of collagen type I. Three months after hESC cell therapy, the dynamic viscosity and elastic modulus of the hESC treated VFs were similar to normal controls and lower than untreated VFs (p ≤ 0.011). A normalized VF architecture, reduction in collagen type I, and Lp thickness were found compared with untreated VFs (p ≤ 0.031). At three months, no derivatives of hESCs were detected. HESCs transplanted to injured rabbit VFs restored the vibratory characteristics of the VFs, with maintained restored function for three months without remaining hESCs or derivatives.

Xenografting is the so far only available in vivo model for assessing pluripotency of human stem cells. This review describes known biological features of experimental teratoma from human pluripotent stem cells. We focus on the dual nature mimicking both normal and abnormal development, and propose this model system to be particularly interesting for investigations of the relationship between developmentally controlled differentiation and neoplasia of embryonic origin. In resemblance to the wide range of clinical teratomas, pluripotent stem cell (PSC) induced teratoma (PSCT) typically shows a mixture of developing tissues in randomly distributed compartments. The combined literature suggests that for teratomas derived from human diploid bona fide PSC the embryonic development in the separate tissue-niches can show a controlled differentiation into organoid patterns closely mimicking early development. In the experimental situation such PSCT human homologous in vivo tissue-niches have been shown to provide also matching microenvironment for a micrometastatic colonization and outgrowth of embryonic tumors transplanted directly from patients. Single or small clusters of normal and neoplastic cells can easily be visualized together in microscope-based imaging systems, enabling multi-parameter detection of in the scans of tissue slides/specimens., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mesenchymal stem cells occupy niches in stromal tissues where they provide sources of cells for specialized mesenchymal derivatives during growth and repair. The origins of mesenchymal stem cells have been the subject of considerable discussion, and current consensus holds that perivascular cells form mesenchymal stem cells in most tissues. The continuously growing mouse incisor tooth offers an excellent model to address the origin of mesenchymal stem cells. These stem cells dwell in a niche at the tooth apex where they produce a variety of differentiated derivatives. Cells constituting the tooth are mostly derived from two embryonic sources: neural crest ectomesenchyme and ectodermal epithelium. It has been thought for decades that the dental mesenchymal stem cells giving rise to pulp cells and odontoblasts derive from neural crest cells after their migration in the early head and formation of ectomesenchymal tissue. Here we show that a significant population of mesenchymal stem cells during development, self-renewal and repair of a tooth are derived from peripheral nerve-associated glia. Glial cells generate multipotent mesenchymal stem cells that produce pulp cells and odontoblasts. By combining a clonal colour-coding technique with tracing of peripheral glia, we provide new insights into the dynamics of tooth organogenesis and growth.

Stem cells contribute to regeneration of tissues and organs. Cells with stem cell-like properties have been identified in tumors from a variety of origins, but to our knowledge there are yet no reports on tumor-related stem cells in the human upper respiratory tract. In the present study, we show that a tracheal mucoepidermoid tumor biopsy obtained from a 6 year-old patient contained a subpopulation of cells with morphology, clonogenicity and surface markers that overlapped with bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs). These cells, designated as MEi (mesenchymal stem cell-like mucoepidermoid tumor) cells, could be differentiated towards mesenchymal lineages both with and without induction, and formed spheroids in vitro. The MEi cells shared several multipotent characteristics with BM-MSCs. However, they displayed differences to BM-MSCs in growth kinectics and gene expression profiles relating to cancer pathways and tube development. Despite this, the MEi cells did not possess in vivo tumor-initiating capacity, as proven by the absence of growth in situ after localized injection in immunocompromised mice. Our results provide an initial characterization of benign tracheal cancer-derived niche cells. We believe that this report could be of importance to further understand tracheal cancer initiation and progression as well as therapeutic development.

Experimental teratoma induced from human pluripotent stem cells with normal karyotype can be described as a failed embryonic process and includes besides advanced organoid development also large elements of tissue with a prolonged occurrence of immature neural components. Such immature components, although benign, exhibit strong morphological resemblance with tumors of embryonic neuroectodermal origin. Here, we demonstrate that biopsy material from childhood tumors of neural embryonic origin transplanted to mature experimental teratoma can show an exclusive preference for matching tissue. Tumor specimens from five children with; Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor (sPNET); Pilocytic astrocytoma of the brainstem; Classic medulloblastoma; peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (pPNET) or neuroblastoma (NB), respectively, were transplanted. Analysis of up to 120 sections of each tumor revealed an engraftment for three of the transplanted tumors: pPNET, sPNET, and NB, with a protruding growth from the latter two that were selected for detailed examination. The histology revealed a strict tropism with a non-random integration into what morphologically appeared as matched embryonic microenvironment recuperating the patient tumor histology. The findings suggest specific advantages over xenotransplantation and lead us to propose that transplantation to the human embryonic microenvironment in experimental teratoma can be a well-needed complement for preclinical in vivo studies of childhood neuroectodermal tumors., (© 2013 UICC.)