Human Cells Research Studies Using Lifeline Cells: 2017 Review

Lifeline® Cells in 2017

It’s the end of the year again and here on the Lifeline® Cell Technology blog you have been keeping up with the various ways researchers from many fields have used Lifeline® cells. We are going to do something a little different this week and highlight a few studies that have featured our cells this year.

Additionally, we would like to highlight the NEW cells we have introduced this year and now offer as part of our catalog:

• Normal Human Cardiac Microvascular Cells
• Normal Human Cardiac Fibroblasts
• Normal Human Skeletal Satellite Cells
• Normal Human Cervical Epithelial Cells

NANOTECHNOLOGY STUDIES:

Improving the efficacy of liposome-mediated vascular gene therapy via lipid surface modifications. Dysfunction of vascular smooth muscle cells can result in development of intimal hyperplasia (abnormal proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells) following endovascular intervention. Fisher et al. utilized Lifeline® aortic smooth muscle cells to test new nanoscale drug delivery vehicles containing neutral liposomes. Using these modified liposomes, they were able to package and deliver siRNA to silence GAPDH expression, suggesting this approach might be feasible for gene therapy in patients with intimal hyperplasia.

Biodegradable mesoporous delivery system for biomineralization precursors. In a study from this year, Yang and colleagues used Lifeline® human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to develop a new scaffold to improve the success of bone grafts. This system used poly(allyamine)-stabilized amorphous calcium phosphate, delivered by mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Treatment of mesenchymal stem cells resulted in initiation of osteogenesis with low toxicity, demonstrating that this scaffold has promising preliminary activity for use in bone grafts.

Modulating cancer cell survival by targeting intracellular cholesterol transport. Capitalizing on cancer cell dependence on cholesterol by inhibiting cholesterol transport is a potential therapeutic option that was investigated by Kuzu et al. in this study. The authors evaluated the efficacy of inhibitors against acid sphingomyelin (ASM), which is responsible for transporting cholesterol out of lysosomes. Among other cell types, including melanoma cell lines, they treated Lifeline® normal human melanocytes with ASM inhibitors, which caused cell death due to lysosomal cholesterol accumulation. Interestingly, melanoma cell lines were more sensitive than normal melanocytes to ASM inhibitors, suggesting this therapy might more preferentially affect cells with particular genetic alterations.

CANCER BIOMARKER SCREENING:

Rapid intraoperative visualization of breast lesions with γ-glutamyl hydroxymethyl rhodamine green. In this study, Ueo et al. utilized Lifeline® human mammary epithelial cells that were immortalized. They investigated the use of γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) as a cancer cell-specific marker for development of new cancer screening methods. The authors found that GGT was preferentially expressed in breast cancer cell lines, as well as in immortalized Lifeline® human mammary epithelial cells, but not in normal mammary tissue. GGT was also present in a high percentage of human breast tumor samples, suggesting that it may be a useful biomarker for breast cancer screening.

ALTERNATIVE THERAPY RESEARCH:

Topical Glucose Induces Claudin-1 and Filaggrin Expression in a Mouse Model of Atopic Dermatitis and in Keratinocyte Culture, Exerting Anti-inflammatory Effects by Repairing Skin Barrier Function. In this study, Yamada and colleagues evaluated the use of topical glucose for the potential treatment of atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin condition. The authors use Lifeline® keratinocytes to study the cellular response to glucose. Their findings demonstrated that topical glucose protected against inflammation and restored altered cellular changes, such as loss of the tight junction protein, claudin-1.

VIRAL INFECTIVITY AND VIRAL-BASED THERAPIES:

Crystal structure of the receptor binding domain of the spike glycoprotein of human betacoronavirus HKU1. Here, Ou et al., solved the crystal structure of the human HKU1 beta coronavirus spike protein C-terminal domain, which mediates viral infectivity. Using Lifeline® human bronchial/tracheal cells grown in an air-liquid interface, the authors studied how different point mutations of the spike protein affected virus infection and identified key residues that are required for spike protein activity.

Transgene Expression and Host Cell Responses to Replication-Defective, Single-Cycle, and Replication-Competent Adenovirus Vectors. In this study, Crosby, et al., used Lifeline® human small airway epithelial cells to compare the infectivity of replication-deficient, replication-competent, and single cycle adenoviruses. They found that single cycle adenoviruses, which are able to replicate their DNA, but cannot produce viral progeny, induced transgene expression well in vitro, and minimized adverse effects of viral infection in vivo, including low interferon response, suggesting that it may be a reasonable alternative to more infectious adenoviruses for the development of viral-based therapy.

IMPROVEMENT OF DIALYSIS THERAPY:

In Vitro Dialysis of Cytokine-Rich Plasma with High and Medium Cut-Off Membranes Reduces its Procalcific Activity. Development of dialysis membranes that reduce levels of inflammatory mediators, while also retaining important homeostatic molecules is difficult. Using Lifeline® human vascular smooth muscle cells as a test population, Willy, et al., tested different types of dialysis membranes, with smooth muscle cell calcification serving as a negative indicator. They discovered that newer dialysis membranes, termed high cut-off and medium cut-off, were better at preventing calcification, suggesting they are more effective than the more permeable high-flux membranes.

From all of us here at Lifeline®, we would like to thank all of our customers and readers and wish you a happy new year!