Time and space evolution of transport properties in agarose-chondrocyte constructs.

During the development of de novo synthesized cartilage tissue engineered constructs, transport and biophysical properties are expected to change in time and space. Monitoring and control of the evolution of these parameters are of crucial importance to process biohybrid constructs in vitro. The aim of this work was to measure fluid and macromolecular transport and evolution of mechanical properties of tissue-engineered cartilage constructs as a function of culture time and extracellular matrix (ECM) production. It was found, in agreement with other literature reports, that mechanical and fluid transport properties of the constructs correlated well with time of culture and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content. Further, diffusion coefficients of 2 probes, dextran (500 kDa) and bovine serum albumin (BSA), correlated well with GAG production. Diffusion coefficients (D) were measured with high spatial and temporal resolution by fluorescent recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Diffusivity steadily decreases with time while it does not vary through the thickness of the specimen. On the basis of these results, an empirical relationship between diffusion coefficient and GAG content was proposed for the 2 probes analyzed. The results of this study provide useful information to optimize and control the tissue culture process in vitro.

Human papilloma virus 16 E7 oncogene does not cooperate with RET/PTC 3 oncogene in the neoplastic transformation of thyroid cells in transgenic mice.

We have previously reported that the thyroid-targeted expression of the RET/PTC3 oncogene (Tg-RET/PTC3) in transgenic mice induces follicular hyperplasia with papillary architecture, resulting in a modest increase of the thyroid gland volume, followed by the appearance of papillary carcinomas in approximately 1-year-old animals. In order to analyze the genetic alterations that may cooperate with RET/PTC3 in the development or progression of thyroid tumors, we interbred Tg-RET/PTC3 mice with Tg-E7 transgenic mice, which express the E7 oncogene of the human papilloma virus 16 in thyroid cells. Tg-E7 mice develop large colloid goiters with small papillae and well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas in older animals. Here we show that thyroid lesions in Tg-RET/PTC3-Tg-E7 double transgenics were morphologically different from those occurring in Tg-RET/PTC3 mice, while they were virtually indistinguishable from those occurring in Tg-E7 mice. In addition, the coexpression of RET/PTC3 and E7 oncogenes neither enhanced the malignant phenotype nor reduced the latency period of thyroid lesions with respect to parental transgenic lines. We conclude that the coexpression of RET/PTC3 and E7 lacks any cooperative effect in the neoplastic transformation of thyroid cells and that the E7-induced thyroid phenotype is dominant with respect to the RET/PTC3 one.

Cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 expression in normal and neoplastic cervical epithelium.

AIM: To investigate whether there is loss of the p27Kip1 protein in developing cervical cancer and whether p27Kip1 immunoreactivity has any relation to the proliferative indicator Ki-67. METHODS: The expression of p27Kip1 and Ki-67 was assessed by immunohistochemistry in serial sections from normal epithelium (13), low grade (27) and high grade (19) squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL, HSIL), and invasive cervical cancer (23). In the SIL cases the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) genomic sequences was assessed by in situ hybridisation. The results were evaluated by image analysis, and reported as mean score of the percentage of p27Kip1 and of Ki-67 positive cells in each histological group. RESULTS: In general, p27Kip1 immunostaining was related to squamous differentation, and was intense in normal epithelium (47%), while it was reduced in SIL lesions as an effect of the decreased number of differentiating cells. However, decrease in the p27Kip1 expression was more evident in LSIL (36%) than in HSIL (39%); in the latter, p27Kip1 had a different intraepithelial distribution in that the staining extended to the basal cells. The average levels of p27Kip1 were similar in SIL lesions associated to low, intermediate, and high risk HPV types. Compared with normal epithelium and dysplasia, invasive cancer showed significantly lower p27Kip1 levels (23%). There was no relation between p27Kip1 and Ki-67 labelling indices in any of the histological groups examined. CONCLUSIONS: A reduction in p27Kip1 protein occurs in cervical cancer independently of the proliferative status. The changes in p27Kip1 expression may be related to the unregulated kinetics of developing cervical cancer.