Translation of a tissue epigenetic signature to circulating free DNA suggests BCAT1 as a potential noninvasive diagnostic biomarker for lung cancer.

Lung cancer patients are diagnosed at late stages when curative treatments are no longer possible; thus, molecular biomarkers for noninvasive detection are urgently needed. In this sense, we previously identified and validated an epigenetic 4-gene signature that yielded a high diagnostic performance in tissue and invasive pulmonary fluids. We analyzed DNA methylation levels using the ultrasensitive digital droplet PCR in noninvasive samples in a cohort of 83 patients. We demonstrated that BCAT1 is the candidate that achieves high diagnostic efficacy in circulating DNA derived from plasma (area under the curve: 0.85). Impact of potentially confounding variables was also explored.

Analysis of Septin 9 Gene Hypermethylation as Follow-Up Biomarker of Colorectal Cancer Patients after Curative Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The Septin 9 test analyzes the methylation status of the SEPT9 gene, which appears to be hypermethylated in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). This has been validated as a colorectal cancer screening test. Due to the high sensitivity and specificity found, the justification was to use it as a biomarker tool for monitoring minimal residual disease after radical surgery and recurrence. METHODS: A prospective study was carried out at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz University Hospital extracting peripheral blood from 28 patients and 4 healthy donors. Free circulating DNA was obtained and subsequently a PCR reaction to quantify the number of methylated genes. Samples were obtained preoperatively and postoperatively at five to seven days, one and three months after surgery. RESULTS: A total of 32 preoperative samples were analyzed. The sensitivity of the test to detect CRC was 55.6% and specificity was 100%. There were 22 postsurgical samples obtained at 5-7 days after surgery, the sensitivity to detect tumor recurrences was 100% and specificity was 75%. There were 21 samples analyzed 1 month after surgery exhibiting a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 94.7%, respectively. At 3 months, 31 postsurgical samples were analyzed and the sensitivity and specificity were 66.7% and 80%. CONCLUSIONS: Detection of methylation of Septin 9 gene in circulating plasma DNA, obtained from a peripheral blood sample, may be a useful, non-invasive and effective method for detecting minimal residual disease and could therefore predict CRC tumor recurrences. The optimal time in our series to obtain the best prediction results based on Septin 9 methylation levels was one month after surgery. Despite these considerable findings, a study with more patients is necessary to obtain more robust conclusions.

Methacrylate-endcapped caprolactone and FM19G11 provide a proper niche for spinal cord-derived neural cells.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a cause of paralysis. Although some strategies have been proposed to palliate the severity of this condition, so far no effective therapies have been found to reverse it. Recently, we have shown that acute transplantation of ependymal stem/progenitor cells (epSPCs), which are spinal cord-derived neural precursors, rescue lost neurological function after SCI in rodents. However, in a chronic scenario with axon repulsive reactive scar, cell transplantation alone is not sufficient to bridge a spinal cord lesion, therefore a combinatorial approach is necessary to fill cavities in the damaged tissue with biomaterial that supports stem cells and ensures that better neural integration and survival occur. Caprolactone 2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl ester (CLMA) is a monomer [obtained as a result of ε-caprolactone and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) ring opening/esterification reaction], which can be processed to obtain a porous non-toxic 3D scaffold that shows good biocompatibility with epSPC cultures. epSPCs adhere to the scaffolds and maintain the ability to expand the culture through the biomaterial. However, a significant reduction of cell viability of epSPCs after 6 days in vitro was detected. FM19G11, which has been shown to enhance self-renewal properties, rescues cell viability at 6 days. Moreover, addition of FM19G11 enhances the survival rates of mature neurons from the dorsal root ganglia when cultured with epSPCs on 3D CLMA scaffolds. Overall, CLMA porous scaffolds constitute a good niche to support neural cells for cell transplantation approaches that, in combination with FM19G11, offer a new framework for further trials in spinal cord regeneration.

Platelet-rich plasma favors proliferation of canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in methacrylate-endcapped caprolactone porous scaffold niches.

Osteoarticular pathologies very often require an implementation therapy to favor regeneration processes of bone, cartilage and/or tendons. Clinical approaches performed on osteoarticular complications in dogs constitute an ideal model for human clinical translational applications. The adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) have already been used to accelerate and facilitate the regenerative process. ASCs can be maintained in vitro and they can be differentiated to osteocytes or chondrocytes offering a good tool for cell replacement therapies in human and veterinary medicine. Although ACSs can be easily obtained from adipose tissue, the amplification process is usually performed by a time consuming process of successive passages. In this work, we use canine ASCs obtained by using a Bioreactor device under GMP cell culture conditions that produces a minimum of 30 million cells within 2 weeks. This method provides a rapid and aseptic method for production of sufficient stem cells with potential further use in clinical applications. We show that plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) treatment positively contributes to viability and proliferation of canine ASCs into caprolactone 2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl ester (CLMA) scaffolds. This biomaterial does not need additional modifications for cASCs attachment and proliferation. Here we propose a framework based on a combination of approaches that may contribute to increase the therapeutical capability of stem cells by the use of PRGF and compatible biomaterials for bone and connective tissue regeneration.

BDNF is essentially required for the early postnatal survival of nociceptors.

Neurotrophins promote the survival of specific types of neurons during development and ensure proper maintenance and function of mature responsive neurons. Significant effects of BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) on pain physiology have been reported but the contribution of this neurotrophin to the development of nociceptors has not been investigated. We present evidence that BDNF is required for the survival of a significant fraction of peptidergic and non-peptidergic nociceptors in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) postnatally. Bdnf homozygous mutant mice lose approximately half of all nociceptive neurons during the first 2 weeks of life and adult heterozygotes exhibit hypoalgesia and a loss of 25% of all nociceptive neurons. Our in vitro analyses indicate that BDNF-dependent nociceptive neurons also respond to NGF and GDNF. Expression analyses at perinatal times indicate that BDNF is predominantly produced within sensory ganglia and is more abundant than skin-derived NGF or GDNF. Function-blocking studies with BDNF specific antibodies in vitro or cultures of BDNF-deficient sensory neurons suggest that BDNF acts in an autocrine/paracrine way to promote the early postnatal survival of nociceptors that are also responsive to NGF and GDNF. Altogether, the data demonstrate an essential requirement for BDNF in the early postnatal survival of nociceptive neurons.

Metalloproteinase MT5-MMP is an essential modulator of neuro-immune interactions in thermal pain stimulation.

Peripheral interactions between nociceptive fibers and mast cells contribute to inflammatory pain, but little is known about mechanisms mediating neuro-immune communication. Here we show that metalloproteinase MT5-MMP (MMP-24) is an essential mediator of peripheral thermal nociception and inflammatory hyperalgesia. We report that MT5-MMP is expressed by CGRP-containing peptidergic nociceptors in dorsal root ganglia and that Mmp24-deficient mice display enhanced sensitivity to noxious thermal stimuli under basal conditions. Consistently, mutant peptidergic sensory neurons hyperinnervate the skin, a phenotype that correlates with changes in the regulated cleavage of the cell-cell adhesion molecule N-cadherin. In contrast to basal nociception, Mmp24(-/-) mice do not develop thermal hyperalgesia during inflammation, a phenotype that appears associated with alterations in N-cadherin-mediated cell-cell interactions between mast cells and sensory fibers. Collectively, our findings demonstrate an essential role of MT5-MMP in the development of dermal neuro-immune synapses and suggest that this metalloproteinase may be a target for pain control.

Cell expression of GDAP1 in the nervous system and pathogenesis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 4A disease.

Mutations in the mitochondrial protein GDAP1 are the cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 4A disease (CMT4A), a severe form of peripheral neuropathy associated with either demyelinating, axonal or intermediate phenotypes. GDAP1 is located in the outer mitochondrial membrane and it seems that may be related with the mitochondrial network dynamics. We are interested to define cell expression in the nervous system and the effect of mutations in mitochondrial morphology and pathogenesis of the disease. We investigated GDAP1 expression in the nervous system and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neuron cultures. GDAP1 is expressed in motor and sensory neurons of the spinal cord and other large neurons such as cerebellar Purkinje neurons, hippocampal pyramidal neurons, mitral neurons of the olfactory bulb and cortical pyramidal neurons. The lack of GDAP1 staining in the white matter and nerve roots suggested that glial cells do not express GDAP1. In DRG cultures satellite cells and Schwann cells were GDAP1-negative. Overexpression of GDAP1-induced fragmentation of mitochondria suggesting a role of GDAP1 in the fission pathway of the mitochondrial dynamics. Missense mutations showed two different patterns: most of them induced mitochondrial fragmentation but the T157P mutation showed an aggregation pattern. Whereas null mutations of GDAP1 should be associated with loss of function of the protein, missense mutations may act through different pathogenic mechanisms including a dominant-negative effect, suggesting that different molecular mechanisms may underlay the pathogenesis of CMT4A.

Selective glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor production in adult dopaminergic carotid body cells in situ and after intrastriatal transplantation.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) exerts a notable protective effect on dopaminergic neurons in rodent and primate models of Parkinson's disease (PD). The clinical applicability of this therapy is, however, hampered by the need of a durable and stable GDNF source allowing the safe and continuous delivery of the trophic factor into the brain parenchyma. Intrastriatal carotid body (CB) autografting is a neuroprotective therapy potentially useful in PD. It induces long-term recovery of parkinsonian animals through a trophic effect on nigrostriatal neurons and causes amelioration of symptoms in some PD patients. Moreover, the adult rodent CB has been shown to express GDNF. Here we show, using heterozygous GDNF/lacZ knock-out mice, that unexpectedly CB dopaminergic glomus, or type I, cells are the source of CB GDNF. Among the neural or paraneural cells tested, glomus cells are those that synthesize and release the highest amount of GDNF in the adult rodent (as measured by standard and in situ ELISA). Furthermore, GDNF expression by glomus cells is maintained after intrastriatal grafting and in CB of aged and parkinsonian 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-treated animals. Thus, glomus cells appear to be prototypical abundant sources of GDNF, ideally suited to be used as biological pumps for the endogenous delivery of trophic factors in PD and other neurodegenerative diseases.