A153 PYCRL LACTYLATION AS A POTENTIAL REGULATOR OF CANCER STEM CELL METABOLISM IN ESOPHAGEAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA (ESCC)

Background

Patients with esophageal malignancy have a 5-year survival rate of only 14% in Canada. This high mortality rate is due to three factors: late diagnosis, difficulty in surgically removing the tumor because of its localization, and treatment resistance. Resistance can be developed after prolonged exposure to anti-cancer drugs and/or radiation. Indeed 30% of patients will not respond to treatment or will relapse. Resistance has been mainly ascribed to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) inside the tumor. However, no treatment specifically directed against CSCs is available to patients.

Purpose

Thus, targeting CSCs is a promising strategy to improve the survival of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), the most common type of esophageal cancer worldwide. Therefore, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms occurring during long-term exposure to cancer treatments is imperative.

Method

Herein, we developed an unbiased approach to identify new players in chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistance development in ESCC. We established radio- (R), chemo- (C), and radiochemo-resistant (RC) human ESCC cell lines using prolonged exposure to radiation and/or chemotherapeutic agent 5-FU, respectively.

Result(s)

The enrichment in CSCs in all treated cell lines was demonstrated by an increase of ALDH1^high cells and CD24^high/CD44^high cells in flow cytometry. We then used a proteomic approach to identify new players in treatment resistance. Interestingly, pathway analysis pointed out to alterations in energy metabolism as well as amino acid metabolism. Seahorse assays showed that resistant cell lines have a lower respiration rate than control cells, while glycolysis remains unchanged. To further characterize these metabolic changes, we performed an unbiased metabolomic study and confirmed a decrease in amino acid levels such as proline, in resistant cell lines. Recently, metabolic regulation has been linked to a new post-translational modification, lactylation. Proteomic data were re-analyzed looking for lactylated protein and found, amongst others, PYCRL, an enzyme implicated in proline biosynthesis, as one of the most differentially lactylated proteins in treated cell lines compared to control. PYCRL lactylation was confirmed using immuno-fluorescence colocalization and immuno-precipitation. Lastly, using AlphaFold, preliminary results point toward the importance of PYCRL lactylation impairing PYCRL homomultimerization.

Conclusion(s)

To conclude, our results suggest an important role of proline metabolism following long-term treatment in ESCC. This study is a first step toward the identification of new targets to fight treatment resistance in ESCC patients.

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CAG, CIHR, Other

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FRQ

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

A38 INVESTIGATION OF POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS IN SERUM OF CROHN’S DISEASE PATIENTS USING A PROTEOMICS APPROACH

Background

Canada has one of the highest prevalences of Crohn’s disease (CD) worldwide. More specifically, fibrostenotic CD is a phenotype with prolonged chronic inflammation and fibrotic strictures often resistant to anti-inflammatory therapies and characterized by luminal narrowing that ultimately requires surgery. Proteins play an essential role in disease pathogenesis, and post-translational modifications (PTMs) can alter their properties. PTMs have been frequently implicated in human diseases. However, they have yet to be explored in the context of CD, which could lead to new avenues for a better understanding of disease mechanisms and the discovery of biomarkers.

Purpose

Identify post-translational modifications in serum proteins of CD patients.

Method

Serum samples from patients with strictures or inflammatory phenotype (without strictures) (n=4 per group), as diagnosed by intestinal ultrasound, were analyzed using a shotgun-proteomics approach. Protein identification and PTM prediction were performed with FragPipe. Identified mass shifts determined by an open search in FragPipe were mapped to possible PTMs and confirmed via unimod.org. Statistical significance analysis was performed with MSstatsPTM.

Result(s)

The prediction analysis identified 363 potential modification sites, including artifacts and chemical derivatives. The addition of all potential PTMs in the analysis would lead to false positives; therefore, it was selected five of the most abundant mass shifts mapped to true PTMs: cysteine oxidation, serine methylation, and three modifications of the protein n-termini (formaldehyde adduct, carbamylation, and formylation). Standard proteomics analysis identified 3635 unique peptides and 317 unique proteins. The addition of the predicted PTMs increased the number of peptides by 9.8%, reaching 3994 unique sequences. Interestingly, a very subtle increase was observed on the protein level, where only two additional proteins were identified. Of the PTMs identified, methylation of a serine residue on the variable chain of immunoglobulin (IGLV1-47) was statistically enriched in inflammatory samples (5.74 fold change, adj. p-value = 0.041). The variable chain participates in the antigen recognition process, and modification of its amino acids could impact antibody specificity. Additionally, structuring patients showed two modifications on thrombin: oxidation of cysteine and methylation of serine. Thrombin was previously shown to be elevated in CD patients compared to healthy controls. As both modifications were not present in inflammatory patients, they constitute potential biomarkers for specific diagnosis of the structuring disease.

Conclusion(s)

The observed gain in peptide identification demonstrates the diversification promoted by PTMs and exhibits their importance in proteomics studies. Even though the identified modifications require further validation, they can shed light on new players of CD pathogenesis and suggest novel biomarkers for disease diagnosis.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Multiomics approach to profiling Sertoli cell maturation during development of the spermatogonial stem cell niche

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the basis of spermatogenesis, a complex process supported by a specialized microenvironment, called the SSC niche. Postnatal development of SSCs is characterized by distinct metabolic transitions from prepubertal to adult stages. An understanding of the niche factors that regulate these maturational events is critical for the clinical application of SSCs in fertility preservation. To investigate the niche maturation events that take place during SSC maturation, we combined different '-omics' technologies. Serial single cell RNA sequencing analysis revealed changes in the transcriptomes indicative of niche maturation that was initiated at 11 years of age in humans and at 8 weeks of age in pigs, as evident by Monocle analysis of Sertoli cells and peritubular myoid cell (PMC) development in humans and Sertoli cell analysis in pigs. Morphological niche maturation was associated with lipid droplet accumulation, a characteristic that was conserved between species. Lipidomic profiling revealed an increase in triglycerides and a decrease in sphingolipids with Sertoli cell maturation in the pig model. Quantitative (phospho-) proteomics analysis detected the activation of distinct pathways with porcine Sertoli cell maturation. We show here that the main aspects of niche maturation coincide with the morphological maturation of SSCs, which is followed by their metabolic maturation. The main aspects are also conserved between the species and can be predicted by changes in the niche lipidome. Overall, this knowledge is pivotal to establishing cell/tissue-based biomarkers that could gauge stem cell maturation to facilitate laboratory techniques that allow for SSC transplantation for restoration of fertility.

Metabolic transitions define spermatogonial stem cell maturation

STUDY QUESTION

Do spermatogonia, including spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), undergo metabolic changes during prepubertal development?

SUMMARY ANSWER

Here, we show that the metabolic phenotype of prepubertal human spermatogonia is distinct from that of adult spermatogonia and that SSC development is characterized by distinct metabolic transitions from oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to anaerobic metabolism.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY

Maintenance of both mouse and human adult SSCs relies on glycolysis, while embryonic SSC precursors, primordial germ cells (PGCs), exhibit an elevated dependence on OXPHOS. Neonatal porcine SSC precursors reportedly initiate a transition to an adult SSC metabolic phenotype at 2 months of development. However, when and if such a metabolic transition occurs in humans is ambiguous.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION

To address our research questions: (i) we performed a meta-analysis of publicly available and newly generated (current study) single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) datasets in order to establish a roadmap of SSC metabolic development from embryonic stages (embryonic week 6) to adulthood in humans (25 years of age) with a total of ten groups; (ii) in parallel, we analyzed single-cell RNA sequencing datasets of isolated pup (n = 3) and adult (n = 2) murine spermatogonia to determine whether a similar metabolic switch occurs; and (iii) we characterized the mechanisms that regulate these metabolic transitions during SSC maturation by conducting quantitative proteomic analysis using two different ages of prepubertal pig spermatogonia as a model, each with four independently collected cell populations.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS

Single testicular cells collected from 1-year, 2-year and 7-year-old human males and sorted spermatogonia isolated from 6- to 8-day (n = 3) and 4-month (n = 2) old mice were subjected to scRNA-Seq. The human sequences were individually processed and then merged with the publicly available datasets for a meta-analysis using Seurat V4 package. We then performed a pairwise differential gene expression analysis between groups of age, followed by pathways enrichment analysis using gene set enrichment analysis (cutoff of false discovery rate < 0.05). The sequences from mice were subjected to a similar workflow as described for humans. Early (1-week-old) and late (8-week-old) prepubertal pig spermatogonia were analyzed to reveal underlying cellular mechanisms of the metabolic shift using immunohistochemistry, western blot, qRT-PCR, quantitative proteomics, and culture experiments.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE

Human PGCs and prepubertal human spermatogonia show an enrichment of OXPHOS-associated genes, which is downregulated at the onset of puberty (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, we demonstrate that similar metabolic changes between pup and adult spermatogonia are detectable in the mouse (P < 0.0001). In humans, the metabolic transition at puberty is also preceded by a drastic change in SSC shape at 11 years of age (P < 0.0001). Using a pig model, we reveal that this metabolic shift could be regulated by an insulin growth factor-1 dependent signaling pathway via mammalian target of rapamycin and proteasome inhibition.

LARGE SCALE DATA

New single-cell RNA sequencing datasets obtained from this study are freely available through NCBI GEO with accession number GSE196819.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION

Human prepubertal tissue samples are scarce, which led to the investigation of a low number of samples per age. Gene enrichment analysis gives only an indication about the functional state of the cells. Due to limited numbers of prepubertal human spermatogonia, porcine spermatogonia were used for further proteomic and in vitro analyses.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

We show that prepubertal human spermatogonia exhibit high OXHPOS and switch to an adult-like metabolism only after 11 years of age. Prepubescent cancer survivors often suffer from infertility in adulthood. SSC transplantation could provide a powerful tool for the treatment of infertility; however, it requires high cell numbers. This work provides key insight into the dynamic metabolic requirements of human SSCs across development that would be critical in establishing ex vivo systems to support expansion and sustained function of SSCs toward clinical use.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)

This work was funded by the NIH/NICHD R01 HD091068 and NIH/ORIP R01 OD016575 to I.D. K.E.O. was supported by R01 HD100197. S.K.M. was supported by T32 HD087194 and F31 HD101323. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

A230 THE ROLE OF THE MICROBIOTA IN NOCICEPTOR DEVELOPMENT AND PAIN SENSITIVITY

Background

Pain is the most common cause of disability in IBD. What causes inter-individual variability in chronic pain after successful treatment of inflammation remains elusive. We have shown that activation of TRPV1+ colonic nociceptors is essential for the establishment of persistent pain in DSS colitis. Nociceptor development coincides with microbial colonization, while early life dysbiosis can lead to visceral hypersensitivity in adulthood. Whether the microbiota dictates nociceptor development and pain susceptibility remains unknown. Here we test the hypothesis that the microbiota programs nociceptor specification during early development, rendering them more susceptible to sensitization later in life. We have identified the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) that senses bacterial-derived metabolites as a candidate target that orchestrates transcriptional regulation in nociceptors.

Aims

We investigated the developmental regulation of nociceptors by the microbiome and how it influences pain sensitivity. We will determine the effects of AHR activation on nociceptor lineage and function as well as the long term impact of AHR signaling on pain sensitivity.

Methods

We have developed a germ-free (GF) TRPV1-GFP reporter mouse that was used to phenotype and visualise TRPV1+ nociceptors in the absence of a microbiota. We will isolate TRPV1+ neurons by FACS to identify genes that are under the control of the microbiota and to characterise the phosphoproteome of TRPV1+ nociceptors in GF conditions. Finally, we will investigate the role of AHR signaling in nociceptors both acutely and during development.

Results

We showed a reduction in thermal pain threshold and a reduction in capsaicin test responses in GF mice. The number and size of DRG neurons was unchanged in GF mice. Examination of molecular markers for peptidergic (CGRP) and non-peptidergic (IB4) neurons did not show a difference. Finally, there was no difference in the expression of TRPV1, suggesting post-translational modification of the channel. In cultured DRG neurons, we found a decrease in capsaicin induced action potentials and a decrease in the amplitude of the capsaicin response in GF mice. Using RNAscope, we showed that TRPV1+ neurons express AHR.

Conclusions

Our results highlight the importance of bacterial composition in regulating the development of nociceptors and pain sensitivity in adulthood. Furthermore, we are the first to demonstrate the expression of AHR in sensory neurons. These findings point to a role of the microbiota in programming nociceptors during development. My work will advance our understanding of the role of commensal bacteria in regulating pain and could lead to recommendations for the treatment of neonates in early life to reduce their risk of developing chronic pain later in life.

Funding Agencies

CAG, CIHR

A3 TARGETING PROLINE METABOLISM TO OVERCOME TREATMENT RESISTANCE IN ESOPHAGEAL CANCER

Background

Patients with esophageal malignancy have a 5-year survival rate of only 14% in Canada. This high mortality rate is due to three factors: late diagnosis, difficulty to surgically remove the tumor due to its localization and treatment resistance. Treatment resistance has been ascribed to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) inside the tumor. However, no treatment specifically directed against CSCs is available to patients. Therefore, targeting CSCs is a promising strategy to improve survival of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), the most common type of esophageal cancer worldwide.

Aims

Herein, we developed an unbiased approach to identify new players in chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistance in ESCC.

Methods

We established radioresistant (RR), chemoresistant (CR) and radiochemoresistant (RCR) human ESCC cell lines using weekly radiation and/or continuous treatment with increasing doses of chemotherapeutic agent 5-FU. We validated that the process of resistance acquisition correlates with enrichment in CSCs as revealed by higher ALDH1 expression, and increased proportion of ALDH1^high cells and CD24^high/CD44^high cells in flow cytometry. We then used a proteomic approach to identify new players in treatment resistance.

Results

Interestingly, pathway analysis demonstrated enrichment in energy metabolism as well as amino acid metabolism. Seahorse assays showed a more quiescent metabolism in all three types of resistant cells compared to the control cell line. More precisely, resistant cell lines have a lower respiration rate than control cell line, while glycolysis remains unchanged. Surprisingly, our results show a metabolic rewiring very different from the well-known Warburg effect. To further characterise these metabolic changes, we performed an unbiased metabolomic pilot study and confirmed a decrease in amino acid levels such as proline, in resistant cell lines. Preliminary data show that when cultured in DMEM with proline addition, CD44^high/CD24^high cell proportion is decreased in control and RR cell lines suggesting that proline is a key regulator of CSC population in ESCC.

Conclusions

To conclude, our results suggest an important role of metabolism in ESCC treatment resistance. This study is a first step towards the identification of new targets to fight treatment resistance in ESCC patients.

Funding Agencies

CAG, CIHRCanada research chair TIER 2

MMP8 increases tongue carcinoma cell-cell adhesion and diminishes migration via cleavage of anti-adhesive FXYD5

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) modify bioactive factors via selective processing or degradation resulting in tumour-promoting or tumour-suppressive effects, such as those by MMP8 in various cancers. We mapped the substrates of MMP8 to elucidate its previously shown tumour-protective role in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC). MMP8 overexpressing (+) HSC-3 cells, previously demonstrated to have reduced migration and invasion, showed enhanced cell-cell adhesion. By analysing the secretomes of MMP8 + and control cells with terminal amine isotopic labelling of substrates (TAILS) coupled with liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), we identified 36 potential substrates of MMP8, including FXYD domain-containing ion transport regulator 5 (FXYD5). An anti-adhesive glycoprotein FXYD5 has been previously shown to predict poor survival in OTSCC. Cleavage of FXYD5 by MMP8 was confirmed using recombinant proteins. Furthermore, we detected a loss of FXYD5 levels on cell membrane of MMP8 + cells, which was rescued by inhibition of the proteolytic activity of MMP8. Silencing (si) FXYD5 increased the cell-cell adhesion of control but not that of MMP8 + cells. siFXYD5 diminished the viability and motility of HSC-3 cells independent of MMP8 and similar effects were seen in another tongue cancer cell line, SCC-25. FXYD5 is a novel substrate of MMP8 and reducing FXYD5 levels either with siRNA or cleavage by MMP8 increases cell adhesion leading to reduced motility. FXYD5 being a known prognostic factor in OTSCC, our findings strengthen its potential as a therapeutic target.

Integrative Analysis Reveals a Molecular Stratification of Systemic Autoimmune Diseases

OBJECTIVE

Clinical heterogeneity, a hallmark of systemic autoimmune diseases, impedes early diagnosis and effective treatment, issues that may be addressed if patients could be classified into groups defined by molecular pattern. This study was undertaken to identify molecular clusters for reclassifying systemic autoimmune diseases independently of clinical diagnosis.

METHODS

Unsupervised clustering of integrated whole blood transcriptome and methylome cross-sectional data on 955 patients with 7 systemic autoimmune diseases and 267 healthy controls was undertaken. In addition, an inception cohort was prospectively followed up for 6 or 14 months to validate the results and analyze whether or not cluster assignment changed over time.

RESULTS

Four clusters were identified and validated. Three were pathologic, representing "inflammatory," "lymphoid," and "interferon" patterns. Each included all diagnoses and was defined by genetic, clinical, serologic, and cellular features. A fourth cluster with no specific molecular pattern was associated with low disease activity and included healthy controls. A longitudinal and independent inception cohort showed a relapse-remission pattern, where patients remained in their pathologic cluster, moving only to the healthy one, thus showing that the molecular clusters remained stable over time and that single pathogenic molecular signatures characterized each individual patient.

CONCLUSION

Patients with systemic autoimmune diseases can be jointly stratified into 3 stable disease clusters with specific molecular patterns differentiating different molecular disease mechanisms. These results have important implications for future clinical trials and the study of nonresponse to therapy, marking a paradigm shift in our view of systemic autoimmune diseases.

A37 EXPLORING THE PROTEOMICS DIFFERENCES IN CROHN’S DISEASE PATIENTS

Background

Canada has the highest prevalence rate of Crohn’s disease (CD) in North America. In Alberta, the yearly cost of anti-inflammatory drugs can be more than $25,000 per person; however, half of the patients do not respond to medication. CD is characterized by lesions in the small intestine due to inflammation, promoting diarrhea and abdominal pain. Prolonged chronic inflammation results in fibrotic strictures that are resistant to anti-inflammatory therapies and promote narrowing of the luminal space that ultimately require surgery. Currently, there is no biomarker to distinguish between the inflammatory or stricturing phenotype.

Aims

AIM 1: Profile serum samples from CD patients using a label-free shotgun-proteomics.

AIM 2: Identify signatures and biomarkers that distinguish inflammatory and fibrotic strictures using a bioinformatics approach.

Methods

Serum samples from 15 CD patients with strictures and 15 CD patients without strictures (inflammatory phenotype), as diagnosed by ultrasound imaging, were analyzed by a standard shotgun-proteomics approach. Briefly, 200 µg of serum proteins were processed in a label-free protocol in combination with the filter-aided sample preparation (FASP) method. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was performed on an Orbitrap Fusion Lumos. Protein identification was accomplished by MaxQuant at a 1% false-discovery rate. Statistical significance was determined by the MSstats package, in the R software. To identify the biological significance of disturbed pathways, it was characterized by the protein-protein interactions and pathway enrichment analysis using String-DB and Metascape.

Results

It was identified a statistically significant protein panel between the two phenotypes. Proteins identified in the strictured group include JAK1 (Tyrosine-protein kinase), CD5 antigen-like protein (regulates inflammatory gene expression in Th17 cells), and neogenin (cell adhesion). Of the inflammatory patients, there was a significant elevation of PFK/FBPase 2 (synthesis and degradation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate), vinculin (cell-matrix adhesion) and MMP-16/MT3-MMP (matrix metalloproteinase).

Conclusions

The identification of a distinct signature between both phenotypes provide important biological information about the disease progression and are a good sign that a biomarker discovery platform will be capable to differentiate between inflammatory and fibrostenotic strictures from serum samples of CD patients.

Funding Agencies

CAG, CIHRNSERC

A154 PROTEOMIC IDENTIFICATION OF INFLAMMATORY AND FIBROSTENOTIC BLOOD SERUM BIOMARKERS IN CROHN’S DISEASE

Background

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an incurable relapsing-remitting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) where patients may experience bowel damage with symptoms such as abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, extraintestinal manifestations and life-long disability. CD is heterogeneous with three distinct phenotypes including a stricturing phenotype marked by intestinal fibrosis. This fibrotic morphology is generally more unresponsive to drug treatment; delaying a patient’s remission, control of the disease and often requiring surgical intervention. Thus, early and accurate identification of fibrostenosis in CD is important to optimize patient treatment and predict response to therapy.

Aims

The aim of our study is to distinguish inflammatory and intestinal fibrostenosis in CD patients using serum protein biomarkers.

Methods

Blood sera from 17 inflammatory and 17 fibrostenotic CD patients were collected. The phenotypic classification was confirmed by intestinal ultrasound and endoscopy. Samples were subjected to Shotgun Proteomics, an unbiased proteomics approach that allows for relative protein quantification. Proteins from each condition were isotopically labelled with formaldehyde (light +28 Da and heavy +34 Da), pooled and digested with trypsin. Following liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry, peptides were then identified by MaxQuant software with a false discovery rate of 1%. Excel (Microsoft), Prism (Graphpad) and Metascape software were used for data filtering and analysis.

Results

Proteomic processing allowed for the identification of novel protein biomarkers in the inflammatory and stricture CD phenotypes. Inflammation was correlated with activation of the complement pathway and fatty acid metabolism; marked by increased levels of immunoglobulin gamma 4 chain (IGHG4), mitochondrial creatinine kinase (CKMT1), apolipoprotein A (LPA) and glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3) proteins. Fibrostenosis showed no distinct metabolic pathway, but an elevated expression of SWI/SNF-related matric associated actin (SMARCA5), haptoglobin related protein (HPR), immunoglobulin kappa and immunoglobulin heavy constant proteins.

Conclusions

Our data indicate that inflammation and strictures in CD may be driven by distinct signaling pathways. We identified specific protein signatures for the two phenotypes, which may aid in predicting those who are at risk of developing strictures and in the development of phenotype-specific treatment for CD patients. Future validation of these proteins will be performed to assess this unique protein profile.

Funding Agencies

McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health

Pyramidal neuron growth and increased hippocampal volume during labor and birth in autism

We report that the apical dendrites of CA3 hippocampal pyramidal neurons are increased during labor and birth in the valproate model of autism but not in control animals. Using the iDISCO clearing method, we show that hippocampal, especially CA3 region, and neocortical volumes are increased and that the cerebral volume distribution shifts from normal to lognormal in valproate-treated animals. Maternal administration during labor and birth of the NKCC1 chloride transporter antagonist bumetanide, which reduces [Cl-]i levels and attenuates the severity of autism, abolished the neocortical and hippocampal volume changes and reduced the whole-brain volume in valproate-treated animals. These results suggest that the abolition of the oxytocin-mediated excitatory-to-inhibitory shift of GABA actions during labor and birth contributes to the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders by stimulating growth during a vulnerable period.

The Extrinsic/Intrinsic Classification of Motion Signals is a High-Level Process

It has been proposed that the 2-D motion signals elicited by the bar endings of a barber-pole stimulus disambiguate 1-D motion signals with a variable strength which depends on depth (Shimojo et al, 1989 Vision Research29 619 – 626): these signals would be ‘abolished’ when they are extrinsic (ie the moving grating is behind the plane of the background containing the aperture), whereas they would be given full strength when they are intrinsic (ie the plane of the grating is in front of the background). These authors have suggested that the intrinsic/extrinsic classification is an early process. However, the very long duration (2300 ms) used in their study suggests other interpretations. Therefore, we tried to test whether the barber-pole illusion could be abolished with a shorter duration when the grating had an uncrossed disparity relative to the aperture plane, as initially described in the above-mentioned study (our 30 observers had to adjust an arrow to indicate the perceived direction of the grating). In accordance with our prediction, we could not replicate their finding with a duration of 400 ms. Surprisingly, increasing the duration up to 2300 ms was not sufficient to obtain a large bias towards 1-D signals. To understand this unexpected result, we tried to isolate the relevant difference between the initial study of Shimojo et al and our. We found that the main determinant of the suppression of the barber-pole illusion was the experimental procedure: when our observers had to assess the perceived direction of the barber-pole by choosing between horizontal and vertical, as in the initial study, the results did show a much larger bias towards 1-D signals. We suggest therefore that the extrinsic/intrinsic classification is a high-level process which can be influenced by the observer's expectations.

Tuning the properties of pH responsive nanoparticles to control cellular interactions in vitro and ex vivo

Engineering the properties of nanoparticles to limit non-specific cellular interactions is critical for developing effective drug delivery systems. Differences between interactions with cultured cells and human blood highlights the need for appropriate assays.

Episodic memory in normal aging and Alzheimer disease: Insights from imaging and behavioral studies

Age-related cognitive changes often include difficulties in retrieving memories, particularly those that rely on personal experiences within their temporal and spatial contexts (i.e., episodic memories). This decline may vary depending on the studied phase (i.e., encoding, storage or retrieval), according to inter-individual differences, and whether we are talking about normal or pathological (e.g., Alzheimer disease; AD) aging. Such cognitive changes are associated with different structural and functional alterations in the human neural network that underpins episodic memory. The prefrontal cortex is the first structure to be affected by age, followed by the medial temporal lobe (MTL), the parietal cortex and the cerebellum. In AD, however, the modifications occur mainly in the MTL (hippocampus and adjacent structures) before spreading to the neocortex. In this review, we will present results that attempt to characterize normal and pathological cognitive aging at multiple levels by integrating structural, behavioral, inter-individual and neuroimaging measures of episodic memory.

Gene expression of INPP5F as an independent prognostic marker in fludarabine-based therapy of chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a heterogeneous disease. Various disease-related and patient-related factors have been shown to influence the course of the disease. The aim of this study was to identify novel biomarkers of significant clinical relevance. Pretreatment CD19-separated lymphocytes (n=237; discovery set) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (n=92; validation set) from the REACH trial, a randomized phase III trial in relapsed CLL comparing rituximab plus fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide with fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide alone, underwent gene expression profiling. By using Cox regression survival analysis on the discovery set, we identified inositol polyphosphate-5-phosphatase F (INPP5F) as a prognostic factor for progression-free survival (P<0.001; hazard ratio (HR), 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.35-1.98) and overall survival (P<0.001; HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.18-1.84), regardless of adjusting for known prognostic factors. These findings were confirmed on the validation set, suggesting that INPP5F may serve as a novel, easy-to-assess future prognostic biomarker for fludarabine-based therapy in CLL.