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Human Embryo Models and Drug Discovery. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22020637. [PMID: 33440617 PMCID: PMC7828037 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22020637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
For obvious reasons, such as, e.g., ethical concerns or sample accessibility, model systems are of highest importance to study the underlying molecular mechanisms of human maladies with the aim to develop innovative and effective therapeutic strategies. Since many years, animal models and highly proliferative transformed cell lines are successfully used for disease modelling, drug discovery, target validation, and preclinical testing. Still, species-specific differences regarding genetics and physiology and the limited suitability of immortalized cell lines to draw conclusions on normal human cells or specific cell types, are undeniable shortcomings. The progress in human pluripotent stem cell research now allows the growth of a virtually limitless supply of normal and DNA-edited human cells, which can be differentiated into various specific cell types. However, cells in the human body never fulfill their functions in mono-lineage isolation and diseases always develop in complex multicellular ecosystems. The recent advances in stem cell-based 3D organoid technologies allow a more accurate in vitro recapitulation of human pathologies. Embryoids are a specific type of such multicellular structures that do not only mimic a single organ or tissue, but the entire human conceptus or at least relevant components of it. Here we briefly describe the currently existing in vitro human embryo models and discuss their putative future relevance for disease modelling and drug discovery.
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Øystese KAB, Berg JP, Normann KR, Zucknick M, Casar-Borota O, Bollerslev J. The role of E and N-cadherin in the postoperative course of gonadotroph pituitary tumours. Endocrine 2018; 62:351-360. [PMID: 30051197 DOI: 10.1007/s12020-018-1679-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Gonadotroph tumours are the most abundant of the clinically silent pituitary tumours. There is a lack of reliable prognostic markers predicting their clinical course. Our aim was to determine the level of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in a cohort of clinically silent gonadotroph pituitary tumours, and compare them to the rate of reintervention. METHODS Tumour tissue from primary surgery was retrospectively investigated and compared with clinical data. Immunohistochemical (N = 105) and real time-qPCR (N = 85) analyses for the levels of N-cadherin and the extra- and intracellular domains of E-cadherin were performed. The immunoreactive scores (IRS) and mRNA relative quantity were compared to the rate of reintervention. RESULTS The tumours presented a high IRS for N-cadherin (Median 12 (IQR 12-12)) and almost no immunoreactivity for the extracellular domain of E-cadherin (Median 0 (IQR 0-0)). The membranous staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin varied (Median 6 (IQR 4-6). Reduced membranous expression of the intracellular domain of E-cadherin was associated with nuclear presence of the same domain. Nuclear staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin was associated with a lower rate of reintervention (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION We found that silent gonadotroph tumours presented high IRS for N-cadherin and low IRS for the extracellular domain of E-cadherin. A substantial proportion of the tumours presented nuclear staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin, accompanied by a reduced membranous expression of the intracellular domain of E-cadherin. Absence of nuclear staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin served as an independent predictor of reintervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Astrid Berland Øystese
- Section of Specialized Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, P.b.4950 Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
- Research Institute for Internal Medicine (IMF), OUS Rikshospitalet, Postboks 4950 Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Jens Petter Berg
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital, 0424, Oslo, Norway
| | - Kjersti Ringvoll Normann
- Section of Specialized Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, P.b.4950 Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Research Institute for Internal Medicine (IMF), OUS Rikshospitalet, Postboks 4950 Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway
| | - Manuela Zucknick
- Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Olivera Casar-Borota
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Rudbeck Laboratory, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 20, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Pathology and Cytology, Uppsala University Hospital, Rudbeck Laboratory, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 20, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Sognsvannsveien 20, 0372, Oslo, Norway
| | - Jens Bollerslev
- Section of Specialized Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, P.b.4950 Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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