In adult mammals, the gastrointestinal (GI) epithelium exhibits the highest turnover rate among the endodermal tissues. The harsh luminal environment of the GI tract necessitates replenishment of epithelial cells to maintain organ structure and function during routine turnover and injury repair. This delicate balance between gain and loss of cells is called tissue homeostasis, and multipotent tissue specific adult stem cells serve as the continuous source of self-renewal. Due to their important contribution to homeostatic maintenance the proliferative capacity of the stem cells needs to be tightly controlled, as an imbalance can result in diverse pathologies such as cancer or insufficient injury repair. Despite the crucial role for regulatory processes the molecular mechanisms and the genes governing these processes remain poorly understood. Rnf43 and its paralogue Znrf3 (RZ) act as tumour suppressors in the intestine, but their role in the gastric epithelium has not been previously investigated. Using a novel unpublished stomach specific CreERT2 expressing mouse line I found that simultaneous knockout of RZ (RZ DKO) result in gastric hyperplasia of the corpus epithelium. Gastric RZ DKO organoids show independence from the essential growth factor Rspondin-1 but require exogenous Wnt. A similar exogenous Wnt dependence was identified in a human gastric cancer cell line harbouring homozygous Rnf43 inactivating mutations. Thus, Wnt secretion inhibition might provide a new treatment paradigm for a subset of patients carrying Rnf43 mutations. The prominent role of the E3s Rnf43 and Znrf3 in the intestinal and gastric epithelial led to the question of whether other E3s either closely related to RZ or specifically expressed in stem or niche cells could play a role in homeostatic regulation, specifically in the small intestine. Using a retroviral overexpression screen I identified Rnf24 and Rnf122, two E3s that rendered intestinal organoids insensitive to withdrawal of the BMP inhibitor Noggin. Moreover, potential substrate candidates located at the cell surface membrane were identified and the generation of in vivo models initiated to provide a basis for further studies investigating the role of these E3s. In trying to address the function of the abovementioned genes using in vitro functional genetics I identified gaps in the current technology for organoid genetic engineering. I therefore developed two gene editing methods; a gRNA concatemer system allowing simultaneous knockout of multiple genes and CRISPR-FLIP enabling generation of conditional gene knockouts In summary, this thesis describes the first stomach specific knockout of Rnf43 and Znrf3 in the gastric epithelium, showing that it results in gastric hyperplasia located to the corpus epithelium. The dependence of the Rnf43 and Znrf3 knockout epithelium on exogenous Wnt signalling provides a potential treatment strategy for a subset of patients harbouring Rnf43 mutations. Next, it identifies Rnf24 and Rnf122 as E3 ubiquitin ligases involved in intestinal stem cell regulation and provide preliminary data and a basis for future studies. Finally, it describes the establishment of two advanced genetic engineering approaches which can be applied to various in vitro culture systems such as 3D organoids, mouse embryonic stem cells and conventional cell lines. Collectively this work and the developed methods will contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms regulating adult stem cell homeostasis.

Adult stem cells are vital to animal biology, tasked with replenishing cells in a variety of tissue types. Historically, there have been two contrasting models of stem cell behavior, “single-cell asymmetry,” where each stem cell is generally long lived and is responsible for perpetual daughter (non-stem) cell production, and “population asymmetry,” where a group of stem cells maintain population numbers while producing non-stem cell daughters, but individual stem cells undergo stochastic competition leading to frequent loss or amplification of individual lineages. Our work examines Drosophila ovarian Follicle Stem Cells (FSCs), which are somatic adult stem cells organized as a population of 14-16 cells within each germarium. FSCs are responsible for the production of two distinct somatic daughter cell types at opposite borders of the stem cell population. The FSCs are arranged in three anteroposterior layers; posterior “layer 1” FSCs divide faster and directly produce Follicle Cells (FCs), while anterior “layer 2 and 3” FSCs divide more slowly and give rise to Escort Cells (ECs). We have examined how signaling pathways contribute individually to FSC behavior, using clonal analysis to manipulate individual FSC genotypes and subsequently determine how autonomous FSC properties and competition among FSCs is affected. Our data indicate that Janus Kinase/Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (JAK-STAT) and Wnt pathways are primarily responsible for regulating location, proliferation and differentiation in FSCs. The activities of Hedgehog (Hh), Hippo (Hpo), and Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways are also shown to be important for FSC competition.

Satellite cells are adult stem cells that contribute to hypertrophy and repair in muscles. It is hypothesized that in muscular dystrophy, the satellite cells population is depleted at a very early age, due to repeated muscle damage and repair. Satellite cell transplantation is a potentially useful therapy for muscle diseases, but the lack of an efficient delivery system has hindered its application. The presented work focuses on two specific aims that address the need for more effective cell delivery methods for cell-based therapy. In Specific Aim 1 enhanced tissue culture techniques, such as heat stress, are used to increase cell survival in satellite cell transplantation studies. Also addressed within this specific aim are methods to label and evaluate performance using real-time PCR techniques.Although much work remains to enhancing the viability of in vitro expanded myoblasts derived from satellite cells, a second important hurdle is the systemic delivery of satellite cells to multiple sites (all muscles, in the case of muscular dystrophies). In vitro and in vivo experiments are being undertaken to explore the physiological role of cell signaling systems involved in directed migration and to determine if these chemokine and growth factors can be manipulated to enhance efficacy of cell-based therapies involving skeletal muscle satellite cells. Specific Aim 2 addresses migration of satellite cells to sites of injury and methods to track transplanted cells within the host. Presented here is the use of FAST SPECT II imaging of 111-Indium oxine radiolabeled satellite cells. The long lifetime of 111-indium oxine and the ability to quantify label using FAST SPECT imaging techniques make this technique ideal for in-vivo tracking of transplanted satellite cells for week long studies. Without in-vivo imaging techniques cell fate studies require sequential animal sacrifice with histological sectioning. This not only increases the number of animals used but also adds a significant inter-animal variability to their assessment. The determination of cell fate after transplantation will have a major impact on cell therapy for treatment of muscle disease as well as other stem cell therapies.

No description available.

The biliary tree is a series of ductular tissues responsible for the drainage of bile produced by the liver and pancreatic secretions from the pancreas. The biliary tree is affected by a diversity of life- threatening diseases collectively called cholangiopathies. Cholangiopathies show regionalization, with some diseases such as biliary atresia predominantly targeting extrahepatic bile ducts (EHBDs) outside of the liver. Despite this, little is known on whether anatomical location within the biliary tree contributes to differences in functionality of biliary epithelium, especially in the EHBD compartment. Additionally, reports have demonstrated the possibility for in vitro culture of bile duct stem/progenitor cell organoids from both intrahepatic (IHBD) and EHBD sources. The relation of these organoid systems to each other, and to their tissue of origin, is largely unknown. In this dissertation, I address these major questions by combining transcriptional analyses and in vitro culture of human bile duct organoids derived from primary IHBD and EHBD epithelium. First, I show that in vitro organoids can be derived from four regions of the human biliary tree: gallbladder, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, and intrahepatic bile ducts. Characterization of these organoids demonstrated expression of adult stem cell (LGR5/PROM1) and ductal (KRT19/KRT7) markers suggesting these cultures contained cells with a biliary stem/progenitor phenotype. Further, I show that IHBD organoids are distinct from EHBD organoids requiring different conditions for sustained growth. Using RNA-Sequencing, I demonstrate that primary tissues from different regions of the extrahepatic biliary tree display unique expression profiles and identify novel tissue-specific markers. I also show that only a limited number of these tissue specific differences are maintained in the in vitro organoids and that the organoids are very different from their tissue of origin. Finally, I demonstrate that IHBD, but not EHBD organoids, express a low-level of hepatocyte-specific markers under differentiation conditions. Taken together, the work in this dissertation has uncovered regional specific markers for different anatomical regions of the human biliary tree. Further, I demonstrate that major differences exist between IHBD organoids and EHBD organoids in vitro and discover that only IHBD organoids have the capacity to express hepatocyte markers under differentiation conditions. Ultimately, these results may help to identify new targets for therapeutic development for cholangiopathies and regenerative medicine. They have also provided important insight to the understanding of both basic biliary physiology and also the field of biliary stem/progenitor cell organoids.

The transplantation of primary Schwann cells (SC) has been shown to improve nerve regeneration. However, to monitor the survival of transplanted cells within the host, a stable labelling method is required. The in vitro characteristics of green fluorescent protein labelled SC (GFP SC) and their effects in an in vivo peripheral nerve injury model were investigated.   The GFP-SC were readily visualised ex vivo and stimulated significantly better axonal regeneration compared to controls. Clinical use of autologous SC for the treatment of nerve injuries is of limited use due to difficulty in obtaining clinically useful numbers. However, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can trans-differentiate into SC like cells (dMSC). The in vitro and in vivo differentiation of MSC was explored, and the study extended to include the easily-accessible adipose stem cells (ASC).  In vitro, glial growth factor stimulated MSC express S100, a SC marker, and its expression is maintained following in vivo transplantation.  Similarly, untreated MSC transplanted in vivo also expressed S100, which indicates glial differentiation in response to local cytokines and growth factors. Using an in vitro model, comprising dMSC or dASC co-cultured with adult dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, the capacity of the dMSC and SC like differentiated ASC (dASC) to promote axon myelination was verified: both cell types expressed transcripts for protein zero, peripheral myelin protein-22 and myelin basic protein. The potential of stem cells in nerve repair may be limited by innate cellular senescence or donor age affecting cell functionality thus it was essential to determine the effects of donor age on morphology and functionality of stem cells.  The proliferation rates, expression of senescence markers (p38 and p53) and the stimulation of neurite outgrowth from DRG neurons by stem cells isolated from neonatal, young or old rats were very similar. However, the distribution and ultrastructure of mitochondria in dMSC and dASC from young and old rats were quite different, and seem to indicate physiological senescence of the aged cells.  Given the wide-ranging influence of Notch signalling in cell differentiation, including the neural crest to a glial cell type switch, and self-renewal in mammals, its role in the differentiation of stem cells to SC was investigated. The mRNA for notch-1 and -2 receptors were expressed in the dASC, blockage of notch signaling did not affect the neurotrophic and myelination potential of dASC.  In conclusion, these findings show that GFP labelling has no deleterious effect on SC survival and function. MSC and ASC differentiated into glial-type cells acquire SC morphology, and express characteristic SC markers, and the differentiation process was independent of the Notch signaling pathway. Also, following transplantation into a nerve gap injury dMSC improve regeneration. This study established that following co-culture with DRG neurons, dMSC and dASC were able to express peripheral myelin proteins.  Also, the functional bioactivity of these cells is independent of the donor animal age. Finally, although the glial lineage differentiated aged cells characterized in this study expressed markers typical of senescence they retained the potential to support axon regeneration.

Resumo: A pesquisa em Biologia Celular, depende de técnicas laboratoriais que possam ser usadas para estudar a estrutura e função celular. Importantes avanços na compreensão das células têm sucedido diretamente o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas, que permitiram novos meios de investigação. Uma grande inovação da indústria biotecnológica é a produção de anticorpos monoclonais que são de extrema importância na área médica . Todas as células do organismo apresentam um conjunto de marcadores de superfície que caracterizam a singularidade biológica e a marca das células que os contêm. Contudo, as células-tronco mesenquimais (CTMs) apresentam poucos marcadores imunofenotípicos específicos, sendo sua caracterização estabelecida pela identificação de um perfil de marcadores específicos e não específicos. Essa imunofenotipagem é realizada com a utilização de anticorpos monoclonais que reconhecem esses antígenos de superfície da membrana celular, conforme demonstrado em estudos contemporâneos. O importante avanço da Terapia Celular em diferentes espécies animais tem alavancado à produção de anticorpos monoclonais para a caracterização fenotípica das célulastronco, sejam de origem hematopoiéticas ou de outros tecidos, por exigentes critérios de qualidade. Para o sucesso terapêutico há que se definir o perfil fenotípico das células a serem utilizadas na Terapia Celular, bem como proceder à quantificação das mesmas. Tendo em vista a inexistência no mercado de reagentes para coelhos e o elevado custo de aquisição para a espécie humana, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi desenvolver uma ferramenta diagnóstica explorando seu potencial de uso.Foi realizada a caracterização de dois clones de anticorpos monoclonais dirigidos contra antígenos expressos em células-tronco mesenquimais de coelhos, produzidos previamente no protocolo MSC, através de estudo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Research in Cell Biology, depends on laboratory techniques that can be used to study the structure and cellular function. Important advances in understanding the cells have happened directly the development of new techniques, which enabled new ways of investigation. Breakthrough biotechnology industry is the production of monoclonal antibodies that are of extreme importance in the medical field. All body cells have a set of surface markers that characterize the biological uniqueness and mark cells that contain them. However, the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have few specific immunophenotypic markers, and their characterization established by identifying a profile of specific markers and nonspecific. This immunophenotype is performed with the use of monoclonal antibodies that recognize these surface antigens of the cell membrane, as demonstrated in contemporary studies. The important advance in cell therapy in different species has underpinned the production of monoclonal antibodies for the phenotypic characterization of stem cells, they originate in hematopoietic or other tissues, exacting standards of quality. Therapeutic success is defined as the phenotypic profile of cells to be used in cell therapy, as well as the quantification of them. Given the lack of reagents on the market for rabbits and the high cost to human beings, the goal of this research was to develop a diagnostic tool for exploring its potential use. The characterization of two clones of monoclonal antibodies directed against antigens expressed in mesenchymal stem cells from rabbits, previously produced in the MSC protocol, through study with five samples of bone marrow and fat of animals expanded in culture so watching the speech recognition phenotype of the cells and the level of recognition of clones against 5 different passages of cell culture.The production of monoclonal antibody directed against antigens... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Elenice Deffune / Coorientador: Flávia Cilene Maciel da Cruz Alves / Banca: Luciano Lobo Gatti / Banca: João Tadeu Ribeiro Paes / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-02-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:21:09Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 inacio_jc_me_botfm.pdf: 9052728 bytes, checksum: 924e48540d09685b61abdb2d6903fb6d (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A pesquisa em Biologia Celular, depende de técnicas laboratoriais que possam ser usadas para estudar a estrutura e função celular. Importantes avanços na compreensão das células têm sucedido diretamente o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas, que permitiram novos meios de investigação. Uma grande inovação da indústria biotecnológica é a produção de anticorpos monoclonais que são de extrema importância na área médica . Todas as células do organismo apresentam um conjunto de marcadores de superfície que caracterizam a singularidade biológica e a marca das células que os contêm. Contudo, as células-tronco mesenquimais (CTMs) apresentam poucos marcadores imunofenotípicos específicos, sendo sua caracterização estabelecida pela identificação de um perfil de marcadores específicos e não específicos. Essa imunofenotipagem é realizada com a utilização de anticorpos monoclonais que reconhecem esses antígenos de superfície da membrana celular, conforme demonstrado em estudos contemporâneos. O importante avanço da Terapia Celular em diferentes espécies animais tem alavancado à produção de anticorpos monoclonais para a caracterização fenotípica das célulastronco, sejam de origem hematopoiéticas ou de outros tecidos, por exigentes critérios de qualidade. Para o sucesso terapêutico há que se definir o perfil fenotípico das células a serem utilizadas na Terapia Celular, bem como proceder à quantificação das mesmas. Tendo em vista a inexistência no mercado de reagentes para coelhos e o elevado custo de aquisição para a espécie humana, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi desenvolver uma ferramenta diagnóstica explorando seu potencial de uso.Foi realizada a caracterização de dois clones de anticorpos monoclonais dirigidos contra antígenos expressos em células-tronco mesenquimais de coelhos, produzidos previamente no protocolo MSC, através de estudo... / Research in Cell Biology, depends on laboratory techniques that can be used to study the structure and cellular function. Important advances in understanding the cells have happened directly the development of new techniques, which enabled new ways of investigation. Breakthrough biotechnology industry is the production of monoclonal antibodies that are of extreme importance in the medical field. All body cells have a set of surface markers that characterize the biological uniqueness and mark cells that contain them. However, the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have few specific immunophenotypic markers, and their characterization established by identifying a profile of specific markers and nonspecific. This immunophenotype is performed with the use of monoclonal antibodies that recognize these surface antigens of the cell membrane, as demonstrated in contemporary studies. The important advance in cell therapy in different species has underpinned the production of monoclonal antibodies for the phenotypic characterization of stem cells, they originate in hematopoietic or other tissues, exacting standards of quality. Therapeutic success is defined as the phenotypic profile of cells to be used in cell therapy, as well as the quantification of them. Given the lack of reagents on the market for rabbits and the high cost to human beings, the goal of this research was to develop a diagnostic tool for exploring its potential use. The characterization of two clones of monoclonal antibodies directed against antigens expressed in mesenchymal stem cells from rabbits, previously produced in the MSC protocol, through study with five samples of bone marrow and fat of animals expanded in culture so watching the speech recognition phenotype of the cells and the level of recognition of clones against 5 different passages of cell culture.The production of monoclonal antibody directed against antigens... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Restoring blood flow, improving perfusion, reducing clinical symptoms, and augmenting ventricular function are the goals after acute myocardial infarction. Other than cardiac transplantation, no standard clinical procedure is available to restore damaged myocardium. Since we first reported cellular cardiomyoplasty in 1989, successful outcomes have been confirmed by experimental and clinical studies, but definitive long-term efficacy requires large-scale placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trials. On meta-analysis, stem cell-treated groups had significantly improved left ventricular ejection fraction, reduced infarct scar size, and decreased left ventricular end-systolic volume. Fewer myocardial infarctions, deaths, read-missions for heart failure, and repeat revascularizations were additional benefits. Encouraging clinical findings have been reported using satellite or bone marrow stem cells, but understanding of the benefit mechanisms demands additional studies. Adult mammalian ventricular myocardium lacks adequate regeneration capability, and cellular cardiomyoplasty offers a new way to overcome this; the poor retention and engraftment rate and high apoptotic rate of the implanted stem cells limit outcomes. The ideal type and number of cells, optimal timing of cell therapy, and ideal cell delivery method depend on determining the beneficial mechanisms. Cellular cardiomyoplasty has progressed rapidly in the last decade. A critical review may help us to better plan the future direction.

The use of adult hepatic stem cells for the treatment of diabetes, based both on the close embryological association of the pancreas and liver, and on a putative shared tissue stem cell, has been proposed by a number of studies. This study investigated the capacity of hepatic oval cells to differentiate into pancreatic endocrine cells in the presence of pancreatic mesoderm. The GaIN model of hepatic injury was used to induce oval cell activation in Male Sprague-Dawley rats. A viable and significant oval cell population could not however, be isolated and propagated in culture. In order to continue experimentation, a PHeSC-A2 cell line, derived from normal adult porcine liver, was cultured with quail pancreatic mesoderm in the GFRM-Ham s F12.ITS culture system. Cells demonstrating positive immulocalization of the pancreatic markers, insulin and glucagon, were identified as PHeSC-A2-derived, by visual assessment of their nuclear morphology. Techniques used to confirm these results and preclude the derivation of the pancreatic endocrine cells from pancreatic endodermal contamination, proved ineffectual. The tentative results obtained in this study have lead to the following postulations: firstly, the PHeSC-A2 cell line may possess a higher level of potentiality than previously demonstrated; secondly, this potential may be due to the shared embryological origins of the pancreas and liver, and thirdly, permissive signaling from pancreatic mesoderm may have the capacity to induce the differentiation of hepatic oval cells into pancreatic endocrine cells. Further research is required to confirm the results obtained in this study and to substantiate the aforementioned propositions.