Live Cell Insights Publications Newsletter
Read our summaries of new and notable research articles featuring the IncuCyte Live Cell Analysis System, including hand-picked publications for applications and research areas like immunology, oncology, neurology, and more!
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IncuCyte has reached 2,000 cited publications spanning a wide array of research areas and applications. We’ve experienced over 50% growth in publications in just the last year! Search our publications list to see what exciting research is being published using the IncuCyte® Live-Cell Analysis System.
Synthetic amyloid β-protein (Aβ) exists in vitro in an array of assemblies, but it remains unclear if these assemblies are found in the human brain. Studies on Aβ in aqueous extracts from brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients suggest that Aβ forms variously-sized assemblies, only some of which have disease-relevant bioactivity. At least nine anti-Aβ monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are currently in various stages of clinical development, but anti-Aβ immunotherapy so far has had limited success in humans. The disappointing success is partly due to potential therapies targeting a broad range of Aβ species, including inactive forms, so that the necessary therapeutic concentration against active forms cannot be reached.
Jin et al. of the Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital describe a process for identifying anti-Aβ antibodies in vitro based on their ability to target human neurotoxic Aβ. The researchers developed a bioassay to quantify the protective effects of potential anti-Aβ antibodies. Their report shows:
Read the full paper in Nature Communications, July 2018.
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The Marek’s disease virus (MDV) oncoprotein Meq is one of the few viral proteins expressed in the cell line MSB-1, a cell model used to study virus-induced T-cell lymphomas. Meq is expressed primarily in the nucleus and induces neoplastic transformation of T cells, in part, through inhibition of apoptosis. Chickens infected with Marek’s disease (MD) are often coinfected with chicken anemia virus (CAV), which expresses a protein, Apoptin (or VP3), that uniquely induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in transformed cells. CAV, thus, replicates in MDV-transformed T-cells, but the mechanism remains poorly understood.
Brown et al. of the Nair lab group at the Pirbright Institute undertook to determine whether the proteins Meq and Apoptin directly interact in MDV-transformed cell lines. Their research demonstrates that Meq interacts with and inhibits Apoptin, suggesting mechanisms for coinfection of MDV and CAV. Brown et al. found that:
Read the full paper in Oncotarget, March 2018.
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Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant genetic syndrome wherein patients develop multiple peripheral nervous system tumors, including plexiform neurofibromas (pNFs). pNFs are benign, slow-growing, yet heterogeneous nerve sheath tumors that are thought to develop from NF1-/- Schwann cells and that can transform into aggressive sarcomas. People with NF1 are generally heterozygous for NF1 (+/-), but may develop pNF when there is a second, somatic mutation at NF1. Therapeutic research for pNFs has been hindered by clinical and cellular heterogeneity, as well as lack of preclinical model systems. Recently, viable NF1 cell lines have been developed to test potential therapies.
Ferrer et al. of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) division of the NIH report on dose response quantitative high-throughput screen (qHTS)-compatible cell proliferation assays and their use screening a collection of oncology drugs of the NCATS Mechanism Interrogation PlatE (MIPE 4.0) library. These data represent a new and validated scientific resource and toolset to facilitate therapeutic discovery for NF1 mutant-derived tumors.
Read the full paper in Sci Data, June 2018.
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Determining the correct mechanism of action by which kinase inhibitors kill malignant cells is an important part of the drug discovery process. Some kinase inhibitors have been found to target non-kinase proteins, including microtubules. Microtubules, composed of α/β-tubulin polymers, are a main component of the cytoskeleton, and are essential for chromosomal segregation during cell division and help determine cell shape and morphology.
Hoque et al. test the hypothesis that a kinase inhibitor that actually targets tubulin causes unique changes in cell morphology. In these studies, the researchers found that early changes in cell morphology after drug treatment may indicate tubulin targeting rather than direct kinase targeting. Key finds include:
Read the full paper in Pharmacol Res, June 2018.
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Genetic factors play an important role in the risk of developing breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in women. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified about 170 genetic loci associated with risk of breast cancer, but these loci still account for less than 20% of familial risk for breast cancer. Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) are used to investigate the association between GWAS-identified gene expression and disease risk. Wu et al. report on a TWAS study using data from 122,977 cases and 105,974 controls of European descent from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) database.
These studies describe the identification of new risk loci and candidate genes using a TWAS study to evaluate associations between predicted genetic loci and breast cancer risk in a large cohort of women of European ancestry. Key findings include:
Read the full paper in Nature Genetics, June 2018.
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Neutrophils found in the female genital tract are phenotypically and functionally different from neutrophils found in blood. Female genital tract neutrophils, present in the stratified epithelium of the vagina and on mucosal surfaces, are rapidly recruited to sites of trauma, where viruses may enter the bloodstream. Blood neutrophils are known to inactivate microbes, in part, through the extrusion of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), DNA fragments associated with antimicrobial activity. Barr et al., in collaboration with the Rodriguez-Garcia lab at Dartmouth, sought to understand the role of genital neutrophil NETs in preventing HIV infection.
NETs produced by neutrophils in the genital tract inactivate HIV; this could represent a previously unrecognized mucosal protection mechanism against HIV infection. To establish their conclusion, Barr et al. found that:
Read the full paper in Mucosal Immunology, June 2018.
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Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most common extracranial solid tumors in children. Patients with high-risk disease have a poor prognosis, with a long-term survival rate of < 40%. About 50%-60% of high-risk patients have elevated expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and/or its kinase receptor TrkB in their tumors. Elevated expression of BDNF/TrkB is known to induce chemoresistance of tumors, one of the main challenges of treating patients with high-risk NB. However, the mechanism by which BDNF/TrkB elevated expression protects tumors from chemotherapy drugs have yet to be fully explored.
Hua et al. of the Medical Research Center in Shenyang, China explored the mechanism by which BDNF/TrkB may protect NB cells from the drug etoposide. They found BDNF partly blocks etoposide-induced increases of p53 and PUMA in TrkB-expressing NB cells. Their report shows:
Read the full paper in Apoptosis, June 2018.
FEATURED PRODUCT
IncuCyte® Proliferation Assays
Measure cell proliferation using live cell time-lapse imaging, with or without labels. Easily generate long-term growth and growth-inhibition curves and monitor morphology.