Apical polarity in 3-D culture Nov 16, 2009
These results provide new insights into the role of the basement membrane, and especially collagen IV, in the development of the apical pole, a critical element of the architecture of glandular epithelia. Also, the high-throughput culture method developed in this study should open new avenues for high-content screening of agents that act on mammary tissue homeostasis and thus, on architectural changes involved in cancer development. (BioMed Central)
Goodpasture's Syndrome Oct 7, 2009
Pulmonary/Renal Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease ... Goodpasture s syndrome is also called anti-glomerular basement (GBM) antibody disease because of the glomerular basement membrane autoantibodies that attack the lungs and kidneys in this condition ... In Goodpasture s syndrome, GBM antibodies cause tissue injury by binding to cellular receptors in the basement membranes. (Suite101.com)
Worm study provides model to study invasive cancer Aug 21, 2009
To establish this slender connection, the anchor cell must work its way through two layers of basement membrane, a dense, sheet-like barrier structure lining most tissues, including the epithelial cells in humans that are the hosts of many cancers ... To push a hole through the basement membranes, the worm's anchor cell forms several lancet-like points, called puncta ... They look remarkably like a structure seen in cancer cells called invadopodia that are believed to have the same function, but... (India Times, India)
Mouse sheds light on regeneration Jul 24, 2009
She points out that when amphibians regenerate their limbs, a basement membrane does not form, but if you promote the growth of this membrane, then it seems to stop cell growth and causes scarring. When the team looked at the formation of the membrane in the ears of MRL mice, they found that it did form initially, but disappeared soon after and then cell growth begins. (BBC News -- Health)
Carbohydrates 'can suppress tumours' Jul 8, 2009
This binding facilitates adhesion between epithelial and basement membrane cells and prevents cells from migrating. "These results indicate that certain carbohydrates on normal cells and enzymes that synthesise those glycans, such as 3GnT1, function as tumor suppressors. And, upregulation of 3GnT1 may become a novel way to treat cancer," Prof Minoru Fukuda, who led the team, said. (India Times, India)
Carbohydrate acts as tumor suppressor Jul 7, 2009
This binding facilitates adhesion between epithelial and basement membrane cells and prevents cells from migrating. The team of scientists, led by Professor Minoru Fukuda, Ph. (EurekAlert!)
Human Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy — A Mystery Solved? Jul 2, 2009
Just over 50 years ago, the late David Jones1 identified (using the periodic acid Schiff and methenamine silver stains) the unique glomerular pathologic features of membranous nephropathy, thus distinguishing it from other causes of "nephrotic glomerulonephritis." Subsequent immunofluorescence and electron-microscopical studies established that membranous nephropathy was also characterized by striking granular aggregations of IgG and electron-dense deposits along the outer (or subepithelial)... (New England Journal of Medicine)
How Cancers Spread To The Brain Jun 23, 2009
The Vascular Basement Membrane as %u201CSoil%u201D in Brain Metastasis. PLoS One, 4(6): e5857 DOI. (Science Daily)
Dinosaur-Bird Link: Ancient Proteins Preserved In Soft Tissue From 80 Million-Year-Old Hadrosaur May 2, 2009
"Because I am a collagen biochemist, our lab was contacted to perform an independent analysis of this new bone find," explains Kalluri, who is Chief of the Division of Matrix Biology at BIDMC. "We isolated the proteins collagen, laminin and elastin from the bone, and also extracted bone cells and blood vessels from this sample. Our findings demonstrated that it did contain basement membrane matrix.". In addition, In situ mass spectrometry studies conducted at Montana State University by Recep... (Science Daily)
Lupus Kidney Damage Linked To Malfunction Of Immune Cells Apr 28, 2009
For this mouse study, the researchers administered antibodies that attack a part of the kidney called the glomerular basement membrane, the portion of the organ that performs its main function of filtering wastes from blood ... Liu et al. Kallikrein genes are associated with lupus and glomerular basement membrane-specific antibody-induced nephritis in mice and humans. (Science Daily)
Malfunction of the respiratory epithelium is a cause of allergy? Apr 4, 2009
An allergic reaction developed when the allergen reached mast cells under the basement membrane. During the research it became evident that during spring, in allergic patients the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 changed the expression of hundreds of genes of the nasal epithelium compared to samples taken during winter; and of these genes several were connected with protein transport and regulation of cytoskeleton. (EurekAlert!)
Snail1 May Spur Cancer Cells By Stimulating Tissue Invasion And Angiogenesis Feb 13, 2009
Fibroblasts without Snail1 formed fewer invadopodia and were less able to degrade the ECM. Rowe et al. transplanted the Snail1-deficient fibroblasts into chick embryos and found that they were completely unable to penetrate the basement membrane and the complex mix of ECM proteins beneath. Moreover, unlike wild-type fibroblasts, Snail1-deficient cells didn't stimulate the ingrowth of new blood vessels another key function of fibroblasts during wound healing and tissue remodeling. (Science Daily)
