Browsing by Author "Alderfer, Laura"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The effect of marrow secretome and culture environment on the rate of metastatic breast cancer cell migration in two and three dimensions
    (American Society for Cell Biology, 2021-05) Curtis, Kimberly J.; Mai, Christine; Martin, Hannah; Oberman, Alyssa G.; Alderfer, Laura; Romero-Moreno, Ricardo; Walsh, Mark; Mitros, Stephen F.; Thomas, Scott G.; Dynako, Joseph A.; Zimmer, David I.; McNamara, Laoise M.; Littlepage, Laurie E.; Niebur, Glen L.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Metastasis is responsible for over 90% of cancer-related deaths, and bone is the most common site for breast cancer metastasis. Metastatic breast cancer cells home to trabecular bone, which contains hematopoietic and stromal lineage cells in the marrow. As such, it is crucial to understand whether bone or marrow cells enhance breast cancer cell migration toward the tissue. To this end, we quantified the migration of MDA-MB-231 cells toward human bone in two- and three-dimensional (3D) environments. First, we found that the cancer cells cultured on tissue culture plastic migrated toward intact trabecular bone explants at a higher rate than toward marrow-deficient bone or devitalized bone. Leptin was more abundant in conditioned media from the cocultures with intact explants, while higher levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα were detected in cultures with both intact bone and cancer cells. We further verified that the cancer cells migrated into bone marrow using a bioreactor culture system. Finally, we studied migration toward bone in 3D gelatin. Migration speed did not depend on stiffness of this homogeneous gel, but many more dendritic-shaped cancer cells oriented and migrated toward bone in stiffer gels than softer gels, suggesting a coupling between matrix mechanics and chemotactic signals.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Engineering bioactive nanoparticles to rejuvenate vascular progenitor cells
    (Springer Nature, 2022-06-29) Bui, Loan; Edwards, Shanique; Hall, Eva; Alderfer, Laura; Round, Kellen; Owen, Madeline; Sainaghi, Pietro; Zhang, Siyuan; Nallathamby, Prakash D.; Haneline, Laura S.; Hanjaya-Putra, Donny; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Fetal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) predisposes children to future health complications including type-2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. A key mechanism by which these complications occur is through stress-induced dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), including endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs). Although several approaches have been previously explored to restore endothelial function, their widespread adoption remains tampered by systemic side effects of adjuvant drugs and unintended immune response of gene therapies. Here, we report a strategy to rejuvenate circulating vascular progenitor cells by conjugation of drug-loaded liposomal nanoparticles directly to the surface of GDM-exposed ECFCs (GDM-ECFCs). Bioactive nanoparticles can be robustly conjugated to the surface of ECFCs without altering cell viability and key progenitor phenotypes. Moreover, controlled delivery of therapeutic drugs to GDM-ECFCs is able to normalize transgelin (TAGLN) expression and improve cell migration, which is a critical key step in establishing functional vascular networks. More importantly, sustained pseudo-autocrine stimulation with bioactive nanoparticles is able to improve in vitro and in vivo vasculogenesis of GDM-ECFCs. Collectively, these findings highlight a simple, yet promising strategy to rejuvenate GDM-ECFCs and improve their therapeutic potential. Promising results from this study warrant future investigations on the prospect of the proposed strategy to improve dysfunctional vascular progenitor cells in the context of other chronic diseases, which has broad implications for addressing various cardiovascular complications, as well as advancing tissue repair and regenerative medicine.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Effects of Preeclamptic Milieu on Cord Blood Derived Endothelial Colony-Forming Cells
    (bioRxiv, 2023-12-05) Hall, Eva; Alderfer, Laura; Neu, Erin; Saha, Sanjoy; Johandes, Ellie; Haas, David M.; Haneline, Laura S.; Hanjaya-Putra, Donny; Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
    Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of infant and maternal mortality worldwide. Many infants born from preeclamptic pregnancies are born prematurely with higher risk of developing cardiovascular later in their life. A key mechanism by which these complications occur is through stress-induced dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), including endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs). To gain insight into this, cord blood derived ECFCs isolated from preeclamptic pregnancies (PRECs) were analyzed and compared to their healthy counterparts. While PRECs preserve key endothelial markers, they upregulate several markers associated with oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Compared to ECFCs, PRECs also exhibit lower migratory behaviors and impaired angiogenic potential. Interestingly, treatment of neuropilin-1 can improve tube formation in vitro. Collectively, this study reports that preeclamptic milieu influence phenotypes and functionality of PRECs, which can be rejuvenated using exogenous molecules. Promising results from this study warrant future investigations on the prospect of the rejuvenated PRECs to improve lung function of infants born from preeclamptic pregnancies.