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End date: 2024 × Start date: 2020 × Start date: 2020 × DDC: 540 × Publisher: Basel : Molecular Diversity Preservation International × WGL Institute: INM ×

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    Role of Extracellular Vimentin in Cancer-Cell Functionality and Its Influence on Cell Monolayer Permeability Changes Induced by SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain
    (Basel : Molecular Diversity Preservation International, 2021) Thalla, Divyendu Goud; Jung, Philipp; Bischoff, Markus; Lautenschläger, Franziska
    The cytoskeletal protein vimentin is secreted under various physiological conditions. Extracellular vimentin exists primarily in two forms: attached to the outer cell surface and secreted into the extracellular space. While surface vimentin is involved in processes such as viral infections and cancer progression, secreted vimentin modulates inflammation through reduction of neutrophil infiltration, promotes bacterial elimination in activated macrophages, and supports axonal growth in astrocytes through activation of the IGF-1 receptor. This receptor is overexpressed in cancer cells, and its activation pathway has significant roles in general cellular functions. In this study, we investigated the functional role of extracellular vimentin in non-tumorigenic (MCF-10a) and cancer (MCF-7) cells through the evaluation of its effects on cell migration, proliferation, adhesion, and monolayer permeability. Upon treatment with extracellular recombinant vimentin, MCF-7 cells showed increased migration, proliferation, and adhesion, compared to MCF-10a cells. Further, MCF-7 monolayers showed reduced permeability, compared to MCF-10a monolayers. It has been shown that the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can alter blood–brain barrier integrity. Surface vimentin also acts as a co-receptor between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the cell-surface angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor. Therefore, we also investigated the permeability of MCF-10a and MCF-7 monolayers upon treatment with extracellular recombinant vimentin, and its modulation of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain. These findings show that binding of extracellular recombinant vimentin to the cell surface enhances the permeability of both MCF-10a and MCF-7 monolayers. However, with SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain addition, this effect is lost with MCF-7 monolayers, as the extracellular vimentin binds directly to the viral domain. This defines an influence of extracellular vimentin in SARS-CoV-2 infections.
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    Revealing the Meissner Corpuscles in Human Glabrous Skin Using In Vivo Non-Invasive Imaging Techniques
    (Basel : Molecular Diversity Preservation International, 2023) Infante, Victor Hugo Pacagnelli; Bennewitz, Roland; Klein, Anna Lena; Meinke, Martina C.
    The presence of mechanoreceptors in glabrous skin allows humans to discriminate textures by touch. The amount and distribution of these receptors defines our tactile sensitivity and can be affected by diseases such as diabetes, HIV-related pathologies, and hereditary neuropathies. The quantification of mechanoreceptors as clinical markers by biopsy is an invasive method of diagnosis. We report the localization and quantification of Meissner corpuscles in glabrous skin using in vivo, non-invasive optical microscopy techniques. Our approach is supported by the discovery of epidermal protrusions which are co-localized with Meissner corpuscles. Index fingers, small fingers, and tenar palm regions of ten participants were imaged by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser scan microscopy (LSM) to determine the thickness of the stratum corneum and epidermis and to count the Meissner corpuscles. We discovered that regions containing Meissner corpuscles could be easily identified by LSM with an enhanced optical reflectance above the corpuscles, caused by a protrusion of the strongly reflecting epidermis into the stratum corneum with its weak reflectance. We suggest that this local morphology above Meissner corpuscles has a function in tactile perception.
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    Supra-Molecular Assemblies of ORAI1 at Rest Precede Local Accumulation into Puncta after Activation
    (Basel : Molecular Diversity Preservation International, 2021) Peckys, Diana B.; Gaa, Daniel; Alansary, Dalia; Niemeyer, Barbara A.; de Jonge, Niels
    The Ca2+ selective channel ORAI1 and endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident STIM proteins form the core of the channel complex mediating store operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). Using liquid phase electron microscopy (LPEM), the distribution of ORAI1 proteins was examined at rest and after SOCE-activation at nanoscale resolution. The analysis of over seven hundred thousand ORAI1 positions revealed a number of ORAI1 channels had formed STIM-independent distinct supra-molecular clusters. Upon SOCE activation and in the presence of STIM proteins, a fraction of ORAI1 assembled in micron-sized two-dimensional structures, such as the known puncta at the ER plasma membrane contact zones, but also in divergent structures such as strands, and ring-like shapes. Our results thus question the hypothesis that stochastically migrating single ORAI1 channels are trapped at regions containing activated STIM, and we propose instead that supra-molecular ORAI1 clusters fulfill an amplifying function for creating dense ORAI1 accumulations upon SOCE-activation.