Journal: PLoS ONE

Article Title: Fine-Tuning Roles of Endogenous Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, TrkB and Sortilin in Colorectal Cancer Cell Survival

doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025097

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Role of endogenous BDNF and its receptor TrkB on CRC cell proliferation: effects of exogenous BDNF and suppressing endogenous TrkB receptor on cell proliferation. The four cell lines were cultured for 24 h in FCS-free medium (FCS 10%, −) in the presence of exogenous BDNF (+), K252a (+) alone or in combination. Cell proliferation was determined by flow cytometry analysis using EdU Alexa Fluor 488. The data are presented as histograms of proliferating cells in relative units ± SEM of five independent experiments. *, p <0.05; **, p <0.01; ***, p <0.001, when compared with serum-free medium. (B, C) Effects of exogenous BDNF and suppressing endogenous TrkB receptor on cell survival. Apoptotic ratios of soluble nucleosomes were detected by ELISA Cell for WiDr, SW480, SW620, and COLO 205 induced by serum deprivation alone (FCS 10%, −) or in association either with exogenous BDNF (+), or with K252a (+), during 24–72 h of serum deprivation. Histograms, mean ratio of apoptotic cells ± SEM of at least three independent experiments. *, p <0.05; **, p <0.01; ***, p <0.001, when compared with serum-free condition alone. (D, E) apoptotic ratio after 24 h serum deprivation alone (0% FCS) or with combination with a neutralizing anti-BDNF mAb (0% anti-BDNF). Histograms, mean ratio of apoptotic cells ± SEM of three independent experiments. *, p <0.05; **, p <0.01; ***, p <0.001, when compared with serum-free condition alone.

Article Snippet: Recombinant human BDNF (100 ng/ml), recombinant pro-BDNF (4 ng/ml), and K252a (200 nM) were purchased from Alomone labs.

Techniques: Cell Culture, Flow Cytometry, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Journal: PLoS ONE

Article Title: Fine-Tuning Roles of Endogenous Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, TrkB and Sortilin in Colorectal Cancer Cell Survival

doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025097

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A, B) Sortilin as a coreceptor of p75 NTR . Double staining (yellow) of sortilin (red) and p75 NTR (green) in SW480 cells (A) and SW620 (B) after 24 h of serum deprivation. (C) Colocalization of pro-BDNF and sortilin. Confocal microscopy study of a WiDr cells stained with an anti-pro-BDNF Ab (green) and an anti-sortilin Ab (red), and double staining (yellow) after 24 h of serum deprivation. (D, E) apoptotic ratios after 24 h serum deprivation alone (0% FCS) or combined with recombinant Pro-BDNF (0% Pro-BDNF). Histograms, mean ratio of apoptotic cells ± SEM of three independent experiments. *, p <0.05; **, p <0.01; ***, p <0.001, when compared with serum-free condition alone (0% FCS).

Article Snippet: Recombinant human BDNF (100 ng/ml), recombinant pro-BDNF (4 ng/ml), and K252a (200 nM) were purchased from Alomone labs.

Techniques: Double Staining, Confocal Microscopy, Staining, Recombinant

Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Article Title: Fingolimod Modulates Dendritic Architecture in a BDNF-Dependent Manner

doi: 10.3390/ijms21093079

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fingolimod-phosphate (FTY720-P) regulates neuronal architecture in a BDNF-dependent manner. ( A ) Representative Neurolucida tracings, used to perform the Sholl analysis of dendritic complexity for feGFP expressing neurons treated for 24h with: DMSO (black), 2nM FTY720-P (gray), DMSO + TrkBFc (dark blue) and 2nM FTY720-P + TrkBFc (light blue). Scale bar: 100 μm. ( B ) Sholl analysis displayed as number of dendritic intersections against distance from the cell body for DMSO (black), 2nM FTY720-P (gray), DMSO + TrkBFc (dark blue) and 2nM FTY720-P + TrkBFc (light blue) and ( C ) total dendritic complexity of all treatment groups. F value in ( B ) refers to comparison between all the 4 treatment groups. ( D ) Dendritic spine densities for DMSO (black), 2nM FTY720-P (gray), DMSO + TrkBFc (dark blue) and 2nM FTY720-P + TrkBFc (light blue) calculated using segments of secondary dendritic branches as shown in ( E ) feGFP panel. The Syn panel displays the corresponding staining of the pre-synaptic marker SynapsinI/II and the merge panel shows the images with overlapping SynapsinI/II puncta (red, pre-synapse) to its matching feGFP dendrite segment (green, post-synapse). The arrows point to coinciding puncta, indicative of mature synapse between the post and pre-synaptic compartments. Scale bar: 5μm. ( F ) The graph compares the fraction of SynapsinI/II positive feGFP labelled spines for DMSO (black), 2nM FTY720-P (gray), DMSO + TrkBFc (dark blue) and 2nM FTY720-P + TrkBFc (light blue). ( G ) Representative fields of view (FOV) of the DMSO, 2nM FTY720-P, DMSO + TrkBFc and 2nM FTY720-P + TrkBFc treated hippocampal cultures stained for c-fo s . Scale bar: 100μm. ( H ) Quantification of the proportion of c-Fos expressing neurons represented as normalized fraction for DMSO (black), 2nM FTY720-P (gray), DMSO + TrkBFc (dark blue) and 2nM FTY720-P + TrkBFc (light blue) treated cultures. All graphs represent data as mean + SEM. Numbers in the bars show either total number of neurons or of FOV analyzed, obtained from ≥3 sets of independent experiments. Two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test was used in ( B ). For ( C , D , F ) and ( H ) one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc was used. Denotations for significance are * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, **** p < 0.0001.

Article Snippet: Recombinant Human BDNF protein (R&D systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA) was dissolved in sterile PBS with 0.1% BSA at a concentration of 50 ng/μL.

Techniques: Expressing, Comparison, Staining, Marker

Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Article Title: Fingolimod Modulates Dendritic Architecture in a BDNF-Dependent Manner

doi: 10.3390/ijms21093079

Figure Lengend Snippet: Treatment with the non-phosphorylated Fingolimod (FTY720) modulates neuronal architecture. ( A ) | Representative Neurolucida tracings from feGFP positive hippocampal neurons used for the Sholl analysis from cultures treated either with DMSO or 10nM FTY20 for 24 h. Scale bar: 100μm. ( B ) | Dendritic complexity shown by the number of dendritic intersections plotted against the distance from the soma for DMSO (black) and FTY720 (blue) treated neurons. The F value shows the statistical comparison between the two groups. The inset graph represents total dendritic complexity upon treatment with DMSO (black) and FTY720 (blue). ( C ) | Total dendritic length for DMSO (black) and FTY720 (blue) treated neurons. ( D ) | Representative stretches from dendrites of eGFP transfected hippocampal neurons showing dendritic spine protrusions, treated either with DMSO or FTY720 for 24h. Scale bar: 5μm. ( E ) | The graph shows dendritic spine density for DMSO (black) and FTY720 (blue) treated neurons . ( F ) | Representative images of fields of view (FOV) from primary hippocampal cultures stained with anti phospho-ERK1/2 antibody, 30 min post-application of one of the following: DMSO, 10nM FTY720, DMSO_100, 100nM FTY720, DMSO_100 + TrkB-Fc, 100nM FTY720 + TrkB-Fc or 40ng recombinant BDNF protein as a positive control. Scale bar: 100μm. ( G ) | The graph displays the fraction of pERK1/2 expressing neurons relative to the total number of MAP2 + neurons. The data is normalized to the respective controls and compared between the different treatment groups: DMSO (black), 10nM FTY720 (light blue solid), DMSO100 (gray), 100nM FTY720 (dark blue solid), 40ng recombinant BDNF (magenta), DMSO100 + TrkB-Fc (gray open), 100nM FTY720 + TrkB-Fc (dark blue open). All data is plotted as mean + SEM. Numbers in the bars show total number of neurons or FOV analyzed, obtained from ≥3 sets of independent experiments. Two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test was used in ( B ). For ( B ) total intersections, ( C ) and ( E ) unpaired Student’s t-test and for ( G ) one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc was used. Denotations for significance are * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001.

Article Snippet: Recombinant Human BDNF protein (R&D systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA) was dissolved in sterile PBS with 0.1% BSA at a concentration of 50 ng/μL.

Techniques: Comparison, Transfection, Staining, Recombinant, Positive Control, Expressing