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Biomedical subjects

B Boyer

Publications and source records attributed to B Boyer.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Collagen-mediated dispersion of NBT-II rat bladder carcinoma cells.

During metastatic spread, locomotion mediated by extracellular matrix components of basement membranes and connective tissues has been invoked as a prerequisite to invasion. We studied the interactions of the rat bladder carcinoma cell line NBT-II with fibronectin, laminin, and collagens (types I, III, IV, and V). They all promoted cell attachment and spreading. To analyze their scatter potential, we studied epithelial outgrowth and/or peripheral cell dispersion from tumor aggregates. All matrix components allowed partial collapse of the aggregate and the appearance of a cellular monolayer forming a halo around the aggregate. No peripheral cell dispersion occurred on fibronectin and laminin. Collagens (especially types I and III) promoted the dispersion of peripheral NBT-II cells with various speeds of locomotion, as revealed by time-lapse videomicroscopy. With the exception of cells at the periphery on collagens, cells inside the halo did not exchange neighbors, migrated transiently as an epithelial sheet during halo formation, and finally remained stationary. These effects were reproduced with NBT-II tumor fragments obtained from nude mice. Tumor cells were linked together with desmosomes (as revealed by immunoreactivity against desmoglein). Migration on collagens correlated with the mechanical disruption of intercellular contacts and consequently with the progressive disappearance of desmoglein immunoreactivity. Immunofluorescence studies also revealed a reduced expression of the epithelium-specific cell adhesion molecule liver cell adhesion molecule after contact with collagens. These results suggest that direct interactions with collagens may favor single cell infiltration by bladder carcinoma.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Measurements of the normal lumbar spinal canal by computed tomography. Segmental study of L3-L4 and L4-L5 related to the height of the subject.

Computed tomography measurements of the main diameters and cross section areas of the lumbar vertebral canal and the lower end of the dural sac at the L3-L4 and L4-L5 levels were made in 34 young male adults who were free of symptoms. This study shows a statistically significant correlation between the height of the subject and the cross sectional area of the canal and the dural sac, and the interpedicular diameter. The determination of regression coefficients enabled an estimate to be made of the mean values of these parameters in relation to height, the actual values having a normal distribution around these means. This study suggest that the areas, when narrowing is suspected, should be interpreted as a function of the height of the subject.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Acidic fibroblast growth factor is a modulator of epithelial plasticity in a rat bladder carcinoma cell line.

During normal embryogenesis and neoplastic transformation epithelia change their state of differentiation and degree of cohesiveness. It is thus essential to identify the signals modulating these transitions. We report here that acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) induces cells derived from a rat bladder carcinoma to lose their epithelial character and to acquire some properties typical of mesenchymal cells. The structurally related basic FGF did not have such an effect; both factors, however, had a mitogenic activity for these cells. Two distinct populations of receptors for acidic FGF and basic FGF were distinguished by their ligand-binding characteristics. The observations that both acidic and basic FGFs had a mitogenic effect on NBT-II cells and that only acidic FGF caused cell dissociation and dispersion strongly suggest that these two biological activities could be medicated through distinct signaling pathways.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Alternative patterns of mitogenesis and cell scattering induced by acidic FGF as a function of cell density in a rat bladder carcinoma cell line.

The dual function exerted by acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) in a rat bladder carcinoma cell line has been explored under two different conditions of culture density. At low cell density, aFGF promotes the epithelium-to-mesenchyme transition of NBT-II cells characterized by cell dissociation, morphological changes toward a fibroblastic-like phenotype, and acquisition of cell motility. Under these conditions, NBT-II cells are unresponsive to the growth-promoting effect of aFGF. At high cell density, aFGF is a potent mitogenic factor, but its scattering activity is essentially abrogated. Slight modifications in the binding of aFGF to its specific receptors were observed at high cell density; these changes correlated with a downregulation of receptors with no apparent change in their molecular form. NBT-II cells located at the edge of artificial wounds mimicked the behavior of subconfluent cells, because they did not proliferate upon aFGF treatment. Furthermore, in large-sized NBT-II colonies, peripheral cells were the first to dissociate in response to aFGF. Altogether, our results suggest that the cellular response to multifunctional growth factors might depend on the localization within the responding cell population.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Modulation of epithelial differentiation of cultured rat bladder carcinoma].

Epithelium-to-mesenchyme transformation plays a key role in tissue remodelling in embryos since it allows cells from the primitive epithelia to migrate to other sites where they participate in the formation of new structures. A similar phenomenon may be involved in the detachment of malignant cells from neighboring primary tumor cells, which is a prerequisite to the invasion of neighboring tissues or the development of metastases. To test this hypothesis, an in vitro model using a rat bladder carcinoma cell line was developed. Cells exhibited epithelial features under standard culture conditions. After exposure to a soluble inducer (acidic FGF) or the specific extracellular matrix components (collagens), the cells acquired a fibroblastic phenotype, separated from one another, and started to move freely on the substrate. Inducers were found to act synergistically on the fibroblastic transformation of carcinoma cells and to promote the penetration of these cells into collagen gels.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Reversible transition towards a fibroblastic phenotype in a rat carcinoma cell line.

Two distinct mechanisms by which bladder carcinoma cells of the NBT-II cell line dissociate and migrate away from an in vitro reconstituted epithelial sheet were examined as regards intercellular adhesion and cell locomotion. Scattering of NBT-II bladder carcinoma cell line was promoted by 2 distinct culture protocols: (i) deposition of some components of the extracellular matrix onto the culture substratum (glass or plastic) induced cell dispersion of the epithelial sheet of carcinoma cells, and (ii) addition of Ultroser G, a serum substitute, to the culture medium induced scattering and acquisition of motility of NBT-II cells. Under both culture conditions, NBT-II cells dissociated, lost their epithelial morphology, acquired fibroblastic shape and migrated actively. We show that, among different extracellular matrix proteins, only collagens were able to promote the transition towards fibroblastic phenotype (referred as epithelium-to-mesenchyme transition or EMT). Furthermore, the native 3-dimensional helical structure of collagens was required for their function. During induction of EMT of NBT-II cells with Ultroser G, the junctions between epithelial cells were split, polarized epithelial cell organization was lost, and the resulting individual cells became motile and assumed a spindle-like fibroblastoid appearance. Using immunofluorescence microscopy techniques, we demonstrate that this change is accompanied by redistribution of desmosomal plaque proteins (desmoplakins, desmoglein, plakoglobin) and by reorganization of the cytokeratin and the actin-fodrin filament systems. Intermediate-sized filaments of the vimentin type were formed de novo in the fibroblastoid cell form. The observed transition towards fibroblastic phenotype (epithelium-to-mesenchyme transition or EMT) was fully reversed by removing the inducing factors from the culture medium, as shown by the disappearance of vimentin filaments and the reappearance of desmosomes in the newly formed epithelial cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Rearrangements of desmosomal and cytoskeletal proteins during the transition from epithelial to fibroblastoid organization in cultured rat bladder carcinoma cells.

Changes of cell morphology and the state of differentiation are known to play important roles in embryogenesis as well as in carcinogenesis. Examples of particularly profound changes are the conversions of epithelial to mesenchymal cells; i.e., the dissociation of some or all polygonal, polar epithelial cells and their transformation into elongate, fibroblastoid cells of high motility. As an in vitro model system for such changes in cell morphology, we have used cell cultures of the rat bladder carcinoma-derived cell line NBT-II which, on exposure to inducing medium containing a commercial serum substitute (Ultroser G), show an extensive change in their organization (epithelial-mesenchymal transition): the junctions between the epithelial cells are split, the epithelial cell organization is lost, and the resulting individual cells become motile and assume a spindle-like fibroblastoid appearance. Using immunofluorescence microscopy and biochemical protein characterization techniques, we show that this change is accompanied by a redistribution of desmosomal plaque proteins (desmoplakins, desmoglein, plakoglobin) and by a reorganization of the cytokeratin and the actin-fodrin filament systems. Moreover, intermediate-sized filaments of the vimentin type are formed in the fibroblastoid cells. We demonstrate that the modulation of desmosomal proteins, specifically an increase in soluble desmoplakins, is a relatively early event in cell dissociation and in epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In this process, a latent period of 5 h upon addition of inducing medium precedes the removal of these desmosomal components from the plasma membrane. The transition, which is reversible, is dependent on continued protein synthesis and phosphorylation but not on the presence of the inducing medium beyond the initial 2-h period. We discuss the value of this experimental system as a physiologically relevant approach for studying the regulation of the assembly and disassembly of desmosomes and other intercellular adhesion structures, and as a model of the conversion of cells from one state of differentiation into another.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Radiologic aspects of pneumonectomies].

Pneumonectomy is very important in the treatment of bronchial cancer and is responsible for considerable changes in thoracic images. A study based on 28 pneumonectomy cases has enabled us to define the normal radiographic and scanographic features of pneumonectomy sites as well as the main specific complications. Primary follow-up consists of standard X-rays, while computed tomography allows a good analysis of the anatomical course. Computed tomography is also useful in late medical follow-up, especially when a recurrence is noticed clinically.

Bronchial Neoplasms↗
PubMed1988

Adhesion mechanisms in embryogenesis and in cancer invasion and metastasis.

Cell-substratum and cell-cell adhesion mechanisms contribute to the development of animal form. The adhesive status of embryonic cells has been analysed during epithelial-mesenchymal cell interconversion and in cell migrations. Clear-cut examples of the modulation of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) have been described at critical periods of morphogenesis. In chick embryos the three primary CAMs (N-CAM. L-CAM and N-cadherin) present early in embryogenesis are expressed later in a defined pattern during morphogenesis and histogenesis. The axial mesoderm derived from gastrulating cells expresses increasing amounts of N-cadherin and N-CAM. During metamerization these two adhesion molecules become abundant at somitic cell surfaces. Both CAMs are functional in an in vitro aggregation assay; however, the calcium-dependent adhesion molecule N-cadherin is more sensitive to perturbation by specific antibodies. Neural crest cells which separate from the neural epithelium lose their primary CAMs in a defined time-sequence. Adhesion to fibronectins via specific surface receptors becomes a predominant interaction during the migratory process, while some primary and secondary CAMs are expressed de novo during the ontogeny of the peripheral nervous system. In vitro, different fibronectin functional domains have been identified in the attachment, spreading and migration of neural crest cells. The fibronectin receptors which transduce the adhesive signals play a key role in the control of cell movement. All these results have prompted us to examine whether similar mechanisms operate in carcinoma cell invasion and metastasis. In vitro, rat bladder transitional carcinoma cells convert reversibly into invasive mesenchymal cells. A rapid modulation of adhesive properties is found during the epithelial-mesenchymal carcinoma cell interconversion. The different model systems analysed demonstrate that a limited repertoire of adhesion molecules, expressed in a well-defined spatiotemporal pattern, is involved in tissue formation and in key processes of tumour spread.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

[Pseudolymphomatous aspects of mesenteric lymphadenopathies in Whipple's disease. Value of x-ray computed tomography monitoring].

Lymphadenopathy is a very common finding during the course of Whipple's disease (W.D.). Abdominal (mesenteric and retroperitoneal) tumoral lymphnodes may mimick malignant neoplasm, specially a lymphoma. The authors report the case of a patient who had an abdominal computer-assisted tomography (C.T.) at the diagnosis and during an eleven month survey for W.D. General C.T. findings can help to differenciate mesenteric lymphadenopathy in W.D. from those found in malignant lymphomas: low density (10-20 Hounsfield Units) because of the high fatty charge of Whipple's lymphnodes, lymphadenopathy in the lower mediastinum, progressive but slow improvement with antibiotic therapy.

Adult↗