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An ultrastructural study of developing extracellular matrix in vitelline blood vessels of the early chick embryo.

This investigation was designed to describe the morphological events in embryonic development of peripheral blood vessels (vasculogenesis) and to relate this process to the appearance of extracellular matrix (ECM) during growth and maturation of these tissues. Extraembryonic vitelline vessels of the early chick embryo were chosen for this study and light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy were carried out on vessels excised from chick embryos (Hamburger-Hamilton stages 8 through 23). Our data show that early (stage 10) vessels are composed of two distinct epithelial layers, an inner layer of presumptive endothelium surrounded by a layer of splanchnopleuric mesoderm. During development, the inner layer gives rise to mature vascular endothelium while splanchnopleuric mesoderm differentiates to form primitive vascular smooth muscle. Ultrastructural studies show the presence of collagen and basal lamina in the extracellular space between these two layers during initiation of endothelial and smooth muscle cytodifferentiation. Furthermore, ruthenium red-positive material is present on basal surfaces of developing vascular endothelium at this time, indicating possible glycosaminoglycans (GAG) or other polyanionic components of the ECM. These data suggest that the sequential production of basal lamina, collagen (s), and/or GAG's by developing peripheral vessel wall epithelia may be critical to their final differentiation.

Animals

The relationship between extracellular matrix vesicles and calcospherities in primary mineralization of neoplastic bone tissue. TEM and SEM studies on osteosarcoma.

Primary mineralization in neoplastic tissue was studied in osteosarcoma, correlating observations obtained by SEM to those found with TEM. The process is characterized by extracellular matrix vesicles, distributed in the matrix between the forming neoplastic cells and the calcifying fronts. The occurrence of osmiophilic material and solitary hydroxyapatite crystals within the vesicles is followed by accumulation of apatite crystals, disappearance of the vesicular membrane and formation of calcospherites and calcified fronts. The process described here in neoplastic tissue is essentially similar to primary calcification in normal calcified tissues.

Apatites

Intratumoral fungus Neurospora crassa is associated with worsened prognosis in ovarian cancer via modulation of extracellular matrix.

Landmark studies on intratumoral fungi (ITF) have raised concerns due to irreproducible results and data-analysis errors. We aimed to determine whether ITF exist in ovarian cancer (OvCa) and, if so, whether they play a role in disease biology. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded OvCa samples and multiple controls underwent operational decontamination, qPCR, internal transcribed spacer sequencing, and post-hoc data decontamination. We also leveraged updated fungal reads from The Cancer Genome Atlas generated by the TCMbio group, which addressed human-read contamination and artificial inflation, to validate findings and assess prognostic associations. A murine syngeneic model established using mouse ovarian cancer cell line (OVHM) with intratumoral Neurospora crassa injection was established. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were performed to explore mechanisms. Tumor-containing blocks harbored significantly higher fungal loads than environmental controls but had loads comparable to paraffin controls. Applying a two-pass decontamination filter reduced raw sequence features from 9289 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) to 659 ASVs. We focused on high-abundance features present in human tissues but absent from xenografts and paraffin controls and identified one candidate, N. crassa, associated with unfavorable prognosis in OvCa. Integrating human and murine data, we found Neurospora correlated with eosinophils, whereas N. crassa itself was not immune-related. Neurospora crassa promoted OvCa progression with downregulation of integrin-linked kinase and decreased extracellular matrix-receptor interaction. Most ITF signals are likely contaminants. We identified N. crassa as associated with unfavorable prognosis in OvCa, potentially via modulation of the extracellular matrix.

Neurospora crassa

Distribution of fetal bovine serum fibronectin and endogenous rat cell fibronectin in extracellular matrix.

Normal rat kidney cells were cultured in medium supplemented with normal fetal bovine serum (FBS) or FBS depleted of fibronectin. The cell surface fibronectin of these cultures was visualized by indirect immunofluorescence using species-specific antisera for either rat fibronectin or bovine fibronectin. Anti-rat-fibronectin revealed fibrillar structures on the cells grown in either normal medium or fibronectin-depleted medium. Anti-bovine fibronectin revealed similar fibrillar networks, but only on the cells grown in medium containing bovine fibronectin. Staining in each case was abolished by absorption with the homologous antigen. It appears that exogenous fibronectin was incorporated into the same structures as endogenous fibronectin. This finding suggests that circulating fibronectin may serve as a building block for the assembly of extracellular matrix, possibly by cells which are incapable of synthesizing it.

Animals

The role of extracellular matrix in the formation of the sclerotome.

The development of the sclerotome is considered as a model for the formation of mesenchyme from an epithelium. In early epithelial somites, transmission and scanning electron microscopy indicate considerable ultrastructural similarity between the future sclerotome and dermamyotomal regions. Subsequently, these two regions diverge in their development. In the forming dermamyotome, junctional complexes become more extensive and the cells become elongated, closely applied to each other, and have angular surface contours. In the forming sclerotome, there is an early reduction in apical junctions. The cells elongate, keeping their original polarity, and acquire numerous filopodia which contain punctate junctions at sites of cell-to-cell contact. Associated with cellular extension is an expansion of the intercellular spaces which do not contain any ultrastructurally recognizable material. Evidence for a role of hyaluronic acid in the expansion of the intercellular spaces is presented. As identified by the susceptibility of cetylpyridinium chloride precipitates to Streptomyces hyaluronidase and chromatographic separation of chondroitinase ABC digestion products, as much as 64--68% of the [3H]glucosamine-labeled glycosaminoglycans synthesized by explanted somites is hyaluronic acid. In addition, hyaluronidase-sensitive label is localized in the intercellular spaces of the sclerotome, as demonstrated by autoradiography. When Streptomyces hyaluronidase is injected in ovo into living embryos, the sclerotomal mesenchyme differentiates morphologically, but intercellular spaces are drastically reduced. It is hypothesized that the sclerotomal cells produce a hyaluronate-enriched extracellular matrix which is inflated by hydration to mediate the expansion of the sclerotomal mass towards the notochord.

Animals

Extracellular matrix metabolism by chondrocytes. III. Modulation of proteoglycan synthesis by extracellular levels of proteoglycan in cartilage cells in culture.

Proteoglycan biosynthesis by cultured chondrocytes was shown to be depressed by extracellular concentrations of proteoglycan and partially degraded proteoglycan. This reduction in proteoglycan synthesis was reversible on removal of the added proteoglycan. Benzyl-beta-D-xyloside, an exogenous acceptor of glycosaminoglycan synthesis, was used and it was shown that proteoglycan was inhibiting glycosaminoglycan synthesis. Proteoglycan had no effect on the overall protein synthesis by the cultured cells. It was concluded that the exogenous proteoglycan was inhibiting proteoglycan synthesis at the level of initiation or elongation of the glycosaminoglycan chains.

Acetates

The extracellular matrix in cancer-associated fibrosis: molecular mechanisms and clinical relevance.

The ECM is a dynamic component of the tumor microenvironment with a critical role in cancer progression, invasion, metastasis, immune exclusion, and response to therapy. Recent advances in proteomic analyses investigating the insoluble ECM fractions (termed "matrisome analysis"), along with single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, have revealed cancer-specific patterns of ECM remodeling. These studies have identified a panel of recurrently upregulated ECM proteins, including annexin A1, fibrillin-1, fibronectin, periostin, and tenascin-C, actively contributing to tumor growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and immune exclusion. The expression of the cancer-associated ECM is largely driven by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), whose molecular diversity has been dissected through single-cell profiling and consolidated in emerging CAF atlases across cancers. By investigating the matrisome composition and CAF heterogeneity, these studies have unraveled the pivotal role of the stroma in shaping tumor biology. Based on these discoveries, ECM proteins and CAFs are now being explored as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Future integration of multi-omics datasets with clinical outcomes will help to translate these insights into novel biomarkers for patient stratification and stroma-directed therapeutic interventions.

Humans

Proteomics of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patient iPSC-Derived Skeletal Muscle Cells Reveal Differential Expression of Cytoskeletal and Extracellular Matrix Proteins.

Proteomics of dystrophic muscle samples is limited by the amount of protein that can be extracted from patient biopsies. Cells and tissues derived from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be an expandable alternative source. We have patterned iPSCs from three Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patient lines into skeletal muscle cells using a two-dimensional as well as our three-dimensional organoid differentiation system. Probes with sufficient protein amounts could be extracted and prepared for mass spectrometry. In total, 3007 proteins in 2D and 2709 proteins in 3D were detected in DMD patient probes. A total of 83 proteins in 2D and 338 proteins in 3D can be described as differentially expressed between DMD and control patient probes in a post hoc test. We have identified and we propose Myosin-9, Collagen 18A, Tropomyosin 1, BASP1, RUVBL1, and NCAM1 as proteins specifically altered in their expression in DMD for further investigation. Proteomics of skeletal muscle organoids resulted in greater consistency of results between cell lines in comparison to the two-dimensional myogenic differentiation protocol.

Humans

Strategy for Simultaneous Multiomic Survey of N-Glycomic and Extracellular Matrix Proteome by Mass Spectrometry Imaging.

Recent advances in spatially resolved molecular profiling have positioned matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) as a powerful platform for multiomic tissue analyses. However, conventional workflows that sequentially target distinct molecular classes are time- and resource-intensive, requiring repeated sequential sample preparation, imaging, and data integration. Here, we evaluate streamlined strategies for simultaneous or combined acquisition of N-glycan and collagen-derived peptide information using PNGase F and collagenase. In-solution studies demonstrate that simultaneous enzymatic digestion yields comparable peptide identifications and glycan profiles relative to traditional sequential workflows, with minimal impact on enzymatic specificity. On the basis of these findings, we developed and optimized MALDI-MSI protocols enabling either simultaneous enzyme application or sequential enzyme treatment with unified matrix deposition and single-pass imaging. While direct coapplication reduced image uniformity, a hybrid approach that used sequential enzyme deposition with combined imaging preserved spatial fidelity and spectral quality while significantly reducing processing and computational demands. Application to human tissues, including vertebral bone and ocular samples, highlights the utility of this workflow for fragile specimens and exploratory multiomic surveys. Collectively, these results establish a framework for integrated glycomic and proteomic imaging targeting the extracellular microenvironment, expanding multiomic MALDI-MSI analyses.

Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorpti