Gloria Krajnc¹, Lara Metlika², Uroš Potočnik^1,2,3, Boris Gole^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.49, No.6, pp. 991-1017, 2025, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2025.063486 - 24 June 2025

Abstract Vedolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody and one of the safest biologics for the treatment of both forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It targets the α4β7 integrin and blocks leukocyte trafficking to the gut. Regardless of its efficacy in many patients, non-response to vedolizumab treatment poses a significant clinical challenge. In this review, we synthesize recent findings on genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and cellular biomarkers of vedolizumab response, emphasizing their roles in predicting therapeutic outcomes and understanding non-responsiveness. Key insights include the identification of epigenetic and transcriptomic signatures, the involvement of More >

AUGUSTO FUSCO¹, STEFANO BONOMI^2,*, LUCA PADUA^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.49, No.1, pp. 1-5, 2025, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.058418 - 24 January 2025

Abstract Connective tissue is a dynamic structure that reacts to environmental cues to maintain homeostasis, including mechanical properties. Mechanical load influences extracellular matrix (ECM)—cell interactions and modulates cellular behavior. Mechano-regulation processes involve matrix modification and cell activation to preserve tissue function. The ECM remodeling is crucial for force transmission. Cytoskeleton components are involved in force sensing and transmission, affecting cellular adhesion, motility, and gene expression. Proper mechanical loading helps to maintain tissue health, while imbalances may lead to pathological processes. Active and passive movement, including manual mobilization, improves connective tissue elasticity, promotes ECM-cell homeostasis, and More > Graphic Abstract

A. NOEL GRAVINA^1,2, NOELIA D´ELÍA^1,2, LUCIANO A. BENEDINI^2,3,*, PAULA MESSINA^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.11, pp. 1517-1520, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.055513 - 07 November 2024

Abstract This article navigates the relationship between biomaterials and osteogenic cell adhesion, highlighting the importance of mimicking the physiological response for bone tissue regeneration. Within this spirit is an initial description of the interaction between osteoblasts and osteoprogenitor cells with the extracellular matrix, explaining the leading role of integrins and cadherins in cell adhesion, and the intracellular signaling pathways elicited. Additionally, there is a focus on the strategies of advanced biomaterials that foster osteogenesis by replicating the native environment, taking advantage of these known specific signaling pathways. The final remarks lay on the need for careful More >

CHEN CAI¹, HAO SUN², LIANG HU³, ZHICHAO FAN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.2, pp. 229-257, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014338 - 19 February 2021

Abstract Integrin molecules are transmembrane αβ heterodimers involved in cell adhesion, trafficking, and signaling. Upon activation, integrins undergo dynamic conformational changes that regulate their affinity to ligands. The physiological functions and activation mechanisms of integrins have been heavily discussed in previous studies and reviews, but the fluorescence imaging techniques –which are powerful tools for biological studies– have not. Here we review the fluorescence labeling methods, imaging techniques, as well as Förster resonance energy transfer assays used to study integrin expression, localization, activation, and functions. More >

Ning Wang^*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 33-44, 2010, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2010.007.033

Abstract Professor Y.C. Fung has shown that living tissues remodel extensively in response to mechanical forces such as blood pressure variations. At the cellular level, those mechanical perturbations must be perceived by individual cells. However, mechanisms of mechanochemical transduction in living cells remain a central challenge to cell biologists. Contrary to predictions by existing models of living cells, we reported previously that a local stress, applied via integrin receptors, is propagated to remote sites in the cytoplasm and is concentrated at discrete foci. Here we report that these foci of strains and stresses in the cytoplasm More >

Federico Bussolino, Francesca Caccavari, Donatella Valdembri, Guido Serini

European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.4, pp. 191-196, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0168

Abstract Acquisition of new genes encoding for extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and their cognate integrin adhesive receptors, as well as secreted pro- and anti-angiogenic factors, proved to be essential for the development of functional vascular networks in the vertebrate embryo. There is now clear evidence that post-natal, pathological tissue neo-vascularization is crucial for cancer growth and therapy as well. Integrins are major ECM receptors that can exist in different functional states with respect to their affinity for ECM pro-teins. Regulation of integrin activation is crucial for their biological functions. In the embryo, the development of a More >

Evangelia Papadimitriou, Constantinos Mikelis, Evgenia Lampropoulou, Marina Koutsioumpa, Katerina Theochari, Sotiria Tsirmoula, Christina Theodoropoulou, Margarita Lamprou, Evanthia Sfaelou, Dionyssios Vourtsis, Panagiotis Boudouris

European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.4, pp. 180-190, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0172

Abstract Pleiotrophin (PTN) is a heparin-binding growth factor with diverse biological activities, the moststudied of these being those related to the nervous system, tumor growth and angiogenesis. Although interest inthe involvement of PTN in tumor growth is increasing, many questions remain unanswered, particularly con-cerning the receptors and the signaling pathways involved. In this review, we briefly introduce PTN, and sum-marize data on its involvement in tumor growth and angiogenesis, and on what is known to date concerningthe receptors and pathways involved. More >

Meghan H. Hoskins^*, Cheng Dong^∗,†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 79-88, 2006, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2006.003.079

Abstract It has been determined previously that polymorphonuclear leukocytes, or PMNs, can facilitate melanoma cell extravasation through the endothelium under shear conditions [1,2]. The interactions between melanoma cells and PMNs are mediated by the β₂-integrins expressed by PMNs and intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM-1) expressed on melanoma cells. In this study, the kinetics of these interactions was studied using a parallel plate flow chamber. The dissociation rates were calculated under low force conditions for ICAM-1 interactions with both β₂-integrins, LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) and Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18), together and separately by using functional blocking antibodies on PMNs. The kinetics of PMNs More >

D.E. Ingber¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 53-68, 2004, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2004.001.053

Abstract This article is a summary of a lecture presented at a symposium on "Mechanics and Chemistry of Biosystems'' in honor of Professor Y.C. Fung that convened at the University of California, Irvine in February 2004. The article reviews work from our laboratory that focuses on the mechanism by which mechanical and chemical signals interplay to control how individual cells decide whether to grow, differentiate, move, or die, and thereby promote pattern formation during tissue morphogenesis. Pursuit of this challenge has required development and application of new microtechnologies, theoretical formulations, computational models and bioinformatics tools. These… More >