Purpose: Accumulating evidence supports the existence of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC), which are characterized by their capacity to self-renew anddivide indefinitely and resistance to conventional therapies. The Notch pathway is important for stem cell renewal and is a potential target for BCSC-directed therapy. Experimental Design: Using human breast tumorgraft studies, we evaluated the imp...

PURPOSE Accumulating evidence supports the existence of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC), which are characterized by their capacity to self-renew and divide indefinitely and resistance to conventional therapies. The Notch pathway is important for stem cell renewal and is a potential target for BCSC-directed therapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Using human breast tumorgraft studies, we evaluated the im...

Background & Aims Aberrations in the esophageal proliferation-differentiation gradient are histologic hallmarks in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and gastroesophageal reflux disease. A reliable protocol to grow 3-dimensional (3D) esophageal organoids is needed to study esophageal epithelial homeostasis under physiological and pathologic conditions. Methods We modified keratinocyte-serum free ...

The Notch signalling pathway is thought to play a key part in controlling the production of sensory hair cells in the vertebrate inner ear via lateral inhibition; but there is disagreement as to which Notch ligands are expressed in hair cells as they develop. We show, using a mouse Delta1:LacZ knock-in as a reporter, that nascent hair cells, but not their neighbours, express Delta1. Expression ...

Notch inhibition is known to generate supernumerary hair cells (HCs) at the expense of supporting cells (SCs) in the mammalian inner ear. However, inhibition of Notch activity becomes progressively less effective at inducing SC-to-HC conversion in the postnatal cochlea and balance organs as the animal ages. It has been suggested that the SC-to-HC conversion capacity is inversely correlated with...

PURPOSE Among the hearing loss patients, we can confirm that the hearing loss of the specific frequency decreases, such as the 2000Hz notch in otosclerosis and the 4000Hz notch (c5-dip) in noise-induced hearing loss. The 1000Hz notch (c3-dip), however, is rarely studied. We fortuitously encountered a group of patients with a 1kHz hearing loss and report it with a review of the literature. MET...

ulate the transition between self-renewal and differentiation stage in different systems, and both are associated with the maintenance of the progenitor state. The general question that arises is how those signals are integrated within otic progenitors so that they result in a precise cell diversification. We have studied the interactions between Sox2 and Notch pathways in otic neurosensory pro...

ulate the transition between self-renewal and differentiation stage in different systems, and both are associated with the maintenance of the progenitor state. The general question that arises is how those signals are integrated within otic progenitors so that they result in a precise cell diversification. We have studied the interactions between Sox2 and Notch pathways in otic neurosensory pro...

ulate the transition between self-renewal and differentiation stage in different systems, and both are associated with the maintenance of the progenitor state. The general question that arises is how those signals are integrated within otic progenitors so that they result in a precise cell diversification. We have studied the interactions between Sox2 and Notch pathways in otic neurosensory pro...