Evaluation of the frequency of putative prostate cancer stem cells in primary and metastatic prostate cancer

Tumour cells with a stem cell-like phenotype have recently been identified in prostate tumors and it has been suggested that this population may be responsible for the diversity of cell types within tumors and also for the initiation of metastases. These cells carry a number of defined markers: they are cd133 and cd44+ve and express high levels of alpha2beta1 integrin. In this study we have, for the first time, assessed matched primary and bone marrow biopsies from prostate cancer patients for the distribution of cells carrying these and a number of other putative stem cell markers.

Age of cichlids: new dates for ancient lake fish radiations

Timing divergence events allow us to infer the conditions under which biodiversity has evolved and gain important insights into the mechanisms driving evolution. Cichlid fishes are a model system for studying speciation and adaptive radiation, yet, we have lacked reliable timescales for their evolution. Phylogenetic reconstructions are consistent with cichlid origins prior to Gondwanan landmass fragmentation 121-165 MYA, considerably earlier than the first known fossil cichlids (Eocene). We examined the timing of cichlid evolution using a relaxed molecular clock calibrated with geological estimates for the ages of 1) Gondwanan fragmentation and 2) cichlid fossils. Timescales of cichlid evolution derived from fossil-dated phylogenies of other bony fishes most closely matched those suggested by Gondwanan breakup calibrations, suggesting the Eocene origins and marine dispersal implied by the cichlid fossil record may be due to its incompleteness. Using Gondwanan calibrations, we found accumulation of genetic diversity within the radiating lineages of the African Lakes Malawi, Victoria and Barombi Mbo, and Palaeolake Makgadikgadi began around or after the time of lake basin formation. These calibrations also suggest Lake Tanganyika was colonized independently by the major radiating cichlid tribes that then began to accumulate genetic diversity thereafter. These results contrast with the widely accepted theory that diversification into major lineages took place within the Tanganyika basin. Together, this evidence suggests that ancient lake habitats have played a key role in generating and maintaining diversity within radiating lineages and also that lakes may have captured preexisting cichlid diversity from multiple sources from which adaptive radiations have evolved.

Loss of inhibition over master pathways of bone mass regulation results in osteosclerotic bone metastases in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in industrialised countries. Most patients with prostate cancer, however, will not die of it. As a result, many of them will experience symptomatic metastasis during the course of the disease. Prostate cancer has a high propensity to metastasize to bone. Unlike many other cancers prostate cancer cells induce a rather osteosclerotic than osteolytic reaction in the bone marrow by interfering with physiological bone remodelling. A proper understanding of the mechanisms of tumour cell-induced bone alterations and exaggerated bone deposition in prostate cancer may open new and urgently needed therapeutic approaches in the field of palliative care for affected patients. In this review we focus on the central role of two major regulators of bone mass, the wingless type integration site family members (WNTs) and the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), in the development of osteosclerotic bone metastases.

Biology of Bone Metastases in Prostate Cancer

Advanced-stage prostate cancer (PCa) patients are often diagnosed with bone metastases. Bone metastases remain incurable and therapies are palliative. PCa cells prevalently cause osteoblastic lesions, characterized by an excess of bone formation. The prevailing concept indicates that PCa cancer cell secrete an excess of paracrine factors stimulating osteoblasts directly or indirectly, thereby leading to an excess of bone formation. The exact mechanisms by which bone formation stimulates PCa cell growth are mostly elusive. In this review, the mechanisms of PCa cancer cell osteotropism, the cancer cell-induced response within the bone marrow/bone stroma, and therapeutic stromal targets will be summarized.

Heterogenität der Finanzökonomie. Zur Sexualität in Spielfilmen über die Börse

In this article, Dirk Verdicchio addresses the display of sexuality in cinematic movies on finance. He argues that the display of sexuality can be seen as a representation of the financial economy and asks how finance is perceived when it is envisioned by means of sexuality. Referring to George Bataille’s concepts of economy, heterogeneity, and erotics he argues that the display of sexuality in these films endangers conventional, bourgeois ideals and values – in Bataille’s terms: the financial economy threatens social homogeneity because of an inherent heterogeneity of the stock exchange. According to the analyzed movies, the financial economy is not only the site where the rationality of the economy appears in its purest form, but also the site where this principle collapses and turns into its opposite.