Université de Fribourg

Parvalbumin alters mitochondrial dynamics and affects cell morphology

Lichvarova, Lucia ; Henzi, Thomas ; Safiulina, Dzhamilja ; Kaasik, Allen ; Schwaller, Beat

In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2018, vol. 75, no. 24, p. 4643–4666

The Ca2+-binding protein parvalbumin (PV) and mitochondria play important roles in Ca2+ signaling, buffering and sequestration. Antagonistic regulation of PV and mitochondrial volume is observed in in vitro and in vivo model systems. Changes in mitochondrial morphology, mitochondrial volume and dynamics (fusion, fission, mitophagy) resulting from modulation of PV were investigated in MDCK...

Université de Fribourg

Absence of calretinin protein expression in malignant mesotheliomas from asbestos-exposed NF2+/− mice and mouse mesothelioma cell lines from various mouse strains

Blum, Walter ; Henzi, Thomas ; Châtel-Soulet, Hugues-Etienne ; Pecze, Laszlo ; Wörthmüller Rodriguez, Janine ; Vrugt, Bart ; Schwaller, Beat

In: Biomarker Research, 2018, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 19

Calretinin is the most widespread positive marker for the immunohistochemical identification of malignant mesothelioma (MM) and was proposed to serve as a blood- based biomarker. Functionally, evidence has accumulated that calretinin might be implicated in MM tumorigenesis. We aimed to identify calretinin (CR; Calb2) in murine MM and reactive mesothelial cells in granuloma from...

Université de Fribourg

How asbestos drives the tissue towards tumors: YAP activation, macrophage and mesothelial precursor recruitment, RNA editing, and somatic mutations

Rehrauer, Hubert ; Wu, Licun ; Blum, Walter ; Pecze, Lazslo ; Henzi, Thomas ; Serre-Beinier, Véronique ; Aquino, Catherine ; Vrugt, Bart ; Perrot, Marc de ; Schwaller, Beat ; Felley-Bosco, Emanuela

In: Oncogene, 2018, vol. 37, no. 20, p. 2645–2659

Chronic exposure to intraperitoneal asbestos triggered a marked response in the mesothelium well before tumor development. Macrophages, mesothelial precursor cells, cytokines, and growth factors accumulated in the peritoneal lavage. Transcriptome profiling revealed YAP/TAZ activation in inflamed mesothelium with further activation in tumors, paralleled by increased levels of cells with...

Université de Fribourg

Biological noise and positional effects influence cell stemness

Blum, Walter ; Henzi, Thomas ; Schwaller, Beat ; Pecze, László

In: Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2018, vol. 293, no. 14, p. 5247–5258

Biological (or cellular) noise is the random quantitative variability of proteins and other molecules in individual, genetically identical cells. As the result of biological noise in the levels of some transcription factors that determine a cell's differentiation status, differentiated cells may dedifferentiate to a stem cell state given a sufficiently long time period. Here, to provide...

Université de Fribourg

Menthol evokes Ca2+ signals and induces oxidative stress independently of the presence of TRPM8 (menthol) receptor in cancer cells

Nazıroğlu, Mustafa ; Blum, Walter ; Jósvay, Katalin ; Çiğ, Bilal ; Henzi, Thomas ; Oláh, Zoltán ; Vizler, Csaba ; Schwaller, Beat ; Pecze, László

In: Redox Biology, 2018, vol. 14, p. 439–449

Menthol is a naturally occurring monoterpene alcohol possessing remarkable biological properties including antipruritic, analgesic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and cooling effects. Here, we examined the menthol-evoked Ca2+ signals in breast and prostate cancer cell lines. The effect of menthol (50–500µM) was predicted to be mediated by the transient receptor potential ion channel...

Université de Fribourg

Endogenous TRPV1 stimulation leads to the activation of the inositol phospholipid pathway necessary for sustained Ca2+ oscillations

Pecze, László ; Blum, Walter ; Henzi, Thomas ; Schwaller, Beat

In: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, 2016, vol. 1863, no. 12, p. 2905–2915

Sensory neuron subpopulations as well as breast and prostate cancer cells express functional transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) ion channels; however little is known how TRPV1 activation leads to biological responses. Agonist-induced activation of TRPV1 resulted in specific spatiotemporal patterns of cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ signals in breast and prostate cancer-derived cells....

Université de Fribourg

Antagonistic regulation of parvalbumin expression and mitochondrial calcium handling capacity in renal epithelial cells

Henzi, Thomas ; Schwaller, Beat

In: PLoS ONE, 2015, vol. 10, no. 11, p. e0142005

Parvalbumin (PV) is a cytosolic Ca²⁺-binding protein acting as a slow-onset Ca²⁺ buffer modulating the shape of Ca²⁺ transients in fast-twitch muscles and a subpopulation of neurons. PV is also expressed in non-excitable cells including distal convoluted tubule (DCT) cells of the kidney, where it might act as an intracellular Ca²⁺ shuttle facilitating transcellular Ca²⁺ resorption....

Université de Fribourg

Calretinin regulates Ca²⁺-dependent inactivation and facilitation of Cav2.1 Ca²⁺ channels through a direct interaction with the α₁2.1 subunit

Christel, Carl J. ; Schaer, Raphael ; Wang, Shiyi ; Henzi, Thomas ; Kreiner, Lisa ; Grabs, Detlev ; Schwaller, Beat ; Lee, Amy

In: Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2012, p. -

Voltage-gated Cav2.1 Ca2+ channels undergo dual modulation by Ca2+, Ca2+-dependent inactivation (CDI) and facilitation (CDF), which can influence synaptic plasticity in the nervous system. While the molecular determinants controlling CDI and CDF have been the focus of intense research, little is known about the factors regulating these processes in neurons. Here, we show that calretinin (CR), a...

Université de Fribourg

A bipartite butyrate-responsive element in the human calretinin (CALB2) promoter acts as a repressor in colon carcinoma cells but not in mesothelioma cells

Häner, Katrin ; Henzi, Thomas ; Pfefferli, Martine ; Künzli, Esther ; Salicio, Valerie ; Schwaller, Beat

In: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 2010, vol. 109, no. 3, p. 519-531

The short-chain fatty acid butyrate plays an essential role in colonic mucosa homeostasis through the capacity to block the cell cycle, regulate differentiation and to induce apoptosis. The beneficial effect of dietary fibers on preventing colon cancer is essentially mediated through butyrate, derived from luminal fermentation of fibers by intestinal bacteria. In epithelial cells of the colon,...

Université de Fribourg

Upregulated expression of oncomodulin, the beta isoform of parvalbumin, in perikarya and axons in the diencephalon of parvalbumin knockout mice

Csillik, B. ; Schwaller, Beat ; Mihaly, A. ; Henzi, Thomas ; Losonczi, E. ; Knyihar-Csillik, E.

In: Neuroscience, 2010, vol. 165, no. 3, p. 749-757

The calcium-binding proteins parvalbumin, calbindin D-28k, calretinin and calcineurin are present in subsets of GABAergic gigantic calyciform presynaptic terminals of the reticular thalamic nucleus (RTN). Previously it was hypothesized that GABA and calcium-binding proteins including parvalbumin are not only colocalized in the same neuron subpopulation, but that GABA synthesis and parvalbumin...