The Research Study Conducted by Nurmi, Term Paper Example

The research study conducted by Nurmi et al. (2015), pertains to the maintenance of the Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C), as well as the neonatal and adult function with the deletion of the VEGF-C gene through the Cre-Lox system. The VEGF-C binds to a tyrosine kinase receptor (VEGFR-3), which allows for the growth of lymphatic vessels during pathological and developmental processes. In addition, it is known that the VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 process allows for treatment of cancer and lymphedema; however, the actual function of VEGF-C in the vascular system is not known. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate and illustrate the VEGF-C is necessary for the development of the perinatal lymphatic system and required for adult maintenance of the lymphatic system in the intestine. During the study, the deletion of the Vegfc gene in adult mice resulted in the atrophy of the intestinal lymphatic vessels. In addition, in mice with the deleted Vegfc gene, there was a difference in lipid absorption and in the excretion of fatty acids and cholesterol. Furthermore, with the deletion of the Vegfc gene, mice exhibited a resistance to obesity and increased glucose metabolism compared to mice with the Vegfc gene. Overall, the study illustrated that the lymphatic growth factors are important in the regulation of the lymphatic system and important in the regulation of fat and cholesterol. (Nurmi et al., 2015) The current paper critiques the study for validity of the results, interpretation of the results, techniques of the study, and the logics of the study, as well compares similar studies conducted on this topic.

The results of the study are convincing because, as the authors explained in Vegfc gene-deleted embryos, the lymphatic vessels that arise from the major veins in the embryo die prematurely; therefore, in order to study how the Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) affects the development later in development was evaluated. In this evaluation, the researchers deleted the Vegfc gene in the embryos of pregnant mice. Through the deletion of the gene, the vessels resulted in lack of maturation. In addition, the researchers wanted to find out if the VEGF-C was necessary for the development of lacteal vessels. This process was conducted through deleted the Vegfc as well. The role of VEGF-C in the maintenance of lymphatic tissue in the intestine was also analyzed. The researchers used real-time PCR analysis in order to conduct their study. A different study has shown that using Real-Time PCR with a universal probe can detect differences in rations and analyze data efficiently, as well as detect alleles. (Weis et al., 2010)

The researchers also investigated the different cells types that expressed the Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C). Previous studies have shown that the VEGF-C has found in the smooth muscle cells. The findings from this studies illustrated that the VEGF-C had a paracrine function, as well as a role in peptide function for neuroendocrine cells. However, in this study, a North blot hybridization analysis of the VEGF-C was conducted using mRNA from the tissue. However, the results from this study did show the distribution of the VEGF-C father in human fetal and adult tissues and the presence of the receptor in the lymphatic tissue. (Partanen et al., 2000) This study therefore suggests the validity and the further convinces that the results of the study conducted by Nurmi et al. (2015) are accurate.

As far as the methodology of the study, the researchers utilize laboratory methods that are comparable to other studies in this field, such as observed in (Weis et al., 2010) However, other studies evaluating the role of VEGF-C in the development of tissues have utilized northern blot analysis instead of PCR methods. For instance, in a study investigating the role of VECF-C in the development of nasal tissue, the total RNA was isolate and a Northern Analysis was conducted, as well as In Situ hybridization. (Saaristo et al., 2000) However, these studies were looking for the distribution of the factor in the different cells types; whereas, Nurmi et al (2015) was trying to illustrate the need for development and function. Therefore, the use of Real-time PCR in this current study was most likely necessary. The author did not describe the need of the necessity for this technique.

The results of the paper were clearly represented. The authors used colorful digital photos from the cell tissue with explicit explanations of the images. For instance, the in Figure 2, the smooth muscle cells are shown. The overview of the images is clearly explained along with statistical results when comparing the images of the cell at different stages in the experiment. This was a positive piece of the article as it provided both visual representations to the significant difference in results. In addition, the authors provided a summary of the main sections of the paper to include the problem, results, and impacts in regard to how these results of this study could potentially impact clinical trials for cancer treatment. I think this was a concise and imperative part to reading this paper. In fact, I was able to put together the reasons why this study was so important after reading this summary. It allowed for the reader to understand the importance of studying the VEGF-C pathway and the need for incorporating a model using the deletion of the Vegfc gene. The results of the study were significant in that they were able to find that long-term inhibition of VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 is able to be tolerated in mouse subjects and that the blocking of the VEGF-C increases atrophy.

Overall, I thought the study was relevant to the need to treat diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. Other studies have shown the relevance in cancer and further investigation has shown the use in the lymphatic system and the processing of fat and cholesterol. Understanding how the biological processes, factors, and receptors work can ultimately help treat diseases, which was something I learned from this paper.

References

Nurmi, H., Saharinen, P., Zardkad, G., Zheng, W., Robicius, MR, Alitalo, K. (2015). VEGF-C is required for intestinal lymphatic vessel maintenance and lipid absorption. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 7(11): 1418-1425

Partanen, T., et al. (2000). VEGF-C and VEGF-D expression in neuroendocrine cells and their  receptor, VEGFR-3, in fenestrated blood vessels in human tissues. FASEB J. 14, 2087-2096. Retrieved from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/12299821_Partanen_T.A._et_al._VEGF-C_and_VEGF-D_expression_in_neuroendocrine_cells_and_their_receptor_VEGFR-3_in_fenestrated_blood_vessels_in_human_tissues._FASEB_J._14_2087-2096

Saaristo, A. et al. (2000). Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C and Its Receptor VEGFR-3 in the Nasal Mucosa and in Nasopharyngeal Tumors. Am J Pathol. 157(1): 7–14. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1850213/

Weis, B. Schmidt, J., Lyko, F., Linhar, HG. (2010). Analysis of conditional gene deletion using probe based Real-Time PCR. BMC Biotechnology. 10:75. Retrieved from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6750-10-75.pdf