Pontibacter jeungdoensis sp. nov., isolated from a solar saltern in Korea

A Gram-staining-negative, rod-shaped and red-pigmented bacterial strain, HMD3125^T, was isolated from a solar saltern in Jeungdo, Republic of Korea. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain HMD3125^T formed a lineage within the genus Pontibacter and was similar to Pontibacter salisaro (96.1%) and P. korlensis (95.3%). The major fatty acids of strain HMD3125^T were summed feature 4 (comprising iso-C_17:1 I and/or anteiso-C_17:1 B; 30.4%), iso-C_15:0 (20.4%) and iso-C_17:0 3OH (17.2%). The polar lipid profile of HMD3125^T consisted of the phosphatidylethanolamine, four unidentified polar lipids, unidentified phospholipid, unidentified aminolipid and unidentified aminophospholipid. Strain HMD3125^T contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone and sym-homospermidine as the major polyamine. The DNA G+C content of strain HMD3125^T was 45.6 mol%. Strain HMD3125^T assigned as a novel species in the genus Pontibacter, for which the name Pontibacter jeungdoensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HMD3125^T (=KCTC 23156^T =CECT 7710^T).     

Chemical constituents isolated from Polygala japonica leaves and their inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production in vitro

A methanolic extract of dried leaves of Polygala japonica Houtt (Polygalaceae) significantly attenuated nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-simulated BV2 microglia. Five anthraquinones chrysophanol (1), emodin (2), aloe-emodin (3), emodin 8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4) and trihydroxy anthraquinone (5), and four flavonoids kaempferol (6), chrysoeriol (7), kaempferol 3-gentiobioside (8) and isorhamnetin (9) were isolated from the methanolic extract using bioactivity-guided fractionation. Among them, compounds 1–4, 6 and 7 showed significant inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in BV2 microglia at the concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 100.0 μM.     

Exosomes Derived from Mesenchymal Stem Cells Suppress Angiogenesis by Down-Regulating VEGF Expression in Breast Cancer Cells

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles released by a variety of cell types. Exosomes contain genetic materials, such as mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs), implying that they may play a pivotal role in cell-to-cell communication. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which potentially differentiate into multiple cell types, can migrate to the tumor sites and have been reported to exert complex effects on tumor progression. To elucidate the role of MSCs within the tumor microenvironment, previous studies have suggested various mechanisms such as immune modulation and secreted factors of MSCs. However, the paracrine effects of MSC-derived exosomes on the tumor microenvironment remain to be explored. The hypothesis of this study was that MSC-derived exosomes might reprogram tumor behavior by transferring their molecular contents. To test this hypothesis, exosomes from MSCs were isolated and characterized. MSC-derived exosomes exhibited different protein and RNA profiles compared with their donor cells and these vesicles could be internalized by breast cancer cells. The results demonstrated that MSC-derived exosomes significantly down-regulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in tumor cells, which lead to inhibition of angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, miR-16, a miRNA known to target VEGF, was enriched in MSC-derived exosomes and it was partially responsible for the anti-angiogenic effect of MSC-derived exosomes. The collective results suggest that MSC-derived exosomes may serve as a significant mediator of cell-to-cell communication within the tumor microenvironment and suppress angiogenesis by transferring anti-angiogenic molecules.     

Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 3 Regulates Activity-Dependent Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis

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Highlights? Wnt inhibitor sFRP3 exhibits activity-dependent expression in the adult hippocampus ? sFRP3 maintains quiescence of adult hippocampal radial glia-like neural stem cells ? sFRP3 inhibits maturation, dendritic development, and spinal formation of new neurons ? sFRP3 partially mediates activity-dependent adult hippocampal neurogenesis     

Tumor-infiltrating PD1-Positive Lymphocytes and FoxP3-Positive Regulatory T Cells Predict Distant Metastatic Relapse and Survival of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CRCC) is the most common malignant tumor of the kidney, and the clinical outcome of CRCC is related with the metastatic potential of CRCC. A significant proportion of metastatic CRCC remains incurable. Recently, immunotherapy against specific targets such as programmed death 1 (PD1) has been adapted for fatal cases of CRCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential of tumor-infiltrating PD1-positive lymphocytes or FoxP3-positive regulatory T cells (Tregs) as predictors of the metastatic potential or prognosis of CRCC and investigate possible correlations with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in 199 cases of CRCC. RESULTS: PD1 positivity, high Treg number, and EBV infection all predicted poor overall survival (OS) by univariate analysis. PD1 positivity and high Treg numbers were also significantly correlated with more distant metastatic relapse (DMR) and poor relapse-free survival (RFS) by univariate analysis. PD1 positivity and high Treg number were independent prognostic indicators for OS. In addition, PD1 positivity was an independent predictor of RFS and DMR. EBV infection was an independent predictor of OS of CRCC. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that intratumoral infiltration of PD1-positive or FoxP3-positive lymphocytes can be used as significant prognostic indicators of CRCC and PD1 positivity could be very helpful in the prediction of latent distant metastasis of CRCCs. Therefore, evaluation of the infiltration of PD-positive cells or Tregs in CRCC may be useful diagnostic tools for the selection of patients who could benefit from PD1- or Treg-based immunotherapy.     

Expression of DBC1 and Androgen Receptor Predict Poor Prognosis in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

BACKGROUND: Recently, deleted in breast cancer 1 (DBC1) has been suggested as a poor prognostic indicator of various human cancers and may possibly have a role as a coactivator of androgen receptor (AR). However, their roles in lymphoma are still unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated the effect of the expression of DBC1 and AR in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Immunohistochemical expression of DBC1 and AR were evaluated in 101 DLBCL samples by tissue microarray. RESULTS: Positive expression of DBC1 and AR was seen in 73% and 70% of DLBCL, respectively. In total DLBCL patients, DBC1 and AR expression were significantly associated with high clinical stage, elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase levels, and high international prognostic index scores, and they predicted shorter overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) by univariate analysis. DBC1 expression was also an independent prognostic indicator by multivariate analysis (OS, P = .017; RFS, P = .004). Especially, both DBC1 and AR expression significantly correlated with shorter OS and RFS in non-germinal center B cell (non-GCB)-type DLBCL by univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, DBC1 expression was an independent prognostic predictor for OS (P = .035) and AR expression significantly correlated with RFS (P = .005). CONCLUSION: We demonstrate that the expression of DBC1 and AR are significant prognostic indicators for DLBCL patients, especially for unfavorable non-GCB-type DLBCL.