5-Benzylidene-2,4-thiazolidenedione derivatives: Design,synthesis and evaluation as inhibitors of angiogenesis targeting VEGR-2

A series of novel 5-benzylidene-2,4-thiazolidinediones were designed as inhibitors of angiogenesis targeting VEGFR-2. In docking study, molecules showed similar way of binding with VEGFR-2 as that of the co-crystallized ligand. Compounds were then synthesized, purified and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. Compounds 3f and 3i were found to be most active in the series showing good inhibition of angiogenesis in both CAM and in zebrafish embryo assays. Compound 3i also exhibited IC₅₀ of 0.5 μM against VEGFR-2.     

CAM activity and day/night changes in the ultrastructure of stem chlorenchyma of Cissus quadrangularis L. as influenced by drought

Abstract Stem chlorenchymatous cells from well-watered and water-stressed plants of Cissus quadrangularis L. were examined to evaluate the effect of drying on cell structure and metabolism. At a stem relative water content as low as 52-58%, cellular integrity was maintained, but some qualitative and quantitative alterations occurred. Chlorophyll coment was higher in stressed plants, and the intact photosynthetic apparatus exhibited an increased degree of thylakoid stacking paralleled by a lower chlorophyll a/h ratio. Overnight malate accumulation was very low. Starch was retained but its day/night fluctuation was practically suppressed. Plastosomes were smaller and fewer, and the range of their daily fluctuation was very reduced. Vacuoles underwent fragmentation and accumulated osmiophilic deposits. The maintenance of the cellular integrity accounts for the ability of C. quadrangularis to recover rapidly from water stress.     

The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane as an in vivo experimental model to study human neuroblastoma

The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) has long been a favored system for the study of tumor angiogenesis because at the stage of development when generally tumor grafts are placed (6–10 days of incubation), the chick’s immunocompetent system is not fully developed and the conditions for rejection have not yet been established. All studies for mammalian neoplasms, including neuroblastoma, have used tumor cell lines, tumor bioptic specimens, cell suspensions derived from tumors, and mouse tumor xenografts bioptic specimens. CAM can also be used to study the effects of antiangiogenic molecules on tumor cell suspensions of tumor bioptic specimens. This review article summarizes and discusses the literature data on the use of the CAM as an in vivo experimental model to study human neuroblastoma.     

计算机辅助设计与制作（CAD—CAM）在口腔科的应用

CAD—CAM在口腔临床上的应用,尤其在口腔修复科全瓷冠、套筒冠的修复以及口腔种植领域的应用,提高了修复体的制作效率和质量。该文就CAD—CAM在口腔修复中的应用新进展作一综述。     

Electronic Circular Dichroism of Chiral Alkenes: B3LYP and CAM‐B3LYP Calculations

Time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) are widely used to determine absolute configurations (ACs) of chiral molecules. Two very popular DFT exchange‐correlation functionals, one hybrid (B3LYP) and one long‐range corrected (CAM‐B3LYP), along with a hierarchical sequence of basis sets were investigated, and the ECD spectra predicted for eight alkenes and compared to gas‐phase experimental spectra. Little variation in predicted ECD spectra was found with the basis set size enlargement, but the sensitivity to the functional is greater. Good agreement was obtained only with the CAM‐B3LYP functional, leading to the conclusion that TDDFT calculations of ECD spectra can routinely provide reliable ACs if and only if an appropriate functional is used. For camphene, twistene, syn‐(E)‐bisfenchylidene, and phyllocladene, solvent effects were estimated. Chirality 27:23–31, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The In Ovo Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) Assay as an Efficient Xenograft Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) begins to develop by day 7 after fertilization and matures by day 12. The CAM is naturally immunodeficient and highly vascularized, making it an ideal system for tumor implantation. Furthermore, the CAM contains extracellular matrix proteins such as fibronectin, laminin, collagen, integrin alpha(v)beta3, and MMP-2, making it an attractive model to study tumor invasion and metastasis. Scientists have long taken advantage of the physiology of the CAM by using it as a model of angiogenesis. More recently, the CAM assay has been modified to work as an in vivo xenograft model system for various cancers that bridges the gap between basic in vitro work and more complex animal cancer models. The CAM assay allows for the study of tumor growth, anti-tumor therapies, and pro-tumor molecular pathways in a biologically relevant system that is both cost- and time-effective. Here, we describe the development of CAM xenograft model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with embryonic survival rates of up to 93% and reliable tumor take leading to growth of three-dimensional, vascularized tumors.     

Elevated invasive potential of glioblastoma stem cells

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most lethal and common types of primary brain tumors. The hallmark of GBMs is their highly infiltrative nature. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the aggressive cancer invasion in GBMs are poorly understood. GBM displays remarkable cellular heterogeneity and hierarchy containing self-renewing glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). Whether GSCs are more invasive than non-stem tumor cells and contribute to the invasive phenotype in GBMs has not been determined. Here we provide experimental evidence supporting that GSCs derived from GBM surgical specimens or xenografts display greater invasive potential in vitro and in vivo than matched non-stem tumor cells. Furthermore, we identified several invasion-associated proteins that were differentially expressed in GSCs relative to non-stem tumor cells. One of such proteins is L1CAM, a cell surface molecule shown to be critical to maintain GSC tumorigenic potential in our previous study. Immunohistochemical staining showed that L1CAM is highly expressed in a population of cancer cells in the invasive fronts of primary GBMs. Collectively, these data demonstrate the invasive nature of GSCs, suggesting that disrupting GSCs through a specific target such as L1CAM may reduce GBM cancer invasion and tumor recurrence.     

Potent angiogenic inhibition effects of deacetylated chitohexaose separated from chitooligosaccharides and its mechanism of action in vitro

This study was performed to demonstrate the effects of deacetylated chitohexaose (hexamer) separated from a chitooligosaccharide (COS) mixture on tumor angiogenesis and its mechanism of action. Five fractions from dimer to hexamer were separated by a linear gradient solution of HCl on a cation-exchange resin. Then HCl was removed from the fractions by a charcoal column. The purity of the five fractions was analyzed by HPLC and the molecular masses were analyzed by MALDI-TOFMS. The hexamer expressed an inhibitory influence on CAM angiogenesis in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations of 6.25-50 μg/egg. On further investigation, we found that the hexamer had no toxic effect on normal ECV304 cells, but could inhibit the proliferation and migration of tumor-induced ECV304 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The mechanism was demonstrated through the detection of mRNA expression of VEGF, MMP-9, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and uPA by RT-PCR, which showed that the hexamer down-regulated the VEGF and uPA mRNA expressions in ECV304 cells, but up-regulated the TIMP-1 mRNA expression.