Increased invasiveness of osteosarcoma mesenchymal stem cells induced by bone-morphogenetic protein-2

To evaluate the different traits of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) isolated from osteosarcoma (OS) and normal bone marrow (BM) induced by bone-morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). MSCs from implanted osteosarcoma or femur bone marrow were isolated and cultured. Differentiation potency was verified and phenotypes were evaluated by flow cytometry. Increased or decreased expressions of BMP-2 were delivered by adenovirus and lentivirus vector, respectively. Expressions of VEGF, EMMPRIN, and MMP-9 were examined. Cell cycle, apoptosis, invasiveness, and proliferation assays were performed between the transfected groups and controls. Increased BMP-2 induced over-expression of VEGF, EMMPRIN, and MMP-9 in OS- and BM-MSCs both intra- and extra-cellularly. Decreased BMP-2 expression induced inhibition of the factors. Increased BMP-2 also induced less population of cells at G1 phase, more apoptotic cells, more cells that invade through Transwell membrane, and faster proliferation in OSMSC compared to those in BMMSC. BMP-2 induced higher expression of tumorigenic factors, which could be responsible for promoting the proliferation and aggressiveness of OSMSC over BMMSC.     

MMP13 is a critical target gene during the progression of osteoarthritis

Introduction

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease affecting a large population of people. The mechanism of this highly prevalent disease is not fully understood. Currently there is no effective disease-modifying treatment for OA. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to investigate the role of MMP13 in the development of OA; and 2) to evaluate the efficacy of the MMP13 inhibitor CL82198 as a pharmacologic treatment for preventing OA progression.

Methods

To investigate the role of the endogenous Mmp13 gene in OA development, tamoxifen was administered to two-week-old Col2CreER;Mmp13^fx/fx (Mmp13^Col2ER) and Cre-negative control mice for five days. OA was induced by meniscal-ligamentous injury (MLI) when the mice were 10 weeks old and MLI or sham-operated joints were harvested 4, 8, 12, or 16 weeks after surgery. To evaluate the efficacy of CL82198, MLI surgery was performed on 10-week-old wild type mice. CL82198 or saline was administered to the mice daily beginning immediately after the surgery for up to 16 weeks. The joint tissues collected from both experiments were evaluated by cartilage grading, histology/histomorphometry, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. The ability of CL82198 to inhibit MMP13 activity in vitro was confirmed by ELISA.

Results

The OA progression was decelerated in Mmp13^Col2ER mice 8, 12, and 16 weeks post-surgery. Cartilage grading by blinded observers confirmed decreased articular cartilage degeneration in Mmp13^Col2ER mice at 8, 12 and 16 weeks compared to Cre-negative mice. Histomorphometric analysis demonstrated that Mmp13^Col2ER mice had a higher articular cartilage area and thickness at 12 and 16 weeks post-surgery compared to the control mice. Results of IHC revealed greater type II collagen and proteoglycan expression in Mmp13^Col2ER mice. Chondrocyte apoptosis, as determined by TUNEL staining, was higher in control mice compared to Mmp13^Col2ER mice. CL82198 inhibited MMP13 activity in conditioned media from vehicle (> 85%) or bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2)-treated (> 90%) primary murine sternal chondrocytes. Intraperitoneal injection of CL82198 decelerated MLI-induced OA progression, increased type II collagen and proteoglycan levels, and inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis compared to saline treatment as determined by OA grading, histology, histomorphometry, IHC, and TUNEL staining, respectively.

Conclusions

Mmp13 is critical for OA progression and pharmacologic inhibition of MMP13 is an effective strategy to decelerate articular cartilage loss in a murine model of injury-induced knee OA.     

pH值对微生物燃料电池处理生物废弃物的影响

以生物废弃物为底物,采用双室微生物燃料电池对生物废弃物进行处理,研究阳极液初始pH值对生物废弃物CODcr、TOC去除率的影响,以及对微生物燃料电池产电性能影响。实验结果表明,当阳极液pH值为6时,CODcr去除率达72.1%,TOC的去除率达44.5%,其输出电压最大为1.27 V,平均电压797 mV,最大功率密度达到136.6 mW/m2。     

江苏省县域森林生态安全评价及空间计量分析

通过考察生态区位因素对森林生态安全的影响,建立评价指标体系,研究其空间相关性的内在效应机制,从而实现森林生态安全的评价与监测。以江苏省80个区县为研究对象,基于2000—2015年面板数据,运用熵权法、专家法及模糊物元法计算森林生态安全指数,然后结合气象类指标及地形类指标计算生态区位系数,再用该系数修正森林ESI,同时结合Arc GIS技术、空间相关性分析、SLM与SEM模型得出如下结论:(1)人口密度、单位面积能源消耗量、退耕还林面积占比等指标权重最大;(2)生态区位系数高值区主要分布在江苏南部少数地区,低值区主要分布在江苏东北部;(3)苏南地区森林生态安全状况整体好于苏北及中东部地区;(4) 2000—2015年,江苏省67.5%的区县森林ESI呈现出较明显下降趋势,反映出江苏省森林生态安全发展状况不容乐观;(5)江苏省县域森林ESI整体空间相关性显著(P≤0.01),但2000—2015年空间聚集程度有所下降,且Low-Low聚类显著性更强;(6)森林ESI在江苏省县域间为扩散效应与回流效应并存。     

地黄SCoT分子标记体系的建立和指纹图谱的构建

该研究采用L_(25)(5~6)正交设计和单因素两种方法,对影响地黄SCoT-PCR反应的5个因素(模板DNA浓度,引物浓度,ddH_2O和Mix的用量以及退火温度)进行了优化。结果表明:优化后的反应体系总体积为25μL,含有8μL ddH_2O,1μL模板DNA(80 ng·μL~(-1)),1μL引物(8μmol·L~(-1))和15μL Mix,退火温度为45℃。运用30份地黄种质材料,对优化的SCoT-PCR正交体系进行多次重复验证,获得了多态性丰富、条带清晰的扩增图谱,证明该反应体系稳定可靠。利用该体系对32条SCoT引物进行两次筛选,得到14个扩增产物清晰、重复性好且多态性条带相对较高的引物。利用SCoT_4等5条引物构建了上述地黄2个种共30份种质的SCoT指纹图谱。利用这5个SCoT引物指纹图谱可将7个地黄常用栽培品种区分开。这表明SCoT分子标记体系适用于地黄主要品种亲缘关系及遗传多样性的研究,所构建的指纹图谱也为地黄常见的7个栽培品种的区分提供参考依据。     

Seco-4-methyl-DCK derivatives as potent chemosensitizers

Twenty-five seco-4-methyl-DCK derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for chemoreversal activity when combined with paclitaxel or vincristine in two drug-resistant cancer cell lines (A2780/T and KB-V) respectively. Most of the new compounds displayed moderate to significant MDR reversal activities in the P-gp overexpressing A2780/T and KB-V cells. Especially, compounds 7o and 7y showed the most potent chemosensitization activities with more than 496 and 735 reversal ratios at a concentration of 10?μM. Unexpectedly the newly synthesized compounds did not show chemosensitization activities observed in a non-P-gp overexpressing cisplatin resistant human ovarian cancer cell line (A2780/CDDP), implying that the MDR reversal effects might be associated with P-gp overexpression. Moreover, these compounds did not exhibit significant antiproliferative activities against nontumorigenic cell lines (HUVEC, HOSEC and T29) compared to the positive control verapamil at the tested concentration, which suggested better safety than verapamil. The pharmacological actions of the compounds will be studied further to explore their merit for development as novel candidates to overcome P-gp mediated MDR cancer.