Apoptosis in HepaRG and HL-7702 cells inducted by polyphyllin II through caspases activation and cell-cycle arrest

Rhizoma Paridis, a traditional Chinese medicine, has shown promise in cancer prevention and therapy. Polyphyllin II is one of the most significant saponins in Rhizoma Paridis and it has toxic effects on kinds of cancer cells. However, our results in this study proved that the polyphyllin II has hepatotoxicity in vitro through caspases activation and cell-cycle arrest. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide results indicated polyphyllin II inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis in HepaRG cells and HL-7702 cells and showed a concentration and time-dependent. Then, we selected the innovative cell model-HepaRG cells to explore the mechanism of hepatotoxicity. Our data showed the reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased and the mitochondrial membrane potential decreased in HepaRG cells after administration of polyphyllin II. Besides, with the increase of concentration, the release of lactate dehydrogenase increased and the S phase of the cell cycle was arrested. Nevertheless, when pretreatment with antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, apoptotic cells decreased significantly, inhibited the production of ROS and improved the decrease of membrane potential in HepaRG cells. Moreover, polyphyllin II treatment increased levels of Fas, Bax, cytochrome c, activated caspase-3, -8, -9, cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and decreased Bcl-2 expression levels. Finally, we identified two signal pathways of apoptosis induced by polyphyllin II including the death receptor pathway and the mitochondria pathway. This study confirmed the hepatotoxicity of the polyphyllin II in vitro, which has never been discovered and gave a wake-up call for the clinical application of Rhizoma Paridis.     

p53 Represses the Mevalonate Pathway to Mediate Tumor Suppression

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Mechanical understanding of hunting waves generated by killer whales

The wave wash hunting employed by Orcinus orca, also known as killer whales, is unique in that the prey is hunted outside of the water by generating waves. To quantitatively analyze the specific mechanism of the wave wash, data were obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and wave theory was introduced as the theoretical background to clarify the mechanism. The relationships between the swimming characteristics and wave parameters are defined in this paper. The results obtained by numerical investigation revealed that the wavelength increased with the swimming speed. Additionally, the wave height increased as the swimming speed increased and the swimming depth became shallower, and subsequently converged to a maximum of 2.42 m. The success of hunting is determined by two wave parameters, which indicate the intensity of the wave wash: the wave height and force exerted on the prey. The metabolic rate and the drag force are considered to evaluate the efficiency of the locomotion, which varied according to the swimming speed (V) and swimming depth (d) of the whales. To generate hunting waves efficiently, the optimal ranges of V and d were estimated to be 3 ~ 5 m/s and 0.5 m ~ 1.1 m respectively.     

Exogenous 24-Epibrassinolide Alleviates Effects of Salt Stress on Chloroplasts and Photosynthesis in Robinia pseudoacacia L. Seedlings

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - The brassinosteroids (BRs) constitute a recently defined class of plant hormone that can enhance the resistance of plants to multiple stresses. However, the...     

Mechanically stimulated osteocytes reduce the bone-metastatic potential of breast cancer cells in vitro by signaling through endothelial cells

Bone metastases occur in 65% to 75% of patients with advanced breast cancer and significantly worsen their survival and quality of life. We previously showed that conditioned medium (CM) from osteocytes stimulated with oscillatory fluid flow, mimicking bone mechanical loading during routine physical activities, reduced the transendothelial migration of breast cancer cells. Endothelial cells are situated at an ideal location to mediate signals between osteocytes in the bone matrix and metastasizing cancer cells in the blood vessels. In this study, we investigated the specific effects of flow-stimulated osteocytes on the interaction between endothelial cells and breast cancer cells in vitro. We observed that CM from flow-stimulated osteocytes reduced endothelial permeability by 15% and breast cancer cell adhesion onto endothelial monolayers by 18%. The difference in adhesion was abolished with anti-intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) neutralizing antibodies. Furthermore, CM from endothelial cells conditioned in CM from flow-stimulated osteocytes significantly altered the gene expression in bone-metastatic breast cancer cells, as shown by RNA sequencing. Specifically, breast cancer cell expression of matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) was downregulated by 62%, and frizzled-4 (FZD4) by 61%, when the osteocytes were stimulated with flow. The invasion of these breast cancer cells across Matrigel was also reduced by 47%, and this difference was abolished by MMP-9 inhibitors. In conclusion, we demonstrated that flow-stimulated osteocytes downregulate the bone-metastatic potential of breast cancer cells by signaling through endothelial cells. This provides insights into the capability of bone mechanical regulation in preventing bone metastases; and may assist in prescribing exercise or bone-loading regimens to patients with breast cancers.     

Design,synthesis, and biological evaluation of arylmethylpiperidines as Kv1.5 potassium channel inhibitors

Kv1.5 potassium channel, encoded by KCNA5, is a promising target for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, one of the common arrhythmia. A new series of arylmethylpiperidines derivatives based on DDO-02001 were synthesised and evaluated for their ability to inhibit Kv1.5 channel. Among them, compound DDO-02005 showed good inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ = 0.72 μM), preferable anti-arrhythmic effects and favoured safety. These results indicate that DDO-02005 can be a promising Kv1.5 inhibitor for further studies.Key Words: Kv1.5 inhibitors, atrial fibrillation, anti-arrhythmia     

Reduced M2 macrophages and adventitia collagen dampen the structural integrity of blood blister–like aneurysms and induce preoperative rerupture

ObjectiveBlood blister–like aneurysms (BBAs) are extremely rare aneurysms. They are predisposed to preoperative rerupture with a high case‐fatality rate. Here, we attempt to interrogate the distinct clinicopathology and the histological basis underlying its clinical rerupture.MethodsThree middle meningeal arteries, 11 BBA (5 reruptured, 6 non‐rerupture) and 19 saccular aneurysm samples were obtained for histopathological investigation. Three reruptured BBAs, 3 non‐reruptured BBAs and 6 saccular (3 ruptured, 3 unruptured) aneurysms were obtained for quantitative flow cytometry analysis.ResultsCompared with true saccular aneurysms, the BBA aneurysm wall lacks arterial stroma cells including CD31+ endothelial cells and α‐SMA + smooth muscle cells. Only fibroblasts and adventitial collagen were observed in the BBA aneurysm wall. Meanwhile, BBAs were enriched with infiltrated inflammatory cells, especially polarized macrophages. Based on the rerupture status, those reruptured BBAs showed drastically reduced fibroblasts and adventitia collagen. Moreover, M2‐polarized macrophages were observed dominant in BBAs and exhibit repairing cellular functions based on their interplays with arterial fibroblasts. Reduced M2 macrophages and arterial tissue repairing modulation may be responsible for the decreasing collagen synthesis and fibrosis repairment, which potentially dampens the aneurysm integrity and induces BBA aneurysm reruputre.ConclusionsBBAs poses histopathological features of occult pseudoaneurysms or dissecting aneurysms. Reduced M2 macrophages and adventitia collagen may dampen the structural integrity of BBAs and induce preoperative rerupture.