Therapeutic potential of α,β‐thujone through metabolic reprogramming and caspase‐dependent apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells

The therapeutic potential of α,β‐thujone, a functional compound found in many medicinal plants of the Cupressaceae, Asteraceae, and Lamiaceae families, has been demonstrated, including in inflammation and cancers. However, its pharmacological functions and mechanisms of action in ovarian cancer remain unclear. We investigated the anticancer properties of α,β‐thujone in ES2 and OV90 human ovarian cancer cells and its effect on sensitization to cisplatin. α,β‐thujone inhibited cancer cell proliferation and induced cell death through caspase‐dependent intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Moreover, α,β‐thujone‐mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress was associated with the loss of mitochondrial functions and altered metabolic landscape of ovarian cancer cells. α,β‐Thujone attenuated blood vessel formation in transgenic zebrafish, implying it has significant antiangiogenic potential. In addition, α,β‐thujone sensitized ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin, causing synergistic pharmacological effects. Collectively, our results suggest that α,β‐thujone has therapeutic potential in human ovarian cancer and functions via regulating multiple intracellular stress‐associated metabolic reprogramming and caspase‐dependent apoptotic pathways.     

Ganglioside GM3 modulates conformation of reconstituted Ca~(2 ) -ATPase

Using steady-state fluorescence and nanosecond time-resolved fluorescence techniques, the Ca 2 -ATPase conformational changes induced by ganglioside GM3 were studied with different quenchers. The results showed that GM3 could significantly increase the lifetime of intrinsic fluorescence of Ca2 -ATPase reconstituted into proteoliposomes, and could also weaken the intrinsic fluorescence quenching by KI or hypocrellin B, HB. Further-more, by using quenching kinetic analysis of the time-resolved fluorescence, in the presence of GM3, the quenching constant (Ksv) and quenching efficiency were significantly lowered. The obtained results suggest that the oligosaccha-ride chain and the ceramide moieties of the GM3 molecule could interact with its counterparts of the Ca2 -ATPase re-spectively, thus change the conformation of the hydrophobic domain of the enzyme, making the tryptophan residues in different regions shift towards the hydrophilic-hydrophobic interface, and hence shorten the distance between the hy     

The sweet and bitter sides of galectins in melanoma progression

Melanoma is the leading cause of skin cancer-related deaths, which is due in large part to its aggressive behavior, resistance to therapy, and ability to metastasize to multiple organs such as the lymph nodes, lung, and brain. Melanoma progresses in a stepwise manner from the benign nevus, to radial spreading through the dermis, to a vertical invasive phase, and finally to metastasis. The carbohydrate-binding family of galectins has a strong influence on each phase of melanoma progression through their effects on immune surveillance, angiogenesis, cell migration, tumor cell adhesion, and the cellular response to chemotherapy. Galectins share significant homology in their carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD), which mediates binding to an array of N-glycosylated proteins located on the surface of tumor cells, endothelial cells, T-cells, and to similarly glycosylated extracellular matrix proteins. Galectins are also present within tumor cells where they perform anti-apoptotic functions and enhance intracellular signaling that results in deregulated expression of genes involved in tumor progression. The most extensively studied galectins, galectin-1 and galectin-3, have been shown to have profound effects on melanoma growth and metastasis by influencing many of these biological processes.     

Evolution of a recombinant (gucoamylase-producing) strain of Fusarium venenatum A3/5 in chemostat culture

Fusarium venenatum JeRS 325 is a transformant of strain A3/5 which produces Aspergillus niger glucoamylase (GAM) under the control of a Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease promoter. The evolution of JeRS 325 was studied in glucose-limited chemostat cultures grown on NaNO3 or (NH4)2SO4 as the nitrogen source. Thirteen mutants which were more highly branched and four mutants which were more sparsely branched than the parental strain were isolated from the NaNO3 chemostat. The highly branched mutants detected in this chemostat did not displace the sparsely branched population. The mutants isolated from the NaNO3 chemostat complemented representative strains previously isolated from glucose-limited chemostat cultures of F. venenatum A3/5 grown on (NH4)2SO4, but showed little complementation between themselves. By contrast, a highly branched mutant isolated from the (NH4)2SO4 chemostat culture displaced the sparsely branched mycelial population. None of the mutants isolated from the NaNO3 or (NH4)2SO4 chemostats produced as much GAM as JeRS 325. Southern blot analysis showed that all except one mutant had lost copies of both the glucoamylase and the acetamidase (the selectable marker) genes. However, specific GAM production was not necessarily correlated with the extent of glaA gene loss observed. Further, 10 of the mutants had lost the ability to grow on acetamide as the sole nitrogen source, although they retained copies of the amdS gene. In competition studies, mutants which could not utilize acetamide displaced mutants which could. The presence of foreign DNA in JeRS 325 resulted in a reduced specific growth rate (compared to A3/5), but the presence of the foreign DNA did not prevent the evolution of the strain or the isolation of mutants which had improved growth rates.     

家蚕线粒体ND2、COⅠ和若干tRNA基因的克隆及序列分析

克隆并测定了家蚕（Bombyx mori）线粒体基因组3468bp的EcoRⅠ和HindⅢ双酶一段序列,根据序列同源性比较,该DNA片段包括3个蛋白质编码基因：ND2基因、COⅠ基因和COⅡ基因5′端399bp的序列,以及6个tRNA基因和一个尚待确定的tRNA^Met基因。家蚕与果蝇的ND2基因序列同源性约69.7%,COⅠ基因的同源性约83.8%,COⅡ基因5′端的同源性约80％,这表明细胞色素氧化酶基因在物种间比烟酰胺腺漂呤二核苷酸脱氢酶基因保守,6个推定的tRNA基因序列与果蝇相应tRNA基因序列差异较大,另外,除tRNA^Chn基因的二级结构相似外,其它tRNA基因的二级结构与果蝇相应tRNA基因的二级结构也有较大差异。     

一个小麦低分子量谷蛋白基因的分离

以新疆小麦日喀则基因组DNA为模板,采用Glu-D3位点特异引物进行PCR扩增。PCR产物插入pUCm-T载体,转化感受态大肠杆菌E．coli DH5a,获得阳性克隆。经测序发现该插入片段长度1287bp,包括了部分启动子序列和完整的编码序列。编码序列推导的蛋白质含有8个半胱氨酸残基,属于6类LMW-GS中的TypeI类,为以后这类基因的功能研究提供了基因材料。     

药物筛选生物技术与抗细胞凋亡PI3K信号传导路径

细胞信号传导PI3K-Akt路径涉及细胞周期、再生、分化、衰老与凋亡的调控,采用高通量生物技术分析基因表达谱可用于抗肿瘤或抗衰老的基因与药物筛选.化学诱变剂甲磺酸乙酯(ethlmethane sulformate, EMS)处理CHO细胞,筛选到抗10 μM、20 μM浓度lovastatin的E10、E20突变细胞系,将E10细胞再经诱变剂EMS处理,筛选到抗70 μM浓度lovastatin的ZE70细胞系.Igf-2刺激基因突变的肌肉萎缩小鼠肌肉细胞系,Western免疫杂交试验结果显示,PI3K-Akt路径的Akt蛋白质磷酸化功能正常.生长因子Igf-2刺激肌肉细胞系C2C12的cDNA基因芯片实验表明,促细胞再生、分化相关的基因表达上调,细胞凋亡相关的基因表达下调.细胞的基因突变,激素、Igf-2等生长因子刺激,往往是肿瘤发生的病因;但是,Igf-2等可用于抗肌肉萎缩疾病,以及抗细胞凋亡与衰老的药物筛选.     

人HAS3启动子的结构与功能初步分析

透明质酸合酶3（hyaluronan synthase 3,HAS3）,是一个参与透明质酸合成的酶分子,在上皮形成和肿瘤转移等过程中起重要作用.为了进一步研究HAS3基因的转录调控机制,本研究克隆鉴定了HAS3基因的启动子.首先应用5′RACE（rapid amplification of cDNA ends,cDNA末端快速扩增）技术鉴定了HAS3基因的转录起始位点,发现了丰度和转录起始位点不同的两种新的HAS3基因剪接变异体.通过PCR定向克隆策略,构建了覆盖HAS3基因5′端侧翼区起始密码子ATG上游约4.3 kb区域的一系列HAS3基因启动子荧光素酶报告基因重组体.启动子活性分析表明,HAS3基因启动子定位于转录起始位点附近约450 bp的区域内.转录因子结合位点分析表明,HAS3基因启动子缺乏典型的TATA盒,但含有典型的GC盒以及C/EBP等其它潜在的转录因子结合位点. 结果提示,Sp1和C/EBP等转录因子可能参与HAS3基因的转录调控.