A STIMulating journey into optogenetic engineering

Genetically-encoded calcium actuators (GECAs) stemmed from STIM1 have enabled optical activation of endogenous ORAI1 channels in both excitable and non-excitable tissues. These GECAs offer new non-invasive means to probe the structure-function relations of calcium channels and wirelessly control the behavior of awake mice.     

Emerging roles of HOTAIR in human cancer

Long noncoding RNA HOX antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is overexpressed in many types of cancers, and substantial evidence has suggested a link between cancers and HOTAIR. In the present study, we reviewed the structure and the corresponding biologic function of HOTAIR to clarify its molecular mechanism in cancer progression. HOTAIR promotes proliferation, invasion, and migration, and inhibits apoptosis in cancer cells. HOTAIR also participates in the pathogenesis and progression of cancer by regulating inflammation and immune signaling. These findings suggested that HOTAIR is a novel biomarker in human cancers.     

A large set of estrogen receptor β-interacting proteins identified by tandem affinity purification in hormone-responsive human breast cancer cell nuclei

Estrogen receptors α (ER-α) and β (ER-β) play distinct biological roles in onset and progression of hormone-responsive breast cancer, with ER-β exerting a modulatory activity on ER-α-mediated estrogen signaling and stimulation of cell proliferation by mechanisms still not fully understood. We stably expressed human ER-β fused to a tandem affinity purification-tag in estrogen-responsive MCF-7 cells and applied tandem affinity purification and nanoLC-MS/MS to identify the ER-β interactome of this cell type. Functional annotation by bioinformatics analyses of the 303 proteins that co-purify with ER-β from nuclear extracts identify several new molecular partners of this receptor subtype that represents nodal points of a large protein network controlling multiple processes and functions in breast cancer cells.     

基于对JNK信号通路的调控探讨齐墩果酸对食管癌细胞凋亡的影响

摘要 目的：本研究通过对JNK信号通路的调控来探讨齐墩果酸( oleanolic acid,OA) 对食管癌细胞凋亡的影响。方法：对食管癌细胞EC109进行培养,以MTT法分析不同浓度齐墩果酸对食管癌细胞EC109的生长抑制作用,采用流式细胞术考察齐墩果酸对EC109细胞凋亡的影响,以Western blot实验检测JNK通路蛋白的表达情况。结果：不同浓度齐墩果酸作用Eca109细胞48 h后,均有显著的抑制作用（P<0.05）,且随着齐墩果酸浓度的增加,对Eca109的抑制作用逐渐增强。与对照组相比,各浓度OA组的Eca109细胞的凋亡率分别为8.03±0.34 %,12.82±0.28 %,19.34±0.79 %和32.21±0.81 %,均显著增加（P<0.05）,且随着OA浓度的增加,细胞凋亡率显著升高。与对照组相比,不同浓度OA组的P-JNK、Bak、Bax表达量均显著升高（P<0.05）,Bcl-2表达量显著降低（P<0.05）,JNK表达量无显著差异（P>0.05）,对OA组(1.2 mmol/L)相比,OA组(2.4 mmol/L) Bak、Bax表达量均显著升高（P<0.05）,Bcl-2表达量显著降低（P<0.05）,P-JNK、JNK表达量无显著差异（P>0.05）。结论：齐墩果酸能通过对JNK信号通路的调控促进食管癌细胞的凋亡,且随着浓度的增强,细胞凋亡率显著升高。     

C. elegans Eats Its Own Intestine to Make Yolk Leading to Multiple Senescent Pathologies

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A role for acetylcholine receptors in their own aggregation on muscle cells

Both neurotrophic factors and activity regulate synaptogenesis. At neuromuscular synapses, the neural factor agrin released from motor neuron terminals stimulates postsynaptic specialization by way of the muscle specific kinase MuSK. In addition, activity through acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) has been implicated in the stabilization of pre- and postsynaptic contacts on muscle at various stages of development. We show here that activation of AChRs with specific concentrations of nicotine is sufficient to induce AChR aggregation and that this induction requires the function of L-type calcium channels (L-CaChs). Furthermore, AChR function is required for agrin induced AChR aggregation in C2 muscle cells. The same concentrations of nicotine did not induce observable tyrosine phosphorylation on either MuSK or the AChR beta subunit, suggesting significant differences between the mechanisms of agrin and activity induced aggregation. The AChR/L-CaCh pathway provides a mechanism by which neuromuscular signal transmission can act in concert with the agrin-MuSK signaling cascade to regulate NMJ formation.