A FOXM1-Targeted Peptide Overcomes 5-Fluorouracil Resistance via Modulating ABC Transporters in Liver Cancer HepG2 Cells

Drug resistance largely limits the efficacy and efficiency of chemotherapeutics, which is a first-line treatment for liver cancer, consequently triggering a complete failure in clinical application. There are numerous attempts in exploring potential strategies for avoiding drug resistance, but none of them has effectively addressed this problem. Therefore, novel molecular targets and agents proposed for addressing drug resistance are needed. This study established 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu)-resistant HepG2 cells (HepG2/R) and showed that a FOXM1-targeted peptide, P201, reactivated 5-Fu to attenuate HepG2/R cell viability, proliferation, migration and promote apoptosis. Moreover, both pharmacological studies and RNA genomic sequencing results uncovered that combination of P201 and 5-Fu notably decreased expressions of FOXM1, MDR1 and ABCG2 compared to 5-Fu alone, indicating P201 overcame 5-Fu resistance mainly through inhibiting FOXM1 and ABC transporters. Therefore, P201 could inhibit ABC transporters by targeting FOXM1 in HepG-2/R cells, overcoming 5-Fu resistance and enhancing anti-cancer drug sensitivity. FOXM1 may be a new target for overcoming 5-Fu resistance in HepG2 cell while the combination treatment of P201 and 5-Fu may serve as a potential strategy for treating liver cancer.

     

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human tripronuclear zygotes

Genome editing tools such as the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated system (Cas) have been widely used to modify genes in model systems including animal zygotes and human cells, and hold tremendous promise for both basic research and clinical applications. To date, a serious knowledge gap remains in our understanding of DNA repair mechanisms in human early embryos, and in the efficiency and potential off-target effects of using technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 in human pre-implantation embryos. In this report, we used tripronuclear (3PN) zygotes to further investigate CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human cells. We found that CRISPR/Cas9 could effectively cleave the endogenous β-globin gene (HBB). However, the efficiency of homologous recombination directed repair (HDR) of HBB was low and the edited embryos were mosaic. Off-target cleavage was also apparent in these 3PN zygotes as revealed by the T7E1 assay and whole-exome sequencing. Furthermore, the endogenous delta-globin gene (HBD), which is homologous to HBB, competed with exogenous donor oligos to act as the repair template, leading to untoward mutations. Our data also indicated that repair of the HBB locus in these embryos occurred preferentially through the non-crossover HDR pathway. Taken together, our work highlights the pressing need to further improve the fidelity and specificity of the CRISPR/Cas9 platform, a prerequisite for any clinical applications of CRSIPR/Cas9-mediated editing.     

Promoting human embryonic stem cell renewal or differentiation by modulating Wnt signal and culture conditions

We previously showed that Wnt3a could stimulate human embryonic stem （hES） cell proliferation and affect cell fate determination. In the absence of feeder cell--derived factors, hES cells cultured under a feeder-free condition survived and proliferated poorly. Adding recombinant Wnt3a in the absence of feeder cell derived-factors stimulated hES cell proliferation but also differentiation. In the present study, we further extended our analysis to other Wnt ligands such as Wntl and Wnt5a. While Wntl displayed a similar effect on hES cells as Wnt3a, Wnt5a had little effect in this system. Wnt3a and Wntl enhanced proliferation of undifferentiated hES cells when feeder-derived self-renewal factors and bFGF are also present. To explore the possibility to promote the proliferation of undifferentiated hES cells by activating the Wnt signaling, we overexpressed Wnt3a or Wntl gene in immortalized human adult fibroblast （HAFi） cells that are superior in supporting long-term growth of undifferentiated hES cells than primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. HAFi cells with or without a Wnt tmnsgene can be propagated indefinitely. Over-expression of the Wnt3a gene significantly enhanced the ability of HAFi feeder cells to support the undifferentiated growth of 3 different hES cell lines we tested. Co-expression of three commonly-used drug selection genes in Wnt3a-overpressing HAFi cells further enabled us to select rare hES clones after stable transfection or transduction. These immortalized engineered feeder cells （W3R） that co-express growth-promoting genes such as Wnt3a and three drug selection genes should empower us to efficiently make genetic modified hES cell lines for basic and translational research.     

细菌荧光酶报告基因载体构建及在Hela细胞中的表达

采用ＰＣＲ点突变技术,构建含有细菌荧光酶融合ｌｕｘＡＢ报告基因的重组哺乳动物载体ｐｃＤＮＡ３－ｌｕｘＡＢ,脂质体ｌｉｐｏｆｅｃｔｉｎ转染和Ｇ４１８抗性筛选稳定转染的Ｈｅｌａ细胞。ＰＣＲ和酶切电泳证明构建的正确性;经稳定转染ｐｃＤＮＡ３－ｌｕｘＡＢ的Ｈｅｌａ细胞,用发光仪可测得较强的发光强度（最大值为４．１２ｍＶ／４０μｇ细胞总蛋白粗提物）。而亲本及ｐｃＤＮＡ３稳定转染的Ｈｅｌａ细胞则在本底值范围,ｐｃＤＮＡ３－ｌｕｘＡＢ稳定转染与亲本及ｐｃＤＮＡ３稳定转染的Ｈｅｌａ细胞在细胞形态和培养条件等方面无明显差异。本工作为细菌荧光酶作为报告基因在肿瘤细胞中的表达和应用建立了基础。     

Selection and Finding of Lead Peptides Dual-targeting MMP14 and Metal Ions by Subtractive Cell Surface Panning and Molecular Docking

Subtractive cell surface panning from phage random peptide library and molecular docking were used to select and find binding peptides dual-targeting MMP14 and metal ions on MG-63 cells. Phages were abundantly enriched and totally 22 different peptide sequences were obtained. We demonstrated that the affinity phage peptides were not only targeted to MMP14 but also had affinities for zinc and nickel ions. Four possible peptide consensus sequences were identified as: AHQ/_SLH/_P, L/_I/_EPLL/_I, T/Q/_DARH/_FQ, MK/_PSR. The representative peptides were found to dock well to MMP14 at the sites around aa. 120–125 which were also the catalytic region of zinc binding sites on MMP14 by MVD molecular docking. The selected monoclonal phages could efficiently bind to the MMP14 expressed MG-63 cells and this again confirmed the targeting binding of the peptides to MMP14. In vitro study revealed that the selected monoclonal phages could greatly inhibit the viability of MG-63 cells. Also, the four synthetic representative consensus peptides inhibited the viability of MG-63 and HepG2 cells at μg levels. The consensus sequences identified in our study were newly reported and relatively specific to MMP14 and this may be further used for MMP14 based peptide drug development and/or diagnostic analyses.     

Clinical Considerations of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis for Monogenic Diseases

Purpose

The aim of this study was to explore factors contribute to the success of PGD cycles for monogenic diseases.

Methods

During a 3-year period (January 2009 to December 2012), 184 consecutive ICSI-PGD cycles for monogenic diseases reaching the ovum pick-up and fresh embryo-transfer stage performed at the Reproductive Medicine Center of The First Affiliated Hospital Of Sun Yat-sen University were evaluated.

Results

ICSI was performed on 2206 metaphase II oocytes, and normal fertilization and cleavage rates were 83.4% (1840/2206) and 96.2% (1770/1840), respectively. In the present study, 60.5% (181/299) of day 3 good-quality embryos developed into good-quality embryos on day 4 after biopsy. Collectively, 42.9% clinical pregnancy rate (79/184) and 28.5% implantation rate (111/389) were presented. In the adjusted linear regression model, the only two significant factors affecting the number of genetically unaffected embryos were the number of biopsied embryos (coefficient: 0.390, 95%CI 0.317–0.463, P = 0.000) and basal FSH level (coefficient: 0.198, 95%CI 0.031–0.365, P = 0.021). In the adjusted binary logistic regression model, the only two significant factors affecting pregnancy outcome were the number of genetically available transferable embryos after PGD (adjusted OR 1.345, 95% CI 1.148–1.575, P = 0.000) and number of oocyte retrieved (adjusted OR 0.934, 95% CI 0.877–0.994, P = 0.031).

Conclusion

There should be at least four biopsied embryos to obtain at least one unaffected embryos in a PGD system for patients with single gene disorder and under the condition of basal FSH level smaller than 8.0mmol/L. Moreover, if only a low number (< 4) of biopsied embryos are available on day 3, the chance of unaffected embryos for transfer was small, with poor outcome.     

Solid-surface vitrification is an appropriate and convenient method for cryopreservation of isolated rat follicles

Background  

Cryopreservation of isolated follicles may be a potential option to restore fertility in young women with cancer, because it can prevent the risks of cancer transmission. Several freezing protocols are available, including slow-rate freezing, open-pulled straws vitrification (OPS) and solid-surface vitrification (SSV, a new freezing technique). The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of these freezing procedures on viability, ultrastructure and developmental capacity of isolated rat follicles.