ESM-1 silencing decreased cell survival,migration, and invasion and modulated cell cycle progression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Amino Acids - Endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 (ESM-1) is a secretory proteoglycan comprising a mature polypeptide of 165 amino acids and a single dermatan sulfate. The aim of this study was to...     

Endothelial Transient Receptor Potential Conical Channel (TRPC)-3 Activation Induces Vasogenic Edema Formation in the Rat Piriform Cortex Following Status Epilepticus

Transient receptor potential canonical channel (TRPC) is a nonselective cation channel permeable to Ca²⁺, which express in many cell types, including neurons. However the alterations in TRPC receptor expressions in response to status epilepticus (SE) have not been explored. Therefore, the present study was designated to elucidate the roles of TRPC3 in neuronal death and vasogenic edema within the rat piriform cortex (PC) following SE. In non-SE animals, TRPC3 immunoreactivity was abundantly detected in the PC. Following SE, TRPC3 immunoreactivity was increased in neurons. Furthermore, TRPC3 expression was detected in endothelial cells that did not contain it in non-SE animals. Loss of SMI-71 (a blood–brain barrier antigen) immunoreactivity was also observed in TRPC3 positive endothelial cells. In addition, FJB positive neurons and vasogenic edema were noticeably detected in the PC. To directly determine whether TRPC3 activation is correlated to SE-induced vasogenic edema formation and neuronal damages in the PC, the effect of Pyr-3 (a TRPC3 antagonist) on SE-induced insults were investigated. Pyr-3 infusion effectively attenuated vasogenic edema in the PC as compared to the vehicle. Therefore, our findings indicate that TRPC3 activation/overexpression induced by SE may involve BBB disruption and neuronal damages in the rat PC following SE. Therefore, the present study was TRPC3 may play an important role in SE-induced vasogenic edema formation through BBB disruptions in the rat PC.     

Horizontal Transfer of Archaeal Genes into the Deinococcaceae: Detection by Molecular and Computer-Based Approaches

Members of the Deinococcaceae (e.g., Thermus, Meiothermus, Deinococcus) contain A/V-ATPases typically found in Archaea or Eukaryotes which were probably acquired by horizontal gene transfer. Two methods were used to quantify the extent to which archaeal or eukaryotic genes have been acquired by this lineage. Screening of a Meiothermus ruber library with probes made against Thermoplasma acidophilum DNA yielded a number of clones which hybridized more strongly than background. One of these contained the prolyl tRNA synthetase (RS) gene. Phylogenetic analysis shows the M. ruber and D. radiodurans prolyl RS to be more closely related to archaeal and eukaryal forms of this gene than to the typical bacterial type. Using a bioinformatics approach, putative open reading frames (ORFs) from the prerelease version of the D. radiodurans genome were screened for genes more closely related to archaeal or eukaryotic genes. Putative ORFs were searched against representative genomes from each of the three domains using automated BLAST. ORFs showing the highest matches against archaeal and eukaryotic genes were collected and ranked. Among the top-ranked hits were the A/V-ATPase catalytic and noncatalytic subunits and the prolyl RS genes. Using phylogenetic methods, ORFs were analyzed and trees assessed for evidence of horizontal gene transfer. Of the 45 genes examined, 20 showed topologies in which D. radiodurans homologues clearly group with eukaryotic or archaeal homologues, and 17 additional trees were found to show probable evidence of horizontal gene transfer. Compared to the total number of ORFs in the genome, those that can be identified as having been acquired from Archaea or Eukaryotes are relatively few (approximately 1%), suggesting that interdomain transfer is rare.     

Enhanced cytogenetic detection of previous in vivo exposure to mutagens in human lymphocytes after treatment with inhibitors of DNA synthesis and DNA repair in vitro.

To increase the sensitivity of cytogenetic surveillance of exposure to mutagens in the peripheral lymphocyte assay, structural chromosome aberrations (CA) were studied after inhibition of DNA synthesis and DNA repair with hydroxyurea and caffeine in culture 3 h prior to harvesting. CA and sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE) from conventional cultures from the same subjects were used for comparison. Smoking was used as exposure parameter. Thirty-two smokers and 35 nonsmokers were studied. In the inhibited cultures a significantly higher number of aberrations was found in lymphocytes from smokers than nonsmokers: chromatid breaks (20.4 vs. 11.8, p = 0.0002), chromosome breaks (4.5 vs. 1.7, p = 0.0003), and the number of cells with aberrations (18.9 vs. 12.4, p = 0.0001), when 50 cells per subject were analyzed. In conventional cultures no increase in gaps, chromatid and chromosome breaks or number of cells with aberrations was found in smokers when 100 cells from each subject were studied. Smokers showed an increased number of SCE (6.8 vs. nonsmokers 5.9, p = 0.02). A significant positive linear correlation (r = 0.39, p = 0.01) was seen between SCE and the number of cells with chromatid breaks from inhibited cultures. The present results indicate that adding hydroxyurea and caffeine to lymphocyte cultures for the last 3 h prior to harvesting may enhance the detection of cytogenetic damage from previous in vivo exposure to mutagens.