RBP2 Induces Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

RBP2 has been found to actively participate in cancer progression. It inhibits the senescence of cancer cells, mediates cancer cell proliferation and promotes cancer metastasis. It is also essential to drug tolerance. However, the effects of RBP2 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition are still unknown. In this study, we analyzed the effects of RBP2 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition in non-small cell lung cancer. The results showed that RBP2 down-regulated the expression of E-cadherin by inhibiting the promoter activity of E-cadherin and up-regulated the expression of N-cadherin and snail via the activation of Akt signaling, and the overexpression of RBP2 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Our study further indicated thatRBP2 may be a potential target for anti-lung cancer therapy.     

Juvenile Rats Show Altered Gut Microbiota After Exposure to Isoflurane as Neonates

Neurochemical Research - Inhaled anesthetic agents may be neurotoxic to the developing brain of a neonatal rodent. Isoflurane is a commonly used volatile anesthetic agent for maintenance of general...     

Soluble production and function of vascular endothelial growth factor/basic fibroblast growth factor complex peptide

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are important proangiogenic factors in tumor procession. The autocrine and paracrine bFGF and the VEGF in tumor tissue can promote tumor angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis. A VEGF/bFGF Complex Peptide (VBP3) was designed on the basis of epitope peptides from both VEGF and bFGF to elicit in vivo production of anti‐bFGF and anti‐VEGF antibodies. In this study, we reported on the production of recombinant VBP3 using high cell density fermentation. Fed‐batch fermentation for recombinant VBP3 production was conducted, and the production procedure was optimized in a 10‐L fermentor. The fraction of soluble VBP3 protein obtained reached 78% of total recombinant protein output under fed‐batch fermentation. Purified recombinant VBP3 could inhibit tumor cell proliferation in vitro and stimulate C57BL/6 mice to produce high titer anti‐VEGF and anti‐bFGF antibodies in vivo. A melanoma‐grafted mouse model and an immunohistochemistry assay showed that tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis were significantly inhibited in VBP3‐vaccinated mice. These results demonstrated that soluble recombinant VBP3 could be produced by large‐scale fermentation, and the product, with good immunogenicity, elicited production of high‐titer anti‐bFGF and anti‐VEGF antibodies, which could be used as a therapeutic tumor vaccine to inhibit tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 31:194–203, 2015     

商陆根部多糖的分离、纯化及其体外抗氧化活性

本研究从商陆根部提取分离出商陆多糖,并对该多糖含量进行测定及体外抗氧化活性研究。商陆根部经石油醚回流脱脂、热水抽提、脱色、乙醇沉淀等处理可从中提取出粗多糖。多糖经三氯乙酸脱蛋白纯化,再分别以考马斯亮蓝法和蒽酮-硫酸法测定其蛋白质含量和糖含量,并通过采用清除羟自由基和超氧自由基能力测定法、β-胡萝卜素-亚油酸法,以抗坏血酸(Vc)为对照,来分析粗多糖和纯多糖的体外抗氧化能力。采用水提法提取的粗多糖,含有10.69%的蛋白质和60.91%的多糖;纯化后的多糖糖含量达到91.04%。商陆粗多糖、纯多糖及Vc对羟自由基(·OH)清除率的IC50分别是1.26mg/mL、4.78mg/mL和0.224mg/mL;对超氧自由基(O2-·)清除率的IC50分别为1.91mg/mL、2.28mg/mL和0.123mg/mL;对β-胡萝卜素-亚油酸体系的抑制作用的IC50分别为0.471mg/mL、0.692mg/mL和0.379mg/mL。实验结果表明商陆多糖是一种较好的抗氧化剂,可作为潜在天然抗氧化剂应用于食品和医药工业中。     

Functional Contribution of Ca2+ and Mg2+ to the Intermolecular Interaction of Visinin-like Proteins

The interaction of human visinin-like protein 1 (VILIP1) and visinin-like protein 3 (VILIP3) with divalent cations (Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺ and Ba²⁺) was explored using circular dichroism and fluorescence measurement. These results showed that the four cations each induced a different subtle change in the conformation of VILIPs. Moreover, VILIP1 and VILIP3 bound with Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺ in a cooperative manner. Studies on the truncated mutants showed that the intact EF-3 and EF-4 were essential for the binding of VILIP1 with Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺. Pull-down assay revealed that Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ enhanced the intermolecular interaction of VILIPs, and led to the formation of homo- and hetero-oligomer of VILIPs. Together with previous findings that Ca²⁺-dependent localization of VILIPs may be involved in the regulation of distinct cascades and deprivation of Ca²⁺-binding capacity of VILIPs did not completely eliminate their activity, it is likely to reflect that Mg²⁺-bound VILIPs may play a role in regulating the biological function of VILIPs in response to a concentration fluctuation of Ca²⁺ in cells.     

Characterizing the fluid dynamics in the flow fields of cylindrical orbitally shaken bioreactors with different geometry sizes

Orbitally shaken bioreactors (OSRs) are commonly used for the cultivation of mammalian cells in suspension. To aid the geometry designing and optimizing of OSRs, we conducted a three‐dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to characterize the flow fields in a 10 L cylindrical OSR with different vessel diameters. The liquid wave shape captured by a camera experimentally validated the CFD models established for the cylindrical OSR. The geometry size effect on volumetric mass transfer coefficient (k_La) and hydromechanical stress was analyzed by varying the ratio of vessel diameter (d) to liquid height at static (h_L), d/h_L. The highest value of k_La about 30 h^?1 was observed in the cylindrical vessel with the d/h_L of 6.35. Moreover, the magnitudes of shear stress and energy dissipation rate in all the vessels tested were below their minimum values causing cells damage separately, which indicated that the hydromechanical‐stress environment in OSRs is suitable for cells cultivation in suspension. Finally, the CFD results suggested that the d/h_L higher than 8.80 should not be adopted for the 10 L cylindrical OSR at the shaking speed of 180 rpm because the “out of phase” state probably will happen there.     

Application of Serial Section Method to Determine the Radiotherapy Target Volume for Esophageal Squamous Carcinoma

The three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D CRT) plays an important role in the combination treatment of esophageal carcinoma. However, an accurate estimation of the clinical target volume (CTV) of esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) by 3D CRT is still problematic. This study aimed to provide reference values for CTV estimation. The serial section method was applied to observe the range of the microscopic spread proximally and distally from the tumor. Further, relationships between clinicopathological features and the microscopic spread were analyzed. The positive ratio of the proximal microscopic spread was significantly higher than in the distal spread, especially in the specimens sampled 1 and 2 cm away from the tumor (p < 0.05). Probability of infiltration and metastases was still high in the proximal “3 cm” and distal “4 cm” groups, and became much lower in more distant specimens. Further, ESCC tended to exhibit stronger ascending invasion ability. A single factor analysis showed that tumors with the length of longer than 5 cm, poorer differentiation, lymph nodes metastasis, and more aggressive phase had significantly higher microscopic spread ratio (p < 0.05). A multiple factors analysis showed that differentiation degree and tumor length were the major factors affecting the microscopic spread of ESCC. In conclusion, to cover 95 % of the microscopic spread, a proximal margin of 3.0 cm and a distal margin of 4.0 cm are needed. In order to cover 90 %, proximal and distal 3-cm margins are needed. Clinicopathological features of patients can affect the range of the microscopic spread.     

The Polyclonal Antibodies Induced by VBP3 Complex Peptide Targeting Angiogenesis and Tumor Suppression

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) play a critical role in tumor-associated angiogenesis and have become the targets of anti-tumor therapy. The BALB/c mice were immunized with VEGF/bFGF complex peptide (VBP3) constructed with different epitope peptides of human VEGF and bFGF. The results of the immunogenicity showed that the VBP3 could effectively stimulate immune response in mice and elicit the mice to produce high titer specific anti-VEGF and anti-bFGF antibodies (anti-VBP3 antibodies). The polyclonal anti-VBP3 antibodies separated from the mouse immune serum could effectively inhibit the proliferation, migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and block the proliferation and migration of lung cancer A549 cells. Besides, the anti-VBP3 antibodies could effectively inhibit tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis in BABL/c nude mice. The results demonstrated that the VBP3 complex peptide could elicit the body to produce the high titer anti-VEGF and anti-bFGF antibodies, which showed anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic effects in vitro and in vivo. The results revealed that the VBP3 complex peptide could be used as a potential peptide vaccine in tumor therapy.