Identification of miR-7 as an oncogene in renal cell carcinoma

MicroRNA-7 (miR-7) has been described as a tumor suppressor in several human cancers, but the results of a study to identify miRNAs associated with metastatic capability in breast cancer suggested that miR-7 may be characterized as an oncogene. The present study was to determine the expression and function of miR-7 in renal cell carcinoma. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the expressions of miR-7 in 48 paired renal cell carcinomas (RCC) and normal tissues, based on the preliminary sequencing results of miRNAs. Furthermore, the impacts of miR-7 on cell migration, proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed using wound scratch assay, MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The results demonstrated that miR-7 was up-regulated in RCC compared with normal tissues (p = 0.001). Down-regulation of miR-7 with synthesized inhibitor inhibited cell migration in vitro, suppressed cell proliferation and induced renal cancer cell apoptosis, prompting that miR-7 could be characterized as an oncogene in RCC. The present study was the first to reveal that miR-7 was up-regulated in RCC and it played an important role in RCC by affecting cellular migration, proliferation and apoptosis. Further researches should be conducted to explore the roles and target genes of miR-7 in RCC and other cancers.     

The Role of HSPA12B in Regulating Neuronal Apoptosis

Heat shock protein A12B (HSPA12B) is the newest member of a recently defined subfamily of proteins distantly related to the 70-kDa family of heat shock proteins (HSP70) family. HSP70s play a crucial role in protecting cells, tissues, organs and animals from various noxious conditions. Here we studied the dynamic expression changes and localization of HSPA12B after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with reperfusion induced ischemic insult processes in adult rats. Apoptosis, as indicated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, was also increased in the peri-ischemic cortex compared to non-ischemic hemisphere. The expression of HSPA12B was strongly induced in the ischemic hemisphere of MCAO reperfusion rats in vivo. In vitro studies indicated that the up-regulation of HSPA12B may be involved in oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced PC12 cell death. And knockdown of HSPA12B in cultured differentiated PC12 cells by siRNA showed that HSPA12B inhibited the expression of active caspase-3. Collectively, these results suggested that HSPA12B may be required for protecting neurons from ischemic insults.     

Temporal-Spatial Expressions of Spy1 in Rat Sciatic Nerve After Crush

As a novel cell cycle protein, Spy1 enhances cell proliferation, promotes the G1/S transition as well as inhibits apoptosis in response to UV irradiation. Spy1 levels are tightly regulated during mammary development, and overexpression of Spy1 accelerates tumorigenesis in vivo. But little is known about the role of Spy1 in the pathological process of damage and regeneration of the peripheral nervous system. Here we established a rat sciatic nerve crush (SNC) model to examine the spatiotemporal expression of Spy1. Spy1 expression was elevated gradually after sciatic nerve crush and peaked at day 3. The alteration was due to the increased expression of Spy1 in axons and Schwann cells after SNC. Spy1 expression correlated closely with Schwann cells proliferation in sciatic nerve post injury. Furthermore, Spy1 largely localized in axons in the crushed segment, but rarely co-localized with GAP43. These findings suggested that Spy1 participated in the pathological process response to sciatic nerve injury and may be associated with Schwann cells proliferation and axons regeneration.     

Design and synthesis of 4-phenyl piperidine compounds targeting the mu receptor

Small molecule mu agonists based on the 4-phenyl piperidine scaffold were designed and synthesized to further investigate the therapeutic potential of loperamide analogs. The resulting compounds show excellent agonistic activity towards the human mu receptor with interesting SAR trends within the series.     

Sugar complexation with calcium ion. Crystal structure and FT-IR study of a hydrated calcium chloride complex of D-ribose

The single crystal structure of CaCl(2).C(5)H(10)O(5).3H(2)O was determined with M(r)=315.16, a=7.537(3), b=11.426(5), c=15.309(6) A, beta=90 degrees, V=1318.3(9) A(3), P2(1)2(1)2(1), Z=2, mu=0.71073 A and R=0.0398 for 2322 observed reflections. The ribose moiety of the complex exists as a furanose with alpha-D configuration. All five oxygen atoms of the ribose molecule are involved in calcium binding. Each calcium ion is shared by two such sugar molecules, coordinating through O(1), O(2), O(3) of one molecule and O(4) and O(5) of the other. The C-C, O-H, C-O and C-O-H vibrations are shifted and the relative intensities changed in the complex IR spectrum, corresponding to the changes in bond distances and angles of the sugar structure. All the hydroxyl groups, water molecules and chloride ions are involved in forming an extensive hydrogen-bond network of O-H...Cl...O-H structure, and the chloride ions play an important role in the crystal packing.     

小鼠肝炎病毒抗体检测试剂盒的标准化研究

目的筛选适合制备检测试剂盒的抗原组合。方法用 ＥＬＩＳＡ方法,将５株小鼠肝炎病毒（ＭＨＶ）抗原分别组合作为包被抗原,研究ＭＨＶ抗原不同组合与标准毒株抗体的反应性,分析ＭＨＶ各毒株间的差别,进一步比较不同组台抗原的灵敏性、特异性。结果通过对１９９７～１９９９年送检２３８只普通级实验小鼠检测,结果表明,ＭＨＶ的感染率虽有下降趋势,但感染率仍然很高（５９％～８７％）。结论我国分离的ＭＨＶ－ＨＵ７９株,在本次研究中表明能够用于ＭＨＶ抗体检测试剂盒。     

Gender-Specific Association between Tobacco Smoking and Central Obesity among 0.5 Million Chinese People: The China Kadoorie Biobank Study

Objectives

Lifestyle factors are well-known important modifiable risk factors for obesity; the association between tobacco smoking and central obesity, however, is largely unknown in the Chinese population. This study examined the relationship between smoking and central obesity in 0.5 million Chinese adults, a population with a low prevalence of general obesity, but a high prevalence of central obesity.

Subjects

A total of 487,527 adults (200,564 males and 286,963 females), aged 30-79 years, were enrolled in the baseline survey of the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Study conducted during 2004-2008. Waist circumference (WC) and WC/height ratio (WHtR) were used as measures of central obesity.

Results

The prevalence of regular smokers was significantly higher among males (60.6%) than among females (2.2%). The prevalence of central obesity increased with age and BMI levels, with a significant gender difference (females>males). Of note, almost all obese adults (99.4%) were centrally obese regardless of gender. In multivariable regression analyses, adjusting for age, education, physical activity, alcohol use and survey site, regular smoking was inversely associated with BMI in males (standardized regression coefficients, β= -0.093, p<0.001) and females (β= -0.025, p<0.001). Of interest, in the BMI stratification analyses in 18 groups, all βs of regular smoking for WHtR were positive in both genders; the βs showed a significantly greater increasing trend with increasing BMI in males than in females. In the analyses with model adjustment for BMI, the positive associations between regular smoking and WHtR were stronger in males (β= 0.021, p<0.001) than in females (β= 0.008, p<0.001) (p<0.001 for gender difference). WC showed considerably consistent results.

Conclusions

The data indicate that tobacco smoking is an important risk factor for central obesity, but the association is gender-specific and depends on the adjustment for general obesity.     

The design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel substituted purines as HIV-1 Tat-TAR inhibitors

A series of novel substituted purines containing a side chain with a terminal amino or guanidyl group were designed and synthesized as HIV-1 Tat-TAR inhibitors. All the compounds could effectively block the TAR transactivation in human 293T cells with the CAT expression percentage ranging from 34.4% to 65.7% and showed high antiviral effects with low cytotoxicities in inhibiting the formation of SIV-induced syncytium in CEM174 cells. Molecular modeling studies by Auto-dock process suggest that the compounds bind to TAR RNA in two different modes.