KLF4 Expression Correlates with the Degree of Differentiation in Colorectal Cancer

( Ruo Lei Hu ),( Yan Zuo ),( Li Zuo ),( Chao Liu ),( Su Mei Zhang ),( Qiang Wu ),( Qing Zhou ),( Shu Yu Gui ),( Wei Wei ),( Yuan Wang ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회 2011 Gut and Liver Vol.5 No.2

Background/Aims: Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is an epithelial-specifi c transcription factor primarily expressed in the gastrointestinal tract that mediates growth arrest in the colonic epithelium. We tried to find whether KLF4 expression is associated with the progression and differentiation of colorectal cancer. Methods: We detected KLF4 expression in 109 colorectal specimens (40 normal appearing mucosa, 7 adenomas, and 62 carcinomas) by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray. Western blot and RT-PCR analyses were also performed. Results: The upregulation of KLF4 expression in carcinoma tissue was statistically significant (p<0.05) when compared to normal appearing mucosa. The negative and weak positive staining rates in normal appearing mucosa, adenoma, and carcinoma were 42.5%, 71.4%, and 82.3%, respectively, indicating a decreased degree of KLF4 expression over the course of progressive transformation of normal cells into malignant derivatives. KLF4 protein levels showed no correlation with sex, age, or metastatic state (p>0.05), while KLF4 protein expression correlated with the diagnostic stage (p<0.05). Furthermore, strong KLF4 staining was detected in 22.9% (11/48) and 0% (0/14) of well/moderately and poorly differentiated colorectal cancers, respectively. Our results clearly indicate that KLF4 protein expression signifi cantly correlates with the degree of differentiation in colorectal cancers (p<0.05). KLF4 expression in RKO cells is also upregulated by butyrate, an inducer of differentiation. Conclusions: Downregulation of KLF4 expression may lead to more poorly differentiated tumors. (Gut Liver 2011;5:154-159)

African Maternal Origin and Genetic Diversity of Chinese Domestic Donkeys

Lei, Chu-Zhao,Ge, Qing-Lan,Zhang, Hu-Cai,Liu, Ruo-Yu,Zhang, Wei,Jiang, Yong-Qing,Dang, Rui-Hua,Zheng, Hui-Ling,Hou, Wen-Tong,Chen, Hong Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.5

The origin of domestic donkeys in China has been controversial. To clarify the origin of Chinese domestic donkeys, we investigated the partial mitochondrial D-loop sequences of 126 samples from 12 native breeds. The results revealed two mitochondrial origins, lineage Somali and lineage Nubian of African wild ass detected in Chinese domestic donkeys. Lineage Somali was predominant in Chinese domestic donkey breeds. The pattern of genetic variation in ass mtDNA D-loop sequences indicated that the two lineages Somali and Nubian from China had undergone population expansion events. In a combined analysis of lineages Somali and Nubian between previously published sequences from other countries/regions and sequences of Chinese domestic donkeys, the results indicated that the two lineages of Chinese domestic donkeys were from Africa and supported the African maternal origins of Chinese domestic donkeys. There was no obvious geographical structure in Chinese domestic donkey breeds, but the population showed abundant mtDNA diversity. The spread routes of Chinese domestic donkeys were also discussed.

Two Maternal Lineages Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA D-loop Sequences in Chinese Native Water Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

Lei, Chu-Zhao,Zhang, Wei,Chen, Hong,Lu, Fan,Ge, Qing-Lan,Liu, Ruo-Yu,Dang, Rui-Hua,Yao, Yun-Yi,Yao, Li-Bo,Lu, Zi-Fan,Zhao, Zhong-liang Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.4

Little is known about the origin and genetic diversity of swamp buffaloes in China. To obtain more knowledge on genetics of the water buffalo in China, the complete mitochondrial D-loop sequences of 30 samples from 6 native types were investigated. The results revealed 12 mitochondrial haplotypes with 50 polymorphic sites. Among these polymorphic sites, there were 49 transitions and 1 transversion. The average nucleotide diversity and haplotype diversity estimated from mtDNA D-loop region in 6 Chinese water buffalo types were 0.00684 and 0.798, respectively, showing rather abundant mitochondrial genetic diversity. The Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree of mtDNA of Chinese water buffaloes was constructed according to the 12 haplotypes. The NJ tree indicated two lineages being designated lineage A and lineage B, in which lineage A was predominant, and lineage B was at low frequency. The new lineage B was first discovered and defined in 6 Chinese water buffalo types. These results showed that two different maternal lineages were involved in the origin of domestic swamp buffaloes in China and the lineage B was probably an introgression from Southeast Asian buffaloes.

Inhibition of the NEDD8 Conjugation Pathway by shRNA to UBA3, the Subunit of the NEDD8-Activating Enzyme, Suppresses the Growth of Melanoma Cells

Cheng, Fang,Chen, Hao,Zhang, Lei,Ruo-Hong, Li,Liu, Yi,Sun, Jian-Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.1

Neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally down-regulated 8 (NEDD8), a ubiquitin-like protein, mainly functions through covalent ligation to cullin proteins. Conjugation of NEDD8 with cullins can promote ubiquitination, which plays a critical role in the degradation of many proteins. UBA3 is the subunit of NEDD8-activating enzyme which is one of the keys for NEDD8 linkage to cullin proteins. Previous research showed NEDD8 conjugation to be up-regulated in highly proliferative cell lines. In the present study, up-regulated NEDD8 conjugation was observed in melanoma cell lines by Western blot analysis. After down-regulation with a RNAi to UBA3, proliferation of M14 was suppressed in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, up-regulated NEDD8 conjugation may be involved in the development of melanoma. Interference in this pathway might offera promising method for melanoma therapy.

Antiblurry Dejitter Image Stabilization Method of Fuzzy Video for Driving Recorders

( Jing-ying Xiong ),( Ming Dai ),( Chun-lei Zhao ),( Ruo-qiu Wang ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2017 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.11 No.6

Video images captured by vehicle cameras often contain blurry or dithering frames due to inadvertent motion from bumps in the road or by insufficient illumination during the morning or evening, which greatly reduces the perception of objects expression and recognition from the records. Therefore, a real-time electronic stabilization method to correct fuzzy video from driving recorders has been proposed. In the first stage of feature detection, a coarse-to-fine inspection policy and a scale nonlinear diffusion filter are proposed to provide more accurate keypoints. Second, a new antiblurry binary descriptor and a feature point selection strategy for unintentional estimation are proposed, which brought more discriminative power. In addition, a new evaluation criterion for affine region detectors is presented based on the percentage interval of repeatability. The experiments show that the proposed method exhibits improvement in detecting blurry corner points. Moreover, it improves the performance of the algorithm and guarantees high processing speed at the same time.

Melatonin inhibits the Migration of Colon Cancer RKO cells by Down-regulating Myosin Light Chain Kinase Expression through Cross-talk with p38 MAPK

Zou, Duo-Bing,Wei, Xiao,Hu, Ruo-Lei,Yang, Xiao-Ping,Zuo, Li,Zhang, Su-Mei,Zhu, Hua-Qing,Zhou, Qing,Gui, Shu-Yu,Wang, Yuan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.14

Background: Melatonin, which is mainly produced by the pineal gland, has a good inhibitory effect on cell growth of multiple cancer types. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of anti-tumor activity for colon cancer have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effects of melatonin on migration in human colon cancer RKO cells and the potential molecular mechanisms. Materials and Methods: The viability of RKO cells was investigated by MTT assay after treatment with melatonin, SB203580 (p38 inhibitor) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA, MAPK activator) alone or in combination for 48h. The effects of melatonin, and ML-7, a selective inhibitor of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), and SB203580, and PMA on the migration of RKO cells were analyzed by in vitro scratch-wound assay. The relative mRNA levels of MLCK was assessed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Western blotting analysis was performed to examine the expression of MLCK, phosphorylation of myosin light chain (pMLC) and p38 (pp38). Results: The proliferation and migration of human colon cancer RKO cells were inhibited significantly after treatment with melatonin. The expression levels of MLCK and phosphorylation of MLC of RKO cells were reduced, and real-time quantitative RT-PCR showed that melatonin had significant effects on suppressing the expression of MLCK. Furthermore, the phosphorylation level of p38, which showed the same trend, was also reduced when cells were treated by melatonin. In addition, ML-7 (25umol/l) could down-regulate the phosphorylation of p38. Conclusions: Melatonin could inhibit the proliferation and migration of RKO cells, and further experiments confirmed that p38 MAPK plays an important role in regulating melatonin-induced migration inhibition through down-regulating the expression and activity of MLCK.