Neurotrophic Artemin Promotes Motility and Invasiveness of MIA PaCa-2 Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Meng, Ling-Xin,Chi, Yu-Hua,Wang, Xiang-Xu,Ding, Zhao-Jun,Fei, Li-Cong,Zhang, Hong,Mou, Ling,Cui, Wen,Xue, Ying-Jie Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.5

Objective: To analyze the capacity of neurotrophic artemin to promote the motility and invasiveness of MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cells. Methods: MIA PaCa-2 was cultured in vitro and studied using transwell chambers for motility and invasiveness on treatment with different concentrations of aArtemin or its receptor $GFR{\alpha}3$ were also determined. Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) was quantified using RT-PCR and Western blotting. Results: MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cell motility and invasiveness was significantly increased with artemin and its receptor $GFR{\alpha}3$ with dose dependence (P<0.01). MMP-2 production was also significantly increased (t = 6.35, t = 7.32), while E-cadherin was significantly lowered (t = 4.27, t = 5.61) (P <0.01). Conclusion: Artemin and its receptor $GFR{\alpha}3$ can promote pancreatic cancer cell motility and invasiveness and contribute to aggressive behavior. The mechanism may be related to increased expression of MMP-2 molecule and down-regulation of E-cadherin expression.

Determination and prediction of the digestible and metabolizable energy contents of corn germ meal in growing pigs

Meng Shi,Zhaoyu Liu,Hong Liang Wang,Chuanxin Shi,Ling Liu,Junjun Wang,Defa Li,Shuai Zhang 아세아·태평양축산학회 2019 Animal Bioscience Vol.32 No.3

Objective: This experiment was conducted to determine the chemical composition, digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) contents of corn germ meals (CGM) and to develop equations to predict the corresponding energy contents based on the chemical characteristics of individual CGM. Methods: Sixty-six barrows (initial body weight = 51.3±4.6 kg) were allotted to 11 diets including a basal diet and 10 CGM test diets in a completely randomized design. In the test diets, CGM was included in replacement of 30% of the energy-providing ingredients in the basal diet, resulting in a final inclusion rate of 29.1%. Each diet was fed to 6 barrows housed in individual metabolism crates for a 7-d acclimation period followed by a 5-d total but separate collection of feces and urine. Results: Considerable variation was observed in acid-hydrolyzed ether extract, ether extract, ash, calcium (Ca) and total phosphorus contents among the CGM samples. On dry matter (DM) basis, the DE and ME contents of the CGM ranged from 10.22 to 15.83 MJ/kg and from 9.94 to 15.43 MJ/kg, respectively. The acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents were negatively correlated with the DE and ME contents of CGM samples. The best-fit prediction equations for the DE and ME values (MJ/kg DM) of the 10 CGM were: DE = 26.85–0.28 insoluble dietary fiber (%)–17.79 Ca (%); ME = 21.05–0.43 ADF (%)–11.40 Ca (%). Conclusion: The chemical compositions of CGM vary depending on sources, particularly in ether extract and Ca. The DE and ME values of CGM can be predicted based on their chemical composition in growing pigs.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Flower-like and Plate-like CuO Nanopowder and Their Photocatalytic Activity for Polluted Lake Water

Ling Xu,Hai-Yan Xu,Feng Wang,Feng-Jun Zhang,Ze-Da Meng,Wei Zhao,오원춘 한국세라믹학회 2012 한국세라믹학회지 Vol.49 No.2

Flower-like and plate-like CuO nanopowder has been successfully synthesized using a facile microwave-assisted synthetic route. The morphology and size of the final products strongly depended on microwave power. The phase, structures and morphologies of the as-prepared products were investigated in detail by BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the chemical oxygen demand of polluted lake water was employed for characterization of these new photocatalysts. The results showed correlations between the morphology of CuO micro-crystals and their catalytic properties.

β-Adrenergic Receptors : New Target in Breast Cancer

Wang, Ting,Li, Yu,Lu, Hai-Ling,Meng, Qing-Wei,Cai, Li,Chen, Xue-Song Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.18

Background: Preclinical studies have demonstrated that ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptor antagonists could improve the prognosis of breast cancer. However, the conclusions of clinical and pharmacoepidemiological studies have been inconsistent. This review was conducted to re-assess the relationship between beta-adrenoceptor blockers and breast cancer prognosis. Materials and Methods: The literature was searched from PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Nature (Thompson Reuters) databases through using key terms, such as breast cancer and beta-adrenoceptor blockers. Results: Ten publications met the inclusion criteria. Six suggested that receiving beta-adrenoceptor blockers reduced the risk of breast cancer-specific mortality, and three of them had statistical significance (hazard ratio (HR)=0.42; 95% CI=0.18-0.97; p=0.042). Two studies reported that risk of recurrence and distant metastasis (DM) were both significantly reduced. One study demonstrated that the risk of relapse-free survival (RFS) was raised significantly with beta-blockers (BBS) (HR= 0.30; 95% CI=0.10-0.87; p=0.027). One reported longer disease-free interval (Log Rank (LR)=6.658; p=0.011) in BBS users, but there was no significant association between overall survival (OS) and BBS (HR= 0.35; 95% CI=0.12-1.0; p=0.05) in five studies. Conclusions: Through careful consideration, it is suggested that beta-adrenoceptor blockers use may be associated with improved prognosis in breast cancer patients. Nevertheless, larger size studies are needed to further explore the relationship between beta-blocker drug use and breast cancer prognosis.

ACOX1 destabilizes p73 to suppress intrinsic apoptosis pathway and regulates sensitivity to doxorubicin in lymphoma cells

( Fei-meng Zheng ),( Wang-bing Chen ),( Tao Qin ),( Li-na Lv ),( Bi Feng ),( Yan-ling Lu ),( Zuo-quan Li ),( Xiao-chao Wang ),( Li-ju Tao ),( Hong-wen Li ),( Shu-you Li ) 생화학분자생물학회(구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2019 BMB Reports Vol.52 No.9

Lymphoma is one of the most curable types of cancer. However, drug resistance is the main challenge faced in lymphoma treatment. Peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (ACOX1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid β-oxidation. Deregulation of ACOX1 has been linked to peroxisomal disorders and carcinogenesis in the liver. Currently, there is no information about the function of ACOX1 in lymphoma. In this study, we found that upregulation of ACOX1 promoted proliferation in lymphoma cells, while downregulation of ACOX1 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis. Additionally, overexpression of ACOX1 increased resistance to doxorubicin, while suppression of ACOX1 expression markedly potentiated doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, downregulation of ACOX1 promoted mitochondrial location of Bad, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and provoked apoptosis by activating caspase-9 and caspase-3 related apoptotic pathway. Overexpression of ACOX1 alleviated doxorubicin-induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential. Importantly, downregulation of ACOX1 increased p73, but not p53, expression. p73 expression was critical for apoptosis induction induced by ACOX1 downregulation. Also, overexpression of ACOX1 significantly reduced stability of p73 protein thereby reducing p73 expression. Thus, our study indicated that suppression of ACOX1 could be a novel and effective approach for treatment of lymphoma. [BMB Reports 2019; 52(9): 566-571]

Mean-value first-order saddlepoint approximation based collaborative optimization for multidisciplinary problems under aleatory uncertainty

Debiao Meng,Hong-Zhong Huang,Zhonglai Wang,Ning-Cong Xiao,Xiao-Ling Zhang 대한기계학회 2014 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.28 No.10

Reliability-based multidisciplinary design optimization (RBMDO) has received increasing attention in engineering design for achievinghigh reliability and safety in complex and coupling systems (e.g., multidisciplinary systems). Mean-value first-order saddlepoint approximation(MVFOSA) is introduced in this paper and is combined with the collaborative optimization (CO) method for reliabilityanalysis under aleatory uncertainty in RBMDO. Similar to the mean-value first-order second moment (MVFOSM) method, MVFOSAapproximated the performance function with the first-order Taylor expansion at the mean values of random variables. MVFOSA usessaddlepoint approximation rather than the first two moments of the random variables to estimate the probability density and cumulativedistribution functions. MVFOSA-based CO (MVFOSA-CO) is also formulated and proposed. Two examples are provided to show theaccuracy and efficiency of the MVFOSA-CO method.

The antibacterial activity of E. coli bacteriophage lysin lysep3 is enhanced by fusing the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens bacteriophage endolysin binding domain D8 to the C-terminal region

Shuang Wang,Jingmin Gu,Meng Lv,Zhimin Guo,Guangmou Yan,Ling Yu,Chongtao Du,Xin Feng,Wenyu Han,Changjiang Sun,Liancheng Lei 한국미생물학회 2017 The journal of microbiology Vol.55 No.5

Bacteriophage endolysin is one of the most promising antibioticsubstitutes, but in Gram-negative bacteria, the outermembrane prevents the lysin from hydrolyzing peptidoglycansand blocks the development of lysin applications. Theprime strategy for new antibiotic substitutes is allowing lysinto access the peptidoglycan from outside of the bacteria byreformation of the lysin. In this study, the novel Escherichiacoli (E. coli) phage lyase lysep3, which lacks outside-in catalyticability, was fused with the N-terminal region of theBacillus amyloliquefaciens lysin including its cell wall bindingdomain D8 through the best manner of protein fusionbased on the predicted tertiary structure of lysep3-D8 to obtainan engineered lysin that can lyse bacteria from the outside. Our results showed that lysep3-D8 could lyse both Gramnegativeand Gram-positive bacteria, whereas lysep3 and D8have no impact on bacterial growth. The MIC of lysep3-D8on E. coli CVCC1418 is 60 μg/ml; lysep3-D8 can inhibit thegrowth of bacteria up to 12 h at this concentration. The bactericidalspectrum of lysep3-D8 is broad, as it can lyse of allof 14 E. coli strains, 3 P. aeruginosa strains, 1 Acinetobacterbaumannii strain, and 1 Streptococcus strain. Lysep3-D8 hassufficient bactericidal effects on the 14 E. coli strains testedat the concentration of 100 μg/ml. The cell wall binding domainof the engineered lysin can destroy the integrity of theouter membrane of bacteria, thus allowing the catalytic domainto reach its target, peptidoglycan, to lyse the bacteria. Lysep3-D8 can be used as a preservative in fodder to benefitthe health of animals. The method we used here proved to bea successful exploration of the reformation of phage lysin.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Flower-like and Plate-like CuO Nanopowder and Their Photocatalytic Activity for Polluted Lake Water

Xu, Ling,Xu, Hai-Yan,Wang, Feng,Zhang, Feng-Jun,Meng, Ze-Da,Zhao, Wei,Oh, Won-Chun The Korean Ceramic Society 2012 한국세라믹학회지 Vol.49 No.2

Flower-like and plate-like CuO nanopowder has been successfully synthesized using a facile microwave-assisted synthetic route. The morphology and size of the final products strongly depended on microwave power. The phase, structures and morphologies of the as-prepared products were investigated in detail by BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the chemical oxygen demand of polluted lake water was employed for characterization of these new photocatalysts. The results showed correlations between the morphology of CuO micro-crystals and their catalytic properties.

Prevalence of CYP17A1 gene mutations in 17α-hydroxylase deficiency in the Chinese Han population

Menglin Wang,Hao Wang,Haiying Zhao,Ling Li,Min Liu,Fujia Liu,Fansen Meng,Caini Fan 대한고혈압학회 2020 Clinical Hypertension Vol.26 No.1

Background: 17α-hydroxylase deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the cytochrome P450 family 17 subfamily A member 1 gene. The major clinical presentation includes hypertension, hypokalemia, male pseudohermaphroditism and female gonadal dysplasia. Hundreds of pathogenic variants have been reported in this disorder, and some common mutations were found to be race-specific. Case presentation: In this study, we reported 5 Chinese girls with 17α-hydroxylase deficiency from Henan Province. The patients all came to the hospital for hypertension, and they also presented with sexual infantilism. The average age of the patients was 14 years old, ranging from 12 to 17 years old. They all had reduced blood cortisol, estradiol (E2), and testosterone (TESTO) and increased adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). They all had the appearance of females; however, three of the chromosome karyotypes were 46XX, and two were 46XY. Conclusions: All of the patients carried a mutation on the 329 amino acid of CYP17A1 exon 6. By summarizing the currently known pathogenic mutations of 17α-hydroxylase deficiency, we demonstrated the prevalence of these gene mutations in Chinese Han and non-Chinese populations.

Potential Therapeutic Targets for the Primary Gallbladder Carcinoma: Estrogen Receptors

Zhang, Ling-Qiang,Zhang, Xiu-De,Xu, Jia,Wan, Yong,Qu, Kai,Zhang, Jing-Yao,Wang, Zhi-Xin,Wei, Ji-Chao,Meng, Fan-Di,Tai, Ming-Hui,Zhou, Lei,Liu, Chang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.4

Gallbladder carcinoma, the most frequent malignant neoplasm of the biliary tract system, has always been considered to feature late clinical presentation and diagnosis, limited treatment options and an extremely poor prognosis. In recent years, while the incidence of gallbladder cancer has appeared to be on the increase, the available treatment methods have not greatly improved survival of the affected patients. Thus, exploring new therapeutic targets for this devastating disease is an urgent matter at present. Epidemical studies have demonstrated that the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma exhibits a distinct gender bias, affecting females two to three times more than males, pointing to crucial roles of estrogen. It is well known that estrogen acts on target tissues by binding to estrogen receptors (ERs), which are mainly divided into three subtypes, $ER{\alpha}$, $ER{\beta}$ and $ER{\gamma}$. $ER{\alpha}$ and $ER{\beta}$ appear to have overlapping but also unique even opposite biological effects. As important pathogenic mediators, ERs have been considered to relate to several kinds of tumors. In gallbladder carcinoma tissue, ERs have been shown to be positively expressed, and ERs expression levels are associated with differentiation and prognosis of this cancer. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms of estrogen inducing growth of gallbladder carcinoma remain poorly understood. On the base of the current investigations, we deduce that estrogen participates in promotion of gallbladder carcinoma by influencing the formation of gallstones, stimulating angiogenesis, and promoting abnormal proliferation. Since ERs mediate the carcinogenic actions of estrogen in gallbladder, and therapy targeting ERs may provide new directions for gallbladder carcinoma. Therefore, it should be stressed that ERs are potential therapeutic targets for gallbladder carcinoma.