Identification of interacting proteins of retinoid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma in HepG2 cells

( Ze Min Huang ),( Jun Wu ),( Zheng Cai Jia ),( Yi Tian ),( Jun Tang ),( Yan Tang ),( Ying Wang ),( Yu Zhang Wu ),( Bing Ni ) 생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2012 BMB Reports Vol.45 No.6

The retinoid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma (RORγ) plays critical roles in regulation of development, immunity and metabolism. As transcription factor usually forms a protein complex to function, thus capturing and dissecting of the RORγ protein complex will be helpful for exploring the mechanisms underlying those functions. After construction of the recombinant tandem affinity purification (TAP) plasmid, pMSCVpuro RORγ-CTAP(SG), the nuclear localization of RORγ-CTAP(SG) fusion protein was verified. Following isolation of RORγ protein complex by TAP strategy, seven candidate interacting proteins were identified. Finally, the heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and receptor-interacting protein 140 (RIP140) were confirmed to interplay with RORγ by co-immunoprecipitation. Interference of HSP90 or/and RIP140 genes resulted in dramatically decreased expression of CYP2C8 gene, the RORγ target gene. Data from this study demonstrate that HSP90 and RIP140 proteins interact with RORγ protein in a complex format and function as co-activators in the RORγ-mediated regulatory processes of HepG2 cells. [BMB Reports 2012; 45(6): 331-336]

Secure and Efficient Cooperative Spectrum Sensing Against Byzantine Attack for Interweave Cognitive Radio System

Jun Wu,Ze Chen,Jianrong Bao,Jipeng Gan,Zehao Chen,Jia Zhang 한국인터넷정보학회 2022 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.16 No.11

Due to increasing spectrum demand for new wireless devices applications, cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) paradigm is the most promising solution to alleviate the spectrum shortage problem. However, in the interweave cognitive radio (CR) system, the inherent nature of CSS opens a hole to Byzantine attack, thereby resulting in a significant drop of the CSS security and efficiency. In view of this, a weighted differential sequential single symbol (WD3S) algorithm based on MATLAB platform is developed to accurately identify malicious users (MUs) and benefit useful sensing information from their malicious reports in this paper. In order to achieve this, a dynamic Byzantine attack model is proposed to describe malicious behaviors for MUs in an interweave CR system. On the basis of this, a method of data transmission consistency verification is formulated to evaluate the global decision’s correctness and update the trust value (TrV) of secondary users (SUs), thereby accurately identifying MUs. Then, we innovatively reuse malicious sensing information from MUs by the weight allocation scheme. In addition, considering a high spectrum usage of primary network, a sequential and differential reporting way based on a single symbol is also proposed in the process of the sensing information submission. Finally, under various Byzantine attack types, we provide in-depth simulations to demonstrate the efficiency and security of the proposed WD3S.

MiR-421 Regulates Apoptosis of BGC-823 Gastric Cancer Cells by Targeting Caspase-3

Wu, Jian-Hong,Yao, Yong-Liang,Gu, Tao,Wang, Ze-You,Pu, Xiong-Yong,Sun, Wang-Wei,Zhang, Xian,Jiang, Yi-Biao,Wang, Jian-Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

MicroRNAs might act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in cancer. Recent studies have shown that miR-421 is up-regulated in human gastric cancer. Here, we found that miR-421 was over-expressed in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the caspase-3 gene was a target of miR-421. Caspase-3 was negatively regulated by miR-421 at the post-transcriptional level. Bax and Bcl-2 were also regulated by miR-421. Moreover, tumor necrosis factor receptor-I and -II, death receptors in the apoptosis pathway, were up-regulated by miR-421. The over-expression of miR-421 promoted gastric cancer cell growth and inhibited apoptosis of the BGC-823 gastric cancer cell line. These observations indicate that miR-421 acts as a tumor promoter by targeting the caspase-3 gene and preventing apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through inhibition of caspase-3 expression. These findings contribute to our understanding of the functions of miR-421 in gastric cancer.

Comprehensive Bioinformation Analysis of the MRNA Profile of Fascin Knockdown in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Wu, Bing-Li,Luo, Lie-Wei,Li, Chun-Quan,Xie, Jian-Jun,Du, Ze-Peng,Wu, Jian-Yi,Zhang, Pi-Xian,Xu, Li-Yan,Li, En-Min Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Background: Fascin, an actin-bundling protein forming actin bundles including filopodia and stress fibers, is overexpressed in multiple human epithelial cancers including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Previously we conducted a microarray experiment to analyze fascin knockdown by RNAi in ESCC. Method: In this study, the differentially expressed genes from mRNA expression profilomg of fascin knockdown were analyzed by multiple bioinformatics methods for a comprehensive understanding of the role of fascin. Results: Gene Ontology enrichment found terms associated with cytoskeleton organization, including cell adhesion, actin filament binding and actin cytoskeleton, which might be related to fascin function. Except GO categories, the differentially expressed genes were annotated by 45 functional categories from the Functional Annotation Chart of DAVID. Subpathway analysis showed thirty-nine pathways were disturbed by the differentially expressed genes, providing more detailed information than traditional pathway enrichment analysis. Two subpathways derivated from regulation of the actin cytoskeleton were shown. Promoter analysis results indicated distinguishing sequence patterns and transcription factors in response to the co-expression of downregulated or upregulated differentially expressed genes. MNB1A, c-ETS, GATA2 and Prrx2 potentially regulate the transcription of the downregulated gene set, while Arnt-Ahr, ZNF42, Ubx and TCF11-MafG might co-regulate the upregulated genes. Conclusions: This multiple bioinformatic analysis helps provide a comprehensive understanding of the roles of fascin after its knockdown in ESCC.

Cross-immunizing potential of tumor MAGE-A epitopes recognized by HLA-A*02:01-restricted cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

( Ze Min Huang ),( Zheng Cai Jia ),( Jun Tang ),( Yi Zhang ),( Yi Tian ),( Dong Jing Ni ),( Fang Wang ),( Yu Zhang Wu ),( Bing Ni ) 생화학분자생물학회(구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2012 BMB Reports Vol.45 No.7

Almost all melanoma cells express at least one member of the MAGE-A antigen family, making the cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) epitopes with cross-immunizing potential in this family attractive candidates for the broad spectrum of anti-melanoma immunotherapy. In this study, four highly homologous peptides (P264: FLWGPRALA, P264I9: FLWGPRALI, P264V9: FLWGPRALV, and P264H8: FLWGPRAHA) from the MAGE-A antigens were selected by homologous alignment. All four peptides showed high binding affinity and stability to HLA-A*02:01 molecules, and could prime CTL immune responses in human PBMCs and in HLA-A*02:01/Kb transgenic mice. CTLs elicited by the four epitope peptides could cross-lyse tumor cells expressing the mutual target antigens, except MAGE-A11 which was not tested. However, CTLs induced by P264V9 and P264I9 showed the strongest target cell lysis capabilities, suggesting both peptides may represent the common CTL epitopes shared by the eight MAGE-A antigens, which could induce more potent and broad-spectrum antitumor responses in immunotherapy. [BMB Reports 2012; 45(7): 408-413]

Network Analyses of Gene Expression following Fascin Knockdown in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells

Du, Ze-Peng,Wu, Bing-Li,Xie, Jian-Jun,Lin, Xuan-Hao,Qiu, Xiao-Yang,Zhan, Xiao-Fen,Wang, Shao-Hong,Shen, Jin-Hui,Li, En-Min,Xu, Li-Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.13

Fascin-1 (FSCN1) is an actin-bundling protein that induces cell membrane protrusions, increases cell motility, and is overexpressed in various human epithelial cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We analyzed various protein-protein interactions (PPI) of differentially-expressed genes (DEGs), in fascin knockdown ESCC cells, to explore the role of fascin overexpression. The node-degree distributions indicated these PPI sub-networks to be characterized as scale-free. Subcellular localization analysis revealed DEGs to interact with other proteins directly or indirectly, distributed in multiple layers of extracellular membrane-cytoskeleton/ cytoplasm-nucleus. The functional annotation map revealed hundreds of significant gene ontology (GO) terms, especially those associated with cytoskeleton organization of FSCN1. The Random Walk with Restart algorithm was applied to identify the prioritizations of these DEGs when considering their relationship with FSCN1. These analyses based on PPI network have greatly expanded our comprehension of the mRNA expression profile following fascin knockdown to future examine the roles and mechanisms of fascin action.

Macrophage-secreted Exosomes Delivering miRNA-21 Inhibitor can Regulate BGC-823 Cell Proliferation

Wang, Jian-Jun,Wang, Ze-You,Chen, Rui,Xiong, Jing,Yao, Yong-Liang,Wu, Jian-Hong,Li, Guang-Xin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.10

Exosomes, membranous nanovesicles, naturally carry bio-macromolecules or miRNA and play impoetant roles in tumor pathogenesis. Here, we showed that macrophages cell-derived exosomes can function as vehicles to deliver exogenous miR-21 inhibitor into BGC-823 gastric cancer cells. Exosomes loaded with miR-21inhibitor significantly increased miR-21 levels in BGC-823, but miR-21inhibitor loaded in exosomes exerted an opposite effect. miRNA transfected with exosomes had less cellular toxicity to host cells compared to conventional transfection methods. The miR-21inhibitor loaded exosomes promoted the migration ability and reduced apoptosis of BGC-823 gastric cancer cells. These observations indicate that miR-21 acts as a tumor promoter by targeting the PDCD4 gene and preventing apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through inhibition of PDCD4 expression. Furthermore, exosome -mediated miR-21 inhibitor delivery resulted in functionally more efficient inhibition and less cellular toxicity compared to conventional transfection methods. Similar approaches could be useful in modification of target biomolecules in vitro and in vivo. These findings contribute to our understanding of the functions of miR-21 and exosomes as a carrier for therapy of gastric cancer.

Spectrum- and Energy- Efficiency Analysis Under Sensing Delay Constraint for Cognitive Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Networks

Jia Zhang,Jun Wu,Zehao Chen,Ze Chen,Jipeng Gan,Jiangtao He,Bangyu Wang 한국인터넷정보학회 2022 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.16 No.4

In order to meet the rapid development of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication needs, cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) helps to identify unused spectrum for the primary users (PU). However, multi-UAV mode (MUM) requires the large communication resource in a cognitive UAV network, resulting in a severe decline of spectrum efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE) and increase of energy consumption (EC). On this account, we extend the traditional 2D spectrum space to 3D spectrum space for the UAV network scenario and enable UAVs to proceed with spectrum sensing behaviors in this paper, and propose a novel multi-slot mode (MSM), in which the sensing slot is divided into multiple mini-slots within a UAV. Then, the CSS process is developed into a composite hypothesis testing problem. Furthermore, to improve SE and EE and reduce EC, we use the sequential detection to make a global decision about the PU channel status. Based on this, we also consider a truncation scenario of the sequential detection under the sensing delay constraint, and further derive a closed-form performance expression, in terms of the CSS performance and cooperative efficiency. At last, the simulation results verify that the performance and cooperative efficiency of MSM outperforms that of the traditional MUM in a low EC.

Throughput and Interference for Cooperative Spectrum Sensing: A Malicious Perspective

( Jipeng Gan ),( Jun Wu ),( Jia Zhang ),( Zehao Chen ),( Ze Chen ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2021 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.15 No.11

Cognitive radio (CR) is a feasible intelligent technology and can be used as an effective solution to spectrum scarcity and underutilization. As the key function of CR, cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) is able to effectively prevent the harmful interference with primary users (PUs) and identify the available spectrum resources by exploiting the spatial diversity of multiple secondary users (SUs). However, the open nature of the cognitive radio networks (CRNs) framework makes CSS face many security threats, such as, the malicious user (MU) launches Byzantine attack to undermine CRNs. For this aim, we make an in-depth analysis of the motive and purpose from the MU’s perspective in the interweave CR system, aiming to provide the future guideline for defense strategies. First, we formulate a dynamic Byzantine attack model by analyzing Byzantine behaviors in the process of CSS. On the basis of this, we further make an investigation on the condition of making the fusion center (FC) blind when the fusion rule is unknown for the MU. Moreover, the throughput and interference to the primary network are taken into consideration to evaluate the impact of Byzantine attack on the interweave CR system, and then analyze the optimal strategy of Byzantine attack when the fusion rule is known. Finally, theoretical proofs and simulation results verify the correctness and effectiveness of analyses about the impact of Byzantine attack strategy on the throughput and interference.

ZNF424, a novel human KRAB/C2H2 zinc finger protein, suppresses NFAT and p21 pathway

( Yue Qun Wang ),( Jun Mei Zhou ),( Xiang Li Ye ),( Yong Qi Wan ),( Yong Qing Li ),( Xiao Yan Mo ),( Wu Zhou Yuan ),( Yan Yan ),( Na Luo ),( Ze Qun Wang ),( Xiong Wei Fan ),( Yun Deng ),( Xiu Shan Wu 한국생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학회) 2010 BMB Reports Vol.43 No.3

Zinc finger-containing transcription factors are the largest single family of transcriptional regulators in mammals, which play an essential role in cell differentiation, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and neoplastic transformation. Here we have cloned a novel KRAB-related zinc finger gene, ZNF424, encoding a protein of 555aa. ZNF424 gene consisted of 4 exons and 3 introns, and mapped to chromosome 19p13.3. ZNF424 gene was ubiquitously expressed in human embryo tissues by Northern blot analysis. ZNF424 is conserved across species in evolution. Using a GFP-labeled ZNF424 protein, we demonstrate that ZNF424 localizes mostly in the nucleus. Transcriptional activity assays shows ZNF424 suppresses transcriptional activity of L8G5-luciferase. Overexpression of ZNF424 in HEK- 293 cells inhibited the transcriptional activity of NFAT and p21, which may be silenced by siRNA. The results suggest that ZNF424 protein may act as a transcriptional repressor that suppresses NFAT and p21 pathway to mediate cellular functions. [BMB reports 2010; 43(3): 212-218]