Cell adhesion receptors and cancer

Cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions in the functions of cell adhesion and signal transduction are important in global control of cell phenotypes and cell behavior and are crucial for maintenance of homeostasis and structural/functional stabilization of tissues and organs. Cell adhesion receptors are recognized as the molecular basis of cell adhesion. Cadherin and Integrin are widely expressed adhesion receptors in most tissues. They are transmembrane glycoproteins which, through their cytoplasmic domain, bind to many proteins at the inner surface of cell membrane to form molecule-linkage complexes and then connect with the cytoskeleton. Through cell adhesion receptors a network functioning as cell adhesion and signal transduction is organized between tissue cells and cell-ECM. In this regard cell adhesion receptors play an important role in regulation of morphogenesis, cell-cell recognition, cell migration, cell sorting and the determination of cell's fate in development. They mediate cell functions and their fault expression is intimately correlated with development of disorders like cancer. Several isoforms of Integrin were found to have tumor suppressor effect. Some components in the molecule-linkage of focal contact are actin-binding proteins as well as substrates of kinase in the Integrin initiated signal pathway to play a role as signal transducer. Some of these molecules exhibited tumor suppressor effect too. Decreased expression of E-Cadherin has been demonstrated in many epithelium originated carcinomas. Cadherin associated membrane adhesion plaque molecule β-Catenin is also involved in the oncogene Wnt signal pathway. Both E-Cadherin and β-Catenin were proved respectively with tumor suppressor effect against invasiveness and metastasis. That Cadherin is important for the posttranslationally functional expression of Connexin has been supported by evidence from developmental biology and cancer cell differentiation studies to suggest that some sort of interrelation feedback control exists between the two signal pathways.     

PML contributes to p53-independent p21 up-regulation in gamma-irradiation induced DNA damage responses

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 WAF1/Cip1 is a critical cell cycle regulator which translocates into the nucleus to participate in DNA repair during DNA damage responses. In the present study, we showed that the tumor suppressor, promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) contributes to the up-regulation of p21 in a p53-independent pathway. Knock-down of PML in p53-null H1299 and HCT 116 (p53 –/– ) tumor cells by specific siRNA resulted in down-regulation of p21 protein expression, inhibition of -irradi...     

Progress in measuring biophysical properties of membrane proteins with AFM single-molecule force spectroscopy

Membrane proteins are crucial in cell physiological activities and are the targets for most drugs.Thus,investigating the behaviors of membrane proteins not only provide deeper insights into cell function,but also help disease treatment and drug development.Atomic force microscopy is a unique tool for investigating the structure of membrane proteins.It can both image the morphology of single native membrane proteins with high resolution and,via single-molecule force spectroscopy(SMFS),directly measure their biophysical properties during molecular physiological activities such as ligand binding and protein unfolding.In the context of molecular biomechanics,SMFS has been successfully used to understand the structure and function of membrane proteins,complementing the static three-dimensional structures of proteins obtained by X-ray crystallography.Here,based on the authors’antigen-antibody binding force measurements in clinical tumor cells,the principle and method of SMFS is discussed,the progress in using SMFS to characterize membrane proteins is summarized,and challenges for SMFS are presented.     

A novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> angiogenesis model based on a microfluidic device

Angiogenesis is very important for many physiological and pathological processes. However, the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis are unclear. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis and to develop treatments for "angiogenesis-dependent" diseases, it is essential to establish a suitable in vitro angiogenesis model. In this study, we created a novel in vitro angiogenesis model based on a microfluidic device. Our model provides an in vivo-like microenvironment for endothelial cells (ECs) cultures and monitors the response of ECs to changes in their microenvironment in real time. To evaluate the potential of this microfluidic device for researching angiogenesis, the effects of pro-angiogenic factors on ECs proliferation, migration and tube-like structure formation were investigated. Our results showed the proliferation rate of ECs in 3D matrix was significantly promoted by the pro-angiogenic factors (with an increase of 59.12%). With the stimulation of pro-angiogenic factors gradients, ECs directionally migrated into the Matrigel from low concentrations to high concentrations and consequently formed multi-cell chords and tube-like structures. These results suggest that the device can provide a suitable platform for elucidating the mechanisms of angiogenesis and for screening pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic drugs for "angiogenesis-dependent" diseases.     

Monitoring p21 mRNA expression in living cell based on molecular beacon fluorescence increasing rate

Studying the expression level of mRNA in living cells will offer tremendous opportunities for advancement in cell biology research, disease diagnostics, and drug discovery. In this paper, a molecular beacon （MB） specific for the important tumor suppressor gene p21 has been designed and synthesized. The fluorescence signal was detected in real-time after the MB entered the cytoplasm of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. After injecting the p21MB into nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell and p33-transfected nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell, the consistent increase of fluorescent signal intensity was detected in both cell lines, and maximum fluorescence intensity achieved in about 15 min. In about 4 min following microinjection, the fluorescence increasing rate was significantly different between these two cell lines, which indicate the different p21 mRNA expression levels. The results obtained in the real-time detection were also validated by RT-PCR. Analysis of the initial fluorescence increasing rate can efficiently reduce the side effect of enzyme and improve the accuracy in living cell mRNA detection.     

A novel strategy for cancer treatment: Targeting cancer stem cells

Cancer stem cell/tumor-initiating cell （CSC/TIC） is a subclass of cancer cells possessing parts of properties of normal stem cell. It has a high capacity of proliferation and plays a pivotal role in tumor recurrence and tumor resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At present, small molecule inhibitors and fusion proteins are widely used in the CSC-targeting strategy. Gene-virotherapy, which uses oncolytic adenovirus as a vector to mediate the expression of therapeutic gene, shows a significant superiority to other regimens of cancer treatment and has a good efficacy in the treatment of solid tumors. Thus, it is a promising choice to apply gene-virotherapy into the CSC-targeting treatment. Based on the molecular mechanism underlying CSC self-renewal, a series of effective strategies for targeting CSC have been established. This review will summarize the recent research progresses on CSC-targeting treatment.     

The molecular mechanism of embryonic stem cell pluripotency maintenance

In vitro cultured embryonic stem （ES） cells are derived from the inner cell mass （ICM） of pre-implantation embryos, and are capable of giving rise to all cell and tissue types of the three germ layers upon being injected back into blastocysts. These ceils are therefore said to possess pluripotency that can be maintained infinitely in culture under optimal conditions. Such pluripotency maintenance is believed to be due to the symmetrical cleavage of the cells in an undifferentiated state. The pluripotency of ES cells is the basis for their various practical and potential applications. ES cells can be used as donor cells to generate knockout or transgenic animals, as in vitro models of mammalian development, and as cell resources for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. The further success in these applications, particularly in the last two, is dependent on the establishment of a culture system with components in the medium clearly defined and the subsequent procedures for controlled differentiation of the cells into specific lineages. In turn, elucidating the molecular mechanism for pluripotency maintenance of ES cells is the prerequisite. This paper summarizes the recent progresses in this area, focusing mainly on the LIF/STAT3, BMPs/Smads, canonical Wnt, TGFβ/activin/nodal, PI3K and FGF signaling pathways and the genes such as oct4, nanog that are crucial in ES cell pluripotency maintenance. The regulatory systems of pluripotency maintenance in both mouse and human ES cells are also discussed. We believe that the cross-talkings between these signaling pathways, as well as the regulatory system underlying pluripotency maintenance will be the main focus in the area of ES cell researches in the future.     

Natural selection and adaptive evolution of leptin

Leptin is an adiposity-secreted hormone that is pivotal in regulating feeding behavior,energy metabolism and body mass.The study of leptin has been of crucial importance for public health and pharmaceutical intervention given its role in obesity.Generally,leptin is highly conserved due to its functional importance.However,episodes of rapid sequence evolution and positive selection have been observed in some mammalian species,indicating that the leptin functions in these animals may have undergone adaptive modification to their environments.In this article,we review the adaptive evolution of leptin and its potential functional consequences.This review is expected to guide future research of molecular evolution and functional assays of this gene,and also to provide a theoretical foundation for the use of leptin in therapeutic applications.     

PeerMD： A P2P Molecular Dynamics Simulation Framework Based on Web Services

PeerMD, a P2P molecular dynamics simulation frame-work based on Web services is proposed. It utilizes rich free CPU time and network bandwidth of P2P networks to provide enough resources for dynamics simulation of bio-macromolecule, and has resolved the problem that it is difficult to interoperate between heterogeneous peers in P2P environment through Web services. Structure of PeerMD is given. Function, input and output of molecular dynamics simulation Web service are defined. Processes of publishing, discovering and invoking of molecular dynamics simulation Web service based on multi-level SuperPeer are given. A protocol system of PeerMD is implemented on a basic P2P platform JXTA, and experimental simulations of tumor necrosis fact alpha （TNF-α） and two mutations of it are executed on the protocol system. Simulation results show that PeerMD can speed up molecular dynamics simulation perfectly.     

Review： Deregulation of microRNA expression in thyroid tumors

MicroRNAs （miRNAs or miRs） are endogenous non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expres- sion by binding to the 3＇ non-coding regions of target mRNAs, resulting in their cleavage or blocking their translation. miRNAs may have an impact on cell differentiation, proliferation, and survival, and their deregulation can be inclined to diseases and cancers, including thyroid tumors. The purpose of this review is to summarize the existing findings of deregulated miRNAs in different types of thyroid tumors and to exhibit their potential target genes, especially to demonstrate those involved in tumor invasion and metastasis. In addition, new findings of circulating miRNA expres- sion profiles, single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） in thyroid tumors, and the correlation of somatic mutations with deregulated miRNA expression in thyroid tumors were all included in this review.     

The molecular mechanism of different sensitivity of breast cancer cell lines to TRAIL

Although Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) selectively induces apoptosis of various cancer cells, some caner cell lines are resistant to TRAIL-induced cell death. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying TRAIL-resistance, two human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 (resistant to TRAIL) and MDA-MB-231 (sensitive to TRAIL), were used as a model system to analyze the different sensitivities to TRAIL cytotoxicity. PKCδ inhibitor rottlerin, but not MEK and ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 nor PI3K inhibitor LY294002, was shown to enhance TRAIL-induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells significantly, suggesting that PKCδ might play an important role in the resistance of MCF-7 cells to TRAIL. In contrast, rottlerin, U0126, and Ly294002 had no effect on MDA-MB-231 apoptosis induced by TRAIL under the same conditions. Further experiment showed that the combination of rottlerin and TRAIL cleaved PARP in the MCF-7 cells synergistically, but not in the MDA-MB-231 cells. The role of PKCδ in TRAIL-resistant MCF-7 cells was confirmed by knocking down the endogenous PKCδ expression using RNAi technology. Furthermore, caspase-3 reconstitution in MCF-7 cells was unable to alter PKCδ expression, suggesting that innate caspase-3 deficient in the cells does not cause PKCδ high expression. These data provide evidence for the first time that PKCδ plays a critical role in breast cancer cell lines to TRAIL cytotoxicity.     

The stress response factor RpoS is required for the natural transformation of Escherichia coli

The natural transformation of Escherichia coli is a novel and recently developed system that has signifi- cance for genetic studies and the biological safety of genetic engineering. However, the mechanisms of transformation, including development of competence and DNA uptake, are not thoroughly understood. In this study, we demonstrated the effect of the general stress response regulator RpoS, which has been associated with E. coli transformation, on natural transformation performed in an ＂open system＂. We find that RpoS is required for natural transformation but not to artificial transformation and RpoS mainly affect trans- formation in the liquid culture prior to plating. In the liquid culture, RpoS over-expression promotes natural transfor- mation in early exponential phase and static incubation accumulates RpoS and promotes transformation to a limited extent. These findings provide detailed understanding of RpoS function on natural transformation.     

Construction of heteroduplex DNA and<Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> model for functional analysis of mismatch repair

Functional deficiency of mismatch repair (MMR) system is one of the mechanisms of tumorigenesis. With the development of the investigation and the requirement from the clinical diagnosis and treatment it is necessary to build up a method to evaluate the functional status of the whole MMR system in the concerned tumors. The original ssDNA and dsDNA from wild type (wt) bacteriophage M13mp2 and its three derivates with mutation points in the lacZα gene have been used to construct two kinds of hetero-duplex DNA molecules. One named del(2) has two bases deleted in the negative strand, the other has a G·G mismatch base pair in the negative strand too. Introducing this heteroduplex DNA into E. coli NR9162 (mutS-) without the MMR ability on the indicator plate with x-gal and IPTG, there are three kinds of plaques, mixture plaque as the characteristic phenotype of heteroduplex DNA, blue and clear plaques. If the cell extract is mismatch repair competent the percentage of the mixture plaque will decrease after incubation with these heteroduplex DNA, the repair efficiency is expressed in percentage as 100× (1 minus the ratio of percentages of mixture plaque obtained from the extract-treated sample and untreated samples), which can imply the functional status of MMR system of certain samples. After large T-antigen-dependent SV-40 DNA replication assay cell extract from TK6, a human lymphoblastoid B-cell lymphoma cell line with MMR ability, and Lovo, a human colonic carcinoma cell line with MMR deficiency have incubated with these heteroduplex DNA. The repair efficiency of TK6 to del(2) is more than 60%, to G-G is more than 50%. The Lovo efficiency to del(2) is less than 10%, to G-G is less than 20%. Therefore, in this in vitro model used for functional analysis of mismatch repair of heteroduplex DNA as the repair target, TK6 can serve as the control for MMR proficiency and Lovo as the control for MMR deficiency. Using this model the tumor tissue from a case of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (microsatellite instability high, MSI-H) was measured and lack of MMR ability was shown. And a case of sporadic rectal cancer (SRC) (microsatellite stability, MSS) maintains MMR proficiency. The results indicate that the model is sensitive and dependable. It could be used to measure the func- tion status of MMR system in tumor cell and/or tissues. This is a reliable method to investigate the mechanic of tumori-genesis. It is meaningful in the observation of the role of MMR in the initiation and progression of concerned tumors.     

Comparing the biological coherence of network clusters identified by different detection algorithms

Protein-protein interaction networks serve to carry out basic molecular activity in the cell. Detecting the modular structures from the protein-protein interaction network is important for understanding the organization, function and dynamics of a biological system. In order to identify functional neighbor- hoods based on network topology, many network cluster identification algorithms have been devel- oped. However, each algorithm might dissect a network from a different aspect and may provide dif- ferent insight on the network partition. In order to objectively evaluate the performance of four com- monly used cluster detection algorithms: molecular complex detection (MCODE), NetworkBlast, shortest-distance clustering (SDC) and Girvan-Newman (G-N) algorithm, we compared the biological coherence of the network clusters found by these algorithms through a uniform evaluation framework. Each algorithm was utilized to find network clusters in two different protein-protein interaction net- works with various parameters. Comparison of the resulting network clusters indicates that clusters found by MCODE and SDC are of higher biological coherence than those by NetworkBlast and G-N algorithm.     

Synthesis and characterization of cerium sulfide thin film

Cerium sulfide(Cex Sy)polycrystalline thin film is coated with chemical bath deposition on substrates(commercial glass).Transmittance,absorption,optical band gap and refractive index are examined by using UV/VIS.Spectrum.The hexagonal form is observed in the structural properties in XRD.The structural and optical properties of cerium sulfide thin films are analyzed at different p H.SEM and EDX analyses are made for surface analysis and elemental ratio in films.It is observed that some properties of films changed with different p H values.In this study,the focus is on the observed changes in the properties of films.The p H values were scanned at 6–10.The optical band gap changed with p H between 3.40 to 3.60 e V.In addition,the film thickness changed with p H at 411 nm to 880 nm.     

Neutron Capture Therapy （NCT） ＆ In-Hospital Neutron Irradiator （IHNI）-a new technology on binary targeting radiation therapy of cancer

BNCT is finally becoming ＂a new option against cancer＂. The difficulties for its development progress of that firstly is to improve the performance of boron compounds, secondly, it is the requirements of quantification and accuracy upon radiation dosimetry evaluation in clinical trials. Furthermore, that is long anticipation on hospital base neutron sources. It includes dedicated new NCT reactor, accelerator based neutron sources, and isotope source facilities. In ad- dition to reactors, so far, the technology of other types of sources for clinical trials is not yet completely proven. The In- Hospital Neutron lrradiator specially designed for NCT, based on the MNSR successfully developed by China, can be installed inside or near the hospital and operated directly by doctors. The Irradiator has two neutron beams for respective treatment of the shallow and deep tumors. It is expected to initiate operation in the end of this year. It would provide a safe, low cost, and effective treatment tool for the NCT routine application in near future.     

Bispecific antibody and its clinical applications in cancer

Bispecific antibody (BsAb) usually consists of two different antigen-binding arms, by which it is capable of simultaneously binding to target cells and effector cells, and can directly mediate the killing of target cells by retargeting and activating effector cells. The development of BsAb research goes through three main stages: chemical cross- linking of murine-derived monoclonal antibody, hybrid hybridomas and engineered BsAb. Among them, engineered BsAb has more formats than the other two, such as diabody, ScdHLX, ScZip, ScCH3, ScFab and BsIgG, etc. Compared with former murine-derived BsAbs, engineered BsAb has lower immunogenicity and stronger penetrating capacity, and currently, some of them appear suitable for clinical application in yields and qualities. Up to now, several phase Ⅰand phase Ⅱ clinical studies of BsAb, for instance, some (Fab’)₂ and Diabodies, have been performed. Among those BsAbs, anti-CD3/anti-tumor BsAbs is most common, they not only can activate T cell and induce CD3AK cytotoxic activity in in vitro experiment, and inhibit the growth of tumor on tumor-bearing mouse by retargeting T cells to lyse tumor cells, but also offer great promise in the therapy of some malignancies in clinic, especially of some advanced cancers as well as elimination of minimal residual tumors, indicated by increasing the tumor/blood ratio of antibody in patients and improving the natural killer cell (NK) anti-tumor activity in tumor sites, and also presenting of an increase level in TNF-α,INF-γ, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and soluble CD25, etc. The responses are also shown via improving the quality of life and prolonging the survival of partial patients. The “Knobs into Holes” technology is a new strategy emerging during research on engineered BsAb, it is likely to be useful for heterodimerization and can improve the quantity, purity and stability of BsAb, it is also anticipated to increase the clinical potential of BsAb in the future.     

Specific anti-tumor effect induced by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium vaccine expressing extracellular region of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2

The purposes of this research were to study the stable expression of exogenous gene encoding therapeutic protein in attenuated Salmonella typhimurium, observe the metabolism of oral gene vaccine carried by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium in BALB/c mouse, and investigate the feasibility of prevention and treatment of tumors by the recombinant bacteria. Recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1 VEGFR2(n1-7) was transformed into competent attenuated Salmonella typhimurium SL3261 to develop oral DNA vaccine SL3261-pcDNA3.1 VEGFR2(n1-7). To observe whether the exogenous gene can be expressed in the recombinant bacteria, PCR was performed to amplify the CMV promoter of the eukaryotic expression vector as the proof of stable expression of exogenous protein; transmission elec- tron microscopy (TEM) was applied to observe the morphology of the recombinant bacteria to confirm that the exogenous gene has no impact on the growth of the bacteria, and then BALB/c mice were immunized with the gene vaccine. After inoculation of the gene vaccine, the recombinant bacteria SL3261 could be detected in the tissues such as small intestine, colon, liver and spleen. And then, mice in each group were challenged with tumor cells. The results of animal experiment showed that tumor growth of the mice in experimental group was inhibited and survival time of immunized mice was prolonged compared with control groups. A higher lymphocyte infiltration in tumors from animals treated with DNA vaccine was observed. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumor samples revealed an en- hanced accumulation of CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, as well as an increase in CD4 cells in the tumors of animals treated with the oral gene vaccine compared to tumors from control group mice. Ultrastructure of the tumor tissue showed that tumor cells in the samples of the immunized mice were well-differentiated. Our research confirmed that the exogenous gene can be stably expressed in the attenuated Salmonella typhimurium and has no impact on the growth of the recombinant bacteria; the exogenous gene can de delivered to the host by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium to produce anti-tumor effect with no obvious cytotoxity to the host. In this study, it is established that attenuated Salmonella typhimurium could be used as a vector for oral gene vaccine, and our study provided a theoretical basis for the body distribution and the metabolism of the recombinant bacteria. This strategy may provide a simple, safe and effective way for the prevention and treatment of tumors.