Genistein inhibits human TNF-α-induced porcine endothelial cell adhesiveness for human monocytes and natural killer cells

Cellular immune response is a major barrier to xenotransplantation. Human tumor necrosis factor-α (hTNF-α) possesses cross-species activity and directly amplifies the immune rejection via the upregulation of adhesion molecules on porcine endothelium. We investigated the role of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in the induction of expression of E-sclectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and the augmentation of adhesion of human peripheral blood monocytes (PBMo) and natural killer cells (PBNK), after rhTNF-α-stimulation of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) in vitro, rhTNF-α-increased adhesiveness of PAEC for both PBMo and PBNK was dose-dependently reduced by pretreatment of PAEC with the selective protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor genistein. The inhibitory effect occurred at the early time of PAEC activation triggered by rhTNF-α, and was completely reversible. PTK activity assay indicated that genistein also suppressed rhTNF-α stimulated activation of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) in PAEC in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis showed that genistein inhibited the upregulation of E-selectin and VCAM-1 by rhTNF-α. These results suggest that PTKs may regulate the expression of E-selectin and VCAM-1 on PAEC and the adherence of PBMo and PBNK induced by rhTNF-α. Moreover, dietary genistein, used as an adhesion antagonist, may contribute to managing the cell-mediated rejection in the clinical application.     

Down-regulation of αGal epitopes by co-transfection of α1,3-galactosidase gene and α1,2–fucosyltransferase gene

The polycarbohydrate structure of Galα1- 3Ga1β1-4GluNAc-R （known as αGal epitopes of xenoantigen）, produced by α1-3-galactosyltransferase （α1,3-GT） in the course of animal development, is the major xenoantigen on the cell surface of porcine which causes hyperacute rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Alpha-1,3-galactosidase （AGL）, a hydrolytic enzyme, can remove the terminal α1,3-galactosyi from the Galα1-3Galβ1-4GluNAc-R structure resulting in cleaning αGai epitopes from the porcine cells. Aipha-1,2-fucosyitransferase （HT） can modify the surface carbohydrate phenotype of porcine cells, bringing about reduction of αGai epitopes expression. In this study, human AGL and HT gene were co-transfected to porcine fetal fibroblast （PFFb） in equimolar concentration to reduce the xenoantigen. Gene and protein of hAGL and HT were both detected to express at high level by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. There was an 84% reduction in αGai xenoantigen and an 82% increase in H antigen as assayed by flow cytometry in the AGL and HT gene co-transfected PFFb. The number and morphology of transgenic PFFb chromosome were normal. Findings indicate that Galα1-3Gal epitopes of PFFb could be down regulated by AGL and HT co-transfection without deleterious effects on the chromosomal profile of the transgenic ceil.     

Human endothelial senescence can be induced by TNF-α

TNF-α is one of the most important proinflammatory cytokines in mediating multiple physio-pathological functions during immunological responses. Vascular endothelial cells, when stimulated by TNF-α, can increase the expression of multiple cytokines and cellular adhesion molecules and, in turn, actively promote the inflammatory responses by recruiting and activating of leukocytes to the inflammatory site. In addition to endothelial death induced by TNF-α, we found for the first time that TNF-α can also induce the human endothelial cells senescence. The induced senescent endothelial cells will display SA-β-Gal staining and they were arrested in G0-G1 phase. We found that †Ψ_m would always be up-regulated in response to TNF-α stimulation at early time but when the cells become senescent, †ψ_m shows a tendency to decrease. It may reflect the sthenic function of mitochondria at early time in response to TNF-α stimulation and decay when the endothelial cells were induced senescent. ROS fluctuates at early time and also decreases when the endothelial cells become senescent. Our results show that the change of mitochondrial function may be related to the senescent process.     

α-LTX and α-LTXN4C induce [Ca2+]i elevation through different mechanisms in pancreatic β cells

α-latrotoxin (α-LTX) is the only neurotoxin from black-widow spider which has secretagogue effects in the vertebrates. It causes massive neurotransmitter and hormone release via two instinct mechanisms after binding with its high-affinity membrane recep…     

Isolation and purification of BVⅠ-2H from bee venom and analysis of its biological action

The medical use of bee venom for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a very long tradition. In this study, isolation and purification of polypeptides from bee venom were carried out on sephadex chromatography, heparin sepharose CL-6B chromatography and HPLC. Several fractions were extracted, and their effects on activation of splenocyte and THP-1 cell were studied. The inhibitory fraction was selected for further studies. Finally, BVⅠ-2H that the HPLC elution profiles was a single peak was isolated by C8 column. ESI- MS detection results showed that BVⅠ-2H was a fraction of bee venom, and the molecular weight of the major component was 644.8. BVⅠ-2H could inhibit ConA-induced splenocyte proliferation, IL-1 production and interfere with splenocyte cycle in mice. Moreover, BVⅠ-2H could inhibit PMA-induced TNFa production in THP-1 cells, which was due to its inhibitory effects on TNFa mRNA expression and protein phosphorylation of IkBa. Our studies indicated that BVⅠ-2H was one of the anti-inflammatory components of bee venom.     

The expression of N-cadherin /catenins /actin complex in human lung normal and carcinoma cells

The difference between human normal and carcinoma lung cells was studied with regard to the protein expression level and localization of the cadherin/catenin/actin complex. Results demonstrated that normal lung cell RF expressed high levels of N-cadherin, β-catenin, α-catenin. These 3 proteins were colocalized at AJs and their submembrane adhesion plaques where they link the Rho-phalloidin-positive actin stress fibers, indicating the existence of N-cadherin/catenin/actin complexes at the AJs. Aberrant expression of AJ proteins and the actin cytoskelecton in carcinoma PG cells was observed: (1) inhibition of N-cadherin and to a degree of inhibition of α-catenin protein expression; (2) varied protein modification of β-catenin in cytoplasm soluble fraction and altered distribution of immunofluorescence: majorly in the cytoplasm and minorly on the membrane; (3) disassembly of actin stress fibers and formation of actin bodies in the cytoplasm. The data suggest that inhibited expression of AJ proteins is correlated with the disruption of the AJ complexes and the actin cytoskeleton in carcinoma PG cells, and responsible for its metastasis behaviors.     

Effects ofPKCα antisense RNA on human breast cancer cell proliferation and expression ofcyclinD1 andCDK4

The role of PKCα in human breast cancer cell proliferation and expression ofcyclinD1 andCDK4 has been investigated using inhibition ofPKCα expression by its antisense RNA. WhenPKCα expression was inhibited the rate of cell proliferation decreased apparently and the levels ofcyclinD1 andCDK4 mRNA were lower than the control. The results showed thatPKCα, a key member of signal transduction system, played an important role in human breast cancer cell proliferation and had a close relationship with expression ofcyclinD1 andCDK4 which control start of cell cycle.     

Different patterns of agonist-induced modulation of α1B-adrenoceptor density at different initial expression levels

We compared the norepinephrine (NE) induced α_1B-adrenoceptor (α_1B-AR) expression modulation between two transfected human embryonic kidney (MEK) 293 cell lines in which α_1B-AR densities were (6 336 ± 913) and (773 ± 164) fmol ▪ mg¹, respectively. Treatment of cells with NE (10 μmol ▪ L₁) for 48 h decreased high-level expressed α_1B-AR density, but increased low-level expressed α_1B-AR density. The protein kinase C inhibitor Calphostin C or Ro-31-8220 reversed, and its activator PMA mimicked the NE-induced down-regulation of high-level expressed α_1B-AR. Moreover, PMA induced a down-regulation of low-level expressed α_1B-AR. The endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase inhibitor cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) and the calcium chelator BAPTA/AM did not affect the down-regulation of high-level expressed α_1B-AR, but inhibited the up-regulation of low-level expression α_1B-AR induced by NE. These results suggest that α_1B-adrenoceptor densities at different initial expression levels are differentially regulated by NE and their signal transduction pathways are different.     

Cloning of murine BRI3 gene and study on its function for inducing cell death

To understand the molecular mechanism of TNFα effects, the cDNA of murine BRI3 gene was cloned from the total RNA of murine brain endothelial cells (bEnd.3) treated with hTNFα by using the suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and the RT-PCR method. The fusion expression vector harbouring BRI3 gene and enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) thus obtained were designated as pEGFP/I3. Then pEGFP/I3 was transiently transfected into L929 cells and the fusion protein EGFP/I3 was localized in cytoplasm. It is found that the expression of EGFP/I3 could induce cell death in L929 cells detected by TUNEL method and flow cytometry. And the overexpression of Bcl-2 in L929 cells can block cell death induced by EGFP/I3, indicating that murine BRI3 gene might related to the TNFa mediated cytotoxicity.     

A novel element (NIRS) participates in the regulation of interleukin 2 receptor α gene expression

A novel element at −153/−143 bp in the interleukin 2 receptor α (IL-2Rα) gene has been coined as NRE-inverse repeat sequence (NIRS) due to its inversely repeated to the known negative regulatory element (NRE) further upstream of the gene. In order to explore the role of NIRS in the expression of IL-2Rα gene, luciferase reporter plasmids driven by 4 individually deleted IL-2Rα genes promoter regions were constructed. Transfection of the reporter plasmids into Jurkat cells and HeLa cells respectively, we found that both NIRS and NRE were critical for repressing the constitutive expression of IL-2Rα gene and were also necessary for promoter activity induced by PHA. EMSA results showed that double-stranded NRE-and NIRS-binding proteins existed in both HeLa cells and Jurkat cells. However, single-stranded NIRS-and NRE-binding protein was only found in HeLa cells. Interestingly, the supershift band showed up in EMSA system with Jurkat cells (no matter whether activated or not) adding to the cell lysate of HeLa cells. UV-crosslinking showed a double stranded NRE-and NIRS-binding protein p83 in both Jurkat cells and HeLa cells. Our results suggest that trans-acting factors play a key role in regulating promoter activity of IL-2Rα gene by interacting with double or single stranded NRE and/or NIRS selectively in different cells.     

JWA protein binds to α-tubulin in PC12 cells

Our previous study elucidated that JWA protein was a newly identified microtubule-associated protein (MAP), which combined to and co-localized with α-tubulin. In the present study, we designed a series of experiments to explore if any interactions between JWA protein and α-tubulin existed and how JWA protein would functionally link to α-tubulin, especially in cell mitosis. Results of coimmnnoprecipitation, gene transfection and immnnoflnores-cence microscopy from PC12 and HEK293 cells provided strong evidence for a linkage between JWA protein and α-tubulin. Our data showed that JWA protein bound to α-tubulin stably no matter whether α-tubulin was polymerized or not. In addition, by using antisense oligonncleotides, cell cycle blocking agents and hypothermia disposal techniques, we also found the interaction between JWA protein and α-tubulin. The further analysis using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy showed that both proteins co-existed in PC12 cells and were independent on the cell cycle. In conclusion, JWA protein is a newly identified microtnbnle-associated protein, binds to α-tubulin, and probably plays an important role in regulation of microtnbnlar stability.     

JAK3 mediatesc-myc gene expression induced by interleukin-2

C myc gene expression can be rapidly induced by IL 2 through intracellular signal transduction which is triggered by the interaction between IL 2 and its receptor (IL 2R). JAK3 which associates to the intracellular domain of IL_2R γ may play a critical role in this process. To reveal the action of JAK3 in c myc induction, a chimeric receptor gene IL_2R α/γ/Δ NJAK3 is constructed which consists of extracellular domain derived from IL 2R α subunit (IL_2R α), the transmembrane sequence derived from IL_2R γ and the cytoplasmic domain derived from the catalytic domain of JAK3 (Δ NJAK3), and then transfected this chimeric gene into mouse fibroblast cell line L929 β which had been transfected with IL_2R β gene and stably expressed IL_2R β in high level. In the transfectants coexpressing IL_2R β and α/γ/Δ NJAK3, the stimulation of IL_2 could intensively induce c myc gene expression. Because the whole cytoplasmic domain of IL_2R γ which could recruit signaling molecules was replaced by JAK3 and the c myc could be still induced by IL_2 in this situation, the results here gave the direct evidence demonstrating that JAK3 plays an important role in c myc gene expression induced by IL_2.     

Cell surface clustering of Cadherin adhesion complex induced by antibody coated beads

Cadherin receptors mediate cell-cell adhesion, signal transduction and assembly of cytoskeletons. How a single transmembrane molecule Cadherin can be involved in multiple functions through modulating its binding activities with many membrane adhesion molecules and cytoskeletal components is an unanswered question which can be elucidated by clues from bead experiments. Human lung cells expressing N-Cadherin were examined. After co-incubation with anti-N-Cadherin monoclonal antibody coated beads, cell surface clustering of N-Cadherin was induced. Immunofluorescent detection demonstrated that in addition to Cadherin, β-Catenin, α-Catenin, α-Actinin and Actin fluorescence also aggregated respectively at the membrane site of bead attachment. Myosin heavy chain (MHC), another major component of Actin cytoskeleton, did not aggregate at the membrane site of bead attachment. Adhesion unrelated protein Con A and polylysine conjugated beads did not induce the clustering of adhesion molecules. It is indicated that the Cadherin/Catenins/α-Actinin/Actin complex is formed at Cadherin mediated cell adherens junction; occupancy and cell surface clustering of Cadherin is crucial for the formation of Cadherin adhesion protein complexes.     

SH-SY5Y与U87细胞共培养条件性培养基可降低N-甲基-salsolinol介导THP-1细胞的凋亡

 神经免疫在帕金森病(PD)的致病机理中发挥重要的作用,PD 患者的外周血淋巴细胞的数量发生了变化,提示外周免疫系统在PD 的发生发展中发挥一定的作用。但是外周单核细胞(PBMC)在其中发挥的具体作用尚不清楚。外源性神经毒素(MPTP)类似物,内源性神经毒素(NMSal)可能是导致PD 发生的一种因素。研究采用NMSal 损伤的SH-SY5Y与U87 细胞共培养的条件性培养基培养外周单核细胞THP-1,探讨NMSal 损伤的多巴胺能神经元细胞对外周单核细胞的影响。结果表明,该条件性培养基可以降低NMSal 毒性诱导的THP-1 细胞的凋亡、氧化应激水平(MDA 和H₂O₂)、线粒体的损伤和凋亡相关蛋白FADD、Bax 和caspase3 的表达和活化水平。PD 病人中损伤的多巴胺能神经元与星形胶质细胞的相互作用可能会影响PBMC,进而影响PD 病情的进展。     

hTERT基因电转染人γδT细胞建立可诱导的永生化细胞系

利用电击将外源基因hTERT与pTet-on调控质粒共转染人γδT细胞,建立可诱导的永生化人γδT细胞系.分离人PBMC,体外刺激增殖后经磁珠分选纯化,然后对其进行外源hTERT基因和pTet-on调控质粒的共同电转染,并加入强力霉素诱导目的基因表达.电转染程序T 23和T-20的效率分别为37.5％±0.9860％和30.5％±0.5590％.经鉴定,外源hTERT基因能够整合人γδT细胞基因组中并在诱导后表达.程序T-23的转染效率更高,强力霉素的有效诱导浓度是600ng/mL,志愿者本人的血清更利于电转后细胞的存活.     

Molecular mechanism of abnormal aggresation of α-synuclein

The abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein （α-Syn） is thought to be closely associated with Parkinson＇s disease, but the pathogenesis is still unclear. In this review, we survey the latest development in the molecular mechanism of abnormal α-Syn aggregation, especially in the aspects of the core sequences, aggregation inhibitors, structural transformation and filament morphologies. By exploring the mechanism of α-Syn aggregation, we will have a better understanding of the disease pathogenesis, and develop strategies for preventing and treating this severe disease.     

Interleukin-2 mediates the peripheral analgesia of interferon alpha

Interferon-α (IFN-α) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) are crucial cytokines in immune system. They also play an important role in nerve system. It has been reported that IL-2 can induce the central analgesia. It is demonstrated that IFN-α also can induce the peripheral analgesia, which can be blocked by naloxone as IL-2. Furthermore, the analgesic effect of IFN-α is reversible by monoclonal anti-IL-2 antibody. In vitro experiments show that IFN-α significantly increases the production of IL-2 in a dose dependent manner. These data suggest that IL-2 mediates the peripheral analgesia of IFN-α.     

Human RBCs blood group conversion from A to O using a novel α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase of high specific activity

α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase （αNAGA） can convert group A human red blood cells （RBCs） to group O. One novel αNAGA gene was cloned by PCR from Elizabethkingia meningosepticum Isolated from a domestic clinical sample. Pure recombinant αNAGA was obtained by genetic engineering and protein purification with a calculated molecule of 49.6 kD. αNAGA was selective for terminal α-N-acetylgalacto- samine residue with a high specific activity, αNAGA could completely remove A antigens of 1 U （about 100 mL） group A1 or A2 RBCs in 1 h at pH 6.8 and 25℃ with s consumption of 1.5 or 0.4 mg recombinant enzyme. Enzyme-converted group A RBCs did not agglutinate after being mixed with monoclonal snti-A or sere of groups A, B, AB and O. Other blood group antigens except ABO had no change. FCM analysis showed that A antigens and A1 antigens disappeared while H antigens increased. It indicated that αNAGA successfully converted human blood group A RBCs to universally transfusable group O RBCs without the risk of ABO-incompaUble transfusion reactions. This αNAGA was suitable for producing universal RBCs to increase clinical transfusion safety, improve the RBCs supply, and to decrease transfusion cost and support transfusion service in case of emergency.