Previous reports have suggested that some probiotics inhibit tumorigenesis and cancer progression. However, the molecules involved have not yet been identified. Here, we show that the culture ...supernatant of Lactobacillus casei ATCC334 has a strong tumour-suppressive effect on colon cancer cells. Using mass spectrometry, we identify ferrichrome as a tumour-suppressive molecule produced by L. casei ATCC334. The tumour-suppressive effect of ferrichrome is greater than that of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil, and ferrichrome has less of an effect on non-cancerous intestinal cells than either of those agents. A transcriptome analysis reveals that ferrichrome treatment induces apoptosis, which is mediated by the activation of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Western blotting indicates that the induction of apoptosis by ferrichrome is reduced by the inhibition of the JNK signalling pathway. This we demonstrate that probiotic-derived ferrichrome exerts a tumour-suppressive effect via the JNK signalling pathway.
To expand the applications of secondary batteries, we have developed a new reserve-type fluoride shuttle battery (FSB) as a promising next-generation secondary battery candidate. For a FSB, a metal ...fluoride and an organic solvent are applied as the active material and electrolyte, respectively, and the dissolution and deposition of the active material facilitate the electrochemical reaction. In the present study, a new electrolyte for FSBs was developed and used to investigate the electrochemical properties of a BiF3 electrode. Dissolution of the active material and a supporting fluoride salt in the electrolyte is critical for FSBs; however, the solubility of metal fluorides and fluoride salts in organic solvents is very low. To increase the solubility, an anion acceptor was added to the organic solvent, which greatly increased the solubility of these components. Using this electrolyte, we succeeded in progressive discharge-charge cycling of the BiF3 electrode. The associated discharge-charge reactions were confirmed using XRD and SEM-EDX analyses.
We have developed a fluoride shuttle battery (FSB) which is a promising candidate for the next-generation high-energy-density secondary batteries. Using the bis 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethyl ether ...(tetraglyme: G4) solvent containing 0.45 mol dm
−3
cesium fluoride (CsF) and 0.5 mol dm
−3
fluorobis (2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) borane (FBTMPhB) as an electrolyte for FSB, we have successfully conducted the discharge (BiF
3
+ 3e
−
→ Bi + 3F
−
) and charge (Bi + 3F
−
→ BiF
3
+ 3e
−
) reactions for a BiF
3
electrode; however, the discharge and charge capacities significantly decreased during cycling. Atomic absorption spectrometry results indicated that, in addition to the formation of BiF
3
, dissolution of Bi (Bi → Bi
3+
+ 3e
−
) occurred during the charge process. The dissolution of Bi indicated that the active material was lost from the electrode, which decreased the capacity during cycling. An increased CsF/FBTMPhB ratio in the electrolyte was found to suppress the dissolution of Bi during the charge process and, therefore, improve the cycling performance.
Graphical Abstract
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded short-chain RNAs that are endogenously expressed in vertebrates; they are considered the fine-tuners of cellular protein expression that act by modifying mRNA ...translation. miRNAs control tissue development and differentiation, cell growth, and apoptosis in cancer and non-cancer cells. Aberrant regulation of miRNAs is involved in the pathogenesis of various diseases including cancer. Numerous investigations have shown that the changes in cellular miRNA expression in cancerous tissues and extracellular miRNAs enclosed in exosomes are correlated with cancer prognosis. Therefore, miRNAs can be used as cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer in clinical applications. In the previous decade, miRNAs have been shown to regulate cellular functions by directly binding to proteins and mRNAs, thereby controlling cancer progression. This regulatory system implies that cancer-associated miRNAs can be applied as molecular-targeted therapy. This review discusses the roles of miRNA-protein systems in cancer progression and its future applications in cancer treatment.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cellular compartmentalization plays an essential role in organizing the complex and multiple biochemical reactions in the cell. An artificial compartment would provide powerful strategies to develop ...new biochemical tools for material production and diagnosis, but it is still a great challenge to synthesize the compartments that encapsulate materials of interest while controlling their accurate locations, numbers, and stoichiometry. In this study, we evaluated chemical characteristics of a liposome-encapsulated compartment, which has great potential to locate various materials of interest with precise control of their locations and numbers in the compartment. A nanoliposome was constructed inside a ring-shaped DNA origami skeleton according to the method of Yang et al., and further equipped with a double-stranded DNA platform to assemble molecules of interest in the nanoliposome. Upon formation of the nanoliposome, a pH-sensitive fluorophore on the bridged platform showed little or no response to the pH change of the outer buffer, ensuring that the molecules assembled on the platform are effectively shielded from the outer environment. The ring-shaped DNA skeleton equipped with a double-stranded DNA platform allows spatial assembly of several functional molecules inside the nanoliposome to isolate them from the outer environment.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
A nitroxide radical functional polymer was photocrosslinked for the first time without significant side reactions, producing a cathode-active thin film, leading to an organic-based paper battery.
Pancreatic cancer is associated with an extremely poor prognosis, so new biomarkers that can detect the initial stages are urgently needed. The significance of serum microRNA (miR) levels in ...pancreatic neoplasm such as pancreatic cancer and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) diagnosis remains unclear. We herein evaluated the usefulness of miRs enclosed in serum exosomes (ExmiRs) as diagnostic markers.
The ExmiRs from patients with pancreatic cancer (n = 32) or IPMN (n = 29), and patients without neoplasms (controls; n = 22) were enriched using ExoQuick-TC™. The expression of ExmiRs was evaluated using a next-generation sequencing analysis, and the selected three miRs through this analysis were confirmed by a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
The expression of ExmiR-191, ExmiR-21 and ExmiR-451a was significantly up-regulated in patients with pancreatic cancer and IPMN compared to the controls (p < 0.05). A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve and the diagnostic accuracy of ExmiRs were 5-20% superior to those of three serum bulky circulating miRs (e.g.; ExmiR-21: AUC 0.826, accuracy 80.8%. Circulating miR-21: AUC 0.653, accuracy 62.3%). In addition, high ExmiR-451a was associated with mural nodules in IPMN (p = 0.010), and high ExmiR-21 was identified as a candidate prognostic factor for the overall survival (p = 0.011, HR 4.071, median OS of high-ExmiR-21: 344 days, median OS of low-ExmiR-21: 846 days) and chemo-resistant markers (p = 0.022).
The level of three ExmiRs can thus serve as early diagnostic and progression markers of pancreatic cancer and IPMN, and considered more useful markers than the circulating miRs (limited to these three miRs).
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
We previously showed that
Lactobacillus brevis
-derived polyphosphate (poly P) exerts a curative effect on intestinal inflammation. However, whether or not poly P improves the inflammation ...and injury of distant organs remains unclear.
Aims
We aimed to investigate the change in the intestinal microbiome and to evaluate the protective effect of poly P on injuries in a cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis (AP) mouse.
Methods
Poly P was orally administered to BALB/C mice every day for 24 days, and then mice were intraperitoneally injected with cerulein. Before cerulein injection, stool samples were collected and analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Mice were sacrificed at 24 h after the last cerulein injection; subsequently, the serum, pancreas, and colon were collected.
Results
The microbial profile differed markedly between poly P and control group. Notably, the levels of beneficial bacteria, including
Alistipes
and
Candidatus_Saccharimonas
, were significantly increased, while those of the virulent bacteria
Desulfovibrio
were decreased in the poly P group. The elevations of the serum amylase and lipase levels by cerulein treatment were suppressed by the pre-administration of poly P for 24 days, but not for 7 days. The numbers of cells MPO-positive by immunohistology were decreased and the levels of MCP-1 significantly reduced in the AP + Poly P group. An immunofluorescence analysis showed that the ZO-1 and occludin in the colon was strongly augmented in the epithelial cell membrane layer in the AP + Poly P group.
Conclusions
Poly P attenuates AP through both modification of the intestinal microbiome and enhancement of the intestinal barrier integrity.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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•The reversible capacity of BiF3 electrode is affected by the anion acceptor type in the electrolyte.•The fluoride ion interacts with anion acceptor in the electrolyte.•The chemical ...state of fluoride ion affects the battery performance of BiF3 electrode.
An electrolyte for fluoride shuttle battery was composed of bis2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethylether, a cesium fluoride, and an anion acceptor (AA; triphenylborane, fluorobis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)borane, or triphenylboroxine). The battery performance of bismuth(III) fluoride in the electrolytes with fluorobis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)borane and triphenylboroxine was much higher than that in the electrolyte with triphenylborane. To evaluate the AA type on battery performance, the chemical state of each ion in the electrolyte was evaluated by nuclear magnetic resonance. The chemical shift of fluoride ion interacted with fluorobis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)borane and triphenylboroxine was different from that interacted with triphenylborane, indicating that the chemical state of fluoride ion in the electrolyte affects battery performance.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
Intake of probiotics or fermented food produced by some probiotic bacteria is believed to exert anti-tumor functions in various cancers, including pancreatic cancer, because several studies ...have demonstrated the anti-tumor effects of probiotic bacteria in vitro and in vivo in animal carcinogenesis models. However, the mechanisms underlying the anticancer effects of probiotics on pancreatic cancer have not been clarified. In this study, we assessed the anti-tumor effects of probiotic bacteria against pancreatic cancer cells. Among the known probiotic bacteria,
Aspergillus oryzae
exhibited a strong pancreatic tumor suppression effect. The culture supernatant of
A. oryzae
was separated by HPLC. Heptelidic acid was identified as an anti-tumor molecule derived from
A. oryzae
by LC–MS and NMR analysis. The anti-tumor effect of heptelidic acid was exhibited in vitro and in vivo in a xenograft model of pancreatic cancer cells. The anti-tumor effect of heptelidic acid was exerted by the p38 MAPK signaling pathway. Heptelidic acid traverses the intestinal mucosa and exerts anti-tumor effects on pancreatic cancer cells. This is a novel anti-tumor mechanism induced by beneficial bacteria against pancreatic cancer in which bacterial molecules pass through the intestinal tract, reach the extra-intestinal organs, and then induce apoptosis via an inducible signaling pathway.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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