The aims of this study were to explore the correlation between the expression of EpCAM and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in human colon cancer and its clinical significance for the evaluation of cancer ...prognosis. Samples from colon cancer, para-carcinoma, or benign intestinal tissue from individual patients (50) and from normal intestinal mucosal tissues (20) were obtained from the Pathology Department of the Shandong Province Binzhou People's Hospital (Shandong, China). Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression levels of EpCAM and β-catenin proteins in these tissues, and the prognoses of the patients from whom the samples were derived were determined on follow-up examination. The corresponding in vitro mechanistic siRNA experiments were subsequently performed in the human colon cancer cell line HCT116 to observe the regulatory effects of silencing EpCAM expression on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. From these analyses, we determined that the expression levels of EpCAM and β-catenin were higher in cancer tissues compared with other tissues from the same patient, and that the expression of EpCAM and Wnt/β- catenin in colon cancers were positively correlated. The prognostic analysis showed an inverse correlation between EpCAM and Wnt/β- catenin expression and patient prognosis. A further examination of cellular mechanisms confirmed that the silencing of EpCAM led to decreased expression of Wnt/β-catenin, and thus reduced proliferation and increased the apoptosis ratio in the cells. These results suggest that suppression of EpCAM might be a new approach for treating colon cancer.
Some of the major components of Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), a widely used Chinese herbal medicine rich in phenolic acids, are thermosensitive and may degrade to other phenolic acids during ...extractions with heating. The chemical profiles of Danshen water-extract may vary with different heat water extraction at different temperatures, affecting the composition and bioactivity of the extracts. In this study, six water-extracts of Danshen obtained from heat reflux water extraction and microwave-assisted extraction with water (MAE-W) at different temperatures were tested for their composition and pharmacological effects. Among these extracts, the third-round MAE-W (100°C) extract had the highest phenolic acids and tanshinones contents, with the strongest antioxidant activity in 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) hydrazyl (DPPH) assay and ferric reducing/antioxidant potential (FRAP) assay. This extract also showed the strongest inhibitory effects on 2,2′-azobis-2-amidinopropane (AAPH)-induced hemolysis in human red blood cells, hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in rat heart H9c2 cells and the highest relaxation effects on rat basilar artery. The antioxidant effects of Danshen water-extracts linearly correlated to their relaxation effects (r=0.895–0.977). Through multiple linear regression analysis, danshensu was found to be the most significant marker in the antioxidant and vasodilation effects of Danshen water-extract, while tanshinone IIA as the marker on hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in rat heart H9c2 cells. Danshensu is, therefore, a useful marker for the quality control of Danshen water-extracts in antioxidant and vasodilation, while tanshinone IIA for anti-apoptotic potential of different extracts.
In this paper the differential quadrature method (DQM) is introduced into the analysis of one-dimensional nonlinear consolidation of multi-layered soil with partially drained boundaries and arbitrary ...loading condition. The effect of initial effective stress distribution is taken into account. The convergence and accuracy study shows that the DQM is able to give highly accurate and stable calculations. Due to the uniform matrix structure of the solution, DQM is easy to program, and also various complicated factors of the consolidation problem can be considered.
Radix Bupleuri extract (RBE) has been shown to mitigate negative effects of high ambient temperature. This experiment was conducted to investigate effects of RBE supplementation on lactation ...performance and rumen fermentation in Holstein cows under heat stress. Forty Holstein cows (75±15d in milk, 37.5±1.8kg of milk/d, and 1.7±0.4 parity) were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n=10). One of four treatment diets, assigned randomly to one of four groups, consisted of RBE supplementation at 0, 0.25, 0.5 or 1.0g/kg of the basal diet (concentrate and roughage) based on dry matter (DM). Cows were housed in a tie-stall barn and were individually fed the treatment diets. The experiment lasted for 10wk in hot summer. During the experiment, average ambient temperatures and temperature-humidity indexes (THI) were respectively 27.5±1.5, 29.8±1.9 and 28.1±1.7°C, and 78.2±2.7, 79.8±3.3 and 78.3±3.4 at 0600, 1400 and 2200h. Average respiration rates (RR) with RBE at 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0g/kg were 65.6, 60.3 and 67.4, respectively, vs. 71.4 (breaths/min) for the control (P<0.01). Average rectal temperatures (RT) were 39.1, 39.0 and 39.1 vs. 39.3°C for the control (P<0.01). Moreover, cows supplemented with RBE increased dry matter intake (DMI, 22.8, 21.6 and 22.1 vs. 20.9kg/d) (P<0.05) and milk production (34.2, 33.4 and 32.4 vs. 31.6kg/d) (P<0.01) compared with control. Percentages of milk protein and fat were similar among groups, while milk protein yield increased with increasing level of RBE (0.97, 0.95 and 0.92 vs. 0.89kg/d for the control) (P<0.01). Milk fat yield also increased with RBE (1.13, 1.12 and 1.09 vs. 1.02kg/d for the control) (P<0.05). There was no treatment effect on diet apparent digestibility or volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration among groups. Overall, supplemental RBE at 0.25 or 0.5g/kg could mitigate the negative effects of heat stress on production in lactating Holstein cows.
Using 448.0×106 ψ(3686) events collected with the BESIII detector, an amplitude analysis is performed for ψ(3686)→γχc1, χc1→ηπ+π− decays. The most dominant two-body structure observed is a0(980)±π∓; ...a0(980)±→ηπ±. The a0(980) line shape is modeled using a dispersion relation, and a significant nonzero a0(980) coupling to the η′π channel is measured. We observe χc1→a2(1700)π production for the first time, with a significance larger than 17σ. The production of mesons with exotic quantum numbers, JPC=1−+, is investigated, and upper limits for the branching fractions χc1→π1(1400)±π∓, χc1→π1(1600)±π∓, and χc1→π1(2015)±π∓, with subsequent π1(X)±→ηπ± decay, are determined.
Changes of sucrose metabolism in the subtending leaf to cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) boll at different fruiting branch nodes (FBN) were investigated. Two cotton cultivars, Kemian 1 and Sumian 15, ...were grown in the field at three planting dates in 2009 and 2011. Cotton planted on different dates but experiencing similar climatic factors flowered on the same date and had similar boll opening dates, but had different FBN. In the present study, boll weight and carbohydrate content were significantly affected by both flowering date (FD) and FBN. However, only cystolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (cy-FBPase) and sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) activities of the sucrose-metabolizing enzymes were influenced significantly by FBN, and the influence of FBN was lower with delayed FD. In general, effects of FBN on boll weight and sucrose metabolism in the subtending leaf were higher at the optimal FD (13 August) than those at later FD (9 September 2009 and 2 September 2011), and total fruiting branches were used to characterize cotton physiological age in the current study. Sucrose transport capacity (Tn) and SPS in the subtending leaf had significantly positive correlations with boll weight at 17â24 days post anthesis (DPA), a crucial period when boll weight was significantly affected. In addition, higher SPS activity was favourable for sucrose export and boll weight during boll development.
•TIF gene consisted of 4 exons and embedded an antisense B1 element.•TIF induced chemotaxis and neovessel formation.•TIF triggered Gi-depending signaling pathways upon activation CXCR2.•TIF promoted ...anchorage-independent growth of CHO but suppressed MEF proliferation.•TIF delayed the onset of tumor formation but exerted no effect on tumor growth.
Previously our lab has created a mouse ovarian xenograft model of copy number variation (CNV)-mediated G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) MAS-driven tumorigenesis, and RNA profiling identified a putative chemokine tumor-induced factor (Tif). Sequence analysis and chemotactic study suggested that Tif was likely to be a hamster homolog of human GROγ (CXCL3) IJC 125 (2009): 1316–1327. In the present study, we report the molecular and functional characterization of the Tif gene. Genomic study of CHO-K1 cells indicated that Tif gene consisted of 4 exons, characterized with an antisense B1 element which is embedded in the fourth exon. Two Tif transcripts were identified which shared identical sequences except that a string of 71-nt derived from the antisense B1 element was deficient in the shorter transcript. Of interests, B1-like RNA ladder was detected in xenografts. Functional studies showed that TIF induced chemotaxis and neovessel formation. Pharmacological studies suggested that TIF activated Gi-coupled CXCR2 and induced both calcium mobilization and ERK1/2 phosphorylation, and suppressed forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation. In addition, secreted matured TIF functioned as an autocrine factor and promoted anchorage-independent growth. Unexpectedly, TIF delayed the onset of tumor formation, possibly via suppressing proliferation of stromal fibroblasts. However, TIF did not exert any inhibitory effect on tumor growth. Potentially, TIF could be used for preventing cancer relapse.
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