Plasma levels of TNF-α and MMP-9 in patients with silicosis

OBJECTIVE

Silicosis is usually recognized at later stages of the disease, and early biomarkers for silicosis will be useful for timely diagnosis. We aimed at examining plasma levels of TNF-α and MMP-9, and correlation between these, in patients with different stages of silicosis in order to test suitability of these inflammatory factors as early biomarkers for silicosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

TNF-α and MMP-9 were quantified by ELISA in plasma specimens from 30 healthy individuals (control group), 28 individuals exposed to silica dust but without clinical disease, and 30 patients with silicosis.

RESULTS

Plasma levels of TNF-α and MMP-9 were increased in individuals exposed to silica dust (p < 0.05 vs. control individuals) and were further elevated in patients with silicosis (p < 0.05 vs. control individuals and individuals exposed to silica dust). There was a significant correlation between plasma levels of TNF-α and MMP-9 both in individuals exposed to silica dust (r = 0.696, p < 0.01) and patients with silicosis (r = 0.768, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Plasma levels of TNF-α and MMP-9 are increased prior to development of clinically recognized silicosis, suggesting that these biomarkers are involved in the onset and development of silicosis. Combined detection of TNF-α and MMP-9 may be useful for early diagnosis of silicosis.

Hybrid Ni–Al layered double hydroxide/graphene composite supported gold nanoparticles for aerobic selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol

A NiAl-LDH/RGO composite-supported Au catalyst was synthesized and exhibited high activity and stability in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol.

Needle-like CoO nanowires grown on carbon cloth for enhanced electrochemical properties in supercapacitors

Needle-like CoO nanowires grown on carbon cloth have been successfully fabricated by a controllable hydrothermal method followed by an annealing process. The as-fabricated nanostructure showed enhanced specific capacitances and excellent cycling stability in supercapacitors.

Calreticulin promotes angiogenesis via activating nitric oxide signalling pathway in rheumatoid arthritis

Calreticulin (CRT) is a multi-functional endoplasmic reticulum protein implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The present study was undertaken to determine whether CRT was involved in angiogenesis via the activating nitric oxide (NO) signalling pathway. We explored the profile of CRT expression in RA (including serum, synovial fluid and synovial tissue). In order to investigate the role of CRT on angiogenesis, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were isolated and cultured in this study for in-vitro experiments. Our results showed a significantly higher concentration of CRT in serum (5·4 ± 2·2 ng/ml) of RA patients compared to that of osteoarthritis (OA, 3·6 ± 0·9 ng/ml, P < 0·05) and healthy controls (HC, 3·7 ± 0·6 ng/ml, P < 0·05); and significantly higher CRT in synovial fluid (5·8 ± 1·2 ng/ml) of RA versus OA (3·7 ± 0·3 ng/ml, P < 0·05). High levels of CRT are expressed in synovial membrane localized predominantly to inflammatory cells and synovial perivascular areas in both the lining and sublining layers of RA synovial tissue (RAST). Increased nitric oxide (NO) production and phosphorylation level of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were measured in HUVECs following CRT stimulation, while the total eNOS expression was not significantly changed. Furthermore, CRT promoted the proliferation, migration and tube formation of HUVECs, which were significantly inhibited by a specific eNOS inhibitor. These findings suggested that CRT may be involved in angiogenesis events in RA through NO signalling pathways, which may provide a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of RA.

microRNA-183 down-regulates the expression of BKCaβ1 protein that is related to the severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression of microRNA (miRNA)-183 and Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels β1 subunit (BKCaβ1) in the lung tissues of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

METHODS

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were used for detecting the expression of miRNA-183 and BKCaβ1 in the lung tissues from 45 COPD patients and 30 lung cancer patients without COPD. Possible miRNAs that target BKCaβ1 were forecasted by bioinformatics. The expression of these miRNAs in the peripheral blood of COPD patients was also examined. After transfecting vascular smooth muscle cells with pGCMV/EGFP/miR-183 plasmid, the expression of miRNA-183 and BKCaβ1 were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting.

RESULTS

The expression of BKCaβ1 in the lung tissues of COPD patients was significantly lower than control. Western blotting data showed that the expression of BKCaβ1 protein in COPD group was significantly lower than control. After transfecting the vascular smooth muscle cells with pGCMV/EGFP/miR-183 plasmid, we found that the level of BKCaβ1 mRNA was not significantly reduced by the increase of miRNA-183 level, but the expression of BKCaβ1 protein was down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study indicated that miRNA-183 might play a role in the expression of BKCaβ1, and the expression of miRNA-183 and BKCaβ1 were possibly related with the pathogenetic pathways of COPD. Hippokratia 2014; 18 (4): 328-332.

Low-temperature storage and cryopreservation of grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macfad.) seeds

BACKGROUND

Grapefruit is an economically important fruit worldwide, but our knowledge of its seed biology is rather poor.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to develop techniques for banking and cryopreservation of grapefruit seeds.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Grapefruit seeds with the exotesta removed were used. Seeds were desiccated to three moisture levels between 5-9 % and stored at 15 degree C, 4 degree C and -20 degree C for up to 24, months to investigate seed lifespan in conventional seed bank. Meanwhile seeds desiccated by silica gel or saturated salt solution and embryonic axes by flash drying were employed to develop cryopreservation protocols.

RESULTS

It was confirmed that grapefruit seeds have some intermediate properties, being able to withstand removal of type II water up to 7 % MC, but sensitive to -20 degree C storage. For cryopreservation, the excised embryonic axes had a wider moisture window between 5 % and 15%, with a maximum past-thaw emergence of 95 %, while seeds survived only with a maximum past-thaw emergence of 50 % or 70 % from a much narrow moisture window.

CONCLUSION

In contrast to previous reports on another type II seed, coffee, we found that citrus seeds desiccated by silica gel had better post-thaw viability than those subjected to equilibrium desiccation with saturated salt solutions. Further investigation is required to elucidate the mechanisms that contribute to variable cryopreservation tolerance.

MGr1-Ag/37LRP promotes growth and proliferation of gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo

Gastric carcinoma (GC) is an aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis. We previously reported that MGr1-Ag was involved in multidrug resistance and anti-apoptosis in GC. However, the exact function of MGr1-Ag in GC proliferation is not clear. In this study, we found that MGr1-Ag was highly expressed in GC tissues and four GC cell lines compared with nontumor gastric tissues or gastric epithelial mucosa cells. The high expression of MGr1-Ag/37LRP was also consistent with the decreased median survival time of GC patients. We employed lenti-mediated RNA interference technique to knock down MGr1-Ag expression in SGC7901 and MKN45 cells, respectively, and observed its effects on GC cells growth in vitro and in vivo. Further study showed that knockdown of MGr1-Ag could inhibit GC cell proliferation by inhibiting the cell cycle S-phase entry and induced apoptosis. Soft agar colony formation assay indicated that the colony formation ability of SGC7901 and MKN45 cells decreased after lenti-MGr1-Ag small interfering RNA (siRNA) infection. Western blot revealed that cyclin D1 and Bcl-2 expression were downregulated whereas p27 and Bax were upregulated in lenti-MGr-siRNA-infected GC cells. Further study demonstrated that the proliferation effect of MGr1-Ag in GC is dependent on its laminin-binding region. Taken together, these data revealed a novel function of MGr1-Ag that can possibly be used as an independent prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target for GC.

Structural and optical properties of GaN laterally overgrown on Si(111) by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using an AlN buffer layer

Lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) on Si(111) substrates using an AlN buffer layer is demonstrated and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and cathodoluminescence imaging. The <100>-oriented LEO GaN stripes grown on silicon substrates are shown to have similar structural properties as LEO GaN grown on GaN/Al2O3 substrates: the surface topography is characterized by continuous crystallographic steps rather than by steps terminated by screw-component threading dislocations; the density of threading dislocations is <106 cm−2; the LEO regions exhibit crystallographic tilt (0.7-4.7°) relative to the seed region. The AlN buffer thickness affects the stripe morphology and, in turn, the microstructure of the LEO GaN. The issues of chemical compability and thermal expansion mismatch are discussed.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 pathways in inflammatory airway diseases

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) has been reported being involved in the remodeling and immunosuppression processes of inflammatory airway diseases; understanding the regulation of TGF-β1 is therefore a key to unravel the pathomechanisms of these diseases. This review briefly summarizes the current knowledge on the influencing factors for driving TGF-β1 and its regulatory pathways in inflammatory airway diseases and discusses possible therapeutic approaches to TGF-β1 control. The factors include smoking and oxidative stress, prostaglandins (PGs), leukotrienes (LTs), bradykinin (BK), and microRNAs (miRs). Based on the summary, new innovative treatment strategies may be developed for inflammatory airway diseases with an impaired expression of TGF-β1.

Early intra-articular injection of alendronate reduces cartilage changes and subchondral bone loss in rat temporomandibular joints after ovariectomy

This study investigated the effects of intra-articular injection of alendronate on the mandibular condyle in ovariectomized rats. Sixty rats were divided into five groups: ovariectomy with vehicle treatment alone, early alendronate treatment at ovariectomy, late alendronate treatment at 4 weeks after ovariectomy, sham-operation with vehicle treatment, and normal controls. The changes in cartilage and subchondral bone were evaluated by micro-computed tomography, histology, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining, immunohistochemistry, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Compared with late alendronate treatment, early alendronate treatment completely inhibited cartilage thickening (727.6±39.3 vs. 1013.3±51.6; P=0.017) and improved microstructural properties of the subchondral bone, with a higher bone volume ratio (46.4±2.5 vs. 37.5±2.1; P=0.038), trabecular thickness (47.3±1.7 vs. 34.6±1.4; P=0.029), and trabecular number (8.5±0.6 vs. 6.2±0.3; P=0.041) and lower trabecular separation (30.2±1.6 vs. 37.7±2.6; P=0.034). Fewer TRAP-positive cells (4.2±0.2 vs. 6.8±0.4; P=0.019) and a higher OPG/RANKL ratio (0.38±0.01 vs. 0.25±0.03; P=0.043) in the subchondral bone were observed in the animals with early treatment compared to late treatment or ovariectomy/vehicle treatment. In addition, early alendronate treatment blocked the up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 expression in the chondrocytes, whereas late alendronate treatment attenuated the up-regulation of MMP-13 expression. Our results suggest the therapeutic potential of intra-articular alendronate injection in the treatment of osteoporosis-associated temporomandibular disorders.

Liver cancer stem cells are selectively enriched by low-dose cisplatin

Accumulating evidence has indicated the importance of cancer stem cells in carcinogenesis. The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of low-dose cisplatin on enriched liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs). Human hepatoblastoma HepG2 cells were treated with concentrations of cisplatin ranging from 1 to 5 μg/mL. Cell survival and proliferation were evaluated using a tetrazolium dye (MTT) assay. LCSCs were identified using specific markers, namely aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) and CD133. The percentage of ALDH1+ or CD133+ cells was examined by flow cytometric analysis. The expression of ALDH1 and/or CD133 in HepG2 cells was determined by immunocytochemical analysis. Low-dose cisplatin treatment significantly decreased cell survival in HepG2 cells after 24 or 72 h. However, the percentage of LCSCs in the surviving cells was greatly increased. The percentage of ALDH1+ or CD133+ cells was increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner after treatment with 1-4 μg/mL cisplatin, whereas 5 μg/mL cisplatin exposure slightly reduced the number of positive cells. These findings indicate that low-dose cisplatin treatment may efficiently enrich the LCSC population in HepG2 cells.