Effect of Sinomenine on IL-8, IL-6, IL-2 produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells

The effect of Sinomenine on IL-8, IL-6, IL-2 and mIL-2R produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells was investigated by using cell culture, radioimmunoassay and flow cytometry. It was showed that production of IL-8 and mIL-2R was inhibited, but the levels of IL-6 were enhanced by Sinomenine. Our results also demonstrated that Sinomenine did not have any effect on the production of IL-2. The study demonstrated that Sinomenine was able to regulate the production of cytokines. This may be one of the mechanisms by which Sinomenine works on rheumatoid arthritis.

bcl-2 expression confers androgen independence in androgen sensitive prostatic carcinoma

Expression of the bcl-2 proto-oncogene is associated with the progression of prostate cancer to androgen-independence. Dunning R3327G (DG) cells were engineered to express high levels of bcl-2 protein. The parental DG (DG-P) cell line and bcl-2 transfectant (DG-B) clones were grown as subcutaneous tumor explants in male athymic nude mice. The rate of tumor growth after castration was significantly lower in DG-P tumors but was unaffected in DG-B tumors. The proliferative indices (PI) in DG-P and DG-B tumors were similar, however, apoptotic indices (ApI) were significantly lower in DG-B tumors before castration. Following castration the PI and ApI decreased significantly in DG-P but not DG-B tumors. Bax upregulation was not observed in the DG-P or DG-B tumors, but did occur in the ventral prostate, after castration. These findings support a role for bcl-2 expression in conferring androgen-independent growth during prostate cancer progression.

In vivo nuclear magnetic resonance study of the osmoregulation of phosphocholine-substituted beta-1,3;1,6 cyclic glucan and its associated carbon metabolism in Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110

A phosphocholine-substituted beta-1,3;1,6 cyclic glucan (PCCG), an unusual cyclic oligosaccharide, has been isolated from Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 (D. B. Rolin, P. E. Pfeffer, S. F. Osman, B. S. Swergold, F. Kappler, and A. J. Benesi, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1116:215-225, 1992). Data presented here suggest that PCCG synthesis is dependent on the carbon metabolism and that osmotic regulation of its biosynthesis parallels regulation of membrane-derived oligosaccharide biosynthesis observed in Escherichia coli (E. P. Kennedy, M. K. Rumley, H. Schulman, and L. M. G. van Golde, J. Biol. Chem. 251:4208-4213, 1976) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens (G. A. Cangelosi, G. Martinetti, and E. W. Nester, J. Bacteriol. 172:2172-2174, 1990). Growth of B. japonicum USDA 110 cells in the reference medium at relatively low osmotic pressures (LO) (65 mosmol/kg of H2O) caused a large accumulation of PCCG and unsubstituted beta-1,3;1,6 cyclic glucans (CG). Sucrose and polyethylene glycol, nonionic osmotica, reduce all growth rates and inhibit almost completely the production of PCCG at high osmotic pressures (HO) above 650 and 400 mosmol/kg of H2O), respectively. We used in vivo 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to identify the active osmolytes implicated in the osmoregulation process. The level of alpha,alpha-trehalose in B. japonicum cells grown in autoclaved or filter-sterilized solutions remained constant in HO (0.3 M sucrose or 250 g of polyethylene glycol 6000 per liter) medium. Significant amounts of glycogen and extracellular polysaccharides were produced only when glucose was present in the autoclaved HO 0.3 M sucrose media. The results of hypo- and hyperosmotic shocking of B. japonicum USDA 110 cells were monitored by using in vivo 31P and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The first observed osmoregulatory response of glycogen-containing cells undergoing hypoosmotic shock was release of P(i) into the medium. Within 7 h, reabsorption of P(i) was complete and production of PCCG was initiated. After 12 h, the PCCG content had increased by a factor of 7. Following the same treatment, cells containing little or no glycogen released trehalose and failed to produce PCCG. Thus the production of PCCG/CG in response to hypoosmotic shocking of stationary-phase cells was found to be directly linked to the interconversion of stored glycogen. Hyperosmotic shocking of LO-grown stationary-phase cells with sucrose had no effect on the content of previously synthesized CG/PCCG. The PCCG/CG content and its osmotically induced biosynthesis are discussed in terms of carbon metabolism and a possible role in hypoosmotic adaptation in B. japonicum USDA 110.

TQuery: a context-sensitive temporal query language

Users of electronic medical databases request pertinent information by recasting their clinical questions into a formal database query language. Because the query language is the user's only access to the data, the query language must be powerful enough to enable users to express their data requirements. However, a competing need is for the query language to be restrictive enough so that queries can have unambiguous semantics and the query processor can generate correct answers. We describe a query language, called TQuery , that was designed specifically to formulate database queries that are dependent on temporal and contextual relationships. TQuery specifications express contextual constraints without the need to explicitly reference calendar dates. TQuery is the database query language used to retrieve patient data from an object-oriented electronic patient medical-record system called the temporal network (TNET). TNET and TQuery were developed to support the real-time temporal reasoning and representation needs of a LISP workstation-based medical expert system.

A chromogranin A-derived peptide differentially regulates the secretion of calcitonin gene products

We studied the regulation of the secretion of CT and CGRP by chromogranin A (CgA)-derived peptides in a human lung tumor cell line. The amino-terminal peptide of CgA, CgA1-40, stimulated the secretion of CGRP and inhibited the secretion of CT; both effects occurred in a dose-dependent manner. These studies demonstrate a differential effect of a CgA-derived peptide on two products of the CT gene, CT itself and CGRP. CgA may be processed at its multiple dibasic sites to peptides that specifically regulate the secretion of its coresident hormones, in this case two calcitonin gene products that are present in the same secretory vesicle. This novel mechanism represents a new pathway for the control of calcium regulating hormones.

PTHrP secretion is stimulated by CT and inhibited by CgA peptides

We studied the regulation of the secretion in vitro of the parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) associated with the hypercalcemia of malignancy by Chromogranin A (CgA)-derived peptides and by human calcitonin (CT) in the BEN human lung tumor cell line. The amino terminal peptide of CgA, CgA1-40, inhibited the secretion of PTHrP, whereas other peptides had no such effect. Human CT stimulated the secretion of PTHrP, whereas other hormones had no such effect. Both effects occurred in a dose-dependent manner. These studies reveal novel regulatory pathways among peptides and proteins that are commonly associated with each other and can have paracrine interactions. CgA may be processed at its multiple dibasic sites to peptides that regulate the secretion of its co-resident hormones, in this case PTHrP. In addition to a paracrine effect, CT may be clinically useful as a provocative agent for PTHrP secretion. Complex interactions are present among the calcium-regulating hormones and their associated proteins.

Prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by Epstein-Barr virus antibody titer

A total of 433 samples of serum were collected from 305 patients with histopathologically proved anaplastic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Antibodies against viral capsid antigens (VCA) of Epstein-Barr (EB) virus were titrated by means of indirect fluorescent antibody technique, using P3HR-1 cells as the target. High anti-VCA antibody titer in patients with NPC was found beginning to decline at the end of radiotherapy. Most (66.7%) of the patients were found to have a detectable reduction in antibody titer within six months after radiotherapy. Persistent high antibody titer after treatment correlates to high risk of the recurrence of the disease. This prognostic importance of anti-VCA titer becomes apparent at the end of radiotherapy, significant (P less than .05) within one year after treatment, and highly significant (P less than .0005) over one year after treatment.

Cortisol modification of HeLa 65 alkaline phosphatase. Decreased phosphate content of the induced enzyme

Alkaline phosphatase activity of HeLa cells is increased 5-20-fold during growth in medium with cortisol. The increase in enzyme activity is due to an enhanced catalytic efficiency rather than an increase in alkaline phosphatase protein in induced cells. In the present study the chemical composition of control and induced forms of alkaline phosphatase were investigated to determine the enzyme modification that may be responsible for the increased catalytic activity. HeLa alkaline phosphatase is a phosphoprotein and the induced form of the enzyme has approximately one-half of the phosphate residues associated with control enzyme. The decrease in phosphate residues of the enzyme apparently alters its catalytic activity. Other chemical components of purified alkaline phosphatase from control and induced cells are similar; these include sialic acid, hexosamine and sulfhydryl residues.

Differential effects of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate upon binding of oxidized and reduced flavines by bacterial luciferase

Upon binding to bacterial luciferase, both the absorption and the fluorescence excitatiom maxima of 8-anilino-1-naphthalensulfonate (ANS) shift from 353 to 370 nm while the fluorescence emission optimum shifts from 540 to 480 nm, and the fluorescence quantum yield increases from 0.003 to 0.39, indicating that the environment of the ANS binding site is hydrophobic. ANS binds to luciferase with dissociation constants of 1.9 X 10(-5) and 2.3 X 10(-5) M at 5 and 23 degrees, repsectively. As with both oxidized flavine mononucleotide (FMN) and reduced flavine mononucleotide (FMNH2), ANS also binds to luciferase with a stoichiometry of 1 site per dimeric luciferase molecule. ANS acts as a luciferase inhibitor, competitive with FMNH2, with an inhibitor constant of 2.3 X 10(-5) M at 23 degrees. However, the binding of ANS does not significantly displace FMN from binding to luciferase. Interactions of FMN and FMNH2 with luciferase are thus differentially regulated by the ANS binding.