Sodium orthovanadate inhibits growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in an orthotopic model in vivo

The transition metal vanadium is widely distributed in the environment and exhibits various biological and physiological effects in the human body. As a well known vanadium compound, sodium orthovanadate (SOV) has shown promising antineoplastic activity in several human cancers. However, the effects of SOV on liver cancer are still unknown. In this study, for the first time, we showed that SOV could effectively suppress proliferation, induce G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and diminish the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of HCC cells in vitro. In addition, our in vitro results were recapitulated in vivo, showing that SOV exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of growth of human HCC in an orthotopic model, evidenced by the reduction in tumor size, proliferation index and microvessel density, and increase in cell apoptosis. Most important, we found that SOV could inhibit autophagy in HCC cells in vitro and in vivo, which plays a prodeath role. Thus, our findings suggest that SOV could effectively suppress the growth of human HCC through the regulations of proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and autophagy, and thus may act as a potential therapeutic agent in HCC treatment.

Short-term effects of escitalopram on regional brain function in first-episode drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder assessed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND

Most knowledge regarding the effects of antidepressant drugs is at the receptor level, distal from the nervous system effects that mediate their clinical efficacy. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study investigated the effects of escitalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), on resting-state brain function in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

METHOD

Fourteen first-episode drug-naive MDD patients completed two fMRI scans before and after 8 weeks of escitalopram therapy. Scans were also acquired in 14 matched healthy subjects. Data were analyzed using the regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach.

RESULTS

Compared to controls, MDD patients before treatment demonstrated decreased ReHo in the frontal (right superior frontal gyrus), temporal (left middle and right inferior temporal gyri), parietal (right precuneus) and occipital (left superior occipital gyrus and right cuneus) cortices, and increased ReHo in the left dorsal medial prefrontal gyrus and left anterior lobe of the cerebellum. Compared to the unmedicated state, ReHo in the patients after treatment was decreased in the left dorsal medial prefrontal gyrus, the right insula and the bilateral thalamus, and increased in the right superior frontal gyrus. Compared to controls, patients after treatment displayed a ReHo decrease in the right precuneus and a ReHo increase in the left anterior lobe of the cerebellum.

CONCLUSIONS

Successful treatment with escitalopram may be associated with modulation of resting-state brain activity in regions within the fronto-limbic circuit. This study provides new insight into the effects of antidepressants on functional brain systems in MDD.

Over-expression of LGR5 correlates with poor survival of colon cancer in mice as well as in patients

Leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5(LGR5) was identified as the stem cell marker of colon cancer stem cells(CSCs),which were considered as the main criminal cells initiation and reinitiation of colon cancer. We intended to demonstrate and further explain the relationship between LGR5 and colon cancer in mice model and patients. In our research, we used transcriptional methods and immunohistochemistry to investigate the LGR5 gene and protein expression, examined proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) and Ki67 which were the classic markers for cell proliferation in LGR5 protein positive and negative colon cancer among mice model and patients. Our results showed that LGR5 mRNA and protein expression was significantly over-expressed in 193/366 patients and 24/40mice model with primary colon cancer contrasted with matched normal tissues; significantly higher LGR5 gene expression was detected in pT4 cases than that in pT3 cases; PCNA and Ki67 expression was much more increase in colon cancer cells with positive LGR5 expression than those with negative LGR5 expression;LGR5 positive cancer not only in mice model but also in patients have shorter survival rate compared with LGR5 negative cancer. All our study manifested that LGR5 took on an important effect in the initiation and progression of colon cancer, provided also more helpful evidence for clinical diagnosis and an useful indicator for adjuvant therapy.

CCCTC-binding factor mediates effects of glucose on beta cell survival

OBJECTIVES

Pancreatic islet β-cell survival is paramount for regulation of insulin activity and for maintaining glucose homeostasis. Recently, Pax6 has been shown to be essential for many vital functions in β-cells, although many molecular mechanisms of its homeostasis in β-cells remain unclear. The present study investigates novel effects of glucose- and insulin-induced CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) activity on Pax6 gene expression as well as for subsequent effects of insulin-activated signalling pathways, on β-cell proliferation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Pancreatic β-TC-1-6 cells were cultured in DMEM and stimulated with high concentrations of glucose (5-125 mm); cell viability was assessed by MTT assay. Effects of CTCF on Pax6 were evaluated in the high glucose-induced environment and CTCF/Erk-suppressed cells, by promoter reporter and western blotting analyses.

RESULTS

Increases in glucose and insulin concentrations upregulated CTCF and consequently downregulated Pax6 in β-cell survival and proliferation. Knocking-down CTCF directly affected Pax6 transcription through CTCF binding and blocked the response to glucose. Altered Erk activity mediated effects of CTCF on controlling Pax6 expression, which partially regulated β-cell proliferation.

CONCLUSIONS

CTCF functioned as a molecular mediator between insulin-induced upstream Erk signalling and Pax6 expression in these pancreatic β-cells. This pathway may contribute to regulation of β-cell survival and proliferation.

Decoupled circular-polarized dual-head volume coil pair for studying two interacting human brains with dyadic fMRI

A major function of the human brain is to mediate interactions with other people. Until recently, studying social interactions as they occur within the brain was not possible due to the lack of measurable methods to observe two interacting minds simultaneously. We have developed a novel MRI dual-head volume coil pair that can scan two subjects' brains simultaneously while the subjects are socially interacting in one MRI scanner. The feasibility of using this coil for dyadic functional MRI (fMRI) study has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. Meanwhile, an innovative robust scheme for decoupling two circular-polarized coils (not surface coils) is introduced in theory and validated in practice in the coil technology development.

Bone marrow-derived cell transplantation therapy for myocardial infarction: lessons learned and future questions

Over the last decade, many investigators have utilized bone marrow-derived cells for cell transplantation therapy in animal studies and in patients with acute myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure. In those experimental and clinical studies, various doses and types of bone marrow-derived cells have been transplanted to the injured myocardium using a variety of approaches, such as intracoronary infusion or catheter-based direct endomyocardial injection, and at different time points after successful coronary reperfusion. The reported treatment effects are variable, which may be related to differences in cell type and quantity of transplanted cells, timing and approach of cell transplantation and patient selection. In this review, we summarize and discuss the controversies and questions related to the clinical use of bone marrow-derived cells.

AUC-based biomarker ensemble with an application on gene scores predicting low bone mineral density

MOTIVATION

The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), long regarded as a 'golden' measure for the predictiveness of a continuous score, has propelled the need to develop AUC-based predictors. However, the AUC-based ensemble methods are rather scant, largely due to the fact that the associated objective function is neither continuous nor concave. Indeed, there is no reliable numerical algorithm identifying optimal combination of a set of biomarkers to maximize the AUC, especially when the number of biomarkers is large.

RESULTS

We have proposed a novel AUC-based statistical ensemble methods for combining multiple biomarkers to differentiate a binary response of interest. Specifically, we propose to replace the non-continuous and non-convex AUC objective function by a convex surrogate loss function, whose minimizer can be efficiently identified. With the established framework, the lasso and other regularization techniques enable feature selections. Extensive simulations have demonstrated the superiority of the new methods to the existing methods. The proposal has been applied to a gene expression dataset to construct gene expression scores to differentiate elderly women with low bone mineral density (BMD) and those with normal BMD. The AUCs of the resulting scores in the independent test dataset has been satisfactory.

CONCLUSION

Aiming for directly maximizing AUC, the proposed AUC-based ensemble method provides an efficient means of generating a stable combination of multiple biomarkers, which is especially useful under the high-dimensional settings.

CONTACT

lutian@stanford.edu.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

CpG-island methylation study of liver fluke-related cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Genetic changes have been widely reported in association with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), while epigenetic changes are poorly characterised. We aimed to further evaluate CpG-island hypermethylation in CCA at candidate loci, which may have potential as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers.

METHODS

We analysed methylation of 26 CpG-islands in 102 liver fluke related-CCA and 29 adjacent normal samples using methylation-specific PCR (MSP). Methylation of interest loci was confirmed using pyrosequencing and/or combined bisulfite restriction analysis, and protein expression by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

A number of CpG-islands (OPCML, SFRP1, HIC1, PTEN and DcR1) showed frequency of hypermethylation in >28% of CCA, but not adjacent normal tissues. The results showed that 91% of CCA were methylated in at least one CpG-island. The OPCML was the most frequently methylated locus (72.5%) and was more frequently methylated in less differentiated CCA. Patients with methylated DcR1 had significantly longer overall survival (Median; 41.7 vs 21.7 weeks, P=0.027). Low-protein expression was found in >70% of CCA with methylation of OPCML or DcR1.

CONCLUSION

Aberrant hypermethylation of certain loci is a common event in liver fluke-related CCA and may potentially contribute to cholangiocarcinogenesis. The OPCML and DcR1 might serve as methylation biomarkers in CCA that can be readily examined by MSP.

Initial experience in using continuous arterial spin-labeled MR imaging for early detection of Alzheimer disease

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

MR imaging of the brain has significant potential in the early detection of neurodegenerative disorders such as AD. The purpose of this work was to determine if perfusion MR imaging can be used to separate AD from normal cognition in individual subjects. We investigated the diagnostic utility of perfusion MR imaging for early detection of AD compared with structural imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were analyzed from 32 participants in the institutional review board-approved CHS-CS: 19 cognitively healthy individuals and 13 with clinically adjudicated AD. All subjects underwent structural T1-weighted SGPR and CASL MR imaging. Four readers with varying experience separately rated each CASL and SPGR scan finding as normal or abnormal on the basis of standardized qualitative diagnostic criteria for observed perfusion abnormalities on CASL or volume loss on SPGR and rated the confidence in their evaluation.

RESULTS

Inter-rater reliability was superior in CASL (kappa = 0.7 in experienced readers) compared with SPGR (kappa = 0.17). CASL MR imaging had the highest sensitivity (85%) and accuracy (70%). Frontal lobe CASL findings increased sensitivity to 88% and accuracy to 79%. Fifty-seven percent of false-positive readings with CASL were in controls with cognitive decline or instability within 5 years. Three of the 4 readers revealed a statistically significant relationship between confidence and correct classification when using CASL.

CONCLUSIONS

Readers were able to separate individuals with mild AD from those with normal cognition with high sensitivity by using CASL but not volumetric MR imaging. This initial experience suggests that CASL MR imaging may be a useful technique for detecting AD.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytology and Clinical Analysis of 34 Cases with Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis

The clinical characteristics and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytological features of 34 hospitalized patients with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LC) were studied. Most patients presented with signs of meningeal irritation (19 cases) and intra-cranial hypertension (23 cases). Computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed brain parenchymal lesions, hydrocephalus and leptomeningeal enhancement (nine, six and eight cases, respectively). The CSF changes included high opening pressure (21 cases), increased white blood cell count (23 cases), elevated protein levels (25 cases) and low glucose levels (17 cases). Malignant cells were found in all CSF specimens and 32 cases had malignant cells in their initial CSF examinations. High serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) occurred in 11 patients. Signs of meningeal irritation and intra-cranial hypertension were common. It is concluded that serum CEA measurement along with CT and MRI scanning are helpful in the diagnosis of LC. Crucially, however, CSF cytology could be the most important technique for the diagnosis of LC.

The value, qualification, and regulatory use of surrogate end points in drug development

The acceptance and use of either surrogate end points (SEPs) or efficient clinical end points are associated with greater and more rapid availability of new medicines as compared with disease situations for which clinical end points are inefficient or no surrogates exist. This review of the history of the development, qualification, and acceptance of key SEPs shows that both successes and failures had three key characteristics: (i) apparent biologic plausibility, (ii) prognostic value for the outcome of the disease, and (iii) an association between changes in the SEP and changes in outcome with therapeutic intervention--the three factors recommended for SEPs in the International Conference on Harmonisation's "Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials." We recommend that only prognostic value be an absolute prerequisite for surrogacy, because therapeutic interventions may not exist a priori, and biological plausibility can be subjective. Ideally, all three of these factors would be traded off against one another in a consistent and transparent risk-management process.

Arsenic trioxide suppresses paclitaxel-induced mitotic arrest

OBJECTIVES

To understand if there exists a functional interaction between arsenic trioxide and paclitaxel in vitro.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

HeLa and HCT116 (rho53(+/+) and rho53(-/-)) cells were treated with As2O3 and/or paclitaxel for various times. Treated cells were collected for analyses using a combination of flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy and Western blotting.

RESULTS

Because As(2)O(3) is capable of inhibiting tubulin polymerization and inducing mitotic arrest, we examined whether there existed any functional interaction between As(2)O(3) and paclitaxel, a well-known microtubule poison. Flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy revealed that although As(2)O(3) alone caused a moderate level of mitotic arrest, it greatly attenuated paclitaxel-induced mitotic arrest in cells with p53 deficiency. Western blot analysis showed that As(2)O(3) significantly blocked phosphorylation of BubR1, Cdc20, and Cdc27 in cells treated with paclitaxel, suggesting that arsenic compromised the activation of the spindle checkpoint. Our further studies revealed that the attenuation of paclitaxel-induced mitotic arrest by As(2)O(3) resulted primarily from sluggish cell cycle progression at S phase but not enhanced mitotic exit.

CONCLUSION

The observations that As(2)O(3) has a negative impact on the cell cycle checkpoint activation by taxol should have significant clinical implications because the efficacy of taxol in the clinics is associated with its ability to induce mitotic arrest and subsequent mitotic catastrophe.

Computer simulation comparison of tripolar, bipolar, and spline Laplacian electrocadiogram estimators

A comparison of the performance of the tripolar and bipolar concentric as well as spline Laplacian electrocardiograms (LECGs) and body surface Laplacian mappings (BSLMs) for localizing and imaging the cardiac electrical activation has been investigated based on computer simulation. In the simulation a simplified eccentric heart-torso sphere-cylinder homogeneous volume conductor model were developed. Multiple dipoles with different orientations were used to simulate the underlying cardiac electrical activities. Results show that the tripolar concentric ring electrodes produce the most accurate LECG and BSLM estimation among the three estimators with the best performance in spatial resolution.

De-repression of the p21 promoter in prostate cancer cells by an isothiocyanate via inhibition of HDACs and c-Myc

Natural isothiocyanates from cruciferous vegetables have been described as important dietary factors for prostate cancer prevention. Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), found rich in watercress, induces growth arrest and apoptosis in prostate cancer cells, and also inhibits the testosterone-mediated growth of prostates by regulating the androgen receptor and cell cycle progression in rats. PEITC has been recently identified as an inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDACs). Herein we describe the mechanism of PEITC-mediated growth attenuation in relation to HDAC inhibition in human prostate cancer cells. Exposure of androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells LNCaP to PEITC resulted in cell cycle arrest and a p53-independent up-regulation of the inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases, including p21WAF1 and p27. The mechanism of p21 activation was investigated. PEITC significantly enhanced histone acetylation and induced selective modification of histone methylation for chromatin remodeling. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that the p21 gene was associated with the PEITC-induced hyperacetylated histones. As a result, the chromatin unfolding permitted the transcription activation of the p21 gene. PEITC also significantly reduced the expression of c-Myc which represses p21. Pull-down assays using Sp1 affinity oligo beads of the p21 promoter, showed decreased c-Myc binding to the Sp1 transcriptional complexes in the p21 promoter, resulting in reduced p21 repression. The quantity of PEITC (0.5-1 micro M) effective to mediate cell cycle arrest was less than that for inhibiting c-Myc (2-5 micro M), suggesting that the inhibition of HDACs may be the primary mechanism for p21 activation. The PEITC-mediated growth attenuation of prostate cancer cells includes an interactive mechanism involving HDAC and c-Myc inhibition.

Oral vaccination with envelope protein VP28 against white spot syndrome virus in Procambarus clarkii using Bacillus subtilis as delivery vehicles

AIMS

To achieve high-level expression and secretion of active VP28 directed by a processing-efficient signal peptide in Bacillus subtilis WB600 and exploit the possibility of obtaining an oral vaccine against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) using vegetative cells or spores as delivery vehicles.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified vp28 gene was inserted into a shuttle expression vector with a novel signal peptide sequence. After electro-transformation, time-courses for recombinant VP28 (rVP28) secretion level in B. subtilis WB600 were analysed. Crayfish were divided into three groups subsequently challenged by 7-h immersion at different time points after vaccination. Subgroups including 20 inter-moult crayfish with an average weight of 15 g in triplicate were vaccinated by feeding coated food pellets with vegetative cells or spores for 20 days. Vaccination trials showed that rVP28 by spore delivery induced a higher resistance than using vegetative cells. Challenged at 14 days postvaccination, the relative per cent survival (RPS) values of groups of rVP28-bv and rVP28-bs was 51.7% and 78.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The recombinant B. subtilis strain with the ability of high-level secretion of rVP28 can evoke protection of crayfish against WSSV by oral delivery.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Oral vaccination by the B. subtilis vehicle containing VP28 opens a new way for designing practical vaccines to control WSSV.

Effects of shape parameters on the attractiveness of a female body

Various researchers have suggested that certain anthropometric ratios can be used to measure female body attractiveness, including the waist to hip ratio, Body Mass Index (BMI), and the body volume divided by the square of the height (Volume-Height Index). Based on a wide range of female subjects and virtual images of bodies with different ratios, Volume-Height Index was found to provide the best fit with female body attractiveness, and the effect of Volume-Height Index can be fitted with two half bell-shaped exponential curves with an optimal Volume-Height Index at 14.2 liter/m2. It is suggested that the general trend of the effect of Volume-Height Index may be culturally invariant, but the optimal value of Volume-Height Index may vary from culture to culture. In addition to Volume-Height Index, other body parameters or ratios which reflect body proportions and the traits of feminine characteristics had smaller but significant effects on female body attractiveness, and such effects were stronger at optimum Volume-Height Index.

Role of c-Fos/JunD in protecting stress-induced cell death

OBJECTIVE

The exposure of mammalian cells to extracellular stress induces the expression of immediate early genes such as c-fos and c-jun and activates transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of c-Fos and JunD in stress-induced cell death.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We exposed cultured primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) to ultraviolet light (UV-C) or hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). Induction of c-Fos and JunD and activation of MAPK/ERK1/2 signalling in the presence or absence of a MAPK inhibitor were analyzed by western blotting. Activation of AP-1 transcription factors was detected by the electrophoretic mobility shift assay and immunoprecipitation. Cell death was measured by changes in caspase 3 activities and nuclear morphology. Effects of c-Fos and JunD expression on cell death were investigated by transfection.

RESULTS

We found that the exposure of cultured primary MEF cells to UV or H(2)O(2) caused a significant increase in c-Fos and JunD protein levels. In addition, these two proteins formed complexes with each other and contributed to activation of AP-1 transcription complexes. More importantly, under both stress conditions, overexpression of JunD alone or overexpression of both c-Fos and JunD reduced caspase 3 activity and cell death. At the same time, UV irradiation activated the MAPK/ERK1/2 signalling pathway. The suppression of MEK1/ERK1/2 activation inhibited UV-induced expression of c-Fos and JunD and increased caspase 3 activity and cell death.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that both UV and H(2)O(2 )induce the activation of c-Fos/JunD AP-1 complexes resulting in the prevention of cell death. Moreover, UV irradiation-induced increases in c-Fos/JunD expression in primary MEF cells are mediated through the activation of the MAPK/ERK1/2 signalling pathway.

BubR1 deficiency results in enhanced activation of MEK and ERKs upon microtubule stresses

Disruption of microtubules activates the spindle checkpoint, of which BubR1 is a major component. Our early studies show that BubR1 haplo-insufficiency results in enhanced mitotic slippage in vitro and tumorigenesis in vivo.

OBJECTIVE

Given that both MAPKs/ERKs and MEK play an important role during mitosis, we investigated whether there existed regulatory relationship between the MAPK signalling pathway and BubR1.

METHOD AND RESULTS

Here, we have demonstrated that BubR1 deficiency is correlated with enhanced activation of MEK and ERKs after disruption of microtubule dynamics. Specifically, treatment with nocodazole and paclitaxel resulted in hyper-activation of ERKs and MEK in BubR1(+/-) murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) compared to that of wild-type MEFs. This enhanced activation of ERKs and MEK was at least partly responsible for more successful proliferation completion when cells were treated with nocodazole. BubR1 knockdown via RNAi resulted in enhanced activation of ERKs and MEK in HeLa cells, correlating with inhibition of PP1, a negative regulator of MEK. Moreover, when BubR1 was partially inactivated due to premature missegregation of chromosomes after Sgo1 depletion, phosphorylation of ERKs and MEK was enhanced in mitotic cells; in contrast, little, if any activated ERKs and MEK were detected in mitotic cells induced by nocodazole. Furthermore, BubR1, activated ERKs and activated MEK all localized to spindle poles during mitosis, and also, the proteins physically interacted with each other.

CONCLUSION

Our studies suggest that there exists a cross-talk between spindle checkpoint components and ERKs and MEK and that BubR1 may play an important role in mediating the cross-talk.