Glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic and its modifier function as novel immunotargets in gastric adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVES

To determine the expression and function of glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic (GCLC) and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic modifier (GCLM) in gastric adenocarcinoma.

METHODS

Bioinformatics was used to analyze the expression of GCLC and GCLM. We download and analyzed the expression of gastric adenocarcinoma patients from TCGA database. Moreover, the method of immunochemistry was used to verify the expression of GCLC and GCLM in gastric adenocarcinoma.

RESULTS

At first, the expression of GCLC and GCLM in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues were both significantly higher compared with normal tissues analyzed via TCGA database. Then, gastric adenocarcinoma tissues were collected and performed with immunochemistry. The gastric adenocarcinoma with positive staining for GCLC and GCLM was 77% and 80%, respectively, which was significantly higher compared with adjacent normal tissues (9% and 11%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The disordered expression of GCLC and GCLM in gastric adenocarcinoma suggested that these factors may induce tumorigenesis and may be a novel target for diagnosis and treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Tumor suppressor genes are reactivated by miR-26A1 via enhancer reprogramming in NSCLC

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most malignant epithelial tumors. Studies have suggested that DNA hypermethylation of promoters and abnormal histone modifications could induce tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) downregulation in NSCLC. However, the exact mechanism of TSGs downregulation remains unclear. In this study, we found that there is no difference in the regions of most TSGs promoters in NSCLC. Moreover, we found that there is no DNA methylation difference in the region of VILL promoter in NSCLC compared with adjacent tissue samples by pyrosequencing. We further demonstrated that VILL was markedly reactivated in A549 and H1703 cells infected with miR-26A1 lentivirus while this activation was inhibited by JQ1, an enhancer inhibitor. In addition, we identified that miR-26A1 could function as a tumor suppressor to inhibit proliferation and metastasis of NSCLC cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that overexpression of miR-26A1 could significantly induce the enrichment of H3K27ac at the enhancer regions in A549 cells. To sum up, our findings revealed that enhancer-mediated TSGs regulation occured in NSCLC, suggesting that miR-26A1 could serve as a key regulator and may be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Endomorphin-1 reduces carrageenan-induced fos expression in the rat spinal dorsal horn

Intraplantar injection of carrageenan induced significant Fos expression in the superficial and deep spinal dorsal horn at the L(4)-L(5)segments and extensive peripheral edema of the ipsilateral foot in rats. Intraplantar injection of endomorphin-1, endogenous ligand for mu opioid receptor, in the same region produced dose-dependent reduction of carrageenan-induced Fos expression and peripheral edema, which were completely blocked by co-administration of intraplantar injection of naloxone (20 microgram). The systemic injection of the highest dose of endomorphin-1 (50 microgram) had no significant reductory effect on Fos expression and peripheral edema. These results further provided a strong evidence for involvement of mu opioid receptor in peripheral analgesia, particularly in inflammation pain.

Increased microvascular permeability contributes to preferential accumulation of Stealth liposomes in tumor tissue

Stealth liposomes have recently emerged as a promising antitumor drug delivery system, yet no studies have been reported to examine their dynamic behavior at the microcirculatory level. In this investigation, we have used in vivo fluorescence videomicroscopy to study the decay in plasma concentration and the interstitial accumulation of Stealth and conventional liposomes in tumor and granulating tissue microcirculatory preparations. Fluorescently labeled Stealth or conventional liposomes were injected i.v. into rats bearing dorsal skinflap window chambers, some of which contained a vascularized mammary adenocarcinoma. After injection, fluorescent light intensities arising from liposomes within blood vessels and the interstitium were measured over time. These measurements were used to derive plasma pharmacokinetics and vascular permeability coefficients for each liposome species in both tumor and granulating normal tissues. Within the first 90 min after injection, Stealth liposome accumulation in the tumor interstitium was 3-4-fold that for conventional liposomes. The percentage of administered liposomes remaining in the circulation at the end of 90 min was 60.2% for Stealth and 20.4% for conventional liposomes. Tumor vascular permeability was 3.42 +/- 0.78 x 10(-7)cm/s for Stealth and 1.75 x 0.38 x 10(-7)cm/s for conventional liposomes. In normal granulating tissues permeability for the 2 constructs was equivalent at 0.8-0.9 x 10(-7)cm/s. In conclusion, preferential accumulation of Stealth liposomes in tumors was attributable to a combination of slower plasma clearance and higher vascular permeability relative to conventional liposomes. Our method of combining in vivo microscopy with a tumor microcirculatory model provides a unique approach to study quantitatively the delivery of liposomes to tumor tissues, since it can be used to study the process in real time at the microcirculatory level.