Metochalcone induces senescence-associated secretory phenotype via JAK2/STAT3 pathway in breast cancer

Breast and lung cancers are the leading causes of mortality and most frequently diagnosed cancers in women and men, respectively, worldwide. Although the antitumor activity of chalcones has been extensively studied, the molecular mechanisms of isoliquiritigenin analog 2', 4', 4-trihydroxychalcone (metochalcone; TEC) against carcinomas remain less well understood. In this study, we found that TEC inhibited cell proliferation of breast cancer BT549 cells and lung cancer A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. TEC induced cell cycle arrest in the S-phase, cell migration inhibition in vitro, and reduced tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, transcriptomic analysis revealed that TEC modulated the activity of the JAK2/STAT3 and P53 pathways. TEC triggered the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) by repressing the JAK2/STAT3 axis. The mechanism of metochalcone against breast cancer depended on the induction of SASP via deactivation of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway, highlighting the potential of chalcone in senescence-inducing therapy against carcinomas.

Betulinic acid-mediating miRNA-365 inhibited the progression of pancreatic cancer

Background

The dilemma of pancreatic cancer treatment has become a global challenge. For this reason, effective, feasible, and new medical methods are currently much-needed. Betulinic acid (BA) has been valued as a potential therapy for pancreatic cancer. However, the mechanism by which BA exerts an inhibitory effect on the development of pancreatic cancer remains elusive.

Methods

A rat model and two cell models of pancreatic cancer were established, and the effect of BA on pancreatic cancer was verified in vivo and in vitro by using MTT, Transwell, flow cytometry, RT-PCR, Elisa and immunohistochemistry. At the same time, miR-365 inhibitors were introduced to test whether BA played a role in mediating miR-365.

Results

BA can significantly inhibit the proliferation and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells and promote apoptosis. In vivo experiments, BA can significantly lower the number of cancer cells and tumor volume in the rat model of pancreatic cancer. In vitro, it was found that BA inhibited the protein level and phosphorylation level of AKT/STAT3 by mediating the expression of miR365/BTG2/IL-6. Like BA, miR-365 inhibitors also significantly inhibited cell viability and invasion ability, and inhibited the protein level and phosphorylation level of AKT/STAT3 by changing the expression of BTG2/IL-6, and their combination had a synergistic effect.

Conclusion

BA inhibits AKT/STAT3 expression and phosphorylation by modulating miR-365/BTG2/IL-6 expression, and BA inhibits the progression of pancreatic cancer through the aforementioned mechanism.

Underlying mechanisms and clinical potential of circRNAs in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant form of glioma and is difficult to diagnose, leading to high mortality rates. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are noncoding RNAs with a covalently closed loop structure. CircRNAs are involved in various pathological processes and have been revealed to be important regulators of GBM pathogenesis. CircRNAs exert their biological effects by 4 different mechanisms: serving as sponges of microRNAs (miRNAs), serving as sponges of RNA binding proteins (RBPs), modulating parental gene transcription, and encoding functional proteins. Among the 4 mechanisms, sponging miRNAs is predominant. Their good stability, broad distribution and high specificity make circRNAs promising biomarkers for GBM diagnosis. In this paper, we summarized the current understanding of the characteristics and action mechanisms of circRNAs, illustrated the underlying regulatory mechanisms of circRNAs in GBM progression and explored the possible diagnostic role of circRNAs in GBM.

A NOVEL PROPORTIONAL AND SIMULTANEOUS CONTROL METHOD FOR PROSTHETIC HAND

This paper proposes a novel control method of using the surface electromyogram (sEMG) signals to predict the kinematics of hand and wrist, which will be applied in the prosthetic hand control. Prediction of movement in 3 degree-of-freedoms’ (DoFs’) (wrist flexion/extension (WFE), lateral abduction/adduction (LAA), and hand open/close (HOC)) is investigated in this paper. The proposed control method contains a time-delay recurrent neural network (TDRNN), adopting the previous prediction of the joint angles and the time-delay sEMG signals as the system input. This proposed method uses a batch training based on Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm to learn the weights of the TDRNN. The trained TDRNN is aimed to achieve simultaneous and proportional regression from human movements of the 3 DoFs to those of the prosthetic hand. Three able-bodied subjects are chosen to participate in the test and demonstrate its feasibility and performance. The offline test result R2 ranges between 0.81 and 0.94. The online test results show that TDRNN reacts faster, which verifies that the method proposed in this paper will be feasible and effective in prosthetic hand control.

HEATING ANALYSIS OF SOFT TISSUE AT FINITE DEFORMATION DURING THERMAL ABLATION

Heating analysis of soft tissue at finite deformation is of importance during treatment planning process for thermal ablation. This paper presents a method by combining non-Fourier bio-heat transfer and nonlinear biomaterial model to simulate thermal and mechanical responses of soft tissues under combined thermal and mechanical loads. At the same time, anisotropic feature of biological tissue is also concerned by including the stored energy of collagen fiber bundles into the traditional neo-Hookean free energy function. Simulation results demonstrate that in spite of relatively small thermal-induced displacement, the resultant thermal strain and stress contribution is nonnegligible and can be used as theoretical basis to measure tissue pain during thermal ablation process.

Costunolide induces G1/S phase arrest and activates mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic pathways in SK-MES 1 human lung squamous carcinoma cells

Despite the availability of several therapeutic options, a safer and more effective modality strategy is required for the treatment of lung cancer. Costunolide, a sesquiterpene lactone which isolated from the Saussurea lappa, has potent anticancer properties. In the present study, the effects of costunolide on cell viability, the cell cycle and apoptosis in SK-MES-1 human lung squamous carcinoma cells were investigated. Costunolide induced morphological changes and inhibited growth of SK-MES-1 cells growth. Flow cytometric analysis data demonstrated that costunolide significantly induced apoptosis of SK-MES-1 cells and induced cell cycle arrest at G1/S phase in a dose-dependent manner. Through upregulation in the expression of p53 and Bax, and downregulation in the expression of Bcl-2 and activation of caspase-3, costunolide-induced apoptosis was confirmed by western blot analysis. In addition, the significant loss of mitochondrial membrane potential indicated that costunolide may induce apoptosis via the mitochondria-dependent pathway in SK-MES-1 cells. These results highlight the potential effects of costunolide as an anti-cancer agent in a human lung squamous carcinoma cell line.

BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURE DESIGN OF DRAGONFLY WING VENATION USING TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION METHOD

Scientists have carried out research for various biomimetic applications based on the dragonfly wings because of the superb flying skills and lightsome posture. The wings of dragonflies are mainly composed of veins and membranes, which give rise to the special characteristics of their wings that make dragonflies being supremely versatile, maneuverable fliers. Mimicking the dragonfly wing motion is of great technological interest from application's point of view. However, the major challenge is the biomimetic fabrication to replicate the wing motion due to the very complex nature of the wing venation of dragonfly wings. In this regard, the topology optimization method (TOM) is useful to simplify object's structure while retaining its mechanical properties. In this paper, TOM is employed to simplify and optimize the venation structure of dragonfly (Pantala flavescens Fabricius) wing that is captured by a 3D scanner and numerical reconfiguration. Combined with the material parameters obtained from nanoindentation testing, the quantitative models are established based on a finite element (FE) analysis and discussed in static range. The quantitative models are then compared with the square frame, staggered grid frame and hexagonal frame to examine the potentials of the biomimetic structure design for the fabrication of greenhouse roof.

ANAB INITIOSTUDY OF PROTON-TRANSFER REACTION INBe2+(H2O)nAND THE SPATIAL CHANGING FEATURE IN THE FORMATION PROCESS OF HYDROXIDE

The proton-transfer reaction in Be2+( H2O )nis investigated by an ab initio calculation. With an increasing number of water molecules, there are different formation processes of hydroxide, and the reaction barrier is dependent on the cluster size n. By MELD ab initio program and own-coding programs, we have calculated the potential acting on an electron within a molecule, and have investigated the changing of spatial appearance for the formation process of hydroxide, by the molecular intrinsic characteristic contour defined in terms of the classical turning point of electron movement.

ABEEM/MM-BASED PAIR POTENTIAL FOR MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION OF Fe2+(aq) AND Fe3+(aq)

On the basis of atom-bond electronegativity equalization method fused into molecular mechanics (ABEEM/MM), we have constructed the effective Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ ion-water potential by fitting to ab initio structures and binding energies for ionic clusters, where Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ ions are in their high spin state. We then apply the ion-water interaction potential in combination with the ABEEM-7P water model to molecular dynamic simulations of single-ion Fe 2+( aq ) and Fe 3+( aq ) solutions, managing to reproduce many experimental, structural and dynamical properties of the solutions. The effects of ionic charges on structural and dynamical properties of water molecules in the hydration shells are discussed.