Generation of novel prebiotic oligosaccharide pools from fiber drives biological insight in bacterial glycan metabolism.

Prebiotic oligosaccharides are dietary supplements that modulate the intestinal gut microbiome by selectively nourishing subsets of the microbial community with a goal to enhance host health. To date, the diversity of polysaccharide compositions in the fiber consumed by humans is not well represented by the limited scope of oligosaccharide compositions present in current commercial prebiotics. Recently, our UC Davis group developed a novel method to generate oligosaccharides from any polysaccharide fiber, termed enton's nitiation oward efined ligosaccharide roups (FITDOG).

Development of a comprehensive food glycomic database and its application: Associations between dietary carbohydrates and insulin resistance.

Carbohydrates are an integral part of a healthy diet. The molecular compositions of carbohydrates encompass a very broad range of unique structures with many being ill-defined. This vast structural complexity is distilled into vague categories such as total carbohydrates, sugars, starches, and soluble/insoluble fibers.

A multi-glycomic platform for the analysis of food carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates comprise the largest fraction of most diets and exert a profound impact on health. Components such as simple sugars and starch supply energy, while indigestible components, deemed dietary fiber, reach the colon to provide food for the tens of trillions of microbes that make up the gut microbiota. The interactions between dietary carbohydrates, our gastrointestinal tracts, the gut microbiome and host health are dictated by their structures.

The AKT inhibitor triciribine in combination with paclitaxel has order-specific efficacy against Zfp217-induced breast cancer chemoresistance.

We previously identified the transcription factor ZNF217 (human) / Zfp217 (mouse) as an oncogene and prognostic indicator of reduced survival, increased metastasis, and reduced response to therapy in breast cancer patients. Here we investigated the role of Zfp217 in chemotherapy resistance. Preclinical animal models of Zfp217 overexpression were treated with a combination therapy of the microtubule inhibitor epothilone B, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and cyclophosphamide (EAC).

Patient-Derived Tumor Xenograft Models of Breast Cancer.

The need for model systems that more accurately predict patient outcome has led to a renewed interest and a rapid development of orthotopic transplantation models designed to grow, expand, and study patient-derived human breast tumor tissue in mice. After implanting a human breast tumor piece into a mouse mammary fat pad and allowing the tumor to grow in vivo, the tumor tissue can be either harvested and immediately implanted into mice or can be stored as tissue pieces in liquid nitrogen for surgical implantation at a later time. Here, we describe the process of surgically implanting patient-derived breast tumor tissue into the mammary gland of nonobese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD-SCID) mice and harvesting tumor tissue for long-term storage in liquid nitrogen.

Targeting CREB inhibits radiation-induced neuroendocrine differentiation and increases radiation-induced cell death in prostate cancer cells.

Neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) is a process by which prostate cancer cells transdifferentiate into neuroendocrine-like (NE-like) cancer cells. Accumulated evidence suggests that NED is associated with disease progression and therapy resistance in prostate cancer patients. We previously reported that by mimicking a clinical radiotherapy protocol, fractionated ionizing radiation (FIR) induces NED in prostate cancer cells.

Visualization of ternary complexes in living cells by using a BiFC-based FRET assay.

Studies of protein interactions have increased our understanding and knowledge of biological processes. Assays that utilize fluorescent proteins, such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC), have enabled direct visualization of protein interactions in living cells. However, these assays are primarily suitable for a pair of interacting proteins, and methods to visualize and identify multiple protein complexes in vivo are very limited.

Visualization of AP-1 NF-kappaB ternary complexes in living cells by using a BiFC-based FRET.

Protein-protein interactions are essential for maintaining cell structure and for executing almost all cellular processes. Determination of where and how each protein interacts with its partners provides significant insight into proteins' cellular roles. Although several assays, such as FRET and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC), have been developed and widely used for visualization and identification of protein interactions in living cells, there is no simple and convenient assay to visualize and identify multiple protein complexes in living cells.