Identification and characterization of a novel peptide ligand of Tie2 for targeting gene therapy.

Tyrosine kinase with immunoglobulin and epidermal growth factor homology domain-2 (Tie2) has been considered as a rational target for gene therapy in solid tumors. In order to identify a novel peptide ligand of Tie2 for targeted gene therapy, we screened a phage display peptide library and identified a candidate peptide ligand NSLSNASEFRAPY (designated GA5). Binding assays and Scatchard analysis revealed that GA5 could specifically bind to Tie2 with a dissociation constant of 2.

Ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor alpha subunit-modulated multiple downstream signaling pathways in hepatic cancer cell lines and their biological implications.

Unlabelled: Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) plays important roles in a variety of tissues including neural and non-neural systems, but the function of CNTF and its receptor (CNTFR) in liver remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that CNTFRalpha is expressed heterogeneously in normal human liver and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens but not in hepatoblastoma specimens. We choose the CNTFRalpha(+)/CNTFRalpha(-) (CNTFRalpha positive/ CNTFRalpha negative) cell models of hepatic origin to study multiple downstream pathways of CNTFRalpha.

Choline transporters in human lung adenocarcinoma: expression and functional implications.

Choline is an essential nutrient for cell survival and proliferation, however, the expression and function of choline transporters have not been well identified in cancer. In this study, we detected the mRNA and protein expression of organic cation transporter OCT3, carnitine/cation transporters OCTN1 and OCTN2, and choline transporter-like protein CTL1 in human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines A549, H1299 and SPC-A-1. Their expression pattern was further confirmed in 25 human primary adenocarcinoma tissues.

Real-time imaging nuclear translocation of Akt1 in HCC cells.

Akt is one of the critical mediators in cellular signaling, and overactivation of Akt related pathway frequently occurs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we presented that Akt was upregulated in HCC cell lines, and its active phosphorylated form was mainly located in the nucleus. Employing the laser confocal techniques for imaging intracellular protein dynamics, we monitored the transnuclear movement of GFP-tagged wild-type Akt1 (Akt1-WT-GFP) and its inactive mutant (Akt1-T308A/S473A-GFP) in live SMMC-7721 HCC cells, and both of fusion proteins were found to distribute over the cytoplasm and nucleus.

BNIPL-2 promotes the invasion and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Enhanced cell migration and invasion play key roles in cancer metastasis. However, the molecules involved in this process are not fully understood. In this study, a full-length human BNIPL-2 (Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19 kDa interacting protein 2 like-2) cDNA was transfected into human hepatocellular carcinoma cells with low metastatic potential (MHCC97-L).

CD133 positive hepatocellular carcinoma cells possess high capacity for tumorigenicity.

Recently increasing reported data have suggested that only a small subset of cancer cells possess capability to initiate malignancies including leukemia and solid tumors, which was based on investigation in these cells displaying a distinct surface marker pattern within the primary cancers. CD133 is a putative hematopoietic and neuronal stem-cell marker, which was also considered as a tumorigenic marker in brain and prostate cancer. We hypothesized that CD133 was a marker closely correlated with tumorigenicity, since it was reported that CD133 expressed in human fetal liver and repairing liver tissues, which tightly associated with hepatocarcinogenesis.

Molecular cloning and characterization of human Aph2 gene, involved in AP-1 regulation by interaction with JAB1.

A human Aph2 gene (hAph2) was identified and cloned from a human placenta cDNA library. Bioinformatics analysis revealed hAPH2 protein shares 96% identity with mouse APH2 and contains a zf-DHHC domain (148-210aa), which is always involved in protein-protein or protein-DNA interaction. Differential expression patterns of hAph2 mRNA were observed in normal human tissues.

KIAA0101 (OEACT-1), an expressionally down-regulated and growth-inhibitory gene in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Our previous cDNA array results indicated KIAA0101 as one of the differentially expressed genes in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as compared with non-cancerous liver. However, it is necessary to study its expression at protein level in HCC and its biological function for HCC cell growth.

Method: Western blot and tissue array were performed to compare KIAA0101 protein expression level in paired human HCC and non-cancerous liver tissues from the same patients.

Influence of cation-adsorption and sonochemical approaches on the preparation of gold catalyst.

Nanosize mesoporous ZrO2 support was synthesized via a solid-state reaction route. A new preparation method involving cation-adsorption and sono-chemical procedure was developed for mesoporous ZrO2 supported nano-gold catalyst.

Identification and characterization of a novel peptide ligand of epidermal growth factor receptor for targeted delivery of therapeutics.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB1, EGFR) is overexpressed in a variety of human cancer cells. It has been considered as a rational target for drug delivery. To identify novel ligands with specific binding capabilities to EGFR, we screened a phage display peptide library and found an enriched phage clone encoding the amino acid sequence YHWYGYTPQNVI (designated as GE11).

cDNA expression array analysis of gene expression in human hepatocarcinoma Hep3B cells induced by BNIPL-1.

Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19 kDa interacting protein 2 like-1 (BNIPL-1) is a novel human protein identified in our laboratory, which can interact with Bcl-2 and Cdc42GAP and induce apoptosis via the BNIP-2 and Cdc42GAP homology (BCH) domain. In the present study, we established the Hep3B-Tet-on stable cell line in which expression of BNIPL-1 can be induced by doxycycline. The cell proliferation activity assay showed that the overexpression of BNIPL-1 suppresses Hep3B cell growth in vitro.

Inhibitory effect of CT120B, an alternative splice variant of CT120A, on lung cancer cell growth.

The expression product of ct120a, a novel gene isolated from human chromosome 17p13.3 in our laboratory, was predicted to have seven transmembrane domains and could cause malignant transformation of mouse NIH3T3 cells. There existed an mRNA splicing variant of ct120a, namely ct120b, which had a 96-nucleotide deletion and produced an in-frame loss of 32 amino acids from codon 136 to codon 167 of CT120A.

The growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts are inhibited by small interfering RNA targeting to the subunit ATP6L of proton pump.

Extracellular pH is usually low in solid tumors, in contrast to the approximately neutral intracellular pH. V-ATPase, which overly functions in some cancers with metastatic potential, plays an important role in maintaining neutral cytosolic pH, very acidic luminal pH, and acidic extracellular pH. ATP6L, the 16 kDa subunit of proton pump V-ATPase, can provide proton hydrophilic transmembrane path.

Nanoporous silica-supported nanometric palladium: synthesis, characterization, and catalytic deep oxidation of benzene.

In this present study, nanoporous silica SBA-15 supported palladium catalysts are prepared through two different methods. The catalysts are employed for catalytic deep oxidation reaction of benzene at a high gas hourly space velocity of 100,000 h(-1). It is found that the traditional aqueous impregnation method has some difficulties and disadvantages in obtaining highly dispersed palladium active phases.

A new human gene hNTKL-BP1 interacts with hPirh2.

NTKL (N-terminal kinase-like protein) encodes an evolutionarily conserved kinase-like protein and is mapped around chromosomal breakpoints found in several carcinomas, suggesting that NTKL dysfunction may be involved in carcinogenesis. Recently, we identified a novel mouse gene, mNTKL-BP1 (NTKL-binding protein 1), encoding a protein interacting with NTKL. For further study, a new human gene, hNTKL-BP1, which is highly homologous with mNTKL-BP1, was used as bait in yeast two-hybrid system.

Hydrodynamic-based in vivo transfection of retinoic X receptor-alpha gene can enhance vitamin A-induced attenuation of liver fibrosis in mice.

Background/aim: In hepatic stellate cells isolated from rat fibrotic livers, the amount of retinoid X receptor-alpha (RXR-alpha) mRNA is greatly reduced. However, the effectiveness of retinoids in the treatment of liver fibrosis is controversial. We hypothesized that increasing the expression levels of RXR-alpha in livers will improve the response of liver fibrosis to retinoids treatment.

[The effect of pro-angiogenic factors and their receptors on angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To explore the effect of pro-angiogenic factors and their receptors on angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: Expression of VEGF/KDR and Angiopoietins/Tie2 was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot in 15 cases with hepatocellular carcinoma, 15 tumor adjacent tissues (<1 cm, >5 cm), 8 cirrhotic liver, and 4 normal liver. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect CD34 expression, and the relationship between neovascular density and angiogenesis was analyzed.

[Soil water characteristics in Picea crassifolia forestry lands in Qilian Mountains].

The study of soil water content and its main affecting factors in Picea crassifolia forestry lands in Qilian Mountains showed that the Picea crassifolia forestry lands were characterized by lower soil bulk weight and higher soil water infiltration rate, and the vertical distribution of soil water was apparently affected by precipitation. The soil bulk weight of shrub-Picea crassifolia forestry land, moss-Picea crassifolia forestry land and meadow land was 0.522, 0.

Large-scale cDNA transfection screening for genes related to cancer development and progression.

A large-scale assay was performed by transfecting 29,910 individual cDNA clones derived from human placenta, fetus, and normal liver tissues into human hepatoma cells and 22,926 cDNA clones into mouse NIH 3T3 cells. Based on the results of colony formation in hepatoma cells and foci formation in NIH 3T3 cells, 3,806 cDNA species (8,237 clones) were found to possess the ability of either stimulating or inhibiting cell growth. Among them, 2,836 (6,958 clones) were known genes, 372 (384 clones) were previously unrecognized genes, and 598 (895 clones) were unigenes of uncharacterized structure and function.

Antitumor activities of a novel indolin-2-ketone compound, Z24: more potent inhibition on bFGF-induced angiogenesis and bcl-2 over-expressing cancer cells.

The present study was designed to select the effective dosage range of Z24 [3Z-3-[(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-methylidene]-1-(1-piperidinylmethyl)-1,3-2H-indol-2-one], a novel synthetic indolin-2-ketone small-molecule compound, against tumorigenesis and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo and to investigate the primary action mechanism of Z24 on the angiogenesis by comparing with SU5416 [3-[(2,4-dimethylpyrrol-5-yl)methyllidenyl]-indolin-2-one] in the selective effects on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) signaling and Bcl-2-related cell vitality because Z24 is a potential inhibitor of the Bcl-2 that inhibits growth of multiple tumor types in vivo in our previous study. Per os Z24 inhibited dose-dependently the mouse S180 xenograft tumor growth and angiogenesis in mouse subcutaneous (s.c.

[A DNA vector-based RNAi technology to inhibit the activity of the telomerase of cell line HCCLM3].

Objective: To develop a DNA vector-based RNA interference (RNAi) technology that inhibits the activity of the telomerase of the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HCCLM3 in order to suppress the proliferation of the cells.

Methods: Hepatocellular carcinoma cells of the line HCCLM3 were cultured. mRNA interfering double-stranded DNA vector PSG-AS targeting the mRNA of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and the control vector PSG-CTR were constructed respectively, and then were transfected into the HCCLM3 cells.

BNIPL-2, a novel homologue of BNIP-2, interacts with Bcl-2 and Cdc42GAP in apoptosis.

The execution phase of apoptosis is characterized by marked changes in cell morphology that include contraction and membrane blebbing. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying this process. We report here the identification of a novel member of BNIPL family, designated Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19kDa interacting protein 2 like-2 (BNIPL-2), which interacts with Bcl-2 and Cdc42GAP.

Construction of an EGF receptor-mediated histone H1(0)-based gene delivery system.

Purpose: To construct an EGF receptor (EGF-R)-mediated histone H1(0)-based gene delivery system for gene therapy.

Methods: A recombinant DNA containing histone H1(0), EGF-R ligand, and endosomalytic domains was constructed in a prokaryotic vector and expressed in E. coli.

HCC-associated protein HCAP1, a variant of GEMIN4, interacts with zinc-finger proteins.

The gene HCAP1 (HCC-associated Protein 1), one variant of GEMIN4, has been mapped in a minimum LOH region on chromosome 17p13.3 and encodes a 1047-amino acid protein. Function predictions based on the amino acid sequence of protein HCAP1 revealed it to contain one helix-loop-helix motif and one leucine zipper domain.

[Exogenous expression of SOCS box-deficient mutant ASB-8 suppresses the growth of lung adenocarcinoma SPC-A1 cells].

ASB-8 is a new member of the human ankyrin repeat and SOCS box containing protein family (ASB). This report deals with the expression of ASB-8 protein in lung carcinoma tissue, as well as its biological effect on the proliferation and growth of lung cancer cell line SPC-A1. ASB-8 was expressed in pT7-450 expression vector, and an anti-ASB-8 rabbit polyclonal antibody was prepared.