Differential miRNAs expression pattern of irradiated breast cancer cell lines is correlated with radiation sensitivity

Radiotherapy is a fundamental step in the treatment of breast cancer patients. The treatment efficiency is however reduced by the possible onset of radiation resistance. In order to develop the effective treatment approach, it is important to understand molecular basis of radiosensitivity in breast cancer. The purpose of the present study was to investigate different radiation response of breast cancer cell lines, and find out if this response may be related to change in the microRNAs expression profile. MDA-MB-231 and T47D cells were subjected to different doses of radiation, then MTT and clonogenic assays were performed to assess radiation sensitivity. Cytofluorometric and western blot analysis were performed to gain insight into cell cycle distribution and protein expression. MicroRNA sequencing and bioinformatics prediction methods were used to identify the difference in microRNAs expression between two breast cancer cells and the related genes and pathways. T47D cells were more sensitive to radiation respect to MDA-MB-231 cells as demonstrated by a remarkable G2 cell cycle arrest followed by a greater reduction in cell viability and colony forming ability. Accordingly, T47D cells showed higher increase in the phosphorylation of ATM, TP53 and CDK1 (markers of radiation response) and faster and more pronounced increase in RAD51 and γH2AX expression (markers of DNA damage), when compared to MDA-MB-231 cells. The two cell lines had different microRNAs expression profiles with a confirmed significant differential expression of miR-16-5p, which targets cell cycle related genes and predicts longer overall survival of breast cancer patients, as determined by bioinformatics analysis. These results suggest a possible role for miR-16-5p as radiation sensitizing microRNA and as prognostic/predictive biomarker in breast cancer. © 2020, The Author(s)

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester increases radiosensitivity of estrogen receptor- positive and -negative breast cancer cells by prolonging radiation-induced DNA Damage

Purpose: Breast cancer is an important cause of death among women. The development of radioresistance in breast cancer leads to recurrence after radiotherapy. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a polyphenolic compound of honeybee propolis, is known to have anticancer properties. In this study, we examined whether CAPE enhanced the radiation sensitivity of MDAMB- 231 (estrogen receptor-negative) and T47D (estrogen receptor- positive) cell lines. Methods: The cytotoxic effect of CAPE on MDA-MB-231 and T47D breast cancer cells was evaluated by performing an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. To assess clonogenic ability, MDAMB- 231 and T47D cells were treated with CAPE (1 μM) for 72 hours before irradiation, and then, a colony assay was performed. A comet assay was used to determine the number of DNA strand breaks at four different times. Results: CAPE decreased the viability of both cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In the clonogenic assay, pretreatment of cells with CAPE before irradiation significantly reduced the surviving fraction of MDA-MB-231 cells at doses of 6 and 8 Gy. A reduction in the surviving fraction of T47D cells was observed relative to MDA-MB-231 at lower doses of radiation. Additionally, CAPE maintained radiation-induced DNA damage in T47D cells for a longer period than in MDA-MB-231 cells. Conclusion: Our results indicate that CAPE impairs DNA damage repair immediately after irradiation. The induction of radiosensitivity by CAPE in radioresistant breast cancer cells may be caused by prolonged DNA damage. © 2016 Korean Breast Cancer Society. All rights reserved

Ecological capability evaluation for aquaculture activities by GIS

Geographic Information System (GIS) is the best suitable system for land evaluation. In this research, at the first step, the Makhdoum's model is introduced‚ and then Hamadan Province, from aquaculture point of view and capabilities of the lands to fulfill aquaculture activities is evaluated. GIS was used for the mentioned purposes. The software used was Arc View (version 3.2 a), with the UTM projection. For evaluation, Mc Hark method of Maps overlaying was utilized. According to the results, the suitable surface area for aquaculture activities was introduced, which was equal to 13.1 percent of Hamadan Province. According to the evaluations, this province has limited potentials for aquaculture activities. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to these limitations in development plans

New batch electro-coagulation process for treatment and recovery of high organic load and low volume egg processing industry wastewater

In this study, a new batch cell with undivided operating and processing units based on electrocoagulation was used for wastewater treatment of egg processing industries. In addition, the influence of operational parameters such as current density, retention time and type of electrode on the amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and total coliform (TC) removal were investigated. The results showed that COD, TSS and TC removal efficiency increases with increasing current density and retention time. Of course it should be noted that, in the final evaluation of these parameters, the operational costs, electrochemical energy consumption (EEC) and electrode consumption costs should be considered. Maximum removal of COD (99), TSS (98.5) and TC (99.99) were achieved by an aluminum electrode in 10 min retention time and a current density of 6.6 mA cm−2. In addition, the aluminum electrode with EEC of 14.2 kW h m-3 and the anode consumption of 0.53 mg cm−2 is cost efficient as compared with an iron electrode. According to results, treatment of egg processing industry wastewater with a low volume of wastewater and high amount of organic load is carried out easily by electrocoagulation process (ECP) as compared to other common methods. Moreover, the proposed reactor has a high efficiency in the treatment of industries wastewater and produces an effluent with TSS and COD lower than 5 mg L-1 which has a standard quality for discharge in the environment. © 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineer

Infrared-radio relation in the local Universe

Context. The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) is expected to detect high-redshift galaxies with star formation rates (SFRs) up to two orders of magnitude lower than Herschel surveys and will thus boost the ability of radio astronomy to study extragalactic sources. The tight infrared-radio correlation offers the possibility of using radio emission as a dust-unobscured star formation diagnostic. However, the physics governing the link between radio emission and star formation is poorly understood, and recent studies have pointed to differences in the exact calibration required when radio is to be used as a star formation tracer. Aims. We improve the calibration of the relation of the local radio luminosity–SFR and to test whether there are nonlinearities in it. Methods. We used a sample of Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) sources and investigated their radio luminosity, which was derived using the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) maps. We stacked the bins of infrared luminosity and SFR and accounted for bins with no detections in the stacked images using survival analysis fitting. This approach was tested using Monte Carlo simulations. Results. After removing sources from the sample that have excess radio emission, which is indicative of nuclear radio activity, we found no deviations from linearity of the mean relations between radio luminosity and either SFR or infrared luminosity. Concluisions. We analyzed the link between radio emission and SFR or infrared luminosity using a local sample of star-forming galaxies without evidence of nuclear radio activity and found no deviations from linearity, although our data are also consistent with the small nonlinearity reported by some recent analyses. The normalizations of these relations are intermediate between those reported by earlier works

Inhibition of cdk4/6 as therapeutic approach for ovarian cancer patients: Current evidences and future perspectives

Alterations in components of the cell-cycle machinery are present in essentially all tumor types. In particular, molecular alterations resulting in dysregulation of the G1 to S phase transition have been observed in almost all human tumors, including ovarian cancer. These alterations have been identified as potential therapeutic targets in several cancer types, thereby stimulating the development of small molecule inhibitors of the cyclin dependent kinases. Among these, CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitors confirmed in clinical trials that CDKs might indeed represent valid therapeutic targets in, at least some, types of cancer. CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitors are now used in clinic for the treatment of patients with estrogen receptor positive metastatic breast cancer and their clinical use is being tested in many other cancer types, alone or in combination with other agents. Here, we review the role of CDK4 and CDK6 complexes in ovarian cancer and propose the possible use of their inhibitors in the treatment of ovarian cancer patients with different types and stages of disease

Enterolactone: A novel radiosensitizer for human breast cancer cell lines through impaired DNA repair and increased apoptosis

Introduction Radiotherapy is a potent treatment against breast cancer, which is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. However, the emergence of radioresistance due to increased DNA repair leads to radiotherapeutic failure. Applying polyphenols combined with radiation is a more promising method leading to better survival. Enterolactone, a phytoestrogenic polyphenol, has been reported to inhibit an important radioresistance signaling pathway, therefore we conjectured that enterolactone could enhance radiosensitivity in breast cancer. To assess this hypothesis, radiation response of enterolactone treated MDA-MB-231 and T47D cell lines and corresponding cellular mechanisms were investigated. Methods Cytotoxicity of enterolactone was measured via MTT assay. Cells were treated with enterolactone before X-irradiation, and clonogenic assay was used to evaluate radiosensitivity. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometric analysis. In addition, DNA damages and corresponding repair, chromosomal damages, and aberrations were assessed by comet, micronucleus, and cytogenetic assays, respectively. Results Enterolactone decreased the viability of cells in a concentration- and time dependent manner. Enterolactone significantly enhanced radiosensitivity of cells by abrogating G2/M arrest, impairing DNA repair, and increasing radiation-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, increased chromosomal damages and aberrations were detected in cells treated with enterolactone combined with X-rays than X-ray alone. These effects were more prominent in T47D than MDA-MB-231 cells. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first report that enterolactone is a novel radiosensitizer for breast cancer irrespective of estrogen receptor status. Authors propose enterolactone as a candidate for combined therapy to decrease the radiation dose delivered to patients and subsequent side effects. © 2016 Elsevier Inc

Reduced activation and altered laterality in two neuroleptic-naive catatonic patients during a motor task in functional MRI

BACKGROUND: Catatonia, a symptom complex with motor, affective and cognitive symptoms seen in a variety of psychotic conditions and with organic disease, was examined using a motor task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). METHODS: Two acute catatonic patients and two age- and sex-matched healthy controls performed sequential finger opposition (SFO) after being medicated with 2 mg of lorazepam (i.v.). Functional magnetic resonance images were collected using a gradient echo pulse sequence (EPI). RESULTS: Patients with catatonia showed reduced motor activation of the contralateral motor cortex during SFO of the right hand, ipsilateral activation was similar for patients and controls. There were no differences in the activation of the SMA. During left hand activation the right-handed catatonic patients showed more activation in the ipsilateral cortex, a reversal from the normal pattern of activation in which the contralateral side shows four to five times more activation than the ipsilateral side. CONCLUSIONS: In catatonic patients there is a decreased activation in motor cortex during a motor task compared to matched medicated healthy controls. In addition activation of the non-dominant side, left-handed activity in right-handed patients, results in a total reversal of the normal pattern of lateral activation suggesting a disturbance in hemispheric localization of activity during a catatonic state

Perovskite Nanowire Extrusion

The defect tolerance of halide perovskite materials has led to efficient optoelectronic devices based on thin-film geometries with unprecedented speed. Moreover, it has motivated research on perovskite nanowires because surface recombination continues to be a major obstacle in realizing efficient nanowire devices. Recently, ordered vertical arrays of perovskite nanowires have been realized, which can benefit from nanophotonic design strategies allowing precise control over light propagation, absorption, and emission. An anodized aluminum oxide template is used to confine the crystallization process, either in the solution or in the vapor phase. This approach, however, results in an unavoidable drawback: only nanowires embedded inside the AAO are obtainable, since the AAO cannot be etched selectively. The requirement for a support matrix originates from the intrinsic difficulty of controlling precise placement, sizes, and shapes of free-standing nanostructures during crystallization, especially in solution. Here we introduce a method to fabricate free-standing solution-based vertical nanowires with arbitrary dimensions. Our scheme also utilizes AAO; however, in contrast to embedding the perovskite inside the matrix, we apply a pressure gradient to extrude the solution from the free-standing templates. The exit profile of the template is subsequently translated into the final semiconductor geometry. The free-standing nanowires are single crystalline and show a PLQY up to ∼29%. In principle, this rapid method is not limited to nanowires but can be extended to uniform and ordered high PLQY single crystalline perovskite nanostructures of different shapes and sizes by fabricating additional masking layers or using specifically shaped nanopore endings