Expression and activities of three inducible enzymes in the healing of gastric ulcers in rats

Aim: To explore the roles of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), heme oxygenase (HO) and cyclooxygenase (COX) in gastric ulceration and to investigate the relationships of the expression and activities of these enzymes at different stages of gastric ulceration. Methods: Gastric ulcers (kissing ulcers) were induced by luminal application of acetic acid. Gastric tissue samples were obtained from the ulcer base, ulcer margin, and non-ulcerated area around the ulcer margin at different time intervals after ulcer induction. The mRNA expression and protein levels of inducible and constitutive isoforms of NOS, HO and COX were analyzed with RT-PCR and Western blotting methods. The activities of the total NOS, inducible NOS (iNOS), HO, and COX were also determined. Results: Differential expression of inducible iNOS, HO-1 and COX-2 and enzyme activities of NOS, HO and COX were found in the gastric ulcer base. High iNOS expression and activity were observed on day 1 to day 3 in severely inflamed ulcer tissues. Maximum expressions of HO-1 and COX-2 and enzyme activities of HO and COX lagged behind that of iNOS, and remained at high levels during the healing phase. Conclusion: The expression and activities of inducible NOS, HO-1 and COX-2 are found to be correlated to different stages of gastric ulceration. Inducible NOS may contribute to ulcer formation while HO-1 and COX-2 may promote ulcer healing.published_or_final_versio

MiR-223 Suppresses Cell Proliferation by Targeting IGF-1R

To study the roles of microRNA-223 (miR-223) in regulation of cell growth, we established a miR-223 over-expression model in HeLa cells infected with miR-223 by Lentivirus pLL3.7 system. We observed in this model that miR-223 significantly suppressed the proliferation, growth rate, colony formation of HeLa cells in vitro, and in vivo tumorigenicity or tumor formation in nude mice. To investigate the mechanisms involved, we scanned and examined the potential and putative target molecules of miR-223 by informatics, quantitative PCR and Western blot, and found that insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) was the functional target of miR-223 inhibition of cell proliferation. Targeting IGF-1R by miR-223 was not only seen in HeLa cells, but also in leukemia and hepatoma cells. The downstream pathway, Akt/mTOR/p70S6K, to which the signal was mediated by IGF-1R, was inhibited as well. The relative luciferase activity of the reporter containing wild-type 3′UTR(3′untranslated region) of IGF-1R was significantly suppressed, but the mutant not. Silence of IGF-1R expression by vector-based short hairpin RNA resulted in the similar inhibition with miR-223. Contrarily, rescued IGF-1R expression in the cells that over-expressed miR-223, reversed the inhibition caused by miR-223 via introducing IGF-1R cDNA that didn't contain the 3′UTR. Meanwhile, we also noted that miR-223 targeted Rasa1, but the downstream molecules mediated by Rasa1 was neither targeted nor regulated. Therefore we believed that IGF-1R was the functional target for miR-223 suppression of cell proliferation and its downstream PI3K/Akt/mTOR/p70S6K pathway suppressed by miR-223 was by targeting IGF-1R

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE consortium identifies common variants associated with carotid intima media thickness and plaque

Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and plaque determined by ultrasonography are established measures of subclinical atherosclerosis that each predicts future cardiovascular disease events. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 31,211 participants of European ancestry from nine large studies in the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. We then sought additional evidence to support our findings among 11,273 individuals using data from seven additional studies. In the combined meta-analysis, we identified three genomic regions associated with common carotid intima media thickness and two different regions associated with the presence of carotid plaque (P < 5 × 10 -8). The associated SNPs mapped in or near genes related to cellular signaling, lipid metabolism and blood pressure homeostasis, and two of the regions were associated with coronary artery disease (P < 0.006) in the Coronary Artery Disease Genome-Wide Replication and Meta-Analysis (CARDIoGRAM) consortium. Our findings may provide new insight into pathways leading to subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular events

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations at large transverse momenta in p+pp+p and Au+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}= 200 GeV

Results on high transverse momentum charged particle emission with respect to the reaction plane are presented for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$= 200 GeV. Two- and four-particle correlations results are presented as well as a comparison of azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions to those in $p+p$ at the same energy. Elliptic anisotropy, $v_2$, is found to reach its maximum at $p_t \sim 3$ GeV/c, then decrease slowly and remain significant up to $p_t\approx 7$ -- 10 GeV/c. Stronger suppression is found in the back-to-back high-$p_t$ particle correlations for particles emitted out-of-plane compared to those emitted in-plane. The centrality dependence of $v_2$ at intermediate $p_t$ is compared to simple models based on jet quenching.Comment: 4 figures. Published version as PRL 93, 252301 (2004

Azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV

The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (v_1), elliptic flow (v_2), and the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution of particles from Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV are summarized and compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models. Results for identified particles are presented and fit with a Blast Wave model. Different anisotropic flow analysis methods are compared and nonflow effects are extracted from the data. For v_2, scaling with the number of constituent quarks and parton coalescence is discussed. For v_4, scaling with v_2^2 and quark coalescence is discussed.Comment: 26 pages. As accepted by Phys. Rev. C. Text rearranged, figures modified, but data the same. However, in Fig. 35 the hydro calculations are corrected in this version. The data tables are available at http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications/ by searching for "flow" and then this pape

Bisbibenzyls, a New Type of Antifungal Agent, Inhibit Morphogenesis Switch and Biofilm Formation through Upregulation of DPP3 in Candida albicans

The yeast-to-hypha transition plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of C. albicans. Farnesol, a quorum sensing molecule (QSM) secreted by the fungal itself, could prevent the formation of hyphae and subsequently lead to the defect of biofilm formation. The DPP3, encoding phosphatase, is a key gene in regulating farnesol synthesis. In this study, we screened 24 bisbibenzyls and 2 bibenzyls that were isolated from bryophytes or chemically synthesized by using CLSI method for antifungal effect. Seven bisbibenzyls were found to have antifungal effects with IC80 less than 32 µg/ml, and among them, plagiochin F, isoriccardin C and BS-34 were found to inhibit the hyphae and biofilm formation of C. albicans in a dose-dependent manner. To uncover the underlying relationship between morphogenesis switch and QSM formation, we measured the farnesol production by HPLC-MS and quantified Dpp3 expression by detecting the fluorescent intensity of green fluorescent protein tagged strain using Confocal Laser Scanning microscopy and Multifunction Microplate Reader. The DPP3 transcripts were determined by real-time PCR. The data indicated that the bisbibenzyls exerted antifungal effects through stimulating the synthesis of farnesol via upregulation of Dpp3, suggesting a potential antifungal application of bisbibenzyls. In addition, our assay provides a novel, visual and convenient method to measure active compounds against morphogenesis switch

The Plasmodium Export Element Revisited

We performed a bioinformatical analysis of protein export elements (PEXEL) in the putative proteome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. A protein family-specific conservation of physicochemical residue profiles was found for PEXEL-flanking sequence regions. We demonstrate that the family members can be clustered based on the flanking regions only and display characteristic hydrophobicity patterns. This raises the possibility that the flanking regions may contain additional information for a family-specific role of PEXEL. We further show that signal peptide cleavage results in a positional alignment of PEXEL from both proteins with, and without, a signal peptide

The Plasmodium falciparum STEVOR Multigene Family Mediates Antigenic Variation of the Infected Erythrocyte

Modifications of the Plasmodium falciparum–infected red blood cell (iRBC) surface have been linked to parasite-associated pathology. Such modifications enable the parasite to establish long-lasting chronic infection by evading antibody mediate immune recognition and splenic clearance. With the exception of the well-demonstrated roles of var-encoded PfEMP1 in virulence and immune evasion, the biological significance of other variant surface antigens (rif and stevor) is largely unknown. While PfEMP1 and RIFIN have been located on the iRBC surface, recent studies have located STEVOR at the iRBC membrane where it may be exposed on the erythrocyte surface. To investigate the role of STEVOR in more detail, we have developed antibodies against two putative STEVOR proteins and used a combination of indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFA), live IFA, flow cytometry, as well as agglutination assays, which enable us to demonstrate that STEVOR is clonally variant at the surface of schizont stage parasites. Crucially, expression of different STEVOR on the surface of the iRBC changes the antigenic property of the parasite. Taken together, our data for the first time demonstrate that STEVOR plays a role in creating antigenic diversity of schizont stage parasites, thereby adding additional complexity to the immunogenic properties of the iRBC. Furthermore, it clearly demonstrates that to obtain a complete understanding of how parasite-induced pathology is linked to variation on the surface of the iRBC, focusing the interactions of multiple multigene families needs to be considered

Inhibition of Intestinal Adenoma Formation in APCMin/+ Mice by Riccardin D, a Natural Product Derived from Liverwort Plant Dumortiera hirsuta

BACKGROUND: Mutation of tumor suppressor gene, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), is the primary molecular event in the development of most intestinal carcinomas. Animal model with APC gene mutation is an effective tool for study of preventive approaches against intestinal carcinomas. We aimed to evaluate the effect of Riccardin D, a macrocyclic bisbibenzyl compound, as a chemopreventive agent against intestinal adenoma formation in APC(Min/+) mice. METHODS: APC(Min/+) mice were given Riccardin D by p.o. gavage for 7 weeks. Mice were sacrificed, and the number, size and histopathology of intestinal polyps were examined under a microscope. We performed immunohistochemical staining, western blotting, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in intestinal polyps to investigate the mechanism of chemopreventive effect of Riccardin D. RESULTS: Riccardin D treatment resulted in a significant inhibition of intestinal adenoma formation, showing a reduction of polyp number by 41.7%, 31.1% and 44.4%, respectively, in proximal, middle and distal portions of small intestine. The activity of Riccardin D against polyp formation was more profound in colon, wherein Riccardin D decreased polyp number by 79.3%. Size distribution analysis revealed a significant reduction in large-size polyps (2-3 mm) by 40.0%, 42.5% and 33.3%, respectively, in proximal, middle and distal portions of small intestine, and 77.8% in colon. Histopathological analysis of the intestinal polyps revealed mostly hyperplastic morphology without obvious dysplasia in Riccardin D-treated mice. Molecular analyses of the polyps suggested that the inhibitory effect of Riccardin D on intestinal adenoma formation was associated with its abilities of reduction in cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, antiangiogenesis, inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway and suppression of inflammatory mediators in polyps. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that Riccardin D exerts its chemopreventive effect against intestinal adenoma formation through multiple mechanisms including anti-proliferative, apoptotic, anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory activity