Arsenic trioxide treatment of rabbit liver VX-2 carcinoma via hepatic arterial cannulationinduced apoptosis and decreased levels of survivin in the tumor tissue

Aim To investigate the role of tumor apoptosis-inhibitory protein survivin in arsenic trioxide-induced apoptosis in VX-2 carcinoma in the rabbit liver by means of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. Methods Sixteen rabbits with 32 implanted hepatic VX-2 tumors were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group received 2 mg of arsenic trioxide and 1 mL of ultra-fluid lipiodol co-injected via hepatic arterial cannulation and the control group received only 1 mL of lipiodol. Animals were sacrificed 3 weeks after trans-catheterial arterial chemoembolization. Tumor tissue and tumor- peripheral tissue were collected for analysis. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end-labeling staining was used to assess tumor cells apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the presence of survivin protein. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the expression of survivin gene. Results The number of apoptotic cells significantly increased in the tumor tissue (5.20 ± 0.60%) compared to tumor-peripheral tissue (1.29 ± 0.42%) of the arsenic trioxide- treated group. Survivin expression levels in the tumor tissue were significantly reduced in arsenic trioxidetreated group (7.68 ± 0.65) compared to the control group (35.30 ± 4.63). Conclusion Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization with arsenic trioxide induced apoptosis of VX-2 carcinoma, in which tumor apoptosis-inhibitory protein survivin may have played a role

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF SURCHARGE ON THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF GEOCELL REINFORCED RETAINING WALL

Geocell reinforced retaining structure has been widely used in civil engineering for theprotection of slopes due to its advantages. In this paper, the effects of surcharge on the horizontaldisplacement of the wall back, the size of the sliding wedge and the factor of safety of geocellreinforced retaining wall are numerically analyzed by employing the geotechnical finite elementmethod software Plaxis. The research results show that, when the distance of surcharge from thewall face is small, the maximum and the minimum deformation of the wall back takes place nearthe top of the wall and the wall bottom respectively. After the distance of surcharge from the wallface exceeds about 13% of the wall height, the surcharge has little effect on the horizontaldeformation of the wall back, the size of the sliding wedge and the safety factor of geocellreinforced retaining wall. The horizontal deformation of the wall back gradually increases with theincrease of the length of the surcharge until it reaches a certain value. The effect of the length ofthe surcharge on the failure surface is not significant. Besides, the factor of safety of the wallgradually decreases with the increase of length of the surcharge. However, with the increase of thedistance of the surcharge from the wall face, the influence of the length of the surcharge on thesafety factor gradually becomes small. The study results can supplement theoretical basis for thedesign of geocell reinforced retaining walls in engineering practices

Exploring Be phenomena in OBA stars: a Mid-infrared search

As early-type stars with a rotation speed close to their critical velocity, Be stars experience an event called the Be phenomenon. The material in their equator is ejected into outside space during the Be phenomenon and forms a circumstellar disk. The mechanism triggering these events remains poorly understood, and observations of these events are limited because the duration of these events ranges from months to years. Long-term epoch photometry in the infrared bands is expected to be ideal for detecting Be phenomena because the brightness variation is larger, and the effect of interstellar extinction is weaker as well. We conducted a systematic search for Be phenomena among Milky Way OBA stars in the mid-infrared. We examined the brightness and colour variations of known classical Be stars using the WISE W1 and W2 photometry bands to quantify their characteristics. Subsequently, we established a set of criteria to identify similar photometric variations in a large sample of OBA stars. We found 916 OBA stars that show Be phenomena in the past 13 years, 736 of which are newly discovered. The peak-to-peak variations in magnitude and colour were found to be correlated, indicating that a decretion disk is common. The increase in colour was observed to be strongly correlated with the emission of the H-alpha line, providing further evidence of the association with circumstellar disks. The brightness variation of a star with Be phenomena can be up to 1.5 mag, and the colour variations can be up to 0.4 mag. The median durations for the disk build-up and decay phases are 474 and 524 days, respectively (durations shorter than 180 days are not sampled). The search for Be phenomena in the WISE bands greatly enlarges the number of stars showing disk variation, and it enables multi-band photometry analysis of these events with the help of current and future optical photometry surveys.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in A&

Inhibition of nuclear factor-κB by 6-O-acetyl shanzhiside methyl ester protects brain against injury in a rat model of ischemia and reperfusion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies have demonstrated an inflammatory response associated with the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia. The beneficial effects of anti-inflammatory drugs in cerebral ischemia have been documented. When screening natural compounds for drug candidates in this category, we isolated 6-O-acetyl shanzhiside methyl ester (ND02), an iridoid glucoside compound, from the leaves of <it>Lamiophlomis rotata (Benth.) Kudo</it>. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of ND02 on a cultured neuronal cell line, SH-SY5Y, in vitro, and on experimental ischemic stroke in vivo.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>For TNF-α-stimulated SH-SY5Y cell line experiments in vitro, SH-SY5Y cells were pre-incubated with ND02 (20 μM or 40 μM) for 30 min and then incubated with TNF-α (20 ng/ml) for 15 min. For in vivo experiments, rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 1 h followed by reperfusion for 23 h.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ND02 treatment of SH-SY5Y cell lines blocked TNF-α-induced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and IκB-α phosphorylation and increased Akt phosphorylation. LY294002 blocked TNF-α-induced phosphorylation of Akt and reduced the phosphorylation of both IκB-α and NF-κB. At doses higher than 10 mg/kg, ND02 had a significant neuroprotective effect in rats with cerebral ischemia and reperfusion (I/R). ND02 (25 mg/kg) demonstrated significant neuroprotective activity even after delayed administration 1 h, 3 h and 5 h after I/R. ND02, 25 mg/kg, attenuated histopathological damage, decreased cerebral Evans blue extravasation, inhibited NF-κB activation, and enhanced Akt phosphorylation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data show that ND02 protects brain against I/R injury with a favorable therapeutic time-window by alleviating cerebral I/R injury and attenuating blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, and that these protective effects may be due to blocking of neuronal inflammatory cascades through an Akt-dependent NF-κB signaling pathway.</p

A novel AMPK activator, WS070117, improves lipid metabolism discords in hamsters and HepG2 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>WS070117 is a novel small molecule compound that significantly improves lipid metabolism disorders in high-fat-diet (HFD) induced hyperlipidemia in hamsters.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>We evaluated liver/body weight ratio, liver histology, serum and hepatic lipid content in HFD-fed hamsters treated with WS070117 for 8 weeks. Comparing with HFD fed hamsters, WS070117 (2 mg/kg per day and above) reduced serum triglyceride (TAG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride contents. Oil Red O staining of liver tissue also showed that WS070117 improved lipid accumulation. We then carried out an experiment in the oleic acid (OLA)-induced steatosis model in HepG2 cell to investigate the lipid-lowering effect of WS070117. Oleic acid (0.25 mM) markedly induced lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells, but WS070117 (10 μM) inhibited cellular lipid accumulation. In OLA-treated HepG2 cells, WS070117 (above 1 μM) treatment reduced lipid contents which synthesized from [1-¹⁴C] labeled acetic acid. Because WS070117 is an analog of adenosine, we evaluated the effect of WS070117 on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling. The results showed that the activation of AMPK in OLA-induced steatosis in HepG2 cells was up-regulated by treatment with 0.1, 1 and 10 μM WS070117. The hepatic cellular AMPK phosphorylation is also up regulated by WS070117 (6 and 18 mg/kg) treatment in HFD fed hamsters.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These new findings identify WS070117 as a novel molecule that regulates lipid metabolism in the hyperlipidemia hamster model. In vitro and in vivo studies suggested that WS070117 may regulate lipid metabolism through stimulating the activation of AMPK and its downstream pathways.</p

Non-sterile fermentation of food waste using thermophilic and alkaliphilic Bacillus licheniformis YNP5-TSU for 2,3-butanediol production

Conversion of food waste into 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) via microbial fermentation provides a promising way to reduce waste disposal to landfills and produce sustainable chemicals. However, sterilization of food waste, an energy- and capital-costly process, is generally required before fermentation to avoid any contamination, which reduces the energy net output and economic feasibility of food waste fermentation. In this study, we investigated the non-sterile fermentation of food waste to produce 2,3-BDO using a newly isolated thermophilic and alkaliphilic B. licheniformis YNP5-TSU. Three unitary food waste samples (i.e., pepper, pineapple, cabbage wastes) and one miscellaneous food waste mixture were respectively inoculated with B. licheniformis YNP5-TSU under non-sterile conditions. At 50 °C and an initial pH of 9.0, B. licheniformis YNP5-TSU was able to consume all sugars in food waste and produce 5.2, 5.9, 5.9 and 4.3 g/L of 2,3-BDO within 24 h from pepper, pineapple, cabbage and miscellaneous wastes, respectively, corresponding to a yield of 0.40, 0.38, 0.41 and 0.41 g 2,3-BDO/g sugar. These 2,3-BDO concentrations and yields from the non-sterile fermentations were comparable to those from the traditional sterile fermentations, which produced 4.0–6.8 g/L of 2,3-BDO with yields of 0.31–0.48 g 2,3-BDO/g sugar. Moreover, B. licheniformis was able to ferment various food wastes (pepper, pineapple and miscellaneous wastes) without any external nutrient addition and produce similar 2,3-BDO quantities. The non-sterile fermentation of food waste using novel thermophilic and alkaliphilic B. licheniformis YNP5-TSU provides a robust and energy-efficient approach to convert food waste to high-value chemicals