169 research outputs found
Expression, Tissue Distribution and Function of miR-21 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Objective:MiR-21 is an oncomir expressed by malignant cells and/or tumor microenvironment components. In this study we focused on understanding the effects of stromal miR-21 on esophageal malignant cells.Design:MiR-21 expression was evaluated in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from patients with esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) by quantitative RT-PCR. MiR-21 tissue distribution was visualized with in situ hybridization. A co-culture system of normal fibroblasts and esophageal cancer cells was used to determine the effects of fibroblasts on miR-21 expression levels, and on SCC cell migration and invasion.Results:MiR-21 was overexpressed in SCCs, when compared to the adjacent non-tumor tissues (P = 0.0007), and was mainly localized in the cytoplasm of stromal cells adjacent to malignant cells. Accordingly, miR-21 expression was increased in tumors with high versus low stromal content (P = 0.04). When co-cultured with normal fibroblasts, miR-21 expression was elevated in SCC cells (KYSE-30), while its expression was restricted to fibroblasts when co-cultured with adenocarcinoma cells (OE-33 and FLO-1). MiR-21 was detected in conditioned media of cancer cell lines, illustrating the release of this miRNA into the environment. Co-culturing with normal fibroblasts or addition of fibroblast conditioned media caused a significant increase in cell migration and invasion potency of KYSE-30 cells (P<0.0001). In addition, co-culturing cancer cells with fibroblasts and expression of miR-21 induced the expression of the cancer associated fibroblast (CAF) marker S100A4.Conclusions:MiR-21 expression is mostly confined to the SCC stroma and its release from fibroblasts influences the migration and invasion capacity of SCC cells. Moreover, miR-21 may be an important factor in "activating" fibroblasts to CAFs. These findings provide new insights into the role of CAFs and the extracellular matrix in tumor microenvironment formation and in tumor cell maintenance, and suggest miR-21 may contribute to cellular crosstalk in the tumor microenvironment. © 2013 Nouraee et al
beta-decay study of Cu-77
A beta-decay study of Cu-77 has been performed at the ISOLDE mass separator
with the aim to deduce its beta-decay properties and to obtain spectroscopic
information on Zn-77. Neutron-rich copper isotopes were produced by means of
proton- or neutron-induced fission reactions on U-238. After the production,
Cu-77 was selectively laser ionized, mass separated and sent to different
detection systems where beta-gamma and beta-n coincidence data were collected.
We report on the deduced half-live, decay scheme, and possible spin assignment
of 77Cu
The Ramsey method in high-precision mass spectrometry with Penning traps: Experimental results
The highest precision in direct mass measurements is obtained with Penning
trap mass spectrometry. Most experiments use the interconversion of the
magnetron and cyclotron motional modes of the stored ion due to excitation by
external radiofrequency-quadrupole fields. In this work a new excitation
scheme, Ramsey's method of time-separated oscillatory fields, has been
successfully tested. It has been shown to reduce significantly the uncertainty
in the determination of the cyclotron frequency and thus of the ion mass of
interest. The theoretical description of the ion motion excited with Ramsey's
method in a Penning trap and subsequently the calculation of the resonance line
shapes for different excitation times, pulse structures, and detunings of the
quadrupole field has been carried out in a quantum mechanical framework and is
discussed in detail in the preceding article in this journal by M. Kretzschmar.
Here, the new excitation technique has been applied with the ISOLTRAP mass
spectrometer at ISOLDE/CERN for mass measurements on stable as well as
short-lived nuclides. The experimental resonances are in agreement with the
theoretical predictions and a precision gain close to a factor of four was
achieved compared to the use of the conventional excitation technique.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, 2 table
Magnetic moments of Cu and Cu nuclei measured by in-source laser spectroscopy
We have obtained information on the atomic hyperfine splitting and, hence, on magnetic moments in neutron rich Cu isotopes by scanning the frequency of the narrow-band laser of the first excitation step in the resonance ionization laser ion source. The deduced magnetic moments are Cu, I = 1) = +2.48(2)(7) ; Cu, I=6) = +1.24(4)(6) and Cu, I=1) = +1.86(4)(6) ; Cu, I=6) = +1.50(7)(8). The results of the scans analysis point out on existence of a new isomer in Cu. It's deduced magnetic moment is (-)3.50(7)(11) that is in a good agreement with I=3 assignment. The method of in-source atomic spectroscopy, as well as the analysis of the obtained data, is described. The results are discussed in terms of single-particle configurations coupled to the Ni core
Coupling a proton and a neutron to the semi-doubly magic nucleus Ni: A study of Cu via the decay of Ni and Cu
Poisson-Nernst-Planck Systems for Narrow Tubular-like Membrane Channels
We study global dynamics of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) system for flows
of two types of ions through a narrow tubular-like membrane channel. As the
radius of the cross-section of the three-dimensional tubular-like membrane
channel approaches zero, a one-dimensional limiting PNP system is derived. This
one-dimensional limiting system differs from previous studied one-dimensional
PNP systems in that it encodes the defining geometry of the three-dimensional
membrane channel. To justify this limiting process, we show that the global
attractors of the three-dimensional PNP systems are upper semi-continuous to
that of the limiting PNP system. We then examine the dynamics of the
one-dimensional limiting PNP system. For large Debye number, the steady-state
of the one-dimensional limiting PNP system is completed analyzed using the
geometric singular perturbation theory. For a special case, an entropy-type
Lyapunov functional is constructed to show the global, asymptotic stability of
the steady-state
On-line yields obtained with the ISOLDE RILIS
The ISOLDE resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS) allows to ionize efficiently and selectively many metallic elements. In recent yield surveys and on-line experiments with the ISOLDE RILIS we observed Mg , Al , Cd , Tb , Yb , Tl , Pb and Bi. The obtained yields are presented together with measured release parameters which allow to extrapolate the release efficiency towards more exotic (short-lived) nuclides of the same elements
- …