ANO1 as a marker of oral squamous cell carcinoma and silencing ANO1 suppresses migration of human SCC-25 cells

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to confirm that ANO1 correlates with occurrence and metastasis of OSCC. Study Design: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of ANO1 in 160 specimens of OSCC and normal tissues. Lentiviral silencing ANO1 was used in scc-25 cell line to study the cell migration and cell detachment. Results: Immunohistochemical staining revealed that ANO1 was expressed in a large majority (132 out of 160, 82.5%) of OSCC specimens and that the rate of ANO1 expression in OSCC was significantly higher than that of normal tissue ( P <0.05); The rate of ANO1 expression was higher in metastatic tumors than in non-metastatic tumors, and the difference was significant ( P <0.05). The results of cell migration assay showed that the percent - age of cells through the membrane was 26.61 ±0.81 in assay group, and 54.26 ±3.74 in control group, respectively (t =-16.22, P <0.0001). The results of cell detachment assay showed that the percentage of cells detachment was 37.42 ±0.90 in assay group, and 87.38 ±1.59 in control group, respectively (t=-62.34, P <0.0001). The results of wound healing assay showed the assay group had a reduced migration rate compared with the control group in 32 h (F=1038.78, P <0.0001). Wound closure was no significantly different between the assay and control cells when DIDS was used in wound healing assay (F=4.61, P >0.05). Conclusions: Our study shows that abnormal expression of ANO1 correlated with the occurrence and metastasis of OSCC in clinical specimens and that silencing ANO1 greatly reduced migration ability of scc-25 cells. Calcium activated chloride channel activity of ANO1 promoted the cell migration. Thus, ANO1 could represent a new diagnostic biomarker and a potentially important therapeutic target of OSCC

Early growth response gene 2 (Egr-2) controls the self-tolerance of T cells and prevents the development of lupuslike autoimmune disease

© 2008 Zhu et al. This article is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).Maintaining tolerance of T cells to self-antigens is essential to avoid autoimmune disease. How self-reactive T cells are kept functionally inactive is, however, unknown. In this study, we show that early growth response gene 2 (Egr-2), a zinc-finger transcription factor, is expressed in CD44(high) T cells and controls their proliferation and activation. In the absence of Egr-2, CD44(high), but not CD44(low) T cells, are hyperreactive and hyperproliferative in vivo. The accumulation of activated CD4(+)CD44(high) T cells leads to the development of a late onset lupuslike autoimmune disease characterized by the accumulation of interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-17-producing CD4(+) T cells, loss of tolerance to nuclear antigens, massive infiltration of T cells into multiple organs and glomerulonephritis. We found that the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21cip1 was impaired in Egr-2-deficient T cells, whereas the expression of IFN-gamma and IL-17 in response to T cell receptor ligation was significantly increased, suggesting that Egr-2 activates the expression of genes involved in the negative regulation of T cell proliferation and inflammation. These results demonstrate that Egr-2 is an intrinsic regulator of effector T cells and controls the expansion of self-reactive T cells and development of autoimmune disease.The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust

Research on Multiprincipals Selecting Effective Agency Mode in the Student Loan System

An effective agency mode is the key to solve incentive problems in Chinese student loan system. Principal-agent frameworks are considered in which two principals share one common agent that is performing one single task but each prefers the different aspect of the task. Three models are built and decision mechanisms are given. The studies show that the three modes have different effects. Exclusive dealing mode is not good for long-term effect because sometimes it guides agent ignoring repayment. If effort proportionality coefficient and observability are both unchanged, principals all prefer common agency, but independent contracting mode may be more efficient in reality because not only the total outputs under that mode are larger than those under cooperation one, but also preferring independent contracting mode can stimulate the bank participating in the game

Convergence analysis of environmental efficiency from the perspective of environmental regulation: evidence from China

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of environmental regulation on regional environmental efficiency convergence using the fixed effects model and threshold regression model. The results show that the differences in environmental efficiency have a convergence trend in China, as well as in the eastern, central and western regions. The effect of environmental regulation on regional environmental efficiency is inhibition first and then promotion, research and development investment and outward foreign direct investment have a positive transmission effect; when environmental regulation intensity exceeds a certain threshold, the growth rate of environmental efficiency in the central and western regions will be significantly higher than that in the eastern regions

Regulation of energy band and luminescence properties in blue quasi-2D lead bromide perovskite via lattice strain

Development of blue quasi-2D lead halide perovskite LEDs is key to the perovskite based full-color displays and white-light illumination. It is still quite challenging to accurately enlarge the bandgap to achieve high performance and stable blue Quasi-2D perovskite LEDs. The lattice strain due to the deformation of lead-bromide octahedra is a critical factor leading to the energy band adjustment and stability optimization. In this Letter, the lattice strain is adjusted via three cations with different sizes, Cs+, CH3CH2NH2+(EA+), and Rb+, for sophisticatedly micro-tuning of the lattice strain to achieve overall lattice expansion and lattice contraction. A ternary quasi-2D blue bromide perovskite material PEA 2 (Cs xEAyRb1-x-yPbBr)2 PbBr 4 is specially designed. The crystal structure and energy band are studied by the first principles calculations using the Density Functional Theory method. The luminescence properties of blue quasi-2D lead bromide perovskite materials are analyzed with spectra regulation from 508 to 464 nm for photoluminescence and from 510 to 470 nm for electroluminescence. The thermal treatment is used to accelerate the release of residual strain due to mismatch and disorder in the lattice, leading to defects and degradation. The lattice strain is strongly correlated with the energy band, luminescence performance, and thermal stability of blue quasi-2D lead bromide perovskite. The study of lattice strain relaxation in blue quasi-2D lead bromide perovskite could open avenues for high-performance and stable blue quasi-2D perovskite LEDs