461 research outputs found
Down-Regulation of Tumor-Associated NADH Oxidase, tNOX (ENOX2), Enhances Capsaicin-Induced Inhibition of Gastric Cancer Cell Growth
Gastric cancer is a common human malignancy and a major contributor to cancer-related deaths worldwide. Unfortunately, the prognosis of most gastric cancer patients is poor because they are generally diagnosed at a late stage after the cancer has already metastasized. Most current research, therefore, emphasizes selective targeting of cancer cells by apoptosis-inducing agents. One such therapeutic agent is capsaicin, a component of chili peppers that has been shown to possess anti-growth activity against various cancer cell lines. Here, we examined the effect of capsaicin on SNU-1 and TMC-1 gastric cancer cells and found differing outcomes between the two cell lines. Our results show that capsaicin induced significant cytotoxicity with increases in oxidative stress, PARP cleavage, and apoptosis in sensitive SNU-1 cells. In contrast, TMC-1 cells were much less sensitive to capsaicin, exhibiting low cytotoxicity and very little apoptosis in response to capsaicin treatment. Capsaicin-induced apoptosis in SNU-1 cells was associated with down-regulation of tumor-associated NADH oxidase (tNOX) mRNA and protein. On the contrary, tNOX expression was scarcely affected by capsaicin in TMC-1 cells. We further showed that tNOX-knockdown sensitized TMC-1 cells to capsaicin-induced apoptosis and G1 phase accumulation, and led to decreased cell growth, demonstrating that tNOX is essential for cancer cell growth. Collectively, these results indicate that capsaicin induces divergent effects of the growth of gastric cancer cells that parallel its effects on tNOX expression, and demonstrate that forced tNOX down-regulation restored capsaicin-induced growth inhibition in TMC-1 cells
Baculovirus Transduction of Mesenchymal Stem Cells: In Vitro Responses and In Vivo Immune Responses After Cell Transplantation
Baculovirus holds great promise for the genetic modification of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, whether baculovirus transduction provokes undesired MSCs responses that might compromise their in vivo applications has yet to be examined. Hereby, we unraveled that baculovirus transduction of human MSCs upregulated the transcription of interleukin (IL)-1 beta, interferon (IFN)-alpha and IL-6, but not tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and IFN-gamma. However, only IL-6 secretion was detectable by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Baculovirus transduction also stimulated transient, low level upregulation of human leukocyte antigen I (HLA-I) on the human MSCs surface, yet it did not either altered the HLA-II expression or impaired the MSCs ability to inhibit lymphocyte proliferation. After transplantation into allogeneic rats, the transduced rat MSCs elicited transient, mild macrophage responses, but the cells remained tolerant as judged by the persistence of transplanted cells and absence of CD8(+) T cells infiltration. Besides, transplantation of the transduced MSCs did not provoke systemic induction of monocytes and CD8(+) T cells. This study, for the first time, explores the responses of MSCs to virus transduction and confirms the safety of transplanting baculovirus-engineered MSCs into immunocompetent animals for cell-based gene therapy
One-dimensional array of ion chains coupled to an optical cavity
We present a novel system where an optical cavity is integrated with a microfabricated planar-electrode ion trap. The trap electrodes produce a tunable periodic potential allowing the trapping of up to 50 separate ion chains aligned with the cavity and spaced by 160 ÎŒm in a one-dimensional array along the cavity axis. Each chain can contain up to 20 individually addressable Yb+ ions coupled to the cavity mode. We demonstrate deterministic distribution of ions between the sites of the electrostatic periodic potential and control of the ionâcavity coupling. The measured strength of this coupling should allow access to the strong collective coupling regime with lesssim10 ions. The optical cavity could serve as a quantum information bus between ions or be used to generate a strong wavelength-scale periodic optical potential.United States. Army Research OfficeNational Science Foundation (U.S.)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship Program (0645960)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Interdisciplinary Quantum Information Science and Engineering (iQuISE) Program 0801525
Decoherence in trapped ions due to polarization of the residual background gas
We investigate the mechanism of damping and heating of trapped ions
associated with the polarization of the residual background gas induced by the
oscillating ions themselves. Reasoning by analogy with the physics of surface
electrons in liquid helium, we demonstrate that the decay of Rabi oscillations
observed in experiments on 9Be+ can be attributed to the polarization phenomena
investigated here. The measured sensitivity of the damping of Rabi oscillations
with respect to the vibrational quantum number of a trapped ion is also
predicted in our polarization model.Comment: 26 pdf pages with 5 figures, http://www.df.ufscar.br/~quantum
Influence of a classical homogeneous gravitational field on dissipative dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model with phase damping
In this paper, we study the dissipative dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model
with phase damping in the presence of a classical homogeneous gravitational
field. The model consists of a moving two-level atom simultaneously exposed to
the gravitational field and a single-mode traveling radiation field in the
presence of the phase damping. We present a quantum treatment of the internal
and external dynamics of the atom based on an alternative su(2) dynamical
algebraic structure. By making use of the super-operator technique, we obtain
the solution of the master equation for the density operator of the quantum
system, under the Markovian approximation. Assuming that initially the
radiation field is prepared in a Glauber coherent state and the two-level atom
is in the excited state, we investigate the influence of gravity on the
temporal evolution of collapses and revivals of the atomic population
inversion, atomic dipole squeezing, atomic momentum diffusion, photon counting
statistics and quadrature squeezing of the radiation field in the presence of
phase damping.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figure
Intraperitoneal delivery of paclitaxel by poly(ether-anhydride) microspheres effectively suppresses tumor growth in a murine metastatic ovarian cancer model
Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy is more effective than systemic chemotherapy for treating advanced ovarian cancer, but is typically associated with severe complications due to high dose, frequent administration schedule, and use of non-biocompatible excipients/delivery vehicles. Here, we developed paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded microspheres composed of di-block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(sebacic acid) (PEG-PSA) for safe and sustained IP chemotherapy. PEG-PSA microspheres provided efficient loading (âŒ13 % w/w) and prolonged release (âŒ13 days) of PTX. In a murine ovarian cancer model, a single dose of IP PTX/PEG-PSA particles effectively suppressed tumor growth for more than 40 days and extended the median survival time to 75 days compared to treatments with TaxolÂź (47 days) or IP placebo particles (34 days). IP PTX/PEG-PSA was well tolerated with only minimal to mild inflammation. Our findings support PTX/PEG-PSA microspheres as a promising drug delivery platform for IP therapy of ovarian cancer and potentially other metastatic peritoneal cancers
Measurement of qubits
We describe in detail the theory underpinning the measurement of density matrices of a pair of quantum two-level systems (qubits). Our particular emphasis is on qubits realized by the two polarization degrees of freedom of a pair of entangled photons generated in a down-conversion experiment; however, the discussion applies in general, regardless of the actual physical realization. Two techniques are discussed, namely, a tomographic reconstruction (in which the density matrix is linearly related to a set of measured quantities) and a maximum likelihood technique which requires numerical optimization (but has the advantage of producing density matrices that are always non-negative definite). In addition, a detailed error analysis is presented, allowing errors in quantities derived from the density matrix, such as the entropy or entanglement of formation, to be estimated. Examples based on down-conversion experiments are used to illustrate our results
Protons in near earth orbit
The proton spectrum in the kinetic energy range 0.1 to 200 GeV was measured
by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during space shuttle flight STS-91 at
an altitude of 380 km. Above the geomagnetic cutoff the observed spectrum is
parameterized by a power law. Below the geomagnetic cutoff a substantial second
spectrum was observed concentrated at equatorial latitudes with a flux ~ 70
m^-2 sec^-1 sr^-1. Most of these second spectrum protons follow a complicated
trajectory and originate from a restricted geographic region.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 7 .eps figure
Search for antihelium in cosmic rays
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was flown on the space shuttle
Discovery during flight STS-91 in a 51.7 degree orbit at altitudes between 320
and 390 km. A total of 2.86 * 10^6 helium nuclei were observed in the rigidity
range 1 to 140 GV. No antihelium nuclei were detected at any rigidity. An upper
limit on the flux ratio of antihelium to helium of < 1.1 * 10^-6 is obtained.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 9 .eps figure
A Study of Cosmic Ray Secondaries Induced by the Mir Space Station Using AMS-01
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a high energy particle physics
experiment that will study cosmic rays in the to range and will be installed on the International Space Station
(ISS) for at least 3 years. A first version of AMS-02, AMS-01, flew aboard the
space shuttle \emph{Discovery} from June 2 to June 12, 1998, and collected
cosmic ray triggers. Part of the \emph{Mir} space station was within the
AMS-01 field of view during the four day \emph{Mir} docking phase of this
flight. We have reconstructed an image of this part of the \emph{Mir} space
station using secondary and emissions from primary cosmic rays
interacting with \emph{Mir}. This is the first time this reconstruction was
performed in AMS-01, and it is important for understanding potential
backgrounds during the 3 year AMS-02 mission.Comment: To be submitted to NIM B Added material requested by referee. Minor
stylistic and grammer change
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