Metformin impairs growth of endometrial cancer cells via cell cycle arrest and concomitant autophagy and apoptosis.

Background:Effective therapies for early endometrial cancer usually involve surgical excision and consequent infertility Therefore, new treatment approaches that preserve fertility should be developed. Metformin, a well-tolerated anti-diabetic drug, can inhibit cancer cell growth. However, the mechanism of metformin action is not well understood. Here we investigate the roles of autophagy and apoptosis in the anti-cancer effects of metformin on endometrial cancer cells.Methods:Ishikawa endometrial cancer cells were treated with metformin. WST-8 assays, colony formation assays, flow cytometry, caspase luminescence measurement, immunofluorescence, and western blots were used to assess the effects of metformin on cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and autophagy.Results:Metformin-treated cells exhibited significantly lower viability and proliferation and significantly more cell cycle arrest in G1 and G2/M than control cells. These cells also exhibited significantly more apoptosis via both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. In addition, metformin treatment induced autophagy. Inhibition of autophagy, either by Beclin1 knockdown or by 3-methyladenine-mediated inhibition of caspase-3/7, suppressed the anti-proliferative effects of metformin on endometrial cancer cells. These findings indicate that the anti-proliferative effects and apoptosis caused by metformin are partially or completely dependent on autophagy.Conclusions:We showed that metformin suppresses endometrial cancer cell growth via cell cycle arrest and concomitant autophagy and apoptosis.滋賀医科大学平成26年

Raman frequencies of graphitic carbon in Antarctic ureilites

Raman frequencies for the in-plane lattice vibration of graphite were surveyed for four Antarctic ureilites in order to construct a paradigm for structural properties of graphitic carbon in ureilites. Raman spectra were obtained by point-by-point measurements using a laser microbeam 1μm in diameter. The measured results formed an array in a two-dimensional plot between the E_ frequency and intensity ratio of two graphite-derived Raman bands. The graphitic matter in ALH-78019 gave the averaged E_ frequency at 1582.0 ⊿cm^, which agrees with the well-established wavenumber of the E_ in-plane lattice vibration of graphite. On the contrary, some graphitic matter in the ureilites (ALH-77257,Y-791538 and MET-78008) exhibited considerably up-shifted E_ frequency. Distribution in the array was proved to be closely linked to the extent of shock which the ureilites suffered

Spectroscopic studies of acid-resistant residues of carbonaceous chondrites

Mass and IR spectra have been obtained of the acid-resistant residues resulting from HCl and HF treatments of ALH-77307 (C3). ^C NMR spectra of the residues obtained by partial mineral dissolution with acid treatments of Yamato-791717 (C3) and Allende (C3) have been recorded under CP-MAS conditions. These spectral data were compatible with the polycyclic aromatic structure proposed for the major carbonaceous matter in carbonaceous chondrites by the authors

Spin-polarized electronic structures and transport properties of Fe-Co alloys

The electrical resistivities of Fe-Co alloys owing to random alloy disorder are calculated using the Kubo-Greenwood formula. The obtained electrical esistivities agree well with experimental data quantitatively at low temperature. The spin-polarization of Fe50Co50 estimated from the conductivity (86%) has opposite sign to that from the densities of the states at the Fermi level (-73%). It is found that the conductivity is governed mainly by s-electrons, and the s-electrons in the minority spin states are less conductive due to strong scattering by the large densities of the states of d-electrons than the majority spin electrons.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

In-situ micro Raman studies on graphitic carbon in some Antarctic ureilites

The fine structures of graphitic materials contained in four Antarctic ureilites (ALH-77257,ALH-78019,MET-78008 and Y-791538) were investigated using a laser light (514.5nm), which could be focused onto a spot of 1μm in diameter. Raman spectra obtained differ not only among individual ureilite samples, but also among positions within a single carbonaceous vein of the same specimen. Moreover, one can classify the carbon into several groups on the basis of the spectra concerned. For all samples, both well-ordered graphitic carbon and semi-ordered graphitic carbon were observed. Amorphous carbon was detected in ALH-77257 and MET-78008. The difference in structural ordering among the samples is attributed to the difference in distribution of the components of carbonaceous material, indicating minor difference in genetic conditions or in locality within the parent body. Structural heterogeneity of carbon within a single carbonaceous vein implies the occurrence of two (or three) types of carbonaceous matters which have fairly different physicochemical properties and distinct histories. For the genesis of the carbonaceous matter in ureilites, a two-stage model is proposed assuming the graphite crystallization from metallic phase followed by the inflow of semi-ordered graphitic carbon or amorphous carbon into the well-ordered graphitic carbon produced from the metal

Macrostates vs. Microstates in the Classical Simulation of Critical Phenomena in Quench Dynamics of 1D Ising Models

We study the tractability of classically simulating critical phenomena in the quench dynamics of one-dimensional transverse field Ising models (TFIMs) using highly truncated matrix product states (MPS). We focus on two paradigmatic examples: a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT) that occurs in nonintegrable long-range TFIMs, and the infinite-time correlation length of the integrable nearest-neighbor TFIM when quenched to the critical point. For the DQPT, we show that the order parameters can be efficiently simulated with surprisingly heavy truncation of the MPS bond dimension. This can be used to reliably extract critical properties of the phase transition, including critical exponents, even when the full many-body state is not simulated with high fidelity. The long-time correlation length near the critical point is more sensitive to the full many-body state fidelity, and generally requires a large bond dimension MPS. Nonetheless, we find that this can still be efficiently simulated with strongly truncated MPS because it can be extracted from the short-time behavior of the dynamics where entanglement is low. Our results demonstrate that while accurate calculation of the full many-body state (microstate) is typically intractable due to the volume-law growth of entanglement, a precise specification of an exact microstate may not be required when simulating phases of matter of many-body systems (macrostates). We also study the tractability of simulation using truncated MPS based on quantum chaos and equilibration in the models. We find a counterintuitive inverse relationship, whereby local expectation values are most easily approximated for chaotic systems whose exact many-body state is most intractable.Comment: 6 sections, 4 appendices, 19 figure

Phylogenetic Analysis of E. zuernii and E. bovis with Nuclear 18S rRNA and Mitochondrial CO1 Genes

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