Crystal growth and characterization in the system Ga1 xInx 2O3

We have grown (Ga1-xInx)2O3 mixed crystals by the floating zone technique. The unit cell size of the mixed crystal increases with increasing In content according to Vegards law. For 50 mol% In2O3 we obtained single crystals of a structure different from the regular monoclinic one. Slightly doped (Ga1-xInx)2O3 crystals show n-type semiconduction. With increasing In content, the crystals became p-type semiconductors. </jats:p

Reference proteome of highly purified human Th1 cells reveals strong effects on metabolism and protein ubiquitination upon differentiation

The differentiation of human CD4+ T cells into T helper cell subtypes and regulatory T cells is crucial to the immune response. Among subtypes, Th1 cells are dominant, representing approximately 50% of all lymphocytes. Thus far, most global proteomic studies have used only partially purified T helper cell subpopulations and/or have employed artificial protocols for inducing specific T helper cell subtypes and/or used gel-based approaches. These studies have shed light on molecular details of certain aspects of the proteome; nevertheless a global analysis of high purity primary na\uefve and Th1 cells by LC-MS/MS is required to provide a reference dataset for proteome-based T cell subtype characterization. The utilization of highly purified Th1 cells for a global proteome assessment and the bioinformatic comparison to na\uefve cells reveals changes in cell metabolism and the ubiquitination pathway upon T cell differentiation. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001066 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD001066)

MiR-130a, miR-203 and miR-205 jointly repress key oncogenic pathways and are downregulated in prostate carcinoma

Item does not contain fulltextWith approximately 30 000 deaths annually in the United States, prostate cancer (PCa) is a major oncologic disease. Here we show that the microRNAs miR-130a, miR-203 and miR-205 jointly interfere with the two major oncogenic pathways in prostate carcinoma and are downregulated in cancer tissue. Using transcriptomics we show that the microRNAs repress several gene products known to be overexpressed in this cancer. Argonaute 2 (AGO2) co-immunoprecipitation, reporter assays and western blot analysis demonstrate that the microRNAs directly target several components of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathways, among those several AR coregulators and HRAS (Harvey rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog), and repress signaling activity. Both pathways are central for the development of the primary tumor and in particular the progression to its incurable castration-resistant form. Reconstitution of the microRNAs in LNCaP PCa cells induce morphological changes, which resemble the effect of androgen deprivation, and jointly impair tumor cell growth by induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. We therefore propose that these microRNAs jointly act as tumor suppressors in prostate carcinoma and might interfere with progression to castration resistance

Subtoxic concentrations of benzo[<em>a</em>]pyrene induce metabolic changes and oxidative stress in non-activated and affect the mTOR pathway in activated Jurkat T cells.

Although the activation of immune cells is the first and thereby pivotal step in the immunological cascade, the current knowledge about the details of this process is quite limited. Recent studies have shown that aromatic compounds, such as B[a]P, influence the immune system even at low concentrations. We investigated the effect of a subtoxic B[a]P concentration (50&nbsp;nM) on the proteome and the metabolome of non-activated and activated Jurkat T cells. The GeLC-MS/MS analysis yielded 2624 unambiguously identified proteins. In addition to typical regulatory pathways associated with T cell activation, pathway analysis by Ingenuity IPA revealed several metabolic processes, for instance purine and pyruvate metabolism. The activation process seems to be influenced by B[a]P suggesting an important role of the mTOR pathway in the cellular adaptation. B[a]P exposure of non-activated Jurkat cells induced signaling pathways such as protein ubiquitination and NRF2 mediated oxidative stress response as well as metabolic adaptation involving pyruvate, purine and fatty acid metabolism. Thus, we validated the proteome results by determining the concentrations of 183 metabolites with FIA-MS/MS and IC-MS/MS. Furthermore, we were able to show that Jurkat cells metabolize B[a]P to B[a]P-1,6-dione. The combined evaluation of proteome and metabolome data with an integrated, genome-scale metabolic model provided novel systems biological insights into the complex relation between metabolic and proteomic processes in Jurkat T cells during activation and subtoxic chemical exposure