The C-Phycocyanin/Beta Protein Inhibits Cancer Cell Proliferation

C-Phycocyanin (C-PC) from blue-green algae has been reported to have various pharmacological characteristics, including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. In this study, the beta-subunit of C-PC (ref to as C-PC/beta) was expressed and purified from bacteria E. coli BL-21. The recombinant C-PC/beta has been demonstrated to have anticancer properties. Under the treatment of 5 microM of the recombinant C-PC/beta, four different cancer cell lines accrued a high proliferation inhibition and apoptotic induction. The C-PC/beta interacts with membrane-associated beta-tubulin and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) has been found. Under the treatment of the C-PC/beta, depolymerization of microtubulin and actin-filament was observed. The cells underwent apoptosis with increase of Caspase-3 and Caspase-8 activities. Cell cycle was arrested at G0/G1 phase under the treatment of C-PC/beta. In addition, the nuclear level of GAPDH decreased significantly. Inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis may potentate C-PC/beta as a promising cancer prevention or therapy agent

The Nucleocytoplasmic Shuttling Functions of P68 in Cancer Cell Migration and Proliferation

P68 RNA helicase (p68), as a DEAD family protein, is a typical RNA helicase protein. P68 functions in many other biological processes, which include the regulations of the gene transcription, cell proliferation and cell differentiation. In our group, Y593 phosphorylated p68 was found to have a function in the epithelial mesynchymal transition, which is an important process for cancer metastasis. In the present study, we found that p68 is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein. The protein carries two functional nuclear exporting signal sequences and two nuclear localization signal sequences. Calmodulin, a calcium sensor protein, is well known to play roles in cell migration by regulating the activities of its target proteins at the leading edge. Calmodulin interacts with p68 at the IQ motif of p68. However, the biological function of this interaction is not known. In this study, we found that the p68/calmodulin protein complex functions as a microtubule motor in migrating cells. The shuttling function of p68 along with the motor function of p68/calmodulin causes the leading edge distribution of calmodulin in migrating cells. Disruption the interaction between p68 and calmodulin inhibits cancer cell metastasis in an established mouse model. On the other hand, Y593-Y595 double phosphorylated p68 were found to interact with PKM2, an important tumor isoform of pyruvate kinase. The shuttling function of p68 is reasoned to promote the dimer formation of PKM2 and transport the PKM2 to the cell nucleus. The nuclear PKM2 was found to function as a protein kinase to promote cell proliferation. In specific, the nuclear PKM2 phosphorylates and activates Stat3, an important transcription factor functions in cell proliferation. Overall, p68 is found to have functions in both cell migration and cell proliferation, and these two functions depend on the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling activity and the post-translational modification of p68

Grid Multiscroll Hyperchaotic Attractors Based on Colpitts Oscillator Mode with Controllable Grid Gradient and Scroll Numbers

AbstractThrough introducing two piecewise-linear triangular wave functions in a three-dimensional spiral chaotic Colpitts oscillator model, a four-dimensional grid multiscroll hyperchaotic system is constructed. Interestingly, by adjusting a build-in parameter in a variable of one triangle wave function, the control of the gradient of the multiscroll grid is achieved. Whereas by deploying the zero points of the two triangular wave functions to extend the saddle-focus equilibrium points with index-2 in phase space the scroll numbers do not only increase along with the number of turning points, but they can also generate arbitrary multiples of products. The basic dynamical behaviors of the proposed four-dimensional multiscroll hyperchaotic system are analyzed. Finally, the hardware experimental circuit is designed and the interrelated circuit implementation is realized. The experimental results are in agreement with both theoretical analyses and numerical simulations, which verify the feasibility of the design methods

การอนุมานด้วยความน่าจะเป็นแบบเบย์สำหรับพลวัตรของราคาหุ้นในระดับบรรษัท

SUT Thesis Mathematic

The Antidepressant and Cognitive Improvement Activities of the Traditional Chinese Herb Cistanche

More than ten percent of people suffer from at least one episode of depression and related mental disorders in a lifetime, and depression and related mental disorders are one of the world’s greatest public health problems. A multiple system theory holds that dysregulation of the multiple systems underlies the pathogenesis of depression and related mental disorders, and new therapies based on the multiple system dysregulation theory are urgently needed. In this study, the antidepressant effect of decoction from herb Cistanche deserticola Y.C.Ma and Cistanche tubulosa was examined. Herb Cistanche decoction reduced the immobility period significantly in the mouse tail suspension test. Mice treated with herb decoction showed an improved ability of spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze test. Groups treated herb decoction displayed a downregulated monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity; the dopamine (DA) concentration in the brain was upregulated, indicating herb Cistanche decoction improved the nerve excitability; the serum concentration of corticosterone (CORT) was downregulated, showing that mice benefited from a reduced stress level. Hence, the antidepressant efficacy and mechanism of traditional Chinese herb Cistanche were explored in this study. Herb Cistanche showed a potential to be developed as a complementary and alternative therapy for depression

Decision support for target country selection of future generation sovereign wealth funds: Hedging the country industry risk

AbstractThis paper addresses the challenging problem of selecting target country for future Sovereign Wealth Funds’ (SWFs) asset allocation to hedge the industry risk, which is rarely studied in the field. The target country selection includes which country and how much to invest to obtain the return objective and minimize the risk of these funds. In terms of the industrial perspective, the home country as the investor should consider SWF as part of its budget to make decision in long term. In order to control the risk, this paper measures the similarity between the home and the recipient country of SWF investment. The industrial risk of SWFs’ recipient country is also taken into consideration which is measured by concentration ratio. Based on an analytical process of target country selection, the paper finds that Kazakhstan, India, Australia, Greece, Spain, United States, Austria, Portugal, Peru, Netherlands are the top 10 countries that China should consider as its investment priorities

Conformational Studies of Glucose Transporter 1 (GLUT1) as an Anticancer Drug Target

Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) is a facilitative glucose transporter overexpressed in various types of tumors; thus, it has been considered as an important target for cancer therapy. GLUT1 works through conformational switching from an outward-open (OOP) to an inward-open (IOP) conformation passing through an occluded conformation. It is critical to determine which conformation is preferred by bound ligands because the success of structure-based drug design depends on the appropriate starting conformation of the target protein. To find out the most favorable GLUT 1 conformation for ligand binding, we ran systemic molecular docking studies for different conformations of GLUT1 using known GLUT1 inhibitors. Our data revealed that the IOP is the preferred conformation and that residues Phe291, Phe379, Glu380, Trp388, and Trp412 may play critical roles in ligand binding to GLUT1. Our data suggests that conformational differences in these five amino acids in the different conformers of GLUT1 may be used to design ligands that inhibit GLUT1

lncRNA profiling to elucidate the metabolic mechanism of green tea extract on weight loss in mice

Purpose: To understand the effects of green tea extract on weight loss at the gene level using long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression profiles. Methods: lncRNA expression signatures in rats fed two different diets were determined by analyzing previously published gene expression profiles in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The lncRNAs specific to rats in a particular dietary group were confirmed using an additional autonomous dataset. LncRNA expression profiles were compared to explore the underlying mechanisms of green tea extract on weight loss. Results: Three lncRNAs (Gm38399, F730035P03Rik, and 5033430I15Rik) that may be the targets of green tea and that may play crucial roles in the lipid-lowering effects of green tea were identified. Using functional annotation databases, two of the targets of two of the lncRNAs were identified as Nav1 and Atxn1. Conclusion: Based on annotation databases, green tea extract may affect metabolic processes in adipocytes by regulating the lncRNAs GM38399 and 5033430I15Rik that modulate their cis-regulatory target genes Nav1 and Atxn1, respectively. Nav1 and Atxn1 may then regulate trans-regulatory lncRNAs

GC-MS analysis of essential oil from Anethum graveolens L (dill) seeds extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide

Purpose: To conduct gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis of the chemical compositions of dill seed essential oil (DSEO) obtained by supercritical CO2. Methods: The impact on extraction yield were examined by single factor test, the particle size of dill seed, extraction temperature, time, pressure, as well as CO2 flux. The best extraction conditions were obtained by an orthogonal test. The chemical configurations of essential oil were examined by GC-MS analysis. Results: The optimal extraction conditions included an extraction time of 120 min, particle size of 60 mesh, CO2 flow of 25 L/h, temperature of 40oC, and pressure of 20 MPa. Under these conditions, the yield of essential oil was 6.7 %. Out of 38 recognized compounds, the main ones were D-carvone (40.36 %), D-limonene (19.31 %), apiol (17.50 %), α-pinene (6.43 %), 9-octadecenoic acid (9.00 %) as well as 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (2.44 %). Conclusion: A total of 38 constituents of the essential oil obtained by supercritical CO2 were identified. The findings may provide a theoretical basis for comprehensive utilization of dill seed essential oil (DSEO) from China

The legacy of bacterial invasions on soil native communities

Soil microbial communities are often not resistant to the impact caused by microbial invasions, both in terms of structure and functionality, but it remains unclear whether these changes persist over time. Here, we used three strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7), a species used for modelling bacterial invasions, to evaluate the resilience of the bacterial communities from four Chinese soils to invasion. The impact of E. coli O157:H7 strains on soil native communities was tracked for 120 days by analysing bacterial community composition as well as their metabolic potential. We showed that soil native communities were not resistant to invasion, as demonstrated by a decline in bacterial diversity and shifts in bacterial composition in all treatments. The resilience of native bacterial communities (diversity and composition) was inversely correlated with invader's persistence in soils (R2 = 0.487, p < 0.001). Microbial invasions also impacted the functionality of the soil communities (niche breadth and community niche), the degree of resilience being dependent on soil or native community diversity. Collectively, our results indicate that bacteria invasions can potentially leave a footprint in the structure and functionality of soil communities, indicating the need of assessing the legacy of introducing exotic species in soil environments