The corotating variation of the north-south anisotropy of cosmic rays

Correlation analysis on the relation of the north-south (N-S) anisotropy of cosmic rays, observed by the Nagoya multidirectional meson telescope, with the interplanetary magnetic field (IMP) as well the solar wind velocity within solar Carrington rotation for the period 1971 to 1976 is discussed. It is found that the N-S anisotropy of cosmic rays correlates quite well with the Bx component of the IMF. The correlation coefficient is nearly equal to 0.8

S(+)-ibuprofen destabilizes MYC/MYCN and AKT, increases p53 expression, and induces unfolded protein response and favorable phenotype in neuroblastoma cell lines

Neuroblastoma is a common pediatric solid tumor that exhibits a striking clinical bipolarity favorable and unfavorable. The survival rate of children with unfavorable neuroblastoma remains low among all childhood cancers. MYCN and MYC play a crucial role in determining the malignancy of unfavorable neuroblastomas, whereas high-level expression of the favorable neuroblastoma genes is associated with a good disease outcome and confers growth suppression of neuroblastoma cells. A small fraction of neuroblastomas harbors TP53 mutations at diagnosis, but a higher proportion of the relapse cases acquire TP53 mutations. In this study, we investigated the effect of S(+)-ibuprofen on neuroblastoma cell lines, focusing on the expression of the MYCN, MYC, AKT, p53 proteins and the favorable neuroblastoma genes in vitro as biomarkers of malignancy. Treatment of neuroblastoma cell lines with S(+)-ibuprofen resulted in a significant growth suppression. This growth effect was accompanied by a marked decrease in the expression of MYC, MYCN, AKT and an increase in p53 expression in neuroblastoma cell lines without TP53 mutation. In addition, S(+)-ibuprofen enhanced the expression of some favorable neuroblastoma genes (EPHB6, CD44) and genes involved in growth suppression and differentiation (EGR1, EPHA2, NRG1 and SEL1L). Gene expression profile and Ingenuity pathway analyses using TP53-mutated SKNAS cells further revealed that S(+)-ibuprofen suppressed molecular pathways associated with cell growth and conversely enhanced those of cell cycle arrest and the unfolded protein response. Collectively, these results suggest that S(+)-ibuprofen or its related compounds may have the potential for therapeutic and/or palliative use for unfavorable neuroblastoma

Destabilization of MYC/MYCN by the mitochondrial inhibitors, metaiodobenzylguanidine, metformin and phenformin

In the present study, we investigated the anticancer effects of the mitochondrial inhibitors, metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), metformin and phenformin. (131)I-MIBG has been used for scintigraphic detection and the targeted radiotherapy of neuroblastoma (NB), a pediatric malignancy. Non-radiolabeled MIBG has been reported to be cytotoxic to NB cells in vitro and in vivo. However, the mechanisms behind its growth suppressive effects have not yet been fully elucidated. Metformin and phenformin are diabetes medications that are being considered in anticancer therapeutics. We investigated the anticancer mechanisms of action of MIBG and metformin in NB. Our data revealed that both drugs suppressed NB cell growth and that the combination drug treatment was more potent. MIBG reduced MYCN and MYC expression in MYCN-amplified and non-MYCN-amplified NB cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Metformin was less effective than MIBG in destabilizing MYC/MYCN. The treatment of NB cells with metformin or MIBG resulted in an increased expression of genes encoding biomarkers for favorable outcome in NB [(ephrin (EFN)B2, EFNB3, EPH receptor B6 (EPHB6), neurotrophic tyrosine kinase, receptor, type 1 (NTRK1), CD44 and Myc-interacting zinc finger protein (MIZ-1)] and tumor suppressor genes [(early growth response 1 (EGR1), EPH receptor A2 (EPHA2), growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible, beta (GADD45B), neuregulin 1 (NRG1), TP53 apoptosis effector (PERP) and sel-1 suppressor of lin-12-like (C. elegans) (SEL1L)]. Accordingly, metformin and MIBG augmented histone H3 acetylation in these cells. Phenformin also exhibited histone modification and was more effective than metformin in destabilizing MYC/MYCN in NB cells. Our data suggest that the destabilization of MYC/MYCN by MIBG, metformin and phenformin and their effects on histone modification are important mechanisms underlying their anticancer effects

Solvothermal reactions: an original route for the synthesis of novel materials

Twenty years after the first development of solvothermal reactions, it appears important through the last research activities to trace the future trends taking into account their potentialities and the different economical constraints. During these last 20 years solvothermal reactions have been mainly used from preparing micro- or nanoparticles with different morphologies. Due to the importance to dispose of new materials for developing either basic research or industrial applications, such a presentation will be only focussed on the potentialities of solvothermal reactions in materials synthesis. Solvothermal reactions are mainly characterized by different chemical parameters (nature of the reagents and of the solvent) and thermodynamical parameters (in particular temperature, pressure). (a) The selection of the composition of the solvent opens new research areas for stabilizing materials belonging to different classes of materials (alloys, oxides, nitrides, sulphides...). (b) The mild temperature conditions generally used are able to improve chemical diffusion and reactivity in order to help the preparation of specific materials at the frontier between either different classes of inorganic materials (oxides-nitrides, nitrides-halides...) or inorganic/organic, inorganic/biologic frameworks. (c) The high pressure conditions, due to the small conveyed energy compared to temperature, allow also to stabilize metastable frontier materials (geo-inspired or bio-inspired materials). (d) In the future, taking into account, from one side: the economical and the environmental constraints, and from the other: the industrial demand of materials characterized by specific physical, chemical and biological properties, the potential developments of solvothermal processes will be analyzed