Bone Morphogenetic Protein-7 Inhibits EMT-Associated Genes in Breast Cancer

Background/Aims: Bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP7) has been shown to reduce the severity of injury-induced fibrosis through counteracting the fibrotic effects of transforming growth factor β 1 (TGFβ1). However, this model in the carcinogenesis of breast cancer is unknown. Methods: We analyzed the effects of BMP7 and TGFβ1 on gene transcripts and protein levels of EMT-related factors in breast cancer cells by RT-qPCR and Western blot, respectively. The effects of BMP7 and TGFβ1 on cell invasiveness and migration were evaluated by scratch wound healing assay and transwell cell migration assay. The cell growth was measured by MTT assay. Results: BMP7 did not alter the TGFβ1-stimulated phosphorylation of TGFβ receptor, but significantly inhibited the TGFβ1-activated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes in breast cancer cells, resulting in a significant reduction in TGFβ1-triggered cell growth and cell metastasis. Conclusion: Our data suggest that besides being a well-known antagonist for TGFβ1 in fibrosis, BMP7 may also antagonize TGFβ1 in tumorigenesis-associated EMT in breast cancer. Thus, BMP7 may be a promising therapeutic target for treating breast cancer

High-efficient extraction of principal medicinal components from fresh Phellodendron bark (cortex phellodendri)

There are three key medicinal components (phellodendrine, berberine and palmatine) in the extracts of Phellodendron bark, as one of the fundamental herbs of traditional Chinese medicine. Different extraction methods and solvent combinations were investigated to obtain the optimal technologies for high-efficient extraction of these medicinal components. Results: The results showed that combined solvents have higher extracting effect of phellodendrine, berberine and palmatine than single solvent, and the effect of ultrasonic extraction is distinctly better than those of distillation and soxhlet extraction. Conclusion: The hydrochloric acid/methanol-ultrasonic extraction has the best effect for three medicinal components of fresh Phellodendron bark, providing an extraction yield of 103.12 mg/g berberine, 24.41 mg/g phellodendrine, 1.25 mg/g palmatine. Keywords: Phellodendron, Cortex phellodendri, Extraction methods, Medicinal component

Nuclear modifier MTO2 modulates the aminoglycoside-sensitivity of mitochondrial 15S rRNA C1477G mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The phenotypic manifestations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are modulated by mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, nuclear modifier genes and environmental factors. The yeast mitochondrial 15S rRNA C1477G (P(R) or P(R) 454) mutation corresponds to the human 12S rRNA C1494T and A1555G mutations, which are well known as primary factors for aminoglycoside-induced nonsyndromic deafness. Here we report that the deletion of the nuclear modifier gene MTO2 suppressed the aminoglycoside-sensitivity of mitochondrial 15S rRNA C1477G mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. First, the strain with a single mtDNA C1477G mutation exhibited hypersensitivity to neomycin. Functional assays indicated that the steady-state transcription level of mitochondrial DNA, the mitochondrial respiratory rate, and the membrane potential decreased significantly after neomycin treatment. The impaired mitochondria could not produce sufficient energy to maintain cell viability. Second, when the mto2 null and the mitochondrial C1477G mutations co-existed (mto2(P(R))), the oxygen consumption rate in the double mutant decreased markedly compared to that of the control strains (MTO2(P(S)), mto2(P(S)) and MTO2(P(R))). The expression levels of the key glycolytic genes HXK2, PFK1 and PYK1 in the mto2(P(R)) strain were stimulated by neomycin and up-regulated by 89%, 112% and 55%, respectively. The enhanced glycolysis compensated for the respiratory energy deficits, and could be inhibited by the glycolytic enzyme inhibitor. Our findings in yeast will provide a new insight into the pathogenesis of human deafness

An Effective Illustrative Visualization Framework Based on Photic Extremum Lines (PELs)

Abstract—Conveying shape using feature lines is an important visualization tool in visual computing. The existing feature lines (e.g., ridges, valleys, silhouettes, suggestive contours, etc.) are solely determined by local geometry properties (e.g., normals and curvatures) as well as the view position. This paper is strongly inspired by the observation in human vision and perception that a sudden change in the luminance plays a critical role to faithfully represent and recover the 3D information. In particular, we adopt the edge detection techniques in image processing for 3D shape visualization and present Photic Extremum Lines (PELs) which emphasize significant variations of illumination over 3D surfaces. Comparing with the existing feature lines, PELs are more flexible and offer users more freedom to achieve desirable visualization effects. In addition, the user can easily control the shape visualization by changing the light position, the number of light sources, and choosing various light models. We compare PELs with the existing approaches and demonstrate that PEL is a flexible and effective tool to illustrate 3D surface and volume for visual computing. Index Terms—Surface and volume illustration, illumination, photic extremum lines (PELs), silhouettes, suggestive contours, ridges and valleys, digital geometry processing.

Effects of bromide on the degradation of organic contaminants with UV and Fe2+ activated persulfate

The effect of bromide on the degradation of organic contaminants by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), especially UV/persulfate (PS)/Fe2+, was investigated in this study. The tested model organic compounds included an active sunscreen ingredient benzophenone-4 (BZ4), the pesticide atrazine (ATZ), the antibiotic ampicillin (AMP), benzene derivatives nitrobenzene (NB) and nitrobenzoic acid (NBA). While most of them have varied but comparable reactivities with hydroxyl radicals, NB and NBA barely react with sulfate radicals. The destruction of these compounds was affected to a different extent by the presence of Br-. ATZ and AMP were the two compounds whose degradation was the most strongly inhibited, followed by BZ4. On the other hand, direct photolysis, photochemical degradation and mineralization of NB were enhanced in the presence of Br- and/or Cl- ions. This study demonstrated the different reactivity of organic compounds towards UV/PS/Fe2+ process in the presence and absence of halides, providing useful information for water decontamination. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The effect of bromide on the degradation of organic contaminants by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), especially UV/persulfate (PS)/Fe2+, was investigated in this study. The tested model organic compounds included an active sunscreen ingredient benzoph318206213sem informaçãosem informaçãoThe authors thank the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (projects CTQ2011-26258 and CTQ2014-52607-R and Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2007-00055) for their financial support. Authors are also grateful to Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competit