SIRT1 promotes autophagy of pancreatic cancer cells induced by hypoxia via regulating FOXO1/RAB7 signaling pathway

AIM: To investigate the effect of SIRT1 on the autophagy of pancreatic cancer cells under hypoxia condition, and to analyze the underlying mechanism of regulating FOXO1/RAB7 signaling pathway. METHODS: Western blot and immunofluorescence methods were used to determine the expression of SIRT1 in the pancreatic cancer cells. The small interfering RNA targeting SIRT1 and SIRT1 over-expression plasmid were transfected into the pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells. Confocal microscopy was used to detect the LC3 expression. Western blot was used to analyze the protein levels of LC3, p62 and FOXO1/RAB7 signaling pathway-related molecules. Co-immunoprecipitation was used to detected the protein interaction between SIRT1 and FOXO1. RESULTS: The expression level of SIRT1 in the nucleus of Panc-1 cells was increased under hypoxia condition. Compared with negative control under hypoxia condition, knock-down of SIRT1 expression attenuated the autophagy flux in the pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells (P<0.05). Over-expression of SIRT1 increased the protein levels of FOXO1 and RAB7. On the contrary, knock-down of SIRT1 expression inhibited the protein levels of FOXO1 and RAB7. The protein interaction between SIRT1 and FOXO1 in the pancreatic cancer cells was observed. CONCLUSION: SIRT1 in pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells under hypoxia condition is over-expressed in the nucleus. Down-regulation of SIRT1 inhibits autophagy and its mechanism may be related to FOXO1/RAB7 signaling pathway.     

七星瓢虫保幼激素环氧水解酶基因克隆及表达分析

保幼激素(juvenile hormone, JH)可以调控昆虫滞育,保幼激素环氧水解酶(juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase, JHEH)是调节保幼激素代谢的关键酶之一。为探索JHEH在七星瓢虫Coccinella septempunctata L.滞育中的调控作用,利用RT-PCR和RACE技术克隆获得七星瓢虫JHEH全长基因,命名为Csjheh(GenBank登录号:MH932586),该基因cDNA全长2 077 bp,开放阅读框(ORF)1 380 bp,编码459个氨基酸,预测蛋白质分子量为51.39 kD,理论等电点(pI)为8.79。疏水性分析结果显示该基因具有典型环氧水解酶的N末端疏水结构。氨基酸序列比对结果表明,Csjheh与中欧山松大小蠹、赤拟谷盗、丽蝇蛹集金小蜂、内华达古白蚁保幼激素环氧水解酶同源性达到64.24%。利用实时荧光定量PCR技术研究其时空表达模式,结果表明Csjheh基因在七星瓢虫成虫初羽化阶段表达量较高,滞育诱导条件下表达量呈先下降后上升的趋势,滞育60 d时与初羽化阶段接近。本研究结果对揭示JHEH参与JH的调控作用,进而调控昆虫滞育提供了理论参考。     

FAM3C activates Akt to promote viability of oral squamous-cell carcinoma cells

AIM: To investigate the expression and roles of family with sequence similarity 3, member C (FAM3C) in oral squamous-cell carcinoma cells. METHODS: The mRNA and protein expression levels of FAM3C in dysplastic oral keratinocyte (DOK) and oral squamous-cell carcinoma WSU-HN6 cells were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot. The WSU-HN6 cells were treated with siFAM3C or FAM3C antibody. After 24, 48 and 72 h, the viability of WSU-HN6 cells was measured by CCK-8 assay, and the activation of protein kinase B (Akt) was detected by Western blot. Adenovirus was used to mediate over-expression of FAM3C in the DOK cells. The DOK cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay after adenovirus infection for 24, 48 and 72 h, and the activation of Akt was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the DOK cells, the mRNA and protein levels of FAM3C were significantly increased in the WSU-HN6 cells (P<0.05). The viability of WSU-HN6 cells transfected with siFAM3C was significantly inhibited at 48 h and 72 h (P<0.05). siFAM3C treatment inhibited the activation of Akt (P<0.05). FAM3C antibody treatment also suppressed the viability of the WSU-HN6 cells at 48 h and 72 h and the activation of Akt (P<0.05). Over-expression of FAM3C in the DOK cells promoted the cell viability at 48 h and 72 h and activated Akt (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: FAM3C might promote oral squamous-cell carcinoma cell growth by activating Akt.     

Effect of HMGA2 gene on high glucose-induced apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells by regulating Notch signaling pathway

AIM:To investigate the effect of HMGA2 down-regulation on apoptosis and Notch signaling pathway in renal tubular epithelial cells exposed to high glucose (HG). METHODS:D-glucose at 5, 10, 20 and 30 mmol/L was used to stimulate human renal tubular epithelial HK-2 cells for 2 h, and D-glucose at 30 mmol/L was used to stimulate the HK-2 cells for 10 min, 60 min and 120 min. The protein expression of HMGA2 was determined by Western blot. The HK-2 cells were divided into normal glucose (NG) group, HG group, HG+si-HMGA2 group and HG+NC group, in which siRNA was transfected by Lipofectamine^TM 2000 for 48 h. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptotic rate, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay kit was used to detect ROS content, and Western blot was used to detect the protein levels of Notch1, Hes1 and Bcl-2. The HK-2 cells were treated with the Notch signaling pathway inhibitor DAPT, and then the cells were divided into HG group, HG+DAPT group and HG+si-HMGA2+DAPT group. The apoptotic rate was analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS:Exposure of the HK-2 cells to D-glucose at different concentrations for different time significantly increased the expression of HMGA2 (P<0.05). Compared with NG group, the protein expression of HMGA2, Notch1 and Hes1 in HG group was increased, the expression of Bcl-2/Bax was decreased, the apoptotic rate was increased, and the content of ROS was increased obviously (P<0.05). Compared with HG group, the protein expression of HMGA2, Notch1 and Hes1 of HG+si-HMGA2 group was decreased, the expression of Bcl-2/Bax was increased, the apoptotic rate was decreased, and the content of ROS was decreased significantly (P<0.05). The apoptotic rate in HG+DAPT group was significantly lower than that in HG group, while the apoptotic rate in HG+si-HMGA2+DAPT group was significantly lower than that in HG+DAPT group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION:Down-regulation of HMGA2 expression inhibits the apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells by regulating Notch signaling pathway and decreasing ROS production.     

Role of ghrelin in cell protection by up-regulating HSP70 through ERK1/2 signaling pathway in PC12 cells

AIM:To study the role of ghrelin in cell protection by up-regulating heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and inhibiting apoptosis induced by oxidative stress through extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway in the PC12 cells. METHODS:Sodium nitoprusside (SNP) was used to induce oxidative stress injury in the PC12 cells. The cultured PC12 cells were divided into SNP-injured group (incubated with SNP at 0.5 mmol/L for 6, 12, 18 and 24 h), ghrelin pretreatment group (ghrelin at 100 nmol/L was given 30 min before adding SNP); HSP70 inhibitor group (quercetin at 10 μmol/L was added 60 min before ghrelin treatment), ERK inhibitor group (ERK 1/2 inhibitor PD98059 was added 60 min before ghrelin treatment) and control group (added same amount of culture medium only). The apoptotic rate was detected by flow cytometry. The protein expression was determined by Western blot and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS:Compared with control group, the apoptotic rate of PC12 cells in SNP-injured group was significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with SNP-injured group, ghrelin (100 nmol/L) pretreatment significantly inhibited SNP-induced apoptosis of PC12 cells (P<0.05), and significantly up-regulated the protein expression of HSP70 (P<0.05). Time-effect analysis showed that ghrelin had the most significant effect at 18 h after SNP injury. Quercetin, an inhibitor of HSP 70, significantly reduced the anti-apoptotic effect of ghrelin (P<0.05). Ghrelin pretreatment promoted the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 significantly inhibited the effects of ghrelin on up-regulation of HSP70 expression (P<0.05). CONCLUSION:Ghrelin upregulates the expression of HSP70 and inhibits the apoptosis in the PC12 cells induced by oxidative stress by promoting the phosphorylation of ERK1/2.     

Construction and Partial Biological Characteristics Analysis of Listeriolysin S llsB Gene Deletion Strain

In order to analyze the effect of listeriolysin S (LLS) llsB gene deletion on the biological characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes (LM),this study used homologous recombination to construct the llsB gene deletion strain LM90-ΔllsB,and the biological characteristics of growth characteristics,median lethal dose (LD₅₀) and organ-borne bacteria were studied in healthy Kunming male mice at 8 weeks old and weighing 40 g±5 g.The llsB gene deletion strain was successfully constructed,and the deletion strain had good genetic stability through continuous passage to 20 generations in vitro.Based on its growth curve examination,we found that the growth rate of the mutant strain was slightly higher than that of the parent strain.The results of mice infection test showed that the LD₅₀ of the parent strain and the deletion strain were 10^6.17 and 10^6.50 CFU,respectively.Compared with the parent strain,the amount of bacteria load of the deletion strain in the liver and spleen of the mice was extremely significantly decreased (P<0.01),the results showed that the infection ability of the mutant strain on mice was obviously weakened.No Listeria monocytogenes was detected in the brain.The results suggested that llsB gene might have direct or indirect regulatory effect on some biological characteristics of LM90,and it would provide a theoretical basis for further understanding of the pathogenic mechanism of LLS,prevention and control of listeriosis.     

三种融合标签对大熊猫轮状病毒结构蛋白VP6-VP7可溶性表达的影响

大熊猫轮状病毒(giant panda rotavirus,GPRV)是引起幼龄大熊猫腹泻的主要病原,对圈养大熊猫产生了较大的危害。轮状病毒结构蛋白VP6是一种载体蛋白,可介导黏膜免疫反应。VP7是轮状病毒结构蛋白中主要的中和抗原。因此,VP6-VP7的融合表达作为候选抗原对该病的防治具有重要的意义。传统大肠埃希菌原核表达存在表达量低、可溶性差以及纯度低等弊端。本研究使用醛缩酶(EDA)、谷胱甘肽S-转移酶(GST)、麦芽糖结合蛋白(MBP)3种融合标签,以实现获得表达量高和纯度高的GPRV-VP6-VP7重组表达蛋白。将扩增的VP6、VP7基因片段利用同源重组酶构建到含3种融合标签的表达载体pET21b上,将重组质粒转化至大肠埃希菌Rosetta(DE3)感受态细胞中进行低温诱导表达。用Ni-柱亲和层析法纯化目的蛋白,SDS-PAGE和Image J分析蛋白表达量和可溶性,Western blot分析得到表达的重组表达蛋白正确且具有蛋白活性。实验结果证明,EDA标签能显著促进VP6-VP7蛋白的原核可溶性表达,提高VP6-VP7蛋白表达量。     

Wx^mp基因背景下可溶性淀粉合成酶基因SSⅡa和去分支酶基因PUL对水稻蒸煮食味品质的影响

【目的】分析在同一主效基因(Wx^mp)背景下可溶性淀粉合成酶基因SSⅡa和去分支酶基因PUL对稻米蒸煮食味品质的影响,以期为水稻品质遗传改良提供依据。【方法】选择在SSⅡa和PUL存在多态性而其他淀粉合成酶相关基因没有多态性的半糯品系宁0145和粳稻品种武运粳21进行杂交,获得F2群体与F3株系。利用分子标记,选择含有Wx^mp基因的F2单株与F3株系,将这些F2单株与F3株系分成SSⅡa^nPUL^n、SSⅡa^nPUL^w、SSⅡa^wPUL^n和SSⅡa^wPUL^w4种基因型(n和w分别表示该基因来源于宁0145和武运粳21),分析不同基因型蒸煮食味品质性状的差异,探讨同一Wxmp基因背景下不同SSⅡa和PUL等位基因对蒸煮食味品质性状的影响。【结果】不同基因型间蒸煮食味品质性状均存在显著差异,来源于武运粳21的SSⅡa^w基因和PUL^w基因分别使直链淀粉含量增加0.29%~1.00%和0.62%~1.18%,且PUL的效应大于SSⅡa,两者间存在互作效应。SSⅡa^w基因和PUL^w基因降低胶稠度和崩解值,提高了热浆黏度、冷胶黏度、消减值和回复值,对糊化温度、峰值黏度和峰值时间的作用较小。【结论】明确了Wx^mp背景下SSⅡa和PUL基因对稻米蒸煮食味品质的遗传效应,该研究结果为SSⅡa和PUL基因的分子标记辅助选择改良稻米品质提供了理论依据。