Gluconokinase IDNK Promotes Cell Proliferation and Inhibits Apoptosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancers globally with a poor prognosis. Breakthroughs in the treatment of HCC are urgently needed. This study explored the role of IDNK in the development and progression of HCC. METHODS: IDNK expression was suppressed using short hairpin (shRNA) in BEL-7404 and Huh-7 cells. The expression of IDNK in HCC cells after IDNK knockdown was evaluated by real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis and Western blot. After IDNK silencing, the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells were evaluated by Celigo cell counting, flow cytometry analysis, MTT assay, and caspase3/7 assay. Gene expressions in BEL-7404 cells transfected with IDNK shRNA lentivirus plasmid and blank control plasmid were evaluated by microarray analysis. The differentially expressed genes induced by deregulation of IDNKwere identified, followed by pathway analysis. RESULTS: The expression of IDNK at the mRNA and protein levels was considerably reduced in shRNA IDNK transfected cells. Knockdown of IDNK significantly inhibited HCC cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis. A total of 1196 genes (585 upregulated and 611 downregulated) were differentially expressed in IDNK knockdown BEL-7404 cells. The pathway of tRNA charging with Z-score = -3 was significantly inhibited in BEL-7404 cells with IDNK knockdown. CONCLUSION: IDNK plays a key role in the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells. IDNK may be a candidate therapeutic target for HCC.

[Effects of ant nesting on soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient in tropical forest of Xishuangbanna.] / 蚂蚁筑巢对西双版纳热带森林土壤微生物生物量碳及熵的影响.

Ant nesting can modify soil physicochemical conditions in the tropical forest, exerting a crucial effect on spatiotemporal variation in soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient. In this study, the chloroform fumigation method was used to measure the spatiotemporal dynamics of microbial biomass carbon and quotient in ant nests and the reference soils in Syzygium oblatum community of tropical Xishuangbanna. The results were as following: 1) Microbial biomass carbon and quotient were significantly higher in ant nests (1.95 g·kg-1, 6.8%) than in the reference soils (1.76 g·kg-1, 5.1%). The microbial biomass carbon in ant nests and the reference soils showed a signifi-cantly unimodal temporal variation, whereas the temporal dynamics of microbial biomass quotient presented a distribution pattern of "V" type. 2) The microbial biomass carbon and quotient showed significant vertical changes in ant nests and the reference soils. The microbial biomass carbon decreased, and microbial biomass quotient increased significantly along the soil layers. The vertical variations in microbial biomass carbon and quotient were more significant in ant nests than in refe-rence soils. 3) Ant nesting significantly changed the spatiotemporal distributions of soil water and temperature in ant nests, which in turn affected spatiotemporal dynamics of soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient. Soil water content could explain 66%-83% and 54%-69% of the variation of soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient, respectively. Soil temperature could explain 71%-86% and 67%-76% of the variation of soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient in ant nests and the reference soils, respectively. 4) Changes in soil physicochemical properties induced by ant nesting had significant effect on the soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient. There were positive correlations of soil microbial biomass carbon to soil organic carbon, soil temperature, total nitrogen and soil water content, and to bulk density, nitrate nitrogen and hydrolyzed nitrogen; whereas a negative correlation of them was observed with soil pH. Soil pH was positively and other soil physicochemical properties were negatively correlated with microbial biomass quotient. Total organic carbon, total nitrogen and soil temperature had greater contribution to microbial biomass carbon, while total organic carbon and total nitrogen had the least negative effect on microbial biomass quotient. Therefore, ant nesting could modify microhabitats (e.g., soil water and soil temperature) and soil physicochemical properties (e.g., total organic carbon and total nitrogen), thereby regulating the spatiotemporal variation in soil microbial biomass carbon and quotient in tropical forests.

[Degradation of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) in aqueous solution by UV/Si-FeOOH/H2O2].

In this study the new catalyst Si-FeOOH was synthesized by adding Si to the traditional FeOOH and the mechanic strength of this new catalyst could be enhanced greatly. The photo-degradation of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) by UV/Si-FeOOH/H2O2 was investigated. The new catalyst Si-FeOOH was amorphous structure with high surface area and low soluble iron by XRD, IR and SEM. The efficiency of DMP degradation by UV/Si-FeOOH/H2O2 could reach 97% after 30 min reaction time at pH 5, 0.5 g/L dosage of Si-FeOOH, and 2.0 mmol/L of H2O2 under 125W UV365 irradiation. DMP could be degraded effectively by synergistic effect of UV, Si-FeOOH and H2O2. The Si-FeOOH photocatalyst can be very easily recovered and its catalytic activity also remained after several rounds of reaction.