Extracellular vesicle-derived TP53BP1, CD34, and PBX1 from human peripheral blood serve as potential biomarkers for the assessment and prediction of vascular aging.

BACKGROUND: Vascular aging is an important pathophysiological basis for the senescence of various organs and systems in the human body, and it is a common pathogenetic trigger for many chronic diseases in the elderly. METHODS: The extracellular vesicles (EVs) from young and aged umbilical vein endothelial cells were isolated and identified by qPCR the differential expression levels of 47 mRNAs of genes closely related to aging in the two groups. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the expression levels of 18 genes (we noted upregulation in PLA2G12A, TP53BP1, CD144, PDE11A, FPGT, SERPINB4, POLD1, and PPFIBP2 and downregulation in ATP2C2, ROBO2, RRM2, GUCY1B1, NAT1-14, VEGFR2, WTAPP1, CD146, DMC1, and GRIK2). Subsequent qPCR identification of the above-mentioned genes in PBMCs and plasma-EVs from the various age groups revealed that the trend in expression levels in peripheral blood plasma-EVs of the different age groups was approximately the same as that in PBMCs. Of these mRNAs, the expression of four genes-PLA2G12A, TP53BP1, OPRL1, and KIAA0895-was commensurate with increasing age. In contradistinction, the expression trend of four genes (CREG1, PBX1, CD34, and SLIT2) was inversely proportional to the increase in age. Finally, by taking their intersection, we determined that the expression of TP53BP1 was upregulated with increasing human age and that CD34 and PBX1 were downregulated with increasing age. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that human peripheral blood plasma-EV-derived TP53BP1, CD34, and PBX1 potentially comprise a noninvasive biomarker for assessing and predicting vascular aging.

Atranorin driven by nano materials SPION lead to ferroptosis of gastric cancer stem cells by weakening the mRNA 5-hydroxymethylcytidine modification of the Xc-/GPX4 axis and its expression.

Gastric cancer is a highly malignant tumor. Gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs) are the main causes of drug resistance, metastasis, recurrence, and poor prognosis. As a secondary metabolite of lichen, Atranorin has a variety of biological effects, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and wound healing; however, its killing effect on GCSCs has not been reported. In this study, we constructed Atranorin complexes comprising superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) (Atranorin@SPION). In vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed that Atranorin@SPION could significantly inhibit the proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and tumorigenicity of CD44+/ CD24+ GCSCs, and induce oxidative stress injury, Fe2+ accumulation, and ferroptosis. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR and western blotting results showed that Atranorin@SPION not only reduced the expression levels of GCSC stem cell markers and cell proliferation and division markers, but also significantly inhibited the expression levels of key molecules in the cystine/glutamate transporter (Xc-)/glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase (TET) family proteins. The results of high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and Dot blotting showed that Atranorin@SPION significantly inhibited the mRNA 5­hydroxymethylcytidine modification of GCSCs. Meanwhile, the results of RNA immunoprecipitation-PCR also indicated that Atranorin@SPIONs significantly reduced the 5-hydroxymethylcytidine modification level of GPX4 and SLC7A11 mRNA 3' untranslated region in GCSCs, resulting in a decrease in their stability, shortening their half-lives and reducing translation activity. Therefore, this study revealed that Atranorin@SPIONs induced ferroptosis of GCSCs by weakening the expression of the Xc-/GPX4 axis and the 5-hydroxymethylcytidine modification of mRNAs in the pathway, thereby achieving their therapeutic effect on gastric cancer.

Rotenone, an environmental toxin, causes abnormal methylation of the mouse brain organoid's genome and ferroptosis.

More and more reports have pointed out that rotenone, as an insecticide, has high neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity to livestock and mammals. As a highly physiological correlation system of internal organs, quasi-organs have great potential in the fields of drug toxicity and efficacy test, toxicology research, developmental biology and so on. In this study, brain organs (mBOs) derived from mouse neural stem cells were used to investigate the effects of rotenone on the physiological activity and epigenetic modification of mBOs. At the same time, Rotenone could significantly stimulate the increase of the concentration of LPO, lactic acid and hydroxyl radical in mBOs, and inhibit the expression of neuronal marker Tuj1, CHAT, PAX6 and so on. Further analysis showed that Rotenonem could induce mitochondrial damage in mBOs. The results of qPCR and Western blot showed that Rotenone could up-regulate the expressions of ferroptosis promoting protein p53, Cox2 and so on, while inhibit the expressions of negative regulatory protein of ferroptosis GPX4, FTH1, SLC7A11. In addition, the results of RRBS-Seq sequencing showed that the methylation modification at DMR level in Rotenone-treated mBOs group was significantly higher than that in Ctrl group. The results of KEGG analysis showed that compared with Ctrl, the genes with hypermethylation of promoter and Genebody in Rotenone-treated mBOs were mainly located in the Neuro active ligand-receptor interaction signal transduction pathway. In summary, rotenone can significantly lead to abnormal methylation of mouse brain organs, and lead to the loss of normal physiological function of neurons by inducing ferroptosis.

miR-31-5p from placental and peripheral blood exosomes is a potential biomarker to diagnose preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia, a multisystem disorder of unknown etiology, is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Identifying sensitive, noninvasive markers can aid its prevention and improve prognosis. microRNAs (miRs), which function as negative regulators of gene expression, are closely related to preeclampsia occurrence and development. Herein we investigated the relationship between the DLK1-Dio3 imprinted miR cluster derived from placental and peripheral blood exosomes of pregnant women with preeclampsia and routine clinical diagnostic indicators, and also determined its potential as a noninvasive diagnostic marker. METHODS: Exosomes were extracted from the placenta and peripheral blood of pregnant women with preeclampsia. RESULTS: qPCR data indicated that the expression level of miRs, such as miR-134, miR-31-5p, miR-655, miR-412, miR-539, miR-409, and miR-496, in pregnant women with preeclampsia was significantly lower than that in healthy controls; miR-31-5p expression was the most different. Gene ontology analysis predicted that genes negatively regulated by miR-31-5p were mainly enriched in cellular entity, cellular process, and binding; moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses indicated that genes were involved in gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor pathway and other signaling pathways. Correlation analysis revealed that miR-31-5p was significantly negatively correlated with clinical indicators of preeclampsia, such as systolic and diastolic pressure, lactate dehydrogenase, and proteinuria. CONCLUSION: We believe that exosome-derived miR-31-5p can serve as an effective and sensitive biomarker to determine the course of preeclampsia in pregnant women.

siRNA@superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles attenuate physiological toxicity of DEHP by suppressing autophagy pathway activities in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Bis(2-ethylhexyl)ortho-phthalate (DEHP) is a widely used plasticizer in polyvinyl chloride materials. Considering its widespread application, it has become a major environmental pollutant and can cause endocrine, reproductive system, and gastrointestinal disorders. Herein we aimed to elucidate the mechanisms via which DEHP causes cytotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans and assess whether siRNA@superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) can attenuate this effect. On exposing C. elegans to 10 µM DEHP, its physiological functions and gene expression levels were markedly affected. RNA-seq and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses indicated that DEHP exposure significantly activated the autophagy-animal signal transduction pathway in the somatic cells of C. elegans. Subsequently, the surface of SPIONs was loaded with siRNAs and transfected into C. elegans. Transmission electron microscopy showed that SPIONs could smoothly enter the somatic cells of C. elegans. Further, qPCR showed that the expression levels of autophagy pathway-related genes, namely Atg-2, Epg-9, Atg-18, Bec-1, and Atg-16.2, in the siRNA@SPION intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Biochemical and physiological test results suggested that siRNA@SPION complexes attenuated DEHP-induced physiological toxicity and oxidative stress damage in C. elegans. Collectively, our findings indicated that DEHP markedly affects the physiological activity of C. elegans, induces changes in gene expression levels, and activates the autophagy signal transduction pathway and that siRNA@SPION complexes suppress such toxic effects by silencing the expression of genes involved in the autophagy signal transduction pathway.

Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide alleviates rotenone-induced murine brain organoids death through downregulation of gene body DNA methylation modification in the ZIC4/PGM5/CAMTA1 axis.

Here, the protective mechanism of Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide (CpP) against mouse brain organoids (mBO) damage was analyzed, and the rotenone affected the genomic epigenetic modifications and physiological activity of mouse brain organoids was examined. Pathological experiments have shown that rotenone significantly damaged the subcellular organelles of mouse brain organoids. According to RRBS-Seq, rotenone significantly promoted gene body hypermethylation modifications in mouse brain organoids. Molecular biology experiments have confirmed that rotenone significantly promoted the hypermethylation modification of Zic4, Pgm5, and Camta1 gene bodies in mouse brain organoids, and their expression levels were significantly lower than those of the control group. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that multiple binding motif of transcription factors ZIC4 (Zinc finger protein of the cerebellum 4) were present at the promoters of both the Pgm5 (Phosphoglucomutase 5) and Camta1 (Calmodulin binding transcription activator 1) genes. When the expression of Zic4 was silenced, the proliferation of mouse brain organoids was significantly reduced and the expression level of PGM5 was also significantly decreased. In addition, Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide treatment of mouse brain organoids significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of rotenone, promoted cell cycle progression, increased intracellular glutathione activity, significantly induced the demethylation modification of the Zic4, Pgm5, and Camta1 gene bodies, and promoted the high expression of ZIC4 and PGM5. Therefore, the study confirmed that Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide alleviated rotenone-induced mouse brain organoids death by downregulating DNA gene bodies methylation modification of the Zic4/Pgm5/Camta1 axis.

Effect of Different Edible Trichosanthes Germplasm on Its Seed Oil to Enhance Antioxidant and Anti-Aging Activity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The seeds of various Trichosanthes L. plants have been frequently used as snacks instead of for traditional medicinal purposes in China. However, there is still a need to identify the species based on seeds from Trichosanthes germplasm for the potential biological activities of their seed oil. In this study, 18 edible Trichosanthes germplasm from three species were identified and distinguished at a species level using a combination of seed morphological and microscopic characteristics and nrDNA-ITS sequences. Seed oil from the edible Trichosanthes germplasm significantly enhanced oxidative stress tolerance, extended lifespan, delayed aging, and improved healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans. The antioxidant activity of the seed oil exhibits a significant positive correlation with its total unsaturated fatty acid content among the 18 edible Trichosanthes germplasm, suggesting a genetic basis for this trait. The biological activities of seed oil varied among species, with T. kirilowii Maxim. and T. rosthornii Harms showing stronger effects than T. laceribractea Hayata.

Ultrastructural alterations of adult Schistosoma japonicum harbored in mice treated with a single oral dose of OZ78.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the ultrastructural alterations of adult Schistosoma japonicum induced by synthetic trioxolane OZ78. METHODS: Eight out of ten mice infected with 40-60 S. japonicum cercariae for 35 d were treated orally with OZ78 at a single dose of 400 mg/kg. Four groups of two mice were killed at 24 h, 3 d, 7 d, and 14 d post treatment, and schistosomes were recovered by perfusion technique, fixed, and examined by transmission electron microscopy. Schistosomes obtained from the remaining two untreated mice served as control. RESULTS: After infected mice were treated with OZ78 for 24 h, the prominent alterations in tegument of both male and female worms were observed, which revealed in flattened surface due to swelling of cytoplasmic processes, irregular expansion in distal end of cytoplasmic processes accompanied by decrease in rod-like and discoid-like secretory bodies, focal lysis of tegumental matrix; fusion of some cytoplasmic processes to form a large piece, disruption or disappearance of basal membrane, and destruction of internal structures in sensory organelles. In the subtegument, no or slight swelling and focal lysis of muscle bundles were seen, while the syncytium beneath the muscle showed enlargement of nucleus with indistinction of partial nuclear membrane, formation of small vacuoles due to focal lysis of chromatin, and emergence of degenerated mitochondria in perinuclear cytoplasm. As to parenchymal tissues, the major alterations included degeneration of mitochondria, formation of some small vacuoles and myelin-like structures. In gut epithelial cells, the prominent alterations were irregular enlargement of nucleus with light lysis of nucleoli and fusion of partial bi-layer nuclear membrane, degeneration of mitochondria in cytoplasm and collapse of microvilli. At this time point, in the vitelline cells of female worms, the most significant alteration was the collapse of many vitelline droplets, which led to release of the vitelline balls, followed by their lysis and fusion. Three to 7 d post treatment, the damage to the worms aggravated either in extent or in severity along with time. The significant damages to male and female worms were fusion of cytoplasmic processes, peeling or collapse of damaged cytoplasmic processes resulting in exposure of muscle bundles, severe destruction of sensory organelles and syncytium, focal or extensive swelling and lysis of muscle bundles, emergence of some larger piece of degenerated parenchymal tissues and severe damage to the gut epithelial cell. While in the vitelline cells of female worms, decrease in the number of vitelline droplet, focal lysis of nucleus and extensive lysis of parenchymal tissues among the vitelline cells were also observed. Fourteen days post OZ78 dosing, male and female worms which survived the treatment showed some renovation in damaged tegument and subtegument, while most gut epithelial cells and vitelline cells still revealed in prominent injury. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that OZ78 possesses an extensive damage to the ultrastructure in tegument and subtegument tissues including syncytium, parenchymal tissues, gut epithelial cells, and vitelline cells of adult S. japonicum.

Effects of three auxin-inducible LBD members on lateral root formation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

In Arabidopsis, two Auxin Response Factors (ARF7 and ARF19) and several Aux/IAAs regulate auxin-induced lateral root (LR) formation. As direct targets of ARF7 and ARF19, Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain 16 (LBD16), LBD29, and LBD18 have a biological function in the formation of lateral roots (LRs). However, the details of the functions of these three LBDs have remained unclear. Each single T-DNA insert mutant has been shown to have slightly fewer LRs than the wild type. We then created a triple mutant, which exhibited a dramatic defect in the LR formation. Our results show that the lbd mutations can lead to impairment in auxin-induced pericycle cell division and in the expression levels of some D-type cyclins (CYCDs). Simultaneously, Plethora (PLT) and PIN-formed (PIN), which have been well documented to promote cell mitotic activity and are required for auxin response effects, were down-regulated by these lbd mutations. Our results so far indicate that CYCDs, PLT, and PINs are the main targets of the LBDs. We believe that these three LBDs are involved in cell cycle progression of the pericycle in response to auxin. Overexpression of any of these three LBD genes in the triple mutant was found incapable of completely replacing the other two LBDs. The phenotypes of lbd29 mutants were not completely consistent with lbd16 or lbd18 mutants. This indicates that LBD29 may play a distinctive role compared with LBD16 or LBD18 and LBDs might play partially independent roles during the formation of LRs.

Ultrastructural alterations of juvenile Schistosoma japonicum harbored in mice following mefloquine administration.

The aim of the present study was to assess the ultrastructural alterations of juvenile Schistosoma japonicum induced by mefloquine. Mice infected with 14-day-old S. japonicum were treated orally with mefloquine at a single dose of 400 mg/kg. Between 8 h and 7 days after treatment, groups of two mice were sacrificed, and schistosomula were recovered for transmission electron microscopic observations. Ultrastructural damage was seen in the tegument, subtegumental musculature, parenchymal tissues, and gut epithelial cell. It was already prominent 8 h after drug administration and increased in severity rapidly to reach a peak 3 days post-treatment. Tegumental alterations were characterized by emergence of irregular and elongated cytoplasmic processes, which further fused together accompanied by indistinction of matrix and roughness of external plasma membrane. Meanwhile, in the subtegument, damage to the syncytium, swelling, and lysis of muscle bundles and parenchymal tissues were universal, which further aggravated the lesion on the tegument, followed by collapse or disintegration of damaged tegument to form numerous fragment or debris of cytoplasmic process detached from the worm surface. Severe damage to the gut epithelial cell was also observed 8 h post-mefloquine treatment, which included focal lysis of cytoplasm accompanied by formation of vacuoles and degeneration of mitochondria, emergence of enlarged and contracted nucleus with indistinct or focal disrupted nuclear membrane, and decrease in microvilli. All these alterations further increased in severity and reached the peak 3 days post-treatment. The findings of our study indicate that mefloquine exhibits a fast and potent ability to cause extensive ultrastructural damage to juvenile S. japonicum, which correlates with its high efficacy against juvenile schistosomes.

Establishment and characterization of multi-drug resistant, prostate carcinoma-initiating stem-like cells from human prostate cancer cell lines 22RV1.

Multi-drug resistance is an important element which leads to ineffectiveness of chemotherapeutics. To identify subpopulations of cancerous prostate cells with multi-drug resistance and cancer stem-cell properties has recently become a major research interest. We identified a subpopulation from the prostate cancer cell line 22RV1, which have high surface expression of both CD117 and ABCG2. We found this subpopulation of cells termed CD117(+)/ABCG2(+) also overexpress stem cells markers such as Nanog, Oct4, Sox2, Nestin, and CD133. These cells are highly prolific and are also resistant to treatment with a variety of chemotherapeutics such as casplatin, paclitaxel, adriamycin, and methotrexate. In addition, CD117(+)/ABCG2(+) cells can readily establish tumors in vivo in a relatively short time. To investigate the mechanism of aggressive tumor growth and drug resistance, we examined the CpG islands on the ABCG2 promoter of CD117(+)/ABCG2(+) cells and found they were remarkably hypomethylated. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed high levels of both histone 3 acetylation and H3K4 trimethylation at the CpG islands on the ABCG2 promoter. Our these data suggest that CD117(+)/ABCG2(+) cells could be reliably sorted from the human prostate cancer cell line 22RV1, and represent a valuable model for studying cancer cell physiology and multi-drug resistance. Furthermore, identification and study of these cells could have a profound impact on selection of individual treatment strategies, clinical outcome, and the design or selection of the next generation of chemotherapeutic agents.

Human amniotic epithelial cell feeder layers maintain mouse embryonic stem cell pluripotency via epigenetic regulation of the c-Myc promoter.

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are typically cultured on a feeder layer of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) added to maintain them in an undifferentiated state. We have previously shown that human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) can be used as feeder cells to maintain mouse ESC pluripotency, but the mechanism for this is unknown. In the present study, we found that CpG islands 5' of the c-Myc gene remain hypomethylated in mouse ESCs cultured on hAECs. In addition, levels of acetylation of histone H3 and trimethylation of histone H3K4 in the c-Myc gene promoter were higher in ES cells cultured on hAECs than those in ES cells cultured on MEFs. These data suggested that hAECs can alter mouse ESC gene expression via epigenetic modification of c-Myc, providing a possible mechanism for the hAEC-induced maintenance of ESCs in an undifferentiated state.

Fabrication of superwetting, antimicrobial and conductive fibrous membranes for removing/collecting oil contaminants.

In order to remove/collect organic contaminants from polluted water, polypyrrole/silver nanoparticles (PPy/Ag NPs) have been loaded onto spandex fabric using the method of in situ redox-oxidation polymerization to achieve a specific membrane. Observations showed that the original hydrophobic fabric became superhydrophilic and superoleophobic underwater (with an underwater oil contact angle (OCA) of 160°). The as-prepared specimen could effectively remove the oil from an oil-in-water emulsion. After further hydrophobic modification, the specimen was transformed into a fabric that possessed durable superhydrophobicity and superlipophilicity (with a water contact angle (WCA) of 159°), which could collect the oil from a water-in-oil emulsion. Apparently, the two types of fibrous membranes completely satisfied the conditions for removing/collecting organic contaminants from opposite types of water/oil mixtures. The durable evaluation results exhibited the outstanding resistance of both fibrous membranes to friction and acidic and basic scouring agents. Additionally, the multifunctional fabric membrane also possessed excellent electrical conductivity and antibacterial activities towards S. aureus, B. subtilis, and E. coli, which will greatly promote developments in the textile industry and provide a bright future for fabric-based materials.

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Induce Ferroptosis of Human Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells by Weakening Cellular Autophagy.

Human ovarian cancer stem cells (HuOCSCs) are the main source of ovarian cancer recurrence, metastasis, and drug resistance. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are well-known nucleic acid or drug carriers owing to their controllable properties, superior stability, and easy modification. However, whether SPIONs can inhibit the activity of HuOCSCs by inducing ferroptosis remains unclear. In the present study, we isolated CD44+ /CD133+ HuOCSCs from tumours of four patients with clear cell ovarian cancer and added 0.2 mM SPIONs for mixed culture. Transmission electron microscopy showed that SPION-treated HuOCSCs contained multiple high-density electron clouds. Prussian blue staining showed high concentrations of iron ions in the cells. In vitro , SPIONs treatment of HuOCSCs inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and soft agar clone formation, weakened their resistance to multiple chemotherapeutics, and induced cell death. In vivo , SPIONs pretreatment of HuOCSCs significantly reduced their tumour-forming ability and induced angiogenesis in nude mice. Further, SPIONs induced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in HuOCSCs and induced oxidative stress. qPCR analysis indicated that SPIONs-treated HuOCSCs had reduced expression of tumour stem cell markers (CD117, NANOG, CD133, and SOX2), cell proliferation factors (KI67, CCND), autophagy-related factors (ATG3, ATG5, MAP1ALC3a, MAP1ALC3b, and MAP1ALC3c), and certain negative regulators of ferroptosis, while the mRNA expression levels of cell death-related proteins (BAK1 and BID), and certain positive regulators of ferroptosis were significantly increased. Overall, our findings suggest that SPIONs induce oxidative stress and decrease autophagy activity in ovarian cancer stem cells, activate ferroptosis, and inhibit their proliferation, invasion, drug resistance, and tumorigenic ability.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles drive miR-485-5p inhibition in glioma stem cells by silencing Tie1 expression.

Gliomas are highly malignant nervous system tumours. Studies shown that cancer stem cells are one of the main reasons underlying recurrence, metastasis, and poor prognosis in glioma cases. Our previous studies have found that superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) can act as nucleic acid carriers to drive intracellular overexpression of these nucleic acids. In this study, CD44+/CD133+ glioma stem cells (HuGSCs) were first isolated from surgically resected tissues from patients. qPCR and western blot results showed that Tie1 expression in HuGSCs was significantly higher thanexpression in CD44-/CD133- glioma cells. Bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-485-5p binds to specific loci on the 3'-UTR of Tie1 mRNA to inhibit Tie1 expression. Subsequently, miR-485-5p/miR-mut and SPION complexes were transfected into HuGSCs. Transmission electron microscopy showed that a highly dense metallic electron cloud is present in HuGSCs. At the same time, in vivo and in vitro studies showed that miR-485-5p@SPIONs can significantly inhibit HuGSC proliferation, invasion, tumourigenicity, and angiogenesis. In-depth analysis showed that Tie1 interacts with neuronal growth factors such as FGF2, BDNF, GDNF, and GFAP. qPCR and western blot results showed that in miR-485-5p@SPIONs-HuGSCs, the expression levels of Tie1 and stem cell markers (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, CD44, and CD133), and even FGF2, BDNF, GDNF, and GFAP were significantly lower than thelevels in the control group (miR-mut@SPIONs-HuGSCs). Therefore, this study showedthat Tie1 is an important factor that maintains glioma stem cell activity. SPIONs drive miR-485-5p overexpression in cells and inhibit endogenous Tie1 expression to downregulate the protein expression levels of Fgf2/GDNF/GFAP/BDNF and significantly weaken the in vivo and in vitro viability of gliomas.

Genome transfer for the prevention of female infertility caused by maternal gene mutation.

Poor oocyte quality is associated with early embryo developmental arrest and infertility. Maternal gene plays crucial roles in the regulation of oocyte maturation, and its mutation is a common cause of female infertility. However, how to improve oocyte quality and develop effective therapy for maternal gene mutation remains elusive. Here, we use Zar1 as an example to assess the feasibility of genome transfer to cure maternal gene mutation-caused female infertility. We first discover that cytoplasmic deficiency primarily leads to Zar1-null embryo developmental arrest by disturbing maternal transcript degradation and minor zygotic genome activation (ZGA) during the maternal-zygotic transition. We next perform genome transfer at the oocyte (spindle transfer or polar body transfer) and zygote (early pronuclear transfer or late pronuclear transfer) stages to validate the feasibility of preventing Zar1 mutation-caused infertility. We finally demonstrate that genome transfer either at the oocyte or at the early pronuclear stage can support normal preimplantation embryo development and produce live offspring. Moreover, those pups grow to adulthood and show normal fertility. Therefore, our findings provide an effective basis of therapies for the treatment of female infertility caused by maternal gene mutation.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle-mediated expression of miR-326 inhibits human endometrial carcinoma stem cell growth.

Background: Previously, our group confirmed the presence of a subset of cancer stem cells in the tissues of endometrial carcinoma (ie, human endometrial carcinoma stem cells [HuECSCs]). However, the mechanisms by which microRNAs regulate the growth of HuECSCs remain elusive. Methods: We loaded miR-326 onto superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (miR-326@SPION) and transfected them into HuECSCs. Results: In the present study, we found that the expression levels of members of the G-protein coupled receptor 91 (GPR91)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway were significantly elevated in CD44+/CD133+ HuECSCs. Luciferase reporter assays indicated that the succinate receptor 1 (SUCNR1) gene, also known as the G-protein coupled receptor 91 (GPR91) gene, was one of the potential targets of miR-326. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the SPIONs could cross the cell membrane and accumulate in the cytoplasm. The overexpression of miR-326 significantly inhibited the proliferation and cell cycle progression of HuECSCs in vitro. MiR-326 overexpression also effectively inhibited the invasion and angiogenic capacities of HuECSCs in the extracellular matrix. Meanwhile, miR-326 overexpression significantly inhibited the tumorigenicity and tumour neovascularization capacity of HuECSCs in nude mice. Both quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting confirmed that overexpression of miR-326 significantly reduced the expression of members of the GPR91/STAT3/VEGF pathway in HuECSCs, and the activity (level of phosphorylation) of key molecules in this pathway was also reduced. Conclusion: Collectively, we confirmed that SPIONs are highly efficient nanocarriers for nucleic acids, on which the loading of miR-326 inhibited the activation of the GPR91/STAT3/VEGF signaling pathway and significantly attenuated the activity of stem cells in endometrial carcinoma, both in vitro and in vivo.

Alternative splicing and expression analysis of OsFCA (FCA in Oryza sativa L.), a gene homologous to FCA in Arabidopsis.

A subtracted cDNAs library was constructed using rice (Oryza sativa L.) calli cDNA as driver and differentiating calli cDNA as tester. A novel gene homologous with FCA in Arabidopsis was cloned from rice by screening the SSH (suppression subtractive hybridization) library followed by RACE. Four alternative transcripts of OsFCA were cloned from the leaves of rice, and designated as OsFCA-1, OsFCA-2, OsFCA-3 and OsFCA-4 respectively. OsFCA-1 was homologous to FCA-gamma of Arabidopsis and contained several conserved domains (two RNA Recognition Motifs and one WW-domain). OsFCA-2 was 102 bp shorter than OsFCA-1 which caused the WW-domain deletion. The proteins encoded by OsFCA-3 and OsFCA-4 were 101 amino acids shorter than OsFCA-1 at the N-terminal which is a glycine-rich region. The fluorescence quantitative PCR analysis showed that the mRNA of OsFCA-1 is the most abundant in the four splicing variants of rice FCA, and its expression level is much higher in differentiating calli than in calli. The expression of OsFCA-1 is steady in the leaves of three different stage, but up-regulated in young spikelet of primary branch-differentiating stage and down-regulated in young spikelet of pistil and stamen-differentiating stage.

Cloning, characterization and tissue-specific expression of a cDNA encoding a novel EMBRYONIC FLOWER 2 gene (OsEMF2) in Oryza sativa.

EMBRYONIC FLOWER 2 (EMF2) gene plays a major role in maintain vegetative development and repress flower development. Here, we present the cloning, characterization and tissue-specific expression of a putative EMF2 (OsEMF2) gene in Oryza sativa. The full-length cDNA of OsEMF2 was 1899 bp and contained an 1872 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 624 amino acid protein. Homologous analysis showed that OsEMF2 contain a single conserved C2H2-type zinc finger motif. Sequence alignment shows that there is a homology between the deduced amino acid sequence of OsEMF2 and EMF2 in Zea mays (55%). Moreover, pI of OsEMF2 are predicted. The tissue-specific expression pattern of OsEMF2 reveals that it is abundant in shoot apical meristem and inflorescence meristem, while its expression level is much lower in leaf, root, immature seed and callus.

Overexpression of an F-box protein gene disrupts cotyledon vein patterning in Arabidopsis.

Plant vascular patterning is complex. However, the detailed molecular mechanism of vascular patterning is still unknown. In this study, FBXL, an Arabidopsis F-box motif gene, was isolated by using 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. The gene contained a coding sequence of 1407 nucleotides coding 468 amino acid residues. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that the gene encoded a protein harboring an F-box motif at the N terminus, an LRRs motif in the middle, and an FBD motif at the C terminus. FBXL promoter-ß-glucuronidase (GUS) and 35S promoter-FBXL vectors were constructed and transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana to understand the function of the FBXL gene. GUS expression analysis indicated that FBXL was specifically expressed in the vascular tissues of the root, stem, leaf, and inflorescence. FBXL overexpression in Arabidopsis displayed an abnormal venation pattern in cotyledons. Furthermore, FBXL expression was not induced by exogenous auxin and its transcript accumulation did not overlap with the distribution of endogenous auxin. These results suggested that FBXL may be involved in cotyledon vein patterning via auxin-independent pathway.