Inhibition of Microrna-766-5p Attenuates the Development of Cervical Cancer Through Regulating SCAI.

PURPOSE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considered to play anti-tumor roles in cancers. This study is designed to illustrate the role and potential mechanism of miR-766-5p in cervical cancer (CC) progression. METHODS: MiR-766-5p expression in tissues and serum of CC patients was detected by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum miR-766-5p in CC. The 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay, flow cytometry, wound healing as well as transwell assay were utilized to detect the proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of CC cells, respectively. The interaction between miR-766-5p and SCAI was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Xenografted tumor model was established to measure the growth of tumor xenograft in vivo. RESULTS: MiR-766-5p was significantly increased in tissues and serum of CC patients. ROC curve suggested that serum miR-766-5p could serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis of CC. Inhibition of miR-766-5p suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted the apoptosis of CC cells. SCAI was proved to be a target of miR-766-5p. Silencing of SCAI eliminated the inhibiting effects of miR-766-5p inhibitor on the proliferation, migration and invasion of CC cells in vitro. Additionally, down-regulation of SCAI also reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-766-5p inhibitor on the growth of tumor xenograft in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition of miR-766-5p restrains the cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and promotes the apoptosis in CC through negatively regulating SCAI.

Controlled Growth of CH3 NH3 PbBr3 Perovskite Nanocrystals via a Water-Oil Interfacial Synthesis Method.

Fundamental insights into the reaction kinetics of organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (LHP NCs) are still limited due to their ultrafast formation rate. Herein, we develop a water-oil interfacial synthesis of MAPbBr3 NCs (MA=CH3 NH3 + ), which prolongs the reaction time to tens of minutes. This method makes it possible to monitor in situ the formation process of MAPbBr3 NCs and observe successive spectral evolutions from 438 to 534 nm in a single reaction by extending reaction time. The implementation of this method depends on reducing the formation rate of PbBr6 4- octahedra and the diffusion rate of MA. The formation of PbBr6 4- is a rate-determining step, and the biphasic system offers a favorable reaction condition to control the mass transfer of MA. The effects of temperature and concentration of precursor and ligand are investigated in detail.

Iron-Catalyzed Aerobic Dehydrogenative Kinetic Resolution of Cyclic Secondary Amines.

A nonenzymatic iron-catalyzed dehydrogenative kinetic resolution of cyclic secondary amines using air as an oxidant has been reported. The economical and practical method is applicable to a series of cyclic benzylic amines, including 5,6-dihydrophenanthridines and 1,2-dihydroquinolines, with diverse functional groups at the α position in high yields with excellent enantioselectivities. The direct dehydrogenative kinetic resolution of advanced intermediates of bioactive molecules that are difficult to access using existing catalytic asymmetric synthetic strategy was also demonstrated.

Effect of tea saponin on phytoremediation of Cd and pyrene in contaminated soils by Lolium multiflorum.

Tea saponin (TS), a kind of green biosurfactant produced by plants, was added into the Cd-pyrene co-contaminated soils to evaluate its influence on phytoremediation of Cd and pyrene by Lolium multiflorum. The results showed that the accumulation of pyrene in L. multiflorum was significantly promoted by the TS. Compared with no TS treatments (PL and ML), the aboveground concentrations of pyrene in TS treatments (PLT and MLT) increased by 135 and 30%, respectively, and the underground concentrations of pyrene in TS treatments (PLT and MLT) increased by 40 and 25%. The concentrations of Cd in the aboveground and underground parts in single contaminated treatments were all significantly more than those in co-contaminated treatments, while the situation of pyrene was quite the reverse. Besides, the addition of TS enhanced activities of dehydrogenase and polyphenol oxidase in soils and increased the biomass of L. multiflorum. The micromorphology of L. multiflorum was not affected by TS. The study suggests that the use of L. multiflorum with TS is an alternative technology for remediation of Cd-pyrene co-contaminated soils.

Biodegradation of crude oil by a defined co-culture of indigenous bacterial consortium and exogenous Bacillus subtilis.

The aim of this work was to study biodegradation of crude oil by defined co-cultures of indigenous bacterial consortium and exogenous Bacillus subtilis. Through residual oil analysis, it is apparent that the defined co-culture displayed a degradation ratio (85.01%) superior to indigenous bacterial consortium (71.32%) after 7days of incubation when ratio of inoculation size of indigenous bacterial consortium and Bacillus subtilis was 2:1. Long-chain n-alkanes could be degraded markedly by Bacillus subtilis. Result analysis of the bacterial community showed that a decrease in bacterial diversity in the defined co-culture and the enrichment of Burkholderiales order (98.1%) degrading hydrocarbons. The research results revealed that the promising potential of the defined co-culture for application to degradation of crude oil.

Characterization of OfWRKY3, a transcription factor that positively regulates the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase gene OfCCD4 in Osmanthus fragrans.

The sweet osmanthus carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 4 (OfCCD4) cleaves carotenoids such as ß-carotene and zeaxanthin to yield ß-ionone. OfCCD4 is a member of the CCD gene family, and its promoter contains a W-box palindrome with two reversely oriented TGAC repeats, which are the proposed binding sites of WRKY transcription factors. We isolated three WRKY cDNAs from the petal of Osmanthus fragrans. One of them, OfWRKY3, encodes a protein containing two WRKY domains and two zinc finger motifs. OfWRKY3 and OfCCD4 had nearly identical expression profile in petals of 'Dangui' and 'Yingui' at different flowering stages and showed similar expression patterns in petals treated by salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and abscisic acid. Activation of OfCCD4pro:GUS by OfWRKY3 was detected in coinfiltrated tobacco leaves and very weak GUS activity was detected in control tissues, indicating that OfWRKY3 can interact with the OfCCD4 promoter. Yeast one-hybrid and electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that OfWRKY3 was able to bind to the W-box palindrome motif present in the OfCCD4 promoter. These results suggest that OfWRKY3 is a positive regulator of the OfCCD4 gene, and might partly account for the biosynthesis of ß-ionone in sweet osmanthus.

Preparation of 2-pyridone-containing tricyclic alkaloid derivatives as potential inhibitors of tumor cell proliferation by regioselective intramolecular N- and C-acylation of 2-pyridone.

A novel and practical preparation of 2-pyridone-containing tricyclic alkaloid derivatives was developed. By regioselective intramolecular N- and C-acylation of 2-(4-aryl-2-pyridon-6-yl)benzoic acid, a pair of structural isomers 2-aryl pyrido[2,1-a]isoindole-4,6-diones and 4-aryl 1-methyl-1H-indeno[1,2-b]-pyridine-2,5-diones, as potential inhibitors of tumor cell proliferation, were prepared respectively.