Tailoring 3D single-walled carbon nanotubes anchored to indium tin oxide for natural cellular uptake and intracellular sensing.

The ability to monitor intracellular events in real time is paramount to advancing fundamental biological and clinical science. We present the first demonstration of a direct interface of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VASWCNTs) with eukaryotic cells, RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cell line. The cells were cultured on indium tin oxide with VASWCNTs. VASWCNTs entered the cells naturally without application of any external force and were shown to sense the intracellular presence of a redox active moiety, methylene blue. The technology developed provides an alluring platform to enable electrochemical study of an intracellular environment.

Cytochrome b558: the flavin-binding component of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase.

The phagocyte respiratory burst oxidase is a flavin-adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent dehydrogenase and an electron transferase that reduces molecular oxygen to superoxide anion, a precursor of microbicidal oxidants. Several proteins required for assembly of the oxidase have been characterized, but the identity of its flavin-binding component has been unclear. Oxidase activity was reconstituted in vitro with only the purified oxidase proteins p47phox, p67phox, Rac-related guanine nucleotide (GTP)-binding proteins, and membrane-bound cytochrome b558. The reconstituted oxidase required added FAD, and FAD binding was localized to cytochrome b558. Alignment of the amino acid sequence of the beta subunit of cytochrome b558 (gp91phox) with other flavoproteins revealed similarities to the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced) (NADPH)-binding domains. Thus flavocytochrome b558 is the only obligate electron transporting component of the NADPH oxidase.

A mathematical model for municipal solid waste management - A case study in Hong Kong.

With the booming economy and increasing population, the accumulation of waste has become an increasingly arduous issue and has aroused the attention from all sectors of society. Hong Kong which has a relative high daily per capita domestic waste generation rate in Asia has not yet established a comprehensive waste management system. This paper conducts a review of waste management approaches and models. Researchers highlight that mathematical models provide useful information for decision-makers to select appropriate choices and save cost. It is suggested to consider municipal solid waste management in a holistic view and improve the utilization of waste management infrastructures. A mathematical model which adopts integer linear programming and mixed integer programming has been developed for Hong Kong municipal solid waste management. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to simulate different scenarios which provide decision-makers important information for establishing Hong Kong waste management system.

The mitochondrial outer membrane channel, VDAC, is regulated by a synthetic polyanion.

A synthetic polyanion has been found to modulate the properties of the mitochondrial outer membrane channel, VDAC. This 10 kDa polyanion, first synthesized and described by Konig and co-workers, is a 1:2:3 copolymer of methacrylate, maleate, and styrene. It had been shown to interfere with the access of metabolites to the mitochondrial inner spaces. Here we show that, at nanomolar levels, the polyanion increases the voltage dependence of VDAC channels over 5-fold. Some channels seem to be totally blocked while others display the higher voltage dependence and are able to close at very low membrane potentials (5 mV). At 27 micrograms/ml polyanion, VDAC channels are closed while inserted into liposomes in the absence of any applied potential. The closed state of VDAC induced by the polyanion has similar properties to the closed state induced by elevated membrane potentials. The physical size of the polyanion-induced closed state (in VDAC-containing liposomes) is about 0.9 nm in radius. How this estimate fits with estimates of the channel's open state and estimated volume changes between the open and closed states, is discussed.

Loss-of-function screen in rhabdomyosarcoma identifies CRKL-YES as a critical signal for tumor growth.

To identify novel signaling pathways necessary for rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) survival, we performed a loss-of-function screen using an inducible small hairpin RNA (shRNA) library in an alveolar and an embryonal RMS cell line. This screen identified CRKL expression as necessary for growth of alveolar RMS and embryonal RMS both in vitro and in vivo. We also found that CRKL was uniformly highly expressed in both RMS cell lines and tumor tissue. As CRKL is a member of the CRK adapter protein family that contains an SH2 and two SH3 domains and is involved in signal transduction from multiple tyrosine kinase receptors, we evaluated CRKL interaction with multiple tyrosine kinase receptor signaling pathways in RMS cells. While we saw no interaction of CRKL with IGFIR, MET or PI3KAKT/mTOR pathways, we determined that CRKL signaling was associated with SRC family kinase (SFK) signaling, specifically with YES kinase. Inhibition of SFK signaling with dasatinib or another SFK inhibitor, sarcatinib, suppressed RMS cell growth in vitro and in vivo. These data identify CRKL as a novel critical component of RMS growth. This study also demonstrates the use of functional screening to identify a potentially novel therapeutic target and treatment approach for these highly aggressive pediatric cancers.

Human papillomavirus type 16 E6 induces cervical cancer cell migration through the p53/microRNA-23b/urokinase-type plasminogen activator pathway.

Deregulation of microRNA (miRNA or miR) expression in human cervical cancer is associated frequently with human papillomavirus (HPV) integration. miR-23b is often downregulated in HPV-associated cervical cancer. Interestingly, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), the miR-23b target, is detected in cervical cancer, but not in normal cervical tissues. Thus, the importance of miR-23b and uPA in HPV-associated cervical cancer development is investigated. In this study, the high-risk subtype HPV-16 E6 oncoprotein was found to decrease the expression of miR-23b, increase the expression of uPA, and thus induce the migration of human cervical carcinoma SiHa and CaSki cells. uPA is the target gene for miR-23b as the miR repressed uPA expression and interacted with the 3'-untranslated region of uPA mRNA. The tumor suppressor p53 is known to be inactivated by HPV-16 E6. A consensus p53 binding site is detected in the promoter region of miR-23b, whereas p53 trans-activated and also interacted with the miR's promoter. Therefore, p53 is believed to mediate the HPV-16 E6 downregulation of miR-23b. From the above, miR-23b/uPA are confirmed to be involved in HPV-16 E6-associated cervical cancer development.

Production of recombinant cytochrome b558 allows reconstitution of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase solely from recombinant proteins.

Phagocytic white blood cells contain a multicomponent oxidase that generates microbicidal products by catalyzing electron transfer from NADPH to molecular oxygen. Activation of this oxidase requires interactions of a unique membrane flavocytochrome with the cytosolic proteins p47phox, p67phox, and p21Rac. This flavocytochrome, designated cytochrome b558, is a heteromer comprising a 22-kDa alpha-subunit (p22phox) and a glycosylated approximately 91-kDa beta-subunit (gp91phox). Cytochrome b558 was expressed in Sf9 insect cells coinfected with recombinant baculoviruses carrying cDNAs for p22phox and gp91phox. Membranes of these cells contained a b-type cytochrome with a dithionite-reduced minus oxidized difference spectrum similar to that of neutrophil cytochrome b558. The recombinant cytochrome b558 beta-subunit was heterogeneously N-glycosylated as demonstrated by its susceptibility to cleavage with endoglycosidases F and H. In contrast to the neutrophil cytochrome b558, a portion of the N-linked oligosaccharide was of the high mannose type. Recombinant cytochrome b558 supported superoxide production in a cell-free assay containing recombinant p47phox, p67phox, and p21Rac. The enzymatic turnover of the partially purified recombinant cytochrome b558 and neutrophil cytochrome b558 were similar (approximately 100-160 mol of superoxide generated/s/mol of cytochrome heme, range of two experiments) and the native and recombinant cytochromes showed similar requirements for NADPH and exogenous FAD. These studies represent the first reconstitution of the NADPH oxidase solely from recombinant proteins and define a model system to explore the structure and function of cytochrome b558.

Autocrine Transforming Growth Factor-beta Growth Pathway in Murine Osteosarcoma Cell Lines Associated with Inability to Affect Phosphorylation of Retinoblastoma Protein.

Purpose. Production of active transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta ) by human osteosarcoma may contribute to malignant progression through mechanisms that include induction of angiogenesis, immune suppression and autocrine growth stimulation of tumor cell growth.To study events associated with induction of cell proliferation by TGF-beta , we have evaluated the TGF-beta pathway in two murine osteosarcoma cell lines, K7 and K12.Results. Northern and immunohistochemical analyses show that each cell line expressesTGF-beta1 and TGF-beta3 mRNA and protein. Both cell lines secrete activeTGF-beta 1 and display a 30-50% reduction in growth when cultured in the presence of a TGF-beta blocking antibody. Expression of TGF-beta receptors TbetaRI, TbetaRII and TbetaRIII is demonstrated by affinity labeling with (125) -TGF-beta 1, and the intermediates, Smads 2, 3 and 4, are uniformly expressed. Smads 2 and 3 are phosphorylated in response toTGF-beta , while pRb phosphorylation in each osteosarcoma cell line is not affected by either exogenousTGF-beta or TGF-beta antibody.Conclusions. The data implicate events downstream of Smad activation, including impaired regulation of pRb, in the lack of a growth inhibitory response toTGF-beta , and indicate that this murine model of osteosarcoma is valid for investigating the roles of autocrineTGF-beta in vivo.