Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 particapates in ozone-induced lung inflammation and airway remodeling in mice / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the roles of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in ozone-induced pulmonary inflammation and airway remodeling in mice.@*METHODS@#Sixteen wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J mice and 16 ACE2 knock-out (KO) mice were exposed to either filtered air or ozone (0.8 ppm) for 3 h per day for 5 consecutive days. Masson's staining and HE staining were used to observe lung pathologies. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected and the total cell count was determined. The total proteins and cytokines in BALF were determined by BCA and ELISA method. The transcription levels of airway remodeling-related indicators in the lung tissues were detected using real-time quantitative PCR. The airway resistance of the mice was measured using a small animal ventilator with methacholine stimulation.@*RESULTS@#Following ozoneexposure ACE2 KO mice had significantly higher lung pathological scores than WT mice (P < 0.05). Masson staining results showed that compared with ozone-exposed WT mice, ozone-exposed ACE2 KO mice presented with significantly larger area of collagen deposition in the bronchi [(19.62±3.16)% vs (6.49±1.34)%, P < 0.05] and alveoli [(21.63±3.78)% vs (4.44±0.99)%, P < 0.05]. The total cell count and total protein contents in the BALF were both higher in ozone-exposed ACE2 KO mice than in WT mice, but these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The concentrations of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, CXCL1/KC and MCP-1 in the BALF were all higher in ozone-exposed ACE2 KO mice than in ozone-exposed WT mice, but only the difference in IL-1β was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The transcription levels of MMP-9, MMP-13, TIMP 4, COL1A1, and TGF-β in the lung tissues were all significantly higher in ozone-exposed ACE2 KO mice (P < 0.01). No significant difference was found in airway resistance between ozone-exposed ACE KO mice and WT mice after challenge with 0, 10, 25, or 100 mg/mL of methacholine.@*CONCLUSION@#ACE2 participates in ozone-induced lung inflammation and airway remodeling in mice.

Inhibitory effects of polyphyllins I and VII on human cisplatin-resistant NSCLC via p53 upregulation and CIP2A/AKT/mTOR signaling axis inhibition / 中国天然药物

Cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) is a human oncoprotein that is overexpressed in multiple kinds of cancers including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). CIP2A plays an 'oncogenic nexus' to participate in the tumorigenesis and chemoresistance in several cancer types. AKT and mTORC1 overactivation are detected in NSCLC and many other cancers. Previous studies found that the CIP2A/AKT/mTOR pathway controls cell growth, apoptosis, autophagy process. Polyphyllin I (PPI) and polyphyllin VII (PPVII) are natural components extracted from Paris polyphylla that display anti-cancer properties. In the present study, we investigated whether PPI and PPVII can be used in the cisplatin (DDP)-resistant human NSCLC cell line A549/DDP. Results demonstrated that PPI and PPVII treatment significantly suppressed A549/DDP cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT, induced apoptosis and autophagy. Further examination of the mechanism revealed that the PPI and PPVII significantly upregulated the p53, induced caspase-dependent apoptosis and suppressed the CIP2A/AKT/mTOR pathway. The activation of autophagy was mediated through PPI and PPVII induced inhibition of mTOR. We propose that PPI and PPVII might be developed as candidate drugs for DDP-resistant NSCLC.

The effects of monocyte-macrophages on malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells induced by extracts from coal tar pitch / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of monocyte-macrophages (THP-1) in malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) cells induced by coal tar pitch (CTP) and the expression of TNF-α in the process of the cell malignant transformation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>BEAS-2B cells and THP-1 Cells were divided into four groups: coal tar pitch (CTP) group, benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] group, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) group, BEAS-2B and THP-1 co-culture (co-culture group) group. Carcinogenesis model was established. The soft agar colony formation, chromosome aberrations and cell cycle tests were used to detect the cellular malignant transformation. The ELISA assay was utilized to measure the levels of TNF-α in the supernatant of CTP group and co-culture group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The chromosome number abnormalities could be observed in early stage of the experiment (the 10th generation cells), which showed the increased ratio of aneuploid to polyploid, and the decreased number of diploid. The colony formation rate of co-culture group (the 20th generation cells) was 17.63‰ ± 0.97‰, which was significantly higher than that (13.94‰ ± 0.84‰) of CTP group and that (12.96‰ ± 1.62‰) of B(a)P group (P < 0.05). The proportion of S phase cells in the co-culture group was 44.49% ± 0.68%, which was significantly higher than that (38.19% ± 1.26%) of CTP group and that (36.41% ± 1.19%) of B(a)P group (P < 0.05). The TNF-α level in the co-culture group was significantly higher than that in CTP group (P = 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Monocyte-Macrophages can accelerate the malignant transformation of BEAS-2B cells induced by CTP and increase the expression level of TNF-α.</p>

Diagnosis and prediction of lung cancer through different classification techniques with tumor markers / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study which classification model was most suitable for establishing a multi-tumor markers lung cancer prediction model, through established logistic regression model, decision trees model and artificial neural network model.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RIA analysis, ELISA, spectrophotometry, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and atomic absorption spectrometry were used to measure the serum CEA, CA125, gastrin, NSE, beta2-MG, Sil-6 receptors, sialic acid, nitric oxide, Cu, Zn, Ca and the pseudo-urine nucleoside of urine samples in lung cancer patients, benign lung disease patients and healthy controls. The lung cancer diagnosis models were established by logistic regression analysis, decision tree analysis and artificial neural network training.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The diagnosis sensitivities of the logistic regression analysis, decision tree analysis and artificial neural network model with 12 tumor markers in lung cancer were 94.00%, 100.00% and 100.00%; the specificity were 100.00%, 98.89% and 100.00%; the total accurate 94.29%, 95.00% and 90.00%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results of three classification models with 12 tumor markers in diagnosis of lung cancer are ideal. Especially the C5.0 decision tree model and the artificial neural network model are more suitable for the prediction and diagnosis of the lung cancer.</p>