Bufalin reverses ABCB1-mediated drug resistance in colorectal cancer.

Multidrug resistance (MDR), mainly mediated by ABCB1 transporter, is a major cause for chemotherapy failure. Bufalin (BU), an active component of the traditional Chinese medicine chan'su, has been reported to have antitumor effects on various types of cancer cells. The purpose of this present study was to investigate the reversal effect of BU on ABCB1-mediated multidrug resistance in colorectal cancer. BU at safe concentration (5, 10, 20 nM) could reverse chemosensitivity of ABCB1-overexpression HCT8/ADR, LoVo/ADR and HCT8/ABCB1 nearly back to their parental cells level. In addition, results from the drug accumulation studies revealed that BU was able to enhance intracellular accumulation of doxorubicin (DOX) and Rhodamine 123 (Rho-123) in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, Western blot assays showed that BU significantly inhibited the expression level of ABCB1 protein. Meanwhile, BU stimulated the ATPase activity of ABCB1, which suggested that BU might be a substrate of ABCB1. More interestingly, docking analysis predicted that BU could be docked into the large hydrophobic drug-binding cavity of human ABCB1. Importantly, BU remarkable increased the effect of DOX against the ABCB1 resistant HCT8/ADR colorectal cell xenografts in nude mice, without inducing any obvious toxicity. Overall, we concluded that BU efficiently reversed ABCB1-mediated MDR through not only inhibited the efflux function of ABCB1, but also down-regulate its protein expression, which might represent a potential and superior ABCB1 modulator in colorectal cancer.

Multifunctional WS2 @Poly(ethylene imine) Nanoplatforms for Imaging Guided Gene-Photothermal Synergistic Therapy of Cancer.

The combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) with gene therapy (GT) to improve PTT efficiency and thus eliminate cancer cells under mild hyperthermia is highly needed. Herein, multifunctional WS2 @poly(ethylene imine) (WS2 @PEI) nanoplatform has been designed and constructed for gene-photothermal synergistic therapy of tumors at mild condition. After a surface modification of WS2 with a positively charged PEI, the as-prepared WS2 @PEI nanoplatform can not only act as an efficient survivin-siRNA carrier for GT but also exhibit remarkable near-infrared (NIR) photothermal effects for PTT. On the one hand, the photothermal effects induced by WS2 @PEI upon NIR irradiation can enhance the cellular uptake owing to the increase of the cell membrane permeability, which leads to the remarkable enhancement of silencing efficiency of survivin. On the other hand, the silencing of survivin can increase the apoptosis as well as reduce the heat resistance of cancer cells by downregulating the heat shock protein 70 expressions, which greatly enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to PTT. As a result, compared to PTT or GT treatment alone, WS2 @PEI mediated synergistic GT/PTT therapy remarkably enhances in vitro cancer cell damage and in vivo tumor elimination.

Molecular Basis of Transient Neonatal Zinc Deficiency: NOVEL ZnT2 MUTATIONS DISRUPTING ZINC BINDING AND PERMEATION.

A gradually increasing number of transient neonatal zinc deficiency (TNZD) cases was recently reported, all of which were associated with inactivating ZnT2 mutations. Here we characterized the impact of three novel heterozygous ZnT2 mutations G280R, T312M, and E355Q, which cause TNZD in exclusively breastfed infants of Japanese mothers. We used the bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay to provide direct visual evidence for the in situ dimerization of these ZnT2 mutants, and to explore their subcellular localization. Moreover, using three complementary functional assays, zinc accumulation using BiFC-Zinquin and Zinpyr-1 fluorescence as well as zinc toxicity assay, we determined the impact of these ZnT2 mutations on vesicular zinc accumulation. Although all three mutants formed homodimers with the wild type (WT) ZnT2 and retained substantial vesicular localization, as well as vesicular zinc accumulation, they had no dominant-negative effect over the WT ZnT2. Furthermore, using advanced bioinformatics, structural modeling, and site-directed mutagenesis we found that these mutations localized at key residues, which play an important physiological role in zinc coordination (G280R and E355Q) and zinc permeation (T312M). Collectively, our findings establish that some heterozygous loss of function ZnT2 mutations disrupt zinc binding and zinc permeation, thereby suggesting a haploinsufficiency state for the unaffected WT ZnT2 allele in TNZD pathogenesis. These results highlight the burning need for the development of a suitable genetic screen for the early diagnosis of TNZD to prevent morbidity.

Transduction without tip links in cochlear hair cells is mediated by ion channels with permeation properties distinct from those of the mechano-electrical transducer channel.

Tip links between adjacent stereocilia are believed to gate mechano-electrical transducer (MET) channels and mediate the electrical responses of sensory hair cells. We found that mouse auditory hair cells that lack tip links due to genetic mutations or exposure to the Ca(2+) chelator BAPTA can, however, still respond to mechanical stimuli. These MET currents have unusual properties and are predominantly of the opposite polarity relative to those measured when tip links are present. There are other striking differences, for example, the channels are usually all closed when the hair cell is not stimulated and the currents in response to strong stimuli can be substantially larger than normal. These anomalous MET currents can also be elicited early in development, before the onset of mechano-electrical transduction with normal response polarity. Current-voltage curves of the anomalous MET currents are linear and do not show the rectification characteristic of normal MET currents. The permeant MET channel blocker dihydrostreptomycin is two orders of magnitude less effective in blocking the anomalous MET currents. The findings suggest the presence of a large population of MET channels with pore properties that are distinct from those of normal MET channels. These channels are not gated by hair-bundle links and can be activated under a variety of conditions in which normal tip-link-mediated transduction is not operational.

Comprehensive screening of human genes with inhibitory effects on yeast growth and validation of a yeast cell-based system for screening chemicals.

To evaluate yeast as a high-throughput cell-based system for screening chemicals that may lead to drug development, 10,302 full-length human cDNAs (~50% of the total cDNAs) were introduced into yeast. Approximately 5.6% (583 clones) of the cDNAs repressed the growth of yeast. Notably, ~25% of the repressive cDNAs encoded uncharacterized proteins. Small chemicals can be readily surveyed by monitoring their restorative effects on the growth of yeast. The authors focused on protein kinases because protein kinases are involved in various diseases. Among 263 protein kinase cDNAs (~50% of the total) expressed in yeast, 60 cDNAs (~23%), including c-Yes, a member of the Src tyrosine kinase family, inhibited the growth of yeast. Known inhibitors for protein kinases were examined for whether they reversed the c-Yes-induced inhibition of the yeast growth. Among 85 inhibitors tested, 6 compounds (PP2, PP1, SU6656, purvalanol, radicicol, and geldanamycin) reversed the inhibition, indicating a high specificity sufficient for validating this screening system. Human c-Yes was found to interact with Hsc82, one of the yeast chaperones. Radicicol and geldanamycin probably exerted their actions through interactions with Hsc82. These results indicate that when human proteins requiring molecular chaperones for their activities are subjected to the yeast screening system, 2 groups of chemicals may be found. The actions of one group are exerted through direct interactions with the human proteins, whereas those of the other group are mediated through interactions with chaperones.

Biophysical effects of pore mutations of ROMK1.

Potassium channels are ubiquitous, being present in all living organisms. These proteins share common structural elements, which confer common functional features. In general, all K+ channels have a high selectivity for K+, and are blocked by cations of similar dimensions, such as Cs+ and Ba2+. Mutations in the pore region tend to lead to either the total loss of function or K+ selectivity. We have made mutations to one of the most highly conserved residues of the pore, glycine-143, of the inward rectifier ROMK1 (Kir1.1), and examined the resulting channel properties in the Xenopus oocyte expression system with a two-electrode voltage clamp. Mutations G143A and G143R resulted in failure to express functional channels. Co-injection of wild-type ROMK1 cRNA with these mutants led to rescue of channel function, which was different from wild-type ROMK1. In both mutants, the sensitivity to Ba2+ and Cs+ was increased, the rate of onset of block by Ba2+ was enhanced, and the selectivity to potassium was reduced. Whereas the crystallographic evidence shows that cations bind to the carbonyl backbone of the pore-lining residues, the present results indicate that the side chains of these amino acids, which face away from the pore lining, also affect permeation.

Genetic analysis of organ fusion in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Postgenital organ fusion occurs most commonly during reproductive development and is important in many angiosperms during genesis of the carpel. Although a number of mutants have been described that manifest ectopic organ fusion, little is known about the genes involved in regulating this process. In this article we describe the characterization of a collection of 29 Arabidopsis mutants showing an organ fusion phenotype. Mapping and complementation analyses revealed that the mutant alleles define nine different loci distributed throughout the Arabidopsis genome. Multiple alleles were isolated for the four complementation groups showing the strongest organ fusion phenotype while the remaining five complementation groups, all of which show only weak floral organ fusion, have a single representative allele. In addition to fusion events between aerial parts of the shoot, some mutants also show abnormal ovule morphology with adjacent ovules joined together at maturity. Many of the fusion mutants isolated have detectable differences in the rate at which chlorophyll can be extracted; however, in one case no difference could be detected between mutant and wild-type plants. In three mutant lines pollen remained unresponsive to contact with the mutant epidermis, demonstrating that organ fusion and pollen growth responses can be genetically separated from one another.