Matrix metalloproteinases targeting in prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common tumors affecting men all over the world. PCa has brought a huge health burden to men around the world, especially for elderly men, but its pathogenesis is unclear. In prostate cancer, epigenetic inheritance plays an important role in the development, progression, and metastasis of the disease. An important role in cancer invasion and metastasis is played by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), zinc-dependent proteases that break down extracellular matrix. We review two important forms of epigenetic modification and the role of matrix metalloproteinases in tumor regulation, both of which may be of significant value as novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis monitoring. The author considers that both mechanisms have promising therapeutic applications for therapeutic agent research in prostate cancer, but that efforts should be made to mitigate or eliminate the side effects of drug therapy in order to maximize quality of life of patients. The understanding of epigenetic modification, MMPs, and their inhibitors in the functional regulation of prostate cancer is gradually advancing, it will provide a new technical means for the prevention of prostate cancer, early diagnosis, androgen-independent prostate cancer treatment, and drug research.

Characteristics and properties of the quaternary ammonium-functionalized micron chitosan modified by zinc citrate chelates for encapsulation of betanin.

Betanin is a high-value bioactive ingredient, but its application in the food industry is limited by its easy degradability. Encapsulation can improve the stability of various ingredients and is widely used in the food industry. In this work, chitosan modified by zinc citrate chelates (CS@Zn-CQDs) were synthesized by one-pot synthesis and the surface of them was quaternary ammonium modified to get quaternary ammonium-functionalized micron chitosan modified by zinc citrate chelates (MQACS@Zn-CQDs). The loading capacity of MQACS@Zn-CQDs was 58.79%, which is higher than that of chitosan (CS, 0.72%), CS@Zn-CQDs (3.5%) and quaternary-ammonium functionalized CS@Zn-CQDs (QACS@Zn-CQDs, 50.47%). Encapsulation can keep the antioxidation ability of betalaines under high-temperature and alkaline (pH=10) environment, and the retained antioxidant activity of encapsulated betalaines is significantly higher than that of un-encapsulated betalaines. The cell viability was over 90% in betanin, CS, and betanin-MQACS@Zn-CQDs, showing that they have ideal food safety. CS, CS@Zn-CQDs, and MQACS@Zn-CQDs have good betanin delivery ability, and above 75% of betanin release was occurred in the intestine. MQACS@Zn-CQDs showed bacteriostatic activity against the spoilage bacteria derived from baked bread. In summary, MQACS@Zn-CQDs can be regarded as a promising novel carrier for the encapsulation of betanin or other hydrophilic nutraceuticals, and they have the potential of use in baked bread to inhibit spoilage bacteria.

[The Genome-Wide Changes in Expression Profile of CML T Cells After Up-regulation of TCRζ Chain Expression].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the changes in the gene expression profile of T cells in CML patients after TCRζ up-regulation expression, and to explore the molecular mechanism of T cell reactivation after transgenic up-regulation of TCRζ. METHODS: The peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) from 3 newly untreated chronic-stage CML patients were collected, and the CD3+ T cells were obtained by MACS method. The TCRζ-IRES2-EGFP (experimental group) and pIRES2-EGFP (control group) plasmids were transfected into T cells by nuclear transfection technique. The gene expression profiles of CML T cells up-regulated TCRζ chain and control cells were detected by Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 2.0 ST Array. The differentially expressed genes were analyzed by GO functional annotation analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2248 differentially-expressed genes were obtained, including 553 up-regulated genes and 1695 down-regulated genes in experimental group as compared with those in control group (P<0.05) . The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that differentially expressed genes involved in the biological processes related to T cell immune function, such as TCR signaling pathway, T cell proliferation and activation. Some of core genes involved in promoting the TCR signaling pathway, T cell proliferation, activation and apoptosis pathways were significantly up-regulated, while some core genes involved in inhibiting T cell activation were significantly down-regulated. CONCLUSION: The molecular mechanism of the significantly improved T cell activation and proliferation ability in CML patients after TCRζ up-regulation may be related to the differential transcripts mediated signaling pathways of T cell activation, proliferation and apoptosis.

Anti-fat effect and mechanism of polysaccharide-enriched extract from Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Obesity is a global epidemic. Recent studies have shown that Cyclocarya paliurus (C. paliurus) leaves have the potential to alleviate fat deposits. However, the fat-reducing mechanism of it remains unclear. Using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model, we found that C. paliurus polysaccharide (CPP) significantly decreased fat storage in both normal and high-fat worms without affecting the movement. Moreover, the size and number of lipid droplets were reduced in CPP-treated ZXW618 worms. In energy metabolism, CPP decreased Escherichia coli (E. coli) OP50 growth and pharyngeal pumping and increased the expression of vit-2. In lipid metabolism, CPP down-regulated the expression of the sbp-1 and nhr-49 genes by modulating mdt-15 to prevent the expression of the Δ9-desaturase genes (fat-5, fat-6 and fat-7). Meanwhile, the expression of the acs-2 genes, the downstream of nhr-49, was suppressed by CPP. These findings provided insights into the CPP-induced anti-fat mechanisms, which contributed to the application of CPP in anti-obesity drugs.