Formin homology domains of Daam1 bind to Fascin and collaboratively promote pseudopodia formation and cell migration in breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Cancer cell migration to secondary organs remains an essential cause of death among breast cancer (BrCa) patients. Cell motility mainly relies on actin dynamics. Our previous reports verified that dishevelled-associated activator of morphogenesis 1 (Daam1) regulates invadopodia extension and BrCa cell motility. However, how Daam1 is involved in actin filament assembly and promotes pseudopodia formation in BrCa cells remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred human BrCa samples were collected at Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to examine Daam1 and Fascin expression. Wound healing and Boyden chamber assays were used to explore cell migration and pseudopodia extension of BrCa cells. Co-IP/pull down and Western blotting were performed to study the physical interaction between Daam1 and Fascin. Immunofluorescence assays were performed to observe whether Daam1 and Fascin were colocalized and mediated actin filament assembly. RESULTS: Fascin was upregulated in BrCa tissues compared with that in paracarcinoma tissues. The downregulation of Fascin caused a decline in pseudopodia formation and cell motility. Moreover, we found that Daam1 interacted with Fascin via formin homology (FH) domains, especially the FH2 domain. Immunofluorescence assays showed that Daam1 and Fascin partially colocalized to actin filaments, and the knockdown of Daam1 or Fascin failed to colocalize to short and curved actin filaments. CONCLUSIONS: Daam1 specifically binds to Fascin via FH domains and cooperatively facilitates pseudopodia formation and cell migration by promoting actin filament assembly in BrCa.

Metandem: An online software tool for mass spectrometry-based isobaric labeling metabolomics.

Mass spectrometry-based stable isotope labeling provides the advantages of multiplexing capability and accurate quantification but requires tailored bioinformatics tools for data analysis. Despite the rapid advancements in analytical methodology, it is often challenging to analyze stable isotope labeling-based metabolomics data, particularly for isobaric labeling using MS/MS reporter ions for quantification. We report Metandem, a novel online software tool for isobaric labeling-based metabolomics, freely available at http://metandem.com/web/. Metandem provides a comprehensive data analysis pipeline integrating feature extraction, metabolite quantification, metabolite identification, batch processing of multiple data files, online parameter optimization for custom datasets, data normalization, and statistical analysis. Systematic evaluation of the Metandem tool was demonstrated on UPLC-MS/MS, nanoLC-MS/MS, CE-MS/MS and MALDI-MS platforms, via duplex, 4-plex, 10-plex, and 12-plex isobaric labeling experiments and the application to various biological samples.

Correlation Between Adiponectin Gene rs1501299 Polymorphism and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Susceptibility: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Metabolic related nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most prevalent chronic liver diseases around the world. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1501299 (+276G>T) in the adiponectin gene has been recently revealed to be responsible for susceptibility to NAFLD. This meta-analysis intended to assess the association risk of NAFLD and rs1501299 polymorphism. MATERIAL AND METHODS We conducted a literature search on PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. All involved studies were selected based on our search criteria. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to quantify the strength of the association. Subgroup analysis considered the effects of ethnicity, subject scope, and source of control. Publication bias was assessed by Begg's tests. RESULTS Eight qualified case-control studies with 1639 patients and 1426 controls demonstrated a significant correlation between rs1501299 polymorphism in adiponectin and NAFLD under the dominant model (OR=1.18, 95% CI=1.02-1.36), allelic contrast (OR=1.21, 95% CI=1.09-1.36), homozygote comparison (OR=1.63, 95% CI=1.26-2.01) and the recessive allele model (OR=1.58, 95% CI=1.23-2.02) with evident heterogeneity. No association was observed between the risk of NAFLD and the genotypic variants in heterozygote comparison (OR=1.11, 95% CI=0.95-1.29) without heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis suggested that the sample size could be the potential source of heterogeneity. Source of control was not the reason for between-study heterogeneity and further sensitivity analysis and publication bias revealed good consistency and symmetry in the pooling studies. CONCLUSIONS Results from our current meta-analysis gave insight into the correlation between rs1501299 polymorphism and the risk of NAFLD, indicating the variant of rs1501299 might be related to increased NAFLD susceptibility.

Angiopoietin 2 promotes angiogenesis in tissue-engineered bone and improves repair of bone defects by inducing autophagy.

Angiogenesis plays a key role in the repair of large segmental bone defects with tissue-engineered bones. However, there is no effective method of promoting angiogenesis in tissue-engineered bone. Both angiopoietin 2 (Ang2) and autophagy have been shown to be involved in angiogenesis, but their roles in angiogenesis of tissue-engineered bone remains unknown. In this in vivo study, a radius bone defect was created in New Zealand white rabbits, which were then treated by implantation of a hydroxyapatite/collagen scaffold followed by injection of different concentrations of Ang2. Expression of the autophagic modulators microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), Beclin-1, and SQSTM1/P62 were measured via western blotting, while the angiogenic modulators VEGF and CD31 were detected by western blotting and immunohistochemistry, respectively. X-ray imaging combined with general observation was used to evaluate bone defect healing. Expression of LC3 -I/LC3-II, Beclin-1, VEGF, and CD31 in the callus area increased and SQSTM1/p62 decreased in a dose-dependent manner with increasing Ang2 concentration. In the group treated with a high concentration of Ang2, the new callus grew well, accompanied by remarkable angiogenesis, leading to good repair of the bone defects. However, in the low concentration of Ang2 group, in spite of the existence of angiogenesis and new bone formation, the bone defects were not repaired. Furthermore, angiogenesis and osteogenesis were both obstructed in the control group. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that a high concentration of Ang2 promoted angiogenesis in tissue-engineered bone and improved repair of bone defects by inducing autophagy.

Involvement of xanthine oxidase and paraoxonase 1 in the process of oxidative stress in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Xanthine oxidase (XOD) and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) are important enzymes in redox reactions in vivo, and are predominantly synthesized by the liver. The aim of the present study was to investigate the redox state in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and determine the association between the activities of XOD and PON1 and the severity of NAFLD. Sprague­Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, model and α­lipoic acid (high and low dose) groups. The rats in the NAFLD model were induced by feeding a high fat diet for 12 weeks and the in vitro cell model of hepatocyte steatosis was induced by treating L­02 cells with oleic acid for 24 h. The body weight, liver function, lipid and oxidative stress indices, and histological features of the liver were examined in the rats. Compared with the control group, the rats in the NAFLD model group showed impaired liver function, lipid disorders and damage from oxidative stress. The serum activity of XOD increased significantly from the 4th week and was markedly higher, compared with that in the control group, reaching a peak in the 12th week. The activity of PON1 was negatively correlated with that of XOD. Compared with the control cells, the activity of XOD and levels of free­fatty acids were significantly higher, and the activity of PON1 was significantly lower in the NAFLD L­02 cell model. All the above indicators were significantly improved by treatment with the antioxidant, α­lipoic acid. The activities of XOD and PON1 may be promising as markers in a noninvasive approach for detecting the severity of NAFLD clinically. α­lipoic acid had protective effects on the NAFLD rats, and the potential mechanism may be associated with the inhibition of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation.

Clinical utility of haptoglobin in combination with CEA, NSE and CYFRA21-1 for diagnosis of lung cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical value in lung cancer of a combination of four serum tumor markers, haptoglobin (Hp), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron specific enolase (NSE) as well as the cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum Hp (with immune-turbidimetric method), CEA, NSE, CYFRA21-1 (with chemiluminescence method) level were assessed in 193 patients with lung cancer, 87 patients with benign lung disease and 150 healthy controls. Differences of expression were compared among groups, and joint effects of these tumor markers for the diagnosis of lung cancer were analyzed. RESULTS: Serum tumor marker levels in patients with lung cancer were obviously higher than those with benign lung disease and normal controls (p<0.01). The sensitivities of Hp, CEA, NSE and CYFRA21-1 were 43.5%, 40.9%, 23.3% and 41.5%, with specificities of 90.7%, 99.2%, 97.9% and 97.9%. Four tumor markers combined together could produce a positive detection rate of 85.0%, significantly higher than that of any single test. With squamous carcinomas, the positive detection rates with Hp and CYFRA21-1 were higher than that of other markers. In the adenocarcinoma case , the positive detection rate of CEA was higher than that of other markers. For small cell carcinomas, the positive detection rate of NSE was highest. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCROC) of Hp in squamous carcinoma (0.805) was higher than in adenocarcinoma (0.664) and small cell carcinoma (0.665). CONCLUSIONS: Hp can be used as a new serum tumor marker for lung cancer. Combination detection of Hp, CEA, NSE and CYFRA21-1 could significantly improve the sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of lung cancer, and could be useful for pathological typing.

Adenovirus-mediated dual gene expression of human interleukin-10 and hepatic growth factor exerts protective effect against CCl4-induced hepatocyte injury in rats.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte injury is a common pathological cause of various liver diseases. Due to a lack of an effective preventive treatment, gene therapy has become an interesting approach to prevent and alleviate liver injury. AIMS: A protective effect of adenovirus-mediated dual gene expression of human interleukin-10 (hIL-10) and human hepatocyte growth factor (hHGF) was investigated against tetrachloromethane (CCl(4))-induced hepatocyte injury in rats. METHODS: An adenoviral vector carrying the hIL-10 and hHGF genes was constructed, and its protective effect against rat hepatocyte injury was investigated both in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS: In the in vitro CCl(4)-induced cell injury model, simultaneous transfection of hIL-10 and hHGF genes via an adenoviral vector resulted in production of anti-hepatocyte biological factors by an autocrine mechanism, then significantly improved hepatocyte viability. In the in vivo rat model, synergistic effects of these two gene products protected hepatocytes from damage by reducing the CC1(4)-induced hepatocyte degeneration, hepatic fibrosis, and intrahepatic inflammatory cell infiltration, thereby preserving liver function. CONCLUSION: Adenovirus-mediated dual gene expression of hIL-10 and hHGF effectively protected against liver damage by likely regulating immune responses to reduce hepatocyte injury and by promoting hepatocyte regeneration. The hIL-10 and hHGF dual gene expression vector has significant potential in the field of liver disease therapeutics and constitutes one of the most promising current strategies for gene therapy.

CARM1 is an important determinant of ERα-dependent breast cancer cell differentiation and proliferation in breast cancer cells.

Breast cancers with estrogen receptor α (ERα) expression are often more differentiated histologically than ERα-negative tumors, but the reasons for this difference are poorly understood. One possible explanation is that transcriptional cofactors associated with ERα determine the expression of genes which promote a more differentiated phenotype. In this study, we identify one such cofactor as coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1), a unique coactivator of ERα that can simultaneously block cell proliferation and induce differentiation through global regulation of ERα-regulated genes. CARM1 was evidenced as an ERα coactivator in cell-based assays, gene expression microarrays, and mouse xenograft models. In human breast tumors, CARM1 expression positively correlated with ERα levels in ER-positive tumors but was inversely correlated with tumor grade. Our findings suggest that coexpression of CARM1 and ERα may provide a better biomarker of well-differentiated breast cancer. Furthermore, our findings define an important functional role of this histone arginine methyltransferase in reprogramming ERα-regulated cellular processes, implicating CARM1 as a putative epigenetic target in ER-positive breast cancers.

EzArray: a web-based highly automated Affymetrix expression array data management and analysis system.

BACKGROUND: Though microarray experiments are very popular in life science research, managing and analyzing microarray data are still challenging tasks for many biologists. Most microarray programs require users to have sophisticated knowledge of mathematics, statistics and computer skills for usage. With accumulating microarray data deposited in public databases, easy-to-use programs to re-analyze previously published microarray data are in high demand. RESULTS: EzArray is a web-based Affymetrix expression array data management and analysis system for researchers who need to organize microarray data efficiently and get data analyzed instantly. EzArray organizes microarray data into projects that can be analyzed online with predefined or custom procedures. EzArray performs data preprocessing and detection of differentially expressed genes with statistical methods. All analysis procedures are optimized and highly automated so that even novice users with limited pre-knowledge of microarray data analysis can complete initial analysis quickly. Since all input files, analysis parameters, and executed scripts can be downloaded, EzArray provides maximum reproducibility for each analysis. In addition, EzArray integrates with Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and allows instantaneous re-analysis of published array data. CONCLUSION: EzArray is a novel Affymetrix expression array data analysis and sharing system. EzArray provides easy-to-use tools for re-analyzing published microarray data and will help both novice and experienced users perform initial analysis of their microarray data from the location of data storage. We believe EzArray will be a useful system for facilities with microarray services and laboratories with multiple members involved in microarray data analysis. EzArray is freely available from http://www.ezarray.com/.

Crystal structure of MHC class II I-Ab in complex with a human CLIP peptide: prediction of an I-Ab peptide-binding motif.

Association between the class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and the class II invariant chain-associated peptide (CLIP) occurs naturally as an intermediate step in the MHC class II processing pathway. Here, we report the crystal structure of the murine class II MHC molecule I-A(b) in complex with human CLIP at 2.15A resolution. The structure of I-A(b) accounts, via the peptide-binding groove's unique physicochemistry, for the distinct peptide repertoire bound by this allele. CLIP adopts a similar conformation to peptides bound by other I-A alleles, reinforcing the notion that CLIP is presented as a conventional peptide antigen. When compared to the related HLA-DR3/CLIP complex structure, the CLIP peptide displays a slightly different conformation and distinct interaction pattern with residues in I-A(b). In addition, after examining the published sequences of peptides presented by I-A(b), we discuss the possibility of predicting peptide alignment in the I-A(b) binding groove using a simple scoring matrix.