Search

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we reported that transplantation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) significantly attenuated liver damage in a mouse autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) model. Moreover, expression of the LIM domain protein, LMO7, correlated positively with the invasive capacity of hepatoma cells. However, whether LMO7 plays a role in inflammation and fibrosis of AIH remains unknown. This investigation aimed to explore the effect of BMSC transplantation on LMO7 and the role of LMO7 in hepatic fibrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: S100-induced murine AIH and LPS-induced hepatocyte injury models were successfully established. Three doses of BMSCs were injected into AIH mice via the tail vein. LPS-treated AML12 cells were co-cultured with BMSCs in vitro. Small interfering (si) LMO7 RNA and T5224 (a specific inhibitor of AP-1) were used to demonstrate the relationship between LMO7-AP1-transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. RESULTS: Pathological examination and serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferase levels indicated that liver damage was notably ameliorated in the BMSC-treated mice. LMO7 level was upregulated, while AP-1 and TGF-β levels were downregulated upon intervention with BMSCs. AP-1 expression was upregulated in the siLMO7 group, whereas TGF-β level was downregulated in the T5224 group when compared to those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: BMSC transplantation significantly limits liver fibrosis and upregulates the expression of LMO7. LMO7 inhibits the TGF-β pathway by inhibiting AP-1. This implies that BMSCs are a potential means of treating liver fibrosis. This approach has important implications for the treatment of AIH and other fibrotic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To uncover the role of FOXD2-AS1 in aggravating the progression of cervical cancer (CC) by negatively regulating caudal-related homeobox 1 (CDX1). MATERIALS AND METHODS: FOXD2-AS1 levels in CC tissues with different tumor sizes and tumor staging were detected. Meanwhile, FOXD2-AS1 levels in CC patients either with vascular invasion, lymphatic metastasis or not were detected. Survival analysis on CC patients expressing high level or low level of FOXD2-AS1 was conducted by introducing the Kaplan-Meier method. After the silence of FOXD2-AS1, proliferative changes in SiHa and HeLa cells were assessed through cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. Subcellular distribution of FOXD2-AS1 in CC cells was analyzed. Next, CDX1 level in CC tissues and para-tumor tissues was determined. The potential correlation between CDX1 level and FOXD2- AS1 level was evaluated by the linear regression analysis. At last, the regulatory effects of FOXD2-AS1/CDX1 on the proliferative ability of CC were examined. RESULTS: FOXD2-AS1 was upregulated in CC tissues relative to those of para-tumor tissues, especially in those with larger tumor size and advanced tumor staging. Its level was not correlated to vascular invasion and lymphatic metastasis of CC. CC patients expressing a high level of FOXD2-AS1 suffered worse prognosis than those with low level. The silence of FOXD2- AS1 attenuated SiHa and HeLa cells to proliferate. FOXD2-AS1 was found to be mainly enriched in the nucleus. CDX1 was downregulated in CC tissues and its level was negatively regulated by FOXD2-AS1. The silence of CDX1 could reverse the regulatory effect of FOXD2-AS1 on the proliferative ability of CC cells. CONCLUSIONS: FOXD2-AS1 is upregulated in CC and its high level predicts a poor prognosis of CC patients. It accelerates the malignant progression of CC via negatively regulating CDX1 level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human epididymis protein 4(HE4) is a secretory glycoprotein found in human distal epididymis epithelial cells. It is often used in the early diagnosis, efficacy evaluation and monitoring of ovarian cancer, and also has been considered as an effective serum marker for many other types of cancer. However, its function in the process of sperm maturation is not fully unknown. The maturation of sperm in epididymis is characterized by the acquisition of motility and fertilization. As a member of the whey acid protein (WAP) family, several studies proposed the importance of HE4 in the maturity of sperm in epididymis. This article reviews the effect of HE4 on spermatozoa maturation in epididymis, which provides basis for the evaluation of male reproductive ability, early detection, early diagnosis and pathogenesis of male infertility.

Fibrin and collagen as well as their combinations play an important biological role in tissue regeneration and are widely employed in surgery as fleeces or sealants and in bioengineering as tissue scaffolds. Earlier studies demonstrated that fibrin-collagen composite networks displayed improved tensile mechanical properties compared to the isolated protein matrices. Unlike previous studies, here unconfined compression was applied to a fibrin-collagen filamentous polymer composite matrix to study its structural and mechanical responses to compressive deformation. Combining collagen with fibrin resulted in formation of a composite hydrogel exhibiting synergistic mechanical properties compared to the isolated fibrin and collagen matrices. Specifically, the composite matrix revealed a one order of magnitude increase in the shear storage modulus at compressive strains>0.8 in response to compression compared to the mechanical features of individual components. These material enhancements were attributed to the observed structural alterations, such as network density changes, an increase in connectivity along with criss-crossing, and bundling of fibers. In addition, the compressed composite collagen/fibrin networks revealed a non-linear transformation of their viscoelastic properties with softening and stiffening regimes. These transitions were shown to depend on protein concentrations. Namely, a decrease in protein content drastically affected the mechanical response of the networks to compression by shifting the onset of stiffening to higher degrees of compression. Since both natural and artificially composed extracellular matrices experience compression in various (patho)physiological conditions, our results provide new insights into the structural biomechanics of the polymeric composite matrix that can help to create fibrin-collagen sealants, sponges, and tissue scaffolds with tunable and predictable mechanical properties., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this research, urea-spiked hydrazine hydrate solutions are used as reductants for the Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) De-NOx process below 650 °C. The urea concentration in the urea/hydrazine hydrate solutions is chosen through experimental and theoretical studies. To determine the mechanism of the De-NOx process, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the urea/hydrazine hydrate solutions and their thermal decomposition in air and nitrogen atmospheres were studied to understand their decomposition behaviours and redox characteristics. Then a plug flow reactor (PFR) model was adopted to simulate the De-NOx processes in a pilot scale tubular reactor, and the calculated De-NOx efficiency vs. temperature profiles were compared with experimental results to support the mechanism and choose the proper reductant and its reaction temperature. Both the experimental and calculated results show that when the urea is spiked into hydrazine hydrate solution to make the urea-N content approximately 16.7%-25% of the total N content in the solution, better De-NOx efficiencies can be obtained in the temperature range of 550-650 °C, under which NH3 is inactive in reducing NOx. And it is also proved that for these urea-spiked hydrazine hydrate solutions, the hydrazine decomposition through the pathway N2H4 + M = N2H3 + H + M is enhanced to provide radical H, which is active to reduce NO. Finally, the reaction routes for SNCR De-NOx process based on urea-spiked hydrazine hydrate at the proper temperature are proposed., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)