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Most women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage and there are few therapeutic options. Recently, monoclonal antibody therapies have had limited success, thus more effective antibodies are needed to improve long-term survival. In this report, we prepared polyclonal rabbit anti-ovarian cancer antibody (Poly Ab) by immunizing rabbits with the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3. The Poly Ab bound to SKOV3 and inhibited the cancer cells proliferation. Western blot analysis was conducted, which indicated that Poly Ab inhibited cancer cells through apoptosis involving the caspase signaling pathway including caspase-3 and caspase-9. Finally, compared with the control antibody, administration of Poly Ab reached 64% and 72% tumor inhibition in the subcutaneous and intraperitoneal xenograft mouse model, respectively. Our findings suggest that Poly Ab is an effective agent for apoptosis induction and may be useful as a safe anticancer agent for ovarian cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new kind of biodegradable aliphatic polyetheresteramide copolymers (PEEA) based on $$\varepsilon$$ -caprolactone, 6-aminocaproic acid, and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were synthesized by melt polymerization method. The obtained copolymers were characterized by 1H-NMR. The thermal properties of PEEA copolymers were studied by DSC and TGA/DTA under nitrogen atmosphere. The water absorption and hydrolytic degradation behavior was also studied in detail. With the increase in PEG content or the decrease in caprolactone content, the water absorption of the copolymers increased accordingly. For the hydrolytic degradation behavior, with the increase in PEG content or caprolactone content, the degradation rate increased then. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human PNAS-4 was identified as a novel pro-apoptotic protein in mammalian cells. Here we report the cloning, expression, purification, and antibody production of a PNAS-4 homolog (named xPNAS-4) from Xenopus laevis, an extensively used model organism in exploring gene functions during embryonic development. Recombinant histidine-tagged xPNAS-4 protein was expressed in Escherichia coli as insoluble inclusion bodies. The inclusion bodies were subsequently dissolved in 8 M urea and purified to near homogeneity by Ni2+ affinity chromatography. The resulting denatured protein was refolded by stepwise dilution of urea concentration via dialysis. This procedure yielded about 4 mg refolded protein per liter of E. coli culture with a purity of 95%. The purified protein was identified by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS) and used to raise anti-xPNAS-4 polyclonal antibodies that were suitable for detecting the expression of PNAS-4 in X. laevis embryos by Western blotting. The availability of recombinant protein and specific polyclonal antibodies will provide a valuable tool in studying apoptotic mechanisms of this protein. To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate the presence of PNAS-4 in X. laevis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract??Hydrolytic degradable PBT/PEG copolymer was synthesized by macromolecular transesterification method from PBT and PEG macromonomers. The resultant copolymers were characterized by1H-NMR and GPC. The non-isothermal crystallization behavior of these copolymers was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The water absorption and hydrolytic degradation behavior of PBT/PEG copolymers were also studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a kind of aliphatic biodegradable polyesteramide (PEA) copolymer based on 6-aminocaproic acid, adipic acid, and 1,6-hexane diol was synthesized by melt polycondensation method, and was characterized by 1H-NMR, FTIR and DSC. The PEA fiber was prepared by melt-spinning method. Tensile properties of the as-spun and hot-drawn fibers were also investigated. Hydrolytic degradation behavior of PEA copolymer chips and fibers were evaluated by weight loss in PBS solution with different pH value. The alkaline degradation behavior of fiber was also studied on change of diameter and surface morphology. During alkaline degradation, the PEA fiber underwent surface erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a pH sensitive semi-interpenetrating network (SIPN) hydrogel based on methacrylic acid, BSA, and PEG was prepared by UV initiated free radical polymerization. The swelling behavior and pH sensitivity of these hydrogels were studied in detail. With the increase in pH of the aqueous solution from 1.7 to 9.23, the swelling ratio of these hydrogels increased accordingly. The effect of BSA and crosslinker (BIS) content on the swelling behavior was more complicated, and the results were shown in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]