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Heteroatom-containing spiropolymers were constructed in a facile manner by a catalyst-free multicomponent spiropolymerization route. P1a2b as the most potent of these spiropolymers, demonstrates cluster-triggered emission resulting from strong interactions with the MDM2 protein. By preventing the anti-apoptotic p53/MDM2 interaction, P1a2b triggers apoptosis in cancerous cells, while demonstrating a good biocompatibility and non-toxicity in non-cancerous cells. The combined results from solution and cell-based cluster-triggered emission studies, docking, protein expression experiments and cytotoxicity data strongly support the MDM2-binding hypothesis and indicate a potential application as a fluorescent cancer marker as well as therapeutic for this spiropolymer. ispartof: ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION vol:59 issue:22 pages:8435-8439 ispartof: location:Germany status: published

Background and Objectives Inflammation has been implicated in the initiation and progression of thyroid cancer. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple index of systemic inflammatory response, and has been shown to be a prognostic indicator in some types of cancer. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between NLR and clinicopathological features in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. Methods Total white blood cell and differential counts of 159 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer were compared to those of 318 age- and sex-matched controls undergoing thyroidectomy for benign thyroid nodules. Clinicopathological variables, stratified by NLR tertiles, were analyzed. Results There was no difference in NLR between patients having benign and malignant thyroid nodules (P = 0.293). Cancer patients in the higher NLR tertile had significantly larger tumor size (P = 0.004). Higher NLR was observed in patients with high American Thyroid Association (ATA) risk of recurrence. Conclusions High preoperative NLR was associated with increased tumor size and high ATA risk of recurrence in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. J. Surg. Oncol. 2013;107:493–497. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder disease. Ten percent of the ALS patients are congenital (familial ALS), and the other 90% are sporadic ALS (SALS). It has been shown that mutations found in the Cu,Zn-SOD cause 20% of the familial ALS due to its low enzyme activity. We hypothesized that heavy metals may interfere the structure of Cu,Zn-SOD protein to suppress its activity in some of the SALS. In this study, we expressed and characterized the recombinant human Cu,Zn-SOD under various concentrations of Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Cd(2+). By atomic absorption spectrophotometry, we demonstrated that adding of cadmium significantly increased the content of cadmium ion, but reduced its Zn(2+) content and enzyme activity of the Cu,Zn-SOD protein. The data of circular dichroism spectra demonstrated that the secondary structure of Cu,Zn-SOD/Cd is different from Cu,Zn-SOD, but close to apo-SOD. In addition to the effect of cadmium on Cu,Zn-SOD, cadmium was also shown to induce neural cell apoptosis. To further investigate the mechanism of neural cell apoptosis induced by cadmium, we used proteomics to analyze the altered protein expressions in neural cells treated with cadmium. The altered proteins include cellular structural proteins, stress-related and chaperone proteins, proteins involved in reactive oxygen species (ROS), enzyme proteins, and proteins that mediated cell death and survival signaling. Taken together, in this paper, we demonstrate that cadmium decreases the content of Zn(2+), changes the conformation of Cu,Zn-SOD protein to decrease its enzyme activity, and causes oxidative stress-induced neural cell apoptosis.

1. In an attempt to develop new substances for handling insulin resistance, an aqueous extract of the root of Acanthopanax senticosus (Araliaceae) was used to screen the effect on insulin resistance induced by fructose-rich chow in rats. 2. Insulin action on glucose disposal rate was measured using the glucose-insulin index, the product from areas under the curve of glucose and insulin during the intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. In addition to the modification of feeding behaviour and a marked decrease in bodyweight, oral administration (three times daily for 3 days) of the aqueous extract of A. senticosus root to rats that had received fructose-rich chow for 4 weeks reversed the elevated value of the glucose--insulin index, indicating that this herb has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity. 3. Time for the loss of the plasma glucose-lowering response to tolbutamide (10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) in fructose-rich chow-fed rats was markedly delayed by repeated treatment with the aqueous extract of A. senticosus root compared with the vehicle (saline) -treated group. Thus, an improving effect of A. senticosus root on insulin resistance can be considered. 4. An increase in insulin sensitivity following the administration of this herb was further identified using the plasma glucose-lowering action of exogenous insulin in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. Oral administration of the aqueous extract of A. senticosus root at a dose of 150.0 mg/kg three times daily to STZ-diabetic rats increased the responses to exogenous insulin 10 days later. 5. The results obtained suggest that oral administration of the aqueous extract from A. senticosus root has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity and delay the development of insulin resistance in rats and, thus, may be used as an adjuvant therapy for patients with insulin resistance.