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PDF file - 304K, Suppl. Table 1: Validated siRNAs used in the current studies Suppl. Fig. 1 Stress fiber formation in MEFs with or without v-Ras expression. Suppl. Fig. 2 The spontaneous transformation is reproducible using another Adeno-Cre treated MEF line (MEF-B) derived from a different embryo with conditional DLC1 knock-out. Suppl. Fig. 3 The complete sets of Kaplan-Meier Analyses from lung and colon cancers

The tumor suppressor gene deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC1), which encodes a protein with strong RhoGAP (GTPase activating protein) activity and weak Cdc42GAP activity, is inactivated in various human malignancies. Following Dlc1 inactivation, mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEF) with a conditional Dlc1 knockout allele reproducibly underwent neoplastic transformation. In addition to inactivation of Dlc1 and increased activity of Rho and Cdc42, transformation depended on the subsequent decreased expression of the Cdk4/6 inhibitors p15Ink4b and p16Ink4a together with increased expression and activation of Cdk4/6. The level of expression of these cell-cycle regulatory genes was relevant to human tumors with low DLC1 expression. Analysis of publicly available annotated datasets of lung and colon cancer with gene expression microarray profiles indicated that, in pairwise comparisons, low DLC1 expression occurred frequently together (P < 0.01) with downregulation of p15Ink4b or p16Ink4a or upregulation of CDK4 or CDK6. In addition, an unfavorable prognosis (P < 0.05) was associated with low DLC1 and low p15Ink4b in lung cancer and colon cancer, low DLC1 and low p16Ink4a in lung cancer, low DLC1 and high CDK4 in lung cancer, and low DLC1 and high CDK6 in colon cancer. Thus, several genes and biochemical activities collaborate with the inactivation of DLC1 to give rise to cell transformation in MEFs, and the identified genes are relevant to human tumors with low DLC1 expression. Cancer Res; 72(22); 5900–11. ©2012 AACR.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The species identification of forensically important sarcophagid flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) is very difficult and requires strong taxonomic expertise. More and more methods according to the mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) and nuclear fragments are raised, but the current methods of molecular identification have some defects, such as insufficient discrimination power, high cost, time-consuming and so on. In this study, the CO II sequences of sarcophagid flies were analyzed to establish the SNP-based genotyping system for the first time. Using this system by PSQ, we can identify the species of forensically important Sarcophgid flies with high discrimination power at a low cost in the short time. The SNPs marker system shows a new idea for genetic identification of forensic insects.

The tumor suppressor gene deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC1), which encodes a protein with strong RhoGAP (GTPase activating protein) activity and weak Cdc42GAP activity, is inactivated in various human malignancies. Following Dlc1 inactivation, mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEF) with a conditional Dlc1 knockout allele reproducibly underwent neoplastic transformation. In addition to inactivation of Dlc1 and increased activity of Rho and Cdc42, transformation depended on the subsequent decreased expression of the Cdk4/6 inhibitors p15Ink4b and p16Ink4a together with increased expression and activation of Cdk4/6. The level of expression of these cell-cycle regulatory genes was relevant to human tumors with low DLC1 expression. Analysis of publicly available annotated datasets of lung and colon cancer with gene expression microarray profiles indicated that, in pairwise comparisons, low DLC1 expression occurred frequently together (P < 0.01) with downregulation of p15Ink4b or p16Ink4a or upregulation of CDK4 or CDK6. In addition, an unfavorable prognosis (P < 0.05) was associated with low DLC1 and low p15Ink4b in lung cancer and colon cancer, low DLC1 and low p16Ink4a in lung cancer, low DLC1 and high CDK4 in lung cancer, and low DLC1 and high CDK6 in colon cancer. Thus, several genes and biochemical activities collaborate with the inactivation of DLC1 to give rise to cell transformation in MEFs, and the identified genes are relevant to human tumors with low DLC1 expression. Cancer Res; 72(22); 5900–11. ©2012 AACR.

Deleted in liver cancer (DLC1), a tumor suppressor gene in multiple cancers, is recurrently down regulated or inactivated by epigenetic mechanisms in primary prostate carcinomas (PCAs). In this study the methylation and acetylation profile of the DLC1 promoter region was examined in three PCA cell lines with low or undetectable DLC1 expression: LNCaP, its derivative C4-2B-2, and 22Rv1. Two histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC), suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) and trichostatin A (TSA) induced histone acetylation of the DLC1 promoter in all three lines. DLC1 promoter methylation and deacetylation were detected in LNCaP and C4-2B-2 cells while in 22Rv1 cells DLC1 is silenced by deacetylation. Treatment with SAHA or TSA efficiently increased DLC1 expression in all lines, particularly in 22Rv1 cells, and activated the DLC1 promoter through the same Sp1 sites. The 22Rv1 cell line was selected to evaluate the efficacy of combined DLC1 transduction and SAHA treatment on tumor growth in athymic mice. Individually, DLC1 transduction and SAHA exposure reduced the tumor size by 75-80% compared to controls and in combination almost completely inhibited tumor growth. The antitumor effect was associated with the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of RhoA activity. SAHA alone significantly reduced RhoA activity, showing that this RhoGTPase is a target for SAHA. These results, obtained with a reliable preclinical in vivo test, predict that combined therapeutic agents targeting the pathways governing DLC1 function and HDAC inhibitors may be beneficial in management of prostate cancer.

Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of cancer and has a very poor prognosis; thus, the development of effective therapies for the treatment of advanced HCC is of high clinical priority. In the present study, the anti-oncogenic effect of combined knockdown of c-Myc expression and ectopic restoration of deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) expression was investigated in human liver cancer cells. Expression of c-Myc in human HCC cells was knocked down by stable transfection with a Myc-specific short hairpin (sh) RNA vector. DLC1 expression in Huh7 cells was restored by adenovirus transduction, and the effects of DLC1 expression and c-Myc knockdown on Ras homolog gene family, member A (RhoA) levels, cell proliferation, soft agar colony formation and cell invasion were measured. Downregulation of c-Myc or re-expression of DLC1 led to a marked reduction in RhoA levels, which was associated with decreases in cell proliferation, soft agar colony formation and invasiveness; this inhibitory effect was augmented with a combination of DLC1 transduction and c-Myc suppression. To determine whether liver cell-specific delivery of DLC1 was able to enhance the inhibitory effect of c-Myc knockdown on tumor growth in vivo, DLC1 vector DNA complexed with galactosylated polyethylene glycol-linear polyethyleneimine was administered by tail vein injection to mice bearing subcutaneous xenografts of Huh7 cells transfected with shMyc or control shRNA. A cooperative inhibitory effect of DLC1 expression and c-Myc knockdown on the growth of Huh7-derived tumors was observed, suggesting that targeted liver cell delivery of DLC1 and c-Myc shRNA may serve as a possible gene therapy modality for the treatment of human HCC.

The DLC1 gene encodes a Rho GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) that functions as a tumor suppressor in several common human cancers. The multidomain structure of DLC1 enables interaction with a number of other proteins. Here we report that the proinflammatory protein S100A10 (also known as p11), a key cell surface receptor for plasminogen which regulates pericellular proteolysis and tumor cell invasion, is a new binding partner of DLC1 in human cells. We determined that the 2 proteins colocalize in the cell cytoplasm and that their binding is mediated by central sequences in the central domain of DLC1 and the C-terminus of S100A10. Because the same S100A10 sequence also mediates binding to Annexin 2, we found that DLC1 competed with Annexin 2 for interaction with S100A10. DLC1 binding to S100A10 did not affect DLC1's RhoGAP activity, but it decreased the steady-state level of S100A10 expression in a dose-dependent manner by displacing it from Annexin 2 and making it accessible to ubiquitin-dependent degradation. This process attenuated plasminogen activation and resulted in inhibition of in vitro cell migration, invasion, colony formation, and anchorage-independent growth of aggressive lung cancer cells. These results suggest that a novel GAP-independent mechanism contributes to the tumor suppressive activity of DLC1, and highlight the importance and complexity of protein–protein interactions involving DLC1 in certain cancers. Cancer Res; 71(8); 2916–25. ©2011 AACR.

A kind of hyper-dispersant(MA) was synthesized as compatibilizer between PE/OMMT composite. when the weight ratio of PE/OMMT/MA was 100:2:0.5,the composites had outstanding machine performances. SEM micrograph indicated that the PE/OMMT/MA composites mixed uniformly compared to PE/OMMT composites, and TEM test showed that PE had entered into layers of montmorillonite to form intercalated composites.

Polymer and montmorillonite (MMT) clay composites are the hot topic of research because of its excellent performances, a kind of hyper-dispersant(MA) was synthesized as compatible component, and organo-montmorillonite(OMMT)/PP/MA composites were prepared by means of melt blending. The results showed that the PP /OMMT /MA were of better mechanical properties compared to (OMMT) /PP when the same content of MMT. When the weight content of PP/OMMT/MA is 100:2:0.5, the composites exhibited excellent machine performances, and the scanning electron microscopy showed the composites of (OMMT)/PP/MA were consistent., XRD test shows that PP has entered into layers of montmorillonite to form intercalated composites.

DLC1 (deleted in liver cancer 1), a tumor suppressor gene that encodes a RhoGTPase-activating protein, is recurrently downregulated or silenced in various solid tumors and hematological malignancies because of epigenetic modifications or genomic deletion. Here, we identified DLC1 promoter hypermethylation in 43 out of 44 multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines, which resulted in downregulation or silencing of DLC1 in 41 samples. High frequency of tumor-specific methylation and attenuation or silencing of DLC1 expression could serve as an independent diagnostic marker for MM. Combined treatment with demethylating and acetylating agents significantly elevated the expression of DLC1 and suppressed MM cell proliferation. Two cell lines exhibiting complete promoter methylation and the absence of DLC1 expression were transduced by an adenoviral vector containing DLC1 cDNA. In both cell lines, the reexpression of DLC1 inhibited myeloma cell invasion and migration, reduced RhoA activity and resulted in the reorganization of actin cytoskeleton. These results provide the first evidence for the antiproliferative effect of DLC1 in a hematological cancer and implicate RhoA pathway in suppression of MM migration and invasion. Given the myeloma cells sensitivity to the reactivation of DLC1 function, the potential for molecular targeted therapy of DLC1-mediated pathways as well as epigenetic therapies hold prospects.

Adult stem cells can be identified by label-retaining cell (LRC) approach based on their ability to retain nucleoside analog, such as bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). We hypothesized that mouse nasopharynx contains a small population of epithelial stem/progenitor cells that may be detected by the LRC technique. To identify LRCs in mice nasopharyngeal epithelia, neonatal mice were intraperitoneally injected with BrdU twice daily for 3 consecutive days. After an 8-week chase, long-term BrdU-labeled LRCs (approximately 2% of cells) were detected in the adult mice nasopharyngeal epithelia by immunostaining with BrdU antibody and some of LRCs (approximately 12% of cells) were found to be recruited into the S phase of cell cycle with an additional radioactive thymidine-labeling technique, indicating that the stem cells also divide, most likely asymmetrically. To further investigate whether the LRCs existed in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues, three NPC cell lines (5-8F, 6-10B and TMNE) were labeled with BrdU in vitro and then individually engrafted into the back of nude mice, which developed tumors. Again, label-retaining stem cells were found in all the three kinds of NPC xenograft tumors (approximately 0.3% of cells), around 16% of which were also labeled with radioactive thymidine. Thus, this study has demonstrated for the first time the presence of epithelial LRCs in mouse nasopharynx and human NPC tissues and these stem-like LRCs are not completely quiescent, as they will be recruited into the cell cycle to participate physiological or pathological process at any moment. More importantly, our data showed that NPC also contained stem cells, which are most likely the cause for NPC spread, metastasis and recurrence.

The DLC-1 gene, located at the human chromosome region 8p22, behaves like a tumor suppressor gene and is frequently deleted in diverse tumors. The deletion of 8p22 is not an uncommon event in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), therefore we explored the expression levels of the DLC-1 gene in NPCs and NPC cell lines by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The results showed the mRNA level of DLC-1 was downregulated. To identify the mechanism of DLC-1 downregulation in NPC, we investigated the methylation status of the DLC-1 gene using methylation-specific PCR, and found that 79% (31 of 39) of the NPC tissues and two DLC-1 nonexpressing NPC cell lines, 6-10B and 5-8F, were methylated in the DLC-1 CpG island. Microsatellite PCR was also carried out, and loss of heterozygosity was found at four microsatellite sites (D8S552, D8S1754, D8S1790 and D8S549) covering the whole DLC-1 gene with ratios of 33% (4 of 12 informative cases), 18% (2 of 11), 5% (1 of 18), and 25% (3 of 12), respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that DLC-1 might be an NPC-related tumor suppressor gene affected by aberrant promoter methylation and gene deletion.

Lipid raft proteins have been confirmed to be important in cell signal transduction. Some reports have shown that the aberrant expression of lipid raft proteins is associated with malignant phenotypes in some cancers. However, the role of the lipid raft protein flotillin-2 (Flot-2) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains to be comprehensively characterized. Here, overexpression of Flot-2 in NPC tissues and cell lines was detected by immunostaining and Flot-2 expression was found to be positively associated with NPC metastasis. Furthermore, inhibiting Flot-2 expression impaired the malignancy of the highly metastatic NPC cell line 5-8F by constraining its growth and proliferation, mobility and migration and decreasing the capacity of 5-8F cells to metastasize in nude mice. In contrast, forced overexpression of Flot-2 increased the malignancy of 6-10B, a non-metastatic NPC cell line that weakly expresses Flot-2. Moreover, in 5-8F-shFlot-2 cells, which have inhibited Flot-2 expression, the NF-κB and PI3K/Akt3 pathways were inactivated. Subsequently, MMPs expression were decreased and Foxo1 activity was increased. In addition, enhanced NF-κB and PI3K/Akt3 activities were observed in Flot-2 overexpressing 6-10B cells. Thus, Flot-2 exerts a pro-neoplastic role in NPC and is involved in tumor progression and metastasis. Moreover, Flot-2 exerts its role through NF-κB and PI3K/Akt3 signaling.

To explore the effect of suppressing BCL-2 expression using RNA interference (RNAi) technique in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE1. CNE1 cell lines stably expressing shRNAs targeted bcl-2 and GL3 gene were established and gene expression inhibition was assessed by Western blotting analysis. The effect of suppressing bcl-2 by RNAi on cell growth was studied, the apoptosis induction and the sensitization of CNE1 cells to cisplatin were quantified by MTT assay and flow cytometry. The results showed that: stable transfection of CNE1 cells with vectors expressing shRNAs against bcl-2 decreased the expression of BCL-2 protein; suppression of BCL-2 expression did not affect cell proliferation but could increase the chemosensitivity to cisplatin in CNE1 cells. This will help physicians to make some clinical trials of gene therapy on nasopharyngeal carcinoma by RNAi.

Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes is a major contributing alteration in the initiation or progression of cancer. The human tumor suppressor gene DLC1 (deleted in liver cancer 1) is frequently downregulated or silenced in multiple cancers, predominantly by epigenetic mechanisms. With the current considerable interest and progress in epigenetic therapy, a number of promising antineoplastic agents, particularly histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, have been developed and used successfully in clinical trials. Both DLC1 and HDAC inhibitors exert antineoplastic functions, and their combined action could be exploited for a more effective cancer therapy. To evaluate the potential benefits of this approach, we examined the antineoplastic effects of adenoviral (Ad)-DLC1-mediated transduction and exposure to suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a powerful HDAC inhibitor, in two human cancer cell lines that lack intrinsic DLC1 expression, 22Rv1 prostate cancer cells and 7703K human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Consistent with the oncosuppressive function of DLC1 in several cancers, including prostate and liver cancer, transduction of 22Rv1 and 7703K cells with an Ad-DLC1 expression vector resulted in alterations of cell morphology, induction of apoptosis, and inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and anchorage-independent growth. A low concentration of SAHA (5 microM) efficiently restored the expression of DLC1 in 22Rv1 cells that lack DLC1 expression due to histone deacetylation but had a minimal effect in 7703K cells in which silencing of the DLC1 gene is due mainly to promoter hypermethylation. Regardless of the epigenetic mechanism of DLC1 inactivation, SAHA treatment of DLC1-transduced cells had a synergistic inhibitory effect on tumor cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in both cell lines. In 22Rv1 cells, this combination regimen nearly abolished the formation of colonies in semisolid media as a measure of tumorigenicity in vitro. Current in vitro results validate this protocol as a potentially new therapeutic option in certain cancers.

The process of cell dissemination from the primary tumors to distant sites is the most harmful event during cancer progression, and the leading cause of cancer death. We have previously demonstrated that restoration of DLC1 tumor suppressor gene expression in the DLC1-negative Focus and 7703K human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines induced caspase-3 mediated apoptosis, reduced cell growth in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo and diminished the ability to migrate through Matrigel, a property suggestive of metastatic potential in vivo. We now show that subcutaneous tumors developing after inoculation of Focus and 7703K cells into nude mice disseminate cells to liver and lung, and this process is markedly suppressed by restoration of DLC1 expression. Inhibition of tumor cell dissemination was associated with lower levels of RhoA activity, an increase in rounded cells and a reduction in actin stress fibers and focal adhesion molecules that are of critical importance in cancer cell invasion and metastasis. In addition, DLC1 down-regulated the expression of osteopontin and matrix metalloproteinase-9, which are highly up-regulated in most primary HCC with associated metastases. These observations implicate the DLC1 gene in suppression of HCC cell dissemination and identify novel cellular and genetic alterations that contribute to prevention of metastasis, a life-threatening event in cancer progression.

cDNA microarray is a powerful tool to analyze simultaneously the expression levels of tens of thousands of genes. Compared with normal nasopharynx (NP) tissues, 2210 genes were highly differentially expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues detected by cDNA microarray. Since signal pathway is widely used to describe the complex relationship between genes, a pathway-based network was con- structed to visualize the connection between the genes obtained from microarray data in this report. We analyzed the targeted genes that may have more important influence on this gene network with statistical methods and found that some genes might have significant influence on this network, especially Ras-related nuclear protein (RAN), carboxyl ester lipase (CEL), v-rel reticuloendotheliosis viral oncogene homolog A (RELA) genes. To verify the results from pathway-based selection, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real-time RT-PCR were performed to detect the expression levels of RAN, CEL and RELA genes and it was found that the RAN and CEL genes were significantly up-regulated in more than 80% of NPC tissues. To further elucidate the function of the RAN gene, RAN expression was specifically sup- pressed in a 5-8F NPC cell line by RNA interference (RNAi). As expected, the depletion of RAN could effectively block the proliferation of tumor cells. Therefore, our study may open up a new way to analyze the vast microarray data.

The DLC-1 gene, located at the human chromosome region 8p22, behaves like a tumor suppressor gene and is frequently deleted in diverse tumors. The deletion of 8p22 is not an uncommon event in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), therefore we explored the expression levels of the DLC-1 gene in NPCs and NPC cell lines by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The results showed the mRNA level of DLC-1 was downregulated. To identify the mechanism of DLC-1 downregulation in NPC, we investigated the methylation status of the DLC-1 gene using methylation-specific PCR, and found that 79% (31 of 39) of the NPC tissues and two DLC-1 nonexpressing NPC cell lines, 6-10B and 5-8F, were methylated in the DLC-1 CpG island. Microsatellite PCR was also carried out, and loss of heterozygosity was found at four microsatellite sites (D8S552, D8S1754, D8S1790 and D8S549) covering the whole DLC-1 gene with ratios of 33% (4 of 12 informative cases), 18% (2 of 11), 5% (1 of 18), and 25% (3 of 12), respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that DLC-1 might be an NPC-related tumor suppressor gene affected by aberrant promoter methylation and gene deletion.

ESE-1 is an epithelium-specific transcription factor that functions in the differentiation of intestinal epithelial cells. ESE-1's structure predicts its interaction with a number of other proteins with various cellular functions. Previously we have shown that tolfenamic acid (TA) could induce nuclear translocation of ESE1 in colorectal cancer cells, and plays a critical role in the activation of apoptosis. Here we show that β-catenin, an important protein regulating cell-cell adhesion and gene transcription, binds and colocalizes with ESE-1 in cell cytoplasm. The binding sites were mapped to carboxy terminus ESE-1, which includes the ETS domain, and N-terminus of β-catenin, which contains several important phosphorylation sites. C-terminus of ESE1 also binds to α-catenin, and ESE1/ β-catenin interaction was abrogated with suppression of either β-catenin or α-catenin in HEK293 cells by si RNA treatment; moreover, suppression of both α-catenin and β-catenin further impaired ESE1/ β-catenin binding. Furthermore, knockdown of endogenous ESE1 significantly decreased β-catenin level in HCT116 cells. Current data support a role of ESE1 in the regulation of β-catenin function in colon cancer. Citation Format: Xu-yu Yang, Kui Jin Kim, Hong Jun Shao, Seong-Ho Lee. ESE1 binds to beta catenin and modulates its expression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4254. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4254

In gene expression profiling, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) 5-8F cells differ from 6-10B cells in terms of their high tumorigenicity and metastatic ability. Differentially expressed genes from the two cell types were analyzed by combining with MILANO (the automatic custom annotation of microarray results which is based on all the available published work in PubMed). The results showed that five genes, including CTSD, P63, CSE1L, BPAG1 and EGR1, have been studied or mentioned in published work on NPC. Subsequently, we reevaluated the roles of these genes in the pathogenesis of NPC by combining the data of gene chips from NPCs versus NPs and pooled cells from 5-8F, 6-10B and CNE2 versus NPs. The results suggested that the roles of BPAG1 and EGR1 are possibly different from those reported in previous NPC studies. These five genes are likely to be involved in the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and metastasis of NPC. A reexploration of the genes will further define their roles in the pathogenesis of NPC.

RNA interference (RNAi) technique is now widely used in studies of gene function, signal transduction pathway, and gene therapy because it can effectively and specifically inhibit gene expression. This study was designed to synthesize small interfering RNA (siRNA) by in vitro transcription, and construct retrovirus vectors to express small hairpin RNA (shRNA), detect RNAi in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines, and to develop a RNAi technique platform.siRNAs targeting green fluorescent protein (GFP) and luciferase (Luc) were synthesized by in vitro transcription, while shRNAs targeting GFP and Luc were constructed from pSUPER.retro. Cervical cancer cell line HeLa, nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines CNE1, CNE2, and 5-8F were co-transfected with siRNAs or shRNAs and reporter gene pEGFP-N1 or pGL3. The expression of GFP was detected by fluorescent microscopy and Western blot. The activity of luciferase was measured by Luciferase Enzyme Assay System.siRNA duplexes with 3' UU overhangs and shRNA specifically silenced GFP expression, while antisense RNA and siRNA without 3' UU overhangs did not trigger RNA interference of GFP. Quantitative luciferase activity analysis showed that siRNA inhibited Luc expression in HeLa, CNE1, CNE2, and 5-8F cell lines with inhibition rates of 91.43%, 78.01%, 90.30%, and 62.85%, respectively. Similarly, the inhibition rate was 78.22% when shRNA targeting Luc was co-transfected into HeLa cell line.Both siRNAs and shRNAs can induce RNAi. 3' UU overhangs of siRNA may play a role in RNAi. RNAi can be triggered in both nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and HeLa cell line.

Previous studies have indicated that noggin exerts its neural inducing effect by binding and antagonizing bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4). In order to further clarify the relationship between the structure and the function of noggin, and elucidate the possible mechanism responsible for noggin-BMP4 interaction, we generated three noggin mutants, C168S, C174S and C197S, by using a site-directed mu- tagenesis method. Ectopic expression of wild-type (WT) noggin, C174S or C197S, in Xenopus animal caps (ACs) by mRNA injection converted the explants (prospective ectoderm) into neural tissue, as indicated by the neural-like morphology and expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) in the ACs. In contrast, ACs expressing C168S suffered an epidermal fate similar to the control caps. Similarly, among the three mutants, only C168S lost the dorsalizing function. These studies highlight the critical role played by Cys168 in noggin's biological activities. It probably participates in the formation of an intermolecular disulfide bridge.

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells have the capability of unlimited undifferentiated proliferation, yet maintain the potential to form perhaps any cell type in the body. Based on the high efficiency of the Epstein-Barr virus-based episomal vector in introducing exogenous genes of interest into mammalian cells, we applied this system to hES cells, expecting that this would resolve the problem of poor transfection efficiency existing in current hES cell research. Therefore, the first step was to establish EBNA1-positive hES cells. Using the Fugene 6 transfection reagent, we transfected hES cells with the EBNA1 expression vector and subsequently generated hES cell clones that stably expressed EBNA1 under drug selection. These clones were confirmed to express EBNA1 mRNA by RT-PCR and to express EBNA1 protein by Western blotting. Furthermore, luciferase reporter gene analysis was performed on the EBNA1 clones and revealed that the expressed EBNA1 protein was functional. When the EBNA1-positive cells were injected into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice, they formed teratoma tissues containing all three embryonic germ layers and EBNA1 protein was detected in these teratoma tissues by Western blotting. All the results show that we have successfully created stable EBNA1-hES cells, thus laying a good foundation for further research.

Background & Objective: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial neoplasm with high occurrence rates in southern China. The disease often metastasizes to regional lymphnodes at a very early stage. Local recurrences and metastasis occur frequently in patients with NPC and are a leading cause of death, despite improvements on treatment modalities. The molecular mechanism underlying the metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma remains poorly understood, however, and requires additional elucidation. The aim of this study was to explore possible NPC gene candidates that may play key roles in NPC metastasis. Methods: Subtractive suppression hybridization (SSH) was performed to isolate differentially expressed clones between the metastatic 5-8F and non-metastatic 6-10B nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. Differentially expressed clones were screened and confirmed by reverse Northern blotting. The sequences of cDNA fragments were subsequently analyzed and compared to known sequences in Genbank. Results & Discussion: The SSH library contained thousands of positive clones. Random analysis of 300 clones by PCR demonstrated that 269 clones contained inserted fragments. Reverse Northern blot confirmed that 20 out of 192 clones examined were significantly up-regulated in the 5-8F cell line. Among these 20 clones, 16 were previously identified genes (flotilin-2, ezrin, pim-3, fli-1, mel, neugrin, znf216, ASB1, raly, UBE2A, keratin6A, TMED7, EIF3S9, FTL, two ribosomal proteins RPL21 and RPL16), two were predicted genes (c9orf74 and MDS006), and two sequences shared no homology with known genes listed in GenBank and may represent novel genes. The proposed functions of the genes identified in this study include cell signal transduction, cell survival, transcription regulation, cell mobility, protein synthesis, and DNA damage repair. Flotillin-2, fli-1, pim-3 and ezrin have previously been reported to be associated with tumor metastasis and progression. The remaining up-regulated genes identified in this study have not been reported to be markers of metastasis and may represent new candidates of NPC metastasis-related genes. The Results of this study may provide novel points of therapeutic intervention for NPC.

The GATA-1 of Xenopus (xGATA-1), which has two subtypes xGATA-1a and xGATA-1b, is a necessary factor for erythroid differentiation and maturation as similar as that of other GATA-1s. Although both xGATa-1a and xGATA-1b are able to stimulate erythropoiesis, only xGATA-1b is capable of inhibiting neurogenesis in Xenopus embryos. Compared between their structures, xGATA-1a and xGATA-1b are very similar in nucleotide and amino acids composition, but not identical. Therefore, it is responsible for studying the role of the diverse codons between the two genes, so the desired mutations: S(168), H(169) double deletion and point mutation of T(304)--A, T(359)--A, were introduced into xGATA-1b gene through site-directed mutagenesis. Then, mRNA from each mutant as well as wtxGATA-1b was co-injected with DN-BR mRNA or separately injected into Xenopus stage 2 embryos, and the role of mutants in erythropoiesis and neurogenesis was analyzed by using animal cap culture system. The results showed that the neural-inhibiting activity of xGATA-1b, but not hematopoiesis-inducing activity, was aborted because of deletion of Ser(168) and His(169) or point mutation of T(359)--A. So it is demonstrated for the first time that Ser(168) and His(169) or Thr(359)in xGATA-1b may be one of the structural basis for explanting the different function between xGATA-1b and xGATA-1a.

Deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) is a multidomain Rho-GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) and a tumor suppressor in several human common cancers. DLC1's structure predicts its interaction with a number of other proteins with various cellular functions. Previously we have shown that S100A10 (also known as p11), a key plasminogen receptor on the surface of cell membrane, colocalizes and binds with DLC1 in cell cytoplasm. The binding sites were mapped to the central domain of the DLC1 and at the end of C-terminus of S100A10. The same terminus is also a binding site for Annexin A2, which is believed to regulate availability of extracellular S100A10 and, therefore, dynamics of plasmin formation. Now we demonstrate that DLC1 competes with Annexin A2 for interaction with S100A10. DLC1 binding to S100A10 did not affect DLC1's RhoGAP activity but did reduce availability of S100A10 for binding by Annexin A2. Furthermore, the expression of DLC1 also affected S100A10 expression in a dose dependent manner, and increased S100A10 ubiquitin-dependent degradation. All of the above interactions attenuated plasminogen activation and resulted in inhibition of in vitro cell migration, invasion, colony formation and anchorage independent growth of aggressive and tumorigenic lung tumor cells. Transduction of DLC1-negative breast tumor cells significantly reduced the ability of tumor cells to form pulmonary metastases as well as inhibited distant dissemination of liver tumor cells in athymic mice. Current observations provide a plausible mechanism for DLC1 antimetastatic function by negatively affecting plasminogen activation, which in turn lead to a significant reduction in invasiveness of tumor cells. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2349.