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ANWAR ALI^1,#, SREEKANTH REDDY OBIREDDY^2,#, WING-FU LAI^3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 163-171, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.043839
Abstract Farnesol is a C15 isoprenyl alcohol generated from the hydrolysis of farnesyl diphosphate under the action of farnesol synthase in plants. Although this sesquiterpenoid alcohol has been exploited in a wide variety of industrial applications, serious discussions on the possible use of this agent in disease treatment have been scant until now. In this article, we review the current understanding of the physiological properties of farnesol and the potential use of the agent as a candidate for treatment development. In fact, since the turn of the last century, farnesol has been found not only to trigger apoptosis in tumor cells… More >

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VAN THI TUONG NGUYEN^1,2, KHUONG DUY PHAM^1,2,3, HUONG THI QUE CAO^1,2, PHUC VAN PHAM^1,2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 173-189, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.043664
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Perspectives on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine)
Abstract Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proposed in regenerative medicine, especially for angiogenic purposes, due to their potential to self-renew, differentiate, and regulate the microenvironment. Peripheral vascular diseases, which are associated with reduced blood supply, have been treated but not cured. An effective therapy is to recover blood supply via vessel regeneration in the affected area, and MSCs appear to be promising for such conditions. Several studies aimed to explore the role of MSCs in performing angiogenesis and have revealed numerous potential methods to enhance MSC capacity in vessel formation. Efforts have been made to modify standard MSCs to optimize… More >

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LEI WANG^1,2, ZHI-HANG WANG¹, NIAN-PING CAO¹, BOBO CHEN¹, CHONG-JUN HUANG¹, LEI YANG¹, YE TIAN^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 191-203, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.045349
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Subcellular Organelles and Cellular Molecules: Localization, Detection, Prediction, and Diseases)
Abstract Estrogen-related receptor alpha can significantly affect cell metabolism and play key regulatory roles in healthy and diseased organisms. ERRα is also related to the onset and progression of various cancer types. ERRα is primarily expressed in metabolically active tissues and regulates the transcription of metabolic genes in such tissues. It coordinates metabolism and energy demand, affects osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and chondrocytes, promotes muscle regeneration, participates in angiogenesis, and regulates cell aging. In this study, the literature related to the identification of ERRα in skeletal, muscular, and vascular systems was reviewed to further elucidate this receptor. More >

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QINGJIAN HE¹, HUIXIN ZHU^2,3, SHANHONG FANG^4,5,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 205-216, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.045109
Abstract Introduction: Dexamethasone (Dex) caused impaired osteoblast differentiation and oxidative stress (OS) in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). This work sought to elucidate the precise molecular pathway through which Dex influences osteogenic differentiation (OD) and OS in BMSCs. Methods: The expression of Runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) and alpha-2 macroglobulin (A2M) was assessed in Dex-treated BMSCs using qRT-PCR and Western Blot. Following the functional rescue experiments, cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) expression by DCFH-DA fluorescent probe, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (Gpx) expression by kits, OD by alkaline… More >

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QI XIA¹, XING CHEN², QINGHUA MA³, XIANXIU WEN^2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 217-228, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027414
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)
Abstract Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women. Immune features play an important role in improving the prognosis prediction of BC. However, while previous immune signatures consisted mainly of immune genes, immune cell-based signatures have been rarely reported. Methods: In this study, we report that a novel immune cell signature is effective in improving prognostic prediction by combining M2 macrophages. We identified 17 differentially infiltrating immune cells between cancer and normal groups. Prognostic features of the four immune cells identified by LASSO COX analysis showed good performance for survival risk… More >

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YANG XU^1,#, HONGYUN LI^1,#, GE YOU^2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 229-237, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.045030
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Macrophages in Cancer Therapy)
Abstract Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) constitutes the leading cause of death worldwide. Chemoresistance and tumor immune evasion are critical contributors to therapeutic failure in cancer patients. CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing 6 (CMTM6) is aberrantly expressed in various cancers and can regulate tumor immunity. However, its role in chemoresistance and tumor immunity of CRC is not well understood. Methods: Online bioinformatics tools were used to analyze expression and prognosis of CMTM6 in CRC patients. CRC cells were transfected with si-CMTM6. Subsequently, the effects on CRC cell viability and chemoresistance were investigated by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometer. Furthermore, CRC cell-induced macrophage recruitments… More >

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JINNI MA^#, MEILIN ZHOU^#, XIN XU, XINYAO GAO, HAIXIA WANG, JINHUA SHEN, LU XUE^*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 239-252, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.045076
Abstract Background: Placenta specific 8 (PLAC8) is a candidate oncogene involved in the development and progression of solid tumors. However, the status of PLAC8 in lung cancer (LC), especially non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still not lucid. Methods: Tissue microarray analysis (TMA) was performed to detect the expression patterns of PLAC8 in LC tissues and cell lines. Then a series of cellular experiments were performed fto assess cell proliferation, cell cycle profiles, and cell motility to explore the role of PLAC8 in NSCLC-derived cell lines: H1299 and A549. Results: TMA results showed that PLAC8 played complex and even contradictory roles… More >

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QIOU GU¹, CHUILIN LAI¹, XIAO GUAN¹, JING ZHU², TIAN ZHAN¹, JIANPING ZHANG^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 253-269, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028336
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Frontiers in cancer: tumor microenvironment)
Abstract Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious threat to human health worldwide. Oxaliplatin is a platinum analog and is widely used to treat CRC. However, resistance to oxaliplatin restricts its effectiveness and application while its target recognition and mechanism of action also remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to develop an oxaliplatin-resistant prognostic model to clarify these aspects. Methods: We first obtained oxaliplatin-resistant and parental cell lines, and identified oxaliplatin-resistant genes using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and differential gene analysis. We then acquired relevant data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Cox regression and Least Absolute… More >

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DAIXIN ZHAO¹, QINGYU WANG², JIANBO WANG^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 271-281, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.029094
Abstract Background: Esophageal cancer (ESCA) is a common digestive tract tumor. As a result, optimization of the early diagnosis of ESCA and identifying the contributing prognostic genes is urgently required. Herein, the prognosis of mitochondrial autophagy-related genes was analyzed in different subtypes of ESCA, and prognostic models were constructed to identify the immune cell infiltration with significant differences between subtypes. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas database was searched to download 185 ESCA samples, covering gene expression level data and clinical follow-up data, and 179 samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus database for subsequent validation analysis. The consensus Cluster Plus analysis method… More >

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JUNYING XU^1,#, PING LI^1,#, GE WANG², DAQIANG YE^1,*, XIUFU TANG^3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 283-291, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.045429
Abstract Background: α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) has been demonstrated to be involved in numerous of inflammatory diseases. Cell pyroptosis is a kind of cell death accompanied by inflammation. Objectives: The objective of this work is to explore the function of α7nAChR on cell pyroptosis in cervical cancer cells. Methods: Immunoblotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were employed to examine the function of α7nAChR on cell pyroptosis and metabolic changes. Results: Herein, we found that α7nAChR inhibition led to cell pyroptosis in HeLa and SiHa of cervical cancer cells, which was attributed to the upregulation of the polyol… More >

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WEI ZHENG¹, CHENG LIU^2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 293-301, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.044211
Abstract Objective: Intracranial aneurysm (IA) represents a devastating disease with high rates of disability and mortality, which is initiated by dysfunction of endothelial cells (ECs). Evidence suggests the dysregulation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase family during EC injury. In this work, the role of an E3 ubiquitin ligase, casitas B lymphoma-B (CBL-B), was explored in human brain microvascular EC (HBMEC) function through the NLRP3 pathway. Methods: In vitro IA model was induced by treating HBMECs with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). The levels of CBL-B and pyroptosis-related proteins NLRP3, ASC, cleaved caspase-1, and GSDME-N were determined by real-time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and… More >

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XIAN ZHANG¹, ZHUANG ZHOU², JUNZHE WANG¹, MENGMENG HAN¹, HAN LIU¹, MEIRONG ZANG¹, JIANNING LIU¹, JIAPEI LU¹, JINQIAO ZHANG¹, GUOCHUAN ZHANG^2,*, LIXIA SUN^1,#,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 303-311, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.046640
Abstract Background: Prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM) patients with extramedullary disease (EMD) remains poor. T cell dysfunction and an immunosuppressive environment have been reported in the bone marrow (BM) of MM patients. However, the immunosuppressive microenvironment and immune checkpoint receptors (ICRs) on CD8 T cells in the EMD tissue of newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) patients have not been thoroughly studied. Methods: We investigated the expression levels of T cell immunoglobulin mucin-domain-containing-3 (TIM-3) and T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) on CD8 T cells and the expression of their ligands (Galectin-9 and CD155) on myeloma cells in EMD tissue of NDMM patients.… More >

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JINGLONG CAO^1,#, SHUMEI LI^2,#, TONG ZHANG^1,#, JIAN LIU¹, WENSHUANG HOU¹, ANQI WANG¹, CHANG WANG^3,4,*, CHENGHAO JIN^1,3,5,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 313-325, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.043474
Abstract Background: Valtrate (Val) was extracted from the Valeriana jatamansi Jones plant, had good antitumor activity. However, its precise molecular mechanism in cancer cells was still unclear. This study investigated the effect of Val on gastric cancer (GC) cells and its potential molecular mechanism. Methods: Cell viability was examined by CCK-8 assay. Cell cycle, apoptosis, and Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level were analyzed by flow cytometry. The migration effect of Val on AGS cells was analyzed by transwell and wound-healing assay. The expression levels of proteins were analyzed by western blot. Results: The cell viability assay results demonstrated that Val significantly… More >

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BINGJIE WANG¹, YEWEN ZHOU^1,2,3, TONGJUAN NIU¹, MENGQING YIN¹, SHENG CUI^1,2,3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 327-338, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.044630
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Subcellular Organelles and Cellular Molecules: Localization, Detection, Prediction, and Diseases)
Abstract Introduction: The regulation of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) synthesis involves neurotransmitters, with melatonin being a subject of ongoing debate. TSH transcription, synthesis, and secretion from the pituitary pars distalis (PD) is primarily regulated in a photoperiodic manner by thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). In contrast, in the pituitary pars tuberalis (PT), mRNA transcription and alpha/beta chain synthesis, but not secretion, of a TSH-like product is regulated by melatonin. Conversely, non-photoperiodic melatonin might also affect the secretion of a TSH-like product from the PT. Nevertheless, the impact of exogenous melatonin on the underlying PD-TSH synthesis remains unclear. Casein kinase 1α (CK1α) plays a negative… More >

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CHAO LIU^*
BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 339-351, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.047044
Abstract Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is still an important health problem, and understanding its pathological mechanisms is essential for its diagnosis and treatment. There is evidence that autophagy may play a role in OA progression, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. Methods: In this study, we adopted a multi-prong approach to systematically identify the key autophagy-related genes (ARGs) associated with OA. Through weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we initially identified significant gene modules associated with OA. Subsequent differential gene analysis performed on normal and OA specimens. Further analysis later using the MCC algorithm highlighted hub ARGs. These genes were then incorporated into… More >

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