XUHE GONG¹, GUANGPU FAN², HUI LIU¹, SIJIA WANG³, RONGCHONG HUANG^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.3, pp. 329-336, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.09639

Abstract This work aimed to study the beneficial role of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cellconditioned medium (MSC-CM) in hypoxia-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyoblasts, in which the serine/heroine kinases (Akt) pathway would be involved. For this, CM was collected by culturing MSCs in serum-free DMEM medium for 24 h, and paracrine factors were analyzed by protein chip. H9c2 cells were divided into the following groups: control group, hypoxia group, MSC-CM intervention group (CM group), MSC-CM + Akt phosphorylation inhibitor (LY294002) group (LY group). Apoptosis of the H9c2 cells was tested with chromatin dye Hoechst 33342 and FITC-conjugated Annexin V apoptosis… More >

Xin YANG^*, Liqun LU, Li HUANG, Jing HE, Jie LV

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 101-110, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08324

Abstract T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a hematological tumor caused by the malignant transformation of immature T-cell progenitor cells. Emerging studies have stated that microRNAs (miRNAs) may play key roles in T-ALL progression. This study aimed to investigate the roles of miR-145-3p in T-ALL cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis with the involvement of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) signaling pathway. T-ALL Jurkat cells were harvested, and the expression of miR-145-3p and NF-κB-p65 was measured. Gain- and loss-of-functions of miR-145-3p and NF-κB-p65 were performed to identify their roles in the biological behaviors of Jurkat cells, including proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion. Consequently, the… More >

Binbin QIAN¹, Xiaoduo LIU², Xiaolin GU¹, Lu YANG³, Dake CHEN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 19-26, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.07859

Abstract Prolylcarboxypeptidase (PRCP) belongs to the S28 family of proteases, which is also a dipeptidyl peptidase. In this study, we demonstrate the expression pattern of PRCP in Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We found that the repression of PRCP expression by small interfering RNA successfully inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Further, we explored the involvement of PRCP in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The epithelial marker E-cadherin was significantly increased, meanwhile mesenchymal markers MUC1, vimentin, and SNAIL were markedly decreased in PRCP knockdown cells. Moreover, the downregulation of PRCP in the NSCLC cells induced the expression of apoptosis-related proteins… More >

Fuat USLUSOY¹, Mustafa NAZIROĞLU^2,3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.43, No.4, pp. 271-283, 2019, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2019.08333

Abstract The wound is induced by several mechanical and metabolic factors. In the etiology of the wound recovery, excessive oxidative stress, calcium ion (Ca²⁺) influx, and apoptosis have important roles. Ca²⁺-permeable TRPM2 channel is activated by oxidative stress. Protective roles of Hypericum perforatum extract (HP) on the mechanical nerve injury-induced apoptosis and oxidative toxicity through regulation of TRPM2 in the experimental animals were recently reported. The potential protective roles in HP treatment were evaluated on the TRPM2-mediated cellular oxidative toxicity in the renal epithelium (MPK) cells. The cells were divided into three groups as control, wound, and wound + HP treatment… More >

MIROSLAV VAŘECHA^1*, DANIELA PÁCLOVÁ², JIŘINA PROCHÁZKOVÁ², PAVEL MATULA¹, DUŠAN CMARKO³, AND MICHAL KOZUBEK¹

BIOCELL, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 121-126, 2012, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2012.36.121

Abstract Recent findings suggest that apoptotic protein apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) may also play an important non-apoptotic function inside mitochondria. AIF was proposed to be an important component of respiratory chain complex I that is the major producer of superoxide radical. The possible role of AIF is still controversial. Superoxide production could be used as a valuable measure of complex I function, because the majority of superoxide is produced there. Therefore, we employed superoxide-specific mitochondrial fluorescence dye for detection of superoxide production. We studied an impact of AIF knockdown on function of mitochondrial complex I by analyzing superoxide production in selected cell… More >

LI-NA XU^1#, BI-NAN LU^2#, MING-MING HU¹, YOU-WEI XU¹, XU HAN¹, YAN QI¹, JIN-YONG PENG^1,3*

BIOCELL, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 113-120, 2012, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2012.36.113

Abstract Berberine, a constituent of some traditional Chinese medicinal plants, has been reported to have cytotoxicity effects on different human cancer cell lines. There is no available information about the effects and mechanism of action of berberine on human colon cancer cell line HCT-8. In this paper, the cytotoxicity of berberine on HCT-8 cancer cells was investigated by MTT assay, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analysis. Our data revealed that berberine could significantly inhibit the growth of HCT-8 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Morphology of apoptotic cells was studied with acridine orange/ ethidium bromide staining. The concentrations of lactate… More >

LUCIANA MAZZEI¹, ISABEL MERCEDES GARCÍA¹, VALERIA CACCIAMANI¹, MARÍA EUGENIA BENARDÓN¹ AND WALTER MANUCHA^{1, 2, 3}

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.3, pp. 121-132, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.121

Abstract Wilms tumor gene 1 (wt-1), a key regulator of mesenchymal-epithelial transformation, is downregulated during congenital obstructive nephropathy, leading to apoptosis. There is a functional interaction between WT-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). In this regard, we reported that after neonatal unilateral ureteral obstruction, rosuvastatin prevents apoptosis through an increase in nitric oxide bioavailability, which in turn is linked to higher Hsp70 expression. Hence, the goal of this study was to determine whether a nitric oxide/Hsp70 interaction is involved in changes in WT-1 mRNA expression after ureteral obstruction. Neonatal rats submitted to experimental ureteral obstruction were treated with either vehicle… More >

THANDI MQOCO¹, SUMARI MARAIS¹ AND ANNIE JOUBERT

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.3, pp. 113-120, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.113

Abstract 2-Methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate is a bis-sulphamoylated derivative of the naturally occurring 17-beta-estradiol metabolite namely 2-methoxyestradiol. 2-Methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate is regarded as a potential anticancer drug with increased antiproliferative activity when compared to 2-methoxyestradiol. The aim of this pilot in vitro study was to determine the influence of 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate on cell growth, morphology and possible induction of certain types of cell death in the SNO esophageal carcinoma cell line. A dose-dependent study (0.2-1.0μM) was conducted with an exposure time of 24 hours. Data revealed that 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate reduced cell numbers statistically significantly to 74% after exposure to 0.4μM of the drug. Morphological studies including light microscopy… More >

JUAN CARLOS CAVICCHIA*, GUSTAVO GUEMBE, MABEL FÓSCOLO

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.2, pp. 81-90, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.081

Abstract In a previous paper we described a pronounced increase of apoptotic nuclei in rat corpus luteum of pregnancy whose programmed chromatin degeneration was induced by the progesterone antagonist mifepristone. Those observations encouraged us to study the apoptotic nuclear membrane during pregnancy and after parturition and pup removal, by using a freeze-fracture technique which allows us to observe ‘en face’ the nuclear envelop and also permits nuclear pore counting. This study was complemented with the TUNEL assay (TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling). Changes in nuclear pores during pregnancy begin with an intense reduction in number but still showing an even distribution on… More >

CHRIS VORSTER, ANNIE JOUBERT

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.2, pp. 71-80, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.071

Abstract In the search for new and improved anticancer therapies, researchers have identified several potentially useful compounds. One of these agents is 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate (2ME-BM), a sulphamoylated derivative of 2-methoxyestradiol. The objective of this study was to evaluate 2ME-BM’s in vitro efficacy as antiproliferative agent in the MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cell line. Light- and fluorescent microscopy showed decreased cell density, increased apoptotic characteristics and significant ultrastructural aberrations indicative of autophagic cell death after 24 hours of exposure at a concentration of 0.4μM. In addition, mitotic indices revealed that 2ME-BM induces a G₂M block. The latter was confirmed by flow cytometric analyses where… More >