Yunfeng Chen^1,2,3,†,*, Jiexi Liao^4,†, Zhou Yuan¹, Kaitao Li⁴, Baoyu Liu⁴, Lining Arnold Ju^4,5,6, Cheng Zhu^1,2,4,5,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 97-97, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07123

Abstract Force-mediated molecular binding initiates numerous cellular activities such as cell adhesion, migration, and activation. Dynamic force spectroscopy (DFS) is widely used to examine molecular binding and cell mechano-signaling [1]. The rate of dissociation, off-rate, is an important attribute of molecular binding that reflects bond stability. Extensive DFS works have demonstrated that off-rates are a function of force magnitude, yielding signature bond behaviors like “catch bond” [2]. However, as a controversial topic of the field, different DFS assays, i.e., force-clamp and force-ramp assays, often yielded distinctive "off-rate vs. force" relations from the same molecular system [3].… More >

C. Ross Ethier^1,*, Dillon M. Brown¹, Erica Landis², Machelle T. Pardue^1,2,3

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 61-63, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07377

Abstract Myopia, or near-sightedness, is a common ocular condition in which the eye elongates excessively. Development of myopia is associated with, and thought to be facilitated by, changes in the biomechanical properties of the sclera (the white part of the eye). We characterized scleral biomechanics in a mouse model of myopia using unconfirmed compression testing and biphasic theory to extract scleral permeability, in- plane scleral tensile modulus, and through-plane scleral compressive modulus. We find that myopia reduces in-plane tensile modulus and permeability, consistent with scleral tissue remodeling. Such biomechanical outcome measures may offer advantages over more More >

HAIFENG WANG^1,2, KAI WANG¹, JUAN GUO¹, TIEQIAO WEN²

BIOCELL, Vol.43, No.2, pp. 59-64, 2019, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2019.05731

Abstract Histone deacetylation is a key modulator involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and mRNA transcription. However, the effects of histone deacetylation on C17.2 neural stem cells (NSCs) remain unclear. Here, the histone deacetylase inhibitors nicotinamide and trichostatin A (TSA) were used to determine the role of histone deacetylation on gene transcription in NSCs. The results showed that the mRNA expression of p53, Sox1, Sox2, and Bax were significantly higher in E14.5 NSCs than in C17.2 NSCs. Nestin, a marker gene of neuronal differentiation, did not differ significantly between E14.5 NSCs and C17.2 NSCs. The transcription levels More >

Yunfeng Chen^1,2,3,†,*, Jiexi Liao^4,†, Zhou Yuan¹, Kaitao Li⁴, Baoyu Liu⁴, Lining Arnold Ju^4,5,6, Cheng Zhu^1,2,4,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 211-223, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07267

Abstract Force plays critical roles in cell adhesion and mechano-signaling, partially by regulating the dissociation rate, i.e., off-rate, of receptor-ligand bonds. However, the mechanism of such regulation still remains elusive. As a controversial topic of the field, when measuring the “off-rate vs. force” relation of the same molecular system, different dynamic force spectroscopy (DFS) assays (namely, force-clamp and force-ramp assays) often yield contradictive results. Such discrepancies hurdled our further understanding of molecular binding, and casted doubt on the existing theoretical models. In this work, we used a live-cell DFS technique, biomembrane force probe, to measure the… More >

Xiaolin Miao^*1, Yiqi Chen^*1, Ke Hao^†1, Meiqin Zheng^‡, Bingyu Chen^†, Kaiqiang Li^†, Ying Wang^†, Wei Zhang^§, Yu Zhang^§, Xiaozhou Mou^§, Shanshan Jiang^¶, Zhen Wang^‡§

Oncology Research, Vol.26, No.2, pp. 173-182, 2018, DOI:10.3727/096504017X14841698396865

Abstract Glioblastoma is a lethal disease featuring a high proliferation of tumor cells, excessive angiogenesis, and heavy drug resistance. The overall survival of glioblastoma patients has been dismal, even with an intensive standard of care. Recent advances in immune checkpoint blockades are changing the treatment of cancers. However, the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockades in glioblastoma is still unclear. Here we investigated the roles of CD103⁺ cells in regulating the effect of immune checkpoint blockades in glioblastoma mouse models. Our findings indicated that the murine glioblastoma model was not sensitive to immune checkpoint blockades. Flt3L, a growth More >

José L. Aparicio¹, Macarena Ottobre¹, Maite Duhalde Vega¹, Jean-Paul Coutelier², Jacques Van Snick³, Lilia A. Retegui¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.28, No.3, pp. 111-119, 2017, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2017.0399

Abstract Mice infected with mouse hepatitis virus A59 (MHV-A59) develop hepatitis and autoantibodies (autoAb) to liver and kidney fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH), a fact closely related to the release of alarmins such as uric acid and/or high-mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1). We studied the effect of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against IL-17A in our model of mouseMHV-A59-infection.MAb anti-IL-17F and anti-IFNγ were used to complement the study. Results showed that transaminase levels markedly decreased in MHV-A59- infected mice treated with MAb anti-IL-17A whereas plasmatic Ig concentration sharply increased. Conversely, MAb anti-IL-17F enhanced transaminase liberation and did not More >

Yoshiro Kato^*, Yoshikazu Naiki^†, Takayuki Komatsu^†, Kazuko Takahashi^†, Jiro Nakamura^*, Naoki Koide^†

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.4, pp. 479-483, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14721731148893

Abstract A Wnt agonist, 2-amino-4-[3,4-(methylenedioxy)benzylamino]-6-(3-methoxyphenyl) pyrimidine, is a cellpermeable pyrimidine compound that has been shown to mimic the effect of Wnt. In this study, leukemic mouse cell lines, RAW 264.7 and J774.1, were incubated with the Wnt agonist. The Wnt agonist showed cell death in the concentration of 1–10 mM. The Wnt agonist did not show inhibition of GSK-3β activity but induced β-catenin accumulation in the nucleus. The Wnt agonist showed caspase-independent cell death, but no further involvement in cell death ER stress signaling. Here we discuss the possible mechanism of Wnt agonist-induced apoptotic cell death More >

Yu-Ning Liu¹, Yun-Li Peng¹, Lei Liu¹, Teng-Yun Wu¹, Yi Zhang¹, Yong-Jie Lian¹, Yuan-Yuan Yang¹, Keith W. Kelley², Chun-Lei Jiang¹, Yun-Xia Wang¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 15-25, 2015, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2015.0362

Abstract Depression is often preceded by exposure to stressful life events. Chronic stress causes perturbations in the immune system, and up-regulates production of proinflammatory cytokines, which has been proposed to be associated with the pathogenesis of clinical depression. However, the potential mechanisms by which stress-induced proinflammatory cytokines lead to the development of depression are not well understood. Here, we sought to screen the main proinflammatory cytokines and the potential mechanisms linking inflammation to depression-like behavior during unpredictable, chronic, mild stress (UCMS), in vivo. Mice were allocated into four groups in each separate experiment: saline-control, saline-UCMS, drug-control… More >

Jian-lin Yang^*1, Ye Qin^*1, Liang Li^†, Chu-yu Cao^*, Qing Wang^*, Qian Li^*, Ya-feng Lv^*, Yanlin Wang^*

Oncology Research, Vol.23, No.1-2, pp. 79-86, 2015, DOI:10.3727/096504015X14478843952942

Abstract In the process of tumor cell apoptosis induced by specific regents, calreticulin (CRT) was transferred from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) onto the cell membrane. These tumor cells, when used as the cellular vaccine to immunize experimental animals, could initiate effective antitumor immunoresponse against homologous tumor cells. This is referred to as immunogenic cell death. Lidamycin (LDM) is an enediyne antibiotic, which has extremely potent cytotoxicity to cancer cells. In this study, the mouse melanoma B16-F1 cancer cells were used to investigate the ability of LDM in promoting immunogenic cell death. Our data showed that LDM could… More >

Di Yin^*†1, Yang Li^*1, Baofeng Guo^‡, Zhewen Liu^*, Yang Xu^§, Xiaoqin Wang^*, Yanwei Du^*, Libo Xu^*, Yan Meng^*, Xuejian Zhao^*, Ling Zhang^*

Oncology Research, Vol.23, No.5, pp. 229-236, 2015, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14550280421449

Abstract RNA interference (RNAi) has been used for cancer gene therapy in recent years. However, the application of RNAi is hindered in the absence of safe and efficient gene delivery. In this article, a novel vehicle of graphene oxide functionalized with polyethylenimine and polyethylene glycol (GO-PEI-PEG) was successfully synthetized and then used to deliver plasmid-based Stat3 siRNA. The carrier can readily bind plasmid with high transfection efficiency. Moreover, molecular biology studies reveal that Stat3-related gene and protein expressions were significantly inhibited, suggesting that the formation of GO-PEI-PEG complexes could be utilized as a promising gene delivery More >