LINGHUI YU^#, RONG SHEN^#, YANAN GUO, YANXUAN GUO, CHEN LI, YANFENG SONG^*, DEGUI WANG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.3, pp. 761-772, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014602 - 03 March 2021

Abstract Various factors can induce cell degeneration by altering the phenotype and metabolism of cells. Mitochondria play an essential role in cellular homeostasis and function, rendering aging processes highly associated with mitochondrial function and status. Herein, we describe an aging-prone phenotype of murine skin cells caused by depletion of Rad6B (Ube2b), an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme. In this study, using Masson’s trichrome, we showed that loss of Rad6B causes physiological structure changes in mouse skin with age. In addition, a combination of western blotting experiments, transmission electron microscopy and employment of immunofluorescence staining revealed that depletion of More >

Ming Jia^*1, Yulin Xiong^†1, Maoshi Li^*, Qing Mao^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.4, pp. 371-383, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504020X15853075736554

Abstract Chemotherapy is critical for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite the proapoptotic effects of corosolic acid (CA) treatment, its underlying mechanism is not completely clear. The aim of this study was to determine the molecular mechanism of CA in HCC treatment. MTT assay was used to determine the IC50 of CA. Immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence were used to detect the interaction and subcellular localization of Yes-associated protein (YAP) and mouse double minute 2 (MDM2). In addition, in vivo xenotransplantation was performed to assess the effects of CA, YAP, and MDM2 on tumorigenesis. The IC50 of… More >

YI ZHENG^#, PENGFEI ZHANG^#, JINSHENG ZHU^#, LINGKAI ZHANG, WENXIAN ZENG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.2, pp. 201-207, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08770 - 27 May 2020

Abstract Spermatogenesis is a highly efficient and intricate process in the testis by which mature spermatozoa are produced daily to maintain lifelong male fertility. Essential to this process are spermatogonia capable of both proliferation and differentiation. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms for spermatogonial proliferation and differentiation remain poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a category of non-coding small RNAs with regulatory functions by binding to the 3’ untranslated region (UTR) of the target mRNA. Previous studies have demonstrated that miRNAs are capable of modulating cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, but the roles of individual miRNAs in spermatogonial fate… More >

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

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 >

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 >

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 >