Xinxiong FEI, Wenbin HU, Gangsheng WANG, Chunyan SU, Xuqun HUANG, Zhongjun JIANG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 81-88, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08125 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Lung cancer poses a serious threat to human life with high incidence and miRNA is an important biomarker in tumors. This study aimed to explore the effect of miR-143-3p on the biological function of lung cancer cells and the underlying mechanism. Eighty-seven samples of lung cancer tissues and 81 samples of tumor-adjacent tissues from patients undergoing radical lung cancer surgery in our hospital were collected. The lung cancer cells and lung fibroblast cells (HFL-1) were purchased, and then miR-143-3p-mimics, miR-NC, si-CTNND1, and NC were transfected into A549 and PC-9 cells to establish cell models. MiR-143-3p… More >

Wensong LIU¹, Yunjie LU¹, Dong ZHANG¹, Longqing SHI¹, Guangchen ZU¹, Haijiao YAN^2,*, Donglin SUN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 73-80, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08613 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies with poor prognosis and high mortality. Recent studies showed that microRNAs are dysregulated and involved in the initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer. In this study, we found that miR-708 was significantly downregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of miR-708 could significantly inhibit the proliferation and invasion, while enhanced chemosensitivity to gemcitabine in both Panc-1 and SW1990 cells. Luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-708 bound the 3’-untranslated region of survivin and suppressed the expression of survivin in pancreatic cancer cells. In pancreatic More >

Sareh HAJIABADI¹, Mansour MASHREGHI¹, Ahmad Reza BAHRAMI^1,2, Kiarash GHAZVINI³, Maryam M. MATIN^1,2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 63-71, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08171 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Cellulose is the main structural component of lignocellulosic wastes that can be converted to sugars and biofuels by cellulase. Due to wide applications of this enzyme in various industries around the world, cellulase is considered as the third industrial enzyme. The ability of thermophilic bacteria in the production of heat-stable cellulases has made them valuable tools in biotechnology. The aim of this study was isolation and molecular identification of cellulolytic thermophile bacteria from Dig Rostam hot spring and investigating their cellulase activity. Samples were taken from water and sediments of this hot spring, and cellulolytic… More >

Sahar ALZAIN¹, Hana AL SHEIKH¹, Arwa AL THOMALI², Fatimah AL-MUKAYNIZI², Noha ALMOBEREK², Sahar A. ALMALKI², Narasimha Reddy PARINE³, Arjumand WARSY²,

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 55-62, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.07974 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Residual ridge resorption (RRR) is the decrease in the jaw structure that follows tooth extraction. It is a multifactorial disorder, but reports on the associated genetic factors are scarce, particularly amongst the Saudis. This study aimed to investigate the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 oncogene partner 2 (FGFR1OP2) in RRR development in Saudis. The study included 192 individuals (RRR = 96; controls = 96) attending outpatient clinics at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University. Demographic and clinical data were collected, the digital panoramic dental radiograph was obtained,… More >

Osama M. AHMED^1,*, Sanaa R. GALALY², Mai RASLAN³, Mennah-Allah M. A. MOSTAFA^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 41-53, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08157 - 01 March 2020

Abstract This study aimed to assess the preventive effects of thyme oil and thymol on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced renotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and oxidative stress in Wistar rats. Thyme oil was subjected to GC-MS analysis, which indicated that thymol was the major constituent representing 33.896%. Rats intraperitoneally injected with DOX at a dose of 2 mg/kg b.w./one per week for 7 weeks were co-treated with thyme oil and its major constituent, thymol, at doses 250 and 100 mg/kg b.w./every other day, respectively, by oral gavage for the same period. Thyme oil and thymol markedly ameliorated the raised levels of… More >

Osama M. AHMED¹, Mohamed A. HASSAN², Ablaa S. SALEH²

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 27-29, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08040 - 01 March 2020

Abstract This study aimed to assess the effect of hesperetin and/or bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) on disturbed lipid profile, heart and kidney functions, oxidative stress and antioxidant defense system in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) was induced in male Wistar rats by injecting 40 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) STZ dissolved in citrate buffer (pH 4.5). The diabetic rats were treated with hesperetin orally administered at dose 20 mg/kg b.w., BM-MSCs intravenously injected at a dose of 1 x 106 cells/ rat/week and their combination for 6 weeks. The diabetic rats… 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 - 01 March 2020

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 More >

Xihe TANG^1,2, Meigang YU³, Rui HUANG², Shengyong LAN^2,*; Yimin FAN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 13-18, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.07593 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Human-induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) transplantation is a potential treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. However, whether the reprogrammed cells have the same characterizations as human fetal neural stem cells needs further exploration. Here we isolated human fetal neural stem cells from aborted 12-week fetal brains and compared with iNSCs reprogrammed from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in gene expression, proliferation ability, differentiation capacity, and the responses to tumor necrosis factor-α. We found that iNSCs and NSCs both expressed neural stem cell markers Nestin, SOX1, and SOX2. However, only iNSCs can be patterned into dopaminergic neurons and More >

Yuguo YI, Jiamin ZHENG, Yang ZHOU, Zhiqin LIU, Dan WENG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 7-11, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08686 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a huge threat to public health of the whole world. Around 25% of NAFLD patients will progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which has been predicted to be the main reason for liver transplantation in the United States in 2020. Extensive effort has been devoted to investigating the underlying molecular mechanisms of NASH pathogenesis and developing new promising treatments. Recent studies have demonstrated that pyroptosis, an inflammatory programmed cell death mediated by inflammasome and gasdermin-D (GSDMD), is involved in the development and progression of NASH. This review aims to summarize More >

Yong CHEN¹, Yongpin DONG², Xiaoli DU^3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 1-5, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08041 - 01 March 2020

Abstract The human respiratory system consists of the upper and the lower respiratory tracts. Anatomically, the lower respiratory tract consists of the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles (terminal bronchioles and respiratory bronchioles), alveolar duct, alveolar duct sacs, and alveoli. Alveoli are composed of two epithelial cell types, cuboidal alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells that secrete surfactant to prevent alveolar collapse and function as stem cells to regenerate alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells during damage repair, and squamous AT1 cells that cover most of the surface area of the alveoli and mediate gas exchange. Previous studies mainly focused on More >