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At least 955 records · Page 53

miR-144-3p serves as a tumor suppressor for renal cell carcinoma and inhibits its invasion and metastasis by targeting MAP3K8

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators involved in various cancers, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The role of the miRNAs involved in RCC progress and metastasis is largely unknown. Here, miRNA microarray analysis was performed to screen the significant miRNAs involved in RCC progress, and miR-144-3p was chosen for further study. We found that the expression of miR-144-3p was significantly lower in RCC specimens and cell lines. In addition, low expression level of miR-144-3p is correlated with tumor progression and poor survival in RCC patients. Based on in vitro assays, we found that miR-144-3p significantly inhibit cancer cell proliferation and progression. Furthermore, function studies revealed that miR-144-3p was significantly correlated with the metastasis potential by affecting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, Mitogen-activated protein kinase 8 (MAP3K8) is direct target of miR-144-3p, while the expression levels of MAP3K8 were inversely correlated with the expression levels of miR-144-3p in RCC tissues. Overall, our findings demonstrate that miR-144-3p targeted the MAP3K8 pathway to reduce tumor cells proliferation and metastasis in RCC, suggesting that this axis may provide a novel therapeutic target for RCC therapy. - Highlights: • Downregulation of miR-144-3p expression was significantly associated with the poor survival in RCC patients. • Ectopic expression of miR-144-3p inhibits viability and metastasis of RCC cells in vitro. • miR-144-3p suppresses the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in RCC cells. • MAP3K8 is a direct target of miR-144-3p, and miR-144-3p downregulation is a factor in RCC progression through potentiation of MAP3K8 expression.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Inhibiting c-Jun N-terminal kinase partially attenuates caffeine-dependent cell death without alleviating the caffeine-induced reduction in mitochondrial respiration in C2C12 skeletal myotubes

Caffeine is a widely consumed stimulant that has previously been shown to promote cytotoxic stress and even cell death in numerous mammalian cell lines. Thus far there is little information available regarding the toxicity of caffeine in skeletal muscle cells. Our preliminary data revealed that treating C2C12 myotubes with 5 mM caffeine for 6 h increased nuclear fragmentation and reduced basal and maximal oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in skeletal myotubes. The purpose of this study was to further elucidate the pathways by which caffeine increased cell death and reduced mitochondrial respiration. We specifically examined the role of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which has previously been shown to simultaneously increase caspase-dependent cell death and reduce mitochondrial respiration in other mammalian cell lines. We found that caffeine promoted a dose-dependent increase in cell death in multinucleated myotubes but did not in mononucleated myoblasts. The addition of 10 μM Z-DEVD-FMK, a specific inhibitor of executioner caspases, completely inhibited caffeine-dependent cell death. Further, the addition of 400 μM dantrolene, a specific ryanodine receptor (RYR) inhibitor, prevented the caffeine-dependent increase in cell death and the reduction in basal and maximal OCR. We also discovered that caffeine treatment significantly increased the phosphorylation of JNK and that the addition of 30 μM SP600125 (JNKi), a specific JNK inhibitor, partially attenuated caffeine-induced cell death without preventing the caffeine-dependent reduction in basal and maximal OCR. Our results suggest that JNK partially mediates the increase in caspase-dependent cell death but does not contribute to reduced mitochondrial respiration in caffeine-treated skeletal muscle cells. We conclude that caffeine increased cell death and reduced mitochondrial respiration in a calcium-dependent manner by activating the RYR and promoting reticular calcium release. - Highlights: • Caffeine promoted caspase-dependent cell death in myotubes but not myoblasts. • Caffeine significantly reduced mitochondrial respiration. • Caffeine mediated cell death and respiration in a calcium-dependent manner. • Caffeine increased the expression of select endoplasmic reticular stress markers. • JNK inhibition partially attenuated cell death without rescuing respiration.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Long non-coding RNA CCAT1 promotes glioma cell proliferation via inhibiting microRNA-410

Background and aim: Long non-coding RNAs have been confirmed to play a critical role in various cancers. In the present study, the effect of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) CCAT1 on glioma cell proliferation and its potential mechanism were investigated. Methods and results: Real-time PCR results showed that lncRNA-CCAT1 expression was significantly upregulated in glioma cancer tissues and cell lines compared with controls. After inhibiting CCAT1 expression in glioma cell line U251 with siRNA-CCAT1 (si-CCAT1), the cell viability and cell colony formation were decreased, the cell cycle was arrested in G1 phase, and the cell apoptosis was increased. As reported in bioinformatics software starbase2.0, a total of 22 microRNAs were potentially targeted by CCAT1. It was confirmed that miR-410 was altered most by si-CCAT1. After up-regulating CCAT1 expression in U251 cells, miR-410 level was decreased. Luciferase reporter assay confirmed that CCAT1 targeted miR-410. Correlation analysis showed that CCAT1 expression was negatively related to miR-410 expression in glioma cancer tissues. In addition, down-regulation of miR-410 reversed the inhibitory effect of si-CCAT1 on glioma proliferation. Conclusion: These data demonstrated that lncRNA-CCAT1 promoted glioma cell proliferation via inhibiting miR-410, providing a new insight about the pathogenesis of glioma proliferation. - Highlights: • lncRNA-CCAT1 expression was significantly upregulated in glioma cancer tissues and cell lines. • Correlation analysis showed that CCAT1 expression was negatively related to miR-410 expression in glioma cancer tissues. • Down-regulation of miR-410 reversed the inhibitory effect of si-CCAT1 on glioma proliferation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

microRNA-146a inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of human cervical and colorectal cancer cells

microRNAs (miRNAs) play significant roles in diverse biological processes and their deregulation is implicated in carcinogenesis. miR-146a executes tumour suppressive or oncogenic functions depending on the cancer type, but its effect on human cervical (CaCx) and colorectal (CRC) cancers have not been examined thus far. In this study, miR-146a exhibited high expression in CaCx but poor expression in CRC, in comparison to corresponding normal tissues. Nevertheless, ectopic expression of miR-146a inhibited proliferation in both CaCx and CRC cells and curbed their migration and invasion. When the expression of endogenous miR-146a was suppressed, proliferative, migratory and invasive capacities of CaCx and CRC cells increased, suggesting an anti-tumourigenic function for miR-146a. Re-expression of miR-146a down-regulated the expression of crucial signalling intermediates: CTNNB1, STAT3, RELA, CCND1 and SNAI1, and enhanced TP53 and CDH1 expression. Thus, the present study reveals a hitherto unknown tumour suppressive role for miR-146a providing a plausible mechanistic basis for it. - Highlights: • miR-146a inhibits proliferation in human cervical and colorectal cancer cells. • miR-146a retards migratory and invasive potentials of cancer cells. • AntimiR-146a enhances growth and motility. • miR-146a modulates the expression of a few genes related to growth and motility. • miR-146a is highly expressed in cervical but poorly so in colorectal tumours.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Inhibition of FGF signaling accelerates neural crest cell differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells

Neural crest (NC) is a transient population, arising during embryonic development and capable of differentiating into various somatic cells. The defects of neural crest development leads to neurocristopathy. Several signaling pathways were revealed their significance in NC cell specification. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) is recognized as an important signaling during NC development, for instance Xenopus and avian; however, its contributions in human species are remained elusive. Here we used human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to investigate the consequences of FGF inhibition during NC cell differentiation. The specific-FGF receptor inhibitor, SU5402, was used in this investigation. The inhibition of FGF did not found to affect the proliferation or death of hPSC-derived NC cells, but promoted hPSCs to commit NC cell fate. NC-specific genes, including PAX3, SLUG, and TWIST1, were highly upregulated, while hPSC genes, such as OCT4, and E-CAD, rapidly reduced upon FGF signaling blockage. Noteworthy, TFAP-2α, a marker of migratory NC cells, abundantly presented in SU5402-induced cells. This accelerated NC cell differentiation could be due to the activation of Notch signaling upon the blockage of ERK1/2 phosphorylation, since NICD was increased by SU5402. Altogether, this study proposed the contributions of FGF signaling in controlling human NC cell differentiation from hPSCs, the crosstalk between FGF and Notch, and might imply to the influences of FGF signaling in neurocristophatic diseases.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Pulsed electromagnetic field inhibits RANKL-dependent osteoclastic differentiation in RAW264.7 cells through the Ca{sup 2+}-calcineurin-NFATc1 signaling pathway

Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) has been reported to improve bone healing in osteoporosis patients. However, the precise mechanism has remained largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effects of PEMF on nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL)-dependent osteoclastic differentiation and the Ca{sup 2+}-calcineurin-NFATc1 signaling pathway in RAW264.7 cells in vitro. Treating RAW264.7 cells with RANKL for 4 days induced osteoclastic differentiation in vitro, and the formation of multinucleated osteoclasts, bone resorption-pit formation, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity and the protein levels of cathepsin K, TRAP, Nuclear factor of activated T-cells, cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) were significantly decreased. The mRNA levels of specific genes related to osteoclastogenesis (TRAP, NFATc1, CTSK and MMP-9) were also reduced. Moreover, the oscillations of intracellular Ca{sup 2+} in RANKL-dependent RAW264.7 cells were suppressed by PEMF, as well as by inhibitors of membrane and store-operated Ca{sup 2+} channels. Meanwhile, calcineurin activity was increased, although its protein level was not changed. PEMF increased phospho-NFATc1 in the cytosol while suppressing the nuclear translocation of NFATc1, thus inhibiting osteoclastic differentiation by suppressing the Ca{sup 2+}-calcineurin-NFATc1 signaling pathway. Although many questions remain unresolved, to our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that PEMF is beneficial against RANKL-dependent osteoclastic differentiation in RAW264.7 cells in vitro via inhibiting the Ca{sup 2+}-calcineurin-NFATc1 signaling pathway.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Inhibition of ERK activity enhances the cytotoxic effect of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonists in HeLa cells

In this study, we examined whether the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonists, ciglitazone (CGZ) and troglitazone (TGZ), induce cell death in human cervical cancer HeLa cells. The cells were treated with a range of CGZ or TGZ doses for 24 or 48 h. Low concentrations of CGZ (≤10 μM) or TGZ (≤20 μM) had no effect on cell viability whereas higher doses induced cell death in a time- and dose-dependent manner as evidenced by the detection of activated caspase-3 and PARP cleavage. Treatment with the PPARγ antagonist GW9662 followed by PPARγ agonists did not increase CGZ- or TGZ-induced cell death, indicating that PPARγ agonists induced HeLa cell death independently of PPARγ. Moreover, ERK1/2 activation was observed at a CGZ concentration of 25 μM and a TGZ concentration of 35 μM, both of which induced cell death. To elucidate the role of ERK1/2 activated by the two PPARγ agonists, the effect of U0126, an inhibitor of ERK1/2, on PPARγ-agonist-induced cell death was examined. Treatment with 10 or 20 μM U0126 followed by CGZ or TGZ induced the down-regulation of ERK1/2 activity and a decrease in Bcl-2 expression accompanied by the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, which in turn significantly enhanced CGZ- or TGZ-induced apoptotic cell death. Our results suggest that PPARγ agonists are capable of inducing apoptotic cell death in HeLa cells independently of PPARγ and that inhibition of ERK1/2 activity offers a strategy to enhance the cytotoxicity of PPARγ agonists in the treatment of cervical cancer. - Highlights: • The PPARγ agonists CGZ and TGZ induce apoptotic cell death in HeLa cells. • CGZ or TGZ induces apoptotic cell death independently of PPARγ in HeLa cells. • Inhibition of ERK1/2 enhances CGZ- or TGZ-induced cell death via the collapse of MMP.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Saponin fraction isolated from Conyza blinii H.Lév. demonstrates strong anti-cancer activity that is due to its NF-κB inhibition

CBS (Conyza blinii saponin) is the total triterpenoidal saponins of Conyza blinii H.Lév which is a type of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). We have discovered that CBS has a profound cytostatic activity against a range of solid tumour cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. We also confirm that the cytostatic activity of CBS originates from its apoptosis induction effect. Additionally, we use immunoblot to find out that the apoptosis induction effect of CBS is attributable to the activation of mitochondrial pathway. Mechanistic study demonstrates that CBS is an effective NF-κB inhibitor. It inhibits p65 nuclear translocation and NF-κB downstream gene expression, including XIAP, survivin, Bcl-xL, COX-2, cyclin D1, MMP-2, MMP-9 in HeLa cells. Tumour xenografted animal models verify the anti-cancer efficacy in vivo. Tumour growth is significantly repressed in two CBS-treated groups compared with the controls (P < 0.001). CBS treatment (i.g.) leads to a 48.5% and 57.0% reduction in terms of tumour weight for the 10 and 20 mg/kg dosed groups respectively. Also no apparent observable adverse effects can be seen. These results suggest that CBS obliterate tumour, at least in part due to its NF-κB inhibition, which creates potential for CBS to be developed as a practical cancer treatment.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

MicroRNA-340 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting JAK1

Increasing evidence indicates that dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) contributes to tumorigenesis. MicroRNA-340 (miR-340) is downregulated in several types of cancer. However, the functional mechanism of miR-340 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. Here, we showed that miR-340 was significantly downregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. Gain-of-function experiments demonstrated that miR-340 overexpression inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro, and suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) was identified as a direct target of miR-340 in HCC cells. Ectopic expression of JAK1 reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-340. Further investigations showed that miR-340 dramatically inhibited the expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 downstream molecules including Bcl-2, cyclin D1, and matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-2. The present findings indicated that miR-340 suppressed HCC cell proliferation and invasion by regulating the JAK1/STAT3 pathway, suggesting its potential as a novel therapeutic target for HCC. - Highlights: • miR-340 is downregulated in HCC and suppresses HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. • miR-340 overexpression on HCC xenograft tumor growth in nude mice. • miR-340 directly targets JAK1. • miR-340 regulates the JAK1/STAT3 signaling pathway.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Characterization of goat inner cell mass derived cells in double kinase inhibition condition

The identification of small molecular inhibitors, which were reported to promote the derivation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), provides a potential strategy for the derivation of domesticated ungulate ESCs. In present study, goat inner cell mass (ICM) derived cells in the double inhibition (2i) condition, in which, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAP2K) and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) were inhibited by PD0325901 and BIO respectively, were characterized. The results showed that goat ICM derived cells in 2i medium adding leukaemia inhibitor factor (LIF) possessed a mouse ES-like morphology. But these cells had much compromised proliferation capacity, resulting in difficulty in expansion. In 2i alone medium, goat ICM derived cells possessed primate ES-like morphology. These cells expressed pluripotent markers and could differentiate into derivatives of three germ layers in vitro. However, these cells could not be proliferated in long-term (persisted for 15 passages) because of spontaneously neural differentiation. Additionally, goat ICM derived cells could be inducing differentiated into neural lineage in vitro. Although goat ESCs could not be established in PD0325901 and BIO alone medium, this derivation condition provides a useful research system to find signaling molecular those regulate early embryonic development and pluripotency in goat. - Highlights: • Goat inner cell mass derived cells possessed finite pluripotency in 2i condition. • These cells could not be proliferated in long-term in 2i condition. • These cells could spontaneously and inductively differentiate into neural lineage.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Gastrodin inhibits osteoclastogenesis via down-regulating the NFATc1 signaling pathway and stimulates osseointegration in vitro

Bone is a rigid yet dynamic organ, and this dynamism is mediated by the delicate balance between osteoclastic bone resorption and osteoblastic bone formation. However, excessive activation of osteoclasts is responsible for many bone diseases such as osteoporosis, Paget disease, and tumor bone metastasis. Agents that could inhibit osteoclast formation or function are regarded as promising alternatives to treat osteoclast-related diseases. Recently, traditional Chinese medicine has attracted attention because of its multiple activities in bone metabolism. Among them, gastrodin has been reported as an anti-osteoporosis agent that reduces reactive oxygen species. However, the direct action of gastrodin on osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption, and its underlying molecular mechanism, remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of gastrodin on receptor activator NF-κB ligand (RANKL)-activated osteoclasts formation and bone resorption. Our results showed that gastrodin retarded RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation efficiently by downregulating transcriptional and translational expression of nuclear factor of activated T cells cl (NFATc1), a major factor in RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenesis. Meanwhile, gastrodin prevented osteoclast maturation and migration by inhibiting the gene expression of dendrocyte expressed seven transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP), an osteoclastic-specific gene that controls cells fusion and movement. And gastrodin prevented RANKL-induced osteoclastic bone erosion in vitro. In addition, gastrodin also stimulated bone mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) spreading and osseointegration in titanium plate. In summary, gastrodin could prevent osteoclasts formation and bone resorption via blockage of NFATc1 activity, and stimulate osseointegration in vitro. Gastrodin could be developed as a potent phytochemical candidate to treat osteolytic diseases. - Highlights: • Gastrodin suppresses osteoclasts formation and function in vitro. • Gastrodin impairs NFATc1 activation. • Gastrodin stimulates osseointegration in vitro. • Gastrodin may be used for treating osteoclast related diseases.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Overexpression of microRNA-125b inhibits human acute myeloid leukemia cells invasion, proliferation and promotes cells apoptosis by targeting NF-κB signaling pathway

microRNA-125b has been reported to play an novel biological function in the progression and development of several kinds of leukemia. However, the detail role of miR-125b in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is remains largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the biological role of miR-125b in AML and the potential molecular mechanism involved in this process. Our results showed that overexpression of miR-125b suppressed AML cells proliferation, invasion and promotes cells apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, while the miR-NC did not show the same effect. In addition, miR-125b induced AML cells G2/M cell cycle arrest in vitro. Overexpression of miR-125b resulted in a significant decrease of the expression of p-IκB-α and inhibition of IκB-α degradation, and the nuclear translocation of NF-κB subunit p65 was abrogated by miR-125b simutaneously. To further verify that miR-125b targeted NF-κB signaling pathway, the NF-κB-regulated downstream genes that were associated with cell cycle arrest and apoptosis was also determined. The results showed that, miR-125b also affect NF-κB-regulated genes expression involved in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In conclusion, the present work certificates that miR-125b can significantly inhibit human AML cells invasion, proliferation and promotes cells apoptosis by targeting the NF-κB signaling pathway, and thus it can be viewed as an promising therapeutic target for AML. - Highlights: • Overexpression of miR-125b suppressed AML cells proliferation, invasion and promotes cells apoptosis. • miR-125b induced AML cells G2/M cell cycle arrest in vitro. • miR-125b suppressed AML cells tumorigenicity and promoted cells apoptosis by targeting NF-κB pathway.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Long non-coding RNA PCAT7 regulates ELF2 signaling through inhibition of miR-134-5p in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

While some long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) might promote nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) initiation and progression, the involved molecular mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here, we discovered the novel LncRNA, prostate cancer associated transcript 7 (PCAT7), which was overexpressed and associated with worse prognosis in NPC. Decreased PCAT7 expression was found to significantly suppress tumor cell proliferation in vitro, and inhibited tumor growth and reduced the expression of proliferation antigen Ki-67 in vivo. Rescue assay was performed to further confirm that PCAT7 contributed to the progression of NPC through regulating miR-134-5p/ELF2 signal pathway. These results indicated that PCAT7 might contribute to the tumor progression in NPC by functioning as a ceRNA to sponge miR-134-5p. - Highlights: • PCAT7 is up-regulated in human primary NPC tissues. • Expression of ELF2 is up-regulated in primary human NPC and negatively expressed related to miR-134-5p. • MiR-134-5p inhibits the tumorigenic potential of NPC cells by down-regulating oncogenic ELF2 gene. • PCAT7's oncogenic functions are partially through reverse regulation of miRNA-134-5p, and then activation of ELF2.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Curcumin inhibits bladder cancer stem cells by suppressing Sonic Hedgehog pathway

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) is responsible for the recurrence of human cancers. Thus, targeting CSCs is considered to be a valid way for human cancer treatment. Curcumin is a major component of phytochemicals that exerts potent anticancer activities. However, the effect of curcumin on bladder cancer stem cells (BCSCs) remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of curcumin suppressing bladder cancer stem cells. In this study, UM-UC-3 and EJ cells were cultured in serum-free medium (SFM) to form cell spheres that was characterized as BCSCs. Then cell spheres were separately treated with different concentrations of curcumin and purmorphamine. Cell cycle analysis were used to determine the percentage of cells in different phases. Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR analysis were used to detect the expression of relative molecules. Immunofluorescence staining analysis were also utilized to measure the protein level of CD44. We found that CSC markers, including CD44, CD133, ALDH1-A1, OCT-4 and Nanog, were obviously highly expressed in cell spheres. Moreover, we observed that curcumin reduced the cell spheres formation, decreased the expression of CSC markers, suppressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. We also found that curcumin inhibited the activation of Shh pathway, while the inhibitory effects of curcumin on BCSCs could be weakened by upregulation of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway. Altogether, these data suggested that curcumin inhibited the activities of BCSCs through suppressing Shh pathway, which might be an effective chemopreventive agent for bladder cancer intervention.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

COPS5 inhibition arrests the proliferation and growth of serous ovarian cancer cells via the elevation of p27 level

The fifth component of the COP9 signalosome complex (COPS5), which plays an essential role in ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, has been found as a prognostic biomarker for multiple cancers, however, the role of COPS5 in serous ovarian cancer (SOC) remain to be clarified. In this study, we found that COPS5 expression was significantly increased in SOC cells and tissues compared with those controls. Mechanistically, COPS5 and p27was proved to interact with each other, with COPS5 acts as a negative regulator of p27. SOC cells with COPS5 depletion were arrested in G1/G0-phase and exhibited a reduced proliferation ability and an increased cytoplasmic p27 expression. Whereas, the cells were stuck at S-phase accompanied with an elevation of nucleus p27 expression after knocking down COPS6 or blocking COPS5 by CSN5i-3. Furthermore, inhibition of COPS5 resulted in an elevation of Akt expression and sensitized SOC cells to Akt inhibitor MK2206. Suppression of COPS5 and Akt offers a potential strategy for the treatment of SOC. - Highlights: • As a negative regulator of p27, COPS5 depression could inhibits the proliferation of serous ovarian cancer cells. • Knockdown of COPS5 resulted in the maintaining duration of the G1-phase accompanied by cytoplasm localization of p27. • Either inhibitor CSN5i-3 or COPS6 knockdown would result in COPS5 suppression and p27-mediated S arrest. • COPS5 suppression promotes the activity osf Akst and sensitizes SOC cells to MK2206.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Regulated lithium ionic flux through well-aligned channels for lithium dendrite inhibition in solid-state batteries

The utilization of solid electrolyte (SE) to suppress lithium (Li) dendrites is promising but still far from satisfactory due to the inhomogeneous Li plating/stripping. In this paper, we demonstrated a novel strategy to inhibit Li dendrites via regulating Li-ion flux in SE by using vertically aligned channels. The ion-insulating walls facilitated uniform distribution of Li-ion flux through the channels, leading to a homogeneous Li deposition, thus alleviating Li dendrite formation. As a result, symmetric cells with this SE exhibited excellent long-term stability (1000 h) against Li metal. In addition, Li4Ti5O12 (LTO)/Li cell with the developed SE achieved good battery performance over 100 cycles. The mechanism for dendrite suppression was further investigated by phase-field simulation. This work provides a novel strategy by manipulating uniform Li-ion flux to fabricate SE to inhibit Li dendrites and facilitates the development of high-performance rechargeable Li batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Hedgehog Pathway Inhibition Radiosensitizes Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers

Purpose: Despite improvements in chemoradiation, local control remains a major clinical problem in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The Hedgehog pathway has been implicated in tumor recurrence by promoting survival of tumorigenic precursors and through effects on tumor-associated stroma. Whether Hedgehog inhibition can affect radiation efficacy in vivo has not been reported. Methods and Materials: We evaluated the effects of a targeted Hedgehog inhibitor (HhAntag) and radiation on clonogenic survival of human non-small cell lung cancer lines in vitro. Using an A549 cell line xenograft model, we examined tumor growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and gene expression changes after concomitant HhAntag and radiation. In a transgenic mouse model of Kras{sup G12D}-induced and Twist1-induced lung adenocarcinoma, we assessed tumor response to radiation and HhAntag by serial micro-computed tomography (CT) scanning. Results: In 4 human lung cancer lines in vitro, HhAntag showed little or no effect on radiosensitivity. By contrast, in both the human tumor xenograft and murine inducible transgenic models, HhAntag enhanced radiation efficacy and delayed tumor growth. By use of the human xenograft model to differentiate tumor and stromal effects, mouse stromal cells, but not human tumor cells, showed significant and consistent downregulation of Hedgehog pathway gene expression. This was associated with increased tumor cell apoptosis. Conclusions: Targeted Hedgehog pathway inhibition can increase in vivo radiation efficacy in lung cancer preclinical models. This effect is associated with pathway suppression in tumor-associated stroma. These data support clinical testing of Hedgehog inhibitors as a component of multimodality therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

n-Butanol or isobutanol as a value-added fuel additive to inhibit microbial degradation of stored gasoline

Biofouling of gasoline can occur during fuel storage caused by bacteria and fungi that form a biofilm at a fuel/water interface and that produce organic acids and sulfides. Fuel additives are applied to gasoline to prevent biofouling but are relatively expensive, are not always effective against biofilms, and do not contribute to the combustibility of gasoline. Bio-isobutanol is an approved, certified advanced biofuel and is added up to 16% ( v/v ) in gasoline blends “iBut16”; n-butanol blends are currently under review. Microorganisms are inhibited by n-butanol or isobutanol when the aqueous concentration reaches >2-3% (w/ v ). We determined that n-butanol partitions into the aqueous phase of a model gasoline/water system reaching concentrations of 42 g/L and up to 48 g/L from gasoline blends at 10% and 24% ( v/v ), respectively. Likewise, isobutanol blended in gasoline at 10% and 24% ( v/v ) partitioned into an aqueous phase at 45 g/L and 53 g/L, respectively. Several bacterial and fungal strains that originate from fuel storage tanks, or are known to be solvent tolerant, were evaluated for their potential growth in a range of n- and isobutanol concentrations. Growth rates for all strains tested were reduced by 40–100% relative to untreated controls in n- and isobutanol concentrations of 1.5 and 2.0% ( v/v ). No observable growth occurred for any of the microorganisms in solvent concentrations at 3.0% ( v/v ). T amphiphilic and chaotropic properties of n- or isobutanol help them inhibit microbial growth and could serve as effective biocides during fuel storage as well as being valuable fuel additives.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗