| 1. |
- Zhu, Liang-Liang, et al.
(författare)
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Photolockable Ratiometric Viscosity Sensitivity of Cyclodextrin Polypseudorotaxane with Light-Active Rotor Graft
- 2009
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Ingår i: Langmuir. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0743-7463 .- 1520-5827. ; 25:6, s. 3482-3486
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A prototype, based on light-active fluorescent rotor grafted to beta-cyclodextrin, shows a good solvent viscosity-sensitive behavior due to the environment-dependent nonradiative decay. With the reversible photoisomerization of the cyanostilbene unit, the viscosity sensitivity of the molecular rotor could be locked and activated, and the two switchable states can be distinguished by fluorescent signals. This cyclodextrin derivative was threaded to form a novel polypseudorotaxane. Such supramolecular assembly displays a lockable ratiometric fluorescent viscosity sensitivity with two emission channels: one aroused by fluorophore's intramolecular excimer without influenced by viscosity is used to gauge the concentration of the compound, while the other corresponding to the monomer's rotor fluorescence acts as a viscosity-sensitive signal and it can be shut off by UV irradiation.
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| 2. |
- Elsik, Christine G., et al.
(författare)
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The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle : A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution
- 2009
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 324:5926, s. 522-528
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.
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| 3. |
- Hua, Dong, et al.
(författare)
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Small interfering RNA-directed targeting of toll-like receptor 4 inhibits human prostate cancer cell invasion, survival, and tumorigenicity
- 2009
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Ingår i: Molecular Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0161-5890 .- 1872-9142. ; 46:15, s. 2876-2884
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major cause of tumor treatment failure is cancer cell metastasis. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated signaling has been implicated in tumor cell invasion, survival, and metastasis in a variety of cancers. In this study, we investigated the biological roles of TLR4 in prostate metastatic cell invasion and survival, and the potential of gene silencing of TLR4 using small interfering RNA (siRNA) for treatment of cancer. In cultured human prostate cancer cell lines, TLR4 were higher PC3 and DU145 as compared with the poorly metastatic LNCaP indicating that up-regulation of TLR4 was positively correlated with metastasis of tumor cell. In the highly metastatic cancer cell PC3, gene silencing of TLR4 using siRNA significantly inhibited TLR4 mRNA expression and protein level. Knockdown of TLR4 in PC3 cells resulted in a dramatic reduction of tumor cell migration and invasion as indicated by a Matrigel invasion assay. Furthermore, TLR4 siRNA suppressed cell viability and ultimately caused the induction of apoptotic cell death. The effects were associated with abrogating TLR4-mediated signaling to downstream target molecules such as myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), adaptor-inducing IFN-beta (TRIF), and interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1). In a mouse prostate cancer model, administration with the plasmid construct expressing siRNA for TLR4 obviously inhibited established tumor growth and survival. These studies revealed evidence of a multifaceted signaling network operating downstream of TLR4-mediated tumor cell invasion, proliferation, and survival. Thus, RNA interference-directed targeting of TLR4 may raise the potential of its application for cancer therapy.
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| 4. |
- Li, ZongYi, et al.
(författare)
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Toward a stem cell gene therapy for breast cancer
- 2009
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Ingår i: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 1528-0020 .- 0006-4971. ; 113:22, s. 5423-5433
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Current approaches for treatment of late-stage breast cancer rarely result in a long-term cure. In part this is due to tumor stroma that prevents access of systemically or intratumorally applied therapeutics. We propose a stem cell gene therapy approach for controlled tumor stroma degradation that uses the pathophysiologic process of recruitment of inflammatory cells into the tumor. This approach involves genetic modification of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and their subsequent transplantation into tumor-bearing mice. We show that inducible, intratumoral expression of relaxin (Rlx) either by transplanting tumor cells that contained the Rlx gene or by transplantation of mouse HSCs transduced with an Rlx-expressing lentivirus vector delays tumor growth in a mouse model of breast cancer. The antitumor effect of Rlx was mediated through degradation of tumor stroma, which provided increased access of infiltrating antitumor immune cells to their target tumor cells. Furthermore, we have shown in a human/mouse chimeric model that genetically modified HSCs expressing a transgene can access the tumor site. Our findings are relevant for cancer gene therapy and immunotherapy. (Blood. 2009; 113: 5423-5433)
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| 5. |
- Nordberg, Gunnar F, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence of kidney dysfunction in humans - relationship to cadmium dose, metallothionein, immunological and metabolic factors.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Biochimie. - : Elsevier BV. - 1638-6183 .- 0300-9084. ; 91:10, s. 1282-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Long term cadmium (Cd) exposure in occupational and general environments may give rise to kidney dysfunction. This effect is usually considered to be the critical effect, i. e. the effect that occurs at relatively low level of exposure. The present review focused on studies of the prevalence of cadmium-related kidney dysfunction among population groups residing in cadmium contaminated areas in China. Dose-response relationships were shown between UCd and the prevalence of increased levels of biomarkers in urine of renal tubular dysfunction such as urinary beta-2-microglobulin or N-acetyl-beta-d-glucosaminidase - NAG or urinary albumin, a biomarker of glomerular kidney dysfunction. Factors that influence these dose-response relationships include: 1) Metallothionein mRNA levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes, used as a biomarker of the ability of each person, to synthesize metallothionein (a protein known to provide intracellular protection against cadmium toxicity). 2) The occurrence of increased levels in blood plasma of autoantibodies against metallothionein. 3) Concomitant changes in glucose metabolism i e Type II diabetes. 4) Concomitant exposure to other nephrotoxic agents such as inorganic arsenic. Increased susceptibility in diabetics has been shown also in population groups in Europe. In persons with type II diabetes and increased levels of autoantibodies against metallothionein in blood plasma or in persons with concomitant exposure to environmental inorganic arsenic, indications of Cd-related kidney dysfunction was observed at UCd levels around 1 microg/g creatinine, levels found among "unexposed" population groups in many countries.
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| 6. |
- Zhou, Yan-Feng, et al.
(författare)
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C4-dicarboxylates sensing mechanism revealed by the crystal structures of DctB sensor domain
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1089-8638 .- 0022-2836. ; 383:1, s. 49-61
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- C(4)-dicarboxylates are the major carbon and energy sources during the symbiotic growth of rhizobia. Responses to C(4)-dicarboxylates depend on typical two-component systems (TCS) consisting of a transmembrane sensor histidine kinase and a cytoplasmic response regulator. The DctB-DctD system is the first identified TCS for C(4)-dicarboxylates sensing. Direct ligand binding to the sensor domain of DctB is believed to be the first step of the sensing events. In this report, the water-soluble periplasmic sensor domain of Sinorhizobium meliloti DctB (DctBp) was studied, and three crystal structures were solved: the apo protein, a complex with C(4) succinate, and a complex with C(3) malonate. Different from the two structurally known CitA family of carboxylate sensor proteins CitA and DcuS, the structure of DctBp consists of two tandem Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) domains and one N-terminal helical region. Only the membrane-distal PAS domain was found to bind the ligands, whereas the proximal PAS domain was empty. Comparison of DctB, CitA, and DcuS suggests a detailed stereochemistry of C(4)-dicarboxylates ligand perception. The structures of the different ligand binding states of DctBp also revealed a series of conformational changes initiated upon ligand binding and propagated to the N-terminal domain responsible for dimerization, providing insights into understanding the detailed mechanism of the signal transduction of TCS histidine kinases.
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