Search results for: A549 cells

Authors: Abdul Matin, Salik Nawaz, Suk-Yul Jung

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Balamuthia mandrillaris is well known to cause fatal Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis (BAE). Amoebic transmission into the central nervous system (CNS), haematogenous spread is thought to be the prime step, followed by blood-brain barrier (BBB) dissemination. Macrophages are considered to be the foremost line of defense and present in excessive numbers during amoebic infections. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the effects of macrophages alone or primed with cytokines on the biological characteristics of Balamuthia in vitro. Using human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC), which constitutes the BBB, we have shown that Balamuthia demonstrated > 90% binding and > 70% cytotoxicity to host cells. However, macrophages further increased amoebic binding and Balamuthia-mediated cell cytotoxicity. Furthermore, macrophages exhibited no amoebicidal effect against Balamuthia. Zymography assay demonstrated that macrophages exhibited no inhibitory effect on proteolytic activity of Balamuthia. Overall, to our best knowledge, we have shown for the first time macrophages has no inhibitory effects on the biological properties of Balamuthia in vitro. This also strengthened the concept that how and why Balamuthia can cause infections in both immuno-competent and immuno-compromised individuals.

Keywords: Balamuthia mandrillaris, macrophages, cytokines, human brain microvascular endothelial cells, Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Hyun Ji Hyun, Hyo Sun Suh, Min Kook Kim, Yong Chan Kwon, Byung-Mu Lee

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Scope: This study is focused on the effect of myristic acid on LPS-induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Methods and results: For the experiment, RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cell line was used. Results showed that treatment with myristic acid can attenuate LPS-induced inflammation. Moreover, myristic acid significantly suppressed expression of inflammatory mediators and down-regulating UVB-induced intracellular ROS generation. Furthermore, myristic acid reduced the expression of NF-κB by inhibiting degradation of IκB-α and ERK, JNK, and p38 pathways by inhibiting phosphorylation in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Conclusion: Overall, these data suggest that the myristic acid could reduce LPS-induced inflammation. Acknowledgment: This research was supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy(MOTIE), Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology(KIAT) through the Encouragement Program for The Industries of Economic Cooperation Region

Keywords: anti-inflammation, myristic acid, ROS, ultraviolet light

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Authors: Yingjeng James Li, Lung-Yu Sung, Huan-Jyun Ciou

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Durability of Membrane Electrode Assembly for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells was evaluated in both steady state and accelerated decay modes. Steady state mode was carried out at constant current of 800mA / cm2 for 2500 hours using air as cathode feed and pure hydrogen as anode feed. The degradation of the cell voltage was 0.015V after such 2500 hrs operation. The degradation rate was therefore calculated to be 6uV / hr. Accelerated mode was carried out by switching the voltage of the single cell between OCV and 0.2V. The durations held at OCV and 0.2V were 20 and 40 seconds, respectively, meaning one minute per cycle. No obvious change in performance of the MEA was observed after 10000 cycles of such operation.

Keywords: durability, lifetime, membrane electrode assembly, proton exchange membrane fuel cells

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Authors: Monika Verma, Renuka Sharma, B. R. Gulati, Namita Singh

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In combination therapy, two chemotherapeutic agents work together in a collaborative action. It has appeared as one of the promising approaches to improve anti-cancer treatment efficacy. In the present investigation, piperine (P-NPS), paclitaxel (PTX NPS), and a combination of both, piperine-paclitaxel nanoparticle (Pip-PTX NPS), were made by the nanoprecipitation method and later characterized by PSA, DSC, SEM, TEM, and FTIR. All nanoparticles exhibited a monodispersed size distribution with a size of below 200 nm, zeta potential ranges from (-30-40mV) and a narrow polydispersity index (>0.3) of the drugs. The average encapsulation efficiency was found to be between 80 and 90%. In vitro release of drugs for nanoparticles was done spectrophotometrically. FTIR and DSC results confirmed the presence of the drug. The Pip-PTX NPS significantly inhibit cell proliferation as compared to the native drugs nanoparticles in the breast cancer cell line MCF-7. In addition, Pip-PTX NPS suppresses cells in colony formation and soft gel agar assay. Scratch migration and Transwell chamber invasion assays revealed that combined nanoparticles reduce the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. Morphological studies showed that Pip-PTX NPS penetrates the cells and induces apoptosis, which was further confirmed by DNA fragmentation, SEM, and western blot analysis. Taken together, Pip-PTX NPS inhibits cell proliferation, anchorage dependent and anchorage independent cell growth, reduces migration and invasion, and induces apoptosis in cells. These findings support that combination therapy using Pip-PTX NPS represents a potential approach and could be helpful in the future for breast cancer therapy.

Keywords: piperine, paclitaxel, breast cancer, apoptosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: A. Mourtzikou, D. Sygkridou, T. Georgakopoulos, G. Katsagounos, E. Stathatos

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Over 60% highly transparent quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with dimension of 50x50 cm² were fabricated via inkjet printing process using nanocomposite inks as raw materials and tested under outdoor illumination conditions. The cells were electrically characterized, and their possible application to the shell of greenhouses was also examined. The panel design was in Z-interconnection, where the working electrode was inkjet printed on one conductive glass and the counter electrode on a second glass in a sandwich configuration. Silver current collective fingers were printed on the glasses to make the internal electrical connections. In that case, the adjacent cells were connected in series via silver fingers and finally insulated using a UV curing resin to protect them from the corrosive (I^-/I₃^-) redox couple of the electrolyte.

Keywords: Dye-sensitized solar panels, inkjet printing, quasi-solid state electrolyte, semi-transparency, scale up

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Authors: Mohsen Farahat, Tsuyoshi Hirajima

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Surface characteristics of Bacillus megaterium strain were investigated; zeta potential, FTIR and contact angle were measured. Surface energy components including Lifshitz-van der Waals, Hamaker constant, and acid/base components (Lewis acid/Lewis base) were calculated from the contact angle data. The results showed that the microbial cells were negatively charged over all pH regions with high values at alkaline region. A hydrophilic nature for the strain was confirmed by contact angle and free energy of adhesion between microbial cells. Adsorption affinity of the strain toward dolomite was studied at different pH values. The results showed that the cells had a high affinity to dolomite at acid pH comparing to neutral and alkaline pH. Extended DLVO theory was applied to calculate interaction energy between B. megaterium cells and dolomite particles. The adsorption results were in agreement with the results of Extended DLVO approach. Surface changes occurred on dolomite surface after the bio-treatment were monitored; contact angle decreased from 69° to 38° and the mineral’s floatability decreased from 95% to 25% after the treatment.

Keywords: Bacillus megaterium, surface modification, flotation, dolomite, adhesion energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Nisha Singh, Neeru Adlakha

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Calcium signalling is one of the most important intracellular signalling mechanisms. A lot of approaches and investigators have been made in the study of calcium signalling in various cells to understand its mechanisms over recent decades. However, most of existing investigators have mainly focussed on the study of calcium signalling in various cells without paying attention to the dependence of calcium signalling on other chemical ions like inositol-1; 4; 5 triphosphate ions, etc. Some models for the independent study of calcium signalling and inositol-1; 4; 5 triphosphate signalling in various cells are present but very little attention has been paid by the researchers to study the interdependence of these two signalling processes in a cell. In this paper, we propose a coupled mathematical model to understand the interdependence of inositol-1; 4; 5 triphosphate dynamics and calcium dynamics in a myocyte cell. Such studies will provide the deeper understanding of various factors involved in calcium signalling in myocytes, which may be of great use to biomedical scientists for various medical applications.

Keywords: calcium signalling, coupling, finite difference method, inositol 1, 4, 5-triphosphate

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Authors: Maged Syed Ahamd, Manal Mohamed Yasser, Essam Sholkamy

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In this paper, we reported that selenium (Se) nanoparticles were firstly biosynthesized with a simple and eco-friendly biological method. Their shape, size, FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy), UV–vis spectra, TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) images and EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) pattern have been analyzed. TEM analyses of the samples obtained at different stages indicated that the formation of these Se nanostructures was governed by an incubation time (12- 24- 48 hours). The Se nanoparticles were initially generated and then would transform into crystal seeds for the subsequent growth of nanowires; however obtaining stable Se nanowire with a diameter of about 15-100 nm. EDS shows that Se nanoparticles are entirely pure. The IR spectra showed the peaks at 550 cm-1, 1635 cm-1, 1994 cm-1 and 3430 cm-1 correspond to the presence of Se-O bending and stretching vibrations. The concentrations of Se-NPs (0, 1, 2, 5 µg/ml) did not give significantly effect on both two cell lines while the highest concentrations (10- 100 µg/ml gave significantly effects on them. The lethal dose (ID50%) of Se-NPs on Hep2 G and MCF-7 cells was obtained at 75.96 and 61.86 µg/ml, respectively. Results showed that Se nanoparticles as anticancer agent against MCF-7 cells were more effective than Hep2 G cells. Our results suggest that Se-NPs may be a candidate for further evaluation as a chemotherapeutic agent for breast and liver cancers.

Keywords: selenium nanoparticle, Streptomyces bikiniensis, nanowires, chemotherapeutic agent

Procedia PDF Downloads 443

Authors: Razieh Teimouri

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Electrical modelling of Cu (In,Ga)Se₂ thin film solar cells is carried out with compositionally graded absorber and CdS buffer layer. Simulation results are compared with experimental data. Surface defect layers (SDL) are located in CdS/CIGS interface for improving open circuit voltage simulated structure through the analysis of the interface is investigated with or without this layer. When SDL removed, by optimizing the conduction band offset (CBO) position of the buffer/absorber layers with its recombination mechanisms and also shallow donor density in the CdS, the open circuit voltage increased significantly. As a result of simulation, excellent performance can be obtained when the conduction band of window layer positions higher by 0.2 eV than that of CIGS and shallow donor density in the CdS was found about 1×10¹⁸ (cm⁻³).

Keywords: CIGS solar cells, thin film, SCAPS, buffer layer, conduction band offset

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Authors: Esther N. Maina, Anna Skowronska, Sridhar Chaganti, Malcolm A. Taylor, Paul G. Murray, Tatjana Stankovic

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Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human tumours of B-cell origin. The demonstration that a proportion of Hodgkin lymphomas and all Burkitt’s lymphomas harbour EBV suggests that the virus contributes to the development of these malignancies. However, the mechanisms of lymphomagenesis remain largely unknown. To determine whether EBV causes DNA damage and alters DNA damage response in cells of EBV-driven lymphoma origin, Germinal Centre (GC) B cells were infected with EBV and DNA damage responses to gamma ionising radiation (IR) assessed at early time points (12hr – 72hr) after infection and prior to establishment of lymphoblastoid (LCL) cell lines. In the presence of EBV, we observed induction of spontaneous DNA DSBs and downregulation of ATM-dependent phosphorylation in response to IR. This downregulation coincided with reduced ability of infected cells to repair IR-induced DNA double-strand breaks, as measured by the kinetics of gamma H2AX, a marker of double-strand breaks, and by the tail moment of the comet assay. Furthermore, we found that alteration of DNA damage responses coincided with the expression of LMP-1 protein. The presence of the EBV virus did not affect the localization of the ATM-dependent DNA repair proteins to sites of damage but instead lead to an increased expression of PP5, a phosphatase that regulates ATM function. The impact of the virus on DNA repair was most prominent 24h after infection, suggesting that this time point is crucial for the viral establishment in B cells. Our results suggest that during an early infection EBV virus dampens crucial cellular responses to DNA double-strand breaks which facilitate successful viral infection, but at the same time might provide the mechanism for tumor development.

Keywords: EBV, ATM, DNA damage, germinal center cells

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Hamid Reza Khodaei, Behnaz Mahdavi, Alireza Banitaba

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Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in all sexual activities of animals. It is made in body from NO syntheses enzyme and L-arginin molecule. NO can make band with sulfur-iron complexes and due to production of steroid sexual hormones related to enzymes which have this complex, NO can change the activity of these enzymes. NO affects many cells including endothelial cells of veins, macrophages and mast cells. These cells are found in testis leydig cells and therefore are important source of NO in testis tissue. Minimizing damages to sperm at the time of sperm freezing and thawing is really important. The goal of this study was to determine the function of NO before freezing and its effects on quality and viability of sperms after thawing and incubation. 4 Holstein bulls were selected from the age of 4, and artificial insemination was done for 3 weeks (2 times a week). Treatments were 0, 10, 50 and 100 nm of sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Data analysis was performed by SAS98 program. Also, mean comparison was done using Duncan's multiple ranges test (P<0.05). Concentrations used were found to increase motility and viability of spermatozoa at 1, 2 and 3 hours after thawing significantly (P<0.05) but there was no significant difference at zero time. SNP levels reduced the amount of lipid peroxidation in sperm membrane, increased acrosome health and improved samples membranes especially in 50 and 100 nm treatments. According to results, adding SNP to semen diluents increases motility and viability of spermatozoa. Also, it reduces lipid peroxidation in sperm membrane and improves sperm function.

Keywords: sperm motility, nitric oxide, lipid peroxidation, spermatozoa

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Authors: Seong Gu Hwang, Young Kyoon Oh, Joseph F. dela Cruz

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Marbling, or intramuscular fat, has been consistently identified as one of the top beef quality problems. Intramuscular adipocytes distribute throughout the perimysial connective tissue of skeletal muscle and are the major site for the deposition of intramuscular fat, which is essential for the eating quality of meat. The stromal vascular fraction of the skeletal muscle contains progenitor cells that can be enhanced to differentiate to adipocytes and increase intramuscular fat. Primary cultures of bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells were used in this study to elucidate the effects of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid concentration on adipocyte differentiation. Cell viability assay revealed that even at different concentrations of calcium and retinoic acid, there was no significant difference on cell viability. Monitoring of the adipocyte differentiation showed that bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells cultured in a low concentration of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid had a better degree of fat accumulation. The mRNA and protein expressions of PPARγ, C/EBPα, SREBP-1c and aP2 were analyzed and showed a significant upregulation upon the reduction in the level of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid. The upregulation of these adipogenic related genes means that the decreasing concentration of calcium and retinoic acid is able to stimulate the adipogenic differentiation of bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells. To further elucidate the effect of calcium, the expression level of calreticulin was measured. Calreticulin which is known to be an inhibitor of PPARγ was down regulated by the decreased level of calcium and retinoic acid in the culture media. The same tendency was observed on retinoic acid receptors RARα and CRABP-II. These receptors are recognized as adipogenic inhibitors, and the downregulation of their expression allowed a better level of differentiation in bovine intramuscular stromal vascular cells. In conclusion, data show that decreasing the level of extracellular calcium and retinoic acid can significantly promote adipogenesis in intramuscular stromal vascular cells of Hanwoo beef cattle. These findings may provide new insights in enhancing intramuscular adipogenesis and marbling in beef cattle.

Keywords: calcium, calreticulin, hanwoo beef, retinoic acid

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Ying Sun, Biao Cheng, Qing Lu, Xuefei Tao, Xiaoyu Lai, Cheng Guo, Dan Wang

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Fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2) has recently been identified to play an important role in inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis through a thrombin-dependent manner. Here, a murine monoclonal antibody was raised against the critical residue Ser(89) of FGL2, and the effects of the anti-FGL2 mAb (SPF89) were analyzed in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and THP-1 cells. Firstly, it was proved that SPF89, which belongs to the IgG1 subtype with a KD value of 44.5 pM, could specifically show the expression levels of protein FGL2 in different cell lines of known target gene status. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated endothelial cell proliferation was significantly inhibited with a decline of phosphorylation nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in a dose-dependent manner after SPF89 treatment. Furthermore, SPF89 reduced LPS-induced expression of adhesion molecules and inflammatory cytokines such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, Matrix metalloproteinase MMP-2, Integrin αvβ3, and interleukin-6 in HUVECs. In macrophage-like THP-1 cells, SPF89 effectively inhibited LPS and low-density lipoprotein-induced foam cell formation. However, these anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects of anti-FGL2 mAb in HUVECs and THP-1 cells were significantly reduced after treatment with an NF-κB inhibitor PDTC. All the above suggest, by efficiently inhibiting LPS-induced pro-inflammatory effects in vascular endothelial cells by attenuating NF-κB dependent pathway, the new anti-FGL2 mAb SPF89 could to be a potential therapeutic candidate for protecting the vascular endothelium against inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. This work was supported by the Program of Sichuan Science and Technology Department (2017FZ0069) and Collaborative Innovation Program of Sichuan for Elderly Care and Health(YLZBZ1511).

Keywords: monoclonal antibody, fibrinogen like protein 2, inflammation, endothelial cells

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Gholamreza Hashemitabr, Reza Valadan, Alireza Rafiei, Mohammad Reza Bassami

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Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Cancer cells use a complex multilayer network of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) signaling pathways to support their survival and growth. The overlapping networks of EGFRs signaling pathways account for the failure of most ErbB-targeted therapies. The aim of this study was to enrich a pool of recombinant antibody fragments against common epitopes of ErbB1 and ErbB2 in order to simultaneous blockade of ErbBs signaling pathways. ErbB1 and ErbB2 were expressed stably in VERO cells. Selection of recombinant antibodies was performed on live cells expressing either of ErbB1 and ErbB2 receptors using subtractive phage display approach. The results of PCR and DNA fingerprinting in the last round of panning showed that most clones contained insert (80% and 85% for ErbB1 and ErbB2 respectively) with an identical restriction pattern. The selected clones showed positive reaction to both ErbB1 and ErbB2 receptors in phage-ELISA test. Furthermore, the resulting soluble antibody fragments recognized common epitopes of both immunoprecipitated ErbB1 and ErbB2 in western blot. Additionally, the antibodies directed against the dimerization domain of ErbB1 demonstrated a significant absorbance in EGF-stimulated VERO/ErbB1 cells than non-stimulated cells (1.91 and 1.09 respectively). Moreover, the results of dimerization inhibition test showed that these antibodies blocked ErbB1 and ErbB2 dimerization on the surface of ErbB1 and ErbB2 expressing VERO cells. Regarding the importance of pan-ErbB approach to cancer therapy, the antibodies developed here might provide novel therapeutics for simultaneous blockade of ErbBs signaling pathways.

Keywords: breast cancer, single-chain antibody, ErbB1, ErbB2, epitope

Procedia PDF Downloads 646

Authors: M. L. Akinyemi, T. J. Abodurin, A. O. Boyo, J. A. O. Olugbuyiro

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Organic dyes from Cola acuminata (C. acuminata), Lupinus arboreus (L. arboreus) and Bougainvillea spectabilis (B. spectabilis) leaves and their mixtures were used as sensitizers to manufacture dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Photoelectric measurements of C. acuminata showed a short circuit current (J_sc) of 0.027 mA/ cm², 0.026 mA/ cm² and 0.018 mA/ cm² with a mixture of mercury chloride and iodine (Hgcl₂ + I); potassium bromide and iodine (KBr + I); and potassium chloride and iodine (KCl + I) respectively. The open circuit voltage (V_oc) was 24 mV, 25 mV and 20 mV for the three dyes respectively. L. arboreus had J_sc of 0.034 mA/ cm², 0.021 mA/ cm² and 0.013 mA/ cm²; and corresponding V_oc of 28 mV, 14.2 mV and 15 mV for the three electrolytes respectively. B. spectabilis recorded J_sc 0.023 mA/ cm², 0.026 mA/ cm² and 0.015 mA/ cm²; and corresponding V_oc values of 6.2 mV, 14.3 mV and 4.0 mV for the three electrolytes respectively. It was observed that the fill factor (FF) was 0.140 for C. acuminata, 0.3198 for L. arboreus and 0.1138 for B. spectabilis. Internal conversions of 0.096%, 0.056% and 0.063% were recorded for three dyes when combined with (KBr + I) electrolyte. The internal efficiency of C. acuminata DSSC was highest in value.

Keywords: dye-sensitized solar cells, organic dye, C. acuminate, L. arboreus, B. spectabilis, dye mixture

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Authors: Julius Denafas, Irina Kliopova, Gintaras Denafas

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Three opportunities for implementation of industrial ecology principles in the real industrial production of c-Si solar cells and modules are presented in this study. It includes: material flow dematerialisation, product modification and industrial symbiosis. Firstly, it is shown how the collaboration between R&D institutes and industry helps to achieve significant reduction of material consumption by a) refuse from phosphor silicate glass cleaning process and b) shortening of silicon nitride coating production step. Secondly, it was shown how the modification of solar module design can reduce the CO2 footprint for this product and enhance waste prevention. It was achieved by implementing a frameless glass/glass solar module design instead of glass/backsheet with aluminium frame. Such a design change is possible without purchasing new equipment and without loss of main product properties like efficiency, rigidity and longevity. Thirdly, industrial symbiosis in the solar cell production is possible in such case when manufacturing waste (silicon wafer and solar cell breakage) also used solar modules are collected, sorted and supplied as raw-materials to other companies involved in the production chain of c-Si solar cells. The obtained results showed that solar cells produced from recycled silicon can have a comparable electrical parameters like produced from standard, commercial silicon wafers. The above mentioned work was performed at solar cell producer Soli Tek R&D in the frame of H2020 projects CABRISS and Eco-Solar.

Keywords: manufacturing, process optimisation, recycling, solar cells, solar modules, waste prevention

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Noraziah Nordin, Najihah Mohd Hashim, Nazia Abdul Majid, Mashitoh Abdul Rahman, Hamed Karimian, Hapipah Mohd Ali

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Enicosanthellum pulchrum belongs to family Annonaceae is also known as family of 'mempisang' in Malaysia. Liriodenine was isolated by prep-HPLC method. This method was first technique used for the isolation of this compound. The structure of the liriodenine was elucidated by 1D and 2D spectroscopy techniques. Liriodenine was tested on ovarian cancer cells line (CAOV-3) for MTT, AO/PI and cytotoxicity 3 assays. The MTT assay was performed to determine the cytotoxicity effect of lirodenine on CAOV-3 cells. The morphological changes on CAOV-3 cells were observed by AO/PI assay for the early and late stage of apoptosis, as well as necrosis. Meanwhile, the measurement of cell loss, nuclear morphology, DNA content, cell membrane permeability, mitochondrial membrane potential changes and cytochrome c release from mitochondria were detected through cytotoxicity 3 assay. The IC50 results showed liriodenine inhibits the growth of CAOV-3 cells after 24 h of treatment at 10.25 ± 1.06 µg/mL. After 48 and 72 h of treatments, the IC50 values were decreased to 7.65 ± 0:07 and 6.35 ± 1.62 µg/mL, respectively. The morphology changes can be seen on CAOV-3 with a production of cell membrane blebbing, cromatin condensation and apoptotic bodies with increasing time of treatment from 24 to 72 h. Evaluation of cytotoxicity 3 on CAOV-3 cells after treated with liriodenine, resulting loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. The results demonstrated the capability of liriodenine as a promising anticancer agent, particularly on human ovarian cancer.

Keywords: Enicosanthellum pulchrum, ovarian cancer, apoptosis, cytotoxicity

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Authors: Jma Hannan, Prawej Ansari, Yasser H. A. Abdel-Wahab, Peter R. Flatt

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Spirulina platensis (SP, Blue-green algae) have been accepted as a supplement for the treatment of pre and post-diabetes. The present study investigated the effects of butanol fraction from ethanol extract of S. platensis on insulin release from BRIN BD11 cells, isolated mouse islets, and perfused rat pancreas, as well as glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetic rats and their molecular pathways. In a dose-dependent manner, S. platensis increased insulin release from mouse islets and pancreatic β-cells. The extract also elevated insulin release in perfused rat pancreas. Glucose, isobutylmethylxanthine, tolbutamide, and a depolarizing concentration of KCl significantly potentiated insulin release from BRIN BD11 cells. The effect of diazoxide and verapamil, as well as the absence of extracellular Ca2+ showed a reduction in insulin secretion. When administered orally together with glucose (2.5g/kg bw), S. platensis extract improved fasting and postprandial blood glucose in type 2 diabetes. These data suggest that the anti-diabetic activity of S. platensis is partly mediated by insulin secretion via the KATP channel-dependent pathway/the intracellular cAMP pathway.

Keywords: Insulin, glucose, S. platensis, type 2 diabetes, medicinal plants

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Authors: Mohammed Ahmed Alghamdi, Hazem Mahmoud Ali Darwish, Mostafa Mohamed Abdelraheem

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Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) possess low resistivity, exhibit good adherence to many substrates, and have good transmission characteristics from the visible to near-infrared wavelengths, which make it useful for various applications. Thin films of transparent conducting oxide (TCO’s) have received much attention because of their wide applications in the field of optoelectronic devices. Advancement of transparent conducting oxides TCO’s may not only lie within the improvement of existing materials in use, but also the development of novel materials. Solar cells are devices, which convert solar energy into electricity, either directly via the photovoltaic effect, or indirectly by first converting the solar energy to heat or chemical energy. Solar power has attracted attention of late as the most advanced of the alternative energy resources. The project aims to access the solar energy in Al-Baha region by search for materials (transparent-conductive oxides (TCO's)) to use in solar cells with highly transparent to the solar spectrum, have low electrical resistivity, be stable under H-plasma, and have a suitable structure in particular for a-Si solar cells. As the PV surface is exposed to the sunlight, the module temperature increases. High ambient temperatures along with long sunlight exposure time increases the temperature impact on PV cells efficiency. Since Al-Baha area is characterized by an atmosphere and pressure different from their counterparts in Saudi Arabia due to the height above sea level, hence it is appropriate to do studies to improve the efficiency of solar cells under these conditions. In this work, some ion change materials will be deposited using either sputtering/ or electron beam evaporation techniques. The optical properties of the synthesized materials will be studied in details for solar cell application. As we will study the effect of some dyes on the optical properties of the prepared films. The efficiency and other parameters of solar cell will be determined.

Keywords: thin films, solar cell, optical properties, electrical properties

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Authors: Kheireddine El-Boubbou

Abstract:

Drug delivery to target human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) using a nanoparticulate chemotherapeutic formulation that can deliver drugs selectively to AML cancer is hugely needed. In this work, we report the development of a nanoformulation made of polymeric-stabilized multifunctional magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (PMNP) loaded with the anticancer drug Doxorubicin (Dox) as a promising drug carrier to treat AML. Dox@PMNP conjugates simultaneously exhibited high drug content, maximized fluorescence, and excellent release properties. Nanoparticulate uptake and cell death following addition of Dox@PMNPs were then evaluated in different types of human AML target cells, as well as on normal human cells. While the unloaded MNPs were not toxic to any of the cells, Dox@PMNPs were found to be highly toxic to the different AML cell lines, albeit at different inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀ values), but showed very little toxicity towards the normal cells. In comparison, free Dox showed significant potency concurrently to all the cell lines, suggesting huge potentials for the use of Dox@PMNPs as selective AML anticancer cargos. Live confocal imaging, fluorescence and electron microscopy confirmed that Dox is indeed delivered to the nucleus in relatively short periods of time, causing apoptotic cell death. Importantly, this targeted payload may potentially enhance the effectiveness of the drug in AML patients and may further allow physicians to image leukemic cells exposed to Dox@PMNPs using MRI.

Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, drug delivery, acute myeloid leukemia, iron oxide, cancer nanotherapy

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Authors: E. Shahsavari, R. Ghasemi, A. Akramizadeh

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This paper presents a new method to design nonlinear feedback linearization controller for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). A nonlinear controller is designed based on nonlinear model to prolong the stack life of PEM fuel cells. Since it is known that large deviations between hydrogen and oxygen partial pressures can cause severe membrane damage in the fuel cell, feedback linearization is applied to the PEM fuel cell system so that the deviation can be kept as small as possible during disturbances or load variations. To obtain an accurate feedback linearization controller, tuning the linear parameters are always important. So in proposed study NSGA_II method was used to tune the designed controller in aim to decrease the controller tracking error. The simulation result showed that the proposed method tuned the controller efficiently.

Keywords: nonlinear dynamic model, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, feedback linearization, optimal control, NSGA_II

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Authors: Chin-Tsu Ma, Yi-Jhen Wu, Hsia Ying Cheng, Han Hsiang Huang, Shyh Ming Kuo

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The use of specific molecules including nutrients and pharmacological agents has been tried in modulation of stem cells differentiation (MSCs) to insulin producing cells. The aim of this study is to investigate the ability of nano collagen molecules (nutrient or scaffold) to enhance the MSCs differentiation into insulin-producing cells in combination with nicotinamide and exendin-4 (pharmacological agents) in vitro and in vivo. The results demonstrated that the cells exhibit morphologically islet-like clusters after treatment with nano collagen molecules, nicotinamide and exendin-4. MSCs extra treated with nano collagen molecules showed significant increases in Nkx6.1 and insulin mRNA expression at 14-d and 21-d culture compared with those merely treated with nicotinamide and exendin-4. Early 7-day elevation in PDX-1 mRNA expression was observed. Furthermore, the MSCs exposed to nano collagen molecules produced the highest secretion of insulin (p ＜ 0.05). Type-2 diabetes induced by high-fat diet and low dose of streptozotocin in rat model was built in this study. This rat exhibited higher food intake, water intake, lower glucose tolerance, lower-insulin tolerance, and higher HbA1C (significant increases, p ＜ 0.01) as compared with the normal rat that demonstrated the model of type-2 diabetes was successfully built. Biopsy examinations also showed that obvious destruction of islet. After injection of differentiated MSCs into the destructed pancreas of diabetes rat, more regenerated islet were observed at the rats that treated with nano collagen molecules and exhibited much lower HbA1C as compared with the normal rat and diabetes rat after 4 weeks (significant deceases, p ＜ 0.001). These results indicate that the culturing MSCs with nano collagen molecules, nicotinamide, and exendin-4 are beneficial for MSCs differentiation into islet-like cells. These nano collagen molecules may lead to alternations or up-regulation of gene expression and influence the differentiated outcomes induced by nicotinamide and exendin-4.

Keywords: nano collagen molecules, nicotinamide, MSCs, diabetes

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Authors: Ann Ying-An Chen, Yi-Lun Tsai, Hso-Chi Chaung

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An understanding of pathogens and the immune system has played an utmost important role in agricultural research for the development of vaccinations. The immunological synapse, cell to cell interaction play a crucial role in triggering the body's immune system, such as activation between antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and different subsets of T-cell. If these interactions are regulated appropriately, the host has the ability to defend itself against a wide spectrum of infectious pathogens. The aim of this study is to establish and to characterize a porcine immune synapse system by co-culturing T cell/APC. In this study, blood samples were collected from specific-pathogen-free piglets, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were separated by using Ficoll-Pague. The PBMC were then stained with CD4 (FITC) and CD25 (PE) antibodies. Different subsets of T cells sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting flow cytometer were co-cultured for 24 hrs with alveolar macrophages, and the profiles of cytokine secretion and mRNA transcription levels of Toll-like receptors were examined after. Results showed that the three stages of immune synapse were clearly visible and identified under both transmission and scanning electron microscope (TEM and SEM). The significant interaction differences in toll-like receptor expressions within the co-cultured cell system were observed. The TLR7 mRNA expressions in CD4+CD25- cells were lower than those in CD4+CD25+ and CD4 -CD25+. Interestingly, the IL-10 production levels in CD4+CD25- cells (7.732 pg/mL) were significantly higher than those of CD4+CD25+ (2.636 pg/mL) and CD4 -CD25+ (2.48 pg/mL). These findings demonstrated that a clear understanding of the porcine immune synapse system can contribute greatly for further investigations on the mechanism of T-cell activation, which can benefit in the discovery of potential adjuvant candidate or effective antigen epitopes in the development of vaccinations with high efficacy.

Keywords: antigen-presenting cells, immune synapse, pig, T subsets, toll-like receptor

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Authors: Itziar Gonzalez, Pilar Carreras, Alberto Pinto, Roque Ruben Andres

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Acoustophoretic separation of plasma from blood is based on a collection process of the blood cells, driven by an acoustic radiation force. The number of cells, their concentration, and the sample hydrodynamics are involved in these processes. However, their influence on the acoustic blood response has not yet been reported in the literature. Addressing it, this paper presents an experimental study of blood samples exposed to ultrasonic standing waves at different hematocrit levels and hydrodynamic conditions. The experiments were performed in a glass capillary (700µm-square cross section) actuated by a piezoelectric ceramic at 1MHz, hosting 2D orthogonal half-wavelength resonances transverse to the channel length, with a single-pressure-node along its central axis where cells collected driven by the acoustic radiation force. Four blood dilutions in PBS of 1:20, 1:10, 1:5, and 1:2 were tested at eight flow rate conditions Q=0:120µL/min. The 1:5 dilution (H=9%) demonstrated to be optimal for the plasmapheresis at any of the flow rates analyzed, requiring the shortest times to achieve plasma free of cells. The study opens new possibilities to optimize processes of plasmapheresis processes by ultrasounds at different hematocrit conditions in future personalized diagnoses/treatments involving blood samples.

Keywords: ultrasounds, microfluidics, flow rate, acoustophoresis, polymeric resonators

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Authors: M. Markova, E. Filova, O. Kaplan, R. Matejka, L. Bacakova

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The porcine pericardium is used as a material for cardiac and aortic valves substitutes. Current biological aortic heart valve prosthesis have a limited lifetime period because they undergo degeneration. In order to make them more biocompatible and prolong their lifetime it is necessary to reseed the decellularized prostheses with endothelial cells and with valve interstitial cells. The endothelialization of the prosthesis-surface may be supported by suitable chemical surface modification of the prosthesis. The aim of this study is to prepare bioactive fibrin layers which would both support endothelialization of porcine pericardium and enhance differentiation and maturation of the endothelial cells seeded. As a material for surface adjustments we used layers of fibrin with/without heparin and some of them with adsorbed or chemically bound FGF2, VEGF or their combination. Fibrin assemblies were prepared in 24-well cell culture plate and were seeded with HSVEC (Human Saphenous Vein Endothelial Cells) at a density of 20,000 cells per well in EGM-2 medium with 0.5% FS and without heparin, without FGF2 and without VEGF; medium was supplemented with aprotinin (200 U/mL). As a control, surface polystyrene (PS) was used. Fibrin was also used as homogeneous impregnation of the decellularized porcine pericardium throughout the scaffolds. Morphology, density, and viability of the seeded endothelial cells were observed from micrographs after staining the samples by LIVE/DEAD cytotoxicity/viability assay kit on the days 1, 3, and 7. Endothelial cells were immunocytochemically stained for proteins involved in cell adhesion, i.e. alphaV integrin, vinculin, and VE-cadherin, markers of endothelial cells differentiation and maturation, i.e. von Willebrand factor and CD31, and for extracellular matrix proteins typically produced by endothelial cells, i.e. type IV collagen and laminin. The staining intensities were subsequently quantified using a software. HSVEC cells grew on each of the prepared surfaces better than on control surface. They reached confluency. The highest cell densities were obtained on the surface of fibrin with heparin and both grow factors used together. Intensity of alphaV integrins staining was highest on samples with remained fibrin layer, i.e. on layers with lower cell densities, i.e. on fibrin without heparin. Vinculin staining was apparent, but was rather diffuse, on fibrin with both FGF2 and VEGF and on control PS. Endothelial cells on all samples were positively stained for von Willebrand factor and CD31. VE-cadherin receptors clusters were best developed on fibrin with heparin and growth factors. Significantly stronger staining of type IV collagen was observed on fibrin with heparin and both growth factors. Endothelial cells on all samples produced laminin-1. Decellularized pericardium was homogeneously filled with fibrin structures. These fibrin-modified pericardium samples will be further seeded with cells and cultured in a bioreactor. Fibrin layers with/without heparin and with adsorbed or chemically bound FGF2, VEGF or their combination are good surfaces for endothelialization of cardiovascular prostheses or porcine pericardium based heart valves. Supported by the Ministry of Health, grants No15-29153A and 15-32497A, and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, project No. P108/12/G108.

Keywords: aortic valves prosthesis, FGF2, heparin, HSVEC cells, VEGF

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Authors: Hossein Bazmara, Kaamran Raahemifar, Mostafa Sefidgar, Madjid Soltani

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Angiogenesis is formation of new blood vessels from existing vessels. Due to flow of blood in vessels, during angiogenesis, blood flow plays an important role in regulating the angiogenesis process. Multiple mathematical models of angiogenesis have been proposed to simulate the formation of the complicated network of capillaries around a tumor. In this work, a multi-scale model of angiogenesis is developed to show the effect of blood flow on capillaries and network formation. This model spans multiple temporal and spatial scales, i.e. intracellular (molecular), cellular, and extracellular (tissue) scales. In intracellular or molecular scale, the signaling cascade of endothelial cells is obtained. Two main stages in development of a vessel are considered. In the first stage, single sprouts are extended toward the tumor. In this stage, the main regulator of endothelial cells behavior is the signals from extracellular matrix. After anastomosis and formation of closed loops, blood flow starts in the capillaries. In this stage, blood flow induced signals regulate endothelial cells behaviors. In cellular scale, growth and migration of endothelial cells is modeled with a discrete lattice Monte Carlo method called cellular Pott's model (CPM). In extracellular (tissue) scale, diffusion of tumor angiogenic factors in the extracellular matrix, formation of closed loops (anastomosis), and shear stress induced by blood flow is considered. The model is able to simulate the formation of a closed loop and its extension. The results are validated against experimental data. The results show that, without blood flow, the capillaries are not able to maintain their integrity.

Keywords: angiogenesis, endothelial cells, multi-scale model, cellular Pott's model, signaling cascade

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Authors: Benjaporn Buranrat, Nootchanat Mairuae

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Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer (CF) has been used for the traditional medicines in South East Asian and Thailand. Normally, northeast Thai vegetables have proven cytotoxic to many cancer cells. Therefore, the present study aims to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying CF-induced cancer cell death and apoptosis on breast and liver cancer cells. The cytotoxicity and antiproliferative effects of CF on the human breast MCF-7 and liver HepG2 cancer cell lines were evaluated using sulforhodamine B assay and colony formation assay. Cell migration assay was measured using wound healing assay. The apoptosis induction mechanisms were investigated through reactive oxygen species formation, caspase 3 activity, and JC-1 activity. Gene expression by real-time PCR and apoptosis related protein levels by Western blot analysis. CF induced MCF-7 and HepG2 cell death by time- and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CF had the greater cytotoxic potency on MCF-7 more than HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 85.70+4.52 μM and 219.03±9.96 μM respectively, at 24 h. Treatment with CF also caused a dose-dependent decrease in colony forming ability and cell migration, especially on MCF-7 cells. CF induced ROS formation, increased caspase 3 activities, and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential, and causing apoptotic body production and DNA fragmentation. CF significantly decreased expression of the cell cycle regulatory protein RAC1 and downstream proteins, cdk6. Additionally, CF enhanced p21 and reduced cyclin D1 protein levels. CF leaf extract induced cell death, apoptosis, antimigration in both of MCF-7 and HepG2 cells. CF could be useful for developing to anticancer drug candidate for breast and liver cancer therapy.

Keywords: cratoxylum formosum (jack) dyer, breast cancer, liver cancer, cell death

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Authors: Saad Al-Shibli, Nasser Amjad, Muna Al Kubaisi, Norra Harun, Shaikh Mizan

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Leptin is a multifunctional hormone produced mainly by adipocyte. Leptin and its receptor have long been found associated with breast cancer. The main aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between Leptin/Leptin receptor and the clinicopathological features of breast cancer. Blood samples for ELISA, tissue samples from tumors and adjacent breast tissue were taken from 51 women with breast cancer with a control group of 40 women with a negative mammogram. Leptin and Leptin receptor in the tissues were estimated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). They were localized at the subcellular level by immunocytochemistry using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our results showed significant difference in serum leptin level between control and the patient group, but no difference between pre and post-operative serum leptin levels in the patient group. By IHC, we found that the majority of the breast cancer cells studied, stained positively for leptin and leptin receptors with co-expression of leptin and its receptors. No significant correlation was found between leptin/leptin receptors expression with the race, menopausal status, lymph node metastasis, estrogen receptor expression, progesterone receptor expression, HER2 expression and tumor size. Majority of the patients with distant metastasis were associated with high leptin and leptin receptor expression. TEM views both Leptin and Leptin receptor were found highly concentrated within and around the nucleus of the cancer breast cells, indicating nucleus is their principal seat of actions while the adjacent breast epithelial cells showed that leptin gold particles are scattered all over the cell with much less than that of the cancerous cells. However, presence of high concentration of leptin does not necessarily prove its over-expression, because it could be internalized from outside by leptin receptor in the cells. In contrast, leptin receptor is definitely over-expressed in the ductal breast cancer cells. We conclude that reducing leptin levels, blocking its downstream tissue specific signal transduction, and/or blocking the upstream leptin receptor pathway might help in prevention and therapy of breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer, expression, leptin, leptin receptors

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Authors: M. Cardenas-Garcia, P. P. Gonzalez-Perez

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Intercellular communication is a necessary condition for cellular functions and it allows a group of cells to survive as a population. Throughout this interaction, the cells work in a coordinated and collaborative way which facilitates their survival. In the case of cancerous cells, these take advantage of intercellular communication to preserve their malignancy, since through these physical unions they can send signs of malignancy. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in the formation of intercellular communications, being also involved in a large number of cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, cell survival, and cell death. The modeling and simulation of cellular signaling systems have found valuable support in a wide range of modeling approaches, which cover a wide spectrum ranging from mathematical models; e.g., ordinary differential equations, statistical methods, and numerical methods– to computational models; e.g., process algebra for modeling behavior and variation in molecular systems. Based on these models, different simulation tools have been developed from mathematical ones to computational ones. Regarding cellular and molecular processes in cancer, its study has also found a valuable support in different simulation tools that, covering a spectrum as mentioned above, have allowed the in silico experimentation of this phenomenon at the cellular and molecular level. In this work, we simulate and explore the complex interaction patterns of intercellular communication in cancer cells using the Cellulat bioinformatics tool, a computational simulation tool developed by us and motivated by two key elements: 1) a biochemically inspired model of self-organizing coordination in tuple spaces, and 2) the Gillespie’s algorithm, a stochastic simulation algorithm typically used to mimic systems of chemical/biochemical reactions in an efficient and accurate way. The main idea behind the Cellulat simulation tool is to provide an in silico experimentation environment that complements and guides in vitro experimentation in intra and intercellular signaling networks. Unlike most of the cell signaling simulation tools, such as E-Cell, BetaWB and Cell Illustrator which provides abstractions to model only intracellular behavior, Cellulat is appropriate for modeling both intracellular signaling and intercellular communication, providing the abstractions required to model –and as a result, simulate– the interaction mechanisms that involve two or more cells, that is essential in the scenario discussed in this work. During the development of this work we made evident the application of our computational simulation tool (Cellulat) for the modeling and simulation of intercellular communication between normal and cancerous cells, and in this way, propose key molecules that may prevent the arrival of malignant signals to the cells that surround the tumor cells. In this manner, we could identify the significant role that has the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in cellular communication, and therefore, in the dissemination of cancer cells. We verified, using in silico experiments, how the inhibition of this signaling pathway prevents that the cells that surround a cancerous cell are transformed.

Keywords: cancer cells, in silico approach, intercellular communication, key molecules, modeling and simulation

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Authors: Rezvan Najafi, Korosh Heydari, Massoud Saidijam

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5-FU is a chemotherapeutic agent that has been used in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. However, it is usually associated with the acquired resistance, which decreases the therapeutic effects of 5-FU. miR-200c is involved in chemotherapeutic drug resistance, but its mechanism is not fully understood. In this study, the effect of inhibition of miR-200c in sensitivity of HCT-116 CRC cells to 5-FU was evaluated. HCT-116 cells were transfected with LNA-anti- miR-200c for 48 h. mRNA expression of miR-200c was evaluated using quantitative real- time PCR. The protein expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and E-cadherin were analyzed by western blotting. Annexin V and propidium iodide staining assay were applied for apoptosis detection. The caspase-3 activation was evaluated by an enzymatic assay. The results showed LNA-anti-miR-200c inhibited the expression of PTEN and E-cadherin protein, apoptosis and activation of caspase 3 compared with control cells. In conclusion, these results suggest that miR-200c as a prognostic marker can overcome to 5-FU chemoresistance in CRC.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, miR-200c, 5-FU resistance, E-cadherin, PTEN

Procedia PDF Downloads 164