4,5'-dimethylangelicin: a new DNA-photobinding monofunctional agent.

Abstract— 4,5′-Dimethylangelicin is a new angular furocoumarin showing interesting photochemical and photosensitizing properties. In the dark it forms a complex with native DNA having higher values of the binding parameters than angelicin; by irradiation at 365 nm it is able to photobind with DNA several times faster than angelicin and in about the same degree as psoralen, without forming crosslinkages. It therefore behaves as a pure monofunctional reagent. The same high photobinding capacity with DNA is shown also in vivo in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells and bacterial E. coli cells. 4,5′-Dimethylangelicin is very active in inhibiting the DNA and RNA syntheses in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells alter irradiation at 365 nm, much more so than angelicin and in the same degree as psoralen. It is also more active than angelicin in decreasing the tumor transmitting capacity of the same cells and the colony-forming ability of E. coli cells, although to a lesser degree than psoralen. It is ineffective in producing erythema on guinea-pig skin. The involvement of repair processes of DNA in these photosensitized effects is discussed.     

Isotachophoretic determination of phosphate splitting from Amifostine and p-nitrophenyl phosphate in serum and neuroblastoma cells.

Amifostine [WR-2721; H2N-(CH2)3-NH-(CH2)2-S-PO3H2] is used as a protecting agent in the chemotherapy of neuroblastoma. It is supposed that Amifostine will be transformed into its active form, the free thiol (WR-1065), easier by normal cells than by tumour cells. Analytical capillary isotachophoresis was used to determine the dephosphorylation of Amifostine in serum and on neuroblastoma cells and peripheral blood cells. Furthermore, the biological effects of Amifostine and its free thiol, on cell proliferation of neuroblastoma cells were measured in combination with Carboplatin. It was found that neuroblastoma cells did not split phosphate less efficiently than normal peripheral blood cells. Furthermore, neither Amifostine (as expected) nor the free thiol (not expected according to the theory) were able to inhibit the effects of Carboplatin. Therefore, the current hypothesis concerning the mode of action of Amifostine must be questioned.     

Synthesis of Hirtellanine B,an Isoflavonoid with Potent Antiproliferative Effects in Cancer Cells

We reported the first total synthesis of hirtellanine B, using oxidative coupling for the key reactions, which resulted in a high yield. The antiproliferative activity of hirtellanine B against Jurkat cells, Raji cells and K562 cells were also investigated. It was found that hirtellanine B could induce G2/M arrest and apoptosis in human lymphoid/leukemia tumor cells.     

Electrochemical current rectifier as a highly sensitive and selective cytosensor for cancer cell detection

Signal amplification originating from electrochemical current rectifier (ECR) was firstly applied to construct a cytosensor for rapid and non-invasive detection of folate receptor-rich cancer cells with high sensitivity. It exhibits a broad linear range with a detection limit as low as 10 cells mL(-1) even in the presence of a large number of normal cells.     

Fura-2荧光探针研究Ca2+对大肠杆菌细胞的跨膜作用

以Fura-2／AM作为荧光探针,研究了Ca^2 对大肠杆菌HB101细胞的跨膜作用．考察了不同浓度外源钙离子处理不同生长时期细胞的跨膜行为,并采用停流技术测定了荧光动力学．结果表明大肠杆菌在用CaCl2溶液处理后,胞外Ca^2 可大量进入胞内,且进入细胞的钙离子量与胞外钙离子浓度相关;处于对数生长前期的细胞与对数生长后期和稳定期的细胞相比,胞内自身Ca^2 浓度低,但其摄取外源Ca^2 的能力最强,这应该与其生理代谢活性是相关的,而且这一时期是大肠杆菌细胞最易建立人工诱导感受态的时期．该研究对于测定革兰氏阴性菌细胞内Ca^2 浓度及胞外离子的跨膜传导行为,以及探索钙离子诱导的大肠杆菌人工感受态建立的生理机制都具有重要意义．     

How to exploit different endocytosis pathways to allow selective delivery of anticancer drugs to cancer cells over healthy cells

It was recently shown that it is possible to exploit the nanoparticle shape to selectively target endocytosis pathways found in cancer and not healthy cells. It is important to understand and compare the endocytosis pathways of nanoparticles in both cancer and healthy cells to restrict the healthy cells from taking up anticancer drugs to help reduce the side effects for patients. Here, the clathrin-mediated endocytosis inhibitor, hydroxychloroquine, and the anticancer drug, doxorubicin, are loaded into the same mesoporous silica nanorods. The use of nanorods was found to restrict the uptake by healthy cells but allowed cancer cells to take up the nanorods via the macropinocytosis pathway. Furthermore, it is shown that the nanorods can selectively deliver doxorubicin to the nucleus of breast cancer cells and to the cytoplasm of pancreatic cancer cells. The dual-drug-loaded nanorods were able to selectively kill the breast cancer cells in the presence of healthy breast cells. This study opens exciting possibilities of targeting cancer cells based on the material shape rather than targeting antibodies.

It was recently shown that it is possible to exploit the nanoparticle shape to selectively target endocytosis pathways found in cancer and not healthy cells.     

Trihydroxybenzoic Acid Dimer-induced Apoptosis Effects in vitro

IntroductionTrapabispinosd roxbis a kind of traditional Chineseherbal medicine which is the fruit of water chestnutplant in the water chestnut family.It has functions ofclearing away summer-heat,allaying fever,dispersingdampness,dispelling pathogenic wind,nourishing qi,invigorating the spleen,relieving alcoholism,etc.[1].It contains various mineral elements and amino acidsand has a high edibility and importance as medicine.The research results in recent years show that it alsohas an anti-tumo…     

Lateral cavity acoustic transducer as an on-chip cell/particle microfluidic switch

A novel on-chip microfluidic switch is demonstrated that utilizes the acoustic microstreaming generated by an oscillating air-liquid interface to switch cells/particles into bifurcating microchannels. The air-liquid interface of the Lateral Cavity Acoustic Transducers (LCATs) can be actuated by an external acoustic energy source causing the interface to oscillate. The oscillating interface results in the generation of vortex-like microstreaming flow within a localized region of the surrounding liquid. This streaming was utilized here to deflect cells/particles into a collection outlet. It was demonstrated that the switching zone could be controlled by varying the actuation time of the LCAT. An LCAT based microfluidic switch is capable of achieving theoretical switching rates of 800 cells/particles per second. It was also demonstrated that K562 cells could be switched into a collection channel with cell viability comparable to that of controls as determined by Trypan blue exclusion assay.     

Shear sensitivity of plant cells in suspensions present and future

Plant cells are a source of pharmaceuticals, fragrances, flavors, and dyes that are traditionally produced by extraction of tissues from whole plants. Recent trends in plant product research, transformed cell lines, and conservation policies place increased demand on plant cell culture technology. Unlike processing of microbial and animal cells in bioreactors, no economically viable process based on the suspension culture of plant cells in bioreactors has yet been possible in North America. It is proposed that the suspended-cell bioreactor is the method of choice and that plant cells respond to fluid forces (defined as laminar shear and turbulent eddies-based and bubble-based forces) differently from their animal cell counterparts in bioreactors. Although plant cells produce a tough cell wall, fluid forces, although not lethal within normal range, impact the membrane transport processes and metabolic function of plant cells; these effects are termed sublytic. Previous approaches to shear sensitivity of plant cells are reviewed in the context of these sublytic effects. A model for systematic evaluation of fluid-mechanical causes and physiological mechanisms behind sublytic effects is proposed. It is further proposed that, once understood, the plant cell’s sublytic responses to fluid force can be used advantageously in stirred suspension cultures.     

Interfacing living yeast cells with graphene oxide nanosheaths

The first example of the encapsulation of living yeast cells with multilayers of GO nanosheets via LbL self-assembly is reported. The GO nanosheets with opposite charges are alternatively coated onto the individual yeast cells while preserving the viability of the yeast cells, thus affording a means of interfacing graphene with living yeast cells. This approach is expanded by integrating other organic polymers or inorganic nanoparticles to the cells by hybridizing the entries with GO nanosheets through LbL self-assembly. It is demonstrated that incorporated iron oxide nanoparticles can deliver magnetic properties to the biological systems, allowing the integration of new physical and chemical functions for living cells with a combination of GO nanosheets.     

A new fluorescent probe with ultralow background fluorescence for imaging of endogenous cellular selenol under oxidative stress

A new fluorescent probe (Rhod-Sec) for selenol detection with ultralow background fluorescence have been developed in this paper, which showed a 380-fold off-on fluorescence response, and can be applied to visualize the fluctuation of selenol in HepG2 cells through LPS-induced cells oxidation resistance.     

Novel in situ biosynthesized fluorescent zinc nanoclusters for specific cellular bio-imaging

It is well known that zinc ions play an indispensable role in the structure and function of a large number of biological process and relevant bio-macromolecules. When some cancers occurred, the relevant concentration of zinc ions considerably decreased. Since cancer cells have a completely different redox homeostasis from normal cells, in this contribution, we have explored the possibility of bio-imaging or labeling of cancer cells through the in situ biosynthesized zinc nanoclusters by cancerous cells. The results demonstrate that we can readily realize the in vivo fluorescent bio-imaging of cancer cells through the in situ biosynthesis of the biocompatible zinc nanoclusters from cancerous cells (i.e., Hela cervical carcinoma cell line and others) when target cells cultured with micromolar zinc gluconate solutions.     

海藻酸钠-壳聚糖微胶囊作为肠道内生化微反应器的研究

基因工程技术的发展使蛋白、多肽类高值生化药物的大规模生产得以实现并用于临床^[1].但目前存在产物分离、纯化工艺复杂、成本高等问题.因此,研制一种无需分离纯化、低成本的肠道内生化微反应器作为基因工程药物释放系统具有实际应用意义(例如将基因工程微生物包埋在具有半透性高分子膜的微胶囊中,口服后微囊化活细胞在肠道内生长并分泌有治疗作用的基因工程药物而达到治疗目的^[2]).本文以酵母菌Pichia pastoris GS115为模型菌株,以海藻酸钠-壳聚糖(A lginate-chitosan,AC)微胶囊为载体,考察了AC微囊化酵母菌在模拟胃肠液中的形态、膨胀性能、酵母菌存活率及小鼠口服后肠道黏膜粘附性能,初步证明AC微囊化基因工程酵母菌作为肠道生化微反应器是可行的.     

AFM study of hippocampal cells cultured on silicon wafers with nano-scale surface topograph

The rat hippocampal cells were selected as model to study the interaction between the neural cells and silicon substrates using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The hippocampal cells show tight adherence on silicon wafers with nano-scale surface topograph. The lateral friction force investigated by AFM shows significant increase on the boundary around the cellular body. It is considered to relate to the cytoskeleton and cellular secretions. After ultrasonic wash in ethanol and acetone step by step, the surface of silicon wafers was observed by AFM sequentially. We have found that the culture leftovers form tight porous networks and a monolayer on the silicon wafers. It is concluded that the leftovers overspreading on the silicon substrates are the base of cell adherence on such smooth inert surfaces.     

Capillary electrophoretic determination of apoptosis of HeLa cells induced by trichosanthin

Apoptosis is a distinct mode of cell death that is responsible for deletion of cells in normal tissues; it also occurs in specific pathologic contexts. The observation of apoptosis is very important in the research of cancer and cancer therapy. The traditional observation method of apoptosis was agarose gel electrophoresis, which is depending on the determination of ladder-liking DNA fragments extracted from apoptotic cells. It is time-consuming and low-sensitive. Recently, the sieving capillary electrophoresis has been used to detect apoptosis too. However, the problem of DNA fragments contamination is still existing. Here, we have developed a capillary electrophoresis method that could detect apoptosis of whole cell directly and do not need to extract DNA fragments from cells. Apoptosis of adherent cell HeLa cell of carcinoma induced by cyclophosphamide was used as the model to establish the method. The effluence of medicine concentration on apoptosis of cells was studied in detail. It was also found that the method could detect the change of cells in the early period of apoptosis. The induction of apoptosis of HeLa cell by trichosanthin was determined with the method, and the result of flow cytometry was also proved that trichosanthin could result in apoptosis of HeLa cells.     

Study of cell transmigration using a co-culture microsystem under shear stress

This study reports a novel cell co-culture technique using micro-molding in capillaries (MIMIC) technology that was utilized to observe the transmigration conditions of two types of cells with and without fluidic shear stress. Besides, the gap size of co-culture device could achieve shortest and not mixture. Endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) were used in our experiment. In addition, concentrations of two cell are 8000 cells/μL (ECs) and 9000 cells/μL (SMCs), respectively, the shear stress is 7 dyne/cm₂, and the isolation distance between two types of cell are 50 and 200 μm. It is found that in the smaller culture space (50 μm) condition, ECs and SMCs would induce mutually, which would further make cell migration; in larger culture space (200 μm) condition, no inducing reaction took place between ECs and SMCs. It will have more advantages in bio-manipulation and tissue repair engineering.     

A Closed Chemobrionic System as a Biochemical Delivery Platform

Inorganic cells bearing calcium silicate membranes were prepared and resembled closed chemical gardens. It was demonstrated that these inorganic cells can successfully be loaded with natural products, proteins and plasmid DNA, and their cargo can be released in a controlled manner. These cells demonstrated the ability of chemical gardens to act as platforms for the sustained delivery of biomolecules and are expected to introduce chemical gardens in the field of biosciences.     

UROCANIC ACID AND IMMUNOSUPPRESSION

Urocanic acid, a molecule found at high concentration in the stratum corneum, acts as a photoreceptor for UV-light, isomerizing from the naturally occurring trans-form to the cis-form. It has been proposed that cis-urocanic acid may mediate the transient alteration in immune surveillance resulting in immunosuppression induced after UV-irradiation, by interacting with immune cells locally and/or systemically to generate T cells with suppressor function. The evidence to support this hypothesis is summarized, and possible interactions of urocanic acid with immune cells and their outcome are discussed.     

Lysis of Escherichia coli cells by lysozyme: Discrimination between adsorption and enzyme action

The key factors of enzymatic lysis of cells are the interaction between the enzyme and the cell - catalytic and non-catalytic adsorption of enzyme on cell surface. Here, the studies of lysis of intact Escherichia coli cells by chicken egg white lysozyme were performed. It was found that the ionic strength has a dual effect onto the system. On the one hand, the desorption constant of the enzyme increases with the increase of the solution ionic strength, which results in a better enzyme performance. On the other hand, due to the higher osmosis, the cell lysis rate decreases with the increasing of ionic strength of the system. It was found that pH 8.6 and 30 mM NaCl are optimal conditions for lysis of E. coli cells by lysozyme.