Exploring the anticancer effects of tin oxide nanoparticles synthesized by pulsed laser ablation technique against breast cancer cell line through downregulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Tin oxide nanoparticles (SnO₂ NPs) demonstrate potential anti-cancer functions. However, the anti-cancer mechanisms of SnO₂ NPs have not been explored in detail. In the present study, we synthesized SnO₂ NPs through laser ablation technique and examined their anticancer mechanisms and the probable involvement of the PI3K/AKT mediated pathways in human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) in vitro. The synthesized SnO₂ NPs were characterized by transmission electron microcopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. Afterwards, the breast cancer cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of SnO₂ NPs, and inhibition of cell proliferation was assessed by the viability assay. Furthermore, the quantification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry followed by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity as well as mitochondrial membrane potential assays. The expression levels of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and Bax were also assessed by western blot and quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR). It was shown that SnO₂ NPs, 30 nm, with potential colloidal stability selectively prevented the proliferation of MCF-7 in comparison with MCF-10A cells and triggered ROS production, apoptosis, deactivation of SOD and CAT activity, and mitigation of mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover, SnO₂ NPs stimulated mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis pathway by overexpression of Bax/Bcl-2 and downregulation of p-PI3K/p-AKT/p-mTOR signaling pathway. This data elucidates the possible mechanisms by which SnO₂ NPs may stimulate their anticancer effects.     

Lactate and pyruvate levels correlation with lactate dehydrogenase gene expression and glucose consumption in Tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 cells using capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D)

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer. The first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer in premenopausal women relies on tamoxifen. The development of tamoxifen resistance is not fully understood. In this study, capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector was developed to monitor the changes in lactate and pyruvate levels in supernatant media of three models of developed MCF-7 tamoxifen-resistant cells and correlate these metabolites changes with lactate dehydrogenase genes expression and glucose consumption. The electrophoretic separation was achieved under reversed electroosmotic flow conditions. The linear ranges were 0.15–5 and 0.01–1 mM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9966 and 0.9971 and the limits of detection were 0.01 and 0.02 μM for lactate and pyruvate, respectively. Inter- and intrarun accuracy were in the range of 96.88–105.94% with precision (CV, %) of ≤7.35%. The method was completely validated and the results were in agreement with those obtained using the lactate and glucose assay kits. The results revealed a significant increase in both lactate and pyruvate production in the three tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 cells models compared to control cells. This increase was correlated with the increase of lactate dehydrogenase genes expression and the increase of glucose consumption.     

Artemisinin-isatin hybrids with potential antiproliferative activity against breast cancer

Three series of artemisinin-isatin hybrids 8a-i, 10a-c and 11a-e were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/DOX)), as well as the cytotoxicity towards normal MCF-10A breast cells. The preliminary results showed that a significant part of the synthesized hybrids (IC₅₀: 20.7–99.9 µM) were active against both drug-sensitive and doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cell lines. The structure–activity relationship illustrated that the linker between artemisinin and isatin moieties as well as the substituents on C-3 and C-5 position of isatin motif had great influence on the activity. In particular, hybrids 11c,d were found to be most active against all tested breast cancer cell lines, and their activity was not inferior to that of doxorubicin. Therefore, hybrids 11c,d could serve as useful templates for the development of novel anti-breast cancer agents.     

Extraction and preconcentration of hemin from human blood serum and breast cancer supernatant

A green, facile, fast, and sensitive liquid‐phase microextraction method is presented for the extraction and preconcentration of hemin in the presence of free iron ions prior to flame atomic absorption spectroscopic determination. In this technique, an anion‐functionalized task‐specific ionic liquid is used as the extracting solvent. The interface between the extracting solvent and the bulk aqueous phase containing hemin is enormously enlarged by dispersing the ionic liquid to the aqueous phase with the help of ultrasound radiation. Hemin is selectively extracted into the ionic liquid after interaction with the functional group of the ionic liquid. Then, the concentration of the extracted hemin is determined through the absorbance of the iron ions contained in the hemin structure using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Different experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency have been optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed method has a hemin concentration linear range of 0.020–0.80 mg/L with a detection limit of 0.0080 mg/L. This method has been successfully applied to the extraction and determination of hemin in human serum and supernatant samples.     

miR-212 在乳腺浸润性导管癌 组织中的表达及效应分析

本文建立随机环境中具有随机控制函数的两性分枝过程,得到该模型概率母函数之间的关系式.当控制函数上可加时,证明配对单元平均增长率的极限是存在的,同时得到配对单元平均增长率一系列的极限性质,进而推进了前人的研究.     

乳腺癌患者血浆D-二聚体水平的变化及其与临床病理的关系

目的探讨乳腺癌患者血浆D-二聚体水平变化的意义及其与临床病理因素的关系。方法采用免疫比浊法测定120例乳腺癌患者组和100例健康对照组的血浆D-二聚体水平，比较两组间的差异，同时分析不同临床病理因素下D-二聚体水平的差异。结果乳腺癌组血浆D-二聚体水平显著高于健康对照组（P＜0.05），且在不同TNM分期之间有显著差异；同时血浆D-二聚体水平在三阴（ER、PR、HER2均为阴性）乳腺癌患者中要显著高于非三阴患者，在1年生存率的分组比较中也有显著差异。结论乳腺癌患者血液处于高凝和纤溶亢进状态，血浆D-二聚体的水平反映了乳腺癌的恶性程度，与乳腺癌的分期、进展和生存期密切相关，因此D-二聚体水平在乳腺癌血清学诊断和临床应用研究中均有重要价值。     

人乳腺癌组织的特征红外光谱研究

应用傅里叶变换红外光谱对２０例人乳腺病理样品进行了分析。实验发现,乳腺癌组织与乳腺良性病变组织之间有较大的红外光谱差异。与乳腺良性病变组织比较,乳腺癌组织的红外光谱中磷酸二酯基团反对称伸缩振动向短波方向位移了２ｃｍ＾－１,其对称伸缩振动向短波方向位移了３ｃｍ＾－１,Ｃ－Ｏ伸缩振动吸收Ａ１１７３／Ａ１１６３比值增加,Ａ１０２５／Ａ１０８２比值下降;ＣＨ３的反对称及对称伸缩振动减弱,ＣＨ２的对称及反对     

高分辨阿达玛变换显微荧光图像分析(Ⅰ)——系统的成像能力及其在单个肿瘤细胞分析中的应用

阿达玛变换(Hadamard transform, HT)是一种类似于傅里叶变换的光谱调制技术, 具有多通道同时检测和多通道成像能力. 实现高分辨HT成像的关键在于阿达玛模板的制作, 阿达玛模板有两种, 即移动式机械编码模板(Movable mechanical mask)和固定式光电模板(Stationary electro-optic mask). 在实际成像方面, 移动模板和固定模板各有优缺点: 前者一般用石英玻璃制作, 对光信号不会因模板吸收而导致信号损失, 因此数据很可靠, 而且模板的制作也较为容易, 但由于采用步进电机驱动而容易导致机械故障, 难以实现快速编码; 后者无移动部件, 无机械故障, 因此系统比较紧凑, 但由于它是由液晶材料制成的(可导致信号损失), 从而限制了其在某些光谱区域的使用. 此外, 它对系统的软件设计要求比前者高, 实现高分辨成像更加困难. 正是由于上述原因, 实现快速、高分辨HT成像具有一定难度, 最近有关HT成像技术的报道极少.     

人体乳腺癌组织红外光谱特征的研究

利用红外光谱法对正常乳腺组织、良性肿瘤和乳腺癌组织进行了对比研究.与正常组织的光谱相比,癌组织中蛋白质的某些氨基酸残基的ν_C-O(H)谱带位置明显向高波数位移,表明组织中该基团中的氢键大部分被破坏.蛋白质分子的氢键化的ν_NH谱带位置向低波数位移,且谱带形状也有所改变,说明NH…O=C氢键化程度增强.核酸的磷酸二酯基团的ν_s,PO₂^-谱带吸收强度明显增强,反映癌细胞内DNA相对含量增加;位于970cm^-1附近的ν_s,PO₃^{-谱带强度增加,提示细胞中磷酸化蛋白含量增加.而胶原蛋白的特征谱带强度减弱,说明其相对含量减少.研究证明,红外光谱可在分子水平上揭示乳腺肿瘤的特征.}     

乳腺癌病人单个细胞的Raman光谱

给出了乳腺癌病人正常乳腺细胞与癌细胞的拉曼光谱。从实验谱线中得到：癌变细胞的拉曼谱整体变弱, 就相对强度而言, DNA的2个磷酸根骨架峰782,1 084 cm-1和脱氧核糖-磷酸振动峰1 155及1 262 cm-1拉曼谱线明显的减少; 表征A型(DNA)构像的特征峰812 cm-1及谱线979,668 cm-1消失, 并有新峰1 175 cm-1出现, 905 cm-1的谱线增强并有6 cm-1的红移, 这说明DNA的磷酸根骨架有一定的断裂; 从而导致癌细胞的分裂繁殖失去有效的控制。在癌变组织细胞的拉曼谱中还发现了很强的一类与钙硬化密切相关的特征峰960 cm-1; 通过这些特征拉曼谱线的变化, 为癌症的诊断和治疗提供了有力的实验依据。