Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-associated death, with a global 5-year survival rate <20%. Early metastasis and recurrence remain major challenges for lung cancer treatment. The stemness property of cancer cells has been suggested to play a key role in cancer plasticity, metastasis and drug-resistance, and is a potential target for drug development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAge-related meibomian gland (MG) atrophy, characterized by decreased meibocyte proliferation, is one of the causes of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), which leads to dry eye disease. Currently, there is no available treatment effectively preventing or reversing the decreased cell proliferation and acinar tissue atrophy. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of a pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) peptide in treating this condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHedgehog (HH) pathway plays an important role in embryonic development, but is largely inactive in adult except for tissue repair. Aberrant activation of HH pathway has been found in a variety of cancer types. In non-small cell lung cancer, however, the role and importance of HH pathway remain controversial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Acute lung injury (ALI) is a devastating clinical syndrome causing a substantial mortality, but to date without any effective pharmacological management in clinic. Here, we tested whether nanoparticles based on polyethylenimine (PEI) and DNA could be a potential treatment. In mouse model of ALI induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (10mg/kg), intravenous injection of PEI/DNA mediated a rapid (in 6h) and short-lived transgene expression in lung, with alveolar epithelial cells as major targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a membrane-bound receptor tyrosine kinase, which can transduce intracellular signals responsible for cell proliferation. It is frequently overexpressed and/or constitutively activated in non-small cell lung cancer and thus is considered as a major cause of this disease. Recently, EGFR has been found in the nucleus where the nuclear EGFR (nEGFR) can function as a transcription factor activating the transcription of genes such as cyclin D1 gene (CCND1), which is essential for cell proliferation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolyethyleneimine (PEI) is a cationic polymer that is effective in gene delivery in vivo. Plasmid DNA incorporating the Sleeping-Beauty (SB) transposon has been shown to induce long-term transgene expression in mouse lungs after PEI-mediated delivery. In the current report, we followed the reporter gene expression mediated by PEI/SB delivery in lungs of mice using the non-invasive bioluminescent imaging (BLI) technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 12-mer amino acid peptide SATTHYRLQAAN, denominated TK4, was isolated from a phage-display library with fibrosarcoma tumor-binding activity. In vivo biodistribution analysis of TK4-displaying phage showed a significant increased phage titer in implanted tumor up to 10-fold in comparison with normal tissues after systemic administration in mouse. Competition assay confirmed that the binding of TK4-phage to tumor cells depends on the TK4 peptide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) VP22 protein has the property to mediate intercellular trafficking of heterologous proteins fused to its C- or N-terminus. We have previously shown improved delivery and enhanced therapeutic effect in vitro and in vivo with a P27-VP22 fusion protein. In this report, we were interested in studying the spread and biological activity of VP22 fused to the P53 tumor suppressor.
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