Engrailed 2 serves as a master regulator of the super-enhancer in the TNC gene locus in non-small cell lung cancer.

Engrailed 2 (EN2) is a homeodomain-containing protein that is dysregulated in many types of cancer. However, the role of EN2 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the mechanism underlying its biological function are largely unclear. Here, we showed that EN2 played an oncogenic function in NSCLC and greatly enhanced the malignant phenotype of NSCLC cells.

Engrailed 2 triggers the activation of multiple phosphorylation-induced signaling pathways in both transcription-dependent and -independent manners.

Homeodomain (HD)-containing proteins are typically recognized as transcription factors. Engrailed 2 (EN2) is an HD-containing protein that is highly expressed in various types of cancers, however, the mechanism underlying the biological function of EN2 is not fully understood. Here, we report a transcription-independent function of EN2 in addition to its role as a transcription factor.

KDM2A plays a dual role in regulating the expression of malignancy-related genes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

KDM2A is a histone demethylase, which primarily catalyzes the demethylation of H3K36me2. Abnormal expression of KDM2A is observed in many types of cancers; however, the molecular events connected to KDM2A expression remain unclear. We report that KDM2A performs an oncogenic function in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and is robustly expressed in ESCC cells.

Engrailed-2 promotes a malignant phenotype of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma through upregulating the expression of pro-oncogenic genes.

Background: A number of homeobox genes have been implicated in the development of various cancers. However, the role of engrailed 2 (EN2), a member of the homeobox gene superfamily, in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown.

Methods: The expression of EN2 was examined using quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry.

Transcriptomic and open chromatin atlas of high-resolution anatomical regions in the rhesus macaque brain.

The rhesus macaque is a prime model animal in neuroscience. A comprehensive transcriptomic and open chromatin atlas of the rhesus macaque brain is key to a deeper understanding of the brain. Here we characterize the transcriptome of 416 brain samples from 52 regions of 8 rhesus macaque brains.

SIX4 acts as a master regulator of oncogenes that promotes tumorigenesis in non-small-cell lung cancer cells.

A number of homeobox genes are implicated in the malignancy of various cancers. Here, we investigated the role of the homeobox gene SIX4 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The sine oculis homeobox (SIX4) gene was found to be highly expressed at both mRNA and protein levels in NSCLC tumor tissues as compared with matching normal counterparts.

Evidence for an oncogenic role of HOXC6 in human non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Identification of specific biomarkers is important for the diagnosis and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). HOXC6 is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor that is highly expressed in several human cancers; however, its role in NSCLC remains unknown.

Methods: The expression and protein levels of were assessed in NSCLC tissue samples by Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

promotes migration, invasion and proliferation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells via modulating expression of genes involved in malignant phenotypes.

Background: is a member of the gene family. The elevated expression of this gene occurs in prostate and breast cancers. However, the role of in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains largely uninvestigated.

Magnetic nanoparticle-loaded electrospun polymeric nanofibers for tissue engineering.

Magnetic nanoparticles have been one of the most attractive nanomaterials for various biomedical applications including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnostic contrast enhancement, magnetic cell separation, and targeted drug delivery. Three-dimensional (3-D) fibrous scaffolds have broad application prospects in the biomedical field, such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. In this work, a novel three-dimensional composite membrane composed of the tri-block copolymer poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL-PEG-PCL, PCEC) and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (FeO NPs) were fabricated using electrospinning technology.

[Interaction between microRNAs and OCT4].

Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) belongs to the POU-homeodomain family of transcription factors and binds to an octamer motif, ATGCAAAT. OCT4 is the key transcription factor that is involved in the maintenance of pluripotency and self-renewal in undifferentiated embryonic stem (ES) cells. OCT4 has been reported to be overexpressed in various cancers including lung, germ cell tumors, breast, cervix, prostate, gastric, liver, and ovarian cancer.

[Advances of lentiviral vectors].

Lentiviral vectors are currently very effective tools in molecular and cell experiment. Lentiviral vector, a kind of retroviral vectors, has a number of unique advantages in target gene transferation, for example, the ability of transfection to the dividing or nondividing cells, its high efficiency of transfection and a capacity of large target gene fragments. This paper describes the sources of lentiviral vectors, molecular characteristics, research progress, etc.

[A method for introducing mutations into large vectors].

Background And Objective: In vitro site-directed mutagenesis is a routine technique in molecular biology labs. However, although there are numbers of related methods available, most of these methods are not suitable for introducing mutations into large vectors.

Methods: In this report, we describe a method which is highly effective for this purpose.

[A highly efficient in vitro site-directed mutagenesis protocol for introducing multiple-site mutations into target genes].

Background: The methods for introducing point mutations into target genes are important for dissecting the relationship of gene structure and function. Up to date, there are numbers of protocols available for the purpose. However, many of them are suited for introducing single site mutation into the target gene.

nm23-H1 gene driven by hTERT promoter induces inhibition of invasive phenotype and metastasis of lung cancer xenograft in mice.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women worldwide. Tumor metastasis is an essential aspect of lung cancer progression and patient death. The nm23-H1 gene has been extensively investigated as a metastasis suppressor gene.

Potential application of non-small cell lung cancer-associated autoantibodies to early cancer diagnosis.

To identify a panel of tumor associated autoantibodies which can potentially be used as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thirty-five unique and in-frame expressed phage proteins were isolated. Based on the gene expression profiling, four proteins were selected for further study.

A site-directed mutagenesis method particularly useful for creating otherwise difficult-to-make mutants and alanine scanning.

Site-directed mutagenesis has become routine in molecular biology. However, many mutants can still be very difficult to create. Complicated chimerical mutations, tandem repeats, inverted sequences, GC-rich regions, and/or heavy secondary structures can cause inefficient or incorrect binding of the mutagenic primer to the target sequence and affect the subsequent amplification.

[Methylation profile difference in human high-metastatic large cell lung cancer cell line L9981 and low-metastatic large cell lung cancer line NL9980].

Background And Objective: Invasion and metastasis is one of malignant phenotype of lung cancer and the important cause of the death of lung cancer patients. The aim of this study is to explore the methylation profile difference in different metastatic potential cell lines.

Methods: To compare the DNA methylation profile of two large cell lung cancer cell lines with different metastatic potential by MeIP chip hybridization, hypermethylated and hypomethylated genes of L9981 cell lines were analyzed online in NIH-DAVID, KEGG and MILANO webside.

[Association between GSTM1 genetic polymorphism and lung cancer risk by SYBR green I real-time PCR assay].

Background And Objective: Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) is an important phase II metabolic enzyme gene which involves metabolism of various carcinogens in human body. Many studies showed that GSTM1 genetic polymorphism was associated with lung cancer risk. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between GSTM1 genetic polymorphism and lung cancer risk among Han nationality population in Tianjin district.

[Interference of homologous sequences on the SNP study of CYP2A13 gene].

Background And Objective: It has been proven that cytochrome P450 enzyme 2A13 (CYP2A13) played an important role in the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and human diseases. Cytochrome P450 enzymes are a group of isoenzymes, whose sequence homology may interfere with the study for SNP. The aim of this study is to explore the interference on the SNP study of CYP2A13 caused by homologous sequences.

[Relationship between Mutations of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Gene and Drug-Resistance to Gefitinib in Human Lung Cancer in vitro.].

Background: To explore cell lines' difference of drug-resistance to gefitinib and the underlying mechanism.

Methods: Human lung cancer cell lines of PC9, PC9/AB2, PC9/AB11, PC9/BB4 were treated in vitro, exons 18-21 of EGFR gene were sequenced and EGFR gene mRNA levels were measured.

Results: Four cell lines' drug resistance difference of gefitinib were validated.

[Construction of the suppression subtractive cDNA libraries of human large cell lung cancer line L9981 before and after transfection with nm23-H1 gene.].

Background: It has been proven that nm23-H1 gene is an important metastaticsuppressed gene of lung cancer. In order to screen the differential expression genes related to nm23-H1 , we constructed the suppression subtractive cDNA libraries of human large cell lung cancer line L9981 transfected and untransfected with nm23-H1 gene by suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) in this study, which lay a solid foundation for further screening and cloning metastatic-related genes of nm23-H1.

Methods: The forward and reverse suppression subtractive cDNA libraries were constructed in the human large cell lung cancer line L9981 before and after transfection with nm23-H1 gene (L9981 and L9981-nm23-H1) by SSH method.

[Construction and expression of eukaryotic expression vectors of full-length, amino-terminus and carboxyl-terminus Raf gene.].

Background: Raf is a key molecule in the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signal transduction pathway and is highly activated in different human carcinomas. However, its biological functions and regulation mechanisms are still unclear. The aims of this study were to construct eukaryotic expression vectors with Raf full encoding region, truncated amino-terminus and carboxyl-terminus, respectively.