Effects of maternal nonylphenol exposure on the proliferation of glial cells in the brain of male offspring mice.

Glial cells play a significant role in maintaining brain homeostasis and normal brain development, and their functions can be impaired by exposure to endocrine disruptors. 4-n-Nonylphenol (NP), a representative endocrine disruptor, is widely used in personal care products and industrial materials. NP accumulates in various organs, including the brain, of living organisms and adversely influences brain health.

RNAi Screening-based Identification of USP10 as a Novel Regulator of Paraptosis.

Accumulating reports demonstrate that apoptosis does not explain all the effects of cancer therapy due to the innate and acquired apoptotic resistance of malignant cancer cells. Recently, paraptosis, a type of programmed cell death accompanied by dilation of mitochondria and/or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), has garnered interest in cancer research as an alternative way to kill apoptosis-resistant cancers. We describe here the adaptation and validation of a high-content cell-based assay to screen and identify novel paraptotic regulators employing the malignant breast cancer cells undergoing curcumin-induced paraptosis.

Mesoporous NiO-samaria doped ceria for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

In order to prepare anode material for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), the mesoporous NiO-SDC was synthesized using a cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide; CTAB) for obtaining wide triple-phase boundary (TPB). In addition, Ni-SDC anode-supported SOFC single cells with YSZ electrolyte and LSM cathode were fabricated and the performance of single cells was evaluated at 600 °C. The microstructure of NiO-SDC was characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, and BET, and the results showed that the mesoporous NiO-SDC with 10 nm pores could be obtained.

Robust dose-response curve estimation applied to high content screening data analysis.

Background And Method: Successfully automated sigmoidal curve fitting is highly challenging when applied to large data sets. In this paper, we describe a robust algorithm for fitting sigmoid dose-response curves by estimating four parameters (floor, window, shift, and slope), together with the detection of outliers. We propose two improvements over current methods for curve fitting.

Release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum and its subsequent influx into mitochondria trigger celastrol-induced paraptosis in cancer cells.

Celastrol, a triterpene extracted from the Chinese "Thunder of God Vine", is known to have anticancer activity, but its underlying mechanism is not completely understood. In this study, we show that celastrol kills several breast and colon cancer cell lines by induction of paraptosis, a cell death mode characterized by extensive vacuolization that arises via dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria. Celastrol treatment markedly increased mitochondrial Ca2+ levels and induced ER stress via proteasome inhibition in these cells.

Phenotypic MicroRNA Microarrays.

Microarray technology has become a very popular approach in cases where multiple experiments need to be conducted repeatedly or done with a variety of samples. In our lab, we are applying our high density spots microarray approach to microscopy visualization of the effects of transiently introduced siRNA or cDNA on cellular morphology or phenotype. In this publication, we are discussing the possibility of using this micro-scale high throughput process to study the role of microRNAs in the biology of selected cellular models.

Quantum dot-based screening system for discovery of g protein-coupled receptor agonists.

Cellular imaging has emerged as an important tool to unravel biological complexity and to accelerate the drug-discovery process, including cell-based screening, target identification, and mechanism of action studies. Recently, semiconductor nanoparticles known as quantum dots (QDs) have attracted great interest in cellular imaging applications due to their unique photophysical properties such as size, tunable optical property, multiplexing capability, and photostability. Herein, we show that QDs can also be applied to assay development and eventually to high-throughput/content screening (HTS/HCS) for drug discovery.

Capsaicin sensitizes malignant glioma cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis via DR5 upregulation and survivin downregulation.

Capsaicin, a pungent ingredient of red chili peppers, has been reported to possess antitumor activities. Here, we show that subtoxic doses of capsaicin effectively sensitize multiple malignant glioma cell lines to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Although TRAIL alone mediated partial proteolytic processing of procaspase-3 in glioma cells, cotreatment with capsaicin and TRAIL efficiently restored complete activation of caspases.

Quercetin sensitizes human hepatoma cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis via Sp1-mediated DR5 up-regulation and proteasome-mediated c-FLIPS down-regulation.

This study demonstrates that combined treatment with subtoxic doses of quercetin (3',3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone), a flavonoid found in many fruits and vegetables, plus tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces rapid apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Effective induction of apoptosis by the combined treatment with quercetin and TRAIL was not blocked by overexpression of Bcl-xL, which is known to confer resistance to various chemotherapeutic agents. These results suggest that this combined treatment may provide an attractive strategy for treating resistant HCCs.

Silibinin sensitizes human glioma cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis via DR5 up-regulation and down-regulation of c-FLIP and survivin.

Silibinin, a flavonoid isolated from Silybum marianum, has been reported to have cancer chemopreventive and therapeutic effects. Here, we show that treatment with subtoxic doses of silibinin in combination with tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces rapid apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant glioma cells, but not in human astrocytes, suggesting that this combined treatment may offer an attractive strategy for safely treating gliomas. Although the proteolytic processing of procaspase-3 by TRAIL was partially blocked in glioma cells, cotreatment with silibinin efficiently recovered TRAIL-induced caspase activation in these cells.