Mefloquine Inhibits Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tumor Growth by Inducing Mitochondrial Autophagy.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has a worldwide impact on human health, due to its high incidence and mortality. Therefore, identifying compounds to increase patients' survival rate is urgently needed. Mefloquine (MQ) is an FDA-approved anti-malarial drug, which has been reported to inhibit cellular proliferation in several cancers.

Phloroglucinol Derivatives from the Fruits of Eucalyptus globulus and Their Cytotoxic Activities.

A new phloroglucinol derivative, named eucalyptin B (1), along with five related known compounds (2 - 6), was isolated from the fruits of Eucalyptus globulus. Their structures were elucidated by means of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy, with the absolute configuration of 1 determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. All isolated compounds (1 - 6) were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against lung (A549), breast (4T1), and skin (B16F10) cancer cell lines.

Differential Immune Responses and Protective Effects in Avirulent Mycobacterial Strains Vaccinated BALB/c Mice.

Screening live mycobacterial vaccine candidates is the important strategy to develop new vaccines against adult tuberculosis (TB). In this study, the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of several avirulent mycobacterial strains including Mycobacterium smegmatis, M. vaccae, M.

[Study on macrophages infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra in vitro].

Aim: To study the production of nitric oxide and secretion of cytokines after infection of macrophages with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra.

Methods: 24 hours after infection of RAW264.7 cells with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra, the production of NO and H(2);O(2); as well as the secretion levels of IL-12 and TNF-α in the supernatants of culture were determined by Griess method, chemical method and ELISA assay respectively.

[The influence of benign prostatic hyperplasia drugs on incidence and pathology grading of prostate cancer].

Objective: To analyze the influence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) drugs on incidence and pathology grading of prostate cancer in China.

Methods: Retrospectively investigated the history of drug treatment in 1029 cases of BPH in patients from February 1998 to December 2004. According to the history of drug use, the patients were divided into 4 groups: finasteride group, alpha-receptor inhibitor group, finasteride and alpha-receptor inhibitor combination group and control group (untreated group).

EB1 promotes Aurora-B kinase activity through blocking its inactivation by protein phosphatase 2A.

EB1 (end-binding protein 1) is a key player in the regulation of microtubule dynamics. In concert with its binding partners, adenomatous polyposis coli and p150(glued), EB1 plays a crucial role in a variety of microtubule-based cellular processes. In this study we have identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen the mitotic kinase and chromosome passenger protein Aurora-B as a binding partner of EB1.

Small-molecule inhibition of Aurora kinases triggers spindle checkpoint-independent apoptosis in cancer cells.

Aurora kinases are key regulators of mitotic progression and have also been implicated in tumorigenesis. Small molecules that inhibit Aurora kinases have shown impressive anticancer activity in preclinical studies and are currently under clinical evaluation. In this study, our data show that suppression of Aurora activity with a specific inhibitor prevents the proliferation of breast cancer cells.

Memory performance of hypercholesterolemic mice in response to treatment with soy isoflavones.

The aim of this study is to investigate the memory performance of hypercholesterolemic mice in response to soy isoflavones (SI) treatment and the mechanism involved. In this study, 64 mice were randomly divided into four groups: control, high lipid diet without SI, high lipid diet with a low SI level (50 mg/kg bw) and high lipid diet with a high SI level (100 mg/kg bw). The experimental period was 30 days.

[Study on the cytotoxicity of spleen lymphocytes and immune mechanisms in mice immunized by Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra].

Aim: To explore the specific cytotoxicity of spleen lymphocytes and the immune mechanisms in mice immunized by Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB) H37Ra.

Methods: At the various interval (30 days, 60 days) after the mice were immunized by MTB H37Ra, BCG and PBS, the spleen lymphocytes of the immunized mice were used as the effector cells while the Sp2/0 cells expressing the secreted protein Ag85B were used as the target cells, and the cytotoxicity of spleen lymphocytes in the immunized mice was measured by MTT assay. Spleen lymphocytes were collected at 60 days after immunization and stimulated with PPD, and the expression of perforin, granzyme B on mRNA level was detected by RT-PCR.

[Separation of proteins by gradient pressurized capillary electrochromatography].

The separation of four proteins including RNase A, cytochrome C, lysozyme and myoglobin was investigated by reversed-phase gradient pressurized capillary electrochromatography (p-CEC) with 1.5 microm non-porous silica C18 stationary phase. This mode was compared with micro-high performance liquid chromatography (mu-HPLC) and the effects of applied voltage, stationary phase and concentration of ion-pairing agent (trifluoroacetic acid, TFA) on the gradient p-CEC were also studied.

[Advances in the chiral resolution of organophosphorus compounds by liquid chromatography].

The developments in the chiral resolution of organophosphorus compounds by liquid chromatography in recent years are reviewed. Two different approaches of separation: indirect resolution (chiral derivatization reagent method) and direct resolution (chiral mobile phase additive and chiral stationary phase), focusing on several chiral stationary phases--Pirkle type, cyclodextrin, cellulose, ligand exchange and other chiral stationary phases are presented. The possible mechanism of chiral recognition is discussed.

Separation of ephedrine stereoisomers by molecularly imprinted polymers--influence of synthetic conditions and mobile phase compositions on the chromatographic performance.

Separation of ephedrine stereoisomers by molecularly imprinted polymers was performed to study the factors that affect the selectivity and column efficiency. The polymer synthesized with pentaerythritol triacrylate as the cross-linker and chloroform as the porogen was found to have the best overall separation performance. Investigation of the recognition mechanism by NMR and chromatographic analysis revealed that the major binding forces between the polymer stationary phase and ephedrine are the ionic and hydrogen bonding interactions.