Prokaryotic Expression and Affinity Purification of DDX3 Protein.

Background: DDX3 is a protein with RNA helicase activity that is involved in a variety of biological processes, and it is an important protein target for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, multiple cancers and chronic inflammation.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to establish a simple and efficient method to express and purify DDX3 protein in E. coli, and the recombinant DDX3 should maintain helicase activity for further tailor-made screening and biochemical function validation.

SENP3 Promotes Mantle Cell Lymphoma Development through Regulating Wnt10a Expression.

Objective: SUMO-specific protease 3 (SENP3), a member of the SUMO-specific protease family, reverses the SUMOylation of SUMO-2/3 conjugates. Dysregulation of SENP3 has been proven to be involved in the development of various tumors. However, its role in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a highly aggressive lymphoma, remains unclear.

Inducement of ER Stress by PAD Inhibitor BB-Cl-Amidine to Effectively Kill AML Cells.

Objective: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous and recurrent hematological malignancy. Despite the emergence of novel chemotherapy drugs, AML patients' complete remission (CR) remains unsatisfactory. Consequently, it is imperative to discover new therapeutic targets or medications to treat AML.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of new 2‑substituted‑4‑amino-quinolines and -quinazoline as potential antifungal agents.

Aiming to discover novel antifungal agents, a series of 2‑substituted‑4‑amino-quinolines and -quinazoline were prepared and characterized using IR, H NMR, C NMR, and HRMS spectroscopic techniques. Their antifungal activities against four invasive fungi were evaluated, and the results revealed that some of the target compounds exhibited moderate to excellent inhibitory potencies. The most promising compounds III, III, III and III exhibited potent and broad-spectrum antifungal activities with MIC values of 4-32 μg/mL.

pH-sensitive and specific ligand-conjugated chitosan nanogels for efficient drug delivery.

Nanogels have been recently attracted attentions because they exhibit significantly different behaviors compared with nanoparticles. Among them, chitosan (CS) nanogels have gained considerable attentions from researchers for in vivo applications due to bioactivity, biodegradability, mucoadhesiveness, and biocompatibility of CS. In this review, we have summarized the applications of CS nanogels for efficient drug delivery.

Two new sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids from root barks of .

Two new sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids, Chinese bittersweet alkaloid A () and Chinese bittersweet alkaloid B (), together with five known compounds 3β- hydroxyolean-9(11),12-diene, β-sitosterol, 1β,2β,6α,15β-tetraacetoxy-8β,9α- dibenzoyloxy-β-dihydroagarofuran, angulatin A and angulatin J, were isolated from the root barks of . The structures of and were elucidated as 1β,6α,8β,9β-tetraacetoxy-2β,4α-dihydroxy-15β-isobutanoyloxy-(3,12)-evoninoyloxy-β-dihydroagarofuran and 1β,2β,6α,8β,9β-pentaacetoxy-4α-hydroxy-15β- isobutanoyloxy- (3,12)- evoninoyloxy-β-dihydroagarofuran mainly by NMR spectroscopic means.

Clinical trial on the effects of thalidomide on hemoglobin synthesis in patients with moderate thalassemia intermedia.

Unlabelled: To investigate the efficacy and safety of thalidomide in patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of TI who met the trial criteria and signed consent forms were prescribed oral thalidomide 50 mg qn for 3 months from February 2017. Complete blood counts, Hb analysis, and liver and kidney functions were monitored monthly during treatment and any differences were compared before and after treatment.

microRNA-451-modulated hnRNP A1 takes a part in granulocytic differentiation regulation and acute myeloid leukemia.

Myelopoiesis is under the control of a complex network containing various regulation factors. Deregulation of any important regulation factors may result in serious consequences including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In order to find out the genes that may take a part in AML development, we analyzed data from AML cDNA microarray (GSE2191) in the NCBI data pool and noticed that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) is abnormally over-expressed in AML patients.

c-Myc suppresses miR-451⊣YWTAZ/AKT axis via recruiting HDAC3 in acute myeloid leukemia.

Aberrant activation of c-Myc plays an important oncogenic role via regulating a series of coding and non-coding genes in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Histone deacetylases (HDACs) can remove acetyl group from histone and regulate gene expression via changing chromatin structure. Here, we found miR-451 is abnormally down-regulated in AML patient samples; c-Myc recruits HDAC3 to form a transcriptional suppressor complex, co-localizes on the miR-451 promoter, epigenetically inhibits its transcription and finally induces its downregulation in AML.

The PU.1-Modulated MicroRNA-22 Is a Regulator of Monocyte/Macrophage Differentiation and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

MicroRNA-22 (miR-22) is emerging as a critical regulator in organ development and various cancers. However, its role in normal hematopoiesis and leukaemogenesis remains unclear. Here, we detected its increased expression during monocyte/macrophage differentiation of HL-60, THP1 cells and CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, and confirmed that PU.

ZFP36L1 promotes monocyte/macrophage differentiation by repressing CDK6.

RNA binding proteins (RBPs)-mediated post-transcriptional control has been implicated in influencing various aspects of RNA metabolism and playing important roles in mammalian development and pathological diseases. However, the functions of specific RBPs and the molecular mechanisms through which they act in monocyte/macrophage differentiation remain to be determined. In this study, through bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation, we identify that ZFP36L1, a member of ZFP36 zinc finger protein family, exhibits significant decrease in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients compared with normal controls and remarkable time-course increase during monocyte/macrophage differentiation of PMA-induced THP-1 and HL-60 cells as well as induction culture of CD34(+) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs).

PU.1-Regulated Long Noncoding RNA lnc-MC Controls Human Monocyte/Macrophage Differentiation through Interaction with MicroRNA 199a-5p.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators in mammalian development, but little is known about their roles in monocyte/macrophage differentiation. Here we identified a long noncoding monocytic RNA (lnc-MC) that exhibits increased expression during monocyte/macrophage differentiation of THP-1 and HL-60 cells as well as CD34(+) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) and is transcriptionally activated by PU.1.

miR-199a-5p inhibits monocyte/macrophage differentiation by targeting the activin A type 1B receptor gene and finally reducing C/EBPα expression.

miRNAs are short, noncoding RNAs that regulate expression of target genes at post-transcriptional levels and function in many important cellular processes, including differentiation, proliferation, etc. In this study, we observed down-regulation of miR-199a-5p during monocyte/macrophage differentiation of HL-60 and THP-1 cells, as well as human CD34(+) HSPCs. This down-regulation of miR-199a-5p resulted from the up-regulation of PU.

Hypoxia induces peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ expression via HIF-1-dependent mechanisms in HepG2 cell line.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) can activate expression of a broad range of genes in response to hypoxia. It has been shown that the levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) are influenced by changes in oxygen tension, and PPARγ plays a critical role in metabolism regulation and cancers. In this research, we observed an increased PPARγ mRNA and protein levels in company with increased HIF-1 protein levels in HepG2 cells in hypoxia as compared with in normoxia.

Emodin can induce K562 cells to erythroid differentiation and improve the expression of globin genes.

In China, the traditional Chinese medicine "YiSui ShenXu Granule" has been used for treating β-thalassemia over 20 years and known to be effective in clinic. Several purified components from "YiSui ShenXu Granule" are tested in K562 cells to reveal its effect on globin expression and erythroid differentiation, and one of the purified components, emodin, was demonstrated to increase the expression of α-, ε-, γ-globin, CD235a, and CD71 in K562 cells. Moreover, the increase of their expression is emodin concentration-dependent.

Synthesis of 2-aryl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2-ium bromides and their in vitro acaricidal activity against Psoroptes cuniculi.

By employing sanguinarine, a natural active quaternary isoquinoline alkaloid, as a model molecule, a series of structurally simple quaternary 2-aryl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2-ium compounds were designed and synthesized and evaluated for in vitro acaricidal activity against P. cuniculi. A new approach towards the title compounds was developed with isochroman as starting material.

In vitro antifungal activity of sanguinarine and chelerythrine derivatives against phytopathogenic fungi.

In order to understand the antifungal activity of some derivatives of sanguinarine (S) and chelerythrine (C) and their structure-activity relationships, sixteen derivatives of S and C were prepared and evaluated for in vitro antifungal activity against seven phytopathogenic fungi by the mycelial growth rate method. The results showed that S, C and their 6-alkoxy dihydro derivatives S₁-S₄, C₁-C₄ and 6-cyanodihydro derivatives S₅, C₅ showed significant antifungal activity at 100 µg/mL against all the tested fungi. For most tested fungi, the median effective concentrations of S, S₁, C and C₁ were in a range of 14-50 µg/mL.

Structural modification of sanguinarine and chelerythrine and their in vitro acaricidal activity against Psoroptes cuniculi.

Sanguinarine (1) and chelerythrine (2) are two quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids (QBAs). Eighteen derivatives of 1 and 2 were synthesized by modification of C=N(+) bond and evaluated for their in vitro acaricidal activity against Psoroptes cuniculi, a mange mite. A new method was developed to prepare 6-alkoxy dihydro derivatives of 1 and 2 (1a-e, 2a-e).

CTD small phosphatase like 2 (CTDSPL2) can increase ε- and γ-globin gene expression in K562 cells and CD34+ cells derived from umbilical cord blood.

Background: A potential strategy for treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia in adults is reactivation of the ε- and γ-globin genes in the adult. We aimed to identify trans-activators of ε- and γ-globin expression and provide new candidate targets for effective treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia through activation of ε- and γ-globin genes in adults.

Results: We identified a CTD small phosphatase like 2 (CTDSPL2) gene that had higher transcription levels in umbilical cord blood (UCB) than in adult bone marrow (BM).

Screening for trans-acting factors and other factors involved in the activating or silencing of the gamma-globin gene during human ontogeny.

Researchers hope to increase gamma-globin expression by controlling potential trans-acting factors that specifically activate the gamma-globin gene in fetuses or silence this gene in adults to potentially treat sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemias. To characterize genes encoding such factors, we analyzed the differential expression of mRNAs in erythroid induction cultures of CD34+ cells derived from normal adult bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and bone marrow from a patient with heterocellular hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin. Using differential-display - reverse-transcription PCR analysis, we identified a number of genes with differential expression in the above-mentioned cells.

Differential expression changes in K562 cells during the hemin-induced erythroid differentiation and the phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-induced megakaryocytic differentiation.

K562 cell line has been used as a model of common progenitor of erythroblasts and magakaryocytes and can be differentiated into erythroid and megakaryocytic lineages by hemin and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) respectively. We analyzed mRNA expression in un-induced, hemin-induced and PMA-induced K562 cells by differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) method. 314 differential expression sequence tags (ESTs) were obtained.

In vitro maturation of erythroid progenitors from human umbilical cord blood and patterns of globin gene expression: serum from different developmental stage plays important roles in liquid culture.

To investigate the maturation of neonatal erythrocytes and kinetics of globin expression, we induced CD34(+) cells purified from human umbilical cord blood to erythroid differentiation in different suspension culture systems containing human cord serum (CHS) and adult serum (AHS), respectively. The zeta- to alpha-globin switching and the epsilon- to gamma-globin switching were observed in CHS(+) cultures but not in AHS(+) cultures. A reduced proportion of F cell and two day postponed cell enucleation in AHS(+) cultures compared with in CHS(+) cultures was also found.