Deacetyl-mycoepoxydiene, isolated from plant endophytic fungi Phomosis sp. demonstrates anti-microtubule activity in MCF-7 cells.

Deacetyl-mycoepoxydiene (DM), a novel secondary metabolite produced by the plant endophytic fungi Phomosis sp., induced the reorganization of cytoskeleton in actively growing MCF-7 cells by promoting polymerization of tubulin. DM could induce cell cycle arrest at G2/M in MCF-7 cells.

Saccharomonospora marina sp. nov., isolated from an ocean sediment of the East China Sea.

A novel, aerobic, Gram-positive actinomycete strain, designated XMU15T, was isolated from an ocean sediment collected from Zhaoan Bay in the East China Sea and was subjected to a polyphasic approach to determine its taxonomic position. The isolate grew optimally at 28 degrees C and at pH 7.0 in the presence of 3% (w/v) NaCl on ISP medium 2.

Role of tumor metastasis suppressor gene KAI1 in digestive tract carcinomas and cancer cells.

The KAI1 gene is identified as a tumor metastasis suppressor gene in many types of cancer. We examined KAI1 gene and its protein KAI1/CD82 expression by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis, and found that KAI1 mRNA and protein expression were inversely correlated with lymph node and distant metastasis in digestive tract carcinomas, but not with age and gender of the patient, or with tumor differentiation. Moreover, KAI1/CD82 protein expression positively reflected the survival outcome of patients.