Nerve Growth Factor from Pancreatic Cancer Cells Promotes the Cancer Progression by Inducing Nerve Cell-Secreted Interleukin-6.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a cancer with a poor prognosis, and nerve growth factor (NGF) is involved in the pathogenesis of PC within the unknown exact role. Herein, SW1990 cells and PC12 cells were co-cultured using transwell co-culture system and subsequently revealed that NGF was overexpressed in SW1990 cells and promoted PC12 cell proliferation. Knockdown of NGF expression in SW1990 cells using lentiviral shRNA effectively inhibited NGF expression in SW1990 cells and reduced its stimulatory effect on PC12 cell proliferation.

Integrative experimental and computational analysis of the impact of KGM's polymerization degree on wheat starch's pasting and retrogradation characteristics.

This study investigated the influence of Konjac Glucomannan (KGM) with varying degrees of polymerization (DKGMx) on the gelatinization and retrogradation characteristics of wheat starch, providing new insights into starch-polysaccharide interactions. This research uniquely focuses on the effects of DKGMx, utilizing multidisciplinary approaches including Rapid Visco Analysis (RVA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), rheological testing, Low-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LF-NMR), and molecular simulations to assess the effects of DKGMx on gelatinization temperature, viscosity, structural changes post-retrogradation, and molecular interactions. Our findings revealed that higher degrees of polymerization (DP) of DKGMx significantly enhanced starch's pasting viscosity and stability, whereas lower DP reduced viscosity and interfered with retrogradation.