Autophagy is involved in the replication of H9N2 influenza virus via the regulation of oxidative stress in alveolar epithelial cells.

Background: Oxidative stress is an important pathogenic factor in influenza A virus infection. It has been found that reactive oxygen species induced by the H9N2 influenza virus is associated with viral replication. However, the mechanisms involved remain to be elucidated.

Pten-NOLC1 fusion promotes cancers involving MET and EGFR signalings.

Inactivation of Pten gene through deletions and mutations leading to excessive pro-growth signaling pathway activations frequently occurs in cancers. Here, we report a Pten derived pro-cancer growth gene fusion Pten-NOLC1 originated from a chr10 genome rearrangement and identified through a transcriptome sequencing analysis of human cancers. Pten-NOLC1 fusion is present in primary human cancer samples and cancer cell lines from different organs.

Autophagy is involved in the acute lung injury induced by H9N2 influenza virus.

Influenza A virus usually leads to economic loss to breeding farms and pose a serious threat to human health. Virus infecting tissues directly and influenza virus-induced excessive production of inflammatory factors play the key role in pathogenesis of the disease, but the mechanism is not well clarified. Here, the role of autophagy was investigated in H9N2 influenza virus-triggered inflammation.

MAN2A1-FER Fusion Gene Is Expressed by Human Liver and Other Tumor Types and Has Oncogenic Activity in Mice.

Background & Aims: Human tumors and liver cancer cell lines express the product of a fusion between the first 13 exons in the mannosidase α class 2A member 1 gene (MAN2A1) and the last 6 exons in the FER tyrosine kinase gene (FER), called MAN2A1-FER. We investigated whether MAN2A1-FER is expressed by human liver tumors and its role in liver carcinogenesis.

Methods: We performed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses of 102 non-small cell lung tumors, 61 ovarian tumors, 70 liver tumors, 156 glioblastoma multiform samples, 27 esophageal adenocarcinomas, and 269 prostate cancer samples, as well as 10 nontumor liver tissues and 20 nontumor prostate tissues, collected at the University of Pittsburgh.

The DNA replication licensing factor miniature chromosome maintenance 7 is essential for RNA splicing of epidermal growth factor receptor, c-Met, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

Miniature chromosome maintenance 7 (MCM7) is an essential component of DNA replication licensing complex. Recent studies indicate that MCM7 is amplified and overexpressed in a variety of human malignancies. In this report, we show that MCM7 binds SF3B3.

A panel of five circulating microRNAs as potential biomarkers for prostate cancer.

Background: Circulating microRNA (miRNAs) have been shown to have the potential as noninvasive diagnosis markers in several types of cancers. In this study, we investigated whether circulating miRNAs could be used in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (CaP) in a Chinese patient population.

Methods: Illumina's Human v2 miRNA microarray was used to analyze miRNAs levels in a small set of patients [25 CaP, 17 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)] in an effort to identify CaP-specific miRNAs.

Activation of GABAA receptor/Cl- channel and capacitation in rat spermatozoa: HCO3- and Cl- are essential.

This study was designed to determine whether HCO(3)(-) and Cl(-) are required for the activation of the GABA(A) receptor/Cl(-) channel (GBRC) by GABA and the subsequent capacitation of rat sperm. Spermatozoa from adult Sprague Dawley rats were incubated in four different media: modified complete rat fertilization medium (mRFM), Cl(-)-deficient (Cl(-)-DF) mRFM, HCO(3)(-)-DF mRFM, and Cl(-)-DF HCO(3)(-)-DF mRFM, with or without GBRC agonists (GABA and progesterone) or GBRC antagonists (bicuculline and picrotoxin) for 0-6 h under capacitating conditions. Sperm capacitation and hyperactivation were assessed by chlortetracycline staining and computer-assisted sperm analysis, respectively.

Cl- is required for HCO3- entry necessary for sperm capacitation in guinea pig: involvement of a Cl-/HCO3- exchanger (SLC26A3) and CFTR.

Our previous study demonstrated the involvement of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in transporting bicarbonate that is necessary for sperm capacitation; however, whether its involvement is direct or indirect remains unclear. The present study investigated the possibility of a Cl-/HCO3- exchanger (solute carrier family 26, number 3 [SLC26A3]) operating with CFTR during guinea pig sperm capacitation. Incubating sperm in media with various concentrations of Cl- resulted in varied percentages of capacitated sperm in a concentration-dependent manner.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator is vital to sperm fertilizing capacity and male fertility.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is an anion channel, mutations of which cause cystic fibrosis, a disease characterized by defective Cl(-) and HCO(3)(-) transport. Although >95% of all CF male patients are infertile because of congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD), the question whether CFTR mutations are involved in other forms of male infertility is under intense debates. Here we report that CFTR is detected in both human and mouse sperm.

Structural characterization of a 2-O-acetylglucomannan from Dendrobium officinale stem.

A heteropolysaccharide obtained from an aqueous extract of dried stem of Dendrobium officinale Kimura and Migo by anion-exchange chromatography and gel-permeation chromatography, was investigated by chemical techniques and NMR spectroscopy, and is demonstrated to be a 2-O-acetylglucomannan, composed of mannose, glucose, and arabinose in 40.2:8.4:1 molar ratios.