The human gut harbors a dense and highly diverse microbiota of approximately 1,000 bacterial species. The interaction between the host and gut bacteria strongly influences human health. Numerous evidence suggest that intestinal flora imbalance is closely associated with the development and treatment of liver diseases, including acute liver injury and chronic liver diseases (cirrhosis, autoimmune liver disease, and fatty liver).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDEAD-box ATP-dependent helicases (DEAH/D) are a family of conserved genes predominantly involved in gene expression regulation and RNA processing. As its prototype, eIF4AI is an essential component of the protein translation initiation complex. Utilizing a screening system based on wild-type eIF4AI and its L243G mutant with a changed linker domain, we discovered an eIF4AI inhibitor, sanguinarine (SAN) and used it to study the catalytic mechanism of eIF4AI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlypican-3 is a cell surface glycoprotein that associates with Wnt in liver cancer. We develop two antibodies targeting glypican-3, HN3 and YP7. The first antibody recognizes a functional epitope and inhibits Wnt signalling, whereas the second antibody recognizes a C-terminal epitope but does not inhibit Wnt signalling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonoclonal antibodies against mesothelin are being evaluated for the treatment of mesothelioma and multiple forms of cancers, and show great promise for clinical development for solid cancers. Antibodies against mesothelin have been shown to act via immunotoxin-based inhibition of tumor growth and induction of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). However, complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), considered an important additional mechanism of therapeutic antibodies against tumors, is inactive for such antibodies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnticancer Agents Med Chem
February 2013
Mesothelin, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored cell surface protein, is a potential target for antibody-based cancer therapy due to its high expression in mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, cholangiocarcinoma and other cancers. The SS1P immunotoxin and MORAb-009 (amatuximab), a chimeric monoclonal antibody, are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. In this review, we discuss the role of mesothelin in cancer progression and provide new insights into mesothelin-targeted cancer therapy.
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