Effect of fragile histidine triad gene transduction on proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Effects of eight InDel variants in FHIT on milk traits in Xinjiang brown cattle

In our previous genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified the fragile histidine triad diadenosine triphosphatase (FHIT) gene in Xinjiang brown cattle (XJBC) as a candidate gene associated with cattle productive traits, with potential application in mark-assisted selection (MAS) in cattle breeding. FHIT is a prototype of a class of tumor suppressor genes that contain genomic loci mapped to common fragile loci. Here, 388 healthy and unrelated XJBC were selected to identify insertion/deletion (InDel) variants in the bovine FHIT and assess their effects on milk traits. Eight of the thirteen InDel loci were found to be polymorphic in FHIT. The polymorphism information content of the eight loci ranged from 0.061 to 0.375. The correlation analysis showed that all the new InDel variants were significantly related to six different milk traits (p < 0.05). The following variants presented a significant relationship with productive traits: P2-23bp with the 305 milk yield (p = 0.005) in the sixth parity; P3-24bp with the milk fat yield (p = 0.009) in the third parity; P5-21bp with the somatic cell score (p = 0.001) in the first parity and with the milk protein percentage (p = 0.002) in the sixth parity; and P7-26bp with the somatic cell score (p = 0.003) in the sixth parity. These findings will help evaluate InDel genotypes, within and between cattle breeds and identify potential target loci to accelerate progress in MAS in cattle breeding.

The effect of adenovirus-mediated gene expression of FHIT in small cell lung cancer cells

The candidate tumor suppressor fragile histidine traid (FHIT) is frequently inactivated in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Mutations in the p53 gene also occur in the majority of SCLC leading to the accumulation of the mutant protein. Here we evaluated the effect of FHIT gene therapy alone or in combination with the mutant p53-reactivating molecule, PRIMA-1(Met)/APR-246, in SCLC. Overexpression of FHIT by recombinant adenoviral vector (Ad-FHIT)-mediated gene transfer in SCLC cells inhibited their growth by inducing apoptosis and when combined with PRIMA-1(Met)/APR-246, a synergistic cell growth inhibition was achieved.

Identification of tumor-associated antigens by using SEREX in hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM

To identify biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

Screening the HCC cDNA library with HCC patients sera. Isolated proteins were used as antigens to detect antibodies from patients with HCC and control sera.

RESULTS

Eighty-one positive clones were identified. The frequencies of autoantibody against five HCC-associated antigens were higher in HCC than that in chronic hepatitis and normal human sera. The sensitivity and specificity of KRT23, AHSG and FTL antigens combination tests up to 98.2% in joint test and 90.0% in series test separately.

CONCLUSIONS

HCC associate antigens identified from this study supply candidate markers of diagnosis, combined detection and immunotherapy of HCC.

Expression and identification of immunological activities of the HIV-gp120N-human interferon gamma fusion protein

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein gp120 is a vaccine immunogen that has been studied extensively. To enhance the immune response of cells against HIV-1 gp120, we tested the coexpression of gp120N with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) as an immune adjuvant. Two recombinant prokaryotic plasmids were constructed: the pET44b-HIV-1-gp120N plasmid construct carried the HIV-1 gp120N gene (pET44-gp120N), whereas the pET44b-HIV-1-gp120N-IFN-gamma plasmid construct carried a fusion gp120N-IFN-gamma gene (pET44b-gp120N-IFN-gamma). Target protein expression was achieved in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells by chemical induction. To test the immunological activity of the proteins, mice were injected with a control, gp120N, or the fusion gp120N-IFN-gamma protein. The serum and spleen cells of the mice were collected for immunological detection. Results showed that specific T lymphocyte proliferation and the expression of the Th1-type cytokines (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) were higher in the gp120N-IFN-gamma group than the other two groups (P < 0.05). No difference was observed in the expression levels of the Th2-type cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10; P > 0.05). These results suggest that IFN-gamma plays a prominent role as an immune adjuvant when coexpressed with HIV-1 gp120N. IFN-gamma enhances the specific cell immune response of mice against HIV-1 gp120.