Association of polymorphisms in the heparanase gene (HPSE) with hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese populations

Abstract Heparanase activity is involved in cancer growth and development in humans and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the heparanase gene (HPSE) have been shown to be associated with tumors. In this study, we investigated whether SNPs in HPSE were a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by undertaking a comprehensive haplotype-tagging, case-control study. For this, six haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNPs) in HPSE were genotyped in 400 HCC patients and 480 controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. A log-additive model revealed significant correlations between the HPSE polymorphisms rs12331678 and rs12503843 and the risk of HCC in the overall samples (p = 0.0046 and p = 0.0055). When the analysis was stratified based on hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier status, significant interactions between rs12331678 and rs12503843 and HBV were observed. Conditional logistic regression analysis for the independent effect of one significant SNP suggested that rs12331678 or rs12503843 contributed an independent effect to the significant association with the risk of HCC, respectively. Our findings suggest that the SNPs rs12331678 and rs12503843 are HCC risk factors, although the potential functional roles of these two SNPs remain to be fully elucidated.

Hypocholesterolemic effects of Kluyveromyces marxianus M3 isolated from Tibetan mushrooms on diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rat

To investigate the effects of Kluyveromyces marxianus M3 isolated from Tibetan mushrooms on diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats, female Wistar rats were fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) for 28 d to generate hyperlipidemic models. Hyperlipidemic rats were assigned to four groups, which were individually treated with three different dosages of K. marxianus M3+HCD or physiological saline+HCD via oral gavage for 28 d. The total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the serum and liver of the rats were measured using commercially available enzyme kits. In addition, the liver morphology was also examined using hematoxylin and eosin staining and optical microscopy. According to our results, the serum and liver TC, TG, LDL-C levels and atherogenic index (AI) were significantly decreased in rats orally administered K. marxianus M3 (p <0.01), and the HDL-C levels and anti atherogenic index (AAI) were significantly increased (p <0.01) compared to the control group. Moreover, K. marxianus M3 treatment also reduced the build-up of lipid droplets in the liver and exhibited normal hepatocytes, suggesting a protective effect of K. marxianus M3 in hyperlipidemic rats.

Optimization of the whole-cell catalytic activity of recombinant Escherichia coli cells with surface-immobilized organophosphorus hydrolase.

Previous studies have verified the feasibility of using Escherichia coli systems that display organophosphorous hydrolase (OPH) on the cell surface as whole-cell catalysts. However, the inefficient display of the enzyme on cell surfaces remains unaddressed. In the present study, multiple optimization experiments on full-length and truncated ice nucleation protein anchors, E. coli host cells, culture media, and culture conditions were performed to optimize whole-cell OPH enzymatic activity. The results show that apart from the dramatic effect of isopropyl-b-d-thiogalactoside concentration and culture temperature, the coordination between the anchor protein, culture media, and host cells is essential for highly efficient OPH display. Under optimal conditions, namely, culturing in M9 medium, 20 °C induction temperature, 0.1 mmol l-1 IPTG, and 100 μmol l-1 Co2+, the engineered E. coli strain MB109-406 that expresses the fusion enzyme InaK-N-OPH exhibited a whole-cell OPH activity of 0.62 U mg-1 ?cell d.wt. This result is much higher than that of several currently available OPH-displaying systems, which shows the potential of the current system for further large-scale industrial or environmental applications.