Icariin as a potential anticancer agent: a review of its biological effects on various cancers.

Numerous chemical compounds used in cancer treatment have been isolated from natural herbs to address the ever-increasing cancer incidence worldwide. Therein is icariin, which has been extensively studied for its therapeutic potential due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidepressant, and aphrodisiac properties. However, there is a lack of comprehensive and detailed review of studies on icariin in cancer treatment. Given this, this study reviews and examines the relevant literature on the chemopreventive and therapeutic potentials of icariin in cancer treatment and describes its mechanism of action. The review shows that icariin has the property of inhibiting cancer progression and reversing drug resistance. Therefore, icariin may be a valuable potential agent for the prevention and treatment of various cancers due to its natural origin, safety, and low cost compared to conventional anticancer drugs, while further research on this natural agent is needed.

Plant-Derived Chinese Medicine Monomers on Ovarian Cancer via the Wnt/ß-Catenin Signaling Pathway: Review of Mechanisms and Prospects.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a common malignant tumor of the female reproductive system and has a high morbidity and mortality rate. The progression and metastasis of OC are complex and involve multiple signaling pathways. The Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway is closely related to OC, and therefore blocking the activation of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling directly or inhibiting related genes, and molecular targets is of great value in treating OC. Toxicities such as myelotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, genotoxicity, and vasospasm are the major side effects for common anticancer drugs and are well documented. There is, therefore, a need to develop new, effective, safer, and more affordable anticancer drugs from alternative sources. In recent years, plant-derived Chinese medicine monomers have drawn increasing attention due to their high safety, low toxicity, minimal side effects, and antitumor effects. Plant-derived Chinese medicine monomers are effective against multiple targets and can regulate the growth, proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration of OC as well as reverse drug resistance by regulating the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. In this review, we summarize and provide mechanisms and prospects for the use of plant-derived Chinese medicines for the prevention and treatment of OC.

microRNA-1271-5p/TIAM1 suppresses the progression of ovarian cancer through inactivating Notch signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian cancer (OC) has been regarded as the most malignant gynecological neoplasm and often confers grave outcomes owing to the frequent metastasis and high recurrence. A previous study has demonstrated that miR-1271-5p is implicated in OC progression, however, the possible mechanism of it remains unknown. The purpose of this investigation was to explore how miR-1271-5p regulates the progression of OC. METHODS: Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were employed to analyze the differentially expressed miRNAs or genes as well as their corresponding prognostic values. miR-1271-5p expression in OC cells was examined by qRT-PCR. Cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), colony formation, and transwell tests were conducted to evaluate the proliferation, migration and invasion potentials. Bioinformatics prediction and luciferase activity analysis were utilized to predict and verify the target gene of miR-1271-5p. Western blot assay was carried out to measure protein expression. RESULTS: miR-1271-5p was significantly decreased in OC and its down-regulation was associated with the grave outcome of OC patients. Upregulation of miR-1271-5p inhibited cell viability, but miR-1271-5p knockdown promoted the proliferation of OC cells. TIAM1 was a direct target gene of miR-1271-5p and expressed in OC tissues at higher level. High expression of TIAM1 induced the poorer prognosis of patients with OC. Further functional analyses showed that the suppressive role of miR-1271-5p on OC cell malignant behaviors was overturned by the upregulation of TIAM1. The protein levels of Cyclin D1, HES1, NOTCH and NUMB were remarkably changed due to the abnormal expression of miR-1271-5p and TIAM1. CONCLUSION: To sum up, miR-1271-5p inhibits proliferation, invasion and migration of OC cells by directly repressing TIAM1 to inactivate the Notch signaling pathway, which provides an alternative therapeutic candidate for the advancement of OC treatment.

[Synthesis and characterization of chromium doped Y3Al5O12 compound pigment].

The authors synthesized a new kind of green pigment via co-precipitation method by doping Y3Al5O12 with Cr+. The size of the pigment particles is around 200 nm as observed under scanning electron microscope. XRD results demonstrate that the pigment crystalline form of the pigment is yttrium alluminium garnet. UV-Vis spectra were used to investigate the coordination states and transition behavior of the doping ions. In addition, the colour feature was measured by CIE L* a* b* chroma value. The pigment was blended with polypropylene and then polypropylene fiber was produced using the polypropelene-pigment composite via molten spinning process. The distribution of the pigment particles in the polypropylene fibers was characterized by Xray computed tomography (CT) technique on the Beijing synchrotron radiation facility. The result states that the composite oxide pigment particles are homogeneously dispersed in the polypropylene fibers. The pigments are stable, non-toxic to the environment, and may be applied in non-aqueous dyeing to reduce waste water emitted by textile dyeing and printing industry.

[Study on preparations and fluorescent properties of rare earth complex with property of fluorescence sensor].

Europium chloride, 2-thienylformyltrifluoroacetone and sodium silicate were used to synthesize new-style rare earth complex (Eu-TNS). By adding into dichloromethane solution containing Eu-TNS, the fluorescent intensities were enhanced gradually and regularly. High-resolution mass spectrometry was used to detect the formula of Eu-TNS, which belongs to multi-core rare-earth complex. Polarity of solution increasing by adding absolute ethanol will cause Eu-TNS to dissociate, which enhances the fluoresceot intensities of Eu-TNS solution. This rare earth complex Eu-TNS can be employed as fluorescence sensor to detect the content of ethanol in organic solvent.

[Investigation of thermal behaviors of γ-form nylon 6 prepared by ammonia vapor from phosphoric acid solutions].

In the present work, we prepared nylon 6 crystals via crystallization of nylon from phosphoric acid by using the vapors of ammonium hydroxide as a precipitation regent. Both XRD and FTIR results demonstrate that the obtained nylon 6 sample exhibit characteristic peaks of nylon 6 in gamma form. In addition, treatment of nylon 6 in boiling water for half an hour followed by FTIR and XRD characterization shows that the obtained nylon 6 sample is in gamma form rather than in meta-stable b form. DSC characterization indicates that the nylon 6 sample exhibits two melting peaks (213 and 220 degrees C) when the sample is heated at a heating rate of 10 degrees C x min(-1). The reason for this phenomenon is that the nylon 6 sample has different lamellar thickness. To investigate the thermal behavior of the nylon 6 sample, the sample underwent the following thermal treatment procedure. First, the sample was heated to a pre-set temperature (T(s)) and kept at that temperature for an hour. Subsequently, the sample was cooled down to 100 degrees C at a cooling rate of 1 degrees C x min(-1), and then cooled down to room temperature at a cooling rate of 10 degrees C x min(-1). The treated samples were characterized by FTIR and DSC method. Experimental results show that the treated nylon 6 samples exhibit different crystalline behavior. When T. ranges from 130 to 160 degrees C, no significant changes were observed. When T(s) is 170 degrees C, a small fraction nylon 6 crystals is destroyed and recrystallized into thin lamellae in a form. As a result, a pre-melting peak appears in DSC result. The pre-melting peak moves to higher temperature and its peak area increases significantly upon increasing T(s) from 170 to 198 degrees C. When T(s) amounts to 200 degrees C, the pre-melting peak and the melting peaks 213 degrees C merge into one melting peak and two melting peaks are observed at 212 and 220 degrees C in the DSC results. FTIR spectra indicate that significant amount of crystalline nylon 6 in a form appears but the majority of crystalline phase of the sample is still gamma phase. As T(s) increases from 200 to 209 degrees C, the melting peak at lower temperature moves to higher temperature with increasing its peak area. On the other hand, the melting peak at 220 degrees C decreases in intensity but does not show any peak shift. As T(s) reaches 209 degrees C, the two melting peaks merge into one peak and FTIR results demonstrate that nylon 6 in a form becomes dominate phase in the sample. In the whole heat-treatment process, the gamma phase nylon 6 sample began to transform to a phase at the heat-treatment temperature of 170 degrees C, which is far below the melting point of the original sample (221 degrees C). This is different from the results reported in the literature, which state that gamma phase nylon 6 will not transform to alpha-phase until nylon is melt.

[Study on the meningoima using FT-mid-IR spectroscopy].

In the present investigation, 24 cases of meningoima tissues (including 12 cases of benign tumor and 12 cases of malignant tumor 12) were detected using FT-mid-IR spectroscopy linked with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory. These FTIR spectra obtained from the above-mentioned meningoima tissues were analyzed and compared. Significant differences were found in the spectral features of different kinds of meningoima tissues for example fibrous type meningoima and endothelioid meningoima; and for the same type of meningoima tissues the significant differences in the spectram features can be also observed with the increase of grade malignancy. The malignant tumor can be distinguished primarily from benign tumor by the changes of position, shape and intensity of infrared absorption bands, particularly in the ranges of 1 000-1 500 cm(-1). The results show that the peak position of the bands (such as 1 160 cm(-1)) can be used to distinguish the characteristic of meningoima which are in agreement with the pathological results. The accuracy is larger than 85%. These results demonstrate that FT-mid-IR spectroscopy exhibits prospect to develop a novel, non-invasive and rapid method for the diagnosis the brain tumors.

[Two-dimensional synchronous correlation spectroscopy for probing fluorescence energy transfer].

In the present paper, the authors developed a new approach by constructing two-dimensional (2D) UV-Vis/fluorescence heterogeneous synchronous spectrum based on the orthogonal sample design scheme (OSD) developed in our previous works to characterize energy transfer among different lanthanide ions during the luminescence process. The authors use the EuCl3-NdCl3 system as an example. The preliminary experimental results on the 2D synchronous spectra of EuCl3-NdCl3 mixture solutions have demonstrated that cross peaks can be observed among the UV-Vis absorption bands from Nd3+ and fluorescence emission bands from Eu3+. The cross peaks in the 2D synchronous spectra of EuCl3-NdCl3 mixture solutions manifested the interaction between the fluorescence emission from Eu3+ and UV-Vis absorbance from Nd3+, and therefore gives out experimental evidences for the occurrence of energy transfer between Eu3+ and Nd3+ ions. The cross peaks are not from the interaction between the solvent, water, and the solute, Eu3+ or Nd3+ ions. Mathematical analysis performed on 2D synchronous spectra using variable concentration as an external perturbation shows that the orthogonal sample design scheme is indispensable in removing the interfering cross peaks in 2D synchronous spectra. In fact, if the authors detect, respectively, the fluorescence emission spectra of pure Eu3+ solutions and the UV-Vis absorbance spectra of pure Nd3+ solutions, then use these spectra data to construct a series of synthesized spectra of an assumed mixture solution in which Eu3+ and Nd3+ are not mixed together, because Eu3+ and Nd3+ ions are spatially separated, there are no intermolecular interactions that should have occurred. Therefore, there are no cross-peaks that can be observed in the comparative 2D synchronous spectra. The cross peaks in 2D synchronous correlation spectra gives out a new approach to characterizing energy transfer among different lanthanide ions during the luminescence process.

[Studies on coordination and hydrogen bond intermolecular interaction using 1D & 2D FTIR spectroscopy].

Two-dimensional (2D) correlation spectroscopy is a powerful method to study the intermolecular interactions between different molecules/functional groups. In the present paper, variable concentrations were selected to construct 2D synchronous spectrum for studying the weak intermolecular interactions in solutions. Mathematical analysis performed on 2D synchronous spectra using variable concentration as an external perturbation shows that the "Orthogonal Sample Design Scheme" is necessary for eliminating the interfering cross peaks in 2D synchronous spectra. The authors prepared four mixed-solutes-solutions whose concentration series satisfy the "Orthogonal Sample Design Scheme" for each chemical system and the consequent 2D synchronous spectrum was calculated from the corresponding four 1D spectra. Thus, by 1D & 2D FTIR spectra together with solid grinding reaction, the intermolecular interactions in two chemical systems (Sodium 2-Aminobenzoate/NdCl3 in aqueous solution, and 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono 2-ethylhexyl ester (PC88A)/Naphthenic Acid (NA) in heptane solution) were studied, where the intermolecular interactions only induce subtle spectral variations in conventional 1D spectra. First, the cross peaks between f-f transition bands of Nd3+ ion at 521, 574, 741, 795 and 865 nm and pi-pi transition band of Sodium 2-Aminobenzoate at 308 nm in 2D synchronous spectrum confirm the coordination interaction between Sodium 2-Aminobenzoate and Nd3+. Solid grinding reaction between Sodium 2-Aminobenzoate and NdCl3 and FTIR spectra of the product indicate that the vibration bands of amino, carboxyl groups from sodium 2-aminobenzoate show considerable changes. Based on the spectral result above, a conclusion is drawn that Nd3+ can coordinate with Sodium 2-Aminobenzoate by amino and carboxyl groups. Second, the cross peaks between POH stretching band of PC88A at 983 cm(-1) and COOH stretching band of NA at 1 710 cm(-1) in 2D spectra confirm the interaction between PC88A and NA. Subtraction spectrum demonstrates that when PC88A is mixed with NA in heptane solution, and P=O stretching band of PC88A shifts from 1 199 to 1161 cm(-1), and POH stretching band shifts from 983 to 965 cm(-1). Based on the spectral result above, a conclusion was made that PC88A and NA can interact with each other by forming new assemblies with POH and COOH groups.