Exo-atmospheric infrared objects classification using recurrence-plots-based convolutional neural networks.

Object discrimination plays an important role in infrared (IR) imaging systems. However, at long observing distance, the presence of detector noise and absence of robust features make exo-atmospheric object classification difficult to tackle. In this paper, a recurrence-plots-based convolutional neural network (RP-CNN) is proposed for feature learning and classification. First, it uses recurrence plots (RPs) to transform time sequences of IR radiation into two-dimensional texture images. Then, a CNN model is adopted for classification. Different from previous object classification methods, RP representation has well-defined visual texture patterns, and their graphical nature exposes hidden patterns and structural changes in time sequences of IR signatures. In addition, it can process IR signatures of objects without the limitation of fixed length. Training data are generated from IR irradiation models considering micro-motion dynamics and geometrical shape of exo-atmospheric objects. Results based on time-evolving IR radiation data indicate that our method achieves significant improvement in accuracy and robustness of the exo-atmospheric IR objects classification.

Ballistic targets micro-motion and geometrical shape parameters estimation from sparse decomposition representation of infrared signatures.

Micro-motion dynamics and geometrical shape are considered to be essential evidence for infrared (IR) ballistic target recognition. However, it is usually hard or even impossible to describe the geometrical shape of an unknown target with a finite number of parameters, which results in a very difficult task to estimate target micro-motion parameters from the IR signals. Considering the shapes of ballistic targets are relatively simple, this paper explores a joint optimization technique to estimate micro-motion and dominant geometrical shape parameters from sparse decomposition representation of IR irradiance intensity signatures. By dividing an observed target surface into a number of segmented patches, an IR signature of the target can be approximately modeled as a linear combination of the observation IR signatures from the dominant segmented patches. Given this, a sparse decomposition representation of the IR signature is established with the dictionary elements defined as each segmented patch's IR signature. Then, an iterative optimization method, based on the batch second-order gradient descent algorithm, is proposed to jointly estimate target micro-motion and geometrical shape parameters. Experimental results demonstrate that the micro-motion and geometrical shape parameters can be effectively estimated using the proposed method, when the noise of the IR signature is in an acceptable level, for example, SNR>0 dB.

Estimating Shape and Micro-Motion Parameter of Rotationally Symmetric Space Objects from the Infrared Signature.

Shape serves as an important additional feature for space target classification, which is complementary to those made available. Since different shapes lead to different projection functions, the projection property can be regarded as one kind of shape feature. In this work, the problem of estimating the projection function from the infrared signature of the object is addressed. We show that the projection function of any rotationally symmetric object can be approximately represented as a linear combination of some base functions. Based on this fact, the signal model of the emissivity-area product sequence is constructed, which is a particular mathematical function of the linear coefficients and micro-motion parameters. Then, the least square estimator is proposed to estimate the projection function and micro-motion parameters jointly. Experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Antisense expression of PKCalpha improved sensitivity of SGC7901/VCR cells to doxorubicin.

AIM: To explore whether antisense blocking of protein kinase C alpha (PKCalpha) would reverse multi-drug resistance (MDR) in the vincristine (VCR)-resistant human gastric cancer cell line SGC7901/VCR. METHODS: SGC7901/VCR cells expressing antisense PKCalpha, SGC7901/VCR/aPKC, were established by transfection with a recombinant plasmid reversely inserted with PKCalpha cDNA. Empty vector (PCI-neo)-transfected cell clones, SGC7901/VCR/neo, served as the control. Western blot method was used to detect PKCalpha content in SGC7901, SGC7901/VCR, SGC7901/VCR/neo and SGC7901/VCR/aPKC cells, using PKCalpha-specific antibody. The sensitivity of SGC7901, SGC7901/VCR, SGC7901/VCR/neo and SGC7901/VCR/aPKC cells to doxorubicin (DOX) in vitro was determined by MTT assay. The uptake of DOX in these cells was detected with fluorescence spectrophotometer. RESULTS: Western blot analysis showed that the PKCalpha protein level was about 8.7-fold higher in SGC7901/VCR cells than that in SGC7901 cells, whereas the protein expression of PKCalpha was reduced by 78% in SGC7901/VCR/aPKC cells when compared with the SGC7901/VCR cells. SGC7901/VCR/aPKC cells had a 4.2-fold increase in DOX cytotoxicity, accompanied by a 1.7-fold increase of DOX accumulation in comparison with SGC7901/VCR cells. CONCLUSION: PKCalpha positively regulates MDR in SGC7901 cells, and inhibition of PKCalpha can partially attenuate MDR in human gastric cancer cells.

Reversal of multidrug resistance in vincristine-resistant human gastric cancer cell line SGC7901/VCR by LY980503.

AIM: To investigate the reversal effect of LY980503, a benflumetol derivative, on multidrug resistance in vincristine (VCR) -resistant human gastric carcinoma cell line SGC7901/VCR. METHODS: Cells of a human gastric cancer cell line, SGC7901, and its VCR-resistant variant, SGC7901/VCR, were cultivated with LY980503 and /or doxorubicin (DOX). The cytotoxicity of drugs in vitro was assayed by MTT method. Based on the flow cytometric technology, the uptake of DOX was detected in these cells by measuring DOX-associated mean fluorescence intensity (MFI). RESULTS: SGC7901/VCR cells were 23.5 times more resistant to DOX in comparison with SGC7901 cells. LY980503 at the concentrations of 2.0 micromol/L-10 micromol/L had no obvious cytotoxicity to SGC7901 and SGC7901/VCR cells. After simultaneous treatment with LY980503 at the concentrations of 2.0, 4.0 and 10 micromol/L, the IC(50) of DOX to SGC7901/VCR cells decreased from 1.6 +/- 0.12 micromol/L to 0.55 +/- 0.024, 0.25 +/- 0.032 and 0.11 +/- 0.015 micromol/L, respectively, thus, increasing the DOX sensitivity by 2.9-fold (P < 0. 05), 6.4-fold (P < 0. 01) and 14.5-fold (P < 0. 01), respectively. In the uptake study of DOX, simultaneous incubation of SGC7901/VCR cells with LY980503 significantly increased the DOX -associated MFI in SGC7901/VCR cells. No such results were found in parental SGC7901 cells. CONCLUSION: LY980503 at non-cytotoxic concen-trations can effectively circumvent resistance of SGC7901/VCR cells to DOX by increasing intracellular DOX accumulation.

Overexpression of integrin-linked kinase induces cardiac stem cell expansion.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that the adult heart contains stem cells that are capable of self-renewal as well as multilineage differentiation. However, their inherent capacity for self-renewal is limiting to cell replacement applications. Integrin-linked kinase is a multifunctional protein kinase that activates Wnt target genes implicated in the symmetric replication of embryonic stem cells. METHODS: Primary cultures derived from human fetal cardiac tissue (19-22 weeks' gestation) were grown in serum-free media and evaluated for the presence of cardiac progenitor cells. The effect of integrin-linked kinase was ascertained by adenoviral overexpression. RESULTS: Cultures infected with wild-type integrin-linked kinase yielded a significant (P = .001), approximately 5-fold increase in both the absolute number and the frequency of c-Kit-positive, myosin-negative cells. Cardiospheres, comprised on morphologically homogeneous, anchorage-independent cells, were reproducibly present at days 7 to 10 and formed derivative cardiospheres in multiple passages. Integrin-linked kinase infection of primary cardiac cell cultures resulted in a greater number of primary spheres at each cell density tested, compared with untreated and virus controls (P = .001). Secondary spheres transferred to differentiation medium and 5-aza-deoxycytodine (10 micromol/L) generated cells exhibiting biochemical evidence of differentiation into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that self-renewing cardiospheres generated from human fetal cardiac cells are composed of cells exhibiting the properties of stem cells, including the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. Our results suggest that integrin-linked kinase promotes stem cell amplification and can be applied therapeutically to overcome a major limitation in the field of cardiac regenerative medicine.

Integrin-linked kinase expression is elevated in human cardiac hypertrophy and induces hypertrophy in transgenic mice.

BACKGROUND: Although numerous signaling pathways are known to be activated in experimental cardiac hypertrophy, the molecular basis of the hypertrophic response inherent in human heart diseases remains largely unknown. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a multifunctional protein kinase that physically links beta-integrins with the actin cytoskeleton, suggesting a potential mechanoreceptor role. METHODS AND RESULTS: Here, we show a marked increase in ILK protein levels in hypertrophic ventricles of patients with congenital and acquired outflow tract obstruction. This increase in ILK was associated with activation of the Rho family guanine triphosphatases, Rac1 and Cdc42, and known hypertrophic signaling kinases, including extracellular signal-related kinases (ERK1/2) and p70 S6 kinase. Transgenic mice with cardiac-specific expression of a constitutively active ILK (ILK(S343D)) or wild-type ILK (ILK(WT)) exhibited a compensated ventricular hypertrophic phenotype and displayed an activation profile of guanine triphosphatases and downstream protein kinases concordant with that seen in human hypertrophy. In contrast, transgenic mice with cardiomyocyte-restricted expression of a kinase-inactive ILK (ILK(R211A)) were unable to mount a compensatory hypertrophic response to angiotensin II in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results identify ILK-regulated signaling as a broadly adaptive hypertrophic response mechanism relevant to a wide range of clinical heart disease.

Cardioprotective stress response in the human fetal heart.

OBJECTIVE: We propose that the fetal heart is highly resilient to hypoxic stress. Our objective was to elucidate the human fetal gene expression profile in response to simulated ischemia and reperfusion to identify molecular targets that account for the innate cardioprotection exhibited by the fetal phenotype. METHODS: Primary cultures of human fetal cardiac myocytes (gestational age, 15-20 weeks) were exposed to simulated ischemia and reperfusion in vitro by using a simulated ischemic buffer under anoxic conditions. Total RNA from treated and baseline cells were isolated, reverse transcribed, and labeled with Cy3 or Cy5 and hybridized to a human cDNA microarray for expression analysis. This analysis revealed a highly significant (false discovery rate, <3%) suppression of interleukin 6 transcript levels during the reperfusion phase confirmed by means of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (0.25 +/- 0.11-fold). Interleukin 6 signaling during ischemia and reperfusion was assessed at the protein expression level by means of Western measurements of interleukin 6 receptor, the signaling subunit of the interleukin 6 receptor complex (gp130), and signal transducer of activated transcription 3. Posttranslational changes in the protein kinase B signaling pathway were determined on the basis of the phosphorylation status of protein kinase B, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and glycogen synthase kinase 3beta. The effect of suppression of a prohypertrophic kinase, integrin-linked kinase, with short-interfering RNA was determined in an ischemia and reperfusion-stressed neonatal rat cardiac myocyte model. Endogenous secretion of interleukin 6 protein in culture supernatants was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Human fetal cardiac myocytes exhibited a significantly lower rate of apoptosis induction during ischemia and reperfusion and after exposure to staurosporine and recombinant interleukin 6 compared with that observed in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes ( P < .05 for all comparisons, analysis of variance). Exposure to exogenously added recombinant interleukin 6 increased the apoptotic rate in both rat and human fetal cardiac myocytes ( P < .05). Short-interfering RNA-mediated suppression of integrin-linked kinase, a prohypertrophy upstream kinase regulating protein kinase B and glycogen synthase kinase 3beta phosphorylation, was cytoprotective against ischemia and reperfusion-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes ( P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Human fetal cardiac myocytes exhibit a uniquely adaptive transcriptional response to ischemia and reperfusion that is associated with an apoptosis-resistant phenotype. The stress-inducible fetal cardiac myocyte gene repertoire is a useful platform for identification of targets relevant to the mitigation of cardiac ischemic injury and highlights a novel avenue involving interleukin 6 modulation for preventing the cardiac myocyte injury associated with ischemia and reperfusion.

Optimization of gene expression in nonactivated circulating lymphocytes.

Circulating lymphocytes are important target cells for the treatment of HIV-related and autoimmune diseases and for stimulating anti-tumor immunity. To date, gene transfection of these nonactivated cells after intravenous delivery of viral or nonviral vectors remains low although these circulating cells are highly accessible. Optimized lentiviral vectors currently can transduce less than 10% of nonactivated circulating lymphocytes. Here we report transfection of up to 15% of these nonactivated cells using liposomes directed to human CCR5 displayed on the surface of helper T cells and macrophages in transgenic mice. Attachment of modified MIP-1 beta to the surface of DNA-liposome complexes increased gene delivery and expression in nonactivated circulating lymphocytes approximately sixfold. In vitro data using these complexes to transfect PM1 cells that have elevated levels of CCR5 supported our data obtained in vivo. Therefore, ligands that bind to cell surface receptors on circulating lymphocytes can be used with optimized systemic liposomes to increase transfection and gene expression in these cells without activation.

[Drug-resistant proteins in breast cancer: recent progress in multidrug resistance].

Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) is a new multidrug resistance-related transmembrane transporter. BCRP is a 655-amino acid, 72.6 kDa protein, localized in the plasma membrane. As a member of the ATP-binding cassette family of drug transporters, BCRP has only one ATP-binding cassette and six putative transmembrane domains, suggesting that BCRP is a half-transporter, which may function as a homodimer or heterodimer. The BCRP-overexpressing tumor cells are resistant to mitoxantrone, adriamycin, daunorubicin, etoposide, topotecan and irinotecan, but lack resistance to paclitaxel and vincristine. Fumitremorgin C and GF120918 can effectively reverse multidrug resistance in BCRP-overexpressing tumor cells, associated with an increase in drug accumulation. In normal human tissues, low to high expressions of BCRP in placental syncytiotrophoblasts, in the epithelium of the small intestine and colon, in the liver canalicular membrane, in ducts of the breast, in endothelium of the blood vessel and in stem cells were reported. This expression profile allows speculation on a role of BCRP in protection of the fetus and in the regulation of transport of chemicals through the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract. BCRP can account for chemoresistance of some clinical cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer,and breast cancer.

Enhanced gene expression in breast cancer cells in vitro and tumors in vivo.

Gene therapy clinical trials for cancer frequently produce inconsistent results. Some of this variability could result from differences in transcriptional regulation that limit expression of therapeutic genes in specific cancers. Systemic liposomal delivery of a nonviral plasmid DNA showed efficacy in animal models for several cancers. However, we observed large differences in the levels of gene expression from a CMV promoter-enhancer between lung and breast cancers. To optimize gene expression in breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, we created a new promoter-enhancer chimera to regulate gene expression. Serial analyses of gene expression data from a panel of breast carcinomas and normal breast cells predicted that the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) promoter is highly active in breast cancers. Furthermore, GAPDH is up-regulated by hypoxia, which is common in tumors. We added the GAPDH promoter, including the hypoxia enhancer sequences, to our in vivo gene expression plasmid. The novel CMV-GAPDH promoter-enhancer showed up to 70-fold increased gene expression in breast tumors compared to the optimized CMV promoter-enhancer alone. No significant increase in gene expression was observed in other tissues. These data demonstrate tissue-specific effects on gene expression after nonviral delivery and suggest that gene delivery systems may require plasmid modifications for the treatment of different tumor types. Furthermore, expression profiling can facilitate the design of optimal expression plasmids for use in specific cancers.