Selenious-ß-lactoglobulin induces the apoptosis of human lung cancer A549 cells via an intrinsic mitochondrial pathway.

In this study, the cytotoxic activity of selenious-ß-lactoglobulin (Se-ß-Lg) and the anticancer mechanism were investigated in human lung cancer A549 cells in vitro. MTT assay showed that Se-ß-Lg at 200 µg/mL exhibited a significant suppression effect on A549 cells and the maximum inhibition rate reached 90% after 72 h treatment. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that 200 µg/mL of Se-ß-Lg induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. Cell apoptosis was induced via the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, Se-ß-Lg suppressed the expression of Bcl-2 and improved the level of Bax, leading to the release of cytochrome c and a higher expression of caspase-3 in A549 cells. In summary, Se-ß-Lg could induce apoptosis in A549 cells via an intrinsic mitochondrial pathway and it might serve as a potential therapeutic agent for human lung cancer.

Effect of spleen lymphocytes on the splenomegaly in hepatocellular carcinoma-bearing mice.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of spleen lymphocytes on the splenomegaly by hepatocellular carcinoma-bearing mouse model. METHODS: Cell counts, cell cycle distribution, the percentage of lymphocytes subsets and the levels of IL-2 were measured, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to investigate the relationship between spleen lymphocytes and splenomegaly in hepatocellular carcinoma-bearing mice. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, the thymus was obviously atrophied and the spleen was significantly enlarged in the tumor-bearing group. Correlation study showed that the number of whole spleen cells was positively correlated with the splenic index. The cell diameter and cell-cycle phase distribution of splenocytes in the tumor-bearing group showed no significant difference compared to the normal group. The percentage of CD3+ T lymphocytes and CD8+ T lymphocytes in spleen and peripheral blood of tumor-bearing mice were substantially higher than that in the normal mice. Meanwhile, the IL-2 level was also higher in the tumor-bearing group than in the normal group. Furthermore, two dysregulated protein, ß-actin and S100-A9 were identified in spleen lymphocytes from H22-bearing mice, which were closely related to cellular motility. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that dysregulated ß-actin and S100-A9 can result in recirculating T lymphocytes trapped in the spleen, which may explain the underlying cause of splenomegaly in H22-bearing mice.

Immunizing effects of cocultures of H22 hepatocarcinoma cells and cartilage polysaccharide on murine H22 hepatocarcinoma.

Hepatocarcinoma is a malignant cancer, which is threatening human lives. In order to disclose the immunizing effects of the cells and cartilage polysaccharide (CHCP) on liver cancer, murine H22 hepatocarcinoma model was set up. The survival time, life span, and survival rate of the CHCP group were better than model group or other groups which was immunized with cartilage short-chain polysaccharide (CPS) only or H22 cell lysate only. A series of experiments were proceeded and the results confirmed that the humoral immunity and cellular immunity were strengthened. HE staining, TUNEL assay, and Alcian staining were used to research the mechanism of the tumor specific antigen production which may be related to the apoptosis of H22 hepatocarcinoma cells induced by CPS or some new polysaccharide compound emerged. The animal experiment testified the relationship between H22 hepatocarcinoma cell apoptosis induced by CPS and the effect of murine H22 hepatocarcinoma immunoprophylaxis. Our data demonstrated that the coculture of cartilage polysaccharide and cancer cells may serve as a novel source of antihepatocarcinoma agent that may play an important role in future liver cancer immunoprophylaxis.

[Identification of novel genes related to glioma by oligonucleotide microarray].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the genes differentially expressed in development of human glioma, and to study the expression of some genes in different grade gliomas. METHODS: Oligonucleotide microarray (including 218 genes related to neural system development) was adopted and hybridized with probes which were prepared from the total RNAs of glioma specimens and normal brain tissues. Differentially expressed genes between the normal tissues and glioma tissues were assayed after scanning oligonuceltide microarray with ScanArray 4000, and some of these genes such as smad1, Hmp19 and TRIP3 were verified by real-time quantitative PCR(real-time-Q-PCR) method. RESULTS: In comparison with the genes in the normal brain tissue, 5 down-regulated and 5 up-regulated genes in glioma specimens were revealed by means of microarrays, and the expression of smad1, Hmp19 and TRIP3 were verified by real-time-Q-PCR assay. CONCLUSION: Multiple genes play important roles in development of glioma. cDNA microarray technology is a powerful technique in screening for differentially expressed genes between glioma tissues and normal brain tissues. This study is helpful for judgement of invasion and prognosis of gliomas, and provides more target genes for targeted therapy.