Morphological and molecular variations induce mitochondrial dysfunction as a possible underlying mechanism of athletic amenorrhea.

Female athletes may experience difficulties in achieving pregnancy due to athletic amenorrhea (AA); however, the underlying mechanisms of AA remain unknown. The present study focuses on the mitochondrial alteration and its function in detecting the possible mechanism of AA. An AA rat model was established by excessive swimming. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, and transmission electron microscopic methods were performed to evaluate the morphological changes of the ovary, immunohistochemical examinations and radioimmunoassays were used to detect the reproductive hormones and corresponding receptors. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to test the mtDNA copy number. PCR and western blot analysis were used to test the expression of ND2. The change of morphological features of the rat ovaries revealed evident abnormalities. Particularly, the features of the mitochondria were markedly altered. In addition, reproductive hormones in the serum and tissues of AA rats were also detected to evaluate the function of the ovaries, and the levels of these hormones were significantly decreased. Furthermore, the mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA) and expression of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) were quantitated by qPCR or western blot analysis. Accordingly, the mtDNA copy number and expression of ND2 expression were markedly reduced in the AA rats. In conclusion, mitochondrial dysfunction in AA may affect the cellular energy supply and, therefore, result in dysfunction of the ovary. Thus, mitochondrial dysfunction may be considered as a possible underlying mechanism for the occurrence of AA.

Comparative proteome analysis of breast cancer and adjacent normal breast tissues in human.

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS), incorporated with online database searching, were performed to investigate differential proteins of breast cancer and adjacent normal breast tissues. Considering that serum albumin is abundantly presented in normal control samples, 15 differential spots detected in 11 out of 12 (91.7%) breast cancer samples were identified by online SIENA-2DPAGE database searching and MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS analysis. The results indicate that pathological changes of breast cancer are concerned with augmentation of substance metabolism, promotion of proteolytic activity, decline of activity of some inhibitors of enzymes, and so on. Some important proteins involved in the pathological process of breast cancer with changed expression may be useful biomarkers, such as alpha-1-antitrypsin, EF-1-beta, cathepsin D, TCTP, SMT3A, RPS12, and PSMA1, among which SMT3A, RPS12, and PSMA1 were first reported for breast cancer in this study.

[Analysis of differential expression genes related to different metastasis potential of adenoid cystic carcinoma using restriction fragments differential display PCR].

OBJECTIVE: To construct differential expression profiles of adenoid cystic carcinoma cell lines for screening candidate genes related to metastasis and to verify some candidate genes in adenoid cystic carcinoma. METHODS: Restriction fragments differential display PCR (RFDD-PCR) was used to set up gene expression profiles of adenoid cystic carcinoma cell lines-ACC-M and ACC-2, with high and low metastasis potential respectively. Candidate genes were screened through bioinformatics analysis. Then, a gene family of these candidate genes was checked using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR(RT-PCR). RESULTS: Two gene expression profiles including 5420 gene fragments were constructed, 12 genes of a family called matrix metalloproteinase genes (MMPs) were observed obvious differentially expressed between two cell lines. Results of semi-quantitative RT-PCR also identified this different expression of MMP2,MMP7,MMP9,MMP14,MMP15 and MMP24. CONCLUSION: The construction of gene expression profiles of ACC-M and ACC-2 cell lines makes the foundation for seeking the target genes of adenoid cystic carcinoma. MMP2,MMP7,MMP9 and MMP15 may be relevant with carcinogenesis, development and metastasis of adenoid cystic carcinoma, and different metastasis potential may result from different subtype of MMPs gene family.

[The expression of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases in transplanted tumor of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma cell lines].

PURPOSE: To study the differential expression pattern of MMPs and TIMPs in ACC-M and ACC-2 tumor model. METHODS: High and low metastatic tumor models were set up by transplantion of ACC-M and ACC-2 to nude mouse respectively. Then 3 mice in each group were selected randomly to detect the mRNA level of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 using semiquantitative RT-PCR,GAPDH was used as internal control. Meanwhile, the expression of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in each transplanted tumor were determined by immunohistochemical assay, and IOD value of immunohistochemical reaction was measured. All data were analyzed by SPSS11.5 software package for Student's t test. RESULTS: The results of RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry showed an up-regulation of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in ACC-M tumor model compared with ACC-2 model (P < 0.05), while the expression of TIMP-2 showed no significant difference between the two models (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The differential expression pattern of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 in 2 tumor models may result in different metastasis potential; The 2 tumor models provide good study model for investigation of the metastatic mechanism of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.