Preparation of Zoledronate liposome and its impact on apoptosis of Kupffer cells in rat liver

Abstract Purpose: To establish a method for the preparation of zoledronate liposome and to observe its effect on inducing the apoptosis of rat liver Kupffer cells. Methods: Zoledronate was encapsulated in liposomes, and then the entrapment rate was detected on a spectrophotometer. The prepared Zoledronate liposome (0.01 mg/mL) was injected into the tail vein of SD rats. Three days later, the number of Kupffer cells (CD68 positive) in rat liver tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis rate of the isolated liver Kupffer cell cultured in vitro. Results: The entrapment rate of Zoledronate was 43.4±7.8%. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the number of Kupffer cells was 19.3±2.1 in PBS group and 5.5±1.7 in Zoledronate liposome group, with a significant difference (P<0.05). The apoptosis rate of Kupffer cells was 4.1±0.8% in PBS group, while it was 9±2.2% and 23.3±5.9% in Zoledronate liposomes groups with different concentrations of Zoledronate liposome (P<0.05). Conclusions: Zoledronate liposomes can effectively induce the apoptosis of Kupffer cells in vivo and in vitro, and the apoptosis rate is related to the concentration of Zoledronate liposome. To establish a rat liver Kupffer cell apoptosis model can provide a new means for further study on Kupffer cell function.

Preparation of Zoledronate liposome and its impact on apoptosis of Kupffer cells in rat liver.

PURPOSE: To establish a method for the preparation of zoledronate liposome and to observe its effect on inducing the apoptosis of rat liver Kupffer cells. METHODS: Zoledronate was encapsulated in liposomes, and then the entrapment rate was detected on a spectrophotometer. The prepared Zoledronate liposome (0.01 mg/mL) was injected into the tail vein of SD rats. Three days later, the number of Kupffer cells (CD68 positive) in rat liver tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis rate of the isolated liver Kupffer cell cultured in vitro. RESULTS: The entrapment rate of Zoledronate was 43.4±7.8%. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the number of Kupffer cells was 19.3±2.1 in PBS group and 5.5±1.7 in Zoledronate liposome group, with a significant difference (P<0.05). The apoptosis rate of Kupffer cells was 4.1±0.8% in PBS group, while it was 9±2.2% and 23.3±5.9% in Zoledronate liposomes groups with different concentrations of Zoledronate liposome (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Zoledronate liposomes can effectively induce the apoptosis of Kupffer cells in vivo and in vitro, and the apoptosis rate is related to the concentration of Zoledronate liposome. To establish a rat liver Kupffer cell apoptosis model can provide a new means for further study on Kupffer cell function.

Investigating ego modules involved in TGFß3-induced chondrogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells based on ego network.

OBJECTIVE: This paper aimed to investigate ego modules for TGFß3-induced chondrogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) using ego network algorithm. METHODS: The ego network algorithm comprised three parts, extracting differential expression network (DEN) based on gene expression data and protein-protein interaction (PPI) data; exploring ego genes by reweighting DEN; and searching ego modules by ego gene expansions. Subsequently, permutation test was carried out to evaluate the statistical significance of the ego modules. Finally, pathway enrichment analysis was conducted to investigate ego pathways enriched by the ego modules. RESULTS: A total of 15 ego genes were obtained from the DEN, such as PSMA4, HNRNPM and WDR77. Starting with each ego genes, 15 candidate modules were gained. When setting the thresholds of the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) ≥0.9 and gene size ≥4, three ego modules (Module 3, Module 8 and Module 14) were identified, and all of them had statistical significances between normal and TGFß3-induced chondrogenesis in MSCs. By mapping module genes to confirmed pathway database, their ego pathways were detected, Cdc20:Phospho-APC/C mediated degradation of Cyclin A for Module 3, Mitotic G1-G1/S phases for Module 8, and mRNA Splicing for Module 14. CONCLUSIONS: We have successfully identified three ego modules, evaluated their statistical significances and investigated their functional enriched ego pathways. The findings might provide potential biomarkers and give great insights to reveal molecular mechanism underlying this process.

Herb-drug interaction between irinotecan and psoralidin-containing herbs.

Herb-drug interaction strongly limits the clinical utilization of herbs and drugs. Irinotecan-induced diarrhea is closely related with the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1-catalyzed glucuronidation of SN-38 which has been widely regarded to be the toxic substance basis of irinotecan. The present study aims to determine the influence of herbal component psoralidin toward the toxicity of irinotecan. In vitro inhibition potential of psoralidin toward the glucuronidation of SN-38 was firstly investigated using human intestinal microsomes incubation system. Dose-dependent inhibition of psoralidin toward SN-38 glucuronidation was observed. Furthermore, Dixon plot showed that the intersection point was located in the second quadrant, indicating the competitive inhibition of psoralidin toward the glucuronidation of SN-38. Through the data fitting using competitive inhibition fitting equation, the inhibition kinetic parameter (K i) was calculated to be 5.8 µM. The translation of these in vitro data into the in vivo situation showed that pre-treatment with psoralidin significantly increased the toxicity of irinotecan, as indicated by the increased body weight loss and more severe colon histology damage. All these data indicated the herb-drug interaction between irinotecan and psoralidin-containing herbs.