The feasibility of flow cytometric antifungal susceptibility testing has been studied using the fluorescent anionic membrane potential probe, bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol [DiBAC4(3)]. The in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing of amphotericin B was performed on 8 Candida isolates from clinical specimens and 2 ATCC strains by flow cytometry with the results compared to those of the National Committee of Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) M27-T, broth macrodilution method. The flow cytometric method is based on an increase of fluorescence given out by DiBAC4(3) in fungi when they are killed by antifungal agents. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of amphotericin B ranged from 0.25 to 1 microg/mL. All results agreed within +/-2 dilution between the flow cytometric method and the M27-T method. MIC with ATCC strains were within recommended ranges of M27-T. The new flow cytometric method revealed a clear and distinct reproducible test end point. A four hr of incubation was sufficient for the test. In conclusion, flow cytometry using DiBAC4(3) is a rapid and accurate in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing method.
Amphotericin B/pharmacology* ; Barbiturates ; Candida/drug effects* ; Flow Cytometry/methods* ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Human ; Isoxazoles ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Free Cy5.5 dye and Cy5.5-labeled thermally cross-linked superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (TCL-SPION) have been routinely used for in vivo optical imaging. However, there is little information about the distribution and accumulation of free Cy5.5 dye and Cy5.5-labeled TCL-SPION in the tissues of mice. Free Cy5.5 dye (0.1 mg/kg body weight) and Cy5.5-labeled TCL-SPION (15 mg/kg body weight) were intravenously injected into the tail vein of ICR mice. The biodistribution and accumulation of the TCL-SPION and Cy5.5 were observed by ex vivo optical imaging and fluorescence signal generation at various time points over 28 days. Cy5.5 dye fluorescence in various organs was rapidly eliminated from 0.5 to 24 h post-injection. Fluorescence intensity of Cy5.5 dye in the liver, lung, kidney, and stomach was fairly strong at the early time points within 1 day post-injection. Cy5.5-labeled TCL-SPION had the highest fluorescence density in the lung at 0.5 h post-injection and decreased rapidly over time. Fluorescence density in liver and spleen was maintained over 28 days. These results suggest that TCL-SPION can be useful as a carrier of therapeutic reagents to treat diseases by persisting for long periods of time in the body.
Animals ; Carbocyanines/*pharmacology ; Ferric Compounds/*pharmacology ; Fluorescent Dyes/*pharmacology ; Kinetics ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Nanoparticles/*metabolism ; Time Factors ; Tissue Distribution

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inhibitory effect of RSL3 on the proliferation, invasion and migration of cisplatinresistant testicular cancer cells (I-10/DDP) and the effect of carbenoxolone on the activity of RSL3 against testicular cancer. METHODS: MTT assay was used to evaluate the survival rate of I-10/DDP cells following treatment with RSL3 (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 μmol/L) alone or in combination with carbenoxolone (100 μmol/L) or after treatment with Fer-1 (2 μmol/L), RSL3 (4 μmol/L), RSL3+Fer-1, RSL3+carbenoxolone (100 μmol/L), or RSL3+Fer-1+carbenoxolone. Colony formation assay was used to assess the proliferation ability of the treated cells; wounding-healing assay and Transwell assay were used to assess the invasion and migration ability of the cells. The expression of GPX4 was detected using Western blotting, the levels of lipid ROS were detected using C11 BODIPY 581/591 fluorescent probe, and the levels of Fe²⁺ were determined with FerroOrange fluorescent probe. RESULTS: RSL3 dose-dependently decreased the survival rate of I-10/DDP cells, and the combined treatment with 2, 4, or 8 μmol/L RSL3 with carbenoxolone, as compared with RSL3 treatment alone, resulted in significant reduction of the cell survival rate. The combination with carbenoxolone significantly enhanced the inhibitory effect of RSL3 on colony formation, wound healing rate (P=0.005), invasion and migration of the cells (P < 0.001). Fer-1 obviously attenuated the inhibitory effects of RSL3 alone and its combination with carbenoxolone on I-10/DDP cells (P < 0.01). RSL3 treatment significantly decreased GPX4 expression (P=0.001) and increased lipid ROS level (P=0.001) and Fe²⁺ level in the cells, and these effects were further enhanced by the combined treatment with carbenoxolone (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Carbenoxolone enhances the inhibitory effect of RSL3 on the proliferation, invasion and migration of cisplatin-resistant testicular cancer cells by promoting RSL3-induced ferroptosis.
Carbenoxolone/pharmacology* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cisplatin/pharmacology* ; Ferroptosis ; Fluorescent Dyes/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Lipids ; Male ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Testicular Neoplasms

Dichlorotriazinyl aminofluorescein (DTAF) has been used to stain corneal stromal collagen as part of in vivo animal experiments for many years. Toxicity of this drug, if present, might alter the observed wound healing. To determine if this drug has any deleterious effect on keratocytes, we evaluated it in vitro. Human keratocytes prepared in 24-well plates were exposed to varying concentrations of DTAF (10(-4), 10(-3), 10(-2), 1, 10, 10(2) microgram/ml). Exposure times of 1 hour and 24 hours at each concentration of DTAF were evaluated. The cell number was measured 1 and 3 days after initiation of exposure to DTAF using a Coulter counter. Keratocyte proliferation was not affected by 1-hour exposure to DTAF, but keratocyte proliferation measured 3 days after initiation of exposure to DTAF for 24 hours was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner (p = 0.02) and was significantly inhibited at concentrations of 10 and 100 microgram/ml (p < 0.05). Fluorescent microscopy showed binding of DTAF to keratocytes. We have demonstrated that prolonged exposure to DTAF inhibits proliferation of cultured keratocytes. These results suggest that DTAF-induced cytotoxicity may alter net production of collagen in the corneal stroma in animal models.
Cell Count ; Cell Division/drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Corneal Stroma/cytology/*drug effects ; Fibroblasts/cytology/drug effects ; Fluoresceins/*pharmacology/toxicity ; Fluorescent Dyes/*pharmacology/toxicity ; Humans ; Microscopy, Fluorescence

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Angelica polysaccharide (APS), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and thrombopoietin (TPO) on the proliferation and apoptosis of human megakaryocytic cell line M-07e.

METHODSCell count and the viability testing of M-07e cells (trypan blue exclusion assay) were performed at 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours after treatment with APS, PDGF or TPO. Three apoptosis related flow cytometric assays including Annexin V, Caspase-3 and JC-1 were performed to determine apoptotic rate of each group at 72 hours after the treatment.

RESULTSAfter the incubation, the number of M-07e cells in the APS, PDGF and TPO group increased and the viabilities of the three groups were significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.05). The dead cells in the APS, PDGF and TPO group were (19.41 +/- 7.59)%, (21.38 +/- 7.25)% and (18.77 +/- 8.00)%, respectively by flow cytometry using Annexin V method, which were significantly lower compared to the control group (34.33 +/- 5.46)%. The expression of the activated caspase-3 in the group of APS, PDGF and TPO were (12.27 +/- 5.18)%, (12.39 +/- 6.26)% and (13.75 +/- 8.25)%, the APS and PDGF group decreased significantly compared to the control group (18.92 +/- 6.09)%. The ratio of total cell deaths in the APS, PDGF and TPO group were (23.64 +/- 6.69)%, (28.00 +/- 10.05)% and (27.99 +/- 8.99)%, the ratio in APS group decreased significantly compared to the control group (39.48 +/- 11.86)% by JC-1 method. Differences between APS and PDGF groups and between APS and TPO groups were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONAPS, PDGF and TPO have similar effect in stimulating proliferation and inhibiting serum-free-culture induced apoptosis of M-07e cells.

Angelica ; chemistry ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Benzimidazoles ; pharmacology ; Carbocyanines ; pharmacology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Flow Cytometry ; Fluorescent Dyes ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Megakaryocytes ; drug effects ; physiology ; Organic Chemicals ; pharmacology ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Thrombopoiesis ; Thrombopoietin ; pharmacology

The specific association of drugs with deoxyoligonucleotides, containing a B-Z junction between left-handed Z-DNA and right-handed B-DNA, was examined by fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) technique. Ethidium was chosen for a simple DNA binding compound because it binds to right-handed DNA and hybrid B-Z forms containing a B-Z junction in a highly cooperative manner. The binding isotherms were analyzed by an allosteric model in order to describe the cooperativity of association. Binding of ethidium to the DNA that are initially in the hybrid B-Z forms showed over an order of magnitude higher affinity than other DNA which were entirely in the B-form. The conformational transitions of deoxyoligonucleotides containing a B-Z junction as a result of ethidium binding were monitored by CD and the influence of NaCl on the complex formation was also determined by the CD spectra. The singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis was used to characterize a family of CD spectra of the species in binding equilibria. The results of SVD analysis showed a strikingly complex thermodynamic equilibria of cooperative binding of drugs to the allosterically converted DNA forms. The results also showed that these DNA forms in low- and high-salt were different in the absence or presence of drug. These results demonstrate that DNA-binding-drugs can preferentially interact with specific DNA structures and that these interactions are accompanied by allosteric changes of DNA conformations.
Allosteric Regulation/genetics ; Circular Dichroism ; DNA/chemistry* ; Ethidium/chemistry* ; Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry ; Nucleic Acid Conformation ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides/chemistry ; Sodium Chloride/pharmacology ; Thermodynamics

The regulation of a target gene expression is very important in gene therapy. However, constitutive or inappropriate expression of the genes with traditional expression system may interfere with the effect of the gene therapy, even may lead to lethal side effect. We constructed an RU486 inducible eukaryotic vector carrying DsRed protein and evaluated its regulatable effect in vitro. The single vector named PDC-RURED was constructed with molecular biological methods, which contained DsRed gene, promoter and RU486-inducible system. To minimize any potential interference, we spaced the two transcriptional elements with a 1.6 kb insulator. The vector was identified by different enzyme restrictions, sequencing analysis and PCR assay. We demonstrated the regulatable expression of this vector after transfection in HEK293 cells by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. In the absence of RU486, no significant DsRed protein activation was observed, whereas in the presence of RU486 up to 40 fold activation of the DsRed protein was observed in cultured cells. The data show that the novel eukaryotic expression plasmid vector can be used to regulate the expression level of genes of interest in appropriate time under the control of RU486. This inducible expression vector provides a powerful tool for the research of gene regulation and gene therapy.
Cell Line ; Fluorescent Dyes ; metabolism ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Humans ; Kidney ; cytology ; Luminescent Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Mifepristone ; pharmacology ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo study the mechanism of uPA improving sperm capacitation by investigating the effect of uPA on the mitochondrial function of mouse capacitated-sperm in vitro.

METHODSMitochondrial function of mouse capacitated-spermatozoa was evaluated through the assessment of mitochondrial membrane potential using JC-1 performed by flow cytometer and fluorescent microscope respectively. The experiment and the control groups were designed according to the presence or absence of uPA, each divided into 5 subgroups based on the different time of uPA treatment (or BWW in the control groups) at 0, 5, 15, 30 and 60 min respectively.

RESULTS(1) Compared with that at 0 min, the mean fluorescence intensity of JC-1 within the spermatozoal body and the percentage of orange-red colored spermatozoa in the experiment group were increased significantly at 5 and 15 min respectively after uPA incubation (P < 0.05). (2) The mean fluorescence intensity of JC-1 within the spermatozoal body at 15, 30 and 60 min and the percentage of orange-red colored spermatozoa at 5 and 15 min in the group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONuPA could increase the mitochondrial membrane potential of mouse capacitated-spermatozoa in vitro, and maintain it at a high level for a certain period of time. By enhancing sperm mitochondrial function, uPA may provide sufficient energy for capacitated-spermatozoa to increase their motility and change their motor pattern, which might be one of the therapeutic mechanisms of uPA on male infertility.

Animals ; Flow Cytometry ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Male ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Sperm Capacitation ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; physiology ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism by which berberine inhibits ferroptosis of mouse hippocampal neuronal cells (HT22). METHODS: Cultured HT22 cells were pretreated with 30 or 60 μmol/L berberine for 2 h before exposure to 0.5 μmol/L erastin for 8 h, and the cell proliferation, intracellular ferric iron level, changes in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell apoptosis were detected using CCK-8, Fe²⁺ fluorescent probe, fluorescent dye (DAPI) and fluorescent probe (H2DCFH-DA). RT-qPCR and Western blotting were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of Nrf2, HO-1 and GPX4 in the cells. We further tested the effects of treatments with 2 μmol/L ML385 (a Nrf2 inhibitor), 60 μmol/L berberine and erastin in the cells to explore the protective mechanism of berberine against erastin-induced ferroptosis in the neuronal cells. RESULTS: Treatment with 0.5 μmol/L erastin significantly lowered the viability of HT22 cells (P < 0.05) and increased the production of ROS, cell apoptosis rate and ferric iron level (P < 0.05). Pretreatment with 30 and 60 μmol/L berberine both significantly increased the vitality of erastin-exposed cells (P < 0.05) and lowered the levels of intracellular ROS and ferric iron content (P < 0.05). RT-qPCR and Western blotting showed that berberine obviously promoted the expressions of Nrf2, HO-1 and GPX4 in the cells (P < 0.05), and treatment with ML385 significantly inhibited the Nrf2-HO-1/GPX4 pathway, increased intracellular ROS and ferric iron contents and mitigated the protective effect of berberine against erastin-induced ferroptosis (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Berberine can inhibit erastin-induced ferroptosis in HT22 cells possibly by activating the Nrf2-HO-1/ GPX4 pathway.
Animals ; Berberine/pharmacology* ; Ferroptosis ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Hippocampus/metabolism* ; Iron/metabolism* ; Mice ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/metabolism* ; Piperazines ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of Pyrroloquinoline quinine (PQQ) on hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis of Schwann cells (SCs) and its mechanism.

METHODSSCs were isolated and cultured in vitro, and identified by S-100 immunofluorescence staining. The cultured SCs were divided into control group, hydrogen peroxide-treated group, hydrogen peroxide and PQQ treated groups. The intracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content was detected; the apoptotic rate of SCs induced by hydrogen peroxide was determined by flow cytometry assay. The Hoechst33342 staining was used to detect the nuclear fragmentation and apoptotic nuclear condensation of SCs; the Rhodamine123 staining was used to detect the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential in SCs, the Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2 in hydrogen peroxide induced SCs.

RESULTSThe SOD activity was significantly decreased and MDA level was increased in H2O2 induced SCs (P < 0.05), after addition of PQQ, the SOD content increased and MDA content decreased (P < 0.05). Flow cytometry results showed that the early apoptotic rate was 58.8% in H2O2 induced SCs, which has significant difference compared with the control group (P < 0.05), after addition of 10, 50, 100 nmol/L PQQ, the apoptotic rates were reduced to 33.7%, 18.7%, 3.9% respectively, showing significantly different with injured group (P < 0.05). Hoechst 33342 staining showed that H2O2 induced SCs had typical morphological characteristics, such as uptake of nuclear chromatin, nuclear shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation phenomenon. The proportion of apoptotic cells after PQQ treatment reduced. Rhodamine staining results showed that the H2O2 induced mitochondrial membrane potential reduction in SCs, which was reversed by addition of PQQ. Western blot analysis showed that the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased in H2O2 induced SCs, while it increased significantly after addition of PQQ (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPQQ has a protective effect on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of SCs.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Benzimidazoles ; Cell Nucleus ; drug effects ; DNA Fragmentation ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; pharmacology ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Oxidants ; pharmacology ; Oxidative Stress ; Pyrroles ; pharmacology ; Quinine ; pharmacology ; Quinolines ; pharmacology ; Schwann Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism