Objective To investigate the regulatory effect of tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein-8-like factor 2 (TIPE2) on the phenotype of lung cancer tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and its influence on the stemness of lung cancer cells. Methods Mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7 was cultured and infected with either LV-TIPE2 lentivirus or negative control LV-NC lentivirus. The TIPE2 expression in infected cells was assessed by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting to verify transfection efficiency. The infected RAW264.7 cells were co-cultured with lung cancer cell line A549, and were divided into four groups: control group (RAW264.7 cells or A549 cells cultured alone), TAM group (RAW264.7 cells co-cultured with A549 cells), LV-NC group (RAW264.7 cells infected with LV-NC and co-cultured with A549 cells), LV-TIPE2 group (RAW264.7 cells infected with LV- TIPE2 and co-cultured with A549 cells). The RAW264.7 cells were collected after co-culture, and the expression of mannose receptor (CD206) protein of M2 macrophages was detected by cellular immunofluorescence staining. The proportions of M1 and M2 macrophages were detected by flow cytometry. After co-culture, A549 cells were collected, and their activity was assessed by CCK-8 assay. Self-renewal ability was evaluated using tumor cell pelleting experiment. The expression of stemness marker proteins-including cluster of differentiation 133 (CD133), transmembrane adhesion molecule (CD44), sex-determining region Y-box protein 2 (SOX2) and octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4)-was detected by Western blot. Results Compared with the control group or LV-NC group, the relative mRNA and protein expression levels of TIPE2 in RAW264.7 cells from the LV-TIPE2 group were significantly upregulated. Compared with the control group, the fluorescence intensity of M2-type macrophage marker CD206 protein in RAW264.7 cells from the TAM group was significantly increased, the proportion of M1-type macrophages was significantly decreased, and the proportion of M2-type macrophages was significantly increased. In contrast, compared with the TAM group, the fluorescence intensity of CD206 protein in RAW264.7 cells from the LV-TIPE2 group was significantly decreased, the proportion of M1-type macrophages was significantly increased, and the proportion of M2-type macrophages was significantly decreased. Compared with the control group, the proliferation activity of A549 cells in TAM group was significantly increased, the number of tumor pellet formation was significantly increased, and the relative expression levels of CD133, CD44, SOX2 and OCT4 were significantly up-regulated. However, compared with the TAM group, the proliferation activity of A549 cells from the LV-TIPE2 group was significantly decreased, the number of tumor pellet formation was significantly decreased, and the relative expression levels of CD133, CD44, SOX2 and OCT4 were significantly decreased. Conclusion TIPE2 can suppress the stemness of lung cancer cells by inhibiting the polarization of macrophages to M2-type, thereby exerting an anticancer effect.
Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Tumor-Associated Macrophages/metabolism* ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism* ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; A549 Cells ; Phenotype ; Coculture Techniques ; Receptors, Cell Surface/metabolism* ; Neoplastic Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Mannose Receptor ; Mannose-Binding Lectins/metabolism* ; Lectins, C-Type/metabolism* ; Cell Polarity ; Macrophages/metabolism*

Objective To investigate the mechanism by which miR-148a affects M2 macrophage polarization and inhibits liver cancer cell proliferation through Wnt3a/β-catenin. Methods The mRNA expression levels of miR-148a, CD206 and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in tumor tissues and adjacent non-tumor liver tissues of 84 patients with liver cancer were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. THP-1 cells were separated into blank group (conventional culture), M2 group (200 nmol/L phorbol ester, 20 ng/mL IL-4, 20 ng/mL IL-13), M2 combined with negative control (miR-NC) group (transfected with miR-NC on the basis of M2 group), M2 combined with miR-148a mimics (transfected with miR-148a mimics on the basis of M2 group) group, M2 combined with miR-148a mimics combined with Wnt3a (treated with 100 μg/L Wnt3a on top of M2 combined with miR-148a mimics group) group. The proliferation of HuH7 cells was detected by CCK-8 and EdU methods. Apoptosis and M2 macrophage marker CD206 was detected by flow cytometry. The level of IL-10 in cell supernatant was detected by chemiluminescence method; The mRNA levels of miR-148a, CD206 and IL-10 were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The protein levels of Wnt3a and β-catenin were detected by Western blot. Results The expressions of CD206, IL-10 mRNA, Wnt3a and β-catenin in tumor tissue were higher than those in non-tumor liver tissues, and the miR-148a level was decreased. The mRNA expression of M2 macrophage markers CD206 and IL-10 were significantly increased. Compared with the blank group, the OD450 value, EdU positive rate, the mRNA expressions of CD206 and IL-10, the level of IL-10 in the supernatant, and the expressions of Wnt3a and β-catenin were increased in M2 group, while the apoptotic rate and miR-148a level were decreased. Compared with M2 group and M2 combined with miR-NC group, the OD₄₅₀ value, EdU positive rate, the mRNA expressions of CD206 and IL-10, the level of IL-10 in the supernatant, and the expressions of Wnt3a and β-catenin were decreased in M2 combined with miR-148a mimics group, while the apoptotic rate and miR-148a level were increased. Wnt3a reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-148a overexpression on the proliferation of liver cancer cells. Conclusion Overexpression of miR-148a inhibits M2 polarization of macrophages and prevents the proliferation of liver cancer cells, which may be related to the inhibition of the Wnt3a/β-catenin pathway.
Humans ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Wnt3A Protein/metabolism* ; Liver Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation/genetics* ; beta Catenin/genetics* ; Macrophages/metabolism* ; Interleukin-10/metabolism* ; Apoptosis/genetics* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Male ; Mannose Receptor ; Lectins, C-Type/metabolism* ; Mannose-Binding Lectins/metabolism* ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, Cell Surface/metabolism*

OBJECTIVES: To observe the evolution of intrahepatic macrophage polarization in mice with liver fibrosis induced by iron overload. METHODS: Thirty-two C57BL/6 mice (6-8 weeks) were randomized into control group (n=8) and liver fibrosis model group (n=24) induced by aidly intraperitoneal injection of iron dextran. At the 3rd, 5th, and 7th weeks of modeling, 8 mice in the model group were sacrificed for observing liver fibrosis using Masson, Sirius Red and immunohistochemical staining and detecting serum levels of ALT, AST and the levels of serum iron, ferritin, liver total Fe and ferrous Fe. iNOS⁺/F4/80⁺ cells and CD206⁺/F4/80⁺ cells were detected by double immunofluorescence assay to observe the proportion and distribution of M1 and M2 macrophages. The hepatic expressions of Arg-1, iNOS, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF‑α proteins were detected using Western blotting or ELISA, and the expression of CD206 mRNA was detected using RT-PCR. RESULTS: The mice in the model group showed gradual increase of fibrous tissue hyperplasia in the portal area over time, structural destruction of the hepatic lobules and formation of pseudolobules. With the passage of time during modeling, the rat models showed significantly increased hepatic expressions of α-SMA and COL-1, elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, Fe, ferritin, and increased liver total Fe and ferrous Fe levels. The expressions of M1 polarization markers IL-6, TNF‑α, and iNOS all increased with time and reached their peak levels at the 3rd week; The expressions of M2 polarization markers (IL-10 and Arg-1 proteins and CD206 mRNA) significantly increased in the 3rd week and but decreased in the 5th and 7th weeks. CONCLUSIONS Iron overload promotes M1 polarization of macrophages in mice. Liver fibrosis in the early stage promotes M2 polarization of macrophages but negatively regulate M2 polarization at later stages.
Animals ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Iron Overload/pathology* ; Macrophages/metabolism* ; Male ; Liver Cirrhosis/etiology* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/metabolism* ; Interleukin-10/metabolism* ; Liver/pathology* ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Mannose Receptor ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Mannose-Binding Lectins/metabolism* ; Arginase

Polymeric micelles have exhibited attractive properties as drug carriers, such as high stability in vivo and good biocompatibility, and been successfully used to dissolve various drugs of poor aqueous solubilities. In this study, we developed a new type of polymeric micelles with mannose-mediated targeting and pH-responsive drug release properties for anticancer drug delivery. The polymeric micelles were prepared from an amphiphilic polymer, poly (glycidyl methacrylate)-g-mannose (PGMA-Mannose). An anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX), was encapsulated into the micelles during the micellization, and could be released rapidly under acidic condition. The specificity of cellular uptake of the micelles by two different cell lines was studied using confocal laser scanning microscopy and the MTT assay. DOX-loaded micelles were efficiently trapped by mannose-receptor-overexpressing cancer cells MDA-MB-231, whereas mannose- receptor-poor cells HEK293 showed much lower endocytosis towards the micelles under the same conditions. Thus, DOX-loaded micelles displayed higher cytotoxicity to MDA-MB-231 cancer cells as compared with free DOX. The present study demonstrates that PGMA-Mannose micelles are a promising targeted drug delivery system for cancer therapy.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Doxorubicin ; pharmacology ; Drug Delivery Systems ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Mannose ; chemistry ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Micelles ; Receptors, Cell Surface ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of low-selenium diet on the liver and kidneys of rats and explore the role of macrophage polarization into M1 and M2 phenotypes in liver and kidney injuries.

METHODSTwenty-four rats (12 female and 12 male) were randomly divided into control group and low-selenium group and fed with normal chow (dietary selenium of 0.18 mg/kg) and low-selenium diet (dietary selenium of 0.02 mg/kg) for 109 days. After the feeding, the rats were sacrificed for HE staining to observe liver and kidney pathologies, and immunohistochemistry was performed for analyzing CCR7, CD206, CD163-positive cell numbers in the liver and kidneys.

RESULTSThe rats in low-selenium group showed severer fibrosis in the liver and kidney than the control group. In either male or female rats in low-selenium group, CCR7 and CD206 expressions in the liver were comparable with those in control group, but CD163 expression was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05 for both female and male rats). In the kidney, the proximal tubule showed a slightly higher while the distal tubule showed a slightly lower CCR7 expression in low selenium group than in the control group (P>0.05). In low-selenium group, a significantly lower CD163 expression in the distal tubule and a significantly higher CD206 expression in the proximal tubule were noted as compared with the control group (P<0.05 in both female and male rats). Compared with the control rats, the male rats in low-selenium group, but not the female rats, showed a significantly lower CD163 expression in the proximal tubule of the kidney (P<0.05); the female but not the male rats in low-selenium group show a higher CD206 expression in the distal tubule (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONLow-selenium diet can cause liver and kidney fibrosis in rats and may inhibit macrophage activation into the M2 phenotype.

Animals ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic ; metabolism ; Diet ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Kidney ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; pathology ; Macrophage Activation ; Male ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Rats ; Receptors, CCR7 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Cell Surface ; metabolism ; Selenium ; administration & dosage

Flocculent gene FLO1 and its truncated form FLO1c with complete deletion of repeat unit C were expressed in a non-flocculent industrial strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae CE6 to generate recombinant flocculent strains 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c respectively. Both strains of 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c displayed strong flocculation and better cell growth than the control strain CE6-V carrying the empty vector under acetic acid stress. Moreover, the flocculent strains converted glucose to ethanol at much higher rates than the control strain CE6-V under acetic acid stress. In the presence of 0.6% (V/V) acetic acid, the average ethanol production rates of 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c were 1.56 and 1.62 times of that of strain CE6-V, while the ethanol production rates of 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c were 1.21 and 1.78 times of that of strain CE6-V under 1.0% acetic acid stress. Results in this study indicate that acetic acid tolerance and fermentation performance of industrial S. cerevisiae under acetic acid stress can be improved largely by flocculation endowed by expression of flocculent genes, especially FLO1c.
Acetic Acid ; chemistry ; Ethanol ; Fermentation ; Flocculation ; Glucose ; Industrial Microbiology ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; genetics ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins ; genetics

In this study, we constructed a yeast consortium surface-display expression system by using Flo1 as an anchor protein. Endoglucanase II (EGII) and cellobiohydrolase II (CBHII) from Trichoderma reesei, and β3-glucosidase 1 (BGLI) from Aspergillus aculeatus were immobilized on Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y5. We constructed the cellulose-displaying expression yeast consortium (Y5/fEGII:Y5/fCBHII:Y5/fBGLI = 1:1:1) and investigated the enzymatic ability and ethanol fermentation. The displayed cellulolytic enzymes was stabile during the 96-h fermentation. The yeast consortium produced 0.77 g/L ethanol from 10 g/L phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (PASC) within 96 h. The yield (in grams of ethanol produced per gram of carbohydrate consumed) was 0.35 g/g, which correspond to 68.6% of the theoretical yield.
Aspergillus ; enzymology ; Cellulase ; genetics ; Cellulose ; metabolism ; Cellulose 1,4-beta-Cellobiosidase ; genetics ; Enzymes, Immobilized ; genetics ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Glucosidases ; genetics ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins ; metabolism ; Trichoderma ; enzymology

OBJECTIVESTo observe the clinicopathologic features of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), and to evaluate the values of langerin, CD1a and S-100 protein expression in diagnosis of the tumor.

METHODSTotal 258 cases of Langerhans cell histiocytosis in the past 18 years (from 1992 to 2008) were collected, morphologic review and immunohistochemical staining were performed.

RESULTSIn all 258 cases, the ages of patients older than 16 years or younger than 2 years were 126 (48.8%) and 37 (14.3%), respectively, in the remaining 95 (36.8%) of the cases, the age of the patients ranged from 2 to 16 years. For all of 258 cases, there were 364 diseased sites. Bony lesions accounted for 77.2% (281 cases), especially the skull (112 cases, 39.9%), followed by lymph node (25 cases, 6.9%) and skin (14 cases, 3.8%). Clinically, unisystem or unifocal disease was predominant (201 cases, 77.9%), followed by unisystem and multifocal disease (21 cases, 8.1%), multi-system disease (26 cases, 10.1%), isolated pulmonary LCH (2 cases, 0.8%), and unclassified (8 cases, 3.1%). Histologically, variable number of Langerhans cells was present in 265 samples of 258 cases. Multinucleated giant cells were found in 166 (62.6%) of the samples. Eosinophils were the major infiltrating non-neoplastic cells, and eosinophilic abscess was seen in 57 cases (21.5%). Coagulative necrosis and dead bone were detected in 29 (10.9%) and 124 (46.8%) of the cases, respectively. Immunohistochemically, the expression of S-100 protein, CD1a and langerin was 99.1% (209/211), 100% (206/206) and 98.5% (193/196), respectively, and the sensitivity of them had no statistical difference.

CONCLUSIONSIn this group of LCH cases, the ratio of adult patients is high, but the proportion of multi-organ lesion is low. No significant difference of the sensitivity is found among langerin, CD1a and S-100 expression in diagnosis of LCH.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Antigens, CD1 ; metabolism ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Eosinophils ; pathology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Infant ; Langerhans Cells ; pathology ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Male ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism ; Skin ; pathology ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Antigens, CD1 ; metabolism ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Male ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of millimeter wave exposure at low power density on gene expression in human keratinocytes (HaCaT).

METHODSHaCaT keratinocytes were exposed to 30.16 GHz millimeter wave with power densities of 1.0 or 3.5 mW/cm2 for 30 min per day. Gene expression profiles were obtained using the Affymetrix human genome U95A GeneChip. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to confirm the differential expression of genes obtained from Genechip analysis.

RESULTPAR-2 and ERGIC-53 genes in HaCaT cells were up-regulated by 3.5 mW/cm2 millimeter wave exposure for 4 times. ERGIC-53 gene was also up-regulated by 1.0 mW/cm2 millimeter wave exposure for 4 times. However, no significant change for PAR-2 expression was found after the same exposure.

CONCLUSIONMillimeter wave exposure could affect gene expression in human keratinocytes, which might be related to the intensity and the times of exposure.

Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Electromagnetic Fields ; Gene Expression ; radiation effects ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; metabolism ; radiation effects ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Microwaves ; Radiation ; Receptor, PAR-2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Skin ; cytology