Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) is a novel class of therapeutics for cancer target therapy. This study assessed antitumor activity of ADC with an antimitotic agent, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and a humanized monoclonal anti-HER2 antibody, hertuzumab, in gastric cancer. The efficacy of hertuzumab-MC-Val-Cit-PAB-MMAE (hertuzumab-vcMMAE) on human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive human gastric cancer cells, NCI-N87, was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The cytotoxicity of hertuzumab was significantly enhanced after conjugation with MMAE. Compared to trastuzumab, hertuzumab had a higher affinity to HER2 and had more potent antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity in vitro. After conjugation with MMAE, the binding specificity for HER2 was not affected. Furthermore, the internalization of hertuzumab-vcMMAE in HER2 positive gastric cancer cells was verified. Although the conjugation of hertuzumab and MMAE decreased the ADCC effect, the overall cytotoxicity was dramatically increased in HER2 positive gastric cancer cells. In vitro data on this hertuzumab-vcMMAE has exerted much stronger antitumor activity compared to trastuzumab-DM1 in HER2 positive gastric cancer cells. A single administration of hertuzumab-vcMMAE at 5 or 10 mg/kg showed high potency and a sustained tumor inhibitory effect on NCI-N87 xenografts in mice. In conclusion, hertuzumab-vcMMAE conjugate is a highly effective anti-HER2 targeted therapy for HER2-positive gastric cancer.
Inspired by fireworks explosion at night, conventional fireworks algorithm (FWA) was developed in 2010. Since then, several improvements and applications were proposed to improve the efficiency of FWA. In this paper, the conventional fireworks algorithm is first summarized and three improved fireworks algorithms are provided. By changing the ways of calculating the numbers and amplitudes of sparks in fireworks' explosion, the improved FWA algorithms become more reasonable and explainable. In addition, the multi-objective fireworks algorithm and the graphic processing unit (GPU) based fireworks algorithm are also presented, particularly the GPU based fireworks algorithm is able to speed up the optimization process considerably. Extensive experiments on 13 benchmark functions demonstrate that the three improved fireworks algorithms significantly increase the accuracy of found solutions, yet decrease the running time dramatically. At last, some applications of fireworks algorithm are briefly described, while its shortcomings and future research directions are identified.
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a serious human neurological disease caused by TBE virus (TBEV). However, the mechanisms of TBEV-caused pathogenesis remain unclear. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, also defined as the unfolded protein response (UPR), is an important conserved molecular signaling pathway that modulates many biological functions including innate immunity and viral pathogenesis. Here, we investigated the effects of the two UPR signaling pathways upon TBEV infection in Vero E6 cells. We showed that the amount of heat shock protein 72 (Hsp72) increased in the course of TBEV infection. We then confirmed that TBEV infection activates the IRE1 pathway, leading to RNA and protein expression of the spliced X box binding protein 1 (sXBP1). Furthermore, we observed the translocation of ATF6 during TBEV infection and expression of cleaved transcription factor 6 (ATF6) which suggest activation of ATF6 pathway. Finally, we examined whether inhibition of the IRE1 pathway has an effect on TBEV infection. Cell treatment with 3,5-Dibromosalicylaldehyde (IRE1 inhibitor) and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) showed that TBEV replication was significantly limited. These findings provide the first evidence that TBEV infection activates the two UPR signaling pathways. Moreover, inhibition of TBEV replication by UPR inhibitors may provide a novel therapeutic strategy against TBE.
The cytotoxicity of CESN in HCC cells and CD133(+) HCC cells was superior to that of A15 or CL4-conjugted or nontargeted salinomycin-loaded nanoparticles. The antitumor assay in mice bearing HCC xenograft tumors confirmed the superior antitumor activity of CESN over other controls. We speculated that the improved therapeutic effect of CESN may be attributed to both targeting a higher percentage of HCC cells and increased delivery of salinomycin to HCC cells.
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