Aim: Arsenic trioxide (As 2 O 3), known as pi-shuang and the most toxic compound in traditional Chinese medicine, has been used as an antitumor agent for thousands of years. Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a natural phenol that has significant anti-bacterial, anti-fungaI and antiaging activities. Our study aimed to examine the combined anticancer effects of As 2 O 3 and resveratrol against human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells, and elucidate the underlying intracellular signaling. Materials and Methods: SK-N-SH cells were treated with an extremely low-dose (2-4 μM) of As 2 O 3 alone or combined with 75 μg/ml resveratrol for further comparisons. Cell viability, apoptotic signaling as well as synergistic cytotoxic effects were estimated using the MTT assay, microscopy observation, flow cytometric analysis for loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and typical quantitative western blotting analysis. Student's ttest, and one-and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for examination of significant differences. Results: The combined treatment was more effective than single treatment of As 2 O 3 or resveratrol alone in suppressing cell viability, which correlated with the elevation of ROS levels. The intracellular mechanisms of cytotoxicity of As 2 O 3 plus resveratrol were revealed as ROS accumulation and relative decrease of MMP, leading to activation of caspase-3 and-9, but not of caspase-1,-7 and-8. Combination treatment reduced the expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2), BH3 interacting domain death agonist (BID), and BCL-x/L. Conclusion: Combined treatment at extremely low concentration of two agents from natural products, As 2 O 3 and resveratrol, has high potential as a cocktail of anticancer drugs for neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is listed as the most fatal cancer among children worldwide, and exhibits a very complex biological and tremendous clinical heterogeneity (1). Remarkably, neuroblastoma is renowned for having no obvious environmental or genetic risk factors, no effective drugs, and low 5-year survival, with parents and relatives of the pediatric patient consequently suffering from much emotional and psychological pain. Clinically, the age and gender of the patient, and the stage and molecular defects are key determinants for the efficacy of treatments, prognosis and modalities of therapy. At the time of diagnosis, about 453 This article is freely accessible online.
The semiconductor plants on the top of high-tech industrial chain hire many packaging workers to carry out miscellaneous packing tasks for various product orders from different companies and countries. Under tremendous workload the quality of life (QoL) of such packaging workers need to be concerned. The aim of this study was to explore factors influencing their QoL. This study recruited 247 packing workers (162 male and 85 female; mean age: 35.6 years old) in 2015 and 2016 from a semiconductor plant in Taiwan by convenience sampling. The questionnaire comprised four parts: demographics, the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), an occupational burnout inventory and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF were defined as outcome variables. Predictive factors included gender (reference: male), age (reference: ≤ 35), BMI (reference: ≤ 25), educational level (reference: below university), marital/partner status (reference: married/cohabiting), years of work (reference: ≤ 5), work shift (reference: day shift), personal burnout, work-related burnout, over-commitment to work and the number of body parts with discomfort (0-9). The findings showed that physical QoL was negatively correlated with night -shift work, personal burnout, and number of body parts with discomfort. Psychological QoL was negatively correlated with night shift work and personal burnout. Environment QoL was negatively correlated with being male, night shift work and personal burnout. The results showed that the QoL among the packaging workers could be improved by reducing musculoskeletal discomfort, personal burnout and by improving work schedules.
Background The application of DC-CIK in the field of cancer immunotherapy has been shown to be an effective treatment. However, the cost of DC-CIK treatment is prohibitive for many patients, and the lack of standard manufacturing processes and treatment strategies are the main limitations. Material and Methods Our experiments used tumor lysate instead of tumor cell line as tumor-associated antigen source with DCs co-culture. We provide the most efficient method for obtaining autologous DC-CIK cells from peripheral blood. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate DCs activation, CBA assay was used to quantify cytokines secreted by CIK cells, and the antitumor activity of DC-CIK was evaluated in vitro by K562 cell line. Results We demonstrate that the manufacturing process of employing frozen Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) can balance patient’s comfort and economic benefits. DC-CIK can effectively upgrade the immunological specificity of CIK cells to tumors in the presence of tumor-associated antigen. In vitro experiments showed that when the number of DC: CIK cells was co-cultured in 1:20 ratio on the 14th day, the amount of cytokine secreted by CIK cells was the largest, and the anti-tumor immune effect was the most potent. When the number of CIK: K562 cells was in 25:1 ratio, the cytotoxic activity of CIK on K562 cells was the highest. Conclusion We developed an efficient activated fashion of DC:CIK, established the optimal ratio of DC-CIK immunologic activity and the best cytotoxic model of CIK to K562 cells.
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