Gastric cancer (GC) is a global health problem with poor clinical outcomes. The mechanism of its development and progression remains largely unclear. The present study investigated the role of microRNA-9 (miR-9-5p) in the development and progression of GC. Overexpression of miR-9-5p led to reduced expression of neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) in GC cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assay results indicated that miR-9-5p directly targeted NRP-1. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-9-5p in GC cells increased the expression of mesenchymal markers, N-cadherin and vimentin, and decreased the expression of epithelial markers, E-cadherin and β-catenin. Overexpression of miR-9-5p inhibited GC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and increased the sensitivity of GC cells to the anti-cancer drug cisplatin. By contrast, the opposite effects were observed in GC cells following downregulation of miR-9-5p. Taken together, the present findings suggested that miR-9-5p suppressed NRP-1 expression and inhibited GC cell proliferation and invasion. In addition, miR-9-5p overexpression attenuated GC cell resistance to anti-cancer drugs, which highlighted the potential of miR-9-5p as a target for the treatment of GC.
The gene encoding surface antigen 2 (SAG2) or rhoptry protein 2 (ROP2) of Toxoplasma gondii was cloned into the plasmid pGEX-4T-1 and subsequently expressed in Escherichia coli as a glutathione-s-transferase (GST) fusion protein. The characteristics of purified GST-SAG2 or GST-ROP2 were analysed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblot analysis. The specific IgG of a panel of serum samples provided by the National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products were tested with commercial ELISA and the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) based on GST-SAG2, GST-ROP2 or GST-SAG2+ROP2. A total of 1096 sera and saliva samples from pregnant women were tested by GST-SAG2+ROP2-LFIA. In total, 20 T. gondii IgM positive sera (1.82%), 81 T. gondii IgG positive sera (7.4%) and 23 T. gondii IgA positive saliva (2.1%) were finally confirmed. The SAG2+ROP2 specific IgG and IFN-γ producing CD8+ T cells were induced in mice immunised with GST-SAG2+ROP2. The results indicate that GST-SAG2+ROP2 protein can be used as an antigen for diagnosing T. gondii infection and provide a strategy for development of subunit vaccines for protection against T. gondii infection.
Three goats fi tted with rumen fi stula were used as donors of rumen fl uid. Substrates were incubated in vitro with buffered rumen fl uid for 24 h. Different levels of β-carotene (fi ve groups: 10, 50, 100, 200, 500 mg/l) were added as fi ve treatment groups to determine whether it affected rumen fermentation in vitro as compared with blank samples used as controls. NH 3 -N concentrations with 50, 100 and 200 mg β-carotene/l group were found signifi cantly lower than that in blank samples (P<0.01). Microbial protein concentrations in all β-carotene-added groups were higher than in blanks, while those found in 200 and 500 mg/l groups were signifi cantly higher (P<0.05 and 0.01, respectively). Total VFAs seemed not to be affected by added β-carotene (P>0.05), although propionate and butyrate concentrations changed. It is concluded that β-carotene can enhance the utilization of NH 3 -N by rumen microorganisms and thus promote their growth in vitro.
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