Transforming growth factor-1 (TGF-1), a multi-function polypeptide, is a double-edged sword in cancer. For some tumor cells, TGF-1 is a potent growth inhibitor and apoptosis inducer. More commonly, TGF-1 loses its growth-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects, but stimulates the metastatic capacity of tumor cells. It is currently little known about TGF-1-promoted cell migration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, let alone its mechanism. In this study, we found that TGF-1 lost its tumor-suppressive effects, but significantly stimulated cell migration in SMMC-7721 human HCC cells. By FACS and Western blot analysis, we observed that TGF-1 enhanced the expression of 5 1 integrin obviously, and subsequently stimulated cell adhesion onto fibronectin (Fn). Furthermore, we observed that TGF-1 could also promote SMMC-7721 cells adhesion onto laminin (Ln). Our data also provided evidences that TGF-1 induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) in SMMC-7721 cells. First, SMMC-7721 cells clearly switched to the spindle shape morphology after TGF-1 treatment. Furthermore, TGF-1 induced the down-regulation of E-cadherin and the nuclear translocation of -catenin. These results indicated that TGF-1-promoted cell adhesion and TGF-1-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation might be both responsible for TGF-1-enhanced cell migration.
Rumen microbiota are essential for maintaining digestive and metabolic functions, producing methane as a byproduct. Dairy heifers produce large amounts of methane based on fermentation of digested organic matter, with adverse consequences for feed efficiency and the environment. It is therefore important to understand the influence of host age on the relationship between microbiota and methane production. This study explored the age effect on the relationship between microbial communities and enteric methane production in dairy cows and heifers using high-throughput sequencing. Methane production and volatile fatty acid concentrations were age-related. Heifers (9–10 months) had lower methane production but higher methane production per dry matter intake (DMI). The acetate:propionate ratio decreased significantly with increasing age. Age-related microbiota changes in the rumen were reflected by a significant shift in bacterial taxa, but relatively stable archaeal taxa. Prevotella, Ruminococcus, Flavonifractor, Succinivibrio, and Methanobrevibacter were affected by age. This study revealed different associations between predominant bacterial phylotypes and Methanobrevibacter with increasing age. Prevotella was strongly correlated with Methanobrevibacter in heifers; howerver, in older cows (96–120 months) this association was replaced by a correlation between Succinivibrio and Methanobrevibacter. This shift may account for the age-related difference in rumen fermentation and methane production per DMI.
Hao, Z. Q.; Shen, M.; Xiong, W.; He, X. N.; Xie, Z. Q.; Gao, M.; Li, X. Y.; Zeng, X. Y.; and Lu, Yongfeng, "Accuracy improvement of quantitative analysis by spatial confinement in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy" (2013
A modified algorithm of background removal based on wavelet transform was developed for spectrum correction in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The optimal type of wavelet function, decomposition level and scaling factor γ were determined by the root-mean-square error of calibration (RMSEC) of the univariate regression model of the analysis element, which is considered as the optimization criteria. After background removal by this modified algorithm with RMSEC, the root-mean-square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) and the average relative error (ARE) criteria, the accuracy of quantitative analysis on chromium (Cr), vanadium (V), cuprum (Cu), and manganese (Mn) in the low alloy steel was all improved significantly. The results demonstrated that the algorithm developed is an effective pretreatment method in LIBS to significantly improve the accuracy in the quantitative analysis.
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