Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid abundant in fish oils. It is known to have an inhibitory effect on various diseases such as inflammation, diabetes, and cancer. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process that epithelial cells gain migratory property to become mesenchymal cells involved in wound healing, organ fibrosis, and cancer progression. Gremlin-1 (GREM1) is a bone morphogenetic protein antagonist known to play a role in EMT. However, the role of GREM1 in the induction of EMT in human breast cancer cells and the effect of DHA on GREM1-induced EMT remain unclear. Establishment of GREM1 knockdown cell lines was performed using lentiviral shRNAs. Expression of EMT markers was determined by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. Effect of GREM1 and/or DHA on cell migration was investigated using wound healing assay. The level of GREM1 expression in human breast cancer tissues was determined by Oncomine database mining. GREM1 induced the expression of genes including N-cadherin, vimentin, and Slug. GREM1 promoted the migration of human breast cancer cells. GREM1 enhanced the expression of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK) and the ERK activation was involved in EMT. Interestingly, DHA reduced the expression of GREM1. DHA also inhibited the expression of mesenchymal cell-associated genes and cell migration induced by GREM1. Furthermore, DHA suppressed the expression of p-ERK induced by GREM1. These results indicate that GREM1-ERK axis plays a role in EMT in human breast cancer cells and DHA is a putative compound that can inhibit EMT by inhibiting GREM1 signal transduction.
The authors show that carbon nanotubes ͑CNTs͒ coated with an amorphous silicon layer around their periphery show enhanced and stable electron emission. The CNT-field emitter array was grown on silicon substrate through a resist-assisted patterning process. The CNTs become coated with silicon from the substrate, which is etched and redeposited onto the CNTs. The authors obtained enhanced and stabilized electron emission from the silicon coated CNTs with a turn-on field of 2 V/ m at an emission current density of 1 A / cm 2 . The structure and electron emission properties of the functionalized emitters are discussed.
The integration of carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters with metaloxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) can stabilize and control the emission current of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). As the unit process, the CNTs were grown on the drain part of MOSFETs using the resist-assisted patterning (RAP) process. The electron emission current of CNTs grown on the drain was switched with a low voltage of the externally connected field-effect transistor and was uniform. The electron emission properties of CNT-emitters with the externally connected fieldeffect transistor were discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.