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Taken together, our results indicated that CD73 may facilitate the adhesion, migration and invasion of human breast cancer cells through its enzyme activity of generating adenosine. This study provided a possibly molecular mechanism of metastasis of breast carcinoma.

Metastasis is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in breast cancer. Recently, dramatic overexpression of ecto-5'-nucleotidase (CD73), a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored cell surface protein has been found in estrogen receptor-negative [ER (-)] breast cancer cell lines and in clinical samples. In this study, CD73 small interfering RNA (siRNA) plasmid was constructed and stably transfected into breast cancer cell MB-MDA-231 to determine the role of CD73 in breast cancer metastasis and the possible mechanism. Our study demonstrates that CD73 siRNA effectively inhibits CD73 gene expression at mRNA and protein level in MB-MDA-231 cells, leading to in vivo and in vitro growth suppression, prevention of adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM), and inhibition of invasion and migration. These properties correlate with inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 expression and activity as well as reduction of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. Demonstration of the role of CD73 in breast cancer may lead to new targeted therapies for breast cancer.

Silk fibroin exists in a number of different states, such as silk I and silk II, with different properties largely defined by differences in secondary structure composition. Numerous attempts have been made to control the transitions from silk I to silk II in vitro to produce high-performance materials. Of all the factors influencing the structural compositions, pH and some metal ions play important roles. This paper focuses on the influence of pH and Ca(2+) ions on the conformational transition from silk I to silk II in regenerated (redissolved) Bombyx mori fibroin. One- and two-dimensional correlation Raman spectroscopy was used to describe qualitatively the transitions in secondary structure in silk I, silk II, and their intermediates as pH and Ca(2+) ion concentration were changed, while (13)C cross polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) solid-state NMR was used to quantify these changes. We showed that conditions (low pH, pH 5.2; a defined range of Ca(2+) ion concentrations; gradual water removal) that mimic natural silk spinning promote the formations of beta-sheet and distorted beta-sheet characteristic of silk II or silk II-related intermediate. In contrast, higher pH (pH 6.9-8.0) and higher Ca(2+) ion concentrations maintain "random coil" conformations typical of silk I or silk I-related intermediate. These results help to explain why the natural silk spinning process is attended by a reduction in pH from 6.9 to 4.8 and a change in the Ca(2+) ion concentration in the gland lumen as fibroin passes from the posterior division through the secretory pathway to the anterior division.

The spinning mechanism of natural silk has been an open issue. In this study, both the conformation transition from random coil to b sheet and the b sheet aggregation growth of silk fibroin are identified in the B. mori regenerated silk fibroin aqueous solution by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. A nucleation-dependent aggregation mechanism, similar to that found in prion protein, amyloid b (Ab) protein, and a-synuclein protein with the conformation transition from a soluble protein to a neurotoxic, insoluble b sheet containing aggregate, is a novel suggestion for the silk spinning process. We present evidence that two steps are involved in this mechanism: (a) nucleation, a ratelimiting step involving the conversion of the soluble random coil to insoluble b sheet and subsequently a series of thermodynamically unfavorable association of b sheet unit, i.e. the formation of a nucleus or seed; (b) once the nucleus forms, further growth of the b sheet unit becomes thermodynamically favorable, resulting a rapid extension of b sheet aggregation. The aggregation growth follows a first order kinetic process with respect to the random coil fibroin concentration. The increase of temperature accelerates the b sheet aggregation growth if the b sheet seed is introduced into the random coil fibroin solution. This work enhances our understanding of the natural silk spinning process in vivo.Keywords: silk fibroin; spinning mechanism; conformation transition; nucleation-dependent; CD spectroscopy.A number of studies have been reported silk processing techniques [1 -11], including those of spider and silkworm. However, the controlling factors that determine the efficiency of silk spinning at ambient temperature and normal pressure remains unclear [6 -8]. The silk fibroin in the silkworm gland possesses relatively low viscosity in a concentrated solution as a result of its storage in a liquid crystalline state before spinning [7 -9]. This is coupled with a low critical shear rate for inducing crystallization in aqueous solution [10], as well as the low draw ratios for the production of uniaxially aligned fibrous structures [11]. Theoretical elucidation of the mechanism for the natural silk spinning process has implications for material science, particularly in the design of engineering polymers.The primary sequence of silk fibroin of the B. mori silkworm predominantly consists of the -(Gly-Ala-Gly-AlaGly-Ser) 8 -motif [12]. It has been demonstrated that two types of conformations exist in the silk fibroin: silk I, a mainly coiled chain conformation in the present silk gland, and silk II which is formed by regularly aligned crystalline b sheet in the silk fibers [7]. Previous studies have suggested that the b sheet conformation can be induced in silkworm fibroin by a stretching force [13], and the formation of spider dragline silk also involves a stress-induced b sheet formation by extensional flow [14]. But the mechanism involved in the conversion of a hydrogel of silk fibroin in the silk I state into the silk II state remains...

Much attention has been paid to the natural mechanism of silkworm spinning due to the impressive mechanical properties of the natural fibers. Our results in the present work show that the fractional changes of the conformational components in regenerated silk fibroin (SF) extracted from Bombyx mori fibers is remarkably pH- and Cu(II)-dependent as demonstrated by Cu(II) EPR, (13)C NMR, and Raman spectroscopy. Cu(II) coordination atoms in SF are changed from four nitrogens to two nitrogens and two oxygens as well as to one nitrogen and three oxygens when the pH is lowered from 8.0 to 4.0. The addition of a given amount of Cu(II) into a SF solution could induce efficiently the SF conformational fractional change from silk I, a soluble helical conformation, to silk II, an insoluble beta-sheet conformation. This behavior is strikingly similar to that seen in prion protein and amyloid beta-peptide. On the basis of the similarity in the relevant sequence in SF to the octapeptide PHGGGWGQ in PrP, we suggest that at basic and neutral pH polypeptide AHGGYSGY in SF may form a 1:1 complex with Cu(II) by coordination of imidazole N(pi) of His together with two deprotonated main-chain nitrogens from two glycine residues and one nitrogen or oxygen from serine. Such a type of coordination may make the interaction between two adjacent beta-form polypeptide chains more difficult, thereby leading to an amorphous structure. Under weakly acidic conditions, however, Cu(II)-amide linkages may be broken and Cu(II) may switch to bind two N(tau) from two histidines in adjacent peptide chains, forming an intermolecular His(N(tau))-Cu(II)-His(N(tau)) bridge. This type of coordination may induce beta-sheet formation and aggregation, leading to a crystalline structure.

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Fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy were used to monitor the conformational transition of regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin (RSF) in aqueous solutions under different conditions. According to the analysis of fluorescence spectra using anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid magnesium salt (ANS) as an external probe, the destruction of the hydrophobic core prior to the secondary structure change suggests that this collapse may initiate the conformational transition from random coil to beta-sheet for RSF. The temperature dependence of the structural changes of RSF, detected by both fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism, shows a reversible process upon heating and recooling, with the midpoint around 45 degrees C. The results also indicate that most of the tryptophan (Trp) residues contained in silk fibroin are concentrated on the surface of the unfolded protein. However, they will change their location in the highly ordered structure (e.g., becoming more homogeneous) with the conformational transition of silk fibroin. Moreover, our studies also suggest that the presence of water plays a crucial role during the structure changes of fibroin.