Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b) is implicated in hepatocarcinogenesis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis. HAb18G/CD147, which belongs to the CD147 family, is an HCC-associated antigen that has a crucial role in tumor invasion and metastasis. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of HAb18G/ CD147 during EMT in hepatocarcinogenesis. Human normal hepatic cell lines QZG and L02, primary mouse hepatocytes and nude mouse models were used to determine the role of HAb18G/CD147 in EMT, and the involvement of the TGF-b-driven pathway. A dualluciferase reporter assay and ChIP were used to investigate the transcriptional regulation of the CD147 gene. Samples from patients with liver disease were assessed to determine the relationship between HAb18G/CD147 and typical markers for EMT. Our results show that upregulation of HAb18G/CD147 is induced by TGF-b coupled with downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of N-cadherin and vimentin. The expression of HAb18G/CD147 is controlled by the cell survival PI3K/ Akt/GSK3b signaling pathway, and is directly regulated by the transcription factor Slug. Transfection of CD147 also induces an elevated expression of TGF-b. CD147-transfected hepatocytes have mesenchymal phenotypes that accelerate tumor formation and tumor metastasis in vivo. Immunohistochemistry analysis shows a negative correlation between HAb18G/CD147 and E-cadherin expression (r s ¼ À0.3622, P ¼ 0.0105), and a positive correlation between HAb18G/CD147 and Slug expression (r s ¼ 0.3064, P ¼ 0.0323) in human HCC tissues. Our study uncovers a novel role of HAb18G/CD147 in mediating EMT in the process of HCC progression and showed that CD147 is a Slug target gene in the signaling cascade TGF-b-PI3K/Akt-GSK3b-Snail-Slug-CD147. Our results suggest that CD147 may be a potential target for the treatment and prevention of HCC.

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is generally activated in solid tumors and results in tumor cell anti-apoptosis and drug resistance. However, tumor-specific UPR transducers are largely unknown. In the present study, we identified CD147, a cancer biomarker, as an UPR inducer in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression of the major UPR target, Bip, was found to be positively associated with CD147 in human hepatoma tissues. By phosphorylating FAK and Src, CD147-enhanced TFII-I tyrosine phosphorylation at Tyr248. CD147 also induced p-TFII-I nuclear localization and binding to the Bip promoter where endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response element 1 (ERSE1) ( À 82/ À 50) is the most efficient target of the three ERSEs, thus increasing transcription of Bip. Furthermore, by inducing UPR, CD147 inhibited HCC cell apoptosis and decreased cell Adriamycin chemosensitivity, thus decreasing the survival rate of hepatoma-bearing nude mice. Together, these results reveal pivotal roles for CD147 in modulating the UPR in HCC and raise the possibility that CD147 is a target that promotes HCC cell apoptosis and increases the sensitivity of tumors to anti-cancer drugs. Therefore, CD147 inhibition provides an opportunity to enhance the efficacy of existing agents and represents a novel target for HCC treatment. The uncontrolled growth and insufficient vascularization of a tumor mass lead to a stressed state in the tumor microenvironment, which includes low oxygen supply, nutrient deprivation and pH changes. Microenvironment stresses directly impinge on the luminal milieu of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and might be sufficiently severe to cause ER stress (ERS). 1 These ERS conditions activate a range of cellular stress response pathways, including the unfolded protein response (UPR). 2,3 UPR activation has profound consequences for tumor growth and resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. [4][5][6] Therefore, the UPR might be responsible for the failure of some patients to respond to treatment and is associated with a poor prognosis. 7 Given the observation that UPR is correlated with certain types of aggressive tumors, drug resistance, recurrence and poor survival, 8-11 the inhibition of the UPR pathway may yield more efficient treatments for cancer.Although there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the UPR is generally activated in solid tumors, the UPR remains poorly characterized in cancers. The three major UPR transducers are inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), pancreatic kinase-like ER kinase (PERK) and the UPR-specific transcription factor, activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6).These factors all sense the presence of unfolded proteins in the ER lumen and transduce signals to the nucleus that activate the transcription of UPR target genes, such as Bip (also called glucose-regulated protein 78). 12-14 The overexpression of Bip as a result of the three major transducers has been reported in malignant breast disease, colon cancer and gastric and esophageal adenocarcinomas. [15][16][17][18] It has also been...

The influenza viral hemagglutinin (HA) is comprised of two subunits. Current influenza vaccine predominantly induces neutralizing antibodies (Abs) against the HA1 subunit, which is constantly evolving in unpredictable fashion. The other subunit, HA2, however, is highly conserved but largely shielded by the HA head domain. Thus, enhancing immune response against HA2 could potentially elicit broadly inhibitory Abs. We generated a recombinant adenovirus (rAd) encoding secreted fusion protein, consisting of codon-optimized HA2 subunit of influenza A/California/7/2009(H1N1) virus fused to a trimerized form of murine CD40L, and determined its ability of inducing protective immunity upon intranasal administration. We found that mice immunized with this recombinant viral vaccine were completely protected against lethal challenge with divergent influenza A virus subtypes including H1N1, H3N2, and H9N2. Codon-optimization of HA2 as well as the use of CD40L as a targeting ligand/molecular adjuvant were indispensable to enhance HA2-specific mucosal IgA and serum IgG levels. Moreover, induction of HA2-specific T-cell responses was dependent on CD40L, as rAd secreting HA2 subunit without CD40L failed to induce any significant levels of T-cell cytokines. Finally, sera obtained from immunized mice were capable of inhibiting 13 subtypes of influenza A viruses in vitro. These results provide proof of concept for a prototype HA2-based universal influenza vaccine.

Serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines increased in line with disease severity in HFRS patients.

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) represents a caspase-independent apoptotic pathway in the cell, and a mitochondrial localization sequence-truncated AIF (AIFD1-120) can be relocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and exhibit a constitutive proapoptotic activity. Here, we generated a chimeric immuno-AIF protein, which comprised an HER2 antibody, a Pseudomonas exotoxin translocation domain and AIFD1-120. Human Jurkat cells transfected with the immuno-AIF gene could express and secrete the chimeric protein, which selectively recognized HER2-overexpressing tumor cells and was endocytosed. Subsequent cleavage of truncated AIF from immuno-AIF and its release from the internalized vesicles resulted in apoptosis of tumor cells. Intramuscular injection of the immuno-AIF gene caused significant suppression of tumors and substantially prolonged mice survival in an HER2-overexpressing xenograft tumor model. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of the immuno-AIF gene as a novel approach to treating cancers that overexpress HER2. Gene Therapy (2006) 13, 313-320.

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Elevated VEGF induced by HTNV infection may play an important role in the vascular hyperpermeability that is characteristic of HFRS.

The over-expression of a new zinc ribbon (ZNRD1) gene has been shown previously to promote a multidrug-resistant phenotype in gastric cancer cells through the up-regulation of permeability-glycoprotein (P-gp). In the present study, siRNA eukaryotic expression vectors of ZNRD1 are constructed and transfected into SGC7901/VCR cells to examine whether or not down-regulation of ZNRD1 increases cell sensitivity towards chemotherapeutic drugs. After transfection, ZNRD1 expression decreased dramatically in ZNRD1 siRNA transfectants compared with that in parental cells and empty vector control cells. Down-regulation of ZNRD1 significantly enhanced the sensitivity of SGC7901/VCR cells to vincristine, adriamycin and etoposide, but not to 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin. Cell capacity to efflux adriamycin decreased markedly in ZNRD1 siRNA transfectants, and correlation between ZNRD1 down-regulation and increased multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene transcriptional activity was observed. These results suggest that the ZNRD1 siRNA constructs down-regulate the expression of ZNRD1 effectively and reverse the resistant phenotype of gastric cancer cells. Furthermore, ZNRD1 might influence transcription of the MDR1 gene and thus play an important role in multidrug resistance in gastric carcinoma.