Protocadherin-PC (PCDH-PC) is a gene on the human Y chromosome that is selectively expressed in apoptosis-and hormone-resistant human prostate cancer cells. The protein encoded by PCDH-PC is cytoplasmically localized and has a small serine-rich domain in its COOH terminus that is homologous to the B-catenin binding site of classical cadherins. Variants of prostate cancer cells that express PCDH-PC have high levels of nuclear B-catenin protein and increased wnt-signaling. In this study, we show that transfection of human prostate cancer cells (LNCaP) with PCDH-PC or culture of these cells in androgen-free medium (a condition that up-regulates PCDH-PC expression) activates wnt signaling as assessed by nuclear accumulation of B-catenin, increased expression of luciferase from a reporter vector promoted by Tcf binding elements and increased expression of wnt target genes. Moreover, LNCaP cells transfected with PCDH-PC or grown in androgen-free medium transdifferentiate to neuroendocrine-like cells marked by elevated expression of neuron-specific enolase and chromogranin-A. Neuroendocrine transdifferentiation was also observed when LNCaP cells were transfected by stabilized B-catenin. Increased wnt signaling and neuroendocrine transdifferentiation of LNCaP cells induced by culture in androgen-free medium was suppressed by short interfering RNAs that target PCDH-PC as well as by dominant-negative Tcf or short interfering RNA against B-catenin, supporting the hypothesis that increased expression of PCDH-PC is driving neuroendocrine transdifferentiation by activating wnt signaling. These findings have significant implications for the process through which prostate cancers progress to hormone resistance in humans. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(12): 5263-71)

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-B is a potent immunosuppressant. Overproduction of TGF-B by tumor cells may lead to tumor evasion from the host immune surveillance and tumor progression. The present study was conducted to develop a treatment strategy through adoptive transfer of tumor-reactive TGF-B-insensitive CD8 + + T cells. The mouse TRAMP-C2 prostate cancer cells produced large amounts of TGF-B1 and were used as an experimental model. C57BL/6 mice were primed with irradiated TRAMP-C2 cells. CD8 + + T cells were isolated from the spleen of primed animals, were expanded ex vivo, and were rendered TGF-B insensitive by infecting with a retrovirus containing dominant-negative TGF-B type II receptor. Results of in vitro cytotoxic assay revealed that these CD8 + T cells showed a specific and robust tumor-killing activity against TRAMP-C2 cells but were ineffective against an irrelevant tumor line, B16-F10. To determine the in vivo antitumor activity, recipient mice were challenged with a single injection of TRAMP-C2 cells for a period up to 21 days before adoptive transfer of CD8 + + T cells was done. Pulmonary metastasis was either eliminated or significantly reduced in the group receiving adoptive transfer of tumor-reactive TGF-B-insensitive CD8 + + T cells. Results of immunofluorescent studies showed that only tumor-reactive TGF-B-insensitive CD8 + + T cells were able to infiltrate into the tumor and mediate apoptosis in tumor cells. Furthermore, transferred tumor-reactive TGF-B-insensitive CD8 + + T cells were able to persist in tumor-bearing hosts but declined in tumor-free animals. These results suggest that adoptive transfer of tumor-reactive TGF-B-insensitive CD8 + + T cells may warrant consideration for cancer therapy.

No abstract

Introduction Erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by pelvic injuries is a common complication of civil and battlefield trauma with multiple neurovascular factors involved, and no effective therapeutic approach is available. Aims To test the effect and mechanisms of low-energy shock wave (LESW) therapy in a rat ED model induced by pelvic neurovascular injuries. Methods Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats injected with 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) at newborn were divided into 4 groups: sham surgery (Sham), pelvic neurovascular injury by bilateral cavernous nerve injury and internal pudendal bundle injury (PVNI), PVNI treated with LESW at low energy (Low), and PVNI treated with LESW at high energy (High). After LESW treatment, rats underwent erectile function measurement and the tissues were harvested for histologic and molecular study. To examine the effect of LESW on Schwann cells, in vitro studies were conducted. Main Outcome Measurements The intracavernous pressure (ICP) measurement, histological examination, and Western blot (WB) were conducted. Cell cycle, Schwann cell activation-related markers were examined in in vitro experiments. Results LESW treatment improves erectile function in a rat model of pelvic neurovascular injury by leading to angiogenesis, tissue restoration, and nerve generation with more endogenous EdU+ progenitor cells recruited to the damaged area and activation of Schwann cells. LESW facilitates more complete re-innervation of penile tissue with regeneration of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)-positive nerves from the MPG to the penis. In vitro experiments demonstrated that LESW has a direct effect on Schwann cell proliferation. Schwann cell activation-related markers including p-Erk1/2 and p75 were upregulated after LESW treatment. Conclusion LESW-induced endogenous progenitor cell recruitment and Schwann cell activation coincides with angiogenesis, tissue, and nerve generation in a rat model of pelvic neurovascular injuries.

AbstractmRNA 3′ end processing is an essential step in gene expression. It is well established that canonical eukaryotic pre-mRNA 3′ processing is carried out within a macromolecular machinery consisting of dozens of trans-acting proteins. However, it is unknown whether RNAs play any role in this process. Unexpectedly, we found that a subset of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are associated with the mammalian mRNA 3′ processing complex. These snoRNAs primarily interact with Fip1, a component of cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF). We have functionally characterized one of these snoRNAs and our results demonstrated that the U/A-rich SNORD50A inhibits mRNA 3′ processing by blocking the Fip1-poly(A) site (PAS) interaction. Consistently, SNORD50A depletion altered the Fip1–RNA interaction landscape and changed the alternative polyadenylation (APA) profiles and/or transcript levels of a subset of genes. Taken together, our data revealed a novel function for snoRNAs and provided the first evidence that non-coding RNAs may play an important role in regulating mRNA 3′ processing.

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) is a form of ultrasound that delivered at a much lower intensity (<3 W/cm2) than traditional ultrasound energy and output in the mode of pulse wave, and it is typically used for therapeutic purpose in rehabilitation medicine. LIPUS has minimal thermal effects due to its low intensity and pulsed output mode, and its non-thermal effects which is normally claimed to induce therapeutic changes in tissues attract most researchers’ attentions. LIPUS have been demonstrated to have a rage of biological effects on tissues, including promoting bone-fracture healing, accelerating soft-tissue regeneration, inhibiting inflammatory responses and so on. Recent studies showed that biological effects of LIPUS in healing morbid body tissues may be mainly associated with the upregulation of cell proliferation through activation of integrin receptors and Rho/ROCK/Src/ERK signaling pathway, and with promoting multilineage differentiation of mesenchyme stem/progenitor cell lines through ROCK-Cot/Tpl2-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. Hopefully, LIPUS may become an effective clinical procedure for the treatment of urological diseases, such as chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), erectile dysfunction (ED), and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in the field of urology. It still needs an intense effort for basic-science and clinical investigators to explore the biomedical applications of ultrasound.

A systematic study on the structure and function of Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) variations was carried out in China. A total of 155,879 participants were screened for G6PD deficiency by the G6PD/6PGD ratio method and 6,683 cases have been found. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency ranged from 0 to 17.4%. With informed consent, 1,004 cases from 11 ethnic-based groups were subjected to molecular analysis. Our results showed the followings: (1) The G6PD variants are consistent across traditional ethnic boundaries, but vary in frequencies across ethnic-based groups in Chinese population, (2) The G6PD variants in Chinese population are different from those in African, European, and Indian populations, (3) A novel G6PD-deficiency mutation, 274C-->T, has been found, and (4) Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography is of great advantage to detecting G6PD-deficient mutations for diagnosis and genetic counseling. Moreover, functional analysis of the human G6PD variants showed the following: (1) The charge property, polarity, pK-radical and side-chain radical of the substituting amino acid have an effect on G6PD activity, (2) The G6PDArg459 and Arg463 play important roles in anchoring NADP+ to the catalytic domain to maintain the enzymatic activity, and (3) The sequence from codon 459 to the carboxyl terminal is essential for the enzymatic function.

Various studies have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play vital roles in the cancer development and progression. LncRNA hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha antisense RNA-2 (HIF1A-AS2) is upregulated in gastric carcinomas and knockdown of HIF1A-AS2 expression by siRNA could inhibit cell proliferation in vitro and tumorigenesis in vivo. Inspired by these observations, we hypothesized that HIF1A-AS2 possibly plays the analogous roles in bladder cancer. In our study, we first reported that HIF1A-AS2 was up-regulated in bladder cancer tissues and cells, and HIF1A-AS2 expression level in bladder cancer tissues is positively associated with advanced clinical pathologic grade and TNM phase. Cell proliferation inhibition, cell migration suppression and apoptosis induction were observed by silencing HIF1A-AS2 in bladder cancer T24 and 5637 cells. Overexpression of HIF1A-AS2 in SV-HUC-1 cells could promote cell proliferation, cell migration and anti-apoptosis. Besides, we utilized the emerging technology of medical synthetic biology to design tetracycline-inducible small hairpin RNA (shRNA) vector which specifically silenced HIF1A-AS2 in a dosage-dependent manner to inhibit the progression of human bladder cancer. In conclusion, our data suggested that HIF1A-AS2 plays oncogenic roles and can be used as a therapeutic target for treating human bladder cancer. Synthetic "tetracycline-on" switch system that quantitatively controlled the expression of HIF1A-AS2 in bladder cancer can inhibit the progression of bladder cancer cells in a dosage-dependent manner. Our findings provide new insights into the role of the lncRNA HIF1A-AS2 in the bladder cancer.