Applications and developments of gene therapy drug delivery systems for genetic diseases

Genetic diseases seriously threaten human health and have always been one of the refractory conditions facing humanity.Currently,gene therapy drugs such as siRNA,shRNA,antisense oligonucleotide,CRISPR/Cas9 system,plasmid DNA and miRNA have shown great potential in biomedical applications.To avoid the degradation of gene therapy drugs in the body and effectively deliver them to target tissues,cells and organelles,the development of excellent drug delivery vehicles is of utmost importance.Viral vectors are the most widely used delivery vehicles for gene therapy in vivo and in vitro due to their high transfection efficiency and stable transgene expression.With the development of nanotechnology,novel nanocarriers are gradually replacing viral vectors,emerging superior performance.This review mainly illuminates the current widely used gene therapy drugs,summarizes the viral vectors and non-viral vectors that deliver gene therapy drugs,and sums up the application of gene therapy to treat genetic diseases.Additionally,the challenges and opportunities of the field are discussed from the perspective of developing an effective nano-delivery system.

Drug resistance gene expression and chemotherapy sensitivity detection in Chinese women with different molecular subtypes of breast cancer

Objective:The aim of the study was to identify specific chemosensitivity drugs for various molecular subtypes of breast tumors in Chinese women,by detecting the expression of drug resistance genes and by using the drug sensitivity test on different molecular subtypes of breast cancers.Methods:The expression of drug resistance genes including Topo Ⅱ,GST-π,P-gp,LRP,and CD133 were detected with immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray.Drug sensitivity tests included those for paclitaxel,epirubicin,carboplatin,vinorelbine,and fluorouracil and were conducted on primary cancer tissue cells and cell lines,including the T47 D,BT-474,and MDA-MB-231 cells and human breast cancer xenografts in nude mice.Results:The different drug resistant genes Topo Ⅱ,GST-π,P-gp,and LRP were differentially expressed among different molecular subtypes of breast cancers(P<0.05).Positive expression of CD133 was highest in basal-like breast cancer(P<0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that positive expressions of Topo Ⅱ and CD133 both correlated with shorter disease-free survival(DFS)(P<0.05)and overall survival(P<0.05),and positive expression of LRP correlated only with shorter DFS(P<0.05).BT-474 showed chemosensitivity to paclitaxel and epirubicin,while MDA-MB-231 showed chemosensitivities to paclitaxel,epirubicin,carboplatin,and fluorouracil(T/C≤50%).The basal-like and HER2+breast cancer primary cells showed chemosensitivities to paclitaxel and epirubicin with significant differences compared with luminal breast cancer primary cells(P<0.05).Conclusions:The differential expression of drug resistance genes and the differential chemosensitivities of drugs in different molecular subtype of breast cancers suggested that individual treatment should be given for each type of breast cancer.

Transduction of Fas gene or Bcl-2 antisense RNA sensitizes cultured drug resistant gastric cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs

AIM To compare the expression level of Fas gene and Bcl-2 gene in gastric cancer cells SGC7901 and gastric cancer MDR (multidrug resistant) cells SGC7901/VCR, to transduce Fas cDNA and Bcl-2 antisense nucleic acid into SGC7901/VCR cells respectively, and to observe the expression of two genes in transfectants and non-transfectants as well as their drug sensitivity.METHODS Eukaryotic expression vector pBK-Fas cDNA and pDOR-anti Bcl-2 were constructed and transfected into SGC7901/VCR cells by lipofectamine, respectively. Northern blot and Western blot were used to detect the expression of mRNA and protein in SGC7901/VCR and SGC7901 cells and transfectants, and drug sensitivity of transfectants for VCR, CDDP and 5-FU was analyzed with MTT assay.RESULTS After gene transfection, 80 for Fas and 120 for antisense Bcl-2 drug-resistant clones were selected from 2×105 cells, transfection rate being 0.04% and 0.06%. Two clones of SGC7901 Fas/VCR cells and SGC7901 anti Bcl-2/VCR cells were randomly selected for further incubation. Hybridization results showed that the expression level of Fas mRNA and protein in SGC7901/VCR cells was much lower, but that of Bcl-2 mRNA and protein was higher than that in SGC7901 cells. The expression of Fas mRNA and protein in SGC7901 Fas/VCR cells was higher, and of Bcl-2 mRNA and protein was lower in SGC7901 anti Bcl-2/VCR cells than that in non-transfectants. MTT assay showed that transfectants were more sensitive to VCR, CDDP, 5-FU than non-transfectants.CONCLUSION Bcl-2 gene displayed high expression while Fas gene had low expression in drug resistant gastric cancer cells. Expression of Bcl-2 protein was effectively blocked in SGC7901 anti Bcl-2/VCR cells by gene transfection. In contrast, the expression of Fas mRNA and protein in SGC7901 Fas/VCR cells increased. Fas gene and Bcl-2 antisense nucleic acid transfection sensitized drug resistant gastric cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. These results suggest cell apoptosis plays an important role in the mechanism of MDR, and enhancing apoptosis might reverse MDR.

Clinical Study of Multi-drug Resistance Gene(MDR1) Expression in Primary Ovarian Cancer

This study was designed to measure the multi-drug resistance gene (MDR1) mRNA content and analyze clinical relationship between MDR1 expression and drug resistance in primary ovarian cancer. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) was used to measure MDR1 mRNA content in biopsy sample of 31 primary ovarian cancers (experimental group) and 30 gynecological tumors (control group). The level of 95.2% (20/21) MDR1 expression was relatively low, and the detected rate of MDR1 expression was 67.7%(21/31) in experimental group,which was higher than that in control group (40.0%, P<0.05). The differences of MDR1 expression between the effective group and no effect group after combined chemotherapy was significant (P<0.05). No significant relationship was found between MDR1 expression and clinical stage or histological classification or grade of differentiation in experimental group. We are led to concluded that primary ovarian cancers have drug-resistance clones which might express MDR1 spontaneously and expression of MDR1 may be used as a prognostic and predictive indicator for clinical response of ovarian cancers to combined chemotherapy.

EXPRESSION AND REVERSION OF DRUG RESISTANCE-AND APOPTOSIS-RELATED GENES OF A DDP-RESISTANT LUNG ADENOCARCINOMA CELL LINE

Objective: To investigate the co-expression of drug resistance- and apoptosis-related genes of cisplatin (CDDP)-selected lung adenocarcinoma cell line A 549 DDP for compared to the parental cell line A549, and reverse of drug resistance by antisense s-oligodeoxynucleotides (S-ODNs) of differentially expressed genes. Methods: Sense and antisense S-ODN were transferred into A 549 DDP cells by lipofectin. The expression of drug resistance and apoptosis related genes was examined by RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry, respectively. Apoptostic cells were identified by DNA electrophoresis and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated biotin dUTP nick end-labeling(TUNEL). Drug resistance of tumor cells was detected by a cell viability (MTT) assay. Results: The expression of bcl-2 was positive and that of multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) at mRNA and protein level was increased in A 549 DDP compared to A549 cells. MDR1, c-myc and topoisomeras II (TOPO II) were similarly co-expressed in two cell lines. Both cell lines were negative for c-erbB-2 expression. In A 549 DDP cells, the expression of bcl-2 and MRP was significantly inhibited by their respective antisense S-ODNs. Antisense S-ODNs could also decrease significantly drug resistance of A 549 DDP cells to CDDP by promoting cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Both intrinsic and acquired drug resistance were involved in co-expression of multiple MDR-related genes in lung adenocarcinoma. Cooperation of bcl-2 and MRP genes appeared to play an important action to confer the resistance of A 549 DDP cells to CDDP. Their antisense S-ODNs are responsible for the decrease of drug resistance of this cell line by promoting apoptosis.

Expression and Prognostic Significance of Multidrug Resistance Associated Protein (MRP) Gene in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer by in Site Hybridization

Objective: To study on the effect of MRP gene overexpression on prognosis of patients with non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissues from 47 cases of NSCLC who had undergone radical tumor resection were examined for expression of MRP gene mRNA by in situ hybridization using labelled digoxigenin probes combined with immunohistochemistry. All the patients were retrospectively followed-up. Results: All of the 47 lung cancer specimens were found to have overexpression of MRP gene mRNA. It was significantly correlated with patients' survival time, response to chemotherapy, recurrence or metastases after surgery, but was not correlated with histology, tumor size, node status, TNM stage, degree of differentiation, age and sex. Conclusion: Overexpression of MRP gene is a marker of prognostic significance in patients with NSCLC.

Liposome-mediated Functional Expression of Multiple Drug Resistance Gene in Human Bone Marrow CD34^+ Cells

Summary: The expression and functional activity of multiple drug resistance (MDR1) gene in human normal bone marrow CD34+ cells was observed. Human normal bone marrow CD34+ cells were enriched with magnetic cell sorting (MACS) system, and then liposome-mediated MDR1 gene was transferred into bone marrow CD34+ cells. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter was used to evaluate the expression and functional activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) encoded by MDR1 gene. It was found that the purity of bone marrow CD34+ cells was approximately (91±4.56) % and recovery rate was (72.3±2.36) % by MACS. The expression of P-gp in the transfected CD34+cells was obviously higher than that in non-transfected CD34+ cells. The amount of P-gp in non-transfected CD34+ cells was (11.2±2.2) %, but increased to (23.6±2.34) % 48 h after gene transfection (P<0.0l). The amount of P-gp was gradually decreased to the basic level one week later. The accumulation and extrusion assays showed that the overexpression of P-gp could efflux Rh-123 out of cells and there was low fluorescence within the transfected cells. The functional activity of P-gp could be inhibited by 10 μg/ml verapamil. It was suggested that the transient and highly effective expression and functional activity of P-gp could be obtained by liposome-mediated MRD1 transferring into human normal bone marrow CD34+ cells.

THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE GENE(mdr1) EXPRESSION IN ACUTE LEUKEMIA

Objective: To study the clinical significance of multidrug resistance gene expression in acute leukemia. Methods: The relationships between drug resistance of leukemia cells and prognosis, multidrug resistance gene (mdr1) were examined in 85 patients with acute leukemia and 20 normal controls by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). Results: The mdr1 positive rate in untreated group was 44.7%. The complete remission (CR) rate of mdr1 positive patients (23.9%) was significantly lower than that of mdr1 negative patients (88.5%) (P<0.005). The mdr1 expression level in relapsedrefractory group was higher than that of CR group. A gradually increased mdr1 mRNA level in CR patients indicated early relapse. Conclusion: The mdr1 positive rate in normal control and longterm survival patients was very low. The mdr1 expression was correlated with FrenchAmericanBritish Cooperative Group (FAB) classification. The mdr1 expression level was correlated with chemotherapeutic effect and prognosis. It is an unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with acute leukemia.

Anticancer Drug Resistance of HeLa Cells Transfected With Rat Glutathione S-transferase pi Gene

To establish a cytologic expressing system of rat glutathione S-transferase pi (GST-pi) cDNA for detecting the resistance of HeLa cells to anticancer drugs. Methods The assessment was made with various anticancer drugs (adriamycin, mitomycin, cisplatinum and vincristine) that showed different cytotoxicities in transfectant HeLa cells with pSV-GT containing rat GST-pi cDNA (HeLa/pSV-GT) or control pSV-neo (HeLa/pSV-neo). Expression levels of GST-pi mRNA in HeLa/pSV-GT and HeLa/pSV-neo were measured by in situ hybridization using Digoxin-labelled cDNA probe. Results HeLa/pSV-GT expressed significantly high degree of GST-pi mRNA, whereas both HeLa/pSV-neo and HeLa cells had very low expression. Cytotoxicities of HeLa/pSV-GT and HeLa/pSV-neo with 4 anticancer drugs were measured by MTT assay. Drug concentrations for yielding 50% inhibition (IC50) in HeLa/pSV-GT by adriamycin, mitomycin and cisplatinum were 70.13 靏/mL, 10.95 靏/mL and 16.52 靏/mL, respectively. In contrast, IC50 in HeLa/pSV-neo was 10.34 靏/mL, 7.48 靏/mL and 13.70 靏/mL, respectively. The cytotoxicities of vincristine on both HeLa/pSV-GT and HeLa/pSV-neo were not significantly different. Conclusions Our findings suggest that HeLa/pSV-GT containing rat GST-pi cDNA is resistant to some anticancer drugs due to overexpression of GST-pi. Also, HeLa/pSV-GT cell line could serve as a useful cytogenetic model for further research.

In vitro study of the influence of GST-π gene transfer on drug-resistance of human cord blood CD34^+ cells

Objective:To investigate the influence of GST-π gene transfer on drug-resistance of human cord blood CD34 + cells.Methods:CD34 + cells were purified from cord blood from normal full-term pregnancy.Gene transduction into human cord blood CD34 + cells was carried out using GST-π gene containing retrovirus vector.The GST-π gene expression in transduced CD34 + cell was confirmed by RT-PCR.After confirmation of GST-π gene transfer,the transfected CD34 + cells were cultured by colony assay in the presence of carboplatin.Results:GST-π mRNA was detected in 30% of CFU-GM derived from GST-π gene transduced CD34 + cells.In vitro drug resistance test showed that the number of CFU-GM formed was significantly higher (2～3 fold) in GST-π gene transduced CD34 + cells than untransduced CD34 +cells.Conclusion:GST-π gene transfer can confer resistance to hematopoietic progenitors against carboplatin in vitro.

兔源肺炎克雷伯氏菌和大肠埃希氏菌的分离鉴定及小鼠感染试验

为确定某规模化兔场仔兔呼吸道感染合并腹泻引起死亡的原因,无菌采集病兔气管、肺、肝组织进行病毒和细菌检测。通过细菌分离培养、革兰氏染色、生化鉴定、16S rRNA序列同源性比对分析,确定分离菌株种属。通过药物敏感性试验、耐药基因检测及动物回归对分离菌株的耐药性和致病性进行分析。结果显示,病毒检测结果均为阴性;从同一只仔兔的肺脏、气管中分离得到2株肺炎克雷伯氏菌,分别将其命名为KF1、KQ2,从肝脏中分离得到1株大肠埃希氏菌并将其命名为EG3。药敏试验结果显示,菌株KF1、KQ2和EG3均对黏菌素和氨苄青霉素钠耐药,对阿米卡星和氟苯尼考敏感。3株菌均检出耐药基因mcr-1和bla TEM。动物致病性试验显示,KF1组小鼠5 h后死亡50%,24 h全部死亡;混合组小鼠12 h后全部死亡;KQ2和EG3组48 h全部死亡。以上研究表明,大肠埃希氏菌和肺炎克雷伯氏菌的混合感染是引起仔兔死亡的主要原因,3株分离株单独及混合感染均能引起试验小鼠死亡。

DNA-微阵列芯片检测技术与Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术在新疆维吾尔自治区结核分枝杆菌耐药性诊断中的应用

目的探索DNA-微阵列芯片检测技术(以下简称基因芯片技术)和利福平耐药实时荧光定量核酸扩增检测技术(Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术)检测新疆维吾尔自治区结核分枝杆菌中利福平和异烟肼耐药性的应用价值。方法收集2015年新疆维吾尔自治区结核病耐药监测菌株115株,对所有的菌株进行比例法药敏试验、基因芯片技术、Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术检测。以比例法药敏试验为“金标准”,分别计算基因芯片技术与Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术对结核分枝杆菌耐药性诊断的效能并进行评价。结果比例法药敏试验结果显示,利福平耐药患者40例(34.78%),异烟肼耐药患者48例(41.74%)。以比例法药敏试验结果为“金标准”,基因芯片技术检测结核分枝杆菌对利福平和异烟肼耐药耐药性诊断的灵敏度、特异度分别为80.00%、89.33%和77.08%、97.01%,Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术检测结核分枝杆菌对利福平耐药性诊断的灵敏度、特异度分别为92.50%、94.67%。基因芯片技术和Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术对利福平耐药患者的诊断效能差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论对于新疆维吾尔自治区结核病耐药监测菌株,基因芯片技术和Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术对耐药结核病的诊断均具有较高的灵敏度和特异度。Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF技术操作方法简单,检测时间短;基因芯片技术耐药检测范围广,耗时少,为新疆维吾尔自治区广泛开展耐药结核病快速检测提供了有力的技术支持。

不同策略提高间充质干细胞治疗肝纤维化:效果与潜在风险分析

背景:目前大量研究表明,间充质干细胞联合不同治疗策略能更有效地改善肝纤维化,抑制其向终末期肝病发展。目的:探讨间充质干细胞联合不同策略改善肝纤维化疗效优于单独间充质干细胞治疗的相关机制。方法:由第一作者应用计算机在中国知网、万方、维普、PubMed、Web of Science和Nature数据库中检索涉及间充质干细胞联合不同策略改善肝纤维化的研究,中文检索词为“间充质干细胞,肝纤维化,联合治疗,肝星状细胞”,英文检索词为“mesenchymal stem/stromal cells,liver/hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis,combination therapy,hepatic stellate cells/HSCs”,通过快速浏览文章题目及摘要进行筛选,排除与主题关系不密切的文章,最终筛选出104篇文献进行综述分析。结果与结论:间充质干细胞通过分化为肝样细胞、抑制肝星状细胞活化、免疫调节等机制来改善肝纤维化,但间充质干细胞移植后肝脏定植率低、存活率低、作用时间短等原因限制了其临床应用。间充质干细胞联合药物、基因修饰、细胞因子等多种治疗策略改善肝纤维化的疗效优于间充质干细胞单独治疗,并且间充质干细胞联合不同策略通过促进间充质干细胞归巢、抑制肝星状细胞活化、调节微环境、调控信号通路等机制更有效地改善肝纤维化。间充质干细胞还可以通过预处理、miRNA调控及与其他细胞联合,使间充质干细胞在减轻肝纤维化方面表现出更好的肝源性分化、归巢和存活功能。间充质干细胞联合不同策略并不能规避间充质干细胞单独治疗肝纤维化的潜在风险,而且这些策略(药物、基因修饰和细胞因子等)自身安全性也值得考虑。此外,间充质干细胞移植数量和途径等有待进一步研究。

骨关节炎的氧化应激相关基因和免疫浸润分析

背景:目前对于骨关节炎的发病机制尚不清楚,缺乏有效控制疾病的手段,且研究多集中在免疫领域,对氧化应激领域研究较少。目的:探索氧化应激与免疫浸润在骨关节炎中的作用,并预测相关miRNA和治疗药物。方法:从GEO数据库中获取GSE55235数据集(10例骨关节炎样本和10例健康对照样本)和GSE55457数据集(10例骨关节炎样本和10例健康对照样本)进行合并,获取差异表达基因,并结合氧化应激基因得到差异表达氧化应激基因。对差异表达氧化应激基因进行KEGG、GO富集分析,并使用GSEA富集分析评价骨关节炎通路和生物过程。使用STRING在线平台和Cytoscape软件建立了蛋白质相互作用网络,运行Degree算法得到关键基因,从GEO数据库中获取GSE1919作为验证数据集,对关键基因进行差异分析及受试者工作特征曲线分析,得到核心基因。此外,用CIBERSORT对免疫浸润进行评估,并探索核心基因与免疫细胞的相关性,使用TargetScan对核心基因进行miRNA预测及使用DSigDB数据库对靶点药物进行预测。结果与结论:①确定了65个差异表达氧化应激基因和5个核心基因(IL1B、CXCL8、MYC、NFKBIA、JUN);②富集分析结果显示,差异表达氧化应激基因的主要聚焦点包括氧化应激、白细胞介素17、破骨细胞分化、流体剪切应力以及动脉粥样硬化等通路;③5个核心基因的受试者工作特征曲线下面积均>0.85,说明对诊断骨关节具有良好的特异性和敏感性,且与免疫细胞密切关联;④miRNA的预测结果是hsa-miR-3937,治疗小分子药物包括二甲双胍、离子霉素和塞来昔布等。结果表明:骨关节炎中存在氧化应激与免疫浸润,且免疫浸润参与激活氧化应激。核心基因及预测的miRNA可作为诊断骨关节炎的新型标志物,预测的小分子药物可治疗骨关节炎。

工程化外泌体靶向递送药物的抗肿瘤效应

背景:当前治疗肿瘤的药物主要以化学药为主,但存在着耐药和不良反应等问题。外泌体药物递送系统不仅避免了人工合成纳米颗粒药物的毒性,而且增加了药物的生物利用度和生物相容性。通过生物、物理和化学方法对外泌体进行修饰进而打造成一种新型的纳米载药平台。目的:对外泌体药物递送系统的构建策略和在肿瘤疾病中的应用现状以及当前所面临的各种挑战进行了综述。方法:以“Exosomal,tumor,microvesicle,extracellular vesicles,engineered,therapeutics,characterization,isolation,drug delivery,targeting,modification strategies,physics,chemistry,biology”为英文检索词和“外泌体,药物递送,肿瘤”为中文检索词检索PubMed及中国知网数据库,最终纳入了132篇文献进行深入地归纳和探讨。结果与结论:①外泌体提取的技术手段,包括超速离心法、过滤法和试剂盒提取等,这些方法虽然能够高效地分离出外泌体,但是过程繁琐并且耗时较长,无法实现外泌体的大规模提取。②工程化外泌体主要分为4类:基因编辑工程化,通过基因改造提升功能;内源性工程化,利用炎症因子等预处理增强药物递送;外源性工程化,直接在外泌体中封装药物;混合型工程化,结合外泌体与脂质纳米颗粒形成新颗粒。目前部分工程化外泌体已进入癌症治疗的临床试验阶段,但多处于早期阶段。相比较而言,基因工程化外泌体因高靶向性和定制化潜力,被视为未来药物递送的重要方向。③实现工程化外泌体的临床转化还有诸多限制,在技术方面,大规模生产、纯化及载药效率等技术难题亟待解决;在生产方面,高昂成本及批次稳定性问题影响普及;在安全性方面,免疫原性及潜在毒性需全面评估;此外,监管政策的不完善及审批流程的复杂性也构成其临床转化的障碍。④未来需通过技术创新、成本控制、安全性提升及政策完善等多方面努力,推动工程化外泌体的临床转化进程。

Photostable and Biocompatible Fluorescent Silicon Nanoparticles for Imaging-Guided Co-Delivery of siRNA and Doxorubicin to Drug-Resistant Cancer Cells

The development of effective and safe vehicles to deliver small interfering RNA(siRNA) and chemotherapeutics remains a major challenge in RNA interference-based combination therapy with chemotherapeutics,which has emerged as a powerful platform to treat drug-resistant cancer cells.Herein,we describe the development of novel all-in-one fluorescent silicon nanoparticles(SiNPs)-based nanomedicine platform for imaging-guided co-delivery of siRNA and doxorubicin(DOX).This approach enhanced therapeutic efficacy in multidrug-resistant breast cancer cells(i.e.,MCF-7/ADR cells).Typically,the SiNP-based nanocarriers enhanced the stability of siRNA in a biological environment(i.e.,medium or RNase A) and imparted the responsive release behavior of siRNA,resulting in approximately 80% down-regulation of P-glycoprotein expression.Co-delivery of P-glycoprotein siRNA and DOX led to>35-fold decrease in the half maximal inhibitory concentration of DOX in comparison with free DOX,indicating the pronounced therapeutic efficiency of the resultant nanocomposites for drug-resistant breast cancer cells.The intracellular time-dependent release behaviors of siRNA and DOX were revealed through tracking the strong and stable fluorescence of SiNPs.These data provide valuable information for designing effective RNA interference-based co-delivery carriers.

Clinical relationship between MDR1 gene and gallbladder cancer

BACKGROUND: The most common mechanisms of mul- tidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells is the expression of an energy-dependent exfflux pump. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) encoded by MDR1 gene and multidrug associated protein (MRP) are well known proteins associated with MDR. In human cancers, the MDR1 gene expression is common in patients with intrinsic and acquired MDR. It is a major therapeutic problem in cancer chemotherapy. Previously we found that the MDR of HCC is related to MRP gene ex- pression and initiates the intrinsic MDR. The aim of this study is to study the expression of MDR1 gene encoding P-gp and MDR1 mRNA in primary gallbladder carcinoma, and analyze its clinical significance. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) S-P method and in situ polymerase chain reaction (ISPCR) were used to detect the expression of P-gp and MDR1 mRNA in 53 cases of untreated primary gallbladder carcinoma and 12 ca- ses of cholecystitis (archival paraffin-embedded tissues). RESULTS: The positive expression rates of P-gp and MDR1 mRNA in the 53 cases and 12 cases were 60.38%, 71.69% and 25.00%, 33.33%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The positive expression rate of P-gp and MDRlmRNA were 69.44%, 83.33% and 41.18%, 47.06% respectively in tissues in stage of Nevin against Nevin , (P<0.05). In well, moderately differentiated gallbladder carcinoma tissues, their expressions were 79.49%, 69.23% against 50.00%, 35.71% in low, undifferentiated tissues (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: MDR to gallbladder carcinoma is closely related to the intrinsic MDR and it provides an important evidence to reverse the MDR by detection of the MDR1gene. Meanwhile, MDR1 gene expression in gallbladder carcinoma is correlated with some biological characteris- tics , takes part in the carcinogenesis of gallbladder tissues, and acts as a valuable biomarker of prognosis.

pLoc-mGpos: Incorporate Key Gene Ontology Information into General PseAAC for Predicting Subcellular Localization of Gram-Positive Bacterial Proteins

The basic unit in life is cell.?It contains many protein molecules located at its different organelles. The growth and reproduction of a cell as well as most of its other biological functions are performed via these proteins. But proteins in different organelles or subcellular locations have different functions. Facing?the avalanche of protein sequences generated in the postgenomic age, we are challenged to develop high throughput tools for identifying the subcellular localization of proteins based on their sequence information alone. Although considerable efforts have been made in this regard, the problem is far apart from being solved yet. Most existing methods can be used to deal with single-location proteins only. Actually, proteins with multi-locations may have some special biological functions that are particularly important for drug targets. Using the ML-GKR (Multi-Label Gaussian Kernel Regression) method,?we developed a new predictor called “pLoc-mGpos” by in-depth extracting the key information from GO (Gene Ontology) into the Chou’s general PseAAC (Pseudo Amino Acid Composition)?for predicting the subcellular localization of Gram-positive bacterial proteins with both single and multiple location sites. Rigorous cross-validation on a same stringent benchmark dataset indicated that the proposed pLoc-mGpos predictor is remarkably superior to “iLoc-Gpos”, the state-of-the-art predictor for the same purpose.?To maximize the convenience of most experimental scientists, a user-friendly web-server for the new powerful predictor has been established at http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/pLoc-mGpos/, by which users can easily get their desired results without the need to go through the complicated mathematics involved.

Applications of Pattern Recognition in Drug Discovery

This is a brief account of the plenary talk given to the meeting of the Chinese Society of Chemical Science and Technology held in Oxford on 6 October 2001. The talk covered the application of pattern recognition techniques to discover molecules which will bind to the binding sites of proteins. Three situations were considered: the structure of the protein being unknown; the structure known but the binding site unknown; and finally, and this is the most important case for the future, both the structure and nature of the target site available in atomic detail. For this case we have developed a massively distributed computer program using a screensaver which now involves over one million personal computers, including over a thousand in China. The project will involve the screening of 3 5 billion small molecules against 16 protein targets, all of which are implicated in the process of cancer.

Suppression of P-gp induced multiple drug resistance in a drug resistant gastric cancer cell line by overexpression of Fas

AIM To observe the drug sensitizing effect andrelated mechanisms of fas gene transduction onhuman drug-resistant gastric cancer cellSGC7901/VCR(resistant to Vincristine).METHODS The cell cycle alteration wasobserved by FACS.The sensitivity of gastriccancer cells to apoptosis was determined by invitro apoptosis assay.The drug sensitization ofcells to several anti-tumor drugs was observedby MTT assay.Immunochemical method wasused to show expression of P-gp and Topo Ⅱ ingastric cancer cells.RESULTS Comparing to SGC7901 and pBK-SGC7901/VCR,fas-SGC7901/VCR showeddecreasing G2 cells and increasing S cells,theG2 phase fraction of pBK-SGC7901/VCR wasabout 3.0 times that of fas-SGC7901/VCR,but Sphase fraction of fas-SGC7901/VCR was about1.9 times that of pBK-SGC7901/VCR,indicatingS phase arrest of fas-SGC7901/VCR.FACS alsosuggested apoptosis of fas-SGC7901/VCR,fas-SGC7901/VCR was more sensitive to apoptosisinducing agent VM-26 than pBK-SGC7901/VCR.MTT assay showed increased sensitization offas-SGC7901/VCR to DDP,MMC and 5-FU,butsame sensitization to VCR according to pBK-SGC7901/VCR.SGC7901,pBK-SGC7901/ VCRand fas-SGC7901/VCR had positively stainedTopo Ⅱ equally.P-gp staining in pBK- SGC7901/VCR was stronger than in SG07901,but there was little staining of P-gp in fas.SGC7901/VCR.CONCLUSION fas gene transduction couldreverse the MDR of human drug-resistant gastriccancer cell SGC7901/VCR to a degree,possiblybecause of higher sensitization to apoptosis anddecreased expression of P-gp.