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Herein, we constructed urchin‐like TiO2 hollow nanospheres (HNSs) by hydrothermal targeted etching, and used it as a substrate to load semi‐metal 1T′‐MoS2 nanosheets as effective nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) electrocatalysts. 1T′‐MoS2/TiO2 HNSs composites display outstanding NRR activity with the highest NH3 yield of 29.62 μg h−1 mg−1cat. at −0.75 V versus RHE. Besides, the highest FE of 24.9% is obtained at −0.65 V. The remarkable NRR performance is attributed to the high conductivity of 1T′‐MoS2 and the urchin‐like structure of TiO2 hollow nanospheres. DFT calculations display that the 1T′‐MoS2 in 1T′‐MoS2/TiO2 makes the activation and further reduction of *N2 more thermodynamically favorable than pristine TiO2, contributing to better NRR catalytic activities. 15N isotopic labeling experiment reveals that N in produced NH3 comes from N2 of electrolyte.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation have benefited from treatment of reversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as gefitinib and erlotinib. Acquisition of a secondary mutation in EGFR T790M is the most common mechanism of resistance to first generation EGFR TKIs, resulting in therapeutic failure. Afatinib is a second generation of EGFR TKI that showed great efficacy against tumors bearing the EGFR T790M mutation, but it failed to show the improvement on overall survival of lung cancer patients with EGFR mutations possibly because of novel acquired resistance mechanisms. Currently, there are no therapeutic options available for lung cancer patients who develop acquired resistance to afatinib. To identify novel resistance mechanism(s) to afatinib, we developed afatinib resistant cell lines from a parental human-derived NSCLC cell line, H1975, harboring both EGFR L858R and T790M mutations. We found that activation of the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) signaling pathway contributes to afatinib resistance in NSCLC cells harboring the T790M mutation. IGF1R knockdown not only significantly sensitizes resistant cells to afatinib, but also induces apoptosis in afatinib resistance cells. In addition, combination treatment with afatinib and linsitinib shows more than additive effects on tumor growth in in vivo H1975 xenograft. Therefore, these finding suggest that IGF1R inhibition or combination of EGFR-IGF1R inhibition strategies would be potential ways to prevent or potentiate the effects of current therapeutic options to lung cancer patients demonstrating resistance to either first or second generation EGFR TKIs © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a transmembrane heterotetramer that is activated by Insulin-like growth factor 1 and is crucial for tumor transformation and survival of malignant cells. Importantly, IGF-1R overexpression has been reported in many different cancers, implicating this receptor as a potential target for anticancer therapy. Picropodophyllin (PPP) is a potent inhibitor of IGF-1R and has antitumor efficacy in several cancer types. However, the chemopreventive effect of PPP in lung tumorigenesis has not been investigated. In this study, we investigated the chemopreventive activity of PPP in a mouse lung tumor model. Benzo(a)pyrene was used to induce lung tumors, and PPP was given by nasal inhalation to female A/J mice. Lung tumorigenesis was assessed by tumor multiplicity and tumor load. PPP significantly decreased tumor multiplicity and tumor load. Tumor multiplicity and load were decreased by 52% and 78% respectively by 4 mg/ml aerosolized PPP. Pharmacokinetics analysis showed good bioavailability of PPP in lung and plasma. Treatment with PPP increased staining for cleaved caspase-3 and decreased Ki-67 in lung tumors, suggesting that the lung tumor inhibitory effects of PPP were partially through inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis. In human lung cancer cell lines, PPP inhibited cell proliferation, and also inhibited phosphorylation of IGF-1R downstream targets, AKT and MAPK, ultimately resulting in increased apoptosis. PPP also reduced cell invasion in lung cancer cell lines. In view of our data, PPP merits further investigation as a promising chemopreventive agent for human lung cancer. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This work describes the assessment of a de novo synthetic affinity ligand for recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO), based on the multicomponent Ugi reaction. Four Ugi ligands were designed based on the X-ray crystallographic structure of the complex between human erythropoietin and site 1 of its cell-surface receptor (EPObp)2; screening of the ligands with pure rHuEPO samples identified a lead ligand (A9C10I8) immobilized on aldehyde-functionalized agarose beads, which was able to bind and elute erythropoietin, as determined by SDS–PAGE and Western blot analyses. Furthermore, small-scale affinity chromatography performed on the immobilized adsorbent showed its ability to isolate rHuEPO from a spiked mammalian cell supernatant with a purity of ∼80%, as estimated with gel densitometry. This approach could lead to the development of a cost-effective downstream process for rHuEPO, as an alternative to the current multi-step purification protocols. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013;110: 3063–3069. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Green tea is a promising chemopreventive agent for lung cancer. Multiple signaling events have been reported, however, the relative importance of these mechanisms in mediating the chemopreventive function of green tea is unclear. In the present study, to examine the involvement of AP-1 in green tea polyphenols induced tumor inhibition, human NSCLC cell line H1299 and mouse SPON 10 cells were identified as AP-1 dependent, as these two lines exhibit high constitutive AP-1 activity, and when TAM67 expression was induced with doxycycline, cell growth was inhibited and correlated with suppressed AP-1 activity. RNA-seq was used to determine the global transcriptional effects of AP-1 inhibition and also uncover the possible involvement of AP-1 in tea polyphenols induced chemoprevention. TAM67 mediated changes in gene expression were identified, and within down-regulated genes, AP-1 was identified as a key transcription regulator. RNA-seq analysis revealed that Polyphenon E-treated cells shared 293 commonly down-regulated genes within TAM67 expressing H1299 cells, and by analysis of limited Chip-seq data, over 10% of the down-regulated genes contain a direct AP-1 binding site, indicating that Polyphenon E elicits chemopreventive activity by regulating AP-1 target genes. Conditional TAM67 expressing transgenic mice and NSCLC cell lines were used to further confirm that the chemopreventive activity of green tea is AP-1 dependent. Polyphenon E lost its chempreventive function both in vitro and in vivo when AP-1 was inhibited, indicating that AP-1 inhibition is a major pathway through which green tea exhibits chemopreventive effects.

Betanin, also called beetroot red, has been extensively used as a food colorant. In this study, the chemopreventive activity of betanin by oral consumption was investigated in two mouse lung tumor models. Vinyl carbamate (VC) and benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) were used to induce lung tumors, and female A/J mice were treated with betanin in drinking water. Betanin significantly decreased tumor multiplicity and tumor load induced by both carcinogens. Tumor multiplicity and tumor load were decreased by 20% and 39% in the VC lung model, and by 46% and 65% in the B(a)P lung model, respectively. Betanin reduced the number of CD31+ endothelial microvessels and increased the expression of caspase-3, suggesting that the lung tumor inhibitory effects were through induction of apoptosis and inhibition of angiogenesis. Betanin also induced apoptosis through activated caspase-3, -7, -9, and PARP in human lung cancer cell lines. Our data show that betanin significantly inhibits lung tumorigenesis in A/J mice and merits investigation as a chemopreventive agent for human lung cancer.

In this study, we evaluated chemopreventive efficacy of Antitumor B, a Chinese herbal mixture of six plants (Sophora tonkinensis, Polygonum bistorta, Prunella vulgaris, Sonchus arvensis L., Dictamnus dasycarpus, and Dioscorea bulbifera) on the development of 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) induced oral squamous cell carcinomas in A/J mice. Antitumor B, delivered through diet, inhibited 4NQO-induced oral cancer development by 59.19%. The reduction of cell proliferation appears to be associated with efficacy of Antitumor B against 4NQO-induced oral cancer in A/J mice. The expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and phosphorylated EGFR (Tyr1173) were down-regulated by Antitumor B. Tissue distribution of Antitumor B was determined using obacunone, matrine, and maackiain as marker chemicals. We found significant amounts of obacunone, matrine, and maackiain in the blood after 1-wk treatment. The concentrations of these three compounds did not increase further at 18 wk, suggesting that plasma concentrations had reached a steady-state level at 1 wk. There was no significant body weight loss and there was no other obvious sign of toxicity in Antitumor B-treated mice. These results suggest that Antitumor B is a promising agent for human oral cancer chemoprevention. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In this study, altered gene expression in five methylnitrosourea (MNU)-induced rat mammary adenocarcinomas was investigated using a newly developed competitive cDNA library screening assay. In order to detect the differentially expressed cDNA transcripts, three cDNA libraries (rat mammary, rat liver, and rat kidney) with over 18,000 clones were differentially screened with competing normal and neoplastic mammary cDNA probes. Ninety-eight clones indicated by competitive hybridization to be differentially expressed in tumors were verified by dot-blot hybridization analysis. Of these clones, 45 were found to be overexpressed while 53 were underexpressed in tumors. Forty-five of the confirmed clones were further analyzed by single-pass cDNA sequence determination. Four clones showed homology with cytochrome oxidase subunit I, polyoma virus PTA noncoding region, cytoplasmic beta-actin, and mouse secretory protein containing thrombospondin motifs. Further investigation into the potential roles of these identified genes should contribute significantly to our understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) of rat mammary tumorigenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. Suppls. 28/29:117–124. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

This study was designed to test the chemopreventive potential of perillyl alcohol, an inhibitor of farnesyltransferase, in a mouse lung tumor bioassay. Perillyl alcohol is a naturally occurring monoterpene found in lavender, cherries, and mint. We have shown previously that the majority of lung tumors in this bioassay have an activating mutation in the K-ras gene, which occurs early in the development of mouse lung carcinogenesis. The Ras protein undergoes a series of post-translational modifications, the first of which is farnesylation at the cysteine of the C-terminal CAAX motif. These modifications lead to the anchoring of Ras p21 to the plasma membrane in its biologically active state. Activated Ras p21 couples growth regulatory signals from receptor tyrosine kinases to cytoplasmic second messengers. In a preliminary study, we determined the maximum tolerated dose of perillyl alcohol to be 75 mg/kg body weight. For the bioassay, 5-week-old male (C3H/HeJ X A/J) F1 hybrid mice were randomized into trial groups, and treated with perillyl alcohol three times per week i.p., starting 1 week prior to initiation with the carcinogen NNK, and continuing for 22 weeks after initiation. Our results show a 22% reduction in tumor incidence, and a 58% reduction in tumor multiplicity. Our study demonstrates that perillyl alcohol is an effective chemopreventive compound in the mouse lung tumor bioassay.

Mammary tumors were induced in 48-52-day-old female Sprague-Dawley rats in metestrus or diestrus with a single jugular injection of MNU (50 mg/kg). Control rats received the saline vehicle (Group 4 n = 9). Rats were fed 4% Teklad diet containing either 0 (Group 3, n = 20) or 782 mg 4-HPR/kg diet. 4-HPR supplementation was initiated either 1 week prior to (Group 1, n = 14) or 4 weeks following MNU administration (Group 2, n = 19). Neither body weight nor food intake differed significantly between treatment groups. Feeding of 4-HPR 1 week prior to tumor induction reduced the number of tumors (0.8 +/- .2) when compared to MNU control rats (2.1 +/- .4). Immunohistochemical staining of mammary tumor sections for PCNA was quantitated by microdensitometry and expressed as an HSCORE. No differences in HSCORE were observed between tumor groups although the percentage of nuclear area occupied by intermediate and darkly stained nuclei was reduced in the late 4-HPR group. GC-->AT transitions in codon 12 of the H-ras gene were detected in 50% (12/24) of MNU control tumors, 60% (6/10) of early 4-HPR tumors, and 38% (6/16) of late 4-HPR tumors. Mutation rates did not differ significantly between groups. 4-HPR appears to be a more effective chemopreventive when fed during the initiation period.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to comprehensively scan the whole genome of 6 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) lesions, 7 cervical squamous cell carcinomas, 1 cervical adenosquamous cell carcinoma, and 2 cervical adenocarcinomas for multiple genetic alterations, such as DNA amplification, chromosome deletion, loss of heterozygosity, and chromosome translocation, as compared with the paired normal tissues. DNA spot analysis of the genomic 2-dimensional gels was performed by a computer color overlay system and by spot recognition software allowing for objective spot comparison and quantitation. Nine spots were found to be amplified in the cervical carcinomas while two amplified spots were detected in the CIN III lesions. Fourteen DNA spots were either reduced in their intensity or absent in cervical carcinomas as compared to their normal paired tissues. Reduction of intensity in 6 spots was observed in the 5 CIN III lesions. These genetic alterations may represent changes in cancer genes that are associated with human cervical carcinogenesis. Further characterization of these alterations may be significant to the understanding of cervical tumorigenesis and to the development of biomarkers for clinical trials in cancer chemoprevention.