Snail

Distant metastasis is the primary barrier for the successful treatment of patients with colorectal cancer, and thus, searching for new therapeutic targets by further exploring the molecular mechanisms of colorectal cancer metastasis is important. In this study, we investigated the biological and clinical significance of RASSF6 in colorectal cancer as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that low RASSF6 expression corresponds to a poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients, and low RASSF6 expression is distinctly associated with tumour progression...

Snail, a zinc-finger transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin expression, is one of the key inducers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in epithelial cancer. In breast cancer, EMT has been associated with malignancies, including metastasis, cancer stem-like properties, and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In this study, we analysed the role of Snail in the highly metastatic mesenchymal TUBO‑P2J mouse breast cancer cells, by loss of function using short hairpin RNA. Though silencing Snail did not restore the E-cadherin expression or induce morphological changes, Snail silencing significantly ablated in vitro and in vivo metastatic potentials...

The giant triton snail (Charonia tritonis) is one of the few natural predators of the adult Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS), a corallivore that has been damaging to many reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Charonia species have large salivary glands (SGs) that are suspected to produce either a venom and/or sulphuric acid which can immobilize their prey and neutralize the intrinsic toxic properties of COTS. To date, there is little information on the types of toxins produced by tritons. In this paper, the predatory behaviour of the C...

Our study aims to investigate the roles that microRNA-214 (miR-214) plays in the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) process and the development of interstitial cystitis (IC) in postmenopausal women by targeting Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2). IC bladder tissues and adjacent normal bladder tissues were collected from postmenopausal women. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was conducted. The target relationship between miR-214 and Mfn2 was determined by a dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) were extracted from postmenopausal rats and assigned to the blank, mimics, miR-214 inhibitors, mimics negative control (NC), inhibitors NC, Mfn2 siRNA, miR-214 inhibitors and Mfn2 siRNA groups...

Objective: To investigate the abundance of human antigen R (HuR) in small airway epithelial cells stimulated by cigarette smoke extract (CSE) as well as the role of HuR in mediating snail which is recognized as a key transcription factor in regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Methods: Human small airway epithelial cells (HSAEpiC) cultured in vitro were exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to model COPD status. Real-time PCR and western blotting analysis were used in detecting HuR protein and mRNA expression in cells with CSE which were divided into 5 groups: a control group, a 1%-24 h group, a 3%-24 h group, a 1%-48 h group and a 3%-48 h group...

The golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, is one of the world's 100 most notorious invasive alien species. Knowledge about the critical climate variables that limit the global distribution range of the snail, as well as predictions of future species distributions under climate change, is very helpful for management of snail. In this study, the climatically suitable habitats for this kind of snail under current climate conditions were modeled by biomod2 and projected to eight future climate scenarios (2 time periods [2050s, 2080s] × 2 Representative Concentration Pathways [RCPs; RCP2...

This article reports a successful removal of CaCO3 from snail and periwinkle shells for the purpose of producing high quality chitin for possible application as bio-fillers in bone fixation materials. Experiment was designed with varying concentrations of acid and alkali for demineralization, deproteinization and deacetylation of the samples. Thermal characteristics, morphology, degree of de-acetylation, crystalline structure and hydrogen bonding characteristics of the extracted chitin were examined. Infra-red spectra, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction patterns show that demineralization with 1...

The French heartworm Angiostongylus vasorum is found in European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and dog populations, where it appears to be spreading geographically. Once introduced into new areas, it establishes in local fox populations, typically to over 50% prevalence in a few years. High susceptibility and constant excretion of first stage larvae (L1) by the definitive hosts are prerequisites for sustaining high parasite biomass in a particular habitat. The present study explores the hypothesis that repeated ingestion of gastropods in nature will result in accumulation of adult worms and elevated excretion of L1 in feces...

Expression pattern and biological roles of TRIM22 remains unknown in most human cancers. The present study aims to discover its clinical significance and function in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immunohistochemistry was used to examine TRIM22 expression in 126 cases of NSCLC specimens. TRIM22 protein was upregulated in 70/126 (55.6%) non-small cell lung cancer tissues compared with normal lung tissue. TRIM22 overexpression was associated with advanced TNM stage, positive nodal metastasis and poor prognosis...

Achatina fulica (Lissachatina fulica) is one of the most invasive species found across the globe causing a significant damage to crops, vegetables, and horticultural plants. This terrestrial snail is native to east Africa and spread to different parts of the world by introductions. India, a hot spot for biodiversity of several endemic gastropods, has witnessed an outburst of this snail population in several parts of the country posing a serious threat to crop loss and also to human health. With an objective to evaluate the genetic diversity of this snail, we have sampled this snail from different parts of India and analyzed its haplotype diversity by means of 16S rDNA sequence information...

Phenotype transition of peritoneum is an early mechanism of peritoneal fibrosis. Metformin, 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator, has recently received a new attention due to its preventive effect on organ fibrosis and cancer metastasis by inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We investigated the effect of metformin on EMT of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC) and animal model of peritoneal dialysis (PD). TGF-β1-induced EMT in HPMC was ameliorated by metformin...

The Lysine-specific demethylase 1, KDM1A/LSD1, plays a central role in the regulation of Pol II transcription through the removal of the activation mark (mono- and dimethyl lysine 4 of histone H3). LSD1 is often deregulated in human cancers, and it is frequently overexpressed in human solid cancers and leukemia. LSD1 regulates the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) in epithelial cells, i.e., the ability to transition into mesenchymal cells, to lose homotypic adhesion and to acquire migratory capacity. From its initial discovery as a component of the Snail complex, multiple studies highlighted the causative role of LSD1 in cell invasiveness and EMT, describing its direct involvement in different molecular processes through the interaction with specific partners...

The metacercariae of Artyfechinostomum malayanum (Leiper, 1911) Mendheim, 1943 were discovered in Pila sp. snails purchased from a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. They were isolated from the snails using the artificial digestion technique and were orally fed to 2 hamsters, 1 rat, and 2 mice to obtain the adult flukes. The metacercariae were round, 145-165 μm in diameter, having a cyst wall of 6-10 μm in thickness, a head collar and collar spines, and characteristic features of excretory granules. Adult flukes were recovered in the small intestines of the animals at days 14 and 32 post infection and were morphologically observed using a light microscope and a scanning electron microscope...

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 240 million people in 78 countries require treatment for schistosomiasis, an endemic disease caused by trematodes of the genus Schistosoma. In Brazil, Schistosoma mansoni is the only species representative of the genus whose passage through an invertebrate host, snails of the genus Biomphalaria, is obligatory before infecting a mammalian host, including humans. The availability of the genome and transcriptome of B. glabrata makes studying the regulation of gene expression, particularly the regulation of miRNA and piRNA processing pathway genes, possible...

Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is a secreted protein which is involved in various biological processes. SPARC expression is associated with tumor metastasis and poor prognosis in several types of cancer. However, the SPARC-induced signaling pathway was not fully understood in head and neck cancer. In this study, our results showed that SPARC treatment promoted cell proliferation and migration in head and neck cancer cell lines FaDu and Detroit 562. In addition, SPARC induced expression of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulators, including Slug, Snail, and Twist in Detroit 562...

Conotoxins in the venom of cone snails (Conus spp.) are a mixture of active peptides that work as blockers, agonists, antagonists, or inactivators of various ion channels. Recently we reported a high-throughput method to identify 215 conotoxin transcripts from the Chinese tubular cone snail, C. betulinus. Here, based on the previous datasets of four transcriptomes from three venom ducts and one venom bulb, we explored ion channel-based conotoxins and predicted their related ion channel receptors. Homologous analysis was also performed for the most abundant ion channel protein, voltage-gated potassium (Kv; with Kv1...

BACKGROUND: The role of cancer cell FOXP3 in tumorigenesis is conflicting. We aimed to study FOXP3 expression and regulation, function and clinical implication in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: One hundred and six patients with histologically-confirmed NSCLC who underwent surgery were recruited for the study. Tumor samples and NSCLC cell lines were used to examine FOXP3 and its related molecules. Various cell functions related to tumorigenesis were performed...

Human chorionic gonadotropin β (β-hCG) is a well-known and accurate marker for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnancy, trophoblastic tumors and ovarian germ cell tumors. Recently, β-hCG has been found to be closely related to poor prognosis and metastasis in various other malignant tumors, while its role and mechanism in ovarian cancer is still unclear. In the present study, lentiviral‑mediated transfection and small interfering RNA (siRNA) were used to alter β-hCG expression in the ovarian cancer cell lines ES-2 and SKOV3, respectively...

Promoted by sexual selection, males usually adopt different ways to increase their fertilization chances. In many insect taxa males donate nuptial gifts, together with sperm, which represent a valuable additional nutrient source that females can use to provision eggs. This has also been suggested to occur in simultaneous hermaphrodites, organisms with both sex functions. In theory, donation of nuptial gifts or extra nutrients might work in hermaphrodites that mate unilaterally (one-way donation of ejaculates), but will not be effective when these organisms mate reciprocally (mutual exchange of ejaculates), since on average each partner would receive the amount it also transfers...

Environmental monitoring typically assumes samples and sampling activities to be representative of the population being studied. Given a limited budget, an appropriate sampling strategy is essential to support detecting temporal trends of contaminants. In the present study, based on real chemical analysis data on polybrominated diphenyl ethers in snails collected from five subsites in Tianmu Lake, computer simulation is performed to evaluate three sampling strategies by the estimation of required sample size, to reach a detection of an annual change of 5% with a statistical power of 80% and 90% with a significant level of 5%...