hepg2

Chronic inflammation is increasingly recognized as an important component of tumorigenesis and metabolic diseases. The roles of microRNA149* (miRNA149*) in inflammation remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that miR-149* is a suppressor of STAT3-mediated inflammation. MiR-149*-/- mice were generated with CRISPR/CAS9 technique. In a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation model, miR-149*-/- mice show more severe liver injury and inflammation, compared with wild-type (WT) mice. MiR-149*-/- mice also displayed elevated messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of interleukin (IL)-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), complement C3 (C3) and IL-4 in response to LPS...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a subtype of malignant liver cancer with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. It is noteworthy that mechanical forces in tumor microenvironment play a pivotal role in mediating the behaviors and functions of tumor cells. As an instrumental type of mechanical forces in vivo, fluid shear stress (FSS) has been reported having potent physiologic and pathologic effects on cancer progression. However, the time-dependent mechanochemical transduction in HCC induced by FSS remains unclear...

Three new cembrene diterpenoids, sarcoehrenbergilid A-C (1-3), along with four known diterpenoids, sarcophine (4), (+)-7α,8β-dihydroxydeepoxysarcophine (5), sinulolide A (6), and sinulolide B (7), and one steroid, sardisterol (8), were isolated and characterized from a solvent extract of the Red Sea soft coral Sarcophyton ehrenbergi. Chemical structures were elucidated by NMR and MS analyses with absolute stereochemistry determined by X-ray analysis. Since these isolated cembrene diterpenes contained 10 or more carbons in a large flexible ring, conformer stabilities were examined based on density functional theory calculations...

In this study, a multicomponent nanodiamonds (NDs)-based targeting drug delivery system, cetuximab-NDs-cisplatin bioconjugate, combining both specific targeting and enhanced therapeutic efficacy capabilities, is developed and characterized. The specific targeting ability of cetuximab-NDs-cisplatin system on human liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells is evaluated through epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) blocking experiments, since EGFR is over-expressed on HepG2 cell membrane. Besides, cytotoxic evaluation confirms that cetuximab-NDs-cisplatin system could significantly inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells, and the therapeutic activity of this system is proven to be better than that of both nonspecific NDs-cisplatin conjugate and specific EGF-NDs-cisplatin conjugate...

Mitochondria are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Ca(2+) uptake is one of the important functions of the organelle for maintenance of cellular Ca(2+) homeostasis. In pathological conditions such as ischemia reperfusion injury, Ca(2+) overload into mitochondria induces mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), a critical step for cell death. Because inhibition of MPT is a promising approach to protecting cells and organs, it is important for drug discovery to identify novel chemicals or mechanisms to inhibit MPT...

Bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs) have come forth into notice as possible important agent to mediate host-pathogen interactions. In this scientific research, the authors have tried to find out the effect of EVs derived from Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LDEVs) on the apoptosis induction in HepG2 cell line. The EVs were purified from the conditioned medium of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG using ultrafiltration and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of purified LDEVs and the cytotoxicity and their effects on the expression of bcl-2 and bax genes were assessed by the MTT assay and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, respectively...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a purified polysaccharide (PPPF) from pumpkin fruit on the Janus activated kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling during apoptotic process. The results showed that PPPF or STAT3 siRNA inhibits the cell growth of HepG2 cells via induction of apoptosis. Moreover, PPPF is able to suppress both constitutive and IL-6-induced phosphorylation of STAT3 (on Tyr705) and subsequent nuclear translocation in cancer cells. Such inhibition is found to be achieved through down-regulation of constitutive phosphorylation of JAK2, but not JAk1, c-Src, ERK1/2, and Akt, which means STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation in HepG2 cells following PPPF treatment is associated with a reduction in JAK2 activity...

The mechanism of dsRNA-induced gene activation (RNAa) is being gradually unveiled. The plentiful evidence that it existed in mammalian species other than human demonstrated that dsRNA-mediated RNAa is a conservative phenomenon. Simultaneously, accumulating evidence suggested that microRNAs could activate gene expression by targeting promoter. Nevertheless, it is ambiguous whether microRNA-induced gene activation in different human cells is a common phenomenon. The study we performed verified that miR-1236-3p (miR-1236) and miR-370-5p can activate p21 expression in bladder cancer (BCa) T24, EJ cells, and non-small-cell lung carcinoma A549 cells, while in hepatocellular HepG2 cells both microRNAs cannot effectively induce the expression of P21(WAF1/CIP1) (p21)...

Stress induced BSA (bovine serum albumin) protein aggregation is effectively mitigated in vitro by TUDCA (tauroursodeoxycholic acid) than by PBA (4- phenylbutyric acid), chemical chaperones approved by FDA for the treatment of biliary cirrhosis and urea cycle disorders respectively. TUDCA, unlike PBA, enhances trypsin mediated digestion of BSA. TUDCA activates PERK, an ER-resident kinase that phosphorylates the alpha-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor2 (eIF2α) and promotes the expression of activated transcription factor 4 (ATF4) in HepG2 cells...

BACKGROUND: Recently, it is reported that asparagine synthetase (ASNS) is an independent predictor of surgical survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. It is also reported that activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) expression is decreased in HCC patients. So in the present study, we explored the relationship between ASNS and ATF6, and whether ASNS expression was associated with HCC. METHODS: ATF6 was over expressed in 3 HCC cell lines (HepG2, HepG2...

BACKGROUND: Many inflammatory responses including chemotaxis, production of nitric oxide, and modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in immunological cells are mediated by p38MAPK. Due to its pivotal role, p38MAPK has been extensively explored as a molecular target for inhibition of chronic inflammation; however, it has not been successful so far due to serious toxicity issues. Among several downstream substrates of p38, mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2) has been reported to be a direct and essential downstream component in regulation of innate immune and inflammatory responses...

The challenging part of this work was to research the potential aspects of sodium alginate (SA)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-bovin serum albumin (BSA) coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4-SA-PVA-BSA) as a drug delivery system for doxorubicin (DOX). The anticancer drug doxorubicin was selected as a model drug which is powerful for numerous cancer treatments. Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method. The mixture solution of Fe3O4-sodium alginate (SA) - doxorubicin (DOX) was crosslinked with Ca(2+) to form (Fe3O4-SA-DOX) nanoparticles and addition of PVA and BSA with (Fe3O4-SA-DOX) nanoparticles was prepared by coating procedure...

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) can be chemically modified by doping or functionalization to change the chemical and surface properties. These characteristic makes to CNT candidates for multiple applications including medical field in cardiovascular area. A novel method to CNT functionalization by formation of two compounds: α-bromoacid and the organic compound 2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), will be discussed in this article. According to results, CNT are suggested like candidates to repel oxidized low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) to prevent restenosis...

This study aims to investigate in in vivo and in vitro models of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) the enzymatic metabolism of α-tocopherol (vitamin E) and its relationship to vitamin E-responsive genes with key role in the lipid metabolism and detoxification of the liver. The experimental models included mice fed a high-fat diet combined or not with fructose (HFD+F) and HepG2 human hepatocarcinoma cells treated with the lipogenic agents palmitate, oleate or fructose. CYP4F2 protein, a cytochrome P-450 isoform with proposed α-tocopherol ω-hydroxylase activity, decreased in HFD and even more in HFD+F mice liver; this finding was associated with increased hepatic levels of α-tocopherol and decreased formation of the corresponding long-chain metabolites α-13-hydroxy and α-13-carboxy chromanols...

Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) is a master regulator of antioxidant and detoxification activities that can eliminate reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced via irradiation. However, Nrf2 overexpression in liver cancer cells may cause both radioresistance and chemoresistance. Reducing Nrf2 levels can enhance the radiosensitivity of HepG2 cells. Wingless/int-3A (Wnt3A) is a Wnt family protein that mainly activates the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Recent studies showed that the Axin1-GSK-3β protein complex, a component of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, can capture Nrf2 and facilitate its ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation in the cytoplasm...

Coreopsis tinctoria (snow chrysanthemum) has been reported to exert antihyperlipidemic effects. The present study aimed to identify the active compounds of Coreopsis tinctoria and to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying its effects on lipid dysregulation by measuring lipid levels, reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and fatty acid synthesis. The present results demonstrated that snow chrysanthemum aqueous extracts significantly reduced serum lipid levels and oxidative stress in vivo. The main compounds that were isolated were identified as flavanomarein (compound 1) and eriodictyol 7‑O‑β‑D glucopyranoside (compound 2)...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that plays critical roles in the regulation of many important physiological processes. In the present study, the 1686-bp PPARα promoter for yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco was first cloned and characterized. The transcription start site (TSS) of PPARα gene was mapped using RLM-5'RACE method. The luciferase vectors were constructed and transiently transfected into HepG2 cells and HEK293 cells, respectively, for functional analysis of promoters...

Nicotine is a natural component of tobacco plants and is responsible for the addictive properties of tobacco. Nicotine has been recognized to result in oxidative stress by inducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The purpose of this work was to estimate the hepatotoxicity effect of nicotine on viability and on antioxidant defense system in cultures of HepG2 cell line and the other hand, ameliorative effect of querctin (Q) as an antioxidant was analyzed. Nicotine induced concentration dependent loss in HepG2 cell line viability...

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and unfolded protein response (UPR) are involved in anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drugs and alcohol-induced liver disease in a significant number of patients infected with HIV. However, the precise mechanism by which the drugs and alcohol cause ER stress remains elusive. We found that ritonavir-boosted lopinavir (RL) activated two canonical UPR branches without activation of the third canonical activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) branch in either HepG2 cells or primary mouse hepatocytes...

Folium Microcos (FM), the leaves of Microcos paniculata L., shows various biological functions including antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory effect. However, its therapeutic potential in acute liver injury is still unknown. This study investigated the hepatoprotective effect and underlying mechanisms of the polyphenol-enriched fraction (FMF) from Folium Microcos. FMF exhibited strong free radical scavenging activities and prevented HepG2/Hepa1-6 cells from hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) induced ROS production and apoptosis in vitro...