Jiongke Wang

Cloning, Tissue Distribution, and Functional Characterization of Chicken Glucagon Receptor

Glucagon has been reported to play an important role in hepatic glucose metabolism of vertebrates including birds. However, the molecular mechanism of its actions in birds remains largely unknown. In present study, the full-length cDNA of chicken glucagon receptor (GCGR) was first cloned from brain tissue using reverse transcription-PCR. This putative chicken GCGR (named cGCGR-s) is 496 amino acids (AA) long and shares high AA sequence identity with that of human (70%), rat (69%), mouse (69%), and Xenopus (64%), and a comparatively lower identity with goldfish (53%). In addition, a full-length cDNA encoding a novel glucagon receptor variant (named cGCGR-v1) of 554 AA was identified in this study. Sequence analysis revealed that this receptor variant arises from the retention of intron 4 (174 bp) and thus causes a 58-AA insertion at the large N-terminal extracellular domain. Using the pGL3-CRE-luciferase reporter system, we demonstrated that human glucagon could potently activate chicken GCGR-s and GCGR-v1 expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, confirming that both cGCGR-s and cGCGR-v1 are functional and able to couple to the intracellular cyclic adenosine mono-phosphate-protein kinase A signaling pathway. Using a reverse transcription-PCR assay, we further examined the expression of glucagon receptor in adult chicken tissues, including different regions of the brain. Glucagon receptor was shown to be highly expressed in liver and moderately or weakly expressed in other tissues examined. In the central nervous system, the greatest expression was consistently detected in the hypothalamus. Taken together, our data not only suggest that glucagon receptor plays a critical role in mediating the actions of glucagon in liver, but also imply that glucagon may have important roles in nonhepatic tissues, such as in the hypothalamus of brain in chickens.

The prognostic value of B7-H6 protein expression in human oral squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the expression and prognostic value of B7-H6 protein in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 50 oral squamous cell carcinoma samples, 10 oral leukoplakia (OLK) samples, and 17 normal controls were included in the analysis. The expression of B7-H6 in oral squamous cell carcinoma, OLK, and normal controls was evaluated by immunohistochemical assay. RESULTS The B7-H6 protein expression was significantly higher in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues than that in normal oral mucosa. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found between the expression of B7-H6 and differentiation, but not with age, sex, tumor size, lymph metastasis, clinical stage, or recurrence. Further, the survival curves showed that B7-H6 was an independent prognostic factor of overall survival and disease-free survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, multivariate survival analysis by COX proportional hazard regression model revealed that the recurrence, differentiation, and expression of B7-H6 were related to the prognosis. Lastly, we verified the prognostic value of B7-H6 in oral squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS B7-H6 may represent a new prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

The mechanism and function of circular RNAs in human diseases

ABSTRACT Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a recently discovered form of RNA. Initially, circRNAs were believed to result from errors during the process of gene transcription. However, after further investigation, scientists suggested that circRNAs are of great biological significance. CircRNAs show stability, conservation, abundance, and tissue and stage specificity. They can also function as miRNA sponges, regulate gene expression, and interact with proteins to affect cell behavior. Emerging evidence has also demonstrated that circRNAs participate or show abnormal expression in diseases, including central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancers, indicating their marked potential in the prediction and prognosis of diseases and clinical treatment.

RACK1 is an organ-specific prognostic predictor in OSCC

OBJECTIVES This study aims to verify that RACK1 is an organ-specific prognostic predictor in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The RACK1 expression level was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in a total of 342 OSCC patients from 3 independent cohorts. The multivariate hazard ratios for Overall Survival (OS) was determined by Cox proportional hazards regression model. OS was analyzed in 460 Head Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) patients from TCGA data set. The expression level of RACK1 was analyzed in 60 cases multiple organ tissue microarrays representing both normal and cancer tissues by IHC, and in TCGA database of mRNA abundance in cancers and paired normal tissues. RESULTS The median follow-up times of patients in the study was 74, 52, and 78 months. High expression of RACK1 was identified in tumors from 103 of 151 patients (68.2%), 51 of 83 patients (61.4%), and 59 of 108 patients (54.6%). Compared with low expression, high expression of RACK1 was strongly associated with worse OS, with HR of 0.5995 (95% CI, 0.3929 to 0.9147; P=0.0176), 0.4402 (95% CI, 0.2321 to 0.8348; P=0.0120), and 0.5010 (95% CI, 0.2886 to 0.8699; P=0.0141). This finding is consistent with TCGA HNSCC data (P=0.0276). Tissue microarrays analyses showed different protein expression level of RACK1 in multiple human carcinomas and this finding is consistent with the TCGA database analysis of RACK1 mRNA abundance. CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrated that RACK1 is a good independent organ-specific predictor of the risk of death in OSCC.

Correlation between prostate stem cell antigen gene expression and oral squamous cell carcinoma

The aetiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. Numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with cancer have been identified using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The present study was designed to identify common SNPs associated with cancer susceptibility and to evaluate their involvement in OSCC. Susceptible loci were identified by analysing a cancer GWAS catalogue. A multicentre case-control study using an OSCC and control population was performed for selected SNPs. The function of the selected locus and its associated gene was explored using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemistry. The association between genotypes and clinical parameters was assessed in 76 patients with OSCC. Rs2294008 located in the prostate stem cell antigen gene (PSCA) was selected. It was identified that the rs2294008 polymorphism was associated with OSCC susceptibility and PSCA may be involved in the development, progression and prognosis of OSCC.

AFF4 promotes tumorigenesis and tumor-initiation capacity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells by regulating SOX2

AFF4, an essential core of SEC, was overexpressed in HNSCC tissue and cell lines. AFF4 promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor-initiation capacity by regulating SOX2 in HNSCC cells, indicating AFF4 may serve as a potential therapeutic target of HNSCC.

Tuberculosis with atypical manifestations involving multiple sites of the oral cavity: A case study.

J Am Acad Dermatol 2012;66:e33-45. 4. Papp KA, Tyring S, Lahfa M, Prinz J, Griffiths CE, Nakanishi AM, et al. A global phase III randomized controlled trial of etanercept in psoriasis: Safety, efficacy, and effect of dose reduction. Br J Dermatol 2005;152:1304-12. 5. Mazzotta A, Esposito M, Costanzo A, Chimenti S. Efficacy and safety of etanercept in psoriasis after switching from other treatments: An observational study. Am J Clin Dermatol 2009;10:319-24.

Synthesis, Hirshfeld surface analyses and magnetism of a 1D Mn(II) complex

A new Mn-based complex of {[Mn(L) 2 (mi)]·H 2 O} n ( 1 ) (HL = p -hydroxy phenylacetic acid; mi = 1,1’-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole)), has been synthesized and structurally characterized. Single-crystal X-ray analyses reveal that compound 1 has a dinuclear Mn(II) unit linking by four carboxylate groups. The bridging N-donor ligand with mi links the Mn(II) centers into a 1D double chain. The detailed analyses of Hirschfeld surface and fingerprint plots provide insight into the nature of non-covalent interactions in the title compound. Furthermore, an attempt was made to explain the magnetic property of compound 1 using atoms in molecule (AIM) theory. KEY WORDS : Supramolecular architecture, Hirschfeld surface analysis, Magnetism Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2016 , 30(1), 111-118. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v30i1.10

Synthesis, characterization, and mechanism studies of bis(imino)pyridine ligands and their Cr(III) compounds

Two new bis(imino)pyridine ligands L1, L2 (L1 = 2,6-bis[1-(4-bromophenylimino)]pyridine, L2 = 2,6-bis[1-(4-methylphenylimino)]pyridine) have been prepared. Their compounds [CrCl3L1] (I) and [Cr(Cl)(μ-Cl)(L2′)]2 (II) (L2′ = 6-bis(6-methylquinoline)pyridine) for olefin oligomerization were obtained by hydrothermal methods, during which L2′ was appeared from L2, and characterized by elemental analysis, single-crystal X-ray analysis (CIF files CCDC nos. 1025448 (I),1025447 (II)), IR spectra and melting point test. Compound I is a mononuclear compound, while compound II, bridged with the chlorine atoms, is a binuclear compound. The transformation mechanism between L2 and L2′ is also studied, and the possible reason is due to the presence of the electron-donating groups as substituents on L2. The subsequent studies on that will be carried on.

Syntheses, structure, and luminescence of two new 1D Cd(II) complexes

Two Cd-based complexes with chemical formulae {[Cd(L)(2,2′-Bipy)] · 0.5H2O}n (I) and [Cd(L)(3-Mp)2]n (II) (H2L = 3,5-dibromosalicylaldehyde salicylhydrazone; 2,2′-Bipy = 2,2′-pyridine, 3-Mp = 3-methylpyridine), have been synthesized and structurally characterized by X-ray single-crystal diffraction (CIF files CCDC nos. 1044341 (I), 1044342 (II)). Furthermore, the luminescence properties of compounds I and II have been investigated.