Project description:Analysis of BRMS1 KD-induced EMT in non-samll cell lung cancer at gene expression level. The hypothesis tested in the present study was that BRMS1 KD induces EMT through differential regulation of EMT genes and Twist1 KD restores the epithelial phenotype in cells with BRMS1 KD. Results provide important information of biological functions in lung cancer which BRMS1 KD involves in, such as EMT, signaling, biological adhesion, immune system process, response to stimulus, and so on.
Project description:Therapeutic proteins are currently at the apex of innovation in pharmaceutical medicine. However, their industrial production is technically challenging and improved methods for transient transfection of mammalian cell cultures are necessary. We aimed to find a fast, microliter-scale transfection assay that allows the prediction of protein expression in the transient production settings. We used an array of lipid, polymeric and cell-penetrating peptide transfection reagents, and compared their performance in various high throughput transfection assays to their performance in protein (antibody) expression in professional protein-producer cell lines. First, we show that some of the most frequently used microliter-scale transfection efficacy assays fail to predict performance in the protein production in milliliter and liter scale settings. We found that CHO suspension culture post-transfection EGFP(+) population and SEAP quantitation correlate with large-scale protein production, whereas the adhesion culture assays and transfection of pLuc are non-predictive. Second, we demonstrated that cell-penetrating peptide-based transfection achieves significantly higher protein yields compared to PEI and lipoplex methods in both CHO and HEK293 producer cell lines. In this work we demonstrate a CPP-based transient protein expression approach that significantly outperformed the current industry standard workhorse method of PEI.
Project description:Different versions (full length and various mutants) of SAP25 tagged with an N-terminal Halo affinity tag were expressed in 293T cells. The resulting lysates were used to capture SAP25 associated proteins. Purified protein complexes were identified by AP-MS.
Project description:The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channel conducts rapid delayed rectifier potassium currents (IKr) and contributes to phase III cardiac action potential repolarization. Drugs inhibit hERG channels by binding to aromatic residues in hERG helixes. Berberine (BBR) has multiple actions, and its hydrogenated derivative dihydroberberine (DHB) is a potential candidate for developing new drugs. Previous studies have demonstrated that BBR blocks hERG channels and prolongs action potential duration (APD). Our present study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanism of DHB on hERG channels. Protein expression and the hERG current were analyzed using western blotting and patch-clamp, respectively. DHB inhibited the hERG current concentration-dependently after instantaneous perfusion, accelerated channel inactivation by directly binding tyrosine (Tyr652) and phenylalanine (Phe656), and decreased mature (155-kDa) and simultaneously increased immature (135-kDa) hERG expression, respectively. This suggests disruption of forward trafficking of hERG channels. Besides, DHB remarkably reduced heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) expression and its interaction with hERG, indicating that DHB disrupted hERG trafficking by impairing channel folding. Meanwhie, DHB enhanced the expression of cleaved activating transcription factor-6 (ATF-6), a biomarker of unfolded protein response (UPR). Expression of calnexin and calreticulin, chaperones activated by ATF-6 to facilitate channel folding, were also increased, which indicating UPR activation. Additionally, the degradation rate of mature 155-kDa hERG increased following DHB exposure. In conclusion, we demonstrated that DHB acutely blocked hERG channels by binding the aromatic Tyr652 and Phe656. DHB may decrease hERG plasma membrane expression through two pathways involving disruption of forward trafficking of immature hERG channels and enhanced degradation of mature hERG channels. Furthermore, forward trafficking was disrupted by impaired channel folding associated with altered interactions between hERG proteins and chaperones. Finally, trafficking inhibition activated UPR, and mature hERG channel degradation was increased by DHB.