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Biomedical subjects

Xiang Y Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Xiang Y Liu.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Aggregation of antifreeze protein and impact on antifreeze activity.

Antifreeze protein type III aggregates once the concentration exceeds a critical value, the so-called critical aggregation concentration (CAC). It was found for the first time that the aggregation of antifreeze protein exerts a direct impact on the antifreeze efficiency. It follows from our measurements that the AFP III above CAC will enhance the antifreeze activity because of the increase of the kink kinetics barrier of surface integration. This is attributed to the optimal packing of AFP III molecules on the surface of the ice nucleus as well as ice crystals above CAC. This study will extend our understanding of the antifreeze mechanism of antifreeze protein monomers as well as antifreeze aggregates on ice nucleation and shed light on the selection of antifreeze agents.

Antifreeze Proteins, Type III↗
PubMed2006

Two scenarios for colloidal phase transitions.

A two-dimensional assembly of charged colloidal particles induced by an alternating electric field was studied in real space by means of digital video microscopy. Phase transitions occur from a highly ordered colloidal monolayer to an isotropic suspension by changing the field strength or frequency (in the appropriate range). In particular, it is found that the strength-dependent phase transition is an infinite-order phase transition, in contrast with the frequency-dependent phase transition, which is a second-order phase transition.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Identification of peptides that bind to irradiated pancreatic tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Peptides targeting tumor vascular cells or tumor cells themselves have the potential to be used as vectors for delivering either DNA in gene therapy or antitumor agents in chemotherapy. We wished to determine if peptides identified by phage display could be used to target irradiated pancreatic cancer cells. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Irradiated Capan-2 cells were incubated with 5 x 10(12) plaque-forming units of a phage display library. Internalized phage were recovered and absorbed against unirradiated cells. After five such cycles of enrichment, the recovered phage were subjected to DNA sequencing analysis and synthetic peptides made. The binding of both phage and synthetic peptides was evaluated by fluorescence staining and flow cytometry in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: We identified one 12-mer peptide (PA1) that binds to irradiated Capan-2 pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells but not to unirradiated cells. The binding of peptide was significant after 48 h incubation with cells. In vivo experiments with Capan-2 xenografts in nude mice demonstrated that these small peptides are able to penetrate tumor tissue after intravenous injections and bind specifically to irradiated tumor cells. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that peptides can be identified that target tumors with radiation-induced cell markers and may be clinically useful.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

In situ observation of colloidal monolayer nucleation driven by an alternating electric field.

The nucleation of crystalline materials is a hotly debated subject in the physical sciences. Despite the emergence of several theories in recent decades, much confusion still surrounds the dynamic processes of nucleation. This has been due in part to the limitations of existing experimental evidence. Charged colloidal suspensions have been used as experimental model systems for the study of crystal nucleation and structural phase transitions, as their crystallization phase diagram is analogous to that of atomic and molecular systems, but they can be visualized using microscopy. Previously, three-dimensional imaging of colloidal nucleation dynamics was achieved using confocal microscopy. However, the limited temporal resolution of the confocal microscope is of concern when trying to capture real-time colloidal crystal nucleation events. Moreover, as the thermodynamic driving force has remained undefined, data on key factors such as the critical nuclei size are at best semiquantitative. Here we present real-time direct imaging and quantitative measurements of the pre- and post-nucleation processes of colloidal spheres, and the kinetics of nucleation driven by an alternating electric field, under well-defined thermodynamic driving forces. Our imaging approach could facilitate the observation of other rarely observed phenomena, such as defect and grain-boundary formation and the effects of foreign particles during crystallization. Furthermore, it may prove useful in identifying optical and biological technologies based on colloids.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Ice nucleation inhibition: mechanism of antifreeze by antifreeze protein.

The effect of antifreeze protein type III (one type of fish antifreeze protein) on ice crystallization was examined quantitatively based on a "micro-sized ice nucleation" technique. It was found for the first time that antifreeze proteins can inhibit the ice nucleation process by adsorbing onto both the surfaces of ice nuclei and dust particles. This leads to an increase of the ice nucleation barrier and the desolvation kink kinetics barrier, respectively. Based on the latest nucleation model, the increases in the ice nucleation barrier and the kink kinetics barrier were measured. This enables us to quantitatively examine the antifreeze mechanism of antifreeze proteins for the first time.

Antifreeze Proteins↗
PubMed2003

Templating and supersaturation-driven anti-templating: principles of biomineral architecture.

The structural synergy between biominerals (CaCO(3), hydroxyapatite) and biosubstrates were examined for the first time. The templating effect of substrate and a newly identified supersaturation-driven interfacial structure mismatch effect were identified in the context of a new nucleation model. It follows that the heterogeneous nucleation which corresponds to a good structural match and synergy between biominerals and substrates will promote an ordered, compact, and tough complex biomineral structure, and occur only at low supersaturations, whereas at high supersaturations the heterogeneous nucleation associated with a poor structural match and synergy between biominerals and substrates will become dominant due to supersaturation-driven interfacial structural mismatch. The latter normally results in a disordered and porous structure. A phenomenon, so-called microgravity-driven homogeneous nucleation, was also examined. It turns out that microgravity will suppress convection and consequently promote homogeneous-like nucleation during biomineralization. This could be responsible for microgravity-induced osteoporousis.

Calcium Carbonate↗
PubMed2003

Restoration of high-level transport activity by human reduced folate carrier/ThTr1 thiamine transporter chimaeras: role of the transmembrane domain 6/7 linker region in reduced folate carrier function.

The reduced folate carrier (RFC; SLC19A1) is closely related to the thiamine transporter, SLC19A2 (ThTr1). Hydropathy models for these homologous transporters predict up to 12 transmembrane domains (TMDs), with internally oriented N- and C-termini and a large central loop between TMDs 6 and 7. The homologies are localized mostly in the TMDs. However, there is little similarity in their N- and C-terminal domains and the central peptide linkers connecting putative TMDs 1-6 and TMDs 7-12. To explore the functional role of the 61-amino acid central linker in the human RFC (hRFC), we introduced deletions of 49 and 60 amino acids into this region, differing by the presence of a stretch of 11 highly conserved amino acids between the human and rodent RFCs (positions 204-214). An additional hRFC construct was prepared in which only the 11 conserved amino acids were deleted. The resulting hRFC(D215-R263 Delta), hRFC(K204-R263 Delta) and hRFC(K204-R214 Delta) proteins were transfected into transport-impaired K562 cells. The deletion constructs were all expressed in plasma membranes; however, they were completely inactive for methotrexate and (6 S )5-formyl tetrahydrofolate transport. Insertion of non-homologous 73- and 84-amino acid fragments from the structurally analogous ThTr1 linker region into position 204 of hRFC(K204-R263 Delta) restored low levels of transport (16-21% of the wild type). Insertion of the ThTr1 linkers into hRFC(D215-R263 Delta) at position 215 restored 60-80% of wild-type levels of transport. Collectively, our results suggest that the role of the hRFC linker peptide is to provide the proper spatial orientation between the two halves of the hRFC protein for optimal function, and that this is largely independent of amino acid sequence. Our results also demonstrate a critical transport role for the stretch of 11 conserved amino acids starting at position 204 of hRFC.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Analysis of membrane topology of the human reduced folate carrier protein by hemagglutinin epitope insertion and scanning glycosylation insertion mutagenesis.

The human reduced folate carrier (RFC) is the major membrane transport system for both reduced folates and chemotherapeutic antifolate drugs, such as methotrexate (MTX). Although the RFC protein has been subjected to intensive study in order to identify critical structural and functional determinants of transport, it is impossible to assess the significance of these studies without characterizing the essential domain structure and membrane topology. The primary amino acid sequence from the cloned cDNAs predicts that the human RFC protein has 12 transmembrane domains (TMDs) with a large cytosolic loop between TMDs 6 and 7, and cytosolic-facing N- and C-termini. To establish the RFC membrane topology, a hemagglutinin (HA) epitope was inserted into the individual predicted intracellular and extracellular loops. HA insertions into putative TMD interconnecting loops 3/4, 6/7, 7/8, and 8/9, and the N- and C-termini all preserved MTX transport activity upon expression in transport-impaired K562 cells. Immunofluorescence detection with HA-specific antibody under both permeabilized and non-permeabilized conditions confirmed extracellular orientations for loops 3/4 and 7/8, and cytosolic orientations for loops 6/7 and 8/9, and the N- and C-termini. Insertion of a consensus N-glycosylation site [NX(S/T)] into putative loops 5/6, 8/9, and 9/10 of deglycosylated RFC-Gln(58) had minimal effects on MTX transport. Analysis of glycosylation status on Western blots suggested an extracellular orientation for loop 5/6, and intracellular orientations for loops 8/9 and 9/10. Our findings strongly support the predicted topology model for TMDs 1-8 and the C-terminus of human RFC. However, our results raise the possibility of an alternative membrane topology for TMDs 9-12.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed2002

Mitotic arrest induced by XK469, a novel antitumor agent, is correlated with the inhibition of cyclin B1 ubiquitination.

XK469 (NSC 697887) is a novel antitumor agent with broad activity against a variety of tumors. Previous studies suggest that XK469 is a topoisomerase II beta poison with functional activity similar to that of 4'-(9-acridinylamino) methanesulfon-m-anisidide (m-AMSA). The goal of our study was to investigate its mechanism of action further using a human HCT-116 (H116) colon tumor cell model. Concentration-survival curves with continuous exposure indicated that XK469 had low cytotoxic activity against H116 cells. Cell cycle analysis revealed that XK469 is a phase-specific cell cycle blocker that is associated with increased levels of cyclin B1, cyclin A and p53 but not CDK1 (cdc2) or cyclin E. In contrast, treatment of H116 cells with m-AMSA caused a total degradation of both cyclin A and B1 but enhanced expression of cyclin E and p53. Accumulation of cyclin B1 in XK469-treated cells was correlated with the inhibition of cyclin B1 ubiquitination, a metabolic process mandatory for proteasome-mediated protein turnover. However, no inhibition of cyclin B1 ubiquitination was detected in cells treated with m-AMSA or colchicine, a known mitotic inhibitor. Furthermore, unlike m-AMSA, XK469 did not induce caspase activation or apoptotic cell death in H116 cells. Our results suggest that XK469 is a phase-specific cell cycle inhibitor with a unique mechanism of action that is correlated with the inhibition of cyclin B1 ubiquitination and its accumulation at early M phase.

Amsacrine↗