Biological effect of R-phycoerythrin-mediated photosensitization on DNA.

R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) is one of important proteins involved in capturing light during photosynthesis in red algae, and it is highly fluorescent, and water-soluble chromophores. In vivo, it can transfer the light energy into photosynthetic center, however, it can deliver the captured light energy captured to the surrounding oxygen in vitro and produce reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen, which is toxic to tumor cells. R-PE was added to the culture medium of tumor cells, subsequently with irradiation of 488 nm, Argon laser of 25.6 J/cm(2). The result by MTT assay showed that the survival rate decreased with the increase of R-PE concentration from 1 to 100 mg/L. The result from H-3-TdR incorporation demonstrated that the synthesis of DNA reduced when the concentration of R-PE increased from 0.01 to 0.32 mg/L. Besides, pUC18 DNA showed a conversion from supercoiled into linear conformation. The conclusion comes that R-PE mediated PDT can influence the conformation of DNA, and it may be one of the mechanisms of R-PE mediated photodynamic therapy.

Glycine uptake regulates hippocampal network activity via glycine receptor-mediated tonic inhibition

Functional glycine receptors (GlyRs) are enriched in the hippocampus, but their role in hippocampal function remains unclear. Since the concentration of ambient glycine is determined by the presence of powerful glycine transporter (GlyT), we blocked the r

Mechanism on exciton-mediated energy transfer in erbium-doped silicon

Exciton-mediated energy transfer model in Er-doped silicon was presented. The emission intensity is related to optically active Er concentration, lifetime of excited Er3+ ion and spontaneous emission. The thermal quenching of the Er luminescence in Si is caused by thermal ionization of Er-bound exciton complex and nonradiative energy back-transfer processes, which correspond to the activation energy of 6.6 and 47.4 meV, respectively. Er doping in silicon introduces donor states, a large enhancement in the electrical activation of Er (up to two orders of magnitude) is obtained by co-implanting Er with O. It appears that the donor states are the gateway to the optically active Er. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Adenovirus-mediated p53 gene transfer sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma cells to heavy-ion radiation

Background. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether adenovirus-mediated p53 transfer could sensitize hepatocellular carcinoma to heavy-ion irradiation. Methods. HepG2 cells were preexposed to a C-12(6+) beam, and then infected with replication-deficient adenovirus recombinant vectors containing human wild-type p53 (AdCMV-p53) (C-12(6+) irradiation + AdCMV-p53 infection). The survival fraction was determined by clonogenic assay. The cell cycle, cell apoptosis, and p53 expression were monitored by flow cytometric analysis. Results. p53 expression in C-12(6+) irradiation + AdCMV-p53 infection groups was markedly higher than that in C-12(6+) irradiation only groups (P < 0.05), suggesting that the preexposure to the C-12(6+) beam promoted the expression of exogenous p53 in HepG2 cells infected with AdCMV-p53 only. The G(1)-phase arrest and cell apoptosis in the C-12(6+) irradiation + AdCMV-p53 infection groups were significantly more than those in the C-12(6+) irradiated groups (P < 0.05). The survival fractions of the C-12(6+) irradiation + AdCMV-p53 infection groups decreased by 30%-49% compared with those of the C-12(6+) beam-irradiated only groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions. Adenovirus-mediated p53 gene transfer can promote G(1)-phase arrest and cell apoptosis, thus sensitizing hepatocellular carcinoma cells to heavy-ion irradiation.

Molecular component structures mediated formation of self-assemblies

Molecular recognition directed self-assemblies from complementary molecular components, melamine and barbituric acid derivatives were studied by means of NMR, fluorescence, and TEM. It was found that both the process of the self-assembly and the morphologies of the resulted self-assemblies could be mediated by modifying the structures of the molecular components used. The effect of the structures of the molecular components on the formation of the self-assemblies was discussed in terms of intermolecular interactions.