Research Spotlight - April 2021

Science is always evolving and advancing throughout the ongoing process of knowledge discovery. Every month, we select 10 recent publications from scientists whom Boster has served.

Our April edition of Research Spotlight presents the latest information about various tumor-regulating genes/proteins, including BRCA1, HMGB1, EGFR, VEGFR2, PERK, and lncRNA LOC102724169. Several promising strategies to modulate immunoinflammatory microenvironments for bone regeneration and cancer are also further discussed below.

Scroll down to find out more about each featured publication this month.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in HIV: A Pilot Placebo-Controlled Study

Authors: Serrano-Villar, S., Talavera-Rodríguez, A., Gosalbes, M.J., Madrid, N...
Journal: Nature Communications

Changes in the microbiota have been linked to persistent inflammation during treated HIV infection. In this pilot double-blind study, we study 30 HIV-infected subjects on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with a CD4/CD8 ratio less than 1 randomized to either weekly fecal microbiota capsules or placebo for 8 weeks. Stool donors were rationally...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Human LBP ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK1271); Human FABP2/I-FABP ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK1410)

BRCA1-BARD1 Regulates Transcription Through BRD4 in Xenopus Nucleoplasmic Extract

Authors: Barrows, J.K., Fullbright, G., Long, D.T.
Journal: Nucleic Acids Research

The tumor suppressor BRCA1 is considered a master regulator of genome integrity. Although widely recognized for its DNA repair functions, BRCA1 has also been implicated in various mechanisms of chromatin remodeling and transcription regulation. However, the precise role that BRCA1 plays in these processes has been difficult to establish due to the widespread...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Anti-TATA Binding Protein TBP Antibody (PA1534)

Injectable Sericin Based Nanocomposite Hydrogel for Multi-Modal Imaging-Guided Immunomodulatory Bone Regeneration

Authors: Jiang, L.B., Ding, S.L., Ding, W., Su, D.H., Zhang, F.X., Zhang, T.W...
Journal: Chemical Engineering Journal

Irregular bone defects, where the inflammation and immune microenvironment confronted with implanted biomaterials, remain a prominent challenge for bone regeneration. In this study, we fabricated an injectable alginate/sericin/graphene oxide (Alg/Ser/GO) hydrogel based on the Alg–Tyramine framework with HRP/H2O2 enzymatic...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Rat BMP-2 ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0312); Rat TNF Alpha/Tumor Necrosis Factor ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0526); Rat IL-1 Beta/IL-1F2/IL1B ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0393); Rat IL-10/Interleukin-10 ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0418)

On Chip Detection of Glial Cell-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Secreted from Dopaminergic Cells Under Magnetic Stimulation

Authors: Yang, R., Boldrey, J., Jiles, D., Schneider, I., Que, L.
Journal: Biosensors and Bioelectronics

Glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a small protein potently promoting the survival of dopaminergic and motor neurons. GDNF can be secreted from different types of cells including the dopaminergic neural cell line, N27. N27 cells, a rat dopaminergic neural cell line, is regarded as a suitable in vitro model for Parkinson's disease (PD) research...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Rat GDNF ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0363)

Extracellular HMGB1 Blockade Inhibits Tumor Growth Through Profoundly Remodeling Immune Microenvironment and Enhances Checkpoint Inhibitor-Based Immunotherapy

Authors: Hubert, P., Roncarati, P., Demoulin, S., Pilard, C., Ancion, M...
Journal: Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer

Background: High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a multifunctional redox-sensitive protein involved in various intracellular (eg, chromatin remodeling, transcription, autophagy) and extracellular (inflammation, autoimmunity) processes. Regarding its role in cancer development/progression, paradoxical results exist in the literature...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Anti-HMGB1 Antibody Picoband™ (A00066-1)

Effect of Cyclic Mechanical Loading on Immunoinflammatory Microenvironment in Biofabricating Hydroxyapatite Ccaffold for Bone Regeneration

Authors: Zhang, P., Liu, X., Guo, P., Li, X., He, Z., Li, Z., Stoddart, M.J., Grad, S...
Journal: Bioactive Materials

It has been proven that the mechanical microenvironment can impact the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, the effect of mechanical stimuli in biofabricating hydroxyapatite scaffolds on the inflammatory response of MSCs remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of mechanical loading on the...

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Cited Boster Product(s): RIPA Lysis Buffer (AR0105-100); BCA Protein Assay Kit (AR0146); Hypersensitive ECL Chemiluminescent Substrate (AR1170)

Engineering the Early Bone Metastatic Niche Through Human Vascularized Immuno Bone Minitissues

Authors: Colombo, M.V., Bersini, S., Arrigoni, C., Gilardi, M., Sansoni, V...
Journal: Biofabrication

Bone metastases occur in 65-80% advanced breast cancer patients. Although significant progresses have been made in understanding the biological mechanisms driving the bone metastatic cascade, traditional 2D in vitro models and animal studies are not effectively reproducing breast cancer cells (CCs) interactions with the bone...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Human TNFSF11/RANKL ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0842)

RNA m6A Reader IMP2/IGF2BP2 Promotes Pancreatic β-cell Proliferation and Insulin Secretion by Enhancing PDX1 Expression

Authors: Regué, L., Zhao, L., Ji, F., Wang, H., Avruch, J., Dai, N.
Journal: Molecular Metabolism

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a common metabolic disease. Variants in IMP2 (IGF2BP2) associated with increased risk of T2D impair insulin secretion. However, the underlying mechanism is not known. IMP2 is an RNA-binding protein that preferentially recognizes N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-modified mRNAs. Here, we report that the deletion of...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Mouse IGF-2 ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0381)

lncRNA LOC102724169 Plus Cisplatin Exhibit the Synergistic Anti-Tumor Effect in Ovarian Cancer with Chronic Stress

Authors: Zhou, X., Liu, M., Deng, G., Chen, L., Sun, L., Zhang, Y., Luo, C...
Journal: Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids

Chronic stress has been proven to accelerate the development and progression of ovarian cancer, but the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In a combination survey of ovarian cancer with chronic stress (OCCS) mouse models and high-throughput sequencing, a key lncRNA named LOC102724169 on chromosome 6q27...

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Cited Boster Product(s): ISH Detection Kit (POD) (MK1030)

Oleandrin, a Cardiac Glycoside, Induces Immunogenic Cell Death via the PERK/elF2α/ATF4/CHOP Pathway in Breast Cancer

Authors: Li, X., Zheng, J., Chen, S., Meng, F.D., Ning, J., Sun, S.L.
Journal: Cell Death & Disease

Chemotherapeutic agents have been linked to immunogenic cell death (ICD) induction that is capable of augmenting anti-tumor immune surveillance. The cardiac glycoside oleandrin, which inhibits Na+/K+-ATPase pump (NKP), has been shown to suppress breast cancer growth via inducing apoptosis. In the present study, we showed that...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Anti-CD69 Antibody Picoband™ (A00529-2)

A Novel Bispecific Antibody Targeting EGFR and VEGFR2 Is Effective against Triple Negative Breast Cancer via Multiple Mechanisms of Action

Authors: Mohan, N., Luo, X., Shen, Y., Olson, Z., Agrawal, A., Endo, Y...
Journal: Cancers

Both EGFR and VEGFR2 frequently overexpress in TNBC and cooperate with each other in autocrine and paracrine manner to enhance tumor growth and angiogenesis. Therapeutic mAbs targeting EGFR (cetuximab) and VEGFR2 (ramucirumab) are approved by FDA for numerous cancer indications, but none of them are approved to treat breast cancers...

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Cited Boster Product(s): Human VEGF ELISA Kit PicoKine™ (EK0539)