Abstract Objectives: This study aims to explore the effect of silencing Beclin-1 gene on autophagy and apoptosis of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) (BPH-1) cells under the condition of Androgen Deprivation (AD) and Autophagy Inhibition (AI). Methods: Control group (BPH-1 group), empty carrier group (sh-RNA-BPH-1 group) and Beclin-1 silenced group (sh-Beclin1-BPH-1 group) were set. The Beclin-1 gene silencing efficiency was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Autophagic flux was monitored by GFP-LC3 cleavage assay and cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. The protein expression levels of LC3, Caspase-3, PARP-1, Bcl-2, and Bax were detected by Western blot. Results: The transfection of sh-Beclin-1 obviously down-regulated the expression of Beclin-1 at both mRNA and protein levels. Under the conditions of AD and AI, silencing of Beclin-1 restrained the autophagy of BPH-1 cells, as evidenced by a decreased number of autophagosomes and down-regulation of LC3-II protein (p < 0.001). The results of flow cytometry showed that the apoptotic rate of sh-Beclin-1 group was elevated significantly compared to the other two groups (p < 0.01). Western blot results showed that silencing of Beclin-1 promoted 89 kd fragmentation of PARP-1 (p < 0.001) and Caspase-3 activation (p < 0.01). Moreover, silencing of Beclin-1 resulted in declined Bcl-2 and augmented Bax protein expression in BPH-1 cells (p < 0.01), which ultimately led to a decreased Bcl-2/Bax ratio. Conclusions: The results indicated that the silencing of Beclin-1 gene hampered autophagy while activating apoptosis in BPH-1 cells. Thus, Beclin-1 may participate in an antagonistic relationship between autophagy and apoptosis in BPH.

Abstract:The marketplace-based e-commerce is the dominant type so far. Therefore, it is important to understand the decisional attributes and their relevance for online consumers when choosing marketplaces. However, little research is devoted to this issue. This paper outlines seven attributes of marketplace based on three theories, including ease of use, usefulness, logistics service quality, effectiveness of feedback mechanisms, effectiveness of escrow service, effectiveness of information security services, and effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanisms. Via conjoint analysis methodology, we find that for the whole sample effectiveness of dispute resolution is the most important attribute, whereas logistics service quality is the least important one. The results further reveal gender has impacts on the relative strength of each attribute: while male buyers think some attributes (i.e., effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanisms and effectiveness of information security services) are more important than others (i.e., logistics service quality), female buyers consider that each attribute is equally important. This study suggests that institutional theory and technology adoption model offer more relevant theoretical perspective than the logistics service theory for marketplace choice. Though having limitations including focusing on young users in one region, this paper offers several theoretical contributions to research and some insights for practice.

Abstract Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of the methylation status of the DACT1 gene on the invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Methods: The levels of methylation and expression of the DACT1 gene in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues and CNE2 cells were determined by methylation–specific PCR and RT–PCR, respectively. CNE2 cells were treated with 5–aza–2–deoxycytidine, and the variation in the methylation status of the DACT1 gene was detected, as well as the influence of methylation on invasiveness of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Results: The DACT1 gene was hyper–methylated in 44 of 62 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The DACT1 gene was hyper–methylated in 32 of 38 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis, and the DACT1 gene was hyper–methylated in 7 of 24 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma without lymph node metastasis. The DACT1 mRNA level was weakly expressed or not expressed in all nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues with hyper–methylated DACT1 genes; however, the DACT1 mRNA level was highly expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues with low expression of the methylated DACT1 gene. The DACT1 gene was hyper–methylated and not expressed in CNE2 cells that did not have 5–aza–2–deoxycytidine treatment. After 5–aza–2–deoxycytidine treatment, the DACT1 gene was demethylated and the expression of DACT1 was restored. Moreover, the invasion ability was inhibited in CNE2 cells treated with 5–aza–2–deoxycytidine. Conclusion: The expression of DACT1 was related to the methylation status. High expression of DACT1 may inhibit the invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

The study was conducted to evaluate effect of Coriolus versicolor mycelia on degrading starch and improving nutrition value in corn grits through solid state fermentation technique. The results showed that using soybean meal as a nitrogen source, α-amylase secreted from C. versicolor expressed 407.25U/g of activity, leading to 45.15% of starch degraded. The activity grew with fermentation time until the 15th day, after that the amylase was deactivated rapidly. An orthogonal experiment designed for the study illustrated that degradation rate of starch in corn grits attained to maximum, 50.51%, when 100g of corn grits, added 16g of soybean meal, were fermented by C. versicolor for 12 days, in an initial pH 5.5. After fermenting, compared to the nonfermented control, contents of amino acids, total sugar, crude fat and crude protein were increased by 21.00%, 38.45%, 55.56%, 69.15% respectively. The significant improvement of nutrition value in corn grits is probably attributed to the intense metabolism of C. versicolor.