Pokemon (POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor), which belongs to the POK protein family, is also called LRF, OCZF and FBI-1. As a transcriptional repressor, Pokemon assumes a critical function in cellular differentiation and oncogenesis. Our study identified an oncogenic role for Pokemon in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We successfully established human HepG2 and Huh-7 cell lines in which Pokemon was stably knocked down. We demonstrated that Pokemon silencing inhibited cell proliferation and migration. Pokemon knockdown inhibited the PI3K/Akt and c-Raf/MEK/ERK pathways and modulated the expression of various cell cycle regulators in HepG2 and Huh-7 cells. Therefore, Pokemon may also be involved in cell cycle progression in these cells. We confirmed that Pokemon silencing suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma growth in tumor xenograft mice. These results suggest that Pokemon promotes cell proliferation and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma and accelerates tumor development in an Akt- and ERK-signaling-dependent manner.

A capillary gas chromatographic (GC) method has been developed for the separation and determination of policosanol components extracted from rice bran wax. A Varian CP-sil 8 CB column was employed, and an oven temperature was programmed. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to identify the composition of policosanol. Quantitative analysis was carried out by means of hydrogen flame ionization detector (FID) with dinonyl phthalate (DNP) as internal standard. The results indicated that the extract obtained by dry saponification has the highest contents of octacosanol and triacontanol among extracts by all used extraction methods including dry saponification, saponification in alcohol, saponification in water (neutralized and non-neutralized), and transesterification. Meanwhile, the GC-MS fingerprint of policosanol extracted by dry saponification has been established. Euclidean distance similarity calculation showed remarkable consistency of compositions and contents among 12 batches of policosanol from a rice bran wax variety. This protocol provided a rapid and feasible method for quality control of policosanol products.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aplasia ras homolog member I (ARHI) on proliferation, apoptosis and the cell cycle in the pancreatic cancer cell line PANC-1. The study also aimed to examine the effect of ARHI on the activity of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB and to determine whether ARHI acts as a tumor suppressor in the development of pancreatic cancer by inhibiting the activity of NF-κB. A pIRES2‑EGFP‑ARHI vector, constructed by reverse transcrition (RT)‑PCR, was transiently transfected into the PANC-1 cells and analyzed for the expression of the ARHI protein by western blotting. A MTT assay was used to quantify cell proliferation, and apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. The NF‑κB signaling pathway, specifically the pathway using the nuclear phosphorylated p65 isoform, was analyzed by western blotting. Expression of the ARHI protein was detected by western blotting subsequent to the PANC-1 cells being transiently transfected with the pIRES2‑EGFP‑ARHI construct. Cell proliferation was strongly inhibited in the PANC-1 cells transfected with pIRES2‑EGFP‑ARHI. The cell cycle assays indicated an increase in the number of cells at the G0/G1 phase and a decrease in the cells at the S phase, but the difference was not significant (P>0.05). Time course studies also indicated a marked increase in the apoptotic index following transient transfection, as well as a gradual decrease in the expression of the nuclear phosphorylated p65 protein. ARHI acts as a tumor suppressor by downregulating the NF‑κB signaling pathway, which results in the inhibition of cell proliferation, apoptosis and the cell cycle in the pancreatic tumor PANC-1 cell line.