Recent studies have implicated the prorenin receptor (PRR) is associated with pancreatic tumorigenesis. We therefore investigated the role of PRR in pancreatic tumorigenesis and assessed whether PRR can serve as a target for imaging diagnosis at early stages of PDAC. Here we show that aberrant expression of PRR in premalignant PanIN lesions, and human PDAC samples, and PDAC cell lines, particularly in Panc-1 cells. Interestingly, PRR expression was positively associated with PDAC progression. Moreover, overexpression of human PRR resulted in increased cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis, while knockdown of human PRR caused decreased cell proliferation and enhanced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. We also observed that overexpression of human PRR enhanced MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways in PDAC cells, while knockdown of human PRR suppressed both of pathways. The confocal imaging analysis showed that human PRR was highly expressed in Panc-1, ASPC, and Miapaca cells, whereas BXPC-3, and HPAC cells had a significantly lower fluorescent signals. Consistently, the single-photon emission computed tomography (SPET/CT) showed that the uptake of anti-PRR labelled with 125I was higher in Panc-1 and ASPC tumors-bearing mice after 96 hours injection. Importantly, tumors in pancreas of Pdx1-cre; LSL-KrasG12D mice had a significant increased PRR expression and accumulation of radioactivity at 96 h after injection. These data suggest that 125I-anti-PRR can detect the orthotopic tumors in Pdx1-cre; LSL-KrasG12D mice. Therefore, anti-PRR labelled with 125I is a promising radiotracer for imaging diagnosis at early stages of pancreatic cancer.

Fluorescent chemosensors 1 and 2, with 1,2,4-oxadiazoles as the binding ligands and anthracene as the fluorophore, were synthesized through sequential 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of 25,27-dioxyacetonitrilecalix[4]arenes 8 and 11. The fluorescence of 1 was severely quenched by both Fe(3+) and Cu(2+) , whereas that of 2 was selectively quenched only by Fe(3+) . Control compound 4 was also selectively quenched by Fe(3+) , which implied the importance of anthryl-1,2,4-oxadiazole core; furthermore, it was shown to give various oxidation products such as oxanthrone 13, anthraquinone 14, and imidazolyl oxanthrone 15. In addition to product separation and identification, the fluorescent quenching mechanism of these 9-anthryl-1,2,4-oxadiazolyl derivatives by Fe(3+) is also discussed. Furthermore, it should be noted that the oxadiazole-substituted anthracene 4 and calix[4]arene 2 are Fe(3+) -selective fluorescent chemodosimeters without the interference by Cu(2+) .

Cellular accumulation of mono(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (MEHP) has been recently demonstrated to disturb fat cell energy metabolism; however, the underlying mechanism remained unclear. The study aimed to determine how MEHP influenced fat cell transcriptome and how the changes might contribute to bioenergetics. Because of the pivotal role of PPARγ in energy metabolism of fat cells, comparative microarray analysis of gene expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes treated with both MEHP and rosiglitazone was performed. Pathway enrichment analysis and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that both treatments caused up-regulation of genes involved in PPAR signaling/energy metabolism-related pathways and down-regulation of genes related to adipokine/inflammation signals. MEHP/rosiglitazone-treated adipocytes exhibited increased levels of lipolysis, glucose uptake, and glycolysis; the gene expression profiles provided molecular basis for the functional changes. Moreover, MEHP was shown to induce nuclear translocation and activation of PPARγ. The similarity in gene expression and functional changes in response to MEHP and rosiglitazone suggested that MEHP influenced bioenergetics and adipokine network mainly via PPARγ. Importantly, adipokine levels in C57BL/6J mice with di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) treatments provided in vivo evidence for microarray results. On the basis of correlation between gene expression and functional assays, possible involvements of genes in bioenergetics of MEHP-treated adipocytes were proposed.