miR-200a/b/-429 downregulation is a candidate biomarker of tumor radioresistance and independent of hypoxia in locally advanced cervical cancer.

Many patients with locally advanced cervical cancer experience recurrence within the radiation field after chemoradiotherapy. Biomarkers of tumor radioresistance are required to identify patients in need of intensified treatment. Here, the biomarker potential of miR-200 family members was investigated in this disease.

MRI Distinguishes Tumor Hypoxia Levels of Different Prognostic and Biological Significance in Cervical Cancer.

Tumor hypoxia levels range from mild to severe and have different biological and therapeutical consequences but are not easily assessable in patients. Here we present a method based on diagnostic dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI that reflects a continuous range of hypoxia levels in patients with tumors of cervical cancer. Hypoxia images were generated using an established approach based on pixel-wise combination of DCE-MRI parameters and , representing oxygen consumption and supply, respectively.

Reference MicroRNAs for RT-qPCR Assays in Cervical Cancer Patients and Their Application to Studies of HPV16 and Hypoxia Biomarkers.

MicroRNA (miRNA) expressions in tumor biopsies have shown potential as biomarkers in cervical cancer, but suitable reference RNAs for normalization of reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays in patient cohorts with different clinicopathological characteristics are not available. We aimed to identify the optimal reference miRNAs and apply these to investigate the potential of miR-9-5p as human papilloma virus (HPV) 16 biomarker and miR-210-3p as hypoxia biomarker in cervical cancer. Candidate reference miRNAs were preselected in sequencing data of 90 patients and ranked in a stability analysis by RefFinder.

Transkingdom network reveals bacterial players associated with cervical cancer gene expression program.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide with human papillomavirus (HPV) being the main cause the disease. Chromosomal amplifications have been identified as a source of upregulation for cervical cancer driver genes but cannot fully explain increased expression of immune genes in invasive carcinoma. Insight into additional factors that may tip the balance from immune tolerance of HPV to the elimination of the virus may lead to better diagnosis markers.

ALKBH4 depletion in mice leads to spermatogenic defects.

ALKBH4, an AlkB homologue in the 2-oxoglutarate and Fe2+ dependent hydroxylase family, has previously been shown to regulate the level of monomethylated lysine-84 in actin and thereby indirectly influences the ability of non-muscular myosin II to bind actin filaments. ALKBH4 modulates fundamental processes including cytokinesis and cell motility, and its depletion is lethal during early preimplantation embryo stage. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ALKBH4 deficiency in a physiological context, using inducible Alkbh4 knockout mice.

Mice lacking Alkbh1 display sex-ratio distortion and unilateral eye defects.

Background: Escherichia coli AlkB is a 2-oxoglutarate- and iron-dependent dioxygenase that reverses alkylated DNA damage by oxidative demethylation. Mouse AlkB homolog 1 (Alkbh1) is one of eight members of the newly discovered family of mammalian dioxygenases.

Methods And Findings: In the present study we show non-Mendelian inheritance of the Alkbh1 targeted allele in mice.

Evaluation of the suitability of recombinant yeast-based estrogenicity assays as a pre-screening tool in environmental samples.

This paper presents a study evaluating the suitability of recombinant yeast-based estrogenicity assays as a pre-screening tool for monitoring of the chemical status of water bodies in support of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Three different recombinant yeast-based assays were evaluated; the Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES), the Recombinant Yeast Assay (RYA) and the Rikilt Estrogen bioAssay (REA), of which the YES assay was employed by two different laboratories. No significant difference between the performance of neither the different laboratories, nor the different yeast-assays was observed.

Comparative hepatic gene expression profiling of rats treated with 1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecan-1-ol or with pentadecafluorooctanoic acid.

Pentadecafluorooctanoic acid is an established peroxisome proliferator. Little is known about effects of treatment with 1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecan-1-ol, which is metabolized to pentadecafluorooctanoic acid. We compared effects of various dosages (3, 10, or 25 mg/kg body wt) of each of these compounds on hepatic gene expression in rats with microarrays.