Nanoparticle-based targeted cancer strategies for non-invasive prostate cancer intervention.

Prostate cancer is screened by testing circulating levels of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) biomarker, monitoring changes over time, or a digital rectal exam. Abnormal results often lead to prostate biopsy. Prostate cancer positive patients are stratified into very low-risk, low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk, based on clinical classification parameters, to assess therapy options.

Implementation of the surgical safety checklist at a tertiary academic center: Impact on safety culture and patient outcomes.

Background: The impact and efficacy of the World Health Organization Surgery Safety Checklist (SSC) is uncertain. We sought to determine if the SSC decreases complications and examined the attitudes of the surgical team members following implementation of the SSC.

Methods: A 28-question survey was developed to assess perspectives of surgical team members at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMC).

A microRNA/Runx1/Runx2 network regulates prostate tumor progression from onset to adenocarcinoma in TRAMP mice.

While decades of research have identified molecular pathways inducing and promoting stages of prostate cancer malignancy, studies addressing dynamic changes of cancer-related regulatory factors in a prostate tumor progression model are limited. Using the TRAMP mouse model of human prostate cancer, we address mechanisms of deregulation for the cancer-associated transcription factors, Runx1 and Runx2 by identifying microRNAs with reciprocal expression changes at six time points during 33 weeks of tumorigenesis. We molecularly define transition stages from PIN lesions to hyperplasia/neoplasia and progression to adenocarcinoma by temporal changes in expression of human prostate cancer markers, including the androgen receptor and tumor suppressors, Nkx3.

Dissection of Individual Prostate Lobes in Mouse Models of Prostate Cancer to Obtain High Quality RNA.

Genetically engineered mouse models of prostate cancer allow for study of disease progression from localized tumor formation through distal metastasis. The anatomy of the mouse prostate differs dramatically from the human prostate, being composed of four lobe pairs (anterior, dorsal, lateral, and ventral), making the identification and dissection technically challenging. Although the entire murine prostate and surrounding tissue, including urethra, bladder, seminal vesicles, and associated adipose tissue, can be quickly dissected for en bloc analysis, it is necessary to isolate individual prostate lobes for gene expression studies elucidating the molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer.

Integrated molecular chirality, absolute helicity, and intrinsic chiral topology in three-dimensional open-framework materials.

While chiral materials are common, few are known that integrate molecular chirality, absolute helicity, and 3-D intrinsically chiral topological nets in one material. Such multihomochiral features may lead to enhanced chiral recognition processes that are important for enantioselective catalysis or separation. Reported here are a series of 3-D open-framework materials with unusual integration of various homochiral and homohelical features, even in the bulk sample.

Cooperative self-assembly of chiral L-malate and achiral succinate in the formation of a three-dimensional homochiral framework.

Chiral l-malate and achiral succinate ligands have been integrated into a three-dimensional homochiral framework by reacting transition-metal cations (Mn (2+)), l-(-)-malic acid ( l-H 2ma), succinic acid (H 2suc), and 4,4'-bipyridine (4,4'-bipy). Chiral l-malate bonds to Mn (2+) without using the -OH group, which is very unusual for malate. Such unusual bonding of chiral malate results from the cooperative effect of chiral malate and achiral succinate ligands during the self-assembly process, further assisted by the third complementary bipyridine ligand.