IRS1 is highly expressed in localized breast tumors and regulates the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to chemotherapy, while IRS2 is highly expressed in invasive breast tumors.

Insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins have been shown to play an important role in breast cancer by differentially regulating cancer cell survival, proliferation, and motility. Furthermore, the IL-4-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT6 was shown to protect breast cancer cells from apoptosis. Here, we analyzed human breast cancer tissues for the expression of IRS1, IRS2, STAT6, and tyrosine phosphorylated STAT6 (pSTAT6).

STAT3 is activated by JAK2 independent of key oncogenic driver mutations in non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Constitutive activation of STAT3 is a common feature in many solid tumors including non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). While activation of STAT3 is commonly achieved by somatic mutations to JAK2 in hematologic malignancies, similar mutations are not often found in solid tumors. Previous work has instead suggested that STAT3 activation in solid tumors is more commonly induced by hyperactive growth factor receptors or autocrine cytokine signaling.

Hedgehog signaling pathway molecules and ALDH1A1 expression in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: The Hedgehog Signaling Pathway (HHSP) has been implicated in the development of multiple cancers. HHSP activation may primarily be hedgehog ligand-dependent in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); while a subset may be ligand-independent. In this study NSCLC primary tumors were used to identify correlations between multiple biomarkers thought to be involved in the HHSP and the clinical outcomes of patients with NSCLC.

Pathway targets to explore in the treatment of small cell and large cell lung cancers.

Introduction: With low 5-year survival rates and little progress in therapy, improvements in therapeutic strategies for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and large cell lung cancer (LCC) are warranted. We hypothesized that different SCLC and LCC microarray data sets will share commonly perturbed pathways leading to the identification of new targets for therapeutic development.

Methods: Per gene mean expression fold change ratios were calculated from four publicly available microarray data sets consisting of a total of 113 profiled samples.

Community analysis of chronic wound bacteria using 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing: impact of diabetes and antibiotics on chronic wound microbiota.

Background: Bacterial colonization is hypothesized to play a pathogenic role in the non-healing state of chronic wounds. We characterized wound bacteria from a cohort of chronic wound patients using a 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing approach and assessed the impact of diabetes and antibiotics on chronic wound microbiota.

Methodology/principal Findings: We prospectively enrolled 24 patients at a referral wound center in Baltimore, MD; sampled patients' wounds by curette; cultured samples under aerobic and anaerobic conditions; and pyrosequenced the 16S rRNA V3 hypervariable region.

Pathway targets to explore in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: With a 5-year survival rate of only 16%, improvements in therapeutic strategies for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still warranted. Published prognostic gene expression classification signatures in NSCLC overlap poorly across studies. We hypothesized that different NSCLC microarray datasets will share common pathways leading to the identification of new targets for therapeutic development.

Magellan: a web based system for the integrated analysis of heterogeneous biological data and annotations; application to DNA copy number and expression data in ovarian cancer.

Recent advances in high throughput biological methods allow researchers to generate enormous amounts of data from a single experiment. In order to extract meaningful conclusions from this tidal wave of data, it will be necessary to develop analytical methods of sufficient power and utility. It is particularly important that biologists themselves be able to perform many of these analyses, such that their background knowledge of the experimental system under study can be used to interpret results and direct further inquiries.

Genomic and transcriptional aberrations linked to breast cancer pathophysiologies.

This study explores the roles of genome copy number abnormalities (CNAs) in breast cancer pathophysiology by identifying associations between recurrent CNAs, gene expression, and clinical outcome in a set of aggressively treated early-stage breast tumors. It shows that the recurrent CNAs differ between tumor subtypes defined by expression pattern and that stratification of patients according to outcome can be improved by measuring both expression and copy number, especially high-level amplification. Sixty-six genes deregulated by the high-level amplifications are potential therapeutic targets.

Evidence of unique genotypes of beak and feather disease virus in southern Africa.

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), caused by Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), is the most significant infectious disease in psittacines. PBFD is thought to have originated in Australia but is now found worldwide; in Africa, it threatens the survival of the indigenous endangered Cape parrot and the vulnerable black-cheeked lovebird. We investigated the genetic diversity of putative BFDVs from southern Africa.