Differentiation of umbilical cord lining membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells into endothelial-like cells.

Background: Stem cell therapy for the treatment of vascular-related diseases through functional revascularization is one of the most important research areas in tissue engineering. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro differentiation of umbilical CL-MSC into endothelial lineage cells.

Methods: In this study, isolated cells were characterized for expression of MSC-specific markers and osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation.

Towards a thermally regenerative all-copper redox flow battery.

An all-copper redox flow battery based on strong complexation of Cu(+) with acetonitrile is demonstrated, exhibiting reasonable battery performance. More interestingly, the battery can be charged by heat sources of 100 °C, by distilling off the acetonitrile. This destabilizes the Cu(+) complex, leading to recovery of the starting materials.

Nanomaterials and biomaterials in electrochemical arrays for protein detection.

Nanomaterials and biomaterials are important components of new electrochemical arrays designed for sensitive detection of proteins in biological fluids. Such multiplexed protein arrays are predicted to have an important future in personalized medical diagnostics, especially for cancer and heart disease. Sandwich immunoassays for proteins benefit greatly in sensitivity from the use of nanostructured sensor surfaces and multilabeled detection strategies involving nano- or microparticles.

Enhanced inhibition of prostate cancer xenograft tumor growth by combining quercetin and green tea.

The chemopreventive activity of green tea (GT) is limited by the low bioavailability and extensive methylation of GT polyphenols (GTPs) in vivo. We determined whether a methylation inhibitor quercetin (Q) will enhance the chemoprevention of prostate cancer in vivo. Androgen-sensitive LAPC-4 prostate cancer cells were injected subcutaneously into severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice one week before the intervention.

Epidemiological urinalysis of children from kindergartens of Can Gio, Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam.

Background: Recent studies on Vietnamese children have shown that kidney diseases are not detected early enough to prevent chronic renal failure. The dipstick test is a simple and useful tool for detecting urinary abnormalities, especially in isolated or remote areas of Vietnam, where children have limited access to health care.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 at seven kindergartens in Can Gio district, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Off-target effects of c-MET inhibitors on thyroid cancer cells.

Aberrantly activated c-MET signaling occurs in several cancers, promoting the development of c-MET inhibitors. In this study, we found that eight of eight thyroid cancer cell lines (including six anaplastic thyroid cell lines) have prominent expression of c-MET protein. Fifty percent of the thyroid cancer cell lines (four of eight) were growth inhibited by two small molecule c-MET inhibitors (tivantinib and crizotinib) associated with apoptosis and G(2)-M cell-cycle arrest.

Laminin-5γ-2 (LAMC2) is highly expressed in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma and is associated with tumor progression, migration, and invasion by modulating signaling of EGFR.

Context: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is an aggressive malignancy having no effective treatment. Laminin subunit-γ-2 (LAMC2) is an epithelial basement membrane protein involved in cell migration and tumor invasion and might represent an ideal target for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for ATC.

Objective: The objective of the investigation was to study the role of LAMC2 in ATC tumorigenesis.

PIAS4 is an activator of hypoxia signalling via VHL suppression during growth of pancreatic cancer cells.

Background: The PIAS4 protein belongs to the family of protein inhibitors of activated STAT, but has since been implicated in various biological activities including the post-translational modification known as sumoylation. In this study, we explored the roles of PIAS4 in pancreatic tumourigenesis.

Methods: The expression levels of PIAS4 in pancreatic cancer cells were examined.

Growth, antioxidant capacity and total carotene of Dunaliella salina DCCBC15 in a low cost enriched natural seawater medium.

Dunaliella is currently drawing worldwide attention as an alternative source of nutraceuticals. Commercially, β-carotene making up over 10% of Dunaliella biomass is generating the most interest. These compounds, because of their non-toxic properties, have found applications in the food, drug and cosmetic industry.

Texture analysis of ultrahigh field T2*-weighted MR images of the brain: application to Huntington's disease.

Purpose: To develop a framework for quantitative detection of between-group textural differences in ultrahigh field T2*-weighted MR images of the brain.

Materials And Methods: MR images were acquired using a three-dimensional (3D) T2*-weighted gradient echo sequence on a 7 Tesla MRI system. The phase images were high-pass filtered to remove phase wraps.

Overexpression of miR-26a-2 in human liposarcoma is correlated with poor patient survival.

Approximately 90% of well-differentiated/de-differentiated liposarcomas (WDLPS/DDLPS), the most common LPS subtype, have chromosomal amplification at 12q13-q22. Many protein-coding genes in the region, such as MDM2 and , have been studied as potential therapeutic targets for LPS treatment, with minimal success. In the amplified region near the MDM2 gene, our single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis of 75 LPS samples identified frequent amplification of miR-26a-2.

Genomic and functional characterizations of phosphodiesterase subtype 4D in human cancers.

Discovery of cancer genes through interrogation of genomic dosage is one of the major approaches in cancer research. In this study, we report that phosphodiesterase subtype 4D (PDE4D) gene was homozygously deleted in 198 cases of 5,569 primary solid tumors (3.56%), with most being internal microdeletions.

Inhibiting proliferation of gefitinib-resistant, non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Sensitivity to a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is correlated with the presence of somatic mutations that affect the kinase domain of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Development of resistance to TKI is a major therapeutic problem in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Aim of this study is to identify agents that can overcome TKI resistance in NSCLC.

Growth inhibition of pancreatic cancer cells by histone deacetylase inhibitor belinostat through suppression of multiple pathways including HIF, NFkB, and mTOR signaling in vitro and in vivo.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a devastating disease with few therapeutic options. Histone deacetylase inhibitors are a novel therapeutic approach to cancer treatment; and two new pan-histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), belinostat and panobinostat, are undergoing clinical trials for advanced hematologic malignancies, non-small cell lung cancers and advanced ovarian epithelial cancers. We found that belinostat and panobinostat potently inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, the growth of six (AsPc1, BxPc3, Panc0327, Panc0403, Panc1005, MiaPaCa2) of 14 human pancreatic cancer cell lines.

The triterpenoid cucurbitacin B augments the antiproliferative activity of chemotherapy in human breast cancer.

Despite recent advances in therapy, breast cancer remains the second most common cause of death from malignancy in women. Chemotherapy plays a major role in breast cancer management, and combining chemotherapeutic agents with nonchemotherapeutic agents is of considerable clinical interest. Cucurbitacins are triterpenes compounds found in plants of the Cucurbitaceae family, reported to have anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities.

Growing self-organizing trees for autonomous hierarchical clustering.

This paper presents a new unsupervised learning method based on growing processes and autonomous self-assembly rules. This method, called Growing Self-organizing Trees (GSoT), can grow both network size and tree topology to represent the topological and hierarchical dataset organization, allowing a rapid and interactive visualization. Tree construction rules draw inspiration from elusive properties of biological organization to build hierarchical structures.

Discovery of new antagonists aimed at discriminating UII and URP-mediated biological activities: insight into UII and URP receptor activation.

Background And Purpose: Recent evidence suggested that urotensin II (UII) and its paralog peptide UII-related peptide (URP) might exert common but also divergent physiological actions. Unfortunately, none of the existing antagonists were designed to discriminate specific UII- or URP-associated actions, and our understanding, on how these two endogenous peptides can trigger different, but also common responses, is limited.

Experimental Approach: Ex vivo rat and monkey aortic ring contraction as well as dissociation kinetics studies using transfected CHO cells expressing the human urotensin (UT) receptors were used in this study.

Controlling HIV epidemics among injection drug users: eight years of Cross-Border HIV prevention interventions in Vietnam and China.

Introduction: HIV in Vietnam and Southern China is driven by injection drug use. We have implemented HIV prevention interventions for IDUs since 2002-2003 in Lang Son and Ha Giang Provinces, Vietnam and Ning Ming County (Guangxi), China.

Methods: Interventions provide peer education and needle/syringe distribution.

Design and characterization of novel cell-penetrating peptides from pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide.

The discovery of cell-penetrating peptide opened up new promising avenues for the non-invasive delivery of non-permeable biomolecules within the intracellular compartment. However, some setbacks such as possible toxic effects or unexpected immunological responses have limited their use in clinic. To overcome these obstacles, we investigated the use of novel cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) derived from the endogenous neuropeptide Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP).

Is flapless implant surgery a viable option in posterior maxilla? A review.

This article reviews the literature on the outcome of flapless surgery for dental implants in the posterior maxilla. The literature search was carried out in using the keywords: flapless, dental implants and maxilla. A hand search and Medline search were carried out on studies published between 1971 and 2011.

Validation of MALDI-TOF MS for rapid classification and identification of lactic acid bacteria, with a focus on isolates from traditional fermented foods in Northern Vietnam.

Aims: To evaluate the potential use of MALDI-TOF MS for fast and reliable classification and identification of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from traditional fermented foods.

Methods And Results: A total of 119 strains of LAB from fermented meat (nem chua) were analysed with both (GTG)(5)-PCR fingerprinting and MALDI-TOF MS. Cluster analysis of the profiles revealed five species represented by a single isolate both in (GTG)(5)-PCR and in MALDI-TOF MS; five species grouped alike for (GTG)(5)-PCR and for MALDI-TOF MS; however, differences in minimal similarity between the delineated (GTG)(5)-PCR and MALDI-TOF MS clusters could be observed; three species showed more heterogeneity in their MALDI-TOF MS profiles compared to their (GTG)(5)-PCR profiles; two species, each represented by a single MALDI-TOF cluster, were subdivided in the corresponding (GTG)(5)-PCR dendrogram.

Behavior of butachlor and pyrazosulfuron-ethyl in paddy water using micro paddy lysimeters under different temperature conditions in spring and summer.

The behavior of butachlor and pyrazosulfuron-ethyl in paddy water was investigated using micro paddy lysimeters with prescribed hydrological conditions under ambient temperature in spring and summer for simulating two rice crop seasons. Although they were not significantly different, the dissipation of both herbicides in paddy water in the summer experiment was faster than in the spring experiment. The half-lives (DT(50)) in paddy water for spring and summer experiments were 3.

miR-34a functions as a tumor suppressor modulating EGFR in glioblastoma multiforme.

Chromosome 1p36.23 is frequently deleted in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). miR-34a localizes in this region.

Differential gene expression profiling of primary cutaneous melanoma and sentinel lymph node metastases.

Limited understanding of molecular mechanisms of metastasis in melanoma contributes to the absence of effective treatments. Increased knowledge of alterations in genes that underpin critical molecular events that lead to metastasis is essential. We have investigated the gene expression profiles of primary melanomas and melanoma metastases in sentinel lymph nodes.

Polyphenols in brewed green tea inhibit prostate tumor xenograft growth by localizing to the tumor and decreasing oxidative stress and angiogenesis.

It has been demonstrated in various animal models that the oral administration of green tea (GT) extracts in drinking water can inhibit tumor growth, but the effects of brewed GT on factors promoting tumor growth, including oxidant damage of DNA and protein, angiogenesis and DNA methylation, have not been tested in an animal model. To explore these potential mechanisms, brewed GT was administered instead of drinking water to male severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice with androgen-dependent human LAPC4 prostate cancer cell subcutaneous xenografts. Tumor volume was decreased significantly in mice consuming GT, and tumor size was significantly correlated with GT polyphenol (GTP) content in tumor tissue.