Complement factor H in molecular regulation of angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis, the process of formation of new capillaries from existing blood vessels, is required for multiple physiological and pathological processes. Complement factor H (CFH) is a plasma protein that inhibits the alternative pathway of the complement system. Loss of CFH enhances the alternative pathway and increases complement activation fragments with pro-angiogenic capacity, including complement 3a, complement 5a, and membrane attack complex.

Mechanical Properties and Nanomotion of BT-20 and ZR-75 Breast Cancer Cells Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy and Optical Nanomotion Detection Method.

Cells of two molecular genetic types of breast cancer-hormone-dependent breast cancer (ZR-75 cell line) and triple-negative breast cancer (BT-20 cell line)-were studied using atomic force microscopy and an optical nanomotion detection method. Using the Peak Force QNM and Force Volume AFM modes, we revealed the unique patterns of the dependence of Young's modulus on the indentation depth for two cancer cell lines that correlate with the features of the spatial organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Within a 200-300 nm layer just under the cell membrane, BT-20 cells are stiffer than ZR-75 cells, whereas in deeper cell regions, Young's modulus of ZR-75 cells exceeds that of BT-20 cells.

Second Primary Cancer Among Patients With Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Following the Chernobyl Disaster.

Importance: To our knowledge, there are no complete population-based studies of the risks of developing second malignant tumors after papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in patients following the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Objective: To study the risk of second primary cancers in patients with PTC after the Chernobyl disaster.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in the Republic of Belarus over a 31-year time frame evaluating patients with primary PTC and second malignant tumors.

CD109-regulated mechanical properties of endothelial cells.

CD109 antigen on the endothelial cell surface plays an important role in vascular pathology. The aim of the work was to investigate the effect of the immobilization of CD109 antigen with specific antibodies on nanomechanical properties of human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVECs) using atomic force microscopy in quantitative nanomechanical property mapping mode (PeakForce QNM). Anti-CD109 antibodies induced significant stiffening of the cell surface Me(LQ; UQ): in 1.

Prognostic Value of Immunohistochemical Markers for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

The aim of this study is to reveal the potential roles of apoptosis markers (Bcl2 and p53), proliferation markers (Ki-67 and CyclD1), and the neuroendocrine marker Chromogranin A as markers for the radioresistance of rectal cancer. Statistically significant differences were found in the expression of p53, Ki-67, and Chromogranin A in groups of patients with and without a favorable prognosis after radiotherapy. The survival analysis revealed that the marker of neuroendocrine differentiation, Chromogranin A, also demonstrated a high prognostic significance, indicating a poor prognosis.

Gamma-ray irradiation modulates PGRMC1 expression and the number of CD56+ and FoxP3+ cells in the tumor microenvironment of endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: Although the conventional gamma ray brachytherapy has been successful in treating endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EC), the molecular and cellular mechanisms of this anti-tumorigenic response remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated whether gamma ray irradiation induces changes in the number of FoxP3+ T-regulatory lymphocytes (Tregs), CD56+ natural killer cells (NK), and the expression of progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) in the tumor microenvironment (TME).

Materials And Methods: According to the inclusion criteria, 127 cases were selected and grouped into irradiation-treated (Rad+) and control (underwent surgery) groups and analyzed using immunohistochemistry.

Heterogeneity of nanomechanical properties of the human umbilical vein endothelial cell surface.

Endothelial cells, due to heterogeneity in the cell structure, can potentially form an inhomogeneous on structural and mechanical properties of the inner layer of the capillaries. Using quantitative nanomechanical mapping mode of atomic force microscopy, the parameters of the structural, elastic, and adhesive properties of the cell surface for living and glutaraldehyde-fixed human umbilical vein endothelial cells were studied. A significant difference in the studied parameters for three cell surface zones (peripheral, perinuclear, and nuclear zones) was established.

The Potential Roles of MELF-Pattern, Microvessel Density, and VEGF Expression in Survival of Patients with Endometrioid Endometrial Carcinoma: A Morphometrical and Immunohistochemical Analysis of 100 Cases.

Background: In this study, we hypothesized that microcystic, elongated, fragmented (MELF)-pattern, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression by cancer cells and microvessel density of cancer stroma may be associated with progression of endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

Methods: The study used data from the Belarus Cancer Registry and archival histological material of 100 patients with retrospectively known good (survival) and poor (disease progression and death) outcomes. All cases were immunohistochemically stained for CD34 and VEGF.

Risk of Thyroid Nodules in Residents of Belarus Exposed to Chernobyl Fallout as Children and Adolescents.

Context: Although radiation exposure is an important predictor of thyroid cancer on diagnosis of a thyroid nodule, the relationship between childhood radiation exposure and thyroid nodules has not been comprehensively evaluated.

Objective: To examine the association between internal I-131 thyroid dose and thyroid nodules in young adults exposed during childhood.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this cross-sectional study, we screened residents of Belarus aged ≤18 years at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident for thyroid disease (median age, 21 years) with thyroid palpation, ultrasonography, blood/urine analysis, and medical follow-up when appropriate.

Risk of thyroid follicular adenoma among children and adolescents in Belarus exposed to iodine-131 after the Chornobyl accident.

Several studies reported an increased risk of thyroid cancer in children and adolescents exposed to radioactive iodines, chiefly iodine-131 ((131)I), after the 1986 Chornobyl (Ukrainian spelling) nuclear power plant accident. The risk of benign thyroid tumors following such radiation exposure is much less well known. We have previously reported a novel finding of significantly increased risk of thyroid follicular adenoma in a screening study of children and adolescents exposed to the Chornobyl fallout in Ukraine.

Analysis of thyroid malignant pathologic findings identified during 3 rounds of screening (1997-2008) of a cohort of children and adolescents from belarus exposed to radioiodines after the Chernobyl accident.

Background: Recent studies of children and adolescents who were exposed to radioactive iodine-131 (I-131) after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine exhibited a significant dose-related increase in the risk of thyroid cancer, but the association of radiation doses with tumor histologic and morphologic features is not clear.

Methods: A cohort of 11,664 individuals in Belarus who were aged ≤18 years at the time of the accident underwent 3 cycles of thyroid screening during 1997 to 2008. I-131 thyroid doses were estimated from individual thyroid activity measurements taken within 2 months after the accident and from dosimetric questionnaire data.

Measures of thyroid function among Belarusian children and adolescents exposed to iodine-131 from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Background: Thyroid dysfunction after exposure to low or moderate doses of radioactive iodine-131 (131I) at a young age is a public health concern. However, quantitative data are sparse concerning 131I-related risk of these common diseases.

Objective: Our goal was to assess the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in association with 131I exposure during childhood (≤ 18 years) due to fallout from the Chernobyl accident.

Karyopathological traits of thyrocytes and exposure to radioiodines in Belarusian children and adolescents following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The Belarus-American (BelAm) thyroid study cohort consists of persons who were 0-18 years of age at the time of exposure to radioactive iodine fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident and who have undergone serial thyroid screenings with referral for fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) using standardized criteria. We investigated thyrocyte nuclear abnormalities in cytological samples from FNABs in 75 BelAm subjects with single and multiple thyroid nodules and 47 nodular goiter patients from Leningrad, Russia, unexposed to Chernobyl fallout. Nuclear abnormalities examined included internuclear chromosome bridges and derivative nuclei with broken bridges (i.