Periostin: a novel prognostic and therapeutic target for genitourinary cancer?

Many of the cellular abnormalities present in solid tumors are structural in nature and involve the proteins of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Periostin is a protein produced and secreted by the fibroblasts as a component of the ECM where it is involved in regulating intercellular adhesion. The expression of periostin has an important physiological role during embryogenesis and growth, namely at the level of bone, dental, and cardiac tissues.

Gastric stump cancer after distal gastrectomy for benign disease: clinicopathological features and surgical outcomes.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to analyze clinicopathologic features and long-term prognosis of gastric stump cancer (GSC) arising in the remnant stomach 5 years or later after partial gastrectomy for benign disease.

Methods: We reviewed the results of 176 patients resected with curative intent for GSC at 8 Italian centers belonging to the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer (GIRCG). The median (range) follow-up time for surviving patients was 71.

Primary bladder angiosarcoma with no apparent previous exposure to carcinogens: a case report.

Background: Angiosarcomas are rare vascular neoplasms, and visceral involvement is quite uncommon. Predisposing factors that are thought to contribute to the development of angiosarcomas include ionizing radiation and chemical agents. Particularly, the association of angiosarcomas with therapeutic radiation has been previously emphasized.

Single skull metastasis 15 years after primary treatment of prostate cancer and with undetectable PSA levels: a case report and review of the literature.

Prostate cancer is the first cause of skull metastases in men, accounting for 12-18% of all cases. This condition is generally a late event in the course of the disease, involving patients with disseminated lesions. Quite rarely is skull involvement the first and single site of distant recurrence.

Thermodynamic basis for engineering high-affinity, high-specificity binding-induced DNA clamp nanoswitches.

Naturally occurring chemoreceptors almost invariably employ structure-switching mechanisms, an observation that has inspired the use of biomolecular switches in a wide range of artificial technologies in the areas of diagnostics, imaging, and synthetic biology. In one mechanism for generating such behavior, clamp-based switching, binding occurs via the clamplike embrace of two recognition elements onto a single target molecule. In addition to coupling recognition with a large conformational change, this mechanism offers a second advantage: it improves both affinity and specificity simultaneously.

A computational investigation of attrition-enhanced chiral symmetry breaking in conglomerate crystals.

Attrition-enhanced chiral symmetry breaking in crystals, also known as Viedma ripening, is a remarkable phenomenon from a variety of perspectives. By providing a direct route to solid-phase homochirality in a controllable manner, it is of inherent interest to those who study chiral symmetry-breaking/amplification mechanisms. When applied to intrinsically chiral molecules, Viedma ripening may have implications for the origin of biological homochirality, as well as applications in chiral drug resolution.

Quality of life in patients with anogenital warts.

Background: Anogenital warts (GW) are among the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Few studies have investigated the quality of life (QoL) of GW patients.

Objective: We undertook an exhaustive description of the health status of GW patients and assessed disease impact on QoL.

Allosterically tunable, DNA-based switches triggered by heavy metals.

Here we demonstrate the rational design of allosterically controllable, metal-ion-triggered molecular switches. Specifically, we designed DNA sequences that adopt two low energy conformations, one of which does not bind to the target ion and the other of which contains mismatch sites serving as specific recognition elements for mercury(II) or silver(I) ions. Both switches contain multiple metal binding sites and thus exhibit homotropic allosteric (cooperative) responses.

Detection of IP-10 protein marker in undiluted blood serum via an electrochemical E-DNA scaffold sensor.

We describe an electrochemical analog of fluorescence polarization that supports the quantitative measurement of a specific protein, the chemokine IP-10, directly in undiluted blood serum. The sensor is label-free, wash-free, and electronic, suggesting it could support point-of-care detection of diagnostic proteins in largely unprocessed clinical samples.

Determinants of the detection limit and specificity of surface-based biosensors.

Here, we employ a model electrochemical DNA sensor to demonstrate that the detection limit and specificity of surface-based sensors often are not dependent on the true affinity of the probe for its target but are simply dependent on the effective probe concentration. Under these circumstances, the observed affinity (and thus the sensor's detection limit and specificity) will depend on the density with which the probes are packed on the surface of the sensor, the surface area, and even the volume of sample employed.

Complement C3f serum levels may predict breast cancer risk in women with gross cystic disease of the breast.

Unlabelled: Gross cystic disease (GCDB) is a breast benign condition predisposing to breast cancer. Cryopreserved sera from GCDB patients, some of whom later developed a cancer (cases), were studied to identify potential risk markers. A MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis found several complement C3f fragments having a significant increased abundance in cases compared to controls.

Dihydrotestosterone and bicalutamide do not affect periostin expression in androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cell lines.

Background/aim: To investigate periostin (POSTN) expression in the LNCaP cell line.

Materials And Methods: Our LNCaP strain did not constitutively express the POSTN gene. Through cell transfection with a cloning vector, we developed an LNCaP cell line that stably expressed POSTN.

Prognostic value of stromal and epithelial periostin expression in human prostate cancer: correlation with clinical pathological features and the risk of biochemical relapse or death.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic value of POSTN expression following prostatectomy.

Methods: Periostin (POSTN) expression in prostate cancer (PCa) and in normal specimens was evaluated in 90 patients by an immuno-reactive score(IRS) based on the intensity of immunostaining and on the quantity of stained cells. The t-test was applied to compare IRS values in cancer specimens to values in normal specimens.

Creation and persistence of chiral asymmetry in a microscopically reversible molecular model.

Of the numerous mechanisms that have been postulated to explain the origin of biological homochirality, asymmetric autocatalysis coupled with mutual inhibition is often cited as a plausible route to abiotic symmetry breaking. However, in a system closed to mass flow, the constraint of microscopic reversibility ensures that this far-from-equilibrium phenomenon can at best provide a temporary excursion from racemic equilibrium. Comparatively little attention has been paid in the literature to the manner in which such a closed system approaches equilibrium, examining the mechanisms and time scales involved in its transit.

Using distal-site mutations and allosteric inhibition to tune, extend, and narrow the useful dynamic range of aptamer-based sensors.

Here we demonstrate multiple, complementary approaches by which to tune, extend, or narrow the dynamic range of aptamer-based sensors. Specifically, we employ both distal-site mutations and allosteric control to tune the affinity and dynamic range of a fluorescent aptamer beacon. We show that allosteric control, achieved by using a set of easily designed oligonucleotide inhibitors that competes against the folding of the aptamer, allows rational fine-tuning of the affinity of our model aptamer across 3 orders of magnitude of target concentration with greater precision than that achieved using mutational approaches.

Erythema nodosum induced by kerion celsi of the scalp in a child: a case report and mini-review of literature.

A 9-year-old girl, presented with a 4-week history of an inflammatory suppurative plaque, 8 cm in diameter, localised in the occipital area of the scalp. Mycological direct examination showed ectoendothrix invasion of the hair and Trichophyton mentagrophytes was isolated. Oral therapy with griseofulvin 25 mg kg(-1)  day(-1) was prescribed, but after 2 weeks of treatment appeared multiple erythematous subcutaneous nodules localised in the legs.

Robotic right colectomy for cancer with intracorporeal anastomosis: short-term outcomes from a single institution.

Purpose: Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer has widely accepted as safe and effective. However, few studies report outcomes on robotic right colon resection with confectioning of the intracorporeal ileocolic anastomosis. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and safety of robotic right colon resection with intracorporeal ileocolic anastomosis (RRCIA) in patients with cancer.

GlucoMen Day continuous glucose monitoring system: a screening for enzymatic and electrochemical interferents.

Background: While most of the common drugs with the potential to interfere with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems are accessible over the counter and can be assumed by CGM patients without medical supervision, many other chemicals are frequently used to treat critically ill patients. Continuous glucose monitoring reading accuracy may also be compromised in patients characterized by abnormally high concentrations of physiological interferents. In this article, 22 species selected from endogenous and exogenous chemicals were screened as possible interferents of GlucoMen®Day (GMD), the new microdialysis-based CGM system from A.

Onset of chaotic phase synchronization in complex networks of coupled heterogeneous oscillators.

Existing studies on network synchronization focused on complex networks possessing either identical or nonidentical but simple nodal dynamics. We consider networks of both complex topologies and heterogeneous but chaotic oscillators, and investigate the onset of global phase synchronization. Based on a heuristic analysis and by developing an efficient numerical procedure to detect the onset of phase synchronization, we uncover a general scaling law, revealing that chaotic phase synchronization can be facilitated by making the network more densely connected.

Social implications of malaria and their relationships with poverty.

In poor countries, tragically, people die unnecessarily. Having changed our understanding about issues related to poverty, even in the fight against malaria we must keep in mind a number of issues other than simple lack of economic resources. In this article we tried to discuss the various aspects that make malaria a disease closely related to poverty and the effects of malaria on the same poverty of patients who are affected.

Rational design of allosteric inhibitors and activators using the population-shift model: in vitro validation and application to an artificial biosensor.

The population-shift mechanism can be used for rational re-engineering of structure-switching biosensors to enable their allosteric inhibition and activation. As a proof-of-principle example of this, we have introduced distal allosteric sites into molecular beacons, which are optical sensors for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences. The binding of inhibitors and activators to these sites enabled the rational modulation of the sensor's target affinity-and thus its useful dynamic range-over 3 orders of magnitude.

Bioelectrochemical switches for the quantitative detection of antibodies directly in whole blood.

The development of rapid, low-cost point-of-care approaches for the quantitative detection of antibodies would drastically impact global health by shortening the delay between sample collection and diagnosis and by improving the penetration of modern diagnostics into the developing world. Unfortunately, however, current methods for the quantitative detection of antibodies, including ELISAs, Western blots, and fluorescence polarization assays, are complex, multiple-step processes that rely on well-trained technicians working in well-equipped laboratories. In response, we describe here a versatile, DNA-based electrochemical "switch" for the rapid, single-step measurement of specific antibodies directly in undiluted whole blood at clinically relevant low-nanomolar concentrations.