PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway as a therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.

Background: Ovarian cancer is one of the major causes of death in women worldwide. Despite improvements in conventional treatment approaches, such as surgery and chemotherapy, a majority of patients with advanced ovarian cancer experience relapse and eventually succumb to the disease; the outcome of patients remains poor. Hence, new therapeutic strategies are urgently required.

[Retrospective investigation on changes of endemic situation before and after reaching criteria of schistosomiasis transmission controlled or interrupted in hilly endemic areas of Jiangxi Province].

Objective: To investigate the changing rules of schistosomiasis endemic situation before and after reaching the criteria of schistosomiasis transmission controlled or interrupted in hilly endemic areas of Jiangxi Province, so as to provide the evidence for reformulating the criteria of schistosomiasis control and eradication in the future.

Methods: In the hilly areas of schistosomiasis endemic in Jiangxi Province, 2 counties where the transmission has been interrupted and 1 county where the transmission has been controlled were selected and investigated with the retrospective research method. The endemic detailed data were collected and recorded 10 years before reaching the criteria of transmission interrupted/controlled, and several years after reaching the criteria (ending in 2008), and then a database was established.

[Analysis of the characteristics of side population cells in the human ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR-3].

Objective: To identify the presence of side population (SP) cells in human ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR-3 and to investigate whether SP cells have the characteristics of cancer stem cells.

Methods: SP and non-SP (NSP) cells from OVCAR-3 were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting after being stained by DNA-binding dye Hoechst 33342. Limiting dilution transplantation assay, real-time PCR, and drug sensitivity assay were performed to compare the tumorigenic ability, differentiation ability in vivo, the mRNA expression of "stemness" marker (Oct-4, Klf4, and Nanog) and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter (ABCG2, ABCB1, and ABCC2), and response to multiple drugs (cisplatin, paclitaxel, doxorubicin, and mitoxantrone) between SP and NSP cells.

[Differential expression of microRNAs associated with estrogen receptor alpha and progesterone receptor in typeIand typeII endometrial adenocarcinomas.].

Objective: To identify differentially expression of microRNAs associated with expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) and progesterone receptor (PR) between type I and type II endometrial adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Two kinds of endometrial adenocarcinoma cell lines, Ishikawa and KLE, was transplanted into nude mice and biopsied to identify the expression of ERalpha, PR and p53, and test their response to estrogen and progesterone. Cultured the two cell lines under the estrogen-free and progesterone-free circumstance, total RNA was isolated to identify the differentially expressed microRNAs by microarray for prediction the microRNAs which target ESR1 and PGR by software miRANDA and TargetScan, and then was validated by real-time PCR in two cell lines cultured both in vivo and in vitro and ten specimens from patients.

[Expression of MIF, VEGF and p16 proteins and their correlation with clinicopathological features in cervical cancer].

Objective: To investigate the expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), p16 and vascular endothclial growth factor (VEGF) proteins and their relationship with clinicopathological features in cervical cancer.

Methods: Tissue microarray (TMA) and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of MIF, p16 and VEGF proteins in specimens of 10 normal cervical epithelial tissues, 18 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN II, III) and 31 cervical squamous cell carcinomas. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of MIF, p16 and VEGF proteins in fresh samples of 3 normal cervical epithelial tissues, 3 CIN (III) and 6 cervical squamous cell carcinomas (3 Ib and 3 IIb).