[Overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase EphA2 in choroidal melanoma: correlation with vesculogenic mimicry and prognosis].

Objective: To study the correlation of EphA2 protein expression with vesculogenic mimicry (VM), clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in choroidal melanoma (CM).

Methods: It was a retrospective case series study. Between January 1992 and December 2005, 56 cases of human CM with clinicopathologic data from the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University were studied.

MicroRNA-34a targets notch1 and inhibits cell proliferation in glioblastoma multiforme.

Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in cancer initiation and progression. In this study, we found that microRNA-34a (miR-34a) is significantly downregulated in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) specimens compared with normal brain tissues. Growth curve and colony formation assays revealed that miR-34a suppresses proliferation of U373MG and SHG44 glioblastoma cells.

Inhibition of tumor growth and vasculogenic mimicry by curcumin through down-regulation of the EphA2/PI3K/MMP pathway in a murine choroidal melanoma model.

This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism by which curcumin inhibits tumor growth and reduces vasculogenic mimicry (VM) in a murine choroidal melanoma model. Sixty mice were given subretinal injection with B16F10 cells and divided into a treatment and a control group. Curcumin was administered to the treatment group once a day at a dose of 100 mg/kg for 18 days starting at d3 (the day of inoculation is designated as d0); an equivalent volume of poloxamer-F68 was administered to the control group.

[The mechanisms of microenvironments influence on vasculogenic mimicry between intraocular and subcutaneous melanoma].

Objective: To investigate the influence of different microenvironments on melanoma vasculogenic mimicry, invasiveness and metastasis behavior.

Methods: It was an experimental study. Sixty C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into two groups with 30 mice per group.