Lack of phosphoinositide 3-kinase-gamma attenuates ventilator-induced lung injury.

Objective: G protein-coupled receptors may up-regulate the inflammatory response elicited by ventilator-induced lung injury but also regulate cell survival via protein kinase B (Akt) and extracellular signal regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2). The G protein-sensitive phosphoinositide-3-kinase gamma (PI3Kgamma) regulates several cellular functions including inflammation and cell survival. We explored the role of PI3Kgamma on ventilator-induced lung injury.

Skewing towards neuroendocrine phenotype in high grade or high stage androgen-responsive primary prostate cancer.

Objective: The prognostic influence of neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in prostate cancer patients is not yet properly established. In a series of primary hormone-naive prostate cancers from a patient population that underwent radical prostatectomy, we wanted to determine the relationship between NE phenotype expression and Gleason sum, disease stage, and serum PSA concentration.

Methods: Chromogranin A (CgA) expression was scored and compared in 105 consecutive primary prostate cancers with their homologous preoperative tumor prostate biopsies.