Functional Characterization of Non-coding RNAs Through Genomic Data Fusion.

Acting as a class of regulators of gene expression, miRNAs play crucial roles in various biological processes, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Increasing evidence indicates that dysregulation of miRNA expression and function is related to the pathogenesis of many human diseases. Here, we applied an integration strategy to identify conserved miRNA co-expression relationships and constructed a miRNA co-expression network based on human and mouse miRNA expression data.

Sodium-fluoride PET-CT for the non-invasive evaluation of coronary plaques in symptomatic patients with coronary artery disease: a cross-correlation study with intravascular ultrasound.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the F-sodium fluoride (F-NaF) coronary uptake compared to coronary intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease.

Background: F-NaF PET enables the assessment of vascular osteogenesis by interaction with surface hydroxyapatite, while IVUS enables both identification and quantification of intra-plaque components.

Methods: Forty-four patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease were included in this prospective controlled trial, 32 of them (30 patients with unstable angina and 2 patients with stable angina), representing the final study cohort, got additional IVUS.

TIP: A Web Server for Resolving Tumor Immunophenotype Profiling.

: Systematically tracking the tumor immunophenotype is required to understand the mechanisms of cancer immunity and improve clinical benefit of cancer immunotherapy. However, progress in current research is hindered by the lack of comprehensive immune activity resources and easy-to-use tools for biologists, clinicians, and researchers to conveniently evaluate immune activity during the "cancer-immunity cycle." We developed a user-friendly one-stop shop web tool called TIP to comprehensively resolve tumor immunophenotype.

Molecular characterization of triosephosphate isomerase from Echinococcus granulosus.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonosis that can be caused by the larvae of Echinococcus granulosus; this disease occurs worldwide and is highly endemic in China. E. granulosus can produce energy by glycolysis as well as both aerobic and anaerobic respirations.

High Expression of Ubiquitin-Specific Protease 8 (USP8) Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Cervical cancer is one of the most common female malignancies in the world. The ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8) functions by removing ubiquitin from protein substrates, and its potential role in cancer development was recently uncovered in lung cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and function of USP8 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC).

Tumor heterogeneity of gastric cancer: From the perspective of tumor-initiating cell.

Gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most common and malignant types of cancer due to its rapid progression, distant metastasis, and resistance to conventional chemotherapy, although efforts have been made to understand the underlying mechanism of this resistance and to improve clinical outcome. It is well recognized that tumor heterogeneity, a fundamental feature of malignancy, plays an essential role in the cancer development and chemoresistance. The model of tumor-initiating cell (TIC) has been proposed to explain the genetic, histological, and phenotypical heterogeneity of GC.

POZ/BTB and AT-Hook-Containing Zinc Finger Protein 1 (PATZ1) Suppresses Progression of Ovarian Cancer and Serves as an Independent Prognosis Factor.

BACKGROUND The POZ/BTB and AT-hook-containing Zinc finger protein 1 (PATZ1) is a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor belonging to the POZ domain Krüppel-like zinc finger (POK) family. It is involved in the pathogenesis of a growing list of human diseases, including cancer. The effect of PATZ1 on serous ovarian carcinoma (SOC) remains unclear.

Targeted regulationof STAT3 by miR-29a in mediating Taxol resistance of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE-1.

STAT3 is an important molecule in Janus kinase (JAK) signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signal pathway, and facilitates expression of various oncogenic genes such as Bcl-2, thus is correlated with tumor onset, progression and drug resistance. MiR-29a down-regulation is associated with the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated a complementary binding between miR-29a and 3'-UTR of STAT3.

Role of autophagy in sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity in neonatal rat hippocampal cells.

Background: Sevoflurane has been extensively employed for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. The effect of sevoflurane-induced apoptosis in developmental neurotoxicity has been appreciated for some time now, but the underlying mechanism of developmental neurotoxicity has not been established. The aim of our study is to evaluate the role of autophagy in sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity through observing changes in the levels of autophagy in hippocampal neurons after exposure to sevoflurane.

Ezetimibe, a NPC1L1 inhibitor, attenuates neuronal apoptosis through AMPK dependent autophagy activation after MCAO in rats.

Autophagy activation exerts neuroprotective effects in the ischemic stroke model. Ezetimibe (Eze), a Niemann-Pick disease type C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) pharmacological inhibitor, has been reported to protect hepatocytes from apoptosis via autophagy activation. In this study, we explored whether Eze could attenuate neuronal apoptosis in the rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), specifically via activation of the AMPK/ULK1/autophagy pathway.

Serum miR-126 level combined with multi- detector computed tomography in the preoperative prediction of lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer.

Background: Predicting lymph node metastasis (LNM) accurately is vital to design optimal treatment strategies preoperatively for gastric cancer (GC) patients. However, conventional tumor biomarkers and imaging techniques are not sufficient to predict LNM before surgery. miR-126 has been reported to play important roles in tumor metastasis which may represent a novel tumor biomarker.

Autophagy is involved in sevoflurane-induced developmental neurotoxicity in the developing rat brain.

Background: Sevoflurane can induce neonatal wide neurodegenerative and serious deficit to space learning tasks in rodents, however, the specific mechanism is still unclear. At present, the study tried to explore the possible role of autophagy in sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity through observing the changes in the levels of autophagy in the newborn SD rat hippocampus tissue after sevoflurane exposure.

Methods: We used seventy-two SD rats of seven days receiving sevoflurane exposure to explore hippocampus neuron autophagy and apoptosis.

Green Tea Liquid Consumption Alters the Human Intestinal and Oral Microbiome.

Scope: GTPs (green tea polyphenols) exert anti-CRC (colorectal cancer) activity. The intestinal microbiota and intestinal colonization by bacteria of oral origin has been implicated in colorectal carcinogenesis. GT modulates the composition of mouse gut microbiota harmonious with anticancer activity.

A2-type cyclin is required for the asymmetric entry division in rice stomatal development.

In rice, and other major cereal grass crops, stomata are arranged in linear files parallel to the long growth axis of leaves. Each stomatal unit comprises two dumbbell-shaped guard cells flanked by two subsidiary cells. These morphological and developmental characteristics enable grass stomata to respond to environmental changes more efficiently.

Expression, Tissue Localization and Serodiagnostic Potential of Echinococcus granulosus Leucine Aminopeptidase.

is the causative agent of cystic echinococcosis (CE), a widespread parasitic zoonosis. Leucine aminopeptidases (LAPs) of the M17 peptidase family have important functions in regulating the balance of catabolism and anabolism, cell maintenance, growth and defense. In this study, we presented a bioinformatic characterization and experimentally determined the tissue distribution characteristics of LAP (Eg-LAP), and explored its potential value for diagnosis of CE in sheep based on indirect ELISA.

Down-regulated serum miR-126 is associated with aggressive progression and poor prognosis of gastric cancer.

Background: miR-126 functions as a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer (GC), however, the clinical significance of serum miR-126 in GC remains unclear.

Objective: To investigate the associations of serum miR-126 level with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of GC patients.

Methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to examine the expression levels of miR-126 in 338 GC patients' tissues and sera, and 50 healthy controls' sera.

G9A promotes gastric cancer metastasis by upregulating ITGB3 in a SET domain-independent manner.

Tumor metastasis is the leading cause of death in patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC). Limited therapeutic regimens are available for this condition, which is associated with a poor prognosis, and the mechanisms underlying tumor metastasis remain unclear. In the present study, increased histone methyltransferase G9A expression in GC tissues correlated with advanced stage and shorter overall survival, and in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that G9A promoted tumor invasion and metastasis.

Increased expression of hepcidin and associated upregulation of JAK/STAT3 signaling in human gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies with high cancer-associated mortality rate globally. Hepcidin is the peptide hormone, which is critically important in the regulation of systemic iron homeostasis. Cumulating evidence has reported that the disturbed local expression of hepcidin may serve as a predictive biomarker in assessing the clinical outcomes in a range of cancer types.

Rapid and sensitive biomarker detection using molecular imprinting polymer hydrogel and surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Biomarkers are important biochemical indicators, which could be used for identification, early diagnosis and monitoring of diseases during the course of treatment. However, biomarker diagnosis has some shortcomings such as requiring a large amount of samples, long test time and high cost, which seriously influences the correctness and timely treatment to patients. Here, a relatively fast and efficient plasmonic hot spot-localized surface imprinting of Ag spheres using biomarker template immobilization and hydrogel copolymerization is described.

Agrin and LRP4 antibodies as new biomarkers of myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a common disorder that affects the neuromuscular junction. It is caused by antibodies against acetylcholine receptor and muscle-specific tyrosine kinase; however, some MG patients do not have antibodies against either of the proteins. Recent studies have revealed antibodies against agrin and its receptor LRP4-both critical for neuromuscular junction formation and maintenance-in MG patients from various populations.

SHORT-TERM EFFICACY OF CONBERCEPT AND RANIBIZUMAB FOR POLYPOIDAL CHOROIDAL VASCULOPATHY.

Purpose: To compare the 6-month efficacy of the intravitreal injection of conbercept or ranibizumab for patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study involved 79 PCV eyes of 77 patients. The PCV eyes were treated with an intravitreal injection of either ranibizumab (n = 44) or conbercept (n = 35).

Induction of Anti-agrin Antibodies Causes Myasthenia Gravis in Mice.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Most cases of MG are caused by autoantibodies against the acetylcholine receptor (AChR), muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 4 (LRP4). Recent studies have identified anti-agrin antibodies in MG patients lacking these three antibodies (i.

GM-CSF ameliorates microvascular barrier integrity via pericyte-derived Ang-1 in wound healing.

Skin wound healing involves complex coordinated interactions of cells, tissues, and mediators. Maintaining microvascular barrier integrity is one of the key events for endothelial homeostasis during wound healing. Vasodilation is observed after vasoconstriction, which causes blood vessels to become porous, facilitates leukocyte infiltration and aids angiogenesis at the wound-area, postinjury.