Articulation in postoperative patients treated for early- and advanced-stage tongue cancer.

Tongue cancer is among the most prevalent head and neck cancers and is most commonly treated via surgery. We assessed the articulation differences in patients with early and advanced tongue cancer. The study included 26 postoperative tongue cancer patients.

Pyruvate Kinase Differentially Alters Metabolic Signatures during Head and Neck Carcinogenesis.

During glycolysis, the muscle isoform of pyruvate kinase PKM2 produces ATP in exchange for dephosphorylation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) into pyruvate. PKM2 has been considered as a tumor-promoting factor in most cancers, whereas the regulatory role of PKM2 during head and neck carcinogenesis remained to be delineated. PKM2 mRNA and protein expression was examined in head and neck tumorous specimens.

Assessing hand hygiene knowledge, attitude, behavior and adherence among nursing assistants: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: This study explored hand hygiene knowledge, attitude, behaviors and adherence amongst nursing assistants.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with structured questionnaires and direct observation. Nursing assistants were recruited from two long-term care facilities in eastern Taiwan from July to September, 2021.

Determination of Pyruvate Metabolic Fates Modulates Head and Neck Tumorigenesis.

Even with increasing evidence for roles of glycolytic enzymes in controlling cancerous characteristics, the best target of candidate metabolic enzymes for lessening malignancy remains under debate. Pyruvate is a main glycolytic metabolite that could be mainly converted into either lactate by Lactate Dehydrogenase A (LDHA) or acetyl-CoA by Pyruvate Dehydrogenase E1 component α subunit (PDHA1) catalytic complex. In tumor cells, accumulating lactate is produced whereas the conversion of pyruvate into mitochondrial acetyl-CoA is less active compared with their normal counterparts.

Porcine Neonatal Pancreatic Cell Clusters Maintain Their Multipotency in Culture and After Transplantation.

Ductal epithelium is primarily detected in porcine neonatal pancreatic cell clusters (NPCCs) bearing grafts, suggesting that transplants might exhibit progenitor-like phenotypes. Here we found that soon after NPCC isolation, PDX1/insulin and SOX9 pancreatic progenitor-like cells dramatically increased while dual-hormonal progenitor-like cells were routinely observed in NPCC culture. After transplantation (Tx), insulin cells increased and PDX1 and SOX9 cells gradually decreased in both non-diabetic (NDM) and streptozotocin-induced diabetic (DM) grafts over 2 months.

miRTarBase update 2018: a resource for experimentally validated microRNA-target interactions.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of ∼ 22 nucleotides that are involved in negative regulation of mRNA at the post-transcriptional level. Previously, we developed miRTarBase which provides information about experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions (MTIs). Here, we describe an updated database containing 422 517 curated MTIs from 4076 miRNAs and 23 054 target genes collected from over 8500 articles.

Cell survival and death program modulated by LMP1: implication in antitumor immunity.

The genome of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encodes proteins essential for malignant transformation, for example, latent membrane protein 1(LMP1). Whereas, LMP1 up-regulates anti-apoptotic proteins to support viral replication, it also potentiates apoptosis, suggesting that a viral protein contributes to the survival of the virus, and it also elicit host defense leading to the destruction of the infected cells. The antitumor immunity is exerted by infiltrated CD8+ T cells elaborating cytotoxic effectors, like Fas ligand (FasL, CD95L or CD178).

[Expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells].

Background & Objective: It was reported that chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand stromal cell-derived factor 1(SDF-1) were involved in the proliferation, differentiation, and metastasis of tumor. This study was designed to observe the expression of CXCR4 in NPC cells with different differentiation grade and proliferative ability to primitively clarify the relationship between CXCR4 and the malignity of NPC cells.

Methods: After treated with all-trans-retinoic acid(RA) and telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASODN) respectively, the expression of CXCR4 mRNA and CXCR4 protein in NPC CNE1 and CNE2Z cells were determined by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, respectively; the distribution of cell cycle was examined with flow cytometry and the proliferation of cells was identified by MTT method.

[Effects of two LMP1 variants on resistance of CNE1 cell strain to TGF-beta1].

Background & Objective: We had proved that different latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) variants of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) had different effects upon growth characteristics of a human well-differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell strain CNE1. This study was designed to investigate the possible effects of different LMP1 variants on resistance of CNE1 to TGFbeta1 and the related mechanism(s) so as to further elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms of their growth-promoting effects upon CNE1.

Methods: The plasmids including J124 (served as a control plasmid),124-B95-8 (carried LMP1 gene cloned from B95-8 lymphocytes,B95-8-LMP1), and J124- CAO-5 (carried LMP1 gene cloned from NPC tissues,CAO-LMP1) were introduced into CNE1 by liposomal transfection.

[Effects of telomerase sense and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides on growth and differentiation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells].

Background & Objective: It was reported that telomere and telomerase were associated with the development of cancers. Telomerase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides(ASODN) directly act on telomerase, or induce tumor cells to differentiate, result in telomerase activity decreases, and cells growth inhibited. However, whether the inhibition of telomerase activity by ASODN could induce tumor cells to differentiate is still unknown.