[Synergistic killing effect of arsenic trioxide combined with curcumin on KG1a cells].

This study was aimed to explore the effect of arsenic trioxide combined with curcumin on proliferation and apoptosis of KG1a cells and its potential mechanism. The cell survival rate was mesured by MTT; colony formation capacity was examined by methylcellulose colony formation test; flow cytometry was used to analyse the cell surface molecules, cell apoptosis rate and cell cycle; the cell morphology was observed with Wright-Giemsa staining and the protein expression of BCL-2, BAX, PARP was detected by Western blot. The results showed that the phenotype of KG1a cells was CD34(+)CD38(-), while the phenotype of HL-60 cell was CD34(+)CD38(+).

Association between cyclin D1 G870A polymorphism and cervical cancer risk: a cumulative meta-analysis involving 2,864 patients and 3,898 controls.

Background: Association between Cyclin D1 (CCND1) polymorphism and cervical cancer risk are conflicting with published articles. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association between CCND1 G870A polymorphism and cervical cancer risk.

Methods: PubMed, Embase and CNKI data were researched to conduct a meta-analysis on the associations between CCND1 G870A polymorphism and cervical cancer risk.

Particle swarm inspired underwater sensor self-deployment.

Underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) can be applied in sea resource reconnaissance, pollution monitoring and assistant navigation, etc., and have become a hot research field in wireless sensor networks. In open and complicated underwater environments, targets (events) tend to be highly dynamic and uncertain.

Dietary Apostichopus japonicus enhances the respiratory and intestinal mucosal immunity in immunosuppressive mice.

Although Apostichopus japonicus is recognized as a food and drug resource with significant immunomodulatory activity, its role in regulating the mucosal immunity remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the effects of dietary A. japonicus on mucosal immunity with an immunosuppressive mouse model.

Dietary squid ink polysaccharides ameliorated the intestinal microflora dysfunction in mice undergoing chemotherapy.

Gastrointestinal mucositis and infection by chemotherapy treatment are associated with alteration of intestinal microflora and bacterial translocation due to the potential damage induced by anti-cancer drugs on the intestinal barrier and microbiota homeostasis. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of dietary polysaccharides on chemotherapy induced intestinal microflora dysfunction. In the current contribution, with a mouse model intraperitoneally injected with 50 mg kg(-1) of cyclophosphamide (Cy) for 2 days, we revealed that polysaccharides from the ink of Ommastrephes bartrami (OBP) altered the intestinal microflora composition.

The status of p53 in cancer cells affects the role of autophagy in tumor radiosensitisation.

The function of autophagy in cancer has been intensively studied as a possible therapeutic target due to its unique ability to influence the cancer cells' resistance to chemotherapy and radiation treatment. p53 is a pivotal tumor suppressor that induces apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and senescence in response to various stresses, also playing an important role in the regulation of radiosensitivity. Autophagy may either promote or inhibit the survival of tumor cells, while it was found to change along with the status of p53 in cancer cells.

Molecular characterization, expression profile, and association study with meat quality traits of porcine PFKM gene.

Glycolytic potential is a hot aspect to meat quality research in recent years. Phosphofructokinase, muscle type (PFKM), is a key regulatory enzyme used to catalyze the irreversible conversion of fructose-6-phosphate to fructose-1,6-bisphosphate in glycolysis. The present study was designed to investigate the association of PFKM SNP and meat quality traits in pigs.

The effect of image-guided radiation therapy on the margin between the clinical target volume and planning target volume in lung cancer.

IntroductionThis study aimed to evaluate the effect of image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) on the margin between the clinical target volume (CTV) and planning target volume (PTV) in lung cancer. MethodsThe CTV and PTV margin were determined in three dimensions by four radiation oncologists using a standard method in 10 lung cancer patients, and compared to consensus values. Transfer error was measured using a rigid phantom containing gold markers.

[Primary tumor SUVmax measured on (18)F-FDG PET-CT correlates with histologic grade and pathologic stage in non-small cell lung cancer].

Objective: To assess the relationship between preoperative maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) measured on (18)F-FDG PET-CT and clinicopathologic parameters in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: A total of 540 patients (348 men and 192 women, mean age 60 ± 10 years) with histologically proven non-small cell lung cancer, who had undergone both preoperative (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging and curative surgery in our institution from October 2006 to January 2013, were analyzed retrospectively in this study. Primary tumor (18)F-FDG uptake, measured as SUVmax corrected for lean body mass, was compared among different variables and correlated with tumor size, histologic grade and postoperative pathologic TNM stage.

Protective effect of tanshinone IIA against radiation-induced ototoxicity in HEI-OC1 cells.

Radiotherapy is a highly efficient treatment method for nasopharyngeal carcinoma that is often accompanied by significant ototoxic side-effects. The inner ear hair cells are particularly prone to serious injury following radiotherapy. Tanshinone IIA is a transcription factor inhibitor that is extracted from the traditional herbal medicine, Bunge.

Menin promotes hepatocellular carcinogenesis and epigenetically up-regulates Yap1 transcription.

Menin is a scaffold protein encoded by the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) gene in humans, and it interacts with a variety of transcriptional proteins to control active or repressive cellular processes. Here, we show that heterozygous ablation of Men1 in female mice reduces chemical carcinogen-induced liver carcinogenesis and represses the activation of the inflammation pathway. Using ChIP-on-chip screens and ChIP assays, we find that menin occupancy frequently coincides with H3K4me3 at the promoter of many liver cancer-related genes, such as Yes-associated protein (Yap1).

Ergosterol peroxide from Cordyceps cicadae ameliorates TGF-β1-induced activation of kidney fibroblasts.

Chronic kidney disease is a growing public health problem with an urgent need for new pharmacological agents. Ergosterol peroxide (EP) is the major sterol produced by Cordyceps cicadae Shing (C. cicadae), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine.

[Correlation of ¹⁸F-FDG uptake with tumor-proliferating antigen Ki-67 expression in aggressive lymphoma].

Objective: To investigate the correlation between ¹⁸F-FDG uptake in positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging and tumor-proliferating antigen Ki-67 expression in aggressive lymphoma.

Methods: Data of ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT imaging and immunohistochemical detection of Ki-67 expression of seventy-seven cases with initially diagnosed aggressive lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed. The intensity of ¹⁸F-FDG accumulation was determined by calculating the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and average standardized uptake value (SUVave).

Chinese smokers' cigarette purchase behaviours, cigarette prices and consumption: findings from the ITC China Survey.

Background: While cigarette purchasing behaviour has been shown to be linked with certain tobacco use outcomes such as quit intentions and quit attempts, there have been very few studies examining cigarette purchasing behaviours and their impact on cigarette price and consumption in China, the world's largest cigarette consumer.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the extent and determinants of cost/price-related purchase behaviours, and estimate the impact of these behaviours on cigarette prices paid by Chinese smokers. It also assesses the socioeconomic differences in compensatory purchase behaviours, and examines how they influence the relationship between purchase behaviours, cigarette prices and cigarette consumption.

Assessing the impact of the national smoking ban in indoor public places in china: evidence from quit smoking related online searches.

Background: Despite the tremendous economic and health costs imposed on China by tobacco use, China lacks a proactive and systematic tobacco control surveillance and evaluation system, hampering research progress on tobacco-focused surveillance and evaluation studies.

Methods: This paper uses online search query analyses to investigate changes in online search behavior among Chinese Internet users in response to the adoption of the national indoor public place smoking ban. Baidu Index and Google Trends were used to examine the volume of search queries containing three key search terms "Smoking Ban(s)," "Quit Smoking," and "Electronic Cigarette(s)," along with the news coverage on the smoking ban, for the period 2009-2011.

MiR-224 impairs adipocyte early differentiation and regulates fatty acid metabolism.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small ~22 nucleotide regulatory RNAs that regulate the stability and translation of cognate messenger RNAs (mRNAs). MicroRNAs participate in the regulation of adipogenesis and identification of the full repertoire of MicroRNAs expressed in adipose tissue is likely to improve our understanding of adipose tissue growth and development significantly. In the present study, it is found that miR-224-5p abundance decreases first and then increases during adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells.

Primary tumor PET/CT [¹⁸F]FDG uptake is an independent predictive factor for regional lymph node metastasis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Aim: To investigate the correlation between [¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in a primary tumor and pathologic N stages, and to further analyze the possible risk factors contributing to the regional lymph node metastasis.

Patients And Methods: Eighty patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent positron emission tomography/computed tomography were enrolled in the study. The FDG uptake in the primary tumor was compared for the different N staging groups and further correlation was performed.

Molecular cloning, tissue expression, and analysis with genome DNA methylation of porcine LSD1 gene.

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) functioned as a demethyl methylase gene, underlying a wide range of biological processes, including cancer, cell apoptosis, differentiation, and development. To further understand the functions of the porcine LSD1 gene, we first obtained cDNA sequence of porcine LSD1 gene, using in silico cloning method. We further found that the porcine LSD1 gene has two transcripts, in which cDNA sequences are 2,716 and 2,656 bp, ORF are 2,622 and 2,562 bp, respectively.

Can increases in the cigarette tax rate be linked to cigarette retail prices? Solving mysteries related to the cigarette pricing mechanism in China.

Objective: To explain China's cigarette pricing mechanism and the role of the Chinese State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) on cigarette pricing and taxation.

Methods: Published government tobacco tax documentation and statistics published by the Chinese STMA are used to analyse the interrelations among industry profits, taxes and retail price of cigarettes in China.

Results: The 2009 excise tax increase on cigarettes in China has not translated into higher retail prices because the Chinese STMA used its policy authority to ensure that retail cigarette prices did not change.

Adenoviral neutral endopeptidase gene delivery in combination with paclitaxel for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Neutral endopeptidase (NEP) is a cell-surface peptidase that inhibits prostate cancer cell growth partly via inhibition of Akt kinase. We investigated the antitumor effects of an adenovirus gene delivery system (AdNEP) to restore NEP expression in DU145 prostate cancer cells in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy. DU145 cells were infected with adenovirus expressing NEP or LacZ, treated with paclitaxel, and assessed for cell viability, Akt activation and induction of apoptosis.

Characterization of porcine SKIP gene in skeletal muscle development: polymorphisms, association analysis, expression and regulation of cell growth in C2C12 cells.

Skeletal muscle and kidney-enriched inositol phosphatase (SKIP) was identified as a 5'-inositol phosphatase that hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-triphosphate (PI(3,4,5)P3) to PI(3,4)P2 and negatively regulates insulin-induced phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling in skeletal muscle. In this study, two new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in porcine SKIP introns 1 and 6 were detected. The C1092T locus in intron 1 showed significant associations with some meat traits, whereas the A17G locus in intron 6 showed significant associations with some carcass traits.

DNMT1: an emerging target in the treatment of invasive urinary bladder cancer.

Objectives: More than 14,000 people die from invasive urothelial carcinoma (iUC) of the urinary bladder each year in the USA, and more effective therapies are needed. Naturally occurring canine iUC very closely resembles the disease in humans and serves as a highly relevant translational model for novel therapy of human iUC. Work was undertaken to identify new targets for anticancer therapy in dogs with the goal of translating successful therapeutic strategies into humans with iUC.

[Investigation of enterotoxin gene in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus].

Objective: To detect the enterotoxin genes of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) isolated from clinical specimens and analyze the correlation between enterotoxin genes and drug resistance of SA.

Methods: The mecA gene and enterotoxin genes A-F of clinical SA isolates were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the genes were sequenced to investigate the correlation of these genes to drug resistance.

Results: The detection rate of enterotoxin genes was 100% in 67 methicillin- resistant SA (MRSA), showing no significant difference from the rate in 57 methicillin-sensitive SA (MSSA) (83.

[Study of endocardiac and extracardiac haemodynamics changes in fetus with increased nuchal translucency thickness].

Objective: To explore the characteristics of endocardiac and extracardiac haemodynamics parameters in fetus with thickened nuchal translucency (NT) and analyze the relationship between hemodynamic changes and fetal prognosis.

Methods: The fetal appearance was observed during the first trimester. And the thickness of NT or soft tissue of neck was quantified.

Solexa sequencing identification of conserved and novel microRNAs in backfat of Large White and Chinese Meishan pigs.

The domestic pig (Sus scrofa), an important species in animal production industry, is a right model for studying adipogenesis and fat deposition. In order to expand the repertoire of porcine miRNAs and further explore potential regulatory miRNAs which have influence on adipogenesis, high-throughput Solexa sequencing approach was adopted to identify miRNAs in backfat of Large White (lean type pig) and Meishan pigs (Chinese indigenous fatty pig). We identified 215 unique miRNAs comprising 75 known pre-miRNAs, of which 49 miRNA*s were first identified in our study, 73 miRNAs were overlapped in both libraries, and 140 were novelly predicted miRNAs, and 215 unique miRNAs were collectively corresponding to 235 independent genomic loci.