Multi-Parameter Analysis of Disseminated Tumor Cells (DTCs) in Early Breast Cancer Patients with Hormone-Receptor-Positive Tumors.

Background: Patients with hormone-receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer are at increased risk for late recurrence. One reason might be disseminated tumor cells (DTCs), which split off in the early stages of the disease and metastasize into the bone marrow (BM).

Methods: We developed a novel multi-parameter immunofluorescence staining protocol using releasable and bleachable antibody-fluorochrome-conjugates.

Targeted Sequencing of Plasma-Derived vs. Urinary cfDNA from Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

In breast cancer, the genetic profiling of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from blood plasma was shown to have good potential for clinical use. In contrast, only a few studies were performed investigating urinary cfDNA. In this pilot study, we analyzed plasma-derived and matching urinary cfDNA samples obtained from 15 presurgical triple-negative breast cancer patients.

Structural Analysis of microRNAs in Myeloid Cancer Reveals Consensus Motifs.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that function in post-transcriptional gene silencing and mRNA regulation. Although the number of nucleotides of miRNAs ranges from 17 to 27, they are mostly made up of 22 nucleotides. The expression of miRNAs changes significantly in cancer, causing protein alterations in cancer cells by preventing some genes from being translated into proteins.

Enzyme kinetics and inhibition parameters of human leukocyte glucosylceramidase.

Glucosylceramidase (GCase) is a lysosomal enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of β-glucosidic linkage of glucocerebroside (GC) into glucose and ceramide; thereby, plays an essential function in the degradation of complex lipids and the turnover of cellular membranes. The growing list of 460 mutations in the gene coding for it-glucosylceramidase beta acid 1 ()-is reported to abolish its catalytic activity and decrease its enzyme stability, associating it with severe health conditions such as Gaucher disease (GD), Parkinson Disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Although the three-dimensional structure of wild type glucosylceramidase is elucidated, little is known about its features in human cells.

Influence of hyaluronic acid binding on the actin cortex measured by optical forces.

Melanoma cells are often surrounded by hyaluronic acid (HA) rich environments, which are considered to promote tumor progression and metastasis. Induced effects in compound materials consisting of cells embedded in an extracellular matrix have been studied, however, alterations of the single cells have never been addressed. Here, we explicitly addressed single cell properties and measured HA-induced biomechanical changes via deformations induced solely by optical forces.

Detection and analysis of stable and flexible genes towards a genome signature framework in cancer.

Comparison and detection of stable cancer genes across cancer types is of interest. The gene expression data of 6 different cancer types (colon, breast, lung, ovarian, brain and renal) and a control group from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were used in this study. The comparison of gene expression data together with the calculation standard deviations of such data was completed using a statistical model for the detection of stable genes.

Detection of cytosine and CpG density in proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in promoter sequences of acute myeloid leukemia.

Aberrant methylation is one of the driving forces of cancer genome development. Although the rate of methylation appears massively variable across the genome, it is mainly observed in histone modification, chromatin organization, DNA accessibility, or promoter sequence. Methylation of promoter sequence occurs mostly to cytosine nucleotides, which can affect transcription factors' binding affinities.

Detection of G-type density in promoter sequence of colon cancer oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.

The guanine rich locations are present in human genome. Previous studies have shown that the presence of G rich sequences and motifs may be significant for gene activity and function. We decided to focus our interest to identify G rich motifs in promoters of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.