Gene signature predictive of hepatocellular carcinoma patient response to transarterial chemoembolization.

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a commonly used treatment modality in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The ability to identify patients who will respond to TACE represents an important clinical need, and tumor gene expression patterns may be associated with TACE response. We investigated whether tumor transcriptome is associated with TACE response in patients with HCC.

Application of patient-derived liver cancer cells for phenotypic characterization and therapeutic target identification.

Primary liver cancer (PLC) ranks among the most lethal solid cancers worldwide due to lack of effective biomarkers for early detection and limited treatment options in advanced stages. Development of primary culture models that closely recapitulate phenotypic and molecular diversities of PLC is urgently needed to improve the patient outcome. Long-term cultures of 7 primary liver cancer cell lines of hepatocellular and cholangiocellular origin were established using defined culture conditions.

Phenotype of Antigen Unexperienced T Cells in the Inflamed Central Nervous System in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, disseminated inflammation of the central nervous system which is thought to be driven by autoimmune T cells. Genetic association studies in multiple sclerosis and a large number of studies in the animal model of the disease support a role for effector/memory T helper cells. However, the mechanisms underlying relapses, remission and chronic progression in multiple sclerosis or the animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, are not clear.

Dendritic cells tip the balance towards induction of regulatory T cells upon priming in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Counter-balancing regulatory mechanisms, such as the induction of regulatory T cells (Treg), limit the effects of autoimmune attack in neuroinflammation. However, the role of dendritic cells (DCs) as the most powerful antigen-presenting cells, which are intriguing therapeutic targets in this context, is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that conditional ablation of DCs during the priming phase of myelin-specific T cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) selectively aborts inducible Treg (iTreg) induction, whereas generation of T helper (Th)1/17 cells is unaltered.

Quality of information for women seeking breast augmentation in the Internet.

Background Recently published data show that many women interested in breast augmentation (BA) actively search the Internet for information. The Internet is currently the main source of information on this topic. Objectives Little is known about the quality of available information on the Internet concerning BA.