The Application of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Against Liver Diseases: An Update and a Review.

Liver diseases are a major health concern globally, and are associated with poor survival and prognosis of patients. This creates the need for patients to accept the main alternative treatment of liver transplantation to prevent progression to end-stage liver disease. Investigation of the molecular mechanisms underpinning complex liver diseases and their pathology is an emerging goal of stem cell scope.

family: potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for gastric cancer.

Background: The type IV collagen alpha chain (COL4A) family is a major component of the basement membrane (BM) that has recently been found to be involved in tumor angiogenesis and progression. However, the expression levels and the exact roles of distinct COL4A family members in gastric cancer (GC) have not been completely understood.

Methods: Here, the expression levels of in GC and normal gastric tissues were calculated by using TCGA datasets and the predicted prognostic values by the GEPIA tool.

The anti-alcohol dependency drug disulfiram inhibits the viability and progression of gastric cancer cells by regulating the Wnt and NF-κB pathways.

Objective: Disulfiram is commonly used for alcohol abuse; however, recent studies have revealed its potential as an anti-cancer treatment. This study investigated the effects of disulfiram on gastric cancer and its underlying mechanisms of action.

Methods: The gastric cancer cell lines MKN-45 and SGC-7901 were used for all experiments.

The Roles of microRNAs in Multidrug-Resistance Mechanisms in Gastric Cancer.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the most significant reasons for the chemotherapeutics failure in gastric cancer. Although accumulating investigations and researches have been made to elucidate the mechanisms of multidrug resistance, the detail is far from completely understood. The importance of microRNAs in cancer chemotherapeutic resistance has been demonstrated recently, which provides a new strategy to overcome multidrug resistance.

Serum miR-551b-3p is a potential diagnostic biomarker for gastric cancer.

Background/aims: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies. Many studies have demonstrated that serum microRNAs have potential applications as non-invasive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of serum miR-551b-3p in patients with GC and to explore its potential as a diagnostic biomarker in GC.

Diagnostic accuracy of controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) as a non-invasive test for steatosis in suspected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) is a non-invasive method for diagnosing hepatic steatosis. Despite good diagnostic performance, clinical application of CAP is limited due to the influences of covariates. Here, a systematic review on the performance of CAP in the diagnosis and staging of hepatic steatosis in NAFLD patients was performed.

Prognostic significance of pretreatment plasma fibrinogen in patients with hepatocellular and pancreatic carcinomas: A meta-analysis.

Background: The high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen has been widely reported to be a possible biomarker for predicting prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pancreatic carcinoma (PC), but persuasive conclusion has not been made yet. Thus, we herein conducted a meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the prognostic value of high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen in patients with HCC and PC.

Method: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science to identify eligible studies from inception to November 10, 2017.

Prognostic significance of pretreatment plasma fibrinogen level in patients with digestive system tumors: a meta-analysis.

High pretreatment levels of plasma fibrinogen have been widely reported to be a potential predictor of prognosis in digestive system tumors; however, the conclusions are not consistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the prognostic roles of high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen levels in digestive system tumors. We searched for eligible studies in the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science electronic databases for publications from the database inception to 1 September 2017.

Molecular mechanisms of lncRNA SMARCC2/miR-551b-3p/TMPRSS4 axis in gastric cancer.

Decreased expression of miR-551b-3p has been identified in gastric cancer tissues but its biological role and underlying mechanism in this malignancy is poorly understood. In this study, we show that the expression of miR-551b-3p negatively correlates with the depth of tumour invasion and lymphatic metastasis, but it positively correlates with tumour differentiation and the patient survival. MiR-551b-3p negatively affects the proliferation, mobility and invasiveness of gastric cancer cells.