The critical roles of tumor-initiating cells and the lymph node stromal microenvironment in human colorectal cancer extranodal metastasis using a unique humanized orthotopic mouse model.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second-most common cause of cancer-related mortality. The most important prognostic factors are lymph node (LN) involvement and extranodal metastasis. Our objective is to investigate the interactions between CD133(+)CXCR4(+) (CXC receptor 4) colorectal cancer tumor-initiating cells (Co-TICs) and the LN stromal microenvironment in human CRC extranodal metastasis.

A noncommercial polymerase chain reaction-based method to approach one hundred percent recombinant clone selection efficiency.

Molecular cloning is an important procedure in molecular biology, but this is often a rate-limiting step and can be very time-consuming, possibly due to low ligation efficiency. Here, we describe a simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based strategy to approach 100% selection efficiency. The post-ligation mixture containing the recombinant was subjected to insert-specific primer-mediated PCR amplification using a high-fidelity DNA Pfu polymerase generating a plasmid containing staggered nicks.

Routine cholecystectomy is not mandatory during morbid obesity surgery.

Background: Controversy exists concerning the utility of routine cholecystectomy during bariatric surgery. We report our series of bariatric surgical procedures at our institution without concurrent cholecystectomy.

Methods: From October 2003 to August 2005, 621 morbidly obese patients underwent a weight loss operation.

Class I histone deacetylase Thd1p affects nuclear integrity in Tetrahymena thermophila.

Class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) participate in the regulation of DNA-templated processes such as transcription and replication. Members of this class can act locally at specific sites, or they can act more globally, contributing to a baseline acetylation state, both of which actions may be important for genome maintenance and organization. We previously identified a macronuclear-specific class I HDAC in Tetrahymena thermophila called Thd1p, which is expressed early in the development of the macronucleus when it initially becomes transcriptionally active.