Evaluation of the safety and healing potential of a fibroin-aloe gel film for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a wound dressing prepared from the blending of silkworm fibroin and aloe gel extract for use in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).

Methods: Fibroin extracted from silkworm cocoons and aloe gel extract were dissolved in deionised water. pH levels were then adjusted with lactic acid solution.

Diagnostic power of DNA methylation markers suggestive of cholangiocarcinoma in ERCP-based brush cytology.

Background And Aims: Accurate differentiation between cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and benign biliary stricture is of paramount importance. Biliary brush cytology is a simple and safe diagnostic approach that provides relatively high specificity; however, sensitivity is limited. Previous reports indicated the aberrations of DNA methylation in CCA.

Development of an engineered peptide antagonist against periostin to overcome doxorubicin resistance in breast cancer.

Background: Chemoresistance is one of the main problems in treatment of cancer. Periostin (PN) is a stromal protein which is mostly secreted from cancer associated fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment and can promote cancer progression including cell survival, metastasis, and chemoresistance. The main objective of this study was to develop an anti-PN peptide from the bacteriophage library to overcome PN effects in breast cancer (BCA) cells.

Periostin induces epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition via the integrin α5β1/TWIST‑2 axis in cholangiocarcinoma.

Periostin (PN) (also known as osteoblast‑specific factor OSF‑2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the POSTN gene and has been correlated with a reduced survival of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) patients, with the well‑known effect of inducing epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EMT). The present study investigated the effect of PN, through integrin (ITG)α5β1, in EMT‑mediated CCA aggressiveness. The alterations in EMT‑related gene and protein expression were investigated by real‑time PCR, western blot analysis and zymogram.