Molecular Characterization of Carbapenem-Resistant Isolates Among Intensive Care Unit Patients and Environment.

Objective: Critical patients in intensive care unit (ICU) are highly susceptible to acquiring carbapenem-resistant (CRAB) infection. To investigate the relationship between nosocomial infections and environmental health, we studied the distribution and homology of CRAB isolates from patients and environment and evaluated the effectiveness of infection control measures.

Methods: In the 4-month study, we conducted a monthly CRAB screening of the ICU environment prior to disinfection in a Chinese teaching hospital.

Evaluation of disinfection procedures in a designated hospital for COVID-19.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 has spread globally and been a public health emergency worldwide. It is important to reduce the risk of healthcare associated infections among the healthcare workers and patients. This study aimed to investigate the contamination of environment in isolation wards and sewage, and assess the quality of routine disinfection procedures in our hospital.

Advanced Role of Hippo Signaling in Endometrial Fibrosis: Implications for Intrauterine Adhesion.

Objective: Intrauterine adhesion (IUA) is a major health problem that causes infertility, menstrual irregularities, and recurrent pregnancy losses in women. Unfortunately, treatments for IUA are limited, and there are currently no effective strategies for preventing IUA recurrence. In this review, we introduced the role of Hippo signaling in the normal endometrium and IUA and described the mechanisms by which the Hippo pathway integrates with the Wnt and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathways to form an intricate network governing the development of fibrosis.

KDM6B Elicits Cell Apoptosis by Promoting Nuclear Translocation of FOXO1 in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background/aims: Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and the cause of most cancer-related deaths. The molecular mechanisms that are involved in NSCLC development are currently not well understood. Accumulating evidence shows that histone demethylases play important roles in the regulation of pathological developmental processes in many diseases, including various types of cancers.

LIFR functions as a metastasis suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma by negatively regulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT pathway.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes for cancer related mortality worldwide. Poor prognosis of HCC patients is mainly due to frequent metastasis and recurrence. Deregulation of metastasis suppressors in malignant cells plays critical roles during cancer metastasis.

High level of serum protein DKK1 predicts poor prognosis for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy.

Aim: To evaluate prognostic significance of DKK1 for hepatocelluar carcinoma.

Materials & Methods: We enrolled a test cohort consisting of 266 hepatitis virus B-related hepatocelluar carcinoma patients who had undergone hepatectomy and a validation cohort of 95. Associations of DKK1 with overall survival and time to recurrence were determined by Cox proportional hazards regression model.

LRG1 suppresses the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor driven by complex pathological mechanisms and is characterized by fast progression and poor prognosis. The main cause of death in HCC patients is tumor metastasis. However, underlying molecular mechanisms of metastasis are largely unknown in HCC.

Leukemia inhibitory factor receptor is a novel immunomarker in distinction of well-differentiated HCC from dysplastic nodules.

Differential diagnosis of well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (WD-HCC) and high-grade dysplastic nodules (HGDNs) represents a challenge for pathologists. Several immunohistochemistry markers have been identified to distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from HGDNs. However, sensitivity or specificity of the individual marker is still limited.

Diagnostic values of alpha-fetoprotein, dickkopf-1, and osteopontin for hepatocellular carcinoma.

The timely diagnosis and effective treatment are essential for improving the survival and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely used biomarker for diagnosis of HCC, but the low sensitivity and specificity limits its clinical application. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic capability of the combination of AFP with two novel potential biomarkers, dickkopf-1 (DKK1) and osteopontin (OPN), for HCC in 390 participants including 89 patients with HCC, 36 patients with liver cirrhosis, 65 patients with chronic hepatitis B, and 200 health controls.

Clusterin facilitates metastasis by EIF3I/Akt/MMP13 signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Clusterin (CLU) is a stress-induced chaperone that confers proliferative and survival advantages to cancer cells. However, effects and molecular mechanisms of CLU in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis are still unknown. In this study, HCC tissue array (n = 198) was utilized to investigate correlation between CLU expression and clinicopathological features.

Hepatic stellate cells activated by acidic tumor microenvironment promote the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma via osteopontin.

Extracellular pH of solid tumor is generally acidic due to excessive glycolysis and poor perfusion. But whether acidic tumor microenvironment influenced the stromal cells infiltrating in tumor remains unknown. As the predominant progenitor of stromal cells in liver, the number of activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) was found positively correlated to the acidification level in the tumor tissues of HCC patients in our study.