Acaricidal activity of 9-oxo-10,11-dehydroageraphorone extracted from Eupatorium adenophorum in vitro.

The acaricidal activity of the 9-oxo-10,11-dehydroageraphorone (euptox A), a cadenine sesquiterpene from Eupatorium adenophorum (E. adenophorum) against Sarcoptes scabiei and Psoroptes cuniculi was tested in vitro. A complementary log-log (CLL) model was used to analyze the data of the toxicity tests in vitro.

Cisplatin-alginate conjugate liposomes for targeted delivery to EGFR-positive ovarian cancer cells.

Systemic side effects and low aqueous solubility have limited the clinical use of cisplatin (CDDP) in ovarian carcinoma and have contributed to failures in developing effective drug delivery systems. In order to develop a novel drug delivery system with enhanced efficacy and minimal adverse effects, we exploited the properties of sodium alginate (SA) to synthesize CDDP-SA conjugate (CS), which is highly soluble and readily incorporated into liposomes (CS-PEG-Lip). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in many ovarian cancers, therefore we modified EGF on the liposomes (CS-EGF-Lip) to specifically target EGFR-expressing tumors, thereby increasing the bioavailability and efficacy of CDDP.

Auraptenol attenuates vincristine-induced mechanical hyperalgesia through serotonin 5-HT1A receptors.

Common chemotherapeutic agents such as vincristine often cause neuropathic pain during cancer treatment in patients. Such neuropathic pain is refractory to common analgesics and represents a challenging clinical issue. Angelicae dahuricae radix is an old traditional Chinese medicine with demonstrated analgesic efficacy in humans.

Isolation and identification of bacteria capable of degrading euptox A from Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng.

Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng (E. adenophorum), an invasive plant which has caused widespread poisoning of livestock and crop failures in China. 9-oxo-10, 11-dehydroageraphorone (known as euptox A) is the main toxin causing a series of respiratory and digestive system diseases in animals.

Specific cell targeting with APRPG conjugated PEG-PLGA nanoparticles for treating ovarian cancer.

Good biocompatibility, specific tumor targeting, effective drug loading capacity and persistence in the circulation in vivo are imperative prerequisites for the antitumor efficiency of nanoparticles and their further clinical application. In this study, APRPG (Ala-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly) peptide-modified poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (lactic acid) (PEG-PLA) nanoparticles (NP-APRPG) encapsulating inhibitors of angiogenesis (TNP-470) (TNP-470-NP-APRPG) were fabricated. TNP-470-NP-APRPG was designed to feature maleimide-PEG-PLA and mPEG-PLA as carrier materials, the APRPG peptide for targeting angiogenesis, PEG for prolonging circulation in vivo and PLA for loading TNP-470.

Phase II randomized trial of weekly and every-3-week ixabepilone in metastatic breast cancer patients.

This multicenter, open-label, randomized phase II trial compared the efficacy and tolerability of weekly ixabepilone versus the standard 3 weekly dosing regimen. Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative, metastatic breast cancer (MBC) were randomly assigned to receive either ixabepilone 16 mg/m(2) as a 1-h intravenous (IV) infusion weekly on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle (1 week off therapy; n = 85), or 40 mg/m(2) as a 3-h IV infusion on day 1 of a 21-day cycle (n = 91), until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Randomization was stratified by (i) measurable versus nonmeasurable (evaluable) disease, (ii) ≤two versus >two prior chemotherapy regimens for MBC, and (iii) hormone receptor (HR)-positive versus HR-negative breast cancer.

Adjuvant docetaxel and cyclophosphamide plus trastuzumab in patients with HER2-amplified early stage breast cancer: a single-group, open-label, phase 2 study.

Background: Previous results suggest that docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide improves disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival compared with doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide in early stage breast cancer. We assessed the addition of 1 year of trastuzumab to a non-anthracycline regimen, docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide, in patients with HER2-amplified early stage breast cancer and examined whether this regimen was equally effective in patients with TOP2A-amplified and TOP2A-non-amplified disease.

Methods: This was an open-label, single-group, phase 2 study.

Endonasal endoscopic treatment of recurrent dacryocystitis.

This report assessed clinical conditions leading to recurrent dacryocystitis and success rates of its treatment by endonasal endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy. Forty-eight patients with recurrent dacryocystitis underwent endonasal endoscopic surgery and were followed up for at least 6 months. High bone windows, small bone window openings, small lacrimal sac stomas, scar tissues, and organic diseases of the nasal cavity led to fistula closure.

Chimeric antigen receptor containing ICOS signaling domain mediates specific and efficient antitumor effect of T cells against EGFRvIII expressing glioma.

Background: Adoptive transfer of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells appears to be a promising immunotherapeutic strategy. CAR combines the specificity of antibody and cytotoxicity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, enhancing T cells' ability to specifically target antigens and to effectively kill cancer cells. Recent efforts have been made to integrate the costimulatory signals in the CAR to improve the antitumor efficacy.

Small-molecule inhibitors of acetyltransferase p300 identified by high-throughput screening are potent anticancer agents.

Acetyltransferase p300 (KAT3B) plays key roles in signaling cascades that support cancer cell survival and sustained proliferation. Thus, p300 represents a potential anticancer therapeutic target. To discover novel anticancer agents that target p300, we conducted a high-throughput screening campaign.

Toxicity and therapy of cisplatin-loaded EGF modified mPEG-PLGA-PLL nanoparticles for SKOV3 cancer in mice.

Construction on the nanoparticles with lower toxicity and specific tumor targeting properties is challenging and requires careful design of composition, size, physicochemical properties tailored for the nanoparticles. Here the epidermal growth factor (EGF) modified methoxy polyethylene glycol-polylactic-co-glycolic acid-polylysine (mPEG-PLGA-PLL) encapsulated cisplatin (CDDP) nanoparticles (CDDP-NPs-EGF) was prepared to for solving the toxicity of CDDP and improving therapeutic efficiency. The remarkable features of CDDP-NPs-EGF are increasing cytotoxicity that attribute to effective cell cycle arrest and high cell apoptosis in vitro.

AbCD: arbitrary coverage design for sequencing-based genetic studies.

Recent advances in sequencing technologies have revolutionized genetic studies. Although high-coverage sequencing can uncover most variants present in the sequenced sample, low-coverage sequencing is appealing for its cost effectiveness. Here, we present AbCD (arbitrary coverage design) to aid the design of sequencing-based studies.

Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, and sunitinib for metastatic urothelial carcinoma and as preoperative therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Background: Data support chemotherapy combined with antiangiogenic therapy in metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). We investigated the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine, cisplatin, and sunitinib (GCS) in mUC and MIBC in parallel phase II trials.

Patients And Methods: Trial 1 enrolled 36 patients with mUC who were chemotherapy naive; trial 2 enrolled 9 patients with MIBC.

Identification of intermediate-size non-coding RNAs involved in the UV-induced DNA damage response in C. elegans.

Background: A network of DNA damage response (DDR) mechanisms functions coordinately to maintain genome integrity and prevent disease. The Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) pathway is known to function in the response to UV-induced DNA damage. Although numbers of coding genes and miRNAs have been identified and reported to participate in UV-induced DNA damage response (UV-DDR), the precise role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in UV-DDR remains largely unknown.

Short distance intra coding scheme for high efficiency video coding.

This paper proposes a new intra coding scheme, known as short distance intra prediction (SDIP), for high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standardization work. The proposed method is based on the quadtree unit structure of HEVC. By splitting a coding unit into nonsquare units for coding and reconstruction, and therefore shortening the distances between the predicted and the reference samples, the accuracy of intra prediction can be improved when applying the directional prediction method.

Regulatory elements of Caenorhabditis elegans ribosomal protein genes.

Background: Ribosomal protein genes (RPGs) are essential, tightly regulated, and highly expressed during embryonic development and cell growth. Even though their protein sequences are strongly conserved, their mechanism of regulation is not conserved across yeast, Drosophila, and vertebrates. A recent investigation of genomic sequences conserved across both nematode species and associated with different gene groups indicated the existence of several elements in the upstream regions of C.

Acupuncture for depression: a review of clinical applications.

While increasing numbers of patients are seeking acupuncture treatment for depression in recent years, there is limited evidence of the antidepressant (AD) effectiveness of acupuncture. Given the unsatisfactory response rates of many Food and Drug Administration-approved ADs, research on acupuncture remains of potential value. Therefore, we sought to review the efficacy and safety of acupuncture treatment for depression in clinical applications.

The C2H2-type zinc finger protein ZFP182 is involved in abscisic acid-induced antioxidant defense in rice.

C(2) H(2) -type zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are thought to play important roles in modulating the responses of plants to drought, salinity and oxidative stress. However, direct evidence is lacking for the involvement of these ZFPs in abscisic acid (ABA)-induced antioxidant defense in plants. In this study, the role of the rice (Oryza sativa L.

A differential sequencing-based analysis of the C. elegans noncoding transcriptome.

Noncoding RNAs are increasingly being recognized as important players in eukaryote biology. However, despite major efforts in mapping the Caenorhabditis elegans transcriptome over the last couple of years, nonpolyadenylated and intermediate-size noncoding RNAs (is-ncRNAs) are still incompletely explored. We have combined an enzymatic approach with full-length RNA-Seq of is-ncRNAs in C.

Association of rash with outcomes in a randomized phase II trial evaluating cetuximab in combination with mitoxantrone plus prednisone after docetaxel for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Purpose: Cetuximab (C), a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), is active against androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines and might enhance the activity of chemotherapy. The efficacy of combining cetuximab with mitoxantrone (M) plus prednisone (MP) was evaluated in progressive metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after receiving docetaxel.

Materials And Methods: Patients with progression after receiving docetaxel were eligible and randomized 2:1 to CMP or MP.

[Assessment of external methods of traditional Chinese medicine in patients with chronic ulcer of the lower extremities: study protocol of a multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, prospective trial].

Background: Chronic ulcer of the lower extremities amounts for a grave and serious problem for public health. Western medicine focuses on controlling infection, improving blood circulation, surgical debridement, skin grafting, etc, but there are bottlenecks in the treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history and a legacy of sound clinical efficacy in this area.

Germline mutations in HOXB13 and prostate-cancer risk.

Background: Family history is a significant risk factor for prostate cancer, although the molecular basis for this association is poorly understood. Linkage studies have implicated chromosome 17q21-22 as a possible location of a prostate-cancer susceptibility gene.

Methods: We screened more than 200 genes in the 17q21-22 region by sequencing germline DNA from 94 unrelated patients with prostate cancer from families selected for linkage to the candidate region.

[Effects of Chinese herbal medicine Yiqi Huayu formula on substance P expression in skin ulcers of rats with diabetes mellitus].

Objective: To investigate the effects of Chinese herbs for replenishing qi (Yiqi) and dissolving stasis (Huayu) on substance P expression in granulation tissue of skin ulcers in rats with diabetes mellitus.

Methods: One hundred male Sprague-Dawley rats with back full-thickness skin lesion were randomly divided into five groups: ulcer control group, diabetic ulcer group, Yiqi Huayu herb group, Yiqi herb group, and Huayu herb group. Except ulcer control group, the other rats were also injected streptozotocin to induce diabetes mellitus.

Predicting housekeeping genes based on Fourier analysis.

Housekeeping genes (HKGs) generally have fundamental functions in basic biochemical processes in organisms, and usually have relatively steady expression levels across various tissues. They play an important role in the normalization of microarray technology. Using Fourier analysis we transformed gene expression time-series from a Hela cell cycle gene expression dataset into Fourier spectra, and designed an effective computational method for discriminating between HKGs and non-HKGs using the support vector machine (SVM) supervised learning algorithm which can extract significant features of the spectra, providing a basis for identifying specific gene expression patterns.