Dysregulation and imbalance of innate and adaptive immunity are involved in the cardiomyopathy progression.

Background: Cardiomyopathy is known to be a heterogeneous disease with numerous etiologies. They all have varying degrees and types of myocardial pathological changes, resulting in impaired contractility, ventricle relaxation, and heart failure. The purpose of this study was to determine the pathogenesis, immune-related pathways and important biomarkers engaged in the progression of cardiomyopathy from various etiologies.

[Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of Children with Myelodysplastic Syndrome].

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognosis of 40 children with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and provide ideas for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: The clinical characteristics, risk stratification, and different treatment regimens of 40 cases with MDS admitted in Department of Hematology of Children's Hospital of Soochow University from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2017 was retrospectively analyzed. Kaplan-Meier survival curve were used to estimate 3-year overall survival (OS) rate and event-free survival (EFS) rate.

Adult sacrococcygeal teratoma: a retrospective study over eight years at a single institution.

Objective: To determine the clinical, imaging, and histological features, and surgical resection modalities and outcomes of adult sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT).

Methods: Adult patients with histopathologically diagnosed SCT were enrolled in our hospital between August 2010 and August 2018. Each patient's characteristics and clinical information were reviewed.

Antibiotics and immunotherapy in gastrointestinal tumors: Friend or foe?

The incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) tumors is increasing year by year, and its pathogenesis is closely related to the intestinal flora. At present, the use of antibiotics is very common in the clinic. And cancer patients with low immunity are vulnerable to all sorts of infections, such as respiratory tract infections and urinary tract infections.

Long-Term Survival Outcomes After Liver Resection for Binodular Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: The long-term prognosis after liver resection for multinodular (≥3 nodules) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is generally considered to be unfavorable. However, the role of liver resection for binodular HCC is less investigated.

Subjects, Materials, And Methods: From a multicenter database, consecutive patients who underwent curative-intent liver resection for binodular HCC and without macrovascular invasion between 2003 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed.

MAPK/JNK signalling: a potential autophagy regulation pathway.

Autophagy refers to a lysosomal degradative pathway or a process of self-cannibalization. This pathway maintains nutrients levels for vital cellular functions during periods of starvation and it provides cells with survival advantages under various stress situations. However, the mechanisms responsible for the induction and regulation of autophagy are poorly understood.

The prognostic value of plasma soluble CD40 ligand levels in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Serum soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) concentrations are increased in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study further evaluated the relationship between plasma sCD40L concentrations and long-term survival of NPC.

Methods: Plasma sCD40L concentrations of 312 patients and 312 healthy controls were determined using an ELISA.

Aberrant Expression of HOXA5 and HOXA9 in AML.

Background: Aberrant expression of HOX gene expression has been observed in cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the alteration of HOXA5 and HOXA9 expression and their clinical significance in acute meloid leukemia (AML).

Materials And Methods: The expression of HOXA5 and HOXA9 genes of bone marrow samples from 75 newly diagnosed AML patients and 22 healthy controls for comparison were examined by Real- time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) assay.

Molecular biomarkers of colorectal cancer: prognostic and predictive tools for clinical practice.

Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common types of cancer and leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Although we have made steady progress in chemotherapy and targeted therapy, evidence suggests that the majority of patients undergoing drug therapy experience severe, debilitating, and even lethal adverse drug events which considerably outweigh the benefits. The identification of suitable biomarkers will allow clinicians to deliver the most appropriate drugs to specific patients and spare them ineffective and expensive treatments.

HP1-mediated formation of alternative lengthening of telomeres-associated PML bodies requires HIRA but not ASF1a.

Approximately 10% of cancers use recombination-mediated Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) instead of telomerase to prevent telomere shortening. A characteristic of cells that utilize ALT is the presence of ALT-associated PML nuclear bodies (APBs) containing (TTAGGG)n DNA, telomere binding proteins, DNA recombination proteins, and heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1). The function of APBs is unknown and it is possible that they are functionally heterogeneous.

Induction of alternative lengthening of telomeres-associated PML bodies by p53/p21 requires HP1 proteins.

Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) is a recombination-mediated process that maintains telomeres in telomerase-negative cancer cells. In asynchronously dividing ALT-positive cell populations, a small fraction of the cells have ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (APBs), which contain (TTAGGG)n DNA and telomere-binding proteins. We found that restoring p53 function in ALT cells caused p21 up-regulation, growth arrest/senescence, and a large increase in cells containing APBs.

Disruption of telomere maintenance by depletion of the MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 complex in cells that use alternative lengthening of telomeres.

Immortalized human cells are able to maintain their telomeres by telomerase or by a recombination-mediated DNA replication mechanism known as alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). We showed previously that overexpression of Sp100 protein can suppress ALT and that this was associated with sequestration of the MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 (MRN) recombination protein complex by Sp100. In the present study, we determined whether MRN proteins are required for ALT activity.

Suppression of alternative lengthening of telomeres by Sp100-mediated sequestration of the MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 complex.

Approximately 10% of cancers overall use alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) instead of telomerase to prevent telomere shortening, and ALT is especially common in astrocytomas and various types of sarcomas. The hallmarks of ALT in telomerase-negative cancer cells include a unique pattern of telomere length heterogeneity, rapid changes in individual telomere lengths, and the presence of ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies (APBs) containing telomeric DNA and proteins involved in telomere binding, DNA replication, and recombination. The ALT mechanism appears to involve recombination-mediated DNA replication, but the molecular details are largely unknown.