The number of methylene groups between strongly interacting functional groups within polymer repeating units induces even-odd effects on thermal and mechanical properties. However, detailed studies correlating the even-odd effect with structural changes are still lacking. In this work, we establish correlations between the structure and thermal properties of poly(ester amide)s containing long alkyl chain lengths.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFErhai Lake, a highland lake situated in Southwest China, provides critical aquatic protein sources for the local community, and its preservation is vital due to the sensitivity of alpine freshwater ecosystems to disturbance. However, there is a lack of research on the contamination status of methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic organisms of the Erhai Lake Basin. MeHg concentrations in important commercial fish species from the Erhai Lake were examined, and the potential health risks associated with human consumption were assessed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Our work is to establish more distinct association between specific stress and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) phenotypes to alleviate atherosclerotic plaque burden and delay atherosclerosis (AS) progression.
Recent Finding: In recent years, VSMCs phenotypic transition has received significant interests. Different stresses were found to be associated with VSMCs phenotypic transition.
To cope with the damage from oxidative stress caused by hypoxia, mammals have evolved a series of physiological and biochemical traits, including antioxidant ability. Although numerous research studies about the mechanisms of hypoxia evolution have been reported, the molecular mechanisms of antioxidase-related genes in mammals living in different environments are yet to be completely understood. In this study, we constructed a dataset comprising 7 antioxidase-related genes (, , , , , , and ) from 43 mammalian species to implement evolutionary analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, poly(hexamethylene--octamethylene carbonate) copolycarbonates were synthesized by melt polycondensation in a wide range of compositions. The copolymers displayed some of the characteristic isodimorphic thermal behavior, such as crystallization for all the compositions and a pseudoeutectic behavior of the melting temperature () versus composition. The pseudoeutectic point was located at 33 mol % poly(octamethylene carbonate) (POC) content (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFishes are considered as biological indicators of heavy metal(loid)s pollution. In this study, contents of seven heavy metal(loid)s, including Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb, Zn, As, and Hg, in the muscles of ten common fish species in the Beibu Gulf were analyzed to figure out the pollutants status and their health risk. Results showed all species were largely contaminated by arsenic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, three lakes, Cibi Hu, Haixi Hai, and Xi Hu, in the upper reaches of the main inflow rivers in the northern part of Erhai Lake were selected as the research objects. Based on the water environment monitoring indicators, land cover data, and lake macrobenthic community observation data, the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test, spatial analysis and community structure analysis were used to quantitatively assess the water environment and ecological status of the lakes. Using the Pollution Tolerance Index (PTI), the potential utility of macroinvertebrate communities as indicators of water ecological quality was investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study was determined to evaluate the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) prior to surgery in luminal breast cancers (BC) with HER2-negativity.
Methods: The clinical data of 708 HER2-negative luminal BC patients from January 2013 to December 2016 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The optimal cut-off value of NLR and CAR were determined receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
Conventional anthracyclines, like epirubicin, are cornerstone drugs for breast cancer treatment of all stages, but their cumulative toxicity could cause life-threatening side effects. Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD), an effective anti-breast cancer drug, has lower toxicity than conventional anthracyclines. This retrospective study compared the efficacy and toxicity profiles between PLD and epirubicin as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdriamycin (ADM) is currently one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents in breast cancer treatment. However, growing resistance to ADM could lead to treatment failure and poor outcome. PLAC8 was reported as a novel highly conserved protein and functioned as an oncogene or tumour suppressor in various tumours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B32 trial reported that the detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes by core needle biopsy (CNB) is higher than that by segmental resection. However, there are few reports regarding the detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes by vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB). Therefore, we analyzed the impact of preoperative biopsy methods on the surgical modes of 3,966 patients with breast cancer in our center.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: In this study, we aimed to investigate the viability of utilizing CytoSorter system to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and to evaluate the diagnostic value of CTCs in breast cancer (BC).
Methods: A total of 366 females patients suspected of having BC and 30 healthy female volunteers were enrolled in this study. CTCs were enriched by CytoSorter , a microfluidic-based CTCs capturing platform.
The present study aimed to explore the therapeutic effect and underlying mechanism of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on the wound healing of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). A total of 48 rabbits with DFU were randomly divided into 2 groups, comprising the treatment and control groups. Full-thickness skin (10×10 mm) was excised from the thigh of each rabbit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Long intergenic noncoding RNA-p21 (lincRNA-p21) has been proved in the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysms, while its functionality in thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and the mechanism of function remains unclear. Therefore our study aimed to investigate the role of lincRNA-p21 in TAA.
Methods: Aortic media specimens and blood samples were collected from both patients with TAA and healthy controls.
Accumulating evidence suggests that placenta-specific 8 (PLAC8) plays an important role in normal cellular process and human diseases, including multiple types of human tumors, and its role is highly relied upon in cellular and physiologic contexts. However, there are no reports on its expression profile and biological roles during lung cancer development. In the current study, both the clinical implications and biological effects of PLAC8 in lung cancer (LC) progression were investigated, and we identified and described the novel Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4)/PLAC8 regulatory pathway in cancer progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The microRNA let-7a contains three copies of genes and is associated with various types of cancer, including gastric cancer. In this study, we aim to investigate the differential expression patterns of microRNA let7a in PBMCs from patients of gastric cancer (GC) before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Methods: The differential expression levels of let-7a were detected in PBMCs from 22 patients with GC before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).
Acquired resistance to first-line chemotherapeutics, including paclitaxel (PTX), is a primary factor contributing to chemotherapy failure in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Previous studies have identified that targeting NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE) with MLN4924 effectively overcomes platinum resistance in preclinical models of ovarian cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms are yet to be fully elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTamoxifen resistance represents a daunting challenge to the successful treatment for breast cancer. Krüppel-like factor 4 has critical roles in the development and progression of breast cancer, but its expression, function and regulation in the efficacy of TAM therapy in breast cancer have yet to be investigated. Here, we examined the clinical significance and biologic effects of KLF4 in breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExosomes are nano-sized membrane vesicles released by a variety of cell types, and are thought to play important roles in intercellular communications. In breast cancer, through horizontal transfer of various bioactive molecules, such as proteins and mRNAs, exosomes are emerging as local and systemic cell-to-cell mediators of oncogenic information and play an important role on cancer progression. This review outlines the current knowledge and concepts concerning the exosomes involvement in breast cancer pathogenesis (including tumor initiation, invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis, immune system modulation and tumor microenvironment) and cancer therapy resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVertebrate corneal epithelium cell plays an important role for imaging, and the cell density, together with the appearance or type of affiliated microstructures, is considered as a result of evolution adapting to alternate terrestrial or aquatic environment. In this paper, we investigated the corneal cells of both larvae and adult amphibious mudskippers Boleophthalmus pectinirostris and Periophthalmus magnuspinnatus, to testify the relationship between morphology and function. The cell density values of the two species were 31,137 and 31,974 cells per mm(2) in larvae and then significantly decreased to 15,826 and 25,954 cells per mm(2) in adult (p < 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKrüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a transcription factor that contributes to diverse cellular processes and serves as a tumor suppressor or oncogene in various cancers. Previously, we have reported on the tumor suppressive function of KLF4 in lung cancer; however, its precise regulatory mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we found that KLF4 negatively regulated hTERT expression and telomerase activity in lung cancer cell lines and a mouse model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) plays an important role in lung cancer development and progression. Using streptavidin-agarose pulldown and proteomics assay, we identified and validated Ku80, a dimer of Ku participating in the repair of broken DNA double strands, as a new binding protein of the COX-2 gene promoter. Overexpression of Ku80 up-regulated COX-2 promoter activation and COX-2 expression in lung cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The optimal radiotherapy technique and combination with systemic therapy in locally advanced gastric cancer patients are far from being resolved despite the fact that radiochemotherapy is becoming more attractive in contemporary clinical practice.
Patients And Methods: 40 patients with locally advanced gastric cancer received intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) at a dosage of 45-50.4 Gy concurrent with chemotherapy using S-1 solely or with a combination of oxaliplatin.