The Reference Intervals for Serum C-Terminal Agrin Fragment in Healthy Individuals and as a Biomarker for Renal Function in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: C-terminal agrin fragment (CAF) has been shown to be a promising new biomarker for kidney function. The aim of this study was to verify the reference intervals for CAF in Chinese healthy adults and to assess the efficiency of CAF for monitoring renal function after transplantation.

Methods: Serum samples were collected from 200 healthy adult subjects and 60 living donor kidney recipients before and on day 1, day 2 and at 6 months after transplantation.

Serum Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and Cystatin C for Assessing Recovery of Graft Function in Patients Undergoing Living-Donor Kidney Transplantation.

Background: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) can be used as an early indicator of acute kidney injury (AKI), and cystatin C is also suggested to be an ideal marker of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), but they were not sufficiently studied in recipients without delayed graft function (DGF) after living-donor kidney transplant (LDKT). The aim of the study is to investigate whether serum NGAL and cystatin C can assess the recovery of renal function after LDKT.

Methods: 49 adult patients that had undergone LDKT between January 2012 and March 2014 were prospectively enrolled.

NEDD9 overexpression correlates with poor prognosis in gastric cancer.

In this study, the expression of neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated 9 (NEDD9) in benign and malignant gastric tissues was investigated, and the significance of NEDD9 in gastric cancer prognosis was explored. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect NEDD9 expression in gastric cancer, nontumor gastric, and normal gastric tissues. The relationship between NEDD9 expression in gastric cancer tissues and the clinicopathologic factors was examined using the Mann-Whitney U test.

Study of RNA Interference Targeting NET-1 Combination with Sorafenib for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapy In Vitro and In Vivo.

The aim of this study is to explore the inhibitory effects of RNA interference (RNAi) targeting NET-1 or combined with sorafenib on HCC in vitro and in vivo and the possible underlying mechanisms. The expressions of NET-1 mRNA and protein were detected by RT-QPCR and western blot. The ability of proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assay.

The effect of NET-1 on the proliferation, migration and endocytosis of the SMMC-7721 HCC cell line.

To explore the effect of NET-1 on the proliferation, migration and endocytosis in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line SMMC-7721, we constructed the pU6H1-NET-1-siRNA (NET-1siRNA) and pcDNA3.1/myc-NET-1 (myc-NET-1) vectors and transfected them into SMMC-7721 cells. The expression levels of NET-1 mRNA and protein were detected using real-time quantitative RT-QPCR and western blotting.