Cost-effectiveness of CYP2C19 genotyping to guide antiplatelet therapy for acute minor stroke and high-risk transient ischemic attack.

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with clopidogrel plus aspirin within 48 h of acute minor strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) has been indicated to effectively reduce the rate of recurrent strokes. However, the efficacy of clopidogrel has been shown to be affected by cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) polymorphisms. Patients carrying loss-of-function alleles (LoFAs) at a low risk of recurrence (ESRS < 3) cannot benefit from clopidogrel plus aspirin at all and may have an increased bleeding risk.

Screening and identification of key biomarkers in alimentary tract cancers: A bioinformatic analysis.

Background: Alimentary tract cancers (ATCs) are the most malignant cancers in the world. Numerous studies have revealed the tumorigenesis, diagnosis and treatment of ATCs, but many mechanisms remain to be explored.

Methods: To identify the key genes of ATCs, microarray datasets of oesophageal cancer, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.

Generation of IgE-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes as a novel immunotherapeutic approach for the treatment of allergic asthma.

Introduction: Overproduction of immunoglobulin E (IgE) by a subset of B cells plays a key role in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. Anti-IgE monoclonal antibodies have been successfully used to treat the disease, but long-term application is required.

Methods: For this study, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) against IgE-producing B cells were generated ex vivo by stimulating naive CD8 T cells with IgE-derived peptides presented by Drosophila-derived artificial antigen-presenting cells.

Photochemical Treatment of APCs Can Eliminate Associated Viruses and Maintain the APC Function for Generating Antigen-Specific CTLs Ex Vivo.

cells transfected with MHC class I and a number of costimulation molecules including B7.1, ICAM, LFA-3, and CD70 are potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for the generation of antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) . Using APCs, CTLs specific for melanoma antigens have been generated and adoptively transferred to melanoma patients.

Girdin regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells via the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.

Girdin functions as an Akt phosphorylation enhancer (APE), which expedites the proliferation and survival of many types of tumours. However, the influence of Girdin on pancreatic cancer and the underlying molecular mechanisms have yet to be uncovered. Hence, in the present study, we sought to elucidate the function of Girdin in pancreatic cancer malignancy, particularly its role in pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis.

Combination of PI3K/Akt Pathway Inhibition and Plk1 Depletion Can Enhance Chemosensitivity to Gemcitabine in Pancreatic Carcinoma.

The prognosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) remains pessimistic because of the difficulty in early diagnosis as well as the little advance in chemotherapy. Although being the first-line chemotherapy drug for PC at present, gemcitabine still has some disadvantages, such as low drug sensitivity and significant side effects. Thus, how to further improve the sensitivity of PC cells to gemcitabine is still a difficult subject in the field of pancreatic cancer-treatment.

The pseudogene derived from long non-coding RNA DUXAP10 promotes colorectal cancer cell growth through epigenetically silencing of p21 and PTEN.

Recently, substantial evidence has demonstrated that pseudogene derived lncRNAs are crucial regulators of cancer development and progression. DUXAP10,a pseudogene derived long non-coding RNA(lncRNA), is overexpression in colorectal cancer (CRC), but its expression pattern, biological function and underlying mechanism in CRC is still undetermined. In this study, we observed that DUXAP10 was up-regulated in CRC tissues which was positively correlated with advanced pathological stages, larger tumor sizes and lymph node metastasis.

Long non-coding RNA FOXP4-AS1 is an unfavourable prognostic factor and regulates proliferation and apoptosis in colorectal cancer.

Objectives: Despite improvements in diagnosis and treatment, colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third most common malignancy, and fourth-leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and has a particularly high incidence in Western countries. Recent studies have suggested that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) compose a novel class of regulators of cancer biological processes, such as proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis. Here, we report that lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 acts as a functional oncogene in CRC pathogenesis.

HOTTIP: a critical oncogenic long non-coding RNA in human cancers.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which represent a novel group of non-protein-coding RNAs and are commonly defined as RNA molecules larger than 200 nucleotides in length, have been shown to get involved in diverse biological processes, such as cell growth, apoptosis, migration and invasion. In addition, aberrant expression of lncRNAs has been discovered in human tumors, where they function as either oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Recently tumorigenic effects of one specific lncRNA, termed as 'HOXA transcript at the distal tip' (HOTTIP), on the initiation and progression of human cancer has been widely reported.

ACVR1-Fc suppresses BMP signaling and chondro-osseous differentiation in an in vitro model of Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare and devastating genetic disease of heterotopic endochondral ossification (HEO), and currently no effective therapies are available for this disease. A recurrent causative heterozygous mutation (c.617 G>A; R206H) for FOP was identified in activin receptor type IA (ACVR1), a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptor.

Regulation of cell apoptosis and proliferation in pancreatic cancer through PI3K/Akt pathway via Polo-like kinase 1.

Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis. It is reported that the PI3K/Akt pathway is activated in many cancers, and inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway can induce cell apoptosis in most cancers. Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is also overexpressed in most malignancies, and it controls multiple aspects of mitosis and apoptosis.

CD8 T cells and aging.

Aging of the immune system, or "immunosenescence," is associated with both a marked reduction in responsiveness as well as functional dysregulation. These changes have been implicated in the increased morbidity and mortality of the elderly population from infectious disease, and may also play a role in autoimmunity and cancer. Though marginal alterations in B lymphocytes are apparent, the dramatic decline in humoral and cell-mediated responses is predominantly the consequence of alterations in the T-cell compartment.

Early antigen-specific response by naive CD8 T cells is not altered with aging.

Both a dramatic decline in CD8 responses and a switch to memory T cell predominance occur with aging. The extent to which the loss of responsiveness is the consequence of the accumulation of more differentiated vs intrinsically defective T cells (or both) has been unclear. Using similar conditions of Ag stimulation, we have examined the responses generated by CD8(+) cells isolated from aged TCR transgenic mice.