Facile Synthesis of Spinel CoFe₂O₄ Nanoparticle and Its Application as Magnetic Recoverable Photocatalyst for Degradation of Metronidazole and Some Selected Organic Dyes.

A novel and facile approach for one-pot synthesis of spinel cobalt ferrites (CoFe₂O₄) nanoparticle (NPs) and is photocatalytic activity for degradation of pharmaceuticals waste and organic dye. The synthesis involves homogeneous chemical precipitation followed by hydrothermal heating, using of hexamine as a hydroxylating agent. As-synthesized CoFe₂O₄ photocatalyst was characterised by XRD, SEM, SEM Mapping, TEM, XPS, and BET-surface area analysis.

Anti-tumor activity and mechanism of oligoclonal hepatocellular carcinoma tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and .

: To explore a method for culturing hepatocellular carcinoma and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (HCC-TIL) and investigate the mechanism of TIL in killing tumors. : The distribution of regulatory T cells (Treg) in HCC was detected by immunohistochemistry. Conventional TIL and oligoclonal TIL were isolated by the traditional method of enzyme digestion combined with mechanical treatment for whole HCC and micro HCC tissue block culturing method.

Improved method increases sensitivity for circulating hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Aim: To improve an asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR)-based enrichment method for detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from healthy subjects, patients with HCC or various other cancers, and patients with hepatic lesions or hepatitis. CTCs were enriched from whole blood by extracting CD45-expressing leukocytes with monoclonal antibody coated-beads following density gradient centrifugation.

CXCL8, overexpressed in colorectal cancer, enhances the resistance of colorectal cancer cells to anoikis.

Anoikis is a form of apoptosis which occurs when anchorage-dependent cells either show loss of adhesion or inappropriate adhesion. Only a few cancer cells that detach from the primary site of the tumor acquire the ability to resist anoikis and form metastasis. The mechanism underlying the resistance of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells to anoikis remains unclear.

CCL20 and CXCL8 synergize to promote progression and poor survival outcome in patients with colorectal cancer by collaborative induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Liver metastases represent the major cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Recent studies have suggested that the chemotactic responses of tumor cells are necessary for metastatic spread to the liver, and CCL20 and CXCL8 have a strong association with CRC metastasis. The aim of our study was to identify the mechanisms by which CCL20 and CXCL8 synergize to promote metastatic progression and evaluated their potential as prognostic markers for CRC patients.

Targeting of circulating hepatocellular carcinoma cells to prevent postoperative recurrence and metastasis.

Currently, the main treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) involves the surgical removal of tumors or liver transplantation. However, these treatments are often not completely curative, as they are associated with a risk for postoperative recurrence and metastasis. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are increasingly recognized as the main source for recurrence and metastasis after radical hepatectomies are performed.

Changes of serum alpha-fetoprotein and alpha-fetoprotein-L3 after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma: prognostic significance.

Background: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most established tumor marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but one of its limitations is non-specificity. Many studies have demonstrated that alpha-fetoprotein-L3 (AFP-L3) is more specific than AFP in the early diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the post-hepatectomy profiles of serum AFP and AFP-L3 values in HCC patients.

Expression of HBx protein in hepatitis B virus-infected intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an etiological factor of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), but the pathogenic mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the expression and possible role of HBx, an HBV-encoded potentially oncogenic protein, in HBV-infected ICC.

Methods: Tissue samples were obtained from 54 specimens of HBV-infected ICC.

MCM7 expression predicts post-operative prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Dysregulation of minichromosome maintenance protein 7 (MCM7) was previously identified in multiple human malignancies. The clinical significance of MCM7 expression is yet to be delineated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Paired cancerous and non-cancerous specimens from 87 patients with HCC who underwent resection were used for the immunohistochemical evaluation of MCM7 expression.

Risk factors of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with hepatolithiasis: a case-control study.

Background: Why 3.3% to 10% of all patients with hepatolithiasis develop intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains unknown. We carried out a hospital-based case-control study to identify risk factors for the development of ICC in patients with hepatolithiasis in China.

Clinicopathological significance of ZEB1 protein in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: ZEB1, a member of the ZFH family of proteins (zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox), plays a central role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during carcinogenesis. In this study, we investigated the expression of ZEB1 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical effects with underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Expression levels of ZEB1 were assessed by Western blot in 5 HCC cell lines and in paired cancerous and noncancerous tissues from 110 patients with HCC.

Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein as a marker of prognosis and a monitor of recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after curative liver resection.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the role of Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3) as a prognostic marker and a monitor marker of recurrence after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: From December 2002 to May 2004, 395 consecutive patients with HCC who underwent curative partial hepatectomy were included in the study. The tumor characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with positive preoperative and postoperative AFP-L3 were compared with those with negative results.

Risk factors for early recurrence of small hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.

Background: Poorer prognosis is seen in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative hepatic resection with early recurrence (1 year). This study aimed to identify risk factors for postoperative early recurrence of small HCC (
Methods: The study population consisted of 158 patients who underwent curative resection for small HCC between January 2002 and July 2004.

[Progress and prospects in cancer stem cell research for hepatocellular carcinoma].

The cancer stem cell (CSC) theory stipulates that it is a small population of cells called CSCs that initiates tumor formation and maintains its growth. CSCs are scarce within the bulk of the tumor mass, and possess stem cell-like properties such as self-renewal, differentiation and resistance to therapies, and so on. In the past few years, by using side population technique and approaches based on surface markers, including CD133, CD90, OV6 and EpCAM, researchers have identified and isolated a subpopulation of liver cancer cells with enhanced colony-forming and tumorigenic ability, which is strong evidence for the existence of liver CSCs.

Clinicopathologic characteristics of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with positive serum a-fetoprotein.

Aim: To explore clinicopathologic characteristics of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) in patients with positive serum a-fetoprotein (AFP).

Methods: One hundred and thirty one patients who underwent surgical dissection for pathologically confirmed ICC were divided into a positive AFP (> 20 ng/mL) group (n = 32) and a negative AFP group (n = 99), whose clinicopathologic features were analyzed and compared.

Results: The positive rate of HBsAg and liver cirrhosis of the positive AFP group was higher than that of the negative AFP group, while the positive rate of CA19-9 (> 37 U/mL) and the lymph node metastasis rate was lower.

Troglitazone, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ligand, induces growth inhibition and apoptosis of HepG2 human liver cancer cells.

Aim: To examine the effect of troglitazone, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) ligand, on the proliferation and apoptosis of human liver cancer cells.

Methods: Liver cancer cell line HepG2 was cultured and treated with troglitazone. Cell proliferation was detected by 3-(4-,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay; apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling of DNA fragmentation sites (TUNEL) assay; and apoptosis-related protein was detected by immunocytochemistry and Western blotting.

Risk factors for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a case-control study in China.

Aim: To carry out a hospital-based case-control study to investigate risk factors for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) in China.

Methods: A total of 312 ICC cases and 438 matched controls were included in the study. The presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hepatolithiasis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, liver fluke infection (Clonorchis sinensis), was investigated through clinical records.

[Application of the improved MTT assay in predicting the intrinsic drug resistance of liver cancer].

Objective: To investigate the role of the improved MTT assay in prediction of intrinsic drug resistance of liver cancer.

Methods: The convenient MTT colorimetry was innovated to test the effects of 4'-epi-adriamycin (E-ADM), carboplatin (CBP), and 5-Fluorouracil(5-Fu), used alone or in combination, on 30 specimens of primary liver cancer without chemotherapy. All of the 30 paraffin-embedded tissues were assembled in a microarray.

[The specific cytotoxic effect of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes transfected with chimeric T cell receptor on cells which express KDR].

Objective: To investigate the specific cytotoxity of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) transfected with chimeric T cell receptor (CTCR) on cells which express KDR.

Methods: A recombinant retroviral plasmid (pMSCVneo-Vhgamma) was constructed by cloning VEGF121-hinger-FcRgamma (Vhgamma) into retroviral vector pMSCVneo. After packaging by PT67, the virus with high titer was used to infect TIL isolated from liver cancer tissues, and then MSCVneo-Vhgamma-TIL was generated.

Activating mechanism of transcriptor NF-kappaB regulated by hepatitis B virus X protein in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To investigate the mechanism and significance of NF-kappaB activation regulated by hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The expression levels of HBx, p65, IkappaB-alpha and ubiquitin were detected by immunohistochemistry in HCC tissue microarrays (TMA) respectively, and IkappaB-alpha was detected by Western blot in HCC and corresponding liver tissues.

Results: The percentage of informative TMA samples was 98.

[Research advances on alpha-fetoprotein physiological function and clinical potential].

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a tumor-associated fetal protein, has been employed as a serum fetal defect/tumor marker to monitor disease progression. Besides this, AFP has many important physiological functions. As a tool of binding and transporting ligands, AFP may bind and transport fatty acids, steroids, heavy metal ions, drugs and some environmental contaminants.

[Correlation between serum alpha-fetoprotein variant levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and the presence of alpha-fetoprotein mRNA in the circulating blood].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) variant levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cancer cells disseminating through blood.

Methods: Serum AFP variant levels were measured by crossed immunoaffino-electrophoresis in the presence of lectin before initial surgical treatment in HCC patients. Circulating tumor cells were simultaneously detected in pre-operative blood samples using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for AFP mRNA.