Assessing early changes in plasma HER2 levels is useful for predicting therapeutic response in advanced breast cancer: A multicenter, prospective, noninterventional clinical study.

Background: Early prediction of treatment response is crucial for the optimal treatment of advanced breast cancer. We aimed to explore whether monitoring early changes in plasma human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) levels using digital PCR (dPCR) could predict the treatment response in advanced breast cancer.

Methods: This was a multicenter, prospective, noninterventional clinical study of patients with advanced breast cancer.

EGF is required for cardiac differentiation of P19CL6 cells through interaction with GATA-4 in a time- and dose-dependent manner.

The regulation of cardiac differentiation is critical for maintaining normal cardiac development and function. The precise mechanisms whereby cardiac differentiation is regulated remain uncertain. Here, we have identified a GATA-4 target, EGF, which is essential for cardiogenesis and regulates cardiac differentiation in a dose- and time-dependent manner.

Insulin induces C2C12 cell proliferation and apoptosis through regulation of cyclin D1 and BAD expression.

Insulin is a secreted peptide hormone identified in human pancreas to promote glucose utilization. Insulin has been observed to induce cell proliferation and myogenesis in C2C12 cells. The precise mechanisms underlying the proliferation of C2C12 cells induced by insulin remain unclear.

Comparative study of the biological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and peripheral blood of rats.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from adult exhibit self-renewal and multilineage differentiation capacities, making the MSCs promising candidates for cell therapy and tissue engineering. Although bone marrow (BM) is the most universal source of MSCs, other tissues may also contain MSCs. Peripheral blood (PB), in particular, arises as the most attractive source of MSCs due to easy accessibility and noninvasive procedure.

Proliferation and apoptosis property of mesenchymal stem cells derived from peripheral blood under the culture conditions of hypoxia and serum deprivation.

Background: The proliferation and apoptosis property of mesenchymal stem cells derived from peripheral blood (PB-MSCs) were investigated under hypoxia and serum deprivation conditions in vitro so as to evaluate the feasibility for autologous PB-MSCs applications in cartilage repair.

Methods: MSCs were mobilized into peripheral blood by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and AMD3100. The blood samples were collected from central ear artery of rabbits.

beta-Catenin/TCF/LEF1 can directly regulate phenylephrine-induced cell hypertrophy and Anf transcription in cardiomyocytes.

beta-Catenin/TCF/LEF1 signaling is implicated in cardiac hypertrophy. We demonstrate that knockdown of beta-catenin attenuates phenylephrine (PE)-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and the up-regulation of the fetal gene Anf. We explore the mechanism through which beta-catenin regulates Anf expression and find a consensus binding sequence on the Anf promoter for TCF/LEF1 family members.

Carboxyl terminus of Nkx2.5 impairs its interaction with p300.

The transcription factor Nkx2.5 plays critical roles in controlling cardiac-specific gene expression. Previous reports demonstrated that Nkx2.

[HLA expression in human fetal bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells].

Objective: To investigate the expression of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in human fetal bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after long time culture as well as the changes in response to interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) treatment.

Methods: Human fetal MSCs were collected from 23 to 24-weeks-old fetues with the approval of Ethic Committee of Peking University Health Science Center. The cells of passage 5 and passage 12 were analyzed for HLA expression before and after IFN-gamma (50 microg/L) treatment by flow cytometry at different time points.