Search

Aquaporin 9 (AQP9) is the main aquaglyceroporin in the liver. Few studies have been performed regarding the role of AQP9 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we report the expression and function of AQP9 in HCC tissues and cell lines. We found that AQP9 mRNA and protein levels were down-regulated in HCC tissues and human hepatoma cell lines compared to the para-cancer normal liver tissues and normal hepatocyte line, respectively. In a human HCC SMMC-7721 cell line, over-expression of AQP9 suppressed cell invasion in vitro and xenograft tumor growth in vivo. AQP9 over-expression increased the expression of E-cadherin and decreased the expression of N-cadherin in SMMC-7721 cells and xenografted tumors, which was correlated with decreased levels of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and p-Akt. Conversely, using siRNA to knock down AQP9 over-expression could reverse the phenotype caused by AQP9 over-expression. Our findings suggest that AQP9 is down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and its over-expression suppresses hepatoma cell invasion through inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbes in the human body are closely linked to many complex human diseases and are emerging as new drug targets. These microbes play a crucial role in drug development and disease treatment. Traditional methods of biological experiments are not only time-consuming but also costly. Using computational methods to predict microbe-drug associations can effectively complement biological experiments. In this experiment, we constructed heterogeneity networks for drugs, microbes, and diseases using multiple biomedical data sources. Then, we developed a model with matrix factorization and a three-layer heterogeneous network (MFTLHNMDA) to predict potential drug-microbe associations. The probability of microbe-drug association was obtained by a global network-based update algorithm. Finally, the performance of MFTLHNMDA was evaluated in the framework of leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) and 5-fold cross-validation (5-fold CV). The results showed that our model performed better than six state-of-the-art methods that had AUC of 0.9396 and 0.9385 + /− 0.0000, respectively. This case study further confirms the effectiveness of MFTLHNMDA in identifying potential drug-microbe associations and new drug-microbe associations. [Display omitted] • Microbes in the human body are closely associated with many complex human diseases and are emerging as new drug targets. • Sparse learning methods are used to decompose the matrix to extract data information. • Multiple sources of data are introduced and a generic global network update algorithm is built to optimize the model. • Model evaluation results show the predictive advantage of MFTLHNMDA and its good generalization performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Treatment of inferior vena cava (IVC) over-long segmental occlusion in Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS) remains challenging. IVC segmental occlusion in BCS is often associated mainly with hepatic vein lesions in BCS, while the accessory hepatic vein (AHV) is typically patent and more intrahepatic collateral vessels are widely well-developed. Herein, we report our use of angioplasty for hepatic venous or the accessory hepatic vein for long segmental occlusion of the IVC in two BCS cases, rather than opening the IVC, in cases with a well-developed intrahepatic collateral. This method provides satisfactory outcome in short follow-up period of 8 and 5 months respectively, and is practical and feasible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The performance response of planted and the unplanted wetlands to simulated wastewater with different ratios of carbon to nitrogen (C/N) was studied during a 9-month period in greenhouse conditions. With different C/N ratios for influent water (C/N ratios 2.5:1, 5:1 and 10:1), average removal efficiencies for the unplanted and the planted wetlands were as follows: COD (41–52% and 59–68%), TN (24–48% and 25–62%), TP (35–64% and 59–71%) and TOC (22–37% and 16–33%). At C/N 5:1, both systems performed most efficiently for removal of COD and TP. However, high N removal efficiency only occurred when C/N ratio ranged 2.5–5. Both wetlands exhibited good capabilities of total organic carbon removal at C/N 10:1. Maybe, appropriate control of the carbon or nitrogen source concentration and C/N ratio in the influent can achieve the optimal effect of nutrients removal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To compare the results of computed tomography venography (CTV) with a fixed and a flexible delayed scan time for Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) with inferior vena cava (IVC) obstruction.Material and Methods: A total of 209 consecutive BCS patients with IVC obstruction underwent either a CTV with a fixed delayed scan time of 180s (n=87) or a flexible delayed scan time for good image quality according to IVC blood flow in color Doppler ultrasonography (n=122). The IVC blood flow velocity was measured using a color Doppler ultrasound prior to CT scan. Image quality was classified as either good, moderate, or poor. Image quality, surrounding structures and the morphology of the IVC obstruction were compared between the two groups using a χ2-test or paired or unpaired t-tests as appropriate. Inter-observer agreement was assessed using Kappa statistics.Results: There was no significant difference in IVC blood flow velocity between the two groups. Overall image quality, surrounding structures and IVC obstruction morphology delineation on the flexible delayed scan time of CTV images were rated better relative to those obtained by fixed delayed scan time of CTV images (p<0.001). Evaluation of CTV data sets was significantly facilitated with flexible delayed scan time of CTV. There were no significant differences in Kappa statistics between Group A and Group B.Conclusion: The flexible delayed scan time of CTV was associated with better detection and more reliable characterization of BCS with IVC obstruction compared to a fixed delayed scan time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]