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Aim Of Study: This study is to investigate the effects of a novel peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/γ dual agonist TZD18 on cell growth, apoptosis, caspase activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome c release, and apoptotic-related protein expression in MKN-45 cells.Materials and Methods: 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay against various human cancer cell lines was performed to investigate the whether TZD18 could in reduce the proliferation rates of cancer cells. The percentages of apoptotic cells and mitochondrial membrane potential level were determined by flow cytometry. The subcellular localization of cytochrome c was examined by immunofluorescence microscopy. Western blotting assay was performed to reveal the expression of apoptosis-related proteins.Results: The results showed that the administration of TZD18 could inhibit the growth of MKN-45 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, the apoptotic ratio increased sharply along with a significant increase of caspase activities, mitochondrial membrane potential, and cytochrome c release following TZD18 exposure. The expression of Bax and p27kip1 increased significantly, whereas the expression level of Bcl-2 protein was downregulated.Conclusion: These results indicated that the administration of PPAR α/γ agonist TZD18 may inhibit cell growth by inducing the apoptotic process in MKN-45 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Of Study: NM23, as a possible biomarker of prognosis in malignant tumors, has generated remarkable interest in this critical period of the high morbidity and mortality of malignancies. Thus, we launched this meta-analysis to investigate the predictive value of NM23 expression in patients with gastric cancer.Materials and Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for relevant articles. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the prognostic value of NM23 expression in patients with gastric cancer and the association between NM23 expression and clinicopathological factors. We also performed subgroup analyses to find the source of heterogeneity.Results: Exactly, 2674 patients were pooled from 19 available studies in total. The incorporative OR combined by 11 studies with overall survival (OS) showed no significance (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.51-1.58, P = 0.71). Although we failed to find any significance in N status and tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging (P = 0.23 and P = 0.74, respectively), elevated NM23 expression was related to well tumor differentiation (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.41-0.95, P = 0.03). However, in the subgroup analyses, we could not find any potential source of heterogeneity.Conclusion: The results showed that statistically significant association was found between NM23 expression and the tumor differentiation of patients with gastric cancer, but no significance was found in OS, N status, and TNM staging. More and further researches should be conducted to reveal the prognostic value of NM23. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]