Search

Theranostics that integrates therapy and diagnosis in one system to achieve accurate cancer diagnosis and treatment has attracted tremendous interest, and has been recognized as a potential breakthrough in overcoming the challenges of conventional oncotherapy. Nanoparticles are ideal candidates as carriers for theranostic agents, which is attributed to their extraordinary physicochemical properties, including nanoscale sizes, functional properties, prolonged blood circulation, active or passive tumor targeting, specific cellular uptake, and in some cases, excellent optical properties that ideally meet the needs of phototherapy and imaging at the same time. Overall, with the development of nanotechnology, theranostics has become a reality, and is now in the transition stage of "bench to bedside." In this review, we summarize recent progress on nanotechnology-based theranostics, i.e., nanotheranostics, that has greatly assisted traditional therapies, and has provided therapeutic strategies emerging in recent decades, as well as "cocktail" theranostics mixing various treatment modalities.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between endoplasmic reticulum ribosomal binding protein 1 (RRBP1) expression in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues and its poor prognosis. RRBP1 is a nascent transporter on the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Its function is to regulate the transport and secretion of proteins in cells, and to relieve endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, thereby promoting tumor cell proliferation.Methods: The expression levels of RRBP1 in 96 cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to compare the expression levels of RRBP1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues and normal cervical tissues. Then the chi-square test was used to analyze the results of immunohistochemistry. Finally, the Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the results by log-rank test and Cox regression (proportional risk model).Result: The overexpression of RRBP1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues was related to FIGO stage (P=0.030), tissue differentiation (P=0.047), lymph node metastasis (P=0.031), and was not related to the patient age (P=0.667). Univariate survival analysis showed that the prognosis was associated to the expression level of RRBP1 (P=0.045) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.001). Analysis of multi-factor survival cox model proved that RRBP1 was an independent prognostic factor. Conclusion: RRBP1 was overexpressed in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues, indicating that RRBP1 may be a new tumor marker for early diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and it will provide help for individualized treatment and prognosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma in the future.

Stretching diamond to the limit Diamond is thought of as being unbendable, but thin samples can actually deform elastically. Applying relatively large amounts of strain to diamond may shift its electronic properties, which is of interest for a number of applications. Dang et al. elastically stretched micrometer-sized plates of diamond along different crystallographic directions. These relatively large samples show that deep-strain engineering can be accomplished in more uniform diamond specimens and may have a large impact on the electronic properties. Science , this issue p. 76

The organic/inorganic composites are considered as a promising strategy to gain high thermoelectric (TE) performance. Although many efforts have been focused on composites, complicated methods are real hindrance to the development of TE materials. Here, we demonstrate a potential TE thin film comprising highly conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and chemically exfoliated MoS2 (ce-MoS2) nanosheets by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly method. This work achieves the effective integration of composite, treatment, and electron transfer based on the advantages of PEDOT:PSS and ce-MoS2. On the one hand, the negative charged ce-MoS2 nanosheets facilitate the formation of heterostructure TE films with positive charged PEDOT and reduce the oxidation level of PEDOT, which would favor an enhanced thermopower (21.9 μV K–1). On the other hand, the simultaneous enhancement in the electrical conductivity (867 S cm–1) of PEDOT:PSS/ce-MoS2 composite film is caused by dimethyl sulfoxid...

Tripartite motif-containing protein 44 (TRIM44) has been recently identified as a novel oncogene that is overexpressed in several types of human cancers; however, its role in endometrial cancer (EC) remains unknown. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the TRIM44 protein expression and clinicopathological significance of TRIM44 in EC.Paraffin-embedded surgical specimens were collected from 143 patients with EC for the immunohistochemical analysis of TRIM44 expression. Western blotting was performed to evaluate differences in TRIM44 protein expression in EC and normal endometrial tissues.TRIM44 expression was low in normal tissues and high in EC tissues (P 0.001). TRIM44 overexpression was significantly associated with the Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, histological grade, depth of myometrial invasion and lymph node metastasis (P 0.05). Moreover, TRIM44 expression was an independent prognostic factor for both overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with EC (both P 0.05).The present study provides evidence that TRIM44 predicts the risk of development and prognosis of EC, highlighting its potential application as a therapeutic target for this malignancy.

A nanoscale organic/inorganic hybrid thin film has been fabricated with the conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and SiC nanowires (SiC-NWs) defined as PEDOT:PSS/SiC-NWs by a facile dilution-filtration method and the thermoelectric (TE) performance has been investigated systematically. It has been demonstrated that a low content of SiC-NWs (

Human thermal energy as permanent generation energy source have been widely utilized in thermoelectric (TE) application today, especially for wearable electronics. In this work, an intrinsically flexible palm-power TE generator based on the p-type PEDOT:PSS-based composite films has been designed and fabricated. The combination of inorganic nano-filler and chemical treatment have been proved to be an effective strategy for improving the TE performance of PEDOT:PSS. The maximum power factor of PEDOT:PSS composite with 5% content of (Ca0.85Ag0.15)3Co4O9 was evaluated to be 75.2 μW m−1 K−2 after H2SO4 post-treatment, which was three times higher than that of pure PEDOT:PSS. The resulting film with a good mechanical flexibility still sustained its good TE performance about 96% even after being flexed for 1000 bending cycles. Based on the parallel circuit design, the palm-power TE generator was assembled by the flexible composite films and realized a low internal resistance of 1.1 Ω and an acceptable output power of 36 nW in the palm of hand. This work may open new avenues on the design and fabrication of flexible wearable electronics for energy harvesting.

Hematopoietic pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor-interacting protein (HPIP), is known to promote tumor development and metastasis. However its role in cervical cancer remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of HPIP expression and the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer. Fresh frozen tissues from 10 samples of cervical cancer and 8normal cervical tissues were analyzed for HPIP expression using real-time reverse transcription PCR and Western blot analysis. A total of 129 paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from patients with CC were collected for an immunohistochemistry assay to measure HPIP expression. Correlations of HPIP expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of patients with cervical cancer were analyzed. The HPIP expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than in normal cervical tissues (P

This study aims to investigate the expression of the hematopoietic pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor-interacting protein (HPIP) and its association with platinum resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The protein expression of HPIP was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in 248 patients with EOC. Furthermore, we analyzed the association between HPIP expression and clinicopathological features including prognosis in EOC samples. High HPIP expression was correlated with platinum resistance in EOCs. HPIP in platinum-resistant cases was overexpressed compared with that in platinum-sensitive cases (P

The development of cancer nanotherapeutics has attracted great interest in the recent decade. Cancer nanotherapeutics have overcome several limitations of conventional therapies, such as nonspecific biodistribution, poor water solubility, and limited bioavailability. Nanoparticles with tuned size and surface characteristics are the key components of nanotherapeutics, and are designed to passively or actively deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumor cells. We provide an overview of nanoparticle-based drug delivery methods and cancer therapies based on tumor-targeting delivery strategies that have been developed in recent years.

Hematopoietic pre-B cell leukemia transcription factor (PBX)-interacting protein (RRBP1) has been shown to participate in various aspects of malignancies. The clinical significance of RRBP1 and its involvement in the epithelial ovarian cancer have yet to be studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of RRBP1 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and its relationship with clinical characteristics and prognosis. We evaluated the mRNA and protein expression levels of RRBP1 by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting (n=45). Immunohistochemistry and data analysis were used to examine the relationship between the expression level of RRBP1 and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer. RRBP1 was highly expressed in EOC (P

Background Hematopoietic pre‐B‐cell leukemia transcription factor (PBX)‐interacting protein (HPIP) has shown to be overexpressed in several human cancers. The purpose of this study was to explore the expression of HPIP in endometrial cancer (EC) and its associated effects on disease. Methods A total of 113 EC patients at the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital between August 2011 and September 2012 were studied for immunohistochemistry analysis. HPIP expression was detected using real‐time reverse transcription PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Prognostic value of HPIP expression was examined using multivariate Cox regression analysis and Kaplan‐Meier method. Results The result of Western blotting indicated that HPIP protein expression is significantly high in normal tissues compared to EC tissues (P

Nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) contributes to the highest number of cancer deaths globally. Metastases and chemoresistance are two major confounders to the treatment efficacy in NSCLC. Transducin (β)-like 1 X-linked receptor 1 (TBL1XR1) has been associated with high rates of metastases in breast, gastric, and stomach cancers. However, the role of TBL1XR1 in lung cancers remains underexplored. We selected matched and cancerous lung tissues to establish the upregulation of TBL1XR1. Using in vitro assays, we assessed the influence of TBL1XR1 on various cancer phenotypes, namely cell proliferation, chemoresistance, invasion, and metastases in a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knock out model (A549 cells), and H460 cell lines overexpressing TBL1XR1. We found that TBL1XR1 is overexpressed in NSCLC tissue and patient sera in comparison to paired adjacent normal tissue. Overexpression of TBL1XR1 in NSCLC cell lines mediates cell survival, proliferation, and metastases. TBL1XR1 was found to regulate MEK and Akt pathways through their master regulator c-Met. We observed that activation of c-Met is downregulated in the absence of TBL1XR1. Our study strengthens the contention that TBL1XR1 is a biomarker for prognosis of NSCLC. It may also be considered as an adjunct or core therapeutic target to overcome cisplatin resistance in lung cancers.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between F box/WD-40 domain protein 7 (FBXW7) and cervical squamous cancer.Methods: We investigated the FBXW7 expression in 136 cervical squamous carcinoma cases through immunohistochemistry and Western-blot analysis to evaluate the clinical significance of FBXW7 and to elucidate the relationship of FBXW7 expression with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).Results: Low FBXW7 expression was associated with high histologic grade, lymphovascular space invasion and lymph node metastasis, among other parameters. Patients with low FBXW7 expression exhibited poor OS and PFS.Conclusions: FBXW7 is related to the susceptibility and prognosis of cervical squamous carcinoma, indicating FBXW7 may be a potentially important target for the prediction of prognosis.

ObjectivesSeven in absentia homolog 2 (Siah2) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is expressed in mammals and is homologous to seven in absentia in Drosophila. Siah2 is involved in the progression of many malignancies. However, the role of Siah2 in ovarian cancer remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of Siah2 expression for epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) patients.Materials and MethodsImmunohistochemical analysis was conducted using 32 normal ovarian specimens and 122 ovarian carcinoma specimens, respectively. We analyzed the correlations of Siah2 expression with the clinicopathological factors and prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. χ2 Analysis, Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis were conducted for statistical analyses.ResultsImmunohistochemical staining demonstrated that the expression of Siah2 was higher in the EOC tissues than in the normal tissues. High Siah2 expression positively correlated with histological grade and lymph node metastasis but not with age, histologic type, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging, and CA125. Patients with positive Siah2 expression showed lower overall survival and disease-free survival rates than those with negative Siah2 expression (P < 0.05 for both). Multivariate Cox analysis indicated that Siah2 was an independent parameter for overall survival (hazards ratio, 2.166; 95% confidence interval, 1.182–3.970; P = 0.012) and disease-free survival (hazards ratio, 1.819; 95% confidence interval, 1.030–3.216; P = 0.039).ConclusionsSiah2 is possibly involved in tumor development and progression in EOC. Thus, Siah2 is a promising biomarker for predicting the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients and may serve as a novel target for treating ovarian carcinoma.

Objective Apatinib, a small molecule inhibitor of VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase, shows strong anti-tumour activity against various tumours. The function of apatinib in ovarian cancer, however, remains unclear. This study was conducted to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms by which apatinib modulates the biological function of ovarian cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Methods The effects of apatinib on ovarian cancer cells were determined by assessing cell viability, migration and invasion. The cell cycle distribution and apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells were analysed using flow cytometry. Western blotting was performed to determine the levels of signalling pathway markers. A mouse xenograft model was used to evaluate the efficacy of apatinib in preventing tumour growth. Results Apatinib did not appreciably affect ovarian cancer cell proliferation and vitality, but did inhibit ovarian cancer cell migration. Apatinib suppressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in ovarian cancer cells by inhibiting the JAK/STAT3, PI3K/AKT and Notch signalling pathways. Apatinib effectively inhibited tumour growth in vivo. Conclusion Based on our findings, apatinib is a highly potent, orally active anti-angiogenic and anti-ovarian cancer agent.

Tripartite motif containing 44 (TRIM44) has been reported to be up-regulated in multiple aggressive malignant tumors. However, its expression status and clinical significance in cervical cancer remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of TRIM44 expression and the prognosis in patients with cervical cancer (CC). Fresh frozen tissues from 5 samples of CC and 4 normal cervical tissues were analyzed for TRIM44 expression using RT- PCR and Western blot analysis. 122 paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from patients with CC were collected for an immunohistochemistry. TRIM44 expression was found to be significantly up-regulated in cervical cancer specimens compared with adjacent normal tissues (P

Background Currently, ribosome-binding protein 1 (RRBP1) is considered to be a novel oncogene that is overexpressed in colorectal cancer, lung cancer, mammary cancer, esophageal cancer and other carcinomas. However, the relationship between RRBP1 and endometrioid-type endometrial carcinoma (EC) remains unknown. Our purpose is to explore the function of RRBP1 in endometrioid-type endometrial carcinoma. Methods We investigated the expression of RRBP1 protein by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from one hundred thirty patients with endometrioid-type endometrial carcinoma. We also evaluated the differences in RRBP1 expression between endometrial cancer samples (n = 35) and normal endometrial tissues (n = 19) by western blotting. Results RRBP1 was more highly expressed in endometrial cancer samples than in normal samples (P

Lysosome-associated protein transmembrane 4ß-35 (LAPTM4B-35) is overexpressed in several solid malignancies. This study determines the expression level of LAPTM4B-35 in the cervical cancer during tumor development and progression. The present study investigated the clinicopathological significance of the coexpression of LAPTM4B-35 and VEGF in patients with cervical cancer. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of LAPTM4B-35 and VEGF in 62 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 226 cervical carcinoma in comparison with 45 normal cervical specimens. The correlation of combined LAPTM4B-35 and VEGF with clinicopathologic characteristics was analyzed using a chi-squared test. Patient survival was determined using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. A Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the prognostic significance of the factors. Combined LAPTM4B-35 and VEGF expression was significantly associated with FIGO stage (P = 0.014), tumor histologic grade (P = 0.033), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.045), and recurrence (P = 0.010). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with cervical cancer expressing both LAPTM4B-35 and VEGF exhibited both poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.015 and P = 0.016, respectively). Cox analysis demonstrated that combined LAPTM4B-35 and VEGF expression was an independent factor for both OS and DFS (P = 0.015 and P = 0.016, respectively). Overexpression of LAPTM4B-35combined with positive VEGF expression may serve as a new biological marker to predict the prognosis of cervical carcinoma patients.

OBJECTIVE Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 is aberrantly expressed in various malignant tumors. However, the expression and function of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma have not been reported. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS In this study, we investigated the expression of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 through immunohistochemistry in 25 normal cervix specimens and 167 cervical squamous cell carcinomas and analyzed its association with various clinicopathologic parameters, including patient outcome. RESULTS Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 protein was detected in 58 (34.7%) out of 167 patients and was highly related to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, histologic grade, lymph node metastasis, vascular-lymphatic invasion and recurrence of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with positive special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 expression had significantly lower overall survival and disease-free survival compared with patients with negative expression of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). A multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 was an independent prognostic marker for both disease-free survival and overall survival of cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients (P = 0.038 and P = 0.010, respectively). A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 expression was strongly associated with lymph node metastasis (odds ratio = 2.497; P = 0.032). Sensitivity and specificity of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 for lymph node metastasis were 61.0 and 73.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS These results showed that special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 expression was associated with tumor progression, metastasis and poor prognosis in cervical squamous cell carcinoma. It may serve as a new prognostic biomarker or a target for improving the treatment efficiency of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma.

ObjectiveSpecial AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 (SATB1), as a genome organizer, serves important functions in tumor progression and metastasis. The SATB1 is overexpressed in various malignant tumors. However, the expression and prognostic value of SATB1 in endometrial cancer remain unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic values of SATB1 expression in endometrial cancer.Methods/MaterialsWe investigated the expression of SATB1 in 172 untreated endometrial cancer tissues and 25 normal endometrial tissues through immunohistochemical staining. We also analyzed the association of SATB1 level with clinicopathologic parameters and determined its prognostic significance.ResultSpecial AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 was expressed in 78 (45.3%) of the 172 endometrial cancer samples, but not in the normal endometrial samples. The positive expression of SATB1 was associated with clinicopathologic factors, such as International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, histological grade, myometrial invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, vascular/lymphatic invasion, and recurrence. The patients with positive SATB1 expression had worse overall survival and disease-free survival rates than the patients with negative SATB1 expression (P< 0.001 for both). Multivariate Cox analysis indicated that SATB1 was an independent parameter for overall survival (hazards ratio, 2.928; 95% confidence interval, 1.072–7.994;P= 0.036) and disease-free survival (hazards ratio, 2.825; 95% confidence interval, 1.111–7.181;P= 0.029).ConclusionsResults showed that SATB1 may be involved in tumor development and progression in endometrial cancer, may serve as a promising biomarker for predicting the prognosis of endometrial cancer patients, and thus may act as a novel target for treating endometrial carcinoma.

Yuping Wang,* Fanling Meng,* Yunduo Liu, Xiuwei Chen Department of Gynecology, The Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objectives: Hematopoietic pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor (PBX)-interacting protein (HPIP) plays an important role in cancer invasion and metastasis. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of HPIP in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).Patients and methods: Immunohistochemical method was performed using 42 normal ovarian specimens and 145 specimens with EOC. The correlations of HPIP expression with the clinicopathological factors and prognosis of EOC patients were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using the chi-square test, multivariate Cox proportional hazard, and Kaplan–Meier method.Results: HPIP expression in EOC was higher than that in normal tissues (P

Purpose: Lysosome-associated protein transmembrane-4 beta (LAPTM4B) is associated with the prognosis of several human malignancies. In this study, the role of LAPTM4B in the metastatic potential of breast cancer (BC) and its underlying molecular mechanisms were investigated. Methods: The relationship between LAPTM4B expression and axillary lymph node metastasis was determined in 291 BC specimens by immunohistochemistry. The expression of LAPTM4B in paired BC cells was overexpressed and inhibited to analyse the role of LAPTM4B in the aggressiveness of BC. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were assessed in vitro. Metastasis-related protein levels were detected through Western blot. Results: Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that high expression level of LAPTM4B was independently associated with axillary lymph node metastasis (odds ratio=2.428; 95%CI=1.333- 4.425; P=0.004). The LAPTM4B inhibition in MCF-7 cells inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and resulted in simultaneous downregulation of phosphorylated N-cadherin, vimentin, and upregulation of E-cadherin. By contrast, the LAPTM4B overexpression promoted cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and led to simultaneous upregulation of N-cadherin, vimentin, and downregulation of E-cadherin in T47D cells. Conclusions: High expression level of LAPTM4B predicts tumor metastatic potential in patients with BC. Our results provide the first evidence of the role of LAPTM4B as an Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inducer that promotes aggressiveness in BC cells.

Yao Wang,1,* Xin Jin,2,* Hongtao Song,3 Fanling Meng4 1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2Department of Intensive Care Unit, The General Hospital of Daqing Oil Field, Daqing, 3Department of Pathology, 4Department of Gynecology, The Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objectives: Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) plays a critical role in tumor progression and chemoresistance. The aim of the present study was to investigate the protein expression of AEG-1 in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) who underwent debulking surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).Materials and methods: The protein expression of AEG-1 was analyzed using immunohistochemistry in 162 patients with EOC. The relationship between AEG-1 expression and chemotherapy resistance was assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with covariate adjustments.Results: High AEG-1 expression was significantly associated with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, age, serum cancer antigen-125 concentration, histological grade, the presence of residual tumor after the interval debulking surgery, and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, AEG-1 expression was significantly higher in NAC-resistant disease than in NAC-sensitive disease (P

OBJECTIVE Lysosome-associated protein transmembrane 4 beta (LAPTM4B) is an important novel gene associated with the proliferation and differentiation of cells. Recent studies have shown that it was overexpressed in many cancer tissues. This study investigated the association between different LAPTM4B polymorphisms and the susceptibility and prognosis of ovarian cancer. METHODS A case-control study was performed in 282 patients with ovarian cancer and 365 control subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes in all participants. LAPTM4B genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS There was a significantly higher LAPTM4B 2 allele frequency in ovarian cancer cases than controls (P < 0.05). Using the LAPTM4B 1/1 genotype as the reference, we found that the LAPTM4B 1/2 and LAPTM4B 2/2 genotypes were positively associated with ovarian cancer. Additionally, we found a negative correlation between the tumor grade and LAPTM4B allele genotype, which indicates strongly that LAPTM4B 2 could affect the survival of patients. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that the LAPTM4B 2 allele may be a risk factor for ovarian cancer and may play an important role in genetic susceptibility to ovarian cancer.

ObjectiveMetastatic ovarian tumors are a series of lethal carcinomas that almost always have bad prognosis. Their prognoses, however, vary depending on the primary tumor malignancies of each. It has been reported thatLAPTM4B, a novel tumor-associated gene, might indicate a worse prognosis when it was overexpressed in other carcinomas. Therefore, the authors expected to investigate whetherLAPTM4Boverexpression is an independent prognostic marker in metastatic ovarian tumors.MethodsImmunohistochemistry was used to assessLAPTM4Bexpression in metastatic ovarian tumors from 102 patients. Subsequently, univariate and multivariate survival analyses with Cox regression were performed to determine the association betweenLAPTM4Bexpression and prognosis. To identify any differences in prognosis between the 2 groups of patients with differing primary malignancies, the log-rank test was used.ResultsThe median overall and progression-free survival rates of patients with tumors of gastrointestinal tract origin were 0.97 and 0.51 years, respectively, and both were statistically significantly lower than those of patients with tumors of breast origin (P< 0.0001), which were 2.68 and 1.96 years, accordingly. Of 102 patients, 77 were classified as having a high expression ofLAPTM4B, andLAPTM4Bexpression had a significant association with the prognosis of metastatic ovarian tumors (P< 0.01); no statistically significant interaction betweenLAPTM4Bexpression and primary malignancies was detected (P> 0.1). On the other hand, medians of overall survival and progression-free survival of patients with tumors of gastrointestinal tract origin were significantly lower than those of patients with tumors of breast origin (P< 0.0001).ConclusionsPatients with metastatic ovarian tumors of breast origin had significantly better prognosis than those with the disease from gastrointestinal tract primary malignancies.LAPTM4Boverexpression might be an independent prognostic marker of metastatic ovarian tumors.

Background The purpose of this study was to determine whether LAPTM4B over-expression is associated with the prognosis and chemotherapy resistance in patients with stages III and IV epithelial ovarian carcinoma, i.e., patients with peritoneal metastasis or lymph node metastasis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Methods LAPTM4B expression was evaluated in 10 normal ovarian and 113 stages III–IV ovarian carcinomas specimens by Western blotting analyses and immunohistochemistry. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between LAPTM4B expression and prognosis and the relationship between LAPTM4B over-expression and chemotherapy resistance. Results Western blotting analysis demonstrated that LAPTM4B was overexpressed in ovarian cancers, and immunohistochemistry results revealed that 80 patients were LAPTM4B over-expression. The five-year overall survival (OS) rates for patients with high LAPTM4B expression and low LAPTM4B expression were 27.36% and 90.7%, respectively (hazard ratio = 20.611, 95% CI: 5.916–71.808, P

Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) plays an important role in tumor progression including transformation, evasion of apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, and chemoresistance. However, the expression of AEG-1 in ovarian carcinoma and its significance are still unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of AEG-1 in ovarian carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expression of AEG-1 in 81 ovarian carcinoma specimens. The correlation of AEG-1 expression with clinicopathological parameters was assessed using χ 2 analysis. Patient survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests. Cox regression was used for the multivariate analysis of prognostic factors. High expression of AEG-1 was detected in 66.67% of the ovarian carcinomas and was significantly associated with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, histological grade, presence of residual tumor after primary surgery, and tumor recurrence. Patients with high AEG-1 expression had significantly poorer overall survival and disease-free survival (both P

BACKGROUND: Lysosome-associated protein transmembrane 4 beta (LAPTM4B), a novel oncoprotein, is overexpressed in several carcinomas. Previous studies revealed that LAPTM4B polymorphisms contribute to the risk of certain types of cancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between different LAPTM4B alleles and the risk of cervical carcinoma. METHODS: A case-control analysis was performed in 317 patients with cervical cancer and 416 control subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes in all participants. LAPTM4B genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using an unconditional logistic regression model. RESULTS: There was a significant difference (P

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is a kind of flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent amine oxidase that regulates normal cellular differentiation, gene activation, tumorigenesis, and progression. This study aims to detect the expression level of LSD1 in endometrial cancer and to explore its role in the progression and prognosis of endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EEA).Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of LSD1 in 206 EEA specimens, 50 benign endometrial lesion specimens, and 45 normal endometrium specimens. χ Analysis, Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis were applied for the statistical analysis.Compared with normal endometrium and benign endometrial lesion (both P0.001), LSD1 was overexpressed in EEA. LSD1 expression was correlated with histological grade, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, vascular/lymphatic invasion, depth of myometrial invasion, and lymph node metastasis. Results of the Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that LSD1 expression was associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of EEA. The negative expression LSD1 group had longer OS and DFS than did the positive expression group. The difference was significant (both P0.001, log-rank test). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the LSD1 expression status was an independent prognostic factor for both OS (P = 0.027) and DFS (P = 0.016) of patients with EEA.Overexpression of LSD1 may contribute to the progression of EEA and may thus serve as a new biomarker to predict the prognosis of EEA.

Multiple myeloma SET domain (MMSET) has been shown to be overexpressed in many different cancer tissues. Our study was to investigate the expression of MMSET in serous ovarian carcinoma and to evaluate its clinical significance in patients with serous ovarian carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expression of MMSET in 132 serous ovarian carcinoma, 32 normal ovarian and fallopian tube specimens. The high expression of MMSET was observed in 49.2% (65/132) in patients with serous ovarian carcinoma. MMSET high expression correlated with the advanced extent of serous ovarian carcinoma and poor outcome. MMSET may serve as a new molecular marker to predict the prognosis of serous ovarian carcinoma in the clinic.

Meningioma-associated protein (MAC30), first described to be overexpressed in meningiomas, exhibits altered expression in certain human tumors. The definite role of MAC30 is not clear now, and few studies have documented the value of MAC30 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of MAC30 in EOC and to evaluate its clinical significance in patients with EOC. A total of 266 patients with EOC who undergone complete cytoreductive surgery from November 2003 to September 2006 were eligible for this study. The expression of MAC30 in epithelial ovarian tumor tissues was examined immunohistochemically. High expression of MAC30 was observed in 66.17 % of EOC. The high MAC30 expression group had more advanced stages, poorer histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and recurrence than those with low MAC30 expression. Moreover, the presence of lymph node metastasis was significantly associated with MAC30 expression (OR 2.888, 95 % CI 1.428–5.838, P = 0.003). In addition, it was also shown that high MAC30 expression significantly correlated with poorer overall survival and progression-free survival (both P

An examination of the effect of B- and P-doping and codoping on the electronic structure of anatase TiO2 by performing density functional theory calculations revealed the following: (i) B- or P-doping effects are similar to atomic undercoordination effects on local bond relaxation and core electron entrapment; (ii) the locally entrapped charge adds impurity levels within the band gap that could enhance the utilization of TiO2 to absorb visible light and prolong the carrier lifetime; (iii) the core electron entrapment polarizes nonbonding electrons in the upper edges of the valence and conduction bands, which reduces not only the work function but also the band gap; and (iv) work function reduction enhances the reactivity of the carriers and band gap reduction promotes visible-light absorption. These observations may shed light on effective catalyst design and synthesis.

Lysosome-associated protein transmembrane 4β-35 (LAPTM4B-35) is a member of the mammalian 4-tetratransmembrane spanning protein superfamily, which is overexpressed in several solid malignancies. However, the expression of LAPTM4B-35 and its role in the progression of cervical carcinoma is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the level of expression of LAPTM4B-35 in cervical carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of LAPTM4B-35 protein in 53 cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CINs) and 113 cervical carcinomas in comparison with 20 normal cervical specimens. The correlation between the expression of the LAPTM4B-35 protein and the clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with cervical carcinoma was analyzed. Statistical analysis showed that LAPTM4B-35 expression was significantly elevated in CINII/III and cervical carcinoma but not in CINI compared with the normal controls (P=0.002, P

This paper presents an improved genetic algorithm (GA) for optimizing power system reactive power. Based on a basic GA, an integer/float mixed coding GA is proposed in this paper. The objective function of the proposed method is to minimize the system active power loss. The control variables are generator bus voltages, transformer tap positions and switchable shunt capacitor banks. The refined GA overcomes the drawbacks of conventional reactive power optimization methods. The proposed method has been applied to the practical ward-Hale 6 bus system and IEEE 30-bus system. The test results show that this method is a very feasible and practical method.