Search

The article "Circulating MicroRNAs May be Predictive of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy" explores the potential of specific circulating microRNAs as biomarkers for diagnosing and assessing degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). The study found 15 differentially expressed miRNAs in DCM patients compared to healthy controls, with miR-223-3p and miR-451a showing significant changes. While the research is innovative in identifying potential serum biomarkers for DCM, further analysis and validation in larger, diverse cohorts are needed to establish the clinical utility of these miRNAs. The study suggests that understanding the differential expression of miRNAs and their relation to inflammatory pathways could lead to targeted therapeutic interventions for DCM. [Extracted from the article] more...

ARHI is a novel tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 1p31. Downregulation of ARHI expression has been detected in many types of cancer. However, the effects of ARHI in gastric cancer remain unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between ARHI expression and gastric cancer clinicopathological features. In this study, 81 pT2 stage gastric cancer specimens were subclassified by pT2a and pT2b stage. ARHI mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by real-time PCR and western blot analysis, respectively. Methylation plays an important role in suppressor gene silencing. We utilized methylation-specific PCR to identify the status of CpG islands in the ARHI gene. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of the protein and analyzed clinicopathological features. The levels of ARHI mRNA in gastric cancer were lower compared to normal tissues (P<0.01). Similarly, the levels of ARHI protein in the cancer specimens were lower (P<0.05). DNA hypermethylation was identified in 79.1% of gastric cancer specimens without ARHI expression. Immunohistochemistry results were significantly correlated with the pT2 category (P<0.05). The cumulative survival rate of patients with ARHI expression was significantly higher compared to those without ARHI expression (P<0.05). ARHI as a suppressor is not only an important factor in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer, but also a potential factor for tumor aggravation. ARHI expression in gastric cancer can be employed to indicate favorable prognosis for the disease. more...

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated Aurora-A to be frequently overexpressed in many cancers, including gastric cancer. In order to study the effects of Aurora-A on gastric cancer cells, we detected the changes of cell phenotype after treatment with Aurora-A specific small interference RNA (siRNA). In addition, VX-680 was used simultaneously. RT-PCR and western-blot were used to determine the level of Aurora-A mRNA and protein in cells, including GES-1, SGC-7901, SGC-7901 lines treated with VX-680, SGC-7901 treated with DMSO, SGC- 7901 interfered using siRNA and SGC-7901 interfered using scrambled RNAi. MTT, PI staining and transwell assays were used respectively to analyze proliferation, viability, and migration and invasion of the cells. The results showed that deletion of Aurora-A may inhibit proliferation and induce G1 arrest. The transwell assay indicated that Aurora-A may promote metastasis of gastric cancer. Collectively, our findings support Aurora-A as an oncogene in gastric cancer. Deletion of Aurora-A may have potential as a therapeutic method for gastric cancer. more...

Aim: To identify the methylation of secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (SFRP1) in gastric cancer and to investigate the aberrant expression of SFRP1 and its correlation with the clinical pathological features of patients., Methods: We determined SFRP1 methylation and SFRP1 mRNA expression in 3 gastric cancer cell lines SGC-7901, BGC-823, HGC-27, from 52 primary gastric cancer specimens and matched tumor adjacent tissue specimens by methylation-specific (MSP) PCR and RT-PCR respectively. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the statistical association between clinical pathological data and aberrant expression of SFRP1., Results: In 3 cancer cell lines, BGC-823 and HGC-27 had methylated SFRP1 and lost SFRP1 mRNA expression. After treatment of BGC-823 and HGC-27 with the demethylating agent, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, SFRP1 was re-expressed. In 52 primary gastric cancer specimens and matched tumor adjacent tissue specimens, hypermethylation of SFRP1 was detected in 23 (44%) and 8 (15%) specimens respectively (chi(2) = 10.34, P < 0.01). Loss of SFRP1 expression was detected in 17(33%) and 6 (12%) specimens respectively (chi(2) = 6.75, P < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between SFRP1 hypermethylation and SFRP1 expression loss. SFRP1 expression was also correlated significantly with tumor stage and lymph node status, but not with patient sex, age and histological type., Conclusion: SFRP1 inactivation is a common and early event caused mainly by hypermethylation in gastric cancer. SFRP1 expression loss may be correlated with tumor metastasis in primary gastric cancer. more...

Objective: To explore the significance of C4d deposition in follicular lymphoma (FL)., Methods: The deposition of C4d was detected in samples from 133 cases of lymphoma by immunohistochemistry and FL was studied by the double stainings of CD35/C4d, CD21/C4d and Bcl-2/C4d,respectively., Results: Among the 26 FL tissues, irregular C4d deposition was seen in 19 tumor tissues. Double staining for CD35, CD21 or Bcl-2 showed the C4d deposition was around the follicular dendritic cells (FDC). There was no significant difference between the positive rate of C4d and the degree of lymphoma. No deposition was found in the diffuse areas of FL and other type lymphomas., Conclusion: C4d deposition around the follicular dendritic cell in the neoplastic follicles is a specific indicator of follicular lymphoma. more...