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Phytosterols (PSs) are reported to lower the serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations enriched in some fatty foods, such as margarine. However, these high-fat foods are not very suitable for older people. Soy milk is the favorite food for elderly people in China; therefore, we hypothesized that the consumption of soy milk powder supplemented with PSs would decrease the serum cholesterol levels in older Chinese people independent of the genotypes of apolipoprotein E (ApoE). Mild to moderate hyperlipidemic patients (n = 170) were recruited from different communities and treated with placebo soy milk powder or 3.4 g PS esters-enriched soy milk powder (2.0 g/d free PS in 30 g soy milk powder). The fasting serum lipid profiles at the baseline and after 3 and 6 months of intervention were measured. The ApoE genotype was also determined. After 3 months of PS intervention, the serum lipid profile was not changed significantly in either group. The serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and non- high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels decreased by 9.3%, 11.4%, and 12.6%, respectively, in the PS group at the end of the intervention (6 months) compared with the control group, whereas the serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not affected significantly. In the PS group, both the ApoE3 and ApoE4 carriers had a similar response to PS consumption. These findings suggested that PS-fortified soy milk powder was effective in lowering the serum cholesterol levels in older Chinese volunteers with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia in both the ApoE3 and ApoE4 carriers.

The receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) Ror2 plays important roles in developmental morphogenesis and mediates the filopodia formation in Wnt5a-induced cell migration. However, the function of Ror2 in noncanonical Wnt signaling resulting in cancer metastasis is largely unknown. Here, we show that Ror2 expression is higher in the highly metastatic murine B16-BL6 melanoma cells than in the low metastatic variant B16 cells. Overexpression of Ror2 increases the metastasis ability of B16 cells, and knockdown of Ror2 reduces the migration ability of B16-BL6 cells. Furthermore, the inhibition of Src kinase activity is critical for the Ror2-mediated cell migration upon Wnt5a treatment. The C-terminus of Ror2, which is deleted in brachydactyly type B (BDB), is essential for the mutual interaction with the SH1 domain of Src. Intriguingly, the Neurotrophin receptor-interacting MAGE homologue (NRAGE), which, as we previously reported, can remodel the cellular skeleton and inhibit cell–cell adhesion and metastasis of melanoma and pancreatic cancer, sharply blocks the interaction between Src and Ror2 and inhibits Ror2-mediated B16 cell migration by decreasing the activity of Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Our data show that Ror2 is a potential factor in the tumorigenesis and metastasis in a Src-dependent manner that is negatively regulated by NRAGE.