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Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant and common brain tumor in adults and is characterized by poor survival and high resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Among the new chemotherapy drugs, curcumin, a popular dietary supplement, has proven to have a potent anticancer effect on a variety of cancer cell types; however, it remains difficult to achieve a satisfactory therapeutic effect with curcumin using the traditional single-drug treatment. In this study, we found that expression of miR-326, a tumor suppressor microRNA in various tumor types, resulted in a marked increase of curcumin-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis and a decrease of proliferation and migration in glioma cells. Moreover, we found that combination treatment of miR-326 and curcumin caused significant inhibition of the SHH/GLI1 pathway in glioma cells compared with either treatment alone, independent of p53 status. Furthermore, in vivo, the curcumin-induced increase in miR-326 expression altered the anti-glioma mechanism of this combination treatment, which further reduced tumor volume and prolonged the survival period compared to either treatment alone. Taken together, our data strongly support an important role for miR-326 in enhancing the chemosensitivity of glioma cells to curcumin.

The aim of this study is to investigate the glucose metabolic status and its prognostic value in glioma. The Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and GSE16011 datasets were used to develop the glucose-related signature. A cohort of 305 glioma samples with whole genome microarray expression data from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas database was included for discovery. TCGA and GSE16011 datasets were used for validation. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Cytoscape were used to explore the bioinformatic implication. GSEA revealed the biological process associated with the glucose-related signature. Cytoscape visualized the correlation analysis among the genes. We also collected the blood glucose information of patients with gliomas to analyze the association with tumor malignancy and patients' survival. In this study, we identified that glucose-related gene sets could distinguish the clinical and molecular features of gliomas, involved in the malignancy of gliomas. And then, we developed a glucose-related prognostic signature for patients with glioblastoma in the CGGA dataset, validated in other additional public datasets. GSEA illustrated that tumor with higher risk score of glucose-related signature could correlate with cell cycle phase. In addition, blood glucose concentration was associated with the malignancy of glioma and the survival of patients. These results might provide new view for the research of glioma malignancy and individual treatment. Our research provided important resources for future dissection of glucose metabolic role in glioma.

Background Burnout is a psychosomatic syndrome characterized by three dimensions (emotional exhaustion [EE], feelings of depersonalization [DP], and reduced personal accomplishment [PA]). We determined the prevalence of burnout and mental health status between HIV/AIDS healthcare workers and other healthcare workers, and determined the factors associated with burnout of HIV/AIDS healthcare workers. Methods All participants were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The participants were recruited from the departments of infectious diseases in four hospitals which treated HIV/AIDS. The questionnaire included demographics, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ). Results A total of 512 questionnaires were distributed; 501 questionnaires were completed and collected (the response rate was 97.9 %). After eliminating nine invalid questionnaires (1.80 %), 264 physicians and nurses caring for HIV/AIDS and 228 physicians and nurses caring for other infectious diseases provided valid responses (98.2 %). The HIV/AIDS healthcare workers’ scores on the emotional exhaustion (F = 6.350, p = 0.012) and depersonalization dimensions (F = 8.533, p = 0.004) were significantly higher than other healthcare workers. The HIV/AIDS healthcare workers had higher total scores and positive items on the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) compared with other healthcare workers. Low job satisfaction, serious somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, poor quality of sleep, high psychoticism scores, and use of negative coping styles were frequently associated with burnout. Conclusions Burnout was shown to be highly prevalent in HIV/AIDS healthcare workers, 76.9 % of whom met the accepted criteria for burnout. In addition, compared with other healthcare workers, HIV/AIDS healthcare workers experienced lower levels of psychological health. Interventions should be targeted at reducing the occurrence of burnout and alleviating psychological pressure amongst HIV/AIDS healthcare workers.

Gene-specific primers for qRT-PCR analysis. (DOCX 14 kb)

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of downregulating Hedgehog pathway by GANT61 on human glioma cells, examine the consequent changes of temozolomide (TMZ)-induced effects and explore the molecular mechanisms. Methods The cytotoxicity of a Gli1/2 inhibitor, GANT61 was examined both alone and in combination with TMZ in human glioma cell lines. The mRNA and protein expression alterations were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively. CCK-8 assay detected the cell proliferative capability. Apoptotic cell number was measured by flow cytometry. The transwell assay was used to test the cell invasive capability. DNA damage effect was identified by COMET assay and γH2AX expression. Results Proliferation of tumor cells treated with GANT61 in combination with TMZ was significantly suppressed compared with those treated with either drug used alone. The combination treatment induced a higher rate of apoptosis, DNA damage and reduced the invasive capability of glioma cells. DNA damage repair enzyme MGMT and the Notch1 pathway increased in the cells treated by TMZ treatment. However, GANT61 could abrogated the protein increasing. Conclusions GANT61 sensitizes glioma cells to TMZ treatment by enhancing DNA damage effect, decreasing MGMT expression and the Notch1 pathway. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13046-016-0463-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.