Protein signatures correspond to survival outcomes of AJCC stage III melanoma patients

Outcomes for melanoma patients with stage III disease differ widely even within the same subcategory. Molecular signatures that more accurately predict prognosis are needed to stratify patients according to risk. Proteomic analyses were used to identify differentially abundant proteins in extracts of surgically excised samples from patients with stage IIIc melanoma lymph node metastases. Analysis of samples from patients with poor (n = 14, <1 yr) and good (n = 19, >4 yr) survival outcomes identified 84 proteins that were differentially abundant between prognostic groups. Subsequent selected reaction monitoring analysis verified 21 proteins as potential biomarkers for survival. Poor prognosis patients are characterized by increased levels of proteins involved in protein metabolism, nucleic acid metabolism, angiogenesis, deregulation of cellular energetics and methylation processes, and decreased levels of proteins involved in apoptosis and immune response. These proteins are able to classify stage IIIc patients into prognostic subgroups (P < 0.02). This is the first report of potential prognostic markers from stage III melanoma using proteomic analyses. Validation of these protein markers in larger patient cohorts should define protein signatures that enable better stratification of stage III melanoma patients.     

Proteomics-based analysis of potential therapeutic targets in patients with peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis

BackgroundPeritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP) is the most common complication in peritoneal dialysis patients. We propose screening for characteristic expressed proteins in the dialysate of PDAP patients to provide clues for the diagnosis of PDAP and its therapeutic targets.MethodsDialysate samples were collected from patients with a first diagnosis of PDAP (n = 15) and from patients who had not experienced peritonitis (Control, n = 15). Data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomic analysis was used to screen for differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Co-expression networks were constructed via weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) for detection of gene modules. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were used for functional annotation of DEPs and gene modules. Hub proteins were validated using the parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) method.ResultsA total of 142 DEPs in the dialysate of PDAP patients were identified. 70 proteins were upregulated and 72 proteins were downregulated. GO and KEGG analysis showed that DEPs were mainly enriched in cell metabolism, glycolysis/glycogenesis and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 signaling pathway. Subsequently, a co-expression network was constructed and four gene modules were detected. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and myeloperoxidase (HP) were the key proteins of the blue and turquoise modules, respectively. Additionally, PRM analysis showed that the expression of MPO and HP was significantly upregulated in the PDAP group compared to the non-peritonitis group, which was consistent with our proteomics data.ConclusionMPO and HP were differentially expressed in the dialysate of PDAP patients and may be potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for PDAP.     

PSMD11, PTPRM and PTPRB as novel biomarkers of pancreatic cancer progression

BackgroundPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has the lowest survival rate of all major cancers. Surgery is the only curative intent therapy, but the majority of patients experience disease relapse. Thus, patients who do not benefit from highly morbid surgical resection needs to be identified and offered palliative chemotherapy instead. In this pilot study, we aimed to identify differentially regulated proteins in plasma and plasma derived microparticles from PDAC patients with poor and good prognosis.MethodsPlasma and plasma derived microparticle samples were obtained before surgical resection from PDAC patients. Sequential Windowed Acquisition of all Theoretical fragment ion spectra – Mass Spectrometry (SWATH-MS) proteomic analysis was performed to identify and quantify proteins in these samples. Statistical analysis was performed to identify biomarkers for poor prognosis.ResultsA total of 482 and 1024 proteins were identified from plasma and microparticle samples, respectively, by SWATH-MS analysis. Statistical analysis of the data further identified nine and six differentially (log₂ratio > 1, p < .05) expressed proteins in plasma and microparticles, respectively. Protein tyrosine phosphatases, PTPRM and PTPRB, were decreased in plasma of patients with poor PDAC prognosis, while proteasomal subunit PSMD11 was increased in microparticles of patients with poor prognosis.Conclusion and general significanceA novel blood-based biomarker signature for PDAC prognosis was identified.     

MicroRNA-224 upregulation and AKT activation synergistically predict poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and aimPrevious evidence has shown that microRNA (miR)-224 may function as an onco-miRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells by activating AKT signaling. However, little is known about the clinical significance of the combined expression of miR-224 and phosphorylated-AKT (pAKT) on human HCC. The aim of this study was to investigate the synergistical influence of miR-224 and pAKT on clinical characteristics and prognosis in patients with HCC.MethodsOne-hundred and thirty HCC patients who had undergone curative liver resection were selected. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were respectively performed to detect the expression of miR-224 and pAKT in the respective tumors.ResultsCompared with the adjacent nonneoplastic liver tissues, the expression levels of miR-224 and pAKT protein in HCC tissues were both significantly increased (both P < 0.001). In addition, the combined upregulation of miR-224 and pAKT protein was significantly associated with serum AFP (P = 0.01), tumor stage (P = 0.002) and tumor grade (P = 0.008). Moreover, HCC patients highly expressing both miR-224 and pAKT protein had worse 5-year disease-free survival and 5-year overall survival (both P < 0.001). Furthermore, the Cox proportional hazards model showed that the combined upregulation of miR-224 and pAKT protein (miR-224-high/pAKT-high) may be independent poor prognostic factors for both 5-year disease-free survival (P = 0.008) and 5-year overall survival (P = 0.01) in HCC.ConclusionThese results indicate for the first time that miR-224 upregulation and AKT activation may synergistically associate with tumor progression of HCC. The combined high expression of miR-224 and pAKT may be a potential indicator for predicting unfavorable prognosis in HCC patients.     

DUSP7 inhibits cervical cancer progression by inactivating the RAS pathway

To determine the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between paired samples of cervical cancer (CC) and paracancerous tissue by quantitative proteomics and to examine the effects of DUSP7 expression on the tumorigenesis and progression of CC. Proteomic profiles of three paired samples of CC and paracancerous tissue were quantitatively analysed to identify DEPs. The relationship between DEP expression and patient clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis was evaluated. The effects of the selected DEPs on CC progression were examined in SIHA cells. A total of 129 DEPs were found. Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining analyses confirmed the results from quantitative proteomic analysis showing that the selected DEP, HRAS, P-ERK1/2, and PLD1 levels were increased, whereas the DUSP7 level was decreased in CC tissue compared with the paired normal paracancerous tissues. The IHC results from the CC TMA analysis showed that the decreased expression of DUSP7 (p = 0.045 and 0.044) was significantly associated with a tumour size >2 cm and parametrial infiltration. In addition, the decreased expression of DUSP7 and increased expression of p-ERK1/2 were adversely related to patient relapse (p = 0.003 and 0.001) and survival (p = 0.034 and 0.006). The expression of HRAS and p-ERK1/2 was decreased in DUSP7-SIHA cells compared with NC-SIHA cells (p = 0.0003 and 0.0026). Biological functions in vitro, including invasion, migration and proliferation and tumour formation in vivo were decreased in DUSP7-SIHA cells (all p < 0.05) but increased in shDUSP7-SIHA cells (all p < 0.05). DUSP7 inhibits cervical cancer progression by inactivating the RAS pathway.     

Identification of novel prognostic indicators for oral squamous cell carcinoma based on proteomics and metabolomics

BackgroundThe low 5-year survival rate of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) suggests that new prognostic indicators need to be identified to aid the clinical management of patients.MethodsSaliva samples from OSCC patients and healthy controls were collected for proteomic and metabolomic sequencing. Gene expressed profiling was downloaded from TCGA and GEO databases. After the differential analysis, proteins with a significant impact on the prognosis of OSCC patients were screened. Correlation analysis was performed with metabolites and core proteins were identified. Cox regression analysis was utilized to stratify OSCC samples based on core proteins. The prognostic predictive ability of the core protein was then evaluated. Differences in infiltration of immune cells between the different strata were identified.ResultsThere were 678 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), 94 intersected DEPs among them by intersecting with differentially expressed genes in TCGA and GSE30784 dataset. Seven core proteins were identified that significantly affected OSCC patient survival and strongly correlated with differential metabolites (R² > 0.8). The samples were divided into high- and low-risk groups according to median risk score. The risk score and core proteins were well prognostic factor in OSCC patients. Genes in high-risk group were enriched in Notch signaling pathway, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and angiogenesis. Core proteins were strongly associated with the immune status of OSCC patients.ConclusionsThe results established a 7-protein signatures with the hope of early detection and the capacity for risk assessment of OSCC patient prognosis. Further providing more potential targets for the treatment of OSCC.     

Evaluation of serum alpha fetoprotein-L3 as an accuracy novel biomarker for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients

BackgroundMost Hepatocellular Carcinomas (HCCs) are diagnosed at an advanced stage. However, HCC early diagnosis is complicated by the coexistence of inflammation and cirrhosis. The unsatisfactory sensitivity and specificity of Alpha-fetoprotien (AFP) for screening of early-stage HCC paved the way for new novel biomarkers to complement AFP such as AFP-L3. The aim of this study was the Evaluation of alpha fetoprotein-L3 (AFP-L3) as earlier marker in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients. This study was conducted on 80 patients categorized into 2 groups; group 2 (40 patients with chronic active hepatitis) and group 3 (40 patients with HCC). HCC diagnosis was done by clinical, triphasic CT and positive US for focal lesion, in addition to 20 healthy individuals as controls (group 1).ResultsThe median range of AFP and AFP-L3 were highly statistically significant difference between HCC group and other groups [p < 0.001]. In this study ALT, AST, Total & direct bilirubin and albumin results showed highly significant differences between HCC group and other groups. Serum AFP-L3 shows sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%, positive predictive value 100% and negative predictive value 100% with AUC = 1 in HCC cases.ConclusionSerum AFP-L3 may serve as a diagnostic biomarker for the detection of early stage of HCC and show higher sensitivity than AFP.     

A Novel Nomogram for Predicting the Overall Survival in Patients with Unresectable HCC after TACE plus Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy

Background and aimTransarterial chemoembolization combined with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (TACE-HAIC) has shown encouraging efficacy in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to develop a novel nomogram to predict overall survival (OS) of patients with unresectable HCC treated with TACE-HAIC.MethodsA total of 591 patients with unresectable HCC treated with TACE-HAIC between May 2009 and September 2020 were enrolled. These patients were randomly divided into training and validation cohorts. The independent prognostic factors were identified with Cox proportional hazards model. The model's discriminative ability and accuracy were validated using concordance index (C-index), calibration plots, the area under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and decision curve analyses (DCAs).ResultsThe median OS was 15.6 months. A nomogram was established based on these factors, including tumor size, vein invasion, extrahepatic metastasis, tumor number, alpha fetoprotein (AFP), and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI), to predict OS for patients with unresectable HCC treated with TACE-HAIC. The C-index of the nomogram were 0.717 in the training cohort and 0.724 in validation cohort. The calibration plots demonstrated good agreement between the predicted outcomes and the actual observations. The AUC values were better than those of three conventional staging systems. The results of DCA indicated that the nomogram may have clinical usefulness. The patients in the low-risk group had a longer OS than those in intermediate-risk and high-risk groups (P<0.001).ConclusionA prognostic nomogram was developed and validated to assist clinicians in accurately predicting the OS of patients with unresectable HCC after TACE-HAIC.     

Protein Profiling in Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Label-Free Quantitative Proteomics in Two West African Populations

Background

Hepatocellular Carcinoma is the third most common cause of cancer related death worldwide, often diagnosed by measuring serum AFP; a poor performance stand-alone biomarker. With the aim of improving on this, our study focuses on plasma proteins identified by Mass Spectrometry in order to investigate and validate differences seen in the respective proteomes of controls and subjects with LC and HCC.

Methods

Mass Spectrometry analysis using liquid chromatography electro spray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight was conducted on 339 subjects using a pooled expression profiling approach. ELISA assays were performed on four significantly differentially expressed proteins to validate their expression profiles in subjects from the Gambia and a pilot group from Nigeria. Results from this were collated for statistical multiplexing using logistic regression analysis.

Results

Twenty-six proteins were identified as differentially expressed between the three subject groups. Direct measurements of four; hemopexin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, apolipoprotein A1 and complement component 3 confirmed their change in abundance in LC and HCC versus control patients. These trends were independently replicated in the pilot validation subjects from Nigeria. The statistical multiplexing of these proteins demonstrated performance comparable to or greater than ALT in identifying liver cirrhosis or carcinogenesis. This exercise also proposed preliminary cut offs with achievable sensitivity, specificity and AUC statistics greater than reported AFP averages.

Conclusions

The validated changes of expression in these proteins have the potential for development into high-performance tests usable in the diagnosis and or monitoring of HCC and LC patients. The identification of sustained expression trends strengthens the suggestion of these four proteins as worthy candidates for further investigation in the context of liver disease. The statistical combinations also provide a novel inroad of analyses able to propose definitive cut-offs and combinations for evaluation of performance.     

A New Therapeutic Assessment Score for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Receiving Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy

MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 90 advanced HCC patients with elevated baseline alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and/or des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) levels and analyzed various parameters for their possible use as predictors of response and survival. AFP and DCP responses were assessed after half a course of HAIC (2 weeks); a positive-response was defined as a reduction of ≥ 20% from baseline.ResultsMultivariate analysis identified DCP response (odds ratio 16.03, p < 0.001) as an independent predictor of treatment response. In multivariate analysis, Child-Pugh class A (hazard ratio [HR] 1.99, p = 0.018), AFP response (HR 2.17, p = 0.007), and DCP response (HR 1.90, p = 0.030) were independent prognostic predictors. We developed an Assessment for Continuous Treatment with HAIC (ACTH) score, including the above 3 factors, which ranged from 0 to 3. Patients stratified into two groups according to this score showed significantly different prognoses (≤1 vs. ≥2 points: median survival time, 15.1 vs. 8.7 months; p = 0.003).ConclusionsThe ACTH score may be useful in the therapeutic assessment of HCC patients receiving HAIC.     

Characterization of acute renal allograft rejection by proteomic analysis of renal tissue in rat

Rapid and reliable biomarkers of renal allograft rejection have not been available. This study aimed to investigate biomarkers in renal allograft tissue using proteomic analysis. Orthotopic kidney transplantations were performed using Fisher (F344) or Lewis rats as donors and Lewis rats as recipients. Syngenic control group (Group I) constituted F344-to-F344 orthotopic kidney allo-transplantations (n = 8); and allogenic group (Group II) consisted of F344-to-Lewis orthotopic kidney allo-transplantations (n = 8). Renal tissues were harvested 7 days after transplantation. Samples were analyzed using 2-D electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. 6 differentially expressed proteins were identified between allogenic group and syngenic control group. A rat model of acute renal allograft rejection was successfully set up. Differentially expressed proteins in renal allograft tissue of rat were detected using proteomic analysis and might serve as novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets in human. Quantitative proteomics, using MALDL-TOF-MS methodology has the potential to provide a profiling and a deeper understanding of acute renal rejection.     

EIF4EBP1 Overexpression Is Associated with Poor Survival and Disease Progression in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

ObjectiveEIF4EBP1 acts as a crucial effector in mTOR signaling pathway. Studies have suggested that EIF4EBP1 plays a critical role in carcinogenesis. However, the clinical significance and biological role of EIF4EBP1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been elucidated. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the clinical significance of EIF4EBP1 in HCC.MethodsTotal 128 cases of HCCs were included in this study. EIF4EBP1 expression in HCC tissues was detected by qRT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Then the relationships between EIF4EBP1 expression and clinical features as well as survival were analyzed.ResultsThe expression level of EIF4EBP1 mRNA is significantly higher in 60% (24/40) of fresh HCC tissues than that in the matched adjacent nontumor liver (NCL) tissues (P = 0.044). Similarly, EIF4EBP1 protein is notably upregulated in 8 HCC tissues (randomly selected from the 40 HCCs) measured by Western blot and is significantly increased in another 88 paraffin-embedded HCCs (53%, 47/88) by immunohistochemistry compared with the matched NCLs (P < 0.001). EIF4EBP1 protein expression in HCC tissues is significantly correlated with serum AFP (P = 0.003) and marginally significantly associated with pathological grade (P = 0.085), tumor number (P = 0.084), tumor embolus (P = 0.084) and capsulation (P = 0.073). Patients with higher EIF4EBP1 protein expression have a much worse 5-year overall survival (40.3% vs 73.6%) and 5-year disease-free survival (33.0% vs 49.0%) than those with low expression. Furthermore, Cox regression analysis shows that EIF4EBP1 protein is an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (HR, 2.285; 95% CI, 1.154–4.527; P = 0.018) and disease-free survival (HR, 1.901; 95% CI, 1.067–3.386; P = 0.029) in HCC patients.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate for the first time that EIF4EBP1 mRNA and protein are markedly up-regulated in HCC tissues, and the protein overexpression is significantly associated with poor survival and progression, which provide a potential new prognostic marker and therapeutic target for HCC patients.     

A preoperative model for predicting microvascular invasion and assisting in prognostic stratification in liver transplantation for HCC regarding empirical criteria

PurposeThe prediction of microvascular invasion (MVI) has increasingly been recognized to reflect prognosis involving local invasion and distant metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to assess a predictive model using preoperatively accessible clinical parameters and radiographic features developed and validated to predict MVI. This predictive model can distinguish clinical outcomes after liver transplantation (LT) for HCC patients.MethodsIn total, 455 HCC patients who underwent LT between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019, were retrospectively enrolled in two centers in China as a training cohort (ZFA center; n = 244) and a test cohort (SLA center; n = 211). Univariate and multivariate backward logistic regression analysis were used to select the significant clinical variables which were incorporated into the predictive nomogram associated with MVI. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves based on clinical parameters were plotted to predict MVI in the training and test sets.ResultsUnivariate and multivariate backward logistic regression analysis identified four independent preoperative risk factors for MVI: α-fetoprotein (AFP) level (p < 0.001), tumor size ((p < 0.001), peritumoral star node (p = 0.003), and tumor margin (p = 0.016). The predictive nomogram using these predictors achieved an area under curve (AUC) of 0.85 and 0.80 in the training and test sets. Furthermore, MVI could discriminate different clinical outcomes within the Milan criteria (MC) and beyond the MC.ConclusionsThe nomogram based on preoperatively clinical variables demonstrated good performance for predicting MVI. MVI may serve as a supplement to the MC.     

Proteomic insights into adaptive responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to the repeated vacuum fermentation

The responses and adaptation mechanisms of the industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae to vacuum fermentation were explored using proteomic approach. After qualitative and quantitative analyses, a total of 106 spots corresponding to 68 different proteins were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The differentially expressed proteins were involved in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolisms, various signal pathways (Ras/MAPK, Ras–cyclic adenosine monophosphate, and HOG pathway), and heat shock and oxidative responses. Among them, alternations in levels of 17 proteins associated with carbohydrate metabolisms, in particular, the upregulations of proteins involved in glycolysis, trehalose biosynthesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway, suggested vacuum-induced redistribution of the metabolic fluxes. The upregulation of 17 heat stress and oxidative response proteins indicated that multifactors contributed to oxidative stresses by affecting cell redox homeostasis. Taken together with upregulation in 14-3-3 proteins levels, 22 proteins were detected in multispots, respectively, indicating that vacuum might have promoted posttranslational modifications of some proteins in S. cerevisiae. Further investigation revealed that the elevations of the differentially expressed proteins were mainly derived from vacuum stress rather than the absence of oxygen. These findings provide new molecular mechanisms for understanding of adaptation and tolerance of yeast to vacuum fermentation. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

肝细胞肝癌组织NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin表达与上皮间质转化标志物、临床病理特征和预后的关系

摘要 目的：探讨肝细胞癌（HCC）癌组织神经降压素（NTS）、鞘氨醇-1-磷酸转运体2（SPNS2）、热休克蛋白75（Mortalin）表达与上皮间质转化（EMT）标志物、临床病理特征和预后的关系。方法：选取2010年1月～2017年1月联勤保障部队第九〇〇医院仓山院区收治的90例HCC患者,采用免疫组化法检测患者癌组织和对应癌旁组织中NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin及EMT标志物N-钙粘蛋白（N-Cad）、E-钙粘蛋白（E-Cad）表达情况。分析NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin表达与HCC患者EMT标志物、临床病理特征和预后的关系。结果：HCC癌组织中NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin、N-Cad阳性表达率高于癌旁组织,E-Cad阳性表达率低于癌旁组织（P＜0.05）。Pearson相关性分析显示,HCC癌组织中NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin表达水平与N-Cad表达水平呈正相关,与E-Cad表达水平呈负相关（P＜0.05）。 HCC癌组织中NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin表达与Child-Pugh分级、血管侵犯、巴塞罗那临床肝癌（BCLC）分期、淋巴结转移、远处转移有关（P＜0.05）。90例HCC患者术后5年总生存率为48.89％（44/90）。Kaplan-Meier生存曲线分析显示,NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin阳性组总生存率分别低于NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin阴性组（P＜0.05）。结论：HCC癌组织中NTS、SPNS2、Mortalin表达上调,与EMT、Child-Pugh分级、血管侵犯、BCLC分期、淋巴结转移、远处转移和预后有关,可作为HCC病情及预后的辅助评估指标。     

Detection and identification of NAP-2 as a biomarker in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma by proteomic approach

Background  

A lack of sensitive and specific biomarkers is a major reason for the high rate of Primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-related mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate potential proteomic biomarkers specific for HCC.     

Proteomic analysis of amniotic fluid of pregnant rats with spina bifida aperta

Congenital spina bifida aperta is a common congenital malformation in children and has an incidence of 1‰ to 5‰ in China. However, we currently lack specific biomarkers for screening or prenatal diagnosis and there is no method to entirely cure or prevent such defects. In this study, we used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE)/mass spectrometry (MS) to characterize differentially expressed proteins in amniotic-fluid samples (AFSs) of embryonic day (E) 17.5 rat fetuses with spina bifida aperta induced by retinoic acid (RA). We identified five proteins differentially expressed in AFSs of spina bifida aperta, including three upregulated proteins (transferrin, alpha-1 antiproteinase and signal recognition particle receptor, B subunit [SRPRB] 55 kDa), two downregulated proteins (apolipoprotein A IV [APO A4] and Srprb 77 kDa). Specifically, we found 11 alpha-1 fetoprotein (AFP) fragments that were downregulated and 35 AFP fragments that were upregulated in AFSs from embryos with spina bifida aperta. Of the downregulated AFP fragments, 72.7% (8/11) were confined to the AFP N-terminus (amino acids [aas] 25-440) and 77.1% (27/35) of upregulated AFP fragments were confined to the AFP C-terminus (aas 340-596). We also confirmed APO A4 and AFP by immunoblot analysis. This is the first comparative proteomic study of AFSs from rat fetuses with spina bifida aperta. We demonstrate proteomic alterations in the AFS of spina bifida aperta, which may provide new insights in neural tube defects and contribute to the prenatal screening.     

Survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients is significantly improving: a population-based study from southern Switzerland

BackgroundDuring the last 20 years, relevant diagnostic procedures and advanced treatments have been progressively introduced in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).The aim of the present study was to assess up-to-date survival trends for HCC in southern Switzerland, a region with one of the highest incidence rates in the country.MethodsHCCs diagnosed in 1996–2009 were selected by the Ticino Cancer Registry. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method by calendar period: 1996–2000, 2001–2005 and 2006–2009. The log-rank test was used to detect differences in survival curves. Simultaneous assessment of prognostic factors was performed by a multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional-hazards regression model.Results619 HCCs were analysed. There was a significant increase of patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE), whereas patients undergoing curative or palliative supportive treatments remained unchanged (p < 0.0001). No shift to earlier stages was detected. Significant differences in CCS were observed by age-group (p < 0.0001), diagnosis period (p < 0.0001), diagnosis technique (p = 0.0035), Barcelona-Clinic liver cancer stage (p < 0.0001), treatment (p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed the independent impact on CSS of factors above mentioned, not including the diagnosis technique. Death risk was higher for patients diagnosed in 1996–2000 (HR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.03; 1.68) and 2001–2005 (HR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.05; 1.67) in comparison with 2006–2009 (reference group).ConclusionsThe current population-based report describes a major increase in HCC survival. Simultaneously an increased use of TACE has been detected, probable cofactor of the observed survival increase. Possibly additional efforts could be made to decrease the HCC stage at diagnosis through active surveillance of cirrhotic patients to allow an increase in curative treatments. For sure efforts should be made to comply with a standardised staging system for HCC, particularly for comparative population-based issues.     

Correlation of zinc finger protein 2, a prognostic biomarker,with immune infiltrates in liver cancer

Purpose: The expression and clinical value of zinc finger protein 2 gene (ZIC2) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed by mining gene information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases.Methods: Gene chip data sets were retrieved from GEO and TCGA and screened for differentially expressed genes in HCC. Gene expression profile interaction analysis (GEPIA) and Kaplan–Meier curves were used to analyze the relationship between differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and survival and prognosis in patients with HCC. Moreover, the Genecards database was used to extract ZIC2-related proteins and to analyze the physiological process of protein enrichment. Furthermore, the relationships between ZIC2 gene and tumor cell immune invasion and that between immune cell infiltration and the 5-year survival rate were studied using the tumor immune evaluation resource (TIMER) database.Results: Datasets from GEO and TCGA revealed that ZIC2 was differentially expressed in HCC tissues and normal tissues (P<0.05). High ZIC2 expression was associated with overall survival (OS) and progress-free survival in HCC patients. Overall, 25 ZIC2 related proteins, including Gli3, PRKDC, and rnf180 were identified and protein enrichment analysis indicated these were associated with four types of cell components, six types of cell functions, and eight types of biological processes. ZIC2 was positively correlated with immune infiltration cells in patients with HCC, and higher expression of ZIC2 mRNA CD4+T cells is associated with a better 5-year survival.Conclusion: ZIC2 gene may be used as an immune response marker in liver cancer to predict the prognosis of HCC.