AHR Over-Expression in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: Clinical and Molecular Assessments in a Series of Italian Acromegalic Patients with a Long-Term Follow-Up

Aim

Acromegaly reportedly carries an increased risk of malignant and benign thyroid tumors, with a prevalence of thyroid cancer of around 3–7%. Germline mutations in the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) interacting protein (AIP) have been identified in familial forms of acromegaly. The molecular and endocrine relationships between follicular thyroid growth and GH-secreting pituitary adenoma have yet to be fully established. Our aim was to study the prevalence of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) in acromegaly, focusing on the role of genetic events responsible for the onset of thyroid cancer.

Methods

Germline mutations in the AIP gene were assessed in all patients; BRAF and H-N-K RAS status was analyzed by direct sequencing in thyroid specimens, while immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the protein expression of AIP and AHR. A set of PTCs unrelated to acromegaly was also studied.

Results

12 DTCs (10 papillary and 2 follicular carcinomas) were identified in a cohort of 113 acromegalic patients. No differences in GH/IGF-1 levels or disease activity emerged between patients with and without DTC, but the former were older and more often female. BRAF V600E was found in 70% of the papillary thyroid cancers; there were no RAS mutations. AIP protein expression was similar in neoplastic and normal cells, while AHR protein was expressed more in PTCs carrying BRAF mutations than in normal tissue, irrespective of acromegaly status.

Conclusions

The prevalence of DTC in acromegaly is around 11% and endocrinologists should bear this in mind, especially when examining elderly female patients with uninodular goiter. The DTC risk does not seem to correlate with GH/IGF-1 levels, while it may be associated with BRAF mutations and AHR over-expression. Genetic or epigenetic events probably play a part in promoting thyroid carcinoma.     

Association between APOC1 Polymorphism and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis

Background

Previous association studies examining the relationship between the APOC1 polymorphism and susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have shown conflicting results, and it is not clear if an APOC1 variant acts as a genetic risk factor in AD etiology across multiple populations.

Methods

To confirm the risk association between APOC1 and AD, we designed a case-control study and also performed a meta-analysis of previously published studies.

Results

Seventy-nine patients with AD and one hundred fifty-six unrelated controls were included in case-control study. No association was found between the variation of APOC1 and AD in stage 1 of our study. However, our meta-analysis pooled a total of 2092 AD patients and 2685 controls. The APOC1 rs11568822 polymorphism was associated with increased AD risk in Caucasians, Asians and Caribbean Hispanics, but not in African Americans. APOE ε4 carriers harboring the APOC1 insertion allele, were more prevalent in AD patients than controls (χ² = 119.46, OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 2.31–3.36, P<0.01).

Conclusions

The APOC1 insertion allele, in combination with APOE ε4, likely serves as a potential risk factor for developing AD.     

Direct Bio-Utilization of Untreated Rapeseed Meal for Effective Iturin A Production by Bacillus subtilis in Submerged Fermentation

The feasibility of using untreated rapeseed meal as a nitrogen source for iturin A production by Bacillus subtilis 3–10 in submerged fermentation was first evaluated by comparison with two different commercial nitrogen sources of peptone and ammonium nitrate. A significant promoting effect of rapeseed meal on iturin A production was observed and the maximum iturin A concentration of 0.60 g/L was reached at 70 h, which was 20% and 8.0 fold higher than that produced from peptone and ammonium nitrate media, respectively. It was shown that rapeseed meal had a positive induction effect on protease secretion, contributing to the release of soluble protein from low water solubility solid rapeseed meal for an effective supply of available nitrogen during fermentation. Moreover, compared to raw rapeseed meal, the remaining residue following fermentation could be used as a more suitable supplementary protein source for animal feed because of the great decrease of major anti-nutritional components including sinapine, glucosinolate and its degradation products of isothiocyanate and oxazolidine thione. The results obtained from this study demonstrate the potential of direct utilization of low cost rapeseed meal as a nitrogen source for commercial production of iturin A and other secondary metabolites by Bacillus subtilis.     

Analysis of Risk Factors of Hemorrhagic Transformation After Acute Ischemic Stroke: Cerebral Microbleeds Do Not Correlate with Hemorrhagic Transformation

To study the potential risk factors including cerebral microbleeds (CMB) of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after acute ischemic stroke. We included 348 consecutive patients with acute infarction who were hospitalized in two centers from June 2009 to December 2010. Acute ischemic infarctions were subdivided into atherosclerotic, cardioemblic, lacunar, and undetermined infarction groups. The related risk factors were recruited for analysis. All patients underwent gradient-echo T2-weighted imaging (GRE) to detect CMB and HT. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze relationships, with HT as response variable and potential risk factors as explanatory variables. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that predictor factors of HT were cardioembolic infarction (OR 24.956, 95 % CI 2.734–227.801, P = 0.004), infarction of undetermined causes (OR 19.381, 95 % CI 1.834–205.104, P = 0.014), and scores of NIHSS (OR 1.187, 95 % CI 1.109–1.292, P < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (OR 4.973, 95 % CI 2.004–12.338, P = 0.001). Whereas, the level of low-density lipoprotein was the protective factor (OR 0.654, 95 % CI 0.430–0.996, P = 0.048).The prevalence of CMB was 45.98 % (160/348) with no statistically difference among different subtypes. Thirty-five out of 348 (10.06 %) patients with ischemic stroke developed HT with a statistical difference among different subtypes of ischemia (χ ² = 42.140, P < 0.001). The distributions of HI and PH among subgroups were variable with significant differences (χ ² = 17.536, P = 0.001; χ ² = 12.028, P = 0.007). PH frequency of cardioembolism was the highest (4/28, 14.29 %), and symptomatic ICH was also highest (7.14 %). The CMBs do not significantly correlate with HT. Knowledge of the risk factors associated with HT after ACI, especially HT following thrombolyitc therapy may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the development of HT, helps to develop treatment strategy that reduces the risk of PH and implicates for the design of future acute ischemic stroke trials.     

Autecology and conservation status of Magnolia sargentiana Rehder & Wilson (Magnoliaceae) in Dafengding region,southern Sichuan Province,China

The first population ecology study of the endangered Magnolia sargentiana Rehder & Wilson (Magnoliaceae) is reported in the paper. It is a protected species in China but little is known about its present status in the field. In 2007 and 2008 we surveyed the population and conservation status of M. sargentiana in the Provincial Mamize Nature Reserve and the National Meigu Dafengding Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, southwestern China. Natural regeneration is poor because of unfavorable environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbances. Flower buds and bark of M. sargentiana are used in traditional Chinese medicine and their collection by local people from 1983 to 1994 has led to dramatic population declines. The collection of flower buds and bark is now banned, but hewing branches for firewood and grazing continues to have a negative impact on the recovery of M. sargentiana populations. To protect the species we require a ban on hewing branches, closure of primary forest to reduce humans and ungulates, better education of local people, and increased awareness of wildlife conservation.     

不同细胞周期大鼠肝实质细胞癌细胞粘弹特性研究

以胸腺嘧啶核苷和秋水仙碱顺序阻断法及胸腺嘧啶核苷双阻断法分别获得同步化Ｇ１期和Ｓ期细胞,从细胞周期角度出发,采用微管吸吮技术对大鼠肝实质细胞癌细胞的粘弹特性进行了测定并以标准线性固体模型对实验数据进行了拟合,结果表明：该细胞具有高弹性和低粘性的总体特征;Ｇ１期细胞与Ｓ期细胞相比具有高Ｋ１值和低μ值的特点,从而显示Ｇ１期细胞比Ｓ期细胞具有更大的强度和更快的被动变形能力。这些结果不仅反映了同步化细胞存在的细胞骨架状态的周期性差异,也提示Ｇ１期细胞可能比Ｓ期细胞更适于在血流中存活和转移。     

虫酰肼及其衍生物0593对家蚕的毒性及作用机理

为明确虫酰肼衍生物0593对家蚕Bombyx mori的毒性,本研究采用食下毒叶法测定了虫酰肼及其衍生物0593对家蚕的毒性,观察了亚致死浓度下对家蚕生长发育的影响,并测定了虫酰肼及其衍生物0593对家蚕幼虫体内保护酶的影响,对虫酰肼0593的作用机理进行了初步探索。结果表明：虫酰肼及其衍生物0593对2龄家蚕96 h的LC₅₀值分别为1.2863和0.3364 mg·L^-1,属高毒级药剂;虫酰肼及其衍生物0593在亚致死剂量下对家蚕的生长发育有明显的不利性,可使幼虫历期缩短0.5～2 d;处理组眠期体重、全茧量、蛹重和化蛹率与对照相比均显著降低;对4龄幼虫体内多酚氧化酶和几丁质酶也有较明显影响,虫酰肼及其衍生物0593处理家蚕,处理后6 h对体内多酚氧化酶有明显激活作用,12 h后表现出显著的抑制作用;虫酰肼及其衍生物0593对家蚕体内几丁质酶均有激活作用。0593对保护酶的影响较虫酰肼明显。结果提示虫酰肼及其衍生物0593对家蚕毒性高,对其生长发育和保护酶类均有不利性,不适合在桑园及其周边农田使用。     

细胞命运,生死攸关

细胞凋亡是细胞生命活动中一种预定的、并受到严格控制的程序性死亡,它是细胞内一系列促凋亡因子和抗凋亡因子相互作用后获得平衡的结果。细胞凋亡的调控可以发生在表观遗传、转录、翻译、修饰、转运等不同水平,也可以发生在细胞不同的区域,如细胞核、胞质、线粒体、质膜等处。作者近年来发现的新的促/抗凋亡因子从多种不同的角度去诠释细胞凋亡网络的调控。例如,Caspase新的激活机制;凋亡蛋白磷酸化和泛素化修饰以及蛋白通过对中间纤维的影响来诱导线粒体介导的凋亡等等。另外,对凋亡信号如何从胞核流向胞质进而促发线粒体引起的凋亡途径也进行了描述。这些新的凋亡调控机理进一步证明了,细胞凋亡可以发生在细胞生长发育不同的时相和空间,并存在着一个极其复杂的信号传递网络,这一调控网络一旦失去平衡,细胞会引发肿瘤。     

高抑菌活性乳酸杆菌的筛选及性质

从自酿酸奶中分离得到1株高抑菌活性菌株,经16S rDNA测序后鉴定为Lactobacillus sp.FSZ。以大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌为指示菌,取得良好抑菌效果。经组分分析及蛋白酶降解,抑菌活性物质确定为蛋白物质,推测其由一些高分子的蛋白类物质和低分子的多肽类物质组成。抑菌活性物质在酸性条件下显示出良好的抑菌活性,发酵液经60℃处理30 min后,活性基本没有下降,经100℃处理30 min仍保留83.9%的活性,表现出良好的热稳定性。