The Association between EGFR and cMET Expression and Phosphorylation and Its Prognostic Implication in Patients with Breast Cancer

EGFR and cMET cross-talk is involved in breast cancer (BC) progression and resistance to different targeted therapies, however little is known about the co-expression patterns of EGFR and cMET or its prognostic significance in BC. Protein levels of EGFR, cMET and their phosphorylated proteins were measured in 825 BC samples using reverse phase protein array (RPPA). Given unimodal distribution of proteins, the median was selected as a cut-off after sensitivity analyses. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to estimate relapse-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Cox-proportional hazards models were utilized to determine associations between EGFR and cMET with outcomes. Mean age was 58 years with 457 (55%) hormone receptor (HR) positive, 211 (26%) triple-negative (TN) and 148 (18%) HER2 positive tumors (HER2+). HER2+ was associated with higher EGFR expression and phosphorylation, compared to HR and TN (p<0.05). High EGFR expression was associated with higher phosphorylated-cMET (p-cMET) but not cMET (ANOVA p-cMET p < 0.001; cMET p = 0.34). The same association was found with high phosphorylated-EGFR (p-EGFR) group at Tyr992 and Tyr1068 (both p < 0.001). High expressions in either of two p-EGFRs were linked with higher cMET as well (all p<0.001). For the TN subtype, high expression in EGFR and p-EGFR at Tyr992 but not at Tyr1068 was associated with higher p-cMET (p<0.00, p = 0.012, p = 0.4 respectively). Only high expression in p-EGFR at Tyr992 was linked with higher expression of cMET (p = 0.02). In contrast, among HER2 subtype, high expression in p-EGFR at Tyr1068 but not at Tyr992 was associated with higher cMET and p-cMET (cMET p = 0.023;p-cMET p<0.001). Four subgroups of patients defined by dichotomized EGFR/p-EGFR and cMET/p-cMET level demonstrated no significant differences in survival. In multivariate analyses, neither cMET nor EGFR expression/activation was found to be an independent prognostic factor in survival outcome.     

Economic Impact of Dementia by Disease Severity: Exploring the Relationship between Stage of Dementia and Cost of Care in Taiwan

Objective

Given the shortage of cost-of-illness studies in dementia outside of the Western population, the current study estimated the annual cost of dementia in Taiwan and assessed whether different categories of care costs vary by severity using multiple disease-severity measures.

Methods

This study included 231 dementia patient–caregiver dyads in a dementia clinic at a national university hospital in southern Taiwan. Three disease measures including cognitive, functional, and behavioral disturbances were obtained from patients based on medical history. A societal perspective was used to estimate the total costs of dementia according to three cost sub-categories. The association between dementia severity and cost of care was examined through bivariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

Total costs of care for moderate dementia patient were 1.4 times the costs for mild dementia and doubled from mild to severe dementia among our community-dwelling dementia sample. Multivariate analysis indicated that functional declines had a greater impact on all cost outcomes as compared to behavioral disturbance, which showed no impact on any costs. Informal care costs accounted for the greatest share in total cost of care for both mild (42%) and severe (43%) dementia patients.

Conclusions

Since the total costs of dementia increased with severity, providing care to delay disease progression, with a focus on maintaining patient physical function, may reduce the overall cost of dementia. The greater contribution of informal care to total costs as opposed to social care also suggests a need for more publicly-funded long-term care services to assist family caregivers of dementia patients in Taiwan.     

Widespread Shortening of 3’ Untranslated Regions and Increased Exon Inclusion Are Evolutionarily Conserved Features of Innate Immune Responses to Infection

The contribution of pre-mRNA processing mechanisms to the regulation of immune responses remains poorly studied despite emerging examples of their role as regulators of immune defenses. We sought to investigate the role of mRNA processing in the cellular responses of human macrophages to live bacterial infections. Here, we used mRNA sequencing to quantify gene expression and isoform abundances in primary macrophages from 60 individuals, before and after infection with Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella typhimurium. In response to both bacteria we identified thousands of genes that significantly change isoform usage in response to infection, characterized by an overall increase in isoform diversity after infection. In response to both bacteria, we found global shifts towards (i) the inclusion of cassette exons and (ii) shorter 3’ UTRs, with near-universal shifts towards usage of more upstream polyadenylation sites. Using complementary data collected in non-human primates, we show that these features are evolutionarily conserved among primates. Following infection, we identify candidate RNA processing factors whose expression is associated with individual-specific variation in isoform abundance. Finally, by profiling microRNA levels, we show that 3’ UTRs with reduced abundance after infection are significantly enriched for target sites for particular miRNAs. These results suggest that the pervasive usage of shorter 3’ UTRs is a mechanism for particular genes to evade repression by immune-activated miRNAs. Collectively, our results suggest that dynamic changes in RNA processing may play key roles in the regulation of innate immune responses.     

Ras signals principally via Erk in G1 but cooperates with PI3K/Akt for Cyclin D induction and S-phase entry

Numerous studies exploring oncogenic Ras or manipulating physiological Ras signalling have established an irrefutable role for Ras as driver of cell cycle progression. Despite this wealth of information the precise signalling timeline and effectors engaged by Ras, particularly during G1, remain obscure as approaches for Ras inhibition are slow-acting and ill-suited for charting discrete Ras signalling episodes along the cell cycle. We have developed an approach based on the inducible recruitment of a Ras-GAP that enforces endogenous Ras inhibition within minutes. Applying this strategy to inhibit Ras stepwise in synchronous cell populations revealed that Ras signaling was required well into G1 for Cyclin D induction, pocket protein phosphorylation and S-phase entry, irrespective of whether cells emerged from quiescence or G2/M. Unexpectedly, Erk, and not PI3K/Akt or Ral was activated by Ras at mid-G1, albeit PI3K/Akt signalling was a necessary companion of Ras/Erk for sustaining cyclin-D levels and G1/S transition. Our findings chart mitogenic signaling by endogenous Ras during G1 and identify limited effector engagement restricted to Raf/MEK/Erk as a cogent distinction from oncogenic Ras signalling.     

Mafb and c-Maf Have Prenatal Compensatory and Postnatal Antagonistic Roles in Cortical Interneuron Fate and Function

1. Download high-res image (175KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

Vaccine escape recombinants emerge after pneumococcal vaccination in the United States

The heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was introduced in the United States (US) in 2000 and has significantly reduced invasive pneumococcal disease; however, the incidence of nonvaccine serotype invasive disease, particularly due to serotype 19A, has increased. The serotype 19A increase can be explained in part by expansion of a genotype that has been circulating in the US prior to vaccine implementation (and other countries since at least 1990), but also by the emergence of a novel "vaccine escape recombinant" pneumococcal strain. This strain has a genotype that previously was only associated with vaccine serotype 4, but now expresses a nonvaccine serotype 19A capsule. Based on prior evidence for capsular switching by recombination at the capsular locus, the genetic event that resulted in this novel serotype/genotype combination might be identifiable from the DNA sequence of individual pneumococcal strains. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterise the putative recombinational event(s) at the capsular locus that resulted in the change from a vaccine to a nonvaccine capsular type. Sequencing the capsular locus flanking regions of 51 vaccine escape (progeny), recipient, and putative donor pneumococci revealed a 39 kb recombinational fragment, which included the capsular locus, flanking regions, and two adjacent penicillin-binding proteins, and thus resulted in a capsular switch and penicillin nonsusceptibility in a single genetic event. Since 2003, 37 such vaccine escape strains have been detected, some of which had evolved further. Furthermore, two new types of serotype 19A vaccine escape strains emerged in 2005. To our knowledge, this is the first time a single recombinational event has been documented in vivo that resulted in both a change of serotype and penicillin nonsusceptibility. Vaccine escape by genetic recombination at the capsular locus has the potential to reduce PCV7 effectiveness in the longer term.     

瑞丽莫里热带雨林种子植物区系的初步研究

初步分析了鲜为人知的滇西南瑞丽莫里的热带雨林植物区系组成与地理成分。该植物区系中热带和主产热带的科占总科数的80%以上,热带分布属占总属数的84.1%;典型热带分布种占总种数的82.1%,该区系在科、属和种水平上均以热带成分占优势,明显属于热带性质的植物区系。在其热带分布属中,又以热带亚洲分布属最多,占总属数的26.5%;典型热带分布种中也以热带亚洲分布及其变型的种占绝对优势,占总种数的72.9%,反映了该植物区系具有热带亚洲植物区系的性质特点。在其热带亚洲成分中,又具体以南亚—大陆东南亚成分比例最高,反映了滇西南的热带雨林植物区系由于地域邻接关系,受印度(喜马拉雅)—缅甸植物区系的强烈影响。     

强光照和全黑暗条件下荒漠沙蜥视网膜内GAP-43表达的免疫组织化学

采用免疫组织化学技术研究了在强光照和全黑暗条件下荒漠沙蜥(Phrynocephalus prezewalskic)视网膜内生长相关蛋白GAP-43的表达变化。结果表明,在正常光照条件下,视网膜内GAP-43阳性表达部位主要存在于内网层;强光照条件下,GAP-43免疫染色部位主要出现在内网层、节细胞层和内核层的部分细胞核。在全黑暗条件下,在视纤维层和内网层呈阳性染色;提示视网膜在不同环境条件下GAP-43的不同定位,可能与其在相应的环境下参与不同的视觉功能有关。     

甲基苯丙胺成瘾的表观遗传学机制

苯丙胺类兴奋剂是全世界第二大滥用程度的药物,甲基苯丙胺作为苯胺类兴奋剂中的主要药物,是中国滥用的“头号毒品”。而现有的研究对甲基苯丙胺成瘾机制尚不清晰,且临床上对药物成瘾的治疗依然存在无药可医的局面。因此,发现新的成瘾机制和治疗策略尤为迫切。甲基苯丙胺成瘾与额前叶皮质（mPFC）、中脑腹侧被盖区（VTA）和伏隔核（NAc）中的多巴胺（DA）、谷氨酸（Glu）、去甲肾上腺素（NE）和血清素（SNRIS）等神经递质的异常释放有关。研究表明,这些神经递质受到表观遗传机制中组蛋白乙酰化、甲基化、泛素化和非编码RNA等调节,某些基因的表达在甲基苯丙胺的诱导过程中增强或被抑制,导致甲基苯丙胺依赖性产生。本文将针对表观遗传学对甲基苯丙胺成瘾机制的影响进行着重论述,以期推进临床开发甲基苯丙胺戒断药物的研究。     

Induced limb collapse in a sudden slip during termination of sit-to-stand

Despite repeated demonstration of how balance can be restored with protective stepping after the initiation of an induced fall, little is known about how accidental falling to the ground with the participant's body resting in a non-standing posture can be avoided during balance recovery. This is due to the difficulties inherent in experimentally eliciting such an event. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to determine failure rate and the characterization for balance recovery after young adults exposed to an experimentally induced novel slipping perturbation. Twenty-four healthy young adults first performed three to nine trials of regular sit-to-stand. In the following trial, slipping suddenly occurred during the termination of the sit-to-stand when the low-friction platform on which the participant stood was released. Participants were given no prior practice or knowledge of the experiment design. Slipping was then repeated in the subsequent trials. The results demonstrated for the first time that a high percentage (62%) of participants failed to recover standing balance, despite the fact that 14 of these 15 participants had initiated stepping at their first encounter of a sudden slip. Such failure was avoided immediately after the first encounter. It was postulated that a delay in the step initiation might have contributed to substantial vertical descent of the center-of-mass, leading to failure of balance recovery in limb collapse. To verify this and other hypotheses, a shift in experimental paradigms is warranted to include the study of spontaneous protective responses elicited when individuals first encounter previously unfamiliar balance perturbation as in real-life situations.