The isolation and survival characterization of radiation and chemical-mutagen sensitive mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Chlorate-resistant mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana were isolated in order to find nitrate reductase-less mutants. It appeared that chlorate resistance in higher plants can arise by mutations concerning two different mechanisms: (1) a lower reduction rate of chlorate due to a lower level of nitrate reductase activity; (2) a lower increase in content of chlorate and/or chlorite and of chloride after chlorate treatment. One mutant of the first type and two mutants of the second type are described. The nitrate reductase-less mutant grows poorly on a medium with nitrate as the only nitrogen source but is not blocked in the uptake of nitrate. Both the other mutants exhibit a nitrate reductase activity equal to or higher than that of the wild type, but probably have a much lowered uptake of chlorate. The latter two mutants belong to the same complementation group, whereas the nitrate reductase-less mutant belongs to a different group.     

Multiple polymorphisms within the PLCE1 are associated with esophageal cancer via promoting the gene expression in a Chinese Kazakh population

Although recent genome-wide association studies of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) identified a susceptibility locus in phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) in Chinese Han populations, few studies further confirmed these findings in pure Kazakh population in which there are higher incidence and mortality of ESCC. Here, we investigated the potential associations between 19 SNPs of PLCE1 and susceptibility to ESCC in 222 cases and 326 controls from a pure ethnic population of Kazakh. Real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect the PLCE1 expression levels and evaluate their association with PLCE1 polymorphism. We found that only 4 SNPs (rs753724, rs11187842, rs2274223, and rs12263737) with moderate linkage disequilibrium (LD) confer significantly increased risk of ESCC, with the ORs ranging from 1.43 to 2.04, and there was a risk allele dose-dependent increase in ESCC risk (P-trend = 0.043). Especially, the risk effects of rs2274223 were more evident in poor differentiation and advanced clinical stages of Kazakh ESCC. Additionally, the significantly lowest PLCE1 mRNA expression was found in the KYSE-150 cell line having no risk alleles compared with other three cell lines having risk alleles, and the normal tissues of both homozygous mutant type of PLCE1 rs12263737 and rs2274223 had a higher PLCE1 staining score than that of homozygous wild type. Our findings suggested that genetic variants in PLCE1 might serve as candidate markers for Kazakh ESCC susceptibility, and these LD variants might influence ESCC risk individually and jointly by promoting the messenger RNA and protein expression of the gene.     

Modelling of physical ageing in starch using the TNM equation

Gelatinised wheat starch, freeze dried and equilibrated at different RH, was aged at different temperatures and for different times. The Tool–Narayanaswamy–Moynihan (TNM) model was used to describe the ageing for all samples under all conditions. Three TNM parameters: x, Δh^∗ and A were determined experimentally using, respectively, the peak shift method (x) and the dependency of (the limiting value of T_f) on the cooling rate (Δh^∗ and A). The non-linearity parameter x and the non exponential parameter β were also estimated by optimising a fit of the experimental normalised specific heat at different ageing times and temperatures to curves generated using the TNM model. The TNM model successfully described the normalised experimental data. It was found that the intermolecular forces were strong and the relaxation times depended more strongly on the glass structure than the glass temperature. The hydration level of the starch had a direct impact of the breadth of the relaxation time distribution. A dependency of the non-linearity parameter x on ageing temperature (peak shift method) was observed. This suggests that physical ageing is more complex than is described by TNM formalism.     

The predictive value of a preoperative systemic immune-inflammation index and prognostic nutritional index in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Growing evidence indicates that systemic inflammation response and malnutrition status are correlated with survival in certain types of solid tumors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and overall survival (OS) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after esophagectomy. A consecutive series of 655 patients with resected ESCC who underwent esophagectomy were enrolled in the retrospective study. The preoperative SII was defined as platelet × neutrophil/lymphocyte counts. The PNI was calculated as albumin concentration (g/L) + 5 × total lymphocyte count (10⁹/L). The optimal cut-off values of SII, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and PNI were determined by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method with a log-rank test, followed by a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. A high SII was significantly related to tumor size, histological type, invasion depth, and TNM stage (p < 0.05). A low PNI was significantly associated with age, tumor size, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage (p < 0.05). Univariate analysis revealed that age, smoking history, tumor size, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, SII, NLR, PLR, and PNI were predictors of OS (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis identified age (p = 0.041), tumor size (p = 0.016), invasion depth (p < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), SII (p = 0.033), and PNI (p = 0.022) as independent prognostic factors correlated with OS. There was a significant inverse relationship between the SII and PNI (r = 0.309; p < 0.001). The predictive value increased when the SII and PNI were considered in combination. Our results demonstrate that the preoperative high SII and low PNI are powerful indicators of aggressive biology and poor prognosis for patients with ESCC. The combination of SII and PNI can enhance the accuracy of prognosis.     

Effects of microRNA-30a on migration,invasion and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

The role of microRNA-30a (miR-30a) deregulation in tumor progression and its downstream signaling pathways remain unknown. Here we confirmed significant downregulation of miR-30a in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and cell lines compared with non-tumor counterparts. MiR-30a downregulation was significantly associated with worse disease-free survival (DFS) of HCC patients. Gain- and loss-of-function studies revealed that downregulation of miR-30a facilitated tumor cell migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). We identified SNAI1 as a direct target of miR-30a and demonstrated miR-30a as a novel regulator of EMT by targeting SNAI1, indicating its potential therapeutic value for reducing invasion and metastasis of HCC.     

肿瘤标志物CEA、CA199对结直肠癌TNM分期的预判价值

目的:探讨肿瘤标志物CEA、CA199浓度变化在结直肠癌TNM分期中的预判价值。方法:回顾我院2010年1月~2013年10月收治的经手术治疗的结、直肠癌患者(共96例)的有关资料,分析其术前CEA、CA199浓度水平与术后病理确定TNM分期结果的相互关系,进行相应的统计学检测。结果:结直肠癌Ⅰ~Ⅳ期CEA浓度依次为4.28±1.78、6.92±2.01、23.99±6.49和362.64±158.80 ng/mL,CA199浓度依次为12.58±2.98、13.37±2.62、36.84±10.33和238.71±103.69 U/mL,肿瘤标志物CEA、CA199的浓度随TNM分期升级而增高,通过Kruskal-Wallis秩检验分析及Spearman秩相关分析,表明CEA、CA199的血清浓度与TNM分期明显相关(P0.01)。结论:CEA、CA199血清浓度与TNM分期呈正相关,而年龄与CEA、CA199在各期中的浓度无明显相关性。因此,应用CEA、CA199的血清学测定在一定程度上具有预判结直肠癌TNM分期的价值。     

血清AFP、CEA与肝癌患者临床病理分期和预后的关系及其诊断价值分析

目的:探讨血清甲胎蛋白(AFP)、癌胚抗原(CEA)与肝癌患者临床病理分期和预后的关系及其诊断价值。方法:选取2010年3月至2014年4月期间我院就诊的90例肝癌患者作为肝癌组,并选择同期在我院进行体检的90例健康体检者作为健康组。统计两组的血清AFP、CEA水平及阳性率,比较不同TNM分期肝癌患者的血清AFP和CEA水平。分析肝癌患者的5年无复发生存率以及血清AFP和CEA水平对肝癌的诊断价值。结果:与健康组相比,肝癌组血清AFP、CEA水平及阳性率明显升高(P0.05)。Ⅳ期血清AFP和CEA水平最高,其次Ⅲ期,Ⅱ期次之,Ⅰ期最低(P0.05)。血清AFP、CEA阳性患者5年无复发生存率明显低于血清AFP、CEA阴性患者(P0.05),血清AFP、CEA联合诊断具有较高的敏感性和特异性。结论:肝癌患者的血清AFP和CEA水平升高,并随TNM分期增加而上调。血清AFP阳性以及CEA阳性患者的5年无复发生存率明显下降,血清AFP联合血清CEA检测在肝癌诊断中具有一定的临床价值。     

Performances de la TEP au 18F-FDG dans la caractérisation initiale de la lésion primitive du cancer du sein

Objective¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT is for the moment not recommended for stage T of the TNM classification of breast cancer. The aim of our study was to evaluate the performance of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in the initial staging of breast tumors. Tumor size, skin involvement and inflammation as well as the relationship between primary tumor maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and histopathological grade (SBR), molecular tumor subtypes (luminal A and B, Her2 enriched, triple negative), estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR) and focality were evaluated.MethodsHistological reports of patients operated for breast cancer, without neoadjuvant chemotherapy, were compared to preoperative ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT.ResultsSeventy-four patients who underwent surgery in 2016 were included. ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT was able to visualize primary tumors in 91% and to correctly classify the T stage of the TNM classification in 81% of the cases, to detect multifocality in 73% and cutaneous and inflammatory breast cancers in 100%. The uptake intensity of ¹⁸F-FDG (SUVmax) was significantly correlated with histo-prognostic factors such as SBR grade (P = 0.02), lack of expression of estrogen receptors (ER) (P = 0.01) and progesterone (PR) (P = 0.02), positive HER2 status (P = 0.01) or triple negative subtype tumors (P = 0.02).Conclusion¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT provides relevant elements for local assessment, in particular, tumor focality and inflammatory character in addition to ensuring the regional and extension assessment.