Diagnostic Value of Superoxide Dismutase in Tuberculous and Malignant Pleural Effusions

Wang, Xin-Feng,Wu, Yan-Hua,Jiao, Jin,Guan, Cui-Ping,Yang, Xiao-Guang,Wang, Mao-Shui Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.2

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in tuberculous pleural effusions (TPEs) and malignant pleural effusions (MPEs). Pleural effusion (PE) samples from 100 patients were classified on the basis of diagnosis as TPE (n=57) and MPE (n=43). The activity of SOD was determined by pyrolgallol assay. A significant difference was observed in SOD activity (P<0.01) between TPE and MPE, levels of being significantly higher in TPE compared to MPE. With a threshold value of 41 U/L, the area under the ROC curve was 0.653, SOD had a sensitivity of 61.4% and a specificity of 61.0% for differential diagnosis. Thus, SOD activity in PE was not a good biomarker in differentiating TPE and MPE. To the best of our knowledge, five SOD isoforms may be present in PE. Identification of which SOD contributes to the difference of SOD level between TPE and MPE is very important for illustrating mechanisms and improving the differential diagnostic value.

The genome of the mesopolyploid crop species Brassica rapa

Wang, Xiaowu,Wang, Hanzhong,Wang, Jun,Sun, Rifei,Wu, Jian,Liu, Shengyi,Bai, Yinqi,Mun, Jeong-Hwan,Bancroft, Ian,Cheng, Feng,Huang, Sanwen,Li, Xixiang,Hua, Wei,Wang, Junyi,Wang, Xiyin,Freeling, Michael Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan P 2011 Nature genetics Vol.43 No.10

We report the annotation and analysis of the draft genome sequence of Brassica rapa accession Chiifu-401-42, a Chinese cabbage. We modeled 41,174 protein coding genes in the B. rapa genome, which has undergone genome triplication. We used Arabidopsis thaliana as an outgroup for investigating the consequences of genome triplication, such as structural and functional evolution. The extent of gene loss (fractionation) among triplicated genome segments varies, with one of the three copies consistently retaining a disproportionately large fraction of the genes expected to have been present in its ancestor. Variation in the number of members of gene families present in the genome may contribute to the remarkable morphological plasticity of Brassica species. The B. rapa genome sequence provides an important resource for studying the evolution of polyploid genomes and underpins the genetic improvement of Brassica oil and vegetable crops.

CEA, AFP, CA125, CA153 and CA199 in Malignant Pleural Effusions Predict the Cause

Wang, Xin-Feng,Wu, Yan-Hua,Wang, Mao-Shui,Wang, Yun-Shan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.1

Determination of the cause of malignant pleural effusions is important for treatment and management, especially in cases of unknown primaries. There are limited biomarkers available for prediction of the cause of malignant pleural effusion in clinical practice. Hence, we evaluated pleural levels of five tumor biomarkers (CEA, AFP, CA125, CA153 and CA199) in predicting the cause of malignant pleural effusion in a retrospective study. Kruskal-Wallis or Mann-Whitney U tests were carried out to compare levels of tumor markers in pleural effusion among different forms of neoplasia - lung squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, or small cell carcinoma, mesothelioma, breast cancer, lymphoma/leukemia and miscellaneous. Receiver operator characteristic analysis was performed to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of biomarkers. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant differences in levels of pleural effusion CEA (P<0.01), AFP (P<0.01), CA153 (P<0.01) and CA199 (P<0.01), but not CA125 (P>0.05), among the seven groups. Receiver operator characteristic analysis showed that, compared with other four tumor markers, CA153 was the best biomarker in diagnosing malignant pleural effusions of lung adenocarcinoma (area under curve (AUC): 0.838 (95%confidence interval: 0.787, 0.888); cut-off value: 10.2U/ml; sensitivity: 73.2% (64.4-80.8)%, specificity: 85.2% (77.8-90.8)%), lung squamous cell carcinoma (AUC: 0.716 (0.652, 0.780); cut-off value: 14.2U/ml; sensitivity: 57.6% (50.7-64.3)%, specificity: 91.2% (76.3-98.0)%), and small-cell lung cancer (AUC: 0.812 (0.740, 0.884); cut-off value: 9.7U/ml; sensitivity: 61.5% (55.0-67.8)%, specificity: 94.1% (71.2-99.0)%); CEA was the best biomarker in diagnosing MPEs of mesothelioma (AUC: 0.726 (0.593, 0.858); cut-off value: 1.43ng/ml; sensitivity: 83.7% (78.3-88.2)%, specificity: 61.1% (35.8-82.6)%) and lymphoma/leukemia (AUC: 0.923 (0.872, 0.974); cut-off value: 1.71ng/ml; sensitivity: 82.8% (77.4-87.3)%, specificity: 92.3% (63.9-98.7)%). Thus CA153 and CEA appear to be good biomarkers in diagnosing different causes of malignant pleural effusion. Our findings implied that the two tumor markers may improve the diagnosis and treatment for effusions of unknown primaries.

MiR-150-5p Suppresses Colorectal Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion through Targeting MUC4

Wang, Wei-Hua,Chen, Jie,Zhao, Feng,Zhang, Bu-Rong,Yu, Hong-Sheng,Jin, Hai-Ying,Dai, Jin-Hua Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.15

Growing evidence suggests that miR-150-5p has an important role in regulating genesis of various types of cancer. However, the roles and the underlying mechanisms of miR-150-5p in development of colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely unknown. Transwell chambers were used to analyze effects on cell migration and invasion by miR-150-5p. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blotting and dual-luciferase 3' UTR reporter assay were carried out to identify the target genes of miR-150-5p. In our research, miR-150-5p suppressed CRC cell migration and invasion, and MUC4 was identified as a direct target gene. Its effects were partly blocked by re-expression of MUC4. In conclusiomn, miR-150-5p may suppress CRC metastasis through directly targeting MUC4, highlighting its potential as a novel agent for the treatment of CRC metastasis.

Identification and Characterization of the Antifungal Substances of a Novel Streptomyces cavourensis NA4s

( Hua Qi Pan ),( Su Ya Yu ),( Chun Feng Song ),( Nan Wang ),( Hui Ming Hua ),( Jiang Chun Hu ),( Shu Jin Wang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2015 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.25 No.3

A new actinomycete strain NA4 was isolated from a deep-sea sediment collected from the South China Sea and showed promising antifungal activities against soilborne fungal pathogens. It was identified as Streptomyces cavourensis by morphological, physiological, and phylogenetic analyses based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence. The main antifungal components were isolated and identified from the fermentation culture as bafilomycins B1 and C1. These compounds exhibited significant antifungal activities and a broad antifungal spectrum. The results suggest that the Streptomyces cavourensis NA4 and bafilomycins B1 and C1 could be used as potential biocontrol agents for soilborne fungal diseases of plants.

Implementation of online model updating with ANN method in substructure pseudo-dynamic hybrid simulation

Yan Hua Wang,Jing Lv,Yan Feng,Bo Wen Dai,Cheng Wang,Jing Wu,Zi Yan Chen 국제구조공학회 2021 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.28 No.2

Substructure pseudo-dynamic hybrid simulation (SPDHS) is an advanced structural seismic testing method which combines physical experiment and numerical simulation. Generally, the key components which display nonlinearity first are taken as experimental substructures for actual test, and the remaining parts are modeled in simulation. Model updating techniques can be effectively applied to enhance the model precision of nonlinear numerical elements. Specifically, the constitutive model of the experimental substructure is identified online by the instantaneously-measured data, and the corresponding numerical elements with similar hysteretic behaviors are updated synchronously. Artificial neural network (ANN) can recognize the system which cannot be represented by definite numerical model, and thus avoids the structural response distortion caused by the inherent numerical model defects. In this study, a framework for online model updating in SPDHS with ANN method is expanded to implement actual test validation. Moreover, the effectiveness of ANN method is demonstrated by practical tests of a two-story frame model with bending dampers. Additionally, the unscented Kalman filter technique and offline ANN identification approach are both examined in the test validation. The experimental results show that, under the identical loading history, the online ANN method can significantly reduce the model errors and improve the accuracy of SPDHS.

Correlation of CT Perfusion Images with VEGF Expression in Solitary Brain Metastases

Zhang, Jian-Hua,Wang, Ming-Sheng,Pan, Hai-Hong,Li, Shu-Feng,Wang, Zhong-Qiu,Chen, Wang-Sheng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.4

Objectives: To obtain permeability surface (PS) values using multi-slice helical CT perfusion imaging and to evaluate the spatial distribution correlation between PS values and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in solitary brain metastases. Methods: Imaging was performed on 21 patients, PS values being calculated from the central, border and peripheral parts of tumours. VEGF expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining. Results: Rim enhancement was found in 16 cases, the border of the tumour featuring PS elevation with high VEGF expression in 13 cases. In the 5 cases with nodular enhancement, the border and the central part had high permeability and VEGF expression was high in all cases, the correlation being significant (P<0.01). Conclusion: VEGF expression in brain metastases positively correlates with PS values from CT perfusion imaging, so that the latter can be used in the surveillance of angiogenic activity in brain metastases.

Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes 4 is a Predictor of Survival and a Novel Therapeutic Target in Colorectal Cancer

Feng, Xiao-Dong,Song, Qi,Li, Chuan-Wei,Chen, Jian,Tang, Hua-Mei,Peng, Zhi-Hai,Wang, Xue-Chun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.21

Background: Structural maintenance of chromosomes 4 (SMC-4) is a chromosomal ATPase which plays an important role in regulate chromosome assembly and segregation. However, the role of SMC-4 in the incidence of malignancies, especially colorectal cancer is still poorly understood. Materials and Methods: We here used quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis to examine SMC-4 mRNA and protein levels in primary colorectal cancer and paired normal colonic mucosa. SMC-4 clinicopathological significance was assessed by immunohistochemical staining in a tissue microarray (TMA) in which 118 cases of primary colorectal cancer were paired with noncancerous tissue. The biological function of SMC-4 knockdown was measured by CCK8 and plate colony formation assays. Fluorescence detection has been used to detect cell cycling and apoptosis. Results: SMC-4 expression was significantly higher in colorectal cancer and associated with T stage, N stage, AJCC stage and differentiation. Knockdown of SMC-4 expression significantly suppressed the proliferation of cancer cells and degraded its malignant degree. Conclusions: Our clinical and experimental data suggest that SMC-4 may contribute to the progression of colorectal carcinogenesis. Our study provides a new therapeutic target for colorectal cancer treatment.

Selective miRNA Expression Profile in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia K562 Cell-derived Exosomes

Feng, Dan-Qin,Huang, Bo,Li, Jing,Liu, Jing,Chen, Xi-Min,Xu, Yan-Mei,Chen, Xin,Zhang, Hai-Bin,Hu, Long-Hua,Wang, Xiao-Zhong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder of hematopoietic stem cell scarrying the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome and an oncogenic BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of BCR-ABL1 kinase is a treatment of choice for control of CML. Objective: Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNAs within exosomes from cancer cells play crucial roles in initiation and progression. This study was performed to assess miRNAs within exosomes of K562 cells. Methods: miRNA microarray analysis of K562 cells and K562 cell-derived exosomes was conducted with the 6th generation miRCURYTM LNA Array (v.16.0). Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were also carried out. GO terms and signaling pathways were categorized into 66 classes (including homophilic cell adhesion, negative regulation of apoptotic process, cell adhesion) and 26 signaling pathways (such as Wnt). Results: In exosomes, 49 miRNAs were up regulated as compared to K562 cells, and two of them were further confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. There are differentially expressed miRNAs between K562 cell derived-exosomes and K562 cells. Conclusion: Selectively expressed miRNAs in exosomes may promote the development of CML via effects on interactions (e.g. adhesion) of CML cells with their microenvironment.

IL-33 Promotes ST2-Dependent Fibroblast Maturation via P38 and TGF-β in a Mouse Model of Epidural Fibrosis

Wang Haoran,Wu Tao,Hua Feng,Sun Jinpeng,Bai Yunfeng,Wang Weishun,Liu Jun,Zhang Mingshun 한국조직공학과 재생의학회 2022 조직공학과 재생의학 Vol.19 No.3

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that IL-33, a novel member of the IL-1b family, is involved in organ fibrosis. However, the roles of IL-33 and its receptor ST2 in epidural fibrosis post spine operation remain elusive. METHODS: A mouse model of epidural fibrosis was established after laminectomy. IL-33 in the wound tissues post laminectomy was measured with Western blotting, ELISA and immunoflurosence imaging. The fibroblast cell line NIH- 3T3 and primary fibroblasts were treated with IL-33 and the mechanisms of maturation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts were analyzed. To explore roles of IL-33 and its receptor ST2 in vivo, IL-33 knockout (KO) and ST2 KO mice were employed to construct the model of laminectomy. The epidural fibrosis was evaluated using H&E and Masson staining, western-blotting, ELISA and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: As demonstrated in western blotting and ELISA, IL-33 was increased in epidural wound tissues post laminectomy. The immunoflurosence imaging revealed that endothelial cells (CD31?) and fibroblasts (a-SAM?) were major producers of IL-33 in the epidural wound tissues. In vitro, IL-33 promoted fibroblast maturation, which was blocked by ST2 neutralization antibody, suggesting that IL-33-promoted-fibroblasts maturation was ST2 dependent. Further, IL-33/ ST2 activated MAPK p38 and TGF-b pathways. Either p38 inhibitor or TGF-b inhibitor decreased fibronectin and a-SAM production from IL-33-treated fibroblasts, suggesting that p38 and TGF-b were involved with IL-33/ST2 signal pathways in the fibroblasts maturation. In vivo, IL-33 KO or ST2 KO decreased fibronectin, a-SMA and collagen deposition in the wound tissues of mice that underwent spine surgery. In addition, TGF-b1 was decreased in IL-33 KO or ST2 KO epidural wound tissues. CONCLUSION: In summary, IL-33/ST2 promoted fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts via MAPK p38 and TGFb in a mouse model of epidural fibrosis after laminectomy.