C6-ceramide synergistically potentiates the anti-tumor effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors via AKT dephosphorylation and α-tubulin hyperacetylation both in vitro and in vivo

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) have shown promising anti-tumor effects for a variety of malignancies, however, many tumors are reportedly resistant to them. In this study, we made a novel discovery that co-administration of HDACIs (Trichostatin A (TSA) and others) and exogenous cell-permeable short-chain ceramide (C6) results in striking increase in cancer cell death and apoptosis in multiple cancer cells. These events are associated with perturbations in diverse cell signaling pathways, including inactivation of Akt/mTOR and increase in α-tubulin acetylation (both in vivo and in vitro). TSA interacts in a highly synergistic manner with C6-ceramide to disrupt HDAC6/protein phosphatase 1 (PP1)/tubulin complex, to induce α-tubulin hyperacetylation, and to release and activate PP1, which then leads to AKT dephosphorylation and eventually causes cancer cell death. Interestingly, TSA itself results in short-term ceramide accumulation, which as a result of metabolic (glycosylation) removal, does not result in evident increase of cancer cell death. However, adding C6-ceramide led to a very pronounced increase in ceramide level and marked increase in cell death. Importantly, the effective synergistic anti-tumor activity of TSA plus C6-ceramide is also seen in in vivo mice xenograft pancreatic and ovarian cancer models, indicating that this regimen (HDACI plus C6-ceramide) may represent a more effective form of therapy against pancreatic and ovarian carcinoma.

Molecular characterization of the porcine TIM-3 gene

TIM-3 is a member of the TIM (T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain) family, which plays an important role in TH1 responses and autoimmune diseases. In this study, we cloned and characterized the porcine TIM-3 gene. Real-time PCR showed little expression of porcine TIM-3 in muscle and stomach, low expression in kidney, brain, stomach and muscle, moderate expression in liver, small intestine and lymph, and high expression in spleen and lung. Transient transfection indicated that porcine TIM-3 fusion protein was found to localize on the cell membranes or cytoplasm. Association analysis indicated that the SNP AccI in exon2 was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with red blood cell count mean corpuscular haemoglobin, packed cell volume, Lymphocyte percentage and Lymphocyte modulus. In conclusion, our results provide some information for conducting further studies on the functions of porcine TIM-3 gene in type I diabetes and suggest that SNP AccI in exon2 may be utilized as a marker for molecular-assisted selection in animal breeding.

Search for stopped Gluinos in pp collisions at square root s=7 TeV

The results of the first search for long-lived gluinos produced in 7 TeV pp collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider are presented. The search looks for evidence of long-lived particles that stop in the CMS detector and decay in the quiescent periods between beam crossings. In a dataset with a peak instantaneous luminosity of 1×10(32) cm-2 s-1, an integrated luminosity of 10 pb-1, and a search interval corresponding to 62 hours of LHC operation, no significant excess above background was observed. Limits at the 95% confidence level on gluino pair production over 13 orders of magnitude of gluino lifetime are set. For a mass difference mg - mχ1(0) >100 GeV/c2, and assuming BR(g→gχ1(0))=100%, mg < 370 GeV/c2 are excluded for lifetimes from 10 μs to 1000 s.

Associations of fat mass and fat distribution with bone mineral density in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women

Fat mass (FM) is closely related to bone mineral density (BMD). However, the associations of FM and fat distribution with BMD in pre- and postmenopausal women are still poorly understood. The present study showed android fat mass accumulation after menopause had a negative association with BMD.

INTRODUCTION

FM is closely related to BMD. However, it is unknown whether FM and central fat distribution have different associations with BMD in pre- and postmenopausal women. The study aims to investigate the associations of FM and fat distribution with BMD in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women.

METHODS

Two hundred sixty premenopausal and 267 postmenopausal women aged 18 to 79 years were analyzed. Lean mass (LM), FM, percent body fat (%BF), android FM, gynoid FM, and total and regional BMD were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Fat distribution was assessed by android to gynoid FM ratio (AOI). Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the associations of BMD with FM, LM, and AOI.

RESULTS

FM, %BF, android FM, and AOI were significantly higher, whereas total and regional BMD were significantly lower in postmenopausal women (all р < 0.01). In premenopausal women, FM was positively associated with total and regional BMD (all р < 0.05). AOI had no significant association with BMD. In postmenopausal women, FM was significantly associated with total and regional BMD even additionally adjusting for LM (all р < 0.01). AOI had significantly negative association with total, head, arm, and leg BMD (all р < 0.05). The results remained unchanged when replacing FM with %BF.

CONCLUSIONS

There were different associations of FM and fat distribution with BMD in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women. Increased central body fat had a negative association with BMD. Our findings may have significant implications in the prevention of menopause-related osteoporosis through reducing centralized fat deposition.

One-year monthly survey of rotavirus, astrovirus and norovirus in three sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Beijing, China and associated health risk assessment

To evaluate the presence and distribution of the three main viruses (rotavirus, astrovirus, and norovirus) responsible for human acute gastroenteritis in sewerage systems, a one-year study was carried out in Beijing, China. A total of 96 samples of influent and effluents from three sewage treatment plants (STPs) were collected from November 2006 to October 2007. Silica was used to concentrate viral particles from water samples and a reverse transcriptase-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) method was used for detection of viruses. Virus(es) could be detected in 35.4% (34/96) of the water samples analysed, where human rotavirus was the most frequently detected one (32.3%, 31/96), followed by human astrovirus (6.3%, 6/96) and human norovirus (3.1%, 3/96). According to the quantitation results of rotaviruses, which were gained by the real-time quantitative RT-PCR method with SYBR Green I, it was known that the distributions of rotaviruses in influents and effluents of three STPs were quite similar, i.e., abundant in cold weather (from October to March) and less prevalent in warm weather (from April to September). According to the estimated exposure dose and exposure frequency, as well as the acceptable annual risk level, it was shown that the rotaviruses in the reused wastewater after conventional treatment process presented potential risk to human health through both occupational and accidental exposure.

One-year monthly survey of rotavirus, astrovirus and norovirus in three sewage treatment plants in Beijing, China and associated health risk assessment

To evaluate the presence and distribution of the three main viruses (rotavirus, astrovirus, and norovirus) responsible for human acute gastroenteritis in sewerage system an one-year study was carried out in Beijing, China. A total of 96 samples of influent and effluents from three sewage treatment plants (STPs) were collected from November 2006 to October 2007. Silica was used to concentrate viral particles from water samples and a reverse transcriptase-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) method was used for detection of viruses. Viruses could be detected in 35.4% (34/96) of the water samples analyzed, where human rotavirus was the most frequently detected (32.3%, 31/96), followed by human astrovirus (6.3%, 6/96) and human norovirus (3.1%, 3/96). According to the quantitation results of rotaviruses, which were gained by the real-time quantitative RT-PCR method with SYBR Green I , it was known that the distributions of rotaviruses in influents and effluents of three STPs were quite similar, i.e., abundant in cold weather (from October to March) and less prevalent in warm weather (from April to September). According to the estimated exposure dose, exposure frequency, as well as the acceptable annual risk level, it was shown that the rotaviruses in the reused wastewater after conventional treatment process presented potential risk to human health through both occupational and accidental exposure.

Uterine sarcoma with abdominal wall metastasis following laparoscopy: case report

PURPOSE

This work aimed to prevent artificial implantation in laparoscopic surgery for gynecological tumors.

METHODS

A case of uterine sarcoma with abdominal wall metastasis following laparoscopy was analyzed for clinical features.

RESULTS

A diagnosis of uterine sarcoma was made in Stage IV and the previous laparoscopic surgery had caused artificial abdominal wall metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

We need to protect the puncture port in laparoscopic surgery of gynecological tumors to prevent artificial implantation.

Primary fallopian tube cancer in term pregnancy: a case report

PURPOSE

This work aimed to study the features of primary fallopian tube carcinoma during pregnancy and to improve the understanding of clinical gynecologists.

METHODS

The clinical features of a case of primary fallopian tube carcinoma during pregnancy were analyzed.

RESULTS

The final diagnosis was Stage IA fallopian tube cancer after cesarean delivery.

CONCLUSIONS

It is helpful to detect CA-125 level and employ B-mode ultrasound imaging. Patients should undergo routine celiac examinations before gynecological and obstetric procedures (including cesarean section and abdominal hysterotomy) are performed.

Studies on interaction of cucurbit aphid-borne yellow virus proteins using yeast two-hybrid system and bimolecular fluorescence complementation

In this article, yeast two-hybrid system (YTHS) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) were used to analyze the interactions of cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV)-encoded proteins. P0, P1, P1-2, P3, P4, and P5 were tested by YTHS in all possible pairwise combinations, and only P3/P3 interaction was detected. Results obtained by BiFC further confirmed the self-interaction of P3, and the subcellular localization of reconstituted YFP fluorescence was observed mainly in nuclei of Nicotiana benthamiana leaf epidermal cells. Domains involved in P3/P3 self-interaction were analyzed by YTHS and BiFC using deletion mutants. The results showed that R domain (residues 1-61) in the N-terminus could self-interact, and it also interacted with the S domain (residues 62-199) in the C-terminus of P3. The present work would serve as a molecular basis for further characterization of CABYV proteins, and the regions involved in P3/P3 self-interaction could provide the clue for understanding the capsid assembly pathway of CABYV.

Search for quark compositeness with the dijet centrality ratio in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

A search for quark compositeness in the form of quark contact interactions, based on hadronic jet pairs (dijets) produced in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV, is described. The data sample of the study corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 pb(-1) collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The dijet centrality ratio, which quantifies the angular distribution of the dijets, is measured as a function of the invariant mass of the dijet system and is found to agree with the predictions of the standard model. A statistical analysis of the data provides a lower limit on the energy scale of quark contact interactions. The sensitivity of the analysis is such that the expected limit is 2.9 TeV; because the observed value of the centrality ratio at high invariant mass is below the expectation, the observed limit is 4.0 TeV at the 95% confidence level.

Evidence for ψ' decays into γπ0 and γη

The decays ψ'→γπ(0), γη and γη' are studied using data collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII e(+)e(-) collider. The processes ψ'→γπ(0) and ψ'→γη are observed for the first time with signal significances of 4.6σ and 4.3σ, respectively. The branching fractions are determined to be B(ψ'→γπ(0))=(1.58±0.40±0.13)×10(-6), B(ψ'→γη)=(1.38±0.48±0.09)×10(-6), and B(ψ'→γη')=(126±3±8)×10(-6), where the first errors are statistical and the second ones systematic.

Quantification of cerebral blood flow as biomarker of drug effect: arterial spin labeling phMRI after a single dose of oral citalopram

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) allows noninvasive quantification of cerebral blood flow (CBF), which can be used as a biomarker of drug effects in pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, we investigated the effects of a single oral dose of citalopram (20 mg) on resting CBF in 12 healthy subjects, using ASL phMRI. Support-vector machine (SVM) analysis detected significant drug-induced reduction in CBF in brain regions including the amygdala, fusiform gyrus, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. These regions have been shown to have abnormally elevated CBF in patients with major depression, as well as in subjects genetically prone to depression. Mixed-effects analysis on data extracted from selected regions of interest (ROIs) revealed significant drug effect only in serotonergic areas of the brain (z = -4.45, P < 0.005). These results demonstrate the utility of ASL phMRI as a biomarker of pharmacological activity of orally administered drugs in the brain.

Dose Verification of Stereotactic Radiosurgery Treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia with Presage 3D Dosimetry System

Achieving adequate verification and quality-assurance (QA) for radiosurgery treatment of trigeminal-neuralgia (TGN) is particularly challenging because of the combination of very small fields, very high doses, and complex irradiation geometries (multiple gantry and couch combinations). TGN treatments have extreme requirements for dosimetry tools and QA techniques, to ensure adequate verification. In this work we evaluate the potential of Presage/Optical-CT dosimetry system as a tool for the verification of TGN distributions in high-resolution and in 3D. A TGN treatment was planned and delivered to a Presage 3D dosimeter positioned inside the Radiological-Physics-Center (RPC) head and neck IMRT credentialing phantom. A 6-arc treatment plan was created using the iPlan system, and a maximum dose of 80Gy was delivered with a Varian Trilogy machine. The delivered dose to Presage was determined by optical-CT scanning using the Duke Large field-of-view Optical-CT Scanner (DLOS) in 3D, with isotropic resolution of 0.7mm(3). DLOS scanning and reconstruction took about 20minutes. 3D dose comparisons were made with the planning system. Good agreement was observed between the planned and measured 3D dose distributions, and this work provides strong support for the viability of Presage/Optical-CT as a highly useful new approach for verification of this complex technique.