Isolation and characterization of five rice telomere-associated sequences

Acoording to the telomere-repeated sequences of rice, two primers: (TTTAGGG11)(3) and (CCC-TAA.A)(3)CCC were used to amplify rice telomere-assciated sequences (TASs). Fox PCR template preparation. total DNA was digested with restrictive endonuclease and then ligated. Using the ligates or total DNA sa template, eight fragments were obtained with the single primer by the PCR reaction. To confirm that the sequences are derived from telomeric DNA, we conducted Bal31 digestion analysis. Of the eight fragments, seven were susceptible to Bal31 treatment, suggesting that they were TASs. These DNA fragments were further demonstrated u, be rice sub-telomeric sequences by RFLP mapping Five sequences have been mapped to the distal ends on rice chromme 5,6,7 and 9, and two other sequences have been mapped at interstitial sites, suggesting that (TTTAGGG)(n). also exist in the middle of rice chromosomes-All eight fragments were sequenced and characterized.

Relationship between pulse wave velocity and carotid atherosclerosis in geriatric people

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between the pulse wave velocity (PWV) and angiographic carotid atherosclerosis in elderly patients.

METHOD

103 consecutive elderly patients were divided into two groups according to the results of cerebral angiography: carotid atherosclerosis group and normal carotid angiogram group. Basic clinical information was required by a standardized questionnaire. Carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV) as a marker of Stiffness of artery was measured, Carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and carotid stenosis degree in angiography was evaluated. Independent-sample t test was used to evaluate the difference in cfPWV between the two groups, Bivariate associations between cfPWV and an index of extracoronary atherosclerosis (IMT and severity of stenosis) was performed.

RESULT

Among 103 subjects, 55 with carotid atherosclerosis and 48 with a normal carotid angiogram, a significant difference between the two groups in IMT and PWV was found (P<0.05), and the cfPWV was significantly correlated with IMT (r = 0.3222, P = 0.0315), but not severity of carotid stenosis (r = 0.1573, P = 0.3137).

CONCLUSION

cfPWV showed a positive correlation to carotid IMT, and maybe is a potentially useful adjunctive atherosclerotic risk marker to Identify of early carotid atherosclerosis.

PLA2G6 gene mutation in autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism in a Chinese cohort

OBJECTIVE

Mutations in the PLA2G6 gene at the PARK14 locus have been reported in complicated parkinsonism. To assess the prevalence of and phenotypes associated with PLA2G6 gene mutations, we screened PLA2G6 mutations in a cohort of patients with autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism (AREP).

METHODS

We selected 12 families with AREP in which the Parkin, PINK1, DJ-1, ATP13A2, and FBXO7 gene mutations had been previously excluded. All patients came from the mainland of China. The entire PLA2G6 coding region and exon-intron boundaries were sequenced from genomic DNA templates. We then performed PET studies on individuals in the pedigree with a homozygous PLA2G6 mutation, and investigated the enzyme activity level of the mutation.

RESULTS

A homozygous missense mutation, c.G991T (p.D331Y), was identified in an autosomal recessive case. A younger sister of the p.D331Y-carrying patient was also homozygous for the mutation, but with no extrapyramidal symptoms. A PET study showed a substantial reduction in dopamine transporter (DAT) binding in the p.D331Y patient, and a slight reduction in DAT binding in his sister. In vitro, we experimentally demonstrate that the D331Y mutation caused an approximately 70%reduction in enzyme activity.

CONCLUSIONS

We have confirmed that the PLA2G6 gene allocated PARK14 locus and is associated with AREP.

Half-dose ezetimibe add-on to statin therapy is effective in improving resistant hyperlipidaemia in Asian patients with ischaemic heart disease

INTRODUCTION

Ezetimibe at full dose (10-mg) is used for lipid lowering. We hypothesised that ezetimibe at half dose is effective in achieving percentage improvement in lipid profile among Asian patients with severe hyperlipidaemia.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study conducted between 2006 and 2008. 105 patients with hyperlipidaemia not reaching target level with statin treatment alone were given add-on ezetimibe 5-mg daily treatment. Lipid profiles were compared at pre- and post-ezetimibe therapy.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 56.0 +/- 10.3 years. 79.0 percent were male and 62.9 percent had hypertension, 39 percent had diabetes mellitus with a mean HBA1c of 7.7 percent. 58.1 percent had a history of myocardial infarction. The median simvastatin equivalent dose was 40 (range 5-80) mg. Duration of ezetimibe treatment was 102 +/- 60 days. We observed improvements in total cholesterol (TC) (from 5.31 +/- 1.02 to 4.33 +/- 1.11 mmol/l, 16.4 percent reduction, p-value less than 0.0005), low density lipoprotein (LDL) (from 3.43 +/- 0.87 to 2.52 +/- 0.95 mmol/l, 24.0 percent reduction, p-value less than 0.0005) and TC to LDL ratio (from 4.92 +/-1.42 to 4.03 +/-1.16, 16.2 percent reduction, p-value less than 0.0005). The percentage improvement of lipid profile was comparable to that of the published data based on 10-mg dosing.

CONCLUSION

A 5-mg dose of daily ezetimibe add-on treatment is effective in improving lipid profiles in Asian patients with severe hyperlipidaemia not reaching target with statin monotherapy.

Discovery of entry inhibitors for HIV-1 via a new de novo protein design framework

A new (to our knowledge) de novo design framework with a ranking metric based on approximate binding affinity calculations is introduced and applied to the discovery of what we believe are novel HIV-1 entry inhibitors. The framework consists of two stages: a sequence selection stage and a validation stage. The sequence selection stage produces a rank-ordered list of amino-acid sequences by solving an integer programming sequence selection model. The validation stage consists of fold specificity and approximate binding affinity calculations. The designed peptidic inhibitors are 12-amino-acids-long and target the hydrophobic core of gp41. A number of the best-predicted sequences were synthesized and their inhibition of HIV-1 was tested in cell culture. All peptides examined showed inhibitory activity when compared with no drug present, and the novel peptide sequences outperformed the native template sequence used for the design. The best sequence showed micromolar inhibition, which is a 3-15-fold improvement over the native sequence, depending on the donor. In addition, the best sequence equally inhibited wild-type and Enfuvirtide-resistant virus strains.

Effect of G-CSF prophylaxis on the occurrence of neutropenia in men receiving cabazitaxel plus prednisone for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in the TROPIC study

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Background: The phase III TROPIC study showed that cabazitaxel plus prednisone (CbzP) improves survival compared with mitoxantrone plus prednisone (MP) in men with mCRPC who progressed after docetaxel-based therapy (HR 0.70; p<0.001; Lancet 2010;376:1147). In this study, a higher percentage of men in the CbzP group had grade ≥3 neutropenia (81.7% versus 58.0%). We analyzed the effect of G-CSF use on the occurrence of grade ≥3 neutropenia.

Methods: 755 men with mCRPC who progressed during or after a docetaxel-containing regimen were randomized to receive 10 mg of oral prednisone daily and either 12 mg/m2 of mitoxantrone or 25 mg/m2 of cabazitaxel every 3 weeks. Primary prophylaxis with G-CSF was not permitted at cycle 1, but was allowed after the first occurrence of neutropenia either lasting ≥7 days or complicated by fever >38.5°C, or fever >38.1°C for three observations during a 24- hour period, or infection. We analyzed the effect of G-CSF use on the occurrence of neutropenia in cycles 2–10. G-CSF use was defined as either prophylactic (administered within 3 days of chemotherapy dose) or therapeutic (administered more than 3 days after chemotherapy dose).

Results: A total of3246 cycles (1881 CbzP; 1365 MP) were administered from cycle 2 onward. No G-CSF was used in 2,322 cycles (1144 CbzP; 1178 MP) and the percentage of these cycles with grade ≥3 neutropenia was similar between the groups (44.6% CbzP; 38.4% MP). G-CSF was used in more cycles in the CbzP group as prophylaxis (588 CbzP; 118 MP; chi-square P<0.0001) and therapeutically (149 CbzP; 69 MP; P=0.0013). The percentage of CbzP cycles with grade ≥3 neutropenia was lower when G-CSF was used early as prophylaxis versus using it later as a therapeutic modality (24.7% versus 57.7%; P<0.0001). A reduction in grade ≥3 neutropenia favoring prophylactic versus therapeutic G-CSF was also observed in the MP group (9.3% versus 33.3%; P<0.0001).

Conclusions: The appropriate and timely use of G-CSF as prophylaxis reduces the occurrence of neutropenia in men receiving CbzP for mCRPC. Adherence to current guidelines on the use of G-CSF is recommended to manage this predictable side effect.

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Combination of hsa-miR-375 and hsa-miR-142-5p as a predictor for recurrence risk in gastric cancer patients following surgical resection

BACKGROUND

Recurrence is a major factor leading to treatment failure and death in gastric cancer (GC) patients following surgical resection. Importantly, the prediction of recurrence is critical in improving clinical outcomes. We isolated a group of microRNAs (miRNAs) and evaluated their usefulness as prognostic markers for the recurrence of GC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 65 GC patients were selected for systematic analysis, 29 patients with recurrence and 36 patients without recurrence. Firstly, miRNAs microarray and bioinformatics methods were used to characterize classifiers from primary tumor samples (n = 8). Following, we validated these predictors both in frozen fresh and paraffin-embedded tissue samples (n = 57) using quantitative PCR.

RESULTS

We have identified 17 differential miRNAs including 10 up-regulated and 7 down-regulated miRNAs in recurrence group. Using k-top scoring pairs (k-TSP) method, we further ascertained hsa-miR-375 and hsa-miR-142-5p as a classifier to recognize recurrence and nonrecurrence cases both in the training and test samples. Moreover, we validated this classifier in 34 frozen fresh tissues and 38 paraffin-embedded tissues with consistent sensitivity and specificity with training set; among them, 15 cases were matched. A high frequency recurrence and poor survival were observed in GC cases with high level of hsa-miR-375 and low level of hsa-miR-142-5p (P < 0.001). In addition, we evaluated that hsa-miR-375 and hsa-miR-142-5p were involved in regulating target genes in several oncogenic signal pathways, such as TP53, MAPK, Wnt and vascular endothelial growth factor.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicate that the combination of hsa-miR-375 and hsa-miR-142-5p as a predictor of disease progression has the potential to predict recurrence risk for GC patients.

Phase II trial of irinotecan and cisplatin combination as first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma: An interim report

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Background: Although the irinotecan and cisplatin combination has been used in esophageal cancer treatment, we tested the combination specifically in unresectable or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with different doses to decrease the toxicity and keep the efficacy.

Methods: Patients were eligible if they had histologic proof of unresectable or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, between 18-75 years of age with a Karnofsky performance status ≥ 80. No prior chemotherapy was allowed. Patients were treated with irinotecan 130 mg/m2 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 repeated 3 weeks. Response was evaluated every two cycles of treatment by using RECIST criteria. The sample size was calculated using Simon's 2-stage design. The primary end point of the study was objective response rate. The second end points are PFS and toxicity. Accrual was planned to a total of 46 patients with the targeted response rate of 50%. The first stage requires at least 7 or more out of 16 patients to have a confirmed partial or complete response before proceeding to the second stage.

Results: Twenty one patients have been enrolled so far, of which 16 patients were assessable for response. The overall response rate was 43.8%(7/16), including one complete response (6.3%) and six partial response (37.5%). Among 13 patients who presented with dysphagia at baseline, 10 (62.5%) had the symptom either completely resolved or significantly improved. The most common toxicities were neutropenia, diarrhea and alopecia. Seven patients (33.3%) developed grade 3 neutropenia and one had (4.8%) with febrile neutropenia. One patient (4.8%) had grade 3 diarrhea. There were no treatment-related deaths.

Conclusions: The combination of irinotecan plus cisplatin with lower doses showed equivalent efficacy and less toxicity in patients with unresectable or metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma of the esophagus. The study is ongoing.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

A phase II, open-label, multicenter, prospective study of paclitaxel plus capecitabine with subsequent capecitabine maintenance therapy as first-line treatment for metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer

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Background: Paclitaxel has been shown to be effective in AGC. We assess the efficacy and safety of PX-X therapy as first-line treatment for metastatic or recurrent GC in a phase II, multicenter, prospective study.

Methods: Patients with previously untreated gastric adenocarcinoma, signed informed consent, target lesion(s), KPS ≥ 70 and adequate organ functions are eligible. Paclitaxel was given as 80 mg/m2 by 3-hour infusion day 1,8, capecitabine 1,000 mg/m2, BID, D1-14, Q3W. Cycles were repeated until progression or maximum 6 or AEs. Then the patients without progression began the second stage treatment as X with same dose/schedule until progression or AEs. PFS, RR, DCR, OS and AEs are the end points evaluated in this study.

Results: From 12/2006 to 4/2010, 195 patients (ITT) were enrolled in 21 centers, 1 patient was withdraw due to allergy to paclitaxel, 194 cases were PP. After median follow up of 16.2 months, 16 cases lost. In ITT, 119 pts progressed, 104 pts died. Mean cycles the patients completed was 5. CR and PR were achieved in 1.0% (2 pts) and 32.3% (63 pts) of pts (RR 33.3%), 75 pts had SD (38.5%), 25 pts (12.8%) progressed. PFS of ITT is 208 d (95% CI: 169.1-246.8) and estimated OS is 456 d (95%CI: 286.9-624.2). 45 pts continued to X after PX with good tolerance, median cycles accepted was 4, and OS was longer than 590 d. 23 patients accepted surgery after chemotherapy; the survival data have not been reached. After disease progression, 61 cases accepted second-line treatment, including oxaplatin/irinotecan-based chemotherapy, target therapy, and local therapy. AEs were mild and the grade 3/4 toxicities were leucopenia (13.8%), alopecia(13.3%), neutropenia (8.2%), fatigue (6.7%), nausea/vomiting (5.1%), HFS (5.1%), diarrhea(3.6%), neurotoxicity (3.1%), hepatic dysfuction (2.6%), and anaphylactic shock (0.5%). No treatment- related deaths were recorded in all patients.

Conclusions: PX-X as first-line treatment was promising in advanced gastric cancer. Further evaluation of this combination therapy is being carried on phase III clinical trial of ML22697.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.