High pressure Laue diffraction and its application to study microstructural changes during the α → β phase transition in Si

An approach using polychromatic x-ray Laue diffraction is described for studying pressure induced microstructural changes of materials under pressure. The advantages of this approach with respect to application of monochromatic x-ray diffraction and other techniques are discussed. Experiments to demonstrate the applications of the method have been performed on the α → β phase transition in Si at high pressures using a diamond anvil cell. We present the characterization of microstructures across the α-β phase transition, such as morphology of both the parent and product phases, relative orientation of single-crystals, and deviatoric strains. Subtle inhomogeneous strain of the single-crystal sample caused by lattice rotations becomes detectable with the approach.

Dopamine receptor antagonist thioridazine inhibits tumor growth in a murine breast cancer model

Neuropsychological factors have been shown to influence tumor progression and therapeutic response. The present study investigated the effect of the dopamine receptor antagonist thioridazine on murine breast cancer. The anti‑tumor efficacy of thioridazine was assessed using a murine breast cancer model. Cell apoptosis and proliferation were analyzed in vitro using flow cytometry (FCM) and the MTT assay, respectively. Western blot analysis was performed to assess Akt, phosphorylated (p)‑Akt, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3, p‑STAT3 and p‑p65 in tumor cells following treatment with thioridazine. The Ki67 index and the number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)‑positive apoptotic cells were assessed in the tumor sections. Thioridazine was found to reduce tumor growth, inhibit tumor cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in a dose‑ and time‑dependent manner in vitro. Thioridazine was also found to markedly inhibit tumor proliferation and induce tumor cell apoptosis in vivo as shown by the lower Ki67 index and increase in TUNEL‑positive cells. In addition, thioridazine was observed to inhibit the activation of the canonical nuclear factor κ‑light‑chain‑enhancer of activated B cells pathway and exert anti‑tumor effects by remodeling the tumor stroma, as well as inhibit angiogenesis in the tumor microenvironment. In conclusion, thioridazine was found to significantly inhibit breast tumor growth and the potential for thioridazine to be used in cancer therapy may be re‑evaluated and investigated in clinical settings.

Diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted MRI for detection of pelvic metastatic lymph nodes in patients with cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In recent years, diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI has emerged as a new technique for detecting the pelvic lymph metastases in patients with cervical cancer. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the diagnostic value of DW imaging (DWI) for benign/malignant discrimination of pelvic lymph nodes (LNs). Studies about DWI for the detection of metastatic LNs were searched in the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCO, the Cochrane Library and three Chinese databases. Based on the extracted data, we determined pooled sensitivities, specificities and diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) across studies, calculated positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) and constructed summary receiver operating characteristic curves with area under the curve (AUC) and Q* obtained. We also analysed the heterogeneity between studies based on subgroup analysis, threshold effect and publication bias. In total, 15 studies involving 1021 patients met the inclusion criteria. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and DOR of DWI were 0.86 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.84-0.89], 0.84 (95% CI, 0.83-0.86) and 47.21 (95% CI, 25.67-86.81), respectively. LR syntheses yielded overall positive LR of 6.55 (95% CI, 4.77-9.01) and negative LR of 0.17 (95% CI, 0.12-0.23). The AUC and Q* index were 0.9384 and 0.8754, respectively. The heterogeneity was relatively high between studies; however, there was no evidence for threshold effect and publication bias. DWI is beneficial in the pelvic nodal assessment in patients with cervical cancer. Large-scale, high-quality trials with standard protocols are required to evaluate its clinical value for discrimination of metastatic from non-metastatic pelvic LNs in patients with cervical cancer. Advances in knowledge include providing evidence to assess the role of DWI in nodal staging of cervical cancer.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorβ/δ activation is essential for modulating p-Foxo1/Foxo1 status in functional insulin-positive cell differentiation

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) participate in energy homeostasis and play essential roles in diabetes therapy through their effects on non-pancreas tissues. Pathological microenvironment may influence the metabolic requirements for the maintenance of stem cell differentiation. Accordingly, understanding the mechanisms of PPARs on pancreatic β-cell differentiation may be helpful to find the underlying targets of disrupted energy homeostasis under the pancreatic disease condition. PPARs are involved in stem cell differentiation via mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, but the subtype member activation and the downstream regulation in functional insulin-positive (INS⁺) cell differentiation remain unclear. Here, we show a novel role of PPARβ/δ activation in determining INS⁺ cell differentiation and functional maturation. We found PPARβ/δ expression selectively upregulated in mouse embryonic pancreases or stem cells-derived INS⁺ cells at the pancreatic mature stage in vivo and in vitro. Strikingly, given the inefficiency of generating INS⁺ cells in vitro, PPARβ/δ activation displayed increasing mouse and human ES cell-derived INS⁺ cell numbers and insulin secretion. This phenomenon was closely associated with the forkhead box protein O1 (Foxo1) nuclear shuttling, which was dependent on PPARβ/δ downstream PI3K/Akt signaling transduction. The present study reveals the essential role of PPARβ/δ activation on p-Foxo1/Foxo1 status, and in turn, determining INS⁺ cell generation and insulin secretion via affecting pancreatic and duodenal homeobox-1 expression. The results demonstrate the underlying mechanism by which PPARβ/δ activation promotes functional INS⁺ cell differentiation. It also provides potential targets for anti-diabetes drug discovery and hopeful clinical applications in human cell therapy.

Monitoring tissue blood oxygen saturation in the internal jugular venous area using near infrared spectroscopy

Central venous blood oxygen saturation (ScvO2) is an important monitoring index of fluid resuscitation. However, monitoring of ScvO2 is not continuous and invasive. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an optical technology for the noninvasive detection of hemodynamic changes, with advantages of being real-time, continuous, low-cost, and portable. The present study aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between the tissue blood oxygen saturation in the internal jugular venous area (StO2) data obtained with NIRS and the ScvO2 and whether these two quantities are equivalent. Data were collected from 13 patients. We used ultrasound to locate the placement site for the NIRS light source outside the internal jugular vein. Meanwhile, a sample for blood gas analysis was obtained through the central venous catheter. A correlation analysis between the StO2 and ScvO2 of 13 samples was performed (Pearson correlation coefficient), suggesting a high correlation between them (r = 0.906, StO2 =1.0018 ScvO2 +2.8524). Bland-Altman analysis was also performed between the StO2 and ScvO2. Results were as follows: 100% of monitored points fell within the range of the mean ± 1.96 SD of the difference between the StO2 and ScvO2; range of the mean ± 1.96 SD of the difference between the StO2 and ScvO2 was 3 ± 10.2; confidence interval of the difference between the StO2 and ScvO2 was -7.2 to 13.2%. The StO2 monitored with NIRS correlated highly with the ScvO2 measured in the internal jugular vein. Therefore, the StO2 can be used for directing clinical treatment with further research.

Continuous-flow system and monitoring tools for the dielectrophoretic integration of nanowires in light sensor arrays

Although nanowires (NWs) may improve the performance of many optoelectronic devices such as light emitters and photodetectors, the mass commercialization of these devices is limited by the difficult task of finding reliable and reproducible methods to integrate the NWs on foreign substrates. This work shows the fabrication of zinc oxide NWs photodetectors on conventional glass using transparent conductive electrodes to effectively integrate the NWs at specific locations by dielectrophoresis (DEP). The paper describes the careful preparation of NW dispersions by sedimentation and the dielectrophoretic alignment of NWs in a home-made system. This system includes an impedance technique for the assessment of the alignment quality in real time. Following this procedure, ultraviolet photodetectors based on the electrical contacts formed by the DEP process on the transparent electrodes are fabricated. This cost-effective mean of contacting NWs enables front-and back-illumination operation modes, the latter eliminating shadowing effects caused by the deposition of metals. The electro-optical characterization of the devices shows uniform responsivities in the order of 106 A W(-1) below 390 nm under both modes, as well as, time responses of a few seconds.

Extravascular red blood cells and hemoglobin promote tumor growth and therapeutic resistance as endogenous danger signals

Hemorrhage is a common clinical manifestation in patients with cancer. Intratumor hemorrhage has been demonstrated to be a poor prognostic factor for cancer patients. In this study, we investigated the role of RBCs and hemoglobin (Hb) in the process of tumor progression and therapeutical response. RBCs and Hb potently promoted tumor cell proliferation and syngenic tumor growth. RBCs and Hb activated the reactive oxygen species-NF-κB pathway in both tumor cells and macrophages. RBCs and Hb also induced chemoresistance mediated, in part, by upregulating ABCB1 gene expression. Tumor growth induced by RBCs was accompanied by an inflammatory signature, increased tumor vasculature, and influx of M2 macrophages. In both the peritoneal cavity and tumor microenvironment, extravascular RBCs rapidly recruited monocyte-macrophages into the lesion sites. In addition, RBCs and Hb increased several nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors' expression and induced IL-1β release. Our results provide novel insights into the protumor function of RBCs and Hb as endogenous danger signals, which can promote tumor cell proliferation, macrophage recruitment, and polarization. Hemorrhage may represent a useful prognostic factor for cancer patients because of its role in tumor promotion and chemoresistance.

Meta-analysis of diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET or PET/CT for detecting lymph node and distant metastases in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

We performed this meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the diagnostic performance of positron emission tomography (PET) or PET/CT for detecting lymph node and distant metastases in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODS

Through a search of four English and three Chinese databases (January 1990 to June 2013), pooled estimated sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated based on the data extracted from the included studies. We also constructed summary receiver operating characteristic curves, with the area under the curve (AUC) and obtained the Q* index. Heterogeneity and subgroup analysis were also performed.

RESULTS

In total, 18 articles consisting 20 studies were included in this meta-analysis. On a per-patient basis, the overall pooled estimates for sensitivity and specificity of PET or PET/CT in N and M staging of NPC were 0.89 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.86-0.91] and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.95-0.96), respectively. The overall DOR, AUC and Q* index were 162.07 (95% CI, 90.72-289.55), 0.9689 and 0.9181, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that AUC and Q* index were 0.9734 and 0.9255 for N staging and 0.9715 and 0.9223 for M staging, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The present meta-analysis showed that PET or PET/CT has excellent diagnostic performance for detecting lymph node and distant metastases in patients with NPC.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

To provide evidence to assess the role of PET or PET/CT in staging of NPC.

Personal inhalation exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban and rural residents in a typical northern city in China

Personal inhalation exposure samples were collected and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for 126 selected volunteers during heating and non-heating seasons in a typical northern Chinese city, Taiyuan. Measured personal PAH exposure levels for the urban residents in the heating and non-heating seasons were 690 (540-1051) and 404 (266-544) ng/m(3) , respectively, while, for the rural residents, they were 770 (504-1071) and 312 (201-412) ng/m(3) , respectively. Thus, rural residents are exposed to lower PAH contamination in comparison with the urban residents in the non-heating seasons. In the heating season, personal PAH inhalation exposure levels were comparable between the urban and rural residents, in part owing to the large rate of residential solid fuel consumption in the rural area for household cooking and heating. The estimated incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCR) due to PAH exposure in Taiyuan were 3.36 × 10(-5) and 2.39 × 10(-5) for the rural and urban residents, respectively, significantly higher than the literature-reported national average level, suggesting an urgent need of PAH pollution control to protect human health.

Polyclonal rabbit anti-human ovarian cancer globulins inhibit tumor growth through apoptosis involving the caspase signaling

Most women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage and there are few therapeutic options. Recently, monoclonal antibody therapies have had limited success, thus more effective antibodies are needed to improve long-term survival. In this report, we prepared polyclonal rabbit anti-ovarian cancer antibody (Poly Ab) by immunizing rabbits with the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3. The Poly Ab bound to SKOV3 and inhibited the cancer cells proliferation. Western blot analysis was conducted, which indicated that Poly Ab inhibited cancer cells through apoptosis involving the caspase signaling pathway including caspase-3 and caspase-9. Finally, compared with the control antibody, administration of Poly Ab reached 64% and 72% tumor inhibition in the subcutaneous and intraperitoneal xenograft mouse model, respectively. Our findings suggest that Poly Ab is an effective agent for apoptosis induction and may be useful as a safe anticancer agent for ovarian cancer therapy.

Antiangiogenic therapy using sunitinib combined with rapamycin retards tumor growth but promotes metastasis

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the synergistic effect of sunitinib and rapamycin on tumor growth and metastasis in murine breast cancer model. METHODS: The synergistic antitumor effect of sunitinib and rapamycin on tumor growth and metastasis was investigated. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in spleens and lungs were assessed. Tumor hypoxia, vessel density and micrometastasis were evaluated. Versican, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), arginase 1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) in the lungs and tumors were examined. IL-6 and TGF-β in the blood were evaluated. RESULTS: Synergism between sunitinib and rapamycin on tumor growth was observed. Sunitinib plus rapamycin reduced splenomegaly, MDSCs in spleens and lungs, and microvessel density in tumor microenvironment, while exacerbated hypoxia and promoted cancer lung metastasis. Sunitinib plus rapamycin markedly induced versican, IDO, arginase 1, IL-6, and TGF-β expression in the lungs, whereas it reduced IDO and IL-10 expression in the primary tumor tissues. IL-6 levels in the circulation were increased after rapamycin and combination therapies. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of sunitinib plus rapamycin reduced the tumor growth but promoted tumor metastasis. This study warrants that further mTOR inhibition treatment should be closely watched in clinical setting, especially combined with antiangiogenic therapy.

A novel HLA-A allele, HLA-A*02:441, identified by sequence-based typing in Chinese individuals

HLA-A*02:441 differs from HLA-A*02:01:01:01 by one nucleotide exchange at position 91(T>C) with an amino acid exchange.

Usefulness of 3T diffusion-weighted MRI for discrimination of reactive and metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a pilot study

OBJECTIVES

To study the diagnostic accuracy of 3T diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) for the discrimination of reactive and metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS

DW T1 and T2 weighted MRI was performed in 25 patients with biopsy-proved primary oral squamous cell carcinoma. The mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of 30 histopathologically proved reactive lymph nodes and 21 histopathologically proved metastatic lymph nodes were compared using an unpaired t-test. A cut-off ADC value with optimal diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve in discrimination of the two groups was determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

RESULTS

The mean ADC values of reactive lymph node and metastatic lymph node groups were (1.037 ± 0.149) × 10(-3) and (0.702 ± 0.197) × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1), respectively. A statistically significant difference in ADC values of the two groups was certified (p < 0.0001). An optimal ADC threshold value of 0.887 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1) was suggested as the cut-off point, which resulted in 93.33% sensitivity, 80.95% specificity, 88.20% accuracy and area under curve of 0.887.

CONCLUSIONS

Our preliminary study indicates that the addition of 3T DW-MRI may be useful for discriminating between reactive lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. However, larger studies are still required to validate our results and to standardize this imaging technique for daily clinical practice.

Cathepsin B as a potential prognostic and therapeutic marker for human lung squamous cell carcinoma

Background

The lung squamous cell carcinoma survival rate is very poor despite multimodal treatment. It is urgent to discover novel candidate biomarkers for prognostic assessment and therapeutic targets to lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Results

Herein a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS-based proteomic approach was used to identify differentially expressed proteins between lung SCC and adjacent normal tissues. 31 proteins with significant alteration were identified. These proteins were mainly involved in metabolism, calcium ion binding, signal transduction and so on. Cathepsin B (CTSB) was one of the most significantly altered proteins and was confirmed by western blotting. Immunohistochemistry showed the correlation between higher CTSB expression and lower survival rate. No statistically significant difference between CTSB-shRNA treated group and the controls was observed in tumor volume, tumor weight, proliferation and apoptosis. However, the CTSB-shRNA significantly inhibited tumor metastases and prolonged survival in LL/2 metastatic model. Moreover, CTSB, Shh and Ptch were up-regulated in patients with metastatic lung SCC, suggesting that hedgehog signaling might be activated in metastatic lung SCC which could affect the expression of CTSB that influence the invasive activity of lung SCC.

Conclusions

These data suggested that CTSB might serve as a prognostic and therapeutic marker for lung SCC.

Suppression of hepatoma tumor growth by systemic administration of the phytotoxin gelonin driven by the survivin promoter

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide. However, there is currently no effective therapy strategy in the clinical practice. Recombinant phytotoxin gelonin fused to other factors have been used to treat different cancers. But there have been no reports of gelonin gene therapy. In this study, we have constructed a recombinant plasmid which contained a tumor-specific survivin promoter to drive phytotoxin gelonin (pSur-Gel). And the cytotoxicity effects of pSur-Gel in HCC were also validated both in vitro and in vivo. The expression level of survivin was detected in different liver cancer cell lines and normal liver cell lines by western blot analysis, and a survivin promoter-driven green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression vectors (pSur-GFP) was also tested in liver cancer cell line HepG2 and normal liver cell line LO2. Moreover, phytotoxin gelonin expression experiment and cytotoxicity experiment of pSur-Gel was performed in HepG2 cells and LO2 cells in vitro. Furthermore, anti-tumor effect of pSur-Gel against HepG2 xenografts and toxicity of this gene were evaluated in the mice model. Finally, LDH release assay, apoptosis assay and immunoblot analyse LC3 conversion (LC3-I to LC3-II) were tested. We found that the expression of survivin protein was higher in liver cancer cell lines compared with the normal liver cells. Further study showed that the pSur-GFP and pSur-Gel was expressed specially in liver cancer cell other than in normal liver cells. pSur-Gel plasmid could effectively inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer cells (*P<0.05), and significantly repress the growth of HepG2 xenografts via intravenous in vivo (*P<0.05). Otherwise, compared to cytomegalovirus promoter-driven gelonin expression vectors (pCMV-Gel), no significantly systemic toxicity or organ injuries had been observed in pSur-Gel treated mice. Further studies revealed that the phytotoxin gelonin induced cell death might be mediated by apoptosis and the damage of cell membrane. Taken together, treating hepatocellular carcinoma with the pSur-Gel may be a novel and interesting cancer gene therapy protocol and is worthy of further development for future clinical trials.

KEYWORDS

liver cancer, gelonin, survivin promoter, gene therapy.

Celecoxib enhances the efficacy of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase gene therapy in treating murine breast cancer

PURPOSE

The overexpression of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) has been proved to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis through degradation of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which is often overexpressed in various cancers and accelerates tumor progression. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a synthase of PGE2, actively produces much PGE2 to counteract the 15-PGDH-induced antitumor efficacy. Here, we investigated the combinational effect by using pcDNA3.1(+) encoding mouse 15-PGDH gene therapy and celecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, in mouse breast cancers.

METHODS

Mice bearing 4T1 were treated with short-term administration of the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (40 mg/kg/day) plus liposome-encapsulated mouse 15-PGDH in order to determine their synergistic antitumor activity in vivo. And the possible mechanisms were investigated.

RESULTS

We observed that the combination treatment of 15-PGDH and celecoxib significantly inhibited tumor growth and lung metastases than monotherapy or controls. Moreover, the effect of combination treatment was associated with significant reduction of PGE2 in serum, which resulted from increased 15-PDGH and decreased COX-2 in tumor tissues. The tumor tissues in combination treatment presented more apoptotic cells and less microvessel density. Notably, the number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the spleen was also significantly decreased in the combination treatment than others.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggested that celecoxib increased the antitumor activity of 15-PGDH by synergistically blocking PGE2 pathway, which might be a new feasible way for cancer therapy.

The biology of TMJ growth modification: a review

Several studies have indicated a positive response of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) to mandibular advancement, while others have reported that TMJ adaptive responses are non-existent and negligible. Controversy continues to grow over the precise nature of skeletal changes that occur during mandibular growth modification, due to an apparent lack of tissue markers required to substantiate the precise mechanism by which this is occurring. However, evidence suggests that orthopedic forces clinically modify the growth of the mandible. To further our knowledge about the effect of orthopedic treatment on the TMJ, it is necessary that we understand the biologic basis behind the various tissues involved in the TMJ's normal growth and maturation. The importance of this knowledge is to consider the potential association between TMJ remodeling and mandibular repositioning under orthopedic loading. Considerable histologic and biochemical research has been performed to provide basic information about the nature of skeletal growth modification in response to mandibular advancement. In this review, the relevant histochemical evidence and various theories regarding TMJ growth modification are discussed. Furthermore, different regulatory growth factors and tissue markers, which are used for cellular and molecular evaluation of the TMJ during its adaptive response to biomechanical forces, are underlined.

Real-time, high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements on shocked crystals at a synchrotron facility

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory was used to obtain real-time, high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements to determine the microscopic response of shock-compressed single crystals. Disk shaped samples were subjected to plane shock wave compression by impacting them with half-inch diameter, flat-faced projectiles. The projectiles were accelerated to velocities ranging between 300 and 1200 m/s using a compact powder gun designed specifically for use at a synchrotron facility. The experiments were designed to keep the sample probed volume under uniaxial strain and constant stress for a duration longer than the 153.4 ns spacing between x-ray bunches. X-rays from a single pulse (<100 ps duration) out of the periodic x-ray pulses emitted by the synchrotron were used for the diffraction measurements. A synchronization and x-ray detection technique was developed to ensure that the measured signal was obtained unambiguously from the desired x-ray pulse incident on the sample while the sample was in a constant uniaxial strain state. The synchronization and x-ray detection techniques described can be used for a variety of x-ray measurements on shock compressed solids and liquids at the APS. Detailed procedures for applying the Bragg-Brentano parafocusing approach to single crystals at the APS are presented. Analytic developments to determine the effects of crystal substructure and non-ideal geometry on the diffraction pattern position and shape are presented. Representative real-time x-ray diffraction data, indicating shock-induced microstructural changes, are presented for a shock-compressed Al(111) sample. The experimental developments presented here provided, in part, the impetus for the Dynamic Compression Sector (DCS) currently under development at the APS. Both the synchronization∕x-ray detection methods and the analysis equations for high-resolution single crystal x-ray diffraction can be used at the DCS.

Isoform-specific expression and characterization of 14-3-3 proteins in human glioma tissues discovered by stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture-based proteomic analysis

Human 14-3-3 proteins have isoform-specific expression and functions in different kinds of normal or tumor cells and tissues. However, the expression profiling of 14-3-3 proteins and isoform-specific biological functions are unclear in human glioma so far. In our study, the expression levels and characterization of 14-3-3 isoforms in human glioma tissues were investigated by a sensitive, accurate stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture-based quantitative proteomic strategy. As a result, except unexpressed 14-3-3σ, the other six isoforms, with different expression levels, were existed in glioma tissues and para-cancerous brain tissues (PBTs). 14-3-3β and η were upregulated, whereas 14-3-3ζ was downregulated in glioma tissues compared with that in PBTs. And the other three isoforms 14-3-3ε, θ, and γ had similar expression levels in human glioma tissues and PBTs. Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis were both consistent with the quantitative proteomic data. The loss of expression of 14-3-3σ was further discovered due to DNA high methylation in its coding region in glioma by methylation-specific PCR analysis. These results indicated that the four isoforms, including 14-3-3β, η, ζ, and σ, may play important roles in tumorigenesis of human glioma, which is probably used as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and targets for treatment of human gliomas in future.