[High dose chemotherapy combined with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) in the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer]

BACKGROUND

To investigate the therapeutic effect and safety of PBSCT combined with high dose chemotherapy in the treatment of small cell lung cancer(SCLC).

METHODS

From March, 1994 to June, 1999, high dose chemotherapy combined with PBSCT was carried out in 20 patients with SCLC. Eight patients were in CR status while twelve patients were for salvaging therapy. Allo-PBSCT was performed in 1 patient and Auto-PBSCT in 19 patients. After mobilization of stem cell, mononeuclear cell (MNC) was collected for ≥3.0×10⁸/kg, CD34+ cell≥2.0×10⁶/kg. The high dose chemotherapy included carboplatin 350 mg/m²×3 days, VP-16 120 mg/m²×5 days, and E-ADM 40 mg/m²×2 days.

RESULTS

Encouraging results were achieved in 8 patients who were in CR status. Seven of the eight patients survived after Auto-PBSCT. One patients survived more than 1 year, 4 cases over 2 years, and 3 cases over 3 years. Of the 3 patients, 2 survived more than 4 years. In the group of salvaging therapy, response was good, however there was no long-term survival and median remission time was only 3.5 months.

CONCLUSIONS

High dose chemotherapy combined with PBSCT in the treatment of SCLC with CR status is feasible and safe, although the side effects are severe too. It is worth further studying on clinical practice.

SKLB1002, a novel inhibitor of VEGF receptor 2 signaling, induces vascular normalization to improve systemically administered chemotherapy efficacy

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors have shown only modest clinical activity for most tumor types when used as single agents. However, present evidence indicates that these antiangiogenic drugs can cause transient "normalization" of the tumor vasculature, thereby improving the delivery of systemic chemotherapy. We examined temporal changes in tumor vascular function in response to the novel VEGFR2 inhibitor, SKLB1002. Established tumor-bearing animals were evaluated at serial time points for treatment-associated changes in tumor vascular architecture and function. As a result, blocking VEGF signaling by SKLB1002 produced a morphologically and functionally "normalized" vascular network. Consistent with our observations, a 2.2 fold increase in intratumoral doxorubicin levels was determined with SKLB1002 pretreatment compared with administration of doxorubicin alone. Finally, combined SKLB1002 and doxorubicin exhibited significant antitumor (49% of control size) and antimetastatic effects (12% of control metastatic nodules) in vivo. Our results showed SKLB1002 induced vascular normalization and enhanced anticancer drug delivery, which were associated with the observed synergistic effect in vivo.

Reentrant valence transition in EuO at high pressures: beyond the bond-valence model

The pressure-dependent relation between Eu valence and lattice structure in model compound EuO is studied with synchrotron-based x-ray spectroscopic and diffraction techniques. Contrary to expectation, a 7% volume collapse at ≈45  GPa is accompanied by a reentrant Eu valence transition into a lower valence state. In addition to highlighting the need for probing both structure and electronic states directly when valence information is sought in mixed-valent systems, the results also show that widely used bond-valence methods fail to quantitatively describe the complex electronic valence behavior of EuO under pressure.

Protoneutron star cooling with convection: the effect of the symmetry energy

We model neutrino emission from a newly born neutron star subsequent to a supernova explosion to study its sensitivity to the equation of state, neutrino opacities, and convective instabilities at high baryon density. We find the time period and spatial extent over which convection operates is sensitive to the behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy at and above nuclear density. When convection ends within the protoneutron star, there is a break in the predicted neutrino emission that may be clearly observable.

Orthopedic protraction of the maxilla may affect cranial base synchondroses indicated by increased expressions of growth factors

OBJECTIVES

To examine the biological adaptation of cranial base synchondroses (CBS) when the maxilla was forward positioned by orthopedic force.

SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION

The Department of Orthodontics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 50 Sprague-Dawley rats, 4 weeks of age, were divided into experimental (n=30) and control groups (n=20).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An orthopedic appliance was fitted to the cranio-maxillary complex to advance the maxilla forward. The animals in the experimental group, together with the counterparts in the control group, were sacrificed at days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14, respectively. The whole cranial base housing both the spheno-ethmoid (SES) and spheno-occipital synchondroses (SOS) was removed for tissue processing and immunotest of Sox9, Core-binding factor α 1 (Cbfa1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), three carefully selected growth factors that are markers of chondrogenesis in different stages and its transition to endochondral ossification. Semiquantitative analysis was also conducted by using a computerizing imaging system.

RESULTS

The temporal tendency of the changes in the expressions of the three growth factors featured an increase from Day 3 and onwards for Cbfa1 and VEGF, and a following decline after Day 5 for Sox9. In both SES and SOS, the expressions of the three growth factors were significantly stronger in the experimental groups than that in groups (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Protractive orthopedic force imposed on the maxilla provokes an enhancement of chondrogenic process in CBS.

Clinical and virological characteristics of chronic hepatitis B with concurrent hepatitis B E antigen and antibody detection

The concurrent detection of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and its corresponding antibody (anti-HBe) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is well established but the clinical features remain poorly understood. Demographic information, clinical and laboratory data were collected from 1624 consecutive inpatient records of patients with chronic hepatitis B. Viral genotype, basic core promoter and precore mutations were determined by direct sequencing. In vitro HBeAg and anti-HBe binding experiments were conducted with three pairs of HBeAg-positive and anti-HBe-positive serum samples, which were mixed at variable ratios and incubated at 37°C for 3-24h. Of the 1624 chronic patients, 169 (10.4%) had concurrent HBeAg and anti-HBe positivity, and this was associated with intermediate age and HBV-DNA load, higher alanine aminotransferase level and more pronounced liver damage compared with HBeAg-positive or anti-HBe-positive patients alone. HBeAg and anti-HBe titres (median and interquartile range, S/CO) in the concurrent positive group were 4.2 (1.8-9.6) and 0.54 (0.27-0.72), which were closer to their respective cut-off values than those of HBeAg-positive or anti-HBe-positive groups alone. For the cases successfully sequenced, 110/134 (82.1%) harboured T1762/A1764 or/and A1896 mutants. The binding experiments showed that HBeAg and anti-HBe could be concurrently observed provided an optimal ratio (HBeAg to anti-HBe) was chosen. In antiviral treatment-naive patients, concurrence of HBeAg and anti-HBe was not uncommon, and such patients had profound liver disease. An optimal ratio between HBeAg and anti-HBe led to their concurrent detection when sera were tested by sensitive assays.

Antitumoral efficacy by systemic delivery of heparin conjugated polyethylenimine-plasmid interleukin-15 complexes in murine models of lung metastasis

Gene therapy shows promising application in cancer therapy, but the lack of an ideal gene delivery system is still a tough challenge for cancer gene therapy. Previously, we prepared a novel cationic nanogel, heparin-polyethylenimine (HPEI), which had potential application in gene delivery. In the present study, we constructed a plasmid with high expression efficiency of interleukin-15 (IL15) and investigated the effects HPEI-plasmid IL15 (HPEI-pIL15) complexes on the distribution level of the lung. We then evaluated the anticancer effect of HPEI-pIL15 complexes on lung metastases of B16-F10 melanoma and CT26 colon carcinoma. These results demonstrated that intravenous injection of the HPEI-pIL15 complex exhibited the highest plasmid distribution level in the lung compared with that of PEI2K-pIL15 and PEI25K-pIL15, and mice treated with HPEI-pIL15 had a lower tumor metastasis index compared with other treatment groups. Moreover, the number of natural killer cells, which were intermingled among the tumor cells, and the level of tumor necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ in the serum also increased in the pIL15-treated mice. Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity of spleen cells also increased significantly in the HPEI-pIL15 group. In addition, induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation in lung tumor foci in the HPEI-pIL15 group was observed. Taken together, treating lung metastasis cancer with the HPEI nanogels delivered by plasmid IL15 might be a new and interesting cancer gene therapy protocol.

The preventive effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields on diabetic bone loss in streptozotocin-treated rats

The present study was the first report demonstrating that pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) could partially prevent bone strength and architecture deterioration and improve the impaired bone formation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The findings indicated that PEMF might become a potential additive method for inhibiting diabetic osteopenia or osteoporosis.

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes mellitus (DM) can cause various musculoskeletal abnormalities. Optimal therapeutic methods for diabetic bone complication are still lacking. It is essential to develop more effective and safe therapeutic methods for diabetic bone disorders. Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) as an alternative noninvasive method has proven to be effective for treating fracture healing and osteoporosis in non-diabetic conditions. However, the issue about the therapeutic effects of PEMF on diabetic bone complication has not been previously investigated.

METHODS

We herein systematically evaluated the preventive effects of PEMF on diabetic bone loss in streptozotocin-treated rats. Two similar experiments were conducted. In each experiment, 16 diabetic and eight non-diabetic rats were equally assigned to the control, DM, and DM + PEMF group. DM + PEMF group was subjected to daily 8-h PEMF exposure for 8 weeks.

RESULTS

In experiment 1, three-point bending test suggested that PEMF improved the biomechanical quality of diabetic bone tissues, evidenced by increased maximum load, stiffness, and energy absorption. Microcomputed tomography analysis demonstrated that DM-induced bone architecture deterioration was partially reversed by PEMF, evidenced by increased Tb.N, Tb.Th, BV/TV, and Conn.D and reduced Tb.Sp and SMI. Serum OC analysis indicated that PEMF partially prevented DM-induced decrease in bone formation. In experiment 2, no significant difference in the bone resorption marker TRACP5b was observed. These biochemical findings were further supported by the dynamic bone histomorphometric parameters BFR/BS and Oc.N/BS.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrated that PEMF could partially prevent DM-induced bone strength and architecture deterioration and improve the impaired bone formation. PEMF might become a potential additive method for inhibiting diabetic osteoporosis.

Comparisons of three polyethyleneimine-derived nanoparticles as a gene therapy delivery system for renal cell carcinoma

Background

Polyethyleneimine (PEI), which can interact with negatively charged DNA through electrostatic interaction to form nanocomplexes, has been widely attempted to use as a gene delivery system. However, PEI has some defects that are not fit for keeping on gene expression. Therefore, some modifications against PEI properties have been done to improve their application value in gene delivery. In this study, three modified PEI derivatives, including poly(ε-caprolactone)-pluronic-poly(ε-caprolactone) grafted PEI (PCFC-g-PEI), folic acid-PCFC-isophorone diidocyanate-PEI (FA-PEAs) and heparin-PEI (HPEI), were evaluated in terms of their cytotoxicity and transfection efficiency in vitro and in vivo in order to ascertain their potential application in gene therapy.

Methods

MTT assay and a marker GFP gene, encoding green fluorescent protein, were used to evaluate cell toxicity and transfection activity of the three modified PEI in vitro. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) models were established in BALB/c nude mice inoculated with OS-RC-2 cells to detect the gene therapy effects using the three PEI-derived nanoparticles as gene delivery vehicles. The expression status of a target gene Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) in treated tumor tissues was analyzed by semiquantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.

Results

Each of three modified PEI-derived biomaterials had an increased transfection efficiency and a lower cytotoxicity compared with its precursor PEI with 25-kD or 2-kD molecule weight in vitro. And the mean tumor volume was obviously decreased 30% by using FA-PEAs to transfer VHL plasmids to treat mice RCC models. The VHL gene expression was greatly improved in the VHL-treated group. While there was no obvious tumor inhibition treated by PCFC-g-PEI:VHL and HPEI:VHL complexes.

Conclusions

The three modified PEI-derived biomaterials, including PCFC-g-PEI, FA-PEAs and HPEI, had an increased transfection efficiency in vitro and obviously lower toxicities compared with their precursor PEI molecules. The FA-PEAs probably provide a potential gene delivery system to treat RCC even other cancers in future.

One germline mutation of PTCH gene in a Chinese family with non-syndromic keratocystic odontogenic tumours

Keratocystic odontogenic tumours (KOCTs) are common benign cystic tumours that arise sporadically or associated with nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS). PTCH mutation can be found in sporadically or NBCCS associated KOCTs. Few PTCH mutations in families with non-syndromic KOCTs have been reported. Through PCR and gene sequence analysis, the authors discovered one missense mutation c.3277G>C in exon 19 of PTCH gene in a Chinese family with non-syndromic KOCTs. This mutation causes one highly conserved glycine residue transit to arginine on the 10th transmembrane region of PTCH protein. This work revealed that the missense mutation of PTCH is the causative and dominant gene of KOCTs in this family.

A Multi-Anvil High Pressure System with Synchrotron X-Ray Probe: New Opportunities for In-Situ Materials Research at Simultaneously High Pressure and Temperature

We describe the multi-anvil, large-volume, high-pressure facility that is being constructed at the GeoSoilEnviroCARS (Sector 13) at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. Various multi-anvil, high-pressure apparatus will be used to cover pressure and temperature conditions up to 40 GPa and 3000 °C, respectively, with milimeter to centimeter sized samples. This national facility is open to all users, providing excellent opportunities for high pressure, high temperature experiments.

Lithium delivery enhances bone growth during midpalatal expansion

Lithium is an activator of β-catenin signaling, and β-catenin mediates bone acquisition in response to mechanical loading in the bone. We tested the hypothesis that lithium enhances new bone formation during midpalatal suture expansion. Forty-eight Wistar rats with or without suture expansion were gavage-fed daily with lithium chloride or sodium chloride. We labeled the rats with bromodeoxyuridine to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation of the osteoprogenitors. Lithium increased β-catenin expression and cell proliferation in expanding sutures. Initial delay in the differentiation of osteoprogenitors into mature osteoblasts by lithium treatment corresponded with expansion of pre-osteoblasts, which preceded the increase of new bone formation in the suture. These results suggested that β-catenin regulates proliferation of osteoprogenitors and maturation of osteoblasts during midpalatal suture expansion osteogenesis, and that lithium enhances bone regeneration by elevating β-catenin expression. Lithium treatment could be a pharmaceutical aid to improve the stability of orthodontic treatment like rapid palatal expansion.

Downregulated expression of HSP27 in human low-grade glioma tissues discovered by a quantitative proteomic analysis

BACKGROUND

Heat shock proteins (HSPs), including mainly HSP110, HSP90, HSP70, HSP60 and small HSP families, are evolutionary conserved proteins involved in various cellular processes. Abnormal expression of HSPs has been detected in several tumor types, which indicates that specific HSPs have different prognostic significance for different tumors. In the current studies, the expression profiling of HSPs in human low-grade glioma tissues (HGTs) were investigated using a sensitive, accurate SILAC (stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture)-based quantitative proteomic strategy.

RESULTS

The five HSP family members were detected and quantified in both HGTs and autologous para-cancerous brain tissues (PBTs) by the SILAC-based mass spectrometry (MS) simultaneously. HSP90 AB1, HSP A5(70 KDa), and especially HSP27 were significantly downregulated in HGTs, whereas the expression level of HSPA9 (70 KDa) was little higher in HGTs than that in PBTs. It was noted that the downregulation ratio of HSP27 was 0.48-fold in HGTs versus PBTs, which was further validated by results from RT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, we detected HSP27 expression changes along with cell growth under heat shock treatment in glioma H4 cells.

CONCLUSION

The SILAC-MS technique is an applicable and efficient novel method, with a high-throughput manner, to quantitatively compare the relative expression level of HSPs in brain tumors. Different HSP family members have specific protein expression levels in human low-grade glioma discovered by SILAC-MS analysis. HSP27 expression was obviously downregulated in HGTs versus PBTs, and it exhibited temporal and spatial variation under heat shock treatment (43 degrees C/0-3 h) in vitro. HSP27's rapid upregulation was probably correlated with the temporary resistance to heat shock in order to maintain the survival of human glioma cells.

Quantitative protein expression profiling of 14-3-3 isoforms in human renal carcinoma shows 14-3-3 epsilon is involved in limitedly increasing renal cell proliferation

14-3-3 proteins regulate many cellular processes that are implicated in cancer development, and the seven 14-3-3 isoforms have different expression level and isoform-specific roles in different tumors. However, the biological functions of 14-3-3 proteins and their correlations with renal carcinoma have not been investigated so far. In our study, the expression profiles and functional characterization of 14-3-3 proteins were discovered by a sensitive stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture based quantitative proteomics analysis in human renal carcinoma tissues. We found that 14-3-3epsilon was up-regulated with 1.44-fold changes in renal cancerous tissues compared with that in counterpart kidney tissues, and 14-3-3sigma was almost not detected in both tissues due to its DNA highly methylated in our previous reports. The other five isoforms almost have similar expression level in two states of renal tissues. The following RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis for specific 14-3-3 isoform expression were all consistent with the quantitative proteomic data. Furthermore, the overexpression of 14-3-3epsilon in vitro can limitedly prompt the abnormal growth of renal tumor cells.

Possible involvement of brain tumour stem cells in the emergence of a fast-growing malignant meningioma after surgical resection and radiotherapy of high-grade astrocytoma: case report and preliminary laboratory investigation

The case of a 62-year old man diagnosed with radiation-induced meningioma (RIM) after treatment for astrocytoma with an unusually short latency period of 7 months is reported. The patient first presented with a 2-month history of memory decline. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a tumour in the left parieto-temporal lobe. Gross total resection was performed and the tumour was confirmed to be an astrocytoma. The patient received cranial radiotherapy 2 weeks later, however 7 months after radiation treatment the patient presented with headache and vomiting. MRI showed massive meningeal enhancement in the left frontal lobe, which progressively enlarged. The patient's clinical condition deteriorated and a second craniotomy was performed with complete removal of the secondary tumour, which was shown to be a malignant meningioma. Immunohistochemical staining identified CD133-positive cells in both tumours. A rare fraction of brain tumour stem cells (BTSC) was isolated from the primary astrocytoma using a serum-free culture system, suggesting that BTSC may have been involved in the rapid emergence of RIM after resection and radiation of the primary astrocytoma.