Use of a Memokath™ 045 temperature-controlled memory alloy stent for treating upper renal calyx calyceal neck atresia: a case report.

Renal calyceal neck atresia is a rare disorder. There is no clear guidance for standard treatment of this condition. The Memokath™ 045 temperature-controlled memory alloy stent is commonly used in the treatment of urethral strictures, but it has not been used for treating calyceal neck atresia. We present a case of a 44-year-old female patient with left lumbar pain who underwent two stages of treatment to resolve calyceal neck atresia located at the upper calyx of her left kidney. The first procedure was transurethral ureteroscopy combined with percutaneous recanalization of the left upper calyx calyceal neck atresia. One 6 F internal stent and one 8 F internal stent were placed, and she was discharged with a left nephrostomy tube. After her urinary tract infection was fully resolved, the patient returned for the second procedure of percutaneous upper renal calyx calyceal neck metal stent implantation. The temporary stents and nephrostomy tube were successfully removed. Our findings suggest that the Memokath™ 045 temperature-controlled memory alloy stent is an effective choice for treating calyceal neck atresia.

Risk factors for migration of retrievable covered expandable metallic stent in patients with persistent benign ureter strictures.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and salvage management of retrievable covered expandable metallic stent (RCEMS) migration in patients with persistent benign ureter strictures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on 117 consecutive patients who underwent implantation of RCEMS. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify prognostic factors for stent migration, including stricture location and length, hydronephrosis-cortex ratio, ureteral dilation, and the diameter of the narrowest portion of the stricture. RESULTS: Stent migration occurred in 22 (19.5%) of 113 patients who met inclusion criteria. Of the 22 patients, 16 (72.7%) had ordinary ureteral stricture, 3 (13.6%) had stricture in transplanted kidneys, and 3 patients (13.6%) had ureter stricture in orthotopic neobladders. The mean creatinine for the entire cohorts showed significant improvement (p = 0.038). Multivariate analysis identified the following prognostic factors for migration: distal ureteral stricture (p = 0.006), patients who underwent balloon dilation (p = 0.003), hydronephrosis-cortex ratio ≧10 (p = 0.017), larger diameter of wasting of RCEMS (p < 0.001), and patients with a shorter stricture length (p = 0.006). Salvage management was required in 4 of the 22 patients. The strictures in the remaining 18 patients improved with observation. CONCLUSIONS: Stent migration is more likely to occur in patients with the five prognostic factors mentioned above. Our study developed a nomogram to predict stent migration in patients with ureteral strictures treated using RCEMS.

Screening and anti-glioma activity of Chiloscyllium plagiosum anti-human IL-13Rα2 single-domain antibody.

Glioblastoma is a common and fatal malignant tumour of the central nervous system, with high invasiveness. Conventional treatments for this disease, including comprehensive treatment of surgical resection combined with chemoradiotherapy, are ineffective, with low survival rate and extremely poor prognosis. Targeted therapy is promising in overcoming the difficulties in brain tumour treatment and IL-13Rα2 is a widely watched target. The development of new therapies for glioma, however, is challenged by factors, such as the unique location and immune microenvironment of gliomas. The unique advantages of single-domain antibodies (sdAbs) may provide a novel potential treatment for brain tumours. In this study, Chiloscyllium plagiosum was immunized with recombinant IL-13Rα2 protein to produce sdAb and sdAb sequences were screened by multi-omics. The targeted sdAb genes obtained were efficiently expressed in the Escherichia coli prokaryotic expression system, showing a significant binding capacity to IL-13Rα2 in vitro. The cell proliferation and migration inhibitory effects of recombinant variable domain of the new antigen receptor (VNAR) on glioma cells were detected by CCK-8 and cell scratch assays. The sdAb obtained in this study showed high in vitro activity and favourable cell proliferation inhibitory effect on glioma cells, with potential clinical application value. The present study also provides a new direction and experimental basis for the development of targeted therapies for glioma.

[Bioinformatics-based identification of the key genes associated with prostate cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the key genes associated with the pathogenesis of PCa using the bioinformatics approach for a deeper insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of PCa. METHODS: The microarray datasets GSE70770, GSE32571 and GSE46602 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and differentially expressed genes (DEG) in the normal prostate tissue and PCa were identified with the GEO2R tool, followed by functional enrichment analysis. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was constructed by STRING and visualized with the Cytoscape software. RESULTS: A total of 235 DEGs were identified, including 61 up-regulated and 174 down-regulated genes, which were mainly enriched in focal adhesion kinase (FAK), ECM-receptor interaction, and other signaling pathways. From the PPI network were screened out 12 highly connected hub genes, including MYH11, TPM1, TPM2, SMTN, MYL9, VCL, ACTG1, CNN1, CALD1, ACTC1, MYLK and SORBS1, which were shown by hierarchical cluster analysis to be capable of distinguishing prostate cancer from non-cancer tissue. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 235 DEGs and 12 hub genes were identified in this study, which may contribute to a further understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the development and progression of PCa, and provide new candidate targets for the diagnosis and treatment of the malignancy.

The tuberous sclerosis complex-associated giant renal angiomyolipoma: A case report.

Renal angiomyolipoma (RAML), also referred to as renal hamartoma, is a rare benign tumor. There are two types of RAML, which include the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)-associated type and the sporadic type. TSC is an autosomal dominant genetic disease characterized by the growth of benign tumors in the skin, brain, kidneys, lung and heart. TSC leads to organ dysfunction, as the normal parenchyma is replaced by a variety of cell types. The current study presents a case of giant RAML in a 20-year-old female, who was hospitalized for epileptic seizures. Large abdominal lesions were detected during hospitalization. Subsequently, she underwent open mass resection and right kidney partial resection. Postoperative pathological examination confirmed that the mass was angiomyolipoma.

Mitochondrial E3 ubiquitin ligase 1 promotes autophagy flux to suppress the development of clear cell renal cell carcinomas.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the urinary system. Surgical intervention is the preferred treatment for ccRCC, but targeted biological therapy is required for postoperative recurrent or metastatic ccRCC. Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system for misfolded/aggregated proteins and dysfunctional organelles. Defective autophagy is associated with many diseases. Mul1 is a mitochondrion-associated E3 ubiquitin ligase and involved in the regulation of divergent pathophysiological processes such as mitochondrial dynamics, and thus affects the development of various diseases including cancers. Whether Mul1 regulates ccRCC development and what is the mechanism remain unclear. Histochemical staining and immunoblotting were used to analyze the levels of Mul1 protein in human renal tissues. Statistical analysis of information associated with tissue microarray and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was conducted to show the relationship between Mul1 expression and clinical features and survival of ccRCC patients. Impact of Mul1 on rates of cell growth and migration and autophagy flux were tested in cultured cancer cells. Herein we show that Mul1 promoted autophagy flux to facilitate the degradation of P62-associated protein aggresomes and adipose differentiation-related protein (ADFP)-associated lipid droplets and suppressed the growth and migration of ccRCC cells. Levels of Mul1 protein and mRNA were significantly reduced so that autophagy flux was likely blocked in ccRCC tissues, which is potentially correlated with enhancement of malignancy of ccRCC and impairment of patient survival. Therefore, Mul1 may promote autophagy to suppress the development of ccRCC.