Both Talin-1 and Talin-2 correlate with malignancy potential of the human hepatocellular carcinoma MHCC-97 L cell.

BACKGROUND: Talin-1 (TLN-1) and TLN-2 are implicated in many cellular processes, but their roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. This study aimed to assess cell cycle distribution, anoikis, invasion and migration in human HCC MHCC-97 L cells. METHODS: MHCC-97 L cells, which highly express TLN-1, were transduced with TLN-1 shRNA (experimental group) or scramble shRNA (negative control group); non-transduced MHCC-97 L cells were used as blank controls. TLN-1 and TLN-2 mRNA and protein levels were detected by real-time RT-PCR and western blot, respectively. Then, cell cycle distribution and anoikis were assessed by flow cytometry. In addition, migration and invasion abilities were assessed using Transwell and cell scratch assays. Finally, a xenograft nude mouse model was established to further assess cell tumorigenicity. RESULTS: Compared with the blank and negative control groups, TLN-1/2 mRNA and protein levels were significantly reduced in the experiment group. TLN-1/2 knockdown cells showed significantly more cells in the G0/G1 phase (79.24%) in comparison with both blank (65.36%) and negative (62.69%) control groups; conversely, less cells were found in G2/M and S phases in the experimental group compared with controls. Moreover, anoikis was enhanced (P < 0.05), while invasion and migration abilities were reduced (P < 0.05) in TLN-1/2 knockdown cells compared with controls. TLN-1/2 knockdown inhibited MHCC-97 L cell migration (Percentage of wound healing area: experimental group: 32.6 ± 0.7% vs. negative controls: 50.1 ± 0.6% and blank controls: 53.6 ± 0.6%, both P < 0.01). Finally, the tumors obtained with TLN-1/2 knockdown cells were smaller (P < 0.05) compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Both TLN-1 and TLN-2 levels correlate with tumorigenicity in human HCC, indicating that these molecules constitute important molecular targets for the diagnosis and/or treatment of HCC.

Propensity score matching study of 325 patients with spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: This study aims to find out the possible optimal therapy and assess the prognosis properly for patient with spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to study the data from 325 patients with ruptured HCC (RHCC) and 2,291 patients with non-RHCC. Results: The incidence and hospital mortality of RHCC were 5.1% and 0.8% respectively, with a median overall survival (OS) time of 17 months. There was no difference between ruptured and non-RHCC patients undergoing conservation treatment in terms of OS. Trans-arterial embolization (TAE) was carried out in 69 (21.2%) cases with RHCC, with a median OS of 7 months, which was no difference from that of non-RHCC (pre- and post-PSM). One hundred and sixty-nine (52.0%) RHCC cases underwent one-stage hepatectomy, with a median OS and disease-free survival (DFS) of 30 and 6 months respectively, which were shorter than that of non-RHCC (post-PSM). TAE plus two-stage hepatectomy was performed in 30 RHCC cases, with a median OS and DFS of 28 and 10 months respectively; these outcomes were better than that from RHCC patients undergoing TAE alone or one-stage hepatectomy (post-PSM), which were no difference from that of non-RHCC patients undergoing hepatectomy. The risk of death for RHCC patient undergoing one-stage hepatectomy is 1.545 times higher than that of one undergoing TAE + two-stage hepatectomy. Conclusions: TAE plus two-stage hepatectomy might be the optimal treatment for RHCC patient. Under the premise of the same pathological properties, there is no difference in prognosis between ruptured and non-RHCC patients if the therapy is appropriate.

Distorted magnetic orders and electronic structures of tetragonal FeSe from first principles.

We use the state-of-the-art density-functional-theory method to study various magnetic orders and their effects on the electronic structures of FeSe. Our calculated results show that, for the spins of the single Fe layer, the striped antiferromagnetic orders with distortion are more favorable in total energy than the checkerboard antiferromagnetic orders with tetragonal symmetry, which is consistent with known experimental data, and the interlayer magnetic interaction is very weak. We investigate the electronic structures and magnetic property of the distorted phases. We also present our calculated spin coupling constants and discuss the reduction of the Fe magnetic moment by quantum many-body effects. These results are useful in understanding the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of FeSe, and may have some helpful implications for other FeAs-based materials.

Two-speed phase dynamics in the si(111) (7 x7)-(1 x 1) phase transition.

We propose a natural two-speed model for the phase dynamics of Si(111) 7 x 7 phase transition to high-temperature unreconstructed phase. We formulate the phase dynamics by using phase-field method and adaptive mesh refinement. Our simulated results show that a 7 x 7 island decays with its shape kept unchanged, and its area decay rate is shown to be a constant increasing with its initial area. Low-energy electron microscopy experiments concerned are explained, which confirms that the dimer chains and corner holes are broken first in the transition, and then the stacking fault is remedied slowly. This phase-field method is a reliable approach to phase dynamics of surface phase transitions.