High Expression of CCDC34 Is Associated with Poor Survival in Cervical Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND The present study explored the expression of coiled-coil domain-containing 34 (CCDC34) in cervical cancer (CC) and its prognostic value. MATERIAL AND METHODS GEPIA and Oncomine cancer databases were mined to predict the CCDC34 differential expression level between a CC group and a normal group. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the CCDC34 expression in 67 CC and corresponding adjacent tissues. CD31 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were stained to reflect tumor angiogenesis in 67 CC tissues. Kaplan-Meier univariate and Cox multivariate survival analysis were done to evaluate the correlation between CCDC34 expression and prognosis of CC patients. RESULTS Both GEPIA and Oncomine cancer databases mining results revealed that CCDC34 was more highly expressed in the CC group than in the normal group (all P<0.05). Our immunochemical staining data showed that CCDC34 expression was dramatically higher in CC than in adjacent normal tissues (71.6 vs. 20.9%; P<0.001). High expression of CCDC34 was strongly associated with histological grade (P=0.022), lymph node metastasis (P=0.044), and FIGO stage (P=0.002). Furthermore, patients with CCDC34-positive expression had much more MVD than those with CCDC34-negative expression (P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that CCDC34-positive expression was associated with worse overall survival (OS) (P=0.004) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P=0.005). Additionally, Cox multivariate analysis revealed that CCDC34 was an independent unfavorable prognostic parameter of DFS and OS (P=0.040 and 0.039, respectively). CONCLUSIONS High expression of CCDC34 is an independent unfavorable prognostic parameter for OS and DFS of CC patients, which was strongly associated with tumor angiogenesis.

The expression of CD86 in CD3+CD56+ NKT cells is associated with the occurrence and prognosis of sepsis-associated encephalopathy in sepsis patients: a prospective observational cohort study.

The role of CD3+CD56+ natural killer T (NKT) cells and its co-signaling molecules in patients with sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is unknown. In this prospective observational cohort study, we initially recruited 260 septic patients and eventually analyzed 90 patients, of whom 57 were in the SAE group and 37 were in the non-SAE group. Compared to the non-SAE group, 28-day mortality was significantly increased in the SAE group (33.3% vs. 12.1%, p = 0.026), while the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD86 in CD3+CD56+ NKT cells was significantly lower (2065.8 (1625.5 ~ 3198.8) vs. 3117.8 (2278.1 ~ 5349), p = 0.007). Multivariate analysis showed that MFI of CD86 in NKT cells, APACHE II score, and serum albumin were independent risk factors for SAE. Furthermore, the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that the mortality rate was significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group (χ2 = 14.779, p < 0.001). This study showed that the decreased expression of CD86 in CD3+CD56+ NKT cells is an independent risk factor of SAE; thus, a prediction model including MFI of CD86 in NKT cells, APACHE II score, and serum albumin can be constructed for diagnosing SAE and predicting prognosis.

Paclitaxel induces apoptosis through the TAK1-JNK activation pathway.

Paclitaxel (PTX) has previously been used to treat tumours of various tissue origins, such as lung, breast, ovarian, prostate cancers and leukemia. PTX-induced apoptosis is associated with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase or stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/ SAPK) pathways. Transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) and TAK1-binding protein 1 (TAB1) play an important role in cell apoptosis through the p38, ERK, NF-κB and JNK signal transduction pathways. To investigate the role of TAK1 in PTX-induced cell apoptosis, we treated HEK293 and 8305C cells with 0-20 µM PTX for 6, 12 or 24 h. To investigate whether TAK1 can cooperate with PTX for cancer treatment, we transfected cells with TAK1, TAB1 or control plasmid and treated them with PTX (3-10 µM) for 9-24 h. Apoptosis rates were analysed by flow cytometry (Annexin V/PI). Endogenous TAK1 and TAB1, caspase-7 cleavage, poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage, Bcl-xL level, phospho-p44/42, phospho-JNK and phospho-p38 were detected by western blot. We show that in HEK293 and 8305C cells, PTX enhanced the endogenous TAK1/TAB1 level and induced cell apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Upon TAK1 overexpression in HEK293 cells treated with PTX, apoptosis rate, JNK phosphorylation and PARP cleavage increased contrary to heat-shocked or untreated cells. CRISPR editing of the tak1 gene upon PTX treatment resulted in lower phospho-JNK and PARP cleavage levels than in cells transfected with the control or the TAK1- or TAB1 + TAK1-containing plasmids. TAK1-K63A could not induce JNK phosphorylation or PARP cleavage. We conclude that PTX induces HEK293 and 8305C cell apoptosis through the TAK1-JNK activation pathway, potentially highlighting TAK1's role in chemosensitivity.

[Effect of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome on apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of vascular endothelial cell injury in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected early in the morning from 20 normal persons, 21 patients with mild OSAHS, 24 patients with moderate OSAHS, and 20 patients with severe OSAHS according to the results of polysomnography (PSG). Mononuclear cells (MNCs) were isolated and co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells of the strain ECV304 for 48 h. The levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 in the supernatant were measured by ELISA, and the apoptosis rate and the protein expression level of Fas of the endothelial cells were detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The TNF-alpha level of the severe OSAHS group was (2.10 +/- 0.60) microg/L, significantly higher than those of the moderate OSAHS, mild OSAHS, and normal control groups [(1.40 +/- 0.50) microg/L, (1.20 +/- 0.30) microg/L, and (0.80 +/- 0.10) microg/L, F = 69.65, P < 0.01]. The IL-6 level of the severe OSAHS group was (64.80 +/- 9.90) microg/L, significantly higher than those of the moderate OSAHS, mild OSAHS, and normal control groups [(46.90 +/- 10.80) microg/L, (49.60 +/- 2.80) microg/L, and (23.50 +/- 6.50) microg/L, F = 182.83, P < 0.01]. The TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels of the severe OSAHS group were both significantly higher than those of the moderate and mild OSAHS groups (both P < 0.01). However, there was no significant differences in the TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels between the mild and moderate OSAHS groups (both P > 0.05). The apoptosis rates of endothelial cells in the severe and moderate OSAHS groups were 19.6% +/- 3.8% and 19.3% +/- 6.3% respectively, both significantly higher than those of the mild OSAHS and control groups (9.2% +/- 3.0% and 8.3% +/- 3.2% (both P < 0.01) whereas there were no significant differences between the mild OSAHS group and control group and between the moderate OSAHS group and severe group (both P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the protein level of Fas expressed in the endothelial cells between the OSAHS patients and the controls (all P > 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the apoptosis rate of endothelial cells and AHI (r = 0.589 13, P = 0.0106), and a significant negative correlation between the apoptosis rate and the minimum oxygen saturation (r = -0.507 37, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: MNCs may play an important role in vascular endothelial cell injury in the OSAHS patients, and may be associated closely with the severity of the OSAHS and night hypoxemia.

[Detection of NK and NKT cells in peripheral blood of patients with cGVHD and its significance].

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of NK and NKT cells in peripheral blood of patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). 64 patients undergoing allo-HSCT in Guangdong Provincial People Hospital were studied retrospectively. Among 64 cases, 21 cases were did not develop with cGVHD, 43 cases (mild 15, moderate 18, severe 10) were recorded with cGVHD. The frequency of NK and NKT cells in peripheral blood of patients were measured by flow cytometry. The counts of NK and NKT cells were measured by automatic five sort hematology cyto-analyser (LH-750). The frequency and counts of NK and NKT cells between patients with non-cGVHD and patients with different status of cGVHD were analysed. The results indicated that as compared with the non-cGVHD patients, the frequency and counts of NK cells in patients with cGVHD obviously reduced (P < 0.05), the frequency and count of NKT cells were did not changed significantly. The frequency and counts of NK cells gradually decreased within the different status of cGVHD, the frequency and counts of NK cells in severe-cGVHD were significantly lower than that in mild-cGVHD. It is concluded that NK cells may play an important role in the incidence and development of cGVHD. The detection of frequency and counts of NK cells should be helpful to early diagnose cGVHD and provide valuable clues for assessing the severity of illnesses. NKT cells may have little effect on the incidence and development of cGVHD.

[Cytokine expression of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells induced by different stimuli under different culture conditions].

AIM: To investigate the effect of different stimuli and different culture conditions on the cytokine expression of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. METHODS: PBMCs were isolated from normal human peripheral blood and cultured with three kinds of stimuli (PHA, anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs, PMA and ionomycin) under four different culture conditions (room temperature, 37 degrees C water bath, 37 degrees C incubator, 37 degrees C and 50 mL/L CO2 incubator) for 4.5 ~ 5 h and intracellular cytokines (IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha) in T cells were assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). RESULTS: Cytokine expression of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells varied when treated with different stimuli under different conditions. PMA had the strongest stimulative effect on cytokine expression of PBMC, while the effect of anti-CD3 mAb was weaker, and that of PHA was the weakest. Different culture conditions did not greatly change the cytokine expression profile of T cells (P>0.05) except that there were very few cytokine producing cells when PBMCs were cultured at room temperature. CONCLUSION: Anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs, PMA and ionomycin are recommended for the stimulation of PBMCs and detection of intracellular cytokine using FCM. Culture temperature but not the concentration of CO2 is the most important factor during the short term T cell stimulation.

[Immunophenotypic features of acute myeloid leukemia with AML-1/ETO fusion gene].

AML-1/ETO fusion gene is the frequent genetic lesion described in FBA M(2) type acute myeloid leukemia (AML-M(2)) and is associated with a favourable prognosis. In spite of its potential clinical relevance, this subtype leukemia usually would be undetected with conventional cytology procedures, and easily confused with acute promyelocyte leukemia (APL) in morphology. In order to investigate the immunophenotypic characteristics of bone marrow cells in AML-M(2) patients with AML-ETO gene rearrangement classified by FAB, immunophenotype of bone marrow cells in 17 AML-M(2) patients with AML-1/ETO(+) confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization was analyzed by using flow cytometry as compared with immunophenotype in 34 APL patients with AML-1/ETO(-). The results showed that population of blast cells (15.89% - 68.53%) and population of more heterogeneous myeloid cells were detected with right-angle scatter in 17 patients with AML-1/ETO(+), i.e. AML-M(2) by FAB classification. The blast cells expressed stem cell associated antigens CD34, HLA-DR and myeloid antigens CD33, CD13, MPO. The mean fluorescent intensity of CD33 in M(2)/ETO(+) patients was significantly lower than that in APL patients (121 +/- 92 vs 845 +/- 523, P<0.001), meanwhile positive expression rates of HLA-DR, CD19 and CD34(+)CD56(+) in M(2)/ETO(+) patients were significantly higher than that in APL patients (100%, 88.24%, 100% vs 27.27%, 8.82%, 0%, P<0.001), expression rate of CD9 in M(2)/ETO(+) patients was significantly lower than that in APL patients (P<0.001). In patients with M(2)/ETO(+) (AML-M(2)), the pattern of CD15/CD11b expression was seen as granulocytic differentiation with immature events showing CD15(+)CD11b(-) and more mature CD15(+)CD11b(+) populations, the expression of mature granulocytes CD10 was negative and similar to APL in expression figure. The granulocytes expressed CD56 in 17 patients with M(2)/ETO(+) (17/17, 100%) and its expression rate was significantly higher than that in patients with M(3) (6/34, 17.56%). It is concluded that AML-M(2) with AML-1/ETO gene rearrangement was confirmed to express an exclusive immunophenotype that shows highly predictive value for the cytogenetic pattern, and the multiparametric flow cytometry with FISH provides a technical approach to easily distinguish leukemia subtype M(2)/ETO(+) from APL.