Performance Evaluation of Mindray SAL 8000: a New Integrated Clinical Chemistry and Immunoassay Analyzer System.

BACKGROUND: The Mindray SAL 8000 is an integrated serum analyzer for photometric, electrochemical, and im-munological assays. The technical, analytical, and workflow performance of the system were evaluated in this study. METHODS: The technical evaluation was performed using protocols adopted from the guidelines of the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). The precision, linearity, interference, and method comparison were carried out according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) protocols. The verification of carryover and turnaround time were conducted using specimens containing different analytes. RESULTS: The technical performance was acceptable for all evaluated aspects. The repeatability and within-labora-tory coefficients of variation (CVs) ranged between 0.22% and 4.23% for routine chemistry and between 1.05% and 6.89% for immunochemistry, respectively. All evaluated analytes exhibited linearity over the ranges claimed by the manufacturer. Significant interferences were observed during low concentration TBIL and P measure-ments due to the presence of lipemia. Method comparisons showed good agreement with the comparison systems and with the correlation coefficients ≥ 0.988 except for anti-HBs (r = 0.812). No significant intra-module and inter-module carryovers were detected. For all the 1,220 samples, 25%, 54%, 63%, 79%, 91%, and 100% samples com-pleted analysis in 16.3 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes, 180 minutes, and 320 minutes, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Mindray SAL 8000 integrated system achieved optimal technical performance and met most of the criteria regarding analytical performance. The workflow study of the system met the turnaround time (TAT) requirements of laboratories. Therefore, it is a good candidate to be used in medium and large-sized laboratories.

PKCζ in prostate cancer cells represses the recruitment and M2 polarization of macrophages in the prostate cancer microenvironment.

Tumor-associated macrophages are key regulators of the complex interplay between tumor and tumor microenvironment. M2 Macrophages, one type of tumor-associated macrophages, are involved in prostate cancer growth and progression. Protein kinase C zeta has been shown to suppress prostate cancer cell growth, invasion, and metastasis as a tumor suppressor; however, its role in chemotaxis and activation of tumor-associated macrophages remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of protein kinase C zeta of prostate cancer cells in regulation of macrophage chemotaxis and M2 phenotype activation. Immunohistochemistry was performed to analyze the expression of protein kinase C zeta and the number of CD206+ M2 macrophages in human prostate tissue. Macrophage chemotaxis and polarization were examined using Transwell migration assays and a co-culture system. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to detect M2 markers, protein kinase C zeta, interleukin-4, and interleukin-10 expression. We found the expression of protein kinase C zeta increased in prostate cancer tissues, especially in the early stage, and was negatively associated with tumor grade and the number of CD206+ macrophages. Inhibition of protein kinase C zeta expression in prostate cancer cells promoted chemotaxis of peripheral macrophages and acquisition of M2 phenotypic features. These results were further supported by the finding that silencing of endogenous protein kinase C zeta promoted the expression of prostate cancer cell-derived interleukin-4 and interleukin-10. These results suggest that protein kinase C zeta plays an important role in reducing infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages and activation of a pro-tumor M2 phenotype, which may constitute an important mechanism by which protein kinase C zeta represses cancer progression.