Giant dumbbell-shaped prostatic cystadenoma presenting as pelvic and scrotal mass.

This study reports the case of an elderly man with a large tumour of the pelvic cavity and scrotum which was once diagnosed as a prostate cyst. Imaging studies considered the source of the tumour to be prostate, and the tumour was ultimately diagnosed by confirmed tissue expression of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostate acid phosphatase (PSAP) after surgery. This is the first report about dumbbell-shaped prostatic cystadenoma with invasive growth and even urethral damage, but there was no evidence of clear malignancy. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial in such kinds of diseases.

Progress on the autophagic regulators and receptors in plants.

Autophagy is an evolutionarily highly conserved catabolic pathway among eukaryotic cells that protects the organisms against environmental stress. Normally, autophagy is mainly involved with autophagy-related proteins(ATGs) and autophagic regulators including a series of cytoplasmic proteins and small molecules. Besides, the selective autophagy, which targets damaged organalles or protein aggregates, is mediated by the additional receptors to help the ATGs recognize different substrates. In this review, we summarize recent advances in autophagic regulators like ROS(Reactive oxygen species), TOR(Target of rapamycin) and receptors like NBR1(Neighbor of BRCA1 gene protein), RPN10(Regulatory particle non-ATPase 10) as well as their functional mechanisms mainly in Arabidopsis thaliana.

SUMO4 small interfering RNA attenuates invasion and migration via the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Small ubiquitin-like modifier 4 (SUMO4) is the latest member of the sumoylation family, which enhances the stability of protein, regulates the distribution and localization of the protein, and affects the transcription activity of the protein. However, the role of SUMO4 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not yet been reported. The present study first demonstrated that SUMO4 was upregulated in a number of tissues from patients with NSCLC. Immunohistochemistry was performed to demonstrate the expression level of SUMO4 in lung cancer tumor tissues. Following the transfection, The EMT status and signaling pathway activation regulated by SUMO4-siRNA was assessed by western blotting. The Transwell and wound healing assays were performed to investigate the regulatory effect of SUMO4-siRNA on cell migration and invasion. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was performed to investigate whether SUMO4-siRNA affected the chemosensitivity of the NSCLC cells to cisplatin. Statistical analysis of immunohistochemical results from the tissues showed that the overexpression of SUMO4 was significantly associated with sex, tumor type, history of smoking, T stage and poor prognosis. It was also identified that SUMO4 small interfering RNA attenuated invasion and migration in NSCLC cell lines, as well chemosensitivity to cisplatin via the inhibition of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway. In conclusion, SUMO4 may play an important role in the poor prognosis of patients with NSCLC. The present study indicates that SUMO4 may be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Comparison of cardioprotective effects of salvianolic acid B and benazepril on large myocardial infarction in rats.

In the present study, we compared cardioprotective effects of salvianolic acid B (Sal B) and the angiotension-converting enzyme inhibitor, benazepril, in rats with large myocardial infarction (MI). The large MI was produced by coronary artery ligation for 4 weeks in rats. The rats were divided into the following groups: sham operation; MI; MI + Sal B (100 mg/kg by a gavage, once a day for 4 weeks) and MI + benazepril (1 mg/kg by a gavage, once a day for 4 weeks). Echocardiogram, hemodynamic and hemorheological changes, angiogenesis, infarct size and cardiac remodeling, as well as messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) of vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF) were measured. The following similar effects were observed in MI rats treated with Sal B and benazepril: (1) a marked improvement of echocardiographic, hemodynamic and hemorheological parameters, (2) significant reduction of infarct size, (3) significantly attenuated heart hypertrophy, left ventricular (LV) dilatation and fibrosis. The unique effects of Sal B were: angiogenesis and augmented VEGF expression in the border and remote noninfarcted LV area. These results suggest that Sal B and benazepril exerted beneficial cardioprotective effects. However, Sal B enforced some different modality than benazepril, which might improve myocardial microcirculation by augmenting VEGF expression and promoting angiogenesis besides similar effects to benazepril.

Analysis of YM-216391 biosynthetic gene cluster and improvement of the cyclopeptide production in a heterologous host.

YM-216391, an antitumor natural product, represents a new class of cyclic peptides containing a polyoxazole-thiazole moiety. Herein we describe its gene cluster encoding the biosynthetic paradigm featuring a ribosomally synthesizing precursor peptide followed by a series of novel posttranslational modifications, which include (i) cleavage of both N-terminal leader peptide and C-terminal extension peptide and cyclization in a head-to-tail fashion, (ii) conversion of an L-Ile to D-allo-Ile, and (iii) ß-hydroxylation of Phe by a P450 monooxygenase followed by further heterocyclization and oxidation to form a phenyloxazole moiety. The cluster was heterologously expressed in Streptomyces lividans to bypass difficult genetic manipulation. Deletion of the ymR3 gene, encoding a putative transcriptional regulator, increased the YM-216391 yield about 20-fold higher than the original yields for the heterologous expression of wild-type cluster, which set the stage for further combinatorial biosynthesis.