Diagnostic value of LungPoint navigation combined with EBUS-GS & ROSE in peripheral pulmonary nodules.

Background & objectives: Recently, there has been a surge to develop new devices and techniques for the diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions such as the combination of LungPoint navigation and endobronchial ultrasound with a guide sheath (EBUS-GS). The present study aimed to explore the diagnostic value of LungPoint navigation in combination with EBUS-GS and rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) particularly for peripheral pulmonary nodules. Methods: Patients (n=108) with pulmonary nodules (10 mm ≤ nodal diameter ≤30 mm) presenting to Henan Provincial People's Hospital were detected using chest computed tomographic (CT) scanning and bronchoscopy. All patients were evaluated using LungPoint navigation, EBUS-GS and ROSE techniques to evaluate the positive rate of combined diagnosis using the three methods. Results: A total of 108 patients participated in this study and successfully underwent all the three procedures. Of these, 82 patients were accurately diagnosed, making the overall diagnostic rate of 75.9 per cent for combined LungPoint navigation, EBUS-GS, and ROSE analyses. Further subgroup analysis of the diagnostic rate of the three combined techniques were conducted based on the size of the nodules which showed a diagnostic rate of 65.3 per cent for 10 mm ≤ nodule diameter ≤20 mm and 85.7 per cent for 20 mm ≤ nodal diameter ≤30 mm. Of the 108 patients, 85 had solid nodules and 23 had ground-glass nodules; the positive rate of diagnosis of solid nodules was the highest. The patients ultimately were diagnosed with lung cancer with a positive rate of 83.5 per cent. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predicted values for ROSE were 90.3, 78.3, 84.8 and 83.6 per cent, respectively. Interpretation & conclusions: The combined use of the three techniques can effectively shorten the duration of the total diagnosis period and improve the safety of diagnosis without affecting the detection rate.

[Effect of trichostatin A and paclitaxel on the growth and apoptosis of lung adenocarcinoma cell lines].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of trichostatin A (TSA)/paclitaxel on the growth and apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 cells. METHODS: Human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells were cultured in DMEM in the presence of paclitaxel and the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A, and the growth curve was obtained by trypan-blue exclusion assay and cell count. Apoptosis was assessed using Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry, and cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry analysis. The proteins of PARP, caspase-3, survivin and tubulin acetylation were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: Significant growth reduction was observed in the A549 cells following treatment with paclitaxel or the histone deacetylase inhibitor TSA. The combined treatment with TSA/paclitaxel caused the highest inhibition of cell growth. The apoptosis rate of A549 cells treated with TSA or paclitaxel for 24 hours was (17.6 ± 1.8)% and (39.2 ± 3.7)%, respectively, but a significantly higher apoptosis rate was (64.2 ± 4.2)% was induced by combined treatment with TSA and paclitaxel. In contrast with the control group, the cell cycle was markedly arrested at G2/M phase in the TSA and paclitaxel group (P < 0.05). The Western blot analysis demonstrated that treatment with TSA/paclitaxel led to a synergistic increase of acetylated tubulin, PARP and caspase-3, and reduced the expression of survivin. CONCLUSION: TSA or paclitaxel alone can inhibit the cell growth and induce apoptosis, and the combination of TSA and paclitaxel exerts a synergistic effect on the growth and apoptosis in lung adenocarcinoma cells.

Value of virtual bronchoscopic navigation and transbronchial ultrasound-guided sheath-guided exploration in diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral lung cancer poses a substantial harm to human health, and it is easy to become exacerbated, potentially threatening the life and safety of patients. AIM: To assess the value of virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN) combined with transbronchial ultrasound-guided sheath-guided (EBUS-GS) exploration in the diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 236 patients with peripheral lung cancer (nodule diameter range, 8-30 mm; diagnosed using high-resolution computed tomography) were selected from three centers between October 2018 and December 2019. Patients who underwent EBUS-GS exploration alone were included in a control group, and those who received VBN in combination with EBUS-GS exploration were included in an observation group. The diagnostic rate and total operating time of different subgroups of the two groups were compared, and the time needed to determine the lesion was recorded. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in diagnosis rate or total operation time between the two groups (P > 0.05), and the time needed to determine the lesion in the observation group was less than that of the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The combined use of VBN and EBUS-GS exploration technology has little effect on the diagnosis rate and total operation time of peripheral lung cancer, but it significantly shortens the time needed to determine the lesion and is a valuable diagnostic method.

Protein expression shift and potential diagnostic markers through proteomics profiling of tuberculous pleurisy biopsy tissues.

OBJECTIVES: Tuberculous pleurisy is a common type of tuberculosis (TB), but its diagnosis is challenging. This study aimed to profile the protein expression of this disease and identify new diagnostic makers. METHODS: Biopsy tissues from patients with tuberculous pleurisy and controls were taken through thoracoscopy, and proteins were extracted for Tandem Mass Tag Mass Spectrometry. Differential protein expression was performed between patients and controls, and the identified proteins were analyzed for pathway enrichment. Selected proteins were further validated in another set of samples using a more quantitative method. RESULTS: A total of 5101 proteins were detected and quantified in a discovery set of patients and controls. Overall protein expression was quite different between patients and controls. Most proteins were down-expressed, while a minority were overly expressed in the patient samples. At p value < 0.05 and absolute fold change >2, 295 proteins were found to be up-expressed and 608 down-expressed. The top enriched pathways included ECM-receptor interaction, complement and coagulation cascades and focal adhesion. All 19 selected candidates were validated in an independent set of patient and control samples. CONCLUSION: This unbiased proteomics approach not only provided unique insights into protein expression and pathways, but also discovered potential diagnostic markers for tuberculous pleurisy.

STAT3-induced long noncoding RNA LINC00668 promotes migration and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer via the miR-193a/KLF7 axis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to play significant roles in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression. Recently, a newly identified lncRNA, LncRNA LINC00668 (LINC00668), was reported to be involved in the regulation of progression of several tumors. However, the expression pattern and biological function of LINC00668 in NSCLC remains largely unclear. In this study, we found that LINC00668 expression was significantly up-regulated in both NSCLC tissues and cell lines. we also showed that LINC00668 upregulation was induced by transcription factor STAT3. Clinical investigation demonstrated that high expression level of LINC00668 was associated with advanced TNM stage, histological grade and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, multivariate analysis confirmed LINC00668 expression level to be an independent prognostic indicator for overall survival of NSCLC patients. Functional assays indicated that knockdown of LINC00668 suppressed NSCLC cells proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted apoptosis. Mechanistic studies indicated that LINC00668 is a direct target of miR-193a, leading to down-regulation in the expression of its target gene KLF7. Our findings suggested that STAT3-induced LINC00668 contributed to NSCLC progression through upregulating KLF7 expression by sponging miR-193a, and may serve as a prognostic biomarker and a potential target for NSCLC.

Effect of trichostatin A and paclitaxel on the proliferation and apoptosis of lung adenocarcinoma cells.

BACKGROUND: Histone deacetylase inhibitors can regulate gene expression through modulation of the degree of acetylation of histone and non-histone, thus affecting cell proliferation, survival and chemosensitivity. Histone deacetylase inhibitors combined with paclitaxel may enhance the inhibitory effect of drugs on lung cancer cells. This study aimed to observe the effect of trichostatin A (TSA)/paclitaxel on the proliferation and apoptosis in human A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells, and to investigate its mechanism. METHODS: A549 cells were cultured in Dulbecco modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) in the presence of paclitaxel and the histone deacetylase inhibitor TSA, and the growth curve was obtained by trypan-blue exclusion assay and cell count. Apoptosis was assessed using Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry analysis, and cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry analysis. The proteins poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), caspase-3, survivin, and tubulin acetylation were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: A significant reduction of proliferation was observed in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells treated by paclitaxel or TSA. Combined treatment with TSA/paclitaxel caused the greatest inhibition of cell proliferation. The combined treatment with TSA and paclitaxel induced more severe apoptosis, and significantly more cells were arrested in G2/M phase (P < 0.05) then with a single drug. Using Western blotting, we demonstrated that treatment with TSA/paclitaxel led to synergistic increase in acetylated tubulin, PARP, caspase-3, and reduced the expression of survivin. CONCLUSION: TSA and paclitaxel have a synergistic activity that can inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis.

Histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A enhances anti-tumor effects of docetaxel or erlotinib in A549 cell line.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors represent a promising class of potential anticancer agents for treatment of human malignancies. In this study, we investigated the effect of trichostatin A (TSA), one such HDAC inhibitor, in combination with docetaxel (TXT), a cytotoxic chemotherapy agent or erlotinib, a novel molecular target therapy drug, on lung cancer A549 cells. METHODS: A549 cells were treated with TXT, erlotinib alone or in combination with TSA, respectively. Cell viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle distribution were evaluated using MTT (3- (4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, Hochst33258 staining and flow cytometry. Moreover, immunofluorescent staining and Western blot analysis were employed to examine alterations of α-tubulin, heat shock protein 90 (hsp90), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and caspase-3 in response to the different exogenous stimuli. RESULTS: Compared with single-agent treatment, co-treatment of A549 cells with TSA/TXT or TSA/erlotinib synergistically inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, and caused cell cycle delay at the G2/M transition. Treatment with TSA/TXT or TSA/erlotinib led to a significant increase of cleaved caspase-3 expression, also resulting in elevated acetylation of α-tubulin or hsp90 and decreased expression of EGFR, which was negatively associated with the level of acetylated hsp90. CONCLUSIONS: Synergistic anti-tumor effects are observed between TXT or erlotinib and TSA on lung cancer cells. Such combinations may provide a more effective strategy for treating human lung cancer.