Analysis of endoscopic and pathological features of 6961 cases of gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) stage and tissue differentiation affect treatment efficacy and prognosis, highlighting the importance of understanding the risk factors that affect these parameters. Therefore, this study analyzed risk factors affecting the GC stage and differentiation and the relationships between the cancer site and the sex and age of the patient. We collected clinical data from 6961 patients with GC, including sex, age, endoscopic lesion location, and pathological differentiation. Patients were grouped based on GC stage (early or advanced), differentiation (well or poorly differentiated), and lesion site (upper stomach [cardia and fundus], middle stomach [gastric body], and lower stomach [gastric antrum]). Differences in sex, age, location, stage, and degree of differentiation were assessed based on these groupings. Univariate analysis revealed that the disease location and differentiation significantly differed based on the GC stage (P < 0.05), whereas sex, age, site, and stage significantly differed based on GC differentiation (P < 0.05). A multivariate analysis confirmed these factors as independent risk factors affecting GC. Moreover, lesion sites significantly differed between sexes (P < 0.05) and among age groups (P < 0.05). Although the effects of family history, lifestyle, and Helicobacter pylori infection status of the patients were not considered, this single-center retrospective study established independent risk factors for GC.Trial registration ChiCTR2200061989.

Prognostic significance of high NPC2 expression in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. The identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets is critical to improve the prognosis. A total of 380 patients with primary gastric cancer from the TCGA database were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. We further evaluated the independent prognostic ability of NPC2 expression for overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) through the Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox analysis. The NPC2 expression was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in gastric cancer. High NPC2 expression was significantly (P < 0.0001) associated with poor OS and poor RFS. The age, stage, radiation therapy, residual tumor, and NPC2 expression showed independent prognostic value for OS. The gender and NPC2 expression showed independent prognostic value for RFS. The higher NPC2 expression was observed in gastric cancer, compared with adjacent normal tissue (P < 0.001), confirmed by the IHC staining. The CCK-8 assay showed that NPC2 knockdown inhibits cell proliferation while NPC2 overexpression promotes cell proliferation (P < 0.05). NPC2 expression may serve as a promising prognostic biomarker for patients with gastric cancer.

Identification and activity of a paralog of cathepsin S from yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) involved in immune response.

Cathepsin S, a papain-like cysteine peptidase, is an important regulator and signaling molecule with diverse biological actions in addition to immune presentation. However, our understanding of its structure and properties remains limited. Herein, a full-length cathepsin Sa from yellow catfish was cloned and named PfCTSSa. It contained 1366 bp, including a 981 bp ORF flanked by a 123 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR) and a 262 bp 3'-UTR. This ORF encoded a 36.5 kD cysteine protease with the deduced amino acid sequence having a 76% sequence identity with Ictalurus punctatus ctssa. Additionally, PfCTSSa was found to be a paralog of cathepsin S since it generated a new cluster with cathepsin Sa in the phylogenic tree. Furthermore, PfCTSSa was found to contain more N-glycosylation sites than cathepsin S. The recombinant PfCTSSa was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and appeared to have the strongest activity at pH 8.5 and 35 °C in a concentration-dependent manner, with activity further affected by metal ions and detergents. Moreover, PfCTSSa mRNA was highly expressed in classic and mucosal immune tissues, although constitutively distributed in all of the examined tissues. Yellow catfish were then challenged with inactivated Aeromonas hydrophila and PfCTSSa was remarkably increased in the head kidney, liver and spleen when compared to the PBS control. Collectively, these results indicate that PfCTSSa is a paralog of cathepsin S and functions in the yellow catfish immune response.