Improved stabilization of coix seed oil in a nanocage-coating framework based on gliadin-carboxymethyl chitosan-Ca2.

Coix seed oil (CSO) is easily suffered functional-loss by oxidation and hydrothermal-treatment. The environmental stable nanocage-coating-CSO particles (OGC-Ca) by the frameworks consist of gliadins, carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and Ca2+ were investigated. Results showed Ca2+ was the key controller for fabricating this nanocage-coating-frameworks, bridging macromolecule-chains with electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonds, detected by FTIR, CD, DSC and XRD. SEM displayed new-formed velvet-like twigs after cross-linking CMCS to gliadins. Ca2+ assisted the nanocage-coating by significant down-sizing conversion OGC to OGC-Ca with consumption of twigs. OGC-Ca displayed a good stability towards heat (60-80 °C, 0-80 min), pH (3-8), NaCl (0-0.5 mM), storage (4/25 °C, 12 days), and a reduce of the pre-oxidation value of CSO in water and the improved controlled release of CSO in simulated GI tract. It illustrated GC-Ca frameworks would be a suitable delivery carrier for the CSO like pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals for the food or medical use.

Comparison of Three Magnetization Transfer Ratio Parameters for Assessment of Intestinal Fibrosis in Patients with Crohn's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: To establish a novel standardized magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) parameter which considers the element of the normal bowel wall and to compare the efficacy of the MTR, normalized MTR, and standardized MTR in evaluating intestinal fibrosis in Crohn's disease (CD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Abdominal magnetization transfer imaging from 20 consecutive CD patients were analyzed before performing elective operations. MTR parameters were calculated by delineating regions of interest in specified segments on MTR maps. Specimens with pathologically confirmed bowel fibrosis were classified into one of four severity grades. The correlation between MTR parameters and fibrosis score was tested by Spearman's rank correlation. Differences in MTR, normalized MTR, and standardized MTR across diverse histologic fibrosis scores were analyzed using the independent sample t test or the Mann-Whitney U test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was computed to test the efficacies of the MTR parameters in differentiating severe intestinal fibrosis from mild-to-moderate fibrosis. RESULTS: Normalized (r = 0.700; p < 0.001) and standardized MTR (r = 0.695; p < 0.001) showed a strong correlation with bowel fibrosis scores, followed by MTR (r = 0.590; p < 0.001). Significant differences in MTR (t = -4.470; p < 0.001), normalized MTR (Z = -5.003; p < 0.001), and standardized MTR (Z = -5.133; p < 0.001) were found between mild-to-moderate and severe bowel fibrosis. Standardized MTR (AUC = 0.895; p < 0.001) had the highest accuracy in differentiating severe bowel fibrosis from mild-to-moderate bowel wall fibrosis, followed by normalized MTR (AUC = 0.885; p < 0.001) and MTR (AUC = 0.798; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Standardized MTR is slightly superior to MTR and normalized MTR and therefore may be an optimal parameter for evaluating the severity of intestinal fibrosis in CD.

[Leucine-rich Glioma-inactivated Protein 1 Antibody-associated Encephalitis:Report of Two Cases].

Leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1(LGI1)antibody-associated encephalitis is an autoimmune brain disease mainly seen in mid-aged and elderly people.Its main clinical manifestations include abnormal mental behaviors,facial-arm dystonia,hyponatremia,and hypokalemia.Immunotherapy with gamma globulin and/or hormone is effective.Two patients with LGT1 antibody-associated encephalitis were diagnosed in our center between January 2018 and October 2018,with typical clinical findings.The disease was cursed after immunoglobulin and hormone treatments.

Preparation methods and release kinetics of Litsea cubeba essential oil microcapsules.

In this paper, using ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) as the shell material, LCEO (Litsea cubeba essential oil) microcapsules were prepared by various preparation methods, such as grinding, saturated solution, freeze-drying and spray-drying. The encapsulation yield, encapsulation efficiency, retention rate of the microcapsules and the citral content of the microcapsules were investigated. The surface morphologies of the microcapsules were observed using SEM (Scanning Electronic Microscopy); the entrapment efficiencies of the microcapsules were detected using IR (Infrared Spectrum) analysis; the citral contents of microcapsules were detected by GC (Gas Chromatography) analysis. The highest encapsulation efficiency for the microcapsules was obtained using spray-drying, followed by freeze-drying, saturated aqueous solution and grinding, while the encapsulation yield followed the opposite sequence to the encapsulation efficiency. At a specific storage temperature (15 °C) and humidity (60%), spray-drying had the most satisfactory protective effect on citral in LCEO, followed by freeze-drying and saturated aqueous solution, while the grinding method appeared to provide the worst protective effect. Avrami's model was used to simulate the release rates of the four kinds of microcapsules. The release mechanism parameters of microcapsules prepared by grinding, saturated aqueous solution, freeze-drying and spray-drying were 0.961, 1.096, 1.156 and 0.945, respectively. The release rate constants of microcapsules prepared by grinding, saturated aqueous solution, freeze-drying and spray-drying were 2.53 × 10-2, 2.22 × 10-2, 1.84 × 10-2, and 7.27 × 10-3 d-1, respectively. It was concluded that the release reactions of the microcapsules prepared by grinding or spray-drying lay between the diffusion limiting kinetics and the first-order release kinetics, and the release reactions of the microcapsules prepared by saturated aqueous solution or freeze-drying were larger than the first-order release kinetics.

Overexpression of FXYD-3 is involved in the tumorigenesis and development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of FXYD-3 expression with clinicopathological variables and PINCH in patients with ESCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Expression of FXYD-3 protein was immunohistochemically examined in normal esophageal mucous (n = 20) and ESCC (n = 64). RESULTS: Expression of FXYD-3 in the cytoplasm markedly increased from normal esophageal epithelial cells to primary ESCC (P = 0.001). The expression of FXYD-3 was correlated with TNM stages and depth of tumor invasion. Furthermore, the cases with lymph node metastasis tended to show a higher frequency of positive expression than those without metastasis (P = 0.086), and FXYD-3 expression tended to be positively related to the expression of PINCH (P = 0.063). Moreover, the cases positive for both proteins had the highest frequency of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001). However, FXYD-3 expression was not correlated with patient's gender (P = 0.847), age (P = 0.876), tumor location (P = 0.279), size (P = 0.771), grade of differentiation (P = 0.279), and survival (P = 0.113). CONCLUSION: Overexpression of FXYD-3 in the cytoplasm may play an important role in the tumorigenesis and development in the human ESCC, particularly in combination with PINCH expression.

Expression of FGF4 mRNA is mediated by mating behaviours in mice.

In mammals, breeding is preceded by species-specific mating behaviours. In this study, we investigated whether parthenogenetic embryo quality could be improved by mating behaviours in mice. To investigate this hypothesis, female mice were mated with vasectomized Kunming white male mice after superovulation. Oocytes were collected and counted at 16 h after superovulation. The oocytes were then artificially activated by medium containing 10 mM strontium chloride and 5 µg/ml cytochalasin B. Blastocysts were obtained by cultivating activated oocytes in vitro. Expression levels of reprogramming transcription factors (i.e. Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc) in oocytes, apoptosis-related genes (i.e. Bax, Bcl2 and c-Myc) in cumulus cells and pluripotency-related transcription factors (i.e. Oct4, Nanog and FGF4) in blastocysts were analysed in samples collected from mated and unmated mice. Additionally, developmental competence of parthenogenetic embryos was used to assess following fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) treatment. The results showed that the formation rate of blastocysts in unmated mice was significantly higher than that in mated mice (p < 0.05). Embryo development was primarily blocked at the eight-cell stage in mated mice; however, the blastocyst formation rate did not differ significantly between groups after the addition of 25 ng/ml FGF4 to the medium at the four-cell stage (p > 0.05). Moreover, the expression of the reprogramming factor Sox2 was significantly different in oocytes collected from mated versus unmated mice. Taken together, our results demonstrated that mating behaviours influenced embryonic development in vitro by decreasing FGF4 expression.

Cytoplasmic expression of p33(ING1b) is correlated with tumorigenesis and progression of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

p33(ING1b), a newly discovered candidate tumor suppressor gene and a nuclear protein, belongs to the inhibitor of growth gene family. Previous studies have shown that p33(ING1b) is involved in the restriction of cell growth and proliferation, apoptosis, tumor anchorage-independent growth, cellular senescence, maintenance of genomic stability and modulation of cell cycle checkpoints. Loss of nuclear p33(ING1b) has been observed in melanoma, seminoma, papillary thyroid carcinoma, oral squamous cell carcinoma, breast ductal cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Inactivation and/or decreased expression of p33(ING1b) have been reported in various types of cancer, including head and neck squamous cell, breast, lung, stomach, blood and brain malignancies. Since little is known about the clinicopathological significance of p33(ING1b) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), this study aimed to investigate the association of p33(ING1b) expression with clinicopathological variables and particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH) in patients with ESCC. p33(ING1b) expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in 20 normal esophageal mucosa and in 64 ESCC specimens. The results revealed that the positive expression of p33(ING1b) protein in normal squamous cells was localized in the nucleus alone and the positive rate was 95%, while in ESCCs, the positive expression was mainly in the cytoplasm, together with nuclear expression, and the positive rate was 36% (P<0.0001). Furthermore, the cases with lymph node metastasis showed a higher frequency of positive cytoplasmic expression than those without metastasis (P=0.001). The cytoplasmic expression of p33(ING1b) was positively related to PINCH expression (P<0.0001) in ESCC, and the cases positive for both proteins had a high lymph node metastasis rate (P=0.001). In conclusion, p33(ING1b) cellular compartmental shift from the nucleus to the cytoplasm may cause loss of normal cellular function and play a central role in the tumorigenesis and metastasis of ESCC.

PINCH expression and its clinicopathological significance in gastric adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH) is an important component of the local adhesion complexes and upregulated in several types of malignancies, and involved in the incidence and development of tumours. PINCH expression is also independently correlated with poorer survival in patients with colorectal cancer. However, there is no study of PINCH in gastric cancer, therefore, the aim of this project was to investigate PINCH expression and its clinicopathological significance in gastric adenocarcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: PINCH expression was immunohistochemically examined in normal gastric mucous (n=30) and gastric adenocarcinoma (n=73), from gastric cancer patients. RESULTS: PINCH expression in the associated-stroma of gastric cancers was heterogeneous, and its positive rate (75%) was higher than that of normal gastric mucosa (43%, X^{2} =9.711, p=0.002). The stronger staining was observed at the invasive edge of tumour when compared to the inner area of tumour. The rate of positive PINCH (88%) in the cases with lymph node metastasis was higher than that (52%) in the cases without metastasis (X^{2}=11.151, p=0.001). PINCH expression was not correlated with patients' gender, age, tumour size, differentiation and invasion depth (p> 0.05). COMCLUSION: PINCH protein might play an important role in the tumourigenesis and metastasis of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Overexpression of MAC30 in the cytoplasm of oral squamous cell carcinoma predicts nodal metastasis and poor differentiation.

BACKGROUND: Expression of the meningioma-associated protein (MAC30) was increased in several types of tumors, including esophageal, gastric and colon tumors, compared to normal tissue. MAC30 expression levels gradually increased from normal colorectal mucosa to primary colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer spreading to the lymph nodes. MAC30 expression was related to survival in patients with colorectal cancer. However, there is no study on MAC30 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODS: Therefore, MAC30 expression in OSCC was investigated and possible associations of MAC30 expression with clinicopathological variables in OSCC have been analyzed. MAC30 expression was immunohistochemically examined in 20 normal oral mucosa and 43 OSCC specimens. RESULTS: Expression levels of MAC30 in the cytoplasm markedly increased from normal oral epithelial cells to primary OSCC. Strong cytoplasmic staining was significantly higher in primary OSCC compared to normal oral mucosa samples (51 vs. 20%, p = 0.019). Furthermore, MAC30 expression levels in primary tumors of patients with lymph node metastasis exceeded levels in those without metastasis (65 vs. 35%, p = 0.048), and MAC30 expression in poorly differentiated tumors was higher than in well-differentiated ones (90 vs. 39%, p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Overexpression of MAC30 in the cytoplasm of OSCC may predict nodal metastasis and poor differentiation.

Expression and significance of FXYD-3 protein in gastric adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: FXYD-3, also known as Mat-8, is a member of the FXYD protein family. It was reported that this protein can associate with and modify the transport properties of Na, K-ATPase, and may play an important role in a variety of physiological and pathological states. This protein is up-regulated in certain types of cancers (such as breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer), but down-regulated in other types of cancers (such as colon and kidney cancer). No study has been performed in gastric cancer; therefore, the aim of this project was to investigate FXYD-3 expression and its clinicopathological significance in gastric adenocarcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: FXYD-3 protein was examined by immunohistochemistry in normal gastric mucous (n= 29) and gastric adenocarcinoma (n=51), obtained from surgical resection of gastric cancer patients. RESULTS: FXYD-3 protein was present in the cytoplasm of normal gastric epithelial cells or gastric cancer cells. The rate of FXYD-3 strong expression was significantly higher in cancer (51% of 51) than in normal mucosa (10% of 29, X;{2}=13.210, p < 0.0001). FXYD-3 expressed strongly in ulcerative/infiltrating types of cancers compared to polypoid/fungating ones (X;{2}=5.765, p=0.016). However, FXYD-3 expression was not correlated with patient's gender, age, tumor size, lymph node status and histological grade (p > 0.05). Conclosion: Up-regulated expression of FXYD-3 protein may be involved in tumourgenesis and invasion of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Identification of matrix metalloproteinase 11 as a predictive tumor marker in serum based on gene expression profiling.

PURPOSE: Prognostic markers discovery is a strategy for early diagnosis and individualization therapy for human cancer. In this study, we focus to integrate different methods to identify specific biomarker and elucidate its clinical significance. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A powerful tool named Digital Gene Expression Display online was applied to isolate differentially expressed genes correlated with gastric cancer. Matrix metalloproteinase 11 (MMP11) was selected and confirmed at both mRNA and protein level in 10 cell lines, 123 cases of tumor tissues, and 305 cases of gastric cancer serum specimen by semiquantitative PCR, immunohistochemistry staining, and ELISA techniques, respectively. RESULTS: Our data showed that overexpression of MMP11 at mRNA and protein level was consistently detected in cell lines and primary tumors compared with matched normal tissues. Importantly, serum MMP11 levels were also significantly elevated in gastric cancer patients compared with those of the control subjects (P < 0.001), and the positive expression was well correlated with metastasis in gastric cancer patients (P = 0.009). Furthermore, we have shown that overexpression of MMP11 was associated with the malignant proliferation of AGS cells. CONCLUSIONS: Combination of gene expression profiling and specific clinical resource is a promising approach to validate gene expression patterns associated with malignant phenotype. As a secreted protein, MMP11 may play an important role in carcinogenesis and has potential implication as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of human cancers including gastric cancer.

Nuclear to cytoplasmic shift of p33(ING1b) protein from normal oral mucosa to oral squamous cell carcinoma in relation to clinicopathological variables.

PURPOSE: p33(ING1b), as a candidate tumour suppressor gene, has been found to be expressed a proportion of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs), however, its clinicopathological significance is not studied yet. Our aim was to investigate association of p33(ING1b) expression with clinicopathological variables and particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH) in OSCCs. METHODS: p33(ING1b) expression was immunohistochemically examined in 20 normal oral mucosa specimens and 49 OSCCs. RESULTS: Normal squamous cells showed only p33(ING1b )nuclear expression (no cytoplasmic expression), with a rate of 90% positive cases. While 24% of OSCCs appeared cytoplasmic expression (11 of them with weak nuclear staining) and the rest tumours (76%) were negative for p33(ING1b). Furthermore, the cases having lymph node metastasis showed a higher frequency of positive cytoplasmic expression than those without metastasis (P = 0.03). The p33(ING1b) cytoplasmic expression was positively related to PINCH expression (P = 0.04), the cases positive for both proteins had a high rate of the metastasis (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The transfer of p33(ING1b) protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm may result in loss of normal cellular function of the protein, which might play a role in the tumourigenesis and metastasis of OSCCs.

Up-regulation of PINCH in the stroma of oral squamous cell carcinoma predicts nodal metastasis.

Particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH), an adapter protein involved in integrin and growth factor signalling, is up-regulated in the stroma of colorectal, breast, prostate, lung and skin cancer. Strong stromal immunostaining for PINCH is an independent prognostic indicator for reduced survival in colorectal cancer, suggesting that PINCH is involved in the signalling that promotes tumour progression. Since no study on PINCH has been carried out in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), this study aimed to determine PINCH expression in OSCC and its clinicopathological significance. PINCH protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in 20 normal oral mucosa and in 57 OSCC specimens. The frequency of strong PINCH immunostaining was higher in tumour-associated stroma of OSCC (37%) as compared to normal oral mucosa (10%) (p=0.02). Strong PINCH stromal immunostaining predicted nodal metastasis: 19/26 (73%) OSCC cases with nodal metastasis had strong PINCH immunostaining compared to 9/31 (29%) cases without nodal metastasis (p=0.02). The PINCH expression in OSCC was more intense in stroma at the invasive edge than in intratumoural stroma. In conclusion, the up-regulation of PINCH protein in stroma may be involved in promoting invasion and metastasis in OSCC.