Loss of exosomal miR-148b from cancer-associated fibroblasts promotes endometrial cancer cell invasion and cancer metastasis.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play crucial roles in tumor progression, given the dependence of cancer cells on stromal support. Therefore, understanding how CAFs communicate with endometrial cancer cell in tumor environment is important for endometrial cancer therapy. Exosomes, which contain proteins and noncoding RNA, are identified as an important mediator of cell-cell communication. However, the function of exosomes in endometrial cancer metastasis remains poorly understood. In the current study we found that CAF-derived exosomes significantly promoted endometrial cancer cell invasion comparing to those from normal fibroblasts (NFs). We identified a significant decrease of miR-148b in CAFs and CAFs-derived exosomes. By exogenously transfect microRNAs, we demonstrated that miR-148b could be transferred from CAFs to endometrial cancer cell through exosomes. In vitro and in vivo studies further revealed that miR-148b functioned as a tumor suppressor by directly binding to its downstream target gene, DNMT1 to suppress endometrial cancer metastasis. In endometrial cancer DNMT1 presented a potential role in enhancing cancer cell metastasis by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Therefore, downregulated miR-148b induced EMT of endometrial cancer cell as a result of relieving the suppression of DNMT1. Taken together, these results suggest that CAFs-mediated endometrial cancer progression is partially related to the loss of miR-148b in the exosomes of CAFs and promoting the transfer of stromal cell-derived miR-148b might be a potential treatment to prevent endometrial cancer progression.

Efficient third-harmonic generation based on Tamm plasmon polaritons.

We theoretically investigate efficient third-harmonic generation (THG) in the heterostructure with a one-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) and a thick metal film. There are both the fundamental Tamm plasmon mode and the high-order mode in the heterostructure. Commonly these two Tamm plasmon modes just satisfy single-resonance condition, but the double-resonance condition can be fulfilled by using a binary PC in the heterostructure. Taking advantage of the tunneling effect of Tamm plasmon modes, THG in the single-resonance heterostructure is enhanced over 3 orders of magnitude more than that in the single metal film, and that in the double-resonance one is further enhanced nearly 2 orders of magnitude.

The G protein-coupled receptor GPR30 mediates the proliferative and invasive effects induced by hydroxytamoxifen in endometrial cancer cells.

The selective ER modulator tamoxifen (TAM(1)) is the most widely used ER antagonist for treatment of women with hormone-dependent breast tumor. However, long-term treatment is associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate new insight into the role of G-protein coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) in the activity of TAM, which promoted endometrial cancer. In endometrial cancer cell lines ISHIKAWA and KLE, the potential of 4-hydroxytamoxifen (OHT), the active metabolite of TAM, 17ß-estradiol (E2) and G1, a non-steroidal GPR30-specific agonist to promote cell proliferation and invasion was evaluated. All agents above induced high proliferative and invasive effects, while the down-regulation of GPR30 or the interruption of MAPK signal pathway partly or completely prevented the action of the regent. Moreover, the RNA and protein expression of GPR30 was up-regulated by G1, E2 or OHT in both cell lines. The present study provided a new insight into the mechanism involved in the agonistic activity exerted by TAM in the uterus.

Single-port laparoscopy-assisted vaginal repair of a cesarean scar defect: a single-center retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of uterine cesarean scar defect (niche) is high, and some patients require surgery. Single-port laparoscopy can reduce post-operative pain, and provide better cosmetic effects. This study was performed to evaluate the safety and superiority of single-port laparoscopy-assisted vaginal repair of uterine cesarean scar defect (niche) in women after cesarean section. METHODS: This study included 74 patients who were diagnosed with uterine cesarean niche at the Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital from January 2013 to June 2015. Thirty-seven patients underwent single-port laparoscopy-assisted vaginal surgery as the case group, and the remaining patients underwent vaginal repair surgery as the control group. We collected data from the inpatient and follow-up medical records. The clinical characteristics of these two groups were compared. The odds ratios and 95% confidential intervals were calculated for each variable by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Patients who underwent single-port laparoscopy-assisted vaginal repair had a significantly longer operation time (2.3 [2.0-2.7] vs. 2.0 [1.6-2.3] h, P = 0.015), shorter gas passage time (1.2 [1.0-1.5] vs. 1.7 [1.0-2.0] days, P = 0.012), shorter hospital stay (3.1 [3.0-4.0] vs. 4.5 [4.0-6.0] days, P = 0.019), and fewer complications (0 vs. 4 cases). Univariate analysis showed that depth of the niche (P = 0.021) the mild adhesiolysis score (P = 0.035) and moderate adhesiolysis score (P = 0.013) were associated with the bladder injury. Multivariate analysis showed that the moderate adhesiolysis score (P = 0.029; 95% confidence interval, 1.318-3.526) was the strongest independent predictor of bladder injury. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the safety and superiority of single-port laparoscopy-assisted vaginal repair of uterine cesarean scars.

Estrogenic transmembrane receptor of GPR30 mediates invasion and carcinogenesis by endometrial cancer cell line RL95-2.

PURPOSE: The mechanisms underlying the effects of estrogen on endometrial cancer remain undefined. Although the classical mechanism of the action of estrogen involves binding to the estrogen receptors α and ß, and transduction of the signal into the cell, G protein-coupled receptor (GPR) 30 has been shown to mediate nongenomic estrogen signaling. The goal of this study was to determine the role of GPR30 signal in the basic process such as invasion and carcinogenesis of endometrial cancer. METHODS: We downregulated the expression of GPR30 in endometrial cancer cell line RL95-2 by transfection with shGPR30-pGFP-V-RS, a GPR30 antisense expression vector. The cells were then subjected to an MTT assay and a Transwell(®) migration assay. And an animal model was also used to investigate the influence of downregulation of GPR30 on oncogenesis. RESULTS: Downregulation of GPR30 led to reduced growth and invasion by cells treated with 17ß-estradiol. And the capacity of transfected RL95-2 cells to promote tumorigenesis was weakened in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that, for the endometrial cancer cell line RL95-2, GPR30 plays important roles in mediating the proliferative and invasive effects of estrogen and in tumorigenesis.

Optical nonlinearity enhancement in heterostructures with thick metallic film and truncated photonic crystals.

It is hard to use bulk metals with high nonlinear susceptibilities since they are nearly opaque. Metal-dielectric photonic crystals can be transparent, but the electric field at each metal layer is still low. We theoretically studied the nonlinear response of heterostructures composed of truncated all-dielectric photonic crystals and thick metallic films. Because of the localized interface modes, both transmittance and the electric field in the metal are enhanced greatly. Compared to metal-dielectric photonic crystals, the critical intensity of threshold for bistability in the heterostructures with the same thickness of metal can be reduced by nearly 2 orders of magnitude.

[Treatment of acetabulum fracture combined with ipsilateral lower extremity fracture].

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the treatment and mechanisim of acetabulum fracture combined with ipsilateral lower extremity fracture. METHODS: Fourteen cases(9 males and 5 females) of acetabulum fracture were involved in the study with the mean age of 35 years (range, from 18 to 65 years). According to Letournel classification, 11 cases were the fracture of posterior wall and column, 3 cases were only the fracture of posterior column. All of them were treated with titanium plate internal fixation. Of three cases with ipsilateral femoral intertrochanteric fracture, one was treated with external fixiation device, other two were treated with DHS fixation; Three cases with ipsilateral femoral neck fracture were treated with compressive cannulated screw fixation; Among six cases with ipsilateral femoral shaft fracture,one was fixed with steel plate,the rest underwent intramedullary nailing fixation; Two cases with ipsilateral tibial plateau fracture were treated with anatomic plate internal fixation. RESULTS: All patients except the died old patient were followed up from 18 months to 5 years, with mean of 30 months. According to standard of American institute of orthopaedics, 9 cases obtained excellent results, 3 good and 2 poor and the excellent and good rate was 92.3%. CONCLUSION: Most cases of acetabulum fracture combined with ipsilateral lower extremity fracture are due to great violence, their mechanisms are complex, and easily lead to missed diagnosis, therefore the early correct diagnosis, and reasonable internal fixation should be considered.