Systematic module approach identifies altered genes and pathways in four types of ovarian cancer.

The present study aimed to identify altered genes and pathways associated with four histotypes of ovarian cancer, according to the systematic tracking of dysregulated modules of reweighted protein­protein interaction (PPI) networks. Firstly, the PPI network and gene expression data were initially integrated to infer and reweight normal ovarian and four types of ovarian cancer (endometrioid, serous, mucinous and clear cell carcinoma) PPI networks based on Spearman's correlation coefficient. Secondly, modules in the PPI network were mined using a clique­merging algorithm and the differential modules were identified through maximum weight bipartite matching. Finally, the gene compositions in the altered modules were analyzed, and pathway functional enrichment analyses for disrupted module genes were performed. In five conditional­specific networks, universal alterations in gene correlations were revealed, which leads to the differential correlation density among disrupted module pairs. The analyses revealed 28, 133, 139 and 33 altered modules in endometrioid, serous, mucinous and clear cell carcinoma, respectively. Gene composition analyses of the disrupted modules revealed five common genes (mitogen­activated protein kinase 1, phosphoinositide 3­kinase­encoding catalytic 110­KDα, AKT serine/threonine kinase 1, cyclin D1 and tumor protein P53) across the four subtypes of ovarian cancer. In addition, pathway enrichment analysis confirmed one common pathway (pathways in cancer), in the four histotypes. This systematic module approach successfully identified altered genes and pathways in the four types of ovarian cancer. The extensive differences of gene correlations result in dysfunctional modules, and the coordinated disruption of these modules contributes to the development and progression of ovarian cancer.

Malaria from hyperendemicity to elimination in Hekou County on China-Vietnam border: an ecological study.

BACKGROUND: Malaria control and elimination are challenged by diversity and complexity of the determinants on the international border in the Great Mekong Sub-region. Hekou, a Chinese county on the China-Vietnam border, was used to document Chinese experiences and lessons for malaria control and elimination. METHODS: The design was an ecological study. Malaria burden before 1951 and procedures of 64 years (1952-2015) from malaria hyperendemicity to elimination are described. Single and bilinear regression analysis was utilized to analyse the relationship between the annual malaria incidence (AMI) and gross domestic product (GDP), urbanization rate, and banana planting area (BPA). RESULTS: There was a huge malaria burden before 1951. AMI was reduced from 358.62 per 1000 person-years in 1953 to 5.69 per 1000 person-years in 1960. A system of primary health services, comprising three levels of county township hospitals and village health stations maintained malaria control and surveillance activities in changing political and social-economic settings. However, potential under-reported of malaria and market-oriented healthcare led to a malaria epidemic in 1987. Strong political commitment reoriented malaria from a control to an elimination programme. High coverage of malaria intervention and population access to intervention was crucial for malaria control and elimination; meanwhile, AMI was closely associated with socio-economic development, correlation coefficients (R) -0.6845 (95% CI -0.7978, -0.6845) for national GDP, -0.7014 (-0.8093, -0.7014) for national urbanization rate and -0.5563 (-0.7147, -0.3437) for BPA. CONCLUSIONS: Multifactor, including political commitment, effective interventions, social and economic development and changing ecological environment, and the complicated interactions between these factors contribute to malaria elimination in Hekou County.

A backscattering light detection assembly for sensitive determination of analyte concentrated at the liquid/liquid interface using the interaction of quercetin with proteins as the model system.

We report on the construction of a backscattering light (BSL) detection assembly based on detecting angle-dependent light scattering signals, by changing the sample chamber of a common spectrofluorometer. The BSL detection assembly was used to detect, with high sensitivity, the analyte concentrated at the liquid/liquid interface. We applied this assembly to study the interaction of proteins with quercetin in the presence of cationic surfactant. The species resulting from the interaction of quercetin with proteins, when concentrated at the H2O/CCl4 interface, generate enhanced BSL signals characterized at 376.0 nm which were found to be proportional to human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the range of 1-1250 ng mL(-1) and 2-1250 ng mL(-1), respectively. Limits of determination (3sigma) of 75 and 180 pg mL(-1) are reported for the two proteins.

Resonance light scattering imaging detection of proteins with alpha,beta,gamma,delta-tetrakis(p-sulfophenyl)porphyrin.

A resonance light scattering (RLS) imaging technique was introduced to measure the light scattering of aggregation species induced by proteins, and thus a method of detecting proteins in the range of picograms was proposed. In acidic medium, J-aggregation of alpha,beta,gamma,delta-tetrakis(p-sulfophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS(4)) in the presence of proteins occurs, resulting in strong RLS signals characterized at 490 nm. Under the excitation of a 488-nm light beam of argon ion laser source, the scattered light of single J-aggregation species could be observed with a common microscope, and the images could be captured with a cooled charge-coupled device camera. Data analysis for the digital images showed that the counts of aggregate species in the detection focus plane are proportional to the concentration of proteins in picograms. When 1.0 x 10(-7)M TPPS(4) was employed, 0.01-210 ng/ml bovine serum albumin and human serum albumin could be detected with limits of detection lower than 10 pg/ml (3 sigma). Three human blood serum samples were satisfactorily detected with relative standard deviations lower than 3.04%.