Quality assessment and its influencing factors of lung cancer clinical research registration: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: A better understanding of the current features of lung cancer clinical research registration is important for improving registration quality and standardizing the registration. This study aimed to assess the registration quality of lung cancer studies on ClinicalTrials.gov and analyze the influencing factors. Methods: Lung cancer clinical researches registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov database were searched on 7 July 2021. The characteristics of trials that registered up to 7 July 2021 were assessed. The quality of completed and terminated lung cancer studies from 1 July 2007 to 7 July 2020 was assessed using a modified version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Trial Registration Data Set (TRDS, V.1.3.1). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was also used to analyze the factors influencing study registration quality. An above-average registration quality score represented a high registration quality. Results: A total of 6,448 clinical studies on lung cancer were used to summarise the registration characteristics. Most interventional studies were randomized (41.88%), single group (48.07%), and open-label (82.86%) studies, while most observational studies were cohort studies (59.08%). In total, 2,171 completed and terminated studies were assessed, with an average quality score (out of 54) of 36.76±5.69. None of the assessed studies had a 100% modified TRDS reporting rate, and missing summary results were the main factor affecting the quality scores. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that prospective registrations [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.18; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.79-2.65], multi-center studies (aOR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.39-2.16), government-sponsored studies (aOR, 3.09; 95% CI, 1.48-6.42), and published studies (aOR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.15-1.78) were more likely to be high quality research. Conclusions: To improve the quality of registration, awareness of prospective registration should be further improved and government investment should be increased. At the same time, more efficient and extensive data sharing after completion of the studies should be actively promoted.

Optimization and apoptosis induction by RNAi with UTMD technology in vitro.

Apoptosis induction by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vectors may be an efficient and promising strategy for cancer gene therapy. Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) is an appealing technique; however, there few data are available to demonstrate the feasibility and to optimize the methodology for this technology. The aim of this study was to optimize this technique and to elucidate the effects on gene inhibition and apoptosis induction in vitro. Human cervical cancer cell lines were obtained and cultured.shRNA vectors were constructed, and the UTMD technique was examined to determine whether or not it was suitable for shRNA transfection into cells. Cells were then examined using flow cytometry. The results revealed that the optimal irradiation parameters obtained higher transfection efficiency and did not affect the integrity of plasmid DNA. We concluded that survivin downregulation with shRNA expression vectors, mediated by the optimal UTMD parameters, markedly induced cell apoptosis and caused cell cycle arrest, laying a foundation for further investigation of this cancer therapy.

Augmentation of transgenic expression by ultrasound­mediated liposome microbubble destruction.

Non-invasive, efficient and tissue-specific transgenic technologies could be valuable in gene therapy. Although non-viral carriers may be safer and cheaper, they have a much lower transfection efficiency than viral gene carriers. The present study was designed to test the transgenic expression and safety of red fluorescent protein (RFP) in HeLa cells in vitro and in transplanted tumors of nude mice in vivo under ultrasound-mediated liposome microbubble destruction (UMLMD) conditions. Plasmids containing RFP were gently mixed with liposome microbubbles (LMs). The mixture was added to HeLa cells or injected into BALB/c mice by the tail vein under various ultrasound exposure and LM parameters, and then the transfection efficiencies were examined. The results in vivo and in vitro demonstrated that, following a comparison of the plasmid group, the ultrasound + plasmid group and the LM + plasmid group, UMLMD significantly increased the transgenic expression (P<0.01) without causing any apparent detrimental effect. From the study, we concluded that UMLMD could be a non-invasive, effective and promising non-viral technique for gene therapy and transgenic research.

[Mechanisms of foam cell formation in smooth muscle cell derived from bone marrow stem cells].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a model of smooth muscle cells differentiated from bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC-SMCs) in vitro and explore the relationship between scavenger receptors A (SR-A) and caveolin-1. METHODS: BMSCs were isolated from the femoral bone of SD rats by adherent culture. After treatment of the BMSC-SMCs with 80 mg/L ox-LDL for 72 h, Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of scavenger receptor SR-A, cell cholesterol transport protein ATP-binding cassette transporter Al (ABCA1) and caveolin-1. RESULTS: BMCS-SMCs became foam cells after treatment with ox-LDL. BMSC-SMC gave rise to more foam cell formation than VSMCs did. Western blotting showed that treatment with 80 mg/L ox-LDL for 72 h resulted in significantly increased expression of SR-A and significantly decreased expressions of ABCA1 and caveolin-1. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of BMCS-SMCs with ox-LDL results in cholesterol ester accumulation in the cells to result in foam cells, the mechanism of which involves up-regulation of scavenger receptor SR-A expression and down-regulation of the reverse cholesterol transport protein ABCA1 and caveolin-1 expression.