AK5, a novel prognosis marker, inhibits apoptosis and promotes autophagy as well as proliferation in human gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between AK5 and gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The in situ levels of AK5 in the GC tissues from 255 patients were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The correlation between AK5 expression and the clinicopathological parameters was analyzed by Pearson correlation, and the prognostic factors were identified by Cox regression analysis. The transcriptome data of 14 human GC cell lines deposited in the CCLE database were analyzed, and two lines were selected for functional studies. AK5 was knocked down in the AZ521 and MKN74 cells using siRNA, and their proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and Annexin-V staining, respectively. In addition, the apoptosis and autophagy of the markers were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: Patients expressing high AK5 levels in the tumor tissues had significantly shorter survival compared to low-expressing group. In addition, AK5 expression was associated with T stage and N stage and was an independent prognostic factor. AK5 knockdown in the AZ521 and MKN74 cells significantly inhibited proliferation and autophagy, and increased apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: AK5 is a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for GC.

Training in swallowing prevents aspiration pneumonia in stroke patients with dysphagia.

This study investigated the frequency of aspiration pneumonia in conscious stroke patients fed by a family member and examined the effect of introducing training in swallowing techniques by nurses. A total of 96 consecutive patients presenting with dysphagia due to acute stroke were included in the study. Patients presenting between January 2000 and July 2003 (n = 48) were fed orally by a family member given general nursing information (group A), whereas those presenting between August 2003 and March 2005 (n = 48) were fed orally by an experienced nurse trained in specific swallowing techniques (group B). All patients were examined daily for the presence of aspiration pneumonia. The incidence of aspiration pneumonia was 33.3% in group A and 6.3% in group B (P < 0.05). The incidence of aspiration pneumonia in dysphagic stroke patients who are orally fed is still high. Training in swallowing during oral feeding offers clear protection against pneumonia in conscious stroke patients.

Competition between adjacent meiotic recombination hotspots in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In a wild-type strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a hotspot for meiotic recombination is located upstream of the HIS4 gene. An insertion of a 49-bp telomeric sequence into the coding region of HIS4 strongly stimulates meiotic recombination and the local formation of meiosis-specific double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs). When strains are constructed in which both hotspots are heterozygous, hotspot activity is substantially less when the hotspots are on the same chromosome than when they are on opposite chromosomes.

Relationship between nuclease-hypersensitive sites and meiotic recombination hot spot activity at the HIS4 locus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Meiotic double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs), the lesions that initiate meiotic recombination at the HIS4 recombination hot spot, occur in a region upstream of the coding sequence associated with multiple DNase I-hypersensitive sites. Mutations in transcription factors that lead to loss of the DSBs result in the loss of some but not all DNase I-hypersensitive sites in the upstream region. A meiosis-specific change in chromatin structure is detected in strains with the wild-type hot spot but not in strains with alterations that elevate or reduce hot spot activity. The position and intensity of micrococcal nuclease-hypersensitive sites correlate poorly with the sites of DSB formation.