Kinetics of thermal degradation of raw lacquer enhanced by formaldehyde urea prepolymer.

In this study, formaldehyde-urea prepolymer (FUP) were synthesized, which were used to modify the raw lacquer (RL) and this composition named LF, while the basic properties of the RL were tested. Thermal gravimetric (TG) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the degradative characteristics and the surface morphology of RL before and after modification. The result indicated that FUP can significantly improve the performance of RL. The drying time of the LF is significantly shortened, the gloss, the pencil hardness, and the impact performance are significantly enhanced at the same time. TG analysis and thermal decomposition kinetics analysis illustrated that the thermal stability and the activation energy of LF2 were stronger than that of RL. In addition, SEM analysis illustrated that the surface smoothness of RL were also improved.

Different effects of intravenous and local anesthesia in patients undergoing ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation of thyroid nodules: a prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy and safety of intravenous anesthesia (IV) with local anesthesia (LA) in patients undergoing ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of thyroid nodules. METHODS: 50 patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists classification grades I-II undergoing US-guided thyroid RFA were enrolled and randomly (1:1) divided into IV (conscious sedation with Ramsay Sedation Scale [RSS] scores of 2-3 with an anesthesiologist) and LA (subcutaneous anesthesia with lidocaine without an anesthesiologist) groups. Pre-, intra- and post-procedural blood pressure (BP) (SBP0/DBP0, SBP1/DBP1, and SBP2/DBP2), intra- and post-procedural pain (NRS1 and NRS2), ablated area volume, treatment time and adverse events were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: Age, sex, weight, number, nature, volume of nodules, and SBP0/DBP0 showed no difference between both groups. 11 and 0 patients' SBP1/DBP1 were elevated in the LA and IV groups. NRS1 differed between both groups. 6 patients in the LA group had moderate or severe pain, but none in the IV group. No between-group difference in SBP2/DBP2, NRS2, ablation completion rate and ablated volume was noted. The median procedure duration differed from 1109 (176) s in IV group and 723 (227) s in LA groups. There was no increased incidence of adverse events in IV group. CONCLUSIONS: IV with RSS scores of 2-3 maintained intra-procedural BP and relieved intra-procedural pain better, without affecting the ablation efficacy and increasing complications. Despite increased treatment time, IV is a potential option for patients undergoing US-guided RFA of thyroid nodules.

Long-term follow-up results of PTMC treated by ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To confirm the long-term efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for low-risk papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data of 102 primary papillary thyroid carcinoma patients (82 women, 20 men; mean age: 43 [19] years) treated with radiofrequency ablation and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression therapy before December 2018. All patients were at high surgical risk or refused surgery. They were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and every 6-12 months thereafter using ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The volume and volume reduction ratio was calculated. Recurrence and lymph node or distant metastasis were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean initial tumor diameter was 0.50 (0.29) cm; the mean initial volume was 0.06 (0.09) mL. At 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months after RFA, complete resorption rates were 0, 0, 9.8 (10/102), 33.3 (34/102), 91.2 (93/102), 96.1 (98/102), 99 (101/102), 100, and 100%, respectively. Two patients had developed ipsilateral neck lymph node metastasis in regions IV and VI at 30- and 18-month follow-ups, respectively. After RFA, 3/102 patients (2.9%) developed hoarseness-the main side effect. No life-threatening or delayed complications occurred. The TSH value in the initial period was 0.06 (0.02) µIU/mL; the rate of reaching the TSH target was 85.7%. The TSH value at follow-up was 1.47 (0.91) µIU/mL; the compliance rate was 99.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound-guided RFA for PTMC is highly effective and safe. RFA can serve as a minimally invasive treatment for PTMC patients who refuse surgery or active surveillance.

5-Hydroxymethylcytosine as a potential epigenetic biomarker in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

DNA methylation at the 5 position of cytosine (5-mC) is an epigenetic hallmark that is critical in various biological and pathological processes such as DNA methylation regulation, and initiation and development of cancers. 5-mC can be oxidized to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) by the ten-eleven translocation family of DNA hydroxylases. Accumulating evidence has reported that loss of 5-hmC is associated with cancer development. However, its level in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains unclear. The present study reports that the loss of 5-hmC is an epigenetic mark of PTCs, associated with their malignant biological behavior, providing diagnostic and predictive advantages over DNA hypomethylation (5-mC), an acknowledged epigenetic alteration in cancer. In addition, the 5-hmC staining levels were decreased in cases of micro-carcinoma with lymph node metastasis, which suggests that 5-hmC expression levels could be used as valuable biomarkers for predicting malignant potential and assist in the selection of therapeutic strategies in PTC; therefore, 5-hmC has the potential to provide a more precise direction for PTC therapy.

EpCAM and COX­2 expression are positively correlated in human breast cancer.

Upregulation of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is involved in tumor progression. Cyclooxygenase (COX)­2 is the key enzyme catalyzing prostaglandin synthesis and is involved in breast cancer progression and metastasis. However, the prognostic value of EpCAM and its putative correlation with COX­2 in breast cancer have yet to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to assess the clinical relevance of the relationship between EpCAM and COX­2, via examining the putative correlation between EpCAM and COX­2 expression in various types of human breast cancer. A total of 134 breast cancer tissue samples was examined in the present study. Immunohistochemistry approach was used to detect EpCAM and COX­2 expression in the tissue microarrays. Spearman's correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between the protein expression and clinicopathological parameters present in patients with various tumor subtypes, with the aim to potentially establish a relationship between EpCAM/COX­2 and clinical prognosis. Expression of EpCAM and COX­2 was revealed to be associated with tumor progression, and poor prognosis in breast cancer. The present findings demonstrated that EpCAM was involved in the regulation of COX­2 expression, and a positive correlation between the proteins was associated with poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. The present results suggest that EpCAM and COX­2 may have potential as prognostic biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with breast cancer.

Comprehensive N-glycan profiles of hepatocellular carcinoma reveal association of fucosylation with tumor progression and regulation of FUT8 by microRNAs.

Glycosylation has significant effects on cancer progression. Fucosylation is one of the most important glycosylation events involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we compared N-glycan profiles of liver tumor tissues and adjacent tissues of 27 HCC patients to reveal the association between fucosylation and HCC progression, as well as verified the potential role of miRNA in regulating fucosylation. Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis showed pronounced differences of the N-glycosylation patterns and fucosylated N-glycans between the adjacent and tumor tissues. Different fucosyltransferase (FUT) genes were also identified in adjacent and tumor tissues, and two HCC cell lines with different metastatic potential. High-level expression of FUT8 was detected in tumor tissues and highly metastatic HCC cells. Altered levels of FUT8 in HCC cell lines significantly linked to the malignant behaviors of proliferation and invasion in vitro. Furthermore, using microRNA array, we identified FUT8 as one of the miR-26a, miR-34a and miR-146a-targeted genes. An inverse correlation was revealed between the expression levels of FUT8 and these miRNAs. Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated these miRNAs specifically interacted with the 3'UTR of FUT8 and subsequently down-regulated FUT8 expression-level. The forced expression of these miRNAs was able to induce a decrease in FUT8 levels and thereby to suppress HCC cells progression. Altogether, our results indicate that fucosylated N-glycan and FUT8 levels can be used as markers for evaluating HCC progression, as well as miRNAs may be involved in inhibition of fucosylation machinery through targeting FUT8.

Increased fucosylation has a pivotal role in multidrug resistance of breast cancer cells through miR-224-3p targeting FUT4.

Fucosylation is the final step in the glycosylation machinery, which produces glycans involved in tumor multidrug resistance development. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous negative regulators of gene expression and have been implicated in most cellular processes of tumors, including drug resistance. This study was undertaken to determine the roles of fucosylation and miR-224-3p in multidrug resistance of human breast cancer cell lines. Comparative analysis revealed differential modification patterns of fucosylation of the fucosylated N-glycans in drug-resistant T47D/ADR cells and sensitive line T47D cells. The expressional profiles of fucosyltransferase genes in two pairs of parental and chemoresistant human breast cancer cell lines showed that FUT4 was up-regulated highly in MDR cell lines. Altered level of FUT4 affected the drug-resistant phenotype of T47D and T47D/ADR cells both in vitro and in vivo. By bioinformatics analysis, we identified FUT4 as one of the miR-224-3p-targeted genes. Further studies showed an inverse relationship between of FUT4 and miR-224-3p in parental and ADR-resistant breast cancer cells, wherein miR-224-3p was downregulated in resistant cells. 3'-UTR dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-224-3p directly targeted 3'-untranslation region (3'-UTR) of FUT4 mRNA. In addition, miR-224-3p overexpression sensitized T47D/ADR cells to chemotherapeutics and reduced the growth rate of breast cancer xenografts in vivo. Our results indicate that FUT4 and miR-224-3p are crucial regulators of cancer response to chemotherapy, and may serve as therapeutic targets to reverse chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer.