MRI-based radiomics for the diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer: a meta-analysis.

AIM: To analyse the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) by conducting a meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive search was performed to identify relevant English articles concerning the MRI-based radiomics diagnosis of TNBC (from the date of database establishment to November 2021). The pooled sensitivity (SEN), pooled specificity (SPE), positive likelihood ratio (LR+), negative likelihood ratio (LR-), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI), summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) for the accuracy of MRI-based radiomics in the diagnosis of TNBC were calculated. The I2 test was used to assess heterogeneity and the source of heterogeneity was investigated by performing a meta-regression analysis. Publication bias was assessed using Deeks' funnel plot asymmetry test. RESULTS: Six studies (1,223 patients) met the eligibility criteria. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.72 and 0.91, respectively. The LR+ of the malignant ultrasonic features was 8.0, and the LR- was 0.31, revealing that MRI-based radiomics exhibited excellent ability to confirm or exclude TNBC. SROC curves showed that the AUC of the MRI-based radiomics diagnosis of TNBC was 0.88, indicating that MRI-based radiomics has good diagnostic value for TNBC. CONCLUSIONS: MRI radiomics is an excellent diagnostic tool with high specificity for the diagnosis of TNBC.

Extracellular domain of YWK-II, a human sperm transmembrane protein, interacts with rat Müllerian-inhibiting substance.

The YWK-II protein in human spermatozoa is structurally related to the betaA4-amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer disease and has high similarity with amyloid precusor homologues. Antibodies to the YWK-II protein agglutinate human spermatozoa and may be a potential cause of infertility. In the present study, a yeast two-hybrid system (MATCHMAKER Two-Hybrid System 2; Clontech, Palo Alto, CA) was used to screen a rat ovary cDNA library for potential ligands capable of interacting with the YWK-II component. Müllerian-inhibiting substance was found to interact with the extracellular domain of YWK-II protein. The interaction was confirmed by a binding experiment in vitro and surface plasmon resonance assays. The recombinant Müllerian-inhibiting substance can significantly increase the viability and longevity of human spermatozoa after 5 and 22 h of incubation, presumably through binding the YWK-II component on the sperm membrane. The results of this study indicate that the YWK-II sperm membrane protein may function as a receptor for Müllerian-inhibiting substance.