Expression pattern of heat shock protein 90 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma in northern Taiwan.

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), which is expressed in cancer cells, profoundly affects progression, invasion, and metastasis. However, to our knowledge, in East Asia, the correlation between the expression of HSP90 and clinicopathological variables has seldom been discussed. We therefore investigated this and its prognostic value in 36 patients newly diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in northern Taiwan. Samples of tumour and normal samples from the patients were compared immunohistochemically. HSP90 was expressed mainly in the samples of tumour, and was significantly higher in these than in the normal epithelium (p<0.001). Metastases to the lymph nodes in the 36 patients also correlated with expression of HSP90. Correlation between expression of HSP90 and the size of the tumour or pathological staging was not significant, but strong expression correlated with poor survival. In general, expression was low among our samples (30/36). It was significantly higher in the tumour samples than in normal samples, and correlated with metastases to lymph nodes in the neck.

Reversal of neurobehavioral social deficits in dystrophic mice using inhibitors of phosphodiesterases PDE5A and PDE9A.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by mutations in the DYSTROPHIN gene. Although primarily associated with muscle wasting, a significant portion of patients (approximately 25%) are also diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We describe social behavioral deficits in dystrophin-deficient mice and present evidence of cerebellar deficits in cGMP production. We demonstrate therapeutic potential for selective inhibitors of the cGMP-specific PDE5A and PDE9A enzymes to restore social behaviors in dystrophin-deficient mice.