Temporal changes in Egr-1 and c-fos expression in rat models of myocardial ischemia.

BACKGROUND: The pathological diagnosis of sudden cardiac death caused by myocardial ischemia is a difficult problem. Relevant evidence shows that the expression of Egr-1 and c-fos undergo changes in the early stage of myocardial ischemia, but the detailed temporal variation of them is not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to observe the temporal changes in mRNA and protein expression of Egr-1 and c-fos in ischemic myocardium in rats. METHODS: Sixty-six Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into the control group, the early myocardial ischemia (EMI) group, the sham operated group and the allergy group. The EMI rats were further divided into eight subgroups according to the different time points (30 min and 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 h) after modeling. The mRNA and protein of Egr-1 and c-fos of each group were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. RESULTS: In the EMI group, Egr-1 mRNA in ischemic myocardium rose 30 min after ischemia and peaked at 2 h; the plateau was maintained up to 8 h after ischemia, and then returned to the baseline level at 12 h. The c-fos mRNA in ischemic myocardium demonstrated a consistent changing curve with that of Egr-1. The mRNA of Egr-1 and c-fos showed no significant changes in the control group, the sham operated group and the allergy group. Immunohistochemistry showed that Egr-1 protein in the myocardial ischemic area was slightly positive 30 min after ischemia, and then strongly positive at 4 and 8 h, decreased at 12 h, and was negative at 24 h. The changing trends of c-fos protein were almost the same as that of Egr-1. Immunohistochemistry of Egr-1 and c-fos protein were all negative in the control group, the sham operated group and the allergy group. CONCLUSIONS: The mRNA and protein expression of Egr-1 and c-fos presented rapid and temporal changes after myocardial ischemia, and this may be helpful in distinguishing sudden death induced by myocardial ischemia from that of allergy.

Characteristics of the isocitrate dehydrogenase gene and telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter mutations in gliomas in Chinese patients.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the characteristics of IDH and TERT promoter mutations in gliomas in Chinese patients. METHODS: A total of 124 Chinese patients with gliomas were enrolled to study the frequencies of mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter (TERTp). Among the 124 patients, 59 patients were enrolled to study the classification of gliomas based on mutations in IDH and TERTp. RESULTS: Isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations are positively correlated with a good prognosis but mutations in TERTp cannot predict prognoses independently. The combined analysis of the mutations of IDH and TERTp can predict the prognosis more accurately. Patients with IDH and TERTp glioma mutations have the best prognosis, followed by only IDH mutation patients and only TERTp mutation patients, which have the worst prognosis. IDH and TERTp mutations occur frequently in males, younger patients or lower-grade patients. In contrast, only TERTp mutations occur frequently in females, older patients or higher-grade patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IDH and TERTp glioma mutations have the best prognosis, and only IDH mutation patients and only TERTp mutation patients have the worst prognosis. Moreover, the molecular classification of gliomas by mutations of IDH and TERTp is not suitable for pediatric patients.

[Enhanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal of wastewater by using sludge anaerobic fermentation liquid as carbon source in a pilot-scale system].

In order to explore the possibility of enhanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal in wastewater using sludge anaerobic fermentation liquid as external carbon source, the present study proposed an A2/O reactor system with a total effective volume of 4 660 L and real municipal wastewater for treatment. The results showed that under the conditions of the influent COD at 243.7 mg x L(-1), NH4(+) -N at 30. 9 mg x L(-1), TN at 42.9 mg'L- , TP at 2.8 mg x L(-1), the backflow ratio of nitrification liquid at 200% and recycle ratio of sludge at 100%, the addition of acetic acid into anoxic tank could enhance the removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus, and the optimal influent quantity and SCOD incremental of carbon were 7 500 L x d(-1) and 50 mg L(-1), respectively. When the sludge fermentation liquid was used as external carbon source and the average effluent COD, NH4(+) -N, TN, TP removal efficiency were 81.60%, 88.91%, 64.86% and 87.61%, the effluent concentrations were 42.18, 2.77, 11.92 and 0.19 mg x L(-1), respectively, which met China's first Class (A) criteria specified in the Discharge Standard Urban Sewage Treatment Plant Pollutant (GB 18918-2002). The results of the present study demonstrated that the addition of sludge anaerobic fermented liquid as external carbon source was a feasible way to enhance the removal of nitrogen and phosphorous in municipal wastewater, providing a new feasible strategy for the reuse and recycle of sewage sludge in China.

Targeted knockdown of IQGAP1 inhibits the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in vitro and in vivo.

IQGAP1 is a scaffolding protein that can regulate several distinct signaling pathways. The accumulating evidence has demonstrated that IQGAP1 plays an important role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. However, the function of IQGAP1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been thoroughly investigated. In the present study, we showed that IQGAP1 was overexpressed in ESCC tumor tissues, and its overexpression was correlated with the invasion depth of ESCC. Importantly, by using RNA interference (RNAi) technology we successfully silenced IQGAP1 gene in two ESCC cell lines, EC9706 and KYSE150, and for the first time found that suppressing IQGAP1 expression not only obviously reduced the tumor cell growth, migration and invasion in vitro but also markedly inhibited the tumor growth, invasion, lymph node and lung metastasis in xenograft mice. Furthermore, Knockdown of IQGAP1 expression in ESCC cell lines led to a reversion of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress. These results suggest that IQGAP1 plays crucial roles in regulating ESCC occurrence and progression. IQGAP1 silencing may therefore develop into a promising novel anticancer therapy.

Overexpression of IQGAP1 in human pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignant tumor with the lowest survival rate. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms which contribute to pancreatic cancer occurrence and progression will aid in the development of new approaches to the early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of this deadly disease. The scaffold protein IQGAP1 shows elevated levels in a variety of cancer types. Currently, we investigated whether or not IQGAP1 is also overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. METHODS: IQGAP1 expression was examined in pancreatic cancer and normal tissues adjacent to cancerous tissues (adjacent tissues) by Western blotting and real-time RT-PCR as well as in paraffin sections of tissue microarray by immunohistochemistry. The correlations between IQGAP1 expression and various clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: Western blotting and real-time RT-PCR revealed that the levels of IQGAP1 protein and mRNA expression in pancreatic cancer tissues were significantly increased compared with adjacent tissues. Immunohistochemistry analysis on tissue microarray showed that IQGAP1 protein expression was significantly higher in pancreatic cancer (80.0%, 48/60) compared with adjacent tissues (18.3%, 11/60) (P<0.001). Moreover, overexpression of IQGAP1 was shown to be associated with the grades of tumor differentiation (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The overexpression of IQGAP1 may play an important role in pancreatic cancer occurrence and progression, and IQGAP1 may serve as a novel molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.