A novel PD-1/PD-L1 pathway-related seven-gene signature for the development and validation of the prognosis prediction model for breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer (BC/BRCA) is the most common carcinoma in women. The average 5-year survival rate of BC patients with stage IV disease is 26%. A considerable proportion of patients still do not receive effective therapy. It is an unmet need to identify novel biomarkers for BC patients. Herein, we evaluated whether the programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) status is associated with the clinical outcomes of BC, based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Methods: Clinical and transcriptome data of BC patients were obtained from TCGA dataset, and prognostic genes in BC patients were identified, as well as the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway mainly associating with the BC patients. Following the execution of the consensus clustering algorithm, BC patients were segregated into two clusters, and subsequent investigation of the potential mechanisms between them was carried out. A comparison of ferroptosis and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) was conducted between the two groups with the greatest difference in prognosis. Based on least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis, a signature associated with the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway was developed, and the prognosis outcome and the predictive accuracy of the signature model were further assessed. Results: Prognostic genes in BC patients were studied using TCGA data and it was found that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway was most associated with the BC patients. Then, a low-risk (C1) group and a high-risk (C2) group of BC patients were constructed based on a PD-1/PD-L1 pathway-related signature. The functional analyses suggested that the underlying mechanisms between these groups were mainly associated with immune-related pathways. We found that ferroptosis and m6A were significantly different between the two groups. A PD-1/PD-L1 pathway-related gene signature was further developed to predict survival of BC patients, including 7 genes [mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 6 (MAP2K6), NF-kappa-B inhibitor alpha (NFKBIA), NFKB Inhibitor Epsilon (NFKBIE), Interferon gamma (IFNG), Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adapter protein (TIRAP), IkappaB kinase (CHUK), and Casein kinase 2 alpha 3 gene (CSNK2A3)]. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analyzed to further assess the prognostic values of these 7 genes. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year values of the areas under the curve (AUCs) for overall survival were 0.651, 0.658, and 0.653 in this seven gene signature model, respectively. Conclusions: PD-1/PD-L1 pathway-related subtypes of BC were identified, which were closely associated with the immune microenvironment, the ferroptosis status, and m6A in BC patients. The gene signature involved in the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway might help to make a distinction and predict prognosis in BC patients.

Low-Power Perovskite Neuromorphic Synapse with Enhanced Photon Efficiency for Directional Motion Perception.

The advancement of artificial intelligent vision systems heavily relies on the development of fast and accurate optical imaging detection, identification, and tracking. Framed by restricted response speeds and low computational efficiency, traditional optoelectronic information devices are facing challenges in real-time optical imaging tasks and their ability to efficiently process complex visual data. To address the limitations of current optoelectronic information devices, this study introduces a novel photomemristor utilizing halide perovskite thin films. The fabrication process involves adjusting the iodide proportion to enhance the quality of the halide perovskite films and minimize the dark current. The photomemristor exhibits a high external quantum efficiency of over 85%, which leads to a low energy consumption of 0.6 nJ. The spike timing-dependent plasticity characteristics of the device are leveraged to construct a spiking neural network and achieve a 99.1% accuracy rate of directional perception for moving objects. The notable results offer a promising hardware solution for efficient optoneuromorphic and edge computing applications.

A Self-Oscillated Organic Synapse for In-Memory Two-Factor Authentication.

Entering the era of AI 2.0, bio-inspired target recognition facilitates life. However, target recognition may suffer from some risks when the target is hijacked. Therefore, it is significantly important to provide an encryption process prior to neuromorphic computing. In this work, enlightened from time-varied synaptic rule, an in-memory asymmetric encryption as pre-authentication is utilized with subsequent convolutional neural network (ConvNet) for target recognition, achieving in-memory two-factor authentication (IM-2FA). The unipolar self-oscillated synaptic behavior is adopted to function as in-memory asymmetric encryption, which can greatly decrease the complexity of the peripheral circuit compared to bipolar stimulation. Results show that without passing the encryption process with suitable weights at the correct time, the ConvNet for target recognition will not work properly with an extremely low accuracy lower than 0.86%, thus effectively blocking out the potential risks of involuntary access. When a set of correct weights is evolved at a suitable time, a recognition rate as high as 99.82% can be implemented for target recognition, which verifies the effectiveness of the IM-2FA strategy.

Approaching the Zero-Power Operating Limit in a Self-Coordinated Organic Protonic Synapse.

High-performance artificial synapse with nonvolatile memory and low power consumption is a perfect candidate for brainoid intelligence. Unfortunately, due to the energy barrier paradox between ultra-low power and nonvolatile modulation of device conductances, it is still a challenge at the moment to construct such ideal synapses. Herein, a proton-reservoir type 4,4',4″,4'''-(Porphine-5,10,15,20-tetrayl) tetrakis (benzenesulfonic acid) (TPPS) molecule and fabricated organic protonic memristors with device width of 10 µm to 100 nm is synthesized. The occurrence of sequential proton migration and interfacial self-coordinated doping will introduce new energy levels into the molecular bandgap, resulting in effective and nonvolatile modulation of device conductance over 64 continuous states with retention exceeding 30 min. The power consumptions of modulating and reading the device conductance approach the zero-power operating limits, which range from 16.25 pW to 2.06 nW and 6.5 fW to 0.83 pW, respectively. Finally, a robust artificial synapse is successfully demonstrated, showing spiking-rate-dependent plasticity (SRDP) and spiking-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) characteristics with ultra-low power of 0.66 to 0.82 pW, as well as 100 long-term depression (LTD)/potentiation (LTP) cycles with 0.14%/0.30% weight variations.

[Platelet Transfusion Strategies for MASPAT-Matched Platelet Transfusion Failed Patient with Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the causes of ineffectiveness of platelet transfusion with monoclonal antibody solid phase platelet antibody test (MASPAT) matching in patients with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and explore the strategies of platelet transfusion. METHODS: A case of donor-specific HLA antibodies (DSA) induced by transfusion which ultimately resulted in transplantation failure and ineffective platelet transfusion with MASPAT matching was selected, and the causes of ineffective platelet transfusion and platelet transfusion strategy were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The 32-year-old female patient was diagnosed as acute myeloid leukemia (high risk) in another hospital with the main symptoms of fever and leukopenia, who should be admitted for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after remission by chemotherapy. In the course of chemotherapy, DSA was generated due to platelet transfusion, and had HLA gene loci incompatible with the donor of the first transplant, leading to the failure of the first transplant. The patient received platelet transfusion for several times before and after transplantation, and the results showed that the effective rate of MASPAT matched platelet transfusion was only 35.3%. Further analysis showed that the reason for the ineffective platelet transfusion was due to the missed detection of antibodies by MASPAT method. During the second hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the DSA-negative donor was selected, and the matching platelets but ineffective transfusion during the primary transplantation were avoided. Finally, the patient was successfully transplanted and discharged from hospital. CONCLUSIONS: DSA can cause graft failure or render the graft ineffective. For the platelet transfusion of patients with DSA, the platelet transfusion strategy with matching type only using MASPAT method will miss the detection of antibodies, resulting in invalid platelet transfusion.

Mechanism of selective induction of apoptosis of HCT116 tumor cells in circulating blood by riboflavin photochemistry.

The removal or inactivation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can prevent distant metastasis by hematogenous route, but there is still a lack of mature and effective technical means. In the previous research, our team has initially established a method of riboflavin photosensitized treatment (RPT) for continuous treatment of peripheral blood in vitro for the inactivation of CTCs. The core of this technology is that it can selectively induce apoptosis of CTCs (HCT116 cells) without damaging immunocyte (mainly Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells，PBMCs) under specific parameters. To clarify the specific mechanism, firstly, the enrichment of riboflavin in HCT116 cells and PBMCs was observed under fluorescence microscope. Secondly, the apoptotic signaling pathways in HCT116 cells and PBMCs in response to RPT treatment were analyzed by transcriptomics. Finally, the mitochondrial damage in HCT116 cells and PBMCs before and after RPT treatment was observed under electron microscope. The results showed that under the same treatment conditions, HCT116 cells were significantly enriched in riboflavin compared with PBMCs. Besides, RPT treatment reduced the expression of long non﹣coding RNA (lncRNA) NEAT1, an effector gene of HCT116 cells, which further down-regulated the expression of target gene PAX2 and promoted the expression of Bax, leading to mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), and consequently increased the release of pro-apoptotic factors such as cytochrome c(Cyt C), high-temperature requirement protein A2(HTRA2), apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), endonuclease G(ENDOG), finally leading to apoptosis of HCT116 cells. In contrast, lncRNA NEAT1 remained unchanged in PBMCs before and after RPT treatment, and was unable to stimulate the PBMCs apoptotic signaling pathway. The results of the study indicated that under the specific treatment conditions, RPT technology could selectively induce apoptosis of HCT116 cells by activating the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, which would further provide a theoretical and technical support for the effective inactivation of CTCs by RPT technology, thereby reducing the risk of recurrence of malignant tumors and improving the cure rate of malignant tumors.

Identification of molecular subtypes in lung adenocarcinoma based on DNA methylation and gene expression profiling-a bioinformatic analysis.

Background: Molecular typing based on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation and gene expression can extend understandings of the molecular mechanisms involved in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and enhance current diagnostic, treatment, and prognosis prediction approaches. Methods: Gene expression and DNA methylation data sets of LUAD were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the differential gene and methylation expression levels were analyzed. Results: We successfully divided the LUAD samples into 2 clinically relevant subtypes with significantly different survival times and tumor stages according to the transcriptome and methylation data. We found significant differences in the survival status, age, gender, tumor stage, node stage, and clinical stage between the 2 subtypes. The hub genes identified in the subnetworks, including NCAPG, CCNB1, DLGAP5, HLA-DQA1, HLA-DPA1, HLA-DPB1, SFTP, SCGBA1A, and SFTPD, were correlated with the cell cycle and immune system. The Gene Ontology annotation of the hub genes showed that the biological processes included organelle fission mitotic nuclear division, and sister chromatid segregation. The cellular components included chromosomal region, spindle, and kinetochore. The molecular functions included tubulin-binding, microtubule-binding, and DNA replication origin binding. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes signaling pathways related to the hub genes mainly included the cell cycle, human T-cell leukemia virus (type 1) infection, inflammatory bowel disease, and the intestinal immune network for immunoglobulin A production. The clinical stage difference was also confirmed in the validation group using the GSE32863 data set. Conclusions: Our findings extend understandings of the pathogenesis of LUAD and can be used to improve current diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis prediction strategies.

[A Novel Lyophilized PRP-Loaded Gel Based on Chitosan and PEG with Hemostatic and Antibacterial Properties].

OBJECTIVE: A dynamic gel loaded with lyophilized platelet-rich plasma-chitosan/difunctionalized polyethylene glycol (LPRP-CP) was prepared to investigate its hemostatic antibacterial and promoting wound healing of scald wounds through in vitro and in vivo experiments. METHODS: In this study, normal gauze/blank tablet (Ctrl), LPRP-CP, Chitosan HUCHUANG Powder(Chito P)and ChitoGauze XP PRO group (Chito G group) were set. The hemostatic effect and promoting healing effect of the four groups of materials were evaluated by establishing rabbit ear artery hemorrhage model and superficial Ⅱ° scalded model of skin on the back. The hemostatic time and bleeding amount were calculated and the gross and histological results of scald healing were observed. The antibacterial effect of the four groups of materials was evaluated by antibacterial test in vitro. RESULTS: In the rabbit ear arterial hemorrhage model, the hemostasis of all materials was successful. The hemostatic time of Ctrl, Chito P, LPRP-CP and Chito G groups was 213.33±38.30, 118.33±24.01, 115.00±8.37 and 111.67±11.69 s, respectively. The blood loss was 1233.83±992.27, 346.67±176.00, 193.33±121.47 and 147.50±80.66 mg, respectively. Compared with Ctrl, the hemostasis time of LPRP-CP, Chito P and Chito G group was significantly shorter (P<0.001), and the amount of blood loss of LPRP-CP and Chito G group was decreased (P<0.05). Compared with LPRP-CP, there were no significant differences in hemostatic time and blood loss between Chito P and Chito G group (P>0.05). In the model of superficial Ⅱ° scalded on the back of rabbit, the wound healing rate of LPRP-CP was faster than that of the other three groups at the same time, and the healing effect was perfect. In the antibacterial test in vitro, only LPRP-CP had better anti-S. aureus effect, and all groups had no anti-E. coli effect. CONCLUSION: LPRP-CP is an excellent hemostatic material for superficial wounds, and has certain antibacterial and wound healing effects, which has a wide academic value and research prospects.

[Preliminary Study on Screening and Identification of Lewis a Antigen Mimic Epitope in Alpaca Phage Display Nanobody Library].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a new method for synthesizing Lewis blood group antigens, that is, the mimotopes of Lewis blood group antigens were screened by using an alpaca phage display nanobody library. METHODS: We selected mimotopes of the Lewis a (lea) antigen by affinity panning of an alpaca phage display nanobody library using a monoclonal anti-lea antibody. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test the affinity of the positive clones for the monoclonal anti-lea antibody, and the high-affinity positive clones were selected for sequencing and synthesis. Finally, the sensitivity, specificity and reactivity of the synthesized lea mimotope in clinical samples were verified by ELISA. RESULTS: A total of 96 phage clones were randomly selected, and 24 were positive. Fourteen positive clones with the highest affinity were selected for sequencing. The result showed that there were 5 different sequences, among which 3 sequences with the highest frequency, largest difference and highest affinity were selected for expression and synthesis. The sensitivity and specificity of lea mimic antigen by ELISA showed that, the minimum detection limit of gel microcolumn assay (GMA) and ELISA method were 25 times different, and the lea mimic antigen had no cross reacted with the other five unrelated monoclonal antibodies(P<0.001). Finally, 30 clinical plasma samples were analyzed. The mean absorbance of the 15 positive plasma samples was significantly higher than that of the 15 negative plasma samples (P=0.02). However, the positive signal values of the clinical samples were much lower than those of the monoclonal antibodies. CONCLUSION: A new method of screening lea mimic antigen by using alpaca phage nanoantibody library has been established, which is expected to realize the screening of lea mimotopes, thus realizing the application of high-sensitivity detection methods such as ELISA and chemiluminescence in blood group antibody identification.

Immortalized Bone Mesenchymal Stromal Cells With Inducible Galanin Expression Produce Controllable Pain Relief in Neuropathic Rats.

Management of chronic pain is one of the most difficult problems in modern practice. Grafted human telomerase reverse transcriptase-immortalized bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (hTERT-BMSCs) with inducible galanin (GAL) expression have been considered to be a potentially safe and controllable approach for the alleviation of chronic pain. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to assess the feasibility of hTERT-BMSCs/Tet-on/GAL cells secreting GAL under the transcriptional control of doxycycline (Dox) for controllable pain relief. After transplanted into the subarachnoid space of neuropathic rats induced by spared nerve injury of sciatic nerve, their analgesic actions were investigated by behavioral tests. The results showed that the pain-related behaviors, mechanical allodynia, and thermal hyperalgesia were significantly alleviated during 1 to 7 weeks after grafts of hTERT-BMSCs/Tet-on/GAL cells without motor incoordination. Importantly, these effects could be reversed by GAL receptor antagonist M35 and regulated by Dox induction as compared with control. Moreover, the GAL level in cerebrospinal fluid and spinal GAL receptor 1 (GalR1) expression were correlated with Dox administration, but not GAL receptor 2 (GalR2). Meanwhile, spinal protein kinase Mζ (PKMζ) expression was also inhibited significantly. Taken together, these data suggest that inducible release of GAL from transplanted cells was able to produce controllable pain relief in neuropathic rats via inhibiting the PKMζ activation and activating its GalR1 rather than GalR2. This provides a promising step toward a novel stem cell-based strategy for pain therapy.

Manifold Feature Fusion with Dynamical Feature Selection for Cross-Subject Emotion Recognition.

Affective computing systems can decode cortical activities to facilitate emotional human-computer interaction. However, personalities exist in neurophysiological responses among different users of the brain-computer interface leads to a difficulty for designing a generic emotion recognizer that is adaptable to a novel individual. It thus brings an obstacle to achieve cross-subject emotion recognition (ER). To tackle this issue, in this study we propose a novel feature selection method, manifold feature fusion and dynamical feature selection (MF-DFS), under transfer learning principle to determine generalizable features that are stably sensitive to emotional variations. The MF-DFS framework takes the advantages of local geometrical information feature selection, domain adaptation based manifold learning, and dynamical feature selection to enhance the accuracy of the ER system. Based on three public databases, DEAP, MAHNOB-HCI and SEED, the performance of the MF-DFS is validated according to the leave-one-subject-out paradigm under two types of electroencephalography features. By defining three emotional classes of each affective dimension, the accuracy of the MF-DFS-based ER classifier is achieved at 0.50-0.48 (DEAP) and 0.46-0.50 (MAHNOBHCI) for arousal and valence emotional dimensions, respectively. For the SEED database, it achieves 0.40 for the valence dimension. The corresponding accuracy is significantly superior to several classical feature selection methods on multiple machine learning models.

Expanded validation of the effect and quality of a pathogen inactivation system based on riboflavin photochemistry on platelet bacterial contamination.

BACKGROUND: Bacterial contamination still poses serious challenges to blood safety. Platelets have the highest bacterial contamination risk of all blood components. METHODS: Twenty units of manual platelets were prepared from blood donated by our hospital, which were inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli suspensions. The riboflavin sodium phosphate solution was added into platelets, adjusted to a final concentration of 160 µmol/L. Platelets added into an illumination bag and placed in the inactivation system for riboflavin photochemistry at various doses. The inactivation effect of bacteria was evaluated on a Columbia blood agar plate by the plate counting method. Meanwhile, the blood routine, blood gas analysis, platelet aggregation test, and thromboelastogram of platelets before and after treatment were detected to evaluate the changes of platelet quality after treatment. RESULTS: the inactivation effect of S. aureus and E. coli at the inactivation dose (16.9 J/cm2) could reach more than 4 logs. After treatment at 16.9 J/cm2, the blood routine results showed that the platelet count was significantly different (P<0.05), and the blood gas analysis showed that the oxygen partial pressure (pO2) and lactic acid concentration (cLac) were also significantly different (P<0.05). After 16.9 J/cm2 treatment, there was a significant difference between Arachidonic acid (AA) and Collagen (Cog) activator groups in the platelet aggregation experiment (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the main thrombelastogram (TEG) parameters (R value, K value, angle value, MA value) after treatment (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The inactivation effect of this set of blood component pathogen inactivation system on platelet bacterial contamination could be considered to meet actual clinical needs, with the inactivation treatment having little impact on platelet function.

Effect of hand-ear acupuncture on chronic low-back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of hand-ear acupuncture on chronic low-back pain (cLBP). METHODS: This was an open, randomized and controlled trial in The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Sichuan Province. The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02260284. All the 152 participates with cLBP were randomly assigned to hand-ear acupuncture (n = 54), standard acupuncture (n = 50), or usual care groups (n = 48). Eighteen treatments were provided over 7 weeks. Back-related dysfunction and symptom severity were assessed by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), which were collected at baseline, 2 months and 6 months post to the treatment. RESULTS: At 6 months, the RMDQ scores improved by 7.74 points of hand-ear acupuncture group. Significant improvement of VAS and RMDQ was observed in hand-ear acupuncture group (P < 0.001), but no significant changes of RMDQ were observed in both standard acupuncture group and usual care group. We also observed an overall efficacy rate of 88.89% in hand-ear acupuncture group, as evaluated by Diagnosis and Curative Effect Standard for Symptom pattern of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which was much higher than 45.84% in the usual care group (H = 16.000, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Both of the hand-ear acupuncture and standard acupuncture modes have beneficial and persistent effectiveness against cLBP compared with the usual care. Furthermore, hand-ear acupuncture is significantly more effective than the standardized acupuncture, especially in the long term.

The Effect of Puerarin on Carotid Intima-media Thickness in Patients With Active Rheumatoid Arthritis: ARandomized Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE: Cardiovascular and diabetic complications are the main causes of death in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Puerarin has potential protective effects against subclinical atherosclerosis and insulin resistance, but the clinical evidence is still not sufficient to draw definitive conclusions. Therefore, we performed the clinical trial to assess the effect of puerarin on carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in RA. METHODS: This is an open, controlled, randomized, and parallel-group comparison study of 119 patients with a definite diagnose of active RA. All 119 consecutive patients with RA receiving routine antirheumatic care were randomized to receive treatment with (n = 60; 16 males and 44 females; mean age, 52.97 years; 95% CI, 49.78-56.15 years) or without (n = 59; 17 males and 42 females; mean age, 54.05 years; 95% CI, 50.03-58.07 years) 400mg of puerarin. The effects of both interventions on CIMT, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) value, and possible adverse events were assessed and compared at entry, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks. The collected data were processed and assessed using ANCOVA, paired t test, repeated-measure ANOVA, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's χ2 test, Fisher exact test, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Pearson correlation, and LOESS (locally weighted smoothing) regression analysis. FINDINGS: No significant adverse effects occurred concerning the use of puerarin, and both interventions were generally well tolerated in all the patients. A tiny but significant decrease of CIMT was observed in puerarin-treated patients at 24 weeks (-0.003 mm; 95% CI, -0.005 to -0.001vs 0.019 mm; 95% CI, -0.002 to 0.040; P < 0.001). At 24 weeks, insulin resistance was indicated with more pronounced improvement in the puerarin group versus the control group (homeostasis model assessment, -0.40; 95% CI, -0.47 to -0.33vs -0.05; 95% CI, -0.08 to -0.01; P < 0.001). Correlation analysis indicated an interaction between the parallel reductions in CIMT and insulin resistance in the puerarin group (r = 0.878, P < 0.001) but not in the control group. IMPLICATIONS: In the study, 24 weeks of treatment with 400mg of puerarin exerted a significant effect against CIMT progression in patients with active RA, which may be associated with the improvement of insulin resistance. Puerarin holds promise as a drug candidate for the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic comorbidities in patients with active RA. However, more strictly designed trials, such as double-blind and placebo-controlled trials, are still required. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02254655.

hTERT-Immortalized Bone Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Expressing Rat Galanin via a Single Tetracycline-Inducible Lentivirus System.

The use of human telomerase reverse transcriptase-immortalized bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (hTERT-BMSCs) as vehicles to deliver antinociceptive galanin (GAL) molecules into pain-processing centers represents a novel cell therapy strategy for pain management. Here, an hTERT-BMSCs/Tet-on/GAL cell line was constructed using a single Tet-on-inducible lentivirus system, and subsequent experiments demonstrated that the secretion of rat GAL from hTERT-BMSCs/Tet-on/GAL was switched on and off under the control of an inducer in a dose-dependent manner. The construction of this cell line is the first promising step in the regulation of GAL secretion from hTERT-immortalized BMSCs, and the potential application of this system may provide a stem cell-based research platform for pain.

[Meta analysis of the relationship between tumorigenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma and human papillomavirus infection].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Previous researches showed that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection was closely related to tumorigenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). But the results of these studies have great differences because of different research methods. This study was to evaluate synthetically the relationship between OSCC of Chinese and HPV infection by meta analysis. METHODS: From Jan. 1990 to Apr. 2003, 44 references reported about the relationship between tumorigenesis of OSCC of Chinese and HPV infection were collected from Chinese Biomedical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System for Compact Disc (CBMdisc). There were 10 references accorded with research criteria which was case-control study, and detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fisher and meta analysis were used to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze these references synthetically. RESULTS: The synthetic qualitative analysis by Fisher showed there was significant association between the tumorigenesis of OSCC and HPV infection (P< 0.005). The synthetic quantitative analysis by meta analysis revealed that the combined odds ratioes (ORc) for HPV, and HPV16 infection of OSCC were 8.89 (3.62-21.80), and 6.81 (2.18-21.32) times that of normal oral mucosa. The mean positive rates of HPV, and HPV16 detection in OSCC were 49.02% (36.48%-61.57%),and 45.74% (31.94%-59.54%) higher than that of normal oral mucosa. CONCLUSION: Human papillomavirus infection, especially HPV16, will increase the risk of tumorigenesis of OSCC.