N6-Methyladenosine Modification of ANLN Enhances Hepatocellular Carcinoma Bone Metastasis.

Bones are categorized as the second most prevalent location of extra-hepatic metastasis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), which is linked to an extremely poor prognosis due to limited therapeutic options. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a prominent modification involved in HCC, but the exact mechanisms on how m6A modifications induce HCC bone metastases (BM) remain unclear. The key modulators responsible for the abundant m6A RNA modification-induced HCC BM was found to be the METTL3 and YTHDF1. The expression of Anillin actin-binding protein (ANLN) was dramatically higher in HCC with BM tissues, and its messenger RNA (mRNA) stability was enhanced via m6A epitranscriptomic regulation by METTL3 and YTHDF1. High METTL3 and YTHDF1 expression along with nuclear ANLN protein was clinically correlated with BM in HCC patients. Furthermore, HCC BM was attributed to over-expression of nuclear ANLN forming a transcriptional complex with SP1 which enhanced KIF2C transcriptional activity to activate the mTORC1 pathway, therefore increased the expression of RANKL and disproportionated RANKL-OPG expression in bone microenvironment leading to malignant neoplasms invade bone tissue. In addition, inhibition of ANLN m6A modification by DZNeP attenuated HCC BM. This data provides meaningful understanding of the modulation and association of m6A epitranscriptomic-regulated BM in HCC, and moreover, defines potentially valuable therapeutic targets.

Impact of iatrogenic biliary injury during laparoscopic cholecystectomy on surgeon's mental distress: a nationwide survey from China.

BACKGROUND: Iatrogenic biliary injury (IBI) following laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the most serious iatrogenic complications. Little is known whether LC-IBI would lead to surgeon's severe mental distress (SMD). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey in the form of electronic questionnaire was conducted among Chinese general surgeons who have caused LC-IBI. The six collected clinical features relating to mental distress included: 1) feeling burnout, anxiety, or depression, 2) avoiding performing LC, 3) having physical reactions when recalling the incidence, 4) having the urge to quit surgery, 5) taking psychiatric medications, and 6) seeking professional psychological counseling. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify risk factors of SMD, which was defined as meeting ≥3 of the above-mentioned clinical features. RESULTS: Among 1466 surveyed surgeons, 1236 (84.3%) experienced mental distress following LC-IBI, and nearly half (49.7%, 614/1236) had SMD. Multivariable analyses demonstrated that surgeons from non-university affiliated hospitals (OR:1.873), patients who required multiple repair operations (OR:4.075), patients who required hepaticojejunostomy/partial hepatectomy (OR:1.859), existing lawsuit litigation (OR:10.491), existing violent doctor-patient conflicts (OR:4.995), needing surgeons' personal compensation (OR:2.531), and additional administrative punishment by hospitals (OR:2.324) were independent risk factors of surgeon's SMD. CONCLUSION: Four out of five surgeons experienced mental distress following LC-IBI, and nearly half had SMD. Several independent risk factors of SMD were identified, which could help to make strategies to improve surgeons' mental well-being.

Serum thioredoxin is a diagnostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Here we found that serum levels of thioredoxin were increased in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The optimum diagnostic cutoff for thioredoxin was 20.5 ng/mL (area under curve [AUC] 0.946 [95% CI 0.923-0.969] in the training cohort; 0.941 [0.918-0.963] in the validation cohort). High serum concentrations of thioredoxin differentiated HCC from chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis (0.901 [0.875-0.923] in the training cohort; 0.906 [0.870-0.925] in the validation cohort). Furthermore, a higher proportion of patients with very early HCC had positive results for thioredoxin than for alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) (73.7% VS.31.6%; P < 0.0001). Among AFP-negative patients with very early HCC, 18 (69.2%) of 26 had positive thioredoxin results. Our results indicate that serum thioredoxin complements measurement of AFP in the diagnosis of HCC, especially in very early disease. Combined model (thioredoxin and AFP) showed a significantly greater discriminatory ability as compared with those markers alone.

[The expression of P120 catenin in pancreatic carcinoma and the relationship between the T755G polymorphism of P120 catenin gene and pancreatic carcinoma].

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression of P120 catenin in pancreatic carcinoma and to explore the association between P120 catenin gene polymorphism at T755G position and pancreatic carcinoma. METHODS: The expression of P120 catenin in 52 cases of pancreatic carcinoma and normal pancreatic tissues on the mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western Blot methods respectively. P120 catenin gene polymorphism at T755G position of in 52 patients and 60 healthy controls were examined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. RESULTS: The mRNA and protein expressions of P120 catenin in pancreatic carcinoma tissues were significantly lower than normal pancreatic tissues (P=0.000, P=0.002). Reduced expression of P120 catenin mRNA was significantly correlated with differentiated (P=0.033), lymph node metastasis (P=0.004), vascular invasion (P=0.022), and pTNM stage (P=0.003). Additionally, there were significant difference of P120 catenin gene polymorphism genotypes and alleles at T755G position between patients and healthy controls (P=0.008, P=0.016). The GG genotype of P120 catenin gene was associated with higher risk of incidence for pancreatic carcinoma compared with the TT genotype (OR=2.765, 95%CI=1.312-3.958). CONCLUSIONS: The reduced expressions of both P120 catenin mRNA and protein in pancreatic carcinoma suggest its association with pancreatic carcinoma development. Polymorphism of P120 catenin gene at T755G situation might be a risk factor for pancreatic carcinoma, and it may be used to diagnosis and prevent pancreatic carcinoma early.

[Construction and primary application of oligonucleotide microarray specialized for pancreatic adenocarcinoma-associated genes].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the construction of oligonucleotide microarray specialized for pancreatic adenocarcinoma-associated genes and its application. METHODS: Pancreatic cancer related genes were purposely selected, and oligonucleotide microarray was prepared by spotting oligonucleotide probes onto glass slides coated with APS-PDC. Total RNA were extracted from frozen tissues with TRIzol method according to the manufacturer's protocol, and purified with QIAGEN RNeasy Kit. Labeled cDNA targets for hybridizations were synthesized by reverse transcription from control- and cancer-total RNA samples in the presence of Cy5-dCTP and Cy3-dCTP, respectively. The labeled probes were hybridized with oligonucleotide microarray for 16 h to 18 h. Hybridized microarray was scanned by Agilent laser scanner, and the acquired image was analyzed by Imagene3.0 software. The intensity ratio of Cy3 and Cy5 were calculated. To confirm the expression profiles of these genes, quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (Q RT-PCR) was carried out with CDC25B and TUSC3 genes. The product of PCR were quantitated by comparative Ct method. RESULTS: The signal of microarray hybridization was clear, and the images had a lower background and higher signal-noise ratio. The signal of positive control spots were uniform, and spots of negative control and blank signal were fairly low. In comparison with normal pancreas, 24 differential expressed genes were identified, which included 17 up-regulated and 7 down-regulated genes. The results of Q RT-PCR demonstrated that the expression of CDC25B and TUSC3 in pancreatic cancer were increased and decreased respectively, which consistent with microarray hybridization. CONCLUSIONS: The oligonucleotide microarray specialized for pancreatic cancer are desirable for its specialty, flexibility and sensitivity, which can simultaneously and parallelly detect multiple pancreatic cancer-associated genes. In contrast to normal pancreatic tissues, the genes expression profile are different significantly in pancreatic cancer.