Application and progress of the detection technologies in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a very high incidence and fatality rate, and in most cases, it is already at an advanced stage when diagnosed. Therefore, early prevention and detection of HCC are two of the most effective strategies. However, the methods recommended in the practice guidelines for the detection of HCC cannot guarantee high sensitivity and specificity except for the liver biopsy, which is known as the "gold standard". In this review, we divided the detection of HCC into pre-treatment diagnosis and post-treatment monitoring, and found that in addition to the traditional imaging detection and liver biopsy, alpha fetoprotein (AFP), lens culinaris-agglutinin-reactive fraction of AFP (AFP-L3), protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) and other biomarkers are excellent biomarkers for HCC, especially when they are combined together. Most notably, the emerging liquid biopsy shows great promise in detecting HCC. In addition, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) and other relevant biomarkers may become promising biomarkers for HCC post-treatment monitoring. Through the detailed introduction of the diagnostic technology of HCC, we can have a detailed understanding of its development process and then obtain some enlightenment from the diagnosis, to improve the diagnostic rate of HCC and reduce its mortality.

Retracted: Long Chain Non-Coding RNA (lncRNA) HOTAIR Knockdown Increases miR-454-3p to Suppress Gastric Cancer Growth by Targeting STAT3/Cyclin D1.

This publication has been retracted by the Editor due to the identification of non-original figure images and manuscript content that raise concerns regarding the credibility and originality of the study and the manuscript. Reference: Jiang, He Li, Heping Xiang, Ming Gao, Chunlin Yin, Haiping Wang, Yuansong Sun, Maoming Xiong. Long Chain Non-Coding RNA (lncRNA) HOTAIR Knockdown Increases miR-454-3p to Suppress Gastric Cancer Growth by Targeting STAT3/Cyclin D1. Med Sci Monit, 2019; 25: 1537-1548. DOI: 10.12659/MSM.913087.

Research progress on the role of cholesterol in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often diagnosed at advanced stages with no effective treatment options. Mechanistically, it is a complex biological process. Recently, the main cause of its incidence is changing from viral to non-viral. It has been shown that high cholesterol levels can cause the further transformation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to HCC, but some investigations have found that serum cholesterol levels are negatively correlated with morbidity and mortality. Conflicting experimental results and epidemiological investigations illustrate the complex mechanisms of HCC. Cholesterol is essential for the survival of the body and tumors, although research on the function of cholesterol in tumors is evolving, the use of lowering cholesterol drugs in treating HCC remains limited. In this review, the cholesterol-involved mechanisms that cause the development of HCC or reduce the mortality and the latest progress in the use of cholesterol in the treatment of HCC and prospects for prevention and diagnosis have been summarized.

Differential expression of plasma exosomal microRNA in severe acute pancreatitis.

The incidence rate of acute pancreatitis is increasing, and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is associated with a high mortality rate, which may be reduced by a deeper understanding of its pathogenesis. In addition, an early determination of the severity of acute pancreatitis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to match potential biomarkers for early identification and monitoring of acute pancreatitis and to shed light on the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of SAP. The expression levels of plasma exosomal microRNA (miRNA) in patients with pancreatitis have been associated with the disease. Thus, this study compared the expression levels of exosomal miRNA in plasma collected from four patients with SAP and from four healthy participants. Analyses of the miRNA expression profiles indicated that three previously unreported miRNAs were differentially expressed in the patient group: Novel1, which was downregulated, and Novel2 and Novel3, which were upregulated. The miRNA target genes for those novel miRNAs were predicted using Metascape. Of these miRNA target genes, those that were also differentially expressed at different time points after disease induction in a mouse model of acute pancreatitis were determined. The gene for complement component 3 (C3), a target gene of Novel3, was the only gene matched in both the patient group and the mouse model. C3 appeared at most of the time points assessed after induction of acute pancreatitis in mice. These findings are foundational evidence that C3 warrants further study as an early biomarker of SAP, for investigating underlying pathogenic mechanisms of SAP, and as a therapeutic target for ameliorating the occurrence or development of SAP.

DIA-Based Proteomic Analysis of Plasma Protein Profiles in Patients with Severe Acute Pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a pancreatic inflammatory disease that varies greatly in course and severity. To further the understanding of the pathology of AP, we carried out data-independent acquisition-based proteomic analyses using proteins extracted from the plasma of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) (experimental group) and healthy volunteers (control group). Compared to the control group, there were 35 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the plasma of patients with SAP. Of those, the expression levels for 6 proteins were significantly increased, and 29 proteins were significantly decreased. Moreover, six candidate biomarkers-VWF, ORM2, CD5L, CAT, IGLV3-10, and LTF-were matched as candidate biomarkers of the disease severity of AP. The area under the receiver operating characteristic of 0.903 (95% CI: 0.839, 0.967) indicated that this combination of these six candidate biomarkers had a good prediction accuracy for predicting the severity of AP. Our study provides specific DEPs that may be useful in the diagnosis and prognosis of SAP, which suggests new theoretical bases for the occurrence and development of SAP and offers potential novel treatment strategies for SAP.

Boosting the visible-light-driven photocatalytic antibacterial performance of MoS2 nanosheets by poly(3-(4-methyl-3'-thiophenoxy))propyltrimethylammonium chloride (PThM) modification.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been reported to possess photocatalytic bactericidal ability, but its efficiency is not high. In this paper, a water-soluble cationic conjugated polymer, poly(3-(4-methyl-3'-thiophenoxy))propyltrimethylammonium chloride (PThM), was designed to modify MoS2 and boost its antibacterial abilities. Another hydrophobic conjugated polymer, polythiophene (PTh), was synthesized and composited with MoS2, and this was compared with PThM/MoS2 from the perspective of composite effectiveness. Studies involving the photo-disinfection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) under visible-light irradiation (30 W) showed that the antibacterial efficiencies were in the following order: PThM/MoS2 > PTh/MoS2 > MoS2. The enhanced bactericidal activities of PThM/MoS2 and PTh/MoS2 were attributed to the conjugated polymers restraining the recombination of photogenerated carriers in MoS2, thereby increasing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). PThM/MoS2 presented the best antibacterial efficiency because its cationic side-chains improved the solubility of the material and promoted contact between bacteria and the material. This work may provide some insights into the design of practical nano-antibacterial materials.

Nanosensing colon cancer biomarker on zeolite-modified gap-fingered dielectrodes.

Nanomaterial on the sensing area elevates the biomolecular immobilization by its right orientation with a proper alignment, and zeolite is one of the suitable materials. In this research, the zeolite nanoparticles were synthesized using rice hush ash as the basic source and the prepared zeolite by the addition of sodium silicate was utilized to attach antibody as a probe on a gap-fingered dielectrode surface to identify the colon cancer biomarker, "colon cancer-secreted protein-2" (CCSP-2). Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscopy images confirmed the size of the nanoparticle to be ∼15 nm and the occurrence of silica and alumina. Zeolite was modified on the electrode surface through the amine linker, and then anti-CCSP-2 was attached by an aldehyde linker. On this surface, CCSP-2 was detected and attained the detection limit to be 3 nM on the linear regression curve with 3-5 nM of CCSP-2. Estimated by the determination coefficient of y = 2.3952x - 4.4869 and R2 = 9041 with 3δ (n = 3). In addition, control proteins did not produce the notable current response representing the specific sensing of CCSP-2. This research is suitable to identify CCSP-2 at a lower level in the bloodstream under the physiological condition of a colon cancer patient.

The Role of IL-36 in the Pathophysiological Processes of Autoimmune Diseases.

A member of the interleukin (IL)-1 superfamily was IL-36, which contained IL-36α, IL-36ß, IL-36γ, and IL-36Ra. Heterotrimer complexes, consisting of heterodimeric receptor complexes and IL-36 agonist, gave signals through intracellular functional domains, so as to bind to downstream proteins and induce inflammatory response. IL-36 agonists upregulated mature-associated CD80, CD86, MHCII, and inductively produced several pro-inflammatory cytokines through the IL-36R-dependent manner in dendritic cells (DCs). Besides, DCs had the ability to initiate the differentiation of helper T (Th) cells. Up to date, the role of IL-36 in immunity, inflammation and other diseases is of great importance. Additionally, autoimmune diseases were characterized by excessive immune response, resulting in damage and dysfunction of specific or multiple organs and tissues. Most autoimmune diseases were related to inflammatory response. In this review, we will conclude the recent research advances of IL-36 in the occurrence and development of autoimmune diseases, which may provide new insight for the future research and the treatment of these diseases.

Long Chain Non-Coding RNA (lncRNA) HOTAIR Knockdown Increases miR-454-3p to Suppress Gastric Cancer Growth by Targeting STAT3/Cyclin D1.

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer is a common gastrointestinal tumor. The incidence and mortality of gastric cancer are very high. Therefore, it is important to study targeted drugs. Recent studies found long chain non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) were abnormal in gastric cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS We collected adjacent normal and cancer tissues of gastric cancer patients and measured HOTAIR, miR-454-3p, STAT3, and Cyclin D1 expression and analyzed the correlation with clinical status. We also measured AGS and SGC7901 cells proliferation rate of different groups by MTT assay, and we evaluated AGS and SGC7901 cell apoptosis and cell cycle by flow cytometry. In addition, we assessed the relative proteins expressions by WB assay. Finally, we explored the correlation between miR-454-3p and STAT3 by use of double luciferase reporter. RESULTS lncRNA HOTAIR was negatively correlated with miR-454-3p expression in gastric cancer tissues. lncRNA HOTAIR knockdown suppressed AGS and SGC7901, which are gastric cancer cell lines that promote cell proliferation by increasing cell apoptosis and keeping the cell cycle in G1 phase. In further mechanism research, we found that the STAT3 and Cyclin D1 proteins expressions were suppressed by lncRNA HOTAIR down-regulation in AGS and SGC7901 cells. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that lncRNA HOTAIR knockdown stimulates miR-454-3p expression to inhibit gastric cancer growth by depressing STAT3/Cyclin D1 activity.

[Up-regulation of circulating miR-29a in patients with acute pancreatitis and is positively correlated with disease severity and poor prognosis].

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of circulating miR-29a in diagnosis and prognosis monitoring in acute pancreatitis (AP) patients, and to preliminary explore the molecular pathology significance of high expression of miR-29a. Methods 30 cases of mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) patients (MAP group) and 30 cases of moderately serve acute pancreatitis (MSAP) or serve acute pancreatitis (SAP) patients ( M-SAP group) were randomly selected, and 30 cases of healthy adults were used as control group. The general clinical data of each group were compared, and miR-29a levels in peripheral blood were measured by real tome quantitative PCR, then the correlation between miR-29a levels and Ranson score or APACHEIIscore were analyzed. The clinical usefulness of miR-29a for AP patients was assessed by ROC curve analysis. AR42J cells were treated with deoxycholic acid (DCA) to establish AP cell model, the expression levels of miR-29a and caspase-3 were detected. AR42J cells were transfected by lentiviral vector contain miR-29a mimic or miR-29a AMO and measured of expression levels of miR-29a and caspase-3. Results In acute phase, the expression of circulating miR-20a was up-regulated in MAP and M-SAP group patients, and miR-20a levels of M-SAP group patients were higher than MAP group patients. In same group, miR-20a levels in acute phase were higher than recovery phase. Correlation analysis indicated the positive correlation between miR-20a levels and Ranson score or APACHEII score. ROC curve analysis indicated that the AUC of miR-29a for diagnosis MAP patients was 0.961 ( 95%CI: 0.921~ 1.002), cut-off value was 1.460. The AUC of miR-29a for diagnosis M-SAP patients was 0.972 ( 95%CI: 0.939 ~ 1.004), cut-off value was 1.340. The expression levels of miR-29a and caspase 3 were increased in AP cell model. Moreover, caspase 3 levels in AP cell model were increased than vector control after overexpression of miR-29a, and caspase-3 levels were reduced than vector control after suppressing of miR-29a expression. Conclusion Circulating miR-29a is high expression in MAP and M-SAP patients, and high expression of miR-29a may relate to pancreatic acinar cell apoptosis, and this biomarkers has high clinical value in AP diagnosis and prognosis monitoring.