Diagnostic value of circulating microRNAs in thyroid carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine system tumour. Several studies had revealed the potential of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of TC. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to summarize published studies and evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of circulating miRNAs in TC detection. METHODS: In this meta-analysis, we systematically searched three databases: PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library. We used the bivariate mixed-effects regression model to calculate the pooled diagnostic parameters and conduct the summary receiver operator characteristic curve (SROC). All calculations were performed using stata software. RESULTS: Thirty-five studies from 9 articles, including 663 TC patients, 519 patients with benign thyroid nodules (BTNs), and 84 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under the SROC curve (AUC) were 0.81 (95% CI 0.75-0.86), 0.81 (95% CI 0.75-0.86), 4.3 (95% CI 3.2-5.6), 0.24 (95% CI 0.18-0.31), 18 (95% CI 12-28) and 0.88 (95% CI 0.85-0.90), respectively in BTN controls, and 0.81 (95% CI 0.75-0.86), 0.85 (95% CI 0.75-0.91), 5.3 (95% CI 3.3-8.7), 0.23 (95% CI 0.18-0.29), 24 (95% CI 14-39), 0.89 (95% CI 0.86-0.91) in healthy controls. The subgroup analysis found that multiple miRNA assays had higher diagnostic accuracy than single miRNA assays with sensitivity of 0.88, specificity of 0.89 and AUC of 0.94. CONCLUSION: Circulating miRNAs have good values to diagnose TC and distinguish TC patients from BTN patients. MiRNAs can assist in the diagnosis of malignancy and avoid unnecessary surgery. In summary, circulating miRNAs should be added to our current clinical tools.

miR-26b-5p suppresses proliferation and promotes apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells by targeting JAG1.

BACKGROUND: Though the levels of diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) have been largely improved recent years, the prognosis of these patients remain unacceptable. It is urgent for us to discover the exact mechanism and determine some new indicators for MM. MiRNAs play a critical role in the occurrence and progression of cancers, including MM. MiR-26b-5p has been reported to be closely related to cells proliferation in human pulmonary cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and so on. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Here, we measured the expression of miR-26b-5p in MM samples and cell lines by real-time PCR. Then, Kaplan-Meier Curves were applied to assess the effect of miR-26b-5p expression on MM patients prognosis. Functionally, MTT assay and Flow cytometry were conducted to explore the functions of miR-26b-5p in cells proliferation and apoptosis. Furthermore, bioinformatics tools, Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis, gain-and loss of-function experiments and rescue experiment were used to determine the relationship between JAG1 and miR-26b-5p in MM cells. In addition, we also confirmed the role of JAG1 in MM cells proliferation and apoptosis by gain-and loss of-function experiments. RESULTS: Here, we reported for the first time that miR-26b-5p was under-expressed in MM by real-time PCR. Clinically, Kaplan-Meier Curves showed that MM patients with lower miR-26b-5p expression had worse prognosis. Functionally, MTT assay revealed that miR-26b-5p inhibited cells proliferation. Flow cytometry indicated that miR-26b-5p accelerated tumor cells apoptosis. Furthermore, bioinformatics tools, Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis gain-and loss of-function experiments showed that JAG1 was the target of miR-26b-5p in MM cells. And, gain-and loss of-function experiments for JAG1 confirmed that JAG1 was an oncogene in MM cells. What's more, rescue experiment showed that JAG1 mediated the function of miR-26b-5p in MM cells. CONCLUSION: MiR-26b-5p acts as a tumor suppressor through suppressing cells proliferation and inducing cells apoptosis via directly targeting JAG1 in MM. MiR-26b-5p could be a potential and ponderable tumor target for MM in future.

Abnormal vascular endothelial growth factor protein expression may be correlated with poor prognosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted the present meta-analysis with relevant cohort studies to determine whether expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor. (VEGF) could predict the prognosis of diffuse large B.cell lymphoma. (DLBCL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MEDLINE (1966-2013), the Cochrane Library Database (Issue 12, 2013), EMBASE (1980-2013), CINAHL (1982--2013), Web of Science (1945-2013), and the Chinese Biomedical Database (1982-2013) were searched without any language restrictions. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA software (Version 12.0, Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas USA). Hazard ratios (HR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. RESULTS: Eight clinical cohort studies, which recruited a total 670 DLBCL patients, were included in the meta-analysis. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that DLBCL patients with positive VEGF expression had a shorter overall survival than those with negative VEGF expression. (HR = 1.58, 95% CI = 0.80-2.36, P < 0.001). Ethnicity-stratified analysis illustrates that high expression levels of VEGF may be significantly correlated with poor DLBCL prognosis among both Caucasian and Asian populations. (Caucasian: HR = 1.73, 95% CI = 0.56-2.90, P = 0.004; Asian: HR = 1.45, 95% CI = 0.41-2.50, P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: The major findings of our meta-analysis reveal that the aberrant expression of VEGF may correspond to shorter overall survival of patients with DLBCL, revealing that VEGF expression could be an unbiased prognostic determinant in the management of DLBCL patients.

Borromean-entanglement-driven assembly of porous molecular architectures with anion-modified pore space.

A series of metal-organic frameworks based on a flexible, highly charged Bpybc ligand, namely 1⋅Mn⊃OH(-), 2⋅Mn⊃SO(4)(2-), 3⋅Mn⊃bdc(2-), 4⋅Eu⊃SO(4)(2-) (H(2)BpybcCl(2) = 1,1'-bis(4-carboxybenzyl)-4,4'-bipyridinium dichloride, H(2)bdc = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) have been obtained by a self-assembly process. Single-crystal X-ray-diffraction analysis revealed that all of these compounds contained the same n-fold 2D→3D Borromean-entangled topology with irregular butterfly-like pore channels that were parallel to the Borromean sheets. These structures were highly tolerant towards various metal ions (from divalent transition metals to trivalent lanthanide ions) and anion species (from small inorganic anions to bulky organic anions), which demonstrated the superstability of these Borromean linkages. This non-interpenetrated entanglement represents a new way of increasing the stability of the porous frameworks. The introduction of bipyridinium molecules into the porous frameworks led to the formation of cationic surface, which showed high affinities to methanol and water vapor. The distinct adsorption and desorption isotherms of methanol vapor in four complexes revealed that the accommodated anion species (of different size, shape, and location) provided a unique platform to tune the environment of the pore space. Measurements of the adsorption of various organic vapors onto framework 1⋅Mn⊃OH(-) further revealed that these pores have a high adsorption selectivity towards molecules with different sizes, polarities, or π-conjugated structures.