Bronchiole adenoma/pulmonary ciliated mucinous nodular papillary tumor: Case series and literature review.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical-pathological characteristics of 3 cases of bronchiolar adenoma/pulmonary ciliary mucinous nodular papillary tumors, and to improve the understanding of bronchiolar adenoma (BA)/ciliated muconodular papillary tumors (CMPT) (bronchiolar adenoma/ciliated muconodular papillary tumor). METHODS: Retrospective analysis was done on the clinical information, diagnosis, and treatment of 3 instances of BA/CMPT at the Second People's Hospital of Weifang City. By scanning the CNKI, Wanfang, VIP database, and Pubmed database using the English key words "bronchiolar adenoma, ciliated muconodular papillary tumor," respectively patients with comprehensive clinical data were gathered, and studies from January 2002 to August 2021 that were relevant to the patients were examined. RESULTS: A total of 35 articles and 71 instances were found, including 3 cases in our hospital, for a total of 74 cases. There were 31 males and 43 females among them, ranging in age from 18 to 84 years (average 63 years), and 15 cases had a smoking history. The majority of them were discovered by physical examination and had no clinical symptoms. The majority of the imaging revealed solid nodules with variable forms, with some ground-glass nodules displaying vacuole and bronchial inflation signs. BA/CMPT are generally gray-white, gray-brown solid nodules with obvious boundaries but no envelope with a maximum dimension of 4 to 45 mm (average 10.6 mm) on gross examination. Acinar, papillary, and lepidic formations can be seen under the microscope at high magnification; the majority of these structures are made up of tripartite epithelial components, including basal cells, mucous cells, ciliated columnar cells, and alveolar epithelial cells, demonstrating a variety of combinations. An important basis for diagnosis in immunohistochemistry is the continuous positive basal cell layer that is shown by p63, p40, and CK5/6. BRAF and epidermal growth factor receptor are the genes that are most frequently mutated. All of the patients showed no signs of metastasis or recurrence during follow-up period. CONCLUSION: BA/CMPT is a rare benign tumor of lung epithelium. Because imaging and intraoperative cryosection diagnosis are easy to be misdiagnosed as malignant, it is necessary to further improve understanding and improve immunohistochemistry and genetic examination.

Study on the structural characteristics of China's high-speed railway network and its coordination with economic growth based on Fractal theory.

As one of the modern transportation modes, the high-speed railway network system has been a robust part of the comprehensive transportation system in China. An important topic emerges the exploration and optimization of its structural organization and coordinated relationship with the regional development, including urban form, land use, and economy. Therefore, supported by the integration of geographical information system (GIS) and fractal theory, this paper aims to carry out an investigation and discussion on the structural characteristics, including intensity (density), complexity, nonstationarity, and heterogeneity of the high-speed railway network in China (HSRNC) from the perspective of the whole country and specific regions, i.e., urban agglomerations. Moreover, based on the time-series data of network mileage expansion and economic output analysis, this study aims to evaluate and characterize the coordinated relationships between network development and economic growth in the context of the nationwide area and urban agglomerations. This study aims to explore and promote the spatial structural organization and morphology of the high-speed railway network in China, thus improving the coordinated development with the regional economic growth, for giving a new perspective to the future planning and evolution of the high-speed railway network in China.

The expression of VISTA on CD4+ T cells associate with poor prognosis and immune status in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Besides the two main histologic types of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the classical PTC (CL-PTC) and the follicular variant PTC (FV-PTC), several other variants are described. The encapsulated FV-PTC variant was recently reclassified as noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP) due to its similarities to benign lesions. Specific molecular signatures, however, are still unavailable. It is well known that improper DNA repair of dysfunctional telomeres may cause telomere-related genome instability. The mechanisms involved in the damaged telomere repair processing may lead to detrimental outcomes, altering the three-dimensional (3D) nuclear telomere and genome organization in cancer cells. This pilot study aimed to evaluate whether a specific 3D nuclear telomere architecture might characterize NIFTP, potentially distinguishing it from other PTC histologic variants. Our findings demonstrate that 3D telomere profiles of CL-PTC and FV-PTC were different from NIFTP and that NIFTP more closely resembles follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA). NIFTP has longer telomeres than CL-PTC and FV-PTC samples, and the telomere length of NIFTP overlaps with that of the FTA histotype. In contrast, there was no association between BRAF expression and telomere length in all tested samples. These preliminary findings reinforce the view that NIFTP is closer to non-malignant thyroid nodules and confirm that PTC features short telomeres.

XPC Protein Improves Lung Adenocarcinoma Prognosis by Inhibiting Lung Cancer Cell Stemness.

Objective: Xeroderma Pigmentosum Complementation Group C (XPC) is a protein involving in nucleotide excision repair (NER). XPC also plays an important role in the lung cancer occurrence with the mechanism remian unclear up to date. Studies showed that the increased stemness of lung cancer cells is related to the recurrence and metastasis of lung cancer. This study aimed to study and analyze the correlation of XPC with lung cancer stem cell biomarkers expression and the overall survival (OS) of lung adenocarcinoma patients. Methods: 140 cases of clinical lung adenocarcinoma tissue samples and 48 cases of paired paracancerous tissue samples were made into tissue microarray. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression of XPC and CD133 in cancer and paracancerous tissues. Semi-quantitative analysis and statistics were performed by Pannoramic Digital Slide Scanner. The expression of XPC and CD133 in fresh tissues was verified by Western blotting assay. siXPC was used to knock down XPC in lung cancer cell lines to study the effect of XPC on the expression of lung cancer stem cell biomarkers and the ability of cell invasion. And shXPC was used to knockdown XPC in A549 and H1650 to study the effect of XPC on the expression of lung cancer stem cell biomarkers. Results: IHC and Western blotting results showed that XPC expression significantly decreased, while CD133 expression significantly increased in cancer tissues comparing to paracancerous tissues (P XPC < 0.0001, P CD133 = 0.0395). The high level of XPC in cancer was associated with a better prognosis (Log-rank p = 0.0577) in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Downregulation of XPC in lung cancer cells showed increased expression of cancer stem cell biomarkers and the increased cell invasion abilities. Conclusion: It is suggested that XPC can exert the ability of anti-tumor formation, tumor invasion and metastasis inhibition, and prognostic survival improvement in lung adenocarcinoma patients by regulating the stemness of lung cancer cells.

Identification of novel genes involved in gingival epithelial cells responding to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis infections.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in gingiva epithelial cells responding to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis infections using bioinformatics method. STUDY DESIGN: GSE9723 dataset was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus, and DEGs between the infected cells and controls were identified using unpaired t-test. Overlapping DEGs in responding to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis infections were extracted. Protein-protein interaction networks were constructed and functional modules were isolated using Molecular Complex Detection algorithm. Key genes in protein-protein interaction network and Molecular Complex Detection modules were subjected to functional enrichment analyses. In addition, the transcriptional factors were predicted. RESULTS: A total of 533 co-up-regulated and 202 co-down-regulated genes were identified. The up-regulated genes, including IL6, CCL19, EDN1, ADCY9, and BCL2 and the down-regulated genes, including CCNB1, PLK1, and CCNA2 were the key genes in the protein-protein interaction network and modules. They were intensively enriched in chemokine signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathway and cell cycle. Finally, two transcriptional factors, E12 and NRSF, targeting to the up-regulated genes and one transcriptional factor, NRP1, targeting the down-regulated genes, were predicted. CONCLUSIONS: CCNB1, PLK1, and CCNA2 might play important roles in the response of host epithelial cells to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis.

PKCζ, MMP­2 and MMP­9 expression in lung adenocarcinoma and association with a metastatic phenotype.

The aim of the present study was to investigate protein kinase C ζ type (PKCζ), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)­2 and MMP­9 expression in lung adenocarcinoma and to define their association with in vitro invasion and metastatic capacity. PKCζ, MMP­2 and MMP­9 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 110 cases of lung adenocarcinoma. PKCζ small interfering (si)RNA was transfected into A549 cells, and western blotting was used to confirm PKCζ­knockdown in transfected cells and to measure MMP­2 and MMP­9 levels. A Transwell invasion assay was used to detect in vitro invasive capacity. The rates of positive PKCζ, MMP­2 and MMP­9 staining in lung adenocarcinoma tissues were 52.73, 55.45 and 61.82%, respectively. PKCζ expression was increased in malignant tissues compared with adjacent normal lung tissues and was associated with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05), although it was not associated with any other clinicopathological parameters, including sex, age, tumor size, smoking status or distant metastases (all P>0.05). PKCζ, MMP­2 and MMP­9 expression was markedly decreased in siPKCζ­treated A549 cells, which exhibited a significantly decreased invasive capacity in the Transwell invasion assay (P<0.05). In conclusion, PKCζ promoted lung adenocarcinoma invasion and metastasis, and its expression was associated with MMP­2 and MMP­9 expression. PKCζ may be a potential target for gene therapy in lung adenocarcinoma.

[Expression of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) gene and demethylation of its promoter in human colorectal cancer].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Abnormal expression of 5'-methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) is found in various tumor tissues. This study was to explore the correlation of MTAP expression to demethylation of MTAP promoter in colorectal cancer tissues. METHODS: The contents of MTAP mRNA in 50 colorectal cancer tissue samples and the adjacent normal tissues were detected by real-time PCR; expression of MTAP protein was detected by immunohistochemistry; methylation of MTAP promoter in colorectal cancer tissues and its adjacent normal tissues were detected by methylation-specified PCR (MSP). RESULTS: Compared with the adjacent normal tissues, the expression of MTAP mRNA was dramatically increased in colorectal cancer tissues (P<0.01). The positive rate of MTAP protein in colorectal cancer was significantly higher than that in colorectal adenoma and in adjacent normal tissues (98.0% vs. 85.0% and 12.5%, P<0.05), and the difference of the latter two groups was also significantly different (P<0.01). The methylation frequency of MTAP promoter was significantly lower in colorectal cancer group (32.0%) than in normal tissue (93.8%) and colorectal adenoma (75.0%) groups (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Expression of MTAP is significantly higher in human colorectal cancer than in normal colorectal tissues. Demethylation of MTAP promoter may play an important role in up-regulating MTAP expression.