MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a class of small non-coding RNA molecules that are rich in content and are highly con-served. miRNA can regulate vital biological processes, including cell division, differentiation, and cell apoptosis. Their expression is dysregulated in many diseases. miRNA are essential in the initiation and development of various cancers. Recent miRNA studies have gradually moved from basic molecular studies of cancer onto areas of clinical application. The use of miRNA as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and target molecules for cancer treatment is increasingly being identified. This review summarizes the potential applications of miRNA as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer, drug response, and susceptibility prediction.

Objective To investigate the expression of miR-451 and its clinical significance in gastric cancer. Meth?ods The miR-451 expression was detected in 92 samples of gastric cancer and 47 sapmles of normal stomach mucosa. The correlations of miR-451 expression with clinicopathologic characteristics, overall survival and disease-free survival were an?alyzed in patients with gastric cancer. Results The overexpression rate of miR-451 was 38.04%in gastric cancer, which was significantly lower than 76.60%in adjacent normal tissues (χ2=18.503,P<0.001). The overexpression rate of miR-451 was significantly lower inⅢ-Ⅳstages of gastric cancer than that inⅠ-Ⅱstages (27.3%vs 54.1%, P=0.009). The expres?sion of miR-451 was also lower in patients with lymph node metastasis than that in patients without lymph node metastasis (27.1%vs 57.6%, P=0.004). However, there were no significant differences in miR-451 expressions between different age, gender, histological grade and T stage groups (P>0.05). The overall survival rate was significantly higher in patients with high expression of miR-451 than that in patients with low expression of miR-451(69.2%vs 39.1%, P=0.003). Conclusion miR-451 is associated with the malignant transformation, progression, and prognosis of gastric cancer, and which can be used as a potential target of therapy and a biomarker of diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer in the future.

Objective To investigate the expression of the hsa-miR-155 in serum of endometrial cancer and its clinical significance. Methods Collected 44 cases blood specimens before surgery operation from Sep. 2008 to Dec. 2009, and collected 12 cases blood specimens from the health of volunteers in comparison. Real time quantity PCR was used to detect the expression of hsa-miR-155 in those specimens and analyzed clinical pathological with the expression of hsa-mir-155 in endometrial cancer. Results The expression of hsa-miR-155 was (3.9 ±0.7) in endometrial cancer, which was significantly higher than that in control group( P ＜ 0.01 ). The expressions of hsa-miR-155 were ( 3.7 ± 0.6 ), ( 3.9 ± 0.6 ) and ( 3.7 ±0.6)times in well, moderately and poorly differentiated endometrial cancer, respectively,while there were not significant difference ( P ＞ 0.05 ). The expressions were ( 3.8 ± 0.6 ) and ( 3.9 ± 0.6 ) times between endometrioid adenocarcinoma and non-endometrioid adenocarcinoma, and there were significant difference (P ＞ 0.05). The expressions were ( 2.1 ± 0.4 ) and ( 5.6 ± 0.8 ) times in stage Ⅰ - Ⅱ and Ⅲ - Ⅳ endometrial cancer, respectively, in which there were significant difference (P ＜ 0.05 ). The expressions of hsa-miR-155 were (5.5 ± 0.5 ) and ( 1.9 ± 0.2) times between lymph node metastasis and without lymph node metastasis in endometrial cancer, in which there were significant difference (P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusion Hsa-miR-155 may play an important role in the proliferation, and metastasis of endometrial cancer, which may be a indicator in the diagnosis and prognosis of endometrial cancer and may be used as a predictive biomarker.

Objective To investigate the value of ISS in predicting mortality after multiple trauma.Methods A total of 550 patients with multiple trauma treated from March 2007 to May 2011 were divided into survivor group (n =473) and death group (n =77) according to the outcome.ISS and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ]) were used to predict patients' risk of death.Receiver operation characteristic curve (ROC) was developped to compare the area under the curve (AUC),optimal cut-off point,and prediction index for the two scoring systems.Results ISS and APACHE Ⅱ score were higher in death group than in survivor group (P ＜ 0.05).ISS showed the diagnostic cut-off point of ≥20,with a sensitivity of 76.7％,specificity of 83.7％,concordance rate of 82.7％,and AUC of 0.835.With regard to APACHE Ⅱ,the diagnostic cut-off point was ≥20,with a sensitivity of 80.5％,specificity of 89.2％,concordance rate of 88.0％,and AUC of 0.922.ISS and APACHE Ⅱ were equivalent in predicting mortality (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion ISS presents a moderate value for predicting the mortality of multiple trauma patients and it is more rational to set ISS≥20 points as the criteria for severe multiple trauma.

Background and purpose:miR-124 is considered to be a tumor suppressor in multiple tumors, including lung cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer. However, its function is unclear in gastric cancer. This study aimed to explore the expression of miR-124 in human gastric mucosal epithelium cells and different gastric cancer cells, as well as gastric cancer tissues and matched para-cancerous tissues. The correlations of miR-124 expression with gender, age, histological grade, T stage, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and prognosis of gastric cancer patients were analyzed.Methods:A real-time lfuorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) was employed for detecting the expression of miR-124 in human gastric mucosal epithelium cells and gastric cancer cells. The expression of miR-124 in gastric cancer tissues and matched para-cancerous tissues was detected by in situ hybridization.Results:The RTFQ-PCR results indicated that the expression of miR-124 was down-regulated in MKN-74, MKN-28, MKN-45, MGC-803, SGC-7901 and AGS cells compared to GES-1 cells.In situ hybridization showed that miR-124 was strongly expressed in normal gastric mucosa. However, low expression, focal positive expression or lack of miR-124 expression were observed in gastric cancer tissues. Statistical analysis showed that miR-124 was close-ly correlated to histological stage, TNM stage and node metastasis of gastric cancer patients, but not the age, gender and tumor size. The OS and DFS of the patients with low expression of miR-124 were shorter than that of the patients with high expression of miR-124. Multivariate analysis suggested that miR-124 down-regulation was an independent prog-nostic factor for survival in patients with gastric cancer.Conclusion:miR-124 is down-regulated in gastric cancer cells and tissues. The expression of miR-124 is correlated to histological stage, TNM stage, node metastasis and prognosis.

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) in breast cancer.Methods Tissue samples of 76 breast cancers and corresponding paired adjacent normal tissues were collected and made into tissue micrcarrays (TMAs).Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was performed to detect the expression of LDHA and further analyzed the correlation of LDHA expression and clinicopathological variables and prognosis of breast cancers.Results LDHA was frequently upregulated in breast cancer tissues compared to the normal breast tissues (P ＜ 0.05).High LDHA expression was associated with distant metastasis (P ＜ 0.05) and worse patient prognosis (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions LDHA is closely related to the occurrence and clinical progress of breast cancers.LDHA might be a potential novel molecular marker for diagnosis,prognosis and therapy in breast cancers.

Objective To investigate the feasibility of spatiotemporal image correlation(STIC)to assess left ventricular volume in normal fetuses.Methods The volume data acquisition of 162 normal fetuses ranging between 22 and 38 weeks of gestation was achieved by automatic sweep scan.The virtual organ computer-aided analysis(VOCAL Ⅱ)was then used to evaluate end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes of left ventricle and compared with that obtained by M-mode Teichholz formula and 2D biplane Simpson's method.Results Twenty-six fetuses with poor STIC image and 2 twin pregnancies were excluded,the study subjects consisted of 134 singleton fetuses.The highest concordance correlation(r =0.968,for EDV,r =0.956 for ESV;P =0.000)was noted between 2D biplane Simpson' s and STIC VOCAL Ⅱ values with a small bias(0.282 ml for EDV,0.117 ml for ESV).The Bland-Altman analysis showed that STIC VOCAL Ⅱ had the best agreement than M-mode Teichholz formula and 2D biplane Simpson's method.The result showed that there were significant difference between Mmode Teichholz formula and Simpson's method in EDV and ESV(P＜0.05).There were significant differences between M-mode Teichholz formula and STIC VOCAL Ⅱ(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences between STIC VOCAL Ⅱ and Simpson' s method in EDV and ESV.Conclusions There is a good agreement between left ventricular volumes measured either by STIC VOCAL Ⅱ or by 2D biplane Simpson's method.STIC is a novel technique that can be more accurate than conventional Methods in quantification of fetal left ventricular volumes.All the volume data acquisition is achieved by postprocessing facilities.STIC promises to become a new method for left ventricular volume quantification.

ObjectiveTo explore the effects of Jinyaodai on neurological behavior and Akt expression in the cortex of rats following spinal cord contusion injury.MethodsRats were randomly divided into control group,spinal cord contusion group and Jinyaodai group.The weight-drop device was employed to prepare the spinal cord injury(SCI) model.Jinyaodai was administrated every day by using a stomach tube.Rats were performed the BBB assessment,and the detection of Akt expression and count of Neun positive neurons in cortex following SCI.ResultsCompared with control group,deficit of motor function in hindlimbs was seen at 3 dpo following cord contusion,and partial functional recovery could be seen from 7 dpo to 1 m.Treatment of Jinyaodai greatly increased the BBB scores ( 14.1 ± 1.4 ) more than SCI group ( 7.8 ± 1.3 ) at 1 month (P ＜ 0.05 ) ; Simultaneously,compared with SCI rats,treatment of Jinyaodai significantly increased the expression of Akt (0.53 ± 0.05,0.68 ± 0.07,P ＜0.05 ) and the number of neurons ( 11 ± 2, 15 ± 1 ; P ＜ 0.05 ) in the lesion-induced cortex of rats.Conclusion Jinyaodai may play an essential roles in functional recovery after spinal cord injury,in which the underlying mechanism may be involved in the expression of Akt in cortex.

Objective To measure mitral annual displacement (MAD) by M-mode echocardiography in normal second and third trimester fetuses,and assess relationships between MAD and gestational age and routine echocardiographic parameters for evaluation of left ventricular function.Methods One hundred fifty-five normal fetuses from 19 to 38 weeks of gestation were recruited in the study.MVD and tricuspid annual displacement (TAD) were measured.Early diastolic inflow velocities (E) of the atrioventricular valves were assessed by pulsed-wave Doppler(PW),and early diastolic velocities (Em) of the mitral annular were estimated by pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).The ratio of E/Em was calculated.Results In normal fetuses,the MAD was (7.05 ± 1.17) mm.There was significant positive correlation between the fetal MAD and advancing gestational age ( r =0.82,P ＜0.01 ),and between MAD and E,A,Em,Am or Sm ( r =0.25,0.24,0.32,0.29 and 0.40 respectively,P ＜0.01).There was no correlation between fetal MAD and E/A,E/Em,LVEF or LVFS.The left MAD was significantly lower than the right TAD ( P ＜0.01 ).Conclusions MAD of fetuses from 19 to 38 weeks of gestation can be quantitatively measured by Mmode echocardiogram.The measurement of MAD provides a reliable quantitative standard to estimate long axis ventricular function of fetuses,which may be clinically useful in prenatal detecting early cardiac failure.

Objective To investigate the changes of hypoxia-inducible factor(HIF)-1α and hexokinase-Ⅱ(HK-Ⅱ)expression in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its effect in glycolysis.Methods TE13 cells and Eca109 cells were cultured under hypoxic condition(1 ％O2)for different hypoxic time(6,12,24 and 48 hours).Cells cultured under normal oxygen condition(20％O2)were set as control.The changes of HIF-1α and HK-Ⅱ expressions at protein level were detected by Western blot.HIF-1α genes were specifically silenced with RNA interference technology(RNAi),and then the changes of HIF-1α and HK-Ⅱ expression were determined by realtime PCR and Western blot.Under normal oxygen and hypoxic condition,the changes of lactic acid concentration in cell culture medium were detected by spectrophotometric method.Results Under hypoxic condition,the expression of HIF-1α and HK-Ⅱ gradually increased as hypoxic time extended(P＜0.05),reached a peak at 12h and then gradually decreased as time extended.Compared with that under normal oxygen condition,the expression of HK-Ⅱ in TE13 cells and Eca109 cells significantly increased under hypoxic condition(P＜0.05),which was more significant after 12 hours hypoxia.The result of realtime PCR indicated that under normal oxygen condition the expression of HIF-1α at RNA level in TE13/shRNA cells and Eca109/shRNA cells significantly decreased compared with TE13 cells and Eca109 cells without interference(P＜0.05).The expression of HK-Ⅱ at RNA level was consistent with the result of HIF-1α.Under normal and hypoxia condition,the expression of HK-Ⅱ at protein level in TE13/shRNA cells and Eca109/shRNA cells significantly decreased compared with TE13 cells and Eca109 cells without interference,and the difference was statistic significant(P＜0.05).The lactic acid secretion of TE13 cells and Eca109 cells under hypoxia condition(14.707 ± 3.594 and 15.062 ±3.901)was higher than that under normal oxygen condition(6.070±1.839 and 6.891±1.592,P＜0.05).The lactic acid secretion of TE13/shRNA cells and Eca109/shRNA cells significantly decreased compared with TE13 cells and Eca109 cells without interference,and the difference was statistic significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion The expressions of HIF-1α and HK-Ⅱ in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma significantly increased under hypoxia conditions.The expression of HK-Ⅱ is closely correlated with lactic acid concentration and HIF-1α expression.HIF-1α may affect cell glycolysis through HK-Ⅱ.