BACKGROUND:Epidermal stem cells as special stem cells of the skin not only plays an important role in maintaining the metabolism of skin, but also is closely related to wound repair, which are the basis for the occurrence and repair of skin and its appendages. Now, epidermal stem cells have been paid great attention on the research of gene therapy and celltherapy with its specific biological advantages. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the research status on features and clinical application of epidermal stem cells. METHODS:A computer-based online retrieval of CNKI, PubMed database and Google scholar was performed for searching papers about clinical application of epidermal stem cells using the keywords of“epidermal stem cells, stem cells division, stem cells culture, clinical application”in Chinese and English. Older theoretical perspectives and repetitive research were excluded. Finally, only 41 articles were included in result analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Epidermal stem cells have the great potential of proliferation and multi-directional differentiation, and have important significances for large-area skin defects (burn and trauma), skin tissue engineering, and gene therapy. There are stil many problems that need to be solved, such as how to screen surface markers special for epidermal stem cells and how to induce skin differentiation of epidermal stem cells.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect,prognostic factors and the methods to improve long term survival of liver resection for hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer.Methods 52 patients operated on for hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer were followed up,and the clinical and pathologic data of 11 (cases),who survived more than 5 years,were compared with 41 survivors of less than 5 years after hepatic (resection).Results The 1-,3-and 5-year survival rate was 75.0%,30.8%,and 21.2%,(respectively).The important factors affecting prognosis were pathologic type of the primary cancer,(number) of (hepatic) metastasis,selection of the methods and timing of surgery,and postoperative treatment(P

Objective To investigate the involvement of VEGFR-3 signaling pathway in lymphatic metastasis of thyroid cancer. Methods The expression of VEGFR-3 mRNA in thyroid carcinoma and normal thyroid tissue was detected by RT-PCR. The expression of VEGFR-3 mRNA and the lymphatic vessel density (LVD) in thyroid carcinoma and normal thyroid tissue was measured by immunohistochemical staining. Results All thyroid cancer samples expressed VEGFR-3 and the expression rate of VEGFR-3 in thyroid carcinoma was significantly higher than that in the normal thyroid group ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). LVD in thyroid cancer was significantly higher than that in normal control. LVD with lymph nodes metastasis ( N + ) was significantly higher than that without lymph node metastasis (NO) (P ＜ 0. 05). Conclusions There is upregulatin of VEGFR-3 expression in thyroid carcinoma. The higher the expression of VEGFR-3, the severer of lymph node metastasis. VEGFR-3 receptor-mediated signal transduction pathway might be an important factor of thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis.

Background:Endoscopic ultrasonography( EUS)is the first choice for examining submucosal protuberant lesions in the gastrointestinal tract,however,it is very difficult to differentiate gastric stromal tumor from gastric leiomyoma. Photoshop software now is tried to differentiate some easily misdiagnosed diseases. Aims:To investigate the value of Photoshop software in differentiating EUS image of gastric stromal tumor from gastric leiomyoma. Methods:EUS image of 118 cases of gastric stromal tumor and 42 cases of gastric leiomyoma confirmed by pathological and immunohistochemical examination were collected,mean gray value( intensity of echo)and gray value standard deviation( uniformity of echo)of EUS image of lesion were determined by Photoshop software,and the differentiation value was analyzed. Results:The mean gray value of EUS image of gastric stromal tumor was significantly higher than that of gastric leiomyoma(71. 94 vs. 48. 99,P<0. 01). The gray value standard deviation of EUS image of gastric stromal tumor was significantly higher than that of gastric leiomyoma(16. 63 vs. 9. 80,P<0. 01). Conclusions:Under EUS,gastric stromal tumor exhibits higher intensity of echo and less uniformity of echo than gastric leiomyoma. EUS combined with Photoshop software is helpful for differentiating gastric stromal tumor from gastric leiomyoma by analyzing mean gray value and gray value standard deviation of the lesion.

Objective To improve detectable rate of gastric schwannoma by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). Method Clinical data and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) imaging features of 4 cases were retrospectively ana-lyzed which diagnosed as gastric schwannoma pathologically and immunohistochemically while diagnosed as gastric stromal tumor by EUS from May 2008 to June 2015 and reviewed the literature. Results 4 cases of gastric schwan-nomas are female and benign, all 4 lesions are solitary, 3 in gastric body, and 1 in fundus by endoscopic. By EUS, all lesions are originated from muscularis propria, hypoechoic change, even echoes and clear board without calcifica-tion or cystic changes. 2 cases have halo artifacts around the lesion. Literature review found that gastric schwannoma tended to occur in female, halo artifacts could be the feature of gastric schwannoma, calcification or cystic changes were rare in gastric schwannoma which were common in gastric stromal tumors. Conclusion It was difficult to distin-guish gastric schwannoma and gastric stromal tumors that originated from muscularis propria by EUS. For female patients with lesions originated from muscularis propria, originated from muscularis propria and occurred in gastric body, it was necessary to observe lesions whether there was being calcification or cystic and halo artifacts. Integrated all these performance, we should be in consideration of gastric stromal tumors, meanwhile, excluding the possibility of gastric schwannoma.

Objective To investigate the application value of Photoshop in grading invasive risk of gastric stromal tumors (GSTs). Methods EUS image of 97 cases of GSTs confirmed by pathological and immunohistochemical examination were collected. GSTs were divided into four groups (very low risk, low risk, intermediate risk, high risk) by tumor size, mitotic count and rupture of tumor. Mean gray value (intensity of echo) and gray value standard deviation (uniformity of echo) of EUS images of the lesions were determined by Photoshop and then the differences of each group were found by statistical analysis. Results It is difficult to differentiate EUS images of GSTs from each group by visual observation. The mean gray value of EUS image of very low risk group,low risk group, intermediate risk group and high risk group of GSTs respectively were (56.54 ± 6.10), (59.20 ± 7.51), (77.77 ± 10.90) and (83.43 ± 12.47). There was no significant difference between very low risk group and low risk group (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference between intermediate risk group and high risk group (P > 0.05). In addition, the others all had significantly different from that of each group (P < 0.05). The mean gray value standard deviation of EUS image of very low risk group, low risk group, intermediate risk group and high risk group of GSTs respectively were (8.46 ± 2.59), (12.57 ± 5.89), (12.84 ± 4.15) and (16.69 ± 4.69). There was no significant difference between low risk group and intermediate risk group (P > 0.05). In addition, the others all had significantly different from that of each group (P < 0.05). Conclusions The higher risk of GSTs, the higher of echo intensity and the worse of echo uniformity under EUS. Photoshop combined with EUS is helpful for differentiating different risk of GSTs by analyzing mean gray value and gray value standard deviation of the lesions.

Objective To investigate the relationship between gene polymorphisms of T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain protein-3 (Tim-3) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in Han nationality of Zhejiang.Methods A total of 391 UC patients and 573 healthy controls were recruited.Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SPNs) of Tim-3 (rs1036199 and rs10515746) were examined by the improved multiple ligase detection reaction technique.Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was performed to analyze the differences in the distribution of Tim-3 gene polymorphisms and its influence on the location and severity.Haploview 4.2 software was used to analyze linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype.Results The frequencies of genotype CA+AA and mutant allele A of rs10515746 in UC were lower than those in healthy controls (1.79％,7/391 vs 4.19％,24/573;0.90％,7/782 vs 2.18％,25/1 146;x2=4.295 and 4.712,P=0.038 and 0.030).However,there was no significant differences in frequencies of genotype CA+ CC and mutant allele C of gene rs1036199 between UC patients and the healthy controls (1.79％,7/891 vs 8.49％,20/578;0.90％,7/782 vs 1.74％,20/1 146;both P＞0.05).The frequencies of genotype CA+AA and mutant allele A of rs10515746 in mild and moderate UC patients were both higher than those in severe UC patients (2.87 ％,7/244 vs 0;1.43 ％,7/488 vs 0),and the differences were statistically significant (Fisher's exact test,P=0.049 and 0.048).The analysis for LD indicated that rs1036199andrs10515746 were closeLD (D'=0.92,r2=0.72).Furthermore,the frequency of haplotype CA formed by the mutant alleles C and A of these two SNPs was lower in UC patients than that in healthy controls (0.64％,5/782 vs 1.74％,20/1 146),and the difference was statistically significant (x2 =4.441,P=0.035).Conclusions Tim-3 (rs10515746) gene mutation may not only decrease the incidence,but also reduce the severity of UC.Moreover,the haplotype CA formed by the mutant alleles of rs1036199 and rs10515746 may also reduce the incidence of UC.

Objective: To investigate the expressional levels and diagnostic values of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal carcinoma. Methods: The expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer tissues and adjacent tissues from 45 esophageal cancer patients, peripheral blood from 45 esophageal cancer patients and 50 healthy donors respectively were detected by RT-PCR. The expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 in normal esophageal epithelial cell HET-1A, esophageal cancer cell lines including ECA109, KYSE150 and TE1 were also detected. Chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to quantitatively detect the concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), CYRFA21-1 and TPA (tissue polypeptide antigen) in peripheral blood serum from esophageal cancer patients and healthy controls. Meanwhile, the diagnostic effects of miR-18a and miR-21 on esophageal cancer were compared with those of tumor markers in serum. Results: The expression levels of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer cells ECA109, KYSE150 and TE1 were 1.64±0.17, 1.62±0.19, 1.46±0.12 and 20.52±1.48, 6.73±0.73, 1.43±0.19, respectively, higher than those in normal esophageal epithelial cells (both P<0.01). The expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer tissues were 32.48±28.62 and 8.67±11.98, respectively, significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues (all P<0.001). The expression levels of miR-18a and miR-21 in peripheral blood of patients with esophageal cancer were 12.66±11.92 and 9.15±8.14, respectively, significantly higher than those in the normal control group (both P<0.001). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of miR-18a and miR-21 for diagnosis of esophageal cancer were 0.948 and 0.913 5, respectively. Compared with traditional esophageal tumor markers, the expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 were more sensitive in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. The sensitivity and accuracy of the expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 combined with traditional esophageal tumor markers in diagnosis of esophageal cancer can be further improved to 97.8% and 68.4%, respectively. Conclusion Our study reveals that the expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 play important roles in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer and may be potentially novel biomarkers.