Objective To investigate the expression of DNA methyltransferases ( DNMTs) in hilar cholangiocarcinoma and its clinical significance.Methods A total of 150 samples of cholangetic tissues were collected from 111 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma ( cholangiocarcinoma group) and 39 patients with choledochocele ( control group) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from April 1997 to March 2007.A tissue chip containing the samples of hilar cholangiocarcinoma and choledochocele was prepared.Expressions of DNMT1,DNMT3a and DNMT3b were detected by the immunohistochemical staining. Differences in the protein expressions of DNMTs in the cholangiocarcinoma group and the control group were compared,and the correlation between DNMTs protein expressions and clinicopathological features was analyzed.All data were analyzed by using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.The survival curve was drawn by using the Kaplan-Meier method and the survival rate was compared by using the Log-rank test.Results The rates of high protein expressions of DNMT1 and DNMT3b were 54.1％ (60/111) and 47.7％ (53/111) in the cholangiocarcinoma group, which were significantly higher than 28.2％ ( 11/39) and 23.1％ ( 9/39) in the control group　( x2 =7.740,7.240,P ＜0.05). The high protein expression of DNMT1 was correlated with-the Bismuth-Corlette classification and T staging of the tumor ( x2 =12.200, 17.800,P ＜0.05) ; there was no significant difference in the high protein expressions of DNMT3a in the cholangiocarcinoma group and the control group ( x2 =3.370.P ＞0.05 ) ; while the high protein expressions of DNMT3b was correlated with the Bismuth-Corlette classification (x2 =8.300,P ＜ 0.05 ),but not with the T staging. Sixty-six patients received hilar cholangiocarcinoma resection,and 42 of them were followed up.The median postoperative survival time of patients with low protein expression of DNMT1 was 23.9 months,which was significantly longer than 11.8 months of patients with high protein expression of DNMT1 (x2 =3.980,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions DNMT1 and DNMT3b with high protein expression might play important roles in the carcinogenesis and development of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.There is an obvious relationship between the expression of DNMT1 and postoperative survival time of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma,and DNMT1 might be a valuable prognostic factor for hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the effects of microRNA145 ( miRNA145 ) on the viability, apoptosis, inva-sion and metastasis of hepatoma HepG2 cells.METHODS: HepG2 cells were randomly allocated into 3 groups: blank control group, empty mimic transfected group and miRNA145 mimic transfected group.Under the induction of Lipofectami-neTM 2000, the recombinant was transfected into HepG2 cells.After transfection, the expression level of miRNA145 was detected by real-time PCR.The protein level of N-cadherin and the mRNA expression levels of miRNA145 and N-cadherin were detected by Western blot and real-time PCR.The cell viability was detected by MTS assay.The cell cycle and apopto-sis were analyzed by flow cytometry.Invasion and metastasis were detected by Transwell assay.RESULTS:Compared with negative control, miRNA145 expression was up-regulated significantly, while the expression of N-cadherin was down-regu-lated significantly.Meanwhile, the cell viability, cell cycle, apoptosis, invasion and metastasis of hepatoma HepG2 cells were all significantly inhibited (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:miRNA145 dramatically inhibits viability, apoptosis, inva-sion and metastasis of hepatoma cells.

Objective:To assess the potentials for lung donation among 128 donors (deceased citizens) in 2017 from Beijing.Methods:Gender, age, blood type, duration of ventilation, oxygenation index (PaO 2/FiO 2), chest film and bronchoscopy were analyzed. Results:A total of 5135 deceased Chinese citizens were available for donation in 2017. The rate of donation per million population (PMP) was 3.71. And 463 donors from Beijing were recorded in 2017 and the rate of PMP was 21.05. In 2017, 299 lung transplantations were performed with an average rate of donor lung utility at 5.82%. Among 128 cases assessed for potential lung donors in Beijing, 72 were successfully procured with a percentage of lung utilization of 15.55%. There were 110 males (85.94%) and 18 females (14.06%) with an average age of (39.61±10.67) years. Mechanical ventilation duration was (7.59±2.93) days. The oxygenation rate (PaO 2/FiO 2) was (397.38±105.01) mmHg, (450±67.79) mmHg in procurement group and (338.89±116.15) mmHg in non-procurement group ( P=0.020). The median level of procalcitonin (PCT) was 0.195 ng/ml in procurement group versus 0.349 ng/ml in giving-up group ( P=0.042). Conclusions:Oxygenation rate and PCT level are the independent risk factors for reaching a procurement decision of donor lung. The actual PMP and lung procurement rate in Beijing were both higher than average domestic level (15.55% vs. 5.82%, P=0.000) because of excellent cooperation between Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) and lung transplantation centers. The evaluation of donor lungs and lung maintenance protocols from Beijing should be popularized nationwide.

Objective: To investigate the effects of luteolin on the invasion and migration of the human tongue squamous carcinoma cell line SCCl5. Methods : SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (5, 10, 15, 20, 40 and 60 μg/mL) for 24, 48 and 72 h. The MTT assay was then carried out to estimate the proliferation of SCC15 cells treated with various concentrations of luteolin. SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (1, 5 and 10 μg/mL), and the migration of SCC15 cells was examined in wound healing assays. SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (5 and 10 μg/mL) for 24 h, and the migration and invasion of the cells were examined in Transwell migration/invasion assays. SCC15 cells were treated with various concentrations of luteolin (10, 20 and 40 μg/mL) for 24 h, and the conditioned medium was collected. The levels of the gelatinases matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 (MMP-2, MMP-9) in the conditional medium were detected by gelatin zymography assays. Results : The MTT assay showed that luteolin had a substantial inhibitory effect on the proliferation of SCC15 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (P < 0.01). The migration, invasion and proliferation of the SCCl5 cell lines were significantly lower after treatment with luteolin than in the control. The numbers of migrating and invading SCCl5 cells were 340.00 ± 22.94, 52.67 ± 6.94 and 6.57 ± 0.80 versus 85.67 ± 5.18, 39.67 ± 4.63 and 2.67 ± 0.29, respectively (P < 0.01). The enzyme activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 decreased significantly in response to luteolin treatment in a concentration-dependent manner (P < 0.01). Conclusion Luteolin inhibited the invasion and migration of SCC15 cells by reducing the activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9.

Objective To investigate the risk factors of pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy.Methods The retrospective case-control study was conducted.The clinicopathological data of 310 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University between January 2011 and December 2015 were collected.Observation indicators:(1) follow-up situations;(2) risk factors analysis of pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectorny.Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was performed to detect occurrence of pancreatic fistula and pancreatic fistula-induced rehospitalization or death up to June 2016.The univariate and multivariate analyses were respectively done using the chi-square test and logistic regression model.Results (1) Follow-up situations:310 patients were followed up for 6-60 months,with a median time of 31 months.During the follow-up,65 patients were complicated with pancreatic fistula,including 59 in grade B and 6 in grade C.Twenty-four patients received conservative treatment,and 41 received B ultrasound-guided catheter drainage.Of 65 patients,63 were improved and then discharged form hospital;2 in grade C of pancreatic fistula died of pancreatic fistula-related complications.(2) Risk factors analysis of pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy:univariate analysis showed that combined hypertension,cases with pancreaticoduodenectomy,operation time and pancreaticojejunostomy method were related factors affecting pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy (x2 =5.986,13.006,9.025,21.561,P＜0.05).The multivariate analysis showed that combined hypertension,operation time ＞ 6 hours and end-to-end telescopic pancreaticojejunostomy or biuding pancreaticojejunostomy were independent risk factors affecting pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy (Odds ratio =2.465,1.880,2.719,6.190,95％ confidence interval:1.253-4.850,1.025-3.448,1.254-5.894,2.309-16.592,P＜0.05).Conclusion The combined hypertension,operation time ＞ 6 hours and end-to-end telescopic pancreaticojejunostomy or binding pancreaticojejunostomy are independent risk factors affecting pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

The recent discovery of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and characterization of their functional roles have opened a new avenue for understanding the biology of genomes. circRNAs have been implicated to play important roles in a variety of biological processes, but their precise functions remain largely elusive. Currently, a few approaches are available for novel circRNA prediction, but almost all these methods are intended for animal genomes. Considering that the major differences between the organization of plant and mammal genomes cannot be neglected, a plant-specific method is needed to enhance the validity of plant circRNA identification. In this study, we present CircPlant, an integrated tool for the exploration of plant circRNAs, potentially acting as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), and their potential functions. With the incorporation of several unique plant-specific criteria, CircPlant can accurately detect plant circRNAs from high-throughput RNA-seq data. Based on comparison tests on simulated and real RNA-seq datasets from Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa, we show that CircPlant outperforms all evaluated competing tools in both accuracy and efficiency. CircPlant is freely available at http://bis.zju.edu.cn/circplant.
Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Oryza/metabolism* ; RNA, Circular/metabolism* ; RNA, Plant/metabolism* ; Sequence Analysis, RNA/methods*