Given the unlimited proliferation and aerobic glycolysis in tumor cells, these cells require more glucose, glutamine, and other nutrients compared with normal cells. Tumor cells are often affected by insufficient nutrient supply. However, by sensing changes in the nutrient supply in tumor microenvironment and by regulating signal-transduction pathways, some specific proteins can help tumor cells in blocking the cell cycle, reprogramming metabolism, and regulating autophagy to progress and survive against nutri-ent stress. Exciting innovations have been made to elucidate the mechanisms relevant to this process. This review aims to highlight re-cent studies on the mechanisms of sensing the low nutrient supply in microenvironments, as well as the downstream effect factors in cancer cells.

The Seedcoat structure of Cuscuta L. was damaged by treating the seed with various organic solvents or concentrated sulfuric acid for different durations of time or by mechanicalmethods. It was found that the surface layer and hilum were erosion-nonresistant; the palisades had orderly arranged thick cell walls and contain phenols. They are th e main barrier controlling the entrance of water through seedcoat. Erosions with concentrated sulfuric acid are effective methods for overcoming its impermeability and raisiug germination capacity of seeds.

Objective:To investigate the inhibitory effect of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) on vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation and the relevant mechanism. Methods:CD34-PAS dual staining and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect and analyze the re-lationship between VM existence and Dkk1 expression in 217 human colon cancer tissue samples;three dimensional (3D) culture was used to detect the influence of Dkk1 on tube structure formation and on VE-cadherin expression;a subcutaneous mouse xenograft mod-el was made to further validate the inhibitory role of Dkk1 on VM formation in vivo. Results:VM-positive samples indicated a lower expression of Dkk1(P<0.05);colon cancer cells with Dkk1 overexpression exhibited a decreased ability to form tube-like structure and a decreased expression of VE-cadherin;Dkk1 inhibited the VM-formation abilities of human colorectal carcinoma cell line xenograft tu-mor tissue. Conclusion:Dkk1 inhibits the VM formation of colon cancer.

Background:As an important catalytic subunit of telomerase,human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)plays an important role in the development and progression of many cancers including gastric cancer.It has been reported that several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)of hTERT had varying degrees of association with risk of neoplasms. Aims:To study the correlation between SNPs of hTERT rs2853676 and rs2853677 and susceptibility to gastric cancer. Methods:Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to detect the genotypes of rs2853676 and rs2853677 of hTERT in 297 gastric cancer patients,105 atrophic gastritis and 402 controls. Helicobacter pylori (Hp)infection was detected by pathological examination and 13 C-urea breath test.Results:Frequency of AA genotype of rs2853676 was significantly higher in gastric cancer group when compared with control group (15.2%vs.6.5%,P =0.01).The risk of gastric cancer in AA genotype carriers increased 2.47-fold (95% CI:1.46-4.16) when compared with GG carriers.No significant differences in the frequencies of CC,TC and TT genotypes of rs2853677 were found among gastric cancer patients,atrophic gastritis patients and controls.Hp infection rates in atrophic gastritis group and gastric cancer group were significantly increased than those in controls (64.8%,56.9% vs.40.3%,P all <0.01),OR were 2.73 (95% CI:1.74-4.26),1.96 (95% CI:1.44-2.67),respectively.Logistic regression analysis showed that there was no significant interaction between Hp infection and gene mutation.Conclusions:Polymorphism of hTERT gene rs2853676 may play a role in susceptibility to gastric cancer,and Hp infection may not be involved in the increase of risk of gastric cancer caused by hTERT gene polymorphism.

Objective:This study aims to investigate the potential of colon cancer cells to differentiate into vascular endothelial cells in endothelial-induced specific environment. Methods:Three colon cancer cells with different differentiated level HCT116 (poor-ly differentiated), SW480 (moderately differentiated), HT29 (well differentiated) were cultured in the conditioned medium containing the endothelial-inducing factors for 15 days respectively. The expression of vascular endothelial indicators Platelet endothelial cell adhe-sion molecule-1、Endothelial cell adhesion molecule CD34 was detected via western blot. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to examine CD31 and CD34 expression level in HCT116 after cultured in endothelial-inducing medium and ordinary medium for 15 days respectively, and the three-dimensional (3D) culture was used to detect the abililty of in vitro tube-like structure formation. Re-sults:Western blot showed that CD31 and CD34 expression level were negatively correlated with degree of differentiation in colon can-cer cells. CD31 and CD34 expression in endothelial-inducing medium HCT116 cells (poorly differentiated) were higher then in the nor-mal medium, while the CD31 and CD34 expression in SW480 cells (moderately differentiated) and HT29 cells (well differentiated) in the two cultural mediums were not notably changed. Immunofluorescence staining illustrated that CD31 and CD34 expression in HCT116 cells cultured in endothelial-inducing medium increased compared with those cultured in ordinary medium. In vitro three-di-mensional culture demonstrated that ability of tube-like structure formation was notably enhanced after endothelial-inducing cultured. Conclusion:Endothelial-inducing medium could promote colon cancer cells with strong stemness differentiate toward vascular endo-thelial cells.

Objective:To analyze the clinico-pathological characteristics, pathological diagnosis, and treatment of rhabdoid tu-mor. Methods:The medical records of four rhabdoid tumor patients that were admitted to the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Insti-tute and Hospital since 2000 were analyzed based on existing literature. Results:In one of the four cases, the tumor originated from the kidney, whereas in the other three, the tumor occurred from extra-renal soft tissues. Histologic analysis revealed that the tumor cells were loosely arranged with diffuse growth, vesicular nuclei, dyed cytoplasm, visible eosinophilic inclusions, and more nuclear fission. The results of immunohistochemical staining showed that the vimentin and epithelial membrane antigen were positive, whereas CK, CD99, CD34, and S-100 were positive at different degrees. MyoD1, Desmin, and INI-1 were negative. Conclusion:Rhabdoid tumor is rare and highly aggressive. It occurs mainly in the kidney and can also be found in other systems. The unique pathological form and im-munohistochemical staining observed on the tumor can be used as reference for diagnosis.

Objective To develop a method for detecting the genotype of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein 1 (PvMSP-1) alleles. Methods According to the sequence characteristic of PvMSP-1, nested polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to amplify the polymorphic region of ICB5-ICB6 which contains Q repeats and PvuII restriction site (Sal-1 type). The PCR product was digested by PvuII restriction endonuclease and the digested fragments were observed by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. The allelic type was determined according to the banding pattern. Results Bands in size of 400 bp (Belem type ) and/or 470 bp (Sal-1 type ) appeared in all 98 P. vivax isolates, no band was found in negative control. After PvuII digestion, two Sal-1 type fragments (120 bp and 350 bp) were obtained from 45 samples of 470 bp. Single-band of 400 bp appeared in 3 of 40 samples with 400 bp as Belem type, two bands of 120 bp and 280 bp appeared from other 35 samples as recombination type III, and another 2 bands with 120 bp and 240 bp as Korean isolate. Conclusion The result showed that the nested PCR-RFLP may be applied in the detection and identification of the three PvMSP-1 allelic types in China.

Radiation safety has been a focus of attention in the past few years. This review summarizes the researches related to the effective dose (ED) of PET/CT in recent years, including the ranges and influential factors of ED. In order to provide guidance in clinical practice, the common methods for estimating ED of PET/CT are also introduced.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of apply Ion Proton semiconductor sequencing platform in non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis .Methods Totally 1 000 pregnant women with a singleton pregnancy of 12-32 weeks gestation were selected from the Third affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from Jan to Dec 2013.Using noninvasive prenatal genetic diagnosis based on Ion Proton semiconductor sequencing platform to study their cffDNA .In parallel, 72 pregnant women received invasive prenatal diagnosis by traditional chromosomal analysis with amniocentesis chorionic villus sampling .Results It′s shown that 18 out of 1 000 (1.8%) pregnant women underwent the noninvasive prenatal genetic testing had a high risk for aneuploid chromosomes , including 7 cases of 21-trisomy, 4 cases of 18-trisomy, 2 cases of 13-trisomy, 4 cases of sex chromosomal abnormality , and 1 case of 15-trisomy.It demonstrated that the rate and accuracy of fetal 21-trisomy, 13-trisomy and 18-trisomy by non-invasive prenatal genetic testing were both 100%without misdiagnosis , the rate of detection for sex chromosomal abnormality was 2/2 with a false positive rate of 1/3.However, the 15-trisomy predicted by the non-invasive prenatal diagnosis in a woman was finally proved to be a false positive .Based on the results by karyotyping (55/55) as well as follow-ups (493/493), the specificity of the non-invasive prenatal diagnosis for detection of 21-trisomy, 18-trisomy and 13-trisomy was 100%.One Ion PITM chip could detect 12 to 15 samples in 1.5 h and the whole process of noninvasive detection could be completed in 1 to 1.5 days.Conclusions The non-invasive prenatal diagnosis by Ion Proton semiconductor sequencing platform could provide fast and accurate detection of fetal aneuploidy .The benchtop high-throughput sequencing platform has laid the foundation for the independent application in clinical settings for fetal aneuploidy detection .

BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in elderly people is becoming increasingly a new hot spot for the clinical study of Alzheimer disease at present, and it is still unknown how many cases of MCI will convert into Alzheimer disease. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence rate of mild cognitive impairment and the conversion rates into dementia and Alzheimer disease among elderly people.DESIGN: A prospective cohort study based on diagnosis. SETTING: Second Department of Cadre's Ward, Bethune International Peace Hospital of Chinese PLA.PARTICIPANTS: The subjects were 216 MCI patients and 2 302 subjects with normal cognition selected in the baseline investigation to the retired cadres aged 60 years and above, in 26 military cadres' sanatoriums of Shijiazhuang city between August and September 2001.METHODS: The MCI diagnosis was according to the MCI diagnostic standard in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-Ⅳ), and the diagnosis of dementia was according to the standard in DSM-Ⅳ revised by American Psychiatric Association. Alzheimer disease was diagnosed according to the standards of National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke/the Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA). All the 216 MCIpatients and 2 302 subjects with normal cognition were enrolled in the 3-year cohort study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The incidences of MCI among subjects with normal cognition; the annual conversion rates into Alzheimer disease in MCI patients and subjects with normal cognition; the relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of MCI and normal cognition developing into Alzheimer disease. RESULTS: The MCI group and normal cognition group were followed up once every year for 3 years. Of the 216 MCI patients, 7 died, and 209 were followed up actually, and the follow-up rate was 96.8%. Of the 2 302 subjects with normal cognition, 36 died, and 2 266 were followed up actually,and the follow-up rate was 98.4%. ① In the elderly subjects with normal cognition, the annual incidence of MCI was 4.8%, and those of dementia and Alzheimer disease were 1.3% and 0.8 respectively. ② The annual in cidence rates of dementia and Alzheimer disease in MCI patients were 8.1% and 5.6% respectively, which were insignificantly different between males and females (P ＞ 0.05). ③ The incidence rates of dementia and Alzheimer disease showed a descending trend with the elevation of educational level in both the MCI patients (trend x2 =5.57, P=0.02; trend x2 =4.92, P=0.03) and the subjects with normal cognition (trend x2 =23.1, P＜ 0.001; trend x2 =18.0, P ＜ 0.001). ④ The annual incidence rates of dementia and Alzheimer disease showed an ascending trend with aging in both the MCI patients (trend x2 =14.6, P ＜ 0.01; trend x2 =13.9, P ＜ 0.01) and the subjects with normal cognition (trend x2 =32.3, P ＜ 0.01; trend x2=23.8, P ＜ 0.01). ⑤ The relative risks of the conversion into dementia and Alz heimer disease in MCI patients were 6.4 and 7.4 times as many as those in the subjects with normal cognition.CONCLUSION: The risks of conversion into dementia and Alzheimer disease in elderly MCI patients are far higher than those in elderly people with normal cognition. It should be reinforced to monitor elderly MCI patients, who are the of high risk group of dementia.