Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly heterogenic disease, and it is the second leading cause of cancer death in the world. Common chemotherapies are not very effective for GC, which often presents as an advanced or metastatic disease at diagnosis. Treatment options are limited, and the prognosis for advanced GCs is poor. The landscape of genomic alterations in GCs has recently been characterized by several international cancer genome programs, including stud-ies that focused exclusively on GCs in Asians. These studies identiifed major recurrent driver mutations and provided new insights into the mutational heterogeneity and genetic proifles of GCs. An analysis of gene expression data by the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG) further uncovered four distinct molecular subtypes with well-deifned clini-cal features and their intersections with actionable genetic alterations to which targeted therapeutic agents are either already available or under clinical development. In this article, we review the ACRG GC project. We also discuss the implications of the genetic and molecular ifndings from various GC genomic studies with respect to developing more precise diagnoses and treatment approaches for GCs.

In the present study, Staphylococcus (S.) hyicus strains isolated in Russia (n = 23) and Germany (n = 17) were investigated for the prevalence of the previously described genes sheta and shetb. Sheta was detected in 16 S. hyicus strains. Sheta-positive strains were mainly found among strains isolated from exudative epidermitis, and frequently together with the exfoliative toxin-encoding genes exhD and exhC. Partial sequencing of sheta in a single S. hyicus strain revealed an almost complete match with the sheta sequence obtained from GenBank. None of the S. hyicus strains displayed a positive reaction with the shetb-specific oligonucleotide primer used in the present study. According to the present results, the exotoxin encoding gene sheta seems to be distributed among S. hyicus strains in Russia and Germany. The toxigenic potential of this exotoxin, which does not have the classical structure of a staphylococcal exfoliative toxin, remains to be elucidated.
Animals ; Cattle ; Cattle Diseases/epidemiology/microbiology ; DNA Primers ; Dog Diseases/epidemiology/microbiology ; Dogs ; Epidermitis, Exudative, of Swine/epidemiology ; Exfoliatins/*genetics/immunology ; Germany ; Pneumonia/epidemiology/veterinary ; Russia ; Staphylococcal Infections/immunology/veterinary ; Staphylococcus aureus/genetics/*pathogenicity ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/epidemiology ; Virulence/*genetics ; Virulence Factors/genetics/immunology

BACKGROUNDThe purposes of this study were to confirm the changes in myocardial collagen level after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), find the relation between these changes and prognosis, and test a practical method to assess the level of myocardial collagen.

METHODSLeft ventricular samples were collected from DCM patients with different prognosis (transplanted group n = 8, weaning group n = 10) at the time when the LVADs were implanted and again during cardiac transplantation (n = 8). The level of neutral salt soluble collagen (NSC) and acid soluble collagen (ASC) was measured by Sircol collagen assay, and that of total collagen and insoluble collagen (ISC) by quantification of hydroxyproline (Hyp). Serum samples were collected from a portion of these patients (transplanted group, n = 6; weaning group n = 7) at the time the LVADs were implanted, 1 month after implantation and on explantation. Circulating concentration of carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (P I CP), amino-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (P I NP), amino-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen (P III NP) and type I collagen telopeptide (I CTP) were measured by the equilibrium type radioimmunoassay.

RESULTSBefore LVAD implantation the level of NSC and ISC in the weaning group was higher but ASC in the transplanted group was lower than in the controls (P < 0.05). After LVAD support, the level of total collagen was higher, but ASC was also lower in the transplanted group than in the controls (P < 0.05). In comparison of the pre- and post-LVAD subgroups of the transplanted and weaning groups, all collagen fraction levels before LVAD implantation were lower in the transplanted group than in the weaning group (P < 0.05); but this difference disappeared after LVAD support. Comparison of the pre- and post-LVAD subgroups of the transplanted group showed increased level of NSC and total collagen after LVAD support. The changes of serum peptide concentration showed that P III NP increased constantly in the transplanted group, but P I CP and P I NP increased in the weaning group after LVAD implantation.

CONCLUSIONSThe changes in myocardial collagen level as a sign of myocardial interstitial remodeling in DCM are not involved with total collagen but involved with collagen fractions, and they are related to prognosis. The changes of myocardial collagen content and serum procollagen peptide after LVAD support can be regarded as an expression of the reverse of maladaptive myocardial interstitial remodeling.

Adult ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Collagen ; analysis ; Female ; Heart Transplantation ; Heart-Assist Devices ; Humans ; Hydroxyproline ; analysis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardium ; chemistry ; Procollagen ; blood ; Prognosis