Recently, it is reported that regulatory T cells (Tregs) can be reprogrammed into a novel population [interleu?kin (IL)-17+Foxp3+T cells] phenotypically and functionally resembling Th17 cells under complicated cytokine circumstanc?es. IL-17+Foxp3+T cells are characterized by production of IL-17 and expression of retinoic acid receptor related orphan re?ceptor (ROR)γt, demonstrating dual functions in immune response and providing novel insight into the interconnection be?tween Tregs and Th17 cells. In this review, we lay emphasis on the phenotype features, origination, differentiation and the pleiotropic functions of IL-17+Foxp3+T cells. Furthermore, we summarized the functions of IL-17+Foxp3+T cells in inflam?matory disease and tumor microenvironment.

Objective To assess the influence of timing of tracheostomy performed on ICU patientswith mechanical ventilation support for long-term.Methods A retrospective study was carried out in 94 patients under mechanical ventilation support with tracheostomy from January 2012 to October 2014.The patients were divided into early stage group (group A) in which the tracheostomy was done within 7 days after endotracheal intubation and late stage group (group B) in which the tracheostomy was performed at above 7 days after endotracheal intubation.The differences in lengths of mechanical ventilation support (MVS),ICU stay,and hospital stay,incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and mortality were compared between two groups using nonparametric statistics.Results Compared with group B,there were statistically significant reduction in duration of mechanical ventilation (7d vs.17 d;P ＜ 0.05),shorter length of ICU stay (10 d vs.19 d;P ＜ 0.05),and lower incidence of VAP (21.05％ vs.36.84％;P ＜ 0.05) in group A.There were no significant differences in hospital stay and mortality between two groups (P ＞0.05).There was a correlation between the duration of mechanical ventilation and timing of tracheostomy (R2 =0.680) and a correlation between the length of ICU stay and the timing of tracheostomy (R2 =0.662) was found.Conclusions Early tracheostomy has a significant positive impact on critically ill patients hospitalized in this ICU.These results support the tendency to balance the risk-benefit analysis in favor of early tracheostomy.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the correlation between the expression of FoxP3, TGF-β1, and epitheli-al-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in breast cancer and to determine the clinical significance of FoxP3. Methods: The expression of FoxP3, TGF-β1, E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin, Vimentin, and Fibronectin protein were detected in the cancer cells of 74 cases with breast carcinoma via immunohistochemistry. The correlation of FoxP3 protein with clinico-pathologic features of breast carcinoma and the re-lationships among the expressions of FoxP3, TGF-β1, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were analyzed. Results:The ex-pression rates of FoxP3, TGF-β1, and EMT are 36.5%(27/74), 39.2%(29/74), and 40.5%(30/74), respectively. The FoxP3 protein ex-pression in breast cancer is correlated with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05) but not with other clinico-pathological features (P>0.05). The expression of FoxP3 is also correlated with the expression of TGF-β1. Furthermore, TGF-β1 can induce EMT (P<0.05). Conclu-sion:The expression of FoxP3 is correlated with lymph node metastasis and EMT in breast cancer. Therefore, FoxP3 may be a marker for predicting metastasis.

Objective To study the effects of Genistein-magnetic-nanoparticles at different concentrations on the growth and expression of focal adhesion kinase(FAK) in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2.Methods Activities of HepG2 cells treated by Genistein-magnetic-nanoparticles were examined by MTT assay.The expression of FAK mRNA and protein was respectively detected by immunohistochemistry staining and reversed transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Results Genistein-magnetic-nanoparticles at a concentration of 10-80mg/L inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells,with obvious concentration-dapendent and time-dependent effect relationships(P

Objective To study the effects of Genistein - magnetic - nanoparticles at different concentrations on the growth and ex-pression of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HcpG2. Methods Activities of HepG2 cells treated by Genistein - magnetic - nanoparticles were examined by MTT assay. The expression of FAK mRNA and protein was respectively detected by immunohistochemistry staining and reversed transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT - PCR) . Results Genistein - magnetic -nanoparticles at a concentration of 10 -80mg/L inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells, with obvious concentration - dapendent and time - dependent effect relationships (P < 0.05). After treatment with various concentrations of Genistein - magnetic - nanoparticles for 48h, the relative level of FAKmRNA of Genistein - magnetic - nanoparticles and control groups was 1.242 ± 0.031,1.213 ± 0.443,0.834 ± 0.044,0.652 ± 0.039,0.446 ± 0.041, and 1.443 ± 0.053 (F = 21.97 ,P < 0.05), respectively. The expression of FAK protein in the cells was decreased, which showed an obvious a concentration - effect relationship. Conclusion Genistein - magnetic - nanoparticles can reduce the mRNA and protein expressions of FAK and inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 cells.

ObjectiveTo investigate the proliferation of rat's osteoblasts promoted by mechanical strain via the protein kinases C ξ(PKCξ) protein path-way.MethodsOsteoblasts were retrieved from SD rats' skulls in the sterilized environment.BioDynamic testing instrument was used to exert 2％ and 0％ mechanical strain on rats' osteoblasts for 180 min on the each group(2％ mechanical strain was experimental group and 0％ mechanical strain was control group); and the same method was applied on the rats' osteoblasts which pretreated with the classical PKC ξ inhibitor with 2％ mechanical strain (inhibitor group).The cell cycles of rats' osteoblasts were measured by flow cytometry; and Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to detect expression of protein PKC ξ and phosphorylationed PKC ξ in the rats' osteoblasts.ResultsThe mechanical strain obviously increased the ratio of S period in the cell cycles.Compared to the control group and inhibitor group,a significant increase of the expression of protein PKC ξ and phosphorylationed PKC ξ in the osteoblasts was detected in the mechanical strain experimental group.ConclusionPKCξ can respond to the stimulus of the mechanical strain,which promotes the proliferation of osteoblasts through PKCξ pathway.And it plays an important role in the process of signal conduction.

Objective To investigate and compare the clinical effects of radiochemotherapy alone or in combination with adoptive immunotherapy with cytokine-induced killer ( CIK) cells in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods The clinical data of 125 patients with locally advanced NSCLC who were admitted from 2011 to 2012 and did not undergo surgery were analyzed retrospectively, and among these patients, 102 received radiochemotherapy alone ( control group) , and 23 received radiochemotherapy combined with adoptive immunotherapy with CIK cells ( multimodality therapy group) .The two groups were matched at a ratio of 1:2 using propensity score matching, and the factors considered included tumor stage, radiochemotherapy regimen, and outcome after radiochemotherapy.Then 59 patients ( 22 from the multimodality therapy group and 37 from the control group) were enrolled, and survival and tumor control were compared between the two groups.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates and the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis and univariate prognostic analysis.Results The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival ( OS) rates were 73%, 32%, and 16%, respectively, in the control group, and 91%, 59%, and 41%, respectively, in the multimodality therapy group ( P=0.030) .The 1-, 2-, and 3-year progression-free survival rates were 61%, 21%, and 17%, respectively, in the control group, and 45%, 10%, and 10%, respectively, in the multimodality therapy group ( P=0.538) .As for the patients with stage ⅢB NSCLC, those in the multimodality therapy group had a significantly higher 3-year OS rate than those in the control group (47%vs.11%, P=0.026). In the patients receiving sequential chemoradiotherapy, those in the multimodality therapy group had a significantly higher 3-year OS rate than those in the control group ( 46%vs.11%, P=0.003) .As for the
patients with squamous cell carcinoma, those in the multimodality therapy group had a significantly higher 3-year distant metastasis-free survival rate than those in the control group ( 73%vs.22%, P=0.029) .The two groups showed similar incidence rates of adverse events, and compared with the control group, the multimodality therapy group had a lower incidence rate of radiation pneumonitis (9%vs.15%, P=0.889) and a higher incidence rate of radiation esophagitis (12%vs.7%, P=0.097).Conclusions Some patients with locally advanced NSCLC can benefit from radiochemotherapy combined with adoptive immunotherapy with CIK cells, but the intended population, timing, and dose safety still need further investigation.

Objective: To investigate the expression of TSLP in human lung cancer tissue and the correla-tion between TSLP expression and number of regulatory T cells (Tregs). Methods: The expression of TSLP mRNA and protein was detected in different pathological lesions of the lung by Q-RT-PCR and immunohisto-chemistry. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect Foxp3+ Tregs. The correlation of TSLP with the number of Tregs was analyzed. Results: TSLP gene was expressed in tumor tissues (n=37), latero-tumor tissues (n=29) and non-tumor lung tissues (n=24), without statistical difference (P=0.148). TSLP protein was expressed in the cytoplasm and was observeed in 69.57% of tumor tissues, 13.33% of benign lesions and 30.00% of non-tumor lung tissues, with a significant difference (P<0.05). The expression of TSLP protein was correlated with tumor size (P=0.000) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.018). The number of Tregs in TSLP positive group was more than that in TSLP negative group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The expression of TSLP in lung tu-mor tissues is increased and is correlated with the number of Tregs, indicating that TSLP could induce Treg to play an important role in tumor immunotolerance.

With the clinical applications of new immunotherapies, traditional TNM staging has been unable to meet the clinical needs of curative effect predictions. It is known that the immunological features of the tumor immune microenvironment play important roles in tumor prognosis evaluations. Recently, the immunoscore system, which is based on local immune cell distribution and density, has gradually become an important indicator for prognosis evaluations and has been verified in several tumor researches. Recently, with the application of new mass flow detection and single cell sequencing technologies, the number of immune landscape studies have also been increasing, and new tumor-specific immune cell subsets have been identified. These subtypes not only provide individ-ualized immunotherapy guidelines for patients, but also provide potential new targets for the further development of new immuno-therapy strategies. This review will introduce recent research progress in this field.