PURPOSE: We previously found that the histone methyltransferase suppressor of variegation, enhancer of zeste, trithorax and myeloid-nervy-deformed epidermal autoregulatory factor-1 domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3) is a potential independent predictive factor or prognostic factor for overall survival in gastric cancer patients, but its roles seem to differ from those in other cancers. Therefore, in this study, the detailed functions of SMYD3 in cell proliferation and migration in gastric cancer were examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SMYD3 was overexpressed or suppressed by transfection with an expression plasmid or siRNA, and a wound healing migration assay and Transwell assay were performed to detect the migration and invasion ability of gastric cancer cells. Additionally, an MTT assay and clonogenic assay were performed to evaluate cell proliferation, and a cell cycle analysis was performed by propidium iodide staining. Furthermore, the expression of genes implicated in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) pathway and proteins involved in cell cycle regulation were detected by polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses. RESULTS: Compared with control cells, gastric cancer cells transfected with si-SMYD3 showed lower migration and invasion abilities (P<0.05), and the absence of SMYD3 halted cells in G2/M phase and activated the ATM pathway. Furthermore, the opposite patterns were observed when SMYD3 was elevated in normal gastric cells. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that the absence of SMYD3 could inhibit the migration, invasion, and proliferation of gastric cancer cells and halt cells in G2/M phase via the ATM-CHK2/p53-Cdc25C pathway. These findings indicated that SMYD3 plays crucial roles in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells and may be a useful therapeutic target in human gastric carcinomas.
Ataxia Telangiectasia ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Proliferation ; G2 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Histones ; Humans ; Plasmids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Propidium ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Transfection ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels at birth and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants.

METHODSThis retrospective study recruited preterm infants with gestational age of below 34 weeks who were born between January 2014 and December 2016. These preterm infants were divided into two groups: RDS (n=72) and control (n=40). Clinical data of the two groups were collected, including gestational age, birth weight, gender, delivery mode, Apgar scores at 1 minute and 5 minutes, incidence of maternal gestational diabetes mellitus, and use of prenatal steroid hormone. Peripheral blood samples were collected and 25(OH)D levels were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. The association between serum 25(OH)D levels at birth and RDS was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTSApgar scores at 1 minute and 5 minutes and serum 25(OH)D levels in the RDS group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the rates of neonatal asphyxia and vitamin D deficiency were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that neonatal asphyxia (OR=2.633, 95%CI: 1.139-6.085) and vitamin D deficiency (OR=4.064, 95%CI: 1.625-10.165) were risk factors for RDS in preterm infants.

CONCLUSIONSVitamin D deficiency might be associated with increased risk of RDS in preterm infants. Reasonable vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy might reduce the incidence of RDS in preterm infants.

Dietary Supplements ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn ; blood ; etiology ; Vitamin D ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; Vitamin D Deficiency ; complications

OBJECTIVETo investigate microwave-induced morphological and functional injury of natural killer (NK) cells and uncover their mechanisms.

METHODSNK-92 cells were exposed to 10, 30, and 50 mW/cm2 microwaves for 5 min. Ultrastructural changes, cellular apoptosis and cell cycle regulation were detected at 1 h and 24 h after exposure. Cytotoxic activity was assayed at 1 h after exposure, while perforin and NKG2D expression were detected at 1 h, 6 h, and 12 h after exposure. To clarify the mechanisms, phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK) was detected at 1 h after exposure. Moreover, microwave-induced cellular apoptosis and cell cycle regulation were analyzed after blockade of ERK signaling by using U0126.

RESULTSMicrowave-induced morphological and ultrastructural injury, dose-dependent apoptosis (P < 0.001) and cell cycle arrest (P < 0.001) were detected at 1 h after microwave exposure. Moreover, significant apoptosis was still detected at 24 h after 50 mW/cm2 microwave exposure (P < 0.01). In the 30 mW/cm2 microwave exposure model, microwaves impaired the cytotoxic activity of NK-92 cells at 1 h and down regulated perforin protein both at 1 h and 6 h after exposure (P < 0.05). Furthermore, p-ERK was down regulated at 1 h after exposure (P < 0.05), while ERK blockade significantly promoted microwave-induced apoptosis (P < 0.05) and downregulation of perforin (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONMicrowave dose-dependently induced morphological and functional injury in NK-92 cells, possibly through ERK-mediated regulation of apoptosis and perforin expression.

Apoptosis ; radiation effects ; Cell Cycle ; radiation effects ; Cell Line ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; radiation effects ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Microwaves ; adverse effects ; NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily K ; genetics ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction

OBJECTIVETo investigate the surgical outcome of unilateral pedicle screw(UPS) after TLIF technique combined with contralateral percutaneous transfacet screw(PTS) fixation vs bilateral pedicle screws(BPS) fixation in treatment of degenerative lumbar disease.

METHODSFrom January 2009 to June 2012, 46 patients with degenerative lumbar diseases, including 30 males and 16 females with an average age of 51.5 years old, who were divided into two groups according to different fixation methods. Twenty-two cases underwent UPS after TLIF technique combined with contralateral PTS fixation (group A), while the others underwent BPS fixation(group B). The relative data were analyzed, such as blood loss volume, operative time, fusion rate, ODI score, JOA score and so on.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up for 1 to 3 years with an average of 22 months. Except one case of each group was uncertainty fusion, the rest have obtained bony fusion, and the fusion rates in group A and B were 95.5% and 95.8%, respectively. No displacement and breakage of screw were found during follow-up. Operative time and blood loss volume in group A were better than of group B(<0.05). ODI and JOA scores had improved obviously than preoperation(<0.05), but the differences had no statistical significance between two groups(>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTwo approaches had similar clinical outcomes for degenerative lumbar disease with no severe instability. Compared with BPS fixation, the UPS after TLIF technique and contralateral PTS fixation has the advantages of less trauma, shorter operative time and less blood loss, and it is a safe and feasible surgical technique.

In this study,the content of ethanol extraction of agarwood were performed following the method of Chinese Pharmacopoeia(ChP 2015 edition). The chromatographic fingerprints were established by GC-MS. Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）(version 2012) was employed to calculate the similarity of each chromatogram of agarwood. The ratios of sum peak area in the range of 170-270 min and 0-100 min of individual chromatogram were calculated using square peaks to normalization. AMDIS and RI were employed to identify the common and different peaks. Correlation coefficient P(corr) combined with Variable important in projection(VIP) value was employed to screen the different representative components based on OPLS-DA analysis. Grey related degree and TOPSIS were used to evaluate the quality of artificial agarwoods. The results showed that more than 10.0% of the ethanol extract content was found in 15 batches of artificial agarwoods among the total 18. The similarity of 18 batches artificial agarwoods was 0.439-0.779. The peak area ratios of two intervals were in the range of 0.307-13.254. The 9 common components and 8 different components were identified. Meanwhile, 2% salicylic acid is the best inducer based on grey related degree and TOPSIS. Grey related degree and TOPSIS can be used to evaluate the quality of artificial agarwoods rapidly. These results provide a reference data to evaluate the qualityof artificial agarwood.

In order to study the chemical constituents of n-butanol fraction of ethanol extract from Chinese agarwood induced by artificial holing, various chromatographic techniques were carried out to isolate compounds, and the structures of compounds were determined through a combined analysis of physicochemical properties and spectroscopic evidence. Seven compounds were obtained and identified as selina-3,11-dien-9,15-diol (1), aquilarone D (2), 5α,6β,7α,8β-tetrahydroxy-2-[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrochromone (3), 6,7-dimethoxy-2-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]chromone (4), syringin (5), methyl (Z)-p-coumarate (6), and 4'-methoxycinnamic acid (7), among which compound 1 was a new compound and compounds 5-7 were isolated from agarwood for the first time. The bioactivity assay results concluded that compounds 6 and 7 showed certain nematicidal activity against Panagrellus redivivus, and compounds 4, 6 and 7 exhibited cytotoxicity against BEL-7402, SGC-7901 and A549 carcinoma cell lines.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical curative effects of different methods for the treatment of "floating shoulder injuries".

METHODSA total of 56 patients with "floating shoulder injuries" from February 2006 to August 2014 were enrolled in the study, including 12 patients[7 males and 5 females with an average age of(45.08±13.47)years old]treated by non operation (group A), 29 patients[18 males and 11 females with an average age of(37.28±10.43) years old]treated by internal plate fixation of the fracture of the clavicle(group B), 15 patients(11 males, 4 females; average age of 36.20±9.50 years) treated by internal plate fixation of the fracture of the clavicle and the scapular(group C). Functional outcomes of injured shoulder joints were assessed using Herscovici and Constant-Murley Shoulder Outcome score.

RESULTSThere was a significant difference on operative time and intra operative blood loss between group B and group C(=0.000). There were significant differences of functional outcomes among three groups(=0.000). The shoulder joint function of group A and group B, group A and group C were significantly different(=0.000), while there was no significant difference between Group B and Group C.

CONCLUSIONSOperation treatment for "floating shoulder injuries" has obvious advantages for the functional recovery of shoulder joint, and the risk for the single fixation treatment of clavicle is lower.

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlation of c-met protein with the clinical staging and cell differentiation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

METHODSA total of 100 patients with ESCC were enrolled were examined for expression of c-met protein using immunohistochemistry, and the patients in negative and positive c-met expression groups were compared for clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival.

RESULTSs The 100 ESCC patients included 67 male and 33 female patients with a median age of 59 years; 49 of the patients were negative and 51 were positive for c-met expression. Positive c-met expression was significantly correlated with advanced TMN stages and lower tumor differentiation. Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the median survival time of c-met-positive patients was significantly reduced compared with that of c-met-negative patients (30.9 vs 48.2 months, P<0.05). COX regression analysis showed that c-met was a independent risk factor for the overall survival of the patients (HR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.63-4.54, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONA positive expression of c-met protein is significantly correlated with an advanced TMN stage, lower tumor differentiation and a poor prognosis, and may serve as a indicator for predicting the prognosis of ESCC.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met ; metabolism ; Risk Factors

ObjectiveTo investigate the changes in the percentage of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the peripheral blood of prostate cancer (PCa) patients and explore the correlation of MDSCs and their subsets with the prognosis of PCa.

METHODSUsing flow cytometry, we determined the percentage of MDSCs and the levels of Arg-1, iNOS and PD-L1 in the peripheral blood of 32 PCa patients and 25 healthy controls, detected the distribution of CD14+ Mo-MDSC and CD15+ PMN-MDSC subsets, and analyzed the correlation between the obtained parameters and the prognosis of PCa.

RESULTSCompared with the healthy controls, the PCa patients showed significant increases in the percentage of MDSCs (P<0.01) and levels of Arg-1, iNOS and PD-L1 in the peripheral blood. Statistically significant differences were observed in the distribution of the CD14+ Mo-MDSC and CD15+ PMN-MDSC subsets between the two groups（60.4% vs 72.2%, 29.5% vs 18.8%） (P<0.05). The percentages of MDSCs and Mo-MDSCs were remarkably correlated with the total survival rate of the PCa patients (P=0.025 and 0.017).

CONCLUSIONSThe percentages of MDSCs and CD14+ Mo-MDSCs in the peripheral blood were correlated with the prognosis of PCa, which may provide a target or some evidence for the clinical treatment of PCa.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Filamins ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation ; genetics ; Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia ; genetics ; pathology