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Diagnostic value of apolipoprotein C-I (ApoC-I), transthyretin (TTR) and ApoC-III in gastric cancer were evaluated. Retrospective analysis methods were used to collect 60 patients with gastric cancer first diagnosed in The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University. There were 60 patients with chronic atrophic gastritis in the benign lesion group and 60 healthy individuals in the control group. The expression levels of serum ApoC-I, TTR and ApoC-III was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Differences existed in the expression levels of ApoC-I, TTR and ApoC-III in the gastric cancer group, benign lesion group and control group (P<0.001), with the expression levels of ApoC-I, TTR and ApoC-III in the gastric cancer group being lower than that of the benign lesion group (P<0.05), and the expression levels of ApoC-I, TTR and ApoC-III in the benign lesion group being lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). The expression levels of ApoC-I, TTR and ApoC-III in the gastric cancer group were to a certain degree correlated with the clinical stage, lymph node metastasis and differentiation of patients in the gastric cancer group (P<0.05). The specificity and negative predictive value of combined detection were proven to be higher than the separate detection of the three factors (P<0.05). The detection of serum ApoC-I, TTR and ApoC-III was of great significance in the diagnosis of gastric cancer and the estimation of its severity. The method of combined detection is worth a further in-depth study as it could improve the specificity of diagnosis and have a higher negative predictive value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims We discovered that some adults with coronary heart disease (CHD) have a high density lipoprotein (HDL) subclass which induces human aortic smooth muscle cell (ASMC) apoptosis in vitro. The purpose of this investigation was to determine what properties differentiate apoptotic and non-apoptotic HDL subclasses in adults with and without CHD. Methods and results Density gradient ultracentrifugation was used to measure the particle density distribution and to isolate two HDL subclass fractions, HDL2 and HDL3, from 21 individuals, including 12 without CHD. The HDL fractions were incubated with ASMCs for 24 h; apoptosis was quantitated relative to C2-ceramide and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). The observed effect of some HDL subclasses on apoptosis was ∼6-fold greater than TNF-α and ∼16-fold greater than the cell medium. We observed that apoptotic HDL was (i) predominately associated with the HDL2 subclass; (ii) almost exclusively found in individuals with a higher apoC-I serum level and a novel, higher molecular weight isoform of apoC-I; and (iii) more common in adults with CHD, the majority of whom had high (>60 mg/dL) HDL-C levels. Conclusions Some HDL subclasses enriched in a novel isoform of apoC-I induce extensive ASMC apoptosis in vitro. Individuals with this apoptotic HDL phenotype generally have higher apoC-I and HDL-C levels consistent with an inhibitory effect of apoC-I on cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity. The association of this phenotype with processes that can promote plaque rupture may explain a source of CHD risk not accounted for by the classical risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ℇ4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE4), which is a well established genetic risk factor for development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), is in genetic disequilibrium with the H2 allele of apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1), giving rise to increased expression of apoC-I. This raises the possibility that the H2 allele of APOC1, either alone or in combination with APOE4, provides a major risk factor for AD. In line herewith, we previously showed that mice overexpressing human APOC1 display impaired learning and memory functions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the absence of Apoc1 expression in mice may improve memory functions. In contrast with our expectations, Apoc1-/- mice showed impaired hippocampal-dependent memory functions, as judged from their performance in the object recognition task (p < 0.001) as compared to their wild-type littermates. No gross changes in brain morphology or in brain sterol concentrations were detected in knockout mice compared to wild-type littermates. Apoc1 deficiency reduced the expression of ApoE mRNA (-25%, p < 0.05), but not ApoE protein levels. In line with a role for apoC-I in inflammatory processes, we observed significantly increased mRNA concentrations of the proinflammatory marker tumor necrosis factor α and oxidative stress related heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) in the absence of glial activation. In conclusion, the absence of ApoC-I results in impaired memory functions, which is, together with previous data, suggestive of an important, bell-shaped gene-dose dependent role for ApoC-I in appropriate brain functioning. The relative contributions of the H2 allele of APOC1 and/or APOE4 in the risk assessment in AD remain to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To screen and identify serum biomarkers for nephroblastoma in children using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI) and other proteomics technologies. The surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) was used to identify biomarkers in 100 children with nephroblastoma and 30 gender and age-matched normal healthy children. There were 30 cases of pre-operative patients and 70 cases of post-operative patients. Differentially expressed serum proteins were screened. The target proteins were then separated, purified, and analyzed by multidimensional high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peptide mass fingerprints (PMFs) of each protein were obtained after scanning with LC-MS/MS (LTQ). The proteins were identified using SEQUEST and the biological functions and characterizations of these proteins were analyzed with bioinformatic methods. Two differential proteins (m/z 6455.5, 9190.8) were obtained. According to SEQUEST, the molecular masses of this two proteins indicated that they were apolipoprotein C-I and haptoglobin, respectively. Expressions of the two proteins were lower in the pre-surgery group compared with the post-surgery and control group ( P < 0.01). In contrast, the expression of this two proteins were higher in the early stage than in the advanced stage of nephroblastoma. Apolipoprotein C-I and haptoglobin may be used as potential biomarkers to predict the degree of malignancy, therapeutic outcomes, and prognosis of nephroblastoma in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of purified apolipoproteins A-I, A-II and C-fin the process of cholesterol efflux from cultured vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells was studied [H] Cholesterol pre-labelled cultures were exposed to serum-free medium supplemented with free apolipoproteins or with apolipoproteins and phosphatidylcholine liposomes and the cholesterol efflux from the cells was determined. Free apolipoproteins A-I and A-II supported cholesterol efflux from vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells to a higher extent than apolipoprotein C-I. The ability of free apolipoproteins A-I and A-II to support cholesterol efflux was in correlation with their specific binding to the cultures, while no specfic binding of apolipoprotein C-I was detected. The association of apolipoprotein A-I with phosphatidylcholine liposomes resulted in a more than two-fold increase in cholesterol efflux compared to free apolipoprotein A-I, while association of apolipoproteins A-Il and C-I with phosphatidylcholine liposomes resulted in a very limited increase in cholesterol efflux above that achieved by the free apolipoproteins. These results suggest that apolipoprotein A-I is involved in cholesterol efflux performed by high density lipoprotein. Furthermore, free apolipoproteins A-I and A-II, but not apolipoprotein C-I may take an active part in cholesterol efflux from endothelial and smooth muscle cells. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]