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A facile and sensitive electrochemical sensor for determining imatinib (IMA) was constructed by modifying a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with a nanocarbon material, acetylene black (AB). The electrochemical behavior of IMA on the prepared GCE/AB was studied using electrochemical techniques, namely, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The direct determination of IMA by the GCE/AB sensor was accomplished using DPV under optimized conditions. The method verification showed that the oxidation peak current was proportional to the concentrations of IMA in the linear ranges of 0.01–0.5 and 0.5–4 μM, with correlation coefficients of 0.9856 and 0.9946, respectively. The limit of detection of the GCE/AB sensor was 0.15 nM. Moreover, the GCE/AB sensor showed good precision and accuracy. Finally, the GCE/AB sensor was successfully applied to determine IMA in human serum samples, and the recoveries were satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, novel selective recognition materials, namely magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs), were prepared. The recognition materials were used as pretreatment materials for magnetic molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MSPE) to achieve the efficient adsorption, selective recognition, and rapid magnetic separation of methotrexate (MTX) in the patients' plasma. This method was combined with high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection (HPLC–UV) to achieve accurate and rapid detection of the plasma MTX concentration, providing a new method for the clinical detection and monitoring of the MTX concentration. The MMIPs for the selective adsorption of MTX were prepared by the sol–gel method. The materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry. The MTX adsorption properties of the MMIPs were evaluated using static, dynamic, and selective adsorption experiments. On this basis, the extraction conditions were optimized systematically. The adsorption capacity of MMIPs for MTX was 39.56 mgg−1, the imprinting factor was 9.40, and the adsorption equilibrium time was 60 min. The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: the amount of MMIP was 100 mg, the loading time was 120 min, the leachate was 8:2 (v/v) water–methanol, the eluent was 4:1 (v/v) methanol–acetic acid, and the elution time was 60 min. MTX was linear in the range of 0.00005–0.25 mg mL−1, and the detection limit was 12.51 ng mL−1. The accuracy of the MSPE–HPLC–UV method for MTX detection was excellent, and the result was consistent with that of a drug concentration analyzer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel electrochemical sensor for the determination of triclosan (TCS) based on acetylene black (AB)/carbon nanotube (CNT)/cetyl sulphonyl betaine (SB16) was prepared. The composite AB/CNT/SB16 sensor was constructed using AB electrode with CNT and SB16 as sensitising materials. Sensor performance was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses. The linear equation was Ip(μA) = 19.16CTCS(μM) + 0.1319(R2 = 0.9823), and the linear range of the prepared method for the detection of TCS was from 0.01 μM to 2.0 μM with a detection limit of 6.18 nM. The sensor also displayed excellent selectivity, repeatability, and stability for TCS determination. Finally, the sensor was successfully used to detect TCS in real commodity samples, with a relative standard deviation from 0.56% to 2.32%, consistent with the results of high-performance liquid chromatography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. There is increasing evidence that high expression levels of the gastric carcinoma highly expressed transcript 1 (GHET1), a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), are associated with cancer prognosis and may be used as a valuable biomarker for cancer patients. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to analyze existing data to reveal potential clinical applications of GHET1 for cancer prognosis and tumor progression. All of these studies included in this meta-analysis were collected through a variety of retrieval strategies; and the enrolled articles were qualified via the meta-analysis of enrolled studies in epidemiology (MOOSE) and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklists. Materials and Methods. The literature collection was performed by a comprehensive search through electronic databases for studies published on or before March 10, 2019. These included the Cochrane library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Springer, Science Direct, and three Chinese databases: CNKI, Weipu, and Wanfang. Seven studies that met the specified criteria were analyzed in the present research. Results. The combined results indicate that an elevated GHET1 expression level is significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR=2.40, 95% CI: 1.87–3.08, p<0.001) and tumor progression (III/IV vs. I/II: HR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.48–2.18, p<0.001) in multiple cancers. The elevated GHET1 expression was also associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM) (HR=2.44, 95% CI: 1.86–3.20, p<0.001) in Chinese cancer patients. Conclusions. The present findings indicate that an increased GHET1 expression level is associated with poor OS, tumor progression, and LNM in patients with multiple tumors and may serve as a useful prognostic biomarker in Chinese cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis (AS) is the key cause of many cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The inflammatory response and lipid metabolism disorders contribute to the development and progression of AS. This work aims to study the anti-inflammatory effect and mechanism of low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF) obtained from Saccharina japonica on atherosclerosis in apoE-knockout mice. The experimental results showed that LMWF statistically decreased the levels of triglyceride (TRIG) and oxidative low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) and stabilized established atherosclerotic lesions. LMWF ameliorated the inflammatory response by down regulating IL-6 and by up regulating IL-10 transcriptional levels, and LMWF returned p -JNK and cyclin D1 to normal levels. Moreover, LMWF increased the mRNA level of CD11b in the aorta and suppressed the expression of CD11b in the intimal layer of the aorta. Therefore, LMWF prevented macrophages from developing into foam cells and prevented SMCs from migrating into the intimal layer of the aorta, which inhibited the formation of atherosclerotic plaques; and ameliorated the occurrence and development of AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This was the first study to identify the association between EGFR gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to PD. • The EGFR rs730437 and rs11506105 polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to PD in a Han Chinese population. • The subgroup analyses indicated that the C allele of rs730437 showed lower prevalence in the EOPD. • The frequency of the GG genotype and G allele for rs11506105 was lower in female group of PD subjects. The progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the mesencephalic substantia nigra is recognized as an important pathological feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). Several research studies have suggested that the EGFR signaling pathway may play a significant role in the survival and functional development of dopaminergic neurons. Therefore, genetic variations in these pathways may be related with PD susceptibility. The aim of our study was to explore the association between selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, including rs730437, rs3752651 and rs11506105, and susceptibility to Parkinson's disease in a Han Chinese population. A total of 870 Han Chinese subjects, including 435 PD patients and 435 healthy controls, were enrolled in this case-control study. Peripheral blood was obtained from all subjects for DNA extraction, and selected SNPs (rs730437, rs3752651, rs11506105) of the EGFR gene were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Differences in the frequencies of genotype and allele gene polymorphisms between patients with PD and healthy controls were analyzed using the Chi-square test. Logistic regression analysis was applied for calculating the odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate potential associations. We observed statistically significant differences in rs730437 in the additive models (AC vs. AA: P = 0.047), dominant models (CC + AC vs. AA: P = 0.024) and alleles (C vs. A: P = 0.018). Further subgroup analyses indicated that the C allele of rs730437 showed lower prevalence in the EOPD, compared with matched controls (P = 0.005). The frequency of the GG genotype and G allele for rs11506105 was lower in PD subjects than in healthy controls in the entire study population (P = 0.028, P = 0.034, respectively) and female group (P = 0.024, P = 0.007, respectively). No significant association was found between rs3752651 polymorphism and PD susceptibility in either the whole or subgroup analyses. The analysis of gene haplotypes revealed that the AAT haplotype was related with PD susceptibility. The rs730437 and rs11506105 polymorphisms, but not the rs3752651 polymorphism, of the EGFR gene may be related with susceptibility to PD in a Han Chinese population. An investigation using a larger sample size is warranted to further analyze potential associations between the EGFR gene and PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imatinib (IMB), an anticancer drug, is extensively used for chemotherapy to improve the quality of life of cancer patients. The aim of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is to guide and evaluate the medicinal therapy, and then optimize the clinical effect of individual dosing regimens. In this work, a highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor based on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with acetylene black (AB) and a Cu (II) metal organic framework (CuMOF) was developed to measure the concentration of IMB. CuMOF with preferable adsorbability and AB with excellent electrical conductivity functioned cooperatively to enhance the analytical determination of IMB. The modified electrodes were characterized using X-rays diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometry (UV-vis), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), brunauer‒emmett‒teller (BET) and barrett‒joyner‒halenda (BJH) techniques. Analytical parameters such as the ratio of CuMOF to AB, dropping volumes, pH, scanning rate and accumulation time were investigated through cyclic voltammetry (CV). Under optimal conditions, the sensor exhibited an excellent electrocatalytic response for IMB detection, and two linear detection ranges were obatined of 2.5 nM-1.0 μM and 1.0-6.0 μM with a detection limit (DL) of 1.7 nM (S/N = 3). Finally, the good electroanalytical ability of CuMOF-AB/GCE sensor facilitated the successful determination of IMB in human serum samples. Due to its acceptable selectivity, repeatability and long-term stability, this sensor shows promising application prospects in the detection of IMB in clinical samples., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xu, Li, Luan, Xuan, Zhao, Zhou, Tian and Pan.)

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and significant malignant diseases worldwide. In the present study, we evaluated two long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in CRC patients as diagnostic markers for early-stage CRC., Methods: Using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE102340, GSE126092, GSE109454 and GSE115856, 14 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified between cancer and adjacent tissues, among which, the two most differentially expressed were confirmed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 200 healthy controls and 188 CRC patients. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy for CRC., Results: From four GEO datasets, three up-regulated and eleven down-regulated lncRNAs were identified in CRC tissues, among which, lncRNA urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1) and lncRNA phosphoglucomutase 5-antisense RNA 1 (PGM5-AS1) were the most significantly up- and down-regulated lncRNAs in CRC patient plasma, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was calculated to be 0.766, 0.754 and 0.798 for UCA1, PGM5-AS1 and the combination of these two lncRNAs, respectively. Moreover, the diagnostic potential of these two lncRNAs was even higher for the early stages of CRC. The combination of UCA1 and PGM5-AS1 enhanced the AUC to 0.832, and when the lncRNAs were used with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), the AUC was further improved to 0.874., Conclusion: In the present study, we identified two lncRNAs, UCA1 and PGM5-AS1, in CRC patients' plasma, which have the potential to be used as diagnostic biomarkers of CRC., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of tumor associated deaths globally. Annually, the prevalence of HCC is increasing and the lack of early prognostic indicators manifests a dismal prognosis for HCC patients. A deep understanding of the molecular events that promote HCC progression are required for the design of new diagnostics and therapeutics. Dermatopontin (DPT) is an extracellular matrix protein that regulates the metastatic phenotypes of many cancers. However, the effects of DPT on HCC cell growth remain undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that the exogenous expression of DPT inhibits HCC cell growth both in vitro and in vivo . Furthermore, we show that DPT regulates CXXC4, which in turn targets c-Myc, EZH2, SOX2 and β-catenin, through its ability to impact Wnt signaling pathway. These data suggest that DPT regulates CXXC4, c-Myc, EZH2, SOX2 and β-catenin, through Wnt signaling to repress HCC proliferation. This highlights DPT as promising target for future HCC diagnostics and therapeutic targets., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Preeclampsia (PE) is an excessive systemic inflammation response with dysfunction of endothelial. As a stress protein, heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) plays a pivotal role in protecting cells against apoptosis, oxidative damage and genetic damage. In humans, three genes encode members of the HSP70 class: HSPA1A, HSPA1B and HSPA1L. Our study was to investigate the association between genetic variations of HSPA1L and the susceptibility for PE in Chinese Han population. The polymorphisms of rs2227956, rs1043618 and rs1061581 in HSPA1L were genotyped by TaqMan allelic discrimination real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 929 PE patients and 1024 healthy pregnant women. Statistic difference of the genotypic and allelic frequencies were found in HSPA1L rs1061581 between PE patients and controls (χ2 = 29.863, P < 0.001 by genotype; χ2 = 27.298, P < 0.001, OR = 1.874, 95%CI 1.476-2.379 by allele) and HSPA1L rs1061581 A alleles occurred more frequently in PE patients compared with healthy controls (PE vs. controls 10.28% vs. 5.76%). Furthermore, we divided the PE cases into early-onset/late-onset PE and mild/severe PE subgroups and found statistical differences in genotypic and allelic frequencies of the HSPA1L rs1061581 between early-onset PE, late-onset PE, mild PE, severe PE and controls, respectively. Moreover, HSPA1L rs1061581 A alleles were more frequent in early-onset PE, late-onset PE, mild PE and severe PE than controls respectively. Therefore, we concluded that HSPA1L rs1061581 polymorphism is associated with the risk of PE in Han Chinese women and A alleles may play a role in the susceptibility for PE., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

Glioma is a common brain tumor which is highly invasive, responds poorly to therapy, and has a poor prognosis. There is growing evidence that an abnormal expression of many genes is related to glioma and leads to glioma cell growth and metastasis. Phospholipase C beta 1 (PLCB1) plays critical roles in intracellular transduction and regulating signal activation, which are important to tumorigenesis. Therefore, it could bind to miRNA as a target gene. The purpose of our study was to confirm that PLCB1 plays a critical role in suppressing glioma progression. We found that the expression of miR-423-5p was reduced, but the expression of PLCB1 was increased, in glioma tissues and cells. To explore whether miR-423-5p affects PLCB1, a bioinformatics approach suggested that miR-423-5p can directly target PLCB1. Moreover, we observed, using luciferase reporter assays, that miR-423-5p could target PLCB1 3'-UTR. Functionally, the overexpression of miR-423-5p could attenuate the proliferation, invasion, and migration and promote the apoptosis of glioma cells. Furthermore, we found that miR-423-5p could enhance p-ERK expression in glioma cells. Taken together, we deduced that miR-423-5p inhibited proliferation and metastasis by targeting PLCB1, and it also promotes apoptosis in glioma cells. These results suggest that miR-423-5p directly targets PLCB1 3'-UTR and could inhibit cell invasion and migration through the ERK-dependent pathway in glioma, and the miR-423-5p/PLCB1 axis may be a potential target for new potential therapeutic strategies to treat glioma., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2019.)

Carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) is initially reported as a cancer-specific antigen expressed on the surface of human colorectal Colo-205 cancer cells. Subsequently, increased serum CA50 levels are observed in patients not only with colorectal cancers but also other types of cancers. Eventually, serum CA50 is measured clinically as a cancer biomarker. However, serum CA50 level does not always increase in cancer patients but does increase in patients suffering from nonneoplasm diseases, which indicates that serum CA50 is not produced by cancer cells exclusively. Therefore, the serum CA50 levels in patients suffering different types of diseases should be systematically compared in order to comprehend the molecular nature of serum CA50 as a biomarker. In our current study, we measured and analyzed serum CA50 levels from 2113 patients with 14 clinically defined diseases with at least 30 independent tests for each disease in addition to 13,997 serum samples from individuals who attend their annual physical examination as healthy controls. Based on the mean, median, and -Log 10 p values, we found that patients suffering from pancreatic cancer, cirrhosis, pancreatitis, lung cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and colon cancer had highest levels of serum CA50 while patients suffering from coronary heart disease, gastric cancer, and rectum cancer showed comparable serum CA50 levels to that of healthy controls. Moreover, patients with osteoporosis, anemia, or gastritis had lower serum CA50 levels than that of healthy controls. Furthermore, healthy individuals older than 65 years old had increased serum CA50 levels compared with that of healthy controls. Taken together, these data suggest that serum CA50 is likely to be a system malfunction biomarker, and the serum CA50 levels could be used as diagnostic biomarkers not only for cancers but also for other nonneoplasm diseases., (© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lentinula edodes has been used to improve general health for thousands of years in Asia. It is the second largest cultivated and the most popular edible mushroom in the world known as "Xianggu" in China and "Shiitake" in Japan. Lentinan is a polysaccharide extracted from Lentinula edodes. β-Glucan is the major bioactive component in lentinan with immunostimulatory effect. The antitumor property of lentinan was reported in 1960s. Biochemical studies indicate that immunocytes can be activated by lentinan through multiple signaling pathways, such as TLR4/Dectin1-MAPK and Syk-PKC-NFκB pathways. Though it has been approved as an adjuvant therapeutic drug both in China and Japan for treating cancers since 1980s, a systematic review of clinical studies of lentinan has not been conducted elaborately. In this review, over 9474 reported lentinan-associated cancer treatment cases are evaluated and summarized from 135 independent studies in China during the past 12 years (2004-2016) based on CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), VIP (Chongqing VIP Chinese Scientific Journals Database) and Wanfang database. The 9474 reported lentinan-associated cancer treatment cases include lung cancer (3469 cases), gastric cancer (3039 cases), colorectal cancer (1646 cases), ovarian cancer (183 cases), cervical cancer (130 cases), Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (70 cases), pancreatic cancer (15 cases), cardiac cancer (15 cases), nasopharyngeal cancer (14 cases), duodenal cancer (1 case) and 110 cancer cases with no classifying patient information. Overall clinical data show solid effect of lentinan on improving the quality of life and on promoting the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiation therapy during cancer treatment., (© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Mounting evidence from recent studies has revealed the association of lncRNA PANDAR expression levels with outcomes in several types of cancer. However, inconsistent results have also been reported, which rationalized a meta-analysis of available data to analyze the prognostic value of lncRNA PANDAR., Methods: From inception to May 26, 2018, electronic literature databases including PubMed (medline), the Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Springer, ISI Web of Knowledge, Wiley Online library, BioMed Central, and Embase were searched for literature collections. The hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were utilized to calculate pooled effect size., Results: A total of 1,132 cancer patients were enrolled in the present meta-analysis to assess the prognostic value of PANDAR in various carcinomas. Promoted PANDAR expression was demonstrated to significantly predict unfavorable OS (HR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.12 - 2.80, p = 0.014) by the random effects model. According to the stratified analyses and meta-regression results, the heterogeneity of present analysis may be attributed to the differences of cancer resources. Furthermore, over-expression of PANDAR was revealed to be effectively predictive of cancer progression (HR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.41 - 2.05, p < 0.00001) and LNM (HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.39 - 2.10, p < 0.00001)., Conclusions: The present findings indicate that increased PANDAR is associated with poor OS in patients with general carcinomas and may serve as a useful clinical prognostic biomarker.

Most of clinically used cancer biomarkers are either specific glycan structures or glycoproteins. Although the high serum levels of the cancer biomarkers are also present in certain patients suffering noncancer diseases, systematic measurement and comparison of the serum levels of all cancer biomarkers among cancer and noncancer patients have not been reported. In this study, the serum levels of 17 glucose and glycan-related biomarkers including 10 cancer biomarkers SCCA, CA724, CA50, CA242, CA125, CA199, CA153, AFP, CEA, and PSA were retrospectively investigated based on clinical laboratory data in two medical centers during the past 6 years (2012-2018). The data included a total of 1,477,309 clinical lab test results of 17 biomarkers from healthy controls and patients suffering 64 different types of cancer and noncancer diseases. We found that the median serum levels of CA724, CEA, CA153, SCCA, and CA125 were highest not in cancer patients but in patients suffering gout, lung fibrosis, nephrotic syndrome, uremia, and cirrhosis, respectively. Consistently, the classical ovarian cancer biomarker CA125 had better overall sensitivity and specificity as biomarker for cirrhosis (67% and 92%, respectively) than that for ovarian cancer (41% and 97%, respectively). Furthermore, the information shown as heatmap or waterfall built on the -Log 10 p values of the 17 glycan-related biomarkers in different clinically defined diseases suggested that all glycan-related biomarkers had cancer-, aging-, and disease-relevant characteristics and cancers were systems disease. The detailed presentation of the data for each of the 17 biomarkers will be deliberated in chapters 6-23 in this book series., (© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Tim-3 is considered as one of the T-cell immunoglobulin mucin (TIM) gene family members, which contributes to the activating or silencing genes, but the mechanism of Tim-3 function in mediating SLE or tumor metastasis has not been well explored. Here, we reported Tim-3 was high expressed in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with SLE, detected by RT-PCR, significantly, GATA-3 mRNA expression also increased in patients with SLE, compared with the healthy control groups. The bioinformatics used to detect the TCGA database indicated the abnormal expression of Tim-3 was involved in several different cancer types. Further, the higher expression of Tim-3 in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma TCGA database indicated it was a marker for worse 5-year survival. The high expression of Tim-3 in different ccRCC cell lines was detected in both RNA level and protein level. Further, two kinds of relative Tim-3 siRNAs in ccRCC cell lines inhibit cell migration and invasion in vitro, However, the inhibition could be partially rescued by the additional GATA3 knockdown. Further, the down regulation in the RNA and protein levels of GATA3, and the negative correlation between Tim-3 and GATA3 implied that suppression of downstream GATA3 was an important mechanism by which Tim-3 triggered metastasis in ccRCC cell lines. Together, our experiments reveal the role for Tim-3 in facilitating SLE or invasive potential of ccRCC cells by either activating GATA3 or inhibiting GATA3, suggesting that Tim-3 might be a potential therapeutic target for treating SLE or clear cell renal cell carcinoma.