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The purpose of the present study was to study the characteristics of epidemic growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene distribution in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to detect the mutation rate of EGFR gene by Sanger sequencing and amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR. Paraffin-embedded sections of NSCLC tissues from 399 NSCLC patients diagnosed in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University were collected, 103 of them were detected for exons 18-21 mutation of EGFR by Sanger sequencing method, 296 cases were detected for exons 18-21 mutation by ARMS-PCR method. DNA extraction of both groups was performed with Qiagen QLAamp DNA FFPE Tissue KIT. Comparisons of detection rates between the two methods were conducted by row X list chi-square test. The total mutation rate of EGFR gene detected by Sanger sequencing was 21.4%, exons 18-21 and combined mutation rates were 1.0%, 9.7%, 1.0%, 7.8% and 2.0%, respectively. And the proportions were 4.7%, 45.2%, 4.7%, 36.3% and 9.4% respectively. The total mutation rate detected by ARMS-PCR was 51.4%, exons 18-21 and combined mutation rates were 2.7%, 27%, 1.7%, 18.2% and 1.7%, respectively. The proportions were 5.3%, 52.6%, 3.3%, 35.5% and 3.3% respectively. Further analysis of mutation rate showed that there was significant difference between the two methods in detecting total mutation of EGFR gene (P

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) was reported to play an important role in cancer development; however, the relationship between PP2A and cervical cancer development has yet to be fully understood. The present study aimed to explore the role of PP2A in the development of cervical cancer. Serum levels of PP2A were detected by ELISA in 23 patients with cervical cancer and 30 patients with benign cervical lesions. Furthermore, the PP2A activities and the mRNA and protein levels of PP2A were measured in cervical cancer (n=8) and chronic cervicitis (n=10) tissues. The results showed that the serum levels of PP2A were significantly reduced in patients with cervical cancer. Further studies showed that not only the activities of PP2A but also the mRNA and protein levels of PP2A were significantly decreased in cervical cancer tissues. Wound healing and Transwell assays demonstrated that pharmacological and genetic upregulation of PP2A could inhibit the migration of HeLa cells, but the downregulation of PP2A promoted cellular migration. The activation of PP2A also inhibited the remodeling of actin and the activity of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including p-JNK, p-p38 and p-ERK. Meanwhile, the activation of PP2A was found to downregulate MMP-9 levels, which further inhibited the migration and invasion of HeLa cells. In conclusion, our data suggest that the activity and expression of PP2A are significantly reduced in cervical cancer tissues, and the activation of PP2A may inhibit the migration of cervical cancer cells by inhibiting the phosphorylation of p-JNK, p-p38 and the p-ERK/MAPK signaling pathway as well as by downregulating MMP-9, implying that PP2A plays an important role in cervical cancer development.

We aimed to determine the effect of YY1 expression on the expression profile of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in trophoblasts, and we studied the involvement of certain lncRNAs and YY1 in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage (RM). RT2 lncRNA PCR arrays revealed that YY1 overexpression in trophoblasts significantly promoted the expression of the HOX transcript antisense RNA HOTAIR and demonstrated that HOTAIR expression was significantly lower in the RM trophoblasts than in control trophoblasts. Ectopic HOTAIR overexpression and knockdown experiments revealed that it was a novel target of YY1. Bioinformatics analysis identified two YY1-binding sites in the HOTAIR promoter region, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis verified that YY1 binds directly to its promoter region. Interestingly, HOTAIR overexpression enhanced trophoblast invasion in an ex vivo explant culture model, while its knockdown repressed these effects. Furthermore, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) label-free quantitative proteomics screening revealed that HOTAIR overexpression activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) signaling in trophoblasts. In an ex vivo explant culture model, HOTAIR overexpression effectively elevated matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) expression via the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, enhancing trophoblast migration and invasion. These findings reveal a new regulatory pathway in which YY1 activates PI3K-AKT signaling via HOTAIR, promoting MMP2 expression, suggesting that HOTAIR is a potential therapeutic target for RM.

Several reports on the association between the BRCC5 gene polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk have been published recently, but the estimates of the risk vary widely. We thus performed a meta-analysis in an effort to determine the association. To identify the eligible studies, we searched the PubMed, Embase, and CNKI databases, and reviewed all original studies retrieved as well as their citations. The risk of ovarian cancer was estimated using odds ratio (OR) and its 95 % confidence interval (CI). Meta-analysis of seven comparisons revealed an obvious rise in the risk of ovarian cancer under the CC vs. GG contrast model (OR = 1.52, 95 % CI = 1.07–2.16, P OR = 0.020). A similar increase was also indicated in the CC vs. GC + GG model (OR = 2.10, 95 % CI = 1.51–2.93, P OR

Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be involved in multiple biological pathways that can influence tumor progression and metastasis and they can serve as prognostic biomarkers in many cancers. The present study examined the prognostic significance of miR-215 in cervical cancer. The paraffin-embedded paired cervical scrape samples and tumor tissue samples from 302 patients with stage II cervical cancer were detected for the expression of miR-215 by using qRT-PCR. A miR-215-based classifier was established by using the Cox regression model. The prognostic and predictive accuracy of this classifier was determined in both the internal testing group of 138 patients, and the external independent group of 280 patients. Moreover, cervical cancer HeLa cells overexpressing miR-215 (HeLa-miR-215) were constructed and subcutaneously injected into the nude mice to examine the effect of miR-215 on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. The results showed that the expression level of miR-215 was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than in paired normal tissues (P

To determine the frequencies and the characteristics of Y chromosome microdeletions (pl) in infertile men from central China to perform appropriate therapeutic choices by updated multiplex-PCR.In this study, we established a novel universal primer-multiplex-PCR (U-M-PCR) method to overcome the disadvantages of traditional multiplex PCR (M-PCR). We chose 15 sequence-tagged sites (STS) for detection of Y chromosome microdeletions. 540 infertile male patients and 100 healthy male controls were selected in the study.Of the 540 male infertility patients, 48 Y-chromosome microdeletions were detected, with a total deletion rate of 8.9 %. Of these deletions, the rate of AZFa deletions (sY84) was 0.5 % (3/540), the rate of AZFb deletions (sY143) was 0.7 % (4/540) and the rate of AZFc deletions (sY242, sY254 and sY255) was 7.6 % (41/540). Compared with AZF deletion rates by M-PCR, we found U-M-PCR could detect AZFc deletion more specifically (1.0 %7.6 %). No Y-chromosome microdeletions were detected in the 100 males with normal semen (the control group).U-M-PCR method was more specific to detect AZFc microdeletions. It is necessary to use the U-M-PCR method to offer genetic screening and counseling to infertile men prior to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

Objective. To evaluate the influence of cold ischemia time on spermatogenesis in a rabbit model of testicular ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Material and Methods. The testicular I/R model was established in 24 male white rabbits. The left testes were preserved using HC-A solution at 0°C to 4°C. Cold ischemia time was 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours. The right testes without vascular occlusion were used as autologous controls. Twenty-four hours after reperfusion, the animals were sacrificed, and samples were obtained at bilateral orchiectomy. Another 8 normal testes were used as normal controls. Testicular tissue Johnsen score, malondialdehyde concentration, and apoptosis index were used to evaluate spermatogenesis. Results. The Johnsen score decreased and the apoptosis index increased with the duration of cold ischemia time in the I/R groups. The malondialdehyde concentration in the I/R groups was significantly higher than the sham and normal groups, and was highest at 4 hours of cold ischemia time. Conclusion. Testicular I/R injury is highly related to cold ischemia time. In rabbit models, testis transplantation is best performed within 4 hours of cold ischemia with traditional hypothermic protection.