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The article discusses research being done on the effects of fruit-vegetable diet on breast fluid. The method of the study was to test premenopausal women whose family has a history of breast cancer. They were given a four diet schemes for one year in a two by two factorial design study. After which, the subjects were asked to collect breast nipple fluid. It was found that the total carotenoid levels in nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) can be increased with a high fruit-vegetable diet.

A type of novel material with a high hydrogen storage capacity was prepared by supporting PdNi18 alloy nanoparticles, which were synthesized by using a new colloid method, on the surface of pretreated multiwal led carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The average PdNi18 alloy particle sizes calculated from XRD patterns were ca. 3 nm, and the high dispersion of these particles on MWCNTs was confirmed by TEM image. Hydrogen storage performance of the composite was investigated under moderate pressure (0.1-1.5 MPa) at room temperature, and a maximum storage capacity of ca. 2.3 wt% was achieved under 1.5 MPa at room temperature, which was much higher than that reported previously under the same conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of epithelial cells in breast nipple aspirate fluid (NAF), irrespective of abnormality, has been associated with increased risk of breast cancer in previous studies. We sought to investigate whether the presence of epithelial cells in NAF is associated with nutritional parameters among 71 healthy premenopausal women who participated in the Nutrition and Breast Health Study and provided any samples of NAF during the study. Total of 142 samples which were obtained over a 1-year period of intervention with low-fat and/or high vegetable-fruit diets were available for cytological evaluation. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the detection of epithelial cells in NAF were estimated by fitting generalized estimating equations models by quartile level of nutritional parameters. The probability of yielding epithelial cell-positive NAF progressively increased with increasing total fat intake (p=0.001). The OR for the highest quartile level of fat intake, compared with lowest, was 7.22 (95% CI 1.14–45.82). On the other hand, there were a marginally significant inverse association with total fiber intake as well as an weak inverse association with the number of servings of fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, the probability of detecting epithelial cells in NAF decreased with increasing plasma levels of lutein and α-carotene (p-values for linear trend; 0.001 and 0.049, respectively). The ORs for the highest versus lowest quartile levels are 0.17 (95% CI 0.04–0.65) and 0.19 (95% CI 0.04–0.91), respectively. These results are generally in support of roles of nutritional factors in breast cancer and thus further studies are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aneuploidy is a key process in tumorigenesis. Dysfunction of the mitotic spindle checkpoint proteins has been implicated as a cause of aneuploidy in cells. We have previously reported that FAT10, a member of the ubiquitin-like modifier family of proteins, is overexpressed in several gastrointestinal and gynecological cancers. Here we show that FAT10 interacts with MAD2, a spindle checkpoint protein, during mitosis. Notably, we show that localization of MAD2 at the kinetochore during the prometaphase stage of the cell cycle was greatly reduced in FAT10-overexpressing cells. Furthermore, compared with parental HCT116 cells, fewer mitotic cells were observed after double thymidine-synchronized FAT10-overexpressing cells were released into nocodazole for more than 4 h. Nonetheless, when these double thymidine-treated cells were released into media, a similar number of G1 parental and FAT10-overexpressing HCT116 cells was observed throughout the 10-h time course. Additionally, more nocodazole-treated FAT10-overexpressing cells escape mitotic controls and are multinucleate compared with parental cells. Significantly, we observed a higher degree of variability in chromosome number in cells overexpressing FAT10. Hence, our data suggest that high levels of FAT10 protein in cells lead to increased mitotic nondisjunction and chromosome instability, and this effect is mediated by an abbreviated mitotic phase and the reduction in the kinetochore localization of MAD2 during the prometaphase stage of the cell cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various reports have implicated the virally encoded HBx protein as a cofactor in hepatocarcinogenesis. However, direct evidence of the role of HBx as a promoter of oncogenesis in response to an initiating factor such as DNA damage remains inadequate. Here, we report the effects of HBx in HepG2 cells exposed to UV light-induced DNA damage. HBx expression was found not to affect the morphology, viability, and cell cycle/apoptotic profiles or DNA repair machinery of untreated cells. Nonetheless, upon UV treatment, HBx protein levels increased concomitant3y with p53 levels. Both HBx and p53 proteins were found to interact and colocalize primarily in the nucleus. The binding of HBx to p53 modulated (but did not inhibit) the transcriptional activation function of p53. Notably, HBx-expressing cells exhibited increased sensitivity to UV damage, resulting in greater G2/M arrest and apoptosis of these cells. Additionally, these cells displayed a reduced DNA repair capacity in response to UV damage. In conclusion, this work suggests that DNA damage may be an initiating factor in hepatocarcinogenesis and that HBx may act as the promoting factor by inhibiting DNA repair. In hepatitis B virus-infected hepatocytes, a chronic infection may present the opportunity for such a DNA-damaging event to occur, and accumulated errors caused by the inhibition of DNA repair by HBx may result in oncogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyr61 is a secreted, cysteine-rich, heparin-binding protein that mediates diverse functions including extracellular matrix formation, differentiation, cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, survival, as well as angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. In this study, we found that Cyr61 gene expression is significantly downregulated in the tumors of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. To elucidate its mechanism of gene regulation, we examined the promoter of Cyr61 which contains two long stretches of repeats, each comprising d(CA) dinucleotide repeats downstream of HNF3β- and ATF-binding sites. We hypothesized that the d(CA) repeats may play an important role in regulating Cyr61 promoter activity and performed promoter reporter assays to examine this. We found that a greater number of d(CA) repeats resulted in significantly lower promoter activity of the Cyr61 gene in the KB3-1 and HepG2 cell lines, but not in the MCF-7 cell line. In addition, the d(CA) repeats, but not other random sequences, were found to be important for Cyr61 promoter activity. We further demonstrate that the ATF- and HNF3β-binding sites upstream the d(CA) repeats positively and negatively modulate Cyr61 promoter activity, respectively. An examination of the d(CA) dinucleotide patterns in the Cyr61 promoter in HCC patients revealed that∼32% of these patients exhibited either loss of heterozygosity or somatic mosaicism in either the tumors, adjacent normal liver tissues or both.Oncogene (2005) 24, 3999–4008. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1208550 Published online 14 March 2005 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strength of loess that experienced cyclic freeze and thaw is of great significance for evaluating stability of slopes and foundations in loess regions. This paper takes the frequently encountered loess in the Northwestern China as the study object and carried out three kinds of laboratory tests including freeze-thaw test, direct shear test and SEM test to investigate the strength behaviors of loess after cyclic freeze and thaw, and the correlation with meso-level changes in soil structure. Results show that for loess specimens at four dry densities, the cohesion decreases with freeze-thaw cycles until a residual value is reached and thus an exponential equation is proposed. Besides, little change in the angle of internal friction was observed as freeze-thaw proceeds. This may depend on the varying of soil structure, based on which a clue can be found from the surface morphology and mesoscopic scanning of loess specimens. Clearly we observed significant changes in surface morphology of loess and it tends to aggravate at higher water contents or more cycles of freeze and thaw. Moreover, freeze-thaw cycling leads to obvious changes in the meso-structure of loess including lowering the particle aggregates and increasing both the proportion of fine particles and porosity area ratio. A damage variable dependent on the ratio of porosity area is introduced based on the continuum damage mechanics and its correlation with cohesion is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "FAT10 mediates the effect of TNF-α in inducing chromosomal instability," by Jianwei Ren and colleagues is presented.

Like other cancers, aberrant gene regulation features significantly in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) were recently found to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional/translational levels. The expression profiles of 157 miRNAs were examined in 19 HCC patients, and 19 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated miRNAs were found to be associated with HCC. Putative gene targets of these 22 miRNAs were predicted in silico and were significantly enriched in 34 biological pathways, most of which are frequently dysregulated during carcinogenesis. Further characterization of microRNA-224 (miR-224), the most significantly up-regulated miRNA in HCC patients, revealed that miR-224 increases apoptotic cell death as well as proliferation and targets apoptosis inhibitor-5 (API-5) to inhibit API-S transcript expression. Significantly, miR-224 expression was found to be inversely correlated with API-5 expression in HCC patients (p < 0.05). Hence, our findings define a true in vivo target of miR-224 and reaffirm the important role of miRNAs in the dysregulation of cellular processes that may ultimately lead to tumorigenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to quantify the effects of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as a therapeutic approach for heart failure., Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to collect pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) data on empagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and canagliflozin. Population pharmacokinetic models were developed separately for each drug, along with PK/PD turnover models for SGLT2 inhibitors, to describe the time course of NT-proBNP and simulate its changes over 52 weeks., Results: A total of 42 publications were included in this study. The results showed that baseline NT-proBNP levels, estimated glomerular filtration rate levels, and body weight significantly influenced the therapeutic effects of SGLT2 inhibitors. Among the studied drugs, canagliflozin demonstrated a greater reduction in NT-proBNP at comparable baseline levels., Conclusions: Baseline NT-proBNP concentration, renal function, and body weight were covariates affecting the efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitors in reducing NT-proBNP. Canagliflozin showed the most favorable treatment outcomes at similar baseline levels. This model-based meta-analysis approach may support further drug development for SGLT2 inhibitors., Competing Interests: Declarations. Funding: This work was supported by grant from CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS 2021-I2M-I003); National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding (2022-PUMCH-D-002); Beijing E-Town Cooperation & Development Foundation (YCXJ-JZ-2022-007). Conflict of interest: Authors Na Wang, Zhen Wu, Jianwei Ren, Xin Zheng, and Xiaohong Han declare no potential conflicts of interest that might be relevant to the contents of this manuscript. Availability of data and materials: The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request (contact via hanxiaohong@pumch.cn; zhengxin1@pumch.cn). Ethics approval and consent to participate: All analyses were based on previously published studies and therefore required no ethical approval or patient consent. Consent for publication: All the authors gave their consent to publish. Code availability: The code in the study is available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request (contact via hanxiaohong@pumch.cn; zhengxin1@pumch.cn). Author contributions: Xiaohong Han conceptualized and designed the study and drafted the protocol. Na Wang performed the study selection, quality assessment, data extraction, and statistical analyses. Na Wang, Xin Zheng, and Zhen Wu drafted the initial version of the manuscript, which was reviewed and edited by all authors., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)