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Abstract Background Mortality is high in patients with esophageal carcinoma as tumors are rarely detected before the disease has progressed to an advanced stage. Here, we sought to isolate cell-free DNA released into the plasma of patients with esophageal carcinoma, to analyze copy number variations of marker genes in the search for early detection of tumor progression. Methods Plasma of 41 patients with esophageal carcinoma was prospectively collected before tumor resection and chemotherapy. Our dataset resulted heterogeneous for clinical data, resembling the characteristics of the tumor. DNA from the plasma was extracted to analyze copy number variations of the erbB2 gene using real-time PCR assays. Results The real-time PCR assays for erbB2 gene showed significant (P = 0.001) copy number variations in the plasma of patients with esophageal carcinoma, as compared to healthy controls with high sensitivity (80%) and specificity (95%). These variations in erbB2 were negatively correlated to the progression free survival of these patients (P = 0.03), and revealed a further risk category stratification of patients with low VEGF expression levels. Conclusion The copy number variation of erbB2 gene from plasma can be used as prognostic marker for early detection of patients at risk of worse clinical outcome in esophageal cancer.

Background: Significant and sustained excess weight loss (EWL) appears to reduce the risk of obesity-related comorbidities (insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and inflammation), but this has been primarily shown in adult diabetic obese patients. We evaluated whether the EWL obtained 3 years after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) improves the metabolic phenotype in nondiabetic morbidly obese (NDMO) individuals from south Italy. Methods: Serum and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) samples from 20 obese individuals (median BMI = 41.5 kg/m) before (T0) and after LAGB (T1) and from 10 controls (median BMI = 22.8 kg/m) were taken. Serum leptin, adiponectin, C reactive protein (CRP), and main analyte levels were evaluated by routine methods or immunoassay. In SAT, adipocyte size was measured by hematoxylin/eosin staining, cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68) macrophage infiltration marker by immunohistochemistry, and adiponectin, adiponectin receptors 1 and 2, and interleukin 6 (IL6) messenger RNAs by qRT-PCR. Results: The average EWL was 66.7 %, and CRP, triglycerides, hepatic markers, leptin levels, homeostasis model assessment, and the leptin/adiponectin ratio were lower ( p < 0.05) at T1 than at T0. The expression of small adipocytes and adiponectin was increased ( p < 0.05), and inflammation markers (CD68 and IL6) decreased ( p < 0.05) at T1 vs. T0. At linear regression multivariate analysis, over 90 % ( R = 0.905) of EWL (dependent variable) was explained by CD68, adiponectinemia, triglyceridemia, CRP, and total protein levels. Conclusions: The EWL obtained 3 years after LAGB resulted in an improvement of lipid metabolism and a reduction of inflammation in NDMO patients, thereby decreasing the risk of obesity-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: HtrA1, a member of the High Temperature Requirement Factor A family of oxidative stress-response proteases seems to play a role as a tumor suppressor, being down-regulated in a series of human cancers during their progression. Particularly, low HtrA1 mRNA levels have been observed in breast cancer patients with more aggressive clinical features. These have been shown to relate to a longer disease free and overall survival, with more pronounced effects in axillary nodes positive patients., Subjects and Methods: We have analyzed for immunohistochemical HtrA1 expression a series of 66 sentinel node positive breast cancers through Tissue Micro Array technology., Results: HtrA1 was absent to low in 29 cases, medium in 19 cases and high in 18 cases. Our data revealed a positive significant relation between HtrA1 expression level and estrogen (p=0,002) and progestinic receptor expression (p=0.003) and a negative correlation with histological grading (p=0.028), proliferation index (p=0.05), common BC histotypes (p=0.040), luminal A and B subtypes (p=0.001), metastasis development (p<0.0001) and local relapse (p<0.0001). Finally, no correlation was recorded between HtrA1 expression level and breast cancer histology type and metastasis to non sentinel nodes. Interestingly HtrA1 loss in SLN metastasis was able to predict positive non sentinel nodes (p=0.001)., Conclusions: Low HtrA1 expression is significantly related to breast cancer poor prognosis parameters, and HtrA1 loss in sentinel nodes is related to metastasis of non sentinel nodes, offering a further marker useful for BC prognostic stratification.

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a transmembrane protein affecting pH regulation, cell migration/invasion, and survival in hypoxic tumors. Although the pathways related to CA IX have begun to emerge, molecular partners mediating its functions remain largely unknown. Here we characterize the CA IX interactome in hypoxic HEK-293 cells. Most of the identified CA IX-binding partners contain the HEAT/ARM repeat domain and belong to the nuclear transport machinery. We show that the interaction with two of these proteins, namely XPO1 exportin and TNPO1 importin, occurs via the C-terminal region of CA IX and increases with protein phosphorylation. We also demonstrate that nuclear CA IX is enriched in hypoxic cells and is present in renal cell carcinoma tissues. These data place CA IX among the cell-surface signal transducers undergoing nuclear translocation. Accordingly, CA IX interactome involves also CAND1, which participates in both gene transcription and assembly of SCF ubiquitin ligase complexes. It is noteworthy that down-regulation of CAND1 leads to decreased CA IX protein levels apparently via affecting its stability. Our findings provide the first evidence that CA IX interacts with proteins involved in nuclear/cytoplasmic transport, gene transcription, and protein stability, and suggest the existence of nuclear CA IX protein subpopulations with a potential intracellular function, distinct from the crucial CA IX role at the cell surface.