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PurposeMesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) is a proto-oncogene that encodes a heterodimeric transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase for the hepatocyte growth factor. Aberrant MET signaling has been described in several solid tumors—especially non-small cell lung cancer— and is associated with tumor progression and adverse prognosis. As MET is a potential therapeutic target, information regarding its prevalence and clinicopathological relevance is crucial.Materials and MethodsWe investigated MET expression and gene amplification in 113 gallbladder cancers using tissue microarray. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate MET overexpression, and silver/fluorescence in situ hybridization (ISH) was used to assess gene copy number.ResultsMET overexpression was found in 37 cases of gallbladder carcinoma (39.8%), and gene amplification was present in 17 cases (18.3%). MET protein expression did not correlate with MET amplification. MET amplification was significantly associated with aggressive clinicopathological features, including high histological grade, advanced pT category, lymph node metastasis, and advanced American Joint Committee on Cancer stage. There was no significant correlation between any clinicopathological factors and MET overexpression. No difference in survival was found with respect to MET overexpression and amplification status.ConclusionOur data suggested that MET might be a potential therapeutic target for targeted therapy in gallbladder cancer, because MET amplification was found in a subset of tumors associated with adverse prognostic factors. Detection of MET amplification by ISH might be a useful predictive biomarker test for anti-MET therapy.

Our objective was to investigate whether inflammatory microenvironment induced by Trichomonas vaginalis infection can stimulate proliferation of prostate cancer (PCa) cells in vitro and in vivo mouse experiments. The production of CXCL1 and CCL2 increased when cells of the mouse PCa cells (TRAMP-C2 cell line) were infected with live T. vaginalis. T. vaginalis-conditioned medium (TCM) prepared from co-culture of PCa cells and T. vaginalis increased PCa cells migration, proliferation and invasion. The cytokine receptors (CXCR2, CCR2, gp130) were expressed higher on the PCa cells treated with TCM. Pretreatment of PCa cells with antibodies to these cytokine receptors significantly reduced the proliferation, mobility and invasiveness of PCa cells, indicating that TCM has its effect through cytokine-cytokine receptor signaling. In C57BL/6 mice, the prostates injected with T. vaginalis mixed PCa cells were larger than those injected with PCa cells alone after 4 weeks. Expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers and cyclin D1 in the prostate tissue injected with T. vaginalis mixed PCa cells increased than those of PCa cells alone. Collectively, it was suggested that inflammatory reactions by T. vaginalis-stimulated PCa cells increase the proliferation and invasion of PCa cells through cytokine-cytokine receptor signaling pathways.

Primary pulmonary meningioma is a rare disease, and chordoid meningioma is an uncommon variant of meningioma in the central nervous system (CNS) with a high recurrence rate. We report a case of primary pulmonary chordoid meningioma that presented as a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN). The SPN was resected by thoracoscopic wedge resection and was revealed to have characteristics of chordoid meningioma. After confirming the absence of a meningioma in the CNS by brain imaging, the nodule was diagnosed as a primary pulmonary chordoid meningioma. The patient remained disease-free after 26 months postoperatively. To our knowledge, this is the third case of primary pulmonary chordoid meningioma to be reported.

Background BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) mutations are frequently reported in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC); however, very few studies have evaluated the role of these mutations in other renal cell carcinoma (RCC) subtypes. Therefore, we analyzed BAP1 protein expression using immunohistochemistry in several RCC subtypes and assessed its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics of patients. Methods BAP1 expression was immunohistochemically evaluated in tissue microarray blocks constructed from 371 samples of RCC collected from two medical institutions. BAP1 expression was evaluated based on the extent of nuclear staining in tumor cells, and no expression or expression in < 10% of tumor cells was defined as negative. Results Loss of BAP1 expression was observed in ccRCC (56/300, 18.7%), chromophobe RCC (6/26, 23.1%), and clear cell papillary RCC (1/4, 25%), while we failed to detect BAP1 expression loss in papillary RCC, acquired cystic disease-associated RCC, or collecting duct carcinoma. In ccRCC, loss of BAP1 expression was significantly associated with high World Health Organization (WHO)/International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade (p = .002); however, no significant correlation was observed between loss of BAP1 expression and survival in ccRCC. Loss of BAP1 expression showed no association with prognostic factors in chromophobe RCC. Conclusions Loss of BAP1 nuclear expression was observed in both ccRCC and chromophobe RCC. In addition, BAP1 expression loss was associated with poor prognostic factors such as high WHO/ISUP grade in ccRCC.

Wnt7a is a known tumor suppressor gene in non-small cell lung cancer that regulates normal cellular proliferation and differentiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic significance of Wnt7a expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Wnt7a expression was immunohistochemically examined in 46 normal colorectal tissues, 47 tubular adenomas, 393 adenocarcinomas, and 93 lymph node metastases. Wnt7a was expressed in the cytoplasm. Loss of Wnt7a expression was more frequent in adenocarcinoma and lymph node metastasis compared to that in normal and tubular adenoma (P < 0.001). Wnt7a expression was inversely correlated with tumor size (P = 0.026), gross type (P = 0.008), differentiation (P = 0.009), vascular invasion (P = 0.038), tumor deposit (P = 0.007), tumor invasion (T category) (P = 0.003), lymph node metastasis (N category) (P < 0.001), and AJCC stage (P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between loss of Wnt7a expression and overall survival and disease-free survival (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively) on univariable analysis. On multivariable analysis, loss of Wnt7a expression was an independent prognostic factor for both overall and disease-free survival (P = 0.002 and P = 0.047, respectively). Loss of Wnt7a expression may contribute to the carcinogenesis and tumor progression of colorectal adenocarcinoma and may be a new prognostic marker of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

In this study influence of spray distance on the properties of WC-12Co coatings deposited by HVOF was investigated. WC-12Co coating was sprayed at spray distance of 300, 385 and 450 mm. From microstructure observation, it is confirmed that the porosity of coatings increases with increasing the spray distance. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that the coatings consist of pure WC, W, and Co as well as W2C and Co6W6C phases. The increase of the spray distance accelerated the decarburization of coatings. From micro hardness tests, it was found that the hardness and the fracture toughness decreased with increasing spray distance. These mechanical properties would be related with not only porosity but also the degree of decarburization.

WC based alloy coatings included different mass percent of Co and Cr have been synthesized on high carbon steel by using a facile high velocity oxy-fuel spray method. The mechanical nature of the coating films has been investigated by micro vickers hardness and fracture toughness. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and EDX analyses indicate that the three different samples (WC-10Co-4Cr, WC-17Co, and WC-12Co) consist of pure WC, W, Cr, and Co constituents as well as W2C and Co6W6C phases. The SEM and image analysis results show that WC-10Co-4Cr condition has higher porosity than those of WC-17Co, and WC-12Co coatings. WC-17Co coating showed the highest value in the hardness and fracture toughness test among three different samples. The obtained results revealed that the mechanical properties of WC based alloy coatings synthesized by a facile high velocity oxy-fuel spray method is very sensitive to Co content.

The surface activated bonding (SAB) method generally has the advantage of high bonding strength, low contact resistance, and high microstructural stability at room temperature. In this study, Ti-Al laminates were produced by surface activated bonding with aluminum and titanium foils. Heat treatment was conducted at the temperature range from 200 to 550 °C in vacuum. The bonding strength Ti-Al laminates was measured by a peel test, and the interfacial characteristics were investigated microstructural observation. The results showed that the bonding strength was the highest with heat treatment at 400 °C, microstructure observation revealed that the bonding strength of the Ti-Al laminate was influenced by the interfacial characteristics.

Background Smad4 and PTEN are prognostic indicators for various tumor types. Smad4 regulates tumor suppression, whereas PTEN inhibits cell proliferation. We analyzed and compared the performance of Smad4 and PTEN for predicting the prognosis of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma. Methods Combined expression patterns based on Smad4+/– and PTEN+/– status were evaluated by immunostaining using a tissue microarray of colorectal adenocarcinoma. The relationships between the protein expression and clinicopathological variables were analyzed. Results Smad4–/PTEN– status was most frequently observed in metastatic adenocarcinoma, followed by primary adenocarcinoma and tubular adenoma (p

Background Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is associated with remodelling of the extracellular matrix and invasion in various cancers. Identifying proteins connected to high MMP-9 expression is important in explaining its mechanisms. Our study aims to shed light on genes associated with high MMP-9 expression and to discuss their clinical impact in breast cancer. Methods We evaluated 173 breast cancer cases from the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, with 1964 cases from the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium database serving as a validation cohort. We investigated relationships between MMP-9 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. We then used gene set enrichment analyses to detect the association of genes with MMP-9 overexpression, and performed survival analyses to determine the significance of the gene in three independent cohorts. Results High MMP-9 expression correlated with poor prognosis in univariate and multivariate analyses. Using gene set enrichment analysis, we found that tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 12A (TNFRSF12A) was linked to high MMP-9 expression. In the survival analysis of three published data sets (METABRIC, GSE1456, GSE20685), high TNFRSF12A was relevant to a poor survival rate. Conclusions High levels of TNFRSF12A associated with MMP-9 overexpression may be important to explain the progression of breast cancer, and survival could be improved using therapy targeting TNFRSF12A.

This study was designed to measure the pixel-by-pixel flow velocity and shear stress from phase-contrast MR images. An optimized method was suggested and the use of the method was confirmed. A self-developed, straight steady flow model system was scanned by MRI with a velocity-encoded phase-contrast sequence. In-house developed software was used for the pixel-by-pixel flow velocity and shear stress measurements and the measurements were compared with physically measured mean velocity and shear stress. A comparison between the use of the in-house velocimetry software and a commercial velocimetry system was also performed. Curved steady flow models were scanned by phase-contrast MRI. Subsequently, velocity and shear stress were measured to confirm the shifted peak flow velocity and shear stress toward the outer side of the lumen. Peak velocity and shear stress were calculated for both the inner and outer half of the lumen and were statistically compared. The mean velocity measured with the use of in-house software had a significant correlation with the physical measurements of mean velocity; in addition, the measurement was more precise compared to the commercial system (R(2) = 0.85 vs. 0.75, respectively). The calculated mean shear stress had a significant correlation with the physical measurements of mean shear stress (R(2) = 0.95). The curved flow model showed a significantly shifted peak velocity and shear stress zones toward the outside of the flow (P0.0001). The technique to measure pixel-by-pixel velocity and shear stress of steady flow from velocity-encoded phase-contrast MRI was optimized. This technique had a good correlation with physical measurements and was superior to a commercially available system.