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Objective: To explore the effects of kinesin-13 family member 2C (KIF2C) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell proliferation, invasion and migration as well as human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) angiogenesis to provide potential targets for HCC treatment. Methods: Database data were used to analyze the expression of KIF2C mRNA and protein in HCC tissues and its correlation with the expression of angiogenesis-associated factors (VEGFR2 and HIF-1α). Human normal hepatocytes QSG-7701, HUVEC, and HCC cells Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 were routinely cultured, and sh-NC and sh KIF2C were transfected into Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 cells with Lipofectamine 3000 transfection reagent. qPCR was performed to detect the expression of KIF2C mRNA in QSG-7701, Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 cells of each group, and WB was performed to detect the expression of KIF2C protein in cells of each group, and the effect of KIF2C knockdown on the clone formation of Huh3B2.1-7 and Huh-7 cells was examined in the clonogenic assay. Tubulogenesis assay to detect the effect of conditioned cultures of knockdown KIF2C-expressing Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 cells on the angiogenic capacity of HUVEC cells. Results: Database analysis showed that KIF2C mRNA and protein were highly expressed in HCC tissues (both P<0.01). In addition, database analysis suggested that KIF2C mRNA may also be highly expressed in HCC cells, and the results of KIF2C mRNA and protein expression detected by qPCR and WB showed that its mRNA and protein were highly expressed in HCC cells (both P<0.01), consistent with the database data analysis. Database data analysis also showed that KIF2C was positively correlated with the expression levels of VEGFR2 and HIF-1α in HCC tissues (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Stable low KIF2C-expressing Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 cells were successfully constructed (both P<0.01), and knockdown of KIF2C expression significantly inhibited the proliferative (all P<0.01), invasive and migratory (all P<0.01) capacities of Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 cells, and the conditioned culture medium of HCC cells with knockdown of KIF2C expression could significantly inhibit the angiogenic capacity of HUVEC cells in vitro (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: KIF2C promotes the ability of Huh-7 and Hep3B2.1-7 cells to proliferate, invade and migrate as well as HUVEC angiogenesis, suggesting that KIF2C may be a potential target for the treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long‐term infection of schistosomiasis will seriously affect the liver health of patients. The serum of 334 chronic Schistosoma japonicum patients and 149 healthy volunteers was collected. Compared with heathy people, the level of C4 (complement 4) was increased, and the level of C3 (complement 3) was in an obvious skewed distribution. ELISA was performed to detect the serum cytokines, the results showed that the levels of IFN‐γ (interferon‐γ), IL (interleukin)‐2 and TNF‐α (tumour necrosis factor‐α) were reduced, while the levels of Th2 cytokines (IL‐4, IL‐6 and IL‐10) were increased. In the serum of patients with high C3, the secretion of HA (hyaluronic acid), LN (laminin), IV‐C (type IV collagen) and PCIII (type III procollagen) were increased, the activation of hepatic stellate cells was promoted. Exogenous human recombinant C3 made mice liver structure of the mice damaged and collagen deposition. IFN‐γ and IFN‐γ/IL‐4 were decreased, while HA, LN, PCIII and IV‐C were increased, and the expressions of α‐SMA and TGF‐β1 in liver tissues were up‐regulated. However, the addition of IFN‐γ partially reversed the effect of C3 on promoting fibrosis. High level of C3 is associated with Th2 immune response and liver fibrosis in patients with schistosomiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interval pairwise comparison matrices are widely accepted for practical decision making problems when the decision maker is unable to provide an exact judgment on the alternatives. However, as measuring the preference consistencies in pairwise comparison decision making problems is important, this paper proposes a new interval pairwise comparison matrix consistency measure, the average geometric consistency index, that assumes that the preference in a given interval follows the lognormal distribution. This geometric consistency measure accounts for the interval boundaries and uncertainties. As it is often difficult to rationally rank alternatives when interval pairwise comparison matrices are highly uncertain and/or inconsistent, we propose an optimization model to reduce the inconsistencies of these matrices while minimizing information loss and controlling uncertainties. An interval priority vector is derived to rank the alternatives. The feasibility and efficiency of the models are demonstrated using numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]