Knockdown of Microtubule Associated Serine/threonine Kinase Like Expression Inhibits Gastric Cancer Cell Growth and Induces Apoptosis by Activation of ERK1/2 and Inactivation of NF-κB Signaling

Microtubule-associated serine/threonine kinase(MASTL)functions to regulate chromosome condensation and mitotic progression.Therefore,aberrant MASTL expression is commonly implicated in various human cancers.This study analyzed MASTL expression in gastric cancer vs.adjacent normal tissue for elucidating the association with clinicopathological data from patients.This work was then extended to investigate the effects of MASTL knockdown on tumor cells in vitro.The level of MASTL expression in gastric cancer tissue was assessed from the UALCAN,GEPIA,and Oncomine online databases.Lentivirus carrying MASTL or negative control shRNA was infected into gastric cancer cells.RT-qPCR,Western blotting,cell viability,cell counting,flow cytometric apoptosis and cell cycle,and colony formation assays were performed.MASTL was upregulated in gastric cancer tissue compared to the adjacent normal tissue,and the MASTL expression was associated with advanced tumor stage,Helicobacter pylori infection and histological subtypes.On the other hand,knockdown of MASTL expression significantly reduced tumor cell viability and proliferation,and arrested cell cycle at G2/M stage but promoted tumor cells to undergo apoptosis.At protein level,knockdown of MASTL expression enhanced levels of cleaved PARP1,cleaved caspase-3,Bax and p-ERK1/2 expression,but downregulated expression levels of BCL-2 and p-NF-κB-p65 protein in AGS and MGC-803 cells.MASTL overexpression in gastric cancer tissue may be associated with gastric cancer development and progression,whereas knockdown of MASTL expression reduces tumor cell proliferation and induces apoptosis.Further study will evaluate MASTL as a potential target of gastric cancer therapeutic strategy.

Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of Vitiligo at Different Ages: An Analysis of 571 Patients in Northwest China

Objective:This study was performed to elucidate the clinical end epidemiological characteristics of vitiligo patients of different ages in Northwest China.Methods:We retrospectively reviewed the case records and questionnaires of all patients diagnosed with vitiligo,who visited People's Hospital of Xinjieng Uygur Autonomous Region from May 2016 to December 2017.The clinical end epidemiological characteristics of these patients were enalyzed by Pearson's x2 test end Fishar's exact test.Results:In total,we collected data of 571 Vitiligo patients with age of 32.9 ± 16.4 years.The prevalence of segmental Vitiligo in children end adolescents < 19 years old (24/175[13.7%]) was higher than that in adults aged from 20-59 years (23/370[6.2%]) and advanced patients aged >60 years (1/26[3.8%]) (P=0.020).The prevalence of progressive vitiligo was higher in children end adolescents < 19 years (72/175[41.1%]) and adults from 20-59 years (141/370[38.1%) than in patients ≥60 years (5/26[19.2 %]) (P =0.063).Children and adolescents < 19 years with Vitiligo had a higher rate of a family history of vitiligo (20/175[11.4%]) then adults (20/370[5.4%]) and advanced age (1/26[3.8%]) (P=0.031).Conclusions:This study provides clinical evidence that vitiligo at different ages has different characteristics,mainly regarding en increased incidence of segmental vitiligo,a higher prevalence of atopic dermatitis end halo nevus,and a more common positive family history among children and adolescent patients.