AIM: To design, optimize and validate a rapid,internally controlled real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) test for herpes simplex virus(HSV) in the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.· M...AIM: To design, optimize and validate a rapid,internally controlled real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) test for herpes simplex virus(HSV) in the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.· METHODS: Tears alone or together with corneal epithelium scrapings from 30 patients(30 eyes)suspected of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis were tested for HSV DNA by RT-PCR. The samples were collected during the first visit and then on the subsequent 7, 14, 28, 42, and 56 d. The symptoms of the patients were scored before treatment to determine the correlation between HSV concentration in the corneal epithelium scrapings and clinical scores.·RESULTS: The positive rate(46.4%) in the corneal epithelium group before the therapy was significantly higher than that(13.3%) in the tears group(P =0.006).There were 13 positive HSV patients before the therapy,the concentration of HSV DNA in corneal epithelium scrapings group was significantly higher than that in the tears group(paired t-test, P =0.0397). Multilevel mixedeffects model analysis showed that the difference between the corneal epithelium scrapings group and the tears group was statistically significant(P =0.0049). The Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the HSV concentration in the corneal epithelium scrapings and clinical scores before the treatment(r =0.844, P〈 0.0001).· CONCLUSION: RT-PCR appears to be a powerful molecular tool for the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.展开更多
AIM: To investigate the microRNA(miRNA) expression profile in gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) tissues that could serve as a novel diagnostic biomarker for GIST detection.METHODS: We performed a quantitative real-...AIM: To investigate the microRNA(miRNA) expression profile in gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) tissues that could serve as a novel diagnostic biomarker for GIST detection.METHODS: We performed a quantitative real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay to analyze the expression of 1888 miRNAs in a sample set that included 54 GIST tissue samples.RESULTS: We found that dysregulation of several miRNAs may be related to the malignant potential of GISTs. Six of these miRNAs, hsa-let-7c, miR-218,miR-488#, miR-4683, miR-34c-5p and miR-4773, were selected as the final list of biomarkers to separate the malignant GISTs(M group) from the benign GISTs(B group). In addition, MiR-29b-2#, hsa-let-7c, miR-891 b, miR-218, miR-204, miR-204-3p, miR-628-5p,miR-744, miR-29c#, miR-625 and miR-196 a were used to distinguish between the borderline(BO group) and M groups. There were 11 common miRNAs selected to separate the benign and borderline(BB) group from the M group, including hsa-let-7c, miR-218, miR-628-5p,miR-204-3p, miR-204, miR-891 b, miR-488#, miR-145,miR-891 a, miR-34c-5p and miR-196 a.CONCLUSION: The identified miRNAs appear tobe novel biomarkers to distinguish malignant from benign GISTs, which may be helpful to understand the mechanisms of GIST oncogenesis and progression,and to further elucidate the characteristics of GIST subtypes.展开更多
Pancreatic cancer is characterised by a prominent desmoplastic/stromal reaction that has received little attention until recent times. Given that treatments focusing on pancreatic cancer cells alone have failed to sig...Pancreatic cancer is characterised by a prominent desmoplastic/stromal reaction that has received little attention until recent times. Given that treatments focusing on pancreatic cancer cells alone have failed to significantly improve patient outcome over many decades, research efforts have now moved to understanding the pathophysiology of the stromal reaction and its role in cancer progression. In this regard, our Group was the first to identify the cells(pancreatic stellate cells, PSCs) that produced the collagenous stroma of pancreatic cancer and to demonstrate that these cells interacted closely with cancer cells to facilitate local tumour growth and distant metastasis. Evidence is accumulating to indicate that stromal PSCs may also mediate angiogenesis, immune evasion and the well known resistance of pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This review will summarise current knowledge regarding the critical role of pancreatic stellate cells and the stroma in pancreatic cancer biologyand the therapeutic approaches being developed to target the stroma in a bid to improve the outcome of this devastating disease.展开更多
文摘AIM: To design, optimize and validate a rapid,internally controlled real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) test for herpes simplex virus(HSV) in the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.· METHODS: Tears alone or together with corneal epithelium scrapings from 30 patients(30 eyes)suspected of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis were tested for HSV DNA by RT-PCR. The samples were collected during the first visit and then on the subsequent 7, 14, 28, 42, and 56 d. The symptoms of the patients were scored before treatment to determine the correlation between HSV concentration in the corneal epithelium scrapings and clinical scores.·RESULTS: The positive rate(46.4%) in the corneal epithelium group before the therapy was significantly higher than that(13.3%) in the tears group(P =0.006).There were 13 positive HSV patients before the therapy,the concentration of HSV DNA in corneal epithelium scrapings group was significantly higher than that in the tears group(paired t-test, P =0.0397). Multilevel mixedeffects model analysis showed that the difference between the corneal epithelium scrapings group and the tears group was statistically significant(P =0.0049). The Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the HSV concentration in the corneal epithelium scrapings and clinical scores before the treatment(r =0.844, P〈 0.0001).· CONCLUSION: RT-PCR appears to be a powerful molecular tool for the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.
基金Supported by Grants from the Ministry of Health of the China,No.W2012RQ02Shanghai Science and Technology Committee,No.12nm0501402Shanghai Education Committee,No.120311
文摘AIM: To investigate the microRNA(miRNA) expression profile in gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) tissues that could serve as a novel diagnostic biomarker for GIST detection.METHODS: We performed a quantitative real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay to analyze the expression of 1888 miRNAs in a sample set that included 54 GIST tissue samples.RESULTS: We found that dysregulation of several miRNAs may be related to the malignant potential of GISTs. Six of these miRNAs, hsa-let-7c, miR-218,miR-488#, miR-4683, miR-34c-5p and miR-4773, were selected as the final list of biomarkers to separate the malignant GISTs(M group) from the benign GISTs(B group). In addition, MiR-29b-2#, hsa-let-7c, miR-891 b, miR-218, miR-204, miR-204-3p, miR-628-5p,miR-744, miR-29c#, miR-625 and miR-196 a were used to distinguish between the borderline(BO group) and M groups. There were 11 common miRNAs selected to separate the benign and borderline(BB) group from the M group, including hsa-let-7c, miR-218, miR-628-5p,miR-204-3p, miR-204, miR-891 b, miR-488#, miR-145,miR-891 a, miR-34c-5p and miR-196 a.CONCLUSION: The identified miRNAs appear tobe novel biomarkers to distinguish malignant from benign GISTs, which may be helpful to understand the mechanisms of GIST oncogenesis and progression,and to further elucidate the characteristics of GIST subtypes.
基金Supported by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia,the Cancer Council of New South Wales and the Cancer Institute NSW
文摘Pancreatic cancer is characterised by a prominent desmoplastic/stromal reaction that has received little attention until recent times. Given that treatments focusing on pancreatic cancer cells alone have failed to significantly improve patient outcome over many decades, research efforts have now moved to understanding the pathophysiology of the stromal reaction and its role in cancer progression. In this regard, our Group was the first to identify the cells(pancreatic stellate cells, PSCs) that produced the collagenous stroma of pancreatic cancer and to demonstrate that these cells interacted closely with cancer cells to facilitate local tumour growth and distant metastasis. Evidence is accumulating to indicate that stromal PSCs may also mediate angiogenesis, immune evasion and the well known resistance of pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This review will summarise current knowledge regarding the critical role of pancreatic stellate cells and the stroma in pancreatic cancer biologyand the therapeutic approaches being developed to target the stroma in a bid to improve the outcome of this devastating disease.