Dysregulated expression of microRNAs （miRNAs） in various tissues has been associated with a variety of diseases, including cancers. Here we demonstrate that miRNAs are present in the serum and plasma of humans and o...Dysregulated expression of microRNAs （miRNAs） in various tissues has been associated with a variety of diseases, including cancers. Here we demonstrate that miRNAs are present in the serum and plasma of humans and other animals such as mice, rats, bovine fetuses, calves, and horses. The levels of miRNAs in serum are stable, reproducible, and consistent among individuals of the same species. Employing Solexa, we sequenced all serum miRNAs of healthy Chinese subjects and found over 100 and 91 serum miRNAs in male and female subjects, respectively. We also identified specific expression patterns of serum miRNAs for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and diabetes, providing evidence that serum miRNAs contain fingerprints for various diseases. Two non-small cell lung cancer-specific serum miRNAs obtained by Solexa were further validated in an independent trial of 75 healthy donors and 152 cancer patients, using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. Through these analyses, we conclude that serum miRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers for the detection of various cancers and other diseases.展开更多
Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) remains one of the major public health problems throughout the world.Although originally associated with tumorigenic processes,liver angiogenesis has also been observed in the context of ...Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) remains one of the major public health problems throughout the world.Although originally associated with tumorigenic processes,liver angiogenesis has also been observed in the context of different liver in-flammatory,fibrotic,and ischemic conditions.Here we investigate the fractal dimension as a quantitator of non-Euclidean two-dimensional vascular geometry in a series of paired specimens of primary HCC and surrounding non-tumoral tissue,and discuss why this parameter might provide additional information regarding cancer behavior.The application of fractal geometry to the measurement of liver vascularity and the availability of a computer-aided quantitative method can eliminate errors in visual interpretation,and make it possible to obtain closer-to-reality numerals that are compulsory for any measurement process.展开更多
基金Acknowledgments We thank Drs Fengyong Liu and Sheng Luan at UC Berkeley, USA, for their discussion and help with the writing of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China （no. 30225037, 30471991, 30570731）, National Basic Research Program of China （973 Program） （no. 2006CB503909, 2004CB518603）, the ＂111＂ Project, and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province （no. BK2004082, BK2006714）.
文摘Dysregulated expression of microRNAs （miRNAs） in various tissues has been associated with a variety of diseases, including cancers. Here we demonstrate that miRNAs are present in the serum and plasma of humans and other animals such as mice, rats, bovine fetuses, calves, and horses. The levels of miRNAs in serum are stable, reproducible, and consistent among individuals of the same species. Employing Solexa, we sequenced all serum miRNAs of healthy Chinese subjects and found over 100 and 91 serum miRNAs in male and female subjects, respectively. We also identified specific expression patterns of serum miRNAs for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and diabetes, providing evidence that serum miRNAs contain fingerprints for various diseases. Two non-small cell lung cancer-specific serum miRNAs obtained by Solexa were further validated in an independent trial of 75 healthy donors and 152 cancer patients, using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. Through these analyses, we conclude that serum miRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers for the detection of various cancers and other diseases.
文摘Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) remains one of the major public health problems throughout the world.Although originally associated with tumorigenic processes,liver angiogenesis has also been observed in the context of different liver in-flammatory,fibrotic,and ischemic conditions.Here we investigate the fractal dimension as a quantitator of non-Euclidean two-dimensional vascular geometry in a series of paired specimens of primary HCC and surrounding non-tumoral tissue,and discuss why this parameter might provide additional information regarding cancer behavior.The application of fractal geometry to the measurement of liver vascularity and the availability of a computer-aided quantitative method can eliminate errors in visual interpretation,and make it possible to obtain closer-to-reality numerals that are compulsory for any measurement process.
