Translational research : the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine
-
Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 22 (USP22) was recently identified as a new tumor cell marker, and previous studies demonstrated its expression in a variety of tumors and its correlation with tumor progression. Because tumor progression plays an important role in cancer, researchers are paying more attention to the correlation between USP22 expression and metastatic potential, resistance to chemotherapy, and patient prognosis. ⋯ The C-myc protein was also shown to have synergistic effects with USP22 in gastric cancer tissue. On the basis of the results, USP22 expression may play an important role in gastric carcinoma tissue, particularly in precancerous lesions during the gastric cancer evolution process.
-
Estimating glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) has become popular in clinical medicine as an alternative to measured GFR (mGFR), but there are few studies comparing them in clinical practice. We determined mGFR by iohexol clearance in 81 consecutive children in routine practice and calculated eGFR from 14 standard equations using serum creatinine, cystatin C, and urea nitrogen that were collected at the time of the mGFR procedure. Nonparametric Wilcoxon test, Spearman correlation, Bland-Altman analysis, bias (median difference), and accuracy (P15, P30) were used to compare mGFR with eGFR. ⋯ In 10 patients with a single kidney, 7 with kidney transplant, and 11 additional children with short stature, values of the 3 equations had low bias and no significant difference when compared with mGFR. In conclusion, the 3 equations that used cystatin C, creatinine, and growth parameters performed in a superior manner over univariate equations based on either creatinine or cystatin C and also had good applicability in specific pediatric patients with single kidneys, those with a kidney transplant, and short stature. Thus, we suggest that eGFR calculations in pediatric clinical practice use only a multivariate equation.
-
We explored the differential expression of breast tissue-based panel of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their potential application as prognostic markers of breast cancer (BC). This study was divided into the following phases: (1) A panel of 6 BC characteristic miRNAs, which were retrieved based on the microarray signature profiling (released by miRWalk), was explored using SYBR Green-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array in 16 cancerous and 16 noncancerous breast tissue; (2) pathway enrichment analysis of the key miRNA target genes; (3) marker choice and validation by real-time PCR in a larger set of 76 patients with BC, 36 benign breast conditions, and 36 healthy volunteers; (4) validation of miRNA (miR)-23a target genes (forkhead box m [FOXM1] and histidine-rich glycoprotein [HRG]) by conventional reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR; and (5) the prognostic significance of the investigated parameters in the BC validation group was explored. ⋯ The overall concordance rates between miR-23a with HRG and FOXM1 tissue RNAs were 91% and 79%, respectively. The median follow-up period was 49 months. mi-23a and HRG RNA were significant independent prognostic markers in relapse-free survival. miR-23a may have an oncogenic function and enhance BC progression by directly activating FOXM1 and HRG at RNA level.