Plos One
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This investigation evaluated the distributions of airborne adenovirus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in public areas in the pediatric department of Children's Hospital in northern Taiwan. The airborne viral and bacterial concentrations were evaluated twice a week for a year using filter sampling with an airflow rate of 12 liters per minute for eight hours in the pediatric outpatient department and 24 hours in the pediatric emergency room. Real-time polymerase chain reaction assays were conducted for analysis. ⋯ Airborne Mycoplasma pneumoniae was detected only in July in the pediatric emergency room and the peak levels were found from August to January in the pediatric outpatient department. Airborne particles that contained adenovirus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae were the most prevalent in the pediatric public areas. The potential relationship between these airborne viral/bacterial particles and human infection should be examined further.
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Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer with aggressive tumor behavior and distinct disease etiology. Due to the lack of an effective targeted medicine, treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer are few and recurrence rates are high. Although various multi-gene prognostic markers have been proposed for the prediction of breast cancer outcome, most of them were proven clinically useful only for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers. Reliable identification of triple-negative patients with a favorable prognosis is not yet possible. ⋯ Gene expression data and recurrence information of triple-negative breast cancer were collected and analyzed in this study. A novel set of 45-gene signature was found to be statistically predictive in disease recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer. The 45-gene signature, if further validated, may be a clinically useful tool in risk assessment of distant recurrence for early-stage triple-negative patients.
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In basal ganglia a significant subset of GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSNs) coexpress D1 and D2 receptors (D1R and D2R) along with the neuropeptides dynorphin (DYN) and enkephalin (ENK). These coexpressing neurons have been recently shown to have a region-specific distribution throughout the mesolimbic and basal ganglia circuits. While the functional relevance of these MSNs remains relatively unexplored, they have been shown to exhibit the unique property of expressing the dopamine D1-D2 receptor heteromer, a novel receptor complex with distinct pharmacology and cell signaling properties. ⋯ The identification of a MSN with dual inhibitory and excitatory intrinsic functions provides new insights into the neuroanatomy of the basal ganglia and demonstrates a novel source of glutamate in this circuit. Furthermore, the demonstration of a dopamine receptor complex with the potential to differentially regulate the expression of proteins directly involved in GABAergic inhibitory or glutamatergic excitatory activation in VTA and SN may potentially provide new insights into the regulation of dopamine neuron activity. This could have broad implications in understanding how dysregulation of neurotransmission within basal ganglia contributes to dopamine neuronal dysfunction.
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Toll-like receptor (TLR)4 agonists are known potent immunostimulatory compounds. These compounds can be formulated as part of novel adjuvants to enhance vaccine medicated immune responses. However, the contribution of the formulation to the innate in vivo activity of TLR4 agonist compounds is not well understood. ⋯ While GLA and GLA-SE activate a large number of shared innate genes and proteins, GLA-SE induces a quantitatively and qualitatively stronger response than GLA, SE or alum. The genes and proteins upregulated could be used to facilitate selection of appropriate adjuvant doses in vaccine formulations.
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The tumor-specific EGFR deletion mutant, EGFRvIII, is characterised by ligand-independent constitutive signalling. Tumors expressing EGFRvIII are resistant to current EGFR-targeted therapy. The frequency of EGFRvIII in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is disputed and may vary by specific sub-site. The purpose of this study was to measure the occurrence of EGFRvIII mutations in a specific HNSCC subsite, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), using a novel real-time PCR assay. ⋯ Our results suggest that the EGFRvIII mutation is rare in OSCC and corroborate previous reports of EGFRvIII expression only in tumors with extreme over-expression of EGFR. We conclude that EGFRvIII-specific therapies may not be ideally suited as first-line treatment in OSCC. Furthermore, highly specific and sensitive methods, such as the real-time RT-PCR assay and AQUAnalysis® described here, will provide accurate assessment of EGFR mutation frequency and EGFR expression, and will facilitate the selection of optimal tailored therapies for OSCC patients.