BACKGROUND Islet 1 (ISL1), a LIM-homeodomain transcription factor is essential for promoting pancreatic islets proliferation and maintaining endocrine cells survival in embryonic and postnatal pancreatic islets. However, how ISL1 exerts the role in adult islets is, to date, not clear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Our results show that ISL1 expression was up-regulated at the mRNA level both ...

This study investigated the effects of microRNA-135a (miR-135a) targeting of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration and invasion of bladder cancer (BC) cells by mediating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. BC and adjacent normal tissues were collected from 165 BC patients. Western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR were used to detec...

Power-line frequency electromagnetic field (PF-EMF) was reported as a human carcinogen by some epidemiological research, but the conclusion is lack of robust experiment evidence. To identify the effects of long-term PF-EMF exposure on cell behavior, Balb/c 3T3 cells in exponential growth phase were exposed or sham-exposed to 50 Hertz (Hz) PF-EMF at 2.3 mT for 2 hours (h) one day, 5 days every w...

BACKGROUND To test whether intratumoral gene expression levels and germline polymorphisms predict clinical outcome in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with cetuximab and bevacizumab plus irinotecan (CBI) vs. cetuximab and bevacizumab (CB)(BOND2). PATIENTS AND METHODS Genomic DNA was extracted for genotyping from 65 patients (31: CBI arm and 34: CB arm). Thirty five patient...

BACKGROUND Chemical carcinogens induce squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck by targeting the p53 and the retinoblastoma (pRb) pathways. Human papillomavirus (HPV) might have an etiologic role in these cancers at particular sites. Few studies have compared cell cycle protein expression in HPV-positive and HPV-negative tumors in this region. METHODS Fifty tonsil SCCs were analyzed...

Introduction Aromatase inhibitors (AI) are a novel adjuvant endocrine treatment for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, postmenopausal breast cancer. They function by inhibiting the aromatase enzyme that converts androgens into estrogens. AIs have demonstrated excellent efficacy in clinical trials and have shown supremacy over Tamoxifen. However, prolonged use of AIs can lead to acquired resistanc...

Objective(s): To investigate and test the hypotheses that TGF-β1 enhanced myocardial differentiation through Wnt/β-catenin pathway with rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs).Materials and Methods: Lentiviral vectors carrying the TGF-β1 gene were transduced into rat BMSCs firstly. Then several kinds of experimental methods were u...

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic auto- immune disease characterized by joint synovitis. Recent evidence suggests that rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) promote joint destruction. In this study, we investigated the role of microRNA-26b (miR-26b) in cell proliferation and inflammatory cytokine secretion using patient-derived Rheumatoid arthritis fibroblas...

Abnormal vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation contributes to neointima formation during the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and restenosis. Drugs interfering with the cell cycle progression of VSMCs are therefore promising candidates for the treatment of vasculoproliferative diseases. Roscovitine (ROSC) has been characterised as a selective CDK1/2/5/7/9 inhibitor using enzyme-based ...