Expression of phosphoglycerate kinase 1 in endometrial carcinoma and its association with patients' outcome / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) and its prognostic value in endometrial carcinoma (EC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of PGK1 was detected immunohistochemically in 30 normal endometrium and 130 EC specimens. The relationship between PGK1 protein expression and the clinicopathological features of the patients was evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemical analysis revealed low PGK1 expression in 55.4% (72/130) and high PGK1 expression in 44.6% (58/130) of the EC specimens, as compared with the rates of 90% (27/30) and 10% (3/30) in normal endometrium, respectively (P<0.001). PGK1 expression was significantly correlated with FIGO stage (P<0.001), histological grade (P=0.002) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that patients with a high PGK1 expression had a shorter overall survival rate than those with a low PGK1 expression (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that a high PGK1 expression was not the independent predictor of the prognosis of EC (P=0.077).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A high expression of PGK1 is associated with aggressive and metastatic behaviors of EC, and detection of PGK1 provides assistance in evaluating the prognosis of patients with EC.</p>

Coexpression of MAP2K4 and vimentin proteins in human endometrial carcinoma and its clinicopathological significance / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the expression of MAP2K4 and vimentin in human endometrial carcinoma (EC) and their association with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of the patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>MAP2K4 and vimentin expressions were detected immunohistochemically in paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 128 patients with EC, and the correlation of MAP2K4 and vimentin expressions with the clinicopathological factors of the patients was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>MAP2K4 and vimentin proteins were positively expressed in 49 (38.3%) and 83 (64.8%) of the patients, respectively. A positive expression of MAP2K4 was negatively correlated with FIGO stage of the tumor (P=0.010) and lymph node status (P=0.016); a positive expression of vimentin was positively correlated with FIGO stage of the tumor (P=0.025), histological grades (P=0.017), depth of myometrial invasion (P=0.044) and lymph node status (P=0.032). MAP2K4 was inversely associated with vimentin expression in EC(r=-0.598, P<0.001). Patients positive for MAP2K4 tended to have a higher overall survival rate (P=0.002), and those positive for vimentin tended to have a lower overall survival rate (P=0.007); patients positive for MAP2K4 but negative for vimentin had the longest survival time, while those negative for MAP2K4 and positive for vimentin had lowest survival rate (P=0.004).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Detection of MAP2K4 and vimentin might help in early diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of patients with EC.</p>

Expressions of DAPK3 and c-Myc in endometrial cancer and their relationship with the patients' prognosis / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expressions of DAPK3 and c-Myc and their prognostic value in endometrial carcinoma (EC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expressions of DAPK3 and c-Myc were detected immunohistochemically in 132 surgical specimens. The relationship between DAPK3 and c-Myc protein expressions and the clinicopathological features of the patients was evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemical analysis revealed low DAPK3 expression in 60.61% (80/132) and high c-Myc expression in 53.79% (71/132) of the specimens of EC. Both DAPK3 expression and c-Myc expression were significantly correlated with FIGO stage (P=0.034 and 0.015, respectively) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.022 and 0.031, respectively). DAPK3 expression was closely correlated with the histological grade (P=0.027) and depth of myometrial invasion (P=0.011). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that patients with low DAPK3 expressions had a shorter overall survival rate than those with high DAPK3 expressions (P=0.023), while patients with high c-Myc expressions had poorer prognoses than those with low c-Myc expressions (P=0.002). Spearman correlation analysis showed that DAPK3 and c-Myc expressions were negatively correlated (P<0.001, r=?0.310). Multivariate analysis identified a high c-Myc expression as the independent predictor of the prognosis of EC (P=0.007).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A low expression of DAPK3 and a high expression of c-Myc are associated with aggressive and metastatic behaviors of EC, and their detection may help to predict the prognosis of the EC patients.</p>

Role of specificity protein 1 in modulating radiosensitivity of cervical cancer cell lines / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of specificity protein 1 (Sp1) in regulating radiosensitivity of cervical cancer cell lines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We analyzed Sp1 expression in 6 different cervical cancer cell lines (SiHa, HeLa, Caski, Me180, Ms751, and C33a) using Western blotting and real-time PCR. Clonogenic survival assay and curve fitting were used to assess the changes in radiosensitivity of Me180 cells transfected with lentivirus-mediated shRNA vector targeting sp1 and HeLa cells transfected with sp1 over-expression vector.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the 6 cell lines tested, the cellular expression levels of Sp1 decreased gradually in the order of Me180, Caski, C33a, SiHa, Ms751, and HeLa. SP1 knockdown with lentivirus-mediated shRNA significantly lowered the survival rate of Me180 cells following radiation exposure (P<0.05), and obviously lowered the values of SF2, D0 and Dq but significantly increased α/β of the cells. Compared with the cells transfected with the mock vector, HeLa cells with sp1 over-expression showed a significantly increased survival following radiation exposure (P<0.05) with obviously increased values of SF2, D0 and Dq but significantly lowered α/β.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Silencing Sp1 can increase the radiosensitivity while Sp1 overexpression enhances the radioresistance of cervical cancer cell lines, suggesting an important role of Sp1 in radiotherapy for cervical cancer.</p>

Event-related potentials of emotional excitement in middle-aged and aged adults / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore how adjustment of the negative and neutral emotion excitement contribute to the well-being of middle-aged and aged adults in their health, intelligence, working and living.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-five middle-aged and aged participants performed recognition tasks of schematic facial representations of positive, neutral and negative emotions and also Chinese characters (equivalent to happy, thinking and fear).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The main effects of the facial recognition task occurred in the left temporal-parietal area (40 to 80 ms), bilateral parietal-occipital and temporal-parietal area (160-180 ms and 310-340 ms). The effects of stimulation with the 3 Chinese characters were found in the anterior region (375-475 ms), posterior region (195-255 ms), and whole scalp region (135-175 ms and 275-355 ms). There were no significant interactive effects between schematic facial recognition and stimulation with Chinese characters.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Positive emotional excitement may promote the well-being of the adults in their health, intelligence, working performance and living.</p>

Preliminary study of gene expression profiling in human type I and II endometrial carcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study gene expression profiling in human type I and II endometrial carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six Affymetrix human genome genechips were utilized to investigate the differences in gene expression profiles between type I and II endometrial carcinoma with bioinformatic analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Many genes were highly expressed in estrogen-dependent endometrial carcinoma, and some of them were involved in the metabolism and conversion of estrogen, while some others in estrogen regulation. CYP2C9, for instance, was involved in the conversion of estrogen sulfate to 16-hydroxy sulfate metabolite, DDC in estrogen-dependent pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma possibly by DDC interaction with AR to enhance steroid receptor transcription.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>High expression of these genes in estrogen-dependent endometrial carcinoma may provide insights into their roles in the pathogenesis and prognosis of this malignancy.</p>