Expressions of bFGF and PTEN in cervical carcinoma and their clinical significance / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expressions of bFGF and PTEN in cervical carcinoma and their clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Tissue microarray technique and immunohistochemistry SP method were used to detect the expressions of bFGF and PTEN in 143 cases of invasive carcinoma of cervix (ICC) and 20 cases of normal cervical epithelium remote from tumor (NCE). The relationship between the expressions of bFGF and PTEN in ICC and some factors relating to clinical pathology of cervical carcinoma such as histopathological grading, lymph node metastasis, stroma involvement and FIGO staging were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rate of the positive expression of bFGF in ICC was significantly higher than that in NCE 88.8% (127/143) vs. 25.0% (5/20, P = 0.000). The rate of positive expression of PTEN in ICC was significantly lower than that in NCE 67.1% (96/143) vs. 100.0% (20/20, P = 0.000). The expression of bFGF was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and histopathological grading (r = 0.239, P = 0.004 and r = 0.369, P = 0.000, respectively). The expression of PTEN was negatively correlated with FIGO staging, histopathological grading and lymph node metastasis (r = -0.189, P = 0.024; r = -0.211, P = 0.011; r = -0.321, P = 0.000, respectively). The expression of bFGF was negatively correlated with the expression of PTEN in ICC (r = -0.261, P = 0.002).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The overexpression of bFGF and underexpression of PTEN are closely related to the invasion and growth of cervical carcinoma. Detection of the expression of both bFGF and PTEN may be of value in further understanding the biological behavior and predicting the prognosis of cervical carcinoma.</p>

Establishment of animal model with B lineage acute leukemia in nude mice for evaluation of new therapeutic agents / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an acute leukemia animal model for testing new therapeutic agents in vivo.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Nude mice were intraperitoneally injected with 2 mg cyclophosphamide, 24 h later 5 x 10(6) acute B-cell leukemia Nalm-6 cells was inoculated via the tail vein, then monitored daily. When animals were paralyzed or dying, the organs including the liver, spleen, lung, heart, kidney, brain, bone marrow, pancreas, testes were removed and fixed with formalin, examined by routine histopathology.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After Nalm-6 cells were inoculated the mean survival of mice were( 19.4+/-0.55)d (n=6). The paralysis of mice was followed by weight loss, bent spines, hogback, cachexia and death. Histopathological examination showed that the tumor cells infiltrated liver, spleen, kidney, lung, meninges, interior cerebrum, the liver and kidney were the most affected organs.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>B lineage acute leukemia animal model has been successfully established in the nude mice, which is suitable for testing new therapeutic agents.</p>

Preparation of the immunotoxin 2E8-norcantharidin and its targeting killing effect in vitro / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Monoclonal antibody (mAb) conjugated with certain toxin to generate immunotoxin bears an important and promising effect as a new therapy for patients with hematopoietic malignancies. However, most toxic moieties conjugated with antibody proteins reported in the literature were toxic proteins which presented immunogenicity to patients capable of inducing anti-toxin antibody. Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a small molecule toxin. It does not have the immunogenicity to human body so that it bears a promising potential for development of new targeting drug. In this study, a new clone of self-made anti-CD19 mAb named ZCH-4-2E8 conjugated with NCTD was used to investigate its targeting efficacy against CD19+ lymphoid malignant Nalm-6 cells in vitro to provide the experimental data for the further development of this new targeting agent.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A monoclonal antibody named 2E8 was prepared from mouse ascites and purified by gel chromatography. The purity of the antibody protein was checked by SDS-PAGE assay. Immunotoxin 2E8-NCTD was successfully generated through conjugating CD19 mAb protein and Norcantharidin by the activated ester method. The binding activity of the immunoconjugate (2E8-NCTD) against CD19 antigens on cell surface and the expression levels of CD19 antigens on Nalm-6 and K562 cells were examined by flow cytometry. Comparisons of the inhibitory effects among PBS, purified 2E8 antibody, norcantharidin and immunotoxin 2E8-NCTD groups on cell growth of either Nalm-6 cells or K562 cells were made.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The purity of the purified 2E8 antibody was higher than 99.00% demonstrated by SDS-PAGE assay. 2E8 antibody in the supernatant reacted with 99.34% of Nalm-6 cells, while only 0.98% of K562 cells reacted with this antibody. The newly generated immunotoxin (2E8-NCTD) had a positive rate of 99.90% on Nalm-6 cells with little reduction of binding activity. From the in vitro study, both 2E8-NCTD and norcantharidin were shown to have significant inhibitory effects on the growth of CD19+ Nalm-6 cells (P < 0.001), while the purified 2E8 antibody did not show any significant influences on the growth of Nalm-6 cells. Since no significant inhibitory effects were identified among immunotoxin 2E8-NCTD, 2E8 antibody and control groups on CD19(-) K562 cells, a significant targeting effect of the 2E8-NCTD against Nalm-6 cells was confirmed.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The immunotoxin 2E8-NCTD was successfully synthesized by activated ester method with an excellent targeting killing effect on CD19+ Nalm-6 leukemia cells in vitro, which provides some experimental data for the further development of this new targeting agent.</p>

Expression of COX-2 and MMP-9 in cervical carcinoma and their clinical significance / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expressions of COX-2 and MMP-9 in cervical carcinoma and their clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical SP method was used to detect the expressions of COX-2 and MMP-9 in 72 cases of invasive carcinoma of cervix (ICC) and 16 cases of normal cervical epithelium remote from tumor (NCE), and the relationship between the expressions of COX-2 and MMP-9 in ICC and some factors relating to clinical pathology of cervical carcinoma such as histopathological grading, lymph node metastasis, stroma involvement and FIGO staging were analyzed statistically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rates of positive expression of COX-2 and MMP-9 in ICC were significantly higher than those in NCE. COX-2: 88.9% in group ICC and 12.5% in group NCE, P = 0.000. MMP-9: 94.4% in group ICC and 43.8% in group NCE, P = 0.000. The expression of COX-2 was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and stroma involvement (r = 0.296, P = 0.012 in group ICC and r = 0.257, P = 0.029 in group NCE, respectively). The expression of MMP-9 was positively correlated with FIGO staging (r = 0.329, P = 0.005) and histopathological grading (r = 0.351, P = 0.003). The expression of COX-2 was positively correlated with the expression of MMP-9 in ICC (r = 0.297, P = 0.011).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The overexpressions of COX-2 and MMP-9 are closely related to the invasion and growth of cervical carcinoma. The tissue with overexpression of COX-2 has strong invasion ability. COX-2 and MMP-9 have synergistic effect on proliferation, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. Detecting the expression of both COX-2 and MMP-9 may be of value in further understanding the biological behavior and predicting the prognosis of cervical carcinoma.</p>