RESUMO
Thyroid cancer, known to be common in women than men, accounts for 12% all types of cancers and ranks 9th with5,86,202 cases worldwide. Role of forkhead box A1 (FOXA1), also known as hepatocyte nuclear factor 3? and involved inthe oncogenesis and progression of several tumors such as gliomas, breast, stomach, lung, ovarian, and esophageal cancers,has not been elucidated well in thyroid carcinoma until now. Here, we analyzed the expression of FOXA1 in thyroidcarcinoma tissues and its effects on the biological characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma TPC-1 cells. The expressionlevels of FOXA1 in normal thyroid and thyroid carcinoma tissues were analyzed using UALCAN database(http://ualcan.path.uab.edu/index.html), and the correlations between FOXA1 expression levels and survival time of patientswith thyroid carcinoma were analyzed. Si-FOXA1 and si-NC were transfected into cells that were then divided into si-FOXA1 (transfected si-FOXA1), si-NC (transfected si-NC), and control (TPC-1) groups. Cell proliferation was determinedwith MTT assay, and invasion ability was measured by Transwell assay. Early apoptotic rate was detected by flowcytometry. The mRNA expression levels of p27Kip1, Cyclin D1 and Cyclin E were measured by qRT-PCR. The expressionlevel of FOXA1 was significantly higher in thyroid carcinoma tissues than that in normal thyroid tissues. UALCAN-basedanalysis indicated that patients with low expression level of FOXA1 had longer survival time than those with highexpression level of FOXA1 (P <0.05). The cell proliferation rate was significantly lower in si-FOXA1 group than those insi-NC group and control group at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h (P <0.05). The early apoptotic rate was significantly higher andnumber of invading cells was lower in si-FOXA1 group than those in si-NC and control groups (P <0.05). Si-FOXA1 grouphad higher mRNA expression level of p27Kip1 and lower expression levels of Cyclin D1 and Cyclin E than those of si-NCand control groups (P <0.05). Targeted inhibition of FOXA1 suppresses the proliferation and invasion and promotes theapoptosis of thyroid carcinoma cells, probably by regulating activation of the p27Kip1 pathway.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The biomechanical properties of maize stalks largely determine their lodging resistance, which affects crop yield per unit area. However, the quantitative and qualitative relationship between micro-phenotypes and the biomechanics of maize stalks is still under examined. In particular, the roles of the number, geometry, and distribution of vascular bundles of stalks in maize lodging resistance remain unclear. Research on these biomechanical properties will benefit from high-resolution micro-phenotypic image acquisition capabilities, which have been improved by modern X-ray imaging devices such as micro-CT and the development of micro-phenotyping analysis software. Hence, high-throughput image analysis and accurate quantification of anatomical phenotypes of stalks are necessary. RESULTS: We have updated VesselParser version 1.0 to version 2.0 and have improved its performance, accuracy, and computation strategies. Anatomical characteristics of the second and third stalk internodes of the cultivars 'Jingke968' and 'Jingdan38' were analyzed using VesselParser 2.0. The relationships between lodging resistance and anatomical phenotypes of stalks between the two different maize varieties were investigated. The total area of vascular bundles in the peripheral layer, auxiliary axis diameter, and total area of vascular bundles were revealed to have the highest correlation with mechanical properties, and anatomical phenotypes of maize stalk were better predictors of mechanical properties than macro features observed optically from direct measurement, such as diameter and perimeter. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the utility of VesselParser 2.0 in assessing stalk mechanical properties. The combination of anatomical phenotypes and mechanical behavior research provides unique insights into the problem of stalk lodging, showing that micro phenotypes of vascular bundles are good predictors of maize stalk mechanical properties that may be important indices for the evaluation and identification of the biomechanical properties to improve lodging resistance of future maize varieties.