CD24 in Head and Neck Malignancies-An Uprising Biomarker?

INTRODUCTION: CD24 is often overexpressed in human tumors as a regulator of cell migration, invasion and proliferation. It has been associated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance in laryngeal cancer. In oral cavity tumors, it was correlated with better overall survival. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of CD24 in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) as a potential marker for head and neck malignancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CD24/CD11b expression in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) of head and neck cancer patients and matched healthy controls was analyzed via flow cytometry. Tumors and healthy tissues were immune-stained for CD24 expression and the intensity of stain was ranked. Clinical data including tumor site, size, locoregional or metastatic spread, histopathological characteristics and recurrence events were analyzed. RESULTS: CD24 expression in PBLs was significantly higher in a cohort of 101 head and neck cancer patients compared with 101 matched healthy controls (26.9 ± 12.9 vs. 22.4 ± 13.8; p = 0.02). No significant differences in CD24 levels in PBLs were found between different head and neck subsites involved with malignancy. Higher CD24 levels did not correlate with any adverse feature, i.e., perineural invasion or lymphovascular invasion, advanced T stage or regional spread. Immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated that CD24 was highly expressed in tumor tissue in comparison to healthy surrounding tissue. CONCLUSIONS: CD24 is a possible uprising marker for tumor identification, overexpressed in PBLs and is intensely stained in tumor tissue and pre-malignant lesions. Tumor-PBLs should be further studied.

Cultural cures for the disconnected mind.

The current article advances the hypothesis that creative culture evolved, in part, to allay the costs of the overgrown human brain and the cognitive integration limit that it imposes. Specific features can be expected among cultural elements best suited to allaying the integration limit and also among the neurocognitive mechanisms that might undergird these cultural effects. Music, visual art, and meditation are used as examples to illustrate how culture helps to bridge or sidestep the integration limit. Tiered religious, philosophical, and psychological concepts are considered in light of their reflection of the tiered process of cognitive integration. The link between creativity and mental illness is offered as additional support for the role of cognitive disconnection as a wellspring of cultural creativity, and I propose that this link can be harnessed in defense of neurodiversity. Developmental and evolutionary implications of the integration limit are discussed.

The Protective Role of Trauma Informed Attitudes on Perceived Stress Among Teachers and School Staff.

Trauma-informed care (TIC), a system of behavioral treatment practices that focuses on understanding and responding to the effects of adverse experiences via empathic and non-punitive interactions, is a promising intervention for the treatment of academic and mental health problems among youth. However, the effect of TIC on caregivers themselves is uncertain. Even less is known about the relationship between TIC and the well-being of teachers and school staff. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between exposure to criminal victimization (a known predictor of stress), attitudes toward TIC, and perceived stress among a sample of public school teachers and staff members (N = 396). In line with our predictions, increased victimization was associated with increased perceived stress whereas TIC-favorable attitudes were associated with decreased perceived stress. In addition, older participants exhibited lower perceived stress than younger participants. We discuss the current study's limitations and the implications of the current findings for future research and mental health practice in schools.

The Mechanisms of the Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Apoptotic Effects of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids during Methotrexate-Induced Intestinal Damage in Cell Line and in a Rat Model.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic patterns of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) during methotrexate (MTX) induced intestinal damage in cell culture and in a rat model. Methods: Non-treated and treated with MTX HT 29 and HCT116cells were exposed to increasing doses of n-3 PUFAs and cell viability was evaluated using PrestoBlue® assay. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 experimental groups: Control rats, CONTR+n-3 PUFA rats that were treated with oral n-3 PUFA, MTX rats were treated with MTX given IP, and MTX+n-3 PUFA rats were treated with oral n-3 PUFA before and following injection of MTX. Intestinal mucosal parameters and mucosal inflammation, enterocyte proliferation and apoptosis, TNF-α in mucosal tissue and plasma (ELISA), NF-κB, COX-2, TNF-α, Fas, FasL, Fadd, Bid, Bax and Bcl-2gene and protein levels were determined 72 h following MTX injection. Results: Exposure of HT 29 and HCT116cells to n-3 PUFA attenuated inhibiting effects of MTX on cell viability. MTX-n-3 PUFA rats demonstrated a lower intestinal injury score and enhanced intestinal repair. A significant decrease in enterocyte apoptosis in MTX+n-3 PUFA rats was accompanied by decreased TNF-α, FAS, FasL, FADD and BID mRNA levels. Decreased NF-κB, COX-2 and TNF-α levels in mucosa was accompanied by a decreased number of IELs and macrophages. Conclusions: n-3 PUFAs inhibit NF-κB/COX-2 induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inhibit cell apoptosis mainly by extrinsic pathway in rats with MTX-induced intestinal damage.

Cell death induction (extrinsic versus intrinsic apoptotic pathway) by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats is time-depended.

PURPOSE: We investigate the mechanism of intestinal cell apoptosis and its relation to the time of reperfusion in a rat model of intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR). METHODS: Rats were divided into 4 groups: Sham-24 and Sham-48 rats underwent laparotomy without an intentional ischemic intervention and were sacrificed 24 or 48 h hours later; IR-24 and IR-48 rats underwent occlusion of SMA and portal vein for 20 min followed by 24 or 48 h of reperfusion, respectively. Park's injury score, cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined at sacrifice. Proliferation and apoptosis-related gene and protein expression were determined using Real-Time PCR, Western Blot and Immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: IR-24 rats demonstrated a strong increase in cell apoptosis along with an elevated Bax and decreased Bcl-2 expression and a decrease in cell proliferation (vs Sham-24). IR-48 group showed an increase in cell proliferation and a decrease in cell apoptosis compared to IR-24 animals. IR-48 rats demonstrated an increase in apoptotic rate that was accompanied by greater TNF-α mRNA, Fas mRNA and FasL mRNA compared to Sham-48 animals. CONCLUSION: While cell apoptosis in IR-24 rats is regulated mainly by intrinsic apoptotic pathway, 48 h followed ischemia extrinsic apoptotic pathway is responsible for pro-apoptotic effects of IR injury.

Evolutionary awareness.

In this article, we advance the concept of "evolutionary awareness," a metacognitive framework that examines human thought and emotion from a naturalistic, evolutionary perspective. We begin by discussing the evolution and current functioning of the moral foundations on which our framework rests. Next, we discuss the possible applications of such an evolutionarily-informed ethical framework to several domains of human behavior, namely: sexual maturation, mate attraction, intrasexual competition, culture, and the separation between various academic disciplines. Finally, we discuss ways in which an evolutionary awareness can inform our cross-generational activities-which we refer to as "intergenerational extended phenotypes"-by helping us to construct a better future for ourselves, for other sentient beings, and for our environment.

Human sexual conflict from molecules to culture.

Coevolutionary arms races between males and females have equipped both sexes with mutually manipulative and defensive adaptations. These adaptations function to benefit individual reproductive interests at the cost of the reproductive interests of opposite-sex mates, and arise from evolutionary dynamics such as parental investment (unequal reproductive costs between the sexes) and sexual selection (unequal access to opposite-sex mates). Individuals use these adaptations to hijack others' reproductive systems, psychological states, and behaviors--essentially using other individuals as extended phenotypes of themselves. Such extended phenotypic manipulation of sexual rivals and opposite-sex mates is enacted by humans with the aid of hormones, pheromones, neurotransmitters, emotions, language, mind-altering substances, social institutions, technologies, and ideologies. Furthermore, sexual conflict may be experienced at an individual level when maternal genes and paternal genes are in conflict within an organism. Sexual conflict may be physically and emotionally destructive, but may also be exciting and constructive for relationships. By extending the biological concept of sexual conflict into social and cultural domains, scholars may successfully bridge many of the interdisciplinary gaps that separate the sciences from the humanities.