UriBLAD: A Urine-Based Gene Expression Assay for Noninvasive Detection of Bladder Cancer.

Bladder cancer is the most common urinary system neoplasm, with approximately 550,000 new cases per year worldwide. Current methods for diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer are often invasive and/or lack sensitivity and specificity. In this study, the authors aimed to develop an accurate, noninvasive urine-based gene expression assay for the detection of bladder cancer. Urine specimens were collected at five Chinese hospitals from patients with bladder cancer, and from healthy and other control subjects. The expression levels of 70 genes were characterized by quantitative RT-PCR in a training cohort of 211 samples. Machine learning approaches were used to identify a 32-gene signature to classify cancer status. The performance of this gene signature was further validated in a multicenter, prospective cohort of 317 samples. In the blind validation set, the 32-gene signature achieved encouraging performance of 90% accuracy, 83% sensitivity, and 95% specificity. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve reached 0.93. Importantly, the 32-gene signature performed well in the detection of non-muscle invasive tumor and low-grade tumor with sensitivities of 81.6% and 81%, respectively. In conclusion, we present a novel gene expression assay using urine samples that can accurately discriminate patients with bladder cancer from controls. The results might prompt further development of this gene expression assay into an in vitro diagnostic test amenable to routine clinical practice.

Micropatterned immobilization of membrane-mimicking polymer and peptides for regulation of cell behaviors in vitro.

To regulate the behaviors and functions of endothelial cells (ECs) on the biomaterials on titanium (Ti), a biomimetic micropattern (ridge/groove: 25/25 µm) of polymer of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (polyMPC) and Gly-Arg-Glu-Asp-Val-Tyr (GREDVY) was fabricated. PMMPC (monomer contain MPC and methacrylic acid (MA)) containing carboxyl groups was chosen, and PMMPC was cross-linked with hexamethylene diamine through condensation reaction of amino and carboxyl. Simultaneously, the carboxyl groups of cross-linked PMMPC (PMMPC-HD) can react with amino groups of polydopamine which can adhered on many materials firmly. GREDVY was immobilized on polydopamine but not on PMMPC-HD because amino and carboxyl groups can react with catechol and amino groups of polydopamine. IR and 1H NMR demonstrated that PMMPC-HD was successfully synthesized. And the QCM-D (quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation) and IR approved that PMMPC-HD and GREDVY can be immobilized on polydopamine (PDA). Platelet adhesion and whole blood adhesion on micropattern modificated with PMMPC and GREDVY (Ti-PDA-M/R(P)) showed better hemocompatibility than other samples. Endothelial cells were regulated in the direction of micropattern showing elongated ECs were closer to a healthy, athero-protective phenotype than ECs cultured in vitro without micropattern. NO and PGI2 release were upregulated. Simultaneously the number of SMCs on Ti-PDA-M/R(P) was the smaller that of other samples, which demonstrated that the Ti-PDA-M/R(P) had property of inhibiting SMCs proliferation to a certain extent.

Modern dust aerosol availability in northwestern China.

The sources of modern dust aerosols and their emission magnitudes are fundamental for linking dust with climate and environment. Using field sample data, wind tunnel experiments and statistical analysis, we determined the contributions of wadis, gobi (stony desert), lakebeds, riverbeds, and interdunes to modern dust aerosol availability in the three important potential dust sources including the Tarim Basin, Qaidam Basin, and Ala Shan Plateau of China. The results show that riverbeds are the dominant landscape for modern dust aerosol availabilities in the Qaidam Basin, while wadis, gobi, and interdunes are the main landscapes over the Ala Shan Plateau and Tarim Basin. The Ala Shan Plateau and Tarim Basin are potential dust sources in northwestern China, while the Qaidam Basin is not a major source of the modern dust aerosols nowadays, and it is not acting in a significant way to the Loess Plateau presently. Moreover, most of modern dust aerosol emissions from China originated from aeolian processes with low intensities rather than from major dust events.

Key driving forces of desertification in the Mu Us Desert, China.

The temporal trends and key driving forces of desertification in the Mu Us Desert are representatives of most arid regions of Asia with a high risk of desertification. We analyzed the significance of Aeolian transport on desertification in the Mu Us Desert by field investigations, sampling, wind tunnel experiments, particle size and nutrient measurements, and statistics on aeolian transport potentials. The results showed that high intensities of aeolian processes may result in low differences in aeolian transport despite differences in the underlying sediments. When high desertification occurred in the 1970s, the annual losses of the ammonium N, nitrate N, available K, and available P were approximately 116, 312, 46,436, and 1,251 kg km-2, respectively. After 2010, the losses were only 8, 20, 3,208, and 84 kg km-2, which were generally only 6.7% of those in the 1970s. The results showed that although human activity may trigger desertification, the dramatic decline of aeolian transport and low nutrient loss may be the key driving forces for the occurrence of rehabilitation in this region.

Investigation of enhanced hemocompatibility and tissue compatibility associated with multi-functional coating based on hyaluronic acid and Type IV collagen.

The biocompatibility of cardiovascular devices has always been considered crucial for their clinical efficacy. Therefore, a biofunctional coating composed of Type IV collagen (CoIV) and hyaluronan (HA) was previously fabricated onto the titanium (Ti) substrate for the application of promoting vascular smooth muscle cell contractile phenotype and improving surface endothelialization. However, the anti-inflammation property, blood compatibility and in vivo tissue compatibility of the HA/CoIV coating, as paramount consideration of cardiovascular materials surface coating, have not been investigated. Thus, in this study, the three crucial properties of the HA/CoIV coating were tested. The platelet adhesion/activation test and the dynamic whole blood experiment implied that the HA/CoIV coating had better blood compatibility compared with Ti substrate and pure CoIV coating. The macrophage adhesion/activation and inflammatory cytokine release (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1) results indicated that the HA/CoIV coating could significantly improve the anti-inflammation property of the Ti substrate. The in vivo implantation of SD rats for 3 weeks' results demonstrated that the HA/CoIV coating caused milder tissue response. All these results suggested that the multi-functional HA/CoIV coating possessed good biocompatibility. This research is anticipated to be potentially applied for the surface modification of cardiovascular stents.