Polyelectrolyte/Graphene Oxide Barrier Film for Flexible OLED.

Ultra-thin flexible nano-composite barrier layer consists of graphene oxide and polyelectrolyte was prepared using the layer-by-layer processing method. Microstructures of the barrier layer was optimized via modifying coating conditions and inducing chemical reactions. Although the barrier layer consists of hydrophilic polyelectrolyte was not effective in blocking the water vapor permeation, the chemical reduction of graphene oxide as well as conversion of polyelectrolyte to hydrophobic nature were very effective in reducing the permeation.

Circulating tumor cells in Hodgkin's lymphoma - a review of the spread of HL tumor cells or their putative precursors by lymphatic and hematogenous means, and their prognostic significance.

About 15% of patients diagnosed with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) are considered high risk with unfavorable prognosis. The biology of the disease bears a direct relationship to its clinical course. However, some aspects of the disease are still being debated. Related topics include origin of neoplastic cells as circulating precursor versus germinal center B cell, and disease metastasis via hematogenous routes and the effect of HL circulation on relapse potential and further spread of the disease. The terminally differentiated giant neoplastic Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells (HRSC) have limited proliferation and lack mobility. Therefore, they are unable to penetrate epithelium. Thus, the clinical aggressiveness of HRSCs that disseminate via both lymphatic and hematogenous may be determined by their molecular composition. This review discusses in detail the historical perspectives on scientific and clinical evidences of precursors of circulating HL cells and the prognostic importance of these circulating cells for predicting outcome.

Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) and syndecan-1 (SDC1) are potential biomarkers for putative circulating CD15+/CD30+ cells in poor outcome Hodgkin lymphoma patients.

BACKGROUND: High risk, unfavorable classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) includes those patients with primary refractory or early relapse, and progressive disease. To improve the availability of biomarkers for this group of patients, we investigated both tumor biopsies and peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) of untreated (chemo-naïve, CN) Nodular Sclerosis Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (NS-cHL) patients for consistent biomarkers that can predict the outcome prior to frontline treatment. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Bioinformatics data mining was used to generate 151 candidate biomarkers, which were screened against a library of 10 HL cell lines. Expression of FGF2 and SDC1 by CD30+ cells from HL patient samples representing good and poor outcomes were analyzed by qRT-PCR, immunohistochemical (IHC), and immunofluorescence analyses. RESULTS: To identify predictive HL-specific biomarkers, potential marker genes selected using bioinformatics approaches were screened against HL cell lines and HL patient samples. Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 (FGF2) and Syndecan-1 (SDC1) were overexpressed in all HL cell lines, and the overexpression was HL-specific when compared to 116 non-Hodgkin lymphoma tissues. In the analysis of stratified NS-cHL patient samples, expression of FGF2 and SDC1 were 245 fold and 91 fold higher, respectively, in the poor outcome (PO) group than in the good outcome (GO) group. The PO group exhibited higher expression of the HL marker CD30, the macrophage marker CD68, and metastatic markers TGFß1 and MMP9 compared to the GO group. This expression signature was confirmed by qualitative immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent data. A Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that samples in which the CD30+ cells carried an FGF2+/SDC1+ immunophenotype showed shortened survival. Analysis of chemo-naive HL blood samples suggested that in the PO group a subset of CD30+ HL cells had entered the circulation. These cells significantly overexpressed FGF2 and SDC1 compared to the GO group. The PO group showed significant down-regulation of markers for monocytes, T-cells, and B-cells. These expression signatures were eliminated in heavily pretreated patients. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that small subsets of circulating CD30+/CD15+ cells expressing FGF2 and SDC1 represent biomarkers that identify NS-cHL patients who will experience a poor outcome (primary refractory and early relapsing).

The chemokine receptor CCR4 is expressed and associated with a poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVES: There is increasing evidence that chemokines and chemokine receptors are causally involved in the metastasis of cancer. Little is known about the possible role of chemokine receptors in the metastasis of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of chemokine receptors and their prognostic role in patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: We screened the expression of CCR and CXCR chemokine receptors in 12 gastric cancer cell lines using the semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The expression of CCR4, one of the most commonly expressed chemokines, was confirmed using Western blot and flow cytometry analysis of 8 gastric cancer cell lines. The function of CCR4 was examined using migration and proliferation assays. Then the migratory response of CCR4 was blocked using blocking antibodies. Finally, the clinical significance of the chemokine receptors was explored using tissue microarray methods and immunohistochemical staining of specimens from 753 gastric cancer patients. RESULTS: We found that 6 out of 8 (75.0%) gastric carcinoma cell lines expressed a functional CCR4 for its ligand, chemokine CCL17, as demonstrated by the migration assays, and the migration was inhibited by anti-CCR4 antibodies. The clinical samples evaluated by immunohistochemical assay of tissue microarrays showed that CCR4-positive carcinoma cells were detected in 128 of 753 (17.0%) cases. In addition, there was a significant difference in recurrences between the CCR4-positive and -negative cases (P = 0.009). The patients with CCR4-positive tumors had significantly poorer prognosis than did those with CCR4-negative tumors (5-year survival rate; 71.6% versus 82.5%, respectively, P = 0.008). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that CCR4 and its ligands were associated with increased tumor recurrence and impaired overall survival in patients with gastric cancer.