Immunohistochemical expression of E-Cadherin and Cyclin D1 in different grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common oral malignancy, representing up to 80-90% of all malignant neoplasms of the oral cavity. It results from the multistep accumulation of heterogeneous genetic changes. Important risk factors for OSCC include the use of tobacco or betel quid chewing, alcohol consumption, human papillomavirus and poor nutrition. E-Cadherin as a tumour suppressor gene sets a threshold for Wnt/ß-catenin signalling. When expression of E-Cadherin is lost, potentiation of Wnt signalling pathway occurs leading to loss of cell-cell adhesion. The cyclin D1 gene (CCND1) located on chromosome 11q13 encodes a nuclear protein that is the regulatory subunit of Cdk-4 and Cdk-6. Cyclin D1 plays a major role in cell cycle transition from G1 to S phase by contributing to inactivation of the retinoblastoma gene product, and overexpression of CCND1 has been reported in 35-40% cases of OSCC. Aim: Considering this, we decided to evaluate and compare the expression of CE-Cadherin and Cyclin D1 in different grades of OSCC. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 60 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks comprising of 20 cases of well-differentiated OSCC, 20 cases of moderately differentiated OSCC and 20 cases of poorly differentiated OSCC. Diagnosed (using H and E), with oral mucosa taken as control. Results: There was downregulation of E-Cadherin and overexpression of Cyclin D1 in increasing grades of OSCC and the difference was statistically significant. E-Cadherin was localised to membranous and shifted to cytoplasm as the grade worsened. Cyclin D1 was localised to nuclei of cells and the expression was seen more at the peripheral portions of tumour islands depicting the proliferative activity of tumour front. Conclusion: The study revealed a good prognostic role of both E-Cadherin and Cyclin D1 in OSCC. The markers can be used for prognostic as well as therapeutic purposes.

Influence of the graft density of hydrophobic groups on thermo-responsive nanoparticles for anti-cancer drugs delivery.

A series of deoxycholate-chitosan-hydroxybutyl (DAHBCs) with different degrees of substitution (DS) of hydrophobic deoxycholate (DOCA) were successfully synthesized. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of various DAHBCs could be adjusted from 35.4°C to 42.1°C by controlling the graft density of DOCA. DAHBCs could self-assemble into nanoparticles (NPs) which gradually evolved from irregular aggregates to spherical particles with the decrease of the DS of DOCA groups. The size of DAHBCs NPs ranged from 100nm to 250nm and their zeta potential varied between 3.85 and 12.37mV. Hemolysis tests and protein adsorption assay exhibited DAHBCs NPs had few adverse effects on the blood components even at a concentration as high as 1mg/mL. DAHBCs NPs showed high curcumin (CUR) encapsulation efficiency up to 80%. CUR-loaded DAHBCs NPs displayed thermal-dependent drug release profiles, and the release rate of CUR (∼75%) was significantly (p<0.05) accelerated at a temperature above the LCST compared with that (∼40%) below the LCST. Cytotoxicity analysis identified no toxicity associated with DAHBCs NPs at a concentration up to 0.5mg/mL. However, when the cells were incubated with the CUR-loaded NPs, their growth was significantly inhibited at 43°C (>LCST), demonstrating the thermal-responsive release of encapsulated cargoes from the NPs. With the capacity to control the LCST of DAHBCs NPs at specific temperatures, it could be speculated that DAHBCs NPs might serve as a promising thermo-responsive nanoplatform for the delivery of antitumor drugs.

Single stage surgery for Blepharophimosis syndrome.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the functional and cosmetic outcome of single stage surgical procedure for correction of the classic components of Blepharophimosis syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report a retrospective case file review of 11 patients with Blepharophimosis syndrome operated between July 2004 and April 2008. Each patient had undergone the correction of epicanthus inversus, telecanthus, palpebral phimosis, and bilateral ptosis as a single-stage surgical procedure. Patients were examined and photographed before and after surgery. The mean follow-up was 3 years (range 2-6 years). RESULTS: A total of 11 patients (8 males, 3 females) with a mean age of 9 years (range 6--22 years) were reviewed. The surgical outcome was assessed both functionally and cosmetically. The mean preoperative visual acuity was 0.729 ± 0.316 SD and the mean postoperative visual acuity was 0.856 ± 0.277 SD (P <0.0428). There was a statistically significant decrease of astigmatism following ptosis correction (P<0.05), improvement of telecanthus (P<0.0001) in terms of IICD (inner intercanthal distance), and HPFL (horizontal palpebral fissure length) (P=0.019) along with improvement of the superior visual field. The mean preoperative and postoperative IICD was 3±0.33 SD and 2.418 ± 0.189 SD, respectively. There was also a significant postoperative improvement of ptosis (P< 0.01), as measured by IPFH (vertical interpalpebral fissure height). All the patients had a stable functional and cosmetic result after a mean follow-up period of 3 years. CONCLUSION: Single-stage surgical correction of the classic anomalies of Blepharophimosis syndrome provides stable and successful long-term results.