ABSTRACT
Pituitary tumor-transforming gene-1 (PTTG1) is a recently identified oncogene involved in the progression of malignant tumors; however, the expression level of PTTG1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and its potential value as a novel prognostic marker for ccRCC remains unclear. In this study, PTTG1 mRNA and protein levels were assessed in 44 paired ccRCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Further immunohistochemical analysis was implemented in 192 samples of ccRCC to evaluate the associations between PTTG1 levels and the clinical characteristics in ccRCC. Reverse transcription qPCR and immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the PTTG1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly higher in ccRCC compared to normal tissues. In addition, the PTTG1 protein level in 192 ccRCC samples was found to be significantly correlated with T stage, N classification, metastasis, recurrence and Fuhrman grade, whereas it was not associated with age and gender. Patients with low PTTG1 levels exhibited a better survival outcome compared to those with a higher PTTG1 level. PTTG1 expression and N stage were identified as independent prognostic factors for the overall survival of ccRCC patients. The results suggested that the overexpression of PTTG1 indicates a poor prognosis in ccRCC patients and, therefore, PTTG1 may serve as a novel prognostic marker for ccRCC.
ABSTRACT
By a solution culture experiment, this paper studied the effects of excess Mn on the growth, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and photosynthesis of cucumber under different light intensity. The results indicated that excess Mn inhibited plant growth, which was more obvious under high light intensity than under low light intensity. The primary maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (v/Fm), quantum efficiency of non-cyclic electron transport of PSII (phiPSII), and photochemical quenching (qP) were significantly decreased in excess Mn treatment under high light intensity, while no significant effects on Fv/Fm and qP were observed under low light intensity. Excess Mn, particularly under high light intensity, decreased net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (Gs). Excess Mn increased intracellular CO2 (Ci) under high light intensity and decreased Ci under low light intensity, while stomatal limitation value (Ls) was just reverse to Ci. It could be concluded that the decrease of Pn in excess Mn treatment was not resulted from stomatal limitation under high light intensity, but was true under low light intensity.
