Perianal embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma: A case report.

Perianal embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) is a rare disease with a poor prognosis. There are few reported cases of this disease, and specific clinical manifestations are lacking; therefore, making an early diagnosis before surgery is challenging. In November 2014, a 30-year-old man was admitted to Xiaoshan Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University due to severe left perianal pain. Ultrasonography revealed a multilocular perianal abscess, and an emergency perianal abscess incision and drainage were performed. However, pathology combined with immunohistochemistry confirmed an ERMS. The patient did not receive postoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy and died of multiple metastases and multiple organ failure 6 months later. Perianal ERMS is highly malignant and rare, and can easily be misdiagnosed as a perianal abscess. Clinicians must enhance their knowledge and improve preoperative diagnostic tests to prevent misdiagnoses.

[Corrigendum] S100A9 promotes the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells via the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway.

Subsequently to the publication of the above article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that two pairs of data panels in Fig. 7D on p. 1008, showing the results from Transwell invasion assay experiments, contained overlapping sections such that these panels were likely to have been derived from the same original sources where they were intended to show the results from differently performed experiments. After having consulted their original data, the authors were able to identify that two of the data panels in Fig. 7D were inadvertently selected incorrectly; specifically, the 'GST+SB203580' and 'GST­hS100A9+PD98059' panels in this figure. The revised version of Fig. 7, showing the correct data panels for the 'GST+SB203580' and 'GST­hS100A9+PD98059' panels in Fig. 7D, is shown on the next page. The authors confirm that the errors made during the assembly of Fig. 7 did not grossly affect the major conclusions presented in this paper, and are grateful to the Editor of International Journal of Oncology for allowing them this opportunity to publish a Corrigendum. They also apologize to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Oncology 42: 1001-1010, 2013; DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2013.1796].

S100A9 promotes the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells via the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway.

The S100A9 protein, a member of the S100 protein family, is often upregulated in various types of cancer, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). S100A9 acts as a danger signal when secreted to the extracellular space and is thought to play an important role during tumorigenesis. Despite this fact, little is known about the effects of S100A9 in the tumor microenvironment on HCC. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of exogenous S100A9 on the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 HCC cells, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. Our results demonstrated that exogenous S100A9 promoted the proliferation, clone formation and invasion of HepG2 cells in vitro, as shown by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltrazolium bromide (MTT), clone formation and transwell invasion assays, respectively, and also promoted tumor growth in vivo by tumorigenicity assays in nude mice. Furthermore, S100A9 increased the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in HepG2 cells. When the phosphorylation of p38 was inhibited by SB203580 (a p38 inhibitor), the S100A9-induced cell invasion was reversed; when the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was inhibited by PD98059 (an ERK1/2 inhibitor), the S100A9-induced cell proliferation was reversed. These data suggest that the S100A9-induced proliferation and invasion of HepG2 cells are partly mediated by the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway.

Enhanced protection against pneumococcal infection elicited by immunization with the combination of PspA, PspC, and ClpP.

Immunization with a combination of several virulence-associated proteins is one of the strategies of developing effective protein-based vaccines to enhance the protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae. In this study, we evaluated the protection effects against pneumococcal infection caused by S. pneumoniae TIGR4 in BALB/c mice immunized with either single pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA), pneumococcal surface protein C (PspC), the caseinolytic protease (ClpP) or their combinations. The median survival times for mice immunized with single antigen or their combinations were significantly longer than that for mice treated with adjuvant alone. Mice treated with a combination of three antigens survived significantly longer than those that received either single or two antigens. The highest survival rate of the various groups of mice was observed with the combination of three antigens, this survival rate was significantly different from those for mice that received either single antigen or the combinations of two antigens except the mixture of ClpP and PspA. In the experiment of passive immunization with hyperimmune serums containing their specific polyclonal antibodies (anti-PspA serum, anti-PspC serum, anti-ClpP serum), the median survival times for mice immunized with hyperimmune serums containing specific polyclonal antibodies were significantly longer than that for control mice, the treatment of serum containing only one single polyclonal antibody could not provide higher survival rate than control serum. However, the survival rates for mice treated with the serums containing combined polyclonal antibodies were significantly higher than those for mice treated with either control serum or anti-PspA serum alone. Immunization with the combination of three hyperimmune serums also provided the best protection against S. pneumoniae. Compared to mice treated with serum containing single polyclonal antibody, the survival rate for mice treated with serums containing three polyclonal antibodies was significantly higher but was not different from those for mice treated with serums containing two polyclonal antibodies. Our findings provided evidence that a mixture of PspA, PspC, and ClpP or their polyclonal antibodies could enhance the protection against pneumococcal infection acting a synergetic effect.