Gendered differences in relative ACE2 expression in the nasal epithelium.

Gendered differences in relative ACE2 expression in the nasal epithelium.

Tracing TET1 expression in prostate cancer: discovery of malignant cells with a distinct oncogenic signature.

BACKGROUND: Ten-eleven translocation methylcytosine dioxygenase 1 (TET1) is involved in DNA demethylation and transcriptional regulation, plays a key role in the maintenance of stem cell pluripotency, and is dysregulated in malignant cells. The identification of cancer stem cells (CSCs) driving tumor growth and metastasis is the primary objective of biomarker discovery in aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). In this context, we analyzed TET1 expression in PCa. METHODS: A large-scale immunohistochemical analysis of TET1 was performed in normal prostate (NOR) and PCa using conventional slides (50 PCa specimens) and tissue microarrays (669 NOR and 1371 PCa tissue cores from 371 PCa specimens). Western blotting, RT-qPCR, and 450 K methylation array analyses were performed on PCa cell lines. Genome-wide correlation, gene regulatory network, and functional genomics studies were performed using publicly available data sources and bioinformatics tools. RESULTS: In NOR, TET1 was exclusively expressed in normal cytokeratin 903 (CK903)-positive basal cells. In PCa, TET1 was frequently detected in alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR)-positive tumor cell clusters and was detectable at all tumor stages and Gleason scores. Pearson's correlation analyses of PCa revealed 626 TET1-coactivated genes (r > 0.5) primarily encoding chromatin remodeling and mitotic factors. Moreover, signaling pathways regulating antiviral processes (62 zinc finger, ZNF, antiviral proteins) and the pluripotency of stem cells were activated. A significant proportion of detected genes exhibited TET1-correlated promoter hypomethylation. There were 161 genes encoding transcription factors (TFs), of which 133 were ZNF-TFs with promoter binding sites in TET1 and in the vast majority of TET1-coactivated genes. CONCLUSIONS: TET1-expressing cells are an integral part of PCa and may represent CSCs with oncogenic potential.

[Report from the 9th symposium of the German Association for Bladder Cancer Research]. / Bericht vom 9. Symposium des Deutschen Forschungsverbunds Blasenkarzinom.

The annual symposium of the German Research Association for Bladder Carcinoma (DFBK) was organized on February 7th and 8th, 2020, in Düsseldorf. On the first day, eight international guest speakers invited by the DFBK and the Department of Urology of the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf presented the current state of research on bladder cancer (BC). Topics were genomic changes and molecular classification in non-muscle-invasive and muscle-invasive BC, prospects and limits of proteome technology in urine diagnostics, function of chromatin regulators in bladder carcinogenesis, cellular reactions to aneuploidy, organoid technology and biobanking, as well as novel aspects of immunotherapy for BC. The second day was dedicated to new results and ideas of the DFBK members on BC pathomechanisms, diagnostics and therapeutic approaches, and most importantly, discussions on the further development of collaborative projects. Additional information is available at http://www.forschungsverbund-blasenkarzinom.de.

[Bladder cancer in focus: update 2012 of the German Bladder Cancer Association]. / Das Harnblasenkarzinom im Fokus : Update 2012 des Deutschen Forschungsverbundes Blasenkarzinom e. V.

The German Bladder Cancer Association (DFBK) invited its members to the 3rd annual meeting 2012 in Hannover 4 years after the official founding. The meeting was directed to discuss the progress of ongoing and newly initiated projects and collaborations. In this article we will introduce current research activities and collaborations of the DFBK and would like to invite interested researchers to join this national interdisciplinary research association. The aim of the DFBK is to initiate interdisciplinary collaboration and to support scientific discussions among its members. For further information please visit our website at www.forschungsverbund-blasenkarzinom.de.

[Bladder cancer update: what was new at the 2010 annual congress of the German Association of Urology in Düsseldorf?]. / Blasenkarzinom - Update : Was gab es neues auf dem Jahreskongress 2010 der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Urologie in Düsseldorf?

One of the principal objects of the scientific research network "German Bladder Cancer Network" is to consolidate research activities on bladder cancer. An overview about directions of current projects on this research topic was given at the annual meeting of the German Association of Urology in Düsseldorf from September 22 to 25 September 2010. As representatives of the"German Bladder Cancer Network" we summarize and comment on some of the most interesting projects on bladder cancer presented at this meeting. A special focus will be on current developments in the field of uropathology and on different aspects in preclinical research on bladder cancer.

[Clinical pathway - conservative back pain treatment]. / Klinischer Behandlungspfad - konservative Wirbelsäulenbehandlung.

Back pain is a very common clinical picture. The causes are often not only somatic, which generally has led to a biopsychosocial understanding of this disease. Therefore, it is necessary to employ a multimodal treatment approach to achieve effective and longer-lasting relief. Such a concept requires the cooperation of multiple disciplines in a sophisticated and strongly organized manner. In our clinic we have developed a clinical pathway for conservative back pain treatment that avoids the use of too much time by careful coordination of the therapy elements. It has proven to be a successful tool for the efficient treatment of patients with primarily somatically caused back pain. The following article describes this clinical pathway.

[Orthotic methods for osteoporosis and osteoporotic vertebral fracture]. / Orthesenversorgung bei Osteoporose und osteoporotischen Wirbelkörperfrakturen.

Even in times of kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty, braces remain an efficient option in the treatment of osteoporotic hyperkyphosis due to imminent or manifest vertebral wedging with the obligatory pain and fracture risk of adjacent vertebraes. In the same fashion, acute osteoporotic fractures with considerable backpain can be treated with an adequate orthosis besides analgetics and osteological drugs. Essential is the careful selection of the right brace for a given type of osteoporotic fracture: Overall brace-frames (Stagnara type) should be used only in highly unstable or multiple osteoporotic fractures with impact onto the spinal canal where surgery is not possible. These brace frames should be administered only for the shortest possible period (8-12 weeks) to reduce muscle atrophy and immobilization. However, in the typical stable osteoporotic wedge fracture, light weight constructions like the Jewett or Bähler-Vogt brace or - in less severe cases - dynamic braces (e.g. TorsoStretch brace or SpinoMedActive brace) should be used to minimize muscle atrophy and demineralisation. Brace treatment at its best though, can be only one step in the cascade of measures to fight demineralisation and the clinical consequences: General physiotherapy, analgetics and specific osteological drugs and minerals add essentially to the treatment.

Co-detection of members of the urokinase plasminogen activator system in tumour tissue and serum correlates with a poor prognosis for soft-tissue sarcoma patients.

BACKGROUND: The urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) system is one of the best-investigated protease systems, both under physiological and pathological conditions, including various types of cancer. However, effects of co-expression of members of the uPA system in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients at the protein level in both tumour tissue and serum have not been investigated yet. METHODS: We examined 82 STS patients for protein levels of uPA, PAI-1and uPAR in tumour tissue and serum by ELISA. RESULTS: A significant correlation between high antigen levels of uPA, PAI-1 or uPAR in tumour tissue, and of uPAR in serum, with poor outcome of STS patients was found for the first time. Most strikingly, we observed an additive effect of combined uPA, PAI-1 or uPAR levels in tumour tissue extracts with uPAR levels in serum on patients' prognosis. High uPA/uPAR, PAI-1/uPAR and uPAR/uPAR antigen levels in tumour tissue/serum were associated with a 5.9-fold, 5.8-fold and 6.2-fold increased risk of tumour-related death (P=0.003, 0.001 and 0.002, respectively) compared with those patients who displayed low levels of the respective marker combination. CONCLUSION: As expression of members of the uPA system in tumour tissue and serum is additively correlated with prognosis of STS patients, our results suggest that combinations of these biomarkers can identify STS patients with a higher risk of tumour-related death.

[Molecular genetic markers for prostate cancer. Evidence in fine needle biopsies for improved confirmation of the diagnosis]. / Molekulargenetische Marker des Prostatakarzinoms. Nachweis in Feinnadelbiopsien zur besseren Diagnoseabsicherung.

Selected transcript markers as well as their combinations were analyzed on minimal prostate tissue specimens with regard to their diagnostic potential. Artificial prostate biopsies from RPE explants were used for evaluation and optimization of the techniques used followed by application to diagnostic prostate needle core biopsies. Minimal prostate specimens were cryopreserved and processed with standardized methods. The RNA amount of a half of each biopsy was sufficient for the analysis of 11 marker genes and one reference gene (TBP) using quantitative PCR assays.The relative transcript amounts obtained were included in several analyses including calculations for each single marker gene like median overexpression rate as well as marker combinations. Two optimized mathematical models based on relative expression levels of EZH2, hepsin, PCA3, prostein, and TRPM8 were evaluated with regard to their diagnostic potential. Compared to single marker analyses these models show higher sensitivity and specificity for prostate cancer detection.Thus biomolecular prostate cancer identification may represent a suitable diagnostic tool to supplement conventional techniques on prostate biopsies. Furthermore, an extension of this approach to PCa prognosis and the transfer to urine samples appear very promising.

Stem cell-associated genes are extremely poor prognostic factors for soft-tissue sarcoma patients.

Cancer stem cells can play an important role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. However, it is still difficult to detect and isolate cancer stem cells. An alternative approach is to analyse stem cell-associated gene expression. We investigated the coexpression of three stem cell-associated genes, Hiwi, hTERT and survivin, by quantitative real-time-PCR in 104 primary soft-tissue sarcomas (STS). Multivariate Cox's proportional hazards regression analyses allowed correlating gene expression with overall survival for STS patients. Coexpression of all three stem cell-associated genes resulted in a significantly increased risk of tumor-related death. Importantly, tumors of patients with the poorest prognosis were of all four tumor stages, suggesting that their risk is based upon coexpression of stem cell-associated genes rather than on tumor stage.

[Optimized standards for prostate biopsy]. / Optimierte Standards der Prostatastanzbiopsie.

As individual risk assessment mainly depends on the correct prediction of the tumor's biological behavior, primary diagnosis plays a key role in the clinical management of prostate cancer patients. Prostate core needle biopsy, as a primary diagnostic tool, should not only confirm clinical suspicion but also supply the urologist with information which is necessary for risk-adapted therapy. The experience and competence of both the urologist and the pathologist are crucial for the quality of prostate core needle biopsy diagnosis. Optimized handling and submission of prostate core needle biopsy specimens by the urologist to the pathologist are of outstanding importance for improving the number of cancer cases detected. Increasing availability of molecular markers leads to the necessity of developing new tissue sampling procedures which allow prostate core needle biopsy specimens to be simultaneously studied histologically and by molecular approaches.

Identification of an HLA-A*0201-restricted T-cell epitope derived from the prostate cancer-associated protein prostein.

The development of T-cell-based immunotherapies of cancer largely depends on the availability of tumour-associated antigens capable of eliciting tumour-directed cytotoxic T-cell responses. In prostate cancer, the number of antigens defined as suitable targets of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) is still limited. Recently, prostein was identified as a transmembrane protein that is highly restricted to prostate tissues. In our study, prostein transcripts were found to be abundant in both malignant and nonmalignant prostate tissue samples. To identify immunogenic CD8+ T-cell epitopes, human leucocyte antigen-A(*)0201-binding peptides were selected from the amino-acid sequence of prostein and were used for the in vitro stimulation of CD8+ T lymphocytes. Specific CTLs were raised against the prostein-derived peptide CLAAGITYV that were capable of lysing prostate cancer cells, indicating that this peptide is naturally generated by tumour cells. Our data suggest that prostein is a suitable candidate to be included in a T-cell-based immunotherapy of prostate cancer.

Sevoflurane versus isoflurane--anaesthesia for lower abdominal surgery. Effects on perioperative glucose metabolism.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of sevoflurane anaesthesia on metabolic and endocrine responses to lower abdominal surgery. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled study in 20 patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either sevoflurane (S) or isoflurane anaesthesia (I). Using a stable isotope dilution technique, endogenous glucose production (EGP) and plasma glucose clearance (GC) were determined pre- and postoperatively (6,6-2H2-glucose). Plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine were measured preoperatively, 5 min after induction of anaesthesia, during surgery and 2 h after the operation. RESULTS: EGP increased in both groups with no intergroup differences (preop. S 12.2 +/- 1.6, I 12.4 +/- 1.6; postop. S 16.3 +/- 1.9*, I 19.0 +/- 3.1* micromol kg(-1) min(-1), all values are means +/- SD, *P < 0.05 vs. preop.). Plasma glucose concentration increased and GC decreased in both groups. There were no differences between groups. (Glucose conc. mmol l(-1) preop.: S 4.1 +/- 0.3, I 3.9 +/- 0.5; 5 AI S 5.1 +/- 0.6*, I 5.1 +/- 1.0*, postop. S 7.0 +/- 1.0*, I 7.1 +/- 1.4*; * = P < 0.05 vs. preop.; GC ml kg(-1)min(-1) preop. S 3.0 +/- 0.4, I 3.2 +/- 0.4; postop. S 2.4 +/- 0.3*, I 2.7 +/- 0.3*; *=P < 0.05 vs. preop.) Insulin plasma concentrations were unchanged. Cortisol plasma concentrations increased intra- and postoperatively with no changes between the groups. Norepinephrine plasma concentration increased in the S group after induction of anaesthesia. I group norepinephrine was increased 2 h after operation and showed no intergroup differences. CONCLUSION: Sevoflurane, as well as isoflurane, does not prevent the metabolic endocrine responses to surgery.