Background:Piroplasms are kinds of tick-borne parasitic apicomplexan protozoa,which are detrimental to humans and animals in tropical and subtropical areas around the world.Up until now,there has been a limited amount...Background:Piroplasms are kinds of tick-borne parasitic apicomplexan protozoa,which are detrimental to humans and animals in tropical and subtropical areas around the world.Up until now,there has been a limited amount of reliable information available about the prevalence of piroplasms infections in wild animals in China.Therefore,we have investigated the infections of Babesia and Theileria species in both domestic and wild animals in Xinyang city,Henan province,where tick-borne diseases have recently been reported.This study aims to analyze the distribution patterns of piroplasms infections in animals,and assess their potential threat to humans in Central China.Methods:Blood samples were collected from sheep,dogs and hedgehogs in two regions,including Shihe District and Luoshan County,of Xinyang city,Henan province from August to December 2012.Babesia spp.and Theileria spp.were detected by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and identified by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.Moreover,the characteristics of detected piroplasms in different animal hosts were compared between the two study regions.Results:A total of 227 blood samples were collected from 73 sheep,two dogs and 152 hedgehogs.Babesia spp.was only detected in the two dogs.Theileria spp.was detected both in the sheep and the hedgehogs,and the total positive rate of Theileria spp.in the sheep and the hedgehogs was 57.53%and 13.82%,respectively.Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Theileria spp.detected in the sheep and the hedgehogs were very close to T.lunwenshuni cloned from a small ruminant and Theileria spp.isolated from a febrile hospitalized patient in China.Conclusion:Babesia and Theileria infections were detected in both domestic and wild animals in Xinyang city,Henan province in Central China,thus warranting further studies in these regions.展开更多
AIM： To study the expression of Sonic hedgehog pathway-related molecules, Sonic hedgehog （Shh） and Glil in gastric carcinoma. METHODS： Expression of Shh in 56 gastric specimens including non-cancerous gastric tiss...AIM： To study the expression of Sonic hedgehog pathway-related molecules, Sonic hedgehog （Shh） and Glil in gastric carcinoma. METHODS： Expression of Shh in 56 gastric specimens including non-cancerous gastric tissues, gastric adenocarcinoma, gastric squamous cell carcinoma was detected by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Expression of Glil was observed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS： The positive rate of Shh and Glil expression was 0.0%, 0.0% in non-cancerous gastric tissues while it was 66.7%, 57.8% respectively in gastric adenocarcinoma, and 100%, 100% respectively in gastric squamous cell carcinoma. There was a significant difference between the non-cancerous gastric tissues and gastric carcinoma （P 〈 0.05）. Elevated expression of Shh and Glil in gastric tubular adenocarcinoma was associated with poorly differentiated tumors while the expression was absent in gastric mucinous adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION： The elevated expression of Shh and Glil in gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric squamous cell carcinoma shows the involvement of activated Shh signaling in the cellular proliferation of gastric carcinogenesis. It suggests Shh signaling gene may be a new and good target gene for gastric tumor diagnosis and therapy.展开更多
The hedgehog signaling cascade is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates multiple aspects of embryonic development and plays a decisive role in tissue homeostasis. As the best studied member of three hedge...The hedgehog signaling cascade is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates multiple aspects of embryonic development and plays a decisive role in tissue homeostasis. As the best studied member of three hedgehog ligands, sonic hedgehog(Shh) is known to be associated with kidney development and tissue repair after various insults. Recent studies uncover an intrinsic link between dysregulated Shh signaling and renal fibrogenesis. In various types of chronic kidney disease(CKD), Shh is upregulated specifically in renal tubular epithelium but targets interstitial fibroblasts, thereby mediating a dynamic epithelialmesenchymal communication(EMC). Tubule-derived Shh acts as a growth factor for interstitial fibroblasts and controls a hierarchy of fibrosis-related genes, which lead to the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix in renal interstitium. In this review, we recapitulate the principle of Shh signaling, its activation and regulation in a variety of kidney diseases. We also discuss the potential mechanisms by which Shh promotes renal fibrosis and assess the efficacy of blocking this signaling in preclinical settings. Continuing these lines of investigations will provide novel opportunities for designing effective therapies to improve CKD prognosis in patients.展开更多
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and difficult cancers to treat.Despite numerous research efforts,limited success has been achieved in the therapeutic management of patients with this disease.In the cur...Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and difficult cancers to treat.Despite numerous research efforts,limited success has been achieved in the therapeutic management of patients with this disease.In the current review,we focus on one component of morphogenesis signaling,Hedgehog(Hh),with the aim of developing novel,effective therapies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.Hh signaling contributes to the induction of a malignant phenotype in pancreatic cancer and is responsible for maintaining pancreatic cancer stem cells.In addition,we propose a novel concept linking Hh signaling and tumor hypoxic conditions,and discuss the effects of Hh inhibitors in clinical trials.The Hh signaling pathway may represent a potential therapeutic target for patients with refractory pancreatic cancer.展开更多
Objective： The activation of hedgehog （HH） pathway is implicated in the development of human malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. However, the clinical impact of HH activation in HCC patients is...Objective： The activation of hedgehog （HH） pathway is implicated in the development of human malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. However, the clinical impact of HH activation in HCC patients is still unclear. This study was conducted to confirm whether the expression of HH pathway components was associated with HCC progression and clinical outcome. Methods： This study was a sample-expanded and prolonged follow up of one of our previous studies. It included 46 HCC patients who underwent surgical treatment from 2002 to 2005. The expression of sonic HH （SHIq）, patched-1 （PTCHI）, smoothened （SMOH） and glioma-associated oncogene-1 （GLI1） genes in tumor and adjacent normal tissues extracted from the patients were examined by reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） to explore the relationship between these genes and the clinical prognosis of HCC. Results： The expression levels ofSHH, PTCH1, SMOH and GLI1 in HCC tissues were 60.87%, 50.00%, 32.61% and 54.35%, respectively. The expression levels of SHH-related molecules were relatively intense in cancer tissue, but insignificantly correlated with any clinicopathological factors of tumor. Transcriptional factor GLI1 was the only molecule associated with poor prognosis among the HCC patients. The expression of GLI1 gene in tumor tissues was significantly related with disease-free survival （DFS） （P=0.042） and overall survival （OS） （P=0.030）. The simultaneous expression of GLI1 in tumor and adjacent normal liver tissues correlated with DFS （P〈0.029） and OS （P〈0.025）. Conclusions： HH signaling activation is an important event in the development of human HCC. The expression of GLI1 in SHH pathway is possibly involved in HCC progression, which may be a useful prognostic indicator of HCC.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the Special Fund for Health Research in the Public Interest(Grant No.201202019).
文摘Background:Piroplasms are kinds of tick-borne parasitic apicomplexan protozoa,which are detrimental to humans and animals in tropical and subtropical areas around the world.Up until now,there has been a limited amount of reliable information available about the prevalence of piroplasms infections in wild animals in China.Therefore,we have investigated the infections of Babesia and Theileria species in both domestic and wild animals in Xinyang city,Henan province,where tick-borne diseases have recently been reported.This study aims to analyze the distribution patterns of piroplasms infections in animals,and assess their potential threat to humans in Central China.Methods:Blood samples were collected from sheep,dogs and hedgehogs in two regions,including Shihe District and Luoshan County,of Xinyang city,Henan province from August to December 2012.Babesia spp.and Theileria spp.were detected by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and identified by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.Moreover,the characteristics of detected piroplasms in different animal hosts were compared between the two study regions.Results:A total of 227 blood samples were collected from 73 sheep,two dogs and 152 hedgehogs.Babesia spp.was only detected in the two dogs.Theileria spp.was detected both in the sheep and the hedgehogs,and the total positive rate of Theileria spp.in the sheep and the hedgehogs was 57.53%and 13.82%,respectively.Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Theileria spp.detected in the sheep and the hedgehogs were very close to T.lunwenshuni cloned from a small ruminant and Theileria spp.isolated from a febrile hospitalized patient in China.Conclusion:Babesia and Theileria infections were detected in both domestic and wild animals in Xinyang city,Henan province in Central China,thus warranting further studies in these regions.
基金Supported by the Foundation of Shandong Province Bureau of Health, No. 2005JZ001
文摘AIM： To study the expression of Sonic hedgehog pathway-related molecules, Sonic hedgehog （Shh） and Glil in gastric carcinoma. METHODS： Expression of Shh in 56 gastric specimens including non-cancerous gastric tissues, gastric adenocarcinoma, gastric squamous cell carcinoma was detected by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Expression of Glil was observed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS： The positive rate of Shh and Glil expression was 0.0%, 0.0% in non-cancerous gastric tissues while it was 66.7%, 57.8% respectively in gastric adenocarcinoma, and 100%, 100% respectively in gastric squamous cell carcinoma. There was a significant difference between the non-cancerous gastric tissues and gastric carcinoma （P 〈 0.05）. Elevated expression of Shh and Glil in gastric tubular adenocarcinoma was associated with poorly differentiated tumors while the expression was absent in gastric mucinous adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION： The elevated expression of Shh and Glil in gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric squamous cell carcinoma shows the involvement of activated Shh signaling in the cellular proliferation of gastric carcinogenesis. It suggests Shh signaling gene may be a new and good target gene for gastric tumor diagnosis and therapy.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81130011,81370839,81521003)Guangdong Science Foundation(2014A030312014)+2 种基金Guangzhou Projects Grant(15020025)American Heart Association FTF(16990086)National Institutes of Health Grants(DK064005,DK091239,DK106049)
文摘The hedgehog signaling cascade is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates multiple aspects of embryonic development and plays a decisive role in tissue homeostasis. As the best studied member of three hedgehog ligands, sonic hedgehog(Shh) is known to be associated with kidney development and tissue repair after various insults. Recent studies uncover an intrinsic link between dysregulated Shh signaling and renal fibrogenesis. In various types of chronic kidney disease(CKD), Shh is upregulated specifically in renal tubular epithelium but targets interstitial fibroblasts, thereby mediating a dynamic epithelialmesenchymal communication(EMC). Tubule-derived Shh acts as a growth factor for interstitial fibroblasts and controls a hierarchy of fibrosis-related genes, which lead to the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix in renal interstitium. In this review, we recapitulate the principle of Shh signaling, its activation and regulation in a variety of kidney diseases. We also discuss the potential mechanisms by which Shh promotes renal fibrosis and assess the efficacy of blocking this signaling in preclinical settings. Continuing these lines of investigations will provide novel opportunities for designing effective therapies to improve CKD prognosis in patients.
基金Supported by The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,Kakenhi Grant,No.24390303
文摘Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and difficult cancers to treat.Despite numerous research efforts,limited success has been achieved in the therapeutic management of patients with this disease.In the current review,we focus on one component of morphogenesis signaling,Hedgehog(Hh),with the aim of developing novel,effective therapies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.Hh signaling contributes to the induction of a malignant phenotype in pancreatic cancer and is responsible for maintaining pancreatic cancer stem cells.In addition,we propose a novel concept linking Hh signaling and tumor hypoxic conditions,and discuss the effects of Hh inhibitors in clinical trials.The Hh signaling pathway may represent a potential therapeutic target for patients with refractory pancreatic cancer.
基金supported by the Project 2009CB521700 of the National Basic Research Program of China ("973"Program)the Capital Development Grant (2007-2053)
文摘Objective： The activation of hedgehog （HH） pathway is implicated in the development of human malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. However, the clinical impact of HH activation in HCC patients is still unclear. This study was conducted to confirm whether the expression of HH pathway components was associated with HCC progression and clinical outcome. Methods： This study was a sample-expanded and prolonged follow up of one of our previous studies. It included 46 HCC patients who underwent surgical treatment from 2002 to 2005. The expression of sonic HH （SHIq）, patched-1 （PTCHI）, smoothened （SMOH） and glioma-associated oncogene-1 （GLI1） genes in tumor and adjacent normal tissues extracted from the patients were examined by reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） to explore the relationship between these genes and the clinical prognosis of HCC. Results： The expression levels ofSHH, PTCH1, SMOH and GLI1 in HCC tissues were 60.87%, 50.00%, 32.61% and 54.35%, respectively. The expression levels of SHH-related molecules were relatively intense in cancer tissue, but insignificantly correlated with any clinicopathological factors of tumor. Transcriptional factor GLI1 was the only molecule associated with poor prognosis among the HCC patients. The expression of GLI1 gene in tumor tissues was significantly related with disease-free survival （DFS） （P=0.042） and overall survival （OS） （P=0.030）. The simultaneous expression of GLI1 in tumor and adjacent normal liver tissues correlated with DFS （P〈0.029） and OS （P〈0.025）. Conclusions： HH signaling activation is an important event in the development of human HCC. The expression of GLI1 in SHH pathway is possibly involved in HCC progression, which may be a useful prognostic indicator of HCC.
