In conclusion, we suggest that average expression of those snoRNAs could be used as a reliable endogenous control in microRNA qPCR studies in endometrioid endometrial cancer. In addition to identifying suitable endogenous controls in EEC, our study presents an appropriate strategy for validation of candidate reference genes for any microRNA qPCR study.

In the present study, we intend to determine whether Sestrin proteins 1, 2, and 3 (SESN1-3) are targets of microRNA-200 family (miR-200) in endometrial cancer (EC) Ishikawa, AN3CA, KLE, and RL 95-2 cell lines and to investigate how these potential interactions influence anoikis resistance of EC cell lines. The luciferase reporter assay, qRT-PCR, and western blotting assays were used to verify whether SESN1-3 are direct targets of miR-200. Moreover, the anoikis assay and transient transfections of miR-200 mimics or inhibitors into EC cell lines were performed to evaluate the modulatory role of miR-200 and SESN proteins on anoikis resistance. We demonstrated that SESN2 protein is a direct target of mir-141 in KLE and RL-95-2 EC cell lines and the functional interaction of miR-141 and SESN2 protein has a downstream effect on anoikis resistance and SESN2 expression level in Ishikawa and AN3CA cell lines. Moreover, we have shown that SESN3 protein is a direct target of miR-200b, miR-200c, and miR-429 in Ishikawa, AN3CA, and KLE cell lines. Our results show that manipulation of miR-200b, miR-200c, and miR-429 expression patterns also has an influence on anoikis resistance in EC cell lines. In conclusion, we identified new interactions between miR-200 and the oxidative stress response SESN proteins that affect anoikis resistance in human EC cells.

Endometrial cancer cell lines are critical tools to investigate the molecular mechanism of tumorigenesis using the end point cell-based assay such as proliferation, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, anoikis or migration and invasion. The proper assay optimization and performance is essential for physiologically relevant results interpretation. In this study we use label-free real-time cell analysis platform (xCELLigence) to optimize growing conditions for proliferation and migration experiments of two types of endometrial cancer cell lines HEC-1-B, HEC-1-A, KLE, and Ishikawa. Profiling of cell lines by cell index measurement in proliferation and migration experiments was performed. Our experimental approach allowed us to monitor particular stage of the cell growth, to see the relation between seeding density and dynamic cell growth as well as to choose the optimal serum concentration as chemoattractant in migration experiment. The highest rate of proliferation was shown for Ishikawa cells. The rapid pace of cellular migration was observed in case of KLE and HEC-1-B cells as compared to weak migratory activity of Ishikawa cells. The cell index that reflects the cell status characterized real-time cytological profile of each analyzed cell line. These cell profiles were crucial for better planning the classical end-point assays used in further research.

Cancer diseases remain major health problems in the world despite significant developments in diagnostic methods and medications. Many of the conventional therapies, however, have limitations due to multidrug resistance or severe side effects. Bladder cancer is a complex disorder, and can be classified according to its diverse genetic backgrounds and clinical features. A very promising direction in bladder cancer treatment is targeted therapy directed at specific molecular pathways. Derivatives of quinazolines constitute a large group of chemicals with a wide range of biological properties, and many quinazoline derivatives are approved for antitumor clinical use, e.g.,: erlotinib, gefitinib, afatinib, lapatinib, and vandetanib. The character of these depends mostly on the properties of the substituents and their presence and position on one of the cyclic compounds. Today, new quinazoline-based compounds are being designed and synthesized as potential drugs of anticancer potency against bladder cancers.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide usually diagnosed in the advanced stage. In this study, the serum concentration of tumor endothelial marker 1 (TEM1) was measured and correlated with clinicopathological features to evaluate whether TEM1 might serve as a biomarker for early CRC diagnosis, progression, and prognosis. The concentration of TEM1 was measured in the serum samples of 45 patients with CRC and 35 healthy individuals using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test. The mean serum concentration of TEM1 was significantly higher in the patients with CRC compared to the healthy individuals (1.31 ± 0.16 vs 0.92 ± 0.90 ng/mL; P < .001). The mean concentration of TEM1 significantly increased in the patients having CRC with early stage (stage I + II) compared to noncancer control individuals (stage I + II vs control 1.21 ± 0.13 ng/mL: 0.92 ± 0.90 ng/mL; P < .001). The TEM1 concentration in blood serum also showed a significant association with the development of T stages ( P < .001), N stages ( P < .001), and M stages ( P = .006). The TEM1 sensitivity and specificity in CRC detection are higher than routinely used blood markers (carcinoembryonic antigen [CEA] and carbohydrate antigen [Ca 19-9]). Patients with high TEM1 concentration (≥1.055 ng/mL) had a worse overall survival rate compared to the patients having CRC with low TEM1 concentration (<1.055 ng/mL). In conclusion, TEM1 can act as a potential diagnostic, progression, and prognostic serum biomarker for patients with CRC; TEM1 might be a good supplement for commonly used markers CEA and Ca 19-9.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection remains a huge challenge for contemporary healthcare systems. Apart from widely reported acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the virus affects many other systems inducing a vast number of symptoms such as gastrointestinal, neurological, dermatological, cardiovascular, and many more. Currently it has also been hypothesized that the virus might affect female and male reproductive systems; SARS-CoV-2 infection could also have a role in potential disturbances to human fertility. In this article, we aimed to review the latest literature regarding the potential effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on female and male reproductive systems as well as fertility, in general.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the commonest histological type of malignant lymphoma, and remains incurable in many cases. Developing more efficient immunotherapy strategies will require better understanding of the disorders of immune responses in cancer patients. NKT (natural killer-like T) cells were originally described as a unique population of T cells with the co-expression of NK cell markers. Apart from their role in protecting against microbial pathogens and controlling autoimmune diseases, NKT cells have been recently revealed as one of the key players in the immune responses against tumors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of CD3 + /CD16 + CD56 + cells in the peripheral blood of 28 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients in correlation with clinical and laboratory parameters. Median percentages of CD3 + /CD16 + CD56 + were significantly lower in patients with DLBCL compared to healthy donors (7.37% vs. 9.01%, p = 0.01; 4.60% vs. 5.81%, p = 0.03), although there were no differences in absolute counts. + cells correlated adversely with serum lactate dehydrogenase (R= -445; p < 0.05) which might influence NKT count. These figures suggest a relationship between higher tumor burden and more aggressive disease and decreased NKT numbers. But it remains to be explained whether low NKT cell counts in the peripheral blood of patients with DLBCL are the result of their suppression by the tumor cells, or their migration to affected lymph nodes or organs. (Folia Histochemica et

Abstract:Immunotherapy with dendritic cells (DC) may constitute a new and advantageous option for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who respond to therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), but do not reach complete cytogenetic or molecular remission. In this study, we evaluated the immunophenotype of DC generated from monocytes (Mo-DC) of patients with CML and the influence of TKI therapy on the results of CML-DC generation. We also measured the percentages of T regulatory cells (Tregs) as well as Th17 cells in 19 untreated patients suffering from CML, and in 28 CML patients treated with TKI. We found that DC can be reliably generated from the peripheral blood CD14 + cells of untreated CML patients. But we observed a persistent expression of CD14 monocyte marker on DC from CML patients, together with lower percentages of Mo-DC with expression of CD1a (p = 0.002), CD80 (p = 0.0005), CD83 (p = 0.0004), and CD209 (p = 0.02) compared to healthy donors. There was an adverse correlation between WBC count and the percentage of Mo-DC with co-expression of CD80 and CD86 (R = -0.63; p = 0.03). In patients treated with TKI, we observed higher efficacy of DC generation in seven-day cultures, compared to untreated patients. Expression of CD209 on DC was higher in patients treated with TKI (0.02). The duration of TKI therapy correlated adversely with MFI for CD1a (R = -0.49; p = 0.006) and positively with MFI for CD83 (R = 0.63; p = 0.01). Percentages of CD4 + CD25 high FoxP3 + cells (p = 0.0002) and Th17 cells (p = 0.02) were significantly higher in untreated CML patients compared to healthy controls. There was a significant correlation between the percentage of Treg cells and the percentage of peripheral blood basophiles (R = 0.821; p = 0.02). There were no changes in Tregs or Th17 cell percentages in CML patients after six months of TKI therapy. However, the expression of intracellular IL-17 in Th17 cells correlated negatively with the time of TKI therapy in the whole group of treated patients (R = -0.516; p = 0.04). We noted a correlation between IL-6 serum level and peripheral blood WBC count (R = 0.492; p = 0.04). There was also an inverse correlation between the serum level of IL-6 and the duration of TKI therapy (R = -0.66; p = 0.03). Taken together, our data shows that mature DC can be generated from CML patients treated with TKI, and that the yield of Mo-DC is higher in patients treated with TKI than in patients with active disease. This should encourage further trials with DC immunotherapy in patients with cytogenetic response after TKI therapy. We also found increased frequencies of T regulatory and Th17 cells in CML patients, which might suggest their potential role in immunity against 154