Background:Recently, microRNAs in cancer development have attracted much attention, but their roles in tumorigenesis are still largely unknown. In this study, a functional role of miR-22 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development has been identified.Methods:Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the level of miR-22 transcript in HCC clinical samples, and its correlation with disease-free survival was determined using Kaplan–Meier method. Restoration of miR-22 expression was carried out in HCC cell lines to assess its influence on HCC cell proliferation and tumourigenicity.Results:In the 160 paired HCC tissue samples, miR-22 expression was downregulated in HCC, and low miR-22 expression in HCC was predictive of poor survival in HCC patients. Functional studies indicated that ectopic expression of miR-22 significantly inhibits HCC cell proliferation and tumourigenicity. Furthermore, histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), known to have critical roles in cancer development, was proved to be directly targeted and regulated by miR-22. Furthermore, HDAC4 was upregulated in miR-22-downregulated HCC tissues, suggesting that downregulation of miR-22 might participate in HCC carcinogenesis and progression through potentiation of HDAC4 expression. In addition, cell proliferation was also suppressed by knockdown of HDAC4 or treatment with HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A in HCC cell lines.Conclusion:miR-22, downregulated in HCC, has an anti-proliferative effect on HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, miR-22 may have considerable potential in identification of the prognosis and application of cancer therapy for HCC patients.

Preoperative TACE did not improve surgical outcome. It resulted in drop-out from definitive surgery because of progression of disease and liver failure.

HBV reactivation was common after partial hepatectomy for HBV-related HCC with a preoperative low HBV-DNA level of less than 2000 IU/mL. Routine prophylactic antiviral treatment should be given before partial hepatectomy.

Chinese offers a unique tool for testing the effects of word form on language processing during reading. The processes of letter-mediated grapheme-to-phoneme translation and phonemic assembly (assembled phonology) critical for reading and spelling in any alphabetic orthography are largely absent when reading nonalphabetic Chinese characters. In contrast, script-to-sound translation based on the script as a whole (addressed phonology) is absent when reading the Chinese alphabetic sound symbols known as pinyin, for which the script-to-sound translation is based exclusively on assembled phonology. The present study aims to contrast patterns of brain activity associated with the different cognitive mechanisms needed for reading the two scripts. fMRI was used with a block design involving a phonological and lexical task in which subjects were asked to decide whether visually presented, paired Chinese characters or pinyin "sounded like" a word. Results demonstrate that reading Chinese characters and pinyin activate a common brain network including the inferior frontal, middle, and inferior temporal gyri, the inferior and superior parietal lobules, and the extrastriate areas. However, some regions show relatively greater activation for either pinyin or Chinese reading. Reading pinyin led to a greater activation in the inferior parietal cortex bilaterally, the precuneus, and the anterior middle temporal gyrus. In contrast, activation in the left fusiform gyrus, the bilateral cuneus, the posterior middle temporal, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and the bilateral superior frontal gyrus were greater for nonalphabetic Chinese reading. We conclude that both alphabetic and nonalphabetic scripts activate a common brain network for reading. Overall, there are no differences in terms of hemispheric specialization between alphabetic and nonalphabetic scripts. However, differences in language surface form appear to determine relative activation in other regions. Some of these regions (e.g., the inferior parietal cortex for pinyin and fusiform gyrus for Chinese characters) are candidate regions for specialized processes associated with reading via predominantly assembled (pinyin) or addressed (Chinese character) procedures.

No abstract