Accumulating preclinical evidence suggests that anticancer immune responses contribute to the success of chemotherapy. The predictive significance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) for response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic and predictive value of TIL subtypes in patients with advanced NSCLC treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. In total, 159 patients with stage III and IV NSCLC were retrospectively enrolled. The prevalence of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) and Foxp3(+) TILs was assessed by immunohistochemistry in tumor tissue obtained before chemotherapy. The density of TILs subgroups was treated as dichotomous variables using the median values as cutoff. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences in overall survival between groups were determined using the Log-rank test. Prognostic effects of TIL subsets density were evaluated by Cox regression analysis. The presence of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), and FOXP3(+) TILs was not correlated with any clinicopathological features. Neither the prevalence of TILs nor combined analysis displayed obvious prognostic performances for overall survival in Cox regression model. Instead, higher FOXP3(+)/CD8(+) ratio in tumor sites was an independent factor for poor response to platinum-based chemotherapy in overall cohort. These findings suggest that immunological CD8(+) and FOXP3(+)Tregs cell infiltrate within tumor environment is predictive of response to platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC patients. The understanding of the clinical relevance of the microenvironmental immunological milieu might provide an important clue for the design of novel strategies in cancer immunotherapy.

Resistance to chemotherapy remains a major obstacle for the effective treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Evidence for the involvement of exosomes as important regulators of cisplatin chemoresistance in OSCC is still poorly understood. Our objective of this study was to explore the roles for exosomes in modulating key cellular pathways mediating response to chemotherapy. We first developed the cisplatin-resistant cell lines (HSC-3-R and SCC-9-R) and found that the conditioned media from cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells enhanced the chemoresistance of parental OSCC cell. The release of exosomes was blocked by inhibitor (GW4869) and exosomes were found to be involved in the chemoresistance of parental OSCC cell transferred from resistant cells. The exosomes derived from resistant cells and parental cells were isolated. Then, the isolated exosomes were characterized and quantified by electron microscopy, qNano analysis, and western blot analysis. Exosomes derived from cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells were found to enhance the chemoresistance of OSCC cell and decrease the DNA damage signaling in response to cisplatin. It was also found that exosomes derived from cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells transferred miR-21 to OSCC parental cells and induced cisplatin resistance by targeting phosphatase and tensin homolog and programmed cell death 4. Furthermore, the roles of cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells-derived exosomes in vivo were confirmed by subcutaneous xenograft mouse model. Collectively, the results suggest that exosomes released from cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells transmit miR-21 to induce cisplatin resistance of OSCC cells.

Estrogen hormone 17b-estradiol (E 2 ) is involved in the physiology and pathology of many tissues. E 2 information is conveyed by the transcription factors estrogen receptors (ER) a and b that mediate a complex array of nuclear and non-nuclear events. The interaction of ER with specific DNA sequences, estrogen-responsive elements (EREs), constitutes a critical nuclear signaling pathway. In addition, E 2 -ER regulates transcription through interactions with transfactors bound to their cognate regulatory elements on DNA, hence the ERE-independent signaling pathway. However, the relative importance of the EREindependent pathway in E 2 -ERb signaling is unclear. To address this issue, we engineered an ERE-binding defective ERb mutant (ERb EBD ) by changing critical residues in the DNA-binding domain required for ERE binding. Biochemical and functional studies revealed that ERb EBD signaled exclusively through the ERE-independent pathway. Using the adenovirus infected ER-negative cancer cell models, we found that although E 2 -ERb EBD regulated the expression of a number of genes identified by microarrays, it was ineffective in altering cellular proliferation, motility, and death in contrast to E 2 -ERb. Our results indicate that genomic responses from the ERE-independent pathway to E 2 -ERb are not sufficient to alter the cellular phenotype. These findings suggest that the ERE-dependent pathway is a required signaling route for E 2 -ERb to induce cellular responses.

ObjectiveThe impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) preS/S-gene mutations on occult HBV infection (OBI) is not fully understood. This study characterized multiple novel HBV preS/S-gene mutants obtained from an OBI patient.MethodsPreS/S-gene mutants were analyzed by clonal sequencing. Viral replication and expression were analyzed by transfecting HBV genomic recombinants into HepG2 cells.ResultsTwenty-one preS/S-gene mutants were cloned from four sequential serum samples, including 13 mutants that were not previously documented: (1) sI/T126V+sG145R; (2) preS1 nt 3014−3198 deletion; (3) preS1 nt 3046−3177 deletion; (4) preS1 nt 3046−3177 deletion+s115−116 “INGTST” insertion; (5) preS1 nt 3046−3177 deletion+s115−116 “INGTST” insertion+sG145R; (6) preS1 nt 3115−3123 deletion+sQ129N; (7) preS1 nt 3115−3123 deletion+s126−127 “RPCMNCTI” insertion; (8) s115−116 “INGTST” insertion; (9) s115−116 “INGTST” insertion+sG145R; (10) s126−127 “RPCMNCTI” insertion; (11) preS1 nt 2848−2862 deletion+preS2 initiation codon M→I; (12) s122−123 “KSTGLCK” insertion+sQ129N; and (13) preS2 initiation codon M→I+s131−133TSM→NST. The proportion of preS1 nt 3046−3177 deletion and preS2 initiation codon M→I+s131−133TSM→NST mutants increased in the viral pool with prolonged disease. The 13 novel OBI-related mutants showed a 51.2−99.9% decrease in HBsAg levels compared with that of the wild type. Additional N-glycosylation-associated mutations, sQ129N and s131−133TSM→NST, but not s126−127 “RPCMNCTI,” greatly attenuated anti-HBs binding to HBsAg. Compared with the wild type, replication and surface antigen promoter II activity of the preS1 nt 3046−3177 deletion mutant decreased by 43.3% and 97.0%, respectively.ConclusionPreS/S-gene mutations may play coordinated roles in the presentation of OBI and might be associated with disease progression. This has implications for HBV diagnosis and vaccine improvement.

A FOXC1-based two-tier assay, by virtue of being rapid, simple, accurate, and cost-effective may emerge as the diagnostic assay of choice for BLBC. Such a test could substantially improve clinical trial enrichment of BLBC patients and accelerate the identification of effective chemotherapeutic options for this aggressive disease.

Background: This study was aimed at evaluating the clinical significance of serum HBV RNA, hepatitis B corerelated antigen (HBcrAg) and hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) levels in chronic hepatitis B patients with undetectable HBV DNA during nucleoside/nucleotide analogue (NA) treatment. Methods: Fifty-seven patients who received long-term NA treatment of median 5.83 (25%, 75% percentiles 4.67, 7.75) years were enrolled, and 285 serum samples at five time points for each patient were quantitatively analysed for the three serum markers together with serum HBV DNA and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels. Results: The HBV RNA level significantly correlated with HBcrAg (r=0.629; P<0.001) but not HBsAg levels (P=0.1460). Nonetheless, the HBcrAg level significantly correlated with the HBsAg level (r=0.469; P<0.001). Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive samples showed higher HBV RNA, HBcrAg and HBsAg levels than HBeAgnegative samples did (all P<0.05). Nine patients with HBeAg loss manifested a significantly greater decline in HBV RNA and HBcrAg levels (median 1.84 [25%, 75% percentiles 1.02, 2.12] log 10 copies/ml, 1.14 [0.62, 2.21] log 10 U/ml, respectively) compared with those in seven patients without HBeAg loss (0.74 [0.10, 1.08] log 10 copies/ml and 0.41 [0.21, 0.69] log 10 U/ml, respectively). Overall, serum HBV RNA, HBcrAg, HBsAg and anti-HBc levels gradually decreased with time during NA treatment. At the end of observation, HBV RNA and HBcrAg reached an undetectable level in 26 and 6 (46% and 11%) patients, respectively. Conclusions: Monitoring of HBV RNA and HBcrAg levels is useful for NA-treated patients with undetectable HBV DNA. The attainment of HBV RNA undetectability usually occurs prior to HBcrAg undetectability.

Abstractp21‐activated kinase 1 (Pak1), a serine/threonine kinase, has been implicated in cytoskeletal remodelling, cell motility, apoptosis and transformation. However, the role of Pak1 in gastric cancer remains unclear. In this study, we detected Pak1 expression in gastric cancer tissues from 40 patients by western blot. Overexpression of Pak1 was associated with progression, metastasis and prognosis of gastric cancer. In addition, we found that knockdown of Pak1 expression significantly inhibited anchorage‐dependent and anchorage‐independent growth in gastric cancer cells, and markedly inhibited gastric cancer cell xenograft tumor growth. In further study, data showed that Pak1 could regulate the expression of cyclin B1 at the mRNA and protein levels, and impact the subcellular distribution and the promoter activity of cyclin B1. Results from deletion and mutant analysis supplied a new NF‐κB binding sites at position ‐321 of cyclin B1 promoter, and indicated that Pak1 regulated the transcription of cyclin B1 in gastric cancer through NF‐κB. In conclusion, Pak1 may be a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target in gastric cancer. © 2009 UICC

Identification of aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression during chemical carcinogen-induced cell transformation will lead to a better understanding of the substantial role of miRNAs in cancer development. To explore whether aberrant miRNAs expression can be used as biomarkers of chemical exposure in risk assessment of chemical carcinogenesis, we analyzed miRNA expression profiles of human bronchial epithelial cells expressing an oncogenic allele of H-Ras (HBER) at different stages of transformation induced by benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) by miRNA array. It revealed 12 miRNAs differentially expressed in HBER cells at both pretransformed and transformed stages. Differentially expressed miRNAs were confirmed in transformed cells and examined in 50 pairs of primary human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues using real-time PCR. Among these miRNAs, downregulation of miR-638 was found in 68% (34/50) of NSCLC tissues. However, the expression of miR-638 in HBER cells increased upon treatment of BaP in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of miR-638 was also examined in peripheral lymphocytes from 86 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-exposed (PE) workers. We found that the average expression level of miR-638 in peripheral lymphocytes from 86 PE workers increased by 72% compared with control group. The levels of miR-638 were correlated with the concentration of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) and external levels of PAHs. Overexpression of miR-638 aggravated cell DNA damage induced by BaP, which might be mediated by suppression of breast cancer 1 (BRCA1), one of the target genes of miR-638. In summary, we suggest that miR-638 is involved in the BaP-induced carcinogenesis by targeting BRCA1.