Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of malignancy related mortality in women worldwide. CCL19 is highly expressed in human cancer cells, and ligand CCL19 binding to CCR7 induces actin polymerization and pseudopodia formation. However, whether or not CCL19 is involved in EMT of human cervical cancer needs further investigation. Using quantitative PCR and western blot analyses, we found that CCL19 is overexpressed in cervical cancer cell lines and tissues. Knockdown of CCL19 via siRNA inhibited the proliferation of cervical cancer cells by increasing apoptosis. Further analyses showed that inhibitory effects of CCL19 on cell migration and invasion were partly associated with EMT process. In conclusion, these data indicate that CCL19 is abnormally expressed in cervical cancer, indicating a novel and important role for CCL19 in cervical cancer malignant transformation.

Leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor-1 (LAIR-1) is broadly expressed on the majority of immune cells; however, the biological role of LAIR in solid tumors has yet to be elucidated. In the present study, using immunohistochemical staining analysis, the expression of LAIR-1 in human cervical cancer (HCC) and nontumor-adjacent tissue specimens was determined, and the results indicated that the expression of LAIR-1 in HCC tissue was higher compared with that in noncancerous tissue. The χ2 test was used to analyze the correlation between the expression of LAIR-1 in tumor tissues with clinicopathological parameters. The results showed that the expression of LAIR-1 in the cancer cell nucleus was significantly associated with tumor size, pathological differentiation, T classification and clinical stage. In addition, the expression in the cytoplasm was evidently associated with the number of positive lymph nodes. The HCC cell line, ME-180, which does not express LAIR-1, was stably transfected using LAIR-1 cDNA. Cell Counting Kit-8 and an annexin V assay showed that the overexpression of LAIR-1 in ME-180 cells suppressed the proliferation and anti-apoptosis capacity of the cells. These findings demonstrated that LAIR-1 is markedly overexpressed in HCC tissue, and that its expression status is associated with tumor progression. LAIR-1 may be a biomarker and target in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with HCC.

Dedicated to Professor Yuen-da Wang on his 68th birthday By using techniques of the calculus of variations in geometric measure theory, we investigate the nonexistence of stable integral currents in S" 1 X S n * and its immersed submanifolds. Several vanishing theorems concerning the homology group of these manifolds are established. In this paper we shall extend the above theorem. We shall introduce a selfadjoint linear operator Q A on a p-subspace V of the tangent space T T M. Replacing B(() in (0.1) by the trace of Q A , we shall prove the following two theorems.

Background: There are limited data on the association between serum total bile acid level and coronary plaque characteristics. This study investigated the relationship between serum total bile acid level and the severity of coronary stenosis and coronary plaque features in an asymptomatic population using coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA). Methods: A total of 1,137 consecutive participants with no known coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing CTA as part of a general routine health evaluation were recruited. Serum total bile acid level and clinical parameters were assayed. Coronary stenosis and high-risk plaques features (napkin-ring sign, low-attenuation plaque, spotty calcification, positive remodelling) were evaluated. Associations between serum total bile acid concentration and high-risk coronary plaques was tested through univariate and multivariate analyses.Results: A total of 101 high-risk coronary plaques subjects and 93 controls were eligible for study inclusion.The severity of coronary artery stenosis and high-risk coronary plaques increased with serum total bile acid level quartiles (all P<0.001). The independent predictor of high-risk coronary plaques in multivariate analysis was serum total bile acid level (P<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) confirmed that serum total bile acid concentration significantly differentiated high-risk coronary plaques [the area under the curve (AUC) =0.876; P<0.001, with a sensitivity of 87.13% and a specificity of 86.02%].Conclusions: Higher serum total bile acid level was associated with the severity of coronary artery stenosis and high-risk coronary artery plaques detected by CTA in asymptomatic populations.

BackgroundThe role of Spalt-like gene-2 (SALL2) in tumorigenesis remains incompletely elucidated. This study investigated the effects of SALL2 on human ovarian carcinoma (OC) A2780 cells and the probable mechanism.MethodsExpression of SALL2 in human OC cell lines were detected by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis. A2780 cells were transfected with small-interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to silence SALL2. SALL2 expression was detected by RT-PCR, Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence assay. Cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry (FCM). Apoptosis was measured by FCM. Cell migration was detected by real-time cell analysis. Cell invasion was detected by transwell assay. mRNA expression of p21 was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)2, MMP9, protein kinase B (PKB, also called Akt), and phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt).ResultsSALL2 was expressed in six OC cell lines, and the expression was the highest in A2780 cells. Compared with that in the Scramble group, SALL2 expression in A2780 was downregulated after transfection with siRNA-2 and siRNA-3 for 48 h. Compared with that in the Scramble group, proliferation of A2780 cells in the siRNA-2 group increased after transfection for 24, 48 and 72 h. In the siRNA-2 group, the proportion of A2780 cells decreased in the G0/G1 phase, and cell apoptosis decreased after transfection for 48 h. Compared with that in the Scramble group, the cell migration and invasion abilities of A2780 cells increased. Compared with that in the Scramble group, p21 mRNA expression in A2780 cells decreased after transfection with siRNA2. When SALL2 was silenced, the expression of MMP2/9 and p-Akt in A2780 cells increased. Furthermore, the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 could effectively reversed SALL2 siRNA-induced phosphorylation of Akt, migration and invasion of A2780 cells.ConclusionTransient silencing of SALL2 promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and inhibits apoptosis of A2780 cells. In SALL2 siRNA-silenced cells, p21 expression was decreased. SALL2 knockdown by siRNA induces the migration and invasion of A2780 cells; this phenomenon is possibly associated with the increased expression of MMP2/9 and the activation of the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-017-3843-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Background To analyze whether the cytochrome P450 enzyme 2C9*3 (CYP2C9*3) and angiotensin II receptor 1 (AGTR1) (1166A&gt;C) gene polymorphisms are associated with the risk of essential hypertension (EH) and the antihypertensive effect of irbesartan. Methods A total of 2,057 EH patients and 286 healthy controls were enrolled for genotyping in which 598 EH patients were given irbesartan 150 mg/day for 4 weeks. Blood pressure of all subjects were determined before and at the end of 4-week treatment. Results There was no significant difference in genotype frequencies of CYP2C9*3 and AGTR1 (1166A&gt;C) between EH and control groups. Subjects with *1*3/*3*3 genotypes of the CYP2C9*3 gene had larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (34.9 ± 15.5 vs. 29.3 ± 10.2 mm Hg and 22.8 ± 9.0 vs. 19.6 ± 8.5 mm Hg, respectively) compared with the *1*1 genotype. For AGTR1 (1166A&gt;C) polymorphisms, although there was no significant difference among AC, CC, and AA genotypes, male subjects with AC/CC genotypes had larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (32.3 ± 1.3 vs. 29.3 ± 0.5 mm Hg and 21.6 ± 0.8 vs. 19.4 ± 0.1 mm Hg, respectively, P &lt; 0.05) in response to irbesartan treatment compared with the AA genotype. Conclusions Polymorphisms of CYP2C9*3 and AGTR1 (1166A&gt;C) are not significantly different between EH and healthy controls. Male subjects with AC and CC genotypes of AGTR1 (1166A&gt;C) show better antihypertensive effect of irbesartan than the AA genotype.