Autoantibodies are often detected in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and these responses may represent recognition of tumor Ags that are associated with transformation events. The identities of these Ags, however, are less well known. Using serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries (SEREX) from four HCC patients, we identified 55 independent cDNA sequences potentially encoding HCC tumor Ags. Of these genes, 15 are novel. Two such proteins, HCA587 and HCA661, were predominantly detected in testis, but not in other normal tissues, except for a weak expression in normal pancreas. In addition to HCC, these two Ags can be found in cancers of other histological types. Therefore, they can be categorized as cancer-testis (CT) Ags. Two other Ags (HCA519 and HCA90) were highly overexpressed in HCC and also expressed in cancer cell lines of lung, prostate, and pancreas, but not in the respective normal tissues. Four other Ags were identified to be expressed in particular types of cancer cell lines (HCA520 in an ovarian cancer cell line, HCA59 and HCA67 in a colon cancer cell line, HCA58 in colon and ovarian cancer cell lines), but not in the normal tissue counterpart(s). In addition, abundant expression of complement inactivation factors was found in HCC. These results indicate a broad range expression of autoantigens in HCC patients. Our findings open an avenue for the study of autoantigens in the transformation, metastasis, and immune evasion in HCC.

Appropriate infant and young child feeding could reduce morbidity and mortality and could improve cognitive development of children. However, nationwide data on exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding status in China are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess current exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding status in China. A national representative survey (Chinese National Nutrition and Health Survey) of children aged under 6 years was done in 2013. Stratified multistage cluster sampling was used to select study participants. World Health Organization (WHO) infant and young child feeding indicators were firstly used to assess exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding practice nationwide. In total, 14,458 children aged under two years (0 to <730 days) were studied from 55 counties in 30 provinces in China. The crude exclusive breastfeeding rate under 6 months was 20.7% (908/4381) and the weighted exclusive breastfeeding rate was 18.6%. The crude prevalence of minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet were 52.5% (5286/10,071), 69.8% (7027/10,071), and 27.4% (2764/10,071) among children aged 6–23 months, respectively. The weighted rate was 53.7%, 69.1%, and 25.1%, respectively. Residential area, household income and maternal education were positively associated with the three complementary feeding indicators. The exclusive breastfeeding rate under 6 months was low and complementary feeding practice was not optimal in China. Residential area, household income and maternal education might be used to target infants and young children to improve complementary feeding practice.

The immunogenicity of HLA-A2-restricted T-cell epitopes in the S protein of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and of human coronavirus strain 229e (HCoV-229e) was analyzed for the elicitation of a T-cell immune response in donors who had fully recovered from SARS-CoV infection. We employed online database analysis to compare the differences in the amino acid sequences of the homologous T epitopes of HCoV-229e and SARS-CoV. The identified T-cell epitope peptides were synthesized, and their binding affinities for HLA-A2 were validated and compared in the T2 cell system. The immunogenicity of all these peptides was assessed by using T cells obtained from donors who had fully recovered from SARS-CoV infection and from healthy donors with no history of SARS-CoV infection. HLA-A2 typing by indirect immunofluorescent antibody staining showed that 51.6% of SARS-CoV-infected patients were HLA-A2 positive. Online database analysis and the T2 cell binding test disclosed that the number of HLA-A2-restricted immunogenic epitopes of the S protein of SARS-CoV was decreased or even lost in comparison with the homologous sequences of the S protein of HCoV-229e. Among the peptides used in the study, the affinity of peptides from HCoV-229e (H77 and H881) and peptides from SARS-CoV (S978 and S1203) for binding to HLA-A2 was higher than that of other sequences. The gamma interferon (IFN-␥) release Elispot assay revealed that only SARS-CoV-specific peptides S1203 and S978 induced a high frequency of IFN-␥-secreting T-cell response in HLA-A2؉ donors who had fully recovered from SARS-CoV infection; such a T-cell epitope-specific response was not observed in HLA-A2؉ healthy donors or in HLA-A2 ؊ donors who had been infected with SARS-CoV after full recovery. Thus, T-cell epitopes S1203 and S978 are immunogenic and elicit an overt specific T-cell response in HLA-A2 ؉ SARS-CoV-infected patients.

Using bioinformatics, we have identified a novel tumor-specific gene BJ-TSA-9, which has been validated by Northern blot analysis and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). BJ-TSA-9 mRNA was expressed in 52.5% (21 of 40) of human lung cancer tissues and was especially higher in lung adenocarcinoma (68.8%). To explore the potential application of BJ-TSA-9 for the detection of circulating cancer cells in lung cancer patients, nested RT-PCR was performed. The overall positive detection rate was 34.3% (24 of 70) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with various types of lung cancers and was 53.6% (15 of 28) in PBMCs of lung adenocarcinoma patients. In combination with the detection of two known marker genes SCC and LUNX, the detection rate was increased to 81.4%. A follow-up study was performed in 37 patients after surgical removal of tumor mass. Among nine patients with persistent detection of two to three tumor marker transcripts in PBMCs, six patients had recurrence/metastasis. In contrast, 28 patients with transient detection of one tumor marker or without detection of any tumor marker were all in remission. Thus, BJ-TSA-9 may serve as a marker for lung cancer diagnosis and as a marker, in combination with two other tumor markers, for the prediction of the recurrence and prognosis of lung cancer patients.

No abstract