Even though the diagnostic and prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been demonstrated, their clinical utility and widespread adoption have been limited. Herein, we describe a new device, size-dictated immunocapture chip (SDI-Chip), for efficient, sensitive, and spatially resolved capture and detection of CTCs. SDI-Chip enables selective, frequent, and extended interaction of CTCs with hydrodynamically optimized immunocoated micropillar surfaces. CTCs with different antigen expression levels can be efficiently captured and spatially resolved around the micropillars. Capture efficiency greater than 92 % with a purity of 82 % was achieved with blood samples. CTCs were detected in non-metastasis colorectal (CRC) patients, while none was detected from healthy volunteers. We believe that SDI-Chip will facilitate the transition of tumor diagnosis from anatomical pathology to molecular pathology in localized CRC patients.

SUMMARYThere are two major forms of the Fas molecule, membranous Fas and soluble Fas (sFas). To clarify the clinical significance of sFas in autoimmune diseases, we designed a sandwich ELISA to determine serum concentrations of sFas and its molecular structure, and we then analysed the correlation between levels of sFas and laboratory findings in patients with SLE and other autoimmune diseases. The levels of serum sFas were significantly higher in SLE patients than in subjects with other autoimmune diseases and in healthy donors, and the frequency of a positive serum sFas was much greater in SLE patients with high SLE disease activity index scores than in those with low scores. In addition, sFas-positive SLE patients showed a significant difference in various laboratory parameters from sFas-negative SLE patients. Serial measurements of serum sFas levels in SLE patients with active disease revealed that the elevated level of sFas dramatically decreased with improvement in clinical and laboratory findings, following corticosteroid therapy. We propose that the serum level of sFas can serve as an appropriate marker for evaluating SLE disease activity. Serum sFas is heterogeneous with respect to molecular structure, thus several mechanisms are involved in the generation of sFas.

This study revealed that the site, sex, and age should be taken into account when determining the reference ranges of normal skin elasticity by skin elasticity measurements.

We reported the first lysosome targeted two-photon fluorescent probe (Lyso-NP) as a viscosity probe for monitoring autophagy. The fluorescence lifetime of Lyso-NP exhibited an excellent linear relationship with viscosity value ( R = 0.99, x = 0.39). Lyso-NP also showed the specific capability for imaging lysosomal viscosity under two-photon excitation at 860 nm along with good biocompatibility. More importantly, Lyso-NP could be used to monitor the autophagy process in living cells by quantitatively detecting lysosomal viscosity changes during the membrane fusion process via two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging.

Background: Laser surgery and radiotherapy are commonly used to treat glottic cancer. Objective of Review: To compare outcomes and cost of laser surgery versus radiotherapy for T1–T2N0 glottic cancer. Type of Review: Meta-analysis. Search Strategy: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Embase, Web of Science (1990–2010) were searched electronically. Three Chinese journals in otolaryngology were searched manually. Evaluation Method: Retrieved studies were analyzed with Review Manager 5.0 software. Methodological and outcome heterogeneity was analyzed using the χ² test and the I² test. Homogeneous and heterogeneous data were analyzed using a fixed random effect model. Results: Eleven studies involving 1,135 patients were included in the analysis. The cure rate did not differ between patients receiving laser surgery versus radiotherapy. Results on voice preservation were inconclusive. The overall cost for laser surgery was lower. Conclusions: The quality of the reported clinical studies is limited. No level I data are available. Nonetheless, our analysis suggests that laser surgery and radiotherapy produce comparable outcomes.