Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in women. The main cause of death from breast cancer is its metastases at distant sites in the body. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a cytokine of the IL-1 family and found overexpressed in various cancers. The aim of the present study was to explore the association of serum IL-33 and sST2 with breast cancer. Here, the serum levels of Interleukin-33 (IL-33) and sST2 were found significantly higher in breast cancer patients than in healthy volunteers. Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), metalloproteinase-11 (MMP-11), and platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) were also greater in breast cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers. We found that serum levels of IL-33 or sST2 were positively correlated with the serum levels of VEGF, MMP-11, and PDGF-C. Moreover, breast cancer dataset downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas showed that patients with higher level of MMP-11 or PDGF-C expression had shorter survival time than those with lower level of these proteins. In conclusion, IL-33 and sST2 may serve as noninvasive diagnosis markers for breast cancer. IL-33 and sST2 were significantly associated with MMP-11 or PDGF-C which indicated poor prognosis of breast cancer patients.

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Poor initial stability at the first four weeks after surgery is becoming the major causes for metal implant failure. Previous attempts neglected the control release of insulin for the bone regeneration among nondiabetic subjects. The major reason may lie in the adverse effects, such as attenuated bone formation, hypoglycemia or hyperinsulinemia, that caused by the excessive insulin. Thus, spatiotemporal release of insulin may serve as the promising strategy. To address this, through solvent extraction (EMS), solvent evaporation (SMS) and cosolvent methods (CMS), we prepared three types of PLGA microspheres with various internal structures, but similar size distribution. The effects of the preparation methods on the properties of the microspheres, such as their release behavior, degradation of molecular weight, and structural evolution, were investigated. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) and rabbit implant models were used to test the bioactivity of the microspheres in vitro and in vivo, respectively. The result demonstrated that these three preparation methods did not influence the polymer degradation but instead affected the internal structural evolution, which plays a crucial role in the release behavior, osteogenesis and peri-implant bone regeneration. Compared with EMS and CMS microspheres, SMS microspheres exhibited a relatively steady release rate in the first four weeks, which evidently stimulated the osteogenic differentiation of the stem cells and peri-implant bone regeneration. Meanwhile, SMS microspheres significantly enhanced the stability of the implant at Week 4, which is promising to reduce early failure rate of the implant without inducing adverse effects on the serum biochemical indices.

Pneumonia in children is common and can lead to grave consequences if not addressed in a proper and timely manner. In the management of pneumonia, early identification of the causative infective agent is of obvious importance for treatment, as it allows selection of the appropriate antibiotics. However, such identification requires laboratory test results, which may not be immediately available. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of 13 markers in differentiating between viral and bacterial pneumonia in Han children (34 healthy controls and 78 patients). It was found that WBC counts were more accurate in diagnosis of the type of agent responsible for infection than was the degree of expression of HMGB1. Among the 13 markers investigated, HMGB1 was the best at discriminating between co-infected (bacterium and virus) and single-infected (bacterium or virus) children with bronchial pneumonia. HMGB1 expression of less than 1.0256, excluded most coinfections (the negative predictive value was greater than 89.7%). Diagnosed sole viral pneumonia clinically overlapped with bacterial pneumonia, but bacterial pneumonia was more often associated with higher white blood cell (WBC) counts (WBC ≥ 13,000 cells/mm 3 ). When the two marker readouts-HMGB1 < 1.0256 and WBC ≥ 13,000 cells/mm 3 -were combined, the positive predictive value for bacterial pneumonia alone was 92.3%. These findings can help clinicians discriminate between bronchial pneumonia caused by virus, bacterium or both with a high specificity.Key words bronchial pneumonia, Han children, high-mobility group box 1 protein, white blood cell.Bronchial pneumonia, a pulmonary infection causing inflammation and difficulty in breathing, can be caused by a variety of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma, and parasites. The causes of pediatric pneumonia vary greatly according to age and other risk factors (1-3). Viral pathogens are particularly important

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SCY1-like 1-binding protein 1 (SCYL1BP1) is a newly identified transcriptional activator domain containing protein with many unknown biological functions. Recently emerging evidence has revealed that it is a novel regulator of the p53 pathway, which is very important for the development of human cancer. However, the effects of SCYL1BP1 on human lung squamous carcinoma cell biological behavior remain poorly understood. In this study, we present evidence that SCYL1BP1 can promote the degradation of MDM2 protein and further inhibit the G1/S transition of lung squamous carcinoma cell lines. Functional assays found that reintroduction of SCYL1BP1 into lung squamous carcinoma cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor formation in nude mice, suggesting strong tumor suppressive function of SCYL1BP1 in lung squamous carcinoma. Taken together, our data suggest that the interaction of SCYL1BP1/MDM2 could accelerate MDM2 degradation, and may function as an important tumor suppressor in lung squamous carcinomas.

Correspondence: Man Huang (huangman770@163.com)As the most common malignant disease in childhood, children acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a heterogeneous disease caused by the accumulated genetic alterations. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are reported as critical regulators in diseases. GEPIA database indicated that long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 221 (LINC00221) was conspicuously down-regulated in acute myeloid leukemia. However, its expression pattern in ALL has not been revealed. This work was carried out to study the role of LINC00221 in ALL cells. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) quantified LINC00221 expression in ALL cells. The function of LINC00221 in ALL was determined by ki-67 immunofluorescence staining, EdU, TUNEL, JC-1, and caspase-3/8/9 activity assays. RNA pull down and Ago2-RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays investigated the interaction between miR-152-3p and LINC00221 or ATPase sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2 + transporting 2 (ATP2A2). Our study revealed the low expression of LINC00221 in ALL cells. Subsequently, LINC00221 was verified to bind with miR-152-3p. Moreover, functional assays pointed out that LINC00221 overexpression posed anti-proliferation and pro-apoptosis effects in ALL cells, and these effects could be separately reversed by miR-152-3p up-regulation. Afterward, LINC00221 was revealed to regulate ATP2A2 expression via sponging miR-152-3p. Additionally, ATP2A2 was verified to involve in regulating LINC00221-mediated ALL cell proliferation and apoptosis. In conclusion, LINC00221 suppressed ALL cell proliferation and boosted ALL cell apoptosis via sponging miR-152-3p to up-regulate ATP2A2. regulate COL1A1 expression, thus enhancing proliferation and migration ability of breast cancer cells [7]. COL1A1-014 functions as a ceRNA in gastric cancer development via up-regulating CXCL12 and CXCR4 through interacting with miR-1273h-5p [8]. Up-regulation of lncRNA HOTAIR promotes PRAF2 expression via acting as a sponge of miR-326 in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma [9]. LncRNA NEAT1 contributes to lung cancer cell proliferation and invasion via NEAT1/miR-1224/KLF3 ceRNA pattern [10].Long intergenic non-coding RNA 00221 (LINC00221) was reported to enhance the cisplatin resistance of non-small cell lung cancer [11]. Also, LINC00221 is a prognostic biomarker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma [12]. Besides, GEPIA database (http://gepia.cancer-pku.cn/) indicated that LINC00221 was conspicuously down-regulated in acute myeloid leukemia. However, the expression pattern and functional role of LINC00221 in ALL are still uncovered. Thus, the study was designed to explore the function and underlying mechanism of LINC00221 in ALL cells. Materials and methods Cell cultureHuman ALL cell lines (Jurkat, CCRF-CEM, CEM/C1, 1301) and normal HEK 293T cell line were available from the ATCC (Manassas, VA) and cultivated in 5% CO 2 at 37 • C. Cell samples were all maintained in RPMI-1640 medium, with 10% FBS (HyClone, Logan, UT) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin as supplements. RNA...

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