BACKGROUND Primary Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/PNET) of urogenital tract is a rare condition with non-specific clinical presentations, which can make it difficult to diagnose. In this study, we summarize the clinical presentation, pathological features, therapeutic strategies, and prognosis of ES/PNET. METHODS Clinical information on two cases of ES/PNET in the penis and ureter was analyzed, and relevant literature was reviewed. RESULTS ES/PNET was confirmed pathologically, immunohistochemically and via molecular biology techniques in the penis (n = 1) and ureter (n = 1). In one case, a tumor was found at the base of penis, which had invaded the corpus cavernosum, and resulted in a massive enlargement of the penis. This tumor was initially diagnosed as an endocrine disorder. However, a confirmed diagnosis was made 11 months later when massive metastases in both lungs were noted. A tumor biopsy was performed to confirm the diagnosis, and chemotherapy with a CAV (cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + vincristine)+ IE (ifosfamide + etoposide) regimen for 9 months was prescribed. In the second case, a child was admitted due to abdominal pain and a hydroureter in the right kidney, as determined by ultrasonography. A tumor was found in the right ureter at the level of iliac vessels. Removal of the tumor and ureteral anastomosis were performed, and chemotherapy with CAV + IE for 8 months were prescribed. Both patients are currently being followed-up closely. CONCLUSIONS ES/PNET is a highly malignant tumor and has poor prognosis. Pre-operative diagnosis of ES/PNET of urogenital tract is difficult and largely depends on pathology, immunohistochemistry, and, if applicable, molecular biology. Comprehensive therapy may include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

An early determination of toxicant compounds of water contaminations can gain critical time to protect citizens' health and save substantial amounts of medical costs. To determine toxins in real time, a multi-dose classification algorithm using cellular state variable identification (CSVID) is developed in this paper. First, the dynamic cytotoxicity response profiles of living cells are measured using a real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) system. Changes in cell number expressed as cell index (CI) are recorded on-line as time series. Then CSVID, which reflects the cell killing, cell lysis and certain cellular pathological changes, is extracted from those dynamic cellular responses. Finally, a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm based on CSVID is employed to classify chemical compounds and determine their analogous cellular response pathway. In order to increase the classification accuracy, a majority vote of the class labels is also proposed. Several validation studies demonstrate that CSVID-based classification algorithm has great potential in distinguishing the cytotoxicity response of the cells in the presence of toxins.

Duck hepatitis virus type 1 (DHV-1) causes a highly contagious disease in ducklings and is often associated with liver necrosis, hemorrhages, and high mortality. In the current study, the expression levels of gene transcripts encoding proinflammatory cytokines and the virus were measured by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR in duck livers after infection with a DHV-1 JX isolate obtained from natural cases in Hubei Province, China. In addition, sera IL-1β, IL-6, and alanine aminotransferase levels were quantified. Liver histopathology was examined following DHV-1 infection. The ducklings died within 1 to 2 d postinfection (d.p.i.) because of typical liver degeneration, hemorrhage, necrosis, and bile-duct epithelial cell proliferation. Transcripts of the cytokines IFN-α, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10 decreased by 0.5 d.p.i. and then gradually increased at 1 d.p.i. Similarly, DHV-1 JX 3D gene levels in the liver sharply increased at 1 d.p.i. and then maintained a high level. In contrast, liver TNF-α and IL-1β transcripts showed no increased expression of the cytokine gene postinfection and significantly decreased compared with the expression at 0.25 d.p.i., only the expression of IFN-α transcripts increased 128-fold by 1 d.p.i. Changes in the serum IL-6 level remained relatively stable postinfection and not significantly different compared with that of the control (P > 0.05), whereas serum levels of IL-1β significantly decreased at 0.5 d.p.i. and increased from 1 d.p.i. onwards (P < 0.05). Serum alanine aminotransferase levels significantly increased 2 d.p.i. compared with that of the control group (P < 0.01), which seemed to keep with the number of dead ducks. The cytokines exhibited a biphasic pattern following DHV-1 JX infection. Taken together, the data indicated that duckling liver inflammatory responses were produced following experimental DHV-1 JX infection involving multiple cytokines.

In this work, robust approach for a highly sensitive point-of-care virus detection was established based on immunomagnetic nanobeads and fluorescent quantum dots (QDs). Taking advantage of immunomagnetic nanobeads functionalized with the monoclonal antibody (mAb) to the surface protein hemagglutinin (HA) of avian influenza virus (AIV) H9N2 subtype, H9N2 viruses were efficiently captured through antibody affinity binding, without pretreatment of samples. The capture kinetics could be fitted well with a first-order bimolecular reaction with a high capturing rate constant k(f) of 4.25 × 10(9)(mol/L)(-1) s(-1), which suggested that the viruses could be quickly captured by the well-dispersed and comparable-size immunomagnetic nanobeads. In order to improve the sensitivity, high-luminance QDs conjugated with streptavidin (QDs-SA) were introduced to this assay through the high affinity biotin-streptavidin system by using the biotinylated mAb in an immuno sandwich mode. We ensured the selective binding of QDs-SA to the available biotin-sites on biotinylated mAb and optimized the conditions to reduce the nonspecific adsorption of QDs-SA to get a limit of detection low up to 60 copies of viruses in 200 μL. This approach is robust for application at the point-of-care due to its very good specificity, precision, and reproducibility with an intra-assay variability of 1.35% and an interassay variability of 3.0%, as well as its high selectivity also demonstrated by analysis of synthetic biological samples with mashed tissues and feces. Moreover, this method has been validated through a double-blind trial with 30 throat swab samples with a coincidence of 96.7% with the expected results.

Objective To determine whether aquaporin-4 (AQP4) regulates acute lesions, delayed lesions, and the associated microglial activation after cryoinjury to the brain. Methods Brain cryoinjury was applied to AQP4 knockout (KO) and wild-type mice. At 24 h and on days 7 and 14 after cryoinjury, lesion volume, neuronal loss, and densities of microglia and astrocytes were determined, and their changes were compared between AQP4 KO and wild-type mice. Results Lesion volume and neuronal loss in AQP4 KO mice were milder at 24 h following cryoinjury, but worsened on days 7 and 14, compared to those in wild-type mice. Besides, microglial density increased more, and astrocyte proliferation and glial scar formation were attenuated on days 7 and 14 in AQP4 KO mice. Conclusion AQP4 deficiency ameliorates acute lesions, but worsens delayed lesions, perhaps due to the microgliosis in the late phase.

G protein-coupled receptor 17 (GPR17), the new P2Y-like receptor, is phylogenetically related to the P2Y and cysteinyl leukotriene receptors, and responds to both uracil nucleotides and cysteinyl leukotrienes. GPR17 has been proposed to be a damage sensor in ischemic stroke; however, its role in brain inflammation needs further detailed investigation. Here, we extended previous studies on the spatiotemporal profiles of GPR17 expression and localization, and their implications for brain injury after focal cerebral ischemia. We found that in the ischemic core, GPR17 mRNA and protein levels were upregulated at both 12-24 h and 7-14 days, but in the boundary zone the levels increased 7-14 days after reperfusion. The spatiotemporal pattern of GPR17 expression well matched the acute and late (subacute/chronic) responses in the ischemic brain. According to previous findings, in the acute phase, after ischemia (24 h), upregulated GPR17 was localized in injured neurons in the ischemic core and in a few microglia in the ischemic core and boundary zone. In the late phase (14 days), it was localized in microglia, especially in activated (ED1-positive) microglia in the ischemic core, but weakly in most microglia in the boundary zone. No GPR17 was detectable in astrocytes. GPR17 knockdown by a small interfering RNA attenuated the neurological dysfunction, infarction, and neuron loss at 24 h, and brain atrophy, neuron loss, and microglial activation at 14 days after reperfusion. Thus, GPR17 might mediate acute neuronal injury and late microgliosis after focal cerebral ischemia.

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is a key enzyme in the salvaging pathway for the synthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) that is involved in cell metabolism and proliferation. NAMPT is normally absent in astrocyte but highly expressed in glioblastoma, suggesting that it may promote cell survival through synthesizing more NAD. In this report, we evaluated the effect of APO866, a potent inhibitor of NAMPT against C6 glioblastoma. We found that APO866 inhibited the growth of C6 glioblastoma cells with IC(50) in nano-molar range. APO866 depleted intracellular NAD, caused marked inhibition of ERK activation and induced G2/M cell-cycle arrest. The effects by APO866 were abrogated by nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), the direct product of NAMPT. Administration of U0126, an ERK1/2 inhibitor, inhibited cell growth but displayed no synergistic effect with APO866. Taken together, our results indicated that APO866 is a potent growth inhibitor against glioblastoma through targeting NAMPT.

Another kind of dynamics: Ubiquitin noncovalently dimerizes with a dissociation constant of approximately 5 mM. The two subunits adopt an array of relative orientations, utilizing an interface also for binding to other proteins (see picture). Quaternary fluctuation among members of the dimer ensemble constitutes a different kind of dynamics that complements the tertiary dynamics of each ubiquitin subunit.

Plant-specific DNA-binding transcription factors with one finger (Dof) perform important roles in several biological processes. A yeast one-hybrid cDNA library of Jatropha curcas was used to identify Dof-type transcription factors. JcDof3, isolated from the library as a full-length cDNA, encoded a protein of 518 amino acids and contained a highly conserved Dof domain. Yeast one-hybrid systems and subcellular localization assays confirmed that JcDof3 was a typical transcription factor. In contrast to arrhythmic expression at basal level in etiolated cotyledons under continuous dark conditions, the circadian oscillations of JcDof3 transcripts were observed under long day, short day or continuous light regimes. A phylogenetic analysis showed that JcDof3 was clustered into the same clade with CYCLING DOF FACTOR (CDF), which interacts with F-box protein to regulate photoperiodic flowering. Moreover, a yeast two-hybrid assay showed that JcDof3 also interacted with F-box proteins. Our results suggest that JcDof3 is a circadian clock regulated gene, and might be involved in the flowering time regulation of J. curcas.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a naturally produced compound and has been implicated to play important roles in defense of plants against diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. To understand how SA functions in the tolerance of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) to chilling stress, endogenous SA levels in two different cultivars with opposite chilling responsiveness were quantified. Membrane integrity, including malondialdehyde (MDA) content and leakage of electrolyte, was also examined in SA-pretreated cucumber plants under chilling conditions. In addition, activities of the two antioxidant enzymes peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) were quantified, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production was investigated histochemically in SA-treated leaves under chilling temperature. Chilling stress resulted in greater induction of SA levels in the chilling-tolerant cultivar Changchun mici in both leaves and seeds compared to the chilling-sensitive one Beijing jietou, while the former one contained higher levels of SA than the latter one in the seeds under normal conditions. Pretreatment with SA diminished the increased electrolyte leakage and MDA content caused by chilling in the leaves of both cultivars, while much less MDA and electrolyte leakage were produced in Changchun mici compared to Beijing jietou. Moreover, exogenous application of SA increased significantly the POD and CAT activities and soluble protein content. Most importantly, exogenous SA treatment could eliminate the accumulation of H202 in leaves and cotyledons of both cultivars caused by chilling stress. The data clearly demonstrated that the chilling-tolerant cultivar displays a higher SA level than the chilling-sensitive one, and that exogenous SA can enhance the chilling tolerance ability, which might be achieved through modulating the antioxidant system in cucumber.