Knockdown Survivin Expression Reduces the Efficacy of Curcumin Treatment in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Background

Survivin is a potential therapeutic target for cancer. Increased survivin expression promotes cell survival and therapeutic resistance. However, there is little information regarding whether the expression level of survivin affects curcumin treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Survivin expression was suppressed in HCC cells using a short interfering RNA (siRNA) technique. The anticancer effects of curcumin were examined using a biosensor system, MTT assay, TUNEL assay, and cell cycle analysis.

Results

Curcumin resistance developed in cells with suppressed survivin, in contrast to the parental cells, as determined by survival assays. Cell cycle analysis and TUNEL assays revealed that the apoptotic cell population was increased in the scrambled-siRNA cells treated with curcumin compared with the survivin-siRNA cells. Suppression of survivin expression resulted in curcumin resistance via the modulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression.

Conclusions

We conclude that the expression levels of survivin may mediate the therapeutic efficacy of curcumin in HCC cells.     

Anti-PF4/heparin antibodies are associated with arteriovenous fistula thrombosis in non-diabetic hemodialysis patients

Aim  

Anti-platelet factor 4/heparin complex antibodies (anti-PF4/heparin Ab) have been found to cause heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), a clinical syndrome thrombocytopenia and thrombosis. There is still controversy as to whether the presence of anti-PF4/heparin antibodies in hemodialysis patients augments clot formation in access fistula thrombosis, peripheral artery disease (PAD), and coronary heart disease (CHD).     

Design and construction of translational medicine platform for urologic oncology

Translational medicine is a new medical model which focus on overcoming the serious imbalance among the basic research, its clinical and public health application. Its core is to establish effective ties among basic medical researchers, public health workers and doctors who know the needs of patients, particularly translating the molecular medical research results to suitable disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and prevention methods effectively. This paper discusses the design and construction of the translational medicine platform for urologic system tumors. However, there is no draw on the precedent, it is a challenging project to create such a complicated platform and make it running smoothly and effectively. Based on the Tianjin Translational Medicine Platform for Urologic Oncology (TTMPUO) which had been established in support of Tianjin Science and Technology Commission, this paper will focus on describing the design ideas and the essential parts of the platform.     

p53R2 inhibits the proliferation of human cancer cells in association with cell-cycle arrest

Deregulation of the expression of p53R2, a p53-inducible homologue of the R2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase, has been found in various human cancer tissues; however, the roles p53R2 plays in cancer progression and malignancy remain controversial. In the present study, we examined changes in gene expression profiles associated with p53R2 in cancer cells, using the analysis of cDNA microarray. Gene set enrichment analysis identified that the gene set regulating cell-cycle progression was significantly enriched in p53R2-silencing human oropharyngeal carcinoma KB cells. Attenuation of p53R2 expression significantly reduced p21 expression and moderately increased cyclin D1 expression in both wild-type p53 cancer cells (KB and MCF-7) and mutant p53 cancer cells (PC3 and MDA-MB-231). Conversely, overexpression of p53R2-GFP resulted in an increase in the expression of p21 and decrease in the expression of cyclin D1, which correlated with reduced cell population in S-phase in vitro and suppressed growth in vivo. Furthermore, the MAP/ERK kinase inhibitor PD98059 partially abolished modulation of p21 and cyclin D1 expression by p53R2. Moreover, under the conditions of nonstress and adriamycin-induced genotoxic stress, attenuation of p53R2 in KB cells significantly increased phosphorylated H2AX, which indicates that attenuation of p53R2 may enhance DNA damage induced by adriamycin. Overall, our study shows that p53R2 may suppress cancer cell proliferation partially by upregulation of p21 and downregulation of cyclin D1; p53R2 plays critical roles not only in DNA damage repair but also in proliferation of cancer cells.     

Action research on the development of a caring curriculum in Taiwan: Part II

This article presents the development, design, implementation, and evaluation of the third-year course of a caring curriculum being developed for a 5-year associate degree nursing program in Taiwan. The course, titled Application of Caring Concepts, was taught to more than 800 students by 16 instructors recruited from various departments. The instructors attended workshops and seminars on caring and then developed the course materials and teaching strategies. Instructional strategies included role modeling, dialogue, discussions, journaling, simulations, readings, and projects that involved students' applying caring skills outside of the classroom. Students were evaluated by patients in clinical practice using the Caring Behavior Measurement, developed in a previous study, and the course was evaluated by qualitative analysis of student feedback. Student responses to course content and instructional strategies were positive. Patients generally indicated that students always or normally performed caring behaviors. The study showed that with an appropriate curriculum and learning strategies, students can learn caring skills.     

A programme of symptom management for improving quality of life and drug adherence in AIDS/HIV patients

AIM: This paper reports an evaluation of the effect of symptom management programmed on drug adherence, CD4 count and virus load and the quality of life of patients with HIV/AIDS. BACKGROUND: Patients with HIV/AIDS have to face the long-term side effects caused by highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens. There has been little research to evaluate the influence of drug intervention side effects on self-care. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients with HIV/AIDS were randomly assigned to one-on-one teaching, group teaching, or control groups. All those in the one-on-one and group teaching groups attended a symptom management programme once a week, followed by 3 weeks of continuity and telephone counselling. Those in the control group were offered experimental intervention at the conclusion of data collection. The Customized Adherence Self-Report Questionnaire, CD4 count and virus load, and Quality of Life Index were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the symptom management programme before and at 3 months after the intervention. RESULTS: Median differences on the Customized Adherence Self-Report Questionnaire, CD4 count and virus load, and quality of life in both experimental groups were statistically significantly better than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The symptom management programme can increase self-care ability in managing medication side effects in patients with HIV/AIDS.