MiR-206 acts as a potential tumor suppressor during carcinogenesis and a regulatory factor in osteoblasts differentiation, but its modulatory mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we used a quantitative proteomics method, difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE), to profile the protein variation in A549 lung cancer cells with and without miR206 transfection. We identified a total of 17 differently expressed proteins including 5 up-regulated and 12 down-regulated proteins affected by miR-206 in A549 cells. We further constructed a protein network linked 17 differently expressed proteins with 106 computationally predicted miR-206 targets, and identified 8 "hub" genes (CALR, CTSD, ENO1, HSPA5, CDC42, HSPD1, POLA1, and SMARCA4) within the network, which may represent important miR-206 functional gene targets. In conclusion, in this study, we identified several candidate functional target genes for miR-206, which is helpful to further explore its mechanisms during carcinogenesis and osteogenesis, and we also proposed a novel proteomic strategy to identify functionally important gene targets for microRNA.

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Signal peptide-CUB-EGF-like domain-containing protein 3 (SCUBE3) is highly expressed in invasive lung cancers. In vitro investigation indicated that SCUBE3 may play a critical role in lung cancer invasion and metastasis. The current study immunohistochemically investigated the expression of SCUBE3 in 119 cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors and this study evaluated its clinical-pathological and prognostic significance. SCUBE3 was found to be up-regulated in NSCLC tissue samples compared to adjacent normal tissue. High SCUBE3 expression was noted in 84/119 (70.6%) of NSCLC tissue samples and was positively correlated with lymph node involvement (p = 0.001) and advanced stages of tumor/lymph node metastasis (TNM) (p = 0.014). Furthermore, high SCUBE3 expression was significantly associated with loss of the epithelial marker E-cadherin (p = 0.0015) and acquisition of expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin (p = 0.005). Patients with high SCUBE3 expression had significantly a shorter survival time compared to patients with low SCUBE3 expression (p = 0.001), and SCUBE3 expression served as an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. Results indicated that SCUBE3 might be involved in regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and malignant progression in NSCLC. Results also indicated that SCUBE3d may be a potential therapeutic target for lung cancers.

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We dramatically improved a plasmid-isolation protocol based on the popular alkaline sodium dodecyl sulfate plasmid isolation method. Our modified method provides significant time and cost savings. We used a modified solution during the neutralization step, which allowed us to skip several subsequent handling steps, saving a great amount of time. The plasmids purified by this method were of high quality, and the optical density ratio 260 and 280 was approximately 1.8. Plasmid DNA isolated by our method was of sufficient quality to perform subsequent restriction enzyme cuts and other downstream experiments, including budding yeast transformation, cultured cell transfection, and Caenorhabditis elegans injection experiments.

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Leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) is a signaling molecule expressed in the liver and regulated by Wnt/β-catenin pathways implicated in hepatic metabolism. However, the clinical relevance of LECT2 in obesity and fatty liver is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine whether serum LECT2 levels are affected by of obesity and fatty liver. A cross sectional study comprising 231 Japanese adult subjects were tested for LECT2 using a highly sensitive assay. We evaluated the associations between LECT2 and the anthropometric or clinical markers of obesity and fatty liver. The mean serum LECT2 levels were 43.5 ± 13.6 ng/mL. LECT2 positively correlated with all the anthropometric measures of obesity: body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio (W/Ht). Multiple regression analysis revealed that LECT2 is independently related to γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GTP), triglyceride, and age in males, whereas in females it was related to the homeostasis model assessment ratio, blood urea nitrogen, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and γ-GTP. Receiver operating characteristics curve analyses revealed that LECT2 correlated with obesity [area under the curve (AUC) 0.655,95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.551-0.758, p = 0.002 in males; AUC 0.670, 95% CI = 0.570-0.770, p < 0.001 in females] and fatty liver (AUC 0.646, 95% CI = 0.544-0.749, p = 0.004 in males; AUC 0.733, 95% CI = 0.621-0.844, p < 0.001 in females). The present study indicates that serum LECT2 levels are increased by obesity and fatty liver, and suggests that LECT2 is a novel obesity-related protein.

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This study sought to determine the prevalence and risk factors of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) in HIV-infected patients with a baseline CD4 count ≤ 350 cells/μL in Shanghai, China. Subjects were 309 HIV-infected patients with a baseline CD4 count ≤ 350 cells/μL. General demographic and clinical information were collected by patient interview. Patients' cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), combined with a questionnaire on cognitive complaints. The median age of patients was 34 years (IQR: 28-43.5). In terms of sex, 272 (88.0%) of the patients were male. Of the patients, 236 (76.4%) had been on antiretroviral treatment (ART) (for a median duration of 14 months, IQR: 1-29 months) before the study. Of the patients, 183 (59.2%) mentioned having a cognitive disorder. MoCA screening revealed that the prevalence of HAND was 48.2% and that HAND was more prevalent in patients with cognitive complaints (53.0%) than in patients with no such complaints (41.3%) (p = 0.042). Multivariate analysis indicated that HAND was associated with being female (p = 0.006), being older (p < 0.001), having a lower level of education (p < 0.001), and longer use of efavirenz in an ART regimen (p = 0.040). This study found that HAND frequently developed in HIV-infected patients with a baseline CD4 count ≤ 350 cells/μL in Shanghai, China. Being older, being female, having a low level of education, and receiving efavirenz treatment for a longer period may be associated with a greater risk of developing HAND. This study suggests that HAND should be routinely screened for in all newly diagnosed HIV-positive patients, and especially in those with the aforementioned risk factors for developing HAND.

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The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 indicated that China's existing former mechanism for emergency management was very vulnerable. The Chinese Government has since established a new mechanism for responding to emerging communicable diseases. This paper examined the current status of and developments in China's response to emerging communicable diseases from the outbreak of SARS in 2003 to the outbreak of H7N9 virus infection in 2013. Results indicated that the current mechanism for emergency responses to emerging communicable diseases in China has made great achievements in terms of command and decision-making, organization and collaboration, monitoring and early warning systems, protection, and international communication and cooperation. This mechanism for responding to emerging communicable diseases allowed China to successfully deal with outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu, H1N1 flu, and H7N9 bird flu. However, a better coordination system, a more complete Office of Responses to Public Health Emergencies, administrative responsibility and error correction, better personnel training, and government responsibility may help to improve the response to emerging communicable diseases. Such improvements are eagerly anticipated.

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After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, 2011, a journalist visited the disaster area with febrile symptoms and was diagnosed with measles of the D genotype, which is not indigenous to Japan. After continuing activities in disaster areas and Tokyo, 11 measles cases were reported, some of which were identified as genotype D. Meanwhile non-profit activities directed towards volunteers were offered including interviews to screen for subjective symptoms, check body temperature and advise volunteers to refrain from working in shelter areas during the period of sickness. As a consequence, disease transmission was controlled among volunteers. In disaster areas, anyone can be an infection vector. In order to prevent transmission of infectious diseases, a field action plan, which includes body temperature checks and standard precautions should be formulated and put into place. If the action plans are shared among local governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), they can become a norm and be expected to control infectious disease transmission.

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