Fangmeng Fu

Injury to muscles is very common. We have previously observed that basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), insulin growth factor type 1 (IGF-1) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are potent stimulators of the proliferation and fusion of myoblasts in vitro. We therefore injected these growth factors into mice with lacerations of the gastrocnemius muscle. The muscle regeneration was evaluated at one week by histological staining and quantitative histology. Muscle healing was assessed histologically and the contractile properties were measured one month after injury. Our findings showed that b-FGF, IGF and to a less extent NGF enhanced muscle regeneration in vivo compared with control muscle. At one month, muscles treated with IGF-1 and b-FGF showed improved healing and significantly increased fast-twitch and tetanus strengths. Our results suggest that b-FGF and IGF-1 stimulated muscle healing and may have a considerable effect on the treatment of muscle injuries.

Injury to muscles is very common. We have previously observed that basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), insulin growth factor type 1 (IGF-1) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are potent stimulators of the proliferation and fusion of myoblasts in vitro. We therefore injected these growth factors into mice with lacerations of the gastrocnemius muscle. The muscle regeneration was evaluated at one week by histological staining and quantitative histology. Muscle healing was assessed histologically and the contractile properties were measured one month after injury. Our findings showed that b-FGF, IGF and to a less extent NGF enhanced muscle regeneration in vivo compared with control muscle. At one month, muscles treated with IGF-1 and b-FGF showed improved healing and significantly increased fast-twitch and tetanus strengths. Our results suggest that b-FGF and IGF-1 stimulated muscle healing and may have a considerable effect on the treatment of muscle injuries.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between smoking and tuberculosis (TB) among high-risk silicotic patients in Hong Kong. A cohort of 435 silicotic patients tuberculin tested from 1995-2002 was prospectively followed-up until the end of 2005. Baseline characteristics were analysed with respect to positive tuberculin reaction (> or =10 mm) at baseline and subsequent development of TB. Smoking, alcohol use and body mass index were independent predictors of positive tuberculin reaction at baseline in multiple logistic regression analysis. Total cigarette pack-yrs did not demonstrate any significant effect. The annual incidences of TB were 1,841, 2,294 and 4,181 per 100,000 for never-, ex- and current smokers, respectively. On Cox proportional hazard analysis, current smokers have a significantly higher risk of TB than other silicotic patients (adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval (CI)): 1.96 (1.14-3.35)) after controlling for age, alcohol use, tuberculin status, treatment for latent TB infection and other relevant background/disease factors. A significant dose-response relationship was also observed with the daily number of cigarettes currently smoked. Smoking cessation may reduce 32.4% (95% CI: 6.5-54.0) of the risk. Smoking increases the risk of both tuberculosis infection and subsequent development of the disease among silicotic patients.

BACKGROUND: Partner and localizer BRCA2 (PALB2) is a breast cancer predisposition gene, but the clinical relevance of PALB2 germline mutations in Chinese patients with breast cancer remains unknown. This study attempted to investigate the full prevalence and spectrum of PALB2 germline mutations in China and the associations between PALB2 germline mutations and breast cancer risk. METHODS: A total of 21,216 unselected patients with breast cancer were enrolled from 10 provinces in China, and 5890 Chinese women without cancer were enrolled as healthy controls. PALB2 screening was based on next-generation sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 16,501 BRCA1/2-negative patients with breast cancer were analyzed. Deleterious PALB2 mutation carriers accounted for 0.97% (n = 160) in the breast cancer cohort and for 0.19% (n = 11) in the healthy control cohort. Forty-one novel PALB2 germline mutations were identified. A high frequency of PALB2 c.751C>T was detected, and it accounted for 10.63% of the PALB2 germline mutations detected (17 of 160). PALB2 mutations were significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk (odds ratio [OR], 5.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.84-9.65; P < .0001), especially among women 30 years old or younger (OR, 10.09; 95% CI, 3.95-25.79; P < .0001). Clinical characteristics, including a family history, bigger tumor size, triple-negative breast cancer, positive lymph nodes, and bilateral breast cancer, were closely related to PALB2 mutations. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed a comprehensive spectrum of PALB2 germline mutations and characteristics of PALB2-related breast cancer in China. PALB2 germline mutations confer a moderately increased risk for breast cancer but profoundly increase breast cancer risk for those 30 years old or younger in the Chinese population.

BACKGROUNDS: HER-2 positive breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer with poor clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for HER-2 positive breast cancer and elucidate the potential interactions among them. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three gene expression profiles (GSE29431, GSE45827, and GSE65194) were derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. GEO2R tool was applied to obtain DEGs between HER-2 positive breast cancer and normal breast tissues. Gene ontology (GO) annotation analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was performed by the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (David) online tool. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, hub gene identification and module analysis was conducted by Cytoscape software. Online Kaplan-Meier plotter survival analysis tool was also used to investigate the prognostic values of hub genes in HER-2 positive breast cancer patients. RESULTS: A total of 54 upregulated DEGs and 269 downregulated DEGs were identified. Among them, 10 hub genes including CCNB1, RAC1, TOP2A, KIF20A, RRM2, ASPM, NUSAP1, BIRC5, BUB1B, and CEP55 demonstrated by connectivity degree in the PPI network were screened out. In Kaplan-Meier plotter survival analysis, the overexpression of RAC1 and RRM2 were shown to be associated with an unfavorable prognosis in HER-2 positive breast cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: This present study identified a number of potential target genes and pathways which might impact the oncogenesis and progression of HER-2 positive breast cancer. These findings could provide new insights into the detection of novel diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for this disease.