Nuclear expression of Twist promotes lymphatic metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [20090461447]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [81172288]Twist-1 protein (also called Twist) has been suggested to be involved in tumor epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related progression, however, the mechanism by which Twist promotes lymph node metastasis is not fully understood. In the present study, we found that nuclear Twist expression is clearly correlated with lymph node (LN) metastasis as determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). A highly invasive EC109 cell subline, EC109-P, was established by repeated in vitro transwell isolations for the cell model. Immunofluorescence (IF) assay demonstrated that nuclear Twist expression was markedly higher in the highly invasive EC109-P cell line when compared with EC109 and EC9706 cells. Based on our cell model, the function and mechanism by which Twist regulates LN metastasis in ESCC was investigated. The results showed that the overexpression of Twist could significantly increase the invasion and VEGF-C expression of EC9706 cells, whereas the knockdown of Twist expression results in the opposite effects. This finding was further strengthened by the results of the analysis of co-expression of Twist and VEGF-C by IHC in ESCC clinical samples. In summary, our study indicates that nuclear Twist plays an important role in ESCC lymphatic metastasis by increasing the expression of VEGF-C. The combination of Twist and VEGF-C detection could be a reliable prediction of LN metastasis in ESCC

新疆塘巴湖水库浮游植物群落组成特征/Ecological features of phytoplankton community of Tangbahu Reservoir in Xinjiang[J]

塘巴湖水库是新疆阿勒泰地区具有灌溉、生活供给、养殖和发电等综合作用的水库,2008年7月(平水期)、10月(枯水期)和2009年5月(丰水期)对塘巴湖水库浮游植物群落进行了生态学研究.共采集浮游植物8门97种.库区水体浮游植物群落结构属于典型的绿藻-硅藻型.不同期优势种不同:平水期优势种为类颤藻鱼腥藻(Anabaena oscillarioides)、铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginisa)、小形色球藻(Chroococcus minor)、广源小环藻(Cyclotella bodanica)、双对栅藻(Scenedesmus bijuga)、韦氏藻(Westlla botryoides)、小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)和矩圆囊裸藻(Trachelomonas oblonga)；秋季枯水期优势种为水华微囊藻(Microcystis flosmarginata)、小形色球藻(C.minor)、颗粒直链藻(Melosira granulata)、德巴衣藻(Chlamydomonas debaryana)、双对栅藻(S.bijuga)、小球藻(C.vulgaris)和啮蚀隐藻(Cryptomonas erosa erosa)；丰水期优势种则为不定微囊藻(Microcystis incerra Lemm)、颗粒直链藻(M.granulata)、美丽星杆藻(Asteronella formosa)、被甲栅藻(Scenedesmus armatus)、小球藻(C.vulgaris)、极小拟小椿藻(Characiopsis minima)、卵形隐藻(Cryptomonas erosaovata)和裸甲藻(Gymnodinium aeruginosum).水库浮游植物细胞密度变化趋势为:枯水期(9.42±2.20×106 ind/L)＞平水期(7.80±1.41×106 ind/L)＞丰水期(1.11±2.32 × 106 ind/L).库区水温和水容量变化是影响塘巴湖水库浮游植物种类组成、密度和多样性指数变化的主要因素