catena-Poly[[[bis­(thio­cyanato-κN)zinc(II)]-μ-1,2-bis­{[2-(2-pyrid­yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl]meth­yl}benzene] 0.28-hydrate]

The title one-dimensional coordination polymer, {[Zn(NCS)2(C24H20N6)2]·0.28H2O}n, was obtained by the reaction of Zn(OAc)2·2H2O, KSCN and 1,2-bis­{[2-(2-pyrid­yl)-1H-imid­azol-1-yl]meth­yl}benzene (hereafter L). The ZnII ion shows a distorted octa­hedral coordination geometry and is coordin­ated by two N atoms from two SCN− anions and four N atoms from two organic ligands. The L ligands act as bridging bis-chelating ligands with cis coordination modes at the ZnII ion. One-dimensional coordination polymers are arranged into layers by π–π stacking inter­actions between the imidazole rings of adjacent chains, with an inter­planar distance of 3.46 (1) Å and centroid–centroid distances of 3.8775 (16) Å. One of the thio­cyanate ligands is disordered over two positions with an occupancy factor of 0.564 (3) for the major component. The partially occupied water mol­ecule forms an O—H⋯S hydrogen bond with the disordered thio­cyanate group

Clinical implications in the shift of syndecan-1 expression from the cell membrane to the cytoplasm in bladder cancer

Background To determine the diagnostic and prognostic capability of urinary and tumoral syndecan-1 (SDC-1) levels in patients with cancer of the urinary bladder. Methods SDC-1 levels were quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 308 subjects (102 cancer subjects and 206 non-cancer subjects) to assess its diagnostic capabilities in voided urine. The performance of SDC-1 was evaluated using the area under the curve of a receiver operating characteristic curve. In addition, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining assessed SDC-1 protein expression in 193 bladder specimens (185 cancer subjects and 8 non-cancer subjects). Outcomes were correlated to SDC-1 levels. Results Mean urinary levels of SDC-1 did not differ between the cancer subjects and the non-cancer subjects, however, the mean urinary levels of SDC-1 were reduced in high-grade compared to low-grade disease (p < 0.0001), and in muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) compared to non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) (p = 0.005). Correspondingly, preliminary data note a shift from a membranous cellular localization of SDC-1 in normal tissue, low-grade tumors and NMIBC, to a distinctly cytoplasmic localization in high-grade tumors and MIBC was observed in tissue specimens. Conclusion Alone urinary SDC-1 may not be a diagnostic biomarker for bladder cancer, but its urinary levels and cellular localization were associated with the differentiation status of patients with bladder tumors. Further studies are warranted to define the potential role for SDC-1 in bladder cancer progression

Genetic and Psychological Factors Interact to Predict Physical Impairment Phenotypes Following Exercise-Induced Shoulder Injury

Background: We investigated interactions between genetic and psychological factors in predicting shoulder impairment phenotypes. We hypothesized that pro-inflammatory genes would display stronger relationships compared with pain-related genes when combined with psychological factors for predicting phenotypic changes.Subjects and methods: Altogether, 190 participants completed a 5-day experimental protocol. An experimental shoulder injury model was used to induce physical impairment, and a priori selected genetic (pain-related, pro-inflammatory) and psychological (anxiety, depressive symptoms, pain catastrophizing, fear of pain, kinesiophobia) factors were included as predictors of interest. Impairment phenotypes were injury-induced deficits in range of motion (ROM) and strength. After controlling for age, sex, and race, genetic and psychological predictors were entered separately as main effects and interaction terms in regression models for each phenotype.Results: Strong statistical evidence was provided for interactions between: 1) IL-1β (rs1143634) and fear of pain for predicting loss of shoulder flexion and abduction, 2) IL-1β (rs1143634) and anxiety for predicting loss of flexion, and 3) IL-1β (rs1143634) and depressive symptoms for predicting loss of internal rotation. In addition, the interaction between OPRM1 (rs1799971) and fear of pain as well as COMT (rs4818) and pain catastrophizing provided strong statistical evidence for predicting strength loss.Conclusion: Pro-inflammatory gene variants contributed more to physical impairment with two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; IL-1β [rs1143634] and TNF/LTA [rs2229094]) interacting with psychological factors to predict six shoulder impairment phenotypes. In comparison, two pain-related gene SNPs (OPRM1 [rs1799971] and COMT [rs4818]) interacted with psychological factors to predict four shoulder impairment phenotypes (abduction: 5-day average loss; strength loss: 5-day average, peak, and relative loss)

Investigation of CCL18 and A1AT as potential urinary biomarkers for bladder cancer detection

BACKGROUND: In this study, we further investigated the association of two biomarkers, CCL18 and A1AT, with bladder cancer (BCa) and evaluated the influence of potentially confounding factors in an experimental model. METHODS: In a cohort of 308 subjects (102 with BCa), urinary concentrations of CCL18 and A1AT were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In an experimental model, benign or cancerous cells, in addition to blood, were added to urines from healthy controls and analyzed by ELISA. Lastly, immunohistochemical staining for CCL18 and A1AT in human bladder tumors was performed. RESULTS: Median urinary protein concentrations of CCL18 (52.84 pg/ml vs. 11.13 pg/ml, p < 0.0001) and A1AT (606.4 ng/ml vs. 120.0 ng/ml, p < 0.0001) were significantly elevated in BCa subjects compared to controls. Furthermore, the addition of whole blood to pooled normal urine resulted in a significant increase in both CCL18 and A1AT. IHC staining of bladder tumors revealed CCL18 immunoreactivity in inflammatory cells only, and there was no significant increase in these immunoreactive cells within benign and cancerous tissue and no association with BCa grade nor stage was noted. A1AT immunoreactivity was observed in the cytoplasm of epithelia cells and intensity of immunostaining increased with tumor grade, but not tumor stage. CONCLUSIONS: Further development of A1AT as a diagnostic biomarker for BCa is warranted