Gene expression profile based classification models of psoriasis

AbstractPsoriasis is an autoimmune disease, which symptoms can significantly impair the patient's life quality. It is mainly diagnosed through the visual inspection of the lesion skin by experienced dermatologists. Currently no cure for psoriasis is available due to limited knowledge about its pathogenesis and development mechanisms. Previous studies have profiled hundreds of differentially expressed genes related to psoriasis, however with no robust psoriasis prediction model available. This study integrated the knowledge of three feature selection algorithms that revealed 21 features belonging to 18 genes as candidate markers. The final psoriasis classification model was established using the novel Incremental Feature Selection algorithm that utilizes only 3 features from 2 unique genes, IGFL1 and C10orf99. This model has demonstrated highly stable prediction accuracy (averaged at 99.81%) over three independent validation strategies. The two marker genes, IGFL1 and C10orf99, were revealed as the upstream components of growth signal transduction pathway of psoriatic pathogenesis

Current prodrug strategies for improving oral absorption of nucleoside analogues

Nucleoside analogues are first line chemotherapy in various severe diseases: AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency disease syndrome), cytomegalovirus infections, cancer, etc. However, many nucleoside analogues exhibit poor oral bioavailability because of their high polarity and low intestinal permeability. In order to get around this drawback, prodrugs have been utilized to improve lipophilicity by chemical modification of the parent drug. Alternatively, prodrugs targeting transporters present in the intestine have been applied to promote the transport of the nucleoside analogues. Valacyclovir and valganciclovir are two classic valine ester prodrugs transported by oligopeptide transporter 1. The ideal prodrug achieves delivery of a parent drug by attaching a non-toxic moiety that is stable during transport, but is readily degraded to the parent drug once at the target. This article presents advances of prodrug approaches for enhancing oral absorption of nucleoside analogues

Study on the Interfacial Functionary Mechanism of Rare-Earth-Solution-Modified Bamboo-Fiber-Reinforced Resin Matrix Composites

In this work, a new and effective treatment on bamboo fiber (BF) is presented, and its effect on the interfacial bonding properties of the BF/resin matrix was studied. The interfacial functionary mechanism of rare earth solution (RES) modification to improve the interfacial bonding properties between BF and the resin matrix was analyzed. The hardness and elastic modulus of the interfacial zone between BF and the resin matrix were measured using nanoindentation. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to analyze the change in the surface functional group of BF in the modification process. The surface chemical composition of BF before and after the modification was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the RES modification significantly increases the hardness and elastic modulus of BF and its interfacial zone with the resin matrix. The hydroxyl concentration on the surface of RES-treated BF decreases, which reduces the hydrophilicity of BF. Rare earth ions react with oxygen in the hydroxyl group at the C2 position in the glucosylic ring of cellulose. The RES-modified BF bonds with the resin matrix to form a rare earth complex, which significantly enhances the interfacial adhesion between BF and the resin matrix