Spirometric values in normal Chinese children and adolescents

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Wnt-C59 arrests stemness and suppresses growth of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in mice by inhibiting the Wnt pathway in the tumor microenvironment

Wnt/β-catenin signaling is responsible for the generation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in many human tumors, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Recent studies demonstrate that Wnt or PORCN inhibitor, Wnt-C59, inhibits tumor growth in MMTV-WNT1 transgenic mice. The effect of Wnt-C59 in human tumors is not clear. In this study, the NPC cell lines investigated manifest heterogeneous responses to Wnt-C59 treatment. Wnt-C59 decreased tumor growth of SUNE1 cells in mice immediately following the administration of Wnt-C59. Mice injected with HNE1 cells did not develop visible tumors after the treatment of Wnt-C59, while control mice developed 100% tumors. Wnt-C59 inhibited stemness properties of NPC cells in a dosage-dependent manner by arresting sphere formation in both HNE1 and SUNE1 cells. Thus, Wnt-C59 has the potential to eradicate CSCs in human tumors. Active β-catenin and Axin2 proteins were strongly expressed in stromal cells surrounding growing tumors, confirming the importance of Wnt signaling activities in the microenvironment being driving forces for cell growth. These novel findings confirm the ability of Wnt-C59 to suppress Wnt-driven undifferentiated cell growth in NPC. Both anti-Wnt signaling and anti-CSC approaches are feasible strategies in cancer therapy.published_or_final_versio

A Versatile Orthotopic Nude Mouse Model for Study of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Increasing evidence indicates tumor-stromal interactions play a crucial role in cancer. An in vivo esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) orthotopic animal model was developed with bioluminescence imaging established with a real-time monitoring platform for functional and signaling investigation of tumor-stromal interactions. The model was produced by injection of luciferase-labelled ESCC cells into the intraesophageal wall of nude mice. Histological examination indicates this orthotopic model is highly reproducible with 100% tumorigenesis among the four ESCC cell lines tested. This new model recapitulates many clinical and pathological properties of human ESCC, including esophageal luminal stricture by squamous cell carcinoma with nodular tumor growth, adventitia invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and perineural infiltration. It was tested using an AKT shRNA knockdown of ESCC cell lines and the in vivo tumor suppressive effects of AKT knockdown were observed. In conclusion, this ESCC orthotopic mouse model allows investigation of gene functions of cancer cells in a more natural tumor microenvironment and has advantages over previous established models. It provides a versatile platform with potential application for metastasis and therapeutic regimen testing.published_or_final_versio

PTPRG suppresses tumor growth and invasion via inhibition of Akt signaling in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Receptor Type G (PTPRG) was identified as a candidate tumor suppressor gene in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). PTPRG induces significant in vivo tumor suppression in NPC. We identified EGFR as a PTPRG potential interacting partner and examined this interaction. Dephosphorylation of EGFR at EGFR-Y1068 and -Y1086 sites inactivated the PI3K/Akt signaling cascade and subsequent down-regulation of downstream pro-angiogenic and -invasive proteins (VEGF, IL6, and IL8) and suppressed tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and invasion. The effect of Akt inhibition in NPC cells was further validated by Akt knockdown experiments in the PTPRG-down-regulated NPC cell lines. Our results suggested that inhibition of Akt in NPC cells induces tumor suppression at both the in vitro and in vivo levels, and also importantly, in vivo metastasis. In conclusion, we confirmed the vital role of PTPRG in inhibiting Akt signaling with the resultant suppression of in vivo tumorigenesis and metastasis.published_or_final_versio

Metastasis-suppressing <i>NID2</i>, an epigenetically-silenced gene, in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

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Therapeutic targeting of CBP/β-catenin signaling reduces cancer stem-like population and synergistically suppresses growth of EBV-positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells with cisplatin

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an EBV-associated epithelial malignancy prevalent in southern China. Presence of treatment-resistant cancer stem cells (CSC) may associate with tumor relapse and metastasis in NPC. ICG-001 is a specific CBP/β-catenin antagonist that can block CBP/β-catenin-mediated transcription of stem cell associated genes and enhance p300/β-catenin-mediated transcription, thereby reducing the CSC-like population via forced differentiation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of ICG-001 on the CSC-like population, and the combination effect of ICG-001 with cisplatin in the C666-1 EBV-positive NPC cells. Results showed that ICG-001 inhibited C666-1 cell growth and reduced expression of CSC-associated proteins with altered expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers. ICG-001 also inhibited C666-1 tumor sphere formation, accompanied with reduced SOX2 hi /CD44 hi CSC-like population. ICG-001 was also found to restore the expression of a tumor suppressive microRNA-145 (miR-145). Ectopic expression of miR-145 effectively repressed SOX2 protein expression and inhibited tumor sphere formation. Combination of ICG-001 with cisplatin synergistically suppressed in vitro growth of C666-1 cells and significantly suppressed growth of NPC xenografts. These results suggested that therapeutically targeting of the CBP/β-catenin signaling pathway with ICG-001 can effectively reduce the CSC-like population and combination with cisplatin can effectively suppress the growth of NPC.link_to_OA_fulltex

The royal road to great speeches: an evaluation of a Public Speaking Course for ESL Learners

According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. To the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy. - Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian, actor and writer Public speaking can be intimidating for native speakers, not to mention second or foreign language learners [1]. Public speaking anxiety, a kind of communication apprehension, is common among Asian ESL students, including those at the tertiary level [2, 3, 4]. This problem may stem not only from their cultural and social upbringing which shapes their perceptions of the stereotypical conventions of public speaking, but also from their linguistic incapability to handle a speech genre which is distinctive from the more frequently received academic speaking training. Different from other English courses offered for Social Sciences students of the University of Hong Kong which are heavily writing-oriented, Great Speeches: Rhetoric and Delivery, an English public speaking course, aims to expand the variety of students’ English language repertoire. Using this course as the basis of evaluation, a study is carried out to explore Chinese ESL university students’ psychological and linguistic needs and major challenges in becoming a competent public speaker in English. Data will be collected through questionnaire survey and individual interviews with students. Findings will be triangulated by in-class observations of psychological and linguistic changes among individual students within a 12-week semester. While this course tilts towards a speaking focus, it is felt by course developers that successful mastery of a speech genre should be accompanied by students’ ability to exercise both spoken and written literacies. This explains the inclusion in course materials of guiding students to the writing of a speech critique, in addition to constant exposure to and practices of various speech types throughout the course. It is hoped this presentation fulfils two pedagogical aims – 1) how teachers may incorporate unconventional elements in a public speaking course for ESL learners, and 2) how ESL learners’ psychological and linguistic needs in public speaking can be addressed, potentially reversing the longstanding misperception held by many ESL learners that they do not naturally come with the qualities of producing great speeches. Keyword: ESL, Public speaking, Psychological and linguistic needs References: [1] McCroskey, J. C., Fayer, J. M., & Richmond, V. P. (1985). Don’t speak to me in English: Communication apprehension in Puerto Rico. Communication Quarterly, 33, 185-192. [2] Lucas, J. (1984). Communication apprehension in the ESL classroom: Getting our students to talk. Foreign Language Annals, 17, 593-598. [3] Jin, S. (2009). A study on college students’ English public speaking anxiety and its related factors. Research in Medical Education, 11, 1432-1435. [4] Mak, B. (2011). An exploration of speaking-in-class anxiety with Chinese ESL learners. System, 39, 202-214

Can "Writing Psychology" facilitate psychology writing?

Conference Theme: Departing from Tradition: Innovations in English Language Teaching and LearningSession D: Curriculum / Materials Developmen

Difficulties in mastering psychology writing: a student perspective

All accepted papers in the conference will be published in vol. 6 of Frontiers of Language and TeachingThe curriculum reform in Hong Kong resulted in a change in the direction of academic English enhancement courses in the University of Hong Kong. The change involved the replacement of generic English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses by English-in-the-discipline (ED) courses, one of which is 'Writing Psychology: Text and Context ' . It was offered in the 2013-14 academic year in hopes of helping students master various writing genres of psychology. A genre analysis approach (Bhatia, 1993; Swales, 1990) was adopted in course design with an aim of enhancing students’ awareness of the language forms of disciplinary-specific writing through exploring the linguistic and rhetorical features of various texts in psychology. After its first launch it was felt by course developers that the pedagogical benefits of the course could be maximized by a scrutiny of students’ competence in genre-based writing. This study therefore sets out to investigate the perceptions of psychology students’ major difficulties in writing, and to analyze their actual writing problems

Helping students find the 'write' way: an evaluation of a new English-in-the-Discipline course in dissertation writing

Conference Theme: One World, Many Languages會議主題: 一方世界,多元語