Serum MMP7, MMP10 and MMP12 level as negative prognostic markers in colon cancer patients

Background: Matrixmetalloproteinases (MMPs) comprise a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases which are involved in angiogenesis, tumor invasion and metastatic formation. Up to date, the prognostic relevance of MMPs in serum of patients with colon cancer remains unknown. Thus, we wanted to assess an expression pattern of MMPs in a homogenous cohort of colon cancer patients to assess their potential as prognostic biomarkers. Methods: Differences in the expression pattern of MMP7, MMP10 and MMP12 in 78 serum specimens of patients with an adenocarcinoma of the colon and serum specimens of a healthy control group were assessed using Luminex-100 technologies. Subsequently, we correlated these results with histopathological and clinical data of the patients. Results: Luminex based expression analysis revealed a significant overexpression of MMP7 and an overexpression of MMP10 and MMP12 in the sera of colon cancer patients compared to the healthy control group. Patients with vascular invasion showed a significantly higher MMP12 expression than V0-staged patients. Moreover overexpression of MMP7, MMP10 and MMP12 in colon cancer patients´ sera displayed a significantly impaired overall survival. Multivariate analysis revealed high MMP10 serum levels to be an independent adverse prognostic marker in colon cancer patients. Conclusions: Expression patterns of MMP7, MMP10 and MMP12 in colon cancer patients´ sera are different compared to serum specimens of healthy individuals. Furthermore, overexpression of MMP7, MMP10 and MMP12 in colon cancer patients´ sera correlates with a dismal prognosis and may help to stratify patients into different risk groups

Low expression of aldehyde deyhdrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) is a prognostic marker for poor survival in pancreatic cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aldehyde deyhdrogenase 1 (ALDH1) has been characterised as a cancer stem cell marker in different types of tumours. Additionally, it plays a pivotal role in gene regulation and endows tumour cells with augmented chemoresistance. Recently, ALDH1A1 has been described as a prognostic marker in a pancreatic cancer tissue microarray. The aim of this study was to reevaluate the expression of ALDH1A1 as a prognostic marker on whole-mount tissue sections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Real-time-quantitative-PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to evaluate the expression profile of ALDH1A1 in seven pancreatic cancer cell lines and one non-malignant pancreatic cell line. Immunostaining against ALDH1A1 and Ki-67 was performed on paraffin-embedded samples from 97 patients with pancreatic cancer. The immunohistochemical results were correlated to histopathological and clinical data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>qRT-PCR and Western blotting revealed a different expression pattern of ALDH1A1 in different malignant and non-malignant pancreatic cell lines. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that ALDH1A1 was confined to the cellular cytoplasm and occurred in 72 cases (74%), whereas it was negative in 25 cases (26%). High expression of ALDH1A1 was significantly correlated to an increased proliferation rate (Spearman correlation, p = 0.01). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that decreased expression of ALDH1A1 is an independent adverse prognostic factor for overall survival.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Immunonhistochemical analysis on whole-mount tissue slides revealed that ALDH1A1 is more abundantly expressed in pancreatic cancer than initially reported by a tissue microarray analysis. Moreover, high expression of ALDH1A1 correlated significantly with the proliferation of tumour cells. Intriguingly, this study is the first which identifies low expression of ALDH1A1 as an independent adverse prognostic marker for overall survival in pancreatic cancer.</p

The future of biotic indices in the ecogenomic era: Integrating (e)DNA metabarcoding in biological assessment of aquatic ecosystems

The bioassessment of aquatic ecosystems is currently based on various biotic indices that use the occurrence and/or abundance of selected taxonomic groups to define ecological status. These conventional indices have some limitations, often related to difficulties in morphological identification of bioindicator taxa. Recent development of DNA barcoding and metabarcoding could potentially alleviate some of these limitations, by using DNA sequences instead of morphology to identify organisms and to characterize a given ecosystem. In this paper, we review the structure of conventional biotic indices, and we present the results of pilot metabarcoding studies using environmental DNA to infer biotic indices. We discuss the main advantages and pitfalls of metabarcoding approaches to assess parameters such as richness, abundance, taxonomic composition and species ecological values, to be used for calculation of biotic indices. We present some future developments to fully exploit the potential of metabarcoding data and improve the accuracy and precision of their analysis. We also propose some recommendations for the future integration of DNA metabarcoding to routine biomonitoring programs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of Microstructure and Defects on Mechanical Properties of AISI H13 Manufactured by Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion

Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEA

On the fatigue behavior of a tool steel manufactured by powder bed based additive manufacturing—a comparison between electron- and laserbeam processed AISI H13

Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEA

Tribological Performance of Additively Manufactured AISI H13 Steel in Different Surface Conditions

Additive manufacturing of metallic tribological components offers unprecedented degrees of freedom, but the surface roughness of most as-printed surfaces impedes the direct applicability of such structures, and postprocessing is necessary. Here, the tribological performance of AISI H13 steel samples was studied. These were additively manufactured through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), also referred to as selective laser melting (SLM). Samples were tested in four different surface conditions: as-printed, polished, ground and polished, and laser-surface-textured (LST) with round dimples. Friction experiments were conducted in a pin-on-disk fashion against bearing steel disks under lubrication with an additive-free mineral base oil for sliding speeds between 20 and 170 mm/s. Results demonstrated that, among the four surface treatments, grinding and polishing resulted in the lowest friction coefficient, followed by the as-printed state, while both polishing alone and laser-surface texturing increased the friction coefficient. Surprisingly, direct correlation between surface roughness and friction coefficient, i.e., the rougher the surface was, the higher the friction force, was not observed. Wear was minimal in all cases and below what could be detected by gravimetrical means. These results highlight the need for an adequate post-processing treatment of additively manufactured parts that are to be employed in tribological systems

Tailoring flow behavior and heat transfer in tempering channels for high-pressure die casting—analysis of potentials of commercial static mixers and prospects of additive manufacturing

Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEA