Clinical Potentials of Cardiomyocytes Derived from Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The lack of appropriate human cardiomyocyte-based experimental platform has largely hindered the study of cardiac diseases and the development of therapeutic strategies. To date, somatic cells isolated from human subjects can be reprogramed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and subsequently differentiated into functional cardiomyocytes. This powerful reprogramming technology provides a novel in vitro human cell-based platform for the study of human hereditary cardiac disorders. The clinical potential of using iPSCs derived from patients with inherited cardiac disorders for therapeutic studies have been increasingly highlighted. In this review, the standard procedures for generating patient-specific iPSCs and the latest commonly used cardiac differentiation protocols will be outlined. Furthermore, the progress and limitations of current applications of iPSCs and iPSCs-derived cardiomyocytes in cell replacement therapy, disease modeling, drug-testing and toxicology studies will be discussed in detail.published_or_final_versio

香港的選擇性墮胎: 合法與否?

There is legal uncertainty as to whether selective foeticide is authorised under section 47A of the Offences Against the Person Ordinance (1967). Medical and legal issues surrounding a case of selective foeticide in a triplet pregnancy are reported.published_or_final_versio

Patients with Helicobacter pylori positive and negative duodenal ulcers have distinct clinical characteristics

Aim: To assess the clinical characteristics of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) negative duodenal ulcer. Methods: Patients with an endoscopic diagnosis of duodenal ulcer between 1996 and 2002 were included in the present study. Patients were considered to be negative for H pylori, if both histological examination and rapid urease test of biopsy specimens were negative. A comparison was made between patients with H pylori positive and negative duodenal ulcers. Results: A total of 1 343 patients were studied. Their mean age was 54.7±0.5 years. There was a male preponderance (M:F = 2.5:1). Three hundred and ninety-eight patients (29.6%) did not have H pylori infection. The annual proportion of patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcers increased progressively from 1996 to 2002. On multivariate analysis, patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcer were more likely to be older, have concomitant medical problem, pre-existing malignancy, recent surgery, underlying sepsis, or taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In terms of clinical presentations, patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcer were more likely to present with bleeding, multiple ulcers and larger ulcers. Conclusion: The proportion of patients with H pylori negative duodenal ulcers is on the rise because of a continued drop in incidence of H pylori positive duodenal ulcers in recent years. Such patients have distinct clinical characteristics and it is important to ascertain the H pylori status before starting eradication therapy. © 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Self-expanding metallic intraluminal stents for palliation of esophageal cancer

Conference Theme: Challenges to specialists in the 21st centurypublished_or_final_versio

A preclinical study on the combination therapy of everolimus and transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma

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Emergence of CD26+ cancer stem cells with metastatic properties in colorectal carcinogenesis

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Identification of microRNA 885-5p as a novel regulator of tumor metastasis by targeting CPEB2 in colorectal cancer

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Circulating microRNAs as Specific Biomarkers for Breast Cancer Detection

Background: We previously showed microRNAs (miRNAs) in plasma are potential biomarkers for colorectal cancer detection. Here, we aimed to develop specific blood-based miRNA assay for breast cancer detection. Methodology/Principal Findings: TaqMan-based miRNA profiling was performed in tumor, adjacent non-tumor, corresponding plasma from breast cancer patients, and plasma from matched healthy controls. All putative markers identified were verified in a training set of breast cancer patients. Selected markers were validated in a case-control cohort of 170 breast cancer patients, 100 controls, and 95 other types of cancers and then blindly validated in an independent set of 70 breast cancer patients and 50 healthy controls. Profiling results showed 8 miRNAs were concordantly up-regulated and 1 miRNA was concordantly down-regulated in both plasma and tumor tissue of breast cancer patients. Of the 8 up-regulated miRNAs, only 3 were significantly elevated (p<0.0001) before surgery and reduced after surgery in the training set. Results from the validation cohort showed that a combination of miR-145 and miR-451 was the best biomarker (p<0.0001) in discriminating breast cancer from healthy controls and all other types of cancers. In the blind validation, these plasma markers yielded Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve area of 0.931. The positive predictive value was 88% and the negative predictive value was 92%. Altered levels of these miRNAs in plasma have been detected not only in advanced stages but also early stages of tumors. The positive predictive value for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) cases was 96%. Conclusions: These results suggested that these circulating miRNAs could be a potential specific biomarker for breast cancer screening. © 2013 Ng et al.published_or_final_versio

Quantitative trait loci for bone traits segregating independently of those for growth in an F-2 broiler X layer cross

An F broiler-layer cross was phenotyped for 18 skeletal traits at 6, 7 and 9 weeks of age and genotyped with 120 microsatellite markers. Interval mapping identified 61 suggestive and significant QTL on 16 of the 25 linkage groups for 16 traits. Thirty-six additional QTL were identified when the assumption that QTL were fixed in the grandparent lines was relaxed. QTL with large effects on the lengths of the tarsometatarsus, tibia and femur, and the weights of the tibia and femur were identified on GGA4 between 217 and 249 cM. Six QTL for skeletal traits were identified that did not co-locate with genome wide significant QTL for body weight and two body weight QTL did not coincide with skeletal trait QTL. Significant evidence of imprinting was found in ten of the QTL and QTL x sex interactions were identified for 22 traits. Six alleles from the broiler line for weight- and size-related skeletal QTL were positive. Negative alleles for bone quality traits such as tibial dyschondroplasia, leg bowing and tibia twisting generally originated from the layer line suggesting that the allele inherited from the broiler is more protective than the allele originating from the layer