Clinicopathological significance of stromal variables: angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, inflammatory infiltration, MMP and PINCH in colorectal carcinomas

Cancer research has mainly focused on alterations of genes and proteins in cancer cells themselves that result in either gain-of-function in oncogenes or loss-of-function in tumour-suppressor genes. However, stromal variables within or around tumours, including blood and lymph vessels, stromal cells and various proteins, have also important impacts on tumour development and progression. It has been shown that disruption of stromal-epithelial interactions influences cellular proliferation, differentiation, death, motility, genomic integrity, angiogenesis, and other phenotypes in various tissues. Moreover, stromal variables are also critical to therapy in cancer patients. In this review, we mainly focus on the clinicopathological significance of stromal variables including angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, inflammatory infiltration, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), and the particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH) in colorectal cancer (CRC)

Id1 induces apoptosis through inhibition of RORgammat expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Basic helix-loop-helix E proteins are transcription factors that play crucial roles in T cell development by controlling thymocyte proliferation, differentiation and survival. E protein functions can be repressed by their naturally occurring inhibitors, Id proteins (Id1-4). Transgenic expression of Id1 blocks T cell development and causes massive apoptosis of developing thymocytes. However, the underlying mechanisms are not entirely understood due to relatively little knowledge of the target genes regulated by E proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We designed a unique strategy to search for genes directly controlled by E proteins and found RORγt to be a top candidate. Using microarray analyses and reverse-transcriptase PCR assays, we showed that Id1 expression diminished RORγt mRNA levels in T cell lines and primary thymocytes while induction of E protein activity restored RORγt expression. E proteins were found to specifically bind to the promoter region of RORγt, suggesting their role in activating transcription of the gene. Functional significance of E protein-controlled RORγt expression was established based on the finding that RORγt rescued apoptosis caused by Id1 overexpression. Furthermore, expression of RORγt prevented Id1-induced p38 MAP kinase hyper-activation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that E protein-dependent RORγt gene expression aids the survival of developing thymocytes, which provides a possible explanation for the massive apoptosis found in Id1 transgenic mice.</p

The thermal evolution of nuclear matter at zero temperature and definite baryon number density in chiral perturbation theory

The thermal properties of cold dense nuclear matter are investigated with chiral perturbation theory. The evolution curves for the baryon number density, baryon number susceptibility, pressure and the equation of state are obtained. The chiral condensate is calculated and our result shows that when the baryon chemical potential goes beyond $1150 \mathrm{MeV}$, the absolute value of the quark condensate decreases rapidly, which indicates a tendency of chiral restoration.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, revtex

Itinerant quantum critical point with frustration and non-Fermi-liquid

Employing the self-learning quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, we investigate the frustrated transverse-field triangle-lattice Ising model coupled to a Fermi surface. Without fermions, the spin degrees of freedom undergoes a second-order quantum phase transition between paramagnetic and clock-ordered phases. This quantum critical point (QCP) has an emergent U(1) symmetry and thus belongs to the (2+1)D XY universality class. In the presence of fermions, spin fluctuations introduce effective interactions among fermions and distort the bare Fermi surface towards an interacting one with hot spots and Fermi pockets. Near the QCP, non-Fermi-liquid behavior are observed at the hot spots, and the QCP is rendered into a different universality with Hertz-Millis type exponents. The detailed properties of this QCP and possibly related experimental systems are also discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure