Overexpression of SMYD2 in gastric cancer

Background: SET and MYND domain-containing protein 2 (SMYD2) is a lysine methyltransferase for histone H3, p53 and Rb and inhibits their transactivation activities. In this study, we tested whether SMYD2 (1q42) acts as a cancer-promoting factor by being overexpressed in gastric cancer. Methods: We analysed 7 gastric cancer cell lines and 147 primary tumor samples of gastric cancer, which were curatively resected in our hospital. Results: SET and MYND domain-containing protein 2 was detected in these cell lines (five out of seven cell lines; 71.4%) and primary tumor samples (fifty-six out of one hundred and forty-seven cases; 38.1%). Knockdown of SMYD2 using specific small interfering RNA inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of SMYD2-overexpressing cells in a TP53 mutation-independent manner. Overexpression of SMYD2 protein correlated with larger tumor size, more aggressive lymphatic invasion, deeper tumor invasion and higher rates of lymph node metastasis and recurrence. Patients with SMYD2-overexpressing tumours had a worse overall rate of survival than those with non-expressing tumours (P=0.0073, log-rank test) in an intensity and proportion score-dependent manner. Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that SMYD2 was independently associated with worse outcome (P=0.0021, hazard ratio 4.25 (1.69–10.7)). Conclusions: These findings suggest that SMYD2 has a crucial role in tumor cell proliferation by its overexpression and highlight its usefulness as a prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target in gastric cancer

Development of the Indonesian Palm Oil Industry and Utilization of Solid Waste

As a result of continued growth, the palm oil industry is now the most important sector in Indonesian agriculture. With crude palm oil production of approximately 19.33 million ton in 2008, Indonesia contributed 45% of the world supply of palm oil and is the largest producer of this commodity. Increases in oil production have been supported by steady expansion of oil palm plantation areas and the associated industry since the 1980s. Such rapid development has created several environmental problems associated with waste generation, including solid wastes from both plantations and palm oil mills. Despite their negative impact, such solid wastes are potential biomass resources owing to the organic compounds they contain. Hence, much work has been carried out to identify more effective methods to utilize solid wastes from the palm oil industry