Maspin and Ezrina - Biomarker Molecules in Colorectal Cancer Correlative immunohistochemical study

The results of the recent years researches support the need for personalized therapeutic of cancer by completing the clinical, imagistic and histopathological diagnosis with molecular studies to identify new useful biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and tumor progression. Maspin is a non-inhibitory serine protease having a proapoptotic activity, suppressor of tumor invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. Ezrin is a member of Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin (ERM) family, involved in cellular adhesion mechanisms, motility and invasiveness of tumor cells. In colorectal tumors, there is a heterogeneity of research results regarding the clinical significance of the maspin due to a possible partnership with other molecules with which it interacts through the same signaling pathways. Our study investigated the two molecule�s immunoreactivity (IR) in 92 colorectal tumors highlighting an inverse correlation between ezrin�s and maspin�s expression, suggesting the fact that ezrin�s overexpression could influence maspin�s tumoral suppressor role. Furthermore there was observed a difference of the molecules IR within the same tumoral stage, suggesting their utility regarding the treatment protocol of these tumors.

Integrated dual-modality microfluidic sensor for biomarker detection using lithographic plasmonic crystal

This paper reports an integrated dual-modality microfluidic sensor chip, consisting of a patterned periodic array of nanoposts coated with gold (Au) and graphene oxide (GO), to detect target biomarker molecules in a limited sample volume.

Dysregulated Expression of Long Noncoding RNAs in Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among women with gynecologic malignancies. The development and progression of ovarian cancer are complex and a multiple-step process. New biomarker molecules for diagnostic and prognostic are essential for novel therapeutic targets and to extend the survival time of patients with ovarian cancer. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non–protein-coding transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides that have recently been found as key regulators of various biological processes and to be involved in the development and progression of many diseases including cancers. In this review, we summarized the expression pattern of several dysregulated lncRNAs (HOTAIR, H19, XIST, and HOST2) and the functional molecular mechanism of these lncRNAs on the initiation and progression of ovarian cancer. The lncRNAs as biomarkers may be used for current and future clinical diagnosis, therapeutics, and prognosis.

A bottom-up perspective on ecosystem change in Mesozoic oceans

Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic marine animals across multiple phyla record secular trends in morphology, environmental distribution, and inferred behaviour that are parsimoniously explained in terms of increased selection pressure from durophagous predators. Another systemic change in Mesozoic marine ecosystems, less widely appreciated than the first, may help to explain the observed animal record. Fossils, biomarker molecules, and molecular clocks indicate a major shift in phytoplankton composition, as mixotrophic dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids and, later, diatoms radiated across shelves. Models originally developed to probe the ecology and biogeography of modern phytoplankton enable us to evaluate the ecosystem consequences of these phytoplankton radiations. In particular, our models suggest that the radiation of mixotrophic dinoflagellates and the subsequent diversification of marine diatoms would have accelerated the transfer of primary production upward into larger size classes and higher trophic levels. Thus, phytoplankton evolution provides a mechanism capable of facilitating the observed evolutionary shift in Mesozoic marine animals.

Catalyst-loaded porous WO3 nanofibers using catalyst-decorated polystyrene colloid templates for detection of biomarker molecules

A new facile catalyst loading method assisted by layer-by-layer self-assembly as well as pore formation on electrospun nanofibers (NFs) can generate in-depth research for establishing high performance gas sensing composites by exploring diverse catalyst-loaded porous NF composites.

A Direct Immunoassay Assessment of Streptavidin- and N-Hydroxysuccinimide-Modified Biochips in Validation of Serological TNFα Responses in Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

The authors report 2 biochip platforms on gold manufactured by either nanoscale biotinylated self-assembled architectures to streptavidin surface or proteins containing free NH 2 groups to N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)—activated surfaces and investigated the potential application of tumor necrosis factor—α (TNFα) serodiagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Interactions of TNFα antigen and TNFα antibody on the biochips were optimized using an indirect immunofluorescence method. Variation coefficients were 1.87% to 4.56% on the streptavidin biochip and 5.03% to 8.64% on the NHS biochip. The correlation coefficients ( r) in TNFα and TNFα antibody assays in HLH patients between the 2 biochip formats were 0.9623 and 0.9386 and the concordance frequencies were 92.2% and 96.1%, respectively. To detect plasma TNFα-receptor complexes (TNFR1 and R2) in HLH, a biochip assay strategy was developed. Plasma levels of TNFα, TNFα antibody, and TNFα-receptor complexes (TNFR1 and R2) were detected in plasmas from 42 HLH cases using streptavidin biochips. Frequencies of the biomarkers in the plasmas were 40.5% (17/42) for TNFα, 30.9% (13/42) for TNFα antibody, 28.6% (12/42) for TNFα—receptor 1 complex, and 26.1% (11/42) for TNFα—receptor 2 complex, respectively. The streptavidin biochip format was more sensitive than the NHS surface and was demonstrated to be a valuable tool to identify individual biomarker molecules and molecular complexes in sera and cell lysates and to track therapeutic progress of patients. ( Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2008:515-526)