Complex and severe infection in a 67-year-old liver transplant recipient due to Cunninghamella elegans, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Pneumocystis jirovecii.

Introduction: Cunninghamella elegans infections cause rare and severe mucormycosis. Bordetella bronchiseptica and Pneumocystis jirovecii relate to pneumonia. They are all clinically uncommon pathogens and no reports of co-infections have been reported.

Comparing the diagnostic value of targeted with metagenomic next-generation sequencing in immunocompromised patients with lower respiratory tract infection.

Background: Accurate identification of the etiology of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) is crucial, particularly for immunocompromised patients with more complex etiologies. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enhanced the effectiveness of pathogen detection. However, assessments of the clinical diagnostic value of targeted NGS (tNGS) in immunocompromised patients with LRTI are limited.

Hypoxia-related LncRNAs signature predicts prognosis and is associated with immune infiltration and progress of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Disclosing prognostic information is necessary to enable good treatment selection and improve patient outcomes. Previous studies suggest that hypoxia is associated with an adverse prognosis in patients with HNSCC and that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) show functions in hypoxia-associated cancer biology. Nevertheless, the understanding of lncRNAs in hypoxia related HNSCC progression remains confusing.

FKBP51 promotes invasion and migration by increasing the autophagic degradation of TIMP3 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

The occurrence of metastasis is a serious risk for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. In order to develop novel therapeutic approaches to control the progression of metastatic RCC, it is of urgent need to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying RCC metastasis and identify prognostic markers of metastatic risk. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) have been known to be closely associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover, which plays a highly active role in tumor metastasis.

Valproic acid sensitizes metformin-resistant human renal cell carcinoma cells by upregulating H3 acetylation and EMT reversal.

Background: Metformin (Met) is a widely available diabetic drug and shows suppressed effects on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) metabolism and proliferation. Laboratory studies in RCC suggested that metformin has remarkable antitumor activities and seems to be a potential antitumor drug. But the facts that metformin may be not effective in reducing the risk of RCC in cancer clinical trials made it difficult to determine the benefits of metformin in RCC prevention and treatment.

FKBP51 regulates decidualization through Ser473 dephosphorylation of AKT.

Defective decidualization of human endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) has recently been highlighted as an underlying cause of implantation failure. FK-506-binding protein 51 (FKBP51) has been shown to participate in the steroid hormone response and the protein kinase B (AKT) regulation process, both of which are important pathways involved in decidualization. The objective of the present study was to investigate the potential effects and mechanisms of FKBP51 in the regulation of ESC decidualization.

Valproic acid inhibits epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in renal cell carcinoma by decreasing SMAD4 expression.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common malignancy in urogenital neoplasms worldwide. According to previous studies, valproic acid (VPA), an anticonvulsant drug, can suppress tumor metastasis and decrease the expression level of Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 (SMAD4) and therefore may inhibit epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is responsible for cancer metastasis. However, the association between VPA, EMT and SMAD4 in RCC metastasis remains obscure.

Immunotherapy of DC-CIK cells enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy for solid cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in Chinese patients.

Objective: Professional antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) and cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells, components of anti-cancer therapy, have shown clinical benefits and potential to overcome chemotherapeutic resistance. To evaluate whether DC-CIK cell-based therapy improves the clinical efficacy of chemotherapy, we reviewed the literature on DC-CIK cells and meta-analyzed randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Methods: We searched several databases and selected studies using predefined criteria.

Valproic acid (VPA) inhibits the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in prostate carcinoma via the dual suppression of SMAD4.

Purposes: The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in cancer metastasis. Previous studies have reported that valproic acid (VPA) suppresses prostate carcinoma (PCa) cell metastasis and down-regulates SMAD4 protein levels, which is the key molecule in TGF-β-induced EMT. However, the correlation between VPA and the EMT in PCa remains uncertain.