Echinococcosis (CE) is an infection which is caused by the larval stage of a tapeworm and is endemic in stockbreeding regions of developing countries. The kidney is the most commonly affected organ in the urinary tract. However, reports on renal hydatid disease are limited in the literature, and usually there are no specific clinical characteristics and promising operative methods. The purpose of this study is to assess the most appropriate surgical technique for the patient with urinary tract CE. We retrospectively analyzed thirty patients with renal hydatid cysts who received different surgical treatments in the urology department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from February 1985 to April 2010. Twenty patients were males and ten were females. The diagnostic accuracy was 74%, 87.5%, and 66.6% respectively by using of ultrasound, CT, and laboratory tests. Thirty patients were followed up for 1–15 years after surgery. One patient experienced a recurrence of renal CE. The ultrasound, CT, and immunological tests are an important means of diagnosis. The surgical treatment principle of renal hydatid should be based on residual renal function, hydatid cyst size, number, location, and surgical techniques to determine the surgical plan to retain the renal function.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to establish a culture method for mouse dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro and observe their morphology at different growth stages and their ability to induce the proliferation of T lymphocytes.Material/MethodsGranulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were used in combination to induce differentiation of mouse bone marrow (BM) mononucleocytes into DCs. The derived DCs were then assessed for morphology, phenotype, and function.ResultsThe mouse BM-derived mononucleocytes had altered cell morphology 3 days after induction by GM-CSF and IL-4 and grew into colonies. Typical dendrites appeared 8 days after induction. Many mature DCs were generated, with typical dendritic morphology observed under scanning electron microscopy. Expression levels of CD11c, a specific marker of BM-derived DCs, and of co-stimulatory molecules such as CD40, CD80, CD86, and MHC-II were elevated in the mature DCs. Furthermore, the mature DCs displayed a strong potency in stimulating the proliferation of syngenic or allogenic T lymphocytes.ConclusionsMouse BM-derived mononucleocytes cultured in vitro can produce a large number of DCs, as well as immature DCs, in high purity. The described in vitro culture method lays a foundation for further investigations of anti-tumor vaccines.

Smoking affects the prognosis of patient with NMIBC, which is still controversial; however, among ever smokers, a high cumulative exposure smoking can significantly increase the risk of tumor recurrence. Quitting smoking might be associated with a lower recurrence rate for patients with NMIBC.

Chemokines and their receptors are known to play important roles in tumor growth and metastasis of many malignancies. Recently, CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) has been described as a prognostic marker in various tumors. However, the possible role of CCR4 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) has not been well elucidated. In this study, we detected the expression of CCR4 in 53 ccRCC by immunohistochemistry and correlated it with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of CCR4 in 53 ccRCC and 11 renal contusion tissue specimens. CCR4 expression between carcinoma and normal renal tissues was evaluated by χ(2) test. Correlation between CCR4 and clinicopathological data was tested by χ(2) test. Univariate survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences among the groups were analyzed by the log-rank test. CCR4 expression in ccRCC tissue was significantly higher compared with normal renal tissue samples (χ(2) = 4.392, P = 0.036). CCR4 was correlated with the clinicopathological features including tumor stage (P = 0.009), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.003) and distant metastasis (P = 0.031). Further, CCR4 was the only dependent affecting factor in lymph node metastasis (P = 0.014). Univariate analysis showed that tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and CCR4 were influential factors for poor prognosis in ccRCC patients; multivariate analysis revealed that CCR4 (P = 0.007) was the only independent risk factor for prognosis. In addition, Kaplan-Meier curve for overall survival (OS) indicated that prognosis was unfavorable for patients who had high CCR4 expression level (P = 0.010). CCR4 was correlated with tumor aggressive behavior in ccRCC. It might be involved in lymph node metastasis and have influence on patients' OS. Further research is needed to determine the potential of CCR4.

The multifunctional Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is known to participate in maintenance and switches of smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypes. However, which isoform of CaMKII is involved in differentiation of adult mesenchymal stem cells into contractile SMCs remains unclear. In the present study, we detected γ isoform of CaMKII in differentiation of human adipose derived stem cells (hASCs) into SMCs that resulted from treatment with TGF-β1 and BMP4 in combination for 7 days. The results showed that CaMKIIγ increased gradually during differentiation of hASCs as determined by real-time PCR and western blot analysis. The siRNA-mediated knockdown of CaMKIIγ decreased the protein levels and transcriptional levels of smooth muscle contractile markers (a-SMA, SM22a, calponin, and SM-MHC), while CaMKIIγ overexpression increases the transcriptional and protein levels of smooth muscle contractile markers. These results suggested that γ isoform of CaMKII plays a significant role in smooth muscle differentiation of hASCs.