The four domestic Chinese carps, i.e. grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), cast their drifting eggs in the running water of the Yangtze River.

PurposeTo investigate the levels for some specified microRNAs in human’s peripheral blood so as to determine whether they can serve as biomarkers for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.MethodsUse a quantitative stem-loop RT-PCR method to examine the serum levels for certain microRNAs including has-miR-125a-5p, has-miR-126, has-miR-183, has-miR-200, has-miR-221, and has-miR-222 from the patients with Stage IV, Stage I/II non-small-cell lung cancer and the controls.ResultsThere was statistical difference in the serum levels for hsa-miR-126, hsa-miR-183, and hsa-miR-222 between the controls and the Stage IV patients, but not for has-miR-125a-5p, has-miR-200 and has-miR-221. It also showed statistical difference for hsa-miR-126 and hsa-miR-183 between the Stage I/II patients and Stage IV patients, but not between the controls and Stage I/II patients.ConclusionHsa-miR-126 and hsa-miR-183 may serve as potential serum biomarkers for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.

Metastatic recurrence is the most important biological behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the main cause of treatment failure. Early prediction of metastasis is currently impossible due to the lack of specific molecular probes to recognize metastatic HCC cells. Aptamers have recently emerged as promising potential molecular probes for biomedical applications. Two well-matched HCC cell lines including HCCLM9 with high metastatic potential and MHCC97-L with low metastatic potential, were used to select aptamers for HCC metastasis. With a whole-cell-SELEX strategy, in which HCCLM9 cells were used as target cells and MHCC97-L cells as subtractive cell, 6 potential aptamers had been generated. Detailed study on selected aptamer LY-1 revealed that it could bind metastatic HCC cells with high affinity and specificity, not only in cells culture and animal models of HCC metastasis, but also in clinical HCC specimens. Moreover, the aptamer LY-1 and magnetic particles conjugates could efficiently capture the HCC cells from complex mixture whole blood. These studies demonstrated that this HCC specific aptamer LY-1 could be a promising molecular probe to recognize metastatic HCC cells.

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