Accurate assessment of human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) 2 is essential for efficient selection of patients who may benefit from therapies targeting this surface receptor (e.g., trastuzumab). Intratumoral heterogeneity of HER2 expression may potentially contribute to inaccurate assessment of HER2 status. To clarify intratumoral heterogeneity of HER2 expression and its potential clinical impact on assessment of HER2 status, we analyzed 148 endoscopic biopsy specimens and 117 excisional tumor specimens collected from 148 patients with primary gastric cancer. Specifically, we assessed HER2 protein overexpression and gene amplification using, respectively, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). There were 28 IHC-positive cases and 25 FISH-positive cases among these 148 patients. Heterogeneous HER2 protein expression was demonstrated in 23 of 29 (79.3%) IHC-positive cases, while gene expression heterogeneity was found in 11 of 25 (44.0%) FISH-positive cases. Intratumoral heterogeneity was the main reason of discordant results between IHC and FISH or between endoscopic biopsy and excisional tumor specimens. The clinical significance and impact of intratumoral HER2 expression heterogeneity on treatment outcome in gastric cancer require further studies.

No abstract

Background Soil acidity (and associated Al toxicity) is a major factor limiting crop production worldwide and threatening global food security. Electrostatic layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly provides a convenient and versatile method to form an extracellular silica nanocoat, which possess the ability to protect cell from the damage of physical stress or toxic substances. In this work, we have tested a hypothesis that extracellular silica nanocoat formed by LBL self-assembly will protect root border cells (RBCs) and enhance their resistance to Al toxicity. Results Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to compare the properties of RBCs surface coated with nanoshells with those that were exposed to Al without coating. The accumulation of Al, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and the activity of mitochondria were detected by a laser-scanning confocal microscopy. We found that a crystal-like layer of silica nanoparticles on the surface of RBCs functions as an extracellular Al-proof coat by immobilizing Al in the apoplast and preventing its accumulation in the cytosol. The silica nanoshells on the RBCs had a positive impact on maintaining the integrity of the plasma and mitochondrial membranes, preventing ROS burst and ensuring higher mitochondria activity and cell viability under Al toxicity. Conclusions The study provides evidence that silica nanoshells confers RBCs Al resistance by restraining of Al in the silica-coat, suggesting that this method can be used an efficient tool to prevent multibillion-dollar losses caused by Al toxicity to agricultural crop production. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12951-019-0486-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The objective of this study was to investigate the possible association between the expression of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) and breast cancer type2 susceptibility protein (BRCA2) with clinical factors in breast cancer. TGF-β1, BRCA2, human epidermal growth factor receptor2 (HER2), estrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor protein levels were measured in 67 samples from breast cancer patients by immunohistochemistry. The expression of these proteins was correlated with various clinical factors including age, pathohistological grade and status of axillary lymph node implication. TGF-β1 and BRCA2 were expressed in breast cancer tissues and expression of HER2 and TGF-β1 was significantly correlated with BRCA2. The authors conclude that elevated expression of BRCA2 correlates with TGF-β1 and HER2 in breast cancer and these three factors act in synergy to promote cancer. Thus, detection of both TGF-β1 and BRCA2 may therefore assist in the prognosis and treatment of breast cancer.