Liver transplantation (LT) is a successful treatment for patients with liver failure. However, organ shortage results in over 11% of patients losing their chance of a transplant attributed to liver decompensation (LD) and death. Ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) following conventional cold storage (CS) is a major cause of injury leading to graft loss after LT. Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP), a method of organ preservation, provides oxygen and nutrition during preservation and allows aerobic metabolism. NMP has recently been shown to enable improved organ utilization and posttransplant outcomes following a phase I and a phase III randomized trial. The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of NMP on reducing IRI and to define the underlying mechanisms. We transplanted and compared 12 NMP with 27 CS‐preserved livers by performing gene microarray, immunoprofiling of hepatic lymphocytes, and immunochemistry staining of liver tissues for assessing necrosis, platelet deposition, and neutrophil infiltration, and the status of steatosis after NMP or CS prereperfusion and postreperfusion. Recipients receiving NMP grafts showed significantly lower peak aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels than those receiving CS grafts. NMP altered gene‐expression profiles of liver tissue from proinflammation to prohealing and regeneration. NMP also reduced the number of interferon gamma (IFN‐γ) and interleukin (IL)‐17–producing T cells and enlarged the CD4posCD25highCD127negFOXP3pos regulatory T cell (Treg) pool. NMP liver tissues showed less necrosis and apoptosis in the parenchyma and fewer neutrophil infiltration compared to CS liver tissues. Conclusion: Reduced IRI in NMP recipients was the consequence of the combination of inhibiting inflammation and promoting graft regeneration.

Heterogeneity of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF) has long been recognized, but the functional significance remains poorly understood. Here, we report the distinction of two CAF subtypes in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) that have differential tumor-promoting capability, one with a transcriptome and secretome closer to normal fibroblasts (CAF-N) and the other with a more divergent expression pattern (CAF-D). Both subtypes supported higher tumor incidence in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) Ilγ2(null) mice and deeper invasion of malignant keratinocytes than normal or dysplasia-associated fibroblasts, but CAF-N was more efficient than CAF-D in enhancing tumor incidence. CAF-N included more intrinsically motile fibroblasts maintained by high autocrine production of hyaluronan. Inhibiting CAF-N migration by blocking hyaluronan synthesis or chain elongation impaired invasion of adjacent OSCC cells, pinpointing fibroblast motility as an essential mechanism in this process. In contrast, CAF-D harbored fewer motile fibroblasts but synthesized higher TGF-β1 levels. TGF-β1 did not stimulate CAF-D migration but enhanced invasion and expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in malignant keratinocytes. Inhibiting TGF-β1 in three-dimensional cultures containing CAF-D impaired keratinocyte invasion, suggesting TGF-β1–induced EMT mediates CAF-D–induced carcinoma cell invasion. TGF-β1–pretreated normal fibroblasts also induced invasive properties in transformed oral keratinocytes, indicating that TGF-β1–synthesizing fibroblasts, as well as hyaluronan-synthesizing fibroblasts, are critical for carcinoma invasion. Taken together, these results discern two subtypes of CAF that promote OSCC cell invasion via different mechanisms. Cancer Res; 73(13); 3888–901. ©2013 AACR.

Exosomal microRNAs have recently been studied as the potential diagnostic marker for various malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate serum exosomal microRNA profiles as HCC diagnostic marker. Transmission electron microscopy and Western blot were used to identify serum exosomes. Deep sequencing was performed to screen differentially expressed microRNAs between HCC (n = 5) and liver cirrhosis (LC, n = 5) groups. Three upregulated and two downregulated microRNAs were selected for qPCR analysis. The levels of selected microRNAs were normalized to Caenorhabditis elegans miR‐39 microRNA mimics. Serum exosomal level of miR‐122, miR‐148a, and miR‐1246 was further analyzed and significantly higher in HCC than LC and normal control (NC) groups (P < 0.001), but not different from chronic hepatitis group (P > 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of candidate microRNAs. Area under the curve (AUC) of miR‐148a was 0.891 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.809–0.947] in discriminating HCC from LC, remarkably higher than alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) (AUC: 0.712, 95% CI: 0.607–0.803). Binary logistic regression was adopted to establish the diagnostic model for discriminating HCC from LC. And the combination of miR‐122, miR‐148a, and AFP increased the AUC to 0.931 (95% CI, 0.857–0.973), which can also be applied for distinguishing early HCC from LC. miR‐122 was the best for differentiating HCC from NC (AUC: 0.990, 95% CI, 0.945–1.000). These data suggest that serum exosomal microRNAs signature or their combination with traditional biomarker may be used as a suitable peripheral screening tool for HCC.

We point out a close connection of the three methods with a linear regression model. Casting the classification problem in the general framework of linear regression naturally leads to new alternatives, such as partial least squares (PLS) methods and penalized PLS (PPLS) methods. Using two real data sets, we show the competitive performance of our new methods when compared with the other three methods.

Background: The dogma that urine is sterile in healthy individuals has been overturned by recent studies applying molecular-based methods. Mounting evidences indicate that dysbiosis of the urinary microbiota is associated with several urological diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the urinary microbiome of male patients with calcium-based kidney stones and compare it with those of healthy individuals. Results: The diversity of the urinary microbiota in kidney stone patients was significantly lower than that of healthy controls based on the Shannon and Simpson index (P < 0.001 for both indices). The urinary microbiota structure also significantly differed between kidney stone patients and healthy controls (ANOSIM, R = 0.11, P < 0.001). Differential representation of inflammation associated bacteria (e.g., Acinetobacter) and several enriched functional pathways were identified in the urine of kidney stones patients. Meanwhile, we found the species diversity, overall composition of microbiota and predicted functional pathways were similar between bladder urine and renal pelvis urine in kidney stone patients. Conclusions:A marked dysbiosis of urinary microbiota in male patients with calcium-based kidney stones was observed, which may be helpful to interpret the association between bacteria and calcium-based kidney stones.