To explore the clinical significance of seven diabetes-related serum microRNAs (miR-9, miR-29a, miR-30d, miR34a, miR-124a, miR146a and miR375) during the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D), 56 subjects were recruited to this study: 18 cases of newly diagnosed T2D (n-T2D) patients, 19 cases of pre-diabetes individuals (impaired glucose tolerance [IGT] and/or impaired fasting glucose [IFG]) and 19 cases of T2D-susceptible individuals with normal glucose tolerance (s-NGT). Serum miRNAs were determined by real-time RT-PCR. Expression levels of single miRNAs and the expression signatures of miRNAs as a panel were analysed among the three groups. In n-T2D, all 7 miRNAs were significantly up-regulated compared with s-NGT and five were significantly up-regulated compared with pre-diabetes, while miRNA expression was not significantly different between s-NGT and pre-diabetes. By Canonical discriminant analysis, 70.6% of n-T2D subjects (12/17) were recognized by canonical discriminant function, while s-NGT and pre-diabetes subjects could not be discriminated from each other. Similar results were found in Hierarchical Clustering analysis based on the expression levels of all seven miRNAs. In different statistical analysis, miR-34a always showed the most significant differences. We conclude that the expression levels of seven diabetes-related miRNAs in serum were significantly elevated in n-T2D compared with pre-diabetes and/or s-NGT, and the latter two groups featured similar expression patterns of these miRNAs, suggesting that during the pathogenesis of T2D, the peripheral diabetes-related miRNAs have not changed significantly from s-NGT at pre-diabetic stage.

BackgroundIdentifying novel tumor biomarkers to develop more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for patients with ACC is urgently needed. The aim of the study was to compare the proteomic profiles between adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) and normal adrenocortical tissues in order to identify novel potential biomarkers for ACC.MethodsThe protein samples from 12 ACC tissues and their paired adjacent normal adrenocortical tissues were profiled with two-dimensional electrophoresis; and differentially expressed proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. Expression patterns of three differently expressed proteins calreticulin, prohibitin and HSP60 in ACC, adrenocortical adenomas (ACA) and normal adrenocortical tissues were further validated by immunohistochemistry.ResultsIn our proteomic study, we identified 20 up-regulated and 9 down-regulated proteins in ACC tissues compared with paired normal controls. Most of the up-regulated proteins were focused in protein binding and oxidoreductase activity in Gene Ontology (GO) molecular function classification. By immunohistochemistry, two biomarkers calreticulin and prohibitin were validated to be overexpressed in ACC compared with adrenocortical adenomas (ACA) and normal tissues, but also calreticulin overexpression was significantly associated with tumor stages of ACC.ConclusionFor the first time, calreticulin and prohibitin were identified to be novel candidate biomarkers for ACC, and their roles during ACC carcinogenesis and clinical significance deserves further investigation.Virtual slidesThe virtual slides for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1897372598927465

The rapid degradation rate restricts the application of magnesium-based biomaterials. Therefore, we constructed Ag-containing micro-arc oxidation (MAO) coatings on Mg-3Zn-0.5Sr alloys to improve the properties of magnesium alloys. Different concentrations of CH 3 COOAg (0, 1, 2, 3 g L −1 ) were added into the electrolyte to investigate the effects of Ag + content on properties of MAO coatings. The addition of CH 3 COOAg led to the formation of Ag 2 O and Ag 2 CO 3 phases, which sealed the micro-pores and improved the corrosion resistance of the samples significantly. The samples with addition of 2 and 3 g L −1 CH 3 COOAg exhibited strong antibacterial ability against E.coli due to the gradual release of Ag + in the degradation process. It was verified that the samples with addition of 2 g L −1 CH 3 COOAg obtained the most high bonding strength, dense construction, excellent corrosion resistance, cytocompatibility and antibacterial properties. The bacteria-killing methods of Ag-containing MAO coatings were discussed in the article.

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