No abstract

The forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) transcription factor gene has been implicated in almost all human cancer types. It would be an ideal biomarker for cancer detection but, to date, its translation into a cancer diagnostic tool is yet to materialise. The quantitative Malignancy Index Diagnostic System (qMIDS) was the first FOXM1 oncogene-based diagnostic test developed for quantifying squamous cell carcinoma aggressiveness. The test was originally validated using head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) from European patients. The HNSCC gene expression signature across geographical and ethnic differences is unknown. This is the first study evaluated the FOXM1-based qMIDS test using HNSCC specimens donated by ethnic Chinese patients. We tested 50 Chinese HNSCC patients and 18 healthy subjects donated 68 tissues in total. qMIDS scores from the Chinese cohort were compared with the European datasets (n = 228). The median ± SD scores for the Chinese cohort were 1.13 ± 0.66, 4.02 ± 1.66 and 5.83 ± 3.13 in healthy oral tissues, adjacent tumour margin and HNSCC core tissue, respectively. Diagnostic test efficiency between the Chinese and European datasets was almost identical. Consistent with previous European data, qMIDS scores for HNSCC samples were not influenced by gender or age. The degree of HNSCC differentiation, clinical stage and lymphatic metastasis status were found to be correlated with qMIDS scores. This study provided the first evidence that the pathophysiology of HNSCC was molecularly indistinguishable between the Chinese and European specimens. The qMIDS test robustly quantifies a universal FOXM1-driven oncogenic program, at least in HNSCC, which transcends ethnicity, age, gender and geographic origins.

No abstract

Bone mass loss (osteoporosis) seen in postmenopausal women is an adverse factor for implant denture. Using an ovariectomized rat model, we studied the mechanism of estrogen-deficiency-caused bone loss and the therapeutic effect of Zoledronic acid. We observed that ovariectomized-caused resorption of bone tissue in the mandible was evident at four weeks and had not fully recovered by 12 weeks post-ovariectomized compared with the sham-operated controls. Further evaluation with a TUNEL assay showed ovariectomized enhanced apoptosis of osteoblasts but inhibited apoptosis of osteoclasts in the mandible. Zoledronic acid given subcutaneously as a single low dose was shown to counteract both of these ovariectomized effects. Immunohistochemical staining showed that ovariectomized induced the protein levels of RANKL and the 65-kD subunit of the NF-κB complex mainly in osteoclasts, as confirmed by staining for TRAP, a marker for osteoclasts, whereas zoledronic acid inhibited these inductions. Western blotting showed that the levels of RANKL, p65, as well as the phosphorylated form of p65, and IκB-α were all higher in the ovariectomized group than in the sham and ovariectomized + zoledronic acid groups at both the 4th- and 12th-week time points in the mandible. These data collectively suggest that ovariectomized causes bone mass loss by enhancing apoptosis of osteoblasts and inhibiting apoptosis of osteoclasts. In osteoclasts, these cellular effects may be achieved by activating RANKL-NF-κB signalling. Moreover, zoledronic acid elicits its therapeutic effects in the mandible by counteracting these cellular and molecular consequences of ovariectomized.