Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) in patients with systemic vasculitis: our research using proteomics

Importance of the field: Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) may cause damage to endothelial cell (EC) functions and therefore may be of a pathophysiological role in systemic vasculitis. The pathophysiological role of AECA, however, is still uncertain.

Areas covered in this review: To clarify the detailed roles of AECA, various methods for identification of target proteins of AECA have been developed, such as expression libraries and proteomic approaches combining two-dimensional electrophoresis and immunoblotting.

What the reader will gain: Advances, including our research, have been made in defining the target antigens of AECA, which we summarize in this review. Furthermore, we discuss the possible significance of AECA in the pathophysiology of vascular damage and the value of AECA in systemic vasculitis.

Take home message: To identify target antigens of AECA and to establish a standardized method for measuring AECA would be helpful in the search for a possible pathophysiological role of AECA in systemic vasculitis.     

溶瘤腺病毒抗肿瘤策略研究进展

溶瘤腺病毒是一类经过基因工程改造,能够选择性地在肿瘤细胞中复制并溶解、杀伤肿瘤细胞的腺病毒,但不影响正常细胞功能。至今,已尝试多种方式提高溶瘤腺病毒的抗肿瘤活性和安全性,包括改变腺病毒传导方式,利用特异性启动子和增强子驱动治疗基因的表达以及协同放化疗、免疫治疗等。     

Targeting the MET pathway for potential treatment of NSCLC

Introduction: The mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) protein is the only known receptor for hepatocyte growth factor and has recently been identified as a novel promising target in several human cancers, including NSCLC. Activation of the MET signaling pathway can occur via different mechanisms. A number of compounds targeting MET have been evaluated in clinical trials, and recent clinical data have begun to afford some insight into the tumor types and patient populations that might benefit from treatment with MET pathway inhibitors.

Areas covered: We review recent publications and information disclosed at public conferences and summarize the epidemiology of dysregulation of MET signaling, and the associations thereof with other driver genes and therapeutic inhibitors useful to treat NSCLC.

Expert opinion: The MET pathway is emerging as a target for advanced NSCLC that is either resistant to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors or that arises de novo. MET inhibitors currently being evaluated in clinical trials have yielded compelling evidence of clinical activities when used to treat various solid tumors, especially NSCLC. Remaining challenges are the identification of patient populations who might benefit from the use of MET inhibitors, and the most effective diagnostic methods for such patients.     

中药防治糖尿病并发抑郁症药理作用和临床应用的研究进展

抑郁症具有发病率高、致残率高和致死率高的巨大社会危害性，且在糖尿病人群中发病率是在正常人群的2～3倍，两者合并引发且加重了患者多种机体功能和心理障碍，使其自杀率增高。中药防治糖尿病并发抑郁症具有整体论治、不良反应小、疗效显著的优势，然而其科学内涵不十分清晰，现代研究与推广应用仍十分薄弱。综述了糖尿病并发抑郁症的发病机制和中药复方、单味中药、中药有效成分防治糖尿病并发抑郁症的现代动物研究和临床研究。结合中药在防治糖尿病并发抑郁症方面的现代研究概况，提出今后应以复方的临床效用为指导，加强有效复方中“君”“臣”“佐”“使”药及其有效成分防治糖尿病并发抑郁症的基础实验研究，为中药复方的物质基础和作用靶点的阐明提供依据，为糖尿病并发抑郁症的实验研究和临床应用推广提供一定的参考价值。     

Real-world cost-effectiveness of drug-eluting stents vs. bare-metal stents for coronary heart disease—A five-year follow-up study

Objective

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using drugeluting stents (DES) compared to bare-metal stents (BMS) for coronary heart disease (CHD).