Correlation of increased MALAT1 expression with pathological features and prognosis in cancer patients: a meta-analysis

Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) has been identified as a potential cancer biomarker, yet the mechanism by which it influences the development of cancer remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to correlate MALAT1 expression with pathological features and prognosis in cancer patients. Several databases were searched using combinations of keywords relating to MALAT1 and cancer. After selection of relevant cohort studies according to strict criteria, a meta-analysis was conducted. Twelve studies were analyzed, involving 958 cancer patients. Elevated MALAT1 expression was associated with poor prognosis and larger tumors [prognosis: hazard ratio = 3.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.98-4.23, P = 0.000; tumor size: odds ratio (OR) = 0.40, 95%CI = 0.21-0.74, P = 0.003]. However, no connection with histological grade, T-stage, lymph node (LN) metastasis, or distant metastasis was established (all P > 0.05). A correlation between increased expression and poor prognosis was observed in the large and small sample-size subgroups (all P< 0.05), as was a relationship with large tumor size (OR = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.13-0.71, P = 0.006). Expression was correlated with T-stage and distant metastasis in the small sample-size subgroup (all P < 0.05), but no association was detected regarding histological grade, LN metastasis in either subgroup (all P > 0.05). Our findings demonstrate that elevated MALAT1 expression correlates with large tumor size, advanced tumor stage, and poor prognosis, and might therefore be utilized to evaluate clinical pathological features and prognostic out come for cancer patients.

Molecular cloning and characterization of cotton cDNAs expressed in developing fiber cells

Using the FDD-PCR technique, ten new fiber-specific cDNAs were isolated from developing cotton fiber cells and showed high amino acid identity to previously recorded cDNAs. Five cDNAs encoding bisphosphate nucleotidase, alpha-tubulin, beta-galactosidase, annexin, and reversibly glycosylated polypeptide were identified while the functions of five other cDNAs were undetermined. Dot blot analysis showed that all transcripts of the 10 cDNAs accumulated preferentially in fiber cells and the majority were expressed in the early phase of cotton fiber development, except for F14 which accumulated at a high level during the late phase of developing fiber cells, indicating that all of the genes were involved in the process of fiber development.

[The effect of IL-1 receptor antagonist on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis]

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a cytokine with diverse biological activities. It can serve as a fibroblast (FB) growth factor which involves in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) can compete with IL-1 for occupancy of surface receptors of target cells without agonist effect. In order to find a new method to treat pulmonary fibrosis, we investigated the effect of recombinant human IL-1ra on the development of pulmonary fibrosis by evaluating collagen content, histological change, and TGF-beta mRNA expression in the rats bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. The results indicate are that there are no significant difference between the IL-1ra treated group and the control group.