1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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2. |
- Attaran, Nima, et al.
(author)
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Downregulation of TAP1 in Tumor-Free Tongue Contralateral to Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Tongue, an Indicator of Better Survival.
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - : MDPI. - 1661-6596 .- 1422-0067. ; 21:17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Oral cancers are surrounded by epithelium that histologically might seem normal, but genetically has aberrations. In patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (SCCOT), it is therefore important to study not only the tumor but also the clinically tumor-free contralateral tongue tissue that remains in the patient after treatment to map changes of prognostic and/or diagnostic value. The transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) dimer is a key factor in the process of activating cytotoxic T cells. By downregulating the expression of TAP, tumor cells can escape cytotoxic T cell recognition. Biopsies from tumor and clinically tumor-free contralateral tongue tissue in 21 patients with SCCOT were analyzed together with tongue biopsies from 14 healthy individuals, which served as the control group. Dividing patients into TAP1-high and TAP1-low groups according to the median TAP1 level in tumor-free samples showed that patients with lower TAP1 mRNA levels in tumor-free samples had better overall (p = 0.003) and disease-free survival (p = 0.002). The results showing that TAP1 levels in tumor-free tongue tissue contralateral to the SCCOT correlate with survival is an important contribution to early diagnosis and follow up of SCCOT.
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3. |
- Banerjee, Ambar, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Accessing metal-specific orbital interactions in C–H activation with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering
- 2024
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In: Chemical Science. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2041-6520 .- 2041-6539. ; 15:7, s. 2398-2409
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Photochemically prepared transition-metal complexes are known to be effective at cleaving the strong C–H bonds of organic molecules in room temperature solutions. There is also ample theoretical evidence that the two-way, metal to ligand (MLCT) and ligand to metal (LMCT), charge-transfer between an incoming alkane C–H group and the transition metal is the decisive interaction in the C–H activation reaction. What is missing, however, are experimental methods to directly probe these interactions in order to reveal what determines reactivity of intermediates and the rate of the reaction. Here, using quantum chemical simulations we predict and propose future time-resolved valence-to-core resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (VtC-RIXS) experiments at the transition metal L-edge as a method to provide a full account of the evolution of metal–alkane interactions during transition-metal mediated C–H activation reactions. For the model system cyclopentadienyl rhodium dicarbonyl (CpRh(CO)2), we demonstrate, by simulating the VtC-RIXS signatures of key intermediates in the C–H activation pathway, how the Rh-centered valence-excited states accessible through VtC-RIXS directly reflect changes in donation and back-donation between the alkane C–H group and the transition metal as the reaction proceeds via those intermediates. We benchmark and validate our quantum chemical simulations against experimental steady-state measurements of CpRh(CO)2 and Rh(acac)(CO)2 (where acac is acetylacetonate). Our study constitutes the first step towards establishing VtC-RIXS as a new experimental observable for probing reactivity of C–H activation reactions. More generally, the study further motivates the use of time-resolved VtC-RIXS to follow the valence electronic structure evolution along photochemical, photoinitiated and photocatalytic reactions with transition metal complexes.
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4. |
- Brychtova, Veronika, et al.
(author)
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Keratin 36, a specific marker of tongue filiform papillae, is downregulated in squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue
- 2020
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In: Molecular and clinical oncology. - : Spandidos Publications. - 2049-9450 .- 2049-9469. ; 12:5, s. 421-428
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human keratin 36 (K36) is a member of the hair keratin family and is a marker of hair cortex differentiation. The human KRT36 gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 17 and belongs to the cluster of structurally unrelated acidic hair keratins. Recently, it has been reported that KRT36 mRNA is specifically expressed in normal tongue epithelium and downregulated in squamous cell carcinomas of the mobile tongue. Furthermore, KRT36 levels have been reported to be downregulated in clinically normal mobile tongue tissue that is adjacent to tumours, suggesting it could be a marker of pre-neoplastic changes. However, the exact role and the potential role of K36 in tongue tumour formation remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate expression of K36 in a series of squamous cell carcinomas of the mobile tongue, normal mobile tongue and a small panel of other human tissues (normal tissue from the appendix, cervix, hair, lip, mamilla, nail, oesophagus, skin, thymus and vagina) and selected cancer tissue (cervical cancer, melanoma and basal cell carcinoma). Affinity purified polyclonal antibodies against K36 were generated and used for immunohistochemical analysis. The results revealed that in the normal tongue, K36 was detected specifically in the filiform papillae of the dorsal surface of the tongue. Additionally, none of the tongue cancer tissue samples were K36-positive. Immunostaining also revealed that K36 was expressed in nail beds, Hassal's corpuscles in the thymus and the hair cortex. However, K36 was not expressed in the squamous epithelia of the skin, cervix and oesophagus, and the squamous cells of cervical carcinomas, basal cell carcinoma or melanoma. The present data indicated that K36 may be inactivated in tumours of the tongue. However, whether this is part of the tumoural process or if it is an effect of the tumour itself remains to be elucidated.
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5. |
- Coates, Laura C., et al.
(author)
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The Phenotype of Axial Spondyloarthritis : Is It Dependent on HLA-B27 Status?
- 2021
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In: Arthritis care & research. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2151-464X .- 2151-4658. ; 73:6, s. 856-860
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective. To describe the radiographic phenotype of axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) according to the presence of HLA-B27. Methods. An international collaboration compared the radiographic phenotype of axial SpA according to HLA-B27 status. Patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and axial psoriatic arthritis (PsA) were collected. Radiographs were read centrally, blinded to clinical details. The symmetry of the sacroiliac joints and lumbar syndesmophytes and the morphology of syndesmophytes (typical marginal versus atypical chunky), together with the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score and the Psoriatic Arthritis Spondylitis Radiographic Index, were recorded. Results. A total of 244 patients with PsA and 198 patients with AS were included. In PsA, 60 patients (25%) were HLA-B27 positive while in AS, 148 patients (75%) were HLA-B27 positive. Patients with HLA-B27 were younger and more often male and had a longer duration of disease. In multivariable logistic regression, HLA-B27 was significantly associated with syndesmophyte symmetry (odds ratio [OR] 3.02 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.38, 6.61]) and marginal syndesmophytes (OR 1.97 [95% CI 1.16, 3.36]) but not with sacroiliac symmetry. Mean radiographic scores were higher for patients with HLA-B27. Conclusion. Patients with axial SpA who are positive for HLA-B27 have more severe radiographic damage, more marginal syndesmophytes, and more frequent syndesmophyte symmetry compared to patients who are negative for HLA-B27.
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6. |
- Gu, Xiaolian, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Early detection of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue using multidimensional plasma protein analysis and interpretable machine learning
- 2023
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In: Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0904-2512 .- 1600-0714. ; 52:7, s. 637-643
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Interpretable machine learning (ML) for early detection of cancer has the potential to improve risk assessment and early intervention.Methods: Data from 261 proteins related to inflammation and/or tumor processes in 123 blood samples collected from healthy persons, but of whom a sub-group later developed squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (SCCOT), were analyzed. Samples from people who developed SCCOT within less than 5 years were classified as tumor-to-be and all other samples as tumor-free. The optimal ML algorithm for feature selection was identified and feature importance computed by the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. Five popular ML algorithms (AdaBoost, Artificial neural networks [ANNs], Decision Tree [DT], eXtreme Gradient Boosting [XGBoost], and Support Vector Machine [SVM]) were applied to establish prediction models, and decisions of the optimal models were interpreted by SHAP.Results: Using the 22 selected features, the SVM prediction model showed the best performance (sensitivity = 0.867, specificity = 0.859, balanced accuracy = 0.863, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [ROC-AUC] = 0.924). SHAP analysis revealed that the 22 features rendered varying person-specific impacts on model decision and the top three contributors to prediction were Interleukin 10 (IL10), TNF Receptor Associated Factor 2 (TRAF2), and Kallikrein Related Peptidase 12 (KLK12).Conclusion: Using multidimensional plasma protein analysis and interpretable ML, we outline a systematic approach for early detection of SCCOT before the appearance of clinical signs.
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7. |
- Gu, Xiaolian, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Evidence for etiologic field changes in tongue distant from tumor in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue
- 2023
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In: Journal of Pathology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0022-3417 .- 1096-9896. ; 259:1, s. 93-102
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Oral cancer is a paradigm of Slaughter's concept of field cancerization, where tumors are thought to originate within an area of cells containing genetic alterations that predispose to cancer development. The field size is unclear but may represent a large area of tissue, and the origin of mutations is also unclear. Here, we analyzed whole exome and transcriptome features in contralateral tumor-distal tongue (i.e. distant from the tumor, not tumor-adjacent) and corresponding tumor tissues of 15 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue. The number of point mutations ranged from 41 to 237 in tumors and from one to 78 in tumor-distal samples. Tumor-distal samples showed mainly clock-like (associated with aging) or tobacco smoking mutational signatures. Tumors additionally showed mutations that associate with cytidine deaminase AID/APOBEC enzyme activities or a UV-like signature. Importantly, no point mutations were shared between a tumor and the matched tumor-distal sample in any patient. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene in tumors (67%), whereas a TP53 mutation was detected in only one tumor-distal sample, and this mutation was not shared with the matched tumor. Arm-level copy number variation (CNV) was found in 12 tumors, with loss of chromosome (Chr) 8p or gain of 8q being the most frequent events. Two tumor-distal samples showed a gain of Chr8, which was associated with increased expression of Chr8-located genes in these samples, although gene ontology did not show a role for these genes in oncogenic processes. In situ hybridization revealed a mixed pattern of Chr8 gain and neutral copy number in both tumor cells and adjacent nontumor epithelium in one patient. We conclude that distant field cancerization exists but does not present as tumor-related mutational events. The data are compatible with etiologic field effects, rather than classical monoclonal field cancerization theory. © 2022 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
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8. |
- Gu, Xiaolian, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Transfer-RNA-Derived Fragments Are Potential Prognostic Factors in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck
- 2020
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In: Genes. - : MDPI. - 2073-4425. ; 11:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transfer-RNA-derived fragments (tRFs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are functionally different from their parental transfer RNAs (tRNAs). tRFs can regulate gene expression by several mechanisms, and are involved in a variety of pathological processes. Here, we aimed at understanding the composition and abundance of tRFs in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), and evaluated the potential of tRFs as prognostic markers in this cancer type. We obtained tRF expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) HNSC cohort (523 patients) using MINTbase v2.0, and correlated to available TCGA clinical data. RNA-binding proteins were predicted according to the calculated Position Weight Matrix (PWM) score from the RNA-Binding Protein DataBase (RBPDB). A total of 10,158 tRFs were retrieved and a high diversity in expression levels was seen. Fifteen tRFs were found to be significantly associated with overall survival (Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, log rank test p-value < 0.01). The top prognostic marker, tRF-20-S998LO9D (p < 0.001), was further measured in tumor and tumor-free samples from 16 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue and 12 healthy controls, and was significantly upregulated in tumor compared to matched tumor-free tongue (p < 0.001). Results suggest that tRFs are useful prognostic markers in SCCHN
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9. |
- Haronikova, Lucia, et al.
(author)
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Resistance mechanisms to inhibitors of p53-MDM2 interactions in cancer therapy : can we overcome them?
- 2021
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In: Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters (Druk). - : BioMed Central. - 1425-8153 .- 1689-1392. ; 26:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Since the discovery of the first MDM2 inhibitors, we have gained deeper insights into the cellular roles of MDM2 and p53. In this review, we focus on MDM2 inhibitors that bind to the p53-binding domain of MDM2 and aim to disrupt the binding of MDM2 to p53. We describe the basic mechanism of action of these MDM2 inhibitors, such as nutlin-3a, summarise the determinants of sensitivity to MDM2 inhibition from p53-dependent and p53-independent points of view and discuss the problems with innate and acquired resistance to MDM2 inhibition. Despite progress in MDM2 inhibitor design and ongoing clinical trials, their broad use in cancer treatment is not fulfilling expectations in heterogenous human cancers. We assess the MDM2 inhibitor types in clinical trials and provide an overview of possible sources of resistance to MDM2 inhibition, underlining the need for patient stratification based on these aspects to gain better clinical responses, including the use of combination therapies for personalised medicine.
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10. |
- Jay, Raphael, et al.
(author)
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Tracking C–H activation with orbital resolution
- 2023
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 380:6648, s. 955-960
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transition metal reactivity toward carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds hinges on the interplay of electron donation and withdrawal at the metal center. Manipulating this reactivity in a controlled way is difficult because the hypothesized metal-alkane charge-transfer interactions are challenging to access experimentally. Using time-resolved x-ray spectroscopy, we track the charge-transfer interactions during C-H activation of octane by a cyclopentadienyl rhodium carbonyl complex. Changes in oxidation state as well as valence-orbital energies and character emerge in the data on a femtosecond to nanosecond timescale. The x-ray spectroscopic signatures reflect how alkane-to-metal donation determines metal-alkane complex stability and how metal-to-alkane back-donation facilitates C-H bond cleavage by oxidative addition. The ability to dissect charge-transfer interactions on an orbital level provides opportunities for manipulating C-H reactivity at transition metals.
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