Gastric cancer persists as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Syndecans (SDCs) are a family of four transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans involved in cell proliferation, migration and adhesion, among others, and syndecan-4 (SDC4) expression has been shown to be up-regulated during the early stages of the gastric carcinogenesis.
Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNAs are known to play important roles in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). MicroRNA 146a (miR-146a) is significantly upregulated in human atherosclerotic plaques and its circulating levels are elevated in patients with ACS, and was thus the focus of a recent study.
There is still a lack of specific biomarkers in biliary epithelial cells of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Investigators from the...
A study comprising a total of 406 subjects, including both healthy individuals (n=54) and patients with dry eye (DE) disease was performed with the aim of discovering basal tear cytokine markers for disease diagnosis and severity. Based on guidelines, patients with DE were classified as predisposed DE (pDE, n=136), mild-moderate DE (mDE, n=185), and severe DE (sDE, n=31).
Esophageal remodeling occurs during the development of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE); syndecan-1, also known as CD138, is a cell surface marker involved in extracellular remodeling and it has been shown to be differentially expressed in tissue from patients with EoE compared to healthy esophageal tissue. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers conducted studies to validate serum CD138 levels as a noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of EoE.
The SLC6A6 gene encodes the transporter of the amino acid taurine. In recently presented work, researchers from the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel, University of Basel and affiliated organizations aimed to investigate the molecular pathology of a novel mutation in SLC6A6 and its association with a syndromic form of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).
Researchers from Augusta University recently presented data from a study that aimed to assess the role of acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase (ACAT1) in neurovascular damage during diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Neuroblastoma is among the deadliest cancers in infants, with frequent relapse and long-term survival being <10%. Recently, it has been found that protein RD3 is constitutively expressed in healthy adult and fetal tissues beyond the retina, and it follows a gradient expression from high to low levels in ganglioneuroma and neuroblastoma.
Bone development is a continuous process, but in some cases, soft tissues can mineralize due to some anomalies in repairing processes, thus leading to heterotopic ossification (HO). Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics researchers aimed to find the genetic causes tied to this abnormal bone-formation disorder.
Investigators from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have reported data on a series of 3 patients with perinatal-onset of neutrophilic cutaneous small vessel vasculitis and systemic inflammation, with 2 of them developing liver fibrosis in the first year of their lives.