The immune response in patients with melanoma is an important focus of research due to the tumor’s resistance and immunotherapy possibilities. IL-27 is one of the cytokines with antitumor properties. ...The role of IL-27 in the pathogenesis of melanoma is still unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the association between serum IL-27 levels and the clinical parameters of melanoma patients.
The IL-27 concentration was determined by commercial ELISA in serum samples from melanoma patients (n=72) and healthy control subjects (n=44). Patients were classified according to AJCC clinical stage, TNM stage, the length of progression-free interval (PFI) and the extent of the disease (localized or widespread).
Average IL-27 values were increased in patients with early stages of melanoma compared to patients with terminal stages and control values. The highest IL-27 concentration was found in stage IIa. Patients in stages III and IV had significantly lower values of IL-27 compared to control. Patients with localized melanoma and shorter PFI had insignificantly increased IL-27 levels compared to patients with widespread disease and longer PFI. Patients with metastatic disease and stage TNM4 had significantly lower average IL-27 values compared to control. Patients with high production of IL-27 (>1000 pg/mL) were most numerous in IIa AJCC stage, with initial tumor size TNM2 and in the group of patients with localized disease.
High levels of IL-27 in patients with melanoma are associated with the initial stages and localized disease.
Hafnium carbide powder was synthesized by sol–gel polycondensation of hafnium chloride with citric acid. The starting materials were dissolved in water and mixed homogeneously on a hot plate until ...precursor gel was formed. Pyrolysis of this gel resulted in monoclinic hafnia which after subsequent heat treatment transformed into hafnium carbide. The obtained materials were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the obtained carbide powders were composed of nearly equiaxed particles with narrow size distribution. Characterization by nitrogen adsorption showed that the obtained powders were micro- and mesoporous materials with high specific surface area.
Sphene (CaTiSiO5), a calcium titanosilicate ceramic has been prepared from a powder mixture of CaCO3, TiO2 and SiO2 using vibro-milling for homogenization and activation of precursors. The ...mechanochemical process initially yielded amorphous powders, which on further calcination, crystallized to yield sphene ceramic. The evolution of the phase composition with thermal treatment was investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). Powder morphology and particle size distribution were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser diffraction, respectively. Rietveld refinement was employed to get the structural information of the synthesized powder. Densification and microstructure evolution was determined by means of density and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The most favorable conditions for mechanical activation and synthesis of sphene based ceramic material are reported.
Intention of this work was to obtain porous silicon dioxide ceramics by using boric acid as an inexpensive additive at low forming pressure and low sintering temperature. Starting raw material, ...smectite clay from surface coal mine Kolubara, Serbia, was purified from organic and inorganic impurities by using heat and chemical treatment. Boric acid was used as binding and sintering aid in amount of 0.5, 1 and 2wt%. Powder was compacted by using different pressures: 40, 60 and 80MPa. Pressed samples were sintered at 850, 1000, 1150, and 1300°C for 4h in air. A relatively high porosity of nearly 40% is obtained for the samples pressed at 40, 60 and 80MPa and sintered at 1000°C. Median pore size diameters are in the range of macroporous up to 0.2μm and 10μm in the samples sintered at 1150 and 1300°C, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scaning electron microscopy (SEM), and porosimetry measurements were employed to characterize the phases and microstructure of the obtained ceramics. The relations between mechanical characteristics of samples (Young modulus and Poisson ratio) and content of boric acid were studied.
Background/Aim. O,O'-diethyl-(S,S)-ethylenediamine- N,N'-di-2-(3-cyclohexyl)propanoate dihydrochloride (DEEDCP) has been found to possess promising cytotoxic activity against various tumor cell ...lines. Also, DE-EDCP reduces tumor progression by several mechanisms such as triggering tumor cell death and inhibition of cell proliferation. The aim of present study was to further evaluate antitumor activity of DE-EDCP by investigating effects on migratory potential of tumor cells and anti-tumor immune response. Methods. Migratory potential of DE-EDCP was evaluated by scratch wound assay. Female BALB/c mice were inoculated with 4T1 breast cancer cells and treatment with DE-EDCP started five days following orthotopic tumor implantation. The frequency and phenotype of tumorinfiltrating natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results. DE-EDCP inhibited migratory potential of highly metastatic 4T1 cells. DE-EDCP facilitated accumulation of CD3+CD49+ NKT cells and CD3-CD49+ NK cells in tumor microenvironment. DE-EDCP treatment led to significant decrement of tumor infiltrating anergic NKT cells expressing cytotoxic Tlymphocyte- associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), killer cell lectin like receptor G1 (KLRG-1) and programmed cell death protein- 1 (PD-1). Mice given DE-EDCP had significantly increased percentages of tumoricidal fas ligand (FasL) positive NK cells. Conclusion. DE-EDCP inhibits murine breast cancer progression through direct effects on tumor cells and by facilitating anti-tumor immunity. DE-EDCP enhances accumulation, promotes tumoricidal phenotype and maintenances responsiveness of NK and NKT cells in 4T1 murine breast cancer.
Spider silk poses excellent mechanical properties, tenacity and elasticity
and it has been used as a template for calcite mineralization to improve load
bearing strength of osteoconductive calcite. ...The samples were obtained by
mimicking biomineralization for five days in order to follow formation and
growth of calcite on the surface of spider silk. Crystal phase was detected
by XRD and FTIR spectroscopy. Microstructure, crystal size and its morphology
were studied by means of FESEM. After two days of processing, pure calcite
phase was obtained, and a size of the formed crystals increased with
prolongation of biomineralization.
A new technology based on bio-templating approach was proposed in this paper.
Egg-shell membrane (ESM) has been employed as a natural biotemplate. Fibrous
oxide ceramics was prepared by wet ...impregnation of biological template with
water solution of cerium nitrate. The template was derived from membranes of
fresh chicken eggs. Repeated impregnation, pyrolysis and final calcination in
the range of 600 to 1200?C in air resulted in template burnout and
consolidation of the oxide layers. At low temperatures, the obtained products
had structure which corresponded to the negative replication of biological
templates. Unique bio-morphic CeO2 microstructures with interwoven networks
were synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and
X-ray diffraction (XRD), whereas low-temperature nitrogen adsorption (BET)
method was used in order to characterize porous properties.
The cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems have been implicated in the development of obesity-induced metaflammation and metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes. Galectin-3, a ...β-galactoside-binding lectin, modulates immune/inflammatory responses and specifically binds to advanced glycation end products (AGE), modified lipoproteins, and endotoxin. In the recently published study we demonstrate proinflammatory changes in the visceral adipose tissue and pancreatic islets in galectin-3-deficient mice fed high-fat diet which also exhibited excess adiposity, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and systemic inflammation compared with their diet matched wild-type controls. This was associated with the increased incidence of Type-1 T and NKT cells and pro-inflammatory CD11c
+
CD11b
+
macrophages in the visceral adipose tissue. Severe insulitis, infiltration of macrophages expressing NLRP3 inflammasome and IL-1β, and enhanced accumulation of AGE were present within the pancreatic islets in obese LGALS3
−/−
mice. Moreover, increased caspase-1 dependent IL-1β secretion with increased expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and phospho-NFκBp65 were observed in LGALS3
−/−
peritoneal macrophages stimulated in vitro by lipopolysaccharide and/or saturated fatty acid palmitate. The amplified high-fat diet-induced obesity and hyperglycemia and exacerbated inflammation in adipose tissue and pancreatic islets in LGALS3
−/−
mice suggest an important role for galectin-3 in the regulation of adiposity, metaflammation and type 2 diabetes.
The fabrication of SiC-HfC ceramic composite via self-propagating
high-temperature synthesis and simultaneous consolidation was investigated.
Dense composite consisting of alternating layers of SiC ...and HfC was obtained
by spark plasma sintering of stack of SiC cloths covered by
electrophoretically deposited HfO2. The deposited HfO2 was converted into HfC
during sintering. The obtained ceramics was characterized in terms of
microstructure, cavitation resistance and oxidation resistance. It was shown
that spark plasma sintering is effective way to preserve fibre-like
mikrostructure of SiC. The obtained material showed good erosion resistance.
The surface layer of HfC transformed to HfO2 during oxidation of samples and
protected SiC from further oxidation.
Amorphous Pr6O11 powder was obtained by applying self-propagating room temperature method (SPRT). After calcination, the amorphous powder converted to nanometric Pr6O11 powder with cubic ...fluorite-type structure. Powder properties such as crystallite size, lattice strain and lattice parameter were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) at room temperature. The crystallite size was estimated by means of the full width at half maxima (FWHM) of XRD peaks. Williamson–Hall plots were used to determine the lattice strain whereas the Ritveld analysis was employed for crystal structure refinement. It was found that the powder properties are affected by both calcination temperature and duration of thermal treatment. The crystallite size varied from 5 to ∼250nm, whereas the lattice parameter varied from 5.461 to 5.494Å. The powder obtained after four-hour long calcination was almost free of internal strain.
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