The understanding of how genetic and epigenetic factors influence tumorigenesis, progression and invasion, is vastly growing since new technologies allow the analysis of the functional genome namely the exome, the tra...The understanding of how genetic and epigenetic factors influence tumorigenesis, progression and invasion, is vastly growing since new technologies allow the analysis of the functional genome namely the exome, the transcriptome and the epigenome, besides enabling genome-wide assessment of genetic variations. With the advent of new drugs that are indicated tissue agnostic, depending on certain mutations, there is a growing demand for fast and cost-effective genetic diagnosis. The method in focus that already became an indispensable tool in viral diagnosis is next-generation sequencing (NGS). This approach allows sequencing of literally every DNA molecule in the sample and can either be used to assess numerous genetic markers of one patient at a time, or to assess fewer markers of many patients in parallel, which reduces costs. We submitted 23 samples of different tumor entities to four diagnostic companies with different analysis profiles. The results as disclosed and discussed in this report indicate that so far, the main application of NGS is rather in cancer research than in diagnosis, as none of the reports had a real impact on the therapeutic scheme. We are perfectly aware that such a small cohort cannot be generalized, but considering the costs vs. benefits, NGS should be engaged upon a very stringent evaluation only. However, in cases where obtaining a tissue biopsy is impossible or unfavorable, analysis of liquid biopsy by NGS provides a vital alternative.展开更多
While generally recognized as a potential source of contamination during the collection process, lubricants are often used at the preference of the male partner to prevent irritation. While older lubricants have been ...While generally recognized as a potential source of contamination during the collection process, lubricants are often used at the preference of the male partner to prevent irritation. While older lubricants have been studied, there is currently no conscience within programs as to what constitutes a “safe” lubricant. The object of the current study was designed to evaluate chemically unique “next generation” lubricants in comparison to lubricants currently in use in fertility treatment and/or recognized as fertility safe;the first was a silicone-based lubricant, the second is a water-based, plant-based organic compound, in comparison to two established medical lubricants and a control. Twelve deidentified semen samples from the clinical andrology laboratory were used to test the lubricants following semen analysis. In order to enter the study, the sample had to have a minimum of 30 × 10<sup>6</sup> motile cells. Samples were then processed using a simple sperm wash modified to reconstitute the pellet into a final volume of 7 mL. Half-milliliter aliquots were then transferred into 13 wells of a standard 24-well culture plate. One well was used as a control. The remaining wells received one of the four lubricants at one of three volumes (10, 50, or 100 uL), producing 12 treatment combinations (four lubricants + 3 concentration levels) and the control. The samples were then cultured at room temperature for 24 hours. At times 0, 1, 3, 12, and 24 hrs, the plate was agitated to remix the sample, and a 4 uL aliquot of each well was analyzed for standard semen parameters using a computer-assisted semen analyzer. Results indicated the expected decrease in semen parameters over time in all treatments (P < 0.001). There was also a dose-dependent drop in most of the lubricants. However, samples contaminated with the newer lubricants appeared to maintain semen parameters similar to the controls at all but the 100 ul level of contamination, while the older lubricants caused decreases in sperm function at much lower concentrations. While semen parameters alone should not be the only criteria for the selection of a lubricant, the present study suggests newer formulations of lubricant are less likely to interfere with sperm function.展开更多
This study explores the efficacy of advanced antibiotic compounds against P. aeruginosa, focusing on Antibiotic B, an enhanced derivative of Ceftriaxone. The study measured the intracellular uptake of Antibiotic B and...This study explores the efficacy of advanced antibiotic compounds against P. aeruginosa, focusing on Antibiotic B, an enhanced derivative of Ceftriaxone. The study measured the intracellular uptake of Antibiotic B and introduced a novel adjuvant, Influximax, which augmented its antibacterial activity. Results showed a diminished potential for resistance emergence with Antibiotic B, particularly when used in combination with Influximax. The study suggests that optimizing antibiotic delivery into bacterial cells and leveraging syner-gistic adjuvant combinations can enhance drug resistance combat. .展开更多
Next-generation sequencing(NGS) technology is capable of sequencing millions or billions of DNA molecules simultaneously.Therefore, it represents a promising tool for the analysis of molecular targets for the initial ...Next-generation sequencing(NGS) technology is capable of sequencing millions or billions of DNA molecules simultaneously.Therefore, it represents a promising tool for the analysis of molecular targets for the initial diagnosis of disease, monitoring of disease progression, and identifying the mechanism of drug resistance. On behalf of the Tumor Biomarker Committee of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology(CSCO) and the China Actionable Genome Consortium(CAGC), the present expert group hereby proposes advisory guidelines on clinical applications of NGS technology for the analysis of cancer driver genes for precision cancer therapy. This group comprises an assembly of laboratory cancer geneticists, clinical oncologists, bioinformaticians,pathologists, and other professionals. After multiple rounds of discussions and revisions, the expert group has reached a preliminary consensus on the need of NGS in clinical diagnosis, its regulation, and compliance standards in clinical sample collection. Moreover, it has prepared NGS criteria, the sequencing standard operation procedure(SOP), data analysis, report, and NGS platform certification and validation.展开更多
Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection is highly prevalent in the human population and may lead to severe gastrointestinal pathology including gastric and duodenal ulcers,mucosa associated tissue lymphoma and gastric ...Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection is highly prevalent in the human population and may lead to severe gastrointestinal pathology including gastric and duodenal ulcers,mucosa associated tissue lymphoma and gastric adenocarcinoma.In recent years,an alarming increase in antimicrobial resistance and subsequently failing empiric H.pylori eradication therapies have been noted worldwide,also in many European countries.Therefore,rapid and accurate determination of H.pylori’s antibiotic susceptibility prior to the administration of eradication regimens becomes ever more important.Traditionally,detection of H.pylori and its antimicrobial resistance is done by culture and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing that are cumbersome with a long turn-around-time.Recent advances in diagnostics provide new tools,like real-time polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and line probe assays,to diagnose H.pylori infection and antimicrobial resistance to certain antibiotics,directly from clinical specimens.Moreover,high-throughput whole genome sequencing technologies allow the rapid analysis of the pathogen’s genome,thereby allowing identification of resistance mutations and associated antibiotic resistance.In the first part of this review,we will give an overview on currently available diagnostic methods for detection of H.pylori and its drug resistance and their implementation in H.pylori management.The second part of the review focusses on the use of next generation sequencing technology in H.pylori research.To this end,we conducted a literature search for original research articles in English using the terms“Helicobacter”,“transcriptomic”,“transcriptome”,“next generation sequencing”and“whole genome sequencing”.This review is aimed to bridge the gap between current diagnostic practice(histology,rapid urease test,H.pylori culture,PCR and line probe assays)and new sequencing technologies and their potential implementation in diagnostic laboratory settings in order to complement the currently recommended H.pylori management guidelines and subsequently improve public health.展开更多
文摘The understanding of how genetic and epigenetic factors influence tumorigenesis, progression and invasion, is vastly growing since new technologies allow the analysis of the functional genome namely the exome, the transcriptome and the epigenome, besides enabling genome-wide assessment of genetic variations. With the advent of new drugs that are indicated tissue agnostic, depending on certain mutations, there is a growing demand for fast and cost-effective genetic diagnosis. The method in focus that already became an indispensable tool in viral diagnosis is next-generation sequencing (NGS). This approach allows sequencing of literally every DNA molecule in the sample and can either be used to assess numerous genetic markers of one patient at a time, or to assess fewer markers of many patients in parallel, which reduces costs. We submitted 23 samples of different tumor entities to four diagnostic companies with different analysis profiles. The results as disclosed and discussed in this report indicate that so far, the main application of NGS is rather in cancer research than in diagnosis, as none of the reports had a real impact on the therapeutic scheme. We are perfectly aware that such a small cohort cannot be generalized, but considering the costs vs. benefits, NGS should be engaged upon a very stringent evaluation only. However, in cases where obtaining a tissue biopsy is impossible or unfavorable, analysis of liquid biopsy by NGS provides a vital alternative.
文摘While generally recognized as a potential source of contamination during the collection process, lubricants are often used at the preference of the male partner to prevent irritation. While older lubricants have been studied, there is currently no conscience within programs as to what constitutes a “safe” lubricant. The object of the current study was designed to evaluate chemically unique “next generation” lubricants in comparison to lubricants currently in use in fertility treatment and/or recognized as fertility safe;the first was a silicone-based lubricant, the second is a water-based, plant-based organic compound, in comparison to two established medical lubricants and a control. Twelve deidentified semen samples from the clinical andrology laboratory were used to test the lubricants following semen analysis. In order to enter the study, the sample had to have a minimum of 30 × 10<sup>6</sup> motile cells. Samples were then processed using a simple sperm wash modified to reconstitute the pellet into a final volume of 7 mL. Half-milliliter aliquots were then transferred into 13 wells of a standard 24-well culture plate. One well was used as a control. The remaining wells received one of the four lubricants at one of three volumes (10, 50, or 100 uL), producing 12 treatment combinations (four lubricants + 3 concentration levels) and the control. The samples were then cultured at room temperature for 24 hours. At times 0, 1, 3, 12, and 24 hrs, the plate was agitated to remix the sample, and a 4 uL aliquot of each well was analyzed for standard semen parameters using a computer-assisted semen analyzer. Results indicated the expected decrease in semen parameters over time in all treatments (P < 0.001). There was also a dose-dependent drop in most of the lubricants. However, samples contaminated with the newer lubricants appeared to maintain semen parameters similar to the controls at all but the 100 ul level of contamination, while the older lubricants caused decreases in sperm function at much lower concentrations. While semen parameters alone should not be the only criteria for the selection of a lubricant, the present study suggests newer formulations of lubricant are less likely to interfere with sperm function.
文摘This study explores the efficacy of advanced antibiotic compounds against P. aeruginosa, focusing on Antibiotic B, an enhanced derivative of Ceftriaxone. The study measured the intracellular uptake of Antibiotic B and introduced a novel adjuvant, Influximax, which augmented its antibacterial activity. Results showed a diminished potential for resistance emergence with Antibiotic B, particularly when used in combination with Influximax. The study suggests that optimizing antibiotic delivery into bacterial cells and leveraging syner-gistic adjuvant combinations can enhance drug resistance combat. .
基金supported by grants from Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer (Grant No. 2017B030314120)General Research Project of Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 201607010391)+1 种基金National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC1303800)Guangdong Provincial Applied S&T R&D Program (Grant No. 2016B020237006)
文摘Next-generation sequencing(NGS) technology is capable of sequencing millions or billions of DNA molecules simultaneously.Therefore, it represents a promising tool for the analysis of molecular targets for the initial diagnosis of disease, monitoring of disease progression, and identifying the mechanism of drug resistance. On behalf of the Tumor Biomarker Committee of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology(CSCO) and the China Actionable Genome Consortium(CAGC), the present expert group hereby proposes advisory guidelines on clinical applications of NGS technology for the analysis of cancer driver genes for precision cancer therapy. This group comprises an assembly of laboratory cancer geneticists, clinical oncologists, bioinformaticians,pathologists, and other professionals. After multiple rounds of discussions and revisions, the expert group has reached a preliminary consensus on the need of NGS in clinical diagnosis, its regulation, and compliance standards in clinical sample collection. Moreover, it has prepared NGS criteria, the sequencing standard operation procedure(SOP), data analysis, report, and NGS platform certification and validation.
文摘Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection is highly prevalent in the human population and may lead to severe gastrointestinal pathology including gastric and duodenal ulcers,mucosa associated tissue lymphoma and gastric adenocarcinoma.In recent years,an alarming increase in antimicrobial resistance and subsequently failing empiric H.pylori eradication therapies have been noted worldwide,also in many European countries.Therefore,rapid and accurate determination of H.pylori’s antibiotic susceptibility prior to the administration of eradication regimens becomes ever more important.Traditionally,detection of H.pylori and its antimicrobial resistance is done by culture and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing that are cumbersome with a long turn-around-time.Recent advances in diagnostics provide new tools,like real-time polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and line probe assays,to diagnose H.pylori infection and antimicrobial resistance to certain antibiotics,directly from clinical specimens.Moreover,high-throughput whole genome sequencing technologies allow the rapid analysis of the pathogen’s genome,thereby allowing identification of resistance mutations and associated antibiotic resistance.In the first part of this review,we will give an overview on currently available diagnostic methods for detection of H.pylori and its drug resistance and their implementation in H.pylori management.The second part of the review focusses on the use of next generation sequencing technology in H.pylori research.To this end,we conducted a literature search for original research articles in English using the terms“Helicobacter”,“transcriptomic”,“transcriptome”,“next generation sequencing”and“whole genome sequencing”.This review is aimed to bridge the gap between current diagnostic practice(histology,rapid urease test,H.pylori culture,PCR and line probe assays)and new sequencing technologies and their potential implementation in diagnostic laboratory settings in order to complement the currently recommended H.pylori management guidelines and subsequently improve public health.
