Peking Union Medical College Hospital

About: Peking Union Medical College Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in Beijing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicine & Population. The organization has 15996 authors who have published 16018 publications receiving 226505 citations.

Increased Expression of Annexin A3 Is a Mechanism of Platinum Resistance in Ovarian Cancer

Abstract: Resistance to platinum drugs has emerged as a major obstacle in the treatment of ovarian cancers. Through proteomic analysis, we have found that the expression of annexin A3, a member of the Ca2+ and phospholipid-binding annexin family, is significantly increased in platinum-resistant ovarian cell lines. Anti–annexin A3 immunostaining indicated that cancers from platinum-resistant patients also possess higher levels of annexin A3 than those from platinum-sensitive patients. Although expression of annexin A3 made susceptible ovarian cancer cells more resistant to platinum, expression of antisense annexin A3 downregulated its expression and rendered the resistant cells more sensitive to platinum. In athymic mice, the growth of tumors from inoculated SKOV3 cells was inhibited by the administration of platinum, whereas tumors from annexin A3–expressing SKOV3/Ann were resistant to platinum treatment. Interestingly, the intracellular platinum concentration and platinum-DNA binding are significantly lower in annexin A3–overexpressing cells than those in parental cells. The lower cisplatin concentration was also accompanied by reduced induction of p53, which could be restored by downregulation of annexin A3. These results indicate that increased expression of annexin A3 is a mechanism of platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. It seems to act by preventing uptake or accumulation of platinum in cells. Therefore, it is conceivable that annexin A3 could be a target for therapeutic intervention and may also serve as a biomarker for drug resistance in ovarian cancer patients. Cancer Res; 70(4); 1616–24

Circulating plasmablasts/plasma cells: a potential biomarker for IgG4-related disease.

Abstract: Immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a multisystem fibroinflammatory disease. We previously reported that a circulating cell population expressing CD19+CD24−CD38hi was increased in patients with IgG4-RD. In this study, we aimed to document that this cell population represented circulating plasmablasts/plasma cells, to identify the detailed phenotype and gene expression profile of these IgG4-secreting plasmablasts/plasma cells, and to determine whether this B-cell lineage subset could be a biomarker in IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD). A total of 42 untreated patients with IgG4-RD were evaluated. Peripheral B-cell subsets, including CD19+CD24−CD38hi plasmablasts/plasma cells, CD19+CD24+CD38− memory B cells, CD19+CD24intCD38int naive B cells, and CD19+CD24hiCD38hi regulatory B cells, were assessed and sorted by flow cytometry. Microarray analysis was used to measure gene expression of circulating B-cell lineage subsets. Further characterization of CD19+CD24−CD38hi plasmablasts/plasma cells was carried out by evaluating additional surface markers, including CD27, CD95, and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR, by flow cytometric assay. In addition, various B-cell lineage subsets were cultured in vitro and IgG4 concentrations were measured by cytometric bead array. In untreated patients with IgG4-RD, the peripheral CD19+CD24−CD38hi plasmablast/plasma cell subset was increased and positively correlated with serum IgG4 levels, the number of involved organs, and the IgG4-related Disease Responder Index. It decreased after treatment with glucocorticoids. Characterization of the plasmablast/plasma cell population by gene expression profiling documented a typical plasmablast/plasma cell signature with higher expression of X-box binding protein 1 and IFN regulatory factor 4, but lower expression of paired box gene 5 and B-cell lymphoma 6 protein. In addition, CD27, CD95, and HLA-DR were highly expressed on CD19+CD24−CD38hi plasmablasts/plasma cells from patients with IgG4-RD. Furthermore, CD19+CD24−CD38hi plasmablasts/plasma cells secreted more IgG4 than other B-cell populations. Circulating CD19+CD24−CD38hi plasmablasts/plasma cells are elevated in active IgG4-RD and decreased after glucocorticoid treatment. This IgG4-secreting plasmablast/plasma cell population might be a potentially useful biomarker for diagnosis and assessing response to treatment.

Effects of pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain on maternal and infant complications.

Abstract: The potential effects of pre-pregnancy body mass (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on pregnancy outcomes remain unclear Thus, we investigated socio-demographic characteristics that affect pre-pregnancy BMIs and GWG and the effects of pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG on Chinese maternal and infant complications 3172 women were enrolled in the Chinese Pregnant Women Cohort Study-Peking Union Medical College from July 25, 2017 to July 24, 2018, whose babies were delivered before December 31, 2018 Regression analysis was employed to evaluate the socio-demographic characteristics affecting pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG values and their effects on adverse maternal and infant complications Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age groups 25 years old educated below university and college levels, for ethnic minorities and those women who live in the north of China Registered at Clinical Trials ( NCT03403543 ), September 29, 2017

Protein content and functional characteristics of serum-purified exosomes from patients with colorectal cancer revealed by quantitative proteomics.

Abstract: Tumor cells of colorectal cancer (CRC) release exosomes into the circulation. These exosomes can mediate communication between cells and affect various tumor-related processes in their target cells. We present a quantitative proteomics analysis of the exosomes purified from serum of patients with CRC and normal volunteers; data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD003875. We identified 918 proteins with an overlap of 725 Gene IDs in the Exocarta proteins list. Compared with the serum-purified exosomes (SPEs) of normal volunteers, we found 36 proteins upregulated and 22 proteins downregulated in the SPEs of CRC patients. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that upregulated proteins are involved in processes that modulate the pretumorigenic microenvironment for metastasis. In contrast, differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) that play critical roles in tumor growth and cell survival were principally downregulated. Our study demonstrates that SPEs of CRC patients play a pivotal role in promoting the tumor invasiveness, but have minimal influence on putative alterations in tumor survival or proliferation. According to bioinformatics analysis, we speculate that the protein contents of exosomes might be associated with whether they are involved in premetastatic niche establishment or growth and survival of metastatic tumor cells. This information will be helpful in elucidating the pathophysiological functions of tumor-derived exosomes, and aid in the development of CRC diagnostics and therapeutics.