PloS one

BACKGROUND: Puerarin, a phytoestrogen with a weak estrogenic effect, binds to estrogen receptors, thereby competing with 17β-estradiol (E2) and producing an anti-estrogenic effect. This study was to investigate whether puerarin could suppre…

The genetic model of tumorigenesis by Vogelstein et al. (V theory) and the molecular definition of cancer hallmarks by Hanahan and Weinberg (W theory) represent two of the most comprehensive and systemic understandings of cancer. Here, we d…

Musculoskeletal fibromatosis remains a disease of unknown etiology. Surgical excision is the standard of care, but the recurrence rate remains high. Superficial fibromatosis typically presents as subcutaneous nodules caused by rapid myofibr…

Endometrial regeneration is mediated, at least in part, by the existence of a specialized somatic stem cell (SSC) population recently identified by several groups using the side population (SP) technique. We previously demonstrated that end…

Cancer cells often employ developmental cues for advantageous growth and metastasis. Here, we report that an axon guidance molecule, Sema3E, is highly expressed in human high-grade ovarian endometrioid carcinoma, but not low-grade or other …

BACKGROUND: Daily cycles of sleep/wake, hormones, and physiological processes are often misaligned with behavioral patterns during shift work, leading to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular/metabolic/gastrointestinal disorders, s…

17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17β-HSD1) catalyzes the reduction of estrone to estradiol, which is the most potent estrogen in humans. Inhibition of 17β-HSD1 and thereby reducing the intracellular estradiol concentration is thus a…

Prioritising candidate genes for further experimental characterisation is a non-trivial challenge in drug discovery and biomedical research in general. An integrated approach that combines results from multiple data types is best suited for…

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease causing pelvic pain and infertility in 10% of reproductive-aged women. Despite a long history of the disease the pathogenesis of endometriosis is poorly understood. It is known that…

Female-controlled contraception/HIV prevention is critical to address health issues associated with gender inequality. Therefore, a contraceptive which can be administered in tandem with a microbicide to inhibit sexually transmitted infecti…

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the association between 53 genes related to DNA repair and p53-mediated damage response and serous ovarian cancer risk using case-control data from the North Carolina Ovarian Cancer Study (NCOCS), a population-based,…

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional gene silencing. Over 700 human miRNAs have currently been identified, many of which are mutated or de-regulated in diseases. Here we report the identification of…

BACKGROUND: KIR2DS5 gene encodes an activating natural killer cell receptor whose ligand is not known. It was recently reported to affect the outcome of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In our studie…

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) suppress immune activation and are critical in preventing autoimmune diseases. While the ability of Tregs to inhibit proliferation of other T cells is well established, it is not yet clear whether Tregs also modul…

BACKGROUND: We have examined the genomic distribution of large rare autosomal deletions in a sample of 440 parent-parent-child trios from the Quebec founder population (QFP) which was recruited for a study of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity…

Vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF(165) is a critical element for development of the vascular system in physiological and pathological angiogenesis. VEGF isoforms have different affinities for heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG) as we…

During reproductive life, the human endometrium undergoes around 480 cycles of growth, breakdown and regeneration should pregnancy not be achieved. This outstanding regenerative capacity is the basis for women's cycling and its dysfunction …

In the past, microarray studies have been criticized due to noise and the limited overlap between gene signatures. Prior biological knowledge should therefore be incorporated as side information in models based on gene expression data to im…

BACKGROUND: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) constitutes more than 90% of ovarian cancers and is associated with high mortality. EOC comprises a heterogeneous group of tumours, and the causes and molecular pathology are essentially unknown. …

Steroid-related cancers can be treated by inhibitors of steroid metabolism. In searching for new inhibitors of human 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17beta-HSD 1) for the treatment of breast cancer or endometriosis, novel substa…

BACKGROUND: The human endometrium undergoes cyclical regeneration throughout a woman's reproductive life. Ectopic implantation of endometrial cells through retrograde menstruation gives rise to endometriotic lesions which affect approximate…

Cancer antigen 125 (CA125) is a blood biomarker that is routinely used to monitor the progression of human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and is encoded by MUC16, a member of the mucin gene family. The biological function of CA125/MUC16 an…

BACKGROUND: Most women with a clinical presentation consistent with ovarian cancer have benign conditions. Therefore methods to distinguish women with ovarian cancer from those with benign conditions would be beneficial. We describe the dev…

BACKGROUND: Despite low incidence, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths and it has the highest mortality rate of all gynecologic malignancies among US women. The mortality rate would be reduced with an early detection …

BACKGROUND: Drug repositioning offers the possibility of faster development times and reduced risks in drug discovery. With the rapid development of high-throughput technologies and ever-increasing accumulation of whole genome-level dataset…