Biotrophic pathogens and diverse mutualists suppress PCD Biotrophic pathogens have evolved intricate mechanisms to colonize their hosts and maintain

host cell integrity [51]. For example, intracellular pathogens, such as protozoan parasites and phytoplasmas (bacterial plant pathogens that lack cell walls), must thwart host defense responses while they derive nutrients from the host. If host PCD is triggered, an obligate biotroph must necessarily be destroyed. Suppression of host cell apoptosis is employed by many protozoans including:Toxoplasma this website gondii, an obligate parasite of mammals and birds; the TrypanosomatidsTrypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas’ disease, andLeishmania donovani, which causes visceral leishmaniasis;Theileria parvaandT. annulata, tick-transmitted parasites of ruminant animals;Plasmodiumspecies including the malaria parasites; andCryptosporidium parvum, which causes cryptosporidiosis in mammals (all reviewed in [52]). Trypanosoma cruziappears to inhibit the Fas (CD95)-mediated

cell death pathway; this pathway is triggered via TNF receptors and normally results in cytotoxic T cell activation [53].T. cruzisuppressor proteins could be annotated with “”GO: 0033668 negative regulation by symbiont of host apoptosis”", thus selleck products facilitating comparison with functionally similar bacterial proteins. Interestingly, uninfected cells surroundingToxoplasma gondii-infected cells undergo apoptosis, and recently a see more secreted molecule encoded byT. gondii, TgPDCD5, was shown to trigger Resminostat PCD in these bystander cells [54], i.e. “”GO: 0052042 positive regulation by symbiont of host programmed cell death”" (Figure2). YetT. gondii-infected cells show a reduced response to many inducers of apoptosis, resulting from the blocking of several stages of the host mitochondrion-dependent PCD pathway [55], as well as direct inhibition of downstream caspase activation [55–57] and activation of NF-κB [58].Theileria parvaalso appears to induce activation of NF-κB [59]. Thus, NF-κB activation may be a strategy used by diverse protozoan,

viral and bacterial pathogens to inhibit apoptosis in the host [52], i.e. “”GO: 0033668 negative regulation by symbiont of host apoptosis”" (Figure2). In similar fashion, the effector protein ATR13 from the obligate biotrophic oomycete pathogen ofArabidopsis,Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, could suppress the ROS burst typically associated with immunity against the pathogen [60]. Mutualistic symbioses also involve manipulation of PCD.Wolbachiais an endosymbiotic bacterium that manipulates host reproduction inAsobara tabida, a parasitoid wasp. It accomplishes this by acting on host apoptotic pathways crucial to oogenesis, although the nature of control (host or symbiont) remains unclear [61]. In the fungal endophyteEpichloe festucae, generation of ROS has been shown to be a critical component of the mutualistic interaction withLolium perenne(perennial ryegrass).

Figure 1 The illustration of tilted platinum while using ANO process. Silicon is connected to anode, while Pt is connected to cathode. During ANO, OH- may be attracted to silicon, leading to the formation of SiO2. Results and discussion TZDB characteristics between one-time forming HfO2 and stacking structure We first take the capacitance-voltage (C-V) and I-V measurements of H/O and SH/O. C-V measurements with gate voltage (V G ) from -3 to 3 V are shown in

Figure 2. Effective oxide thickness (EOT) of both samples is calculated as 52 Ǻ. The I-V curves of both devices are shown in the insets. In the following work, the TZDB characteristics are investigated. V G is swept from 0 to -15 V in recording the leakage current density. It is observed that SH/O shows a higher breakdown voltage than the one without stacking structure as presented in Figure 3. Figure 3a presents the median breakdown field (E 50%BD) of 14.8 Afatinib (MV/cm) for SH/O, while merely 11.3 (MV/cm) for H/O. It is believed that the grain boundaries (GBs) exist in dielectric layer are responsible for current conduction [36]. It is supposed that the stacking structure would result in the misalignment of GBs between separate dielectric layers. With the discontinuous https://www.selleckchem.com/products/ly2606368.html paths for current leakage as schematically illustrated in Figure 3b, the higher breakdown field (E BD) would be expected for stacking structure. Figure 2 C-V characteristics of stacking HfO 2

/SiO 2 (SH/O) and single HfO 2 /SiO 2 (H/O). The I-V measurements for samples SH/O and H/O are shown in the insets (a) and (b), respectively. Figure 3 I-V characteristics from V G   = 0 to -15 V for SH/O and H/O. (a) The cumulative data of E BD for above samples. (b) The Niraparib schematic illustration of possible leakage path in the stacking structure. Characteristics after dielectric breakdown The I-V characteristics after breakdown of these two samples are shown in Figure 4. Low-density-lipoprotein receptor kinase Resistance after breakdown is defined as Figure 4 I-V characteristics from

V G   = 0 to -15 V in linear scale for SH/O and H/O. The cumulative data of resistance after breakdown and power per unit area at the initiation of breakdown for samples are shown in (a) and (b), respectively. (1) where V and I represent gate voltage and current. The cumulative data of R (absolute value) after breakdown are shown in Figure 4a. R is extracted with V 1 and V 2 of -13 and -12 V and the corresponding I 1 and I 2, respectively. It indicates that sample H/O shows higher R value than SH/O after breakdown. In the case, due to the finding that stacking structures have higher E BD, the power per unit area in the initiation of breakdown would be larger for stacking structures. The power per unit area of breakdown could be defined as (2) where J and V are current density and corresponding gate voltage at the initiation of breakdown. The cumulative data of P’BD are presented in Figure 4b.

pestis specific virulence plasmids pPCP1 and pMT1. The plasmid pCD1 was not used as it is shared by other pathogenic Yersinia species. A chromosomal sequence of unknown function that had been identified using comparative genome hybridization [17] was selected as Y. pestis specific chromosomal target. Selleckchem Vistusertib Spores of B. thuringiensis were used as internal

control, not only for DNA amplification but also for successful DNA extraction. This member of the B. cereus group is closely related to B. anthracis and forms similar spores, while it contains species-specific plasmids. The B. thuringiensis plasmid gene encoding insecticidal crystal proteins (cry genes) was used as the signature sequence for the detection of DNA released from this organism’s spores. Sequence analysis tools, bioinformatics software Sequences retrieved from NCBI/EMBL were organized and aligned using the software package Kodon (Applied Maths, Ghent, Belgium). Comprehensive sequence alignments were made by performing BLAST searches from the selected targets to make sure all available sequence homologues were included in the alignments. Oligonucleotides for multiplex qPCR assays and for conventional PCR assays were designed using the software package Visual Oligonucleotide Modeling Platform version 6 (DNA software Inc. Ann Arbor, USA). The design strategy for multiplex qPCR assays was as follows. First, a hydrolysis

probe and primer VX-809 in vivo set were designed for the B. thuringiensis internal control. Then, for each selected signature sequence a hydrolysis probe was designed, followed by the design of the corresponding primer set. A different strategy was chosen for the B. anthracis assay, because its chromosomal target sspE has homologues in other Bacillus, notably the internal control B. thuringiensis. To make sure that detection of B. anthracis sspE was highly selective, the exact positions of probe and primers were guided based on visual inspection of the alignment. Probe and primers were located in regions with mismatches Acetophenone between Bacillus species (notably between B. thuringiensis and B. anthracis),

and the primers were designed such that mismatch positions were located at their highly discriminating 3′-ends. Oligonucleotides that were calculated by the design software were first checked against the consensus alignment to exclude designs not covering all sequence variants, and were then evaluated using the simulation module of Visual OMP. All oligonucleotides designed were validated in silico by using BLAST searches in general and microbial genomes find more databases (NCBI/EMBL). Sequencing Sequences were obtained from the cry1 gene from B. thuringiensis strain ATCC 29730 and from the sspE gene from all B. anthracis strains in our culture collection, B. thuringiensis ATCC 29730 and B. cereus strains WSBC 10583, 10619, 10766, 10483, 10572, 10705, 10770 and 10865 (Additional file 1 Table S1).

Emerg Infect Dis 2002, 8:508–513.PubMed 6. Lacher Temozolomide molecular weight DW, Steinsland H, Blank TE, Donnenberg MS, Whittam TS: Molecular evolution of typical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli : clonal analysis by multilocus sequence typing and virulence gene allelic profiling. J Bacteriol 2007, 189:342–350.PubMedCrossRef 7. Campos LC, Franzolin MR, Trabulsi LR: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli categories among the traditional enteropathogenic E. coli O serogroups–a review. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2004, 99:545–552.PubMedCrossRef 8. Kozub-Witkowski E, Krause G, Frankel G, Kramer D, Appel B, Beutin L: Serotypes and eFT508 ic50 virutypes

of enteropathogenic and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli strains from stool samples of children with diarrhoea in Germany. J Appl Microbiol 2008, 104:403–410.PubMed 9. Campellone KG: Cytoskeleton-modulating effectors of enteropathogenic and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli : Tir, EspFU and actin pedestal assembly. FEBS

J 2010, 277:2390–2402.PubMedCrossRef 10. Clarke SC, Haigh RD, Freestone PPE, Williams PH: Virulence of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli , a Global Pathogen. Clin Microbiol Rev 2003, 16:365–378.PubMedCrossRef Cell Cycle inhibitor 11. Ogura Y, Abe H, Katsura K, Kurokawa K, Asadulghani M, Iguchi A, et al.: Systematic identification and sequence analysis of the genomic islands of the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strain B171–8 by the combined use of whole-genome PCR scanning and fosmid mapping. J Bacteriol 2008, 190:6948–6960.PubMedCrossRef 12. Iguchi A, Thomson NR, Ogura Y, Saunders D, Ooka T, Henderson IR, et al.: Complete genome sequence and comparative genome analysis of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O127:H6 strain E2348/69. J Bacteriol 2009, 191:347–354.PubMedCrossRef 13. Wick LM, Qi W, Lacher

DW, Whittam TS: Evolution of genomic content in the stepwise emergence of Escherichia coli O157:H7. J Bacteriol 2005, 187:1783–1791.PubMedCrossRef 14. Zhou Z, Li X, Liu B, Beutin L, Xu J, Ren Y, et al.: Derivation of L-gulonolactone oxidase Escherichia coli O157:H7 from its O55:H7 precursor. PLoS One 2010, 5:e8700.PubMedCrossRef 15. Abu-Ali GS, Lacher DW, Wick LM, Qi W, Whittam TS: Genomic diversity of pathogenic Escherichia coli of the EHEC 2 clonal complex. BMC Genomics 2009, 10:296.PubMedCrossRef 16. Bugarel M, Beutin L, Fach P: Low-density macroarray targeting non-locus of enterocyte effacement effectors (nle genes) and major virulence factors of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC): a new approach for molecular risk assessment of STEC isolates. Appl Environ Microbiol 2010, 76:203–211.PubMedCrossRef 17. Bugarel M, Beutin L, Martin A, Gill A, Fach P: Micro-array for the identification of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) seropathotypes associated with Hemorrhagic Colitis and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in humans. Int J Food Microbiol 2010, 142:318–329.PubMedCrossRef 18.

Methods Literature search strategy A computerized literature search on Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CNKI (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database),

Wangfang (Database of Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology), and CBM (China Biological Medicine Database) was performed from the earliest possible BTSA1 mw date until July 30, 2012 (CNKI, Wangfang and CBM Database are the top three Chinese medical databases). The search terms included “gastric cancer” OR “gastric carcinoma” OR “carcinoma of stomach” OR “stomach neoplasms” AND “Cdx2” OR “caudal type homeobox 2”. The search was limited in studies in humans. Titles and abstracts of all www.selleckchem.com/products/napabucasin.html citations were screened independently by two reviewers (Wang XT and Kong FB). We did not consider abstracts or unpublished reports. If more than 1 article was published by the same author using the same case series, we selected the study where the most individuals were investigated. Inclusion and

exclusion criteria To be eligible for this review, trials had to deal with gastric cancer only, to measure Cdx2 expression in the primary tumor (not in metastatic tissue or in tissue adjacent to the tumor), to evaluate correlation of Cdx2 expression and patients’ clinicopathological characteristics or 5-year survival rate, and to be published as a full paper in English or Chinese language literature. We reviewed abstracts of all citations and retrieved studies. For inclusion click here in the meta-analysis, the identified articles have to provide information

on: (a) tumors verified by pathological examination; (b) methods used to determine Cdx2 expression and assign expression status by immunohistochemistry (IHC); (c) no preoperative radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy administered to the patients; (d) evaluation of the association between Cdx2 expression and prognostic many factors of gastric cancer; (e) inclusion of sufficient data to allow the estimation of an relative risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI); (f) peer-reviewed and published original articles. Major reasons for exclusion of studies were: (a) Cdx2 expression was not evaluated by IHC; (b) no control; (c) duplicate; (d) no usable data reported; (e) cells or animals experiment; (f) letters to the editor, reviews, and articles published in a book. Data acquisition and quality assessment Samples were classified as positive if at least 5% of the tumor cells were stained in continuous scales or at least moderate staining in qualitative scales. The above cutoff was used by the majority of studies [11, 13–17]. When different definitions were used we contacted the primary investigators, and when data with this cutoff were not possible to retrieve we accepted the cutoff that was closest to this 5% cutoff level. In addition,there were two kinds of definition of the Cdx2 positive-expressed patients in IHC.

Hartman J, Tang J, Wilkinson

S, Tarnopolsky M, Lawrence R, Fullerton A, Phillips S: Consumption of fat-free fluid milk after resistance exercise promotes greater lean mass accretion than does consumption of soy or carbohydrate in young, novice, male weightlifters. Am J Clin Nutr 2007,86(2):373–381.PubMed 39. Wilkinson S, Tarnopolsky M, MacDonald M, MacDonald J, Armstrong D, Phillips S: Consumption of fluid skim milk promotes greater muscle protein accretion after resistance exercise than does consumption of an isonitrogenous and isoenergetic soy-protein beverage. Am J Clin Nutr 2007,85(4):1031–1040.PubMed 40. Rankin J, Goldman L, Puglisi M, Nickols-Richardson S, Earthman C, Gwazdauskas F: Effect of post-exercise supplement consumption on adaptations to resistance training. J Am Coll Nutr 2004,4(23):322–330. 41. Josse A, Tang J, Tarnopolsky M, Phillips S: Body composition and strength changes in women with Selleckchem PCI-34051 milk and resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2010,42(6):1122–1130.PubMed 42. Tang J, Moore D, Kujbida G, Tarnopolsky M, Phillips S: Ingestion of whey hydrolysate, casein, or soy protein isolate: effects on mixed muscle

selleck chemicals protein synthesis at rest and following resistance exercise in young men. J Appl PF-02341066 order Physiol 2009,107(3):987–992.PubMedCrossRef 43. Norton L, Wilson G, Layman D, Moulton C, Garlick P: Ingestion of whey hydrolysate, casein, or soy protein isolate: effects on mixed muscle protein synthesis at rest and following resistance exercise in young men. Nutr Metab 2012, 9:67.CrossRef 44. Hoffman J, Falvo M: Protein—which is best? J Sports Sci Med 2004, 3:118–130. 45. Boirie Y, Dangin M, Gachon P, Vasson MP, Maubois JL, Beaufrere B: Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial Enzalutamide cost accretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1997, 94:14930–14935.PubMedCrossRef 46. Tipton K, Elliot T, Cree M, Wolf S, Sanford A, Wolfe R:

Ingestion of casein and whey proteins result in muscle anabolism after resistance exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc 2004, 36:2073–2081.PubMed 47. Tipton KD, Rasmussen BB, Miller SL, Wolf SE, Owens-Stovall SK, Petrini BE, Wolfe RR: Timing of amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic response of muscle to resistance exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2001, 281:E197-E206.PubMed 48. Tipton K, Elliott T, Cree M, Aarsland A, Sanford A, Wolfe R: Stimulation of net muscle protein synthesis by whey protein ingestion before and after exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2007, 292:E71-E76.PubMedCrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions MS was the primary author of the manuscript. JL, AP and AS played an important role in manuscript preparation and revisions. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Erratum to: Osteoporos Int DOI 10.1007/s00198-008-0670-7 The location of Sanofi-Aventis, the employer of co-author D. Cahall, was incorrectly given as Cincinnati, USA. The true location is Bridgewater, NJ, USA.

The protein from this cloned amino acid sequence lacks the presumed signal sequence (amino acids 1 to 26). The cloned amino acid fragment was sequenced by Invitrogen Corporation to rule out the possibility of spurious mutations. Recombinant MtsA was purified from E. coli BL21 (DE3) under native conditions using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) columns (Qiangen, USA) as recommended by the manufacturer. The protein purified by this protocol was free of contaminating proteins, as assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). It was quantified by the Bradford assay (CE2302, Gene

Quest) using BSA (0.5 mg ml-1) as the standard. Specific fractions were then pooled. Preparation GDC-0941 price of anti-MtsA antibodies Anti-sera against histidine-tagged MtsA were prepared in male New Zealand white rabbits (2.2 kg), and approval from the Animal Ethics Committee of Life Sciences Institute

was obtained prior to using the animals for research. The experiments were performed as stipulated by the China State Science and Technology Commission [47]. Rabbits were purchased from Guangdong Laboratory BIBW2992 nmr Animals Research Center and acclimatized for 2 weeks in the laboratory of the Life Science Institute prior to use. The rabbits were maintained at the SPF animal center and fed twice daily. They were immunized with 850 μg purified MtsA in 100 μl complete Freund adjuvant (Sigma-Aldrich, Inc.) and then boosted with 170 μg MtsA in 100 μl incomplete Freund adjuvant (Sigma-Aldrich, Inc.) three times at an interval of 15 days. The sera were collected 1 day before the first immunization and 7 days after each booster dose. Purified MtsA and collected sera were used to determine the rabbit anti-MtsA antibody titer by the dot blotting assay. Extraction of the S. iniae HD-1 lipoprotein Thymidylate synthase TritonX-114 was used to extract the S. iniae HD-1 lipoprotein, according to the method modified by Cockayne et al [48, 49]. Briefly, S. iniae HD-1 cells were cultured,

harvested, suspended, and sonicated. Next, 100 μl of 10% TritonX-114 in PBS was added to 2 ml of HD-1 cells lysate and incubated at 4°C for 2 h. After Ralimetinib cell line centrifugation at 13,000 × g for 10 min, the supernatant was transferred to a fresh tube and incubated at 37°C for 30 min to allow phase separation. The detergent layer was retained after centrifugation at 13,000 × g for 10 min at room temperature, washed with 1 ml PBS at 4°C for 1 h, and separated from the aqueous phase after incubation at 37°C [50]. The detergent layer was diluted 1:1 with water, and analyzed by western blotting using the rabbits anti-MtsA antibodies. Preparation of MtsA cellular fractions To determine the subcellular localization of MtsA in S.

It is interesting to note that significant injuries, such as, rib fractures, pneumothorax, hemothorax, and contusions to the heart and lung also occurred independently of intra-thoracic penetration; including the death of a female patient who sustained left ventricle and pulmonary lacerations [1–3, 8, 9, 11, 23, 24]. In pursue of safer “”less-lethal”" impact munitions manufactures developed the attenuated SCH727965 mouse energy projectiles Syk inhibitor (AEP). These bullets were designed to duplicate the ballistic performance of the advanced plastic baton rounds but reduce the risk of serious injury in cases of inaccurate fire [2]. These types of projectiles

have a deformable head above the solid polyurethane polymer base of the standard plastic baton rounds [25]. On inadvertently hitting a hard target

like the head or the chest, the AEP should deform, spreading the impact over a greater area and a longer time period, decreasing the likely hood of serious injury and MG-132 chemical structure penetration. Furthermore, they provide better firing accuracy than previous plastic bullets, and do not fragment reducing the risk of accidental injuries [2]. However, a recent report of 13 patients demonstrated that even attenuated energy projectiles are associated with a 37% incidence of significant injuries to the head, neck, and the chest (AIS 2–5), but there were no cases of intra-thoracic penetrating [2]. Our case apparently is the first one in which there was intra-thoracic penetration by an attenuated energy projectile. In summary, to decrease serious injury caused by “”less-lethal”" impact munitions, the O-methylated flavonoid “”rules of engagement”" should be rigorously followed, even if the

munition is an AEP. Conclusion Even though the nature of the wound caused by attenuated energy bullets is generally blunt, penetration can occur specially when fired from close range at the torso. Therefore, patients who sustain less lethal ammunition injury to the chest should be thoroughly investigated with chest radiography and CT scan regardless of the ballistic features of the projectile. Consent A written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal. Acknowledgements Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES- Brazil) for their support. References 1. Hughes D, Maguire K, Dunn F, Fitzpatrick S, Rocke LG: Plastic baton round injuries. Emerg Med J 2005, 22:111–112.CrossRefPubMed 2. Maguire K, Hughes DM, Fitzpatrick MS, Dunn F, Rocke LG, Baird CJ: Injuries caused by the attenuated energy projectile: the latest less lethal option. Emerg Med J 2007, 24:103–105.CrossRefPubMed 3. Rocke L: Injuries caused by plastic bullets compared with those caused by rubber bullets. Lancet 1983, 8830:919–920.CrossRef 4. Ackerman BT, Ho JD: Specialty munitions. In Tactical Emergency Medicine.

There was no significant difference in the distribution of demographic information between GSK2126458 datasheet patients enrolled and patients who did not. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant for the use of their DNA and clinical information. The study was approved by the ethnic committee of Qilu hospital. SNP genotyping Genomic DNA was extracted from 5-mL blood sample

that was collected from each patient upon recruitment. The OPN-66 T/G, -156(rs17524488), and −443(rs11730582) variants were genotyped by direct Selleckchem SRT1720 sequencing of the sense and anti-sense strands following polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the promoter regulatory region −473 to −3 (forward primer 50-CAA GCT ACT GCA TAC TCG AAA TCA CA-30; reverse YM155 supplier primer 50- ACA ACC AAG CCC TCC CAG AAT TTA-30), as previously described [19]. PCR was performed using 50 ng DNA as a template under the following conditions: 95°C for 10 min, then 36 cycles of 94°C for 30 s, an annealing temperature for 60 s, and 72°C for 60 s, with a final extension at 72°C for 15 min. After affinity membrane purification using the QIAquick Gel Extraction kit (Qiagen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), the PCR products were subjected to cycle sequencing with the respective forward and reverse primer using an automated ABI 3100 DNA sequencer by GeneCore Bio Technologies (Shanghai China). A 15% blind, random sample

of study subjects was genotyped twice by different persons (Yunzhen Chen and Haichun Liu) and the reproducibility was 100%. Statistical analysis Statistical

analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0 software. Quantitative variables departing from the normal distribution, including age, gender and smoking status were summarized. Comparison of age between cases and controls was assessed using an independent Student’s t-test. Comparison of gender, smoking stauts and genotype frequencies between cases and controls was assessed using a chi-square test and a Fisher’s exact test. Survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. All probability (P) values were two-tailed and statistical significance much was indicated as P < 0.05. Results Patient characteristics and clinical outcomes This study recruited 360 patients with lung cancer and 360 healthy controls. The baseline clinical characteristics of patients are summarized in Table 1. 79 patients (17.4%) were diagnosed with bone metastasis. By the time of the final analysis (July 2012), the median follow-up time had been 32 months. There were no significant differences in terms of distribution of age and gender, but significant on smoking status, suggest smoking is one of risk factors. Clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients and controls are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with NSCLC and healthy controls   No. of patients or controls   Characteristics Case (n) Controls (n) P No. 360 360   Age, y     >0.05 Median 57.2 56.3   Range 24-81 23-87   Gender     >0.