Yong Chun Zhou

Publications of Yong Chun Zhou

• Orally administered DNA vaccine delivery by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium targeting fetal liver kinase 1 inhibits murine Lewis lung carcinoma growth and metastasis.

  Authors: Shu Guang Zuo, Yan Chen, Zhi Ping Wu, Xin Liu, Chun Liu, Yong Chun Zhou, Cui Ling Wu, Cong Guo Jin, Yu Lan Gu, Jia Li, Xiao Qun Chen, Yong Li, Hui Ping Wei, Li Hua Li, Xi Cai Wang

  Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin. 02/2010; 33(2):174-82.

  The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2 (VEGFR-2), also called fetal liver kinase 1 (FLK1) in mice and kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) in humans, is an endothelial cell specificThe vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2 (VEGFR-2), also called fetal liver kinase 1 (FLK1) in mice and kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) in humans, is an endothelial cell specific receptor tyrosine kinase that mediates lung cancer angiogenesis. We hypothesized that an active immunotherapy approach targeting FLK1 may inhibit lung cancer growth and metastasis. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated whether immune responses to FLK1 could be elicited in mice by immunization with an orally administered DNA vaccine encoding the extracellular domain (ECD) of FLK1 (pcDNA3.1-FLK1(ECD)) carried by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium. We found that the vaccine was effective at protective antitumor immunity in Lewis lung carcinoma models in mice by breaking immune tolerance to FLK1 self-antigen. Both FLK1-specific humoral and cellular immune responses against endothelial cells can be induced in mice by immunization with pcDNA3.1-FLK1(ECD). Immunization with pcDNA3.1-FLK1(ECD) resulted in tumor suppression and prolonged survival in mice challenged with Lewis lung carcinomas cells. Experimental pulmonary metastases were strongly inhibited in pcDNA3.1-FLK1(ECD) immunized mice challenged with Lewis lung carcinoma cells. Thus, we conclude that the plasmid DNA vaccine encoding the extracellular domain of FLK1 could be an important component of FLK1 DNA vaccine to prevent lung carcinoma recurrence and metastasis after surgery.

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• Detection of cytokeratin 19, human mammaglobin, and carcinoembryonic antigen-positive circulating tumor cells by three-marker reverse transcription-PCR assay and its relation to clinical outcome in early breast cancer.

  Authors: Yan Chen, Tian Ning Zou, Zhi Ping Wu, Yong Chun Zhou, Yu Lan Gu, Xin Liu, Cong Guo Jin, Xi Cai Wang

  The International journal of biological markers. 25(2):59-68.

  To investigate the diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic value of the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) using a three-marker (CK19, hMAM and CEA) RT-PCR assay in patients with early breastTo investigate the diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic value of the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) using a three-marker (CK19, hMAM and CEA) RT-PCR assay in patients with early breast cancer. Peripheral blood was obtained from 50 patients with early-stage breast cancer before any systemic adjuvant therapy and analyzed for the presence of CK-19, hMAM and CEA mRNA-positive CTCs using an RT-PCR assay. The specificity of the primers used was evaluated in 20 healthy individuals, 24 patients with benign breast disease, and 30 patients with metastatic breast cancer. The detection of CTCs was correlated with clinical outcome. The detection rate of three-marker-positive CTCs in the blood of patients with early breast cancer was 54.0%, significantly higher than in patients with benign breast disease and healthy blood donors (p=0.002 and p=0.000, respectively). The three-marker RT-PCR assay had 58.8% sensitivity in the parallel test and 100% specificity for CTC detection in the serial test, which was higher than the sensitivity and specificity of single-marker assays. For early breast cancer, correlation analysis between detection of three-marker-positive CTCs and clinicopathological characteristics indicated that detection of threemarker-positive CTCs was significantly correlated with elevated serum CEA levels (p=0.001). After three years of follow-up, 13 of the 27 patients with three-marker-positive CTCs in their blood had relapsed and detection of three-marker-positive CTCs was significantly associated with locoregional recurrence and/or distant metastasis (p=0.002). Detection of three-marker-positive CTCs in peripheral blood was an independent risk factor for reduced median relapse-free interval (p=0.000). The three-marker RT-PCR assay can enhance the sensitivity and specificity of CTC detection compared to singlemarker assay. Detection of three-marker-positive CTCs was associated with relapse and might have important predictive and prognostic implications in early breast cancer.