Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-84). Also available online.

published_or_final_version / Biochemistry / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the major type of liver cancer. In Hong Kong, thousands of deaths are related to this disease every year. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the major risk factors of HCC development. The high prevalence of HBV carriers in Southeast Asia including Hong Kong can account for the particularly high HCC cases in these areas. HCC is often asymptomatic. The diagnosis and treatment are often delayed which lead to inapplicable of surgical resection. Meanwhile, conventional treatment regimes such as systemic chemotherapy were found to have limited responses. Hence, the case mortality rate of HCC is the second highest among all the cancers. Granulin-epithelin Precursor (GEP) is a glycoprotein growth factor which regulates multiple cellular functions. Our group has demonstrated that GEP is over-expressed in more than 70% of HCC cases and GEP expression is positively correlated to tumor malignancy. Our group has also verified that suppression of GEP by monoclonal antibody leads to significant inhibition of HCC growth and reduction of malignancy. Therefore, GEP has the potential to be a novel therapeutic target of HCC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that regulate mRNA translation. Previous studies showed that miRNA dys- regulation is closely associated with HCC progression and the high stability of miRNAs allows them to be cancer biomarkers or therapeutic targets. This project aims to investigate the miRNAs that regulate GEP and their functions in HCC. Potential GEP-regulating miRNAs were identified by literature review and in silico prediction by bioinformatics tools. MiR-615-5p, miR-588, miR-29b, miR-195, and miR-659 were identified as the potential candidates. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was utilized to examine the miRNAs’ expressions in HCC clinical samples. Only miR-29b and miR-195 were detected and hence they were selected for further study. Our results showed that miR-29b and miR-195 expression levels were significantly decreased in HCC comparing to adjacent non‐tumor tissue (P<0.001) in more than 70% of cases. MiR‐195 and miR‐29b were over‐expressed in Hep3B HCC cell lines by miRNA mimics and GEP protein level was significantly suppressed after miR-29b mimic transfection. The transcript level of GEP was found to be unchanged after the miR‐29b over-expression. This suggests miR‐29b does not regulate GEP protein expression by mRNA degradation. The effects of miR‐195 and miR‐29b on HCC proliferation were also examined. The growths of HCC cells were suppressed notably after over-expression of miR‐195 (P<0.005) and miR‐29b (P<0.005) respectively. In conclusion, miR‐195 and miR‐29b are frequently down-regulated in HCC. MiR‐29b can negatively regulate GEP expression and does not interfere with GEP mRNA level. Furthermore, miR‐195 and miR-29b can function to inhibit HCC cell growth significantly. / published_or_final_version / Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1997. / "May 1997" Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (l. 117-131). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [42]-50).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

1.1\xMagnetic nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes ranging from 2 to 20 nm in diameter represent an important class of artificial nanostructured materials, since the NP size is comparable to the size of a magnetic domain. They have potential applications in data storage, catalysis, permanent magnetic nanocomposites, and biomedicine.;1.2\xTo begin with, a brief overview on the background of Fe-based bimetallic NPs and their applications for data-storage and catalysis was presented in Chapter 1.;1.3\xIn Chapter 2, L10-ordered FePt NPs with high coercivity were directly prepared from a novel bimetallic acetylenic alternating copolymer P3 by a one-step pyrolysis method without post-thermal annealing. The chemical ordering, morphology and magnetic properties were studied. Magnetic measurements showed that a record coercivity of 3.6 T (1 T = 10 kOe) was obtained in FePt NPs. By comparison of the resultant FePt NPs synthesized under Ar and Ar/H2, the characterization proved that the incorporation of H2 would affect the nucleation and promote the growth of FePt NPs. The L10 FePt NPs were also successfully patterned on Si substrate by nanoimprinting lihthography (NIL). The highly ordered ferromagnetic arrays on a desired substrate for bit-patterned media (BPM) were studied and promised bright prospects for the progress of data-storage.;1.4\xFuthermore, we also reported a new FePt-containing metallopolymer P4 as the single-source precursor for metal alloy NPs synthesis, where the metal fractions were on the side chain and the ratio could be easily controlled. This polymer was synthesized from random copolymer poly(styrene-4-ethynylstyrene) PES-PS and bimetallic precursor TPy-FePt ([Pt(4-ferrocenyl-(NN̂N̂))Cl]Cl) by Sonogashira coupling reaction. After pyrolysis of P4, the stoichiometry of Fe and Pt atoms in the synthesized NPs (NPs) is nearly close to 1:1, which is more precise than using TPy-FePt as precursor. Polymer P4 was also more favorable for patterning by high throughout NIL as compared to TPy-FePt. Ferromagnetic nanolines, potentially as bit-patterned magnetic recording media, were successfully fabricated from P4 and fully characterized.;1.6\xBesides, a bimetallic complex TPy-FePd-2 was prepared and used as a single-source precursor to synthesize ferromagnetic FePd NPs by one-pot pyrolysis. The resultant FePd NPs have a mean size of 19.8 nm and show the coercivity of 1.02 kOe. In addition, the functional group (-NCMe) in TPy-FePd-2 was easily substituted by a pyridyl group. A random copolymer PS-P4VP was used to coordinate with TPy-FePd-2, and the as-synthesized polymer made the metal fraction disperse evenly along the flexible chain. Fabrication of FePd NPs from the polymers was also investigated, and the size could be easily controlled by tuning the metal fraction in polymer. FePd NPs with the mean size of 10.9, 14.2 and 17.9 nm were prepared from the metallopolymer with 5 wt%, 10 wt% and 20wt% of metal fractions, respectively.;1.7\xIn Chapter 4, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) monolayers decorated with ferromagnetic FeCo NPs on the edges were synthesized through a one-step pyrolysis of precursor molecules in an argon atmosphere. The FeCo precursor was spin coated on the MoS2 monolayer grown on Si/SiO2 substrate. Highly-ordered body-centered cubic (bcc) FeCo NPs were revealed under optimized pyrolysis conditions, possessing coercivity up to 1000 Oe at room temperature. The FeCo NPs were well-positioned along the edge sites of MoS2 monolayers. The vibration modes of Mo and S atoms were confined after FeCo NPs decoration, as characterized by Raman shift spectroscopy. These MoS2 monolayers decorated with ferromagnetic FeCo NPs can be used for novel catalytic materials with magnetic recycling capabilities. The sizes of NPs grown on MoS2 monolayers are more uniform than from other preparation routines. Finally, the optimized pyrolysis temperature and conditions provide receipts for decorating related noble catalytic materials.;1.8\xFinally, Chapters 5 and 6 present the concluding remarks and the experimental details of the work described in Chapters 2-4.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2009. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves : 117-131). Also available on the Internet.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.