Objectives. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one key step for the invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Up until now, the underlying mechanism of EMT in CRC is still unpromising. Thus, it is essential to have a better understanding of its carcinogenesis. The transfer RNA-derived small fragments (tsRNAs) are a new group of small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs), including tRNA-derived stress-induced RNAs (tiRNAs) and tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs), which have been observed to play an important role in many cancers. However, the relationship between tRFs and EMT in CRC is still unknown. Herein, we aimed to investigate the involvement of tRFs in EMT and its contribution to CRC development. Methods. We identified the differentially expressed tsRNAs in colorectal cancer cell line HT29 treated with TGF-β compared with control cells by using high-throughput sequencing and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). QRT-PCR was conducted to validate the differentially expressed fragments in 68 CRC tumor samples (22 women and 46 men) and adjacent nontumor samples. The association of the expression of tRFs with CRC metastasis and clinical stage was analyzed. Meanwhile, the correlation between tRF expression and overall survival (OS) was also analyzed. TargetScan and miRanda and multiple bioinformatic approaches were used to predict the possible target genes of tsRNAs and analyze possible functions of the tRFs. Results. A series of differentially expressed tsRNAs were identified in TGF-β-treated HT29 cells compared with control cells. tRF-phe-GAA-031 and tRF-VAL-TCA-002 were found to be significantly upregulated in CRC tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues. They were significantly correlated with distant metastasis and clinical stage. We compared the differences between tumor samples and nontumor tissues from the ROC curves. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was up to 0.7554 (95% confidence interval: 0.6739 to 0.8369, ) for tRF-Phe-GAA-031 and up to 0.7313 (95% confidence interval: 0.6474 to 0.8151, ) for tRF-VAL-TCA-002. For OS analysis, higher tRF-phe-GAA-031 and tRF-VAL-TCA-002 expressions were associated with shorter survival for CRC patients. Conclusion. A series of differentially expressed tsRNAs are identified in the EMT process of CRC. And tRF-phe-GAA-031 and tRF-VAL-TCA-002 are higher expressed in CRC tissues, and they might play an important role in the metastasis of CRC. Meanwhile, they may be potential biomarkers and intervention targets in the clinical treatment of CRC.

Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a highly lethal vascular disease. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are newly discovered as a regulator of protein genes and play critical roles in cardiovascular physio‐pathological processes. However, there were a few studies looking at lncRNAs in TAA. In this study, we profiled differential expression of lncRNAs between TAA (TAA group, N = 6) and normal thoracic aorta (control group, n = 6) by third‐generation lncRNA microarray. We identified 1352 up‐regulated and 1624 down‐regulated lncRNAs with differential expression (log fold‐change > 2.0, p < 0.01). Through nearby protein‐coding gene associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) metabolism and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis, 12 up‐regulated and 9 down‐regulated lncRNAs were selected for further analysis. By calculating phastCons score of base, we identified 8 candidate lncRNAs (4 up‐regulated and 4 down‐regulated) with high conservation across species. By tissue specificity analysis, we found that 5 lncRNAs (HIF1A‐AS1, RP11‐465L10.10, LOC100506472, CTD‐2184D3.5 and RP‐399O19.5) were highly expressed in aortic tissues, suggested that they may be closely associated with TAA. Among them, 2 lncRNAs (RP11‐465L10.10 and CTD‐2184D3.5) with higher specificity in aorta (p < 0.01) were analyzed by bioinformatics. Further catRAPID analysis revealed a strong RNA‐protein interaction between RP11‐465L10.10 and myeloid zinc finger gene 1 (MZF1), a transcription factor of MMP9. However, no intense RNA‐protein interactions were observed between CTD‐2184D3.5 and transcript factors of MAPK6. In conclusions, our study showed differential expression profiles of lncRNAs in TAA and revealed the interaction between certain lncRNAs and coding genes. These data provides insights into new biomarker and therapeutic targets for TAA.

Primary mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) in the gastrointestinal tract is rare, accounting for 4‑9% of all reported cases of gastrointestinal non‑Hodgkin lymphoma. Furthermore, involvement of the entire gastrointestinal tract in MCL is rare. The present report describes an example of MCL characterized by numerous diffuse polypoid lesions along the whole digestive tract. In particular, there was a focus on the endoscopic presentation of the digestive tract. The patient initially received a treatment regimen of rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone. After two cycles of treatment, the regimen was changed to rituximab combined with etoposide, oxaliplatin and ifosfamide, with the addition of ibrutinib capsules. Patients with MCL have a poor prognosis; however, complete response can be achieved after treatment.

Bile duct polyps are difficult to diagnose and are usually excised by open abdominal surgery or snare polypectomy using choledochoscopy via the T-tube sinus tract. However, these two resection methods require the surgeon to open the abdomen and cut the bile duct to place the “T” tube. Moreover, simple snare polypectomy, without submucosal injection, can only remove pedunculated polyps and not flat polyps. Therefore, a new method is required for the excision of bile duct polyps, including flat polyps. A 63-year-old woman was hospitalized following epigastric pain lasting a month. She had a 30-year history of cholelithiasis and had undergone cholecystectomy because of cholecystolithiasis, and had undergone cholangiolithotomy twice due to choledocholithiasis. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging showed a communication between the bile duct and duodenal bulb. Inside the communication, CT showed a high-density shadow which was a hypointense lesion in T2 weighted image. The lesion showed no enhancement in T1 weighted image contrast enhanced. Gastroscopy revealed an incarcerated bile duct stone in the anterior wall of the duodenal bulb, which was removed with a basket under gastroscopy. Thereafter, a choledochoduodenal fistula was revealed. Finally, a flat polyp was detected in the lower part of the common bile duct and was removed by endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) through the fistula. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of the removal of a bile duct polyp using EMR. EMR is a safe, effective, and low-cost method for the resection of all bile duct polyps.