Journal of Science and Applications: Biomedicine

10-17

Authors: Xiaoshuang Yan and Zhonghai Yan

St14 is a type II transmembrane serine protease that contains a cytoplasm N-terminal domain, a stem domain, and a serine protease catalytic domain. It is primarily synthesized as an inactive zymogen and co-expressed with the cognate inhibitor hepatocyte growth factor inhibitor (HAI) in epithelial cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that it plays critical roles in pre-implant embryonic compaction, placental development, as well as epidermal barrier formation after activation. The homologous ablation of St14 in mouse underlies the neonatal death at 48h for severe deficiency of the epidermal barrier. It has also been considered as a prognostic marker of epithelial cancers as it is involved in cancer metastasis and invasion in multiple ways by activating several kinds of substrates, such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), urokinase-type Plasminogen activator (uPA). Notably, the strict regulation of St14 by HAIs is found to play a profound role in all of these activities. However, very little is currently understood about the mechanisms that downregulate St14 gene expression in early neonatal mortality. Herein we summarize the current knowledge of the regulation network and the understanding of the biological functions of St14.

30-33

Authors: Hong-bo Ma and Liping Li

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease with symptoms of hypothyroidism including psychosis, weight gain, heat and cold sensitivity etc. Some risk factors such as certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen (CTLA) polymorphisms or certain infections are related to this disease. There are some reports claiming soy food could interfere with thyroid function. In this study, we found a case that soy milk might be a possible cause of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis by collecting relevant history and laboratory data from patient. The literature reviews provide supportive proof for this claim. It is concluded that the soy milk might be an etiology of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis which can be especially alarming for Asian people who favor drinking soy milk instead of milk.