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Cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) is a heterogeneous disease with different prognoses. Researches on prognostic biomarkers and therapy targets of CN-AML are still ongoing. Instead of protein-coding genes, more and more researches were focused on the non-coding RNAs especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) which may play an important role in the development of AML. Although a large number of lncRNAs have been found, our knowledge of their functions and pathological process is still in its infancy. The purpose of this research is to identify the key lncRNAs and explore their functions in CN-AML by reconstructing the lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA network based on the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) theory. We reconstructed a global triple network based on the ceRNA theory using the data from National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus and published literature. According to the topological algorithm, we identified the key lncRNAs which had both the higher node degrees and the higher numbers of lncRNA–miRNA pairs and total pairs in the ceRNA network. Meanwhile, Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway analysis were performed using databases such as DAVID, KOBAS and Cytoscape plug-in ClueGO respectively. The lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA network was composed of 90 lncRNAs,33mRNAs,26 miRNAs and 259 edges in the lncRNA upregulated group, and 18 lncRNAs,11 mRNAs,6 miRNAs and 45 edges in the lncRNA downregulated group. The functional assay showed that 53 pathways and 108 GO terms were enriched. Three lncRNAs (XIST, TUG1, GABPB1-AS1) could possibly be selected as key lncRNAs which may play an important role in the development of CN-AML. Particularly, GABPB1-AS1 was highly expressed in CN-AML by both bioinformatic analysis and experimental verification in AML cell line (THP-1) with quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. In addition, GABPB1-AS1 was also negatively correlated with overall survival of AML patients. The lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA network revealed key lncRNAs and their functions in CN-AML. Particularly, lncRNA GABPB1-AS1 was firstly proposed in AML. We believe that GABPB1-AS1 is expected to become a candidate prognostic biomarker or a potential therapeutic target.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) have high morbidity, reduce quality of life, and can cause death. Biomarkers or genetic risk factors have not been identified in patients with DVT. In present study, serum of 61 patients suffering from DVT and a rat DVT model (n = 10) were assayed by a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) metabolomics technique combing with multivariate statistical analysis to identify the metabolites. The MetPA platform was used to identify differences in the metabolic pathways between the rat model and patients. The metabolomics results discovered that 11 different metabolites in rats and 20 different metabolites in DVT patients. Seven metabolites both altered in the rats and patients. Moreover, we observed changes in the metabolic pathways, including carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism that were induced immediately by the thrombosis. Pathway of aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis perturbed only in the patients which was associated with the genetic risk factor of DVT. The study demonstrated that serum 1H NMR metabolomics can be used to diagnose DVT in the clinic. The altered pathways related to thrombosis and genetics will provide a foundation and new strategies for understanding the pathological mechanism and pharmacological targets of DVT.

The methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has been initiated in Wuhan, China since early 2006. To understand the social-demographic, behavioral, and infectious diseases characteristics of drug users enrolled in their first-ever-MMT between 2006 and 2015, a retrospective observational study was implemented to also provide evidence for health policy-decisions to reduce harm and control disease. Pearson chi-square tests and t-tests were used to assess significant differences between two 5-year periods, 2006–2010 and 2011–2015. We observed increases in the mean age (38.65 vs. 42.43 years, P

The earliest unambiguous evidence for animals is represented by various trace fossils in the latest Ediacaran Period (550–541 Ma), suggesting that the earliest animals lived on or even penetrated into the seafloor. Yet, the O2 fugacity at the sediment-water interface (SWI) for the earliest animal proliferation is poorly defined. The preferential colonization of seafloor as a first step in animal evolution is also unusual. In order to understand the environmental background, we employed a new proxy, carbonate associated ferrous iron (Fecarb), to quantify the seafloor oxygenation. Fecarb of the latest Ediacaran Shibantan limestone in South China, which yields abundant animal traces, ranges from 2.27 to 85.43 ppm, corresponding to the seafloor O2 fugacity of 162 μmol/L to 297 μmol/L. These values are significantly higher than the oxygen saturation in seawater at the contemporary atmospheric pO2 levels. The highly oxygenated seafloor might be attributed to O2 production of the microbial mats. Despite the moderate atmospheric pO2 level, microbial mats possibly provided highly oxygenated niches for the evolution of benthic metazoans. Our model suggests that the O2 barrier could be locally overcome in the mat ground, questioning the long-held belief that atmospheric oxygenation was the key control of animal evolution.

Pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) are thought to play crucial roles in perception of the sex pheromones particularly in noctuid moths, but this is rarely in vivo evidenced due to lacking an effective technique. Here, we reported an in vivo functional study of PBP1 in the important lepidopteran pest Helicoverpa armigera (HarmPBP1), by using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Efficient and heritable mutagenesis was achieved by egg injection of mixture of Cas9-mRNA and HarmPBP1-sgRNA. The TA cloning and sequencing revealed various insertion and/or deletion (indel) mutations at the target site. Among those, one mutation resulted in a premature stop codon at the target site, which led to a highly truncated protein with only 10 amino acids. The HarmPBP1 with this mutation would completely loss its function, and thus was used to select the homozygous mutant insects for functional analysis. The electroantennogram recording showed that the mutant male adults displayed severely impaired responses to all three sex pheromone components (Z11-16:Ald, Z9-16:Ald and Z9-14:Ald). Our study provides the first in vivo evidence that HarmPBP1 plays important role in perception of female sex pheromones, and also an effective methodology for using CRISPR/Cas9 system in functional genetic study in H. armigera as well as other insects.

Paper, as one of the most important information carriers, has contributed to the development and transmission of human civilization greatly. Meanwhile, a serious problem of environmental sustainable development caused by the production and utilization of paper has been resulted to modern society. Therefore, a simple and green route is urgently demanded to realize rewritable painting on paper. Herein, a simple route to rewritable painting on copy paper has been demonstrated by using eco-friendly ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) as fluorescent ink, and vinegar and soda that are frequently used in kitchen as erasing and neutralizing agents. Words or patterns written using the ZnO NPs as ink can be erased by vinegar vapour within five seconds, and after a neutralizing process in the ambient of soda vapour, the paper can be used for writing again. It is worth noting that the resolution and precision of the patterns produced via the above route degrade little after ten rewriting cycles, and the quality of the patterns produced using the ZnO NPs as ink fades little after being storage for several months, which promises the versatile potential applications of the rewriting route proposed in this paper. ispartof: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS vol:7 ispartof: location:England status: published

Sexual communication in moths offers a simplified scenario to model and investigate insect sensory perception. Both PBPs (pheromone-binding proteins) and PRs (pheromone receptors) are involved in the detection of sex pheromones, but the interplay between them still remains largely unknown. In this study, we have measured the binding affinities of the four recombinant PBPs of Chilo suppressalis (CsupPBPs) to pheromone components and analogs and characterized the six PRs using the Xenopus oocytes expression system. Interestingly, when the responses of PRs were recorded in the presence of PBPs, we measured in several combinations a dramatic increase in signals as well as in sensitivity of such combined systems. Furthermore, the discrimination ability of appropriate combinations of PRs and PBPs was improved compared with the performance of PBPs or PRs alone. Besides further supporting a role of PBPs in the pheromone detection and discrimination, our data shows for the first time that appropriate combinations of PRs and PBPs improved the discrimination ability of PBPs or PRs alone. The variety of responses measured with different pairing of PBPs and PRs indicates the complexity of the olfaction system, which, even for the relatively simple task of detecting sex pheromones, utilises a highly sophisticated combinatorial approach.

Male moths efficiently recognize conspecific sex pheromones thanks to their highly accurate and specific olfactory system. The Heliothis/Helicoverpa species are regarded as good models for studying the perception of sex pheromones. In this study, we performed a series of experiments to investigate the peripheral mechanisms of pheromone coding in two-closely related species, Helicoverpa armigera and H. assulta. The morphology and distribution patterns of sensilla trichoidea are similar between the two species when observed at the scanning electron microscope, but their performances are different. In H. armigera, three functional types of sensilla trichoidea (A, B and C) were found to respond to different pheromone components, while in H. assulta only two types of such sensilla (A and C) could be detected. The response profiles of all types of sensilla trichoidea in the two species well matched the specificities of the pheromone receptors (PRs) expressed in the same sensilla, as measured in voltage-clamp experiments. The expressions of PRs in neighboring olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) within the same trichoid sensillum were further confirmed by in situ hybridization. Our results show how the same pheromone components can code for different messages at the periphery of two Helicoverpa species.

Differences in sex pheromone component can lead to reproductive isolation. The sibling noctuid species, Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa assulta, share the same two sex pheromone components, Z9-16:Ald and Z11-16:Ald, but in opposite ratios, providing an typical example of such reproductive isolation. To investigate how the ratios of the pheromone components are differently regulated in the two species, we sequenced cDNA libraries from the pheromone glands of H. armigera and H. assulta. After assembly and annotation, we identified 108 and 93 transcripts putatively involved in pheromone biosynthesis, transport and degradation in H. armigera and H. assulta, respectively. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR, qRT-PCR, phylogenetic and mRNA abundance analyses suggested that some of these transcripts involved in the sex pheromone biosynthesis pathways perform. Based on these results, we postulate that the regulation of desaturases, KPSE and LPAQ, might be key factor regulating the opposite component ratios in the two sibling moths. In addition, our study has yielded large-scale sequence information for further studies and can be used to identify potential targets for the bio-control of these species by disrupting their sexual communication.

The chemoreception role of moth ovipositor has long been suggested, but its molecular mechanism is mostly unknown. By transcriptomic analysis of the female ovipositor-pheromone glands (OV-PG) of Chilo suppressalis, we obtained 31 putative chemoreception genes (9 OBPs, 10 CSPs, 2 ORs, 1 SNMP, 8 CXEs and 1 AOX), in addition to 32 genes related to sex pheromone biosynthesis (1 FAS, 6 Dess, 10 FARs, 2 ACOs, 1 ACC, 4 FATPs, 3 ACBPs and 5 ELOs). Tissue expression profiles further revealed that CsupCSP2 and CsupCSP10 were OV-PG biased, while most chemoreception genes were highly and preferably expressed in antennae. This suggests that OV-PG employs mostly the same chemoreception proteins as in antennae, although the physiological roles of these proteins might be different in OV-PG. Of the 32 pheromone biosynthesis related genes, CsupDes4, CsupDes5 and CsupFAR2 are strongly OV-PG biased, and clustered with functionally validated genes from other moths, strongly indicating their involvement in specific step of the pheromone biosynthesis. Our study for the first time identified a large number of putative chemoreception genes, and provided an important basis for exploring the chemoreception mechanisms of OV-PG in C. suppressalis, as well as other moth species.