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Evaluating the health of river surface water is essential, as rivers support significant biological resources and serve as vital drinking water sources. While the Water Quality Index (WQI) is commonly employed to evaluate surface water quality, it fails to consider biodiversity and does not fully capture the ecological health of rivers. Here we show a comprehensive assessment of the ecological health of surface water in the lower Yangtze River (LYR), integrating chemical and biological metrics. According to traditional WQI metrics, the LYR's surface water generally meets China's Class II standards. However, it also contains 43 high-risk emerging contaminants; nitrobenzenes are found at the highest concentrations, representing 25–90% of total detections, while polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present the most substantial environmental risks, accounting for 81–93% of the total risk quotient. Notably, the plankton-based index of biological integrity (P-IBI) rates the ecological health of the majority of LYR water samples (59.7%) as ‘fair’, with significantly better health observed in autumn compared to other seasons (p

The biological detoxification of lignocellulose hydrolysate is an effective method through which to enhance microbial fermentation efficiency. In this study, an inhibitor-tolerant strain of A. niger (Aspergillus niger) was used for the biological detoxification of corncob hydrolysate. The results showed that A. niger M13 can tolerate a concentration of at least 7.50 ± 0.19 g/L of acetic acid, 1.81 ± 0.13 g/L of furfural, and 1.02 ± 0.10 g/L of HMF (5-Hydroxymethylfurfural). The spores had a higher detoxification efficiency than the mycelial pellets with a detoxification rate of 0.1566 g/L/h, 0.1125 g/L/h, and 0.015 g/L/h for acetic acid, furfural, and HMF, respectively. The cell preferentially consumed furfural, then HMF, before simultaneously degrading acetic acid and glucose. A. niger M13 spores could accumulate small amounts of citric acid directly from undetoxified hydrolysate at a concentration of about 6 g/L. Therefore, A. niger M13 can serve as an excellent biological detoxification strain and a potential citric acid fermenting strain when using undetoxified lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

Abstract As a highly prevalent disease among women worldwide, breast cancer remains in urgent need of further elucidation its molecular mechanisms to improve the patient outcomes. Identifying hub genes involved in the pathogenesis and progression of breast cancer can potentially help to unveil mechanism and also provide novel diagnostic and prognostic markers. In this study, we integrated multiple bioinformatic methods and RNA in situ detection technology to identify and validate hub genes. EZH2 was recognized as a key gene by PPI network analysis. CENPL, ISG20L2, LSM4, MRPL3 were identified as four novel hub genes through the WGCNA analysis and literate search. Among these, many studies on EZH2 in breast cancer have been reported, but no studies are related to the roles of CENPL, ISG20L2, MRPL3 and LSM4 in breast cancer. These four novel hub genes were up-regulated in tumor tissues and associated with cancer progression. The receiver operating characteristic analysis and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that these four hub genes are promising candidate genes that can serve as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for breast cancer. Moreover, these four newly identified hub genes as aberrant molecules in the maintenance of breast cancer development, their exact functional mechanisms deserve further in-depth study.

Halonitromethanes (HNMs) as one typical class of nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (DBPs) have been widely found in drinking water and are receiving more and more attentions because of their high cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and developmental toxicity. However, the effects of HNMs exposure on the intestinal tract and intestinal flora remain unknown. This study comprehensively determined the effects of trichloronitromethane, bromonitromethane, and bromochloronitromethane exposure on the intestinal tract and intestinal flora. Results showed that the three HNMs induced intestinal oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Further, HNMs exposure could change the diversities and community structure of intestinal flora, thereby triggering intestinal flora dysbiosis, which might be associated with the intestinal damage such as oxidative stress and inflammation. The intestinal flora dysbiosis was accompanied with mark alterations in function of intestinal flora, such as carbohydrate, lipid, and amino acid metabolisms. This research provides a new insight into studying the toxicity of HNMs exposure based on intestinal flora, which will further improve the health risk assessment of DBPs in drinking water.

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant solid tumor with an extremely low survival rate after relapse. Previous investigations have shown that autophagy possesses a crucial function in tumors. However, there is no consensus on the value of autophagy-associated genes in predicting the prognosis of CRC patients. This work screens autophagy-related markers and signaling pathways that may participate in the development of CRC, and establishes a prognostic model of CRC based on autophagy-associated genes.MethodsGene transcripts from the TCGA database and autophagy-associated gene data from the GeneCards database were used to obtain expression levels of autophagy-associated genes, followed by Wilcox tests to screen for autophagy-related differentially expressed genes. Then, 11 key autophagy-associated genes were identified through univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis and used to establish prognostic models. Additionally, immunohistochemical and CRC cell line data were used to evaluate the results of our three autophagy-associated genes EPHB2, NOL3, and SNAI1 in TCGA. Based on the multivariate Cox analysis, risk scores were calculated and used to classify samples into high-risk and low-risk groups. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, risk profiling, and independent prognosis analysis were carried out. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to estimate the specificity and sensitivity of the prognostic model. Finally, GSEA, GO, and KEGG analysis were performed to identify the relevant signaling pathways.ResultsA total of 301 autophagy-related genes were differentially expressed in CRC. The areas under the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year receiver operating characteristic curves of the autophagy-based prognostic model for CRC were 0.764, 0.751, and 0.729, respectively. GSEA analysis of the model showed significant enrichment in several tumor-relevant pathways and cellular protective biological processes. The expression of EPHB2, IL-13, MAP2, RPN2, and TRAF5 was correlated with microsatellite instability (MSI), while the expression of IL-13, RPN2, and TRAF5 was related to tumor mutation burden (TMB). GO analysis showed that the 11 target autophagy genes were chiefly enriched in mRNA processing, RNA splicing, and regulation of the mRNA metabolic process. KEGG analysis showed enrichment mainly in spliceosomes. We constructed a prognostic risk assessment model based on 11 autophagy-related genes in CRC.ConclusionA prognostic risk assessment model based on 11 autophagy-associated genes was constructed in CRC. The new model suggests directions and ideas for evaluating prognosis and provides guidance to choose better treatment strategies for CRC.

Abstract Background Recent observations revealed Foxp3 participated in the development of cervical cancer. Furthermore, Foxp3 has a vital function in the lymphatic metastasis of cervical cancer. However, it is unclear whether Foxp3 is correlated with lymphangiogenesis of cervical cancer. Methods In this experiment, expression of Foxp3 and VEGF-C was detected in 50 cervical cancer samples by immunohistochemistry. In addition, we evaluated the association between Foxp3 and VEGF-C expression and lymphangiogenesis of cervical cancer evaluated by lymphatic vessel density. Results These data demonstrate Foxp3 is positively correlated with VEGF-C expression. Furthermore, Foxp3 is associated with lymphangiogenesis of cervical cancer. Conclusions These results revealed Foxp3 play an important role in lymphangiogenesis of cervical cancer. Trial registration Gunagdong Medical University, PJ2013049

The article discusses a study of the effects of the tetracycline derivative, minocycline, on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The researchers injected minocycline into the CIRI rat model developed using the suture method. After the treatment, they found a reduction in the volume of cerebral infarction, an increase in the number of surviving cell in the hippocampal CA1 region, and a down-regulation of the expression of caspase-3 and polymerase-1 protein.

The article presents a study that determines the role of Chloride channel blocker 4,4- diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid in the inhibition of nitric-oxide-induced apoptosis in the hippocampal neurons of cultured rats. The study is undertaken through the use of nitric oxide donor 3-morpholinosydnonimine and the treatment of cells with chloride channel blocker. The results of the study show that the survival rate of neurons has significantly increased.

The article presents a study that deals with the effects of the broad-spectrum calcium channel blocker CdCl2 on survival rate, percentage of apoptosis, and morphological changes in hippocampal neurons cultured in vitro. It cites the role of the chloride channel blockers 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid in increasing the survival rate of 3-morpholin osydnonimine-treated neurons and suppressed SIN-1-induced neuronal apoptosis. Based on results, the authors downplay the role of calcium channels in affecting neuronal apoptosis.

The article focuses on a study which investigated the effects of chloride channel blockers namely 4-acetamido-4'isothiocyanafostibene-2, 2'-disulfonic acid (SITS) and 4, 4'-disothiocyanostilbene-2, 2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS), on the hippocampal neuronal apoptosis induced by 3-morpholinosydronimine (SIN-1). The study uses the nitric oxide toxicity theory of neuronal apoptosis after ischemic brain injury. Results revealed that chloride channel blockers can be used against neuronal injury induced by nitric oxide.