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Abstract Background Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an iron overload disorder and can be caused by variants in non-HFE genes in Chinese patients. However, there is still a considerable proportion of patients suffering from unexplained iron overload. In our previous study, we had identified the p.R269Q variant in exon 4 of the Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) gene in Chinese patients with unexplained primary iron overload by Whole Exome sequencing, and then the BMP4 p.H251Y variant was identified by Sanger sequencing in a Chinese patient with secondary iron overload. Our study aimed to explore the pathogenicity and underlying mechanism of BMP4 p.H251Y and BMP4 p.R269Q variants in patients with iron overload. Methods Sanger sequencing was conducted to identify the novel variants in the BMP4 gene of patients with unexplained iron overload. MRI and liver biopsy were used to display iron overload in the liver of the patient harboring the BMP4 p.H251Y variant. The BMP4 and hepcidin levels in BMP4 knockdown and BMP4 variant cells were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effects of BMP4 p.H251Y and BMP4 p.R269Q variants on the hepcidin-regulation pathway were studied. Results One of 54 HH patients (1.85%) harbored the BMP4 p.R269Q variant. One of 148 patients (0.68%) with secondary hemochromatosis harbored the BMP4 p.H251Y variant, and these two variants were not found in 100 Chinese general population. For the patient harboring the BMP4 p.H251Y variant, abdominal MRI and Perl's staining of liver tissue displayed iron overload in the liver. Cells transfected with the BMP4 p.H251Y and p.R269Q variants showed down-regulation of hepcidin level and BMP/SMAD pathway compared with cells transfected with the wild-type BMP4 vector. Conclusion The BMP4 p.H251Y and p.R269Q variants can downregulate hepcidin levels by inhibiting the BMP/SMAD axis, suggesting they may play pathogenic roles in iron overload.

Background & Aims: The association between Wilson disease and various ATP7B mutations is well-established; however, the molecular mechanism underlying the functional consequence of these mutations, particularly the splicing mutations, remains unclear. This study focused on the ATP7B c.1543+1G>C variant, to reveal a universal pathogenic mechanism of the ATP7B mutants with altered N-terminus. Methods: The splicing assay and RNA pull-down were performed to explore the mechanism of the aberrant splicing. The ATP7B knockout HuH-7 cell line and Atp7b-/- mice were created, and the functional consequence of the mutant ATP7B were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Results: The c.1543+1G>C mutation resulted in the skipping of ATP7B exon 3, and the mutant ATP7B showed a loss of trans-Golgi network localization and was degraded via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, facilitated by enhanced interactions with COMMD1. Elevated intercellular copper concentration and reduced survival rate were observed in HuH-7 cells expressing mutant ATP7B. Restoration of wild-type ATP7B in Atp7b-/- mice resulted in a substantial improvement in phenotype, whereas mice treated with mutant ATP7B did not demonstrate equivalent benefits. Conclusions: Our research investigated the pathogenicity and mechanism of ATP7B c.1543+1G>C variant, with particular focus on its enhanced interaction with COMMD1 as a potential universal mechanism contributing to the dysfunction of various ATP7B variants. These findings provide a foundation for the development of innovative therapeutic strategies that target abnormal splicing events in a range of hereditary diseases, including Wilson disease.

Abstract Background The epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT), featured by abatement of cell–cell contact, is related to exacerbating non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by inducing metastasis. MAL and relevant proteins for vesicle trafficking and membrane link domain 3 (MARVELD3) is a novel tight junction protein participated in the EMT. There is limited information available about the mechanism of MARVELD3 in NSCLC. In this trial, the inhibition effect of MARVELD3 on human NSCLC cells will be discussed. Methods MARVELD3 expression was measured in NSCLC tissues and para‐carcinoma tissues. The expression of MARVELD3 and EMT‐related genes were examined in transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1‐induced NSCLC cells. NSCLC cells with MARVELD3‐knockdown and overexpressed were established to analyze the relationship between MARVELD3 and EMT and cell migration. The Wnt/β‐catenin pathway expression was also analyzed in NSCLC cell models and clinic species. Results Lower protein levels of MARVELD3 were observed in NSCLC samples than para‐carcinoma specimens, and the decreased expression of MARVELD3 in NSCLC specimens was associated with tumor metastasis. E‐Cadherin and MARVELD3 expression was reduced in TGF‐β1 treated NSCLC cells, whereas increased Vimentin expression was detected. MARVELD3 changed the EMT‐related genes and induced cell migration. In addition, Wnt/β‐catenin pathway and target genes, MYC and CCND1, expressions were inhibited in MARVELD3 overexpressed NSCLC cells. Conclusions TGF‐β1 induced EMT in human NSCLC cells can be suppressed by MARVELD3 through Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. These results indicate that MARVELD3 might be a potential therapeutic modality useful in the treatment of NSCLC.

Abstract Backgrounds Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is mainly caused by homozygous p.C282Y mutations in HFE in the Caucasians. We recently reported non-HFE mutations constitute the major cause of HH in Chinese. However, there is still a relatively high proportion of cases with primary iron overload from unexplained causes. We aimed to explore novel non-HFE mutations in Chinese patients with primary iron overload. Methods Whole exome sequence was conducted to screen mutations in novel HH-related genes in the 9 cases with unexplained primary iron overload. Then the representative candidate genes were screened for mutations in another cohort of 18 HH cases. The biological function of the selected genes and variants were analyzed in vitro. Results Whole exome sequencing of 9 cases with unexplained primary iron overload identified 42 missense variants in 40 genes associated with iron metabolism pathway genes such as UBE2O p.K689R and PCSK7 p.R711W. Subsequent Sanger sequencing of the UBE2O and PCSK7 genes in the 27 cases with primary iron overload identified p.K689R in UBE2O, p.R711W and p.V143F in PCSK7 at frequency of 2/27,1/27 and 2/27 respectively. In vitro siRNA interference of UBE2O and PCSK7 resulted in down-regulated HAMP mRNA expression. Adenovirus generation of UBE2O p.K689R in cell lines resulted in increased expression of SMAD6 and SMAD7 and downregulation of p-SMAD1/5 and HAMP expression, and the reduction of hepcidin level. Conclusions Our study identified a series of novel candidate non-HFE mutations in Chinese patients with HH. These may provide insights into the genetic basis of unexplained primary iron overload.

BackgroundEarly diagnosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is critical for effective treatment and optimal prognosis; however, less study on serum biomarkers for the early ESCC detection has been reported. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate several serum autoantibody biomarkers in early ESCC.MethodsWe initially screened candidate tumor-associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) associated with ESCC by serological proteome analysis (SERPA) combined with nanoliter-liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS), and the TAAbs were further subjected to analysis by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a clinical cohort (386 participants, including 161 patients with ESCC, 49 patients with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia [HGIN] and 176 healthy controls [HC]). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic performance.ResultsThe serum levels of CETN2 and POFUT1 autoantibodies which were identified by SERPA were statistically different between ESCC or HGIN patients and HC in ELISA analysis with the area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.709 (95%CI: 0.654-0.764) and 0.741 (95%CI: 0.689-0.793), 0.717 (95%CI: 0.634-0.800) and 0.703 (95%CI: 0.627-0.779) for detection of ESCC and HGIN, respectively. Combining these two markers, the AUCs were 0.781 (95%CI: 0.733-0.829), 0.754 (95%CI: 0.694-0.814) and 0.756 (95%CI: 0.686-0.827) when distinguishing ESCC, early ESCC and HGIN from HC, respectively. Meanwhile, the expression of CETN2 and POFUT1 was found to be correlated with ESCC progression.ConclusionsOur data suggest that CETN2 and POFUT1 autoantibodies have potential diagnostic value for ESCC and HGIN, which may provide novel insights for early ESCC and precancerous lesions detection.

Abstract Background Early‐stage lung adenocarcinoma that radiologically manifests as part‐solid nodules, consisting of both ground‐glass and solid components, has distinctive growth patterns and prognosis. The characteristics of the tumour microenvironment and transcriptional features of the malignant cells of different radiological phenotypes remain poorly understood. Methods Twelve treatment‐naive patients with radiological part‐solid nodules were enrolled. After frozen pathology was confirmed as lung adenocarcinoma, two regions (ground‐glass and solid) from each of the 12 part‐solid nodules and 5 normal lung tissues from 5 of the12 patients were subjected to single‐cell sequencing by 10x Genomics. We used Seurat v3.1.5 for data integration and analysis. Results We comprehensively dissected the multicellular ecosystem of the ground‐glass and solid components of part‐solid nodules at the single‐cell resolution. In tumours, these components had comparable proportions of malignant cells. However, the angiogenesis, epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition, KRAS, p53, and cell‐cycle signalling pathways were significantly up‐regulated in malignant cells within solid components compared to those within ground‐glass components. For the tumour microenvironment, the relative abundance of myeloid and NK cells tended to be higher in solid components than in ground‐glass components. Slight subtype composition differences existed between the ground‐glass and solid components. The T/NK cell subsets’ cytotoxic function and the macrophages’ pro‐inflammation function were suppressed in solid components. Moreover, pericytes in solid components had a stronger communication related to angiogenesis promotion with endothelial cells and tumour cells. Conclusion The cellular landscape of ground‐glass components is significantly different from that of normal tissue and similar to that of solid components. However, transcriptional differences exist in the vital signalling pathways of malignant and immune cells within these components.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new proof of real interpolations for martingale Hardy-Orlicz-Lorentz spaces. Different from the usual proof, our approach does not rely on any atomic decompositions. Instead, we establish the result via new Holmstedt's formulae in martingale Hardy-Orlicz type spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionWith the depletion of wild Astragali Radix (WA) resources, imitated-wild Astragali Radix (IWA) and cultivated Astragali Radix (CA) have become the main products of Astragali Radix. However, the quality differences of three growth patterns (WA, IWA, CA) and different growth years of Astragali Radix have not been fully characterized, leading to a lack of necessary scientific evidence for their use as substitutes for WA.MethodsWe innovatively proposed a multidimensional evaluation method that encompassed traits, microstructure, cell wall components, saccharides, and pharmacodynamic compounds, to comprehensively explain the quality variances among different growth patterns and years of Astragali Radix.Results and discussionOur study showed that the quality of IWA and WA was comparatively similar, including evaluation indicators such as apparent color, sectional structure and odor, thickness of phellem, diameter and number of vessels, morphology of phloem and xylem, and the levels and ratios of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, sucrose, starch, water-soluble polysaccharides, total-saponins. However, the content of sucrose, starch and sorbose in CA was significantly higher than WA, and the diameter and number of vessels, total-flavonoids content were lower than WA, indicating significant quality differences between CA and WA. Hence, we suggest that IWA should be used as a substitute for WA instead of CA. As for the planting years of IWA, our results indicated that IWA aged 1-32 years could be divided into three stages according to their quality change: rapid growth period (1-5 years), stable growth period (6-20 years), and elderly growth period (25-32 years). Among these, 6-20 years old IWA exhibited consistent multidimensional comparative results, showcasing elevated levels of key active components such as water-soluble polysaccharides, flavonoids, and saponins. Considering both the quality and cultivation expenses of IWA, we recommend a cultivation duration of 6-8 years for growers. In conclusion, we established a novel multidimensional evaluation method to systematically characterize the quality of Astragali Radix, and provided a new scientific perspective for the artificial cultivation and quality assurance of Astragali Radix.