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Background: Glutamine is crucial for the activation and efficacy of T cells, and may play a role in regulating the immune environment. This study aimed to investigate the potential role of glutamine in the activation and proliferation of induced regulatory T cells (iTregs). Methods: CD4+CD45RA1T cells were sorted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and cultured to analyze iTreg differentiation. Glutamine was then added to the culture system to evaluate the effects of glutamine on iTregs by determining oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), apoptosis, and cytokine secretion. Additionally, a humanized murine graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) model was constructed to confirm the efficacy of glutaminetreated iTregs in vivo. Results: After being cultured in vitro, glutamine significantly enhanced the levels of Foxp3, CTLA-4, CD39, CD69, IL-10, TGF-ß, and Ki67 (CTLA-4, IL-10, TGF-ß are immunosuppressive markers of iTregs) compared with that of the control iTregs (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the growth curve showed that the proliferative ability of glutaminetreated iTregs was better than that of the control iTregs (P < 0.01). Compared with the control iTregs, glutamine supplementation significantly increased oxygen consumption rates and ATP production (P < 0.05), significantly downregulated Annexin V and Caspase 3, and upregulated BCL2 (P < 0.05). However, GPNA significantly reversed the effects of glutamine (P < 0.05). Finally, a xeno-GVHD mouse model was successfully established to confirm that glutamine-treated iTregs increased the mice survival rate, delayed weight loss, and alleviated colon injury. Conclusion: Glutamine supplementation can improve the activity and immunosuppressive action of iTregs, and the possible mechanisms by which this occurs are related to cell proliferation, apoptosis, and OXPHOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyacrylic acid/sodium alginate-based titanium dioxide (PAA/SA@TiO2) composite hydrogel has the good nitrogen removal properties in the nitrogen-containing wastewaters. Under the optimal adsorption conditions, which include pH 7, temperature 35°C, adsorbent dosage 6 g/L, adsorption equilibrium time 70 min, the adsorption efficiency is 85.56%, 79.46%, and 67.63% when the initial ammonia nitrogen concentrations of 100, 200, and 300 mg/L, respectively, indicating that the hydrogel has good adsorption performance for ammonia nitrogen. The adsorption process conforms to the monolayer adsorption of the Langmuir model, and the adsorption kinetic process belongs to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model of chemical adsorption. The structure of PAA/SA@TiO2 composite hydrogel is stable. The thermogravimetric analysis revealed that its main chain of the composite hydrogel began to break and degrade only at 446°C with thermally decomposed hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. At 800°C, the thermal loss rate was 48%. After 5 cycles of adsorption regeneration, the adsorption efficiency only drops by about 10%. The research results showed that PAA/ SA@TiO2 composite hydrogel had great application prospects in the field of nitrogen-containing wastewater treatment, which provided the theoretical basis and operating parameters for the hydrogel applying in the nitrogen-containing wastewaters treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation (UCS) is a common variant of bladder cancer for which treatment outcomes with novel agents are largely unknown. In this retrospective analysis comparing 40 patients with UCS and 120 patients with pure UC, we found inferior outcomes for UCS patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors or Enfortumab vedotin. This highlights an important unmet clinical need that should be addressed with further studies. Introduction: Urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation (UCS) is associated with increased resistance to chemotherapy, but outcomes associated with newer therapies approved in this space over the last 5 to 10 years are less well defined. We investigated clinical outcomes and molecular profiling of patients with UCS treated with an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) and/or Enfortumab vedotin (EV). Patients and Methods: We undertook a retrospective analysis of UC patients treated with ICI and/or EV. Objective response rate (ORR), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between pure UC (pUC) and UCS using X 2 and log-rank tests, respectively. Prevalence of the most commonly detected somatic alterations were also compared between the 2 histologic subgroups. Results: A total of 160 patients (40 UCS, 120 pUC) were identified for this analysis. Among 151 patients treated with ICI (38 UCS, 113 pUC), UCS patients had a shorter mPFS (1.9 vs. 4.8 months, P < 0.01) and mOS (9.2 vs. 20.7 months, P < 0.01) compared to pUC. Among 37 patients treated with EV (12 UCS, 25 pUC), UCS patients had a lower ORR (17% vs. 70%, P < 0.01) and shorter mPFS (3.4 vs. 15.8 months, P < 0.01). UCS samples were enriched for CDKN2A, CDKN2B, PIK3CA, while pUC samples were enriched for ERBB2 alterations. Conclusion: In this single-center retrospective analysis, patients with UCS had a distinct somatic genomic profile relative to patients with pUC. Patients with UCS also had inferior outcomes to ICIs and EV compared to patients with pUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pr imary ur inary neuroendocr ine neoplasms (U-NENs) are extremely rare thus optimal treatment is unknown. Grading and treatment are typically extrapolated from other primary sites. Since 2010, the clinical landscape for NENs has changed substantially. We performed a retrospective review of U-NENs to assess treatment patterns and oncologic outcomes of patients treated in the recent era of NEN therapy. Patients and Methods: A multicenter retrospective review of patients diagnosed after 2005 and alive after 2010. Time to treatment failure (TTF) was used to evaluate progression and toxicity for systemic therapy. Tumors were categorized as having either well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor (WDNET) or poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (PDNEC) histology. Results: A total of 134 patients from 6 centers were included in our analysis, including 94 (70%) bladder, 32 (24%) kidney, 2 (1.5%) urethra and 4 other ur inary pr imar ies (3.0%). Poor ly-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma was more common in bladder (92%) than non-bladder tumors (8%). Median Ki-67 available in bladder primary was 90% (n = 24), kidney 10% (n = 23), ureter 95% (n = 1), urethra 54% (n = 2), and others 90% (n = 3). Patients received a median of 2 therapies (range 0-10). Median time to death was not reached in locoregional WDNETs versus 8.2 years (95% CI, 3.5-noncalculable) in metastatic WDNETs (predominantly renal primary). Median time to death was 3.6 years (95% CI, 2.2-9.2) in locoregional PDNECs versus 1 year (95% CI, 0.8-1.3) in metastatic PDNECs (predominantly bladder primary). Conclusion: This is the most extensive series examining treatment patterns in patients with U-NENs in the recent era of NEN therapy. The apparent inferior survival for bladder NENs is likely due to the preponderance of PDNECs in this group. As predicted, treatments for U-NENs mirrored that of other more common NENs. In our retrospective cohort, we observed that patients with WD-UNETs treated with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) and everolimus suggested potential activity for disease control in WD-UNETs. Prospective studies are needed to assess the activity of new oncology drugs in UNENs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]