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Gastric cancer is the fifth most common malignancy and the third most deadly tumor in the world. Zinc finger protein 479 (ZNF479) has been demonstrated to play crucial roles in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the function of ZNF479 in gastric cancer remains to be clarified. The current study aimed to investigate the role of ZNF479 in gastric cancer progression and elucidate the potential molecular mechanism. In this study, Cell Count Kit‐8 and colony formation assays demonstrated that knockdown of ZNF479 inhibited cell proliferation in AGS and SGC‐7901 cells. Of note, knockdown of ZNF479 hinders tumor growth of xenograft tumor mice. What is more, knockdown of ZNF479 inhibited glucose uptake, lactate production, adenosine triphosphate level, and extracellular acidification ratio; increased oxygen consumption ratio in gastric cancer cells; and decreased the expression of glycolytic proteins both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, analysis mechanism suggests that ZNF479 participated in the regulation of gastric cancer progression through affecting the β‐catenin/c‐Myc signaling pathway. Collectively, ZNF479 plays a role as an oncogene through modulating β‐catenin/c‐Myc signaling pathway in the development of gastric cancer, which provides a new research target for future studies.

For rare-earth separation, selective crystallization into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offers new opportunities. Especially important is the development of MOF platforms with high selectivity toward target ions. Here we report a MOF platform (CPM-66) with low-coordination-number environment for rare-earth ions. This platform is highly responsive to the size variation of rare-earth ions and shows exceptional ion-size selectivity during crystallization. CPM-66 family are based on M3 O trimers (M=6-coordinated Sc, In, Er-Lu) that are rare for lanthanides. We show that the size matching between urea-type solvents and metal ions is crucial for their successful synthesis. We further show that CPM-66 enables a dramatic multi-fold increase in separation efficiency over CPM-29 with 7-coordinated ions. This work provides some insights into methods to prepare low-coordinate MOFs from large ions and such MOFs could serve as high-efficiency platforms for lanthanide separation, as well as other applications.

Object counting in aquaculture is an important task, and has been widely applied on fish population estimation, lobster abundance estimation, and scallop stock, etc. However, underwater object counting is challenging for biologists and marine scientists, because of the diversity of background of the lake or ocean, the uncertainty of the object motion, and the occlusion between objects. With the rapid development of sensor, computer vision and acoustic technologies, advanced and efficient counting methods are available in aquaculture. We reviewed underwater object counting methods in aquaculture, provided a survey including more than 50 papers in the recent 10 years, and analyzed the pros and cons of the counting methods and the applicable scenarios of those methods. Finally, the major challenges and future trends of underwater object counting in aquaculture are discussed.

A metal-free synthesis of trisubstituted trans-oxazolines using enamides and sulfoxonium ylides was developed in this study. A [4+1] cyclization reaction was realized by the formation of C-C and C-O bonds under mild conditions, wherein the reaction was catalyzed by HClO4. This strategy produced trans-oxazolines in good yields with considerable diastereoselective control and is sufficient for large-scale synthesis.

Isolated ventricular apical hypoplasia (IVAH) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly, with clinical manifestations depending on the age of the patient, ranging from no symptoms in children to congestive heart failure or even malignant tachycardia in adults. Herein, we describe the clinical and anatomical findings in four cases with hypoplasia of the right or left ventricular apex, and we discuss the possible mechanisms and differential diagnosis of this malformation. Echocardiography is a rapidly accessible, low cost, noninvasive technique for the detection and evaluation of IVAH.

Objectives Embryonic numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities are the most common cause of early pregnancy loss. However, the role of submicroscopic copy-number variations (CNVs) in early pregnancy loss is unclear, and little is known about the critical regions and candidate genes for miscarriage, because of the large size of structural chromosomal abnormalities. The aim of this study was to identify potential miscarriage-associated submicroscopic CNVs and critical regions of large CNVs as well as candidate genes for miscarriage. Methods Over a 5-year period, 5180 fresh miscarriage specimens were investigated using quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction/CNV sequencing or chromosomal microarray analysis. Statistically significant submicroscopic CNVs were identified by comparing the frequency of recurrent submicroscopic CNVs between cases and a published control cohort. Furthermore, genes within critical regions of miscarriage-associated CNVs were prioritized by integrating the Residual Variation Intolerance Score and the human gene expression dataset for identification of potential miscarriage candidate genes. Results Results without significant maternal-cell contamination were obtained in 5003 of the 5180 (96.6%) cases. Clinically significant chromosomal abnormalities were identified in 59.1% (2955/5003) of these cases. Three recurrent submicroscopic CNVs (microdeletions in 22q11.21, 2q37.3 and 9p24.3p24.2) were significantly more frequent in miscarriage cases, and were considered to be associated with miscarriage. Moreover, 44 critical regions of large CNVs were observed, including 14 deletions and 30 duplications. There were 309 genes identified as potential miscarriage candidate genes through gene-prioritization analysis. Conclusions We identified potential miscarriage candidate CNVs and genes. These data demonstrate the importance of CNVs in the etiology of miscarriage and highlight the importance of ongoing analysis of CNVs in the study of miscarriage. Copyright © 2019 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Background The thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) target volume for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been controversial for decades. In this report, the final results of a prospective randomized trial on the TRT target volume before and after induction chemotherapy are presented. Methods After 2 cycles of etoposide and cisplatin, patients arm were randomized to receive TRT to the postchemotherapy or prechemotherapy tumor volume in a study arm and a control arm. Involved-field radiotherapy was received in both arms. TRT consisted of 1.5 grays (Gy) twice daily in 30 fractions to up to a total dose of 45 Gy. Lymph node regions were contoured, and intentional and incidental radiation doses were recorded. Results The study was halted early because of slow accrual. Between 2002 and 2017, 159 and 150 patients were randomized to the study arm or the control arm, respectively; and 21.4% and 19.1% of patients, respectively, were staged using positron emission tomography/computed tomography (P = .31). With a median follow-up of 54.1 months (range, 19.9-165.0 months) in survivors, the 3-year local/regional progression-free probability was 58.2% and 65.5% in the study and control arms, respectively (P = .44), and the absolute difference was -7.3% (95% CI, -18.2%, 3.7%). In the study and control arms, the median overall survival was 21.9 months and 26.6 months, respectively, and the 5-year overall survival rate was 22.8% and 28.1%, respectively (P = .26). Grade 3 esophagitis was observed in 5.9% of patients in the study arm versus 15.5% of those in the control arm (P = .01). The isolated out-of-field failure rate was 2.6% in the study arm versus 4.1% in the control arm (P = .46), and all such failures were located in the supraclavicular fossa or contralateral hilum. The regions 7, 3P, 4L, 6, 4R, 5, and 2L received incidental radiation doses >30 Gy. Conclusions TRT could be limited to the postchemotherapy tumor volume, and involved-field radiotherapy could be routinely applied for limited-stage SCLC.

The creation of new cluster building blocks, as well as new ligand coordination modes, are among the most effective ways to develop new framework materials. Yet, large and chiral clusters are both difficult to create and relatively few. Here, by studying the competing coordination of different azolates against carboxylate and combined carboxylate/phenolate, it is shown that the impact of azolates in the MOF-74 synthesis system differs dramatically, leading to the synthesis of MOF-74, UTSA-74, and CPM-72 for 2-methylimidazole, 1,2,4-triazole, and 1,2,3-triazole, respectively. The new CPM-72 contains a novel chiral Zn12 triazolate cluster, which features a trigonal-prismatic Zn6 core inside an octahedral Zn6 shell. In contrast with MOF-74 with fully deprotonated and symmetrically bonded 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalic acid (H4 DOBDC), H4 DOBDC adopts an unusual nonsymmetric bonding mode in CPM-72 (carboxylate only at one end and carboxylate/phenolate at the other), resulting in a highly porous and intrinsically chiral 3D framework. The nonsymmetric bonding mode by H4 DOBDC, apparently dictated by the chiral Zn12 cluster, can be replicated with 2-hydroxyterephthalic acid (H3 OBDC), leading to the synthesis of porous isoreticular CPM-73.

Trigger factor (TF) is a key component of prokaryotic chaperone network, which is involved various basic cellular processes such as nascent peptide folding, protein trafficking, ribosome assembly. To better understanding the physiological roles of TF, global transcriptome profiles of a variety of TF deletion mutant strains of Escherichia coli were determined. We found that deletion of the tig gene, encoding TF, led to a dramatic alteration of transcriptome profile, not only affecting the gene expression of members of the chaperone network, but also changing the levels of quite a few RNAs related to metabolism and other cellular processes. Further studies showed that this alteration was only partially recovered by knockin of TF domain-deletion mutants into the endogenous tig locus, indicating that structural integrity is crucial for the biological function of TF. Finally, by combining the transcriptome and phenotype results, a physiological mechanism underlying the impact of TF deletion on the transcriptome profile was proposed. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 141-153, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Nonfunctional pituitary adenoma (NFPA) is highly heterogeneous with different hormone-expressed subtypes in NFPA tissues including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) positive, luteinizing hormone-positive, FSH/luteinizing hormone-positive, and negative types. To analyze in-depth the variations in the proteomes among different NFPA subtypes for our long-term goal to clarify molecular mechanisms of NFPA and to detect tumor biomarker for personalized medicine practice, a reference map of proteome of a human FSH-expressed NFPA tissue was described here. 2DE and PDQuest image analysis were used to array each protein. MALDI-TOF PMF and human Swiss-Prot databases with MASCOT search were used to identify each protein. A good 2DE pattern with high level of between-gel reproducibility was attained with an average positional deviation 1.98 ± 0.75 mm in the IEF direction and 1.62 ± 0.68 mm in the SDS-PAGE direction. Approximately 1200 protein spots were 2DE-detected and 192 redundant proteins that were contained in 141 protein spots were PMF-identified, representing 107 nonredundant proteins. Those proteins were located in cytoplasm, nucleus, plasma membrane, extracellular space, and so on, and those functioned in transmembrane receptor, ion channel, transcription/translation regulator, transporter, enzyme, phosphatase, kinase, and so on. Several important pathway networks were characterized from those identified proteins with DAVID and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis systems, including gluconeogenesis and glycolysis, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, cell-cycle alteration, MAPKsignaling system, immune response, TP53-signaling, VEGF-signaling, and inflammation signaling pathways. Those resulting data contribute to a functional profile of the proteome of a human FSH-positive NFPA tissue, and will serve as a reference for the heterogeneity analysis of NFPA proteomes.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common disease in the southern provinces of China with a poor prognosis. To better understand the pathogenesis of NPC and identify proteins involved in NPC carcinogenesis, we applied iTRAQ coupled with two-dimensional LC-MS/MS to compare the proteome profiles of NPC tissues and the adjacent non-tumor tissues. We identified 54 proteins with differential expression in NPC and the adjacent non-tumor tissues. The differentially expressed proteins were further determined by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. In addition, the up-regulation of HSPB1, NPM1 and NCL were determined by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarray. Functionally, we found that siRNA mediated knockdown of NPM1 inhibited the migration and invasion of human NPC CNE1 cell line. In summary, this is the first study on proteome analysis of NPC tissues using an iTRAQ method, and we identified many new differentially expressed proteins which are potential targets for the diagnosis and therapy of NPC.

Background and objective Recent genome-wide association studies have established that single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CHRNA3-CHRNA5-CHRNB4 genes are susceptibility loci for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. However, further effort is still required to reveal their genetic contribution to COPD, considering the existence of ‘missing heritability’, which may be mediated by variants that are of a low frequency or rare. Here we aimed to identify genetic variants in the coding regions of the CHRNA3-CHRNA5-CHRNB4 genes and determine their associations with COPD risk in Chinese. Methods We directly sequenced the coding regions of the CHRNA3-CHRNA5-CHRNB4 genes in 160 Chinese subjects, and then genotyped the missense or synonymous variants that have previously been reported to be associated with COPD risk in a two-stage case–control study involving 1013 COPD cases and 1030 controls of southern Chinese. Results We found nine variants, three of which were missense variations (Ser140Gly, His462Gln and Asp398Asn), while two were synonymous variants (Tyr215Tyr and Val53Val). The variants Ser140Gly, Tyr215Tyr and Asp398Asn were significantly associated with COPD risk. By combining these variants, the number of risk genotypes significantly increased the risk for COPD in a dose-dependent manner (Ptrend = 5.00 × 10−4). The risk genotype number was also significantly correlated with several lung function parameters, including forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1% predicted, FEV1/forced vital capacity ratio and peak expiratory flow. Conclusions The present study identified a novel exon variant Ser140Gly, and two previously reported variants Tyr215Tyr and Asp398Asn are significantly associated with COPD risk in Chinese. These variants may be genetic biomarkers for predicting COPD risk in Chinese. Validation in other ethnicities is warranted.

Levo-tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP), a main bioactive Chinese herbal constituent from the genera Stephania and Corydalis, has been in use in clinical practice for years in China as a traditional analgesic agent. However, the mechanism underlying the analgesic action of l-THP is poorly understood. This study shows that l-THP can exert an inhibitory effect on the functional activity of native acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), which are believed to mediate pain caused by extracellular acidification. l-THP dose dependently decreased the amplitude of proton-gated currents mediated by ASICs in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. l-THP shifted the proton concentration–response curve downward, with a decrease of 40.93% ± 8.45% in the maximum current response to protons, with no significant change in the pH0.5 value. Moreover, l-THP can alter the membrane excitability of rat DRG neurons to acid stimuli. It significantly decreased the number of action potentials and the amplitude of the depolarization induced by an extracellular pH drop. Finally, peripherally administered l-THP inhibited the nociceptive response to intraplantar injection of acetic acid in rats. These results indicate that l-THP can inhibit the functional activity of ASICs in dissociated primary sensory neurons and relieve acidosis-evoked pain in vivo, which for the first time provides a novel peripheral mechanism underlying the analgesic action of l-THP. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A new dihydroagarofuran-based sesquiterpene, microjaponin (1), was isolated from the stem of Microtropis japonica. Its structure was determined by in-depth spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric analyses. Microjaponin (1) exhibited potent in vitro antituberculosis activity, with an MIC value of 12.5 μg/ml against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37 Rv.

Gardenia fruits contain valuable natural food colorants including crocins (gardenia yellow) and geniposide. In this study, a process for the enrichment of crocins and geniposide simultaneously from gardenia fruits was developed using macroporous resin and RP chromatography. The performance of eight different types of macroporous resins was evaluated. Static absorption/desorption experiments revealed that LX60 possessed optimal separating capacity. Further dynamic absorption/desorption experiments on LX60 columns were conducted to obtain the optimal parameters. After one run treatment with LX60, the content of crocin-1 in gardenia yellow reached 29.6%, while geniposide in another fraction reached 83.4%. An extract of crocins was obtained from gardenia yellow in a second-stage separation using RP medium-pressure LC, with its color value to be 756 and the content of crocin-1 reaching 60.8%. The separation process was highly efficient, low cost, and compact, which may be informative for purifications of other natural products from complex plant extracts.