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Qin Liu,1 Hexian Shi,2 Jianbo Yang,3 Ning Jiang4 1Department of Gastroenterology, Weihai Municipal Hospital, Weihai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Heze Municipal Hospital, Heze, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Oral Medicine, Weihai Stomatological Hospital, Weihai, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of General Surgery, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Jinan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ning JiangDepartment of General Surgery, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, No. 11 Wuyingshan Middle Road, Jinan 250031, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 137 9318 5067Email opgfyc6919030163@126.comBackground and aim: Long non-coding RNA nuclear-enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) is abnormally expressed in various human malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Let-7b is a miRNA with the effect of a tumor suppressor gene, and its expression level in various tumor tissues is lower than that in normal tissues. Studies have found that IGF-1R can be abnormally activated in the process of hepatocyte deterioration, and the expression level of IGF-1R in HCC is significantly up-regulated. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional mechanism of NEAT1/let-7b-IGF-1R axis in HCC.Methods: The expressions of NEAT1 and microRNA (miR)-let-7b in HCC tissues and cell lines were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The effect of NEAT1 on tumor growth was observed in a mice model of transplanted hepatoma. The effects of down-regulation or up-regulation of NEAT1 expression in HCC cell lines were analysed from the perspectives of cell viability and apoptosis. The binding sites of NEAT1 and miR-let-7b were predicted by biological software. The expression of the miR-let-7b target molecules IGF-1R was detected by Western blotting.Results: The results showed that the expressions of NEAT1 were significantly increased, while the expressions of miR-let-7b were decreased in the HCC tissues and cell lines. Additionally, it was found that the expressions of NEAT1 and miR-let-7b showed a negative correlation in HCC tissues. The mouse model experiments confirmed that the interference with NEAT1 expression inhibited the tumor growth. Meanwhile, the cell viability of HepG2/Huh7 cell lines was significantly decreased via the downregulation of NEAT1, whereas the corresponding rates of apoptosis were significantly increased. It was further proven that there was a certain negative regulatory mechanism between NEAT1 and miR-1et-7b, which was related to the expression of IGF-1R.Conclusion: The over-expression of NEAT1 could promote the proliferation of HCC cells by inhibiting the expression of the miR-let-7b regulated by IGF-1R.Keywords: long non-coding RNA NEAT1, microRNA-let-7b, hepatocellular carcinoma, IGF-1R, transplanted hepatoma mice model

Yingxin Wang,1,* Penglong Cao,1,* Mohammed Alshwmi,1 Nan Jiang,2 Zhen Xiao,3 Fengquan Jiang,1 Juebin Gu,1 Xiaonan Wang,1 Xiaoye Sun,1 Shijun Li11Clinical Laboratory, The First Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, The First Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gynecology, The First Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Shijun LiClinical Laboratory, The First Hospital of Dalian Medical University, 222 Zhongshan Road, Xigang District, Dalian 116011, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 411 8611 0497Email lishijun@dmu.edu.cn*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Increasing evidence suggests that glutathione peroxidase 2 (GPX2) plays important roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of various human cancers, such as colorectal carcinomas and lung adenocarcinomas. However, the role of GPX2 in cervical cancer is unclear. In this study, we identified the role of GPX2 in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines.Materials and methods: The basal mRNA and protein expression of GPX2 in cervical cancer cells and a series of key molecules in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and WNT/β-catenin pathways were examined via real time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot assays. The biological phenotype of the cervical cancer cell lines was detected by the cloning formation and transwell assays, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were detected by flow cytometry. Finally, the GPX2 expression level in 100 clinical cervical tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry.Results: We found that GPX2 was highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues compared to normal individuals and promoted the proliferation and metastasis of cervical cancer cells, and this promotion correlated with the activation of EMT and WNT/β-catenin signaling in vitro. GPX2 was determined to reduce apoptotic damage by reducing hydroperoxides. According to the characteristics and verification of GPX2, this series of phenotypes is clearly related to oxidative stress in cells. Furthermore, we verified that GPX2 was highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues and promoted the metastasis of cervical cancer.Conclusion: In summary, we found that GPX2 was highly expressed in cervical cancer cells and promoted the proliferation and metastasis of cervical cancer by affecting oxidative stress. Our study provides a new target for the clinical treatment of cervical cancer.Keywords: GPX2, reactive oxygen species, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, metastasis

A new highly virulent swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS‐CoV) emerged in Guangdong province in 2017 followed by fatal diarrhoea that involved the death of 24,693 piglets. And yet from May 2017 to January 2019, there were no new SADS cases arising in pig herds in Guangdong. In this study, we reported the recent diarrhoea outbreak of SADS‐CoV in Southern China on February 2019. Intestinal samples collected from diarrhoeal piglets were detected for common swine virus and confirmed that SADS‐CoV was responsible for the diarrhoea case. Meanwhile, serological investigation of sows’ sera implied that SADS‐CoV has existed in the farm and PEDV antibody may not directly contribute to the amplification of SADS‐CoV. Homology and phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome showed that the re‐emerging SADS‐CoV strain shared high sequence identities with existing SADS‐CoV strains and all strains clustered together in Alpha coronavirus. All in all, the report herein emphasized the re‐emerging of SADS‐CoV and highlights continuous monitoring for this virus.

Li Zhou,1 Zhe-Zhi Deng,2 Hai-Yan Li,2 Nan Jiang,3 Zhi-Sheng Wei,4 Ming-Fan Hong,4 Ji-Hui Wang,2 Ming-Xing Zhang,1 Yi-Hua Shi,1 Zheng-Qi Lu,1,2 Xu-Ming Huang1 1Department of Rehabilitation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510080, China; 2Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510000, China; 3Department of Hepatic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510000, China; 4Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510080, China Introduction: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignancies of gastrointestinal tract in the world, and the long-term prognosis for ESCC patients still remains dismal due to the lack of effective early diagnosis biomarkers. Materials and methods: Western blot and immunochemistry were used to determine the expression of PRR11 in 201 clinicopathologically characterized ESCC specimens. The effects of PRR11 on stem cell-like traits and tumorigenicity were examined by tumor sphere formation assay and SP assays in vitro and by a tumorigenesis model in vivo. The mechanism by which PRR11 mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling was explored using luciferase reporter, immunochemistry, and real time-PCR (RT-PCR) assays. Results: We found that PRR11 was markedly upregulated, at the level of both transcription and translation, in ESCC cell lines as compared with normal esophageal epithelial cells (NECCs). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that 69.2% paraffin-embedded archival ESCC specimens exhibited high levels of PRR11 expression, and multivariate analysis revealed that PRR11 upregulation might be an independent prognostic indicator for the survival of patients with ESCC. Furthermore, overexpression of PRR11 dramatically enhanced, whereas inhibition of PRR11 reduced the capability of cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotypes and tumorigenicity of ESCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, we demonstrated PRR11-enhanced tumorigenicity of ESCC cells via activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and PRR11 expression is found to be significantly correlated with β-catenin nuclear location in ESCC. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the PRR11 might represent a novel and valuable prognostic marker for ESCC progression and play a role during the development and progression of this malignancy. Keywords: PRR11, CSC-like phenotypes, tumorigenesis, Wnt/β-catenin, ESCC

Li Zhou,1 Zhe-Zhi Deng,2 Hai-Yan Li,2 Nan Jiang,3 Zhi-Sheng Wei,4 Ming-Fan Hong,4 Xiao-Dang Chen,2 Ji-Hui Wang,2 Ming-Xing Zhang,1 Yi-Hua Shi,1 Zheng-Qi Lu,1,2 Xu-Ming Huang1 1Department of Rehabilitation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510080, China; 2Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510000, China; 3Department of Hepatic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510000, China; 4Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Clinical Medicine of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510080, China Background: Glioma is the most lethal primary brain tumor, the survival rate still isn’t improved in the past decades. It’s essential to study the regulatory mechanism of glioma progression, hoping to find new therapy targets or methods. The family of tripartite motif (TRIM) containing proteins are E3 ubiquitination ligases, which play critical role in various tumor progression. Methods: Cell proliferation and invasion were analyzed by colony formation assay, soft agar growth assay, BrdU incorporation assay and transwell invasion assay. Luciferase reporter analysis was used to analyze NF-κB pathway activity. Results: We found TRIM31 was upregulated in glioma cells and tissues, its overexpression significantly promoted glioma cell proliferation and invasion, while its knockdown significantly inhibited glioma cell proliferation and invasion. Mechanism analysis found TRIM31 promoted NF-κB pathway activity and increased its targets expression. NF-κB inhibition reversed the phenotype caused by TRIM31, confirming TRIM31 promoted glioma progression through activating NF-κB pathway. Using clinical specimens found TRIM31 expression was positively correlative with NF-κB activity. Conclusion: This study found TRIM31 promoted glioma proliferation and invasion through activating NF-κB activity. Keywords: TRIM31, glioma, NF-κB, proliferation, invasion

Aim: This study evaluates the effect of an integrated supportive programme on xerostomia and saliva characteristics at a one-year follow-up of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiotherapy (RT).Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to an intervention group (n=47) or a control group (n=45). The intervention group received usual care and an integrated supportive programme, which included three steps: face-to-face education; face-to-face coaching at one-month post RT; and four telephone coaching sessions at 2-, 3-, 6-, and 9-months post RT. The face-to-face education consisted of oral hygiene instruction, oral self-care strategies, facial and tongue muscle exercises, and salivary gland massage. Adherence to the intervention was evaluated using a questionnaire completed during the nine-month follow-up. The control group received usual care. The unstimulated saliva flow rate, saliva pH, buffering capacity, and xerostomia were assessed in both groups.Results: A total of 79 participants (40 in the intervention group and 39 in the control group) completed the 12-month follow-up. There were statistically significant differences between the groups in level of xerostomia at the 3- and 12-month follow-up (P=0.027 and PP=0.035), with better outcome in the intervention group. The adherence of the intervention was good but decreased slightly during the follow-up. Conclusion: This integrated supportive programme with good adherence relieved xerostomia and had a positive effect on unstimulated saliva flow rate among patients with HNC during the 12-month follow-up.

In this study, sodium lignosulfonate (LS) was used as raw material, acrylamide (AM) and acryloyloxye thyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (DAC) as monomers, and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as cross-linking agent, the potassium persulfate (KPS)/tetramethylethyl enediamine (TEMED) as oxidation/ reduction initiation system. Synthesis of a functional biomass terpolymer lignin-based hydrogel adsorbent (LAD) with excellent adsorption properties by free radical graft copolymerization. The structure and properties of the prepared LAD were characterized by FT-IR and SEM, and the relationship between structure and properties was studied. The effects of solution pH, adsorption time, hydrogel dosage, initial concentration of dye and temperature on the adsorption of AR 73 by LAD were investigated. LAD adsorbed AR 73 solution with initial concentration of 100mg/L for 2h to reach equilibrium, with equilibrium adsorption capacity and adsorption rate of 47.59mg/g and 95.18%, respectively. The prepared LAD hydrogel has good swelling and deswelling properties, the swelling ratio of water absorption for 2h was 25g/g, and the water loss rate of 120 min in ethanol solvent was 93.51%. The adsorption of AR 73 by LAD was consistent with the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model. It was single-molecule adsorption with a maximum adsorption capacity of 409.84mg/g. The adsorption was a process of spontaneous heat release and entropy reduction.The adsorption kinetics was in accordance with Pseudo-second-order kinetic equation, and the adsorption activation energy was 2.501 kJ/moL. In addition, the mechanism of adsorption is mainly electrostatic, and there are also comprehensive effects of physical, chemical adsorption and hydrogen bond.The LAD hydrogel adsorbent has a significant adsorption effect on AR 73, and can be used as an efficient and recyclable biomass adsorbent for the treatment of anionic dye wastewater.

This article explores the approaches of identity construction used by Chinese daughters while negotiating the successor–leader role within family businesses. A qualitative interpretivist approach was adopted to understand daughter views on gender, family business leadership and succession, as well as the approaches adopted to negotiate the role of female successor/leader in the Chinese family business. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with both actual and potential female successors. Three approaches of identity construction emerged based on the degree of conformity to traditional gender roles and Confucian family values: first, to abide by conventional gender expectations and perceive themselves as a temporary leader; second, to act as the ‘second leader’ and remain involved in decision making and third, to challenge conventional gender roles and strive to be an independent leader. This article contributes to debates on women in family business and gendered identity construction of daughters in family business in the Chinese context.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-jdr-10.1177_00220345211000629 for 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Reinforced Hydrogel as an Artificial TMJ Disc by N. Jiang, Y. Yang, L. Zhang, Y. Jiang, M. Wang and S. Zhu in Journal of Dental Research

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-2-jdr-10.1177_00220345211000629 for 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Reinforced Hydrogel as an Artificial TMJ Disc by N. Jiang, Y. Yang, L. Zhang, Y. Jiang, M. Wang and S. Zhu in Journal of Dental Research

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jdr-10.1177_00220345211031446 for Response to Letter to the Editor, “3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Reinforced Hydrogel as an Artificial TMJ Disc” by N. Jiang, Y. Yang and S. Zhu in Journal of Dental Research