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Lei Pan,1,2 Xu-Hao Wang,1 Fan-Qi Meng,1 Xin-Ming Su,1 Yue Li,1 Ming-Tao Xu,1 Feng-Yuan Su,3 De-Lei Kong,1 Wei Wang1 1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China; 2Liaoning Provincial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China; 3China Medical University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: De-Lei KongDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110001, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail kongdelei@126.comAbstract: Disseminated infection caused by Nocardia farcinica with primary nephrotic syndrome is exceedingly rare. A 66-year-old female visited the outpatient department due to fever and fatigue who had been diagnosed as membranous nephropathy and with a long-term prednisone and immunosuppressive therapy. After lung biopsy for many times, culture from space-occupying lesion of the right lung and species identification by mass spectrometry-based methods (MALDI-TOF) revealed Nocardia farcinica. By imaging examination, space-occupying lesions from the lungs, brain, abdominal cavity and kidney were found. After 2 weeks of meropenem intravenous and up to 6 months of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) therapy, our patient has remained relapse-free at that time of writing. Disseminated infection caused by Nocardia farcinica is usually subacute with complex clinical manifestations. In addition, it can be easily confused with diseases such as tumor and mycobacterial infection, and lead to fatal consequences. Therefore, we hope that we can remind clinicians considering by discussing common features of disseminated Nocardia farcinica infection.Keywords: disseminated nocardiosis, fever, space-occupying lesions, brain abscess, renal insufficiency

Glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GLUD1) is implicated in oncogenesis. However, little is known about the relationship between GLUD1 and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, we demonstrated that the expression levels of GLUD1 significantly decreased in tumors, which was relevant to the poor prognosis of HCC. Functionally, GLUD1 silencing enhanced the growth and migration of HCC cells. Mechanistically, the upregulation of interleukin-32 through AKT activation contributes to GLUD1 silencing-facilitated hepatocarcinogenesis. The interaction between GLUD1 and AKT, as well as α-ketoglutarate regulated by GLUD1, can suppress AKT activation. In addition, LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1) interacts with GLUD1 and induces GLUD1 degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which relies on the E3 ubiquitin ligase synoviolin (SYVN1), whose interaction with GLUD1 is enhanced by LASP1. In hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC, the HBV X protein (HBX) can suppress GLUD1 with the participation of LASP1 and SYVN1. Collectively, our data suggest that GLUD1 silencing is significantly associated with HCC development, and LASP1 and SYVN1 mediate the inhibition of GLUD1 in HCC, especially in HBV-related tumors., (© The Author(s) (2024). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Journal of Molecular Cell Biology, CEMCS, CAS.)

The mitochondrial enzyme arginase-2 (Arg-2) is implicated in the pathophysiology of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). Therefore, Arg-2 represents a candid target for CI-AKI prevention. Here, layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled renal-targeting polymeric nanoparticles are developed to efficiently deliver small interfering RNA (siRNA), knockdown Arg-2 expression in renal tubules, and prevention of CI-AKI is evaluated. First, near-infrared dye-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) anionic cores are electrostatically coated with cationic chitosan (CS) to facilitate the adsorption and stabilization of Arg-2 siRNA. Next, nanoparticles are coated with anionic hyaluronan (HA) to provide protection against siRNA leakage and shielding against early clearance. Sequential electrostatic layering of CS and HA improves loading capacity of Arg-2 siRNA and yields LbL-assembled nanoparticles. Renal targeting and accumulation is enhanced by modifying the outermost layer of HA with a kidney targeting peptide (HA-KTP). The resultant kidney-targeting and siRNA loaded nanoparticles (PLGA/CS/HA-KTP siRNA) exhibit proprietary accumulation in kidneys and proximal tubular cells at 24 h post-tail vein injection. In iohexol-induced in vitro and in vivo CI-AKI models, PLGA/CS/HA-KTP siRNA delivery alleviates oxidative and nitrification stress, and rescues mitochondrial dysfunction while reducing apoptosis, thereby demonstrating a robust and satisfactory therapeutic effect. Thus, PLGA/CS/HA-KTP siRNA nanoparticles offer a promising candidate therapy to protect against CI-AKI., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

World Drug Report 2023 concluded that 296 million people abused drugs, 39.5 million became addiction and 494,000 died as a direct or indirect result of addiction. Addiction has become a growing problem that affects individuals, their families, societies, countries and even the world. However, treatment for addiction is only limited to some developed countries because of the high cost, difficult implementation, and time consuming. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a low-cost, effective drug for the development of addiction treatment in more countries, which is essential for the stability and sustainable development of the world. In this review, it provided an overview of the abuse of common addictive drugs, related disorders, and current therapeutic regimen worldwide, and summarized the mechanisms of drug addiction as reward circuits, neuroadaptation and plasticity, cognitive decision-making, genetics, and environment. According to their chemical structure, 43 natural products and 5 herbal combinations with potential to treat addiction were classified, and their sources, pharmacological effects and clinical trials were introduced. It was also found that mitragine, ibogine, L-tetrahydropalmatine and crocin had greater potential for anti-addiction., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Lung injury has been a serious medical problem that requires new therapeutic approaches and biomarkers. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that exist widely in eukaryotes. CircRNAs are single-stranded RNAs that form covalently closed loops. CircRNAs are significant gene regulators that have a role in the development, progression, and therapy of lung injury by controlling transcription, translating into protein, and sponging microRNAs (miRNAs) and proteins. Although the study of circRNAs in lung injury caused by pulmonary toxicants is just beginning, several studies have revealed their expression patterns. The function that circRNAs perform in relation to pulmonary toxicants (severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), drug abuse, PM2.5, and cigarette smoke) is the main topic of this review. A variety of circRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers of lung injury. In this review, the biogenesis, properties, and biological functions of circRNAs were concluded, and the relationship between circRNAs and pulmonary toxicants was discussed. It is expected that the new ideas and potential treatment targets that circRNAs provide would be beneficial to research into the molecular mechanisms behind lung injury., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: As a vital component of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) nucleocapsid, HBV core protein (HBC) contributes to hepatocarcinogenesis. Here, we aimed to assess the effects of RANGAP1 and KDM2A on tumorigenesis induced by HBC., Methods: Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) combined with mass spectrometry were utilized to identify the proteins with the capacity to interact with HBC. The gene and protein levels of RANGAP1 and KDM2A in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and HBV-positive HCC tissues were evaluated using different cohorts. The roles of RANGAP1 and KDM2A in HCC cells mediated by HBC were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Co-IP and western blot were used to estimate the interaction of HBC with RANGAP1 and KDM2A and assess RANGAP1 stabilization regulated by HBC., Results: We discovered that HBC could interact with RANGAP1 and KDM2A, the levels of which were markedly elevated in HCC tissues. Relying on RANGAP1 and KDM2A, HBC facilitated HCC cell growth and migration. The increased stabilization of RANGAP1 mediated by HBC was relevant to the disruption of the interaction between RANGAP1 and an E3 ligase SYVN1. RANGAP1 interacted with KDM2A, and it further promoted KDM2A stabilization by disturbing the interaction between KDM2A and SYVN1. HBC enhanced the interaction of KDM2A with RANGAP1 and upregulated the expression of KDM2A via RANGAP1 in HCC cells., Conclusions: These findings demonstrate a novel mechanism by which HBC facilitates hepatocarcinogenesis. RANGAP1 and KDM2A could act as potential molecular targets for treating HBV-associated malignancy., (© 2023. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background: Cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) expression and autophagy in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues has not been widely studied. CDK9, a key regulator of transcription, may influence the occurrence and progression of CRC. The expression of autophagy-related genes BECN1 and drug resistance factor ABCG2 may also play a role in CRC. Under normal physiological conditions, autophagy can inhibit tumorigenesis, but once a tumor forms, autophagy may promote tumor growth. Therefore, understanding the relationship between autophagy and cancer, particularly how autophagy promotes tumor growth after its formation, is a key motivation for this research., Aim: To investigate the relationship between CDK9 expression and autophagy in CRC, assess differences in autophagy between left and right colon cancer, and analyze the associations of autophagy-related genes with clinical features and prognosis., Methods: We collected tumor tissues and paracarcinoma tissues from colon cancer patients with liver metastasis to observe the level of autophagy in tissues with high levels of CDK9 and low levels of CDK9. We also collected primary tissue from left and right colon cancer patients with liver metastasis to compare the autophagy levels and the expression of BECN1 and ABCG2 in the tumor and paracarcinoma tissues., Results: The incidence of autophagy and the expression of BECN1 and ABCG2 were different in left and right colon cancer, and autophagy might be involved in the occurrence of chemotherapy resistance. Further analysis of the relationship between the expression of autophagy-related genes CDK9, ABCG2 , and BECN1 and the clinical features and prognosis of colorectal cancer showed that the high expression of CDK9 indicated a poor prognosis in colorectal cancer., Conclusion: This study laid the foundation for further research on the combination of CDK9 inhibitors and autophagy inhibitors in the treatment of patients with CRC., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a deadly malignancy with limited treatment options. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) have been confirmed to play a crucial role in the development of malignant tumors. JOSD2 is a DUB involved in controlling protein deubiquitination and influencing critical cellular processes in cancer., Aim: To investigate the impact of JOSD2 on the progression of ESCC., Methods: Bioinformatic analyses were employed to explore the expression, prognosis, and enriched pathways associated with JOSD2 in ESCC. Lentiviral transduction was utilized to manipulate JOSD2 expression in ESCC cell lines (KYSE30 and KYSE150). Functional assays, including cell proliferation, colony formation, drug sensitivity, migration, and invasion, were performed, revealing the impact of JOSD2 on ESCC cell lines. JOSD2's role in xenograft tumor growth and drug sensitivity in vivo was also assessed. The proteins that interacted with JOSD2 were identified using mass spectrometry., Results: Preliminary research indicated that JOSD2 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues, which was associated with poor prognosis. Further analysis demonstrated that JOSD2 was upregulated in ESCC cell lines compared to normal esophageal cells. JOSD2 knockdown inhibited ESCC cell activity, including proliferation and colony-forming ability. Moreover, JOSD2 knockdown decreased the drug resistance and migration of ESCC cells, while JOSD2 overexpression enhanced these phenotypes. In vivo xenograft assays further confirmed that JOSD2 promoted tumor proliferation and drug resistance in ESCC. Mechanistically, JOSD2 appears to activate the MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. Mass spectrometry was used to identify crucial substrate proteins that interact with JOSD2, which identified the four primary proteins that bind to JOSD2, namely USP47, IGKV2D-29, HSP90AB1, and PRMT5., Conclusion: JOSD2 plays a crucial role in enhancing the proliferation, migration, and drug resistance of ESCC, suggesting that JOSD2 is a potential therapeutic target in ESCC., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Preference and plasticity in nitrogen (N) form uptake are the main strategies with which plants absorb soil N. However, little effort has been made to explore effects of N form acquisition strategies, especially the plasticity, on invasiveness of exotic plants, although many studies have determined the effects of N levels (e.g. N deposition)., Methods: To address this problem, we studied the differences in N form acquisition strategies between the invasive plant Solidago canadensis and its co-occurring native plant Artemisia lavandulaefolia , effects of soil N environments, and the relationship between N form acquisition strategy of S. canadensis and its invasiveness using a 15 N-labeling technique in three habitats at four field sites., Results: Total biomass, root biomass, and the uptakes of soil dissolved inorganic N (DIN) per quadrat were higher for the invasive relative to the native species in all three habitats. The invader always preferred dominant soil N forms: NH 4 + in habitats with NH 4 + as the dominant DIN and NO 3 - in habitats with NO 3 - as the dominant DIN, while A. lavandulaefolia consistently preferred NO 3 - in all habitats. Plasticity in N form uptake was higher in the invasive relative to the native species, especially in the farmland. Plant N form acquisition strategy was influenced by both DIN levels and the proportions of different N forms (NO 3 - /NH 4 + ) as judged by their negative effects on the proportional contributions of NH 4 + to plant N ( f NH4 + ) and the preference for NH 4 + ( β NH4 + ). In addition, total biomass was positively associated with f NH4 + or β NH4 + for S. canadensis , while negatively for A. lavandulaefolia . Interestingly, the species may prefer to absorb NH 4 + when soil DIN and/or NO 3 - /NH 4 + ratio were low, and root to shoot ratio may be affected by plant nutrient status per se, rather than by soil nutrient availability., Discussion: Our results indicate that the superior N form acquisition strategy of the invader contributes to its higher N uptake, and therefore to its invasiveness in different habitats, improving our understanding of invasiveness of exotic plants in diverse habitats in terms of utilization of different N forms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Guan, Pan, Sun, Chen, Kong and Feng.)

A regioselective metal-free sulfenylation of imidazoheterocycles with heterocyclic thiols or thiones has been achieved using a cross-dehydrogenative coupling method in water. In addition, the procedure has several advantages including green solvents, free of foul-smelling sulfur sources, and mild conditions, thus providing considerable application potential in the pharmaceutical industry.

The cortex (i.e., absorptive tissue) and stele (transportive vascular tissue) are fundamental to the function of plant roots. Unraveling how these anatomical structures are assembled in absorptive roots is essential for our understanding of plant ecology, physiology, and plant responses to global environmental changes. In this review, we first compile a large data set on anatomical traits in absorptive roots, including cortex thickness and stele radius, across 698 observations and 512 species. Using this data set, we reveal a common root allometry in absorptive root structures, i.e., cortex thickness increases much faster than stele radius with increasing root diameter (hereafter, root allometry). Root allometry is further validated within and across plant growth forms (woody, grass, and liana species), mycorrhiza types (arbuscular mycorrhiza, ectomycorrhiza, and orchid mycorrhizas), phylogenetic gradients (from ferns to Orchidaceae), and environmental change scenarios (e.g., elevation of atmospheric CO 2 concentration and nitrogen fertilization). These findings indicate that root allometry is common in plants. Importantly, root allometry varies greatly across species. We then summarize recent research on the mechanisms of root allometry and potential issues regarding these mechanisms. We further discuss ecological and evolutionary implications of root allometry. Finally, we propose several important research directions that should be pursued regarding root allometry., Competing Interests: We declare that we have no conflict interest., (© 2023 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.)

This study was designed and conducted to clarify the impact of RNF128 expression on malignant biological behaviors of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells and the underlying mechanism. The expression of RNF128 in CRC tissues was analyzed using mRNA sequencing data of TCGA database and was validated by Western blot assay. The experimental studies on biological functions of RNF128 in vitro were conducted to assess its impact on the proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis of CRC cells. Furthermore, tumor xenograft models in nude mice were established to investigate the relationship between RNF128 expression and tumor growth in vivo. The expression levels of both RNF128 mRNA and protein were significantly increased in CRC tissues (p < .001). The knockdown of RNF128 markedly suppressed the malignant phenotype of HCT116 and SW480 cells in vitro, including cell growth, antiapoptosis, migration, and invasion (p < .001). On the other hand, knockdown of RNF128 exerted a remarkable effect on the growth inhibition of tumor xenografts in vivo (p < .001). Further investigation revealed that RNF128 knockdown lead to a significant decrease in the expression of p-AKT and p-PI3K protein. More importantly, the proliferative, antiapoptotic, metastatic abilities of RNF128-knockdown cells were markedly increased by 740 Y-P treatment (p < .001). These findings further suggested that PI3K/AKT signaling pathway played a key role in RNF128-mediated aggressive phenotype of CRC cells. RNF128 functions as a tumor promoter in the pathogenesis of CRC via regulating PI3K/AKT pathway, and it could be a valuable target for CRC treatment., (© 2022 International Federation for Cell Biology.)

Introduction: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell (CAR-T) therapy followed by haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) markedly improves the long-term survival of patients with refractory/relapsed (R/R) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL)., Methods: We performed a parallel comparison of transplant outcomes in 168 B-ALL patients undergoing haplo-HSCT after achieving minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative complete remission (CR) from CAR-T therapy (n = 28) or chemotherapy (n = 140) between January 2016 and August 2021. We further divided the chemotherapy group into the first CR group (chemo+CR1, n = 118) and a second or more CR group (chemo+≥CR2, n = 22)., Results: With a median follow-up period of 31.0 months, the 2-year overall survival (OS), leukemia-free survival (LFS), non-relapse mortality (NRM), and relapse rates in the CAR-T and chemotherapy groups did not differ significantly (OS, 87.9% vs. 71.5 %; LFS, 72.0% vs. 66.8%; NRM, 3.9% vs. 13.7%; relapse, 24.1% vs. 19.4%). Multivariate analysis confirmed that ≥CR2 at transplantation following chemotherapy was an independent risk factor associated with poor OS (hazard ratio (HR) 4.22 [95% CI, 1.34-13.293], p = 0.014) and LFS (HR 2.57 [95% CI, 1.041-6.343], p = 0.041). The probabilities of OS and LFS at 2 years in the CAR-T group were comparable to those in the chemo+CR1 group but significantly higher than those in the chemo+≥CR2 group (OS, 87.9% vs. 37.8%, p = 0.007; LFS, 72.0% vs. 41.7%, p = 0.043). No significant differences in the incidences of NRM were noted among the three groups., Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that patients with R/R B-ALL receiving haplo-HSCT after CAR-T therapy achieved comparable outcomes to patients transplanted post-chemotherapy-based MRD-negative CR1, without increased risk of transplant-related mortality and toxicity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Yang, Meng, Kong, Wei, Zhang, Wu, Shi, Luo, Zhao, Yu, Jing, Zhao, Zhao, Huang and Hu.)

A 23-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with proteinuria and mildly elevated creatinine, and a renal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of oligomeganephronia (OMN). OMN is an extremely rare bilateral renal hypoplastic disease, and its diagnosis mainly relies on the pathological results obtained from renal biopsy. At present, there is no effective treatment for OMN. Here, we report a case with mild renal insufficiency and proteinuria as the main symptom and present a summary of the clinical characteristics of ON along with a review of the literature on OMN., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Pan, He, Kong and Wang.)

As a distributed storage scheme, the blockchain network lacks storage space has been a long-term concern in this field. At present, there are relatively few research on algorithms and protocols to reduce the storage requirement of blockchain, and the existing research has limitations such as sacrificing fault tolerance performance and raising time cost, which need to be further improved. Facing the above problems, this paper proposes a protocol based on Distributed Image Storage Protocol (DISP), which can effectively improve blockchain storage space and reduces computational costs in the help of InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). In order to prove the feasibility of the protocol, we make full use of IPFS and distributed database to design a simulation experiment for blockchain. Through distributed pooling (DP) algorithm in this protocol, we can divide image evidence into recognizable several small files and stored in several nodes. And these files can be restored to lossless original documents again by inverse distributed pooling (IDP) algorithm after authorization. These advantages in performance create conditions for large scale industrial and commercial applications., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Independence among leaf economics, leaf hydraulics and leaf size confers plants great capability in adapting to heterogeneous environments. However, it remains unclear whether the independence of the leaf traits revealed across species still holds within species, especially under stressed conditions. Here, a suite of traits in these dimensions were measured in leaves and roots of a typical mangrove species, Ceriops tagal , which grows in habitats with a similar sunny and hot environment but different soil salinity in southern China. Compared with C. tagal under low soil salinity, C. tagal under high soil salinity had lower photosynthetic capacity, as indicated directly by a lower leaf nitrogen concentration and higher water use efficiency, and indirectly by a higher investment in defense function and thinner palisade tissue; had lower water transport capacity, as evidenced by thinner leaf minor veins and thinner root vessels; and also had much smaller single leaf area. Leaf economics, hydraulics and leaf size of the mangrove species appear to be coordinated as one trait dimension, which likely stemmed from co-variation of soil water and nutrient availability along the salinity gradient. The intraspecific leaf trait relationship under a stressful environment is insightful for our understanding of plant adaption to the multifarious environments., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.)

Background: Hypoxia is a major contributor to global kidney diseases. Targeting hypoxia is a promising therapeutic option against both acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease; however, an effective strategy that can achieve simultaneous targeted kidney hypoxia imaging and therapy has yet to be established. Herein, we fabricated a unique nano-sized hypoxia-sensitive coassembly (Pc/C5A@EVs) via molecular recognition and self-assembly, which is composed of the macrocyclic amphiphile C5A, the commercial dye sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine (Pc) and mesenchymal stem cell-excreted extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs)., Results: In murine models of unilateral or bilateral ischemia/reperfusion injury, MSC-EVs protected the Pc/C5A complex from immune metabolism, prolonged the circulation time of the complex, and specifically led Pc/C5A to hypoxic kidneys via surface integrin receptor α 4 β 1 and α L β 2 , where Pc/C5A released the near-infrared fluorescence of Pc and achieved enhanced hypoxia-sensitive imaging. Meanwhile, the coassembly significantly recovered kidney function by attenuating cell apoptosis, inhibiting the progression of renal fibrosis and reducing tubulointerstitial inflammation. Mechanistically, the Pc/C5A coassembly induced M1-to-M2 macrophage transition by inhibiting the HIF-1α expression in hypoxic renal tubular epithelial cells (TECs) and downstream NF-κB signaling pathway to exert their regenerative effects., Conclusion: This synergetic nanoscale coassembly with great translational potential provides a novel strategy for precise kidney hypoxia diagnosis and efficient kidney injury treatment. Furthermore, our strategy of coassembling exogenous macrocyclic receptors with endogenous cell-derived membranous structures may offer a functional platform to address multiple clinical needs., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Invasive species have profound negative impacts on native ranges. Unraveling the mechanisms employed by invasive plant species is crucial to controlling invasions. One important approach that invasive plants use to outcompete native plants is to disrupt mutualistic interactions between native roots and mycorrhizal fungi. However, it remains unclear how differences in the competitive ability of invasive plants affect native plant associations with mycorrhizae. Here, we examined how a native plant, Xanthium strumarium , responds to invasive plants that differed in competitive abilities (i.e., as represented by aboveground plant biomass) by measuring changes in root nitrogen concentration (root nutrient acquisition) and mycorrhizal colonization rate. We found that both root nitrogen concentration and mycorrhizal colonization rate in the native plant were reduced by invasive plants. The change in mycorrhizal colonization rate of the native plant was negatively correlated with both aboveground plant biomass of the invasive plants and the change in aboveground plant biomass of the native plant in monocultures relative to mixed plantings. In contrast, the change in root nitrogen concentration of the native plant was positively correlated with aboveground plant biomass of the invasive plants and the change in aboveground plant biomass of the native plant. When we compared the changes in mycorrhizal colonization rate and root nitrogen concentration in the native plant grown in monocultures with those of native plants grown with invasive plants, we observed a significant tradeoff. Our study shows that invasive plants can suppress native plants by reducing root nutrient acquisition rather than by disrupting symbiotic mycorrhizal associations, a novel finding likely attributable to a low dependence of the native plant on mycorrhizal fungi., Competing Interests: We declare that we have no conflict interest., (© 2021 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.)

Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) is the most common paroxysmal dyskinesia, characterized by recurrent episodes of involuntary movements provoked by sudden changes in movement. Proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) has been identified as the major causative gene for PKD. Here, we report that PRRT2 deficiency facilitates the induction of cerebellar spreading depolarization (SD) and inhibition of cerebellar SD prevents the occurrence of dyskinetic movements. Using Ca 2+ imaging, we show that cerebellar SD depolarizes a large population of cerebellar granule cells and Purkinje cells in Prrt2-deficient mice. Electrophysiological recordings further reveal that cerebellar SD blocks Purkinje cell spiking and disturbs neuronal firing of the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN). The resultant aberrant firing patterns in DCN are tightly, temporally coupled to dyskinetic episodes in Prrt2-deficient mice. Cumulatively, our findings uncover a pivotal role of cerebellar SD in paroxysmal dyskinesia, providing a potent target for treating PRRT2-related paroxysmal disorders., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers. The aim of our study was to explore its related mutations, identify novel mutation markers, and construct predictive models for postoperative CRC patients, so as to provide evidence for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CRC., Methods: A total 50 CRC patients were collected, and the mutations in tissue samples were detected through next-generation sequencing (NGS). Meanwhile, 246 CRC cases with complete mutation data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Afterwards, the co-mutations in both clinical and TCGA cohorts were identified, and the high-frequency mutation genes were selected. Subsequently, functional enrichment analysis was performed, and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) predictive models were constructed., Results: In all, 18 out of 238 co-mutation genes mutated in at least 20% of the samples and were selected out as common high-frequency mutation genes. They were significantly enriched in 460 Gene Ontology (GO) terms and 87 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways (P<0.05), which were closely related to the occurrence and development of CRC. Among the 18 genes, NOTCH3 , histone lysine methyltransferase 2C ( KMT2C ), and cAMP-response element binding protein-BP ( CREBBP ) were respectively associated with tumor position, stage, and PFS (P<0.05), and could be considered as potential biomarkers of CRC. Finally, OS and PFS predictive models were constructed and verified using the 50 clinical cases, with both models demonstrating high fitting degrees useful for predicting the OS and PFS of CRC patients., Conclusions: NOTCH3 , KMT2C , and CREBBP were found to be prospective biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of CRC. The prognosis prediction models had high sensitivity and could be used to predict the OS and PFS of CRC patients., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jgo-21-28). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology. All rights reserved.)

To investigate the effect of microRNA-487b (miR-487b) as well as the underlying mechanism in osteosarcoma (OS). Data downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used to analyze the expression and prognostic value of miR-487b/TRAK2. Cell counting kit-8, colony formation, and transwell assays were performed to investigate the biological functions of miR-487b and TRAK2. Luciferase reporter assay was applied to confirm the interactions between miR-487b and TRAK2. miR-487b was overexpressed in OS tissues and was inversely associated with the prognosis of OS patients. We discovered that miR-487b could contribute to the proliferative, clonogenic, invasive, and migratory capabilities of OS cells. Through target prediction using miRWalk and differential expression analysis based on the GEO data set, trafficking kinesin protein 2 (TRAK2) was recognized as a potential target of miR-487b, which was further verified by luciferase reporter assay. The expression of TRAK2 was decreased in OS tissues compared with normal tissues and was positively correlated with the prognosis of OS patients. A negative relevance was presented between the expression of miR-487b and TRAK2 in OS cells. Of note, further mechanistic analyses indicated that TRAK2 was implicated in the regulatory effect of miR-487b on the cell malignant behaviors in OS. To sum up, these results demonstrated that miR-487b played an oncogenic role in OS progression via directly targeting TRAK2, which could advance the development of cancer treatment., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Empirical evidence of enemy release is still inconsistent for invasive alien plant species, although enemy release is the key assumption for both the enemy release hypothesis (ERH) and the evolution of increased competitive ability hypothesis (EICA). In addition, little effort has been made to test this assumption in terms of defense investment using a multi-species comparative approach. Using a phylogenetically controlled within-study meta-analytical approach, we compared leaf herbivore damage, structural defenses and nutrients between 47 pairs of invasive versus native and/or non-invasive alien plants in China. The invasive relative to the co-occurring native or non-invasive (native and non-invasive alien) plants incurred lesser leaf herbivore damage, had lesser leaf concentrations of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and carbon, lesser leaf density and carbon or lignin to nitrogen ratio but greater nutrients, which may facilitate success of the invasive plants. The lesser structural investment did not result in lesser leaf construction costs for the invaders, which may be associated with their greater leaf nitrogen concentration. However, the invasive plants were not significantly different from the non-invasive alien plants in any trait. Our results provide strong evidence for ERH, also are consistent with EICA, and indicate that enemy release may be an important factor in alien plant invasions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

COVID-19 has become a pandemic and it has already spread to at least 171 countries/regions. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health problem with a total of approximately 850 million patients with CKD worldwide and 119.5 million in China. Severe COVID-19 infection may damage the kidney and cause acute tubular necrosis, leading to proteinuria, hematuria and elevated serum creatinine. Since the SARS-CoV-2 enters the cells by binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, some doctors question its ability to increase the risk and severity of developing COVID-19. Neither clinical data nor basic scientific evidence supports this assumption. Therefore, patients who take angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker are not advised to change their therapy. Patients with CKD are generally the elderly population suffering from multiple comorbidities. Moreover, some patients with CKD might need to take glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants. Dialysis patients are recurrently exposed to a possible contaminated environment because their routine treatment usually requires three dialysis sessions per week. Considering all the above reasons, patients with CKD are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than the general population. The development of COVID-19 may worsen the impaired kidney function and further lead to rapid deterioration of kidney function and even death. Strict comprehensive protocols should be followed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among patients with CKD. In this review, we provide some practical management recommendations for health care providers, patients with CKD, dialysis patients and dialysis facilities., Competing Interests: None., (© 2020 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.)

Objective: The incidence of colorectal stromal tumor is low among digestive tract tumors, therefore the literatures about clinicopathological features and prognosis of colorectal stromal tumor are few at home and abroad. In this study, we performed survival analyses for colorectal stromal tumor. The nomogram made by prognostic factors provided basis for evaluation of prognosis., Methods: The clinico-pathological and prognostic data of colorectal stromal tumor between January 1992 and December 2015 were collected from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database. The survival analyses were made by SPSS 24.0 software. The nomogram and calibration curve were made by RMS package in R 3.5.2 software., Results: In the study, 546 patients with colorectal stromal tumor were included. The median age of onset was 64 years. The regional lymph node metastasis (LNM) rate was 9.4%. The multivariate Cox regression analyses of the 546 cases showed that the older age of onset (>64 years), single or divorce, colon tumor (compared with rectal tumor), non-surgery, high histological grade, LNM and distant metastasis were associated with worse cancer specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS), P < 0.05 for all. The treatment district was independent prognostic factor of OS (P = 0.027). The C-index of independent prognostic factors predicting CSS and OS probability were 0.76 (95%CI: 0.72-0.80) and 0.75 (95%CI: 0.72-0.78), respectively. Multivariate analyses were further carried out in the 174 patients with definite histological grade and tumor location, which revealed that the age of onset, histological grade, surgery or not were independent prognostic factors of CSS and OS (P < 0.05 for all). Tumor location was associated with CSS (P = 0.041) but not OS (P = 0.057) among the 174 cases. Four independent prognostic factors influencing the 174 patients' prognosis were used to make nomogram for predicting survival probability of 546 cases. The C-index of four prognostic factors predicting probability of CSS and OS of the 546 cases were separately 0.71 (95%CI: 0.66-0.75) and 0.73 (95%CI: 0.70-0.77). The nomogram had more accuracy for predicting OS probability of colorectal stromal tumors., Conclusion: The prognosis of colorectal stromal tumor was affected by multiple clinicopathological factors. The nomogram provided the basis for predicting the survival probability of patients with colorectal stromal tumor.

Background: Calponin is an actin filament-associated regulatory protein originally identified in smooth muscle cells. Three homologous have been identified in vertebrate species, but little functional characterization of potential activities in cancer has been performed. In this study, we determined the levels of CNN2 in colon cancer cell lines and determined the effects of this protein by increasing expression., Methods: We used IHC and RT-PCR to measure CNN2 expression in colon cancer tissues and normal tissues and found increased expression levels in cancer tissues. We used viral vectors to decrease the level of CNN2 in the SW480 colon cancer cell line and found that silencing of CNN2 inhibited cell invasion. We detected potential protein interactions in signal pathways by western bolt analysis. To confirm the effect of CNN2 on cell invasion, we increased CNN2 expression in the SW620 cell line and observed increased invasion increased expression levels of associated proteins., Results: High-expression levels of CNN2 were detected in cancer tissues. Silencing CNN2 inhibited cell invasion, down-regulated N-cadherin (N-CA) and C-myc proteins, and up-regulated E-cadherin (E-CA), suggesting that CNN2 promotes colon cancer cell invasion. Increasing CNN2 levels in the SW620 cell line showed the opposite results., Conclusions: CNN2 may act to promote colon cancer., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tcr.2019.12.61). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2020 Translational Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)

Studies have indicated that psychological stress impairs human fertility and that various stressors can induce apoptosis of testicular cells. However, the mechanisms by which psychological stress on males reduces semen quality and stressors induce apoptosis in testicular cells are largely unclear. Using a psychological (restraint) stress mouse model, we tested whether male psychological stress triggers apoptosis of spermatozoa and spermatogenic cells through activating tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α signalling. Wild-type or TNF-α-/- male mice were restrained for 48 h before examination for apoptosis and expression of TNF-α and TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) in spermatozoa, epididymis, seminiferous tubules and spermatogenic cells. The results showed that male restraint significantly decreased fertilization rate and mitochondrial membrane potential, while increasing levels of malondialdehyde, active caspase-3, TNF-α and TNFR1 in spermatozoa. Male restraint also increased apoptosis and expression of TNF-α and TNFR1 in caudae epididymides, seminiferous tubules and spermatogenic cells. Sperm quality was also significantly impaired when spermatozoa were recovered 35 days after male restraint. The restraint-induced damage to spermatozoa, epididymis and seminiferous tubules was significantly ameliorated in TNF-α-/- mice. Furthermore, incubation with soluble TNF-α significantly reduced sperm motility and fertilizing potential. Taken together, the results demonstrated that male psychological stress induces apoptosis in spermatozoa and spermatogenic cells through activating the TNF-α system and that the stress-induced apoptosis in spermatogenic cells can be translated into impaired quality in future spermatozoa.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the biological role of microRNA-188-5p (miRNA-188-5p) in mediating the progression of osteosarcoma by degrading CCNT2., Patients and Methods: The relative expression levels of miRNA-188-5p and CCNT2 in osteosarcoma tissues and para-cancerous normal tissues were determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Meanwhile, their expression levels in osteosarcoma cell lines were examined. The regulatory effects of miRNA-188-5p on the proliferative ability and cell cycle progression of osteosarcoma cells were evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry, respectively. Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay was applied to verify the binding relationship between miRNA-188-5p and CCNT2. Furthermore, rescue experiments were conducted to clarify the role of miRNA-188-5p/CCNT2 in mediating the progression of osteosarcoma., Results: MiRNA-188-5p was lowly expressed in osteosarcoma tissues when compared with paracancerous normal tissues. Overexpression of miRNA-188-5p significantly suppressed the proliferative ability and arrested cell cycle progression of osteosarcoma cells. However, knockdown of miRNA-188-5p obtained the opposite trends. The Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay verified the binding relationship between miRNA-188-5p and CCNT2. The expression level of CCNT2 in HOS and MG-63 cells was markedly downregulated after transfection of miRNA-188-5p mimics. In addition, overexpression of CCNT2 could partially reverse the inhibitory effect of miRNA-188-5p on the proliferative ability and cell cycle progression of osteosarcoma cells., Conclusions: MiRNA-188-5p is downregulated in osteosarcoma. Furthermore, it suppresses the proliferative ability and cell cycle progression of osteosarcoma cells via target degrading CCNT2.

Osteosarcoma is a serious malignancy in pediatric patients, which comprises 2.4% of fatal cancer in children and achieves 20% of all primary bone cancers. In the present study, we employed three human osteosarcoma cell lines MG‑63, HOS and U2OS for susceptibility to cytolytic activity of freshly isolated healthy donor NK cells. Cells were lysed by NK cells in a dose dependent manner. MG‑63 cells exhibited less susceptibility to NK cells than HOS and U2OS cells at all cell ratios. The specific mechanism underlying the effects of NK cells on osteosarcoma cells was determined by antibody blockage experiments. The results revealed that granzyme B was the key factor in the NK cell‑induced cytotoxicity of human osteosarcoma cells. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate the expression of PD‑L1 in MG‑63, HOS and U2OS cells. The relative expression of the PD‑L1 gene and protein in MG‑63 cell was greater than HOS and U2OS cells. The specific lysis of human osteosarcoma cells induced by NK cells was enhanced when PD‑L1/PD‑1 was blocked by the PD‑L1 antibody. The present study proposed that the PD‑L1/PD‑1 axis serves an important role in NK cell‑induced cytotoxicity in osteosarcoma via granzyme B secretion. Our findings may contribute to the development of precise treatments for osteosarcoma based on the expression profile of PD‑L1 in patients with this disease.

Background: Inflammation-induced dysfunction of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is involved in schistosomiasis-associated liver fibrosis, and soluble egg antigen (SEA) is a crucial pathogen-associated molecular pattern associated with liver injury in schistosomiasis. In addition, numerous studies have shown that caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis participates in the development of multiple inflammation-related diseases. However, whether pyroptotic cell death of HSCs is involved in SEA-mediated liver damage is not well understood., Methods: Primary cultured HSCs and Schistosoma japonicum-infected mouse liver tissue were analysed for histological changes and caspase-1 activation, and the role of pyroptosis in the mechanisms underlying SEA-induced HSC death was investigated. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in infected livers and SEA-stimulated HSCs was measured by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence., Results: Caspase-1 activity was elevated in both liver tissues and HSCs of S. japonicum-infected mice. Furthermore, SEA stimulation increased the proportion of pyroptotic HSCs, as shown by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays and by flow cytometric analysis of propidium iodide (PI) and caspase-1 double staining in cells. In addition, ROS generation was elevated in infected liver tissues and SEA-stimulated HSCs, and ROS inhibition downregulated SEA-induced caspase-1 activation and pyroptosis in HSCs., Conclusions: Our present study demonstrates that pyroptotic cell death in HSCs induced by SEA via ROS-mediated caspase-1 activation may serve as a significant mechanism to initiate the inflammatory response and thereby exacerbate liver injury during S. japonicum infection.

The function and mechanism of sodium cantharidininate (SC) underlying its suppression of human osteosarcoma (OS) MG‑63 cells were investigated for the first time in the present study. MG‑63 cell proliferation was determined by WST‑1 assay post SC treatment at 0, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h. The results showed that SC effectively inhibited MG‑63 cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase in a dose‑dependent manner. Western blotting revealed that SC induced MG‑63 cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase by means of inhibition of cyclin D1, CDK4 and CDK6 expression. The expression of MAPK and AKT were evaluated using western blotting and FACS experiments to determine whether such signaling pathways are involved in the antiproliferative action of SC on MG‑63 cells. SC significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of AKT, but not mTOR, JNK or P38. PI3K/AKT stimulator, IGF‑1, reversed the SC‑induced cell cycle arrest in the MG‑63 cells. Collectively, our data indicate that the phosphorylation of AKT was inhibited by SC, consequently decreasing the expression of cyclin D1, CDK4 and CDK6 and inducing MG‑63 cell G0/G1 phase arrest. SC has potential as a treatment agent for human osteosarcoma.

Objective: An increasing amount of evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) can be potential diagnostic and prognostic markers for various cancers. In this study, a novel miRNA, miR-1205, was identified in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD)., Patients and Methods: First, the expression of miR-1205 in tissues was determined and verified to be correlated with the prognosis of patients. Overexpression and knockdown in LUAD cells were chosen to evaluate the effect of miR-1205 on cell growth in vitro. Luciferase assays, Western blot and rescue assays were performed to screen and confirm potential targets of miR-1205., Results: We demonstrated that miR-1205 was down-regulated in the tissues of LUAD, and that miR-1205 may be a predictor of overall survival of LUAD. The overexpression of miR-1205 promoted cell proliferation and colony formation. Our results indicated that miR-1205 targeted APC2 directly, serving as a vital part in accelerating LUAD cell proliferation., Conclusions: We showed that miR-1205 could promote LUAD cell growth by targeting APC2 protein expression and provided further proof of miR-1205 as a potential non-invasive biomarker and therapeutic target for LUAD.

An efficient Ag/pyridine co-mediated oxidative arylthiocyanation of activated alkenes via radical addition/cyclization cascade process was developed. This reaction could be carried out under mild conditions to provide biologically interesting 3-alkylthiocyanato-2-oxindoles in good to excellent yields. Mechanistic studies suggested a unique NCS• radical addition path and clarified the dual roles of catalytic pyridine as base and crucial ligand to accelerate the oxidation of Ag(I) to Ag(II), which is likely oxidant responsible for the formation of NCS• radical. These mechanistic results may impact the design and refinement of other radical based reactions proceeding through catalytic oxidations mediated by Ag(I)-pyridine/persulfate. The chemical versatility of thiocyanate moiety was also highlighted via SCN-tailoring chemistry in post-synthetic transformation for new S-C(sp³/sp²/sp), S-P, and S-S bonds constructions. The protocol provides an easy access to many important bioisosteres in medicinal chemistry and an array of sulfur-containing 2-oxindoles that are difficult to prepare by other approaches.

Herein, the photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) is used to induce the self-assembly of antigens to form nanovaccines. Under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, reactive oxygen species can be generated by nanovaccines to disrupt the membranes of endo/lysosomes, which helps to release antigens into the cytosol efficiently, thereby enhancing antigen cross-presentation and anti-cancer immunity. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first example of ICG as a biocompatible adjuvant to improve cancer vaccine efficacy.

Objective: To access the influence factors of diagnostic delay of endometriosis. Methods: We designed a questionnaire of diagnostic delay of endometriosis. From February 2014 to February 2016, 400 patients who had dysmenorrhea and diagnosed with endometriosis by surgery in Peking University Third Hospital were surveyed retrospectively. Time and risk factors of diagnostic delay were analyzed. Results: The diagnostic delay of 400 patients was 13.0 years (0.2-43.0 years), 78.5%(314/400) patients thought pain was a normal phenomenon and didn't see the doctor. Patients who suffered dysmenorrhea at menarche experienced longer diagnostic delay than those who had dysmenorrhea after menarche (18.0 vs 4.5 years; Z= 191.800, P< 0.01) . Patients who suffered aggravating dysmenorrhea experienced shorter delay time than those who suffered stable or relieving dysmenorrhea (11.0 vs 12.5 vs 18.0 years; Z= 8.270, P< 0.05) , with the difference statistically significant, single factor analysis shows. Severe dysmenorrhea, deep infiltration endometriosis (DIE) , family history of dysmenorrhea or endometriosis, previous surgical history of endometriosis, high stage, with infertility, adenomyoma or other symptoms, could help to shorten diagnostic delay with no significant difference ( P> 0.05) . By multiple logistic regression analysis, the results shown that whether have dysmenorrhea at menarche and clinical diagnosis time were the independent factors affecting delayed diagnosis ( P< 0.01) . Conclusions: Diagnostic delay of endometriosis is common and the mean delay time is 13.0 years mainly due to the unawareness of dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea at menarche, clinical diagnosis time and dysmenorrhea intensity are the factors affecting time of diagnostic delay.

A novel aerobic bacterium, designated strain LAM9153 T , was isolated from a saline soil sample collected from Lingxian County, Shandong Province, China. Cells of strain LAM9153 T were observed to be Gram-stain negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped. The new isolate grew optimally at 30-35 °C, pH 7.0 and 0.5% of NaCl concentration (w/v). According to the phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain LAM9153 T shares high similarity with Chitinophaga terrae Gsoil 238 T (96.9%) and Chitinophaga niabensis JS 13-10 T (95.9%), forming a subcluster with C. terrae Gsoil 238 T , Chitinophaga cymbidii R156-2 T , C. niabensis JS 13-10 T and Chitinophaga soli Gsoil 219 T in the phylogenetic tree. The major cellular fatty acids (> 10%) were identified as iso-C 15:0 , iso-C 17:0 3-OH and summed features 3 (C 16:1 ω6c and/or C 16:1 ω7c). The predominant respiratory quinone was identified as menaquinone MK-7. The polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, aminophospholipid, three unidentified aminolipids and five unidentified lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was determined to be 53.2 ± 1.6 mol%. On the basis of phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, strain LAM9153 T is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Chitinophaga, for which the name Chitinophaga salinisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LAM9153 T (= ACCC 19960 T  = JCM 30847 T ).

Objective: To analyze the effect of oral contraceptives on dysmenorrhea in patients with endometriosis. Methods: We designed dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain questionnaire.From February 2014 to February 2016 in the Gynecological Department of Peking University Third Hospital, patients suffered dysmenorrhea with or without endometriosis or adenomyosis were included.According to their own willingness, patients were divided into the research group and the control group.The research group periodically took oral contraceptives (Diane-35 or Yasmin), while the control group received no treatment.They were followed-up about dysmenorrhea every six months, and the total follow-up time was one and a half year. Results: The dysmenorrhea VAS scores of patients in research group after taking oral contraceptives for six or twelve months were significantly lower than that in baseline (VAS 4 vs 5 vs 7). The dysmenorrhea VAS scores increased after quitting medication, but remained still lower than baseline (VAS 6.5 vs 7). However, the dysmenorrhea VAS scores of patients in control group remained unchanged (VAS 6 vs 6). Patients who took pills for more than one year experienced the same severity of dysmenorrhea after six months' or one year's medication (VAS 2 vs 2), and they suffered slowly aggravating recurrent dysmenorrhea, while those who quitted after six months' medication suffered quickly recurrent dysmenorrhea.The relieving rate of dysmenorrhea in research group was significantly higher than that in control group (79.7% vs 8.2%), and the relieving rate in patients with severe pain was significantly higher than that with mild or moderate pain (87.0% vs 66.6 % vs 77.1%). The relieving rate in patients without lesions was significantly higher than patients with adenomyosis (92.6% vs 59.1%). Conclusions: Endometriosis is a progressing disease. Longterm medication of oral contraceptives can relieve the dysmenorrhea pain.The extent of pain relief was not connected with the length of medication.Dysmenorrhea recurred after quitting medication, and the longer of medication, the slower pain recurred.Patients without lesions experienced higher pain relieving rate than those with adenomyosis.

A 3-D scaffold that simulates the microenvironment in vivo for regenerating cartilage is ideal. In this study, we combined silk fibroin and decellularized cartilage extracellular matrix by temperature gradient-guided thermal-induced phase separation to produce composite scaffolds (S/D). Resulting scaffolds had remarkable mechanical properties and biomimeticstructure, for a suitable substrate for attachment and proliferation of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). Moreover, transforming growth factor β3 (TGF-β3) loaded on scaffolds showed a controlled release profile and enhanced the chondrogenic differentiation of ADSCs during the 28-day culture. The S/D scaffold itself can provide a sustained release system without the introduction of other controlled release media, which has potential for commercial and clinical applications. The results of toluidine blue, Safranin O, and immunohistochemical staining and analysis of collagen II expression showed maintenance of a chondrogenic phenotype in all scaffolds after 28-day culture. The most obvious phenomenon was with the addition of TGF-β3. S/D composite scaffolds with sequential delivery of TGF-β3 may mimic the regenerative microenvironment to enhance the chondrogenic differentiation of ADSCs in vitro., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

The roles of photosynthesis-related traits in invasiveness of introduced plant species are still not well elucidated, especially in nutrient-poor habitats. In addition, little effort has been made to determine the physiological causes and consequences of the difference in these traits between invasive and native plants. To address these problems, we compared the differences in 16 leaf functional traits related to light-saturated photosynthetic rate (P max ) between 22 invasive and native plants in a nutrient-poor habitat in northeast China. The invasive plants had significantly higher P max , photosynthetic nitrogen- (PNUE), phosphorus- (PPUE), potassium- (PKUE) and energy-use efficiencies (PEUE) than the co-occurring natives, while leaf nutrient concentrations, construction cost (CC) and specific leaf area were not significantly different between the invasive and native plants. The higher PNUE contributed to higher P max for the invasive plants, which in turn contributed to higher PPUE, PKUE and PEUE. CC changed independently with other traits such as P max , PNUE, PPUE, PKUE and PEUE, showing two trait dimensions, which may facilitate acclimation to multifarious niche dimensions. Our results indicate that the invasive plants have a superior resource-use strategy, i.e. higher photosynthesis under similar resource investments, contributing to invasion success in the barren habitat., (© 2017 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.)

A novel facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated strain LAM-WHM-D11 T , was isolated from a frozen soil sample of China. Cells of strain LAM-WHM-D11 T were observed to be Gram-stain negative, non-motile and rod-shaped. Colonies were yellowish, and circular with convex shape. Strain LAM-WHM-D11 T was found to be able to grow at 4-40 °C (optimum 15 °C), pH 7.5-2.0 (optimum 9.5) and 0-2.5% NaCl (w/v) (optimum 1.5%). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analysis showed that strain LAM-WHM-D11 T is closely related to Arenimonas metalli CF5-1 T (98.0%), Arenimonas aquaticum NA-09 T (97.9%), Arenimonas donghaensis HO3-R19 T (95.6%) and Arenimonas aestuarii S2-21 T (95.3%). The DNA-DNA hybridization values between the isolate and A. metalli CGMCC 1.10787 T , A. aquaticum KACC 14663 T , A. donghaensis KACC 11381 T were 41.0 ± 1.7, 44.7 ± 1.4 and 42.8 ± 1.2%, respectively. The genomic DNA G+C content was found to be 66.5 mol% as determined by the T m method. The major cellular fatty acids were identified as iso-C 15:0 and iso-C 16:0 . The major isoprenoid quinone was identified as ubiquinone 8 (Q-8). The major polar lipids were found to be diphosphatidyglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, two phospholipids and five unidentified lipids. Based on the phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain LAM-WHM-D11 T is concluded to represent a novel species within the genus Arenimonas, for which the name Arenimonas alkanexedens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LAM-WHM-D11 T (ACCC 19750 T  = JCM 30464 T ).

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are considered as the main effector cells in vitamin A metabolism and liver fibrosis, as well as in hepatic immune regulation. Recently, researches have revealed that HSCs have plasticity and heterogeneity, which depend on their lobular location and whether liver is normal or injured. This research aimed to explore the biological characteristics and heterogeneity of HSCs in mice with Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) infection, and determine the subpopulation of HSCs in pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis caused by S. japonicum infection. Results revealed that HSCs significantly increased the expressions of MHC II and fibrogenic genes after S. japonicum infection, and could be classified into MHC II + HSCs and MHC II - HSCs subsets. Both two HSCs populations suppressed the proliferation of activated CD4 + T cells, whereas only MHC II - HSCs displayed a myofibroblast-like phenotype. In response to IFN-γ, HSCs up-regulated the expressions of MHC II and CIITA, while down-regulated the expression of fibrogenic gene Col1. In addition, praziquantel treatment decreased the expressions of fibrogenic genes in MHC II - HSCs. These results confirmed that HSCs from S. japonicum-infected mice have heterogeneity. The MHC II - α-SMA + HSCs were major subsets of HSCs contributing to liver fibrosis and could be considered as a potential target of praziquantel anti-fibrosis treatment., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This study evaluates the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and asthma. Literature search was carried out in several electronic databases and random effects meta-analyses were performed to obtain pooled estimates of the prevalence of OSA, OSA risk and sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in asthma patients and pooled odds ratios of the prevalence between asthma and non-asthma patients. In adult asthma patients, the prevalence [95% confidence interval] of OSA, OSA risk, and SDB was 49.50 [36.39, 62.60] %, 27.50 [19.31, 35.69] %, and 19.65 [14.84, 24.46] % respectively. The odds of having OSA, OS risk and SDB by the asthma patients were 2.64 [1.76, 3.52], 3.73 [2.90, 4.57] and 1.73 [1.11, 2.36] times higher (p < 0.00001 for all) in asthma than in non-asthma patients, respectively. Adult asthma patients with OSA had significantly higher BMI in comparison with asthma patients without OSA. This study reveals that the prevalence of OSA in asthma patients is considerably higher; even higher than OSA risk and SDB. Sleep studies should be performed in asthma patients with symptoms suggestive of OSA/OSA risk/SDB.

Relapse and metastasis are frequent in colon cancer and may be linked to stem cell characteristics. This study isolated side population (SP) cells from a colon cancer cell line (Colo-320) and examined their self-renewal and differentiation abilities. Compared to non-SP (NSP) cells, SP colon cancer cells were more tumorigenic in vivo and exhibited more invasive characteristics and a greater ability to form colonies. Additionally, more cells were in G 0 /G 1 phase and more highly expressed the multidrug resistance protein BCRP/ABCG2. We achieved enhanced chemotherapy sensitivity by transfecting SP cells with a hairpin-like, small interfering RNA (siRNA) eukaryotic expression plasmid targeting BCRP/ABCG2.

Whole tumor cell lysates (TCL) have been implemented as tumor antigens for cancer vaccine development, although clinical outcomes of TCL-based antitumor immunotherapy remain unsatisfactory. In order to improve the efficacy of TCL-based vaccines, biomaterials have been employed to enhance antigen delivery and presentation. Here, we have developed chitosan nanoparticles (CTS NPs) with surface mannose (Man) moieties for specific dendritic cells (DCs) targeting (Man-CTS NPs). The Man-CTS NPs were then loaded with TCL generated from B16 melanoma cells (Man-CTS-TCL NPs) for in vitro and in vivo assessment. Potency of the Man-CTS-TCL NPs as cancer vaccine was also assessed in vivo by immunization of mice with Man-CTS-TCL NPs followed by re-challenge with B16 melanoma cell inoculation. We have shown here that Man-CTS-TCL NPs promote bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) maturation and antigen presentation in vitro. In vivo evaluation further demonstrated that the Man-CTS-TCL NPs were readily taken up by endogenous DCs within the draining lymph node (DLN) following subcutaneous administration accompanied by increasing in serum IFN-γ and IL-4 levels. Tumor growth was also significantly delayed in mice primed with Man-CTS-TCL NPs vaccine, attributable at least in part to cytotoxic T lymphocytes response. Moreover, Man-CTS-TCL NPs vaccine also exhibited therapeutic effects in mice with melanoma. Thus, we report here the Man-CTS-TCL NPs as effective anti-tumor vaccine for cancer immunotherapy., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Evidence suggests that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is related to metabolic syndrome; however, the relationship among metabolic syndrome parameters (blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL)) and OSA is unclear., Methods: PRISMA guidelines were followed for this study. Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases were searched until December 23, 2015, using following terms: obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea, OSA and metabolic syndrome., Results: Ten studies were included in the analysis which included 2053 patients. Patients with OSA had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) (pooled standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.56, 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.71, P.

A highly efficient and facile cobalt-catalyzed C-H activation and peroxidation of 2-oxindoles was reported, which provides a new pathway for the synthesis of biologically active 3-peroxy-2-oxindoles from readily available starting materials in excellent chemical yields. The resulting products could be further transformed into various substituted 3-peroxyoxindoles in good to excellent yields. The developed method has been successfully applied to the synthesis of the natural product (±)-N-[2-(3-hydroxy-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]acetamide.

A novel facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated strain LAM0A28(T), was isolated from a saline silt sample collected from the Chinese Sea of Death located in Suining city, Sichuan province, China. Cells of strain LAM0A28(T) were observed to be Gram-stain positive, motile, endospore-forming and straight-rod shaped. Strain LAM0A28(T) was found to be able to grow at 15-45 °C (optimum: 30-35 °C), pH 5.0-10.0 (optimum: 7.5) and 0-5 % NaCl (w/v) (optimum: 0.5 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analysis showed that strain LAM0A28(T) is closely related to Paenibacillus jilunlii DSM 23019(T) (97.5 %) and Paenibacillus graminis DSM 15220(T) (97.2 %). The DNA-DNA hybridization values between the isolate and P. jilunlii DSM 23019(T), P. graminis DSM 15220(T) were 30.2 ± 1.6 % and 44.7 ± 2.1 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content was found to be 51.2 mol% as determined by the T m method. The major cellular fatty acids were identified as anteiso-C15:0, C16:0, iso-C16:0 and C14:0. The major isoprenoid quinone was identified as MK-7. The cell wall peptidoglycan was found to contain meso-diaminopimelic acid. The major polar lipids were found to be diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, two aminophospholipids and six unidentified lipids. Based on the phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain LAM0A28(T) is concluded to represent a novel species within the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus salinicaeni sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LAM0A28(T) (=ACCC 00741(T) = JCM 30850(T)).