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Assessing the relationship between litter characteristics and soil microbial community traits across different forest types can enhance our understanding of the synergistic interactions among litter, soil, and microorganisms. This study focused on three representative forest types in the Funiu Mountains—Larix gmelinii (LG), Quercus aliena var. acutiserrata (QA), and Quercus aliena var. acutiserrata + Pinus armandii (QAPA). The findings indicated no significant differences in Chao1 among the three forests; however, the Shannon index exhibited an initial increase followed by a decline. NMDS and ANOSIM analyses revealed significant structural differences across these forest types. Network topological metrics (nodes, edges, average degree, and average path distance) for bacterial taxa were higher in LG and QA compared with QAPA. Additionally, LG and QA demonstrated significantly greater average niche breadth than QAPA. The results from the null models (the proportion occupied by dispersal limitation is 62.2%, 82.2%, and 64.4% in LG, QA, and QAPA), modified stochasticity ratio (LG: 0.708, QA: 0.664, and QAPA: 0.801), and neutral community models (LG: R2 = 0.665, QA: R2 = 0.630, and QAPA: R2 = 0.665) suggested that stochastic processes predominantly govern the assembly of soil bacterial communities. Random forest analysis alongside Mantel tests highlighted LTP (litter total phosphorus), STN (soil total nitrogen), MCP (carbon-to-phosphorus ratio of microbial biomass), and SCN (soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio) as critical factors affecting bacterial niche width; conversely LCN (litter carbon-to-nitrogen ratio), RCP (ratio of dissolved carbon to phosphorus), MCP, and SCN emerged as key determinants influencing community assembly processes. Furthermore, the PLS-SEM results underscored how both litter characteristics along with soil properties—and their associated alpha diversity—impact variations in niche breadth while also shaping community assembly dynamics overall. This research provides vital insights into understanding synergistic relationships between litter quality, soil characteristics, and microbial community across diverse forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) is an enigmatic and aggressive tumor that has a worse prognosis and higher metastatic potential than its adenocarcinoma counterpart. Here we report that ASC tumors frequently harbor somatically acquired mutations in the UPF1 gene, which encodes the core component of the nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) pathway. These tumor-specific mutations alter UPF1 RNA splicing and perturb NMD, leading to upregulated levels of NMD substrate mRNAs. UPF1 mutations are, to our knowledge, the first known unique molecular signatures of pancreatic ASC.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing health problem that is closely associated with insulin resistance and hereditary susceptibility. Exercise is a beneficial approach to NAFLD. However, the relief mechanism of exercise training is still unknown. In this study, mice on a normal diet or a high-fat diet (HFD), combined with Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, hydrochloride (L-NAME) mice, were either kept sedentary or were subjected to a 12-week exercise running scheme. We found that exercise reduced liver steatosis in mice with diet-induced NAFLD. The hepatic adenosine deaminases acting on RNA 2 (ADAR2) were downregulated in NAFLD and were upregulated in the liver after 12-week exercise. Next, overexpression of ADAR2 inhibited and suppression promoted lipogenesis in HepG2 cells treated with oleic acid (OA), respectively. We found that ADAR2 could down-regulate mature miR-34a in hepatocytes. Functional reverse experiments further proved that miR-34a mimicry eliminated the suppression of ADAR2 overexpression in lipogenesis in vitro. Moreover, miR-34a inhibition and mimicry could also affect lipogenesis in hepatocytes. In conclusion, exercise-induced ADAR2 protects against lipogenesis during NAFLD by editing miR-34a. RNA editing mediated by ADAR2 may be a promising therapeutic candidate for NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]