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Aims/Introduction: To investigate risk factors for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and to explore the connection between insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) and DPN in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: A total of 790 patients with type 2 diabetes participated in a cross‐sectional study, divided into two groups: those with DPN (DPN) and those without DPN (non‐DPN). Blood samples were taken to measure IGF‐1 levels and other biochemical markers. Participants underwent nerve conduction studies and quantitative sensory testing. Results: Patients with DPN exhibited significantly lower levels of IGF‐1 compared with non‐DPN patients (P < 0.001). IGF‐1 was positively correlated with the average amplitude of both motor (P < 0.05) and sensory nerves (P < 0.05), but negatively correlated with the vibration perception threshold (P < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between IGF‐1 and nerve conduction velocity (P > 0.05), or the temperature detection threshold (P > 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis identified diabetes duration, HbA1c, and the low levels of IGF‐1 as independent risk factors (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis determined that at 8 years duration of diabetes, 8.5% (69.4 mmol/mol) HbA1c and 120 ng/mL IGF‐1, the optimal cut‐off points, indicated DPN (P < 0.001). Conclusions: A reduction of IGF‐1 in patients with DPN suggests a potential protective role against axon injury in large fiber nerves of type 2 diabetes patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-type lamins are major constituents of the nuclear lamina in all metazoan cells, yet have specific roles in the development of certain cell types. Although they are speculated to regulate gene expression in developmental contexts, a direct link between B-type lamins and developmental gene expression in an in vivo system is currently lacking. Here, we identify lamin B1 as a key regulator of gene expression required for the formation of functional olfactory sensory neurons. By using targeted knockout in olfactory epithelial stem cells in adult mice, we show that lamin B1 deficient neurons exhibit attenuated response to odour stimulation. This deficit can be explained by decreased expression of genes involved in mature neuron function, along with increased expression of genes atypical of the olfactory lineage. These results support that the broadly expressed lamin B1 regulates expression of a subset of genes involved in the differentiation of a specific cell type.

Aim: Neoadjuvant treatments (nCRT) are becoming the standard treatment for patients with stage II or III mid‐low rectal cancer. Recently, some studies have shown that surgery alone may be sufficient for patients with T3 rectal cancer. This raises the question of whether nCRT is necessary for all patients with T3 rectal cancer. Therefore, this study compared the clinical outcomes of patients with MRI‐defined T3, clear MRF mid–low rectal cancer treated with surgery alone (TME group) or nCRT followed by surgery (nCRT + TME group). Methods: A total of 1509 patients were enrolled in this study. After a 1:1 propensity score matching analysis, 480 patients were included in each group. The primary endpoint was 3‐year disease‐free survival (DFS). The secondary endpoints included the perioperative outcomes, histopathologic outcomes, and other follow‐up outcomes. Results: nCRT had advantages in rates of sphincter‐preserving surgery and tumor downstaging, but it was accompanied by a higher rate of enterostomies. At 3 years after surgery, local recurrence occurred in 3.3% of patients in the TME group and in 3.5% of patients in the nCRT + TME group (P = 0.914), the DFS rates were 78.3% in the TME group and 75.3% in the nCRT + TME group (P = 0.188), and the overall survival rates were 90.3% in the TME group and 89.9% in the nCRT + TME group (P = 0.776). Conclusions: Surgery alone versus nCRT followed by surgery may provide similar long‐term oncological outcomes for patients with MRI‐defined T3, clear MRF, and mid–low rectal cancer. nCRT may cause overtreatment in some patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many corals harbour symbiotic dinoflagellate algae. The algae live inside coral cells in a specialized membrane compartment known as the symbiosome, which shares the photosynthetically fixed carbon with coral host cells while host cells provide inorganic carbon to the algae for photosynthesis.sup.1. This endosymbiosis--which is critical for the maintenance of coral reef ecosystems--is increasingly threatened by environmental stressors that lead to coral bleaching (that is, the disruption of endosymbiosis), which in turn leads to coral death and the degradation of marine ecosystems.sup.2. The molecular pathways that orchestrate the recognition, uptake and maintenance of algae in coral cells remain poorly understood. Here we report the chromosome-level genome assembly of a Xenia species of fast-growing soft coral.sup.3, and use this species as a model to investigate coral-alga endosymbiosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified 16 cell clusters, including gastrodermal cells and cnidocytes, in Xenia sp. We identified the endosymbiotic cell type, which expresses a distinct set of genes that are implicated in the recognition, phagocytosis and/or endocytosis, and maintenance of algae, as well as in the immune modulation of host coral cells. By coupling Xenia sp. regeneration and single-cell RNA sequencing, we observed a dynamic lineage progression of the endosymbiotic cells. The conserved genes associated with endosymbiosis that are reported here may help to reveal common principles by which different corals take up or lose their endosymbionts. Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies the pattern of gene expression during lineage progression in endosymbiotic cells of the fast-growing soft coral Xenia, revealing principles that underlie uptake and maintenance of endosymbionts by this coral., Author(s): Minjie Hu [sup.1] , Xiaobin Zheng [sup.1] , Chen-Ming Fan [sup.1] , Yixian Zheng [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, USA Main Many [...]