Prenatal inflammation exposure accelerates lung cancer tumorigenesis in offspring mouse: possible links to IRE1α/XBP1-mediated M2-like polarization of TAMs and PD-L1 up-expression.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal inflammation exposure (PIE) can increase the disease susceptibility in offspring such as lung cancer. Our purpose was to investigate the mechanisms of PIE on lung cancer. METHODS: Prenatal BALB/c mice were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and then, their offspring were intraperitoneally instilled with urethane to establish the two-stage lung cancer carcinogenesis model. At the 48 weeks of age, the offspring mice were killed and lung tissues were collected for HE, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Luminex MAGPIX®-based assays. CD11b + F4/80 + tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) were sorted out from lung tumor tissues by cell sorting technique. Flow cytometry was employed to evaluate the extent of M2-like polarization of TAMs and PD-L1 expression. RESULTS: The offspring of PIE mice revealed more lung lesion changes, including atypical hyperplasia and intrapulmonary metastases. The number of lung nodules, lung organ index, and PCNA, MMP-9 and Vimentin positive cells in lung tissue of PIE group were higher than those of Control group. The increases of mRNA encoding M2 macrophage markers and cytokines in offspring of prenatal LPS-treated mice confirmed the induced effect of PIE on macrophage polarization. Additionally, PIE treatment increased the percentage of CD163 + CD206 + cells in the sorted TAMs. Importantly, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-markers like GRP78/BIP and CHOP, p-IRE1α and XBP1s, and PD-L1 were up-regulated in TAMs from PIE group. Besides, we also observed that IRE1α inhibitor (KIRA6) reversed the M2-like TAMs polarization and metastasis induced by PIE. CONCLUSIONS: IRE1α/XBP1-mediated M2-like TAMs polarization releases the pro-tumorigenic cytokines and PD-L1 expression, which may be the regulatory mechanism of accelerating lung cancer in offspring of mice undergoing PIE.

ERBB3 deficiency causes a multisystemic syndrome in human patient and zebrafish.

The Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 3 (ERBB3) gene was first identified as a cause of lethal congenital contracture syndrome (OMIM 607598), while a recent study reported six additional patients carrying ERBB3 variants which exhibited distinct clinical features with evident intestinal dysmotility (OMIM 243180). The potential connection between these phenotypes remains unknown, and the ERBB3-related phenotype spectrum needs to be better characterized. Here, we described a patient presenting with a multisystemic syndrome including skip segment Hirschsprung disease, bilateral clubfoot deformity, and cardiac defect. Trio-whole exome sequencing revealed a novel compound heterozygous variant (c.1914-7C>G; c.2942_2945del) in the patient's ERBB3 gene. RT-PCR and in vitro minigene analysis demonstrated that variant c.1914-7C>G caused aberrant mRNA splicing. Both variants resulted in premature termination codon and complete loss of ERBB3 function. erbb3b knockdown in zebrafish simultaneously caused a reduction in enteric neurons in the distal intestine, craniofacial cartilage defects, and micrognathia, which phenotypically mimics ERBB3-related intestinal dysmotility and some features of lethal congenital contracture syndrome in human patients. These findings provide further patient and animal evidence supporting that ERBB3 deficiency causes a complex syndrome involving multiple systems with phenotypic variability among distinct individuals.

Biallelic ANKS6 null variants cause notable extrarenal phenotypes in a nephronophthisis patient and lead to hepatobiliary abnormalities by YAP1 deficiency.

The ankyrin repeat and sterile alpha motif domain containing 6 (ANKS6) gene, encoding an inversin compartment protein of the primary cilium, was recently reported as a pathogenic gene of nephronophthisis (MIM PS256100). Extrarenal manifestations are frequently observed in this disease, however, potential genotype-phenotype correlations and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we described an infant with kidney failure, hepatobiliary abnormalities, and heart disease, in whom whole exome sequencing identified compound heterozygous variants in ANKS6, including a novel nonsense variant p.Trp458* and a recurrent splicing variant c.2394+1G > A. mRNA expression studies showed that the splicing variant caused aberrant mRNA splicing with exon 13 skipping and the biallelic variants were predicted to cause loss of ANKS6 function. We systematically characterized the clinical and genetic spectra of the disease and revealed that biallelic null variants in ANKS6 cause more severe kidney disease and more extrarenal manifestations, thus establishing a clear genotype-phenotype correlation for the disease. Further evaluations showed that ANKS6 deficiency reduced YAP1 expression in the patient's bile duct epithelium and ANKS6 promotes YAP1 transcriptional activity in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that loss of ANKS6 function causes hepatobiliary abnormalities through YAP1 deficiency during biliary morphogenesis and development, which may offer new therapeutic targets.

Loss-of-function variants within LMOD1 actin-binding site 2 cause pediatric intestinal pseudo-obstruction by impairing protein stability and actin nucleation.

The leiomodin1 (LMOD1) gene, encoding a potent actin nucleator, was recently reported as a potential pathogenic gene of megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome (MMIHS, OMIM 619362). However, only a single patient has been reported to have LMOD1 mutations, and the underlying pathogenic mechanism remains unknown. Here, we described a male infant with LMOD1 mutations presenting typical symptoms of pediatric intestinal pseudo-obstruction (PIPO) but without megacystis and microcolon. Two compound heterozygous missense variants (c.1106C>T, p.T369M; c.1262G>A, p.R421H) were identified, both affecting highly conserved amino acid residues within the second actin-binding site (ABS2) domain of LMOD1. Expression analysis showed that both variants resulted in significantly reduced protein amounts, especially for p.T369M, which was almost undetectable. The reduction was only partially rescued by the proteasome inhibitor MG-132, indicating that there might be proteasome-independent pathways involved in the degradation of the mutant proteins. Molecular modeling showed that variant p.T369M impaired the local protein conformation of the ABS2 domain, while variant p.R421H directly impaired the intermolecular interaction between ABS2 and actin. Accordingly, both variants significantly damaged LMOD1-mediated actin nucleation. These findings provide further human genetic evidence supporting LMOD1 as a pathogenic gene underlying visceral myopathy including PIPO and MMIHS, strengthen the critical role of ABS2 domain in LMOD1-mediated actin nucleation, and moreover, reveal an unrecognized role of ABS2 in protein stability.

Formation of regulated and unregulated disinfection byproducts during chlorination and chloramination: Roles of dissolved organic matter type, bromide, and iodide.

Algal blooms and wastewater effluents can introduce algal organic matter (AOM) and effluent organic matter (EfOM) into surface waters, respectively. In this study, the impact of bromide and iodide on the formation of halogenated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) during chlorination and chloramination from various types of dissolved organic matter (DOM, e.g., natural organic matter (NOM), AOM, and EfOM) were investigated based on the data collected from literature. In general, higher formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) was observed in NOM than AOM and EfOM, indicating high reactivities of phenolic moieties with both chlorine and monochloramine. The formation of haloacetaldehydes (HALs), haloacetonitriles (HANs) and haloacetamides (HAMs) was much lower than THMs and HAAs. Increasing initial bromide concentrations increased the formation of THMs, HAAs, HANs, and HAMs, but not HALs. Bromine substitution factor (BSF) values of DBPs formed in chlorination decreased as specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) increased. AOM favored the formation of iodinated THMs (I-THMs) during chloramination using preformed chloramines and chlorination-chloramination processes. Increasing prechlorination time can reduce the I-THM concentrations because of the conversion of iodide to iodate, but this increased the formation of chlorinated and brominated DBPs. In an analogous way, iodine substitution factor (ISF) values of I-THMs formed in chloramination decreased as SUVA values of DOM increased. Compared to chlorination, the formation of noniodinated DBPs is low in chloramination.

Differential and Predictive Value of Galectin-3 and Soluble Suppression of Tumorigenicity-2 (sST2) in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.

BACKGROUND Galectin-3 and soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (sST2) are promising biomarkers of cardiac fibrosis and ventricular remodeling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic and predictive value of galectin-3 and sST2 for use in patients who have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 217 hospitalized patients with HF and 30 controls from a physical examination center were included. Venous blood was collected for the detection of circulating expression of galectin-3 and sST2. All the included patients were followed up regularly for 1 year (12±1 months). RESULTS The concentrations of galectin-3 and NT-proBNP were substantially higher following decreased ejection fraction (both P=0.000), except for sST2 (P=0.068 vs. control). In ROC analyses, galectin-3 and NT-proBNP distinguished HFpEF from controls with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.819 (95% CI: 0.75-0.89, P=0.000) and 0.806 (95% CI: 0.66-0.82, P=0.000). In contrast, sST2 obtained a lower AUC of 0.584 (95% CI: 0.49-0.68, P=0.17) compared to galectni-3 and NT-proBNP. After adjustment for clinical factors and NT-proBNP, galectin-3 was strongly correlated with an increased risk of the endpoint events in HFpEF patients, and the hazard ratio per 1 SD increase of the galectin-3 level was 2.33 (95%CI: 1.72-2.94, P=0.009). CONCLUSIONS Galectin-3 is superior to sST2 in distinguishing HFpEF from controls and HFrEF.

Additional Diagnostic Value of Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15) to N-Terminal B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) in Patients with Different Stages of Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a promising biomarker of cardiac remodeling. The purpose of this study was to explore the diagnostic value of plasma GDF-15 levels in different stages of heart failure (HF) and to assess the relationship with ventricular remodeling. MATERIAL AND METHODS We enrolled 219 HF patients from the Department of Cardiology in Tianjin Union Medical Center as the HF group and 32 healthy subjects as the control group. Circulating GDF-15, NT-proBNP, procollagen I C-terminal propeptide (PICP), and N-terminal procollagen III propeptide (PIIINP) levels were measured using ELISA. Associations between GDF-15 and clinical indicators in cardiac remodeling were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Spearman correlation. All the patients were followed up for 1 year. RESULTS The level of plasma GDF-15 in HF patients was higher than in the control group (P<0.05) and increased with higher ACCF/AHA and NYHA classification (P<0.05). Patients with HFrEF had higher GDF-15 levels compared to patients with HFmrEF (P<0.05). GDF-15 and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were significantly increased as early as the pre-clinical HF stage. Also, GDF-15 levels were positively correlated to LVMI (r=0.433, P<0.05), PICP (r=0.378, P<0.001) and PIIINP (r=0.382, P<0.001). ROC curves were constructed and GDF-15 plus NT-proBNP (AUC=0.905, 95%CI: 0.868-0.942, P<0.001) was superior to NT-proBNP (AUC=0.869, 95%CI: 0.825-0.913, P<0.001) in identifying HF. GDF-15 levels did not predict prognosis after a 1-year follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS GDF-15 combined with NT-proBNP significantly improves the accuracy of diagnosing HF. Plasma GDF-15 levels can indirectly reflect the degree of cardiac remodeling and fibrosis.

A novel homozygous complex deletion in CFTR caused cystic fibrosis in a Chinese patient.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent lethal genetic disorder among Caucasians, but is considered to be a very rare disease in Chinese population. Here, we present an 11-year-old Chinese CF patient with disseminated bronchiectasis and salty sweat, for whom exon sequencing followed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis of the CFTR gene was applied for mutation screening. A homozygous deletion involving exon 20 of CFTR was observed in the patient's genome. Molecular characterization of the breakpoints indicated that both alleles of this locus had an identical novel complex rearrangement (c.3140-454_c.3367+249del931ins13, p.R1048_G1123del), leading to an in-frame removal of 76 amino acid residues in the second transmembrane domains of the CFTR protein. Although a same haplotype containing this complex rearrangement was observed on both of the maternal and paternal alleles, the parents denied any blood relationship as far as they know. Genome-wide homozygosity mapping was performed through SNP microarray and only a single homozygous interval of ~14.1 Mb at chromosome 7 containing the CFTR gene was observed, indicating the possible origin of the deletion from a common ancestor many generations ago. This study expands the mutation spectrum of CFTR in patients of Chinese origin and further emphasizes the necessity of MLPA analysis in mutation screening for CF patients.

A patient with a large intrathoracic malignant schwannoma who showed a complete clinical response to rAd-p53-combined with radiotherapy.

The prognosis of postoperatively recurred malignant schwannoma is poor and there is no effective treatment. We had a patient who was found to have a large intrathoracic tumor 1 year after surgery and could not tolerate an operation for the second time. We then decided to evaluate the synergistic effect of recombinant adenovirus-p53 (rAd-p53) combined with radiotherapy for the patient. rAd-p53 was injected intratumorally twice a week before radiotherapy, a total of 10 times, over a course of treatment. Radiotherapy then followed gene therapy at five fractions a week for 5 weeks, with a total dosage of 80.6 Gy/31f in the center part of the tumor and 62 Gy/31f in other locations. The pathological diagnosis of malignant schwannoma indicated that the p53 expression was strongly positive and vascular endothelial growth factor and Bcl-2 were positive before treatment on protein immunohistochemical staining. After treatment, the diameter of the tumor was noticeably reduced and the center part of the tumor presented as a fluid anechoic area and cavities on computed tomographic scanning. The result of the puncture biopsy showed that there were many fibronecrotic tissues and no significant tumor cells. The p53 expression was weakly positive, Vascular endothelial growth factor was negative, and Bcl-2 was weakly positive after treatment on protein immunohistochemical staining.

Inferring Human Activity in Mobile Devices by Computing Multiple Contexts.

This paper introduces a framework for inferring human activities in mobile devices by computing spatial contexts, temporal contexts, spatiotemporal contexts, and user contexts. A spatial context is a significant location that is defined as a geofence, which can be a node associated with a circle, or a polygon; a temporal context contains time-related information that can be e.g., a local time tag, a time difference between geographical locations, or a timespan; a spatiotemporal context is defined as a dwelling length at a particular spatial context; and a user context includes user-related information that can be the user's mobility contexts, environmental contexts, psychological contexts or social contexts. Using the measurements of the built-in sensors and radio signals in mobile devices, we can snapshot a contextual tuple for every second including aforementioned contexts. Giving a contextual tuple, the framework evaluates the posteriori probability of each candidate activity in real-time using a Naïve Bayes classifier. A large dataset containing 710,436 contextual tuples has been recorded for one week from an experiment carried out at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi with three participants. The test results demonstrate that the multi-context solution significantly outperforms the spatial-context-only solution. A classification accuracy of 61.7% is achieved for the spatial-context-only solution, while 88.8% is achieved for the multi-context solution.

High-level expression, purification, and characterization of bifunctional ScFv-9R fusion protein.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is a noted proto-oncogene involved in the pathogenesis of many tumors, so more and more studies focus on the potential use of receptor kinase inhibitor and therapeutic antibodies against FGFR3. In this study, we designed a novel fusion protein containing the single-chain Fv (ScFv) against FGFR3 and 9-arginine, denoted as ScFv-9R. To achieve the high-level production and soluble expression, ScFv and ScFv-9R were fused with small ubiquitin-related modifier (Sumo) by polymerase chain reaction and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant bacteria was induced by 0.5 mM isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside for 20 h at 20 °C; supernatants of Sumo-ScFv was harvested and purified by DEAE Sepharose FF and Ni-NTA orderly, and supernatants of Sumo-ScFv-9R was harvested and purified by Ni-NTA. After cleaved by the Sumo protease, the recombinant ScFv or ScFv-9R was released from the fusion protein, respectively. The purity of ScFv or ScFV-9R was shown to be higher than 90 %, and their yield reached 3-5 mg per liter of bacterial culture. In vitro data showed that ScFV-9R can attenuate the phosphorylation of FGFR3 and ERK in the absence or presence of FGF9. Gel retardation assay showed that 1 µg of ScFv-9R could efficiently bind to about 4 pmol siRNA. Fluorescent microscope analysis showed that ScFv-9R can efficiently bind and deliver siRNA into RT112 cells. In conclusion, we use Sumo fusion system to acquire high-level production, soluble expression, and bifunctional activity of ScFv-9R in E. coli. Our results also revealed that ScFv-9R, as a novel carrier, may have potential applications in antitumor studies and pharmaceutical development.

The pathogenic mechanism of syndactyly type V identified in a Hoxd13Q50R knock-in mice.

Syndactyly type V (SDTY5) is an autosomal dominant extremity malformation characterized by fusion of the fourth and fifth metacarpals. In the previous publication, we first identified a heterozygous missense mutation Q50R in homeobox domain (HD) of HOXD13 in a large Chinese family with SDTY5. In order to substantiate the pathogenicity of the variant and elucidate the underlying pathogenic mechanism causing limb malformation, transcription-activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) was employed to generate a Hoxd13Q50R mutant mouse. The mutant mice exhibited obvious limb malformations including slight brachydactyly and partial syndactyly between digits 2-4 in the heterozygotes, and severe syndactyly, brachydactyly and polydactyly in homozygotes. Focusing on BMP2 and SHH/GREM1/AER-FGF epithelial mesenchymal (e-m) feedback, a crucial signal pathway for limb development, we found the ectopically expressed Shh, Grem1 and Fgf8 and down-regulated Bmp2 in the embryonic limb bud at E10.5 to E12.5. A transcriptome sequencing analysis was conducted on limb buds (LBs) at E11.5, revealing 31 genes that exhibited notable disparities in mRNA level between the Hoxd13Q50R homozygotes and the wild-type. These genes are known to be involved in various processes such as limb development, cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. Our findings indicate that the ectopic expression of Shh and Fgf8, in conjunction with the down-regulation of Bmp2, results in a failure of patterning along both the anterior-posterior and proximal-distal axes, as well as a decrease in interdigital programmed cell death (PCD). This cascade ultimately leads to the development of syndactyly and brachydactyly in heterozygous mice, and severe limb malformations in homozygous mice. These findings suggest that abnormal expression of SHH, FGF8, and BMP2 induced by HOXD13Q50R may be responsible for the manifestation of human SDTY5.

Motion control and positioning system of multi-sensor tunnel defect inspection robot: from methodology to application.

As the mileage of subway is increasing rapidly, there is an urgent need for automatic subway tunnel inspection equipment to ensure the efficiency and frequency of daily tunnel inspection. The subway tunnel environment is complex, it cannot receive GPS and other satellite signals, a variety of positioning sensors cannot be used. Besides, there are random interference, wheel and rail idling and creep. All the above results in poor performance of conventional speed tracking and positioning methods. In this paper, a multi-sensor motion control system is proposed for the subway tunnel inspection robot. At the same time, a trapezoidal speed planning and a speed tracking algorithm based on MPC (Model Predictive Control) are proposed, which simplify longitudinal dynamics model to overcome the complex and variable nonlinear problems in the operation of the maintenance robot. The optimal function of speed, acceleration and jerk constraint is designed to make the tunnel inspection robot achieve efficient and stable speed control in the subway tunnel environment. In this paper, the "INS (inertial navigation system) + Odometer" positioning method is proposed. The difference between the displacement measured by the inertial navigation system and the displacement calculated by the odometer is taken as the measurement value, which reduces the dimension of the conventional algorithm. The closed-loop Kalman filter is used to establish the combined positioning model, and the system error can be corrected in real time with higher accuracy. The algorithms were verified on the test line. The displacement target was set to be 1 km and the limit speed was 60 km/h. The overshooting error of the speed tracking algorithm based on trapezoidal velocity planning and MPC was 0.89%, and the stability error was 0.32%. It improved the accuracy and stability of the speed following, and was much better than the PID speed tracking algorithm. At the speed of 40 km/h, the maximum positioning error of the robot within 2 km is 0.15%, and the average error is 0.08%. It is verified that the multi-sensor fusion positioning algorithm has significantly improved the accuracy compared with the single-odometer positioning algorithm, and can effectively make up for the position error caused by wheel-rail creep and sensor error.

Overexpressed FOXM1 collaborates with MMB to increase WEE1 inhibitor sensitivity in NSCLC.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common lung tumor with high mortality. The complex formed by MYB-MuvB complex (MMB) and forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) (MMB-FOXM1) plays a vital role in cell cycle progression to affect the progression of diseases. The role of the FOXM1-MMB complex in Wee1-like protein kinase (WEE1) inhibitor sensitivity in NSCLC keeps unclear. Methods: The reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to measure the mRNA levels of FOXM1, LIN54, Replication Protein A (RPA), gammaH2AX (γH2AX) and Cyclin B (CCNB). The western blot was performed to examine the corresponding protein expressions. The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was performed to test cell survival. Result: It was demonstrated that after AZD-1775 treatment, the decrease in cell survival mediated by FOXM1 overexpression (P<0.001) could be reversed by LIN54 knockdown (P<0.01) and that cell survival in the control group did not differ obviously from that in the pcDNA3.1-FOXM1+siLIN54 group, indicating that the FOXM1-MMB complex was necessary for WEE1 inhibitor sensitivity. Moreover, the mRNA and protein expression levels of RPA and γH2AX were increased after AZD-1775 treatment and FOXM1 overexpression (P<0.01), suggesting that FOXM1 upregulation enhanced DNA replication stress and DNA damage. Finally, we found that the increases in the mRNA and protein expression levels of CCNB mediated by FOXM1 (P<0.01) could be rescued by silencing LIN54 (P<0.001) and that CCNB expression in the control group did not differ obviously from that in the pcDNA3.1-FOXM1+siLIN54 group. These findings revealed that the FOXM1-MMB complex activated G2/M checkpoints. In our work, it was discovered that FOXM1 overexpression increased DNA replication stress, which increased DNA replication and pressure on the WEE1 checkpoint. On the other hand, FOXM1 can enhance CCNB expression, increase the threshold content of the CCNB/CDK1 complex, facilitate mitosis, and promote WEE1 dephosphorylation. Under these two conditions, sensitivity to the WEE1 inhibitor AZD-1775 is increased, which leads to the accumulation of DNA damage and drives the activation of apoptosis. Conclusions: Overexpressed FOXM1 collaborates with MMB to increase WEE1 inhibitor sensitivity in NSCLC. This discovery might highlight the regulatory function of FOXM1/MMB in the treatment of NSCLC patients.

Alterations of gut microbiota in a mouse model with partial small intestinal obstruction.

Introduction: Changes in the gut microbiota of patients with partial small intestinal obstruction (PSIO) have not been widely clarified. We aimed to explore bacterial diversity in a PSIO mouse model. Methods: A PSIO mouse model was established using male C57BL/6 mice, and feces samples from the distal ileum and ileum epithelium tissues were collected. MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was conducted to characterize microbiota diversity and composition. RNA sequencing for differences in transcriptomic programming of the ileum tissue was performed between the PSIO and (Control) Ctrl groups. Results: Bacterial diversity in the PSIO group was significantly lower than that in the controls. Pseudomonadota was predominant in the feces of the PSIO group. Unclassified_Muribaculaceae (p = 0.008) and Akkermansia (p = 0.007) were more abundant in the Ctrl group than those in the PSIO group. Furthermore, Escherichia_Shigella (p = 0.008) was more predominant in the feces of the PSIO group. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways related to metabolism were depleted in the PSIO group. Pathways associated with intestinal fibrosis, including extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt signaling pathway and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling pathway, which were enriched in ileum epithelial tissue in the PSIO group. Conclusion: PSIO can lead to changes in the predominant intestinal bacterial groups. Depleted functional profiles of the gut microbiota were identified in the PSIO group. Functional pathways associated with intestinal fibrosis were activated by PSIO. The potential regulation by the microbiota needs to be explored in the future.

Clinical and Genetic Comparison of Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome (Hornstein-Knickenberg Syndrome) in Chinese: A Systemic Review of Reported Cases.

Background: Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHD), also named Hornstein-Knickenberg syndrome, is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by lung cysts, recurrent pneumothoraxes, renal cell carcinoma and skin fibrofolliculomas. Purpose: This study summarizes the clinical and genetic information of Chinese BHD patients from all available reported cases and explores the relationship between the clinical and genetic spectrum in the hope of improving the prognosis of Chinese BHD patients. Methods: Relative studies were collected by searching PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, OVID medicine, SinoMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data and China Hospital Knowledge Database from January 1, 1977 to December 31, 2021. The search strategy included the following term keys: (Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome OR Hornstein-Kinckenberg syndrome OR familial pulmonary cysts OR familial spontaneous pneumothorax OR fibrofolliculomas OR trichodiscomas OR inherited renal cancer syndromes OR FLCN) AND (Chinese OR China). Results: In total, 287 Chinese patients from 143 families described in 31 references were included in this article. Chinese BHD patients tended to present more pulmonary symptoms but fewer skin lesions and renal malignancies, which appeared to be atypical when compared with Caucasian patients. The FLCN mutation spectrum among Chinese BHD patients was established with the mutational hot spot c.1285depC/delC as the most frequent mutation. In addition, this mutation spectrum also showed some differences from other races, with a relatively frequent large deletion c.872-429_1740+1763del (exon 9-14 deletion) reported only in Chinese individuals but no observation of the two mutational hot spots found in Japanese individuals. We also attempted to establish potential pheno-genotype correlations in Chinese BHD patients, but the results were negative. Conclusion: To improve the prognosis of BHD patients, physicians need to increase their awareness of BHD by focusing on the family history of pneumothorax as well as skin lesions in patients with lung cysts and promptly advising patients on genetic sequencing.

LncRNA surfactant associated 1 activates large tumor suppressor kinase 1/Yes-associated protein pathway via modulating hypoxic exosome-delivered miR-4766-5p to inhibit lung adenocarcinoma metastasis.

LncRNA surfactant associated 1 (SFTA1P) exhibits low expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues as compared with that in adjacent tissues, and may play a suppressing role in NSCLC. However, the effect and mechanism of SFTA1P on the metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain undefined, which are thus investigated in this research. Herein, potential impacts of SFTA1P on LUAD were determined through the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). After knockdown/overexpression of SFTA1P, the metastatic ability of LUAD cells was evaluated by molecular biology experiments (cell counting kit-8 assay, scratch test, Transwell assay and Western blot). The effect of SFTA1P on Yes-associated protein (YAP) nuclear translocation was assessed by Western blot. Hypoxia-induced exosomes were extracted for LUAD metastasis analysis. The targeting relationship of SFTA1P/miR-4766-5p/large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1) was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay and molecular biology experiments. Xenograft and lung metastasis models were constructed for in vivo validation. SFTA1P was lowly expressed in LUAD, which was associated with the poor prognosis of patients with LUAD. Up-regulated SFTA1P prevented the metastasis of LUAD cells and the nuclear translocation of YAP. Hypoxia-induced exosomes stimulated LUAD cell metastasis, but inhibited the SFTA1P and LATS1/YAP axes. MiR-4766-5p acted as an intermediate "bridge" for SFTA1P to regulate LATS1. SFTA1P repressed xenograft growth and LUAD cell metastasis. To sum up, SFTA1P activates hypoxic exosome-delivered miR-4766-5p through modulating LATS1/YAP pathway, thereby suppressing LUAD cell metastasis, which may serve as a suitable target for the LUAD therapy.

Novel mutation c.1210-3C > G in cis with a poly-T tract of 5T affects CFTR mRNA splicing in a Chinese patient with cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare autosomal recessive disease with only one pathogenic gene cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). To identify the potential pathogenic mutations in a Chinese patient with CF, we conducted Sanger sequencing on the genomic DNA of the patient and his parents and detected all 27 coding exons of CFTR and their flanking intronic regions. The patient is a compound heterozygote of c.2909G > A, p.Gly970Asp in exon 18 and c.1210-3C > G in cis with a poly-T of 5T (T5) sequence, 3 bp upstream in intron 9. The splicing effect of c.1210-3C > G was verified via minigene assay in vitro, indicating that wild-type plasmid containing c.1210-3C together with T7 sequence produced a normal transcript and partial exon 10-skipping-transcript, whereas mutant plasmid containing c.1210-3G in cis with T5 sequence caused almost all mRNA to skip exon 10. Overall, c.1210-3C > G, the newly identified pathogenic mutation in our patient, in combination with T5 sequence in cis, affects the CFTR gene splicing and produces nearly no normal transcript in vitro. Moreover, this patient carries a p.Gly970Asp mutation, thus confirming the high-frequency of this mutation in Chinese patients with CF.

Clinical characteristics and genetic spectrum of 26 individuals of Chinese origin with primary ciliary dyskinesia.

BACKGROUND: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, highly heterogeneous genetic disorder involving the impairment of motile cilia. With no single gold standard for PCD diagnosis and complicated multiorgan dysfunction, the diagnosis of PCD can be difficult in clinical settings. Some methods for diagnosis, such as nasal nitric oxide measurement and digital high-speed video microscopy with ciliary beat pattern analysis, can be expensive or unavailable. To confirm PCD diagnosis, we used a strategy combining assessment of typical symptoms with whole-exome sequencing (WES) and/or low-pass whole-genome sequencing (WGS) as an unbiased detection tool to identify known pathogenic mutations, novel variations, and copy number variations. RESULTS: A total of 26 individuals of Chinese origin with a confirmed PCD diagnosis aged 13 to 61 years (median age, 24.5 years) were included. Biallelic pathogenic mutations were identified in 19 of the 26 patients, including 8 recorded HGMD mutations and 24 novel mutations. The detection rate reached 73.1%. DNAH5 was the most frequently mutated gene, and c.8383C > T was the most common mutated variant, but it is relatively rare in PCD patients from other ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the practical clinical utility of combining WES and low-pass WGS as a no-bias detecting tool in adult patients with PCD, showing a clinical characteristics and genetic spectrum of Chinese PCD patients.