BOston Neonatal Brain Injury Dataset for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (BONBID-HIE): Part I. MRI and Manual Lesion Annotation.

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a brain injury that occurs in 1 ~ 5/1000 term neonates. Accurate identification and segmentation of HIE-related lesions in neonatal brain magnetic resonance images (MRIs) is the first step toward predicting prognosis, identifying high-risk patients, and evaluating treatment effects. It will lead to a more accurate estimation of prognosis, a better understanding of neurological symptoms, and a timely prediction of response to therapy. We release the first public dataset containing neonatal brain diffusion MRI and expert annotation of lesions from 133 patients diagnosed with HIE. HIE-related lesions in brain MRI are often diffuse (i.e., multi-focal), and small (over half the patients in our data having lesions occupying <1% of brain volume). Segmentation for HIE MRI data is remarkably different from, and arguably more challenging than, other segmentation tasks such as brain tumors with focal and relatively large lesions. We hope that this dataset can help fuel the development of MRI lesion segmentation methods for HIE and small diffuse lesions in general.

The role of stimulator of interferon genes-mediated AMPK/mTOR/P70S6K autophagy pathway in cyfluthrin-induced testicular injury.

Cyfluthrin is widely used in the field of sanitary pest control by its wide insecticidal spectrum, high efficiency and low toxicity, low residue, and good biodegradability. But, as a double-edged sword, a large amount of cyfluthrin remains are still in the environment. The residual cyfluthrin is absorbed into the food chain through vegetation and then poses a risk to soil organisms and human health. Several studies have suggested that cyfluthrin is one of the main factors causing testicular damage, but the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we established in vivo and in vitro models of testicular injury in rats and GC-2 cells exposed to cyfluthrin to explore whether stimulator of interferon genes (STING) gene mediates the regulation of AMPK/mTOR/p70S6K autophagy pathway, which lays a foundation for further study of the mechanism of testicular injury induced by cyfluthrin. The results showed that the activity of super oxide dismutase in testis decreased and the activity of malonic dialdehyde increased with the increase of concentration in vivo and in vitro. At the same time, the levels of mitochondrial damage and inflammation in the testis also increased, which further activated autophagy. In this process, the increased level of inflammation is related to the increased expression of STING gene, and AMPK/mTOR/p70S6K autophagy pathway is also involved. To sum up, cyfluthrin has certain reproductive toxicity, and long-term exposure can induce testicular cell damage. STING gene can participate in cyfluthrin-induced testicular injury through AMPK/mTOR/P70S6K autophagy pathway.

[Decocting kinetics of Moringa oleifera leaves: based on correlation of decocting factors and multiple components].

Content of multiple components (neochlorogenic acid,L-tryptophan,vicenin-2,isoquercitrin,and astragalin) in Moringa oleifera leaves was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC),and the absolute content-time curves were plotted.Based on Fick's law of diffusion and Higbie's penetration theory,the parameters of the equations were calculated,and the measured results were substituted into the mathematical model to fit the equations.The n and a obtained from the equations on the decocting time factor and the solvent volume were close to each other.The dynamic models of the five components are as follows:■.The variation of the content of multiple components in M.oleifera leaves with time and solvent volume was explored.It was found that the content of the components was the highest when the leaves were decocted for 30 min with solvent volume 12 folds of the medicinal material.The dissolution and destruction of components and the diffusion movement of components are the main causes of the content change of M.oleifera leaves at different time and with different solvent volumes.The R~2of the linear equations on the content and the equations on the decocting process (5-30min and solvent volume 12-20 folds of the medicinal materials) was≥0.999 8 and≥0.9,respectively.Thus,the content determination and the decocting kinetic model had high accuracy,which can reflect the change law of the content of key components in M.oleifera leaves during the decoction.This study is expected to serve as a reference for optimizing the decocting technology.

circRNA is a potential target for cardiovascular diseases treatment.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of endogenous noncoding RNA, are characterized by their covalently closed-loop structures without a 5' cap or a 3' poly(A) tail. With the evolution of high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics, an increasing number of circRNAs have been discovered, and their functions were highlighted. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have become the world's leading killers, with serious impacts on human health. Although significant progress has been made in clarifying the development of CVDs from the molecular to the cellular level, CVDs remain one of the leading causes of death in humans. circRNAs mainly function as a "sponge" to absorb microRNAs, which results in the positive control of downstream proteins. They play important regulatory roles in the development of CVDs. This paper reviews current knowledge on the biogenesis, detection and validation, translation, translocation and degradation, and general functions of circRNAs, with a focus on their roles in CVDs.

An online diabetic retinopathy screening tool for patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIM: To develop a useful diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening tool for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A DR prediction model based on the Logistic regression algorithm was established on the development dataset containing 778 samples (randomly assigned to the training dataset and the internal validation dataset at a ratio of 7:3). The generalization capability of the model was assessed using an external validation dataset containing 128 samples. The DR risk calculator was developed through WeChat Developer Tools using JavaScript, which was embedded in the WeChat Mini Program. RESULTS: The model revealed risk factors (duration of diabetes, diabetic nephropathy, and creatinine level) and protective factors (annual DR screening and hyperlipidemia) for DR. In the internal and external validation, the recall ratios of the model were 0.92 and 0.89, respectively, and the area under the curve values were 0.82 and 0.70, respectively. CONCLUSION: The DR screening tool integrates education, risk prediction, and medical advice function, which could help clinicians in conducting DR risk assessments and providing recommendations for ophthalmic referral to increase the DR screening rate among patients with T2DM.

Platelet-Like Fusogenic Liposome-Mediated Targeting Delivery of miR-21 Improves Myocardial Remodeling by Reprogramming Macrophages Post Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Inflammatory modulations focusing on macrophage phenotype are promising candidates to promote better cardiac healing post myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury. However, the peak of monocyte/macrophage recruitment is later than the time when enhanced permeability and retention effect disappears, which greatly increases the difficulty of reprogramming macrophages through systemic administration. Meanwhile, the inability of nanomaterials to release their contents to specific intracellular locations through reasonable cellular internalization pathways is another obstacle to achieving macrophage reprogramming. Here, inspired by the increase in circulating platelet-monocyte aggregates in patients' post-MI/R and the high efficiency of fusogenic liposomes to deliver contents to the cytoplasm of target cells, a platelet-like fusogenic liposome (PLPs) is constructed. Under the coating of PLPs, mesoporous silica nanospheres with a payload of miR-21, an anti-inflammatory agent, can be specifically delivered to inflammatory monocytes in the blood circulation of MI/R induced mice. Then it directly enters the cytoplasm of monocytes through membrane fusion, thereby realizing the reparative reprogramming of the inflamed macrophages derived from it. In vivo administration of the resulting formula can effectively preserve the cardiac function of mice undergone MI/R. Minimal invasiveness and biological safety make this nano-platform a promising approach of immunotherapy.

Crocins: A comprehensive review of structural characteristics, pharmacokinetics and therapeutic effects.

Crocins, as a kind of water-soluble carotenoid pigment, are a series of ester compounds formed from crocetin and gentibiose or glucose, and mainly distributed among Crocus sativus L. (CSL), Gardenia jasminoides Ellis. (GJE). Crocins exhibit a wide range of pharmacological effects on neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, depression, liver disease, arthritis, tumor, diabetes, etc. This review systematically discussed the pharmacologic study of crocins in the aspect of structural characteristic and pharmacokinetics, and summarized the mechanism of treating disease. It summarized the abundant research of crocins from 1984 to 2020 based on the above aspects, which provide a reference for the deeply development and application of crocins.

[Quality changes of Gardeniae Fructus Praeparatus processed by different frying methods: a color-component correlation analysis].

The chromatic values of the broken-fried and single-fried Gardeniae Fructus Praeparatus(GFP) were measured by the color analyzer to analyze the color variation rule, and the contents of 10 main components were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography(UPLC). The multivariate statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and discriminant analysis were conducted to investigate the color and components of GFP samples. The experimental results revealed that L~*, a~*, b~*, and E~*ab decreased continuously during processing, and the color of samples gradually deepened. The trend and range of chromatic values during broken-frying and single-frying processes were basically identical. Gardenoside, crocin-Ⅰ(C-Ⅰ), and crocin-Ⅱ(C-Ⅱ) showed an obviously downward trend, while the contents of geniposidic acid and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(5-HMF) increased significantly. Shanzhiside, deacetyl-asperulosidic acid methyl ester, and geniposide(G2) showed a downward trend. Scandoside methyl ester rose first and fell later. Genipin-1-O-gentiobioside(G1) went through a decrease-increase-decrease trend. The change trends of component contents during broken-frying and single-frying processes were generally consistent, but the change range was different. Among all the components, scandoside methyl ester and G1 showed obvious change. Because of different stir-frying time, the change rate of each component content in the process of broken-frying was higher than that in single-frying process. Additionally, geniposidic acid, gardenoside, scandoside methyl ester, C-Ⅰ, C-Ⅱ, and 5-HMF exhibited a higher correlation with apparent color. On the basis of above findings, the discriminant function of two frying processes was established, which could be applied to the discrimination of broken-fried and single-fried samples. This study analyzed the dynamic quality change rule of GFP during broken-frying and single-frying processes based on color-component correlation analysis, and found the two methods showed consistent change trend, yet with slight difference in the quality of samples. This study can provide data support for the processing of GFP.

Mechanism of Ferroptosis: A Potential Target for Cardiovascular Diseases Treatment.

Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death caused by production of reactive oxygen species and disequilibrium of iron homeostasis. Many chemical compounds and clinical drugs induce ferroptosis in normal and cancer cells, while peroxidation inhibitors, iron chelators, and antioxidants can block ferroptosis. Glutathione peroxidase 4, ferroptosis suppressor protein 1, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, and system Xc- are the negative regulators of ferroptosis, whereas nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, p53, mitochondria voltage-dependent anion channel, and cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase function as positive regulators. Ferroptosis plays important roles in pathogen infection and tumor immunology. Recent studies suggest that ferroptosis plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which seriously threaten human health. Potential therapies designed around ferroptosis may alter the pathological progression of CVDs. Therefore, we redacted an overview of the discovery of ferroptosis, its regulatory mechanisms, and its potential impact on CVDs treatment.

Analysis of plasma metabolic profile, characteristics and enzymes in the progression from chronic hepatitis B to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important factor causing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic characteristics and related metabolic enzyme changes during the progression from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) to liver cirrhosis (LC) and, ultimately, to HCC. An untargeted metabolomics assay was performed in plasma from 50 healthy volunteers, 43 CHB patients, 67 LC patients, and 39 HCC patients. A total of 24 differential metabolites (DMs) were identified. Joint pathway analysis suggested striking changes in amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism from CHB to HCC. The panel of L-serine, creatine and glycine distinguished LC from CHB, and L-serine, cystathionine, creatine and linoleic acid distinguished HCC from LC. Bioinformatic analysis of publicly available data showed that differential metabolite profile-associated enzyme genes, including alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase-2 (AGXT2), D-amino-acid oxidase (DAO), and cystathionine gamma-lyase (CTH), were downregulated, while bisphosphoglycerate mutase (BPGM), cystathionine-ß-synthase (CBS), phosphoserine phosphatase (PSPH) and acyl-CoA thioesterase 7 (ACOT7) were upregulated, in HCC, all of which correlated with a poor prognosis for HCC patients. Our results indicated that serum metabolites and related enzymes are of considerable significance for the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC and can provide a theoretical basis and therapeutic index for future diagnosis and treatment.

Daphnane Diterpenoids from Daphne genkwa Inhibit PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling and Induce Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Colon Cancer Cells.

Seven new daphnane-type diterpenoids, daphgenkins A-G (1-7), and 15 known analogues (8-22) were isolated from the flower buds of Daphne genkwa. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by spectroscopic data and calculated ECD analyses. The cytotoxicities of all daphnane-type diterpenoids (1-22) obtained were evaluated against three human colon cancer cell lines (SW620, RKO, and LoVo). Compounds 1, 12, and 13 exhibited cytotoxic effects against the SW620 and RKO cell lines, with IC50 values in the range of 3.0-9.7 µM. The most active new compound, 1, with an IC50 value of 3.0 µM against SW620 cells, was evaluated further for its underlying molecular mechanism. Compound 1 induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, leading to the induction of apoptosis in SW620 cells. Also, it induced cancer cell apoptosis by an increased ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, activated cleaved caspase-3 and caspase-9, and upregulated PARP. Finally, compound 1 significantly inhibited PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling in SW620 cells. Together, the results suggest that compound 1 may be a suitable lead compound for further biological evaluation.

Prediction of fatal adverse prognosis in patients with fever-related diseases based on machine learning: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Fever is the most common chief complaint of emergency patients. Early identification of patients at an increasing risk of death may avert adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to establish an early prediction model of fatal adverse prognosis of fever patients by extracting key indicators using big data technology. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients' data was conducted using the Emergency Rescue Database of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital. Patients were divided into the fatal adverse prognosis group and the good prognosis group. The commonly used clinical indicators were compared. Recursive feature elimination (RFE) method was used to determine the optimal number of the included variables. In the training model, logistic regression, random forest, adaboost and bagging were selected. We also collected the emergency room data from December 2018 to December 2019 with the same inclusion and exclusion criterion. The performance of the model was evaluated by accuracy, F1-score, precision, sensitivity and the areas under receiver operator characteristic curves (ROC-AUC). RESULTS: The accuracy of logistic regression, decision tree, adaboost and bagging was 0.951, 0.928, 0.924, and 0.924, F1-scores were 0.938, 0.933, 0.930, and 0.930, the precision was 0.943, 0.938, 0.937, and 0.937, ROC-AUC were 0.808, 0.738, 0.736, and 0.885, respectively. ROC-AUC of ten-fold cross-validation in logistic and bagging models were 0.80 and 0.87, respectively. The top six coefficients and odds ratio (OR) values of the variables in the Logistic regression were cardiac troponin T (CTnT) (coefficient=0.346, OR = 1.413), temperature (T) (coefficient=0.235, OR = 1.265), respiratory rate (RR) (coefficient= -0.206,OR = 0.814), serum kalium (K) (coefficient=0.137, OR = 1.146), pulse oxygen saturation (SPO2) (coefficient= -0.101, OR = 0.904), and albumin (ALB) (coefficient= -0.043, OR = 0.958). The weights of the top six variables in the bagging model were: CTnT, RR, lactate dehydrogenase, serum amylase, heartrate, and systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: The main clinical indicators of concern included CTnT, RR, SPO2, T, ALB and K. The bagging model and logistic regression model had better diagnostic performance comprehesively. Those may be conducive to the early identification of critical patients with fever by physicians.

Performance evaluation of treating oil-containing restaurant wastewater in microbial fuel cell using in situ graphene/polyaniline modified titanium oxide anode.

Most studies conducted nowadays to boost electrode performance in microbial fuel cell (MFC) have focused on carbonaceous materials. The titanium suboxides (Ti4O7, TS) are able to provide a new alternative for achieving better performance in MFC and have been tested and demonstrated in this study. The Ti4O7 electrode with high electrochemical activity was modified by graphene/polyaniline by the constant potential method. Electrogenic microorganisms were more conducive to adhere to the anode electrode due to the presence of graphene/polyaniline. The MFC reactor with polyaniline /graphene modified TS (TSGP) anode achieves the highest voltage with 980 mV, and produces a peak power density of 2073 mW/m2, which is 2.9 and 12.7 times of those with the carbon cloth anode, respectively, at the 1000â€…Ω external resistance. In addition, this study evaluates the effects of anolyte conductivity, pH, and COD on the treatment of oil-containing restaurant wastewater (OCRW) in MFC using TSGP anode. The OCRW amended with 120 mS/cm obtains the lowest internal resistance (160.3 Ω). Increasing the anodic pH, gradually from acidic (pH 5.5) to alkaline conditions (pH 8.0), resulted in a gradual increase in maximum power density to 576.4 mW/m2 and a decrease in internal cell resistance to 203.7 Ω. The MFC at the COD 1500 mg/L could obtain steady-state output voltage during 103 h while removing up to 65.2% of the COD of the OCRW.

Mining multi-site clinical data to develop machine learning MRI biomarkers: application to neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

BACKGROUND: Secondary and retrospective use of hospital-hosted clinical data provides a time- and cost-efficient alternative to prospective clinical trials for biomarker development. This study aims to create a retrospective clinical dataset of Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) and clinical records of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), from which clinically-relevant analytic algorithms can be developed for MRI-based HIE lesion detection and outcome prediction. METHODS: This retrospective study will use clinical registries and big data informatics tools to build a multi-site dataset that contains structural and diffusion MRI, clinical information including hospital course, short-term outcomes (during infancy), and long-term outcomes (~ 2 years of age) for at least 300 patients from multiple hospitals. DISCUSSION: Within machine learning frameworks, we will test whether the quantified deviation from our recently-developed normative brain atlases can detect abnormal regions and predict outcomes for individual patients as accurately as, or even more accurately, than human experts. Trial Registration Not applicable. This study protocol mines existing clinical data thus does not meet the ICMJE definition of a clinical trial that requires registration.

A new technology for reducing anastomotic fistula in the neck after esophageal cancer surgery.

BACKGROUND: To explore the risk factors and prevention methods of cervical mechanical anastomotic fistula and stenosis after the radical resection of esophageal cancer. METHODS: From March 2018 to November 2018, 128 patients undergoing mechanical anastomosis of esophageal cancer were selected from the Department of Thoracic Surgery of The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. All the enrolled patients were operated on using the Mckeown method, and a retrospective study was conducted. Data for preoperative and postoperative test indices, intraoperative embedding materials, postoperative complications, and preoperative and postoperative treatment were collected, and the relationship between various factors and the incidence of cervical anastomotic fistula and stenosis was analysed. Univariate analysis was conducted using t tests or Fisher's exact probability method, and multivariate analysis was conducted using logistic regression models. RESULTS: All 128 patients successfully underwent surgery without dying. The enrolled patients were evaluated using the Stooler classification, with 28 patients having grade 0, 41 patients having grade 1, 34 patients having grade 2, 21 patients having grade 3, and 4 patients having grade 4 stenosis. Patients with stenosis of grade 3 or above had obvious choking sensation, which could only be relieved by balloon dilation. Symptoms in all patients with stenosis were relieved by balloon dilation. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding embedding materials, preoperative choking history, history of alcohol consumption, history of hypertension, history of coronary heart disease, history of diabetes, postoperative calcium concentration, average albumin concentration, average platelet concentration, body mass index, anastomotic fistula, preoperative chemotherapy, postoperative chemotherapy, or postoperative cough (P>0.05). There were significant differences in postoperative reflux (χ2=11.338, P<0.05) and scar constitution (χ2=12.497, P<0.05). The effects of embedding materials in patients with anastomotic fistula were significantly different (χ2=4.372, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative reflux and scar constitution may be risk factors for postoperative anastomotic stenosis after resection of esophageal cancer. There was almost no difference in the effects on esophageal anastomotic stenosis between embedding materials and the omentum majus, but Neoveil® may have certain advantages in preventing cervical anastomotic fistula, and thus may have certain clinical application value.

TREML2 Mutation Mediate Alzheimer's Disease Risk by Altering Neuronal Degeneration.

A coding missense mutation (rs3747742) in triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-like 2 (TREML2) has been recently proposed as an important protective factor against Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the link between TREML2 and AD pathology remains unclear. Therefore, we explored the association of TREML2 rs3747742 with cognitive function, neuroimaging biomarkers and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers related to AD, including CSF total-tau (T-tau), phosphor-tau (P-tau), and amyloid-ß (Aß1-42). As for cognitive function, related cognitive scores of Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDRSB), Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive section 11 (ADAS-cog 11), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) were extracted. We used a multiple linear regression model to examine the association of TREML2 rs3747742 with the baseline variables. Furthermore, we also calculated the change rate of above variables influenced by TREML2 rs3747742 via applying a mixed-effects model over a 4-year follow-up. In this analysis, a total of 1,306 individuals from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database were included. Finally, we observed that only in AD patients, but not in normal controls or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals, TREML2 rs3747742 exhibited a strong association with CSF total-tau levels at baseline (ß = -22.1210, p = 0.0166) and 4-year follow-up (ß = -0.3961, p = 0.0115). Furthermore, no associations were found with CSF Aß1-42 levels, P-tau levels, neuroimaging biomarkers and cognitive function neither for baseline variables nor for longitudinal data. Thus, this study indicated that TREML2 mediated the risk of AD through influencing AD-related neurodegeneration (abnormal T-tau levels) but not P-tau levels and Aß pathology.

Metabolic mechanisms of Fuzheng-Huayu formula against liver fibrosis in rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Fuzheng-Huayu formula (FZHY) is traditionally used to treat liver fibrosis in clinic. The study was conducted to investigate the metabolic mechanisms of FZHY against liver fibrosis in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats with CCl4 -induced liver fibrosis were treated with FZHY and its components, including amygdalin, cordyceps polysaccharide and gypenoside, respecitively. Liver fibrosis and function were assesed by histopathological examination, Western blot and serum biochemical detection. Metabolic profiling of liver tissue, serum and urine in each group were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and transcriptomic changes were tested by gene chip. RT-qPCR was used to validate levels of different expressed genes (DEGs) with statistical significance. Metabolic network together with DEGs was constructed based on KEGG database. RESULTS: FZHY effectively improved liver fibrosis better than the mixture or single use of gypenoside, cordyceps sinensis mycelia and amygdalin. FZHY treatment widely modulated the metabolic profiles perturbed by liver fibrosis, involving several important metabolic pathways, including glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, glucose-alanine cycle, citrate cycle, galactose metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, urea cycle, etc. It also increased alanine and decreased glucose levels in liver tissue and decreased both of them in serum and urine, which were dysregulated by CCl4 treatment. Additionally, FZHY also upregulated expression of metabolic enzymes including Hk2, Adh1 and Gpt increased, and downregulated Gs and Acss2. CONCLUSION: FZHY improved liver fibrosis in rats via altering the metabolic pathways and regulating gene expression of involved metabolic enzymes.

Ginsenoside Rg3 inhibits the migration and invasion of liver cancer cells by increasing the protein expression of ARHGAP9.

Ginsenoside Rg3, a naturally occurring phytochemical, serves an important role in the prevention and treatment of cancer. In the present study, with the aim to reveal the molecular mechanism of Rg3 in liver cancer cell metastasis, the anti-migration and anti-invasion effects of Rg3 on liver cancer cells were investigated. It was demonstrated that Rg3 caused marked inhibition of cell migration and invasion of human liver cancer cells, HepG2 and MHCC-97L, in vitro, and the growth of HepG2 and MHCC-97L tumors in BABL/c nude mice. The protein expression of Rho GTPase activating protein 9 (ARHGAP9) was increased both in HepG2 and MHCC-97L cells. Following ARHGAP9 knockdown, the results of Transwell and tumorigenesis assays revealed that the anti-migration, anti-invasion and anti-tumor growth effects of Rg3 were impaired significantly. The increased expression of ARHGAP9 protein induced by Rg3 was remarkably suppressed. All results suggested that ARHGAP9 protein may be a vital regulator in the anti-metastatic role of Rg3. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to report that Rg3 effectively suppressed the migration and invasion of liver cancer cells by upregulating the protein expression of ARHGAP9, indicating a novel natural therapeutic agent and a therapeutic target for the treatment of liver cancer.