PhenoBench: A Large Dataset and Benchmarks for Semantic Image Interpretation in the Agricultural Domain.

The production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel is a key task of agriculture, which has to cope with many challenges in the upcoming decades, e.g., a higher demand, climate change, lack of workers, and the availability of arable land. Vision systems can support making better and more sustainable field management decisions, but also support the breeding of new crop varieties by allowing temporally dense and reproducible measurements. Recently, agricultural robotics got an increasing interest in the vision and robotics communities since it is a promising avenue for coping with the aforementioned lack of workers and enabling more sustainable production. While large datasets and benchmarks in other domains are readily available and enable significant progress, agricultural datasets and benchmarks are comparably rare. We present an annotated dataset and benchmarks for the semantic interpretation of real agricultural fields. Our dataset recorded with a UAV provides high-quality, pixel-wise annotations of crops and weeds, but also crop leaf instances at the same time. Furthermore, we provide benchmarks for various tasks on a hidden test set comprised of different fields: known fields covered by the training data and a completely unseen field. Our dataset, benchmarks, and code are available at https://www.phenobench.org.

Curcumin Inhibits Vasculogenic Mimicry Via Regulating ETS-1 in Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) poses a huge challenge once it has become resistant to targeted therapy. Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a novel blood supply system formed by tumor cells that can circumvent molecular targeted therapies. As one of the herbal remedies, curcumin has been demonstrated to play antineoplastic effects in many different types of human cancers; however, its function and mechanism of targeting VM in RCC remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: Here, in the work, we explored the role of curcumin and its molecular mechanism in the regulation of VM formation in RCC. METHODS: RNA-sequencing analysis, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry were used to detect E Twenty Six-1(ETS-1), vascular endothelial Cadherin (VE-Cadherin), and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) expressions in RCC cells and tissues. RNA sequencing was used to screen the differential expressed genes. Plasmid transfections were used to transiently knock down or overexpress ETS-1. VM formation was determined by tube formation assay and animal experiments. CD31-PAS double staining was used to label the VM channels in patients and xenograft samples. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that VM was positively correlated with RCC grades and stages using clinical patient samples. Curcumin inhibited VM formation in dose and time-dependent manner in vitro. Using RNA-sequencing analysis, we discovered ETS-1 as a potential transcriptional factor regulating VM formation. Knocking down or overexpression of ETS-1 decreased or increased the VM formation, respectively and regulated the expression of VE-Cadherin and MMP9. Curcumin could inhibit VM formation by suppressing ETS-1, VE-Cadherin, and MMP9 expression both in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: Our finding might indicate that curcumin could inhibit VM by regulating ETS-1, VE-Cadherin, and MMP9 expression in RCC cell lines. Curcumin could be considered as a potential anti-cancer compound by inhibiting VM in RCC progression.

Physical Restraint Experience of Patients with Mental Disorders in Mainland China: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: The use of physical restraint (PR) is considered a controversial practice and research in Western countries has demonstrated negative physical and psychological consequences for patients, as well as staff, family members/carers, organisations and society as a whole. However, there are few research reports on restraint experiences of patients with mental disorders in non-Western countries, especially in mainland China. Aim: This study aims to explore the subjective experiences and perceptions of patients with psychiatric disorders who have experienced PR in mainland China. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 inpatients with mental disorders in convalescence at a specialized mental health hospital in Shanghai. Interviews were recorded on audiotape and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Five themes emerged: "perception and understanding of PR", "response to PR", "negative physical and psychological experiences", "unmet care needs during PR" and "changes after PR", which together characterize patients' perceptions, experiences, feelings, and needs in PR. Conclusion: The use of PR involves ethical issues and brings negative experiences to patients with mental disorders that cannot be ignored and should be used as a last resort. Different patients have different attitudes and reactions to PR. During PR, patients' physical and psychological needs are not adequately met. Medical staff should give more attention to patients in PR, meet their physical and psychological needs, and actively seek PR alternatives and reduction options based on evidence-based resources on restraint reduction available in the West and the national context and culture of China.

Aging and the Law in Singapore and Japan: Adult Guardianship and Other Alternatives.

Comparative adult guardianship law and other alternatives, especially in an Asian context, is an under-investigated area. This paper attempts to fill the gap in the literature by comparing the adult guardianship law and other alternatives from the perspectives of Singapore and Japan. The central argument of this paper is that in order for the law of adult guardianship to be widely adopted in Asian societies like Singapore and Japan - where much of adult guardianship related issues are governed by informal familial arrangements; this would require governments to do more than the mere enacting of adult guardianship legislation. To encourage widespread adoption, governments must embark on a robust public awareness campaign to promote the adult guardianship scheme, provide institutional support, and simplify the process for people wishing to sign up to the scheme and enact the appropriate safeguards against abuse. Such conditions are present in Singapore, whereas in Japan, these are lacking which explains the lower take-up rate with Japanese people preferring informal arrangements. Another key difference between Singapore and Japan is that the former relies primarily on family and relatives to act as adult guardians, while the court in the latter jurisdiction insists on the appointment of professionals like lawyers to act as adult guardians. It is surmised that this factor explains the lower take-up rate of formal adult guardianship in Japan as compared to Singapore due to the costs involved in engaging professional guardians. This paper also explores the alternatives to adult guardianship in both systems. Alternatives to formal adult guardianship is important because there will be a substantial portion of the population of older adults who would prefer these alternatives for various reasons.

Investigating the Role of FoxP3 in Renal Cell Carcinoma Metastasis with BAP1 or SEDT2 Mutation.

Forkhead box protein P3 (FoxP3) primarily functions as the master regulator in regulatory T cells (Tregs) differentiation, but its high level of expression has also been found in tumor cells recently. The aim of our study was to clarify the role of FoxP3 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) progression and metastasis. We verified the FoxP3 characteristic clinicopathological data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database using bioinformatics tools. Meanwhile, RNA sequencing was performed to determine the FoxP3 biofunction in RCC progression. Our results showed that high expression of FoxP3 was found in BAP1- or SETD2-mutant patients with RCC, and a higher FoxP3 expression was related to worse prognosis. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the FoxP3 IHC score and RCC malignant progression owning to the limited number of patients in our tissue microarray. Using in vitro FoxP3 loss-of-function assays, we verified that silencing FoxP3 in 786-O and ACHN cells could inhibit the cell migration/invasion capability, which was consistent with the data from RNA sequencing in 786-O cells and from the TCGA datasets. Using an in vivo nude mice orthotopic kidney cancer model, we found that silencing FoxP3 could inhibit tumor growth. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that BAP1 or SEDT2 mutation could lead to higher expression of FoxP3 in RCC patients, and FoxP3 could eventually stimulate RCC cells' invasion and metastasis, which might indicate that FoxP3 could function as a potential oncogene in RCC progression.

Psychiatric Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice Regarding Physical Restraint in China: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Physical restraint is widely used in mental health services to address safety concerns. However, studies have shown that improper physical restraint can result in adverse effects. Nurses are the main practitioners of physical restraint and play a crucial role in physical restraint decisions and nursing. In China, there is a lack of large-scale investigations into the current status of psychiatric physical restraint use. Aim: This study aims to explore the situation and influencing factors of the psychiatric nurses' knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding physical restraint in China. Methods: A cross-sectional multicenter descriptive study was conducted from December 2022 to February 2023, consecutively. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 345 staff from three psychiatric hospitals in Shanghai. A psychiatric nurses' physical restraint use status questionnaire was administered to examine their knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding physical restraint. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Multivariate linear stepwise regression analysis was used for multi-factor analysis. Results: Overall, nurses had a good level of knowledge with positive attitudes and adequate practices. However, they had some misunderstandings and undesirable practices. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that educational background, position and training experience were the main factors influencing physical restraint knowledge, attitudes and practice among psychiatric nurses (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study highlights some important misconceptions and improper practices of psychiatric nurses about using physical restraint. It is necessary to strengthen education and training on physical restraint for nursing staff to reduce unnecessary physical restraint use.

Volatile cinnamaldehyde induces systemic salt tolerance in the roots of rice (Oryza sativa).

Cinnamaldehyde (CA) is a volatile plant secondary metabolite that exhibits strong anti-pathogenic activities. Nonetheless, less is known about the effect of CA on plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. In this study, we delineated the effects of CA fumigation on rice roots (Oryza Sativa L cv. TNG67) under salinity stress (200 mM NaCl). Our result showed that CA vapor significantly alleviated salinity-induced ROS accumulation and cell death. This CA-induced alleviation appears to be mediated primarily by the upregulation of proline metabolism genes, the rapid proline accumulation, and the decrease of Na+ /K+ ratio as early as 3 h after NaCl treatment. Of note, the activities of peroxidase (POD; EC 1.11.1.7) isozymes a and b were decreased by CA fumigation, and the activities of catalase (CAT; EC 1.11.1.6) and superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1) were not significantly affected. Our findings suggest that CA vapor might be useful for priming rice roots to withstand salinity stress, which is more prevalent due to the ongoing global climate change. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show modulation of macro- and micro-elements as well as antioxidative factors after CA fumigation of salinity-stressed rice roots.

A novel 450-nm laser-mediated sinoporphyrin sodium-based photodynamic therapy induces autophagic cell death in gastric cancer through regulation of the ROS/PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has become an ideal and promising therapeutic method for fighting cancer, but its common application in clinical practice is prevented by the limitations of expensive devices in light sources and phototoxicity in photosensitizers. The aim of this study was to explore the antitumor efficiency of the novel 450-nm blue laser (BL) combined with sinoporphyrin sodium (DVDMS)-mediated PDT against human gastric cancer (GC) in vitro and in vivo, focusing on autophagy pathway. METHODS: Cell viability was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation assays in HGC27, MGC803, AGS, and GES-1 cells. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry and western blotting. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Autophagy was determined by transmission electron microscopy and western blotting. The antitumor effect of BL-PDT in vivo was detected by a subcutaneous tumor model in nude mice. RESULTS: The novel 450-nm laser-mediated DVDMS-based PDT caused remarkable growth inhibition and apoptosis induction in GC cells in vitro by the production of excessive ROS. Autophagy flux was induced by BL-PDT in GC cells, as determined by LC3 conversion assay, LC3 turnover assay, and mRFP-GFP-LC3 puncta assay. Furthermore, autophagy induction was demonstrated to positively contribute to BL-PDT-induced apoptotic effects on GC cells. Mechanically, ROS/PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway was identified to involve in the regulation of BL-PDT-induced autophagy as determined by transcriptomic analysis and functional studies. Consistently, xenograft studies confirmed the significant antitumor effect of BL-PDT and its favorable safety in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: The novel 450-nm laser-mediated DVDMS-based PDT may be a safe and effective approach against GC. Our results thus provide compelling evidence for the therapeutic application of BL-PDT in human GC.

The Correlation Between Falls and Cognitive Frailty in Elderly Individuals With Hypertension in a Chinese Community.

Background: Cognitive frailty refers to the presence of both physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment without simultaneous diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. Epidemiological studies have confirmed the correlation between falls and cognitive frailty, but no study has investigated the relationship between fall risk and cognitive frailty in hypertensive elderly Chinese individuals. Methods: From December 2020 to March 2021, during face-to-face interviews, community-dwelling elderly individuals with hypertension aged 60~89 in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, were evaluated for cognitive frailty, fall history, and depression, and sociodemographic characteristics were collected. Logistic regression was used to analyze the correlation between falls and cognitive frailty. Results: A total of 305 elderly people were investigated in this study, and 173 (56.7%, 95% CI =51.2%~62.2%) reported falling once or more in the previous year. Cognitive frailty is closely related to falls and was an independent risk factor for falls (OR = 2.661, 95% CI = 1.063~6.659). Other risk factors included old age (OR = 4.306, 95% CI = 1.852~10.013), female sex (OR = 1.988, 95% CI = 1.185~3.335) and depression (OR = 2.936, 95% CI = 1.069~8.060). Conclusion: Cognitive frailty is an important risk factor for falls in elderly individuals with hypertension in Chinese communities.

DAB2IP regulates intratumoral testosterone synthesis and CRPC tumor growth by ETS1/AKR1C3 signaling.

The intratumoral androgen synthesis is one of the mechanisms by which androgen receptor (AR) is aberrantly re-activated in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after androgen ablation. However, pathways controlling steroidogenic enzyme expression and de novo androgen synthesis in prostate cancer (PCa) cells are largely unknown. In this study, we explored the potential roles of DAB2IP in testosterone synthesis and CRPC tumor growth. Indeed, DAB2IP loss could maintain AR transcriptional activity, PSA re-expression and tumor growth under castrated condition in vitro and in vivo, and reprogram the expression profiles of steroidogenic enzymes, including AKR1C3. Mechanistically, DAB2IP could dramatically inhibit the AKR1C3 promoter activity and the conversion from androgen precursors (i.e., DHEA) to testosterone through PI3K/AKT/mTOR/ETS1 signaling. Consistently, there was a high co-expression of ETS1 and AKR1C3 in PCa tissues and xenografts, and their expression in prostate tissues could also restore AR nuclear staining in castrated DAB2IP-/- mice after DHEA supplement. Together, this study reveals a novel regulation of intratumoral de novo androgen synthesis in CRPC, and provides the DAB2IP/ETS1/AKR1C3 signaling as a potential therapeutic target.

A time-course study of microglial activation and dopaminergic neuron loss in the substantia nigra of mice with paraquat-induced Parkinson's disease.

Activated microglia play an active role in the pathogenesis of PD and paraquat (PQ) induces PD. The study was to understand the time relationship between microglial activation and dopaminergic neuron loss in the substantia nigra (SN) of PQ-induced PD mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were injected intraperitoneally with PQ, twice a week for six weeks. Some mice underwent behavioral assessments each week and were sacrificed for SN tissues, in which histopathological analysis, dopaminergic neuron loss, microglial activation and phenotypic characteristics were evaluated. The results showed that motor retardation, coordination disorders and limb stiffness occurred four weeks after PQ exposure, as well as the degeneration and loss of dopaminergic neurons in the SN. Activated microglia and increased CD68 expression appeared two weeks after PQ exposure in time-dependent manners. Increased CD86 and decreased CD206 expression were observed four weeks after PQ exposure, accompanied by increased TNF-α and IL-6 levels and decreased IL-10 and TGF-ß levels. These results indicate that PQ can activate microglia in vivo, and microglial activation precedes neuronal loss in the SN. Activated microglia are characterized by mixed M1/M2 polarization in the early stage and M1 polarization in the late stage of PQ-induced PD development.

The Efficacy of Extended Metacognitive Training on Neurocognitive Function in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of metacognitive training (MCT) on improving the neurocognitive function of Chinese patients with schizophrenia. One hundred inpatients with schizophrenia were selected by regional group randomization and divided into the control (treated as usual, TAU) group (n = 50) and the TAU + MCT group (n = 50). In this study, a 10-module MCT was used and the intervention process lasted 30 days. Cognitive function was assessed blindly using the Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) scale at baseline, 24 h post-treatment, and 12 weeks' post-treatment. The differences between the total RBANS score and baseline (pre-test) for the post-test and 12-week-follow-up tests were used as the primary outcome, and the difference between the RBANS dimension scores and baseline (pre-test) were used as a secondary outcome in this study. The completion rate at follow-up was high in the TAU + MCT group (94%). Intention-to-treat analysis and per-protocol analysis showed a significant increase in total neurocognitive function scores and three-dimensional scores (delayed memory, visual breadth, and attention) in the TAU + MCT group immediately after the intervention and at the 12-week follow-up compared with baseline. This study provides support for the efficacy of 10 module MCT concerning neurocognition.

Perioperative Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), MCTCs, and CTC-White Blood Cells Detected by a Size-Based Platform Predict Prognosis in Renal Cell Carcinoma.

To explore the clinical significance of the perioperative counts of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), mesenchymal CTCs (MCTCs), and CTC- white blood cells (WBCs) in renal cell carcinoma patients. A total of 131 patients with renal cancer who underwent operation excision from our hospital were enrolled. In addition, 20 patients with benign renal diseases were recruited as a control. Blood samples were collected from the 131 patients, before operation and 3 months after surgery. Samples were also obtained simultaneously from the control group. CanPatrol CTC detection technique was used to enrich and identify CTCs, MCTCs, and CTC-WBCs. All enrolled patients were T1-3N0M0. From these, 52 patients with renal cancer underwent radical resection, while other 79 patients underwent nephron-sparing surgery. The positive rate of CTC, MCTC, and CTC-WBC before surgery were 95.4% (125/131), 61.1% (80/131), and 11.5% (15/131), respectively. Preoperative total CTCs, MCTCs, or CTC-WBCs were poorly correlated with patients' parameters. Preoperative CTC, MCTC, or CTC-WBC showed no association with progression-free survival (PFS). In contrast, postoperative total CTCs (≥6), positive MCTCs, and positive CTC-WBCs significantly correlated with recurrence and metastasis. These results remained independent indicators for worse PFS. In addition, the increased CTC and MCTC count after surgery also correlated with unfavorable PFS. The detection of six or more total CTCs, MCTC, or CTC-WBCs in peripheral blood after surgery might help to identify a subset of patients that have higher recurrent risk than the overall population of patients with at different stages of renal cancer.

Systemic immune-inflammation index is a promising non-invasive biomarker for predicting the survival of urinary system cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) has been reported in numerous studies to effectively predict the survival outcomes of urinary system cancers; however no agreement has been reached. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the prognostic significance of pre-treatment SII in tumours of the urinary system. METHODS: Relevant published articles were selected from Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library up to 30 August 2020. The hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed to estimate the associations of pre-treatment SII with overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) in urinary system cancers. RESULTS: 13 papers were included in our meta-analysis. From the combined data, we found that a high pre-treatment SII indicated a markedly worse OS (HR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.75-2.23; p < .001), PFS (HR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.32-3.26; p = .002), and CSS (HR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.73-3.35, p < .001). Additionally, patients with an elevated SII value might have undesirable pathological characteristics, including a large tumour size, a poor differentiation grade, and an advanced tumour stage (all p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment SII could be used as a non-invasive and promising biomarker to indicate the prognosis of urinary system cancer patients.KEY MESSAGES:This meta-analysis evaluates the predictive value of systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) for patients with urinary system cancer.A high pre-treatment SII indicates a poor prognosis.SII can serve as a promising non-invasive biomarker to help clinicians assess the prognosis and develop treatment strategies for urinary system cancer patients.

Downregulation of CDCA5 Can Inhibit Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion, and Induce Apoptosis of Prostate Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common form of cancer in males and accounts for many cancer-related deaths. Human cell division cycle associated 5 (CDCA5) may be a useful marker for predicting tumor metastasis and therapeutic target for the treatment of PC patients. In this study, we investigated the role of CDCA5 in prostate cancer progression. Immunohistochemistry was performed on 20 prostate cancer tissue samples. METHOD: We performed immunohistochemistry on 20 prostate cancer tissue samples. CDCA5, a gene that is differentially expressed in prostate cancer, was screened with The Cancer Genome Atlas database. In both DU145 and PC-3 cells, CDCA5 levels consistently affected cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. RESULT: CDCA5 knockdown significantly inhibited PC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, the apoptosis of DU145 and PC-3 cells was significantly increased after CDCA5 downregulation. Further investigations revealed that CDCA5 may participate in the development of PC through interaction with TWIST1, CDH1, and CDH2. CONCLUSION: The present results provide a novel insight into the important and multifaceted role of CDCA5 in PC, indicating that CDCA5 is a promising biomarker and therapeutic target for PC.

Hyperfluorescence Imaging of Kidney Cancer Enabled by Renal Secretion Pathway Dependent Efflux Transport.

Renal tubular secretion is an active efflux pathway for the kidneys to remove molecules but has yet to be used to enhance kidney cancer targeting. We report indocyanine green (ICG) conjugated with a 2100 Da PEG molecule (ICG-PEG45) as a renal-tubule-secreted near-infrared-emitting fluorophore for hyperfluorescence imaging of kidney cancers, which cannot be achieved with hepatobiliary- and glomerular-clearable ICG. This pathway-dependent targeting of kidney cancer arises from the fact that the secretion pathway enables ICG-PEG45 to be effectively effluxed out of normal proximal tubules through P-glycoprotein transporter while being retained in cancerous kidney tissues with low P-glycoprotein expression. Tuning elimination pathways and utilizing different efflux kinetics of medical agents in normal and diseased tissues could be a new strategy for tackling challenges in disease diagnosis and treatments that cannot be addressed with passive and ligand-receptor-mediated active targeting.

HOTAIR and androgen receptor synergistically increase GLI2 transcription to promote tumor angiogenesis and cancer stemness in renal cell carcinoma.

Tumor angiogenesis is a major characteristic of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Herein, we report a novel mechanism of how lncRNA and androgen receptor (AR) drive the Hedgehog pathway to promote tumor angiogenesis in RCC. We found that the high expression of lncRNA HOTAIR in RCC is associated with poor prognosis. Moreover, HOTAIR and AR form a feedback loop to promote the expression of each other. Interestingly, we also found that in RCC, HOTAIR is associated with the Hedgehog pathway, especially GLI2, via bioinformatics analysis. Furthermore, HOTAIR promotes GLI2 expression in the presence of AR. Mechanistically, HOTAIR interacts with AR and they cooperatively bind to GLI2 promoter and increase its transcription activity. We further confirmed how HOTAIR-AR axis regulates GLI2 expression by analyzing its function in RCC cells and found that HOTAIR and AR synergistically enhanced the expression of GLI2 downstream genes, such as VEGFA, PDGFA, and cancer stem cell transcription factors, and promoted tumor angiogenesis and cancer stemness in RCC cells both in vitro and in tumor xenografts. Overall, these findings suggest that HOTAIR and GLI2 could be novel therapeutic targets against RCC.

Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitor (Ibrutinib)-Suppressed Migration and Invasion of Prostate Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors have long been known in the treatment of B-cell malignancies. Recently, BTK inhibitors have also become promising novel treatment reagents for prostate cancer. The current study was designed to investigate expression of BTK in prostate cancer tissues in comparison with benign hyperplasia and effect of BTK inhibitor on prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. METHODS: BTK expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry; migration and invasion prostate cancer cell lines (DU145 and PC3) were assessed by Transwell migration and wound-healing assay; cancer cell proliferation was assessed using MTT assay kit; expression of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 (MMP-2 and MMP-9) was assessed by immunoblotting. RESULTS: Strong expression of BTK was detected in the prostate cancer tissues, especially in the tumors from prostate cancer patients with bone metastasis. BTK inhibitor (Ibrutinib) significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells as well as protein synthesis of MMP-2 and MMP-9 by the tumor cells. Overexpressing BTK could partially but significantly block the inhibitory effect of Ibrutinib on cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and protein synthesis of MMP-2 and MMP-9 of the cancer cells. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that BTK could serve as not only a biomarker but also a therapeutic target for the prostate cancer and that Ibrutinib may be applied as a therapeutic drug for the prostate cancer.

Characterization of B cell-mediated PD-1/PD-L1 interaction in pancreatic cancer patients.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a common type of pancreatic cancer with one of the worst survival rate of all malignancies. Recent studies have identified that immunosuppressive B cells could employ the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway to suppress antitumour T cell responses; hence, we examined the expression and function of PD-L1 in B cells. We found that the PD-L1 expression was significantly enriched in tumour-infiltrating (TI) B cells than in peripheral blood (PB) B cells from the same patients. Additionally, the PB B cells from stage III and stage IV PDAC patients presented significantly higher PD-L1 than the PB B cells from healthy controls. High PD-L1 expression in PB B cells could be achieved by stimulation via CpG and less effectively via anti-BCR plus CD40L, but not by coculture with pancreatic cancer cell lines in vitro. Also, STAT1 and STAT3 inhibition significantly suppressed PD-L1 upregulation in stimulated B cells. CpG-stimulated PB B cells could inhibit the IFN-γ expression and proliferation of CD8 T cells in a PD-L1-dependent manner. Also, TI CD8 T cells incubated with whole TI B cells presented significantly lower IFN-γ expression and lower proliferation, than TI CD8 T cells incubated with PD-L1+  cell-depleted TI B cells, suggesting that PD-L1+  B cells could also suppress CD8 T cells in the tumour. Overall, this study identified that B cells could suppress CD8 T cells via PD-L1 expression, indicating a novel pathway of immuno-regulation in pancreatic cancer.

YAP Promotes VEGFA Expression and Tumor Angiogenesis Though Gli2 in Human Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: High vascularization is a major characteristic of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Thus, exploration of molecules promoting the tumor vascularization in RCC is urgent. Yes-associated Protein (YAP) is an oncogene in many cancer types, and high YAP expression was correlated with worse overall survival of RCC patients according to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. However, whether YAP promotes tumor angiogenesis of RCC is still unknown. METHODS: Western blotting assay, real-time Quantitive PCR analysis, and ELISA assay were used to detect the related gene expression. The function of YAP on tumor angiogenesis was investigated by HUVEC recruitment, tube formation, and rabbit cornea assay. The clinical relevance of several genes was analyzed in a public database. RESULTS: knockdown of YAP decreased RCC cell-inducing HUVEC recruitment and tube formation. Moreover, tumor angiogenesis ability of 786-O cells was crippled by YAP knockdown in vivo. In addition, the expression of Vascular endothelial growth factors A (VEGFA) was positively correlated with YAP expression in RCC tumor tissues, and YAP promoted expression and secretion of VEGFA in RCC cells. Mechanistically, GLI family zinc finger 2 (Gli2) knockdown in RCC cells reduced both basic and YAP-induced VEGFA expression, HUVECs recruitment, and tube formation, indicating that Gli2 is necessary for YAP to promote expression of VEGFA. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results demonstrate that YAP/Gli2 promotes VEGFA expression and tumor angiogenesis in RCC cells, which could provide novel therapeutic targets in RCC treatment.