[Significance of TERT promoter mutation in differential diagnosis of non-invasive inverted urothelial lesions of bladder].

Objective: To investigate the gene mutation of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter in inverted urothelial lesions of the bladder and its significance in differential diagnosis. Methods: From March 2016 to February 2022, a total of 32 patients with inverted urothelial lesions diagnosed in Department of Pathology at Qingdao Chengyang People's Hospital and 24 patients at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were collected, including 7 cases of florid glandular cystitis, 13 cases of inverted urothelial papilloma, 8 cases of inverted urothelial neoplasm with low malignant potential, 17 cases of low-grade non-invasive inverted urothelial carcinoma, 5 cases of high-grade non-invasive inverted urothelial carcinoma, and 6 cases of nested subtype of urothelial carcinoma were retrospectively analyzed for their clinical data and histopathological features. TERT promoter mutations were analyzed by Sanger sequencing in all the cases. Results: No mutations in the TERT promoter were found in the florid glandular cystitis and inverted urothelial papilloma. The mutation rates of the TERT promoter in inverted urothelial neoplasm with low malignant potential, low grade non-invasive inverter urothelial carcinoma, high grade non-invasive inverted urothelial carcinoma and nested subtype urothelial carcinoma were 1/8, 8/17, 2/5 and 6/6, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mutation rate of TERT promoter among inverted urothelial neoplasm with low malignant potential, low-grade non-invasive inverted urothelial carcinoma, and high-grade non-invasive inverted urothelial carcinoma (P>0.05). All 6 cases of nested subtype of urothelial carcinoma were found to harbor the mutation, which was significantly different from inverted urothelial neoplasm with low malignant potential and non-invasive inverted urothelial carcinoma (P<0.05). In terms of mutation pattern, 13/17 of TERT promoter mutations were C228T, 4/17 were C250T. Conclusions: The morphology combined with TERT promoter mutation detection is helpful for the differential diagnosis of bladder non-invasive inverted urothelial lesions.

First report of Alternaria alternata causing leaf yellow spot on Heteropanax fragrans in China.

Heteropanax fragrans (Roxb.) Seem is a common garden landscape tree in China. In December 2020, a leaf disease on H. fragrans was observed in a 2 ha field in Zhanjiang (20.85° N, 109.28° E), Guangdong province, China. Early symptoms were small yellow spots on leaves. Later, the spots gradually expanded and turned into necrotic tissues with a clear yellow halo and a white center. The disease incidence on plants was 100%. Twenty diseased leaves were collected from the field. The margin of the diseased tissues was cut into 2 mm × 2 mm pieces, surface disinfected with 75% ethanol and 2% sodium hypochlorite for 30 and 60 s, respectively, and rinsed thrice with sterile water before isolation. The tissues were plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and incubated at 28 ℃. After 2-day incubation, grayish fungal colonies appeared on the PDA, then pure cultures were produced by transferring hyphal tips to new PDA plates. Single-spore isolation method was used to recover pure cultures for three isolates (HFA-1, HFA-2, and HFA-3). The colonies first produced a light-grayish aerial mycelia, which turned dark grayish upon maturity. Conidiophores were branched. Conidia numbered from two to four in chains, were dark brown, ovoid, or ellipsoid and mostly beakless; had 1-4 transverse and 0-3 longitudinal septa; measured within 7.2-17.8 (average = 10.2) × 2.5-7.5 (average = 4.3) µm (n = 30). Molecular identification was performed using the colony polymerase chain reaction method with MightyAmp DNA Polymerase (Takara-Bio, Dalian, China) (Lu et al. 2012) to amplify the large subunit (LSU), internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, translation elongation factor (TEF) , and Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) with NL1/LR3, ITS1/ITS4, EF-1α-F/EF-1α-R, and GDF1/GDR1 (Walther et al. 2013;Woudenberg et al. 2015; Nishikawa and Nakashima. 2020). Amplicons of the isolates were sequenced and submitted to GenBank (LSU, ON088978-ON088980; ITS, MW629797, ON417005 and ON417006; TEF, MW654167, ON497264,and ON497265;GAPDH, MW654166, ON497262,and ON497263). The obtained sequences were 100% identical with those of Alternaria alternata strain CBS 102600 upon BLAST analysis . The sequences were also concatenated for phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood. The isolates clustered with A. alternata (CBS 102600, CBS 102598, CBS 118814, CBS 918.96,CBS 106.24, CBS 119543, CBS 916.96). The fungus associated with leaf yellow spot on H. fragrans was thus identified as A. alternata. Pathogenicity tests were conducted in a greenhouse at 24 â„ƒ-30 â„ƒ with 80% relative humidity. Individual plants were grown in pots (n = 5, 1 month old). The unwounded leaflets were inoculated with 5 mm-diameter mycelial plugs of the isolates or agar plugs (as control). The test was performed thrice. Disease symptoms were found on the leaves after 7 days, whereas the controls remained healthy. The pathogen was re-isolated from infected leaves and phenotypically identical to the original isolates to fulfill Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this report is the first one on A. alternata causing leaf yellow spot on H. fragrans. Thus, this work provides an important reference for the control of this disease in the future.

Comparison of amino acid digestibility and its additivity determined with slaughter or cecectomy method for yellow-feather chicken.

The objective of this experiment was to compare the slaughter and cecectomy methods to determine amino acid (AA) digestibility of corn and soybean meal and their additivity in a corn-soybean meal diet. A completely randomized design was adopted to determine endogenous AA losses (EAAL) and AA digestibility in each of corn, soybean meal, and a corn-soybean meal diet using either slaughter or cecectomy methods. Each treatment contained 6 replicates with 3 chickens per replicate. The endogenous loss (EL) of histidine and glycine was lower and the EL of methionine and phenylalanine was greater when determined by slaughter vs. cecectomy (P < 0.05). The EL of arginine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine, alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and serine determined by slaughter were 1.2 to 3.2 times of those from cecectomy. The standard error (SE) of EL of 14 AA (excluding histidine and glycine) obtained by slaughter method was 2.1 to 9.6 times of those by cecectomy method. The apparent and standardized digestibility was not affected by methods for most AA except apparent digestibility of methionine, phenylalanine and glycine, and standardized digestibility of glycine in corn. The apparent and standardized digestibility of most AA except apparent digestibility of glycine and standardized digestibility of lysine, cysteine and glycine were less for slaughter versus cecectomy methods in soybean meal (P < 0.05). Using slaughter method resulted in reduced apparent digestibility of 15 AA (except glycine) and reduced standardized digestibility of 7 AA (arginine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and proline) relative to cecectomy method (P < 0.05), but the standardized digestibility of glycine was greater when determined by slaughter vs. cecectomy methods in corn-soybean meal diet (P < 0.05). The mean value of SE of 16 AA digestibility in slaughter method was 2.9 times of that by cecectomy method. The apparent digestibility of 2 and 9 of 16 AA and the standardized digestibility of 15 and 7 of 16 AA were additive when using slaughter and cecectomy determinations, respectively. In conclusion, compared to the slaughter method, cecectomy method had less SE and EAAL but greater apparent digestibility of methionine and phenylalanine in corn, and the apparent digestibility of 15 AA (except glycine) in soybean meal and corn-soybean meal diet. Additivity in apparent and standardized AA digestibility was more inconsistent when determined with slaughter vs. cecectomy methods. These findings suggest that the cecectomy method is more suitable than the slaughter method to determine the digestibility of AA.

Pseudocercospora rhododendricola Causing Leaf dark Spot on Rhododendron pulchrum by the first phylogenetic analyses.

Rhododendron pulchrum Sweet is a famous ornamental flower in China. In December 2020, a leaf spot disease was observed on cv. Maojuan in Zhanjiang (21.17 N, 110.18 E), Guangdong, China. The spots were irregular and distributed on both sides of the main vein. They were dark to black, and their borders were obvious. The coalescence of the spots eventually led to leaf wilt. The disease incidence was 100% (n = 100, about 50 ha ). Thirty infected leaves were collected from the field, and the margin of the diseased tissues was cut into 2 mm × 2 mm pieces. Samples were surface disinfected with 75% ethanol and 2% sodium hypochlorite for 30 and 60 s, respectively. They were rinsed thrice with sterile water before isolation. The tissues were plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and incubated at 28 ℃. After 5 days, fungal colonies appeared on the PDA. Pure cultures were produced by transferring hyphal tips to new PDA plates. Three isolates (RSP-1, RSP-2, and RSP-3) were obtained and the colonies of isolates were preserved in glycerol (15%) at -80 °C deposited at the Museum of Guangdong Ocean University. The morphology of these three isolates was consistent, and their sequences showed 100% homology according to ITS, TEF1, and ACT analysis results. The colonies grew to approximately 5 cm in diameter after 10 days. They showed olive green with off-white aerial mycelia. Stromata and conidia were observed on leaf lesions. Stromata were olivaceous brown. Conidia were solitary, cylindrical to narrowly obclavate, mildly curved, obtuse to rounded at the apex, and 1- to 3-septate; they had dimensions of 20 to 60 × 2.0 to 3.0 µm (n = 30). These morphological characteristics were not different from the description of Pseudocercospora rhododendricola (J.M. Yen) Deighton (Liu et al. 1998). For molecular identification, the colony PCR method with MightyAmp DNA Polymerase (Takara-Bio, Dalian, China) (Lu et al. 2012) was used to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-α gene (TEF1), and actin (ACT) loci of the isolates using primer pairs ITS4/ITS5, EF1/EF2, and ACT-512F/ACT-783R, respectively (White et al., 1990; O'Donnell et al. 1997). The sequences of the isolate RSP-1 were deposited in the GenBank (ITS, MW629798; TEF1, MW654168; and ACT, MW654170). BLAST analysis showed that the sequences of P. rhododendricola were submitted to GenBank for the first time by the author of this paper. A phylogenetic tree was generated based on the concatenated data of ITS, TEF1, and ACT sequences from GenBank by the Maximum Likelihood method. The isolates were closest to Pseudocercospora sp. CPC 14711 (Crous et al., 2013). Phylogenetic and morphological analyses identified the isolates as P. rhododendricola. Pathogenicity tests were conducted in a greenhouse at 24 °C-30 â„ƒ with 80% relative humidity. Healthy cv. Maojuan were grown in pots. Unwounded leaflets were inoculated with 5 mm-diameter mycelial plugs of the isolates or agar plugs (as control) (5 leaflets per plant, 3 plants, 2-month-old plants). The test was performed thrice. Disease symptoms were found on the leaves after 2 weeks, whereas the control plants remained healthy. The fungus was re-isolated from the infected leaves and confirmed as the same isolates by morphological and ITS analyses. P. rhododendricola was the cause of leaf spot of Rhododendron sp. from Singapore (Liu et al., 1998). For the first time, this pathogen was identified by combining phylogenetic and morphological analyses. The sequences in this study would be used as the reference sequences for further studies.

[Preliminary study on the effect of B7H3 interaction with fibronectin on apoptosis of human chronic myeloid leukemia cells].

Objective: To explore the effect of the interaction between B7H3 and fibronectin (FN) on the apoptosis of human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells. Methods: The expression of B7H3 molecules in K562 cells was detected using flow cytometry and B7H3 overexpressing cells were constructed. The interaction between B7H3 and FN was detected using the co-immunoprecipitation technology. After adding exogenous FN, cell experiments were performed to detect changes in adhesion and cell apoptosis. The changes in apoptosis-related proteins and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway were detected using Western blot. Results: The expression of B7H3 was low in K562, and the cell line K562 OE (overexpression) -B7H3 and the control cell line K562 NC (negative control) -B7H3 were obtained after lentivirus transfection. There is an interaction between B7H3 and FN (P=0.036) , and this interaction promoted cell adhesion (P<0.05) , inhibited cell apoptosis (P<0.05) , and activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway (P<0.05) . Conclusion: B7H3 interacts with FN to promote cell adhesion and may inhibit K562 cell apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Spastic paraplegia as the only symptom in two adult-onset patients carrying a novel pathogenic variant in PYCR2.

A novel pathogenic PYCR2 variant and corresponding brain images in two patients characterized by spastic paraplegia.

[Observation of human stapes and simulated stapedial lesion based on Micro-CT scanning].

Objective:The aim of this study is to understand the imaging morphology of the humerus morphology and its associated simulated lesions, and to provide information for related research. Method:Six adult cadaveric heads fixed by formaldehyde solution (12 sides of the tibia) were used. One of the cadaveric heads (two sides of the tibia) was perforated and fractured under the microscope.The remaining 5 (10 sides) were used. The humerus was used for morphological measurements of the tibia.The tibia (12 sides) was taken out, Micro-CT scan was performed, and two-dimensional and three-dimensional reconstruction were performed using software such as Mimics 17.0 software. Result:①Stapedial morphologic observation:the head,curs and footplate of the stapes and the adjacent structures can be well displayed on two dimensional structures.②Quantitative measurements and statistics: There were no significant statistic differences about the data that had been measured between the right ears and the left ears.③Micro-CT was more clearly in displaying the precise structure of human stapes and the stapedial minute lesion comparing with that of HRCT. Conclusion:Micro-CT can accurately and clearly display the structure, morphology and simulated lesions (model) of the tibia, which provides important reference materials and methods for related research.

LncRNA MALAT1 promotes colorectal cancer development by sponging miR-363-3p to regulate EZH2 expression.

LncRNA MALAT1 is reported to play a potential role in human cancers. Hence, we investigated the effects of MALAT1 on colorectal cancer in vitro and in vivo, and further validated whether MALAT1 affected colorectal cancer development and EZH2 expression via regulating miR-363-3p. The fresh colorectal cancer tissues, adjacent non-tumor tissues, FHC, LOVO, SW620, CL40 and HCT116 cells were analyzed in this study. MALAT1, miR-363-3p and EZH2 expression levels were assessed using qRT-PCR and Western blot. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were also measured. Binding effects between MALAT1 and miR-363-3p, or miR-363-3p and EZH2 3'UTR were detected by dual luciferase assay. We observed that MALAT1 was highly expressed in colorectal cancer tissues and cells, and MALAT1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation as well as expression levels of EZH2 by upregulated miR-363-3p in cell models and in vivo. Moreover, miR-363-3p functions as a downstream target of MALAT1, meanwhile EZH2 was a target of miR-363-3p, suggesting MALAT1 might regulate miR-363-3p and/or EZH2 expression. Collectively, we concluded that MALAT1 functioned as a ceRNA to promote colorectal cancer development and EZH2 expression through sponging miR-363-3p in vitro and in vivo.

Glycolysis gatekeeper PDK1 reprograms breast cancer stem cells under hypoxia.

Glycolysis is critical for cancer stem cell reprogramming; however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we show that pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) is enriched in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), whereas depletion of PDK1 remarkably diminishes ALDH+ subpopulations, decreases stemness-related transcriptional factor expression, and inhibits sphere-formation ability and tumor growth. Conversely, high levels of PDK1 enhance BCSC properties and are correlated with poor overall survival. In mouse xenograft tumor, PDK1 is accumulated in hypoxic regions and activates glycolysis to promote stem-like traits. Moreover, through screening hypoxia-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in PDK1-positive tissue, we find that lncRNA H19 is responsible for glycolysis and BCSC maintenance. Furthermore, H19 knockdown decreases PDK1 expression in hypoxia, and ablation of PDK1 counteracts H19-mediated glycolysis and self-renewal ability in vitro and in vivo. Accordingly, H19 and PDK1 expression exhibits strong correlations in primary breast carcinomas. H19 acting as a competitive endogenous RNA sequesters miRNA let-7 to release Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α, leading to an increase in PDK1 expression. Lastly, aspirin markedly attenuates glycolysis and cancer stem-like characteristics by suppressing both H19 and PDK1. Thus, these novel findings demonstrate that the glycolysis gatekeeper PDK1 has a critical role in BCSC reprogramming and provides a potential therapeutic strategy for breast malignancy.

Glycolysis gatekeeper PDK1 reprograms breast cancer stem cells under hypoxia.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/onc.2017.368.

ARRDC3 Inhibits the Progression of Human Prostate Cancer Through ARRDC3-ITGß4 Pathway.

BACKGROUND: Arrestin domain-containing protein 3 (ARRDC3) is a member of the mammalian α-arrestins family, which has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene in human breast cancer, but its functions are still not clear in human prostate cancer (PCa). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate clinical significance, biological functions and underlying mechanisms of ARRDC3 deregulation in PCa. METHOD: Involvement of ARRDC3 deregulation in malignant phenotypes of PCa was demonstrated by clinical sample evaluation, microarray analysis, and in vitro and in vivo experiments. The mechanisms underlying its regulatory effect on tumor progression were determined. RESULTS: Microarray analysis found that ARRDC3 low expression was significantly associated with high Gleason score in TMA, and the expression level of ARRDC3 was negatively correlated with Gleason score, metastasis and biochemical recurrence in online Taylor Dataset. As revealed by the dataset, Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed that the biochemical recurrence-free survival (BCR-free) time of PCa patients with ARRDC3 high expression was longer than those with ARRDC3 low expression. Additionally, both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the downregulation of ARRDC3 was an independent prognostic marker for BCR-free survival of patients with PCa. In vitro studies revealed that ARRDC3 could inhibit proliferation, migration and invasion of PCa cell lines. In vivo studies proved that ARRDC3 over-expressing cells formed significantly larger tumor nodules and remarkably speeded up tumor xenografts growth compared with the controls. Moreover, immunohistochemical scores of Ki67 and MMP-9 were significantly lower than those of the control group. Finally, correlation analysis indicated that the expression of ARRDC3 was negatively correlated with ITGß4 in clinical PCa tissues and cell lines. CONCLUSION: Our data revealed that ARRDC3 can serve as a tumor suppressor to inhibit PCa progression and an independent marker to predict the risk of biochemical recurrence and metastasis after radical resection of PCa.

Circulating levels of autoantibodies against L1-cell adhesion molecule as a potential diagnostic biomarker in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant disease worldwide, especially in China. We aimed to determine the level of autoantibodies against L1CAM in patients with ESCC. METHODS: Levels of circulating autoantibodies against L1CAM antigens were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in cohort 1 (191 patients with ESCC and 94 normal controls) and validated in cohort 2 (47 patients with ESCC and 47 normal controls). Receiver-operating characteristics were employed to calculate diagnostic accuracy. Cumulative survival time was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by the log-rank test. RESULTS: In cohorts 1 and 2, levels of autoantibodies against L1CAM were all significantly higher in sera of patients with ESCC compared to normal controls (P < 0.05). Detection of autoantibodies against L1CAM provided a sensitivity of 26.2%, a specificity of 90.4%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.603 (95% CI 0.535-0.672) in diagnosing ESCC in cohort 1, and a sensitivity of 27.7%, a specificity of 91.5%, and an AUC of 0.628 (95% CI 0.516-0.741). Similar results were observed in the diagnosis of early stage ESCC (25.2% sensitivity, 90.4% specificity, and an AUC of 0.611 (95% CI 0.533-0.689) in cohort 1, and 33.3% sensitivity, 91.5% specificity, and an AUC of 0.636 (95% CI 0.439-0.832) in cohort 2). Moreover, positive rates of autoantibodies against L1CAM had no statistical correlation with clinical outcome of ESCC (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that circulating autoantibodies against L1CAM is a potential biomarker for the early detection of ESCC.

Effect of weaning age on cortisol release in piglets.

The effect of weaning age on the adrenal cortex, which plays a vital role in the stress response, is currently unknown. Therefore, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels, weights and relative weights of adrenal glands, and steroidogenesis-related protein and enzyme expression levels in piglets weaned on different days were determined. Piglets weaned at 35 days had significantly lower ACTH levels than those weaned at 14 or 21 days, and cortisol levels of piglets weaned at 21, 28, and 35 days were significantly lower than those of piglets weaned on day 14. Adrenal gland weights of piglets weaned at 28 and 35 days and relative adrenal gland weights of piglets weaned at 35 days were significantly lower than those of piglets weaned at 14 days. However, no significant difference was detected in the expression of melanocortin-type 2 receptor mRNA, which is associated with weaning age. Steroidogenic acute-regulatory (StAR) mRNA and cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450 mRNA expression levels in piglets weaned at 28 and 35 days were significantly lower than in those weaned at 14 or 21 days, and P450 11ß mRNA expression levels in piglets weaned at 28 and 35 days were significantly lower than in those weaned at 14 days. Therefore, early-weaned piglets exhibited increased adrenal gland weights and StAR and steroidogenic enzyme expression, all of which contributed to high cortisol levels. The high plasma ACTH and cortisol levels in early-weaned piglets indicate that these animals would be greatly affected by stress.

Whole genome sequencing identified new somatic mutations for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to gain new insight into the molecular alterations of Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and subsequent Sanger sequencing validation analysis in three individuals with CMML. Genomic DNA samples from bone marrow and matching buccal mucosa samples were sequenced. RESULTS: For all six samples, a total of 806.43 Gb data were generated, achieving a minimum mean depth of 30.76. A total of 22 somatic variants were found to be protein-altering, including 1 exonic frame shift indel, 18 missense SNVs, 2 stop gain SNVs, and 1 stop loss SNV. We focused on the five novel variants which have not been reported in known databases and successfully validated three missense SNVs in AKAP4, COL2A1, and MAML1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: WGS analyzes provided us a new insight into the molecular events governing the pathogenesis of CMML. The somatic variants we reported here may provide new targets for further therapeutic studies.