Improved membrane stability of alginate-chitosan microcapsules by crosslinking with tannic acid.

OBJECTIVE: The insufficient stability of alginate-chitosan (ALG-CS) microcapsules in biorelevant media limits their applications in the biomedical field. Attempts were made to improve the membrane stability of ALG-CS microcapsules by noncovalent crosslinking with tannic acid. RESULTS: The membrane stability of ALG-CS microcapsules in culture medium and serum was significantly improved by crosslinking with tannic acid. Moreover, the reason for the significant improvement in membrane stability had been demonstrated to be that the stability of chitosan-tannic acid (CS-TA) polyelectrolyte complexes was less affected by the competitive binding of those weak acid ions such as HCO3-. In addition, the optimal conditions for preparing alginate-chitosan-tannic acid (ALG-CS-TA) microcapsules were tannic acid concentration of 0.5% (w/v) and pH = 7. CONCLUSION: The study provides a novel approach for improving the stability of the ALG-CS microcapsules in biorelevant media to expand their scope of application in the biological field.

Combined transcriptomic and metabolic analyses reveal potential mechanism for fruit development and quality control of Chinese raspberry (Rubus chingii Hu).

KEY MESSAGE: Combined transcriptomic and metabolic analyses reveal that fruit of Rubus chingii Hu launches biosynthesis of phenolic acids and flavonols at beginning of fruit set and then coordinately accumulated or converted to their derivatives. Rubus chingii Hu (Chinese raspberry) is an important dual functional food with nutraceutical and pharmaceutical values. Comprehensively understanding the mechanisms of fruit development and bioactive components synthesis and regulation could accelerate genetic analysis and molecular breeding for the unique species. Combined transcriptomic and metabolic analyses of R. chingii fruits from different developmental stages, including big green, green-to-yellow, yellow-to-orange, and red stages, were conducted. A total of 89,188 unigenes were generated and 57,545 unigenes (64.52%) were annotated. Differential expression genes (DEGs) and differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were mainly involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The fruit launched the biosynthesis of phenolic acids and flavonols at the very beginning of fruit set and then coordinately accumulated or converted to their derivatives. This was tightly regulated by expressions of the related genes and MYB and bHLH transcription factors. The core genes products participated in the biosynthesis of ellagic acid (EA) and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (K-3-R), such as DAHPS, DQD/SDH, PAL, 4CL, CHS, CHI, F3H, F3'H, FLS, and UGT78D2, and their corresponding metabolites were elaborately characterized. Our research reveals the molecular and chemical mechanisms of the fruit development of R. chingii. The results provide a solid foundation for the genetic analysis, functional genes isolation, fruit quality improvement and modifiable breeding of R. chingii.

Long noncoding RNA CCAT2 as a novel biomaker of metastasis and prognosis in human cancer: a meta-analysis.

Colon cancer-associated transcript2 (CCAT2), a long noncoding RNA (LncRNA), has been found to function as an oncogene in various cancers. However, the clinical value of CCAT2 in cancers remains unclear. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to investigate the association between CCAT2 level and metastasis & prognosis in malignant tumors. The meta analysis was performed by using a systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from inception to NOV 17, 2016. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,9 studies with 1084 patients were included in the meta-analysis.The result showed that overexpression of CCAT2 is positively correlated with lymph node metastasis (Odds ratio,OR=3.57, 95 % confidence interval(CI): 1.79-7.13, p<0.001) in a random-effects model (I2=71%, p=0.008) and distant metastasis(OR=7.68, 95 % CI: 3. 29-17.96, p<0.001) in a random-effects model (I2=41.9%, p=0.16).Likewise,we also found that high CCAT2 expression could predict unfavourable overall survival with pooled hazard ratio (HR) of 2.23 (95 % CI 1.68-2.96, p<0.00001) by a random-effects model (I2=37.5%, p=0.143) and poor metastasis-free survival in cancer patients (HR= 2.08, 95%CI:1.37-3.18 p=0.001) by a fixed-effects model (I2=0.0%, p=0.807). In conclusion,CCAT2 might be served as a novel molecular marker for predicting metastasis and prognosis in various human-cancers.

Dynamic changes in methylome and transcriptome patterns in response to methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine treatment in citrus.

DNA methylation is known to play an important role in various developmental processes in plants. However, there is a general lack of understanding about the possible functions of DNA methylation in fruit trees. Using callus as a model, methylome, transcriptome and metabolite changes were assessed after treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine (5azaC). Genome-wide methylome analysis revealed the demethylation of a diverse of genes, including many genes encoding transcription factors (TFs), genes involved in biological processes, and the up-regulation of a wide range of transposable elements (TEs). Combined with the RNA-seq data, we observed no obvious genome-wide correlation between the changes in methylation status and expression levels. Furthermore, 5azaC treatment induced carotenoid degradation along with strong activation of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases 1 (CpCCD1). Functional complementation analysis in bacterial system showed that CpCCD1 exhibited strong catalytic activities toward zeaxanthin, ß-carotene and lycopene. In summary, 5azaC treatments induced carotenoid degradation by CpCCD1 activation and led to a genome-wide demethylation effect.

A nurse-coordinated model of care versus usual care for chronic kidney disease: meta-analysis.

AIM: To investigate whether a nurse-led care was more beneficial for implementing chronic kidney disease guidelines and improved multiple risk factors compared with the usual care. BACKGROUND: Several independent clinical trials have been carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of a nurse-led care to improve the outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease and address the risk factors for renal function decline. However, their results and conclusions were inconsistent. METHODS: A meta-analysis was carried out on September 2015 based on previous studies that evaluated the efficiency of nurse-led care model for patients with chronic kidney disease. Following quality appraisal, four randomised clinical trials that allocated patients with chronic kidney disease to usual care and nurse-coordinated care were included. Primary outcomes, such as kidney failure and cardiovascular events, were analysed. RESULTS: Compared with the usual care group, a nurse-coordinated care model reduced the risks of composite death, decreased the occurrence rate of end-stage renal disease and doubled serum creatinine. On the contrary, a slight propulsive effect of nurse-led interventional care occurred on acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. LIMITATIONS: Only five studies were included and conducted nonstandard evaluating endpoints, causing fewer studies were categorised in each outcome events in this meta-analysis, subsequently leading to heterogeneity and less persuasive. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive interventions delivered by nurse coordinators are expected to benefit patients to attain longer life expectancy and higher life quality as well as to improve controlling risk factors implicated in chronic kidney disease progression. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: More government and hospitals should modify the traditional nursing routine based on this study, providing a more intensive nurse-coaching care model for patients with chronic kidney disease, even aged or other chronic diseases, which shall further help to better control the risk factors and delay disease progression.

Genome-wide identification of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) histone modification gene families and their expression analysis during the fruit development and fruit-blue mold infection process.

In eukaryotes, histone acetylation and methylation have been known to be involved in regulating diverse developmental processes and plant defense. These histone modification events are controlled by a series of histone modification gene families. To date, there is no study regarding genome-wide characterization of histone modification related genes in citrus species. Based on the two recent sequenced sweet orange genome databases, a total of 136 CsHMs (Citrus sinensis histone modification genes), including 47 CsHMTs (histone methyltransferase genes), 23 CsHDMs (histone demethylase genes), 50 CsHATs (histone acetyltransferase genes), and 16 CsHDACs (histone deacetylase genes) were identified. These genes were categorized to 11 gene families. A comprehensive analysis of these 11 gene families was performed with chromosome locations, phylogenetic comparison, gene structures, and conserved domain compositions of proteins. In order to gain an insight into the potential roles of these genes in citrus fruit development, 42 CsHMs with high mRNA abundance in fruit tissues were selected to further analyze their expression profiles at six stages of fruit development. Interestingly, a numbers of genes were expressed highly in flesh of ripening fruit and some of them showed the increasing expression levels along with the fruit development. Furthermore, we analyzed the expression patterns of all 136 CsHMs response to the infection of blue mold (Penicillium digitatum), which is the most devastating pathogen in citrus post-harvest process. The results indicated that 20 of them showed the strong alterations of their expression levels during the fruit-pathogen infection. In conclusion, this study presents a comprehensive analysis of the histone modification gene families in sweet orange and further elucidates their behaviors during the fruit development and the blue mold infection responses.

Efficacy of multifaceted interventions in reducing complications of peripherally inserted central catheter in adult oncology patients.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of multifaceted interventions in reducing complications of peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) in adult oncology patients. METHODS: Multifaceted interventions were implemented in our department in December 2006. These interventions include: (1) A mandatory nurse reeducation was developed by a multidisciplinary task force; (2) Modification of peripherally inserted central catheter insertion: take a chest X-ray before removal of the guidewire and cutting of the catheter. The guidewire in the catheter facilitates the accurate location of the tip of PICC on chest X-ray and make the malposition correction (withdrawing, reinsertion, even reinsertion following withdrawal) easily; (3) Using a 2% chlorhexidine preparation, replace 10% povidone iodine for skin antisepsis; (4) Maintenance of maximum sterile barrier precautions during PICC insertion and aftercare; (5) Designing of a PICC archive form and establishing a PICC archive for each patient. The PICC complication rates of groups before and after interventions were evaluated and compared. RESULTS: Sixty-nine PICC lines were inserted before these interventions, and 165 were inserted after implementation of these interventions. Compared with preintervention group, the postintervention group was associated with a 62.14% decrease in the overall complication rate (11.52% vs 30.43% [P = 0.0004]; incidence density, 1.82 vs 4.62 per 1,000 PICC days) with a 67.48% decrease in the infective complications rate (4.24% vs 13.04% [P = 0.015]) with a 58.19% decrease in the noninfective complications rate (7.27% vs 17.39% [P = 0.0199]). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that these interventions implemented in this study may be help in reducing complications of PICC in adult oncology patients.

[Study on content variation of chemical constituents during combination of rhizoma coptidis alkaloids with fructus evodiae flavonoids by high performance liquid chromatography].

In order to study the compatibility of Chinese herbal drugs, a method was proposed by investigating chemical reactions with combination of chemical constituents or major groups of chemical compounds of Chinese herbal drugs. The content variation of chemical constituents during combination of rhizoma coptidis alkaloids with fructus evodiae flavonoids was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experimental results showed that only small changes of the relative peak areas of different chemical constituents were observed and no new peaks were detected. No chemical reactions were observed during the compatibility test of rhizoma coptidis alkaloids with fructus evodiae flavonoids.