Physiological and Cellular Ultrastructural Responses of Isatis indigotica Fort. under Salt Stress.

This study aimed to analyze the effects of salt stress on the growth physiology and plant-cell ultrastructure of Isatis indigotica Fort. (I. indigotica) to evaluate its adaptability under salt stress. The effects of different concentrations of salt (NaCl; 0, 25, and 300 mmol·L-1) on the agronomic traits, activities of related enzymes, ion balance, and mesophyll-cell ultrastructure of I. indigotica were studied in a controlled pot experiment. Results showed that compared with those of the control group, the aerial-part fresh weight, underground fresh weight, tiller number, root length, root diameter, plant height, and leaf area of salt-stressed I. indigotica increased at 25 mmol·L-1 and then decreased at 300 mmol·L-1. The changes in levels of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase showed a similar trend, with significant differences compared with control group. Salt stress altered the ion balance of I. indigotica, resulting in a significant increase in Na+ content and a significant decrease in K+ content. The contents of Ca2+ and Mg2+ changed to varying degrees. The analysis of the microstructure of the root showed that under salt treatment, the epidermal cells of the root significantly thickened and the diameter of the xylem decreased. The results of ultrastructural analysis of mesophylls showed that salt stress can cause cell-membrane contraction, cell-gap enlargement, disorder in the structures of chloroplasts and mitochondria, and an increase in the number of osmiophilic particles. These changes were aggravated by the increase in NaCl concentration. This study reveals the response of I. indigotica to salt stress and provides a basis for further study on the salt-tolerance mechanism of I. indigotica.

Integrating metabolomics and transcriptomics to analyze the differences of breast muscle quality and flavor formation between Daweishan mini chicken and broiler.

The quality and flavor of chicken are affected by muscle metabolites and related regulatory genes, and the molecular regulation mechanism of meat quality is different among different breeds of chicken. In this study, 40 one-day-old Daweishan mini chicken (DM) and Cobb broiler (CB) were selected from each group, with 4 replicates and 10 chickens in each replicate. The chickens were reared until 90 d of age under the same management conditions. Then, metabolomics and transcriptomics data of 90-day-old DM (n = 4) and CB (n = 4) were integrated to analyze metabolites affecting breast muscle quality and flavor, and to explore the important genes regulating meat quality and flavor related metabolites. The results showed that a total of 38 significantly different metabolites (SDMs) and 420 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in the breast muscle of the 2 breeds. Amino acid and lipid metabolism may be the cause of meat quality and flavor difference between DM and CB chickens, involving metabolites such as L-methionine, betaine, N6, N6, N6-Trimethyl-L-lysine, L-anserine, glutathione, glutathione disulfide, L-threonine, N-Acetyl-L-aspartic acid, succinate, choline, DOPC, SOPC, alpha-linolenic acid, L-palmitoylcarnitine, etc. Important regulatory genes with high correlation with flavor amino acids (GATM, GSTO1) and lipids (PPARG, LPL, PLIN1, SCD, ANGPTL4, FABP7, GK, B4GALT6, UGT8, PLPP4) were identified by correlation analysis, and the gene-metabolite interaction network of breast muscle mass and flavor formation in DM chicken was constructed. This study showed that there were significant differences in breast metabolites between DM and CB chickens, mainly in amino acid and lipid metabolites. These 2 kinds of substances may be the main reasons for the difference in breast muscle quality and flavor between the 2 breeds. In general, this study could provide a theoretical basis for further research on the molecular regulatory mechanism of the formation of breast muscle quality and flavor differences between DM and CB chickens, and provide a reference for the development, utilization and genetic breeding of high-quality meat chicken breeds.

Annotations of four high-quality indigenous chicken genomes identify more than one thousand missing genes in subtelomeric regions and micro-chromosomes with high G/C contents.

BACKGROUND: Although multiple chicken genomes have been assembled and annotated, the numbers of protein-coding genes in chicken genomes and their variation among breeds are still uncertain due to the low quality of these genome assemblies and limited resources used in their gene annotations. To fill these gaps, we recently assembled genomes of four indigenous chicken breeds with distinct traits at chromosome-level. In this study, we annotated genes in each of these assembled genomes using a combination of RNA-seq- and homology-based approaches. RESULTS: We identified varying numbers (17,497-17,718) of protein-coding genes in the four indigenous chicken genomes, while recovering 51 of the 274 "missing" genes in birds in general, and 36 of the 174 "missing" genes in chickens in particular. Intriguingly, based on deeply sequenced RNA-seq data collected in multiple tissues in the four breeds, we found 571 ~ 627 protein-coding genes in each genome, which were missing in the annotations of the reference chicken genomes (GRCg6a and GRCg7b/w). After removing redundancy, we ended up with a total of 1,420 newly annotated genes (NAGs). The NAGs tend to be found in subtelomeric regions of macro-chromosomes (chr1 to chr5, plus chrZ) and middle chromosomes (chr6 to chr13, plus chrW), as well as in micro-chromosomes (chr14 to chr39) and unplaced contigs, where G/C contents are high. Moreover, the NAGs have elevated quadruplexes G frequencies, while both G/C contents and quadruplexes G frequencies in their surrounding regions are also high. The NAGs showed tissue-specific expression, and we were able to verify 39 (92.9%) of 42 randomly selected ones in various tissues of the four chicken breeds using RT-qPCR experiments. Most of the NAGs were also encoded in the reference chicken genomes, thus, these genomes might harbor more genes than previously thought. CONCLUSION: The NAGs are widely distributed in wild, indigenous and commercial chickens, and they might play critical roles in chicken physiology. Counting these new genes, chicken genomes harbor more genes than originally thought.

Artificial selection footprints in indigenous and commercial chicken genomes.

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have been done to reveal artificial selection signatures in commercial and indigenous chickens, a limited number of genes have been linked to specific traits. To identify more trait-related artificial selection signatures and genes, we re-sequenced a total of 85 individuals of five indigenous chicken breeds with distinct traits from Yunnan Province, China. RESULTS: We found 30 million non-redundant single nucleotide variants and small indels (< 50 bp) in the indigenous chickens, of which 10 million were not seen in 60 broilers, 56 layers and 35 red jungle fowls (RJFs) that we compared with. The variants in each breed are enriched in non-coding regions, while those in coding regions are largely tolerant, suggesting that most variants might affect cis-regulatory sequences. Based on 27 million bi-allelic single nucleotide polymorphisms identified in the chickens, we found numerous selective sweeps and affected genes in each indigenous chicken breed and substantially larger numbers of selective sweeps and affected genes in the broilers and layers than previously reported using a rigorous statistical model. Consistent with the locations of the variants, the vast majority (~ 98.3%) of the identified selective sweeps overlap known quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Meanwhile, 74.2% known QTLs overlap our identified selective sweeps. We confirmed most of previously identified trait-related genes and identified many novel ones, some of which might be related to body size and high egg production traits. Using RT-qPCR, we validated differential expression of eight genes (GHR, GHRHR, IGF2BP1, OVALX, ELF2, MGARP, NOCT, SLC25A15) that might be related to body size and high egg production traits in relevant tissues of relevant breeds. CONCLUSION: We identify 30 million single nucleotide variants and small indels in the five indigenous chicken breeds, 10 million of which are novel. We predict substantially more selective sweeps and affected genes than previously reported in both indigenous and commercial breeds. These variants and affected genes are good candidates for further experimental investigations of genotype-phenotype relationships and practical applications in chicken breeding programs.

High quality assemblies of four indigenous chicken genomes and related functional data resources.

Many lines of evidence indicate that red jungle fowl (RJF) is the primary ancestor of domestic chickens. Although multiple versions of RJF (galgal2-galgal5 and GRCg6a) and commercial chickens (GRCg7b/w and Huxu) genomes have been assembled since 2004, no high-quality indigenous chicken genomes have been assembled, hampering the understanding of chicken domestication and evolution. To fill the gap, we sequenced the genomes of four indigenous chickens with distinct morphological traits in southwest China, using a combination of short, long and Hi-C reads. We assembled each genome (~1.0 Gb) into 42 chromosomes with chromosome N50 90.5-90.9 Mb, amongst the highest quality of chicken genome assemblies. To provide resources for gene annotation and functional analysis, we also sequenced transcriptomes of 10 tissues for each of the four chickens. Moreover, we corrected many mis-assemblies and assembled missing micro-chromosomes 29 and 34-39 for GRCg6a. Our assemblies, sequencing data and the correction of GRCg6a can be valuable resources for studying chicken domestication and evolution.

Krüppel-like factor 4 modulates the miR-101/COL10A1 axis to inhibit renal fibrosis after AKI by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) can progress to renal fibrosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD), which reduces quality of life and increases the economic burden on patients. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying renal fibrosis following AKI remain unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that the Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4)/miR-101/Collagen alpha-1X (COL10A1) axis could inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and renal fibrosis after AKI in a mouse model of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced renal fibrosis and HK-2 cells by gene silencing, overexpression, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative PCR, Western blotting, dual-luciferase reporter assay, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and ELISA. Compared with the Sham group, I/R induced renal tubular and glomerular injury and fibrosis, and increased the levels of BUN, serum Scr and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), Col10a1 and Vimentin expression, but decreased E-cadherin expression in the kidney tissues of mice at 42 days post-I/R. Similarly, hypoxia promoted fibroblastic morphological changes in HK-2 cells and enhanced NGAL, COL10A1, Vimentin, and α-SMA expression, but reduced E-cadherin expression in HK-2 cells. These pathological changes were significantly mitigated in COL10A1-silenced renal tissues and HK-2 cells. KLF4 induces miR-101 transcription. More importantly, hypoxia upregulated Vimentin and COL10A1 expression, but decreased miR-101, KLF4, and E-cadherin expression in HK-2 cells. These hypoxic effects were significantly mitigated or abrogated by KLF4 over-expression in the HK-2 cells. Our data indicate that KLF4 up-regulates miR-101 expression, leading to the downregulation of COL10A1 expression, inhibition of EMT and renal fibrosis during the pathogenic process of I/R-related renal fibrosis.

Clinical characteristics and prognosis analysis of postoperative patients with stage I-III colon cancer based on SEER database.

PURPOSE: To identify the relevant factors affecting the prognosis and survival time of colon cancer and construct a survival prediction model. METHODS: Data on postoperative stage I-III colon cancer patients were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. We used R project to analyze the data. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed for independent factors correlated with overall survival from colon cancer. The C-index was used to screen the factors that had the greatest influence in overall survival after surgery in colon cancer patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was made according to the Risk score and calculated to validate the predictive accuracy of the model. In addition, we used decision curve analysis (DCA) to evaluate the clinical benefits and utility of the nomogram. We created a model survival curve to determine the difference in prognosis between patients in the low-risk group and those in the high-risk group. RESULTS: Univariate and multifactor COX analyses showed that the race, Grade, tumor size, N-stage and T-stage were independent risk factors affecting survival time of patients. The analysis of ROC and DCA showed the nomogram prediction model constructed based on the above indicators has good predictive effects. CONCLUSION: Overall, the nomogram constructed in this study has good predictive effects. It can provide a reference for future clinicians to evaluate the prognosis of colon cancer patients.

Transcriptomics reveals the molecular regulation of Chinese medicine formula on improving bone quality in broiler.

Skeletal disorder is of concern to the poultry industry as it affects animal welfare and production performance. Traditional Chinese medicine could improve bone quality and reduce the incidence of bone disease, but the molecular regulation of Chinese medicine formula (CMF) on improving bone quality in broilers is still unclear. This study was performed to research the effects of CMF on skeletal performance of Cobb broilers and reveal the molecular regulation. A total of 120 one-day-old Cobb broilers were randomly allocated into 4 equal groups of 30 chickens, with 5 replicates and 6 chickens in each replicate. The control (CON) group was fed a diet without CMF, while the CMF1, CMF2, and CMF3 groups were supplemented with different CMF at 6,000 mg/kg diet, respectively. The broilers were raised to 60 d of age, then bone tissues were collected for biomechanical properties, micro-CT detection and transcriptomic sequencing analysis. The results showed that CMF3 improved the biomechanical properties of broiler tibia, via increasing the elastic modulus (P < 0.05), yield strength (P > 0.05), maximum stress (P < 0.05) and fracture stress (P < 0.05) of the tibia. Micro-CT analysis indicated that CMF3 increased the bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume/total volume (BV/TV), bone surface density (BS/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), and decreased the trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) of femur cancellous bone (P < 0.05). RNA-seq analysis revealed 2,177 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (|log2FoldChange| ≥ 1, FDR < 0.05) between the CMF3 group and CON group. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) analysis showed 13 pathways mostly associated with bone growth and development and bone metabolism, and we identified 39 bone-related DEGs. This study suggests that CMF3 could improve bone strength and bone microstructure of broilers, and showed a positive effect on bone performance. Our research could provide a theoretical reference for the development of pollution-free feed additives to improve the skeletal performance of broilers, which could help promote healthy farming of chickens.

Research on the crisis propagation in the global coal trade under the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The outbreak of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict exacerbated the natural gas supply shortage in European countries. European countries restarted coal-fired power plants to maintain economic and social operations. The uneven distribution of coal resources in the world makes coal international trade inevitable. The intricate trade relations between trading countries have formed a coal trade network. When a country's coal exports are limited due to geopolitical factors, it will cause coal supply risks. The risk will spread to more countries along the trade network, eventually leading to the collapse of the trade network. This paper builds a crisis propagation model of the coal supply under the Russia-Ukraine conflict using the cascading failure model. The results showed that the Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, and Bulgaria become abnormal as the proportion of coal exports ß increases. When the Russian Federation reduced its coal exports by 80% and countries maintained only 10% coal exports against crisis, 23 European countries were the worst. Iceland, Ireland, Turkey and other countries were spread by the indirect risk and became abnormal countries. The Czech Republic and Bulgaria were spread by multiple risk and became abnormal countries.

Research progress on the mechanisms underlying poultry immune regulation by plant polysaccharides.

With the rapid development of poultry industry and the highly intensive production management, there are an increasing number of stress factors in poultry production. Excessive stress will affect their growth and development, immune function, and induce immunosuppression, susceptibility to a variety of diseases, and even death. In recent years, increasing interest has focused on natural components extracted from plants, among which plant polysaccharides have been highlighted because of their various biological activities. Plant polysaccharides are natural immunomodulators that can promote the growth of immune organs, activate immune cells and the complement system, and release cytokines. As a green feed additive, plant polysaccharides can not only relieve stress and enhance the immunity and disease resistance of poultry, but also regulate the balance of intestinal microorganisms and effectively alleviate all kinds of stress faced by poultry. This paper reviews the immunomodulatory effects and molecular mechanisms of different plant polysaccharides (Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz polysaccharide, Astragalus polysaccharides, Taishan Pinus massoniana pollen polysaccharide, and alfalfa polysaccharide) in poultry. Current research results reveal that plant polysaccharides have potential uses as therapeutic agents for poultry immune abnormalities and related diseases.

Preparation of fluorescein-modified polymer dots and their application in chiral discrimination of lysine enantiomers.

Fluorescein-functionalized fluorescent polymer dots (F-PDs) were prepared by a facile one-pot method by magnetic stirring under mild conditions based on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and fluorescein as the precursors. The obtained F-PDs exhibited a nanoscale size of 3.2 ± 1.1 nm, excellent water solubility, and bright yellow fluorescence emission with a fluorescence quantum yield of 12.0%. The fluorescent probe displays rapid and sensitive chiral discrimination for lysine focused on different complexation abilities between lysine enantiomers and Cu2+. The concentration of L-lysine in the range 4 to 14 mM (R2 = 0.997) was measured by the fluorescence intensity ratio (I513/I429); the exitation wavelength was set to λex = 365 nm. The detection limit was 0.28 mM (3σ/slope). Importantly, this sensor accurately predicted the enantiomeric excess (ee) of lysine enantiomers at the designed concentration (lysine: 20 mM; Cu2+: 10 mM) ranges. The proposed sensor was successfully applied to determine L-lys (recovery: 95.8-101%; RSD: 0.465-3.34%) and ee values (recovery: 98.5-102%; RSD: 2.61-3.21%) in human urine samples using the standard addition method.

Integrative analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics to reveal the melanogenesis pathway of muscle and related meat characters in Wuliangshan black-boned chickens.

BACKGROUND: Melanin is an important antioxidant in food and has been used in medicine and cosmetology. Chicken meat with high melanin content from black-boned chickens have been considered a high nutritious food with potential medicinal properties. The molecular mechanism of melanogenesis of skeletal muscle in black-boned chickens remain poorly understood. This study investigated the biological gene-metabolite associations regulating the muscle melanogenesis pathways in Wuliangshan black-boned chickens with two normal boned chicken breeds as control. RESULTS: We identified 25 differentially expressed genes and 11 transcription factors in the melanogenesis pathways. High levels of the meat flavor compounds inosine monophosphate, hypoxanthine, lysophospholipid, hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid, and nicotinamide mononucleotide were found in Wuliangshan black-boned chickens. CONCLUSION: Integrative analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics revealed the dual physiological functions of the PDZK1 gene, involved in pigmentation and/or melanogenesis and regulating the phospholipid signaling processes in muscle of black boned chickens.

Clarifying real receptor binding site between coronavirus HCoV-HKU1 and 9-O-Ac-Sia based on molecular docking.

HCoV-HKU1 is a [Formula: see text]-coronavirus with low pathogenicity, which usually leads to respiratory diseases. At present, a controversial issue is that whether the receptor binding site (RBS) of HCoV-HKU1 is located in the N-terminal domain (NTD) or the C-terminal domain (CTD) in the HCoV-HKU1 S protein. To address this issue, we used molecular docking technology to dock the NTD and CTD with 9-oxoacetylated sialic acid (9-O-Ac-Sia), respectively, with the results showing that the RBS of HCoV-HKU1 is located in the NTD (amino acid residues 80-95, 25-32). Our findings clarified the structural basis and molecular mechanism of the HCoV-HKU1 infection, providing important information for the development of therapeutic antibody drugs and the design of vaccines.

Molecular evolutionary characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 emerging in the United States.

SARS-CoV-2 is a newly discovered beta coronavirus at the end of 2019, which is highly pathogenic and poses a serious threat to human health. In this paper, 1875 SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequences and the sequence coding spike protein (S gene) sampled from the United States were used for bioinformatics analysis to study the molecular evolutionary characteristics of its genome and spike protein. The MCMC method was used to calculate the evolution rate of the whole genome sequence and the nucleotide mutation rate of the S gene. The results showed that the nucleotide mutation rate of the whole genome was 6.677 × 10-4 substitution per site per year, and the nucleotide mutation rate of the S gene was 8.066 × 10-4 substitution per site per year, which was at a medium level compared with other RNA viruses. Our findings confirmed the scientific hypothesis that the rate of evolution of the virus gradually decreases over time. We also found 13 statistically significant positive selection sites in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. In addition, the results showed that there were 101 nonsynonymous mutation sites in the amino acid sequence of S protein, including seven putative harmful mutation sites. This paper has preliminarily clarified the evolutionary characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States, providing a scientific basis for future surveillance and prevention of virus variants.

Scheme optimization of acupoints compatibility and influence factors of the effect.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture may be a clinically effective treatment for insomnia. We will perform a multicenter, large-scale, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial to compare the differences in the clinical efficacy between the use of singleacupoints and compatibilityacupoints in the treatment of primary insomnia. METHODS/DESIGN: A total of 333 participants will be randomly assigned to 2 acupoint treatment groups or 1 nonacupoint control group in a 1:1:1 ratio by a central stochastic system. The acupuncture groups are: the single acupoint group: Shenmen (HT7); and he compatibility acupoint group: Shenmen (HT7), Baihui (DU20), and Sanyinjiao (SP6). The observation period of this trial will be 10 weeks. All patients will be followed for 1 week before randomization (baseline phase). After randomization, the patients will receive 30 minutes of electro-acupuncture once per day for 5 weeks. In the fourth week after the treatment, follow-up will be performed once. The primary outcome will be the Pittsburgh sleep quality index score at 1 week before randomization and 2 and 8 weeks after randomization. The secondary outcomes will include data from sleep diaries, Athens insomnia scale scores, ShortForm-36 Health Survey scores, electroencephalogram technology results and polysomnogram) results. Patients will be required to complete a sleep diary every day during the treatment period. Patients will also undergo electroencephalogram technology and polysomnogram 1 week before randomization and 5 weeks after randomization. The other secondary outcomes will be measured 1 week before randomization and 5 and 9 weeks after randomization. DISCUSSION: This trial will be helpful in identifying whether acupuncture at compatibility acupoints is more effective than acupuncture at single acupoints. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.govNCT02448602, Registered 5May 2015, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02448602?term=NCT02448602&rank=1.

The Clinical Significance and Potential Role of Cathepsin S in IgA Nephropathy.

Objective: Cathepsin S (CTSS) is an important lysosomal cysteine protease. This study aimed at investigating the clinical significance of CTSS and underlying mechanism in immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). Methods: This study recruited 25 children with IgAN and age-matched controls and their serum CTSS levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Following induction of IgAN in rats, their kidney CTSS expression, IgA accumulation and serum CTSS were characterized by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and ELISA. The impact of IgA1 aggregates on the proliferation of human mesangial cells (HMCs) was determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 and Western blot analysis of Ki67. Results: Compared to the non-IgAN controls, significantly up-regulated CTSS expression was detected in the renal tissues, particularly in the glomerular mesangium and tubular epithelial cells of IgAN patients, accompanied by higher levels of serum CTSS (P < 0.05), which were correlated with the levels of 24-h-urine proteins and microalbumin and urine erythrocytes and grades of IgAN Lee's classification in children with IgAN (P < 0.01 for all). Following induction of IgAN, we detected inducible IgA accumulation and increased levels of CTSS expression in the glomerular mesangium and glomerular damages in rats, which were mitigated by LY3000328, a CTSS-specific inhibitor. Treatment with LY3000328 significantly mitigated the Ki67 expression in the kidney of IgAN rats (P < 0.01) and significantly minimized the IgA1 aggregate-stimulated proliferation of HMCs and their Ki67 expression in vitro (P < 0.01). Conclusions: CTSS promoted the proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells, contributing to the pathogenesis of IgAN and may be a new therapeutic target for intervention of aberrant mesangial cell proliferation during the process of IgAN.

Chemico-Proteomics Reveal the Enhancement of Salt Tolerance in an Invasive Plant Species via H2S Signaling.

H2S is a small molecule known to have multiple signaling roles in animals. Recently, evidence shows that H2S also has signaling functions in plants; however, the role of H2S in invasive plants is unknown. Spartina alterniflora is a typical invasive species growing along the beaches of southern China. A physiological comparison proves that S. alterniflora is highly tolerant to salinity stress compared with the native species Cyperus malaccensis. To decipher the mechanism that enables S. alterniflora to withstand salinity stress, a chemico-proteomics analysis was performed to examine the salt stress response of the two species; an inhibitor experiment was additionally designed to investigate H2S signaling on salinity tolerance in S. alterniflora. A total of 86 proteins belonging to nine categories were identified and differentially expressed in S. alterniflora exposed to salt stress. Moreover, the expression level of enzymes responsible for the H2S biosynthesis was markedly upregulated, indicating the potential role of H2S signaling in the plant's response to salt stress. The results suggested that salt triggered l-CD enzyme activity and induced the production of H2S, therefore upregulating expression of the antioxidants ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and S-nitrosoglutathione reductase, which mitigates damage from reactive nitrogen species. Additionally, H2S reduced the potassium efflux, thereby sustaining intracellular sodium/potassium ion homeostasis and enhancing S. alterniflora salt tolerance. These findings indicate that H2S plays an important role in the adaptation of S. alterniflora to saline environments, which provides greater insight into the function of H2S signaling in the adaptation of an invasive plant species.

Clinical and prognostic significance of preoperative lymphocyte-monocyte ratio, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and neutrophil-monocyte ratio on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND: The interaction between tumor cells and inflammatory cells has not been systematically investigated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether preoperative lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and neutrophil-monocyte ratio (NMR) could predict the prognosis of ESCC patients undergoing esophagectomy. METHODS: A total of 1,883 patients with histologically diagnosed ESCC who underwent radical esophagectomy from May 2005 to May 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Besides clinicopathological factors, "Survminer" package in R® was applied to determine the optimal cut-off point for LMR, NLR and NMR. Meanwhile, we evaluated the prognostic value of LMR, NLR, and PLR using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 28.77 months (range, 1.60-247.90 months). The optimal cut-off point of LMR, NLR and NMR is 3.83, 2.06 and 7.21, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of patients with low preoperative LMR demonstrated a significant worse prognosis for 5-year OS (P<0.001) than those with high preoperative LMR. The high NLR cohort had lower 5-year OS (P<0.001). No significant difference with 5-year OS was found in NMR (P=0.405). On multivariate analysis, preoperative LMR (P=0.018; HR =0.786, 95% CI: 0.645, 0.959) and NLR (P=0.028; HR =1.247, 95% CI: 1.024, 1.519) were the independent prognostic factors in ESCC patients. Integrating LMR and NLR, we divided the ESCC patients in four groups according to their cut-off points and we found the patients in LMR ≥3.83 and NLR <2.06 group received the best prognosis while the prognosis of patients in LMR<3.83 and NLR ≥2.06 group was the worst. The difference was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative LMR and NLR better predicts cancer survival in patients with ESCC undergoing esophagectomy, especially under the circumstances of LMR ≥3.83 and NLR <2.06.