Peritumoral tertiary lymphoid structure and tumor stroma percentage predict the prognosis of patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are crucial in promoting and maintaining positive anti-tumor immune responses. The tumor stroma has a powerful immunosuppressive function that could exclude tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from the tumor beds and lead to a "cold" phenotype. TLSs and tumor stroma percentage (TSP) are significantly associated with the prognosis of patients with certain cancers. However, the exact roles of TLSs and TSP and their intrinsic relationship are still largely unknown in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: TLSs and TSP were assessed using hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining from 114 CRC patients in the training set and 60 CRC patients in the external validation set. The correlation between TILs, TLS and clinicopathological characteristics and their prognostic values were assessed. Finally, we plotted a Nomogram including the TLS, TSP and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage to predict the probability of recurrence-free survival (RFS) at 2- and 5-years in non-metastatic colorectal cancer (nmCRC) patients. Results: Peritumoral TLS (P-TLS), intratumoral TLS (In-TLS) and high TSP (H-TSP, >50%) were present in 99.1%, 26.3% and 41.2% patients, respectively. H-TSP tumor tends to be associated with lower P-TLS density (P =0.0205). The low P-TLS density (< 0.098/mm2) was significantly associated with reduced RFS (HR=6.597 95% CI: 2.882-15.103, P <0.001) and reduced overall survival (OS) (HR=6.628 95% CI: 2.893-15.183, P < 0.001) of nmCRC patients. In-TLS was not of significance in evaluating the clinical outcomes of nmCRC patients. H-TSP was significantly associated with reduced RFS (HR=0.126 95% CI: 0.048-0.333, P <0.001) and reduced OS (HR=0.125 95% CI: 0.047-0.332, P <0.001) of nmCRC patients. The 5-year RFS of the high P-TLS, low-TLS, H-TSP, and L-TSP groups were 89.7%, 47.2%, 53.2%, and 92.5%, respectively. The P-TLS density, TSP and TNM stage were independent prognosis factors of nmCRC patients. The Nomogram, including the P-TLS density, TSP and TNM stage, outperformed the TNM stage. Conclusions: High P-TLS density and low TSP (L-TSP) were independent and favorable prognostic factors of nmCRC patients, which might provide new directions for targeted therapy in the CRC tumor microenvironment, especially the tumor immune microenvironment.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles containing miR-181d protect rats against renal fibrosis by inhibiting KLF6 and the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Recent studies have investigated the ability of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in regulating neighboring cells by transferring signaling molecules, such as microRNAs (miRs) in renal fibrosis. EVs released by bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) contain miR-181d, which may represent a potential therapy for renal fibrosis. miR-181d has been speculated to regulate Krüppel-like factor 6 (KLF6), which activates the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Luciferase assays were performed to confirm the relationship between miR-181d and KLF6. Gain- and loss-of-function studies in vivo and in vitro were performed to assess the effect of BMSC-derived EVs (BMSC-EVs), which contained miR-181d, on KLF6, NF-κB, and renal fibrosis. Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß)-induced renal tubular epithelial HK-2 cells were treated with EVs derived from BMSCs followed by evaluation of collagen type IV α1 (Col4α1), Collagen I and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) as indicators of the extent of renal fibrosis. Renal fibrosis was induced in rats by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) followed by the subsequent analysis of fibrotic markers. BMSC-EVs had higher miR-181d expression. Overexpression of miR-181d correlated with a decrease in KLF6 expression as well as the levels of IκBα phosphorylation, α-SMA, Col4α1, TGF-ßR1 and collagen I in HK-2 cells. In vivo, treatment with miR-181d-containing BMSC-derived EVs was able to restrict the progression of fibrosis in UUO-induced rats. Together, BMSC-EVs suppress fibrosis in vitro and in vivo by delivering miR-181d to neighboring cells, where it targets KLF6 and inhibits the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Role of long non-coding RNA NEAT1 in the prognosis of prostate cancer patients.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among male population worldwide, its incidence and lethality steadily increase. Nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a long non-coding RNA (ncRNA), located on chromatin 11. It has been found to function as an oncogene in different kinds of cancer. However, until now, the clinical significance of NEAT1 has not been investigated in prostate cancer.Paired tissue specimens of prostate cancer and matched normal prostate tissues were obtained from 130 patients with prostate cancer between 2014 and 2019 at The Fourth Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University, School of Medicine. Group means were compared using the Student t test. Chi-Squared test was used for analyzing the correlation of the expression of NEAT1 with clinicopathologic features of prostate cancer patients. Survival data was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier estimate and log-rank P was calculated. Cox regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis for factors related to overall survival.The expression of NEAT1 was increased significantly in prostate cancer tissues, compared with adjacent normal prostate tissues (P < .001). NEAT1 expression was significantly associated with TNM stage (P = .005), lymph nodes metastasis (P = .005), distant metastasis(P = .003), and Gleason score (P = .001). Overall survival rate was significantly lower for prostate cancer patients with a high expression level of NEAT1 than those with a low NEAT1a expression level (P = .048). In multivariate analysis, the results showed that the expression of NEAT1 was an independent prognostic factor for overall patient survival (HR: 2.111, CI: 1.735-10.295, P = .039).In the present study, NEAT1 is identified as an important lncRNA that may predict the prognosis of patients with prostate cancer.

Lentivirus-mediated knockdown of rhomboid domain containing 1 inhibits colorectal cancer cell growth.

Rhomboid domain containing 1 (RHBDD1), is a member of the rhomboid protease family, which has a pivotal role in the progression of numerous severe malignancies. However, its role in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remains to be elucidated. In the present study, RHBDD1 was shown to be widely expressed in CRC cell lines. Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference was employed to knockdown RHBDD1 expression in RKO CRC cells. Functional analyses indicated that depletion of RHBDD1 expression resulted in significantly reduced CRC cell proliferation and colony formation, and induced a G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest. The findings of the present study suggest that RHBDD1 may contribute to CRC tumorigenesis and serve as a potential therapeutic target in human CRC.

[Analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds in tobacco using off-line combination of liquid chromatography and capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry].

A method of off-line combination of liquid chromatography and capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-CGC/MS) was established for the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds in tobacco. The separation mechanism of volatile and semi-volatile compounds was studied. An LC column of 250 mm x 2.0 mm packed with 5 microm amino-bonded silica was used as stationary phase for the separation. n-Hexane/dichloromethane/acetonitrile (90: 6.6: 3.4, v/v/v) was used as mobile phase. Five fractions from one LC run were collected in five nitrogen-blowing flasks, separately. The same fractions from 10 LC runs were combined together and concentrated to 1 mL by nitrogen blowing, and then were analyzed by CGC/MS. The column of DB-5MS (60 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 microm) was used for CGC/MS analysis. Comparing with direct CGC/MS analysis of the same sample, the LC-CGC/MS system is suitable for a complex sample, and has a higher reliability of qualitative analysis.