IL-12 improves the anti-HCC efficacy of dendritic cells loaded with exosomes from overexpressing Rab27a tumor cells.

Determining the appropriate source of antigens for optimal antigen presentation to T cells is a major challenge in designing dendritic cell (DC) -based therapeutic strategies against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Tumor-derived exosomes (Tex) express a wide range of tumor antigens, making them a promising source of antigens for DC vaccines. As reported, the exosomes secreted by tumor cells can inhibit the antitumor function of immune cells. In this study, we transfected hepatocellular carcinoma cells with Rab27a to enhance the yield of exosomes, which were characterized using transmission electron microscopy and Western blot analysis. We found that Tex secreted by overexpressing Rab27a Hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines pulsed DC is beneficial for the differentiation and maturation of DCs but inhibits the secretion of the IL-12 cytokine. Consequently, we developed a complementary immunotherapy approach by using Tex as an antigen loaded onto DCs, in combination with the cytokine IL-12 to induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes （CTLs）. The results indicated that the combination of DC-Tex and IL-12 was more effective in stimulating T lymphocyte proliferation, releasing IFN-γ， and enhancing cytotoxicity compared to using exosomes or IL-12 alone. Additionally, the inclusion of IL-12 also compensated for the reduced IL-2 secretion by DCs caused by Tex. Moreover, in a BALB/c nude mice model of hepatocellular carcinoma, CTLs induced by DC-Tex combined with IL-12 maximized the tumor-specific T-cell immune effect and suppressed tumor growth. Thus, Tex provides a novel and promising source of antigens, with cytokines compensating for the shortcomings of Tex as a tumor antigen. This work helps to clarify the role of exosomes in tumor immunotherapy and may offer a safe and effective prospective strategy for the clinical application of exosome-based cellular immunotherapy.

Fermentation of waste water from agar processing with Bacillus subtilis by metabolomic analysis.

Fungal infection has become a major threat to crop loss and affects food safety. The waste water from agar processing industries extraction has a number of active substances, which could be further transformed by microorganisms to synthesize antifungal active substances. In this study, Bacillus subtilis was used to ferment the waste water from agar processing industries extraction to analyze the antifungal activity of the fermentation broth on Alternaria alternata and Alternaria spp. Results showed that 25% of the fermentation broth was the most effective in inhibited A. alternata and Alternaria spp., with fungal inhibition rates of 99.9% and 96.1%, respectively, and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was 0.156 µg/mL. Metabolomic analysis showed that flavonoid polyphenols such as coniferyl aldehyde, glycycoumarin, glycitin, and procyanidin A1 may enhance the inhibitory activity against the two pathogenic fungal strains. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that polyphenols involved in the biosynthesis pathways of isoflavonoid and phenylpropanoid were upregulated after fermentation. The laser confocal microscopy analyses and cell conductivity showed that the cytoplasm of fungi treated with fermentation broth was destroyed. This study provides a research basis for the development of new natural antifungal agents and rational use of seaweed agar waste. KEY POINTS: • Bacillus subtilis fermented waste water has antifungal activity • Bacillus subtilis could transform active substances in waste water • Waste water is a potential raw material for producing antifungal agents.

Identification of exosomal hsa-miR-483-5p as a potential biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma via microRNA expression profiling of tumor-derived exosomes.

To date, most studies of exosomes related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have used commercial cancer cell lines or patient plasma as source material. In this study, we isolated exosomes directly from HCC tissues to investigate the potential of exosomal contents as biomarkers for HCC. Exosomes were identified and verified using transmission electron microscopy, nano-flow cytometry analysis, and western blotting. Tissue-derived exosomal miRNA expression was profiled by high-throughput sequencing, and differential expression of miRNAs was validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. The diagnostic performance of differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs for HCC was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Target genes of these miRNAs were verified using luciferase reporter assays, and their functions were studied through in vitro and rescue assays. In total, 225 differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs were identified in HCC samples compared with adjacent liver tissues, and some were associated with HCC tumorigenesis and progression. Comparison of the expression profiles of tissue-derived and plasma-derived exosomal miRNAs identified hsa-miR-483-5p as the only differentially expressed miRNA detected in both HCC tissue and plasma, and this was in a validation group of HCC patients. Analysis of the diagnostic performance of plasma exosomal hsa-miR-483-5p or plasma hsa-miR-483-5p found that both could differentiate HCC and non-HCC cases. In vitro ectopic miR-483-5p expression promoted HCC cell proliferation. CDK15 was confirmed to bind with miR-483-5p directly, and thus, miR-483-5p may function by downregulating CDK15. Hsa-miR-483-5p represents a potential specific and sensitive biomarker for HCC diagnosis.

Ambient climate determines the directional trend of community stability under warming and grazing.

Changes in ecological processes over time in ambient treatments are often larger than the responses to manipulative treatments in climate change experiments. However, the impacts of human-driven environmental changes on the stability of natural grasslands have been typically assessed by comparing differences between manipulative plots and reference plots. Little is known about whether or how ambient climate regulates the effects of manipulative treatments and their underlying mechanisms. We collected two datasets, one a 36-year long-term observational dataset from 1983 to 2018, and the other a 10-year manipulative asymmetric warming and grazing experiment using infrared heaters with moderate grazing from 2006 to 2015 in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. The 36-year observational dataset shows that there was a nonlinear response of community stability to ambient temperature with a positive relationship between them due to an increase in ambient temperature in the first 25 years and then a decrease in ambient temperature thereafter. Warming and grazing decreased community stability with experiment duration through an increase in legume cover and a decrease in species asynchrony, which was due to the decreasing background temperature through time during the 10-year experiment period. Moreover, the temperature sensitivity of community stability was higher under the ambient treatment than under the manipulative treatments. Therefore, our results suggested that ambient climate may control the directional trend of community stability while manipulative treatments may determine the temperature sensitivity of the response of community stability to climate relative to the ambient treatment. Our study emphasizes the importance of the context dependency of the response of community stability to human-driven environmental changes.

Ionic liquid-based headspace in-tube liquid-phase microextraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis for sensitive detection of phenols.

An ionic liquid-based headspace in-tube liquid-phase microextraction (IL-HS-ITLPME) in-line coupled with capillary electrophoresis (CE) is proposed. The method is capable of quantifying trace amounts of phenols in environmental water samples. In the newly developed method, simply by placing a capillary injected with IL in the HS above the aqueous sample, volatile phenols were extracted into the IL acceptor phase in the capillary. After extraction, electrophoresis of the phenols in the capillary was carried out. Extraction parameters such as the extraction time, extraction temperature, ionic strength, volume of the sample solution and IL types were systematically investigated. Under the optimized conditions, enrichment factors for four phenols were from 1510 to 1985. The proposed method provided a good linearity, low limits of detection (below 5.0 ng mL-1 ), and good repeatability of the extractions (RSDs below 6.7%, n = 6). This method was then utilized to analyze two real environmental samples of Xiaoxi Lake and tap water, obtaining acceptable recoveries and precisions. Compared with the usual HS-ITLPME for CE, IL-HS-ITLPME-CE is a simple, low-cost, fast and environmentally friendly pre-concentration technique. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Responses of Bacterial Communities to Simulated Climate Changes in Alpine Meadow Soil of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The soil microbial community plays an important role in terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycling. However, microbial responses to climate warming or cooling remain poorly understood, limiting our ability to predict the consequences of future climate changes. To address this issue, it is critical to identify microbes sensitive to climate change and key driving factors shifting microbial communities. In this study, alpine soil transplant experiments were conducted downward or upward along an elevation gradient between 3,200 and 3,800 m in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau to simulate climate warming or cooling. After a 2-year soil transplant experiment, soil bacterial communities were analyzed by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The results showed that the transplanted soil bacterial communities became more similar to those in their destination sites and more different from those in their "home" sites. Warming led to increases in the relative abundances in Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria and decreases in Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Deltaproteobacteria, while cooling had opposite effects on bacterial communities (symmetric response). Soil temperature and plant biomass contributed significantly to shaping the bacterial community structure. Overall, climate warming or cooling shifted the soil bacterial community structure mainly through species sorting, and such a shift might correlate to important biogeochemical processes such as greenhouse gas emissions. This study provides new insights into our understanding of soil bacterial community responses to climate warming and cooling.

Risk factors of acute myocardial infarction in middle-aged and adolescent people (< 45 years) in Yantai.

BACKGROUND: Yantai is a developed medium-sized coastal city in Eastern China, having a population of 1.6845 million. With the development of economy, some middle-aged and adolescent people (< 45 years) devote themselves to work and suffer from greater stress, which makes them ignore their own health. Moreover, they have unhealthy lifestyles and lack the knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors. OBJECTIVES: To identify the risk factors for first acute myocardial infarction in middle-aged and adolescent people in Yantai, a developed medium-sized coastal city in Eastern China. METHODS: A total of 154 consecutive patients with first acute myocardial infarction (< 45 years), were enrolled in case group, and 462 patients without myocardial infarction were enrolled in control group. Three controls with the same sex and age were matched to each case. The risk factors were identified with univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Unhealthy food habit (eating seafood and meanwhile drinking beer), hypertension, current smokers, self-perceived stress, diabetes mellitus, obesity, sleep insufficience, hypercholesterolaemia and fatigue were independent risk factors for first acute myocardial infarction (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Besides those recognized risk factors for cardiovascular disease (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus and smoking), eating seafood and meanwhile drinking beer, self-perceived stress, sleep insufficience, obesity and fatigue were also the risk factors for first acute myocardial infarction in middle-aged and adolescent people in Yantai.

Down-regulation of miR-424 inhibited the metastasis of endometrial carcinoma via targeting PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Background: The incidence of endometrial carcinoma (EC) has been increasing annually, and treatment of advanced cases remains challenging. MicroRNA-424 (miR-424) was reported to affect several types of tumors, but its role in EC has not been studied. Methods: We generated transient knockdown models of miR-424 and PTEN in EC cells. We measured mRNA and protein expression using RT-PCR and western blotting. We evaluated cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and apoptosis using CCK8, Transwell, wound healing, and flow cytometry assays. We also investigated the effect of miR-424 and PTEN on tumor growth using a metastatic tumor model in nude mice. Results: The expression of miR-424 was significantly elevated in EC tissues and cell lines. MiR-424 inhibitor significantly restrained PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling, while miR-424 mimic activated this pathway. Knockdown of PTEN significantly reversed the effects of miR-424 inhibitor on cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and apoptosis in EC cells. The significant inhibition of tumor growth and ki67 expression caused by miR-424 inhibitor were markedly promoted by sh-PTEN. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that miR-424 inhibitor could inhibit cell proliferation, invasion, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, and tumor growth, while promoting apoptosis in EC. However, the effects of miR-424 inhibitor were markedly reversed by sh-PTEN. This study provides a potential novel therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of EC by targeting miR-424.

Respiratory Care of Big Data Communication to Prevent Respiratory Tract Infection Nursing Analysis of Patients with Heart Failure.

Heart failure is the final stage of the development of heart disease, with a high mortality and disability rate. It poses a serious threat to human health and brings tremendous pressure to human society. Preventing respiratory infections in patients with heart failure is also the first priority of care. This article is aimed at studying the nursing analysis of respiratory tract care based on big data exchanges to prevent respiratory tract infections in patients with heart failure. This article uses benchmark and sample collection. Studies have shown that for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, its resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefazolin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, and cefoxitin has reached more than 80%. It is also suitable for piperacillin, ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin/tazobactam, cefepime, aztreonam, gentamicin, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin. The resistance rate of stars is within 10%-30%. These antibiotics are effective and can be used for clinical treatment. The drug resistance rates of ceftazidime, imipenem, meropenem, and amikacin were all lower than 10%, and the drug resistance rates of ceftazidime and imipenem were much lower than those reported in the 2016 literature. These antibiotics have become the most effective drugs for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Basically, good communication of respiratory care data is realized, thereby preventing respiratory care analysis of patients with heart failure.

Strategies for Restoring and Managing Ecological Corridors of Freshwater Ecosystem.

Along with accelerating urbanization and associated anthropogenic disturbance, the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems worldwide are substantially damaged. To improve ecosystem health, and thus enhance the ecosystem security of the urban ecosystem, numbers of management approaches and engineering projects have been applied to mitigate the degradation of freshwaters. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of comprehensive and systematic research on the ecological corridor restoration of freshwater ecosystems; especially for Suzhou Grand Canal, one section of the world's longest and ancient Grand Canal which is inclined to severe ecosystem degradation. Through investigating the adjacent land use characteristics, habitat quality, vegetation cover, instream water quality, and habitat composition, we aimed to: (i) assess the water quality of the Suzhou Grand Canal; (ii) evaluate the ecological characteristics of the canal ecosystem; (iii) develop strategic countermeasures to restore the ecological corridors for the mitigation of ecological problems. The results demonstrated: a large built area, a smaller ecological zone, a low habitat quality and habitat connectivity, and a high degree of habitat fragmentation within the canal corridor, also a simplified instream habitat composition, and greater nutrient and COD concentrations in the surface water-especially in the upstream and midstream canal. All urbanization-induced multiple stressors, such as land use changes, altered hydrology, and the simplified riparian zone et al., contributed synergistically to the degradation of the canal ecosystem. To alleviate the ecosystem deterioration, three aspects of recommendations were proposed: water pollution control, watershed ecosystem restoration, and ecological network construction. Basically, building a comprehensive watershed ecological network-on the basis of associated ecosystem restoration, and the connection of multi-dimensional ecological corridors-would dramatically increase the maintenance of aquatic-terrestrial system biodiversity, and improve the regional ecological security pattern and watershed resilience toward stochastic future disturbances. This study contributes to the understanding of the ecological challenges and related causes of the canal ecosystem. The integrated strategy introduced in this study provides policymakers, water resource managers, and planners with comprehensive guidelines to restore and manage the ecological corridor of the canal ecosystem. This can be used as a reference in freshwater ecosystems elsewhere, to improve ecosystem stability for supporting the sustainable development of urban ecosystems.

The effect of habitat restoration on macroinvertebrate communities in Shaoxi rivers, China.

In recent decades, the biodiversity of freshwater environments has decreased sharply due to anthropogenic disturbances that damaged ecosystem structures and functions. Habitat restoration has emerged as an important method to mitigate the degradation of river ecosystems. Although in many cases a post-project monitoring has been promoted to access the restoration progress, it is still unclear how aquatic community changes following river habitat restoration in China. Macroinvertebrate communities intermediately positioned within ecosystem food webs play a key role in ecosystem processes within river ecosystem, driving energy flow and nutrient cycling. Here, benthic macroinvertebrates are used as bio-indicators to assess the ecosystem health of degraded urban rivers, restored urban rivers, and undisturbed rivers. This study aims to determine (i) how habitat restoration influences macroinvertebrates diversity and how this compared to degraded and reference conditions; (ii) how did macroinvertebrate community compositions differ in restored, degraded, and reference sites; and (iii) the environmental factors shaping macroinvertebrate communities. Habitat restoration significantly increased the diversity and richness of macroinvertebrate community and intolerant species and shifted the community composition towards reference status. Habitat characteristics and water chemistry, including substrate diversity, water velocity, and both nutrients (TN) and organic pollutants (TOC), appeared to shape the turnover of these communities. Habitat characteristics contributed to most of the variation of the entire macroinvertebrate community. Our research indicates that habitat restoration is an efficient approach to restore the aquatic community and hence improve river ecosystem health for freshwater conservation and sustainable management in Zhejiang province. This study strengthens our understanding of the changes of macroinvertebrate community after habitat restoration and important controlling variables that attribute to these changes, which provides an important guidance for future freshwater management.

Assessing Metabolic Risk Factors for LVSI in Endometrial Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: This study analyzed metabolic factors associated with lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) and compared the difference between type 1 and type 2 endometrial cancer (EC). Methods: Four hundred patients primarily diagnosed with EC who underwent hysterectomy with pathological results at Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital from January 2019 to January 2021 were included. Demographic variable data were collected as well as pathological results. Laboratory evaluations included fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), apolipoprotein A (Apo A) and apolipoprotein B (Apo B). Characterization of binary logistic regression models was used to test the odds ratios (ORs) between LVSI and its metabolic parameters with different subtypes of EC. Results: The results indicated that CA125, ROMA, Ki67 score, FBG and TC were higher in EC patients with LVSI (all p<0.05). Negative ER and PR expression was positively associated with LVSI (P<0.05). CA125, ROMA, FBG, TC and ER were found to be independent risk factors for LVSI. CA125, ROMA and FBG were significantly elevated in type 1 EC patients with LVSI compared with those without LVSI (all p<0.05). TC and Ki67 scores were much higher in type 2 EC patients with vs without LVSI (all p<0.05). Negative PR expression was positively related to both type 1 and type 2 EC patients with LVSI. Consequently, CA125, ROMA, FBG and Apo B were found to be independent risk factors for LVSI in type 1 EC, and TC was found to be an independent risk factor for LVSI in type 2 EC. Conclusion: FBG and TC were both independent risk factors for LVSI in EC. FBG and Apo B were independent risk factors for LVSI in type 1 EC. TC was an independent risk factor for LVSI in type 2 EC.

Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia and platelet transfusion in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Currently, the risk factors associated with chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are still undefined. Our study aimed to analyze the effects of risk factors on thrombocytopenia and to identify the threshold for infusion platelets of CIT patients who have received platelet transfusions. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 523 patients with DLBCL from 2011 to 2013. The clinical and demographic parameters were extracted, and the risk factors associated with CIT were analyzed. The threshold for platelet transfusions in DLBCL patients with a central venous catheter (CVC) was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 227 (43.4%) DLBCL patients had thrombocytopenia, and 63 (12.0%) had thrombocytopenia without concomitant cytopenia. We found that the choice of chemotherapy regimen was positively correlated with thrombocytopenia (P<0.001). The chemotherapy regimens most likely to result in thrombocytopenia were dexamethasone, cytarabine, cisplatin (DHAP) (92.3%), isophosphamide, carboplatin, etoposide (ICE) (89.7%), gemcitabine, dexamethasone, cisplatin (GDP) (89.7%), gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin (Gemox) (69.0%). In addition to these, high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (P=0.004) and Ann Arbor stage III/IV (P=0.024) were determined to be risk factors leading to thrombocytopenia. Forty patients (17.6%) had transfused platelets, and all of them were placed in the CVC. The high-threshold group (platelet count ≤20×109/L had a significantly lower amount of platelet transfusions than the low-threshold group ≤10×109/L. The platelet transfusion amount was 1.44±0.77 vs. 2.05±1.13 (P=0.047), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The chemotherapy regimens of DHAP, ICE, GDP, and Gemox can easily lead to thrombocytopenia. A high level of LDH in the peripheral blood and Ann Arbor stage III/IV are also associated with risk factors for thrombocytopenia. A 20×109/L prophylactic platelet transfusion threshold value is safer, more effective, and thus a better choice for DLBCL patients with CVC.

Evaluating ecosystem functioning following river restoration: the role of hydromorphology, bacteria, and macroinvertebrates.

Ecological restoration of freshwater ecosystems is now being implemented to mitigate anthropogenic disruption. Most emphasis is placed on assessing physico-chemical and hydromorphological properties to monitor restoration progress. However, less is known about the structural integrity and ecosystem health of aquatic ecosystems. In particular, little is known about how ecosystem function changes following river habitat restoration, especially in China. Leaf litter decomposition can be used as an indicator of stream ecosystem integrity. Therefore, the leaf breakdown rate was measured to assess the ecosystem function of restored rivers. By comparing leaf breakdown rates in urban rivers undergoing habitat restoration with that in degraded urban rivers and rivers in forested areas (i.e., reference conditions), we aimed to determine: (i) how habitat restoration affected leaf litter decomposition? (ii) the relationship between leaf litter decomposition to both environmental (habitat and physico-chemical variables) and biological factors (benthic communities), and (iii) identify the factors that contribute most to the variance in leaf litter breakdown rates. The results demonstrated a significant increase in leaf breakdown rate (120% in summer and 28% in winter) in the restored rivers compared to the degraded rivers. All environmental and biotic factors evaluated contributed synergistically to the differences in leaf litter decomposition among the three river types. The role of macroinvertebrates, mainly shredders, appeared to be particularly important, contributing 52% (summer) and 33% (winter) to the variance in decomposition, followed by habitat characteristics (e.g. substrate diversity, water velocity; 17% in summer, 29% in winter), physico-chemical variables (e.g. nutrient and organic pollutants; 11% in summer, 1% in winter) and biofilm bacteria (0% in summer, 15% in winter). Habitat restoration positively affected the structure and function of the previously degraded streams. Knowledge on controlling variables and their attribution to changes of ecosystem functioning provides guidance to assist the future planning of ecological restoration strategies.

Predicting the occurrence of multidrug-resistant organism colonization or infection in ICU patients: development and validation of a novel multivariate prediction model.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) have emerged as an important cause of poor prognoses of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study aimed to establish an easy-to-use nomogram for predicting the occurrence of MDRO colonization or infection in ICU patients. METHODS: In this study, we developed a nomogram based on predictors in patients admitted to the ICU in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from 2016 to 2018 using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. We externally validated this nomogram in patients from another hospital over a similar period, and assessed its performance by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and performing a decision curve analysis. RESULTS: 331 patients in the primary cohort and 181 patients in the validation cohort were included in the statistical analysis. Independent factors derived from the primary cohort to predict MDRO colonization or infection were male sex, higher C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and higher Pitt bacteremia scores (Pitt scores), which were all assembled in the nomogram. The nomogram yielded good discrimination with an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.70-0.84), and the range of threshold probabilities of decision curves was approximately 30-95%. CONCLUSION: This easy-to-use nomogram is potentially useful for predicting the occurrence of MDRO colonization or infection in ICU patients.

Icariin influences cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction by regulating the CD147/MMP-9 pathway.

Objective We investigated the protective effect of icariin on myocardial infarction-induced cardiac remodeling. Methods A cardiac remodeling model was constructed by ligating rats' coronary artery. Different icariin and CD147 concentrations were administered in the model group, and echocardiography was used to detect systolic function, screening out ideal experimental concentrations. The ventricular systolic function, myocardial apoptosis rate, and expression of collagen type I (Col I), Col III, CD147, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) were detected by hematoxylin-eosin staining, TUNEL assay, and western blot. MMP-9 activity was evaluated by gelatin zymography. Results The expression of Col I, Col III, CD147, and MMP-9 was higher, the expression of TIMP-1 was lower, and the maximal rates of left ventricular pressure rise and fall (+dp/dtmax and -dp/dtmax, respectively) were lower in model than control rats. The expression of CD147, MMP-9, Col I, and Col III was lower, the expression of TIMP-1 was higher, and the +dp/dtmax and -dp/dtmax were higher in the icariin than model group. The apoptosis rate was lower in the icariin and icariin + CD147 groups than control group. Conclusion Icariin attenuated myocardial apoptosis following myocardial infarction by apoptosis rate reduction and CD147/MMP-9 pathway inhibition.

Hsp-27 levels and thrombus burden relate to clinical outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

High thrombus burden, subsequent distal embolization, and myocardial no-reflow remain a large obstacle that may negate the benefits of urgent coronary revascularization in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, the biological function and clinical association of Hsp-27 with thrombus burden and clinical outcomes in patients with STEMI is not clear. Consecutive patients (n = 146) having STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) within 12 hours from the onset of symptoms were enrolled in this prospective study in the Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, Shangdong, P.R. China. Patients were divided into low thrombus burden and high thrombus burden groups. The present study demonstrated that patients with high-thrombus burden had higher plasma Hsp-27 levels ([32.0 ± 8.6 vs. 58.0 ± 12.3] ng/mL, P < 0.001). The median value of Hsp-27 levels in all patients with STEMI was 45 ng/mL. Using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, plasma Hsp-27 levels were of significant diagnostic value for high thrombus burden (AUC, 0.847; 95% CI, 0.775-0.918; P < 0.01). The multivariate cox regression analysis demonstrated that Hsp-27 > 45 ng/mL (HR 2.801, 95% CI 1.296-4.789, P = 0.001), were positively correlated with the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that MACE-free survival at 180-day follow-up was significantly lower in patients with Hsp-27 > 45 ng/mL (log rank = 10.28, P < 0.001). Our data demonstrate that plasma Hsp-27 was positively correlated with high thrombus burden and the incidence of MACE in patients with STEMI who underwent pPCI.

Alpine soil carbon is vulnerable to rapid microbial decomposition under climate cooling.

As climate cooling is increasingly regarded as important natural variability of long-term global warming trends, there is a resurging interest in understanding its impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Here, we report a soil transplant experiment from lower to higher elevations in a Tibetan alpine grassland to simulate the impact of cooling on ecosystem community structure and function. Three years of cooling resulted in reduced plant productivity and microbial functional potential (for example, carbon respiration and nutrient cycling). Microbial genetic markers associated with chemically recalcitrant carbon decomposition remained unchanged despite a decrease in genes associated with chemically labile carbon decomposition. As a consequence, cooling-associated changes correlated with a decrease in soil organic carbon (SOC). Extrapolation of these results suggests that for every 1 °C decrease in annual average air temperature, 0.1 Pg (0.3%) of SOC would be lost from the Tibetan plateau. These results demonstrate that microbial feedbacks to cooling have the potential to differentially impact chemically labile and recalcitrant carbon turnover, which could lead to strong, adverse consequences on soil C storage. Our findings are alarming, considering the frequency of short-term cooling and its scale to disrupt ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling.

The Biogeographic Pattern of Microbial Functional Genes along an Altitudinal Gradient of the Tibetan Pasture.

As the highest place of the world, the Tibetan plateau is a fragile ecosystem. Given the importance of microbial communities in driving soil nutrient cycling, it is of interest to document the microbial biogeographic pattern here. We adopted a microarray-based tool named GeoChip 4.0 to investigate grassland microbial functional genes along an elevation gradient from 3200 to 3800 m above sea level open to free grazing by local herdsmen and wild animals. Interestingly, microbial functional diversities increase with elevation, so does the relative abundances of genes associated with carbon degradation, nitrogen cycling, methane production, cold shock and oxygen limitation. The range of Shannon diversities (10.27-10.58) showed considerably smaller variation than what was previously observed at ungrazed sites nearby (9.95-10.65), suggesting the important role of livestock grazing on microbial diversities. Closer examination showed that the dissimilarity of microbial community at our study sites increased with elevations, revealing an elevation-decay relationship of microbial functional genes. Both microbial functional diversity and the number of unique genes increased with elevations. Furthermore, we detected a tight linkage of greenhouse gas (CO2) and relative abundances of carbon cycling genes. Our biogeographic study provides insights on microbial functional diversity and soil biogeochemical cycling in Tibetan pastures.

Soil bacterial community responses to warming and grazing in a Tibetan alpine meadow.

Warming and grazing significantly affect the structure and function of an alpine meadow ecosystem. Yet, the responses of soil microbes to these disturbances are not well understood. Controlled asymmetrical warming (+1.2/1.7°C during daytime/nighttime) with grazing experiments were conducted to study microbial response to warming, grazing and their interactions. Significant interactive effects of warming and grazing were observed on soil bacterial α-diversity and composition. Warming only caused significant increase in bacterial α-diversity under no-grazing conditions. Grazing induced no substantial differences in bacterial α-diversity and composition irrespective of warming. Warming, regardless of grazing, caused a significant increase in soil bacterial community similarity across space, but grazing only induced significant increases under no-warming conditions. The positive effects of warming on bacterial α-diversity and grazing on community similarity were weakened by grazing and warming, respectively. Soil and plant variables explained well the variations in microbial communities, indicating that changes in soil and plant properties may primarily regulate soil microbial responses to warming in this alpine meadow. The results suggest that bacterial communities may become more similar across space in a future, warmed climate and moderate grazing may potentially offset, at least partially, the effects of global warming on the soil microbial diversity.