Mechanisms for enhanced lignin humification with reduced organic matter loss by goethite in biogas residue composting.

In this study, effects of three iron (oxyhydr)oxides on the biogas residue composting, i.e., composting with goethite (CFe1), hematite (CFe2) or magnetite (CFe3), were investigated. Results showed that composting performance of CFe1 was much better than those of CFe2 and CFe3. Addition of goethite increased temperature of CFe1 and enhanced lignin humification. More than 31.49% of Fe(III) in goethite was reduced to amorphous Fe(II) during the composting, suggesting that goethite worked as electron acceptor for microbial metabolism and heat generation. The functional bacteria Chloroflexi and Actinobacteria, and genes encoding key enzymes (AA1 family), which play essential roles in humification of lignin, were enriched in CFe1. Besides, goethite reduced 10.96% organic matter (OM) loss probably by increasing the molecular size and aggregation of OM for its protection during the composting. This study shows that adding goethite is an efficient strategy to enhancing the humification of lignin-rich biowaste.

Phase II Study of Gemcitabine, Peg-Asparaginase, Dexamethasone and Methotrexate Regimen for Newly Diagnosed Extranodal Natural Killer/T-Cell Lymphoma, Nasal Type: Final Analysis With Long-Term Follow-Up and Rational Research for the Combination.

Patients with extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL), nasal type are benefit from peg-asparaginase, gemcitabine, and methotrexate. Therefore, we conducted a prospective phase II trial using a combination of these drugs as GAD-M regimen in naïve ENKTL patients, simultaneously, explored the combinational mechanism. The GAD-M regimen was administered for 6 cycles sandwiched by radiotherapy for stage I/II and 6 cycles for stage III/IV patients. After 6 cycles, the overall response rate of 36 patients was 91.6%, and the complete remission rate increased to 83.3%. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 74.8% and 77.8%, respectively. The 5-year PFS and OS were 68.3% and 77.8%. No patient suffered from the central nervous system (CNS) relapse. Most patients experienced recoverable liver dysfunction and anemia in this study. The plasma MTX concentration ratio at 12 to 24 hr during the first cycle could be an early predictor of outcomes in ENKTL (PFS, P=0.005; OS, P=0.002). Additionally, we found that high dose MTX (HD-MTX) and gemcitabine had the synergistic effect of ENKTL cell in vitro. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that the combination could lead to obviously apoptosis in ENKTL cell with extremely release of reactive oxygen spices (ROS), which mediated by endoplasmic reticulum stress. In conclusion, the GAD-M regimen could be a new choice to newly diagnosed ENKTL, especially for stage I/II patients. Furthermore, our results showed the synergy effect of HD-MTX with gemcitabine in ENKTL. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01991158.

Metronomic combination chemotherapy using everolimus and etoposide for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Patients with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) treated by conventional chemotherapeutic drugs usually require a long recovery period. However, metronomic combination chemotherapy (MCC) enhances therapeutic efficacy and decreases side effects in the treatment of NHL. In this study, we tested and compared the effects of metronomic chemotherapy (MC) using podophyllotoxin derivative etoposide (VP-16) alone and that of MCC using both VP-16 and everolimus (RAD001) in the treatment of NHL. Two types of NHL cells, OCI-LY-10 and SU-DHL-6, were employed for the experiments. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cell senescence were measured to test the effects of drugs in each experiment. In addition, the influences of MC and MCC on the cell cycle and autophagy pathway were evaluated to study the functional mechanisms behind their effects. Finally, we conducted analyses of the growth inhibitory effect and synergistic activity for different MCC. The results showed that MC using low-dose VP-16 alone demonstrated strong treatment effects in terms of inducing apoptosis, cell senescence, and reducing tumor cell proliferation, and this treatment also led to changes of the cell cycle. Compared with MC, MCC using VP-16 and RAD001 together demonstrated even stronger treatment effects, with both the cell cycle and autophagy-related proteins being affected. Considering the synergistic activity, our results showed the MCC of VP-16 48 hours + RAD001 24 hours is the optimal method for treating NHL.

Development of novel long noncoding RNA MALAT1 near-infrared optical probes for in vivo tumour imaging.

With the advent of next-generation sequencing technology, there is rapidly increasing interest in long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). The objectives of this study were to develop a novel lncRNA MALAT1 near-infrared optical probe, to evaluate the characteristics of this optical imaging probe in vitro and to determine whether it can be used for imaging MALAT1 expression in malignant tumours in vivo. Conjugation of Cy5.5 to MALAT1 ASO was accomplished using standard NHS (N-hydroxysuccinimide) ester procedures, and the labelled MALAT1 ASO was purified with a Glen-Pak DNA Purification Cartridge and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The in vitro cellular uptake results showed that the percentage of cell binding increased with an increasing final concentration and increased with increasing incubation time for the MHCC-LM3 tumour cell flow cytometry analyses. in vivo optical imaging exhibited 5' (Cy5.5)-MALAT1 ASO uptake in the tumour with a maximum at 30 min p.i. that slowly washed out over time. High contrast to normal tissue was gradually observed from 4 h to 48 h p.i. Tumour-to-normal ratios of fluorescence intensities were plotted as a function of time. The in vivo competition assay showed little uptake of the probe into the tumours at any time point, indicating effective competition, selectivity of probe binding and retention by tumours in vivo. Our proposed Cy5.5 labelling of MALAT1 ASO can serve as a potent optical probe for in vivo imaging of tumour expressing MALAT1. Importantly, the successful development of optical probes provides a basis for specific molecular diagnoses in the field of lncRNAs.

18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with adult-onset Still's disease.

(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) has become useful for the detection and diagnosis of inflammatory conditions, including rheumatic diseases, immunoglobulin (Ig) G4-related disease and giant cell arteritis. However, few articles based on small sample sizes (n = 7) diagnosed as adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) have been published. The study aim was to observe the reliable characteristics and usefulness of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for the evaluation of consecutive patients with AOSD. Eligible patients were selected from among those who had undergone (18)F-FDG PET/CT between May 2007 and June 2014. Twenty-six consecutive AOSD patients were recruited retrospectively according to criteria set by Yamaguchi et al. All patients underwent evaluation by (18)F-FDG PET/CT. The characteristics and usefulness of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for evaluation of consecutive patients with AOSD were evaluated. All 26 patients had (18)F-FDG-avid lesion(s) related to their particular disease. Diffuse and homogeneous accumulation of (18)F-FDG was seen in the bone marrow (26/26; 100 %; maximum standardized uptake (SUVmax), 2.10-6.73) and spleen (25/26; 96.15 %). The SUVmax of affected lymph nodes was 1.3-9.53 (mean ± SD, 4.12 ± 2.24). The SUVmax and size factors (maximum diameter and areas) of affected lymph nodes were significantly different (P = 0.033 and P = 0.012, respectively). (18)F-FDG PET/CT showed the general distribution of (18)F-FDG accumulation. This factor helped to exclude malignant disease and aided the diagnosis of AOSD (42.3 %) in 11 cases when combined with clinical features and aided decisions regarding appropriate biopsy sites, such as the lymph nodes (n = 9) and bone marrow (n = 13). (18)F-FDG PET/CT is a unique imaging method for the assessment of metabolic activity throughout the body in subjects with AOSD. Characteristics or patterns of AOSD observed on (18)F-FDG PET/CT can be used for the indication and diagnosis or to guide the clinical management of ASOD.