RNF8 depletion attenuates hepatocellular carcinoma progression by inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition and enhancing drug sensitivity.

Despite substantial advances that have been made in understanding the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the early-stage diagnosis and treatment of advanced-stage HCC remain a major challenge. RNF8, an E3 ligase important for the DNA damage response, has been proven to facilitate the progression of breast and lung cancer, but its role in HCC remains unclear. In this study, we find that the expression of RNF8 is up-regulated in HCC tissues and positively correlated with poor prognosis of HCC. Furthermore, silencing RNF8 by siRNAs attenuates the migration of HCC cells and inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by regulating the expressions of proteins including N-cadherin, ß-catenin, snail, and ZO-1. Moreover, Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis shows that high RNF8 expression predicts poor survival benefits from sorafenib. Finally, cell viability assay demonstrates that RNF8 depletion enhances the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib and lenvatinib treatment. We hypothesize that the inhibitory role of RNF8 in EMT and its enhancing effects on anti-cancer drugs orchestrate the protective effects of RNF8 deficiency in HCC, which indicates its potential in clinical application.

Comprehensive Analysis of hsa-miR-654-5p's Tumor-Suppressing Functions.

The pivotal roles of miRNAs in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and prognosis have been demonstrated recently in various cancers. This study intended to investigate the specific roles of hsa-miR-654-5p in lung cancer, which is, in general, rarely discussed. A series of closed-loop bioinformatic functional analyses were integrated with in vitro experimental validation to explore the overall biological functions and pan-cancer regulation pattern of miR-654-5p. We found that miR-654-5p abundance was significantly elevated in LUAD tissues and correlated with patients' survival. A total of 275 potential targets of miR-654-5p were then identified and the miR-654-5p-RNF8 regulation axis was validated in vitro as a proof of concept. Furthermore, we revealed the tumor-suppressing roles of miR-654-5p and demonstrated that miR-654-5p inhibited the lung cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, cell proliferation, and migration using target-based, abundance-based, and ssGSEA-based bioinformatic methods and in vitro validation. Following the construction of a protein-protein interaction network, 11 highly interconnected hub genes were identified and a five-genes risk scoring model was developed to assess their potential prognostic ability. Our study does not only provide a basic miRNA-mRNA-phenotypes reference map for understanding the function of miR-654-5p in different cancers but also reveals the tumor-suppressing roles and prognostic values of miR-654-5p.

Biosynthesis of pinene in purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria.

BACKGROUND: Pinene is a monoterpene, that is used in the manufacture of fragrances, insecticide, fine chemicals, and renewable fuels. Production of pinene by metabolic-engineered microorganisms is a sustainable method. Purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria belong to photosynthetic chassis that are widely used to synthesize natural chemicals. To date, researches on the synthesis of pinene by purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria has not been reported, leaving the potential of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria synthesizing pinene unexplored. RESULTS: Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain was applied as a model and engineered to express the fusion protein of heterologous geranyl diphosphate synthase (GPPS) and pinene synthase (PS), hence achieving pinene production. The reaction condition of pinene production was optimized and 97.51 µg/L of pinene was yielded. Then, genes of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase and isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase were overexpressed, and the ribosome binding site of GPPS-PS mRNA was optimized, improving pinene titer to 539.84 µg/L. CONCLUSIONS: In this paper, through heterologous expression of GPPS-PS, pinene was successfully produced in R. sphaeroides, and pinene production was greatly improved by optimizing the expression of key enzymes. This is the first report on pinene produce by purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria, which expands the availability of photosynthetic chassis for pinene production.

Solubility, Permeability, Anti-Inflammatory Action and In Vivo Pharmacokinetic Properties of Several Mechanochemically Obtained Pharmaceutical Solid Dispersions of Nimesulide.

Nimesulide (NIM, N-(4-nitro-2-phenoxyphenyl)methanesulfonamide) is a relatively new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic drug. It is practically insoluble in water (<0.02 mg/mL). This very poor aqueous solubility of the drug may lead to low bioavailability. The objective of the present study was to investigate the possibility of improving the solubility and the bioavailability of NIM via complexation with polysaccharide arabinogalactan (AG), disodium salt of glycyrrhizic acid (Na2GA), hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin (HP-ß-CD) and MgCO3. Solid dispersions (SD) have been prepared using a mechanochemical technique. The physical properties of nimesulide SD in solid state were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction studies. The characteristics of the water solutions which form from the obtained solid dispersions were analyzed by reverse phase and gel permeation HPLC. It was shown that solubility increases for all complexes under investigation. These phenomena are obliged by complexation with auxiliary substances, which was shown by 1H-NMR relaxation methods. The parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) was used for predicting passive intestinal absorption. Results showed that mechanochemically obtained complexes with polysaccharide AG, Na2GA, and HP-ß-CD enhanced permeation of NIM across an artificial membrane compared to that of the pure NIM. The complexes were examined for anti-inflammatory activity on a model of histamine edema. The substances were administered per os to CD-1 mice. As a result, it was found that all investigated complexes dose-dependently reduce the degree of inflammation. The best results were obtained for the complexes of NIM with Na2GA and HP-ß-CD. In noted case the inflammation can be diminished up to 2-fold at equal doses of NIM.

Tissue and serum metabolomic phenotyping for diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

More than two-thirds of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cannot receive curative therapy and have poor survival due to late diagnosis and few prognostic directions. In our study, nontargeted and targeted metabolomics analyses were conducted by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to characterize metabolic features of HCC and identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarker candidate incorporating liver tissue and serum metabolites. A total of 552 subjects, including 432 with liver tissue and 120 with serum specimens, were recruited in China. In the discovery cohort, a series of 138 metabolites were identified to discriminate HCC tissues from matched nontumor tissues. Retinol presented with the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.991 and associated with Edmondson grade. In the validation cohort, all metabolites in retinol metabolism pathway were examined and the levels of retinol and retinal in tumor tissue and serum decreased in the order of normal to cirrhosis to HCC of Edmondson Grades I to IV. Retinol and retinal levels could also differentiate between HCC and cirrhosis, with AUCs of 0.996 and 0.994, respectively, in tissue and 0.812 and 0.744, respectively, in serum. The AUC of the combined retinol and retinal panel in serum was 0.852. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression identified this panel as an independent predictor for HCC and showed that low expression of retinol and retinal correlated with decreased survival time. In conclusion, the retinol metabolic signature had considerable diagnostic and prognostic value for identifying HCC patients who would benefit from prompt therapy and optimal prognostic direction.

miR-214 inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition of breast cancer cells via downregulation of RNF8.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous noncoding genes that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. In recent decades, miRNAs have been reported to play important roles in tumor growth and metastasis, while some reported functions of a specific miRNA in tumorigenesis are contradictory. In this study, we reevaluated the role of miR-214, which has been reported to serve as an oncogene or anti-oncogene in breast cancer metastasis. We found that miR-214 inhibited breast cancer via targeting RNF8, a newly identified regulator that could promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Specifically, the survival rate of breast cancer patients was positively correlated with miR-214 levels and negatively correlated with RNF8 expression. The overexpression of miR-214 inhibited cell proliferation and invasion of breast cancer, while suppression of miR-214 by chemically modified antagomir enhanced the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells. Furthermore, miR-214 could modulate the EMT process via downregulating RNF8. To our knowledge, this is the first report that reveals the role of the miR-214-RNF8 axis in EMT, and our results demonstrate a novel mechanism for miR-214 acting as a tumor suppressor through the regulation of EMT.

Body mass index and cancer risk among Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Obesity and diabetes are two risk factors for cancer. To evaluate the association of body mass index (BMI) with cancer risk in diabetic patients may improve current understanding of potential mechanisms. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 51,004 newly diagnosed T2DM patients derived from an electronic health record (EHR) database of Minhang district in Shanghai, China. Incident cancer cases and all-cause deaths occurred before September 30, 2015 were identified by linking with the Shanghai Cancer Registry and the Shanghai Vital Statistics. To examine the potential non-linear and linear relationships of BMI and cancer risk, Cox proportional hazard models with and without restricted cubic spline functions were used, respectively. RESULTS: A non-linear association was observed between BMI and overall cancer incidence in men younger than 60 years old (p for non-linearity = 0.009). Compared with those having BMI of 25.0 kg/m2, the cancer risk increased in those with either lower or higher BMI. In women older than 60 years old, linear dose-response relationships were observed between BMI and the risk of both overall cancer and breast cancer. As each unit increase in BMI, the overall cancer risks elevated by 3% (95%CI: 1-5%) and the breast cancer risks increased by 7% (95%CI: 1-13%). No significant association was observed between BMI and other common cancer sites. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the effect of BMI on cancer risk in Chinese patients with T2DM may vary by gender, age and cancer subtypes, suggesting different underlying biological mechanisms.

Spatial organization of enzymes to enhance synthetic pathways in microbial chassis: a systematic review.

For years, microbes have been widely applied as chassis in the construction of synthetic metabolic pathways. However, the lack of in vivo enzyme clustering of heterologous metabolic pathways in these organisms often results in low local concentrations of enzymes and substrates, leading to a low productive efficacy. In recent years, multiple methods have been applied to the construction of small metabolic clusters by spatial organization of heterologous metabolic enzymes. These methods mainly focused on using engineered molecules to bring the enzymes into close proximity via different interaction mechanisms among proteins and nucleotides and have been applied in various heterologous pathways with different degrees of success while facing numerous challenges. In this paper, we mainly reviewed some of those notable advances in designing and creating approaches to achieve spatial organization using different intermolecular interactions. Current challenges and future aspects in the further application of such approaches are also discussed in this paper.

Clinicopathological and Prognostic Features of Surgical Management in Duodenal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The rarity of duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (DGIST) led to only limited data being available on their management and prognosis. We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological features, surgical treatments, adjuvant therapy, and prognosis of DGIST. METHODS: Sixty-one patients were identified at diagnosis of primary DGIST from February 2005 to December 2015. One hundred twenty six patients with small intestinal gastrointestinal stromal tutors (GIST) were selected as control groups. Survival analyses were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Three- and five-year recurrence/metastasis-free survival rates of patients with DGIST were similar to those of patients with small intestinal GIST (p > 0.05 for all). Out of 61 cases with DGIST, 45 patients were treated with Limited Resection (LR). Sixteen patients were treated with Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). The 3- and 5-year recurrence/metastasis-free survival rates of the PD group and LR group were of no significant difference (p > 0.05 for all). Univariate analysis indicated that factors including surgical approaches, mitotic count, size, and risk grades were significantly associated with recurrence/metastasis-free survival (log-rank test, p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the mitotic count was independently correlated with a worse recurrence/metastasis-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with radical resected DGIST had a favourable prognosis, which is similar to that of small intestinal GIST. Both LR and PD were optimal choices for treating DGIST.

[Effect of total triterpenoids of Chaenomeles speciosa on PPARγ/SIRT1/NF-κBp65 signaling pathway and intestinal mucosal barrier of ulcerative colitis induced by DSS in mice].

To observe the effect of total triterpenoids of Chaenomeles speciosa on PPARγ/SIRT1/NF-κBp65 signaling pathway and intestinal mucosal barrier of ulcerative colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in mice, C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group, model group, total triterpenoids of C. speciosa (50, 100 mg·kg⁻¹) groups and sulfasalazine (250 mg·kg⁻¹) group. The ulcerative colitis (UC) model was induced by orally administering 2.5% DSS to the experimental mice, and the corresponding drugs were given to each group 3 days before the administration with 2.5% DSS. The normal group and the model group were given the equal volume of 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose sodium solution by gavage continuously for 10 days, q.d. The general conditions of the mice were observed on a daily basis, and the disease activity index (DAI) score was recorded. On the 10th day after the treatment, mice were put to death, the contents of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-10 in the blood were detected, colon length was measured, colon mucosa damage index (CMDI) score was calculated, and MPO activity detection and histomorphology analysis were conducted. Real-time PCR was applied to detect the mRNA expressions of E-cadherin, occluding,MUC2 and TFF3; the protein expressions of SIRT1, IKKß, p-IKKß, IκBα, p-IκBα and cytosol and nucleus PPARγ, NF-κBp65 in intestinal tissue were detected by western blot. The results indicated that total triterpenoids of C. speciosa (50, 100 mg·kg⁻¹) could significantly improve the general conditions of UC mice, reduce the DAI, CMDI and histopathological scores, increase the colon length, reduce the colonic mucosa ulcers, erosion and inflammatory infiltration, restore the normal intestinal mucosal barrier function, reduce the contents of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, IFN-γ, increase the contents of IL-4 and IL-10 in the blood, inhibit MPO activity in colon tissue, up-regulate the mRNA expressions of E-cadherin, occludin, MUC2 and TFF3 in colon tissue, down-regulate the protein expressions of cytosol PPARγ, tissue p-IKKß, p-IκBα and nucleus NF-κBp65 in the colon tissue, decrease the p-IKKß/IKKß and p-IκBα/IκBα ratios, up-regulate the protein expressions of nucleus PPARγ, tissue SIRT1 and cytosol NF-κBp65 (P<0.05 or P<0.01, respectively), with a dose-effect relationship between the total triterpenoids of C. speciosa treated groups. These findings suggested that total triterpenoids of C. speciosa had a significantly therapeutic effect on UC mice induced by DSS, its mechanism might be related to the regulation of PPARγ/SIRT1/NF-κBp65 signaling pathway, the inhibition of pro-inflammatory factor formation and the up-regulation of protein expression of protective factors.

Technique and Clinical Outcomes of Combined Stent Placement for Postthrombotic Chronic Total Occlusions of the Iliofemoral Veins.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the technical aspects and early clinical results of combined stent placement for the management of postthrombotic syndrome (PTS) in chronic total occlusions (CTOs) of the iliofemoral veins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 81 consecutive patients (mean age, 57 y; 37 men; 81 limbs; 65 left limbs) with postthrombotic CTO of the iliofemoral veins treated with combined stent placement in a single institution from January 2013 to December 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Wallstents were used for femoral inflow and E-Luminexx stents for iliac outflow. Technical aspects, quality of life (QOL), stent patency, and Villalta scores were recorded at follow-up. Primary, primary assisted, and secondary patency rates were estimated with Kaplan-Meier methods with the log-rank test. RESULTS: Percutaneous recanalization was successful in 77 of 81 limbs (95.1%). Stents were deployed in all iliofemoral occlusions, with two stents in 63 lesions (77.8%) lesions and three stents in 18 lesions (22.2%). Venous perforation occurred in 32 patients (37.4%) and was resolved in all cases after stent placement. Back pain occurred during balloon angioplasty (93.8%) and persisted after stent placement in 56.8% of patients. However, the symptoms were self-limiting without further therapy. QOL and Villalta scores were significantly improved during a median follow-up of 19 months (range, 1-38 mo; P < .01). The 2-year primary, primary assisted, and secondary cumulative stent patency rates were 81.5%, 91.4%, and 93.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Combined stent placement is an effective, safe, and feasible method of management of PTS in iliofemoral CTO until commercial venous stents designed for PTS become available.

Towards a comprehensive phylogeny of the large temperate genus Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae), with an emphasis on species from the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains.

BACKGROUND: Striking interspecific variations in floral traits of the large temperate genus Pedicularis have given rise to controversies concerning infra-generic classifications. To date, phylogenetic relationships within the genus have not been well resolved. The main goal of this study is to construct a backbone phylogeny of Pedicularis, with extensive sampling of species from the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains. Phylogenetic analyses included 257 species, representing all 13 informal groups and 104 out of 130 series in the classification system of Tsoong, using sequences of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and three plastid regions (matK, rbcL and trnL-F). Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods were applied in separate and combined analyses of these datasets. RESULTS: Thirteen major clades are resolved with strong support, although the backbone of the tree is poorly resolved. There is little consensus between the phylogenetic tree and Tsoong's classification of Pedicularis. Only two of the 13 groups (15.4 %), and 19 of the 56 series (33.9 %) with more than one sampled species were found to be strictly monophyletic. Most opposite-/whorled-leaved species fall into a single clade, i.e. clade 1, while alternate leaves species occur in the remaining 12 clades. Excluding the widespread P. verticillata in clade 1, species from Europe and North America fall into clades 6-8. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that combinations of morphological and geographic characters associated with strongly supported clades are needed to elucidate a comprehensive global phylogeny of Pedicularis. Alternate leaves are inferred to be plesiomorphic in Pedicularis, with multiple transitions to opposite/whorled phyllotaxy. Alternate-leaved species show high diversity in plant habit and floral forms. In the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, geographical barriers may have facilitated diversification of species with long corolla tubes, and the reproductive advantages of beakless galeas in opposite-/whorled-leaved species may boost speciation at high altitude.

Jiawei Duhuo Jisheng Mixture Mitigates Osteoarthritis Progression in Rabbits by Inhibiting Inflammation: A Network Pharmacology and Experimental Approach.

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common degenerative joint disease characterized by cartilage degradation, inflammation, and pain. Traditional Chinese Medicine, including JDJM (a herbal formula derived from the renowned Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang), has been used to alleviate symptoms of KOA, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to elucidate the potential therapeutic mechanisms of JDJM in treating KOA through network pharmacology, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), molecular docking, and experimental validation in animal models. METHODS: The active compounds of JDJM were identified through TCMSP database searches, and their potential targets were predicted using network pharmacology. WGCNA was employed to identify key modules and hub genes associated with KOA. Molecular docking was performed to assess the binding affinities of key compounds to critical inflammatory targets. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to evaluate the stability of the protein-ligand complexes. An experimental KOA model in rabbits was used to validate the therapeutic effects of JDJM. Histopathological examinations and inflammatory marker analyses were conducted to confirm the findings. RESULTS: Network pharmacology and WGCNA analyses identified 21 key targets and pathways potentially involved in the therapeutic effects of JDJM. Molecular docking results showed that Glyasperin C had the highest docking scores with EGF and IL-1ß, followed by Stigmasterol with IL-6, Myricanone with INS, and Sesamin with VEGFA. MD simulations confirmed the stability of these protein-ligand complexes, indicating strong and stable interactions. In the rabbit KOA model, JDJM treatment significantly improved knee joint morphology and reduced the levels of inflammatory markers, such as IL-6 and TNF-α. Histopathological analysis revealed reduced cartilage degradation and inflammation in the JDJM-treated group compared to controls. CONCLUSION: JDJM exhibits promising anti-inflammatory and cartilage-protective effects, making it a potential therapeutic option for KOA patients. Further experimental and clinical studies are warranted to confirm these findings and translate them into clinical practice.

Myocardin is required for cardiomyocyte survival and maintenance of heart function.

Despite intense investigation over the past century, the molecular mechanisms that regulate maintenance and adaptation of the heart during postnatal development are poorly understood. Myocardin is a remarkably potent transcriptional coactivator expressed exclusively in cardiac myocytes and smooth muscle cells during postnatal development. Here we show that myocardin is required for maintenance of cardiomyocyte structure and sarcomeric organization and that cell-autonomous loss of myocardin in cardiac myocytes triggers programmed cell death. Mice harboring a cardiomyocyte-restricted null mutation in the myocardin gene (Myocd) develop dilated cardiomyopathy and succumb from heart failure within a year. Remarkably, ablation of the Myocd gene in the adult heart leads to the rapid-onset of heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, and death within a week. Myocd gene ablation is accompanied by dissolution of sarcomeric organization, disruption of the intercalated disc, and cell-autonomous loss of cardiomyocytes via apoptosis. Expression of myocardin/serum response factor-regulated myofibrillar genes is extinguished, or profoundly attenuated, in myocardin-deficient hearts. Conversely, proapoptotic factors are induced and activated in myocardin-deficient hearts. We conclude that the transcriptional coactivator myocardin is required for maintenance of heart function and ultimately cardiomyocyte survival.

A validated LC-MS/MS method for the determination of vinflunine in plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic studies.

A rapid, simple and sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of vinflunine in plasma was developed and validated. The analysis involved a simple liquid-liquid extraction. After making alkaline with NaOH, plasma was extracted with methyl tert-butyl ether and the organic extract was then evaporated and the residue was reconstituted in mobile phase. The reconstituted solution was injected into an HPLC system and was subjected to reverse-phase HPLC on a 5 µm ODS-3 column at a flow-rate of 0.2 mL/min. The mobile phase consisted of ammonium acetate (0.02 mol/L, pH = 3.0) and acetonitrile (20:80). Vinflunine was detected in the single ion monitoring mode using target ions at m/z 817.4/160.1/142.3 for vinflunine and m/z 447.2/128.3/112.1 for gefitinib (internal standard). Standard curves were linear over the concentration range of 5-1000 ng/mL. The mean predicted concentrations of the quality control samples deviated by less than 2% from the corresponding nominal values; the intra-assay and inter-assay precisions of the assay were within 7% relative standard deviation. The extraction recovery of vinflunine was more than 80%. The validated assay was applied to a pharmacokinetic study of vinflunine in plasma following the administration of a single vinflunine injection (2 mg/kg).

Targeted protein degradation in mammalian cells: A promising avenue toward future.

In the eukaryotic cellular milieu, proteins are continuously synthesized and degraded effectively via endogenous protein degradation machineries such as the ubiquitin-proteasome and lysosome pathways. By reengineering and repurposing these natural protein regulatory mechanisms, the targeted protein degradation (TPD) strategies are presenting biologists with powerful tools to manipulate the abundance of proteins of interest directly, precisely, and reversibly at the post-translational level. In recent years, TPD is gaining massive attention and is recognized as a paradigm shift both in basic research, application-oriented synthetic biology, and pioneering clinical work. In this review, we summarize the updated information, especially the engineering efforts and developmental route, of current state-of-the-art TPD technology such as Trim-Away, LYTACs, and AUTACs. Besides, the general design principle, benefits, problems, and opportunities to be addressed were further analyzed, with the aim of providing guidelines for exploration, discovery, and further application of novel TPD tools in the future.

A functional reference map of the RNF8 interactome in cancer.

BACKGROUND: RNF8 is an E3 ligase identified as a critical DNA damage-responsive protein. Recently, multiple reports have shown that RNF8 could be used as an important therapeutic target for cancer chemo/radiotherapy. However, the understanding of RNF8 remains limited due to the lack of its interactome reference map and comprehensive analysis of RNF8 in diverse cancers, which underscores the need to map the interactome of RNF8 via high-throughput methods. RESULTS: A two-way identification method based on LC-MS was designed for the identification of the RNF8 interactome with high-specificity. By in silico analysis and in vitro validation, we identified a new reference map of the RNF8 interactome network containing many new targets, such as YBX1, DNMT1, and HDCA1, new biological functions and the gene-disease associations of RNF8. Our results revealed a close relationship between RNF8 and neurodegenerative diseases or tumor-infiltrating immune cells using bulk RNA-seq and scRNA-seq datasets. As a proof of concept of our interactome map, we validated the direct binding between RNF8 and YBX1 and showed that RNF8 catalyzed the ubiquitination of YBX1. These results demonstrated that RNF8 might be a crucial regulator of YBX1. CONCLUSIONS: Our work provides a unique framework for researchers and clinicians who seek to better explore or understand RNF8-regulated biological functions in cancers. This study will hopefully facilitate the rational design and further development of anti-RNF8 therapy in cancers.

Puerarin ameliorates myocardial remodeling of spontaneously hypertensive rats through inhibiting TRPC6-CaN-NFATc3 pathway.

Puerarin (Pue) has been widely used in the treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, but the basic mechanism of Pue on myocardial remodeling (MR) of hypertension is not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of Pue on MR and provide the basis for the clinical application. Thirty male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and six male Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) aged 3 months were used in this study, SHR rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, Pue (40 or 80 mg/kg/d, ip) and telmisartan (TELMI) (30 mg/kg/d, ig) were administrated for 12 weeks. We used Echocardiography to detect the cardiac function. Morphology and structure of myocardium were observed. H9C2 cells were subjected to 1 µM Ang Ⅱ in vitro, 100 µM Pue, 0.5 µM Calmodulin-dependent calcineurin (CaN) inhibitor Cyclosporin A (CsA) and 1 µM specific transient receptor potential channel 6 (TRPC6) inhibitor SAR7334 were used in H9C2 cells. Long-term administration of Pue could significantly improve cardiac function, improve morphology and structure of myocardium in vivo. Pue could reduce MR related proteins expression (ACTC1, TGF-ß1, CTGF, ß-MHC and BNP), attenuate ROS, restore MMP and decrease Ca2+-overload in vitro. Further study indicated that Pue could decrease TRPC6 expression and inhibit nuclear factor of activated T cells 3 (NFATc3) nuclear translocation in vitro. These results suggested that puerarin could ameliorate myocardial remodeling through inhibiting TRPC6-CaN-NFATc3 in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Buffer Traps Effect on GaN-on-Si High-Electron-Mobility Transistor at Different Substrate Voltages.

Substrate voltage (VSUB) effects on GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) power application performance with superlattice transition layer structure was investigated. The 2DEG conductivity and buffer stack charge redistribution can be affected by neutral/ionized donor and acceptor traps. As the donor/acceptor traps are excessively ionized or de-ionized by applying VSUB, the depletion region between the unintentionally doped (UID)/Carbon-doped (C-doped) GaN layer may exhibit a behavior similar to the p-n junction. An applied negative VSUB increases the concentration of both the ionized donor and acceptor traps, which increases the breakdown voltage (BV) by alleviating the non-uniform distribution of the vertical electric field. On the other hand, an applied positive VSUB causes the energy band bending flattener to refill the ionized traps and slightly improves the dynamic Ron degradation. Moreover, the amount of electrons injected into the buffer stack layer from the front side (2DEG channel/Ohmic contact) and the back side (AlN nucleation layer/superlattice transition layer) are asymmetric. Therefore, different VSUB can affect the conductivity of 2DEG through the field effect, buffer trapping effect, and charge redistribution, which can change the electrical performance of the device.

A new handheld fundus camera combined with visual artificial intelligence facilitates diabetic retinopathy screening.

AIM: To explore the performance in diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening of artificial intelligence (AI) system by evaluating the image quality of a handheld Optomed Aurora fundus camera in comparison to traditional tabletop fundus cameras and the diagnostic accuracy of DR of the two modalities. METHODS: Overall, 630 eyes were included from three centers and screened by a handheld camera (Aurora, Optomed, Oulu, Finland) and a table-top camera. Image quality was graded by three masked and experienced ophthalmologists. The diagnostic accuracy of the handheld camera and AI system was evaluated in assessing DR lesions and referable DR. RESULTS: Under nonmydriasis status, the handheld fundus camera had better image quality in centration, clarity, and visible range (1.47, 1.48, and 1.40) than conventional tabletop cameras (1.30, 1.28, and 1.18; P<0.001). Detection of retinal hemorrhage, hard exudation, and macular edema were comparable between the two modalities, in principle, with the area under the curve of the handheld fundus camera slightly lower. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of referable DR with the handheld camera were 82.1% (95%CI: 72.1%-92.2%) and 97.4% (95%CI: 95.4%-99.5%), respectively. The performance of AI detection of DR using the Phoebus Algorithm was satisfactory; however, Phoebus showed a high sensitivity (88.2%, 95%CI: 79.4%-97.1%) and low specificity (40.7%, 95%CI: 34.1%-47.2%) when detecting referable DR. CONCLUSION: The handheld Aurora fundus camera combined with autonomous AI system is well-suited in DR screening without mydriasis because of its high sensitivity of DR detection as well as its image quality, but its specificity needs to be improved with better modeling of the data. Use of this new system is safe and effective in the detection of referable DR in real world practice.