Real-world applications of the new grading system in lung adenocarcinoma: A study of 907 patients focusing on revealing the relationship between pathologic grade and genetic status.

BACKGROUND: The status of the lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) grading system and the association between LUAD differentiation, driver genes, and clinicopathological features remain to be elucidated. METHODS: We included patients with invasive non-mucinous LUAD, evaluated their differentiation, and collected available clinicopathological information, gene mutations, and analyzed clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Among the 907 patients with invasive non-mucinous LUAD, 321 (35.4 %) were poorly differentiated, 422 (46.5 %) were moderately differentiated, and 164 (18.1 %) were well differentiated. EGFR mutation was more common in the LUADs accompanied without CGP (complex glandular pattern) than LUADs with CGP (p < 0.001). Correlation analysis between mutations and clinical characteristics showed that EGFR gene mutation (p < 0.001), KRAS gene mutation (p < 0.05), and ALK gene rearrangement (p < 0.001) were significantly related to the degree of tumor differentiation, and the KRAS and ALK gene mutation frequencies were higher in the low-differentiation group than in the high and medium differentiation groups. The EGFR mutation frequency was higher in the well/moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds to the evidence regarding the role of the grading system in prognosis. EGFR, KRAS, and ALK are related to the degree of tumor differentiation.

MiR-20a-containing exosomes from umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells alleviates liver ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proved to exert considerable therapeutic effects on ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential molecular mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of MSCs-derived exosome reinforced with miR-20a in reversing liver I/R injury. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and IHC were carried out to compare the differential expressions of miR-20a, Beclin-I, FAS, Caspase-3, mTOR and P62 in IR rats and normal rats. TUNEL was performed to assess IR-induced apoptosis in IR rats, and luciferase assay was used to confirm the inhibitory effect of miR-20a on Beclin-I and FAS expression. Among the 12 candidate microRNAs (miRNAs), miR-486, miR-25, miR-24, miR-20a,miR-466 and miR-433-3p were significantly downregulated in I/R. In particular, miR-20a, a miRNA highly expressed in umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells, was proved to bind to the 3' UTR of Beclin-I and FAS to exert an inhibitory effect on their expressions. Since Beclin-I and FAS were aberrantly upregulated in IR, exosomes separated from UC-MSCs showed therapeutic efficacy in reversing I/R induced apoptosis. In addition, exosomes reinforced with miR-20a and separated from UC-MSCs almost fully alleviated I/R injury. Furthermore, our results showed that miR-20a could alleviate the abnormal expression of genes related to apoptosis and autophagy, such as active Caspase-3, mTOR, P62, and LC3II. This study presented detailed evidence to clarify the mechanism underlying the therapeutic efficacy of UC-MSCs in the treatment of I/R injury.

Activation of autophagy contributes to the renoprotective effect of postconditioning on acute kidney injury and renal fibrosis.

Ischemia/Reperfusion injury contributes to acute kidney injury (AKI) and subsequent chronic kidney disease (CKD) including renal fibrosis. Autophagy is a cytoplasmic components degradation pathway that has complex function in the development of various diseases such as fibrosis in kidney. Our previous work demonstrated that postconditioning (POC) showed excellent therapeutic effect on renal fibrosis via inhibiting the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after reperfusion. But the connection of autophagy and POC in the renoprotective effect remains unclear. Here, we defined the relevance of autophagy and POC in the protective effect on AKI and subsequent renal fibrosis. We found that at two days after I/R injury, POC largely reduced renal tubular epithelial cell apoptosis and improved renal function; autophagy was significantly activated in kidneys of the POC rats. At two months after reperfusion, the I/R injury rats displayed severe renal fibrosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), whereas these were remarkably attenuated in the POC treated rats. Overall, our results demonstrated that POC could reduce renal damage and attenuate the degree of EMT after I/R injury via enhanced activation of autophagy.

Carcinogenic Role and Clinical Significance of Histone H3-H4 Chaperone Anti-silencing Function 1 B (ASF1B) in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Histone H3-H4 chaperone anti-silencing function 1 (ASF1) plays an important role in the polymerization, transport, and modification of histones. However, the significance of ASF1B in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is largely overlooked. We investigated the aberrant expression of ASF1B in LUAD and its potential link to patient survival using multiple databases. ASF1B-overexpressing and knockdown cell lines were constructed to explore its effects on the biological behavior of lung cancer cells. ssGSEA, TMB, TIDE and IMvigor210 cohort were used to explore and validate the association of ASF1B to tumor immunity. Our data suggested that ASF1B was overexpressed in LUAD, and was associated with poor prognosis. ASF1B promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of lung cancer cells by regulating the phosphorylation of AKT in vitro. ASF1B was associated with tumor immunity. In summary, ASF1B may promote malignant behavior of LUAD cells, and its overexpression correlates with worse prognosis and better immunotherapy effect.

Integrating Tumor and Nodal Radiomics to Predict the Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Recurrence Risk for Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer.

AIMS: To develop and evaluate machine learning models using tumor and nodal radiomics features for predicting the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and recurrence risk in locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC). BACKGROUND: Early and accurate response prediction is vital to stratify LAGC patients and select proper candidates for NAC. OBJECTIVE: A total of 218 patients with LAGC undergoing NAC followed by gastrectomy were enrolled in our study and were randomly divided into a training cohort (n = 153) and a validation cohort (n = 65). METHODS: We extracted 1316 radiomics features from the volume of interest of the primary lesion and maximal lymph node on venous phase CT images. We built 3 radiomics signatures for distinguishing good responders and poor responders based on tumor radiomics (TR), nodal radiomics (NR), and a combination of the two (TNR), respectively. A nomogram was then developed by integrating the radiomics signature and clinical factors. Kaplan- Meier survival curves were used to evaluate the prognostic value of the nomogram. RESULTS: The TNR signature achieved improved predictive value, with AUCs of 0.755 and 0.744 in the training and validation cohorts. Our proposed nomogram model (TNRN) showed a good performance for GR prediction in the prediction efficacy, calibration ability, and clinical benefit, with AUCs of 0.779 and 0.732 in the training and validation cohorts, superior to the clinical model. Moreover, the TNRN could accurately classify the patients into high-risk and low-risk groups in both training and validation cohorts with regard to postoperative recurrence and metastasis. CONCLUSION: The TNRN performed well in identifying good responders and provided valuable information for predicting progression-free survival time (PFS) in patients with LAGC who underwent NAC.

Next-generation sequencing-based analysis of homologous recombination repair gene variant in ovarian cancer.

Background: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies. Investigating the HRR-related gene status, notably BRCA1/2 in different regions and populations is of great significance for formulating accurate target therapy. Methods: We collected 124 ovarian cancer cases from the Affiliated Hospital of.Qingdao University, detected the genomic alteration of 32 genes by NGS, including.19 HRR-related genes, 9 proto-oncogenes and 4 tumor suppressor genes. Clinicopathological characteristics, variants, clinical significance, and correlation with prognosis were analyzed. Results: The incidence of HRR-related gene mutation was 59.68 % and no statistical significance was found with multiple clinicopathological characteristics. BRCA1/2 (27.42 %) were the most frequent mutated HRR genes. 23 (18.55 %) cases harbored gBRCA1/2 mutation, with all BRCA1 mutations were pathogenic/likely pathogenic and 2 cases of BRCA2 mutation was variant of uncertain significance. Somatic BRCA1/2 mutations were found in 12 (9.68 %) cases, and sBRCA1/2 had a higher frequency in less common ovarian cancer than high-grade serous carcinoma. HRR-related gene mutation status was associated with better prognosis than HRR wild-type. Conclusions: Somatic BRCA1/2 mutation has higher incidence in less common ovarian cancer. HRR gene mutation status is an independent prognosis factor in ovarian cancer. Clarifying the HRR gene status is important for the selection of target therapy as well as the evaluation of prognosis.

Integrated Transcriptomic Landscape and Deep Learning Based Survival Prediction in Uterine Sarcomas.

Purpose: The genomic characteristics of uterine sarcomas have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore the genomic landscape of the USs. Materials and Methods: Comprehensive genomic analysis through RNA-sequencing was conducted. Gene fusion, differentially expressed genes (DEGs), signaling pathway enrichment, immune cell infiltration, and prognosis were analyzed. A deep learning model was constructed to predict the survival of US patients. Results: A total of 71 US samples were examined, including 47 endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESS), 18 uterine leiomyosarcomas (uLMS), 3 adenosarcomas, 2 carcinosarcomas, and 1 uterine tumor resembling an ovarian sex-cord tumor (UTROSCT). ESS (including high-grade ESS and low-grade ESS) and uLMS showed distinct gene fusion signatures; a novel gene fusion site, MRPS18A - PDC-AS1 could be a potential diagnostic marker for the pathology differential diagnosis of uLMS and ESS; 797 and 477 uDEGs were identified in the ESS vs. uLMS and HGESS vs. LGESS groups, respectively. The uDEGs were enriched in multiple pathways. Fifteen genes including LAMB4 were confirmed with prognostic value in USs; immune infiltration analysis revealed the prognositic value of myeloid dendritic cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, natural killer cells, macrophage M1, monocytes and hematopoietic stem cells in USs; the deep learning model named MMN-MIL showed satisfactory performance in predicting the survival of US patients, with the area under the receiver operating curve curve reached 0.909 and accuracy achieved 0.804. Conclusion: USs harbored distinct gene fusion characteristics and gene expression features between HGESS, LGESS, and uLMS. The MMN-MIL model could effectively predict the survival of US patients.

miR-18b inhibits TGF-ß1-induced differentiation of hair follicle stem cells into smooth muscle cells by targeting SMAD2.

Human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells (hHF-MSCs) are capable of differentiating into smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in response to transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß), and thus can be used for cardiovascular tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying SMC conversion of hHF-MSCs are still undefined. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that modulate gene expression post-transcriptionally by binding to the complementary sequences of targeted mRNAs. Accumulating evidence indicates that miRNAs are associated with SMC differentiation in vitro andin vivo. In this study, we revealed that miR-18b was significantly downregulated during TGF-ß1-induced hHF-MSCs differentiation into SMC using miRNA array profiling and quantitative RT- PCR (qRT-PCR). Over-expression of miR-18b in hHF-MSCs led to remarkable downregulation of SMC-specific markers such as SMA and calponin proteins. On the contrary, inhibition of endogenous miR-18b by its antisense oligonucleotide antagomir-18b reversed the changes of SMA and calponin proteins. We also showed that SMAD2, a key transcription regulator in TGF-ß signaling which was involved in SMC differentiation, is regulated by miR-18b. miR-18b could suppress the expression of SMAD2 protein by targeting the 3'UTR of SMAD2 gene without affecting its mRNA level in hHF-MSCs. Moreover, knockdown of SMAD2 by RNA interference could block the effect of inhibition of miR-18b on SMC differentiation, indicating that SMAD2 contributed to miR-18b mediated regulation of TGF-ß-induced SMC differentiation. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that miR-18b regulated the TGF-ß1-induced differentiation of hHF-MSCs into SMCs by targeting SMAD2 gene, and provided novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms of TGF-ß-induced SMC differentiation.

Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition Exon 14 Skipping Mutation and Amplification in 5,008 Patients With Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is a major health concern worldwide because of its increasing incidence and mortality. This study aimed to clarify the association between mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) genomic alterations and clinical characteristics of lung cancer. METHOD: We collected data from 5,008 patients with lung cancer diagnosed and treated between January 2017 and July 2021 at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University. Genomic alterations in the MET gene, including the exon 14 skipping mutation and amplification, were detected using amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (2,057 cases) and next-generation sequencing (2,951 cases). Clinical characteristics such as age, sex, tumor location, tumor stage, smoking, pleural invasion, and histology were statistically analyzed for MET exon 14 skipping mutation and amplification. The DNA splicing sites causing the MET exon 14 skipping mutation at the mRNA level were also investigated. RESULTS: The incidence of the MET exon 14 skipping mutation was 0.90% (41/4,564) in adenocarcinoma, 1.02% (3/294) in squamous cell carcinoma, and 8.33% (1/12) in sarcomatoid carcinoma specimens. It was more frequently observed in patients over 60 years of age than the MET exon 14 skipping mutation wildtype. The MET exon 14 skipping mutation co-occurred with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) L858R, EGFR 19-Del, and BRAF V600E mutations. At the DNA level, single nucleotide mutation and small fragment deletion (1-38 base pairs) upstream and downstream of MET exon 14 led to MET exon 14 skipping mutation at the mRNA level. MET amplification occurred in 0.78% (21/2,676) adenocarcinoma and 1.07% (2/187) squamous cell carcinoma specimens and was significantly associated with advanced tumor stages (III + IV) compared to the MET amplification wildtype. MET amplification primarily co-occurred with the EGFR mutation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that MET genomic alterations were statistically related to age and tumor stage and co-existed with mutations of other oncogenic driver genes, such as EGFR and BRAF. Moreover, various splicing site changes at the DNA level led to the exon 14 skipping mutation at the mRNA level. Further studies are required to clarify the association between MET genomic alterations and prognosis.

Characterisation of extraembryonic endoderm-like cells from mouse embryonic fibroblasts induced using chemicals alone.

BACKGROUND: The development of somatic reprogramming, especially purely chemical reprogramming, has significantly advanced biological research. And chemical-induced extraembryonic endoderm-like (ciXEN) cells have been confirmed to be an indispensable intermediate stage of chemical reprogramming. They resemble extraembryonic endoderm (XEN) cells in terms of transcriptome, reprogramming potential, and developmental ability in vivo. However, the other characteristics of ciXEN cells and the effects of chemicals and bFGF on the in vitro culture of ciXEN cells have not been systematically reported. METHODS: Chemicals and bFGF in combination with Matrigel were used to induce the generation of ciXEN cells derived from mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). RNA sequencing was utilised to examine the transcriptome of ciXEN cells, and PCR/qPCR assays were performed to evaluate the mRNA levels of the genes involved in this study. Hepatic functions were investigated by periodic acid-Schiff staining and indocyanine green assay. Lactate production, ATP detection, and extracellular metabolic flux analysis were used to analyse the energy metabolism of ciXEN cells. RESULTS: ciXEN cells expressed XEN-related genes, exhibited high proliferative capacity, had the ability to differentiate into visceral endoderm in vitro, and possessed the plasticity allowing for their differentiation into induced hepatocytes (iHeps). Additionally, the upregulated biological processes of ciXEN cells compared to those in MEFs focused on metabolism, but their energy production was independent of glycolysis. Furthermore, without the cocktail of chemicals and bFGF, which are indispensable for the generation of ciXEN cells, induced XEN (iXEN) cells remained the expression of XEN markers, the high proliferative capacity, and the plasticity to differentiate into iHeps in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: ciXEN cells had high plasticity, and energy metabolism was reconstructed during chemical reprogramming, but it did not change from aerobic oxidation to glycolysis. And the cocktail of chemicals and bFGF were non-essential for the in vitro culture of ciXEN cells.

Effect of Tumor Location on Clinicopathological and Molecular Markers in Colorectal Cancer in Eastern China Patients: An Analysis of 2,356 Cases.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has become a major health concern in China due to its increasing incidence and mortality. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between tumor locations and the clinicopathological molecular marker features in eastern China CRC patients. We continuously collected data on 2,356 CRC patients who underwent surgical resection from January 2017 to April 2019. Right-sided colorectal cancer (RCC), was located from the cecum to the transverse colon and left-side colorectal cancer (LCRC) was located from the splenic flexure to the rectum. The clinicopathological indices (including age, sex, pTNM stage, mucinous production, and distant metastasis) and frequency of molecular markers such as KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and microsatellite instability (MSI) were statistically analyzed between the RCC and LCRC groups. The associations between clinicopathological characters and molecular markers were also investigated. LCRC and RCC proportions in eastern China CRC patients were 81.75% and 18.25%, respectively. RCC (vs. LCRC) was more frequently observed with higher frequencies of MSI-high (MSI-H) and BRAF mutations in female and younger patients, and was closely associated with metastasis, poor differentiation, and mucinous tumors. Tumor location also showed significant differences in bowel wall infiltration degree and pTNM stage. Mutation rates of KRAS, NRAS, MSI, and BRAF were 40.15%, 3.85%, 6.31%, and 2.30%, respectively. Patients with a KRAS mutation tended to be female, had mucinous, perineural invasive, and polypoid tumor. Those with NRAS mutation tended to develop well-differentiated ulcerative tumors. The BRAF mutation was more relevant with lymph node involvement, deeper infiltration of the bowel wall, mucinous, poorly-differentiated tumor with thrombus, and perineural invasion. Furthermore, MSI-H was more commonly found in younger patients with deeper bowel wall infiltration and a poorly-differentiated polypoid tumor, whereas MSS patients tended to develop lymph node involvement, and a mucinous and perineural invasive tumor. In our study, we found that LCRC and RCC showed different features on the clinicopathological and molecular markers in eastern China CRC patients. Since our data differ from those of Western countries and other regions in China, further studies are required to clarify the regional differences of the clinicopathological and molecular markers in CRC patients.

Regulatory effects of dermal papillary pluripotent stem cells on polarization of macrophages from M1 to M2 phenotype in vitro.

The M1:M2 macrophage ratio is important for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can alter macrophage activation, promoting M1 to M2 macrophage conversion and SCI repair; however, clinical BMSC applications have limitations. Previously, we found DPCs to be superior to BMSCs in promoting tissue repair after SCI, which we hypothesized to be mediated by M1 to M2 macrophage conversion. We investigated the regulatory effect of DPCs on M1/M2 macrophage polarization. Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) were isolated from rat vibrissae and characterized. Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) were isolated and identified based on specific marker expression, and stimulated to differentiate into M1 macrophages with GM-CSF, IFN-γ, and LPS. These cells were co-cultured with DPCs to evaluate the effect on macrophage differentiation. DPCs expressed dermal papillae-specific markers, including ALP and Sox2, had MSC-expression patterns like those of BMSCs, and were capable of multi-differentiation. BMDMs expressed ANAE and CD68. Three days after induction, differentiated cells exhibited morphology typical of M1-like macrophages and expressed the macrophage marker CD68 and the M1 macrophage markers iNOS, but lacked expression of the M2 macrophage marker CD206. Co-culture with DPCs resulted in a shift to anti-inflammatory M2-like macrophage differentiation, characterized by morphological changes typical of M2 macrophages, downregulation of the characteristic cytokine TNF-α and the proportion of iNOS+ cells, and upregulation of the characteristic cytokine IL-10 and the cell-surface marker CD206. The number of CD206-expressing M2 macrophages also increased. These findings demonstrate that DPCs reprogram macrophages to an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, which could improve adverse inflammatory microenvironments and promote tissue repair. Thus, DPCs may be an interesting alternative cell source and merit further investigation in applications for SCI therapy.

Regional Control of Hairless versus Hair-Bearing Skin by Dkk2.

Haired skin is a defining characteristic of mammals. However, some specialized skin regions, such as human palms, soles and ventral wrist, and mouse plantar foot, are entirely hairless. Using mouse plantar skin as a model system, we show that the endogenous secreted Wnt inhibitor DKK2 suppresses plantar hair follicle development and permits the formation of hairless skin. Plantar skin retains all of the mechanistic components needed for hair follicle development, as genetic deletion of Dkk2 permits formation of fully functional plantar hair follicles that give rise to external hair, contain sebaceous glands and a stem cell compartment, and undergo regenerative growth. In the absence of Dkk2, Wnt/ß-catenin signaling activity is initially broadly elevated in embryonic plantar skin and gradually becomes patterned, mimicking follicular development in normally haired areas. These data provide a paradigm in which regionally restricted expression of a Wnt inhibitor underlies specification of hairless versus hairy skin.