Regulatory roles of non-coding RNAs and m6A modification in trophoblast functions and the occurrence of its related adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, fetal growth restriction, and recurrent miscarriage, occur frequently in pregnant women and might further induce morbidity and mortality for both mother and fetus. Increasing studies have shown that dysfunctions of human trophoblast are related to these adverse pregnancy outcomes. Recent studies also showed that environmental toxicants could induce trophoblast dysfunctions. Moreover, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been reported to play important regulatory roles in various cellular processes. However, the roles of ncRNAs in the regulation of trophoblast dysfunctions and the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes still need to be further investigated, especially with exposure to environmental toxicants. In this review, we analyzed the regulatory mechanisms of ncRNAs and m6A methylation modification in the dysfunctions of trophoblast cells and the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes and also summarized the harmful effects of environmental toxicants. In addition to DNA replication, mRNA transcription, and protein translation, ncRNAs and m6A modification might be considered as the fourth and fifth elements that regulate the genetic central dogma, respectively. Environmental toxicants might also affect these processes. In this review, we expect to provide a deeper scientific understanding of the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes and to discover potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of these outcomes.

[Cloning and expression analysis of CpPMM gene in Codonopsis pilosula].

GDP-mannose is an important precursor for the synthesis of Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides and involved in the synthesis of sugar chains. Phosphomannomutase(PMM)catalyzes the conversion of mannose-6-phosphate(Man-6-P)to mannose-1-phosphate(Man-1-P)to synthesize GDP-mannose. In this study, specific primers were designed based on the PMM gene sequence information in transcriptome data, and the full length of the C. pilosula PMM gene was cloned and named CpPMM. The correlation between the CpPMM gene expression and C. pilosula polysaccharide synthesis was analyzed by a series of bioinformatics analysis, prokaryotic expression and qRT-PCR. The results show that the CpPMM gene contains a 741 bp open reading frame(ORF), encoding 246 amino acids, which is highly similar to the PMM of other species and highly homologous to the Helianthus annuus from the Asteraceae family. It was predicted to be a hydrophilic non-transmembrane protein without signal peptide, which was predicted to be located in the cytoplasm with multiple phosphorylation sites. Combined with predictive analysis of conserved domains, this protein belongs to the HAD(haloacid dehalogenase)superfamily; prokaryotic expression studies show that the size of the CpPMM fusion protein is about 29 kDa, which is consistent with the relative molecular mass predicted. The target protein is an inclusion body and is partially soluble. The qRT-PCR results showed that the CpPMM gene exerted spatiotemporal expression patterns, and the expression level in fruiting period was significantly higher than that in the other three periods such as the flowering period. Along with the growth period of C. pilosula, the polysaccharide content of C. pilosula showed a gradual increase trend, reaching the highest during the harvest time. And there are significant differences in the polysaccharide content of C. pilosula in each period. In this study, the CpPMM gene was cloned from the root of C. pilosula, at the same time, the prokaryotic expression system was constructed. In addition, its gene expression level is highly correlated with the polysaccharide content of C. pilosula. It lays the foundation for further studying the function of CpPMM gene and the analysis of biosynthetic pathways of polysaccharides in medicinal plants.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Lambl's Excrescence on the Aortic Valve.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to summarize our experience in the diagnosis and treatment of Lambl's excrescence (LE) on the aortic valve. Methods: The clinical data of 25 patients with LE admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to December 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 17 males and 8 females, with the mean age of 55.7 ± 11.43 years (range: 30 to 70 years). Among the patients analyzed, eight also had cerebral embolism. All of the patients were diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). In seven cases, surgical treatment to remove the excrescence was successfully performed. Results: All 25 patients were cured and discharged. There were no complications or operative mortalities in the seven patients that underwent surgical treatment. Follow-ups were performed for all patients for an average of 2.9 ± 1.5 years. During this time, none had a new cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Conclusions: Most patients with LE are asymptomatic, though some patients showed repeated episodes of stroke. We recommend TEE as the main diagnostic means of the disease. Patients with LE that have experienced two or more CVAs or combined other heart disease and need open heart surgery should be offered surgical excision of the excrescences. Other patients should be treated conservatively with anticoagulation, or monitored closely.

[Luminescence Mechanism of Near-Infrared Quantum Dots].

Near-infrared quantum dots have unique optical properties, such as high fluorescence quantum yield, long fluorescent life, tunable fluorescence emission wavelength, half peak width and large stokes shift, resisting light bleaching etc. The advantage of "near infrared biological window" gives them great potential application value in biological fluorescent tags, solar cells, quantization calculation, photocatalysis, chemical analysis, food detection, vivo imaging and other fields. At present, the luminescence mechanism research of near-infrared quantum dots is still not comprehensive enough. In this paper, the luminescent principle of three different types of near-infrared quantum dots is summarized, including core/shell structure quantum dots (CdTe/CdSe, CdSe/CdTe/ZnSe, etc), ternary quantum dots (Cu-In-Se, CuInS2, etc) and doped quantum dots (Cu∶InP, etc). The luminescence mechanism of Type Ⅱ core/shell structure is most likely to attribute to the interband recombination luminescence, the ternary structure of quantum dots light emitting mechanism is considered to be due to the intrinsic structure defects, and the luminescence mechanism of doped quantum dots is deemed to result from the impurity defects. The existing problems of near-infrared luminescent principle of quantum dots are also discussed and their development tendency is explored t in this review. A systematic study of luminescence mechanism of near-infrared quantum dots will not only help to understand the luminescent properties of near infrared quantum dots, but also contribute to improve the synthesis methods of quantum dots with similarly high quality.

AngiotensinII induces HuR shuttling by post-transcriptional regulated CyclinD1 in human mesangial cells.

Abnormal proliferation of human mesangial cells was the earliest pathological character in chronic kidney disease and linked to the accumulation of extracellular matrix and glomerular sclerosis. Multifunctional Angiotensin (AngII) had been emerged as a key player in initiation and progression of fibrogenic processes in kidney. In mesangial cells, treatment with the proliferation stimulus AngII triggered the escalated cyclinD1 expression, where its association with HuR increased dramatically. In our study, it was demonstrated that both in vivo and in vitro HuR redistribution in dysregulated mesangial cell proliferation accompanied by an abundant cyclinD1 expression following the AngII treatment. ActinomycinD experiments revealed that AngII stabilized cyclinD1 mRNA in human mesangial cells via HuR. Furthermore, employing the RIP-Chip assay yielded cyclinD1 mRNA with a higher affinity to HuR in mesangial cells induced by AngII compared with the normal ones in vitro study. Analysis of a cyclinD1 mRNA directly implicated HuR in regulating cyclinD1 production: cyclinD1 translation increased in HuR-shuttling cells induced by AngII and declined in cells in which HuR levels were lowered by RNA interference. We proposed that the release of HuR-bound mRNAs via an AngII-cyclinD1-HuR regulatory axis was implicated in the evolution of proliferative kidney diseases, providing us a novel therapeutic strategy to treat glomerular disease.

The clinical research for Ganoderan's effect on preventing and treating cerebral arteriosclerosis through inhibiting NADPH oxidizing enzyme expression.

A lot of researches have verified that produced excessive reactive oxygen is one of the hazard factors causing atherosclerosis. NADPH oxidase is the main protease of vascular cell's producing reactive oxygen, the expression of its relevant subunits is closely correlated with the occurring and development process of atherosclerosis. Oxidizing reaction could damage organism tissue cells, ganoderan has very significant effect on the anti-oxidizing function of cell. The pharmaceutical research of ganoderan has significant meaning in curing diabetes mellitus, preventing and controlling arteriosclerosis. This paper is mainly to discuss the effect of anoderan's inhibiting NADPH oxidizing enzyme expression on preventing and treating cerebral arteriosclerosis and its action mechanism.

Lanthanum carbonate prevents accelerated medial calcification in uremic rats: role of osteoclast-like activity.

BACKGROUND: Arterial medial calcification (AMC) is frequent prevalence in patients with end stage renal disease. Evidence about hyperphosphatemia induced anabolic crosstalk between osteoblast and osteoclast in AMC of uremia is rare. Lanthanum carbonate as an orally administered phosphate-binding agent to reduce phosphate load and ameliorate AMC, but direct evidence is missing. METHODS: Detailed time-course studies were conducted of Sprague-Dawley rats fed with adenine and high phosphate diet to imitate the onset and progression of AMC of uremia. Calcification in great arteries was evaluated by VonKossa's and Masson's trichrome staining. Osteoblast (Runx2, Osteocalcin) and osteoclast (RANKL, Cathepsin K, TRAP) related genes were analyzed by Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR. Serum PTH, RANKL and OPG levels were detected by ELISA kit. RESULTS: Serum phosphate was markedly increased in CRF group (6.94 ± 0.97 mmol/L) and 2%La group (5.12 ± 0.84 mmol/L) at week 4, while the latter group diminished significantly (2.92 ± 0.73 mmol/L vs CRF Group 3.48 ± 0.69, p < 0.01) at week 10. The rats that did not receive 2%La treatment had extensive von kossa staining for medial calcification in CRF group. In contrast, the rats in 2%La group just exhibit mild medial calcification. Inhibitory effect on progression of AMC was reflected by down regulated osteogenic genes and altered osteoclast-like genes. RANKL/OPG ratio in local calcification area was declined in 2%La group (vs CRF group, p <0.01), whereas marginal difference in serum among the three groups. In contrast to the robust expression of cathepsinK in calcified area, TRAP expression was not found. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal phosphate homeostasis, induction of osteogenic conversion and osteoclast suppression were contributed to the current mechanisms of uremia associated arterial medial calcification based on our studies. Beneficial effects of Lanthanum carbonate could be mainly due to the decreased phosphate retention and cross-talk between osteoblast and osteoclast-like cell, both of which can be the therapeutic target for uremia associated with AMC.

Mediation analysis of activities of daily living and kinesiophobia in association between cardiac function and health status of patients with chronic heart failure.

AIMS: To explore the mediational effect of activities of daily living (ADL) and kinesiophobia on the cardiac function and health status of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: From October 2021 to January 2022, a total of 244 CHF patients treated in the Department of Cardiology of general hospitals were recruited by the convenience sampling method. They were investigated with the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia Heart (TSK-SV Heart), the Barthel index for assessing ADL, and the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D) for assessing the health status. RESULTS: The cardiac function and kinesiophobia of CHF patients were both negatively correlated with their health status (r = -.390 and -0.410, respectively, both p < .01). Besides, the ADL of CHF patients was positively correlated with the health status (r = .320, p < .01). The cardiac function of CHF patients was negatively correlated with the ADL (r = -.412, p < .01), but positively correlated with kinesiophobia (r = .180, p < .01). The mediation proportion of ADL plus kinesiophobia between the cardiac function and health status of CHF patients was 43.48%. Both ADL and kinesiophobia partially mediated the effect of cardiac function on health status in CHF patients, but their mediational effects showed no significant difference (p = .777). CONCLUSION: Both ADL and kinesiophobia exert obvious mediational effects between cardiac function and health status in CHF patients. Individualized cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs based on the cardiac function, ADL and kinesiophobia of CHF patients may contribute to reduce the medical burden and improve the well-being of affected people.

Effect of Nrf2 loss on senescence and cognition of tau-based P301S mice.

Cellular senescence may contribute to chronic inflammation involved in the progression of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its removal prevents cognitive impairment in a model of tauopathy. Nrf2, the major transcription factor for damage response pathways and regulators of inflammation, declines with age. Our previous work showed that silencing Nrf2 gives rise to premature senescence in cells and mice. Others have shown that Nrf2 ablation can exacerbate cognitive phenotypes of some AD models. In this study, we aimed to understand the relationship between Nrf2 elimination, senescence, and cognitive impairment in AD, by generating a mouse model expressing a mutant human tau transgene in an Nrf2 knockout (Nrf2KO) background. We assessed senescent cell burden and cognitive decline of P301S mice in the presence and absence of Nrf2. Lastly, we administered 4.5-month-long treatments with two senotherapeutic drugs to analyze their potential to prevent senescent cell burden and cognitive decline: the senolytic drugs dasatinib and quercetin (DQ) and the senomorphic drug rapamycin. Nrf2 loss accelerated the onset of hind-limb paralysis in P301S mice. At 8.5 months of age, P301S mice did not exhibit memory deficits, while P301S mice without Nrf2 were significantly impaired. However, markers of senescence were not elevated by Nrf2 ablation in any of tissues that we examined. Neither drug treatment improved cognitive performance, nor did it reduce expression of senescence markers in brains of P301S mice. Contrarily, rapamycin treatment at the doses used delayed spatial learning and led to a modest decrease in spatial memory. Taken together, our data suggests that the emergence of senescence may be causally associated with onset of cognitive decline in the P301S model, indicate that Nrf2 protects brain function in a model of AD through mechanisms that may include, but do not require the inhibition of senescence, and suggest possible limitations for DQ and rapamycin as therapies for AD.

Emission factors, size distributions, and emission inventories of carbonaceous particulate matter from residential wood combustion in rural China.

Published emission factors (EFs) often vary significantly, leading to high uncertainties in emission estimations. There are few reliable EFs from field measurements of residential wood combustion in China. In this study, 17 wood fuels and one bamboo were combusted in a typical residential stove in rural China to measure realistic EFs of particulate matter (PM), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC), as well as to investigate the influence of fuel properties and combustion conditions on the EFs. Measured EFs of PM, OC, and EC (EF(PM), EF(OC), and EF(EC), respectively) were in the range of 0.38-6.4, 0.024-3.0, and 0.039-3.9 g/kg (dry basis), with means and standard derivation of 2.2 ± 1.2, 0.62 ± 0.64, and 0.83 ± 0.69 g/kg, respectively. Shrubby biomass combustion produced higher EFs than tree woods, and both species had lower EFs than those of indoor crop residue burning (p < 0.05). Significant correlations between EF(PM), EF(OC), and EF(EC) were expected. By using a nine-stage cascade impactor, it was shown that size distributions of PM emitted from tree biomass combustions were unimodal with peaks at a diameter less than 0.4 µm (PM(0.4)), much finer than the PM from indoor crop residue burning. Approximately 79.4% of the total PM from tree wood combustion was PM with a diameter less than 2.1 µm (PM(2.1)). PM size distributions for shrubby biomasses were slightly different from those for tree fuels. On the basis of the measured EFs, total emissions of PM, OC, and EC from residential wood combustion in rural China in 2007 were estimated at about 303, 75.7, and 92.0 Gg.

Secular trends in body mass index and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Shandong, China, from 1985 to 2010.

BACKGROUND: There is strong evidence of a positive secular trend in body mass index (BMI) and the prevalence of obesity has increased substantially over the last several decades. However, no studies on this trend have been reported in Shandong Province, China. The present study assessed the decennial change in BMI in Shandong Province during the past 25 years and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. METHODS: The BMI of children and adolescents aged 7-18 was calculated using data from five national surveys on students' constitution and health carried out by the government in 1985, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010 in Shandong Province, China. The distribution of BMI was reported, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity was obtained according to the screening criteria of overweight and obesity for Chinese students using BMI [Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC) standard]. Overweight and obesity prevalence were also computed using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cutoffs. RESULTS: In the past 25 years, the P(50) (50th percentile) of BMI increased. The average increments of BMI were 2.18 kg/m(2) for boys and 1.21 kg/m(2) for girls, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity increased rapidly: using WGOC standard, the prevalence of overweight increased from 1.91% for boys and 2.02% for girls in 1985 to 17.34% for boys and 11.97% for girls in 2010, and the prevalence of obesity increased from 0.27% for boys and 0.23% for girls in 1985 to 15.83% for boys and 7.12% for girls in 2010; using IOTF standard, the prevalence of overweight increased from 1.54% for boys and 1.27% for girls in 1985 to 19.06% for boys and 13.42% for girls in 2010, and the prevalence of obesity increased from 0.04% for boys and 0.03% for girls in 1985 to 9.33% for boys and 2.42% for girls in 2010, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The average value of BMI has increased over time; overweight and obesity among children and adolescents have become a serious public health problem. Comprehensive evidence-based strategies of intervention should be introduced, including periodic monitoring.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Jatropha curcas var. nigroviensrugosus.

As a new variety of Jatropha curcas L., Jatropha curcas var. nigroviensrugosus has high development and utilization values because of its high flowering and fruiting rates and yield. In this study, the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of J. nigroviensrugosus was assembled using Illumina sequencing data. Results revealed that its cp genome is 170,811 bp in length and has 106 unique genes, including 76 protein-coding genes, 26 tRNA genes and 4 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that J. nigroviensrugosus was closely related to J. curcas.

The Prognostic Value of Microvascular Density in Early Postoperative Recurrence and Metastasis of T1 Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the relation of microvascular density (MVD) to the early postoperative recurrence and metastasis of T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and to determine whether MVD could be a prognostic predictor of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: Patients with T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled. Immunohistochemistry with primary antibody against CD-34 was performed to count MVD. ROC curve was plotted and appropriate cutoff value was determined to evaluate the potential power of MVD in predicting early recurrence and metastasis of T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Survival curves were drawn by the Kaplan-Meier method and significance were tested by the Mantel-Cox test. RESULTS: A total of 37 patients with T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled. The MVD of T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients with early metastasis was significantly higher than that of T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients without early metastasis (65.83±4.39 vs. 42.26±2.34, p<0.001). MVD was available in distinguishing whether patients with early esophageal are prone to postoperative recurrence or metastasis (AUC=0.861; 95% CI 0.738-0.984, p<0.001), with 88.89% sensitivity and 68.42% specificity of MVD being obtained when the cut-off is 44.5. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that patients with a higher MVD had a lower survival (37.35 months) compared with those with low MVD (40.79 months) (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: MVD could be a promising indicator for early postoperative recurrence and metastasis of T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and the prognosis of these patients.

Distribution of skinfold thickness and blood pressure among children and adolescents in Shandong, China.

This article reported the distribution of skinfold thickness (SFT) and blood pressure (BP) among children and adolescents in Shandong, China. A total of 8568 students (4333 boys and 4235 girls) aged 7-18 years participated in this study. Triceps and subscapular SFT and BP of all subjects were measured, the sum of Triceps and subscapular SFT (SSFT) was used as an indicator of the overall SFT. The overall prevalence of relative high BP was 24.07% for boys and 22.36% for girls. The prevalence of relative high BP was increasing with SSFT percentiles, this trend was obvious especially in upper percentiles of SSFT. The prevalence of relative high BP increased from 13.27% (boys) and 13.33% (girls) in <5th SSFT percentile group to 55.50% (boys) and 48.17% (girls) in ≥95th SSFT percentile group, which increased by 3.2 and 2.6 times. There is a higher level of SSFT and higher prevalence of relative high BP among children and adolescents in Shandong, China.

Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Erector Spinae Plane Block and Oblique Subcostal Transverse Abdominis Plane Block for Postoperative Analgesia in Elderly Patients After Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Study.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative analgesia in elderly patients is still a thorny problem. Ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transverse abdominis plane block (TAPB) has been demonstrated to provide postoperative analgesia after abdominal surgeries. However, recent studies have suggested that an alternative method, erector spinae plane block (ESPB), might also be effective. In this study, we compared the postoperative analgesic effects of ESPB and TAPB in elderly patients who had undergone laparoscopic colorectal surgery. METHODS: Sixty-two elderly patients (≥ 65 years old) scheduled for elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery with general anesthesia were randomly allocated to two equally sized groups: ESPB group and TAPB group. The ESPB group had a bilateral erector spinae plane block, and the TAPB group had a bilateral oblique subcostal transverse abdominis plane block. The primary outcome was visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score during the first 24 postoperative hours at resting and active states. The secondary outcomes were postoperative consumption of sufentanil, satisfaction score, the number of patients who required antiemetics, incidence of block-related complications, and other side events. RESULTS: There were no demographic differences between two groups. Compared to the TAPB group, the ESPB group had lower VAS pain scores and sufentanil consumption during the first 24 postoperative hours. Additionally, ESPB reduced the occurrence of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Furthermore, the satisfaction score was higher in the ESPB group. No other complications were reported between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with oblique subcostal TAPB, ESPB more effectively reduced postoperative pain and opioid consumption. Thus, ESPB is suitable for postoperative analgesia in elderly patients who have undergone laparoscopic colorectal surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000033236.

The case report of surgical and medical co-management in a triple organs resection surgery.

INTRODUCTION: and Importance: There have been few studies in the literature that report patient have triple combined procedures done via minimally invasive approaches. We report a co-management SMC intervention helped an 88-years-old patient with multiple surgery risk factors have combined procedures done via robotic-assisted approaches at one sitting with excellent surgical outcomes. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the surgical and medical co-management (SMC) intervention of a 88-year-old male patient who was found to have colonic carcinoma, right renal carcinoma, gall bladder stones, hypertension, plumonary interstital fibrosis, atrioventricular block. The patient underwent simultaneous triple robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery procedure consisting of right partial nephrectomy, right hemicolecomy and cholecystectomy using robot. Perioperative optimization approach was recommended and planned after consultation with group comprises internists and surgeons. The internists rounds on the patient daily and helps to manage all chronic medical comorbidities. He was discharged without any severe complications. CONCLUSIONS: This case shows the feasibility and safety of the synchronously triple robotic surgical treatments, with clinic outcomes that is better with that of the separately. SMC approach may maximize therapy efficiency and patient recovery in elder patients with chronic disease who has significantly higher postoperative complications.

The Predictive Efficacy of Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) on Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Treated by Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, and the majority of NSCLC patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage. Chemotherapy is still the main treatment at present, and the overall prognosis is poor. In recent years, immunotherapy has developed rapidly. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) as the representative have been extensively applied for treating various types of cancers. Tumor mutation burden (TMB) as a potential biomarker is used to screen appropriate patients for treatment of ICIs. To verify the predictive efficacy of TMB, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to explore the association between TMB and ICIs. METHOD: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and son on were systematically searched from inception to April 2020. Objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were estimated. RESULTS: A total of 11 studies consisting of 1525 nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were included. Comparison of high and low TMB: pooled HRs for OS, 0.57 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.99; P = 0.046); PFS, 0.48 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.69; P < 0.001); ORR, 3.15 (95% CI 2.29 to 4.33; P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis values: pooled HRs for OS, 0.75 (95% CI 0.29 to 1.92, P = 0.548) for blood TMB (bTMB), 0.44 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.75, P = 0.003) for tissue TMB (tTMB); for PFS, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29 to 0.98, P = 0.044) and 0.43 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.71, P = 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These findings imply that NSCLC patients with high TMB possess significant clinical benefits from ICIs compared to those with low TMB. As opposed to bTMB, tTMB was thought more appropriate for stratifying NSCLC patients for ICI treatment.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Gymnocladus chinensis Baill.

Gymnocladus chinensis Baill (Fam.: Leguminosae; Trib.: Caesalpinieae) are widely distributed in China. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of G. chinensis. The total cp genome size was 165,315 bp in length, containing a large single-copy region of 92,356 bp, a small single-copy region of 20,449bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions of 26,255 bp. The all GC content of G. chinensis cp was 34.95%. It encodes a total of 105 unique genes, including 75 protein-coding genes, 26 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Seventeen genes contain a single intron, and two genes (ycf3 and clpP) have two introns. Phylogenetic analysis results strongly supported that G. chinensis was closely related to Angylocalyx braunii.

Distinct bacterial community of a solid-state fermented Chinese traditional food huase sufu revealed by high-throughput sequencing.

Sufu is a common solid-state traditional fermented food made from soybean. Huase sufu is a typical type found in several provinces of China, especially in Hubei. However, little is known about the bacterial community. High-throughput sequencing technology revealed that the dominant taxa at phylum level were: Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroides, and at the genus level were: Pseudomonas, Lactococcus, Acinetobacter, etc. Additionally, LEfSe revealed that compared with the bacterial community of red sufu and white sufu, the biomarker genera for both huase sufu were Enterococcus, and Myroides. Moreover, there were twenty-eight hubs for the huase sufu samples, and four of them were dominant genera: Citrobacter, Myroides, Vagococcus, and Enterococcus. These results provide a new insight into our understanding of the bacterial diversity of huase sufu, and will facilitate the isolation, screening, and development potential bacterial strains for production of huase sufu. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-021-00963-3.

Expression and role of adiponectin receptor 1 in lipopolysaccharide-induced proliferation of cultured rat adventitial fibroblasts.

Adiponectin is an adipose-derived hormone that has anti-diabetic and anti-atherogenic effects through interaction with AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 (adiponectin receptors 1 and 2), but little is known about the expression and function of adiponectin and its receptors in adventitia and adventitial fibroblasts. In the present study, we have demonstrated that AdipoR1 is highly expressed in rat adventitia and cultured adventitial fibroblasts by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting and immunofluorescent staining, whereas Adipo2 is low-expressed. The expression of AdipoR1 have been observed to decrease gradually in adventitial fibroblasts in response to LPS (lipopolysaccharide) treatment. No local expression of adiponectin has been detected in adventitial tissues, indicating that serum adiponectin is the ligand for AdipoR1 in adventitial fibroblasts. In addition, treatment of recombinant adiponectin inhibited LPS-induced proliferation of adventitial fibroblasts via activation of the AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase). AdipoR1 siRNA (small interfering RNA) transfection potently knocked down the receptor protein. The siRNA-AdipoR1 transfected cells and AMPK inhibitor compound C treated cells showed decreased phosphorylated level of AMPK as determined by Western blot analysis, and increased the proliferation of adventitial fibroblasts as determined by BrdU (5-bromo-29-deoxyuridine) staining. These results demonstrated that adiponectin stimulates the proliferation of adventitial fibroblasts via the AdipoR1 and AMPK signalling pathways.