Update on the Basic Understanding of Fusarium graminearum Virulence Factors in Common Wheat Research.

Wheat is one of the most important food crops, both in China and worldwide. Wheat production is facing extreme stresses posed by different diseases, including Fusarium head blight (FHB), which has recently become an increasingly serious concerns. FHB is one of the most significant and destructive diseases affecting wheat crops all over the world. Recent advancements in genomic tools provide a new avenue for the study of virulence factors in relation to the host plants. The current review focuses on recent progress in the study of different strains of Fusarium infection. The presence of genome-wide repeat-induced point (RIP) mutations causes genomic mutations, eventually leading to host plant susceptibility against Fusarium invasion. Furthermore, effector proteins disrupt the host plant resistance mechanism. In this study, we proposed systematic modification of the host genome using modern biological tools to facilitate plant resistance against foreign invasion. We also suggested a number of scientific strategies, such as gene cloning, developing more powerful functional markers, and using haplotype marker-assisted selection, to further improve FHB resistance and associated breeding methods.

Efficacy of Shenqi Jiangtang Granules-Assisted Western Medicine in the Treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the efficacy of Shenqi Jiangtang granules-assisted Western medicine in the treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: A total of 147 patients with GDM treated in Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from Jan 2018 to Apr 2019 were enrolled. They were randomly divided into traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with Western medicine group, Western medicine group and control group. The control group was treated with exercise combined with diet therapy, and the Western medicine group was additionally treated with metformin tablets. The TCM combined with Western medicine group was additionally treated with Shenqi Jiangtang granules. RESULTS: After treatment, the levels of 10 indicators in the three groups were lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05). These indicators were the lowest in the TCM combined with Western medicine group. However, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) after treatment increased in the three groups compared with those before treatment (P < 0.05), which was the most obvious in the TCM combined with Western medicine group. After treatment, the number of patients with natural delivery in the TCM combined with Western medicine group was the largest. The incidences of complications in pregnant women, fetuses and newborns were the lowest in the TCM combined with Western medicine group. CONCLUSION: Application of Shenqi Jiangtang granules-assisted Western medicine in patients with GDM can effectively control blood glucose and lipid levels, enhance antioxidant capacity, reduce the levels of inflammatory cytokines and decrease the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Serum N-glycan markers for diagnosing liver fibrosis induced by hepatitis B virus.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the primary cause of hepatitis with chronic HBV infection, which may develop into liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Detection of early-stage fibrosis related to HBV infection is of great clinical significance to block the progression of liver lesion. Direct liver biopsy is regarded as the gold standard to detect and assess fibrosis; however, this method is invasive and prone to clinical sampling error. In order to address these issues, we attempted to find more convenient and effective serum markers for detecting HBV-induced early-stage liver fibrosis. AIM: To investigate serum N-glycan profiling related to HBV-induced liver fibrosis and verify multiparameter diagnostic models related to serum N-glycan changes. METHODS: N-glycan profiles from the sera of 432 HBV-infected patients with liver fibrosis were analyzed. Significant changed N-glycan levels (peaks) (P < 0.05) in different fibrosis stages were selected in the modeling group, and multiparameter diagnostic models were established based on changed N-glycan levels by logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate diagnostic efficacy of N-glycans models. These models were then compared with the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) , fibrosis index based on the four factors (FIB-4), glutamyltranspeptidase platelet albumin index (S index), GlycoCirrho-test, and GlycoFibro-test. Furthermore, we combined multiparameter diagnostic models with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and platelet (PLT) tests and compared their diagnostic power. In addition, the diagnostic accuracy of N-glycan models was also verified in the validation group of patients. RESULTS: Multiparameter diagnostic models constructed based on N-glycan peak 1, 3, 4 and 8 could distinguish between different stages of liver fibrosis. The area under ROC curves (AUROCs) of Model A and Model B were 0.890 and 0.752, respectively differentiating fibrosis F0-F1 from F2-F4, and F0-F2 from F3-F4, and surpassing other serum panels. However, AUROC (0.747) in Model C used for the diagnosis of F4 from F0-F3 was lower than AUROC (0.795) in FIB-4. In combination with ALT and PLT, the multiparameter models showed better diagnostic power (AUROC = 0.912, 0.829, 0.885, respectively) when compared with other models. In the validation group, the AUROCs of the three combined models (0.929, 0.858, and 0.867, respectively) were still satisfactory. We also applied the combined models to distinguish adjacent fibrosis stages of 432 patients (F0-F1/F2/F3/F4), and the AUROCs were 0.917, 0.720 and 0.785. CONCLUSION: Multiparameter models based on serum N-glycans are effective supplementary markers to distinguish between adjacent fibrosis stages of patients caused by HBV, especially in combination with ALT and PLT.

An Efficient Synthesis of Spiro[indoline-3,9'-xanthene]trione Derivatives Catalyzed by Magnesium Perchlorate.

A simple and efficient method for the synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,9'-xanthene]trione derivatives by means of condensation between isatins and 1,3-cyclohexanedione in the presence of a catalytic amount of magnesium perchlorate at 80 °C in 50% aqueous ethanol medium has been described. Notably, the present method offers desirable advantages of good yields, simplicity of workup procedure, easy purification, and reduced reaction times.

MiR-142-3p Suppresses SOCS6 Expression and Promotes Cell Proliferation in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: An increasing number of studies show that microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tumorigenesis. The aim of our study was to investigate the biological roles and mechanisms of miR-142-3p in NPC. METHODS: miR- 142-3p expression was examined in NPC specimens and nasopharyngitis biopsy samples by quantitative real-time PCR. The biological functions of miR-142-3p were studied using a series of in vitro and in vivo approaches. RESULTS: miR-142-3p is over-expressed in NPC tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of miR-142-3p significantly inhibited cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in vitro, and suppressed tumor growth in a mouse model. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 6 (SOCS6) was identified as a direct target of miR-142-3p, and miR- 142-3p down-regulated the expression of SOCS6 by directly binding to its 3'untranslated region (UTR). Knockdown of SOCS6 abrogated the effects of miR-142-3p down-regulation. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that miR-142-3p regulates NPC development by down-regulating SOCS6 expression and suggest that modulation of miR-142-3p expression could be a therapeutic strategy for NPC.

UHRF1 promotes proliferation of gastric cancer via mediating tumor suppressor gene hypermethylation.

Epigenetic changes play significant roles in cancer development. UHRF1, an epigenetic regulator, has been shown to be overexpressed and to coordinate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) silencing in several cancers. In a previous study, we found that UHRF1 promoted gastric cancer (GC) invasion and metastasis. However, the role and underlying mechanism of UHRF1 in GC carcinogenesis remain largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated UHRF1 expression and function in GC proliferation and explored its downstream regulatory mechanism. The results demonstrated that UHRF1 overexpression was an independent and significant predictor of GC prognosis. Downregulation of UHRF1 suppressed GC proliferation and growth in vitro and in vivo, and UHRF1 upregulation showed opposite effects. Furthermore, downregulation of UHRF1 reactivated 7 TSGs, including CDX2, CDKN2A, RUNX3, FOXO4, PPARG, BRCA1 and PML, via promoter demethylation. These results provide insight into the GC proliferation process, and suggest that targeting UHRF1 represents a new therapeutic approach to block GC development.

MicroRNA-320a inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting BMI-1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

In the present study, we investigated the roles and molecular mechanisms of miR-320a in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). miR-320a expression was strongly reduced in NPC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-320a significantly suppressed NPC cell growth, migration, invasion and tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. A luciferase reporter assay revealed that miR-320a could directly bind to the 3' UTR of BMI-1. Overexpression of BMI-1 rescued miR-320a-mediated biological function. BMI-1 expression was found to be up-regulated and inversely correlated with miR-320a expression in NPC. Collectively, our data indicate that miR-320a plays a tumor suppressor role in the development and progression of NPC and may be a novel therapeutic target against NPC.

Higher expression of circulating miR-182 as a novel biomarker for breast cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), present in the serum in a stable and reproducible manner, may be used as biomarkers for various diseases. Few studies have previously investigated circulating miRNAs in the peripheral blood of breast cancer (BC) patients. To identify the role of serum miR-182 levels in BC, the present study detected miR-182 levels in the serum of 46 BC patients and 58 controls, by quantitative PCR. The results showed that the serum miR-182 levels in BC patients were significantly higher compared with the serum of healthy controls (P<0.01). The miR-182 was also overexpressed in the BC tissues compared with the para-carcinoma tissues. Furthermore, the serum levels of miR-182 in the estrogen receptor (ER)-positive patients were considerably lower compared with those in the ER-negative patients. The serum levels of miR-182 in the progesterone receptor (PR)-positive patients were also found to be lower compared with those in the PR-negative patients. The current study highlights results consistent with miR-182 as a novel and valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of BC.

C282Y polymorphism in the HFE gene is associated with risk of breast cancer.

The C282Y and H63D polymorphisms in the HFE gene have been implicated in susceptibility of breast cancer, but a number of studies have reported inconclusive results. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the C282Y and H63D polymorphisms in the HFE gene and breast cancer risk by meta-analysis. We searched PubMed and Embase databases, covering all related studies until March 2, 2013. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA 10.0. A total of 7 studies including 1,720 cases and 18,296 controls for HFE C282Y polymorphism and 5 studies including 942 cases and 1,571 controls for HFE H63D polymorphism were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that HFE C282Y polymorphism was significantly associated with increased risk of breast cancer under homozygotes vs. wild-type model (OR = 2.06, 95%CI = 1.19-3.58) and recessive model (OR = 1.98, 95%CI = 1.14-3.44) but not under heterozygotes vs. wild-type model (OR = 0.97, 95%CI = 0.70-1.35), dominant model (OR = 1.00, 95%CI = 0.72-1.40) and multiplicative model (OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 0.76-1.42). However, we did not find any association between HFE H63D polymorphism and breast cancer risk under all genetic models. This current meta-analysis suggested that C282Y polymorphism rather than H63D might be associated with increased risk of breast cancer.

Tanshinone IIA reverses the malignant phenotype of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells.

BACKGROUNDS: Tanshinone IIA (TIIA), a phenanthrenequinone derivative extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza BUNGE, has been reported to be a natural anti-cancer agent in a variety of tumor cells. However, the effect of TIIA on gastric cancer cells remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the influence of TIIA on the malignant phenotype of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. METHODS: Cells cultured in vitro were treated with TIIA (0, 1, 5, 10 µg/ml) and after incubation for different periods, cell proliferation was measured by MTT method and cell apoptosis and cell cycling were assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). The sensitivity of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells to anticancer chemotherapy was investigated with the MTT method, while cell migration and invasion were examined by wound-healing and transwell assays, respectively. RESULTS: TIIA (1, 5, 10 µg/ml) exerted powerful inhibitory effects on cell proliferation (P < 0.05, and P < 0.01), and this effect was time- and dose-dependent. FCM results showed that TIIA induced apoptosis of SGC7901 cells, reduced the number of cells in S phase and increased those in G0/G1 phase. TIIA also significantly increased the sensitivity of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells to ADR and Fu. Moreover, wound-healing and transwell assays showed that TIIA markedly decreased migratory and invasive abilities of SGC7901 cells. CONCLUSIONS: TIIA can reverse the malignant phenotype of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells, indicating that it may be a promising therapeutic agent.

(4R*,5R*)-Diethyl 2-(4-nitro-phen-yl)-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(15)H(17)NO(8), the nitro group is essentially coplanar with the aromatic ring [dihedral angle = 6.4 (3) Å]. The five-membered ring has a twist conformation. In the crystal, C-H⋯O inter-actions link the mol-ecules into a helical chain propagating along [010].

(4R*,5R*)-2-(4-Meth-oxy-phen-yl)-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-dicarboxamide.

In the title compound, C(12)H(14)N(2)O(5), the five-membered 1,3-dioxolane ring has a twisted conformation. In the crystal, N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into a two-dimensional network lying parallel to the ab plane. There are also C-H⋯π inter-actions present in the crystal structure.