A novel, portable, and cost-effective turbidimetric sensor for sensitive alkaline phosphatase activity assay.

The development of enzyme activity analysis methods is critical for precise and rapid assessments of enzyme activity levels within biological systems, facilitating a more profound comprehension of physiological functions and disease mechanisms. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) participates in various physiological processes involving phosphate ester hydrolysis. Altered ALP activity levels are often indicative of different diseases, underscoring the necessity for accurate ALP activity determination in medical diagnostics. This study innovatively applies turbidity as a physical variable, proposing a turbidimetric sensor based on an enhanced ammonium molybdate reagent for phosphate analysis. By integrating this with the ALP substrate p-nitrophenyl phosphate, a turbidimetric sensor was devised and employed for ALP activity analysis. The proposed turbidimetric sensor demonstrated high sensitivity both for phosphate (0.18 µmol/L) and ALP activity (0.03 mU/mL) assay. In practical applications, this turbidimetric sensor has been effectively employed to detect ALP activity in mouse feces, showcasing its potential for auxiliary diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. Significantly, this novel turbidity-based approach offers not only swift and straightforward procedures but also remarkable portability and cost-efficiency. Requiring solely a handheld turbidimeter and eliminating the need for bulky instruments, this approach holds significant potential for point-of-care testing applications.

Impact of lung adenocarcinoma subtypes on survival and timing of brain metastases.

Purpose: Lung cancer is a devastating disease, with brain metastasis being one of the most common distant metastases of lung adenocarcinoma. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic characteristics of individuals with brain metastases originating from invasive lung adenocarcinoma of distinct pathological subtypes, providing a reference for the management of these patients. Methods: Clinical data from 156 patients with lung adenocarcinoma-derived brain metastases were collected, including age, sex, smoking status, Karnofsky Performance Status scores, pathological subtype, lymph node metastasis, tumor site, treatment mode, T stage, and N stage. Patients were classified into two groups (highly differentiated and poorly differentiated) based on their pathological subtypes. Propensity score matching was used to control for confounding factors. The prognostic value of pathological subtypes was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. Results: Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients in the moderately to highly differentiated group had better prognoses. Multivariate analysis revealed that being in the poorly differentiated group was a risk factor for poorer prognosis. Thoracic tumor radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery positively influenced the time interval between lung cancer diagnosis and brain metastasis. Conclusions: The pathological subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma-derived brain metastases are associated with patient prognosis. Patients in the poorly differentiated group have worse prognoses compared to those in the moderately to highly differentiated group. Therefore, patients in the poorly differentiated group may require more frequent follow-ups and aggressive treatment.

Numerical simulation and analysis of fatigue performance for the humeral stem.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Fatigue failure of the humeral stem is a severe long-term failure after shoulder arthroplasty, causing harm to patients and resulting in complex revision surgeries. However, there are few studies on humeral stem fatigue testing, and corresponding testing standards have not been established. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the fatigue performance of the humeral stem by establishing an efficient numerical simulation method. METHODS: Material properties are obtained by uniaxial tensile and fatigue tests. A parameterized static analysis program was written, and an automated fatigue numerical simulation platform was established using Abaqus, Fe-safe, and Isight in combination, enabling the establishment of a numerical simulation method for the fatigue performance of the humeral stem. RESULT: Standard testing conditions include an 8 mm diameter humeral stem, a 40-21B humeral head, an 8° tilt angle, and a 2 mm fillet radius. Further research found that the fatigue life of the humeral stem decreases with increasing patient weight, and patients should control their weight after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The established automated fatigue numerical simulation platform avoids repetitive operations and efficiently completes large-scale calculations, guiding preoperative humeral stem selection and testing.

A case of chorea-acanthocytosis with significant improvement of symptoms at one year with deep brain stimulation: case report and literature review.

Chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) is a rare, neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in the VPS13A gene. In this article, we report on a 32-year-old man diagnosed with ChAc, with involuntary movements of the mouth and trunk, drooling of the mouth, slurred speech, and abnormal vocalizations as the main clinical manifestations. Three weeks after implantation of globus pallidus internal (GPi)-deep brain stimulation (DBS), the patient's symptoms improved significantly. For example, articulation is clear, involuntary trunk movements and salivation have largely disappeared, and abnormal vocalizations have been significantly reduced. After 1 year of follow-up, the improvement in involuntary movement symptoms is essentially the same as before. As far as we know, we are the first to report the relief of involuntary vocalizations in a patient with GPi-DBS treatment, and that salivation and involuntary trunk movements have almost disappeared, and all other symptoms are significantly relieved, which is rare in previous cases. All of the above proves that the treatment of our case with DBS was very successful and that longer term follow-up is critical. We also hope that our case will provide new references and therapeutic ideas for the future treatment of patients with ChAc.

Design of 3D printing osteotomy block for foot based on triply periodic minimal surface.

The ankle joint, which connects the lower limbs and the sole of the foot, is prone to sprain during walking and sports, which leads to ankle arthritis. Supratroleolar osteotomy is an ankle preserving operation for the treatment of ankle arthritis, in which the osteotomy is an important fixing and supporting part. In order to avoid stress shielding effect as much as possible, the osteotomy block is designed as a porous structure. In this study, the osteotomy block was designed based on three-period minimal surface, and the designed structure was manufactured by 3D printing. The mechanical properties of different structures were studied by mechanical test and finite element simulation. In mechanical tests, the Gyroid structure showed a progressive failure mechanism from bottom to bottom, while the Diamond structure showed a shear failure zone at 45° Angle, which was not conducive to energy absorption and was more prone to brittle fracture than the Gyroid structure. Therefore, the Gyroid structure is valuable for further research in the development of porous osteotomy.

Highly Reliable Van Der Waals Memory Boosted by a Single 2D Charge Trap Medium.

Charge trap materials that can store carriers efficiently and controllably are desired for memory applications. 2D materials are promising for highly compacted and reliable memory mainly due to their ease of constructing atomically uniform interfaces, however, remain unexplored as being charge trap media. Here it is discovered that 2D semiconducting PbI2 is an excellent charge trap material for nonvolatile memory and artificial synapses. It is simple to construct PbI2 -based charge trap devices since no complicated synthesis or additional defect manufacturing are required. As a demonstration, MoS2 /PbI2 device exhibits a large memory window of 120 V, fast write speed of 5 µs, high on-off ratio around 106 , multilevel memory of over 8 distinct states, high reliability with endurance up to 104 cycles and retention over 1.2 × 104 s. It is envisioned that PbI2 with ionic activity caused by the natively formed iodine vacancies is unique to combine with unlimited 2D materials for versatile van der Waals devices with high-integration and multifunctionality.

Evaluation the role of cuproptosis-related genes in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and molecular subtypes identification of atherosclerosis.

Background: At present, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis has not been fully elucidated, and the diagnosis and treatment face great challenges. Cuproptosis is a novel cell death pattern that might be involved in the development of atherosclerosis. However, no research has reported the correlation between cuproptosis and atherosclerosis. Methods: The differential cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) between atherosclerosis group and control group (A-CRGs) were discovered via differential expression analysis. The correlation analysis, PPI network analysis, GO, KEGG and GSEA analysis were performed to investigate the function of A-CRGs. The differences of biological function between atherosclerosis group and control group were investigated via immune infiltration analysis and GSVA. The LASSO regression, nomogram and machine learning models were constructed to predict atherosclerosis risk. The atherosclerosis molecular subtypes clusters were discovered via unsupervised cluster analysis. Subsequently, we used the above research methods to analyze the differential CRGs between clusters (M-CRGs) and evaluate the molecular subtypes identification performance of M-CRGs. Finally, we verified the diagnostic value for atherosclerosis and role in cuproptosis of these CRGs through the validation set and in vitro experiments. Results: Five A-CRGs were identified and they were mainly related to the biological function of copper ion metabolism and immune inflammatory response. The diagnostic models and nomogram of atherosclerosis based on 5 A-CRGs indicated that these genes had well diagnostic value. A total of two molecular subtypes clusters were obtained in the atherosclerosis group. There were many differences in biological functions between these two molecular subtypes clusters, such as mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization and primary immunodeficiency. In addition, 3 M-CRGs were identified in the 2 clusters. Machine learning models and nomogram constructed based on M-CRGs showed that these genes had well molecular subtypes identification efficacy. In the end, the results of in vitro experiment and validation set confirmed the diagnostic value for atherosclerosis and role in cuproptosis of these genes. Conclusion: The cuproptosis may be a potential pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and CRGs may be promising markers for the diagnosis and molecular subtypes identification of atherosclerosis.

Research and practice of the BOPPPS teaching model based on the OBE concept in clinical basic laboratory experiment teaching.

"Clinical basic inspection technology" is one of the essential courses in the medical laboratory profession. Combining the characteristics of the discipline itself, the research and practice of the BOPPPS model based on the OBE concept in clinical basic laboratory experiment teaching are discussed, and the reform of in teaching objectives, teaching contents, and teaching design path is implemented. The "student-centered" teaching process is divided into six stages: before, during, and after class, and the teaching process is continuously improved to achieve the desired teaching effect. Results of the experiment teaching show that the model has improved students' active participation and developed their clinical thinking skills, and more than 95% of students are satisfied with this teaching model.

The association between the thyroid feedback quantile-based index and serum uric acid in U.S. adults.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that there may be a positive correlation between serum uric acid levels and hyperthyroidism. However, the relationship between thyroid function and serum uric acid in healthy people is unclear. This study analyzed the relationship between impaired thyroid hormone sensitivity and serum uric acid levels, and presented them in quantitative form. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 4460 adults (male: 2300; female: 2160) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2010. Parameters representing central sensitivity to thyroid hormones were calculated as: thyroid feedback quantile-based index (TFQIFT4), thyroid stimulating hormone index (TSHI), and total thyroxine (T4) resistance index (TT4RI); Peripheral sensitivity to thyroid hormone was evaluated by FT3/FT4 ratio. In addition, we have innovated total triiodothyronine (T3) resistance index (TT3RI) and TFQIFT3 indexes based on FT3 and TSH. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the correlation between thyroid resistance index and serum uric acid, and the results were presented graphically as smooth curve fittings. RESULTS: Higher levels of serum uric acid were associated with decreased sensitivity to thyroid hormones in euthyroid individuals. In conjunction with an increase in the thyroid hormone sensitivity index value, uric acid levels gradually increased as well. Furthermore, we found a segmented relationship between TT3RI and serum uric acid changes. The saturation and threshold analyses indicated that 18.85 was the turning point (logarithmic likelihood ratio test = 0.036). When TT3RI < 18.85, the relationship between serum uric acid and TT3RI was not significant [ß(95% CI) 0.47 (- 0.05, 1.00), P = 0.077], but when TT3RI > 18.85, there was a significant rise in serum uric acid with an increase in TT3RI [ß(95% CI) 3.94 (0.94, 6.95), P = 0.010]. A further finding of the interaction test was that impaired thyroid hormone sensitivity and uric acid changes vary among different age groups and BMI levels. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased sensitivity to thyroid hormones was associated with high levels of serum uric acid in people with normal thyroid function. The interaction test shows that different age groups and BMI groups impact the association between impaired thyroid hormone sensitivity and serum uric acid. Furthermore, smooth curve fitting revealed a segmental relationship between TT3RI and serum uric acid levels.

The effect of antibiotic prophylaxis on the incidence of surgical site infection after laparoscopic appendectomy for chronic appendicitis.

Background: The guidelinesthat specify whether antibiotic prophylaxis should be administered before laparoscopic clean-contaminated wound to prevent postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) need to be improved. Studies have shown that elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy with clean-contaminated wound does not require antibiotic prophylaxis. However, there are no studies on the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis on SSI after laparoscopic appendectomy for chronic appendicitis (LCA), which is a clean-contaminated wound. Methods: We conducted a single-center, double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 106 effective patients were randomly divided into the antibiotic group and saline group. Cefuroxime or clindamycin was administered intravenously in the antibiotic group (n = 52). Saline (0.9%) was administered intravenously in the saline group (n = 54). Interventions were administered as a single dose 30 min before surgery. Results: Among the 106 effective patients (median age, 37 years old [IQR, 25-45]; females, 77 [72.6%]), there were 6 cases (5.70%) of SSI: 3 cases (5.56%) in the saline group and 3 cases (5.70%) in the antibiotic group (OR = 1.00, [95% CI (0.20-5.4)], P = 0.96). There were no significant differences in the clinical outcomes of anal exhaust time, postoperative complications, and the symptom of primary abdominal pain between the two groups. Conclusion: For patients with chronic appendicitis undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy, preoperative intravenous antibiotic prophylaxis did not reduce the risk of SSI within 30 days of the surgery compared to the saline group. Trial registration: Registration number of China Clinical Trials Registration Center: ChiCTR2100048336.

Emerging role of RNA acetylation modification ac4C in diseases: Current advances and future challenges.

The oldest known highly conserved modification of RNA, N4-acetylcytidine, is widely distributed from archaea to eukaryotes and acts as a posttranscriptional chemical modification of RNA, contributing to the correct reading of specific nucleotide sequences during translation, stabilising mRNA and improving transcription efficiency. Yeast Kre33 and human NAT10, the only known authors of ac4C, modify tRNA with the help of the Tan1/THUMPD1 adapter to stabilise its structure. Currently, the mRNA for N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C), catalysed by NAT10 (N-acetyltransferase 10), has been implicated in a variety of human diseases, particularly cancer. This article reviews advances in the study of ac4C modification of RNA and the ac4C-related gene NAT10 in normal physiological cell development, cancer, premature disease and viral infection and discusses its therapeutic promise and future research challenges.

Xinkeshu for coronary heart disease complicated with anxiety or depression: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) complicated with anxiety or depression is increasing year by year. However, many anti-anxiety drugs or antidepressants have a certain degree of adverse reactions and are not easily accepted by patients. Xinkeshu (XKS), as a proprietary Chinese patent medicine with "psycho-cardiology" effect, is one of the commonly used drugs in the treatment of CHD complicated with anxiety or depression in China. AIM OF THE STUDY: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of XKS for CHD complicated with anxiety or depression. METHODS: Nine different electronic databases were independently searched to include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of XKS for CHD complicated with anxiety or depression published from inception to February 2022, and the methodological quality was evaluated using the bias risk assessment tool from Cochrane Handbook 5.0 and the modified Jadad scale. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 16.0 software. The GRADE Profiler 3.6.1 and TSA 0.9.5.10 beta were adopted to evaluate the certainty and conclusiveness of the evidence. RESULTS: A total of 18 RCTs involving 1907 subjects were included. There were 956 subjects in the XKS group and 951 subjects in the control group. Baseline conditions were consistent and comparable between the groups. Compared with single-use western medicine (WM), XKS combined with WM significantly reduced scores of Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) [Mean difference (MD) = -7.60, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) (-10.37, -4.83), P < 0.000 01], Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) [MD = -10.05, 95% CI (-12.70, -7.41), P < 0.000 01], Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) [MD = -6.74, 95% CI (-11.58, -1.90), P = 0.006], and Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) [MD = -10.75, 95% CI (-17.05,-4.45), P = 0.000 8], as well as improved clinical effective rate [odds ratio (OR) = 4.24, 95% CI (2.47, 7.27), P < 0.000 01]. In terms of safety, 4 studies reported the adverse reactions in detail. The severity was mild and symptoms disappeared after treatment. CONCLUSION: Current evidence indicates that XKS may be effective and safe in the treatment of patients with CHD complicated with anxiety or depression. Since the quality of the literature included in this study was generally low, there is an urgent need for more RCTs with high quality, low bias risk and sufficient sample size to validate our conclusions.

Plasma S-Klotho level affects the risk of hyperuricemia in the middle-aged and elderly people.

BACKGROUND: Soluble Klotho (S-Klotho) is an anti-aging protein mainly secreted by the kidneys. Hyperuricemia is prevalent among middle-aged and elderly individuals, which affects the development of various chronic diseases. However, there are relatively few studies investigating the association between plasma S-Klotho levels and hyperuricemia in middle-aged and elderly individuals. This study sought to clarify the relationship between S-Klotho and the risk of hyperuricemia in middle-aged and elderly people. METHODS: During 2007-2016, a total of 50,588 people participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Finally, 12,441 middle-aged and elderly people (aged 40-79) completed the soluble Klotho tests and had obtained complete data. S-Klotho was detected by ELISA kit, and the relationship between S-Klotho and hyperuricemia was assessed by multiple logistic regression. Hyperuricemia is defined as serum uric acid levels higher than or equal to 420 mmol/l in men and 360 mmol/l in women. RESULTS: In the middle-aged and elderly, plasma S-Klotho levels were negatively correlated with hyperuricemia, and there was a saturation effect. The inflection point of S-Klotho was 927.8 pg/ml (logarithmic likelihood ratio test = 0.002). When plasma S-Klotho < 927.8 pg/ml, the prevalence of hyperuricemia in middle-aged and elderly individuals with higher levels of S-Klotho decreased by 25.6% compared with those with low levels of S-Klotho [Q4 vs Q1, OR: 0.744, 95%CI: (0.634, 0.874), P < 0.001]; In different age groups, S-Klotho had a significantly greater effect on hyperuricemia in middle-aged people [age: 40-65 years, Q4 vs Q1, OR (95%CI): 0.69 (0.58, 0.82), P < 0.001; Age > 65 years: Q4 vs Q1, OR (95%CI): 0.72 (0.56, 0.92), P = 0.008)].When the level of S-Klotho was higher, the risk of hyperuricemia in men was lower than that in women [male: Q4 vs Q1, OR (95%CI): 0.67 (0.56, 0.81), P < 0.001; female: Q4 vs Q1 (95%CI):0.72 (0.58, 0.88), P < 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: In middle-aged and elderly individuals, plasma S-Klotho levels were inversely correlated with hyperuricemia, with a saturation effect. Given the limitations of the research results, the underlying mechanism between S-Klotho and hyperuricemia should be further explored.

Development and validation of a cardiovascular disease risk prediction model for patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney diseases based on the nomogram.

Introduction Most CKD patients experience cardiovascular issues before commencing renal replacement therapy. An accuracy prediction model is helpful for physicians to assess cardiovascular prognoses in each individual, and to provide insights on how to outline individualized lines of therapy. Method This study enrolled 1138 participants with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD). Following a proportion of 7:3, patients were randomly assigned to training and validation cohorts. The relevant predictors of cardiovascular events were screened using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the calibration curve with 1000 bootstraps resamples were used to assess the nomogram's performance. Tests on the discrimination of the prediction model used Kaplan-Meier (KM) curve. Results After screening all the predictors by lasso regression, the five remaining ones (albumin, estimated glomerular filtration rate, etiology of CKD, cardiovascular disease history, and age) were used to construct the prediction model. The AUC of 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year was 0.81 (95% CI = 0.75-0.87), 0.80 (95% CI = 0.75-0.86), and 0.80 (95% CI = 0.73-0.86), respectively. The calibration curve and the KM curve showed good prediction features, and the external validation also had a good prediction performance (AUC of 1-, 2-, and 3-years were 0.77, 0.84, and 0.82, respectively). Conclusion We successfully developed a novel nomogram that has decent prediction performance and can be used for assessing the probability of cardiovascular events in patients with NDD-CKD, displaying valuable potential for clinical application.

Double Signal Amplification Strategy for Dual-Analyte Fluorescent Aptasensors for Visualizing Cancer Biomarker Proteins.

The simultaneous analysis of diversified biomarkers with high sensitivity and in a point-of-care (POC) manner is of great significance for facile and early cancer diagnosis. Herein, we develop a target amplification-assisted ratiometric fluorescence assay (TARFA) platform integrating the dual-amplification strategy and colorimetric readout technology for sensitive and specific detection of two malignancy-associated biomarkers. Meanwhile, the NIR-excited alkaline-earth sulfide nanodots (ASNDs) with an ultrasmall (<10 nm) diameter and tunable emission wavelength are employed to replace commonly UV/visible light-excited fluorescent labels to minimize background interference from the sample matrix. Unique advantages of the ASNDs, together with superiority of consecutive signal amplification of enzymatic target recycling (ETR) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR), realize the pg/mL-range detection limit in specifically recognizing the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and soluble interleukin-6 receptors (sIL-6R). The combination detection of the dual analyte exhibits an improved sensitivity for cancer diagnosis. The addition of the target biomarkers leads to an increasingly ratiometric RGB signal, and quantification based on the ratio-dependent signal is more reliable rather than measuring the absolute RGB signals. Moreover, perceptible color transformation makes the TARFA platform competent for visual analysis of the target analytes as convenient as reading the pH indicator strip, and hue-based image analysis also improves the method with fine precision by quantitatively identifying the visual color. This work provides a new kind of NIR-excited aptasensing platform with a low detection limit, high throughput, and great portability, which also highlights the potential of the ASNDs in biomolecular fluorescent labeling.

Pathophysiology and Clinical Management of Autoimmune Encephalitis-Associated Seizures.

Seizures are a very common manifestation of autoimmune encephalitis (AE), ranging from 33% to 100% depending on the antigen, most often accompanied by other clinical features such as behavioral changes, movement disorders, memory deficits, autoimmune disturbances, and altered levels of consciousness. Unusual seizure frequency, resistance to antiepileptic treatment, and often, definitive response to immunotherapy emphasize the importance for neurologists to consider the probable etiology of immune disorders. Studies on pathogenic mechanisms of autoantibodies have improved the understanding of different pathophysiologies and clinical characteristics of different AE groups. In encephalitis with antibodies to neuronal extracellular antigens, autoantibodies play a direct role in disease pathogenesis. They have access to target antigens and can potentially alter the structure and function of antigens but induce relatively little neuronal death. Prompt immunotherapy is usually very effective, and long-term antiepileptic treatment may not be needed. In contrast, in encephalitis with antibodies against intracellular antigens, autoantibodies may not be directly pathogenic but serve as tumor markers. These autoantibodies cannot reach intracellular target antigens and are considered to result from a T-cell-mediated immune response against antigens released by apoptotic tumor cells, which contain nerve tissue or express neuronal proteins. Neuronal loss is frequently described and predominantly induced through cytotoxic T-cell mechanisms. They often exhibit an inadequate response to immunotherapy and require early tumor treatment. Long-term antiepileptic treatment is usually needed. In conclusion, each neural autoantibody can specifically precipitate seizures. Early proper management of these cases may help prevent neurological deterioration and manage the occurrence of seizures. Consequently, confirmation of the presence of neuronal autoantibodies is strongly recommended even in patients with confirmed AE, as they are not only essential in achieving a good outcome but also may provide evidence for underlying neoplasia.

Polysaccharides, Next Potential Agent for the Treatment of Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder. Current pharmacological therapies for epilepsy have limited efficacy that result in refractory epilepsy (RE). Owing to the limitations of conventional therapies, it is needed to develop new anti-epileptic drugs. The beneficial effects of polysaccharides from Chinese medicines, such as Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (COP) and Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (GLP), for treatment of epilepsy include regulation of inflammatory factors, neurotransmitters, ion channels, and antioxidant reactions. Especially, polysaccharides could be digested by intestinal microbial flora, referred as "intestinal brain organ" or "adult's second brain", may be the target for treatment of epilepsy. Actually, polysaccharides can effectively improve the type and quantity of intestinal flora such as bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria and achieve the purpose of treating epilepsy. Therefore, polysaccharides are hypothesized and discussed as potential agent for treatment of epilepsy.

Immune Infiltration and Clinical Outcome of Super-Enhancer-Associated lncRNAs in Stomach Adenocarcinoma.

Super-enhancers (SEs) comprise large clusters of enhancers that highly enhance gene expression. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) tend to be dysregulated in cases of stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) and are vital for balancing tumor immunity. However, whether SE-associated lncRNAs play a role in the immune infiltration of STAD remains unknown. In the present study, we identified SE-associated lncRNAs in the H3K27ac ChIP-seq datasets from 11 tumor tissues and two cell lines. We found that the significantly dysregulated SE-associated lncRNAs were strongly correlated with immune cell infiltration through the application of six algorithms (ImmuncellAI, CIBERSORT, EPIC, quantiSeq, TIMER, and xCELL), as well as immunomodulators and chemokines. We found that the expression of SE-associated lncRNA TM4SF1-AS1 was negatively correlated with the proportion of CD8+ T cells present in STAD. TM4SF1-AS1 suppresses T cell-mediated immune killing function and predicts immune response to anti-PD1 therapy. ChIP-seq, Hi-C and luciferase assay results verified that TM4SF1-AS1 was regulated by its super-enhancer. RNA-seq data showed that TM4SF1-AS1 is involved in immune and cancer-related processes or pathways. In conclusion, SE-associated lncRNAs are involved in the tumor immune microenvironment and act as indicators of clinical outcomes in STAD. This study highlights the importance of SE-associated lncRNAs in the immune regulation of STAD.

NIR-to-Vis Handheld Platforms for Detecting miRNA Level and Mutation Based on Sub-10 nm Sulfide Nanodots and HCR Amplification.

Sub-10 nm monodisperse alkaline-earth sulfide nanodots (ASNDs) with bright near-infrared (NIR)-excitation fluorescence and adjustable emission wavelength were prepared by a thermal decomposition method for the first time. The ASNDs exhibited high NIR-to-vis conversion efficiency and served as multicolor fluorescent labels in the proposed miR-224 assay. Targeted detection of the miR-224 level and single-nucleotide variation in miR-224 was carried out on a smartphone-based platform using a hybridization chain reaction (HCR) amplification strategy. In the presence of miR-224, the ASND-labeled HCR probes self-assembled on the surface of the diagnosis kits, generating strong fluorescent signals linearly proportional to miR-224 contents in the range of 10-2000 fM. Significantly, mutations in miR-224 led to the variation in the fluorescence intensity ratio in RGB channels. Simultaneously, evident changes of fluorescent brightness and color were easily visualized by the naked eye, which enabled on-site discrimination of miR-224 with different mutant loci. This work provides a novel preparation approach for ultrasmall NIR excitation sulfide nanodots and reveals the potential of the as-synthesized ASNDs in point-of-care (POC) nucleic acid testing. Further, it may provide a handheld platform for miRNA single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis.

Driver mutations in ADGRL3 are involved in the evolution of ependymoma.

Although there have been recent advances in the molecular pathology of ependymomas, little is known about the underlying molecular evolution during its development. Here, we assessed the clinical, pathological and molecular evolutionary process of ependymoma recurrence in a 9-year-old patient who had seven recurrences of supratentorial ependymoma and died from intracranial multiregional recurrences at the age of 19 years old. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 7 tumor samples (1 primary and 6 subsequent recurrent tumors) was performed to elucidate the mutation landscape and identify potential driver mutations for tumor evolution. The genetic profiles of the seven tumor specimens showed significant heterogeneity and suggested a highly branched evolutionary pattern. The mutational signatures and chromothripsis changed with treatments. Strikingly, adhesion G protein-coupled receptor L3 (ADGRL3, also known as Latrophilins 3, LPNH3) was found to be consistently mutated during the entire disease process. However, Sanger sequencing of other 78 ependymoma patients who underwent surgery at our institution showed no genetic alteration of ADGRL3, as found in the present case. The mRNA levels of ADGRL3 were significantly lower in ependymomas (n = 36), as compared with normal brain tissue (n = 3). Grade III ependymomas had the lowest ADGRL3 expression. Moreover, ependymomas with lower mRNA level of ADGRL3 had shorter overall survival. Our findings, therefore, demonstrate a rare evolutionary process of ependymoma involving ADGRL3.