Helicobacter pylori infection induces POU5F1 upregulation and SPP1 activation to promote chemoresistance and T cell inactivation in gastric cancer cells.

Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori or Hp) is associated with an increased susceptibility to gastric diseases, notably gastric cancer (GC). This study investigates the impact of Hp infection on chemoresistance and immune activity in GC cells. Hp infection in AGS and MKN-74 cells promoted proliferation, migration and invasion, apoptosis resistance, and tumorigenic activity of cells under cisplatin (DDP) plus gemcitabine (GEM) treatment. Additionally, it dampened activity of the co-cultured CD8+ T cells. Hp infection increased POU class 5 homeobox 1 (POU5F1) level, which further activated secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) transcription to increase its expression. Silencing of either SPP1 or POU5F1 enhanced the GEM sensitivity in GC cells, and it increased the populations of CD8+ T cells and the secretion of immune-active cytokines both in vitro and in xenograft tumors in immunocompetent mice. However, the effects of POU5F1 silencing were counteracted by SPP1 overexpression. Furthermore, the POU5F1/SPP1 axis activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. This study demonstrates that Hp infection induces POU5F1 upregulation and SPP1 activation, leading to increased DDP/GEM resistance and T cell inactivation in GC cells.

Multiview Deep Subspace Clustering Networks.

Multiview subspace clustering aims to discover the inherent structure of data by fusing multiple views of complementary information. Most existing methods first extract multiple types of handcrafted features and then learn a joint affinity matrix for clustering. The disadvantage of this approach lies in two aspects: 1) multiview relations are not embedded into feature learning and 2) the end-to-end learning manner of deep learning is not suitable for multiview clustering. Even when deep features have been extracted, it is a nontrivial problem to choose a proper backbone for clustering on different datasets. To address these issues, we propose the multiview deep subspace clustering networks (MvDSCNs), which learns a multiview self-representation matrix in an end-to-end manner. The MvDSCN consists of two subnetworks, i.e., a diversity network (Dnet) and a universality network (Unet). A latent space is built using deep convolutional autoencoders, and a self-representation matrix is learned in the latent space using a fully connected layer. Dnet learns view-specific self-representation matrices, whereas Unet learns a common self-representation matrix for all views. To exploit the complementarity of multiview representations, the Hilbert-Schmidt independence criterion (HSIC) is introduced as a diversity regularizer that captures the nonlinear, high-order interview relations. Because different views share the same label space, the self-representation matrices of each view are aligned to the common one by universality regularization. The MvDSCN also unifies multiple backbones to boost clustering performance and avoid the need for model selection. Experiments demonstrate the superiority of the MvDSCN.

Regulation of Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer between Multilayer BP/hBN Heterostructures.

As an allotrope of phosphorus and a promising 2D semiconductor, black phosphorus (BP) exhibits in-plane anisotropy along its armchair and zigzag crystal directions, allowing for efficient regulation of near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT). In this work, we investigate the NFRHT between two multilayer BP/hBN heterostructures and theoretically demonstrate that thermal regulation can be realized by tuning the electron density and rotation angle of BP. Results show that a larger electron density leads to the coupling of anisotropic surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) of BP with hyperbolic modes of hBN, and rotation of BP changes the anisotropic characteristic of coupled SPPs on both sides, whereby a regulation ratio of 5.8 can be obtained. We also analyze the effects of period number, hBN layer thickness, and topmost-layer material on the NFRHT. This work may be beneficial for efficient nanoscale thermal management and physical understanding of radiative heat transfer based on anisotropic SPPs.

Nano-copper ions assembled cellulose-based composite with antibacterial activity for biodegradable personal protective mask.

The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in the widespread use of personal protective equipment, particularly face masks. However, the use of commercial disposable face masks puts great pressure on the environment. In this study, nano-copper ions assembled cotton fabric used in face masks to impart antibacterial activity has been discussed. To produce the nanocomposite, the cotton fabric was modified by sodium chloroacetate after its mercerization, and assembled with bactericidal nano-copper ions (about 10.61 mg·g-1) through electrostatic adsorption. It demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli because the gaps between fibers in the cotton fabric allow the nano-copper ions to be fully released. Moreover, the antibacterial efficiency was maintained even after 50 washing cycles. Furthermore, the face mask constructed with this novel nanocomposite upper layer exhibited a high particle filtration efficiency (96.08% ± 0.91%) without compromising the air permeability (28.9 min·L-1). This green, economical, facile, and scalable process of depositing nano-copper ions onto modified cotton fibric has great potential to reduce disease transmission, resource consumption, and environmental impact of waste, while also expanding the range of protective fabrics.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Secondary to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia After Prolonged Chlorambucil Therapy: A Case Report.

Background: This study aimed to improve the understanding of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) secondary to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and to explore the sequence of occurrence and clonal origin of the two diseases. Case Report: We reported a case of a 71-year-old man with a history of CLL. The patient was administrated with chlorambucil for 19 years and was admitted to our hospital due to fever. Then he was subjected with routine blood tests, bone marrow smear examination, flow cytometric immunophenotyping and cytogenetic analysis. A final diagnosis of AML-M2 secondary to CLL with -Y,del(4q),del(5q),-7,add(12p),der(17),der(18),-22,+mar was made. After rejecting the therapy with Azacitidine combined with B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) inhibitor, the patient died of pulmonary infection. Conclusion: This case highlights the rare occurrence of AML secondary to CLL after prolonged chlorambucil therapy and the poor prognosis of such cases, underscoring the importance of enhanced assessment of these patients.

Protective Effects of Clostridium Butyricum in a Murine Model of Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis That Involve Inhibition of the TLR2 Signaling Pathway and T Helper 17 Cells.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the role of Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) in conjunction with the Toll-like receptor2 (TLR2) signaling pathway and T helper 17 (Th17) cells in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. METHODS: Forty 8-week-old BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 5 groups of 8 mice for 7 days: control, DSS (5% DSS), DSS+C. butyricum (1 × 109 CFU), DSS+C. butyricum (1 × 108 CFU) and DSS+C. butyricum (1 × 107 CFU) groups. We assessed the disease activity index (DAI) and histological damage scores. The expression levels of TLR2, myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), nuclear factor kappa-B p65 (NF-κBp65), interleukin (IL) 17 (IL17), IL23 and retineic acid receptor related orphan nuclear receptor gamma t (RORγt) were determined through immunohistochemical staining, western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The expression levels of CD3+CD4+IL17+ cells in peripheral blood were measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS: C. butyricum dose-dependently decreased DAI and histological damage scores in DSS mice and down-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of TLR2, MyD88 and NF-κBp65 in mouse colon tissue (all P < 0.05). In addition, C. butyricum dose-dependently decreased the levels of CD3+CD4+IL17+ cells in peripheral blood and down-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of IL17, IL23 and RORγt in mouse colon tissue (all P < 0.05). Moreover, the effect of C. butyricum on TLR2 was positively correlated with IL17, IL23 and RORγt. CONCLUSIONS: C. butyricum exerts a dose-dependently protective effect on acute intestinal inflammation induced by DSS in mice, by inhibiting the TLR2 signaling pathway, down-regulating the expression of IL23 and RORγt, and inhibiting the secretion of IL17.

FAM60A, increased by Helicobacter pylori, promotes proliferation and suppresses apoptosis of gastric cancer cells by targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection can promote the development of gastric cancer (GC); however, the underlying mechanism is not clear. FAM60A has been found showing high levels in some cancer cells, including lung cancer (A549), and pancreatic cancer (Capan-2) cell lines. Data in oncomine showed that FAM60A overexpression was an critical prognostic factor in GC. In this study, we showed that knockdown of FAM60A could revert the increase of proliferation and the decrease of apoptosis caused by H.pylori infection in HGC-27 and AGS cells. Conversely, FAM60A upregulation promoted proliferation and inhibited apoptosis in HGC-27 and AGS cells. We also found that the PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitor LY294002 could revert the changes caused by FAM60A upregulation in HGC-27 and AGS cells. Thus, our study provides evidence that FAM60A act as a carcinogen and suggests that H. pylori-induced upregulation of FAM60A may contribute to the development of gastric cancer.

Bifidobacterium infantis Induces Protective Colonic PD-L1 and Foxp3 Regulatory T Cells in an Acute Murine Experimental Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background/Aims: The current study aims to investigate the protective effects of Bifidobacterium infantis on the abnormal immune response to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. Methods: Eight-week-old BALB/c mice were separated into five groups at random (control, DSS, DSS+B9 [B. infantis 1×109 CFU], DSS+B8 [B. infantis 1×108 CFU], and DSS+B7 [B. infantis 1×107 CFU]). Colitis was induced by 5% DSS ad libitum for 7 days, at which time we assessed weight, the disease activity index (DAI) score, and the histological damage score. The nuclear transcription factor Foxp3 (a marker of Treg cells), cytokines interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1), and related proteins (programmed cell death ligand 1 [PD-L1] and programmed cell death 1 [PD-1]) were detected by an immunohistochemical method and Western blot. Results: B. infantis increased weight, decreased DAI scores and histological damage scores, increased the protein expression of Foxp3 (p<0.05) and cytokines IL-10 and TGF-ß1 in mouse colon tissue (p<0.05), and increased the expression of PD-L1 in the treatment groups relative to that in the DSS group (p<0.05). The effect of B. infantis on Foxp3 and PD-L1 was dose dependent in the treatment groups (p<0.05). PD-L1 was positively correlated with Foxp3, IL-10, and TGF-ß1. Conclusions: In a mouse model of IBD, B. infantis can alleviate intestinal epithelial injury and maintain intestinal immune tolerance and thus may have potential therapeutic value for the treatment of immune damage in IBD.

What Roles Do Probiotics Play in the Eradication of Helicobacter pylori? Current Knowledge and Ongoing Research.

With the rising global prevalence of antibiotic resistance, the eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori (HP) is continuing to decrease. Probiotics are beneficial to human health and may be an adjunct therapy to increase the eradication rate of HP, lower treatment-associated side effects, and reduce HP-associated gastric inflammation. However, inconsistent test results have prevented conclusions about the therapeutic prowess of probiotics for HP. The mechanisms of actions of probiotics include the production of substances that inhibit or kill HP or compete with HP for the adhesion site on gastric epithelial cells. Probiotics can also reduce the release of inflammatory factors by regulating the local immune response of the host. We searched the available literature for full-length articles focusing on the role of probiotics in HP management. This review presents the latest advances in this area.

Effect of modified Sanhuang Xiexin Tang plus additional herbs combined with.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of modified Sanhuang Xiexin Tang (SHXXT) plus additional herbs (MSAH) combined with ""standard triple therapy"" for eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) and amelioration of related symptoms in comparison with standard triple and standard quadruple therapies. METHODS: From October 2015 to May 2016, we recruited patients with dyspepsia symptoms confirmed to have H.pylori infection by the 13C urea breath test in our outpatient clinic. Patients were randomly divided into three treatment groups: Nexium? standard triple therapy (group A; EAC); Nexium® standard quadruple therapy (group B; EBAC); or Nexium? standard triple therapy combined with MSAH (group C; EAC+MSAH). Comparisons of Hpylori eradication and symptom amelioration rates were made among the three groups at 2 or 6 weeks after group assignment. RESULTS: There was no difference in H. pylori eradication rates between groups B (EBAC) and C (EAC+MSAH) (P = 0.486), and eradication rates in groups B and C were significantly higher than that in group A (EAC) (P A vs B = 0.001; P A vs C = 0.003). There was no difference in the total symptom score among the groups before treatment. In all groups, the total symptom scores after treatment (2 or 6 weeks after group assignment) were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<65308; 0.001 for all). However, group C (EAC + MSAH) demonstrated superior total symptom scores and symptom amelioration rates than groups A (EAC) and B (EBAC). Group B also demonstrated better scores and rates than group A. There was no difference in symptom amelioration rates at 2 and 6 weeks within each group. CONCLUSION: There is no difference between MSAH combined with standard triple therapy and standard quadruple therapy containing bismuth with regard to H.pylori eradication rate. However, MSAH combined with standard triple therapy has a higher symptom amelioration rate and therefore appears to be an ideal treatment scheme for H.pylori eradication.