Safety and efficacy of gene therapy with onasemnogene abeparvovec in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease which leads to progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. Our systematic review and meta-analysis aims to explore the efficacy and safety of onasemnogene abeparvovec in SMA patients. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane through April 2022. Ten reports enrolling 250 SMA patients were included. CHOP INTEND and motor-milestone significant improvements were detected at both short- and long-term follow-up. Common adverse events included pyrexia, vomiting, thrombocytopenia and elevated aminotransferases. Thrombocytopenia (79.3%, 95%CI: 65.8~90.5) and elevated aminotransferases (71.7%, 95%CI: 62.5~80.1) were more common in SMA patients aged older than 8 months. Despite the paucity of randomized control trial data and low quality of evidence to establish the safety and efficacy of onasemnogene abeparvovec in the treatment of SMA, the data suggest that it is a valuable option for patients with this condition.

Recent research on the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. / è„Šé«“æ€§è‚ŒèŽç¼©ç—‡æ²»ç–—ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscular weakness and atrophy. SMA, as an inherited disease, is the leading cause of death in infants and young children. Rapid progress has been made in the research field of SMA in recent years, and some related treatment drugs have been successfully approved for marketing. This article reviews the recent research advances in the treatment of SMA.

Conditioning Regimen of 5-Day Decitabine Administration for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN). However, post-HSCT relapse remains a major cause of treatment failure. Here we assessed the efficacy of a new conditioning regimen comprising decitabine (Dec), busulfan (Bu), cyclophosphamide (Cy), fludarabine (Flu), and cytarabine (Ara-c) for allo-HSCT in patients with MDS and MDS/MPN. A total of 48 patients were enrolled, including 44 with MDS and 4 with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). Patients received Dec 20 mg/m2/day on days -9 to -5, combined with a Bu/Cy/Flu/Ara-c-modified preparative regimen. At a median follow-up of 522 days (range, 15 to 1313 days), the overall survival (OS) was 86%, relapse incidence was 12%, and nonrelapse mortality was 12%. The incidence of severe acute (grade III-IV) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 23% and that of chronic GVHD was 15%. At 2 years, OS was 74% and 86%, respectively for high-risk and very-high-risk patients with MDS. Survival was promising in patients with poor-risk gene mutations, such as TP53 and ASXL1 (88%), and in those with ≥3 gene mutations (79%). Results of immunomonitoring studies revealed that proper natural killer cells made essential contributions to these favorable clinical outcomes. Overall, this new regimen was associated with a low relapse rate, low incidence and severity of GVHD, and satisfactory survival in allo-HSCT recipients with MDS and MDS/MPN.

Fenobody: A Ferritin-Displayed Nanobody with High Apparent Affinity and Half-Life Extension.

Nanobodies consist of a single domain variable fragment of a camelid heavy-chain antibody. Nanobodies have potential applications in biomedical fields because of their simple production procedures and low cost. Occasionally, nanobody clones of interest exhibit low affinities for their target antigens, which, together with their short half-life limit bioanalytical or therapeutic applications. Here, we developed a novel platform we named fenobody, in which a nanobody developed against H5N1 virus is displayed on the surface of ferritin in the form of a 24mer. We constructed a fenobody by substituting the fifth helix of ferritin with the nanobody. TEM analysis showed that nanobodies were displayed on the surface of ferritin in the form of 6 × 4 bundles, and that these clustered nanobodies are flexible for antigen binding in spatial structure. Comparing fenobodies with conventional nanobodies currently used revealed that the antigen binding apparent affinity of anti-H5N1 fenobody was dramatically increased (∼360-fold). Crucially, their half-life extension in a murine model was 10-fold longer than anti-H5N1 nanobody. In addition, we found that our fenobodies are highly expressed in Escherichia coli, and are both soluble and thermo-stable nanocages that self-assemble as 24-polymers. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that fenobodies have unique advantages over currently available systems for apparent affinity enhancement and half-life extension of nanobodies. Our fenobody system presents a suitable platform for various large-scale biotechnological processes and should greatly facilitate the application of nanobody technology in these areas.

H-ferritin-nanocaged doxorubicin nanoparticles specifically target and kill tumors with a single-dose injection.

An ideal nanocarrier for efficient drug delivery must be able to target specific cells and carry high doses of therapeutic drugs and should also exhibit optimized physicochemical properties and biocompatibility. However, it is a tremendous challenge to engineer all of the above characteristics into a single carrier particle. Here, we show that natural H-ferritin (HFn) nanocages can carry high doses of doxorubicin (Dox) for tumor-specific targeting and killing without any targeting ligand functionalization or property modulation. Dox-loaded HFn (HFn-Dox) specifically bound and subsequently internalized into tumor cells via interaction with overexpressed transferrin receptor 1 and released Dox in the lysosomes. In vivo in the mouse, HFn-Dox exhibited more than 10-fold higher intratumoral drug concentration than free Dox and significantly inhibited tumor growth after a single-dose injection. Importantly, HFn-Dox displayed an excellent safety profile that significantly reduced healthy organ drug exposure and improved the maximum tolerated dose by fourfold compared with free Dox. Moreover, because the HFn nanocarrier has well-defined morphology and does not need any ligand modification or property modulation it can be easily produced with high purity and yield, which are requirements for drugs used in clinical trials. Thus, these unique properties make the HFn nanocage an ideal vehicle for efficient anticancer drug delivery.

Targeting endothelial CD146 attenuates colitis and prevents colitis-associated carcinogenesis.

Recently, enhanced CD146 expression was reported on endothelial cells in intestinal biopsies from patients with inflammatory bowel disease. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here, we found that overexpressed endothelial CD146 promoted the inflammatory responses in inflammatory bowel disease, which further potentiated the occurrence of colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis. Eliminating endothelial CD146 by conditional knockout significantly ameliorated the severity of inflammation in two different murine models of colitis, and decreased tumor incidence and tumor progression in a murine model of colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis. Mechanistic study showed that cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) up-regulated the expression of endothelial CD146 through NF-κB transactivation. In turn, the enhanced endothelial CD146 expression promoted both angiogenesis and proinflammatory leukocyte extravasations, contributing to inflammation. Using an anti-CD146 antibody, AA98, alone or together with an anti-TNF-α antibody significantly attenuated colitis and prevented colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis in mice. Our study provides the first evidence that CD146 plays a dual role on endothelium, facilitating leukocyte extravasations and angiogenesis, thus promoting inflammation. This finding not only reveals the function and regulating mechanism of CD146 in inflammatory bowel disease, but also provides a promising therapeutic strategy for treating inflammatory bowel disease and preventing colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis.

CD146, an epithelial-mesenchymal transition inducer, is associated with triple-negative breast cancer.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in breast cancer metastasis, especially in the most aggressive and lethal subtype, "triple-negative breast cancer" (TNBC). Here, we report that CD146 is a unique activator of EMTs and significantly correlates with TNBC. In epithelial breast cancer cells, overexpression of CD146 down-regulated epithelial markers and up-regulated mesenchymal markers, significantly promoted cell migration and invasion, and induced cancer stem cell-like properties. We further found that RhoA pathways positively regulated CD146-induced EMTs via the key EMT transcriptional factor Slug. An orthotopic breast tumor model demonstrated that CD146-overexpressing breast tumors showed a poorly differentiated phenotype and displayed increased tumor invasion and metastasis. We confirmed these findings by conducting an immunohistochemical analysis of 505 human primary breast tumor tissues and found that CD146 expression was significantly associated with high tumor stage, poor prognosis, and TNBC. CD146 was expressed at abnormally high levels (68.9%), and was strongly associated with E-cadherin down-regulation in TNBC samples. Taken together, these findings provide unique evidence that CD146 promotes breast cancer progression by induction of EMTs via the activation of RhoA and up-regulation of Slug. Thus, CD146 could be a therapeutic target for breast cancer, especially for TNBC.

CD146 is a coreceptor for VEGFR-2 in tumor angiogenesis.

CD146 is a novel endothelial biomarker and plays an essential role in angiogenesis; however, its role in the molecular mechanism underlying angiogenesis remains poorly understood. In the present study, we show that CD146 interacts directly with VEGFR-2 on endothelial cells and at the molecular level and identify the structural basis of CD146 binding to VEGFR-2. In addition, we show that CD146 is required in VEGF-induced VEGFR-2 phosphorylation, AKT/p38 MAPKs/NF-κB activation, and thus promotion of endothelial cell migration and microvascular formation. Furthermore, we show that anti-CD146 AA98 or CD146 siRNA abrogates all VEGFR-2 activation induced by VEGF. An in vivo angiogenesis assay showed that VEGF-promoted microvascular formation was impaired in the endothelial conditional knockout of CD146 (CD146(EC-KO)). Our animal experiments demonstrated that anti-CD146 (AA98) and anti-VEGF (bevacizumab) have an additive inhibitory effect on xenografted human pancreatic and melanoma tumors. The results of the present study suggest that CD146 is a new coreceptor for VEGFR-2 and is therefore a promising target for blocking tumor-related angiogenesis.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of NPRL3-related epilepsy: Two case reports and literature review.

Nitrogen permease regulator-like 3 (NPRL3) has been reported to play a role in seizure onset. The principal manifestation of NPRL3-related epilepsy is a range of epilepsy-associated syndromes, such as familial focal epilepsy with variable foci (FFEVF), sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (SHE), and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The association between phenotype and genotype of NPRL3 mutations remains inadequately described. This study aimed to explore the phenotypic and genotypic spectra of NPRL3-related epilepsy. We reported two novel NPRL3 variants in two unrelated epilepsy cases, including a nonsense (c.1174C > T, p.Gln392*) and a missense variant (c.1322C > T, p.Thr441Met). Following a review of the literature, a total of 116 cases of NPRL3-related epilepsy were assessed, mostly with nonsense and frameshift mutations. Our findings suggest that patients harboring various NPRL3 variants exhibit variable clinical manifestations. In addition, it may be worthwhile to consider the existence of NPRL3 mutations in epilepsy patients with a family history. This study provides useful information for the treatment and prognosis by expanding the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of NPRL3-related epilepsy. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: This study expands the phenotypic and genotypic spectra of NPRL3-related epilepsy by reporting two cases with different novel variants. Following a review of the literature, it was observed that patients harboring various NPRL3 variants exhibited a variability of clinical manifestations. Also, patients carrying nonsense mutations are frequently prone to drug resistance and other severe comorbidities such as developmental delay, but more cases need to be collected to confirm these findings.

Effects of nusinersen on motor function in children with spinal muscular atrophy: a retrospective study.

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic progressive neuromuscular disease. Nusinersen is the first disease modifying drug approved to treat patients with SMA. Our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of nusinersen treatment on motor function in children with SMA. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of 52 genetically confirmed SMA patients from November 2020 to September 2023. Motor function was assessed based on standardized scales from baseline to 14 months of follow-up. Results: Of patients in this study, the majority had SMA type 2 (40/52, 76.9%), 5 (9.6%) and 7 (13.5%) patients had SMA types 1 and 3, respectively. The median disease duration was 11 months (range 0-52), and the median age at initiation of treatment was 44.5 months (range 5-192). Motor function of all the patients with SMA improved from baseline to 14 months of follow-up. Mean increases of 4.6-point (p = 0.173), 4.7-point (p = 0.021) and 2.7-point (p = 0.013) were observed from baseline to 14 months of follow-up for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test of Neuromuscular Disorders scores, the Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale Expanded (HFMSE) and the Revised Upper Limb Module (RULM), respectively. Increased disease duration and age of treatment initiation were negatively correlated with the changes in HFMSE scores (r = -0.567, p = 0.043; r = -0.771 and p = 0.002, respectively). Similar results were observed for the RULM scores (r = -0.714, p = 0.014; r = -0.638 and p = 0.035, respectively). Conclusion: Our study suggested that 14 months of treatment with nusinersen was effective and improved the motor function of children with SMA types 1, 2, or 3. In addition, disease duration and age at treatment initiation were negatively correlated with treatment outcome in the patients.

Association between breakfast patterns and executive function among adolescents in Shanghai, China.

Introduction: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between breakfast patterns and executive function among adolescents in Shanghai, China. Methods: In 2022, we randomly recruited 3,012 adolescents aged 12-13 years from all administrative districts in Shanghai. Breakfast information was collected by parents using a one-day recall method. Executive function was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Parent Version. Latent Class Analysis was performed to identify breakfast patterns based on the food groups in the Diet Quality Questionnaire for China. Results: Breakfast patterns were classified into three categories: "Egg and milk foods", "Grain foods", and "Abundant foods", except for adolescents who skipped breakfast. Logistic regression was used to estimate the multivariate odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the association between breakfast patterns and potential executive dysfunction. Adolescents in the "Abundant foods" class had a lower risk of executive dysfunction in terms of initiate (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17-0.76), and organization of materials (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.04-0.94), compared to those who skipped breakfast. Similarly, the breakfast patterns of "Grain foods" and "Egg and milk foods" were associated with a lower risk of executive dysfunction, including initiate and working memory. Discussion: Our findings suggest that breakfast patterns were associated with executive function. The improvement of breakfast patterns among adolescents should be a significant public health intervention.

Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticle peroxidase mimetic-based colorimetric assay for the rapid detection of organophosphorus pesticide and nerve agent.

Rapid and sensitive detection methods are in urgent demand for the screening of extensively used organophosphorus pesticides and highly toxic nerve agents for their neurotoxicity. In this study, we developed a novel Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) peroxidase mimetic-based colorimetric method for the rapid detection of organophosphorus pesticides and nerve agents. The detection assay is composed of MNPs, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and choline oxidase (CHO). The enzymes AChE and CHO catalyze the formation of H(2)O(2) in the presence of acetylcholine, which then activates MNPs to catalyze the oxidation of colorimetric substrates to produce a color reaction. After incubation with the organophosphorus neurotoxins, the enzymatic activity of AChE was inhibited and produced less H(2)O(2), resulting in a decreased catalytic oxidation of colorimetric substrates over MNP peroxidase mimetics, accompanied by a drop in color intensity. Three organophosphorus compounds were tested on the assay: acephate and methyl-paraoxon as representative organophosphorus pesticides and the nerve agent Sarin. The novel assay displayed substantial color change after incubation in organophosphorus neurotoxins in a concentration-dependent manner. As low as 1 nM Sarin, 10 nM methyl-paraoxon, and 5 µM acephate are easily detected by the novel assay. In conclusion, by employing the peroxidase-mimicking activity of MNPs, the developed colorimetric assay has the potential of becoming a screening tool for the rapid and sensitive assessment of the neurotoxicity of an overwhelming number of organophosphate compounds.

A novel 'pipeline' system for downstream preparation of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.

A novel 'pipeline' system for the preparation of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAb) in a non-GMP compliant environment has been developed. We used sterile silica-gel pipes to connect individual process units, in order to form a fully-enclosed and seamlessly connected system. This 'pipeline' system was used to implement downstream preparation processes for a humanized anti-CD146 mAb, huAA98, which is a therapeutic mAb generated to inhibit cancer-related angiogenesis. The quality assessment of the huAA98 end-product indicated that endotoxin levels were 0.016 EU/ml, protein A levels were 1.08 ng/ml and host cell protein (HCP) was undetectable. Thus, all measures were below the clinical criteria set by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Edition 2010). Having passed our proof-of-concept test, this 'pipeline' system can be used as a universal platform for the preparation of mAbs suitable for pre-clinical studies, in a non-GMP compliant laboratory environment.

Association of health-risk behaviors with perceived academic performance among middle and high school students: A cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China.

Adolescence is a susceptible period to establish health-risk behaviors, which may have an impact on academic performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between health-risk behaviors (HRBs) and perceived academic performance (PAP) of adolescents in Shanghai, China. The data of the present study included three-round Shanghai Youth Health-risk Behavior Survey (SYHBS). This cross-sectional survey investigated multiple HRBs of students involved in dietary behaviors, physical activity and sedentary behaviors, intentional and unintentional injury behaviors, and substance abuse behaviors, as well as PAP by using self-reported questionnaire. Using a multistage random sampling method, 40,593 middle and high school students aged 12 to 18 years were involved. Only participants with complete data on HRBs information, academic performance and covariates were included. A total of 35,740 participants were involved in analysis. We used ordinal logistic regression to analyze the association between each HRB and PAP adjusting for sociodemographic, family environment and duration of extracurricular study. The results showed that students who did not eat breakfast or drink milk everyday were more likely to have a lower PAP, with a decreased odds of 0.89 (95%CI: 0.86-0.93, P<0.001) and 0.82 (95%CI: 0.79-0.85, P<0.001), respectively. The similar association was also found in students who did exercise ≥60 minutes for less than 5 days/week, spend time on watch TV beyond 3 hours/day and other sedentary behaviors. Most intentional and unintentional injuries, and ever smoked were associated with a lower PAP. Our finding suggests that multiple HRBs negatively associated with PAP of adolescents. It needs to raise public health concerns with HRBs in adolescents, and to develop and implement comprehensive interventions on HRBs.

The Relationship Between Prognostic Nutritional Indexes and the Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Purpose: Nutritional status is related to the clinical outcomes of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between nutritional status, measured by the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and adverse hospitalization outcomes in patients with AECOPD. Methods: Consecutive AECOPD patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between January 1, 2015 to October 31, 2021 were enrolled. We collected the clinical characteristics and laboratory data of patients. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to assess the relationship between the baseline PNI and adverse hospitalization outcomes. A generalized additive model (GAM) was used to identify any non-linear relationship. In addition, we performed a subgroup analysis to tested the robustness of the results. Results: A total of 385 AECOPD patients were involved in this retrospective cohort study. Based on the tertiles of PNI, patients in the lower tertiles of PNI showed more worse outcome incidence (30 [23.6%] versus 17 [13.2%] versus 8 [6.2%]; p < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the PNI were independently associated with adverse hospitalization outcomes after adjustment for confounding factors (Odds ratio [OR] = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.91 to 0.97, P < 0.0001). After adjusting for confounders, smooth curve fitting showed a saturation effect, suggesting that the relationship between the PNI and adverse hospitalization outcomes was nonlinear. Two-piecewise linear regression model suggested that the incidence of adverse hospitalization outcomes significantly decreased with PNI level up to the inflection point (PNI = 42), and PNI was not associated with adverse hospitalization outcome after that point. Conclusion: Decreased PNI levels at admission were determined to be associated with adverse hospitalization outcomes in patients with AECOPD. The results obtained in this study may potentially assist clinicians optimize risk evaluations and clinical management processes.

Ex vivo detection of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles in mice using their intrinsic peroxidase-mimicking activity.

Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are widely used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents for biomedical applications. Quantitatively analyzing biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and organ clearance of MNPs in mouse models is important for understanding their in vivo behavior. In this study, we developed a novel histochemical method for visualizing unlabeled MNPs in mouse tissues by employing their intrinsic peroxidase-mimicking activity, regarding which we reported previously that MNPs could catalyze the oxidation of peroxidase substrates to produce a color reaction at the site of MNPs (Gao et al. Nat. Nanotechnol.2007, 2, 577-583). Based on this MNPs-peroxidase approach, we determined the biodistribution and organ clearance of MNPs by visualizing and quantifying the localization of MNPs within the main organs. Compared to traditional Prussian blue assay, this novel MNPs-peroxidase approach has higher sensitivity. In conclusion, the developed MNPs-peroxidase approach based on intrinsic peroxidase activity of iron oxide nanoparticles was used effectively for quantitative detection of MNPs in mice by histochemical staining. Presumably, other nanoparticles having intrinsic peroxidase activity could also be considered.

Changes in obesity and lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal analysis from 2019 to 2020.

BACKGROUND: Since December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. What changes have taken place in the obesity and obesity-related lifestyle behaviours of adolescents during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? OBJECTIVE: This study aims at analysing the changes in obesity and lifestyle behaviours of Chinese adolescents before and 1 year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing evidence for the global strategies to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent obesity. METHODS: Physical examinations and student health and influencing factors questionnaires were conducted among 6047 adolescents aged 11-16 years by health professionals in Shanghai, China, before the COVID-19 pandemic (September-November of 2019) and 1 year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (September-November of 2020). Paired χ2 tests, paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate the changes in the obesity prevalence, BMI and lifestyle behaviours from 2019 to 2020. RESULTS: 1 year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the obesity prevalence of Chinese adolescents rose from 14.2% to 15.4% (p < 0.01), mainly because of the increase in boys. And the average BMI increased from 20.3 to 21.2 kg/m2 (p < 0.01). Their lifestyle behaviours have also significantly changed. The mobile screen time increased from 0.25-1.50 h/day to 0.33-2.00 h/day (p < 0.01). The proportion of adolescents who participated in MVPA for ≥60 min/day on all 7 days during the past week dropped from 14.4% to 11.7% (p < 0.01). The generalized estimation equation analysis indicated that adolescents who participated in MVPA for ≥60 min/day on all 7 days had a lower likelihood of having obesity. Boys with computer time ≥2 h/day and girls with mobile screen time ≥2 h/day or TV time ≥2 h/day had a higher likelihood of having obesity. CONCLUSION: This study found that 1 year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BMI and obesity prevalence of Chinese adolescents increased and obesity-related lifestyle behaviours have also changed.

Maize-soybean intercropping facilitates chemical and microbial transformations of phosphorus fractions in a calcareous soil.

Intercropping often substantially increases phosphorus (P) availability to plants compared with monocropping, which could be an effective strategy for soil legacy P recovery and agricultural production. However, the biogeochemical interactions among plants, microbes, and soil that mobilize P remain largely unknown in intercropping systems. Pot experiments with maize-soybean intercropping in a calcareous soil were conducted to investigate the potential chemical and biological transformation mechanisms of inorganic P (Pi) and organic P (Po) using sequential extraction and Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Compared to monocropping of each crop, maize-soybean intercropping significantly enhanced total P uptake of the two crops by mobilizing Ca2-Pi [extracted by bicarbonate (NaHCO3)], Al-Pi/Po [extracted by ammonium fluoride (NH4F)] and Fe-Pi [extracted by sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate (NaOH-Na2CO3)] fractions. Furthermore, there were significant increases in the organic carbon content and alkaline phosphomonoesterase (ALP) and phosphodiesterase (PDE) activities as well as the abundances of Microvirga, Lysobacter, Microlunatus and Sphingomonas under maize-soybean intercropping relative to monocropping. In contrast, compared to monocroppping, no significant change in the soil pH was observed under maize-soybean intercropping. Therefore, the enhanced P uptake of the maize-soybean intercropping probably resulted from a synergistic effect of rhizosphere organic carbon deposit, increased activities of ALP and PDE, together with the bacteria (Microvirga, Lysobacter, Microlunatus and Sphingomonas) which showed correlation with soil P forms, while the generally recognized rhizosphere acidification was excluded in this investigated calcareous soil. Moreover, the selected bacterial genera exhibited a closer network in the rhizosphere of soybean compared to maize, suggesting enhanced interactions among bacteria in the soybean rhizosphere. These results provide theoretical bases for the recovery of soil legacy P by maize-soybean intercropping.

Visualization of CD146 dimerization and its regulation in living cells.

Our previous study showed that the adhesion molecule CD146 as a biomarker is over-expressed on activated endothelium during angiogenesis, which was induced by tumor conditional medium and inhibited by anti-CD146 monoclonal antibody (mAb AA98). However, the CD146 molecular organization on the cells is unknown. Here, using immunoprecipitation, we found that the dimerization of CD146 occurs in both normal and tumor cells. However, the dimer/monomer ratio was higher in tumor cells than in normal cells. Moreover, we found that CD146 dimerization was up-regulated by tumor conditional medium through the NF-kappa B pathway and down-regulated by mAb AA98. To further confirm that CD146 dimerization occurs in living cells, we used fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) with melanoma Mel888 cells co-expressing CFP/YFP-tagged CD146 fusion proteins. By acceptor photobleaching, we observed a strong FRET signal produced by these two fluorescence-tagged proteins. The FRET efficiency reached 20.1%. Our data provide the first evidence that CD146 dimerization occurs in living cells and is regulated within the tumor microenvironment, implying that dimerization of CD146 may be associated with malignancy.

Methyl 4-(4-fluoro-phen-yl)-6-isopropyl-2-[N-methyl-N-(methylsulfonyl)amino]-pyrimidine-5-carboxyl-ate.

In the mol-ecule of the title compound, C(17)H(20)FN(3)O(4)S, the pyrimidine and benzene rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 35.59 (3)°. Intra-molecular C-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds result in the formation of one five- and two six-membered non-planar rings. One of the six-membered rings adopts a chair conformation, while the other six-membered ring and the five-membered ring exhibit envelope conformations with O and N atoms displaced by 0.837 (3) and 0.152 (3) Å, respectively from the planes of the other ring atoms. In the crystal structure, inter-molecular C-H⋯F hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into infinite chains.