A GP130-Targeting Small Molecule, LMT-28, Reduces LPS-Induced Bone Resorption around Implants in Diabetic Models by Inhibiting IL-6/GP130/JAK2/STAT3 Signaling.

In this study, we examined the effect of the GP130-targeting molecule, LMT-28, on lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced bone resorption around implants in diabetic models using in vitro and rat animal experiments. First, LMT-28 was added to osteoblasts stimulated by LPS and advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and nuclear factor-κB receptor-activating factor ligand (RANKL) and associated pathways were evaluated. Then, LMT-28 was administered by gavage at 0.23 mg/kg once every 5 days for 2 weeks to type 2 diabetic rats with peri-implantitis induced by LPS injection and silk ligature. The expression of IL-6 and RANKL was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and the bone resorption around implants was evaluated by microcomputed tomography. The results showed that LMT-28 downregulated the expression of RANKL through the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in osteoblasts stimulated by LPS and AGEs, reduced bone resorption around implants with peri-implantitis, decreased the expression of IL-6 and RANKL, and decreased osteoclast activity in type 2 diabetic rats. This study confirmed the ability of LMT-28 to reduce LPS-induced bone resorption around implants in diabetic rats.

Cytokine-induced killer cell infusion combined with conventional treatments produced better prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with barcelona clinic liver cancer B or earlier stage: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AIMS: To investigate the clinical benefits of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell infusions on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, combined with other conventional treatments. METHODS: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted among phase II and III randomized control trials worldwide. Review manager 5.2 version was used to pool the effect size across studies. Sensitivity analyses and risk of bias were estimated among included studies. Egger's test was used to characterize the publication bias. RESULTS: Eight randomized controlled trials and 945 patients with HCC were included in the study. CIK infusion reduced cancer recurrence risk to 0.74 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5-0.92), I2 75% (P <0.001), and reduced cancer death risk to 0.76 (95% CI 0.65-0.88), I2 50% (P = 0.09). Among studies blinded for outcome assessment and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stages of 0, A and B, CIK infusion reduced recurrence risk by 18% (relative risk [RR] = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.96) and death risk by 37% (RR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.47-0.85); heterogeneity was 0% and 39%, respectively (P > 0.05). The intercepts of linear regressions for recurrence and death were -2.17 and -2.07, respectively, but the P value was 0.17 and 0.38; no significant publication bias was observed with Egger's test. DISCUSSION: Among hepatocellular carcinoma patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer score of B or less, CIK cell infusions combined with conventional treatments significantly prolonged recurrence-free and overall survival. This adoptive immunotherapy could be recommended to HCC patients.

Exploring the nematicidal mechanisms and control efficiencies of oxalic acid producing Aspergillus tubingensis WF01 against root-knot nematodes.

Background and aims: Root-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) are among the highly prevalent and significantly detrimental pathogens that cause severe economic and yield losses in crops. Currently, control of RKN primarily relies on the application of chemical nematicides but it has environmental and public health concerns, which open new doors for alternative methods in the form of biological control. Methods: In this study, we investigated the nematicidal and attractive activities of an endophytic strain WF01 against Meloidogyne incognita in concentration-dependent experiments. The active nematicidal metabolite was extracted in the WF01 crude extract through the Sephadex column, and its structure was identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry data. Results: The strain WF01 was identified as Aspergillus tubingensis based on morphological and molecular characteristics. The nematicidal and attractive metabolite of A. tubingensis WF01 was identified as oxalic acid (OA), which showed solid nematicidal activity against M. incognita, having LC50 of 27.48 µg ml-1. The Nsy-1 of AWC and Odr-7 of AWA were the primary neuron genes for Caenorhabditis elegans to detect OA. Under greenhouse, WF01 broth and 200 µg ml-1 OA could effectively suppress the disease caused by M. incognita on tomatoes respectively with control efficiency (CE) of 62.5% and 70.83%, and promote plant growth. In the field, WF01-WP and 8% OA-WP formulations showed moderate CEs of 51.25%-61.47% against RKN in tomato and tobacco. The combined application of WF01 and OA resulted in excellent CEs of 66.83% and 69.34% toward RKN in tomato and tobacco, respectively. Furthermore, the application of WF01 broth or OA significantly suppressed the infection of J2s in tomatoes by upregulating the expression levels of the genes (PAL, C4H, HCT, and F5H) related to lignin synthesis, and strengthened root lignification. Conclusion: Altogether, our results demonstrated that A. tubingensis WF01 exhibited multiple weapons to control RKN mediated by producing OA to lure and kill RKN in a concentration-dependent manner and strengthen root lignification. This fungus could serve as an environmental bio-nematicide for managing the diseases caused by RKN.

A practical and azide-free synthetic approach to oseltamivir from diethyl D-tartrate.

A short and practical synthesis of oseltamivir was accomplished in 11 steps from inexpensive and abundant diethyl D-tartrate starting material. This azide-free route featured an asymmetric aza-Henry reaction and a domino nitro-Michael/Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons (HWE) reaction as the key steps to construct the relevant cyclohexene ring of the product, which provided an economical and practical alternative for the synthesis of oseltamivir.

Overexpression of an Immune Checkpoint (CD155) in Breast Cancer Associated with Prognostic Significance and Exhausted Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes: A Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: The immune checkpoint inhibitor is approved for breast cancer treatment, but the low expression of PD-L1 limits the immunotherapy. CD155 is another immune checkpoint protein in cancers and interacts with ligands to regulate immune microenvironment. This study is aimed at investigating the expression of CD155 and the association with prognosis and pathological features of breast cancer. METHODS: 126 patients were recruited this cohort study consecutively, and CD155 expression on tumor cells was detected by immunohistochemistry. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox hazard regression model were used to estimate the association. RESULTS: 38.1% patients had an overexpression of CD155, and the proportion of tumor cells with CD155 overexpression was 17%, 39%, 37%, and 62% among Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-positive, and triple negative breast cancer cases, respectively (p < 0.05). Patients with CD155 overexpression had the Ki-67 index significantly higher than that of patients with low expression (42% vs. 26%). Though the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was higher among patients with CD155 overexpression (144/HPF vs. 95/HPF), the number of PD-1+ lymphocytes was significantly higher (52/HPF vs. 25/HPF, p < 0.05). Patients of CD155 overexpression had the disease-free and overall survival decreased by 13 months and 9 months, respectively (p < 0.05). CD155 overexpression was associated with an increased relapse (HR = 13.93, 95% CI 2.82, 68.91) and death risk for breast cancer patients (HR = 5.47, 1.42, 20.99). CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of CD155 was correlated with more proliferative cancer cells and a dysfunctional immune microenvironment. CD155 overexpression introduced a worse relapse-free and overall survival and might be a potential immunotherapy target for breast cancer.

Overexpression of CD155 is associated with PD-1 and PD-L1 expression on immune cells, rather than tumor cells in the breast cancer microenvironment.

BACKGROUND: CD155 is an immune checkpoint protein in cancers and interacts with ligands to regulate the immune microenvironment. The expression of CD155 is correlated with the prognosis and pathological features of breast cancer. AIM: To investigate the expression status of CD155 and the association with exhausted CD4+ helper and CD8+ cytotoxic tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and PD-L1 in the breast cancer microenvironment. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-six breast cancer patients with invasive ductal breast cancer were consecutively recruited into this study. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression CD155, PD-L1 and PD-1 on tumor-infiltrating immune cells and tumor cells in the microenvironment. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with CD155 expression was higher in triple negative breast cancer (72.7%) than in Luminal A patients (22.2%, P < 0.05). Patients with positive CD155 expression had a higher percentage of CD4+/PD-1+ helper TILs (30%) than patients with negative CD155 expression (21%, P < 0.05). Patients with positive CD155 expression also had higher cell counts of exhausted CD4+ TILs [47 vs 20/high-power fields (HPF)] and unexhausted CD8+ TILs (30 vs 17/HPF) than patients with negative expression (P < 0.05). CD155 expression was correlated with increased PD-L1 expression in immune cells, 0.8% and 0.02% immune cells expressed PD-L1 in patients with positive and negative CD155 expression, respectively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: CD155 was related to an inhibitory immune breast cancer microenvironment. CD155 was associated with a high proportion of exhausted CD4+ and unexhausted CD8+ TILs and high PD-L1 expression in immune cells.

Expression of PD-1 on CD4+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Tumor Microenvironment Associated with Pathological Characteristics of Breast Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of CD4+/PD-1+ or CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes with pathological characteristics in breast cancer patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study consecutively recruited 133 patients with invasive ductal breast cancer. The expression of CD4, programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), CK7, CK20, E-cadherin, or Ki-67 was detected by immunohistochemistry. The associations between CD4+/PD-1+ or CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and pathological characteristics were evaluated. RESULTS: Elderly patients intended to have a lower level of CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (p < 0.05). Patients with positive E-cadherin expression had higher median cell counts of CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes than patients with negative E-cadherin expression (30/HPF versus 10/HPF, p < 0.05). Counts of CD4+/PD-1+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes had a significant correlation with Ki-67 index that the correlation coefficient was 0.29 (p = 0.001). Positive CK20 expression was related to a higher level of CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes than negative CK20 expression (73/HPF versus 30/HPF, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: CD4+/PD-1+ or CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes showed diverse association with pathological features of breast cancer. CD4+/PD-1+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes had a significant relationship with Ki-67 expression whereas CD4+/PD-1- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes had a significant relationship with E-cadherin expression. Further studies are warranted to explore the immunomodulatory effects of phenotypes of CD4+ T cell subsets in breast cancer.

The involvement of nitric oxide in ultraviolet-B-inhibited pollen germination and tube growth of Paulownia tomentosa in vitro.

The role of nitric oxide (NO) in the ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B)-induced reduction of in vitro pollen germination and tube growth of Paulownia tomentosa Steud. was studied. Results showed that exposure of the pollen to 0.4 and 0.8 W m(-2) UV-B radiation for 2 h resulted in not only the reduction of pollen germination and tube growth but also the enhancement of NO synthase (NOS, EC 1.14.13.39) activity and NO production in pollen grain and tube. Also, exogenous NO donors sodium nitroprusside and S-nitrosoglutathione inhibited both pollen germination and tube growth in a dose-dependence manner. NOS inhibitor N(G)-nitro-l-Arg-methyl eater (l-NAME) and NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (c-PTIO) not only largely prevented the NO generation but also partly reversed the UV-B-inhibited pollen germination and tube growth. These results indicate that UV-B radiation inhibits pollen germination and tube growth partly via promoting NO production in pollen grain and tube by a NOS-like enzyme. Additionally, a guanylyl cyclase inhibitor 6-anilino-5,8-quinolinequinone (LY-83583) prevented both the UV-B- and NO donors-inhibited pollen germination and tube growth, suggesting that the NO function is mediated by cyclic guanosine 5'-monophosphate. However, the effects of c-PTIO, l-NAME and LY-83583 on the UV-B-inhibited pollen germination and tube growth were only partial, suggesting that there are NO-independent pathways in UV-B signal networks.

[Form of the particulate matter ambient air standards in China].

Based on the principles from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States, an analysis was conducted to study the form of 24-hour standard of particulate matter in China by methods of statistical regression, proportional rollback and controlling contrast maps, using the monitoring data of inhalable particulate matter (PM10) from 120 cities in China during year 2005 to 2012. It was found that for cities in China, when the annual arithmetic mean of PM10 was equal to the national standard, the non-exceedance rates of daily average PM10 in most cities were higher than 95.0% , and the average rate for all cities was 97.1%. The average non-exceedance rate was 96.3% for cities in North China and Northwest China, 96.6% for Northeast China, 97.2% for East China and Central South China, and 98.1% for Southwest China. When the 97th percentile was chosen as the form of 24-hour standard of particulate matter for China, the 24-hour standard had an equal controlling strength with the annual standard. The 24-hour standard will become the controlling standard when larger percentiles were chosen, otherwise the contrary. By considering together the statistical characteristics of PM10 level in China, the robustness of the percentiles and protection of human health, the 95th percentile was suitable as the preferred form of the 24-hour standard of PM10 and PM2.5 in China.

UV-B-induced stomatal closure occurs via ethylene-dependent NO generation in Vicia faba.

The role of ethylene and the relationship between ethylene and nitric oxide (NO) in ultraviolet B (UV-B)-induced stomatal closure were investigated in Vicia faba L. (broad bean) plants by epidermal strip bioassay, laser-scanning confocal microscopy and assay of ethylene production. In response to UV-B radiation, the rise of NO level in guard cells was after ethylene evolution peak, but preceded stomatal closure. Both UV-B-induced NO generation in guard cells and subsequent stomatal closure were substantially inhibited not only by NO scavenger and nitrate reductase (NR) inhibitors, but also by interfering with ethylene synthesis or perception. Although exogenous NO could reverse the inhibitive effect of interfering with ethylene synthesis or perception on UV-B-induced stomatal closure, the inhibitive effect of NO scavenger and NR inhibitors on UV-B-induced stomatal closure could not be rescued by exogenous ethylene. Taken together, our results clearly show that ethylene participates in the UV-B-induced stomatal closure and acts upstream of the NR source of NO generation in V. faba.