Case Report: Autoimmune encephalitis and other neurological syndromes with rare neuronal surface antibody in children after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Introduction: Neuronal surface antibody syndromes (NSAS) encompass a growing set of autoimmune neurological disorders, with their predominant clinical presentation being autoimmune encephalitis (AE). The most extensively documented form within NSAS is anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) autoimmunity. In contrast, other NSAS, such as anti-metabotropic glutamate receptor-5 (mGluR5) autoimmunity, are less common and less comprehensively characterized, particularly in pediatric cases. Case description: In this instance, we present the case of a 7-year-old girl who exhibited abnormal behaviors following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). She received a diagnosis of anti-mGluR5 AE, and her Electroencephalogram (EEG) displayed an increased number of generalized slow waves during wakefulness. Treatment involved intravenous administration of gamma globulin and methylprednisolone, followed by oral prednisone tablets. Levetiracetam was introduced as an antiepileptic therapy during the pulse steroid therapy. Notably, the abnormal behaviors exhibited significant improvement after treatment. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of rare pediatric NSAS involving anti-mGluR5 AE following HSCT. Enhancing our understanding and characterization of this condition may facilitate its recognition and treatment in children. Serum antibody testing could enable early identification and treatment of anti-mGluR5 AE.

Changes in tumor suppressors and inflammatory responses during hydrogen peroxide-induced senescence in rat fibroblasts.

Cell proliferation and senescence are processes induced by oxidative stress. In this study, we aimed to establish a cellular model of rapid proliferation and senescence of rat tail-tip fibroblasts by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a well-known oxidant. On this basis, changes in oxidative stress, inflammatory response and cell cycle of fibroblasts were studied. After H2O2 treatment, cell counting and flow cytometry results showed that 50 µM of H2O2 for 12 h and 100 µM for 8 h effectively promoted fibroblast proliferation, while 500 µM rapidly led to cell cycle arrest. In addition, stimulation with H2O2 at a concentration of 50 µM also promoted the inflammatory effects of the cells. At a concentration of 100 µM H2O2, the cellular antioxidant system began to collapse at 8 h and began to affect cellular activity. 500 µM of H2O2 at 4 h the levels of senescence-associated ß-galactosidase, a marker of senescence and oxidative stress, were almost positive in fibroblasts. In addition, we found that the risk of fibroblasts carcinogenesis increased with increased H2O2 stimulation. The results of this study indicate that H2O2 can cause rapid proliferation and senescence of fibroblasts and that its mechanism of action may be mainly through influencing cellular antioxidant systems, cellular inflammatory responses and cell cycle.

Identification of differentially expressed genes associated with aluminum resistance in the soybean plant.

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major limitation to crop production in countries where acidic soil is abundant. In China, soybean production is constrained by Al stress-induced toxicity. As such, there is growing interest to develop Al-resistant varieties. In the present study, we sought to determine potential genes, functions and pathways for screening and breeding of Al-resistant varieties of soybean. First, we mined the E-GEOD-18517 dataset and identified 729 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between untreated and Al-treated groups. Next, we performed Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways enrichment analysis and observed that most of the screened genes were mainly enriched in defense response, plasma membrane and molecular transducer activity. They were also enriched in three important pathways, the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant-pathogen interaction, and cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis. Utilizing weighted gene co-expression network analysis of 815 DEGs screened by Venn diagram, we identified DEGs that were the most disparate between treated and untreated groups. LOC100793667 (probable protein phosphatase 2C 60, GLYMA_17G223800), LOC100780576 (ethylene-responsive transcription factor 1B, GLYMA_02G006200), and LOC100785578 (protein ESKIMO 1, GLYMA_02G258000) were the most differentially expressed, which were consistent with the qRT-PCR results. As these genes are known to participate in essential functions, such as cell junction and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, these genes may be important for breeding Al-resistant varieties. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-01018-x.

Genome-wide analysis of ethylene-response factor family in adzuki bean and functional determination of VaERF3 under saline-alkaline stress.

Ethylene-response factor (ERF) proteins are members of a transcription factor family involved in plant growth and environmental stress responses, but the biological functions of ERF members in adzuki bean (Vigna angularis var. angularis) remain unknown. In addition, it is unclear whether these proteins have a role in regulating responses to abiotic stressors. Here, we identified 47 ERF genes by analyzing the adzuki bean genome. Whole-transcriptome analyses of plants under saline-alkaline stress suggested that the expression of 13 ERF genes was induced in response to saline-alkaline stress. Analysis of the cis-acting elements showed that the promoters of these saline-alkaline stress-inducible ERF genes contained LTRs, DREs, MYBs, ABREs, MYCs, CGTCA-, and TGACG-motifs, which are involved in abiotic stress responses. The expression of VaERF3 was induced by NaHCO3, polyethylene glycol 6000, NaCl, and ABA (abscisic acid), as determined by qRT-PCR. Overexpression of VaERF3 in transgenic Arabidopsis resulted in higher levels of proline accumulation and lower malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species contents in plants grown under saline-alkaline stress conditions. Moreover, VaERF3 encoded a nuclear-localized transcriptional activator that promoted the expression of stress-responsive genes. Collectively, these results are of great significance in elucidating the mechanisms of saline-alkaline stress responses in adzuki bean.

KRAS G12V Mutation is an Adverse Prognostic Factor of Chinese Gastric Cancer Patients.

This study aims to investigate the molecular characteristics of Chinese gastric cancer patients. In our study, the KRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA mutation status of 485 GC patients were analyzed by Sanger sequencing. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to plot survival curves according to different genotypes. The results show that the frequency of KRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA mutations were 4.1%, 1.2% and 3.5%, respectively. BRAF mutations were significantly concentrated in stage III and IV gastric cancer (P=0.009). KRAS G12V mutation carriers have much shorter OS than other mutation carriers and wild-type group patients (P=0.013). In conclusion, only the KRAS G12V mutation has an adverse effect on patient survival.

Tumor-associated macrophages are correlated with tamoxifen resistance in the postmenopausal breast cancer patients.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) have been correlated with increased angiogenesis and poor prognosis in breast cancer. However, the precise role of TAMs in tamoxifen resistance remains unclear. We used immunohistochemical method to examine the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and CD163+ macrophages in 100 breast cancer tissues. The clinical and biological features of 100 patients were estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(Her-2)-negative tumors. The tamoxifen resistant tissues (n = 48) were the surgical excision samples from patients who developed recurrence or metastasis at the time of adjuvant tamoxifen treatment. The tamoxifen resistant tissues were contrast to tamoxifen sensitive tissues (n = 52). Positive staining for EGFR and CD163+ macrophages were observed in 21 samples (43.8 %) and in 26 samples (54.2 %) respectively in tamoxifen resistance group, which were higher than that of tamoxifen sensitive group (P = 0.001 and P = 0.000279 respectively). Significant positive correlations were found between the expression of EGFR and CD163+ macrophages (r = 0.567, P < 0.01). CD163+ macrophages were positively correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and obesity. Obesity was also related to tamoxifen resistance (P < 0.05). The patients with higher density of CD163+ macrophages infiltration suffered from shorter time to develop recurrence or metastasis (P < 0.05). TAMs may be associated with tamoxifen resistance. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential mechanism between TAMs and tamoxifen resistance.

A polymorphism at the 3'-UTR region of the aromatase gene is associated with the efficacy of the aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole, in metastatic breast carcinoma.

Estrogen-related genes and the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene play a critical role in estrogen metabolism, and those polymorphisms are associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer. However, little is known about the association between these polymorphisms and the efficacy of anastrozole. The aim was to investigate the impact of the genetic polymorphisms, CYP19A1, 17-ß-HSD-1 and FTO, on the response to anastrozole in metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC) and to evaluate the impact of those polymorphisms on various clinicopathologic features. Two-hundred seventy-two women with hormone receptor-positive MBC treated with anastrozole were identified retrospectively. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and genotyped for five variants in three candidate genes. Time to progression was improved in patients carrying the variant alleles of rs4646 when compared to patients with the wild-type allele (16.40 months versus 13.52 months; p = 0.049). The rs4646 variant alleles were significantly associated with longer overall survival (37.3 months versus 31.6 months; p = 0.007). This relationship was not observed with the rs10046, rs2830, rs9926298 and rs9939609 polymorphisms. The findings of this study indicate that rs4646 polymorphism in the CYP19A1 gene may serve as a prognostic maker of the response to anastrozole in patients with MBC who are treated with anastrozole.