Dynamic monitoring of the fibrosis disease by a collagen targeting near infrared probe.

The deposition of the extracellular matrix, especially collagen, and the elevated expression levels of reactive oxygen species, including H2O2, are the main features of fibrosis. Fibrosis can occur in many tissues, such as tumor and liver tissues. The deposition of collagen in the location of lesions not only leads to immunological rejection and supports liver fibrosis and tumor progression, but also provides unique physiological signals with the progression of fibrosis and tumor. However, at present, the detection of fibrosis, especially real time detection, is greatly difficult, making it important to develop noninvasive probes for the dynamic monitoring of fibrosis progression. Herein, we propose a H2O2 responsive macromolecular probe for collagen imaging with high sensitivity and specificity. This probe consists of a collagen-targeting peptide and a H2O2-sensitive and near-infrared (NIR)-emitting macromolecular optical probe, which could effectively bind to collagen both in vitro and in vivo in the region of tumor or fibrotic liver tissues, allowing for high sensitivity and noninvasive visualization of fibrotic tissues and real time monitoring of collagen degradation after anti-fibrotic drug treatment.

Effect of emulsifiers on the properties of corn starch films incorporated with Zanthoxylum bungeanum essential oil.

The use of natural and safe ingredients in green food packaging material is a hot research topic. This study investigated the effect of different emulsifiers on starch film properties. Three types of emulsifiers, including Tween 80 as a small-molecule surfactant, sodium caseinate (CAS), whey protein isolate (WPI), and gelatin (GE) as macromolecule emulsifiers, whey protein isolate fibril (WPIF) as a particle emulsifier, were utilized to prepare Zanthoxylum bungeanum essential oil (ZBO) emulsions. The mechanical, physical, thermal, antibacterial properties, microstructure and essential oil release of starch films were investigated. CAS-ZBO nanoemulsion exhibited the smallest particle size of 198.6 ± 2.2 nm. The film properties changed with different emulsifiers. CAS-ZBO film showed the highest tensile strength value. CAS-ZBO and WPIF-ZBO films exhibited lower water vapor permeability than Tween-ZBO. CAS-ZBO film showed good dispersion of essential oil, the slowest release rate of essential oils in all food simulants, and the best antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. The films composed of CAS-ZBO nanoemulsion, corn starch, and glycerol are considered more suitable for food packaging. This work indicated that natural macromolecule emulsifiers of CAS and WPIF are expected to be used in green food packaging material to offer better film properties.

Identification of a novel ferroptosis-related gene signature associated with prognosis, the immune landscape, and biomarkers for immunotherapy in ovarian cancer.

Ferroptosis has been implicated in tumor progression and immunoregulation. Identification of ferroptosis-related prognostic gene is important for immunotherapy and prognosis in ovarian cancer (OV). We assessed the potential predictive power of a novel ferroptosis-related gene (FRG) signature for prognosis and immunotherapy in Asian and Caucasian OV populations. We collected gene expression profiles and clinicopathological data from public databases. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression algorithm was used to construct the FRG signature. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, Kaplan-Meier method, Cox regression model were used to evaluate the clinical benefits of FRG signature. Gene functional and gene set enrichment analyses were used for functional annotation and immune landscape analysis. A 15-FRG signature was constructed and used to stratify patients into two risk groups. Patients in the high-risk group had significantly worse survival. The risk score was a significant independent risk factor for OS. The area under the ROC curve indicated the good prediction performance of the FRG signature. Notably, the low-risk group showed a significant enrichment in immune-related pathways and a "hot" immune status. The risk score was found to be an efficient and robust predictor of response to immunotherapy. In conclusion, our study identified a novel 15-FRG prognostic signature that can be used for prognostic prediction and precision immunotherapy in Asian and Caucasian OV populations.

Walking and taking vitamin C alleviates oxidative stress and inflammation in overweight students, even in the short-term.

Objective: Obese or overweight is a risk factor for some chronic diseases, and oxidative stress and inflammation may be one of the molecular mechanisms leading to the persistence of these chronic diseases. Discovering interventions to alleviate oxidative stress and inflammation in the overweight/obese population, is very important for public health and health education. Methods: A two-week panel intervention study (Run 0-Run 1-Run 2) was conducted. The subjects were 77 overweight/obese undergraduates attending Dali University, with a BMI>24 kg/m2. The physical indices measured at the end of each run included BMI, waist circumference, serum ROS, TNF-α, IL-1ß and urinary 8-OHdG. Students were allocated to one of four intervention groups: No intervention (control); walking; taking vitamin C; and walking + taking vitamin C. Results: The results demonstrated (1) Walking significantly alleviated ROS levels, and this was consistent in Run 1 and Run 2; (2) During Run1, all three intervention modes reduced levels of 8-OHdG, but there was a statistically insignificant increase during Run 2; (3) No alleviating effects of the three intervention modes on TNF-α levels during Run 1 and Run 2 were observed; (4) The alleviating effects of the three intervention modes on IL-1ß levels during Run 1 and Run 2 were clear. Conclusion: Walking and taking vitamin C can reduce levels of ROS, 8-OHdG and IL-1ß, but not TNF-α, in overweight/obese participants. These interventions may become potential preventive measures for the overweight against obese-induced oxidative stress and inflammation.

Fabrication of gel-like emulsions with γ-zein particles using microfluidization: Structure formation and rheological properties.

In this work, γ-zein, which is a type of cysteine rich prolamine in corn, was prepared into particles for fabricating stable gel-like emulsions. The effects of homogenization pressure (0.1-120 MPa) on structure formation and rheological properties of emulsions were systematically studied. Microscopy showed that γ-zein particles provided stabilization at droplet interfaces, and that excess protein particles provided a particle network in continuous phase, and microfluidization significantly decreased droplet size and induced to form droplet clusters and gel-like network. With an increase of homogenization pressure, protein content adsorbed at droplet interfaces and entrapped within gel-like structure of emulsions increased, and more hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds between protein particles were formed. As a result, stronger gel strength of emulsions were observed, for example, apparent viscosity, storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G''), and G'/ G'' crossover strain (γco) increased, the frequency dependency of G' (n, G' ∼ ωn) decreased. Also, Lissajous curves were used to further understand the non-linear viscoelastic behavior of these emulsions. Emulsions prepared without microfluidization (control, 0.1 MPa) showed a weak gel structure with viscous-dominating behavior at high strain, while emulsions prepared with microfluidization showed predominantly elastic behavior at low strain, and plastic-dominating behavior at high strain. These findings showed that cysteine rich protein based- emulsion gels with tunable microstructure and rheological properties can be easily produced by controlling the homogenization pressure.

Tex264 Binding to SNX27 Regulates Itgα5 Receptor Membrane Recycling and Affects Cell Migration.

Tex264 is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein that was recently demonstrated to act as an ER-phagy receptor under starvation conditions to mediate endoplasmic reticulum autophagy. However, how Tex264 functions in the central nervous system (CNS) and tumors is unclear. Here, we identified 89 proteins from the rat brain that may specifically interact with Tex264 and confirmed the interaction between sorting nexin 27 (SNX27) and Tex264 by coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence. Our results indicated that Tex264 may promote recycling of membrane proteins from endosomes to the cell plasma membrane by recruiting SNX27 retromer vesicles. siRNA-mediated knockdown of TEX264 in HeLa cells did not affect cell proliferation but did significantly inhibit cell migration through a mechanism that may involve a reduction in SNX27-mediated Itgα5 receptor membrane recycling. Results of this study helped identify potential binding Tex264 partners and provide insights into Tex264 functions in the CNS and in tumors.

Clinicopathologic features and prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer in China: a retrospective cohort study of patients under 35 years old.

AIM: To analyze factors that affect the prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer patients under 35 years old. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed confirmed triple-negative breast cancer cases from 2000 to 2016 in multiple institutions. A total of 105 patients were included in the study, Nineteen of them were diagnosed with age ≤ 25, and 86 of them were aged between 26 to 35. RESULT: There were no statistically significant differences in clinicopathologic features and treatment choices between patients aged ≤ 25 years and those aged 26-35 years (P > 0.05). Survival analysis showed no statistically significant differences in DFS and OS between the two groups (P > 0.05). Multiple factor analysis showed that age of menarche (HR 0.697, 95% CI [0.5634, 0.8631]), pregnancy correlation (HR 2.673, 95% CI [1.1581, 6.1741]), and lymph node positivity (HR 4.915, 95% CI [2.3774, 10.1627]) were independent prognostic factors that affected patients' DFS. Independent prognostic factors that influenced OS were age of menarche (HR 0.598, 95% CI [0.462 6, 0.775]) and lymph node positivity (HR 7.751, 95% CI [2.923, 20.559]). CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the clinicopathological features and prognosis between women ≤ 25 and women aged 26-35 years with triple-negative breast cancer. Age of menarche, pregnancy correlation, and positive lymph nodes were independent factors affecting prognosis. The relationship between reproductive factors and prognosis in young patients with triple-negative breast cancer needs further discussion.

Surgical Management Strategy for Breast Cancer Patients During the COVID-19 Outbreak.

In December 2019, a new coronavirus pneumonia began to break out globally. COVID-19 pandemic challenges the health systems worldwide and influences the treatments for other diseases. The incidence rate of breast cancer ranks first among all malignant tumors among women. During the pandemic, medical workers should strictly monitor the condition of patients and strengthen the management and prevention measures to make sure patients can be operated safely. This article will discuss the arrangements and management of surgical treatment for patients with breast cancer.

Analysis of 246 sentinel lymph node biopsies of patients with clinical primary breast cancer by application of carbon nanoparticle suspension.

AIM: This study aims to explore the accuracy, specificity and laws of axillary lymph node metastasis predicted by sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) by comparing axillary lymph node status via SLNB and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) with nanocarbon as the tracer. METHODS: Forty six patients were retrospectively analyzed. These patients underwent SLNB with nanocarbon as the tracer from March 2013 to April 2014. RESULTS: Two hundred and forty six patients of sentinel lymph node (SLN) were successfully detected. Among these patients, 8 patients had 1 SLN (3.25%), 33 patients had 2 SLN (13.41%), 46 patients had 3 SLN (18.70%), 51 patients had 4 SLN (20.73%), 40 patients had 5 SLN (16.26%), 24 patients had 6 SLN (9.76%) and 24 patients had 7 or more SLN (9.76%). The SLNB success rate of nanocarbon staining in the 246 cases was 99.59%, accuracy rate was 97.06% and sensitivity was 93.22%. Furthermore, false negatives were found in four patients, and the false-negative rate was 6.78%. The number of lymph node metastasis in the SLNB and ALND of early-stage breast cancer was analyzed. When the number of SLN dissection was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, the coincidence rate of lymph node metastasis for SLNB and ALND was 80.00, 84.36, 78.57, 88.89, 90.48, 80.00, 73.68 and 78.36, respectively. CONCLUSION: Sentinel lymph node biopsy performed using the nanocarbon staining method is simple, easy and reliable, and it can be used to predict the axillary status of breast cancer in the early stage.

miR-29a regulated ER-positive breast cancer cell growth and invasion and is involved in the insulin signaling pathway.

Increasing amounts of evidence show that insulin can activate different insulin signaling pathways to promote breast cancer growth and invasion. miR-29a plays crucial roles in decreasing glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, as well as in regulating breast cancer cell proliferation and EMT. However, the mechanism responsible for the regulatory effects of miR-29a on breast cancer growth and invasion and the relationship between these effects and insulin signaling remains unclear. Herein, we showed that human insulin increased miR-29a expression in ER-positive breast cancer cells and that miR-29a facilitated the ability of insulin to promote breast cancer cell proliferation and migration. We found that miR-29a-induced cell proliferation and metastasis acceleration occurred primarily through ERK phosphorylation. The IGF-1R is the upstream target gene of miR-29a, while CDC42 and p85α are the downstream target genes of miR-29a. These results have provided us with information regarding the molecular mechanisms by which hyperinsulinemia promotes breast cancer occurrence and development and thus leads to a poor prognosis in breast cancer patients and indicate that miR-29a plays an important role in breast cancer development and invasion.

An elevated peripheral blood lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio predicts favorable response and prognosis in locally advanced breast cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) is a standard treatment option for locally advanced breast cancer. However, the lack of an efficient method to predict treatment response and patient prognosis hampers the clinical evaluation of patient eligibility for NCT. An elevated lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) has been reported to be associated with a favorable prognosis for certain hematologic malignancies and for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; however, this association has not been investigated in breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether pre-NCT LMR analysis could predict the prognosis of patients with locally advanced breast cancer. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 542 locally advanced breast cancer patients (T3/T4 and/or N2/N3 disease) receiving NCT followed by radical surgery was recruited between May 2002 and August 2011 at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Counts for pre-NCT peripheral absolute lymphocytes and monocytes were obtained and used to calculate the LMR. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that higher LMR levels (≥4.25) were significantly associated with favorable DFS (P = 0.009 and P = 0.011, respectively). Additionally, univariate analysis revealed that a higher lymphocyte count (≥1.5×109/L) showed borderline significance for improved DFS (P = 0.054), while a lower monocyte count (<0.4×109/L) was associated with a significantly better DFS (P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: An elevated pre-NCT peripheral LMR level was a significantly favorable factor for locally advanced breast cancer patient prognosis. This easily obtained variable may serve as a valuable marker to predict the outcomes of locally advanced breast cancer.