Bibliometric Analysis of Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Based Immunotherapy in Cancers From 2001 to 2021.

Background: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-based immunotherapy has shown great potential for the treatment of both hematopoietic malignancies and solid tumors. Nevertheless, multiple obstacles still block the development of CAR-based immunotherapy in the clinical setting. In this study, we aimed to summarize the research landscape and highlight the front lines and trends of this field. Methods: Literature published from 2001 to 2021 was searched in the Web of Science Core Collection database. Full records and cited references of all the documents were extracted and screened. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were conducted using CiteSpace, Microsoft Excel 2019, VOSviewer and R software. Results: A total of 5981 articles and reviews were included. The publication and citation results exhibited increasing trends in the last 20 years. Frontiers in Immunology and Blood were the most productive and most co-cited journals, respectively. The United States was the country with the most productive organizations and publications in the comprehensive worldwide cooperation network, followed by China and Germany. June, C.H. published the most papers with the most citations, while Maude, S.L. ranked first among the co-cited authors. The hotspots in CAR-based therapy research were multiple myeloma, safety and toxicity, solid tumors, CAR-engineered immune cells beyond T cells, and gene editing. Conclusion: CAR-based immunotherapy is a promising treatment for cancer patients, and there is an emerging movement toward using advanced gene modification technologies to overcome therapeutic challenges, especially in solid tumors, and to generate safer and more effective universal CAR-engineered cell products.

Tea Polyphenols Attenuates Inflammation via Reducing Lipopolysaccharides Level and Inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB Pathway in Obese Mice.

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic and increases the risk of metabolic syndrome through chronic inflammation. Tea polyphenols (TP), the major functional component of tea, has shown preventive effects on obesity and obesity-related disease, but the underlying mechanism is complicated and remains obscure. The present study was aimed to elucidate the anti-inflammation effect of TP in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Results showed that TP reduced obesity-induced inflammation and systemic lipopolysaccharides (LPS) level. The decrease of LPS level in circulation was followed by the downregulation of LPS specific receptor, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and its co-receptor cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) and adaptor protein differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) in hepatic and adipose tissues. That further inhibited the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1ß) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly decreased by TP in HFD-fed mice. TP also maintained the intestinal barrier integrity by increasing intestinal tight junction proteins and reversed gut dysbiosis in obese mice. These results suggested that TP attenuated obesity-induced inflammation by reducing systemic LPS level and inhibiting LPS-activated TLR4/NF-κB pathway.

A Novel Prognostic Model for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: The Functions and Prognostic Values of RNA-Binding Proteins.

PURPOSE: The biological roles and clinical significance of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are not fully understood. We investigated the prognostic value of RBPs in OSCC using several bioinformatic strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: OSCC data were obtained from a public online database, the Limma R package was used to identify differentially expressed RBPs, and functional enrichment analysis was performed to elucidate the biological functions of the above RBPs in OSCC. We performed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and Cox regression analyses to extract prognosis-related hub RBPs. Next, we established and validated a prognostic model based on the hub RBPs using Cox regression and risk score analyses. RESULTS: We found that the differentially expressed RBPs were closely related to the defense response to viruses and multiple RNA processes. We identified 10 prognosis-related hub RBPs (ZC3H12D, OAS2, INTS10, ACO1, PCBP4, RNASE3, PTGES3L-AARSD1, RNASE13, DDX4, and PCF11) and effectively predicted the overall survival of OSCC patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of the risk score model was 0.781, suggesting that our model exhibited excellent prognostic performance. Finally, we built a nomogram integrating the 10 RBPs. The internal validation cohort results showed a reliable predictive capability of the nomogram for OSCC. CONCLUSION: We established a novel 10-RBP-based model for OSCC that could enable precise individual treatment and follow-up management strategies in the future.

Comparison of postoperative cytokine and hormone between endoscopically assisted and open parotid tumor resection.

OBJECTIVE: Endoscopically assisted extracapsular dissection through a single incision along the cephaloauricular furrow has been adapted as a method of access for operating on benign parotid gland tumors. However, no study has compared the immune and stress responses after surgery between the endoscopic procedure and conventional open surgery. METHODS: Through a randomized method, 50 patients with benign parotid gland tumors were assigned to undergo either endoscopically assisted extracapsular dissection or open parotidectomy. The postoperative inflammatory changes and hormonal response in the patients were analyzed at serum level during the preoperative period and at 12, 24, and 72 hr after either surgery. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients received an endoscopic procedure, while 27 underwent open surgery. The size of the incision, amount of intraoperative bleeding, volume of drainage, postoperative pain score, and satisfaction with appearance were all improved in the endoscopic procedure group. Additionally, the serum levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and cortisol were significantly lower in the endoscopy group in comparison with those in the open surgery group. CONCLUSION: Endoscopically assisted extracapsular dissection on patients with benign parotid gland tumors is associated with lower inflammatory changes and hormone responses than open surgery, thereby reducing perioperative pathophysiological disturbance and enhancing recovery after surgery.

EuRBPDB: a comprehensive resource for annotation, functional and oncological investigation of eukaryotic RNA binding proteins (RBPs).

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are a large protein family that plays important roles at almost all levels of gene regulation through interacting with RNAs, and contributes to numerous biological processes. However, the complete list of eukaryotic RBPs including human is still unavailable. Here, we systematically identified RBPs in 162 eukaryotic species based on both computational analysis of RNA binding domains (RBDs) and large-scale RNA binding proteomic data, and established a comprehensive eukaryotic RBP database, EuRBPDB (http://EuRBPDB.syshospital.org). We identified a total of 311 571 RBPs with RBDs (corresponding to 6368 ortholog groups) and 3,651 non-canonical RBPs without known RBDs. EuRBPDB provides detailed annotations for each RBP, including basic information and functional annotation. Moreover, we systematically investigated RBPs in the context of cancer biology based on published literatures, PPI-network and large-scale omics data. To facilitate the exploration of the clinical relevance of RBPs, we additionally designed a cancer web interface to systematically and interactively display the biological features of RBPs in various types of cancers. EuRBPDB has a user-friendly web interface with browse and search functions, as well as data downloading function. We expect that EuRBPDB will be a widely-used resource and platform for both the communities of RNA biology and cancer biology.

Knockdown of SNHG8 repressed the growth, migration, and invasion of colorectal cancer cells by directly sponging with miR-663.

Aberrant expression of SNHG8 has been observed in some types of cancers. However, whether SNHG8 was aberrantly expressed in colorectal cancer and whether it could exert any function on the development of colorectal cancer remains largely elusive. In this study, we first investigated the expression pattern and biological function of SNHG8 in colorectal cancer. The expression level of SNHG8 was investigated in colorectal cancer tissues as well as in colorectal cancer cell lines by real-time PCR. Next, CCK8 assays were performed to evaluate the effects of SNHG8 on the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells and transwell assays were employed to evaluate migration and invasion. Bioinformatics were used for predicting the sponging miRNAs that interact with SNHG8. A dual luciferase reporter assay was adopted for the verification of interaction between SNHG8 and miRNA. Our data showed that SNHG8 was significantly up-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines. In addition, knockdown of SNHG8 significantly inhibited the growth, migration, and invasion of colorectal cancer cells. It was predicted that miR-663 might interact with SNHG8 and the direct sponging was verified by dual luciferase reporter assay. Moreover, rescue experiments revealed that SNHG8 played a tumor promoting role by regulating miR-663. In the present study, we revealed that SNHG8 was up-regulated in colorectal cancer and promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of colorectal cancer by sponging miR-663, which helps to further reveal the underlying developmental mechanism of action and provides a potential therapeutic molecule for colorectal cancer therapy in the future.

Angoline: a selective IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway inhibitor isolated from Zanthoxylum nitidum.

STAT3 signaling pathway is an important target for human cancer therapy. Thus, the identification of small-molecules that target STAT3 signaling will be of great interests in the development of anticancer agents. The aim of this study was to identify novel inhibitors of STAT3 pathway from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. The bioassay-guided fractionation of MeOH extract of Z. nitidum using a STAT3-responsive gene reporter assay led to the isolation of angoline (1) as a potent and selective inhibitor of the STAT3 signaling pathway (IC50=11.56 µM). Angoline inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation and its target gene expression and consequently induced growth inhibition of human cancer cells with constitutively activated STAT3 (IC50=3.14-4.72 µM). This work provided a novel lead for the development of anti-cancer agents targeting the STAT3 signaling pathway.

Anesthetic efficacy of inferior alveolar nerve block plus buccal infiltration or periodontal ligament injections with articaine in patients with irreversible pulpitis in the mandibular first molar.

OBJECTIVE: We compared the anesthetic efficacy of inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) plus buccal infiltration (BI) and IANB plus periodontal ligament (PDL) articaine injections in patients with irreversible pulpitis in the mandibular first molar. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty-seven volunteers, patients with irreversible pulpitis in the mandibular first molar admitted to the Department of Stomatology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, randomly received conventional IANB, containing 1.7 mL 4% articaine/HCl with 1:100,000 epinephrine, plus either BI or PDL injections containing 0.4 mL articaine/HCl with 1:100,000 epinephrine. The patients recorded the pain of the injections and endodontic access on a Heft-Parker visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: According to the VAS scores, all patients experienced no or mild pain with BI and PDL injections after the application of IANB. Anesthetic success occurred in 81.48% for IANB plus BI (IANB/BI) compared with 83.33% for IANB plus PDL injection (IANB/PDL injection). None of the observed differences between the 2 groups was significant (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Both injection combinations resulted in high anesthetic success in patients with irreversible pulpitis in the mandibular first molar.

Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy of lip mucosa hemangiomas under inhalation general anesthesia with sevoflurane in early infancy.

Mucous membrane hemangiomas of the lip are common benign vascular tumors of infancy. This clinical study evaluated the efficacy and safety of liquid nitrogen cryotherapy of mucous membrane hemangiomas of the lip in early infancy. It was a retrospective review of 127 pediatric patients with hemangiomas involving the lips who underwent liquid nitrogen cryotherapy under inhalation general anesthesia with sevoflurane. Forty-one males and 86 females were treated. The overall median age at diagnosis of the mucous membrane hemangiomas was 3.6 months (range, 7 days to 18 months). The oral mucous membrane hemangioma involved the vermilion of the lower lip in 78 cases (61.4%), the vermilion of the upper lip in 40 cases (31.5%), and both vermilions in 9 cases (7.1%). No complications because of anesthesia occurred. The mean follow-up was 10 months, with a range of 8 to 14 months; 94 lesions (74.0%) were completely involuted, 22 lesions (17.3%) were mostly involuted, 11 lesions (8.7%) were partially involuted, and no lesion showed a small amount of involution. Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy is an effective, simple, and safe treatment for mucous membrane hemangiomas of the lip in early infancy.