Extensimonas vulgaris gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family Comamonadaceae.

A novel strain, named S4(T), was obtained from industrial wastewater in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province, China. Cells were Gram-negative, neutrophilic and non-spore-forming and moved by means of a polar flagellum. Normal cells were 0.8-0.9 × 1.3-1.9 µm and the cells elongated to 10-25 µm when cultivated at high temperatures. Strain S4(T) grew at 15-50 °C (optimum at 48 °C), pH 5.5-8.5 (optimum 7.0-7.5) and 0-2% (optimum 0.5%) (w/v) NaCl. Ubiquinone-8 was the predominant respiratory quinone. C16:0, summed feature 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH) and C17:0 cyclo were the major cellular fatty acids. The major 3-OH fatty acid was C10:0 3-OH. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unknown aminoglycolipid. The genomic DNA G+C content was 68.8 mol%. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequences alignment, the most closely related strains were members of the genera Comamonas (94.6-95.6% similarities), Giesbergeria (94.9-95.6%), Acidovorax (94.8-95.4%), Brachymonas (94.1-95.2%) and Macromonas (95.1%). Phylogenetic analysis showed the closest relatives of strain S4(T) were members of the genus Macromonas. Based on phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, we suggest that strain S4(T) represents a novel species of a new genus of the family Comamonadaceae, for which the name Extensimonas vulgaris gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Extensimonas vulgaris is S4(T) (=CGMCC 1.10977(T)=JCM 17803(T)).

[Association study between PDE4D gene polymorphism and ischemic stroke].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the linkage and association between rs966221 (SNP 83) in PDE4D gene with stroke and related traits in ischemic stroke families. METHODS: Ischemic stroke families including ischemic stroke patients and their siblings and/or parents were recruited. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to adjust for with-in family correlations and other potential confounding factors. Non-parameter linkage analysis and family based association test (FBAT) were applied to explore the relationship between rs966221 polymorphism and ischemic stroke together with its related traits. RESULTS: In the study 276 ischemic stroke families with totally 776 participants were enrolled. Apolipoprotein B (apoB), carotid intima media thickness (cIMT), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood pressure were associated with ischemic stroke. In family based association test, after being adjusted for related chronic diseases, rs966221 C allele was found to be associated with cIMT in the dominant model (P=0.019), TT genotype (P=0.019) and CT genotype (P=0.007) were associated with cIMT significantly. After being adjusted for potential confounding factors, evidence of linkage was observed for rs966221 with apoB (P<0.001), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P=0.003) and systolic blood pressure (P=0.036). CONCLUSION: Abnormal serum lipid, blood pressure and increasing cIMT were associated with ischemic stroke, and linkage was observed for with apoB, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and systolic blood pressure; rs966221 C allele was probably associated with cIMT.

Clinical-functional characteristics and risk of exacerbation and mortality among more symptomatic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2017 classified chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients into more and less symptomatic groups. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics, risk of future exacerbation and mortality among patients in more symptomatic group. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Data were obtained from patients enrolled in a database setup by Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. PARTICIPANTS: 1729 stable COPD patients listed from September 2017 to December 2019 in the database. The patients were classified into more and less symptomatic groups based on GOLD 2017 report. OUTCOMES: All patients were followed up for 18 months. We collected baseline data and recorded the number of exacerbations and mortality during follow-up. RESULTS: The more symptomatic patients were older, had higher Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) scores, more severe airflow limitation and higher number of exacerbations and hospitalizations in the past year (P < 0.05). Logistic regression showed that having more symptoms correlated with the CCQ scores and exacerbations in the past year (P < 0.05). After patients were followed up, there were higher numbers of exacerbations, hospitalizations and mortality rates in more symptomatic patients (P < 0.05). The multivariate model showed that age more than 65 years (OR = 2.047, 95% CI = 1.020-4.107) and COPD assessment test scores more than 30 (OR = 2.609, 95% CI = 1.339-5.085) were independent risk factors for mortality, whereas current smoker (OR = 1.565, 95% CI = 1.052-2.328), modified Medical Research Council scores (OR = 1.274, 95% CI = 1.073-1.512) and exacerbations in the past year (OR = 1.061, 95% CI = 1.013-1.112) were independent risk factors for exacerbation in more symptomatic patients (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: More symptomatic COPD patients have worse outcomes. In addition, several independent risk factors for exacerbation and mortality were identified. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of these risk factors and take them into account during interventions.

YTHDC1 as a tumor progression suppressor through modulating FSP1-dependent ferroptosis suppression in lung cancer.

Ferroptosis is a regulated cell death process initiated by iron-dependent phospholipid peroxidation and is mainly suppressed by GPX4-dependent and FSP1-dependent surveillance mechanisms. However, how the ferroptosis surveillance system is regulated during cancer development remains largely unknown. Here, we report that the YTHDC1-mediated m6A epigenetic regulation of FSP1 alleviates the FSP1-dependent ferroptosis suppression that partially contributes to the tumor suppressive role of YTHDC1 in lung cancer progression. YTHDC1 knockdown promoted the lung tumor progression and upregulated FSP1 protein level that resulted in ferroptosis resistance of lung cancer cells. Silencing FSP1 abrogated YTHDC1 knockdown-induced proliferation increase and ferroptosis resistance. Mechanistically, YTHDC1 binding to the m6A sites in the FSP1 3'-UTR recruited the alternative polyadenylation regulator CSTF3 to generate a less stable shorter 3'-UTR contained FSP1 mRNA, whereas YTHDC1 downregulation generated the longer 3'-UTR contained FSP1 mRNA that is stabilized by RNA binding protein HuR and thus led to the enhanced FSP1 protein level. Therefore, our findings identify YTHDC1 as a tumor progression suppressor in lung cancer and a ferroptosis regulator through modulating the FSP1 mRNA stability and thus suggest a ferroptosis-related therapeutic option for YTHDC1high lung cancer.

Awareness of tobacco control policies and anti-tobacco attitudes and behaviors among school personnel.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent smoking is a serious public health concern, and the role of personnel in reducing students'tobacco use has been proven. Anti-tobacco policies are strong factors for tobacco control but most are newly implemented in China. This study aimed to examine the awareness of anti-tobacco policies among school personnel in a southern city of China, and assess its influence on personnel's anti-tobacco attitudes and behaviors towards students. METHODS: An online cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2017 and January 2018 in schools of Shanghai, China. A total of 3194 subjects from 33 schools were selected by a two-stage stratified cluster randomized sampling design. Prevalence of anti-tobacco policy awareness is presented. Crude (ORs) and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to assess the association between policy awareness and anti-tobacco attitudes or behaviors. RESULTS: In all, 22.4% of surveyed participants knew four or five polices presented in the survey and 13.0% of personnel knew none of these policies. Most of the participants fully support prohibiting indoor (94.6%) and outdoor (86.3%) smoking in public places, bans on tobacco advertising (90.9%), and printing warning pictures on cigarette boxes (89.5%). Less than half of the personnel had taken action to stop students from smoking (45.7%), encourage students to quit smoking (42.4%) or participated in relevant educational activities held by schools (37.4%) in the previous year. The school personnel's anti-tobacco attitudes (AOR=1.28; 95% CI: 1.21-1.36) and behaviors (AOR=1.10; 95% CI: 1.03-1.17) were strengthened with increasing level of policy awareness. CONCLUSIONS: The involvement of school personnel can be an important part of intervention to improve anti-tobacco campaigns on campus. The study calls for the implementation of projects or activities to improve anti-tobacco policy awareness in the school environment as part of school tobacco control strategy.