Platelet-mediated circulating tumor cell evasion from natural killer cell killing through immune checkpoint CD155-TIGIT.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are precursors of cancer metastasis. However, how CTCs evade immunosurveillance during hematogenous dissemination remains unclear. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We identified CTC-platelet adhesions by single-cell RNA sequencing and multiplex immunofluorescence of blood samples from multiple cancer types. Clinically, CTC-platelet aggregates were associated with significantly shorter progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with HCC. In vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo assays demonstrated direct platelet adhesions gifted cancer cells with an evasive ability from NK cell killing by upregulating inhibitory checkpoint CD155 (PVR cell adhesion molecule), therefore facilitating distant metastasis. Mechanistically, CD155 was transcriptionally regulated by the FAK/JNK/c-Jun cascade in a platelet contact-dependent manner. Further competition assays and cytotoxicity experiments revealed that CD155 on CTCs inhibited NK-cell cytotoxicity only by engaging with immune receptor TIGIT, but not CD96 and DNAM1, another 2 receptors for CD155. Interrupting the CD155-TIGIT interactions with a TIGIT antibody restored NK-cell immunosurveillance on CTCs and markedly attenuated tumor metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated CTC evasion from NK-cell-mediated innate immunosurveillance mainly through immune checkpoint CD155-TIGIT, potentially offering an immunotherapeutic strategy for eradicating CTCs.

STRN3 promotes tumour growth in hepatocellular carcinoma by inhibiting the hippo pathway.

HCC is a globally high-incidence malignant tumour, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Recently, STRN3 has been found to be elevated in various tumours, but its expression and biological functions in HCC have not been studied. In the study, clinical correlation analysis was performed on 371 liver cancer patients from TCGA database and liver cancer tissues and normal tissues from the GEO database. qRT-PCR and western blotting were used to detect relevant proteins in cells, and CCK8 and colony formation experiments were performed to analyse cell proliferation ability. Transwell and wound healing experiments were performed to detect cell invasion ability, and flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis. Single-cell sequencing data and multiple immunofluorescence were analysed for the expression abundance and distribution of certain proteins. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression of STRN3 in patients' tumour and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The results indicated STRN3 was highly expressed in liver tumour tissues and was closely associated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of STRN3 could significantly inhibit cell proliferation and migration ability. At the same time, we found that STRN3 could inhibit the Hippo pathway and promote the entry of YAP protein into the nucleus. Our study first found that STRN3 could promote tumour growth by inhibiting the Hippo pathway. The study of STRN3 can promote the understanding and treatment of the occurrence and development of HCC.

Golgi α-mannosidases regulate cell surface N-glycan type and ectodomain shedding of the transmembrane protease corin.

Corin is a transmembrane protease that activates natriuretic peptides on the cell membrane. Reduced cell surface targeting or increased ectodomain shedding disrupts cell membrane homeostasis of corin, thereby impairing its cell surface expression and enzyme activity. N-glycans are essential in corin ectodomain shedding. Lack of N-glycans promotes corin ectodomain shedding in the juxtamembrane and frizzled-1 domains. The nascent N-glycans, transferred onto the polypeptide of corin, undergo multistep N-glycan processing in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi. It remains unclear how trimming by Golgi α-mannosidases, the critical N-glycan processing steps in N-glycan maturation, may regulate corin biosynthesis. In this study, we examined the effects of kifunensine and swainsonine, the inhibitors for α-mannosidases I and II, on corin expression and function. Western analysis of corin proteins in cell lysates and conditioned media from the inhibitor-treated corin-stable HEK293 cells and AC16 cells showed that both α-mannosidases I and II were required to maintain complex N-glycans on cell surface corin and protect corin from ectodomain shedding in the juxtamembrane and frizzled-1 domains. Cell viability analysis revealed that inhibition of α-mannosidase I or II sensitized cardiomyocytes to hydrogen peroxide-induced injury via regulating corin. Moreover, either one of the two coding genes was sufficient to perform Golgi α-mannosidase I trimming of N-glycans on corin. Similarly, this sufficiency was observed in Golgi α-mannosidase II-coding genes. Inhibition of ectodomain shedding restored corin zymogen activation from kifunensine- or swainsonine-induced reduction. Together, our results show the important roles of Golgi α-mannosidases in maintaining cell membrane homeostasis and biological activities of corin.

Detection of circulating plasma cells in peripheral blood using deep learning-based morphological analysis.

BACKGROUND: The presence of circulating plasma cells (CPCs) is an important laboratory indicator for the diagnosis, staging, risk stratification, and progression monitoring of multiple myeloma (MM). Early detection of CPCs in the peripheral blood (PB) followed by timely interventions can significantly improve MM prognosis and delay its progression. Although the conventional cell morphology examination remains the predominant method for CPC detection because of accessibility, its sensitivity and reproducibility are limited by technician expertise and cell quantity constraints. This study aims to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based automated system for a more sensitive and efficient CPC morphology detection. METHODS: A total of 137 bone marrow smears and 72 PB smears from patients with at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, were retrospectively reviewed. Using an AI-powered digital pathology platform, Morphogo, 305,019 cell images were collected for training. Morphogo's efficacy in CPC detection was evaluated with additional 184 PB smears (94 from patients with MM and 90 from those with other hematological malignancies) and compared with manual microscopy. RESULTS: Morphogo achieved 99.64% accuracy, 89.03% sensitivity, and 99.68% specificity in classifying CPCs. At a 0.60 threshold, Morphogo achieved a sensitivity of 96.15%, which was approximately twice that of manual microscopy, with a specificity of 78.03%. Patients with CPCs detected by AI scanning had a significantly shorter median progression-free survival compared with those without CPC detection (18 months vs. 34 months, p< .01). CONCLUSIONS: Morphogo is a highly sensitive system for the automated detection of CPCs, with potential applications in initial screening, prognosis prediction, and posttreatment monitoring for MM patients. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Diagnosing and monitoring multiple myeloma (MM), a type of blood cancer, requires identifying and quantifying specific cells called circulating plasma cells (CPCs) in the blood. The conventional method for detecting CPCs is manual microscopic examination, which is time-consuming and lacks sensitivity. This study introduces a highly sensitive CPC detection method using an artificial intelligence-based system, Morphogo. It demonstrated remarkable sensitivity and accuracy, surpassing conventional microscopy. This advanced approach suggests that early and accurate CPC detection is achievable by morphology examination, making efficient CPC screening more accessible for patients with MM. This innovative system has the potential to be used in the diagnosis and risk assessment of MM.

The recommendation of re-classification of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in adult genetic disorders patients.

Since variants of uncertain significance (VUS) reported in genetic testing cannot be acted upon clinically, this classification may delay or prohibit precise diagnosis and genetic counseling in adult genetic disorders patients. Large-scale analyses about qualitatively distinct lines of evidence used for VUS can make them re-classification more accurately. We analyzed 458 Chinese adult patients WES data, within 15 pathogenic evidence PS1, PS2, PM1, PM6 and PP4 were not used for VUS pathogenic classification, meanwhile the PP3, BP4, PP2 were used much more frequently. The PM2_Supporting was used most widely for all reported variants. There were also 31 null variants (nonsense, frameshift, canonical ±1 or 2 splice sites) which were probably the disease-causing variants of the patients were classified as VUS. By analyzed the evidence used for all VUS we recommend that appropriate genetic counseling, reliable releasing of in-house data, allele frequency comparison between case and control, expanded verification in patient family, co-segregation analysis and functional assays were urgent need to gather more evidence to reclassify VUS. We also found adult patients with nervous system disease were reported the most phenotype-associated VUS and the lower the phenotypic specificity, the more reported VUS. This result emphasized the importance of pretest genetic counseling which would make less reporting of VUS. Our result revealed the characteristics of the pathogenic classification evidence used for VUS in adult genetic disorders patients for the first time, recommend a rules-based process to evaluate the pathogenicity of VUS which could provide a strong basis for accurately evaluating the pathogenicity and clinical grade information of VUS. Meanwhile, we further expanded the genetic spectrum and improve the diagnostic rate of adult genetic disorders.

Optimizing of a suitable protocol for isolating tissue-derived extracellular vesicles and profiling small RNA patterns in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) facilitate cell-cell interactions in the tumour microenvironment. However, standard and efficient methods to isolate tumour tissue-derived EVs are lacking, and their biological functions remain elusive. METHODS: To determine the optimal method for isolating tissue-derived EVs, we compared the characterization and concentration of EVs obtained by three previously reported methods using transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and nanoflow analysis (Nanoflow). Additionally, the differential content of small RNAs, especially tsRNAs, between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent normal liver tissues (ANLTs)-derived EVs was identified using Arraystar small RNA microarray. The targets of miRNAs and tsRNAs were predicted, and downstream functional analysis was conducted using Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, non-negative matrix factorization and survival prediction analysis. RESULTS: A differential centrifugation-based protocol without cell cultivation (NC protocol) yielded higher EV particles and higher levels of CD9+ and CD63+ EVs compared with other isolation protocols. Interestingly, the NC protocol was also effective for isolating frozen tissue-derived EVs that were indistinguishable from fresh tissue. HCC tissues showed significantly higher EV numbers compared with ANLTs. Furthermore, we identified different types of small RNAs in HCC tissue-derived EVs, forming a unique multidimensional intercellular communication landscape that can differentiate between HCC and ANLTs. ROC analysis further showed that the combination of the top 10 upregulated small RNAs achieved better diagnostic performance (AUC = .950 [.895-1.000]). Importantly, most tsRNAs in HCC tissue-derived EVs were downregulated and mitochondria-derived, mainly involving in lipid-related metabolic reprogramming. CONCLUSION: The NC protocol was optimal for isolating EVs from HCC, especially from frozen tissues. Our study emphasized the different roles of small-RNA in regulating the HCC ecosystem, providing insights into HCC progression and potential therapeutic targets.

Abnormal amino acid synthesis and glutathione metabolism may affect PCOS blastocyst development: an examination of in vitro mouse blastocysts model utilizing RNA-sequencing.

BACKGROUND: Extensive research has been conducted on embryonic developmental disorders linked to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a pathological condition that affects 5-10% of women and is characterized by irregularities in the menstrual cycle and infertility. By employing RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we performed an in-depth investigation of PCOS-related changes in gene expression patterns at the mouse blastocyst stage. METHODS: The zygotes of female B6D2 mice were obtained and then differentiated into blastocysts in K + Simplex Optimised Medium (KSOM) cultures containing exo-NC (negative control for exosomes) or exo-LIPE-AS1 (a novel exosomal marker of PCOS). Subsequently, blastocysts were collected for RNA-seq. The bioinformatics was performed to analyze and compare the differences of gene expression profile between blastocysts of control and PCOS group. RESULTS: There were 1150 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two groups of mouse blastocysts; 243 genes were upregulated and 907 downregulated in the blastocysts of the exo-LIPE-AS1 group compared to those of the exo-NC group. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that the genes involved in amino acid synthesis and glutathione metabolic pathways were down-regulated in exo-LIPE-AS1 group. CONCLUSION: This study has revealed that blastocyst developmental retardation may be associated with the downregulation of amino acid synthesis and glutathione metabolism, which may affect energy metabolism, biosynthesis, cellular osmotic pressure, antioxidant synthesis, ROS clearance or mitochondrial function, and ultimately cause blastocyst cell development abnormalities. Our research offers encouraging data on the mechanisms underlying aberrant embryonic development in patients with PCOS as well as potential treatment strategies.

Short Prewarming at 41°C to Correct the Interference in Samples with the Presence of Cold Agglutination.

BACKGROUND: Cold agglutinins (CAs) in blood samples can cause a reversible agglutination of red blood cell (RBC) which result in an incorrect complete blood count (CBC). So, it is important to explore new simple and feasible treatment conditions for clinical work. METHODS: The CAs group included 32 samples with CAs. The parameters of CBC at room temperature or after prewarming at 37°C or 41°C for different time periods were compared. The consistency and correlation of those parameters were analyzed. The morphology of erythrocytes in the CAs group was observed manually. The control group included 45 samples without CAs and prewarmed at 37°C or 41°C for different time periods. The differences were also analyzed. RESULTS: CAs have a significant effect on CBC. After prewarming at 37°C or 41°C the interferences are all corrected. Consider prewarming at 37°C for 120 minutes as the standard procedure. The consistency and correlation analysis showed there was no statistical difference between the results of each subgroup and standard group, except the MCHC of group 41°C 10 minutes. The correlation of parameters between all subgroups and the standard group is satisfied. Microscopic examination showed no RBC aggregation or fragmentation after prewarming at 41°C or 37°C. According to the maximum bias requirements for expert performance in Validation, Verification, and Quality Assurance of Automated Hematology Analyzers, 2nd Edition (CLSI H26-A2), the differences in overall results in control group are negligible. CONCLUSIONS: The 41°C 2 minutes prewarming method is a rapid and effective way for treating samples with CAs. It is an efficient way to obtain more reliable CBC results, without specific instruments.

Performance evaluation of the glycated hemoglobin A1c analyzer for point-of-care testing compared with laboratory-based devices: a multicenter validation study.

In this dual-center study, we assessed the BioHermes A1C EXP M13 system for point-of-care (POC) HbA1c testing against two NGSP-certified HPLC instruments, the Bio-Rad D100 and Tosoh G8. Analyzing 605 samples, we evaluated the A1C EXP's reproducibility, sensitivity, specificity and impact of anemia on HbA1c measurements. The device showed excellent reproducibility with CVs under 2.4% and high sensitivity and specificity for diabetes diagnosis-98.1% and 96.8% against D100, and 97.1% and 96.7% against G8. Passing-Bablok regression confirmed a close correlation between A1C EXP and the HPLC instruments, with equations y = 0.10625 + 0.9688x (D100) and y = 0.0000 + 0.1000x (G8), and Bland-Altman plots indicated mean relative differences of -1.4% (D100) and -0.4% (G8). However, in anemic samples, A1C EXP showed a negative bias compared to HPLC devices, suggesting that anemia may affect the accuracy of HbA1c results. The study indicates that A1C EXP is a reliable POC alternative to laboratory assays, albeit with considerations for anemic patients.

Follicular fluid-derived exosomal LncRNA LIPE-AS1 modulates steroid metabolism and survival of granulosa cells leading to oocyte maturation arrest in polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Women who are of reproductive age can suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an endocrine disorder. Anovulatory infertility is mostly caused by aberrant follicular development, which is seen in PCOS patients. Due to the dysfunction of reproductive and endocrine function in PCOS patients, assisted reproduction treatment is one of the main means to obtain clinical pregnancy for PCOS patients. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) as a group of functional RNA molecules have been found to participate in the regulation of oocyte function, hormone metabolism, and proliferation and apoptosis of granulosa cells. In this study, we investigated the role of lncRNAs in follicular fluid-derived exosomes and the underlying mechanism of lncRNA LIPE-AS1. METHODS: We used RNA sequencing to analyze the lncRNA profiles of follicular fluid-derived exosomes in PCOS patients and controls. RT-qPCR was performed to detect the expression levels of these lncRNAs in control (n = 30) and PCOS (n = 30) FF exosome samples. Furthermore, we validated the performance of lncRNA LIPE-AS1 in oocyte maturation by in vitro maturation (IVM) experiments in mouse and steroid metabolism in granulosa cells. RESULTS: We found 501 lncRNAs were exclusively expressed in the control group and another 273 lncRNAs were found to be specifically expressed in the PCOS group. LncRNA LIPE-AS1, highly expressed in PCOS exosomes, was related to a poor oocyte maturation and embryo development in PCOS patients. Reduced number of MII oocytes were observed in the LIPE-AS1 group by in vitro maturation (IVM) experiments in mouse. LIPE-AS1 was also shown to modulate steroid metabolism and granulosa cell proliferation and apoptosis by LIPE-AS1/miR-4306/LHCGR axis. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that the increased expression of LIPE-AS1, facilitated by follicular fluid exosomes, had a significant impact on both oocyte maturation and embryo development. We demonstrated the ceRNA mechanism involving LIPE-AS1, miR-4306, and LHCGR as a regulator of hormone production and metabolism. These findings indicate that LIPE-AS1 is essential in PCOS oocyte maturation and revealed a ceRNA network of LIPE-AS1 and provided new information on abnormal steroid metabolism and oocyte development in PCOS.

Whole exome sequencing reveal 83 novel Mendelian disorders carrier P/LP variants in Chinese adult patients.

Carrier screening can identify people at risk of conceiving pregnancies affected with inherited genetic disorders or who have a genetic disorder with late or variable onset. Carrier screening based on whole exome sequencing (WES) data can offer more comprehensive assessment than on-target carrier screening tests. A total of 224 Chinese adult patients WES data was analyzed, except positive variants associated with the patients' major complaint, 378 pathogenic (P) and "likely pathogenic" (LP) variants from 175 adult patients were identified. Whole exome-wide frequency of carriers for Mendelian disorders in Chinese adult patients was about 78.13% in this study, which was lower than the previously reported carrier frequency in healthy population. Contrary to expectations, the number of P or LP variants did not increase with larger chromosome size or decrease with smaller chromosome size. Totally 83 novel P or LP variants were identified which could further expand the carrier variants spectrum of the Chinese population. GJB2: NM_004004.6:c.299_300delAT:p.His100fs*14 and C6:NM_000065.4:c.654T>A:p.Cys218* were found in two or more patients, which might be two underestimated carrier variants in Chinese population. We also found 9 late-onset or atypical symptoms autosomal/X-linked dominant Mendelian disorders causative genes, which were easily overlooked during pathogenicity analysis. These results can provide a strong basis for preventing and avoiding the prevalence rates of birth defects and reducing social and family burdens. By comparing with three different expanded carrier screening gene panels, we further confirmed carrier screening based on WES could offer more comprehensive assessment and WES was applicable for carrier screening.

Combining γ-GT, PIVKA-II, and AFP to predict long-term prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the top five contributors to the cancer burden in China, with a poor prognosis and heavy disability-adjusted life year burden. The criteria used for HCC prognosis are complicated and therefore restricted in routine clinical practice. Multiple factors influence HCC malignancy and progression. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated 173 patients with HCC who underwent curative resection for 9 years to evaluate the correlation of a combination of γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II), and α-fetoprotein (AFP) with the long-term survival of patients with HCC. Multivariate analysis revealed that the γ-GT level was an independent prognostic factor for recurrence. The prediction rate of early recurrence with γ-GT, PIVKA-II, and AFP levels individually was 63.5%, 79.4%, and 39.7%, respectively, whereas the prediction rate of early recurrence was 95.2% with the combination of γ-GT, PIVKA-II, and AFP levels as a composite indicator. Our long-term retrospective study revealed that γ-GT, PIVKA-II, and AFP can aid in predicting long-term prognosis of HCC recurrence. The combination of γ-GT, PIVKA-II, and AFP can further aid in identifying patients with early recurrence. Together, γ-GT, PIVKA-II, and AFP may a be used to develop a new prediction method to improve the prognosis of patients with HCC, and our results indicate the requirement of more active HCC treatment strategies.

Is OPRM1 genotype a valuable predictor of VAS in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical resection of colorectal cancer with fentanyl?

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to examine the association between the A118G polymorphism of the OPRM1 gene and the risk of increased VAS scores in patients with colorectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic radical resection for which fentanyl was used. METHODS: The OPRM1 A118G genotype in subjects were detected. The relationship between the A118G polymorphism of the OPRM1 gene and increased Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores throughout the perioperative period was explored. A total of 101 patients receiving fentanyl anesthesia undergoing laparoscopic radical resection of colon tumors at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University between July 2018 and December 2020 were investigated in the present study. The relative risk between the A118G polymorphism of the OPRM1 gene and VAS ≥ 4 in the PACU was estimated using the adjusted effect relationship diagram, baseline characteristic analysis, and multiple logistic regression analysis. The relationship between the A118G polymorphism of the OPRM1 gene and VAS in the PACU, as well as perioperative fentanyl usage, was examined after confounders were adjusted. RESULTS: Subjects with OPRM1 A118G wild gene A were less sensitive to fentanyl, which was a risk factor for PACU VAS ≥ 4. Before the model was adjusted, the odds ratio (OR) was 14.73 (P = 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, weight, height, and the duration of surgery, the OR increased to 16.55 (P = 0.001). When adjusting for age, sex, weight, height, surgery duration, COMT Val158Met gene polymorphism, CYP3A4 *1G gene polymorphism, and CYP3A5 *3gene polymorphism, the OR was 19.94 (P = 0.002). Moreover, OPRM1 A118G wild type gene A was found to be a risk factor for increased dosage of fentanyl in the PACU. Before the model was adjusted, the OR reached 16.90 (P = 0.0132). After adjusting for age, sex, body weight, intraoperative fentanyl dosage, surgery duration, and height, the OR was 13.81, (P = 0.0438). When adjusting for age, sex, weight, height, intraoperative fentanyl dosage, surgery duration, COMT Val158Met gene polymorphism, CYP3A4 *1G gene polymorphism, and CYP3A5 *3 gene polymorphism, the OR reached 15.23, (P = 0.0205). CONCLUSION: The A118G polymorphism of the OPRM1 gene carrying wild gene A was a risk factor for VAS ≥ 4 in the PACU. Moreover, it is a risk factor for increased dosage of fentanyl in the PACU.

Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin and thyrotropin receptor antibodies for Graves' disease.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin (TSI) and thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb) diagnostic performance for Graves' disease (GD) and determine clinical cut-off value for diagnosing GD. METHODS: Of 1369 retrospectively enrolled subjects, 1364 had a definitive diagnosis of untreated GD (GD-UT, n = 87); treated GD (GD-T, n = 206); autoimmune thyroid disease (AIT, n = 241); thyroid nodules (TN, n = 677); subacute thyroiditis (ST, n = 28); healthy subjects (HS, n = 125); other diseases with serological hyperthyroidism (n = 5) and were grouped into the following: UT-GD and control groups (AIT, TN, ST, and HS); and UT-GD and non-GD hyperthyroidism groups. Diagnostic performance of TSI and TRAb was evaluated using area under the curve (AUC) of receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and optimal clinical cut-off value was determined using maximization of Youden index. RESULTS: TRAb AUC and clinical cut-off value for diagnosing GD were 0.981 and 1.245 IU/L (sensitivity, 96.6%; specificity, 97.1%; positive predictive value [PPV], 71.8%; negative predictive value [NPV], 99.9%; positive likelihood ratio [PLR], 33.31; negative likelihood ratio [NLR, 0.035), respectively, for the GD-UT and control groups. Those for TSI were 0.992 and 0.467 IU/L (sensitivity 98.8%; specificity, 96.4%; PPV, 68.8%; NPV, 99.9%; PLR, 27.472; NLR, 0.011). Those for TRAb in GD-UT and non-GD hyperthyroidism groups were 0.923 and 1.78 IU/L (sensitivity, 92.0%; specificity, 89.1%; PPV, 93%; NPV, 87.5%; PLR, 8.44; NLR, 0.089), respectively. For TSI, these were 0.92 and 0.545 IU/L (sensitivity, 97.7%; specificity, 83.6%; PPV, 90.4%; NPV, 95.8%; PLR27.472, NLR, 0.011), respectively. CONCLUSION: TSI diagnostic performance for GD was excellent and had better sensitivity than TRAb.

Development of 14-gene signature prognostic model based on metastasis for colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Metastasis is the main cause of death of colorectal tumors, in our study a prognosis model was built by analyzing the differentially expressed genes between metastatic and non-metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). We used this feature to predict CRC patient prognosis and explore the causes of colorectal tumor metastasis by characterizing the immune status alteration. METHODS: CRC patient data were obtained from TCGA and GEO databases. We constructed a risk prognostic model by using Cox regression and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) based on CRC metastasis-related genes. We also obtained a nomogram to predict the prognosis of CRC patients. Finally, we explored the underlying mechanism of these metastasis-related genes and CRC prognosis using immune infiltration analysis and experimental verification. RESULTS: According to our prognostic model, in TCGA, the area under the curve (AUC) values of the training and test sets were 0.72 and 0.76, respectively, and 0.68 for the GEO external data set. This suggested that the treatment and prognosis of patients could be effectively determined. At the same time, we found that the B and T cells in both tissues and peripheral blood of high MR-risk score patients were mostly in immune static or inactivated states compared with those of low MR-risk score patients. CONCLUSIONS: MR-risk score has a direct correlation with CRC patient prognosis. It is useful for predicting the prognosis and patient immune status for these patients.

Exosomal microRNAs in the DLK1-DIO3 imprinted region derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts promote progression of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting hedgehog interacting protein.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer and third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide in 2020. Exosomes derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs-exo) can promote tumor progression in various human cancers. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism controlling how CAFs-exo can promote HCC progression remains poorly understood. METHODS: CAFs and para-cancer fibroblasts (PAFs) were isolated from HCC tissues and corresponding para-cancer tissues, then were cultured in vitro. CAFs and PAFs were characterized by immunofluorescence and western blot (WB) assays. Exosomes were isolated by ultracentrifugation, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, nanoflow cytometry, and WB assay. The internalization of exosomes by HCC cells was observed under a fluorescence microscope. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to evaluate cell proliferation. Wound healing and transwell assays were used for migration and invasion experiments. RT-PCR assay was used to examine differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in exosomes and HCC cells. The TargetScan database was used to predict miRNA target genes. Hedgehog interacting protein (HHIP) expression analysis, prognostic analysis, and enrichment analysis of HHIP-related co-expressed genes were performed using the TIMER, UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier plotter, and LinkedOmics databases. RESULTS: CAFs-exo were internalized by HCC cells. CAFs-exo contributed to the aggressive phenotype of HCC cells, while inhibiting exosome secretion reversed these effects. Mechanistically, miRNAs in the DLK1-DIO3 imprinted region (miR-329-3p, miR-380-3p, miR-410-5p, miR-431-5p) were increased in HCC cells co-cultured with CAFs-exo compared with PAFs-exo. Expression of HHIP, a possible miR-431-5p target gene, was significantly downregulated in HCC cells. Low HHIP expression level in tumor tissues could predict poor prognosis in HCC patients. HHIP-related co-expressed genes were mainly associated with cell adhesion molecules. CONCLUSIONS: CAFs-exo can promote HCC progression by delivering miRNAs in the DLK1-DIO3 imprinted region to HCC cells, subsequently inhibiting HHIP expression. HHIP is a potential prognostic biomarker in HCC.

Evaluation of a cardiac troponin process flow at the chest pain center with the shortest turnaround time.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of myocardial infarction is crucial in chest pain management and cardiac troponin (cTn) test is an important step in it. Process improvement to shorten the test turnaround time (TAT) may improve patients' outcomes. The cTn test at chest pain center (CPC) of Zhongshan Hospital had the shortest TAT ever reported, but its process flow was not fully evaluated. METHODS: We performed a stepwise evaluation of CPC cTn TAT and explored the potential factor that might cause delay. The performance of CPC cTn test was also compared with cTn test and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) test ordered from emergency department (ED). RESULTS: At least 95% of CPC cTn tests were completed in 60 min, while 62% in 30 min. The medians of monthly order-to-collect time, collect-to-received time, and received-to-result time were ~7 min, ~3 min, and ~13 min, respectively. The samples collected at the bedside had longer collect-to-received time than the ones collected at the blood draw site next to the laboratory. Compared to ED cTn test and ED HCG test, CPC cTn test took less time in each step. A combination of the sample type switch and the centrifugation time reduction contributed the most to the shortening of TAT, which was reflected in the received-to-result time. CONCLUSIONS: The current process flow of CPC cTn test satisfied the requirements of chest pain management, giving an example of how to implement process improvement for emergency medicine to shorten TAT of laboratory tests.

High serum soluble CD155 level predicts poor prognosis and correlates with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies with poor prognosis. There is no research about the clinical significance of serum soluble CD155 (sCD155) level for HCC. We aim to explore the prognostic and diagnostic value of sCD155 in HCC patients undergoing curative resection. METHODS: Serum sCD155 level in HCC patients was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prognostic significance of sCD155 was evaluated by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses. CD155 expression and biomarkers of immune cells in HCC tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry staining. The diagnostic significance of sCD155 was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: Serum sCD155 level was significantly increased in HCC patients and predicted poor prognosis. The prognostic value of sCD155 remained in low recurrent risk subgroups of HCC. Serum sCD155 level was positively related to CD155 expression in HCC tissues. High serum sCD155 level was associated with decreased numbers of CD8+ T cells and CD56+ NK cells and increased number of CD163+ M2 macrophages. Serum sCD155 level had better performance in distinguishing HCC patients from healthy donors and patients with chronic liver conditions than α-fetoprotein. Among patients with α-fetoprotein ≤ 20 ng/ml, serum sCD155 level could differentiate HCC patients from non-HCC patients. CONCLUSION: Serum sCD155 level represents a promising biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. High serum sCD155 level may reflect an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in HCC.

Combined strategy of knowledge-based rule selection and historical data percentile-based range determination to improve an autoverification system for clinical chemistry test results.

BACKGROUND: Current autoverification, which is only knowledge-based, has low efficiency. Regular historical data analysis may improve autoverification range determination. We attempted to enhance autoverification by selecting autoverification rules by knowledge and ranges from historical data. This new system was compared with the original knowledge-based system. METHODS: New types of rules, extreme values, and consistency checks were added and the autoverification workflow was rearranged to construct a framework. Criteria for creating rules for extreme value ranges, limit checks, consistency checks, and delta checks were determined by analyzing historical Zhongshan laboratory data. The new system's effectiveness was evaluated using pooled data from 20 centers. Efficiency improvement was assessed by a multicenter process. RESULTS: Effectiveness was evaluated by the true positive rate, true negative rate, and overall consistency rate, as compared to manual verification, which were 77.55%, 78.53%, and 78.3%, respectively for the new system. The original overall consistency rate was 56.2%. The new pass rates, indicating efficiency, were increased by 19%-51% among hospitals. Further customization using individualized data increased this rate. CONCLUSIONS: The improved system showed a comparable effectiveness and markedly increased efficiency. This transferable system could be further improved and popularized by utilizing historical data from each hospital.

Regression-Adjusted Real-Time Quality Control.

BACKGROUND: Patient-based real-time quality control (PBRTQC) has gained increasing attention in the field of clinical laboratory management in recent years. Despite the many upsides that PBRTQC brings to the laboratory management system, it has been questioned for its performance and practical applicability for some analytes. This study introduces an extended method, regression-adjusted real-time quality control (RARTQC), to improve the performance of real-time quality control protocols. METHODS: In contrast to the PBRTQC, RARTQC has an additional regression adjustment step before using a common statistical process control algorithm, such as the moving average, to decide whether an analytical error exists. We used all patient test results of 4 analytes in 2019 from Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, to compare the performance of the 2 frameworks. Three types of analytical error were added in the study to compare the performance of PBRTQC and RARTQC protocols: constant, random, and proportional errors. The false alarm rate and error detection charts were used to assess the protocols. RESULTS: The study showed that RARTQC outperformed PBRTQC. RARTQC, compared with the PBRTQC, improved the trimmed average number of patients affected before detection (tANPed) at total allowable error by about 50% for both constant and proportional errors. CONCLUSIONS: The regression step in the RARTQC framework removes autocorrelation in the test results, allows researchers to add additional variables, and improves data transformation. RARTQC is a powerful framework for real-time quality control research.