scGRN: a comprehensive single-cell gene regulatory network platform of human and mouse.

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are interpretable graph models encompassing the regulatory interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and their downstream target genes. Making sense of the topology and dynamics of GRNs is fundamental to interpreting the mechanisms of disease etiology and translating corresponding findings into novel therapies. Recent advances in single-cell multi-omics techniques have prompted the computational inference of GRNs from single-cell transcriptomic and epigenomic data at an unprecedented resolution. Here, we present scGRN (https://bio.liclab.net/scGRN/), a comprehensive single-cell multi-omics gene regulatory network platform of human and mouse. The current version of scGRN catalogs 237 051 cell type-specific GRNs (62 999 692 TF-target gene pairs), covering 160 tissues/cell lines and 1324 single-cell samples. scGRN is the first resource documenting large-scale cell type-specific GRN information of diverse human and mouse conditions inferred from single-cell multi-omics data. We have implemented multiple online tools for effective GRN analysis, including differential TF-target network analysis, TF enrichment analysis, and pathway downstream analysis. We also provided details about TF binding to promoters, super-enhancers and typical enhancers of target genes in GRNs. Taken together, scGRN is an integrative and useful platform for searching, browsing, analyzing, visualizing and downloading GRNs of interest, enabling insight into the differences in regulatory mechanisms across diverse conditions.

The function and application of edible fungal polysaccharides.

Edible fungi, commonly known as mushrooms, are precious medicinal and edible homologous gifts from nature to us. Edible fungal polysaccharides (EFPs) are a variety of bioactive macromolecular which isolated from fruiting bodies, mycelia or fermentation broths of edible or medicinal fungus. Increasing researches have confirmed that EFPs possess multiple biological activities both in vitro and in vivo settings, including antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and regulating intestinal flora activities. As a result, they have emerged as a prominent focus in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Fungal EFPs have safe, non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible properties with low immunogenicity, bioadhesion ability, and antibacterial activities, presenting diverse potential applications in the food industries, cosmetic, biomedical, packaging, and new materials. Moreover, varying raw materials, extraction, purification, chemical modification methods, and culture conditions can result in variances in the structure and biological activities of EFPs. The purpose of this review is to provide comprehensively and systematically organized information on the structure, modification, biological activities, and potential applications of EFPs to support their therapeutic effects and health functions. This review provides new insights and a theoretical basis for prospective investigations and advancements in EFPs in fields such as medicine, food, and new materials.

Dynamic non-uniform phase shift measurement via Doppler frequency shift in vortex interferometer.

A vortex beam interferometer based on Doppler frequency shift is proposed to retrieve the dynamic non-uniform phase shift from the petal-like fringes produced by the coaxial superposition of high-order conjugated Laguerre-Gaussian modes. Unlike the uniform phase shift measurement in which the petal-like fringes rotate as a whole, the fringes due to the dynamic non-uniform phase shift rotate at different angles at different radii, resulting in highly twisted and stretched petals; this hinders rotation angle identification and phase retrieval via image morphological operation. To address the problem, a rotating chopper combined with a collecting lens and a point photodetector are placed at the exit of the vortex interferometer to introduce a carrier frequency in the absence of the phase shift. Once the phase starts to shift non-uniformly, the petals at different radii generate different Doppler frequency shifts, owing to their different rotation velocities. Thus, identification of spectral peaks near the carrier frequency immediately indicates the rotation velocities of the petals and the phase shifts at those radii. The results verified a relative error of phase shift measurement to be within 2.2% at the surface deformation velocities of 1, 0.5, and 0.2 µm/s. The method manifests itself to have potential in exploiting mechanical and thermophysical dynamics from the nanometer to micrometer scale.

Solvent terminated natural deep eutectic solvent microextraction for concentration of curcuminoids in Curcumae Longae Rhizoma and turmeric tea.

A novel solvent terminated microextraction method based on a natural deep eutectic solvent (L-menthol and lactic acid at a molar ratio of 1:2) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was proposed, which was utilized for the separation and enrichment of bisdemethoxycurcumin, demethoxycurcumin and curcumin in Curcumae Longae Rhizoma and turmeric tea. The effects of independent parameters on extraction efficiency were optimized by single-factor analysis. Subsequently, four predominated parameters affecting the extraction procedure, including extractant volume, salt concentration, demulsifier consumption, and demulsification time, were further evaluated by a central composite design. Under the optimized conditions, the linear ranges of calibration curves were 0.005-0.5 µg/mL for bisdemethoxycurcumin, 0.004-0.4 µg/mL for demethoxycurcumin, and 0.0045-0.45 µg/mL for curcumin, respectively. In addition, the developed method provided low detection limits (0.1-0.4 ng/mL) and high enrichment factors (279-350). Its intra-day and inter-day precision were carried out by relative standard deviation ranging from 2.2 to 9.2%. Finally, the applicability of this method was assessed by the analysis of Curcumae Longae Rhizoma and turmeric tea samples. The results showed that these samples were detected successfully and the spiked recoveries over the range of 85.3-108.9% with relative standard deviations of 1.6-8.9% were attained, indicating its high relative recoveries with good precision in real sample analysis.

Secondary Metabolites from Hericium erinaceus and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activities.

Hericium erinaceus, a culinary and medicinal mushroom, is widely consumed in Asian countries. Chemical investigation on the fruiting bodies of Hericium erinaceus led to the isolation of one new ergostane-type sterol fatty acid ester, erinarol K (1); and eleven known compounds: 5α,8α -epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3ß-yl linoleate (2); ethyl linoleate (3); linoleic acid (4); hericene A (5); hericene D (6); hericene E (7); ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (8); hericenone F (9); ergosterol (10); ergosterol peroxide (11); 3ß,5α,6α,22E-ergosta-7,22-diene-3,5,6-triol 6-oleate (12). The chemical structures of the compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, mass spectra, etc. Anti-inflammatory effects of the isolated aromatic compounds (5-7, 9) were evaluated in terms of inhibition of pro-inflammatory mediator (TNF-α, IL-6 and NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. The results showed that compounds 5 and 9 exhibited moderate activity against TNF-α (IC50: 78.50 µM and 62.46 µM), IL-6 (IC50: 56.33 µM and 48.50 µM) and NO (IC50: 87.31 µM and 76.16 µM) secretion. These results supply new information about the secondary metabolites of Hericium erinaceus and their anti-inflammatory effects.

Comprehensive quality evaluation of Polygoni Orientalis Fructus and its processed product: chemical fingerprinting and simultaneous determination of seven major components coupled with chemometric analyses.

INTRODUCTION: Polygoni Orientalis Fructus (POF) is a clinically effective Chinese medicine. Raw POF (RPOF) and POF Tostus (POFT) are used separately in clinics. However, incomplete progress has been made on quality control. OBJECTIVE: To establish a comprehensive method for quality assessment of RPOF and POFT and to discriminate these two varieties. METHODOLOGY: High-performance liquid chromatography combined with the diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) methods were developed for fingerprinting and quantitative analysis of seven major compounds in RPOF and POFT, and the main components were determined by HPLC-DAD coupled with Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry. Chemometric approaches were performed to discriminate RPOF and POFT and to screen discriminatory components. RESULTS: Fingerprints were established and 12 common peaks were identified, cannabisin G and cannabisin E were firstly identified from POF. In quantitative analysis, all analytes showed good regression (R > 0.9996) within test ranges and the recovery of the method was in the range 96.6-104.3%. Fingerprints in conjunction with similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) demonstrated the consistent quality of RPOF and showed a clear discrimination between RPOF and POFT. Principal component analysis, partial least-squares discriminant analysis, and heatmap-HCA on quantitative data not only gave a clear differentiation between RPOF and POFT, but they also suggested that quercetin, 3,5,7-trihydroxychromone, and N-trans-feruloyltyramine acted as the main factors responsible for the sample differences. CONCLUSIONS: Chromatographic analysis in combination with chemometric analysis provides a simple and reliable method of comparing and evaluating the qualities of RPOF and POFT.

The insufficient extraction of DNA from swine manures may underestimate the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes as well as ignore their potential hosts.

Swine manure is considered as an extensive reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) spreading in the natural environment after application in soils. To understand whether ARGs abundance in swine manure is underestimated and the hosts are ignored, this study successively extracted DNA from swine manure six times and determined the abundance of several ARGs, class I integron (intI1), and 16S rRNA as well as the microbial communities. It is found that successive six DNA extraction of swine manures elevated the yield of DNA and strongly increased the abundance of ARGs, intI1, and 16S rRNA. Compared with single DNA extraction, the most dominant bacterial phylum in swine manures shifted from Proteobacteria to Firmicutes, and the dominant bacterial genera changed from Acinetobacter Clostridium after six DNA extraction. The ignored abundance of bacterial phylum and genus emphasized the possible hosts carrying these genes should be paid more attention. It is suggested that the successive DNA extraction of manures is required in the future study to improve the knowledge of estimating the risk and hosts of ARGs in manures entering the environment.

Multi-omic analyses of exogenous nutrient bag decomposition by the black morel Morchella importuna reveal sustained carbon acquisition and transferring.

The black morel (Morchella importuna Kuo, O'Donnell and Volk) was once an uncultivable wild mushroom, until the development of exogenous nutrient bag (ENB), making its agricultural production quite feasible and stable. To date, how the nutritional acquisition of the morel mycelium is fulfilled to trigger its fruiting remains unknown. To investigate the mechanisms involved in ENB decomposition, the genome of a cultivable morel strain (M. importuna SCYDJ1-A1) was sequenced and the genes coding for the decay apparatus were identified. Expression of the encoded carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) was then analyzed by metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics in combination with biochemical assays. The results show that a diverse set of hydrolytic and redox CAZymes secreted by the morel mycelium is the main force driving the substrate decomposition. Plant polysaccharides such as starch and cellulose present in ENB substrate (wheat grains plus rice husks) were rapidly degraded, whereas triglycerides were accumulated initially and consumed later. ENB decomposition led to a rapid increase in the organic carbon content in the surface soil of the mushroom bed, which was thereafter consumed during morel fruiting. In contrast to the high carbon consumption, no significant acquisition of nitrogen was observed. Our findings contribute to an increasingly detailed portrait of molecular features triggering morel fruiting.

Identification and characterization of a mesophilic phytase highly resilient to high-temperatures from a fungus-garden associated metagenome.

Phytases are enzymes degrading phytic acid and thereby releasing inorganic phosphate. While the phytases reported to date are majorly from culturable microorganisms, the fast-growing quantity of publicly available metagenomic data generated in the last decade has enabled bioinformatic mining of phytases in numerous data mines derived from a variety of ecosystems throughout the world. In this study, we are interested in the histidine acid phosphatase (HAP) family phytases present in insect-cultivated fungus gardens. Using bioinformatic approaches, 11 putative HAP phytase genes were initially screened from 18 publicly available metagenomes of fungus gardens and were further overexpressed in Escherichia coli. One phytase from a south pine beetle fungus garden showed the highest activity and was then chosen for further study. Biochemical characterization showed that the phytase is mesophilic but possesses strong ability to withstand high temperatures. To our knowledge, it has the longest half-life time at 100 °C (27 min) and at 80 °C (2.1 h) as compared to all the thermostable phytases publicly reported to date. After 100 °C incubation for 15 min, more than 93 % of the activity was retained. The activity was 3102 µmol P/min/mg at 37 °C and 4135 µmol P/min/mg at 52.5 °C, which is higher than all the known thermostable phytases. For the high activity level demonstrated at mesophilic temperatures as well as the high resilience to high temperatures, the phytase might be promising for potential application as an additive enzyme in animal feed.

Comprehensive untargeted lipidomics study of black morel (Morchella sextelata) at different growth stages.

The black morel (Morchella sextelata) is a valuable edible and medicinal mushroom appreciated worldwide. Here, lipidomic profiles and lipid dynamic changes during the growth of M. sexletata were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. 203 lipid molecules, including four categories and fourteen subclasses, were identified in mature fruiting bodies, with triacylglycerol being the most abundant (37.00 %). Fatty acid composition analysis revealed that linoleic acid was the major fatty acid among the free fatty acids, glycerolipids and glycerophospholipids. The relative concentration of lipids in M. sextelata changed significantly during its growth, from which 12 and 29 differential lipid molecules were screened out, respectively. Pathway analysis based on these differential lipids showed that glycerophospholipid metabolism was the major pathway involved in the growth of M. sextelata. Our study provides a comprehensive understanding of the lipids in M. sextelata and will facilitate the development and utilization of M. sextelata.

Composite poly(ethylene oxide)-based solid electrolyte with consecutive and fast ion transport channels constructed by upper-dimensional MIL-53(Al) nanofibers.

Novel structural designs for metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are expected to improve ion-transport behavior in composite solid electrolytes. Herein, upper-dimensional MIL-53(Al) nanofibers (MNFs, MIL-53 belongs to the MIL (Material Institute Lavoisier) group) with flower-like nanoflake structures have been designed and constructed via modified hydrothermal coordination. The optimized MNFs with high surface area and porosity can form abundant interfaces with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) matrix. The plasticization of MNFs to the PEO matrix will facilitate segmental movement of PEO chains to facilitate Li+ conduction. The unsaturated open metal centers of MNFs can effectively capture bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anions (TFSI-) to deliver more free lithium ions for transfer. Moreover, the upper-dimensional nanofiber structure endows lithium ions with a long-range and consecutive transport pathway. The obtained composite solid electrolyte (MNFs@PEO) presents a high ionic conductivity of 4.1 × 10-4 S cm-1 and a great Li+ transference number of 0.4 at 60 °C. The electrolyte also exhibits a stable Li plating/stripping behavior over 1000 h at 0.1 mA cm-1 with inhibited Li dendrite growth. Furthermore, the Li/LiFePO4 and Li/LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 batteries with MNFs@PEO as electrolytes both display great cycling stabilities with high-capacity retention, indicating their potential applications in lithium metal batteries. The study will put forward new inspirations for designing advanced MOF-based composite solid electrolytes.

Prediction of potential suitable habitats in the 21st century and GAP analysis of priority conservation areas of Chionanthus retusus based on the MaxEnt and Marxan models.

Chionanthus retusus (C. retusus) has a high economic and medicinal value, but in recent years it has been included in the list of China's major protected plants and China's Red List of Biodiversity due to the serious destruction of its wild germplasm resources. Based on 131 sample points of C. retusus, this study simulated potential habitats and spatial changes of C. retusus in the 21st century using the Maxent model combined with the geographic information system ArcGIS, predicted prioritized protected areas by the Marxan model, and assessed current conservation status through GAP analysis. The results showed that (1) when the regularization multiplier was 1.5 and the feature combinations were linear, quadratic, and fragmented, the area under the curve of the subjects in the training and test sets were both above 0.9, the true skill statistic value was 0.80, and the maximum Kappa value was 0.62, meaning that the model had high accuracy; (2) Temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, min temperature for coldest month, and precipitation of wettest month had relatively strong influences on species' ranges. (3) The moderately and optimally suitable habitats of C. retusus were primly located in the areas of southwestern Shanxi, central Hebei, western Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, Anhui and Hubei; (4) Under different future climate scenarios, the area of each class of suitable habitat will increase for varied amounts compared to the current period, with a general trend of expansion to the south; (5) The C. retusus priority protected areas were mainly located in most of Shandong, southern Liaoning, southwestern Shanxi, western Henan, and central Hebei, and its conservation vacancy area was relatively large compared to its protected area. These results will provide scientific strategies for implementing long-term conservation of C. retusus in China and similar regions under warming conditions in the 21st century.

Core-satellite Ag@BaTiO3 nanoassemblies for fabrication of polymer nanocomposites with high discharged energy density, high breakdown strength and low dielectric loss.

Dielectric polymer nanocomposites with high dielectric constant have wide applications in high energy density electronic devices. The introduction of high dielectric constant ceramic nanoparticles into a polymer represents an important route to fabricate nanocomposites with high dielectric constant. However, the nanocomposites prepared by this method generally suffer from relatively low breakdown strength and high dielectric loss, which limit the further increase of energy density and energy efficiency of the nanocomposites. In this contribution, by using core-satellite structured ultra-small silver (Ag) decorated barium titanate (BT) nanoassemblies, we successfully fabricated high dielectric constant polymer nanocomposites with enhanced breakdown strength and lower dielectric loss in comparison with conventional polymer-ceramic particulate nanocomposites. The discharged energy density and energy efficiency are derived from the dielectric displacement-electric field loops of the polymer nanocomposites. It is found that, by using the core-satellite structured Ag@BT nanoassemblies as fillers, the polymer nanocomposites can not only have higher discharged energy density but also have high energy efficiency. The mechanism behind the improved electrical properties was attributed to the Coulomb blockade effect and the quantum confinement effect of the introduced ultra-small Ag nanoparticles. This study could serve as an inspiration to enhance the energy storage densities of dielectric polymer nanocomposites.

Carrier optical vortex interferometer using segmentation demodulation method for dynamic measurement of axisymmetric surface deformation.

The dynamic measurement of surface deformation with an axisymmetric profile at nanometer- to micrometer-scale is of great interest in understanding micromechanical and thermophysical dynamics. We propose a carrier optical vortex interferometer (COVI) to measure such surface deformation dynamically by segmentation demodulation of the petal-like interferogram that is produced by the coaxial superposition of conjugated p-radial order Laguerre-Gaussian beams. Specifically, a rotating chopper placed at the exit of the interferometer introduces a carrier frequency in the absence of surface deformation. A camera placed behind the chopper uses a multi-ring segmentation detection scheme to produce a Doppler shift relative to the carrier frequency at the radius of each ring in the presence of axisymmetric surface deformation. Locating the Doppler shifts gives the surface deformation velocities at those radii. Thus, the dynamic surface deformation profile can be obtained by integrating the velocities over time. We reveal the basic principles of the carrier frequency and the Doppler shifts in the COVI theoretically. As a proof-of-concept, an external force-induced axisymmetric mechanical surface deformation is measured dynamically to demonstrate the validity of the COVI. The results show that the measurement error of the surface deformation velocity is within (-2.1, 1.1 nm/s) for the velocity ranging from 20 to 86 nm/s. The lower limit of the measurable velocity can reach 20 nm/s. The measurement error of the surface deformation profile is less than 2.5 nm for the amplitude of the surface deformation of 500 nm.

Prediction of the potentially suitable areas of Leonurus japonicus in China based on future climate change using the optimized MaxEnt model.

Leonurus japonicus Houtt. is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant with high medicinal and edible value. Wild L. japonicus resources have reduced dramatically in recent years. This study predicted the response of distribution range of L. japonicus to climate change in China, which provided scientific basis for the conservation and utilization. In this study, 489 occurrence points of L. japonicus were selected based on GIS technology and spThin package. The default parameters of MaxEnt model were adjusted by using ENMeva1 package of R environment, and the optimized MaxEnt model was used to analyze the distribution of L. japonicus. When the feature combination in the model parameters is hing and the regularization multiplier is 1.5, the MaxEnt model has a higher degree of optimization. With the AUC of 0.830, our model showed a good predictive performance. The results showed that L. japonicus were widely distributed in the current period. The maximum temperature of warmest month, the min temperature of coldest month, the precipitation of wettest month, the precipitation of driest month, and altitude were the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of L. japonicus. Under the three climate change scenarios, the suitable distribution area of L. japonicus will range shift to high latitudes, indicating that the distribution of L. japonicus has a strong response to climate change. The regional change rate is the lowest under the SSP126-2090s scenario and the highest under the SSP585-2090s scenario.

Target Embolization Combined with Multimodal Thermal Ablation for Solid Tumors by Smart Poly(amino acid)s Nanocomposites.

Noninterventional embolization does not require the use of a catheter, and the treatment of solid tumors in combination with thermal ablation can avoid some of the risks of the surgical procedure. Therefore, we developed an efficient tumor microenvironment-gelled nanocomposites with poly [(l-glutamic acid-ran-l-tyrosine)-b-l-serine-b-l-cysteine] (PGTSCs) coated-nanoparticles (Fe3O4&Au@PGTSCs), from which the prepared PGTSCs were given possession of pH response to an acidic tumor microenvironment. Fe3O4&Au@PGTSC in noninterventional embolization treatment not only achieved the smart targeted medicine delivery but also meshed with noninvasive multimodal thermal ablation therapy and multimodal imaging of solid tumors via intravenous injection. It was worth noting that the results of animal experiments in vivo demonstrated that Fe3O4&Au@PGTSCs have specific tumor accumulation and embolization and thermal ablation effects; at 10 days postinjection, only scars were found at the tumor site. After 20 days, the tumors of model mice completely disappeared. This device is easier to treat solid tumors based on the slightly acidic tumor environment.

Comparative Study on the Pharmacokinetics of Paeoniflorin, White Peony Root Water Extract, and Taohong Siwu Decoction After Oral Administration in Rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Taohong Siwu Decoction (TSD) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound with pharmacological effects such as vasodilation and hypolipidemia. Paeoniflorin (PF) is one of the active ingredients of TSD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of PF in herbal extracts and their purified forms in rats. METHOD: A sensitive and rapid high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS) method for the determination of PF in rat plasma was developed. Rats were divided into three groups, and given PF solution, water extract of white peony root (WPR), or TSD by gavage. At different predetermined timepoints after gavage, blood was collected from the orbital vein. The pharmacokinetic parameters of PF in the plasma of rats in the three groups was determined. RESULTS: The pharmacokinetic studies showed that the time to reach maximum concentration (Tmax) of PF in the purified forms group was relatively high, while the half-lives (T½) of PF in the TSD and WPR groups were longer. Among the three groups, PF in the purified forms group had the maximum area under the concentration-time curve (AUC0-t = 732.997 µg/L·h) and the largest maximum concentration (Cmax = 313.460 µg/L), which showed a significant difference compared with the TSD group (P < 0.05). Compared with the purified group, the clearance (CLz/F = 86.004 L/h/kg) and the apparent volume of distribution (Vz/F = 254.787 L/kg) of PF in the TSD group increased significantly (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A highly specific, sensitive, and rapid HPLC-MS-MS method was developed and applied for the determination of PF in rat plasma. It was found that TSD and WPR can prolong the action time of paeoniflorin in the body.

Core-shell structured polystyrene/BaTiO3 hybrid nanodielectrics prepared by in situ RAFT polymerization: a route to high dielectric constant and low loss materials with weak frequency dependence.

A novel route to prepare core-shell structured nanocomposites with excellent dielectric performance is reported. This approach involves the grafting of polystyrene (PS) from the surface of BaTiO(3) by an in situ RAFT polymerization. The core-shell structured PS/BaTiO(3) nanocomposites not only show significantly increased dielectric constant and very low dielectric loss, but also have a weak frequency dependence of dielectric properties over a wide range of frequencies. In addition, the dielectric constant of the nanocomposites can also be easily tuned by varying the thickness of the PS shell. Our method is very promising for preparing high-performance nanocomposites used in energy-storage devices.

CCNB1 promotes the development of hepatocellular carcinoma by mediating DNA replication in the cell cycle.

In our studies, cyclin B1 (CCNB1) mRNA and protein were overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues compared with non-HCC tissues. Moreover, CCNB1 was overexpressed in the serum of HCC patients. The expression of CCNB1 was associated with several crucial clinicopathologic characteristics, and the HCC patients with overexpressed CCNB1 had worse overall survival outcomes. In the screening of interactional genes, a total of 266 upregulated co-expression genes, which were positively associated with CCNB1, were selected from the datasets, and 67 downregulated co-expression genes, which were negatively associated with CCNB1, were identified. The key genes might be functionally enriched in DNA replication and the cell cycle pathways. CDC20, CCNA2, PLK1, and FTCD were selected for further research because they were highly connected in the protein-protein interaction networks. Upregulated CDC20, CCNA2, and PLK1 and downregulated FTCD might result in undesirable overall survival outcomes for HCC patients. The univariate Cox analysis results showed that CDC20 and PLK1 might be two independent risk factors, while FTCD might be protective in HCC. Therefore, CCNB1 may participate in the cell cycle of HCC by regulating DNA replication, and CCNB1 may provide a direction for the diagnosis of early-stage HCC and targeted HCC therapy.

[Study on methods of deproteinization from Phellinus baumii polysaccharide].

OBJECTIVE: To study and compare different methods and influencing factors of deproteinization from Phellinus baumii polysaccharide. METHODS: Sevag method and TCA method were used to remove protein from crude polysaccharide of Phellinus baumii, respectively. RESULTS: The effect of TCA method on removing protein was superior to that of Sevag method,and the optimum conditions of removing protein with TCA were as follows: 30 min treating time, 5% trichloroacetic acid,3 times treatemt. Under these conditions the rate of protein-removed was 82% and the rate of polysaccharide-lost was 10.8%. CONCLUSION: TCA method is the optimal mean for deproteinization from Phellinus baumii polysaccharide.