METTL14 modulates glycolysis to inhibit colorectal tumorigenesis in p53-wild-type cells.

The frequency of p53 mutations in colorectal cancer (CRC) is approximately 40-50%. A variety of therapies are being developed to target tumors expressing mutant p53. However, potential therapeutic targets for CRC expressing wild-type p53 are rare. In this study, we show that METTL14 is transcriptionally activated by wild-type p53 and suppresses tumor growth only in p53-wild-type (p53-WT) CRC cells. METTL14 deletion promotes both AOM/DSS and AOM-induced CRC growth in mouse models with the intestinal epithelial cell-specific knockout of METTL14. Additionally, METTL14 restrains aerobic glycolysis in p53-WT CRC, by repressing SLC2A3 and PGAM1 expression via selectively promoting m6 A-YTHDF2-dependent pri-miR-6769b/pri-miR-499a processing. Biosynthetic mature miR-6769b-3p and miR-499a-3p decrease SLC2A3 and PGAM1 levels, respectively, and suppress malignant phenotypes. Clinically, METTL14 only acts as a beneficial prognosis factor for the overall survival of p53-WT CRC patients. These results uncover a new mechanism for METTL14 inactivation in tumors and, most importantly, reveal that the activation of METTL14 is a critical mechanism for p53-dependent cancer growth inhibition, which could be targeted for therapy in p53-WT CRC.

Prognostic value of genomic mutation signature associated with immune microenvironment in southern Chinese patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The genomic landscape of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC), as well as its impact on the regulation of immune microenvironment, is not well understood. Thus, tumor samples from 92 patients were collected from two centers and subjected to targeted-gene sequencing. We identified frequently mutated genes, including TP53, KMT2C, KMT2D, LRP1B, and FAT1. The most frequent mutation sites were ALOX12B (c.1565C > T), SLX4 (c.2786C > T), LRIG1 (c.746A > G), and SPEN (c.6915_6917del) (6.5%). Pathway analysis revealed dysregulation of cell cycle regulation, epigenetic regulation, PI3K/AKT signaling, and NOTCH signaling. A 17-mutated gene-related risk model was constructed using random survival forest analysis and showed significant prognostic value in both our cohort and the validation cohort. Based on the Estimation of Stromal and Immune cells in Malignant Tumor tissues using Expression (ESTIMATE) algorithm, the Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm, and the MCPcounter algorithm, we found that the risk score calculated by the risk model was significantly correlated with stimulatory immune checkpoints (TNFSF4, ITGB2, CXCL10, CXCL9, and BTN3A1; p < 0.05). Additionally, it was significantly associated with markers that are important in predicting response to immunotherapy (CD274, IFNG, and TAMM2; p < 0.05). Furthermore, the results of immunofluorescence double staining showed that patients with high risk scores had a significantly higher level of M2 macrophage than those with low risk scores (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our study provides insights into the genomic landscape of ESCC and highlights the prognostic value of a genomic mutation signature associated with the immune microenvironment in southern Chinese patients with ESCC.

Oligo-residual disease in PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: incidence, pattern of failure, and clinical value of local consolidative therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the feasibility and potential clinical value of local consolidative therapy (LCT) in PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic NSCLC patients with measurable disease in three academic centers were screened and those with adequate follow-up were included. Oligo-residual disease (ORD) was defined as residual tumors limited to three organs and five lesions evaluated at the best response among patients with partial response or stable disease after PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Oligometastatic and multiple-metastatic disease (OMD/MMD) were similarly classified at baseline. Locoregional interventions, administered after effective treatment of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and before initial disease progression, were defined as LCT. Patterns of initial progressive disease (PD) were classified as involving only residual sites (RP), only new sites (NP), or a combination of both (BP). RESULTS: Among the 698 patients included, ORD was documented in 73 (47.1%) of 155 patients with baseline OMD and 60 (11.0%) of 543 patients with baseline MMD. With a median follow-up of 31.0 (range, 6.0-53.0) months, 108 patients with ORD developed initial PD, with RP, NP, and BP occurring in 51 (47%), 23 (21.3%), and 34 (31.5%), respectively. Among the 133 patients with ORD, those receiving LCT (n = 43) had longer progression-free survival (HR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.40-0.85, p = 0.01) and overall survival (HR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.30-0.79, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: ORD occurs with a clinically relevant frequency among PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic NSCLC patients and LCT may provide extra survival benefits in those with ORD.

A-D-A Type Nonfullerene Acceptors Synthesized by Core Segmentation and Isomerization for Realizing Organic Solar Cells with Low Nonradiative Energy Loss.

Reducing non-radiative recombination energy loss (ΔEnonrad ) in organic solar cells (OSCs) has been considered an effective method to improve device efficiency. In this study, the backbone of PTBTT-4F/4Cl is divided into D1-D2-D3 segments and reconstructed. The isomerized TPBTT-4F/4Cl obtains stronger intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), thus leading to elevated highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level and reduced bandgap (Eg ). According to ELoss  = Eg- qVOC , the reduced Eg and enhanced open circuit voltage (VOC ) result in lower ELoss , indicating that ELoss has been effectively suppressed in the TPBTT-4F/4Cl based devices. Furthermore, compared to PTBTT derivatives, the isomeric TPBTT derivatives exhibit more planar molecular structure and closer intermolecular stacking, thus affording higher crystallinity of the neat films. Therefore, the reduced energy disorder and corresponding lower Urbach energy (Eu ) of the TPBTT-4F/4Cl blend films lead to low ELoss and high charge-carrier mobility of the devices. As a result, benefitting from synergetic control of molecular stacking and energetic offsets, a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.72% is realized from TPBTT-4F based devices, along with a reduced ΔEnonrad of 0.276 eV. This work demonstrates a rational method of suppressing VOC loss and improving the device performance through molecular design engineering by core segmentation and isomerization.

CEST and nuclear Overhauser enhancement imaging with deep learning-extrapolated semisolid magnetization transfer reference: Scan-rescan reproducibility and reliability studies.

PURPOSE: To develop a novel MR physics-driven, deep-learning, extrapolated semisolid magnetization transfer reference (DeepEMR) framework to provide fast, reliable magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and CEST signal estimations, and to determine the reproducibility and reliability of the estimates from the DeepEMR. METHODS: A neural network was designed to predict a direct water saturation and MTC-dominated signal at a certain CEST frequency offset using a few high-frequency offset features in the Z-spectrum. The accuracy, scan-rescan reproducibility, and reliability of MTC, CEST, and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement (rNOE) signals estimated from the DeepEMR were evaluated on numerical phantoms and in heathy volunteers at 3 T. In addition, we applied the DeepEMR method to brain tumor patients and compared tissue contrast with other CEST calculation metrics. RESULTS: The DeepEMR method demonstrated a high degree of accuracy in the estimation of reference MTC signals at ±3.5 ppm for APT and rNOE imaging, and computational efficiency (˜190-fold) compared with a conventional fitting approach. In addition, the DeepEMR method achieved high reproducibility and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.97, intersubject coefficient of variation = 3.5%, and intrasubject coefficient of variation = 1.3%) of the estimation of MTC signals at ±3.5 ppm. In tumor patients, DeepEMR-based amide proton transfer images provided higher tumor contrast than a conventional MT ratio asymmetry image, particularly at higher B1 strengths (>1.5 µT), with a distinct delineation of the tumor core from normal tissue or peritumoral edema. CONCLUSION: The DeepEMR approach is feasible for measuring clean APT and rNOE effects in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies with low scan-rescan variability.

A novel phage putative depolymerase, Depo16, has specific activity against K1 capsular-type Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Klebsiella pneumoniae, especially hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (hvKP), is a common opportunistic pathogen that often causes hospital- and community-acquired infections. Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) is an important virulence factor of K. pneumoniae. Some phages encode depolymerases that can recognize and degrade bacterial polysaccharides. In this study, the lytic bacteriophage vB_KpnP_ZK1 (abbreviated as ZK1) was isolated using serotype K1 hvKP as the host. Although amino acid sequence BLAST analysis indicated that the tail fiber protein Depo16 of phage ZK1 showed no significant similarity to any reported phage depolymerases, it displayed enzymatic activities that are characteristic of phage depolymerases. After expression and purification, Depo16 could efficiently remove the capsular polysaccharide layer that surrounds the surface of serotype K1 K. pneumoniae. Although no bactericidal activity was detected, Depo16 makes serotype K1 K. pneumoniae sensitive to peritoneal macrophages (PMs). In addition, in a mouse bacteremia model of serotype K1 K. pneumoniae, 25 µg of Depo16 was effective in significantly prolonging survival. Depo16 treatment can reduce the bacterial load in blood and major tissues and alleviate tissue damage in mice. This indicates that the putative depolymerase Depo16 is a potential antibacterial agent against serotype K1 K. pneumoniae infections.IMPORTANCEKlebsiella pneumoniae often causes hospital-acquired infections and community-acquired infections. Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) is one of the crucial virulence factors of K. pneumoniae. K1 and K2 capsular-type K. pneumoniae strains are the most prevalent serotypes of hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (hvKP). In this study, a novel K. pneumoniae phage named vB_KpnP_ZK1 was isolated, and its putative depolymerase Depo16 showed low homology with other reported phage depolymerases. Depo16 can specifically degrade the K. pneumoniae K1 capsule making this serotype sensitive to peritoneal macrophages. More importantly, Depo16 showed a significant therapeutic effect in a mouse bacteremia model caused by serotype K1 K. pneumoniae. Thus, Depo16 is a potential antibacterial agent to combat serotype K1 K. pneumoniae infections.

Non-small cell lung cancer and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: does non-alcoholic fatty liver disease have an effect?

BACKGROUND: Immunotherapy based on the application of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is one of the standard treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Non-alcoholic fatty liver Disease (NAFLD) has demonstrated predictive value for response to immunotherapy in non-lung cancer types. Our study investigated the effect of NAFLD on the efficacy of real-life use of ICIs for patients with stage III / IV NSCLC. METHODS: The clinical and imaging data of patients with stage III / IV NSCLC who were first admitted to Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from March 2020 to July 2022 were retrospectively collected to ensure that they underwent at least one CT scan before treatment. A total of 479 patients were divided into the NAFLD group (Liver/Spleen density ratio ≤ 1) and the non-NAFLD group (Liver/Spleen density ratio > 1) by measuring the baseline liver and spleen CT value. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) of the patients were obtained. RESULTS: A total of 118 patients with NAFLD and 361 patients without NAFLD were included in the study. Patients with NAFLD tended to have higher BMI and higher total bilirubin compared to patients without NAFLD. The median duration of follow-up in the study was 22 m (IQR, 17-29 m). Both of 2 groups had a higher DCR (94% vs. 92%, p = 0.199) and ORR (38.1% vs. 44.9%, p = 0.452) respectively. There was no difference in efficacy between the two groups. In univariate analysis, NAFLD had no significant effect on PFS (p = 0.785) and OS (p = 0.851). Surprisingly, the presence of hypertension was observed to be associated with a higher OS (HR 1.471 95%CI 1.018-2.127, p = 0.040). Besides, based on multivariate analysis, lactic dehydrogenase was associated with PFS (HR 1.001 95%CI 1.000,1.002, p = 0.037) and OS (HR 1.002, 95%CI 1.001-1.003, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with NSCLC, NAFLD did not result in changes in survival or disease progression after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Deep Learning for Discrimination of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Hypertensive Heart Disease on MRI Native T1 Maps.

BACKGROUND: Native T1 and radiomics were used for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and hypertensive heart disease (HHD) differentiation previously. The current problem is that global native T1 remains modest discrimination performance and radiomics requires feature extraction beforehand. Deep learning (DL) is a promising technique in differential diagnosis. However, its feasibility for discriminating HCM and HHD has not been investigated. PURPOSE: To examine the feasibility of DL in differentiating HCM and HHD based on T1 images and compare its diagnostic performance with other methods. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. POPULATION: 128 HCM patients (men, 75; age, 50 years ± 16) and 59 HHD patients (men, 40; age, 45 years ± 17). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3.0T; Balanced steady-state free precession, phase-sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR) and multislice native T1 mapping. ASSESSMENT: Compare HCM and HHD patients baseline data. Myocardial T1 values were extracted from native T1 images. Radiomics was implemented through feature extraction and Extra Trees Classifier. The DL network is ResNet32. Different input including myocardial ring (DL-myo), myocardial ring bounding box (DL-box) and the surrounding tissue without myocardial ring (DL-nomyo) were tested. We evaluate diagnostic performance through AUC of ROC curve. STATISTICAL TESTS: Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, ROC, and AUC were calculated. Independent t test, Mann-Whitney U-test and Chi-square test were adopted for HCM and HHD comparison. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: DL-myo, DL-box, and DL-nomyo models showed an AUC (95% confidential interval) of 0.830 (0.702-0.959), 0.766 (0.617-0.915), 0.795 (0.654-0.936) in the testing set. AUC of native T1 and radiomics were 0.545 (0.352-0.738) and 0.800 (0.655-0.944) in the testing set. DATA CONCLUSION: The DL method based on T1 mapping seems capable of discriminating HCM and HHD. Considering diagnostic performance, the DL network outperformed the native T1 method. Compared with radiomics, DL won an advantage for its high specificity and automated working mode. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2.

3D Fractal Dimension Analysis: Prognostic Value of Right Ventricular Trabecular Complexity in Participants with Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is characterized by progressive myocardial fibro-fatty infiltration accompanied by trabecular disarray. Traditionally, two-dimensional (2D) instead of 3D fractal dimension (FD) analysis has been used to evaluate trabecular disarray. However, the prognostic value of trabecular disorder assessed by 3D FD measurement remains unclear. PURPOSE: To investigate the prognostic value of right ventricular trabecular complexity in ACM patients using 3D FD analysis based on cardiac MR cine images. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. POPULATION: 85 ACM patients (mean age: 45 ± 17 years, 52 male). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3.0T/cine imaging, T2-short tau inversion recovery (T2-STIR), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). ASSESSMENT: Using cine images, RV (right ventricular) volumetric and functional parameters were obtained. RV trabecular complexity was measured with 3D fractal analysis by box-counting method to calculate 3D-FD. Cox and logistic regression models were established to evaluate the prognostic value of 3D-FD for major adverse cardiac events (MACE). STATISTICAL TESTS: Cox regression and logistic regression to explore the prognostic value of 3D-FD. C-index, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC curve (AUC) to evaluate the incremental value of 3D-FD. Intraclass correlation coefficient for interobserver variability. P < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. RESULTS: 26 MACE were recorded during the 60 month follow-up (interquartile range: 48-67 months). RV 3D-FD significantly differed between ACM patients with MACE (2.67, interquartile range: 2.51 ~ 2.81) and without (2.52, interquartile range: 2.40 ~ 2.67) and was a significant independent risk factor for MACE (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.04). In addition, prognostic model fitness was significantly improved after adding 3D-FD to RV global longitudinal strain, LV involvement, and 5-year risk score separately. DATA CONCLUSION: The myocardial trabecular complexity assessed through 3D FD analysis was found associated with MACE and provided incremental prognostic value beyond conventional ACM risk factors. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 4 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.

The first report and biological characterization of Avian Orthoavulavirus 16 in wild migratory waterfowl and domestic poultry in China reveal a potential threat to birds.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: First confirmation of AOAV-16 in domestic and wild birds in China.AOAV-16 are low virulent viruses for chickens.Co-circulation/co-infection of AOAV-16 and H9N2 subtype AIV enhanced pathogenicity.Different intergenic sequences and recombination events exist within AOAV-16.

Copper (II) complex supported on magnetic nanoparticles as a novel nanocatalyst for the synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines.

Research on the synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines has gained great importance among synthetic chemists because there have been numerous reports of their biological and medicinal activities. In this respect, we fabricated CuCl2 immobilized on Fe3O4 nanoparticles modified with 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-diol [Fe3O4@Diol/Phen-CuCl2] and investigated its catalytic activity for the preparation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives through one-pot three-component reaction of 2-aminopyridines, aldehydes and terminal alkynes under ecofriendly conditions. FT-IR spectroscopy, EDX, SEM, TEM, XRD, TGA, VSM and ICP-OES techniques employed in order to identify the structure of the as-constructed Fe3O4@Diol/Phen-CuCl2 nanocatalyst. This catalytic system has a series of advantages such as the synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine products with high yields in suitable time, performing the reactions in an environmentally friendly solvent (PEG), easy preparation of the catalyst with a simple method, and the recyclability of the Fe3O4@Diol/Phen-CuCl2 nanocatalyst.

Interactions between the gut bacterial community of Exopalaemon carinicauda and infection by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei.

To explore the relationship between the intestinal flora of Exopalaemon Carinicauda and infection by Enterocytozoo Hepatopenaei (EHP), we analyzed the species and richness of gut microbiota in infected individuals in different EHP load groups [i.e., control (C), high load (H), and low load (L)] using gene sequencing after infection. The results showed that the abundance of intestinal flora in the high-load EHP group was significantly lower than that in the healthy group. Based on the UPGMA cluster tree and PCoA analysis, with comparisons to healthy shrimp, the gut microbiota of the EHP high load and low load groups were clustered into one branch, which indicated that EHP infection changed the composition of the gut microbiota of infected shrimps. The heat map analysis of species abundance clustering revealed that the dominant bacteria in the low EHP load group and the control group were beneficial genera such as Lactococcus, Ligilactobacillius, and Bifidobacterium, but the dominant bacteria in the high EHP load group were harmful genera such as Pseudomonas, Photobacterium, and Candidatus hepatincola. The functions of the intestinal flora predicted that most genes related to metabolism were more abundant in healthy shrimp, most genes related to metabolism and the organisms' system were more abundant in the low EHP load group, and most genes related to diseases and environmental information processing were more abundant in the high EHP load group. After separation and purification, the dominant bacteria (Bifidobacterium animalis in healthy shrimp and Lactococcus garvieae in the low EHP load group) and the non-dominant bacteria (Macrococus caseolyticus in the low EHP load group) were obtained. Each of these isolated strains were used together with EHP to infect E. carinicauda, and the results showed that Bifidobacterium animali and Lactococcus garvieae significantly reduced the EHP load in EHP-infected individuals. At the same time, the morphology and structure of the hepatopancreas and intestinal tissue of EHP-infected E. carinicauda were improved. No improvement was seen in tissue that was infected with Macrococus caseolyticus.

Cochlear implantation for rare Streptococcus suis meningitis with hearing loss.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the diagnostic sensitivity of 3D heavily weighted T2-weighted MRI (T2MRI) and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in patients with cochlear fibrosis associated with Streptococcus suis (S. suis) meningitis and the practicality of Cochlear implantation (CI) treatments. METHODS: Between January 2020 and December 2022, we enrolled four patients with rare cochlear S. suis meningitis with associated hearing loss despite aggressive or non-aggressive follow-up antibiotic treatment. Clinical imaging data, surgical performances and post-surgical-electrode impedance were evaluated. RESULTS: Combined with HRCT and T2MRI, the cochlea had varying degrees of fibrosis and ossification in different cases. However, the electrodes were successfully and wholly inserted after intraoperative removal of the ossified and fibrotic foci. Post-surgical electrode impedance values of MP1 + 2 mode were normal in all 4 cases at initial activation. CONCLUSION: In patients with S. suis meningitis and associated cochlear fibrosis, T2MRI examination of the inner ear was more sensitive than HRCT. This research highlights the feasibility of CI treatment in S. suis meningitis patients with severe cochlear fibrosis.

An in silico approach to identification, categorization and prediction of nucleic acid binding proteins.

The interaction between proteins and nucleic acid plays an important role in many processes, such as transcription, translation and DNA repair. The mechanisms of related biological events can be understood by exploring the function of proteins in these interactions. The number of known protein sequences has increased rapidly in recent years, but the databases for describing the structure and function of protein have unfortunately grown quite slowly. Thus, improving such databases is meaningful for predicting protein-nucleic acid interactions. Furthermore, the mechanism of related biological events, such as viral infection or designing novel drug targets, can be further understood by understanding the function of proteins in these interactions. The information for each sequence, including its function and interaction sites, were collected and identified, and a database called PNIDB was built. The proteins in PNIDB were grouped into 27 classes, such as transcription, immune system, and structural protein, etc. The function of each protein was then predicted using a machine learning method. Using our method, the predictor was trained on labeled sequences, and then the function of a protein was predicted based on the trained classifier. The prediction accuracy achieved a score of 77.43% by 10-fold cross validation.

STING signaling activation modulates macrophage polarization via CCL2 in radiation-induced lung injury.

BACKGROUND: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a prevalent complication of thoracic radiotherapy in cancer patients. A comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms of RILI is essential for the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies. METHODS: To investigate RILI, we utilized a mouse model that received 12.5 Gy whole-thoracic irradiation. The evaluation of RILI was performed using a combination of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), histology, western blot, immunohistochemistry, RNA sequencing, and flow cytometry. Additionally, we established a co-culture system consisting of macrophages, lung epithelial cells, and fibroblasts for in vitro studies. In this system, lung epithelial cells were irradiated with a dose of 4 Gy, and we employed STING knockout macrophages. Translational examinations were conducted to explore the relationship between STING expression in pre-radiotherapy lung tissues, dynamic changes in circulating CCL2, and the development of RILI. RESULTS: Our findings revealed significant activation of the cGAS-STING pathway and M1 polarization of macrophages in the lungs of irradiated mice. In vitro studies demonstrated that the deficiency of cGAS-STING signaling led to impaired macrophage polarization and RILI. Through RNA sequencing, cytokine profiling, and rescue experiments using a CCL2 inhibitor called Bindarit, we identified the involvement of CCL2 in the regulation of macrophage polarization and the development of RILI. Moreover, translational investigations using patient samples collected before and after thoracic radiotherapy provided additional evidence supporting the association between cGAS-STING signaling activity, CCL2 upregulation, and the development of radiation pneumonitis. CONCLUSIONS: The cGAS-STING signaling pathway plays a crucial role in regulating the recruitment and polarization of macrophages, partly through CCL2, during the pathogenesis of RILI.

Bloch simulator-driven deep recurrent neural network for magnetization transfer contrast MR fingerprinting and CEST imaging.

PURPOSE: To develop a unified deep-learning framework by combining an ultrafast Bloch simulator and a semisolid macromolecular magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) MR fingerprinting (MRF) reconstruction for estimation of MTC effects. METHODS: The Bloch simulator and MRF reconstruction architectures were designed with recurrent neural networks and convolutional neural networks, evaluated with numerical phantoms with known ground truths and cross-linked bovine serum albumin phantoms, and demonstrated in the brain of healthy volunteers at 3 T. In addition, the inherent magnetization-transfer ratio asymmetry effect was evaluated in MTC-MRF, CEST, and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement imaging. A test-retest study was performed to evaluate the repeatability of MTC parameters, CEST, and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement signals estimated by the unified deep-learning framework. RESULTS: Compared with a conventional Bloch simulation, the deep Bloch simulator for generation of the MTC-MRF dictionary or a training data set reduced the computation time by 181-fold, without compromising MRF profile accuracy. The recurrent neural network-based MRF reconstruction outperformed existing methods in terms of reconstruction accuracy and noise robustness. Using the proposed MTC-MRF framework for tissue-parameter quantification, the test-retest study showed a high degree of repeatability in which the coefficients of variance were less than 7% for all tissue parameters. CONCLUSION: Bloch simulator-driven, deep-learning MTC-MRF can provide robust and repeatable multiple-tissue parameter quantification in a clinically feasible scan time on a 3T scanner.

Transcriptional profiling reveals a critical role of GmFT2a in soybean staygreen syndrome caused by the pest Riptortus pedestris.

Soybean staygreen syndrome, characterized by delayed leaf and stem senescence, abnormal pods, and aborted seeds, has recently become a serious and prominent problem in soybean production. Although the pest Riptortus pedestris has received increasing attention as the possible cause of staygreen syndrome, the mechanism remains unknown. Here, we clarify that direct feeding by R. pedestris, not transmission of a pathogen by this pest, is the primary cause of typical soybean staygreen syndrome and that critical feeding damage occurs at the early pod stage. Transcriptome profiling of soybean indicated that many signal transduction pathways, including photoperiod, hormone, defense response, and photosynthesis, respond to R. pedestris infestation. Importantly, we discovered that members of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene family were suppressed by R. pedestris infestation, and overexpression of floral inducer GmFT2a attenuates staygreen symptoms by mediating soybean defense response and photosynthesis. Together, our findings systematically illustrate the association between pest infestation and soybean staygreen syndrome and provide the basis for establishing a targeted soybean pest prevention and control system.

Applications of chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging in identifying genetic markers in gliomas.

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging is an important molecular magnetic resonance imaging technique that can image numerous low-concentration biomolecules with water-exchangeable protons (such as cellular proteins) and tissue pH. CEST, or more specially amide proton transfer-weighted imaging, has been widely used for the detection, diagnosis, and response assessment of brain tumors, and its feasibility in identifying molecular markers in gliomas has also been explored in recent years. In this paper, after briefing on the basic principles and quantification methods of CEST imaging, we review its early applications in identifying isocitrate dehydrogenase mutation status, MGMT methylation status, 1p/19q deletion status, and H3K27M mutation status in gliomas. Finally, we discuss the limitations or weaknesses in these studies.

Radiomics analysis of amide proton transfer-weighted and structural MR images for treatment response assessment in malignant gliomas.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) MRI radiomic features for the differentiation of tumor recurrence from treatment effect in malignant gliomas. Eighty-six patients who had suspected tumor recurrence after completion of chemoradiation or radiotherapy, and who had APTw-MRI data acquired at 3 T, were retrospectively analyzed. Using a fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) image-based mask, radiomics analysis was applied to the processed APTw and structural MR images. A chi-square automatic interaction detector decision tree was used for classification analysis. Models with and without APTw features were built using the same strategy. Tenfold cross-validation was applied to obtain the overall classification performance of each model. Sixty patients were confirmed as having tumor recurrence, and the remainder were confirmed as having treatment effect, at median time points of 190 and 171 days after therapy, respectively. There were 525 radiomic features extracted from each of the processed APTw and structural MR images. Based on these, the APTw-based model yielded the highest accuracy (86.0%) for the differentiation of tumor recurrence from treatment effect, compared with 74.4%, 76.7%, 83.7%, and 76.7% for T1 w, T2 w, FLAIR, and Gd-T1 w, respectively. Model classification accuracy was 82.6% when using the combined structural MR images (T1 w, T2 w, FLAIR, Gd-T1 w), and increased to 89.5% when using these structural plus APTw images. The corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 85.0% and 76.9% for the combination of structural MR images, and 85.0% and 100% after adding APTw image features. Adding APTw-based radiomic features increased MRI accuracy in the assessment of the treatment response in post-treatment malignant gliomas.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic drug metronidazole loaded ZIF-90 nanoparticles as a pH responsive drug delivery system for improved pediatric sepsis management.

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease caused by the dis-functioning of the immune response to pathogenic infections. Despite, the discovery of modern therapeutics and treatments of sepsis are lacking due to the resistance of pathogens. Metronidazole is an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections, but usage is limited and challenging by a short half-life period. In this research work, fabricate a pH-responsive drug delivery system for controlled release of metronidazole targeted molecules. We exemplified that, the encapsulation of hydrophilic metronidazole drug within a hydrophobic ZIF-90 framework can be enhanced the pH-responsive drug release under acidic conditions. The ZIF-90 frameworks only decompose in under acidic solutions, they are highly stable in physiological conditions. The pH-responsive protonation mechanism of ZIF-90 frameworks promotes the quick release of metronidazole within cells. The antimicrobial proficiency of zinc and metronidazole will expose a synergistic effect in ROS-mediated bacterial inhibition and auto-immunity boosting of normal cells. In vitro, antibacterial activity results revealed that the MI@ZIF-90 nano drug delivery system effectively eradicated human infectious pathogens at the lowest concentrations. In anti-fungal activity, studies show excellent growth inhibition against human pathogenic fungi Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans. Finally, the PBMC cytocompatibility study concludes, that the fabricated MI@ZIF-90 drug delivery system is non-toxic to biomedical applications. The overall research findings highlight the design of a smart drug delivery system for sepsis treatment. In future it will be an efficient, low-cost, and biocompatible pharmaceutics for pediatric sepsis management processes.