c-FLIP facilitates ZIKV infection by mediating caspase-8/3-dependent apoptosis.

c-FLIP functions as a dual regulator of apoptosis and inflammation, yet its implications in Zika virus (ZIKV) infection remain partially understood, especially in the context of ZIKV-induced congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) where both apoptosis and inflammation play pivotal roles. Our findings demonstrate that c-FLIP promotes ZIKV infection in placental cells and myeloid-derived macrophages, involving inflammation and caspase-8/3-mediated apoptosis. Moreover, our observations reveal that c-FLIP augments ZIKV infection in multiple tissues, including blood cell, spleen, uterus, testis, and the brain of mice. Notably, the partial deficiency of c-FLIP provides protection to embryos against ZIKV-induced CZS, accompanied by a reduction in caspase-3-mediated apoptosis. Additionally, we have found a distinctive parental effect of c-FLIP influencing ZIKV replication in fetal heads. In summary, our study reveals the critical role of c-FLIP as a positive regulator in caspase-8/3-mediated apoptosis during ZIKV infection, significantly contributing to the development of CZS.

DNA hypo-methylation and expression of GBP4 induces T cell exhaustion in pancreatic cancer.

Immunotherapy for pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) remains disappointing due to the repressive tumor microenvironment and T cell exhaustion, in which the roles of interferon-stimulated genes were largely unknown. Here, we focused on a typical interferon-stimulated gene, GBP4, and investigated its potential diagnostic and therapeutic value in pancreatic cancer. Expression analysis on both local samples and public databases indicated that GBP4 was one of the most dominant GBP family members present in the PDAC microenvironment, and the expression level of GBP4 was negatively associated with patient survival. We then identified DNA hypo-methylation in regulatory regions of GBP4 in PDAC, and validated its regulatory role on GBP4 expression via performing targeted methylation using dCas9-SunTag-DNMAT3A-sgRNA-targeted methylation system on selected DNA locus. After that, we investigated the downstream functions of GBP4, and chemotaxis assays indicated that GBP4 overexpression significantly improved the infiltration of CD8+T cells, but also induced upregulation of immune checkpoint genes and T cell exhaustion. Lastly, in vitro T cell killing assays using primary organoids suggested that the PDAC samples with high level of GBP4 expression displayed significantly higher sensitivity to anti-PD-1 treatment. Taken together, our studies revealed the expression patterns and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of GBP4 in pancreatic cancer and clarified the effects of GBP4 on T cell exhaustion and antitumor immunology.

Ectopic CXCR2 expression cells improve the anti-tumor efficiency of CAR-T cells and remodel the immune microenvironment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Recent progressions in CAR-T cell therapy against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain disappointing, which are partially attributed to the immunosuppressive microenvironment including macrophage-mediated T cell repletion. METHODS: We first characterized the expression patterns of macrophage-relevant chemokines and identified CXCR2 as the key factor regulating T cell trafficking and tumor-specific accumulation in PDAC microenvironment. After that, we synthesized and introduced a CXCR2 expression cascade into Claudin18.2 CAR-T cells and compared the behaviors of CAR-T cells in vitro and in vivo. The therapeutic potential of CXCR2 CAR-T was evaluated in two different allogeneic models: subcutaneous allografts and metastatic PDAC models. RESULTS: The results showed that CXCR2 CAR-T not only reduced the size of allografted PDAC tumors, but also completely eliminated the formation of metastases. Lastly, we investigated the tumor tissues and found that expression of ectopic CXCR2 significantly improved tumor-targeted infiltration and residence of T cells and reduced the presence of MDSCs and CXCR2 + macrophages in PDAC microenvironment. CONCLUSION: Our studies suggested that ectopic CXCR2 played a significant and promising role in improving the efficiency of CAR-T therapy against primary and metastatic PDAC and partially reversed the immune-suppressive microenvironment.

Overexpression of dehydroascorbate reductase gene IbDHAR1 improves the tolerance to abiotic stress in sweet potato.

Dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), an indispensable enzyme in the production of ascorbic acid (AsA) in plants, is vital for plant tolerance to various stresses. However, there is limited research on the stress tolerance functions of DHAR genes in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam). In this study, the full-length IbDHAR1 gene was cloned from the leaves of sweet potato cultivar Xu 18. The IbDHAR1 protein is speculated to be located in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. As revealed by qRT-PCR, the relative expression level of IbDHAR1 in the proximal storage roots was much greater than in the other tissues, and could be upregulated by high-temperature, salinity, drought, and abscisic acid (ABA) stress. The results of pot experiments indicated that under high salinity and drought stress conditions, transgenic Arabidopsis and sweet potato plants exhibited decreases in H2O2 and MDA levels. Conversely, the levels of antioxidant enzymes APX, SOD, POD, and ACT, and the content of DHAR increased. Additionally, the ratio of AsA/DHA was greater in transgenic lines than in the wild type. The results showed that overexpression of IbDHAR1 intensified the ascorbic acid-glutathione cycle (AsA-GSH) and promoted the activity of the related antioxidant enzyme systems to improve plant stress tolerance and productivity.

Clinical and genetic characterization of a large cohort of Chinese patients with Bietti crystalline retinopathy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics for a large cohort of Chinese patients with Bietti crystalline retinopathy (BCR). METHODS: A total of 208 Chinese BCR patients from 175 families were recruited. Comprehensive clinical evaluations and genetic analysis were performed. Genotype-phenotype correlations were evaluated through statistical analysis. RESULTS: The patients' median age was 37 years (range, 20-76 years). The median best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.8 LogMAR unit (range, 2.8 to -0.12). A significant decline of BCVA was revealed in patients over 40 years old (P<0.001). Two clinical types were observed: peripheral type (type P) and central type (type C). Significantly more type C patients had a worse central visual acuity, but a more preserved retinal function (P<0.05). Molecular screening detected biallelic CYP4V2 pathogenic variants in 98.3% (172/175) of the families, including 19 novel ones. The most frequent pathogenic variant was c.802-8_810del17insGC, with the allele frequency of 55.7% (195/350), followed by c.992A>C (28/350, 8%) and c.1091-2A>G (23/350, 6.6%). BCR patients with one c.802-8_810del17insGC and one truncating variant (IVS6-8/Tru) had BCVA>1.3 LogMAR unit (Snellen equivalent<20/400) at a younger age than those with homozygous c.802-8_810del17insGC variants (homo IVS6-8) (P=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: BCR patients preserved relatively good vision before 40 years old. Two distinct clinical types of BCR were observed. BCR patients with IVS6-8/Tru had an earlier decline in visual acuity than those with homo IVS6-8. Our findings enhance the knowledge of BCR and will be helpful in patient selection for gene therapy.

Overexpression of sweetpotato glutamylcysteine synthetase (IbGCS) in Arabidopsis confers tolerance to drought and salt stresses.

Various environmental stresses induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have deleterious effects on plant cells. Glutathione (GSH) is an antioxidant used to counteract reactive oxygen species. Glutathione is produced by glutamylcysteine synthetase (GCS) and glutathione synthetase (GS). However, evidence for the GCS gene in sweetpotato remains scarce. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence of IbGCS isolated from sweetpotato cultivar Xu18 was 1566 bp in length, which encodes 521 amino acids. The qRT-PCR analysis revealed a significantly higher expression of the IbGCS in sweetpotato flowers, and the gene was induced by salinity, abscisic acid (ABA), drought, extreme temperature and heavy metal stresses. The seed germination rate, root elongation and fresh weight were promoted in T3 Arabidopsis IbGCS-overexpressing lines (OEs) in contrast to wild type (WT) plants under mannitol and salt stresses. In addition, the soil drought and salt stress experiment results indicated that IbGCS overexpression in Arabidopsis reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content, enhanced the levels of GCS activity, GSH and AsA content, and antioxidant enzyme activity. In summary, overexpressing IbGCS in Arabidopsis showed improved salt and drought tolerance.

Electroacupuncture Combined with Chinese Herbal Medicine, Qidong Huoluo Granule, for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: An 8-Month Case Report.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and eventual paralysis, for which there is currently no curative treatment. Mainstream medical interventions primarily focus on providing supportive care. However, acupuncture offers promising avenues for alleviating symptoms and enhancing quality of life. Specific acupuncture points are targeted to address bulbar paralysis as well as paralysis affecting the upper and lower extremities. Objective: To investigate the efficacy of electroacupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine in delaying disease progression and alleviating symptoms of bulbar paralysis in patients with ALS. Case Presentation: A 51-year-old male presented with a 4-year and 8-month history of weakness in his left arm and both legs, accompanied by muscle cramps and diminished coordination, which had rapidly worsened over the past year. ALS was diagnosed, and the patient was initiated on oral Riluzole (50 mg) and Qidong Huoluo granule, a Chinese herbal compound, administered twice daily. Concurrently, he underwent acupuncture treatment sessions twice weekly for over 8 months. Results: Following acupuncture therapy, the patient experienced gradual stabilization of symptoms, notably improvement in swallowing function. The combination of electroacupuncture and Qidong Huoluo granule resulted in sustained clinical enhancements post-treatment, including improvements in speech, coughing, articulation, and breathing. Conclusion: Electroacupuncture therapy demonstrates the potential to slow disease progression and ameliorate symptoms of bulbar paralysis in ALS patients. However, further robust clinical research is imperative to explain the precise therapeutic role of electroacupuncture in managing this debilitating condition. Continued investigation into the efficacy and safety profile of electroacupuncture holds promise for advancing treatment modalities for ALS.

AI-Driven Diagnostic Assistance in Medical Inquiry: Reinforcement Learning Algorithm Development and Validation.

BACKGROUND: For medical diagnosis, clinicians typically begin with a patient's chief concerns, followed by questions about symptoms and medical history, physical examinations, and requests for necessary auxiliary examinations to gather comprehensive medical information. This complex medical investigation process has yet to be modeled by existing artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop an AI-driven medical inquiry assistant for clinical diagnosis that provides inquiry recommendations by simulating clinicians' medical investigating logic via reinforcement learning. METHODS: We compiled multicenter, deidentified outpatient electronic health records from 76 hospitals in Shenzhen, China, spanning the period from July to November 2021. These records consisted of both unstructured textual information and structured laboratory test results. We first performed feature extraction and standardization using natural language processing techniques and then used a reinforcement learning actor-critic framework to explore the rational and effective inquiry logic. To align the inquiry process with actual clinical practice, we segmented the inquiry into 4 stages: inquiring about symptoms and medical history, conducting physical examinations, requesting auxiliary examinations, and terminating the inquiry with a diagnosis. External validation was conducted to validate the inquiry logic of the AI model. RESULTS: This study focused on 2 retrospective inquiry-and-diagnosis tasks in the emergency and pediatrics departments. The emergency departments provided records of 339,020 consultations including mainly children (median age 5.2, IQR 2.6-26.1 years) with various types of upper respiratory tract infections (250,638/339,020, 73.93%). The pediatrics department provided records of 561,659 consultations, mainly of children (median age 3.8, IQR 2.0-5.7 years) with various types of upper respiratory tract infections (498,408/561,659, 88.73%). When conducting its own inquiries in both scenarios, the AI model demonstrated high diagnostic performance, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.955 (95% CI 0.953-0.956) and 0.943 (95% CI 0.941-0.944), respectively. When the AI model was used in a simulated collaboration with physicians, it notably reduced the average number of physicians' inquiries to 46% (6.037/13.26; 95% CI 6.009-6.064) and 43% (6.245/14.364; 95% CI 6.225-6.269) while achieving areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.972 (95% CI 0.970-0.973) and 0.968 (95% CI 0.967-0.969) in the scenarios. External validation revealed a normalized Kendall τ distance of 0.323 (95% CI 0.301-0.346), indicating the inquiry consistency of the AI model with physicians. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective analysis of predominantly respiratory pediatric presentations in emergency and pediatrics departments demonstrated that an AI-driven diagnostic assistant had high diagnostic performance both in stand-alone use and in simulated collaboration with clinicians. Its investigation process was found to be consistent with the clinicians' medical investigation logic. These findings highlight the diagnostic assistant's promise in assisting the decision-making processes of health care professionals.

Lysosome activation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and prognostic significance of circulating LC3B in COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly worldwide, causing significant mortality. There is a mechanistic relationship between intracellular coronavirus replication and deregulated autophagosome-lysosome system. We performed transcriptome analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from COVID-19 patients and identified the aberrant upregulation of genes in the lysosome pathway. We further determined the capability of two circulating markers, namely microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (LC3B) and (p62/SQSTM1) p62, both of which depend on lysosome for degradation, in predicting the emergence of moderate-to-severe disease in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization for supplemental oxygen therapy. Logistic regression analyses showed that LC3B was associated with moderate-to-severe COVID-19, independent of age, sex and clinical risk score. A decrease in LC3B concentration <5.5 ng/ml increased the risk of oxygen and ventilatory requirement (adjusted odds ratio: 4.6; 95% CI: 1.1-22.0; P = 0.04). Serum concentrations of p62 in the moderate-to-severe group were significantly lower in patients aged 50 or below. In conclusion, lysosome function is deregulated in PBMCs isolated from COVID-19 patients, and the related biomarker LC3B may serve as a novel tool for stratifying patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 from those with asymptomatic or mild disease. COVID-19 patients with a decrease in LC3B concentration <5.5 ng/ml will require early hospital admission for supplemental oxygen therapy and other respiratory support.

Blocking FcγRIIB in Smooth Muscle Cells Reduces Hypertension.

[Figure: see text].

PcENO3 interacts with patchoulol synthase to positively affect the enzymatic activity and patchoulol biosynthesis in Pogostemon cablin.

Patchouli alcohol, a significant bioactive component of the herbal plant Pogostemon cablin, has considerable medicinal and commercial potential. Several genes and transcription factors involved in the biosynthesis pathway of patchouli alcohol have been identified. However, so far, regulatory factors directly interacting with patchouli synthase (PTS) have not been reported. This study was conducted to analyze the interaction between PcENO3 and PcPTS to explore the molecular regulation effect of PcENO3 on patchouli alcohol biosynthesis. PcENO3, a homologous protein of Arabidopsis ENO3 belonging to the enolase family, was identified and characterized. Subcellular localization experiments in Arabidopsis protoplast cells indicated that the PcENO3 protein was localized in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. The physical interaction between PcENO3 and PcPTS was confirmed through yeast two-hybrid (Y2H), GST pull-down, and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. Furthermore, the Y2H assay demonstrated that PcENO3 could also interact with JAZ proteins in the JA pathway. Enzymatic assays showed that the interaction with PcENO3 increased the catalytic activity of patchoulol synthase. Additionally, suppression of PcENO3 expression with VIGS (virus-induced gene silencing) decreased patchouli alcohol content compared to the control. These findings suggest that PcENO3 interacts with patchoulol synthase and modulates patchoulol biosynthesis by enhancing the enzymatic activity of PcPTS.

A novel immune checkpoint score system for prognostic evaluation in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) remains a lethal malignancy making the detection of novel prognostic biomarkers urgent. Limited studies have investigated the predictive capability of immune checkpoints in PAAD. METHOD: Gene expression data and correlative clinical information of PAAD cohort were obtained from public databases, including TCGA, ICGC, GTEX and GEO databases. Risk factors were screened and used to establish a risk score model through LASSO and Cox regression analyses. The prognostic ability of the risk score model was demonstrated. The association between risk score with immune cells infiltration, immune checkpoint genes expression, immunogenic cell death, somatic mutations and signaling pathways enrichment were analysed. scRNA-seq data were collected to confirmed the immune checkpoints expression in PAAD samples. The prognosis prediction ability of OX40/TNFRSF4 was identified. The mRNA and protein expression of OX40 in our clinical specimens were examined by RT-PCR and IHC method and its prognosis ability was verified. RESULTS: First of all, the difference of immune microenvironment between pancreatic cancer and adjacent tissues was shown. A risk score system based on three immune checkpoints (OX40, TNFSF14 and KIR3DL1) was established. The risk score model was an independent prognostic factor and performed well regarding overall survival (OS) predictions among PAAD patients. A nomogram was established to facilitate the risk model application in clinical prognosis. Immune cells including naive B cells, CD8+ T cells and Tregs were negatively correlated with the risk score. The risk score was associated with expression of immune checkpoint genes, immunogenic cell death related genes and somatic mutations. Glycolysis processes, IL-2-STAT5, IL-6-STAT3, and mTORC1 signaling pathways were enriched in the high-risk score group. Furthermore, scRNA-seq data confirmed that TNFRSF4, TNFSF14 and KIR3DL1 were expressed on immune cells in PAAD samples. We then identified OX40 as an independent prognosis-related gene, and a higher OX40 expression was associated with increased survival rate and immune environment change. In 84 PAAD clinical specimens collected from our center, we confirmed that higher OX40 mRNA expression levels were related to a good prognosis. The protein expression of OX40 on tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), endothelial cells and tumor cells was verified in PAAD tissues by immunohistochemistry (IHC) method. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings strongly suggested that the three-immune checkpoints score system might be useful in the prognosis and design of personalized treatments for PAAD patients. Finally, we identified OX40 as an independent potential biomarker for PAAD prognosis prediction.

Inhibition of STEAP1 ameliorates inflammation and ferroptosis of acute lung injury caused by sepsis in LPS-induced human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Ferroptosis plays an important part in Acute lung injury (ALI) caused by sepsis. The six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of the prostate 1 (STEAP1) has potential effects on iron metabolism and inflammation but reports on its function in ferroptosis and sepsis-caused ALI are lacking. Here we explored the role of STEAP1 in sepsis-caused ALI and the possible mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was added to human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) to form the sepsis-caused ALI model in vitro. The Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) experiment was performed on C57/B6J mice to form the sepsis-caused ALI model in vivo. The effect of STEAP1 on inflammation was investigated by PCR, ELISA, and Western blot for the inflammatory factors and adhesion molecular. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were detected by immunofluorescence. The effect of STEAP1 on ferroptosis was investigated by detecting malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, glutathione (GSH) levels, Fe2+ levels, cell viability, and mitochondrial morphology. Our findings suggested that STEAP1 expression was increased in the sepsis-induced ALI models. Inhibition of STEAP1 decreased the inflammatory response and ROS production as well as MDA levels but increased the levels of Nrf2 and GSH. Meanwhile, inhibition of STEAP1 improved cell viability and restored mitochondrial morphology. Western Blot results showed that inhibition of STEAP1 could affect the SLC7A11/GPX4 axis. CONCLUSION: Inhibition of STEAP1 may be valuable for pulmonary endothelial protection in lung injury caused by sepsis.

Seropositive Reaction Rates of 9 B-Cell Epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and the Relationship between the Epitopes and Neutralizing Antibody.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between serum antibody and neutralizing antibody titers in convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with different disease severities, and the seropositive reaction rates of 9 reported B-cell epitopes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS: Serum IgG and total antibody titers of 165 convalescent COVID-19 patients were determined by chemiluminescence, the serum neutralization antibody titers were determined by microneutralization assay, and the S/CO values of 9 peptides were detected by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlations between the aforementioned indexes were statistically analyzed, and differences in patients with different diseases severities were evaluated. RESULTS: IgG, total antibody, and neutralizing antibody titers increased with disease severity. The positive rate of the receptor-binding region (RBD) was 100%, and the average positive rate for all the 9 peptides was above 50% in 165 patients. IDf showed the highest rate of positivity (86.06%), with a rate of 95% for the (IDf + IDa) pattern. Moreover, S/CO values of RBD and mix (IDh) were significantly correlated with IgG, total antibody titers, and neutralizing antibody titers (p < 0.001), whereas the S/CO values for other 8 peptides showed no obvious correlation. CONCLUSION: In this study, a large sample was used to confirm that the peptide IDf had a high positive reaction rate for all patients (86.06%) and also had the highest detection rate in asymptomatic patients (86.67%). Only long peptide and mixed peptide showed correlation with neutralizing antibody titers, suggesting that the ability of SARS-CoV-2 antibody to neutralize virus infectivity may require the interaction of multiple sites.

Betanin alleviates inflammation and ameliorates apoptosis on human oral squamous cancer cells SCC131 and SCC4 through the NF-κB/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the prime kind of human malignancy with a great mortality ratio and a deprived prognosis due to its high level of relapse and metastasis. Recently reported is that betanin exerts a preventive role and cytotoxic activity on numerous cancer cells. Betanin comprises the betalain group, which is a highly bioavailable antioxidant. However, the precise molecular actions of betanin in the OSCC cells are yet to be elucidated. It may be the first report on the antiproliferative and apoptotic molecular mechanisms of betanin on OSCC. The current study intended to explore the betanin activity and its underlying mechanisms on SCC131 and SCC4 cells. The cytotoxicity assay, intracellular ROS, MMP, cell apoptosis, and inflammatory mediators of betanin activity on SCC131 and SCC4 cells were evaluated by MTT assay, DCFH-DA, Rh-123, AO/EB, DAPI, PI, analysis of western blot and RT-PCR. The upshots indicated that betanin restrains the SCC131 cells proliferation, MMP and inflammation, whereas induces apoptosis via the enhanced ROS level of SCC131 and SCC4 cells in a dose-dependent mode. Also, betanin-treated OSCC cells reduce inflammatory and apoptotic signaling pathways. The above-mentioned results exposed that betanin can inhibit cell viability, MMP, inflammation and enhanced apoptosis via the expression of NF-κB/PI3K/Akt pathways. Thus, our current findings provided an innovative vision into the protective effect against OSCC.

A novel tandem duplication of PRDM13 in a Chinese family with North Carolina macular dystrophy.

PURPOSES: North Carolina macular dystrophy (NCMD) is a rare autosomal dominant inherited disorder characterized by macular impairment with a variety of phenotypic manifestations. The aims of this study were to assess the clinical features of a Chinese family with NCMD and to identify the underlying genetic cause of the disease. METHODS: Three patients from a Chinese family were included in this study. Detailed ophthalmological examinations were performed, including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), slit lamp, dilated indirect ophthalmoscopy, fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence, full-field electroretinography (ERG), and electrooculography (EOG). Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. Whole-genome sequencing and long-read genome sequencing were applied to detect the pathogenic variants. Sanger sequencing was performed to confirm the breakpoints. RESULTS: All three patients had macular involvement ranging from patchy yellowish-white lesions to big-area thinning, which are typical for NCMD. The BCVA ranged from 20/50 to 20/20. OCT revealed varying degrees of macular structure disorganization. The ERG responses were normal, and the Arden ration of the EOG was reduced. A novel 134.6 kb (g.99932464-100067110dup) tandem duplication on chromosome 6 (NC_000006.11) encompassing the entire CCNC and PRDM13 genes and a DNase 1 hypersensitivity site in the MCDR1 locus was identified. CONCLUSION: A novel large tandem duplication in MCDR1 locus was confirmed in a Chinese family with NCMD with a variety of macular phenotypes.

Global analysis of miRNA-mRNA regulation pair in bladder cancer.

PURPOSE: MicroRNA (miRNA) is a class of short non-coding RNA molecules that functions in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. This study aims to identify critical miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs contributing to bladder cancer (BLCA) pathogenesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: MiRNA and mRNA microarray and RNA-sequencing datasets were downloaded from gene expression omnibus (GEO) and the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) databases. The tool of GEO2R and R packages were used to screen differential miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) and mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) and DAVID, DIANA, and Hiplot tools were used to perform gene enrichment analysis. The miRNA-mRNA regulation pair were screened from the experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions databases (miRTarbase and TarBase). Twenty-eight pairs of BLCA tissues were used to further verify the screened DE-miRNAs and DE-mRNAs by quantitative reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The diagnostic value of the miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and decision curve analysis (DCA). The correlation analysis between the selected miRNA-mRNAs regulation pair and clinical, survival and tumor-related phenotypes was performed in this study. RESULTS: After miRTarBase, the analysis of 2 miRNA datasets, 6 mRNA datasets, and TCGA-BLCA dataset, a total of 13 miRNAs (5 downregulated and 8 upregulated in BLCA tissues) and 181 mRNAs (72 upregulated and 109 downregulated in BLCA tissues) were screened out. The pairs of miR-17-5p (upregulated in BLCA tissues) and TGFBR2 (downregulated in BLCA tissues) were verified in the external validation cohort (28 BLCA vs. 28 NC) using qRT-PCR. Areas under the ROC curve of the miRNA-mRNA regulation pair panel were 0.929 (95% CI: 0.885-0.972, p < 0.0001) in TCGA-BLCA and 0.767 (95% CI: 0.643-0.891, p = 0.001) in the external validation. The DCA also showed that the miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs had an excellent diagnostic performance distinguishing BLCA from normal controls. Correlation analysis showed that miR-17-5p and TGFBR2 correlated with tumor immunity. CONCLUSIONS: The research identified potential miRNA-mRNA regulation pairs, providing a new idea for exploring the genesis and development of BLCA.

Carbohydrate antigen 125 supplements carbohydrate antigen 19-9 for the prediction of invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas.

BACKGROUND: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are characterized by their abundant mucin production and malignant potential. IPMNs of the pancreas are mainly managed according to their radiographic indications, but this approach lacks accuracy with regard to IPMN grading. Therefore, serological biomarkers such as CA19-9 and CA125 (MUC16) should be employed to assist in predicting the invasiveness of IPMNs. METHODS: We investigated the preoperative serum levels of CA19-9, CA125 and CEA in 381 surgical patients with a definite pathological diagnosis of IPMN from July 2010 to December 2019 at the Shanghai Cancer Center. We calculated the Youden indices of each point on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to identify the most appropriate cut-off values of CA19-9, CA125 and CEA for recognizing malignant IPMNs. Serological biomarker differences were correlated with clinicopathological features of IPMNs, and diagnostic indices of different scenarios were calculated to find the optimum strategy. RESULTS: The malignant group had higher serum levels of CA19-9, CA125 and CEA. According to the ROC curves, the cut-off values of CA19-9, CA125 and CEA were readjusted to 38.3 U/ml, 13.4 U/ml and 5.3 µg/L. CA19-9 elevation was significantly associated with vascular invasion and perineural infiltration. CA125 showed good efficacy in predicting invasive IPMN in the CA19-9-negative subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: Serological biomarkers are useful and sensitive indicators for recognizing invasive IPMNs. CA19-9 is the most important diagnostic index among all routinely measured serum biomarkers for differentiating malignant from benign IPMNs. CA19-9 should be combined with CA125 to enable more accurate predictions of IPMN malignancy.

Association of serum bisphenol AF concentration with depressive symptoms in adolescents: A nested case-control study in China.

BACKGROUND: As an important alternative to bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol AF (BPAF) is widely used and can be detected in multiple human biological samples. However, there are few studies on neurotoxicity of BPAF at present. In particular, no epidemiological studies have investigated BPAF in relation to depressive symptoms in adolescents. Here, our study aimed to evaluate the associations between serum BPAF concentrations and depressive symptoms in adolescents. METHODS: A nested case-control study within an ongoing longitudinal prospective adolescent cohort that was established in Huaibei, China was conducted. A total of 175 participants who had new-onset depressive symptoms (cases) and 175 participants without depressive symptoms (controls) were included. Serum BPAF concentrations was measured using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The associations between BPAF exposure and the risk of depressive symptoms in adolescents were assessed using conditional logistic regression. The dose-response relationship between BPAF level and depressive symptoms was estimated using restricted cubic spline analyses. RESULTS: In this study, the detection rate of serum BPAF was 100%, and the median (interquartile range, IQR) serum BPAF concentration was 5.24 (4.41-6.11) pg/mL in the case group and 4.86 (4.02-5.77) pg/mL in the control group (P = 0.009). Serum BPAF exposure was a risk factor for depressive symptoms (odds ratio (OR)= 1.132, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.013-1.264). After adjustment for all for confounders, compared with the low-exposure group, the high-exposure group had a 2.806-fold increased risk of depressive symptoms (OR=2.806, 95% CI: 1.188-6.626). Stratified analysis by sex revealed that males were more vulnerable to BPAF exposure than females. After adjustment for all confounders, compared with the low-exposure group, the relative risk of depressive symptoms in the high-exposure group was 3.858 (95% CI: 1.118-12.535) for males, however, no significant association between BPAF exposure and depressive symptoms was found in females. In addition, there was a marked linear association between BPAF exposure and the risk of depressive symptoms in the total population and in males. CONCLUSIONS: The adolescents in this study were widely exposed to low levels of BPAF. A significant positive association was found between serum BPAF levels and the risk of depressive symptoms. The association was significantly modified by sex, and males were more vulnerable to BPAF exposure than females.

Associations of multiple plasma metals with the risk of metabolic syndrome: A cross-sectional study in the mid-aged and older population of China.

BACKGROUND: Metal exposures have been reported to be related to the progress of metabolic syndrome (MetS), however, the currents results were still controversial, and the evidence about the effect of multi-metal exposure on MetS were limited. In this study, we intended to evaluate the relationships between metal mixture exposure and the prevalence of MetS in a mid-aged and older population of China. METHODS: The plasma levels of 13 metals (aluminum, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, cobalt, copper, arsenic, zinc, selenium, cadmium, molybdenum and thallium) were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in 1277 adults recruited from the Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University (Shenzhen, China). Logistic regression, the adaptive least absolute shrinkage and selectionator operator (LASSO) penalized regression analysis and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis were used to explore the associations and dose-response relationships of plasma metals with MetS. To evaluate the cumulative effect of metals, the Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) model was applied. RESULTS: The concentrations of magnesium and molybdenum were lower in the MetS group (p < 0.05). In the single-metal model, the adjusted ORs (95%CI) in the highest quartiles were 0.44 (0.35, 0.76) for magnesium and 0.30 (0.17, 0.51) for molybdenum compared with the lowest quartile. The negative associations and dose-dependent relationships of magnesium and molybdenum with MetS were further validated by the stepwise model, adaptive LASSO penalized regression and RCS analysis. The BKMR models showed that the metal mixture were associated with decreased MetS when the chemical mixtures were≥ 25th percentile compared to their medians, and Mg, Mo were the major contributors to the combined effect. Moreover, concentrations of magnesium were significantly related to blood glucose, and molybdenum was related with BMI, blood glucose and blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated levels of plasma magnesium and molybdenum were associated with decreased prevalence of MetS. Further investigations in larger perspective cohorts are needed to confirm our findings.