[Impact of assisted reproductive technology on birth weight discordance in twins]. / è¾ åŠ©ç”Ÿæ®–æŠ€æœ¯å¯¹åŒèƒŽå‡ºç”Ÿä½“é‡ä¸ä¸€è‡´çš„å½±å“.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the association between assisted reproductive technology (ART) and birth weight discordance in twins (BWDT). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on twin infants born between January 2011 and December 2020 at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, with complete basic birth data. The impact of ART on the occurrence of BWDT was identified by the multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 3 974 pairs of twins were included, with 1 431 conceived naturally and 2 543 through ART. Neonates in the ART group had higher birth weights than those in the naturally conceived group (P<0.001). The incidence of BWDT was lower in the ART group compared to the naturally conceived group (16.17% vs 21.09%, P<0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusting for confounding factors such as maternal age, parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index, gestational diabetes, hypothyroidism, gestational age, and chorionic properties, showed no significant difference in the risk of BWDT between the ART and naturally conceived groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ART is not associated with the risk of BWDT.

A Pooled Analysis of the PCR for the Detection of Candida Auris.

BACKGROUND: Candida auris is an opportunistic pathogen with multiple drug resistance. Therefore, researchers conducted a meta-analysis to review PCR's ability to diagnose Candida auris to promote the development of accurate Candida auris diagnosis. METHODS: Researchers systematically retrieved relevant articles from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science. Then, researchers extracted the key data required for the study from the selected articles. Meta-DiSc 1.4 was used for the statistical analysis. RevMan 5.3 was employed to assess the quality of the included literature. A funnel plot can appraise whether the included articles have publication bias. RESULTS: Five articles were included in the study. The results suggest that the pooled sensitivity and pooled specificity were 0.94 (95% CI: 0.92 - 0.95) and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.99 - 0.99), respectively. The positive and negative likelyhood ratios were 100.94 (95% CI: 47.51 - 214.47) and 0.07 (95% CI: 0.05 - 0.10), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio was 1,814.70 (95% CI: 717.30 - 4,591.04), and the area under the SROC curve was 0.9935. Deek's funnel plot indicated that there was no publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the analysis indicate that PCR can become a valuable technique for the clinical diagnosis of Candida auris due to its excellent performance.

Investigation of hub gene associated with the infection of Staphylococcus aureus via weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium that causes serious infection. With the increasing resistance of bacteria to current antibiotics, it is necessary to learn more about the molecular mechanism and cellular pathways involved in the Staphylococcus aureus infection. METHODS: We downloaded the GSE33341 dataset from the GEO database and applied the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), from which we obtained some critical modules. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) were applied to illustrate the biological functions of genes in these modules. We constructed the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network by Cytoscape and selected five candidate hub genes. Five potential hub genes were validated in GSE30119 by GraphPad Prism 8.0. The diagnostic values of these genes were calculated and present in the ROC curve based on the GSE13670 dataset. Their gene functions were analyzed by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). RESULTS: A co-expression network was built with 5000 genes divided into 11 modules. The genes in green and turquoise modules demonstrated a high correlation. According to the KEGG and GO analyses, genes in the green module were closely related to ubiquitination and autophagy. Subsequently, we picked out the top five hub genes in the green module. And UBB was determined as the hub gene in the GSE30119 dataset. The expression level of UBB, ASB, and MKRN1 could significantly differentiate between Staphylococcus aureus infection and healthy controls based on the ROC curve. The GSEA analysis indicated that lower expression levels of UBB were associated with the P53 signal pathway. CONCLUSIONS: We identified some hub genes and significant signal enrichment pathways in Staphylococcus aureus infection via bioinformatics analysis, which may facilitate the development of potential clinical therapeutic strategies.

Long Noncoding RNA NEAT1: A Potential Biomarker in the Progression of Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is diverse in its natural history and responsiveness to treatments. There is an urgent need to generate candidate biomarkers for the stratification and individualization of treatment to avoid overtreatment or inadequate treatment. Long noncoding RNA nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) has been identified as an oncogenic gene in multiple human tumors entitles, and dysregulation of NEAT1 was tightly linked to carcinogenesis and cancer progression. METHODS: One hundred two paraffin samples of LSCC patients were collected. Furthermore, in situ hybridization (ISH), Kaplan-Meier, and MTT were used to analyze the relationship between NEAT1 and the progress of LSCC. RESULTS: In this study, ISH revealed that NEAT1 was strongly expressed in the nucleus. The increased expression of NEAT1 was correlated with T grade, neck nodal metastasis, clinical stage, drinking history, or smoking history of LSCC. The Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with higher NEAT1 expression had a worse overall survival in LSCC patients. In addition, NEAT1 knockdown significantly inhibited the growth of LSCC cells. CONCLUSION: Together, these results suggested that NEAT1 involved in the progress of LSCC and might act as a tumor oncogenic gene. This study provides a potential new marker and target for gene therapy in the treatment of LSCC.

ACT001 can prevent and reverse tamoxifen resistance in human breast cancer cell lines by inhibiting NF-κB activation.

Endocrine therapy is one of the main treatments for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers. Tamoxifen is the most commonly used drug for endocrine therapy. However, primary or acquired tamoxifen resistance occurs in a large proportion of breast cancer patients, leading to therapeutic failure. We found that the combination of tamoxifen and ACT001, a nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway inhibitor, effectively inhibited the proliferation of both tamoxifen-sensitive and tamoxifen-resistant cells. The tamoxifen-resistant cell line MCF7R/LCC9 showed active NF-κB signaling and high apoptosis-related gene transcription, especially for antiapoptotic genes, which could be diminished by treatment with ACT001. These results demonstrate that ACT001 can prevent and reverse tamoxifen resistance by inhibiting NF-κB activation.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel structure-related hGHRH agonistic analogs.

Activity and half-life play key roles in the application of GHRH analogues. The GHRH monomers produced in a solid synthesizer were incubated, respectively, in NH4OH solution and lyophilized to obtain their dimers. The activities, specificities, and receptor affinities of the GHRH dimers were evaluated in rGH release/inhibition, rACTH/LH/PRL release, pituitary homogenate binding, and fluorescent staining. Compared to hGHRH(1-44)NH2 (S), PP-hGHRH(1-44)-GGC-CGG-hGHRH(44-1)-PP (2D), P-hGHRH(1-44)-GGC-CGG-hGHRH(44-1)-P (2E), (1)P-hGHRH(2-44)-GGC-CGG-hGHRH(44-2)-(1)P (2F), or hGHRH(1-44)-GGC-CGG-hGHRH(44-1) (2Y) had potency of 104 ± 16.7%, 94 ± 32.6%, 114 ± 16.6%, or 122 ± 14.5% and similar specificities. The inhibition effect of GHIH on rGH stimulated by GHRH dimer was in dose-/time-dependent manner. The staining of FITC-labeled dimer showed cytomembrane distribution and the binding ranking was 2F>2D>2Y>2E>S. 2F presents the strongest activity and the highest affinity to pituitary cells. The dimer with (1)Pro-GHRH stimulates stronger rGH release than that with (1)Tyr-GHRH and the N-terminal single cyclic amino acid is required for the stimulation.

[Effect of aluminum exposure on cognitive function in electrolytic workers and its influential factors].

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the effect of aluminum exposure on the cognitive function in electrolytic workers and the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among them by prevalence survey, and to investigate its influential factors. METHODS: Sixty-six retired workers from the electrolysis workshop of an electrolytic aluminum plant were selected as an aluminum exposure group, while 70 retired workers from a flour mill in the same region were selected as a control group. MCI patients were screened out by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); the blood aluminum level was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry; multivariate statistical analysis was used to investigate the influential factors for MMSE scores and the correlation between blood aluminum level and MCI prevalence. RESULTS: The aluminum exposure group showed a significantly higher blood aluminum level than the control group (25.18 ± 2.65 µg/L vs 9.97 ± 2.83 µg/L, P < 0.01). The total MMSE score of the aluminum exposure group (26.13 ± 2.57) was significantly lower than that of the control group (27.89 ± 1.91) (P < 0.05), particularly the scores on time and place orientation, short-term memory, calculation ability, and language skill (P < 0.05). The detection rate of MCI was significantly higher in the aluminum exposure group (18.2%) than in the control group (5.7%) (P < 0.01). The main influential factors for MMSE scores were gender, age, education level, and blood aluminum level. The logistic regression analysis indicated that the MCI prevalence was significantly correlated with blood aluminum level in the study population (OR = 1.168, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Long-term exposure to aluminum can cause cognitive disorders in electrolytic workers and may be one of the risk factors for MCI. Advanced age, male, low education level, and high blood aluminum level may be high-risk factors for cognitive impairment.

Influence of hyperproteinemia on reproductive development in an invertebrate model.

Hyperproteinemia is a severe metabolic disease characterized by abnormally elevated plasma protein concentrations (PPC). However, there is currently no reliable animal model for PPC, and the pathological mechanism of hyperproteinemia thus remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effects of hyperproteinemia on reproductive development in an invertebrate silkworm model with a controllable PPC and no primary disease effects. High PPC inhibited the synthesis of vitellogenin and 30K protein essential for female ovarian development in the fat body of metabolic tissues, and inhibited their transport through the hemolymph to the ovary. High PPC also induced programmed cell death in testis and ovary cells, slowed the development of germ cells, and significantly reduced the reproductive coefficient. Furthermore, the intensities and mechanisms of high-PPC-induced reproductive toxicity differed between sexes in this silkworm model.

Antepenultimate residue at the C-terminus of NADPH oxidase RBOHD is critical for its function in the production of reactive oxygen species in Arabidopsis.

Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a conserved immune response primarily mediated by NADPH oxidases (NOXs), also known in plants as respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs). Most microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) trigger a very fast and transient ROS burst in plants. However, recently, we found that lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a typical bacterial MAMP, triggered a biphasic ROS burst. In this study, we isolated mutants defective in LPS-triggered biphasic ROS burst (delt) in Arabidopsis, and cloned the DELT1 gene that was shown to encode RBOHD. In the delt1-2 allele, the antepenultimate residue, glutamic acid (E919), at the C-terminus of RBOHD was mutated to lysine (K). E919 is a highly conserved residue in NADPH oxidases, and a mutation of the corresponding residue E568 in human NOX2 has been reported to be one of the causes of chronic granulomatous disease. Consistently, we found that residue E919 was indispensable for RBOHD function in the MAMP-induced ROS burst and stomatal closure. It has been suggested that the mutation of this residue in other NADPH oxidases impairs the protein's stability and complex assembly. However, we found that the E919K mutation did not affect RBOHD protein abundance or the ability of protein association, suggesting that the residue E919 in RBOHD might have a regulatory mechanism different from that of other NOXs. Taken together, our results confirm that the antepenultimate residue E is critical for NADPH oxidases and provide a new insight into the regulatory mechanisms of RBOHD.

Dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL) Suppresses the Proliferation of Glioblastoma Cells via Targeting Pyruvate Kinase 2 (PKM2) and Rewiring Aerobic Glycolysis.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most prevalent malignant tumor in the central nervous system. Aerobic glycolysis, featured with elevated glucose consumption and lactate production, confers selective advantages on GBM by utilizing nutrients to support rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth. Pyruvate kinase 2 (PKM2), the last rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis, is known to regulate aerobic glycolysis, and considered as a novel cancer therapeutic target. Herein, we aim to describe the cellular functions and mechanisms of a small molecular compound dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL), which has been used in clinical trials for recurrent GBM in Australia. Our results demonstrate that DMAMCL is effective on the inhibition of GBM cell proliferation and colony formation. MCL, the active metabolic form of DMAMCL, selectively binding to monomeric PKM2 and promoting its tetramerization, was also found to improve the pyruvate kinase activity of PKM2 in GBM cells. In addition, non-targeting metabolomics analysis reveals multiple metabolites involved in glycolysis, including lactate and glucose-6-phosphate, are decreased with DMAMCL treatment. The inhibitory effects of DMAMCL are observed to decrease in GBM cells upon PKM2 depletion, further confirming the importance of PKM2 in DMAMCL sensitivity. In conclusion, the activation of PKM2 by DMAMCL results in the rewiring aerobic glycolysis, which consequently suppresses the proliferation of GBM cells. Hence, DMAMCL represents a potential PKM2-targeted therapeutic agent against GBM.

[Lipid peroxidation injury and endoplasmic reticulum stress in Al-induced apoptosis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the role of lipid peroxidation injury and endoplasmic reticulum stress in Al-induced apoptosis. METHODS: Neurons from 0-3 day rats were cultured and treated with different concentrations of AlCl3.6H2O. Morphologic changes of neurons and endoplasmic reticulum were observed under fluorescent and transmission electron microscope; activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and ATP enzymes were detected. RESULTS: Typical morphologic changes in neurons apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum were found under fluorescent and transmission electron microscope; SOD enzyme viability and ATP enzyme viability were significantly increased in the low-dosage group, but reduced in mid and high-dosage group (P < 0.01), whereas MDA levels decreased in the low-dosage group, but increased in mid and high-dosage group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Aluminum may induce neurons apoptosis, and lipid peroxidation injury in endoplasmic reticulum plays an important role in the apoptosis progression.

Induced Hyperproteinemia and Its Effects on the Remodeling of Fat Bodies in Silkworm, Bombyx mori.

Hyperproteinemia, which is characterized by an abnormally elevated plasma protein concentration (PPC), is a high-mortality, metabolic complication associated with severe liver and kidney disease. It is difficult to clinically distinguish the difference between the impacts of primary diseases and hyperproteinemia on tissues and organs, and there are no available animal models of hyperproteinemia. Here, we constructed an animal model of hyperproteinemia with a controllable PPC and no primary disease effects in the silkworm Bombyx mori that has attracted interest owing to its potential use in the pathological analysis of model animals. Silkworm have an open circulatory system in which each organ is directly immersed in hemolymph. The fat body (FB) of a silkworm, as a major organ for nutrient storage and energy metabolism, can effectively reflect hyperproteinemia-induced metabolic abnormalities in damaged visceral tissues. A pathogenesis study showed that hyperproteinemia attenuated cell autophagy and apoptosis by attenuating an endocrine hormone, thereby preventing FB remodeling during metamorphosis. Meanwhile, hyperproteinemia increased oxidative stress in the FB and resulted in a dysfunction of amino acid conversion. Supplementation with exogenous 20-hydroxyecdysone effectively mitigated the hyperproteinemia-mediated inhibition of FB remodeling.

MOF-Derived Flower-like MoS2@TiO2 Nanohybrids with Enhanced Activity for Hydrogen Evolution.

A simple hydrothermal method is developed for synthesizing crystalline MoS2@TiO2 nanohybrids with metal-organic framework (MOF) as precursor. At an optimal ratio of 14.6 wt % MoS2, the resultant material exhibits prominent catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a high hydrogen production rate of 10 046 µmol h-1 g-1 under visible light illumination with fluorescein as photosensitizer. Furthermore, the synthesized catalyst also possesses an attractive electrocatalytic activity with an onset overpotential of -300 mV (vs RHE) and a Tafel slope of ∼81 mV dec-1. The enhanced catalyst performances are mainly attributed to the in situ formed active sites, featuring a uniform dispersion and strong connection of MoS2 and TiO2, which can facilitate electron transfer. In addition, the MoS2@TiO2 nanohybrids are highly stable and completely recyclable over HER.

[The comparison of the effect of enalapril and indapamide on the peripheral blood pressure and central blood pressure through pulse wave analysis].

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor enalapril and diuretic indapamide on the peripheral blood pressure and the central blood pressure in Chinese patients with essential hypertension. METHODS: This study was a double blind, randomized study. Informed consent were given by all patients. After 2 weeks of placebo run-in period, 105 patients with mild or moderate essential hypertension were randomized to receive either enalapril (10 mg per day) or indapamide (2.5 mg per day) for 8 weeks. Radial pulse wave recordings were performed in all the patients before the active treatments were given and at the end of the study. Only those patients who have finished 8 weeks of active treatment in both groups were included into the final analysis. RESULTS: One hundred one patients (51 in enalapril group and 50 in indapamide group) completed the study. No significant difference (all P values > 0.05) was found in baseline data between the two groups. After 8 weeks of treatment, all the parameters of pulse wave (except heart rates in both groups and augmentation index in indapamide group) decreased significantly. Comparison of the 2 groups showed that there were no significant differences (all P values > 0.05) in all the parameters of pulse wave except that the central systolic blood pressure, augmentation and augmentation index were significantly lower in enalapril group than in indapamide group. In enalapril group, the reduced values of systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure in central aorta were significantly larger than those in brachial artery. However, the difference was not observed in indapamide group. CONCLUSIONS: Enalapril and indapamide are both similarly effective in reducing peripheral arterial blood pressure. Moreover, enalapril is more effective in reducing central systolic pressure and augmentation index than indapamide. The difference is probably due to the reduction of wave reflection caused by enalapril.

Cyr61/CCN1 overexpression induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition leading to laryngeal tumor invasion and metastasis and poor prognosis.

BACKGROUND: To examine the expression of cysteine-rich 61 (Cyr61/CCN1) protein in laryngeal squamous- cell carcinoma (LSCC) tissues, and its relationship with the tumor epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, metastasis, and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expressions of Cyr61, Vimentin (Vim), and E-cadherin (E-cad) in 88 cases of LSCC tissues and 30 cases of tumor-adjacent normal tissues. Vim and E-cad were used as mesenchymal and epithelial markers, respectively, to determine the relationship between Cyr61 expression and the EMT of LSCC cells. In addition, clinical and histopathological data were combined to analyze the relationship between the positive-expression rates of Cyr61, Vim and E-cad and LSCC invasion, metastasis and prognosis. RESULTS: In LSCC tissues, Vim expression rate was significantly higher than that of the tumor-adjacent tissues, whereas E-cad expression rate was significantly lower than that of the tumor-adjacent tissues. The Vim expression rate was significantly higher in stages T3 and T4 than in stages T1 and T2 LSCC tissues, whereas E-cad expression rate was significantly lower in stages T3 and T4 than in stages T1 and T2 LSCC tissues. Compared to the group without lymph node metastasis, the Vim expression rate was significantly higher and the E-cad expression rate was significantly lower in the group with lymph node metastasis. The expression rate of Cyr61 was significantly higher in LSCC tissues than in the tumor-adjacent normal tissues. In addition, the Cyr61 expression rate was higher in stages T3 and T4 than in stages T1 and T2 LSCC, and higher in the group with lymph node metastasis than in the group without lymph node metastasis. The Vim expression rate was significantly higher in the Cyr61 positive group than in the Cyr61 negative group, whereas the E-cad expression rate was significantly higher in the Cyr61 negative group than in the Cyr61 positive group. Survival analysis indicated that survival rates of Cyr61 positive, Vim positive and E-cad negative groups were significantly lower than that of Cyr61 negative, Vim negative and E-cad positive groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cyr61 expression is closely associated with LSCC invasion and lymph node metastasis. Overexpression of Cyr61 may induce EMT and therefore leads to LSCC invasion and metastasis and poor prognosis. Cyr61 may become a new maker for clinical prediction of LSCC invasion and metastasis and a new target for LSCC treatment.

Syntheses and Biological Evaluation of Costunolide, Parthenolide, and Their Fluorinated Analogues.

Inspired by the biosynthesis of sesquiterpene lactones (SLs), herein we report the asymmetric total synthesis of the germacrane ring (24). The synthetic strategy features a selective aldol reaction between ß,γ-unsaturated chiral sulfonylamide 15a and aldehyde 13, as well as the intramolecular α-alkylation of sulfone 21 to construct a 10-membered carbocylic ring. The key intermediate 24 can be used to prepare the natural products costunolide and parthenolide (PTL), which are the key precursors for transformation into other SLs. Furthermore, the described synthetic sequences are amenable to the total synthesis of SL analogues, such as trifluoromethylated analogues 32 and 45. Analogues 32 and 45 maintained high activities against a series of cancer cell lines compared to their parent PTL and costunolide, respectively. In addition, 32 showed enhanced tolerance to acidic media compared with PTL. To our surprise, PTL and 32 showed comparable half-lives in rat plasma and in the presence of human liver microsomes.

The effect of artemether on psychotic symptoms and cognitive impairment in first-episode, antipsychotic drug-naive persons with schizophrenia seropositive to Toxoplasma gondii.

The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of add-on artemether in first-episode, untreated people with schizophrenia, who were Toxoplasma gondii seropositive, and explore the change in T. gondii antibodies during treatment. In this eight-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 100 T. gondii seropositive participants with schizophrenia were randomized to either the artemether or placebo group. Participants in the artemether group received 80 mg artemether once per day during the second week (days 8-14) and the fourth week (days 22-28). Participants in the placebo group received identical looking placebo capsules. Psychopathology, adverse side effects and cognitive function were measured using standardized instruments. The group × time interaction effects for the scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) subscales and performances on all cognitive components were not significant, only the main effect of group was significant. Compared to the placebo group, artemether group participants showed significantly greater reduction in the PANSS negative symptom scale (F(1,46) = 4.7, p = 0.03) and the Clinical Global Impressions Scale (F(1,96) = 6.2, p = 0.01) scores, but there were no significant differences in the PANSS positive symptom and general psychopathology scales (p > 0.05). There were also no significant differences between the two groups in performance on any of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) cognitive domains. The artemether-risperidone combination is safe and well tolerated, but artemether as an adjunct to risperidone does not appear to alleviate cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Register (ChiCTR) TRC-13003145.

[Dynamic model of seasonal breeding rodent pest population controlled with short-acting sterilant].

Rodent pests bring great damage to human beings, while rodenticide and sterilant can be used to control the pests. After ingesting sterilant, rodent pests lose their fertility, but in some cases, the sterile individuals may gain their fertility again, produce offspring, and enlarge population size. In this paper, the dynamic models of rodent pest population under lethal control and shortacting contraception control were formulated, and, with the prerequisite of the seasonal breeding of rodent pest population, the models were used to regularly analyze their behaviors and the effects of the contraception rate, lethal rate, control interval, and sterilant valid period on the dynamics of the pest population. The results showed that larger contraception rate and lethal rate and shorter control interval could have better control effect, making the controlled population become smaller and even died out. Short-acting sterilant limited the control effect. At the later period of breeding season, the rodent pest population controlled with short-acting sterilant would have a weak recovery.

Molecular cloning, characterization and expression analysis of a C-type lectin (AJCTL) from the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus.

For the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, a C-type lectin (AJCTL) was identified using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) PCR techniques. The full-length cDNA of AJCTL is composed of 710bp with a 618bp open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a polypeptide of 205 amino acids with a N-terminal signal peptide and a C-terminal C-type lectin domain (CTLD). The calculated molecular mass of the whole protein is 22.5kDa and its predicted isoelectric point is 5.59. AJCTL belongs to the group VII of regulatory proteins and it might function as a Ca(2+)-dependent monosaccharide binding lectin specifically and recognizing mannose-type ligands. In situ hybridization demonstrated that the expression of AJCTL was located in the body wall, longitudinal muscles, intestinum and respiratory tree. This became apparent especially in the cytoplasm of epidermal cells and granular haemocytes. Real-time PCR data suggested that AJCTL was mostly synthesized in the longitudinal muscles and intestinum and less pronounced in the respiratory tree and body wall of adults. After 12h stimulation by Vibrio harveyi, at increasing bacterial concentration gradient, the expression of AJCTL in sea cucumber increased as well. This indicated that CTL is related to an innate immune response.