DiSMVC: a multi-view graph collaborative learning framework for measuring disease similarity.

MOTIVATION: Exploring potential associations between diseases can help in understanding pathological mechanisms of diseases and facilitating the discovery of candidate biomarkers and drug targets, thereby promoting disease diagnosis and treatment. Some computational methods have been proposed for measuring disease similarity. However, these methods describe diseases without considering their latent multi-molecule regulation and valuable supervision signal, resulting in limited biological interpretability and efficiency to capture association patterns. RESULTS: In this study, we propose a new computational method named DiSMVC. Different from existing predictors, DiSMVC designs a supervised graph collaborative framework to measure disease similarity. Multiple bio-entity associations related to genes and miRNAs are integrated via cross-view graph contrastive learning to extract informative disease representation, and then association pattern joint learning is implemented to compute disease similarity by incorporating phenotype-annotated disease associations. The experimental results show that DiSMVC can draw discriminative characteristics for disease pairs, and outperform other state-of-the-art methods. As a result, DiSMVC is a promising method for predicting disease associations with molecular interpretability. AVAILABILITY: Datasets and source codes are available at https://github.com/Biohang/DiSMVC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Aerobic Exercise Attenuates Pressure Overload-Induced Myocardial Remodeling and Myocardial Inflammation via Upregulating miR-574-3p in Mice.

BACKGROUND: Exercise training can promote cardiac rehabilitation, thereby reducing cardiovascular disease mortality and hospitalization rates. MicroRNAs (miRs) are closely related to heart disease, among which miR-574-3p plays an important role in myocardial remodeling, but its role in exercise-mediated cardioprotection is still unclear. METHODS: A mouse myocardial hypertrophy model was established by transverse aortic coarctation, and a 4-week swimming exercise training was performed 1 week after the operation. After swimming training, echocardiography was used to evaluate cardiac function in mice, and histopathologic staining was used to detect cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, and cardiac inflammation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression levels of miR-574-3p and cardiac hypertrophy markers. Western blotting detected the IL-6 (interleukin-6)/JAK/STAT inflammatory signaling pathway. RESULTS: Echocardiography and histochemical staining found that aerobic exercise significantly improved pressure overload-induced myocardial hypertrophy (n=6), myocardial interstitial fibrosis (n=6), and cardiac inflammation (n=6). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction detection showed that aerobic exercise upregulated the expression level of miR-574-3p (n=6). After specific knockdown of miR-574-3p in mouse hearts with adeno-associated virus 9 using cardiac troponin T promoter, we found that the protective effect of exercise training on the heart was significantly reversed. Echocardiography and histopathologic staining showed that inhibiting the expression of miR-574-3p could partially block the effects of aerobic exercise on cardiac function (n=6), cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area (n=6), and myocardial fibrosis (n=6). Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining showed that the inhibitory effects of aerobic exercise on the IL-6/JAK/STAT pathway and cardiac inflammation were partially abolished after miR-574-3p knockdown. Furthermore, we also found that miR-574-3p exerts cardioprotective effects in cardiomyocytes by targeting IL-6 (n=3). CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic exercise protects cardiac hypertrophy and inflammation induced by pressure overload by upregulating miR-574-3p and inhibiting the IL-6/JAK/STAT pathway.

Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes of patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer receiving neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy: A large-scale, multicenter, real-world study (NeoR-World).

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant immunotherapy has ushered in a new era of perioperative treatment for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, large-scale data for verifying the efficacy and optimizing the therapeutic strategies of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy in routine clinical practice are scarce. METHODS: NeoR-World (NCT05974007) was a multicenter, retrospective cohort study involving patients who received neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone in routine clinical practice from 11 medical centers in China between January 2010 and March 2022. Propensity score matching was performed to address indication bias. RESULTS: A total of 408 patients receiving neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and 684 patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy were included. The pathologic complete response (pCR) and major pathologic response (MPR) rates of the real-world neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy cohort were 32.8% and 58.1%, respectively. Notably, patients with squamous cell carcinoma exhibited significantly higher pCR and MPR rates than those with adenocarcinoma (pCR, 39.2% vs 16.5% [P < .001]; MPR, 66.6% vs 36.5% [P < .001]), whereas pCR and MPR rates were comparable among patients receiving different neoadjuvant cycles. In addition, the 2-year rates of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rate were 82.0% and 93.1%, respectively. Multivariate analyses identified adjuvant therapy as an independent prognostic factor for DFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-0.89; P = .018) and OS (HR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.13-0.58; P < .001). A significantly longer DFS with adjuvant therapy was observed in patients with non-pCR or 2 neoadjuvant cycles. We observed significant benefits in pCR rate (32.4% vs 6.4%; P < .001), DFS (HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.38-0.68; P < .001) and OS (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.40-0.94; P = .024) with immunotherapy plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone both in the primary propensity-matched cohort and across most key subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: The study validates the superior efficacy of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy over chemotherapy alone for NSCLC. Adjuvant therapy could prolong DFS in patients receiving neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy, and patients with non-pCR or those who underwent 2 neoadjuvant cycles were identified as potential beneficiaries of adjuvant therapy.

Loss of chromosome 9p21 is associated with a poor prognosis in adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas.

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas (ASCP) is a rare histological subtype of pancreatic cancer with a poor prognosis and a high metastasis rate. However, little is known about its genomic landscape and prognostic biomarkers. A total of 48 ASCP specimens and 98 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumour specimens were sequenced to explore the genomic landscape and prognostic biomarkers. The homozygous deletion of the 9p21.3 region (including CDKN2A, CDKN2B, and MTAP) (9p21 loss) occurred in both ASCP and PDAC, and a higher frequency of 9p21 loss was observed in ASCP (12.5% vs 2.0%, P = 0.022). Notably, 9p21 loss was significantly associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) in ASCP patients (mDFS (Median DFS) = 4.17 vs 7.33 months, HR (Hazard Ratio) = 3.70, P = 0.009). The most common gene alterations in patients with ASCP were KRAS (96%), TP53 (81%), CDKN2A (42%), SMAD4 (21%), CDKN2B (13%), and FAT3 (13%). The mutation rates of ACVR2A (6.25% vs 0%), FANCA (6.25% vs 0%), RBM10 (6.25% vs 0%), and SPTA1 (8.33% vs 1.02%) were significantly higher in ASCP than in PDAC. In conclusion, we have comprehensively described the genomic landscape of the largest cohort of ASCP patients to date and highlight that 9p21 loss may be a promising prognostic biomarker for ASCP, which provides a molecular basis for prognosis prediction and new therapeutic strategies for ASCP.

CRB3 navigates Rab11 trafficking vesicles to promote γTuRC assembly during ciliogenesis.

The primary cilium plays important roles in regulating cell differentiation, signal transduction, and tissue organization. Dysfunction of the primary cilium can lead to ciliopathies and cancer. The formation and organization of the primary cilium are highly associated with cell polarity proteins, such as the apical polarity protein CRB3. However, the molecular mechanisms by which CRB3 regulates ciliogenesis and the location of CRB3 remain unknown. Here, we show that CRB3, as a navigator, regulates vesicle trafficking in γ-tubulin ring complex (γTuRC) assembly during ciliogenesis and cilium-related Hh and Wnt signaling pathways in tumorigenesis. Crb3 knockout mice display severe defects of the primary cilium in the mammary ductal lumen and renal tubule, while mammary epithelial-specific Crb3 knockout mice exhibit the promotion of ductal epithelial hyperplasia and tumorigenesis. CRB3 is essential for lumen formation and ciliary assembly in the mammary epithelium. We demonstrate that CRB3 localizes to the basal body and that CRB3 trafficking is mediated by Rab11-positive endosomes. Significantly, CRB3 interacts with Rab11 to navigate GCP6/Rab11 trafficking vesicles to CEP290, resulting in intact γTuRC assembly. In addition, CRB3-depleted cells are unresponsive to the activation of the Hh signaling pathway, while CRB3 regulates the Wnt signaling pathway. Therefore, our studies reveal the molecular mechanisms by which CRB3 recognizes Rab11-positive endosomes to facilitate ciliogenesis and regulates cilium-related signaling pathways in tumorigenesis.

Control of arbuscule development by a transcriptional negative feedback loop in Medicago.

Most terrestrial plants establish a symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which provide them with lipids and sugars in exchange for phosphorus and nitrogen. Nutrient exchange must be dynamically controlled to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship between the two symbiotic partners. The WRI5a and its homologues play a conserved role in lipid supply to AMF. Here, we demonstrate that the AP2/ERF transcription factor MtERM1 binds directly to AW-box and AW-box-like cis-elements in the promoters of MtSTR2 and MtSTR, which are required for host lipid efflux and arbuscule development. The EAR domain-containing transcription factor MtERF12 is also directly activated by MtERM1/MtWRI5a to negatively regulate arbuscule development, and the TOPLESS co-repressor is further recruited by MtERF12 through EAR motif to oppose MtERM1/MtWRI5a function, thereby suppressing arbuscule development. We therefore reveal an ERM1/WRI5a-ERF12-TOPLESS negative feedback loop that enables plants to flexibly control nutrient exchange and ensure a mutually beneficial symbiosis.

Loss of USP22 alleviates cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload through HiF1-α-TAK1 signaling pathway.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) is a member of the ubiquitin specific protease family (ubiquitin-specific protease, USPs), the largest subfamily of deubiquitinating enzymes, and plays an important role in the treatment of tumors. USP22 is also expressed in the heart. However, the role of USP22 in heart disease remains unclear. In this study, we found that USP22 was elevated in hypertrophic mouse hearts and in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiomyocytes. The inhibition of USP22 expression with adenovirus significantly rescued hypertrophic phenotype and cardiac dysfunction induced by pressure overloaded. Consistent with in vivo study, silencing by USP22 shRNA expression in vitro had similar results. Molecular analysis revealed that transforming growth factor-ß-activating protein 1 (TAK1)-(JNK1/2)/P38 signaling pathway and HIF-1α was activated in the Ang II-induced hypertrophic cardiomyocytes, whereas HIF-1α expression was decreased after the inhibition of USP22. Inhibition of HIF-1α expression reduces TAK1 expression. Co-immunoprecipitation and ubiquitination studies revealed the regulatory mechanism between USP22 and HIF1α.Under hypertrophic stress conditions, USP22 enhances the stability of HIF-1α through its deubiquitination activity, which further activates the TAK1-(JNK1/2)/P38 signaling pathway to lead to cardiac hypertrophy. Inhibition of HIF-1α expression further potentiates the in vivo pathological effects caused by USP22 deficiency. In summary, this study suggests that USP22, through HIF-1α-TAK1-(JNK1/2)/P38 signaling pathway, may be potential targets for inhibiting pathological cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload.

White Collar 1 Modulates Oxidative Sensitivity and Virulence by Regulating the HOG1 Pathway in Fusarium asiaticum.

Fusarium asiaticum is an epidemiologically important pathogen of cereal crops in east Asia, accounting for both yield losses and mycotoxin contamination problems in food and feed products. FaWC1, a component of the blue-light receptor White Collar complex (WCC), relies on its transcriptional regulatory zinc finger domain rather than the light-oxygen-voltage domain to regulate pathogenicity of F. asiaticum, although the downstream mechanisms remain obscure. In this study, the pathogenicity factors regulated by FaWC1 were analyzed. It was found that loss of FaWC1 resulted in higher sensitivity to reactive oxygen species (ROS) than in the wild type, while exogenous application of the ROS quencher ascorbic acid restored the pathogenicity of the ΔFawc1 strain to the level of the wild type, indicating that the reduced pathogenicity of the ΔFawc1 strain is due to a defect in ROS tolerance. Moreover, the expression levels of the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway genes and their downstream genes encoding ROS scavenging enzymes were downregulated in the ΔFawc1 mutant. Upon ROS stimulation, the FaHOG1-green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing signal driven by the native promoter was inducible in the wild type but negligible in the ΔFawc1 strain. Overexpressing Fahog1 in the ΔFawc1 strain could recover the ROS tolerance and pathogenicity of the ΔFawc1 mutant, but it remained defective in light responsiveness. In summary, this study dissected the roles of the blue-light receptor component FaWC1 in regulating expression levels of the intracellular HOG-MAPK signaling pathway to affect ROS sensitivity and pathogenicity in F. asiaticum. IMPORTANCE The well-conserved fungal blue-light receptor White Collar complex (WCC) is known to regulate virulence of several pathogenic species for either plant or human hosts, but how WCC determines fungal pathogenicity remains largely unknown. The WCC component FaWC1 in the cereal pathogen Fusarium asiaticum was previously found to be required for full virulence. The present study dissected the roles of FaWC1 in regulating the intracellular HOG MAPK signaling pathway to affect ROS sensitivity and pathogenicity in F. asiaticum. This work thus extends knowledge of the association between fungal light receptors and the intracellular stress signaling pathway to regulate oxidative stress tolerance and pathogenicity in an epidemiologically important fungal pathogen of cereal crops.

Phosphorylation status of a conserved residue in the adenylate cyclase of Botrytis cinerea is involved in regulating photomorphogenesis, circadian rhythm, and pathogenicity.

Adenylate cyclase (AC) regulates growth, reproduction, and pathogenicity in many fungi by synthesizing cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and activating downstream protein kinase A (PKA). Botrytis cinerea is a typical necrotrophic plant-pathogenic fungus. It shows a typical photomorphogenic phenotype of conidiation under light and sclerotia formation under dark; both are important reproduction structures for the dispersal and stress resistance of the fungus. The report of B. cinerea adenylate cyclase (BAC) mutation showed it affects the production of conidia and sclerotia. However, the regulatory mechanisms of the cAMP signaling pathways in photomorphogenesis have not been clarified. In this study, the S1407 site was proven to be an important conserved residue in the PP2C domain which poses a remarkable impact on the phosphorylation levels and enzyme activity of the BAC and the overall phosphorylation status of total proteins. The point mutation bacS1407P , complementation bacP1407S , phosphomimetic mutation bacS1407D , and phosphodeficient mutation bacS1407A strains were used for comparison with the light receptor white-collar mutant Δbcwcl1 to elucidate the relationship between the cAMP signaling pathway and the light response. The comparison of photomorphogenesis and pathogenicity phenotype, evaluation of circadian clock components, and expression analysis of light response transcription factor genes Bcltf1, Bcltf2, and Bcltf3 showed that the cAMP signaling pathway could stabilize the circadian rhythm that is associated with pathogenicity, conidiation, and sclerotium production. Collectively, this reveals that the conserved S1407 residue of BAC is a vital phosphorylation site to regulate the cAMP signaling pathway and affects the photomorphogenesis, circadian rhythm, and pathogenicity of B. cinerea.

Cardiac-Specific Overexpression of Caveolin-1 in Rats With Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Improves Arrhythmogenicity and Cardiac Remodelling.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is associated with electrical and structural remodelling, leading to arrhythmias. Caveolin-1 (Cav1) is a membrane protein involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic injury. Cav1 deficiency has been associated with arrhythmogenicity. The current study aimed to determine how Cav1 overexpression inhibits arrhythmias and cardiac remodelling in ICM. METHODS: ICM was modelled using left anterior descending (LAD) artery ligation for 4 weeks. Cardiac-specific Cav1 overexpression in ICM on arrhythmias, excitation-contraction coupling, and cardiac remodelling were investigated using the intramyocardial injection of an adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV-9) system, carrying a specific sequence expressing Cav1 (AAVCav1) under the cardiac troponin T (cTnT) promoter. RESULTS: Cav1 overexpression decreased susceptibility to arrhythmias by upregulating gap junction connexin 43 (CX43) and reducing spontaneous irregular proarrhythmogenic Ca2+ waves in ventricular cardiomyocytes. It also alleviated ischemic injury-induced contractility weakness by improving Ca2+ cycling through normalizing Ca2+-handling protein levels and improving Ca2+ homeostasis. Masson stain and immunoblotting revealed that the deposition of excessive fibrosis was attenuated by Cav1 overexpression, inhibiting the transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß)/Smad2 signalling pathway. Coimmunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that the interaction between Cav1 and cSrc modulated CX43 expression and Ca2+-handling protein levels. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac-specific overexpression of Cav1 attenuated ventricular arrhythmia, improved Ca2+ cycling, and attenuated cardiac remodelling. These effects were attributed to modulation of CX43, normalized Ca2+-handling protein levels, improved Ca2+ homeostasis, and attenuated cardiac fibrosis.

Development and external validation of a dynamic nomogram to predict the survival for adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas.

Objective: We aimed to develop a nomogram to predict the survival and prognosis of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas (ASCP). Background: Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas (ASCP) is a relatively rare histological subtype of pancreatic exocrine neoplasms. It was reported a worse survival in ASCP than in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Prediction of ASCP prognosis is of great importance. Methods: Histologically confirmed ASCP patients from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database were finally enrolled and divided into development and internal validation cohorts. Moreover, a multi-center cohort of 70 patients from China was registered as the external validation. A nomogram was developed based on independent predictors of ASCP determined in multivariable analysis. Results: A total of 233 patients from SEER were finally included. Univariate and Multivariate analysis showed that tumor size, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and lymph node ratio (LNR) were considered the independent prognostic indicators. We developed a nomogram according to these four parameters. The C index of the nomogram in the development cohort was 0.696. Through analysis of the area under the curve (AUC) of the different cohorts, we observed that the predictive efficacy of the nomogram for 1-, and 2-year overall survival (OS) were better than those of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM (8th) staging system both in the development and validation cohort. External validation confirmed that 1-year survival is 67.2% vs. 29.7%, similar to the internal cohort analysis. Conclusion: The nomogram showed good performance in predicting the survival of ASCP. It could help surgeons to make clinical decisions and develop further plans.

3D Collagen Fiber Concentration Regulates Treg Cell Infiltration in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by poor prognosis and a lack of effective therapeutic agents owing to the absence of biomarkers. A high abundance of tumor-infiltrating regulatory T cells (Tregs) was associated with worse prognosis in malignant disease. Exploring the association between Treg cell infiltration and TNBC will provide new insights for understanding TNBC immunosuppression and may pave the way for developing novel immune-based treatments. Materials and Methods: Patients from TCGA were divided into Treg-high (Treg-H) and Treg-low (Treg-L) groups based on the abundance of Tregs according to CIBERSORT analysis. The association between expression level of Tregs and the clinical characteristics as well as prognosis of breast cancer were evaluated. Next, a Treg-related prognostic model was established after survival-dependent univariate Cox and LASSO regression analysis, companied with an external GEO cohort validation. Then, GO, KEGG and GSEA analyses were performed between the Treg-H and Treg-L groups. Masson and Sirius red/Fast Green staining were applied for ECM characterization. Accordingly, Jurkat T cells were encapsulated in 3D collagen to mimic the ECM microenvironment, and the expression levels of CD4, FOXP3 and CD25 were quantified according to immunofluorescence staining. Results: The expression level of Tregs is significantly associated with the clinical characteristics of breast cancer patients, and a high level of Treg cell expression indicates a poor prognosis in TNBC. To further evaluate this, a Treg-related prognostic model was established that accurately predicted outcomes in both TCGA training and GEO validation cohorts of TNBC patients. Subsequently, ECM-associated signaling pathways were identified between the Treg-H and Treg-L groups, indicating the role of ECM in Treg infiltration. Since we found increasing collagen concentrations in TNBC patients with distant migration, we encapsulated Jurkat T cells within a 3D matrix with different collagen concentrations and observed that increasing collagen concentrations promoted the expression of Treg biomarkers, supporting the regulatory role of ECM in Treg infiltration. Conclusion: Our results support the association between Treg expression and breast cancer progression as well as prognosis in the TNBC subtype. Moreover, increasing collagen density may promote Treg infiltration, and thus induce an immunosuppressed TME.

Necrolytic migratory erythema is an important visual cutaneous clue of glucagonoma.

Glucagonoma is an extremely rare neuroendocrine tumor that arises from pancreatic islet alpha cells. Although glucagonoma is usually accompanied by a variety of characteristic clinical symptoms, early diagnosis is still difficult due to the scarcity of the disease. In this study, we present the cumulative experiences, clinical characteristics and treatments of seven patients diagnosed with glucagonoma during the past 10 years at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. The seven patients in our cohort consisted of six females and one male with an average diagnosis age of 40.1 years (range 23-51). The average time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis of glucagonoma was 14 months (range 2-36 months). All the patients visited dermatology first for necrolytic migratory erythema (NME) 7/7 (100%), and other presenting symptoms included diabetes mellitus (DM) 4/7 (57%), stomatitis 2/7 (28%), weight loss 4/7 (57%), anemia 4/7 (57%), diarrhea 1/7 (14%), and DVT1/7 (14%). Plasma glucagon levels were increased in all patients (range 216.92-3155 pg/mL) and declined after surgery. Imaging studies revealed that four of seven patients had liver metastasis. Six of seven patients received surgical resection, and all of them received somatostatin analog therapy. Symptoms improved significantly in 6 out of 7 patients. Three of seven patients died of this disease by the time of follow-up. Our data suggest that if persistent NME is associated with DM and high glucagon levels, timely abdominal imaging should be performed to confirm glucagonoma. Once diagnosed, surgery and somatostatin analogs are effective for symptom relief and tumor control.

Characteristics of the immunogenicity and tumor immune microenvironment in HER2-amplified lung adenocarcinoma.

Objective: Besides breast and gastric cancer, HER2 amplification/mutation are also found in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, the correlation between HER2 variations and the phenotype of immunogenicity and tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in LUAD compared with breast and gastric cancer has yet to be fully elucidated. Methods: We integrated public databases (discovery set) and internal data (validated set) of 288 patients representing three distinct HER2-altered tumors. Genomic data were used to identify somatic mutations, copy number variations, and calculate tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability score. RNA sequencing was conducted to estimate immune gene signatures and contents of tumor-infiltrating immune cell populations. Finally, IHC was used to determine PD-L1 expression and the tumoral-infiltration of immune cells in 50 HER2-variant tumor specimens with no prior therapeutic regimens. Results: Compared with HER2-amplified breast and gastric cancers, patients with HER2-amplified LUAD showed higher immunogenicity, mainly manifested in immune checkpoints expression and tissue/blood TMB. Additionally, HER2-amplified LUAD exhibited an inflamed TIME with remarkably increased genes encoding HLAs, T-cell activity and immune cell-type, and accompanied with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. In LUAD, patients with HER2 amplification possessed higher tissue TMB than HER2 mutation, whereas no difference was observed in PD-L1 expression. HER2 amplification (primary) was associated with significantly higher PD-L1 expression and TMB than acquired HER2 amplification after resistance to EGFR-TKIs. Conclusion: Patients with HER2-amplified LUAD have better immunogenicity and/or an inflamed TIME among HER2-aberrant tumors. Our study may provide clues for establishing the benefits and uses of ICIs for patients with this disease.

Dapagliflozin attenuates pressure overload-induced myocardial remodeling in mice via activating SIRT1 and inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis plays a vital role in the occurrence and development of heart failure. Dapagliflozin (DAPA), a new type of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, is an oral hypoglycemic drug that reduces glucose reabsorption by the kidneys and increases glucose excretion in the urine. Studies have shown that DAPA may have the potential to treat heart failure in addition to controlling blood sugar. This study explored the effect of DAPA on endoplasmic reticulum stress-related apoptosis caused by heart failure. In vitro, we found that DAPA inhibited the expression of cleaved caspase 3, Bax, C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), and glucose-regulated protein78 (GRP78) and upregulated the cardiomyoprotective protein Bcl-2 in angiotensin II (Ang II)-treated cardiomyocytes. In addition, DAPA promoted the expression of silent information regulator factor 2-related enzyme 1 (SIRT1) and suppressed the expression of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) and the ratios p-PERK/PERK and p-eIF2α/eIF2α. Notably, the therapeutic effect of DAPA was weakened by pretreatment with the SIRT1 inhibitor EX527 (10 µM). Simultaneous administration of DAPA inhibited the Ang II-induced transformation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts and inhibited fibroblast migration. In summary, our present findings first indicate that DAPA could inhibit the PERK-eIF2α-CHOP axis of the ER stress response through the activation of SIRT1 in Ang II-treated cardiomyocytes and ameliorate heart failure development in vivo.

Clinicopathologic features of a patient with primary monophasic synovial sarcoma of the jejunum.

A case of primary synovial sarcoma of the jejunum was collected and analyzed retrospectively. A 19-year-old man who presented to hospital with abdominal pain. The CT scan showed a large mixed abdominal mass with bleeding. Laparotomy revealed that the tumor originated from the jejunum, accompanied by rupture and hemorrhage. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of spindle cells. The tumor cells demonstrated diffuse expression of vimentin, transducin-like enhancer (TLE)-1, B-cell lymphoma protein (Bcl)-2, CD99 and focal expression of epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). The presence of specific SS18 gene rearrangement was confirmed in tumor cells. The patient received 6 cycles of chemotherapy after jejunal tumor resection. And 12 months later, the patient presented pancreatic metastasis and had radiotherapy. The patient died 15 months after the diagnosis.

LINC00221 silencing prevents the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma through let-7a-5p-targeted inhibition of MMP11.

BACKGROUND: Microarray profiles of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) identified that long intergenic noncoding RNA 00221 (LINC00221) was upregulated. Herein, we aimed to identify the functional significance and underlying mechanisms of LINC00221 in HCC. METHODS AND RESULTS: Human HCC samples had increased expression of LINC00221. Effects of LINC00221 on HCC cellular functions were analyzed using gain- and loss-function approaches. LINC00221 knockdown repressed HCC cell growth, migration, and invasion and enhanced their apoptosis. This anti-tumor effect was validated in vivo. Online prediction showed the potential binding relationship between LINC00221 and let-7a-5p, as well as that between let-7a-5p and matrix metalloproteinase 11 (MMP11). The results of luciferase, RNA immunoprecipitation, and RNA pull-down assays identified that LINC00221 interacted with let-7a-5p to increase expression of MMP11. Furthermore, we demonstrated that LINC00221 silencing increased let-7a-5p and inhibited MMP11 expression, thereby delaying the progression of HCC in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Silencing of LINC00221 could prevent HCC progression via upregulating let-7a-5p and downregulating MMP11. As such, LINC00221 inhibition presents a promising antitumor strategy for the treatment of HCC.

Compartmentalization of Melanin Biosynthetic Enzymes Contributes to Self-Defense against Intermediate Compound Scytalone in Botrytis cinerea.

In filamentous fungi, 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) melanin is a major component of the extracellular matrix, endowing fungi with environmental tolerance and some pathogenic species with pathogenicity. However, the subcellular location of the melanin biosynthesis pathway components remains obscure. Using the gray mold pathogen Botrytis cinerea, the DHN melanin intermediate scytalone was characterized via phenotypic and chemical analysis of mutants, and the key enzymes participating in melanin synthesis were fused with fluorescent proteins to observe their subcellular localizations. The Δbcscd1 mutant accumulated scytalone in the culture filtrate rather than in mycelium. Excessive scytalone appears to be self-inhibitory to the fungus, leading to repressed sclerotial germination and sporulation in the Δbcscd1 mutant. The BcBRN1/2 enzymes responsible for synthesizing scytalone were localized in endosomes and found to be trafficked to the cell surface, accompanied by the accumulation of BcSCD1 proteins in the cell wall. In contrast, the early-stage melanin synthesis enzymes BcPKS12/13 and BcYGH1 were localized in peroxisomes. Taken together, the results of this study revealed the subcellular distribution of melanin biosynthetic enzymes in B. cinerea, indicating that the encapsulation and externalization of the melanin synthetic enzymes need to be delicately orchestrated to ensure enzymatic efficiency and protect itself from the adverse effect of the toxic intermediate metabolite.IMPORTANCE The devastating gray mold pathogen Botrytis cinerea propagates via melanized conidia and sclerotia. This study reveals that the sclerotial germination of B. cinerea is differentially affected by different enzymes in the melanin synthesis pathway. Using gene knockout mutants and chemical analysis, we found that excessive accumulation of the melanin intermediate scytalone is inhibitory to B. cinerea. Subcellular localization analysis of the melanin synthesis enzymes of B. cinerea suggested two-stage partitioning of the melanogenesis pathway: the intracellular stage involves the steps until the intermediate scytalone was translocated to the cell surface, whereas the extracellular stage comprises all the steps occurring in the wall from scytalone to final melanin formation. These strategies make the fungus avert self-poisoning during melanin production. This study opens avenues for better understanding the mechanisms of secondary metabolite production in filamentous fungi.