Association of oily fish and nonoily fish intakes with all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality: a large population-based prospective study.

BACKGROUND: There are inconsistent results of cohort studies analyzing the association between fish intake and mortality. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to explore the association of oily fish consumption and nonoily fish consumption with all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality. METHODS: A total of 431,062 participants from the UK Biobank who were without cancer or cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline between 2006 and 2010 were included in this study, and they were followed up through 2021. We constructed Cox proportional hazard models to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess the correlation of oily fish and nonoily fish intakes with mortality. Then, we performed subgroup analyses, and sensitivity analyses were developed and performed to examine the robustness of this study. RESULTS: Among the participants, 383,248 (88.9%) and 410,499 (95.2%) consumed oily fish and nonoily fish, respectively. Compared with the participants who did not consume oily fish, the adjusted HRs for the association of oily fish consumption (1 serving/week) with all-cause mortality and CVD mortality were 0.93 (0.87 to 0.98; p < 0.05) and 0.85 (0.74 to 0.98; p < 0.05), respectively. The multivariable-adjusted HRs of all-cause mortality for those who reported consuming < 1 serving/week of oily fish were 0.92 (0.86 to 0.98; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared with participants who reported never consuming oily fish, the consumption of oily fish with 1 serving/week was more beneficial for all-cause and CVD mortality.

Investigation of the clinicopathological and prognostic role of circMTO1 in multiple cancers.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the prognostic value of circular RNA mitochondrial tRNA translation optimization 1 (circMTO1) in human tumors. METHODS: We searched multiple databases for related reports published before November 01, 2021. The OR/HR and 95% CI were extracted to explore the correlation between circMTO1 expression and clinicopathological features in various cancers. The stability of the results from meta-analysis was estimated via sensitivity analysis. We adopted Begg's funnel plots and Egger's test to appraise the potential bias of publication. Subgroup analysis for overall survival (OS) were also performed. RESULTS: 11 studies containing 1383 patients and 4 articles including 536 patients were enrolled. We found that low expression status of circMTO1 was significantly related to big tumor size (OR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.26-3.56, P<0.05), poor differentiation tumors (OR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.46-2.98, P<0.05), OS (HR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.63-2.50, P<0.05), disease-free survival (DFS) (HR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.27-2.56, P<0.05) of cancers. Subgroup analysis indicated that low expression status of circMTO1 was correlated with OS, regardless of analysis method, cut-off value, case number and NOS score. CONCLUSIONS: The low expression of circMTO1 may predict big tumor size, poor differentiation and worse outcome of cancer, presenting that circMTO1 may be a useful biomarker for prognosis of tumors.

Prognostic significance of long non-coding RNA five prime to XIST in various cancers.

BACKGROUND: To observe the clinicopathological and prognostic value of long non-coding RNA five prime to X inactive specific transcript (lncFTX) in multiple tumors. METHODS: Eligible studies for lncFTX were identified by searching PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases from inception to December 01, 2020. Stata 12.0 software was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR)/hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). We used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset to further investigate the differential expression and prognostic value of lncFTX. RESULTS: We included 11 studies involving a total of 1633 patients. The results showed that the expression of lncFTX was positively associated with advanced TNM stage (III-IV versus I-II) (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.74-3.03, P < 0.05), lymph nodes metastasis (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 2.00-4.52, P < 0.05), distant metastasis (OR = 3.68, 95% CI: 2.13-6.34, P < 0.05), and cancer mortality (HR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.20-2.81, P < 0.05). However, the expression of lncFTX was not associated with tumor differentiation (poor differentiation versus well or moderate differentiation) and vessel invasion of cancer. Subgroup analysis showed that the higher lncFTX expression was associated with shorter overall survival in cancer patients, regardless of the sample size and cancer type. No publication bias was found, and the sensitivity analysis results suggested that the main findings were robust. Elevated expression and prognostic significance of FTX were confirmed using TCGA dataset. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the expression of lncFTX was positively associated with advanced tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, lymph nodes, distant metastasis and, cancer mortality, suggesting that lncFTX might be a potential prognostic biomarker for tumors.

Clinicopathologic and prognostic roles of circular RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 in various cancers.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of circular RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (circPVT1) in various cancers. METHODS: Several databases were searched for eligible studies published before March 01, 2021. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated to assess the association between circPVT1 expression and prognostic outcomes of tumor including age, gender, clinical stage, tumor size, metastasis and overall survival. Begg's funnel plots and Egger's test were used to evaluate the publication bias. The robustness of our results was assessed using sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Ten studies comprising a total of 878 patients with cancer were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that the high expression of circPVT1 was significantly related to clinical stage (OR=3.44, 95% CI: 2.40-4.94, P<0.05), tumor size (OR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.38-3.79, P<0.05), metastasis (OR=2.97, 95% CI: 2.06-4.28, p<0.05) and overall survival of cancer (OR=3.30, 95% CI: 2.26-4.84, p<0.05), but not associated with age and gender of patients with tumor. No publication bias was found. CONCLUSIONS: High expression of circPVT1 may predict an advanced clinical stage and poor prognosis of tumor, suggesting that circPVT1 may serve as a potential prognostic marker in cancers.

Clinical expert consensus on standard care of blood glucose for residents in senior care facility in China (2021 edition).

With the demographic changes, more and more elderly people have chosen to spend their retirement life in a senior care facility. The elderly people in senior care facility are commonly suffering from various geriatric syndromes, including declined daily living activities, cognitive dysfunction, frailty, comorbidities, and polypharmacy, which make them vulnerable to adverse effects, like hypoglycemia and fall. Therefore, layered management is necessary for this population with group disparities. However, the staff in senior care facility vary greatly in concepts and skills on management of senile diabetic population, which needs urgently to be standardized and improved. For this purpose, based on literature review and panel discussion, 28 recommendations are proposed in respect of the standardized management of blood glucose, covering the comprehensive assessment, layered management and grouping, exercise, nutrition, glucose monitoring, identification and treatment of severe hyperglycemia, identification of macrovascular and microvascular complications, management of hypoglycemic drugs, falls and choking and other common problems, blood glucose screening, hypoglycemia prevention, and blood glucose management in major public health events or serious natural disasters. This guideline aims to standardize management skills of medical staff and caregivers in senior care facility for the blood glucose of elderly people and improve their quality of life.

Prognosis and Immune Infiltration of Chromobox Family Genes in Sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Chromobox family genes (CBXs) are known to play roles in numerous modifications of the chromatin in order to inhibit the transcription of target genes. CBXs have been shown to be expressed at high levels in many types of cancer and can also serve as a target gene for therapeutic purposes. However, little is known about the expression and prognostic value of CBXs in human sarcomas. METHODS: The transcription level of CBXs was analyzed using the Oncomine dataset, and the differential expression of CBXs in sarcoma was reported by the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) dataset. We also used the CCLE dataset to evaluate the expression of CBXs in a sarcoma cell line. The prognostic value of CBXs was analyzed using GEPIA and Kaplan-Meier analysis. In addition, the corrections between CBXs and their co-expressed genes were reported using Oncomine and GEPIA datasets. DAVID was used to perform GO function enrichment analysis for the CBXs and their co-expression genes. Finally, TIMER was used to analyze the immune cell infiltration of CBXs in patients with sarcoma. RESULTS: HP1-α/ß/γ (CBX1/3/5) and CBX4/6/8 were found to be overexpressed in human sarcoma, and CBXs were upregulated in almost all the sarcoma cell line. The expression levels of HP1-α/ß/γ (CBX1/3/5) and CBX7 were associated with overall survival (OS) in patients with sarcoma, while high expression levels of CBX7 were related to disease-free survival (DFS). In addition, the expression levels of CBX2/6/7 were related to recurrence-free survival (RFS). We also found that the CBX family was positively correlated with the infiltration of immune cells, including CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, B cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells, in sarcoma. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the present study indicated that CBXs were significantly associated with prognosis and immunological status in sarcoma. These data suggest that CBXs could serve as potential biomarkers for prognosis and immune infiltration in human sarcoma.

The relationship between the expression of Ki-67 and the prognosis of osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: A number of studies have linked positive Ki-67 expression with the prognosis of osteosarcoma (OS) patients. However, the results have been conflicting. To address this controversy, we conducted an analysis using a meta-analysis and a TCGA dataset to estimate the value of Ki-67 expression in the prognosis of OS. METHODS: A comprehensive search for relevant papers was conducted using NCBI PubMed, Embase, Springer, ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane Library, and CNKI regardless of the publication year. The associations between Ki-67 expression and the clinical features and main prognostic outcomes of OS were measured. The TCGA dataset was also analyzed. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidential intervals (CIs) were utilized for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Overall, a total of 12 studies with 500 cases were included, and the results indicated that the expression of Ki-67 was significantly associated with Enneking stage (OR = 6.88, 95% CI: 2.92-16.22, p < 0.05), distant metastasis (OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.51-6.12, p < 0.05) and overall survival (OR = 8.82, 95% CI: 4.68-16.65, p < 0.05) in OS patients. Additionally, we observed no significant heterogeneity among all retrieved studies. Associations between Ki-67 expression and overall survival and disease-free survival of sarcoma were confirmed using the TCGA and Kaplan-Meier plotter datasets. CONCLUSION: The present study strongly suggests that positive Ki-67 expression was associated with Enneking stage, distant metastasis, and overall survival of OS, and it may be used as a potential biomarker to predict prognosis and guide clinical therapy for OS.

The role of Livin expression in the clinicopathological features and prognosis of lung cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: While the impact of Livin expression on patients with lung cancer was evaluated in previous studies, the results remained debatable. The relationship between Livin expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis in lung cancer was assessed in the present meta-analysis. METHODS: Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Springer, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Internet database (CNKI), Wanfang database, Chinese VIP database and Chinese Biological Medical Database (CBM) were searched for relevant publications analyzing the role of Livin in prognosis and clinicopathological features of lung cancer before September 2020. The results were evaluated using pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) calculated by STATA 12.0 software. RESULTS: Twenty studies with a total of 1,395 patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Livin expression was significantly associated with smoking status (OR =2.51, 95% CI: 1.70-3.72, P<0.05), lung adenocarcinomas (LAC) (OR =2.16, 95% CI: 1.60-2.92, P<0.05), TNM stage (OR =2.49, 95% CI: 1.63-3.69, P<0.05) and poor differentiation (OR =2.04, 95% CI: 1.35-3.08, P<0.05). Livin expression was significantly related to metastasis (OR =4.22, 95% CI: 2.68-6.64, P<0.05) and lower 5-year overall survival (OR =4.23, 95% CI: 2.60-6.88, P<0.05) of patients with lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study manifested that Livin expression was significantly related to smoking status, LAC, high TNM stage, poor differentiation, metastasis and 5-year overall survival rate, which indicated that Livin may be a potential biomarker for prognosis of lung cancer.

Targeting nerve growth factor, a new option for treatment of osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis of comparative efficacy and safety with traditional drugs.

OBJECTIVE: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease and leading cause of pain and disability in the elderly population. Most guidelines recommend the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids for the non-operative treatment of OA. Monoclonal nerve growth factor (NGF) antibodies are new drugs with the potential to provide pain relief and functional improvement in OA. We compared the efficacy (pain reduction and functional improvement), and safety of monoclonal NGF antibodies with NSAIDs and opioids in the treatment of OA with a Bayesian network meta-analysis. RESULTS: 38 articles, comprising 41 trials and 20489 patients with OA were included. Overall from the network meta-analysis, anti-NGFs were the most effective drugs for pain relief (Standardized Mean Difference or SMD compared with placebo 4.25, 95% CI 2.87 to 5.63, Surface Under the Cumulative RAnking curve or SUCRA=93.7%) and for functional improvement (SMD 4.90, 95% CI 3.46 to 6.33, SUCRA=98.3%). Although anti-NGFs were associated with higher risk of peripheral sensation abnormality (paresthesia and pruritus), they were not associated with higher risk of other AEs (headaches and nausea) or with higher withdrawal rates related to AEs. CONCLUSIONS: Monoclonal NGF antibodies provide significantly greater pain relief and functional improvement in OA compared to NSAIDs and opioids. Monoclonal NGF antibodies are not associated with severe AEs. More studies are needed to confirm these findings. METHODS: PubMed, CNKI, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant studies (OA treated with anti-NGFs, opioids, selective COX-2 inhibitors or NSAIDs) published between January 1999 to January 2020. Bayesian network and conventional meta-analyses were conducted. Pain relief, functional improvement and AEs were assessed.

Expression of autophagy related gene 5 and cyclin E in coronary heart disease and its clinical significance. / è‡ªå™¬ç›¸å ³åŸºå› 5å’Œç»†èƒžå‘¨æœŸç´ Eåœ¨å† å¿ƒç— ä¸­çš„è¡¨è¾¾åŠå ¶ä¸´åºŠæ„ä¹‰.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the expression of autophagy related genes 5 (ATG5) and cyclin E in coronary heart disease (CHD) and its clinical significance. METHODS: From April 2018 to August 2018, 80 patients diagnosed with CHD in the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University were selected as an observation group, and another 80 healthy subjects were selected as a control group. The expression of ATG5 and cyclin E mRNA in nucleate cells and the plasma protein in the 2 groups were detected and analyzed. The model of macrophage-derived foam cells induced by oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) was used to simulate atherosclerosis. The proliferation of macrophage- derived foam cells and the protein levels of ATG5 and cyclin E induced by ox-LDL at different concentrations were examined. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the levels of ATG5 mRNA and protein in the blood in the observation group were decreased, and the cyclin E mRNA and protein levels were increased, there were statistically difference (both P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the area under curve (AUC) of ATG5 mRNA, cyclin E mRNA, ATG5 protein and cyclin E protein were 0.739, 0.780, 0.671 and 0.807, respectively. Pearson analysis showed that the ATG5 mRNA was negatively correlated with the cyclin E mRNA (r=-0.734, P<0.05),while the plasma ATG5 protein was negatively correlated with the plasma cyclin E protein (r=-0.746, P<0.05). Macrophage-derived foam cell model induced by ox-LDL showed that the proliferation of foam cells and the expression levels of cyclin E protein were increased in a concentration and time-dependent manner, and the expression levels of ATG5 protein were decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of ATG5 mRNA and protein are lowly expressed while the levels of cyclin E mRNA and protein are highly expressed in the patients with CHD.The ATG5 protein levels are lowly expressed in ox-LDL-treated macrophage-derived foam cells while the cyclin E protein levels are highly expressed in ox-LDL-treated macrophage-derived foam cells. Based on these observations, we conclude that ATG5 inhibits the degradation of the cyclin E and promotes the proliferation of macrophages, involving in the occurrence and development of CHD.

Prognostic relevance of SMC family gene expression in human sarcoma.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the prognostic value of the expression of genes encoding structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMCs) in human sarcoma. RESULTS: We found that the levels of SMC1A, SMC2, SMC3, SMC4, SMC5 and SMC6 mRNA were all higher in most tumors compared to normal tissues, and especially in sarcoma. According to the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), SMC1A, SMC2, SMC3, SMC4, SMC5 and SMC6 are also highly expressed in sarcoma cell lines. Results of Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) indicated that high expression of SMC1A was significantly related to poor overall survival (OS) (p<0.05) and disease-free survival (DFS) in sarcoma (p<0.05). Additionally, strong expression of SMC2 was significantly related to poor OS in sarcoma (p<0.05). In contrast, SMC3, SMC4, SMC5, and SMC6 expression had no significant impact on OS or DFS in sarcoma. CONCLUSIONS: Expression of SMC family members is significantly different in sarcoma relative to normal tissues, and SMC1A and SMC2 may be useful as prognostic biomarkers. METHODS: We performed a detailed comparison of cancer and normal tissues regarding the expression levels of mRNA for SMC family members in various cancers including sarcoma through ONCOMINE and GEPIA (Gene Expression Profile Interactive Analysis) databases.

Inhibitory effect of alpinetin on IL-6 expression by promoting cytosine methylation in CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region.

BACKGROUND: Alpinetin is a flavonoid which exerts antibacterial and anti-inflammatory functions. In order to prove that the induced methylation is an important mechanism for alpinetin in regulating the expression of inflammatory factor Interleukin-6 (IL-6), we detected the dinucleotide methylation status of CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region and IL-6 level after treatment of RAW246.7 murine macrophages with alpinetin. METHODS: After RAW246.7 murine macrophages were treated with alpinetin, alpinetin + GW9662 (the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) antagonist), and alpinetin + DNA methyltransferase 3 alpha (DNMT3A) siRNA for 96 hr, CpG islands were analyzed using time-of-flight mass spectrophotometry (TOF-MS) and bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BSP). Dinucleotide methylation status of the CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region was analyzed by methylation-specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). IL-6 level was detected using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Pearson's correlation analysis was conducted to test for potential correlation between the methylation status of CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region and IL-6 level in RAW 246.7 cells. RESULTS: Alpinetin promoted dinucleotide methylation status of two CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region stretching 500-2500 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site (TSS) (p < .05). This promoting effect was more significant for the CpG island stretching 500-1500 bp long. The methylation ratio of dinucleotide at this position was significantly inversely correlated with the level of IL-6 (p < .05). PPAR antagonist GW9662 and interference of DNMT3A could reverse both the alpinetin-induced methylation and inhibitory effects on IL-6 expression. CONCLUSION: Alpinetin could induce dinucleotide methylation status of CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region by activating methyltransferase, thus inhibiting IL-6 expression in murine macrophages.

Bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes involved in human developmental chondrogenesis.

Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as degenerative arthritis, affects millions of people all over the world. OA occurs when the cartilage wears down over time, which is a worldwide complaint. The aim of this study was to screen and verify hub genes involved in developmental chondrogenesis as well as to explore potential molecular mechanisms.The expression profiles of GSE51812 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, which contained 9 samples, including 6-week pre-chondrocytes (PC, 6 independent specimens) and 17-week fetal periarticular resting chondrocytes (RC, 3 independent specimens). The raw data were integrated to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and were further analyzed with bioinformatics analysis. The Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment of DEGs were conducted via Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of the DEGs were constructed based on data from the search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes (STRING) database. An intersection figure was provided to show the relationship between the DEGs identified in this study and genes from any existed related studies.A total of 9486 DEGs, including 4821 upregulated genes and 4665 downregulated genes were observed. The top 30 developmental chondrogenesis associated genes were identified, including matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)1, MMP3, MMP13, prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), and so on. The majority of DEGs, including PTGS2, CCL20, CHI3L1, LIF, CXCL8, and CXCL12 were intensively enriched in immune-associated biological process terms, including inflammatory, and immune responses. Additionally, the majority of DEGs were mainly enriched in NF-kappa ß (NF-kß) signaling pathway and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway. The hub genes identified in STRING and Cytoscape databases included MMP1, MMP3, MMP13, PTGS2 and so on. Among the top 30 upregulated and downregulated DEGs, there were 15 genes have been reported to be associated with OA or developmental chondrogenesis.This large scale gene expression study observed genes associated with human developmental chondrogenesis and their relative GO function, which may offer opportunities for the research for cartilage tissue engineering and novel insights into the prevention of OA in the near future.

Association between PTEN and clinical-pathological features of osteosarcoma.

Previous studies indicated the prognostic value of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) in osteosarcoma (OS). There was a great degree of inconsistency between these reports. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the clinicopathological features and prognostic role of PTEN positive expression on OS. We searched NCBI PubMed, Embase, Springer, ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Internet database (CNKI), Wanfang database, Chinese VIP database and Chinese Biological Medical Database (CBM) for relevant papers published before 28 November 2018. The eligibility of all retrieved studies assessing the relationship between PTEN expression and clinicopathological and prognostic outcomes in OS were incorporated. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the outcomes. A total of 13 studies with 580 OS patients were involved to assess the relationship between PTEN expression and clinicopathological features of OS. PTEN positive expression was significantly associated with male (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.03-2.38, P=0.035<0.05) and OS high differentiation (OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.26-4.29, P=0.007<0.05). Additionally, positive expressions of PTEN predict no neoplasm metastasis (OR = 5.69, 95% CI: 3.64-8.90, P<0.05). The results of our study showed that positive expression of PTEN may predict higher 5-year survival in OS with the pooled OR of 8.73 (95% CI: 4.18-18.24, P<0.05). The results from the present study suggest that positive expression of PTEN is significantly associated with male, high differentiation, no metastasis and high 5-year overall survival rate in OS.

Antigenic Epitope Analysis and Efficacy Evaluation of GRA41 DNA Vaccine Against T. gondii Infection.

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii has a comprehensive impact on a great range of warm-blood mammals, in which one-third of the population all over the world is involved. Dense granular proteins, regarded as GRA family, mediating substantial interface between host cell cytoplasm and parasite, are widely studied for preventing the infection of T. gondii. PURPOSE: As is handled in our study, the effect of intramuscularly injecting the genetic vaccine pEGFP-C1/GRA41 encoding a novel dense granule protein, GRA41, was evaluated. METHODS: At the beginning, bioinformatics analysis was used to evaluate epitopes of both B cells and T cells on the GRA41 protein of T. gondii. Afterwards, recombinant plasmids (pEGFP-C1/GRA41) were injected into BALB/c mice and the quantity of IgG and its subclass IgG2a remarkably increased. IFN-γ, distinctive from the other cytokines (IL-4, and IL-10), was significant in growth. Afterwards, the intraperitoneal challenge was executed for recording survival time with tachyzoites with high virulence (in RH strain) and counting the number of brain cysts was carried out after the infection of PRU strain (low virulence). RESULTS: In pEGFP-C1/GRA41 group, the survival period was significantly longer (13.3 ± 3.37 days) after tachyzoites attack with the RH strain in high virulence, compared with the other groups (less than 8 days). Additionally, the cyst quantity is remarkably lower and the rate of reduction could reach 59.34%. CONCLUSION: All the results indicated effective protection of DNA vaccine encoding GRA41 against T. gondii.

Expression of HER-2 in surgical specimen and biopsy as a biomarker of metastasis in patients with osteosarcoma: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have evaluated the effect of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) expression on the metastasis of patients with osteosarcoma (OS) while the results remain conflicting. Here we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the value of HER-2 in prognosis of OS. METHODS: A comprehensive search using NCBI PubMed, the Cochrane library, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, Springer, China National Knowledge Internet database (CNKI), Wanfang database, Chinese VIP database and Chinese Biological Medical Database (CBM) from inception through Aug 28, 2018 was conducted to investigate HER-2 expression and OS metastasis. We evaluated the quantity of the studies using Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale (NOS). RESULTS: There were 15 studies with 652 OS patients involved. The results of meta-analysis showed that positive expression of HER-2 was associated with OS metastasis (OR =4.42; 95% CI, 2.91-6.71; P<0.0001). No significant heterogeneity or publication bias was observed among all studies. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that HER-2 positive expression indicates OS metastasis, while it's needed to perform more prospective studies to confirm the prognostic value of HER-2 in patients with OS.

Effect of deubiquitinase USP8 on hypoxia/reoxygenation­induced inflammation by deubiquitination of TAK1 in renal tubular epithelial cells.

Intermittent hypoxia/reoxygenation (IHR), characterized by repeated episodes of hypoxia interspersed with periods of reoxygenation, has been found to induce pro­inflammatory cytokine production and is increasingly recognized as a major pathophysiological factor in various disease processes with distinct cell and molecular responses. The present study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to investigate the effects of ubiquitin­specific peptidase 8 (USP8) on IHR­induced inflammation in renal tubular epithelial cells and examine the underlying mechanism. Following transfection of plasmids, HK­2 and TCMK­1 cells were incubated for eight cycles of IHR treatment including 3 h of hypoxic incubation followed by 3 h of normoxic culture. It was demonstrated that the expression of USP8 was decreased in IHR conditions but not in normoxic or continuous hypoxic conditions. In addition, IHR­induced inflammation was suppressed in USP8­overexpressinh renal tubular epithelial cells, and the silencing of USP8 markedly aggravated inflammation. Furthermore, it was found that the overexpression of USP8 inhibited the IHR­induced activation of nuclear factor­κB and it was demonstrated that USP8 interacted with transforming growth factor­ß­activated kinase­1 (TAK1) and deubiquitinated the K63­linked ubiquitination of TAK1. Taken together, the results demonstrated the role of USP8 in IHR­induced inflammation and suggested USP8 as a potential and specific therapeutic target for IHR­related diseases.

Structural predication and antigenic analysis of Toxoplasma gondii ROP20.

Toxoplasma gondii infects almost all the warm-blooded animals. ROP20 protein is expressed in the rhoptry of Toxoplasma gondii. In this study, the secondary structure of ROP20 was analyzed using SMART software. We constructed and analyzed the 3D model of ROP20 protein using SWISS-MODEL online procedure and Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD) software. The structure analysis fully indicated that ROP20 protein is an important member of the ROP family. Furthermore, We used DNASTAR software and Epitope Database online service to analyze liner-B cell epitopes and T-cell epitopes of ROP20 protein. All the analysis results of ROP20 protein can provide positive information on treatment and vaccine for toxoplasmosis. Moreover, ROP20 gene was obtained from PCR, and a recombinant eukaryotic expression vector (pEGFP-C1-ROP20) was constructed in the following study. After restriction enzyme digestion, the constructed plasmid was transfected into HEK 293-T cells. The RT-PCR result indicated that the recombinant plasmid could transcribe successfully in HEK 293-T cell. The results of western blotting indicated the expressed proteins can be recognized by anti-STAg mouse sera.

piR-651 promotes tumor formation in non-small cell lung carcinoma through the upregulation of cyclin D1 and CDK4.

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs or piRs) are a novel class of non-coding RNAs that participate in germline development by silencing transposable elements and regulating gene expression. To date, the association between piRNAs and non­small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) has not yet been elucidated. In the present study, we have demonstrated that a significant increase in piR-651 expression occurs in NSCLC. Furthermore, the abnormal expression of piR-651 was associated with cancer progression in the patients with NSCLC. The upregulation of piR-651 in A549 cells caused a significant increase in cell viability and metastasis. The percentage of arrested cells in the G0/G1 phase was lower after piR-651 overexpression compared with the controls. We also examined the expression of oncogenes and cancer suppressor genes following piR-651 overexpression in NSCLC cells. Only the expression levels of cyclin D1 and CDK4 significantly correlated with piR-651 expression both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, by injecting nude mice with A549 cells transfected with piR-651 plasmids to establish a xenograft model, we demonstrated that there was a correlation between piR-651 overexpression and tumor growth, which was mediated by cyclin D1 and CDK4. These findings strongly support the notion that piR-651 induces NSCLC progression through the cyclin D1 and CDK4 pathway and it may have applications as a potential diagnostic indicator and therapeutic target in the management of NSCLC.