Small-molecule Molephantin induces apoptosis and mitophagy flux blockage through ROS production in glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM), one of the most malignant brain tumors in the world, has limited treatment options and a dismal survival rate. Effective and safe disease-modifying drugs for glioblastoma are urgently needed. Here, we identified a small molecule, Molephantin (EM-5), effectively penetrated the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and demonstrated notable antitumor effects against GBM with good safety profiles both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, EM-5 not only inhibits the proliferation and invasion of GBM cells but also induces cell apoptosis through the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Furthermore, EM-5 causes mitochondrial dysfunction and blocks mitophagy flux by impeding the fusion of mitophagosomes with lysosomes. It is noteworthy that EM-5 does not interfere with the initiation of autophagosome formation or lysosomal function. Additionally, the mitophagy flux blockage caused by EM-5 was driven by the accumulation of intracellular ROS. In vivo, EM-5 exhibited significant efficacy in suppressing tumor growth in a xenograft model. Collectively, our findings not only identified EM-5 as a promising, effective, and safe lead compound for treating GBM but also uncovered its underlying mechanisms from the perspective of apoptosis and mitophagy.

Correlation of sLOX-1 and CSF1 with the pathological progression of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in neonatal rats.

To provide clinical evidence for the management of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) by analyzing the role of soluble lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (sLOX-1) and colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF1) in the disease. We purchased 15 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat pups and randomized them into five groups (n=3), of which one group was untreated as the control group and the other four were modeled by HIE. After modeling, a group was treated as a model group without any treatment, another group was injected with sLOX-1-silencing lentiviral vector (sLOX-1-si group), and the third and fourth were injected with CSF1-silencing lentiviral vector (CSF1-si group) and an equal amount of normal saline (blank group), respectively. After the corresponding intervention, the rat tissue in each group was obtained to observe the pathological injury by HE and TUNEL staining. In addition, sLOX-1, CSF1, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA), and norepinephrine (NE) levels in brain tissue of each group were determined. The model group showed more severe pathological damage of the hippocampus and higher neuronal apoptosis than the control group. Besides, higher sLOX-1 and CSF1 levels and lower 5-HT, DA and NE contents were identified in the model group versus the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the blank group, sLOX-1-si and CSF1-si groups showed significantly alleviated hippocampal damage, inhibited neuronal apoptosis, reduced 5-HT, DA, NE, Bax, and cl-caspase-3, and increased Bcl-2 (P<0.05). Silencing sLOX-1 and CSF1 expression ameliorated the pathological injury of HIE and inhibited neuronal apoptosis.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Prognostic Indicators in Serous Ovarian Cancer Based on Leukocyte Migration and Immune Microenvironment.

BACKGROUND: High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) treatment is facing clinical challenges. The tumor immune microenvironment (TME) has recently been shown to perform a critical function in the prediction of clinical outcomes as well as the effectiveness of treatment. Leukocyte migration is enhanced in malignant tumors and promotes immunity. However, its role in how to underlie the migration of immune cells into the TME remains to be further explained in HGSOC. METHODS: We built a prognostic multigene signature with leukocyte migration-related differentially expressed genes (LMDGs), which is associated with TME by single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), in the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Furthermore, we systematically correlated risk signature with immunological characteris-tics in TME, mutational profiles of HGSOC, and potential value in predicting efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Screening of the most important prognostic factor among risk signatures by Friends analysis, and immunofluorescence was employed to examine both the expression of CD2 as well as its relationship with CD8 and PD-1. RESULTS: LMDGs-related prognostic model showed good prediction performance. Patients who had high-risk scores exhibited significantly reduced progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) than those with low-risk scores, according to the results of the survival analysis (p < 0.001). In the TCGA cohort, the risk signature was found to have independent prognostic sig-nificance for HGSOC (HR =1.829, 95% CI = 1.460-2.290, p < 0.001) and validated in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort. Samples with high-risk scores had lower levels of CD8+ T cells infiltration. The low-risk signature shapes an inflamed TME in HGSOC. Furthermore, immune therapy might be effective for the low-risk subtype of HGSOC patients (p < 0.001). Friends analysis revealed that CD2 was the most important prognostic gene among risk signatures. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed the expression of CD2 was greater in tumor cells as opposed to normal ovarian cells. CD8, PD-1, and CD2 were shown to be co-localized in HGSOC tissues, according to immunofluorescence analyses. CD2 was significantly correlated with CD8 (r = 0.47). CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified and validated a promising LMDGs signature associated with inflamed TME, which might offer some prospective clinical implications for the treatment of SOC. CD2 might be a novel biomarker to predict immune efficacy.

Clinical and CT diagnosis of 50 cases of Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia.

Background: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study aiming to explore the clinical and imaging manifestations of Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia (CPP), thus improving its diagnosis, guiding its early clinical treatment, and reducing its mortality rate. Methods: Fifty cases of CPP diagnosed by hospitals across the country with metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS) from January 2019 to March 2021 were collected. Its clinical symptoms, laboratory test results, and computed tomography (CT) features were discussed. Results: Forty patients had a history of poultry exposure; 37 experienced respiratory symptoms, 48 had a fever, 14 experienced gastrointestinal symptoms, and 12 experienced neurological symptoms; 34 patients had normal blood cell counts, 49 patients had elevated C-reactive protein, and 24 showed decreased serum sodium. Imaging manifestations: (I) Distribution: lesions were limited to a single lung in 31 patients, lesions were distributed in bilateral lungs in 19 patients; (II) Signs: 37 patients developed the "fine mesh sign". Necrosis, cavity and "tree-in-bud" were not observed. Pleural effusion occurred in 33 patients, mediastinal lymphadenopathy in 18, and splenomegaly in 15 patients. Conclusions: Patients with CPP often have a history of poultry exposure and present with fever and increased C-reactive protein. White blood cells may be slightly increased or completely normal. Hyponatremia may occur in some patients, and multiple systems may be clinically involved. The imaging can show lesions with unilateral or bilateral lung distribution and a rapid progression. Both the lung parenchyma and the interstitium are involved. Fine mesh sign is the most common sign. Necrosis, cavitation, and tree-in-bud signs are not observed. In conclusion, imaging examinations are helpful for the early diagnosis of this disease and the evaluation of the treatment effect.

Ketamine modulates neural stem cell differentiation by regulating TRPC3 expression through the GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway.

Ketamine, a popular anesthetic, is often abused by people for its hallucinogenic effect. Thus, the safety of ketamine in pediatric populations has been called into question for potential neurotoxic effects. However, ketamine also has neuroprotective effects in many brain injury models. The differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) was influenced significantly by ketamine, but the molecular mechanism is still unclear. NSCs were extracted from the hippocampi of postnatal day 1 rats and treated with ketamine to induce NSCs differentiation. Our results found that ketamine promoted neuronal differentiation of NSCs dose-dependently in a small dose range (P < 0.001). The main types of neurons from NSCs were cholinergic (51 ± 4 %; 95 % CI: 41-61 %) and glutamatergic neurons (34 ± 3 %; 95 % CI: 27-42 %). Furthermore, we performed RNA sequencing to promise a more comprehensive understanding of the molecules regulated by ketamine. Finally, we combined bioimaging and multiple molecular biology techniques to clarify that ketamine influences NSC differentiation by regulating transient receptor potential canonical 3 (TRPC3) expressions. Ketamine dramatically repressed TRPC3 expression (MD [95 % CI]=0.67 [0.40-0.95], P < 0.001) with a significant increase of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (p-GSK3ß; MD [95 % CI]=1.00 [0.74-1.27], P < 0.001) and a decrease of ß-catenin protein expression (MD [95 % CI]=0.60 [0.32-0.89], P = 0.001), thereby promoting the differentiation of NSCs into neurons and inhibiting their differentiation into astrocytes. These results suggest that TRPC3 is necessary for ketamine to modulate NSC differentiation, which occurs partly via regulation of the GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway.

Genomic landscape, immune characteristics and prognostic mutation signature of cervical cancer in China.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to analyse the genomic alteration profiles and immune characteristics of a cohort of Chinese cervical cancer patients to understand why certain patients benefited from molecular targeted therapies and immunotherapy as well as their prognostic significance. METHODS: PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological information were obtained from 98 cervical cancer patients. Differences in PD-L1 expression and gene mutations between squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) were analysed by the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Differences in gene mutations between our cohort and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort were tested by Fisher's exact test. Logistic regression was used to analyse factors influencing TMB-high. RESULTS: Positive PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in cervical SCC than in cervical AC (87% vs. 39%, p < 0.001). Frequently mutated genes in cervical cancer included the PIK3CA, KMT2D, and KMT2C genes, among others. PIK3CA gene mutation rates were significantly higher in SCC than in AC (p = 0.004). The TERT gene mutation rate was significantly higher in our cohort than in the TCGA cohort (12% vs. 1%, p < 0.001). The independent predictors of high TMB were KMT2C and LRP1B gene mutations (p < 0.05). We also found that PTEN mutations were associated with worse survival (median PFS, 12.16 vs. 21.75 months, p = 0.0024). CONCLUSION: Cervical SCC and AC have different molecular profiles and immune characteristics, suggesting that targeted treatments for SCC and AC patients may improve clinical outcomes. KMT2C and LRP1B gene mutations are independent predictors of TMB-high status in cervical cancer. We also proposed the prognostic value of PTEN mutations.

lncRNA NEAT1 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the FOXP3/PKM2 axis.

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor. The occurrence of HCC is involved in the alteration of a variety of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes, but the specific molecular mechanism remains unknown. This research proved the effects of long non-coding RNA NEAT1 (lncRNA NEAT1) on the viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and explored the mechanism behind these effects. Methods: NEAT1 in 97H and Huh7 cell lines was overexpressed or knocked down, respectively. The expression of FOXP3 and its target gene PKM2 was hinged on qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. RNA pulldown and RNA immunoprecipitation experiments were carried out to detect the interaction between NEAT1 and proteins. Finally, the effect of NEAT1 on the tumor volume of HCC was verified by animal experiments. Results: A series of experiments have shown that NEAT1 knockdown can inhibit the viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells; NEAT1 can bind FOXP3 to promote PKM2 transcription; PKM2 knockdown can inhibit the viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells; and PKM2 knockdown reversed the function of NEAT1. Conclusion: lncRNA NEAT1 can promote the malignant behavior of HCC cells, while silencing of NEAT1 can inhibit that behavior of HCC cells. Mechanically, NEAT1 promotes the transcriptional activation of PKM2 by binding FOXP3, and PKM2 knockout reverses the function of NEAT1.

7,8-Dihydroxycoumarin Alleviates Synaptic Loss by Activated PI3K-Akt-CREB-BDNF Signaling in Alzheimer's Disease Model Mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and is clinically characterized by the impairment of memory and cognition. Accumulation of ß-amyloid (Aß) in the brain is considered as a key process in the development of AD because it impairs the synapses' function to impair memory formation. Recent research studies have indicated that a group of edible plant-derived Thymelaeaceae compounds known as coumarin may exert particularly powerful actions on alleviating learning and memory impairment. 7,8-Dithydroxycoumarin (7,8-DHC), a bioactive component of coumarin derived from Thymelaeaceae, showed its function in neuroprotection before. In this study, we found that 7,8-DHC was able to mitigate Aß accumulation via reducing the level of BACE1 and increasing the level of ADAM17 and ADAM10. More importantly, we found that 7,8-DHC could mitigate memory impairment, promote the dendrite branch density, and increase synaptic protein expression via activating PI3K-Akt-CREB-BDNF signaling. Hence, these results suggested that 7,8-DHC represented a novel bioactive therapeutic agent in mitigating Aß deposition and synaptic loss in the process of treating AD.

The identification of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles associated with pediatric atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor.

BACKGROUND: Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) is a malignant pediatric tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) with high recurrence and low survival rates that is often misdiagnosed. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the tumorigenesis of numerous pediatric cancers, but their roles in AT/RT remain unclear. METHODS: In this study, we used miRNA sequencing and gene expression microarrays from patient tissue to study both the miRNAome and transcriptome traits of AT/RT. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrate that 5 miRNAs were up-regulated, 16 miRNAs were down-regulated, 179 mRNAs were up-regulated and 402 mRNAs were down-regulated in AT/RT. qPCR revealed that hsa-miR-17-5p and MAP7 mRNA were the most significantly differentially expressed miRNA and mRNA in AT/RT tissues. Furthermore, the results from analyses using the miRTarBase database identified MAP7 mRNA as a target gene of hsa-miR-17-5p. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the dysregulation of hsa-miR-17-5p may be a pivotal event in AT/RT and miRNAs that may represent potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers.

Efficacy and Safety of Sintilimab Plus Anlotinib for PD-L1-Positive Recurrent or Metastatic Cervical Cancer: A Multicenter, Single-Arm, Prospective Phase II Trial.

PURPOSE: No combined immunotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy have been investigated in exclusively programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive advanced cervical cancer (CA). We investigated the efficacy and safety of sintilimab plus anlotinib as second-line or later therapy for PD-L1-positive recurrent or metastatic (R/M) CA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with PD-L1-positive (Combined Positive Score ≥ 1) R/M CA who progressed after at least one prior systemic chemotherapeutic regimen or could not tolerate chemotherapy were eligible for the phase II trial. The patients received 200 mg sintilimab once on day 1 and 10 mg anlotinib once daily on days 1-14 every 3 weeks. The primary end point was investigator-confirmed objective response rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1. Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, and disease control rate. Biomarkers were explored. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were enrolled. The ORR was 54.8% (95% CI, 38.7 to 70.2). In 39 efficacy-evaluable patients, the ORR was 59.0% (95% CI, 42.1 to 74.4); the disease control rate was 94.9% (95% CI, 82.7 to 99.4). The median PFS was 9.4 months (95% CI, 8.0 to 14.6). The median overall survival was not reached. Furthermore, 85.8% of the patients experienced treatment-related adverse events. The most frequent treatment-related adverse events were hypothyroidism (33.3%), elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels (21.4%), and hypertension (19.0%). Patients with altered PIK3CA, PI3K-AKT signaling, or KMT2D had a higher ORR, whereas those with altered STK11 and/or JAK2 had a significantly shorter PFS. CONCLUSION: Sintilimab plus anlotinib as second-line or later therapy is efficacious and safe for patients with advanced CA who have failed prior chemotherapy.

Evaluation of an artificial intelligence (AI) system to detect tuberculosis on chest X-ray at a pilot active screening project in Guangdong, China in 2019.

BACKGROUND: Although computer-aided detection (CAD) software employed with Artificial Intelligence (AI) system has been developed aiming to assist tuberculosis (TB) triage, screening, and diagnosis, its clinical performance for tuberculosis screening remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate performance of an CAD software for detecting TB on chest X-ray images at a pilot active TB screening project. METHODS: A CAD software scheme employed with AI was used to screen chest X-ray images of participants and produce probability scores of cases being positive for TB. CAD-generated TB detection scores were compared with on-site and senior radiologists via several performance evaluation indices including area under the ROC curves (AUC), specificity, sensitive, and positive predict value. Pycharm CE and SPSS statistics software packages were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Among 2,543 participants, eight TB patients were identified from this screening pilot program. The AI-based CAD system outperformed the onsite (AUC = 0.740) and senior radiologists (AUC = 0.805) either using thresholds of 30% (AUC = 0.978) and 50% (AUC = 0.859) when taking the final diagnosis as the ground truth. CONCLUSIONS: The AI-based CAD software successfully detects all TB patients as identified from this study at a threshold of 30%. It demonstrates feasibility and easy accessibility to carry out large scale TB screening using this CAD software equipped in medical vans with chest X-ray imaging machine.

Gallic Acid Induces Neural Stem Cell Differentiation into Neurons and Proliferation through the MAPK/ERK Pathway.

Neural stem cell (NSC) differentiation and proliferation are important biological processes in the cerebral neural network. However, these two abilities of NSCs are limited. Thus, the induction of differentiation and/or proliferation through the administration of plant-derived small-molecule compounds could be used to repair damaged neural networks. The present study reported that gallic acid (GA), an important phenolic acid found in tea, selectively caused NSCs to differentiate into immature neurons and promoted NSC proliferation by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway. In addition, it was found that 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid was the main active structure exhibiting neurotrophic activity. The substitution of the carboxyl group on the benzene ring with the ester group may promote differentiation based on the structure of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. Furthermore, the introduction of the 5-hydroxyl group may promote proliferation. The present study identified that GA can promote the differentiation and proliferation of NSCs in vitro and exert pharmacological activity on NSCs.

A Metastatic Cervical Adenocarcinoma Patient Carrying HER2 G292R Achieved Complete Response Upon Pyrotinib Treatment.

Cervical cancer patients who develop distant metastasis are rarely curable with very limited treatment options. Chemotherapy is often administered but with limited efficacy. Immunotherapy and anti-angiogenesis therapy are recommended for selected cases of recurrent or metastatic cervical cancers. The clinical efficacy of inhibitors targeting HER2, a commonly mutated gene in cervical cancer, has not been elucidated. Herein, we report a metastatic cervical adenocarcinoma patient carrying HER2 G292R who benefited from pyrotinib after progression on radio-chemotherapy, achieving complete response (CR) with a progression-free survival of 25 months and counting. Our study sheds light on the treatment options for previously treated metastatic cervical adenocarcinoma patients harboring activating HER2 mutations.

Characteristics of the Computed Tomography Imaging Findings in 72 Patients with Airway-Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis.

BACKGROUND This multiple-center retrospective study aimed to investigate computed tomography (CT) imaging findings in 72 patients with airway-invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Seventy-two patients with airway-invasive pulmonary aspergillosis confirmed by pathology results were divided into 3 types according to image characteristics. Type I involved the trachea or the main bronchus. Type II involved the lobular and segmental bronchi, which manifested early as bronchial wall thickening, and later development was divided into types IIa and IIb. Type IIa manifested as bronchiectasis, and type IIb manifested as consolidation around the bronchus. Type III involved the bronchioles and pulmonary parenchyma, with tree-in-bud sign and acinar nodules around. CT signs of the various types and their differentiation were investigated. RESULTS The main clinical manifestations of the 72 patients with airway-invasive pulmonary aspergillosis were shortness of breath (55/72, 76.4%), cough (40/72, 55.6%), expectoration (35/72, 48.6%), dyspnea (8/72, 11.1%), weight loss (2/72, 2.8%), and fever (30/72, 41.7%). CT typing identified 3 types: 2 patients (2.8%) had type I, presenting as thickening of trachea or main bronchial walls; 3 patients (4.2%) had early type II, manifesting as thickening of lobular or segmental bronchial walls; 27 patients (37.5%) developed type IIa, manifesting as bronchiectasis; 22 patients (30.6%) had type IIb, manifesting as consolidation around the bronchus; and 18 patients (25.0%) had type III, presenting as nodules and patchy shadows with small cavities in the periphery of the lung. CONCLUSIONS Airway pulmonary aspergillosis has characteristic imaging findings, which can help early clinical diagnosis through classification according to CT imaging characteristics.

Identification of HLA-A2 restricted CD8+ T cell epitopes in SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has now become a pandemic, and the etiologic agent is the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). T cell mediated immune responses play an important role in virus controlling; however, the understanding of the viral protein immunogenicity and the mechanisms of the induced responses are still limited. So, identification of specific epitopes and exploring their immunogenic properties would provide valuable information. In our study, we utilized the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource and NetMHCpan to predict HLA-A2 restricted CD8+ T cell epitopes in structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2, and screened out 23 potential epitopes. Among them, 18 peptides showed strong or moderate binding with HLA-A2 with a T2A2 cell binding model. Next, the mixed peptides induced the increased expression of CD69 and highly expressed levels of IFN-γ and granzyme B in CD8+ T cells, indicating effective activation of specific CD8+ T cells. In addition, the peptide-activated CD8+ T cells showed significantly increased killing to the target cells. Furthermore, tetramer staining revealed that the activated CD8+ T cells mainly recognized seven epitopes. All together, we identified specific CD8+ T cell epitopes in SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins, which could induce the production of specific immune competent CD8+ T cells. Our work contributes to the understanding of specific immune responses and vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2.

A screened PirB antagonist peptide antagonizes Aß42-mediated inhibition of neurite outgrowth in vitro.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a type of progressive neurodegenerative disease, and amyloid ß-protein 42 (Aß42) serves an important role in the pathological process of development of AD. Paired immunoglobulin-like receptor B (PirB) is a functional receptor for myelin inhibitors of neuron regeneration in the CNS, and it has also been identified to function as a high-affinity receptor for Aß. Here, we used a phage display to identify a specific PirB antagonist peptide 11(PAP11, PFRLQLS), which could reverse Aß42-induced neurotoxicity and promote neurite outgrowth in vitro. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that PAP11 colocalized with PirB on the membrane of cortical neurons. Horseradish peroxidase-streptavidin-biotin assay further proved that PAP11 directly binds to PirB and the dissociation constant (Kd) was 0.128µM. PAP11 functionally antagonized the neurite outgrowth inhibitory effect induced by Aß42 in cortical neurons, and the underlying mechanism was associated with a PirB-ROCK2/CRMP2 signaling pathway. The novel PirB antagonist peptide PAP11 may be a promising candidate therapeutic agent for the treatment of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. KEY POINTS: • PAP11 was the first PirB antagonist peptide screened by phage display technology. • PAP11 could protect neurons by blocking the binding of Aß42 and PirB. • PAP11 reverse inhibitory effect of neurite outgrowth through ROCK2/CRMP2 pathway.

Nogo­66 promotes ß­amyloid protein secretion via NgR/ROCK­dependent BACE1 activation.

The generation of ß­amyloid protein (Aß) is considered a key step in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the regulation of its production is an important therapeutic strategy. It was hypothesized in the present study that Nogo­A may be involved in AD and may regulate the generation of Aß. Nogo­A is known to act as a major inhibitor of neuron regeneration in the adult central nervous system. A recent study indicated that Nogo­A is associated with AD; however, the underlying effect and molecular mechanisms remain largely elusive. In the present study, the potential effects of Nogo­A on AD were investigated. ELISA was used to detect the levels of Aß, enzymatic activity detection kits were used to determine the activity of secretase enzymes in amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism, and western blot analysis was used to detect the expression levels of proteins associated with the APP processing and Nogo­A/Nogo­66 receptor (NgR) signaling pathways. The results revealed that Nogo­66, the major inhibitory region of Nogo­A, promoted neuronal Aß secretion by increasing the activity of ß­secretase 1 via the NgR/Rho­associated coiled­coil containing kinases pathway in a dose­dependent manner. The present data suggested that Nogo­A may facilitate the onset and development of AD by promoting Aß secretion, providing information on a potential novel target for AD therapy.

Interpretation of CT signs of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize and interpret the CT imaging signs of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CT images of 130 patients diagnosed as COVID-19 pneumonia from several hospitals in China were collected and their imaging features were analyzed and interpreted in detail. RESULTS: Among the 130 patients, we can see (1) distribution: 14 cases with unilateral lung disease and 116 cases with bilateral disease, the distribution was mainly lobular core (99 cases) and subpleural (102 cases); (2) number: 9 cases with single lesion, 113 cases with multiple lesions, and 8 cases with diffuse distribution; (3) density: 70 cases of pure ground glass opacity (GGO), and 60 cases of GGO with consolidation; (4) accompanying signs: vascular thickening (100 cases), "parallel pleura sign" (98 cases), "paving stone sign" (100 cases), "halo sign" (18 cases), "reversed halo sign" (6 cases), pleural effusion (2 cases), and pneumonocele (2 cases). After follow-up CT examination on 35 patients, 21 cases turned better and 14 became worse. There were signs of consolidation with marginal contraction, bronchiectasis, subpleural line, or fibrous streak. CONCLUSION: GGO and consolidation are the most common CT signs of COVID-19 pneumonia, mainly with lobular distribution and subpleural distribution. The main manifestations were tissue organization and fibrosis at late stage. The most valuable features are the parallel pleura sign and the paving stone sign. KEY POINTS: • The CT signs of the COVID-19 pneumonia are mainly distributed in the lobular core, subpleural and diffused bilaterally. • The CT signs include the "parallel pleura sign," "paving stone sign," "halo sign," and "reversed halo sign." • During the follow-up, the distribution of lobular core, the fusion of lesions, and the organization changes at late stage will appear.

Integrative genomic analyses identify WDR12 as a novel oncogene involved in glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant primary brain tumor in adults. Due to its invasive nature, it cannot be thoroughly eliminated. WD repeat domain 12 (WDR12) processes the 32S precursor rRNA but cannot affect the synthesis of the 45S/47S primary transcript. In this study, we found that WDR12 is highly expressed in GBM according to the analysis results of mRNA expression by The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The high expression level of WDR12 is dramatically related to shorter overall survival and reduced disease-free survival. Next, we knocked down WDR12 and found that knockdown of WDR12 promoted the apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation by cell biology experiments. Differential expression genes in gene-chip revealed that WDR12 knockdown mainly inhibited cell cycle. Finally, we also found that WDR12 is associated with PLK1 and EZH2 in cell proliferation of GBM. Resumptively, this report showed a possible evidence that WDR12 drove malignant behavior of GBM, whose expression may present a neoteric independent prognostic biomarker in GBM.

The Immune System Drives Synapse Loss During Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Learning and Memory Impairment in Mice.

Although lipopolysaccharides (LPS) have been used to establish animal models of memory loss akin to what is observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the exact mechanisms involved have not been substantiated. In this study, we established an animal model of learning and memory impairment induced by LPS and explored the biological processes and pathways involved. Mice were continuously intraperitoneally injected with LPS for 7 days. Learning- and memory-related behavioral performance and the pathological processes involved were assessed using the Morris water maze test and immunostaining, respectively. We detected comprehensive expression of C1q, C3, microglia, and their regulatory cytokines in the hippocampus. After 7 days of LPS administration, we were able to observe LPS-induced learning and memory impairment in the mice, which was attributed to neural impairment and synapse loss in the hippocampus. We elucidated that the immune system was activated, with the classical complement pathway and microglial phagocytosis being involved in the synapse loss. This study demonstrates that an LPS-injected mouse can serve as an early memory impairment model for studies on anti-AD drugs.