Identification of a novel prognosis-associated ceRNA network in lung adenocarcinoma via bioinformatics analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common subtype of nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and has a high incidence rate and mortality. The survival of LUAD patients has increased with the development of targeted therapeutics, but the prognosis of these patients is still poor. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the occurrence and development of LUAD. The purpose of this study was to identify novel abnormally regulated lncRNA-microRNA (miRNA)-messenger RNA (mRNA) competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks that may suggest new therapeutic targets for LUAD or relate to LUAD prognosis. METHODS: We used the SBC human ceRNA array V1.0 to screen for differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs and mRNAs in four paired LUAD samples. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to annotate the DE lncRNAs and mRNAs. R bioinformatics packages, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) LUAD database, and Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analysis tools were used to validate the microarray data and construct the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA regulatory network. Then, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to validate the DE lncRNAs in 7 LUAD cell lines. RESULTS: A total of 2819 DE lncRNAs and 2396 DE mRNAs (P < 0.05 and fold change ≥ 2 or ≤ 0.5) were identified in four paired LUAD tissue samples. In total, 255 of the DE lncRNAs were also identified in TCGA. The GO and KEGG analysis results suggested that the DE genes were most enriched in angiogenesis and cell proliferation, and were closely related to human cancers. Moreover, the differential expression of ENST00000609697, ENST00000602992, and NR_024321 was consistent with the microarray data, as determined by qRT-PCR validation in 7 LUAD cell lines; however, only ENST00000609697 was associated with the overall survival of LUAD patients (log-rank P = 0.029). Finally, through analysis of ENST00000609697 target genes, we identified the ENST00000609697-hsa-miR-6791-5p-RASL12 ceRNA network, which may play a tumor-suppressive role in LUAD. CONCLUSION: ENST00000609697 was abnormally expressed in LUAD. Furthermore, downregulation of ENST00000609697 and its target gene RASL12 was associated with poor prognosis in LUAD. The ENST00000609697-hsa-miR-6791-5p-RASL12 axis may play a tumor-suppressive role. These results suggest new potential prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers for LUAD.

Music intervention on physiological and psychological responses of patients with cancer: A protocol for meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a life-threatening condition and also one of the biggest challenges facing human health and the medical community. This meta-analysis was to investigate the effects of music intervention on physiological and psychological responses of patients with cancer. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The following electronic databases will be searched from inception to December 2020: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Science and the Wanfang Database. We only included music intervention vs placebo in cancer patients and pooled results were summarized by STATA 12.0 software. Two investigators independently selected the studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, and assessed the quality of the selected studies. The existence of statistical heterogeneity would be evaluated by Chi2 test and its extension by the I2 test (I2 > 50% indicates high heterogeneity among studies). Publication bias was ruled out by funnel plot and statistically assessed by Begg test (P > .05 as no publication bias). RESULTS: The study results will be published in relevant peer-reviewed journals and key findings will be presented at international scientific meetings. CONCLUSION: Our study aims to systematically assess the effects of music intervention in cancer patients, which will be provide clinical guidance for cancer patients.

Association of two polymorphisms Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile in Toll-like receptor 4 with rheumatoid arthritis: A meta-analysis.

Our meta-analysis aims to evaluate the association of Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility and severity. By manually searching 3 electronic databases (PubMed, Embase and Web of Science), relevant articles were collected. After checking eligibility for every study, this meta-analysis on eligible studies was performed under 5 genetic models: (1) allelic contrast; (2) heterozygous model; (3) homozygous model; (4) dominant model; (5) recessive model. In Spanish populations, a significantly decreased RA risk was identified in allelic comparison (odds ratio [OR] = 0.73, 95% CI 0.55 ~ 0.96) and dominant model (OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.56 ~ 0.99) of Asp299Gly polymorphism. A trend of reduced risk was also observed under the heterozygous model (OR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.58 ~ 1.03). As for Thr399Ile, it might also have a protective effect on Spanish populations in allelic comparison (OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.44 ~ 1.15). In contrast, for both Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile, a higher risk of RA was detected in Chinese Han populations. The frequency of both Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile increased in rheumatoid factor (RF)-positive subjects in Chinese patients (Asp299Gly, RF+:RF- = 0.165:0.145; Thr399Ile, RF+:RF- = 0.170:0.161) and decreased in Spanish patients (Asp299Gly, RF+:RF- = 0.060:0.073; Thr399Ile, RF+:RF- = 0.046:0.056), but not to a statistically significant extent. Our meta-analysis suggested that both Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile might have a protective effect on Spanish populations, but the 2 polymorphisms could act as a susceptible factor in Chinese Han populations. To confirm our results, further investigation concerning the functional impacts of Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile are still needed.

A Novel Adeno-Associated Virus-Based Genetic Vaccine Encoding the Hepatitis C Virus NS3/4 Protein Exhibits Immunogenic Properties in Mice Superior to Those of an NS3-Protein-Based Vaccine.

More than 170 million individuals worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and up to an estimated 30% of chronically infected individuals will go on to develop progressive liver disease. Despite the recent advances in antiviral treatment of HCV infection, it remains a major public health problem. Thus, development of an effective vaccine is urgently required. In this study, we constructed novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors expressing the full-length NS3 or NS3/4 protein of HCV genotype 1b. The expression of the NS3 or NS3/4 protein in HepG2 cells was confirmed by western blotting. C57BL/6 mice were intramuscularly immunised with a single injection of AAV vectors, and the resultant immune response was investigated. The AAV2/rh32.33.NS3/4 vaccine induced stronger humoral and cellular responses than did the AAV2/rh32.33.NS3 vaccine. Our results demonstrate that AAV-based vaccines exhibit considerable potential for the development of an effective anti-HCV vaccine.

[Analysing genetic distance of national wistar rat with DNA fingerprinting].

DNA fingerprinting of Wistar rat were studied with JL-02 Mulilocus probe and Southern hybridization, and comparing with different individuals of nine groups Wistar rat from six national classical area and different groups. It was indicated that DNA fingerprinting could reflect genetic material of outbred strain rat,and were more polymorphic. The genetic distances of Wistar rat were distributed for 0.2-0.6 among different individuals within same groups, and the genetic distances of Wistar rat were distributed for 0.2-0.7 among different groups.