The complete plastome genome sequence of Cynanchum otophyllum (Asclepiadaceae), a unique medicinal species in China.

Cynanchum otophyllum Schneid is an important medicinal plant in China. In this paper, the chloroplast genome of C. otophyllum was sequenced based on high-throughput technology, and the chloroplast genome structure characteristics and phylogenetic relationship of C. otophyllum were analyzed. The results showed the complete plastome genome size of C. otophyllumis 160,874bp, including one small single copy (SSC, 19,851bp) and one large single copy (LSC, 92,009bp) regions isolated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs, 24,507bp). The whole plastome genome including 84 protein encoding genes, 8 rRNA and 37 tRNA. Based on the phylogenetic topologies, C. otophyllum shows close association with additional Gomphocarpus and Asclepias genus. This study contributes to an enhanced understanding of the genetic information of C. otophyllum and provides a theoretical basis for the development of molecular markers and phylogeographic of the species, as well as for constructing the phylogenetic tree of Asclepiadaceae.

Online water vapor removal membrane inlet mass spectrometer for high-sensitivity detection of dissolved methane.

Underwater mass spectrometry is characterized by excellent consistency, strong specificity, and the ability to simultaneously detect multiple substances, making it a valuable tool in research fields such as aquatic ecosystems, hydrothermal vents, and the global carbon cycle. Nevertheless, current underwater mass spectrometry encounters challenges stemming from the high-water vapor content, constituting proportions of nearly 90%. This results in issues such as peak overlap, interference with peak height, decreased ionization efficiency and, consequently, make it difficult to achieve low detection limits for extremely low concentrations of gases, such as methane, and impede the detection of background CH4 levels. In this study, we optimized the design of the sampling gas path and developed a high gas-tightness, high pressure-resistant membrane inlet system, coupled with a small-volume, low-power online water vapor removal system. This innovation efficiently eliminates water vapor while maintaining a high permeation flux of the target gases. By elevating the vacuum level to the order of 1E-6 Torr, the ionization efficiency and detection performance were improved. Based on this, we created an online water vapor removal membrane inlet mass spectrometer and conducted experimental research. Results indicated that the water removal efficiency approached 100%, and the vacuum level was elevated by more than 2 orders of magnitude. The detection limit for CH4 increased from over 600 nmol/L to 0.03 nmol/L, representing an improvement of over 4 orders of magnitude, and reaching the level of detecting background CH4 signals in deep-sea and lakes. Furthermore, the instrument exhibited excellent responsiveness and tracking capability to concentration changes on the second scale, enabling in situ analysis of rapidly changing concentration scenarios.

Flow-through electrode system (FES): An effective approach for biofouling control of reverse osmosis membranes for municipal wastewater reclamation.

Emerging electrochemical disinfection techniques provide a promising pathway to the biofouling control of reverse osmosis (RO) process. However, the comparative effectiveness and mechanism of it under flow-through conditions with low voltage remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of a flow-through electrode system (FES) with both direct current (DC) and alternating pulse current (AC) on RO biofouling control compared with chlorine disinfection. At the initial stage of biofouling development, the normalized flux of AC-FES (67% on Day 5) was saliently higher than the control group (56% on Day 5). Subsequently, the normalized fluxes of each group tended similarity in their differences until the 20th day. After mild chemical cleaning, the RO membrane in the AC-FES group reached the highest chemical cleaning efficiency of 58%, implying its foulant was more readily removable and the biofouling was more reversible. The biofouling layer in the DC-FES group was also found to be easily cleanable. Morphological analysis suggested that the thickness and compactness of the fouling layers were the major reasons for the fouling behavior difference. The abundance of 4 fouling-related abundant genera (>1%), which were Pseudomonas, Thiobacillus, Sphingopyxis, and Mycobacterium exhibited a salient correlation with the biofouling degree. The operating cost of FES was also lower than that of chlorine disinfection. In summary, AC-FES is a promising alternative to chlorine disinfection in RO biofouling control, as it caused less and easy-cleaning biofouling layer mainly due to two advantages: a) reducing the regrowth potential after disinfection of the bacteria, leading to alleviated initial fouling, (b) reshaping the microbial community to those with weaker biofilm formation capacity.

Hard Magnetic Graphene Nanocomposite for Multimodal, Reconfigurable Soft Electronics.

Soft electronics provide effective means for continuous monitoring of a diverse set of biophysical and biochemical signals from the human body. However, the sensitivities, functions, spatial distributions, and many other features of such sensors remain fixed after deployment and cannot be adjusted on demand. Here, laser-induced porous graphene is exploited as the sensing material, and dope it with permanent magnetic particles to create hard magnetic graphene nanocomposite (HMGN) that can self-assemble onto a flexible carrying substrate through magnetic force, in a reversible and reconfigurable manner. A set of soft electronics in HMGN exhibits enhanced performances in the measurements of electrophysiological signals, temperature, and concentrations of metabolites. All these flexible HMGN sensors can adhere to a carrying substrate at any position and in any spatial arrangement, to allow for wearable sensing with customizable sensitivity, modality, and spatial coverage. The HMGN represents a promising material for constructing soft electronics that can be reconfigured for various applications.

Microstructured Gel Polymer Electrolyte and an Interdigital Electrode-Based Iontronic Barometric Pressure Sensor with High Resolution over a Broad Range.

We present a novel iontronic barometric pressure sensor based on a gel polymer electrolyte and interdigital electrodes with a much simpler structure than that of existing devices. By introducing high-density microstructures on the gel polymer electrolyte and one side electrode arrangement configuration, the developed sensor offers high performances with an ultrahigh resolution of 10 Pa, an ultrawide barometric pressure-response range from -92 to 7 kPa, a fast response time of ∼15 ms, and excellent long-term stability. The single pressure sensor is able to detect positive and negative barometric pressures without needing any additional means and can operate as a barometric altimeter with a resolution of about one-floor height. The performances of the sensors significantly surpass those of existing barometric pressure sensors. This work provides a new strategy for making high-performance barometric pressure sensors that are highly sought for commercial applications such as altitude detection, negative pressure ambulance, and consumer electronics.

Research on evaluation index method of cloud-network convergence capability.

There is no measurable and evaluable index system for cloud-network convergence that provides guidance and reference for the subsequent construction and development of cloud-network convergence. It is a big project to select and evaluate the indexes of cloud-network convergence, which requires suitable index selection and index evaluation schemes. Based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy weight method, this paper proposes an improved AHP (i-AHP) index selection scheme and index evaluation scheme leveraging the years of experts' experience, the geometric mean and the least square method. The improved weighted least square method (WLSM) is finally proved to be more stable for index evaluation scheme by adding abnormal data. In addition, the index weight obtained by the index evaluation scheme with WLSM are provided as a reference for the future development of cloud-network convergence. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme is superior to the existing index evaluation scheme and can avoid the weight deviation caused by the disturbance and fluctuation of abnormal data.

Hydrodynamic tearing of bacteria on nanotips for sustainable water disinfection.

Water disinfection is conventionally achieved by oxidation or irradiation, which is often associated with a high carbon footprint and the formation of toxic byproducts. Here, we describe a nano-structured material that is highly effective at killing bacteria in water through a hydrodynamic mechanism. The material consists of carbon-coated, sharp Cu(OH)2 nanowires grown on a copper foam substrate. We show that mild water flow (e.g. driven from a storage tank) can efficiently tear up bacteria through a high dispersion force between the nanotip surface and the cell envelope. Bacterial cell rupture is due to tearing of the cell envelope rather than collisions. This mechanism produces rapid inactivation of bacteria in water, and achieved complete disinfection in a 30-day field test. Our approach exploits fluidic energy and does not require additional energy supply, thus offering an efficient and low-cost system that could potentially be incorporated in water treatment processes in wastewater facilities and rural communities.

Inactivation of chlorine-resistant bacteria (CRB) via various disinfection methods: Resistance mechanism and relation with carbon source metabolism.

With the widespread use of chlorine disinfection, chlorine-resistant bacteria (CRB) in water treatment systems have gained public attention. Bacterial chlorine resistance has been found positively correlated with extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) secretion. In this study, we selected the most suitable CRB controlling method against eight bacterial strains with different chlorine resistance among chloramine, ozone, and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, analyzed the resistance mechanisms, clarified the contribution of EPS to disinfection resistance, and explored the role of carbon source metabolism capacity. Among all the disinfectants, UV disinfection showed the highest disinfection capacity by achieving the highest average and median log inactivation rates for the tested strains. For Bacillus cereus CR19, the strain with the highest chlorine resistance, 40 mJ/cm2 UV showed a 1.90 log inactivation, which was much higher than that of 2 mg-Cl2/L chlorine (0.67 log), 2 mg-Cl2/L chloramine (1.68 log), and 2 mg/L ozone (0.19 log). Meanwhile, the UV resistance of the bacteria did not correlate with EPS secretion. These characteristics render UV irradiation the best CRB controlling disinfection method. Chloramine was found to have a generally high inactivation efficiency for bacteria with high chlorine-resistance, but a low inactivation efficiency for low chlorine-resistant ones. Although EPS consumed up to 56.7% of chloramine which an intact bacterial cell consumed, EPS secretion could not explain chloramine resistance. Thus, chloramine is an acceptable CRB control method. Similar to chlorine, ozone generally selected high EPS-secreting bacteria, with EPS consuming up to 100% ozone. Therefore, ozone is not an appropriate method for controlling CRB with high EPS secretion. EPS played an important role in all types of disinfection resistance, and can be considered the main mechanism for bacterial chlorine and ozone disinfection resistance. However, as EPS was not the main resistance mechanism in UV and chloramine disinfection, CRB with high EPS secretion were inactivated more effectively. Furthermore, carbon source metabolism was found related to the multiple resistance of bacteria. Those with low carbon source metabolism capacity tended to have higher multiple resistance, especially to chlorine, ozone, and UV light. Distinctively, among the tested gram-negative bacteria, in contrast to other disinfectants, chloramine resistance was negatively correlated with EPS secretion and positively correlated with carbon source metabolism capacity, suggesting a special disinfection mechanism.

Molecular characterization of colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer via integrated genomic transcriptomic analysis.

Introduction: Colorectal adenoma can develop into colorectal cancer. Determining the risk of tumorigenesis in colorectal adenoma would be critical for avoiding the development of colorectal cancer; however, genomic features that could help predict the risk of tumorigenesis remain uncertain. Methods: In this work, DNA and RNA parallel capture sequencing data covering 519 genes from colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer samples were collected. The somatic mutation profiles were obtained from DNA sequencing data, and the expression profiles were obtained from RNA sequencing data. Results: Despite some similarities between the adenoma samples and the cancer samples, different mutation frequencies, co-occurrences, and mutually exclusive patterns were detected in the mutation profiles of patients with colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer. Differentially expressed genes were also detected between the two patient groups using RNA sequencing. Finally, two random forest classification models were built, one based on mutation profiles and one based on expression profiles. The models distinguished adenoma and cancer samples with accuracy levels of 81.48% and 100.00%, respectively, showing the potential of the 519-gene panel for monitoring adenoma patients in clinical practice. Conclusion: This study revealed molecular characteristics and correlations between colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer, and it demonstrated that the 519-gene panel may be used for early monitoring of the progression of colorectal adenoma to cancer.

High-efficiency and low-carbon inactivation of UV resistant bacteria in reclaimed water by flow-through electrode system (FES).

With the increasingly serious shortage of water resources globally, it has been paid more attention on how to secure the biosafety of reclaimed water and other non-traditional water sources. However, the 3 most applied disinfection technics, which are chlorine, ultraviolet (UV), and ozone disinfection, all have their disadvantages of selecting undesired bacteria and low energy utilization efficiency. Electrode disinfection is a promising solution, but the current electrode disinfection process still needs to be optimized in terms of the use conditions of the configuration reactivation. In this paper, we built a flow electrode system (FES). To evaluate the disinfection techniques more precisely, we isolated ultraviolet-resistant bacteria (URB) bacteria from the water of the full-scale water plant and tested the disinfection performance of FES and UV. The inactivation rate, reactivation potential, and energy consumption were analyzed. FES could inactivate 99.99 % of the URB and cause irreversible damage to the residual bacteria. FES could make all bacteria strains apoptosis in the subsequent 24 h of storage after alternating pulse current (APC) treatment, 3 V, within 27.7 s. Besides, the energy consumption of FES is about 2 orders lower than that of UV disinfection under the same inactivation rate. In summary, APC-FES is an efficient and low-carbon alternative for future water disinfection, which could achieve the ideal disinfection effect of a high inactivation rate, no reactivation, and low energy consumption.

Differentiated embryonic chondrocyte expressed gene-1 is a central signaling component in the development of collagen-induced rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases and affects almost 1% of the population. Differentiated embryo-chondrocyte expressed gene-1 (DEC1) has been associated with both osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis. RA condition is marked by inflammatory hyperplasia, and DEC1 is known to support inflammatory reactions and implicated in antiapoptosis and cell invasion. Here, our goal was to test the hypothesis that DEC1 enhances RA development induced by collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a well-recognized protocol for developing RA animal models. DEC1+/+ and DEC1-/- mice were subjected to CIA protocol, and the development of RA condition was monitored. We found that CIA robustly induced RA phenotypes (e.g., synovial hyperplasia) and greatly increased the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. However, these changes were detected in DEC1+/+ but not DEC1-/- mice. Interestingly, these very cytokines strongly induced DEC1, and such a dual role of DEC1, as an inducer for and being induced by proinflammatory cytokines, constitutes a DEC1-amplifying circuit for inflammation. Knockdown of DEC1 in human MH7A cells strongly decreased cell migration and invasion as well as the expression of genes related to RA phenotypes. The combination of DEC1-directed migration and invasion in vitro with synovial hyperplasia in vivo mechanistically establishes cellular bases on how DEC1 is involved in the development of RA phenotypes. In addition to inflammatory signaling, DEC1 functionally interacted with PI3KCA(p110α)/Akt/GSK3ß, Wnt/ß-catenin, and NFATc1. Such engagement in multiple signaling pathways suggests that DEC1 plays coordinated and integral roles in developing RA, one of the most common autoimmune diseases.

A NAC transcriptional factor BrNAC029 is involved in cytokinin-delayed leaf senescence in postharvest Chinese flowering cabbage.

Both cytokinin and NAC transcription factors were reported to involve in leaf senescence. However, the mechanism of NAC transcription factors how to regulate cytokinin-delayed leaf senescence is still unknown. In this study, application of N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N'-phenylurea (CPPU), a cytokinin analogue, significantly delayed leaf senescence and maintained cytokinin content of Chinese flowering cabbage during storage. Meanwhile, the expression of an NAC transcriptional activator (BrNAC029) was increased but suppressed by CPPU treatment. Furthermore, BrNAC029 activated the expressions of chlorophyll catabolic genes BrPAO and BrSGR2, cytokinin oxidase gene BrCKX1 and senescence maker gene BrSAG113 by binding to their promoters. Additionally, overexpressions of BrNAC029 in tobacco and Arabidopsis accelerated leaf senescence and up-expressed the related genes. Taken together, it was suggested that BrNAC029 may serve as a transcriptional activator to activate the transcriptions of these related genes to eventually accelerate leaf senescence of Chinese flowering cabbage by promoting chlorophyll degradation and reducing endogenous cytokinin level.

Knockdown of Tet2 Inhibits the Myogenic Differentiation of Chicken Myoblasts Induced by Ascorbic Acid.

Ascorbic acid (also called Vitamin C, VC) strengthens the function of Tets families and directly increases DNA demethylation level to affect myogenic differentiation. However, the precise regulatory mechanism of DNA methylation in chicken myogenesis remains unclear. Results of present study showed that the mRNA expression of MyoD significantly decreased and MyoG and MyHC increased in myoblasts treated with 5 µM 5-azacytidine (5-AZA) and 5 µM VC (p < 0.05). Results also indicated the formation of myotubes was induced by 5-AZA or VC, but this effect was attenuated after knockdown of Tet2. In addition, the protein expression of TET2, DESMIN and MyHC was remarkable increased by the addition of 5-AZA or VC, and the upregulation was inhibited after knockdown of Tet2 (p < 0.05). DNA dot blot and immunofluorescence staining results suggested that the level of 5hmC was significantly increased when treated with 5-AZA or VC, even by Tet2 knockdown (p < 0.05). Moreover, 5-AZA and VC reduced the level of dimethylation of lysine 9 (H3K9me2) and trimethylation of lysine 27 of histone 3 (H3K27me3), and this inhibitory effect was eliminated after Tet2 knockdown (p < 0.05). These data indicated that Tet2 knockdown antagonized the increased levels of 5hmC and H3K27me3 induced by 5-AZA and VC, and eventually reduced myotube formation by modulating the expression of genes involved in myogenic differentiation. This study provides insights that epigenetic regulators play essential roles in mediating the myogenic program of chicken myoblasts.

Modification at the C2'-O-Position with 2-Methylbenzothiophene Induces Unique Structural Changes and Thermal Transitions on Duplexes of RNA and DNA.

Oligonucleotides can be chemically modified for a variety of applications that include their use as biomaterials, in therapeutics, or as tools to understand biochemical processes, among others. This work focuses on the functionalization of oligonucleotides of RNA and DNA (12- or 14-nucleotides long) with methylbenzothiophene (BT), at the C2'-O-position, which led to unique structural features. Circular dichroism (CD) analyses showed that positioning the BT units on one strand led to significant thermal destabilization, while duplexes where each strand contained 4-BT rings formed a distinct arrangement with cooperativity/interactions among the modifications (evidenced from the appearance of a band with positive ellipticity at 235 nm). Interestingly, the structural arrays displayed increased duplex stabilization (>10 °C higher than the canonical analogue) as a function of [Na+] with an unexpected structural rearrangement at temperatures above 50 °C. Density functional theory-polarizable continuum model (DFT-PCM) calculations were carried out, and the analyses were in agreement with induced structural changes as a function of salt content. A model was proposed where the hydrophobic surface allows for an internal nucleobase rearrangement into a more thermodynamically stable structure, before undergoing full denaturation, with increased heat. While this behavior is not common, B- to Z-form duplex transitions can occur and are dependent on parameters that were probed in this work, i.e., temperature, nature of modification, or ionic content. To take advantage of this phenomenon, we probed the ability of the modified duplexes to be recognized by Zα (an RNA binding protein that targets Z-form RNA) via electrophoretic analysis and CD. Interestingly, the protein did not bind to canonical duplexes of DNA or RNA; however, it recognized the modified duplexes, in a [monovalent/divalent salt] dependent manner. Overall, the findings describe methodology to attain unique structural motifs of modified duplexes of DNA or RNA, and control their behavior as a function of salt concentration. While their affinity to RNA binding proteins, and the corresponding mechanism of action, requires further exploration, the tunable properties can be of potential use to study this, and other, types of modifications. The novel arrays that formed, under the conditions described herein, provide a useful way to explore the structure and behavior of modified oligonucleotides, in general.

Bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy can assist to identify the parathyroid gland during thyroid surgery.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy in the identification of parathyroid glands during thyroid surgeries. Method: All patients who received thyroid surgeries at our department from January 2018 to February 2020 were recruited for this study. The bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy analyzer was applied to analyze on following tissues: thyroid tissues, lymph nodes, adipose tissues, and the tissues suspected to be parathyroid glands. Postoperative pathological reports were obtained as the golden standard to compare with the characteristic parameters obtained from bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess the diagnostic value and the selection of the optimal threshold of these parameters from bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy. Results: A total of 512 patients were enrolled in the study and 1898 specimens were measured by the bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy analyzer. There were significant differences in the parameter of f c among parathyroid glands, thyroid tissues, lymph nodes, and adipose tissues (252.2 ± 45.8 vs 144.7 ± 26.1, 491.7 ± 87.4, 602.3 ± 57.3; P<0.001, P<0.001, P<0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.993 (95%CI: 0.989-0.996) for f c. When the diagnostic criterion of f c was set at 188.85 kHz~342.55 kHz, the sensitivity and specificity to identify parathyroid glands from lymph nodes and adipose tissues were both 100%. At this f c, the sensitivity and specificity to identify parathyroid glands from thyroid tissues were 91.1% and 99.0%, respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy could assist to differentiate parathyroid glands from peripheral tissues during thyroid surgeries.

Double-Sided Wearable Multifunctional Sensing System with Anti-interference Design for Human-Ambience Interface.

Multifunctional sensing systems play important roles in a variety of applications, incluing health surveillance, intelligent prothetics, human-machine/ambinece interfaces, and many others. The richness of the signal and the decoupling among multiple parameters are essential for simultaneous, multimodal measurements. However, current multifunctional sensing fails to decouple interferences from various signals. Here, we propose a double-sided wearable system that both enables multifunctional sensing and avoids the interferences among multiple parameters. Specifically, the sensitivities of system modules to strain are controlled through customizing the pattern and morphology of sensing electrodes as well as the modification of active materials. Compensation of temperature drift and selection of sensing mechanisms ensure the thermal stability of the system. The encapsulation of modules resists the interferences of proximity, normal pressure, and gas molecules at the same time. A double-sided partition layout with serpentine interconnections reduces the effect of motion artifacts and ensures simultaneous operation of electrochemical-sensing modules. Cooperation among decoupled modules acts as the bridge between the perception of ambience changes and the timely feedback of the human body. In addition, to sense the signal at the interface, modules for energy harvesting and storage are also integrated into the system to broaden its application scenarios.

Comparison of disinfection-residual-bacteria (DRB) after seven different kinds of disinfection: Biofilm formation, membrane fouling and mechanisms.

Membrane fouling is the Achilles' heel of the reverse osmosis (RO) system for high-quality reclaimed water production. Previous studies have found that after the significant selection effect of traditional disinfection, the remaining disinfection-residual bacteria (DRB) may possess more severe biofouling potentials. To provide more constructive advice for the prevention of biofouling, we compared the RO membrane fouling characteristics of DRB after using five commonly used disinfection methods (NaClO, NH2Cl, ClO2, UV, and O3) and two novel disinfection methods (K2FeO4 and the flow-through electrode system (FES)). Compared with the control group (undisinfected, 21.1 % flux drop), the UV-DRB biofilm aggravated biofouling of the RO membrane (23.4 % flux drop), while the FES, K2FeO4, and NH2Cl treatments showed less severe biofouling, with final flux drops of 6.9 %, 8.1 %, and 8.1 %, respectively. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was found to be a capable indicator for predicting the biofouling potential of DRB. Systematic analysis showed that the thickness and density of the DRB biofilms were most closely related to the different fouling degree of RO membranes. Moreover, the relative abundance of bacteria with higher extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) secretion levels, such as Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas, was found closely related with the biofouling degree of RO membranes.

Coexistence of Contact Electrification and Dynamic p-n Junction Modulation Effects in Triboelectrification.

The triboelectric effect occurs when two dissimilar materials are in physical contact, attributed to the combination of contact electrification (CE) and electrostatic induction. It has been extensively explored for the development of high-performance triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). In this paper, we report on, besides the CE-related charge generation, an additional charge generation phenomenon associated with the modulation of the p-n junction when two semiconductor materials [methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)] are put in contact and separated dynamically. The electrical outputs generated by the CE effect are determined by the surface potential difference between the two friction materials, while the ones induced by the p-n junction modulation are determined by the dynamic variations in the depletion widths of the two semiconductor friction materials. The outputs generated by the CE effect and the p-n junction effect are well separated in time scale; the p-n junction modulation contributes ∼20% of the total charge generated and could be varied by changing the chemical composition of the semiconductors. The results may provide an alternative method for the development of high-performance TENGs by utilizing this additional p-n junction modulation effect.

Differentiated embryonic chondrocyte expressed gene-1 (DEC1) enhances the development of colorectal cancer with an involvement of the STAT3 signaling.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second deadly and the third most common malignancy worldwide. It has been projected that annual new cases of CRC will increase by 63% in 2040, constituting an even greater health challenge for decades to come. This study has linked DEC1 (differentiated embryonic chondrocyte expressed gene 1) to the pathogenesis of CRC. Based on the analysis of patient samples and database data, DEC1 is expressed much higher in CRC than the adjacent normal tissues. CRC patients with higher DEC1 expression have a shorter survival time. The carcinogenesis protocol with azoxymethane/dextran sulfate induces a higher number of tumors with larger sizes in DEC1+/+ than DEC1-/- mice. Overexpression of DEC1 increases the expression of proliferation- and antiapoptosis-related genes, but decreases the level of proapoptotic genes. Mechanistically, this study has shown that DEC1 is functionally looped to the IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway (interleukin-6/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3). IL-6 induces DEC1, and DEC1 enhances the phosphorylation of STAT3, resulting in increased pSTAT3/STAT3 ratio. DEC1 and STAT3 are present in reciprocal immunocomplexes, pointing to physical interactions (presumably with pSTAT3). These findings establish that DEC1 is a CRC enhancer. The enhancement is achieved largely through the IL-6/STAT3 pathway. The potential of the physical interaction between DEC1 and STAT3 will likely serve as a foundation to develop intervention strategies for CRC prevention and therapy.