SMG9 is a novel prognostic-related biomarker in glioma correlating with ferroptosis and immune infiltrates.

Background: Glioma is the most frequent type of malignancy that may damage the brain with high morbidity and mortality rates and patients' prognoses are still dismal. Ferroptosis, a newly uncovered mode of programmed cell death, may be triggered to destroy glioma cells. Nevertheless, the significance of ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) in predicting prognosis in glioma individuals is still a mystery. Methods: The CGGA (The Chinese Glioma Atlas), GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus), and TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) databases were all searched to obtain the glioma expression dataset. First, TCGA was searched to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). This was followed by a machine learning algorithm-based screening of the glioma's most relevant genes. Additionally, these genes were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) functional enrichment analyses. The chosen biological markers were then submitted to single-cell, immune function, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). In addition, we performed functional enrichment and Mfuzz expression profile clustering on the most promising biological markers to delve deeper into their regulatory mechanisms and assess their clinical diagnostic capacities. Results: We identified 4444 DEGs via differential analysis and 564 FRGs from the FerrDb database. The two were subjected to intersection analysis, which led to the discovery of 143 overlapping genes. After that, glioma biological markers were identified in fourteen genes by the use of machine learning methods. In terms of its use for clinical diagnosis, SMG9 stands out as the most significant among these biomarkers. Conclusion: In light of these findings, the identification of SMG9 as a new biological marker has the potential to provide information on the mechanism of action and the effect of the immune milieu in glioma. The promise of SMG9 in glioma prognosis prediction warrants more study.

The protective influence of family support on anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation among elderly Chinese nursing home residents: A study of serial mediation.

In light of the aging demographic in China, heightened attention is warranted for the mental well-being of elderly individuals. Nevertheless, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among older residents in Chinese nursing homes and the nuanced impact of family support on this phenomenon, mediated by anxiety and depressive symptoms, remain unclear. A cohort of 506 Chinese elderly adults participated in the study. Psychosocial traits were assessed using the Perceived Social Support from Family scale (PSS-Fa) for family support, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) for anxiety symptoms, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to execute a serial mediation model. The analysis of 506 elderly adults revealed that 8.1% reported varying levels of suicidal ideation within Chinese nursing homes. The pathway from family support to anxiety symptoms (standardized beta = -0.025, P = .241), family support to depressive symptoms (standardized beta = -0.072, P < .05), and family support to suicidal ideation (standardized beta = -0.082, P < .05) were explored. Additionally, pathways from anxiety symptoms to suicidal ideation (standardized beta = 0.364, P < .001), anxiety symptoms to depressive symptoms (standardized beta = 0.647, P < .001), and depressive symptoms to suicidal ideation (standardized beta = 0.369, P < .001) were examined. This study elucidated the underlying mechanisms connecting family support to suicidal ideation, with depressive symptoms partially mediating this association. Additionally, our discoveries shed light on the partial mediation of anxiety symptoms by depressive factors when it came to the realm of suicidal ideation.

Recent advances in fabricating injectable hydrogels via tunable molecular interactions for bio-applications.

Hydrogels with three-dimensional structures have been widely applied in various applications because of their tunable structures, which can be easily tailored with desired functionalities. However, the application of hydrogel materials in bioengineering is still constrained by their limited dosage flexibility and the requirement of invasive surgical procedures. Compared to traditional hydrogels, injectable hydrogels, with shear-thinning and/or in situ formation properties, simplify the implantation process and reduce tissue invasion, which can be directly delivered to target sites using a syringe injection, offering distinct advantages over traditional hydrogels. These injectable hydrogels incorporate physically non-covalent and/or dynamic covalent bonds, granting them self-healing abilities to recover their structural integrity after injection. This review summarizes our recent progress in preparing injectable hydrogels and discusses their performance in various bioengineering applications. Moreover, the underlying molecular interaction mechanisms that govern the injectable and functional properties of hydrogels were characterized by using nanomechanical techniques such as surface forces apparatus (SFA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The remaining challenges and future perspectives on the design and application of injectable hydrogels are also discussed. This work provides useful insights and guides future research directions in the field of injectable hydrogels for bioengineering.

Relationship of widowhood with pulse pressure, fasting blood glucose, and mental health in older adults: a propensity matching score analysis.

Background: Transitioning from marriage to widowhood presents inevitable and significant challenges for many older adults. This study explored the impact of widowhood on a range of mental health outcomes, including pulse pressure and fasting blood glucose levels, among older adults in nursing homes. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized cluster random sampling to recruit participants, with data analyzed from 388 older Chinese adults. Psychosocial traits were assessed using the Perceived Social Support from Family scale (PSS-Fa) for family support, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) for anxiety symptoms, and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for confounding factors. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between widowhood, mental health outcomes, pulse pressure, and fasting blood glucose levels. Results: After applying PSM, the sample size was refined to 268 (N = 134 for both married and widowed groups) from the initial 388, excluding 120 unmatched cases. Widowed older adults were found to have notably lower family support (ß = -0.81, p = 0.002), increased depressive symptoms (ß = 1.04, p = 0.043), elevated pulse pressure (ß = 8.90, p < 0.001), and higher fasting blood glucose levels (ß = 3.22, p = 0.027). These associations exhibited greater beta values compared to pre-matching analysis. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that widowed participants had reduced family support, an increased risk of depressive symptoms, heightened pulse pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose in comparison to their married counterparts. Interventions focusing on social support, mental health, and cardiovascular well-being could be advantageous for this at-risk group.

An acetylation-enhanced interaction between transcription factor Sox2 and the steroid receptor coactivators facilitates Sox2 transcriptional activity and function.

SRY-box 2 (Sox2) is a transcription factor with critical roles in maintaining embryonic stem (ES) cell and adult stem cell functions and in tumorigenesis. However, how Sox2 exerts its transcriptional function remains unclear. Here, we used an in vitro protein-protein interaction assay to discover transcriptional regulators for ES cell core transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc) and identified members of the steroid receptor coactivators (SRCs) as Sox2-specific interacting proteins. The SRC family coactivators have broad roles in transcriptional regulation, but it is unknown whether they also serve as Sox2 coactivators. We demonstrated that these proteins facilitate Sox2 transcriptional activity and act synergistically with p300. Furthermore, we uncovered an acetylation-enhanced interaction between Sox2 and SRC-2/3, but not SRC-1, demonstrating it is Sox2 acetylation that promotes the interaction. We identified putative Sox2 acetylation sites required for acetylation-enhanced interaction between Sox2 and SRC-3 and demonstrated that acetylation on these sites contributes to Sox2 transcriptional activity and recruitment of SRC-3. We showed that activation domains 1 and 2 of SRC-3 both display a preferential binding to acetylated Sox2. Finally, functional analyses in mouse ES cells demonstrated that knockdown of SRC-2/3 but not SRC-1 in mouse ES cells significantly downregulates the transcriptional activities of various Sox2 target genes and impairs ES cell stemness. Taken together, we identify specific SRC family proteins as novel Sox2 coactivators and uncover the role of Sox2 acetylation in promoting coactivator recruitment and Sox2 transcriptional function.

Effect of phosphate, ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol injected at one-location with tumbling on quality of roast beef.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if continuous non-vacuum or vacuum tumbling improves the quality of roast beef utilizing the one location injection. Basically, fresh roast beef treated by one location injection with tumbling had significantly different quality compared to non-tumbled ones. However, the cooked roast beef did not significantly exhibit better quality due to tumbling. There was insignificant difference of TBARS value for whole meat among treatments at day 0. The control had significantly higher TBARS value compared to roast beef with non-vacuum and vacuum tumbled samples at day 2. At 4, 7 and 14 days of refrigerated storage, the control maintained the significantly highest values when compared to the other treatments that had similar TBARS values. The addition of three antioxidants was the major contributor to lipid stability of the cooked roast beef.