Structural deep multi-view clustering with integrated abstraction and detail.

Deep multi-view clustering, which can obtain complementary information from different views, has received considerable attention in recent years. Although some efforts have been made and achieve decent performances, most of them overlook the structural information and are susceptible to poor quality views, which may seriously restrict the capacity for clustering. To this end, we propose Structural deep Multi-View Clustering with integrated abstraction and detail (SMVC). Specifically, multi-layer perceptrons are used to extract features from specific views, which are then concatenated to form the global features. Besides, a global target distribution is constructed and guides the soft cluster assignments of specific views. In addition to the exploitation of the top-level abstraction, we also design the mining of the underlying details. We construct instance-level contrastive learning using high-order adjacency matrices, which has an equivalent effect to graph attention network and reduces feature redundancy. By integrating the top-level abstraction and underlying detail into a unified framework, our model can jointly optimize the cluster assignments and feature embeddings. Extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets have demonstrated that the proposed SMVC consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

Electronic Structure Regulated Nickel-Cobalt Bimetal Phosphide Nanoneedles for Efficient Overall Water Splitting.

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have been widely studied for water decomposition for their monocatalytic property for anodic or cathodic reactions. However, their bifunctional catalytic activity still remains a major challenge. Herein, hexagonal nickel-cobalt bimetallic phosphide nanoneedles with 1-3 µm length and 15-30 nm diameter supported on NF (NixCo2-xP NDs/NF) with adjusted electron structure have been successfully prepared. The overall alkaline water electrolyzer composed of the optimal anode (Ni0.67Co1.33P NDs/NF) and cathode (Ni1.01Co0.99P NDs/NF) provide 100 mA cm-2 at 1.62 V. Gibbs Free Energy for reaction paths proves that the active site in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is Ni and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is Co in NixCo2-xP, respectively. In the HER process, Co-doping can result in an apparent accumulation of charge around Ni active sites in favor of promoting HER activity of Ni sites, and ΔGH* of 0.19 eV is achieved. In the OER process, the abundant electron transfer around Co-active sites results in the excellent ability to adsorb and desorb *O and *OOH intermediates and an effectively reduced ∆GRDS of 0.37 eV. This research explains the regulation of electronic structure change on the active sites of bimetallic materials and provides an effective way to design a stable and effective electrocatalytic decomposition of alkaline water.

Negatives Make a Positive: An Embarrassingly Simple Approach to Semi-Supervised Few-Shot Learning.

Semi-Supervised Few-Shot Learning (SSFSL) aims to train a classifier that can adapt to new tasks using limited labeled data and a fixed amount of unlabeled data. Various sophisticated methods have been proposed to tackle the challenges associated with this problem. In this paper, we present a simple but quite effective approach to predict accurate negative pseudo-labels of unlabeled data from an indirect learning perspective. We leverage these pseudo-labels to augment the support set, which is typically limited in few-shot tasks, e.g., 1-shot classification. In such label-constrained scenarios, our approach can offer highly accurate negative pseudo-labels. By iteratively excluding negative pseudo-labels one by one, we ultimately derive a positive pseudo-label for each unlabeled sample in our approach. The integration of negative and positive pseudo-labels complements the limited support set, resulting in significant accuracy improvements for SSFSL. Our approach can be implemented in just few lines of code by only using off-the-shelf operations, yet it outperforms state-of-the-art methods on four benchmark datasets. Furthermore, our approach exhibits good adaptability and generalization capabilities when used as a plug-and-play counterpart alongside existing SSFSL methods and when extended to generalized linear models.

Genome-wide analysis of sugar transporter genes in maize (Zea mays L.): identification, characterization and their expression profiles during kernel development.

Sugar transporters (STs) play a crucial role in the development of maize kernels. However, very limited information about STs in maize is known. In this study, sixty-eight ZmST genes were identified from the maize genome and classified into eight major groups based on phylogenetic relationship. Gene structure analysis revealed that members within the same group shared similar exon numbers. Synteny analysis indicated that ZmSTs underwent 15 segmental duplication events under purifying selection. Three-dimensional structure of ZmSTs demonstrated the formation of a compact helix bundle composed of 8-13 trans-membrane domains. Various development-related cis-acting elements, enriched in promoter regions, were correlated with the transcriptional response of ZmSTs during kernel development. Transcriptional expression profiles exhibited expression diversity of various ZmST genes in roots, stems, leaves, tassels, cobs, embryos, endosperms and seeds tissues. During kernel development, the expression of 24 ZmST genes was significantly upregulated in the early stage of grain filling. This upregulation coincided with the sharply increased grain-filling rate observed in the early stage. Overall, our findings shed light on the characteristics of ZmST genes in maize and provide a foundation for further functional studies.

Structure-aware deep clustering network based on contrastive learning.

Recently, deep clustering has been extensively employed for various data mining tasks, and it can be divided into auto-encoder (AE)-based and graph neural networks (GNN)-based methods. However, existing AE-based methods fall short in effectively extracting structural information, while GNN suffer from smoothing and heterophily. Although methods that combine AE and GNN achieve impressive performance, there remains an inadequate balance between preserving the raw structure and exploring the underlying structure. Accordingly, we propose a novel network named Structure-Aware Deep Clustering network (SADC). Firstly, we compute the cumulative influence of non-adjacent nodes at multiple depths and, thus, enhance the adjacency matrix. Secondly, an enhanced graph auto-encoder is designed. Thirdly, the latent space of AE is endowed with the ability to perceive the raw structure during the learning process. Besides, we design self-supervised mechanisms to achieve co-optimization of node representation learning and topology learning. A new loss function is designed to preserve the inherent structure while also allowing for exploration of latent data structure. Extensive experiments on six benchmark datasets validate that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods.

Deubiquitylase PSMD14 inhibits autophagy to promote ovarian cancer progression via stabilization of LRPPRC.

Autophagy is a key cellular process, which exists in many tumors and plays dual roles in tumor promotion and suppression. However, the role and mechanism of aberrant autophagy in ovarian cancer remains unclear. Ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is the most important pathway for specific protein degradation. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) have crucial roles in all the stages of tumorigenesis and progression. Herein, we explore the DUBs which contribute to aberrant autophagy in ovarian cancer. TCGA data analysis shows that the autophagy level is suppressed, and the selective autophagy receptor SQSTM1/p62 is abnormally high expressed in ovarian cancer. We screen and identify that the deubiquitinase PSMD14 negatively regulates autophagy level. Functional studies show that increased PSMD14 expression remarkably enhances ovarian cancer cells malignancy, whereas knockdown of PSMD14 has the opposite effect. Furthermore, in vivo assays show that knockdown of PSMD14 inhibits the growth, lung and abdominal metastasis of ovarian cancer. Mechanistically, PSMD14 directly interacts with LRPPRC and inhibits its ubiquitination, thereby inhibiting autophagy through LRPPRC/Beclin1-Bcl-2/SQSTM1 signaling pathway. Next, we demonstrate that PSMD14 is upregulated in ovarian cancer and high expression of PSMD14 positively correlates with LRPPRC. Taken together, we clarify the role of autophagy in regulating the ovarian cancer phenotype and provide insights into regulatory mechanism of autophagy in ovarian cancer.

Exosome-derived lnc-HOXB8-1:2 induces tumor-associated macrophage infiltration to promote neuroendocrine differentiated colorectal cancer progression by sponging hsa-miR-6825-5p.

INTRODUCTION: Neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells has been known for decades, and our previous meta-analysis indicated that CRC patients with neuroendocrine differentiation have a lower 5-year survival rate. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have found that exosome-derived long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in cancer progression and metastasis. However, the functions and mechanism of exosome-derived lncRNAs in CRC with neuroendocrine differentiation are not yet fully clear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical significance of NED was assessed in a retrospective study of 105 patients. Next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were conducted to select lnc-HOXB8-1:2 for further study. Using immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR, western blot, transwell assay, immunofluorescence assay, fluorescence in situ hybridization assay and dual-luciferase reporter assay, the oncogenic role of exosome-derived lnc-HOXB8-1:2 was determined in CRC with NED. The mechanism underlying the lnc-HOXB8-1:2/hsa-miR-6825-5p/CXCR3 axis was also explored. RESULTS: NED was a risk factor for the progression and mortality of CRC. lnc-HOXB8-1:2, derived from exosomes secreted by neuroendocrine differentiated colon cancer cells, was identified in our study. The proportion of M2 macrophages and the migration and invasion capacities of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) markedly increased after the addition of neuroendocrine differentiated CRC cell-derived exosomes. More excitingly, the expression of lnc-HOXB8-1:2 and the protein level of CXCR3 were also upregulated in TAMs. The lnc-HOXB8-1:2/hsa-miR-6825-5p/CXCR3 axis was predicted via miRanda software and confirmed by the dual-luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, the increased expression of lnc-HOXB8-1:2 was accompanied by downregulation of hsa-miR-6825-5p expression and upregulation of CXCR3 protein levels. Overexpression of hsa-miR-6825-5p also reduced CXCR3 expression. CONCLUSION: lnc-HOXB8-1:2 in exosomes derived from neuroendocrine differentiated CRC cells acted as a ceRNA competitively binding hsa-miR-6825-5p to upregulate CXCR3 expression and leading to TAM infiltration and M2 polarization, which promotes neuroendocrine differentiated CRC progression.

Methylated septin 9 gene is an important prognostic marker in stage II and stage III colorectal cancer for evaluating local recurrence or distant metastasis after surgery.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal hypermethylation of the septin 9 gene was an inchoate incident in some cancers. Though latest several researches had paid attention to its value in prognosis, the consequences were not distinctly, especially in colorectal cancer (CRC) with stage II and stage III. PURPOSE: The aim of this research was to pick up the prognostic value of the methylated septin 9 gene (mSEPT9) in CRC patients, particularly in TNM stage II-III. METHODS: Blood samples before surgery were obtained from 144 CRC patients, of which there were 94 with stage II and stage III. mSEPT9 was considered positive when the cycle number of the peak reaction (Ct) was lower than the threshold value (41.0) for two times during three times PCR test. mSEPT9 and other relative factors of prognosis were estimated by survival analysis. The level of septin 9 in tissues was tested by immunohistochemical (IHC). RESULTS: Stage II and stage III patients with mSEPT9 positive (mSEPT9+) had a lower disease-free survival (DFS) rate than those with mSEPT9 negative (mSEPT9-) (2-year DFS rates, 52.1% vs 73.9%, P = 0.014). In multivariate regression analysis, mSEPT9 was also an independent predictor of prognosis (HR = 2.741, P = 0.009). The risk of local recurrence or distant metastasis in CRC patients after surgery was mSEPT9+ with stage III, mSEPT9- with stage III/mSEPT9+ with stage II, and mSEPT9- with stage II (P = 0.001), from highest to lowest. In addition, mSEPT9 was strongly associated with TNM staging, tumor immersion depth, distant metastasis, differentiation degree, vascular invasion and microsatellite. When we explored the associations between septin 9 protein level revealed by IHC and other elements, recurrence/progression (R = - 0.523, P = 0.001), mSEPT9 status (R = - 0.451, P = 0.004) and T stage (R = - 0.375, P = 0.017) showed significant correlations. CONCLUSIONS: Positive mSEPT9 is a poor prognostic marker for CRC patients in stage II and III. It is also a powerful complement to TNM staging in predicting postoperative DFS of CRC patients of stage II and III.

Association of Total Thyroidectomy or Thyroid Lobectomy With the Quality of Life in Patients With Differentiated Thyroid Cancer With Low to Intermediate Risk of Recurrence.

IMPORTANCE: Owing to the good prognosis of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), guidelines recommend total thyroidectomy (TT) or thyroid lobectomy (TL) as surgical treatment for DTC with low to intermediate risk of recurrence. However, the association of these surgeries with the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with DTC with low to intermediate risk of recurrence is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To longitudinally compare the HRQOL of patients with DTC undergoing different surgeries. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective observational longitudinal cohort study enrolled patients diagnosed with DTC with low to intermediate risk of recurrence at the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, China, from October 1, 2018, to September 31, 2019. Eligible patients were categorized into TL and TT groups according to the surgery they underwent. They were evaluated preoperatively and followed up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively using 3 HRQOL-related questionnaires (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, version 3.0; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; and Thyroid Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire); serum thyrotropin levels, complications, and patient satisfaction were also monitored. Data were analyzed to compare the HRQOL of patients undergoing different surgeries at different time points. EXPOSURES: Total thyroidectomy or TL. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end point was HRQOL (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, version 3.0; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; and Thyroid Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire) at different time points, and the secondary end points were postoperative complications, thyrotropin level, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Of the 1060 eligible patients, 563 underwent TL (438 women [77.8%]; median [IQR] age, 38 [31-45] years), and 497 underwent TT (390 women [78.5%]; median [IQR] age, 38 [32-48] years). Compared with the TL group, including the 1- to 4-cm tumor subgroup, the TT group experienced more postoperative HRQOL problems at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. However, nearly all the differences disappeared at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Results of this study suggest that HRQOL of patients with DTC with low to intermediate risk of recurrence is not associated with the extent of surgery, and HRQOL may not be an important consideration when making surgical decisions. If better HRQOL is requested in the short term, TL may be preferred.

Circular RNA circHERC4 as a novel oncogenic driver to promote tumor metastasis via the miR-556-5p/CTBP2/E-cadherin axis in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The main cause of death in colorectal cancer patients is metastasis. Accumulating evidences suggest that circRNA plays pivotal roles in cancer initiation and development. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of circRNAs that orchestrate cancer metastasis remain vague and need further clarification. METHODS: Two paired CRC and adjacent normal tissues were used to screen the upregulated circRNAs by circRNA-seq; then, cell invasion assay was applied to confirm the functional invasion-related circRNAs. According to the above methods, circHERC4 (hsa_circ_0007113) was selected for further research. Next, we investigated the clinical significance of circHERC4 in a large cohort of patients with CRC. The oncogenic activity of circHERC4 was investigated in both CRC cell lines and animal xenograft studies. Finally, we explored the molecular mechanisms underlying circHERC4 as a malignant driver. RESULTS: We demonstrated that circHERC4 was aberrantly elevated in CRC tissues (P < 0.001), and was positively associated with lymph node metastasis and advanced tumor grade (P < 0.01). Notably, the expression of circHERC4 was associated with worse survival in patients with CRC. Silencing of circHERC4 significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of two highly aggressive CRC cell lines and reduced liver and lung metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, we revealed that circHERC4 inactivated the tumor suppressor, miR-556-5p, leading to the activation of CTBP2/E-cadherin pathway which promotes tumor metastasis in CRC. CONCLUSIONS: CircHERC4 exerts critical roles in promoting tumor aggressiveness through miR-556-5p/CTBP2/E-cadherin pathway and is a prognostic biomarker of the disease, suggesting that circHERC4 may serve as an exploitable therapeutic target for patients with CRC.

The mechanisms of colorectal cancer cell mesenchymal-epithelial transition induced by hepatocyte exosome-derived miR-203a-3p.

BACKGROUND: Liver metastasis is the most common cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 induces CRC metastasis by epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which promotes CRC cell liver metastasis. Mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET), the opposite of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, has been proposed as a mechanism for the establishment of metastatic neoplasms. However, the molecular mechanism of MET remains unclear. METHODS: Using Immunohistochemistry, western blotting, invasion assays, real-time quantitative PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assays, human miRNA arrays, and xenograft mouse model, we determined the role of hepatocyte exosome-derived miR-203a-3p in CRC MET. RESULTS: In our study, we found that miR-203a-3p derived from hepatocyte exosomes increased colorectal cancer cells E-cadherin expression, inhibited Src expression, and reduced activity. In this way miR-203a-3p induced the decreased invasion rate of CRC cells. COCLUSION: MiR-203a-3p derived from hepatocyte exosomes plays an important role of CRC cells to colonize in liver.

Identification of a 3-gene signature for predicting the prognosis of stage II colon cancer based on microsatellite status.

BACKGROUND: Though colon cancer (CC) is one of the most malignant tumors across the world, CC patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) in stage II seem to have a better prognosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenomena haven't been elucidated yet. METHODS: This study enrolled 322 CCs with known microsatellite status from GSE143985, GSE39582 and GSE92921 in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Robust rank aggregation (RRA) analysis, univariate Cox regression analysis and multivariate Cox stepwise regression analysis were performed to identify genes and construct risk score signature. Kaplan-Meier and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic value of the signature. The potential mechanisms underlying this signature were assessed in the Metascape database, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and immune infiltration analysis. RESULTS: RRA analysis identified 40 differently expressed genes (DEGs). A 3-gene risk score signature (MKQ signature) associated with disease-free survival (DFS) was generated. DFS was significantly longer in CC patients with lower than higher scores (P=0.0046). The areas under curves (AUCs) of the time-dependent ROC curves of MKQ signature at 1-, 3- and 5-year DFS were 1, 0.963 and 0.961 respectively. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) was significantly longer in patients in GSE39582 with lower than higher risk scores (P=0.032). The AUCs for 1-, 3- and 5-year RFS in GSE39582 were 0.63, 0.618 and 0.583, respectively, validating the value of the MKQ signature. Functional annotation and GSEA revealed that the MKQ signature was associated with multiple immune-related pathways. Immune cell infiltration was found to differ in patients differing in the MKQ signature. CONCLUSIONS: Gene expression and microsatellite status identified a 3-gene signature (MKQ signature) that could facilitate risk-stratified management in patients with stage II CC. Dysregulation of MSMB, KRT23, and QPRT can serve as prognostic markers in stage II CC.

Mesenchymal and Phosphatase of Regenerating Liver-3 Status in Circulating Tumor Cells May Serve as a Crucial Prognostic Marker for Assessing Relapse or Metastasis in Postoperative Patients With Colorectal Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) have been considered to be significant prognostic indicators in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). This study discusses the prognostic significance of mesenchymal CTCs with PRL-3 (M+ PRL-3+ CTCs) in postoperative patients with CRC. METHODS: We detected CTC subtypes (including epithelial CTCs, biphenotypic epithelial/mesenchymal CTCs, and mesenchymal CTCs) and PRL-3 in CTCs from the peripheral blood samples of 156 patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were performed to identify the prognostic value of mesenchymal CTCs with PRL-3+. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of PRL-3 in tumor tissues from some of the patients to explore the connection between CTCs and tissues. RESULTS: All CTCs were positive in all samples, both mesenchymal CTCs and PRL-3-positive cells. The count of mesenchymal and PRL-3+ CTCs was significantly associated with recurrence, and the optimal cutoff value was 2 (area under the curve = 0.690, P < 0.001). In addition, these patients had a significantly shorter median disease-free survival than those who did not fulfill the criteria (8.5 vs 24 months, P < 0.001) according to multivariable and multinomial logistic regression. Immunohistochemistry was applied to explore the associations between PRL-3 expression and significant prognostic risk factors, including recurrence (R = 0.566; P < 0.001), and M+ PRL-3+ status in CTCs (R = 0.452; P = 0.001). DISCUSSION: The status of M+ PRL-3+ in CTCs may serve as a crucial prognostic marker for assessing clinical outcomes in CRC.

Caesarean scar defect: Risk factors and comparison of evaluation efficacy between transvaginal sonography and magnetic resonance imaging.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the risk factors for development of caesarean scar defect (CSD), compare the efficacy of transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for CSD assessment, and investigate the association between CSD size and clinical symptoms. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred and eighty-nine women with CSD and 378 women without CSD with a history of caesarean section (CS) at the Obsterics and Gynaecology Hospital of Fudan University between January 2008 and February 2016 were enrolled. The potential risk factors for CSD were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. TVS and MRI were performed for CSD measurements, including residual myometrial thickness, and depth, length and width of CSD. Associations between CSD size by TVS/MRI and symptoms were evaluated. RESULTS: CS time ≥85 min, peripartum fever or infection, and retroflexed uterus were risk factors for CSD, and age at last CS < 30 years, intraoperative blood loss <150 ml and double-layer closure were protective factors for CSD. Prolonged menstruation, dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain and infertility were the main clinical manifestations. Women with a larger CSD presented with more prolonged menstruation. Compared with TVS, measurements by MRI showed better prediction of the clinical symptoms of CSD. CONCLUSIONS: Various factors contribute to the development of CSD. Prevention of peripartum infection, reduction of CS time, reduction of blood loss and more careful uterine closure are needed to decrease the risk of developing CSD. MRI is a reliable method for the diagnosis and measurement of CSD, and can be utilized in clinical practice.

Interaction with tumor­associated macrophages promotes PRL­3­induced invasion of colorectal cancer cells via MAPK pathway­induced EMT and NF­κB signaling­induced angiogenesis.

Protein phosphatase of regenerating liver­3 (PRL­3) is considered to be metastasis­associated phosphatase and is associated with a poor prognosis. Additionally, tumor­associated macrophages (TAMs) participate in cancer progression. A previous study demonstrated that PRL­3 promotes invasion and metastasis by inducing TAM infiltration. However, the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated. In the present study, western blot analysis, polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, ELISA, mouse model experiments and functional experiments were performed to confirm that the interaction between TAMs and colorectal cancer (CRC) cells induced epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT)­associated features in CRC cells by activating mitogen­activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in TAMs and upregulating the expression of interleukin (IL)­6 and IL­8. The neutralization of IL­6 and IL­8 reduced EMT and the invasive and migratory abilities of CRC cells. Therefore, IL­6 and IL­8 were considered important factors in EMT, and in CRC invasion and metastasis. In addition, increased angiogenesis was observed after TAMs were co­cultured with CRC cells that overexpress PRL­3. Vascular endothelial growth factor­A was significantly upregulated, and the nuclear factor­κB (NF­κB) signaling pathway was activated in CRC cells after co­culture. Moreover, nude mice injected with CRC cells with high PRL­3 expression levels tended to generate larger xenografts. Immunohistochemistry results from xenografted CRC cells overexpressing PRL­3 also confirmed the activation of MAPK pathways in xenografts. Overall, the findings indicate that PRL­3 promotes CRC cell invasion and metastasis by activating MAPK pathways in TAMs to initiate the EMT, and PRL­3 promotes angiogenesis by activating the NF­κB pathway in CRC cells.

SIN3B promotes integrin αV subunit gene transcription and cell migration of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Paired amphipathic helix protein (SIN3B) is a transcription corepressor for many genes. Here we show a different regulation mechanism of integrin αV gene expression by SIN3B in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We first observed a close relationship between Integrin αV and SIN3B expressions in HCC patients and tumor cell lines with different metastatic potentials. Overexpression of SIN3B significantly accelerated the cell migration rate of SMMC-7721, but failed when integrin αV expression was silenced. Interestingly, SIN3B stimulated integrin αV subunit promoter activity only in the presence of sulfatide. Importantly, SIN3B was identified in the complex with sulfatide by mass spectrometry. Fat blot assay indicated that SIN3B specifically interacted with sulfatide. Molecular modeling suggested that sulfatide induced the conformational change of SIN3B from compacted α-helices to a relaxed ß-sheet in PAH2 domain. The data of immunoprecipitation and ChIP assay indicated that altered SIN3B lost the binding affinity with MAD1 and HDAC2, which reduced the recruitment of HDAC2 on integrin αV gene promoter and prevented the deacetylation of the histone 3. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that SIN3B promoted the transcriptional activation of the integrin αV subunit gene promoter by reducing interaction with HDAC2.

Ovarian conservation is associated with better survival in young patients with T1N0M0 cervical adenocarcinoma: a population-based study.

PURPOSE: Ovarian conservation is controversial in patients with cervical adenocarcinoma due to the risk of ovarian metastasis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of ovarian conservation with survival outcomes in young patients with T1N0M0 cervical adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Women who were 45 years of age or younger with T1N0M0 cervical adenocarcinoma from 1988 to 2013 recorded in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were included. Propensity score weighting was used to balance the intragroup differences. Cause-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using Kaplan-Meier estimates. A multivariate Cox model was used to adjust for covariates including propensity score. A stratified analysis was then conducted. RESULTS: Totally, 1090 (79.7%) patients underwent oophorectomy and 278 (20.3%) patients whose ovaries were preserved were identified. Patients with preserved ovaries were younger, with a lower T classification and less likely to undergo pelvic lymphadenectomy (all p < 0.05). After propensity weighting, ovarian conservation group had better cause-specific survival (CSS) (5-year 98.8 versus 97.1%, 10-year 98.0 versus 95.2%, p = 0.0370) and overall survival (OS) (5-year 98.8 versus 97.1%, 10-year 96.5 versus 93.5%, p = 0.0025). After adjustment, the CSS benefit of ovarian conservation was marginally significant (p = 0.051) and OS benefit was still significant (p = 0.006). Stratified analysis showed that the CSS benefit was found in T1b classification (HR, 0.23; 95% CI 0.06-0.89, p = 0.033) and histological grade > 1 (HR 0.12; 95% CI 0.02-0.87; p = 0.035). CONCLUSION: Among young women with T1N0M0 cervical adenocarcinoma, ovarian conservation is associated with better survival.

CCL26 Participates in the PRL-3-Induced Promotion of Colorectal Cancer Invasion by Stimulating Tumor-Associated Macrophage Infiltration.

Both phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) influence cancer progression. Whether PRL-3 plays a critical role in colorectal cancer invasion and metastasis by inducing TAM infiltration remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated the effects of chemokine ligand 26 (CCL26) on TAM infiltration and colorectal cancer invasion and the underlying mechanism in colorectal cancer cells by overexpressing or silencing PRL-3. We found that PRL-3 upregulated CCL26 expression correlatively and participated in cell migration, according to the results of gene ontology analysis. In addition, IHC analysis results indicated that the PRL-3 and CCL26 levels were positively correlated and elevated in stage III and IV colorectal cancer tissues and were associated with a worse prognosis in colorectal cancer patients. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CCL26 induced TAM infiltration by CCL26 binding to the CCR3 receptor. When LoVo-P and HT29-C cells were cocultured with TAMs, CCL26 binding to the CCR3 receptor enhanced the invasiveness of LoVo-P and HT29-C cells by mobilizing intracellular Ca2+of TAMs to increase the expression of IL6 and IL8. In addition, IHC results indicated that protein levels of CCR3 and TAMs counts were higher in stage III and IV colorectal cancer tissues and correlated with CCL26. Moreover, similar results were observed in vivo using mice injected with LoVo-P and HT29-C cells. These data indicate that PRL-3 may represent a potential prognostic marker that promotes colorectal cancer invasion and metastasis by upregulating CCL26 to induce TAM infiltration. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(1); 276-89. ©2017 AACR.

Efficacy of caesarean scar defect repair in improving postmenstrual bleeding and factors associated with poor effect.

Caesarean scar defect (CSD) can cause postmenstrual bleeding. Defect repair is an effective technique to improve this symptom, but there are still a few patients getting little improvement. This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of scar repair and explores the factors associated with poor effect. In total, 123 patients were involved in the final analysis. All of them complained about menstruation period >7 days due to postmenstrual bleeding. Before surgery, 87.8% of patients had a menstruation period more than 10 days and 20.3% had a period more than 15 days. After surgery, a normal menstruation period (< =7 days) was achieved in 46.3% (95%CI 37.3%-55.6%) of patients and a menstruation period lasting no more than 10 days was achieved in 74.8% (95%CI 66.2%-82.2%). Through multivariate logistic analysis, four factors were found dependently associated with poor effect (defined as menstruation period >10 days after surgery): repeated caesarean section (OR 9.75, 95%CI 2.30-41.36, 0.002) was a risk factor, while defect volume >600 mm3 (OR 0.14, 95%CI 0.03-0.56, 0.006), interval from caesarean section to symptom emerging >3 months (OR 0.25, 95%CI 0.07-0.94, 0.041) and straight or retroflexed uterus (OR 0.19, 95%CI 0.05-0.79, 0.022) were protective factors. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? Caesarean scar defect can cause postmenstrual bleeding. Defect repair can improve this symptom, but there are still a few patients getting little improvement after surgery. What do the results of this study add? Defect volume >600 mm3, interval from caesarean section to symptom emerging >3 months and straight or retroflexed uterus are protective factors of poor effect (defined as menstruation period >10 days after surgery), and repeated caesarean section is a risk factor. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? These findings may help in counselling the patients and in medical decision. Further researches are needed to explore other factors associated with surgical effect and build prediction models.

PRL-3 improves colorectal cancer cell proliferation and invasion through IL-8 mediated glycolysis metabolism.

Phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) has been found to be overexpressed in liver metastases of colorectal cancer and rarely expressed in primary tumors, which plays an important role in the metastasis of colorectal cancer cells. Metabolism reprogramming has been found to be a hallmark of cancer cells, and aerobic glycolysis is a metabolic adaption for cancer cells and promotes cell proliferation. However, the association between PRL-3 and glycolysis in colorectal cancer cells is not well understood. In the present study, we explored the association between PRL-3 and glycolysis. We found that PRL-3 improved colorectal cancer cell glucose assumption, lactate production and reduced intracellular ROS levels. Besides, PRL-3 improved the expression of Glut1, HK2, PKM2 and LDHA, which are important glycolysis related molecules and enzymes. Moreover, we explored IL-8 mediated enhancement of glycolysis by PRL-3. More importantly, the proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer cells were enhanced significantly by PRL-3 through improving glycolysis. Taken together, these results implicated the important role of PRL-3 in glycolysis metabolism through improving IL-8 secretion in colorectal cancer cells, and PRL-3 mediated glycolysis contributed to the promotion of cancer metastasis.