[Association Between Socioeconomic Status, Productive Aging, and Frailty Index in Urban Elderly Population in China].

Objective: To explore the impact of socioeconomic status and productive aging on the frailty index of urban elderly population in China, and to provide reference for improving their health level. Methods: We obtained data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and included 1890 urban elderly people aged 60 and over in the study. Multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of the productive aging and the frailty index of the urban elderly population in China. A structural equation model was constructed to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status, productive aging, and frailty index. Results: Elderly people with high socioeconomic status ( ß=0.082, P<0.001) had higher level of productive aging. Elderly people with high socioeconomic status ( ß=－0.091, P<0.001) and high level of productive aging ( ß=－0.330, P<0.001) had lower frailty index. Productive aging played an intermediary role ( ß=－0.259, 95% CI: －0.380--0.181) between socioeconomic status and frailty index. Conclusion: The socioeconomic status and productive aging of the elderly people are important predictors of their frailty index. The government should exert its leadership functions to encourage the elderly, especially those with low education and income levels, to actively learn knowledge and skills, and to provide support for the elderly to participate in productive activities.

Xinfangfangia pollutisoli sp. nov., Isolated from Clopyralid-Contaminated Soil.

With the aim of isolating clopyralid-degrading bacterial species for potential bioremediation, a pale-yellow, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, and non-motile designated as Clo-40T was isolated from soil which was about 10 years use of clopyralid in Zaozhuang city, Shandong province. Growth occurred within the ranges from 10 to 40 °C and 0-2.5% (w/v) NaCl. Strain could completely degrade 50 mg/L clopyralid within 2 days after induction and formed 3, 6-hydroxypicolinic acid, a major clopyralid metabolite, hydrolyze esculin, and reduce nitrates to nitrites, but could not hydrolyze gelatin. Based on phylogenetic analysis, strain clustered within the genus Xinfangfangia clade and branched with Xinfangfangia humi IMT-291T (97.6%) and Xinfangfangia soli ZQBWT (96.9%). Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 4.41 Mbp and G + C content of 67.3%. The average nucleotide ANI values of strain with respect to X. humi IMT-291T and X. soli ZQBWT were 77.5% and 76.9%, respectively. The DDH estimated values between strain Clo-40T and X. humi IMT-291T and X. soli ZQBWT were 20.5% and 20.0%, respectively. The predominant fatty acids (> 5% of the total fatty acids) were C18:1 w7c (42.9%), C16:0 (28.8%), C17:0 cyclo (13.0%), and C14:0 (7.0%). The major polar lipids were identified as phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, unidentified phospholipid, unidentified glycolipid, and unidentified lipids. The predominant respiratory quinone was Q-10. Based on data from phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and genotypic analyses in this study, strain Clo-40T represent a novel species in the genus of Xinfangfangia, for which the name Xinfangfangia pollutisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Clo-40T (= KCTC 92089T = GDMCC 1.2845T).

Clinical Characteristics and Surgical Features of Intracranial Fibrosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial fibrosarcoma is an extremely rare neoplasm in the central nervous system. Insofar there were only sporadic case reports describing its features. The purpose of this study is to review the clinical and surgical features of cases who were treated in our department. METHOD: The authors retrospectively reviewed and detailed the clinical and surgical data obtained from 5 patients with fibrosarcoma who underwent treatment at our institute between January 2009 and January 2019. RESULTS: There were 3 males and 2 females including 2 juvenile and 3 senior patients. The most frequent sign was intermittent pain and vomiting. The location of the tumor included middle fossa, thalamus and midbrain, sellar and suprasellar region and right parietal-occipital lobe. Surgical observation demonstrated the consistency of the tumor was tenacious with abundant blood supply. Gross total resection was achieved in 2 cases. Pathological analysis showed spindle cells in a herringbone form with positive Vimentin staining in all 5 cases, with the absence of GFAP or S-100. All 5 patients were deceased eventually after a varied period of time after the first surgery. CONCLUSION: Intracranial fibrosarcoma was a highly malignant entity presented in the central nervous system. Surgery still remains the first-line treatment followed by radiotherapy, however, the prognostic outcome was very poor. Future studies should be more focused on accumulation of the relevant information on this disease thus hopefully in assisting to developing more optimized treatment.

MeLAD: an integrated resource for metalloenzyme-ligand associations.

MOTIVATION: Metalloenzymes are attractive targets for therapeutic intervention owing to their central roles in various biological processes and pathological situations. The fast-growing body of structural data on metalloenzyme-ligand interactions is facilitating efficient drug discovery targeting metalloenzymes. However, there remains a shortage of specific databases that can provide centralized, interconnected information exclusive to metalloenzyme-ligand associations. RESULTS: We created a Metalloenzyme-Ligand Association Database (MeLAD), which is designed to provide curated structural data and information exclusive to metalloenzyme-ligand interactions, and more uniquely, present expanded associations that are represented by metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs), metalloenzyme structural similarity (MeSIM) and ligand chemical similarity (LigSIM). MeLAD currently contains 6086 structurally resolved interactions of 1416 metalloenzymes with 3564 ligands, of which classical metal-binding, non-classical metal-binding, non-metal-binding and metal water-bridging interactions account for 63.0%, 2.3%, 34.4% and 0.3%, respectively. A total of 263 monodentate, 191 bidentate and 15 tridentate MBP chemotypes were included in MeLAD, which are linked to different active site metal ions and coordination modes. 3726 and 52 740 deductive metalloenzyme-ligand associations by MeSIM and LigSIM analyses, respectively, were included in MeLAD. An online server is provided for users to conduct metalloenzyme profiling prediction for small molecules of interest. MeLAD is searchable by multiple criteria, e.g. metalloenzyme name, ligand identifier, functional class, bioinorganic class, metal ion and metal-containing cofactor, which will serve as a valuable, integrative data source to foster metalloenzyme related research, particularly involved in drug discovery targeting metalloenzymes. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: MeLAD is accessible at https://melad.ddtmlab.org. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Clinical Features and Prognostic Risk Factors of Choroid Plexus Tumors in Children.

BACKGROUND: Decision-making concerning the treatment of choroid plexus tumor (CPT) in pediatric patients remains a topic of considerable debate. The aim of this work was to describe clinical features and prognostic risk factors of CPT in the pediatric population and to provide theoretical opinions regarding clinical decisions for CPT. METHODS: The data of 96 patients with CPT and younger than 14 years were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical characteristics such as pathological type of CPTs, rate and severity of hydrocephalus, treatment and outcome, and recurrence were investigated. For categorical variables, the Pearson's Chi-square test was performed. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for comparisons between nonnormally distributed parameters. Log-rank test was used for progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS: The study included 70 choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) cases, 17 atypical choroid plexus papilloma (aCPP) cases, and 9 choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC) cases. Compared with patients with CPP or aCPP, patients with CPC had a shorter disease course (median: CPP, 4 months; aCPP, 2 months; CPC, 1 month; H: 23.5, P < 0.001), higher rate of acute hydrocephalus (CPP, 27.1%; aCPP, 52.9%; CPC, 77.8%; χ2 = 10.9, P < 0.05), and lower incidence of cure rate (CPP, 85.7%; aCPP, 70.5%; CPC, 33.3%; χ2 = 13.5, P < 0.05). The severity of hydrocephalus with tumor in the lateral or third ventricle was significantly higher than that with tumors in the fourth ventricle (severe hydrocephalus: lateral ventricle, 51.7%; third ventricle, 47.0%; fourth ventricle, 11.1%; χ2 = 26.0, P < 0.001). Patients with gross total surgical resection had no better PFS than those with partial resection because of the use of adjuvant therapy in the latter (χ2 = 4.0, P > 0.05). Patients with CPC experienced shorter time for recurrence than those with CPP or aCPP (χ2 = 40.1, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that CPP in the fourth ventricle could trigger serious clinical symptoms at an early stage, requiring early intervention. Adjuvant treatment might be necessary for patients with partially resected CPP, aCPP, and CPC to achieve a favorable outcome.

CLDN5 affects lncRNAs acting as ceRNA dynamics contributing to regulating blood­brain barrier permeability in tumor brain metastasis.

The blood­brain barrier (BBB) constitutes an efficient organization of tight junctions that limits the delivery of tumor to the brain. The principal tight junction protein in BBB is claudin­5 (CLDN5), but its mechanism of action remains largely unknown. Long non­coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are aberrantly expressed in many cancers, some lncRNAs play key roles in regulating BBB permeability and are involved in tumor brain metastasis. In particular, lncRNAs can function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). Herein, we investigated whether ceRNA dysregulation is associated with alterations of the level of CLDN5 in human brain vascular endothelial hCMEC/D3 cells. The Affymetrix Human Transcriptome Array 2.0 and Affymetrix GeneChip miRNA 4.0 Array were used to detect the expression levels of 2,578 miRNAs, 22,829 lncRNAs, and 44,699 mRNAs in pLL3.7­CLDN5­transfected and pLL3.7 control hCMEC/D3 cells. The distinctly expressed miRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs were subjected to construction of miRNA­lncRNA­mRNA interaction network. A total of 41 miRNAs, 954 lncRNAs, and 222 mRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between the CLDN5­overexpressing and control group. 148 lncRNA acting as ceRNAs were identified based on the miRNA­lncRNA­mRNA interaction network. The function of differential mRNA in the network was determined by GO and pathway analysis. The potential roles of the 27 ceRNAs were revealed, the possible biology functions of these regulatory ceRNAs mainly included tight junction, focal adhesion, cell­cell adhesion, cell growth and apoptosis. The identified sets of miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs specific to CLDN5­overexpressing hCMEC/D3 cells were verified by quantitative real­time RT­PCR experiment. Our study predicts the biological functions of a multitude of ceRNAs associated with the alteration of CLDN5 in brain vascular endothelial cells. Our data suggest that these dysregulated ceRNAs, in conjunction with the high CLDN5 levels, could serve as useful targets of prevention of brain metastasis formation. Further studies are warranted to determine the role of these ceRNAs in facilitating the function of CLDN5 in brain­tumor barrier.

Claudin-5 regulates blood-brain barrier permeability by modifying brain microvascular endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and adhesion to prevent lung cancer metastasis.

AIMS: To investigate the roles of Claudin-5 (CLDN5) in regulating the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) during lung cancer brain metastasis. RESULTS: By silencing and overexpressing the CLDN5 gene in human brain vascular endothelial (hCMEC/D3) cells, we demonstrated the attenuation of cell migration ability and CLDN5's significant positive role in cell proliferation in CLDN5-overexpressing hCMEC/D3 cells and observed the opposite result in the CLDN5 knockdown group. The reinforced CLDN5 expression reduced the paracellular permeability of hCMEC/D3 cells and decreased the invasion of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Overall, 1685 genes were found to be differentially expressed between the CLDN5-overexpressing cells and the control cells using the Affymetrix Human Transcriptome Array 2.0 (HTA 2.0), and the function of these genes was determined by Gene Ontology and pathway analyses. The possible biological functions of the 1685 genes include cell proliferation, adhesion molecules, and the Jak-STAT, PI3K-Akt, Wnt, and Notch signaling pathways. The identified sets of mRNAs that were specific to CLDN5-overexpressing hCMEC/D3 cells were verified by a qRT-PCR experiment. CONCLUSION: CLDN5 regulates the permeability of BBB by regulating the proliferation, migration, and permeability of hCMEC/D3 cells, especially through the cell adhesion molecule signaling pathway, to enhance the function of the tight junctions, which was involved in reducing the formation of lung cancer brain metastasis.