Reexamination of Aspergillus cristatus phylogeny in dark tea: Characteristics of the mitochondrial genome.

To enhance our understanding of Aspergillus cristatus, an important functional microorganism, the characteristics of its mitochondrial genome were analyzed and compared with related species. The mitochondrial genome of A. cristatus was determined to be 77,649 bp in length, with 15 protein-coding regions. Notably, its length surpassed that of the other species, primarily attributable to the intron length. Gene order exhibited significant variations, with greater conservation observed in the genus Penicillium compared to Aspergillus. Phylogenetic tree analyses indicated that the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium are closely related but monophyletic. Furthermore, the phylogenetic tree constructed based on protein-coding genes effectively distinguished all strains with high branching confidence. This approach provides a robust reflection of the evolutionary relationship between A. cristatus and its related species, offering potential for the development of molecular markers suitable for Aspergillus and Penicillium.

Clinical utility of PD-L1 expression in circulating tumor cells in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with immunotherapy / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@# Lung cancer is the most frequent cancer and the leading cause of cancer death all around the world. Anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapies have significantly improved the outcomes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in recent years. However, the objective response rate in non-screened patients is only about 20%. It is very important to screen out the potential patients suitable for immunotherapy. Immunohistochemical staining of tumor tissue biopsies with PD-L1 antibodies can predict the therapeutic response to immunotherapy to some extent, but it still has some limitations. Recently some clinical studies have shown that PD-L1 expression in circulating tumor cells (CTC-PD-L1) is a potential independent biomarker and may provide important information for immunotherapy in NSCLC. This article will review technology for CTC-PD-L1 detection and the predictive value of CTC-PD-L1 for immunotherapy in NSCLC and review the latest clinical research progress.

Role of Rho-kinase in remote ischemicpostconditioning against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury / 中国药理学通报

Aim To explore the role of Rho-kinase in remote ischemic postcondi-tioning and its possible mechanism.Methods Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups(n=6): sham group(Sham), ischemia/reperfusion group(I/R), remote ischemic postconditioning group(RIPostC), I/R with Rho-kinase inhibitor fasudil group(I/R+Fas) and RIPostC with Rho-kinase activator lysophosphatidic acid group(RIPostC+LPA).Throughout the whole process of experiment, mean arterial pressure(MAP), heart rate(HR) and Ⅱ lead electrocardiogram were continuously monitored.At the end of the reperfusion, plasma creatine kinase(CK) and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) were measured.Myocardial histopathologic changes were observed by hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining.Infarct size was measured using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride(TTC) staining.The expressions of phospho-myosin light chain(p-MLC) were detected with Western blot analysis.Results Compared with Sham group, the MAP and HR of other groups decreased, while the amplitude of ST segment increased.Compared with I/R group, MAP and HR increased, the amplitude of ST segment decreased, plasma CK and LDH activity decreased, myocardial pathological morphology and infarct size were improved significantly, infiltration of inflammatory cells was reduced, and the expression of p-MLC decreased in RIPostC and I/R+Fas group.Compared with RIPostC group, RIPostC+LPA group attenuated the effects of RIPostC, and the recovery of the above indicators were inhibited.Conclusion Rho-kinase signaling pathway might mediate remote ischemia postconditioning against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Diagnostic value of combined detection of procalcitonin,C reactive protein and white blood cell count in children with respiratory tract infection / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) ,C‐reactive protein(CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) count in children with respiratory tract infection .Methods A total of 358 children inpatients with respiratory tract infec‐tion in the pediatric department of our hospital from 2014 January to June 2015 were selected and divided into the bacterial infection group and non‐bacterial infection group according to the throat swabs and sputum culture results .The venous blood was collected before and after treatment for detecting PCT ,CRP and WBC count ;meanwhile 30 healthy children were selected as the control group .Results The PCT ,CRP and WBC levels in the bacterial infection group were significantly increased compared with the non‐bacterial infection group and control group(P0 .05);but the PCT ,CRP and WBC count levels after 1‐week treatment in the bacterial infection group were significantly decreased compared with before treatment (P0 .05) .Conclusion The combined detection of PCT ,CRP and WBC count has an important application value in the differential diagnosis and medication guidance of the children′s respiratory tract infection .