Can neoadjuvant systemic therapy provide additional benefits for T1 HER2+ breast cancer patients: a subgroup analysis based on different high-risk signatures.

INTRODUCTION: Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) is vital in the management of HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer. Nevertheless, the indications for NAST in tumors <2 cm remain controversial. METHOD: A total of 7961 patients were screened from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result database. Independent prognostic factors were identified using multivariate Cox analysis. Subgroup analyses and Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to simulate whether NAST would provide a survival benefit with different high-risk characteristics. Nomograms were constructed, and an internal validation cohort was employed. RESULTS: Of the 7961 included patients, 1137 (14.3%) underwent NAST. In the total population, NAST was associated with poorer overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) (OS: P = 0.00093; BCSS: P  <  0.0001). Multivariate Cox analysis confirmed that NAST markedly affected the prognosis of enrolled patients. Besides, a direct association between T, N, age, subtype, and prognosis was observed. Subgroup analyses yielded in these three subgroups, T1c, hormone receptor-negative, and 61-69 years of age, NAST and AST had comparable OS, while NAST possessed worse BCSS. Notably, even in the N3, we still did not observe any additional benefit of NAST. The calculated C-index of 0.72 and 0.73 confirmed the predictability of the nomograms. The AUCs exhibit consistency in the training and validation cohorts. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that NAST does not provide additional benefit to patients with T1 HER2+ breast cancer, even in the presence of lymph node metastasis, T1c, or hormone receptor negativity. This study facilitates the implementation of individualized management strategies.

PIK3CA mutation-driven immune signature as a prognostic marker for evaluating the tumor immune microenvironment and therapeutic response in breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Gene mutations drive tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) heterogeneity, in turn affecting prognosis and immunotherapy efficacy. PIK3CA is the most frequently mutated gene in breast cancer (BC), yet its relevance to BC prognosis remains controversial. Herein, we sought to determine the impact of PIK3CA mutation-driven immune genes (PDIGs) on BC prognosis in relation to TIME heterogeneity. METHODS: PIK3CA mutation characteristics were compared and verified between the TCGA-BRCA dataset and a patient cohort from our hospital. PIK3CA mutation-driven differentially expressed genes were identified for consensus clustering and weighted gene co-expression network analysis to select the modules most relevant to the immune subtype. Thereafter, the two were intersected to obtain PDIGs. Univariate Cox, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were sequentially performed on PDIGs to obtain a PIK3CA mutation-driven immune signature (PDIS), which was then validated using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differences in functional enrichment, mutation landscape, immune infiltration, checkpoint gene expression, and drug response were compared between different risk groups. RESULTS: PIK3CA mutation frequencies in the TCGA and validation cohorts were 34.49% and 40.83%, respectively. PIK3CA mutants were significantly associated with ER, PR, and molecular BC subtypes in our hospital cohort. The PDIS allowed for effective risk stratification and exhibited prognostic power in TCGA and GEO sets. The low-risk patients exhibited greater immune infiltration, higher expression of common immune checkpoint factors, and lower scores for tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion. CONCLUSION: The PDIS can be used as an effective prognostic model for predicting immunotherapy response to guide clinical decision-making.

Construction and Validation of a Nomogram Predicting the Overall Survival Benefit of Unilateral Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy.

BACKGROUND: Currently, research on the prognostic factors of unilateral breast cancer (UBC) patients receiving contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) is limited. This study aimed to construct a new nomogram to predict these patients' overall survival (OS). METHODS: In this retrospective study, 88,477 patients who underwent CPM or unilateral mastectomy (UM) were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses were used to determine the difference in the impact of the 2 surgical methods on the prognosis. Multivariate Cox analysis was used to determine the best prognostic variable and construct a nomogram. The concordance index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA), net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were used to evaluate the discrimination capability and clinical effectiveness of the nomogram. RESULTS: The prognosis of patients receiving CPM and UM was significantly different. The DCA curves indicated that the nomogram could provide more excellent clinical net benefits for these patients. The NRI and IDI of the nomogram demonstrated that its performance was better than that of the classical tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system. CONCLUSION: This study developed and validated a practical nomogram to predict the OS of UBC patients undergoing CPM, which provided a beneficial tool for clinical decision-making management.

"On/off"-switchable crosslinked PTX-nanoformulation with improved precise delivery for NSCLC brain metastases and restrained adverse reaction over nab-PTX.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) brain metastases present a significant treatment challenge due to limited drug delivery efficiency and severe adverse reactions. In this study, we address these challenges by designing a "on/off" switchable crosslinked paclitaxel (PTX) nanocarrier, BPM-PD, with novel ultra-pH-sensitive linkages (pH 6.8 to 6.5). BPM-PD demonstrates a distinct "on/off" switchable release of the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) in response to the acidic extratumoral microenvironment. The "off" state of BPM-PD@PTX effectively prevents premature drug release in the blood circulation, blood-brain barrier (BBB)/blood-tumor barrier (BTB), and normal brain tissue, surpassing the clinical PTX-nanoformulation (nab-PTX). Meanwhile, the "on" state facilitates precise delivery to NSCLC brain metastases cells. Compared to nab-PTX, BPM-PD@PTX demonstrates improved therapeutic efficacy with a reduced tumor area (only 14.6%) and extended survival duration, while mitigating adverse reactions (over 83.7%) in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), offering a promising approach for the treatment of NSCLC brain metastases. The precise molecular switch also helped to increase the PTX maximum tolerated dose from 25 mg/kg to 45 mg/kg This research contributes to the field of cancer therapeutics and has significant implications for improving the clinical outcomes of NSCLC patients.

Effect of T Stages on the Choice of Axillary Evaluation Modality in Breast Cancer Patients With 1-2 Sentinel Lymph Node Metastases.

INTRODUCTION: The survival benefit of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) combined with radiation, and ALND combined with radiation remains unclear in breast cancer (BC) patients with 1-2 metastatic sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). This study aims to rigorously evaluate the prognostic impact of these axillary evaluation modalities on BC patients with varying T-stages and to construct a survival prediction nomogram. METHODS: Following screening for inclusion and exclusion criteria, data pertaining to BC patients were extracted from the SEER database. Overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) were assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards model among patients with different stages who underwent various axillary evaluation modalities. A nomogram was constructed to predict the probability of OS and BCSS. RESULTS: A total of 20,283 patients were included, comprising 9626 who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and 10,657 who underwent mastectomy. In the T4 stage stratified analysis, both BCS and mastectomy groups exhibited superior OS and BCSS with ALND compared to SLNB combined with radiation. Further, ALND combined with radiation improved OS. However, for T1-3 stages, patients treated with ALND experienced similar or worse survival compared to those treated with SLNB combined with radiation. The calibration curve and C-index (0.746-0.794) of the nomogram demonstrated the efficacy of the survival prediction model. CONCLUSION: In T1-3 BC patients with 1-2 metastatic SLNs, SLNB combined with radiation is a safe alternative to ALND. Conversely, for T4 patients, ALND combined with radiation may offer a preferable choice.

Breast cancer is associated with coronary heart disease: a cross-sectional survey of NHANES 1999-2018.

Background: Understanding the correlation between female breast cancer (BC) and the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) is important for developing prevention strategies and reducing the burden of female social disease. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between BC and CHD using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 1999 to 2018. Methods: The study cohort included 16,149 eligible non-pregnant female participants aged 20 years or older. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between BC and CHD, excluding the interaction between covariates and BC through hierarchical subgroup analysis. Results: The study found that participants with BC had a 2.30 times greater risk of developing CHD compared to those without BC [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.29-2.31]. After adjusting for all included covariates, BC was still significantly associated with CHD risk (odds ratio: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.10-1.12). When participants were stratified by age, education level, and prevalence of hypertension, it was evident that participants with BC had a higher risk of developing CHD compared to those without BC, although the effect of BC on CHD varied across stratification. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the close relationship between CHD and female BC. Therefore, it is necessary to screen patients with CHD for BC and monitor BC survivors for the long-term risk of developing CHD.

Magnesium ions regulated ovalbumin-lysozyme heteroprotein complex: Aggregation kinetics, thermodynamics and morphologic structure.

This study aims to investigate the mechanism of magnesium ions regulated ovalbumin-lysozyme (OVA-LYS) heteroprotein aggregation behavior via aggregation kinetics model, exploring the relationship between differential aggregation behavior and protein molecular structure, intermolecular interactions and thermal stability. Results showed that the aggregation rate (kapp) and maximum absorbance (Amax) of the OVA-LYS heteroprotein complex were located between OVA and LYS. Meanwhile, the thermal denaturation temperature (Td) and denaturation enthalpy (ΔH) were between the values of OVA and LYS as well. Compared with OVA, the thermal stability of the OVA-LYS heteroprotein complex increased owing to the electrostatic interactions between OVA and LYS, resulting in slower aggregation rate and lower aggregation degree. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed the molecular conformational changes during OVA-LYS binary protein binding and the stability of the complex conformation. Moreover, MgCl2 weakened the OVA-LYS interactions through Debye shielding while increasing thermal stability, allowing the two proteins to aggregate into amorphous precipitates rather than spherical coacervates. Overall, this study provides information to further understand the regulation mechanism of proteins differential aggregation behavior by ions.

Prognostic value and mode selection of locoregional treatment in Stage-IV breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the actual prognostic significance of different locoregional treatment (LRT) (surgery and radiotherapy) modalities for stage-IV  breast cancer (BC) patients and construct a competing risk nomogram to make precise predictions of the breast cancer-specific death (BCSD) risk among LRT recipients. METHODS: A total of 9279 eligible stage-IV BC patients from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database were included in this study. Initially, we evaluated the impact of LRT on survival both before and after the propensity score matching (PSM). Then, we used the Cox hazard proportional model and competing risk model to identify the independent prognostic factors for LRT recipients. Based on the screened variables, a comprehensive nomogram was established. RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that LRT significantly prolonged overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) (P < 0.001). In addition, patients treated with surgery combined with postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) possessed the optimal survival (P < 0.001). Regardless of the surgical modalities, primary tumor resection combined with radiotherapy could ameliorate the prognosis (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that in patients with T2-T4 stage, PORT had a survival benefit compared with those undergoing surgery combined with preoperative radiotherapy (PRRT) and surgery only. Based on the screened independent prognostic factors, we established a comprehensive nomogram to forecast BCSD in 1 year, 2 years and 3 years, which showed robust predictive ability. CONCLUSION: PORT was associated with a lower BCSD in stage-IV BC patients. The practical nomogram could provide a precise prediction of BCSD for LRT recipients, which was meaningful for patients' individualized management.

Comprehensive analysis of nicotinamide metabolism-related signature for predicting prognosis and immunotherapy response in breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among women. Nicotinamide (NAM) metabolism regulates the development of multiple tumors. Herein, we sought to develop a NAM metabolism-related signature (NMRS) to make predictions of survival, tumor microenvironment (TME) and treatment efficacy in BC patients. Methods: Transcriptional profiles and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed. NAM metabolism-related genes (NMRGs) were retrieved from the Molecular Signatures Database. Consensus clustering was performed on the NMRGs and the differentially expressed genes between different clusters were identified. Univariate Cox, Lasso, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were sequentially conducted to develop the NAM metabolism-related signature (NMRS), which was then validated in the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) single-cell RNA-seq data. Further studies, such as gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), ESTIMATE, CIBERSORT, SubMap, and Immunophenoscore (IPS) algorithm, cancer-immunity cycle (CIC), tumor mutation burden (TMB), and drug sensitivity were performed to assess the TME and treatment response. Results: We identified a 6-gene NMRS that was significantly associated with BC prognosis as an independent indicator. We performed risk stratification according to the NMRS and the low-risk group showed preferable clinical outcomes (P < 0.001). A comprehensive nomogram was developed and showed excellent predictive value for prognosis. GSEA demonstrated that the low-risk group was predominantly enriched in immune-associated pathways, whereas the high-risk group was enriched in cancer-related pathways. The ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms revealed that the low-risk group had a higher abundance of anti-tumor immunocyte infiltration (P < 0.05). Results of Submap, IPS, CIC, TMB, and external immunotherapy cohort (iMvigor210) analyses showed that the low-risk group were indicative of better immunotherapy response (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The novel signature offers a promising way to evaluate the prognosis and treatment efficacy in BC patients, which may facilitate clinical practice and management.

Low-density lipoprotein: a versatile nanoscale platform for targeted delivery.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is a small lipoprotein that plays a vital role in controlling lipid metabolism. LDL has a delicate nanostructure with unique physicochemical properties: superior payload capacity, long residence time in circulation, excellent biocompatibility, smaller size, and natural targeting. In recent decades, the superiority and feasibility of LDL particles as targeted delivery carriers have attracted much attention. In this review, we introduce the structure, composition, advantages, defects, and reconstruction of LDL delivery systems, summarize their research status and progress in targeted diagnosis and therapy, and finally look forward to the clinical application of LDL as an effective delivery vehicle.

Effects of bamboo-charcoal modified by bimetallic Fe/Pd nanoparticles on n-hexane biodegradation by bacteria Pseudomonas mendocina NX-1.

The high hydrophobicity of n-hexane is the main reason why it is difficult to be removed biologically. In this study, the effects of bamboo-charcoal modified by bimetallic Fe/Pd (BBC) on n-hexane biodegradation by Pseudomonas mendocina NX-1 (PM) was investigated. The n-hexane removal efficiency was increased in the presence of BC. The highest n-hexane removal efficiency at 90.0% was achieved at 0.05 g L-1 BCE and 3 g L-1 NH4+ under pH 7.7 and 35 °C. Additionally, protein content (45.9 µg mL-1) and negative cell surface zeta potential (-26.4 mV) were increased during biodegradation process, with PM-BBC being 43.1 µg mL-1 and 19.1 mV. Bacterial growth was improved and maximum cell surface hydrophobicity was obtained after 20 h, which was 59.4% higher than the control with PM-BBC (37.7%) or PM (16.1%), showing biodegradation products of 1-butanol and acetic acid. The results indicate that BBC improved n-hexane biodegradation efficiency by promoting bacterial growth, reducing cell zeta potential, exposing hydrophobic proteins, and increasing cell surface hydrophobicity of bacterial strain NX-1. This investigation suggests that BBC-enhanced biodegradation can be promising to treat n-hexane-containing gas.

The relationship between immediate postmastectomy reconstruction modalities and survival benefits in patients with triple negative breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Immediate postmastectomy reconstruction for breast cancer has been widely used due to its unique esthetic and psychological effects. However, no other population-based study has investigated the effects of different reconstruction types on the survival in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). METHODS: We selected patients who met the eligibility criteria from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry (N = 9760). We then assessed the effect of different reconstructive surgical approaches (implant, autologous, implant and autologous combined reconstruction) on the overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) by using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. The nomograms were used to predict OS and BCSS. And the competitive risk model was used to assess breast cancer-specific death (BCSD) and non-breast cancer-specific death (NBCSD). RESULTS: Statistical analysis suggested that the three reconstruction methods had better OS and BCSS with lower hazard than mastectomy alone (log-rank test, p < 0.05). Multivariate stratified analysis showed that patients aged 40-60 years had the greatest improvement in OS (Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 0.646; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 0.439-0.950; p = 0.026) with combined reconstruction. BCSS could be improved only by implant reconstruction (AHR, 0.672; 95% CI, 0.514-0.878; p = 0.004). In addition, autologous reconstruction (AHR, 0.570; 95% CI, 0.350-0.929; p = 0.024) and implant reconstruction (AHR, 0.538; 95% CI, 0.339-0.853; p = 0.008) improved OS in patients >60 years of age. The survival prediction model quantified the survival benefits of TNBC patients undergoing different surgeries. Moreover, the C-indexes showed the good predictive ability of the nomograms. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that for TNBC patients, there is a survival benefit of immediate postmastectomy reconstruction compared with mastectomy alone. Among them, implant reconstruction has the most obvious advantage.

Prognostic effect of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients underwent immediate reconstruction after mastectomy.

Introduction: It is still unclear whether radiotherapy affects the long-term survival of breast cancer (BC) patients after immediate breast reconstruction (IBR). This study aims to evaluate the actual prognostic impact of radiotherapy on BC patients undergoing IBR, and to construct survival prediction models to predict the survival benefit of radiotherapy. Methods: Data on eligible BC patients were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Competing risk models were used to assess breast cause-specific death (BCSD) and non-breast cancer cause-specific death (NBCSD). Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox risk regression model and forest map were used to evaluate and demonstrate overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS). Survival prediction nomograms were used to predict OS and BCSS probabilities. Results: A total of 22,218 patients were selected, 24.9% received radiotherapy and 75.1% were without radiotherapy. Competing risk models showed that whether BCSD or NBCSD, the cumulative long-term risk of death in the radiotherapy group was higher than that in the non-radiotherapy group. The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that patients with different lymph node metastasis had different radiotherapy benefits. Multivariate stratified analysis showed that radiotherapy after autologous reconstruction was associated with poor BCSS in patients with stage N0, and radiotherapy after autologous reconstruction and combined reconstruction improved OS and BCSS in patients with stage N3. The C-indexes of nomogram (between 0.778 and 0.847) and calibration curves showed the good prediction ability of survival prediction model. Conclusions: Radiotherapy can improve OS and BCSS in N3 stage BC patients undergoing immediate autologous reconstruction after mastectomy. The practical nomograms can be used to predict OS and BCSS of patients with or without radiotherapy, which is helpful for individualized treatment.

Identification of glycogene signature as a tool to predict the clinical outcome and immunotherapy response in breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most important diseases in women around the world. Glycosylation modification correlates with carcinogenesis and roles of glycogenes in the clinical outcome and immune microenvironment of breast cancer are unclear. Methods: A total of 1297 breast cancer and normal cases in the TCGA and GTEx databases were enrolled and the transcriptional and survival information were extracted to identify prognostic glycogenes using Univariate Cox, LASSO regression, Multivariate Cox analyses and Kaplan-Meier method. The immune infiltration pattern was explored by the single sample gene set enrichment method. The HLA and immune checkpoint genes expression were also compared in different risk groups. The expressions of a glycogene MGAT5 as well as its products were validated by immunohistochemistry and western blotting in breast cancer tissues and cells. Results: A 19-glycogene signature was identified to separate breast cancer patients into high- and low-risk groups with distinct overall survival rates (P < 0.001). Compared with the high-risk group, proportion of naive B cells, plasma cells and CD8+ T cells increased in the low-risk group (P < 0.001). Besides, expressions of HLA and checkpoint genes, such as CD274, CTLA4, LAG3 and TIGIT3, were upregulated in low-risk group. Additionally, highly expressed MGAT5 was validated in breast cancer tissues and cells. Downstream glycosylation products of MGAT5 were all increased in breast cancer. Conclusions: We identified a 19-glycogene signature for risk prediction of breast cancer patients. Patients in the low-risk group demonstrated a higher immune infiltration and better immunotherapy response. The validation of MGAT5 protein suggests a probable pathway and target for the development and treatment of breast cancer.

Nomogram Predicts the Role of Primary Tumor Surgery on De Novo Stage-IV Breast Cancer Patients: A SEER-Based Competing Risk Analysis Model.

Objective: The efficacy of primary tumor surgery on survival in female patients with de novo stage IV breast cancer (BC) remains unclear. Our study endeavored to develop comprehensive competing risk nomograms to predict clinical outcomes and guide precision treatment in these patients. Participants and Methods: A total of 12281 patients who had distant metastasis at initial BC diagnosis between 2010 and 2017 in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, were enrolled in this study. First, we assessed the impacts of primary tumor surgery on overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) using the Kaplan-Meier curves. Then subgroup analyses stratified by different metastatic patterns were performed using Cox and competing risk models (CRM). Based on the filtered independent prognostic parameters by CRM, we established two nomograms to predict the probability of breast cancer-specific death (BCSD) at 1-,2- and 3-year intervals. Furthermore, calibration curves and area under the curves (AUC) were conducted for validation. Results: Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that surgery was associated with better OS and BCSS (P<0.001). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that in bone-only metastases pattern, relative to breast-conserving surgery (BCS), patients receiving mastectomy had worse prognosis and the poorest survival belonged to non-surgery individuals (BCSS: mastectomy: HR=1.35; 95%CI=1.15-1.60; non-surgery: 2.42; 2.08-2.82; OS: mastectomy: 1.44; 1.23-1.68; non-surgery: 2.40; 2.08-2.78). Additionally, no survival difference was observed between BCS and reconstruction recipients (BCSS: HR=1.10; 95%CI=0.85-1.43; OS: 1.11; 0.86-1.44). Furthermore, patients undergoing BCS possessed similar BCSS with mastectomy recipients as well as reconstruction recipients in viscera metastases pattern, whereas non-surgery individuals had a worse survival (mastectomy: HR=1.04; 95%CI=0.92-1.18; reconstruction: 0.86; 0.69-1.06; non-surgery: 1.83; 1.63-2.05). Two competing risk nomograms of distinct metastatic patterns were established to comprehensively predict the survival of patients. Calibration curves indicated the terrific consistency of the models. Moreover, the AUC values in the training and validation sets were in the range of 0.70-0.80, exhibiting good specificity and sensitivity. Conclusion: The surgery implementation was associated with a lower probability of BCSD in de novo stage-IV BC patients. Our nomograms could offer a relatively accurate and individualized prediction of the cumulative incidence rate of BCSD after primary tumor resection.

Increasing N,N-dimethylacetamide degradation and mineralization efficiency by co-culture of Rhodococcus ruber HJM-8 and Paracoccus communis YBH-X.

In this work, Rhodococcus ruber HJM-8 and Paracoccus communis YBH-X were isolated and used to enhance N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC) degradation and mineralization efficiencies. The monoculture and co-culture of the two strains for DMAC degradation were compared; results indicated that, a degradation efficiency of 97.62% was obtained in co-culture, which was much higher than that of monocultures of HJM-8 (57.34%) and YBH-X (34.02%). The degradation mechanism showed that co-culture could efficiently improve extracellular polymeric substances production, electron transfer, and microbial activity. Meanwhile, the mineralization mechanism suggested that acetate was the dominant intermediate which had an inhibitory effect on HJM-8, and co-culture was conducive to mineralization due to the high performance of acetate conversion and Na+ K+-ATPase vitality. Besides, a pathway of DMAC biodegradation was proposed for co-culture: DMAC was degraded into acetate by HJM-8, then the accumulated acetate was mineralized by YBH-X. Additionally, the co-culture system was further optimized by Box-Behnken design.

A Novel Glycolysis and Hypoxia Combined Gene Signature Predicts the Prognosis and Affects Immune Infiltration of Patients with Colon Cancer.

PURPOSE: We aimed to characterize the expression patterns of glycolysis and hypoxia genes in colon cancers as well as their value in prognosis and immune microenvironment. METHODS: The expression profiles were acquired from the Cancer Genome Atlas database. Enrichment of hypoxia and glycolysis gene sets in colon cancer was identified by gene set enrichment analysis. Then, a prognostic signature was built up after Cox regression analyses, and overall survival analysis validated the predictive ability. Immune status and infiltration in cancer tissues were explored using the single sample gene set enrichment analysis and CIBERSORT algorithm. A nomogram model integrating clinical variables and the gene signature was established and assessed. RESULTS: Altogether, 378 cancer and 39 control cases were enrolled. Three glycolysis gene sets and two hypoxia gene sets were enriched in colon cancer (P < 0.05). Five independent genes (ENO3, GPC1, P4HA1, SPAG4, and STC2) were significantly correlated with prognosis of colon cancer patients. Patients with higher risks had significantly better prognosis than those with lower risks (P = 0.002 and AUC = 0.750), which was also observed in the elderly, female and stage I-II subgroups (P < 0.05). In high-risk cases, proportion of NK cells resting increased (P < 0.05) while that of dendritic cells activated (P < 0.05), dendritic cells resting (P < 0.01) and monocytes (P < 0.01) decreased. Besides, expressions of 22 checkpoint genes were found abnormal in groups with different risks (P < 0.05). The predictive nomogram presented satisfactory performance with C-index of 0.771 (0.712-0.830). The area under ROC curve was 0.796 and 0.803 for 3- and 5-year survival prediction, respectively. CONCLUSION: A glycolysis and hypoxia combined gene signature was a promising method to evaluate the prognosis and immune infiltration of colon cancer patients, which may provide a new tool for cancer management.

Pollution characteristics and source analysis of microplastics in the Qiantang River in southeastern China.

Microplastic pollution resulting from industrialization and urbanization is increasingly serious. Hangzhou is a city with high industrial/urban growth in Southeast China. Focusing on the microplastic pollution in the Hangzhou section Qiantang River, six samples were collected and analyzed during different hydrological periods (normal, wet, and dry periods) and the relationship between microplastic pollution and economic development was investigated. Results showed that more microplastics were found during the dry period than that of the wet period (49.8 vs. 13.2%). Microplastic abundance was 1.5-9.4 items L-1, showing significant spatial differences in sampling sites. Among the collecting microplastics, debris and fibers accounted for 36.4 and 30.9%. Polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride were the main polymers, accounting for 48.3 and 31.8%, respectively. Microplastics with size <1 mm accounted for 60% of the microplastics in surface water samples. Spatially, microplastic abundance was the highest in the middle of the river. Redundant analysis revealed that the per capita GDP (p = 0.002), high-end equipment industry (p = 0.028) and fashion manufacturing (p = 0.006) influenced microplastic abundance. Urbanization coupled with rapid economic development led to increase in local microplastic pollution. Our results provide insight into microplastic distribution patterns in urban river systems in China.

Bamboo charcoal powder-based polyurethane as packing material in biotrickling filter for simultaneous removal of n-hexane and dichloromethane.

Bamboo charcoal powder-based polyurethane (BC-PU) was firstly applied in biotrickling filter to treat n-hexane and dichloromethane (DCM) simultaneously. Maximum elimination capacity of 12.68 g m-3h-1 n-hexane was achieved and exceed 30.28 g m-3h-1 DCM could be degraded. BTF respond quickly to the mixed shock loadings, and recovered to 76% and 100% respectively in less than 1 h. By increasing inlet loading (IL) of DCM from 6.20 g m-3h-1 to 28.36 g m-3h-1, the removal efficiency of n-hexane decreased from 73.4% to 55.9% corresponding to the IL of 19.96 g m-3h-1. N-hexane degradation was inhibited by high IL of DCM due to enzymes competition for active sites. The growth of key microorganisms Mycobacterium sp., Hyphomicrobium sp. was stimulated and colonized. BC-PU is an innovative and applicable bio-based material in the process of biological purification, which could be widely applied to treat hydrophobic pollutants in the pharmaceutical industry.

Enhanced adsorption and reduction performance of nitrate by Fe-Pd-Fe3O4 embedded multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

Multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have attracted more and more attention as adsorbents due to their excellent adsorption properties. By loading metal particles on MWCNTs, the chemical reduction ability of adsorbed pollutants could be provided, so as to achieve the purpose of adsorption and degradation of pollutants. Therefore, the removal process of NO3--N by Fe-Pd-Fe3O4/MWCNTs was studied, including rapid adsorption of initial pollutants, gradual reduction of intermediate products and re-adsorption of final products. The results showed that Fe-Pd-Fe3O4/MWCNTs completely removed NO3--N within 2 h, 39% and 25% of which were converted into NO2--N and NH4+-N. The adsorption efficiency, kinetics, capacity and adsorption energy all followed the order of NH4+-N > NO2--N > NO3--N. With the recoverability and reusability of Fe-Pd-Fe3O4/MWCNTs having been confirmed in 5 consecutive cycles, the removal rate of NO3--N still reached 43%. It has been shown that MWCNTs prolonged the reducing power for NO3--N, due to avoiding the aggregation of metal particles. The rapid adsorption of initial pollutants, effective stepwise reduction and convenient recovery processes were of great value for the rehabilitation of polluted water.