Reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus in SFTSV infected patients.

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging hemorrhagic fever caused by a tick-borne bunyavirus SFTSV with case fatality up to 30%. The reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been proven to occur in individuals with various immune suppression conditions. Methods: Here, we diagnosed 22 SFTSV infected patients with PCR in a hospital in Shandong Province, China in 2020. To understand the consequences of SFTSV infection leading to EBV reactivation, we examined EBV reactivation in SFTSV-infected patients with PCR and RT-PCR. Results: We found that EBV was reactivated in 18.2% (4/22) of SFTS patients, suggesting that EBV reactivation is common in SFTS patients. Compared with SFTS patients without EBV reactivation, SFTS patients with EBV-reactivation had a significantly lower median level of serum albumin (32.45 g/L vs. 26.95 g/L, p = 0.03) and a significantly higher median number of urine red blood cells (0 cells/µL vs. 9 cells/µL, p = 0.04). Conclusion: SFTS infection can reactivate EBV in patients, which may make the clinical condition of patients worsen.

LncRNA FAM13A-AS1 Promotes Renal Carcinoma Tumorigenesis Through Sponging miR-141-3p to Upregulate NEK6 Expression.

Long non-coding RNAs are a diverse catalog of RNAs that have been implicated in various aspects of tumorigenesis. Emerging evidence indicates that they play crucial roles in tumor growth, disease progression, and drug resistance. However, the clinical significance of lncRNAs in tumor behavior prediction and disease prognosis as well as the underlying mechanism in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains elusive. By analyzing the gene expression profiles of 539 RCC patients from the TCGA cohort and 40 RCC patients from an independent cohort, we identified FAM13A-AS1, a poorly studied lncRNA, upregulated in RCC patients. Knockdown experiments revealed that FAM13A-AS1 promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by interacting with miR-141-3p. FAM13A-AS1 regulates the expression of NEK6 by decoying miR-141-3p. In addition, there was a strong positive correlation between the expression of FAM13A-AS1 and NEK6 in RCC patients. In summary, our results demonstrate the oncogenic role of FAM13A-AS1 in RCC and suggest that it promotes tumorigenesis by upregulating the expression of NEK6 by competitively binding to miR-141-3p.

Hsa_circ_0030586 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition in prostate cancer via PI3K-AKT signaling.

Circular RNAs (CircRNAs) gain importance as regulatory molecules in prostate cancer (PCa), but molecular mechanism of most circRNAs in pathogenesis of PCa remains to be studied. This study aimed to explore the role of hsa_circ_0030586 in PCa. Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE77661) was used to screen out candidate circRNAs. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to verify the relative expressions of circRNAs, miRNAs, and genes in PCa cells. A CCK-8 assay was used to evaluate the cells' proliferation. Transwell and wound healing assay were used to determine the cells' migration and invasion. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the protein expression of PI3K/AKT signaling proteins and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers. Furthermore, a nude mice tumorigenesis experiment in vivo was conducted to determine the function of hsa_circ_0030586 on PCa. Our results showed that hsa_circ_0030586 is significantly upregulated in PCa cells (p < 0.05). Its circular structure was confirmed via agarose gel electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing. Interfering with hsa_circ_0030586 in PC3 cells inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and led to the significant upregulation of E-cadherin and the significant downregulation of p-AKT/AKT, IKKα, PIK3CB, and Twist (all p < 0.05). Conversely, the hsa_circ_003058 interference fragment combined with the transfection of a miR-145-3p inhibitor could reverse the above effects. In vivo tumorigenesis of the xenograft model confirmed that interfering with hsa_circ_0030586 suppressed tumor cell proliferation and inhibited PI3K-AKT signaling and EMT in PC3 cells. Hsa_circ_0030586 is significantly upregulated in PCa cells and may promote EMT via PI3K-AKT signaling.

Detection of Multiple Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens in Haemaphysalis flava Ticks Collected from Hedgehogs in Central China.

Tickborne intracellular bacterial pathogens including Anaplasma, Coxiella burnetti, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia cause emerging infectious diseases worldwide. PCR was used to amplify the genes of these pathogens in Haemaphysalis flava ticks collected from hedgehogs in Central China. Among 125 samples including 20 egg batches, 24 engorged females, and 81 molted male and female adult ticks, the DNA sequences and phylogenetic analysis showed that the minimum infection rate of the ticks was 4% (5/125) for A. bovis, 3.2% (4/125) for C. burnetti, 9.6%, (12/125) for E. ewingii, and 5.6% for Rickettsia including R.japonica (3.2%, 4/125) and R. raoultii (2.4%, 3/125), respectively. The prevalence of these pathogens was significantly higher in dead engorged females (83.3%, 20/24) than in eggs (5%, 1/20) and molted ticks (8.6%, 7/81). Our study indicated that H. flava ticks could be infected with multiple species of tickborne pathogens including Anaplasma, C. burnetti, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia in Central China, and the prevalence of these pathogens was reduced during transovarial and transstadial transmission in ticks, suggesting that ticks may not be real reservoirs but only vectors for these tickborne pathogens.

miR-26 suppresses renal cell cancer via down-regulating coronin-3.

Coronin-3 (coronin-1C), a homotrimer F-actin-binding protein, has been reported to be important for metastasis in several types of cancers such as lung cancer, gastric cancer, and breast cancer. Here, we present an investigation of the expression and function of coronin-3 in renal cell cancer for the first time. We also confirmed that miR-26 directly targets coronin-3 and down-regulates its expression by western blot assay and dual-luciferase reporter system. The results of MTT and colony formation assay showed that miR-26 suppressed cell proliferation. Wound healing and transwell assay revealed that miR-26 inhibited migration and invasion of renal cancer cell. Moreover, overexpression of coronin-3 could reverse the miR-26-induced inhibition in cell growth and metastasis. Thus, our study suggests that coronin-3 should serve as a potential therapeutic target in renal cell cancer and provide a candidate for miRNA therapy.

[Ecosystem carbon exchange in Artemisia ordosica shrubland of Ordos Plateau in two different precipitation years].

Characteristics of ecosystem carbon exchange and its impact factors in Artemisia ordosica shrubland in 2011 (low precipitation) and 2012 (high precipitation), Ordos Plateau, were studied using eddy covariance methods. The results showed that the diurnal dynamics of ecosystem carbon exchange could be expressed as single-peak and double-peak curves in the two different precipitation years. In 2011, three carbon absorption peaks and three carbon release peaks of ecosystem carbon exchange presented in the growing season. In 2012, four carbon absorption peaks and one carbon release peak appeared in the growing season. The A. ordosica shrubland was a net carbon sink from June to September and a carbon source in October in 2011. In 2012, A. ordosica shrubland was a net carbon sink in the whole growing season. The amount of carbon fixed by A. ordosica shrubland in the growing season in 2012 was 268.90 mg CO2 x m(-2) x s(-1) higher than that in 2011. The ecosystem carbon exchange of A. ordosica shrubland was controlled by PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) on the day scale, and affected by both abiotic (precipitation and soil water content) and biotic (aboveground net primary, productivity) factors on the growing season scale.