Metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling reveals the effect of dietary protein and lipid levels on growth performance in loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus).

The subject of this study was to explore the optimum requirements of loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus) regarding dietary proteins and lipids and discuss the underlying mechanism. We designed nine diets to determine the effects of different levels of dietary crude protein (CP: 30%, 35%, and 40%) and ether extract (EE: 6%, 10%, and 14%) on the growth performance and metabolism of P. dabryanus. In total, 2160 healthy P. dabryanus (5.19 ± 0.01 g) were divided into nine groups with four replications at 60 fish per barrel stocking density. The trial lasted for eight weeks. Serum and liver samples were gathered for metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. The results showed that the specific growth rate of P. dabryanus in the CP40EE10 group was the fastest and notably higher than that in other groups (P< 0.05). Analysis of the metabolome results found that the mTOR signaling pathway, glycerophospholipid metabolism, D-arginine and D-ornithine metabolism were significantly enriched pathways in the CP40EE10 group compared with the other groups (P< 0.05). Moreover, the transcriptomic analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) showed that the expression of ARG (arginase) involved in protein synthesis was significantly upregulated in the CP40EE10 group compared to the slowest growing group (P< 0.05). Additionally, the expression of SPLA2 (secretory phospholipase A2) involved in lipid metabolism and FBP (fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase) involved in glucose metabolism were all significantly downregulated in the CP30EE6 group compared with the CP40EE10 group (P< 0.05). Furthermore, the analysis of differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) and DEGs co-enriched in the KEGG pathway revealed that the significantly enriched pathways were arginine and proline metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis in CP40EE10 compared with other groups (P< 0.05). We conclude that including 40% CP and 10% EE in the P. dabryanus diet could result in a better growth rate. We hypothesized from metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses that the CP40EE10 diet might promote the growth of P. dabryanus by promoting protein synthesis, lipid metabolism, and energy production.

Identification of Potential Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Targets in Gliomas via Bioinformatic Analyses.

BACKGROUND: Glioma is a common tumor originating from the glial cells of the brain. Immune checkpoint inhibitors can potentially be used to treat gliomas, although no drug is currently approved. METHODS: The expression levels of the immune checkpoint genes in glioma and normal tissues, and their correlation with the IDH mutation status and complete 1p/19q codeletion, were analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) databases. Survival analyses were conducted using the CGGA database. Protein-protein interaction and functional enrichment analyses were performed via the STRING database using GO, KEGG, and Reactome pathways. The correlation between the immune checkpoints and the immune cell infiltration was determined using the TISIDB and TIMER databases. RESULTS: HAVCR2 was overexpressed in the gliomas compared to normal brain tissues, as well as in the high-grade glioma patients and significantly downregulated in IDH mutant or 1p/19q codeletion patients. Overexpression of HAVCR2 was associated with poor survival in tumor grades II, III, and IV and was the most correlated with immune infiltration of B and T cells. CONCLUSION: HAVCR2 can be a potential therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy for glioma patients.

[Some suggestions on the present translation of TCM terms].

The structures of "V + -ing + N" and "N + V + ed + N" were proposed, and their characteristics and advantages as well as practical application were introduced aiming at the existent problems in the present translation of TCM terms and solving them.

[Application of Nida's theory in English translation of traditional Chinese medicine].

The famous American translation theorist Eugene A. Nida has put forward lots of viewpoints and theories for translation work when he translated the Bible, which have important practical instructional meaning for translation of traditional Chinese medicine nowadays. The application of Nida's theories to translating practice of TCM is illustrated by specific examples in this paper.

[Some problems existing in current Chinese-English dictionaries of TCM nouns].

The paper discusses some problems existing in the current Chinese-English dictionaries of TCM nouns, points out their negative effects, hoping that people will attach great importance to the problems. Meanwhile the author puts forth the urgency of compiling high quality Chinese-English TCM dictionaries, and the role of such dictionaries in the standardization of English translation of TCM nouns.