A small NGS-SNP panel of ancestry inference designed to distinguish African, European, East, and South Asian populations.

In this study, a small set of ancestry informative SNPs was selected to differentiate African, European, East and South Asian samples, which was detected by the next-generation sequencing technology. A total of 127 Chinese Shaanxi Han individuals were collected as test samples. No statistically significant linkage disequilibrium of any pair of loci or departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium of each locus was observed in the test population. To evaluate the performance of ancestry assignment using this panel, admixture analysis, principal component analysis, and likelihood ratio calculations were conducted based on the 1000 genome data and test samples. All populations were clustered into four groups, African, European, South and East Asian populations, which were consistent with their geographical origins. The pairwise fixation index (FST ) between populations from different continental groups ranged from 0.140 to 0.621 with average 0.415, and the pairwise FST between populations from the same continent ranged from 0.000 to 0.056 with average 0.012. The likelihood ratio results of 125 test individuals indicated that their ancestry components were highly possible from East Asia. In conclusion, this small set of ancestry informative SNPs can be used as a reliable tool to identify and quantify ancestry components of unknown samples.

A new perspective on prostate cancer treatment: the interplay between cellular senescence and treatment resistance.

The emergence of resistance to prostate cancer (PCa) treatment, particularly to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), has posed a significant challenge in the field of PCa management. Among the therapeutic options for PCa, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy are commonly used modalities. However, these therapeutic approaches, while inducing apoptosis in tumor cells, may also trigger stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS). Cellular senescence, an entropy-driven transition from an ordered to a disordered state, ultimately leading to cell growth arrest, exhibits a dual role in PCa treatment. On one hand, senescent tumor cells may withdraw from the cell cycle, thereby reducing tumor growth rate and exerting a positive effect on treatment. On the other hand, senescent tumor cells may secrete a plethora of cytokines, growth factors and proteases that can affect neighboring tumor cells, thereby exerting a negative impact on treatment. This review explores how radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy trigger SIPS and the nuanced impact of senescent tumor cells on PCa treatment. Additionally, we aim to identify novel therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance in PCa treatment, thereby enhancing patient outcomes.

[Response of radial growth to climate change in Pinus koraiensis with different diameter classes]. / 不同径级红松径向生长对气候变化的响应.

Dendrochronological techniques were used to study the response of radial growth of Pinus koraiensis with different diameter classes to climate change throughout the natural range of broad-leaved Korean pine forests, including Baishilazi Nature Reserve (40.9° N), Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve (42.4° N), Liangshui Nature Reserve (47.2° N), and Shengshan Nature Reserve (49.4° N). We investigated the similarities and differences of growth responses of different diameter classes to climate factors and clarified the key climate factors affecting the growth of P. koraiensis at different latitude sites. We explored the dynamic changes of the radial growth of P. koraiensis from the latitudinal gradient over the past 40 years. The results showed many similarities in the response of two diameter classes to local climate factors. Small diameter (diameter at breast height of 10-20 cm) trees were more sensitive to the changes of average minimum temperature of the current growing season and the meteorological factors of the previous year, whereas large diameter (diameter at breast height >40 cm) trees were more sensitive to the changes of average maximum temperature and average relative humidity of the current growing season. The key meteorological factors that affecting radial growth of P. koraiensis differed along the latitude gradient. In Baishilazi Nature Reserve, the southernmost plot, the key climate factors were the average maximum temperature and the average maximum temperature in the current growing season. In Shengshan Nature Reserve, the northernmost sample plot, the key climate factors were low temperature factors, such as the minimum temperature in all seasons, the average maximum temperature in winter, the average temperature of all seasons except for the end of previous growing season and the current growing season. The Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) in the current growth season and the end of the current growth season and the precipitation in the current growth season were the key climate factors in Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve. The average temperature of the current growing season was the key climate factor of Liangshui Nature Reserve. In recent four decades, with the rising of temperature, the radial growth of P. koraiensis of two diameter classes significantly decreased in the southernmost point, significantly increased in the northernmost point, and had no significant variation in middle latitudes.