Prognostic ability of lung immune prognostic index in limited-stage small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Lung immune prognostic index (LIPI) is a prognostic marker of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) patients received immunotherapy or chemotherapy. However, its ability in limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC) should be evaluated extensively. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 497 patients diagnosed as LS-SCLC between 2015 and 2018, and clinical data included pretreatment lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), white blood cell count, and absolute neutrophil count levels were collected. According to the LIPI scores, the patients were stratified into low-risk (0 points) and high-risk (1-2 points). The correlations between LIPI and overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed by the Cox regression. Additionally, the propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weight (IPTW) methods were used to reduce the selection and confounding bias. A nomogram was constructed using on multivariable Cox model. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty and 247 patients were in the LIPI high-risk group and low-risk group, and their median OS was 14.67 months (95% CI: 12.30-16.85) and 20.53 months (95% CI: 17.67-23.39), respectively. In the statistical analysis, High-risk LIPI was significantly against worse OS (HR = 1.377, 95%CI:1.114-1.702) and poor PFS (HR = 1.338, 95%CI:1.1-1.626), and the result was similar after matching and compensating with the PSM or IPTW method. A novel nomogram based on LIPI has a decent level of predictive power. CONCLUSION: LIPI stratification was a significant factor against OS or PFS of LS-SCLC patients.

Role of Long Noncoding RNAs ZlMSTRG.11348 and UeMSTRG.02678 in Temperature-Dependent Culm Swelling in Zizania latifolia.

Temperature influences the physiological processes and ecology of both hosts and endophytes; however, it remains unclear how long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) modulate the consequences of temperature-dependent changes in host-pathogen interactions. To explore the role of lncRNAs in culm gall formation induced by the smut fungus Ustilago esculenta in Zizania latifolia, we employed RNA sequencing to identify lncRNAs and their potential cis-targets in Z. latifolia and U. esculenta under different temperatures. In Z. latifolia and U. esculenta, we identified 3194 and 173 lncRNAs as well as 126 and four potential target genes for differentially expressed lncRNAs, respectively. Further function and expression analysis revealed that lncRNA ZlMSTRG.11348 regulates amino acid metabolism in Z. latifolia and lncRNA UeMSTRG.02678 regulates amino acid transport in U. esculenta. The plant defence response was also found to be regulated by lncRNAs and suppressed in Z. latifolia infected with U. esculenta grown at 25 °C, which may result from the expression of effector genes in U. esculenta. Moreover, in Z. latifolia infected with U. esculenta, the expression of genes related to phytohormones was altered under different temperatures. Our results demonstrate that lncRNAs are important components of the regulatory networks in plant-microbe-environment interactions, and may play a part in regulating culm swelling in Z. latifolia plants.

Gene expression in the smut fungus Ustilago esculenta governs swollen gall metamorphosis in Zizania latifolia.

Ustilago esculenta, a smut fungus, can induce the formation of culm galls in Zizania latifolia, a vegetable consumed in many Asian countries. Specifically, the mycelia-teliospore (M-T) strain of U. esculenta induces the Jiaobai (JB) type of gall, while the teliospore (T) strain induces the Huijiao (HJ) type. The underlying molecular mechanism responsible for the formation of the two distinct types of gall remains unclear. Our results showed that most differentially expressed genes relevant to effector proteins were up-regulated in the T strain compared to those in the M-T strain during gall formation, and the expression of teliospore formation-related genes was higher in the T strain than the M-T strain. Melanin biosynthesis was also clearly induced in the T strain. The T strain exhibited stronger pathogenicity and greater teliospore production than the M-T strain. We evaluated the implications of the gene regulatory networks in the development of these two type of culm gall in Z. latifolia infected with U. esculenta and suggested potential targets for genetic manipulation to modify the gall type for this crop.