Effects of fecal microbial transplantation on police performance and transportation stress in Kunming police dogs.

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been shown to improve gut dysbiosis in dogs; however, it has not completely been understood in police dogs. This study aimed to investigate the effects of FMT on performance and gut microflora in Kunming police dogs. Twenty Wolf Cyan dogs were randomly assigned to receive physiological saline or fecal suspension at low, medium, or high doses through oral gavage for 14 days. Growth performance, police performance, serum biochemical profiling, and gut microflora were determined 2-week post-FMT. Dogs after FMT treatment were also subjected to an hour road transportation and then were evaluated for serum stress indicators. Overall, FMT enhanced the growth performance and alleviated diarrhea rate in Kunming dogs with the greatest effects occurring in the low dose FMT (KML) group. The improvement of FMT on police performance was also determined. These above alterations were accompanied by changed serum biochemical parameters as indicated by elevated total protein and albumin and reduced total cholesterol and glycerol. Furthermore, the serum stress indicators after road transportation in dog post-FMT significantly decreased. Increased bacterial diversity and modified bacterial composition were found in the feces of dogs receiving FMT. The fecal samples from FMT dogs were characterized by higher abundances of the genera Lactobacillus, Prevotella, and Fusobacterium and lower concentrations of Cetobacterium, Allobaculum, Bifidobacterium, and Streptococcus. The present study supports a potential benefit of FMT on police performance in Kunming dogs. KEY POINTS: • FMT improves the growth performance and reduces diarrhea rates in Kunming police dogs. • FMT alleviates the serum stress profiles after road transportation in Kunming police dogs. • FMT modifies the gut microbiota composition of Kunming police dogs.

A Millimeter-Wave Broadband Multi-Mode Substrate-Integrated Gap Waveguide Traveling-Wave Antenna with Orbit Angular Momentum.

Orbit angular momentum (OAM) has been considered a new dimension for improving channel capacity in recent years. In this paper, a millimeter-wave broadband multi-mode waveguide traveling-wave antenna with OAM is proposed by innovatively utilizing the transmitted electromagnetic waves (EMWs) characteristic of substrate-integrated gap waveguides (SIGWs) to introduce phase delay, resulting in coupling to the radiate units with a phase jump. Nine "L"-shaped slot radiate elements are cut in a circular order at a certain angle on the SIGW to generate spin angular momentum (SAM) and OAM. To generate more OAM modes and match the antenna, four "Π"-shaped slot radiate units with a 90° relationship to each other are designed in this circular array. The simulation results show that the antenna operates at 28 GHz, with a -10 dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) = 35.7%, ranging from 25.50 to 35.85 GHz and a VSWR ≤ 1.5 dB from 28.60 to 32.0 GHz and 28.60 to 32.0 GHz. The antenna radiates a linear polarization (LP) mode with a gain of 9.3 dBi at 34.0~37.2 GHz, a l = 2 SAM-OAM (i.e., circular polarization OAM (CP-OAM)) mode with 8.04 dBi at 25.90~28.08 GHz, a l = 1 and l = 2 hybrid OAM mode with 5.7 dBi at 28.08~29.67 GHz, a SAM (i.e., left/right hand circular polarization (L/RHCP) mode with 4.6 dBi at 29.67~30.41 GHz, and a LP mode at 30.41~35.85 GHz. In addition, the waveguide transmits energy with a bandwidth ranging from 26.10 to 38.46 GHz. Within the in-band, only a quasi-TEM mode is transmitted with an energy transmission loss |S21| ≤ 2 dB.

Pseudo-submucosal tumor in the colon: seeing is believing.

A 65-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of lower abdominal pain. Her physical examination was unremarkable. The results of routine laboratory testing were within the normal limits. In addition, abdominal CT was normal. Colonoscopy showed a cecum submucosal tumor with a pale yellow surface. Endoscopic ultrasound revealed homogeneous hypoechoic lesions originated from submucosal layer. ESD was subsequently performed to remove the submucosal lesion. During the ESD procedure, fecal outflowed from appendix opening . Yellow fecal-like material was visible after submucosal incision. The trap electrocut surface uplift showed more fecal attachment on the lamina propria surface, and myolayer integrity after clean the fecal (Fig1c), The final pathology of the surface bulge suggested hyperplasia (Fig1d). Patients were discharged with relieved lower abdominal pain. The final diagnosis was submucosal fecalith mimicking a submucosal tumor, eventually leads to chronic appendicitis. Common causes of cecal submucosal tumor include neuroendocrine tumors, lipomas, etc. There was few report about fecalith mimicking a submucosal tumor. ERTA is currently an effective endoscopic method for treating appendicitis combined with fecalith blockage. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a case of cecum submucosal fecalith mimicking a submucosal tumor and was successfully removed using endoscopy.

Endoloop pre-ligation assisted resection of a giant Brunner's gland adenoma of the duodenal bulb.

Brunner's gland adenoma (BGA), also known as Brunneroma or polypoid hamartoma, is a rare benign duodenal tumor that proliferates from Brunner's glands of the duodenum. They are usually asymptomatic and discovered by chance during endoscopy. Some giant lesions can sometimes present with chronic abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and anemia, including gastrointestinal bleeding and obstructive symptoms, and need to be resected by surgery or endoscopy. Here we report a giant BGA that was easily and safely removed by Endoloop pre-ligation assisted resection.

Construction and validation of risk model of EMT-related prognostic genes for kidney renal clear cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is a prevalent type of urological malignancy. The present study aimed to predict biomarkers for KIRC. METHODS: We collected transcriptomic and clinical information for KIRC from The Cancer Genome Atlas and GSE22541 cohorts. RESULTS: Unsupervised clustering of 35 epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT)-related differentially expressed gene profiles divided samples into two clusters with distinct immune characteristics. Six genes (IL20RB, DDC, ANKRD36BP2, F2RL1, TEK, and AMN) were found to construct a prognostic risk model using multivariate Cox regression analysis. Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested the better prognosis of the KIRC patients in the low-risk group than that in the high-risk group. Immune infiltration analyses was conducted using xCell and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis, indicating that the risk score was associated with the immune microenvironment of the KIRC. Prognostic marker gene-targeted medications with high drug sensitivity were predicted in KIRC patients. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the present study identified IL20RB, DDC, ANKRD36BP2, F2RL1, TEK, and AMN as prognostic biomarkers, providing insight into immunotherapy and gene-targeted drugs of KIRC.

Denoising brain networks using a fixed mathematical phase change in independent component analysis of magnitude-only fMRI data.

Brain networks extracted by independent component analysis (ICA) from magnitude-only fMRI data are usually denoised using various amplitude-based thresholds. By contrast, spatial source phase (SSP) or the phase information of ICA brain networks extracted from complex-valued fMRI data, has provided a simple yet effective way to perform the denoising using a fixed phase change. In this work, we extend the approach to magnitude-only fMRI data to avoid testing various amplitude thresholds for denoising magnitude maps extracted by ICA, as most studies do not save the complex-valued data. The main idea is to generate a mathematical SSP map for a magnitude map using a mapping framework, and the mapping framework is built using complex-valued fMRI data with a known SSP map. Here we leverage the fact that the phase map derived from phase fMRI data has similar phase information to the SSP map. After verifying the use of the magnitude data of complex-valued fMRI, this framework is generalized to work with magnitude-only data, allowing use of our approach even without the availability of the corresponding phase fMRI datasets. We test the proposed method using both simulated and experimental fMRI data including complex-valued data from University of New Mexico and magnitude-only data from Human Connectome Project. The results provide evidence that the mathematical SSP denoising with a fixed phase change is effective for denoising spatial maps from magnitude-only fMRI data in terms of retaining more BOLD-related activity and fewer unwanted voxels, compared with amplitude-based thresholding. The proposed method provides a unified and efficient SSP approach to denoise ICA brain networks in fMRI data.

Tri©DB: an integrated platform of knowledgebase and reporting system for cancer precision medicine.

BACKGROUND: With the development of cancer precision medicine, a huge amount of high-dimensional cancer information has rapidly accumulated regarding gene alterations, diseases, therapeutic interventions and various annotations. The information is highly fragmented across multiple different sources, making it highly challenging to effectively utilize and exchange the information. Therefore, it is essential to create a resource platform containing well-aggregated, carefully mined, and easily accessible data for effective knowledge sharing. METHODS: In this study, we have developed "Consensus Cancer Core" (Tri©DB), a new integrative cancer precision medicine knowledgebase and reporting system by mining and harmonizing multifaceted cancer data sources, and presenting them in a centralized platform with enhanced functionalities for accessibility, annotation and analysis. RESULTS: The knowledgebase provides the currently most comprehensive information on cancer precision medicine covering more than 40 annotation entities, many of which are novel and have never been explored previously. Tri©DB offers several unique features: (i) harmonizing the cancer-related information from more than 30 data sources into one integrative platform for easy access; (ii) utilizing a variety of data analysis and graphical tools for enhanced user interaction with the high-dimensional data; (iii) containing a newly developed reporting system for automated annotation and therapy matching for external patient genomic data. Benchmark test indicated that Tri©DB is able to annotate 46% more treatments than two officially recognized resources, oncoKB and MCG. Tri©DB was further shown to have achieved 94.9% concordance with administered treatments in a real clinical trial. CONCLUSIONS: The novel features and rich functionalities of the new platform will facilitate full access to cancer precision medicine data in one single platform and accommodate the needs of a broad range of researchers not only in translational medicine, but also in basic biomedical research. We believe that it will help to promote knowledge sharing in cancer precision medicine. Tri©DB is freely available at www.biomeddb.org , and is hosted on a cutting-edge technology architecture supporting all major browsers and mobile handsets.

Highly Tunable MOF Luminophores Featuring Anthracene Directed Assembly and Fluorescence Regulation.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been recognized as a potential platform for the development of tunable luminophores owing to their highly modulable structures and components. Herein, two MOF luminophores based on Cd(II) ions, 1,3,5-tri(4-pyridinyl)benzene (TPB), and 1,4-dicarboxybenzene (H2BDC) were constructed. The directed assembly of the metal ions and organic linkers results in [Cd2(BDC)2(TPB)(H2O)]·x(solvent) (MOF-1) featuring TPB-based blue fluorescence centered at 425 nm. By introducing anthracene as the structure directing agent (SDA) for assembly regulation, [Cd2(BDC)(TPB)2(NO3)2]·x(solvent) (MOF-2) was obtained, which reveals anthracene feeding-dependent high tunable emission in the 517-650 nm range. Detailed components, photophysical properties, and structural characteristics investigations of MOF-2 indicate the TPB and NO3- interactions as the origin of its redshifted emission compared with that of MOF-1. Furthermore, the fluorescence of MOF-2 was found to be regulatable by the anthracene feeding based on the SDA-determined crystallinity of the crystalline sample. All these results provided a unique example of the structural and fluorescence regulation of MOF luminophores.

ATGL deficiency aggravates pressure overload-triggered myocardial hypertrophic remodeling associated with the proteasome-PTEN-mTOR-autophagy pathway.

Persistent myocardial hypertrophy frequently leads to heart failure (HF). Intramyocardial triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation is closely related with cardiac remodeling and abnormal contractile function. Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), a key enzyme in TAG metabolism, regulates cardiac function. However, its associated molecular pathways have not been fully defined. Here, cardiac hypertrophy and HF were induced in wild-type (WT) or ATGL knockout (KO) mice through transverse aortic constriction (TAC) for up to 4 weeks. TAC in WT mice significantly reduced cardiac function and autophagy while enhancing left ventricular hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, inflammatory response, superoxide generation, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis, accompanied with upregulation of the proteasome activity, reduction of PTEN level and activation of AKT-mTOR signaling, and these effects were further aggravated in ATGL KO mice. Interestingly, ATGL KO-mediated cardiac dysfunction and remodeling were markedly reversed by proteasome inhibitor (epoxomicin) or autophagic activator (rapamycin), but accelerated by PTEN inhibitor (VO-OHpic) or autophagy inhibitor 3-MA. Mechanistically, ATGL KO upregulated proteasome expression and activity, which in turn mediates PTEN degradation leading to activation of AKT-mTOR signaling and inhibition of autophagy, thereby enhancing hypertrophic remodeling and HF. In conclusion, ATGL KO contributes to TAC-induced cardiac dysfunction and adverse remodeling probably associated with the proteasome-PTEN-mTOR-autophagy pathway. Therefore, modulation of this pathway may have a therapeutic effect potential for hypertrophic heart disease. TAC-induced downregulation of ATGL results in increased proteasome (ß1i/ß2i/ß5i) activity, which in turn promotes degradation of PTEN and activation of AKT-mTOR signaling and then inhibits autophagy and ATP production, thereby leading to cardiac hypertrophic remodeling and dysfunction. Conversely, blocking proteasome activity or activating autophagy attenuates these effects.

Assessing transfer of aluminum during tea brewing and associated population health risks.

Tea is consumed widely around the world owing to its refreshing taste and potential health benefits. However, drinking tea is considered a major route for dietary aluminum exposure in areas where tea consumption is relatively large. To assess the health risk associated with drinking tea, the contamination level of aluminum was determined in 81 tea samples. The transfer rate of aluminum during tea brewing was investigated. Then based on the site-specific exposure parameters such as consumption data and body weight for six different subpopulations in Fujian, the exposure risks were estimated using a probabilistic approach. Results demonstrate that the contents of aluminum in green tea, white tea, oolong tea, and black tea were significantly different according to the one-way ANOVA analysis (p < 0.05). The transfer rate of aluminum were 32.6%, 31.6%, 26.3%, and 14% for white tea, black tea, oolong tea, and green tea, respectively. With respect to the oral reference dose, the exposure of inhabitants in Fujian to aluminum through drinking tea is under control (even at the 99th percentile).

Modulation of Hierarchical Pores in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Improved Dye Adsorption and Electrocatalytic Performance.

The hierarchical porous metal-organic framework (HP-MOF) has emerged as a hot topic in porous materials in consideration of their advantages in storage capacity and catalysis performance. Herein, we report the construction and property investigation of a series of HP-MOFs. A series of isoreticular microporous MOFs featuring the pacs topology network based on 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine and different carboxylic acid ligands are found to be potential precursors to construct HP-MOFs. Through the decarboxylation of carboxylate ligands at high temperatures, a hierarchical porous structure could be obtained with the reservation of a crystalline framework. The formation of hierarchical pores is highly dependent on the structural and component nature (carboxylate ligands and metal centers) of the pristine MOF and the pyrolysis conditions (temperature and treatment time), indicating the highly tunable hierarchical pore characteristic of the HP-MOFs. By taking advantage of the increased pore volume and more exposed activation sites, the HP-MOFs reveal enhanced anionic dye adsorption capacity (800 mg·g-1 for Congo red and 140 mg·g-1 for methyl blue) and catalytic activity toward electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (overpotential of 0.302 V at a current density of 10 mA·cm-2, 51 mV lower than that of the pristine MOF).

m6A modification regulates lung fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition through modulating KCNH6 mRNA translation.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, fatal lung disease characterized by progressive and non-reversible abnormal matrix deposition in lung parenchyma. Myofibroblasts originating mainly from resident fibroblasts via fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition (FMT) are the dominant collagen-producing cells in pulmonary fibrosis. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification has been implicated in various biological processes. However, the role of m6A modification in pulmonary fibrosis remains elusive. In this study, we reveal that m6A modification is upregulated in a bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis mouse model, FMT-derived myofibroblasts, and IPF patient lung samples. Lowering m6A levels through silencing methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) inhibits the FMT process in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, KCNH6 is involved in the m6A-regulated FMT process. m6A modification regulates the expression of KCNH6 by modulating its translation in a YTH-domain family 1 (YTHDF1)-dependent manner. Together, our study highlights the critical role of m6A modification in pulmonary fibrosis. Manipulation of m6A modification through targeting METTL3 may become a promising strategy for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Health risk assessment of 42 pesticide residues in Tieguanyin tea from Fujian, China.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the residues of 42 pesticides subject to public concern in Tieguanyin tea produced in Fujian, China. The presence of 42 pesticide residues in 90 Tieguanyin tea samples were determined. A total of 17 pesticides were detected. At least one pesticide residue was detected in 65 samples (72.2%). The detected pesticides imidacloprid, tolfenpyrad, bifenthrin, acetamiprid were found in 55.6%, 33.3%, 18.9% and 16.7% of samples, respectively. Pesticide residues in Tieguanyin tea varied significantly over the seasons and across the production regions. Based on data obtained, the health risks associated with long-term exposure to those pesticides were assessed and risks of detected pesticides were ranked. The hazard quotients (HQs) among the detected pesticides range from 5 × 10-8 for fenpropathrin to 3 × 10-4 for imidacloprid. The results demonstrated that despite a high occurrence of pesticide residues in Tieguanyin tea, residue levels observed could not be considered as a serious public health problem. The risk ranking scheme showed dicofol and thiacloprid were considered to pose a medium-risk. The suggestions for 17 detected pesticides used in Tieguanyin tea plantation were made, including those already banned from use in China (dicofol and methomyl), recommended for diminished use (thiacloprid and chlorpyrifos), and permitted use with considering the pre-harvest interval (13 other pesticides).

Association between hepatitis B and E virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma risk.

The role of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the role of HE infection in HCC development and the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HEV coinfection on HCC risk. A hospital-based case-control study was conducted. A total of 474 eligible HCC cases and 586 control patients were successfully recruited. The fasting venous blood was collected from the patients at the first visited to hospital and HBV infection and HEV infection were examined within 5 days. Crude and adjusted odd ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated by using logistic regression model. HBV infection (OR: 63.10, 95% CI: 42.02-97.26) rather than HEV infection (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.721-1.65) was associated with an increased risk of HCC after adjustment for confounders. The association between HBV infection and HCC risk was more remarkable in male (OR: 72.61, 95% CI: 45.10-121.38) than in female (OR: 61.89, 95% CI: 25.74-169.26). In comparison with patients who infected with neither HEV nor HBV, those who infected with only HBV (OR: 69.62, 95% CI: 40.90-123.52) and who coinfected with HEV and HBV (OR: 67.48, 95% CI:37.23-128.19) were significantly associated with an increased risk after adjustment for potential confounders. The results showed that HBV infection rather than HEV infection was associated with an increased risk of HCC, and the HEV infection may alleviate the promoting impact of HBV on HCC development.

CBL-interacting protein kinase 31 regulates rice resistance to blast disease by modulating cellular potassium levels.

Rice blast disease caused by infection with Magnaporthe oryzae, a hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen, significantly reduces the yield production. However, the rice defense mechanism against blast disease remains elusive. To identify the genes involved in the regulation of rice defense to blast disease, dissociation (Ds) transposon tagging mutant lines were analyzed in terms of their response to M. oryzae isolate Guy11. Among them, CBL-interactingprotein kinase31 (CIPK31) mutants were more susceptible than wild-type plants to blast. The CIPK31 transcript was found to be insensitive to Guy11 infection, and the CIPK31-GFP was localized to the cytosol and nucleus. Overexpression of CIPK31 promoted rice defense to blast. Further analysis indicated that CIPK31 interacts with Calcineurin B-like 2 (CBL2) and CBL6 at the plasma membrane, and cbl2 mutants are more susceptible to blast compared with wild-type plants, suggesting that calcium signaling might partially through the CBL2-CIPK31 signaling regulate rice defense. Yeast two-hybrid results showed that AKT1-like (AKT1L), a potential potassium (K+) channel protein, interacted with CIPK31, and the K+ level was significantly lower in the cipk31 mutants than in the wild-type control. In addition, exogenous potassium application increased rice resistance to blast, suggesting that CIPK31 might interact with AKT1L to increase K+ uptake, thereby promoting resistance to blast. Taken together, the results presented here demonstrate that CBL2-CIPK31-AKT1L is a new signaling pathway that regulates rice defense to blast disease.

Overexpression of serum lncRNA-ABHD11-AS1 as poor prognosis of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.

This paper was aimed at exploring the correlation of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-ABHD11 Antisense RNA1 (ABHD11-AS1) with the poor prognosis of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and at investigating its effects on the survival of PTC cells. Serum was respectively collected from 64 PTC patients who were admitted to our hospital (PTC group) and from 50 healthy controls who underwent physical examinations (HC group) both from April 2011 to April 2015. The expression levels of ABHD11-AS1 in the serum were detected, and the values of it for diagnosis and prognosis (5-year follow-ups) were analyzed. The knockdown and overexpression models of ABHD11-AS1 in were constructed to explore the effects of the models on their proliferation, cycles and apoptosis. According to the data, the expression levels of serum ABHD11-AS1 in the PTC patients were remarkably higher than those in the healthy controls, and the area under the curve (AUC) for distinguishing the patients from the controls was 0.920. In the analysis of prognosis, the levels in patients with a poor prognosis were remarkably higher than those in patients with a good prognosis. According to the curves of overall survival rates (OSRs), the high levels of ABHD11-AS1 were remarkably correlated with the poor prognosis (a lower 5-year OSR). COX analysis showed that TNM staging, lymph node metastasis and ABHD11-AS1 were the independent prognostic factors of PTC patients. In the cell experiments, knocking down ABHD11-AS1 remarkably inhibited PTC cells from proliferation, arrested them in G0/G1 phase, and induced their apoptosis, negatively affecting their survival indices. Overexpressing this RNA had positive effects on the survival indices. Taken together, high levels of serum ABHD11-AS1 are related to the poor prognosis of PTC patients, and knocking down its expression can inhibit the survival of PTC cells.

Defective Hierarchical Pore Engineering of a Zn-Ni MOF by Labile Coordination Bonding Modulation.

The construction and modulation of hierarchical pore structure in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has become a hot topic owing to the advantages of hierarchical pore MOFs (HP-MOFs) in matter storage and mass transfer related applications. Herein, we report the engineering of crystalline defect in a bimetallic MOF for the construction and tuning of HP-MOF. A microporous MOF system showing metal-center-dependent water stability, namely, {[M3F(bdc)3 tpt] (solvents)}n (M = Zn2+ and Ni2+, H2bdc = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid, tpt = 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)triazine), was utilized as a platform for the construction of HP-MOF. By tuning the Zn2+/Ni2+ ratio in the reactant, a bimetallic MOF with a highly tunable Zn2+/Ni2+ ratio could be obtained. The relatively labile Zn2+-based coordination bonding in the bimetallic MOF could be readily and targeted broken through water treatment for the engineering of crystalline defects-based hierarchical pore structure. The resultant HP-MOF reveals a dramatically increased pore volume with the presence of mesopore and macropore. In addition, the anionic framework of HP-MOF could be utilized for the selective adsorption of a cationic dye methylene blue, and a relatively high capacity (250 mg·g-1, five times compared with the pristine microporous MOF) could be achieved.

Ablation of Immunoproteasome ß5i Subunit Suppresses Hypertensive Retinopathy by Blocking ATRAP Degradation in Mice.

Inflammation is associated with retinal diseases. Our recent data demonstrate that immunoproteasome catalytic subunit ß2i contributes to angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced retinopathy in mice. Here, we investigated the role of another catalytic subunit ß5i in regulating retinopathy and its underlying mechanisms. We induced a murine model of retinopathy by infusing Ang II (3,000 ng/kg/min) for 3 weeks into wild-type (WT) mice, ß5i-knockout (KO) mice, or WT mice injected with either adenovirus-expressing ß5i (Ad-ß5i) or angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R)-associated protein (Ad-ATRAP), which inhibits AT1R. The ß5i expression and chymotrypsin-like activity were most significantly elevated in Ang II-infused retinas and serum from patients with hypertensive retinopathy. Moreover, Ang II infusion-induced retinopathy was markedly attenuated in ß5i-KO mice but aggravated in Ad-ß5i-injected mice. Accordingly, ß5i KO markedly restored Ang II-induced downregulation of ATRAP and activation of AT1R downstream mediators, which was further enhanced in Ad-ß5i-injected mice. Interestingly, overexpression of ATRAP significantly abrogated Ang II-induced retinopathy in Ad-ß5i-injected mice. This study found that ß5i promoted Ang II-induced retinopathy by promoting ATRAP degradation and activation of AT1R-mediated signals.

Silencing of AHNAK2 restricts thyroid carcinoma progression by inhibiting the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

AHNAK nucleoprotein 2 (AHNAK2) has been proposed to have an oncogenic role in various human cancers. However, the functional role of AHNAK2 in thyroid carcinoma (TC) progression has never been explored. In this study, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were conducted to evaluate the expression of genes. The functional role of AHNAK2 was elucidated by cell count kit-8, colony-forming assay, wound-healing assay, and Transwell invasion assay. We found that AHNAK2 was highly expressed in thyroid carcinoma, and it was tightly correlated with the pathological stage in TC. The mRNA and protein levels of AHNAK2 were increased in TC cells. Silencing of AHNAK2 restricted the proliferation, metastasis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of TC cells. AHNAK2 silencing inhibited the protein expression of ß-catenin and cyclin D1, and AHNAK2 overexpression had the opposite effects. Moreover, LiCl or ICG-001 exposure counteracted the effects of AHNAK2 silencing or upregulation on malignant phenotypes of TC cells. In conclusion, the knockdown of AHNAK2 restrained the proliferation, metastasis, and EMT of TC cells by inhibiting the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway, providing a new potential mechanism of AHNAK2 in understanding the oncogenesis and progression of TC.

Blockade of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 prevents angiotensin II-induced hypertension and vascular dysfunction.

Monocyte and adhesion infiltration into the arterial subendothelium are initial steps in hypertension development. The endothelial intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) has been implicated in the recruitment and adhesion of leukocytes in several cardiac diseases. However, the role of ICAM-1 in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension development remains unknown. Hypertension was induced by administering an infusion of Ang II (1000 ng/kg/min) to wild-type (WT) mice treated with an IgG control or ICAM-1 neutralizing antibody (1 and 2 mg/mouse/day, respectively). Blood pressure was determined using the tail-cuff system. Vascular remodeling was assessed by performing a histological examination. Inflammation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were determined by using immunostaining. Vascular dysfunction was assessed by aortic ring assay. The expression of fibrotic markers, cytokines and NOX was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Our results demonstrate that Ang II infusion markedly increased the ICAM-1 level in the aorta. Blocking ICAM-1 with a neutralizing antibody significantly attenuated Ang II-induced arterial hypertension, vascular hypertrophy, fibrosis, macrophage infiltration, and ROS production and improved vascular relaxation. In conclusion, ICAM-1-mediated monocyte adhesion and migration play a critical role in Ang II-induced arterial hypertension and vascular dysfunction. ICAM-1 inhibitors may represent a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of this disease.