A global alfalfa diversity panel reveals genomic selection signatures in Chinese varieties and genomic associations with root development

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important forage crop worldwide. However, little is known about the effects of breeding status and different geographical populations on alfalfa improvement. Here, we sequenced 220 alfalfa core germplasms and determined that Chinese alfalfa cultivars form an independent group, as evidenced by comparisons of F_ST values between different subgroups, suggesting that geographical origin plays an important role in group differentiation. By tracing the influence of geographical regions on the genetic diversity of alfalfa varieties in China, we identified 350 common candidate genetic regions and 548 genes under selection. We also defined 165 loci associated with 24 important traits from genome-wide association studies. Of those, 17 genomic regions closely associated with a given phenotype were under selection, with the underlying haplotypes showing significant differences between subgroups of distinct geographical origins. Based on results from expression analysis and association mapping, we propose that 6-phosphogluconolactonase (MsPGL) and a gene encoding a protein with NHL domains (MsNHL) are critical candidate genes for root growth. In conclusion, our results provide valuable information for alfalfa improvement via molecular breeding.     

儿童肺炎肺实变住院患儿支气管肺泡灌洗液病原分析

本研究分析肺炎肺实变患儿支气管肺泡灌洗液病原谱构成,旨在为临床经验性抗感染治疗提供指导。收集2019年1月-2020年1月复旦大学附属儿科医院纤维支气管镜室诊治的住院肺炎病例临床资料,其中肺实变的诊断基于影像学证据,依托国家儿童医学中心病原学检测平台,并参考感染传染科医生解读,本研究对肺炎伴肺实变患儿支气管肺泡灌洗液标本的病原学检测结果进行回顾性分析。结果显示,286例肺炎患儿的286份支气管肺泡灌洗液标本被纳入研究,平均年龄5.5(5.8±3.1)岁,其中195例(68.2%)存在肺炎伴肺实变。总病原体检出率为76.6%(219/286),肺实变和无肺实变肺炎患儿病原体检出率分别为77.9%(152/195)和73.6%(67/91),差异无统计学意义;检出的前5种病原体均为肺炎支原体、腺病毒、鼻病毒、呼吸道合胞病毒和副流感病毒3型。5周岁及以上患儿肺炎支原体检出率达最高77.0%(127/165),肺实变病例和无肺实变病例肺炎支原体检出率分别为67.2%(131/195)和61.5%(56/91),差异无统计学意义。本研究结果提示,肺炎支原体、腺病毒、鼻病毒、呼吸道合胞病毒和副流感病毒3型是导致本研究目标人群患病的主要病原体;病原体检出率高低与是否肺实变无关。     

食管癌三维适形放疗前后肺功能、生活质量的变化及放射性肺炎的影响因素分析

目的:探讨食管癌三维适形放疗前后肺功能、生活质量的变化及放射性肺炎的影响因素。方法:收集2017年11月~2019年11月在我院进行三维适形放疗的食管癌患者102例,对患者放疗前后的肺功能进行检测对比,并采用生活质量评价简表(QLQ-C30)对患者放疗前后的生活质量进行评估对比。统计患者放疗后放射性肺炎的发生率,根据患者放疗后是否发生放射性肺炎将患者分为放射性肺炎组和非放射性肺炎组,对两组患者的临床资料进行对比分析,采用单因素和多因素Logistic回归分析影响食管癌三维适形放疗后放射性肺炎发生的影响因素。结果:放疗前后患者肺活量(VC)占预计值的百分比、用力肺活量(FVC)占预计值的百分比、第一秒用力呼气容积(FEV1)占预计值的百分比、最大通气量(MVV)占预计值的百分比对比无统计学差异(P>0.05),放疗后患者一氧化碳弥散量(DLCO)占预计值的百分比低于放疗前(P<0.05)。放疗后患者的QLQ-C30各项评分均低于放疗前(P<0.05)。102例患者中放疗后出现放射性肺炎33例,发生率为32.35%。经单因素分析显示,两组患者在性别、体质量指数(BMI)、吸烟史、饮酒史、肿瘤大小、病理类型、肿瘤位置、合并化疗方面比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),而在年龄、合并肺基础疾病、全肺接受20Gy的体积(V20)、全肺照射平均剂量(MLD)方面比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。经多因素Logistic回归分析显示,年龄≥60岁、合并肺基础疾病、V20≥30%、MLD≥1200cGy是食管癌三维适形放疗后出现放射性肺炎的危险因素(OR=1.309、1.193、1.416、1.309,P<0.05)。结论:食管癌三维适形放疗会对患者的肺部弥散功能、生活质量产生负面影响。部分患者放疗后会出现放射性肺炎,其主要受年龄、肺基础疾病、V20、MLD的影响。     

双依他尼酸乙醇胺对谷胱甘肽S-转硫酶mu的选择性抑制作用

谷胱甘肽S-转移酶(GST)的同工酶mu(GSTM)高表达与卵巢癌顺铂耐药有关.以GST非选择性抑制剂依他尼酸设计二价潜抑制剂双依他尼酸乙醇胺(aminoethanol di-ethacrynic acid,ADEA),测定ADEA及其与还原型谷胱甘肽(glutathione,GSH)加合物对GST同工酶亚型A1、P1、M2的半抑制浓度(IC50)、抑制类型、结合比和结合动力学.ADEA本身对GSTM2的IC50比GSTA1低300倍,比GSTP1低3 000倍;ADEA与GSH在酶催化下反应10 min所得产物,对上述3种同工酶的IC50 分别降低5、57、200倍.ADEA本身和产物对GSTM2相对于底物CDNB是反竞争性抑制剂,ADEA本身对GSTM2相对于底物GSH是混合性抑制剂,ADEA与GSH产物对GSTM2相对于底物GSH是反竞争性抑制剂.分析ADEA对GSTM2荧光静态淬灭表明ADEA及其产物是二价结合;分析荧光和酶活性随时间变化表明酶与ADEA本身结合速度比其产物CDNB慢10倍.ADEA是有效的GSTM2选择性二价潜抑制剂.     

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine in comparison with chloroquine in moderate and severe patients with COVID-19

Science China Life Sciences -     

Development and validation of glycolysis-related prognostic score for prediction of prognosis and chemosensitivity of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal malignancy with aggressive biological behaviour. Its rapid proliferation and tumour growth require reprogramming of glucose metabolism or the Warburg effect. However, the association between glycolysis-related genes with clinical features and prognosis of PDAC is still unknown. Here, we used the meta-analysis to correlate the hazard ratios (HR) of 106 glycolysis genes from MSigDB by the cox proportional hazards regression analysis in 6 clinical data sets of PDAC patients to form a training cohort, and a single group of PDAC patients from the TCGA, ICGC, Arrayexpress and GEO databases to form the validation cohort. Then, a glycolysis-related prognosis (GRP) score based on 29 glycolysis prognostic genes was established in 757 PDAC patients from the training composite cohort and validated in 267 ICGC-CA validation cohort (all P < .05). In addition, including PADC, the prognostic value was also confirmed in other 7 out of 30 pan-cancer cohorts. The GRP score was significantly related to specific metabolism pathways, immune genes and immune cells in the patients with PADC (all P < .05). Finally, by combining with immune cells, the GRP score also well-predicted the chemosensitivity of patients with PADC in the TCGA cohort (AUC = 0.709). In conclusion, this study developed a GRP score for patients with PDAC in predicting prognosis and chemosensitivity for PDAC.     

KDM5A silencing transcriptionally suppresses the FXYD3-PI3K/AKT axis to inhibit angiogenesis in hepatocellular cancer via miR-433 up-regulation

Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) has been reported to belong to one of the highly vascularized solid tumours accompanied with angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). KDM5A, an attractive drug target, plays a critical role in diverse physiological processes. Thus, this study aims to investigate its role in angiogenesis and underlying mechanisms in HCC. ChIP-qPCR was utilized to validate enrichment of H3K4me3 and KDM5A on the promotor region of miR-433, while dual luciferase assay was carried out to confirm the targeting relationship between miR-433 and FXYD3. Scratch assay, transwell assay, Edu assay, pseudo-tube formation assay and mice with xenografted tumours were conducted to investigate the physiological function of KDM5A-miR-433-FXYD3-PI3K-AKT axis in the progression of HCC after loss- and gain-function assays. KDM5A p-p85 and p-AKT were highly expressed but miR-433 was down-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. Depletion of KDM5A led to reduced migrative, invasive and proliferative capacities in HCC cells, including growth and a lowered HUVEC angiogenic capacity in vitro. Furthermore, KDM5A suppressed the expression of miR-433 by demethylating H3K4me3 on its promoterregion. miR-433 negatively targeted FXYD3. Depleting miR-433 or re-expressing FXYD3 restores the reduced migrative, invasive and proliferative capacities, and lowers the HUVEC angiogenic capacity caused by silencing KDM5A. Therefore, KDM5A silencing significantly suppresses HCC tumorigenesis in vivo, accompanied with down-regulated miR-433 and up-regulated FXYD3-PI3K-AKT axis in tumour tissues. Lastly, KDM5A activates the FXYD3-PI3K-AKT axis to enhance angiogenesis in HCC by suppressing miR-433.     

Toward a phylogeny and biogeography of Diaphanosoma (Crustacea: Cladocera)

Aquatic Ecology - Diaphanosoma s.l., with 40+? described species, is the largest genus of the Sididae and the Ctenopoda, similar in many ways to the anomopod genus Daphnia. Here, we offer a c...