左右半结肠癌多组学分子特征差异的研究进展

结肠癌(colon cancer,CC)是一种常见的恶性肿瘤,其发病率和死亡率均占癌症前列。根据解剖学位置,CC可分为左半结肠癌(left-sided colon cancer,LCC)和右半结肠癌(right-sided colon cancer,RCC),两者在临床特征上表现出较大的差异。近些年来,随着生物学技术和测序技术的发展,从多组学角度分析LCC和RCC分子特征和微环境差异的研究也越来越多,从而来揭示患者预后并指导其治疗。该文从基因突变、基因表达、miRNA表达、DNA甲基化、免疫微环境、共识分子亚型以及免疫治疗这几个方面来阐述LCC和RCC在分子特征和治疗差异上的研究进展。     

Discovery and Validation of New Potential Biomarkers for Early Detection of Colon Cancer

Background

Accurate detection of characteristic proteins secreted by colon cancer tumor cells in biological fluids could serve as a biomarker for the disease. The aim of the present study was to identify and validate new serum biomarkers and demonstrate their potential usefulness for early diagnosis of colon cancer.

Methods

The study was organized in three sequential phases: 1) biomarker discovery, 2) technical and biological validation, and 3) proof of concept to test the potential clinical use of selected biomarkers. A prioritized subset of the differentially-expressed genes between tissue types (50 colon mucosa from cancer-free individuals and 100 normal-tumor pairs from colon cancer patients) was validated and further tested in a series of serum samples from 80 colon cancer cases, 23 patients with adenoma and 77 cancer-free controls.

Results

In the discovery phase, 505 unique candidate biomarkers were identified, with highly significant results and high capacity to discriminate between the different tissue types. After a subsequent prioritization, all tested genes (N = 23) were successfully validated in tissue, and one of them, COL10A1, showed relevant differences in serum protein levels between controls, patients with adenoma (p = 0.0083) and colon cancer cases (p = 3.2e-6).

Conclusion

We present a sequential process for the identification and further validation of biomarkers for early detection of colon cancer that identifies COL10A1 protein levels in serum as a potential diagnostic candidate to detect both adenoma lesions and tumor.

Impact

The use of a cheap serum test for colon cancer screening should improve its participation rates and contribute to decrease the burden of this disease.     

田螺科五种螺的核型研究

以早期胚胎细胞为材料,用火焰干燥法制片,对分布于我国湖北省武汉市近郊的常见田螺科(Viviparidae)五种螺的核型进行了分析。结果:两种圆田螺的染色体数和国外报道的同一属的种类的一致。而三种环棱螺的染色体数,则较国外报道的另两种的少得多。在铜锈环棱螺的核型中,其m组的第一对和sm组的第四对染色体上,具有明显的随体,出现频率甚高。     

不同栽培模式对冬小麦-夏玉米轮作系统产量、氮素累积和平衡的影响

以河北山前平原区秸秆还田条件下小麦-玉米轮作体系为研究对象,设置农民习惯、高产高效、再高产和再高产高效4个模式,通过定位试验探讨各栽培模式对3个轮作周期作物产量、土壤硝态氮累积量及氮平衡的影响.结果表明: 小麦、玉米产量均以再高产模式最高,高产高效和再高产高效模式次之,均显著高于农民习惯模式;小麦季和玉米季氮肥利用效率(PFP)均以高产高效模式最高,显著高于其他模式;0～400 cm土体硝态氮累积量在 768.4～1133.3 kg·hm^-2之间,其中80%～85%累积在根下90～400 cm土层;4种模式的土壤硝态氮均有明显向下淋移现象,120～150 cm和270～330 cm处均出现了累积峰,以270～330 cm土层硝态氮累积量最大;高产高效模式的土壤硝态氮含量整体水平均低于其他模式,浓度基本维持在30 mg·kg^-1以下,在一定程度上能有效缓解环境压力;冬小麦季0～90 cm土体氮素盈余量均小于夏玉米季,并以高产高效模式的氮素表观损失量最低,显著低于其他模式.综合考虑产量、氮肥利用效率、硝态氮累积和氮平衡,以高产高效模式表现最优,但还有一定的提升空间.     

粪肠球菌噬菌体vB_E. faecalis_IME196的生物学特性及其全基因组分析

【目的】从医院污水中分离一株能裂解多耐药粪肠球菌的噬菌体,分析该噬菌体的生物学特性,并进行全基因组测序和分析,为治疗和控制多耐药粪肠球菌感染提供基础。【方法】以耐药粪肠球菌为宿主,从医院污水分离噬菌体,双层平板法检测噬菌体效价、最佳感染复数(MOI)和一步生长曲线,纯化后负染法电镜观察噬菌体形态;蛋白酶K/SDS法提取噬菌体全基因组,酶切处理后琼脂糖凝胶电泳分析,使用Ion Torrent测序平台进行噬菌体全基因组测序,测序后进行噬菌体全基因组序列组装、注释、进化分析和比较分析。【结果】分离到一株粪肠球菌噬菌体,命名为v B_E.faecalis_IME196(IME196);其最佳感染复数为0.01,一步生长曲线显示IME196的潜伏期为30 min,暴发量为50 PFU,电镜观察该噬菌体为长尾噬菌体,结合BLASTp分析确定其属于尾病毒目长尾噬菌体科,基因测序表明,噬菌体IME196核酸类型为DNA,基因组全长为38 895 bp,G+C含量为33.9%。【结论】分离鉴定一株粪肠球菌噬菌体,进行了全基因组测序和分析,为以后预防和控制粪肠球菌的感染提供了一个新的途径,为噬菌体治疗多重耐药细菌奠定了基础。     

A probabilistic view on the deterministic mutation–selection equation: dynamics,equilibria, and ancestry via individual lines of descent

We reconsider the deterministic haploid mutation–selection equation with two types. This is an ordinary differential equation that describes the type distribution (forward in time) in a population of infinite size. This paper establishes ancestral (random) structures inherent in this deterministic model. In a first step, we obtain a representation of the deterministic equation’s solution (and, in particular, of its equilibria) in terms of an ancestral process called the killed ancestral selection graph. This representation allows one to understand the bifurcations related to the error threshold phenomenon from a genealogical point of view. Next, we characterise the ancestral type distribution by means of the pruned lookdown ancestral selection graph and study its properties at equilibrium. We also provide an alternative characterisation in terms of a piecewise-deterministic Markov process. Throughout, emphasis is on the underlying dualities as well as on explicit results.

     

Sex‐specific survival to maturity and the evolution of environmental sex determination

Four decades ago, it was proposed that environmental sex determination (ESD) evolves when individual fitness depends on the environment in a sex‐specific fashion—a form of condition‐dependent sex allocation. Many biological processes have been hypothesized to drive this sex asymmetry, yet a general explanation for the evolution of sex‐determining mechanisms remains elusive. Here, we develop a mathematical model for a novel hypothesis of the evolution of ESD, and provide a first empirical test using data across turtles. ESD is favored when the sex‐determining environment affects annual survival rates equivalently in males and females, and males and females mature at different ages. We compare this hypothesis to alternative hypotheses, and demonstrate how it captures a crucially different process. This maturation process arises naturally from common life histories and applies more broadly to condition‐dependent sex allocation. Therefore, it has widespread implications for animal taxa. Across turtle species, ESD is associated with greater sex differences in the age at maturity compared to species without ESD, as predicted by our hypothesis. However, the effect is not statistically significant and will require expanded empirical investigation. Given variation among taxa in sex‐specific age at maturity, our survival‐to‐maturity hypothesis may capture common selective forces on sex‐determining mechanisms.