MicroRNA-206 has a bright application prospect in the diagnosis of cases with oral cancer

Previous studies have shown that microRNA-206 (miR-206) exhibits anti-tumour properties in various tumours. Nevertheless, diagnostic significance of miR-206 in oral cancer is still poorly known. Our research was carried out to explore the performance of miR-206 in the diagnosis of oral cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method was adopted to measure the level of miR-206 in serum specimens from oral cancer cases and control individuals. Chi-square test was performed to analyse the correlation between miR-206 level and clinicopathological parameters of the cases. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constituted to assess diagnostic accuracy of miR-206 in oral cancer. Serum miR-206 level in oral cancer patients was significantly lower than that in control individuals (P < .001). miR-206 expression was obviously related to T classification (P = .033), TNM stage (P = .008) and lymph node metastasis (P = .028). The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC curve was 0.846 (95% CI = 0.797-0.896, P < .001) with a specificity of 72.7% and a sensitivity of 81.2%. It revealed that miR-206 might be a non-invasive indicator in differentiating oral cancer cases from control individuals. Down-regulation of miR-206 is related to the development of oral cancer. Serum miR-206 might be an effective indicator for early detection of oral cancer.     

Root microbiome assembly of As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata and its efficacy in arsenic requisition

The assemblage of root-associated microorganisms plays important roles in improving their capability to adapt to environmental stress. Metal(loid) hyperaccumulators exhibit disparate adaptive capability compared to that of non-hyperaccumulators when faced with elevated contents of metal(loid)s. However, knowledge of the assemblage of root microbes of hyperaccumulators and their ecological roles in plant growth is still scarce. The present study used Pteris vittata as a model plant to study the microbial assemblage and its beneficial role in plant growth. We demonstrated that the assemblage of microbes from the associated bulk soil to the root compartment was based on their lifestyles. We used metagenomic analysis and identified that the assembled microbes were primarily involved in root–microbe interactions in P. vittata root. Notably, we identified that the assembled root microbiome played an important role in As requisition, which promoted the fitness and growth of P. vittata. This study provides new insights into the root microbiome and potential valuable knowledge to understand how the root microbiome contributes to the fitness of its host.     

Identification and functional characterization of CD133+GFAP+CD117+Sca1+ neural stem cells

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Neural stem cells (NSCs) are responsible for maintaining the nervous system and repairing damages. Utility of NSCs could provide a novel solution to treat...     

SNP identification and marker assay development for high-throughput selection of soybean cyst nematode resistance

Background

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most economically devastating pathogen of soybean. Two resistance loci, Rhg1 and Rhg4 primarily contribute resistance to SCN race 3 in soybean. Peking and PI 88788 are the two major sources of SCN resistance with Peking requiring both Rhg1 and Rhg4 alleles and PI 88788 only the Rhg1 allele. Although simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers have been reported for both loci, they are linked markers and limited to be applied in breeding programs due to accuracy, throughput and cost of detection methods. The objectives of this study were to develop robust functional marker assays for high-throughput selection of SCN resistance and to differentiate the sources of resistance.

Results

Based on the genomic DNA sequences of 27 soybean lines with known SCN phenotypes, we have developed Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) assays for two Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from Glyma08g11490 for the selection of the Rhg4 resistance allele. Moreover, the genomic DNA of Glyma18g02590 at the Rhg1 locus from 11 soybean lines and cDNA of Forrest, Essex, Williams 82 and PI 88788 were fully sequenced. Pairwise sequence alignment revealed seven SNPs/insertion/deletions (InDels), five in the 6th exon and two in the last exon. Using the same 27 soybean lines, we identified one SNP that can be used to select the Rhg1 resistance allele and another SNP that can be employed to differentiate Peking and PI 88788-type resistance. These SNP markers have been validated and a strong correlation was observed between the SNP genotypes and reactions to SCN race 3 using a panel of 153 soybean lines, as well as a bi-parental population, F₅–derived recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from G00-3213 x LG04-6000.

Conclusions

Three functional SNP markers (two for Rhg1 locus and one for Rhg4 locus) were identified that could provide genotype information for the selection of SCN resistance and differentiate Peking from PI 88788 source for most germplasm lines. The robust KASP SNP marker assays were developed. In most contexts, use of one or two of these markers is sufficient for high-throughput marker-assisted selection of plants that will exhibit SCN resistance.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1531-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Association of TERT Polymorphisms with Clinical Outcome of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

TERT is of great importance in cancer initiation and progression. Many studies have demonstrated the TERT polymorphisms as risk factors for many cancer types, including lung cancer. However, the impacts of TERT variants on cancer progression and treatment efficacy have remained controversial. This study aimed to investigate the association of TERT polymorphisms with clinical outcome of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, including response rate, clinical benefit, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and grade 3 or 4 toxicity. Seven polymorphisms of TERT were assessed, and a total of 1004 inoperable advanced NSCLC patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy were enrolled. It is exhibited that the variant heterozygote of rs4975605 showed significant association with a low rate of clinical benefit, and displayed a much stronger effect in never-smoking female subset, leading to the clinical benefit rate decreased from 82.9% (C/C genotype) to 56.4% (C/A genotype; adjusted OR, 3.58; P=1.40×10^-4). It is also observed that the polymorphism rs2736109 showed significant correlation with PFS (log-rank P=0.023). In age > 58 subgroup, patients carrying the heterozygous genotype had a longer median PFS than those carrying the wild-type genotypes (P=0.002). The results from the current study, for the first time to our knowledge, provide suggestive evidence of an effect of TERT polymorphisms on disease progression variability among Chinese patients with platinum-treated advanced NSCLC.     

Allopurinol reduces oxidative stress and activates Nrf2/p62 to attenuate diabetic cardiomyopathy in rats

Allopurinol (ALP) attenuates oxidative stress and diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), but the mechanism is unclear. Activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) following the disassociation with its repressor Keap1 under oxidative stress can maintain inner redox homeostasis and attenuate DCM with concomitant attenuation of autophagy. We postulated that ALP treatment may activate Nrf2 to mitigate autophagy over‐activation and consequently attenuate DCM. Streptozotocin‐induced type 1 diabetic rats were untreated or treated with ALP (100 mg/kg/d) for 4 weeks and terminated after heart function measurements by echocardiography and pressure‐volume conductance system. Cardiomyocyte H9C2 cells infected with Nrf2 siRNA or not were incubated with high glucose (HG, 25 mmol/L) concomitantly with ALP treatment. Cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase, 15‐F2t‐Isoprostane and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured with colorimetric enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. ROS, apoptosis, was assessed by dihydroethidium staining and TUNEL, respectively. The Western blot and qRT‐PCR were used to assess protein and mRNA variations. Diabetic rats showed significant reductions in heart rate (HR), left ventricular eject fraction (LVEF), stroke work (SW) and cardiac output (CO), left ventricular end‐systolic volume (LVVs) as compared to non‐diabetic control and ALP improved or normalized HR, LVEF, SW, CO and LVVs in diabetic rats (all P < .05). Hearts of diabetic rats displayed excessive oxidative stress manifested as increased levels of 15‐F2t‐Isoprostane and superoxide anion production, increased apoptotic cell death and cardiomyocytes autophagy that were concomitant with reduced expressions of Nrf2, heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) and Keap1. ALP reverted all the above‐mentioned diabetes‐induced biochemical changes except that it did not affect the levels of Keap1. In vitro, ALP increased Nrf2 and reduced the hyperglycaemia‐induced increases of H9C2 cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, oxidative stress, apoptosis and autophagy, and enhanced cellular viability. Nrf2 gene silence cancelled these protective effects of ALP in H9C2 cells. Activation of Nrf2 subsequent to the suppression of Keap1 and the mitigation of autophagy over‐activation may represent major mechanisms whereby ALP attenuates DCM.     

Mitochondria: One of the origins for autophagosomal membranes?

Macroautophagy is a transport pathway to the lysosome/vacuole that contributes to the degradation of numerous intracellular components. Despite the recent advances achieved in the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying macroautophagy, the membrane origin of autophagosomes, the hallmark of this process is still a mystery. It has been suggested that mitochondria may be one of the lipid sources for autophagosome formation and that possibly this organelle provides the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) that covalently links to the members of the ubiquitin-like Atg8/microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) protein family. These lipidated proteins are inserted into the outer and inner surface of autophagosomes and are essential for the biogenesis of these large double-membrane vesicles. However, because PE is an integral component of all cellular membranes, designing appropriate experiments to determine the origin of the autophagosomal PE is not easy. In this review, we discuss the idea that mitochondria provide the pool of PE necessary for the autophagosome biogenesis and we propose some possible experimental approaches aimed to explore this possibility.