The Family of Peanut Fatty Acid Desaturase Genes and a Functional Analysis of Four ω-3 AhFAD3 Members

Plant Molecular Biology Reporter - The synthesis of α-linolenic acid (ALA) requires the activity of ω-3 fatty acid desaturases (ω-3 FADs). The quality of peanut oil would be much...     

Molecular Identification,Genotyping, Phenotyping,and Antifungal Susceptibilities of Medically Important Trichosporon,Apiotrichum, and Cutaneotrichosporon Species

Mycopathologia - Recently, Trichosporon taxonomy has been reevaluated and new genera of the Trichosporonaceae family have been described. Here, 26 clinical isolates were submitted for...     

On the origin of SARS-CoV-2——The blind watchmaker argument

正In the comparison with SARS-CoVof 2003, SARS-CoV-2 is extremely well adapted to the human populations and its adaptive shift from the animal host to humans must have been even more extensive. By the blind watchmaker argument, such an adaptive shift can only happen prior to the onset of the current pandemic and with the aid of step-by-step selection.     

Cloning and characterization of three novel WSSV recognizing lectins from shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus

C-type lectins (CTLs) acting as pattern recognition receptors play essential roles in shrimp innate immune responses. Using WSSV envelope proteins (VP26, VP28, and VP281) to screen a phage display library of Marsupenaeus japonicus, three lectins (termed as MjLecA, MjLecB, and MjLecC) were found to interact with WSSV. Sequence analysis revealed that these MjLecs shared low similarities with each other. Phylogenetic analysis indicated MjLecA and MjLecB are likely to belong to the same lectin sub-family, while MjLecC belongs to another sub-family. These MjLecs showed broad, unique carbohydrate binding spectra. Also, the three MjLecs could interact with several envelope proteins of WSSV and could recognize a wide range of microorganisms. Moreover, binding of MjLecA or MjLecB to WSSV reduced the viral infection rate in vitro. These results suggest that various kinds of CTLs with structural and functional diversities may constitute a recognizing network against invading pathogens such as bacteria and virus, and play essential roles in the defence system of shrimp.     

HIV Incidence and Risk Factors in Chinese Young Men Who Have Sex with Men—A Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives

To assess HIV incidence and its associated risk factors among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in urban areas, China.

Design

The study used a prospective cohort study design and standard diagnostic tests.

Methods

A twelve-month prospective cohort study was conducted among YMSM (18–25 years old) in 8 large cities in China. The participants were recruited via snowball sampling. A total of 1102 HIV-negative YMSM completed baseline assessment, 878 YMSM participants completed 6-month follow-up, and 902 completed 12-month follow-up. HIV was screened by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed with Western Blot. Syphilis was screened via rapid plasma reagent and confirmed by treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay.

Results

78 HIV seroconversions were identified within 1168.4 person-year observations yielding an incidence rate of 6.7 per 100 person-years. HIV seroconversion was associated with non-student status (RR = 2.61, 90% CI = 1.3–5.26), low HIV transmission knowledge (RR = 8.87, 90% CI = 2.16–36.43), and syphilis infection (RR = 5.04, 90% CI = 2.57–9.90).

Conclusions

Incidence of HIV among YMSM is high in urban areas of China. Interventions measures are required to contain the HIV epidemic within this population.     

Holmium Laser Enucleation versus Transurethral Resection in Patients with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia: An Updated Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis

Background

Holmium laser enucleation (HoLEP) in surgical treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) potentially offers advantages over transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).

Methods

Published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from PubMed, EMBASE, Science Citation Index, and the Cochrane Library up to October 10, 2013 (updated on February 5, 2014). After methodological quality assessment and data extraction, meta-analysis was performed using STATA 12.0 and Trial Sequential Analysis (TSA) 0.9 software.

Results

Fifteen studies including 8 RCTs involving 855 patients met the criteria. The results of meta-analysis showed that: a) efficacy indicators: there was no significant difference in quality of life between the two groups (P>0.05), but compared with the TURP group, Qmax was better at 3 months and 12 months, PVR was less at 6, 12 months, and IPSS was lower at 12 months in the HoLEP, b) safety indicators: compared with the TURP, HoLEP had less blood transfusion (RR 0.17, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.47), but there was no significant difference in early and late postoperative complications (P>0.05), and c) perioperative indicators: HoLEP was associated with longer operation time (WMD 14.19 min, 95% CI 6.30 to 22.08 min), shorter catheterization time (WMD −19.97 h, 95% CI −24.24 to −15.70 h) and hospital stay (WMD −25.25 h, 95% CI −29.81 to −20.68 h).

Conclusions

In conventional meta-analyses, there is no clinically relevant difference in early and late postoperative complications between the two techniques, but HoLEP is preferable due to advantage in the curative effect, less blood transfusion rate, shorter catheterization duration time and hospital stay. However, trial sequential analysis does not allow us to draw any solid conclusion in overall clinical benefit comparison between the two approaches. Further large, well-designed, multicentre/international RCTs with long-term data and the comparison between the two approaches remain open.     

Increased Expression of Cathepsin L: A Novel Independent Prognostic Marker of Worse Outcome in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

Objectives

To investigate the expression and role of Cathepsin L (CTSL) in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue and cell line (MHCC-97H), and to evaluate the clinical and prognostic significance of CTSL protein in patients with HCC.

Methods

The expression of CTSL was examined in HCC tissue and MHCC-97H cells by Western-blotting, Real-time PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Cell growth curve assay and colony formation assay were used to verify the effect of CTSL on the proliferation and tumor progression ability of MHCC-97H cells. Tumor formation assay in nude mice was used to analyze the effect of CTSL on the tumorigenicity of MHCC-97H cells.

Results

The status of CTSL protein in carcinoma tissues is much higher than that in paracarcinoma tissues. The overall survival of the patients with high CTSL expression was significantly shorter than the low CTSL expression group. high CTSL expression was significantly correlated with advanced clinical staging, histological grade and tumor recurrence. In vitro experiments demonstrated that over-expression of CTSL in MHCC-97H cells promoted cell proliferation and tumor progression ability. Down-regulation of CTSL showed the opposite effects. Over-expression of CTSL increase the tumorigenicity of MHCC-97H cells by in vivo experiments. Moreover, multivariate analysis suggested that CTSL expression might be an independent prognostic indicator for the survival of HCC patients after curative surgery.

Conclusions

CTSL might involve in the development and progression of HCC as a oncogene, and thereby may be a valuable prognostic marker for HCC patients.     

High-quality draft genome sequence of nematocidal Bacillus thuringiensis Sbt003

Bacillus thuringiensis represents one of the six species of "Bacillus cereus group" in the genus Bacillus within the family Bacillaceae. Strain Sbt003 was isolated from soil and identified as B. thuringiensis. It harbors at least seven plasmids and produces three shapes of parasporal crystals including oval, bipyramidal and rice. SDS-PAGE analysis of spore-crystal suspension of this strain reveals six major protein bands, which implies the presence of multiple parasporal crystal genes. Bioassay of this strain reveals that it shows specific activity against nematodes and human cancer cells. In this study, we report the whole genomic shotgun sequences of Sbt003. The high-quality draft of the genome is 6,175,670 bp long (including chromosome and plasmids) with 6,372 protein-coding and 80 RNA genes.     

Effects of miR-33a-5P on ABCA1/G1-Mediated Cholesterol Efflux under Inflammatory Stress in THP-1 Macrophages

The present study is to investigate whether inflammatory cytokines inhibit ABCA1/ABCG1-mediated cholesterol efflux by regulating miR-33a-5P in THP-1 macrophages. We used interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the presence or absence of native low density lipoprotein (LDL) to stimulate THP-1 macrophages. THP-1 macrophages were infected by either control lentivirus vectors or lentivirus encoding miR-33a-5P or antisense miR-33a-5P. The effects of inflammatory cytokines, miR-33a-5P and antisense miR-33a-5P on intracellular lipids accumulation and intracellular cholesterol contents were assessed by oil red O staining and quantitative intracellular cholesterol assay. ApoA-I-mediated cholesterol efflux was examined using the fluorescent sterol (BODIPY-cholesterol). The gene and protein expressions of the molecules involved in cholesterol trafficking were examined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Inflammatory cytokines or miR-33a-5P increased intracellular lipid accumulation and decreased apoA-I-mediated cholesterol efflux via decreasing the expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1 in the absence or presence of LDL in THP-1 macrophages. However, antisense miR-33a-5P reversed the effects of inflammatory cytokines on intracellular lipid accumulation, cholesterol efflux, and the expression of miR-33a-5P, ABCA1 and ABCG1 in the absence or presence of LDL in THP-1 macrophages. This study indicated that inflammatory cytokines inhibited ABCA1/ABCG1-mediated cholesterol efflux by up-regulating miR-33a-5P in THP-1 macrophages.