Serum Lipoprotein(a) Positively Correlates with Coronary Artery Calcification in Low-Risk Chinese Han Patients: A Study from a Single Center

Background

Elevated plasma levels of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) and a higher degree of coronary artery calcification (CAC) are both considered to be risk factors for atherosclerosis. However, previous studies have demonstrated that the relationship between Lp(a) levels and the degree of CAC indicates significant heterogeneity that may be due to varying ethnicities. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive power of Lp(a) for CAC as measured by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in the Han ethnic group of China.

Methods

A total of 1082 subjects were recruited in this study. The patients were divided into four groups: patients without hypertension or diabetes were group 1, patients with hypertension were group 2, patients with diabetes were group 3 and patients with both hypertension and diabetes were group 4. CAC score (CACs), lipid profiles (Lp(a), LDL, HDL, TG, TC), HbA1C, glucose, personal health history and body morphology were measured in all participants. The predictive power of Lp(a) for calcified atherosclerotic plaque was determined by correlations and ordinal logistic regression.

Results

There was no significant difference in the CACs between group 2 and group 3 (z = 1.790, p = 0.736), and there were significant differences among the other groups. However, there was no significant difference in the total Lp(a) among the 4 groups (χ² = 0.649, p = 0.885). Only In group 1, Lp(a) was a statistically significant predictor of the presence of calcified coronary plaque using ordinal logistic regression.

Conclusions

Levels of Lp(a) positively correlate with CACs among Chinese Han people who are without diabetes and hypertension, suggesting that Lp(a) may be an important risk factor for the presence of calcified atheromas.     

A Na+/H+ antiporter,K2-NhaD,improves salt and drought tolerance in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Plant Molecular Biology - Overexpression of K2-NhaD in transgenic cotton resulted in phenotypes with strong salinity and drought tolerance in greenhouse and field experiments, increased expression...     

Immunoregulation and antioxidant activities of a novel acidic polysaccharide from Radix Paeoniae Alba

Radix Paeoniae Alba is widely used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat various diseases such as gastrointestinal disorders, immunomodulatory, cancer, and other diseases. In this paper, a novel acidic polysaccharide RPAPS purified from Radix Paeoniae Alba was evaluated for its structural features and potential of immunomodulatory and antioxidant activities. RPAPS (molecular weight: 1.0× 105 Da) was mainly composed of α-(1 → 4)-Glcp, α-Arap, α-Galp, α-Rhap, β-D-Glcp, α-(1 → 6)-linked Glcp and GalA. Immunological tests indicated that RPAPS could improve RAW264.7 phagocytic activity and LPS-induced splenocyte proliferation. For antioxidant activities, RPAPS showed reducing power and DPPH scavenging activity in dose dependent. Moreover, RPAPS could significantly protect the PC12 cells from H2O2 damage. These data implied polysaccharides RPAPS had the potential to be novel natural antioxidative and immunopotentiating agents for using in functional foods or medicine.     

Selenium-Alleviated Hepatocyte Necrosis and DNA Damage in Cyclophosphamide-Treated Geese by Mitigating Oxidative Stress

Biological Trace Element Research - Selenium (Se) has been well recognized as an immune-enhancing agent with antioxidant and anti-tumor properties. The commonly used chemotherapy drug,...     

ROR2 promotes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition by regulating MAPK/p38 signaling pathway in breast cancer

Receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (ROR2) is a tyrosine-protein kinase receptor highly implicated in the growth plate and cartilage development, which may be involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in breast cancer (BC) cells. Although ROR2 is known to promote the migration of BC cells, the detailed mechanism of this event is still not clear. Here, we found that ROR2 expression was significantly increased in BC lymphatic metastatic tissue as well as BC samples compared to normal adjacent breast tissues. A higher expression of ROR2 in MDA-MB-231 and a lower expression of ROR2 in MCF-7 cells were observed. MDA-MB-231-siROR2 cells with ROR2 knockdown inhibited MDA-MB-231 cell invasion, migration, and clonal formation, while MCF-7-OvROR2 cells with overexpression showed the opposite results. The underlying mechanisms involved in ROR2-induced EMT in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells were further investigated. ROR2 may activate EMT progression in BC cells by altering MAPK kinase 3/6 (MKK3/6) expression. The expressions of transforming growth factor-β, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), and MMP-9, which were related to tumor cell invasion activities, were notably increased in MCF-7-OvROR2 cells. The EMT markers, including snail, N-cadherin, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1, and vimentin, were significantly upregulated in MCF-7-OvROR2 cells. On the contrary, E-cadherin was obviously reduced expressed in MCF-7-OvROR2 cells. ROR2 may regulate the malignant phenotype of BC cells possibly via activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/p38 signaling pathway. Collectively, ROR2 promotes BC carcinogenesis by mediating the MAPK/p38 pathway, which is independent of Wnt5α.     

Modeling the role of macrophages in HIV persistence during antiretroviral therapy

HIV preferentially infects activated CD4+ T cells. Current antiretroviral therapy cannot eradicate the virus. Viral infection of other cells such as macrophages may contribute to viral persistence during antiretroviral therapy. In addition to cell-free virus infection, macrophages can also get infected when engulfing infected CD4+ T cells as innate immune sentinels. How macrophages affect the dynamics of HIV infection remains unclear. In this paper, we develop an HIV model that includes the infection of CD4+ T cells and macrophages via cell-free virus infection and cell-to-cell viral transmission. We derive the basic reproduction number and obtain the local and global stability of the steady states. Sensitivity and viral dynamics simulations show that even when the infection of CD4+ T cells is completely blocked by therapy, virus can still persist and the steady-state viral load is not sensitive to the change of treatment efficacy. Analysis of the relative contributions to viral replication shows that cell-free virus infection leads to the majority of macrophage infection. Viral transmission from infected CD4+ T cells to macrophages during engulfment accounts for a small fraction of the macrophage infection and has a negligible effect on the total viral production. These results suggest that macrophage infection can be a source contributing to HIV persistence during suppressive therapy. Improving drug efficacies in heterogeneous target cells is crucial for achieving HIV eradication in infected individuals.

     

Plant architectural responses in simultaneous maize/soybean strip intercropping do not lead to a yield advantage

Maize/soybean strip intercropping is a commonly used system throughout China with high crop yields at reduced nutrient input compared to sole maize. Maize is the taller crop, and due to its dominance in light capture over soybean in the intercrop, maize is expected to outperform maize in sole cropping. Conversely, soybean is the subordinate crop and intercropped soybean plants are expected to perform worse than sole soybean. Crop plants show plastic responses in plant architecture to their growing conditions to forage for light and avoid shading. There is little knowledge on plant architectural responses to growing conditions in simultaneous (non-relay) intercropping and their relationship to species yields. A two-year field experiment with two simultaneous maize/soybean intercropping systems with narrow and wide strips was conducted to characterise architectural traits of maize and soybean plants grown as intercrop and sole crops. Intercropped maize plants, especially those in border rows, had substantially greater leaf area, biomass and yield than maize plants in sole crops. Intercropped soybean plants, especially those in border rows, had lower leaf area, biomass and yield than sole soybean plants. Overall intercrop performance was similar to that of sole crops, with the land equivalent ratio (LER) being only slightly greater than one (1.03–1.08). Soybean displayed typical shade avoidance responses in the intercrop, such as greater internode elongation and changes in specific leaf area, but these responses could not overcome the consequences of the competition with the taller maize plants. Therefore, in contrast to relay intercrop systems, in the studied simultaneous maize/soybean system, plastic responses did not contribute to practically relevant increases in resource capture and yield at whole system (i.e., intercrop) level.     

MiR-34a inhibits the proliferation,migration, and invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma by directly targeting SATB2

In various kinds of carcinomas, the special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 2 (SATB2) with its atypical expression promotes the metastasis and progression of the tumor, though in the oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) its inherent mechanism and the status of SATB2 remain unclear. The role played by the SATB2 expression in the OSCC cell lines and tissue samples in the target of miR-34a downstream is the intended endeavor of this study. In te OSCCs the miR-34a expression was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR), while the SATB2 expression in the cell lines and tissue samples in OSCC was analyzed with the q-PCR and the western blot. Studies in both in vitro and in vivo of the effects of miR-34a on the initiation of OSCC were conducted. As a direct target of the miR-34a the SATB2 was verified with the luciferase reporter assay. In cases where the miR-34a levels were low, the SATB2 in OSCCs seemed to be overexpressed. Besides, both in the in vitro and in vivo a suppression of migration, invasion, and cell growth was caused by miR-34a by down regulating the SATB2 expression. The SATB2 being a direct target of miR-34a was confirmed by the cotransfection of miR-34a mimics specifically the decrease in the expression of luciferase of SATB2–3′UTR-wt reporter. As a whole, our study confirmed the inhibition of miR-34a in the invasion, proliferation, and migration of the OSCCs, playing a potential tumor suppressor role with SATB2 as its downstream target.