HIF‐1α forms regulatory loop with YAP to coordinate hypoxia‐induced adriamycin resistance in acute myeloid leukemia cells

Despite the improvement in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatments, most patients had a poor prognosis and suffered from chemoresistance and disease relapse. Therefore, there is an urgent need for elucidation of mechanism(s) underlying drug resistance in AML. In the present study, we found that AML cells showed less susceptibility to adriamycin (ADR) in the presence of hypoxia, while inhibition of hypoxia‐inducible factor 1α (HIF‐1α) by CdCl₂ can make AML cells re‐susceptibile to ADR even under hypoxia. Moreover, HIF‐1α is overexpressed and plays an important role in ADR‐resistance maintenance in resistant AML cells. We further found hypoxia or induction of HIF‐1α can significantly upregulate yes‐associated protein (YAP) expression in AML cells, and resistant cells express a high level of YAP. Finally, we found that YAP may not only enhance HIF‐1α stability but also promote HIF‐1α's activity on the target gene pyruvate kinase M2. In conclusion, our data indicate that HIF‐1α or YAP may represent a therapeutic target for overcoming resistance toward adriamycin‐based chemotherapy in AML.     

The complete chloroplast genome of Myriophyllum spicatum reveals a 4‐kb inversion and new insights regarding plastome evolution in Haloragaceae

Myriophyllum, among the most species‐rich genera of aquatic angiosperms with ca. 68 species, is an extensively distributed hydrophyte lineage in the cosmopolitan family Haloragaceae. The chloroplast (cp) genome is useful in the study of genetic evolution, phylogenetic analysis, and molecular dating of controversial taxa. Here, we sequenced and assembled the whole chloroplast genome of Myriophyllum spicatum L. and compared it to other species in the order Saxifragales. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of M. spicatum is 158,858 bp long and displays a quadripartite structure with two inverted repeats (IR) separating the large single copy (LSC) region from the small single copy (SSC) region. Based on sequence identification and the phylogenetic analysis, a 4‐kb phylogenetically informative inversion between trnE‐trnC in Myriophyllum was determined, and we have placed this inversion on a lineage specific to Myriophyllum and its close relatives. The divergence time estimation suggested that the trnE‐trnC inversion possibly occurred between the upper Cretaceous (72.54 MYA) and middle Eocene (47.28 MYA) before the divergence of Myriophyllum from its most recent common ancestor. The unique 4‐kb inversion might be caused by an occurrence of nonrandom recombination associated with climate changes around the K‐Pg boundary, making it interesting for future evolutionary investigations.     

The landscape and prognostic value of immune characteristics in uterine corpus endometrial cancer

In the present study, we explored the clinical and immunological characteristics of 575 uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) samples obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) using the ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms. First, Kaplan–Meier and univariate Cox regression analyses indicated that the immune cell score was a prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Multivariate Cox regression analysis further revealed that the immune cell score was an independent prognostic factor for UCEC patients. Second, we investigated the correlation between the infiltration levels of 22 types of immune cells and the immune score. Survival analysis based on the 22 immune cell types showed that higher levels of regulatory T cell, activated NK cell, and follicular helper T-cell infiltration were associated with longer OS, while higher levels of CD8+ T cell and naive B-cell infiltration were associated with longer RFS. Next, we performed differential expression and prognosis analyses on 1534 immune-related genes and selected five from 14 candidate genes to construct a prognostic prediction model. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for 3- and 5-year survival were 0.711 and 0.728, respectively. Further validation using a stage I–II subgroup showed similar results, presenting AUC values for 3- and five-year survival of 0.677 and 0.692, respectively. Taken together, the present study provides not only a deeper understanding of the relationship between UCEC and the immune landscape but also guidance for the future development of UCEC immunotherapy.     

安徽北部地区恶性肿瘤人群卡波氏肉瘤相关疱疹病毒血清学分析

卡波氏肉瘤相关疱疹病毒是一种新发现的γ疱疹病毒(Kaposi'ssarcoma-associated herpesvirus,KSHV).在中国新疆,KSHV感染率比较高,KSHV在免疫缺陷患者和静脉吸毒者中感染率也比在普通人群中高.为了进一步研究KSHV在安徽北部地区恶性肿瘤人群中的感染率和高风险因素,初步探讨KSHV与肿瘤的发生之间相关性,研究KSHV的高发人群特点,本研究选用KSHV病毒重组蛋白ORF65、ORF 73和K8.1为抗原,利用酶联免疫吸附实验(ELISA)对500份恶性肿瘤患者血清样本及200份健康体检人群血清样本进行KSHV抗体检测,分析KSHV的感染率及危险因素.结果显示500例肿瘤患者KSHV阳性总数170例,总阳性率为34％,200份健康人群KSHV阳性总数22例,总阳性率为11％,肿瘤人群KSHV阳性率明显高于健康人群(P＜0.001).其中肺癌、肝癌、结肠癌、宫颈癌、乳腺癌样本KSHV阳性率分别为36.4％,34.1％,41.7％,28.6％,30.3％,此5组肿瘤组KSHV阳性率也分别高于健康人群,都具有统计学意义(P＜0.001).但5组肿瘤样本之间KS-HV阳性率无明显差异(P＞0.05),且各组肿瘤样本分别与性别、乙肝五项、丙肝之间无统计学意义(P＞0.05).本研究结果提示安徽北部地区恶性肿瘤患者KSHV抗体阳性率显著高于中国普通人群总体KSHV抗体阳性率,证明KSHV在恶性肿瘤人群中呈现较高比例的分布.     

Airborne and indigenous microbiomes co-drive the rebound of antibiotic resistome during compost storage

Composting is widely used to reduce the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in solid waste. While ARG dynamics have been extensively investigated during composting, the fate and abundance of residual ARGs during the storage remain unexplored. Here, we tested experimentally how ARG and mobile genetic element (MGE) abundances change during compost storage using metagenomics, quantitative PCR and direct culturing. We found that 43.8% of ARGs and 39.9% of MGEs quickly recovered already during the first week of storage. This rebound effect was mainly driven by the regrowth of indigenous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria that survived the composting. Bacterial transmission from the surrounding air had a much smaller effect, being most evident as MGE rebound during the later stages of storage. While hyperthermophilic composting was more efficient at reducing the relative abundance of ARGs and MGEs, relatively greater ARG rebound was observed during the storage of hyperthermophilic compost, exceeding the initial levels of untreated sewage sludge. Our study reveals that residual ARGs and MGEs left in the treated compost can quickly rebound during the storage via airborne introduction and regrowth of surviving bacteria, highlighting the need to develop better storage strategies to prevent the rebound of ARGs and MGEs after composting.