RETRACTED ARTICLE: Hepatic stellate cell mediates transcription of TNFSF14 in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via H2S/CSE-JNK/JunB signaling pathway

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) both play important roles in the development of hepatocellar carcinoma (HCC). Whereas, in the microenvironment of HCC, whether HSC participate in regulating the biological process of HCC cells by releasing H₂S remains elusive. In vitro, Flow cytometry (FCM), CCK-8, RNA-sequencing, Western blotting, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence and ChIP assays were carried out in the HCC cells to investigate the effect of H₂S on biological functions and JNK/JunB-TNFSF14 signaling pathway. Specimens from HCC patients were analyzed by RT-qPCR and Western blotting assays for evaluating the expression of TNFSF14 and CSE. Statistical analysis was used to analyze the correlation between TNFSF14 expression and clinical data of HCC patients. Based on the FCM and CCK-8 results, we found the LX-2 cells were able to induce HCC cells apoptosis through releasing H₂S. RNA-sequencing, RT-qPCR, and Western blotting results showed that TNFSF14 gene was upregulated in both LX-2 and NaHS group. NaHS treated in HCC cells led to JNK/JunB signaling pathway activating and greater binding of p-JunB to its responsive elements on TNFSF14 promoter. Impairment of TNFSF14 induction alleviated LX-2 and NaHS induced apoptosis of HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells. Furthermore, TNFSF14 expression in HCC tissues was lower than the adjacent tissue. HCC patients with low expression of TNFSF14 had higher malignant degree and poor prognosis. In summary, demonstration of the involvement of HSC-derived H₂S in JNK/JunB mediated expression of TNFSF14 gene strongly indicates H₂S palys an important role in the regulation of HCC apoptosis.Subject terms: Apoptosis, Liver cancer     

METTL14 suppresses pyroptosis and diabetic cardiomyopathy by downregulating TINCR lncRNA

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is one of the most important epigenetic regulation of RNAs, such as lncRNAs. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism of m6A in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is very limited. In this study, we sought to define the role of METTL14-mediated m6A modification in pyroptosis and DCM progression. DCM rat model was established and qRT-PCR, western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the expression of METTL14 and TINCR. Gain-and-loss functional experiments were performed to define the role of METTL14-TINCR-NLRP3 axis in pyroptosis and DCM. RNA pulldown and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays were carried out to verify the underlying interaction. Our results showed that pyroptosis was tightly involved in DCM progression. METTL14 was downregulated in cardiomyocytes and hear tissues of DCM rat tissues. Functionally, METTL14 suppressed pyroptosis and DCM via downregulating lncRNA TINCR, which further decreased the expression of key pyroptosis-related protein, NLRP3. Mechanistically, METTL14 increased m6A methylation level of TINCR gene, resulting in its downregulation. Moreover, the m6A reader protein YTHDF2 was essential for m6A methylation and mediated the degradation of TINCR. Finally, TINCR positively regulated NLRP3 by increasing its mRNA stability. To conclude, our work revealed the novel role of METTL14-mediated m6A methylation and lncRNA regulation in pyroptosis and DCM, which could help extend our understanding the epigenetic regulation of pyroptosis in DCM progression.Subject terms: Cardiomyopathies, Endocrine system and metabolic diseases     

Seasonal expressions of GPR41 and GPR43 in the colon of the wild ground squirrels (Spermophilus dauricus)

G-protein-coupled receptor 41 (GPR41) and G-protein-coupled receptor 43 (GPR43) are important short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) receptors. Previous studies indicated that GPR41 and GPR43 are involved in the secretion of gastrointestinal peptides, and glucose and lipid metabolism, and are closely related to obesity and type II diabetes, and other diseases. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship of the GPR41 and GPR43 with seasonal breeding, and provide new prospects for further exploring the nutritional needs of breeding. We identified the localization and expression levels of GPR41 and GPR43 in the colon of the wild ground squirrels (Spermophilus dauricus) both in the breeding season and non-breeding season. The histological results revealed that the lumen diameter of the colon had obvious seasonal changes, and the diameter of the colonic lumen in the non-breeding season was larger than that in the breeding season. Immunohistochemical staining suggested that GPR41 and GPR43 are expressed in the simple layer columnar epithelium. In addition, compared with the breeding season, the mRNA and protein expression levels of GPR41 and GPR43 in the colon were higher during the non-breeding season. In general, these results indicated that GPR41 and GPR43 might play a certain role in regulating seasonal breeding.Key words: GPR41, GPR43, colon, wild ground squirrel, seasonal breeding     

Tea Consumption and Risk of Head and Neck Cancer

Background

The current study evaluated the association between tea consumption and head and neck cancer (HNC) in Taiwan, where tea is a major agricultural product and a popular beverage.

Methods

Interviews regarding tea consumption (frequency, duration, and types) were conducted with 396 HNC cases and 413 controls. Unconditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of HNC risk associated with tea drinking, adjusted for sex, age, education, cigarette smoking, betel quid chewing, and alcohol drinking.

Results

A reduced HNC risk associated with tea drinking (OR for every cup per day = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93–0.99; OR for ≧5 cups per day = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.39–0.94) was observed. The association was especially significant for pharyngeal cancer (OR for every cup per day = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.88–0.98; OR for ≧5 cups per day = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.16–0.66). A significant inverse association between HNC and tea consumption was observed particularly for green tea.

Conclusions

This study suggests that tea drinking may reduce the risk of HNC. The anticancer property of tea, if proven, may offer a natural chemopreventive measure to reduce the occurrence of HNC.     

The progress of multimodal imaging combination and subregion based radiomics research of cancers

In recent years, with the standardization of radiomics methods; development of tools; and popularization of the concept, radiomics has been widely used in all aspects of tumor diagnosis; treatment; and prognosis. As the study of radiomics in cancer has become more advanced, the currently used methods have revealed their shortcomings. The performance of cancer radiomics based on single-modality medical images, which based on their imaging principles, only partially reflects tumor information, has been necessarily compromised. Using the whole tumor as a region of interest to extract radiomic features inevitably leads to the loss of intra-tumoral heterogeneity of, which also affects the performance of radiomics. Radiomics of multimodal images extracts various aspects of information from images of each modality and then integrates them together for model construction; thus, avoiding missing information. Subregional segmentation based on multimodal medical image combinations allows radiomics features acquired from subregions to retain tumor heterogeneity, further improving the performance of radiomics. In this review, we provide a detailed summary of the current research on the radiomics of multimodal images of cancer and tumor subregion-based radiomics, and then raised some of the research problems and also provide a thorough discussion on these issues.     

内皮祖细胞对急性肺损伤保护作用的研究进展

内皮祖细胞（EPC）是一种多潜能细胞,主要来源于骨髓。外周血EPC可以参与修复多种血管内皮细胞损伤的疾病。目前研究证实EPC通过动员、迁移、归巢和分化等步骤在受损的肺组织处参与内皮细胞修复,调节失控的炎症反应,增强抗氧化能力,对修复和维持肺泡毛细血管屏障的完整性起着重要作用。EPC在心血管疾病和组织工程领域应用研究的成功,为EPC在急性肺损伤的治疗提供了新的思路。     

Chromosome rearrangements during domestication of cucumber as revealed by high-density genetic mapping and draft genome assembly

Cucumber, Cucumis sativus L. is the only taxon with 2n = 2x = 14 chromosomes in the genus Cucumis. It consists of two cross‐compatible botanical varieties: the cultivated C. sativus var. sativus and the wild C. sativus var. hardwickii. There is no consensus on the evolutionary relationship between the two taxa. Whole‐genome sequencing of the cucumber genome provides a new opportunity to advance our understanding of chromosome evolution and the domestication history of cucumber. In this study, a high‐density genetic map for cultivated cucumber was developed that contained 735 marker loci in seven linkage groups spanning 707.8 cM. Integration of genetic and physical maps resulted in a chromosome‐level draft genome assembly comprising 193 Mbp, or 53% of the 367 Mbp cucumber genome. Strategically selected markers from the genetic map and draft genome assembly were employed to screen for fosmid clones for use as probes in comparative fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of pachytene chromosomes to investigate genetic differentiation between wild and cultivated cucumbers. Significant differences in the amount and distribution of heterochromatins, as well as chromosomal rearrangements, were uncovered between the two taxa. In particular, six inversions, five paracentric and one pericentric, were revealed in chromosomes 4, 5 and 7. Comparison of the order of fosmid loci on chromosome 7 of cultivated and wild cucumbers, and the syntenic melon chromosome I suggested that the paracentric inversion in this chromosome occurred during domestication of cucumber. The results support the sub‐species status of these two cucumber taxa, and suggest that C. sativus var. hardwickii is the progenitor of cultivated cucumber.     

The Glasgow Prognostic Score Predicts Poor Survival in Cisplatin-Based Treated Patients with Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Background

Several inflammation-based prognostic scoring systems, including Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been reported to predict survival in many malignancies, whereas their role in metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical value of these prognostic scoring systems in a cohort of cisplatin-based treated patients with metastatic NPC.

Methods

Two hundred and eleven patients with histologically proven metastatic NPC treated with first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy were retrospectively evaluated. Demographics, disease-related characteristics and relevant laboratory data before treatment were recorded. GPS, NLR and PLR were calculated as described previously. Response to first-line therapy and survival data were also collected. Survival was analyzed in Cox regressions and stability of the models was examined by bootstrap resampling. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was calculated to compare the discriminatory ability of each scoring system.

Results

Among the above three inflammation-based prognostic scoring systems, GPS (P<0.001) and NLR (P = 0.019) were independently associated with overall survival, which showed to be stable in a bootstrap resampling study. The GPS consistently showed a higher AUC value at 6-month (0.805), 12-month (0.705), and 24-month (0.705) in comparison with NLR and PLR. Further analysis of the association of GPS with progression-free survival showed GPS was also associated independently with progression-free survival (P<0.001).

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated that the GPS may be of prognostic value in metastatic NPC patients treated with cisplatin-based palliative chemotherapy and facilitate individualized treatment. However a prospective study to validate this prognostic model is still needed.     

Potential Contribution of Anammox to Nitrogen Loss from Paddy Soils in Southern China

The anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (anammox) process has been observed in diverse terrestrial ecosystems, while the contribution of anammox to N₂ production in paddy soils is not well documented. In this study, the anammox activity and the abundance and diversity of anammox bacteria were investigated to assess the anammox potential of 12 typical paddy soils collected in southern China. Anammox bacteria related to “Candidatus Brocadia” and “Candidatus Kuenenia” and two novel unidentified clusters were detected, with “Candidatus Brocadia” comprising 50% of the anammox population. The prevalence of the anammox was confirmed by the quantitative PCR results based on hydrazine synthase (hzsB) genes, which showed that the abundance ranged from 1.16 × 10⁴ to 9.65 × 10⁴ copies per gram of dry weight. The anammox rates measured by the isotope-pairing technique ranged from 0.27 to 5.25 nmol N per gram of soil per hour in these paddy soils, which contributed 0.6 to 15% to soil N₂ production. It is estimated that a total loss of 2.50 × 10⁶ Mg N per year is linked to anammox in the paddy fields in southern China, which implied that ca. 10% of the applied ammonia fertilizers is lost via the anammox process. Anammox activity was significantly correlated with the abundance of hzsB genes, soil nitrate concentration, and C/N ratio. Additionally, ammonia concentration and pH were found to be significantly correlated with the anammox bacterial structure.     

Generation and analysis of expressed sequence tags for microsatellite marker development in Calamus simplicifolius C. F. Wei

Rattans serve as an important source of raw non-wood materials for furniture and handicraft industries worldwide. However, their genomic sequence information in public databases is very limited. In this study, a set of 2,528 good-quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from a full-length cDNA library constructed previously with root, stem and male inflorescence tissues of Calamus simplicifolius C. F. Wei, a rattan species native to Hainan Island, China. The ESTs were assembled into 1,588 unigenes, including 1,221 singletons and 367 contigs. BlastX searches against the GenBank non-redundant protein database revealed that 1,248 (78.6 %) unigenes had at least one significant match (E ≤ 10^?5). The gene ontology functional classification assigned 991, 669 and 977 of the unigenes to the cellular component, molecular function and biological process categories, respectively. A total of 71 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were developed among these ESTs, including 65 polymorphic across 19 rattan species representing three genera. High levels of cross-species/genus transferability were observed for the EST-SSRs. For the polymorphic EST-SSR markers, the number of alleles per locus and polymorphic information content ranged from 2 to 25 (mean 11.1) and from 0.135 to 0.949 (mean 0.695), respectively. The EST sequences and the EST-SSR primers have been deposited in GenBank databases of EST (IDs JK838364–40891) and Probe (IDs Pr16718978–9048, to be assigned).