ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate the effects of IL-33/ST2 signal regulation by osteomortin on immune function and sodium channel in otitis media rats. Methods Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into NO group (normal rats with gavage of normal saline), MO group (model rats with gavage of normal saline), OS group (model rats with gavage of 40 mg • kg-
ABSTRACT
With the aging process of population in the society, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in China is increasing continuously and the number of dental patients with CVD is increasing gradually too. Due to the lack of guidelines for dental patients with CVD in our country, how to implement standardized preoperative evaluation and perioperative risk prevention remains a problem to be solved for dentists at present. The present expert consensus was reached by combining the clinical experiences of the expert group of the Fifth General Dentistry Special Committee, Chinese Stomatological Association and respiratory and cardiology experts in diagnosis and treatment for CVD patients, and by systematically summarizing the relevant international guidelines and literature regarding the relationship between CVD and oral diseases and the diagnosis and treatment of dental patients with heart failure, hypertension and antithrombotic therapy. The consensus aims to provide, for the dental clinicians, the criteria on diagnosis and treatment of CVD in dental patients in China so as to reduce the risk and complications, and finally to improve the treatment levels of dental patients with CVD in China.
Subject(s)
Humans , Cardiovascular Diseases/prevention & control , China/epidemiology , Consensus , Dental Care , Oral MedicineABSTRACT
Today, there is greater awareness on the association between oral diseases and respiration diseases after the outbreak of COVID-19. However, confusion regarding the oral health management and medical risk prevention for patients with chronic airway diseases has been remained among dental clinicians. Therefore, the dental experts of the Fifth General Dentistry Special Committee, Chinese Stomatological Association, combined with the experts of respiratory and critical care medicine, undertook the formation of consensus on the oral health management of patients with chronic airway diseases in order to help dental clinicians to evaluate medical risks and make better treatment decision in clinical practice. In the present consensus report, the relationship of oral diseases and chronic airway diseases, the oral health management and the treatment recommendations of patients with chronic airway diseases are provided.
Subject(s)
Humans , COVID-19 , Consensus , Oral Health , Oral MedicineABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the role of phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) in tumorigenesis and its potential post-translational modification sites were investigated by bioinformatics method and molecular biology experimental techniques, in order to provide evidence for PGK1 as a hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target. Methods From pan-cancer's point of view, 10 967 samples were obtained from the cancer genome database TCGAs, and the expression of PGK1 in different tumors was explored by using cBioPortal and UALCAN analysis tools; Focusing on HCC, the expression differences of PGK1 in hepatocellular carcinoma tumor tissues and normal tissues were further analyzed by using GEO database analysis, Real-time PCR, Western blotting and cell invasion assay;The String database was used to analyze the protein-protein interaction network and gene set enrichment analysis; The CSS-Palm database and bioinformatics method were used to predict protein post-translational modification sites on PGK1. Results The PGK1 gene was abnormally amplified and overexpressed in various solid tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma, and overexpression of PGK1 was correlated with a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. Multiple novel posttranslational modifications were existed on PGK1. Conclusion PGK1 is closely related to the occurrence and development of various cancers including HCC and glycolytic metabolism abnormalities. Epigenetic modifications can regulate PGK1 and affect its cellular function in HCC.
ABSTRACT
Objective@#The role of preoperative overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) in the neurophysiological mechanism of cognitive improvement after liver transplantation (LT) remains elusive. This study aimed to explore changes in sub-regional thalamic functional connectivity (FC) after LT and their relationship with neuropsychological improvement using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data in cirrhotic patients with and without a history of OHE. @*Materials and Methods@#A total of 51 cirrhotic patients, divided into the OHE group (n = 21) and no-OHE group (n = 30), and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective study. Each patient underwent rs-fMRI before and 1 month after LT. Using 16 bilateral thalamic subregions as seeds, we conducted a seed-to-voxel FC analysis to compare the thalamic FC alterations before and after LT between the OHE and no-OHE groups, as well as differences in FC between the two groups of cirrhotic patients and the control group. Correction for multiple comparisons was conducted using the false discovery rate (p < 0.05). @*Results@#We found abnormally increased FC between the thalamic sub-region and prefrontal cortex, as well as an abnormally decreased FC between the bilateral thalamus in both OHE and no-OHE cirrhotic patients before LT, which returned to normal levels after LT. Compared with the no-OHE group, the OHE group exhibited more extensive abnormalities prior to LT, and the increased FC between the right thalamic subregions and right inferior parietal lobe was markedly reduced to normal levels after LT. @*Conclusion@#The renormalization of FC in the cortico-thalamic loop might be a neuro-substrate for the recovery of cognitive function after LT in cirrhotic patients. In addition, hyperconnectivity between thalamic subregions and the inferior parietal lobe might be an important feature of OHE. Changes in FC in the thalamus might be used as potential biomarkers for recovery of cognitive function after LT in cirrhotic patients.
ABSTRACT
Lysine acetylation has emerged as one of the most important post-translational modifications that participates in various biological and pathological processes. Histone acetyltransferase 1 (HAT1) as the first identified protein ε-amino lysine acetyltransferase is able to regulate the acetylation of histones and non-histone proteins. However‚ the acetylation substrates and sites mediated by HAT1 in liver cancer are poorly understood. In this study‚ we demonstrated that HAT1 was highly expressed in the liver cancer tissues‚ which was negatively associated with the prognosis of patients. Based on the establishment of the HAT1-knockout HepG2 cell line‚ we employed a quantitative proteomics approach to study the profiling of acetylation mediated by HAT1 in HepG2 cells. Interestingly‚ we identified a total of 858 Kac sites on 547 proteins in the HepG2 cell line‚ in which HAT1 mediated the levels of Kac of 74 sites on 68 proteins. The pathways and metabolic processes that were affected by HAT1-dependent acetylation modification were analyzed by bioinformatics. The results show that Kac regulates disease development‚ RNA biology‚ spliceosome and nucleosome assembly‚ oxidative stress‚ various signaling pathways and metabolic pathways‚ etc.. Moreover‚ we verified that the HAT1-mediated acetylation modification could promote abnormal lipid metabolism. CCK8 assays‚ clone formation and Edu assays revealed that HAT1 could remarkably enhance the cell proliferation of liver cancer in vitro. Thus‚ our finding explored the profiling of HAT1-mediated protein acetylation in HepG2 cells‚ which provides new insights into the underlying mechanism by which HAT1 mediates the development of liver cancer. Clinically‚ the HAT1-mediated acetylation sites could be used for the precise targets of drug development.
ABSTRACT
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a primary cause for liver cancer. And the main challenge of curing hepatitis B is the elimination of the stable covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of the viral genome. The formation of HBV cccDNA requires the filling of single-stranded region and the ligation of nicks in relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA) strands. Previously, our group reported that proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was involved in the formation of HBV cccDNA. However, the underlying mechanism of the conversion of HBV rcDNA to cccDNA is poorly understood. In the present study, we aim to explore the mechanism by which PCNA contributes to the conversion of HBV rcDNA to cccDNA. Our data showed that PCNA was involved in the process of HBV rcDNA repair. The knockout of PCNA by the CRISPR/Cas9 system remarkably blocked the conversion of HBV rcDNA to cccDNA, while the ectopic expression of PCNA could effectively rescue the event (P<0. 001). Knockout of PCNA significantly slowed down the conversion kinetics of HBV rcDNA to cccDNA (P<0. 01). Mechanically, the DNA binding domain of PCNA was required for the process of HBV rcDNA repair to cccDNA (P<0. 01). Thus, we conclude that PCNA confers the conversion of HBV rcDNA to cccDNA by its DNA binding domain. Clinically, PCNA might serve as a novel target for antiviral therapy.
ABSTRACT
Ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14), a member of the ubiquitin-specific proteases family, plays an important role in the development and progression of malignant tumors through removing ubiquitin chain from substrates such as androgen receptor (AR), cell cycle-related proteins and apoptosis-related proteins to regulate protein stability and activity. The mechanisms of USP14 in a variety of malignant tumors are complex and diverse, including promotion in cell proliferation and inflammation as well as inhibition in apoptosis, autophagy, and drug resistance. Simultaneously, aberrant expression of USP14 is closely correlated with poor prognosis in most malignant tumors. Therefore, USP14 is a potential drug target for tumor therapy, and the development of its inhibitors appears as a new direction of anti-tumor drug research. Currently, specific inhibitors of USP14 mainly include IU1, its analogs (IU1-47, IU1-206, IU1-248), and b-AP15. The inhibitory ability of IU1 analogs on USP14 activity is 10 times than that of IU1, due to the difference in crystal structure. On the other hand, the inhibitors of USP14 show powerful anti-tumor effects inducing tumor cell death through a variety of signal pathways, which enables the inhibitor as potential targeted drugs. It will be extremely important to further explore the relationship between USP14 and its inhibitors in the tumor development and progression. This review summarizes the latest research of USP14 and its inhibitors, including their structures and functions in malignant tumors. Furthermore, the problems, challenges, new directions and strategies for future research, were also reviewed in current study.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effect of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand-13 (CXCL-13) on the proliferation and migration of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) by network pharmacology. Methods To predict that the targets of CXCL-13 on BMSCs by online database. Metascape was used to perform gene ontology (GO) of the targets and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway was used to perform enrichment analysis. The protein interaction analysis was performed by STRING 11.0 database, and the protein module of core gene was screened by using the cytoHubba 0. 1 of Cytoscape 3. 8. We divided BMSCs into control group, CXCL-13 group and PI3K inhibitor group. MTT assay, flow cytometric analysis and Transwell cell migration assay were respectively used to detect the absorbance (A) value of BMSCs in each group, the apoptosis rate and the number of cell migration. The protein contents of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in BMSCs supernatant were determined by ELISA. Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of Akt and phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) of BMSCs in each group. Results It was predicted that 21 targets of CXCL-13 effect on BMSCs. There were 32 biological processes related to cell proliferation include stem cell proliferation, regulation of endothelial cell proliferation and positive regulation of smooth muscle cell proliferation. There were 22 biological processes related to cell migration include regulating cell migration, amebic cell migration and endothelial cell migration. There were 40 KEGG pathways including cancer pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and MAPK signaling pathway. The core proteins included tumor protein P53 (TP53), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), heat shock protein 90 kD alpha class B member 1 (HSP90AB1), protein kinase Ca (PRKCA), estrogen receptor 2 (ESR2) and prostaglandin E receptor 4 (PTGER4). Compared with other groups, the absorbance (A) value and cell migration number of BMSCs in CXCL-13 group increased significantly (P< 0. 01, 71=15), and the apoptosis rate decreased significantly (P<0. 01, n= 15). However, absorbance value, apoptosis rate and migration number of BMSCs in PI3K inhibitor group were contrary to those in CXCL-13 group (P<0. 01, n= 15). Compared with the control group, the protein contents of EGF and VEGF in BMSCs of CXCL-13 group increased significantly (P<0. 01, n= 15), and the relative expression of Akt and p-Akt increased significantly (P<0. 01, n = 9). However, the protein content of EGF and VEGF, and the relative expression of Akt and p-Akt in PI3K inhibitor group were opposite. Conclusion Through activating PI3K-Akt pathway, CXCL-13 may promote BMSCs paracrine EGF and VEGF proteins, and improve proliferation and migration of BMSCs, as well as inhibit BMSCs apoptosis.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To assess the impact of enteral nutrition support on response and toxicity of the first-line chemotherapy in those patients with advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer.@*METHODS@#We collected the clinical data of 118 patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer who received the first-line chemotherapy in our center from July 2014 to December 2016. All these 118 esophageal cancer patients were then divided into two groups: the nutrition group (received enteral nutrition support in addition to chemotherapy) and the control group (received chemotherapy only). Differences were analyzed before and after chemotherapy in each of the nutritional indicators including Karnofsky performance status (KPS), weight, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin (Hb), number of lymphocytes (Lymph), total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) in both groups. And differences of the efficacy and toxicities of the first-line chemotherapy between the two groups were also analyzed.@*RESULTS@#(1) Weight, BMI and Hb were all significantly decreased after chemotherapy in the control group (P<0.001), while there was no significant change of weight and BMI in the nutrition group, just with Hb decrease only. However, there was no significant change of all the other nutrition indicators after chemotherapy in both groups. (2) Compared with the control group, the nutrition group had significantly lower incidence of grade 3 to 4 hematologic toxicities after chemotherapy (15.4% vs. 42.1%, P=0.004). In addition, the incidence of grade 3 to 4 nonhematologic toxicities after chemotherapy was also lower in the nutrition group but without statistical significance (0 vs. 9.2%, P=0.123). Logistic regression model was then used for multivariate analysis to identify the factors that affected the toxicity of chemotherapy in these patients, and the results showed that nutrition therapy was an independent influencing factor of grade 3 or higher hematological toxicity after chemotherapy in the patients with esophageal cancer (P=0.008, RR=6.048, 95%CI: 1.589-23.027). (3) The response rate of chemotherapy between the control group and the nutrition group had not significant difference.@*CONCLUSION@#Enteral nutrition support in addition to chemotherapy could improve nutrition status and reduce toxicity of chemotherapy in advanced or metastatic esophageal cancer patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Body Mass Index , Body Weight , Enteral Nutrition , Esophageal Neoplasms , Neoplasm Metastasis , Nutritional StatusABSTRACT
We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of simultaneous image acquisition of multiple instantaneous switchable scan (MISS) for prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 3T. Fifty-three patients were scanned with MRI due to suspected prostate cancer. Twenty-eight of them got histological results. First, two readers assessed the structure delineation and image quality based on images of conventional T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) (CTD). Second, two readers identified the index lesion together, and then, reader one evaluated the contrast of index lesion on T2WI and signal ratio on apparent diffusion coefficient map. Third, they assigned Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) score in consensus for the index lesion. After 4 weeks, the images of MISS were reviewed by the same readers following the same process. Finally, two readers gave preference for image interpretation, respectively. Kappa coefficient, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, paired-sample t-test, Bland-Altman analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used for statistical analysis. The acquisition time of CTD was 6 min and 10 s, while the acquisition time of MISS was 4 min and 30 s. Interobserver agreements for image evaluation were κ = 0.65 and κ = 0.80 for CTD and MISS, respectively. MISS-T2WI showed better delineation for seminal vesicles than CTD-T2WI (reader 1: P < 0.001, reader 2: P = 0.001). The index lesion demonstrated higher contrast in MISS-T2WI (P < 0.001). The PI-RADS scores based on CTD and MISS exhibited high ability in predicting clinically significant cancer (area under curve [AUC] = 0.828 vs 0.854). Readers preferred to use MISS in 41.5%-47.2% of cases. MISS showed comparable performance to conventional technique with less acquisition time.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods , Prostate/diagnostic imaging , Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Seminal Vesicles/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
BACKGROUND@#Structured reports are not widely used and thus most reports exist in the form of free text. The process of data extraction by experts is time-consuming and error-prone, whereas data extraction by natural language processing (NLP) is a potential solution that could improve diagnosis efficiency and accuracy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an NLP program that determines American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) descriptors and final assessment categories from breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports.@*METHODS@#This cross-sectional study involved 2330 breast MRI reports in the electronic medical record from 2009 to 2017. We used 1635 reports for the creation of a revised BI-RADS MRI lexicon and synonyms lists as well as the iterative development of an NLP system. The remaining 695 reports that were not used for developing the system were used as an independent test set for the final evaluation of the NLP system. The recall and precision of an NLP algorithm to detect the revised BI-RADS MRI descriptors and BI-RADS categories from the free-text reports were evaluated against a standard reference of manual human review.@*RESULTS@#There was a high level of agreement between two manual reviewers, with a κ value of 0.95. For all breast imaging reports, the NLP algorithm demonstrated a recall of 78.5% and a precision of 86.1% for correct identification of the revised BI-RADS MRI descriptors and the BI-RADS categories. NLP generated the total results in <1 s, whereas the manual reviewers averaged 3.38 and 3.23 min per report, respectively.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The NLP algorithm demonstrates high recall and precision for information extraction from free-text reports. This approach will help to narrow the gap between unstructured report text and structured data, which is needed in decision support and other applications.
ABSTRACT
Background@#Structured reports are not widely used and thus most reports exist in the form of free text. The process of data extraction by experts is time-consuming and error-prone, whereas data extraction by natural language processing (NLP) is a potential solution that could improve diagnosis efficiency and accuracy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an NLP program that determines American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) descriptors and final assessment categories from breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports.@*Methods@#This cross-sectional study involved 2330 breast MRI reports in the electronic medical record from 2009 to 2017. We used 1635 reports for the creation of a revised BI-RADS MRI lexicon and synonyms lists as well as the iterative development of an NLP system. The remaining 695 reports that were not used for developing the system were used as an independent test set for the final evaluation of the NLP system. The recall and precision of an NLP algorithm to detect the revised BI-RADS MRI descriptors and BI-RADS categories from the free-text reports were evaluated against a standard reference of manual human review.@*Results@#There was a high level of agreement between two manual reviewers, with a κ value of 0.95. For all breast imaging reports, the NLP algorithm demonstrated a recall of 78.5% and a precision of 86.1% for correct identification of the revised BI-RADS MRI descriptors and the BI-RADS categories. NLP generated the total results in <1 s, whereas the manual reviewers averaged 3.38 and 3.23 min per report, respectively.@*Conclusions@#The NLP algorithm demonstrates high recall and precision for information extraction from free-text reports. This approach will help to narrow the gap between unstructured report text and structured data, which is needed in decision support and other applications.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To establish a near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(NIRS) identification model for crude products,counterfeit products and processed products of Calamina by principal component analysis(PCA) and support vector machine(SVM) algorithm. Method: NIRS of crude products,counterfeit products and processed products of Calamina were collected,the characteristic spectrum segments were selected,the preprocessing method and the optimum principal component number were optimized,and the PCA-SVM qualitative model was established. Result: The characteristic spectrum segment of analysis model was 7 500-4 000 cm-1.Spectra were preprocessed by the first-order derivative method(FD).The optimum principal component number was 5. And the optimum internal parameters of SVM[penalty factor(c)=0.25 and kernel function parameter(g)=8] were screened by applying the grid search algorithm.In the PCA-SVM qualitative model,the prediction accuracy rate was 100%for the 5-fold cross validation,and the prediction accuracy rates also were 100%both for training set and test set. Conclusion: PCA-SVM analysis model of NIRS for Calamina samples has a high prediction accuracy rate,and it can be used for the rapid and nondestructive identification of crude products,counterfeit products and processed products of Calamina by combining the diffuse reflection technique on solid powder.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the association of the histological subtype of lung adenocarcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation.@*METHODS@#A total of 94 patients with resected lung adenocarcinoma in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 2010 to December 2014 were enrolled in the study. All specimens were tested for EGFR mutation by a company. In the 94 patients, histological subtypes were classified according to the 2011 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society classification. We compared the association with the histological subtype of lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR mutation frequency by the χ2 test, with SPSS 20.0.@*RESULTS@#The 94 patients of surgically resected lung adenocarcinomas were included in this analysis, of whom, 47 were male and 47 female (male:female=1:1). The median age was 61 (range: 24-79) years, and 48 of the 94 patients were 60 years and above. Regarding the pathological staging, 34 patients were diagnosed as Stage I of the disease, 17 as Stage II,24 as Stage III, and 19 as Stage IV. Among the 51 patients with EGFR mutation, exon 19 mutation was 22, exon 20 mutation was 2, exon 21 mutation was 26, exon 20 and 21 mutation were 1, and the total EGFR mutation rate was 54.3% (51/94). The cases of EGFR gene mutation of acinar predominant lung adenocarcinoma, lepidic predominant lung adenocarcinoma, papillary predominant lung adenocarcinoma, solid predominant lung adenocarcinoma, micropapillary predominant lung adenocarcinoma and mucious adenocarcinoma were 24, 14, 5, 5, 3, and 0, respectively. The rate of EGFR gene mutation of acinar predominant lung adenocarcinoma was higher than that of non-acinar predominant lung adenocarcinom, but there was not statistically significant (66.7% vs. 46.6%, P=0.057). The rate of EGFR gene mutation of solid predominant lung adenocarcinoma was lower than that of non-solid predominant lung adenocarcinom (26.3% vs. 61.3%, P=0.005). The rate of EGFR gene mutation of mucious adenocarcinoma was lower than that of non-mucious adenocarcinom (0 vs. 57.3%, P=0.018).@*CONCLUSION@#There is heterogeneity of EGFR mutation in lung adenocarcinoma. The presence of lung adenocarcinoma with acinar indicates a higher EGFR mutation rate, while the solid and mucinous component indicates a lower EGFR mutation rate.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Adenocarcinoma of Lung/pathology , China , ErbB Receptors/genetics , Lung Neoplasms/pathology , Mutation , Prognosis , United StatesABSTRACT
Chinese pharmacopoeia stipulates that the content of liquiritin in licorice slices should be no less than 0.5%. However, there are lots of unqualified licorice slices in the herbal medicine markets. Due to the important role of functional gene polymorphism in secondary metabolism, this study attempts to analyze the influence of chalcone synthase (CHS) gene polymorphism on liquiritin biosynthesis and find out the unique haplotypes in licorice samples with high or low content of liquiritin, and to provide a basis for further analysis of molecular mechanism in flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. The contents of the 4 main flavonoids (liquiritin, isoliquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin) in 60 licorice samples were assayed by HPLC and the results were analyzed by Spearman and χ2 tests. The contents of the 4 main flavonoids were related to each other and obviously different in different original plants. They were highest in Glycyrrhiza uralensis samples and lowest in Glycyrriza inflate samples. Five G. uralensis samples with the highest liquiritin contents and five G. inflate samples with the lowest liquiritin contents were selected to clone the CHS cDNA sequences. 336 CHS cDNA sequences with a full length of 1 175 bp were obtained, 249 variable sites (141 missense mutation sites) were found, and 137 haplotypes were determined. 130 variable sites were found in the 336 CHS amino acid sequences and 102 types were determined. AA-3 is the major type of CHS in licorice, AA-35 is the special major type of CHS in the group with high flavonoids contents and AA-36 is the special major type of CHS in the group with low flavonoids contents. The mutation sites between AA-35 and AA-36 are I/V at 193 and V/T at 229. Discovery Studio 2.5 analysis of the three-dimensional structure of the CHS protein shows that the valine at site 229 of AA-35 is combined with malonyl-CoA. Homology analysis indicates that the homology of CHS among different species is low. This study is significant for identification of the unique haplotypes in licorices with high or low content of liquiritin and guiding the further molecular breeding of high-quantity licorice.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Biodegradable vascular stents show great commercial potential as the third generation of stents in the treatment of vascular stenosis, and there is naturally an intense competition in patents. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the patent information of biodegradable vascular scaffolds, which is helpful for better understanding of the development of biodegradable vascular scaffold technology, and provides reference for patent early warning. METHODS: Based on the Orbit patent database, through the manual screening, we conducted an analysis with FAMPAT patent family as analysis object from three aspects—the application trend, patent layout and competitor analysis. In combination with the development of technology and industrialization, important Chinese patent list was also screened.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: USA is in a leading position in this field, and China develops quickly. There are still a lot of research and patent layout space in the improvement of stent materials. Although some of basic patents have expired, patent infringement risks in China still needs to be investigated due to the intensive patent layout when Chinese enterprises develop their industrialization.
ABSTRACT
Objective To obtain the key enzyme gene involving in the monoterpenoid biosynthesis pathway, an iridoid oxidase gene (GrIDO) and its promoter were cloned from the leaves of Gentiana rigescens, and its bioinformatics analysis were also performed. Methods The gene specific primers were designed according to the GrIDO gene of transcriptome in G. rigescens. The open reading frame (ORF) of GrIDO gene was cloned by RT-PCR method. The bioinformation of GrIDO gene was analyzed by online softwares. Meanwhile, the gene specific primers were designed according to the cloned GrIDO gene, and the promoter of GrIDO gene was amplified by PCR method. Its sequence analysis was also performed. Results The length of GrIDO gene ORF (GenBank accession number KP722034) was 1 557 bp, which encoded a protein with 518 amino acids. Its relative molecular weight was 58 920 with the theoretical isoelectric point of 8.40. GrIDO was the member of cytochrome P450 superfamily and may localize in chloroplast. GrIDO was a hydrophilic stable protein without signal peptide and composed of mainly α-helix (51.07%) and loops (42.69%). GrIDO protein had a high similarity with CrIDO of Catharanthus roseus (85.83%) and their genetic relationship was close. The cloned GrIDO promoter had a length of 720 bp (GenBank accession number KT428570), which possessed cis-regulatory elements TATA-box and CAAT-box, and had cis-acting elements involved in the abscisic acid and MeJA responsiveness, part of a light responsive element and MYB transcription factor binding site. Conclusion The expression of GrIDO gene were regulated by multifactors. The GrIDO gene and its promoter were cloned from G. rigescens. This study will lay foundations for the functional research of GrIDO gene in monoterpenoid biosynthesis pathway.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relevance between the expression of C-MYC gene and protein of patients with T lymphoblastic lymphoma and leukemia(T-LBL/ALL) and its effect on the prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Paraffin specimens from 60 cases of T-LBL/ALL with detailed follow-up during May 2005 to May 2016 were selected as study group; at same time 20 cases of reactive hyperplasia (RH) of lymphonuedes were selected as control group. The immunohistochemical EnVision method was used to mark the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT), myeloperoxidase (MPO), Ki-67 and C-MYC immune tissue.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>C-MYC gene rupture and copy number increase did not occur in 20 cases of RH.The expression of C-MYC protein did not correlate with C-MYC gene copy number increase. The expression rate of C-MYC protein was 66.7% (40/60), and 20 cases of lymph node RH was all negative (0/20), as compared with the positive expression rate of protein C-MYC, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The Ki-67 positive index and mediastinal bloadening had influence on the expression of C-MYC protein (P<0.05), the sex, primary site, symptoms, age, AnnArbor stage and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level and bone marrow involvement have no influence on it, there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). The 8q24 chromosome breakage occurred in 6 cases (10%), and the number of copies increased in 11 cases (18.3%). C-MYC gene copy number increase and C-MYC gene rupture in a total 20 cases of reactive hyperplasia of lymph nodes did not occur.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>C-MYC gene may play an important role on the development of T-LBL/ALL. It can be an independent prognosis factor.</p>
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the spontaneous brain activity alterations in liver transplantation (LT) recipients using resting-state functional MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty cirrhotic patients as transplant candidates and 25 healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. All patients repeated the MRI study one month after LT. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) values were compared between cirrhotic patients (both pre- and post-LT) and HCs as well as between the pre- and post-LT groups. The relationship between ALFF changes and venous blood ammonia levels and neuropsychological tests were investigated using Pearson's correlation analysis. RESULTS: In the cirrhotic patients, decreased ALFF in the vision-related regions (left lingual gyrus and calcarine), sensorimotor-related regions (left postcentral gyrus and middle cingulate cortex), and the default-mode network (bilateral precuneus and left inferior parietal lobule) were restored, and the increased ALFF in the temporal and frontal lobe improved in the early period after LT. The ALFF decreases persisted in the right supplementary motor area, inferior parietal lobule, and calcarine. The ALFF changes in the right precuneus were negatively correlated with changes in number connection test-A scores (r = 0.507, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: LT improved spontaneous brain activity and the results for associated cognition tests. However, decreased ALFF in some areas persisted, and new-onset abnormal ALFF were possible, indicating that complete cognitive function recovery may need more time.