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Objective:To determine lysophosphatidic acid receptor 6 (LPAR6) expression in patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) , a variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) , and to investigate its role and mechanism of action in the development and prognosis of CTCL.Methods:A total of 110 patients with confirmed MF were collected from Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital from 2011 to 2020, including 24 with large-cell transformation (LCT) and 25 with non-large cell transformation (NLCT) in the discovery cohort, and 24 with LCT and 37 with NLCT in the validation cohort. RNA sequencing and RT-PCR were conducted to determine the LPAR6 expression in patients in the discovery cohort and validation cohort respectively. LPAR6 expression was compared between patients with LCT and those with NLCT, and its effect on the prognosis of patients was evaluated. Two LPAR6-overexpressing CTCL cell lines MyLa and Sz4 were constructed to evaluate the effect of LPAR6 overexpression on proliferative activity of MyLa and Sz4 cells, with the cells normally expressing LPAR6 as the control group; after the treatment with LPAR6-related ligand lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) , 2S-OMPT, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or adenosine (ADO) , the effects of LPAR6 activation on the proliferative activity and apoptosis of LPAR6-overexpressing MyLa and Sz4 cells were evaluated by the MTS method and flow cytometry respectively. Log-rank test was used for prognostic analysis, and t test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparisons between two groups. Results:As RNA sequencing showed, LPAR6 was one of the significantly underexpressed genes in the LCT group in the discovery cohort; in the validation cohort, LPAR6 expression (median[ Q1, Q3]) was significantly lower in the LCT group (204.90[81.90, 512.70]) than in the NLCT group (809.40[417.50, 1 829.20], U= 242.00, P= 0.002) ; in the two cohorts, the underexpression of LPAR6 was significantly associated with increased risk of poor prognosis (both P < 0.01) . Cell proliferation assay showed no significant difference in the proliferative activity of MyLa or Sz4 cells between the LPAR6 overexpression group and control group at 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours during the experiment (all P > 0.05) ; 48 hours after activation of LPAR6 by LPA, 2S-OMPT, ATP and ADO in MyLa cells, the LPAR6 overexpression group showed significantly decreased cellular proliferative activity (1.38 ± 0.01, 1.04 ± 0.01, 1.09 ± 0.03, 1.23 ± 0.01, respectively) compared the control group (1.73 ± 0.04, 1.23 ± 0.01, 1.24 ± 0.01, 1.42 ± 0.03, t= 30.33, 18.38, 4.78, 5.75, respectively, all P < 0.05) , but significantly increased cell apoptosis rate (17.93% ± 0.88%, 17.75% ± 0.35%, 23.97% ± 0.57%, 31.44% ± 0.34%, respectively) compared the control group (3.98% ± 0.03%, 7.81% ± 0.59%, 11.95% ± 0.85%, 12.02% ± 0.48%, t= 15.93, 14.49, 11.74, 33.01, respectively, all P < 0.05) ; 48 hours after activation of LPAR6 by 2S-OMPT and ADO in Sz4 cells, compared with the control group, the LPAR6 overexpression group also showed significantly decreased cellular proliferative activity (2S-OMPT: 1.29 ± 0.04 vs. 1.48 ± 0.01; ADO: 1.27 ± 0.01 vs. 1.51 ± 0.02; both P < 0.05) , but significantly increased cell apoptosis rate (2S-OMPT: 41.70% ± 0.70% vs. 29.35% ± 0.55%; ADO: 37.05% ± 0.15% vs. 24.60% ± 1.00%; both P < 0.05) . Conclusions:LPAR6 was underexpressed in the patients with LCT, and its underexpression was significantly associated with increased risk of poor prognosis. In vitro activation of LPAR6 could inhibit the proliferation of CTCL cells and promote their apoptosis, suggesting that the decrease of LPAR6 expression may be one of the important mechanisms underlying disease progression in patients with LCT.
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With the development of genome sequencing technology,Treponema pallidum has been found to have different subspecies all around the world. It is widely recognized that Treponema pallidum could be subtyped by analyzing two or three target genes. Advances in molecular epidemiology of syphilis reveal that clinical characteristics of Treponema pallidum,such as virulence,serofast,drug resistance and the site of in-fection,are related to its subspecies. Specifically,14f/f may be more virulent;serofast may be more likely to happen in patients infected with Treponema pallidum of Tpr i genotype;A2058 and A2059 genes may be re-lated to resistance to macrolides. All these will be summarized in this review.
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Objective To evaluate the effects of Treponema pallidum (T.pallidum) on the expression of chemokine ligands (CXCL) in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs).Methods HBMECs were randomly divided into 4 groups,which were treated with viable T.pallidum suspension (T.pallidum group),heat-inactivated T.pallidum suspension (inactivated T.pallidum group),200 μg/L lipopolysaccharide (LPS group) and cell culture medium (blank control group),respectively,for 6,12 and 24 hours.Fluorescence-based quantitative PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to determine the mRNA and protein expression of CXCL6,CXCL8 and CXCL10 in HBMECs in the above groups respectively.Transwell migration assay was conducted to evaluate the effects of T.pallidum-stimulated HBMECs on the chemotaxis of human promyelocytic HL-60 leukemia cells (HL-60 cells).Results At 6,12 and 24 hours,the T.pallidum group showed significantly higher mRNA expression of CXCL6,CXCL8 and CXCL10 in HBMECs compared with the blank control group and inactivated T.pallidum group (all P ＜ 0.05),while there were no significant differences between the blank control group and inactivated T.pallidum group (all P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the LPS group,the T.pallidum group showed significantly decreased mRNA expression of CXCL6 and CXCL8 (P ＜ 0.05),but similar mRNA expression of CXCL10(P ＞ 0.05)at 6,12 and 24 hours.At these time points,the levels of CXCL6 and CXCL8 in the culture supernatant of HBMECs were significantly higher in the T.pallidum group than in the blank control group and the inactivated T.pallidum group (all P ＜ 0.05),but no significant differences were observed between the blank control group and the inactivated T.pallidum group (both P ＞ 0.05).Moreover,there were no significant differences in the level of CXCL10 in the culture supernatant of HBMECs among the T.pallidum group,the inactivated T.pallidum group and the blank control group (all P ＞ 0.05).The number of migratory HL-60 cells in the lower Transwell chambers was significantly higher in the T.pallidum group than in the inactivated T.pallidum group and the blank control group (both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Viable T.pallidum can up-regulate the gene expression of CXCL6,CXCL8 and CXCL10 in HBMECs,promote the secretion of CXCL6 and CXCL8,and enhance the chemotactic effect of HBMECs on HL-60 cells,which may play a certain role in the occurrence of neurosyphilis.
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Objective To investigate characteristics of Treponema pallidum (Tp)-induced macrophage-derived exosomes and its effect on the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).Methods Tp strains were collected from the testis of male rabbit,which were infected with Tp (Nichols strain).The human mononuclear macrophages (THP-1) were induced into macrophages by incubation with propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PMA),and then the macrophages were divided into 2 groups:experimental group incubated with Tp for 12 hours followed by 48-hour normal culture,and control group receiving normal culture.After the treatment,exosome suspensions were collected,and exosomes were extracted by differential centrifugation and exoEasy Maxi Kit.Transmission electron microscopy and Western blot analyses were performed to identify the exosomes,and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) was conducted to measure the diameters and concentrations of exosomes.In vitro cultured HUVECs were divided into 3 groups,which were cultured with the 10 μl of suspensions containing exosomes derived from Tp-stimulated macrophages at a concentration of 4.5 × 108/ml (experimental group),10 μl of suspensions containing exosomes derived from untreated macrophages at a concentration of 4.5 × 108/ml (control group),and 10 μl of exosome eluents (exosome eluent group),respectively.After the treatment,confocal laser scanning microscopy was performed to observe the phagocytosis of exosomes of HUVECs,and cell counting kit-8 to evaluate the proliferative activity of HUVECs.Results The exosomes were saucer-like microvesicles with diameters of 30-100 nm under the transmission electron microscope.Western blot analyses showed that membrane proteins CD63,CD9 and CD81 were abundantly expressed by exosomes.Under the same conditions,NTA revealed that there were no significant differences in the particle diameter (u =1.90,P ＞ 0.05) and concentration of exosomes (Z =-1.604,P =0.109) between the experimental group and the control group.After co-culture with HUVECs for 5 hours,confocal laser scanning microscopy showed scatteredly distributed exosomes with green fluorescence in the HUVECs in the experimental group and control group.After 12-hour co-culture with the exosome suspensions,the proliferative activity of HUVECs was significantly higher in the experimental group and the control group than in the exosome eluent group (both P ＜ 0.05).After 24-and 48-hour treatment with exosome suspensions,the proliferative activity of HUVECs in the control group was still significantly increased compared with that in the exosome eluent group,and peaked at 48 hours (all P ＜ 0.05).Moreover,there were no significant differences in the proliferative activity of HUVECs between the experimental group and exosome eluent group at 24 and 48 hours (both P ＞ 0.05).At 72 hours,no significant differences in the proliferative activity of HUVECs were observed among the experimental group,the control group and the exosome eluent group (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The exosomes secreted by THP-1 cells-derived macrophages evidently increased the proliferative activity of HUVECs within 48 hours,which peaked at 48 hours.After the stimulation with Tp,the exosomes secreted by THP-1 cells-derived macrophages were similar to those without Tp stimulation in morphology,size and concentration,and only increased the proliferative activity of HUVECs within 12 hours.
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Objective · To investigate whether the quality of embryos will result in biochemical pregnancy or arrest of embryo development in the freezing and thawing cycles of in-vitro fertiliazation-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Methods · The clinical data of patients who accepted IVF-ET in Center of Reproductive Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2015 to June 2016 were retrospectively studied. The data includes 115 cycles of biochemical pregnancy, 64 cycles of arrest of early embryonic development and 871 cycles of ongoing pregnancy after frozen thawed embryo transfer. We compared the embryo score on the third day after embryo transfer (D3), the blastocyst development rate and the blastocyst grade in the three groups. Results · There were no significant differences in the period of infertility, the age of the patients and their spouses, the endometrial thickness, the estrogen and progestogen levels of the day of transplantation among the three groups (P > 0.05). The scores of most frozen thawed embryos on D3 were from 6 to 8, and the scores were not statistically significant among the three groups (P > 0.05). The proportion of transplanted blastocyst on D5 was higher than that on D6 in the three groups, but there was no significant difference among the three groups (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the proportion of inner cell mass of blastocysts which were scored as Grade A&B or Grade C among the three groups. Nevertheless, in the arrest of early embryonic development group, the proportion (52.2%) of the trophoblast of blastocysts which were cored as Grade C was significantly higher than the proportion (35%) in biochemical pregnancy group and the proportion (29.3%) in ongoing pregnancy group (P<0.05). Conclusion · The quality of embryos is not necessarily related to biochemical pregnancy, but the score of trophoblastic may be related to the arrest of early embryo growth.
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Objective To study the mechanism of hypoxia inducing factor-1α(HIF-1α)pathway in establishment of hypoxia inducing low endometrial receptivity.Methods RL95-2 cell lines.the ideal model of study ER,were cultured in hypoxia condition induced by CoCl2,and the expression of mRNA and protein of HIF-1α and tumor necrosis factor like weak inducer of apoptosis(TWEAK)were measured by reverse transcription-PCR and western blot. The apoptosis rate was analyzed by flow eytometry.Then the mechanism confirmed by comparing the two factors in endometrium and the ultra-appearance of inflammatory reaction and apoptosis between recurrent spontaneous abortion women and control women.Results (1)On difierent time point(0,12,24,48 hour),mRNA expression of HIF-1α were 0.272±0.010,0.354±0.020,0.591±0.020.0.890±0.020,while the expression of TWEAK were 0.104±0.010,0.510±0.020,1.021±0. 020, 1. 237 +0. 040, respectively, the expression level between 12, 24, 48 and 0 hour all showed significant differences (P＜0. 05 ). (2) Protein expression of HIF-1α were 0. 853 +0. 010, 0. 931 ±0. 030,1. 124±0.010, 1.317±0.0 20 respectively, while was 0.042±0.010, 0.091 ±0.010, 0. 131±0.020,0. 205 ±0. 030 in TWEAK expression, the different level were statistically significant ( P＜0. 05 ). ( 3 )With longer culture under hypoxia, the cell apoptosis rate increased obviously. The apoptosis rate of each time point were ( 3.2±1.4 ) %, ( 16. 2 ±3.2 ) %, ( 26. 3±3.5 ) %, ( 31.8±3.5 )%, the differences between 12, 24, 48 and 0 hour had significance (P ＜0. 05). (4) The positive rate of HIF-1α stained in epithelium cells and stroma cells of test group were 32. 3%, 8.4% and 16. 7%, 7. 3% in control group. The positive rate of TWEAK were 28. 3%, 3.9% in recurrent spontaneous abortion group and 11.6%, 2. 7% in control group ( P ＜0. 05 ). The ultra-appearance of inflammatory cell infiltrated and apoptosis were obvious in test group. Conclusions Cell inflammation reaction and apoptosis induced by HIF-1α pathway may participate the mechanism of hypoxia inducing low endometrial receptivity. HIF-1α might become a novel target for improving poor endometrial receptivity.