ESM1 enhances fatty acid synthesis and vascular mimicry in ovarian cancer by utilizing the PKM2-dependent warburg effect within the hypoxic tumor microenvironment.

BACKGROUND: The hypoxic tumor microenvironment is a key factor that promotes metabolic reprogramming and vascular mimicry (VM) in ovarian cancer (OC) patients. ESM1, a secreted protein, plays an important role in promoting proliferation and angiogenesis in OC. However, the role of ESM1 in metabolic reprogramming and VM in the hypoxic microenvironment in OC patients has not been determined. METHODS: Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem MS was used to analyze CAOV3 and OV90 cells. Interactions between ESM1, PKM2, UBA2, and SUMO1 were detected by GST pull-down, Co-IP, and molecular docking. The effects of the ESM1-PKM2 axis on cell glucose metabolism were analyzed based on an ECAR experiment. The biological effects of the signaling axis on OC cells were detected by tubule formation, transwell assay, RT‒PCR, Western blot, immunofluorescence, and in vivo xenograft tumor experiments. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrated that hypoxia induces the upregulation of ESM1 expression through the transcription of HIF-1α. ESM1 serves as a crucial mediator of the interaction between PKM2 and UBA2, facilitating the SUMOylation of PKM2 and the subsequent formation of PKM2 dimers. This process promotes the Warburg effect and facilitates the nuclear translocation of PKM2, ultimately leading to the phosphorylation of STAT3. These molecular events contribute to the promotion of ovarian cancer glycolysis and vasculogenic mimicry. Furthermore, our study revealed that Shikonin effectively inhibits the molecular interaction between ESM1 and PKM2, consequently preventing the formation of PKM2 dimers and thereby inhibiting ovarian cancer glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis and vasculogenic mimicry. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that hypoxia increases ESM1 expression through the transcriptional regulation of HIF-1α to induce dimerization via PKM2 SUMOylation, which promotes the OC Warburg effect and VM.

Role of CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells in human hepatitis B virus infection.

The replication of HBV in hepatocytes can be effectively inhibited by lifelong antiviral therapy. Because of the long-term presence of HBV reservoirs, the virus rebound frequently occurs once the treatment is stopped, which poses a considerable obstacle to the complete removal of the virus. In terms of gene composition, regulation of B cell action and function, CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells are similar to CXCR5+ CD4+ T follicular helper cells, while these cells are characterized by elevated programmed cell death 1 and cytotoxic-related proteins. CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells are strongly associated with progression in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In addition, CXCR5 expression on the surface of CD8+ T cells is mostly an indicator of memory stem cell-like failure in progenitor cells in cancer that are more responsive to immune checkpoint blocking therapy. Furthermore, the phenomena have also been demonstrated in some viral infections, highlighting the duality of the cellular immune response of CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells. This mini-review will focus on the function of CXCR5+ CD8+ T cells in HBV infection and discuss the function of these CD8+ T cells and the potential of associated co-stimulators or cytokines in HBV therapeutic strategies.

Inhibition of HSPA8 by rifampicin contributes to ferroptosis via enhancing autophagy.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Rifampicin is the most common pathogenic factor in anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury (AT-DILI), the mechanisms that it promotes hepatocyte damage in AT-DILI are not yet to be thoroughly elucidated. In this study, we investigated the potential molecular mechanisms for ferroptosis involving rifampicin hepatotoxicity. METHODS: Animal and cell injury models of rifampicin were constructed, and the toxicity of rifampicin was assessed by physicochemical staining and cell viability assay. Next, flow cytometry was employed to detect changes in ferroptosis-related markers, and Western blotting was used to detect protein expression. Then, the important role of autophagy and ferroptosis was verified with small molecule compound intervention. RESULTS: We found that ferritinophagy-induced ferroptosis participates in the toxicity of rifampicin, and the mechanism is that rifampicin precisely activates high-throughput autophagy, which leads to the massive degradation of ferritin and the increase of free iron. Moreover, rifampicin exhibited conspicuous inhibition of Human 71 kDa heat shock cognate protein (HSPA8) that is intimately associated with Microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 isoform B (LC3B) expression, in turn, HSPA8 inducer attenuated intracellular autophagy flux. Of note, inducing HSPA8 or inhibition of autophagy and ferroptosis considerably relieved the hepatotoxicity of rifampicin in mouse model. CONCLUSIONS: The present study highlights the crucial roles of the HSPA8 and autophagy in ferroptotic cell death driving by rifampicin, particularly illumines multiple promising regulatory nodes for therapeutic interventions in diseases involving AT-DILI.

Lymphocyte and Platelet Counts, as well as Interleukin-6 Levels, Predict Mortality of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the value of lymphocytes, platelets, and interleukin-6 in predicting the mortality of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to provide medical evidence for the long-term prognosis of patients with COVID-19. METHODS: The latest studies published until July 1, 2021, were retrieved from databases including PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library to analyze the ability of lymphocyte and platelet counts as well as interleukin-6 levels to predict mortality in patients with COVID-19. Two reviewers independently screened the literature and extracted data, then evaluated the risk of bias of included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), and used Stata 15.0 software for meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of nine studies were included, involving 4340 patients. There were 1330 patients in the death group and 3010 patients in the survival group. Meta-analysis showed that, compared with the survival group, lymphocyte counts in the death group were significantly lower (SMD = -0.64, 95% CI: -0.86--0.43, p < 0.01), platelet counts were significantly lower (SMD = -0.47, 95% CI: -0.67--0.27, p < 0.01), and interleukin-6 levels were significantly higher (SMD = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.62-1.53, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Lymphocyte and platelet counts, as well as interleukin-6 levels, can help predict the mortality of patients with COVID-19. Due to the limitation of the number and quality of the included studies, these conclusions need to be validated by additional high-quality studies.

Lumbar infection caused by Mycobacterium paragordonae: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium paragordonae (M. paragordonae), a slow-growing, acid-resistant mycobacterial species, was first isolated from the sputum of a lung infection patient in South Korea in 2014. Infections caused by M. paragordonae are rare. CASE SUMMARY: Herein, we report the case of a 53-year-old patient who presented with fever and low back pain. Lumbar nuclear magnetic resonance imaging revealed the destruction of the lumbar vertebra with peripheral abscess formation. After anti-infective and diagnostic anti-tuberculosis treatment, the patient had no further fever, but the back pain was not relieved. Postoperatively, the necrotic material was sent for pathological examination, and all tests related to tuberculosis were negative, but pus culture suggested nontuberculous mycobacteria. The necrotic tissue specimens were subjected to metagenomic next-generation sequencing, which indicated the presence of M. paragordonae. Finally, the infecting pathogen was identified, and the treatment plan was adjusted. The patient was in good condition during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: M. paragordonae, a rare nontuberculous mycobacterium, can also cause spinal infections. In the clinic, it is necessary to identify nontuberculous mycobacteria for spinal infections similar to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The effect of hypoxia on the proliferation capacity of dermal papilla cell by regulating lactate dehydrogenase.

Hypoxia is of great significance for stem cells to maintain the proliferation and differentiation capacity. As a specialized mesenchymal component of the hair follicle (HF), the dermal papilla cell (DPC) not only regulates HF cycle, but also plays a pivotal role in differentiating hair follicle stem cell(HFSC) into HF. However, whether hypoxia could affect DPCs on proliferation or metabolism remains unclear. In our study, DPCs were cultured in normoxia (20%O2 ) or hypoxia (5%O2 ). Cell viability assays were performed, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and lactate level in DPCs were detected. After that, LDH was overexpressed or knocked down in DPCs; then, the expression of protein markers (ALP, Ki-67) was assessed by Western blotting, and cell proliferation was also detected after overexpression or knockdown of LDH. Hypoxia did show positive effect on proliferation of DPCs. The LDH activity of DPCs cultured under hypoxic condition was significantly higher than that of cultured under normoxic condition. Overexpression of LDH significantly up-regulates the expression of ALP and Ki-67 compared with knockdown and negative control. Cell proliferation was also promoted in DPCs with elevated LDH. Our findings showed that the proliferation activity of DPCs could be stimulated under hypoxia. Meanwhile, LDH plays an important role in maintaining the activity of DPCs in hypoxic condition.

Role of eosinophils in the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, which has severely affected global public health security. However, the diagnosis and treatment of the disease need further exploration. Therefore, this retrospective analysis was conducted on multiple indicators of peripheral blood in patients with COVID-19 to determine the role of leukocytes, lymphocytes, and eosinophils in the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of COVID-19. Baseline information and clinical records of 40 patients were collected, including demographic data, disease status, medication, and laboratory routine. The correlation between the inspection indicators and disease classification, as well as prognostic factors, was analyzed. Decreased eosinophils were detected in 33 out of 40 patients with COVID-19 on admission, while lymphocytes and eosinophils were inversely related to the severity of the disease, according to the Spearman's correlation coefficient. Thus, it could be deduced that eosinophils have better sensitivity for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and play a major role similar to lymphocytes in assessing the prognosis of patients.

LncRNA-Regulated Autophagy and its Potential Role in Drug-Induced Liver Injury.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Autophagy and its regulated pathways participate in many important cellular physiology and pathological processes involving protein aggregates, damaged mitochondria, excessive peroxisomes, ribosomes, and invading pathogens. This study aimed to review recently published studies and further describe the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-regulated autophagy during drug-induced liver injury (DILI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: DILI, autophagy, autophagy-related genes (ATGs), and lncRNA were used as key words to search published studies from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. All related studies were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: Many studies explicitly indicated that DILI and its progression to acute liver failure were causatively linked to endoplasmic reticulum stress and subsequently induced autophagy, which protect hepatocytes during DILI. LncRNA, as a noncoding RNA, influences the regulation of the expression of ATGs to manipulate autophagy. CONCLUSIONS: This review described the recent findings on autophagy and its possible lncRNA-miRNA-associated pathways, thereby providing new insights for further studies on the pathogenesis of DILI.

Early hepatitis B viral DNA clearance predicts treatment response at week 96.

AIM: To investigate whether hepatitis viral DNA load at 24 wk of treatment predicts response at 96 wk in patients with chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: A total of 172 hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B patients who received initial treatment at 16 tertiary hospitals in Hunan Province, China were enrolled in this study. All patients received conventional doses of lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil, telbivudine, entecavir dispersible tablets, or entecavir tablets for 96 wk. Patients who used other antiviral drugs or antitumor and immune regulation therapy were excluded. Patients were stratified into three groups according to their viral DNA load at 24 wk: < 10 IU/mL (group 1), 10-103 IU/mL (group 2), and > 103 IU/mL (group 3). Correlations of 24-wk DNA load with HBeAg negative status and HBeAg seroconversion at 96 wk were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to test the predictive value of the HBV DNA load at 24 wk for long-term response. RESULTS: The rates of conversion to HBeAg negative status and HBeAg seroconversion rates were 53.7% and 51.9%, respectively, in group 1; 35.21% and 32.39% in group 2; and 6.38% and 6.38% in group 3. The receiver operating characteristic curves for the three subgroups revealed that the lowest DNA load (< 10 IU/mL) was better correlated with response at 96 wk than a higher DNA load (10-103 IU/mL). Nested PCR was used for amplifying and sequencing viral DNA in patients with a viral DNA load > 200 IU/mL at 96 wk; resistance mutations involving different loci were present in 26 patients, and three of these patients had a viral DNA load 10-103 IU/mL at 96 wk. CONCLUSION: Hepatitis B viral DNA load at 24 wk of antiviral treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B is a predictor of the viral load and response rate at 96 wk.

Proteomic analysis of differentially expressed proteins in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a major cause of cancer death in China, is preceded by chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis (LC). Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been regarded as a clear etiology of human hepatocarcinogenesis, the mechanism is still needs to be further clarified. In this study, we used a proteomic approach to identify the differential expression protein profiles between HCC and the adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues. METHODS: Eighteen cases of HBV-related HCC including 12 cases of LC-developed HCC and 6 cases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-developed HCC were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), and the results were compared to those of paired adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues. RESULTS: A total of 17 differentially expressed proteins with diverse biological functions were identified. Among these, 10 proteins were up-regulated, whereas the other 7 proteins were down-regulated in cancerous tissues. Two proteins, c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2 and ADP/ATP carrier protein were found to be up-regulated only in CHB-developed HCC tissues. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 and Rho-GTPase-activating protein 4 were down-regulated in LC-developed and CHB-developed HCC tissues, respectively. Although 11 out of these 17 proteins have been already described by previous studies, or are already known to be involved in hepatocarcinogenesis, this study revealed 6 new proteins differentially expressed in HBV-related HCC. CONCLUSION: These findings elucidate that there are common features between CHB-developed HCC and LC-developed HCC. The identified proteins are valuable for studying the hepatocarcinogenesis, and may be potential diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets for HBV-related HCC.

[Preliminary study on proteomic patterns in hepatic tissue to identify HBV related hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To identify proteomic patterns in hepatic tissues for diagnosing early HBV related HCC. METHODS: Proteomic spectra were generated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), A preliminary "raining" set of spectra derived from analysis of 14 cancer tissues and 14 non-cancer tissues, a proteomic patterns that completely discriminated cancer from non-cancer was identified. The discovered pattern was then used to classify an independent set of 48 masked samples: 24 from cancer tissues, and 24 from non-cancer tissues. RESULTS: The discriminatory pattern correctly identified all cancer tissues and non-cancer tissues in the masked set. This result yielded a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 100%. CONCLUSION: Further analysis on these proteins in the proteomic pattern will be helpful to screen tumor markers for HBV related HCC. These findings justify a prospective assessment of proteomic pattern technology as a screening tool for cancer in high-risk and general populations.