Long-term outcomes of laparoscopic versus open distal gastrectomy for patients with advanced gastric cancer in North China: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) has become a common procedure for treating advanced gastric cancer (AGC) in China. However, there is uncertainty regarding its oncological outcomes compared to open distal gastrectomy (ODG). This study aims to compare the 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates among patients who underwent surgery for AGC in northern China. METHODS: A multicenter, non-inferiority, open-label, parallel, randomized clinical trial was conducted to evaluate patients with AGC who were eligible for distal gastrectomy at five tertiary hospitals in North China. In this trial, patients were randomly assigned preoperatively to receive either LDG or ODG in a 1:1 allocation ratio. The primary endpoint was postoperative morbidity and mortality within 30 days and the secondary endpoint was the 3-year DFS rate. This trial has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02464215). RESULTS: A total of 446 patients were randomly allocated to LDG (n = 223) or ODG group (n = 223) between March 2014 and August 2017. After screening, a total of 214 patients underwent the open surgical approach, while 216 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. The 3-year DFS rate was 85.9% for the LDG group and 84.72% for the ODG group, with no significant statistical difference (Hazard ratio 1.12; 95% CI 0.68-1.84, P = 0.65). Body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m2, advanced pathologic T4, and pathologic N2-3 category were confirmed as independent risk factors for DFS in the Cox regression. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to ODG, LDG with D2 lymphadenectomy yielded similar outcomes in terms of 3-year DFS rates among patients diagnosed with AGC.

Protoplast Isolation for Plant Single-Cell RNA-seq.

The growth and development of plants depends on diversified gene expression in different cell types. Compared to traditional bulk RNA sequencing, droplet-based single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) allows for transcriptome profiling of individual cells within heterogeneous tissues. scRNA-seq provides a high-resolution atlas of cellular characterization and vastly improves our understandings of the interactions between individual cells and the microenvironment. However, the difficulty in protoplast isolation has limited the application of single-cell sequencing technology in plant research. Here we describe a high-efficiency protoplast isolation protocol for scRNA-seq.

The plastid genome sequence of Neocinnamomum delavayi (Lec.) Liou.

Neocinnamomum delavayi (Lec.) Liou is a kind of medicinal plants belonging to the genus Neocinnamomum H. Liu, but is often confused with N. mekongense (Hand.-Mazz.) Kosterm. Here, the complete plastid sequence of the N. delavayi was determined. The length of the plastid genome is 150,584 bp with overall AT content of 61%. It exhibited a typical quadripartite structure comprising a large single copy region (LSC) of 91,887 bp, a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,443 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs) of 20,262 bp each. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis with GTR + F+R2 model was performed using eighteen complete plastomes of the Lauraceae, which strongly supports the relationships: sisterhood of the N. delavayi and a clade containing N. mekongense and N. lecomtei Liou.

Short-term surgical outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted versus open D2 distal gastrectomy for locally advanced gastric cancer in North China: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Although laparoscopic surgery has been recommended as an optional therapy for patients with early gastric cancer, whether patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (AGC) could benefit from laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with D2 lymphadenectomy remains elusive due to a lack of comprehensive clinical data. To evaluate the efficacy of LADG, we conducted a multi-institutional randomized controlled trial to compare laparoscopy-assisted versus open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for AGC in North China. METHODS: In this RCT, after patients were enrolled according to the eligibility criteria, they were preoperatively assigned to LADG or ODG arm randomly with a 1:1 allocation ratio. The primary endpoint was the morbidity and mortality within 30 postoperative days to evaluate the surgical safety of LADG. The secondary endpoint was 3-year disease-free survival. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrial.gov as NCT02464215. RESULTS: Between March 2014 and August 2017, a total of 446 patients with cT2-4aN0-3M0 (AJCC 7th staging system) were enrolled. Of these, 222 patients underwent LADG and 220 patients underwent ODG were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. The compliance rate of D2 lymph node dissection was identical between the LADG and ODG arms (99.5%, P = 1.000). No significant difference was observed regarding the overall postoperative complication rate in two groups (LADG 13.1%, ODG 17.7%, P = 0.174). No operation-related death occurred in both arms. CONCLUSIONS: This trial confirmed that LADG performed by credentialed surgeons was safe and feasible for patients with AGC compared with conventional ODG.

Long non-coding RNA CASC2 in solid tumors: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Recently, several studies have reported that the long non-coding RNA cancer susceptibility 2 (CASC2) is downregulated in human solid tumors. However, as the sample size in those studies was limited, the role of CASC2 in cancer remains unknown. Accordingly, we conducted this meta-analysis to explore the role of CASC2 in solid tumors. METHODS: We systematically searched the PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, Ovid, Chinese CNKI, and Chinese WanFang databases. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the relation between CASC2 and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with cancer. Additionally, we also use The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset to analyze CASC2 expression. RESULTS: A total of 15 studies with 1158 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that the expression of CASC2 was related to tumor size (large vs. small: OR = 0.40, 95% CI = [0.30, 0.52]), differentiation (low vs. high+ moderate: OR = 0.42, 95% CI = [0.29, 0.62]) and TNM stage (I + II vs. III + IV: OR = 2.74, 95% CI = [2.08, 3.60]), but not to age, gender and differentiation. High CASC2 expression indicated better overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.41, 95% CI = [0.32, 0.50]) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 0.48, 95% CI = [0.26, 0.66]). Additionally, similar results were obtained through analysis of the TCGA data set. Moreover, it was determined that CASC2 could be an independent predictive factor for OS (HR = 0.38, 95% CI = [0.22, 0.54]) in patients with cancer. CONCLUSION: This analysis revealed that low CASC2 expression was correlated with advanced clinicopathological characteristics of cancer tumors, and CASC2 may thus be a potential prognostic biomarker in human cancer. However, more studies are needed to further corroborate these findings.

DcR3 induces proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT in gastric cancer cells via the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) has been reported to be overexpressed in a wide variety of malignancies and is correlated with tumorigenesis and progression. In gastric cancer (GC), DcR3 overexpression is associated with lymph node and distant metastasis, as well as poor prognosis. However, the functional role of DcR3 expression in GC remains elusive. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to elucidate the direct role of DcR3 in regulating GC progression and metastasis and identify the potential mechanism. METHODS: DcR3 expression was stably knocked down in HGC27 and MKN28 cells by transfecting the cells with DcR3 shRNA using lentiviral vector system. After the knockdown of DcR3 was confirmed, cell proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, cell invasion and migration were assessed in vitro. In addition, Western blot analysis was performed to evaluate the expression of downstream mediators of DcR3. Comparisons between multiple groups were performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or unpaired Student's t-test. Differences were considered significant at P<0.05. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrate that DcR3 induces proliferation, migration, invasion, and promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of GC cells. In addition, DcR3 increases the expression levels of several components of the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway, such as p-AKT, GSK-3ß, p-GSK-3ß and ß-catenin. Additionally, DcR3 also enhances the expression of N-cadherin and Vimentin and decreases the expression of E-cadherin. CONCLUSION: In summary, the findings of this study indicate that during GC progression, DcR3 plays a key role in cell proliferation and invasion via the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Thus, targeting DcR3 might be a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of GC.

The siRNA silencing of DcR3 expression induces Fas ligand-mediated apoptosis in HepG2 cells.

Dysfunctional Fas ligand (FasL) may inhibit the apoptosis of tumor cells. FasL contains two receptors, Fas and Decoy Receptor 3 (DcR3). DcR3 competitively binds to FasL over Fas, resulting in the inhibition of FasL-mediated apoptosis. Therefore, it was suggested that the downregulation of DcR3 expression enhances FasL-mediated apoptosis. In the current study, the expression of DcR3 was silenced in liver cancer HepG2 cells in order to study the effect of FasL on HepG2 cell activity and invasiveness. DcR3 siRNA knockdown HepG2 cells (KD), DcR3 blank plasmid control HepG2 cells and wild-type HepG2 cells (WT) were treated with FasL (10 ng/ml). Flow cytometry was used to detect changes in the cell cycle and apoptosis. MTS, clonogenic, wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to examine changes in cell activity, proliferation, migration and invasiveness. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were performed to measure the expression of DcR3, matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D. The results demonstrated that, compared with WT cells, the proportion of KD cells in the G2/M phase decreased following treatment with FasL. KD cells were more sensitive to FasL-induced apoptosis. Following treatment with FasL, the activity and proliferation, migration and invasion of KD cells were reduced, and the expression of MMP9, VEGF-C and VEGF-D decreased. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that DcR3 is involved in the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 cells, and this mechanism may be associated with the regulatory effect of the expression of MMP9, VEGF-C and VEGF-D; however, the exact mechanism of action remains unclear. FollowingDcR3 silencing, FasL-mediated apoptosis increased in HepG2 cells. Therefore, DcR3 combined with FasL may be a potential target for the treatment of liver cancer.

Prognostic value of DcR3 in solid tumors: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) has been reported to be overexpressed in a wide range of solid tumors, suggesting that DcR3 plays a crucial role in the development and progression of cancer. The present meta-analysis assesses the association between DcR3 expression and prognosis in patients with solid tumors. METHODS: Eligible studies were identified by searching the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Chinese CNKI, and Wan Fang databases. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were calculated using fixed effects models and random effects models, respectively. RESULTS: Data from the 16 included studies, with 2209 patients, were reviewed and analyzed. DcR3 overexpression was significantly associated with worse OS in patients with solid tumors, but its expression might not be related to RFS in malignancies. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence demonstrates that increased DcR3 expression correlates with a poor prognosis in cancer patients, which suggests that the expression status of DcR3 is a useful biomarker for the prediction of prognosis in patients with solid tumors.

The clinicopathological and prognostic value of Nanog in human gastrointestinal luminal cancer: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that the over-expression of Nanog contributes to the progression of various malignant tumors. However, the clinicopathological and prognostic role of Nanog in gastrointestinal luminal cancer remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the role of Nanog in gastrointestinal luminal cancer. METHODS: An electronic search for relevant literature was performed in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases. The relationships between Nanog expression and clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were analyzed. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by STATA14.2 and RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: A total of 9 studies with 1526 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The positive expression of Nanog was related to gender, depth of infiltration, differentiation, and TNM stage; however, it was not associated with age, tumor size, or lymph node metastasis. Moreover, positive Nanog expression was correlated with a poor overall survival (OS) and poor disease-free survival (DFS) in gastrointestinal luminal cancer. CONCLUSION: The pooled results suggested that Nanog expression was associated with gender, depth of infiltration, differentiation, and TNM stage, and Nanog may be a potential biomarker to predict the prognosis of gastrointestinal luminal cancer.

The Differentially Expressed Genes of Human Sporadic Cerebral Cavernous Malformations.

OBJECTIVES: To understand the development of sporadic cerebral cavernous malformations (SCCM) comprehensively, we analyzed gene expression profiles in SCCMs by gene microarray. METHODS: The total number of the specimens collected in our study was 14, 7 of which were SCCMs, and the others were controls that were obtained from normal brain vessels. The total RNA was extracted and hybridized with oligonucleotide array containing 21522 genes. The analysis of Gene Ontology (GO) items and molecular pathways was performed based on the GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases. The gene coexpression networks were constructed to identify the core genes regulating the progression of SCCMs. RESULTS: A total of 785 probes, showing differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the 2 groups, were found by the gene chips. According to the analysis based on GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, 286 GO terms and 53 pathways were identified to be significantly relevant with the DEGs. All differential gene interactions were analyzed and the core genes were selected in the coexpression networks. CONCLUSIONS: The gene expression profiles obtained from SCCMs were significantly distinct from those of control brain vascular specimens. These DEGs are related to multiple molecular signal pathways, such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and inflammatory response. According to the analysis of the core genes selected in the gene coexpression networks, we postulated that CSF1R, XCL1, KCNMB1, RHOG, and TJP1 might exert enormous functions in the pathogenesis of SCCMs. However, further studies are required to aid in the clinical diagnosis and prevention of SCCMs.

Desarda versus Lichtenstein technique for the treatment of primary inguinal hernia: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness between Desarda and Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair. METHODS: An electronic search for articles about Desarda and Lichtenstein technique published between 2001 and July 2017 was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and EMBASE database. Meta-analysis was performed on surgical time, postoperative recovery, complications and recurrence rate. RESULTS: Eight primary studies identified a total of 1014 patients, of whom 500 and 514 underwent Desarda herniorrhaphy and Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy, respectively. There was no significant difference in terms of operating time, return to normal gait, pain score, wound infection, hematoma, foreinbody sensation, seroma and recurrence rate. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence suggests that there is no difference between Desarda and Lichtenstein technique in short-term effectiveness. Further high-quality, long follow-up randomized controlled trials are needed to provide more reliable evidence.

Effects of Altered Intra-abdominal Pressure on the Upper Airway Collapsibility in a Porcine Model.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea is strongly associated with obesity, particularly abdominal obesity common in centrally obese males. Previous studies have demonstrated that intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is increased in morbid obesity, and tracheal traction forces may influence pharyngeal airway collapsibility. This study aimed to investigate that whether IAP plays a role in the mechanism of upper airway (UA) collapsibility via IAP-related caudal tracheal traction. METHODS: An abdominal wall lifting (AWL) system and graded CO2pneumoperitoneum pressure was applied to four supine, anesthetized Guizhou miniature pigs and its effects on tracheal displacement (TD) and airflow dynamics of UA were studied. Individual run data in 3 min obtained before and after AWL and obtained before and after graded pneumoperitoneum pressure were analyzed. Differences between baseline and AWL/graded pneumoperitoneum pressure data of each pig were examined using a Student's t-test or analysis of variance. RESULTS: Application of AWL resulted in decreased IAP and significant caudal TD. The average displacement amplitude was 0.44 mm (P < 0.001). There were three subjects showed increased tidal volume (TV) (P < 0.01) and peak inspiratory airflow (P < 0.01); however, the change of flow limitation inspiratory UA resistance (Rua) was not significant. Experimental increased IAP by pneumoperitoneum resulted in significant cranial TD. The average displacement amplitude was 1.07 mm (P < 0.001) when IAP was 25 cmH2O compared to baseline. There were three subjects showed reduced Rua while the TV increased (P < 0.01). There was one subject had decreased TV and elevated Rua (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Decreased IAP significantly increased caudal TD, and elevated IAP significantly increased cranial TD. However, the mechanism of UA collapsibility appears primarily mediated by changes in lung volume rather than tracheal traction effect. TV plays an independent role in the mechanism of UA collapsibility.

[Study on the chemical changes of whole constituents in the preparing process of kansui root].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical changes of whole constituents in the preparing process of kansui root in order to uncover the mechanism of detoxication in preparing process. METHODS: The raw and prepared kansui were extracted with water and methanol and analyzed with HPLC respectively. RESULTS: Seven constituents disappeared in the prepared kansui and four new consitituents were produced in the water extracts. The concentration of four other constituents decreased. In the methoanol extract, two constituents disappeared and one constituent produced during preparing process. The concentration of six other constituents increased in the methanol extracts. CONCLUSION: The mechanism of detoxication of kansui root preparing process is may be that the toxic constituents decomposing or water solubility reducing.