Community responses of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi to hydrological gradients in a riparian Phragmites australis wetland.

The hydrological regime is considered to be the major factor that affects the distribution of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi in wetlands. We aimed to investigate the responses of AM fungal community to different hydrological gradients. Illumina Miseq sequencing technology was used to study the AM fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils of Phragmites australis in different moisture areas (dry area, alternating wet and dry area, and flooded area) in Mengjin Yellow River wetland. The rhizosphere soils and roots hosted different AM fungal communities. In roots, the AM fungal colonization and Chao1 richness in dry area were significantly higher than that in alternating wet and dry area and flooded area, but the community composition did not vary clearly under different water conditions. In rhizosphere soils, the Chao1 richness of AM fungi in flooded area was significantly higher than that in alternating wet and dry area and dry area, and the AM fungal community structure obviously differed across different areas. The redundancy analyses indicated that changes in the AM fungal community in soils were associated with altered soil properties, and the abundance of the dominant genus Glomus was mostly positively correlated with alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen in soils. This study helps us to understand the responses of AM fungal community to hydrological gradients in wetlands.

A novel cone-beam CT scanning technique for measuring periodontal soft tissues in the esthetic area.

PURPOSE: This study investigated and tested a novel cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanning technique capable of obtaining clear contours of soft tissues in the esthetic area. METHODS: Twenty-three periodontally healthy participants underwent this novel CBCT scanning technique. Soft tissue morphological parameters were measured on the CBCT images obtained. Intraoral clinical data were also collected at the same locations, and the accuracy of the CBCT method was tested. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range [IQR]) of the supracrestal gingival tissue thickness as 0.91 (0.73-1.13) mm, and the thickness of the central incisors was significantly greater than that of the canines (P < 0.05). The median (IQR) of keratinized tissue thickness was 0.73 (0.55-0.91) mm, which also showed a significantly greater thickness in the central incisors than in the canines (P < 0.05). Bland-Altman analysis suggested that CBCT could be accurate for measuring soft tissues in the esthetic area. CONCLUSION: The novel CBCT technique described yields clear contours of soft tissues in the esthetic area without the need for auxiliary tools. Moreover, measurements of soft tissue morphological parameters on CBCT appear to be accurate.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells targeting CD147 for non-small cell lung cancer therapy.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly malignant tumor, with a significant mortality and morbidity. With the development of tumor immunotherapy, chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CART) gets increasingly attention and achieves prominent contributions in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. However, CART therapy for NSCLC proceeds slowly and further researches need to be investigated. In our study, we performed bioinformatics analysis to evaluate the significant role of CD147 in NSCLC. The expression level of CD147 was detected in human NSCLC cell lines and NSCLC tissues. Meanwhile, CD147-CART was constructed and identified. Cell cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion were performed to evaluate the efficacy of CD147-CART. We also constructed cell-derived xenograft (CDX) model and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model, which was used to further investigate the safety and efficacy of CD147-CART in vivo. Our observations show that CD147 is a specific tumor antigen of NSCLC and plays an essential role in NSCLC progression, which can be used as a target for CART therapy in NSCLC. CD147-CART cells exhibit robust cytotoxicity and cytokine production in vitro, suggesting a strong anti-tumor activity against NSCLC tumor cells. Importantly, CD147-CART cells have strong anti-tumor activity against NSCLC cells in vivo in both CDX and PDX models and no adverse side effects. Our findings show that CD147-CART immunotherapy for NSCLC is safe and effective, which is an ideal and promising medical patch for treating NSCLC.

The application basis of immuno-checkpoint inhibitors combined with chemotherapy in cancer treatment.

Immuno-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) bring a promising prospect for patients with cancers, which restrains the growth of tumor cells by enhancing anti-tumor activity. Nevertheless, not all patients benefit from the administration of ICIs monotherapy. The partial response or resistance to ICIs is mainly due to the complex and heterogenous tumor microenvironment (TME). The combined therapy is necessary for improving the efficacy of tumor treatment. Chemotherapy is reported not only to kill tumor cells directly, but also to stimulate effective anti-tumor immune responses. Several combined therapies of ICIs and chemotherapeutic agents have been approved for the first-line treatment of cancers, including PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. This review summarizes the potential mechanisms of the combined therapy of ICIs and chemotherapeutic agents in inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD) and reprogramming TME, and elucidates the possible anti-tumor effects of combined therapy from the perspective of metabolic reprogramming and microbiome reprogramming.

CALR-TLR4 Complex Inhibits Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Progression by Regulating the Migration and Maturation of Dendritic Cells.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is a common malignant tumor that threatens human life and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Calreticulin (CALR) is a antigen characteristic of immunogenic cell death in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is closely related to anti-tumor immunity, but its specific mechanism in anti-tumor immunity remains unclear. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the expression of CALR and dendritic cell-lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein (DC-LAMP) in NSCLC tissues. The cell supernatant was used to induce migration and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). Western blot and real-time PCR were used to investigate the corresponding molecule expression in the CALR-Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-MyD88 signaling pathway. In vivo experiments were conducted to evaluate the role of mCALR in lung cancer progression. RESULTS: The expression of CALR on NSCLC cell membrane (mCALR) and DC infiltration in NSCLC were positively correlated and were closely related to the prognosis of NSCLC patients. Moreover, mCALR facilitated the migration and maturation of DCs by activating CALR-TLR4-MyD88 signaling and increasing the secretion of TNFα and CCL19, which was inhibited by the loss of TLR4. In vivo experiments demonstrated that mCALR inhibited lung cancer progression by facilitating DC infiltration in lung cancer tissues. CONCLUSION: Our study explores the function and mechanism of the CALR-TLR4 complex in DC migration and maturation and investigates the inhibitory effect of the CALR-TLR4 complex on lung cancer progression, providing a theoretical basis and ideas for immunotherapy of NSCLC.

Complete mitochondrial DNA genome of Pseudobagrus medianalis (Siluriformes: Bagridae).

The complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced from the freshwater fish, Pseudobagrus medianalis (Siluriformes: Bagridae) in this study. The genome sequence was 16,647 bp in length, and the gene order and contents were identical with the bagridae fishes. The mitochondrial genome contains 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs and 2 non-coding regions (control region and origin of light-strand replication). All genes were encoded on the heavy strain except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes. The overall base composition is 25.7% A, 30.9% T, 28.0% G, 15.4% C, with an A+T bias of 56.6%. The complete mitogenome data provides useful genetic markers for the studies on the molecular identification, population genetics, phylogenetic analysis and conservation genetics.