Correlation and genetic analysis of seed shell thickness and yield factors in Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.).

In order to solve the difficult problem of the outer shell covering in the processing of Tartary buckwheat, we conducted a genetic analysis in segregating F2 and F3 populations derived from a hybrid between 'Yunqiao No. 1' and 'Rice buckwheat', and the F3 population was used to analyze the phenotypic and genetic correlation among the traits. The results showed that the variety with a value of trait for seed shell thickness over 0.20 mm is a hard-shelled type (The thick shell type = seed shell rate > 20%), and that with a value of trait for seed shell thickness below 0.15 mm is a easily-shelled type (The thin shell type = seed shell rate < 20%), while that with a value of trait for seed shell thickness ranging from 0.15 mm to 0.20 mm is a hard-shelled type or easily-shelled type. In addition, alleles for traits of number of seed per plant and total seed weight per plant have larger dominance variance relative to their additive variance, indicating that genes controlling these traits have larger dominant effects, it is not suitable for the selection of single plant in offspring plants at the early stage of development, because these traits do not show up then. The alleles for traits of 1000 kernel weight and seed shell thickness have larger additive variance relative to their dominant variance, indicating that genes governing these traits have greater additive effects, with which the single plant can be selected in the progeny at the early stage of development. Although, the value of seed shell thickness has been shown to correlated positively with that of 1000 kernel weight, almost all the seeds of easily-shelled type are those with thin shell. However, ideal single plants with easily-shelled trait are those with intermediate phenotypes of seed shell thickness and 1000 kernel weight, by which the traits of large number of seeds per plant and total seed weight per plant could be selected. In the progeny population of this study, there were excellent single plants with high-yield and easily-shelled traits, of which the value of seed shell thickness was 0.17 mm (0.15 mm to 0.20 mm), the value of 1000 kernel weight was 14 g, the value of number of seeds per plant was 1137 and value of total seed weight per plant was 15.9 g. The results showed that taking the hybrid combinations of easily-shelled trait with the trait of seed shell thickness was the most effective selection indexes to breed the high-yield buckwheat varieties with the trait of easy shelling.

The critical role of mast cell-derived hypoxia-inducible factor-1α in regulating mast cell function.

OBJECTIVES: During colorectal tumour progression, the tumour microenvironment becomes hypoxic, and infiltration of a large number of inflammatory cells occurs. The mast cells (MCs) are a type of immune cells plays an important role in tumour angiogenesis. However, it is unclear whether the role of MC in colorectal cancer is to promote or to inhibit tumour growth. METHODS: Immunohistochemical analysis of clinical colorectal cancer samples and a colorectal carcinoma model were used. KEY FINDINGS: We found the carcinomas and the adjacent tissues were infiltrated with large numbers of mast cells, and the MC infiltration quantity increased with the Dukes' stage. After tumour inoculation, the survival time of MC-deficient mice was remarkably longer than wild-type C57BL/6 mice, and the tumour growth rate of MC-deficient mice was slower than wild type. In addition, the survival time and tumour growth rate can be recovered in MC reconstruction mice. Furthermore, inhibition of the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) using siRNA reduced the release of inflammatory factors and the degree of MC degranulation. CONCLUSIONS: Mast cells promote the development of colorectal cancer, and MC-derived HIF-1α plays an important role in regulating MC function. Our study reveals a novel role of MC-derived HIF-1α in the colorectal carcinoma microenvironment.

Photodynamic-therapy Activates Immune Response by disrupting Immunity Homeostasis of Tumor Cells, which Generates Vaccine for Cancer Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a regulatory approved cancer treatment, is reported to be capable of causing immunogenic apoptosis. The current data reveal PDT can cause the dysregulation of "eat me" and "don't eat me" signal by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) -mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. This dysregulation probably contribute to the increased uptake of PDT-killed Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells by homologous dendritic cells (DCs), accompanied by phenotypic maturation (CD80(high), CD86(high), and CD40(high)) and functional stimulation (NO(high), IL-10(absent)) of dendritic cells as well as subsequent T-cell responses. Morevover, C57BL/6 mice vaccinated with dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with PDT-treated LLCs (PDT-DCs) or PDT-treated LLCs alone (PDT-LLCs) exhibited potent immunity against LLC tumors. In the current study, the PDT-induced immune response was characterized as a process related with the dysregulation of "eat me" signal and "don't eat me" signal, revealing the possibility for developing PDT into an antitumor vaccination strategy for personalized cancer immunotherapy.

Risk factors of recurrent aphthous ulceration among university students.

Recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) is a common oral mucosal disease. The etiological involves in genetics, vitamin deficiencies, trauma, immune dysfunction and stress. This study was to explore the related risk factors of recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) among college students, and provide basis for further research. We conducted a questionnaire survey among students from three colleges in Wuhu by stratified cluster sampling. The information collected includes general demographic characteristics, dietary habits and so on. The overall prevalence of RAU is 23.30% among college students (23.23% in male and 23.39% in female). There are statistical significance in prevalence of RAU between subjects with RAU and without RAU (P<0.05) the prevalence of RAU in different grade, age, adequate brushing time, good brushing habits, wear dentures or braces, other oral disease, eat barbecue, adequate exercise time is statistic difference. According to the result of multinomial logistic regression analysis, the risk of recurrent aphthous ulceration factors including grade, inadequate brushing time. Tempering was a protective factor of RAU. Some measure should be taken to control dental ulcer, which consist of promoting a correct way of living habits, paying attention to the health conscious diet, strengthen physical exercise, self-decompression and keeping good mentality.

Photodynamic therapy-mediated cancer vaccination enhances stem-like phenotype and immune escape, which can be blocked by thrombospondin-1 signaling through CD47 receptor protein.

Like most of the strategies for cancer immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy-mediated vaccination has shown poor clinical outcomes in application. The aim of this study is to offer a glimpse at the mechanisms that are responsible for the failure based on cancer immuno-editing theory and to search for a positive solution. In this study we found that tumor cells were able to adapt themselves to the immune pressure exerted by vaccination. The survived tumor cells exhibited enhanced tumorigenic and stem-like phenotypes as well as undermined immunogenicity. Viewed as a whole, immune-selected tumor cells showed more malignant characteristics and the ability of immune escape, which might contribute to the eventual relapse. Thrombospondin-1 signaling via CD47 helped prevent tumor cells from becoming stem-like and rendered them vulnerable to immune attack. These findings prove that the TSP-1/CD47/SIRP-α signal axis is important to the evolution of tumor cells in the microenvironment of immunotherapy and identify thrombospondin-1 as a key signal with therapeutic benefits in overcoming long term relapse, providing new evidence for the clinical promise of cancer vaccination.

An investigation of antitumor efficiency of novel sustained and targeted 5-fluorouracil nanoparticles.

Traditional chemotherapeutic drugs remain the major treatment for advanced colorectal cancer. However, due to the lack of tumor specificity these drug also destroy healthy tissue and organs, which has been the main reason for treatment failure and mortality. Folate-based drug delivery systems for improving nanoparticle endocytosis have been used to address these problems. Here, folic acid (FA) conjugated mPEG-b-P(CABCL-co-ACL) diblock copolymers were synthesized and characterized by TEM and NMR. Drug loaded nanoparticles were prepared using dialysis method and was obtained with a mean diameter of 45.2 nm with sustained in vitro release profile. In vitro cytotoxicity assay indicated that the cytotoxicity of folate modified nanoparticles were significantly increased compared to free drug and non-folate nanoparticles. In addition, results of hemolytic and histopathologic study suggested that the non-loaded nanoparticle (NL/NP) was non-toxic and biocompatible at the testing concentration. Moreover, in vivo results showed that FA/5-FU/NP effectively inhibited growth of HCT-8 cell-based xenograft tumors in BALB/c mice and revealed stronger antitumor efficacy than other treated groups. Thus, both in vitro and in vivo results exhibited that the folate conjugated mPEG-b-P(CABCL-co-ACL) copolymers have great potential to be used as sustainable and specific colon cancer targeting delivery system for anticancer agents.

Hypericin-based Photodynamic Therapy Induces a Tumor-Specific Immune Response and an Effective DC-based cancer Immunotherapy.

In our study, we find that photodynamic therapy (PDT), which generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) -mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress to inflict trauma in the targeted lesion, can break the balance between membrane damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and integrin-associated protein (CD47). The imbalance undermines the ability of lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells to escape immune attack by increasing the uptake of hypericin-mediated PDT(hyp-PDT) killed lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells by homologous dendritic cells (DCs), accompanied by phenotypic maturation (CD80high, CD86high, and CD40high) and functional stimulation (NOhigh, IL-10absent) of dendritic cells as well as subsequent T-cell response. Besides, C57BL/6 mice vaccinated with dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with PDT-treated LLCs (PDT-DCs) or PDT-treated LLCs alone (PDT-LLCs) show potent immunity against LLC tumor. These data identify hypericin-induced PDT as a strong inducer of immunogenic apoptosis, providing an antitumor vaccination strategy for personalized cancer Immunotherapy.