Structural characteristics and paste properties of wheat starch in natural fermentation during traditional Chinese Mianpi processing.

Fermentation plays a crucial role in traditional Chinese mianpi processing, where short-term natural fermentation (within 24 h) is considered advantageous for mianpi production. However, the influence of short-term natural fermentation on the properties of wheat starch is not explored yet. Hence, structural characteristics and paste properties of wheat starch during natural fermentation were investigated in this study. The findings revealed that fermenting for 24 h had a slight effect on the morphology of wheat starch but significantly decreased the particle size of starch. Compared to native wheat starch, the enzyme activity produced during fermentation may destroy the integrity of starch granules, resulting in a lower molecular weight but higher relative crystallinity and orderliness of starch. After 24 h of natural fermentation, higher solubility and swelling power were obtained compared to non-fermentation. Regarding paste properties, fermented starches exhibited higher peak viscosity and breakdown, along with lower final viscosity, tough viscosity, and setback. Furthermore, the hardness, gel strength, G', and G" decreased after fermentation. Clarifying changes in starch during the short-term natural fermentation process could provide theoretical guidance for improving the quality and production of short-term naturally fermented foods such as mianpi, as discussed in this study.

Laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with a Boari flap for long-segment ureteric avulsion or ureteric strictures: our experience.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with a Boari flap for long-segment ureteric avulsion or ureteric strictures of the middle and lower ureters. By observing its curative effect and prognosis, we can provide a safer and reliable treatment option for patients with middle and lower ureteral injury. METHODS: In this study, of the eight cases under study, five were diagnosed with long-segment ureteric strictures, one had long-segment ureteric avulsion, one was diagnosed with ureteral rupture caused by surgical injury of appendicitis, and the remaining one underwent ureterostomy after ureteral injury. The location of ureteral injury was in the middle lower segment. All eight patients underwent laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with a Boari flap from January 2018 to October 2021. In this study, two patients were treated with a Boari bladder flap with psoas hitching. All procedures were performed by the same surgeon with over 20 years of experience in urological surgery. RESULTS: The mean length of ureteric avulsion or ureteric strictures was 7.94 cm (range, 4-15 cm). Laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with a Boari flap was performed successfully between 120 and 240 min. The mean duration of postoperative hospital stay was 6 days, and no major complications related to the procedure in the perioperative period occurred. Postoperative follow-up showed no obvious hydronephrosis on computed tomography urography or urinary ultrasound in all eight patients. Postoperative reexamination did not reveal any significant hydronephrosis, urinary tract infection, or ureteral reflux, and none of the postoperative renal functions were abnormal. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with a Boari flap is safe and feasible for experienced physicians. In our case, the length/width ratio of bladder flap is more than 4:1, with good blood supply and no obvious complications, it provides a longer alternative length.

Comprehensive analysis of new prognostic signature based on ferroptosis-related genes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is an aggressive tumor and the most common subtype of RCC. Ferroptosis is a novel form of regulated cell death, and ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) have been associated with the prognosis of patients with certain cancers. However, the detailed prognostic correlation between FRGs and ccRCC has not yet been elucidated. To address this, the current study used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset to explore 64 FRGs and determine their prognostic value in ccRCC. Results showed that 52 out of the 64 genes displayed significantly different expression levels in tumor tissue, and 35 out of the 52 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were associated with overall survival. Subsequently, a four-gene prognostic signature (CD44, DPP4, NCOA4 and SLC7A11) was constructed and could successfully distinguish ccRCC patients with different prognosis in TCGA train and test sets. Furthermore, clinical ccRCC samples from our medical center were used to verify the application value of the new prognostic signature through immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Biological functional analysis implied that immune-related functions and pathways were enriched in the TCGA cohort and the immune status scores were significantly different between high- and low-risk sets. These results suggest that the four ferroptosis-related regulatory genes can act as reliable prognostic biomarkers of ccRCC, and might be exploited as potential targets of therapeutic strategies.

The Roles of CircRNAs in Bladder Cancer: Biomarkers, Tumorigenesis Drivers, and Therapeutic Targets.

Bladder cancer (BCa) is the most prevalent malignancy of the urinary system. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel subtype of non-coding RNAs, play a crucial role in physiological and developmental processes. CircRNAs mainly function as regulators of splicing process and transcription, microRNA sponges, and protein brackets. Recent advances in understanding the pathogenesis of BCa have led to the identification of an abundance of dysregulated circRNAs associated with BCa. These aberrantly expressed circRNAs eventually lead to abnormalities in biological, genetic, and epigenetic information. In this review, we introduce the potential of circRNAs as biomarkers for BCa diagnosis and prognosis. Notably, diverse mechanisms have been proposed for circRNAs driving carcinogenesis, including increasing cell proliferation, promoting invasive and migratory capacity, enhancing endothelial-mesenchymal transition, sustaining stemness, and enabling resistance to chemotherapy. Importantly, a full understanding of circRNA mechanisms is needed to mine promising therapeutic approaches for targeting BCa. In this paper, we present the latest advances in circRNAs and systemically summarize the characteristics and mechanisms of circRNAs in BCa, providing potential perspectives for BCa treatment.

Comprehensive analysis of a new prognosis signature based on histone deacetylases in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Histone deacetylases (HDAC) family is vital for tumorigenesis and tumor progression. However, the exact role of the HDAC family in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unclear. Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), and The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database, we investigated and validated the expression profile, clinical significance and prognostic value of HDAC family members in ccRCC. Moreover, we further explored the correlation between HDACs and tumor microenvironment, tumor stemness, drug activity and immune subtype. The HDAC8, HDAC10, and HDAC11 manifested potential clinical value for prognosis, and the correlation analyses reveals underlying molecular mechanisms, which deserve further investigation for ccRCC. This Integrated bioinformatics analysis, based on transcriptomics and proteomics, implied that HDAC8, HDAC10, and HDAC11 may serve as potential molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets for ccRCC, but some underlying molecular mechanisms still need to be elucidated.

NUPR1 is a novel potential biomarker and confers resistance to sorafenib in clear cell renal cell carcinoma by increasing stemness and targeting the PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway.

BACKGROUND: Sorafenib can improve the survival of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients. However, its benefits are modest, as patients eventually become resistant, and the mechanisms remain elusive. NUPR1, a stress-induced protein, has been reported in malignancies and functions as an oncogene by modulating the stress response, facilitating survival in harsh environments and conferring drug resistance. However, its role in ccRCC has not been explored. METHODS: The expression and clinical significance of NUPR1 were analyzed in ccRCC patients in in-house patients and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohorts. The biological functions of NUPR1 were investigated. Xenografts were performed to confirm the effects of NUPR1 on tumorigenesis. The molecular mechanism of NUPR1 was investigated in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: NUPR1 expression was upregulated in tumor tissue. Further analysis showed that NUPR1 overexpression was associated with an aggressive phenotype and predicted a poor prognosis. Depletion of NUPR1 suppressed tumorigenesis and sensitized cells to sorafenib treatment. Finally, mechanistic investigations indicated that NUPR1 promoted tumorigenesis in ccRCC by increasing stemness and activating the PTEN/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our results suggest that NUPR1 may serve as a predictor of ccRCC. Notably, NUPR1 silencing reversed sorafenib resistance in ccRCC. These findings provide a novel potential therapeutic target in the clinical management of ccRCC.

Histone deacetylase 10, a potential epigenetic target for therapy.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) 10, a class II family, has been implicated in various tumors and non-tumor diseases, which makes the discovery of biological functions and novel inhibitors a fundamental endeavor. In cancers, HDAC10 plays crucial roles in regulating various cellular processes through its epigenetic functions or targeting some decisive molecular or signaling pathways. It also has potential clinical utility for targeting tumors and non-tumor diseases, such as renal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN), intracerebral hemorrhage, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and schizophrenia. To date, relatively few studies have investigated HDAC10-specific inhibitors. Therefore, it is important to study the biological functions of HDAC10 for the future development of specific HDAC10 inhibitors. In this review, we analyzed the biological functions, mechanisms and inhibitors of HDAC10, which makes HDAC10 an appealing therapeutic target.

A new m6A methylation-related gene signature for prognostic value in patient with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant urological cancer in the world. Because of its characteristic of easy-recurrence and muscle-invasive, advances in our genetic understanding of bladder cancer should be translated into prognostic indicators. METHODS: We investigated 16 m6A RNA methylation regulators from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. The expression profile, clinical application as well as prognostic value of these genes in UC were investigated. Moreover, we further explored the correlation between RNA methylation genes and biological functions, pathways and immune status. RESULTS: Five m6A-related genes (HNRNPC, YTHDF2, YTHDF1, HNRNPA2B1, METTL3) up-regulated in UC tissues, while three regulators (ZC3H13, METTL16, FTO) down-regulated in UC. FTO and YTHDF2 show biomarker potential for the prognosis of UC patients. In addition, these identified genes may related with essential functions and core molecular pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Our research shows that two m6A RNA methylation regulators can serve as reliable prognostic biomarkers of UC, which might be exerted as potential targets of therapeutic strategies.

Prognostic Value of the Preoperative Plasma D-Dimer Levels in Patients with Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma in a Retrospective Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: Elevated plasma D-dimer levels were thought to be associated with decreasing survival in various cancers. The relationship between plasma D-dimer levels and clinicopathology and the optimal D-dimer cutoff as a prognostic predictor has not been determined in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of preoperative plasma D-dimer levels as a predictor of patient outcomes in UTUC following radical nephroureterectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data for 232 patients. The D-dimer cutoff value was set at 0.36 mg/L, and we used the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox's proportional hazards regression models to analyze the association between D-dimer levels and oncological outcomes. Multivariate Cox regression was used to develop a nomogram, which we evaluated for accuracy using a receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration plot, and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: Plasma D-dimer levels ≥0.36 mg/L were significantly associated with advanced tumor status regarding size, location, hydronephrosis, tumor grade, lymph node involvement, grade, and stage (all p < 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that plasma D-dimer levels ≥0.36 mg/L predicted worse oncological outcomes vs levels <0.36 mg/L (all p < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer level was an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio (HR): 1.67, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-2.63; p = 0.025), cancer-specific survival (HR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.30-4.19; p = 0.004), and overall survival (HR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.18-3.34; p = 0.010). We also developed a nomogram predicting 3- and 5-year overall survival probability. CONCLUSION: D-dimer levels may be a useful prognostic predictor of survival and improve risk stratification and precisely individualize treatment for patients with UTUC.