[Association between lesion location and depressive symptoms in acute ischemic stroke patients using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping].

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the association between lesion location and post-stroke depression (PSD) in acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods: In this case-control study, acute ischemic stroke patients were recruited from the Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), between September 2020 and June 2021. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria, the patients were divided into the PSD and non-PSD groups. The 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale (HAMD) was used to evaluate the severity of depression. The Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney test, and Chi-square test were used to compare the clinical baseline characteristics of PSD and non-PSD groups. Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) was applied to investigate the association between lesion location and depression occurrence and severity. Results: A total of 70 and 173 patients were admitted to the PSD and non-PSD groups, respectively. The mean age of patients was 59 years (23-86). There were 153 males and 90 females. Univariate analysis showed a significant difference only in Hamilton Anxiety (P=0.025) and Depression (P<0.001) scores between the PSD and non-PSD groups. VLSM analysis identified clusters within the anterior cingulate gyrus (Z=-3.05, P<0.001), left hippocampus (Z=-3.15, P<0.001), and left lingual lobe (Z=-3.08, P<0.001) where lesions were significantly associated with PSD. Additionally, the severity of PSD was associated with damage in the anterior cingulate gyrus (Z=-3.64, P<0.001), left hippocampus (Z=-3.51, P<0.001), left lingual lobe (Z=-4.18, P<0.001), and pericalcarine cortex (Z=-3.65, P<0.001). Conclusion: VLSM demonstrated that lesion location could be used to predict the occurrence of PSD in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

PKMYT1 aggravates the progression of ovarian cancer by targeting SIRT3.

OBJECTIVE: This experiment aims to elucidate the role of PKMYT1 in the malignant progression of ovarian cancer (OC) and its underlying mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Expression pattern of PKMYT1 in 43 paired OC tissues and adjacent normal ones was determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The potential relationship between PKMYT1 level and clinical data of OC patients was analyzed. PKMYT1 level in OC patients either with distant metastasis or not was examined. Through Cell Counting Kit (CCK-8) and transwell assay, influences of PKMYT1 on proliferative and metastatic abilities in 3AO and CAOV3 cells were assessed. At last, the role of PKMYT1/SIRT3 regulatory loop in the progression of OC was identified. RESULTS: PKMYT1 was upregulated in OC tissues relative to controls. OC patients accompanied with distant metastasis had higher abundance of PKMYT1. High level of PKMYT1 predicted worse prognosis in OC patients. Knockdown of PKMYT1 attenuated proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities in OC cells. Moreover, SIRT3 was downregulated in OC tissues, which was negatively correlated to PKMYT1. Silencing of SIRT3 could abolish the regulatory effect of PKMYT1 on proliferative and metastatic abilities in OC. CONCLUSIONS: Upregulated PKMYT1 in OC is closely linked to distant metastasis and poor prognosis. PKMYT1 accelerates the malignant progression of OC via negatively regulating SIRT3.

[Gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland type: clinicopathological analysis of six cases].

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland(GA-FG). Methods: A total of 6 patients with GA-FG admitted from January 2014 to May 2019 were identified at Shanghai Songjiang District Central Hospital.Analyzed endoscopic findings, pathological characteristics and immunohistochemical staining of the lesions and reviewed relevant literatures. Results: Among the 6 patients, 3 were male, 3 were female, and the mean age was 66 years. The most common clinical presentation was epigastric discomfort. Gastroscopic examination revealed an elevated or flat lesion in the body of the stomach, with a diameter of 0.4 to 1.0 cm. Histopathologically, they mainly composed of main cells, but there were also scattered parietal cells, arranged in an irregular tubular or cord-like structure, and formed anastomosis branches. The tumor cells were immunohistochemically positive for MUC6 and pepsinogen 1. Conclusions: GA-FG is a rare variant of well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. It is important to understand its clinical features and histological morphology for more accurate diagnosis.

Risk factors of sleep disorder after stroke: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate potential risk factors of sleep disorder in stroke patients by conducting a meta-analysis. METHODS: Relevant articles were searched in PubMed, Medline, Springer, Elsevier, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and Google scholar database up to May 2014. The effect size of risk factors, including gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, alcohol use, previous stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and habitual snoring were measured by odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The heterogeneity of effect size across studies was evaluated by applying Cochran's Q-statistic and the I2 statistic. In addition, Egger's linear regression test was used to evaluate the publication bias. RESULTS: A total of 8 studies, involving 1381 stroke patients (578 patients with sleep disorder, and 803 patients without sleep disorder) were suitable for this meta-analysis. Pooled results showed significant association of sleep disorder risk in stoke patients with diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.09-1.85), alcohol use (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.19-2.12) and habitual snoring (OR = 14.77, 95% CI = 5.52-39.53). No significant association was found between risk of sleep disorder in stoke patients and other factors. Furthermore, heterogeneity was just presented among studies involving gender, hypertension and smoking. Egger's linear regression test showed no statistical publication bias. CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus, alcohol use, and habitual snoring are associated with a significantly increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients. HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Eight studies containing 1381 patients are included in this meta-analysis. (2) Diabetes mellitus was associated with sleep disorder in stroke patients. (3) Alcohol use could increase the risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients. (4) Habitual snoring was obviously associated with sleep disorder in stroke patients.

Phenotypic correction and stable expression of factor VIII in hemophilia A mice by embryonic stem cell therapy.

Hereditary deficiency of factor VIII (FVIII) leads to hemophilia A, a severe X-linked bleeding disorder. Current therapies include fixed-dose FVIII prophylaxis, factor replacement therapy, and most recently, gene therapy. Prophylaxis and FVIII replacement therapies are limited by incomplete efficacy, high cost, restricted availability, and development of neutralizing antibodies in chronically treated individuals. Limited success has been obtained in preclinical trials using gene therapy for the treatment of hemophilia. Therefore, new options for therapy for hemophilia A are needed. We evaluated the potential of embryonic stem cells for correcting hemophilia A in mice. FVIII-deficient mouse blastocysts were collected and injected with mouse embryonic stem cells stably expressing green-fluorescent protein (GFP) and transferred to pseudopregnant recipient mice. Expression of FVIII was measured in the liver and plasma of the 5 chimeric mice that were produced. Three of these mice were GFP-positive at the age of 6 months. The plasma FVIII activity levels were equal to those of wild-type mice. These data demonstrate that embryonic stem cell transplantation at an early embryonic stage has potential as therapy for this progressively debilitating, life-threatening bleeding disorder.

Parallel stranded DNA under the scanning tunnelling microscope.

Using scanning tunnelling microscopy, we have directly observed parallel stranded DNA helixes of 43 nucleotides in length. The double helix is right-handed and has an average spacing, 17.43 A (+/- 1 S.D.: 2.30 A), and an average apparent depth, 4.79 A (+/- 1 S.D.: 1.04 A) for each groove. The average pitch of the helical turn is 34 A (+/- 1 S.D.: 3.35 A) and consists of no more than ten base pairs. The diameter of the helix is approx. 17-20 A. Our results provide direct evidence for the existence of a parallel structure of DNA in vitro and some details of its fine structure.

Conformation of DNA-DNA polymerase I complex observed by scanning tunneling microscopy.

The conformation of a complex of a 41 mer/31 mer DNA fragment and the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I of Escherichia coli was studied by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). The results shows that near two turns of double helix of this DNA fragment was outside of enzyme while another part containing more than one turn of helix and 10 nucleotides single strand was combined with enzyme. The dimension and shape of DNA polymerase I (KF) in complex were different from that of free enzyme. The conformation of DNA-DNA polymerase I (KF) complex and the application of STM in studying structure of complex of DNA polymerase with DNA were discussed.