Hypomethylation of Thyroid Peroxidase as a Biomarker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Tumor Thrombosis.

OBJECTIVE: Thyroid hormones (THs) regulate multiple physiological activities in the liver, including cellular metabolism, differentiation, and cell growth, and play important roles in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) is a key molecule involved in the THs synthesis and signaling pathway. As an epigenetic modification, DNA methylation has a critical role in tumorigenesis with diagnostic potential. However, the connection between THs and DNA methylation has been rarely investigated. METHODS: The methylation of key TH-related genes was analyzed by in-house epigenome-wide scanning, and we further analyzed the methylation levels of the TPO promotor in 164 sample pairs of HCC and adjacent non-cancerous tissues by Sequenom EpiTYPER assays, and evaluated their clinical implications. RESULTS: We identified that the methylation of the TPO promoter was downregulated in the HCC tissues (P<0.0001) with a mean difference ranging from 18.5% to 22.3%. This methylation pattern correlated with several clinical factors, including a multi-satellite tumor, fibrous capsule, and the presence of tumor thrombus. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis further confirmed that the percent methylated reference (PMR) values for TPO were predictive of the tumor [the area under the curve (AUC) ranged from 0.755 to 0.818] and the thrombosis in the HCC patients (the AUC ranged from 0.706 to 0.777). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that epigenetic alterations of TPO, as indicated by the PMR values, were a potential biomarker for HCC patients with tumor thrombosis.

[Feeding ecology of Decapterus maruadsi in the southern coastal area of Zhejiang based on stomach contents and stable isotope analysis.] / åŸºäºŽèƒƒå«ç‰©å’Œç¢³ã€æ°®ç¨³å®šåŒä½ç´ ç ”ç©¶æµ™æ±Ÿå—éƒ¨è¿‘æµ·è“åœ†é²¹çš„æ‘„é£Ÿç”Ÿæ€.

Decapterus maruadsi is an important economic pelagic fish in the southern coastal area of Zhejiang. According to the bottom trawl surveys conducted in May, August, November 2020 and January 2021, the feeding habits of D. maruadsi in the southern coastal area of Zhejiang were examined by both stable isotope (carbon, δ13C, and nitrogen, δ15N) and stomach content analyses. Results showed that the δ13C value of D. maruadsi ranged from -17.76‰ to -15.25‰, with a mean of (-16.55±0.60)‰, while the δ15N value ranged from 9.06‰ and 13.03‰, with a mean of (11.76±0.88)‰. There was a significant negative correlation between the δ13C values and fork length, and a positive relationship between the δ15N with fork length. Results from stomach content analysis showed that the main prey groups of D. maruadsi were fish, shrimp, crabs, Cephalopod, Polychaete, and small crustaceans. As for the stable isotope analysis, the nutritional contribution rate of shrimp was the highest (40%-84%) among all prey groups, followed by Polychaete, small crustaceans, crabs, Cephalopods and fish. Significant ontogenetic dietary changes were found for D. maruadsi. As the fork length of D. maruadsi increased, it tended to eat prey from higher trophic levels.

[Feeding habits of Rhinogobius pflaumi in Jiaozhou Bay, China based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis]. / åŸºäºŽç¢³ã€æ°®ç¨³å®šåŒä½ç´ ç ”ç©¶èƒ¶å·žæ¹¾æ™®æ°æ ‰è™¾è™Žé±¼çš„æ‘„é£Ÿä¹ æ€§.

Rhinogobius pflaumi is a small-sized, warm-temperate demersal fish species. It is one of the dominant species in fish community, and plays an important role in Jiaozhou Bay ecosystem. The trophic level and feeding habits of R. pflaumi were investigated by carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis, based on the data collected from the bottom trawl surveys during May 2011 in Jiaozhou Bay, China in this study. The results showed that the δ15N and δ13C values of R. pflaumi ranged from 11.24‰ to 13.99‰ and -20.67‰ to -18.46‰, respectively. The mean values of δ15N and δ13C were (12.70±0.70)‰ and (-19.08±0.36)‰, respectively. The mean trophic level of R. pflaumi was (3.62±0.21) for all size classes, ranging from 3.49 to 3.76 for different size classes. There was a significant negative correlation between the δ15N values and standard length, while no significant correlation was observed between δ13C values and standard length. The main prey groups of R. pflaumi were polychaeta, decapoda and mollusca. The trophic contributions of zooplankton and particle organic matter (POM) were relatively low. The similarities of prey species composition among different size classes were more than 92%, indicating that there was no significant difference in feeding habits with different standard lengths. R. pflaumi was an intermediate consumer in Jiaozhou Bay ecosystem. The significant negative correlation between trophic level and standard length might be due to variation in the proportion of different prey groups.

Genomic expression profiling and bioinformatics analysis of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a polygenic disease and the fourth leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide; however, the tumorigenesis of pancreatic cancer remains poorly understood. Research at a molecular level, which includes the exploration of biomarkers for early diagnosis and specific targets for therapy, may effectively aid in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in its early stages and in the development of targeted molecular­biological approaches for treatment, thus improving prognosis. By conducting expression profiling in para­carcinoma, carcinoma and relapse of human pancreatic tissues, 319 genes or transcripts with differential expression levels >3­fold between these tissue types were identified. Further analysis with Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes demonstrated that the translation, nucleus assembly processes and molecular functions associated with vitamin B6 and pyridoxal phosphate binding in pancreatic carcinoma were abnormal. Pancreatic cancer was additionally identified to be closely associated with certain autoimmune diseases, including type I diabetes mellitus and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Effect of Huanshuai Recipe Oral Liquid ([characters: see text]) on renal dysfunction progression in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Huanshuai Recipe Oral Liquid ([characters: see text], HSR) on retarding the progression of renal dysfunction in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS). METHODS: A total of 52 ARAS patients with the Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome of qi deficiency and blood stasis, phlegm and dampness retention were recruited and randomly assigned into the treatment group (36 cases) and the control group (16 cases). Both groups received a basic treatment (high-quality low-protein diet, blood pressure control, lipid-lowering, correcting the acidosis, etc.). In addition, the treatment group received 20 mL HSR and the control group received placebo, 3 times a day for 6 months. Renal function (serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and uric acid) and blood lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides and low density lipoprotein) were examined monthly. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and CM syndrome score were compared between groups. RESULTS: After treatment, compared with the control group, the serum creatinine level, uric acid level and CM syndrome score of the treatment group were significantly decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the eGFR in the treatment group were significantly increased (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: HSR can effectively improve the renal function and clinical symptoms of ARAS patients.

Hypoxia inducible factor-1α suppresses Peroxiredoxin 3 expression to promote proliferation of CCRCC cells.

Peroxiredoxin 3 (Prx3) is a mitochondrial member of the antioxidant family of thioredoxin peroxidases that uses mitochondrial thioredoxin 2 as a source of reducing equivalents to scavenge hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Here, we report that the protein levels of Prx3 are significantly reduced in VHL-deficient clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC). Furthermore, stabilization of HIF-1α protein, caused either by VHL deficiency under normoxia, or by hypoxia, significantly reduced Prx3 expression. Luciferase-reporter and chromatin-immunoprecipitation assays indicated that HIF-1α binds to the hypoxia-responsive elements of PRDX3 promoter and represses its transcription. Finally, shRNA-based assays suggested that Prx3 downregulation is required for the HIF-1α-dependent proliferation of CCRCC cells. Taken together, our results shed new light onto the mechanism of HIF-1α-dependent proliferation in CCRCC cells.

[Feeding ecology of Amblychaeturichthys hexanema in Jiaozhou Bay, China].

From February to November 2011, four seasonal bottom trawl surveys were conducted in the Jiaozhou Bay of China. A total of 624 Amblychaeturichthys hexanema individuals were collected to analyze their stomach contents, with the feeding ecology of A. hexanema studied. The prey items of A. hexanema included more than 40 species, among which, Alpheus japonicas, Philine kinglippini, and Leptochela gracilis were the dominant prey species. The diet composition of A. hexanema had an obvious seasonal variation, with the gastropods, fish, decapods, and microcrustacean being the most important prey items in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. This phenomenon could be mainly related to the seasonal variations in the species and biomass of the preys in Jiaozhou Bay. With the increase of predator size, the prey species of A. hexanema varied from small size copepod to larger sizes P. kinglippini, Raphidopus ciliates, and A. japonicas. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that water temperature and salinity were the most important factors affecting the feeding of A. hexanema, followed by predator size and water pH.