Effects of hydroxy methionine zinc on growth performance, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of red claw crayfish (Procambarus clarkii).

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of varying zinc (Zn) levels on the growth performance, non-specific immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of red claw crayfish (Procambarus clarkii (P. clarkii)). Adopting hydroxy methionine zinc (Zn-MHA) as the Zn source, 180 healthy crayfish with an initial body mass of 6.50 ± 0.05 g were randomly divided into the following five groups: X1 (control group) and groups X2, X3, X4, and X5, which were fed the basal feed supplemented with Zn-MHA with 0, 15, 30, 60, and 90 mg kg-1, respectively. The results indicated that following the addition of various concentrations of Zn-MHA to the diet, the following was observed: Specific growth rate (SGR), weight gain rate (WGR), total protein (TP), total cholesterol (TC), the activities of alkaline phosphatase (AKP), phenoloxidase (PO), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and catalase (CAT), the expression of CTL, GPX, and CuZn-SOD genes demonstrated a trend of rising and then declining-with a maximum value in group X4-which was significantly higher than that in group X1 (P < 0.05). Zn deposition in the intestine and hepatopancreas, the activity of GSH-PX, and the expression of GSH-PX were increased, exhibiting the highest value in group X5. The malonaldehyde (MDA) content was significantly reduced, with the lowest value in group X4, and the MDA content of the Zn-MHA addition groups were significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.05). In the analysis of the intestinal microbiota of P. clarkii, the number of operational taxonomic units in group X4 was the highest, and the richness and diversity indexes of groups X3 and X4 were significantly higher than those in group X1 (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the dietary addition of Zn-MHA decreased and increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Tenericutes, respectively. These findings indicate that supplementation of dietary Zn-MHA at an optimum dose of 60 mg kg-1 may effectively improve growth performance, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota richness and species diversity in crayfish.

Expression of miR-425-5p in Pancreatic Carcinoma and Its Correlation with Tumor Immune Microenvironment.

Background: Pancreatic carcinoma (PC) is a global health threat with a high death rate. miRNAs are implicated in tumor initiation and progression. This study explored the expression of miR-425-5p in PC patients and its correlation with tumor immune microenvironment (TIME).Method: miR-425-5p expression in cancer tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues of PC patients was examined by RT-qPCR. The levels of immune cells and cytokines were measured by flow cytometry and ELISA. The correlation of miR-425-5p with TNM stage and TIME was assessed by Spearman method. The death of PC patients was recorded through 36-month follow-ups. The prognosis of patients was assessed by Kaplan-Meier curves.Results: miR-425-5p expression was upregulated in PC tissues and elevated with increasing TNM stage. miR-425-5p expression was positively correlated with TNM stage. The PC tissues had decreased levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and natural killer (NK) cells, CD4+/CD8+ ratio, IL-2, and INF-γ, but increased levels of Tregs, IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-ß. miR-425-5p level in cancer tissues was positively correlated with Tregs/IL-10/TGF-ß, but negatively related to CD3+/CD4+/CD8+/NK cells and IL-2/INF-γ. Moreover, high miR-425-5p expression predicted a poor prognosis in PC patients.Conclusion: miR-425-5p is upregulated in PC patients and is prominently associated with the TIME, and high miR-425-5p predicts a poor prognosis in PC patients.

Biomedical statistics study on the correlation between peripheral blood follicular helper T cell subsets and primary Sjogren's syndrome.

To study the expressions of follicular helper T cell (Tfh) subsets--Tfh1, Tfh2, and Tfh17, in peripheral blood (PB) of primary Sjogren's syndrome (PSS) patients in the active phase and remission period after treatment, and to analyze the pathogenic effects of Tfh subsets in PSS patients. The proportions of Tfh1, Tfh2, and Tfh17 were measured by flow cytometry in the healthy group, PSS patients group, active phase group, and remission phase group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect IL-21 expression in SS patients in active and remission stages. Biomedical statistics was used to analyze the correlation between Tfh subsets and SS disease activity index; and analyze the correlation between the proportions of Tfh subsets in the healthy group, primary group, active stage, and remission stage In contrast with the healthy group, the levels of Tfh1, Tfh2, and Tfh17 in CD4+ T cells of PSS patients were prominently reduced. PSS patients in the active phase had significantly lower Tfh1, Tfh2, and Tfh17 levels but remarkably higher IL-21 levels than in the remission phase. The contents of Tfh1, Tfh2, and Tfh17 are negatively correlated with the severity of PSS.

A novel peptide-templated AgNPs nanoprobe for theranostics of prostate cancer.

Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive exosomes have the potential to serve as highly sensitive biomarkers for prostate cancer detection. Herein, a sensitive electrochemical biosensor for the ultrasensitive detection of PSMA-positive exosomes has been constructed based on a peptide-templated AgNPs nanoprobe. In this work, PSMA-specific binding peptides immobilized on a gold electrode were responsible for prostate cancer-derived exosomes capturing. Well-designed peptide (CCY- LWYIKC) serves a dual role: as a signal probe and as a recognizer in the exosomes-identification process. Specifically, LWYIKC bind to cholesterol at the exosome membranes, and CCY function as peptide templates to host a large number of silver nanoparticles, leading to a strong electrochemical signal. Thus, the concentration of exosomes can be quantified via electrochemical signal. This innovative method displayed a wide detection range of 102 to 108 particles/µL and a detection limit as low as 37 particles/µL. Notably, the method has shown outstanding performance when validated using clinical samples, suggesting its potential for clinical applications.

Multifunctional Targeting Liposomes of Epirubicin Plus Resveratrol Improved Therapeutic Effect on Brain Gliomas.

Introduction: The inability of many therapeutic molecules to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) combined with poor penetration into tumor tissue leads to difficult challenges for treatment of brain tumors. In order to settle these hurdles, we developed a novel multifunctional targeting carrier which enables drugs to transport across the BBB and targets brain tumor tissues. Methods: In the multifunctional targeting liposomes, the natural compound resveratrol (RES) was incorporated into the lipid bilayer membranes of liposomes, while p-aminophenyl-α-D-manno-pyranoside (MAN) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) were conjugated to the liposomal surface. Epirubicin (EPI) as an anticancer drug was then loaded into liposomes. Then, liposomes were characterized by evaluation on particle size, zeta potential and apparent morphology. The epirubicin plus resveratrol liposomes modified with WGA and MAN were applied to glioma cells and BBB model in vitro and C6 glioma-bearing rats in vivo. Results: The multifunctional targeting liposomes were round shaped with a smooth surface and uniform particle size. In consideration of the SRB results, the multifunctional targeting liposomes indicated a significant inhibitory effect, suggesting that MAN plus WGA generated robust drug delivery effects into the brain tumor cells. The glioma cells after administering epirubicin plus resveratrol liposomes modified with WGA and MAN displayed the most significant uptake and apoptosis conducted by flow cytometry. In the multifunctional targeting effects assay, the epirubicin plus resveratrol liposomes modified with WGA and MAN exhibited the strongest effects of crossing the BBB and then targeting brain tumor cells. In tumor-bearing rats after applying multifunctional targeting liposomes, the median survival time was evidently observed as being markedly longer than other controls. Conclusion: The epirubicin plus resveratrol liposomes modified with WGA and MAN exhibited strong ability to improve epirubicin and resveratrol transporting across the BBB and therapeutic effect on brain glioma, showing multifunctional targeting capability.

Systems Pharmacology-Based Dissection of Anti-Cancer Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Herb Saussurea involucrata.

Cancer has the highest mortality in humans worldwide, and the development of effective drugs remains a key issue. Traditional Chinese medicine Saussurea involucrata (SI) exhibits a series of effects, such as anti-cancer, but the action mechanisms are still unclear. Here, systems pharmacology was applied to reveal its anti-cancer mechanism. First, we screened the active compounds of SI. Then, the compound-target network, target-disease network, and target-pathway network were constructed. DAVID was applied for GOBP analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis on cancer-related targets. Seven potential compounds and 187 targets were identified. The target-disease classification network showed that compounds mainly regulated proteins related to cancer, nervous system diseases, and cardiovascular system diseases. Also, SI anti-tumor effect mainly associated with the regulation of NO production, angiogenesis, MAPK, and PKB from GOBP enrichment. Additionally, KEGG pathway enrichment indicated that targets involved in anti-inflammatory action, inhibiting angiogenesis and anti-proliferation or inducing apoptosis. Experimental validation showed that four active compounds could inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis in A549 (except for kaempferol), PC-3, and C6 cells. This study not only provides experimental evidence for further research on SI in cancer treatment but also promotes the development of potential drugs of SI in modern medicine.

Enzyme-Initiated Assembly of an Extracellular-Like Two-Dimensional Nanonetwork as a Method to Detect Procancerous Activity.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) enzymes such as lysyl oxidase (LOX) provide a new possibility to contain the invasive progress of cancer. Unlike conventional enzymes, the activity of ECM enzymes is not simply the conversion of the substrate to the product; the amount of enzymes such as matrix metalloproteinases in the ECM changes the structural integrity and morphology of the ECM. These are all important aspects that must be monitored in a spatiotemporally coupled fashion to fully understand their procancerous effect. To achieve this goal, a new molecular probe is developed, which, unlike antibodies or aptamers, can interact with the target enzyme in a more interactive way: the probe can withdraw the metal ion cofactor of the enzyme and modulate its catalytic ability. This can lead to self-propagated cross-linking of the probes to form a network not dissimilar to the collagen and elastin network of the ECM, formed through LOX activity. Thus, the biosensing process itself is a biomimetic of what may occur in vivo in the ECM, and three distinct types of signal readouts can be simultaneously recorded on the sensing surface to provide a fuller picture of ECM enzyme activity, not achievable with traditional designs. Using this method, a parallel between the detected signal and the progress of colorectal cancer can be observed. These results may point to prospective application of this method in evaluating ECM-related tumor invasiveness in the future.

Zr4+-mediated hybrid chain reaction and its application for highly sensitive electrochemical detection of protein kinase A.

An electrochemical platform has been developed to detect protein kinase activity through the combined actions of Zr4+ mediated signal transition and hybridization chain reaction (HCR)-stimulated DNAzymes nanowires. First of all, protein kinase A (PKA) phosphorylates substrate peptides immobilized on gold electrode surface. Thereafter, the DNA1 containing 5'-phosphoryl ends is linked to the phosphorylated substrate peptide via the robust phosphate-Zr4+-phosphate linkages. By the introduction of molecular beacons (MBs), the DNA1 can open the hairpin structures of MBs through toehold mediated strand displacement (TMSDR), leading to an autonomous stem-opening process and subsequent assembly of G-quadruplex-containing DNA chains by HCR. After the addition of hemin, the formed HRP-mimicking DNAzymes can catalyze the hydroquinone-H2O2 system to generate amplified electrochemical signals. As expected, this method can achieve ultrahigh analytical performance with a low detection limit of 0.02U/mL and exhibit high cost-savings potential without the need for antibody, protease and labeling. Therefore, this method can serve as a new tool for the assay of protein kinase A and its inhibitor screening in the future.

Impact of COVID-19 on Anxiety, Stress, and Coping Styles in Nurses in Emergency Departments and Fever Clinics: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

BACKGROUND: During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, emergency departments and fever clinics nurses acted as gatekeepers to the health care system. To manage the psychological problems that these nurses experience, we should develop appropriate training and intervention programs. OBJECTIVE: To identify the impact of COVID-19 on the psychology of Chinese nurses in emergency departments and fever clinics and to identify associated factors. METHODS: This online cross-sectional study recruited participants through snowball sampling between 13 February and 20 February 2020. Nurses self-administered the online questionnaires, including a general information questionnaire, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale-14, and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. RESULTS: We obtained 481 responses, of which 453 were valid, an effective response rate of 94.18%. Participants who had the following characteristics had more mental health problems: female gender, fear of infection among family members, regretting being a nurse, less rest time, more night shifts, having children, lack of confidence in fighting transmission, not having emergency protection training, and negative professional attitude. CONCLUSION: Effective measures are necessary to preserve mental health of nurses in emergency departments and fever clinics. These include strengthening protective training, reducing night shifts, ensuring adequate rest time, and timely updating the latest pandemic situation.

Downregulation of miR-1224 protects against oxidative stress-induced acute liver injury by regulating hepatocyte growth factor.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of microRNA-1224 (miR-1224) on hydrogen peroxide (H2 O 2 )-induced oxidative stress injury in hepatocytes, and explore its underlying mechanism. METHODS: L02 cells were treated with H2 O 2 (100 mmol/L) to establish the model of an oxidative stress injury in hepatocytes. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression of miR-1224 and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in L02 cells. L02 cells were transfected with anti-miR-con (H 2 O 2 + anti-miR-con group), anti-miR-1224 (H 2 O 2 + anti-miR-1224 group), pcDNA3.1 (H 2 O 2 + ctrl group), pcDNA3.1-HGF (H 2 O 2 + HGF group), si-HGF and anti-miR-1224 (H 2 O 2 + anti-miR-1224 + HGF group), si-NC and anti-miR-1224 (H 2 O 2 + anti-miR-1224 + ctrl group) by liposome method. Cells without any treatment were regarded as a negative control (NC) group. The protein expression of HGF in each group cells was detected by Western blot analysis. Cell viability and apoptosis of each group were detected by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay or flow cytometry, respectively. The interaction between miR-1224 and HGF was measured by dual luciferase reporter gene assay. RESULTS: The expression of miR-1224 was enhanced in H2 O 2 -treated L02 cells and its knockdown alleviated H 2 O 2 -induced suppression of viability and promotion of apoptosis. HGF is a target of miR-1224 and its overexpression abated H 2 O 2 -induced injury in hepatocytes. Moreover, silencing of HGF rescued the effect of downregulation of miR-1224 on cell viability and apoptosis in H 2 O 2 -treated L02 cell. CONCLUSION: Downregulation of miR-1224 could attenuate oxidative stress-induced inhibition of viability and increase of apoptosis in hepatocytes by targeting HGF, which may provide a target for potential therapy of acute liver injury.

Proteinase and glycoside hydrolase production is enhanced in solid-state fermentation by manipulating the carbon and nitrogen fluxes in Aspergillus oryzae.

Soy sauce materials of soybean meal and wheat bran were evaluated in solid-state (koji) fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation (SmF) by Aspergillus oryzae. Proteinase production in SSF (2331 ±â€¯39 U g-1) was about 4.9 times higher than that in SmF (477 ±â€¯13 U g-1), and glycoside hydrolase was approximately 2 times higher in SSF than that in SmF. In addition, protein expression of iTRAQ analysis deepens our understanding of the secreting mechanism. Abundant proteinases (dipeptidase, dipeptidyl aminopeptidase, puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, Xaa-pro aminopeptidase, neutral protease 2 and leucine aminopeptidase 2), along with the glycoside hydrolase (glycoamylase, glucosidase and ß-xylanase) were secreted at the late stage of SSF, but tripeptidyl peptidase sed 2 was proposed as an indispensable protease in SmF or the early stage of SSF. Several metabolites associated with the carbon flux and amino acid biosynthesis were proved to be regulated by the proteinase and glycoside hydrolase production.

Effects of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride on hemodynamics, postoperative analgesia and cognition in cesarean section.

The present study aims to investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride (Dex) on hemodynamics, postoperative analgesia and cognition in cesarean section. One hundred and two pregnant women who underwent cesarean section were selected from August 2016 to July 2017 in People's Hospital of Zhangqiu District and randomly divided into control group and observation group. Control group was anesthetized with bupivacaine hydrochloride, and morphine + ropivacaine hydrochloride were given postoperatively. Observation group received intraoperative anesthesia with bupivacaine hydrochloride and Dex, and Dex + ropivacaine hydrochloride were given for postoperative analgesia. Hemodynamic factors were compared between the two groups. Postoperative Ramsay sedation score, the incidence of adverse reactions and the incidence of transient neurological syndrome (TNS) were compared between the two groups. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scoring were performed to evaluate the cognitive function of the two groups. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of the observation group after anesthesia were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05). The Ramsay sedation score of the observation group was significantly better than that of control group at different time-points after surgery (P<0.05). Incidence of postoperative agitation in observation group was significantly lower than that in control group (P<0.05). Incidence of TNS in observation group was significantly lower than that in control group during 1 week after surgery (P<0.05). MoCA and MMSE scores of the observation group were better than that of control group at 1 day after operation (P<0.05). The use of Dex anesthesia in cesarean section can achieve more stable hemodynamic conditions during perioperative period and more obvious analgesic effect after operation. It also reduced the incidence of postoperative TNS and cognitive dysfunction, and had important clinical significance.

Correlation between the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α and hs-CRP and unfavorable fetal outcomes in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension.

The expression of inflammatory factors, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) was investigated, to analyze correlation of expression levels of these factors in patients with unfavorable fetal outcome. A total of 100 patients diagnosed with PIH treated in Jining First People's Hospital (Jining, China) from January 2012 to October 2017 were selected as the experimental group, while 100 normal pregnant women during the same period were selected as the control group. Results showed that the levels of IL-6, TNF-α and hs-CRP in patients with PIH were significantly higher than those in normal pregnant women (p<0.01). There were significant differences in levels of IL-6, TNF-α and hs-CRP among patients with hypertension in different degrees. The expression levels of IL-6, TNF-α and hs-CRP in PIH patients with favorable pregnancy outcome were lower than those in patients with unfavorable pregnancy outcome (p<0.05). Moreover, the expression levels of IL-6, TNF-α and hs-CRP had a linearly positive correlation with systolic blood pressure in PIH patients. Age, height and weight had no significant correlation with unfavorable pregnancy outcome of PIH patients (p>0.05). Finally, inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6 and hs-CRP) and blood pressure were obviously and positively correlated with unfavorable pregnancy outcome of PIH patients (p<0.05). In conclusion, the expression of inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6 and hs-CRP) in PIH patients are positively correlated with the systolic blood pressure and unfavorable fetal outcome of patients, which can be used as indexes of prognosis evaluation of PIH patients.

Extracellular Proteome Analysis and Flavor Formation During Soy Sauce Fermentation.

Aspergillus oryzae is an excellent strain for soy sauce fermentation because of its complicated enzyme system, especially protease. The aim of this study was to investigate the key enzymes and flavors during soy sauce fermentation, and a comparative assessment of extracellular enzymes during various fermentation stages at the proteomic level via iTRAQ analysis is presented. Many important enzymes related to the amino acid and glucose metabolisms participated in the material decomposition under high-salt stress. Dipeptidase, dipeptidyl aminopeptidase, leucine aminopeptidase, aspartic protease pep1, and extracellular metalloproteinase played positive roles during the early stage of soybean mash fermentation, whilst leucine aminopeptidase A and extracellular metalloproteinase NpI were the dominant proteolytic enzymes during the later period of fermentation. At the same time, ß-glucosidase and ß-xylanase exerted great effects upon glucose metabolism throughout the fermentation process. The results show that protease and amylolytic enzymes are complementary in the formation of flavors such as alcohols, acids, esters, aldehydes, furans, and pyrazines during soy sauce fermentation.

IL-17 inhibits the accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in breast cancer via activating STAT3.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancers, with high recurrence rate and poor prognosis of recurrent metastatic disease. In our study, we analyzed the markers and development of markers of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) for BC progression and occurrence. MDSCs is one of the major orchestrators of the immunosuppressive network, are associated with immune suppression and considered a prime target for cancer immunotherapy. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a signature cytokine of Th17 cells. Previous research has indicated that IL-17 plays a proinflammatory role. It was found to increase frequencies at certain tumors and involved in angiogenesis. This study aims to elucidate the biological role of IL-17 on MDSC in BC cells. Expression of MDSC in peripheral blood of 80 BCE patients and 20 healthy volunteers was compared. Our results indicate that MDSC numbers in patients with BC were higher than healthy donors. Moreover, the clinical grade and prognosis were correlate with the number of MDSC. In this study, we investigated the effect of IL-17 on MDSCs. CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were used to assess the proliferation and apoptosis of cells. The expression of key MDSC-related molecules was detected by western blotting. We identified administration with IL-17 in vitro significantly induced MDSC differentiation, inhibited their proliferation and triggered apoptosis. In addition, Low IL-17 inhibited the activation of STAT3, leading to increase formation of MDSCs in BC. Our results from experiments suggest that the effects of IL-17 mediate activation of STAT3 signaling in BC cells. Taken together, our study shows that MDSCs can be a new type prognostic marker in BC patient. Targeting IL-17/Stat3 signaling may be a promising strategy for BC treatment.

Evaluating semantic similarity between Chinese biomedical terms through multiple ontologies with score normalization: An initial study.

BACKGROUND: Semantic similarity estimation significantly promotes the understanding of natural language resources and supports medical decision making. Previous studies have investigated semantic similarity and relatedness estimation between biomedical terms through resources in English, such as SNOMED-CT or UMLS. However, very limited studies focused on the Chinese language, and technology on natural language processing and text mining of medical documents in China is urgently needed. Due to the lack of a complete and publicly available biomedical ontology in China, we only have access to several modest-sized ontologies with no overlaps. Although all these ontologies do not constitute a complete coverage of biomedicine, their coverage of their respective domains is acceptable. In this paper, semantic similarity estimations between Chinese biomedical terms using these multiple non-overlapping ontologies were explored as an initial study. METHODS: Typical path-based and information content (IC)-based similarity measures were applied on these ontologies. From the analysis of the computed similarity scores, heterogeneity in the statistical distributions of scores derived from multiple ontologies was discovered. This heterogeneity hampers the comparability of scores and the overall accuracy of similarity estimation. This problem was addressed through a novel language-independent method by combining semantic similarity estimation and score normalization. A reference standard was also created in this study. RESULTS: Compared with the existing task-independent normalization methods, the newly developed method exhibited superior performance on most IC-based similarity measures. The accuracy of semantic similarity estimation was enhanced through score normalization. This enhancement resulted from the mitigation of heterogeneity in the similarity scores derived from multiple ontologies. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated the potential necessity of score normalization when estimating semantic similarity using ontology-based measures. The results of this study can also be extended to other language systems to implement semantic similarity estimation in biomedicine.

[The progress of inner ear malformation in radiological research].

Inner ear malformations are anomalies linking to development insults at different periods of embryogenesis,which are common causes of congenital sensorineural hearing loss. The evaluation of pediatric sensorineural hearing loss mostly depends on high-resolution computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which can excellently depict the temporal bones and inner ear malformations.

Mutation of V896M in cardiac myosin binding protein-c gene in two Chinese families with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

To investigate the genotype-phenotype correlation in Chinese familial and sporadic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, specific exons of the myosin binding protein-c gene (MYBPC3) were screened in six families with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM; FHCM) and in 20 patients with sporadic HCM (SHCM) from the Anhui Province region of China. The V896M mutation was detected for the first time in China in two families with FHCM. The mutation was not found in 100 healthy control subjects. No mutations of MYBPC3 were detected in any of the SHCM patients. In contrast to previous reports, the V896M mutation may be a disease-causing mutation in China, and exon 27 of MYBPC3 may be a mutational hotspot in FHCM patients. However, mutations of MYBPC3 were not prevalent among SHCM patients.