KG4NH: A Comprehensive Knowledge Graph for Question Answering in Dietary Nutrition and Human Health.

It is commonly known that food nutrition is closely related to human health. The complex interactions between food nutrients and diseases, influenced by gut microbial metabolism, present challenges in systematizing and practically applying knowledge. To address this, we propose a method for extracting triples from a vast amount of literature, which is used to construct a comprehensive knowledge graph on nutrition and human health. Concurrently, we develop a query-based question answering system over our knowledge graph, proficiently addressing three types of questions. The results show that our proposed model outperforms other state-of-art methods, achieving a precision of 0.92, a recall of 0.81, and an F1 score of 0.86 in the nutrition and disease relation extraction task. Meanwhile, our question answering system achieves an accuracy of 0.68 and an F1 score of 0.61 on our benchmark dataset, showcasing competitiveness in practical scenarios. Furthermore, we design five independent experiments to assess the quality of the data structure in the knowledge graph, ensuring results characterized by high accuracy and interpretability. In conclusion, the construction of our knowledge graph shows significant promise in facilitating diet recommendations, enhancing patient care applications, and informing decision-making in clinical research.

Screening of differentially methylated genes in skeletal fluorosis of rats with different types and involvement of aberrant methylation of Cthrc1.

Fluoride is a widespread pollutant in the environment. There is a high risk of developing skeletal fluorosis from excessive fluoride exposure. Skeletal fluorosis has different phenotypes (including osteosclerotic, osteoporotic and osteomalacic) under the same fluoride exposure and depends on dietary nutrition. However, the existing mechanistic hypothesis of skeletal fluorosis cannot well explain the condition's different pathological manifestations and their logical relation with nutritional factors. Recent studies have shown that DNA methylation is involved in the occurrence and development of skeletal fluorosis. DNA methylation is dynamic throughout life and may be affected by nutrition and environmental factors. We speculated that fluoride exposure leads to the abnormal methylation of genes related to bone homeostasis under different nutritional statuses, resulting in different skeletal fluorosis phenotypes. The mRNA-Seq and target bisulfite sequencing (TBS) result showed differentially methylated genes in rats with different skeletal fluorosis types. The role of the differentially methylated gene Cthrc1 in the formation of different skeletal fluorosis types was explored in vivo and in vitro. Under normal nutritional conditions, fluoride exposure led to hypomethylation and high expression of Cthrc1 in osteoblasts through TET2 demethylase, which promoted osteoblast differentiation by activating Wnt3a/ß-catenin signalling pathway, and participated in the occurrence of osteosclerotic skeletal fluorosis. Meanwhile, the high CTHRC1 protein expression also inhibited osteoclast differentiation. Under poor dietary conditions, fluoride exposure led to hypermethylation and low expression of Cthrc1 in osteoblasts through DNMT1 methyltransferase, and increased the RANKL/OPG ratio, which promoted the osteoclast differentiation and participated in the occurrence of osteoporotic/osteomalacic skeletal fluorosis. Our study expands the understanding of the role of DNA methylation in regulating the formation of different skeletal fluorosis types and provides insights into new prevention and treatment strategies for patients with skeletal fluorosis.

Fast Near-Field Frequency-Diverse Computational Imaging Based on End-to-End Deep-Learning Network.

The ability to sculpt complex reference waves and probe diverse radiation field patterns have facilitated the rise of metasurface antennas, while there is still a compromise between the required wide operation band and the non-overlapping characteristic of radiation field patterns. Specifically, the current computational image formation process with a classic matched filter and other sparsity-driven algorithms would inevitably face the challenge of a relatively confined scene information sampling ratio and high computational complexity. In this paper, we marry the concepts of a deep convolutional neural network with computational imaging literature. Compared with the current matched filter and compressed sensing reconstruction technique, our proposal could handle a relatively high correlation of measurement modes and low scene sampling ratio. With the delicately trained reconstruction network, point-size objects and more complicated targets can both be quickly and accurately reconstructed. In addition, the unavoidable heavy computation burden and essential large operation frequency band can be effectively mitigated. The simulated experiments with measured radiation field data verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Adaptive CFAR Method for SAR Ship Detection Using Intensity and Texture Feature Fusion Attention Contrast Mechanism.

Due to the complexity of sea surface environments, such as speckles and side lobes of ships, ship wake, etc., the detection of ship targets in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is still confronted with enormous challenges, especially for small ship targets. Aiming at the key problem of ship target detection in the complex environments, the article proposes a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) algorithm for SAR ship target detection based on the attention contrast mechanism of intensity and texture feature fusion. First of all, the local feature attention contrast enhancement is performed based on the intensity dissimilarity and the texture feature difference described by local binary pattern (LBP) between ship targets and sea clutter, so as to realize the target enhancement and background suppression. Furthermore, the adaptive CFAR ship target detection method based on generalized Gamma distribution (GΓD) which can fit the clutter well by the goodness-of-fit analyses is carried out. Finally, the public datasets HRSID and LS-SSDD-v1.0 are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed detection method. A large number of experimental results show that the proposed method can suppress clutter background and speckle noise and improve the target-to-clutter rate (TCR) significantly, and has the relative high detection rate and low false alarm rate in the complex background and multi-target marine environments.

Dynamic Analysis of Physicochemical Properties and Polysaccharide Composition during the Pile-Fermentation of Post-Fermented Tea.

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was used to study the diversity of tea polysaccharides and the dynamic changes in the physicochemical indexes of tea samples. FT-IR spectra and the free radical scavenging ability of tea polysaccharides, during pile-fermentation of post-fermented tea, were analyzed. The results showed that 23 saccharide co mponents in tea polysaccharides were identified: these belonged to 11 monosaccharides, 5 oligosaccharides, and 6 derivatives of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides. The abundance of oligosaccharides decreased gradually, while monosaccharides, and derivatives of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides increased gradually with the development of pile-fermentation. According to the differences in polysaccharide composition and their abundance, the tea polysaccharide samples extracted from different pile-fermentation stages could be clearly classed into three groups, W-0, W-1~W-4 and W-5~C-1. The pile-fermentation process affected the yield, the content of each component, FT-IR spectra, and the DPPH free radical scavenging ability of tea polysaccharides. Correlation analysis showed that microorganisms were directly related to the changes in composition and the abundance of polysaccharides extracted from different pile-fermentation stages. The study will further help to reveal the function of tea polysaccharides and promote their practical application as a functional food.

A semantic web technology index.

Semantic web (SW) technology has been widely applied to many domains such as medicine, health care, finance, geology. At present, researchers mainly rely on their experience and preferences to develop and evaluate the work of SW technology. Although the general architecture (e.g., Tim Berners-Lee's Semantic Web Layer Cake) of SW technology was proposed many years ago and has been well-known, it still lacks a concrete guideline for standardizing the development of SW technology. In this paper, we propose an SW technology index to standardize the development for ensuring that the work of SW technology is designed well and to quantitatively evaluate the quality of the work in SW technology. This index consists of 10 criteria that quantify the quality as a score of [Formula: see text]. We address each criterion in detail for a clear explanation from three aspects: (1) what is the criterion? (2) why do we consider this criterion and (3) how do the current studies meet this criterion? Finally, we present the validation of this index by providing some examples of how to apply the index to the validation cases. We conclude that the index is a useful standard to guide and evaluate the work in SW technology.

Inhibitory Effect of Polypeptides Produced by Brevibacillus brevis on Ochratoxigenic Fungi in the Process of Pile-Fermentation of Post-Fermented Tea.

Contamination by ochratoxigenic fungi and its prevention during the pile-fermentation of post-fermented tea have always been a concern. The present study aimed to elucidate the anti-fungal effect and mechanism of polypeptides produced by B. brevis DTM05 (isolated from post-fermented tea) on ochratoxigenic fungi, and to to evaluate their use in the pile-fermentation process of post-fermented tea. The results showed that polypeptides (produced by B. brevis DTM05) with a strong antifungal effect against A. carbonarius H9 mainly had a molecular weight between 3 and 5 kDa. The Fourier-transform infrared spectra of this polypeptide extract showed that it was a mixture consisting mainly of polypeptides and small amounts of lipids and other carbohydrates. The polypeptide extracts significantly inhibited the growth of A. carbonarius H9, and its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was 1.6 mg/L, which significantly reduced the survival rate of spores. The polypeptides also effectively controlled the occurrence and ochratoxin A (OTA) production of A. carbonarius H9 on the tea matrix. The lowest concentration of polypeptides that significantly inhibited the growth of A. carbonarius H9 on the tea matrix was 3.2 mg/L. The enhancement of the fluorescence staining signal in the mycelium and conidiospore showed that the polypeptides with a concentration of more than 1.6 mg/L increased the permeability of the mycelium membrane and conidial membrane of A. carbonarius H9. The significant increase in the extracellular conductivity of mycelia suggested the outward leakage of intracellular active substances, and also further indicated an increase in cell membrane permeability. Polypeptides with a concentration of 6.4 mg/L significantly down-regulated the expression level of the polyketide synthase gene related to OTA production (acpks) in A. carbonarius H9, which may be the fundamental reason why polypeptides affect OTA production. In conclusion, reasonable use of the polypeptides produced by B. brevis can destroy the structural integrity of the cell membrane, make the intracellular active substances leak outward, accelerate the death of fungal cells and down-regulate the expression level of the polyketide synthase gene in A. carbonarius; thus, they can effectively control the contamination of ochratoxigenic fungi and OTA production during the pile-fermentation of the post-fermented tea.

miR-486-3p regulates CyclinD1 and promotes fluoride-induced osteoblast proliferation and activation.

Fluoride is a persistent environmental pollutant, and its excessive intake contributes to skeletal and dental fluorosis. The mechanisms underlying fluoride-induced abnormal osteoblast proliferation and activation, which are related to skeletal fluorosis, have not yet been fully clarified. As important epigenetic regulators, microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in bone metabolism. On the basis of our previous miRNA-seq results and bioinformatics analysis, this study investigated the role and specific molecular mechanism of miR-486-3p in fluoride-induced osteoblast proliferation and activation via CyclinD1. Herein, in the fluoride-challenged population, we observed that miR-486-3p expression decreased while CyclinD1 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1 increased, and miR-486-3p level correlated negatively with the expression of CyclinD1 and TGF-ß1 genes. Further, we verified that sodium fluoride (NaF) decreases miR-486-3p expression in human osteoblasts and overexpression of miR-486-3p reduces fluoride-induced osteoblast proliferation and activation. Meanwhile, we demonstrated that miR-486-3p regulates NaF-induced upregulation of CyclinD1 by directly targeting its 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR). In addition, we observed that NaF activates the TGF-ß1/Smad2/3/CyclinD1 axis and miR-486-3p mediates transcriptional regulation of CyclinD1 by TGF-ß1/Smad2/3 signaling pathway via targeting TGF-ß1 3'-UTR in vitro. This study, thus, contributes significantly in revealing the mechanism of miR-486-3p-mediated CyclinD1 upregulation in skeletal fluorosis and sheds new light on endemic fluorosis treatment.

Let-7c-5p Regulates CyclinD1 in Fluoride-Mediated Osteoblast Proliferation and Activation.

Endemic fluorosis is caused by the intake of high environmental fluoride, which causes dental and skeletal fluorosis. Osteoblast proliferation and activation is closely related to skeletal fluorosis and is tightly regulated by the cell cycle. Several biological processes, including bone metabolism and osteoblast proliferation and activation, are regulated by a type of noncoding RNA called microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the understanding of miRNA functions in skeletal fluorosis is limited. Based on our previous miRNA sequencing results and bioinformatics analysis, we investigated the function of the miRNA let-7c-5p to regulate CyclinD1 in fluoride-induced osteoblast proliferation and activation. We designed population experiments as well as in vitro studies using 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, dual-luciferase reporters, and chromatin immunoprecipitation. The population-based analysis showed a decrease in let-7c-5p expression as fluoride exposure increased. In addition, let-7c-5p levels were negatively correlated with CyclinD1 and Wnt9a (another let-7c-5p target). We verified in vitro that let-7c-5p participates in the fluoride-induced proliferation and activation of human osteoblasts by directly targeting CyclinD1. Furthermore, we demonstrated that let-7c-5p regulates CyclinD1 expression via the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. This study demonstrated the participation of let-7c-5p in fluoride-induced proliferation and activation of human osteoblasts by regulation of CyclinD1 expression at the post-transcriptional and transcriptional levels.

Predicting the relationships between gut microbiota and mental disorders with knowledge graphs.

Gut microbiota produce and modulate the production of neurotransmitters which have been implicated in mental disorders. Neurotransmitters may act as 'matchmaker' between gut microbiota imbalance and mental disorders. Most of the relevant research effort goes into the relationship between gut microbiota and neurotransmitters and the other between neurotransmitters and mental disorders, while few studies collect and analyze the dispersed research results in systematic ways. We therefore gather the dispersed results that in the existing studies into a structured knowledge base for identifying and predicting the potential relationships between gut microbiota and mental disorders. In this study, we propose to construct a gut microbiota knowledge graph for mental disorder, which named as MiKG4MD. It is extendable by linking to future ontologies by just adding new relationships between existing information and new entities. This extendibility is emphasized for the integration with existing popular ontologies/terminologies, e.g. UMLS, MeSH, and KEGG. We demonstrate the performance of MiKG4MD with three SPARQL query test cases. Results show that the MiKG4MD knowledge graph is an effective method to predict the relationships between gut microbiota and mental disorders.

miR-122-5p Mediates Fluoride-Induced Osteoblast Activation by Targeting CDK4.

Chronic intake of fluoride, existing in the environment, may cause endemic fluorosis, which is characterized by the occurrence of skeletal and dental fluorosis. However, the pathogenesis of fluorosis has not yet been elucidated. Abnormal osteoblast proliferation and activation have a pivotal role in bone turnover disorders which are linked to skeletal fluorosis. MicroRNAs are involved in fundamental cellular processes, including cell proliferation. Based on our previous study, population study and in vitro experiments were designed to understand the effect of miR-122-5p on osteoblast activation in skeletal fluorosis through targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4). In human populations with coal-burning type fluoride exposure, the results showed that miR-122-5p was downregulated but CDK4 expression was upregulated and miR-122-5p was negatively correlated with CDK4 expression. Furthermore, in human osteoblasts treated with sodium fluoride, we demonstrated that miR-122-5p mediated osteoblast activation of skeletal fluorosis via upregulation of the CDK4 protein. In support of this, dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-122-5p modulated CDK4 protein levels by targeting its 3'-untranslated region. These findings show, for the first time, that miR-122-5p may be involved in the cause and development of skeletal fluorosis by targeting CDK4.

Downregulation of miR-4755-5p promotes fluoride-induced osteoblast activation via tageting Cyclin D1.

BACKGROUND: Endemic fluorosis remains a major public health issue in many countries. Fluoride can cause abnormalities in osteoblast proliferation and activation, leading to skeletal fluorosis. However, its detailed molecular mechanism remains unclear. Based on a previous study, the aim of this study is to explore the role of miRNA in osteoblast activation of skeletal fluorosis via targeting of Cyclin D1. METHODS: A population study of coal-burning fluorosis and in vitro experiments were performed in this study. Urine fluoride (UF) concentrations of the participants were determined using a national standardized ion selective electrode approach. Based on our previous miRNA sequence results, bioinformatic analysis was used to predict miR-4755-5p targeting Cyclin D1. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to verify the expression of miR-4755-5p. The expression of Cyclin D1 mRNA was detected by qRT-PCR. The expression of Cyclin D1 protein was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting, respectively. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 method. The distribution of the cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and bone Gla protein (BGP) content were detected by micronutrient enzymes standard method and ELISA. The target binding between miR-4755-5p and Cyclin D1 was verified using dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: In the fluoride-exposed population, the results showed that with the increase in UF content, the expression of miR-4755-5p decreased gradually, while the mRNA transcription and protein expression of Cyclin D1 increased gradually. The relative miR-4755-5p expression showed a negative correlation with Cyclin D1 expression. Subsequently, in human osteoblasts treated with sodium fluoride (NaF), the results also showed that NaF caused low expression of miR-4755-5p and increased expression of Cyclin D1. Further, the results of miR-4755-5p mimic transfection confirmed that under the action of NaF, miR-4755-5p overexpression reduced Cyclin D1 protein expression within osteoblasts and further inhibited cell proliferation and activation. Simultaneously, luciferase reporter assays verified that Cyclin D1 was the miR-4755-5p direct target. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that fluoride exposure induced the downregulation of miR-4755-5p and downregulated miR-4755-5p promoted fluoride-induced osteoblast activation by increasing Cyclin D1 protein expression. This study sheds new light on biomarkers and potential treatment for endemic fluorosis.

Inhibition Effect of Dictyophora Polysaccharides on Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line HCC-LM3.

BACKGROUND It has been reported that polysaccharides have potential novel anti-cancer properties. Previously, we confirmed that Dictyophora polysaccharides could significantly inhibit liver transplantation tumors in mice. However, the mechanism of Dictyophora polysaccharide action on human liver cancer is unclear. Here, we aimed to clarify the mechanism of Dictyophora polysaccharide action on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, namely the effect on cell proliferation, the cell cycle, and apoptosis, and on the apoptosis-related genes and proteins in vitro. MATERIAL AND METHODS The HCC-LM3 cell line was incubated with 2.5 mg/mL Dictyophora polysaccharides for 24, 48, and 72 h. The cell growth inhibition rate was evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8. Cell cycle and apoptosis were measured with flow cytometry. The expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins was measured using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting, respectively. RESULTS The Dictyophora polysaccharides inhibited HCC-LM3 cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner and blocked the cell cycle in the G2/M phase. In addition, Bax and caspase-3 expression were significantly increased after Dictyophora polysaccharides treatment. CONCLUSIONS To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published study on the mechanism of Dictyophora polysaccharide inhibition of HCC-LM3 cell proliferation.

Aberrant DNA methylation of Cyclind-CDK4-p21 is associated with chronic fluoride poisoning.

Endemic fluorosis is a serious problem in public health, affecting thousands of people. Abnormal proliferation and activation of osteoblasts in skeletal fluorosis lesions play a leading role and osteoblast proliferation is finely regulated by the cell cycle. There are a few reports on fluoride-induced DNA methylation. However, the role of DNA methylation of the cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)/cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CKI) regulatory network in skeletal fluorosis has not been investigated. We used a population study and in vitro experiment to explore the relationship between the pathogenesis of skeletal fluorosis and methylation of Cyclin d1/CDK4/p21. The results showed a positive relationship between fluoride exposure and expression of Cyclin d1/CDK4, and a negative relationship between fluoride exposure and expression of P21. Hypermethylation of p21 was found in the fluoride-exposed population, and low expression of p21 attributed to promoter hypermethylation was confirmed in vitro. However, no changes in methylation levels of Cyclin d1 and CDK4 genes were observed in the population exposed to fluoride and NaF-treated osteoblasts. These results show that methylation of p21 gene has a significant impact on the proliferation of osteoblasts during the development of skeletal fluorosis. The present study was a first attempt to link the methylation of the Cyclin d1/CDK4/p21 regulatory network with osteoblast proliferation in skeletal fluorosis.

Analysis of the microRNA Profile of Coal-Burning Endemic Fluorosis Using Deep Sequencing and Bioinformatic Approaches.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed in plasma were identified using microRNA sequencing (miRNA-seq), and five miRNAs were selected for validation. Potential target genes of these five miRNAs were predicted using the miRWalk3.0 database, and the overlapping portions were analyzed using the Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. Comparison of the cases and controls revealed 127 known differentially expressed miRNAs. A total of 44 and 83 miRNAs were upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Through target gene prediction of five miRNAs, we obtained 1360 target genes. GO enrichment analysis showed that the target genes of these dysregulated miRNAs were related with secretion, protein binding, and cell growth. The KEGG pathway analysis showed that pathways in cancer, calcium signaling, and rat sarcoma (Ras) signaling, etc. were likely regulated by these five miRNAs. These findings highlight the distinct expression patterns of miRNAs in coal-burning endemic fluorosis.

Histone Deacetylation in the Promoter of p16 Is Involved in Fluoride-Induced Human Osteoblast Activation via the Inhibition of Sp1 Binding.

Chronic fluorosis is a systemic condition which principally manifests as defects in the skeleton and teeth. Skeletal fluorosis is characterized by aberrant proliferation and activation of osteoblasts, however, the underlying mechanisms of osteoblast activation induced by fluoride are not fully understood. Therefore, we investigated the pathogenic mechanism of human primary osteoblast proliferation and activation in relation to histone acetylation of the promoter p16, a well-known cell cycle regulation-related gene. The results showed that sodium fluoride (NaF) induced deacetylation and decreased expression of the p16 gene via inhibition of specificity protein 1 (Sp1) binding to its response element, which accounts for NaF increasing cell viability and promoting proliferation in human primary osteoblasts. These results reveal the regulatory mechanism of histone acetylation of the p16 gene on osteoblast activation in skeletal fluorosis.

Aberrant methylation-induced dysfunction of p16 is associated with osteoblast activation caused by fluoride.

Chronic exposure to fluoride continues to be a public health problem worldwide, affecting thousands of people. Fluoride can cause abnormal proliferation and activation of osteoblast and osteoclast, leading to skeletal fluorosis that can cause pain and harm to joints and bones and even lead to permanent disability. Nevertheless, there is no recognized mechanism to explain the bone lesions of fluorosis. In this work, we performed a population study and in vitro experiments to investigate the pathogenic mechanism of skeletal fluorosis in relation to methylation of the promoter of p16. The protein coded by the p16 gene inhibits cdk (cyclin-dependent kinase) 4/cdk6-mediated phosphorylation4 of retinoblastoma gene product and induces cell cycle arrest. The results showed that hypermethylation of p16 and reduced gene expression was evident in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with fluorosis and correlated with the level of fluoride exposure. Studies with cell cultures of osteoblasts revealed in response to sodium fluoride (NaF) treatment, there was an induction of p16 hypermethylation and decreased expression, leading to increased cell proliferation, a longer S-phase of the cell cycle, and development of skeletal fluorosis. Further, the methylation inhibitor, 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine, reversed the p16 hypermethylation and expression in response to NaF. These results reveal a regulatory role of p16 gene methylation on osteoblasts activation during the development of skeletal fluorosis.

CircLRP6 Regulation of ZEB1 via miR-455 Is Involved in the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition During Arsenite-Induced Malignant Transformation of Human Keratinocytes.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a class of noncoding RNAs generated from pre-mRNAs, participate in the regulation of tumorigenesis. The mechanism for regulation, however, is unclear. Here, to determine whether circRNAs are involved in arsenite-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and malignant transformation in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, the up-regulation of circLRP6 was confirmed in arsenite-transformed HaCaT (T-HaCaT) cells. In HaCaT cells, circLRP6 acted as an microRNA (miR)-455 sponge. For these cells, chronic exposure to arsenite caused an increase of circLRP6 and the transcription factor ZEB1, which induced the EMT. miR-455 suppressed the expression of ZEB1. Further, in T-HaCaT cells, knockdown of circLRP6 with siRNA inhibited ZEB1 expression, but cotransfection with circLRP6 siRNA and an miR-455 inhibitor reversed this inhibition. These results suggest that, in HaCaT cells, arsenite increases circLRP6 levels, which act as a sponge for miR-455 and up-regulate the miR-455 target, ZEB1, which subsequently induces the EMT, thus promoting malignant transformation. Thus, for HaCaT cells chronically exposed to arsenite, circLRP6 via miR-455 regulation of ZEB1 is involved in the EMT during malignant transformation. The results establish a previously unknown mechanism for arsenite-induced carcinogenesis.

The effect of elemental content on the risk of dental fluorosis and the exposure of the environment and population to fluoride produced by coal-burning.

Endemic fluorosis is a geochemical disease that affects thousands of people. Growing evidence from domestic and foreign studies indicate that fluorosis is associated with an abnormal level of the elements (such as F, Ca, Fe, Mg, Cu, Zn, P) in the environment and a population exposed to fluoride. To study the effect of the elemental content on the risk of dental fluorosis, the content of 25 elements in the environment produced by coal-burning and a population exposed to fluoride was determined. The results show that an abnormal level of various elements (including F, Al, Se, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mo, Mn, B, V, Ca, Mg, and P) in the population exposed to fluoride, which is related to the increasing or decreasing of the corresponding elements in the environment. Subsequent univariate and multivariate regression analyses show that high levels of F, Al, As, Pb and Cr were a risk factor for dental fluorosis, but not Se, Zn, Cu, B, Ca and P which were a protective factor for dental fluorosis. This study can provide a scientific basis for a further understanding of the causes of health damage caused by fluoride and the improvement of targeted prevention strategies.

Aberrant methylation of nucleotide excision repair genes is associated with chronic arsenic poisoning.

OBJECTIVE: To define whether aberrant methylation of DNA repair genes is associated with chronic arsenic poisoning. METHODS: Hundred and two endemic arsenicosis patients and 36 healthy subjects were recruited. Methylight and bisulfite sequencing (BSP) assays were used to examine the methylation status of ERCC1, ERCC2 and XPC genes in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and skin lesions of arsenicosis patients and NaAsO2-treated HaCaT cells. RESULTS: Hypermethylation of ERCC1 and ERCC2 and suppressed gene expression were found in PBLs and skin lesions of arsenicosis patients and was correlated with the level of arsenic exposure. Particularly, the expression of ERCC1 and ERCC2 was associated with the severity of skin lesions. In vitro studies revealed an induction of ERCC2 hypermethylation and decreased mRNA expression in response to NaAsO2 treatment. CONCLUSION: Hypermethylation of ERCC1 and ERCC2 and concomitant suppression of gene expression might be served as the epigenetic marks associated with arsenic exposure and adverse health effects.