Expression of transferrin receptor/TFRC protein in bladder cancer cell T24 and its role in inducing iron death in bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer (BC) is a very common malignant tumor in the urinary system. However, the incidence rate, recurrence rate, progression rate and metastasis rate of bladder cancer are still very high, leading to poor long-term prognosis of patients. This study was to investigate the expression of transferrin receptor/TFRC protein in bladder cancer tissue and its role in inducing iron death of T24 human bladder cancer cells. Based on the intersection of 259 FerrDb genes in the iron death database with GSE13507 and GSE13167 data sets, 54 genes related to iron death in bladder cancer were obtained. Analyzing 54 genes, KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the pathways involved were mainly focused on iron death, autophagy, and tumor center carbon metabolism. GO analysis found that the molecular functions mainly gather in ubiquitin like protein ligase binding, ubiquitin protein ligase binding, and antioxidant activity. In the cellular components, it is mainly distributed in pigment granules, melanosomes, and the basal lateral plasma membrane. In biological processes, it is enriched in nutrient level responses, responses to extracellular stimuli, and cellular redox homeostasis. Screen out the top 10 core genes. The 10 core genes are SLC2A1, TFRC, EGFR, KRAS, CAV1, HSPA5, NFE2L2, VEGFA, PIK3CA, and HRAS. Finally, TFRC was selected as the research object. TCGA analysis showed that the expression level in bladder cancer tissue was higher than that in normal tissue, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion (1) TFRC is highly expressed in many kinds of tumors, and it is more highly expressed in bladder cancer than in normal bladder tissue. (2) TFRC has certain diagnostic and prognostic value in bladder cancer. (3) Erastin, an iron death inducer, induced the iron death of T24 human bladder cancer cells, knocked down the expression of TFRC in T24 human bladder cancer cells, and preliminarily verified that silencing TFRC could inhibit the iron death of T24 human bladder cancer cells.

Association Between Solid Fuel Use and the Risk of Hypertension in China.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to assess the association between solid fuel use for cooking or heating and the risk of hypertension among individuals older than 45 years. METHODS: Baseline questionnaires were used to collect self-reported primary cooking and heating fuel usage. Outcomes were defined as the time of first diagnosis of hypertension. Data were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Solid fuel use for cooking was associated with a higher risk of hypertension. The association between solid fuel for cooking and hypertension remained significant among residents in north China, individuals aged 45 to 65 years, urban residents, and nonsmokers. Solid fuel for heating was associated with a higher risk of hypertension only in South China. CONCLUSIONS: Solid fuel use may result in an increased risk of hypertension. Our findings further emphasize the health hazards of solid fuel for cooking and heating.

Cognition and Behavior of COVID-19 Vaccination Based on the Health Belief Model: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Vaccination is the most effective method for the prevention of COVID-19. However, willingness to be vaccinated is not consistent. This study aimed to explore vaccine cognition, risk perception, and health behavior of COVID-19 in China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed in Guangdong province, China, including demographic characteristics, health status and preventive behaviors, cognition of COVID-19 vaccination, and the health belief model (HBM). Results: A total of 1640 participants were recruited. The main access to information about COVID-19 and vaccination as through official news and broadcasts (67.3%), social network software (58.7%), and professional popularization (46.2%). The precautions taken were wearing a mask (67.0%) and avoiding gathering together (71.3%). COVID-19 vaccination acceptability was different among different age groups and educational levels (p < 0.001). The major reasons for accepting vaccination included that it was an effective way to prevent COVID-19 (61.8%) and that it was required by working units/schools (51.1%). The fitting effect indexes of the (HBM) Model 2 showed better fitting than those of Model 1. In Model 2, perceived benefits (OR = 3.13, 95% CI: 1.79−5.47), cues to action (OR = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.60−3.11), and different occupations (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.04−1.23) were positively correlated with vaccine acceptance; while perceived susceptibility (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.30−0.74) and perceived barriers (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.29−0.69) were negative factors associated with vaccine acceptance. Conclusion: Different sociodemographic characteristics lead to differences in acceptance of vaccination, and the publicity and credibility of government play an indispensable role in epidemic control. The establishment of the HBM further predicted that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19, benefits of vaccination, barriers of cognition, and cue to action were the influencing factors of intention and health behaviors.

[Optimal concentration of superparamagnetic iron oxide-short hairpin RNA dual functional molecular probe transfected into ovarian cancer cells in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of superparamagnetic iron oxide-short hairpin RNA (SPIO-ShRNA) dual functional molecular probes of different concentrations on morphology and biological behavior of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells in vitro. METHODS: The dual functional molecular probes at an iron concentration of 5, 15, 30, 45, 75, and 100 mg/L were transfected into SKOV3 cells. The transfection rate of the probe was observed by fluorescence microscope. The distribution and content of iron particles in SKOV3 cells were determined by Prussian blue staining, atomic adsorption spectrometer and electron microscopy. Cell viability was observed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8).The apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of protein within the cells was detected by Western blot. The changes of the signal intensity were measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: The SPIO-ShRNA dual functional molecular probe was uptaken in aconcentration-dependence manner within a certain range (5-30 mg/L). When the concentration of the probe was 45 mg/L, the labeling rate of the cell was close to 100%; With the increase of the concentration of probe, the cell survival rate decreased gradually. The cell survival rate of each experimental group were 94.626%±1.050%, 93.373%±1.180%, 91.700%±3.122%, 75.100%±4.362%, 72.983%±3.233%, 71.010%±2.910%,5, 15, 30 mg/L cell survival rate was not significantly decreased, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.226, P=0.068, P=0.475); When the concentration of the probe was greater than or equal to 45 mg/L,the survival rate decreased obviously (P<0.001); Group of 45 mg/L protein expression rate was 68.905%±3.510%, When the concentration of the probe was greater than or equal to 45 mg/L, the inhibition rate of the protein expression level of epidermal growth factor receptor was obviously higher than those of 5, 15, and 30 mg/L groups, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001, P=0.001, P=0.003, all P<0.01); the MRI displayed that the signal intensity was decreased with increasing concentrations of the probe. The signal intensity of 45 mg/L group was 165.55±4.92, compared with the blank control group(same volume of phosphate buffer saline), normal group (unlabeled ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells), 5, 15, and 30 mg/L groups , the signal intensity of 45 mg/L group decreased significantly (all P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The dual functional molecular probe can effectively transfect and specifically inhibit the expression of SKOV3 cell lines at the iron concentration of 45 mg/L, and can also be detected by MRI. The role of diagnosis and treatment of the dual functional molecular probe has been initially confirmed.