Influence of metabolic syndrome on prognosis of patients with surgically treated esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been related to the increased incidence of esophageal cancer (EC). The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of MetS on prognosis of patients with surgically treated EC in a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: An extensive search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Wanfang, and CNKI to identify relevant cohort studies. Random-effects models were employed to combine the findings, taking into account the potential influence of heterogeneity. RESULTS: Seven cohort studies involving 4332 patients with stage I-III EC who received surgical resection were included. At baseline, 608 (14.0%) patients had MetS. Pooled results suggested that MetS were associated with a higher risk of postoperative complications (risk ratio [RR]: 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03 to 1.64, p = 0.03; I2 = 0%). However, the overall survival (RR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.75 to 1.52, p = 0.71; I2 = 80%) and progression-free survival (RR: 1.27, 95% CI: 0.53 to 3.00, p = 0.59; I2 = 80%) were not significantly different between patients with and without MetS. Subgroup analyses suggested that the results were not significantly modified by study design (prospective or retrospective), histological type of EC (squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma), or diagnostic criteria for MetS (p values indicating subgroup difference all > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although MetS may be associated with a moderately increased risk of postoperative complications in patients with EC under surgical resection, the long-term survival may not be different between patients with and without MetS.

Plk3 Enhances Cisplatin Sensitivity of Nonsmall-Cell Lung Cancer Cells through Inhibition of the PI3K/AKT Pathway via Stabilizing PTEN.

Polo-like kinase 3 (Plk3) is involved in tumor development with a tumor suppressive function. However, the effect of Plk3 on the chemoresistance remains unclear. It has been documented that activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway by PTEN loss significantly enhances chemoresistance in nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aims to evaluate the PTEN regulation by Plk3 and identify targets and underlying mechanisms that could be used to relieve chemoresistance. Our results showed that silencing Plk3 reduced PTEN expression and activated PI3K/AKT signaling by dephosphorylating and destabilizing PTEN in NSCLC cells. Reducing Plk3 expression promoted drug resistance to cisplatin (DDP), while overexpressing Plk3 promoted DDP sensitivity. However, these effects were attenuated when MK2206, a PI3K/AKT inhibitor, was applied. In conclusion, upregulation of Plk3 sensitized NSCLC cells toward DDP, which provides a potential target to restore DDP chemoresponse. We provided novel evidence that the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway could be regulated by Plk3 through phosphorylation of PTEN and highlighted the critical role of Plk3 in the DDP resistance of NSCLC.

Photo-Fenton degradation of carbamazepine and ibuprofen by iron-based metal-organic framework under alkaline condition.

Metal-organic frameworks have been widely used as photocatalytic materials. In this paper, a novel photocatalyst HSO3-MIL-53(Fe) with acidity regulating groups was successfully synthesized by the solvothermal method and applied to remove carbamazepine (CBZ) and ibuprofen (IBP). The photodegradation efficiency of vis/H2O2/HSO3-MIL-53(Fe) can reach 100% when the pH value is 8 or 9. The free radical capture experiment and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis proved that hole (h+), hydroxide radical (·OH), singlet oxygen (1O2), and superoxide Radical (·O2-) are the main active species for pollutants degradation. In the vis/H2O2/HSO3-MIL-53(Fe) system, the high pollutant degradation efficiency under alkaline conditions was attributed to two factors: (1) the acidity adjusting group -HSO3 adjusts the pH value of the whole system, which is beneficial to the photo-Fenton process. (2) The photogenerated electrons of HSO3-MIL-53(Fe) can be captured by Fe (III), H2O2 and O2 to accelerate the reduction of Fe (III) and generate ·OH, 1O2, and ·O2-. Besides, H2O2 can also be activated by Fe (II) and Fe (III). The above processes synergistically improved the photocatalytic efficiency. Based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis, the possible degradation pathways of the two pollutants were proposed.

Efficient degradation of aqueous organic contaminants in manganese(II)/peroxymonosulfate system assisted by pyridine organic ligands.

Although manganese(II) is known to have no role in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation, through a series of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) oxidation experiments, we found that the addition of pyridine organic ligands can improve the catalytic activity and accelerate SMX oxidation. For the organic ligands to be effective: the stability constant of the Mn(III) complex should be higher than that of the Mn(II) complex. A positive correlation was observed between the SMX oxidation rate and Mn(II) concentration, and the maximum PMS utilization efficiency was achieved. Many shreds of evidence verified that neither •SO4- nor •OH was associated with SMX oxidation. The enhanced effect of phenanthroline on the Mn(II)/PMS system was attributed to the highly oxidative intermediate manganese species (Mn(V)), originating from the two-electron transfer reaction of complexed Mn(III) and PMS. Notably, the main oxidizing species did not change (η-(PMSO2) âˆ¼ 100%) regardless of the initial PMSO concentration or pH value. Additionally, the analysis of SMX degradation products revealed that the oxygen transfer oxidation pathway was dominant in the Mn(II)/phenanthroline/PMS system, while the N radical coupling pathway also contributed significantly to SMX oxidation. This work offers new insights into the formation of high-valent manganese species and provides a potential strategy for applying low-concentration Mn(II) to wastewater treatment.

A novel toll-like receptor from Mytilus coruscus is induced in response to stress.

Toll-like receptor (TLR) is considered to be an evolutionarily conserved transmembrane protein which promotes the Toll signal pathway to active the expression of transcription factors in the innate immunity of the organism. In this study, a full length of TLR homologue of 2525bp in Mytilus coruscus (named as McTLR-a, GenBank accession no: KY940571) was characterized. Its ORF was 1815 bp with a 5'untranslated region (UTR) of 128 bp and a 3'UTR of 582 bp, encoding 602 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular weight of 70.870 kDa (pI = 6.10). BLASTn analysis and phylogenetic relationship strongly suggested that this cDNA sequence was a member of TLR family. Quantitative real time RT-PCR showed that constitutive expression of McTLR-a was occurred, with increasing order in hemocyte, gonad, mantle, adducter, gill and hepatopancreas. Bacterial infection and heavy metals stimulation up-regulated the expression of McTLR-a mRNA in hepatopancreas with time-dependent manners. The maximum expression appeared at 12 h after pathogenic bacteria injection, with approximately 22-fold in Aeromonas hydrophila and 17-fold in Vibrio parahemolyticus higher than that of the blank group. In heavy metals stress group, they all reached peaks at 3d, while the diverse concentration caused the maximum expression were different. The highest expression reached approximately 7-fold higher than the blank in low concentration of Pb2+ exposure. In Cu2+ treated group, it reached the peak (approximately 12-fold higher than the blank)in middle concentration. These results indicated that McTLR-a might be involved in the defense response and had a significant role in mediating the environmental stress.

Advantages of titanium xerogel over titanium tetrachloride and polytitanium tetrachloride in coagulation: A mechanism analysis.

Titanium xerogel coagulant (TXC) worked better than titanium tetrachloride (TC) and polytitanium chloride (PTC) in a wider pH/dose range for the removal of turbidity. However, the underlying mechanisms were not comprehensively understood. In this work, the better coagulation performance of TXC than TC and PTC was systematically elucidated from the following aspects: the physicochemical properties of the three coagulants, the removal of turbidity and organic matter, and the complexation reactions in coagulation. The results demonstrate that the merits of TXC were attributable to the following characteristics: (1) the higher surface charge density/total surface site concentration/isoelectric point of TXC hydrolysates, (2) the formation of TXC hydrolysates with a net-work structure, and (3) the strong binding affinity of TXC hydrolysates to organic matter caused by the bonded acetylacetone in the TXC framework. In short, the hydrolysis behavior of TXC significantly differed from both its precursor, TC, and the prehydrolyzed PTC. The difference in the hydrolysis of TXC was derived from the gelation process, which led to the polymerization of Ti in a way different from prehydrolyzation. The elucidation of the hydrolysis mechanisms is useful for the better application of Ti-based coagulants and may shed light on the preparation of other metal salts.

The cooperative expression of Heat Shock Protein 70 KD and 90 KD gene in juvenile Larimichthys crocea under Vibrio alginolyticus stress.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play significant roles in the immune response of fish in defending against diverse environmental threats or stresses. In this study, two complete HSP70 and HSP90 genes of Larimichthys crocea (designated as LycHSP70 and LycHSP90) were identified and characterized (GenBank accession no. KT456551 and KT456552). The complete open reading frame (ORF) fragments of LycHSP70 and LycHSP90 were 1917 bp and 2151 bp, encoding 638 and 716 amino acids residues respectively. Many significant functional domains and motifs were found, such as Hsp70 family signatures, Hsp90 family signatures, ATP-GTP binding site and EEVD motif regions, and they were associated with relative functions. Phylogenetic relationship and BLASTp analysis interpreted that they were unambiguously assigned to HSP70 and HSP90 family. The total length DNA of LycHSP70 was 7889bp, LycHSP90 was 5618 bp, and the gene location mapping were analyzed based on the whole-genomic DNA sequence of L. crocea. LycHSP70 and LycHSP90 were constantly expressed in eight tested tissues, with their expression peaks appearing in liver. Spleen, brain and head kidney also witnessed higher expression level. LycHSP70 and LycHSP90 were significantly induced by pathogenic bacteria V. alginolyticus, and they were both up-regulated in liver and spleen from 0 to 72 h post-injection. All the findings would contribute to better understanding the biologic function of HSPs in defending against pathogenic bacteria challenge and further exploring the innate immune response in fish.

A novel biomarker for marine environmental pollution of HSP90 from Mytilus coruscus.

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a conserved molecular chaperone contributing to cell cycle control, organism development and the proper regulation of cytosolic proteins. The full-length HSP90 cDNA of Mytilus coruscus (McHSP90, KT946644) was 2420bp, including an ORF of 2169bp encoding a polypeptide of 722 amino acids with predicted pI/MW 4.89/83.22kDa. BLASTp analysis and phylogenetic relationship strongly suggested McHSP90 was a member of HSP90 family, and it was highly conserved with other known HSP90, especially in the HSP90 family signatures, ATP/GTP-Binding sites and 'EEVD' motif. The mRNA of McHSP90 in haemolymph was upregulated in all treatments including Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio harveyi challenge, metals stresses (copper and cadmium) and 180 CST fuel exposure. All the results implied the expression of McHSP90 could be affected by Vibrio challenge and environmental stress, which might help us gain more insight into the molecular mechanism of HSP against adverse stresses in mollusca.