Cardiac Dose Predicts the Response to Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Definitive concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) is the standard treatment for cervical esophageal cancer and non-surgical candidates. Initial treatment response affects survival; however, few validated markers are available for prediction. This study evaluated the clinical variables and chemoradiation parameters associated with treatment response. Between May 2010 and April 2016, 86 completed CCRT patients' clinical, dosimetric, and laboratory data at baseline and during treatment were collected. Cox regression analysis assessed the risk factors for overall survival (OS). A receiver operating characteristic curve with Youden's index was chosen to obtain the optimal cut-off value of each parameter. Treatment response was defined per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v.1.1 at the first post-CCRT computed tomography scan. Responders had complete and partial responses; non-responders had stable and progressive diseases. Logistic regression (LR) was used to evaluate the variables associated with responders. The Cox regression model confirmed the presence of responders (n = 50) vs. non-responders (n = 36) with a significant difference in OS. In multivariate LR, cardiac dose-volume received ≥10 Gy; the baseline hemoglobin level, highest neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio during CCRT, and cumulative cisplatin dose were significantly associated with the responders. The initial clinical treatment response significantly determines disease outcome. Cardiac irradiation may affect the treatment response.

Protective Effect of Combined Moxibustion and Decoction Therapy on Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Rats under Nuclear Factor-κB/Transforming Growth Factor-ß1/Smads Signaling Pathway.

it was aimed to discuss the effect of moxibustion (Mox) combined with Bu Fei Qu Yu (BFQY) decoction under the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1)/Smads signaling pathway in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis (PF). The PF rat models were prepared with bleomycin (BLM). They were divided into the normal (Nor) group, the PF model group (BLM puncture perfusion), the Mox group (grain-sized Mox at the back-shu points and Xuxiao points), the BFQY group (intragastrical BFQY decoction), and the Mox combined with BFQY decoction (Mox+BFQY) group. Lung tissue sections were prepared, and the hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson staining were performed to observe the inflammatory response and the degree of PF. The contents of hydroxyproline (HYP), glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA), and the expressions of NF-κB p65, TGF-ß1, Smad2, and Smad7 in lung tissues were detected. Compared with those in the Nor group, the inflammatory response score, PF degree score, HYP, GSH, and MDA contents, NF-κB p65, TGF-ß1, and Smad2 expressions were significantly increased in the PF group, but Smad7 expression decreased (P<0.05). The above symptoms were significantly improved in the Mox, BFQY, and Mox+ BFQY groups (P<0.05). The effect was more remarkable in the Mox+BFQY group, and there was no significant difference in each index compared with those in the Nor group (P>0.05). Thus, the combined therapy of Mox and decoction had an effect on PF through the NF-κB/TGF-ß1/Smads pathway.

Low cardiac dose and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predict overall survival in inoperable esophageal squamous cell cancer patients after chemoradiotherapy.

We aimed to determine the prognostic significance of cardiac dose and hematological immunity parameters in esophageal cancer patients after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). During 2010-2015, we identified 101 newly diagnosed esophageal squamous cell cancer patients who had completed definitive CCRT. Patients' clinical, dosimetric, and hematological data, including absolute neutrophil count, absolute lymphocyte count, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), at baseline, during, and post-CCRT were analyzed. Cox proportional hazards were calculated to identify potential risk factors for overall survival (OS). Median OS was 13 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.38-15.63). Univariate analysis revealed that male sex, poor performance status, advanced nodal stage, higher percentage of heart receiving 10 Gy (heart V10), and higher NLR (baseline and follow-up) were significantly associated with worse OS. In multivariate analysis, performance status (ECOG 0 & 1 vs. 2; hazard ratio [HR] 3.12, 95% CI 1.30-7.48), heart V10 (> 84% vs. ≤ 84%; HR 2.24, 95% CI 1.26-3.95), baseline NLR (> 3.56 vs. ≤ 3.56; HR 2.36, 95% CI 1.39-4.00), and follow-up NLR (> 7.4 vs. ≤ 7.4; HR 1.95, 95% CI 1.12-3.41) correlated with worse OS. Volume of low cardiac dose and NLR (baseline and follow-up) were associated with worse patient survival.

Bufei Decoction Alleviated Bleomycin-Induced Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice by Anti-Inflammation.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the mechanistic action and therapeutic effects of Bufei decoction on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) after inhalation of bleomycin. METHODS: Pulmonary fibrosis model in mice was prepared by atomization inhalation of bleomycin. Then, the mice were randomly divided into five groups (control group, model group, positive group, and treatment group) and administrated the drugs for 4 weeks. H&E and Masson's staining of lung tissues were used to observe the morphological changes and deposition of fibers, and the degree of fibrosis was evaluated by hydroxyproline content. The expression and activation of NF-κB were determined by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The infiltration of macrophages was detected by immunostaining of CD45 and F4/80 in lung tissues. RESULTS: In mouse IPF, Bufei decoction alleviated the pathological changes and the deposition of fibrosis by decreasing the content of hydroxyproline of lung tissues. The antipulmonary fibrosis might rely on the effects of preventing the infiltration of inflammatory cells and inhibiting the expression and activation of NF-κB in lung tissue. CONCLUSION: Bufei decoction improved the process of pulmonary fibrosis by regulating the activation and expression of the NF-κB signal transduction pathway, which provided a therapeutic option for IPF patients.

Draft genome analysis of Dietzia sp. 111N12-1, isolated from the South China Sea with bioremediation activity

Abstract Dietzia sp. 111N12-1, isolated from the seawater of South China Sea, shows strong petroleum hydrocarbons degradation activity. Here, we report the draft sequence of approximately 3.7-Mbp genome of this strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first genome sequence of Dietzia strain isolated from the sea. The genome sequence may provide fundamental molecular information on elucidating the metabolic pathway of hydrocarbons degradation in this strain.

Celastrol-Induced Nur77 Interaction with TRAF2 Alleviates Inflammation by Promoting Mitochondrial Ubiquitination and Autophagy.

Mitochondria play an integral role in cell death, autophagy, immunity, and inflammation. We previously showed that Nur77, an orphan nuclear receptor, induces apoptosis by targeting mitochondria. Here, we report that celastrol, a potent anti-inflammatory pentacyclic triterpene, binds Nur77 to inhibit inflammation and induce autophagy in a Nur77-dependent manner. Celastrol promotes Nur77 translocation from the nucleus to mitochondria, where it interacts with tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2), a scaffold protein and E3 ubiquitin ligase important for inflammatory signaling. The interaction is mediated by an LxxLL motif in TRAF2 and results not only in the inhibition of TRAF2 ubiquitination but also in Lys63-linked Nur77 ubiquitination. Under inflammatory conditions, ubiquitinated Nur77 resides at mitochondria, rendering them sensitive to autophagy, an event involving Nur77 interaction with p62/SQSTM1. Together, our results identify Nur77 as a critical intracellular target for celastrol and unravel a mechanism of Nur77-dependent clearance of inflamed mitochondria to alleviate inflammation.

Draft genome analysis of Dietzia sp. 111N12-1, isolated from the South China Sea with bioremediation activity.

Dietzia sp. 111N12-1, isolated from the seawater of South China Sea, shows strong petroleum hydrocarbons degradation activity. Here, we report the draft sequence of approximately 3.7-Mbp genome of this strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first genome sequence of Dietzia strain isolated from the sea. The genome sequence may provide fundamental molecular information on elucidating the metabolic pathway of hydrocarbons degradation in this strain.

CD63 Promotes Hemocyte-Mediated Phagocytosis in the Clam, Paphia undulata.

As one of the surface membrane proteins of tetraspanin family, CD63 plays a crucial role in cellular trafficking and endocytosis, which also is associated with activation of a wide variety of immune cells. Here, the homolog of CD63 was characterized from one marine mollusk, Paphia undulata, which is designated as Pu-CD63. The complete cDNA of Pu-CD63 is 1,738 bp in length with an open reading frame (ORF) of 849 bp, encoding a 282 amino acid protein with four putative hydrophobic transmembrane helixes. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that Pu-CD63 contains one putative YXXØ consensus motif of "110-YVII-113" and one N-glycosylation site "155-NGT-157" within the large extracellular loop (LEL) region, supporting its conserved function in plasma membrane and endosomal/lysosomal trafficking. Moreover, temporal expression profile analysis demonstrates a drastic induction in the expression of CD63 in hemocytes after pathogenic challenge with either V. parahaemolyticus or V. alginolyticus. By performing dsRNA-mediate RNAi knockdowns of CD63, a dramatic reduction in hemocytes phagocytic activity to pathogenic Vibrio is recorded by flow cytometry, revealing the definite role of Pu-CD63 in promoting hemocyte-mediated phagocytosis. Therefore, our work has greatly enhanced our understanding about primitive character of innate immunity in marine mollusk.

De-novo assembly and characterization of Chlorella minutissima UTEX2341 transcriptome by paired-end sequencing and the identification of genes related to the biosynthesis of lipids for biodiesel.

Chlorella minutissima is considered to be one of the promising feedstocks for biofuels in the future. In this study, the transcriptome from the oil-rich strain UTEX2341 of C. minutissima was generated based on Illumina paired-end sequencing. Through de-novo assembly, a total of 14,905 isogenes were obtained and compacted into 6216 unigenes. A total of 80% of the unigenes were assigned with GO terms and were further subdivided into 55 sub-categories. KEGG analysis demonstrated that 37.2% of the unigenes could be accessed and mapped into 278 pathways. Interestingly, the genes that encoded key enzymes that are involved in the biosynthesis, elongation, and metabolism of fatty acids were identified, including malonyl-CoA-ACP transacylase, 3-ketoacyl-ACP synthase, 3-ketoacyl-ACP reductase, and others. Moreover, the genes that are involved in triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis and metabolism were also observed. Therefore, the transcriptome analysis of C. minutissima UTEX2341 not only supplies comprehensive insight into the molecular pathway that is involved in the biosynthesis of biofuel precursors but also provides substantial valuable genomic resources to accelerate the further development and utilization of biofuels.

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the green algae Hariotina sp. F30 (Scenedesmaceae, Sphaeropleales, Chlorophyceae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of the green algae Hariotina sp. F30 was obtained in this study using Illumina sequencing data. It is 51 915 bp in length with 36.23% GC content. The genome contains 13 protein-coding genes, 23 tRNA genes and six rRNA genes, all of which are encoded on the heavy strand. AUG is a universal initiation codon among 13 protein-coding genes. UCA is a universal termination codon for most protein-coding gens except UAA in cox1 and cob genes and UGA in nad6 gene. CUU anticodon for tRNA-Lys was detected for the first time in Sphaeropleales.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Panopea abrupta (Myoida: Hiatellidae).

The goeduck clam Panopea abrupta (Myoida: Hiatellidae) is one of the most important freshwater aquaculture species in China. In-spite of its economic importance, however, the genomic information of this species remains unavailable. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of P. abrupta along with annotated and fully characterized mitochondrial genes. The genome was found to be 15,381 bp in length with a total of 38 genes (13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNAs, and 2 ribosomal RNAs). The presence of a gene coding for ATPase subunit 8 was also noted. However, as expected in bivalves, the gene arrangements showed variations with that of the related species. This study adds to the repository of available mitogenomes of various Heterodonta and will greatly aid in future phylogenetic studies and species identification.

Transcriptome analysis identifies genes involved in adventitious branches formation of Gracilaria lichenoides in vitro.

Tissue culture could solve the problems associated with Gracilaria cultivation, including the consistent supply of high-quality seed stock, strain improvement, and efficient mass culture of high-yielding commercial strains. However, STC lags behind that of higher plants because of the paucity of genomic information. Transcriptome analysis and the identification of potential unigenes involved in the formation and regeneration of callus or direct induction of ABs are essential. Herein, the CK, EWAB and NPA G. lichenoides transcriptomes were analyzed using the Illumina sequencing platform in first time. A total of 17,922,453,300 nucleotide clean bases were generated and assembled into 21,294 unigenes, providing a total gene space of 400,912,038 nucleotides with an average length of 1,883 and N 50 of 5,055 nucleotides and a G + C content of 52.02%. BLAST analysis resulted in the assignment of 13,724 (97.5%), 3,740 (26.6%), 9,934 (70.6%), 10,611 (75.4%), 9,490 (67.4%), and 7,773 (55.2%) unigenes were annotated to the NR, NT, Swiss-Prot, KEGG, COG, and GO databases, respectively, and the total of annotated unigenes was 14,070. A total of 17,099 transcripts were predicted to possess open reading frames, including 3,238 predicted and 13,861 blasted based on protein databases. In addition, 3,287 SSRs were detected in G.lichenoides, providing further support for genetic variation and marker-assisted selection in the future. Our results suggest that auxin polar transport, auxin signal transduction, crosstalk with other endogenous plant hormones and antioxidant systems, play important roles for ABs formation in G. lichenoides explants in vitro. The present findings will facilitate further studies on gene discovery and on the molecular mechanisms underlying the tissue culture of seaweed.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation of marine microalgae Schizochytrium.

Schizochytrium was a known docosahexaenoic acid producing marine microalgae. In this study, we have developed a novel transformation approach of Schizochytrium using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens (A. tumefaciens) binary vector system. After co-cultivation of Schizochytrium protoplasts with A. tumefaciens harboring pCAMBIA2301 containing the neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPT II) gene as the selectable marker which confers resistance to G418, the Schizochytrium transformants were successfully obtained on the G418-containing plates. The integration and expression of the transgenes were confirmed by PCR analysis and GUS activity assay. To further validate the transformation system, pCAMBIA2301-EGFP containing the egfp gene was introduced into Schizochytrium. The following results demonstrated that the exogenous egfp gene has been successfully incorporated into the genome of Schizochytrium. In addition, the introduced egfp gene expressed efficiently according to the Western blot and fluorescence assay results. More importantly, the majority of the transformants displayed similar biomass and fatty acid production comparing with the wild type strain. Our results demonstrated that exogenous genes could be expressed efficiently in transgenic Schizochytrium, suggesting that genetically engineered Schizochytrium could be explored by this system.

PTEN status is related to cell proliferation and self-renewal independent of CD133 phenotype in the glioma-initiating cells.

CD133 is extensively used as a surface marker to identify and isolate glioma-initiating cells (GICs) from malignant brain tumors; however, instances of CD133(-) cells exhibiting similar properties have also been reported. To clarify the availability of CD133 as the GIC marker, we first evaluated the ratio of CD133(+) cells and malignancy of glioma spheroids GIC1 and GIC2, respectively. GIC1, which showed a lower percentage of CD133(+) cells, exhibited a highly aggressive behavior in comparison with GIC2. The following experiments demonstrated that tumor suppressor PTEN was lost in GIC1, resulting in the activation of AKT pathway. Overexpression of recombinant PTEN in GIC1 suppressed its proliferation and self-renew without significant effect on CD133 expression level, indicating that the inconsistence between the ratio of CD133(+) cells and proliferation and self-renewal capacity of GIC1 and GIC2 was caused by PTEN deficiency. To further validate our conclusion, a series of GICs were analyzed and the percentages of CD133(+) cells could not reflect the degrees of cell proliferation and self-renewal characteristics in the PTEN deficient GICs, suggesting that the application of CD133 as the GIC maker was restricted by PTEN loss. Furthermore, down-regulation of PTEN in the PTEN-expressing GICs could break the positive correlation between the ratio of CD133(+) cells and proliferation and self-renewal capacity. Our results demonstrated that PTEN status is related to cell proliferation and self-renewal independent of CD133 phenotype in the glioma-initiating cells, resulting in the limitations of CD133 as a biomarker for PTEN deficient GICs.