Jianghuaimon dabiense gen. nov. et sp. nov (Crustacea: Decapoda: Potamidae), a new genus and new species of freshwater crab from eastern-central China.

A new genus and new species of freshwater crab, Jianghuaimon dabiense gen. et sp. nov., is described from Anhui and Hubei Provinces of China based on morphology and mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences. Externally, the new genus resembles several other potamid genera from China. However, its combination of carapace, male pleon, third maxilliped, and uniquely structured male first gonopod distinguish it from the others. Phylogenetic analysis using the 16S gene supports the new genus new species and shows that it, together with morphologically similar Neilupotamon and Bottapotamon, form a distinct clade.

Establishing a predictive model for the evaluation of fecundity.

AIM: We aim to establish a predictive model for the evaluation of fecundity based on infertility-related factors. METHODS: A total of 410 expectant couples who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University on January 1, 2017 and June 10, 2019 were included in this study. The 1-year follow-up was carried out to investigate the pregnancy of the female. They were divided into model group and test group, respectively. The basic information, life behavior and clinical indices were screened using the Logistics regression analysis and LASSO regression analysis. In addition, the multivariate logistic regression was used to establish the model for the prediction of fecundity risk. RESULTS: The risk factors for the predictive model included female age and occupational pressure, gynecological disease, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), depression, as well as male smoking. The area under the curve (AUC) for the model A and model B was 0.954 (0.931 ~ 0.978) and 0.955 (0.931 ~ 0.979), respectively. The AUC in the test group was 0.917 (0.869 ~ 0.965) and 0.921 (0.873 ~ 0.968). There were no statistical differences in the fitting value and measured values in the model group. CONCLUSIONS: We established a predictive model for the evaluation of fecundity, which showed a satisfactory accuracy and discriminatory power.

Aspirin use and endometrial cancer risk: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The use of aspirin has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer at several sites, such as the breast, prostate, and colorectum. However, the evidence for this chemopreventive effect from aspirin use on endometrial cancer is conflicting, and whether an association exists is an open question. METHODS: After carrying out a database search of articles published up to December 2019, we identified 7 case-control studies and 11 cohort studies, including a total of 14,766 endometrial cancer cases. We pooled the odds ratios (ORs) in case-control studies and risk ratios (RRs) in cohort studies, and then conducted subgroup analysis based on factors such as the frequency and duration of aspirin use, and obesity. RESULTS: In the overall meta-analysis, we found a significant inverse association between any aspirin use and the risk of endometrial cancer both in case-control studied [pooled ORs =0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78-0.98] and cohort studies (pooled RRs =0.86, 95% CI: 0.86-0.99). In the subgroup analysis, a negative association was observed between the maximal frequency of aspirin use and the endometrial cancer risk (pooled ORs/RRs: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.71-0.95), but no correlations were observed based on the longest duration of aspirin use or obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the use of aspirin was associated with a reduced risk of endometrial cancer, and the reduced risk was closely related to the high-frequency of use. Further randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to confirm these findings.

Differential analysis of quantitative proteome and acetyl-proteome profiling between premenopausal and postmenopausal ovarian tissues.

BACKGROUND: Natural menopause is always accompanied by specific signs and symptoms, suggesting physiological changes in this peoriod. However, no systematic study has assessed the changes at molecular level in the ovaries during the menopausal transition so far. This study integrated quantitative proteome and acetyl-proteome to comprehensively uncover the changes of ovarian protein and protein-acetylation profiles in this transitional period. The findings would provide novel insights into the biology of menopause and help relieve and treat the associated signs and symptoms, further improving the women's health care. METHODS: Freshly thawed ovarian tissue samples obtained from premenopausal and postmenopausal women were assessed with Tandem Mass Tags for the quantitative analysis of the global profile and acetyl-proteomes by 2-dimensional separation and LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Comprehensively, 4210 types of protein, with 3551 types quantifiable were detected. 3047 acetylated sites in 1583 types of protein with 2256 quantifiable in 1248 proteins were detected. By comparing the global and acetylated proteome profiles for postmenopausal women and premenopausal women, 151 types of proteins were found upregulated and 65 were downregulated, along with 23 acetylated sites upregulated and 220 sites downregulated. For Immune response, the complement and coagulation cascades plus the citrate cycle and cellular detoxification were found to be significantly enhanced, while the extracellular structure and matrix organization, ECM-receptor interactions plus the infections were markedly suppressed. In addition, the amino acids around the acetylated sites were enriched by motif analysis, which can help us uncover amino acid sequence and search for the specific target in the subsequent study. CONCLUSION: Global and acetylated proteome Profiles in ovary differ between the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups. These proteomic-level changes may offer some potential biological markers to identify the pathological changes in ovary and help relieve and treat the associated signs and symptoms, and ultimately improve women's health care.

Sialyltransferase ST3GAL1 promotes cell migration, invasion, and TGF-ß1-induced EMT and confers paclitaxel resistance in ovarian cancer.

Sialyltransferases transfer sialic acid to nascent oligosaccharides and are upregulated in cancer. The inhibition of sialyltransferases is emerging as a potential strategy to prevent metastasis in several cancers, including ovarian cancer. ST3GAL1 is a sialyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of sialic acid from cytidine monophosphate-sialic acid to galactose-containing substrates and is associated with cancer progression and chemoresistance. However, the function of ST3GAL1 in ovarian cancer is uncertain. Herein, we use qRT-PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry to assess the expression of ST3GAL1 in ovarian cancer tissue and cell lines and investigate whether it influences resistance to paclitaxel in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model. We found that ST3GAL1 is upregulated in ovarian cancer tissues and in the ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV-3 and OVCAR3 but downregulated in A2780 ovarian cancer cells. Overexpression of ST3GAL1 in A2780 cells increases cell growth, migration, and invasion whereas ST3GAL1 knockdown in SKOV-3 cells decreases cell growth, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, overexpression of ST3GAL1 increases resistance to paclitaxel while downregulation of ST3GAL1 decreases resistance to paclitaxel in vitro, and overexpression of ST3GAL1 increases tumorigenicity and resistance to paclitaxel in vivo. Transforming growth factor-ß1 can increase ST3GAL1 expression and induce ovarian cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, knockdown of ST3GAL1 inhibits EMT expression. Taken together, our findings have identified a regulatory mechanism involving ST3GAL1 in ovarian cancer. ST3GAL1 may be a promising target for overcoming paclitaxel resistance in ovarian carcinoma.

[Increased expressions of Blimp-1 and Bcl-6 in the deciduas of patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion].

Objective To oberseve the expressions of B cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl-6) and B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1 (Blimp-1) in the decidua of patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA), and investigate the roles that Bcl-6 and Blimp-1 act in URSA. Methods Decidual tissues were collected from patients with URSA (URSA group) and normal pregnant women (control group). Then, we detected the expressions of Bcl-6 and Blimp-1 in the deciduas of the two groups using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. The relationship between Blimp-1 and Bcl-6 was estimated by Pearson's correlation analysis. Results Compared with the control group, the levels of Blimp-1 mRNA and protein, Bcl-6 mRNA significantly increased in the URSA group. However, Bcl-6 protein was raised insignificantly in URSA group. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between Bcl-6 and Blimp-1 at the level of mRNA. Conclusion The expressions of Bcl-6 and Blimp-1 are enhanced in the deciduas of URSA patients.

Soluble costimulatory molecule sTim3 regulates the differentiation of Th1 and Th2 in patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion.

This study is to investigate the mechanism of unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). A total of 35 cases of URSA patients (URSA group), 20 cases with normal pregnancy (normal pregnancy group) and 20 healthy non-pregnancy candidates (healthy control group) were enrolled in this study. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used for detection of serum soluble Tim-3 (sTim3) and Galectin-9. Cytokine bead array (CBA) determination method was used to detect IFN-γ and IL-4 expression levels. Compared with the healthy control group, sTim-3 levels in normal pregnancy group and URSA group increased, and URSA group had significantly higher sTim-3 levels than normal pregnancy group (P < 0.05). Compared with the healthy control group, Galectin-9 levels in normal pregnancy group and URSA group also increased. However, the normal pregnancy group had significantly higher Galectin-9 level than URSA group (P < 0.05). IFN-γ levels in normal pregnancy group and URSA group were lower than those in healthy control group, and IFN-γ levels in the normal pregnancy group were significantly lower than those in URSA group (P < 0.05). Levels of IL-4 in normal pregnancy group and URSA groups increased compared with the healthy control group, and the IL-4 levels in normal pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in URSA group (P < 0.05). Th1/Th2 imbalance, sTim-3 and Galectin-9 expression increase are found in the patients with URSA, ant this might be involved in the regulation of immunity in pregnancy.

Epigenetic regulation of human riboflavin transporter 2(hRFT2) in cervical cancers from Uighur women.

In the present study, we studied the hypermethylation of the human riboflavin transporter 2 (hRFT2) gene and regulation of protein expression in biopsies from resected tissues from Uighur cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) patients and their neighboring normal tissues. hRFT2 gene promoter region methylation sequences were mapped in cervical cancer cell line SiHa by bisulfite-sequencing PCR and quantitative detection of methylated DNA from 30 pairs of Uighur's CSCCs and adjacent normal tissues by MassARRAY (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA) and hRFT2 protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. In SiHa, we identified 2 CG sites methylated from all of 12CpG sites of the hRFT2 gene. Analysis of the data from quantitative analysis of single CpG site methylation by Sequenom MassARRAY platform showed that the methylation level between two CpG sites (CpG 2 and CpG 3) from CpG 1~12 showed significant differences between CSCC and neighboring normal tissues. However, the methylation level of whole target CpG fragments demonstrated no significant variation between CSCC (0.476 ± 0.020) and neighboring normal tissues (0.401 ± 0.019, p>0.05). There was a tendency for translocation the hRFT2 proteins from cytoplasm/membrane to nucleus in CSCC with increase in methylation of CpG 2 and CpG 3 in hRFT2gene promoter regions, which may relate to the genesis of CSCC. Our results suggested that epigenetic modifications are responsible for aberrant expression of the hRFT2 gene, and may help to understand mechanisms of cervical carcinogenesis.