[Attach great importance to the significance of serum anti-müllerian hormone and androgen in the evaluation of polycystic ovary syndrome]

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disease in women of childbearing age, which seriously affects women's reproductive health. In recent years, more and more studies have found that serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) has certain significance in the diagnosis and treatment evaluation of PCOS. In addition, with the improvement of detection methods, more attention has been paid to the significance of female androgens and AMH in the evaluation of PCOS. This article reviews the recent research progress of serum AMH and androgens in the evaluation of PCOS.

The role of TLR4-mediated MyD88/TRAF6/NF-κB signaling and pIgR intestinal expression in chicks during Salmonella enteritidis infection

To observe the effect of Salmonella enteritidis (SE)-induced inflammation on pIgR expression in jejunum and ileum. Salmonella enteritidis was orally administered to 7-day old Hyline chicks, which were killed after 1d,3d,7d and 14d. The mRNA expression of TLR4,MyD88,TRAF6,NF-κB, and pIgR was detected by real-time RT-PCR, and pIgR protein was detected by Western blotting. The TLR4 signaling pathway was activated, the mRNA expression of the pIgR in jejunum and ileum was increased, and pIgR protein in jejunum and ileum was up-regulated by SE. In SE-treated chicks,the pIgR in jejunum and ileum was up-regulated on mRNA,and protein level,associated with activation of the TRL4-mediated MyD88/TRAF6/NF-κB signaling pathway, which identifies this as a novel pIgR-related pathway to TLR4 activation.

[Progress in research of risk prediction of non-syndromic oral clefts using genetic information]

Non-syndromic oral cleft (NSOC), a common birth defect, remains to be a critical public health problem in China. In the context of adjustment of childbearing policy for two times in China and the increase of pregnancy at older childbearing age, NSOC risk prediction will provide evidence for high-risk population identification and prenatal counseling. Genome-wide association study and second generation sequencing have identified multiple loci associated with NSOC, facilitating the development of genetic risk prediction of NSOC. Despite the marked progress, risk prediction models of NSOC still faces multiple challenges. This paper summarizes the recent progress in research of NSOC risk prediction models based on the results of extensive literature retrieval to provide some insights for the model development regarding research design, variable selection, model-build strategy and evaluation methods.

[Consideration on the construction of a special research database for human papillomavirus vaccination in high-risk and special populations]

The application of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in China has accelerated in recent year. Women's and Children's hospitals as well as general hospitals have established HPV vaccination counselling clinic in succession. A large amount of valuable preventive and clinical data have been generated in the evaluation, recommendation, immunization and management of HPV vaccine for high-risk and special populations. This article sorted out the operation process of HPV vaccination counselling clinic, discussed the methods for hospitals to construct a special research database for HPV vaccination in high-risk and special populations under different degrees of informatization. It also provided a reference for the establishment of unified data standards, the formation of available data resources, and the promotion of real world study on HPV vaccination for high-risk and special populations in China.

[Family-based association tests for rare variants]

Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized family-based association tests for rare variants. As the lower power of genome wide association study for detecting casual rare variants, methods aggregating effects of multiple variants have been proposed, such as burden tests and variance component tests. This paper summarizes the methods of rare variants association test that can be applied for family data, introduces their principles, characteristics and applicable conditions and discusses the shortcomings and the improvement of the present methods.

[Long-term safety and activity of humanized CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells for children and young adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia]

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of humanized CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor T cells (hCART19s) in treating children and young adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R ALL) and to analyze relevant factors affecting its curative effect and prognosis. Methods: We conducted a single-center clinical trial involving 31 children and young adult patients with R/R B-ALL who were treated with humanized CD19-specific CAR-T cells (hCART19s) from May 2016 to September 2021. Results: Results showed that 27 (87.1%) patients achieved complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi) one month after CAR-T cell infusion. During treatment, 20 (64.5%) patients developed grade 1-2 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) , and 4 (12.9%) developed grade 3 CRS. Additionally, two patients had grade 1 neurological events. During the follow-up with a median time of 19.3 months, the median event-free survival (EFS) was 15.7 months (95% CI 8.7-22.5) , and the median overall survival (OS) was 32.2 months (95% CI 10.6-53.9) . EFS and OS rates were higher in patients who have undergone hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) than in those without [EFS: (75.0 ± 12.5) % vs (21.1 ± 9.4) %, P=0.012; OS: (75.0 ± 12.5) % vs (24.6 ± 10.2) %, P=0.035]. The EFS and OS rates were significantly lower in patients with >3 treatment lines than in those with <3 treatment lines [EFS: 0 vs (49.5±10.4) %, P<0.001; OS: 0 vs (52.0±10.8) %, P<0.001]. To the cutoff date, 12 patients presented with CD19(+) relapse, and 1 had CD19(-) relapse. Conclusion: hCART19s are effective in treating pediatric and young adult R/R ALL patients, with a low incidence of severe adverse events and reversible symptoms. Following HSCT, the number of treatment lines can affect the long-term efficacy and prognosis of pediatric and young adult R/R ALL patients.

[Eosinophilic vacuolated tumor of the kidney: clinicopathological and molecular characteristics]

Objective: To study the clinicopathological features, immunophenotype, molecular changes, differential diagnosis and prognosis of eosinophilic vacuolated tumor (EVT) of the kidney. Methods: Four cases were collected retrospectively from 2014 to 2020 at Ningbo Diagnostic Pathology Center. The clinicopathologic features and immunophenotypic profile were studied by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel was used to detect cancer-associated mutation. Follow-up and literature review were also performed. Results: Among the 4 patients studied,2 were males and 2 were females. The age of the patients ranged from 44 to 63 years (the mean age: 51 years).Tumor size ranged from 1.5 to 4.2 cm (mean: 2.3 cm). Microscopically, tumors were well-circumscribed, unencapsulated. Thick-walled vessels and entrapped renal tubules were found within or at the periphery of the tumors. The tumors were predominantly composed of nest pattern, and focal tubular pattern. The tumor cells exhibited abundant, eosinophilic, granular cytoplasm and conspicuous, large nucleoli. Prominent intracytoplasmic vacuoles were seen. These cytoplasmic vacuoles varied in size and frequently coalesced into a large space. Loose fibromatous or hyaline stroma was focally noted. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells in all cases exhibited a CD117+/CK7-phenotype. All cases were positive for CD10 and p504s. MTOR, S6 and cathepsin K were positive in 4 cases. TFE3, CA9, Melan A and HMB45 were negative in all cases. SDHB retained expression. NGS demonstrated MTOR mutations in all cases, and TSC2 mutation in 2 cases. Conclusions: EVT is a rarely oncocytic renal tumor with unique morphology, immunohistochemical phenotype, molecular profile and an indolent behavior. Recognition of the characteristics of this novel but rare entity will allow for better classification of renal tumors.

[Risk analysis and preventive strategies of implant placement in patients with hypertension]

Recently, among the edentulous patients who undergo dental implants, the proportion of hypertensive patients remains high, which poses a greater challenge for clinicians to operate and to maintain the therapeutic effect. The present review comprehensively summarized clinical researches about the adverse effects on dental implants, outlined molecular mechanisms of the positive effects of various antihypertensive drugs on bone metabolism, and proposed that clinicians should select preventive strategies during preoperative and intraoperative procedures according to the blood pressure of patients with hypertension.

[Early onset Epstein-Barr virus-negative diffuse large B cell lymphoma after bilateral lung transplantation: a case report]

Lymphoma after solid organ transplantation is one of the manifestations of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders(PTLD). Here we reported a 39-year-old male patient presented with intermittent fever, markedly elevated level of peripheral blood lymphocytes and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), rapid decrease in hemoglobin and platelet count ten months after bilateral lung transplantation. After systematic evaluation, the patient excluded infectious diseases. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) revealed diffuse increasing of standard uptake value in bones throughout the body. The bone marrow aspiration, flow cytometric analysis and histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with negative Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA (EBER) hybridization in situ. Meanwhile, complicated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis was also diagnosed in the patient based on hypertriglyceridemia, abnormally elevated level of serum ferritin and solvable CD25 (sCD25). Treatment regimen included reduction of immunosuppression, anti-CD20 antibody (CD20⁺ B cell inhibitor, rituximab) and etoposide. Repeated PET/CT and bone marrow biopsy showed complete remission of lymphoma after 4 months of therapy.

[Progress in research of risk factors of iron deficiency and intervention in blood donors]

Long-term repeated regular blood donation may result in the loss and deficiency of iron. Epidemiological studies have indicated that blood donation frequency, demographical characteristics, and genetic factors are associated with iron deficiency. Our review summarizes the progress in research of etiology of iron deficiency in blood donors and intervention measures to provide evidence for the health management of non-remunerated blood donors in China.

[Effect of Echinococcus granulosus hydatid cyst fluid protein on allergic rhinitis induced by ovalbumin in mice]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the protective effect of Echinococcus granulosus hydatid cyst fluid protein (HCFP) on ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic rhinitis (AR) in mice.

METHODS

Twenty-four BALB/c mice at ages of 8 to 10 weeks, each weighing approximately 20 g, were randomly divided into four groups, including groups A (blank control group), B (blank intervention group), C (AR model group) and D (AR+HCFP intervention group), with 6 mice in each group. On days 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, mice in groups A, B, C and D were injected with 200 μL sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS), 200 μL sterile PBS containing 20 μg HCFP, 200 μL sterile PBS containing 50 μg OVA and 5 mg Al(OH)₃ gel, and 200 μL sterile PBS containing 50 μg OVA, 5 mg Al(OH)₃ gel and 20 μg HCFP, respectively. On days 14 to 20, mice in groups A, B, C and D were administered with 40 μL sterile PBS, 40 μL sterile PBS containing 20 μg HCFP, 40 μL sterile PBS containing 2 mg OVA and 40 μL sterile PBS containing 2 mg OVA and 20 μL HCFP by nasal drop, respectively. Mouse behavioral changes were observed and behavioral scores were estimated. The serum levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, IL-10, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and OVA-specific IgE antibody (OVA-sIgE) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the pathological changes of mouse nasal mucosa were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining.

RESULTS

The mean behavioral score was significantly greater in Group C (6.83 ± 0.50) than in groups A (1.17 ± 0.52) and B (1.33 ± 0.52) (P < 0.05), while a lower mean behavioral score was estimated in Group D (3.50 ± 0.50) than in Group C (P < 0.05). There were significant differences among the groups in terms of serum IFN-γ (F = 4.08, P < 0.05), IL-4 (F = 275.90, P < 0.05), IL-5 (F = 96.82, P < 0.05), IL-10 (F = 77.67, P < 0.05), TGF-β (F = 9.98, P < 0.05) and OVA-sIgE levels (F = 44.69, P < 0.05). The serum IFN-γ level was significantly lower in Group C than in groups A, B and C (P < 0.05), and the serum levels of IL-4, IL-5 and OVA-sIgE were significantly higher in Group C than in groups A, B and C (P < 0.05), while the serum IL-10 and TGF-β levels were significantly greater in Group D than in Group C (P < 0.05). Microscopy showed apparent loss of nasal mucosa cilia, increased number and enlargement of goblet cells, interstitial edema and submucous vascular dilation in Group C, while the pathological changes of nasal mucosa were alleviated in Group D relative to Group C.

CONCLUSIONS

E. granulosus HCFP has a protective activity against OVA-induced allergic rhinitis in mice.

Development of a micro-electrochemical machining nanosecond pulse power supply

Micro-electrochemical machining (micro-ECM) has been widely used for microscale and nanoscale processing of materials. The performance of the nanosecond pulse power supply is directly related to the precision of micro-ECM, which is one of the core technologies for micro-ECM. In this work, a nanosecond pulse power supply, with adjustable pulse frequency, duty cycle, and voltage, was designed with an STM32F103VET6 single-chip microcomputer as the control core and a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor as the chopper switch component. The performance test has shown that the power supply can produce a continuous pulse with the highest frequency of 8 MHz, the shortest pulse width of 50 ns, the maximum peak current of 12 A, and the maximum voltage of 10 V. As compared with the power supply reported in the literature, the present power supply demonstrated the enhanced output current and improved waveform of the nanosecond pulse output, which could result in better machining accuracy and efficiency for micro-ECM.

Circle RNA circCSPP1 promotes human osteosarcoma cell proliferation and increases glucose metabolism by suppressing miR-200c maturation

INTRODUCTION

MiR-200c plays a central role in glucose metabolism in cancer cells. However, its upstream regulators in this process are unknown. CircRNA CSPP1 (circCSPP1) was predicted to bind to premature miR-200c, an oncogenic miRNA. Therefore, we explored their interaction in osteosarcoma (OS).

METHODS

Differential circCSPP1 and miR-200c expression in OS was analyzed using RT-qPCR. Glucose metabolism was analyzed by glucose uptake assay. Subcellular circCSPP1 location in OS cells was detected using cellular fractionation assay. The direct interaction between circCSPP1 and miR-200c was explored using RNA-RNA pull-down assay. The role of circCSPP1 in miR-200c maturation was investigated by analyzing both mature and premature miR-200c levels in OS cells with circCSPP1 overexpression.

RESULTS

CircCSPP1 and premature miR-200c levels were increased while mature miR-200c level was decreased in OS. CircCSPP1 was detected in both the nuclear and cytoplasm fractions of OS cells. CircCSPP1 directly interacted with premature miR-200c. CircCSPP1 overexpression increased premature miR-200c level, glucose uptake, and cell proliferation, but decreased mature miR-200c level. MiR-200c overexpression suppressed the role of circCSPP1 in OS cells.

CONCLUSIONS

CircCSPP1 promotes OS cell proliferation and increases glucose metabolism by suppressing miR-200c maturation.

[Analysis of components of proteins from Echinococcus granulosus cyst fluid]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the components of proteins from Echinococcus granulosus cyst fluid using the shotgun method, and to identify the active components with potential regulatory effects for immune dysregulation diseases.

METHODS

The E. granulosus cyst fluid was collected aseptically from the hepatic cysts of patients with cystic echinococcosis, and characterized by liquid chromatography (LC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) following digestion with trypsin. The protein data were searched using the software MaxQuant version 1.6.1.0 and the cellular components, molecular functions, and biological processes of the identified proteins were analyzed using the Gene Ontology (GO) method.

RESULTS

The E. granulosus cyst fluid separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) had a relative molecular mass of 25 to 70 kDa. LS-MS/MS analysis identified 37 proteins, including 32 known proteins and 5 unknown proteins. At least 4 proteins were preliminarily found to exhibit potential regulatory effects for immune dysregulation diseases, including antigen B, glutathione-S-transferase (GST), thioredoxin peroxidase (TPX) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH). GO enrichment analysis showed that the identified proteins had 149 molecular functions and were involved in 341 biological processes.

CONCLUSIONS

E. granulosus cyst fluid has a variety of protein components, and four known proteins are preliminarily identified to be associated with immune dysregulation diseases.

[Epidemiology of uncorrected refractive errors in type 2 diabetics aged 50 and above in Funing County, China: the Jiangsu Diabetic Eye Study]

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors among people aged 50 years and above in Funing county, Jiangsu province. Methods: Randomly cluster sampling was used in selecting individuals aged ≥50 years in 82 clusters from Funing County Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Uncorrected refractive error was defined as an improvement of at least 2 lines in best corrected visual acuity compared with presenting visual acuity in the better eye. The mean±standard deviation was used to describe the continuous data, and the rate or composition ratio was used to represent the classified data. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors in different ages, genders, educational levels, durations of diabetes and levels of glycosylated hemoglobin. Statistical significance was defined as P<0.05. Results: A total of 2 067 persons were enumerated, and 1910 (92.4%) participants were in the statistical analyses. The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error was 25.63%. The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error for myopia only, hyperopia only, astigmatism only, myopia with astigmatism and hyperopia with astigmatism was 72.55% (37/51), 46.77% (58/124), 17.81% (13/73), 63.95% (94/147) and 51.98% (100/194), respectively. The results showed that the older age, level of glycosylated hemoglobin, myopia and lens state were the independent influencing factors of uncorrected refractive error. The odds ratio (OR) for people aged 70 to<80 years and ≥80 years was 1.81 and 1.90, respectively, with statistical significance compared to people younger than 60 years. Compared with the level of glycosylated hemoglobin less than 5.6%, the OR with glycosylated hemoglobin from7.1% to 8.0% and more than 10% was 1.84 (P<0.05) and 1.82 (P<0.05), respectively. The OR of myopia, low myopia, moderate myopia and high myopia was 2.98 (P<0.01), 6.94 (P<0.01), 42.43 (P<0.01) and 77.85 (P<0.01), respectively. The OR of opacity of the eye lens was 7.60 (P<0.01). Conclusions: Uncorrected refractive error is one of the important causes of visual impairment in diabetic patients aged 50 and above in Funing county, Jiangsu province; the important influencing factors were age, glycosylated hemoglobin concentration, myopia and lens status. Relevant health departments should popularize the eye health for diabetic patients and conduct regular optometry and fundus examination. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 757-765).

[The clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of ocular Kimura disease and epithelioid hemangioma]

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of ocular Kimura disease (KD) and epithelioid hemangioma. Methods: It was a retrospective case series study. The data of 10 patients with ocular KD and 3 patients with ocular epithelioid hemangioma from the Pathology Department of Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University from January 2010 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including clinical manifestations, morphology and immunophenotypes. Results: Among patients with ocular KD, there were 9 males and 1 female with an age from 7 to 75 years (mean, 30 years). There were 6 unilateral cases and 4 bilateral cases. The disease mainly involved the orbit in 3 patients, the lacrimal gland in 5 patients and the eyelid in 2 patients. The ophthalmic presentation included a palpable periorbital or eyelid mass with eyelid swelling and ptosis, proptosis and displacement of the eyeball, and ocular dysmotility. Three patients had a history of lymphadenopathy. The disease course ranged from 6 months to 7 years (mean, 34 months). All the patients had elevated peripheral blood eosinophilia. Three patients of ocular epithelioid hemangioma were all males with age from 25 to 60 years old. They were all unilateral cases with 1 right eye and 2 left eyes. The disease respectively involved eyelid and orbit, the eyebrow skin and the inner canthus skin. They presented with eyelid swelling, orbital mass or subcutaneous nodule for 5 months to 2 years. All patients (11 eyes) with KD underwent incisional or excisional biopsy. The histopathology revealed follicular hyperplasia of lymphoid tissue with active germinal centers in orbital fibroadipose tissue. There were massive interfollicular eosinophils with eosinophilic microabscesses. Some swelling endothelial cells of proliferating vessels were seen. All the 3 patients (3 eyes) with ocular epithelioid hemangioma underwent excision of the lesions. Histopathological examination showed proliferation of small and medium blood vessels. The vessels were lined by endothelial cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm which protruded into the lumen. The endothelial cells were positive for CD31, factor Ⅷ-related antigen and E26 transformation-specific related gene immunohistochemically. There was a moderate amount of lymphocytes, plasma cells and eosinophils surrounding blood vessels without eosinophilic microabscess. Conclusions: Both ocular KD and epithelioid hemangioma are more commonly seen in males and share the common histopathological features of vascular proliferation, swelling endothelial cells and eosinophilic infiltration. KD is an allergic benign lymphoid tissue proliferation characteristic of massive eosinophilic infiltration, whereas epithelioid hemangioma is a benign neoplasm of blood vessels with plump and epithelioid endothelial cells. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 689-695).

[Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors of the urinary bladder: a clinicopathological study of ten cases]

0bjective To investigate the clinicopathological features,immunohistochemical phenotypes, molecular genetic alterations,diagnosis and differential diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) of the urinary bladder. Methods: Ten cases of IMT of the urinary bladder (three cases at Ningbo Diagnostic Pathology Center from September 2011 to December 2020, five in-house diagnosed cases and two consultation cases at Shanghai Rui Jin Hospital from June 2011 to December 2020) were collected retrospectively. The clinicopathologic features and immunophenotypic profiles were studied by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry (EnVision method). The translocation of ALK gene was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Results: Of the 10 patients, eight were male and two were female. The patients' age range was 16 to 62 years (median 36 years).The main clinical presentation was hematuria and urinary irritation. Three cases were located at the dome of the urinary bladder, four cases were in the left lateral wall and the remaining three cases were in the right lateral wall. The tumor size ranged from 1.5 cm to 8.5 cm. In eight cases, the tumors were mainly submucosal, and in some cases extending to the muscular layer of the urinary bladder. In two cases, the tumors were mainly located in the muscular layer and focally extended to the submucosa and adventitia. Histologically, four cases had the nodular fasciitis-like pattern, three cases had fibrohistiocytoma-like pattern, two cases had mixed histologic patterns and the remaining case showed leiomyosarcoma-like histologic features. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells expressed SMA (10/10),calponin (9/10),desmin (6/10) and CKpan (9/10). Cytoplasmic staining for ALK1 and ALK (5A4) was detected in 7 of 10 cases and 8 of 10 cases, respectively. Nuclear and cytoplasmic staining for ALK (D5F3) was detected in 7 of 10 cases. Among eight cases with material available for FISH analysis, ALK rearrangement was present in five cases. Follow-up data were available in eight patients and none had local recurrence nor distant metastasis. Conclusion: IMT of the urinary bladder is an uncommon mesenchymal neoplasm with intermediate malignant potential.It has special clinicopathologic features, and a minority of cases have local tumor recurrence.

[Effects of programmed death receptor-1 antibody in patients with hepatitis B-associated liver cancer]

Objective: To investigate the effect of programmed death receptor (PD)-1 antibody therapy in patients with hepatitis B-associated liver cancer. Methods: Data of 29 chronically infected HBV patients with liver cancer who received PD-1 antibody combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitor in the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Fifth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from March 2020 to January 2021 were selected. At the same time, all of the above-mentioned hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients were treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues. Patients clinical diagnostic data, laboratory test results, tumor response and the incidence of adverse reactions were collected retrospectively to understand the overall safety, therapeutic anti-tumor effect, HBV changes condition and the correlation between HBV changes and anti-tumor PD-1 antibody efficacy, high viral load treatment condition, and HBV reactivation safety issues. Statistical analysis was performed by non-parametric rank sum test. Results: Therapeutic anti-tumor effect and safety profile were good in patients. The complete remission rate was reached 27.6%. Adverse reactions were mostly mild, and the incidence of serious adverse reactions was low. After 12 weeks of follow-up, HBV DNA and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was quantitatively decreased (P < 0.05). HBV DNA and HBsAg were decreased more significantly in patients with progressive disease (PD), stable disease (SD) and partial response (PR) (P < 0.05). Five patients with HBV DNA ≥ 10(4) IU/ml had responded well to the tumor treatment without serious adverse reactions. One patient had a slight increase in HBV DNA and alanine aminotransferase, while there was no HBV reactivation and correlated liver damage. Conclusion: Patients with HBV-associated liver cancer who received combined therapy have good anti-tumor efficacy and safety profile. PD-1 treatment has a certain effect on HBV. Compared with non-responders, patients with tumor response have better antiviral treatment efficacy. The safety of treatment in patients with high viral load is manageable, and there are no safety issues related to HBV reactivation.

[An exploratory framework of vaccine hesitancy monitoring and early warning system in China]

Vaccine hesitancy has spread worldwide recent years and resulting in increasing incidence of some well-controlled vaccine-preventable diseases, which is extremely unfavorable to the consolidation of the national immunization programme and the elimination of corresponding diseases. Based on the Complacency, Convenience and Confidence ("3Cs") model of vaccine hesitancy, combined with the practice experience of management of quality control through the whole vaccine life cycle in China, we introduce a framework of vaccine hesitancy monitoring and early warning in China to provide a reference for carrying out corresponding work. The indicator system of the framework derives from monitoring of vaccine life cycle quality management, population vaccine confidence, and service availability.

A Trojan-Horse Strategy by In Situ Piggybacking onto Endogenous Albumin for Tumor-Specific Neutralization of Oncogenic MicroRNA

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a recently discovered class of noncoding RNAs, play pivotal roles in regulating fundamental biological processes by suppressing the expression of target genes. Aberrant miRNA expression is commonly correlated with human diseases, including cancers. Anti-miRNA oligonucleotides provide an innovative therapeutic strategy for silencing disease-associated miRNAs. However, the clinical application of anti-miRNA therapy has been limited by formulation challenges and physiological delivery barriers. Here, to provide the safe and effective tumor-targeted delivery of anti-miRNAs, we designed carrier-free maleimide-functionalized anti-miRNAs (MI-Anti-miRNAs) that enable "piggybacking" onto albumin in vivo. These functionalized MI-Anti-miRNAs covalently bind to cysteine-34 of endogenous albumin within minutes. In addition to resulting in a markedly extended blood circulation lifetime, this strategy allows MI-Anti-miRNAs to "hitchhike" to the tumor site. Importantly, in situ-generated albumin-Anti-miRNAs are capable of intracellularly internalizing highly negatively charged anti-miRNA molecules and knocking down target miRNAs. In particular, MI-Anti-miRNAs that targeted miRNA-21, which is involved in tumor initiation, progression, invasion, and metastasis in several types of cancer, successfully repressed miRNA-21 activity, resulting in a superior antitumor activity in both solid and metastatic tumor models without causing systemic toxicity. This endogenous albumin-piggybacking approach using MI-Anti-miRNAs provides a simple and broadly applicable platform strategy for the systemic delivery of anti-miRNA therapeutics.

[Molecular mechanism of zoledronic acid inhibiting angiogenesis by semi flexible binding with vascular endothelial growth factor conformation]

Objective: To study the relationship between zoledronic acid (ZOL) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) conformation so as to reveal the mechanism of bisphosphonates inhibiting angiogenesis. Methods: The binding structures of ZOL and VEGF were preprocessed and the molecular dockings were simulated through AutoDockTools, Discovery studio4 and AutoDockVina. The best binding conformation was accurately screened. The effects of various concentrations of ZOL (group A was 0 μmol/L, groups B, C and D were 25, 50 and 100 μmol/L, respectively) on human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) proliferation, angiogenesis and angiogenic molecules were detected by using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) in vivo and in vitro angiogenesis, immunofluorescence and Western blotting. Results: There was a ZOL binding site on the target protein VEGF conformation. The affinity was -5.2 kcal/mol. This binding site consisted of the hydrophobic region composed of amino acids Cys26, 51, 57, etc. and the hydrogen bond binding region of the A chain (ASP34, SER50) and B chain (CYS61, 68, LEU66, GLY59). The results of CCK-8 showed that the levels of value A in groups B, C and D were significantly lower than that in group A at each time point from 3 to 6 days (P<0.05). In vitro vascular experiments demonstrated that the numbers of budding in groups B, C and D [(208±28), (151±21) and (62±9), respectively] were significantly lower than that in group A (276±30) (P<0.05). In vivo vascular experiments displayed that the ratio of Matrigel gel/plasma fluorescence in group A (0.003 1±0.000 3) was significantly higher than those in group B (0.002 1±0.000 2), group C (0.001 6±0.000 2) and group D (0.000 6±0.000 1) (P<0.05). The results of Western blotting revealed that the expression of VEGF in groups B, C and D [(0.72±0.11), (0.41±0.07) and (0.24±0.04), respectively] were significantly lower than that in group A (1.01±0.02) (P<0.05), and the expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in groups B, C and D [(0.68±0.09), (0.55±0.06) and (0.43±0.08), respectively] were significantly lower than that in group A (0.96±0.04) (P<0.05). Conclusions: ZOL could inhibit cell proliferation, in vivo and in vitro vascularization and expression of VEGF/HIF-1α. The binding site of ZOL with the conformation of VEGF was located in the hydrophobic region and hydrogen-bonding region of amino acids. Designing an antagonist targeting this site might potentially alleviate the effect of ZOL in inhibiting angiogenesis.

[Progress in genetic epidemiology of non-syndromic cleft palate only]

One of the most common birth defects is cleft palate only (CPO) of which non-syndromic cleft palate only (NSCPO) accounts for 50%. NSCPO is a complex disease where multiple genes and environmental factors contribute to its risk. Unlike non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P), previous genome-wide association studies only identified a few common genetic variations achieving genome-wide significance. This review summarizes the recent findings on genetic epidemiology of NSCPO. According to the current evidence, the candidate genes are divided into three categories: candidate genes with strong evidence, candidate genes with suggestive evidence, and candidate genes with inadequate evidence. The findings of epigenetic studies, the next generation sequencing studies, interaction analysis on NSCPO are also reviewed.

New α-Emitting Isotope ^{214}U and Abnormal Enhancement of α-Particle Clustering in Lightest Uranium Isotopes

A new α-emitting isotope ^{214}U, produced by the fusion-evaporation reaction ^{182}W(^{36}Ar,4n)^{214}U, was identified by employing the gas-filled recoil separator SHANS and the recoil-α correlation technique. More precise α-decay properties of even-even nuclei ^{216,218}U were also measured in the reactions of ^{40}Ar, ^{40}Ca beams with ^{180,182,184}W targets. By combining the experimental data, improved α-decay reduced widths δ^{2} for the even-even Po-Pu nuclei in the vicinity of the magic neutron number N=126 are deduced. Their systematic trends are discussed in terms of the N_{p}N_{n} scheme in order to study the influence of proton-neutron interaction on α decay in this region of nuclei. It is strikingly found that the reduced widths of ^{214,216}U are significantly enhanced by a factor of two as compared with the N_{p}N_{n} systematics for the 84≤Z≤90 and N<126 even-even nuclei. The abnormal enhancement is interpreted by the strong monopole interaction between the valence protons and neutrons occupying the π1f_{7/2} and ν1f_{5/2} spin-orbit partner orbits, which is supported by the large-scale shell model calculation.