Omics-based Investigation of Diet-induced Obesity Synergized with HBx, Src, and p53 Mutation Accelerating Hepatocarcinogenesis in Zebrafish Model

The primary type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), has been associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, diabetes, and obesity. Previous studies have identified some genetic risk factors, such as hepatitis B virus X antigens, overexpression of SRC oncogene, and mutation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene; however, the synergism between diet and genetic risk factors is still unclear. To investigate the synergism between diet and genetic risk factors in hepatocarcinogenesis, we used zebrafish with four genetic backgrounds and overfeeding or high-fat-diet-induced obesity with an omics-based expression of genes and histopathological changes. The results show that overfeeding and high-fat diet can induce obesity and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in wild-type fish. In HBx, Src (p53-) triple transgenic zebrafish, diet-induced obesity accelerated HCC formation at five months of age and increased the cancer incidence threefold. We developed a global omics data analysis method to investigate genes, pathways, and biological systems based on microarray and next-generation sequencing (NGS, RNA-seq) omics data of zebrafish with four diet and genetic risk factors. The results show that two Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) systems, metabolism and genetic information processing, as well as the pathways of fatty acid metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, and ribosome biogenesis, are activated during hepatocarcinogenesis. This study provides a systematic view of the synergism between genetic and diet factors in the dynamic liver cancer formation process, and indicate that overfeeding or a high-fat diet and the risk genes have a synergistic effect in causing liver cancer by affecting fatty acid metabolism and ribosome biogenesis.

[Clinical and prognostic values of TP53 mutation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia]

Objective: To explore the clinical and prognostic values of TP53 gene mutation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) . Methods: A retrospective analysis of 265 newly diagnosed AML patients with next-generation sequencing (NGS) data in the Hematology Department of Changhai Hospital from January 2010 to January 2019 was performed. Mutation analysis was carried out by targeted sequencing technology including 200 hematological malignancy related genes. The association of TP53 mutation with clinical features was analyzed. Results: Alterations in TP53 were found in 20 (7.5%) patients, including 17 case (6.4%) of missense mutations, 2 cases (0.7%) of frame-shift deletion mutations and 1 case (0.4%) of splicing sites mutation. A total of 23 kinds of TP53 mutations were detected, most of them (16, 69.6%) were located in the DNA binding domain of exon 5-8, 4 in the DNA binding domain of exon 3-4, 2 in exon 10 and 1 in splice site, respectively. The median age of patients with TP53 alterations was higher than those without [52 (26-72) years old vs 45 (14-75) years old, P= 0.008]. The frequency of complex karyotypes was higher in patients with TP53 alterations than those without [45.0% (9/20) vs 6.1% (15/245) , P<0.001]. Median overall survival (OS) of patients with TP53 alterations was shorter than those without[14.1 (95%CI 6.78-21.42) months vs 31.4 (95%CI 13.20-49.59) months, P=0.029]. The OS of patients treated with "Decitabine + CAG" was superior than that of patients treated with "3 + 7" regimen [30.0 (95%CI 27.35-38.84) months vs 12.5 (95%CI 5.80-19.19) months, P=0.018]. Multivariate analysis indicated that TP53, DNMT3A and USH2A alterations, WBC ≥ 12.45×10(9)/L had negative impacts on OS. Conclusion: The frequency of TP53 mutation was 7.5% in our cohort. Most mutations were located in the DNA binding domain. TP53 alterations were strongly associated with older age, complex karyotype and shorter OS. Decitabine-based induction chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may improve OS, more cases and/or multicenter randomized studies are needed for further confirmation.

[Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma: histopathological grading and prognosis]

Objective: To investigate the histological features and prognostic factors of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL). Methods: The pathological data of 62 patients with AITL with complete follow-up information were retrospectively collected and analyzed from Changhai Hospital during September 2012 and September 2017. Histological and immunohistochemical (IHC) examination, in situ hybridization (ISH), and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) gene mutation analysis were done. Subgroup evaluation with histology, IHC, ISH, SNP gene mutation, and association with clinical progression were performed. Results: The cohort included 62 cases of AITL, including 46 males and 16 females patients, with a median age of 64 years. Follicular dendritic cells (FDC) area showed significantly expansion (≥30%) in 40 cases; increased plasma cells (≥10%) was seen in 37 cases; B cells were distributed around blood vessels in 37 cases; and increased p53 mutation positive cells (≥40%) were seen in 39 cases; high Ki-67 index (≥40%) was seen in 39 cases; RHOA mutation was seen in 19 cases; TET2 mutation was seen in 9 cases. Overall survival analysis showed these factors were significantly correlated with tumor prognosis (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that CD38 positive cells<10%, Ki-67≥40%, RHOA and TET2 mutations were risk factors associated with overall survival. Conclusions: AITL could be divided into two different prognostic groups, low-grade and high-grade, with statistically significance outcome, based on the FDC area expansion, degree of plasma cell proliferation, B cells distribution pattern combined with gene mutations and clinical progression. Low-grade malignant group progresses slowly, and high-grade malignant group is highly invasive.

Boolean function network analysis of time course liver transcriptome data to reveal novel circadian transcriptional regulators in mammals

BACKGROUND

Many biological processes in mammals are subject to circadian control at the molecular level. Disruption of circadian rhythms has been demonstrated to be associated with a wide range of diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, mental disorders, and cancer. Although the core circadian genes are well established, there are multiple reports of novel peripheral circadian regulators. The goal of this study was to provide a comprehensive computational analysis to identify novel potential circadian transcriptional regulators.

METHODS

To fulfill the aforementioned goal, we applied a Boolean function network method to analyze the microarray time course mouse and rat liver datasets available in the literature. The inferred direct pairwise relations were further investigated using the functional annotation tool. This approach generated a list of transcription factors (TFs) and cofactors, which were associated with significantly enriched circadian gene ontology (GO) categories.

RESULTS

As a result, we identified 93 transcriptional circadian regulators in mouse and 95 transcriptional circadian regulators in rat. Of these, 19 regulators in mouse and 21 regulators in rat were known, whereas the rest were novel. Furthermore, we validated novel circadian TFs with bioinformatics databases, previous large-scale circadian studies, and related small-scale studies. Moreover, according to predictions inferred from ChIP-Seq experiments reported in the database, 40 of our candidate circadian regulators were confirmed to have circadian genes as direct regulatory targets. In addition, we annotated candidate circadian regulators with disorders that were often associated with disruptions of circadian rhythm in the literature.

CONCLUSION

In summary, our computational analysis, which was followed by an extensive verification by means of a literature review, can contribute to translational study from endocrinology to cancer research and provide insights for future investigation.

[Rosai-Dorfman disease: a clinicopathologic analysis and whole exome sequencing in 23 cases]

目的

分析Rosai-Dorfman disease（RDD）的临床病理特征，利用全基因组外显子测序探讨RDD的发病机制。

方法

回顾性分析第二军医大学附属长海医院、长征医院2010年1月至2018年7月收治的23例RDD患者临床病理资料，并对9例患者石蜡包埋组织标本进行了全基因组外显子测序。

结果

23例RDD患者中位年龄47（10~79）岁，19例为结外型，3例为淋巴结型，1例为混合型。所有患者均接受了手术切除病灶，19例患者中位随访24（1~67）个月，均无复发。病理形态主要表现为淋巴结窦内或结外组织中组织细胞增生伴有噬淋巴细胞现象，免疫组化示组织细胞表达S100、CD68、CD163，不表达CD1a。全基因组外显子测序发现mTOR、KMT2D和NOTCH1基因突变。

结论

mTOR、KMT2D和NOTCH1基因突变可能参与了RDD的发病机制，其临床意义仍需要进一步研究。

[Efficacy of Hyper-CVAD/MA and CHALL-01 regimens in the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients under 60 years old]

Objective: To compare the difference of efficacy between traditional Hyper-CVAD/MA regimen and the adolescents inspired chemotherapy regimen, CH ALL-01, in treatment of adult Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph(+) ALL) . Methods: In this study we retrospectively analyzed 158 Ph(+) ALL patients receiving Hyper-CVAD/MA regimen (n=63) or CHALL-01 regimen (n=95) in our center and Changzheng hospital from January 2007 to December 2017, excluding patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in blast crisis. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) was administered during induction and consolidation chemotherapy. Patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation received TKI as maintenance therapy. Results: Of them, 91.1% (144/158) patients achieved complete remission (CR) after 1-2 courses of induction. CR rate was 90.5% (57/63) for patients in Hyper-CVAD/MA group and 91.6% (87/95) for patients in CHALL-01 group. There was no difference in CR rates between the two groups (χ(2)=0.057, P=0.811) . The last follow-up was June 2018. A cohort of 134 CR patients could be used for further analysis, among them, 53 patients received Hyper-CVAD/MA regimen and other 81 patients received CHALL-01 regimen. The molecular remission rates were significantly higher in CHALL-01 group (complete molecular response: 44.4%vs 22.6%; major molecular response: 9.9% vs 18.9%) (χ(2)=7.216, P=0.027) . For the patients in Hyper-CVAD/MA group, the 4-year overall survival (OS) was 44.81% (95%CI: 30.80%-57.86%) and the 4-year disease free survival (DFS) was 37.95% (95%CI: 24.87%-50.93%) . For patients received CHALL-01 regimen, the 4-year OS was 55.63% (95%CI: 39.07%-69.36%) (P=0.037) and 4 year DFS was 49.06% (95%CI: 34.24%-62.29%) (P=0.015) , while there was no significant difference in 4 year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) (P=0.328) or cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality (CI-NRM) (P=0.138) . The rate of pulmonary infection was lower in patients received CHALL-01 regimen compared with patients received Hyper-CVAD regimen (43.4% vs 67.9%, χ(2)=7.908, P=0.005) . Conclusions: Outcome with CHALL-01 regimen appeared better than that with the Hyper-CVAD/MA regimen in Ph(+) ALL, which has lower incidence of pulmonary infection, higher molecular remission rate and better OS and DFS.

Deep learning with evolutionary and genomic profiles for identifying cancer subtypes

Cancer subtype identification is an unmet need in precision diagnosis. Recently, evolutionary conservation has been indicated to contain informative signatures for functional significance in cancers. However, the importance of evolutionary conservation in distinguishing cancer subtypes remains largely unclear. Here, we identified the evolutionarily conserved genes (i.e. core genes) and observed that they are primarily involved in cellular pathways relevant to cell growth and metabolisms. By using these core genes, we developed two novel strategies, namely a feature-based strategy (FES) and an image-based strategy (IMS) by integrating their evolutionary and genomic profiles with the deep learning algorithm. In comparison with the FES using the random set and the strategy using the PAM50 classifier, the core gene set-based FES achieved a higher accuracy for identifying breast cancer subtypes. The IMS and FES using the core gene set yielded better performances than the other strategies, in terms of classifying both breast cancer subtypes and multiple cancer types. Moreover, the IMS is reproducible even using different gene expression data (i.e. RNA-seq and microarray). Comprehensive analysis of eight cancer types demonstrates that our evolutionary conservation-based models represent a valid and helpful approach for identifying cancer subtypes and the core gene set offers distinguishable clues of cancer subtypes.

Alternative splicing in human cancer cells is modulated by the amiloride derivative 3,5-diamino-6-chloro-N-(N-(2,6-dichlorobenzoyl)carbamimidoyl)pyrazine-2-carboxide

Alternative splicing (AS) is a process that enables the generation of multiple protein isoforms with different biological properties from a single mRNA. Cancer cells often use the maneuverability conferred by AS to produce proteins that contribute to growth and survival. In our previous studies, we identified that amiloride modulates AS in cancer cells. However, the effective concentration of amiloride required to modulate AS is too high for use in cancer treatment. In this study, we used computational algorithms to screen potential amiloride derivatives for their ability to regulate AS in cancer cells. We found that 3,5-diamino-6-chloro-N-(N-(2,6-dichlorobenzoyl)carbamimidoyl)pyrazine-2-carboxamide (BS008) can regulate AS of apoptotic gene transcripts, including HIPK3, SMAC, and BCL-X, at a lower concentration than amiloride. This splicing regulation involved various splicing factors, and it was accompanied by a change in the phosphorylation state of serine/arginine-rich proteins (SR proteins). RNA sequencing was performed to reveal that AS of many other apoptotic gene transcripts, such as AATF, ATM, AIFM1, NFKB1, and API5, was also modulated by BS008. In vivo experiments further indicated that treatment of tumor-bearing mice with BS008 resulted in a marked decrease in tumor size. BS008 also had inhibitory effects in vitro, either alone or in a synergistic combination with the cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents sorafenib and nilotinib. BS008 enabled sorafenib dose reduction without compromising antitumor activity. These findings suggest that BS008 may possess therapeutic potential for cancer treatment.

An effective experimental method and apparatus for unsteady water vapor condensation investigation in high speed expansion flow

This paper presents an effective experimental method and system for mechanism study of unsteady water vapor condensation encountered in high speed expansion flow. We proposed an experimental method and designed a simplified expansion system to fulfill the study. Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) and light sheet technique are integrated in the system to monitor the unsteady condensation process in a high speed expansion flow generated by the expansion system. Two near infrared water vapor absorption transitions (1395.0 nm and 1409.27 nm) and one near infrared methane absorption transition (1653.73 nm) are applied in the TDLAS measurement to measure the transient flow parameters during the condensation process. Using the experimental method, time dependent condensation processes are monitored with different expansion time scales. The light sheet results visually reveal the condensation phenomena during the expansion process, while TDLAS results quantitatively follow the condensation process. The experimental results are compared with computational fluid dynamics simulations and a good agreement between them is observed, which indicates that the presented experimental method and system is effective in investigating unsteady water vapor condensation in high speed expansion flow.

Identification of the PCA29 gene signature as a predictor in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer death among men worldwide. About 70% of PCa patients were diagnosed at later stage, and metastasis has been observed. Additionally, the cure rate of PCa closely relies on the early diagnosis with biomarkers. The identification of biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis is an urgent clinical issue for PCa. Here, we developed a novel scoring strategy, including cluster score (CS) and predicting score (PS), to identify 29 PCa genes (called PCa29) for early diagnostic biomarkers from two datasets in Gene Expression Omnibus. The result indicates that PCa29 can discriminate between normal and tumor tissues and are specific for prostate cancer. To validate PCa29, we found that 97% of PCa29 were consistently significant with these gene expressions in The Cancer Genome Atlas; furthermore, ∼ 70% of PCa29 are consensus to the protein expression in The Human Protein Atlas. Finally, we examined 10 genes in PCa29 on three PCa cell lines by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The experimental results show that the trend of the differential PCa29 expression is consistent with the analyzed results from our novel scoring method. We believe that our method is useful and PCa29 are potential biomarkers that provide the clues to develop targeting therapy for PCa.

[Psychoacoustic and clinical features of patients with idiopathic tinnitus]

Objective:The aim of this study is to explore the psychoacoustic and clinical features of patients with idiopathic tinnitus, to understand the relationship and regularity between tinnitus frequency, loudness and hearing loss, and to provide a basis for personalized diagnosis and treatment of tinnitus.Method:A total of 110 patients with idiopathic tinnitus underwent systematic otological professional examination,audiological examination, tinnitus refinement examination, medical history inquiry and tinnitus disability scale(THI) survey.Result:Tinnitus more frequently occurred between 20 to 60 years of age(95.45%),a significant decrease in people under the age of 20 and over the age of 60;67 cases(60.9%) of the tinnitus frequency were completely consistent with the maximum frequency of hearing loss, The Pearson test showed that tinnitus frequency was correlated to frequency of hearing loss (r=0.989,P<0.05).Tinnitus loudness pitch results are mostly concentrated between 40-60dBSL, The Pearson test showed that tinnitus loudness was correlated to hearing loss(r=0.932,P<0.05);The total effective rate of sound therapy was 67.3%,There was a correlation between Residual inhibition and sound therapy(r=0.438,P<0.05); No statistic difference was found between THI scores and Tinnitus duration (r=-0.047,P>0.05).Conclusion:There was a correlation between tinnitus pitch and hearing loss.Residual inhibition may indicate the effectiveness of the sound therapy and may affect the patient's THI score. Full Precision Test can provide clinical reference for early detection of hearing loss in tinnitus patients.

Comparative assessment of atherosclerosis of rabbit femoral artery by Duplex Ultrasound Scanning, Optical Coherence Tomography and Fractional Flow Reserve

Duplex Ultrasound Scanning (DUS), Frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) remarkably shape our understanding of the significance of coronary stenosis. The present study aimed to compare the assessment results of the atherosclerotic lesions in rabbit superficial femoral artery by DUS with that of FD-OCT and FFR. A total of 20 atherosclerotic lesions were analyzed. Morphological assessments were prospectively compared through DUS, FD-OCT and quantitative superficial femoral angiography (QFA). In addition, the correlation between DUS derived lesion parameters and FFR was determined. The results show that, compared with FD-OCT and QFA, DUS detected larger reference diameter and higher percent stenosis. However, the minimal lumen diameter (MLD) and distance from profunda femoris to MLD were equivalent measured by the three imaging modalities. There was a poor correlation between FFR and DUS-derived percent diameter stenosis (R2=0.198, P=0.049). In conclusion, hemodynamic significance of lesions assessed by FFR was only related with percent diameter stenosis measured by DUS.

Early development of de novo hepatocellular carcinoma after direct-acting agent therapy: Comparison with pegylated interferon-based therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients

Patients with chronic hepatitis C who achieve a sustained viral response after pegylated interferon therapy have a reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, but the risk after treatment with direct-acting antivirals is unclear. We compared the rates of early development of hepatocellular carcinoma after direct-acting antivirals and after pegylated interferon therapy. We retrospectively analysed 785 patients with chronic hepatitis C who had no history of hepatocellular carcinoma (211 treated with pegylated interferon, 574 with direct-acting antivirals) and were followed up for at least 24 weeks after antiviral treatment. De novo hepatocellular carcinoma developed in 6 of 574 patients receiving direct-acting antivirals and in 1 of 211 patients receiving pegylated interferon. The cumulative incidence of early hepatocellular carcinoma development did not differ between the treatment groups either for the whole cohort (1.05% vs 0.47%, P = .298) or for those patients with Child-Pugh Class A cirrhosis (3.73% vs 2.94%, P = .827). Multivariate analysis indicated that alpha-fetoprotein level >9.5 ng/mL at the time of end-of-treatment response was the only independent risk factor for early development of hepatocellular carcinoma in all patients (P < .0001, hazard ratio 176.174, 95% confidence interval 10.768-2882.473) and in patients treated with direct-acting agents (P < .0001, hazard ratio 128.402, 95% confidence interval 8.417-1958.680). In conclusion, the rate of early development of hepatocellular carcinoma did not differ between patients treated with pegylated interferon and those treated with direct-acting antivirals and was associated with the serum alpha-fetoprotein level at the time of end-of-treatment response.

[Germline gene testing of the RET, VHL, SDHD and SDHB genes in patients with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the germline variations of genes RET, VHL, SDHD and SDHB in patients with pheochromocytoma and/or paraganglioma and to evaluate variations of these genes in Chinese patients.

METHODS

Patients who were treated in Peking University First Hospital from September 2012 to March 2014 and diagnosed with pheochromocytoma and/or paraganglioma by pathologists were included in this study. Twelve patients were included in total, of whom 11 had pheochromocytoma, and 1 had paraganglioma. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from the leukocytes of peripheral blood of the patients. The exons 10, 11, 13-16 of the RET gene, and all exons of VHL, SDHB and SDHD genes and their nearby introns (±20 bp) were amplified with polymerase chain reactions, and the products were sent to a biotechnology company for sequencing. The sequencing results were compared with wildtype sequences of these genes to identify variations. One of the patients was diagnosed with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A. A family analysis was performed in his kindred, and his family members received genetic tests for the related variations.

RESULTS

Three patients were found to have germline gene variations. A c.136C>T (p.R46X) variation of the SDHB gene was found in a patient with malignant pheochromocytoma. A c.1901G>A (C634Y) variation, as well as c.2071G>A (p.G691S) and c.2712C>G (p.S904S) variations of the RET gene were found in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A. After a family analysis, five family members of this patient were found to have the same variations. c.2071G>A (p.G691S) and c.2712C>G (p.S904S) variations of the RET gene were also found in a clinical sporadic patient without evidence of malignancy. A patient with congenital single ventricle malformation and pheochromocytoma was included in this study, and no variation with clinical significance was found in the four genes of this patient.

CONCLUSION

25% (3/12) patients with pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma were found to have missense or nonsense germline gene variations in this study, including the c.136C>T (p.R46X) variation of the SDHB gene, the c.1901G>A (C634Y) variation of the RET gene, and c.2071G>A (p.G691S) and c.2712C>G (p.S904S) variations of the RET gene. The former two variations have already been confirmed to be pathogenic. The existence of these variations in Chinese patients with pheochromocytoma and/or paraganglioma was validated in this study, which supports the conclusion that genetic testing is necessary to be generally performed in patients with pheochromocytoma and/or paraganglioma.

[Diagnosis and treatment of basal cell adenoma of parotid gland]

Objective:To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment experience of basal cell adenoma (BCA).Method:The clinical data of 7 patients with basal cell adenoma of the parotid gland from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical University of Anhui from March 2012 to June 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Combined with literature review, the experience of diagnosis and treatment was discussed.Result:Seven BCA were mostly diagnosed as pleomorphic adenoma and adenomatous lymphoma before operation using parotid ultrasound, fine needle aspiration cytology and parotid enhanced CT, and no patients was diagnosed as BCA prior to the operation. Four cases were diagnosed as BCA, 1 case was diagnosed as adenoma, 1 case was diagnosed as low-grade malignant tumor, and 1 case was not able to identify benign or malignant tumor by intraoperative fast frozen pathological examination. There were no obvious complications after the operation, and only 2 cases of mild facial paralysis returned to normal in 1 month, and no recurrence was found in the follow-up 18-69 months. Conclusion:Basal cell adenoma of the parotid gland is a rare benign tumor of parotid gland, the lack of specific clinical manifestations and signs, preoperative ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration cytology and parotid gland enhanced CT scan can not confirm the diagnosis, although they have some limitations, they are of great value in the localization, qualitative and differential diagnosis of BCA in the parotid gland. The diagnosis mainly depends on intraoperative, postoperative pathology and immunohistochemical examination. The treatment is mainly surgical excision, and the prognosis is better.

A homologous mapping method for three-dimensional reconstruction of protein networks reveals disease-associated mutations

BACKGROUND

One of the crucial steps toward understanding the associations among molecular interactions, pathways, and diseases in a cell is to investigate detailed atomic protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in the structural interactome. Despite the availability of large-scale methods for analyzing PPI networks, these methods often focused on PPI networks using genome-scale data and/or known experimental PPIs. However, these methods are unable to provide structurally resolved interaction residues and their conservations in PPI networks.

RESULTS

Here, we reconstructed a human three-dimensional (3D) structural PPI network (hDiSNet) with the detailed atomic binding models and disease-associated mutations by enhancing our PPI families and 3D-domain interologs from 60,618 structural complexes and complete genome database with 6,352,363 protein sequences across 2274 species. hDiSNet is a scale-free network (γ = 2.05), which consists of 5177 proteins and 19,239 PPIs with 5843 mutations. These 19,239 structurally resolved PPIs not only expanded the number of PPIs compared to present structural PPI network, but also achieved higher agreement with gene ontology similarities and higher co-expression correlation than the ones of 181,868 experimental PPIs recorded in public databases. Among 5843 mutations, 1653 and 790 mutations involved in interacting domains and contacting residues, respectively, are highly related to diseases. Our hDiSNet can provide detailed atomic interactions of human disease and their associated proteins with mutations. Our results show that the disease-related mutations are often located at the contacting residues forming the hydrogen bonds or conserved in the PPI family. In addition, hDiSNet provides the insights of the FGFR (EGFR)-MAPK pathway for interpreting the mechanisms of breast cancer and ErbB signaling pathway in brain cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate that hDiSNet can explore structural-based interactions insights for understanding the mechanisms of disease-associated proteins and their mutations. We believe that our method is useful to reconstruct structurally resolved PPI networks for interpreting structural genomics and disease associations.

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtype Alpha-9 Mediates Triple-Negative Breast Cancers Based on a Spontaneous Pulmonary Metastasis Mouse Model

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype is associated with poor prognosis and a high risk of recurrence-related death in women. Despite the aggressiveness of TNBCs, targeted TNBC therapy is not yet available in the clinic. To overcome this challenge, we generated highly metastatic TNBC cells (LM) derived from metastasized lung cells via a serial spontaneous pulmonary metastasis animal model to identify targetable molecules for attenuating the progression of TNBC metastasis. Gene analysis of primary tumor (P), first-round (1LM) and second-round (2LM) metastasized lung cells revealed that mesenchymal-related genes were significantly expressed in LM cells, especially in 2LM cells. Interestingly, α9-nAChR gene expression was also dramatically induced in LM cells, confirming our previous finding that α9-nAChR plays important roles in receptor-mediated carcinogenic signals in human breast cancer development. Using α9-nAChR as a biomarker, we transfected 2LM cells with CRISPR/Cas9 lentivirus targeting the α9-nAChR genomic region (2LM-α9-nAChR-null), showing that mesenchymal markers and the migration and invasion abilities of 2LM cells were significantly attenuated in 2LM-α9-nAChR-null cells both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the high efficiency of editing the α9-nAChR gene using a CRISPR/Cas9 lentivirus was demonstrated by gene sequencing, genomic indel frequency and protein expression analyses. Collectively, these results confirmed those of our previous study that advanced-stage breast tumors are associated with substantially higher levels of α9-nAChR gene expression, indicating that α9-nAChR expression is essential for mediating TNBC metastasis during cancer development and may potentially act as a biomarker for targeted therapy in clinical investigations.

Clinical assessment of diode laser-assisted endoscopic intrasphenoidal vidian neurectomy in the treatment of refractory rhinitis

For chronic rhinitis that is refractory to medical therapy, surgical intervention such as endoscopic vidian neurectomy (VN) can be used to control the intractable symptoms. Lasers can contribute to minimizing the invasiveness of ENT surgery. The aim of this retrospective study is to compare in patients who underwent diode laser-assisted versus traditional VN in terms of operative time, surgical field, quality of life, and postoperative complications. All patients had refractory rhinitis with a poor treatment response to a 6-month trial of corticosteroid nasal sprays and underwent endoscopic VN between November 2006 and September 2015. They were non-randomly allocated into either a cold instrument group or a diode laser-assisted group. Vidian nerve was excised with a 940-nm continuous wave diode laser through a 600-μm silica optical fiber, utilizing a contact mode with the power set at 5 W. A visual analog scale (VAS) was used to grade the severity of the rhinitis symptoms for quality of life assessment before the surgery and 6 months after. Of the 118 patients enrolled in the study, 75 patients underwent cold instrument VN and 43 patients underwent diode laser-assisted VN. Patients in the laser-assisted group had a significantly lower surgical field score and a lower postoperative bleeding rate than those in the cold instrument group. Changes in the VAS were significant in preoperative and postoperative nasal symptoms in each group. The application of diode lasers for vidian nerve transection showed a better surgical field and a lower incidence of postoperative hemorrhage. Recent advancements in laser application and endoscopic technique has made VN safer and more effective. We recommend this surgical approach as a reliable and effective treatment for patients with refractory rhinitis.

Vascular anatomy is a determining factor of successful submental flap raising: a retrospective study of 70 clinical cases

The vascular anatomy of submental flaps (SFs) represents a determining factor in successful SF raising. However, little attention has been focused on the venous return of SFs. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate SF venous return. This study enrolled patients who underwent SF reconstructive surgery in a tertiary referral center between November 2009 and October 2016. The drainage pathway of the SF venous return was routinely identified during the course of our operations to prevent damage during head and neck surgery. The venous return data of 70 patients were reviewed. The size of the flaps ranged from 15 to 84 cm², and total flap loss was not observed in the case series. All of the submental arteries originated from the facial artery; however, the submental veins of 70 patients returned to either the internal jugular vein (IJV, 72.9%) or the external jugular vein (EJV, 27.1%). Our data suggest that drainage of the submental vein into the EJV, which has been previously overlooked, should receive greater attention during SF surgeries. The results support mandatory preservation of the EJV and IJV and indicate that vascular anatomy is a determining factor for successful SF raising.

Identification of neuraminidase inhibitors against dual H274Y/I222R mutant strains

Influenza is an annual seasonal epidemic that has continually drawn public attentions, due to the potential death toll and drug resistance. Neuraminidase, which is essential for the spread of influenza virus, has been regarded as a valid target for the treatment of influenza infection. Although neuraminidase drugs have been developed, they are susceptible to drug-resistant mutations in the sialic-binding site. In this study, we established computational models (site-moiety maps) of H1N1 and H5N1 to determine properties of the 150-cavity, which is adjacent to the drug-binding site. The models reveal that hydrogen-bonding interactions with residues R118, D151, and R156 and van der Waals interactions with residues Q136, D151, and T439 are important for identifying 150-cavitiy inhibitors. Based on the models, we discovered three new inhibitors with IC₅₀ values <10 μM that occupies both the 150-cavity and sialic sites. The experimental results identified inhibitors with similar activities against both wild-type and dual H274Y/I222R mutant neuraminidases and showed little cytotoxic effects. Furthermore, we identified three new inhibitors situated at the sialic-binding site with inhibitory effects for normal neuraminidase, but lowered effects for mutant strains. The results suggest that the new inhibitors can be used as a starting point to combat drug-resistant strains.

[Prenatal exposure to outdoor air pollution and preterm birth: a Meta-analysis]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the association between exposure to prenatal outdoor air pollution and preterm birth to provide evidence in setting up programs for prevention on premature birth.

METHODS

Case-control studies regarding association between pregnant exposure to outdoor air pollution and preterm birth were collected. Data were analyzed with Stata 12.0.

RESULTS

Ten articles including 48 556 cases and 548 495 controls were qualified for inclusion. RESULTS from Meta-analyses showed pooled ORs for exposure to NO2, PM10, CO, PM2.5, and NO during the entire pregnancy were 0.960 (95%CI: 0.935-0.985), 1.068 (95%CI: 1.035-1.103), 1.122 (95%CI: 1.078-1.168), 1.110 (95% CI: 1.043-1.181) and 0.994 (95% CI: 0.973-1.016). Association between air pollution and preterm birth varied with the periods of exposure. Pooled ORs for NO2, PM10 and SO2 exposure during the first trimester were 1.117 (95%CI: 1.052-1.186), 0.968 (95%CI: 0.812-1.153) and 1.258 (95%CI: 0.758-2.089). Pooled ORs for NO2, PM10, SO2 exposure during the second trimester were 1.000 (95% CI: 0.982-1.019), 1.127 (95% CI: 0.896-1.416) and 0.977 (95% CI: 0.711-1.342). Pooled ORs for NO2, PM10, SO2 exposure during the third trimester were 1.006 (95%CI: 1.002-1.010), 1.053 (95% CI: 0.973-1.139) and 1.003 (95% CI: 1.000-1.006).

CONCLUSION

Exposures to PM10, CO and PM2.5 during the entire pregnancy, to NO2 during the first trimester, or to NO2 and SO2 during the third trimester were associated with preterm births.

An integrated approach with new strategies for QSAR models and lead optimization

Background

Computational drug design approaches are important for shortening the time and reducing the cost for drug discovery and development. Among these methods, molecular docking and quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) play key roles for lead discovery and optimization. Here, we propose an integrated approach with core strategies to identify the protein-ligand hot spots for QSAR models and lead optimization. These core strategies are: 1) to generate both residue-based and atom-based interactions as the features; 2) to identify compound common and specific skeletons; and 3) to infer consensus features for QSAR models.

Results

We evaluated our methods and new strategies on building QSAR models of human acetylcholinesterase (huAChE). The leave-one-out cross validation values q² and r² of our huAChE QSAR model are 0.82 and 0.78, respectively. The experimental results show that the selected features (resides/atoms) are important for enzymatic functions and stabling the protein structure by forming key interactions (e.g., stack forces and hydrogen bonds) between huAChE and its inhibitors. Finally, we applied our methods to arthrobacter globiformis histamine oxidase (AGHO) which is correlated to heart failure and diabetic.

Conclusions

Based on our AGHO QSAR model, we identified a new substrate verified by bioassay experiments for AGHO. These results show that our methods and new strategies can yield stable and high accuracy QSAR models. We believe that our methods and strategies are useful for discovering new leads and guiding lead optimization in drug discovery.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3503-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Novel Lactulose and Melibiose Targeting Autophagy to Reduce PolyQ Aggregation in Cell Models of Spinocerebellar Ataxia 3

Trehalose, a chemical chaperone and mTOR-independent autophagy enhancer, has shown promise in models of Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and tauopathies. In this study, two trehalase analogs, lactulose and melibiose, were examined for their potentials in spinocerebellar ataxia treatment. Using a SCA3 ATXN3/Q75-GFP cell model, we found that the ATXN3/Q75 aggregation was significantly prohibited by lactulose and melibiose because of their abilities to up-regulate autophagy. Meanwhile, lactulose and melibiose reduced reactive oxygen species production in ATXN3/Q75 cells. Both of them further inhibited the ATXN3/Q75 aggregation in neuronally differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. These findings suggest the therapeutic applications of novel trehalose analogs in polyglutamine aggregation-associated neurodegenerative diseases.