Mouse parabiosis model promotes recovery of lymphocytes in irradiated mice

PURPOSE

Total body irradiation (TBI) -induced hematopoietic system injury is mainly due to the failure of self-renewal and to the differentiation ability of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) after radiation exposure. The mouse parabiosis model is mainly used in the field of aging research to explore whether circulating factors in peripheral blood can improve the functions of aged tissues and organs. In this study, we generated a mouse model to verify whether non-irradiated peripheral circulation can improve the circulatory environment in irradiated mice and ameliorate TBI-induced hematopoietic system injury.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Six- to eight-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were adjoined by a surgical operation. Four weeks later, one mouse in the pair was exposed to 8 Gy or 6 Gy X-ray, and B and T cells in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes and thymus were then detected by flow cytometry. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in bone marrow cells and their levels of ROS and apoptosis were also detected in this study.

RESULTS

The results showed decreased percentages of B and T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, bone marrow (BM), spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) in the isotype irradiated mice. The proportions of CD4-positive, CD8-positive, and CD4 and CD8 double-negative cells were also increased, while the proportion of CD4 and CD8 double-positive cells in the irradiated thymus was decreased. Thus, all of the above lymphocyte injuries in the parabiosis model were improved to nearly the levels of the control. We further detected radiation-induced HSC and HPC injury; however, the reduced HSC and HPC numbers, ROS levels and apoptosis percentages were not ameliorated in the parabiotic irradiated mice.

CONCLUSIONS

Above all, our results showed that non-irradiated peripheral circulation can promote the recovery of TBI-induced lymphocyte injury, further indicating that the recovery of immune cells may play a very important role in the repair of TBI-induced damage.

Temperature Tides Across the Mid-Latitude Summer Turbopause Measured by a Sodium Lidar and MIGHTI/ICON

Local full diurnal coverage of temperature variations across the turbopause (~90-115 km altitude) is achieved by combining the nocturnal observations of a Sodium (Na) Doppler lidar on the Utah State University (USU) campus (41.7°N, 248.2°E) and NASA Michelson interferometer for global high-resolution thermospheric imaging (MIGHTI)/Ionospheric connection explorer (ICON) daytime observations made in the same vicinity. In this study, utilizing this hybrid data set during summer 2020 between June 12th and July 15th, we retrieve the temperature signatures of diurnal and semidiurnal tides in this region. The tidal amplitudes of both components have similar vertical variation with increasing altitude: less than 5 K below ~98 km but increase considerably above, up to 19 K near 104 km. Both experience significant dissipation near turbopause altitudes, down to ~12 K up to 113 km for the diurnal tide and ~13 K for the semidiurnal tide near 110 km. In addition, while the semidiurnal tidal behavior is consistent with the theoretical predictions, the diurnal amplitude is considerably larger than what is expected in the turbopause region. The tidal phase profile shows a dominance of tidal components with a long vertical wavelength (longer than 40 km) for the semidiurnal tide. On the other hand, the diurnal tide demonstrates close to an evanescent wave behavior in the turbopause region, which is absent in the model results and Thermosphere ionosphere mesosphere energetics and dynamics (TIMED)/Sounding of the atmosphere using broadband radiometry (SABER) observations.

[Activity comparison of humanized CD19 CAR-T cells with murine CD19 CAR-T on Nalm-6 cells and xenograft tumor model]

Objective: To compare the activity difference of the high affinity humanized CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells and murine CD19 CAR-T cells. Methods: Peripheral venous blood T cells from 8 healthy volunteers were collected and infected with humanized and murine CD19 CAR lentivirus. Human and murine CD19 CAR-T cells were prepared and cell proliferation was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method. The cytotoxicity of CD3(+) T cells, humanized and murine CD19 CAR-T cells to NALM-6 cells was detected by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Thirty BAL B/c nude mice transplanted with NALM-6 cells were randomly divided into 3 groups with 10 mice in each group and injected humanized CD19 CAR-T cells, mouse CD19 CAR-T cells and control CD3(+) T cell via tail vein, respectively. The proportion of NALM-6 cells in peripheral blood and the proportion of CD19 CAR-T cells in T cells from the vein of the inner canthus were detected by flow cytometry. The overall survival of BAL B/c nude mice was observed. Results: The proliferation of mouse and humanized CD19 CAR-T cells were (68.50±0.93)% and (80.63±1.41)%, respectively (t=20.353, P<0.001) after cultured in vitro for 24 hours, and were (91.38±1.41)% and (148.13±1.25)%, respectively (t=85.364, P<0.001) after cultured for 48 hours. When the effect to target ratio was 1∶1, there was no difference between the humanized and murine CD19 CAR-T cell group after co-culture for 24 hours (P=0.169), while the killing activity of humanized CD19 CAR-T cells against NALM-6 cells was higher than that of murine CD19 CAR-T cells (P<0.01) after 48 hours of co-culture. When the effect to target ratio was 4∶1, the cytotoxicity of humanized CD19 CAR-T cells against NALM-6 cells was higher than that of murine CD19 CAR-T cells in co-culture for 24 and 48 hours (P<0.01). On the seventh day of CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, the proportion of NALM-6 cells in the peripheral blood of BAL B/c nude mice decreased to the lowest level in the humanized CD19 CAR-T cell group and the murine CD19 CAR-T cell group. After 21 days, the proportion of NALM-6 cells in the murine CD19 CAR-T cell group was higher than that in the humanized CD19 CAR-T cell group (P(21 d)=0.001, P(28 d)<0.001, P(35 d)<0.001). The proportion of humanized and murine CD19 CAR-T cells in the peripheral blood reached the peaks after 7 days of therapy, and the proportion of humanized CD19 CAR-T cells was higher than that of murine CAR-T cells (P(7 d)=0.002). The CD19 CAR-T cells disappeared in the peripheral blood in the murine CD19 CAR-T cell group after 14 days of therapy, while in the humanized CD19 CAR-T cell group it disappeared after 21 days of therapy. The median survival of BAL B/c nude mice in the murine CD19 CAR-T cell group and the humanized CD19 CAR-T cell group was 42 days and 63 days, respectively (χ(2)=15.382, P<0.001). Conclusions: High affinity humanized CD19 CAR-T cells have stronger proliferation, higher cytotoxicity and longer survival time compared with those of murine CD19 CAR-T cells. The results indicate that the clinical efficacy of humanized CD19 CAR-T cells would be better than that of murine CD19 CAR-T cells.

Construction of a ceRNA Network and a Prognostic lncRNA Signature associated with Vascular Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma based on Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis

Background: Understanding risk factors for vascular invasion (VI) is crucial for assessing the risk of recurrence and overall prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to construct a prognostic long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) signature and a ceRNA Network associated with vascular invasion in HCC. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of HCC patients associated with VI were identified by analyzing data from TCGA. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify associations between gene expression modules and clinical features. A VI-related prognostic lncRNA signature was then established using univariate, LASSO and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Based on the hub modules identified by the WGCNA, we constructed a VI-related lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network and screened hub lncRNAs for further research. Finally, we conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments to determine the biological roles of the identified hub gene BBOX1-AS1. Results: The key module related to VI and OS was identified using WGCNA, after which a prognostic model consisting of eight lncRNAs was established, and verified using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. BBOX1-AS1 was confirmed to be highly expressed in HCC tissues, and its expression was significantly correlated with a poor prognosis. Silencing BBOX1-AS1 in vitro significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells. In vivo experiments demonstrated that knocking down of BBOX1-AS1 could result in significant decrease of tumor volume and tumor weight. Conclusions: The VI-related lncRNA signature established in this study can be used to predict the clinical outcomes of HCC patients. In addition, we constructed a VI-related lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network and demonstrated that BBOX1-AS1 might be a novel biomarker associated with VI in HCC.

[In vitro studies on the transfer of CAR into leukemia cells due to their residue in the autologous CAR-T cell preparation system for acute B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia]

Objective: To investigate the characteristics and cytotoxicity in vitro of the residual leukemia cells in the culture system that caused the accidental transfer of CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) into leukemia cells during the preparation of autologous CD19 CAR-T cells of relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Methods: ①Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 30 patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic anemia (R/R B-ALL) who accepted CD19 CAR-T cell therapy and six healthy volunteers were collected. ②The residual leukemia cells were analyzed by flow cytometry in the system after the PBMCs of R/R B-ALL patients were sorted by CD3 magnetic beads. ③ CD3(+) T cells from patients and healthy volunteers were transfected with CD19 CAR and CD22 CAR lentivirus to prepare CD19 CAR-T and CD22 CAR-T cells. ④The Nalm-6 cell line was resuscitated and the Nalm-6 cells with CD19 CAR lentivirus were transfected to prepare CD19 CAR-Nalm-6 cells. The patient's primary ALL cells were transfected with CD19 CAR lentivirus at the same time. ⑤The transfection rates were analyzed by flow cytometer, the cell proliferation was analyzed by the CCK-8 method, and the cell-killing activities were detected by the lactate dehydrogenase method. Results: ① Among the 30 R/R B-ALL patients who received CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, two patients had 2.04% and 3.32% residual leukemia cells in CD3(+) T cells. After 4 days in culture, the residual leukemia cells disappeared and could not be detected by a flow cytometer with prolonged cultivation in vitro. ② The proliferation of CD19 CAR-Nalm-6 cells was higher than that of the Nalm-6 cells. ③ The killing activity of the CD19 CAR-T cells on Nalm-6 cells was higher than that of the CD19 CAR-Nalm6 cells at a target ratio of 1∶1 on 24, 48, 72 h, respectively. The cytotoxicity of CD22 CAR-T cells on CD19 CAR-Nalm-6 cells was significantly higher than that of CD19 CAR-T cells. ④ The cytotoxicity of CD22 CAR-T alone on CD19 CAR-Nalm-6 cells was higher than that of CD19 CAR-T combined with CD22 CAR-T at the same target ratio. Conclusion: The residual leukemia cells in the culture system in the preparation of CD19 CAR-T cells may lead to the introduction of CD19 CAR into leukemia cells and results in the failure of the CD19 CAR-T cell therapy. Detecting the residual leukemia cells in the culture system via flow cytometry before transfection with CD19 CAR lentivirus is needed. Thus, CD22 CAR-T cell therapy could be used as one of the salvage treatments.

[Clinical study of percutaneous vertebroplasty combined with (125)I seeds implantation in the treatment of patients with thoracic metastatic tumor complicated with posterior vertebral defect]

Objective: To analyze the safety and efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty combined with interstitial implantation (125)I of seeds (PVPI) in the treatment of thoracic vertebroplasty with posterior vertebra defect. Methods: A retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 64 patients with thoracic spine metastases admitted to Yunnan Cancer Hospital from November 2017 to May 2019 was conducted, including 32 patients with posterior vertebra defect (experimental group) and 32 cases without (control group). Forty-two vertebral bodies of 32 patients in the experimental group were treated with improved PVPI surgery, which performed with the secondary sealing method and inclined puncture needle injection bone cement rotary filling technology, to reduce leakage. The 54 vertebral bodies of 32 patients in control group underwent PVPI. The two groups of patients were followed up on the second day, one month, three months and six months after the operation, and the short-term efficacy, long-term efficacy and safety indicators of the two groups were compared. Results: All 64 patients successfully completed the surgical treatment. The visual analogue scores and Karnofsky scores of the experimental group and the control group were improved to varying degrees on the second day, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after the operation. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The amount of bone cement in the experimental group and control group was (2.36±0.20) ml and (2.39±0.17) ml, and the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.482). The amount of (125)I seed implantation was (30.63±0.91) and (32.56±0.68), respectively, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.925). The partial response rates of the study group and the control group were 81.3% and 87.5%, the stable disease rates were 12.5% and 9.4%, the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The median overall survival (mOS) of the study group was 13 months, and the median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 8 months. The mOS of the control group was 14 months, and the mPFS was 8 months. The differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). In the experimental group, 6 (14.3%) vertebral bodies had cement leakage, of which 2 (4.8%) were cement leakage at posterior vertebra, 4 (9.5%) were paravertebral cement leakage. Seven (13.0%) paravertebral cement leakage occurred in the control group. There was no significant difference in bone cement leakage between the two groups (P=0.097). Bone cement leakage in both groups did not cause serious complications such as spinal cord injury and paraplegia. Conclusion: The application of PVPI in the treatment of thoracic metastatic tumor patients with posterior vertebra defect can acquire better clinical efficacy and safety through conduction of the improved intraoperative technology and paying more attention to the control of bone cement distribution and other issues.

Differentially expressed proteins identified by TMT proteomics analysis in children with verrucous epidermal naevi

BACKGROUND

Verrucous epidermal naevi (VEN) are benign skin tumours, considered keratinocytic epidermal naevi, that appear at birth or early childhood. VEN may display a range of appearances, depending on patient age. Although the number of studies regarding VEN is increasing, the exact mechanism of VEN is still unknown.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to analyse the changes in the expression of protein factors in lesions of VEN children by TMT labelling-based quantitative proteomics.

METHODS

A total of 8 children with VEN (5 for experiment and 3 for validation) and 8 healthy children (5 for experiment and 3 for validation) presented to the Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Boao Super Hospital, between January 2019 and November 2019. The lesions and lesion-adjacent tissues from children with VEN and naevus-adjacent normal skin tissues from children with pigmented naevi were defined as the VEN group, VENC group and C group, respectively. We performed a proteomics analysis to screen for differentially expressed proteins in the lesions of these individuals. We further performed Western blotting to validate the relative expression levels of nine targeted proteins in the validation group.

RESULTS

According to the proteomics results, a total of 4970 proteins were identified, and 4770 proteins were quantified. Among these proteins, 586 proteins were up- or downregulated at least 1.3-fold with a P-value < 0.05 (upregulated: 399, downregulated: 187) in lesions between the VEN group and the C group. These proteins played important roles in multiple biological functions, such as cornification, epidermal cell differentiation and neutrophil activation, and formed a complicated protein-protein interaction network. Of the 586 up- or downregulated proteins, nine were selected for further validation. According to Western blotting analysis results, the relative expression levels of Involucrin, NDUFA4, Loricrin, Keratin type II cytoskeletal 6A (Cytokeratin 6A), BRAF, Filaggrin, S100A7 and Desmocollin-3 were significantly upregulated in VEN children and may be associated with skin barrier dysfunction, epidermal cell overgrowth and differentiation, inflammation and immune and oxidative phosphorylation, which are involved in the pathogenesis of VEN.

CONCLUSIONS

According to TMT-based proteomics and Western blotting results, we identified eight noteworthy proteins, Involucrin, NDUFA4, Loricrin, Keratin type II cytoskeletal 6A, BRAF, Filaggrin, S100A7 and Desmocollin-3, that were upregulated in the lesions of VEN children and may be associated with the pathogenesis of VEN. Our findings provide new starting points for identifying precise pathogenic mechanisms or therapeutic targets for VEN.

eV-Scale Sterile Neutrino Search Using Eight Years of Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

The results of a 3+1 sterile neutrino search using eight years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory are presented. A total of 305 735 muon neutrino events are analyzed in reconstructed energy-zenith space to test for signatures of a matter-enhanced oscillation that would occur given a sterile neutrino state with a mass-squared differences between 0.01 and 100  eV^{2}. The best-fit point is found to be at sin^{2}(2θ_{24})=0.10 and Δm_{41}^{2}=4.5  eV^{2}, which is consistent with the no sterile neutrino hypothesis with a p value of 8.0%.

Characteristics of the Diffuse Astrophysical Electron and Tau Neutrino Flux with Six Years of IceCube High Energy Cascade Data

We report on the first measurement of the astrophysical neutrino flux using particle showers (cascades) in IceCube data from 2010-2015. Assuming standard oscillations, the astrophysical neutrinos in this dedicated cascade sample are dominated (∼90%) by electron and tau flavors. The flux, observed in the sensitive energy range from 16 TeV to 2.6 PeV, is consistent with a single power-law model as expected from Fermi-type acceleration of high energy particles at astrophysical sources. We find the flux spectral index to be γ=2.53±0.07 and a flux normalization for each neutrino flavor of ϕ_{astro}=1.66_{-0.27}^{+0.25} at E_{0}=100  TeV, in agreement with IceCube's complementary muon neutrino results and with all-neutrino flavor fit results. In the measured energy range we reject spectral indices γ≤2.28 at ≥3σ significance level. Because of high neutrino energy resolution and low atmospheric neutrino backgrounds, this analysis provides the most detailed characterization of the neutrino flux at energies below ∼100  TeV compared to previous IceCube results. Results from fits assuming more complex neutrino flux models suggest a flux softening at high energies and a flux hardening at low energies (p value ≥0.06). The sizable and smooth flux measured below ∼100  TeV remains a puzzle. In order to not violate the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray background as measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, it suggests the existence of astrophysical neutrino sources characterized by dense environments which are opaque to gamma rays.

[Maintenance therapy following CD19 CAR-T treatment for relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the maintenance therapy following an anti-CD19-CAR T-cell therapy for a B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patient who relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and investigate the effect of donor stem cells and donor T lymphocyte infusion on the amplification of CD19 CAR-T cells. Methods: One refractory B-ALL patient relapsed after murine CD19 CAR-T cell therapy followed by a sibling allo-HSCT. He underwent a humanized CD19 CAR-T cell therapy followed by donor stem cell and donor T lymphocytes infusions as maintenance therapy in our hospital. The level of cytokines, the proportion of CD19 CAR-T cell, the level of CAR19 DNA expression in the peripheral blood, and the proportion of leukemia cells and donor chimerism in the bone marrow were detected. Correspondingly, T lymphocytes from the C57 spleen were separated to modify the CD19 CAR lentivirus and refused into C57 mice, and after 14 days, the B lymphocytes from C57 mice were separated and refused into the same C57 mice. The CD19 CAR T cells, B cells, and CD19 CAR gene counts in the peripheral blood were evaluated at different time points. Results: ①The patient achieved a complete response (CR) 14 days after a humanized CD19 CAR-T therapy with grade 1 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and restored a donor chimerism to 99.76%. ② Following the remission from humanized CD19 CAR-T therapy, the patient received a maintenance therapy of donor stem cell infusion. Mild graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) manifested 24 days after infusion with an increased proportion of CD19 CAR-T cells and an increased level of CAR19 DNA expression in the peripheral blood. It fell with the remission of GVHD. The patient maintained CR and 99.69% donor chimerism during this period. ③ Throughout the subsequent donor T lymphocytes maintenance therapy, mild GVHD surfaced12 days after infusion without an increased proportion of CD19 CAR-T cells and an increased level of CAR19 DNA expression in the peripheral blood. The patient maintained CR and 99.87% donor chimerism during this period. ④ In vivo experiments on C57 mice confirmed that the proportion of CD19 CAR-T cells and the level of CAR19 DNA expression were upregulated in mice following CAR-T cell infusion, accompanied by depletion of CD19(+) B lymphocyte. After infusion of CD19(+) B lymphocyte cells, an increased proportion of CD19 CAR-T cells and an increased level of CAR19 DNA expression in the peripheral blood were observed again. Conclusions: The infusion of donor stem cells and donor T lymphocytes could be used as a maintenance treatment after CD19 CAR-T cell therapy for B-ALL patients who relapsed after allo-HSCT. Infusion of donor stem cells induced an increased proportion of CD19 CAR-T cells and an increased level of CAR19 DNA expression with the occurrence of GVHD. It might lead to further elimination of minimal residual disease.

Functional structures of soil microbial community relate to contrasting N2O emission patterns from a highly acidified forest

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is an important greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change. Emissions of N₂O from acidic forests are increasing rapidly; however, little is known about the mechanisms driving these emissions. We analyzed soil samples from a high N₂O emission area (HEA, 224-601 μg N m^-2 h^-1) and an adjacent low emission area (LEA, 20-30 μg N m^-2 h^-1) of a highly acidified forest. HEA showed similar carbon and nitrogen (N) pools and microbial biomass to LEA, but significantly higher moisture and extractable nutrients than LEA did. GeoChip 4 detected 298 gene families (unadjusted P < 0.05; 94, adjusted P < 0.05) showing significantly different structures between HEA and LEA. Both areas had highly diverse N cycling functional genes. However, HEA had higher relative abundances of nor, P450nor, and archaeal nitrifier nirK, which provided evidence for the importance of denitrifiers in N₂O emission. HEA also showed significantly higher relative abundances of lignin- and cellulose-degrading genes, oxygen-limitation-response genes and denitrifier ppk, but lower abundances of N- and phosphorus (P) -limitation-response genes especially denitrifier pstS, corresponding to the higher moisture and extractable nutrients conducive to denitrification. The moisture, extractable nutrients and pH explained over 50% variation in microbial communities, and extractable P appeared as the key factor driving community variation and consequently regulated N₂O production. CAPSULE ABSTRACT: N₂O emission in highly acidified forest soils was related to the diverse N functional genes, especially denitrification genes, and was affected by soil properties.

Environmental enrichment prevents chronic stress-induced brain-gut axis dysfunction through a GR-mediated mechanism in the central nucleus of the amygdala

BACKGROUND

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) improves quality of life of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a disorder characterized by chronic visceral pain and abnormal bowel habits. Whether CBT can actually improve visceral pain in IBS patients is still unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether environment enrichment (EE), the animal analog of CBT, can prevent stress-induced viscero-somatic hypersensitivity through changes in glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling within the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA).

METHODS

Rats were housed in either standard housing (SH) or EE for 7 days before and during daily water avoidance stress (WAS) exposure (1-h/d for 7 days). In the first cohort, visceral and somatic sensitivity were assessed via visceromotor response to colorectal distention and von Frey Anesthesiometer 24 hous and 21 days after WAS. In another cohort, the CeA was isolated for GR mRNA quantification.

KEY RESULTS

Environment enrichment for 7 days before and during the 7 days of WAS persistently attenuated visceral and somatic hypersensitivity when compared to rats placed in SH. Environment enrichment exposure also prevented the WAS-induced decrease in GR expression in the CeA.

CONCLUSION & INFERENCES

Pre-exposure to short-term EE prevents the stress-induced downregulation of GR, and inhibits visceral and somatic hypersensitivity induced by chronic stress. These results suggest that a positive environment can ameliorate stress-induced pathology and provide a non-pharmacological therapeutic option for disorders such as IBS.

Self-made Salmonella Pullorum agglutination antigen development and its potential practical application

Pullorum disease caused by Salmonella Pullorum is one of the most important infectious diseases in the poultry industry worldwide, which leads to serious economic losses in many developing countries because of its high mortality rate in young chicks. The traditional slide agglutination test with low cost, fast reaction, and on-site detection has been widely used in the diagnosis of Pullorum disease. However, in practice, the test performance is with the disadvantages of false positive results and unstable detection results. In this paper, we developed self-made agglutination antigens prepared by local isolates in the poultry farm and compare the detection performance with commercial agglutination antigens (China Institute of Veterinary Drug Control) and Group D Salmonella ELISA kit (BioChek UK Ltd). The results of detecting 200 serum samples indicated that the consistency of commercial agglutination antigen detecting in 2 times was only 79.5%. Using the ELISA kit as the reference method, the commercial agglutination antigen detecting results of the Kappa test were only moderately consistent (0.58 ∼ 0.59). Meanwhile, positive and total coincidence rates of the self-made agglutination antigen test with more reliable repeat could reach 97.4 and 88%, respectively, and the result of Kappa test was highly consistent (0.75). The Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis clarified that the area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve values of self-made and commercial agglutination antigen tests could reach 0.861 and 0.804, respectively. These results were coincident when detecting known positive serum from the infected chickens. It's worth mentioning that the visible positive reaction of self-made agglutination antigen test appeared faster and stronger than commercial antigen test. In conclusion, self-made Salmonella Pullorum agglutination antigen developed in this study was much better than commercial agglutination antigen and is expected to be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of the epidemiology of Salmonella Pullorum.

[Etiology and clinical features of primary adrenal insufficiency]

Objective: To summarize the etiology of primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) and analyze its clinical features. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in the Department of Endocrinology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital from October 1981 to June 2019. Patients with PAI as the first symptom were enrolled. The etiology of PAI was analyzed and the clinical characteristics was also summarized. Results: A total of 131 patients with PAI were enrolled, including 87 males and 44 females (57 adolescents, and 74 adults). The age ranged from 0 to 73 years. The primary cause of PAI in adolescents was genetic defects (52.6%, 30/57), in which congenital adrenal dysplasia caused by DAX1 gene deficiency accounted for 50.0% (15/30), followed by autoimmunity (22.8%, 13/57). The primary cause of adult PAI was infection (58.1%, 43/74), of which tuberculosis accounted for the majority (93.0%, 40/43), and autoimmune adrenalitis accounted for 19.0% (14/74). Compared with the tuberculosis group, female patients were more common, and the onset age was younger, the plasma cortisol, serum sodium, fasting blood glucose, creatinine and aldosterone were lower (all P<0.05), and serum potassium and renin levels were higher in the autoimmune adrenalitis group (both P<0.05). Conclusions: In the current study, the proportion of PAI caused by infection in the adult group was higher than that in the adolescent group. The most common cause of adult PAI was tuberculosis infection. The most common cause of childhood PAI was genetic defects. Autoimmune damage to the adrenal glands may be more severe than tuberculosis infection.

[Analysis on poor efficacy factors in the treatment of recurrent/refractory B-cell lymphoma with CD19 CAR-T cells]

Objective: To investigate the factors influencing the efficacy of CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells in the treatment of patients with relapsed refractory B cell lymphoma and to provide evidence for further improvement of CAR-T efficacy. Methods: A total of 34 patients with relapsed and refractory B-cell lymphoma were recruited from the Department of Hematology of Tianjin First Central Hospital from February 2017 to January 2019. All patients received CD19 CAR-T cell therapy. These patients were evaluated for efficacy, factors with poor efficacyand adverse effects. Results: The overall response rate was 58.8% (20/34) and the complete remission rate was 41.2% (14/34) after infusion of CD19 CAR-T cells in 34 patients with relapsed refractory B cell lymphoma. According to the efficacy of CAR-T cells, patients were divided into two groups, 20 in the effective group and 14 in the poorly effective group. The median am ount of CD19 CAR-T cell infusions in these two groups were 8.6 (5.0-12.7)×10(6)/kg and 9.7 (5.8-15.0) × 10(6)/kg, respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.654). The percentage of CD19 CAR-T cells in the effective group and the poorly treated group was 10.28% (3.92%-44.16%) and 4.05% (0.92%-28.63%), respectively.The effective group had a higher proportion of CAR-T cells than the poorly treated group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.371).The presence of massive mass was an unfavorable factor affecting the efficacy of CD19 CAR-T cells and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Logistic regression multivariate analysis showed that the characteristics of massive tumors were still independent prognostic factors for poor efficacy of CD19 CAR-T cells (P=0.005, OR=0.039). Of all 34 patients, there were 70.6% (24/34) who showed varying degrees of adverse reactions after the infusion of CD19 CAR-T cells, mainly cytokines release syndrome (CRS). The median time of occurrence of fever was on the third day after infusion (0-11th) day. 16 patients were with grade 1 CRS, 7 with grade 2, and 1 with grade 3. After glucocorticoids and support treatment, they all showed improvements. Conclusions: CD19 CAR-T cell therapy has achieved a certain effect in CD19(+)B cell lymphoma, but has poor efficacy on some patients. Large mass tumors may be an adverse factors to CAR-T cell treatment.

[Analysis of the efficacy and influencing factors of nilotinib or dasatinib as second- or third-line treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase and accelerated phase]

Objective: To explore the efficacy and prognosis of nilotinib or dasatinib as second- or third-line treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase (CP) and accelerated phase (AP) . Methods: From January 2008 to November 2018, the data of CML patients who failed first- or second-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) -therapy received nilotinib or dasatinib as second-line and third-line therapy were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 226 patients receiving nilotinib or dastinib as second-line (n=183) and third-line (n=43) therapy were included in this study. With a median follow-up of 21 (range, 1-135) months, the cumulative rates of complete hematological response (CHR) , complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and major molecular response (MMR) were 80.4%, 56.3%and 38.3%, respectively in those receiving TKI as second-line TKI therapy. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 78.7%and 93.1%, respectively. Multivariate analyses showed that Sokal high risk, female gender, the best response achieved Collapse

Key Words

• Dasatinib
• Imatinib
• Leukemia, myeloid, chronic, BCR-ABL positive
• Nilotinib

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MESH Headings

• Dasatinib/therapeutic use
• Female
• Humans
• Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/drug therapy
• Pyrimidines/therapeutic use
• Retrospective Studies
• Treatment Outcome

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Grants

• 81770161 National Natural Science Foundation of China

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Time-Integrated Neutrino Source Searches with 10 Years of IceCube Data

This Letter presents the results from pointlike neutrino source searches using ten years of IceCube data collected between April 6, 2008 and July 10, 2018. We evaluate the significance of an astrophysical signal from a pointlike source looking for an excess of clustered neutrino events with energies typically above ∼1  TeV among the background of atmospheric muons and neutrinos. We perform a full-sky scan, a search within a selected source catalog, a catalog population study, and three stacked Galactic catalog searches. The most significant point in the northern hemisphere from scanning the sky is coincident with the Seyfert II galaxy NGC 1068, which was included in the source catalog search. The excess at the coordinates of NGC 1068 is inconsistent with background expectations at the level of 2.9σ after accounting for statistical trials from the entire catalog. The combination of this result along with excesses observed at the coordinates of three other sources, including TXS 0506+056, suggests that, collectively, correlations with sources in the northern catalog are inconsistent with background at 3.3σ significance. The southern catalog is consistent with background. These results, all based on searches for a cumulative neutrino signal integrated over the 10 years of available data, motivate further study of these and similar sources, including time-dependent analyses, multimessenger correlations, and the possibility of stronger evidence with coming upgrades to the detector.

Autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite miR-106a induced BMSCs enhances osteoblast conversion and promotes bone repair through regulating BMP-2

OBJECTIVE

Suitable seed cells and selection of bioactive scaffold materials are the main research contents of bone tissue engineering. It was showed that autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold could promote the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). The role of microRNA-106a (miR-106a) in regulating BMSCs differentiation has not been reported. We intend to investigate the role of autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite miR-106a in inducing BMSCs constructing tissue engineering bone.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rat BMSCs were isolated and transfected by using miR-106a scramble or miR-106a inhibitor. Healthy male Sprague-Dawly (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups, including bone fracture group established as rat tibial fracture model, negative control group implanted by autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite miR-106a scramble BMSCs, and miR-106a inhibitor group implanted by autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite miR-106a inhibitor BMSCs. Callus growth was observed. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was detected. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) expression was tested by Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot assay. Collagen II production was determined by RT-PCR.

RESULTS

Autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite BMSCs significantly increased local bone mineral density, promoted callus healing, facilitated ALP secretion, elevated collagen II expression, and up-regulated BMP-2 mRNA and protein levels compared with fracture group (p<0.05). Autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite miR-106a induced BMSCs exhibited more significant effect on bone repair (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Autologous oxygen release nano bionic scaffold composite miR-106a induced BMSCs enhanced osteoblast conversion and promoted bone repair through regulating BMP-2.

[Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloid neoplasms in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia during tyrosine kinase inhibtor-therapy]

Objective: To compare the clinical features between the 2 cohorts developing myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeIogenous Ieukemia in Philadelphia chromosome-negative cells (Ph(-) MDS/AML) and maintaining disease stable in the patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid Ieukemia (Ph(+) CML) who had clonal chromosomal abnormalities in Philadelphia chromosome-negative metaphases (CCA/Ph(-)) during tyrosine kinase inhibtor (TKI) - therapy. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed Ph(+) CML patients who developed CCA/Ph(-) during TKI-therapy from May 2001 to December 2017. Results: Data of CCA/Ph(-) 63 patients, including 7 progressing to Ph(-) MDS/AML and 56 remaining disease stable were collected. Compared with those with stable disease, patients with Ph(-)MDS/AML had lower hemoglobin (P=0.007) and platelet (P=0.006) counts, and higher proportion of peripheral blasts (P<0.001) when the first time CCA/Ph(-) was detected, and more mosonomy 7 abnormality (5/7, 71.4%) when MDS or AML was diagnosed; meanwhile, trisomy 8 (32/56, 57.1%) was more common in those with stable disease. Outcome of the patients with Ph(-) MDS/AML were poor. However, most of those with CCA/Ph(-) and stable disease had optimal response on TKI-therapy. Conclusions: A few patients with Ph(+) CML developed CCA/Ph(-) during TKI-therapy, most of them had stable disease, but very few patients developed Ph(-) MDS/AML with more common occurrence of monosomy 7 or unknown cytopenia. Our data suggested the significance of monitoring of peripheral blood smear, bone marrow morphology and cytogenetic analysis once monosomy 7 or unknown cytopenia occurred.

Long-term outcomes of balloon-expandable bare stent as chimney stent in thoracic endovascular aortic repair for supra-aortic branches reconstruction

Background

To report the long-term outcomes of balloon-expandable bare stent (BEBS) as chimney stent (CS) in thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for supra-aortic branches reconstruction.

Methods

A total of 33 patients with thoracic aortic diseases underwent TEVAR using BEBSs as CSs for supra-aortic branches reconstruction in our center from 2010 to 2015. The demographics and procedural details were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed. All patients were followed up at 1, 3, 6 months and every 1 year thereafter. Postoperative complications and long-term outcomes were recorded.

Results

The technical success rate was 100%. A total of 36 BEBSs were utilized as CSs to reconstruct the supra-aortic branches during TEVAR. The rate of immediate endoleak was 42.4% (14/33), including 12 (36.4%) type Ia endoleaks and 2 (6.1%) type II endoleaks. Two of type Ia endoleaks were managed by balloon dilation and disappeared, while the rest were left with close follow-up. Two type II endoleaks were embolized by coils and excluded by a plug, respectively. One patient (3.0%) died 2 days after the procedure due to the acute rupture of aortic dissection. The mean follow-up time was 61.8 (ranged from 12 to 102) months. The unmanaged 10 type Ia endoleaks were closely observed during the follow-up, of which 7 disappeared at 1 year and 1 disappeared at 2 years. The rest 2 type Ia endoleaks existed without further dilation of the aorta. One patient (3.0%) was re-intervened for the increased false lumen due to the distal residual tears. The long-term mortality was 9.1% (3/33). All CSs kept patent till the end of follow-up. No other complications were found.

Conclusions

The balloon-expandable stent (BES) is a feasible choice as CS for supra-aortic branches reconstruction with long-term patency during TEVAR. However, BEBS may be related to a higher rate of early endoleak.

Long-term elevated CO2 shifts composition of soil microbial communities in a Californian annual grassland, reducing growth and N utilization potentials

The continuously increasing concentration of atmospheric CO₂ has considerably altered ecosystem functioning. However, few studies have examined the long-term (i.e. over a decade) effect of elevated CO₂ on soil microbial communities. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicons and a GeoChip microarray, we investigated soil microbial communities from a Californian annual grassland after 14 years of experimentally elevated CO₂ (275 ppm higher than ambient). Both taxonomic and functional gene compositions of the soil microbial community were modified by elevated CO₂. There was decrease in relative abundance for taxa with higher ribosomal RNA operon (rrn) copy number under elevated CO₂, which is a functional trait that responds positively to resource availability in culture. In contrast, taxa with lower rrn copy number were increased by elevated CO₂. As a consequence, the abundance-weighted average rrn copy number of significantly changed OTUs declined from 2.27 at ambient CO₂ to 2.01 at elevated CO₂. The nitrogen (N) fixation gene nifH and the ammonium-oxidizing gene amoA significantly decreased under elevated CO₂ by 12.6% and 6.1%, respectively. Concomitantly, nitrifying enzyme activity decreased by 48.3% under elevated CO₂, albeit this change was not significant. There was also a substantial but insignificant decrease in available soil N, with both nitrate (NO₃^-) (-27.4%) and ammonium (NH₄⁺) (-15.4%) declining. Further, a large number of microbial genes related to carbon (C) degradation were also affected by elevated CO₂, whereas those related to C fixation remained largely unchanged. The overall changes in microbial communities and soil N pools induced by long-term elevated CO₂ suggest constrained microbial N decomposition, thereby slowing the potential maximum growth rate of the microbial community.