Engineering protein theranostics using bio-orthogonal asparaginyl peptide ligases

Background: Protein theranostics integrate both diagnostic and treatment functions on a single disease-targeting protein. However, the preparation of these multimodal agents remains a major challenge. Ideally, conventional recombinant proteins should be used as starting materials for modification with the desired detection and therapeutic functionalities, but simple chemical strategies that allow the introduction of two different modifications into a protein in a site-specific manner are not currently available. We recently discovered two highly efficient peptide ligases, namely butelase-1 and VyPAL2. Although both ligate at asparaginyl peptide bonds, these two enzymes are bio-orthogonal with distinguishable substrate specificities, which can be exploited to introduce distinct modifications onto a protein.

Methods: We quantified substrate specificity differences between butelase-1 and VyPAL2, which provide orthogonality for a tandem ligation method for protein dual modifications. Recombinant proteins or synthetic peptides engineered with the preferred recognition motifs of butelase-1 and VyPAL2 at their respective C- and N-terminal ends could be modified consecutively by the action of the two ligases.

Results: Using this method, we modified an EGFR-targeting affibody with a fluorescein tag and a mitochondrion-lytic peptide at its respective N- and C-terminal ends. The dual-labeled protein was found to be a selective bioimaging and cytotoxic agent for EGFR-positive A431 cancer cells. In addition, the method was used to prepare a cyclic form of the affibody conjugated with doxorubicin. Both modified affibodies showed increased cytotoxicity to A431 cells by 10- and 100-fold compared to unconjugated doxorubicin and the free peptide, respectively.

Conclusion: Bio-orthogonal tandem ligation using two asparaginyl peptide ligases with differential substrate specificities is a straightforward approach for the preparation of multifunctional protein biologics as potential theranostics.

Tobacco smoking confers risk for severe COVID-19 unexplainable by pulmonary imaging

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 is a new pneumonia. It has been hypothesized that tobacco smoking history may increase severity of this disease in the patients once infected by the underlying coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 because smoking and COVID-19 both cause lung damage. However, this hypothesis has not been tested.

OBJECTIVE

Current study was designed to focus on smoking history in patients with COVID-19 and test this hypothesis that tobacco smoking history increases risk for severe COVID-19 by damaging the lungs.

METHODS AND RESULTS

This was a single-site, retrospective case series study of clinical associations, between epidemiological findings and clinical manifestations, radiographical or laboratory results. In our well-characterized cohort of 954 patients including 56 with tobacco smoking history, smoking history increased the risk for severe COVID-19 with an odds ratio (OR) of 5.5 (95% CI: 3.1-9.9; P = 7.3 × 10-8 ). Meta-analysis of ten cohorts for 2891 patients together obtained an OR of 2.5 (95% CI: 1.9-3.3; P < 0.00001). Semi-quantitative analysis of lung images for each of five lobes revealed a significant difference in neither lung damage at first examination nor dynamics of the lung damage at different time-points of examinations between the smoking and nonsmoking groups. No significant differences were found either in laboratory results including D-dimer and C-reactive protein levels except different covariances for density of the immune cells lymphocyte (P = 3.8 × 10-64 ) and neutrophil (P = 3.9 × 10-46 ).

CONCLUSION

Tobacco smoking history increases the risk for great severity of COVID-19 but this risk is achieved unlikely by affecting the lungs.

Longitudinal Flow Decorrelations in Xe+Xe Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.44 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

The first measurement of longitudinal decorrelations of harmonic flow amplitudes v_{n} for n=2-4 in Xe+Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.44  TeV is obtained using 3  μb^{-1} of data with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The decorrelation signal for v_{3} and v_{4} is found to be nearly independent of collision centrality and transverse momentum (p_{T}) requirements on final-state particles, but for v_{2} a strong centrality and p_{T} dependence is seen. When compared with the results from Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, the longitudinal decorrelation signal in midcentral Xe+Xe collisions is found to be larger for v_{2}, but smaller for v_{3}. Current hydrodynamic models reproduce the ratios of the v_{n} measured in Xe+Xe collisions to those in Pb+Pb collisions but fail to describe the magnitudes and trends of the ratios of longitudinal flow decorrelations between Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb. The results on the system-size dependence provide new insights and an important lever arm to separate effects of the longitudinal structure of the initial state from other early and late time effects in heavy-ion collisions.

Search for Dark Matter Produced in Association with a Dark Higgs Boson Decaying into W^{±}W^{∓} or ZZ in Fully Hadronic Final States from sqrt[s]=13 TeV pp Collisions Recorded with the ATLAS Detector

Several extensions of the Standard Model predict the production of dark matter particles at the LHC. An uncharted signature of dark matter particles produced in association with VV=W^{±}W^{∓} or ZZ pairs from a decay of a dark Higgs boson s is searched for using 139  fb^{-1} of pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The s→V(qq[over ¯])V(qq[over ¯]) decays are reconstructed with a novel technique aimed at resolving the dense topology from boosted VV pairs using jets in the calorimeter and tracking information. Dark Higgs scenarios with m_{s}>160  GeV are excluded.

Molecular Characterisation, Tissue Distribution, and Expression Profiling of the Cathepsin B Gene during Ovarian Follicle Development in Geese

1. Although there is evidence that Cathepsin B (CTSB) regulates the degradation and absorption of yolk precursors during avian ovarian follicle development, nothing is known about its molecular characteristics, tissue distribution or expression profiles in goose ovarian follicular compartments.2. The intact 1023 bp coding sequence of the goose CTSB gene was obtained for the first time. It encoded a polypeptide of 340 amino acids (AA) containing two conserved functional domains (i.e., Propeptide_C1 and Peptidase_C1A_Cathpsin B) and three active amino acid residues (+108, +279, and +299). Both the nucleotide and AA sequences of goose CTSB gene showed more than 90% similarity with its respective homologs from other avian species.3. The qRT-PCR results showed that CTSB mRNA was ubiquitously expressed in all examined goose tissues, with moderate to high levels in the reproductive organs including the ovarian stroma and oviduct.4. Expression of goose CTSB mRNA in the granulosa layers increased gradually from the 2-4 mm F5 follicles but declined to relatively low levels in the F4-F1 follicles while remaining statistically unchanged in the theca layers throughout follicle development.5. High sequence similarity of goose CTSB gene to other avian species suggested functional conservation of avian CTSB genes, and its fluctuating levels in the granulosa layers may be associated with the orderly progression of goose follicle development. These data laid a foundation for further elucidating the role of CTSB in the avian ovary.

[Clinical efficacy of anlotinib plus S-1 as a second-line therapy for recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the efficacy of anlotinib plus S-1 for treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with failed first-line chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

Twenty-six patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients who experienced progression after first-line paclitaxel plus platinum chemotherapy in our hospital between July, 2018 and February, 2020 were enrolled in this study. The patients received oral anlotinib along with S-1 treatment (anlotinib at 12 mg once daily and S-1 at 50 mg twice daily for two weeks; 3 weeks per cycle). The objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and adverse effects were evaluated for all the patients.

OBJECTIVE

No complete remission (CR) was observed in the 26 patients. Partial remission (PR) was achieved in 6 cases, stable disease (SD) in 12 cases, and progressive disease (PD) occurred in 8 cases, with an ORR of 23.1% and a DCR of 69.2% in these patients. The median PFS was 4.5 months (95%CI: 2.7-6.4 months). Univariate analysis showed that the patients with moderate or high tumor differentiation had significantly longer PFS than those with low tumor differentiation (6.1 months vs 1.9 months, P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis suggested that pathological differentiation grade (HR=6.778, 95%CI: 1.997-23.012) was an independent factor for a prolonged PFS. The adverse effects in the patients included mainly fatigue, hypertension and hand-foot syndrome, mostly of grade 1 to 2.

OBJECTIVE

Patients with recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma can benefit from a second-line anlotinib plus S-1 treatment, which has relatively mild adverse effects with a good safety profile.

[Feasibility on the diagnosis of non-calcified plaque based on radiomics of pericoronary adipose tissue on plain CT scan image]

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of radiomics model based on plain CT scan of peripheral coronary artery adipose tissue for non-calcified plaque. Methods: The image data of 461 patients undergoing coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in the Department of Radiology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University from August 1,2019 to July 31,2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Two hundred and six cases (355 branches) with non-calcified plaques, and 255 cases (510 branches) with no coronary artery disease were detected by CCTA. The regions of interest (ROI) of the pericoronary adipose tissue were segmented on the plain CT scan images (coronary calcification score (CCS) sequence). The coronary ROI was determined by selecting the coronary artery with a length of 40 mm and starting at 10 mm from the opening of the coronary artery, and the pericoronary adipose ROI was generated automatically. The pericoronary fat attenuation index (FAI) was then performed, and the radiomics features were extracted. The 865 coronary arteries were divided into the training group (n=606) and the testing group (n=259) at a ratio of 7∶3, and the radiomics model was carried out. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the FAI value and the diagnostic efficacy of the radiomics model for non-calcified plaque. Results: A total of 1 692 features were extracted from images of pericoronary adipose based on plain scan. All features were screened by using max-relevance and min-redundancy (mRMR) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and 14 features were selected for the establishment of the radiomics model. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) of the model in distinguishing patients with non-calcified plaque and those without coronary stenosis in the testing group were 70.3%, 63.2%, 75.2% and 0.75, respectively. Conclusion: The radiomics model based on plain CT scan of the pericoronary adipose tissue had good diagnostic efficacy for non-calcified plaque.

Medium-Induced Modification of Z-Tagged Charged Particle Yields in Pb+Pb Collisions at 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

The yield of charged particles opposite to a Z boson with large transverse momentum (p_{T}) is measured in 260  pb^{-1} of pp and 1.7  nb^{-1} of Pb+Pb collision data at 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The Z boson tag is used to select hard-scattered partons with specific kinematics, and to observe how their showers are modified as they propagate through the quark-gluon plasma created in Pb+Pb collisions. Compared with pp collisions, charged-particle yields in Pb+Pb collisions show significant modifications as a function of charged-particle p_{T} in a way that depends on event centrality and Z boson p_{T}. The data are compared with a variety of theoretical calculations and provide new information about the medium-induced energy loss of partons in a p_{T} regime difficult to measure through other channels.

MiR-181a-5p inhibits goose granulosa cell viability by targeting SIRT1

1. Granulosa cells (GCs) are involved in folliculogenesis, follicular development, and atresia. Previous studies have shown that microRNA-181a-5p (miR-181a-5p) and sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) are involved in GC proliferation and apoptosis, and SIRT1 has been predicted as one target of miR-181a-5p. However, there are few studies with poultry.2. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression level of miR-181a-5p in granulosa layers during geese ovarian follicular development. A methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to assess the viability of geese granulosa cells treated with miR-181a-5p mimic or inhibitor. The binding sites between the SIRT1 3'-UTR region and miR-181a-5p were evaluated using a luciferase reporter assay system. SIRT1 mRNA levels were detected using qRT-PCR after transfection with miR-181a-5p mimic and inhibitor.3. The miR-181a-5p suppressed geese GC viability and regulated the mRNA expression of viability-related genes in geese GCs. SIRT1 was a target gene of miR-181a-5p and miR-181a-5p suppressed its mRNA expression.4. The miR-181a-5p may target and inhibit SIRT1 expression, thus suppressing GC viability by regulating viability-related key genes.

[Single-center study of the abnormal concentration of bone imaging agent and prostate cancer bone metastasis prediction model]

Objective: To investigate the relationship between total prostate specific antigen (TPSA), free prostate specific antigen/total prostate specific antigen [RAT (F/T)], Gleason score, other factors and the whole-body bone plane imaging which was used to evaluate the bone metastasis of prostate cancer (PCa), and the diagnostic value of the abnormal concentration of bone imaging agent for single lesion. Methods: A retrospective analysis of (99)Tc(m)-methylene diphosphonate ((99)Tc(m)-MDP) whole-body bone imaging data of 93 patients with confirmed PCa in The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from Jan 2018 to Jan 2019 was conducted. The bone metastasis was diagnosed by whole-body bone imaging. The factors related to PCa bone metastasis, including age, TPSA, RAT (F/T), Gleason score were analyzed by Chi-square test and logistic two-class regression. The optimal cut-off point of TPSA was defined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The region of interest (ROI) technique was used to repeatedly delineate the lesion (T) and the background area (NT) outside the bone and calculate the abnormal concentration value of bone imaging agent (T-NT)/NT, and the ROC curve was used to determine its diagnostic value. Results: The result of Chi-square analysis showed that Gleason score, TPSA and RAT (F/T) were associated with bone metastasis (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that TPSA and RAT (F/T) were associated with bone metastasis (P<0.01). TPSA >92.82 ng/ml was the best diagnosis for bone metastasis, and the sensitivity and specificity were 77.1% and 81.0%, respectively. There were 320 sites of high concentration of imaging agents in the whole-body bone imaging of PCa patients (194 in the metastatic group and 126 in the non-metastasis group). The (T-NT)/NT in the bone metastasis group was 7.11±0.29, the non-bone metastasis group was 2.69±0.20. (T-NT)/NT >3.52 was the best diagnosis for bone metastasis of single lesion, and the sensitivity and specificity were 86.1% and 80.2%, respectively. Conclusions: Gleason score, RAT (F/T) and TPSA are important risk factors of PCa bone metastasis. TPSA >92.82 ng/ml is the most supportive diagnosis for PCa bone metastasis. The abnormal concentration of bone imaging agent >3.52 owns the best diagnosis effect for the single lesion of PCa.

Observation and Measurement of Forward Proton Scattering in Association with Lepton Pairs Produced via the Photon Fusion Mechanism at ATLAS

The observation of forward proton scattering in association with lepton pairs (e^{+}e^{-}+p or μ^{+}μ^{-}+p) produced via photon fusion is presented. The scattered proton is detected by the ATLAS Forward Proton spectrometer, while the leptons are reconstructed by the central ATLAS detector. Proton-proton collision data recorded in 2017 at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=13  TeV are analyzed, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 14.6  fb^{-1}. A total of 57 (123) candidates in the ee+p (μμ+p) final state are selected, allowing the background-only hypothesis to be rejected with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations in each channel. Proton-tagging techniques are introduced for cross-section measurements in the fiducial detector acceptance, corresponding to σ_{ee+p}=11.0±2.6(stat)±1.2(syst)±0.3(lumi) and σ_{μμ+p}=7.2±1.6(stat)±0.9(syst)±0.2(lumi)  fb in the dielectron and dimuon channel, respectively.

Search for Heavy Resonances Decaying into a Photon and a Hadronically Decaying Higgs Boson in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter presents a search for the production of new heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a photon using proton-proton collision data at sqrt[s]=13  TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb^{-1}. The analysis is performed by reconstructing hadronically decaying Higgs boson (H→bb[over ¯]) candidates as single large-radius jets. A novel algorithm using information about the jet constituents in the center-of-mass frame of the jet is implemented to identify the two b quarks in the single jet. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected background. Upper limits are set on the production cross-section times branching fraction for narrow spin-1 resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a photon in the resonance mass range from 0.7 to 4 TeV, cross-section times branching fractions are excluded between 11.6 fb and 0.11 fb at a 95% confidence level.

Search for Higgs Boson Decays into a Z Boson and a Light Hadronically Decaying Resonance Using 13 TeV pp Collision Data from the ATLAS Detector

A search for Higgs boson decays into a Z boson and a light resonance in two-lepton plus jet events is performed, using a pp collision dataset with an integrated luminosity of 139  fb^{-1} collected at sqrt[s]=13  TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC. The resonance considered is a light boson with a mass below 4 GeV from a possible extended scalar sector or a charmonium state. Multivariate discriminants are used for the event selection and for evaluating the mass of the light resonance. No excess of events above the expected background is found. Observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section times branching fraction to a Z boson and the signal resonance, with values in the range 17-340 pb (16_{-5}^{+6}-320_{-90}^{+130}  pb) for the different light spin-0 boson mass and branching fraction hypotheses, and with values of 110 and 100 pb (100_{-30}^{+40} and 100_{-30}^{+40}  pb) for the η_{c} and J/ψ hypotheses, respectively.

[The effects of stelleta ganglion resection on heart failure in response to pressure overload]

Objective: To observe the impact and difference of resection of left stellate ganglion (LSG) or right stellate ganglion (RSG) on rats with heart failure. Methods: Thirty male SD rats were divided into 3 groups (n=10 each) by random number table method: control group, LSG group, RSG group. All three groups underwent TAC surgery to establish a pressure-overloaded heart failure model. Then, LSG and RSG were bluntly separated and removed in rats assigned to the LSG group or RSG group by surgery, while rats in the control group underwent sham operation. The changes in blood pressure and heart rate before operation, 30 minutes and 10 weeks after operation were recorded; echocardiography was performed before operation and 10 weeks after operation to detect the thickness of the ventricular septum, left ventricle posterior wall diameter, left ventricular end diastolic diameter, left ventricular end diastolic volume, and calculate the left ventricular fractional shortening and left ventricular ejection fraction. HE staining and Masson staining were performed to observe the degree of myocardial hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis, and to judge the ventricular remodeling. Results: The heart rates of the three groups of rats were (352.4±4.3), (320.3±4.0) and (297.9±5.9) beats/min, and the blood pressure was (142.8±2.3), (123.4±2.7) and (129.6±2.9) mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) at thirty minutes after surgery; the heart rates of the three groups of rats were (352.9±4.0), (321.6±3.4) and (301±4.1) beats/min, and the blood pressure was (145.6±1.9), (124.8±1.7) and (130.4±4.4) mmHg at 10 weeks after surgery. The heart rate and blood pressure in the LSG group and RSG group at 30 min and 10 weeks after surgery were significantly lower than those in the control group; at 10 weeks after surgery, the heart rate in the RSG group was significantly lower than that in the LSG group (P both<0.001). After 10 weeks, rats in the control group developed severe left ventricular dilatation. Degree of left ventricular hypertrophy was significantly reduced in the LSG group and RSG group than in the control group, the thickness of the ventricular septum was (3.2±0.3), (2.5±0.1) and (2.5±0.1) mm; the left ventricular end-diastolic diameters were (7.5±0.3), (5.5±0.3) and (5.7±0.2) mm; the left ventricular end-diastolic volume was (9.5±0.3), (4.5±0.2) and (4.8±0.2) ml; the left ventricular fractional shortening was (21.6±1.3)%, (49.1±3.9)% and (47.4±1.5)%; and the left ventricular ejection fraction was (50.9±2.5)%, (81.9±2.1)% and (80.0±2.3)%, respectively in the control group, LSG group and RSG group. Compared with the control group, the left ventricular posterior wall diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and left ventricular end-diastolic volume were significantly lower and the left ventricular fractional shortening and left ventricular ejection fraction were significantly higher in the LSG group and RSG group (all P<0.001). 10 weeks after operation, the values of type Ⅰ collagen in the control group, LSG group, and RSG group were (0.354±0.013), (0.211±0.012) and (0.243±0.013), respectively. Ratio of type Ⅰ/Ⅲ collagen was (1.109±0.065), (0.737±0.055) and (0.839±0.075), respectively. Compared with the control group, the ratio of type Ⅰcollagen and ratio of type Ⅰ/Ⅲ collagen were significantly lower in the LSG group and RSG group (P<0.001). Conclusion: Both left and right stellate ganglion resection can similarly reduce ventricular remodeling caused by pressure overload and delay the progression of heart failure in tis TAC rat model.

Characterisation of Wheat–Oat Flour Extrudate: Physicochemical and Β-Glucan Attributes

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of wheat–oat flour ratio on the physical properties and β-glucan characteristics of extrudates. Results showed that increasing the wheat–oat flour ratio resulted in a decrease in the water solubility index (r2=0.8567) and hardness (r2=0.9316), whereas the expansion ratio (r2=0.9307) and water absorption index (r2=0.9061) increased. Wheat flour generally caused an increase in L values from 57.81 to 62.94 providing bright samples. Few cells were observed at high wheat–oat flour ratios under a scanning electron microscope, and a smooth surface was noted. Meanwhile, the total (r2=0.9867) and soluble (r2=0.9848) β-glucan contents were inversely proportional to the wheat–oat flour ratio. Extrudates with added wheat flour had a high molecular weight, but wheat flour had no significant (P<0.05) effect on the viscosity of β-glucan extracts. Conclusively, incorporation of wheat flour at a wheat–oat flour ratio of 2.33 provides ready-to-eat food based on whole oat flour, on account of improving the texture and providing sufficient β-glucan contents (0.806 g/100 g) without significantly affecting β-glucan viscosity.

Depression and one-year survival of patients with heart failure in China: analysis from the China-PEACE Prospective Heart Failure study

Background

Depression is prevalent among patients with heart failure (HF), but data exploring association of depression with risk of death in patients with HF is scarce in China. We investigated the relationship between depression and all-cause mortality of heart failure in China.

Methods

In China PEACE 5p-HF Study, we prospectively enrolled patients primarily hospitalized with HF from 52 diverse hospitals throughout China during 2016–2018. All the patients were followed up for 1 year. About 10% patients in the cohort from 41 hospitals was included for the measurement of depression state at convenience. Depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 depression scale (PHQ-8) at baseline. Depression state was categorized into major depressive disorder (10–24 points), minor depression (5–10 points) and no depression (0–5 points). Cox proportional hazards regression analyses, controlling for established risk factors as age, gender, LVEF, NYHA, medication use and medical history, were used to evaluate how depression were related to end point of death from any cause.

Results

Total 584 patients were included in our analysis, with median age 69 (IQR 60–77) years, and 40.8% female. Among these patients, 36.0% had major depressive disorder (n=210), 33.9% had minor depression (n=198). There were 70 (12%) patients died within 1 year after discharge. Major depressive disorder was associated with higher all-cause mortality compared with no depression (hazard ratio=2.18, 95% confidence interval 1.36–3.50, p=0.001). While minor depression was not significantly associated with all-cause mortality.

Conclusions

Major depression is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in hospitalized patients with HF in China. It is necessary to screen for psychological health in hospitalized patients to targeting intervention.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): National Key Research and Development Program from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China

Impact of macrophage infiltration in patients with st-segment elevation myocardial infarction caused by plaque erosion: an in vivo optical coherence tomography study

Background

Chronic inflammatory infiltration is a common process for atherosclerosis development. However, autopsy studies reveal that incidence rate of inflammatory infiltrates are less abundant in plaque erosion compared with plaque rupture.

Purpose

Studies performed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) have allowed to establish the severity of plaque inflammation by assessing macrophage infiltration (MØI). In this study, we aimed at assessing the impaction of MØI in plaque erosion among patients with STEMI by using OCT.

Methods

A total of 1561 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI) who underwent OCT imaging were enrolled in this study. According to the exclusion criteria, 312 patients with STEMI exhibiting plaque erosion were classified as MØI or no MØI.

Results

163 (52.2%) patients had MØI at the site of plaque erosion, whereas 149 (47.8%) patients had no evidence of MØI and patients of MØI group were significantly older (P=0.015). The result of angiography showed the prevalence of multi-vessel disease appeared more frequency (P=0.021) and diameter stenosis% were higher (P=0.031) in MØI group. OCT results showed the minimum fibrous-cap thickness was thinner (P&lt;0.001) and the maximum lipid arc was larger (P=0.005) in MØI group. Some patients underwent imaging follow-up at 1 year. There was no significant difference in the culprit plaque morphology progress among two groups (Figure 1A-1D).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that plaque inflammation can increase culprit lesion severity and plaque vulnerability in patients with STEMI caused by plaque erosion.

Figure 1

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

Lactobacillus plantarum inhibited the inflammatory response induced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88 via modulating MAPK and NF-κB signalling in intestinal porcine epithelial cells

AIMS

To investigate the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum on inflammatory responses induced by ETEC K88 and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Intestinal porcine cells (IPEC-1) were incubated with 0 or 1 × 10⁸  CFU per well L. plantarum for 4 h, and then these cells were challenged with 0 or 1 × 10⁸  CFU per well ETEC K88 for 2 h. The results showed that pre-treatment of IPEC-1 cells with L. plantarum prevented the increases in the transcript abundance of interleukin-1α (IL-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (P < 0·05) caused by ETEC K88. Additionally, L. plantarum inhibited the reduction in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) expression caused by ETEC K88 (P < 0·05). Moreover, L. plantarum pre-treatment downregulated the phosphorylation levels of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and p38 and the nuclear concentration of nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65) (P < 0·05) compared with ETEC K88 group. Silencing experiment further supported that the protective effect of L. plantarum P might mediated by suppression of ETEC-provoked activation of MAPK and NF-κB signalling pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

Lactobacillus plantarum inhibited the inflammatory response induced by ETEC K88 in IPEC-1 cells via modulating MAPK and NF-κB signalling.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This study elucidated the underlying mechanism in which probiotics protect against intestinal inflammation caused by ETEC K88.

Asymptomatic COVID-19 infection in patients with cancer at a cancer-specialized hospital in Wuhan, China - Preliminary results

OBJECTIVE

Patients with cancer are usually immunosuppressive and susceptible to COVID-19 infection. Asymptomatic COVID-19 cases are infective and cannot be identified by symptom-based screening. There is an urgent need to control virus spread by asymptomatic carriers at cancer centres. We aim to describe the characteristics, screening methods, and outcomes of cancer patients with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection and to further explore anti-tumour treatment for this population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We reviewed patients with cancer who were admitted to Hubei Cancer Hospital in Wuhan from February 1, 2020, to April 4, 2020. We collected demographic data, laboratory findings, treatment information, nucleic acid and serum test results, chest computed tomography (CT) information and survival status of cancer patients diagnosed with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection.

RESULTS

A total of 16 cancer patients with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection were confirmed. The most common cancer type was breast cancer. The blood cell counts of most patients were in the normal range. Lymphocytes of 100% of asymptomatic carriers were in the normal range. Thirteen (81.3%) patients were positive for virus-specific IgM antibodies, and three (18.8%) were positive by PCR; only one (6.3%) patient showed novel coronavirus pneumonia features on CT. Three (18.3%) patients died, and the cause of death was considered malignancy caused by delaying anti-tumour treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows that the lymphocytes of 100% of asymptomatic carriers were in the normal range. This result indicates that the host immunity of asymptomatic carriers is not significantly disrupted by COVID-19. Single PCR detection is not sufficient to screen among asymptomatic individuals, and a combination of PCR tests, serological tests and CT is of great importance. Unless the tumour is life-threatening or rapidly progressing, we advise restarting active anti-tumour therapy after PCR tests become negative.

Dijet Resonance Search with Weak Supervision Using sqrt[s]=13 TeV pp Collisions in the ATLAS Detector

This Letter describes a search for narrowly resonant new physics using a machine-learning anomaly detection procedure that does not rely on signal simulations for developing the analysis selection. Weakly supervised learning is used to train classifiers directly on data to enhance potential signals. The targeted topology is dijet events and the features used for machine learning are the masses of the two jets. The resulting analysis is essentially a three-dimensional search A→BC, for m_{A}∼O(TeV), m_{B},m_{C}∼O(100  GeV) and B, C are reconstructed as large-radius jets, without paying a penalty associated with a large trials factor in the scan of the masses of the two jets. The full run 2 sqrt[s]=13  TeV pp collision dataset of 139  fb^{-1} recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used for the search. There is no significant evidence of a localized excess in the dijet invariant mass spectrum between 1.8 and 8.2 TeV. Cross-section limits for narrow-width A, B, and C particles vary with m_{A}, m_{B}, and m_{C}. For example, when m_{A}=3  TeV and m_{B}≳200  GeV, a production cross section between 1 and 5 fb is excluded at 95% confidence level, depending on m_{C}. For certain masses, these limits are up to 10 times more sensitive than those obtained by the inclusive dijet search. These results are complementary to the dedicated searches for the case that B and C are standard model bosons.

Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 receptor gene expression in upper and lower airways

The recent outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has led to a worldwide pandemic. One week after initial symptoms develop, a subset of patients progresses to severe disease, with high mortality and limited treatment options. To design novel interventions aimed at preventing spread of the virus and reducing progression to severe disease, detailed knowledge of the cell types and regulating factors driving cellular entry is urgently needed. Here we assess the expression patterns in genes required for COVID-19 entry into cells and replication, and their regulation by genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors, throughout the respiratory tract using samples collected from the upper (nasal) and lower airways (bronchi). Matched samples from the upper and lower airways show a clear increased expression of these genes in the nose compared to the bronchi and parenchyma. Cellular deconvolution indicates a clear association of these genes with the proportion of secretory epithelial cells. Smoking status was found to increase the majority of COVID-19 related genes including ACE2 and TMPRSS2 but only in the lower airways, which was associated with a significant increase in the predicted proportion of goblet cells in bronchial samples of current smokers. Both acute and second hand smoke were found to increase ACE2 expression in the bronchus. Inhaled corticosteroids decrease ACE2 expression in the lower airways. No significant effect of genetics on ACE2 expression was observed, but a strong association of DNA- methylation with ACE2 and TMPRSS2- mRNA expression was identified in the bronchus.