Simultaneous genotyping of human platelet alloantigen-1 to 28bw systems by multiplex polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Human platelet alloantigen (HPA) genotyping is important for the diagnosis and prevention the alloimmune platelet disorders. In this study, a simultaneous genotyping method for HPA-1 to -28bw systems was established using multiplex PCR-SBT and the frequencies of genotypes and alleles of HPA-1 to -28bw systems in the Zhejiang Han population were analysed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The specific primers were designed according to the nucleotide sequences of HPA-1 to 28bw systems which are located in ITGB3, GP1BA, ITGA2B, ITGA2, GP1BB and CD109, respectively. The multiplex PCR amplification systems were used, and then, the amplicons were purified and sequenced. A total of 335 healthy volunteer blood donors were detected.

RESULTS

The genotypes of ten reference samples from Platelet Immunology Workshop of ISBT were in concordance with the known genotypes. Among the 28 HPA systems, HPA a and b alleles were found in HPA-1 to 6w, HPA-15 and HPA-21w systems in the Chinese Han population, while only HPA aa genotype was detected in the other HPA systems. The frequencies of HPA-1a and HPA-1b were 0·993 and 0·007, with 0·943 and 0·057 for HPA-2a and HPA-2b, 0·527 and 0·473 for HPA-3a and HPA-3b, 0·997 and 0·003 for HPA-4a and HPA-4b, 0·991 and 0·009 for HPA-5a and HPA-5b, 0·980 and 0·020 for HPA-6wa and HPA-6wb, 0·508 and 0·492 for HPA-15a and HPA-15b and 0·994 and 0·006 for HPA-21wa and HPA-21wb.

CONCLUSIONS

One multiplex PCR-SBT method for HPAs was established and the data of the study could help to prevent and treat for alloimmune thrombocytopenia.

Coronal imbalance in degenerative lumbar scoliosis: Prevalence and influence on surgical decision-making for spinal osteotomy

AIMS

There is a paucity of information on the pre-operative coronal imbalance in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) and its influence on surgical outcomes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 284 DLS patients were recruited into this study, among whom 69 patients were treated surgically and the remaining 215 patients conservatively Patients were classified based on the coronal balance distance (CBD): Type A, CBD < 3 cm; Type B, CBD > 3 cm and C7 Plumb Line (C7PL) shifted to the concave side of the curve; Type C, CBD > 3 cm and C7PL shifted to the convex side.

RESULTS

A total of 99 of the 284 (34.8%) patient presented with a pre-operative coronal imbalance (mean CBD: 48.5, standard deviation 18.7 mm). More patients with a Type B malalignment were observed than with a Type C malalignment (62 versus 37). A total of 21 pf the 69 (30.4%) surgically treated patients had a post-operative coronal imbalance, which was found to be more prevalent in Type C patients (p < 0.001). At follow-up, less improvement was observed in terms of Short Form-36 Physical Component Score and visual analogue score for back pain (p = 0.034 and 0.025, respectively) in Type C patients.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that patients with Type C coronal malalignment may be at greater risk of post-operative coronal imbalance following posterior osteotomy. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B:1227-33.

Novel folliculin (FLCN) mutation and familial spontaneous pneumothorax

BACKGROUND

Familial spontaneous pneumothorax is one of the characteristics of Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS), which is an autosomal dominant disease caused by the mutation of folliculin (FLCN).

AIM

To investigate the mutation of FLCN gene in a familial spontaneous pneumothorax.

DESIGN

Prospective case study.

METHODS

Clinical and genetic data of a Chinese family with four patients who presented spontaneous pneumothorax in the absence of skin lesions or renal tumors were collected. CT scan of patient's lung was applied for observation of pneumothorax. DNA sequencing of the coding exons (4-14 exons) of FLCN was performed for all 11 members of the family and 100 unrelated healthy controls.

RESULTS

CT scan of patient's lung showed spontaneous pneumothorax. A mutation (c. 510C > G) that leads to a premature stop codon (p. Y170X) was found in the proband using DNA sequencing of coding exons (4-14 exons) of FLCN. This mutation was also observed in the other affected members of the family.

CONCLUSIONS

A nonsense mutation of FLCN was found in a spontaneous pneumothorax family. Our results expand the mutational spectrum of FLCN in patients with BHDS.

Remodeling of the gut microbiota and structural shifts in Preeclampsia patients in South China

Preeclampsia (PE) is one of the pregnancy metabolic diseases. Since Gut microbiota play important roles in the hosts' metabolism, it is necessary to investigate the gut microbiota in PE patients, so that some intestinal dysbiosis might be detected as a biomarker for PE early diagnosis or as a target for intervention. One hundred subjects were categorized into four groups: 26 PE patients in late pregnancy, healthy individuals in early, middle, and late pregnancy (26/24/24 women). Gut microbiota were analyzed by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene using Illuminal MiSeq. Data were analyzed by multivariate statistics. Bacteroidetes was the dominant bacterium (47.57-52.35%) in the pregnant women in South China. Tenericutes increased while Verrucomicrobia almost disappeared in late pregnancy. In the PE patients, there was an overall increase in pathogenic bacteria, Clostridium perfringens (p = 0.03) and Bulleidia moorei (p = 0.00) but a reduction in probiotic bacteria Coprococcus catus (p = 0.03). Our research suggests that there is a significant structural shift of the gut microbiota in PE patients, which might be associated with the occurrence and development of the disease. However, further studies are required to understand the underlying mechanisms.

High-Dose Linoleic Acid Activated JAK2-STAT3 Signaling Pathway Involved in Cytokine Production and Lipogenesis in Pancreatic Exocrine Cells

BACKGROUND

Linoleic acid has been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. However, molecular mechanisms underlying adverse effects of large-dose linoleic acid remain unclear. Current study aimed to explore the impact of high-dose linoleic acid on the activation of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)-signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway, cytokine production, and lipogenesis in pancreatic exocrine cells.

METHODS

MTT assay was used to detect the viability of AR42J rat pancreatic exocrine cells, and lactate dehydrogenase assay was utilized to detect cytotoxicity. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were detected by ELISA, and protein expression of JAK2, p-JAK2, STAT3, p- STAT3, and fatty acid synthase (FAS) was examined by Western Blot. The impact of highdose linoleic acid on JAK2-STAT3 pathway was also examined when JAK2 was inhibited by AG490, and STAT3 expression was interrupted by siRNA.

RESULTS

The cell viability of AR42J rat pancreatic exocrine cells was inhibited, and cytotoxicity was increased by high-dose linoleic acid. JAK2 and STAT3 proteins in pancreatic exocrine cells were activated by high-dose linoleic acid via phosphorylation and nuclear localization of phosphorylated STAT3. Moreover, the expression of downstream proteins in JAK2-STAT3 pathway (IL-6, TNF-α and FAS) was up-regulated by high-dose linoleic acid. The increased levels of IL-6 and TNF-α caused by high-dose linoleic acid were attenuated by JAK2 inhibitor AG490. p-JAK2 protein was up-regulated, whereas p-STAT3, STAT3 and FAS proteins were down-regulated by high-dose linoleic acid in the presence of STAT3-siRNA.

CONCLUSION

The cytotoxicity was increased and JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway was activated by high-dose linoleic acid through cytokine production and lipogenesis in rat pancreatic exocrine cells.

The prevalence of and risk factors for prostatitis-like symptoms and its relation to erectile dysfunction in Chinese men

The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of and risk factors for prostatitis-like symptoms and its relation to erectile dysfunction (ED) among southern Chinese men. Data were collected from 2790 men attending the Fangchenggang Area Male Healthy and Examination Survey from September 2009 to December 2009. The prostatitis-like symptoms were assessed by the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index and ED was assessed using the 5-item International Index of Erectile Function. Lifestyle and demographic characteristics were obtained through a questionnaire. Prevalence of prostatitis-like symptoms was 12.4% among 2790 Chinese men aged 20-84 years. In smokers who smoked ≥20 cigarettes per day (age-adjusted OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.00-1.66; p = 0.04), physical inactivity (age-adjusted OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.03-1.66; p = 0.02) was a significant risk factor for prostatitis-like symptoms. Alcohol consumption (daily drinking) also was a risk factor for prostatitis-like symptoms, although the differences were not statistically significant (age-adjusted OR = 1.36; 95% CI = 0.96-1.92; p = 0.07). Those with diabetes may also be at higher risk for prostatitis-like symptoms (age-adjusted OR = 1.37; 95% CI = 0.85-2.21; p = 0.19). In addition, men with ED were more likely to have had prostatitis-like symptoms (age-adjusted OR = 1.86; 95% CI = 0.47-2.36; p < 0.0001), and the ORs increased with increasing severity of ED status (mild ED, mild to moderate ED, and moderate to severe ED were 1.57, 2.62, and 3.24, respectively. Test for trend, p = 0.0001). Our results show that prostatitis-like symptoms are prevalent in Southern China affecting men of all ages. Smoking, drinking, lack of physical activity, and elevated plasma glucose level were associated with an increased risk of prostatitis-like symptoms. In addition, our results reveal that ED accounted for a large proportion (61.5%) among men with prostatitis-like symptoms; we also confirm the magnitude of ED associated with prostatitis-like symptoms. Thus, interventions to evaluate and improve ED might help ameliorate prostatitis-like symptoms and vice versa.

A whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine protects against the malaria liver stage

Although the attenuated sporozoite is the most efficient vaccine to prevent infection with the malaria parasite, the limitation of a source of sterile sporozoites greatly hampers its application. In this study, we found that the whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine could confer protection against the blood stage as well as the liver stage. Although the protective immunity induced by the whole-organism vaccine against the blood stage is dependent on parasite-specific CD4⁺ T-cell responses and antibodies, in mice immunized with the whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine, CD8⁺ , but not CD4⁺ effector T-cell responses greatly contributed to protection against the liver stage. Thus, our data suggested that the whole-killed, blood-stage lysate vaccine could be an alternative promising strategy to prevent malaria infection and to reduce the morbidity and mortality of patients with malaria.

[Predictive value of C-reactive protein in emerging non-alcoholic fatty liver disease]

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of C-reactive protein (CRP) in emerging non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed. A total of 101510 employees of Kailuan Group Company who underwent physical examination from July 2006 to October 2007 were enrolled as study subjects. The employees with a history of drinking, fatty liver disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, and malignant tumors and incomplete data were excluded. Finally 25843 employees were enrolled in the cohort study. According to the baseline CRP level, these employees were divided into CRP < 1 mg/L group, CRP 1-3 mg/L group, and CRP > 3 mg/L group. The detection rate of emerging NAFLD was compared between groups, and the multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk of NAFLD in each group. Results: With the increasing CRP level, age, systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, waist circumference, body mass index, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, serum uric acid, and the proportion of male patients tended to increase (P< 0.01). The detection rate of emerging NAFLD was 24.6% in the CRP < 1 mg/L group, 29.6% in the CRP 1-3 mg/L group, and 30.6% in the CRP > 3 mg/L group (χ ²= 92.10,P< 0.01). The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that after the confounding factors such as age, sex, and waist circumference were corrected, the risk of NAFLD in the CRP 1-3 mg/L group and CRP > 3 mg/L group was 1.09 (95%CI1.01-1.17) and 1.24 (95%CI1.13-1.35) times that in the CRP < 1 mg/L group. Conclusion: CRP is the independent risk factor for the development of NAFLD.

Hospital risk management of cutaneous herpes simplex virus infection

BACKGROUND

The epidemiology of cutaneous herpes simplex infection (CHSI) has dramatically changed over the past several decades. Valaciclovir is one of a new generation of antiviral medications that has expanded treatment options for the most common cutaneous manifestations of herpes simplex virus. However, the efficacy and safety of formulations with different doses of valaciclovir remain unclear.

AIM

To carry out hospital risk management by ascertaining the incidence and risk of CHSI in patients during treatment with varying doses of valaciclovir.

METHODS

The PubMed, MEDLINE and Web of Science electronic databases were systematically searched from database inception to date of searching. Efficacy of drug treatment was measured by average easement score (AES). Safety was characterized as the proportion of patients with drug adverse reactions (DARs) such as fever, dizziness, headache, anxiety, irritability and yellowing of the skin. Outcomes for continuous and dichotomous data were estimated by standard mean difference (SMD) and risk ratio (RR), respectively.

RESULTS

Five randomized controlled trials involving 1753 randomized participants for efficacy assessment and 1874 randomized participants for safety assessment were identified. Valaciclovir dose increasing from 1000 mg/day improved AES only moderately, but significantly promoted the incidence of DARs. Twice-daily treatment showed no increase in therapeutic effect but greatly increased DAR incidence. The valaciclovir dose that produced a reduction in AES was 1000 mg/day: SMD = -0.73 (95% CI -0.98 to 0.48; P < 0.01) and RR = 0.95 (95% CI 0.81-1.09; P < 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing the daily dose of valaciclovir does not substantially improve therapeutic efficacy for CHSI but may raise DAR incidence. Drug doses of 1000 and 2000 mg/day show no significant difference in efficacy scores, but the latter exhibits a higher incidence of DARs. The dose-dependent, long-term efficacy and safety of valaciclovir remain to be explored.

Exposure to electromagnetic fields aboard high-speed electric multiple unit trains

High-speed electric multiple unit (EMU) trains generate high-frequency electric fields, low-frequency magnetic fields, and high-frequency wideband electromagnetic emissions when running. Potential human health concerns arise because the electromagnetic disturbances are transmitted mainly into the car body from windows, and from there to passengers and train staff. The transmission amount and amplitude distribution characteristics that dominate electromagnetic field emission need to be studied, and the exposure level of electromagnetic field emission to humans should be measured. We conducted a series of tests of the on board electromagnetic field distribution on several high-speed railway lines. While results showed that exposure was within permitted levels, the possibility of long-term health effects should be investigated.

A population-based study comparing multiple sclerosis clinic users and non-users in British Columbia, Canada

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Much clinical knowledge about multiple sclerosis (MS) has been gained from patients who attend MS specialty clinics. However, there is limited information about whether these patients are representative of the wider MS population. The objective of this study was to compare incident MS cases who were MS clinic users to non-users of the specialty MS clinics in British Columbia, Canada.

METHODS

This was a retrospective record-linkage cohort study using prospectively collected data from the British Columbia Multiple Sclerosis database and province-wide health administrative databases.

RESULTS

There were 2841 incident MS cases between 1996 and 2004 including 1648 (58%) that had registered at an MS clinic ('clinic cases') and 1193 (42%) that had not ('non-clinic cases'). Gender and socioeconomic status distributions were similar; however, non-clinic cases were older, accessed health services more frequently and had a higher burden of comorbidity than clinic cases. Only 1% of the non-clinic cases had filled a prescription for an MS-specific disease-modifying therapy, compared to 51% of the clinic cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings have several important implications: even within a publicly funded healthcare system, a high proportion of individuals with MS may not access a specialty MS clinic; the needs of MS patients managed in the community may differ from those referred to an MS clinic; findings from studies involving clinic-based MS cohorts may not always be generalizable to the wider MS population; and access to population-based health administrative data offers the opportunity to gain a broader understanding of MS.

Tunable charge transfer properties in metal-phthalocyanine heterojunctions

Organic materials such as phthalocyanine-based systems present a great potential for organic device applications due to the possibility of integrating films of different organic materials to create organic heterostructures which combine the electrical capabilities of each material. This opens the possibility to precisely engineer and tune new electrical properties. In particular, similar transition metal phthalocyanines demonstrate hybridization and charge transfer properties which could lead to interesting physical phenomena. Although, when considering device dimensions, a better understanding and control of the tuning of the transport properties still remain in the focus of research. Here, by employing conductive atomic force microscopy techniques, we provide an insight about the nanoscale electrical properties and transport mechanisms of MnPc and fluorinated phthalocyanines such as F16CuPc and F16CoPc. We report a transition from typical diode-like transport mechanisms for pure MnPc thin films to space-charge-limited current transport regime (SCLC) for Pc-based heterostructures. The controlled addition of fluorinated phthalocyanine also provides highly uniform and symmetric-polarized transport characteristics with conductance enhancements up to two orders of magnitude depending on the polarization. We present a method to spatially map the mobility of the MnPc/F16CuPc structures with a nanoscale resolution and provide theoretical calculations to support our experimental findings. This well-controlled nanoscale tuning of the electrical properties for metal transition phthalocyanine junctions stands as key step for future phthalocyanine-based electronic devices, where the low dimension charge transfer, mediated by transition metal atoms could be intrinsically linked to a transfer of magnetic moment or spin.

PET/CT imaging in diagnosing lymph node metastasis of esophageal carcinoma and its comparison with pathological findings

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the usefulness of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of esophageal carcinoma and to compare its results with pathological findings.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This study examined 43 cases of patients (32 males and 11 females, aged 54 ± 13 years old) being diagnosed with lymph node metastasis of esophageal carcinoma in our hospital between 2005 and 2014. All of these patients accepted 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging 10 days before the operation. Before reconstruction, each patient went through the body scan. PET/CT images were subject to comprehensive diagnostic analyses, by three experienced radiologists and/or professional nuclear physicians, on the number of metastatic lymph nodes and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). A control study was also performed on the pathological findings according to the latest esophageal cancer lymph node partition.

RESULTS

A total of 846 lymph nodes were taken out from the patients, among which 154 were confirmed with metastasis. When the SUVmax cutoff values were set at 2.5 and 5, 201 and 173 metastatic lymph nodes were found by 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging, respectively. Additionally, under such condition, 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging had the esophageal sensitivity of 69.48% vs 87.66%, specificity of 92.71% vs 94.51%, accuracy of 83.33% vs 93.26%, positive predictive value of 53.23% vs 78.03%, and negative predictive value of 92.71% vs 97.18%.

CONCLUSIONS

18F-FDG PET/CT had high accuracy in imaging lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer. SUVmax cutoff value of 5 had a higher diagnostic accuracy and should be recommended in clinical practice.

HLA-B allele dropout in PCR sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe typing due to intronic polymorphism in the novel B*58:01:01:02 allele

Currently, Luminex technology based on the PCR sequence-specific oligonucleotide (SSO) probe method has been widely used for HLA genotyping in the immunogenetics laboratories. Here, we reported a case with HLA-B allele dropout by Luminex technology. The initial HLA-B result of the Luminex method with a commercial agent kit was inconclusive, and then, the result of PCR-SBT technology indicated the dropout as a HLA-B*58 allele. Subsequently, the full-length sequence of HLA-B allele was determined by TOPO-TA cloning, and a novel allele B*58:01:01:02 was identified in the individual. Compared with HLA-B*58:01:01:01, the novel allele showed some nucleotides difference at 509 C>T, 521 T>G and CCC insertion in position 503 of intron 2. According to the full-length sequence, the new mutations of intron 2 were contributed to HLA-B locus allele dropout in the sample. Our results indicated multiplatform should be used to improve the HLA typing accuracy when a conclusive HLA genotype cannot be determined.

HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies of 8333 Chinese Han from the Zhejiang province, China

The distribution of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) allele and haplotype is varied among different ethnic populations. In this study, HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies were determined in 8333 volunteer bone marrow donors of Zhejiang Han population using the polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing. A total of 52 HLA-A, 96 HLA-B and 61 HLA-DRB1 alleles were found. Of these, the top three frequent alleles in HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 loci, respectively, were A*11:01 (24.53%), A*24:02 (17.35%), A*02:01 (11.58%); B*40:01 (15.67%), B*46:01 (11.87%), B*58:01 (9.05%); DRB1*09:01 (17.54%),DRB1*12:02 (9.64%) and DRB1*08:03 (8.65%). A total of 171 A-B-DRB1 haplotypes with a frequency of >0.1% were presented and the five most common haplotypes were A*33:03-B*58:01- DRB1*03:01, A*02:07-B*46:01-DRB1*09:01, A*30:01-B*13:02-DRB1*07:01, A*33:03-B*58:01-RB1*13:02 and A*11:01-B*15:02-DRB1*12:02. The information will be useful for selecting unrelated bone marrow donors and for anthropology studies and pharmacogenomics analysis.

Multicenter Prospective Trial of Stent Placement in Patients with Symptomatic High-Grade Intracranial Stenosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

On the basis of the high 1-month stroke and/or death (14.7%) rates associated with stent placement in the Stenting versus Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis trial, modifications in patient selection and procedural aspects for intracranial stent placement have been recommended. We performed a multicenter prospective single-arm trial to determine whether such modifications would result in lower rates of periprocedural stroke and/or death.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study enrolled patients with recent transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke (excluding perforator ischemic events) related to high-grade (70%-99% in severity) stenosis of a major intracranial artery. Patients were treated by using angioplasty and self-expanding stents 3 weeks after the index ischemic event at 1 of the 10 high-volume centers in China. An independent neurologist ascertained the occurrence of any stroke and/or death within 1 month after the procedure.

RESULTS

A total of 100 consecutive patients were recruited. The target lesions were located in the middle cerebral artery (M1) (n = 38, 38%), intracranial internal carotid artery (n = 17, 17%), intradural vertebral artery (n = 18, 18%), and basilar artery (n = 27, 27%). The technical success rate of stent deployment with residual stenosis of <50% was 100%. The overall 1-month stroke and/or death rate was 2% (95% confidence interval, 0.2%-7.0%). Two ischemic strokes occurred in the pontine region (perforator distribution) in patients following angioplasty and stent placement for basilar artery stenosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this prospective multicenter study demonstrated that modifications in patient selection and procedural aspects can substantially reduce the 1-month stroke and/or death rate following intracranial stent placement.

Assessment of biocompatibility of 3D printed photopolymers using zebrafish embryo toxicity assays

3D printing has emerged as a rapid and cost-efficient manufacturing technique to enable the fabrication of bespoke, complex prototypes. If the technology is to have a significant impact in biomedical applications, such as drug discovery and molecular diagnostics, the devices produced must be biologically compatible to enable their use with established reference assays and protocols. In this work we demonstrate that we can adapt the Fish Embryo Test (FET) as a new method to quantify the toxicity of 3D printed microfluidic devices. We assessed the biocompatibility of four commercially available 3D printing polymers (VisiJetCrystal EX200, Watershed 11122XC, Fototec SLA 7150 Clear and ABSplus P-430), through the observation of key developmental markers in the developing zebrafish embryos. Results show all of the photopolymers to be highly toxic to the embryos, resulting in fatality, although we do demonstrate that post-printing treatment of Fototec 7150 makes it suitable for zebrafish culture within the FET.

Pdcd4 deficiency enhances macrophage lipoautophagy and attenuates foam cell formation and atherosclerosis in mice

Macrophage foam cells, a major component of the atherosclerotic lesion, have vital roles in the development of atherosclerosis. Lipoautophagy, a type of autophagy characterized by selective delivery of lipid droplet for lysosomal degradation, may impact atherosclerosis by regulating macrophage foam cell formation. Previously, we reported that programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4), a tumor suppressor, negatively regulated autophagy in tumor cells. However, its roles in macrophage lipoautophagy, foam cell formation and atherosclerosis remain to be established. Here we found that Pdcd4 deficiency clearly improved oxidized low-density lipoproteins-impaired autophagy efflux, promoted autophagy-mediated lipid breakdown in murine macrophages and thus prevented macrophage conversion into foam cells. Importantly, Pdcd4 deficiency in mice significantly upregulated macrophage autophagy in local plaques along with attenuated lipid accumulation and atherosclerotic lesions in high-fat-fed Apolipoprotein E knockout mice. Bone marrow transplantation experiment demonstrated that PDCD4-mediated autophagy in hematopoietic cells contributed to the development of atherosclerosis. These results indicate that endogenous PDCD4 promotes for macrophage foam cell formation and atherosclerosis development via inhibiting autophagy and provides new insights into atherogenesis, suggesting that promoting macrophage autophagy through downregulating PDCD4 expression may be beneficial for treating atherosclerosis.

A mix of S and ΔS variants of STAT3 enable survival of activated B-cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells in culture

Activated B-cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC DLBCL) is characterized by increased expression and activator of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). ABC DLBCL cells require STAT3 for growth in culture. In ABC DLBCL cells, eosinophils and perhaps all cells, four variant STAT3 mRNAs (Sα, ΔSα, Sβ and ΔSβ) are present as a result of two alternative splicing events, one that results in the inclusion of a 55-residue C-terminal transactivation domain (α) or a truncated C-terminal domain with 7 unique residues (β) and a second that includes (S) or excludes (ΔS) the codon for Ser-701 in the linker between the SH2 and C-terminal domains. A substantial literature indicates that both α and β variants are required for optimal STAT3 function, but nothing is known about functions of ΔS variants. We used a knockdown/re-expression strategy to explore whether survival of ABC DLBCL cells requires that the four variants be in an appropriate ratio. No single variant rescued survival as well as STAT3Sα-C, Sα with activating mutations (A661C and N663C) in the SH2 domain. Better rescue was achieved when all four variants were re-expressed or Sα and ΔSα or Sβ and ΔSβ were re-expressed in pairs. Rescue correlated with expression of STAT3-sensitive genes NFKBIA and NFKBIZ. We consider a variety of explanations why a mix of S and ΔS variants of STAT3 should enable survival of ABC DLBCL cells.