A hierarchical flower-like hollow alumina supported bimetallic AuPd nanoparticle catalyst for enhanced solvent-free ethylbenzene oxidation

Currently, oxidation of alkylaromatics is considered as one of the most crucial chemical technologies to produce high added-value alcohols, ketones and carboxylic acids, due to its significant importance both in fine synthetic chemistry and in the academic field. In this work, a novel hierarchical marigold-like hollow alumina supported bimetallic AuPd nanoparticle catalyst was successfully fabricated and employed for highly efficient solvent-free ethylbenzene oxidation to produce acetophenone with the coexistence of both molecular oxygen and tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxidant and the initiator. The as-fabricated bimetallic AuPd nanocatalyst conferred a superior catalytic performance to the corresponding monometallic counterparts and commercial Al2O3 or solid Al2O3 microsphere supported AuPd ones, along with a high acetophenone selectivity of 88.2% at a conversion of 50.9% under mild reaction conditions (120 °C and oxygen pressure of 1.0 MPa), as well as an unprecedentedly high turnover frequency value of 46 768 h-1. Such exceptional efficiency of the catalyst was related to both the significant synergy between the Au-Pd atoms and strong metal-support interactions, and the unique hierarchical micro/nanostructure of the support being beneficial to the close contact of reactants with surface adsorption and reaction sites and easy product diffusion. Moreover, the present bimetallic AuPd catalyst was recyclable and stable. The developed approach is expected to offer exciting opportunities for designing other supported monometallic or bimetallic catalysts with various active components applied in heterogeneous catalysis.

[Analysis of community colorectal cancer screening in 50-74 years old people in Guangzhou, 2015-2016]

Objective: To analyze the effect of colorectal cancer screening in the general population in Guangzhou, and provide evidence for the for development of colorectal cancer screening policy and strategy. Methods: The data of colorectal cancer screening in Guangzhou during 2015- 2016 were collected. The participation, the positive rate of fecal occult blood test, the detection rate of colonoscopy and screening effect of colonoscopy were evaluated. Results: A total of 220 834 residents aged 50-74 years received the screening, and the positive rate of the screening was 16.77% (37 040 cases). Colonoscopy was performed for 7 821 cases (21.12%). Colorectal lesions were found in 4 126 cases (52.76%), of which 614 (7.85%) and 73 (0.93%) and 230 (2.94%) were identified as advanced adenoma, severe dysplasia lesions and colorectal cancers, respectively. The detection rates of all colorectal lesions were higher in men than in women (all P<0.01). The diagnostic rate of early lesion was 87.24%, and 99 early cancer cases were found, accounting for 46.26% of the total cases. The overall screening detection rate of colorectal cancer was 104.15/100 000, higher than the incidence rate (81.18/100 000) in colorectal cancer surveillance (P<0.001), but age group <70 years had higher detection rate, age group ≥70 years had higher incidence rate. Conclusions: The colorectal cancer screening strategy in Guangzhou is effective in the detection of the population at high risk, increase the detection rate of colorectal lesions, early diagnosis rate of precancerous lesions and diagnosis rate of early colorectal cancer. The benefit in those aged ≤69 years was more obvious than that in those aged 70-74 years. It is necessary to improve the compliancy of colorectal cancer screening in population at high risk.

The use of magnetically controlled growing rods in paediatric Osteogenesis Imperfecta with early onset, progressive scoliosis

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a condition of bone fragility and can present with early onset scoliosis that can cause respiratory complications in later life. The fear of instrumenting the spine in OI is the possibility of fracture either on primary insertion or subsequent lengthening. Magnetically controlled growing rods were inserted to control a scoliosis in a 6-year old with OI type IV. Fixation was obtained using pedicle screws proximally and distally with sublaminar bands around the ribs proximally. These rods have been remotely lengthened on multiple occasions over a 2-year period. This has controlled the scoliosis whilst also allowing the spine to grow. There are no complications to report. This case reports the use of magnetically controlled growth rods used to manage early onset scoliosis in OI. Frequent lengthening, achieving small increases in length on every occasion protects against the risk of fracture during the lengthening procedure.

Effect of CuSO4 and nano copper on serum antioxidant capacity in Weaned piglets

Copper is the most essential trace element in the animal body. Nano-sized copper particles have been widely used in a number of different animal species in modern medicinal practice. The present study was designed to examine the effect of dietary copper sulfate/(CuSO4) and nano copper supplementation on serum antioxidant capacity of weaning piglets. A total of 28 Duroc piglets (21 days, and weighing ~7 kg) were randomly divided into three equal groups. The control group (n=4) was administered with a normal standard diet; however the CuSO4 (n=12) and nano copper (n=12) groups were treated with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day body weight, respectively. After 28 days, blood serum copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD), ceruloplasmin (CP), malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), peroxidase (POD), nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and inhibition of hydroxyl radical (CIHR) were analyzed from all groups. The results indicated that nano copper supplementation has significant (P less than 0.05) effect on the serum antioxidant capability as compared to dietary CuSO4 group in weaned piglets. Nano-size copper 100 mg/kg/day supplementation was confirmed to improve the immunity level by strengthening the antioxidant capacity of weaning piglets. Dietary supplementation with 100 mg/kg body weight nano copper could be a potential substitute for weaned piglets.

LAIR-1 shedding from human fibroblast-like synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis following TNF-α stimulation

This study examined the expression of the inhibitory receptor, leucocyte-associated immunoglobulin (Ig)-like receptor-1 (LAIR-1) in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to investigate its potential role in the modulation of inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and invasiveness of synoviocytes. LAIR-1 expression in synovial tissues from RA patients, osteoarthritis patients and healthy donors was analysed by immunohistochemistry. The membrane-bound form (mLAIR-1) was detected by flow cytometry. Factors involved in inflammation and MMP activity in FLS were analysed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). LAIR-1 expression was higher in the synovia of the RA patients than those of the osteoarthritis patients. Co-immunostaining of vimentin/LAIR-1 demonstrated that LAIR-1 was localized mainly in FLS in the RA patients. Surprisingly, primary FLS isolated from the RA patients had low levels of mLAIR-1 expression, with cytoplasmic distribution. The extracellular domain of LAIR-1 was shed from the cell surface in response to tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and this process could be blocked by serine protease inhibitors. Additional experiments indicated that LAIR-1 over-expression reduced FLS invasion considerably, which reduced simultaneously the mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and MMP-13 in the presence of TNF-α. Our study demonstrated that LAIR-1 is an anti-inflammatory molecule, and was up-regulated in FLS in the RA patients; however, cell-surface LAIR-1 could be shed from cells in the inflammatory microenvironment in RA. This may weaken the interaction of LAIR-1 with its ligand, thus reducing the anti-inflammatory effects of LAIR-1. These findings suggested that LAIR-1 may be an important factor involved in the mediation of the progressive joint destruction in RA.

High BCL11A Expression in Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Predicts a Worse Clinical Outcome

BACKGROUND

Recent reports showed BCL11A may be causatively involved in myeloid leukemia. This study investigated the relationship between BCL11A expression levels and adult acute myeloid leukemia patient characteristics as well as clinical outcomes.

METHODS

RT-PCR was employed to detect BCL11A gene expression levels in 80 patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

RESULTS

Median BCL11A expression levels of 80 AML bone marrow samples were found to be higher than the control group (0.039 vs. 0.014, p < 0.005). Patients with low BCL11A expression levels had a significantly higher CR (complete remission) rate compared with patients with high BCL11A expression levels (90% vs. 53%, p < 0.005). Moreover, the median OS (overall survival) in patients with low BCL11A expression (268 d) was also longer than that in patients with high BCL11A expression (101.5 d) (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between the high and low BCL11A groups with respect to white blood cells, haemoglobin, platelet count, French-American-Britain (FAB) subtypes, percentage of blasts in bone marrow, peripheral blood, cytogenetic risk groups, and CD34 expression.

CONCLUSIONS

Adult acute myeloid leukemia had a higher BCL11A expression level. High BCL11A expression level was correlated with lower CR rate and shorter OS, suggesting that BCL11A expression could potentially be used as a prognosis indicator.

Treatment of a Pediatric Case of Severe Hemorrhagic Cystitis: Case Report and Review of Literature

Hemorrhagic cystitis is one of the complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Treatment of hemorrhagic cystitis is difficult, especially in pediatric patients. A pediatric case of severe hemorrhagic cystitis after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was treated in our hospital with arterial embolization combined with corticosteroid therapy because the conventional therapy was invalid for him. After the treatment, hemorrhagic cystitis was cured. During follow-up, the patient was in stable condition, with normal urine, blood cells returned to normal, bone marrow was in complete remission state, and disease-free survival for more than 8 months. Selective bladder arterial embolism followed by corticosteroid therapy successfully treated the patient.

A G3P[13] porcine group A rotavirus emerging in China is a reassortant and a natural recombinant in the VP4 gene

Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) are a major cause of serious intestinal disease in piglets. In this study, a novel pig strain was identified in a stool sample from China. The strain was designated RVA/Pig/China/LNCY/2016/G3P[13] and had a G3-P[13]-I5-R1-C1-M1-A8-N1-T1-E1-H1 genome. The viral protein 7 (VP7) and non-structural protein 4 (NSP4) genes of RVA/Pig/China/LNCY/2016/G3P[13] were closely related to cogent genes of human RVAs, suggesting that a reassortment between pig and human strains had occurred. Recombination analysis showed that RVA/Pig/China/LNCY/2016/G3P[13] is a natural recombinant strain between the P[23] and P[7] RVA strains, and crossover points for recombination were found at nucleotides (nt) 456 and 804 of the VP4 gene. Elucidating the biological characteristics of porcine rotavirus (PoRV) will be helpful for further analyses of the epidemic characteristics of this virus. The results of this study provide valuable information for RVA recombination and evolution and will facilitate future investigations into the molecular pathogenesis of RVAs.

Comparison of effectiveness and safety between conbercept and ranibizumab for treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. A retrospective case-controlled non-inferiority multiple center study

Purpose

To compare the efficacy and safety of conbercept and ranibizumab when administered according to a treat-and-extend (TREX) protocol for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in China.

Patients and methods

Between May 2014 and May 2015, 180 patients were treated in a 1 : 1 ratio using conbercept or ranibizumab from four hospitals. Patients received either conbercept 0.5 mg or ranibizumab 0.5 mg intravitreal injections. Follow-up time was 1 year and treated based on a TREX approach. Main outcomes and measures include best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS); number of injections; central retinal thickness (CRT); and leakage of choroidal neovascularization before and after the treatment was analyzed by fluorescein fundus angiography and indocyanine green angiography.

Results

The 1-year visit was completed by 168 (93.3%) of patients. Mean BCVA was equivalent between two cohorts, and were improved by 12.7±7.770 and 12.3±7.269 letters in the conbercept and ranibizumab cohorts, respectively (P=0.624). There was no significant difference in measured CRT, with a mean decrease of 191.5 μm for conbercept and 187.8 μm for ranibizumab (P=0.773). There was a statistically significant difference (P=0.001) between the drugs regarding the number of treatments: 7.4 for conbercept and 8.7 for ranibizumab. The difference in the distribution of injection intervals was statistically significant between two groups (P=0.011). During the study, there were no cases of endophthalmitis or intraocular inflammation.

Conclusion

Both drugs had equivalent effects in visual and anatomic gains at 1 year when administered. In the conbercept group, longer treatment intervals were achieved with more patients.

The difference in medical costs between carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and non-resistant groups: a case study from a hospital in Zhejiang province, China

This retrospective study aims to compare differences in the medical costs between inpatients infected/colonised with carbapenem-resistant (CRAB) and carbapenem-susceptible (CSAB) Acinetobacter baumannii in a hospital in Zhejiang province, China. Because the patient population was large, we randomly selected 60% of all inpatients with clinical specimens between 2013 and 2015. We classified the A. baumannii cases as CRAB or CSAB based on antibiotic susceptibility testing. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors associated with the total medical cost (TMC). Those included in the study totalled 2980 inpatients, 71.3% of whom had CRAB infection/colonisation. Differences in the TMC between the CRAB and CSAB groups were lower by multivariate analyses than the differences obtained by univariate analyses. Carbapenem resistance was significantly associated with an approximately 1.5-fold increase in the TMC after accounting for confounding factors. Our study highlights the heavy financial burden imposed by A. baumannii and carbapenem resistance on the Chinese healthcare system.

Tobacco TTG2 and ARF8 function concomitantly to control flower colouring by regulating anthocyanin synthesis genes

Recently we elucidated that tobacco TTG2 cooperates with ARF8 to regulate the vegetative growth and seed production. Here we show that TTG2 and ARF8 control flower colouring by regulating expression of ANS and DFR genes, which function in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Genetic modifications that substantially altered expression levels of the TTG2 gene and production quantities of TTG2 protein were correlated with flower development and colouring. Degrees of flower colour were increased by TTG2 overexpression but decreased through TTG2 silencing, in coincidence with high and low concentrations of anthocyanins in flowers. Of five genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, only ANS and DFR were TTG2-regulated and displayed enhancement and diminution of expression with TTG2 overexpression and silencing, respectively. The floral expression of ANS and DFR also needed a functional ARF8 gene, as ANS and DFR expression were attenuated by ARF8 silencing, which concomitantly diminished the role of TTG2 in anthocyanin production. While ARF8 required TTG2 to be expressed by itself and to regulate ANS and DFR expression, the concurrent presence of normally functional TTG2 and ARF8 was critical for floral production of anthocyanins and also for flower colouration. Our data suggest that TTG2 functions concomitantly with ARF8 to control degrees of flower colour by regulating expression of ANS and DFR, which are involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway. ARF8 depends on TTG2 to regulate floral expression of ANS and DFR with positive effects on anthocyanin production and flower colour.

[Clinical diagnosis and treatment of three cases with hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria syndrome]

Objective: To study the clinical characteristics, methods of diagnosis and treatment of hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia- homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome. Method: From July 2011 to August 2016, 3 Chinese patients with HHH syndrome were enrolled in this study. The clinical course, biochemical features, brain MRI findings, and gene mutations were analyzed. Result: The three patients' age at onset of symptoms was 3 months to 7 years, and the age of diagonosis was 3 years and 10 months to 9 years and 10 months. All of them presented with intolerance to protein-rich foods from the infant period, development retardation and abnormal posture. Case 1 and 2 had moderate mental retardation. Serum ammonia 25-276 μmol/L (reference range<60 μmol/L), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) 20-139 IU/L (reference range 9-50 IU/L), ornithine 29.12-99.44 μmol/L(reference range 15-100 μmol/L), urinary orotic acid 1.49-29.75 mmol/mol Cr (reference range 0-7 mmol/mol Cr), uracil 6.09-103.97 mmol/mol Cr (reference range 0-1.5 mmol/mol Cr). The cranial MRI revealed lesions in the basal ganglia, abnormal white matter signal, progressive demyelination and cerebral atrophy. On their SLC25A15 gene, a novel homozygous missense mutation c. 416A>G (p.E139G) was identified in case 1, a known pathogenic homozygous nonsense mutation c. 535C>T was found in case 2 and 3. Liver transplantation had been performed when case 1 was 6 years old. Significant improvements were observed in dietary habit, mental and motor functions, and biochemical parameters. After the dietary intervention with the supplements of arginine, L-carnitine, case 2 was improved, spastic paraplegia of case 3 had no mitigation. Liver transplant was recommended. Conclusion: HHH syndrome has an aversion to protein-rich food, and the patients have recurrent vomiting and progressive neurological dysfunction. Clinical diagnosis of HHH syndrome is difficult and patients may present with incomplete biochemical phenotype. The genetic analysis is key for the diagnosis. Depending on their condition, individuals with HHH syndrome can be treated with a low-protein diet, drugs and liver transplantation.

Disulfiram/copper selectively eradicates AML leukemia stem cells in vitro and in vivo by simultaneous induction of ROS-JNK and inhibition of NF-κB and Nrf2

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous malignancy. Despite the advances in past decades, the clinical outcomes of AML patients remain poor. Leukemia stem cells (LSCs) is the major cause of the recurrence of AML even after aggressive treatment making, promoting development of LSC-targeted agents is an urgent clinical need. Although the antitumor activity of disulfiram (DS), an approved anti-alcoholism drug, has been demonstrated in multiple types of tumors including hematological malignancies such as AML, it remains unknown whether this agent would also be able to target cancer stem cells like LSCs. Here, we report the in vitro and in vivo activity of DS in combination with copper (Cu) against CD34⁺/CD38⁺ leukemia stem-like cells sorted from KG1α and Kasumi-1 AML cell lines, as well as primary CD34⁺ AML samples. DS plus Cu (DS/Cu) displayed marked inhibition of proliferation, induction of apoptosis, and suppression of colony formation in cultured AML cells while sparing the normal counterparts. DS/Cu also significantly inhibited the growth of human CD34⁺/CD38⁺ leukemic cell-derived xenografts in NOD/SCID mice. Mechanistically, DS/Cu-induced cytotoxicity was closely associated with activation of the stress-related ROS-JNK pathway as well as simultaneous inactivation of the pro-survival Nrf2 and nuclear factor-κB pathways. In summary, our findings indicate that DS/Cu selectively targets leukemia stem-like cells both in vitro and in vivo, thus suggesting a promising LSC-targeted activity of this repurposed agent for treatment of relapsed and refractory AML.

MiR-222 promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells by targeting ETS1

OBJECTIVE

The lung adenocarcinoma is a type of lung cancer. This research is to investigate the effects of miR-222 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of the lung adenocarcinoma cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

At the beginning, MiR-222 and the controls were transfected to the lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 for CCK-8 proliferation, transwell migration and Matrigel invasion, and then observed the effect of miR-222 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells. The miR-222 target was regulated by ETS1 downwards to participate in the regulation of the process by using the luciferase reporter assay, the Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and the Western blotting.

RESULTS

According to CCK-8 proliferation assay, the Transwell migration and the Matrigel invasion assay, it discovered that MiR-222 can promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of the lung adenocarcinoma cells. Luciferase reporter assay, RT-qPCR and Western blot assay showed that miR-222 could regulate the expression of ETS1 downwards and ETS1 participated in the regulation of the process CONCLUSIONS: ETS1 promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells by targeting the regulated miR-222 downwards.

Blockade of β-catenin signaling attenuates toluene diisocyanate-induced experimental asthma

BACKGROUND

Aberrant activation of β-catenin signaling by both WNT-dependent and WNT-independent pathways has been demonstrated in asthmatic airways, which is thought to contribute critically in remodeling of the airways. Yet, the exact role of β-catenin in asthma is very poorly defined. As we have previously reported abnormal expression of β-catenin in a toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-induced asthma model, in this study, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of two small molecules XAV-939 and ICG-001 in TDI-asthmatic male BALB/c mice, which selectively block β-catenin-mediated transcription.

METHODS

Male BALB/c mice were sensitized and challenged with TDI to generate a chemically induced asthma model. Inhibitors of β-catenin, XAV-939, and ICG-001 were respectively given to the mice through intraperitoneally injection.

RESULTS

TDI exposure led to a significantly increased activity of β-catenin, which was then confirmed by a luciferase assay in 16HBE transfected with the TOPFlash reporter plasmid. Treatment with either XAV-939 or ICG-001 effectively inhibited activation of β-catenin and downregulated mRNA expression of β-catenin-targeted genes in TDI-asthmatic mice, paralleled by dramatically attenuated TDI-induced hyperresponsiveness and inflammation of the airway, alleviated airway goblet cell metaplasia and collagen deposition, decreased Th2 inflammation, as well as lower levels of TGFβ1, VEGF, HMGB1, and IL-1β.

CONCLUSION

The results showed that β-catenin is a principal mediator of TDI-induced asthma, proposing β-catenin as a promising therapeutic target in asthma.

Evolutionarily conserved dual lysine motif determines the non-chaperone function of secreted Hsp90alpha in tumour progression

Both intracellular and extracellular heat shock protein-90 (Hsp90) family proteins (α and β) have been shown to support tumour progression. The tumour-supporting activity of the intracellular Hsp90 is attributed to their N-terminal ATPase-driven chaperone function. What molecular entity determines the extracellular function of secreted Hsp90 and the distinction between Hsp90α and Hsp90β was unclear. Here we demonstrate that CRISPR/Case9 knocking out Hsp90α nullifies tumour cells' ability to migrate, invade and metastasize without affecting the cell survival and growth. Knocking out Hsp90β leads to tumour cell death. Extracellular supplementation with recombinant Hsp90α, but not Hsp90β, protein recovers tumourigenicity of the Hsp90α-knockout cells. Sequential mutagenesis identifies two evolutionarily conserved lysine residues, lys-270 and lys-277, in the Hsp90α subfamily that determine the extracellular Hsp90α function. Hsp90β subfamily lacks the dual lysine motif and the extracellular function. Substitutions of gly-262 and thr-269 in Hsp90β with lysines convert Hsp90β to a Hsp90α-like protein. Newly constructed monoclonal antibody, 1G6-D7, against the dual lysine region of secreted Hsp90α inhibits both de novo tumour formation and expansion of already formed tumours in mice. This study suggests an alternative therapeutic approach to target Hsp90 in cancer, that is, the tumour-secreted Hsp90α, instead of the intracellular Hsp90α and Hsp90β.