MiR-126-3p suppresses the growth, migration and invasion of NSCLC via targeting CCR1

OBJECTIVE

MicroRNA (miRNA) plays vital roles in the development of different cancers. In the current work, we explored the function of miR-126-3p in the growth and metastasis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell in vitro and in vivo.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The expressions of miR-126-3p in NSCLC cell lines were assessed using the quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), colony formation, wound healing and transwell invasion were applied to reveal the role of miR-126b-3p on NSCLC cell growth, migration and invasion. The expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) associated markers (E-cadherin and N-cadherin) were assessed by immunofluorescence staining. The Xenograft model and lung metastasis model were applied to explore the impact of miR-126-3p on the growth and aggressiveness of NSCLC cell in vivo.

RESULTS

MiR-126-3p was significantly down-regulated in NSCLC cell lines and tissues. The up-regulation of miR-126-3p inhibited the growth, colony formation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cell. Furthermore, the xenograft model indicated that miR-126-3p suppressed NSCLC cell growth and lung metastasis by targeting chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 1 (CCR1). In addition, we demonstrated that the over-expression of CCR1 rescued the inhibitory effects of miR-126-3p on NSCLC cells growth, migration and invasion. Finally, knocked-down of CCR1 was able to mimic the inhibitory effects of miR-126-3p on the progression of NSCLC cell.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that miR-126-3p plays an important role in the growth, migration and invasion of NSCLC by targeting CCR1.

Leiomyosarcoma After Liver Transplantation Is Unrelated to Epstein-Barr Virus: A Case Report

BACKGROUND

De novo malignancy is a severe complication after liver transplantation (LT), but de novo leiomyosarcoma is extremely rare.

METHODS

We reported de novo leiomyosarcoma occurring after LT. The patient's status for Epstein-Barr virus was negative. The donor was a 21-year-old man with a central nervous system malignancy who underwent surgery. Three months later brain death occurred and his organs were donated.

RESULTS

Leiomyosarcoma in the recipient was detected shortly after LT. It progressed after minimization of immunosuppression and apatinib therapy, and the patient died of cachexia 17 months after LT.

CONCLUSIONS

De novo leiomyosarcoma is a rare but serious event after LT, needing comprehensive management.

[Impact of gender on hepatic pathology and antibody - mediated immunity caused by Schistosoma japonicum infection in C57BL/6 mice]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of gender on hepatic pathology and antibody-mediated immunity in Schistosoma japonicum-infected C57BL/6 mice.

METHODS

Female and male C57BL/6 mice were infected with S. japonicum, and the hepatic pathological changes were observed using HE and picrosirius red staining in mice 8 weeks post-infection. The serum specific IgG antibody levels against the soluble adult worm antigen (SWA) and soluble egg antigen (SEA) were measured in mice using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the percentages of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells were detected in mouse spleen and lymph nodes using flow cytometry.

RESULTS

HE staining showed no significant difference in the mean area of a single hepatic egg granuloma between female and male mice 8 weeks post-infection with S. japonicum [(28.050 ± 3.576) × 10⁴ μm² vs. (26.740 ± 4.093) × 10⁴ μm²; t = 0.241, P = 0.821], and picrosirius red staining revealed no statistical differences between female and male mice in terms of the mean proportion of picrosirius red stained hepatic tissues [(7.667 ± 1.856)% vs. (7.667 ± 1.764)%; t = 0, P = 1] or the mean optical density [(0.023 ± 0.003) vs. (0.027 ± 0.007); t = 0.447, P = 0.678]. ELISA detected no significant differences in the serum IgG antibody levels against SWA [(2.098 ± 0.037) vs. (1.970 ± 0.071); t = 1.595, P = 0.162] or SEA [(3.738 ± 0.039) vs. (3.708 ± 0.043); t = 0.512, P = 0.623] between female and male mice 8 weeks post-infection with S. japonicum. Flow cytometry detected significantly greater percentages of Tfh cells in the spleen [female mice, (8.645 ± 1.356)% vs. (1.730 ± 0.181)%, t = 5.055, P = 0.002; male mice, (8.470 ± 1.161)% vs. (1.583 ± 0.218)%, t = 5.829, P = 0.001] and lymph nodes [female mice, (3.218 ± 0.153)% vs. (1.095 ± 0.116)%, t = 11.040, P < 0.001; male mice, (3.673 ± 0.347)% vs. (0.935 ± 0.075)%, t = 8.994, P = 0.001) of both female and male mice 8 weeks post-infection with S. japonicum than in uninfected mice; however, no significant differences were seen between female and male mice 8 weeks post-infection with S. japonicum in terms of the percentages of Tfh cells in the spleen [(8.645 ± 1.356)% vs. (8.470 ± 1.161)%; t = 0.098, P = 0.925] or lymph nodes [(3.218 ± 0.153)% vs. (3.673 ± 0.347)%; t = 1.332, P = 0.241]. There was no significant difference in the proportion of Treg cells in the spleen of male mice between infected and uninfected mice [(10.060 ± 0.361)% vs. (10.130 ± 0.142)%; t = 0.174, P = 0.867], while a higher proportion of Treg cells was seen in the spleen of female mice 8 weeks post-infection with S. japonicum than in uninfected mice [(10.530 ± 0.242)% vs. (9.450 ± 0.263)%; t = 3.021, P = 0.023]. There was no significant difference in the proportion of Treg cells in the spleen between female and male mice infected with S. japonicum [(10.530 ± 0.242)% vs. (10.060 ± 0.361)%; t =1.077, P = 0.323]. In addition, the proportions of Treg cells were significantly greater in the lymph node of S. japonicum -infected female [(17.150 ± 0.805)% vs. (13.100 ± 0.265)%; t = 4.781, P = 0.003] and male mice [(18.550 ± 0.732)% vs. (12.630 ± 0.566)%; t = 6.402, P = 0.001] than in uninfected mice; however, no significant difference was seen between female and male mice 8 weeks post-infection [(17.150 ± 0.805)% vs. (18.550 ± 0.732)%; t = 1.287, P = 0.246].

CONCLUSIONS

There are no gender-specific hepatic pathological changes or antibody-mediated immunity in C57BL/6 mice post-infection with S. japonicum.

Establishing an evaluation metric to quantify climate change image realism *

With success on controlled tasks, deep generative models are being increasingly applied to humanitarian applications (Nie et al 2017 Int. Conf. on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (Berlin: Springer) pp 417–25, Yanardag et al 2017 Deep Empathy). In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of a conditional generative model that illustrates the consequences of climate change-induced flooding to encourage public interest and awareness on the issue. Because metrics for comparing the realism of different modes in a conditional generative model do not exist, we propose several automated and human-based methods for evaluation. To do this, we adapt several existing metrics and assess the automated metrics against gold standard human evaluation. We find that using Fréchet Inception Distance with embeddings from an intermediary Inception-v3 layer that precedes the auxiliary classifier produces results most correlated with human realism. While insufficient alone to establish a human-correlated automatic evaluation metric, we believe this work begins to bridge the gap between human and automated generative evaluation procedures, and to generate more realistic images of the future consequences of climate change.

Rhythmic change of adipokinetic hormones diurnally regulates locust vitellogenesis and egg development

Adipokinetic hormones (AKHs), the neurohormones synthesized in the insect corpora cardiaca are known to mobilize lipids and carbohydrates for energy-consuming activities including reproduction. However, both inhibitory and stimulatory effects of AKHs on insect reproduction have been reported, and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Using the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, as a model system, we report here that AKHs are expressed in response to rhythmic diel change, and AKH III expression increases markedly at photophase. Diurnal injection of AKH III but not AKH I or AKH II in adult females stimulates vitellogenesis and egg development. In contrast, AKH treatment at scotophase represses female reproduction. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of AKH receptor (AKHR) results in significantly reduced vitellogenin (Vg) expression in the fat body at photophase along with reduced Vg deposition in the ovary. AKHR knockdown also leads to decreased expression of Brummer, triacylglycerol lipase and trehalose transporter, accompanied by suppressed mobilization of triacylglycerol and trehalose. We propose that in addition to stimulating Vg expression at photophase, AKH/AKHR signalling is likely to regulate ovarian uptake of Vg via triacylglycerol mobilization and trehalose homeostasis. This study provides new insights into the understanding of AKH/AKHR signalling in the regulation of insect reproduction.

[Study on immunological functions of heat shock protein 40 kDa of Schistosoma japonicum]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the immunological functions of heat shock protein 40 kDa of Schistosoma japonicum (SjHSP40).

METHODS

The homology of the SjHSP40 protein sequence was analyzed and the B and T cell epitopes of SjHSP40 were predicted using bioinformatics tools. The full-length SjHSP40 gene was amplified using a PCR assay, and cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-6P-1, which was transformed into Escherichia coli BL-21. The protein expression was induced with isopropyl β-D-thiogalactoside (IPDG), and then, the recombinant protein was purified with glutathione-sepharose 4B resin to yield the fusion protein GST-SjHSP40, which was checked with SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Following immunization with GST-SjHSP40, the serum levels of anti-SjHSP40 IgG antibody and IgG1 and IgG2a subtypes were detected in BALB/c mice using ELISA. In addition, the effect of SjHSP40 on CD4⁺ T-cell subset differentiation was examined using flow cytometry.

RESULTS

SjHSP40 contained 7 potential B cell epitopes and multiple T cell epitopes (CTL epitopes and Th epitopes). The prokaryotic expression plasmid pGEX-6p-1-SjSHP40 was successfully constructed, and the fusion protein GST-SjHSP40 was obtained following IPDG induction and protein purification. Significantly higher serum levels of anti-SjHSP40 IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies were detected in mice immunized with GST-SjHSP40 than in other groups; however, SjHSP40 showed no remarkable effects on CD4⁺ T-cell subset differentiation.

CONCLUSIONS

SjHSP40 may induce specific humoral immune responses in mice; however, it does not affect the balance of Th immune responses. It is suggested that SjHSP40 may be a potential vaccine candidate.

Biological background of the genomic variations of cf-DNA in healthy individuals

BACKGROUND

Cell-free DNA (cf-DNA)-based liquid biopsy is emerging as a revolutionary new method in individualized cancer treatment and prognosis monitoring, although detecting early-stage cancers using cf-DNA remains challenging, partially because of the undefined biological background of cf-DNA.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We investigated somatic mutations in the cf-DNA of 259 cancer-free individuals with a median age of 47 years using an endogenous barcoding duplex method with an ultralow base error rate (2 × 10-7) and compared the variant allele frequencies (VAFs) of these mutations between the cf-DNA and the corresponding blood cell DNA.

RESULTS

Sixty percent (155/259) of the samples showed at least one nonsynonymous mutation on either of two similar target panels covering 508 and 559 cancer-related genes. For individuals older than 50 years of age, the positive rate increased to 76%. Most cf-DNA mutations were also present at similar VAFs in the paired blood cell DNA. The most frequently mutated genes were driver genes of hematologic malignancies, including DNMT3A, TET2, AXSL1, and JAK2. However, the other 58.4% (192/329) of the mutations were likely 'passenger mutations' of clonal hematopoiesis, including mutations in NOTCH2, FAT3, EXT2, ERBB4, and ARID2, which are driver genes of solid tumors.

CONCLUSION

Hematopoietic clone-derived mutations, including 'driver mutations' and 'passenger mutations', are prevalent in the cf-DNA of both healthy individuals and cancer patients and may be a potential source of false positives in the liquid biopsy. Our results also suggest the ineffectiveness for distinguishing clonal hematopoietic mutations of low VAF (≤0.1%) from tumor-derived mutations using conventional next-generation sequencing of blood cell DNA. However, an error correction model with an ultralow error rate and high coverage depth is required for blood cell DNA sequencing, which is difficult and costly to achieve with current technologies.

STAT3 signaling pathway in drug-resistant bladder cancer cell line

STAT3 signaling pathway is related to the proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis of tumor cells. The relationship between STAT3 and drug resistance is still unknown. We studied the inhibitors in STAT3 pathway and its downstream molecules to analyze the unique effects in drug-resistant bladder cancer cells. qRT-PCR and Western blot were implemented to study the expression level of JAK2, STAT3, p-STAT3, MMP2 and Cyclin D1 in Pumc-91 and Pumc-91/ADM cell lines, respectively. The effects of AG490 on the expression of STAT3, p-STAT3, MMP2 and Cyclin D1 in Pumc-91 were evaluated using qRT-PCR and Western blot. Pumc-91/ADM cells were treated with AG490. CCK-8 and wound healing assay were used to detect the cell proliferation and metastasis. Compared to Pumc-91, an obvious decrease of JAK2, p-STAT3 and increase of MMP2 were shown in Pumc-91/ADM cell line. After inhibition of STAT3 signaling pathway, the mRNA and protein levels of STAT3, p-STAT3, MMP2 and Cyclin D1 obviously decreased in the test group. The proliferation and migration of Pumc-91/ADM were suppressed by inhibiting of STAT3. STAT3 pathway regulated the proliferation and migration of bladder cancer drug-resistant cells by modulating the expression of Cyclin D1 and MMP2.

Efficient total nitrogen removal from wastewater by Paracoccus denitrificans DYTN-1

Bioaugmentation is an effective treatment method to reduce nitrogenous pollutants from wastewater. A strain of DYTN-1, which could effectively remove TN from sewage, was isolated from the sludge of a wastewater treatment plant and was identified as Paracoccus denitrificans. The TN in wastewater reduced to <20 mg l^-1 within 12 h under optimal conditions by free cells of P. denitrificans DYTN-1. To enhance the removal of TN, P. denitrificans DYTN-1 cells were immobilized in sodium alginate (SA) using different divalent metal ions as cross-linking agents. It was found that the immobilized P. denitrificans DYTN-1 cells could reduce the TN concentration from 100 to below 20 mg l^-1 within 8 h. After the optimization of an orthogonal experiment, the immobilized P. denitrificans DYTN-1 cells could reduce the TN concentration from 100 mg l^-1 to below 20 mg l^-1 within 1 h and significantly reduce the fermentation cycle. These findings would provide an economical and effective method for the removal of total nitrogen in wastewater by immobilized cells of P. denitrificans DYTN-1. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: We identified a new Paracoccus denitrificans strain (DYTN-1) for removal of the total nitrogen in wastewater. The total nitrogen could be removed effectively by P. denitrificans DYTN-1 within 12 h in wastewater. Using sodium alginate as the carrier and Ba²⁺ as cross-linking agent, the immobilized P. denitrificans DYTN-1 cells could improve the removal efficiency of total nitrogen in wastewater and significantly reduce the fermentation cycle. The assay has provided an economical and effective method for the removal of total nitrogen in wastewater by immobilized cell.

[The correlation between left atrial sphericity and thromboembolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation]

Objective: To study the correlation between left atrial sphericity (LASP) and thromboembolic events (TE) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: This study was conducted in patients with AF underwent radiofrequency ablation in the Department of Cardiology of First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2011 to October 2018. The AF patients with TE (study group, n=157) and the AF patients without TE (control group, n=157) were matched for age and gender. The differences of LASP and other related indexes between the two groups were compared, and the correlation between LASP and TE was analyzed by conditional logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to analyze the diagnostic value of LASP for TE. Results: (1) The LASP in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group [ (87.5±7.1) % vs. (82.8±6.1) %, P=0.001]. (2) Conditional logistic regression analyses showed that LASP (OR=1.10, 95%CI 1.05-1.16, P=0.001), left atrial volume index (OR=1.01, 95%CI 1.00-1.02, P=0.016) and CHA(2)D-VASc score (OR=1.77, 95%CI 1.30-2.41, P=0.001) were independently and positively correlated with TE. (3) The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of left atrial sphericity (AUC=0.712, 95%CI 0.656-0.768, P=0.001) was larger than the AUC of either left atrial volume index (AUC=0.650, 95%CI 0.589-0.710, P=0.001) or CHA(2)D-VASc score (AUC=0.612, 95%CI 0.550-0.674, P=0.001). (4) CHA(2)D-VASc-LASP(2) score was positively correlated with TE (OR=1.95, 95%CI 1.55-2.42, P=0.001). Conclusion: LASP is independently and positively correlated with TE in patients with AF.

The effect of DC+CIK combined therapy on rat liver cancer model and its modulatory effect on immune functions

OBJECTIVE

Primary liver cancer is a sort of the most common solid tumors occurred in the digestive system. The incidence and mortality rate maintain at a high level, thus leading to heavy economic and psychological burdens for patients. Next-generation biological therapy, such as cellular immune treatment, improves the medicine efficacy. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells can effectively clear residual tumor lesion and inhibit metastasis or recurrence. Dendritic cells (DCs) can specifically eliminate tumor cells via modulating cellular immune function of the host. This study aimed to investigate the function of DC+CIK combined treatment on rat liver model and its effect on immune functions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RH-35 tumor cell was used to prepare live cancer model on Wistar rats, which were further divided into control, CIK and DC+CIK groups, in which rats received autograft CIK and DCs. Tumor size was later measured along with liver function index. The secretions of IFN-γ, IL-4, and TNF-α were measured by Real-time PCR and Western blotting.

RESULTS

Both CIK and DC+CIK treatment significantly reduced tumor size and improved liver function, increased secretion of IFN-γ, IL-4, and TNF-α, decreased Bcl-2 expression and enhanced Bax expression (p < 0.05 compared to control group). DC+CIK combined therapy presented significantly better efficacy than CIK did.

CONCLUSIONS

DC+CIK combined therapy can protect the host against tumors invasion via modulating body immune or liver function, regulating apoptosis/anti-apoptosis balance, which shows better efficacy than CIK alone, and can work as a novel biological therapeutic strategy for liver cancer.