[Performance of a recombinase - aided amplification assay for detection of Schistosoma japonicum infections in Oncomelania hupensis]

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficiency of a recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) assay for the detection of Schistosoma japonicum infections in Oncomelania hupensis snails.

METHODS

A group test was employed. Fifty Oncomelania snails were collected as a detection sample. The detection samples without infected snails were designated as negative specimens, while the detection samples that contained different numbers of infected snails were designated as positive specimens. A total of 10 negative specimens, 10 positive specimens containing 1 infected snail, 20 positive specimens containing 2 infected snails and 10 positive specimens containing 3 infected snails were assigned. Following random grouping, 40 specimens were subject to the florescent RAA assay using a blind method. The miradium shedding method served as a gold standard, and the sensitivity, specificity, Youden's index and coincidence rate of the florescent RAA assay were estimated. In addition, 20 samples consisted of 5 negative specimens and 15 positive specimens with 1, 2 and 3 infected snails respectively were grouped randomly. The same specimens were detected using the crushing method and fluorescent RAA assay with the blind method in a paired-design manner. Then, the test results were compared and analyzed.

RESULTS

Florescent RAA assay detected 29 positives in the 30 specimens containing different numbers of infected snails, with a sensitivity of 96.67%, and 8 negatives in the 10 detection specimens without infected snails, with a specificity of 80.00%, showing a Youden's index of 0.77. The coincidence rate was 100% among 10 repeated assays for a detection specimen. In addition, there was no significant difference in the detection of infected snails between the florescent RAA assay and the crushing method (χ² = 0, P > 0.05), and the actual coincidence rates of the florescent RAA assay and crushing method were 95.00% (19/20) and 90.00% (18/20) with the real results, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Fluorescent RAA assay has a favorable efficiency for the detection of S. japonicum infections in Oncomelania snails, which shows a potential in screening of S. japonicum-infected Oncomelania snails.

Development and Validation of a Clinical Predictive Model for Bacterial Infection in Hepatitis B Virus-Related Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

INTRODUCTION

Bacterial infection is one of the most frequent complications in hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF), which leads to high mortality. However, a predictive model for bacterial infection in HBV-ACLF has not been well established. This study aimed to establish and validate a predictive model for bacterial infection in two independent patient cohorts.

METHODS

Admission data from a prospective cohort of patients with HBV-ACLF without bacterial infection on admission was used for derivation. Bacterial infection development from day 3 to 7 of admission was captured. Independent predictors of bacterial infection development on multivariate logistic regression were used to develop the predictive model. External validation was performed on a separate retrospective cohort.

RESULTS

A total of 377 patients were enrolled into the derivation cohort, including 88 patients (23.3%) who developed bacterial infection from day 3 to 7 of admission. On multivariate regression analysis, admission serum globulin (OR 0.862, 95% CI 0.822-0.904; P < 0.001), interleukin-6 (OR 1.023, 95% CI 1.006-1.040; P = 0.009), and C-reactive protein (OR 1.123, 95% CI 1.081-1.166; P < 0.001) levels were independent predictors for the bacterial infection development, which were adopted as parameters of the predictive model (GIC). In the derivation cohort, the area under the curve (AUC) of GIC was 0.861 (95% CI 0.821-0.902). A total of 230 patients were enrolled into the validation cohort, including 57 patients (24.8%) who developed bacterial infection from day 3 to 7 of admission, and the AUC of GIC was 0.836 (95% CI 0.782-0.881). The Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed a good calibration performance of the predictive model in the two cohorts (P = 0.199, P = 0.746). Decision curve analysis confirmed the clinical utility of the predictive model.

CONCLUSION

GIC was established and validated for the prediction of bacterial infection development in HBV-ACLF, which may provide a potential auxiliary solution for the primary complication of HBV-ACLF.

[Molecular-related epidemic characteristics of influenza A (H3N2) viruses in Guangzhou, 2019]

Objective: To isolate the influenza A (H3N2) viruses from different sources in Guangzhou in 2019 and analyze these viruses' evolution and variation characteristics. Methods: The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of H3N2 isolates from outpatient monitoring, influenza outbreaks, and inpatient severe cases in Guangzhou in 2019 were sequenced. Bioinformatics software analyzed the variations and evolution characteristics of HA and NA genes. Results: The epidemic peaks of influenza A (H3N2) viruses were made up of period Ⅰ (from January to August) and period Ⅱ (from November to December). The positive rate of influenza A (H3N2) in males was 13.46% (703/5 221), which was higher than that in females (11.50%, 510/4 435) (χ²=8.43,P=0.00). The group's positive rate of 10-20 years old was the highest (25.18%,665/2 641). The isolates from different sources were highly homologous and closely related to 3C.2a.1 branches, which could be further divided into three small groups of Group 1-3. Gene recombination was observed between different branches. The mutations of HA antigen sites gradually appeared from Group 1 to Group 3, leading to new antigen drift. Variations of HA antigenic sites mainly occurred in the region of A and B. The mutations of receptor binding sites of Group 1 and Group 3 viruses occurred in the anterior and posterior walls. There were two glycosylation sites lacked on region A of HA antigen observed in the isolates of Group 2-3. Conclusions: Genetic variations of H3N2 influenza viruses in Guangzhou included gene mutations and gene recombination. Under the pressure of the vaccine, the evolution of viruses was rapid. Therefore, the monitoring of molecular-related epidemic characteristics of the H3N2 influenza virus was necessary.

Glioma glycolipid metabolism: MSI2-SNORD12B-FIP1L1-ZBTB4 feedback loop as a potential treatment target

Abnormal energy metabolism, including enhanced aerobic glycolysis and lipid synthesis, is a well-established feature of glioblastoma (GBM) cells. Thus, targeting the cellular glycolipid metabolism can be a feasible therapeutic strategy for GBM. This study aimed to evaluate the roles of MSI2, SNORD12B, and ZBTB4 in regulating the glycolipid metabolism and proliferation of GBM cells. MSI2 and SNORD12B expression was significantly upregulated and ZBTB4 expression was significantly low in GBM tissues and cells. Knockdown of MSI2 or SNORD12B or overexpression of ZBTB4 inhibited GBM cell glycolipid metabolism and proliferation. MSI2 may improve SNORD12B expression by increasing its stability. Importantly, SNORD12B increased utilization of the ZBTB4 mRNA transcript distal polyadenylation signal in alternative polyadenylation processing by competitively combining with FIP1L1, which decreased ZBTB4 expression because of the increased proportion of the 3' untranslated region long transcript. ZBTB4 transcriptionally suppressed the expression of HK2 and ACLY by binding directly to the promoter regions. Additionally, ZBTB4 bound the MSI promoter region to transcriptionally suppress MSI2 expression, thereby forming an MSI2/SNORD12B/FIP1L1/ZBTB4 feedback loop to regulate the glycolipid metabolism and proliferation of GBM cells. In conclusion, MSI2 increased the stability of SNORD12B, which regulated ZBTB4 alternative polyadenylation processing by competitively binding to FIP1L1. Thus, the MSI2/SNORD12B/FIP1L1/ZBTB4 positive feedback loop plays a crucial role in regulating the glycolipid metabolism of GBM cells and provides a potential drug target for glioma treatment.

A Flexible Li-Air Battery Workable under Harsh Conditions Based on an Integrated Structure: A Composite Lithium Anode Encased in a Gel Electrolyte

Flexible lithium-air batteries (FLABs) with ultrahigh theoretical energy density are considered as the most promising energy storage devices for next-generation flexible and wearable electronics. However, their practical application is seriously hindered by various obstacles, including bulky and rigid electrodes, instability/low conductivity of electrolytes, and especially, the inherent semi-open structure. When operated in ambient air, moisture penetrated from an air cathode inevitably corrodes a Li metal anode, and most of the reported FLABs can only work under a pure oxygen or specific air (relative humidity: <40%) atmosphere, which cannot be regarded as a real "lithium-air battery". Herein, the author designed an innovative battery configuration by the synergy of a 3D open-structured Co₃O₄@MnO₂ cathode and an integrated structure: a composite lithium anode encased in a gel electrolyte. A composite lithium anode fabricated through a simple, low-cost, and effective rolling method significantly relieves the fatigue fracture of the lithium electrode. Subsequently, an in situ-formed gel electrolyte encloses the composite lithium electrode, which not only reduces the electrode/electrolyte interfacial resistance but also acts as a protective layer, effectively preventing the lithium anode from corrosion. Consequentially, the battery can achieve more than 100 stable cycles in ambient air with a high relative humidity of 50%. To our surprise, the FLAB remains operational under extreme conditions, such as bending, twisting, clipping, and even soaking in water, demonstrating widespread applications in flexible electronics.

Structure and assembly of double-headed Sendai virus nucleocapsids

Paramyxoviruses, including the mumps virus, measles virus, Nipah virus and Sendai virus (SeV), have non-segmented single-stranded negative-sense RNA genomes which are encapsidated by nucleoproteins into helical nucleocapsids. Here, we reported a double-headed SeV nucleocapsid assembled in a tail-to-tail manner, and resolved its helical stems and clam-shaped joint at the respective resolutions of 2.9 and 3.9 Å, via cryo-electron microscopy. Our structures offer important insights into the mechanism of the helical polymerization, in particular via an unnoticed exchange of a N-terminal hole formed by three loops of nucleoproteins, and unveil the clam-shaped joint in a hyper-closed state for nucleocapsid dimerization. Direct visualization of the loop from the disordered C-terminal tail provides structural evidence that C-terminal tail is correlated to the curvature of nucleocapsid and links nucleocapsid condensation and genome replication and transcription with different assembly forms.

Gene Expression Signature of Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a brain function change caused by external forces, which is one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify early diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for TBI.

Methods: Differences between TBI and controls in GSE89866 and GSE104687 were analyzed. The two groups of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were combined for coexpression analysis, and the modules of interest were performed using enrichment analysis. Hub genes were identified by calculating area under curve (AUC) values of module genes, PPI network analysis, and functional similarity. Finally, the difference in immune cell infiltration between TBI and control was calculated by ssGSEA.

Results: A total of 4,817 DEGs were identified in GSE89866 and 1,329 DEGs in GSE104687. They were clustered into nine modules. The genes of modules 1, 4, and 7 had the most crosstalk and were identified as important modules. Enrichment analysis revealed that they were mainly associated with neurodevelopment and immune inflammation. In the PPI network constructed by genes with top 50 AUC values in module genes, we identified the top 10 genes with the greatest connectivity. Among them, down-regulated RPL27, RPS4X, RPL23A, RPS15A, and RPL7A had similar functions and were identified as hub genes. In addition, DC and Tem were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated between TBI and control, respectively.

Conclusion: We found that hub genes may have a diagnostic role for TBI. Molecular dysregulation mechanisms of TBI are associated with neurological and immune inflammation. These results may provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of TBI.

Improving Habitat Quality at the Local and Landscape Scales Increases Wild Bee Assemblages and Associated Pollination Services in Apple Orchards in China

Bees provide key pollination services for a wide range of crops. Accumulating evidence shows the effect of semi-natural habitats at the landscape level and local management practices on bee diversity in fields. However, most of the evidence is derived from studies in North America and Europe. Whether this paradigm is applicable in China, which is characterized by smallholder-dominated agricultural landscapes, has rarely been studied. In this study, we aimed to investigate how bee diversity affected apple production, and how landscape and local variables affected bee diversity and species composition on the Northern China Plain. The results showed that bees significantly increased apple fruit set compared to bagged controls. Wild bee diversity was positively related to apple seed numbers. Higher seed numbers reduced the proportion of deformed apples and thus increased fruit quality. Wild bee abundance was positively correlated with flowering ground cover, and both the abundance and species richness of wild bees were positively affected by the percentage of semi-natural habitats. We conclude that apple quality can benefit from ecological intensification comprising the augmentation of wild bees by semi-natural habitats and flowering ground cover. Future pollination management should therefore reduce the intensification level of management at both the local and landscape scales.

A GABAergic neural circuit in the ventromedial hypothalamus mediates chronic stress-induced bone loss

Homeostasis of bone metabolism is regulated by the central nervous system, and mood disorders such as anxiety are associated with bone metabolism abnormalities, yet our understanding of the central neural circuits regulating bone metabolism is limited. Here, we demonstrate that chronic stress in crewmembers resulted in decreased bone density and elevated anxiety in an isolated habitat mimicking a space station. We then used a mouse model to demonstrate that GABAergic neural circuitry in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) mediates chronic stress-induced bone loss. We show that GABAergic inputs in the dorsomedial VMH arise from a specific group of somatostatin neurons in the posterior region of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which is indispensable for stress-induced bone loss and is able to trigger bone loss in the absence of stressors. In addition, the sympathetic system and glutamatergic neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius were employed to regulate stress-induced bone loss. Our study has therefore identified the central neural mechanism by which chronic stress-induced mood disorders, such as anxiety, influence bone metabolism.

HNRNPD interacts with ZHX2 regulating the vasculogenic mimicry formation of glioma cells via linc00707/miR-651-3p/SP2 axis

Studies have found that RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are dysfunctional and play a significant regulatory role in the development of glioma. Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas database and the previous studies, we selected heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (HNRNPD) as the research candidate and sought its downstream targeted genes. In the present study, HNRNPD, linc00707, and specific protein 2 (SP2) were highly expressed, while zinc fingers and homeboxes 2 (ZHX2) and miR-651-3p were remarkedly downregulated in glioma tissues and cells. HNRNPD, linc00707, and SP2 knockdown or ZHX2 and miR-651-3p overexpression suppressed glioma cells proliferation, migration, and invasion and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation. Knockdown of HNRNPD increased the stability of ZHX2 mRNA. ZHX2 bound to the promoter region of linc00707 and negatively regulate its expression. Linc00707 could bind with miR-651-3p, while miR-651-3p bound to the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of SP2 mRNA to negatively regulate its expression. The transcription factor SP2 directly bound to the promoter regions of the VM formation-related proteins MMP2, MMP9, and VE-cadherin, playing a role in promoting transcription in order to regulate the VM formation ability of glioma cells.

[The Breast Cancer Cohort Study in Chinese Women: research design and preliminary results of clinical multi-center cohort]

Objective: The incidence of breast cancer in Chinese women continues to rise. The large breast cancer cohort studies in China are relatively scarce. There are many bottlenecks in the construction of large clinical cohort for breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognoses, such as inconsistent standards, high rates of lost follow-up, repeated construction, and inability to share. To better solving the difficulties and problems faced by large-scale clinical cohort research in China, this project will cooperate with several tertiary A hospitals to establish a breast cancer cohort in Chinese women. It also provides a data platform and technical support for breast cancer multi-center clinical cohort research. Methods: Based on the evidence-based medicine and expert opinion and consensus, we established a breast cancer cohort standardized indicator set-recording baseline information, diagnosis and treatment-related information of the enrolled patients, and collecting biological specimens. According to the technical specification of long-term follow-up for the endpoint, data management, and data security and in the large population-based cohort study, a standardized follow-up system for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of breast cancer prospective cohorts is formed. Results: Based on standardized data sets and the computer discipline's advantage from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, we integrate the new information technology methods, including dynamic information collection terminals and social networks. Thus, the quality of control programs on compliance and intelligence data was improved, and a Chinese women breast cancer cohort database was developed. By February 2020, 12 147 patients were included in the clinical cohort database. Biological specimens'resources in cohort construction were collected and cooperated with Shandong University to research the multi-center quality control system and shared evaluation system of biobanks. Building an open and shared biobank network and forming a full chain of breast cancer research platform. Conclusion: With the implementation of the "13(th) Five-Year Plan" precision medicine research, this study provides a research foundation for precision diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and provides data support for the country to formulate relevant medical policies.

Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

In the intensively farmed, homogenous agricultural landscape of the North China Plain, family graveyards form distinct cultural landscape features. In addition to their cultural value, these graveyards represent semi-natural habitat islands whose potential roles in biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning has remained poorly understood. In this study, we investigated plant species richness on 199 family graveyards of different ages and sizes. In accordance with biogeography theory, both overall and insect-pollinated plant species richness increased with area and age of graveyards. Even small graveyards show a strong potential for conserving local plant richness, and a mosaic of both large and small family graveyards could play an important role in the conservation of farmland biodiversity and related ecosystem functions. The launch of agri-environmental measures that conserve and create semi-natural habitats, in turn benefitting agricultural biodiversity and ecological functioning, has proven difficult in China due to the shortage of dispensable arable land. Given the great value of family graveyards as semi-natural habitats reflected in our study, we propose to focus preliminary efforts on conserving these landscape features as existing, widespread and culturally important semi-natural habitat islands. This would represent an effective, complementary policy to a subsequent re-establishment of other semi-natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological functioning in agricultural landscapes.

A wheat bran inducible expression system for the efficient production of α-L-arabinofuranosidase in Bacillus subtilis

α-l-arabinofuranosidases (EC 3.2.1.55; AFs) cause the release of arabinosyl residues from hemicellulose polymers such as xylans, and are receiving increased levels of research attention as they could be applied in a range of processes that involve the enzymatic degradation of xylans. The secretory production of bacterial AFs has not been attempted previously. In this study, we designed a unique induction system for the production of a recombinant AF in Bacillus subtilis in order to exploit its enzymic degradation of wheat bran. We found that non-starch phytochemicals were more efficient than d-xylose when inducing the expression of T7 RNA polymerase and driving the transcription of AF by the T7 promoter. The host cell, B. subtilis (ATCC 6051a-derived strain 164T7P) was engineered to incorporate a DNA cassette that expressed T7 RNA polymerase under the control of a d-xylose inducible promoter (P_xylA). The T7 promoter engineered into 164T7P was initially tested and compared with P43 in terms of GFP expression; we found that the expression level of GFP by the T7 promoter was ten-fold higher than that achieved by P43. When cultured in a flask with gentle shaking, and with d-xylose as an inducer, the recombinant strain successfully expressed arbf, a family 51 (GH 51) glycoside hydrolase from Bacillus licheniformis, and secreted 141.4 ± 4.8 U/mL of enzyme, with a Km of 1.4 ± 0.1 mM and a kcat of 139.4 s^-1. However, the protein was devoid of a secretary signal peptide. When cultures were supplemented with wheat bran, the maximal yield of the secreted AF reached 194.8 ± 4.1 U/mL. The results provide a foundation for the high level production of heterologous proteins using wheat bran as the inducer in B. subtilis.

Recent advances in the noninvasive detection of high-frequency oscillations in the human brain

In recent decades, a significant body of evidence based on invasive clinical research has showed that high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) are a promising biomarker for localization of the seizure onset zone (SOZ), and therefore, have the potential to improve postsurgical outcomes in patients with epilepsy. Emerging clinical literature has demonstrated that HFOs can be recorded noninvasively using methods such as scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Not only are HFOs considered to be a useful biomarker of the SOZ, they also have the potential to gauge disease severity, monitor treatment, and evaluate prognostic outcomes. In this article, we review recent clinical research on noninvasively detected HFOs in the human brain, with a focus on epilepsy. Noninvasively detected scalp HFOs have been investigated in various types of epilepsy. HFOs have also been studied noninvasively in other pathologic brain disorders, such as migraine and autism. Herein, we discuss the challenges reported in noninvasive HFO studies, including the scarcity of MEG and high-density EEG equipment in clinical settings, low signal-to-noise ratio, lack of clinically approved automated detection methods, and the difficulty in differentiating between physiologic and pathologic HFOs. Additional studies on noninvasive recording methods for HFOs are needed, especially prospective multicenter studies. Further research is fundamental, and extensive work is needed before HFOs can routinely be assessed in clinical settings; however, the future appears promising.

[Application strategy and effect of cuffed tracheostomy tube with inner cannula in the treatment of postoperative complications of laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer]

Objective: To Investigate the application strategy and effect of cuffed tracheostomy tube with inner cannula in the treatment of postoperative complications of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer. Methods: A total of 60 patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer occurred serious postoperative complications, including 31 cases of severe postoperative neck infection, 8 cases of dyspnea, 5 cases of massive hemorrhage and 16 cases of seriously intractable aspiration. The tracheal cannula with inner cannula and outer cuff was immediately worn on these patients and the cuff was inflated. Different treatments were carried out according to different complications. The outer cuffs were inflated for patients with severe neck infections to prevent a large amount of neck secretions inhaled to the trachea. Patients with dyspnea immediately received ventilator-assisted ventilation. For those with massive hemorrhage on the wound, doctors should prevent bleeding and stop bleeding under general anesthesia. Patients with severely coughing should perform eating training to prevent food aspiration. The inner cannula was regularly replaced once a month for all of these patients. Results: Through targeted treatment, the complications of 60 patients with cuffed tracheostomy tube with inner cannula were effectively controlled. After dressing change, the neck wounds of 31 patients with neck infection were shrunk or healed. Finally, all of the patients were replaced with metal tracheal tubes. Eight cases with dyspnea were rescued with the symptomatic and related special treatment, and finally replace by metal tracheal tube. Five cases with massive bleeding in the neck wound were successfully rescued and replaced with metal tracheal cannula. Thirteen patients among 16 cases with intractable aspiration were removed the tracheal cannula and other 3 cases of old and severely ill were replaced with metal tracheal cannula. Conclusions: The cuffed tracheostomy tube with inner cannula is of great value in the treatment of severe postoperative complications of laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer. It is strongly recommended that the operators should fully understand and use it reasonably after the operation of laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer.

[The value of "posterior approach, uncinate process priority, artery first" in laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy]

Objective: To explore the value of "posterior approach, uncinate process priority, artery first" in laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy. Methods: The clinical data of 200 patients who underwent laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy from January 2018 to April 2019 in the Second Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, the First Hospital of Jilin University were analyzed retrospectively. Meanwhile, the advantages of "posterior approach, uncinate process priority, artery first" were analyzed. Results: Two hundred patients were treated with "posterior approach, uncinate process priority, artery first". The average total operation time was (260.2±50.1) min, sample cutting time was (86.6±18.7) min, intraoperative bleeding volume was 50 (50-100) ml, average number of lymph node dissection was (19.2±7.4), and average hospitalization time was (17.9±9.9) days. Conclusion: The "posterior approach, uncinate process first, artery first" approach not only protects the variant hepatic artery, but also allows early detection of SMA, clarifies the positional relationship between the tumor and SMA, realizes R0 resection, and reduces the amount of bleeding during operation and shortens the operation time, which is safe and feasible in clinical setting.

Design and control of a bionic needle puncture robot

BACKGROUND

The application of minimally invasive interventional breast surgery is becoming more and more widespread. The accurate puncture of breast cancer needs to solve the problems of tissue deformation and target displacement.

METHODS

In this study, we analysed the process of leech blood absorption and developed a robotic needle insertion method based on bionic technology to improve the accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Among them, the design purpose of the sucker manipulator is to adjust and fix the breast tissue. We use uncalibrated visual servo to control soft tissue deformation.

RESULTS

We compare the puncture effect of bionic needle puncture robot and common needle puncture on breast prosthesis and in vitro tissue. Experimental data shows that, compared with ordinary needle insertion, the robotic needle insertion method based on bionic technology greatly reduces the targeting error.

CONCLUSIONS

This method is expected to provide a safe and effective alternative to traditional puncture for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Single-cell transcriptomic architecture and intercellular crosstalk of human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is the second most common liver malignancy. ICC typically features remarkable cellular heterogeneity and a dense stromal reaction. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of cellular diversity and the interplay between malignant cells and niche cells is essential to elucidate the mechanisms driving ICC progression and to develop therapeutic approaches.

METHODS

Herein, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis on unselected viable cells from 8 human ICCs and adjacent samples to elucidate the comprehensive transcriptomic landscape and intercellular communication network. Additionally, we applied a negative selection strategy to enrich fibroblast populations in 2 other ICC samples to investigate fibroblast diversity. The results of the analyses were validated using multiplex immunofluorescence staining, bulk transcriptomic datasets, and functional in vitro and in vivo experiments.

RESULTS

We sequenced a total of 56,871 single cells derived from human ICC and adjacent tissues and identified diverse tumor, immune, and stromal cells. Malignant cells displayed a high degree of inter-tumor heterogeneity. Moreover, tumor-infiltrating CD4 regulatory T cells exhibited highly immunosuppressive characteristics. We identified 6 distinct fibroblast subsets, of which the majority were CD146-positive vascular cancer-associated fibroblasts (vCAFs), with highly expressed microvasculature signatures and high levels of interleukin (IL)-6. Functional assays indicated that IL-6 secreted by vCAFs induced significant epigenetic alterations in ICC cells, particularly upregulating enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and thereby enhancing malignancy. Furthermore, ICC cell-derived exosomal miR-9-5p elicited high expression of IL-6 in vCAFs to promote tumor progression.

CONCLUSIONS

Our single-cell transcriptomic dataset delineates the inter-tumor heterogeneity of human ICCs, underlining the importance of intercellular crosstalk between ICC cells and vCAFs, and revealing potential therapeutic targets.

LAY SUMMARY

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive and chemoresistant malignancy. Better understanding the complex transcriptional architecture and intercellular crosstalk of these tumors will help in the development of more effective therapies. Herein, we have identified important interactions between cancer cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumor stroma, which could have therapeutic implications.

3D reconstruction of objects with occlusion and surface reflection using a dual monocular structured light system

Three-dimensional (3D) vision plays an important role in industrial vision, where occlusion and reflection have made it challenging to reconstruct the entire application scene. In this paper, we present a novel 3D reconstruction framework to solve the occlusion and reflection reconstruction issues in complex scenes. A dual monocular structured light system is adopted to obtain the point cloud from different viewing angles to fill the missing points in the complex scenes. To enhance the efficiency of point cloud fusion, we create a decision map that is able to avoid the reconstruction of repeating regions of the left and right system. Additionally, a compensation method based on the decision map is proposed for reducing the reconstruction error of the dual monocular system in the fusion area. Gray-code and phase-shifting patterns are utilized to encode the complex scenes, while the phase-jumping problem at the phase boundary is avoided by designing a unique compensation function. Various experiments including accuracy evaluation, comparison with the traditional fusion algorithm, and the reconstruction of real complex scenes are conducted to validate the method's accuracy and the robustness to the shiny surface and occlusion reconstruction problem.