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Gruenwald A, Neururer M, Eidenhammer S, Nerlich A, Popper H. The cGAS-STING pathway drives inflammation in Usual Interstitial Pneumonia, phagocytosis could prevent inflammation but is inhibited by the don't eat me signal CD47. Pathol Res Pract 2024; 260:155432. [PMID: 38944022 DOI: 10.1016/j.prp.2024.155432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Revised: 06/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/01/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Usual Interstitial Pneumonia (UIP) a fibrosing pneumonia is associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic autoimmune disease (AID), or hypersensitivity pneumonia. Oxygen radicals, due to tobacco smoke, can damage DNA and might upregulate PARP1. Cytosolic DNA from dying pneumocytes activate cytosolic GMP-AMP-synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway and TREX1. Prolonged inflammation induces senescence, which might be inhibited by phagocytosis, eliminating nuclear debris. We aimed to evaluate activation of cGAS-STING-TREX1 pathway in UIP, and if phagocytosis and anti-phagocytosis might counteract inflammation. METHODS 44 cases of UIP with IPF or AID were studied for the expression of cGAS, pSTING, TREX1 and PARP1. LAMP1 and Rab7 expression served as phagocytosis markers. CD47 protecting phagocytosis and p16 to identify senescent cells were also studied. RESULTS Epithelial cells in remodeled areas and macrophages expressed cGAS-pSTING, TREX1; epithelia but not macrophages stained for PARP1. Myofibroblasts, endothelia, and bronchial/bronchiolar epithelial cells were all negative except early myofibroblastic foci expressing cGAS. Type II pneumocytes expressed cGAS and PARP1, but less pSTING. TREX1 although expressed was not activated. Macrophages and many regenerating epithelial cells expressed LAMP1 and Rab7. CD47, the 'don't-eat-me-signal', was expressed by macrophages and epithelial cells including senescence cells within the remodeled areas. CONCLUSIONS The cGAS-STING pathway is activated in macrophages and epithelial cells within remodeled areas. LikelyTREX1 because not activated cannot sufficiently degrade DNA fragments. PARP1 activation points to smoking-induced oxygen radical release, prolonging inflammation and leading to fibrosis. By expressing CD47 epithelial cells within remodeled areas protect themselves from being eliminated by phagocytosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alissa Gruenwald
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Austria
| | - Margarete Neururer
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Austria
| | - Sylvia Eidenhammer
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Austria
| | - Andreas Nerlich
- Department of Pathology, Clinics München-Bogenhausen, Englschalkinger Straße 77, München 81925, Germany
| | - Helmut Popper
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
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Lin YC, Lu M, Cai W, Hu WS. Comparative transcriptomic and proteomic kinetic analysis of adeno-associated virus production systems. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:385. [PMID: 38896252 PMCID: PMC11186941 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-024-13203-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) is a major gene delivery vehicle. We have constructed a stable rAAV producer cell line by integrating essential rAAV genome, viral and helper genes into the genome of HEK293 cell under the control of inducible promoters. Upon induction, the cell line produces transducing rAAV. To gain insight into enhancing rAAV productivity and vector quality, we performed a comparative transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of our synthetic cell line GX2 and two wild-type AAV (wtAAV) production systems, one by virus co-infection and the other by multi-plasmid transfection. The three systems had different kinetics in viral component synthesis but generated comparable copies of AAV genomes; however, the capsid titer of GX2 was an order of magnitude lower compared to those two wtAAV systems, indicating that its capsid production may be insufficient. The genome packaging efficiency was also lower in GX2 despite it produced higher levels of Rep52 proteins than either wtAAV systems, suggesting that Rep52 protein expression may not limit genome packaging. In the two wtAAV systems, VP were the most abundant AAV proteins and their levels continued to increase, while GX2 had high level of wasteful cargo gene expression. Furthermore, upregulated inflammation, innate immune responses, and MAPK signaling, as well as downregulated mitochondrial functions, were commonly observed in either rAAV or wtAAV systems. Overall, this comparative multi-omics study provided rich insights into host cell and viral factors that are potential targets for genetic and process intervention to enhance the productivity of synthetic rAAV producer cell lines. KEY POINTS: • wtAAV infection was more efficient in producing full viral particles than the synthetic cell GX2. • Capsid protein synthesis, genome replication, and packaging may limit rAAV production in GX2. • wtAAV infection and rAAV production in GX2 elicited similar host cell responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Chieh Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue S.E, Minneapolis, MN, 55455-0132, USA
| | - Min Lu
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue S.E, Minneapolis, MN, 55455-0132, USA
| | - Wen Cai
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue S.E, Minneapolis, MN, 55455-0132, USA
| | - Wei-Shou Hu
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue S.E, Minneapolis, MN, 55455-0132, USA.
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3
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Liu Y, Li X, Yang Y. BACH1 transcriptionally upregulates FOSL2 to induce M2 macrophages phenotype by activating TGFβ/SMAD signaling to promote the transformation of lung fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Tissue Cell 2024; 88:102407. [PMID: 38776730 DOI: 10.1016/j.tice.2024.102407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic and progressive lung disorder. The pro-fibrosis factors induced by M2 macrophage phenotype promote the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts, which is essential for pulmonary fibrosis. We aimed to explore the role and mechanism of BTB domain and CNC homology 1 (BACH1) in pulmonary fibrosis. BACH1 was knocked down in THP-1 polarized M2 macrophages with or without FOS-like antigen 2 (FOSL2) overexpression, the expression of M2 macrophage markers was detected. Cell viability, migration, invasion and extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation were estimated by CCK-8, wound healing, transwell, western bot and immunofluorescence staining. Luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were used to verify the binding of BACH1 to FOSL2 promotor region. In vivo, a bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis mice model was established to evaluate the effect of BACH1 silencing on the histopathological changes, M2 macrophage phenotype and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. Expression of proteins was assessed with western blot. Results indicated that BACH1 expression was upregulated in M2 macrophages polarized from THP-1 cells. BACH1 deficiency inhibited the polarization of THP-1 to the M2 macrophage phenotype to promote the transformation of lung fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Additionally, BACH1 could transcriptionally activate FOSL2 expression in THP-1-derived macrophages to upregulate TGFβ/SMAD signaling in HFL-1 cells. The animal experiments indicated that BACH1 knockdown alleviated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis, M2 macrophage polarization and inactivated FOSL2/TGFβ/SMAD signaling in mice lung tissues. Together, this finding suggests BACH1/FOSL2 may be useful therapeutic targets for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Liu
- Department of Rheumatology, Liuzhou People's Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang 545006, China.
| | - Xiaofen Li
- Department of Rheumatology, Liuzhou People's Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang 545006, China
| | - Youguo Yang
- Department of Rheumatology, Liuzhou People's Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang 545006, China
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4
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Lu M, Lee Z, Hu WS. Multi-omics kinetic analysis of recombinant adeno-associated virus production by plasmid transfection of HEK293 cells. Biotechnol Prog 2024; 40:e3428. [PMID: 38289617 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) is among the most commonly used vectors for gene therapy. It is commonly produced by transfection of HEK293 cells with three plasmids each containing the vector genome including gene of interest (GOI), helper functions, and rep and cap genes for genome replication and capsid formation. To meet the potential clinical needs, the productivity of the production system needs to be enhanced. A better process characterization of the production system will further advance our insights into ways to enhance productivity. Here, we employed transcriptomic analysis to quantify the dynamics of different isoforms of viral transcripts and to assess the shift of cellular physiology, and deployed targeted proteomic analysis for absolute quantification of viral proteins and tandem mass tags (TMTs) for assessing cellular responses at the protein level. Functional analysis at transcriptome and proteome levels identified defense and immune response, unfolded protein response, p53 signaling as enriched. The small molecule additive intervention study based on functional analysis showed the potential of such omics-guided productivity enhancement. Together, multi-omics analysis advanced understanding of rAAV production and provided insight into enhancing rAAV production by plasmid transfection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Lu
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Zion Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Wei-Shou Hu
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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Zheng L, Chen S, Wu Q, Li X, Zeng W, Dong F, An W, Qin F, Lei L, Zhao C. Tree shrews as a new animal model for systemic sclerosis research. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1315198. [PMID: 38343538 PMCID: PMC10853407 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1315198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic systemic disease characterized by immune dysregulation and fibrosis for which there is no effective treatment. Animal models are crucial for advancing SSc research. Tree shrews are genetically, anatomically, and immunologically closer to humans than rodents. Thus, the tree shrew model provides a unique opportunity for translational research in SSc. Methods In this study, a SSc tree shrew model was constructed by subcutaneous injection of different doses of bleomycin (BLM) for 21 days. We assessed the degree of inflammation and fibrosis in the skin and internal organs, and antibodies in serum. Furthermore, RNA sequencing and a series of bioinformatics analyses were performed to analyze the transcriptome changes, hub genes and immune infiltration in the skin tissues of BLM induced SSc tree shrew models. Multiple sequence alignment was utilized to analyze the conservation of selected target genes across multiple species. Results Subcutaneous injection of BLM successfully induced a SSc model in tree shrew. This model exhibited inflammation and fibrosis in skin and lung, and some developed esophageal fibrosis and secrum autoantibodies including antinuclear antibodies and anti-scleroderma-70 antibody. Using RNA sequencing, we compiled skin transcriptome profiles in SSc tree shrew models. 90 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, which were mainly enriched in the PPAR signaling pathway, tyrosine metabolic pathway, p53 signaling pathway, ECM receptor interaction and glutathione metabolism, all of which are closely associated with SSc. Immune infiltration analysis identified 20 different types of immune cells infiltrating the skin of the BLM-induced SSc tree shrew models and correlations between those immune cells. By constructing a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, we identified 10 hub genes that were significantly highly expressed in the skin of the SSc models compared to controls. Furthermore, these genes were confirmed to be highly conserved in tree shrews, humans and mice. Conclusion This study for the first time comfirmed that tree shrew model of SSc can be used as a novel and promising experimental animal model to study the pathogenesis and translational research in SSc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leting Zheng
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Shuyuan Chen
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Qiulin Wu
- Department of General Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Xi Li
- Key Laboratory of Clinical Laboratory Medicine of Guangxi Department of Education, Department of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Wen Zeng
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Fei Dong
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Weiwei An
- Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Department, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Fang Qin
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Ling Lei
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
| | - Cheng Zhao
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
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Mercader-Barceló J, Martín-Medina A, Truyols-Vives J, Escarrer-Garau G, Elowsson L, Montes-Worboys A, Río-Bocos C, Muncunill-Farreny J, Velasco-Roca J, Cederberg A, Kadefors M, Molina-Molina M, Westergren-Thorsson G, Sala-Llinàs E. Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Lung Resident Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients. Cells 2023; 12:2084. [PMID: 37626894 PMCID: PMC10453747 DOI: 10.3390/cells12162084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by an aberrant repair response with uncontrolled turnover of extracellular matrix involving mesenchymal cell phenotypes, where lung resident mesenchymal stem cells (LRMSC) have been supposed to have an important role. However, the contribution of LRMSC in lung fibrosis is not fully understood, and the role of LRMSC in IPF remains to be elucidated. Here, we performed transcriptomic and functional analyses on LRMSC isolated from IPF and control patients (CON). Both over-representation and gene set enrichment analyses indicated that oxidative phosphorylation is the major dysregulated pathway in IPF LRMSC. The most relevant differences in biological processes included complement activation, mesenchyme development, and aerobic electron transport chain. Compared to CON LRMSC, IPF cells displayed impaired mitochondrial respiration, lower expression of genes involved in mitochondrial dynamics, and dysmorphic mitochondria. These changes were linked to an impaired autophagic response and a lower mRNA expression of pro-apoptotic genes. In addition, IPF TGFβ-exposed LRMSC presented different expression profiles of mitochondrial-related genes compared to CON TGFβ-treated cells, suggesting that TGFβ reinforces mitochondrial dysfunction. In conclusion, these results suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction is a major event in LRMSC and that their occurrence might limit LRMSC function, thereby contributing to IPF development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josep Mercader-Barceló
- iRESPIRE Research Group, Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), 07120 Palma, Spain
- MolONE Research Group, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma, Spain
| | - Aina Martín-Medina
- iRESPIRE Research Group, Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), 07120 Palma, Spain
| | - Joan Truyols-Vives
- MolONE Research Group, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma, Spain
| | | | - Linda Elowsson
- Lung Biology, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, 08908 Lund, Sweden
| | - Ana Montes-Worboys
- ILD Unit, Respiratory Department, University Hospital of Bellvitge-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlos Río-Bocos
- iRESPIRE Research Group, Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), 07120 Palma, Spain
| | | | - Julio Velasco-Roca
- Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), 07120 Palma, Spain
| | - Anna Cederberg
- Lung Biology, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, 08908 Lund, Sweden
| | - Måns Kadefors
- Lung Biology, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, 08908 Lund, Sweden
| | - Maria Molina-Molina
- ILD Unit, Respiratory Department, University Hospital of Bellvitge-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain
- Centre of Biomedical Research Network in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Ernest Sala-Llinàs
- iRESPIRE Research Group, Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), 07120 Palma, Spain
- Centre of Biomedical Research Network in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Respiratory Department, Son Espases University Hospital, 07120 Palma, Spain
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Yang L, Xia H, Gilbertsen A, Smith K, Racila E, Bitterman PB, Henke CA. IL-8 concurrently promotes idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis mesenchymal progenitor cell senescence and PD-L1 expression enabling escape from immune cell surveillance. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2023; 324:L849-L862. [PMID: 37121574 PMCID: PMC10228676 DOI: 10.1152/ajplung.00028.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive fibrotic lung disease. We discovered fibrogenic mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) in the lungs of IPF patients that display cell-autonomous fibrogenicity and drive fibrotic progression. In a study of the IPF MPC nuclear proteome, we identified DNA damage as one of the most altered functions in IPF MPCs. In prior work we found that IL-8 drives IPF MPC self-renewal. IL-8 can promote replicative stress and DNA damage and induce senescence through the CXCR2 receptor. We hypothesized that IL-8 promotes DNA damage-mediated senescence in IPF MPCs. We show that IL-8 induces DNA damage and promotes IPF MPC senescence. We discovered that IL-8 concurrently promotes senescence and upregulation of the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in a CXCR2-dependent manner. Disruption of programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1)-PD-L1 interaction promotes natural killer (NK) cell killing of IPF MPCs in vitro and arrests IPF MPC-mediated experimental lung fibrosis in vivo. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of IPF lung tissue identified PD-L1-expressing IPF MPCs codistributing with NK cells and β-galactosidase-positive cells. Our data indicate that IL-8 simultaneously promotes IPF MPC DNA damage-induced senescence and high PD-L1 expression, enabling IPF MPCs to elude immune cell-targeted removal. Disruption of PD-1-PD-L1 interaction may limit IPF MPC-mediated fibrotic progression.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Here we show that IL-8 concurrently promotes senescence and upregulation of PD-L1 in IPF MPCs. IHC analysis identifies the presence of senescent IPF MPCs intermingled with NK cells in the fibroblastic focus, suggesting that senescent MPCs elude immune cell surveillance. We demonstrate that disruption of PD-1/PD-L1 interaction promotes NK cell killing of IPF MPCs and arrests IPF MPC-mediated experimental lung fibrosis. Disruption of PD-1/PD-L1 interaction may be one means to limit fibrotic progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libang Yang
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Hong Xia
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Adam Gilbertsen
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Karen Smith
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Emil Racila
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Peter B Bitterman
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Craig A Henke
- Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
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