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Pourbagheri-Sigaroodi A, Fallah F, Bashash D, Karimi A. Unleashing the potential of gene signatures as prognostic and predictive tools: A step closer to personalized medicine in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Cell Biochem Funct 2024; 42:e3913. [PMID: 38269520 DOI: 10.1002/cbf.3913] [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: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the growing malignancies globally, affecting a myriad of people and causing numerous cancer-related deaths. Despite therapeutic improvements in treatment strategies over the past decades, HCC still remains one of the leading causes of person-years of life lost. Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the characteristics of HCC with the aim of predicting its prognosis and responsiveness to treatment. However, the identified biomarkers have shown limited sensitivity, and the translation of these findings into clinical practice has faced challenges. The development of sequencing techniques has facilitated the exploration of a wide range of genes, leading to the emergence of gene signatures. Although several studies assessed differentially expressed genes in normal and HCC tissues to find the unique gene signature with prognostic value, to date, no study has reviewed the task, and to the best of our knowledge, this review represents the first comprehensive analysis of relevant studies in HCC. Most gene signatures focused on immune-related genes, while others investigated genes related to metabolism, autophagy, and apoptosis. Even though no identical gene signatures were found, NDRG1, SPP1, BIRC5, and NR0B1 were the most extensively studied genes with prognostic value. Finally, despite challenges such as the lack of consistent patterns in gene signatures, we believe that comprehensive analysis of pertinent gene signatures will bring us a step closer to personalized medicine in HCC, where treatment strategies can be tailored to individual patients based on their unique molecular profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atieh Pourbagheri-Sigaroodi
- Pediatric Infections Research Center, Research Institute for Children's Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Fallah
- Pediatric Infections Research Center, Research Institute for Children's Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Davood Bashash
- Department of Hematology and Blood Banking, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Abdollah Karimi
- Pediatric Infections Research Center, Research Institute for Children's Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Ren X, Feng C, Wang Y, Chen P, Wang S, Wang J, Cao H, Li Y, Ji M, Hou P. SLC39A10 promotes malignant phenotypes of gastric cancer cells by activating the CK2-mediated MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways. Exp Mol Med 2023; 55:1757-1769. [PMID: 37524874 PMCID: PMC10474099 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-023-01062-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Solute carrier family 39 member 10 (SLC39A10) belongs to a subfamily of zinc transporters and plays a key role in B-cell development. Previous studies have reported that its upregulation promotes breast cancer metastasis by enhancing the influx of zinc ions (Zn2+); however, its role in gastric cancer remains totally unclear. Here, we found that SLC39A10 expression was frequently increased in gastric adenocarcinomas and that SLC39A10 upregulation was strongly associated with poor patient outcomes; in addition, we identified SLC39A10 as a direct target of c-Myc. Functional studies showed that ectopic expression of SLC39A10 in gastric cancer cells dramatically enhanced the proliferation, colony formation, invasiveness abilities of these gastric cancer cells and tumorigenic potential in nude mice. Conversely, SLC39A10 knockdown inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and colony formation. Mechanistically, SLC39A10 exerted its carcinogenic effects by increasing Zn2+ availability and subsequently enhancing the enzyme activity of CK2 (casein kinase 2). As a result, the MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways, two major downstream effectors of CK2, were activated, while c-Myc, a downstream target of these two pathways, formed a vicious feedback loop with SLC39A10 to drive the malignant progression of gastric cancer. Taken together, our data demonstrate that SLC39A10 is a functional oncogene in gastric cancer and suggest that targeting CK2 is an alternative therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer patients with high SLC39A10 expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojuan Ren
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
- Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Chao Feng
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Yubo Wang
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Pu Chen
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Simeng Wang
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Jianling Wang
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
- Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Hongxin Cao
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China
| | - Yujun Li
- Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710004, Xi'an, P. R. China.
| | - Meiju Ji
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China.
- Center for Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China.
| | - Peng Hou
- Key Laboratory for Tumor Precision Medicine of Shaanxi Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China.
- Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710061, Xi'an, P. R. China.
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Taschereau A, Thibeault K, Allard C, Juvinao-Quintero D, Perron P, Lutz SM, Bouchard L, Hivert MF. Maternal glycemia in pregnancy is longitudinally associated with blood DNAm variation at the FSD1L gene from birth to 5 years of age. Clin Epigenetics 2023; 15:107. [PMID: 37386647 PMCID: PMC10308691 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01524-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In utero exposure to maternal hyperglycemia has been associated with an increased risk for the development of chronic diseases in later life. These predispositions may be programmed by fetal DNA methylation (DNAm) changes that persist postnatally. However, although some studies have associated fetal exposure to gestational hyperglycemia with DNAm variations at birth, and metabolic phenotypes in childhood, no study has yet examined how maternal hyperglycemia during pregnancy may be associated with offspring DNAm from birth to five years of age. HYPOTHESIS Maternal hyperglycemia is associated with variation in offspring DNAm from birth to 5 years of age. METHODS We estimated maternal hyperglycemia using the area under the curve for glucose (AUCglu) following an oral glucose tolerance test conducted at 24-30 weeks of pregnancy. We quantified DNAm levels in cord blood (n = 440) and peripheral blood at five years of age (n = 293) using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip (Illumina). Our total sample included 539 unique dyads (mother-child) with 194 dyads having DNAm at both time-points. We first regressed DNAm M-values against the cell types and child age for each time-point separately to account for the difference by time of measurement for these variables. We then used a random intercept model from the linear mixed model (LMM) framework to assess the longitudinal association between maternal AUCglu and the repeated measures of residuals of DNAm. We adjusted for the following covariates as fixed effects in the random intercept model: maternal age, gravidity, smoking status, child sex, maternal body mass index (BMI) (measured at first trimester of pregnancy), and a binary variable for time-point. RESULTS In utero exposure to higher maternal AUCglu was associated with lower offspring blood DNAm levels at cg00967989 located in FSD1L gene (β = - 0.0267, P = 2.13 × 10-8) in adjusted linear regression mixed models. Our study also reports other CpG sites for which DNAm levels were suggestively associated (P < 1.0 × 10-5) with in utero exposure to gestational hyperglycemia. Two of these (cg12140144 and cg07946633) were found in the promotor region of PRDM16 gene (β: - 0.0251, P = 4.37 × 10-07 and β: - 0.0206, P = 2.24 × 10-06, respectively). CONCLUSION Maternal hyperglycemia is associated with offspring DNAm longitudinally assessed from birth to 5 years of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amélie Taschereau
- Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Kathrine Thibeault
- Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Catherine Allard
- Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CR-CHUS), Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | | | - Patrice Perron
- Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CR-CHUS), Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
- Department of Medicine, FMHS, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Sharon M Lutz
- Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Luigi Bouchard
- Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
- Department of Medicine, FMHS, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
- Clinical Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pavillon des Augustines, Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean - Hôpital de Chicoutimi, 305 rue St-Vallier, Saguenay, QC, G7H 5H6, Canada.
| | - Marie-France Hivert
- Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
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Chi H, Gao X, Xia Z, Yu W, Yin X, Pan Y, Peng G, Mao X, Teichmann AT, Zhang J, Tran LJ, Jiang T, Liu Y, Yang G, Wang Q. FAM family gene prediction model reveals heterogeneity, stemness and immune microenvironment of UCEC. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1200335. [PMID: 37275958 PMCID: PMC10235772 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1200335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Endometrial cancer (UCEC) is a highly heterogeneous gynecologic malignancy that exhibits variable prognostic outcomes and responses to immunotherapy. The Familial sequence similarity (FAM) gene family is known to contribute to the pathogenesis of various malignancies, but the extent of their involvement in UCEC has not been systematically studied. This investigation aimed to develop a robust risk profile based on FAM family genes (FFGs) to predict the prognosis and suitability for immunotherapy in UCEC patients. Methods: Using the TCGA-UCEC cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we obtained expression profiles of FFGs from 552 UCEC and 35 normal samples, and analyzed the expression patterns and prognostic relevance of 363 FAM family genes. The UCEC samples were randomly divided into training and test sets (1:1), and univariate Cox regression analysis and Lasso Cox regression analysis were conducted to identify the differentially expressed genes (FAM13C, FAM110B, and FAM72A) that were significantly associated with prognosis. A prognostic risk scoring system was constructed based on these three gene characteristics using multivariate Cox proportional risk regression. The clinical potential and immune status of FFGs were analyzed using CiberSort, SSGSEA, and tumor immune dysfunction and rejection (TIDE) algorithms. qRT-PCR and IHC for detecting the expression levels of 3-FFGs. Results: Three FFGs, namely, FAM13C, FAM110B, and FAM72A, were identified as strongly associated with the prognosis of UCEC and effective predictors of UCEC prognosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the developed model was an independent predictor of UCEC, and that patients in the low-risk group had better overall survival than those in the high-risk group. The nomogram constructed from clinical characteristics and risk scores exhibited good prognostic power. Patients in the low-risk group exhibited a higher tumor mutational load (TMB) and were more likely to benefit from immunotherapy. Conclusion: This study successfully developed and validated novel biomarkers based on FFGs for predicting the prognosis and immune status of UCEC patients. The identified FFGs can accurately assess the prognosis of UCEC patients and facilitate the identification of specific subgroups of patients who may benefit from personalized treatment with immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Chi
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Xinrui Gao
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Zhijia Xia
- Department of General, Visceral, and Transplant Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Wanying Yu
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Xisheng Yin
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Yifan Pan
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Gaoge Peng
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Xinrui Mao
- Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Alexander Tobias Teichmann
- Sichuan Provincial Center for Gynecology and Breast Diseases (Gynecology), Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, The University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Vermillion, SD, United States
| | - Lisa Jia Tran
- Department of General, Visceral, and Transplant Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Tianxiao Jiang
- Department of General, Visceral, and Transplant Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Yunfei Liu
- Department of General, Visceral, and Transplant Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Guanhu Yang
- Department of Specialty Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States
| | - Qin Wang
- Sichuan Provincial Center for Gynecology and Breast Diseases (Gynecology), Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
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Goncharova IA, Zarubin AA, Babushkina NP, Koroleva IA, Nazarenko MS. Changes in DNA methylation profile in liver tissue during progression of HCV-induced fibrosis to hepatocellular carcinoma. Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genet Selektsii 2023; 27:72-82. [PMID: 36923478 PMCID: PMC10009477 DOI: 10.18699/vjgb-23-10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study we compared methylation levels of 27,578 CpG sites between paired samples of the tumor and surrounding liver tissues with various degrees of damage (fibrosis, cirrhosis) in HCV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, as well as between tumor and normal tissue in non-viral HCC patients, using GSE73003 and GSE37988 data from GEODataSets (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). A significantly lower number of differentially methylated sites (DMS) were found between HCC of non-viral etiology and normal liver tissue, as well as between HCC and fibrosis (32 and 40), than between HCC and cirrhosis (2450 and 2304, respectively, according to GSE73003 and GSE37988 datasets). As the pathological changes in the tissue surrounding the tumor progress, the ratio of hyper-/hypomethylated DMSs in the tumor decreases. Thus, in tumor tissues compared with normal/fibrosis/cirrhosis of the liver, 75/62.5/47.7 % (GSE73003) and 16 % (GSE37988) of CpG sites are hypermethylated, respectively. Persistent hypermethylation of the ZNF154 and ZNF540 genes, as well as CCL20 hypomethylation, were registered in tumor tissue in relation to both liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. Protein products of the EDG4, CCL20, GPR109A, and GRM8 genes, whose CpG sites are characterized by changes in DNA methylation level in tumor tissue in the setting of cirrhosis and fibrosis, belong to "Signaling by G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)" category. However, changes in the methylation level of the "driver" genes for oncopathology (АРС, CDKN2B, GSTP1, ELF4, TERT, WT1) are registered in tumor tissue in the setting of liver cirrhosis but not fibrosis. Among the genes hypermethylated in tumor tissue in the setting of liver cirrhosis, the most represented biological pathways are developmental processes, cell-cell signaling, transcription regulation, Wnt-protein binding. Genes hypomethylated in liver tumor tissue in the setting of liver cirrhosis are related to olfactory signal transduction, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, keratinization, immune response, inhibition of serine proteases, and zinc metabolism. The genes hypermethylated in the tumor are located at the 7p15.2 locus in the HOXA cluster region, and the hypomethylated CpG sites occupy extended regions of the genome in the gene clusters of olfactory receptors (11p15.4), keratin and keratin-associated proteins (12q13.13, 17q21.2, and 21q22.11), epidermal differentiation complex (1q21.3), and immune system function loci 9p21.3 (IFNA, IFNB1, IFNW1 cluster) and 19q13.41-19q13.42 (KLK, SIGLEC, LILR, KIR clusters). Among the genes of fibrogenesis or DNA repair, cg14143055 (ADAMDEC1) is located in the binding region of the HOX gene family transcription factors (TFs), while cg05921699 (CD79A), cg06196379 (TREM1) and cg10990993 (MLH1) are located in the binding region of the ZNF protein family transcription factor (TF). Thus, the DNA methylation profile in the liver in HCV-induced HCC is unique and differs depending on the degree of surrounding tissue lesion - liver fibrosis or liver cirrhosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- I A Goncharova
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
| | - A A Zarubin
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
| | - N P Babushkina
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
| | - I A Koroleva
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
| | - M S Nazarenko
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
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Prognostic and Immunological Implications of FAM72A in Pan-Cancer and Functional Validations. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 24:ijms24010375. [PMID: 36613817 PMCID: PMC9820597 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24010375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The family with sequence similarity 72 Member A (FAM72A) is overexpressed in several types of cancer. However, its contributions to tumorigenesis remain largely unknown. Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, FAM72A was upregulated across 33 types of cancer. Accordingly, high levels of FAM72A predicted inferior outcomes in half of the cancer types using survival analysis (the Kaplan-Meier curve and univariate Cox regression model). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that FAM72A showed high accuracy in distinguishing cancerous tissues from normal ones. FAM72A was correlated with immune and stromal scores and immune cell infiltrations in various tumors. Moreover, FAM72A was also associated with tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and immune checkpoint genes. Immunophenoscore (IPS) further validated that the FAM72Alow tumor showed high immunogenicity and tended to respond to anti-PD1/PDL1/PDL2, anti-CTLA4 treatment, and combined immunotherapies. We also investigated the functional role of FAM72A in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In vitro studies demonstrated that the ectopic expression of FAM72A accelerated the proliferation and migration of NSCLC cells, whereas silencing FAM72A showed the opposite effects on them. In short, FAM72A had prognostic potential and correlated with tumor immunogenicity in various tumors. Functional analysis indicated that FAM72A is an oncogene in LUAD.
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Micronome Revealed miR-205-5p as Key Regulator of VEGFA During Cancer Related Angiogenesis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Mol Biotechnol 2022:10.1007/s12033-022-00619-5. [DOI: 10.1007/s12033-022-00619-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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