Tislelizumab, a novel PD-1 monoclonal antibody in urothelial cancer: A real-world study

OBJECTIVE

Tislelizumab, a monoclonal antibody against programed death protein-1 (PD-1), has shown encouraging antitumor activity in urothelial cancer. This study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of tislelizumab in urotelial cancer in a real-world setting.

METHODS

The study was a real-world retrospective study undertaken at Liaoning Cancer Hospital & Institute, China. Eligible patients were ≥18 years. Patients received 200-mg tislelizumab monotherapy intravenously every 3 weeks until the disease progressed to intolerable toxicity. Outcomes included an objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and safety.

RESULTS

Between March 2020 and December 2022, 33 patients were enrolled. The median follow-up was 10.17 (IQR 5.73-12.47) months. Of all 33 patients, ORR and DCR were 30.30% (95% CI 15.6%-48.7%) and 42.42% (95% CI 25.48%-60.78%), respectively. The median PFS was 5.73 (95% CI 3.27-13.00) months, with a 12-month PFS rate of 31.90% (95% CI 19.20%-53.00%). The median OS was 17.7 (95% CI 12.80-not reach) months, with a 12-month OS rate of 67.50% (95% CI 52.70%-86.40%). Eleven (33.33%) and 8 (24.24%) experienced ≥grade 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) and immune-related Aes, respectively. No treatment-related deaths occurred.

CONCLUSION

The excellent efficacy and controllable safety of tislelizumab in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer suggest that it may be a promising therapeutic option for this population.

Establishment and evaluation of rat models of parastomal hernia

PURPOSE

Parastomal hernia poses a challenging problem in the field of hernia surgery. The high incidence and recurrence rates of parastomal hernia necessitate surgeons to enhance surgical techniques and repair materials. This study aimed to develop a rat model of parastomal hernia by inducing various types of defects on the abdominal wall with colostomy. This established method has potential for future studies on parastomal hernia.

METHODS

In this study, 32 male rats were included and randomly divided into four groups: the oblique abdominis excision (OE), oblique abdominis dissection (OD), rectus abdominis excision (RE), and rectus abdominis dissection (RD) groups. In each group, colostomy was performed and an abdominal wall defect was induced. The rats were observed for 28 days following surgery. The survival rate, body weight, parastomal hernia model scores, abdominal wall adhesion and inflammation, and collagen level in the hernial sac were compared.

RESULTS

No significant differences in survival rate and weight were observed among the four groups. The parastomal hernia model scores in the RE and RD groups were significantly higher than those in the OE and OD groups. The ratio of collagen I/III in the RE and RD groups was significantly lower than that in the OE and OD groups. Adhesion and inflammation levels were lower in the RE group than in the RD group.

CONCLUSION

Based on a comprehensive comparison of the findings, RE with colostomy emerged as the optimal approach for establishing parastomal hernia models in rats.

THSG alleviates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury via the GluN2B-CaMKII-ERK1/2 pathway

BACKGROUND

The potential therapeutic targeting of PINK1-PARK2-mediated mitophagy against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (CI/R) injury involves the pathophysiological processes of neurovascular unit (NVU) and is closely associated with N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) commonly expressed in NVU. 2,3,5,4'-Tetrahydroxy-stilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (THSG), a compound derived from the traditional Chinese medicine Polygonum multiflorum Thunb., has demonstrated notable neuroprotective properties against CI/R injury. However, it remains unclear whether THSG exerts its protective effects through GluN2B related PINK1/ PARK2 pathway.

PURPOSE

This study aims to explore the pharmacological effects of THSG on alleviating CI/R injury via the GluN2B-CaMKII-ERK1/2 pathway.

METHODS

THSG neuroprotection against CI/R injury was studied in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion/reversion (tMCAO/R) model rats and in oxygen and glucose deprivation/ reoxygenation (OGD/R) induced neurons. PINK1-PARK2-mediated mitophagy involvement in the protective effect of THSG was investigated in tMCAO/R rats and OGD/R-induced neurons via THSG and 3-methyladenine (3-MA) treatment. Furthermore, the beneficial role of GluN2B in reperfusion and its contribution to the THSG effect via CaMKII-ERK1/2 and PINK1-PARK2-mediated mitophagy was explored using the GluN2B-selective antagonist Ro 25-6981 both in vivo and in vitro. Finally, the interaction between THSG and GluN2B was evaluated using molecular docking.

RESULTS

THSG significantly reduced infarct volume, neurological deficits, penumbral neuron structure, and functional damage, upregulated the inhibitory apoptotic marker Bcl-2, and suppressed the increase of pro-apoptotic proteins including cleaved caspase-3 and Bax in tMCAO/R rats. THSG (1 μM) markedly improved the neuronal survival under OGD/R conditions. Furthermore, THSG promoted PINK1 and PARK2 expression and increased mitophagosome numbers and LC3-II-LC3-I ratio both in vivo and in vitro. The effects of THSG were considerably abrogated by the mitophagy inhibitor 3-MA in OGD/R-induced neurons. Inhibiting GluN2B profoundly decreased mitophagosome numbers and OGD/R-induced neuronal viability. Specifically, inhibiting GluN2B abolished the protection of THSG against CI/R injury and reversed the upregulation of PINK1-PARK2-mediated mitophagy by THSG. Inhibiting GluN2B eliminated THSG upregulation of ERK1/2 and CaMKII phosphorylation. The molecular docking analysis results demonstrated that THSG bound to GluN2B (binding energy: -5.2 ± 0.11 kcal/mol).

CONCLUSIONS

This study validates the premise that THSG alleviates CI/R injury by promoting GluN2B expression, activating CaMKII and ERK1/2, and subsequently enhancing PINK1-PARK2-mediated mitophagy. This work enlightens the potential of THSG as a promising candidate for novel therapeutic strategies for treating ischemic stroke.

Toripalimab plus axitinib versus sunitinib as first-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma: RENOTORCH, a randomized, open-label, phase III study

BACKGROUND

Immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors are standard treatments for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This phase III RENOTORCH study compared the efficacy and safety of toripalimab plus axitinib versus sunitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with intermediate-/poor-risk advanced RCC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with intermediate-/poor-risk unresectable or metastatic RCC were randomized in a ratio of 1 : 1 to receive toripalimab (240 mg intravenously once every 3 weeks) plus axitinib (5 mg orally twice daily) or sunitinib [50 mg orally once daily for 4 weeks (6-week cycle) or 2 weeks (3-week cycle)]. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) assessed by an independent review committee (IRC). The secondary endpoints were investigator-assessed PFS, overall response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and safety.

RESULTS

A total of 421 patients were randomized to receive toripalimab plus axitinib (n = 210) or sunitinib (n = 211). With a median follow-up of 14.6 months, toripalimab plus axitinib significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% compared with sunitinib as assessed by an IRC [hazard ratio (HR) 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49-0.86; P = 0.0028]. The median PFS was 18.0 months in the toripalimab-axitinib group, whereas it was 9.8 months in the sunitinib group. The IRC-assessed ORR was significantly higher in the toripalimab-axitinib group compared with the sunitinib group (56.7% versus 30.8%; P < 0.0001). An OS trend favoring toripalimab plus axitinib was also observed (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.40-0.92). Treatment-related grade ≥3 adverse events occurred in 61.5% of patients in the toripalimab-axitinib group and 58.6% of patients in the sunitinib group.

CONCLUSION

In patients with previously untreated intermediate-/poor-risk advanced RCC, toripalimab plus axitinib provided significantly longer PFS and higher ORR than sunitinib and had a manageable safety profile TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04394975.

Machine-learning-based performance comparison of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) CT radiomics features for intracerebral haemorrhage expansion

AIM

To investigate the value of non-contrast CT (NCCT)-based two-dimensional (2D) radiomics features in predicting haematoma expansion (HE) after spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and compare its predictive ability with the three-dimensional (3D) signature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Three hundred and seven ICH patients who received baseline NCCT within 6 h of ictus from two stroke centres were analysed retrospectively. 2D and 3D radiomics features were extracted in the manner of one-to-one correspondence. The 2D and 3D models were generated by four different machine-learning algorithms (regularised L1 logistic regression, decision tree, support vector machine and AdaBoost), and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare their predictive performance. A robustness analysis was performed according to baseline haematoma volume.

RESULTS

Each feature type of 2D and 3D modalities used for subsequent analyses had excellent consistency (mean ICC >0.9). Among the different machine-learning algorithms, pairwise comparison showed no significant difference in both the training (mean area under the ROC curve [AUC] 0.858 versus 0.802, all p>0.05) and validation datasets (mean AUC 0.725 versus 0.678, all p>0.05), and the 10-fold cross-validation evaluation yielded similar results. The AUCs of the 2D and 3D models were comparable either in the binary or tertile volume analysis (all p>0.5).

CONCLUSION

NCCT-derived 2D radiomics features exhibited acceptable and similar performance to the 3D features in predicting HE, and this comparability seemed unaffected by initial haematoma volume. The 2D signature may be preferred in future HE-related radiomic works given its compatibility with emergency condition of ICH.

Hyperon Polarization along the Beam Direction Relative to the Second and Third Harmonic Event Planes in Isobar Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

The polarization of Λ and Λ[over ¯] hyperons along the beam direction has been measured relative to the second and third harmonic event planes in isobar Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV. This is the first experimental evidence of the hyperon polarization by the triangular flow originating from the initial density fluctuations. The amplitudes of the sine modulation for the second and third harmonic results are comparable in magnitude, increase from central to peripheral collisions, and show a mild p_{T} dependence. The azimuthal angle dependence of the polarization follows the vorticity pattern expected due to elliptic and triangular anisotropic flow, and qualitatively disagrees with most hydrodynamic model calculations based on thermal vorticity and shear induced contributions. The model results based on one of existing implementations of the shear contribution lead to a correct azimuthal angle dependence, but predict centrality and p_{T} dependence that still disagree with experimental measurements. Thus, our results provide stringent constraints on the thermal vorticity and shear-induced contributions to hyperon polarization. Comparison to previous measurements at RHIC and the LHC for the second-order harmonic results shows little dependence on the collision system size and collision energy.

Qi-Shen-Tang alleviates retinitis pigmentosa by inhibiting ferroptotic features via the NRF2/GPX4 signaling pathway

Ferroptosis has been observed during retinal photoreceptor cell death, suggesting that it plays a role in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) pathogenesis. Qi-Shen-Tang (QST) is a combination of two traditional Chinese medicines used for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases; however, its mechanism of action in RP and ferroptosis remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect and potential molecular mechanisms of QST on RP. QST significantly improved tissue morphology and function of the retina in the RP model mice. A significant increase in retinal blood flow and normalization of the fundus structure were observed in mice in the treatment group. After QST treatment, the level of iron and the production of malondialdehyde decreased significantly; the levels of superoxide dismutase and glutathione increased significantly; and the protein expression of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), glutathione synthetase, solute carrier family 7 member 11, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) increased significantly. The molecular docking results demonstrated potential interactions between the small molecules of QST and the key proteins of NRF2/GPX4 signaling pathway. Our results indicate that QST may inhibit ferroptosis by inhibiting the NRF2/GPX4 signaling pathway, thereby reducing RP-induced damage to retinal tissue.

Deep Learning for Automated Contouring of Primary Gross Tumor Volumes by MRI for Radiation Therapy of Brain Metastasis

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Radiotherapy is one of the most effective methods for the treatment of brain metastases (BMs). Traditional manual delineation of primary gross tumor volumes (GTV) of multiple BMs (especially small metastases) in radiotherapy practice is extremely labor intensive and highly dependent on oncologists' experience, achieving the precise and efficient automatic delineation of BMs is of great significance for efficient and homogeneous one-stop adaptive radiotherapy.

MATERIALS/METHODS

We retrospectively collected 62 MRI (non-enhanced T1-weighted sequences) sequences of 50 patients with BMs from January 2020 to July 2021. An automatic model (BUC-Net) for automatic delineation BMs was proposed in this work, which was based on deep learning by combining 3D bottler layer module and the cascade architecture to improve the accuracy and efficient of BMs' automatic delineation, especially for small metastases with tiny size and relatively low contrast. The prosed method was compared with the existing 3D U-Net (U-Net) and 3D U-Net Cascade (U-Net Cascade). The performance of our proposed method was evaluated by Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95) and average surface distance (ASD) with human experts.

RESULTS

The automatic segmentation results of BUC-Net evaluated with 310 BMs in 13 test patients was summarized in Table 1. These BMs in each test patient were automatically delineated by two types of contours: as a whole tumor contour (Whole-delineation) and the multiple tumor contours (Multiple-delineation). BUC-Net performed the best mean DSC and HD95, which is significantly outperformed U-Net (Whole-delineation: 0.911 & 0.894 of DSC, Multiple-delineation: 0.794 & 0.754 of DSC, P < 0.05 for both) and U-Net cascade (Whole-delineation: 0.947 & 7.141 of HD95, Multiple-delineation: 0.902 & 1.171 of HD95, P < 0.05 for both); Additionally, BUC-Net achieved the best mean ASD for Whole-delineation and comparable ASD (0.290 & 0.277, P > 0) for Multiple-delineation with U-Net Cascade.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that the proposed approach is promising for the automatic delineation of BMs in MRI, which can be integrated into a radiotherapy workflow to significantly shorten segmentation time.

Apigenin inhibits angiogenesis in retinal microvascular endothelial cells through regulating of the miR-140-5p/HDAC3-mediated PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway

BACKGROUND

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common cause of visual impairment. Apigenin has been shown to have antiangiogenic effects in various diseases. Our study aimed to investigate the role of apigenin in DR and elucidate the underlying mechanism.

METHODS

Human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) were exposed to high glucose (HG) to establish a DR model. HRMECs were treated with apigenin. Then we knocked down or overexpressed miR-140-5p and HDAC3, and added PI3K/AKT inhibitor LY294002. The expression levels of miR-140-5p, HDAC3, and PTEN were measured using qRT-PCR. Western blot analysis was performed to assess the expression of HDAC3, PTEN, and PI3K/AKT pathway-related proteins. Finally, cell proliferation and migration were evaluated using MTT, wound-healing assay, and transwell assay, while angiogenesis was examined using the tube formation assay.

RESULTS

HG treatment resulted in reduced miR-140-5p expression and overexpression of miR-140-5p suppressed proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of the HG-induced HRMECs. Apigenin treatment significantly restored the decreased level of miR-140-5p caused by HG treatment and inhibited proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of the HG-induced HRMECs by upregulating miR-140-5p. Moreover, miR-140-5p targeted HDAC3, and overexpression of miR-140-5p reversed the HG-inducted upregulation of HDAC3 expression. HDAC3 was found to bind to the promoter region of PTEN, inhibiting its expression. Knockdown of HDAC3 suppressed the PI3K/AKT pathway by elevating PTEN expression. Furthermore, apigenin inhibited angiogenesis in DR cell models through the regulating of the miR-140-5p/HDAC3-mediated PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

Apigenin effectively suppressed angiogenesis in HG-induced HRMECs by modulating the miR-140-5p/HDAC3-mediated PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway. Our study may contribute to the development of novel therapeutic approaches and identification of potential targets for the treatment of DR.

Measurements of the Elliptic and Triangular Azimuthal Anisotropies in Central ^{3}He+Au, d+Au and p+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

The elliptic (v_{2}) and triangular (v_{3}) azimuthal anisotropy coefficients in central ^{3}He+Au, d+Au, and p+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV are measured as a function of transverse momentum (p_{T}) at midrapidity (|η|<0.9), via the azimuthal angular correlation between two particles both at |η|<0.9. While the v_{2}(p_{T}) values depend on the colliding systems, the v_{3}(p_{T}) values are system independent within the uncertainties, suggesting an influence on eccentricity from subnucleonic fluctuations in these small-sized systems. These results also provide stringent constraints for the hydrodynamic modeling of these systems.

Observation of Directed Flow of Hypernuclei _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H in sqrt[s_{NN}]=3 GeV Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report here the first observation of directed flow (v_{1}) of the hypernuclei _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H in mid-central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3  GeV at RHIC. These data are taken as part of the beam energy scan program carried out by the STAR experiment. From 165×10^{6} events in 5%-40% centrality, about 8400 _{Λ}^{3}H and 5200 _{Λ}^{4}H candidates are reconstructed through two- and three-body decay channels. We observe that these hypernuclei exhibit significant directed flow. Comparing to that of light nuclei, it is found that the midrapidity v_{1} slopes of _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H follow baryon number scaling, implying that the coalescence is the dominant mechanism for these hypernuclei production in the 3 GeV Au+Au collisions.

Beam Energy Dependence of Triton Production and Yield Ratio (N_{t}×N_{p}/N_{d}^{2}) in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report the triton (t) production in midrapidity (|y|<0.5) Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=7.7-200  GeV measured by the STAR experiment from the first phase of the beam energy scan at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The nuclear compound yield ratio (N_{t}×N_{p}/N_{d}^{2}), which is predicted to be sensitive to the fluctuation of local neutron density, is observed to decrease monotonically with increasing charged-particle multiplicity (dN_{ch}/dη) and follows a scaling behavior. The dN_{ch}/dη dependence of the yield ratio is compared to calculations from coalescence and thermal models. Enhancements in the yield ratios relative to the coalescence baseline are observed in the 0%-10% most central collisions at 19.6 and 27 GeV, with a significance of 2.3σ and 3.4σ, respectively, giving a combined significance of 4.1σ. The enhancements are not observed in peripheral collisions or model calculations without critical fluctuation, and decreases with a smaller p_{T} acceptance. The physics implications of these results on the QCD phase structure and the production mechanism of light nuclei in heavy-ion collisions are discussed.

A novel fluorescent nanoprobe based on potassium permanganate-functionalized Ti3C2 QDs for the unique "turn-on" dual detection of Cr3+ and Hg2+ ions

Titanium carbide quantum dots (Ti₃C₂ QDs) were synthesized by ammonia-assisted hydrothermal method. We also synthesized potassium permanganate (KMnO₄)-functionalized Ti₃C₂ QDs (Mn-QDs) by modifying Ti₃C₂ nanosheets with KMnO₄ and then cutting the functional nanosheets into Mn-QDs. The Ti₃C₂ QDs and Mn-QDs were characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy (FL), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis spectrophotometry (UV-vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, the modified Mn-QDs have strong luminescence ability and good dispersion stability, which can be used for Cr³⁺ and Hg²⁺ double ion detection with enhanced fluorescence specificity. Cr³⁺/Hg²⁺ and negatively charged Mn-QDs are bound together by electrostatic interactions. Meanwhile, the surface of Mn-QDs is rich in functional groups, which interacts with Cr³⁺/Hg²⁺ to modify the surface traps, leading to defect passivation and exhibiting photoluminescence enhancement. For the dynamic quenching produced by the interaction of Mn-QDs with Hg²⁺ within 50 μM, it may be caused by the complex formation of Hg²⁺ trapped by the amino group on the surface of Mn-QDs. The detection limits for Cr³⁺ and Hg²⁺ were 0.80 μM and 0.16 μM, respectively. The recoveries of Cr³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions in real water samples were 93.79-105.10% and 93.91-102.05%, respectively, by standard addition recovery test. In this work, the application of Mn-QDs in Cr³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ion detection was researched, which opens a new way for its application in the field of detecting heavy metal ions.

Measurement of Sequential ϒ Suppression in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV with the STAR Experiment

We report on measurements of sequential ϒ suppression in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) through both the dielectron and dimuon decay channels. In the 0%-60% centrality class, the nuclear modification factors (R_{AA}), which quantify the level of yield suppression in heavy-ion collisions compared to p+p collisions, for ϒ(1S) and ϒ(2S) are 0.40±0.03(stat)±0.03(sys)±0.09(norm) and 0.26±0.08(stat)±0.02(sys)±0.06(norm), respectively, while the upper limit of the ϒ(3S) R_{AA} is 0.17 at a 95% confidence level. This provides experimental evidence that the ϒ(3S) is significantly more suppressed than the ϒ(1S) at RHIC. The level of suppression for ϒ(1S) is comparable to that observed at the much higher collision energy at the Large Hadron Collider. These results point to the creation of a medium at RHIC whose temperature is sufficiently high to strongly suppress excited ϒ states.

Beam Energy Dependence of Fifth- and Sixth-Order Net-Proton Number Fluctuations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report the beam energy and collision centrality dependence of fifth and sixth order cumulants (C_{5}, C_{6}) and factorial cumulants (κ_{5}, κ_{6}) of net-proton and proton number distributions, from center-of-mass energy (sqrt[s_{NN}]) 3 GeV to 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Cumulant ratios of net-proton (taken as proxy for net-baryon) distributions generally follow the hierarchy expected from QCD thermodynamics, except for the case of collisions at 3 GeV. The measured values of C_{6}/C_{2} for 0%-40% centrality collisions show progressively negative trend with decreasing energy, while it is positive for the lowest energy studied. These observed negative signs are consistent with QCD calculations (for baryon chemical potential, μ_{B}≤110  MeV) which contains the crossover transition range. In addition, for energies above 7.7 GeV, the measured proton κ_{n}, within uncertainties, does not support the two-component (Poisson+binomial) shape of proton number distributions that would be expected from a first-order phase transition. Taken in combination, the hyperorder proton number fluctuations suggest that the structure of QCD matter at high baryon density, μ_{B}∼750  MeV at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3  GeV is starkly different from those at vanishing μ_{B}∼24  MeV at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV and higher collision energies.

Collision-System and Beam-Energy Dependence of Anisotropic Flow Fluctuations

Elliptic flow measurements from two-, four-, and six-particle correlations are used to investigate flow fluctuations in collisions of U+U at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193  GeV, Cu+Au at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV and Au+Au spanning the range sqrt[s_{NN}]=11.5-200  GeV. The measurements show a strong dependence of the flow fluctuations on collision centrality, a modest dependence on system size, and very little if any, dependence on particle species and beam energy. The results, when compared to similar LHC measurements, viscous hydrodynamic calculations, and trento model eccentricities, indicate that initial-state-driven fluctuations predominate the flow fluctuations generated in the collisions studied.

Evidence for Nonlinear Gluon Effects in QCD and Their Mass Number Dependence at STAR

The STAR Collaboration reports measurements of back-to-back azimuthal correlations of di-π^{0}s produced at forward pseudorapidities (2.6<η<4.0) in p+p, p+Al, and p+Au collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV. We observe a clear suppression of the correlated yields of back-to-back π^{0} pairs in p+Al and p+Au collisions compared to the p+p data. The observed suppression of back-to-back pairs as a function of transverse momentum suggests nonlinear gluon dynamics arising at high parton densities. The larger suppression found in p+Au relative to p+Al collisions exhibits a dependence of the saturation scale Q_{s}^{2} on the mass number A. A linear scaling of the suppression with A^{1/3} is observed with a slope of -0.09±0.01.

Measurements of Proton High-Order Cumulants in sqrt[s_{NN}]=3 GeV Au+Au Collisions and Implications for the QCD Critical Point

We report cumulants of the proton multiplicity distribution from dedicated fixed-target Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3.0  GeV, measured by the STAR experiment in the kinematic acceptance of rapidity (y) and transverse momentum (p_{T}) within -0.5<y<0 and 0.4<p_{T}<2.0  GeV/c. In the most central 0%-5% collisions, a proton cumulant ratio is measured to be C_{4}/C_{2}=-0.85±0.09 (stat)±0.82 (syst), which is 2σ below the Poisson baseline with respect to both the statistical and systematic uncertainties. The hadronic transport UrQMD model reproduces our C_{4}/C_{2} in the measured acceptance. Compared to higher energy results and the transport model calculations, the suppression in C_{4}/C_{2} is consistent with fluctuations driven by baryon number conservation and indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions. These data imply that the QCD critical region, if created in heavy-ion collisions, could only exist at energies higher than 3 GeV.

Measurements of _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H Lifetimes and Yields in Au+Au Collisions in the High Baryon Density Region

We report precision measurements of hypernuclei _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H lifetimes obtained from Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3.0  GeV and 7.2 GeV collected by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and the first measurement of _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H midrapidity yields in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3.0  GeV. _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H, being the two simplest bound states composed of hyperons and nucleons, are cornerstones in the field of hypernuclear physics. Their lifetimes are measured to be 221±15(stat)±19(syst)  ps for _{Λ}^{3}H and 218±6(stat)±13(syst)  ps for _{Λ}^{4}H. The p_{T}-integrated yields of _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H are presented in different centrality and rapidity intervals. It is observed that the shape of the rapidity distribution of _{Λ}^{4}H is different for 0%-10% and 10%-50% centrality collisions. Thermal model calculations, using the canonical ensemble for strangeness, describes the _{Λ}^{3}H yield well, while underestimating the _{Λ}^{4}H yield. Transport models, combining baryonic mean-field and coalescence (jam) or utilizing dynamical cluster formation via baryonic interactions (phqmd) for light nuclei and hypernuclei production, approximately describe the measured _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H yields. Our measurements provide means to precisely assess our understanding of the fundamental baryonic interactions with strange quarks, which can impact our understanding of more complicated systems involving hyperons, such as the interior of neutron stars or exotic hypernuclei.

Eu doped Ti3C2 quantum dots to form a ratiometric fluorescence platform for visual and quantitative point-of-care testing of tetracycline derivatives

Antibiotic residues have become a public health issues, the fast detection of tetracycline (Tc) in the environment is urgently required. In this work, Ti₃C₂ quantum dots (Ti₃C₂ QDs) and Europium ions jointly constructed a ratiometric fluorescence (FL) platform for the detection of Tc, based on synergistic impact of the Foster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) from Ti₃C₂ QDs to Eu³⁺ ions and the Antenna Effect (AE) between Tc and Eu³⁺ ions. And we proposed a ratiometric FL platform for detecting Tc with good linear response range (100-1000 uM) and low detection limit (48.79 nM). Meanwhile, we applied this platform to detect a serious of β-diketone ligands of Eu³⁺ ions, demonstrating the platform's versatility for this category of chemical. Furthermore, based on the color changes of QDs@Eu³⁺ from blue to red at 365 nm ultraviolet light, an intelligent detection smart device was built for the visual semi-quantitative detection of Tc in actual samples. We proved the applicability of the device in complicated samples and the potential for rapid, sensitive, intuitive and point-of-care detection in the field of environment, food, pharmaceutical and agriculture.

Probing the Gluonic Structure of the Deuteron with J/ψ Photoproduction in d+Au Ultraperipheral Collisions

Understanding gluon density distributions and how they are modified in nuclei are among the most important goals in nuclear physics. In recent years, diffractive vector meson production measured in ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) at heavy-ion colliders has provided a new tool for probing the gluon density. In this Letter, we report the first measurement of J/ψ photoproduction off the deuteron in UPCs at the center-of-mass energy sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV in d+Au collisions. The differential cross section as a function of momentum transfer -t is measured. In addition, data with a neutron tagged in the deuteron-going zero-degree calorimeter is investigated for the first time, which is found to be consistent with the expectation of incoherent diffractive scattering at low momentum transfer. Theoretical predictions based on the color glass condensate saturation model and the leading twist approximation nuclear shadowing model are compared with the data quantitatively. A better agreement with the saturation model has been observed. With the current measurement, the results are found to be directly sensitive to the gluon density distribution of the deuteron and the deuteron breakup process, which provides insights into the nuclear gluonic structure.

Search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect via Charge-Dependent Azimuthal Correlations Relative to Spectator and Participant Planes in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

The chiral magnetic effect (CME) refers to charge separation along a strong magnetic field due to imbalanced chirality of quarks in local parity and charge-parity violating domains in quantum chromodynamics. The experimental measurement of the charge separation is made difficult by the presence of a major background from elliptic azimuthal anisotropy. This background and the CME signal have different sensitivities to the spectator and participant planes, and could thus be determined by measurements with respect to these planes. We report such measurements in Au+Au collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider. It is found that the charge separation, with the flow background removed, is consistent with zero in peripheral (large impact parameter) collisions. Some indication of finite CME signals is seen in midcentral (intermediate impact parameter) collisions. Significant residual background effects may, however, still be present.

Effect of Shuangdan Mingmu Capsule on Diabetic Retinopathy in Rats via Regulation of miRNAs

PURPOSE

To evaluate the effects of Shuangdan Mingmu (SDMM) capsule on diabetic retinopathy in rats by regulating miRNAs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Streptozotocin (STZ) (50 mg/kg) was successfully used to induce diabetes in male Sprague-Dawley rats, which were randomly assigned to a group taking SDMM capsules ("diabetic+SDMM") or a control group ("diabetic"), and the normal group (n=10/group). The diabetic+SDMM capsule group received 1.89g/kg/d of SDMM capsule by gavage, whereas the other groups received the same amount of distilled water. After 12-weeks of gavage, the retina was removed from all rats for histopathological analysis, and miRNA sequencing experiments were carried out to identify the differential expression of miRNAs. These results were then confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

RESULTS

SDMM capsules improved retinal morphology, restored the number of cells in the ganglion cell layer (p<0.0001) and reduced apoptosis in all retinal layers (p values in the outer nuclear layers, inner nuclear layers and ganglion cell layers 0.0001, 0.0147, 0.0034, respectively). In addition, miRNA expression was changed in rats taking SDMM capsules. Compared with the diabetic group, six miRNAs were up-regulated and four miRNAs were down-regulated in the diabetic+SDMM capsule group. The qRT-PCR validation results showed that the expression levels of miR-450b-5p, miR-1249 and miR-155-5p were consistent with the trend of miRNA sequencing results, and were all up-regulated after SDMM capsule treatment. Target gene prediction and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis of differentially expressed miRNAs showed that these pathways were mainly concentrated in the focal adhesions and PI3K/Akt, MAPK, and neural factor signaling pathways.

CONCLUSION

SDMM capsules may prevent and treat diabetic retinopathy by regulating the expression of miR-450b-5p, miR-1249 and miR-155-5p.

Measurement of the Sixth-Order Cumulant of Net-Proton Multiplicity Distributions in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=27, 54.4, and 200 GeV at RHIC

According to first-principle lattice QCD calculations, the transition from quark-gluon plasma to hadronic matter is a smooth crossover in the region μ_{B}≤T_{c}. In this range the ratio, C_{6}/C_{2}, of net-baryon distributions are predicted to be negative. In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the midrapidity net-proton C_{6}/C_{2} from 27, 54.4, and 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The dependence on collision centrality and kinematic acceptance in (p_{T}, y) are analyzed. While for 27 and 54.4 GeV collisions the C_{6}/C_{2} values are close to zero within uncertainties, it is observed that for 200 GeV collisions, the C_{6}/C_{2} ratio becomes progressively negative from peripheral to central collisions. Transport model calculations without critical dynamics predict mostly positive values except for the most central collisions within uncertainties. These observations seem to favor a smooth crossover in the high-energy nuclear collisions at top RHIC energy.

RGS12 Drives Macrophage Activation and Osteoclastogenesis in Periodontitis

Periodontitis is a complex inflammatory disease affecting the supporting structures of teeth and is associated with systemic inflammatory disorders. Regulator of G-protein signaling 12 (RGS12), the largest protein in the RGS protein family, plays a crucial role in the development of inflammation and bone remodeling. However, the role and mechanism(s) by which RGS12 may regulate periodontitis have not been elucidated. Here, we showed that ablation of RGS12 in Mx1⁺ hematopoietic cells blocked bone loss in the ligature-induced periodontitis model, as evidenced morphometrically and by micro-computed tomography analysis of the alveolar bone. Moreover, hematopoietic cell-specific deletion of RGS12 inhibited osteoclast formation and activity as well as the production of inflammatory cytokines such as IL1β, IL6, and TNFα in the diseased periodontal tissue. In the in vitro experiments, we found that the overexpression of RGS12 promoted the reprogramming of macrophages to the proinflammatory M1 type, but not the anti-inflammatory M2 type, and enhanced the ability of macrophages for migration. Conversely, knockdown of RGS12 in macrophages inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines and migration of macrophages in response to lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Our results demonstrate for the first time that inhibition of RGS12 in macrophages is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of periodontitis.

Observation of D_{s}^{±}/D^{0} Enhancement in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

We report on the first measurement of charm-strange meson D_{s}^{±} production at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV from the STAR experiment. The yield ratio between strange (D_{s}^{±}) and nonstrange (D^{0}) open-charm mesons is presented and compared to model calculations. A significant enhancement, relative to a pythia simulation of p+p collisions, is observed in the D_{s}^{±}/D^{0} yield ratio in Au+Au collisions over a large range of collision centralities. Model calculations incorporating abundant strange-quark production in the quark-gluon plasma and coalescence hadronization qualitatively reproduce the data. The transverse-momentum integrated yield ratio of D_{s}^{±}/D^{0} at midrapidity is consistent with a prediction from a statistical hadronization model with the parameters constrained by the yields of light and strange hadrons measured at the same collision energy. These results suggest that the coalescence of charm quarks with strange quarks in the quark-gluon plasma plays an important role in D_{s}^{±}-meson production in heavy-ion collisions.

[Analysis on the difference between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in Shanghai]

Objective: To analyze the difference of life expectancy and healthy life expectancy among Shanghai residents of different gender and age groups. Methods: Compare the trends of life expectancy among Shanghai and other longevity countries/regions. With the disability weights of GBD, Sullivan method was applied to calculate the healthy life expectancy in Shanghai and analyze the loss of healthy life years among the population of different age groups and genders. Results: In the past 40 years, life expectancy had increased by 10.86 years in Shanghai. In 2016, the life expectancy of Shanghai residents was 83.18 years old, and 80.83 years old for males and 85.61 years old for females. The healthy life expectancy of Shanghai residents was 69.46 years, and 68.68 years for males and 70.23 years old for females. The gap with life expectancy was 13.72 years old, 12.15 years old and 15.38 years old, respectively. They account for 16.49%, 15.02% and 17.97% of life expectancy, respectively. The healthy life expectancy of women in all age groups is higher than that of men with the average gap of 1.76 years. The difference between the two is as small as 1.36 years at 20-24 years old, and as large as 2.24 years at 70-74 years old. The loss rate of healthy life expectancy increases with age, with women higher than men before age 65 and vice versa after age 65 years old. Conclusions: The life expectancy in Shanghai has reached the world leading level, but the healthy life loss is still large. It is necessary to further improve the life quality with the reducing mortality rate, especially for women and men over 65 years old.

Effect of Shuangdan Mingmu capsule, a Chinese herbal formula, on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of pericytes through PARP/GAPDH pathway

BACKGROUND

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) has become a worldwide concern because of the rising prevalence rate of diabetes mellitus (DM). Despite much energy has been committed to DR research, it remains a difficulty for diabetic patients all over the world. Since apoptosis of retinal microvascular pericytes (RMPs) is the early characteristic of DR, this study aimed to reveal the mechanism of Shuangdan Mingmu (SDMM) capsule, a Chinese patent medicine, on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of pericytes implicated with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) / glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) pathway.

METHODS

Network pharmacology approach was performed to predict biofunction of components of SDMM capsule dissolved in plasma on DR. Both PARP1 and GAPDH were found involved in the hub network of protein-protein interaction (PPI) of potential targets and were found to take part in many bioprocesses, including responding to the regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolic process, apoptotic signaling pathway, and response to oxygen levels through enrichment analysis. Therefore, in vitro research was carried out to validate the prediction. Human RMPs cultured with media containing 0.5 mM hydrogen oxide (H₂O₂) for 4 h was performed as an oxidative-damage model. Different concentrations of SDMM capsule, PARP1 inhibitor, PARP1 activation, and GAPDH inhibitor were used to intervene the oxidative-damage model with N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) as a contrast. Flow cytometry was performed to determine the apoptosis rate of cells and the expression of ROS. Cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) was used to determine the activity of pericytes. Moreover, nitric oxide (NO) concentration of cells supernatant and expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), B cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelin 1 (ET1), PARP1, and GAPDH were tested through RT-qPCR, western blot (WB), or immunocytochemistry (ICC).

RESULTS

Overproduction of ROS, high apoptotic rate, and attenuated activity of pericytes were observed after cells were incubated with media containing 0.5 mM H₂O₂. Moreover, downregulation of SOD, NO, BCL2, and GAPDH, and upregulation of VEGFA, ET1, and PARP1 were discovered after cells were exposed to 0.5 mM H₂O₂ in this study, which could be improved by PARP1 inhibitor and SDMM capsule in a dose-dependent way, whereas worsened by PARP1 activation and GAPDH inhibitor.

CONCLUSIONS

SDMM capsule may attenuate oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of pericytes through downregulating PARP expression and upregulating GAPDH expression.

Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.46 ppm

We present the first results of the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) Muon g-2 Experiment for the positive muon magnetic anomaly a_{μ}≡(g_{μ}-2)/2. The anomaly is determined from the precision measurements of two angular frequencies. Intensity variation of high-energy positrons from muon decays directly encodes the difference frequency ω_{a} between the spin-precession and cyclotron frequencies for polarized muons in a magnetic storage ring. The storage ring magnetic field is measured using nuclear magnetic resonance probes calibrated in terms of the equivalent proton spin precession frequency ω[over ˜]_{p}^{'} in a spherical water sample at 34.7 °C. The ratio ω_{a}/ω[over ˜]_{p}^{'}, together with known fundamental constants, determines a_{μ}(FNAL)=116 592 040(54)×10^{-11} (0.46 ppm). The result is 3.3 standard deviations greater than the standard model prediction and is in excellent agreement with the previous Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) E821 measurement. After combination with previous measurements of both μ^{+} and μ^{-}, the new experimental average of a_{μ}(Exp)=116 592 061(41)×10^{-11} (0.35 ppm) increases the tension between experiment and theory to 4.2 standard deviations.

Metabolic syndrome cannot mask the changes of faecal microbiota compositions caused by primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and metabolic syndrome are closely associated with the composition of the gut microbiota (GM). Although it has been proposed that elements of the GM can be used as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of HCC, whether metabolic syndrome results in a misrepresentation of the results of the early diagnosis of HCC using GM remains unclear. We compared the differences in the faecal microbiota of 10 patients with primary HCC, six patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), seven patients with arterial hypertension, six patients with both HCC and T2DM, and 10 patients with both HCC and arterial hypertension, as well as 10 healthy subjects, using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Our results revealed a significant difference in the GM between subjects with and without HCC. The 49 bacterial genera out of the 494 detected genera were significantly different between the groups. These results show that changes in the GM can be used to distinguish between subjects with and without HCC, and can resist interference of T2DM and arterial hypertension with the GM. The results of the present study provide an important basis for the clinical auxiliary diagnosis of HCC by detecting the GM.

RGS12 Represses Oral Cancer via the Phosphorylation and SUMOylation of PTEN

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common head and neck cancer characterized by aggressive local invasion and metastasis. The pathogenesis of OSCC is mainly due to the accumulation of genetic alterations in epithelial cells, but the underlying mechanism for its development remains unclear. Here, we found that the expression level of regulator of G protein signaling 12 (RGS12) was significantly reduced in human OSCC. To understand the role and mechanism of RGS12 in OSCC, we generated a novel RGS12 global knockout (CMV^Cre/+; RGS12^fl/fl) mouse model by crossing RGS12^fl/fl mice with CMV-Cre transgenic mice and then further induced the mice to develop OSCC by using 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO). Deletion of RGS12 exhibited aggressive OSCC in the tongue compared with the control RGS12^fl/fl mice. Knockdown of RGS12 in OSCC cells significantly increased cell proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, we found that RGS12 associated with phosphatase and tension homolog (PTEN) via the PDZ domain to upregulate the phosphorylation and SUMOylation of PTEN and then correspondingly inactivated the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. To test the potential therapeutic effect of RGS12 on OSCC, we overexpressed RGS12 in OSCC cells and found a significant inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, subcutaneous inoculation of RGS12-overexpressed OSCC cells in NOD scid mice showed a significant reduction in tumor formation. Our findings reveal that RGS12 is an essential tumor suppressor and highlights RGS12 as a potential therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker of OSCC.

[Relationship between both quality and duration of sleep and type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and elderly people in Shanghai]

Objective: To analyze the relationship between both quality and duration of sleep and type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and elderly people in Shanghai. Method: Baseline data was from the '2017 epidemiological survey in Shanghai community residents aged 35 and above on type 2 diabetes'. Restricted cubic splines were used to draw dose-response curves to show the relationship between PSQI score, sleep duration and type 2 diabetes. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the effects of quality and duration of sleep as well as the interaction, on type 2 diabetes. Results: Results showed that the average PSQI score was (4.09±0.10) points, the proportion of poor sleep quality was 12.55% (95%CI: 10.77-14.58) and the average sleep duration was (7.19±0.03) hours. The relationship between PSQI score and diabetes appeared linear, with the relationship between sleep duration and diabetes as U-shaped. After adjusting for confounders, both poor sleep quality (>7 for PSQI score) and short sleep duration (sleep duration <6 hours) significantly increased the risk of type 2 diabetes, with OR=1.17 (95%CI: 1.06-1.30) and 1.20 (95%CI: 1.01-1.41), respectively. From the interaction analysis, data showed that after adjusting for confounders, both sleep duration <6 hours (OR=1.30, 95%CI: 1.12-1.52) and ≥8 hours (OR=1.79, 95%CI: 1.04-3.07) with poor sleep quality would increase the risks on diabetes. Conclusion: Both poor sleep quality and short sleep duration were associated with the risk of diabetes, while long sleep duration was only associated with the risk of diabetes when accompanied by poor quality of sleep.

[The renal protective effect and mechanism of liraglutide in diabetic mice induced by high-fat diet]

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of liraglutide on kidney of diabetic mice induced by high-fat diet and its possible mechanisms. Methods: C57BL/6J male mice were randomly divided into normal chow diet (NC) group and high-fat diet (HFD) group, which were fed with normal chow diet and HFD for 12 weeks respectively. After diet challenge, the mice were randomly divided into normal control group, normal chow diet with liraglutide treatment (NC+Lira) group, HFD group and high-fat diet with liraglutide treatment (HFD+Lira) group. The mice in NC+Lira and HFD+Lira groups were given intraperitoneal injection of liraglutide (400 μg·kg(-1)·d(-1)) for 8 weeks, while mice in NC and HFD groups were given intraperitoneal injection of same amount of normal saline. Urinary albumin and creatinine levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Renal morphology was observed by HE staining. The expression levels of silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) and thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) were determined by Western blot. Results: Compared with HFD group, liraglutide significantly lowered the body weight [(30.98±1.29) g vs (39.43±2.58) g], fasting blood glucose (FBG) [(7.21±0.15) mmol/L vs (9.55±0.29) mmol/L] and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) [(205.48±17.14) μg/mg vs (319.86±34.14) μg/mg] in HFD+Lira group (all P<0.05). HE staining showed that glomerular hypertrophy of HFD group alleviated after liraglutide treatment. The expression level of TXNIP in the kidney of HFD mice significantly decreased after liraglutide treatment (0.41±0.10 vs 3.50±0.70), while expression level of SIRT1 significantly increased (0.75±0.15 vs 0.32±0.04) (both P<0.05). Conclusion: Liraglutide could improve diabetic nephropathy by up-regulation of SIRT1 expression and down-regulation of TXNIP expression in diabetic mice induced by HFD.

[Strategy and clinical outcome of deceased donor kidney transplantation for presensitized recipients]

Objective: To explore the management strategy and clinical outcome of renal transplantation in presensitized recipients using deceased donor kidneys. Methods: From January 2011 to June 2018, twenty-one presensitized patients, including 8 with positive donor specific antibodies (DSA) and 13 with positive panel-reactive antibodies (PRA) but no DSA, received renal retransplantation from deceased donors in our center. The incidence of delayed graft function (DGF) and acute rejection (AR), changes of DSA, and the graft and patient survival were retrospectively analyzed. Results: None of the renal allografts had primary non-function (PNF) and DGF after transplantation. Four of the 13 recipients with PRA(+)/DSA-had a total of 5 episodes of acute cell-mediated rejection (CMR), while 5 of 8 recipients with pre-existing DSA(+) developed AR, including 3 cases with CMR alone and 2 cases with mixed AR. All episodes of rejection were successfully reversed after targeted treatment. Interestingly, of the 8 recipients with positive preformed DSA, 4 cases with positive DR-DSA and/or class Ⅰ-DSA had their DSA disappeared after transplantation, whereas DQ-DSA remained positive in 4 of 5 recipients. After a median follow-up of 26 months, all recipients maintained normal renal allograft function, and the survival rates of both graft and recipient were 100%. Conclusions: With the use of deceased donors, kidney transplantation can be successfully performed in presensitized patients by appropriate HLA-matching screening, choosing donor kidneys with good quality, and the combination of optimal perioperative treatment.

Abstract P4-08-20: Pre-analytical effects of FFPE extraction methods on targeted and whole transcriptome sequencing assays for endocrine sensitivity in metastatic breast cancer

Background: The clinical management of patients with metastatic HR-positive breast cancer is often uncertain due to decreased sensitivity to anti-estrogen therapy over time. Recently, we developed a targeted RNAseq based 18-transcript SET ER/PR assay of endocrine sensitivity from biopsies of metastatic cancer. In this work we assess the effect of pre-analytical factors, specifically RNA extraction methods for FFPE tissue samples, on the reliability of the targeted RNAseq assay.

Methods: FFPE blocks and matched fresh frozen (FF) sections from 12 tumors were collected at MD Anderson Cancer Center. RNA from FFPE slides was extracted in duplicate using three kits (Norgen, Qiagen, Roche), and RNAseq libraries from all samples were prepared using Kapa Total RNAseq kit. Targeted RNA libraries were prepared using droplet-based PCR (RainDance), and also by transcriptome-wide RNAseq for comparison. Reads were mapped to genomic sequence using STAR and expression was quantified using RSEM. Expression data were normalized based on expression of 10 reference genes. The effect of FFPE RNA extraction kit on the reliability of the SET index was assessed using linear mixed effects model (LME) analysis, and agreement with FF was assessed using the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC).

Results: Analysis of the whole transcriptome RNAseq data confirmed minimal 3'-end transcript bias from FFPE samples, irrespective of transcript size or FFPE kit. All 18 genes included in the SET index had high overall concordance between FFPE and FF (median CCC percentile=98.8, range 57.2-99.9 for Norgen; similar for the other two kits) and relatively consistent bias across genes, as estimated by the random effects of the LME model. Furthermore, compared to random 18-gene indices, concordance in the SET index values between FF and FFPE was higher than 99.8% of the random samples, verifying the analytical reliability of the selected genes. For the targeted RNAseq assay, RNA from FFPE extracted with the Norgen kit showed the highest concordance compared to FF (CCC=0.956, 95%CI 0.871-0.985). In general, the analytical variation of SET from FFPE samples was greater than that from FF (1.71-2.71 fold greater), with the lowest variation associated with the Norgen kit. The SET index values from targeted RNAseq for both FF and FFPE samples were consistently lower compared to transcriptome-wide RNAseq but were highly correlated, with the Norgen kit having the highest correlation between targeted and transcriptome-wide RNAseq (rho=0.915).

Conclusions: All three FFPE RNA extraction kits have excellent analytical performance compared to FF samples. The Norgen kit may be marginally better yielding higher concordance with FF and lower analytical variation between replicates. All genes in the SET ER/PR showed very good analytical performance in comparison to random indices and individual genes. Targeted gene RNA sequencing appears very promising as a platform for clinical deployment of quantitative assays, showing only a small (fixable) bias compared to RNAseq.

Citation Format: Marczyk M, Fu C, Lau R, Du L, Trevarton AJ, Sinn BV, Gould RE, Symmans WF, Hatzis C. Pre-analytical effects of FFPE extraction methods on targeted and whole transcriptome sequencing assays for endocrine sensitivity in metastatic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-08-20.