The oomycete-specific BAG subfamily maintains protein homeostasis and promotes pathogenicity in an atypical HSP70-independent manner

Protein homeostasis is vital for organisms and requires chaperones like the conserved Bcl-2-associated athanogene (BAG) co-chaperones that bind to the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) through their C-terminal BAG domain (BD). Here, we show an unconventional BAG subfamily exclusively found in oomycetes. Oomycete BAGs feature an atypical N-terminal BD with a short and oomycete-specific α1 helix (α1'), plus a C-terminal small heat shock protein (sHSP) domain. In oomycete pathogen Phytophthora sojae, both BD-α1' and sHSP domains are required for P. sojae BAG (PsBAG) function in cyst germination, pathogenicity, and unfolded protein response assisting in 26S proteasome-mediated degradation of misfolded proteins. PsBAGs form homo- and heterodimers through their unique BD-α1' to function properly, with no recruitment of HSP70s to form the common BAG-HSP70 complex found in other eukaryotes. Our study highlights an oomycete-exclusive protein homeostasis mechanism mediated by atypical BAGs, which provides a potential target for oomycete disease control.

Association of Computed Tomography Radiomics Signature with Progression-free Survival in Neuroblastoma Patients

AIMS

To investigate the association of computed tomography radiomics signature with progression-free survival (PFS) in neuroblastoma patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively included 167 neuroblastoma patients who were divided into a training set and a test set through stratified sampling at a ratio of 7:3. Regions of interest of the primary tumours were delineated on pretreatment contrast-enhanced computed tomography images and radiomics features were extracted from them. The intraclass correlation coefficient, Pearson correlation coefficient, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression algorithm were applied to select radiomics features and construct the radiomics signature. The effectiveness of the signature in predicting PFS was evaluated using the concordance index (C-index) and 95% confidence interval in both the training and the test sets. The time-dependent receiver operator characteristic curve of the radiomics signature was plotted and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. A calibration curve was used to assess the difference between the predicted probability of the radiomics signature and the observed probability at different time points.

RESULTS

The radiomics signature was composed of six features, which achieved a C-index of 0.733 (95% confidence interval 0.664-0.803) in the training set and 0.734 (95% confidence interval 0.608-0.861) in the test set. In the training set, the radiomics signature yielded an AUC of 0.707, 0.737, 0.788, 0.859 and 0.829 for 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year PFS, respectively. Similarly, the radiomics signature exhibited an AUC of 0.738, 0.807, 0.761, 0.787 and 0.818 for 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year PFS, respectively, in the test set. The calibration curves showed no significant difference between the predicted probability of the radiomics signature and the observed probability for up to 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Computed tomography radiomics features exhibit a significant correlation with the PFS of neuroblastoma patients, particularly in terms of long-term outcomes.

A Phytophthora receptor-like kinase regulates oospore development and can activate pattern-triggered plant immunity

Plant cell-surface leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) and receptor-like proteins (LRR-RLPs) form dynamic complexes to receive a variety of extracellular signals. LRR-RLKs are also widespread in oomycete pathogens, whereas it remains enigmatic whether plant and oomycete LRR-RLKs could mediate cell-to-cell communications between pathogen and host. Here, we report that an LRR-RLK from the soybean root and stem rot pathogen Phytophthora sojae, PsRLK6, can activate typical pattern-triggered immunity in host soybean and nonhost tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana plants. PsRLK6 homologs are conserved in oomycetes and also exhibit immunity-inducing activity. A small region (LRR5-6) in the extracellular domain of PsRLK6 is sufficient to activate BAK1- and SOBIR1-dependent immune responses, suggesting that PsRLK6 is likely recognized by a plant LRR-RLP. Moreover, PsRLK6 is shown to be up-regulated during oospore maturation and essential for the oospore development of P. sojae. Our data provide a novel type of microbe-associated molecular pattern that functions in the sexual reproduction of oomycete, and a scenario in which a pathogen LRR-RLK could be sensed by a plant LRR-RLP to mount plant immunity.

The Phytophthora sojae effector PsFYVE1 modulates immunity-related gene expression by targeting host RZ-1A protein

Oomycete pathogens secrete numerous effectors to manipulate plant immunity and promote infection. However, relatively few effector types have been well characterized. In this study, members of an FYVE domain-containing protein family that are highly expanded in oomycetes were systematically identified, and one secreted protein, PsFYVE1, was selected for further study. PsFYVE1 enhanced Phytophthora capsici infection in Nicotiana benthamiana and was necessary for Phytophthora sojae virulence. The FYVE domain of PsFYVE1 had PI3P-binding activity that depended on four conserved amino acid residues. Furthermore, PsFYVE1 targeted RNA-binding proteins RZ-1A/1B/1C in N. benthamiana and soybean (Glycine max), and silencing of NbRZ-1A/1B/1C genes attenuated plant immunity. NbRZ-1A was associated with the spliceosome complex that included three important components, glycine-rich RNA-binding protein 7 (NbGRP7), glycine-rich RNA-binding protein 8 (NbGRP8), and a specific component of the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex (NbU1-70K). Notably, PsFYVE1 disrupted NbRZ-1A-NbGRP7 interaction. RNA-seq and subsequent experimental analysis demonstrated that PsFYVE1 and NbRZ-1A not only modulated pre-mRNA alternative splicing (AS) of the necrotic spotted lesions 1 (NbNSL1) gene, but also co-regulated transcription of hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA shikimate/quinate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (NbHCT), ethylene insensitive 2 (NbEIN2), and sucrose synthase 4 (NbSUS4) genes, which participate in plant immunity. Collectively, these findings indicate that the FYVE domain-containing protein family includes potential uncharacterized effector types and also highlight that plant pathogen effectors can regulate plant immunity-related genes at both AS and transcription levels to promote disease.

Two typical acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) are required for the asexual development and virulence of Phytophthora sojae

Being found in all eukaryotes investigated, acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) participate in lipid metabolism via specifically binding acyl-CoA esters with high affinity. The structures and functions of ACBP family proteins have been extensively described in yeasts, fungi, plants and mammals, but not oomycetes. In the present study, seven ACBP genes named PsACBP1-7 were identified from the genome of Phytophthora sojae, an oomycete pathogen of soybean. CRISPR-Cas9 knockout mutants targeting PsACBP1 and PsACBP2 were created for phenotypic assays. PsACBP1 knockout led to defects in sporangia production and virulence. PsACBP2 knockout mutants exhibited impaired vegetative growth, zoospore production, cyst germination and virulence. Moreover, Nile red staining of PsACBP2 knockout and over-expression lines showed that PsACBP2 is involved in the formation of lipid bodies in P. sojae. Our results demonstrate that two ACBP genes are differently required for growth and development, and both are essential for virulence in P. sojae.

Integrated analysis of whole genome and transcriptome sequencing reveals a frameshift mutation associated with recessive embryonic lethality in Holstein cattle

Embryo loss is an important factor affecting fertility in dairy production. HH2 was identified as a haplotype on chromosome 1 associated with embryonic lethality in Holstein cattle. In the current study, both short- and long-read WGS was performed on four carriers and four non-carriers of HH2 to screen for variants in concordance with HH2 haplotype status. Sequence variation analysis revealed five putative functional variants of protein-coding genes, including a frameshift mutation (g.107172616delT) in intraflagellar transport protein 80 (IFT80) gene. Transcriptome analysis of whole blood indicated that no gene exhibited significantly differential expression or allele-specific expression between carriers and non-carriers in the candidate region. This evidence points to g.107172616delT as the highest priority causative mutation for HH2. Protein prediction reveals that the frameshift mutation results in a premature stop codon to reduce the peptide chain from 760 to 383 amino acids and greatly alters the structure and function of IFT80 protein. Our results demonstrate that the use of a combination of multiple high-throughput sequencing technologies is an efficient strategy to screen for the candidate causative mutations responsible for Mendelian traits, including genetic disorders.

Targeting of anti-microbial proteins to the hyphal surface amplifies protection of crop plants against Phytophthora pathogens

Phytophthora pathogens are a persistent threat to the world's commercially important agricultural crops, including potato and soybean. Current strategies aim at reducing crop losses rely mostly on disease-resistance breeding and chemical pesticides, which can be frequently overcome by the rapid adaptive evolution of pathogens. Transgenic crops with intrinsic disease resistance offer a promising alternative and continue to be developed. Here, we explored Phytophthora-derived PI3P (phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate) as a novel control target, using proteins that bind this lipid to direct secreted anti-microbial peptides and proteins (AMPs) to the surface of Phytophthora pathogens. In transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana, soybean, and potato plants, significantly enhanced resistance to different pathogen isolates was achieved by expression of two AMPs (GAFP1 or GAFP3 from the Chinese medicinal herb Gastrodia elata) fused with a PI3P-specific binding domain (FYVE). Using the soybean pathogen P. sojae as an example, we demonstrated that the FYVE domain could boost the activities of GAFPs in multiple independent assays, including those performed in vitro, in vivo, and in planta. Mutational analysis of P. sojae PI3K1 and PI3K2 genes of this pathogen confirmed that the enhanced activities of the targeted GAFPs were correlated with PI3P levels in the pathogen. Collectively, our study provides a new strategy that could be used to confer resistance not only to Phytophthora pathogens in many plants but also potentially to many other kinds of plant pathogens with unique targets.

Phytophthora sojae leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases: diverse and essential roles in development and pathogenicity

Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) are critical signal receptors in plant development and defense. Like plants, oomycete pathogen genomes also harbor LRR-RLKs, but their functions remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically characterize all the 24 LRR-RLK genes (PsRLKs) from Phytophthora sojae, which is a model of oomycete pathogens. Although none of them was required for vegetative growth, the specific PsRLKs are important for stress responses, zoospore production, zoospores chemotaxis, and pathogenicity. Interestingly, the Gα subunit PsGPA1 interacts with the five chemotaxis-related PsRLKs via their intracellular kinase domains, and expression of PsGPA1 gene is downregulated in the three mutants (ΔPsRLK17/22/24). Moreover, we generated the PsRLK-PsRLK interaction network of P. sojae and found that PsRLK21, together with PsRLK10 or PsRLK17, regulate virulence by direct association. Taken together, our results reveal the diverse roles of LRR-RLKs in modulating P. sojae development, interaction with soybean, and responses to diverse environmental factors.

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Systematically functional analysis of LRR-RLK family with 24 members in P. sojae

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Five chemotaxis-related PsRLKs directly interact with Gα protein PsGPA1

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PsRLKs form an interaction network in P. sojae

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The complex PsRLK21-PsRLK10/17 jointly regulates pathogenesis

PsGRASP, a Golgi Reassembly Stacking Protein in Phytophthora sojae, Is Required for Mycelial Growth, Stress Responses, and Plant Infection

Golgi reassembly stacking proteins (GRASPs) play important roles in Golgi structure formation, ER stress response, and unconventional secretion in eukaryotic cells. However, GRASP functions in oomycetes haven’t been adequately characterized. Here, we report the identification and functional analysis of PsGRASP, a GRASP-encoding gene from the soybean-infecting oomycete Phytophthora sojae. Transcriptional profiling showed that PsGRASP expression is up-regulated at the infection stages. PsGRASP knockout mutants were created using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. These mutants exhibited impaired vegetative growth, zoospore release and virulence. PsGRASP was involved ER stress responses and altered laccase activity. Our work suggests that PsGRASP is crucial for P. sojae development and pathogenicity.

Caspofungin combined with TMP/SMZ as a first-line therapy for moderate-to-severe PCP in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

OBJECTIVES

The effectiveness of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMZ) for pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is limited with adverse events. Caspofungin, by inhibiting the cyst form of Pneumocystis jirovecii, may be an alternative therapy for PCP. However, the availability of clinical data about caspofungin combined with TMP/SMZ in the treatment of PCP in HIV-infected patients is limited. Thus, we aimed to examine the clinical effectiveness and safety of caspofungin combined with TMP/SMZ as a first-line therapy for moderate-to-severe PCP in HIV-infected patients.

METHODS

From January 2017 to December 2019, data of HIV-infected patients with moderate-to-severe PCP who received either TMP/SMZ alone or caspofungin combined with TMP/SMZ as first-line therapy were retrospectively reviewed to assess the effectiveness and safety of each regimen. The Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test were used for survival analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 278 patients met the criteria. The overall positive response rate of PCP treatment was 48.92%, and the overall all-cause in-hospital mortality rate was 33.09%. Patients who received combination therapy consisting of caspofungin and TMP/SMZ had a better positive response rate (59.44% vs. 37.78%, P < 0.001) and lower all-cause in-hospital mortality rate (24.48% vs. 42.22%, P = 0.003). Also, patients who received combination therapy had higher survival rate during a hospital stay (75.52% vs. 57.78%, P = 0.004), and those who received longer combination therapy were more likely to have higher survival rate (P = 0.042). We found that age (P = 0.019), CD4 cell count (P = 0.001) and therapeutic regimen (P = 0.002) were significant risk factors for all-cause in-hospital mortality rate in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, only CD4 cell count and therapeutic regimen were statistically significant factors associated with all-cause in-hospital mortality rate. Patients with a CD4 count of > 30 cells/µL and patients who received combination therapy consisting of caspofungin and TMP/SMZ were more likely to survive from PCP (P = 0.011 and P = 0.002, respectively). There were no additional severe adverse events caused by adding caspofungin.

CONCLUSIONS

For HIV-infected patients with moderate-to-severe PCP, combination therapy with caspofungin and TMP/SMZ is an effective and promising first-line therapy with no greater number of adverse events compared with TMP/SMZ monotherapy. Patients who received caspofungin had better positive response rates and lower all-cause in-hospital mortality rates. Also, we recommend early initiation of caspofungin.

The Fungal-Specific Transcription Factor VpFSTF1 Is Required for Virulence in Valsa pyri

Valsa pyri is the causal agent of pear canker disease, which leads to enormous losses of pear production in eastern Asian, especially China. In this study, we identified a fungal-specific transcription factor 1 (termed as VpFSTF1) from V. pyri, which is highly conserved in fungi. To characterize its functions, we generated mutant and complementation strains in V. pyri and found that ΔVpFSTF1 mutants lost the ability to form fruiting bodies along with the reduced virulence. The radial growth of ΔVpFSTF1 mutant was sensitive to increasing concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and salicylic acid (SA). Moreover, RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of wild-type (WT) and ΔVpFSTF1 mutant strains was performed, and the results revealed 1,993 upregulated, and 2006 downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the mutant. The DEGs were corresponding to the genes that are involved in amino acid metabolism, starch, and sucrose metabolism, gluconeogenesis, citrate cycle, and carbon metabolism. Interestingly, pathogen host interaction (PHI) analysis showed that 69 downregulated genes were related to virulence, suggesting that they might function downstream of VpFSTF1. Nine DEGs were further validated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and the results were consistent with RNA-seq analysis. Furthermore, promoter regions were predicted, and VpFSTF1 binding activity was assessed. We demonstrated that five promoters are directly or indirectly targeted by VpFSTF1, including catalase-related peroxidase (VPIG_01209) and P450 family genes. Taken together, these findings indicate that VpFSTF1 is crucial for the virulence of V. pyri via direct or indirect regulation of downstream genes expression and lay an important foundation for understanding the molecular mechanism of V. pyri infection.

[A single-center retrospective study on axillary evaluation in 1 557 breast ductal carcinoma in situ patients between 2006 and 2016]

Objectives: To examine the influence factors on axillary evaluation in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) patients, and the prognosis of different choices of axillary evaluation in a single-center retrospective study. Methods: Totally 1 557 DCIS patients admitted in Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center from January 2006 to November 2016 were retrospectively enrolled. All patients were female. The median age was 49 years (range: 21 to 85 years). Surgical methods included modified radical mastectomy, simple mastectomy (with or without axillary evaluation) and breast conservation surgery (with or without axillary evaluation). Axillary evaluation included axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). T tests, χ(2) test and Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze influence factors on axillary evaluation, respectively. Kaplan-Meier curve and Log-rank analysis were used to evaluate recurrence-free survival (RFS) and loco-regional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS) in patients with different surgical methods. Results: Among the 1 557 DCIS patients, there were 1 226 cases received axillary evaluation, while 331 cases not received axillary evaluation. Patients were separated into 3 groups by different axillary evaluation choices: SLNB group (957 cases, 61.46%), ALND group (197 cases, 12.65%) and no evaluation group (403 cases, 25.88%). The patients in SLNB group increased significantly (P=0.000), from 3.85% (60/1 557) in 2006 to 75.19% (1 170/1 557) in 2016. The independent influence factors of receiving axillary evaluation were high nuclear grade (OR=3.191, 95%CI: 1.722 to 5.912, P=0.001) and tumor size>15 mm (OR=1.698, 95%CI: 1.120 to 2.573, P=0.012). Also, patients received breast conservation surgery were more likely to refuse axillary evaluation (OR=0.155, 95%CI: 0.103 to 0.233, P=0.000). There were no significant differences in RFS and LRRFS in patients with different axillary evaluation choices. Conclusions: The investigation in trends and influence factors of different axillary evaluation choices provided basis on surgical precision medicine in DCIS patients. Patients received SLNB increased significantly. The independent influence factors of axillary evaluation were nuclear grade, tumor size and surgical methods. There was no significant differences in prognosis among the groups receiving different axillary evaluations.

Abstract P6-05-01: A novel cleaved cytoplasmic lncRNA LacRNA interacts with PHB2 and suppresses breast cancer metastasis via repressing MYC targets

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in breast cancer metastases through largely unknown mechanisms. In this study, we used microarray analysis to compare lncRNAs expression levels between matched pairs of breast lymph node metastatic tissues and primary tumors. We discovered that lncRNA LINC00478 was substantially downregulated in the metastatic tumor samples. Interestingly, we found that LINC00478 could be cleaved by RNase to simultaneously generates the mature 5' ends of cytoplasmic RNA and 3' ends of nuclear RNA by polyadenylation. We named 5' ends 791-nt RNA as LacRNA (LINC00478-assciated cytoplasmic RNA). Over expression of full-length LINC00478 and LacRNA, but not LINC00478 3' RNA, significantly inhibited breast cancer proliferation, invasion and metastasis in vitro and in vivo.We used CRISPR-dCas9 complex to mediate efficient transcriptional activation of LacRNA at endogenous genomic loci followed by RNA-seq analyses. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that the MYC pathway/targets were prominent gene sets negatively enriched in LacRNA-activated cells. Further study revealed that LacRNA exerted its tumor suppressive activity by directly binding with prohibitin2(PHB2) to enhance its protein stability, which promoted PHB2 competing with MYC for transcriptionally suppressing the MYC target genes (e.g., CDC20, CDC45, CCNA2 and MAD2L1). Mechanistically, LacRNA inhibits breast cancer invasion and metastasis by interacting with PHB2 through LacRNA's 1-300nt region. In addition, taking advantage of CRISPR system to knock-out and activate the expression of LacRNA, as well as rescue experiment, we uncovered the positive correlation between LacRNA and PHB2 and their role in suppressing MYC target genes and cancer metastasis. At the same time, LacRNA can attenuated the MYC induced activation of MYC targets through binding with PHB2, indicating that LacRNA plays a central role in the suppression of MYC target genes. We further explored the role of LacRNA in inhibiting lung metastasis by implanting LacRNA-activated LM2 cells into the mammary fat pads of NOD-SCID mice. Luciferase imaging and histological analysis were used to detect lung metastasis and found that LacRNA significantly suppressed lung metastasis. Immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of PHB2 and MYC targets in both orthotopic tumors and lung metastasis and verified their correlation in vivo. Extensive analyses of clinical data indicated that LacRNA level was substantially downregulated in metastases tumors accompanied by enrichment of MYC targets. The robustness value of LacRNA expression was further verified in two independent patient cohorts, including 530 invasive breast cancer tumors in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) and 819 breast patients' data from TCGA. High LacRNA expression level had a significantly better clinical outcome in both cohorts and represented an independent prognostic predictor for DFS (HR=0.48, P=0.006, multivariate analysis) and OS (HR=0.32, P=0.009, multivariate analysis) in FUSCC cohort. Collectively, LacRNA functions as a tumor suppressor lncRNA that inhibits breast cancer invasion-metastasis cascade.

Citation Format: Guo R, Su Y-H, Xue J-y, Si J, Chi Y-y, Wu J. A novel cleaved cytoplasmic lncRNA LacRNA interacts with PHB2 and suppresses breast cancer metastasis via repressing MYC targets [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 P6-05-01.

GmDAD1, a Conserved Defender Against Cell Death 1 (DAD1) From Soybean, Positively Regulates Plant Resistance Against Phytophthora Pathogens

Initially identified as a mammalian apoptosis suppressor, defender against apoptotic death 1 (DAD1) protein has conserved plant orthologs acting as negative regulators of cell death. The potential roles and action mechanisms of plant DADs in resistance against Phytophthora pathogens are still unknown. Here, we cloned GmDAD1 from soybean and performed functional dissection. GmDAD1 expression can be induced by Phytophthora sojae infection in both compatible and incompatible soybean varieties. By manipulating GmDAD1 expression in soybean hairy roots, we showed that GmDAD1 transcript accumulations are positively correlated with plant resistance levels against P. sojae. Heterologous expression of GmDAD1 in Nicotiana benthamiana enhanced its resistance to Phytophthora parasitica. NbDAD1 from N. benthamiana was shown to have similar role in conferring Phytophthora resistance. As an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized protein, GmDAD1 was demonstrated to be involved in ER stress signaling and to affect the expression of multiple defense-related genes. Taken together, our findings reveal that GmDAD1 plays a critical role in defense against Phytophthora pathogens and might participate in the ER stress signaling pathway. The defense-associated characteristic of GmDAD1 makes it a valuable working target for breeding Phytophthora resistant soybean varieties.

Abstract P3-01-06: Can axillary evaluation be omitted in patients preoperatively diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ by core needle biopsy?

Background

Patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) by core needle biopsy (CNB) have a great chance of upgrading invasive cancer on the final pathology. Positive axillary lymph nodes can be found in these patients. The present study sought to identify clinicopathological factors associated with upgrading and axillary lymph nodes metastasis in patients preoperatively diagnosed with DCIS by CNB.

Materials and Methods

This study identified 604 patients (cT1-3N0M0) with preoperative diagnosis of pure DCIS by CNB who had undergone axillary evaluation from August 2006 to December 2015 at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC). Predictors of upgrading and axillary lymph nodes metastasis were analyzed, respectively.

Results

Of all 604 patients, 513 (84.93%) and 91 (15.07%) patients had undergone sentinel lymph nodes biopsy (SLNB) and axillary lymph nodes dissection (ALND), respectively. Overall, 121 (20.03%) and 193 (31.95%) patients were upgraded to DCIS with microinvasion (DCISM) and IDC on final pathology, respectively. Positive axillary lymph nodes were identified in 41 (6.79%) patients, of which 35 (5.80%) patients had 1-2 positive axillary lymph nodes, 6 (0.99%) patients had 3 or more positive axillary lymph nodes. Among patients with axillary lymph nodes metastasis, 4 (9.76%), 4 (9.76%) and 33 (80.48%) patients were in DCIS, DCISM and IDC group, respectively. Predictors of upgrading included tumor size on ultrasonography (P=0.001), Ki-67 (P=0.046) and molecular subtype (P=0.007) in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, patients with larger tumor size on ultrasonography (&gt;2cm) (OR 1.767, P=0.001) were more likely to be upgraded on final pathology. Also, ER+ HER2+ patients were more likely to be upgraded than ER+ HER2- patients (OR 1.659, P=0.047). Factors associated with axillary lymph nodes metastasis included nipple discharge (P&lt;0.001), tumor size on pathology (P=0.037), number of lesions (P=0.039), axillary evaluation methods (P=0.029) and molecular subtype (P=0.049) in univariate analysis. Whereas, only nipple discharge and larger tumor size on pathology (&gt;2cm) reached statistical significance in multivariate analysis (OR 5.959, P&lt;0.001; OR 2.361, P=0.042). In addition, further analysis showed upgrading on final pathology had a significant influence on axillary lymph nodes status (P&lt;0.001). However, this correlation was not shown between patients with DCIS and DCISM in pairwise comparison.

Conclusion

The data of upgrading and axillary lymph nodes metastasis in patients with an initial diagnosis of DCIS by CNB was comparable in this cohort with published data. Despite of a 51.98% upgrading rate, the rate of axillary lymph nodes metastasis in these patients is low, which supports the omission of axillary evaluation in selected patients.

Citation Format: Si J, Yang B, Guo R, Huang N, Quan C, Chen J, Wu J. Can axillary evaluation be omitted in patients preoperatively diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ by core needle biopsy? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-01-06.

Ras-association domain family 10 acts as a novel tumor suppressor through modulating MMP2 in hepatocarcinoma

Ras-Association Domain Family 10 (RASSF10) is the last identified member of the RASSF family. The functional characteristics of this new gene in human cancers remain largely unclear. Here, we examined RASSF10 for the biological functions and related molecular mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We found that RASSF10 is expressed in normal human liver tissue, but is silenced or down-regulated in 62.5% (5/8) of HCC cell lines. The mean expression level of RASSF10 was significantly lower in primary HCCs compared with their adjacent normal tissues (P<0.005, n=52). The promoter methylation contributes to the inactivation of RASSF10 as demonstrated by bisulfite genomic sequencing and demethylation treatment analyses. Transgenic expression of RASSF10 in silenced HCC cell lines suppressed cell viability, colony formation and inhibited tumor growth in nude mice (QGY7703, P<0.01; HepG2, P<0.05). Furthermore, RASSF10 was shown to induce the cell accumulation in G1 phase with the increase of p27, as well as the decrease of cyclinD1 and CDK2/CDK4. Over-expression of RASSF10 also inhibited HCC cells migration (P<0.01) or invasion (P<0.05). Adhesion genes array revealed that Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) was a downstream effector of RASSF10. RASSF10 acting as a tumor suppressor to inhibit HCC invasion partially mediated by Focal Adhesion Kinase or p38 MAPK to decrease the accumulation of MMP2. Our study suggests that RASSF10 acts as a tumor suppressor for HCC.

Long Noncoding RNA: its partners and their roles in cancer

RNA transcripts, which do not encode proteins, have received considerable attention in recent years. These non-coding RNAs are classified into two groups: small non-coding RNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Increasing evidence suggests that lncRNAs are emerging as key regulators in many biological processes. However, knowledge of the underlying mechanisms whereby they act is still limited. Here, we try to elucidate the way that lncRNAs function in the context of DNA, RNA and protein interaction networks. It is noteworthy that lncRNA and another type of non-coding RNA microRNA (miRNA) may 'talk' to each other more frequently than ever expected. Additionally, lncRNAs display aberrant expression profiles in different kinds of cancers, with their potential roles in carcinogenesis and cancer metastasis. We summarize the effect of some cancer related lncRNAs upon tumor biological events, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and metastasis. Finally, we focus on the clinical value of lncRNAs, considering their potential application in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic intervention.

The effects of x-ray radiation on the eye development of zebrafish

The toxic effects of x-ray radiation on eye development was measured using zebrafish as a model organism. Zebrafish embryos at 8 h post-fertilization (hpf) were irradiated using X-rays at doses of 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gy. At 24 and 48 hpf, x-ray radiation induced a significant increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) content and cell apoptotic signals. Both of these increases were dose dependent and there were significant positive relationships between them at 24 hpf. At 48 and 72 hpf, the increase of ROS concentration can be eliminated by increasing activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase. Although the ROS generated by x-ray radiation caused a significant increase in cell apoptosis at 24 and 48 hpf, the cellular layers of the retina and lens formation in the irradiated groups were not significantly disrupted at 144 hpf compared with the control group, with the exception of a heterogeneous distribution of the cells in inner nuclear cell layer and a significant decrease in the diameters of whole eyes after 8 Gy irradiation. X-Ray radiation at later stages of gastrulation may not cause distinct optic complications; however, there is still a risk of microophthalmia at high doses of irradiation.

Usefulness of 3T diffusion-weighted MRI for discrimination of reactive and metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a pilot study

OBJECTIVES

To study the diagnostic accuracy of 3T diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) for the discrimination of reactive and metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS

DW T1 and T2 weighted MRI was performed in 25 patients with biopsy-proved primary oral squamous cell carcinoma. The mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of 30 histopathologically proved reactive lymph nodes and 21 histopathologically proved metastatic lymph nodes were compared using an unpaired t-test. A cut-off ADC value with optimal diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve in discrimination of the two groups was determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

RESULTS

The mean ADC values of reactive lymph node and metastatic lymph node groups were (1.037 ± 0.149) × 10(-3) and (0.702 ± 0.197) × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1), respectively. A statistically significant difference in ADC values of the two groups was certified (p < 0.0001). An optimal ADC threshold value of 0.887 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1) was suggested as the cut-off point, which resulted in 93.33% sensitivity, 80.95% specificity, 88.20% accuracy and area under curve of 0.887.

CONCLUSIONS

Our preliminary study indicates that the addition of 3T DW-MRI may be useful for discriminating between reactive lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. However, larger studies are still required to validate our results and to standardize this imaging technique for daily clinical practice.

Online learning control by association and reinforcement

This paper focuses on a systematic treatment for developing a generic online learning control system based on the fundamental principle of reinforcement learning or more specifically neural dynamic programming. This online learning system improves its performance over time in two aspects: 1) it learns from its own mistakes through the reinforcement signal from the external environment and tries to reinforce its action to improve future performance; and 2) system states associated with the positive reinforcement is memorized through a network learning process where in the future, similar states will be more positively associated with a control action leading to a positive reinforcement. A successful candidate of online learning control design is introduced. Real-time learning algorithms is derived for individual components in the learning system. Some analytical insight is provided to give guidelines on the learning process took place in each module of the online learning control system.

Principle component feature detector for motor cortical control

Principle component analysis (PCA) was performed on recorded neuronal action potentials from neural ensembles in rat's motor cortex when the rat was involved in a closed-loop real-time brain machine interface (BCI). The implanted rat was placed in a conditioning chamber, but freely moving, to decide which one of the two paddles should be activated to shift the light to the center. It is found that the principle component feature vectors revealed the importance of individual neurons and their temporal dynamics in relation to the intention of activating either left or right paddle. In addition, the first principle component feature has much higher discriminative capability than others although it represents only a few percentage of the total variance. Using the first principle component with the Bayes classifier achieved 90% classification accuracy, which is comparable with the accuracy obtained by a more sophisticated high performance support vector classifiers.

Schistosoma japonicum triose-phosphate isomerase plasmid DNA vaccine protects pigs against challenge infection

The protective efficacy of a Schistosoma japonicum, Chinese strain, triose-phosphate isomerase (TPI) plasmid DNA vaccine was examined in naïve pigs. Pigs were vaccinated with the TPI DNA-plasmid alone, or in conjunction with IL-12 as pcDNA3.1-P35, pcDNA3.1-P40 plasmids via intramuscular injection. Control pigs were immunized with equivalent amounts of pcDNA3.1. Pigs were immunized 3 times at 21-day intervals and challenged 30 days after the final boost. Forty-five days post-challenge, pigs were sacrificed and perfused to compare adult worm burdens, female worm burdens, liver egg burdens and granuloma size. We found that pigs vaccinated with SjCTPI DNA alone had adult worm burdens reduced by 48.3% and that a further decrease in adult worm burdens was not seen in the group vaccinated with SjCTPI DNA in conjunction with IL-12 (46.2% reduction). The SjCTPI DNA vaccines had a more pronounced effect on reducing female worm burdens i.e. 53.6% SjCTPI alone and 59.6% for SjCTPI+IL-12. Vaccination with SjCTPI-DNA reduced liver eggs by 49.4% and this response was significantly enhanced by the addition of IL-12 (65.8% reduction in liver eggs). In addition to the dramatic protective effects seen in vaccinated pigs, we also noted that granuloma size was reduced by 42% in both groups. Thus, vaccination of pigs and other large animals in China with SjCTPI DNA vaccine will likely reduce transmission by reducing adult worm burdens and worm egg output and simultaneously reduce hepatic egg-associated pathology.

Validation of the in vitro gastrointestinal (IVG) method to estimate relative bioavailable lead in contaminated soils

The effect of the dosing vehicle (e.g., dough) on the ability of an in vitro gastrointestinal (IVG) method to predict relative bioavailable Pb associated with soil ingestion was evaluated. Bioaccessible Pb determined by the IVG method was compared with relative bioavailable Pb measured from dosing trials using juvenile swine for 18 contaminated soils ranging from 1270 to 14200 mg Pb kg(-1). Bioaccessible Pb was measured in the IVG gastric extraction (GE) and intestinal extraction (IE) solutions. Mean bioaccessible Pb values were 32.2% for GE without dough, 23.0% for GE with dough, 1.06% for IE without dough, and 0.56% for IE with dough. It is possible that phytic acid associated with the dough addition decreased bioaccessible Pb. In vivo relative bioavailable Pb ranges for different swine tissues were 1 to 87% for blood, 0 to 110% for liver, 1 to 124% for kidney, and 0.04 to 94% for bone. Strong linear relationships between IVG GE Pb with dough (r > 0.76, P < 0.0002), IVG IE Pb with dough (r > 0.56, P < 0.015), and IVG GE Pb without dough (r > 0.81, P < 0.0001) and in vivo bioavailable Pb as estimated with blood, kidney, liver, and bone were found. Inexpensive in vitro methods may be useful in providing an estimate of the variability in relative bioavailable Pb at a single study site. The IVG method can be used to estimate relative bioavailable Pb, As, and Cd in contaminated soil.

[Protective immunity induced by 23 kDa membrane protein DNA vaccine of Schistosoma japonicum Chinese strain in mice]

OBJECTIVE

To develop 23 kDa membrane protein DNA vaccine of Schistosoma japonicum Chinese strain and test its protective efficacy in infected C57BL/6 mice.

METHODS

The full length cDNA encoding SjC23 amplified from pUC19-SjC23 subcloned into pcDNA3.1. 48 female mice were divided into three groups: A, B and C. Group A (control group) was each immunized i.m. with 100 micrograms of pcDNA3.1; group B (SjC23 group) was each immunized i.m. with 100 micrograms of pcDNA3.1-SjC23; group C (SjC23 + IL-12) was each immunized i.m. with a mixture of 100 micrograms of pcDNA3.1-SjC23, 100 micrograms of pcDNA3.1-p35 and 100 micrograms of pcDNA-p40, followed by two boosts of the same DNA once every two weeks. All the mice were challenged with 45 cercariae at week 8, killed and perfused for worms at week 14. The expression of SjC23 and p35, p40 in muscle tissue was determined by immuno-histochemical method. By the culture of spleen cells, the production of IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-gamma after the stimulation of rSjC23-HD was determined two weeks before and after challenge. Anti-SjC23 antibodies were tested by Western blotting.

RESULTS

SjC23 and p35, p40 were all expressed on the membrane and in the plasma of muscle cells of the infected mice. Significant increase of IL-2 and IFN-gamma in SjC23 and SjC23 + IL-12 groups was observed before and after challenge. Western blotting showed that after the third immunization (before challenge) 8 out of 10 sera from SjC23 group and 9 out of 10 sera from SjC23 + IL-12 group were positive. The worm reduction rate in SjC23 group and SjC23 + IL-12 group was 26.9% and 35.4%, respectively; the number of eggs in liver tissue was reduced by 22.2% and 28.4%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

pcDNA3.1-SjC23 DNA vaccine could induce partial protection against Schistosoma japonicum in C57BL/6 mice.

Establishment of an animal model of chronic atrophic gastritis and a study on the factors inducing atrophy

OBJECTIVE

To establish a rat model of chronic atrophic gastritis and explore the factors inducing atrophy.

METHODS

In accordance with repeated orthogonal design of L8(2(7)), 60% alcohol and 20 mmol/L sodium deoxycholate (served as factor A), 0.05%-0.1% ammonia water (factor B), 0.05% indomethacin (factor C) were given, alone or in combination, to rats in three experiments for 3 months, 6 months or 9 months respectively. Then the rats were dissected, and their pathologic changes of the gastric mucosa were assessed.

RESULTS

Typical signs of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) were found in all rats which were treated with factor A, B, C alone or in combination for 6 or 9 months. No significant difference of pathologic changes of gastric mucosa was found between the rats treated for 6 months and those for 9 months. No obvious CAG signs were found in the rats treated with factor A, B, C for 3 months.

CONCLUSION

Sixty percent of alcohol, 20 mmol/L sodium deoxycholate, 0.05%-0.1% ammonia water and 0.05% indomethacin given to Sprague-Dawley rats for 6 months can successfully establish the animal model of CAG. Prolongation of the model-establishment time is not able to further facilitate the atrophy of gastric mucosa.

Relationship of dietary lysine level to the concentration of all essential amino acids in broiler diets

A study was conducted to evaluate the relationship of dietary Lys and other essential amino acids (EAA) in diets for broilers. Diets were formulated based upon NRC (1994) recommendations. Within each age period, diets contained NRC recommended levels of Lys with other EAA at 100, 110, 120, or 130% of NRC. The diets were then supplemented with 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3% additional Lys, resulting in a 4 x 4 factorial arrangement with four levels of Lys (NRC, + 0.1%, + 0.2%, and + 0.3% Lys) and four levels of other EAA (100, 110, 120, and 130% of NRC). Each of the 16 treatments was fed to six replicate pens of 25 male broilers of a commercial strain. At 56 d, five birds per pen were processed to determine dressing percentage and carcass yield. There were no significant interactions between level of Lys and levels of other EAA for live performance or carcass characteristics. The BW was significantly increased at 21 and 42 d by addition of + 0.1% Lys above NRC but not at 56 d. There was no significant effect of other EAA on BW at any age. The effects of Lys on feed conversion were varied. At 21 and 42 d, addition of 0.1% Lys to diets containing the NRC Lys level significantly improved feed conversion; response to 0.2 or 0.3% Lys were varied. No significant effects of Lys on feed conversion were observed at 56 d. Increasing the level of EAA resulted in significant improvements in feed conversion at 21, 42, and 56 d, generally following a linear trend. Dietary Lys levels had no significant effects on dressing percentage, breast meat yield, or abdominal fat content. The level of other EAA significantly influenced dressed yield but had no significant influence on carcass yield. These results indicate that NRC (1994) levels of Lys and other EAA are adequate for optimum performance of male broilers processed at 56 d but may be less than adequate at younger ages.

Photoinduced stable second-harmonic generation in chalcogenide glasses

We report on photoinduced second-harmonic generation (SHG) in chalcogenide glasses. Fundamental and second-harmonic waves from a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser were used to induce second-order nonlinearity in chalcogenide glasses. The magnitude of SHG in 20G?20A?60S glass was 10(4) larger than that of tellurite glass with a composition of 15Nb(2)O (5) 85TeO(2) (mol.%). Moreover, no apparent decay of photoinduced SHG in 20G?20A?60S glass was observed after optical poling at room temperature. We suggest that the large and stable value of chi((2)) is due to the induced defect structures and large chi((3)) of the chalcogenide glasses.

[The effect of epidermal growth factor on the pathologic changes of gastric mucosa in SD rats with chronic atrophic gastritis]

OBJECTIVE

To study the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on the pathologic changes of gastric mucosa in rats with chronic atrophic gastritis(CAG).

METHODS

The established rat models of CAG were divided into therapy group and control group. The rats in the therapy group received EGF 10 microg/kg subcutaneously (SC), whereas these in the control group the same volume of normal saline SC. 12 weeks later, all rats were killed by cervical dislocation and their gastric mucosa were examined with microscope.

RESULTS

The grade of inflammatory cell infiltration in the therapy group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.01). The thickness of gastric mucosal gland layer was (215.0 +/- 20.7) microm in the therapy group and (139.2 +/- 13.8) microm in the control group (P < 0.01). The ratio of the thickness of gastric mucosal glands and muscularis mucosa(L(1)/L(2)) was 2.70 +/- 0.34 in the therapy group and 1.27 +/- 0.27 in the control group (P < 0.01). The number of gastric glands in 1 mm length of mucosal layer was 26.20 +/- 1.27 in the therapy group and 19.90 +/- 1.78 in the control group (P < 0.01). In the therapy group, the gastric glands were rearranged in order, without signs of malignant proliferation. The width of the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA ) of gastric mucosa was higher in the therapy group than in the control group [(77.70 +/- 4.16) microm vs (54.40 +/- 4.54) microm, P < 0.01].

CONCLUSIONS

EGF played a therapeutic role in reversing the gastric mucosal atrophy of the rats with CAG. It promoted the expression of PCNA, which induced a protective proliferation of the gastric mucosal lesions in the rats with CAG.

Changes in serum ammonia concentration in cirrhotic patients with Helicobacter pylori infection

OBJECTIVE

To study whether liver cirrhosis associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection will induce increased serum ammonia and whether the peripheral serum ammonia reflects the level of portal vein serum ammonia.

METHODS

Blood was taken from the portal vein and the cubital vein in cirrhotic patients with and without H. pylori infection and non-cirrhotic patients (splenic rupture) with and without H. pylori infection, and the serum ammonia was measured.

RESULTS

The mean levels of serum ammonia in the group of cirrhotic patients with H. pylori infection were 167.82 +/- 8.97 mumol/L (portal vein) and 142.2 +/- 13.35 mumol/L (cubital vein). They were increased significantly as compared with cirrhotic patients without H. pylori infection (47.68 +/- 12.03 mumol/L portal vein and 37.23 +/- 7.04 mumol/L cubital vein), and also compared with the groups of splenic rupture patients with and without H. pylori infection (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between the serum ammonia level of the cubital vein and portal vein (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

H. pylori infection can induce an increase in serum ammonia in patients with liver dysfunction, and the peripheral serum ammonia measurement may replace the portal vein serum ammonia as a monitoring method. Eradication of H. pylori in cirrhotic patients may prevent hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

[Assay and L1 gene sequence analysis of human papillomavirus type 6 and 11 in condylomata acuminata]

OBJECTIVE

To determinate the prevalence of HPV type 6, 11 in condylomata acuminata, and analyze the sequence of L1 gene and its deduced L1 protein.

METHODS

PCR was used to amplify DNA sequences between E6 and E7 of HPV type 6 and 11. The PCR products were identified by the fragment length cleaved with restriction enzyme RsaI. L1 genes were amplified with high fidelity Taq, and cloned DNA sequences were detected by the dideoxynucleotide method.

RESULTS

In 34 examples of condylomata acuminata, HPV11 was found in 25 examples (73.5%), HPV6 in 15(44.1%), including HPV6 + HPV11 in 6(17.6%). In comparison with the prototypes there were 7-8 point mutations in HPV11 L1 gene and 3 in HPV6L1 gene. L1 encoded protein changes showed up only in 1-3 amino acids in the former cases.

CONCLUSION

Most of patients tested with condylomata acuminata are mainly infected by HPV11, the rest of them by HPV6 or by co-infection of two mixex types. Sequence analysis of L1 genes indicated that mutations were found in both HPV6 and 11, whereas deduced amino acid mutations in L1 protein were limited in HPV11 only.

Dynamic topology representing networks

In the present paper, we propose a new algorithm, namely the Dynamic Topology Representing Networks (DTRN) for learning both topology and clustering information from input data. In contrast to other models with adaptive architecture of this kind, the DTRN algorithm adaptively grows the number of output nodes by applying a vigilance test. The clustering procedure is based on a winner-take-quota learning strategy in conjunction with an annealing process in order to minimize the associated mean square error. A competitive Hebbian rule is applied to learn the global topology information concurrently with the clustering process. The topology information learned is also utilized for dynamically deleting the nodes and for the annealing process. Properties of the DTRN algorithm will be discussed. Extensive simulations will be provided to characterize the effectiveness of the new algorithm in topology preserving, learning speed, and classification tasks as compared to other algorithms of the same nature.

[Study on genuineness of traditional Chinese medicine cortex Magnoliae officinalis]

It's found that a significant correlation between the samples of Magnoliae officinalis from the provenance in phenols content and varieties or forms. The total content of magnolol and honokiol in its bark is usually used as an index to measure the quality. Therefore, Cortex Magnoliae officinalis produced in Sichuan and Hubei being considered genuinenss and good in quality, should be actually referred to local varieties. This conclusion can also reveals the nature and scientific connotation of genuineness on Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis.

Modified theory of photoinduced molecular polar alignment in azo polymers

An improvement on the simplified theory of all-optical poling [Chem. Phys. Lett. 286, 415 (1998)] is proposed. In this improvement the influence of the cis isomer is taken into account in the process of photoinduced molecular polar alignment. An analytical expression for the induced polar order in the steady-state regime is derived. This expression shows that, although the contribution to the photoinduced second-order susceptibility from the cis state itself can be neglected, the population of the cis state plays an important role. This result suggests the possibility that one can improve the induced polar order by increasing the poling temperature, so that thermal-assisted optical poling can be explained.