Mpox-AISM: AI-mediated super monitoring for mpox and like-mpox

Swift and accurate diagnosis for earlier-stage monkeypox (mpox) patients is crucial to avoiding its spread. However, the similarities between common skin disorders and mpox and the need for professional diagnosis unavoidably impaired the diagnosis of earlier-stage mpox patients and contributed to mpox outbreak. To address the challenge, we proposed "Super Monitoring", a real-time visualization technique employing artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet technology to diagnose earlier-stage mpox cheaply, conveniently, and quickly. Concretely, AI-mediated "Super Monitoring" (mpox-AISM) integrates deep learning models, data augmentation, self-supervised learning, and cloud services. According to publicly accessible datasets, mpox-AISM's Precision, Recall, Specificity, and F1-score in diagnosing mpox reach 99.3%, 94.1%, 99.9%, and 96.6%, respectively, and it achieves 94.51% accuracy in diagnosing mpox, six like-mpox skin disorders, and normal skin. With the Internet and communication terminal, mpox-AISM has the potential to perform real-time and accurate diagnosis for earlier-stage mpox in real-world scenarios, thereby preventing mpox outbreak.

[Phenotypic and genetic analysis of a Chinese pedigree affected with Hereditary antithrombin deficiency due to a novel variant of SERPINC1 gene]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the clinical phenotype and genetic characteristics of a Chinese pedigree affected with Hereditary antithrombin deficiency.

METHODS

A pedigree diagnosed at the the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Yuying Children's Hospital in June, 2020 was selected as the study subject. Plasma prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB), and thrombin time (TT) of the probands and their pedigree members were determined using a STA-R automatic coagulation analyzer. Antithrombin activity (AT: A) and antithrombin antigen (AT: Ag) in plasma were determined with chromogenic substrate and immunonephelometry assays. All exons and flanking sequences of the anticoagulant protein gene SERPINC1 were amplified by PCR and subjected to Sanger sequencing. Candidate variants were verified with bioinformatic tools (PolyPhen-2, SIFT, Mutation Taster and PYMOL) to explore their effect on the function and structural conformation of the protein.

RESULTS

The probands (II-2, II-10), their brother (II-5) and sons (III-1, III-8) had shown normal PT, APTT, FIB, and TT, but significantly decreased AT: A and AT: Ag, with their levels being 34%, 57%, 56%, 48%, 53% and 13.51 mg/dL, 13.44 mg/dL, 18.39 mg/dL, 17.36 mg/dL, 17.71 mg/dL, respectively. The remaining pedigree members had normal values. Sanger sequencing revealed that the probands and all affected pedigree members had harbored a heterozygous c.851T>C (p.Met284Thr) missense variant in exon 5 of the SERPINC1 gene. Bioinformatic analysis and simulation suggested that the variant has resulted in alteration of hydrogen bonds at the c.851 position, which may affect the structure of the protein. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the variant was classified as pathogenic (PS1+PM1+PM5+PP1+PP4).

CONCLUSION

The probands and other affected members were all diagnosed with type I hereditary AT deficiency, for which the c.851T>C (p.Met284Thr) variant of the SERPINC1 gene may be accountable.

Shikimate-Derived Meroterpenoids from the Ascidian-Derived Fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908 and Their Anti-Glioma Activity

Glioma is a clinically heterogeneous type of brain tumor with a poor prognosis. Current treatment approaches have limited effectiveness in treating glioma, highlighting the need for novel drugs. One approach is to explore marine natural products for their therapeutic potential. In this study, we isolated nine shikimate-derived diisoprenyl-cyclohexene/ane-type meroterpenoids (1-9), including four new ones, amphicordins A-D (1-4) from the ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908, and further semisynthesized four derivatives (10-13). Their structures were extensively characterized using 1D and 2D NMR, modified Mosher's method, HR-ESIMS, NMR and ECD calculations, and X-ray crystallography. Notably, amphicordin C (3) possesses a unique benzo[g]chromene (6/6/6) skeleton in this meroterpenoid family. In an anti-glioma assay, oxirapentyn A (7) effectively inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma cells and induced their apoptosis. Furthermore, an in silico analysis suggested that oxirapentyn A has the potential to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. These findings highlight the potential of oxirapentyn A as a candidate for the development of novel anti-glioma drugs.

Photothermal Responsive Microcarriers Encapsulated With Cangrelor and 5-Fu for Colorectal Cancer Treatment

Localized chemotherapy is emerging as a potential strategy for cancer treatment due to its low systemic toxicity. However, the immune evasion of tumor cells and the lack of an intelligent design of the delivery system limit its clinical application. Herein, photothermal responsive microcarriers are designed by microfluidic electrospray for colorectal tumor treatment. The microcarriers loaded with Cangrelor, 5-FU and MXene (G-M@F/C+NIR) show sustained delivery of antiplatelet drug Cangrelor, thus inhibiting the activity of platelets, interactions of platelet-tumor cell, as well as the tumor cells invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition, the sustained delivery of chemotherapeutics 5-FU and the photothermal effect provided by MXene enable the microcarriers to inhibit tumor cells proliferation and migration. In vivo studies validate that the G-M@F/C+NIR microcarriers significantly inhibites tumor growth, decreased the expression of Ki-67 in tumor cells and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the tumor microenvironment, while increased the expression of E-cadherin. It is believe that by means of the proposed photothermal responsive microcarriers, the synergistic strategy of platelet inhibition, chemotherapy, and photothermal therapy can find practical applications in cancer treatment.

HTMC: hierarchical tolerance mask correspondence for human body point cloud registration

Point cloud registration can be solved by searching for correspondence pairs. Searching for correspondence pairs in human body point clouds poses some challenges, including: (1) the similar geometrical shapes of the human body are difficult to distinguish. (2) The symmetry of the human body confuses the correspondence pairs searching. To resolve the above issues, this article proposes a Hierarchical Tolerance Mask Correspondence (HTMC) method to achieve better alignment by tolerating obfuscation. First, we define various levels of correspondence pairs and assign different similarity scores for each level. Second, HTMC designs a tolerance loss function to tolerate the obfuscation of correspondence pairs. Third, HTMC uses a differentiable mask to diminish the influence of non-overlapping regions and enhance the influence of overlapping regions. In conclusion, HTMC acknowledges the presence of similar local geometry in human body point clouds. On one hand, it avoids overfitting caused by forcibly distinguishing similar geometries, and on the other hand, it prevents genuine correspondence relationships from being masked by similar geometries. The codes are available at https://github.com/ChenPointCloud/HTMC.

Asymmetric total synthesis strategies of halichlorine and pinnaic acid

Halichlorine and pinnaic acid are structurally related natural alkaloids isolated from different marine organisms. These two marine alkaloids bearing a 6-azaspiro[4.5]decane skeleton demonstrate a wide range of biological effects. It is this kind of unique structure and potentially valuable biological activity that have prompted strong synthetic interest, making it a research focus in recent years. Since the first total synthesis of halichlorine and pinnaic acid completed by Danishefsky's group, many groups have reported their outstanding synthesis methods especially the asymmetric synthesis strategies. This review summarizes the asymmetric synthesis strategies of halichlorine and pinnaic acid using a 6-azaspiro[4.5]decane skeleton as the key intermediate, which can provide some guidance for related work.

Anti-inflammatory acetylenic meroterpenoids from the ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908

A combination strategy of 13C NMR and bioinformatics was established to expedite the discovery of acetylenic meroterpenoids from the ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908. This approach led to the identification of 13 acetylenic meroterpenoids (1-13) and four biogenic analogs (14-17), including five new ones named felinoids A-E (1-4 and 15). Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated using extensive spectroscopy, ECD quantum chemical calculations, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 possessed a rare cyclic carbonate in natural acetylenic meroterpenoids. The plausible shikimate-terpenoid biosynthetic pathways of 1-4 were also postulated. Five of these isolates exhibited anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting NO production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells (IC50 = 11.6-19.5 μM). Moreover, oxirapentyn E diacetate showed a dose-dependent inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α. Structural modification of oxirapentyn B yielded 29 new derivatives, among which seven showed improved activity (IC50 < 3 μM) and higher selectivity index (SI > 22). The structure-activity relationship study indicated that 7, 8-epoxy, and 6-acylation were crucial for the activity. These findings may provide a powerful tool to accelerate the discovery of new fungal acetylenic meroterpenoids for future anti-inflammatory drug development.

FFENet: frequency-spatial feature enhancement network for clothing classification

Clothing analysis has garnered significant attention, and within this field, clothing classification plays a vital role as one of the fundamental technologies. Due to the inherent complexity of clothing scenes in real-world environments, the learning of clothing features in such complex scenes often encounters interference. Because clothing classification relies on the contour and texture information of clothing, clothing classification in real scenes may lead to poor classification results. Therefore, this paper proposes a clothing classification network based on frequency-spatial domain conversion. The proposed network combines frequency domain information with spatial information and does not compress channels. It aims to enhance the extraction of clothing features and improve the accuracy of clothing classification. In our work, (1) we combine the frequency domain information and spatial information to establish a clothing feature extraction clothing classification network without compressed feature map channels, (2) we use the frequency domain feature enhancement module to realize the preliminary extraction of clothing features, and (3) we introduce a clothing dataset in complex scenes (Clothing-8). Our network achieves a top-1 model accuracy of 93.4% on the Clothing-8 dataset and 94.62% on the Fashion-MNIST dataset. Additionally, it also achieves the best results in terms of top-3 and top-5 metrics on the DeepFashion dataset.

CAPN: a Combine Attention Partial Network for glove detection

Accidents caused by operators failing to wear safety gloves are a frequent problem at electric power operation sites, and the inefficiency of manual supervision and the lack of effective supervision methods result in frequent electricity safety accidents. To address the issue of low accuracy in glove detection with small-scale glove datasets. This article proposes a real-time glove detection algorithm using video surveillance to address these issues. The approach employs transfer learning and an attention mechanism to enhance detection average precision. The key ideas of our algorithm are as follows: (1) introducing the Combine Attention Partial Network (CAPN) based on convolutional neural networks, which can accurately recognize whether gloves are being worn, (2) combining channel attention and spatial attention modules to improve CAPN's ability to extract deeper feature information and recognition accuracy, and (3) using transfer learning to transfer human hand features in different states to gloves to enhance the small sample dataset of gloves. Experimental results show that the proposed network structure achieves high performance in terms of detection average precision. The average precision of glove detection reached 96.59%, demonstrating the efficacy of CAPN.

Integrating Genomics and Metabolomics for the Targeted Discovery of New Cyclopeptides with Antifungal Activity from a Marine-Derived Fungus Beauveria felina

Sour rot, caused by Geotrichum citri-aurantii, is a major postharvest disease in citrus and results in significant economic losses. The genus Beauveria is recognized as a promising source of biocontrol agents for agricultural applications. Herein, we established a targeted strategy by integrating genomics and metabolomics to accelerate the discovery of new cyclopeptides from antagonistic metabolites produced by the marine-derived fungus Beauveria felina SYSU-MS7908. As a result, we isolated and characterized seven cyclopeptides, including six new molecules, isaridins I-N (1-6). Their chemical structures and conformational analysis were extensively elucidated using spectroscopic techniques (NMR, HRMS, and MS'MS data), modified Mosher's and Marfey's methods, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Notably, isaridin K (3) contains a peptide backbone with an N-methyl-2-aminobutyric acid residue rarely found in natural cyclopeptides. Bioassays showed that compound 2 could significantly inhibit the mycelial growth of G. citri-aurantii by destroying the cell membrane. These findings provide an effective strategy for searching for new fungal peptides for potential agrochemical fungicides and also pave the way for further exploration of applications in agriculture, food, and medicine.

Absolute configuration of cyclopropanes and the structural revision of pyrones from Marine-derived fungus Stagonospora sp. SYSU-MS7888

Two new cyclopropane derivatives (1-2) and seven undescribed α-pyrone derivatives (3-9), along with one known congener (10) were obtained from the marine fungus Stagonospora sp. SYSU-MS7888, which was isolated from the South China Sea. Their planar structures were established through extensive spectroscopic analyses including 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESIMS. The absolute configurations were identified on basis of the quantum chemical calculations of ECD and NMR, as well as the modified Mosher's method. It's particularly noteworthy that the tetrasubstituted furopyrans, chenopodolans A-F, possessing phytotoxicity and zootoxicity, were structural misassignments. The structures of chenopodolans featuring with furopyran skeleton were revised as common trisubstituted α-pyrones by computational chemistry, NMR spectroscopic method, and empirical rule. Compounds 1, 2, 7, and 9 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 3.6 to 22.8 μM, which is better than the positive control indomethacin (IC₅₀ = 26.5 ± 1.13 μM). This discovery holds potential for the development of new anti-inflammatory agents.

Targeted Discovery of Sorbicillinoid Pigments with Anti-Inflammatory Activity from the Sponge-Derived Fungus Stagonospora sp. SYSU-MS7888 Using the PMG Strategy

An effective identification and discovery of fungal pigments is very important to illustrate the role of fungal pigments in the life process and conduce to the discovery of new bioactive and edible pigments. The phenotype combined with metabolomic and genomic (PMG) strategy led to the discovery and characterization of three new sorbicillinoid pigments, stasorbicillinoids A-C (1-3), and five known analogues (4-8) from the sponge-derived fungus Stagonospora sp. SYSU-MS7888. Their structures were elucidated by the application of spectroscopic methods (NMR, MS, UV, IR, and ECD) and modified Mosher's method. Compounds 1 and 2 featured novel naphthone nuclei linked by two alkyl side chains possibly undergoing inter- and intramolecular Michael reactions. Compounds 1-8 exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity with IC₅₀ values in the range of 3.56-22.8 μM. Furthermore, compound 2 inhibited the production of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. This study provides an effective strategy to accelerate the discovery of new fungal pigments and further exploration of their potential applications in different fields such as medicine and food industries.

Phenotypic and genetic analyses of four cases of coagulation factor XII deficiency

OBJECTIVES

To identify the clinical phenotypic and molecular pathogeneses of four cases of coagulation factor XII deficiency and to deepen the cognition of this disease.

METHODS

Coagulation tests were performed through one stage of coagulation on a STAGO coagulation analyser. Coagulation factor XII antigen was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The species conservatism and structural change of mutant proteins were analysed using MegAlign and PYMOL. Meanwhile, missense variants and a novel splice site variant were identified using PolyPhen2 and NetGene2.

RESULTS

The four cases had an observably prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time but without obvious bleeding tendency. Their coagulation factor XII activity (FⅫ:C) and antigen (FXII:Ag) were greatly reduced. Six mutations were detected: NM_000505.4:c.398-1G>A, NP_000496.2:p.(Pro182Leu), NP_000496.2:p.(Ser479Ter), NP_000496.2:p.(Cys559Arg), NC_000005.10:g.7217_7221delinsGTCTA and NM_000505.4:c.1681-1G>A. The first five are newly discovered mutations. The two missense mutation sites were highly conservative, and their protein secondary structure changes may occur not only on the mutation sites but also on other domains. In silico analysis revealed that NP_000496.2:p.(Pro182Leu) may be BENIGN, NP_000496.2:p.(Cys559Arg) may be damaging, and that NM_000505.4:c.398-1G>A and NM_000505.4:c.1681-1G>A are crucial for splicing.

CONCLUSION

We found six types of mutations, of which five were novel. The two missense mutation sites might be closely related to the function of coagulation factor XII. The mutations were the primary culprits of factor XII deficiency.

YY1 promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by enhancing mitochondrial respiration

KRAS-driven metabolic reprogramming is a known peculiarity features of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. However, the metabolic roles of other oncogenic genes, such as YY1, in PDAC development are still unclear. In this study, we observed significantly elevated expression of YY1 in human PDAC tissues, which positively correlated with a poor disease progression. Furthermore, in vitro studies confirmed that YY1 deletion inhibited PDAC cell proliferation and tumorigenicity. Moreover, YY1 deletion led to impaired mitochondrial RNA expression, which further inhibited mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complex assembly and altered cellular nucleotide homeostasis. Mechanistically, the impairment of mitochondrial OXPHOS function reduced the generation of aspartate, an output of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and resulted in the inhibition of cell proliferation owing to unavailability of aspartate-associated nucleotides. Conversely, exogenous supplementation with aspartate fully restored PDAC cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that YY1 promotes PDAC cell proliferation by enhancing mitochondrial respiration and the TCA, which favors aspartate-associated nucleotide synthesis. Thus, targeting nucleotide biosynthesis is a promising strategy for PDAC treatment.

Two New Picoline-Derived Meroterpenoids with Anti-Acetylcholinesterase Activity from Ascidian-Derived Fungus Amphichorda felina

Amphichoterpenoids D (1) and E (2), two new picoline-derived meroterpenoids with a rare 6/6/6 tricyclic pyrano[3,2-c]pyridinyl-γ-pyranone scaffold, were isolated from the ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908. Their structures, including the absolute configurations, were established by extensive spectroscopic methods (1D and 2D NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry) and ECD calculations. Compounds 1 and 2 showed anti-acetylcholinesterase (anti-AChE) activities with IC₅₀ values of 12.5 μM and 11.6 μM, respectively. The binding interactions between 1, 2, and AChE were investigated using molecular docking analyses.

Expression of Serum Cytokines Profile in Neonatal Sepsis

Objective

Sepsis remains a major cause of neonatal death. To better characterize the inflammatory response during neonatal sepsis, we compared the differences in serum cytokines and chemokines between full-term neonates with sepsis and without infection.

Methods

We enrolled 40 full-term neonates with sepsis and 26 full-term neonates without infection as controls between October 2016 and June 2018. Forty cytokines /chemokines in serum were analyzed using the Luminex Bead Immunoassay System.

Results

Our results showed that serum IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, IL-1β, MIF, CXCL13, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL5, CXCL6, CXCL16, CCL27, CCL2, CCL8, CCL3, CCL20, CCL23, and CX3CL1 levels were significantly increased in neonates with sepsis compared to those in the control group (all p<0.05). The levels of serum CCL20, and IL-17 were higher in late-onset sepsis (LOS) than those in early-onset sepsis (EOS) (all p<0.05). Conversely, serum CXCL16 was lower in LOS than that in EOS (p<0.05).

Conclusion

Our findings revealed that excessive pro-inflammatory cytokines might be involved in neonatal sepsis. In addition, chemokines significantly increased the recruitment of immune cells after infection to participate in the anti-infection defense of neonates, but this could lead to damage.

Development and validation of postoperative and preoperative platelets ratio (PPR) to predict the prognosis of patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer: A dual-center retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Platelets occupy a prominent place in tumor proliferation and metastasis, and platelet count is relevant to the prognosis of tumor patients. But preoperative platelet counts cannot be standardized and individualized due to the variability among individuals, instruments, and regions, and the connection between postoperative platelet count and prognosis remains unknown. A standardized indicator of platelet count was designed to forecast the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODS

Five hundred and eighty six patients who suffered radical resection of CRC between 2013 and 2019 were collected. A development-validation cohort of standardized and individualized platelet counts for prognostic assessment of CRC was designed. We first determined the ability of PPR and other peripheral blood count-related indicators to predict the mortality of patients with CRC and validated them in a separate cohort. Kaplan-Meier analysis was executed to evaluate the survival and univariate and multivariate analyses were executed to explore the relevance. Time-dependent ROC was measured to estimate the predictive usefulness. Decision curve analysis was used to verify the clinical net benefit.

RESULTS

Important baseline variables showed a similar distribution in two independent queues. In the development cohort, postoperative platelet count and postoperative/preoperative platelets ratio (PPR) were independent predictors of prognosis in CRC patients. PPR showed the largest area under the curve (AUC) in evaluating 1-year and 5-year OS (AUC: 0.702 and 0.620) compared to others. In the validation cohort, platelet/lymphocyte ratio and PPR were validated to be independently concerned about OS of CRC patients and PPR showed the largest AUC in evaluating 1-year and 3-year OS (AUC: 0.663 and 0.673). PPR and joint index of platelet count and PPR showed better predictive value and clinical net benefit.

CONCLUSIONS

PPR has been identified and validated to be independently concerned about OS of patients with CRC and was a reliable and economic indicator to evaluate the prognosis.

[Analysis of two pedigrees affected with inherited dysfibrinogenemia due to a novel c.1115 T>A variant of the FGB gene]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the phenotype and genotype of two Chinese family with inherited dysfibrinogenemia and the molecular pathogenic mechanism.

METHODS

In the probands and their family members, coagulation routine, fibrinogen activity (Fg: A) and fibrinogen antigen (Fg: Ag) were detected. To find the mutation and exclude single nucleotide polymorphisms, all the exons and exons-intron boundaries of fibrinogen genes (FGA, FGB and FGG) were amplified by Ploymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), then sequenced. Bioinformatics prediction softwares were used to predict and score the change of function caused by the variant. PyMol were used to analyze the structure of protein caused by the variant. Clustal X software was used to analyze the conservation of the mutant amino acids.

RESULTS

The thrombin time (TT) of the two was slightly prolonged and could not be corrected by protamine sulfate, and the fibrinogen activity was significantly reduced (1.25 g/L and 1.17 g/L), but the fibrinogen antigen content was normal, respectively (3.50 g /L and 3.81 g/L). Genetic analysis showed that both probands were heterozygous missense variants (FGB exon 7 c.1115T>A (p.Val372Glu)), both of which originated from the paternal line. The prediction results of the four bioinformatics softwares indicate that this variant could be disease causing. Clustal X software showed that Val372 is highly conserved among homologous species. Based on the guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, c.1115T>A was predicted to be likely pathgenic (PM2+PP1+PP2+PP3+PP4). PyMol showed that the secondary structure and three-dimensional structure of fibrinogen protein were changed by p.Val372Glu variant.

CONCLUSION

Inherited dysfibrinogenemia of the probands maybe caused by variant of FGB c.1115 T>A (p.Val372Glu), and the variant was firstly reported.

Construction of azaspirocyclic skeletons mediated by the carbonyl of the Weinreb amide: formal total synthesis of (±)-cephalotaxine

A facile Stevens rearrangement of the Weinreb amide and the subsequent key steps mediated by the carbonyl of the Weinreb amide led to the construction of azaspirocyclic skeletons of some typical alkaloids. And the formal total synthesis of (±)-cephalotaxine was completed via a shorter synthetic route by this efficient method. Further studies on the development and asymmetric synthesis application of this strategy are underway.

Transcriptional landscape of circulating platelets from patients with COVID-19 reveals key subnetworks and regulators underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection: implications for immunothrombosis

Background

Thrombosis and coagulopathy are pervasive pathological features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and thrombotic complications are a sign of severe COVID-19 disease and are associated with multiple organ failure and increased mortality. Platelets are essential cells that regulate hemostasis, thrombus formation and inflammation; however, the mechanism underlying the interaction between platelets and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains unclear.

Results

The present study performed RNA sequencing on the RNA isolated from platelets obtained from 10 COVID-19 patients and eight healthy donors, and discovered that SARS-CoV-2 not only significantly altered the coding and non-coding transcriptional landscape, but also altered the function of the platelets, promoted thrombus formation and affected energy metabolism of platelets. Integrative network biology analysis identified four key subnetworks and 16 risk regulators underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection, involved in coronavirus disease-COVID-19, platelet activation and immune response pathways. Furthermore, four risk genes (upstream binding transcription factor, RNA polymerase II, I and III subunit L, Y-box binding protein 1 and yippee like 2) were found to be associated with COVID-19 severity. Finally, a significant alteration in the von Willebrand factor/glycoprotein Ib-IX-V axis was revealed to be strongly associated with platelet aggregation and immunothrombosis.

Conclusions

The transcriptional landscape and the identification of critical subnetworks and risk genes of platelets provided novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of immunothrombosis in COVID-19 progression, which may pave the way for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for preventing COVID-19-associated thrombosis and improving the clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13578-022-00750-5.

Mono- and Dimeric Xanthones with Anti-Glioma and Anti-Inflammatory Activities from the Ascidian-Derived Fungus Diaporthe sp. SYSU-MS4722

Seven new xanthones, diaporthones A-G (1-7), together with 13 known analogues, including five mono- (8-14) and six dimeric xanthones (15-20), were obtained from the ascidian-derived fungus Diaporthe sp. SYSU-MS4722. Their planar structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-ESIMS). The absolute configurations of 1-7 were clearly identified by X-ray crystallographic analysis and calculation of the ECD Spectra. Compounds 15-20 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity with IC50 values between 6.3 and 8.0 μM. In addition, dimeric xanthones (15-20) showed selective cytotoxicity against T98G cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 19.5 to 78.0 μM.

Dynamic changes of platelets before and after surgery predict the prognosis of patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose: To determine the prognostic significance of postoperative platelet/preoperative platelet ratio (PPR) in patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and assess its prognostic benefit compared to models relying solely preoperative platelet counts (PLT).

Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 403 patients who underwent radical resection of NSCLC in our institution from 2013 to 2018 was conducted to assess the prognostic significance of PLT and PPR. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were performed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Single-factor and multi-factor COX regression models were used to determine factors that affect long-term outcomes. Time-dependent ROC was used to evaluate the value of PPR in predicting the prognosis.

Results: A significant association between high PLT and PPR and poor long-term patient survival outcomes was observed. The median PFS and OS of NSCLC patients with high PLT were 25 months and 29 months, which was significantly shorter than that of patients with low PLT (30 months and 33 months) (both P = 0.002). In addition, the median PFS and OS of NSCLC patients with high PPR were 18 months and 26.5 months, which was significantly shorter than that of patients with low PPR (33 months and 35 months) (both P<0.001). Univariate and Multivariate analysis using Cox regression model showed that PLT and PPR were independent factors affecting PFS and OS. Time-dependent ROC showed that the predictive capability of PLT and PPR preserved well when they were compared over time following surgery. The AUCs of PLT and PPR to predict 1-year PFS and OS, 3-year PFS and OS, 5-year PFS and OS stabilized between 0.528-0.607. PPR showed significantly higher accuracy than PLT in the prediction of 1-year and 3-year PFS and OS.

Conclusions: Elevated PPR is significantly related to the adverse outcomes of patients with NSCLC. PPR can stably predict the long-term prognosis of patients, and can be used as a reliable indicator for evaluating the prognosis of patients with operable NSCLC.

Effects of IL-32 polymorphisms and IL-32 levels on the susceptibility and severity of coronary artery disease

Background

Interleukin‐32 (IL‐32) has long been proposed as a biomarker for coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to evaluate the association between IL‐32 levels and coronary stenosis severity, IL‐32 polymorphisms rs28372698 and rs4786370, and CAD susceptibility.

Methods

A total of 362 patients with definite or suspected CAD that underwent angiography were recruited (CAD group, n = 175; nonobstructive CAD group, n = 56; control group, n = 131). The severity of coronary stenosis was assessed using the Gensini score and the number of diseased vessels. IL‐32 levels were determined using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Gene polymorphisms were genotyped using PCR and sequencing techniques.

Results

IL‐32 levels were significantly different at different levels of coronary artery stenosis (p < 0.05), and logIL‐32 was positively correlated with the Gensini score (r = 0.357, p < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that IL‐32 was independently associated with CAD (OR = 6.526, 95% CI: 3.344–12.739, p < 0.01). The receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed the area under the curve for discriminating the CAD and Gensini score were 0.605 and 0.613, respectively. Furthermore, IL‐32 levels were significantly higher before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) than at 7 days post‐PCI (p = 0.012). The homozygous TT genotype and T allele of rs28372698 were found to be associated with increased risk of CAD, while TT homozygosity and the T allele of rs4786370 with reduced risk of CAD (p < 0.05). However, both SNPs had no obvious effect on IL‐32 levels or coronary stenosis severity in patients with CAD.

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to show that rs28372698 and rs4786370 are associated with CAD susceptibility in Chinese Han population. We also suggest that plasma IL‐32 levels may be indicative of coronary artery stenosis and the efficacy of PCI and provide guidance for risk stratification and disease management.

[Phenotypic and genotypic analysis of a pedigree affected with hereditary protein C deficiency]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the phenotype and genetic variant in a pedigree affected with inherited protein C (PC) deficiency.

METHODS

The proband and her family members (7 individuals from 3 generations) were tested for plasma protein C activity (PC:A), protein C antigen (PC:Ag) content and other coagulation indicators. All of the 9 exons and flanking sequences of the proband's PROC gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. Suspected variants were verified by reverse sequencing of the proband and her family members. Bioinformatic software was used to analyze the pathogenicity and conservation of the variant site. Swiss-PdbViewer was used to analyze the three-dimensional model and the interaction with the mutant amino acid.

RESULTS

The PC:A and PC:Ag of the proband, her grandmother, father and elder brother were decreased to 55%, 52%, 48%, 51% and 53%, 55%, 50%, 56%, respectively. Genetic analysis showed that the four individuals have all carried heterozygous c.1318C>T (p.Arg398Cys) missense mutation in exon 9 of the PROC gene. The score of MutationTaster was 0.991, PROVEAN was -3.72, and FATHMM was -2.49, all predicted it to be a harmful mutation. Phylogenetic analysis also showed that Arg398 was weakly conservative among homologous species. Protein model analysis showed that, in the wild type, Arg398 can form a hydrogen bond with Glu341 and Lys395 respectively, when it was mutated to Cys398, the hydrogen bond with Glu341 disappears and an additional hydrogen bond was formed with Lys395, which has changed the spatial structure of the protein.

CONCLUSION

The heterozygous missense mutation c.1318C>T (p.Arg398Cys) of the PROC gene probably underlay the decreased PC:A and PC:Ag in this pedigree.

The chemistry and biology of fungal meroterpenoids (2009-2019)

Fungal meroterpenoids are secondary metabolites from mixed terpene-biosynthetic origins. Their intriguing chemical structural diversification and complexity, potential bioactivities, and pharmacological significance make them attractive targets in natural product chemistry, organic synthesis, and biosynthesis. This review provides a systematic overview of the isolation, chemical structural features, biological activities, and fungal biodiversity of 1585 novel meroterpenoids from 79 genera terrestrial and marine-derived fungi including macrofungi, Basidiomycetes, in 441 research papers in 2009-2019. Based on the nonterpenoid starting moiety in their biosynthesis pathway, meroterpenoids were classified into four categories (polyketide-terpenoid, indole-, shikimate-, and miscellaneous-) with polyketide-terpenoids (mainly tetraketide-) and shikimate-terpenoids as the primary source. Basidiomycota produced 37.5% of meroterpenoids, mostly shikimate-terpenoids. The genera of Ganoderma, Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Stachybotrys are the four dominant producers. Moreover, about 56% of meroterpenoids display various pronounced bioactivities, including cytotoxicity, enzyme inhibition, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antifungal activities. It's exciting that several meroterpenoids including antroquinonol and 4-acetyl antroquinonol B were developed into phase II clinically used drugs. We assume that the chemical diversity and therapeutic potential of these fungal meroterpenoids will provide biologists and medicinal chemists with a large promising sustainable treasure-trove for drug discovery.

Absolute configuration of polypropionate derivatives: Decempyrones A-J and their MptpA inhibition and anti-inflammatory activities

Under guidance of ¹H NMR, ten new polypropionate derivatives, decempyrones A-J (1-10) along with two known analogues (11 and 12), were isolated from the marine-derived fungusFusarium decemcellulare SYSU-MS6716. The planar structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses (1D and 2D NMR, and HR-ESIMS). The absolute configuration of the chiral centers in the side chain is a major obstacle for the structure identification of natural polypropionate derivatives. Herein, the J-based configurational analysis (JBCA), chemical degradation, geminal proton rule, and the modified Mosher's method were adopted to fix their absolute configurations in the side chain. Compounds 3 and 10 exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the production of NO in RAW264.7 cells activated by lipopolysaccharide with IC₅₀values 22.4 ± 1.8 and 21.7 ± 1.1 μM. In addition, compounds 3 and 10 displayed MptpA inhibitory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 19.2 ± 0.9 and 33.1 ± 2.9 µM. Structure-activity relationships of the polypropionate derivatives were discussed.

Isochromosome 11q is Associated with Unique Characteristics and Poor Prognosis in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

BACKGROUND

Isochromosome 11q in patients with acute myeloid leukemia is rarely reported, and little is known about its main features.

METHODS

The presence of isochromosome 11q was identified in four patients (three adults and one child) from screening 441 patients with an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis between 2009 and 2018 by using R-banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

RESULTS

The child, patient 1 with unreported isochromosome (partial 11q isochromosome), accompanied with t(1;11) translocation, initially achieved remission after receiving chemotherapy. However, 4 months later this patient experienced a relapse. While multiple treatments were tried, it had no effect and the patient survived for 16 months. The remaining patients with isochromosome 11q exhibited numerical/structural chromosomal abnormal-ities involving myelodysplastic syndrome-related chromosomes 5, 7, 8, and 20. In patients 2 and 3, we found a derivative chromosome 21. Patient 3 was newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and was treated with many chemotherapy protocols, unfortunately with no effect. The patient then received traditional Chinese medicine and survived for 10 months, although she still has not achieved complete remission. Patients 2 and 4 received chemotherapy but experienced rapid disease progression and died within 2 months.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, patients with isochromosome 11q/partial 11q isochromosome have a poorer prognosis, especially for isochromosome 11q. Furthermore, these chromosome aberrations may be risk factors for the presence of isochromosome 11q or myelodysplastic syndrome-related genes, both of them may be associated with a failure to respond to treatment and poor outcomes. Hence, these discoveries may lay a foundation to study mechanisms and explore treatments.

Identification of the RNase-binding site of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for anchor primer-PCR detection of viral loading in 306 COVID-19 patients

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) urgently calls for more sensitive molecular diagnosis to improve sensitivity of current viral nuclear acid detection. We have developed an anchor primer (AP)-based assay to improve viral RNA stability by bioinformatics identification of RNase-binding site of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA and implementing AP dually targeting the N gene of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and RNase 1, 3, 6. The arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) improvement of viral RNA integrity was supported by (a) the AP increased resistance of the targeted gene (N gene) of SARS-CoV-2 RNA to RNase treatment; (b) the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by AP-PCR with lower cycle threshold values (-2.7 cycles) compared to two commercially available assays; (c) improvement of the viral RNA stability of the ORF gene upon targeting of the N gene and RNase. Furthermore, the improved sensitivity by AP-PCR was demonstrated by detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 70-80% of sputum, nasal, pharyngeal swabs and feces and 36% (4/11) of urine of the confirmed cases (n = 252), 7% convalescent cases (n = 54) and none of 300 negative cases. Lastly, AP-PCR analysis of 306 confirmed and convalescent cases revealed prolonged presence of viral loading for >20 days after the first positive diagnosis. Thus, the AP dually targeting SARS-CoV-2 RNA and RNase improves molecular detection by preserving SARS-CoV-2 RNA integrity and reveals the prolonged viral loading associated with older age and male gender in COVID-19 patients.

Roussoelins A and B: two phenols with antioxidant capacity from ascidian-derived fungus Roussoella siamensis SYSU-MS4723

Ascidian-derived microorganisms are a significant source of pharmacologically active metabolites with interesting structural properties. When discovering bioactive molecules from ascidian-derived fungi, two new phenols, roussoelins A (1) and B (2), and ten known polyketides (3-12) were isolated from the ascidian-derived fungus Roussoella siamensis SYSU-MS4723. The planar structure of compounds 1 and 2 was established by analysis of HR-ESIMS and NMR data. The conformational analysis of the new compounds was assigned according to coupling constants and selective gradient NOESY experiments, and absolute configurations were completed by the modified Mosher's method. Among the isolated compounds, 1, 2, and 9 showed moderate antioxidant capacity.

Graphical abstract

Economical and easily detectable markers of digestive tumors: platelet parameters

Aim:

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical values of platelet parameters in patients with digestive tumors.

Patients & methods:

A total of 974 people were classified into three groups: malignant group, patients with digestive malignant tumors; benign group, patients with benign tumors; and normal group: healthy individuals.

Results:

Compared with the benign and normal groups, the malignant group showed significantly increased platelet count (PLT) and plateletcrit (PCT) and significantly reduced mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet-large cell rate (P-LCR, p < 0.001). Elevated PLT and PCT and reduced MPV and P-LCR indicated poor overall survival in patients with digestive tumors.

Conclusion:

PLT, PCT, MPV and P-LCR were proven to be predictive biomarkers for patients with digestive malignant tumors. Elevated PLT and PCT or decreased MPV and P-LCR indicated poor overall survival.

[A case of inherited afibrinogenemia caused by an IVS7-12A>G splice mutation of FGG gene]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the genetic basis for a Chinese pedigree affected with inherited afibrinogenemia.

METHODS

For the proband and his family members, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), Fibrin(ogen) degradation products (FDPs), D-dimer (D-D), plasminogen activity (PLG:A) and the TT mixed experiment with protamine sulfate were determined with a STAGO-R automatic coagulation analyzer. The activity and antigen of fibrinogen (Fg) in plasma were measured with the Clauss method and immunonephelometry method, respectively. All exons and flanking regions of the fibrinogen genes (FGA, FGB and FGG) were amplified by PCR and directly sequenced. Human Splicing Finder software was used to predict and score the change of splicing site caused by the mutation.

RESULTS

The proband showed normal FDPs and D-D but significantly prolonged TT, PT and APTT. The activity and antigen of fibrinogen in plasma were significantly decreased (<0.1 g/L). His young sister and parents showed slightly prolonged TT (18.20-18.50 s) and decreased fibrinogen activity (1.27-1.54 g/L) and fibrinogen antigenic content (1.34-1.56 g/L). Genetic testing revealed that the proband has carried homozygous IVS7-12A>G (g.4147A>G) mutations of the FGG gene, for which his parents and young sister were heterozygous. As predicted by Human Splicing Finder and Mutation Taster software, the variant may generate a new splicing site which can extend the sequence of exon 7 by 11 bp, with alteration of the coding sequence. PROVEAN suggested the variant to be deleterious.

CONCLUSION

The afibrinogenemia of the proband may be attributed to the FGG IVS7-12A>G variant, which was unreported previously.

[Clinical and genetic analysis of a pedigree affected with type I hereditary antithrombin deficiency due to a g.2736dupT variant of the AT gene]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the phenotype and genotype of a patient affected with inherited antithrombin deficiency.

METHODS

All exons and exon-intron boundaries of the AT genes were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. The influence of variants on the disease was predicted using bioinformatic software (MutationTaster).

RESULTS

The results of all coagulation tests were normal, though the antithrombin activity and antigen content of the proband and his father have decreased significantly (34%, 48% and 12.97 mg/dL, 15.60 mg/dL, respectively). His mother was normal. Genetic analysis revealed that the proband and his father both carried a heterozygous g.2736dupT variant of the AT gene. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that the variant may be pathogenic.

CONCLUSION

The proband and his father both had type I hereditary antithrombin deficiency caused by a g.2736dupT variant of the AT gene. The variant was unreported previously.

An analysis of the variations and clinical applications of the lateral circumflex femoral artery

BACKGROUND

Identifying the arterial variation of the lateral circumflex femoral artery (LCFA) is a vital step in planning surgical and radiological approach. The aim of the study was to evaluate the variations and discuss the clinical correlates of the LCFA.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty eight adult cadavers (male 45, female 13) with 115 usable sides were used to assess and classify the origin and branches of the LCFA. Also its external diameter, distance from mid-inguinal ligament to sites of origin from the profunda femoris artery or femoral arteries.

RESULTS

There were seven types of LCFA variations in this sample. We classified them as types A to G, of which type A was normal, that is, the one showing a single LCFA arising from the profunda femoris artery. Nearly 50.43% of the sample had type B-G variations, each having 13, 10, 23, 4, 4, and 3 cases, accounting for 11.30%, 8.70%, 20.00%, 3.48%, 3.48%, and 2.61%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

There are many variant types in the LCFA. To avoid iatrogenic injuries, clinicians must have a sound understanding of the variation types of this important blood vessel.

A Closed-Tube Nested Quantitative PCR Assay for Rapid Detection of Intron 22 Inversions in the Factor VIII Gene

BACKGROUND

An inversion of intron 22 in the Factor VIII gene (Inv22) is the causative mutation for 45% of severe hemophilia A cases. Available methods for molecular diagnosis of Inv22 are generally tedious and not ideal for routine clinical use.

METHODS

We report here a new method using a single closed-tube nested quantitative PCR (CN-qPCR) for rapid detection of Inv22. This method combines a 12-cycle long-distance PCR (LD-PCR) amplifying the int22h regions, followed by a duplex qPCR targeting two specific regions close to the int22h regions. All reagents were added to a single PCR mixture for the closed-tube assay. Sequential LD-PCR and qPCR was achieved by designing primers at substantially different melting temperatures and optimizing PCR conditions.

RESULTS

Seventy-nine male hemophilia A patients of different disease severity were tested by both the CN-qPCR assay and the standard LD-PCR assay. CN-qPCR successfully made calls for all samples, whereas LD-PCR failed in eight samples. For the 71 samples where both methods made calls, the concordance was 100%. Inv22 was detected in 17 out of the 79 samples. Additionally, CN-qPCR achieved clear separation for 10 female carriers and 10 non-Inv22 females, suggesting the assay may also be useful for molecular diagnosis of female carriers.

CONCLUSIONS

This new CN-qPCR method may provide a convenient and accurate F8 Inv22 test suitable for clinical use.

A Review of Terpenes from Marine-Derived Fungi: 2015-2019

Marine-derived fungi are a significant source of pharmacologically active metabolites with interesting structural properties, especially terpenoids with biological and chemical diversity. In the past five years, there has been a tremendous increase in the rate of new terpenoids from marine-derived fungi being discovered. In this updated review, we examine the chemical structures and bioactive properties of new terpenes from marine-derived fungi, and the biodiversity of these fungi from 2015 to 2019. A total of 140 research papers describing 471 new terpenoids of six groups (monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sesterterpenes, triterpenes, and meroterpenes) from 133 marine fungal strains belonging to 34 genera were included. Among them, sesquiterpenes, meroterpenes, and diterpenes comprise the largest proportions of terpenes, and the fungi genera of Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Trichoderma are the dominant producers of terpenoids. The majority of the marine-derived fungi are isolated from live marine matter: marine animals and aquatic plants (including mangrove plants and algae). Moreover, many terpenoids display various bioactivities, including cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity, lethal toxicity, anti-inflammatory activity, enzyme inhibitor activity, etc. In our opinion, the chemical diversity and biological activities of these novel terpenoids will provide medical and chemical researchers with a plenty variety of promising lead compounds for the development of marine drugs.

Development and Validation of a Rapid, Single-Step Reverse Transcriptase Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) System Potentially to Be Used for Reliable and High-Throughput Screening of COVID-19

Objectives: Development and validation of a single-step and accurate reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification technique (RT-LAMP) for rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2 relative to commercial quantitative reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays to allow prompt initiation of proper medical care and containment of virus spread.

Methods: Primers showing optimal in-silico features were subjected to analytical sensitivity and specificity to assess the limit of detection (LOD) and cross-reaction with closely- and distantly-related viral species, and clinically prominent bacterial and fungal species. In order to evaluate the clinical utility, our RT-LAMP was subjected to a large number of clinical samples, including 213 negative and 47 positive patients, relative to two commercial quantitative RT-PCR assays.

Results: The analytical specificity and sensitivity of our assay was 100% and 500 copies/ml when serial dilution was performed in both water and sputum. Subjecting our RT-LAMP assay to clinical samples showed a high degree of specificity (99.5%), sensitivity (91.4%), positive predictive value (97.7%), and negative predictive value (98.1%) when used relative to qRT-PCR. Our RT-LAMP assay was two times faster than qRT-PCR and is storable at room temperature. A suspected case that later became positive tested positive using both our RT-LAMP and the two qRT-PCR assays, which shows the capability of our assay for screening purposes.

Conclusions: We present a rapid RT-LAMP assay that could extend the capacity of laboratories to process two times more clinical samples relative to qRT-PCR and potentially could be used for high-throughput screening purposes when demand is increasing at critical situations.

Development and Validation of a Rapid, Single-Step Reverse Transcriptase Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) System Potentially to Be Used for Reliable and High-Throughput Screening of COVID-19

Objectives: Development and validation of a single-step and accurate reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification technique (RT-LAMP) for rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2 relative to commercial quantitative reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays to allow prompt initiation of proper medical care and containment of virus spread. Methods: Primers showing optimal in-silico features were subjected to analytical sensitivity and specificity to assess the limit of detection (LOD) and cross-reaction with closely- and distantly-related viral species, and clinically prominent bacterial and fungal species. In order to evaluate the clinical utility, our RT-LAMP was subjected to a large number of clinical samples, including 213 negative and 47 positive patients, relative to two commercial quantitative RT-PCR assays. Results: The analytical specificity and sensitivity of our assay was 100% and 500 copies/ml when serial dilution was performed in both water and sputum. Subjecting our RT-LAMP assay to clinical samples showed a high degree of specificity (99.5%), sensitivity (91.4%), positive predictive value (97.7%), and negative predictive value (98.1%) when used relative to qRT-PCR. Our RT-LAMP assay was two times faster than qRT-PCR and is storable at room temperature. A suspected case that later became positive tested positive using both our RT-LAMP and the two qRT-PCR assays, which shows the capability of our assay for screening purposes. Conclusions: We present a rapid RT-LAMP assay that could extend the capacity of laboratories to process two times more clinical samples relative to qRT-PCR and potentially could be used for high-throughput screening purposes when demand is increasing at critical situations.

[Analysis of a pedigree affected with congenital dysfibrinogenemia due to a novel Gly31Glu mutation of FGA gene]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the phenotype and genotype of a pedigree affected with congenital dysfibrinogenemia.

METHODS

Liver and kidney functions of the proband and her relatives were determined. Coagulation tests including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time(TT), fibrin(ogen) degradation products (FDPs), D-dimer(D-D) and the calibration experiment of protamine sulfate of against plasma TT were detected in the proband and her predigree members. The activity and antigen of fibrinogen (Fg) in plasma were measured by Clauss method and immunonephelometry method, respectively. All of the exons and exons-intron boundaries of the three fibrinogen genes (FGA, FGB and FGG) were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. Potential influence of the suspected mutations were analyzed with bioinformatics software including PolyPhen-2, SIFT and Mutation Taster.

RESULTS

The proband had normal PT, APTT, FDPs, D-D and prolonged TT (31.8 s). The activity of fibrinogen (Fg) in plasma was significantly decreased but the antigen was normal. Genetic analysis revealed a heterozygous c.92G>A (p.Gly31Glu) mutation in exon 2 of the FGA gene. Family studies revealed that the mother carried the same mutation. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that the mutation may affect the function of Fg Protein.

CONCLUSION

The dysfibrinogenemia was probably caused by the novel Gly31Glu mutation of the FGA gene.

Penicamide A, A Unique N,N'-Ketal Quinazolinone Alkaloid from Ascidian-Derived Fungus Penicillium sp. 4829

Previously unreported N,N′-ketal quinazolinone enantiomers [(−)-1 and (+)-1] and a new biogenetically related compound (2), along with six known compounds, 2-pyrovoylaminobenzamide (3), N-(2-hydroxypropanoyl)-2 amino benzoic acid amide (4), pseurotin A (5), niacinamide (6), citreohybridonol (7), citreohybridone C (8) were isolated from the ascidian-derived fungus Penicillium sp. 4829 in wheat solid-substrate medium culture. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analyses (1D and 2D NMR and Electron Circular Dichroism data) and X-ray crystallography. The enantiomeric pair of 1 is the first example of naturally occurring N,N′-ketal quinazolinone possessing a unique tetracyclic system having 4-quinazolinone fused with tetrahydroisoquinoline moiety. The enantiomeric mixtures of 1 displayed an inhibitory effect on NO production in lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW264.7 cells, while the optically pure (–)-1 showed better inhibitory effect than (+)-1.

Antithrombotic Effect of shRNA Target F12 Mediated by Adeno-Associated Virus

Coagulation factor XII (FXII) plays a crucial role in thrombosis. Moreover, deficiencies in FXII are not associated with excessive bleeding, and its depletion exhibits satisfactory protective effect on thrombus formation. Several strategies targeting FXII have been applied to inhibit thrombosis formation. In this study, C57BL/6 mice were injected with adeno-associated virus (AAV) to identify the role of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in thrombosis. Differences in liver FXII, coagulation function, and thrombus formation were detected. The potential side effects of FXII were then evaluated through analysis of tail bleeding, biochemical indices, and pathological sections. Results showed that shRNAs, especially shRNA2, carried by AAV, effectively reduced the expression of FXII. Furthermore, only shRNA2 demonstrated an anti-thrombosis effect on multiple models without hemorrhage and side effects. Hence the novel approach of AAV-based shRNA is specific and safe for inhibiting FXII and thrombosis.

[Clinical and genotypic analysis of two Chinese pedigrees affected with hereditary coagulable factor VII deficiency]

OBJECTIVE

To explore molecular etiology and clinical characteristics of two pedigrees affected with hereditary factor VII(FVII) deficiency.

METHODS

The nine exons and flanking sequences of the F7 gene of the probands were amplified by PCR. The amplicons were analyzed by direct sequencing. Suspected mutations were subjected to SWISS-MODEL modeling and analysis of protein structure change by Pymol software and conservation of amino acids across various species.

RESULTS

For proband of pedigree 1, the prothrombin time (PT), FVII activity (FVII:C) and FVII antigen (FVII:Ag) were 36.3 s, 3%, 53.56%, respectively. Sequencing revealed a compound heterozygous variants of c.80_81delCT and c.1371G>T(p.Arg439Ser). His son carried a heterozygous c.1371G>T (p.Arg439Ser) variant. For proband of pedigree 2, the PT, FVII:C and FVII:Ag were 22.3 s, 4%, 1.58%, respectively. Sequencing has revealed a compound heterozygous c.278G>T(p.Arg75Met) missense variant in exon 3 and c.1278T>G (p.His408Gln) in exon 9 of the F7 gene. His mother and son both carried a heterozygous c.278G>T(p.Arg75Met) variant. Three-dimensional simulation and homology analysis revealed that the p.Arg439Ser and p.Arg75Met can respectively alter part of hydrogen bonds and two highly conserved amino acids.

CONCLUSION

Two novel heterozygous missense variants of the F7 gene [c.1371G>T(p.Arg439Ser) and c.278G>T(p.Arg75Met)] probably account for the decrease of factor VII in the two pedigrees.

Full high-throughput sequencing analysis of differences in expression profiles of long noncoding RNAs and their mechanisms of action in systemic lupus erythematosus

Background

The specific function of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the mechanism of their involvement in related pathological changes remain to be elucidated, so, in this study, we analyzed the differences in the expression profiles of lncRNAs and their mechanisms of action in SLE using full high-throughput sequencing, bioinformatics, etc. methods.

Methods

We used high-throughput sequencing to detect differences in the expression profiles of lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in PBMCs from patients with SLE at the genome-wide level. Next, we predicted target genes of 30 lincRNAs (long intergenic noncoding RNAs) by constructing a coexpression network of differential lincRNAs and mRNAs and identified the role of lincRNAs. Then, we analyzed the coexpression network of 23 optimized lincRNAs and their corresponding 353 miRNAs, evaluated the cis- and trans-effects of these lincRNAs, and performed GO and KEGG analyses of target genes. We also selected 8 lincRNAs and 2 newly discovered lncRNAs for q-PCR validation and lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA analysis. Finally, we also analyzed respectively the relation between lncRNAs and gender bias in SLE patients using RT-qPCR, the relation between Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index score and the “IFN signature” using ELISA, and the relation between the differential expression of lncRNAs and a change in the number of a cell type of PBMCs in SLE patients using RT-qPCR.

Results

The profiles of 1087 lncRNAs, 102 miRNAs, and 4101 mRNAs in PBMCs significantly differed between patients with SLE and healthy controls. The coexpression network analysis showed that the network contained 23 lincRNAs and 353 mRNAs. The evaluation of the cis- and trans-effects showed that the 23 lincRNAs acted on 704 target genes. GO and KEGG analyses of the target genes predicted the biological functions of the 23 lincRNAs. q-PCR validation showed 7 lincRNAs and 2 novel lncRNAs were identical to the sequencing results. The ceRNA network contained 7 validated lincRNAs, 15 miRNAs, and 155 mRNAs. In addition, the differential expression of lncRNAs may be gender dependent in SLE patients, SLE patients also exhibit a robust “IFN signature,” and PBMCs exhibiting differential expression of lncRNAs may be due to a change in the number of a cell type.

Conclusion

This work determined specific lncRNAs that play important biological functions in the pathogenesis of lupus and provided a new direction for diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13075-019-1853-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Identification of chromosomal abnormalities and genomic features in near-triploidy/tetraploidy-acute leukemia by fluorescence in situ hybridization

Background

Near-triploidy/tetraploidy is rarely found in acute leukemia. Only limited data are available to characterize this condition, and it remains largely unknown.

Patients and methods

In our study, we performed karyotype analysis on 1,031 patients diagnosed with acute leukemia from 2006 to 2018. A total of 10 patients of near-triploidy/tetraploidy karyotype were enrolled. Two cases of near-triploidy (66-79 chromosomes) and eight cases of near-tetraploidy (84-100 chromosomes) were identified. Bone marrow samples of these 10 patients were analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization with 19 commercially available probes that detected a small portion of gene alterations and large regions of chromosome amplifications.

Results

Of the six patients with acute myelocytic leukemia, we detected three cases of double t(8;21)(q22;q22) that have not been previously reported, and one of them demonstrated ins(21;8) (q22;q24q22). We also describe a novel pediatric case carrying double t(15;17)(q22;q21) and receiving targeted treatment with all-trans retinoic acid therapy. To date, this case has responded well to the regimen and has shown continuous complete remission. All patients received chemotherapy. One of them received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and survived for 22 months. Eight of the 10 patients died, and the median overall survival was 11 months.

Conclusion

Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we identified the distinct complex karyotype of near-triploidy/tetraploidy and provided further prognostic information. Tetraploidy acute promyelocytic leukemia had favorable prognosis; thus, HSCT was not necessary. The case of insertion t(21;8)(q22;q24q22) in tetraploidy responded poorly to chemotherapy and achieved molecular remission with difficultly. Data from patients in this group indicated that near-triploidy/tetraploidy acute leukemia has poor prognosis and new therapy is urgently needed.

[Identification of compound heterozygous mutations p.Gly400Val and p.Arg532Ter of the F11 gene in a Chinese patient with hereditary factor XI deficiency]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the phenotype and genotype defect characteristics of a Chinese patient with hereditary factor XI deficiency.

METHODS

The activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), FXI activity (FXI:C) of the proband and his relatives were measured by a clotting method using automatic coagulation analyzer. FXI antigen (FXI:Ag) was assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Fifteen exons of the F11 gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. Pymol software was used to analyze the novel mutations.

RESULTS

The APTT of the proband was significantly prolonged (70.3 s, reference 34.5 s) with decreased FXI activity (6%, reference 50%-150%) and FXI antigen (1.9%, reference 50%-150%). The FXI activity and FXI antigen of his son was 31% and 39%, respectively. Two heterozygous F11 mutations were identified in the proband, which included a G to T substitution at nucleotide 1296 in exon 11 resulting in substitution of glycine by valine at codon 400 (p.Gly400Val) and a A to T substitution at nucleotide 1691 in exon 14 resulting in substitution of arginine (AGA) by a termination codon (TGA) at codon 532 (p.Arg532Ter). Analysis using Pymol indicated that the number of hydrogen bonds has changed, which led to a transformation of the structure of the FXI protein. The son of the proband was found to be heterozygous for the c.1296G to T (p.Gly400Val) mutation. NM_13142 c.1691A to T (p.Arg532Ter) is a novel mutation based on HGMD professional 2016.4. Based on 2015 Guidelines of ACMG, it is PVS1 (very strong pathogenicity).

CONCLUSION

The compound heterozygous mutations of F11 NM_13142 c.1296G to T (p.Gly400Val) and F11 NM_13142 c.1691A to T(p.Arg532Ter) probably underlies the FXI deficiency in the proband.

[Genotypic and phenotypic analysis of a case with inherited coagulation factor X deficiency]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the correlation between F10 gene mutation and its phenotype in a Chinese pedigree affected with FX deficiency.

METHODS

Prothrombin time(PT), activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT), fibrinogen, FII activity(FII:C), FVII activity(FVII:C), FIX activity (FIX:C), FX activity(FX:C) were determined with a one-stage clotting assay. The FX antigen(FX:Ag) was detected with an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The 8 exons, introns and 5' and 3' untranslated regions(UTR) of the F10 gene of the proband and her family members were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. Suspected mutation was confirmed by reverse sequencing. Polymorphisms were excluded by direct sequencing of 100 healthy individuals.

RESULTS

The PT and APTT of the proband have prolonged to 16.1 s and 49.0 s, respectively. Her FX:C and FX:Ag were reduced by 27% and 56%, and her mother's PT, APTT, FX:C and FX:Ag were 14.8 s, 37.4 s, 44%, 34%, respectively. Her grandmother's PT, APTT, FX:C and FX:Ag were 15.8 s, 42.2 s, 31%, 45%, respectively. The results of her father and other family members were all within the normal range. Genetic analysis has revealed a heterozygous G to A mutation in the proband at position 28076 in exon 8 of the F10 gene, which resulted in a p.Gly363Ser substitution. The same mutation was also found in her mother and grandmother. No mutation of the F10 gene was found in her father. Gly363Ser may result in changes in the secondary structure of the FX protein and reduction of its activity.

CONCLUSION

The g.28076G to A(p.Gly363Ser) mutation of the F10 gene probably underlies the FX deficiency in this pedigree. The mutation was discovered for the first time in Chinese patients.

Dose Volume Effect of Acute Diarrhea in Post-Operative Radiation for Gynecologic Cancer

Background

Diarrhea is the primary symptom of concern in acute post-operative radiation-induced enteritis in gynecologic cancer. We retrospectively studied the correlation between the volume of irradiated small bowel and the development of acute diarrhea in these patients.

Materials and Methods

A total of 100 post-operative gynecologic cancer patients were analyzed. Pelvic computed tomography was performed to calculate the volume of irradiated small bowel. A dose-volume histogram was calculated from 5 to 40 Gy at 5 Gy intervals. Patients receiving conventional whole pelvic radiation therapy (RT) were assigned to Group I, and those who received intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) were assigned to Group II. A total dose of 40-50 Gy was delivered at 1.8-2.0 Gy per fraction daily. Acute diarrhea during treatment was scored. All data were expressed as a mean ± standard deviation. Different dose-volume parameters for small bowel in Grades 0-1 and Grades 2-3 diarrhea were calculated by the independent t-test. Univariate analysis of diarrhea risk factors was performed with the independent t-test or Chi-square/Fisher exact test.

Results

Of the 77 patients who received conventional RT, 44 (57.14%) experienced Grades 2-3 toxicities. Of the 23 patients who received IMRT, 9 (39.13%) experienced Grades 2-3 toxicities. Concurrent chemotherapy was slightly associated with a higher damage score in both groups (p = 0.028). None of the patient factors (weight, percentage depth dosage, dose fraction, distance from skin to tumor, lymph node metastasis, chemotherapy, block, brachytherapy, hypertension, or diabetes) were correlated with diarrhea in the two groups. The volumes of irradiated small bowel in patients who experienced Grades 2-3 diarrhea were significantly larger than those in patients who experienced Grades 0-1 diarrhea at all dose levels in Group I. V20 (372.19 ± 133.26 cm³, p = 0.004) was an independent factor for developing Grades 2-3 diarrhea in Group I. V25 (290.35 ± 130.22 cm³, p = 0.001) was an independent risk factor for all patients who developed higher score diarrhea.

Conclusions

The volume of irradiated small bowel was an independent risk factor for all patients who developed diarrhea, especially those undergoing conventional RT.