Dysregulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in cancers: A comprehensive analysis

BACKGROUND

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) plays a crucial role in gluconeogenesis, glycolysis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle by converting oxaloacetate into phosphoenolpyruvate. Two distinct isoforms of PEPCK, specifically cytosolic PCK1 and mitochondrial PCK2, have been identified. Nevertheless, the comprehensive understanding of their dysregulation in pan-cancer and their potential mechanism contributing to signaling transduction pathways remains elusive.

METHODS

We conducted comprehensive analyses of PEPCK gene expression across 33 diverse cancer types using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Multiple public databases such as HPA, TIMER 2.0, GEPIA2, cBioPortal, UALCAN, CancerSEA, and String were used to investigate protein levels, prognostic significance, clinical associations, genetic mutations, immune cell infiltration, single-cell sequencing, and functional enrichment analysis in patients with pan-cancer. PEPCK expression was analyzed about different clinical and genetic factors of patients using data from TCGA, GEO, and CGGA databases. Furthermore, the role of PCK2 in Glioma was examined using both in vitro and in vivo experiments.

RESULTS

The analysis we conducted revealed that the expression of PEPCK is involved in both clinical outcomes and immune cell infiltration. Initially, we verified the high expression of PCK2 in GBM cells and its role in metabolic reprogramming and proliferation in GBM.

CONCLUSION

Our study showed a correlation between PEPCK (PCK1 and PCK2) expression with clinical prognosis, gene mutation, and immune infiltrates. These findings identified two possible predictive biomarkers across different cancer types, as well as a comprehensive analysis of PCK2 expression in various tumors, with a focus on GBM.

Exploration of molecular markers related to chemotherapy efficacy of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach

PURPOSE

Preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy may not improve the prognosis of patients with hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach (HAS), a rare pathological type of gastric cancer. Thus, the study aimed at the genomic and transcriptomic impacts of preoperative chemotherapy on HAS.

METHODS

Patients with HAS who underwent surgical resection at Peking University Cancer Hospital were retrospectively included in this study. Whole exome sequencing and transcriptome sequencing were performed on pre-chemotherapy, non-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy samples. We then compared the alterations in molecular markers between the post-chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy groups, and between the chemotherapy-effective and chemotherapy-ineffective groups, respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 79 tumor samples from 72 patients were collected. Compared to the non-chemotherapy group, the mutation frequencies of several genes were changed after chemotherapy, including TP53. In addition, there was a significant increase in the frequency of frameshift mutations and cytosine transversion to adenine (C > A), appearance of COSMIC signature 6 and 14, and a reduced gene copy number amplification. Interestingly, the same phenomenon was observed in chemotherapy-ineffective patients. In addition, many HAS patients had ERBB2, FGFR2, MET and HGF gene amplification. Moreover, the expression of immune-related genes, especially those related to lymphocyte activation, was down-regulated after chemotherapy.

CONCLUSION

Chemotherapy is closely associated with changes in the molecular characteristics of HAS. After chemotherapy, at genomic and transcriptome level, many features were altered. These changes may be molecular markers of poor chemotherapeutic efficacy and play an important role in chemoresistance in HAS. In addition, ERBB2, FGFR2, MET and HGF gene amplification may be potential therapeutic targets for HAS.

Comparing suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection and plasma resection for laryngeal leukoplakia: prognostic outcomes

OBJECTIVE

The current research was designed to compare the clinical efficacy of suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection and plasma resection in the management of laryngeal leukoplakia and their effects on patient prognosis.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis was conducted on 184 laryngeal leukoplakia patients treated in Ningbo Beilun People's Hospital from January 2018 to October 2021. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 128 eligible patients were included, including 64 patients who underwent suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection (control group) and 64 patients who underwent cryolyrectomy (study group). The operative time, intraoperative bleeding volume, and time of pseudomembrane detachment in the two groups were recorded. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and IL-17A at 24 hours after surgery. Postoperative follow-up was conducted for one year. Results of the noise acoustic testing and stroboscopic laryngoscopy, including noise/harmonic ratio, amplitude perturbation, fundamental frequency perturbation, vocal fold vibration symmetry, and vocal fold mucosal wave, were documented before treatment and three months after treatment. The cumulative recurrence rate of patients within one year after surgery was recorded, and the cumulative recurrence rate of patients within 1 year after surgery was compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

Cryo-plasma resection significantly contributed to shorter operative time and less intraoperative bleeding volume as compared with suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection (both P<0.05), while time-lapse before postoperative pseudomembrane detachment was similar between the two groups (P>0.05). Patients with cryo-plasma resection exhibited significantly milder postoperative inflammatory response than those with suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection, as evinced by the lower serum concentrations of IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-17A at 24-h in patients with cryo-plasma resection after operation (P<0.05), while the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were similar between the two groups (P>0.05). At 3 months after operation, cryo-plasma resection contributed to more significant reductions of noise/harmonic ratio, amplitude perturbation, fundamental frequency perturbation, vocal fold vibration symmetry, and vocal fold mucosal as compared with suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection (P<0.05). Cryo-plasma resection contributed to a significantly lower incidence of cumulative recurrence than suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed no statistical difference in the impact of gender, age, smoking, and alcohol consumption on the recurrence and malignant transformation of laryngeal leukoplakia (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Both suspension laryngoscopic mucosal dissection and plasma resection can provide significant efficacy in the treatment of laryngeal leukoplakia, and cryo-plasma resection can contribute to a lower incidence of relapse, enhanced postoperative recovery, and superior short- and long-term outcomes than plasma resection.

Immunohistochemical characteristics and potential therapeutic regimens of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach: a study of 139 cases

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of stomach (HAS) is a special subtype of gastric cancer with poor prognosis. Immunohistochemical analysis could provide important clues for the treatment of HAS. A total of 159 patients were diagnosed as HAS and 139 were enrolled in this study. Statistical differences were determined using relative test methods and survival analyses were performed by the Kaplan-Meier method to find survival differences. All tumors in this study were negative for Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNAs (EBERs) and almost all showed no loss of mismatch repair (MMR) proteins and were positive for alpha fetoprotein (AFP or spalt like transcription factor 4 (SALL4). About half of the tumors had a positive programmed death-ligand 1 combined positive score (CPS) and 17.3% were positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). In addition, there was a relatively high proportion of cmet expression. We also found that HAS patients with recurrent disease treated by emerging therapy had a better survival than those treated with traditional chemotherapy (p = 0.002, median recurrence-to-death survival: 23 months versus 6 months); HAS patients who received anti-HER2 therapy or harbored MMR deficiency had favorable prognosis. Overall, high proportions of MMR protein proficiency, positivity for AFP or SALL4, overexpression of HER2, CPS and cmet, as well as negative EBER findings, are distinctive characteristics of HAS patients. While negative EBER and MMR proficiency indicate molecular features of HAS, positivity for AFP or SALL4 could aid in the diagnosis of HAS. In addition, HAS patients could benefit from anti-HER2 therapy, immunotherapy, and anti-angiogenesis therapy.

Double-tract reconstruction is superior to esophagogastrostomy in controlling reflux esophagitis and enhancing quality of life after proximal gastrectomy: Results from a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial in China

Objective

The aim of this study was to prospectively compare double-tract reconstruction (DTR) and esophagogastrostomy (EG) after proximal gastrectomy (PG) regarding the incidence of reflux esophagitis, quality of life (QOL), nutritional status and surgical safety.

Methods

This study was a randomized controlled trial. Patients eligible for PG were enrolled and randomly assigned to the EG group and DTR group. The characteristics of patients, parameters for surgical safety, incidence of reflux esophagitis, nutrition status and QOL were collected and compared between the two groups. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were performed to determine the significant factors affecting the incidence of reflux esophagitis after PG.

Results

Thirty-seven patients of the EG group and 36 patients of the DTR group were enrolled. The incidence of reflux esophagitis was significantly lower in the DTR group than in the EG group (8.3% vs. 32.4%, P=0.019). The DTR group demonstrated a more favorable QOL than the EG group after PG. The nutritional status was balanced within the EG group and the DTR group. The operation time was longer in the DTR group than in the EG group (191 min vs. 221 min, P=0.001), while surgical safety was similar in the two groups.

Conclusions

Our research demonstrated that DTR is superior to EG after PG in terms of the incidence of reflux esophagitis and provides a more satisfactory QOL without increasing surgical complications or sacrificing nutritional status.

Chitotriose Enhanced Antitumor Activity of Doxorubicin through Egr1 Upregulation in MDA-MB-231 Cells

Dietary supplementation is proposed as a strategy to reduce the side effects of conventional chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS), a functional carbohydrate, have been identified to potentially inhibit cancer cell proliferation. However, a detailed investigation is required to fully understand its exact influence, particularly in terms of COS composition. The antitumor activities of COS oligomers and its monomer of glucosamine, when combined with doxorubicin separately, were evaluated in MDA-MB-231 cells. Chitotriose was identified to have the most significant synergistic effect. Preincubation with chitotriose was observed to promote the entry of doxorubicin into the cell nuclei and induce morphological changes in the cells. Mechanism analysis at the transcriptional level revealed that the early growth response 1 (Egr1) gene was a key regulator in enhancing the suppressive effect. This gene was found to modulate the activity of its downstream gene, growth arrest, and DNA damage-inducible alpha (Gadd45a). The role of Egr1 was confirmed through a small interfering RNA test and function assay. These findings provide insight into the effect and underlying mechanism of chitotriose supplementation for TNBC therapy.

A new large area MCP-PMT for high energy detection

20-inch Large area photomultiplier tube based on microchannel plate (MCP-PMT) is newly developed in China. It is widely used in high energy detection experiments such as Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), China JinPing underground Laboratory (CJPL) and Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). To overcome the poor time performance of the existing MCP-PMT, a new design of large area MCP-PMT is proposed in this paper. Three-dimensional models are developed in CST Studio Suite to validate its feasibility. Effects of the size and bias voltage of the focusing electrodes and MCP configuration on the collection efficiency (CE) and time performance are studied in detail using the finite integral technique and Monte Carlo method. Based on the simulation results, the optimized operating and geometry parameters are chosen. Results show that the mean ratio of photoelectrons landing on the MCP active area is 97.5%. The acceptance fraction of the impinging photoelectrons is close to 100% due to the emission of multiple secondary electrons when hitting the MCP top surface. The mean transit time spread (TTS) of the photoelectrons from the photocathode is 1.48 ns.

AXR1 modulates trichome morphogenesis through mediating ROP2 stability in Arabidopsis

Cell differentiation and morphogenesis are crucial for the establishment of diverse cell types and organs in multicellular organisms. Trichome cells offer an excellent paradigm for dissecting the regulatory mechanisms of plant cell differentiation and morphogenesis due to their unique growth characteristics. Here, we report the isolation of an Arabidopsis mutant, aberrantly branched trichome 3-1 (abt3-1), with a reduced trichome branching phenotype. Positional cloning and molecular complementation experiments confirmed that abt3-1 is a new mutant allele of Auxin resistant 1 (AXR1), which encodes the N-terminal half of ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 and functions in auxin signaling pathway. Meanwhile, we found that transgenic plants expressing constitutively active version of ROP2 (CA-ROP2) caused a reduction of trichome branches, resembling that of abt3-1. ROP2 is a member of Rho GTPase of plants (ROP) family, serving as versatile signaling switches involved in a range of cellular and developmental processes. Our genetic and biochemical analyses showed AXR1 genetically interacted with ROP2 and mediated ROP2 protein stability. The loss of AXR1 aggravated the trichome defects of CA-ROP2 and induced the accumulation of steady-state ROP2. Consistently, elevated AXR1 expression levels suppressed ROP2 expression and partially rescued trichome branching defects in CA-ROP2 plants. Together, our results presented a new mutant allele of AXR1, uncovered the effects of AXR1 and ROP2 during trichome development, and revealed a pathway of ROP2-mediated regulation of plant cell morphogenesis in Arabidopsis.

Insights into Nb doping effects on the catalytic activity and SO2 tolerance of Mn-Cu/BCN catalyst for low-temperature NH3-SCR reaction

Biochar-based supported denitration catalysts have shown tremendous potential in reducing NOx, while improving low-temperature NH3-SCR catalytic activity and SO2 tolerance still faces great challenges. In this work, Mn7-Cu3/BCN and Mn7-Cu3-Nbx/BCN catalysts were prepared by one-step wet impregnation. The enhanced effect of Nb doping on the catalytic performance and SO2 tolerance over the Mn7-Cu3/BCN catalyst was evaluated in the temperature range of 75-275 °C. The denitrification activity test showed that the introduction of an appropriate amount of Nb increased the catalytic activity and N2 selectivity of the catalyst. The NO conversion of Mn7-Cu3-Nb0.05/BCN with an optimum doping ratio of 0.05 wt% Nb was higher than 94% at 150-275 °C. The characterization results indicated that the introduction of Nb enhanced the interaction between the active components MnOx and CuOx, accelerated the electron transfer between elements, and thus improved the Mn4+/Mnn+ and Oα/(Oα+Oβ+Oγ) proportions and redox performance. On the other hand, Nb modification increased the number of weakly acidic sites, which was beneficial for the adsorption and activation of the reducing agent NH3 under low-temperature conditions. Meanwhile, Nb could significantly improve the SO2 poisoning resistance of the Mn7-Cu3/BCN-S catalyst when SO2 was added to the reaction system. The NO conversion of Mn7-Cu3-Nb0.05/BCN remained above 75% after a 13.5 h reaction under 100 ppm SO2 and 5 vol% H2O at 225 °C. By combining experimental characterization results with DFT calculation results, we effectively confirmed that Mn7-Cu3-Nb0.05/BCN had good sulfur resistance, mainly because Nb could effectively inhibit the formation of manganese sulfate and promote the decomposition of ammonium bisulfate.

Transfer-Learning-Based Gaussian Mixture Model for Distributed Clustering

Distributed clustering based on the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) has exhibited excellent clustering capabilities in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. However, more iterative numbers and communication overhead are required to achieve the consensus in existing distributed GMM clustering algorithms. In addition, the truth that it cannot find a closed form for the update of parameters in GMM causes the imprecise clustering accuracy. To solve these issues, by utilizing the transfer learning technique, a general transfer distributed GMM clustering framework is exploited to promote the clustering performance and accelerate the clustering convergence. In this work, each node is treated as both the source domain and the target domain, and these nodes can learn from each other to complete the clustering task in distributed P2P networks. Based on this framework, the transfer distributed expectation-maximization algorithm with the fixed learning rate is first presented for data clustering. Then, an improved version is designed to obtain the stable clustering accuracy, in which an adaptive transfer learning strategy is adopted to adjust the learning rate automatically instead of a fixed value. To demonstrate the extensibility of the proposed framework, a representative GMM clustering method, the entropy-type classification maximum-likelihood algorithm, is further extended to the transfer distributed counterpart. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the presented algorithms in contrast with the existing GMM clustering approaches.

Targeting Immunosuppressive Myeloid Cells and Exhausted CD8+ T Cells Overcomes Radioresistance in NSCLC

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Although stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has achieved great success in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), local relapses still occur and abscopal effects are rarely seen even when combined with immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs). Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the immune responses after SBRT.

MATERIALS/METHODS

We characterized the dynamic changes of tumor-infiltrating immune cells at early and late time points after SBRT in a therapy-resistant murine tumor model using single-cell transcriptomes and T-cell receptor sequencing.

RESULTS

At the early stage, the innate and adaptive immune systems were activated, including activation of NKs and NKTs, and infiltration of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. At the late stage, however, the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) shifted into immunosuppressive properties, containing enrichment of immunosuppressive tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs), M2-like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and terminal exhausted CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, our study revealed that inhibition of CD39 combined with SBRT preferentially reinvigorated exhausted CD8+ T cells and promoted their proliferation, infiltration, and cytotoxicity. Meanwhile, it also promoted M1-like macrophage infiltration and DCs maturation. On the other hand, consequently increased infiltration of immunosuppressive myeloid cells after SBRT could be a potential mechanism mediating CD8+ T cell dysfunction. Moreover, we found that combination treatment with anti-VISTA and SBRT synergistically reduced immunosuppressive myeloid cells, containing TANs, M-MDSCs, and M2-like TAMs, and further activated CD8+ T cells. Clinically, high VISTA expression was associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients.

CONCLUSION

Altogether, our data provides deep insight into acquired resistance to SBRT from an immune perspective and presents rational combination strategies.

Safety and antitumour activity of cadonilimab, an anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody, for patients with advanced solid tumours (COMPASSION-03): a multicentre, open-label, phase 1b/2 trial

BACKGROUND

Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting PD-1 or CTLA-4 individually have shown substantial clinical benefits in the treatment of malignancies. We aimed to assess the safety and antitumour activity of cadonilimab monotherapy, a bispecific PD-1/CTLA-4 antibody, in patients with advanced solid tumours.

METHODS

This multicentre, open-label, phase 1b/2 trial was conducted across 30 hospitals in China. Patients aged 18 years or older with histologically or cytologically confirmed, unresectable advanced solid tumours, unsuccessful completion of at least one previous systemic therapy, and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 were eligible for inclusion. Patients who had previously received anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-CTLA-4 treatment were not eligible for inclusion. In the dose escalation phase of phase 1b, patients received intravenous cadonilimab at 6 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks. In the dose expansion phase of phase 1b, cadonilimab at 6 mg/kg and a fixed dose of 450 mg were given intravenously every 2 weeks. In phase 2, cadonilimab at 6 mg/kg was administered intravenously every 2 weeks in three cohorts: patients with cervical cancer, oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The primary endpoints were the safety of cadonilimab in phase 1b and objective response rate in phase 2, based on the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), version 1.1. The safety analysis was done in all patients who received at least one dose of cadonilimab. Antitumour activity was assessed in the full analysis set for the cervical cancer cohort, and in all patients with measurable disease at baseline and who received at least one dose of cadonilimab in the oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma cohorts. The study is registered on ClinicalTrial.gov, NCT03852251, and closed to new participants; follow-up has been completed.

FINDINGS

Between Jan 18, 2019, and Jan 8, 2021, 240 patients (83 [43 male and 40 female] in phase 1b and 157 in phase 2) were enrolled. Phase 2 enrolled 111 female patients with cervical cancer, 22 patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (15 male and seven female), and 24 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (17 male and seven female). During dose escalation, no dose-limiting toxicities occurred. Grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 67 (28%) of 240 patients; the most frequent grade 3 or worse treatment-related adverse events were anaemia (seven [3%]), increased lipase (four [2%]), decreased bodyweight (three [1%]), decreased appetite (four [2%]), decreased neutrophil count (three [1%]), and infusion-related reaction (two [1%]). 17 (7%) patients discontinued treatment due to treatment-related adverse events. 54 (23%) of 240 patients reported serious treatment-related adverse events, including five patients who died (one due to myocardial infarction; cause unknown for four). In phase 2, in the cervical cancer cohort, with a median follow-up of 14·6 months (IQR 13·1-17·5), the objective response rate was 32·3% (32 of 99; 95% CI 23·3-42·5). In the oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma cohort, with a median follow-up of 17·9 months (IQR 4·0-15·1), the objective response rate was 18·2% (four of 22; 95% CI 5·2-40·3). In the hepatocellular carcinoma cohort, with a median follow-up of 19·6 months (IQR 8·7-19·8), the objective response rate was 16·7% (four of 24; 95% CI 4·7-37·4).

INTERPRETATION

Cadonilimab showed an encouraging tumour response rate, with a manageable safety profile, suggesting the potential of cadonilimab for the treatment of advanced solid tumours.

FUNDING

Akeso Biopharma.

TRANSLATION

For the Chinese translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Rational Design of the β-Bulge Gate in a Green Fluorescent Protein Accelerates the Kinetics of Sulfate Sensing

Detection of anions in complex aqueous media is a fundamental challenge with practical utility that can be addressed by supramolecular chemistry. Biomolecular hosts such as proteins can be used and adapted as an alternative to synthetic hosts. Here, we report how the mutagenesis of the β-bulge residues (D137 and W138) in mNeonGreen, a bright, monomeric fluorescent protein, unlocks and tunes the anion preference at physiological pH for sulfate, resulting in the turn-off sensor SulfOFF-1. This unprecedented sensing arises from an enhancement in the kinetics of binding, largely driven by position 138. In line with these data, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations capture how the coordinated entry and gating of sulfate into the β-barrel is eliminated upon mutagenesis to facilitate binding and fluorescence quenching.

CaFeFeNbO6 - an iron-based double double perovskite

Ordering of cations is important for controlling properties of ABO₃ perovskites, and CaFeFeNbO₆ is the first example of an Fe-based AA'BB'O₆ double double perovskite, with Ca²⁺/Fe²⁺ ordered on A-site columns, and Fe³⁺/Nb⁵⁺ at the octahedral B-sites. Substantial (37%) antisite disorder of the latter cations leads to spin glassy magnetism below a freezing transition at 12 K. The CaMnFeNbO₆ analogue also shows substantial cation disorder and spin glassy behaviour. Comparison of synthesis pressures for ordered materials based on different A-site transition metals, suggests that pressures of at least 14-18 GPa will be required to discover the expected plethora of double double perovskites based on A' cations smaller than Mn²⁺.

Transcriptome and Anatomical Comparisons Reveal the Effects of Methyl Jasmonate on the Seed Development of Camellia oleifera

Seed is a major storage organ that determines the yield and quality of Camellia oleifera (C. oleifera). Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a signaling molecule involved in plant growth and development. However, the role of MeJA in the development of C. oleifera seeds remains a mystery. This study demonstrated that the larger seeds induced by MeJA resulted from more cell numbers and a larger cell area in the outer seed coat and embryo at the cellular level. At the molecular level, MeJA could regulate the expression of factors in the known signaling pathways of seed size control as well as cell proliferation and expansion, resulting in larger seeds. Furthermore, the accumulation of oil and unsaturated fatty acids due to MeJA-inducement was attributed to the increased expression of fatty acid biosynthesis-related genes but reduced expression of fatty acid degradation-related genes. CoMYC2, a key regulator in jasmonate signaling, was considered a potential hub regulator which directly interacted with three hub genes (CoCDKB2-3, CoCYCB2-3, and CoXTH9) related to the seed size and two hub genes (CoACC1 and CoFAD2-3) related to oil accumulation and fatty acid biosynthesis by binding to their promoters. These findings provide an excellent target for the improvement of the yield and quality in C. oleifera.

Intra-graph and Inter-graph joint information propagation network with third-order text graph tensor for fake news detection

Although the Internet and social media provide people with a range of opportunities and benefits in a variety of ways, the proliferation of fake news has negatively affected society and individuals. Many efforts have been invested to detect the fake news. However, to learn the representation of fake news by context information, it has brought many challenges for fake news detection due to the feature sparsity and ineffectively capturing the non-consecutive and long-range context. In this paper, we have proposed Intra-graph and Inter-graph Joint Information Propagation Network (abbreviated as IIJIPN) with Third-order Text Graph Tensor for fake news detection. Specifically, data augmentation is firstly utilized to solve the data imbalance and strengthen the small corpus. In the stage of feature extraction, Third-order Text Graph Tensor with sequential, syntactic, and semantic features is proposed to describe contextual information at different language properties. After constructing the text graphs for each text feature, Intra-graph and Inter-graph Joint Information Propagation is used for encoding the text: intra-graph information propagation is performed in each graph to realize homogeneous information interaction, and high-order homogeneous information interaction in each graph can be achieved by stacking propagation layer; inter-graph information propagation is performed among text graphs to realize heterogeneous information interaction by connecting the nodes across the graphs. Finally, news representations are generated by attention mechanism consisting of graph-level attention and node-level attention mechanism, and then news representations are fed into a fake news classifier. The experimental results on four public datasets indicate that our model has outperformed state-of-the-art methods. Our source code is available at https://github.com/cuibenkuan/IIJIPN.

Nab-paclitaxel combined with oxaliplatin and S-1 as conversion therapy for advanced gastric adenocarcinoma

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Background: Conversion therapy can improve the survival of patients with locally advanced unresectable or potentially resectable metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nab-paclitaxel combined with oxaliplatin and S-1 as a conversion therapy in gastric cancer. Methods: This was a single-arm, multicenter, open-label trial of patients with locally advanced unresectable or potentially resectable metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. Eligible patients were administered nab-paclitaxel (150 mg/m2, day 1), oxaliplatin (85 mg/m2, day 1), and S-1 (80–120 mg/day, days 1–14) every 21 days for two or four cycles. Radiographic assessments were performed after two cycles of treatment. Subsequent treatment or surgery was decided by the investigator according to assessment results and patient's condition. The primary endpoint was R0 resection rate. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: From January 2020 to September 2022, 62 patients (49 males/13 females) with a median age of 58.9 years (range: 36–73) were enrolled in this study. Sixteen (25.8%) of the 62 patients had distant metastasis. The overall response rate and disease control rate of 54 patients who underwent at least one assessment were 61.1% (33/54, 95% CI: 46.9–74.1%) and 94.4% (51/54, 95% CI: 84.6–98.8%), respectively. Of the 39 patients who underwent surgery, 33 (84.6%, 95% CI: 69.5–94.1%) patients had an R0 resection, two had an R1 resection, and four had exploratory laparotomies. The pathological complete response rate was 15.4% (6/39, 95% CI: 6.4–31.2%). After a median follow-up time of 8.4 months, the 1-year PFS rate was 68.6% (95% CI: 53.4–83.8%), whereas the median PFS and OS were not reached. Seven patients died because of disease progression (5 patients who did not undergo surgery), myocardial infarction (1 patient), and electrolyte disturbance (1 patient). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 82.3% (51/62) patients, although most events were grade 1–2. Common hematological toxicities were leukopenia (61.3%), neutropenia (54.8%), anemia (41.9%), and thrombocytopenia (30.6%). Common non-hematological treatment-related adverse events were nausea (53.2%), fatigue (43.5%), hepatic function abnormal (33.9%), neurotoxicity (29.0%), and diarrhea (24.2%). Conclusions: Nab-paclitaxel combined with oxaliplatin and S-1 showed promising efficacy and acceptable toxicity in patients with locally advanced unresectable or potentially resectable metastatic gastric cancer. Clinical trial information: NCT04047953 .

Prognostic significance of preoperative serum tumor markers in hepatoid adenocarcinoma of stomach (HAS)

BACKGROUND

The role of preoperative serum tumor markers in HAS patients was vague, we designed the study to explore the effect of preoperative serum tumor markers on predicting the prognosis of HAS patients.

METHODS

A total of 139 patients were included according to the different tumor makers. X-tile tool was employed to identify the optimal cut-off values of respective tumor makers. Multivariate analyses were conducted to determine independent risk factors.

RESULTS

The optimal cut-off value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for 3-years overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 516 ng/mL. Patients with high-level AFP values assumed significantly worse OS and RFS than those with low-level AFP values (P = 0.028 and P = 0.011, respectively). The optimal cut-off value of Carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9 for OS and RFS was 51.3 U/mL. And the survival results were similar with AFP in the aspects of OS and RFS (P = 0.009 and P < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analyses showed that high serum AFP was an independent risk factor for OS and RFS of HAS patients (HR7.264; 95% CI 1.328-39.738; P = 0.022 and HR 2.688; 95% CI 0.922-7.836; P = 0.070, respectively). CA19-9 could perform as a fair substitute to predict the HAS patients' OS and RFS when the preoperative serum AFP was unavailable (HR 7.816; 95% CI 2.084-29.308; P = 0.002 and HR 4.386; 95% CI 1.824-10.547; P = 0.001, respectively). Other tumor markers didn't present significant influences.

CONCLUSIONS

Applying preoperative serum AFP level to predict the HAS patients' prognosis is feasible and preoperative serum high-AFP is an independent risk factor for OS and RFS of HAS patients. Preoperative serum CA19-9 could be an alternative choice when AFP was absent.

Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule (ALCAM), a Potential 'Seed' and 'Soil' Receptor in the Peritoneal Metastasis of Gastrointestinal Cancers

Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule (ALCAM/CD166) is a cell-cell adhesion protein conferring heterotypic and homotypic interactions between cells of the same type and different types. It is aberrantly expressed in various cancer types and has been shown to be a regulator of cancer metastasis. In the present study, we investigated potential roles of ALCAM in the peritoneal transcoelomic metastasis in gastrointestinal cancers, a metastatic type commonly occurred in gastro-intestinal and gynaecological malignancies and resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Specifically, we studied whether ALCAM acts as both a 'seed' receptor in these tumour cells and a 'soil' receptor in peritoneal mesothelial cells during cancer metastasis. Gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer tissues with or without peritoneal metastasis were compared for their levels of ALCAM expression. The impact of ALCAM expression in these tumours was also correlated to the patients' clinical outcomes, namely peritoneal metastasis-free survival. In addition, cancer cells of gastric and pancreatic origins were used to create cell models with decreased or increased levels of ALCAM expression by genetic knocking down or overexpression, respectively. Human peritoneal mesothelial cells were also genetically transfected to generate cell models with different profiles of ALCAM expression. These cell models were used in the tumour-mesothelial interaction assay to assess if and how the interaction was influenced by ALCAM. Both gastric and pancreatic tumour tissues from patients who developed peritoneal metastases had higher levels of ALCAM transcript than those without. Patients who had tumours with high levels of ALCAM had a much shorter peritoneal metastasis free survival compared with those who had low ALCAM expression (p = 0.006). ALCAM knockdown of the mesothelial cell line MET5A rendered the cells with reduced interaction with both gastric cancer cells and pancreatic cancer cells. Likewise, levels of ALCAM in both human gastric and pancreatic cancer cells were also a determining factor for their adhesiveness to mesothelial cells, a process that was likely to be triggered the phosphorylation of the SRC kinase. A soluble ALCAM (sALCAM) was found to be able to inhibit the adhesiveness between cancer cells and mesothelial cells, mechanistically behaving like a SRC kinase inhibitor. ALCAM is an indicator of peritoneal metastasis in both gastric and pancreatic cancer patients. It acts as not only a potential peritoneal 'soil' receptor of tumour seeding but also a 'soil' receptor in peritoneal mesothelial cells during cancer metastasis. These findings have an important therapeutic implication for treating peritoneal transcoelomic metastases.

DC-CNN: Dual-channel Convolutional Neural Networks with attention-pooling for fake news detection

Fake news detection mainly relies on the extraction of article content features with neural networks. However, it has brought some challenges to reduce the noisy data and redundant features, and learn the long-distance dependencies. To solve the above problems, Dual-channel Convolutional Neural Networks with Attention-pooling for Fake News Detection (abbreviated as DC-CNN) is proposed. This model benefits from Skip-Gram and Fasttext. It can effectively reduce noisy data and improve the learning ability of the model for non-derived words. A parallel dual-channel pooling layer was proposed to replace the traditional CNN pooling layer in DC-CNN. The Max-pooling layer, as one of the channels, maintains the advantages in learning local information between adjacent words. The Attention-pooling layer with multi-head attention mechanism serves as another pooling channel to enhance the learning of context semantics and global dependencies. This model benefits from the learning advantages of the two channels and solves the problem that pooling layer is easy to lose local-global feature correlation. This model is tested on two different COVID-19 fake news datasets, and the experimental results show that our model has the optimal performance in dealing with noisy data and balancing the correlation between local features and global features.

Characteristics of lymph node stations/basins metastasis and construction and validation of a preoperative combination prediction model that accurately excludes lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE

To explore the candidate indications for function-preserving curative gastrectomy and sentinel lymph node navigation surgery in early gastric cancer (EGC).

METHODS

The clinicopathological data of 561 patients with EGC who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer at Peking University Cancer Hospital from November 2010 to November 2020 with postoperative pathological stage pT1 and complete examination data, were collected. Pearson's Chi-square test was used and binary logistic regression was employed for univariate and multivariate analyses. Combined analysis of multiple risk and protective factors for lymph node metastasis (LNM) of EGC was performed. A negative predictive value (NPV) combination model was built and validated.

RESULTS

LNM occurred in 85 of 561 patients with EGC, and the LNM rate was 15.15%. NPV for LNM reached 100% based on three characteristics, including ulcer-free, moderately well differentiation and patient <65 years old or tumor located at the proximal 1/3 of the stomach. Regarding lymphatic basin metastasis, multivariate analysis showed that the metastatic proportion of the left gastric artery lymphatic basin was significantly higher in male patients compared with female patients (65.96% vs. 38.89%, P<0.05). The proportion of right gastroepiploic artery lymphatic basin metastasis in patients with a maximum tumor diameter >2 cm was significantly greater than that noted in patients with a maximum tumor diameter ≤2 cm (60.78% vs. 28.13%, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Characteristics of lymph node stations/basins metastasis will facilitate precise lymph node resection. The NPV for LNM reaches 100% based on the following two conditions: young and middle-aged EGC patients, well-differentiated tumors, and without ulcers; or well-differentiated tumors, without ulcers, and tumors located in the proximal stomach. These findings can be used as the recommended indications for function-preserving curative gastrectomy and sentinel lymph node navigation surgery.

Methionine played a positive role in improving the intestinal digestion capacity, anti-inflammatory reaction and oxidation resistance of grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, fry

A study was carried out to appraisal the function of methionine on intestinal digestion and the health of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fry (initial weight 0.36 ± 0.01 g). The fry were fed graded dietary methionine levels (0.33%-1.20% dry matter) in 18 recirculatory tanks (180 L). After an 8-week breeding experiment, the results revealed that 0.71%-1.20% dietary methionine levels markedly upregulated the mRNA levels of intestinal digestion including trypsin, amylase, chymotrypsin and AKP, and 0.71%-0.87% dietary methionine level significantly increased intestinal trypsin activities compared with the 0.33% dietary methionine level. For inflammation, 0.71%-1.20% dietary methionine levels downregulated the mRNA levels of NF-κBp65, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-15 and IL-17D, whereas upregulated the mRNA levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-4/13B, IL-10 and IL-11. In terms of antioxidants, although dietary methionine levels had no significant effect on the expression of most core genes of the Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway, such as Nrf2, Keap 1, GPx4, CAT, Cu/Zn-SOD. Furthermore, dietary methionine levels had no significant effect on the expression of p38MAPK, IL-12p35, TGF-β2 and IL-4/13A. 0.71%-1.20% dietary methionine levels still increased the mRNA levels of GPx1α, GSTR and GSTP1. Furthermore, higher intestinal catalase activity and glutathione contents were also observed in fry fed 0.71%-1.20% diets. In summary, 0.71%-1.20% dietary methionine levels played a positive role in improving the intestinal digestion capacity of digestion, anti-inflammatory reaction and oxidation resistance of grass carp fry. This study provided a theoretical basis for improving the survival rate and growth of grass carp fry.

A potential decision-making algorithm based on endoscopic ultrasound for staging early gastric cancer: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Clinical staging of gastric cancer (GC) before treatment is essential. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a recommended staging tool, but its efficacy remains controversial. Our previous prospective study evaluated the potential value of EUS for T staging and presented discrepancies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of EUS in T staging by comparing it with pathological staging. We analyze the factors that can potentially affect accuracy to identify suitable subgroups for EUS staging.

METHODS

Data from a total of 1763 consecutive patients with GC from January 2015 to December 2017 were analyzed. Results from EUS and pathological T staging were compared. The factors that might affect EUS's accuracy were analyzed.

RESULTS

The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of EUS in patients with early GC were 62.08%, 96.13%, 90.94%, and 80.21%, respectively. The accuracy rates of uT1, uT2-uT4, and uT3-uT4 were 90.94%, 79.02%, and 78.39%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, underestimation was more likely to be observed in patients with tumors located in the middle or upper third of the stomach. Overestimation was more likely to be observed in patients with tumors located in the lower third or those without ulcer. Other factors affecting accuracy included ulcer, differentiation, larger size and undergoing surgery.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the role of EUS in determining the T staging of GC. Overestimation and underestimation in T-staging were significantly associated with the tumor location in early GC, and a decision-making algorithm was proposed for clinical practice in early cancers based on these findings.

Chromosome-level genome of Camellia lanceoleosa provides a valuable resource for understanding genome evolution and self-incompatibility

The section Oleifera (Theaceae) has attracted attention for the high levels of unsaturated fatty acids found in its seeds. Here, we report the chromosome-scale genome of the sect. Oleifera using diploid wild Camellia lanceoleosa with a final size of 3.00 Gb and an N50 scaffold size of 186.43 Mb. Repetitive sequences accounted for 80.63% and were distributed unevenly across the genome. Camellia lanceoleosa underwent a whole-genome duplication event approximately 65 million years ago (65 Mya), prior to the divergence of C. lanceoleosa and Camellia sinensis (approx. 6-7 Mya). Syntenic comparisons of these two species elucidated the genomic rearrangement, appearing to be driven in part by the activity of transposable elements. The expanded and positively selected genes in C. lanceoleosa were significantly enriched in oil biosynthesis, and the expansion of homomeric acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) genes and the seed-biased expression of genes encoding heteromeric ACCase, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and stearoyl-ACP desaturase could be of primary importance for the high oil and oleic acid content found in C. lanceoleosa. Theanine and catechins were present in the leaves of C. lanceoleosa. However, caffeine can not be dectected in the leaves but was abundant in the seeds and roots. The functional and transcriptional divergence of genes encoding SAM-dependent N-methyltransferases may be associated with caffeine accumulation and distribution. Gene expression profiles, structural composition and chromosomal location suggest that the late-acting self-incompatibility of C. lanceoleosa is likely to have favoured a novel mechanism co-occurring with gametophytic self-incompatibility. This study provides valuable resources for quantitative and qualitative improvements and genome assembly of polyploid plants in sect. Oleifera.

Hormone analysis and candidate genes identification associated with seed size in Camellia oleifera

Camellia oleifera is an important woody oil species in China. Its seed oil has been widely used as a cooking oil. Seed size is a crucial factor influencing the yield of seed oil. In this study, the horizontal diameter, vertical diameter and volume of C. oleifera seeds showed a rapid growth tendency from 235 days after pollination (DAP) to 258 DAP but had a slight increase at seed maturity. During seed development, the expression of genes related to cell proliferation and expansion differ greatly. Auxin plays an important role in C. oleifera seeds; YUC4 and IAA17 were significantly downregulated. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis screened 21 hub transcription factors for C. oleifera seed horizontal diameter, vertical diameter and volume. Among them, SPL4 was significantly decreased and associated with all these three traits, while ABI4 and YAB1 were significantly increased and associated with horizontal diameter of C. oleifera seeds. Additionally, KLU significantly decreased (2040-fold). Collectively, our data advances the knowledge of factors related to seed size and provides a theoretical basis for improving the yield of C. oleifera seeds.

A phase Ib/II, multicenter, open-label study of AK104, a PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody, combined with chemotherapy (chemo) as first-line therapy for advanced gastric (G) or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer

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Background: Anti-PD-1 agent plus chemo as first-line therapy for advanced G/GEJ cancer (Checkmate-649) yields OS and PFS benefits compared to chemo alone, indicating synergistic activity between immune checkpoint inhibitors and chemo. The combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 has consistently demonstrated higher response rate compared to PD-1 monotherapy but higher toxicity. Here, we performed this phase Ib/II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AK104, a PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody, combined with XELOX (capecitabine combined with oxaliplatin) or modified XELOX (mXELOX) in the first-setting of G/GEJ cancer cohorts. This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03852251). Methods: Pts with unresectable advanced G/GEJ adenocarcinoma and no prior systemic therapy, regardless of PD-L1 status were enrolled, excluding known HER2-positive pts. Enrolled patients received AK104 (4 mg/kg, 6 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, Q2W or 10 mg/kg, 15mg/kg Q3W) + chemo (mXELOX Q2W or XELOX Q3W). The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) based on Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (RECIST v1.1). Results: As of 13 Aug 2021, 96 pts were enrolled with median age 62.7 years (range: 29–75), 70.8% male, 62.5% ECOG PS 1, 44.8% liver metastasis. The median follow-up was 9.95 months (range, 0.4-26.8). 88 patients (92%) had at least one post-baseline tumor evaluation. The ORR was 65.9% (58/88) with 2 (2.3%) complete responses and 56 (63.6%) partial responses. The disease control rate (DCR) was 92.0% (81/88). The median duration of response (DoR) was 6.93 months (95%CI, 4.60 to 11.20). The median PFS was 7.10 months (95%CI, 5.55 to 10.48). The median OS was 17.41 months (95%CI, 12.35 to NE). In pts with PD-L1 CPS≥1 vs CPS＜1, median OS was 17.41 months and 14.65 months, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 97.9% of pts, and the most frequent were platelet count decreased (60.4%), white blood cell count decreased (58.3%), neutrophil count decreased (56.3%), anaemia (47.9%), nausea (30.2%), vomiting (30.2%), aspartate aminotransferase increased (30.2%). Grade ≥3 TRAEs occurred in 62.5% pts. No new safety signals were identified. Conclusions: AK104 in combination with mXELOX/XELOX showed promising activity and manageable safety in previously untreated pts with advanced G/GEJ adenocarcinoma. AK104 + chemo represents a potential new first-line treatment option for these pts. A phase III study of AK104 combined with chemo as first-line therapy for G/GEJ cancer is underway. Clinical trial information: NCT03852251.

The Value of Perioperative Chemotherapy for Patients With Hepatoid Adenocarcinoma of the Stomach Undergoing Radical Gastrectomy

BACKGROUND

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach (HAS) is a rare type of gastric cancer, but the role of perioperative chemotherapy is still poorly understood. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the associations between perioperative chemotherapy and prognosis of HAS.

METHOD

We retrospectively analyzed patients with locally advanced HAS who received radical surgery in Peking University Cancer Hospital between November 2009 and October 2020. Patients were divided into neoadjuvant chemotherapy-first (NAC-first) group and surgery-first group. The relationships between perioperative chemotherapy and prognosis of HAS were analyzed using univariate, multivariate survival analyses and propensity score matching analysis (PSM).

RESULTS

A total of 100 patients were included for analysis, including 29 in the NAC-first group and 71 in the surgery-first group. The Her-2 amplification in HAS patients was 22.89% (19/83). For NAC-first group, 4 patients were diagnosed as tumor recession grade 1 (TRG1), 4 patients as TRG 2, and 19 patients as TRG 3. No significant difference in prognosis between the surgery-first group and the NAC-first group (P=0.108) was found using PSM analysis. In the surgery-first group, we found that the survival rate was better in group of ≥6 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy than that of <6 cycles (P=0.013).

CONCLUSION

NAC based on platinum and fluorouracil may not improve the Overall survival (OS) and Disease-free survival time (DFS) of patients with locally advanced HAS. Patients who received ≥6 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy had better survival. Therefore, the combination treatment of radical gastrectomy and sufficient adjuvant chemotherapy is recommended for patients with locally advanced HAS.

Biophysical and in silico characterization of NrtA: a protein-based host for aqueous nitrate and nitrite recognition

Nitrate and nitrite are key components of the global nitrogen cycle. As such, Nature has evolved proteins as biological supramolecular hosts for the recognition, translocation, and transformation of both nitrate and nitrite. To understand the supramolecular principles that govern these anion-protein interactions, here, we employ a hybrid biophysical and in silico approach to characterize the thermodynamic properties and protein dynamics of NrtA from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 for the recognition of nitrate and nitrite.

A Practical Nomogram for Predicting the Prognosis of Elderly Patients with Gastric Adenocarcinoma After Gastrectomy

Purpose

To establish a pragmatic prognostic nomogram for predicting the survival of elderly patients undergoing gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma.

Patients and Methods

Data of elderly patients undergoing gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma between 2004 and 2015 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Prognostic factors were identified by the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. Based on these factors, we developed a nomogram to predict the overall survival (OS) and gastric cancer-specific survival (GCSS). Concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve are employed to assess the predictive accuracy of the model. Decision curve analysis (DCA) and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis are applied to further appraise the clinical utility of the model.

Results

A total of 8401 cases were incorporated into this research. After univariate and multivariate analyses, nine prognostic factors of OS were identified, including age (P < 0.001), race (P < 0.001), marital status (P < 0.001), tumor site (P < 0.001), tumor size (P = 0.024), differentiation (P < 0.001), T stage (P < 0.001), N stage (P < 0.001), and M stage (P < 0.001); ten prognostic factors of GCSS were identified, including age (P < 0.001), race (P < 0.001), tumor site (P < 0.001), tumor size (P = 0.002), differentiation (P < 0.001), T stage (P < 0.001), N stage (P < 0.001), M stage (P < 0.001), radiotherapy (P < 0.001) and chemotherapy (P < 0.001). The C-index of the constructed nomogram for OS was 0.708 (95% CI: 0.701–0.715) while for GCSS was 0.745 (95% CI: 0.737–0.753). The calibration curves of the nomogram predictions and actual observations displayed good agreement for the 3- and 5-year OS and GCSS probabilities. The results of DCA and the area under the curve calculated by ROC analysis showed that the developed model was superior than TNM stage.

Conclusion

The nomogram we established could accurately predict the prognosis of individual elderly patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma.

Nutrient metabolism in the liver and muscle of juvenile blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) in response to dietary methionine levels

A 75-day rearing trial was designed to study the response of juvenile Megalobrama amblycephala to dietary methionine (Met) levels. Three practical diets with graded Met levels (0.40%, 0.84% and 1.28% dry matter) were prepared to feed the juvenile fish. The results showed that the 0.84% Met diet significantly improved the growth compared with 0.40% diets. Compared with 0.84% and 1.28% Met, 0.40% Met significantly increased the hepatic lipid content, while decreasing the muscular lipid and glycogen contents. 0.40% Met decreased the protein levels of phospho-Eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein-1 (p-4e-bp1), 4e-bp1 and Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 in the liver, compared with 0.84% diet, while an increasing trend was observed in the muscle. Met supplementation tended to decrease and increase lipid synthesis in the liver and muscle, respectively, via changing mRNA levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, fatty acid synthetase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase. 1.28% dietary Met promoted fatty acid β-oxidation and lipolysis in both the liver and muscle by increasing carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha, lipoprotein lipase and lipase mRNA levels. Compared with 0.40% and 0.84% dietary Met, 1.28% Met enhanced the mRNA levels of hepatic gluconeogenesis related genes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck), and glucose-6-phosphatase, and muscular glycolysis related genes phosphofructokinase (pfk), and pyruvate kinase (pk). The mRNA levels of hepatic pfk, pk and glucokinase were markedly downregulated by 1.28% Met compared with 0.84% level. Muscular pepck, glycogen synthase, and hepatic glucose transporters 2 mRNA levels were induced by 1.28% Met. Generally, deficient Met level decreased the growth of juvenile Megalobrama amblycephala, and the different nutrient metabolism responses to dietary Met were revealed in the liver and muscle.

ARHGAP11A Is a Prognostic Biomarker and Correlated With Immune Infiltrates in Gastric Cancer

Background: ARHGAP11A, belongs to RhoGAPs family, is vital for cell motility. However, the role of ARHGAP11A in gastric cancer is obscure. Methods: The expression level of ARHGAP11A was analyzed by Oncomine database. The correlation of ARHGAP11A expression with immune infiltrates and associated gene markers was clarified by Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database. The correlation between ARHGAP11A expression and the patient prognosis was identified by Kaplan-Meier plotter and PrognoScan. Genetic changes of ARHGAP11A were analyzed by cBioPortal. The protein-protein interaction network and gene functional enrichment analysis were constructed and performed by GeneMANIA and Metascape. Results: We found that the expression levels of ARHGAP11A were elevated in various cancers including gastric cancer when compared with normal tissues. High expression of ARHGAP11A was significantly correlated with a better prognosis in gastric cancer. We revealed that the expression of ARHGAP11A was negatively associated with infiltration levels of CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. In addition, ARHGAP11A expression was significantly correlated with gene markers of these immune cells. Lastly, gene functional enrichment analysis indicated that ARHGAP11A involved in regulating lymphocyte activation, cell division, cell killing, myeloid leukocyte differentiation and leukocyte apoptosis. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that ARHGAP11A was a valuable prognostic biomarker in gastric cancer. Further work is needed to validate its role and underlying mechanisms in regulating immune infiltrates.

Reduced kinase D‑interacting substrate of 220 kDa (Kidins220) in pancreatic cancer promotes EGFR/ERK signalling and disease progression

Kidins220 is a transmembrane scaffold protein involved in several types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the role of Kidins220 in tumorigenesis and disease progression of pancreatic cancer. The relevant signalling pathways including EGFR, EMT, and MMP were also investigated. The expression of Kidins220 was examined at the transcript and protein level. The Kidins220 knockdown cell model was established and its influence on cellular functions was determined. Involvement of Kidins220 in tumorigenesis and metastasis was examined in CD1 mice, respectively. The results showed that, reduced Kidin220 expression was associated with tumorigenesis, metastasis, and overall survival of pancreatic cancer. Knockdown of Kidins220 promoted proliferation, colony formation and tumorigenic capacity of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Kidins220 regulated pancreatic cancer cell migration through the EGFR/AKT/ERK signalling pathway. Furthermore, enhanced EMT was observed in the pancreatic cancer cell lines with the knockdown of Kidins220, underlying EGFR regulation. Kidins220 also affected cell invasion via MMP1. A reduced expression of Kidins220 was observed in pancreatic cancer, which is associated with disease progression, distant metastasis and poor prognosis. The loss of Kidins220 in pancreatic cancer may contribute to disease progression through the upregulation of EGFR and downstream signalling.

The biological function and diagnostic value of miR-762 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Low diagnostic efficiency and high metastasis and recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) result in bad survival. A novel diagnostic biomarker is of great importance for the improvement of NPC management. This study aimed to state the biological function and diagnostic values of miR-762 in NPC to provide a novel insight into the detection and therapy of NPC.

METHODS

The expression of miR-762 in NPC and healthy samples was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and its diagnostic value was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The functional roles of miR-762 in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC cells were assessed by CCK8 and Transwell assay.

RESULTS

The significant upregulation of miR-762 was observed in NPC serum compared with healthy controls, which was associated with the TNM stage and lymph node metastasis of NPC patients. The ROC curve showed that miR-762 could be a diagnostic biomarker for NPC with high accuracy and specificity. Additionally, miR-762 served as a tumor promoter, which could promote cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC.

CONCLUSION

The upregulation of miR-762 in NPC is associated with the disease progression and diagnosis of NPC. miR-762 might be involved in the tumor progression of NPC, which provides a potential therapeutic target for the treatment and management of NPC.

Promotion effects of DEHP on hepatocellular carcinoma models: up-regulation of PD-L1 by activating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), as an endocrine disruptor, is often used as a plasticizer in various polyvinyl chloride plastic products and medical consumables. Epidemiological studies have shown that long-term large intake of DEHP may be a risk factor for liver dysfunction. Long-term exposure to DEHP is associated with liver disease and aggravates the progression of chronic liver injury. However, the effects of DEHP on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are rarely studied. In this study, we sought to determine the effects of DEHP on HCC induced by carbon tetrachloride combined with diethylnitrosamine, and further study its molecular mechanism. It was found that DEHP exposure significantly promotes tumor immune escape and activates signaling pathways involved in related protein expression of tumor immune escape, including PD-L1, JAK2, and STAT3. In addition, the trends observed in the HepG2 cells assay are consistent with vivo conditions. In summary, DEHP may play a tumor-promoting role in HCC mice and IFN-γ stimulated HepG2 cells, which may be related to the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Tributyrin Plays an Important Role in Regulating the Growth and Health Status of Juvenile Blunt Snout Bream (Megalobrama amblycephala), as Evidenced by Pathological Examination

The present study aimed to assess the role of tributyrin (TB) in regulating the growth and health status of juvenile blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) through an 8-week feeding experiment. Six groups were fed experimental diets with added TB percentages of 0% (control group), 0.03%, 0.06%, 0.09%, 0.12% and 0.15%. The present results showed that TB supplementation in feed had some positive impacts on FW, WG, FCR and SGR, and the best results were found in the 0.06% TB group (P<0.05). However, TB supplementation in feed had no significant effects on SR, CF, VSI or whole-body composition (P>0.05). TB supplementation in feed increased antioxidant capacity and immunological capacity and attenuated the inflammatory response by increasing the activity of T-SOD, GPx, CAT and the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β) and decreasing the levels of MDA and anti-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α) (P<0.05). Furthermore, TB supplementation improved immunity by increasing the levels of immunoglobulins (IgM and IgG), C3 and IFN-γ (P<0.05). Surprisingly, 0.06%-0.12% TB supplementation significantly increased the content of IL-1β (P<0.05). However, TB supplementation in feed had no significant effects on the plasma content of GSH, HSP70, IL-8 and the activity of T-AOC (P>0.05). The possible mechanism was that TB activated PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 and inhibits the NF-κB signaling pathway, further regulating the mRNA levels of key genes with antioxidant capacity and the inflammatory response; for example, it increased the mRNA levels of Nrf2, Cu/Zn-SOD, HO-1, CAT, Akt, PI3K, GPx, IL-10, and TGF-β and decreased the mRNA levels of NF-κB and TNF-α (P<0.05). In addition, 0.06%-0.15% TB supplementation significantly increased the mRNA levels of IL-1β (P<0.05). TB supplementation in feed had no significant effects on the mRNA levels of HSP70, Mn-SOD and IL-8 (P>0.05). Evidence was presented that TB supplementation decreased the mortality rate caused by Aeromonas hydrophila challenge. In pathological examination, TB supplementation prevented hepatic and intestinal damage. Generally, TB supplementation improved the growth performance of juvenile blunt snout bream. Furthermore, TB supplementation activated PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 and inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway, regulating health status and preventing hepatic and intestinal damage.

Construction and Validation of a Risk-Scoring Model that Preoperatively Predicts Lymph Node Metastasis in Early Gastric Cancer Patients

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to create a risk-scoring model to preoperatively predict the incidence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in early gastric cancer (EGC) patients to guide treatment.

METHODS

To construct the risk-scoring model, we retrospectively analyzed a primary cohort of 548 EGC patients. Univariate analysis and logistic regression were performed. A risk-scoring model for predicting LNM in EGC patients was developed based on preoperative factors, and another cohort of 73 patients was then analyzed to validate the model.

RESULTS

In the primary cohort, LNM was pathologically confirmed in 72 (13.1%) patients. In the multivariate analysis, the presence of ulceration and tumor size on gastroscopy, undifferentiated histological type, and presence of enlarged lymph nodes on computed tomography or endoscopic ultrasonography were independent risk factors for LNM. A 17-point risk-scoring model was developed to predict LNM risk. The cut-off score of the model was 8, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the model was 0.835 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.784-0.886]. In the validation cohort, the AUC of the model was 0.829 (95% CI 0.699-0.959).

CONCLUSIONS

We developed and validated an effective 17-point risk-scoring model that could preoperatively predict LNM for EGC patients.

Dietary Lysine Levels Improved Antioxidant Capacity and Immunity via the TOR and p38 MAPK Signaling Pathways in Grass Carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus Fry

An 8-week rearing trial was designed to appraise the dietary lysine levels on intestinal antioxidant capacity and immunity of grass carp fry. Six practical diets were prepared with graded levels of lysine (1.44, 1.79, 1.97, 2.44, 2.56 and 2.87% dry matter), and these diets were fed to grass carp fry. The results showed that the activities of intestinal antioxidant factors including catalase and glutathione peroxidase were markedly improved by the 2.44% dietary lysine compared with the control diet (1.44% dietary lysine) (P < 0.05). In terms of antioxidants, compared with the control diet, the 2.44% diet markedly upregulated the mRNA expression levels of target of rapamycin, S6 kinase1 and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 pathway-related antioxidant genes, containing catalase and glutathione peroxidase 1α (P < 0.05) and downregulated the mRNA levels of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (P > 0.05). The mRNA levels of 4E-binding protein 2 showed the opposite trend compared with those of target of rapamycin, and the minimum value was observed in the group of 1.97% dietary lysine (P < 0.05). In terms of immunity, compared with the 1.44% diet, the 2.44% diet markedly suppressed the intestinal p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and interferon γ2 mRNA levels (P < 0.05). Moreover, nuclear factor-kappa B p65, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 6, interleukin 8, and interleukin 15 mRNA levels all exhibited the same trend as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and interferon γ2; however, the difference among all the lysine treatments groups was not significant (P > 0.05). The anti-inflammatory cytokines transforming growth factor β2 and interleukin 4/13B mRNA levels in the intestine were remarkably upregulated by high dietary lysine levels (2.56 and 2.87%) (P < 0.05), and when the dietary lysine level reached 2.44%, the interleukin 4/13A mRNA levels were strikingly increased (P < 0.05). Overall, the data suggested that 2.44% dietary lysine could strengthen the immune and antioxidant capacities of grass carp fry via activating the target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway, and suppressing the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling pathway, which then improve the survival rate.

The design and evolution of fluorescent protein-based sensors for monoatomic ions in biology

Living cells rely on a finely tuned symphony of inorganic ion gradients composed of both cations and anions. This delicate balance is maintained by biological receptors all acting in concert to selectively recognize and position ions for homeostasis. These dynamic processes can be intercepted and visualized with optical microscopy at the organismal, tissue, cellular and subcellular levels using fluorescent protein-based biosensors. Since the first report of such tool for calcium (Ca2+) in 1997, outstanding biological questions and innovations in protein engineering along with associated fields have driven the development of new biosensors for Ca2+ and beyond. In this Review, we summarize a workflow that can be used to generate fluorescent protein-based biosensors to study monoatomic ions in biology. To showcase the scope of this approach, we highlight recent advances reported for Ca2+ biosensors and in detail discuss representative case studies of biosensors reported in the last four years for potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), copper (Cu2+/+), lanthanide (Ln3+) and chloride (Cl-) ions.

A phase I study to evaluate the safety of multiantigen stimulated tumor specific cell therapy (MASCT-I) in subjects with advanced gastric cancer

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Background: Gastric cancer was the fifth cancer world wide and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. PD-1 antibody has been approved for treatment in gastric cancer patients with positive expression of PD-L1 and microsatellite instability. MASCT-I (Multi-Antigen Stimulated Cell Therapy-I Injection) is an autologous non-engineered immune cell therapy for solid tumor, it is composed of multiple-antigen peptides(15 tumor associated antigens) loaded mature dendritic cells (DCs) and in vitro DC stimulated and proliferated effector T cells, the combination of MASCT-I and PD1 antibody could have a synergistic anti-tumor effect. Methods: This is a single center, phase I trial to explore the safety and tolerance of the combination of MASCT-I and PD-1 antibody in advanced gastric cancer (NCT03393416). 15 patients with PD-L1 expression or microsatellite instability were enrolled between April 2018, and June 2019. Camrelizumab was administered once every two weeks, DC and T cells were sequential administered once a month. Therapy continued until the disease progresses. Results: Only adverse reaction below grade 2 was observed related to MASCT-I,such as fever, fatigue etc. Abnormal liver function and reactive capillary hyperplasia may be related to Camrelizumab. Among the 15 patients, the longest treatment duration was 18.9 months, and the median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 3.93 months, among which, mPFS of patients with microsatellite instability is 10.23 months, mPFS of patients expressing PD-L1 is 2.35 months, which is slightly higher than the historical data of Camrelizumab alone in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (8 weeks for mPFS). The patient 1002 always had high content of CD8+ cells and NK cells and the positive immune response in their bodies, which may plays a role in killing the tumor cells. Conclusions: The combination of MASCT-I and Camrelizumab in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction cancer is a safe treatment regimen, and its efficacy deserves further study. Clinical trial information: NCT03393416.

AK104 (PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific) combined with chemotherapy as first-line therapy for advanced gastric (G) or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer: Updated results from a phase Ib study

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Background: OS and PFS benfits have been observed in combination of anti-PD-1 agent plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone as first-line advanced G/GEJ cancer (Checkmate-649). It uncovers the significant treatment prospects of immune checkpoint inhibitors combination therapies. The PD-1/CTLA-4 dual blockade has consistently demonstrated higher response rate compared to PD-1 monotherapy but higher toxicity. AK104, a PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody, is designed as a novel tetrameric form. It could preferentially binds to tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) co-expressing PD-1 and CTLA-4 with higher avidity in the tumor micro-environment than peripheral sites. Therefore, AK104 is designed to retain the efficacy benefit derived from the combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 while conferring superior safety compared to the co-administration of these individual agents. This Phase Ib study evaluates the safety and efficacy of AK104 and mXELOX in the first-setting of G/GEJ cancer cohorts (NCT03852251). Methods: Pts with untreated, inoperable advanced G/GEJ adenocarcinoma regardless of PD-L1 status were enrolled to cohorts of 3-6 pts at AK104 doses of 4, 6 and 10 mg/kg q2w + mXELOX [oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2 and capecitabine 1000 mg/m2] during dose escalation. Selected cohorts were expanded up to 18 pts to further establish the recommended Phase II dose. Tumor tissue for determination of PD-L1 status with combined positive score (CPS) must be provided from ≤ 6 months before study treatment. Antitumor activity was assessed by RECIST v1.1. Results: As of Sep 9, 2020, 34 pts (73.5% male, median age 63.1 yrs [29-75], 76.5% G and 23.5% GEJ ) have received AK104 at doses of 4 mg/kg (n = 18), 6 mg/kg (n = 14) and 10 mg/kg (n = 2) + mXELOX. AK104-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 79.4% of pts. G3 TRAEs occurred in 29.4% (10/34) and no G4 or G5 TRAE was reported. Most frequent TRAEs (incidence ≥ 15%) were neutrophil count decreased (26.5%), platelet count decreased (20.6%), white blood cell count decreased (17.6%), anaemia (17.6%) and infusion related reaction(17.6%). Grade ≥3 TRAEs reported in ≥2 pts were neutrophil count decreased (8.8%). Grade ≥3 immune-related AEs were reported in 8.8% of pts (hepatitis, pneumonitis, hyponatraemia). Of 24 pts evaluable for antitumor activity, ORR was 66.7% (95% CI 44.7, 84.4 ) including 2 CRs and 14 PRs . The disease control rate (DCR) was 95.8% (95% CI 78.9, 99.9). Response was seen regardless of PD-L1 status. At a median follow-up of 8.6 mons for the 4mg/kg cohort, 6-mons PFS rate was 69.5% (95%CI 41.3, 86.1). Conclusions: AK104 in combination with mXELOX had a manageable safety profile and encouraging antitumor activities in pts with advanced G/GEJ adenocarcinoma regardless of PD-L1 status. Enrollment is currently ongoing for 6 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg cohort. Clinical trial information: NCT03852251.

Effect of Additional Trastuzumab in Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment for Patients with Resectable HER2-Positive Gastric Cancer

BACKGROUND

Recent studies have reported a beneficial role of trastuzumab in neoadjuvant treatment (NAT) among resectable gastric cancer (GC) patients; however, the effect of adjuvant treatment (AT) combined with trastuzumab is understudied. We performed a retrospective cohort study to compare chemotherapies with or without trastuzumab among human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2 +) locally advanced GC patients in the AT and NAT settings, respectively.

METHODS

We enrolled 208 HER2 + resected GC patients who underwent perioperative/postoperative treatment in 2010-2019 in a single-centered hospital, including 135 AT patients and 73 NAT patients. We used inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) to balance potential confounding factors between the treatment groups, and estimated the treatment effect of trastuzumab. Pathological and survival outcomes were evaluated.

RESULTS

The number of trastuzumab-exposed patients in the AT and NAT cohorts was 31 (23.0%) and 34 (46.6%), respectively. After IPTW adjustment, AT combined with trastuzumab showed a better overall survival (OS) over chemotherapy alone (p = 0.023). In IPTW-adjusted NAT analysis, trastuzumab-exposed patients had an improvement in tumor pathological regression and downstaging, with lower tumor regression grade scores (p = 0.002), ypTNM stages (p < 0.001), ypN stages (p = 0.035), and ypT stages (p < 0.001). Loss of HER2 positivity following trastuzumab treatment was observed in NAT patients; however, we did not observe any significant effect of trastuzumab on OS (p = 0.126).

CONCLUSIONS

Given the improvement in tumor regression and downstaging among NAT patients, and the OS benefit in AT patients, trastuzumab could be considered a promising treatment for locally advanced HER2 + GC patients. In particular, re-evaluation of HER2 status should be considered following NAT combined with trastuzumab.

ASB16-AS1 up-regulated and phosphorylated TRIM37 to activate NF-κB pathway and promote proliferation, stemness, and cisplatin resistance of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) ASB16 antisense RNA 1 (ASB16-AS1) is recognized as an oncogene in several cancer types, but its relation to GC is unknown. Tripartite motif containing 37 (TRIM37) has been proven to accelerate the development of gastric cancer (GC), whereas the molecular mechanism assisted ASB16-AS1 and TRIM37 in regulating GC progression remains unclear.

METHODS

Differentially expressed lncRNAs in GC samples were analyzed based on Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data. CCK-8 and colony formation assays were applied to determine the proliferative ability of GC cells. Stem cell-like phenotype of GC cells was assessed by sphere formation assay and flow cytometry analysis. Luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), pulldown, and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) were performed to verify the interplay of RNA molecules.

RESULTS

ASB16-AS1 was upregulated in GC samples according to GEO data and qRT-PCR analysis. ASB16-AS1 strengthened the proliferative ability and stem cell-like characteristics in GC cells. More importantly, ASB16-AS1 encouraged GC cell growth in vivo. Mechanistically, ASB16-AS1 strengthened TRIM37 expression by sequestering miR-3918 and miR-4676-3p. ASB16-AS1 activated NF-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway by cooperating with ATM serine/threonine kinase (ATM) to induce TRIM37 phosphorylation.

CONCLUSION

In summary, ASB16-AS1 exerted oncogenic functions in GC through modulating TRIM37 expression at both mRNA and protein levels.

Pain threshold, anxiety and other factors affect intensity of postoperative pain in gastric cancer patients: A prospective cohort study

Objective

This prospective cohort study explored factors related to postoperative pain in gastric cancer patients.

Methods

A total of 236 patients who underwent gastrectomy were enrolled. All patients enrolled in the study completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire and Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) questionnaire on the day before surgery. Heat pain threshold (HPT), cold pain threshold (CPT) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) were measured for all patients one day prior to surgery and demographic details were collected. All patients were connected to a patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) pump at the end of the surgery. The occurrence of postoperative pain was used as a dependent variable, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to screen for factors affecting postoperative pain.

Results

In total, 83 patients (35.2%) had postoperative pain. Body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m² [odds ratio (OR): 2.67; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.07−6.67], total gastrectomy (OR: 2.64; 95% CI: 1.42−4.91), preoperative anxiety score ≥8 (OR: 2.37; 95% CI: 1.12−5.02), heat pain threshold ≤4.9 s (OR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.06−4.32), pressure pain threshold ≤4 g (OR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.05−4.03), and female gender (OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.04−3.83) were risk factors for postoperative pain.

Conclusions

Obesity, wide range of gastrectomy, high preoperative anxiety, low HPT and PPT, and female gender are associated with increased risk for postoperative pain.

Double Tract Reconstruction Reduces Reflux Esophagitis and Improves Quality of Life after Radical Proximal Gastrectomy for Patients with Upper Gastric or Esophagogastric Adenocarcinoma

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to compare the difference between double tract reconstruction and esophagogastrostomy.

Materials and Methods

Patients who underwent radical proximal gastrectomy with esophagogastrostomy or double tract reconstruction were included in this study.

Results

Sixty-four patients were included in this study and divided into two groups according to reconstruction method. The two groups were well balanced in perioperative safety and 3-year overall survival (OS). The rates of postoperative reflux esophagitis in the double tract reconstruction group and esophagogastrostomy group were 8.0% and 30.8%, respectively (p=0.032). Patients in the double tract reconstruction group had a better global health status (p < 0.001) and emotional functioning (p < 0.001), and complained less about nausea and vomiting (p < 0.001), pain (p=0.039), insomnia (p=0.003), and appetite loss (p < 0.001) based on the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Regarding the EORTC QLQ-STO22 questionnaire, patients in the double tract reconstruction group complained less about dysphagia (p=0.030), pain (p=0.008), reflux (p < 0.001), eating (p < 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), dry mouth (p=0.007), and taste (p=0.001). The multiple linear regression analysis showed that reconstruction method, postoperative complications, reflux esophagitis, and operation duration had a linear relationship with the global health status score.

Conclusion

Double tract reconstruction could better prevent reflux esophagitis and improve quality of life without scarifying perioperative safety or 3-year OS.

Full-Length Transcriptome from Camellia oleifera Seed Provides Insight into the Transcript Variants Involved in Oil Biosynthesis

Camellia oleifera Abel., belonging to the genus Camellia of Theaceae, has been widely used as a cooking oil, lubricant, and in cosmetics. Because of complicated polyploidization and large genomes, reference genome information is still lacking. Systematic characterization of gene models based on transcriptome data is a fast and economical approach for C. oleifera. Pacific Biosciences single-molecule long-read isoform sequencing (Iso-Seq) and Illumina RNA-Seq combined with gas chromatography were performed for exploration of oil biosynthesis, accumulation, and comprehensive transcriptome analysis in C. oleifera seeds at five different developmental stages. We report the first full-length transcriptome data set of C. oleifera seeds comprising 40,143 deredundant high-quality isoforms. Among these isoforms, 37,982 were functionally annotated, and 271 (2.43%) belonged to fatty acid metabolism. A total of 8,344 full-length unique transcript models were obtained, and 8,151 (97.69%) of them produced more than two isoforms, suggesting a high degree of transcriptome complexity in C. oleifera seeds. A total of 783 alternative splicing (AS) events were identified, among which the retained intron was the most abundant. We also obtained 1,910 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and found that AS events occurred in these lncRNAs. Potential transcript variants of genes involved in oil biosynthesis were also investigated. After performing weighted correlation network analysis, we found seven "gene modules" and hub genes for each module showing a significant association with oil content. The series test of clusters classified these modules into four significant profiles based on gene expression patterns. Protein-protein interaction network analysis showed that upregulated WRI1 interacted with 17 genes encoding the enzymes playing key roles in oil synthesis. MYB and ZIP transcriptional factors also showed significant interactions with key genes involved in oil synthesis. Collectively, our data advance the knowledge of RNA isoform diversity in seeds at different developmental stages and provide a rich resource for functional studies on oil synthesis in C. oleifera.