Distinct parallel activation and interaction between dorsal and ventral pathways during phonological and semantic processing: A cTBS-fMRI study

Successful visual word recognition requires the integration of phonological and semantic information, which is supported by the dorsal and ventral pathways in the brain. However, the functional specialization or interaction of these pathways during phonological and semantic processing remains unclear. Previous research has been limited by its dependence on correlational functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results or causal validation using patient populations, which are susceptible to confounds such as plasticity and lesion characteristics. To address this, the present study employed continuous theta-burst stimulation combined with fMRI in a within-subject design to assess rapid adaptation in regional activity and functional connectivity of the dorsal and ventral pathways during phonological and semantic tasks. This assessment followed the precise inhibition of the left inferior parietal lobule and anterior temporal lobe in the dorsal and ventral pathways, respectively. Our results reveal that both the dorsal and ventral pathways were activated during phonological and semantic processing, while the adaptation activation and interactive network were modulated by the task type and inhibited region. The two pathways exhibited interconnectivity in phonological processing, and disruption of either pathway led to rapid adaptation across both pathways. In contrast, only the ventral pathway exhibited connectivity in semantic processing, and disruption of this pathway alone resulted in adaptive effects primarily in the ventral pathway. These findings provide essential evidence supporting the interactive theory, phonological information processing in particular, potentially providing meaningful implications for clinical populations.

Exploring the User Interaction Network in an Anxiety Disorder Online Community: An Exponential Random Graph Model with Topical and Emotional Effects

The increasing number of people with anxiety disorders presents challenges when gathering health information. Users in anxiety disorder online communities (ADOCs) share and obtain a variety of health information, such as treatment experience, drug efficacy, and emotional support. This interaction alleviates the difficulties involved in obtaining health information. Users engage in community interaction via posts, comments, and replies, which promotes the development of an online community as well as the wellbeing of community users, and research concerning the formation mechanism of the user interaction network in ADOCs could be beneficial to users. Taking the Anxiety Disorder Post Bar as the research object, this study constructed an ADOC user interaction network based on users' posts, comments, and personal information data. With the help of exponential random graph models (ERGMs), we studied the effects of the network structure, user attributes, topics, and emotional intensity on user interaction networks. We found that there was significant reciprocity in the user interaction network in ADOCs. In terms of user attributes, gender homogeneity had no impact on the formation of the user interaction network. Experienced users in the community had obvious advantages, and experienced users could obtain replies more easily from other members. In terms of topics, pathology popularization showed obvious homogeneity, and symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder showed obvious heterogeneity. In terms of emotional intensity, users with polarized emotions were more likely to receive replies from users with positive emotions. The probability of interaction between two users with negative emotions was small, and users with opposite emotional polarity tended to interact, especially when the interaction was initiated by users with positive emotions.

Knockdown of ribosomal protein S15A inhibits human kidney cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo

Ribosomal protein S15A (RPS15A), a member of the ribosomal protein gene family, was demonstrated to be closely associated with tumorigenesis in multiple human malignancies. Nevertheless, the role of RPS15A in the progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unknown. In the present study, by comparing the publicly available data from RCC tissues and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction results, it was identified that RPS15A was upregulated in RCC tissues and cell lines (P<0.001). Notably, knockdown of RPS15A suppressed 786-O cell proliferation (P<0.001) and promoted its apoptosis/necrotic (P=0.0001) in vitro. Additionally, tumour formation and growth of transfected 786-O cells were observed to be restrained in a mouse model (P<0.05). Subsequent to analysing the microarray data, 747 genes were differentially expressed in the RPS15A-knockdown 786-O cells. The enriched canonical pathways, diseases and functions of differentially expressed genes, and the interactive network of RPS15A in RCC were successfully constructed by ingenuity pathway analysis. Overall, the present results provided a preliminary experimental basis for RPS15A as a novel oncogene and potential therapeutic target in RCC.

[Comparative analysis of the role of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in severe asthma development]

The role of CD8^(+) T cells in asthma has not been fully discussed. The mechanisms of CD4^(+) and CD8^(+) cells in severe asthma (SA) development were compared. The microarray data (GSE31773) was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, including 20 samples of CD4^(+) and CD8^(+) T cells, which were collected from 8 health controls (HC), 4 non-severe asthma (NSA) and 8 SA patients. DEGs of CD4^(+) and CD8^(+) T cells in the HC vs. NSA and HC vs. SA groups were identified using the limma package in R. GO and pathway enrichment analysis of the common DEGs between the two groups were analyzed using DAVID. The interactive network of DEGs and significant modules were further explored. In CD4^(+) cells, there were 168 DEGs in HC vs. NSA group and 685 DEGs in HC vs. SA group, while for CD8^(+) T cells there were 719 DEGs in the HC vs. NSA groups and 1255 DEGs in the HC vs. SA groups. Besides, 80 common DEGs from CD4^(+) samples were enriched in the MAPKKK cascade and molecular metabolism, and 385 common DEGs of CD8^(+) T cells were significantly related with cell apoptosis and transformation. Moreover, two significant modules of DEGs in CD4^(+) were found to be involved with MPO and BPI. One module of CD8^(+) T cells containing PDHA1 and MRPL42 was identified to be related with glycolysis. In conclusion, MPO and BPI in CD4^(+), and PDHA1 and MRPL42 in CD8^(+) T cells might be used as specific biomarkers of SA progression. Therapy targeting the functions of CD4^(+) and CD8^(+) T cells may provide a novel perspective for SA treatment.

In silico analysis of TTR gene (coding and non-coding regions, and interactive network) and its implications in transthyretin-related amyloidosis

INTRODUCTION

Transthyretin (TTR)-related amyloidosis is a life-threatening disease. Currently, several questions about the pathogenic mechanisms of TTR-related amyloidosis remain unanswered.

METHODS

We have investigated various TTR-related issues using different in silico approaches.

RESULTS

Using an amino acid similarity-based analysis, we have indicated the most relevant TTR secondary structures in determining mutation impact. Our amyloidogenic propensity analysis of TTR missense substitutions has highlighted a similar pattern for wild-type and mutated TTR amino β acid sequences. However, some mutations present differences with respect to the general distribution. We have identified non-coding variants in cis-regulatory elements of the TTR gene, and our analysis on V122I-related haplotypes has indicated differences in non-coding regulatory variants, suggesting differences among V122I carriers. The analysis of methylation status indicated CpG sites that may affect TTR expression. Finally, our interactive network analysis revealed functional partners of TTR that may play a modifier role in the pathogenesis of TTR-related amyloidosis.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Our data provided new insights into the pathogenesis of TTR-related amyloidosis that, if they were to be confirmed through experimental investigations, could significantly improve our understanding of the disease.