mTOR pathway is known to promote cancer malignancy and influence cancer immunity but is unknown for its role in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) therapy. Using Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Show more
mTOR pathway is known to promote cancer malignancy and influence cancer immunity but is unknown for its role in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) therapy. Using Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center dataset (MSKCC), we extracted mTOR pathway gene mutations for stepwise Cox regression in 1661 cancer patients received ICI. We associated the mutation of the gene signature resulted from the stepwise Cox regression with the 1661 patients' survival. Other 553 ICI-treated patients were collected from 6 cohorts for validation. We also performed this survival association in patients without ICI treatment from MSKCC as discovery (n = 2244) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) as validation (n = 763). Pathway enrichment analysis were performed using transcriptome profiles from TCGA and IMvigor210 trial to investigate the potential mechanism. We identified 8 genes involved in mTOR pathway, including FGFR2, PIK3C3, FGFR4, FGFR1, FGF3, AKT1, mTOR, and RPTOR, resulted from stepwise Cox regression in discovery (n = 1661). In both discovery (n = 1661) and validation (n = 553), the mutation of the 8-gene signature was associated with better survival of the patients treated with ICI, which was independent of tumor mutation burden (TMB) and mainly attributed to the missense mutations. This survival association was not observed in patients without ICI therapy. Intriguingly, the mutation of the 8-gene signature was associated with increased TMB and PD1/PD-L1 expression. Immunologically, pathways involved in anti-tumor immune response were enriched in presence of this mutational signature in mTOR pathway, leading to increased infiltration of immune effector cells (e.g., CD8 + T cells, NK cells, and M1 macrophages), but decreased infiltration of immune inhibitory M2 macrophages. These results suggested that mTOR pathway gene mutations were predictive of better survival upon ICI treatment in multiple cancers, likely by its association with enhanced anti-tumor immunity. Larger studies are warranted to validate our findings. Show less
Hypoxia can cause Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in renal tubular cells, and in turn, renal fibrosis. We tested the expression of TRIM46, a member of tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) family Show more
Hypoxia can cause Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in renal tubular cells, and in turn, renal fibrosis. We tested the expression of TRIM46, a member of tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) family proteins, and mesenchymal markers under hypoxia. Our results showed that hypoxia significantly enhanced expression of TRIM46 in HK2 human renal proximal tubular epithelial cells. Our data further showed that hypoxia led to upregulated expression of mesenchymal markers including α-smooth muscle actin, vimentin, and Snail, and downregulated expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin, coupled with an increased abundance of nuclear β-catenin. However, such effects were reversed when TRIM46 expression was knocked down. TRIM46 overexpression had similar effects as hypoxia exposure, and such effects were reversed when cells were treated with XAV-939, a selective inhibitor for β-catenin. Furthermore, we found that TRIM46 promoted ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of Axin1 protein, a robust negative regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling activity. Finally, increased TRIM46 coupled with decreased Axin1 was observed in a rat renal fibrosis model. These data suggest a novel mechanism contributing to EMT that mediates hypoxia-induced renal fibrosis. Our results suggest that selectively inhibiting this pathway that activates fibrosis in human kidney may lead to development of a novel therapeutic approach for managing this disease. Show less
Many studies show that genetics play a major contribution to the onset of obesity. Human genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of genes that are associated with obesity. How Show more
Many studies show that genetics play a major contribution to the onset of obesity. Human genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of genes that are associated with obesity. However, the majority of them have not been functionally validated. Show less
Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists typically for a period of over six months. Chronic pain is often accompanied by an anxiety disorder, and these two tend to exacerbate each other. This can Show more
Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists typically for a period of over six months. Chronic pain is often accompanied by an anxiety disorder, and these two tend to exacerbate each other. This can make the treatment of these conditions more difficult. Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) is a member of the incretin hormone family and plays a critical role in glucose metabolism. Previous research has demonstrated the multiple roles of GIP in both physiological and pathological processes. In the central nervous system (CNS), studies of GIP are mainly focused on neurodegenerative diseases; hence, little is known about the functions of GIP in chronic pain and pain-related anxiety disorders. The chronic inflammatory pain model was established by hind paw injection with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in C57BL/6 mice. GIP receptor (GIPR) agonist (D-Ala In the present study, we found that hind paw injection with CFA induced pain sensitization and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. The expression of GIPR in the ACC was significantly higher in CFA-injected mice. D-Ala GIPR activation was found to produce analgesic and anxiolytic effects, which were partially due to attenuation of neuroinflammation and inhibition of excitatory transmission in the ACC. GIPR may be a suitable target for treatment of chronic inflammatory pain and pain-related anxiety. Show less
Inhibition of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) has been considered as a promising way for the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) for three decades. However, clinical trials of seve Show more
Inhibition of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) has been considered as a promising way for the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) for three decades. However, clinical trials of several CETP inhibitors with various potencies have been marginally successful at best, raising doubts on the target drugability of CETP. The in-depth understanding of the glycosylated CETP structure could be beneficial to more definitive descriptions of the CETP function and the underlying mechanism. In this work, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations were performed to thoroughly explore the mechanism of glycans modulating CETP. Here, the extensive simulation results intensely suggest that glycan88 tends to assist CETP in forming a continuous tunnel throughout interacting with the upper-right region of the N-barrel, while it also could prevent the formation of a continuous tunnel by swinging toward the right-rear of the N-barrel. Furthermore, glycan240 formed stable H-bonds with Helix-B and might further stabilize the central cavity of CETP. Furthermore, the nonspecific involvement of the hydroxyl groups from the various glycans with protein core interactions and the similar influence of different glycans trapped at similar regions on the protein structure suggest that physiological glycan may lead to a similar effect. This study would provide valuable insights into devising novel methods for CVD treatment targeting CETP and functional studies about glycosylation for other systems. Show less
Alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholic hepatitis (AH), a worldwide public health issue with high morbidity and mortality. Here, we identified apolipoprotein A-IV (APOA4) as a biomarker and potential ther Show more
Alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholic hepatitis (AH), a worldwide public health issue with high morbidity and mortality. Here, we identified apolipoprotein A-IV (APOA4) as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target for AH. APOA4 expression was detected by Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, Immunohistochemistry, and qRT-PCR in AH. Bioinformatics Methods (protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used to show down-stream gene and pathways of APOA4 in AH. AML-12 cells were used to evaluate the biological function of APOA4 using an ELISA kit (AST, ALT, and IL-1β) and flow cytometry (ROS activity). Both in vivo and in vitro, APOA4 expression was significantly elevated in the AH model induced by alcohol (ETOH). AML-12 cell damage was specifically repaired by APOA4 deficiency, while AST, ALT, and IL-1β activity that was increased by ETOH (200 µmol, 12 h) were suppressed. APOA4 inhibition increased intracellular ROS induced by ETOH, which was detected by flow cytometry. Functional and PPI network analyses showed Fcgamma receptor (FCGR) and platelet activation signaling were potential downstream pathways. We identified Show less
Delta-5 desaturase (D5D), encoded by the fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1) gene, is a rate-limiting enzyme in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthesis that influences the PUFA levels in milk fat. How Show more
Delta-5 desaturase (D5D), encoded by the fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1) gene, is a rate-limiting enzyme in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthesis that influences the PUFA levels in milk fat. However, the function and molecular mechanism of FADS1 in milk fat metabolism remain largely unknown. The Show less
Single nucleotide polymorphisms that affect RNA modification (RNAm-SNPs) may have functional roles in coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to identify RNAm-SNPs in CAD susceptibili Show more
Single nucleotide polymorphisms that affect RNA modification (RNAm-SNPs) may have functional roles in coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to identify RNAm-SNPs in CAD susceptibility loci and highlight potential risk factors. CAD-associated RNAm-SNPs were identified in the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D and UK Biobank genome-wide association studies. Gene expression and circulating protein levels affected by the RNAm-SNPs were identified by QTL analyses. Cell experiments and Mendelian randomization (MR) methods were applied to test whether the gene expression levels were associated with CAD. We identified 81 RNAm-SNPs that were associated with CAD or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), including m The present study identified RNAm-SNPs in CAD susceptibility genes, gene expression and circulating proteins as risk factors for CAD and suggested that RNA modification may play a role in the pathogenesis of CAD. Show less
Background Ischemic stroke is likely caused by interactions of multiple genes and environmental determinants. However, large-scale sequencing studies to discern functional genetic variants and their i Show more
Background Ischemic stroke is likely caused by interactions of multiple genes and environmental determinants. However, large-scale sequencing studies to discern functional genetic variants and their interactions with clinical and lifestyle risk factors on ischemic stroke are limited. Methods and Results We sequenced functional regions of 740 previously identified genes associated with atherosclerotic disease among 999 ischemic stroke cases and 1001 controls of Chinese ancestry. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between variants and ischemic stroke and test interactions between variants and clinical and lifestyle risk factors. Functional variants achieving suggestive significance were replicated in an independent sample of 4724 ischemic stroke cases and 5029 controls. Driven by variant main effects, each minor allele of the correlated rs174535, rs174545, and rs3834458 variants at Show less
Yu Zhang, Yuming Zhu, Mo Zhang+9 more · 2022 · European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes · Oxford University Press · added 2026-04-24
In the clinical practice, the right ventricular (RV) manifestations have received less attention in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This paper aimed to evaluate the risk prediction value and geneti Show more
In the clinical practice, the right ventricular (RV) manifestations have received less attention in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This paper aimed to evaluate the risk prediction value and genetic characteristics of RV involvement in HCM patients. A total of 893 patients with HCM were recruited. RV hypertrophy, RV obstruction, and RV late gadolinium enhancement were evaluated by echocardiography and/or cardiac magnetic resonance. Patients with any of the above structural abnormalities were identified as having RV involvement. All patients were followed with a median follow-up time of 3.0 years. The primary endpoint was cardiovascular death; the secondary endpoints were all-cause death and heart failure (HF)-related death. Survival analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations between RV involvement and the endpoints. Genetic testing was performed on 669 patients. RV involvement was recognized in 114 of 893 patients (12.8%). Survival analyses demonstrated that RV involvement was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular death (P = 0.002), all-cause death (P = 0.011), and HF-related death (P = 0.004). These outcome results were then confirmed by a sensitivity analysis. Genetic testing revealed a higher frequency of genotype-positive in patients with RV involvement (57.0% vs. 31.0%, P < 0.001), and the P/LP variants of MYBPC3 were more frequently identified in patients with RV involvement (30.4% vs. 12.0%, P < 0.001). Logistic analyses indicated the independent correlation between RV involvement and these genetic factors. RV involvement was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular death, all-cause death and HF-related death in HCM patients. Genetic factors might contribute to RV involvement in HCM. Show less
The endothelial glycocalyx regulates vascular permeability, inflammation, and coagulation, and acts as a mechanosensor. The loss of glycocalyx can cause endothelial injury and contribute to several mi Show more
The endothelial glycocalyx regulates vascular permeability, inflammation, and coagulation, and acts as a mechanosensor. The loss of glycocalyx can cause endothelial injury and contribute to several microvascular complications and, therefore, may promote diabetic retinopathy. Studies have shown a partial loss of retinal glycocalyx in diabetes, but with few molecular details of the changes in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) composition. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of hyperglycemia on GAGs of the retinal endothelial glycocalyx. GAGs were isolated from rat retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RRMECs), media, and retinas, followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry assays. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to study mRNA transcripts of the enzymes involved in GAG biosynthesis. Hyperglycemia significantly increased the shedding of heparan sulfate (HS), chondroitin sulfate (CS), and hyaluronic acid (HA). There were no changes to the levels of HS in RRMEC monolayers grown in high-glucose media, but the levels of CS and HA decreased dramatically. Similarly, while HA decreased in the retinas of diabetic rats, the total GAG and CS levels increased. Hyperglycemia in RRMECs caused a significant increase in the mRNA levels of the enzymes involved in GAG biosynthesis (including EXTL-1,2,3, EXT-1,2, ChSY-1,3, and HAS-2,3), with these increases potentially being compensatory responses to overall glycocalyx loss. Both RRMECs and retinas of diabetic rats exhibited glucose-induced alterations in the disaccharide compositions and sulfation of HS and CS, with the changes in sulfation including N,6-O-sulfation on HS and 4-O-sulfation on CS. Show less
Genetic factors play a critical role in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. The imbalance of WNT/β-catenin will cause the occurrence of osteoporosis. LRP5 and AXIN1 play an important role in the classic Show more
Genetic factors play a critical role in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. The imbalance of WNT/β-catenin will cause the occurrence of osteoporosis. LRP5 and AXIN1 play an important role in the classical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Our study was aimed to determine the association between five candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of LRP5 or AXIN1 and osteoporosis susceptibility in Chinese Han population. A total of 599 osteoporosis patients and 599 healthy individuals were recruited for this case-control study. Agena MassARRAY was used to genotype SNPs. The association between SNPs and osteoporosis susceptibility in different genetic models was analyzed by PLINK software. We used false-positive report probability (FPRP) analysis to detect whether the positive results were just chance or noteworthy observations. Multifactor dimension reduction (MDR) was used to analyze the interaction of SNP-SNP in the osteoporosis risk. Finally, haplotype analysis was performed by plink1.07 and Haploview software. We found that LRP5 rs11228240, AXIN1 rs2301522, and rs9921222 were significantly associated with the osteoporosis susceptibility. The results of subgroup analysis showed that LRP5 rs11228240 (protective factor) and AXIN1 rs2301522 (risk factor) were associated with the susceptibility of osteoporosis among participants who were age >60 years, female or BMI ≤ 24; AXIN1 rs9921222 significantly increased the risk of osteoporosis among participants with BMI ≤ 24. The genotype A The LRP5-rs11228240, AXIN1-rs2301522, and AXIN1- rs9921222 were associated with osteoporosis susceptibility in Chinese Han population. Show less
The high heterogeneity of ovarian cancer (OC) brings great difficulties to its early diagnosis and prognostic forecast. There is an urgent need to establish a prognostic model of OC based on clinicopa Show more
The high heterogeneity of ovarian cancer (OC) brings great difficulties to its early diagnosis and prognostic forecast. There is an urgent need to establish a prognostic model of OC based on clinicopathological features and genomics. We identified hypoxia-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between OC tissues from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and normal tissues from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). LASSO Cox regression analysis was applied for building a prognostic model in the TCGA-GTEx cohorts, and its predictive value was validated in the GEO-OC cohort. Functional enrichment analysis was performed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. By constructing a hypoxia model of the SKOV3 cell line and applying qRT-PCR, we investigated the relationship between hypoxia with two novel genes in the prognostic model (ISG20 and ANGPTL4). Twelve prognostic hypoxia-related DEGs were identified, and nine of them were selected to establish a prognostic model. OC patients were stratified into two risk groups, and the high-risk group showed reduced survival time compared to the low-risk group upon survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the risk score was an independent risk factor for overall survival. The biological function of the identified prognostic hypoxia-related gene signature was involved in immune cell infiltration. Low expression of ISG20 was observed in the CoCl Our findings showed that this hypoxia-related gene signature could serve as a satisfactory prognostic classifier for OC and will be beneficial to the research and development of targeted therapeutic strategies. Show less
Previous studies have shown that microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF1) can regulate osteoblast proliferation and differentiation through non-coding RNA (ncRNA) in bone-forming osteoblasts. H Show more
Previous studies have shown that microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF1) can regulate osteoblast proliferation and differentiation through non-coding RNA (ncRNA) in bone-forming osteoblasts. However, the role of MACF1 in targeting the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network to regulate osteoblast differentiation remains poorly understood. Here, we profiled messenger RNA (mRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and long ncRNA (lncRNA) expression in MACF1 knockdown MC3TC‑E1 pre‑osteoblast cells. In total, 547 lncRNAs, 107 miRNAs, and 376 mRNAs were differentially expressed. Significantly altered lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs were primarily found on chromosome 2. A lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was constructed using a bioinformatics computational approach. The network indicated that mir-7063 and mir-7646 were the most potent ncRNA regulators and mef2c was the most potent target gene. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that the fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, p53 signaling, and focal adhesion pathways were highly enriched and contributed to osteoblast proliferation. Importantly, the fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis pathway was co-regulated by lncRNAs and miRNAs. In this pathway, Dusp1 was regulated by AK079370, while Arhgef2 was regulated by mir-5101. Furthermore, Map3k5 was regulated by AK154638 and mir-466q simultaneously. AK003142 and mir-3082-5p as well as Ak141402 and mir-446 m-3p were identified as interacting pairs that regulate target genes. This study revealed the global expression profile of ceRNAs involved in the differentiation of MC3TC‑E1 osteoblasts induced by MACF1 deletion. These results indicate that loss of MACF1 activates a comprehensive ceRNA network to regulate osteoblast proliferation. Show less
This study aims to investigate the pathogenic gene variant in a family with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by using whole-exome sequencing and to explore the relationship between the gene variant and cli Show more
This study aims to investigate the pathogenic gene variant in a family with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by using whole-exome sequencing and to explore the relationship between the gene variant and clinical phenotype. Peripheral blood was collected from a family with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted. The possible pathogenic genes were detected by whole-exome sequencing, and the variant was verified by Sanger sequencing. Functional change in the variant was predicted by bioinformatics software. Clinical data of the family members are analysed simultaneously. The proband carries a novel heterozygous nonsense variant of MYBPC3:c.2731G > T (p.E911X). The analysis of amino acid conservation suggests that the variation is highly conserved. The three-dimensional protein structure shows that the variant in MYBPC3 results in the incompleteness of the fibronectintype-III2 (p872-967) domain and deletion of Ig-like C2-type 6 (p971-1065) and fibronectin type-III 3 and Ig-like C2-type 7 (p1181-1274) domains, in which p1253-1268 is predicted to have a transmembrane helix structure. Clinical data indicate that the phenotypes of variant carriers with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are diverse, suggesting the functional damages to the protein of MYBPC3. The phenotypes of variant carriers with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by the novel variant in MYBPC3: c.2731G > T (p.E911X) exhibit variable severity and clinical manifestations. Whole-exome sequencing can be used to comprehensive screen hypertrophic cardiomyopathy genes and provide a strong basis for early screening and accurate diagnosis and treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in children. Show less
Molecular variation between geographical populations and subtypes indicate potential genomic heterogeneity and novel genomic features within CCA. Here, we analyze exome-sequencing data of 87 perihilar Show more
Molecular variation between geographical populations and subtypes indicate potential genomic heterogeneity and novel genomic features within CCA. Here, we analyze exome-sequencing data of 87 perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) and 261 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) cases from 3 Asian centers (including 43 pCCAs and 24 iCCAs from our center). iCCA tumours demonstrate a higher tumor mutation burden and copy number alteration burden (CNAB) than pCCA tumours, and high CNAB indicates a poorer pCCA prognosis. We identify 12 significantly mutated genes and 5 focal CNA regions, and demonstrate common mutations in post-transcriptional modification-related potential driver genes METTL14 and RBM10 in pCCA tumours. Finally we demonstrate the tumour-suppressive role of METTL14, a major RNA N6-adenosine methyltransferase (m6A), and illustrate that its loss-of-function mutation R298H may act through m6A modification on potential driver gene MACF1. Our results may be valuable for better understanding of how post-transcriptional modification can affect CCA development, and highlight both similarities and differences between pCCA and iCCA. Show less
Metastasis is the dominant cause of cancer-related mortality. Metastasis-associated with colon cancer protein 1 (MACC1) has been proven to play a critical role in cancer metastasis. However, the prome Show more
Metastasis is the dominant cause of cancer-related mortality. Metastasis-associated with colon cancer protein 1 (MACC1) has been proven to play a critical role in cancer metastasis. However, the prometastatic role of MACC1 in regulating the pancreatic cancer (PC) metastatic phenotype remains elusive. Here, we report that MACC1 is highly expressed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and tissue microarray (TMA) and identified as a good indicator for poor prognosis. Overexpression or knockdown of MACC1 in PC cells correspondingly promoted or inhibited pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion in a MET proto-oncogene receptor tyrosine kinase (MET)-independent manner. Notably, knockdown of MACC1 in PC cells markedly decreased the liver metastatic lesions in a liver metastasis model. Mechanistically, MACC1 binds to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulator snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1) to drive EMT via upregulating the transcriptional activity of SNAI1, leading to the transactivation of fibronectin 1 (FN1) and the trans-repression of cadherin 1 (CDH1). Collectively, our results unveil a new mechanism by which MACC1 drives pancreatic cancer cell metastasis and suggest that the MACC1-SNAI1 complex-mediated mesenchymal transition may be a therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer. Show less
Two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P) are a large family of "background" channels that allow outward "leak" of potassium ions. The NALCN/UNC80/UNC79 complex is a non-selective channel that allows i Show more
Two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P) are a large family of "background" channels that allow outward "leak" of potassium ions. The NALCN/UNC80/UNC79 complex is a non-selective channel that allows inward flow of sodium and other cations. It is unclear how K2Ps and NALCN differentially modulate animal behavior. Here, we found that loss of function (lf) in the K2P gene twk-40 suppressed the reduced body curvatures of C. elegans NALCN(lf) mutants. twk-40(lf) caused a deep body curvature and extended backward locomotion, and these phenotypes appeared to be associated with neuron-specific expression of twk-40 and distinct twk-40 transcript isoforms. To survey the functions of other less studied K2P channels, we examined loss-of-function mutants of 13 additional twk genes expressed in the motor circuit and detected defective body curvature and/or locomotion in mutants of twk-2, twk-17, twk-30, twk-48, unc-58, and the previously reported twk-7. We generated presumptive gain-of-function (gf) mutations in twk-40, twk-2, twk-7, and unc-58 and found that they caused paralysis. Further analyses detected variable genetic interactions between twk-40 and other twk genes, an interdependence between twk-40 and twk-2, and opposite behavioral effects between NALCN and twk-2, twk-7, or unc-58. Finally, we found that the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity property of TWK-40 residue 159 could affect the channel activity. Together, our study identified twk-40 as a novel modulator of the motor behavior, uncovered potential behavioral effects of five other K2P genes and suggests that NALCN and some K2Ps can oppositely affect C. elegans behavior. Show less
A new label-free method was developed for SERS detection of human apolipoprotein A4. Rolling circle amplification (RCA) was used, which could induce the production of AuNPs (poly adenine and adsorptio Show more
A new label-free method was developed for SERS detection of human apolipoprotein A4. Rolling circle amplification (RCA) was used, which could induce the production of AuNPs (poly adenine and adsorption gold nanoparticles). When there were two DNA labeled antibodies and target protein, MB1 (molecular beacon 1) was unfolded and the substrate was modified in the homogeneous solution, and the proximate complex was formed. The unfolded molecular beacon worked as a primer in the hybridization with the RCA template to start RCA, which could produce many long sequences of DNA containing amounts of adenines. The AuNPs were bound with the long-repeated adenine in the RCA product, causing accumulation of AuNPs on the surface of the electrode. It was indicated that the spectral characteristics of adenine at 736 cm Show less
The chromobox family, a critical component of epigenetic regulators, participates in the tumorigenesis and progression of many malignancies. However, the roles of the CBX family members (CBXs) in glio Show more
The chromobox family, a critical component of epigenetic regulators, participates in the tumorigenesis and progression of many malignancies. However, the roles of the CBX family members (CBXs) in glioblastoma (GBM) remain unclear. The mRNA expression of CBXs was analyzed in tissues and cell lines by Oncomine and Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE). The differential expression of CBXs at the mRNA level was explored in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) databases with the "beeswarm" R package. The protein expression of CBXs in GBM was further examined on Human Protein Atlas (HPA). The correlations between CBXs and IDH mutation and between CBXs and GBM subtypes were investigated in the TCGA portal and CGGA database with the "survminer" R package. The alteration of CBXs and their prognostic value were further determined CBXs presented significantly differential expressions in pan-cancers. CBX2/3/5/8 were upregulated, whereas CBX6/7 were downregulated at mRNA level in GBM of TCGA and CGGA databases. Similarly, high expression of CBX2/3/5 and low expression of CBX6/8 were further confirmed at the protein level in the HPA. CBX2/6/7 were positively correlated with IDH mutation and CBX1/2/4/5/8 were closely related to GBM subtypes. CBX7 and CBX8 presented the independent prognostic factors for GBM patient survival. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that CBXs were closely related to the histone H3-K36, PcG protein complex, ATPase, and Wnt pathway. The overexpression of CBX7 and underexpression of CBX8 significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion of glioma cells Our results suggested that CBX7 and CBX8 served as independent prognostic indicators that promoted the proliferation and invasion of glioma cells, providing a promising strategy for diagnosing and treating GBM. Show less
Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Recent studies have found that angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) is abnormally expressed in many tumors, so it can serve as a Show more
Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Recent studies have found that angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) is abnormally expressed in many tumors, so it can serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target. However, its prognostic value in LUAD remains unclear. We downloaded RNA sequence data for LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, methylation data from the University of California Santa Cruz genome database, and clinical information. R software (version 4.1.1) was applied to analyze the ANGPTL4 expression in LUAD and nontumor samples, and the correlation with clinical characteristics to assess its prognostic and diagnostic value. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between the ANGPTL4 expression and methylation levels. Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource (TIMER) tool was taken for immune infiltration analysis, and two Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets were combined for meta-analysis. Finally, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to ANGPTL4 were analyzed to clarify its function. As shown in our results, ANGPTL4 was upregulated in LUAD and was an independent risk factor for the diagnosis and prognosis of LUAD. The general methylation level and eight ANGPTL4 methylation sites were significantly negatively correlated with the ANGPTL4 expression. Furthermore, we found that B cell infiltration was negatively correlated with ANGPTL4 expression and was an independent risk factor. Meta-analysis showed that the high expression of ANGPTL4 was closely associated with a poor prognosis. 153 DEGs, including the matrix metalloproteinase family, the chemokines subfamily, and the collagen family, were correlated with ANGPTL4. In this study, we found that ANGPTL4 was significantly elevated in LUAD and was closely associated with the development and poor prognosis of LUAD, suggesting that ANGPTL4 may be a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for LUAD. Show less
Mounting evidence has linked both obesity and metabolic disorders with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Dietary inulin is conducive to modulating this dysbiosis, and represents a potential means to im Show more
Mounting evidence has linked both obesity and metabolic disorders with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Dietary inulin is conducive to modulating this dysbiosis, and represents a potential means to improve disorders of glucose and lipid metabolism. However, the mechanisms underlying these improvements are largely unclear. Obese ob/ob mice were fed a standard chow, a low fiber diet (LFD) or a high fiber diet (HFD) for 4 weeks, and the body weight, fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) level, and plasma and liver lipid profiles were analyzed. Oral glucose tolerance testing, and gut microbiota sequencing were also conducted. Dietary inulin improved the dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, attenuated the decrease in phylum Bacteroidetes, repressed the increase of phylum Firmicutes, and led to an increase in the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes. At the family level, inulin promoted the expansion of SCFAs-producing Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae bacteria, which increased the fecal SCFAs concentrations. At the genus level, inulin increased the levels of Bacteroides and Bifidobacteria. Furthermore, our results revealed that there was enhanced expression of angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4), which might be induced by the higher production of SCFAs, and this may underlie the improvements in the disorders of glucose and lipid metabolism seen in mice with added dietary inulin. In conclusion, inulin may ameliorate metabolic disorders by remodeling the gut microbiota and increasing the production of SCFAs, which might be mediated by the ANGPTL4-related signaling pathway. Interventions targeting the gut microbiota warrant further investigation as a novel therapy for metabolic diseases. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Mounting evidence has linked both obesity and metabolic disorders with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Dietary inulin is conducive to modulating this dysbiosis, and represents a potential means to improve disorders of glucose and lipid metabolism. However, the mechanisms underlying these improvements are largely unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effects of dietary fiber (inulin) on metabolic homeostasis using ob/ob mice. The results of our study demonstrate that inulin-induced remodeling of the gut microbiota resulted in increased production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), leading to the enhanced expression of angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4), which improved the glucose and lipid metabolism. Our results suggest that the gut microbiota, SCFAs and ANGPTL4 pathway at least partially mediate the beneficial effects of inulin on metabolic disorders in ob/ob mice. Show less
Tubby-like protein 3 (TULP3) is a member of the tubby family, has been related to the development of nervous system by gene knockout researches. Nevertheless, the role of TULP3 in the gastric cancer i Show more
Tubby-like protein 3 (TULP3) is a member of the tubby family, has been related to the development of nervous system by gene knockout researches. Nevertheless, the role of TULP3 in the gastric cancer is not clear. Western blotting and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed for the quantitative detection of TULP3 expression in the gastric cancer and consecutive non-cancerous tissues, and gastric cancer cells. The roles of TULP3 in invasion, migration as well as proliferation of the gastric cancer cell in vivo and in vitro through utilizing colony formation, MTT, wound-healing, transwell and mouse xenograft model. Western blotting assay was implemented in order to clarify the potential molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, electron microscopy and western blot were evaluated TULP3 expression in gastric cancer patient extracted serum exosomes. TULP3 expression levels were remarkably upregulated in the gastric cancer tissues and cells. Subsequent functional assays demonstrated that TULP3 downregulation suppressed invasion, migration as well as the proliferation of the gastric cancer cell. Mechanism assays depicted that the PTEN/Akt/Snail signaling pathway can inhibit invasion, migration as well as the proliferation of the gastric cancer cell via TULP3 silencing. Finally, we found that the expression of TULP3 could be determined in the extracted serum exosomes. The expression of TULP3 in gastric cancer group was higher in comparison with normal group. Our results reveal that TULP3 might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer. Show less
Runs of heterozygosity (ROHet) and homozygosity (ROH) harbor useful information related to traits of interest. There is a lack of investigating the effect of ROHet and ROH on reproductive success and Show more
Runs of heterozygosity (ROHet) and homozygosity (ROH) harbor useful information related to traits of interest. There is a lack of investigating the effect of ROHet and ROH on reproductive success and the loss of reproduction in mammals. Here, we detected and characterized the ROHet and ROH patterns in the genomes of Chinese indigenous pigs (i.e., Jinhua, Chun'an, Longyou Black, and Shengxian Spotted pigs), revealing the similar genetic characteristics of indigenous pigs. Later, we highlighted the underlying litter traits-related ROHet and ROH using association analysis with linear model in these four indigenous pig breeds. To pinpoint the promising candidate genes associated with litter traits, we further in-depth explore the selection patterns of other five pig breeds (i.e., Erhualian, Meishan, Minzhu, Rongchang, and Diqing pigs) with different levels of reproduction performance at the underlying litter traits-related ROHet and ROH using Show less
Metabolomics genome wide association study (GWAS) help outline the genetic contribution to human metabolism. However, studies to date have focused on relatively healthy, population-based samples of Wh Show more
Metabolomics genome wide association study (GWAS) help outline the genetic contribution to human metabolism. However, studies to date have focused on relatively healthy, population-based samples of White individuals. Here, we conducted a GWAS of 537 blood metabolites measured in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study, with separate analyses in 822 White and 687 Black study participants. Trans-ethnic meta-analysis was then applied to improve fine-mapping of potential causal variants. Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 44.4 and 41.5 mL/min/1.73m Show less
Few intravenously administered mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) engraft to the injured myocardium, thereby limiting their therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of ischemic heart injury. Here, it is f Show more
Few intravenously administered mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) engraft to the injured myocardium, thereby limiting their therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of ischemic heart injury. Here, it is found that irisin pretreatment increases the cardiac homing of adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ADSCs) administered by single and multiple intravenous injections to mice with MI/R by more than fivefold, which subsequently increases their antiapoptotic, proangiogenic, and antifibrotic effects in rats and mice that underwent MI/R. RNA sequencing, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signaling pathway analysis, and loss-of-function studies identified CSF2RB as a cytokine receptor that facilitates the chemotaxis of irisin-treated ADSCs in the presence of CSF2, a chemokine that is significantly upregulated in the ischemic heart. Cardiac-specific CSF2 knockdown blocked the cardiac homing and cardioprotection abilities of intravenously injected irisin-treated ADSCs in mice subjected to MI/R. Moreover, irisin pretreatment reduced the apoptosis of hydrogen peroxide-induced ADSCs and increased the paracrine proangiogenic effect of ADSCs. ERK1/2-SOD2, and ERK1/2-ANGPTL4 are responsible for the antiapoptotic and paracrine angiogenic effects of irisin-treated ADSCs, respectively. Integrin αV/β5 is identified as the irisin receptor in ADSCs. These results provide compelling evidence that irisin pretreatment can be an effective means to optimize intravenously delivered MSCs as therapy for ischemic heart injury. Show less
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly devastating neoplasm due to its irrepressible characteristics and propensity to override the available treatment strategies. Rapid prevalence and enormous severity o Show more
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly devastating neoplasm due to its irrepressible characteristics and propensity to override the available treatment strategies. Rapid prevalence and enormous severity of this cancer urgently demand the exploration of novel approaches for the development of effective therapeutic measures. Metabolic derangement is one of the hallmarks of cancers which restructures mitochondrial activities and biological pathways. Apart from their bioenergetic and biosynthetic functions, mitochondria are also implicated in a myriad of cellular functions including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, senescence, homeostasis, and other cell regulatory mechanisms. It has been noted that PC, like other types of cancers, exploits these activities in favor of tumor growth and survival by inducing mitochondrial dysfunctions such as mitochondrial-DNA mutation, metabolic enzyme modification, ROS generation, mitophagy, evasion of apoptosis, and mitochondrial biogenesis. During pancreatic carcinogenesis, a large number of onco-factors including Bcl-2 family proteins, NF-κB, HIFs, NRF2, NOX, MFNs, DRP1, DUSP6, Cyp-D, PARKIN, and others are dysregulated, resulting into reprogramming of metabolic pathways and cellular kinetics. Hence, targeted interventions in these metabolic derangements may present some effective anticancer approaches. The current review gives an insight into various mitochondrial disorders and their targetable molecules in PC which may provide certain novel opportunities in the pursuit of therapeutic development. Furthermore, we have also discussed certain treatment perspectives in PC based on specific mitochondrial activities. Show less
As the most prevalent aboriginal group on Hainan Island located between South China and the mainland of Southeast Asia, the Li people are believed to preserve some unique genetic information due to th Show more
As the most prevalent aboriginal group on Hainan Island located between South China and the mainland of Southeast Asia, the Li people are believed to preserve some unique genetic information due to their isolated circumstances, although this has been largely uninvestigated. We performed the first whole-genome sequencing of 55 Hainan Li (HNL) individuals with high coverage (∼30-50×) to gain insight into their genetic history and potential adaptations. We identified the ancestry enriched in HNL (∼85%) is well preserved in present-day Tai-Kadai speakers residing in South China and North Vietnam, that is, Bai-Yue populations. A lack of admixture signature due to the geographical restriction exacerbated the bottleneck in the present-day HNL. The genetic divergence among Bai-Yue populations began ∼4,000-3,000 years ago when the proto-HNL underwent migration and the settling of Hainan Island. Finally, we identified signatures of positive selection in the HNL, some outstanding examples included FADS1 and FADS2 related to a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, we observed that malaria-driven selection had occurred in the HNL, with population-specific variants of malaria-related genes (e.g., CR1) present. Interestingly, HNL harbors a high prevalence of malaria leveraged gene variants related to hematopoietic function (e.g., CD3G) that may explain the high incidence of blood disorders such as B-cell lymphomas in the present-day HNL. The results have advanced our understanding of the genetic history of the Bai-Yue populations and have provided new insights into the adaptive scenarios of the Li people. Show less