Research progress on the mechanism of common inflammatory pathways in the pathogenesis and development of lymphoma

In recent years, the incidence and mortality rates of lymphoma have gradually increased worldwide. Tumorigenesis and drug resistance are closely related to intracellular inflammatory pathways in lymphoma. Therefore, understanding the biological role of inflammatory pathways and their abnormal activation in relation to the development of lymphoma and their selective modulation may open new avenues for targeted therapy of lymphoma. The biological functions of inflammatory pathways are extensive, and they are central hubs for regulating inflammatory responses, immune responses, and the tumour immune microenvironment. However, limited studies have investigated the role of inflammatory pathways in lymphoma development. This review summarizes the relationship between abnormal activation of common inflammatory pathways and lymphoma development to identify precise and efficient targeted therapeutic options for patients with advanced, drug-resistant lymphoma.

SOX10 promotes the malignant biological behavior of basal-like breast cancer cells by regulating EMT process

Background

The diagnostic utility of SRY-box transcription factor 10 (SOX10) expression in basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) has been reported previously. However, the effect of SOX10 on the malignancy of BLBC cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unelucidated. Here, we investigate the regulatory mechanisms and roles of SOX10 in BLBC progression.

Methods

Sequencing data from patients with BLBC were extracted from the Cancer Genome Atlas database to determine the transcriptomic levels of SOX10 across breast cancer subtypes. Subsequently, the bioinformatics relevance of SOX10 in BLBC was investigated. Immunohistochemical assays were used to corroborate the protein expression of SOX10 in clinicopathological specimens (human breast cancer paraffin tissues). RNA interference was used to downregulate SOX10 expression, and the efficiency of interference was evaluated using quantitative PCR. The expression levels of molecules related to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway were determined by western blotting. Various assays, such as transwell, colony formation, and flow apoptosis assays, were conducted to assess the malignancy of BLBC cells (MDA-MB-231).

Results

Bioinformatics analyses revealed the differential expression of SOX10 in various breast cancer subtypes. An association between SOX10 and immune checkpoint expression was observed in BLBC. Additionally, immune correlation analysis indicated a positive relationship between SOX10 expression and effector immune cells. SOX10 was identified as a potential immunotherapeutic target. Juxtaposed with non-basal-like breast cancer (N-BLBC) and breast adenosis, immunohistochemical analysis revealed the upregulated expression of SOX10 in BLBC, indicating its potential diagnostic significance. Single-gene functional enrichment analysis indicated that SOX10 is associated with EMT and the tumor inflammatory index. Experimental outcomes from cellular assays suggested that the downregulation of SOX10 inhibited multiple malignancy-associated behaviors in MDA-MB-231 cells, specifically affecting the EMT process, migration, invasion, proliferation, clone formation, and anti-apoptotic activities.

Conclusions

We concluded that SOX10 contributes to the malignancy of BLBC cells by modulating the EMT pathway. Moreover, we observed a notable correlation between SOX10 expression and immune responses, indicating the potential significance of SOX10 in immunotherapy.

Landscape of costimulatory molecule signature in breast cancer and its prognostic significance

Background

Breast cancer (BRCA) is the most common malignant tumor in the world. Because of its substantial heterogeneity, its clinical treatment is faced with various problems. Only a small number of patients can benefit from the treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI). Costimulatory molecule signature (CMS) plays an essential role in T cell activation and antitumor immune response. Previous studies found that CMS is associated with prognosis-related immune response markers, suggesting that CMS may be a potential therapeutic target. However, the research on their function in BRCA subtype is still inadequate. Our study aims to analyze CMS in BRCA and establish an effective prognostic model.

Methods

We extracted 1,222 messenger RNA (mRNA) samples of 1,110 patients registered in the BRCA cohort of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), including 1,109 tumor tissue mRNA samples and 113 standard tissue samples for model construction and verification. The prognostic significance was determined by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)-Cox proportional hazard regression, which showed that the overall survival (OS) of the high-risk group was shorter than that of the low group (P<0.01).

Results

Although the CMS prognostic model can predict the prognosis well, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) prediction results were unsatisfactory. The reason for this may be the heteromorphism of BRCA, so we divided the cases into four subtypes according to the PAM50 (PAM50Call_RNAseq) in clinical information. The same method was used to construct the model in the four subtypes and verify the effect of each subtype prognostic model.

Conclusions

The results showed that the submodels constructed in this study can be used to evaluate the prognosis of each subtype.

Transcriptome profiling revealed multiple genes and ECM-receptor interaction pathways that may be associated with breast cancer

Background

Exploration of the genes with abnormal expression during the development of breast cancer is essential to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved. Transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of invasive ductal carcinoma and paracancerous tissues from the same patient were performed to identify the key genes and signaling pathways related to breast cancer development.

Methods

Samples of breast tumor tissue and paracancerous breast tissue were obtained from 6 patients. Sequencing used the Illumina HiSeq platform. All. Only perfectly matched clean reads were mapped to the reference genome database, further analyzed and annotated based on the reference genome information. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using the DESeq R package (1.10.1) and DEGSeq R package (1.12.0). Using KOBAS software to execute the KEGG bioinformatics analyses, enriched signaling pathways of DEGs involved in the occurrence of breast cancer were determined. Subsequently, quantitative real time PCR was used to verify the accuracy of the expression profile of key DEGs from the RNA-seq result and to explore the expression patterns of novel cancer-related genes on 8 different clinical individuals.

Results

The transcriptomic sequencing results showed 937 DEGs, including 487 upregulated and 450 downregulated genes in the breast cancer specimens. Further quantitative gene expression analysis was performed and captured 252 DEGs (201 downregulated and 51 upregulated) that showed the same differential expression pattern in all libraries. Finally, 6 upregulated DEGs (CST2, DRP2, CLEC5A, SCD, KIAA1211, DTL) and 6 downregulated DEGs (STAC2, BTNL9, CA4, CD300LG, GPIHBP1 and PIGR), were confirmed in a quantitative real time PCR comparison of breast cancer and paracancerous breast tissues from 8 clinical specimens. KEGG analysis revealed various pathway changes, including 20 upregulated and 21 downregulated gene enrichment pathways. The extracellular matrix–receptor (ECM-receptor) interaction pathway was the most enriched pathway: all genes in this pathway were DEGs, including the THBS family, collagen and fibronectin. These DEGs and the ECM-receptor interaction pathway may perform important roles in breast cancer.

Conclusion

Several potential breast cancer-related genes and pathways were captured, including 7 novel upregulated genes and 76 novel downregulated genes that were not found in other studies. These genes are related to cell proliferation, movement and adhesion. They may be important for research into breast cancer mechanisms, particularly CST2 and CA4. A key signaling pathway, the ECM-receptor interaction signal pathway, was also identified as possibly involved in the development of breast cancer.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s11658-019-0162-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Transcriptome sequencing profiles reveal lncRNAs may involve in breast cancer (ER/PR positive type) by interaction with RAS associated genes

To reveal novel lncRNAs and explore how could lncRNA affect the ER/PR positive type breast cancer, 16 different lncRNA transcriptomes (8 breast cancer tissues and 8 normal breast tissues) were successfully sequenced. In total, 8,954 high quality lncRNAs, including 5,516 lncRNAs reported in the previous studies and 3,438 novel lncRNAs, were annotated. The highest expressed lncRNAs were MALAT1, SCARNA10, RP11-206M11.7 and NEAT1, and the highest expressing mRNAs were RPL19, SCGB2A2, FTL and TMSB4 × . Of the 615 differentially expressed lncRNAs, 323 showed up regulated (P < 0.05) expression patterns in breast cancer, and 292 showed down regulated expression patterns. Of the 8,954 genes, 5,516 genes were upregulated in breast cancer, and 3,438 were downregulated. In total, the targets of 238 lncRNAs were confirmed by two lncRNA target prediction programs. Within these genes, Ras responsive element binding protein 1, Ras association domain family member 6, Ras association domain family member 8, Ras protein specific guanine nucleotide releasing factor 1and other 10 different Ras associated different expressed genes were predicted as targets of lncRNAs. These different expressed lncRNAs which could regulate the Ras gene families and ECM pathway may be another mechanism why the expression pattern of Ras genes changed in breast cancer. All these cancer-related genes (Ras genes) were annotated as targets of lncRNAs in the breast cancer transcriptome may provide us with a new way to understand the occurrence and development of breast cancer.

Cox Regression Model Analysis of Infection in Renal Transplants After Operation

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to explore the factors that affect infections after renal transplant, establishing the Cox model to forecast infection for patients of renal transplant.

METHODS

Data were collected from patients who had renal transplantation in Nanking Jinlin Hospital from January 2011 to April 2015 (n = 305 transplants). There were 296 individual data that could be used after deleting the people who were lacking some data, changing the main immunosuppressants during the first year, losing follow-up, and data writing that was not fully 1 year after the operation; 296 individuals were divided by 3:7. The 206 data of patients (7/10 of the total individuals) were used to analyze and build a model, and the rest of the data were used to verify the model, analyzing the 206 data with Cox regression, discovering the factors that affect the infection after renal transplant independently, building the model, and verification.

RESULTS

Cox regression showed that there are three independent factors that affect infections after renal transplant: X3, the donor type (relative risk [RR] = 1.929, P = .037); X9, dialysis time (RR = 1.017, P = .032); and X13, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match (RR = 0.257, P = .013). The model is: PI = 0.657X3 + 0.017X9 - 1.359X13. All PI for the 206 individuals were calculated and then divided into three groups: the low-risk group, the median-risk group, and the high-risk group. The model was verified by calculating the PI for all 90 people. The log-rank test showed that the survival rates among these groups were significantly different (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Donor type, dialysis time, and HLA match are all factors that affect infection after renal transplant. Donor type and dialysis time were the dangerous factors for infection, but HLA match was the protecting factor. The model depends on these three factors and could forecast infection after renal transplant.

Roles of Signaling Pathways in the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process though which an epithelial phenotype can be converted into a phenotype of mesenchymal cells. Under physiological conditions EMT is important for embryogenesis, organ development, wound repair and tissue remodeling. However, EMT may also be activated under pathologic conditions, especially in carcinogenesis and metastatic progression. Major signaling pathways involved in EMT include transforming growth factor β(TGF-β), Wnt, Notch, Hedgehog and other signaling pathways. These pathways are related to several transcription factors, including Twist, Smads and zinc finger proteins snail and slug. These interact with each other to provide crosstalk between the relevant signaling pathways. This review lays emphasis on studying the relationship between EMT and signaling pathways in carcinogenesis and metastatic progression.

[Investigation of the arsenic levels in ecosystem aspect in water type of endemic arsenicosis area in Datong City]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the arsenic levels in endemic arsenism in Datong City, Shanxi Province.

METHODS

A total of 85 inhabitants from one village in endemic arsenism area in Datong City, Shanxi Province were collected as research subjects. The People's Republic of China health industry standard for endemic arsenism was used to identify and diagnosis the patients. Daily drinking water and soil were collected and detected by atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The content of vegetables were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

RESULTS

In the study, 85 samples were collected. Arsenic concentration in the daily drinking water were 14.41 - 90.34 μg/L, and the median value was 43.88 μg/L. The arsenic concentration of vegetables were 0.001 - 0.771 mg/kg, and 43.04% of samples, were higher than the maximal permissible limit of As in food. The results that the arsenic concentration of vegetables constant changes in the leaf vegetables > tubers > fruit vegetables. The health risk of intaking arsenic pollution in vegetables up to 71.77%. The arsenic levels in village of four directions were not exceeded the Chinese standards.

CONCLUSIONS

Arsenic concentration in drinking water and vegetables are high in waterborn endemic arsenicosis area of Shanxi province. Arsenic in drinking water has been considered as a primary cause of arsenism, but direct intake of arsenic from vegetables can not be ignored.

Preparation of Sapphire for High Quality III-Nitride Growth

We developed a unique preparation technique to eliminate surface damage on the c-plane of sapphire and render it atomically flat. AFM images of c-plane sapphire annealed at 1380 °C for 1hour show terrace-like features with about 0.2 μm long terraces. The GaN layers grown by MBE on annealed sapphire have [0 0 2] symmetric and [1 0 4] asymmetric full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 60 and 132 arcsec, respectively. This compares with 408 and 600 arcsec, respectively, for GaN grown on sapphire having gone through conventional chemical cleaning.

Transforming growth factor-β1 regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition in association with cancer stem-like cells in a breast cancer cell line

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with altered connection and junctions between cells and changes in abilities of invasion and migration. In this study, we investigated whether SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells induced to undergo EMT exhibit changes in morphological and invasion abilities after Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) treatment. Serum-deprived SK-BR-3 cells were treated with TGF-β1 (0, 10 ng/mL) for 24 h. The cells morphological changes were observed and imaged using inverted phase contrast microscope. Scratch experiment and invasion experiment were employed to detect changes of invasion ability, cell-flow experiment was used to assess cell cycle, immunohistochemistry technique was used to detect epithelial and mesenchymal markers after the crawling cells were fixed. Our research reveal that SK-BR-3 cells become larger and more messy, the elongated cells extend pseudopodia, the link of the cells became more loosely and cell gap widened after TGF-β1 treatment. SK-BR-3 cells showed faster growing and improved invasion abilities after TGF-β1 treatment, and reduced G1 phase cells proportion in the total number of cells after the conversion, in contrast the S phase cells accounted for the proportion of the total number of cells increased. These findings indicate that TGF-β1-induced EMT in breast cancer cells may be associated with major alterations in morphological and invasion abilities.

Clinicopathological significance of PTEN and PI3K/AKT signal transduction pathway in non-small cell lung cancer

A high frequency of mutations at the PTEN locus has been noticed in carcinoma of lung. However, the role of PTEN alternations and its association with outcome variables in the genesis of lung carcinoma are not understood fully. The purpose of our study was to examine the impact of EGFR, TGF-α, P-AKT and PTEN in the genesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Total numbers of 66 histopathologically confirmed cases of NSCLC and 10 cases of benign control samples embedded with wax were studied. We assessed EGFR, TGF-α and P-AKT by the use of specific antibody through immunohistochemistry as directed by the manufacturer, and detected PTEN expression by in situ hybridization. There were progressive loss of PTEN expression and significant increasing in EGFR, TGF-α, P-AKT expression from benign samples to NSCLC (p<0.05). The overexpression of EGFR, TGF-α, P-AKT and loss of PTEN expression were correlated to differentiation extent of cancer tissue, metastasis of lymph nodes and histological classification. Thus, alteration of EGFR, TGF-α, P-AKT and PTEN are likely important molecular events in pathogenesis and carcinogenesis of NSCLC.

Highly selective photoenhanced wet etching of GaN for defect investigation and device fabrication

Photoenhanced electro-chemical (PEC) wet etching has been shown to be suitable for dislocation-density estimation in n-GaN films as well as for GaN-based device fabrication. We report on PEC etching of n-GaN samples grown by MBE and HVPE methods in unstirred aqueous KOH solution under He-Cd laser illumination. Characterization of the etched samples was carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in both cross-sectional and plan-view configurations and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At moderate illumination densities, the SEM and AFM analyses reveal sub-100 nm scale threading vertical wires on the etched surfaces. The calculated density (∼1×10 9cm−2) is in agreement with dislocation density found by transmission electron microscopy. Using cross-sectional AFM, we find that these vertical wires are ∼1[.proportional]m high and are perpendicular to the sapphire surface. Applying a higher illumination density or an external voltage, we obtain a higher etch rate with a smooth free-feature etched surface. Some highly resistive samples that cannot be etched under normal conditions because the band bending is too small to confine the holes to the surface for them to participate in the PEC process, can be etched with the application of a voltage to the sample. In this case, the etch rate depends on both the polarity and the magnitude of the voltage applied. In an MBE-grown sample with an AlN/GaN superstructure inside, we report on high selectivity between AlN and GaN (AlN is an etch stop); the selectivity is due to the etching mechanism of the PEC process.

Microstructure and optical properties of GaN films grown on porous SiC substrate by MBE

GaN thin films were grown on porous SiC substrates using reactive molecular beam epitaxy with ammonia as the nitrogen source. Microstructure analysis and optical characterization were performed to assess the quality of the effect of pores on the growth and the quality of the GaN films. Results indicate that the GaN films on porous SiC are slightly less defective and more strain-relaxed (some completely relaxed) when grown on porous SiC substrate, as compared to growth on standard 6H-SiC substrates. Rocking curve FWHMs of 3.3 arcmin for (0002) diffraction and 13.7 arcmin for (1012) diffraction were obtained for sub-micron thick GaN films. Excitonic transition with FWHM as narrow as 9.5 meV was observed at 15K on the GaN layer grown on porous SiC without a skin layer.

Photoluminescence of GaN Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy on Freestanding GaN Template

We studied photoluminescence (PL) of GaN layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on freestanding high-quality GaN templates. The layers with thickness of ∼ 1 νm were grown under Ga-rich conditions using radio-frequency plasma as a nitrogen source. The PL spectra from both the epilayer and the substrate contain a plethora of very sharp peaks related to excitonic transitions. Through the analysis of the excitonic part of the spectra, we have identified two shallow donors with the binding energies of 28.8 and 32.6 meV, attributed to SiGa and ON, respectively. The PL spectra involved also emissions due to shallow donor-acceptor pair transitions with the main peak at 3.26 eV and a broad band peaking at ∼2.5 - 2.6 eV (green band). The green bands in the GaN substrate and GaN overgrown layer have different energy positions invoking the suggestion that they must have their genesis in different defect centers.

Electric field modulation of infrared absorption at room temperature in electrochemically self assembled quantum dots

We report observation of electric-field-modulated infrared absorption at room temperature in electrochemically self-assembled CdS quantum dots produced by electrodepositing the semiconductor in 50-nm pores of an anodic alumina film. The absorption is associated with photoassisted real space transfer of electrons from the CdS dots to surrounding trap sites in the alumina. Similar absorption was observed in the past [Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 4423 (2001)] and was the basis of a room temperature near infrared photodetector. An electric field modulates this absorption by altering the overlap between the wavefunctions of electronic states in the quantum dots and the trap states in the surrounding alumina, thereby affecting the matrix element for radiative transitions, similar to the quantum confined Stark or Franz-Keldysh effect. The ability to electrically modulate absorption in these structures can result in inexpensive infrared signal processing devices operating at room temperature.

An Effective Flat Plate Solar Heating and Cooling Hybrid System

Based on the achievements of solar solid adsorption refrigeration research, a new hybrid heating and cooling system, related to the solar water heater technique, has been proposed. The conversion and utilization of solar energy for cooling and heating are also analyzed. Experiments on a prototype have shown that both the available (residual) and adsorption heats of the adsorbent bed can be recovered efficiently and simply. The results of some simulations of this new flat plate under real solar radiation are given, as well as comparisons with our previous research work. The successful design and assessment of this new flat plate hybrid system should accelerate the practical application of solid adsorption refrigeration driven by solar energy.

Loss of annexin A7 leads to alterations in frequency-induced shortening of isolated murine cardiomyocytes

Annexin A7 has been proposed to function in the fusion of vesicles, acting as a Ca(2+) channel and as Ca(2+)-activated GTPase, thus inducing Ca(2+)/GTP-dependent secretory events. To understand the function of annexin A7, we have performed targeted disruption of the Anxa7 gene in mice. Matings between heterozygous mice produced offspring showing a normal Mendelian pattern of inheritance, indicating that the loss of annexin A7 did not interfere with viability in utero. Mice lacking annexin A7 showed no obvious phenotype and were fertile. To assay for exocytosis, insulin secretion from isolated islets of Langerhans was examined. Ca(2+)-induced and cyclic AMP-mediated potentiation of insulin secretion was unchanged in the absence of annexin A7, suggesting that it is not directly implicated in vesicle fusion. Ca(2+) regulation studied in isolated cardiomyocytes, showed that while cells from early embryos displayed intact Ca(2+) homeostasis and expressed all of the components required for excitation-contraction coupling, cardiomyocytes from adult Anxa7(-/-) mice exhibited an altered cell shortening-frequency relationship when stimulated with high frequencies. This suggests a function for annexin A7 in electromechanical coupling, probably through Ca(2+) homoeostasis.

[Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic determination of propofol in human plasma]

An RP-HPLC method is described for the assay of propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol), a new anesthesia drug, in human plasma. Protein in sample was precipitated with methanol, followed by extraction of propofol with cyclohexane. Both propofol and the internal standard thymol were derivatized with Gibbs' reagent and then chromatographed on an ODS column (Ultrasphere, 250 mm x 4.6 mm i.d.) with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water-trifluoroacetic acid (80:20:0.1) and UV detection at 276 nm. The detectable limit of propofol was 24.8 microg/L (S/N>2) and calibration curves were linear between 50 to 1500 microg/L (r=0.9991). The average coefficient of variation was 6.1%.