Near-infrared II aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence of organic dots

For the first time, we report novel aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) of organic dots in aqueous media, with near-infrared II (NIR-II) luminescence peaked at 906 nm. Furthermore, a hybrid mechanism of ECL generation is revealed by various experiments in conjunction with theoretical calculations. This work opens a window for exploring efficient organic dye-based NIR-II AIECL emitters.

Comment on "Distinct spin-lattice and spin-phonon interactions in monolayer magnetic CrI" by L. Webster, L. Liang and J.-A. Yan, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2018, , 23546

We point out four mistakes in the symmetry classification of vibrational modes of the CrI3 monolayer at the Γ point in Webster et al.'s paper [PCCP, 2018, 20, 23546]. The discrepancy of Raman activity of A2g mode as well as the misidentification of two optical modes A1u and A2u have been clarified.

Construction of a novel immune-related lncRNA signature and its potential to predict the immune status of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

The accuracy of existing biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not satisfactory. It is necessary to explore biomarkers that can accurately predict the prognosis of HCC.

Methods

In this study, original transcriptome data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Immune-related long noncoding ribonucleic acids (irlncRNAs) were identified by coexpression analysis, and differentially expressed irlncRNA (DEirlncRNA) pairs were distinguished by univariate analysis. In addition, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) penalized regression was modified. Next, the cutoff point was determined based on the area under the curve (AUC) and Akaike information criterion (AIC) values of the 5-year receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to establish an optimal model for identifying high-risk and low-risk groups of HCC patients. The model was then reassessed in terms of clinicopathological features, survival rate, tumor-infiltrating immune cells, immunosuppressive markers, and chemotherapy efficacy.

Results

A total of 1009 pairs of DEirlncRNAs were recognized in this study, 30 of these pairs were included in the Cox regression model for subsequent analysis. After regrouping according to the cutoff point, we could more effectively identify factors such as aggressive clinicopathological features, poor survival outcomes, specific immune cell infiltration status of tumors, high expression level of immunosuppressive biomarkers, and low sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs in HCC patients.

Conclusions

The nonspecific expression level signature involved with irlncRNAs shows promising clinical value in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-09059-x.

[Association between hypertension and serum microRNA21 and microRNA133a in ocean seamen]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of hypertension in ocean seamen and major influencing factors, as well as the association between hypertension and serum microRNA21 and microRNA133a.

METHODS

Health examination and a questionnaire survey were performed for 780 ocean seamen who underwent physical examination in an international travel healthcare center in Fujian, China from January to June, 2014. TaqMan RT-qPCR was used to measure the serum levels of microRNA21 and microRNA133a in seamen with hypertension.

RESULTS

The prevalence of hypertension differed significantly between the ocean seamen with different ages, education levels, marital status, body mass index (BMI) values, drinking frequencies, and numbers of sailing years (P<0.05). The prevalence rate of hypertension in the ocean seamen increased with the increasing drinking frequency (χ(2)=9.02, P<0.05) , decreased with the increase in degree of education (χ(2)=11.578, P<0.05) , and increased with the increase in the number of sailing years (χ(2)=28.06, P<0.05). The hypertensive ocean seamen had significantly higher expression levels of microRNA21 and MicroRNA133a than the healthy ocean seamen (microRNA21: 7.87±5.46 vs 1.03±0.80, P<0.05; MicroRNA133a: 7.45±1.94 vs 4.52±1.15, P<0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that a high level of microRNA21 (OR=1.61, 95% CI: 1.22~2.11) , a high level of microRNA133a (OR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.24~1.87) , drinking (OR=1.64, 95% CI: 1.08~2.50) , overweight based on BMI (OR=1.18, 95%CI: 1.07~1.30) , and many sailing years (OR=2.89, 95% CI: 1.14~7.30) were risk factors for hypertension.

CONCLUSION

The prevention and treatment of hypertension in ocean seamen should be enhanced. Excessive drinking should be controlled, and sailing time should be arranged reasonably. The microRNA21 and microRNA133a may be associated with the development and progression of hypertension in ocean seamen.

[Effect of gender on the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer]

Objective: To analyze the effect of gender on the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Data of 1 195 patients with NSCLC were analyzed by Chi-square, Kaplan-Meier, log-rank tests and Cox regression models. Results: Women had a longer survival than men (median overall survival 31.64 versus 22.71 months, P<0.01) in the participants of this study. Differences seen in overall survival remained the similar, after stratified by age, pathologic types, clinical stage, sizes, pleural effusion and surgery of the patients, respectively. Data from the multivariate analysis revealed that factors as smoking, clinical stage, metastatic when diagnosis was made and surgery, but not gender, were independent prognostic factors for patients with NSCLC. After adjustment for potential confounders, we found that smoking was a major confounding factor, affecting the relationship between gender and prognosis of NSCLC. Conclusion: Gender did not seem an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients while the survival advantages of females might be attributed to the lower prevalence of smoking in this population.

Upregulation of endothelial heme oxygenase-1 expression through the activation of the JNK pathway by sublethal concentrations of acrolein

Acrolein is a highly electrophilic alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehyde that is present in cigarette smoke. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a cytoprotective enzyme activated by various such electrophilic compounds. In this study, the regulatory effects of acrolein upon the expression of HO-1 were investigated in endothelial cells (ECs). We demonstrate that acrolein induces the elevation of HO-1 protein levels, and subsequent enzyme activity, at non-cytotoxic concentrations. An additional alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehyde, cinnamaldehyde, was also found to increase HO-1 expression and have less cytotoxicity than acrolein. Moreover, acrolein-mediated HO-1 induction is abrogated in the presence of actinomycin D and cycloheximide. Nrf2 is a transcription factor involved in the induction of HO-1 through an antioxidant response element (ARE) in the promoter region of the HO-1 gene. We show that acrolein induces Nrf2 translocation and ARE-luciferase reporter activity. Acrolein was also found to induce the production of both superoxide and H2O2 at levels greater than 100 microM. However, with the exception of NAC, no antioxidant generated any effect upon acrolein-dependent HO-1 expression in ECs. Our present findings suggest that reactive oxygen species (ROS) may not be a major modulator for HO-1 induction. Using buthionine sulfoximine to deplete the intracellular GSH levels further enhanced the effects of acrolein. We also found that cellular GSH level was rapidly reduced after both 10 and 100 microM acrolein treatment. However, after 6 h of exposure to ECs, only 10 microM acrolein treatment increases GSH level. In addition, only the JNK inhibitor SP600125 and tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein had any significant inhibitory impact upon the upregulation of HO-1 by acrolein. Pretreatment with a range of other PI3 kinase inhibitors, including wortmannin and LY294002, showed no effects. Hence, we show in our current experiments that a sublethal concentration of acrolein is in fact a novel HO-1 inducer, and we further identify the principal underlying mechanisms involved in this process.

Upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 by Epigallocatechin-3-gallate via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt and ERK pathways

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a cytoprotective enzyme activated by various phytochemicals and we examined the ability of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major constituent of green tea, to upregulate HO-1 expression in endothelial cells (ECs). We demonstrate that EGCG induces HO-1 expression in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, EGCG-mediated HO-1 induction was abrogated in the presence of actinomycin D and cycloheximide, indicating that this upregulation of HO-1 occurred at the transcriptional level. EGCG also upregulates Nrf2 levels in nuclear extracts and increases ARE-luciferase activity. Furthermore, EGCG is the most potent inducer of HO-1 expression of the different green tea constituents that we analyzed, but had no detectable cytotoxic effects over the 25-100 microM dosage range. The inhibition of intracellular ROS production by N-acetylcysteine (NAC), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, rotenone, results in a decrease in EGCG-dependent HO-1 expression. In addition, we determined that tyrosine kinase is involved in EGCG induction of HO-1 as this is abrogated by genistein. ECs treated with EGCG exhibit activation of Akt and ERK1/2. In addition, pharmacological inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and MEK1/2, which are upstream of Akt and ERK1/2, respectively, attenuate EGCG-induced HO-1 expression. On the other hand, pretreatment of these cells with EGCG exerts significant cytoprotective effects against H2O2, suggesting that the induction of HO-1 is an important component in the protection against oxidative stress. Hence, EGCG is a novel phytochemical inducer of HO-1 expression and we further identify the principal underlying mechanisms involved in this process.

Elevated topoisomerase I activity in cervical cancer as a target for chemoradiation therapy

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine whether the activity of topoisomerase I (topo I), the target of the anti-neoplastic drug camptothecin (CPT), is elevated in cervical cancer and whether CPT can radiosensitize cervical tumors.

METHODS

The topo I activity of 11 normal cervix and 30 cervical carcinoma tumors was assayed by measuring the relaxation of supercoiled DNA. Subconfluent or postconfluent CaSki human cervical carcinoma cells were exposed to CPT (1-5000 ng/ml) and immediately X-irradiated (0-800 cGy). Cell survival was determined by clonogenic assay.

RESULTS

Mean topo I activity in cervical cancer (3.0 +/- 0.06 h(-1)) was significantly greater than in normal cervix tissue (0.29 +/- 0.06 h(-1)). Stage 3 and 4 cervical carcinoma specimens displayed a trend of greater topo I activity (5.88 +/- 3.7 h(-1)) than stage 1 and 2 tumors (2.57 +/- 0.47 h(-1)). No correlation between topo I protein levels and catalytic activity was found. Combined treatment of subconfluent CaSki cells with CPT and ionizing radiation resulted in additive killing of cells. Combined treatment of postconfluent CaSki cells with low doses of radiation (200 and 400 cGy) and 1 or 10 ng/ml CPT for 2 or 48 h produced significant cytotoxicity compared to CPT or radiation alone, which were ineffective at these doses.

CONCLUSIONS

Topo I activity is elevated in cervical cancer compared to normal cervix. The radiosensitivity of noncycling cells within cervical tumors may be increased by simultaneous treatment with low doses of CPT or other topo I inhibitors.

In situ hybridization to chromosomes stabilized in gel microdrops

Conventional chromosome in situ hybridization procedures rely on fixation to glass slides followed by microscopic evaluation. This report describes the development of a microdrop in situ hybridization to chromosomes in suspension. Chromosomes encapsulated in gel microdrops (GMDs) composed of an agarose matrix withstood stringent hybridization and denaturation conditions. Because of the increased stability, hybridization to encapsulated chromosomes was detected by flow cytometry as well as conventional microscopy. Thus, the MISH method offers a means for chromosome hybridization without slides and may enable identification and isolation of chromosome using hybridization rather than nucleic acid binding dyes.

Gastric xanthelasma

Gastric xanthelasmas are macroscopically well demarcated yellow or yellow-white plaques, and microscopically composed of typical foamy macrophages. Of 3870 patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal panendoscopic examinations, 30 (0.8%) were found to have gastric xanthelasma. A moderate predominance of males over females (M:F = 3.3:1) was noted. The age ranged between 21 and 69 years (mean 46.7). Frequency peaked in those from 40 to 60 years of age (53.3%). Single lesions were found in 26 patients and multiple in 4, with diameters of 1-6 mm, nearly 66.7% of which were 2-3 mm. Gastric xanthelasmas are most frequently found in the antrum (67.8%), especially along the lesser curvature. Associated chronic gastritis in the xanthelasma surrounding mucosa was found in the 30 patients and intestinal metaplasia in 4 (13.3%). The cause of gastric xanthelasma is unknown, but chronic gastritis may be the most plausible etiologic factor.

Waldenström's macroglobulinemia with unilateral massive pleural effusion: report of a case

One rare case of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia with massive right-sided pleural effusion is reported. A 66-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of exertional dyspnea and chronic cough of three months' duration. Chest X-ray examination showed massive right-sided pleural effusion. Routine blood examination revealed severe anemia. Sternal bone marrow aspirate revealed a hypercellular marrow with replacement of 50% of the normal hematopoietic cells by a spectrum of lymphoid cells, including small lymphocytes, a few plasma-cytoid lymphocytes and immature plasma cells. The diagnosis was confirmed by serum protein electrophoresis and immunoglobulin assay. The effect of chemotherapy was satisfactory in the first two years as pleural effusion subsided completely and the marrow returned to near normal. But, the response was poor during the last 6 months. She died about 4 years after her first admission.