Neutrophil Extracellular Traps-Inhibiting and Fouling-Resistant Polysulfoxides Potently Prevent Postoperative Adhesion, Tumor Recurrence, and Metastasis

Peritoneal metastasis (PM) is considered one of the most dreaded forms of cancer metastases for both patients and physicians. Aggressive cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is the primary treatment for peritoneal metastasis. Unfortunately, this intensive treatment frequently causes clinical complications, such as postoperative recurrence, metastasis, and adhesion formation. Emerging evidence suggests that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) released by inflammatory neutrophils contribute to these complications. Effective NET-targeting strategies thus show considerable potential in counteracting these complications but remain challenging. Here, one type of sulfoxide-containing homopolymer, PMeSEA, with potent fouling-resistant and NET-inhibiting capabilities, is synthesized and screened. Hydrating sulfoxide groups endow PMeSEA with superior nonfouling ability, significantly inhibiting protein/cell adhesion. Besides, the polysulfoxides can be selectively oxidized by ClO- which is required to stabilize the NETs rather than H2O2, and ClO- scavenging effectively inhibits NETs formation without disturbing redox homeostasis in tumor cells and quiescent neutrophils. As a result, PMeSEA potently prevents postoperative adhesions, significantly suppresses peritoneal metastasis, and shows synergetic antitumor activity with chemotherapeutic 5-Fluorouracil. Moreover, coupling CRS with PMeSEA potently inhibits CRS-induced tumor metastatic relapse and postoperative adhesions. Notably, PMeSEA exhibits low in vivo acute and subacute toxicities, implying significant potential for clinical postoperative adjuvant treatment.

The emerging role of lactate in tumor microenvironment and its clinical relevance

In recent years, the significant impact of lactate in the tumor microenvironment has been greatly documented. Acting not only as an energy substance in tumor metabolism, lactate is also an imperative signaling molecule. It plays key roles in metabolic remodeling, protein lactylation, immunosuppression, drug resistance, epigenetics and tumor metastasis, which has a tight relation with cancer patients' poor prognosis. This review illustrates the roles lactate plays in different aspects of tumor progression and drug resistance. From the comprehensive effects that lactate has on tumor metabolism and tumor immunity, the therapeutic targets related to it are expected to bring new hope for cancer therapy.

RNA-based modulation of macrophage-mediated efferocytosis potentiates antitumor immunity in colorectal cancer

Tumor-associated macrophages play pivotal roles in tumor progression and metastasis. Macrophage-mediated clearance of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis) supports inflammation resolution, contributing to immune evasion in colorectal cancers. To reverse this immunosuppressive process, we propose a readily translatable RNA therapy to selectively inhibit macrophage-mediated efferocytosis in tumor microenvironment. A clinically approved lipid nanoparticle platform (LNP) is employed to encapsulate siRNA for the phagocytic receptor MerTK (siMerTK), enabling selective MerTK inhibition in the diseased organ. Decreased MerTK expression in tumor-associated macrophages results in apoptotic cell accumulation and immune activation in tumor microenvironment, leading to suppressed tumor growth and better survival in both liver and peritoneal metastasis models of colorectal cancers. siMerTK delivery combined with PD-1 blockade further produces enhanced antimetastatic efficacy with reactivated intratumoral immune milieu. Collectively, LNP-based siMerTK delivery combined with immune checkpoint therapy may present a feasible modality for metastatic colorectal cancer therapy.

The phase separation of extracellular matrix protein matrilin-3 from cancer-associated fibroblasts contributes to gastric cancer invasion

Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) has emerged as a key contributor to the remodeling of tumor microenvironment through the expression and secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, thereby promoting carcinogenesis. However, the precise contribution of ECM proteins from CAFs to gastric carcinogenesis remains poorly understood. In this study, we find that matrilin-3 (MATN3), an upregulated ECM protein associated with poorer prognosis in gastric cancer patients, originates from CAFs in gastric cancer tissues. Ectopic expression of MATN3 in CAFs significantly promotes the invasion of gastric cancer cells, which can be attenuated by neutralizing MATN3 with its antibody. Notably, a portion of MATN3 protein is found to form puncta in gastric cancer tissues ECM. MATN3 undergoes phase separation, which is mediated by its low complexity (LC) and coiled-coil (CC) domains. Moreover, overexpression of MATN3 deleted with either LC or CC in CAFs is unable to promote the invasion of gastric cancer cells, suggesting that LC or CC domain is required for the effect of CAF-secreted MATN3 in gastric cancer cell invasion. Additionally, orthotopic co-injection of gastric cancer cells and CAFs expressing MATN3, but not its ΔLC and ΔCC mutants, leads to enhanced gastric cancer cell invasion in mouse models. Collectively, our works suggest that MATN3 is secreted by CAFs and undergoes phase separation, which promotes gastric cancer invasion.

Semi-Supervised Representation Learning for Segmentation on Medical Volumes and Sequences

Benefiting from the massive labeled samples, deep learning-based segmentation methods have achieved great success for two dimensional natural images. However, it is still a challenging task to segment high dimensional medical volumes and sequences, due to the considerable efforts for clinical expertise to make large scale annotations. Self/semi-supervised learning methods have been shown to improve the performance by exploiting unlabeled data. However, they are still lack of mining local semantic discrimination and exploitation of volume/sequence structures. In this work, we propose a semi-supervised representation learning method with two novel modules to enhance the features in the encoder and decoder, respectively. For the encoder, based on the continuity between slices/frames and the common spatial layout of organs across subjects, we propose an asymmetric network with an attention-guided predictor to enable prediction between feature maps of different slices of unlabeled data. For the decoder, based on the semantic consistency between labeled data and unlabeled data, we introduce a novel semantic contrastive learning to regularize the feature maps in the decoder. The two parts are trained jointly with both labeled and unlabeled volumes/sequences in a semi-supervised manner. When evaluated on three benchmark datasets of medical volumes and sequences, our model outperforms existing methods with a large margin of 7.3% DSC on ACDC, 6.5% on Prostate, and 3.2% on CAMUS when only a few labeled data is available. Further, results on the M&M dataset show that the proposed method yields improvement without using any domain adaption techniques for data from unknown domain. Intensive evaluations reveal the effectiveness of representation mining, and superiority on performance of our method. The code is available at https://github.com/CcchenzJ/BootstrapRepresentation.

[Ⅱ ]

Objective: To investigate the role and related mechanism of ubiquitin-like protein FAT10 in the angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ)-induced endothelial cell inflammatory responses. Methods: The Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of FAT10 in 16-weeks old WKY rat carotid artery, thoracic aorta artery, renal artery and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231). The optimal concentration and stimulation time of AngⅡ on inducing the highest FAT10 in HUVEC were determined. The following plasmids were constructed: control plasmid, overexpression FAT10 plasmid (Flag-FAT10), invalid interference plasmid, and interference FAT10 plasmid (sh-FAT10). These plasmids were then transfected into HUVEC cells and divided into following groups: control group, Flag-FAT10 group, invalid interference group, and sh-FAT10 group. After culturing with 100 nmol/L AngⅡ for 36 h, the control group and the Flag-FAT10 group were treated with reactive oxygen species scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine ​​(NAC), the protein expression levels of the inflammatory factor monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured. Laser confocal microscopy was used to detect the generation levels of reactive oxygen species in the cells of vrious groups. Results: FAT10 was expressed in carotid artery, thoracic aorta, and renal artery of normal blood pressure rats and expressed in HUVEC, VSMC, MDA-MB-231. The expression level of FAT10 gradually increased in proportion to the increase of the time and concentration of AngⅡ stimulation in HUVEC, and the expression level of FAT10 was the highest when the HUVEC was treated with 100 nmol/L AngⅡ for 36 h (P<0.01). The protein expression level of MCP-1 (P<0.001) and TNF-α (P<0.01) was higher in AngⅡ treated HUVEC with FAT10 overexpression, while the expression level of MCP-1 and TNF-α protein was lower in AngⅡ treated HUVEC with FAT10 knockdown (all P<0.01). The level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was significantly increased with FAT10 overexpression (P<0.001), and the level of ROS was decreased when the expression of FAT10 was interfered (P<0.05). The increased level of MCP-1 and TNF-α proteins in FAT10 overexpressed HUVEC was reversed by NAC (all P<0.05). Conclusion: FAT10 promotes the release of inflammatory factors induced by AngⅡ in endothelial cells by increasing the level of intracellular ROS production.

Roles of exosome-derived non-coding RNA in tumor micro-environment and its clinical application

Tumor-derived exosomes play an important role in the tumor micro-environment. The exosome-derived non-coding RNAs are transmitted in the tumor microenvironment in three ways, communication between tumor cells, normal cells affecting tumor cells, and tumor cells affecting normal cells. Through these three ways, exosomal non-coding RNAs are involved in the regulation of tumor progression, affecting tumor angiogenesis, tumor invasiveness, drug resistance, stemness, tumor metabolic repro-gramming and immune escape, resulting in dual roles in promoting or inhibiting tumor development. Exosomes have a membranous structure and their contents are resistant to degradation by extracellular proteases and remain highly stable in body fluids, thus exosome-derived non-coding RNAs are expected to serve as diagnostic and prognostic indicators for a variety of cancers. In addition, exosomes can be used to deliver non-coding RNAs for targeted therapy, or to knock down or modify tumor-promoting non-coding RNAs for tumor therapy. This article reviews the function and communication mechanism of exosomal non-coding RNAs in the tumor microenvironment, including their pathways of action, effects, potential values for tumor biomarkers and treatment targets. This article also points out the issues that need to be further studied in order to promote the progress of extracellular non-coding RNAs in cancer research and their application in tumor diagnosis and treatment.

eIF3a sustains non-small cell lung cancer stem cell-like properties by promoting YY1-mediated transcriptional activation of β-catenin

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the leading cause of recurrence and poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3a (eIF3a) participates in many tumor development processes, such as metastasis, therapy resistance, and glycolysis, all of which are closely associated with the presence of CSCs. However, whether eIF3a maintains NSCLC-CSC-like properties remains to be elucidated. In this study, eIF3a was highly expressed in lung cancer tissues and was linked to poor prognosis. eIF3a was also highly expressed in CSC-enriched spheres compared with adherent monolayer cells. Moreover, eIF3a is required for NSCLC stem cell-like traits maintenance in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, eIF3a activates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, promoting the transcription of cancer stem cell markers. Specifically, eIF3a promotes the transcriptional activation of β-catenin and mediates its nuclear accumulation to form a complex with T cell factor 4 (TCF4). However, eIF3a has no significant effect on protein stability and translation. Proteomics analysis revealed that the candidate transcription factor, Yin Yang 1 (YY1), mediates the activated effect of eIF3a on β-catenin. Overall, the findings of this study implied that eIF3a contributes to the maintenance of NSCLC stem cell-like characteristics through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. eIF3a is a potential target for the treatment and prognosis of NSCLC.

Graph Contrastive Learning With Adaptive Proximity-Based Graph Augmentation

Graph neural networks (GNNs) have been successful in a variety of graph-based applications. Recently, it is shown that capturing long-range relationships between nodes helps improve the performance of GNNs. The phenomenon is mostly confirmed in a supervised learning setting. In this article, inspired by contrastive learning (CL), we propose an unsupervised learning pipeline, in which different types of long-range similarity information are injected into the GNN model in an efficient way. We reconstruct the original graph in feature and topology spaces to generate three augmented views. During training, our model alternately picks an augmented view, and maximizes an agreement between the representations of the view and the original graph. Importantly, we identify the issue of diminishing utility of the augmented views as the model gradually learns useful information from the views. Hence, we propose a view update scheme that adaptively adjusts the augmented views, so that the views can continue to provide new information that helps with CL. The updated augmented views and the original graph are jointly used to train a shared GNN encoder by optimizing an efficient channel-level contrastive objective. We conduct extensive experiments on six assortative graphs and three disassortative graphs, which demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.

Immune-based combination therapy to convert immunologically cold tumors into hot tumors: an update and new insights

As a breakthrough strategy for cancer treatment, immunotherapy mainly consists of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and other immunomodulatory drugs that provide a durable protective antitumor response by stimulating the immune system to fight cancer. However, due to the low response rate and unique toxicity profiles of immunotherapy, the strategies of combining immunotherapy with other therapies have attracted enormous attention. These combinations are designed to exert potent antitumor effects by regulating different processes in the cancer-immunity cycle. To date, immune-based combination therapy has achieved encouraging results in numerous clinical trials and has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for certain cancers with more studies underway. This review summarizes the emerging strategies of immune-based combination therapy, including combinations with another immunotherapeutic strategy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy, targeted therapy, bacterial therapy, and stroma-targeted therapy. Here, we highlight the rationale of immune-based combination therapy, the biomarkers and the clinical progress for these immune-based combination therapies.

Proteomic profiling of eIF3a conditional knockout mice

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit A (eIF3a) is the largest subunit of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3). eIF3a plays an integral role in protein biosynthesis, hence impacting the onset, development, and treatment of tumors. The proteins regulated by eIF3a are still being explored in vivo. In this study, a Cre-loxP system was used to generate eIF3a conditional knockout mice. Tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling with LC-MS/MS analysis was used to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in fat, lungs, skin, and spleen tissue of the eIF3a knockout mice and controls. Bioinformatics analysis was then used to explore the functions and molecular signaling pathways of these protein landscapes. It was observed that eIF3a is essential for life sustenance. Abnormal tissue pathology was found in the lungs, fat, skin, spleen, and thymus. In total, 588, 210, 324, and 944 DEPs were quantified in the lungs, fat, skin, and spleen, respectively, of the eIF3a knockout mice as compared to the control. The quantified differentially expressed proteins were tissue-specific, except for eight proteins shared by the four tissues. A broad range of functions for eIF3a, including cellular signaling pathway, immune response, metabolism, defense response, phagocytes, and DNA replication, has been revealed using bioinformatics analysis. Herein, several pathways related to oxidative stress in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, including nitrogen metabolism, peroxisome, cytochrome P450 drug metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, PPAR signaling pathway, phospholipase D signaling pathway, B-cell receptor signaling pathway, ferroptosis, and focal adhesion, have been identified. Collectively, this study shows that eIF3a is an essential gene for sustaining life, and its downstream proteins are involved in diverse novel functions beyond mRNA translational regulation.

Distribution and characterization of extrachromosomal circular DNA in colorectal cancer

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) has been shown to play an important role in the amplification of tumor genes and the maintenance of intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity, although its complex functional mechanism still remains to be elucidated. As the top three common malignancies in the world, colorectal cancer (CRC) has been threatening human life and health, whose tumorigenesis and development may have elusive connection with eccDNAs. Here, we described the extensive distribution of eccDNAs in the CRC tissues using Circle-seq, which range in size from hundreds to thousands of base pairs (bp). The distribution in tumor tissues had aggregation and tendency compared with random in tumor-adjacent tissues, accompanied with smaller and more regular circle lengths. After sequencing and restoring, we found that the shedding sites of eccDNAs in CRC had similar tendency in chromosome distribution, and focused on tumor-associated genes. Meanwhile, we combined RNA sequencing to explore the correlation of eccDNA differential expression in the gene transcription and signaling pathways, confirming a connection between eccDNA and RNA somewhere. Subsequently, we validated eccDNAs in CRC cell lines and the potential consistency of the junction sites of eccDNAs in CRC tissues and cell lines. Using fragments of the cationic amino acid transporter SLC7A1 to synthesize eccDNAs, we discovered the role of eccDNAs in different regions within the gene.

Effects of Glycolysis-Related Genes on Prognosis and the Tumor Microenvironment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common and deadly malignancy worldwide. Current treatment methods for hepatocellular carcinoma have many disadvantages; thus, it is urgent to improve the efficacy of these therapies. Glycolysis is critical in the occurrence and development of tumors. However, survival and prognosis biomarkers related to glycolysis in HCC patients remain to be fully identified.

Methods: Glycolysis-related genes (GRGs) were downloaded from “The Molecular Signatures Database” (MSigDB), and the mRNA expression profiles and clinical information of HCC patients were obtained from TCGA. Consensus clustering was performed to classify the HCC patients into two subgroups. We used the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis to construct the risk signature model. Kaplan–Meier (K-M) survival analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of the risk model, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the prediction accuracy. The independent prediction ability of the risk model was validated by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The differences of immune infiltrates and relevant oncogenic signaling between different risk groups were compared. Finally, biological experiments were performed to explore the functions of screened genes.

Results: HCC patients were classified into two subgroups, according to the expression of prognostic-related GRGs. Almost all GRGs categorized in cluster 2 showed upregulated expressions, whereas GRGs in cluster 1 conferred survival advantages. GSEA identified a positive correlation between cluster 2 and the glycolysis process. Ten genes were selected for risk signature construction. Patients were assigned to high-risk and low-risk groups based on the median risk score, and K-M survival analysis indicated that the high-risk group had a shorter survival time. Additionally, the risk gene signature can partially affect immune infiltrates within the HCC microenvironment, and many oncogenic pathways were enriched in the high-risk group, including glycolysis, hypoxia, and DNA repair. Finally, in vitro knockdown of ME1 suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Conclusion: In our study, we successfully constructed and verified a novel glycolysis-related risk signature for HCC prognosis prediction, which is meaningful for classifying HCC patients and offers potential targets for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

m6Am methyltransferase PCIF1 is essential for aggressiveness of gastric cancer cells by inhibiting TM9SF1 mRNA translation

PCIF1 (phosphorylated CTD interacting factor 1) is the first reported RNA N6,2′-O-dimethyladenosine (m⁶Am) methyltransferase. However, the pathological significance of PCIF1 and m⁶Am modification remains unknown. Here we find that both PCIF1 expression and m⁶Am modification are significantly elevated in gastric cancer tissues. Increased PCIF1 is associated with gastric cancer progression, and predicts poor prognosis. Silence of PCIF1 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells, and suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in mouse model. m⁶Am-seq analysis reveals TM9SF1 (transmembrane 9 superfamily member 1) as a target of PCIF1. PCIF1 modifies TM9SF1 mRNA with m⁶Am leading to decreased TM9SF1 translation. TM9SF1 reverses the effects of PCIF1 on gastric cancer cell aggressiveness. Collectively, our work uncovers an oncogenic function of PCIF1, providing insights into the critical role of m⁶Am modification in cancer progression.

Fusobacterium nucleatum promotes colorectal cancer cells adhesion to endothelial cells and facilitates extravasation and metastasis by inducing ALPK1/NF-κB/ICAM1 axis

Metastasis is the leading cause of death for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, and the spreading tumor cells adhesion to endothelial cells is a critical step for extravasation and further distant metastasis. Previous studies have documented the important roles of gut microbiota-host interactions in the CRC malignancy, and Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) was reported to increase proliferation and invasive activities of CRC cells. However, the potential functions and underlying mechanisms of F. nucleatum in the interactions between CRC cells and endothelial cells and subsequent extravasation remain unclear. Here, we uncovered that F. nucleatum enhanced the adhesion of CRC cells to endothelial cells, promoted extravasation and metastasis by inducing ICAM1 expression. Mechanistically, we identified that F. nucleatum induced a new pattern recognition receptor ALPK1 to activate NF-κB pathway, resulting in the upregulation of ICAM1. Interestingly, the abundance of F. nucleatum in tumor tissues of CRC patients was positively associated with the expression levels of ALPK1 and ICAM1. Moreover, high expression of ALPK1 or ICAM1 was significantly associated with a shorter overall survival time of CRC patients. This study provides a new insight into the role of gut microbiota in engaging into the distant metastasis of CRC cells.

Fusobacterium nucleatum reduces METTL3-mediated m6A modification and contributes to colorectal cancer metastasis

Microbiota-host interactions play critical roles in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, however, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we uncover that Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) induces a dramatic decline of m⁶A modifications in CRC cells and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tissues by downregulation of an m⁶A methyltransferase METTL3, contributing to inducation of CRC aggressiveness. Mechanistically, we characterized forkhead box D3 (FOXD3) as a transcription factor for METTL3. F. nucleatum activates YAP signaling, inhibits FOXD3 expression, and subsequently reduces METTL3 transcription. Downregulation of METTL3 promotes its target kinesin family member 26B (KIF26B) expression by reducing its m⁶A levels and diminishing YTHDF2-dependent mRNA degradation, which contributes to F. nucleatum-induced CRC metastasis. Moreover, METTL3 expression is negatively correlated with F. nucleatum and KIF26B levels in CRC tissues. A high expression of KIF26B is also significantly correlated with a shorter survival time of CRC patients. Together, our findings provide insights into modulating human m⁶A epitranscriptome by gut microbiota, and its significance in CRC progression.

Complete chloroplast genome of the rare medicinal vegetable Allium hookeri

Allium hookeri is a rare medicinal plant with unique flavor. In this study, the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of A. hookeri was sequenced and assembled based on the next generation sequencing. The cp genome is 153,592 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 82,609 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,487 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,748 bp each. The genome encodes 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and six rRNA genes. The GC content of whole genome is 36.99%. The phylogenetic analysis based on 24 complete cp sequences revealed that A. hookeri was at the base of the phylogenetic tree, indicating an older species in the Allium genus.

Characterization of the first chloroplast genome of Dichroa febrifuga and its phylogenetic analysis

Dichroa febrifuga, seen as a medicinal plant, has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, we adopted Illumina Hiseq sequencing technology in order to determine the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of D. febrifuga. The cp genome was 157,647 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,728 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,675 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,122 bp. The genome encoded 128 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis based on 20 complete cp genome sequences revealed that D. febrifuga was the sister of the ancestor of the reported Hydrangeeae species. The findings of the study will serve as a stepping stone for follow-up researches regarding the development of the D. febrifuga species.

First complete chloroplast genome of the rare medicinal plant Schnabelia tetrodonta

Schnabelia tetrodonta is a medicinal plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, the molecular biology data of the species was too scarce to bioprospect the medicinal species. In this study, the first complete chloroplast genome (cp) of S. tetrodonta was sequenced and assembled based on the next generation sequencing. The cp genome is 157,004 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 83,605 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 36,899 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 18,250 bp each. The genome encodes 134 genes, including 90 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The GC content of whole genome is 37.80%. The phylogenetic analysis based on 20 complete cp sequences (19 genome sequences from the Teucrioideae of Lamiaceae and an outgroup of Ipomoea purpurea) revealed that S. tetrodonta was closely related to S. oligophylla.

Characterization of the first chloroplast genome of Euchresta tubulosa Dunn and its phylogenetic analysis

Euchresta tubulosa Dunn not only is a national second-level protected wild plant in China, but also has a long history as a source plant in traditional Chinese medicine. The chloroplast (cp) genome of E. tubulosa was 154,102 bp, consisting of a large single-copy region (LSC: 92,877 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC: 36,645 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRb and Ira: 12,290 bp, respectively). These sequences encoded 123 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed that E. tubulosa is close to Lupinus species.

Clinicopathological Characteristics and Prognosis of Signet Ring Gastric Cancer: A Population-Based Study

Background

To better define the clinicopathologic characteristics of signet ring cell (SRC) gastric cancer and build a prognostic model for it.

Methods

SRC patient information from 2010 to 2015 were identified using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to estimate Overall survival (OS) and to determine associations with histologic subtypes. In COX proportional hazards regression model–based univariate and multivariate analyses, significant variables for construction of a nomogram were screened out. The nomogram was validated by means of the concordance index (CI), calibration plots, and receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) curves.

Results

A total of 11,363 gastric cancer patients were enrolled. On dividing the patients into SRC, well-to-moderately differentiated (WMD) adenocarcinoma, and poorly differentiated (PD) adenocarcinoma, differences among these subgroups emerged. SRC patients were more likely to occur in female and young patients than other histologic subtypes. Larger tumors, stage T4, and node stage N3 were more likely to be found in the SRC group. The survival for SRC patients was better than non-SRC patients in stage I. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified age, tumor site, larger tumor size, advanced T classification, advanced N classification, advanced TNM stage, and surgery of primary site as independent prognostic indicators. Then an OS nomogram was formulated.

Conclusions

SRC had distinct clinicopathological characteristics. The nomogram provided an accurate tool to evaluate the prognosis of SRC.

The first complete plastome of Chimonobambusa quadrangularis (Fenzl) Makino: assembly, annotation and phylogenetic analysis

Chimonobambusa quadrangularis (Fenzl) Makino is one of the ‘Square Bamboo’ due to its square-shaped culm. However, as an edible bamboo, there is no genomic information reported so far. In this study, we reported and characterized the first plastome of C. quadrangularis based on Illumina Hiseq sequencing. The plastome exhibited a typical angiosperm circular structure, containing four regions: large single-copy region (LSC: 83,125 bp), small single-copy region (SSC: 12,811 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IR: 21,802 bp). The plastome consisted of 139,540 bp in size, with 82 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The total nucleotide composition consisted of 30.16% A, 30.97% T, 19.25% C, and 19.63% G. The G + C content of the whole plastome was 38.88%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete plastomes of six species indicated that C. quadrangularis was closed to C. hejiangensis. The plastome is helpful for studying the evolution of beneficial adaptations and developing bioremediation and biomedical science.

Correction to "Metabolomics of Artichoke Bud Extract in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats"

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c01135.].

A. muciniphila Suppresses Colorectal Tumorigenesis by Inducing TLR2/NLRP3-Mediated M1-Like TAMs

The interplay between gut microbiota and the host immune system is emerging as a factor in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Here, we set out to identify the effect of Akkermansia muciniphila (A.muciniphila) on CRC pathogenesis. A. muciniphila abundance was significantly reduced in CRC patients from 2 independent clinical cohorts and the dataset. Supplementation with A. muciniphila suppressed colonic tumorigenesis in ApcMin/+ mice and the growth of implanted HCT116 or CT26 tumors in nude mice. Mechanistically, A. muciniphila facilitated enrichment of M1-like macrophages in a NLRP3-dependent manner in vivo and in vitro. As a consequence, NLRP3 deficiency in macrophages attenuated the tumor-suppressive effect of A. muciniphila. In addition, we revealed that TLR2 was essential for the activation of the NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway and A. muciniphila induced M1-like macrophage response. Corroborating these findings, we observed positive correlations between M1-like macrophages, NLRP3/TLR2 and A. muciniphila in CRC patients. In summary, A. muciniphila induced M1-like macrophages provides a therapeutic target in the CRC tumor microenvironment.

Metabolomics of Artichoke Bud Extract in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Hypertension adversely affects the quality of life in humans across modern society. Studies have attributed increased reactive oxygen species production to the pathophysiology of hypertension. So far, a specific drug to control the disease perfectly has not been developed. However, artichoke, an edible vegetable, plays an essential role in treating many diseases due to its potent antioxidant activities. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of artichoke bud extract (ABE) on heart tissue metabolomics of hypertensive rats. Spontaneously hypertensive rats and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were divided into six groups, then exposed to different doses comprising ABE, Enalapril Maleate, or 1% carboxylmethyl cellulose for 4 weeks. Their blood pressures were recorded at 0, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after the start of the test period. Thereafter, all rats were anesthetized, and blood was collected from their cardiac apexes. Then, we measured the levels for 15 kinds of serum biochemical parameters. An established orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis model completed the metabolomic analysis. Hypertensive rats in the ABE group exhibited well-controlled blood pressure, relative to those in the model group. Specifically, artichoke significantly lowered serum levels for total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), and uric acid (UA) in the hypertensive rats. This effect involved the action of eight metabolites, including guanine, 1-methylnicotinamide, p-aminobenzoic acid, NAD, NADH, uridine 5'-monophosphate, adenosine monophosphate, and methylmalonic acid. Collectively, these findings suggest that ABE may play a role in affecting oxidative stress and purine, nicotinate, and nicotinamide metabolism.

Comprehensive Roles and Future Perspectives of Exosomes in Peritoneal Metastasis of Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent digestive malignancies. A great number of patients at first visit or post curative resections are diagnosed with widespread metastasis within the peritoneal cavity. Overwhelming evidence has demonstrated that exosomes, a variety of biologically functional extracellular vesicles comprising active factors, mediate the progression and metastasis of GC. Although the regulatory mechanisms of exosomes remain fairly elusive, they are responsible for intercellular communication between tumor cells and normal stroma, cancer-related fibroblasts, immune cells within the primary tumor and metastatic niche. In this review, we provide new insight into the molecular signatures of GC-associated exosomes in reprogramming the tumor microenvironment and the subsequent promotion of peritoneal metastasis—including infiltration of the gastric wall, implantation of tumor cells onto the pre-metastatic peritoneum, and remodeling of the pre-metastatic niche. Based on this review, we hope to draw a more general conclusion for the functions of exosomes in the progression and peritoneal metastasis of GC and highlight the future perspective on strategies targeting exosomes in prognostic biomarkers and therapy for peritoneal metastasis.

Combining gene expression signature with clinical features for survival stratification of gastric cancer

The AJCC staging system is considered as the golden standard in clinical practice. However, it remains some pitfalls in assessing the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients with similar clinicopathological characteristics. We aim to develop a new clinic and genetic risk score (CGRS) to improve the prognosis prediction of GC patients. We established genetic risk score (GRS) based on nine-gene signature including APOD, CCDC92, CYS1, GSDME, ST8SIA5, STARD3NL, TIMEM245, TSPYL5, and VAT1 based on the gene expression profiles of the training set from the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG) cohort by LASSO-Cox regression algorithms. CGRS was established by integrating GRS with clinical risk score (CRS) derived from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. GRS and CGRS dichotomized GC patients into high and low risk groups with significantly different prognosis in four independent cohorts with different data types, such as microarray, RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR (all HR > 1, all P < 0.001). Both GRS and CGRS were prognostic signatures independent of the AJCC staging system. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that area under ROC curve of CGRS was larger than that of the AJCC staging system in most cohorts we studied. Nomogram and web tool (http://39.100.117.92/CGRS/) based on CGRS were developed for clinicians to conveniently assess GC prognosis in clinical practice. CGRS integrating genetic signature with clinical features shows strong robustness in predicting GC prognosis, and can be easily applied in clinical practice through the web application.

The effect of eIF3a on anthracycline-based chemotherapy resistance by regulating DSB DNA repair

BACKGROUND

Anthracycline are inhibitors of topoisomerase II leading to DNA double strand breaks, and it is widely used for treatment of breast cancer. eIF3a is the largest subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3) and highly expressed in breast cancer. In this study, we investigated the role of eIF3a in DSB DNA repair and the response of breast cancer patients to anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

METHODS

MTT assay was used to detect anthracycline sensitivity in cell lines. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence were performed to assess changes in gene expression levels. Cometassay and end-joining activity assay were conducted to explore the effect of eIF3a in NHEJ repair. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to detect LIG4 5'UTR activity. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect eIF3a, LIG4 and DNA-PKcs expression levels in breast cancer tissues.

RESULTS

The results showed that eIF3a increased cellular response to anthracyclines by regulating DSB repair activity via influencing the expression of LIG4 and DNA-PKcs at translational level. Breast cancer patients with high level of eIF3a or low level of LIG4 or low level of DNA-PKcs had better anthracycline-based chemotherapy prognosis compared. Moreover, Combined expressions of eIF3a, LIG4 and DNA-PKcs could be better to predict PFS in breast cancer patients with anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that eIF3a effects anthracycline-based chemotherapy response by regulating DSB DNA repair.

Highly variable chloroplast genome from two endangered Papaveraceae lithophytes Corydalis tomentella and Corydalis saxicola

The increasingly wide application of chloroplast (cp) genome super-barcode in taxonomy and the recent breakthrough in cp genetic engineering make the development of new cp gene resources urgent and significant. Corydalis is recognized as the most genotypes complicated and taxonomically challenging plant taxa in Papaveraceae. However, there currently are few reports about cp genomes of the genus Corydalis. In this study, we sequenced four complete cp genomes of two endangered lithophytes Corydalis saxicola and Corydalis tomentella in Corydalis, conducted a comparison of these cp genomes among each other as well as with others of Papaveraceae. The cp genomes have a large genome size of 189,029-190,247 bp, possessing a quadripartite structure and with two highly expanded inverted repeat (IR) regions (length: 41,955-42,350 bp). Comparison between the cp genomes of C. tomentella, C. saxicola, and Papaveraceae species, five NADH dehydrogenase-like genes (ndhF, ndhD, ndhL, ndhG, and ndhE) with psaC, rpl32, ccsA, and trnL-UAG normally located in the SSC region have migrated to IRs, resulting in IR expansion and gene duplication. An up to 9 kb inversion involving five genes (rpl23, ycf2, ycf15, trnI-CAU, and trnL-CAA) was found within IR regions. The accD gene was found to be absent and the ycf1 gene has shifted from the IR/SSC border to the SSC region as a single copy. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of common CDS showed that the genus Corydalis is quite distantly related to the other genera of Papaveraceae, it provided a new clue for recent advocacy to establish a separate Fumariaceae family. Our results revealed one special cp genome structure in Papaveraceae, provided a useful resources for classification of the genus Corydalis, and will be valuable for understanding Papaveraceae evolutionary relationships.

Image intelligent automatic processing analysis based on artificial intelligence vision generator

The image intelligent processing analysis technology uses a computer to imitate and execute some intellectual functions of the human brain, and realizes an image processing system with artificial intelligence, that is, an image processing analysis technology is an understanding of an image. The degree of intelligent automated analysis and processing is low, many operations need to be done manually, causing human error, inaccurate detection, and time-consuming and laborious. Deep learning method can extract features step by step in the original image from the bottom to the top. Therefore, based on feature analysis technology, this paper uses the deep learning method to intelligently and automatically analyse the visual image. This method only needs to send the image into the system, and then the manual analysis is not needed, and the analysis result of the final image can be obtained. The process is completely intelligent and automatically processed. First, improve the deep learning model and use massive image data to choose and optimize parameters. Results indicate that our method not only automatically derives the semantic information of the image, but also accurately understands the image accurately and improve the work efficiency.

FSTL1 promotes growth and metastasis in gastric cancer by activating AKT related pathway and predicts poor survival

Accumulating evidence on the role of Follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) in tumorigenesis and cancer progression is conflicting. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms by which FSTL1 contributes to gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown. This study shows that FSTL1 was frequently upregulated in primary GC tissues and significantly correlated with infiltrating depth, lymph node metastasis, unfavorable tumor stage and poor prognosis of GC. Down or up-regulation of FSTL1 inhibited or increased, respectively, the proliferation by reducing apoptosis, clonogenicity, migration and invasion of GC cells in vitro. Moreover, the higher expression of FSTL1 promoted subcutaneous xenograft tumor growth and lung/liver tumor metastasis in vivo. Furthermore, we demonstrate that FSTL1 is involved in regulation of the AKT signaling through analyzing databases and experimental results. Mechanistic studies showed that FSTL1 promoted proliferation, migration and invasion in GC, at least partially, by activating AKT via regulating TLR4/CD14. In all, this study highlights the role of the FSTL1-TLR4/CD14-AKT axis, which provided novel insights into the mechanism of growth and metastasis in GC for the first time.

The structural basis of function and regulation of neuronal cotransporters NKCC1 and KCC2

NKCC and KCC transporters mediate coupled transport of Na++K++Cl- and K++Cl- across the plasma membrane, thus regulating cell Cl- concentration and cell volume and playing critical roles in transepithelial salt and water transport and in neuronal excitability. The function of these transporters has been intensively studied, but a mechanistic understanding has awaited structural studies of the transporters. Here, we present the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of the two neuronal cation-chloride cotransporters human NKCC1 (SLC12A2) and mouse KCC2 (SLC12A5), along with computational analysis and functional characterization. These structures highlight essential residues in ion transport and allow us to propose mechanisms by which phosphorylation regulates transport activity.

Viral Marketing for Public Health Campaigns in Social Networks

Viral marketing for public health campaigns aims at identifying a group of seed users to maximize the message of public health information in a target social network. Different from traditional viral marketing problems, public health campaigns try to expand social influence in the target network, meanwhile it also focus on their target audience, who are difficult to discover. Meanwhile, besides the target network, users nowadays can also participate many other social networks. Discovering target audience and viral marketing in these networks, referred to as the source networks, can be relatively easier, and the shared users can act as intermediate nodes transmitting information from these networks to the target one. In this paper, we propose to carry viral marketing for public health campaign in the target network in a roundabout way, by selecting seed users from the target and other external networks and influence users through intra- and inter-network information diffusion. To achieve such an objective, a new inter-network information diffusion model IPADH is introduced in this paper. Based on IPADH, cross-network viral marketing framework IMDP is proposed to solve the problem. Extensive experiments are conducted on anti-smoking campaign datasets, and results demonstrate that IMDP can outperform traditional intra-network viral marketing methods with significant advantages.

HoxC6 Functions as an Oncogene and Isoform HoxC6-2 May Play the Primary Role in Gastric Carcinogenesis

PURPOSE

Based on previous researches of HoxC6, this study aims to investigate the expression levels of isoforms HoxC6-1 and HoxC6-2 and to explore their roles in gastric carcinogenesis as well as the possible molecular mechanism.

METHODS

We investigated expression levels of HoxC6, HoxC6-1, and HoxC6-2 in gastric cancer tissues, coupled with relevant data in TCGA dataset. In vitro, HoxC6, HoxC6-1, and HoxC6-2 knockdown by small interference RNA was carried for evaluating the changes of malignant biological behaviors of gastric cancer cells, such as proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, and cell cycle alternation. Metastasis-related nucleotide lncRNA HOTAIR was selected by bioinformatics, and verification was carried out by in vitro researches.

RESULTS

Data suggested HoxC6-1 and HoxC6-2 were considerably over-expressed with different folds in gastric cancerous tissues. Decreased expression of HoxC6-2 was detected in well-differentiated type of gastric cancer. In vitro, the conclusion that HoxC6 functions as a tumor oncogene illuminated by previous studies was verified again. Additionally, down-regulating of HoxC6-2 significantly inhibited SGC-7901 and BGC-823 cells from proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, while quite slight results or none statistically significant results were observed when HoxC6-1 was knockdown. Besides, over-expression of HOTAIR, which is relevant with HoxC6 during gastric carcinogenesis, was detected in gastric cancerous tissues. Restored expression of HoxC6 partially reversed the decreased migration caused by down-regulating HOTAIR in gastric cancer cells.

CONCLUSION

HoxC6 acts as an oncogene in gastric carcinogenesis and might be a promising therapeutic target. Isoform HoxC6-2 plays a primary carcinogenic role in gastric carcinogenesis. HOTAIR, over-expressed in gastric cancer, might regulate HoxC6 on the protein level in promoting migration of gastric cells.

Atomic structure of human TOM core complex

The translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (TOM) complex is the main entry gate for mitochondrial precursor proteins synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes. Here we report the single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the dimeric human TOM core complex (TOM-CC). Two Tom40 β-barrel proteins, connected by two Tom22 receptor subunits and one phospholipid, form the protein-conducting channels. The small Tom proteins Tom5, Tom6, and Tom7 surround the channel and have notable configurations. The distinct electrostatic features of the complex, including the pronounced negative interior and the positive regions at the periphery and center of the dimer on the intermembrane space (IMS) side, provide insight into the preprotein translocation mechanism. Further, two dimeric TOM complexes may associate to form tetramer in the shape of a parallelogram, offering a potential explanation into the unusual structural features of Tom subunits and a new perspective of viewing the import of mitochondrial proteins.

Comprehensive elaboration of the cGAS-STING signaling axis in cancer development and immunotherapy

Cellular recognition of microbial DNA is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism by which the innate immune system detects pathogens. Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and its downstream effector, stimulator of interferon genes (STING), are involved in mediating fundamental innate antimicrobial immunity by promoting the release of type I interferons (IFNs) and other inflammatory cytokines. Accumulating evidence suggests that the activation of the cGAS-STING axis is critical for antitumor immunity. The downstream cytokines regulated by cGAS-STING, especially type I IFNs, serve as bridges connecting innate immunity with adaptive immunity. Accordingly, a growing number of studies have focused on the synthesis and screening of STING pathway agonists. However, chronic STING activation may lead to a protumor phenotype in certain malignancies. Hence, the cGAS-STING signaling pathway must be orchestrated properly when STING agonists are used alone or in combination. In this review, we discuss the dichotomous roles of the cGAS-STING pathway in tumor development and the latest advances in the use of STING agonists.

Fusobacterium nucleatum promotes colorectal cancer metastasis by modulating KRT7-AS/KRT7

The enrichment of Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) has been identified in CRC patients and associated with worse outcomes. However, whether Fn was involved in the metastasis of CRC was not well determined. Here, we found that the abundance of Fn was significantly increased in CRC patients with lymph nodes metastasis. To further clarify the role of Fn in CRC metastasis, we performed transwell and wound healing assays after incubating CRC cell lines with or without Fn and injected Fn-treated or untreated CRC cells into nude mice via tail vein. The results indicated that Fn infection promoted CRC cells migration in vitro, as well as lung metastasis in vivo. Interestingly, colonization of Fn was detected in metastatic lung lesions of nude mice by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Mechanistically, RNA sequencing and validation study revealed that Fn significantly upregulated the expression of long non-coding RNA Keratin7-antisense (KRT7-AS) and Keratin7 (KRT7) in CRC cells. Importantly, Fn-induced CRC lung metastasis was attenuated by the depletion of KRT7-AS. In addition, KRT7-AS facilitated CRC cells migration by upregulating KRT7. Subsequently, we found that NF-κB signaling pathway was involved in the upregulation of KRT7-AS upon Fn infection. In conclusion, Fn infection upregulated KRT7-AS/KRT7 by activating NF-κB pathway, which promoted CRC cell migration in vitro and metastasis in vivo.

MiR-129-5p induces cell cycle arrest through modulating HOXC10/Cyclin D1 to inhibit gastric cancer progression

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in posttranscriptional regulation and may serve as targets for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers. Nevertheless, a comprehensive understanding of miRNAs profiles in gastric cancer progression is still lacking. Here, we report that miR-129-5p is downregulated in gastric cancer by analyzing TCGA database (n = 41) and clinical tumor samples (n = 60). MiR-129-5p transfection suppressed gastric cancer cell proliferation through inducing G1 phase arrest in vitro and inhibit xenograft tumor growth in vivo. MiR-129-5p directly targeted the 3' untranslated regions (3' UTR) of HOXC10 mRNA and downregulated its expression. Importantly, miR-129-5p could reverse the oncogenic effect induced by HOXC10. We systemically screened the downstream target of HOXC10 by ChIP sequencing, and found that HOXC10 could transcriptionally regulate the expression of Cyclin D1 and facilitate G1/S cell cycle transition. Notably, high levels of HOXC10 and Cyclin D1 were related with poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients (n = 90). These findings reveal a novel role of miR-129-5p/HOXC10/Cyclin D1 axis in modulating cell cycle and gastric tumorigenesis, which might provide potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for gastric cancer patients.

Upregulation of BCAM and its sense lncRNA BAN are associated with gastric cancer metastasis and poor prognosis

Patients with metastatic gastric cancer (GC) have a poor prognosis; however, the molecular mechanism of GC metastasis remains unclear. Here, we employed bioinformatics to systematically screen the metastasis-associated genes and found that the levels of basal cell adhesion molecule (BCAM) were significantly increased in GC tissues from patients with metastasis, as compared to those without metastasis. The upregulation of BCAM was also significantly associated with a shorter survival time. Depletion of BCAM inhibited GC cell migration and invasion. Knockout (KO) of BCAM by the CRISPR/Cas9 system reduced the invasion and metastasis of GC cells. To explore the mechanism of BCAM upregulation, we identified a previously uncharacterized BCAM sense lncRNA that spanned from exon 6 to intron 6 of BCAM, and named it as BCAM-associated long noncoding RNA (BAN). Knockdown of BAN inhibited BCAM expression at both mRNA and protein levels. Knockdown of BAN suppressed GC cell migration and invasion, which was effectively rescued by ectopic expression of BCAM. Further clinical data showed that BAN upregulation was associated with GC metastasis and poor prognosis. Importantly, BAN expression was also significantly associated with that of BCAM in GC tissues. Taken together, these results indicate that increased expression of BCAM and its sense lncRNA BAN promote GC cell invasion and metastasis, and are associated with poor prognosis of GC patients.

AN EXPERIMENTAL CHAMBER FOR TESTING ABATEMENT EFFECTS OF RADON EXPOSURE WITH DIFFERENT MEASURES

For more effective testing the abatement effects of radon exposure with different counter measures, an air-conditioned laboratory room was reformed as an experimental chamber. Based on the well control and real time monitoring of concentrations of 222Rn, its attached and unattached progeny and their size distributions, the chamber could provide three modules corresponding to ventilation, source reduction and filtration for abating radon exposure. Preliminary results showed that the chamber was useful for testing the abatement effect of indoor radon exposure.

INFLUENCE OF STATIC ELECTRICITY ON RADON MEASUREMENT USING PASSIVE DETECTORS

In order to investigate the influence of the static electricity on the measurement using passive radon detector, detectors were charged at the surface of chamber and its CR-39 elements respectively on purpose before the exposure in this study. The results of in-chamber experiments revealed that the static electricity would lead to critical influence on measurement especially when the CR-39 elements were negatively charged. The static charge would remain for several ten hours, which result in more significant influence on the short-term measurement.

Emerging roles of lncRNA in cancer and therapeutic opportunities

Cancer is difficult to cure due to frequent metastasis, and developing effective therapeutic approaches to treat cancer is urgently important. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have diverse roles in regulating gene expression at both the transcriptional and translational levels and have been reported to be involved in tumorigenesis and tumor metastasis. In this article, we review the emerging roles of lncRNAs in cancer, especially in cancer immunity, cancer metabolism and cancer metastasis. We also discuss the use of novel technologies, such as antisense oligonucleotides, CRISPR-Cas9 and nanomedicines, to target lncRNAs and thus control cancers.

Cryo-EM structure of the mammalian ATP synthase tetramer bound with inhibitory protein IF1

The mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase produces most of the ATP required by mammalian cells. We isolated porcine tetrameric ATP synthase and solved its structure at 6.2-angstrom resolution using a single-particle cryo-electron microscopy method. Two classical V-shaped ATP synthase dimers lie antiparallel to each other to form an H-shaped ATP synthase tetramer, as viewed from the matrix. ATP synthase inhibitory factor subunit 1 (IF1) is a well-known in vivo inhibitor of mammalian ATP synthase at low pH. Two IF1 dimers link two ATP synthase dimers, which is consistent with the ATP synthase tetramer adopting an inhibited state. Within the tetramer, we refined structures of intact ATP synthase in two different rotational conformations at 3.34- and 3.45-Å resolution.

The Fibroblast TIAM2 Promotes Lung Cancer Cell Invasion and Metastasis

Purpose: TIAM2 (T-cell lymphoma invasion and metastasis 2), a RAC1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor, plays crucial roles in human cancer cells. Its homolog, TIAM1, has been reported to promote the migration and invasion of cancer cells through regulating the functions of cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). However, the functions of TIAM2 in CAFs have not been investigated. In this study, we explored how fibroblast TIAM2 influences the migration and invasion of lung cancer cells.

Methods: We cultured primary lung CAFs and adjacent normal lung fibroblasts (NFs) from 12 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. RT-PCR and western blot were used to compare TIAM2 levels between CAFs and NFs. Two co-culture systems were designed, in which cancer cells were directly co-cultured with fibroblasts and indirectly co-cultured with conditional medium (CM) from fibroblasts. Subsequently, the wound healing and transwell tests were conducted to assess the migration and invasion ability of fibroblasts and co-cultured cancer cells. Finally, cytokine antibody arrays were used to screen differentially secreted cytokines in the CM.

Results: The expression levels of TIAM2 were significantly higher in CAFs than NFs, and TIAM2-silenced fibroblasts showed decreased migration and invasion ability. In the direct co-culture system, the migration and invasion of cancer cells were retarded when co-culturing with TIAM2-silenced fibroblasts, and the expression levels of EMT-related genes also changed in cancer cells. Decreased migration and invasion of cancer cells were also observed when culturing with the CM from TIAM2-silenced fibroblasts. In addition, the cytokine antibody arrays revealed that Osteoprotegerin (OPG) was significantly decreased in the CM of TIAM2-silenced fibroblasts. This result suggested that OPG might be one of the main cytokines contributing to the migration and invasion of cancer cells in co-culture systems.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that fibroblast TIAM2 promotes the invasion and migration of lung cancer cell, and OPG might be one of the main cytokines contributing to this pro-cancer process.