Construction of prediction model for fetal growth restriction during first trimester in an Asian population

OBJECTIVE

To construct a prediction model for fetal growth restriction (FGR) during the first trimester of pregnancy and evaluate its screening performance.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study of singleton pregnancies that underwent routine ultrasound screening at 11 to 13 + 6 weeks at the Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between January 2019 and April 2022. Basic clinical information, ultrasound indicators and serum biomarkers of pregnant women were collected. Fetal weight assessment was based on the fetal growth curve for the Southern Chinese population. FGR was diagnosed according to Delphi consensus criteria. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (lasso) regression was used to select variables for inclusion in the model. Discrimination, calibration and clinical effectiveness of the model were evaluated in training and validation cohorts.

RESULTS

A total of 1188 pregnant women were included, of whom 108 had FGR. Lasso regression identified seven predictive features, including history of maternal hypertension, maternal smoking or passive smoking, gravidity, uterine artery pulsatility index, ductus venosus pulsatility index and multiples of the median values of placental growth factor and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1. The nomogram prediction model constructed from these seven variables accurately predicted FGR, and the area under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve in the validation cohort was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.74-0.90). The calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow test demonstrated good calibration, and the clinical decision curve and clinical impact curve supported its practical value in a clinical setting.

CONCLUSION

The multi-index prediction model for FGR has good predictive value during the first trimester. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Fine-mapping of a major locus for Fusarium wilt resistance in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)

KEY MESSAGE

Fine-mapping of a locus on chromosome 1 of flax identified an S-lectin receptor-like kinase (SRLK) as the most likely candidate for a major Fusarium wilt resistance gene. Fusarium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini, is a devastating disease in flax. Genetic resistance can counteract this disease and limit its spread. To map major genes for Fusarium wilt resistance, a recombinant inbred line population of more than 700 individuals derived from a cross between resistant cultivar 'Bison' and susceptible cultivar 'Novelty' was phenotyped in Fusarium wilt nurseries at two sites for two and three years, respectively. The population was genotyped with 4487 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Twenty-four QTLs were identified with IciMapping, 18 quantitative trait nucleotides with 3VmrMLM and 108 linkage disequilibrium blocks with RTM-GWAS. All models identified a major QTL on chromosome 1 that explained 20-48% of the genetic variance for Fusarium wilt resistance. The locus was estimated to span ~ 867 Kb but included a ~ 400 Kb unresolved region. Whole-genome sequencing of 'CDC Bethune', 'Bison' and 'Novelty' produced ~ 450 Kb continuous sequences of the locus. Annotation revealed 110 genes, of which six were considered candidate genes. Fine-mapping with 12 SNPs and 15 Kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers narrowed down the interval to ~ 69 Kb, which comprised the candidate genes Lus10025882 and Lus10025891. The latter, a G-type S-lectin receptor-like kinase (SRLK) is the most likely resistance gene because it is the only polymorphic one. In addition, Fusarium wilt resistance genes previously isolated in tomato and Arabidopsis belonged to the SRLK class. The robust KASP markers can be used in marker-assisted breeding to select for this major Fusarium wilt resistance locus.

Beyond Vision: A View from Eye to Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

With the aging of the global population, the health care burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia is considered to increase dramatically in the coming decades. Given the insufficiency of effective interventions for AD and dementia, clinical research on identifying potentially modifiable risk factors and early diagnostic biomarkers becomes a public health priority. Currently, extracerebral manifestations with a large proportion of ocular involvement are usually recognized to precede the symptoms of AD and dementia. Growing epidemiologic evidence also suggests that eye disorders, such as cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and so on, are closely associated with and even have a higher incidence of AD and dementia. The eye, as an extension of the central nervous system, therefore has the potential to provide a feasible approach to detecting structural and functional abnormalities of the brain. Numerous new imaging modalities are developed and give novel insights into the detection of several neurodegenerative, vascular, neuropathological, and other ocular abnormalities of AD and dementia in scientific research and clinical application. This review provides an overview of the epidemiologic associations between eye disorders and AD or dementia and summarizes the recent advances in ocular examinations and techniques employed for the detection of AD and dementia. With more brain-and-eye interconnections being identified, the eye is becoming a noninvasive and easily accessible window for the early diagnosis and prevention of AD and dementia.

Multiomics Analyses Reveal Microbiome-Gut-Brain Crosstalk Centered on Aberrant Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid and Tryptophan Metabolism in Drug-Naïve Patients with First-Episode Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is associated with complex crosstalk between the gut microbiota and host metabolism, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Investigating the aberrant neurotransmitter processes reflected by alterations identified using multiomics analysis is valuable to fully explain the pathogenesis of SCZ.

STUDY DESIGN

We conducted an integrative analysis of multiomics data, including the serum metabolome, fecal metagenome, single nucleotide polymorphism data, and neuroimaging data obtained from a cohort of 127 drug-naïve, first-episode SCZ patients and 92 healthy controls to characterize the microbiome-gut-brain axis in SCZ patients. We used pathway-based polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses to determine the biological pathways contributing to genetic risk and mediation effect analyses to determine the important neuroimaging features. Additionally, a random forest model was generated for effective SCZ diagnosis.

STUDY RESULTS

We found that the altered metabolome and dysregulated microbiome were associated with neuroactive metabolites, including gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), tryptophan, and short-chain fatty acids. Further structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses highlighted that gray matter volume and functional connectivity disturbances mediate the relationships between Ruminococcus_torgues and Collinsella_aerofaciens and symptom severity and the relationships between species Lactobacillus_ruminis and differential metabolites l-2,4-diaminobutyric acid and N-acetylserotonin and cognitive function. Moreover, analyses of the Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) support that alterations in GABA and tryptophan neurotransmitter pathways are associated with SCZ risk, and GABA might be a more dominant contributor.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides new insights into systematic relationships among genes, metabolism, and the gut microbiota that affect brain functional connectivity, thereby affecting SCZ pathogenesis.

Dose-related effects of early-life intake of sn-2 palmitate, a specific positionally distributed human milk fatty acid, on the composition and metabolism of the intestinal microbiota

sn2 Palmitate in human milk plays an important role in the physiological health of infants by reducing mineral loss, improving stool hardness, and relieving constipation. Also, sn-2 palmitate modulates intestinal microbiota. However, it remains unclear whether the effects of sn-2 palmitate on infant gut microbiota are dose-dependent. In this study, we investigated the effects of low, medium, and high doses (600, 1,800, and 5,400 mg/kg body weight, respectively) of sn-2 palmitate on the structure, composition, and metabolic function of intestinal microbes in mice. Our results showed that high doses of sn-2 palmitate significantly modulated α- and β-diversity of the intestinal microbiota. The relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group decreased with increasing doses of sn-2 palmitate. In contrast, the abundances of Bacteroidetes phylum, Bacteroides, uncultured_Lachnospiraceae, and uncultured_Muribaculaceae were positively correlated with sn-2 palmitate doses. The number of genes predicted encoding autophagy-yeast, phospholipase D signaling pathway, and pentose and glucuronate interconversion metabolic functions of intestinal microbiota increased with increasing doses of sn-2 palmitate. In addition, low and medium doses of sn-2 palmitate significantly upregulated the arginine and proline metabolic pathways, and high doses of sn-2 palmitate significantly increased purine metabolism. Our results revealed that the effects of sn-2 palmitate intake early in life on the composition and metabolism of the intestinal microbiota of mice showed dose-related differences. The study is expected to provide a scientific basis for the development of infant formulas.

Risk factors for portal vein system thrombosis after partial splenic embolisation in cirrhotic patients with hypersplenism

AIM

To determine risk factors for portal venous system thrombosis (PVST) after partial splenic artery embolisation (PSAE) in cirrhotic patients with hypersplenism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between March 2014 and February 2022, 428 cirrhotic patients with hypersplenism underwent partial splenic artery embolisation and from these patients 208 were enrolled and 220 were excluded. Medical records of enrolled patients were collected. Computed tomography (CT) images were reviewed by two blinded, independent radiologists. Statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS.

RESULTS

Progressive PVST was observed in 18.75% (39/208) of cirrhotic patients after PSAE. No significant differences in peripheral blood counts, liver function biomarkers, and renal function were observed between the patients with progressive PVST and the patients without progressive PVST. The imaging data showed significant differences in PVST, the diameters of the portal, splenic, and superior mesenteric veins between the progressive PVST group and non-progressive PVST group. Univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated portal vein thrombosis, spleen infarction percentage, and the diameter of the splenic vein were independent risk factors for progressive PVST. Seventeen of 173 (9.83%) patients showed new PVST; the growth of PVST was observed in 62.86% (22/35) of the patients with pre-existing PVST. Spleen infarction percentage and the diameter of the splenic vein were independent risk factors for new PVST after PSAE.

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated portal vein thrombosis, spleen infarction percentage, and the diameter of the splenic vein were independent risk factors for PVST after PSAE in cirrhotic patients with hypersplenism.

Identification of Distinct Genetic Profiles of Palindromic Rheumatism Using Whole-Exome Sequencing

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies have underlined the genetic susceptibility in the pathogenesis of palindromic rheumatism (PR), but the known PR loci only partially explain the disease's genetic background. We aimed to genetically identify PR by whole-exome sequencing (WES).

METHODS

This multicenter prospective study was conducted in 10 Chinese specialized rheumatology centers between September 2015 and January 2020. WES was performed in 185 patients with PR and in 272 healthy controls. PR patients were divided into PR subgroups who were negative for anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA-) and positive for ACPA (ACPA+) according to ACPA titer (cutoff value 20 IU/liter). We conducted whole-exome association analysis for the WES data. We used HLA imputation to type HLA genes. In addition, we used the polygenic risk score to measure the genetic correlations between PR and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the genetic correlations between ACPA- PR and ACPA+ PR.

RESULTS

Among 185 patients with PR enrolled in our study, 50 patients (27.02%) were ACPA+ and 135 PR patients (72.98%) were ACPA-. We identified 8 novel loci (in the ACPA- PR group: ZNF503, RPS6KL1, HOMER3, HLA-DRA; in the ACPA+ PR group: RPS6KL1, TNPO2, WASH2P, FANK1) and 3 HLA alleles (in the ACPA- PR group: HLA-DRB1*0803 and HLA-DQB1; in the ACPA+ PR group: HLA-DPA1*0401) that were associated with PR and that surpassed genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10-8 ). Furthermore, polygenic risk score analysis showed that PR and RA were not similar (R2 < 0.025), whereas ACPA+ PR and ACPA- PR showed a moderate genetic correlation (0.38 < R2 < 0.8).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated the distinct genetic background between ACPA- and ACPA+ PR patients. Additionally, our findings strengthened that PR and RA were not genetically similar.

[Orodental phenotype and genotype findings in 8 Chinese children with hypophosphatasia]

Objective: To analyze the oral phenotype and gene variation of children with hypophosphatasia (HPP), and explore the genotype-phenotype correlations. Methods: Eight children diagnosed with HPP from January 2008 to January 2023 in Children's Hospital,Zhejiang University School of Medicine were recruited in this study. The pathogenic genes of 5 of them were sequentially analyzed and all of their oral manifestations, laboratory tests and genetic variation types were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 8 children were recruited in the study, 3 males and 5 females, aged from 20 months to 104 months, whose main complaints were premature deciduous tooth loss. Among them, 3 children were diagnosed with odonto HPP, and the other 5 children were diagnosed with childhood HPP, including 2 children was odonto HPP at the first diagnosis and modified as childhood HPP at the age of 5. The age range of first deciduous tooth loss is 9 to 18 months, and the age range of diagnosis is 20 to 104 months. The patients of odonto HPP only showed premature loss of deciduous anterior tooth, while the patients with childhood HPP also showed premature loss of multiple deciduous molars. Panoramic radiographic film revealed enlarged pulp chambers and radicular canals in some primary and permanent teeth. The enamel hypoplasia, hypoplastic short roots, and alveolar resorption of deciduous molar were observed in some cases. The serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (30-107 U/L) levels of all the patients were lower than that in the normal children of same age and gender, and the ALP value of the 1-3 years old girls with childhood HPP (30-33 U/L) was lower than that of the three children with odonto HPP (61-107 U/L), but there was no significant difference in statistical analysis. There were 8 variation sites of ALP liver/bone/kidney (ALPL) gene detected in 5 children and their families, all of which were missense variation, including the new variants in the mutations of c.1334C>G(p.Ser445Cys) and c.1259G>T(p.Gly420Val) that were not reported in the literature. One case was autosomal dominant inheritance and other 4 cases were complex heterozygous variation with autosomal recessive inheritance. Conclusions: Pediatric stomatologists are often the first doctors to detect childhood and odonto HPP. Diagnosis of mild HPP is often delayed. The severity of HPP is related to serum ALP level and ALPL gene mutation sites.

Temporal Structures in Positron Spectra and Charge-Sign Effects in Galactic Cosmic Rays

We present the precision measurements of 11 years of daily cosmic positron fluxes in the rigidity range from 1.00 to 41.9 GV based on 3.4×10^{6} positrons collected with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) aboard the International Space Station. The positron fluxes show distinctly different time variations from the electron fluxes at short and long timescales. A hysteresis between the electron fluxes and the positron fluxes is observed with a significance greater than 5σ at rigidities below 8.5 GV. On the contrary, the positron fluxes and the proton fluxes show similar time variation. Remarkably, we found that positron fluxes are modulated more than proton fluxes with a significance greater than 5σ for rigidities below 7 GV. These continuous daily positron fluxes, together with AMS daily electron, proton, and helium fluxes over an 11-year solar cycle, provide unique input to the understanding of both the charge-sign and mass dependencies of cosmic rays in the heliosphere.

Properties of Cosmic-Ray Sulfur and Determination of the Composition of Primary Cosmic-Ray Carbon, Neon, Magnesium, and Sulfur: Ten-Year Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

We report the properties of primary cosmic-ray sulfur (S) in the rigidity range 2.15 GV to 3.0 TV based on 0.38×10^{6} sulfur nuclei collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment (AMS). We observed that above 90 GV the rigidity dependence of the S flux is identical to the rigidity dependence of Ne-Mg-Si fluxes, which is different from the rigidity dependence of the He-C-O-Fe fluxes. We found that, similar to N, Na, and Al cosmic rays, over the entire rigidity range, the traditional primary cosmic rays S, Ne, Mg, and C all have sizeable secondary components, and the S, Ne, and Mg fluxes are well described by the weighted sum of the primary silicon flux and the secondary fluorine flux, and the C flux is well described by the weighted sum of the primary oxygen flux and the secondary boron flux. The primary and secondary contributions of the traditional primary cosmic-ray fluxes of C, Ne, Mg, and S (even Z elements) are distinctly different from the primary and secondary contributions of the N, Na, and Al (odd Z elements) fluxes. The abundance ratio at the source for S/Si is 0.167±0.006, for Ne/Si is 0.833±0.025, for Mg/Si is 0.994±0.029, and for C/O is 0.836±0.025. These values are determined independent of cosmic-ray propagation.

Temporal Structures in Electron Spectra and Charge Sign Effects in Galactic Cosmic Rays

We present the precision measurements of 11 years of daily cosmic electron fluxes in the rigidity interval from 1.00 to 41.9 GV based on 2.0×10^{8} electrons collected with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) aboard the International Space Station. The electron fluxes exhibit variations on multiple timescales. Recurrent electron flux variations with periods of 27 days, 13.5 days, and 9 days are observed. We find that the electron fluxes show distinctly different time variations from the proton fluxes. Remarkably, a hysteresis between the electron flux and the proton flux is observed with a significance of greater than 6σ at rigidities below 8.5 GV. Furthermore, significant structures in the electron-proton hysteresis are observed corresponding to sharp structures in both fluxes. This continuous daily electron data provide unique input to the understanding of the charge sign dependence of cosmic rays over an 11-year solar cycle.

[Association of extranodal extension and lymph node ratio with radioactive iodine-refractory papillary thyroid cancer]

Objective: To investigate the related factors of radioiodine-refractory thyroid cancer (RAIR-DTC) and the increase of cumulative iodine treatment dose. Methods: The data of patients with papillary thyroid cancer who underwent surgery and iodine treatment for the first time in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2015 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The related factors of RAIR-DTC and the increase of cumulative iodine treatment dose were explored. Results: A total of 650 patients were enrolled, including 217 males (33.4%) and 433 females (66.6%), aged 45 (34, 53) years. There were 123 patients (18.9%) over 55 years old, 171 patients (26.3%) with extranodal extension and 18 patients (2.8%) with distant metastasis. The median lymph node ratio was 0.22 (0.11, 0.33). Twenty patients (3.1%) had an accumulated iodine treatment dose>400 mCi and 19 patients (2.9%) had RAIR-DTC. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that extranodal extension (OR=19.833, 95%CI: 6.057-73.325, P<0.001) was related factors for the increase of cumulative iodine treatment dose. Age>55 years old (OR=3.322, 95%CI: 1.136-9.466, P=0.024), distant metastasis (OR=10.059, 95%CI: 2.508-38.888, P<0.001), extranodal extension (OR=5.278, 95%CI: 1.707-19.813, P=0.006) and lymph node ratio (OR=34.724, 95%CI: 2.749-384.575, P=0.004) were related factors for RAIR-DTC. Conclusions: Extranodal extension and lymph node ratio are related factors for RAIR-DTC. In clinical practice, more attention should be paid to the influence of different lymph node metastasis characteristics on the occurrence of RAIR-DTC and the cumulative therapeutic dose of iodine.

[Development and validation of a prognostic model based on SEER data for patients with esophageal carcinoma after esophagectomy]

OBJECTIVE

To develop a nomogram to predict the long-term survival of patients with esophageal cancer following esophagectomy.

METHODS

We collected the data of 7215 patients with esophageal carcinoma from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database during the period from 2004 and 2016. Of these patients, 5052 were allocated to the training cohort and the remaining 2163 patients to the internal validation cohort using bootstrap resampling, with another 435 patients treated in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of Jinling Hospital between 2014 and 2016 serving as the external validation cohort.

RESULTS

In the overall cohort, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year cancer-specific mortality rates were 14.6%, 35.7% and 41.6%, respectively. Age (≥80 years vs < 50 years, P < 0.001), gender (male vs female, P < 0.001), tumor site (lower vs middle segment, P=0.013), histology (EAC vs ESCC, P=0.012), tumor grade (poorly vs well differentiated, P < 0.001), TNM stage (Ⅳ vs Ⅰ, P < 0.001), tumor size (> 50 mm vs 0-20 mm, P < 0.001), chemotherapy (yes vs no, P < 0.001), and LNR (> 0.25 vs 0, P < 0.001) were identified as independent risk factors affecting long-term survival of the patients. The nomograms established based on the model for predicting the survival probability of the patients at 1, 3 and 5 years after operation showed a C-index of 0.726 (95% CI: 0.714-0.738) for predicting the overall survival (OS) and of 0.735 (95% CI: 0.727-0.743) for cancer-specific survival (CSS) in the training cohort. In the internal validation cohort, the C-index of the nomograms was 0.752 (95% CI: 0.738-0.76) for OS and 0.804 (95% CI: 0.790-0.817) for CSS, as compared with 0.749 (95% CI: 0.736-0.767) and 0.788 (95%CI: 0.751-0.808), respectively, in the external validation cohort. The nomograms also showed a higher sensitivity than the TNM staging system for predicting long-term prognosis.

CONCLUSION

This prognostic model has a high prediction efficiency and can help to identify the high-risk patients with esophageal carcinoma after surgery and serve as a supplement for the current TNM staging system.

Properties of Daily Helium Fluxes

We present the precision measurement of 2824 daily helium fluxes in cosmic rays from May 20, 2011 to October 29, 2019 in the rigidity interval from 1.71 to 100 GV based on 7.6×10^{8} helium nuclei collected with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) aboard the International Space Station. The helium flux and the helium to proton flux ratio exhibit variations on multiple timescales. In nearly all the time intervals from 2014 to 2018, we observed recurrent helium flux variations with a period of 27 days. Shorter periods of 9 days and 13.5 days are observed in 2016. The strength of all three periodicities changes with time and rigidity. In the entire time period, we found that below ∼7  GV the helium flux exhibits larger time variations than the proton flux, and above ∼7  GV the helium to proton flux ratio is time independent. Remarkably, below 2.4 GV a hysteresis between the helium to proton flux ratio and the helium flux was observed at greater than the 7σ level. This shows that at low rigidity the modulation of the helium to proton flux ratio is different before and after the solar maximum in 2014.

RNAseq reveals extensive metabolic disruptions in the sensitive SF-295 cell line treated with schweinfurthins

The schweinfurthin family of natural compounds exhibit a unique and potent differential cytotoxicity against a number of cancer cell lines and may reduce tumor growth in vivo. In some cell lines, such as SF-295 glioma cells, schweinfurthins elicit cytotoxicity at nanomolar concentrations. However, other cell lines, like A549 lung cancer cells, are resistant to schweinfurthin treatment up to micromolar concentrations. At this time, the precise mechanism of action and target for these compounds is unknown. Here, we employ RNA sequencing of cells treated with 50 nM schweinfurthin analog TTI-3066 for 6 and 24 h to elucidate potential mechanisms and pathways which may contribute to schweinfurthin sensitivity and resistance. The data was analyzed via an interaction model to observe differential behaviors between sensitive SF-295 and resistant A549 cell lines. We show that metabolic and stress-response pathways were differentially regulated in the sensitive SF-295 cell line as compared with the resistant A549 cell line. In contrast, A549 cell had significant alterations in response genes involved in translation and protein metabolism. Overall, there was a significant interaction effect for translational proteins, RNA metabolism, protein metabolism, and metabolic genes. Members of the Hedgehog pathway were differentially regulated in the resistant A549 cell line at both early and late time points, suggesting a potential mechanism of resistance. Indeed, when cotreated with the Smoothened inhibitor cyclopamine, A549 cells became more sensitive to schweinfurthin treatment. This study therefore identifies a key interplay with the Hedgehog pathway that modulates sensitivity to the schweinfurthin class of compounds.

Structural Comparison and Drug Screening of Spike Proteins of Ten SARS-CoV-2 Variants

SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has evolved many variants with stronger infectivity and immune evasion than the original strain, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Kappa, Iota, Lambda, and 21H strains. Amino acid mutations are enriched in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which plays a crucial role in cell infection. However, the impact of these mutations on protein structure and function is unclear. Understanding the pathophysiology and pandemic features of these SARS-CoV-2 variants requires knowledge of the spike protein structures. Here, we obtained the spike protein structures of 10 main globally endemic SARS-CoV-2 strains using AlphaFold2. The clustering analysis based on structural similarity revealed the unique features of the mainly pandemic SARS-CoV-2 Delta variants, indicating that structural clusters can reflect the current characteristics of the epidemic more accurately than those based on the protein sequence. The analysis of the binding affinities of ACE2-RBD, antibody-NTD, and antibody-RBD complexes in the different variants revealed that the recognition of antibodies against S1 NTD and RBD was decreased in the variants, especially the Delta variant compared with the original strain, which may induce the immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Furthermore, by virtual screening the ZINC database against a high-accuracy predicted structure of Delta spike protein and experimental validation, we identified multiple compounds that target S1 NTD and RBD, which might contribute towards the development of clinical anti-SARS-CoV-2 medicines. Our findings provided a basic foundation for future in vitro and in vivo investigations that might speed up the development of potential therapies for the SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Periodicities in the Daily Proton Fluxes from 2011 to 2019 Measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station from 1 to 100 GV

We present the precision measurement of the daily proton fluxes in cosmic rays from May 20, 2011 to October 29, 2019 (a total of 2824 days or 114 Bartels rotations) in the rigidity interval from 1 to 100 GV based on 5.5×10^{9} protons collected with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer aboard the International Space Station. The proton fluxes exhibit variations on multiple timescales. From 2014 to 2018, we observed recurrent flux variations with a period of 27 days. Shorter periods of 9 days and 13.5 days are observed in 2016. The strength of all three periodicities changes with time and rigidity. The rigidity dependence of the 27-day periodicity is different from the rigidity dependences of 9-day and 13.5-day periods. Unexpectedly, the strength of 9-day and 13.5-day periodicities increases with increasing rigidities up to ∼10  GV and ∼20  GV, respectively. Then the strength of the periodicities decreases with increasing rigidity up to 100 GV.

Erratum: Properties of a New Group of Cosmic Nuclei: Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on Sodium, Aluminum, and Nitrogen [Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 021101 (2021)]

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.021101.

Properties of a New Group of Cosmic Nuclei: Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on Sodium, Aluminum, and Nitrogen

We report the properties of sodium (Na) and aluminum (Al) cosmic rays in the rigidity range 2.15 GV to 3.0 TV based on 0.46 million sodium and 0.51 million aluminum nuclei collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment on the International Space Station. We found that Na and Al, together with nitrogen (N), belong to a distinct cosmic ray group. In this group, we observe that, similar to the N flux, both the Na flux and Al flux are well described by the sums of a primary cosmic ray component (proportional to the silicon flux) and a secondary cosmic ray component (proportional to the fluorine flux). The fraction of the primary component increases with rigidity for the N, Na, and Al fluxes and becomes dominant at the highest rigidities. The Na/Si and Al/Si abundance ratios at the source, 0.036±0.003 for Na/Si and 0.103±0.004 for Al/Si, are determined independent of cosmic ray propagation.

[Orexin-A inhibits γ-aminobutyric acid current of neonatal rat spinal cord ventral horn neurons by activating OX1R, OX2R and Ca2+-independent PKC]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of orexin-A on the functionality of ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors in spinal cord ventral horn neurons and its mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE

The spinal cord containing the lumbosacral enlargement was isolated from neonatal SD rats (7-12 days old) and sliced. The slices were digested with papain (in 0.18 g/30 mL artificial cerebrospinal fluid) for 40-60 min, and the ventral horn neurons were separated acutely using fire-polished Pasteur pipettes. After the cells adhered to the bottom of Petri dishes, patch-clamp experiments combined with pharmacological methods were performed to test the effects of orexin-A on GABA currents of the neurons treated with SB334867 (a selective OX₁R antagonist), TCSOX229 (a selective OX₂R antagonist), Bis-Ⅳ (a PKC inhibitor), PMA (a PKC agonist), Rp-cAMP (a PKA inhibitor), or BAPTA (Ca²⁺ chelator).

OBJECTIVE

The isolated neurons maintained good morphologies with diverse shapes of cell body and long protrusions. Treatment with orexin-A significantly inhibited the amplitude of GABA-induced current (P < 0.001, n=49) with an inhibition rate of (67.48±12.50)%. SB334867 and TCSOX229, when applied simultaneously, completely abolished the suppressive effect of orexin-A on the GABA currents (P=0.93, n=6), and their separate use partially relieved the suppressive effect of orexin-A (P=0.001, n=8; P=0.02, n=8). The application of Bis-Ⅳ also abolished the suppressive effect of orexin-A on GABA currents (P=0.31, n=5). PMA mimicked the effect of orexin-A in these neurons and significantly inhibited GABA currents with an inhibition rate of (60.79±10.94)%, and the application of orexin-A did not cause further suppression of GABA currents in PMA-treated neurons (P=0.15, n=6). Orexin-A was still capable of suppressing GABA currents in Rp-cAMP-treated neurons (P=0.001, n=5). The extracellular Ca²⁺-free solution (P=0.004, n=8) or the presence of BAPTA (P=0.04, n=7) did not significantly affect the inhibitory effect of orexin-A on GABA currents.

OBJECTIVE

Orexin-A inhibits GABA currents in the ventral horn neurons of rat spinal cord probably by activating OX₁R, OX₂R and Ca²⁺-independent PKC.

POS0851 IDENTIFICATION OF HUB GENES AND PATHWAYS IN DERMATOMYOSITIS BY BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS

Background:

Dermatomyositis (DM) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory infiltrates in the skin and muscle1. The genes and pathways in the inflamed myopathies in patients with DM are poorly understood2.

Objectives:

To identify the key genes and pathways associated with DM and further discover its pathogenesis.

Methods:

Muscle tissue gene expression profile (GSE143323) were acquired from the GEO database, which included 39 DM samples and 20 normal samples. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in DM muscle tissue were screened by adopting the R software. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genome (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was performed by Metascape online analysis tool. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was then constructed by STRING software using the genes in significantly different pathways. Network of DEGs was analyzed by Cytoscape software. And degree of nodes was used to screen key genes.

Results:

Totally, 126 DEGs were obtained, which contained 122 up-regulated and 4 down-regulated. GO analysis revealed that most of the DEGs were significantly enriched in type I interferon signaling pathway, response to interferon-gamma, collagen-containing extracellular matrix, response to interferon-alpha and bacterium, positive regulation of cell death, leukocyte chemotaxis. KEGG pathway analysis showed that upregulated DEGs enhanced pathways associated with the hepatitis C, complement and coagulation cascades, p53 signaling pathway, RIG-I-like receptor signaling, Osteoclast differentiation, and AGE-RAGE signaling pathway. Ten hub genes were identified in DM, they were ISG15, IRF7, STAT1, MX1, OASL, OAS2, OAS1, OAS3, GBP1, and IRF9 according to the Cytoscape software and cytoHubba plugin.

Conclusion:

The findings from this bioinformatics network analysis study identified the key hub genes that might provide new molecular markers for its diagnosis and treatment.

References:

[1]Olazagasti JM, Niewold TB, Reed AM. Immunological biomarkers in dermatomyositis. Curr Rheumatol Rep 2015;17(11):68. doi: 10.1007/s11926-015-0543-y [published Online First: 2015/09/26].

[2]Chen LY, Cui ZL, Hua FC, et al. Bioinformatics analysis of gene expression profiles of dermatomyositis. Mol Med Rep 2016;14(4):3785-90. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2016.5703 [published Online First: 2016/09/08].

[3]Zhou Y, Zhou B, Pache L, et al. Metascape provides a biologist-oriented resource for the analysis of systems-level datasets. Nat Commun 2019;10(1):1523. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09234-6 [published Online First: 2019/04/05].

Acknowledgements:

This project was supported by National Science Foundation of China (82001740), Open Fund from the Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University) (KLCP2019) and Innovation Plan for Postgraduate Education in Shanxi Province (2020BY078).

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

POS0458 IDENTIFICATION OF HUB GENES AND MOLECULAR PATHWAYS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS BY BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS

Background:

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory synovitis based systemic disease of unknown etiology1. The genes and pathways in the inflamed synovium of RA patients are poorly understood.

Objectives:

This study aims to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with the progression of synovitis in RA using bioinformatics analysis and explore its pathogenesis2.

Methods:

RA expression profile microarray data GSE89408 were acquired from the public gene chip database (GEO), including 152 synovial tissue samples from RA and 28 healthy synovial tissue samples. The DEGs of RA synovial tissues were screened by adopting the R software. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were assembled with Cytoscape software.

Results:

A total of 654 DEGs (268 up-regulated genes and 386 down-regulated genes) were obtained by the differential analysis. The GO enrichment results showed that the up-regulated genes were significantly enriched in the biological processes of myeloid leukocyte activation, cellular response to interferon-gamma and immune response-regulating signaling pathway, and the down-regulated genes were significantly enriched in the biological processes of extracellular matrix, retinoid metabolic process and regulation of lipid metabolic process. The KEGG annotation showed the up-regulated genes mainly participated in the staphylococcus aureus infection, chemokine signaling pathway, lysosome signaling pathway and the down-regulated genes mainly participated in the PPAR signaling pathway, AMPK signaling pathway, ECM-receptor interaction and so on. The 9 hub genes (PTPRC, TLR2, tyrobp, CTSS, CCL2, CCR5, B2M, fcgr1a and PPBP) were obtained based on the String database model by using the Cytoscape software and cytoHubba plugin3.

Conclusion:

The findings identified the molecular mechanisms and the key hub genes of pathogenesis and progression of RA.

References:

[1]Xiong Y, Mi BB, Liu MF, et al. Bioinformatics Analysis and Identification of Genes and Molecular Pathways Involved in Synovial Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Med Sci Monit 2019;25:2246-56. doi: 10.12659/MSM.915451 [published Online First: 2019/03/28]

[2]Mun S, Lee J, Park A, et al. Proteomics Approach for the Discovery of Rheumatoid Arthritis Biomarkers Using Mass Spectrometry. Int J Mol Sci 2019;20(18) doi: 10.3390/ijms20184368 [published Online First: 2019/09/08]

[3]Zhu N, Hou J, Wu Y, et al. Identification of key genes in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis based on bioinformatics analysis. Medicine (Baltimore) 2018;97(22):e10997. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000010997 [published Online First: 2018/06/01]

Acknowledgements:

This project was supported by National Science Foundation of China (82001740), Open Fund from the Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University) (KLCP2019) and Innovation Plan for Postgraduate Education in Shanxi Province (2020BY078).

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

AB0005 IDENTIFICATION OF KEY GENES AND PATHWAYS FOR PSORIASIS BASED ON GEO DATABASES BY BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS

Background:

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated, genetic disease manifesting in the skin or joints or both, and also has a strong genetic predisposition and autoimmune pathogenic traits1. The hallmark of psoriasis is sustained inflammation that leads to uncontrolled keratinocyte proliferation and dysfunctional differentiation. And it’s also a chronic relapsing disease, which often necessitates a long-term therapy2.

Objectives:

To investigate the molecular mechanisms of psoriasis and find the potential gene targets for diagnosis and treating psoriasis.

Methods:

Total 334 gene expression data of patients with psoriasis research (GSE13355 GSE14905 and GSE30999) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. After data preprocessing and screening of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by R software. Online toll Metascape3 was used to analyze Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of DEGs. Interactions of proteins encoded by DEGs were discovered by Protein-protein interaction network (PPI) using STRING online software. Cytoscape software was utilized to visualize PPI and the degree of each DEGs was obtained by analyzing the topological structure of the PPI network.

Results:

A total of 611 DEGs were found to be differentially expressed in psoriasis. GO analysis revealed that up-regulated DEGs were mostly associated with defense and response to external stimulus while down-regulated DEGs were mostly associated with metabolism and synthesis of lipids. KEGG enrichment analysis suggested they were mainly enriched in IL-17 signaling, Toll-like receptor signaling and PPAR signaling pathways, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and lipid metabolism. In addition, top 9 key genes (CXCL10, OASL, IFIT1, IFIT3, RSAD2, MX1, OAS1, IFI44 and OAS2) were identified through Cytoscape.

Conclusion:

DEGs of psoriasis may play an essential role in disease development and may be potential pathogeneses of psoriasis.

References:

[1]Boehncke WH, Schon MP. Psoriasis. Lancet 2015;386(9997):983-94. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61909-7 [published Online First: 2015/05/31].

[2]Zhang YJ, Sun YZ, Gao XH, et al. Integrated bioinformatic analysis of differentially expressed genes and signaling pathways in plaque psoriasis. Mol Med Rep 2019;20(1):225-35. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2019.10241 [published Online First: 2019/05/23].

[3]Zhou Y, Zhou B, Pache L, et al. Metascape provides a biologist-oriented resource for the analysis of systems-level datasets. Nat Commun 2019;10(1):1523. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09234-6 [published Online First: 2019/04/05].

Acknowledgements:

This project was supported by National Science Foundation of China (82001740), Open Fund from the Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University) (KLCP2019) and Innovation Plan for Postgraduate Education in Shanxi Province (2020BY078).

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

POS0742 SCREENING AND BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS OF HUB GENES AND PATHWAYS FOR PRIMARY SJÖGREN’S SYNDROME BASED ON GEO DATABASE

Background:

Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease that featured as lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of the exocrine glands leading to sicca symptoms1. However, its underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive.

Objectives:

This study aims to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pathways associated with the progression of pSS using bioinformatics analysis and explore its pathogenesis.

Methods:

The pSS-associated gene chip data set GSE66795 was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, which included 131 cases of fully-phenotyped pSS patients’ whole blood samples and 29 cases of control samples. DEGs were screened Using R software. Online tool Metascape2 was used to make Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment. The PPI network was performed using String database. Hub genes were identified by Cytoscape.

Results:

A total of 108 DEGs were captured, including 101 up-regulated genes and 7 down-regulated genes. GO enrichment showed that these DEGs were primarily enriched in defense response to virus, response to interferon-gamma, regulation of innate immune response, response to interferon-beta, double-stranded RNA binding, response to interferon-alpha. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed these DEGs were principally enriched in Influenza A, RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, necroptosis, Staphylococcus aureus infection. Finally, 9 hub genes (STAT1, IRF7, OAS2, GBP1, OAS1, IFIT3, IFIH1, OAS3, DDX60) had highest degree value.

Conclusion:

The findings identified molecular mechanisms and the key hub genes that may involve in the occurrence and development of pSS.

References:

[1]Francois H, Mariette X. Renal involvement in primary Sjogren syndrome. Nat Rev Nephrol 2016;12(2):82-93. doi: 10.1038/nrneph.2015.174 [published Online First: 2015/11/17].

[2]Zhou Y, Zhou B, Pache L, et al. Metascape provides a biologist-oriented resource for the analysis of systems-level datasets. Nat Commun 2019;10(1):1523. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09234-6 [published Online First: 2019/04/05].

Acknowledgements:

This project was supported by National Science Foundation of China (82001740), Open Fund from the Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University) (KLCP2019) and Innovation Plan for Postgraduate Education in Shanxi Province (2020BY078).

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

POS0848 IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL CRUCIAL GENES AND KEY PATHWAYS IN PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION WITH SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS BY BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS

Background:

Pulmonary arterial hypertension with systemic sclerosis (SSc-PAH) is the main cause of death in patients with SSc. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are very important to reduce the mortality of patients with SSc-PAH1. At present, there are not many sensitive markers for the diagnosis of SSc-PAH. Therefore, it is necessary to mine more sensitive markers as more accurate and practical predictors, which is of great significance for the diagnosis and treatment of SSc-PAH.

Objectives:

To discover the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and activated signaling pathways in SSc-PAH.

Methods:

Fifty-five samples (27 SSc-PAH v.s 28 normal controls) in GSE33463 chip data obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were included in this study. DEGs in SSc-PAH patients were screened by R, key pathways and hub genes were discoved by Metascape2, STRING3 and Cytoscape.

Results:

Total 431 genes with large differences were identified, including 238 up-regulated genes and 193 down-regulated genes, after standardizing the data (|logFC| > 1; P < 0.05). GO analysis showed that the upregulated genes were mainly involved in defense response to virus, hemoglobin complex, platelet alpha granule membrane and cytokine binding. The downregulated genes were mainly characterized by positive regulation of cell death, regulation of MAPK cascade, regulation of DNA-binding transcription factor activity and transcription factor AP-1 complex. Several significant enriched pathways obtained in the KEGG pathway analysis were Influenza A, Hepatitis C, IL-17 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Finally, after the selected differential genes were introduced into STRING online software, the data information of protein interaction network was derived, and 12 core genes in the network were identified, they were CXCL8, PPBP, LPAR1, FPR2, GNG11, CXCL10, LPAR5, JUN, C3AR1, CCR2, CCR3, IRF2.

Conclusion:

The genes and signal pathways related to SSc-PAH discovered by bioinformatics methods could not only provided new molecular markers for its diagnosis and treatment, but also provided new ideas for its related biological research.

References:

[1]Zheng JN, Li Y, Yan YM, et al. Identification and Validation of Key Genes Associated With Systemic Sclerosis-Related Pulmonary Hypertension. Front Genet 2020;11:816. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00816 [published Online First: 2020/08/15].

[2]Zhou Y, Zhou B, Pache L, et al. Metascape provides a biologist-oriented resource for the analysis of systems-level datasets. Nat Commun 2019;10(1):1523. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09234-6 [published Online First: 2019/04/05].

[3]Szklarczyk D, Gable AL, Lyon D, et al. STRING v11: protein-protein association networks with increased coverage, supporting functional discovery in genome-wide experimental datasets. Nucleic Acids Res 2019;47(D1):D607-D13. doi: 10.1093/nar/gky1131 [published Online First: 2018/11/27].

Acknowledgements:

This project was supported by National Science Foundation of China (82001740), Open Fund from the Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University) (KLCP2019) and Innovation Plan for Postgraduate Education in Shanxi Province (2020BY078).

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

[Contribution of sympathetic activation to antihypertrophic memory after regression of exercise-induced physiological myocardial hypertrophy in mice]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether anti-hypertrophic memory exists after regression of exercise-induced physiological myocardial hypertrophy (PMH) and explore the contribution of sympathetic activation to hypertrophic memory formation.

OBJECTIVE

Seventy-two mice were randomized equally into 6 groups, including sedentary sham-operated group, exercise hypertrophic preconditioning (EHP) + sham operation group, bisoprolol (an adrenergic β1 receptor blocker) + EHP + sham operation group (biso+Exe+Sham group), sedentary group with transverse aortic constriction (TAC) (Sed+TAC group), EHP+ TAC group (Exe+TAC group), and bisoprolol+EHP+TAC group (biso+Exe+TAC group). The mice in the EHP groups were subjected to 3 weeks of swimming training, and in the bisoprolol groups, bisoprolol was administered by gavage once daily from two days before till the end of the training. One week after the training, TAC or sham surgery was performed. Echocardiography and hemodynamic measurements were performed to evaluate cardiac function of the mice, and the myocardial tissues were examined histologically to detect cardiac remodeling.

OBJECTIVE

Compared with the sedentary group, the mice receiving 3 weeks of swimming training had significantly increased heart weight to body weight ratio (HW/BW), HW to tibia length ratio (HW/TL), and the cross-sectional area of the cardiomyocytes (P < 0.05). One week after the training, exercise-induced PMH rapidly diminished and both HW/BW and HW/TL recovered the baseline levels. Treatment with bisoprolol obviously prevented the occurrence of PMH. Four weeks after TAC, the left ventricular posterior wall thickness, HW/BW, HW/TL, left ventricular end diastolic pressure and cross-sectional area of cardiomyocytes were all significantly lower (P < 0.05) while the left ejection fraction and maximal change rate of left ventricular pressure were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in Exe + TAC group than in Sed + TAC group. No significant difference was found in these parameters between biso + Exe + TAC group and Sed + TAC group.

OBJECTIVE

Anti-hypertrophic memory exists even after the regression of exercise-induced PMH, which may be attributed to the activation of sympathetic nervous system during exercise.

The relationship between intestinal flora changes and osteoporosis in rats with inflammatory bowel disease and the improvement effect of probiotics

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the changes in intestinal flora and the occurrence of osteoporosis in rats with inflammatory bowel disease and the improvement effect of probiotics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 100 Sprague Dawley (SD) model rats with colitis were selected as research objects. All rats were randomly divided into two groups, including: bowel disease group and osteoporosis group, with 50 rats in each group. Stool samples were collected from all rats, and Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli and Bifidobacteria were cultured and counted. The relationship between the occurrence of related osteoporosis and intestinal flora was analyzed as well. Thereafter, the rats in osteoporosis group were randomly divided into two subgroups, namely, control group (n=25) and observation group (n=25). Observation group was treated with probiotics by gastrogavage, while the control group was treated with the same volume of physiological saline. Next, the changes in serum osteoprotegerin (OPG), osteoprotegerin ligand [receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL)], procollagen type I carboxy-terminal propeptide (PICP), bone mineral density (BMD), bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP), calcium concentration (Ca), and inflammatory cytokine levels were compared between the two groups after intervention.

RESULTS

Osteoporosis group had significantly more Escherichia coli and notably fewer Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria than bowel disease group (p<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the occurrence of osteoporosis in rats with inflammatory bowel disease was negatively correlated with the count of Escherichia coli, whereas was positively related to the counts of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria (p<0.05). Moreover, the levels of serum OPG, PICP, TRACP, and Ca in observation group were remarkably higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). However, the levels of serum RANKL, BALP, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interferon-gamma (INF-γ) were markedly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Osteoporosis in rats with inflammatory bowel disease has a negative association with the count of Escherichia coli, and a positive correlation with the counts of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria. In addition, treatment with probiotics can effectively alleviate osteoporosis symptoms in rats with inflammatory bowel disease by influencing the level of corresponding cytokines.

Accurate diagnosis of colorectal cancer based on histopathology images using artificial intelligence

BACKGROUND

Accurate and robust pathological image analysis for colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis is time-consuming and knowledge-intensive, but is essential for CRC patients' treatment. The current heavy workload of pathologists in clinics/hospitals may easily lead to unconscious misdiagnosis of CRC based on daily image analyses.

METHODS

Based on a state-of-the-art transfer-learned deep convolutional neural network in artificial intelligence (AI), we proposed a novel patch aggregation strategy for clinic CRC diagnosis using weakly labeled pathological whole-slide image (WSI) patches. This approach was trained and validated using an unprecedented and enormously large number of 170,099 patches, > 14,680 WSIs, from > 9631 subjects that covered diverse and representative clinical cases from multi-independent-sources across China, the USA, and Germany.

RESULTS

Our innovative AI tool consistently and nearly perfectly agreed with (average Kappa statistic 0.896) and even often better than most of the experienced expert pathologists when tested in diagnosing CRC WSIs from multicenters. The average area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) of AI was greater than that of the pathologists (0.988 vs 0.970) and achieved the best performance among the application of other AI methods to CRC diagnosis. Our AI-generated heatmap highlights the image regions of cancer tissue/cells.

CONCLUSIONS

This first-ever generalizable AI system can handle large amounts of WSIs consistently and robustly without potential bias due to fatigue commonly experienced by clinical pathologists. It will drastically alleviate the heavy clinical burden of daily pathology diagnosis and improve the treatment for CRC patients. This tool is generalizable to other cancer diagnosis based on image recognition.

Properties of Heavy Secondary Fluorine Cosmic Rays: Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

Precise knowledge of the charge and rigidity dependence of the secondary cosmic ray fluxes and the secondary-to-primary flux ratios is essential in the understanding of cosmic ray propagation. We report the properties of heavy secondary cosmic ray fluorine F in the rigidity R range 2.15 GV to 2.9 TV based on 0.29 million events collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment on the International Space Station. The fluorine spectrum deviates from a single power law above 200 GV. The heavier secondary-to-primary F/Si flux ratio rigidity dependence is distinctly different from the lighter B/O (or B/C) rigidity dependence. In particular, above 10 GV, the F/Si/B/O ratio can be described by a power law R^{δ} with δ=0.052±0.007. This shows that the propagation properties of heavy cosmic rays, from F to Si, are different from those of light cosmic rays, from He to O, and that the secondary cosmic rays have two classes.

Properties of Iron Primary Cosmic Rays: Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

We report the observation of new properties of primary iron (Fe) cosmic rays in the rigidity range 2.65 GV to 3.0 TV with 0.62×10^{6} iron nuclei collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment on the International Space Station. Above 80.5 GV the rigidity dependence of the cosmic ray Fe flux is identical to the rigidity dependence of the primary cosmic ray He, C, and O fluxes, with the Fe/O flux ratio being constant at 0.155±0.006. This shows that unexpectedly Fe and He, C, and O belong to the same class of primary cosmic rays which is different from the primary cosmic rays Ne, Mg, and Si class.

COX-2/PGE2 facilitates fracture healing by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to explore the influence of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on fracture healing by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, 36 adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats raised in our laboratory were selected as research objects. The rats were subjected to fracture surgery on the middle part of the right femoral shaft. Subsequently, they were randomly divided into the control group and experimental groups (including experimental group A and experimental group B). Rats in experimental group A were injected with PGE 2 or COX-2 selective inhibitor NS-398, while rats in experimental group B were injected with PGE2 (5 μmol/L). Meanwhile, rats in the control group were injected with the same amount of normal saline. After that, the transcriptional levels of PEG2, COX-2, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and β-catenin in rats of the experimental group A, experimental group B and control group were detected via fluorescence quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting were conducted to determine the changes in protein levels of PEG2, COX-2, VEGF and β-catenin in rats of the experimental group A, experimental group B and control group. The expression level of VEGF in bone tissues at fracture ends of rats in the experimental group A, experimental group B and control group was observed through the hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Furthermore, micro-computed tomography (CT) was employed to evaluate callus formation.

RESULTS

The transcriptional and translational levels of COX-2, β-catenin and VEGF in rats of experimental group A treated with COX-2 inhibitors were significantly down-regulated when compared with those of the control group, showing statistically significant differences (p<0.05). However, the levels of these genes were markedly elevated in the experimental group B treated with PGE2 in comparison with those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). After 6 weeks, HE staining showed that the expression level of VEGF in rats of the experimental group B was remarkably higher than that of the experimental group A (p<0.05). Micro-CT results revealed that the mean trabecular plate density (MTPD) of rats in the experimental group B (73.29±5.4) was markedly higher than the number of osteoblasts (49.6±3.9) in the experimental group A, showing a statistically significant difference (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

COX-2/PGE2 facilitates fracture healing by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Donepezil markedly prevents the progression of chronic heart failure and renal dysfunction in renal artery stenosis-induced hypertensive rats

Introduction

Parasympathetic activation by donepezil has been shown to improve prognosis in chronic heart failure (CHF) rats following myocardial infarction. We examined whether donepezil is effective in the treatment of another CHF model complicated with renal artery stenosis (RAS)-induced hypertension.

Methods

RAS was created by ligating the left renal artery up to 50% in SD rats, at the same time, we implanted a blood pressure (BP) transmitter for confirming RAS-induced hypertension (7-week post-RAS: systolic BP = 154±7 mmHg; diastolic BP = 115±8 mmHg). In the 11th week after induction of RAS, surviving animals were randomly assigned to untreated (UT, n=10) or donepezil treated [DT, n=10, dissolved in drinking water (3mg/kg/day)] group. After a 6-week treatment, the effects of donepezil were evaluated by hemodynamics, blood levels of neurohumoral markers, and morphology.

Results

Compared with UT, DT significantly prevented the progression of the left kidney atrophy (2.38±0.13 vs. 1.51±0.34 g/kg, P&lt;0.05) and kidney fibrosis (left: −64%, P&lt;0.001; right: −55%, P&lt;0.01). DT also significantly prevented the progression of CHF, through suppressing cardiac hypertrophy (2.30±0.06 vs. 2.57±0.08 g/kg, P&lt;0.01), cardiac fibrosis (−70%, P&lt;0.01), and cardiac dysfunction [cardiac index: 102±3 vs. 86±3 ml/min/kg, P&lt;0.05; left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic pressure: 12±2 vs. 20±2 mmHg, P&lt;0.05; LV dp/dtmin: 5856±259 vs. 4924±227 mmHg/sec, P&lt;0.05]. DT not only decreased serum levels of creatinine (0.54±0.02 vs. 0.63±0.03 mg/dl, P&lt;0.05) and uric acid (1.4±0.2 vs. 1.9±0.2 mg/dl, P&lt;0.05); but also decreased plasma levels of norepinephrine (273±38 vs. 846±242, P&lt;0.01), AVP (2729±347 vs. 4783±695 pg/ml, P&lt;0.05), BNP (360±13 vs. 460±39 pg/ml, P&lt;0.05), angiotensin II and aldosteron, and suppressed the systemic inflammation.

Conclusions

Donepezil treatment markedly prevented the progression of CHF and renal dysfunction, and improved the neurohumoral markers in the CHF rat model complicated with RAS-induced hypertension, suggesting that donepezil may be used as a new pharmacotherapy for CHF patients complicated with RAS-induced hypertension.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

Donepezil as a novel therapy for suppressing the progression of cardiovascular remodeling in obesity-induced hypertensive rats with reperfused myocardial infarction

Introduction

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition by donepezil has been shown to improve long-term survival in permanent myocardial infarction (MI)-induced chronic heart failure rats. This study examined whether donepezil is applicable to the treatment of obesity-induced hypertension with reperfused MI (RMI).

Methods

Four-week-old SD rats were fed a high-fat diet (57% kcal as fat) for 15 weeks. We implanted a blood pressure (BP) telemetry into the animals (8-week-old) for monitoring artery pressure. After a 1-week recovery, RMI was created by occluding the left coronary artery (30min) followed by reperfusion. Surviving animals were randomly assigned to untreated (UT, n=16) or donepezil treated (DT, n=16, 3 mg/kg/day) group. After a 10-week treatment, the effects of donepezil were evaluated by hemodynamics, blood biomarkers, immunohistochemistry, and morphology.

Results

The high-fat diet caused obesity and hypertension (9-week-old: systolic BP = 134±4 mmHg; diastolic BP = 92±2 mmHg) in the normal rats. Compared with UT, DT significantly decreased the heart rate (296±5 vs. 318±8 bpm, P&lt;0.05). DT significantly prevented the progression of cardiac remodeling and dysfunction [cardiac index: 91±4 vs. 73±9 ml/min/kg, P&lt;0.01; left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic pressure: 11±1 vs. 20±2 mmHg, P&lt;0.01; LV dp/dt max: 5347±206 vs. 3637±433 mmHg/sec, P&lt;0.01], through increasing capillary density (+120%/field, P&lt;0.001), reducing cardiac fibrosis (−50%, P&lt;0.01) and myocardial infarcted area (17±2 vs. 24±2%, P&lt;0.05), suppressing cardiac hypertrophy (2.35±0.04 vs. 2.70±0.14 g/kg, P&lt;0.01) and coronary artery remodeling (wall thickness: 30±1 vs. 37±2 mm, P&lt;0.01; media-to-lumen ratio: 2.3±0.2 vs. 6.2±1.6, P&lt;0.001). Additionally, DT not only decreased plasma levels of insulin, norepinephrine, BNP, angiotensin II, but also improved the systemic inflammation.

Conclusions

Donepezil treatment significantly suppressed the progression of cardiovascular remodeling and dysfunction following RMI in obesity-induced hypertensive rats, suggesting that donepezil may be used as a potential candidate for post-RMI therapy in obesity-induced hypertensive patients.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

TRAF5 promotes the occurrence and development of colon cancer via the activation of PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathways

This study aimed to investigate the expression and biological functions of TRAF5 in colon cancer at tissue and cellular levels. Forty-two patients with colon cancer were included in the present study. Tumor tissues and tumor-adjacent tissues were collected from all patients. Bioinformatics was used to analyze how TRAF5 was related to metastasis and prognosis of colon cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was carried out to determine the expression of mRNA. SW620 and SW480 cells were used to study the inhibition and overexpression of TRAF5, respectively. CCK-8 assay was used to examine cell proliferation. Flow cytometry was employed to investigate cell phase and apoptosis. Transwell assay was used to study migration and invasion of cells. Western blotting was utilized to test how TRAF5 expression affected the activities of PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathways. Bioinformatics showed that the expression of TRAF5 in colon cancer tissues was correlated with metastasis and prognosis of the tumor. TRAF5 mRNA expression was up-regulated in colon cancer tissues, and related to recurrence and metastasis of the cancer. In vitro experiments showed that TRAF5 expression promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion of colon cancer cells, but reduced apoptosis of the cells. Moreover, TRAF5 might exert its biological functions by activating PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathways in colon cancer cells. In conclusion, TRAF5 expression in colon cancer tissues is up-regulated and correlated with prognosis, lymphatic metastasis and clinical staging. TRAF5 promotes the occurrence and development of colon cancer by activating PI3K/ AKT/NF-κB signaling pathways, and acts as an oncogene.

miR-940 promotes spinal cord injury recovery by inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB pathway-mediated inflammation

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of miR-940 and Toll-like receptor 4/Nuclear Factor κB (TLR4/NF-κB) pathways on inflammatory responses and spinal cord injury (SCI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study first established a model of spinal cord injury in mice. The grip force measurement was used to detect the recovery of the forelimb, left forelimb and right forelimb of SCI mice. The quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of miR-940 and macrophage receptor TLR4 in SCI mice. In addition, the protein levels of TLR4 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in SCI mice were detected by Western blot. MiR-940 mimic was injected into the injured area of SCI mice to explore the effect of miR-940 overexpression on TLR4 and myeloperoxidase (MPO) expression as well as the protein levels of TLR4, P65 and iNOS. Furthermore, the grip strength of SCI mice with double forelimb, left forelimb and right forelimb was detected by the grip force test after miR-940 overexpression.

RESULTS

Compared with the sham-operated mice, the grip strength of the forelimb, left forelimb, and right forelimb of the SCI group showed significant obstacles. Meanwhile, the expression of miR-940 was remarkably decreased in SCI mice along with significant elevation of the inflammatory response-related factors including TRL4 and iNOS. Then we injected SCI mice with miR-940 mimics into the spinal cord injury area and found that miR-940 overexpression decreased the expression levels of TLR4 and MPO. At the same time, the overexpression of miR-940 markedly decreased the protein levels of TLR4, P65, and iNOS in SCI mice. In addition, miR-940 overexpression improved the grip strength of the left and right forepaws and the simultaneous grip strength of the two claws of the SCI mice than those of the simple injury group.

CONCLUSIONS

High expression of miR-940 can promote the recovery of spinal cord injury by downregulating the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway and inhibiting inflammation.

Resveratrol promotes mammary cell proliferation and antioxidation capacity during pregnancy and lactation in mice

AIMS

Reproduction can induce maternal oxidative stress, and resveratrol is able to alleviate oxidative stress. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of resveratrol supplementation in mice during pregnancy and lactation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Pregnant mice were randomly divided into three groups: (i) Pure water (Con); (ii) Cellulose sodium dissolves with 20 mg kg^-1 resveratrol (R1) and (iii) Cellulose sodium dissolves with 40 mg kg^-1 resveratrol (R2). The experiment starts at pregnancy and ends at weaning. The results showed that resveratrol increased mammary cell proliferation and the mRNA expressions of UDP glucuronosyltransferase family 1 member A1 (UGT1A1) and cytochrome P450 proteins (CYP1A1), while decreased superoxide dismutase, extracellular (SOD3) in the mammary gland. Further study showed that resveratrol promoted the mRNA expressions of genes involved in mitophagy, such as transcription factor Eβ (Tfeβ), Bcl1lc3β, homosapiens microtubule-associated protein 1 light-chain 3 beta (Map1lc3β), Parkin, sequestosome1 (p62), autophagy-related protein (Atg5) and Beclin-1 (Becn1) in the mammary gland. Moreover, resveratrol increased the abundances of some intestinal microbial species. 40 mg kg^-1 resveratrol significantly increased the contents of Acidobacteri, unidentified acidbacteria, Bacilales, Staphylococcaceae and Staphylococcus at phylum, class, order, family and genus level respectively.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicate that resveratrol supplementation may promote mammary cell proliferation and antioxidant ability through mitophagy and regulating gut microbiota in pregnant mice.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Current study proved that resveratrol could affect mammary cell proliferation and antioxidation capacity during pregnancy and lactation in mice for the first time. The underlying mechanisms may be related to mitophagy and gut microbiota.

MicroRNA-23c inhibits articular cartilage damage recovery by regulating MSCs differentiation to chondrocytes via reducing FGF2

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to explore the role of microRNA-23c in the differentiation of marrow stromal cells (MSCs) to chondrocytes and its potential mechanism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

MSCs were first isolated from rat bone marrow for cell culture. Surface antigens of MSCs (CD29 and CD34) were identified by flow cytometry. MSCs were induced for chondrogenic differentiation in MCDM (Mesenchymal Stem Cell Chondrogenic Differentiation Medium) for 0, 3, and 7 days, respectively, followed by detection of RUNX2, microRNA-23c and FGF2 expressions by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Alcian blue staining was performed to access proteoglycan deposition in MSCs transfected with microRNA-23c mimics or inhibitor. Western blot was conducted to detect the protein expressions of ACAN and COL2A1 in MSCs. The binding condition between microRNA-23c and FGF2 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Finally, MSCs were co-transfected with microRNA-23c mimics and FGF2 overexpression plasmid for rescue experiments.

RESULTS

On the fourth day of MSCs isolation, MSCs were in an elongated shape. Flow cytometry results showed positive expression of CD29 and negative expression of CD34, which were consistent with MSCs phenotype. QRT-PCR data elucidated that the mRNA levels of RUNX2 and FGF2 gradually increased, whereas microRNA-23c expression decreased with the prolongation of chondrogenic differentiation. Transfection of microRNA-23c mimics in MSCs remarkably elevated microRNA-23c expression. Alcian blue staining showed that microRNA-23c overexpression results in less proteoglycan deposition in MSCs than that of controls. Both mRNA and protein expressions of ACAN and COL2A1 decreased after microRNA-23c overexpression. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that FGF2 binds to microRNA-23c. Further Western blot results demonstrated that FGF2 expression is negatively regulated by microRNA-23c. FGF2 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effects of microRNA-23c on proteoglycan deposition, as well as expressions of ACAN and COL2A1.

CONCLUSIONS

MicroRNA-23c expression decreases during chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs, which inhibits MSCs differentiation to chondrocytes by inhibiting FGF2.

[Study on assessing early epidemiological parameters of COVID-19 epidemic in China]

Objective: To study the early dynamics of the epidemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China from 15 to 31 January, 2020, and estimate the corresponding epidemiological parameters (incubation period, generation interval and basic reproduction number) of the epidemic. Methods: By means of Weibull, Gamma and Lognormal distributions methods, we estimated the probability distribution of the incubation period and generation interval data obtained from the reported COVID-19 cases. Moreover, the AIC criterion was used to determine the optimal distribution. Considering the epidemic is ongoing, the exponential growth model was used to fit the incidence data of COVID-19 from 10 to 31 January, 2020, and exponential growth method, maximum likelihood method and SEIR model were used to estimate the basic reproduction number. Results: Early COVID-19 cases kept an increase in exponential growth manner before 26 January, 2020, then the increase trend became slower. The average incubation period was 5.01 (95%CI: 4.31-5.69) days; the average generation interval was 6.03 (95%CI: 5.20-6.91) days. The basic reproduction number was estimated to be 3.74 (95%CI: 3.63-3.87), 3.16 (95%CI: 2.90-3.43), and 3.91 (95%CI: 3.71-4.11) by three methods, respectively. Conclusions: The Gamma distribution fits both the generation interval and incubation period best, and the mean value of generation interval is 1.02 day longer than that of incubation period. The relatively high basic reproduction number indicates that the epidemic is still serious; Based on our analysis, the turning point of the epidemic would be seen on 26 January, the growth rate would be lower afterwards.