β-carotene has a wide range of application in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. For microbial production of β-carotene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the supply of geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) was firstly increased in S. cerevisiae BY4742 to obtain strain BY4742-T2 through over-expressing truncated 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (tHMGR), which is the major rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway, and GGPP synthase (GGPS), which is a key enzyme in the diterpenoid synthetic pathway. The β-carotene synthetic genes of Pantoea agglomerans and Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous were further integrated into strain BY4742-T2 for comparing β-carotene production. Over-expression of tHMGR and GGPS genes led to 26.0-fold increase of β-carotene production. In addition, genes from X. dendrorhous was more efficient than those from P. agglomerans for β-carotene production in S. cerevisiae. Strain BW02 was obtained which produced 1.56 mg/g (dry cell weight) β-carotene, which could be used further for constructing cell factories for β-carotene production.
Basidiomycota ; enzymology ; Farnesyltranstransferase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Metabolic Engineering ; Polyisoprenyl Phosphates ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; metabolism ; beta Carotene ; biosynthesis

Objective To investigate the expression of circulating microRNA (miRNA) of rats with hypobaric hypoxia‐induced pulmonary hypertension (HPH) .Methods Commercial rat miRNA microarray was employed to detect and analyze the circulating miRNA profile in the serum samples of Sprague‐Dawley rats with hypobaric hypoxia‐induced HPH and controls .Furthermore ,differentially expressed candidate circulating miRNAs between HPH and control groups were validated by Real‐time quantitative PCR based on the case‐control study ,and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC ) analysis was used to test the performance of four differentially expressed circulating miRNAs in discriminating HPH and control groups .Results Compared with those in the control group ,13 upregulated miRNAs and 10 downregulated miRNAs were identified in hypobaric hypoxia‐induced HPH rats by using miRNA microarray . And differentially expressed miR‐451 , miR‐505 , let‐7d and miR‐214 were validated by using RT‐PCR .ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve of miR‐451 ,miR‐505 and let‐7d was 0 .979 ,0 .938 and 0 .993 in discriminating HPH and control groups ,respectively .Conclusion The aberrant expression of circulating miR‐451 ,miR‐505 and let‐7d in serum may be correlated with the pathogenesis of HPH .

Objective:To identify proteins associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) metastasis,and provide scientific basis for the prevention and cure of NPC.Methods:A two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry were performed to screen for differential proteins between highly metastatic 5-8F and non-metastatic 6-10B NPC cell lines.Western blot was used to confirm the differential proteins.We used siRNA to inhibit the expression of differential protein nm23-H1 to determine the association of nm23-H1 with NPC in vitro invasive ability.Immunohistochemistry and statistics were used to evaluate the correlation of nm23-H1 expression with clinicopathological features and clinical outcomes in paraffin-embedded archival tissues including 93 cases of primary NPC and 20 cases of cervical lymphonode metastatic NPC (LMNPC).Results:A total of 15 differential proteins in the 2 cell lines were identified by a proteomic approach,and 3 differential proteins were selectively confirmed.Downregulation of nm23-H1 by siRNA significantly increased the in vitro invasive ability of 6-10B.Significant nm23-H1 downregulation was observed in LMNPC compared with primary NPC.nm23-H1 downregulation in primary NPC was positively correlated with lymphonode and distant metastasis,advanced clinical stage and recurrence.Survival curves showed that patients with nm23-H1 downregulation in primary NPC had a poor prognosis.Multivariate analysis confirmed that nm23-H1 expression level in primary NPC was an independent prognostic indicator.Conclusion:nm23-H1 behaves as a metastasis suppressor in NPC,and nm23-H1 downregulation is a biomarker for poor NPC prognosis.

Objective:As the cesarean section rate increases year by year,the treatment of previous cesarean scar defects(PCSD)poses a significant challenge.This study aims to evaluate the clinical value of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)technology and analyze relevant influencing factors for patients with abnormal uterine bleeding(AUB)associated with cesarean scar defects who underwent laparoscopic surgery.Methods:A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on women who underwent laparoscopic surgery for PCSD-related AUB at the Department of Gynecology,the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from 2018 to 2022.A total of 57 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of AUB associated with PCSD were divided into 2 groups based on their postoperative clinical cure status:The clinically-cured group(n=28,49.1%)and the non-clinically-cured group(n=29,50.9%).After a postoperative follow-up period of 3 months for all participants,logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between the clinical cure rate of AUB associated with cesarean scar defects treated by laparoscopic surgery and various factors.These factors included patient age,clinical symptoms,obstetric history,history of cesarean section,basic clinical information,preoperative MRI parameters,and postoperative menstrual conditions.Results:There were no significant differences in many aspects,including the patient's age at the time of previous cesarean section,number of pregnancy,time since the previous cesarean section,the uterus position assessed by preoperative T2 signal MRI,defect length,defect width,residual muscle layer thickness,adjacent uterine muscle layer thickness,and distance from the defect to the external cervical os between the 2 groups(all P>0.05).However,the time of onset of AUB symptoms(P=0.036,OR=1.019,95%CI 1.002 to 1.038)and the depth of the defect on the preoperative MRI(P=0.010,OR=5.793,95%CI 1.635 to 25.210)were identified as risk factors affecting the clinical cure rate.Conclusion:The time of onset of AUB symptoms and the depth of the defect on preoperative MRI are risk factors that influence the clinical cure rate of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of AUB associated with PCSD,which could be helpful for evaluating the prognosis of disease.

Objective:To explore the impacts of workload and expected income index on the salary satisfaction of medical staff at public hospitals.Methods:From October 15th to November 10th, 2020, the salary system reform monitoring questionnaire for medical staff in public hospitals formulated by development center for medical science & technology National Health Commission was adopted to evaluate the workload, actual income, expected income and salary satisfaction of 120 pilot public hospitals for salary reforms in 21 cities (prefectures) in Sichuan province. The questionnaire survey was conducted among 8 651 medical staff of these hospitals. Descriptive analysis was carried out on the results of the questionnaire; the ratio of expected income to actual income, namely the expected income index, was used to reflect the relative difference between expected income and actual income; χ2 test and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the influencing factors of salary satisfaction. Results:8 133 valid questionnaires were recovered. The average working time per week of the survey subjects was 48.17 hours, and the average longest continuous working time was 15.30 hours; 85.63% (6 964) of the medical staff had expected income index greater than 1. The average score of salary satisfaction was 58.22 points and 57.72% (4 694) of the medical staff were dissatisfied. The longer the continuous working time (16-72 h versus 8-9 h, OR=0.755), the greater the expected income index (>1 versus =1, OR=0.522), and the lower the salary satisfaction. Conclusions:The workload of medical staff was heavy, the salary failed to meet the expected level, the sense of satisfaction was low. It is suggested to monitor in real time and dynamically adjust the workload of medical staff in combination with the actual situation, formulate the salary level in line with the technical labor value of different medical staff, and establish a comprehensive performance appraisal mechanism.

Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Danggui) and Ligusticum Chuanxiong Rhizoma (Chuan Xiong) herb-pair (DC) have been frequently used in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions for hundreds of years to prevent vascular diseases and alleviate pain. However, the mechanism of DC herb-pair in the prevention of liver fibrosis development was still unclear. In the present study, the effects and mechanisms of DC herb-pair on liver fibrosis were examined using network pharmacology and mouse fibrotic model. Based on the network pharmacological analysis of 13 bioactive ingredients found in DC, a total of 46 targets and 71 pathways related to anti-fibrosis effects were obtained, which was associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal pathway, hepatic inflammation and fibrotic response. Furthermore, this hypothesis was verified using carbon tetrachloride (CCl

Objective: Based on 3D printing technology, explore the precision of a perforator vessel location guide plate for fibular musculocutaneous flaps before the transplantation of fibular osteocutaneous flaps and evaluate its application effects. Methods: This study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained from the patients. From May 2019 to October 2022, 14 patients with jaw defects who needed to undergo fibular perforator flap transplantation at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University were selected. For the seven patients in the guide plate group, CTA was combined with Mimics software to reconstruct both lower limbs, and the perforator vessel positioning guide for locating perforator vessels was designed; the two ends of the guide plate were designed as fixed ends, with the upper end fixed to the knee joint and the lower end fixed to the ankle joint, and the guide plate was fabricated by a 3D printer. For the seven patients in the control group, a conventional handheld Doppler probe was used for perforator vessel location. The average operation time, bleeding volume, recovery time, deviation of perforator vessel location, postoperative flap-related complications, postoperative donor site shape satisfaction, and lower extremity functional scale (LEFS) score were recorded. SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: The average operation time, bleeding volume, recovery time, deviation of perforator vessel location and postoperative donor site shape satisfaction were significantly better in the guide plate group than in the control group (P<0.05); moreover, the differences in postoperative flap-related complications and LEFS scores were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion Based on 3D printing technology, fibular musculocutaneous flap perforator vessels can be more accurately located using a guide plate and the knee and ankle as fixed points, and this method can effectively stabilize the guide position, prevent soft tissue offset, and improve positioning accuracy and thus deserves to be generalized.