1.Identification of sulfakinin and its receptor gene in Aedes aegypti and transcriptomic changes in genes knockdown strains
JIANG Linlong ; ZHU XiaoJing ; ZHANG Lei ; HUANG Yuqi ; XU Jingyun ; HAN Qian
China Tropical Medicine 2024;24(1):75-
Objective By exploring the function of sulfakinin (SK) and sulfakinin receptor (SKR) of Aedes aegypti, it laid a certain experimental basis and theoretical basis for the research and development of new insecticides targeting neuropeptides and their receptors. Methods This study investigated the roles of SK and its receptor gene in Ae. aegypti using bioinformatics analysis and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats(CRISPR)/Cas9 knockout technology. Subsequently, RNA interference technology was employed to suppress the expression of SK or its receptor in adult mosquitoes. Lastly, transcriptome sequencing technology was utilized to identify and analyze differentially expressed genes between the interference group and the control group in order to gain insights into their functions. Results It was found that there is only one SK receptor in Ae. aegypti. In addition, during the construction of mutant strains of Ae. aegypti SK and its receptor gene, it was found that only 2% of the G0 generation mutant strains mutated to form chimeras, with a large number of male chimeras dying, and only 14% of female chimeras being able to lay eggs, ultimately resulting in no effective G1 generation mutants. Transcriptome data showed, compared to the control group, 181 genes were significantly differentially expressed after interfering with the SK gene, with 62 genes significantly upregulated and 119 genes significantly downregulated. In addition, after interference with the sulfakinin receptor, 110 genes exhibited significant differential expression, including 20 upregulated and 90 downregulated genes. Cross-analysis of the two datasets identified 46 genes with significant expression changes after interference with sulfakinin or its receptor, with only 4 genes upregulated and the remaining 42 genes significantly downregulated, and the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in the metabolic pathway, endocrine system, and digestive system. Conclusions The SK and its receptor gene are highly conserved and may primarily play roles in regulating the energy metabolism and digestion functions in Ae. aegypti, thus playing an important role in regulating insect growth and development.
2. Surgical outcome evaluation and prediction analysis of laparoscopic left sided hepatectomy for hepatolithiasis
Linlong XU ; Zhigang HU ; Dongxiao YANG ; Shubing ZOU ; Kai WANG
Chinese Journal of Surgery 2019;57(7):527-533
Objective:
To explore the risk factors of long-term treatment outcomes and establish predicting model for laparoscopic left hepatectomy in hepatolithiasis.
Methods:
Clinical data of 108 patients with hepatolithiasis who underwent laparoscopic left sided hepatectomy and with complete follow-up data were retrospectively collected from June 2011 to June 2016 at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University. Twenty-six males and 82 females were enrolled. The age was (52.4±11.7) years (range:20-80 years) , and the median follow-up time was 36 months (range: 24-83 months) . Patients were randomly divided into training group (79 cases) and validation group (29 cases) with a ratio of about 3∶1. Twenty-five preoperative and intraoperative clinical factors were selected for potential factors that might affect long-term outcomes, and quality of life was used as an surrogate evaluation index. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the potential risk factors, and to construct and validate the predictive nomogram for surgical outcomes.
Results:
Among 108 patients, 10 patients (9.3%) had residual stones, 8 patients (7.4%) had recurrent stones, 12 patients (11.1%) had recurrent cholangitis and 3 patients (2.8%) died. Univariate analysis showed that history of hepatobiliary surgery, gender, activation of partial thromboplastin time, alkaline phosphatase, use of choledochoscopy, postoperative stone residual, serum creatinine, postoperative biliary drainage and operation time were risk factors that may affect long-term outcomes (all