Objective:To evaluate the early diagnostic value of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-7 (IGFBP-7) in acute kidney injury induced by sepsis.Methods:A total of 85 sepsis patients admitted to the EICU and GICU in Shanghai East Hospital from September 2017 to June 2019 were divided into theAKI group ( n=37) and the non-AKI group ( n=48) according to KIDGO diagnostic criteria, and 20 healthy volunteers were served as the control group. The clinical data were recorded and samples of urine were collected at 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 1 d, 3 d and 7 d post sepsis. The levels of TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 in the urine were analyzed with ELISA at different time points. Based on the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and the area under the curve (AUC), the early diagnostic value of urinary TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 in sepsis-induced AKI patients was determined. Results:Compared with the control group, the levels of TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 of the AKI group were significantly higher at the above time points ( P<0.05), while those of the non-AKI group showed no significant differences. The levels of TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 of the AKI group were significantly higher than the those of the non-AKI group ( P<0.05). ROC analysis showed that when the AUC of urine TIMP-2 peaked at 1 d, the sensitivity and specificity reached 97.5% and 81.2%, separately with the cutoff value of 151.23 ng/mL. Furthermore, when the AUC of urine IGFBP-7 peaked at 12 h, the sensitivity and specificity reached 100% and 72.8%, separately with the cutoff value of 14.91 ng/mL. Interestingly, when the AUC of combined TIMP-2×IGFBP-7 peaked at 12 h, the sensitivity reached 98.0% and specificity reached 91.5% with the cutoff value of 2.09 [(ng/mL) 2/1 000]. There was no significant correlation between the levels of TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 with SOFA and APACHEⅡ score at 1 d, 3 d and 7 d post sepsis in the AKI group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Urine TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 have early diagnostic value in sepsis-induced AKI. Besides, the combination of the two biomarkers have superior predictive value than each single of them.

Objective To analyze the core genes of lung ischemia-reperfusion injury and construct a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. Methods Original data of GSE145989 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database as the training set, and the GSE172222 and GSE9634 datasets were used as the validation sets, and the differentially-expressed genes (DEG) were identified. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, and the core genes were screened, and the diagnostic values of these core genes and the immune infiltration levels of immune cells were evaluated. The ceRNA network was constructed and validated. The targeted drugs based on ceRNA network were assessed. Results A total of 179 DEG were identified, including 61 down-regulated and 118 up-regulated genes. GO analysis showed that DEGs were associated with multiple biological processes, such as cell migration, differentiation and regulation, etc. They were correlated with cell components, such as vesicle membrane, serosa and membrane raft, etc. They were also associated with multiple molecular functions, such as chemokine receptor, G protein-coupled receptor, immune receptor activity and antigen binding, etc. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that DEG were involved in tumor necrosis factor (TNF), Wnt, interleukin (IL)-17 and nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathways, etc. PPI network suggested that CD8A, IL2RG, STAT1, CD3G and SYK were the core genes of lung ischemia-reperfusion injury. The ceRNA network prompted that miR-146a-3p, miR-28-5p and miR-593-3p were related to the expression level of CD3G. The miR-149-3p, miR-342-5p, miR-873-5p and miR-491-5p were correlated with the expression level of IL-2RG. The miR-194-3p, miR-512-3p, miR-377-3p and miR-590-3p were associated with the expression level of SYK. The miR-590-3p and miR-875-3p were related to the expression level of CD8A. The miR-143-5p, miR-1231, miR-590-3p and miR-875-3p were associated with the expression level of STAT1. There were 13 targeted drugs for CD3G, 4 targeted drugs for IL-2RG, 28 targeted drugs for SYK and 3 targeted drugs for lncRNA MUC2. No targeted drugs were identified for CD8A, STAT1 and other ceRNA network genes. Conclusions CD8A, IL2RG, STAT1, CD3G and SYK are the core genes of lung ischemia-reperfusion injury. The research and analysis of these core genes probably contribute to the diagnosis of lung ischemia-reperfusion injury and providing novel research ideas and therapeutic targets.

Objective To screen long non-coding RNA(lncRNA)associated with disulfidptosis and investigate the immune landscape between lncRNA and pancreatic cancer,for effective guidance in clinical practice.Methods The normal and pancreatic cancer tissue samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database,and the lncRNA associated with disulfidptosis was identified based on the Cox and LASSO regression analyses.A risk prognosis model was constructed,and its predictive performance was verified using comprehensive methods.An accurate nomogram was construted to predict the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer.The biological differences were analyzed via Gene Ontology,Gene Set Enrichment Analysis,and an immunoassay.The immunotherapy response was estimated using the tumor mutational burden(TMB)score.Results A total of 251 disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs were successfully identified,and three groups of lncRNAs were selected as the reference for the risk model.Pathway analysis showed that immune-related pathways were associated with disulfidptosis-related lncRNA risk models.The risk score was significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration and the ESTIMATE score.Patients with higher risk scores had elevated TMB,indicating that high-risk patients exhibited a better immune checkpoint blockade response.Conclusion The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of disulfidpto-sis-related lncRNA and provide a potential therapeutic strategy for pancreatic cancer.

Objective To investigate the expression of CD276 in pan-cancer,its effect on patient prognosis,and its mechanism of action.Methods TCGA and GTEx databases were used to study the differential expression of CD276 in tumor and normal tissues;R language was used to analyze the effects of CD276 on the prognosis of patients with pan-cancer,the tumor microenvironment,the tumor mutation burden,and microsatellite instability;the correlation between the expression of CD276 in tumor tissues and the tumor immune cell infil-tration was further examined;the biological function of CD276 was analyzed using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis(GSEA);and finally,real-time PCR was used to validate the expression of CD276 in tumors in vitro.Results A statistical difference in CD276 expression was detected between tumor and normal tissues(P<0.05).CD276 affects tumor prognosis and is strongly associated with the tumor microenvi-ronment,tumor mutational burden,microsatellite instability,and tumor immune cell infiltration.Conclusion Comprehensive pan-cancer analysis identified CD276 as a biomarker for immune infiltration and poor cancer prognosis,which can be used as a novel immunomodula-tory target for the development of immunotherapeutically-targeted drugs,providing new ideas for tumor therapy.