Objective:To investigate and evaluate the anti-tumor activity of hydroxychloroquine ( HCQ) in vitro. Methods:CCK-8 assay was applied to detect the inhibitory effect of HCQ at different concentrations(4. 78, 9. 55, 19. 10, 38. 20,76. 40 μg?ml-1 ) on A549 cells, HepG2 cells, HT-29 cells, K562 cells, Hela cells and B16 cells. Absorbance was detected by a microplate reader, and then the inhibitory rate of the tumor cells and the IC50 was calculated. Results:Compared with those of the negative control group, the inhibitory rates of HCQ at different concentrations against the six tumor cells were all increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner (P<0. 01). The inhibitory rates of the tumor cells were all above 60% when the concentration reached 38. 20μg?ml-1. The IC50 was 26. 70(A549), 27. 47(HepG2), 5. 72(HT-29), 14. 03(K562), 20. 21(Hela) and 13. 62(B16) μg?ml-1, respectively. Conclusion:HCQ shows anti-tumor activity on several cancer cells in vitro. There may be a good application prospect for HCQ in the treatment of colorectal cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, melanoma and leukemia.

Plant fungal pathogens secrete numerous proteins into the apoplast at the plant-fungus contact sites to facilitate colonization.However,only a few secretory proteins were functionally characterized in Magnaporthe oryzae,the fungal pathogen causing rice blast disease worldwide.Asparagine-linked glycosylation 3(Alg3)is an a-l,3-mannosyltransferase functioning in the N-glycan synthesis of N-glycosylated secretory proteins.Fungal pathogenicity and cell wall integrity are impaired in Aalg3 mutants,but the secreted proteins affected in Aalg3 mutants are largely unknown.In this study,we compared the secretomes of the wild-type strain and the Aalg3 mutant and identified 51 proteins that require Alg3 for proper secretion.These proteins were predicted to be involved in metabolic processes,interspecies interactions,cell wall organization,and response to chemicals.Nine proteins were selected for further validation.We found that these proteins were localized at the apoplastic region surrounding the fungal infection hyphae.Moreover,the N-glycosylation of these proteins was significantly changed in the Aalg3 mutant,leading to the decreased protein secretion and abnormal protein localization.Furthermore,we tested the biological functions of two genes,INV1(encoding invertase 1,a secreted invertase)and AMCase(encoding acid mammalian chinitase,a secreted chitinase).The fungal virulence was significantly reduced,and the cell wall integrity was altered in the Ainv1 and Aamcase mutant strains.Moreover,the N-glycosylation was essential for the function and secretion of AMCase.Taken together,our study provides new insight into the role of N-glycosylated secretory proteins in fungal virulence and cell wall integrity.

Objective: To investigate the value of first-trimester ultrasound parameters in predicting complicated monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twins. Methods: In this retrospective study, pregnant women diagnosed as MCDA twins by ultrasound in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2013 to January 2018 were recruited and divided into the following four groups: non-complicated MCDA twins group, twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) group, selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR) group and twin anemia-polycythemia sequence (TAPS) group. Thickness of nuchal translucency (NT), crown-rump length (CRL), umbilical cord insertion (UCI) and ductus venosus (DV) flow at 11-14 weeks of gestation were recorded. The predictive value for complicated MCDA twins was analyzed using t-test, Chi-square (or Fisher's exact) test, multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: (1) A total of 430 MCDA twin pregnancies were included in this study with 152 in the TTTS group, 142 in the sIUGR group, seven in the TAPS group and 129 in the normal MCDA twins group. No further analysis was performed on the TAPS group due to the small sample size. (2) NT discordance in twins of the TTTS group was significantly greater than that in the normal MCDA twins group[(21.5±16.0)% vs (14.6±13.5)%, t=-3.533, P<0.001]. The area under ROC curve (AUC) of TTTS predicted by NT discordance was 0.649. Stratified analysis showed that TTTS was best predicted when NT discordance was 20% with the sensitivity of 57.9% and specificity of 70.6%. (3) The sIUGR group had greater discordance in CRL and NT and higher UCI discordance than the normal MCDA twins group [NT: (27.8±21.3)% vs (14.6±13.5)%, t=-5.556, P<0.001; CRL: (8.6±6.9)% vs (5.4±4.4)%, t=-3.144, P=0.002; UCI: 47.9% (68/142) vs 13.9% (18/129), χ²=35.929, P<0.001]. The AUC of sIUGR was 0.675 predicted by NT discordance and 0.649 by CRL discordance. Stratified analysis showed that NT discordance of 20% and CRL discordance of 10% were the best prediction for sIUGR with the sensitivity of 53.1% and 34.7% and specificity of 72.1% and 83.8%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that UCI discordance was the risk factor for sIUGR (OR=7.165, 95%CI: 2.637-19.472). Conclusions MCDA twins with NT discordance greater than 20% during early pregnancy are at increased risk for TTTS. CRL discordance greater than 10%, NT discordance greater than 20% and abnormal UCI are risk factors for sIUGR.