Metaproteomics is an emerging proteomics technology to analyze large scale protein expression in environmental microbial ecosystem. It is termed as the large-scale characterization of the entire protein complement of environmental microbial community at a given point in time. This review focuses on the research strategies and the recent applications in this field based on the published reports and in combination with our own research experiences.
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena ; Ecology ; methods ; Environmental Microbiology ; Proteomics ; methods

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway has been reported to play an important role in liver fibrosis. This study was designed to investigate whether mesoderm-specific transcript homologue (Mest), a strong negative regulator of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, could inhibit liver fibrosis. METHODS: pcDNA-Mest was transfected into hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and rats. Rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal group (normal saline), treatment group (pcDNA-Mest+CCl4), control group (pcDNA-neo+CCl4), and model group (normal saline+CCl4). Changes in liver pathology were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining. The levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, lactic dehygrogenase, hyaluronic acid, and laminin in the serum and hydroxyproline in the liver were detected by biochemical examination and radioimmunoassay, respectively. The expression and distribution of beta-catenin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), Smad3, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase type I were determined, and the viability of the HSCs was tested. RESULTS: Our data demonstrate that Mest alleviated CCl4-induced collagen deposition in liver tissue and improved the condition of the liver in rats. Mest also significantly reduced the expression and distribution of beta-catenin, alpha-SMA and Smad3 both in vivo and in vitro, in addition to the viability of HSCs in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: We found that Mest attenuates liver fibrosis by repressing beta-catenin expression, which provides a new therapeutic approach for treating liver fibrosis.
Animals ; Carbon Tetrachloride/toxicity ; Cells, Cultured ; Hepatic Stellate Cells/physiology ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental/*physiopathology ; Male ; Proteins/*physiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats, Wistar ; Transfection ; Wnt Signaling Pathway/*physiology ; beta Catenin/metabolism

Objective To imitate the development process of new drugs with rutin as the model and to do multidiscipli-nary experiments of preparation and pharmacodynamics of rutin tablets .Methods Thin-layer chromatography was used to i-dentify rutin in Pagodatree flower bud .High-performance liquid chromatography was used for quantitative determination of ru-tin in Pagodatree flower bud and rutin products .The vasodilatation effect of rutin was investigated .The preparation of rutin tablets was completed .Results and Conclusion We completed the identification of Pagodatree flower bud ,extraction and puri-fication of rutin from Pagodatree flower bud ,the assay of rutin ,the pharmaco-dynamics study and the formulation of rutin tab-lets .The experiments helped the postgraduates to be familiar with the research process of new drugs and to improve their ex-perimental operation skills .

Objective:To study the feasibility of indwelling ureteral stent for a short time (72 hours) in patients after uncomplicated retrograde intrarenal stone surgery(RIRS).Methods:The clinical data of 58 patients who underwent uncomplicated flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy in Xuancheng People's Hospital from October 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. According to indwelling time of ureteral stent after surgery, the patients were divided into two groups. There were 26 cases indwelling within 72 hours after operation, named as the observation group, and 32 cases indwelling for about 3 weeks after operation, named as the control group. There was no significant difference in gender [male/female: 14/12 vs. 21/11], age [(43.4 ± 10.2) vs. (43.9 ± 11.9) years old], affected side [left/right: 17/9 vs. 20/12], and maximum diameter of stones [(9.3 ± 1.8) mm vs. (9.7 ± 1.9) mm] between the observation group and the control group. All patients in the two groups underwent unilateral ureteroscopic lithotripsy under general anesthesia. The stone removal rate, recovery of water accumulation and incidence of postoperative complications in the first and third months after the surgery were compared.Results:There was no statistical difference between the observation group and the control group in the stone removal rate [100.0% (26/26) vs. 96.9% (31/32)] and recovery of hydronephrosis [100.0% (26/26) vs. 96.9% (31/32)] at the first month after surgery. All the stones were removed and all the hydronephrosis recovery in the two groups at the 3rd month after surgery. The rates of postoperative lumbar and abdominal pain [3.9% (1/26) vs. 28.1% (9/32)], carnal hematuria [3.9% (1/26) vs. 59.4% (19/32)], urinary tract infection [0 vs. 15.6% (5/32)], and bladder irritation [0 vs. 68.8% (22/32)] in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Indwelling a ureteral stent for a short time (72 hours) after uncomplicated RIRS does not affect the surgical effect and does reduce the risk of complications as well as promote rapid postoperative recovery.

Gliomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors, which have genetic heterogeneity. It is impossible to accurately evaluate the dynamic evolution of tumor genes and microenvironment only by pathological examination after surgery. As one of the smallest extracellular vesicles secreted by cells, exosomes can be used as potential biomarkers and carriers of intercellular information transmission. It can promote glioma cell proliferation, immune escape and chemoradiotherapy resistance, improve blood oxygen microenvironment, and enhance the ability of invasion and metastasis. The relations of exosomes with glioma occurrence and development are summarized as follows.

Objective To study the prognostic factors which affected the long-term survival in patients with a single large hepatocellular carcinoma (SLHCC) after hepatectomy.Methods The clinical data of 138 SLHCC patients who underwent hepatectomy in the Tianjin Hospital from January 2008 to December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.There were 115 males and 23 females.Age ranged from 23 to 81 years (median 56.8 years).The impact of an array of clinicopathological factors was analyzed using a variety of statistical methods which included the Kaplan-Meier estimator and the Log-rank test.Results The 1,3,5 year overall survival rates for all the patients were 86.4％,64.8％ and 54.1％,respectively,and the 1,3,5 year disease free survival rates were 68.8％,41.4％ and 33.2％,respectively.Univariate analysis indicated that microvascular invasion,preoperative AFP≥400 μg/L,a maximum tumor diameter ≥ 10 cm,and preoperative AST ≥40 U/L were risk factors of overall survival (all P ＜ 0.05),and microvascular invasion,preoperative AFP≥400 μg/L,and preoperative AST ≥40 U/L were risk factors of disease free survival (all P ＜ 0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that microvascular invasion,preoperative AFP ≥400 μg/L and preoperative AST ≥40 U/L were independent prognostic factors of overall survival and disease free survival for these patients (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Microvascular invasion,preoperative AFP ≥400 μg/L and AST ≥40 U/L were independent prognostic factors of long survival of SLHCC patients.