Attention is the cornerstone of effective functioning in a complex and information-rich world. While the neural activity of attention has been extensively studied in the cortex, the brain-wide neural activity patterns are largely unknown. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of neural activity across the mouse brain during attentional processing using EEG and c-Fos staining, utilizing hierarchical clustering and c-Fos-based functional network analysis to evaluate the c-Fos activation patterns. Our findings reveal that a wide range of brain regions are activated, notably in the high-order cortex, thalamus, and brain stem regions involved in advanced cognition and arousal regulation, with the central lateral nucleus of the thalamus as a strong hub, suggesting the crucial role of the thalamus in attention control. These results provide valuable insights into the neural network mechanisms underlying attention, offering a foundation for formulating functional hypotheses and conducting circuit-level testing.
Animals ; Attention/physiology* ; Mice ; Brain/physiology* ; Male ; Electroencephalography ; Reaction Time/physiology* ; Brain Mapping ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Choice Behavior/physiology* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/metabolism*

Objective To investigate the changes of C1q tumor necrosis factor-related protein-12(CTRP12)levels in serum of the pa-tients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI)before and after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI),and explore its clinical sig-nificance.Methods A total of 50 patients with AMI who underwent emergency PCI and 35 patients with normal coronary angiography results in Danyang People's Hospital from November 2021 to October 2022 were enrolled.The CTRP12 levels in peripheral venous ser-um were compared between the two groups.The levels of serum CTRP12 levels were measured before,during and on the 3rd,5th and 7th day after PCI.The serum CTRP12 levels in culprit coronary ostium and peripheral vein were compared.CTRP12 levels in peripher-al venous serum were compared at different time points after PCI.The severity of coronary artery disease was evaluated by SYNTAX score system,and the AMI patients were divided into two groups:SYNTAX score ≤22 and SYNTAX score＞22.The serum CTRP12 levels were compared between the two groups and before and after PCI.The correlation between CTRP12 and age,body mass index(BMI),fasting blood glucose,blood lipid and other factors was analyzed.The influencing factors of the severity of coronary artery le-sions were analyzed by logistic regression.Results The serum CTRP12 level in the patients with AMI was significantly lower than that in healthy controls(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference between the serum CTRP12 levels between preoperative peripheral vein and intraoperative culprit coronary orifice(P＞0.05).Compared with that before PCI,the serum CTRP12 level was lower on the 3rd day after PCI(P＜0.05),and increased on the 5th and 7th days after PCI,but no statistically significant difference was found(P＞0.05).Compared with those on the 3rd day after PCI,the serum CTRP12 levels were increased on the 5th and 7th day after PCI,but no statistically significant differences were found(all P＞0.05).Compared with that in the SYNTAX≤22 group,the CTRP12 levels were significantly lower than those before PCI and on the 3rd day after PCI(all P＜0.05),while there was no significant difference on the 5th and 7th day after PCI in SYNTAX＞22 group(all P＞0.05).CTRP12 was negatively correlated with the level of total cholesterol(TC)and positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C).Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that CTRP12 was an independent influencing factor for the severity of coronary artery disease in the patients with AMI(β=-1.671,OR=0.188,P＜0.05).After adjusting for the effects of age,gender,BMI,smoking,hypertension,diabetes,fasting blood glucose,total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),HDL-C and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),CTRP12 was still an independent in-fluencing factor for the severity of coronary artery disease in the patients with AMI(β=-3.441,OR=0.032,P＜0.05).Conclusion The serum CTRP12 level was significantly decreased in the patients with AMI before PCI,and showed continuous decline on the 3rd day after PCI,but increased on the 5th and 7th day after PCI.CTRP12 should be an independent influencing factor for the severity of coronary artery disease in the patients with AMI.

Background and aim:Few studies have reported hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg)kinetics after nucleos(t)ide analog(NA)discontinuation in patients with noncirrhotic chronic hepatitis B(CHB).The study specifically investigated long-term HBsAg kinetics after NA discontinuation. Methods:Between January 2014 to January 2024,this study prospectively enrolled 106 outpatients with noncirrhotic CHB who met the discontinuation criteria after NA consolidation treatment.Demographic,clinical,and laboratory data were collected and analyzed after NA discontinuation. Results:Ninety-six patients who finished 5 years of follow-up were included.HBsAg remained unde-tectable in 29 patients with end of treatment(EOT)HBsAg negativity.Among 67 patients with EOT HBsAg positivity,HBsAg seroclearance occurred in 12(17.9％)patients with an estimated annual inci-dence of HBsAg seroclearance of 3.6％.Patients with EOT HBsAg levels of ≤1000 IU/mL had a higher HBsAg seroclearance rate than those with EOT HBsAg levels of＞1000 IU/mL(33.3％vs.5.4％).The pro-portion of patients with HBsAg ≤1000 IU/mL increased during follow-up.Logistic regression analysis indicated that the EOT HBsAg level was an independent factor for HBsAg seroclearance and an HBsAg level decline exceeding 1 log10 IU/mL.The optimal EOT HBsAg cutoff for both HBsAg seroclearance and an HBsAg level decline exceeding 1 log10 IU/mL was 359 IU/mL. Conclusions:Patients with EOT HBsAg negativity experienced no relapse and maintained HBsAg sero-clearance during 5 years of follow-up after NA discontinuation.A higher HBsAg seroclearance rate can be obtained in patients with EOT HBsAg levels of ≤1000 IU/mL during 5 years of follow-up after NA discontinuation.Close monitoring and proper NA retreatment are recommended to guarantee the safety of NA discontinuation.

Objective To investigate changes in serum complement C1 tumor necrosis factor-related pro-tein family 12(CTRP12)level before and after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)in patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI)and the relationship of CTRP12 level with in-stent restenosis(ISR).Methods A total of 104 patients who had been diagnosed with AMI and had undergone PCI at Danyang People's Hospital in Jiangsu Province from January 2021 to June 2023 were selected.The incidence of ISR within 12 months after PCI was counted,and they were divided into an ISR group and a non-ISR group according to the results of reviewed coronary angiography.Serum CTRP12 levels were compared between the two groups before PCI and on one day before discharge.Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of ISR in AMI patients after PCI.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the predictive value of CTRP12 for ISR in AMI patients after PCI.Results The incidence of ISR in 104 AMI patients at 12 months after PCI was 14.4%(15/104).As compared with the non-ISR group,the ISR group had significant increases in preoperative TIMI flow of≤1,white blood cell count,neutrophil count,TC,and LDL-C,and a significant decline in serum CTRP12 level on one day before discharge(P<0.05).In the non-ISR group,serum CTRP12 level was significantly higher on one day before discharge than its baseline(P<0.05).In the ISR group,serum CTRP12 level on one day before discharge was lower than its baseline,but the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that a lower CTRP12 level on one day before discharge was an independent risk factor for ISR in AMI patients after PCI(P<0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off point of serum CTRP12 on one day before discharge for predicting ISR in AMI patients after PCI was 3.89 ng/mL(sensitivity 93.3%and speci-ficity 73.0%),and the area under the ROC curve(AUC)was 0.849.Conclusions Serum CTRP12 level inone day before discharge has certain predictive value for ISR in AMI patients after PCI.CTRP12 may be a therapeutic target for ISR in AMI patients after PCI.

WS9326A is a peptide antibiotic containing a highly unusual N-methyl-E-2-3-dehydrotyrosine (NMet-Dht) residue that is incorporated during peptide assembly on a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS). The cytochrome P450 encoded by sas16 (P450_Sas) has been shown to be essential for the formation of the alkene moiety in NMet-Dht, but the timing and mechanism of the P450_Sas-mediated α,β-dehydrogenation of Dht remained unclear. Here, we show that the substrate of P450_Sas is the NRPS-associated peptidyl carrier protein (PCP)-bound dipeptide intermediate (Z)-2-pent-1'-enyl-cinnamoyl-Thr-N-Me-Tyr. We demonstrate that P450_Sas-mediated incorporation of the double bond follows N-methylation of the Tyr by the N-methyl transferase domain found within the NRPS, and further that P450_Sas appears to be specific for substrates containing the (Z)-2-pent-1'-enyl-cinnamoyl group. A crystal structure of P450_Sas reveals differences between P450_Sas and other P450s involved in the modification of NRPS-associated substrates, including the substitution of the canonical active site alcohol residue with a phenylalanine (F250), which in turn is critical to P450_Sas activity and WS9326A biosynthesis. Together, our results suggest that P450_Sas catalyses the direct dehydrogenation of the NRPS-bound dipeptide substrate, thus expanding the repertoire of P450 enzymes that can be used to produce biologically active peptides.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers and causes of cancer-related death in the world, the insidious onset, rapid progression and poor prognosis make the treatment more difficult. At present, the current therapeutic options, include surgical resection, ablation, postoperative recurrenceare still with disadvantages. The efficacy of targeted drug therapy is also unsatisfactory. Immunotherapy is a promising research direction. Immunosuppressants at the molecular level have shown initial success, while adoptive immunocell therapy at the cellular level has also shown promising results, the typical example is chimeric antigen receptor cell therapy. The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent research progress on chimeric antigen receptor cellular therapy in liver cancer.

Objective:To investigate the effect of KRT5 knockdown in keratinocytes on melanin content in co-cultured melanocytes, and to explain mechanisms underlying formation of hyperpigmented lesions in reticulate pigmented anomaly of the flexures (Dowling-Degos disease, DDD) .Methods:HaCaT cells with heterozygous mutations in the KRT5 gene were obtained by using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) -CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) technology (experimental group) , and HaCaT cells transfected with non-targeting single guide RNA:Cas9 protein complex served as control group, both of which were in vitro co-cultured with primary human melanocyte cells (HEMn) separately. Immunofluorescence study was conducted to determine the expression of cytokeratin and melanosomes in co-cultured cells; melanin content was detected in melanocytes in different co-culture groups, which were obtained by differential trypsinization. Immunohistochemical study was performed to determine the expression of melanocyte-specific premelanosome protein 17 (Pmel17) in skin lesions in a patient with DDD carrying a KRT5 mutation and normal skin tissues in a healthy control. Results:Sanger sequencing showed a heterozygous mutation (c.1delA) at the initiation codon of exon 1 of the KRT5 gene in HaCaT cells in the experimental group, but no mutation in the KRT5 gene in the control group. Western blot analysis showed that the KRT5 protein expression was significantly lower in the experimental group (0.60 ± 0.05) than in the control group (1.00 ± 0.00, t = 32.38, P = 0.001) . Compared with the co-culture system in the control group, the number of Pmel17-labeled melanosomes markedly increased with the melanin content elevated by 52.5% ( t = -3.48, P = 0.025) in the HEMn cells co-cultured with HaCaT cells in the experimental group. Immunohistochemical study showed that the Pmel17 expression increased in the skin lesions in the DDD patient with KRT5 mutation compared with the normal skin tissues in the healthy control. Conclusion:The effect of HaCaT cells with CRISPR-Cas9-induced KRT5 mutation on the co-cultured HEMn melanocytes was verified by the successfully established in vitro co-culture system, which provides a primary cell model for further studies on interaction mechanisms between keratinocytes and melanocytes, and on pathogenesis of skin pigmentation abnormalities.

Objective:To observe the effect of astragaloside Ⅳ on lysophosphatidic acid(LPA)- induced neurite retraction of N1E-115 cells and its potential mechanism.Methods:N1E-115 cells were divided into blank group, model group, the low, medium and high dose groups of astragaloside Ⅳ. The blank group and model group was not intervened by astragaloside; while the low, medium and high dose groups were treated with 20,40 and 80 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ for 24 h. Each group was cultured with serum-free medium for 12 h. The model group and astragaloside Ⅳ groups were intervened by 40 μmol/L LPA for 10 min. Each group was observed and photographed with the inverted microscope, and the number of neurites in N1E-115 cells was counted by Image J software. The fluorescence expression of recombinant ras homolog gene family member A (RhoA), rho associated coiledcoil protein kinase 2 (ROCK2), phospho-rho associated coiledcoil protein kinase 2 (p-ROCK2) and phospho-myosin light chain 2 (p-MLC2) proteins was detected by immunohistochemistry. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of RhoA and ROCK2 ; the protein expression levels of RhoA, ROCK2, p-MLC2 and myosin light chain 2 (MLC2) were detected by Western blotting.Results:Compared with 20 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ group, the inhibition rate of neurite retraction in 40 and 80 μg/ml astragalosideⅣ groups increased ( P<0.05). Compared with model group, the average fluorescence intensity of RhoA, p-ROCK2, p-MLC2 in 20, 40, 80 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ groups and the ROCK2 average fluorescence intensity in 40 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ group were decreased ( P<0.05, P<0.01); the expression of RhoA mRNA (0.89±0.09, 0.41±0.01, 0.09±0.03 vs. 1.50±0.01) and ROCK2 mRNA (0.89±0.09, 0.14±0.01, 0.20±0.01 vs. 1.62±0.17) decreased in 20, 40, 80 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ groups ( P<0.05, P<0.01); the ROCK2 protein (0.75±0.06, 0.57±0.02, 0.66±0.01 vs. 1.08±0.02), p-MLC2 protein (1.72±0.03, 1.40±0.04, 1.29±0.03 vs. 2.19±0.11), MLC2 protein (1.13±0.02, 0.68±0.03, 0.75±0.03 vs. 1.60±0.03) in 20, 40, 80 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ groups and the RhoA protein (0.35±0.01, 0.40±0.03 vs. 0.57±0.08) in 20, 40 μg/ml astragaloside Ⅳ groups were decreased ( P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusion:Astragaloside Ⅳ can prevent LPA-induced neurite retraction and promote damaged nerve regeneration. The mechanism may down-regulae the protein expression levels of RhoA, ROCK2, p-ROCK2, p-MLC2 and MLC2 in RhoA-ROCK2 signaling pathway, and inhibite nerve growth cone collapse.

Lung microbiota and gut microbiota are closely related to lung cancer. Studies have shown that the dysbiosis, i.e., the significantly altered composition and structure of gut and lung microbiota, usually occurs in patients with lung cancer. With the introduction of "Gut-Lung Axis", an increasing attention has been paid to the close relationship between the lung and gut microbiota in human body. A deeper insight into this relationship would facilitate understanding the mechanisms behind the carcinogenesis and development of lung cancer. This article summarizes the composition of lung and gut microbiota in patients with lung cancer and the possible interaction mechanisms, highlighting the importance of the immune system in the Gut-Lung Axis. The effects of lung and gut microbiota on the clinical treatment of lung cancer were summarized, based on which the authors propose that the lung and gut microbiota can be used as novel targets for early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.
Carcinogenesis ; Dysbiosis ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms

Objective: To explore the clinical applications of second generation colon capsule endoscopy (CCE-2). Methods: From July 2017 to December 2018, at the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 40 outpatients and hospitalized patients who underwent CCE-2 examination were enrolled. The examination results were analyzed by an expert gastroenterologist with rich experience in small intestinal and colon capsule endoscopy. The stomach, small bowel and colon transit time, the score of colon cleansing quality, the completion rate of colon capsule examination, lesion detection and adverse effects were observed. Chi-square test and Student′t test were used for statistical analysis. Results: The whole gastrointestinal tract examination was completed during the capsule running time in 65.0% (26/40) of the patients. The average stomach transit time was (0.92±0.74) h, the small bowel transit time was (3.93±1.51) h and the colon transit time was (4.89±0.61) h. The capsule running time of patients who completed the whole gastrointestinal tract examination was shorter than that of patients who did not complete the whole gastrointestinal tract examination ((9.44 ± 3.53) h vs. (15.47±2.09) h), and the difference was statistically significant (t=6.79, P<0.01). The qualified rate of colon preparation was 67.5% (27/40). There were no statistically significant differences in colon transit time or capsule excretion time between patients with qualified colon preparation and poor colon preparation ((4.43±3.33) h vs. (5.96 ± 2.44) h; and (9.06 ± 3.91) h vs. (10.29±2.47) h; t=1.17 and 0.81, both P>0.05). A total of 33 (82.5%) patients had gastrointestinal lesions detected by colon capsule, including three cases of esophageal lesions (inflammation and mass), 21 cases of gastric lesions (chronic gastritis, mucosal protrusion, polyp and ulcer), nine cases of small bowel lesions (polyp, ulcer and vascular malformation) and 19 cases of colonic lesions (diverticulum, polyp, rectitis, mucosal erosion, ulcer and vascular malformation, internal hemorrhoids). Among them, there were 11 patients with two or more lesions. No adverse events occurred during the examination and all the capsules were excreted within 48 hours. Conclusion CCE-2 with high safety and good tolerance can be used for whole gastrointestinal tract examination.