BACKGROUND:In recent years, a lot of studies have reported the feasibility and efficacy of transplanting seed celsvia tissue-engineered cardiac patches into specific infarcted myocardial area, helping regeneration of damaged heart tissue and improving heart functions.
OBJECTIVE:To review the methods and strategies of fabricating tissue-engineered cardiac patches and to analyze the structure and functional characteristics of cardiac patches prepared by different methods.
METHODS: The first author retrieved relevant articles about the fabrication methods of tissue engineered cardiac patches by searching PubMed and Web of science data bases. The key words were “cardiac infarction, cel death”.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The fabrication methods and strategies of tissue-engineered cardiac patches are as folows: (1) obtaining multi-layer cel sheets by overlapping monolayer cel sheets; (2) combing gelatin with cels to construct multi-layer cel sheets; (3) seeding cels on scaffolds; (4) homogeneous arrangement of cels. Recent studies about tissue-engineered cardiac patches have demonstrated that the biological activities of seed cels, such as retention, survival and paracrine effects, greatly influence the effect of cardiac patches on the repair and regeneration of infarcted myocardial tissues. Temperature-sensitive method is the most mature and wide-spread used constructing technique; besides, other strategies also successfuly improve the biological activities of seed cels to different extents, and they also increase the mechanical strength and thickness of cel sheets in order to have better operability. Tissue-engineered cardiac patches are usualy prepared by different combined strategies on purpose to obtain better biological and mechanical properties.

Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) plays an important role in tumorigenesis,development and malignant transformation,also participates in the microenvironment,proliferation,apoptosis,invasion,metastasis and tumor resistance.MyD88 may serve as a new and meaningful therapeutic target,which can promote the growth and development of tumors by regulating multiple signaling pathways and enhance the drug resistance of tumor cells.

Objective To provide detailed clinical and molecular genetic findings and describe the characteristics of natural history in Chinese choroideremia (CHM) patients.Methods The patients with CHM who met the inclusion criteria of at least two visits over a minimum period of 5 years were recruited on a voluntary basis at the Ophthalmic Genetics Clinic in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from April 2009 to August 2017.Molecular genetic analysis results,best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA),color fundus photograph,optical coherence tomography (OCT),visual field (VF),full-field electroretinography (fERG) were obtained.This study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (S-K125).Written informed consent was obtained from each participant.Results Ten Chinese Han patients from seven CHM families were included.The mutations were confirmed by molecular genetic analysis,and two novel mutations were found.The median age of 10 patients at first visit was 44 years (range 8-52 years).The mean first-last visit period was 6.08 years (range 5.03-7.24 years).The mean BCVA at first visit in logMAR equivalents was 0.56 (range 0.0-2.0) or approximately 0.28 decimal acuity.The correlation between BCVA at first visit and age showed that relative good vision remained until 35 years old and BCVA subsequently reduced rapidly.OCT showed a thickening of the central retinal thickness at early stage,followed by a thinning over decades.Outer retinal tabulation (ORT) was shown in some patients.There was a strong negative correlation (r=-0.861,P＜0.001) between residual VF and age.Five patients did not need to record fERG because of serious fundus lesions.Two patients exhibited decreased amplitudes for both rod and cone-driven responses,and three patients exhibited no fERG amplitudes.Conclusions The progression of CHM may be severer and faster in Chinese patients than that in Western patients.ORT is an important manifestation of OCT in CHM patients.VF and fERG are applicable to evaluate the condition of very-early phase of CHM.

Objective:To access the genetic defects and clinical characteristics of patients with KCNV2-associated cone dystrophy. Methods:Three pedigrees with KCNV2-associated cone dystrophy were recruited in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from August 2017 to December 2019.Peripheral blood from each patient and their parents was collected, and genomic DNA was extracted.Targeted exome capture plus next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to detect the candidate variants.Suspected causative variants were validated by Sanger sequencing and segregation analysis.Comprehensive ocular examinations were performed, including vision acuity, colour vision, fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), optical coherence tomography (OCT), visual field and electroretinogram (ERG). This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Peking Union Medical College Hospital and adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.Written informed consent was obtained from each patient prior to any medical examination. Results:Three probands from three unrelated Chinese families were confirmed carrying biallelic KCNV2 disease-causing variants.Two patients harbored compound heterozygous variants and one patient with history of consanguinity was identified carrying homozygous variant.Five novel variants in the KCNV2 gene were identified, including p. T121M, p.R244C, p.C199Y, p.M250R and p. L171Pfs*201.All patients enrolled in this study were male with age of 25, 16 and 2 years old, respectively.Three affected individuals complained of vision loss and photophobia and two patients demonstrated reduced color perception and nystagmus.Macular discoloration (bull's eye maculopathy or gold foil macular reflex) was observed in fundus photographs.Macular hypofluorescence was illustrated in FAF imaging, which accompanying a broad hyperfluorescent ring surrounding the central atrophy or not.Macular thinning with loss of the inner segment ellipsoid zone was noted in OCT images, and the disruption was more profound in older patients.Central scotoma with or without peripheral visual field defects was observed in perimetry.Severe cone function loss and variable scotopic rod impairment were demonstrated in ERG, whereas a broad a-wave trough response to scotopic bright flash stimulation was noted. Conclusions:Patients with KCNV2-associated cone dystrophy show a characteristic ERG manifestation.ERG results and KCNV2 variants in Chinese patients differ from those in foreigners.

Background::Although some well-established oncogenes are involved in cancer initiation and progression such as prostate cancer (PCa), the long tail of cancer genes remains to be defined. Goosecoid ( GSC) has been implicated in cancer development. However, the comprehensive biological role of GSC in pan-cancer, specifically in PCa, remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of GSC in PCa development. Methods::We performed a systematic bioinformatics exploration of GSC using datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype-Tissue Expression, Gene Expression Omnibus, German Cancer Research Center, and our in-house cohorts. First, we evaluated the expression of GSC and its association with patient prognosis, and identified GSC-relevant genetic alterations in cancers. Further, we focused on the clinical characterization and prognostic analysis of GSC in PCa. To understand the transcriptional regulation of GSC by E2F transcription factor 1 ( E2F1), we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Functional experiments were conducted to validate the effect of GSC on the tumor cellular phenotype and sensitivity to trametinib. Results::GSC expression was elevated in various tumors and significantly correlated with patient prognosis. The alterations of GSC contribute to the progression of various tumors especially in PCa. Patients with PCa and high GSC expression exhibited worse progression-free survival and biochemical recurrence outcomes. Further, GSC upregulation in patients with PCa was mostly accompanied with higher Gleason score, advanced tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, and elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Mechanistically, the transcription factor, E2F1, stimulates GSC by binding to its promoter region. Detailed experiments further demonstrated that GSC acted as an oncogene and influenced the response of PCa cells to trametinib treatment. Conclusions::GSC was highly overexpressed and strongly correlated with patient prognosis in PCa. We found that GSC, regulated by E2F1, acted as an oncogene and impeded the therapeutic efficacy of trametinib in PCa.

Sucrose non-fermenting-1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) is a specific Ser/Thr protein kinase in plants. SnRK2 can regulate the expression of downstream genes or transcription factors through phosphorylation of substrates to achieve stress resistance regulation in different tissue parts, and make plants adapt to adverse environment. SnRK2 has a small number of members and a molecular weight of about 40 kDa, and contains a conserved N-terminal kinase domain and a divergent C-terminal regulatory domain, which plays an important role in the expression of enzyme. This review summarized the recent research progresses on the discovery, structure, and classification of SnRK2, and its function in response to various stresses and in regulating growth and development, followed by prospecting the future research direction of SnRK2. This review may provide a reference for genetic improvement of crop stress resistance.
Abscisic Acid ; Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Growth and Development ; Plants/genetics* ; Protein Kinases ; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics* ; Stress, Physiological/genetics*

Objective:To identify the clinical characteristics and pathogenic gene of a Chinese Han family with achromatopsia (ACHM).Methods:The method of pedigree investigation was adopted.A Chinese Han ACHM family was recruited in Peking Union Medical College Hospital form July 2010 to July 2019, including 5 members of 2 generations.There were 2 patients and 3 phenotypically normal individuals.The medical history was collected and comprehensive ophthalmic examinations were performed, including visual acuity, colour vision, color fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), optical coherence tomography (OCT), visual field and electroretinogram (ERG).Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood sample from the patients and family members.Pathogenic variant was screened by whole exome sequencing (WES) and verified by Sanger sequencing and co-segregation analysis.The variant was annotated with the 1000 Genomes, Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD), ExAC, ClinVar and OMIM databases to detect the single nucleotide polymorphism and whether it had been reported previously.The pathogenicity of the variant was evaluated according to the standards and guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (No.JS-2059).Written informed consent was obtained from the guardians of juvenile patients.Results:There was consanguinity between the proband's parents and this family was consistent with autosomal recessive inheritance.Both male patients presented the reduction of visual acuity accompanied with photophobia and color blindness since childhood.Barely visible foveal light reflex in fundus images, hypofluorescence of foveal areas in FAF images, foveal defect with disruption of ellipsoid zone and interdigitation zone in OCT images were found in both patients.Central scotoma with or without peripheral visual field defects was detected.Generally normal scotopic 0.01, 3.0 and 10.0 responses, decreased oscillatory potentials amplitudes, no photopic 3.0 and 30 Hz flicker responses were observed.No sign of progression was found during the 9-year follow-up.It was confirmed that both patients carried a novel homozygous disease-causing variant c. 947insA (p.Asn316Lysfs*46) in ATF6 gene.Their mother had the heterozygous variant.The unaffected brother did not carry the variant.This family was consistent with co-segregation.This variant was labeled as pathogenic according to the ACMG standards and guidelines. Conclusions:A novel variant c.947insA (p.Asn316Lysfs*46) in ATF6 gene is the pathogenic variant of this achromatopsia family.This is the first time that this variant has been reported.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the inhibitory effects of ursolic acid on interleukin-6 （IL-6）-mediated invasion and migration of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells （hereinafter referred to as “231 cells”）. METHODS The effects of 20， 40， 80， 160 and 320 µmol/L ursolic acid on the proliferation rate of 231 cells were measured by CCK-8 method. The breast cancer 231 cells were divided into control group， model group and administration group. The migration and invasion abilities of cells were detected by scratch assay and Transwell assay. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （q-PCR） assay and Western blot assay were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related makers such as E cadherin （E-cad）， matrix metalloprotein 2 （MMP2）， MMP9， vimentin （Vim）， CD44 molecule （CD44） and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1 （ALDH1A1）. The phosphorylation levels of JAK2 and STAT3 in the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （JAK2/STAT3） signaling pathway （in terms of p-JAK2/JAK2 ratio and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio） were detected by Western blot assay. RESULTS A low concentration of ursolic acid of 20 µmol/L （no significant inhibitory effect on cell proliferation ability） was selected as the subsequent administration concentration. Compared with the control group， the migration and invasion abilities of cells in the model group were significantly enhanced （P＜0.05）； compared with the model group， the migration and invasion abilities of cells in the administered group were significantly reduced （P＜0.05）. Compared with the control group， the relative mRNA and protein expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related markers MMP9， MMP2， Vim， ALDH1A1 and CD44 were all elevated to different extents， and the mRNA and protein expressions of E-cad were all decreased to different extents in the model group cells， and part of the differences had statistical significance （P＜0.05）， the p-JAK2/JAK2 ratio and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio were significantly increased in the model group （P＜0.05）； compared with the model group， the expressions of the above indicators were reversed to some extent in the administration group. CONCLUSIONS Ursolic acid blocks the activation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathwby the inflammatory factor IL-6， which ultimately interrupts the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells.