G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) participates in the phosphorylation and desensitization of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), impacting various biological processes such as inflammation and cell proliferation. Dysregulated expression and activity of GRK2 have been reported in multiple cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, whether and how GRK2 regulates synovial hyperplasia and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) proliferation is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the regulation of GRK2 and its biological function in RA. We found that GRK2 transmembrane activity was increased in FLSs of RA patients and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats. Additionally, we noted a positive correlation between high GRK2 expression on the cell membrane and serological markers associated with RA and CIA. Immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry and pull-down analyses revealed tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) as a novel substrate of GRK2. Furthermore, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and molecular docking assays determined that the C-terminus of GRK2 binds to the C-terminus of TRAF2 at the Gln340 residue. GRK2 knockdown and the GRK2 inhibitor CP-25 attenuated synovial hyperplasia and FLS proliferation in CIA both in vitro and in vivo by decreasing GRK2 membrane expression and activity. Mechanistically, increased GRK2 transmembrane activity contributed to the recruitment of TRAF2 on the cell membrane, promoting GRK2-TRAF2 interactions that facilitate the recruitment of the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM47 to TRAF2. This enhanced TRAF2 Lys63 polyubiquitylation and induced nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation, leading to synovial hyperplasia and abnormal proliferation of FLSs. Our study provides a mechanistic and preclinical rationale for further evaluation of GRK2 as a therapeutic target for RA.

Objective To construct a stable synovial cell line MH7A from rheumatoid arthritis(RA)patients using lentiviral vectors that interfere with the expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor associated factor 2(TRAF2),and to study the role of TNF-α-TRAF2 signaling in MH7A abnormal proliferation.Methods Based on the design principles of human TRAF2 gene sequence and shRNA sequence,three pairs of TRAF2 shRNA interference se-quences were designed and synthesized.The primers were annealed by PCR,and a linear vector was obtained by double enzyme digestion PLKO.1-puro.The linearized vector was connected to the annealed primers through Solu-tion I,and the connected products were introduced into receptive cells.The plates were coated,and positive colo-nies were selected for sequencing.Three different recombinant plasmids of PLKO.1-TRAF2-shRNA lentivirus were constructed,and lentivirus packaging plasmids was used to package logarithmic growth phase HEK 293T cells.Vi-rus solution was collected to infect MH7A cells.At the same time,puromycin was used to screen MH7A stable transgenic strains with low TRAF2 expression.CCK-8 method,Western blot,and qPCR were used to detect the proliferation function of MH7A induced by TNF-α and low expression of TRAF2,as well as downstream signal TRAF2,P65 protein expression and mRNA levels.Results PLKO.1-TRAF2-shRNA(1),PLKO.1-TRAF2-shR-NA(2),and PLKO.1-TRAF2-shRNA(3)lentivirus vector plasmids and control group lentivirus vector plasmids PLKO.1-puro were successfully constructed.The three TRAF2-shRNA lentivirus vector plasmids and control group lentivirus vector plasmids PLKO.1-puro were respectively introduced into the lentivirus packaging plasmid of HEK 293T to obtain virus solution.After infecting MH7A cells with the virus solution,they were treated with puromycin(2.00 μ G/mL)screening and obtaining MH7A stable transgenic plants after 2 days.Through qPCR and Western blot results,it was found that the expression of TRAF2 mRNA and protein in PLKO.1-TRAF2-shRNA(1)MH7A stably transfected cells was significantly reduced compared to the negative control group.The results of CCK-8 and Western blot showed that after knocking down TRAF2 in MH7A,the proliferation of MH7A cells with low TRAF2 expression induced by TNF-α and the phosphorylation level of P65 were significantly reduced.Conclusion A sta-ble transgenic strain of PLKO.1-TRAF2-shRNA(1)MH7A cells was successfully constructed to investigate the role of TNF-α-TRAF2 signal activation in mediating abnormal proliferation of RA synovial cells.

Objective To investigate the effects of tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium combined with oxaliplatin on gastric motility-related hormones, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in elderly patients with gastric cancer. Methods A total of 128 elderly patients with gastric cancer were selected as the study subjects and randomly divided into control group (n=64) and observation group (n=64). The control group was treated with tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium, while the observation group received tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium combined with oxaliplatin. Gastric motility-related hormones [motilin (MTL) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)], MMP-2, MMP-9, tumor markers [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9)], clinical efficacy and occurrence of adverse reactions were observed in both groups. The correlations of gastric motility-related hormones with the levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 and tumor markers were analyzed. Results After treatment, MTL levels in both groups were significantly lower, while VIP levels were significantly higher compared to before treatment. Additionally, the observation group had significantly lower MTL and higher VIP levels compared to the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, CEA, CA125 and CA19-9 were significantly reduced in both groups compared to pretreatment levels, with the observation group showing significantly lower levels than the control group (P < 0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 70.31%, which was significantly higher than the 53.13% in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05). A negative correlation was observed between MTL and MMP-2, MMP-9, CEA, CA125 as well as CA19-9 (P < 0.05), while VIP showed a positive correlation with MMP-2, MMP-9, CEA, CA125 and CA19-9 (P < 0.05). Conclusion The combination of tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium and oxaliplatin is effective and safe for the treatment of elderly patients with gastric cancer. MTL, VIP, MMP-2, MMP-9, CEA, CA125 and CA19-9 are interrelated in the development of gastric cancer in elderly patients.

Objective: The kidney disease: improving global outcome (KDIGO) and pediatric reference change value optimized for acute kidney injury (pROCK) criteria were used to evaluate the incidence, stages and mortality of acute kidney injury (AKI). The differences between the 2 criteria were compared for exploring the value of pROCK criteria in diagnosing pediatric AKI and predicting adverse outcomes. Methods: In the multicenter prospective clinical cohort study, we collected general data and clinical data such as serum creatinine values from 1 120 children admitted to 4 PICUs of Children's Hospital of Soochow University, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital, and Xuzhou Children's Hospital from September 2019 to February 2021. AKI was defined and staged according to the KDIGO and pROCK criteria. The incidence of AKI, the consistency of AKI definite diagnosis and stages, and the mortality in PICU were compared between the 2 groups. The chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was applied for comparison between 2 groups. The Cohen's Kappa and Weighted Kappa analyses were used for evaluating diagnostic consistency. The Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between AKI and mortality. Results: A total of 1 120 critically ill children were included, with an age of 33 (10, 84) months. There are 668 boys and 452 girls. The incidence of AKI defined by the KDIGO guideline was higher than that defined by pROCK criteria (27.2%(305/1 120), 14.7%(165/1 120), χ²=52.78, P<0.001). The concordance rates of the 2 criteria for the diagnosis of AKI and AKI staging were 87.0% (κ=0.62) and 79.7% (κ=0.58), respectively. Totally 63 infants with AKI stage 1 defined by the KDIGO guideline were redefined as non-AKI by following the pROCK criteria. The PICU mortality rate of these infants was similar to patients without AKI defined by KDIGO guideline(P=0.761). After adjusting for confounders, AKI defined by KDIGO or pROCK criteria was an independent risk factor of death in PICU (AHR=2.04, 2.73,95%CI 1.27-3.29, 1.74-4.28, both P<0.01), and the risk of death was higher when using the pROCK compared with the KDIGO criteria. As for the KDIGO criteria, mild AKI was not associated with the mortality in PICU (P=0.702), while severe AKI was associated with increased mortality (P<0.001). As for the pROCK criteria, both mild and severe AKI were risk factors of PICU death in children (HR=3.51, 6.70, 95%CI 1.94-6.34, 4.30-10.44, both P<0.001). In addition, The AKI severity was positively associated with the mortality. Conclusions: The AKI incidence and staging varied depending on the used diagnostic criteria. The KDIGO definition is more sensitive, while the pROCK-defined AKI is more strongly associated with high mortality rate.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Acute Kidney Injury/epidemiology* ; Cohort Studies ; Critical Illness ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Digestive tract diseases， especially digestive tract tumors， including liver cancer， pancreatic cancer， and colorectal cancer， have high incidence in China. Digestive tract tumor is one of the top 10 cancers in terms of the number of new cases and deaths in the world， and the incidence and mortality of tumor diseases have been increasing year by year. Therefore， the prevention and treatment of tumors is particularly important. With the application and promotion of traditional Chinese medicine in the medical field and the rapid development of molecular biology and pharmacology， more and more potential active components of Chinese medicinal materials have been extracted and studied. These active components can inhibit tumor cells in a multi-target and multi-pathway manner. Cinobufotalin is an effective component extracted from the skin of Bufo bufo gargarizans. It has been prepared into a variety of agents with anti-tumor， immunomodulatory， cardiac boosting， pain-easing， anti-inflammatory， and swelling-relieving activities. In clinical practice， cinobufotalin is mainly used to assist the treatment of liver cancer， lung cancer， colorectal cancer， gastric cancer and other malignant tumors， which can reduce the adverse reactions of patients in the middle and late stages and improve the quality of life and five-year survival rate of patients. The available studies of molecular mechanism have demonstrated that cinobufotalin can play a therapeutic role by inducing cell apoptosis， regulating cell cycle， inhibiting cell proliferation and angiogenesis， modulating immune response， reversing multidrug resistance， enhancing radiochemotherapy sensitivity， inhibiting tumor inflammation， invasion， and metastasis， etc. This review focuses on the clinical application and mechanism of cinobufotalin against digestive tract tumors in recent years， aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the anti-tumor research of cinobufotalin， promote the application of cinobufotalin in tumor treatment， and facilitate the further research and development of this compound.

Objective: To construct a human G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 ( GRK2) eukaryotic expression system． Methods: The primers were designed ，and the His-GRK2 target gene was amplified by PCR using the Pans-EGFP-GrK2 (full-length) gene as the template．The His-GRK2 target gene was connected to the pcDNA3．1EGFP eukaryotic expression vector． The pcDNA3. 1-EGFP-His-GRK2 plasmid was transfected into HEK 293T cells．48 h later，the expression of GRK2 protein was detected by Western blot，and the GRK2 protein was purified by nickel chelated magnetic bead method．The purification of GRK2 protein was detected by Coomassie bright blue staining and Western blot，and the activity of GRK2 protein was detected by His pull down. Results : The results of double enzyme digestion and sequencing showed that pcDNA3. 1-EGFP-His-GRK2 eukaryotic expression plasmid was successfully constructed．Western blot analysis showed that the molecular weight of GRK2 protein was about 80 ku，indicating that GRK2 protein was successfully expressed in HEK 293T cells (t = 6. 433，P = 0. 003) ．GRK2 protein was purified by nickel chelated magnetic beads．His pull down experiment results showed that GRK2 was bound to prostaglandin E2 receptor 4 (EP4) ，suggesting that GRK2 protein had biological activity (t = 13. 5，P = 0. 000 2) ． Conclusion The pcDNA3．1-EGFP-His-GRK2 eukaryotic expression plasmid was correctly sequenced and the GRK2 recombinant plasmid was successfully constructed．The GRK2 recombinant plasmid was successfully expressed in eukaryotic cells HEK 293T and the protein expressed was biologically active.

TAM(tumor-associated macrophage)is a kind of immune cell in tumor microenvironment,which mainly exists in tumor matrix to mediate inflammatory reaction.Generally,TAM can be stimulated by different cytokines to polarize into M1 macrophage or M2 macrophage with different phenotypes.In the early stage of tumor,M1 macrophages in TAM exhibit pro-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities,while as tumor progresses,TAMs tend to polarize into M2 macrophages to play anti-inflammatory and tumor-promoting roles.A large number of studies have shown that TAM is closely related to tumor growth,invasion,metastasis and poor prognosis.Therefore,targeting TAM has become the focus of anti-tumor immunotherapy.This paper has summarized the origin of TAM,and introduced the specific roles of TAM in promoting tumor proliferation,angiogenesis,migration and invasion and the formation of immunosuppressive environment.At the same time,the research progress of TAM-targeted anti-tumor immu-notherapy in recent years was discussed from 3 aspects:inhibiting monocyte recruitment,promoting TAM apoptosis and reshaping TAM phenotype.

Objective: To produce latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells and detect the lethal effect of LMP2A CAR-T cells on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. Methods: The study was conducted from September 2016 to December 2017.Genetic engineering technology was used to construct anti-LMP2A CAR lentiviral expression vector and sequencing was identified. The expression of anti-LMP2A CAR in the 293T cells was confirmed by western blot. CCK8 assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of LMP2A CAR-T cells to NPC cells. ELISA assay was performed to test IL-2 and IFN-γ releasing of activated LMP2A CAR-T cells. The inhibition effect of LMP2A CAR-T cells on NPC xenograft tumor was observed in vivo. Statistical analysis was performed by statistical software SPSS 21.0. Results: The results of PCR and sequencing showed that anti-LMP2A CAR lentiviral expression vector was constructed successfully. The result of western blot indicated the expression of anti-LMP2A CAR in the 293T cells effectively. The results of CCK-8 assay showed that the killing activities of LMP2A CAR-T cells to LV-LMP2A-CNE1 cells were (72.11±9.75)%, (54.65 ±5.42)% and (36.68±3.80)% at 20∶1, 10∶1 and 5∶1 ratio of effective cells to target cells, and had a statistical difference compared to CD19 CAR-T cells and T cells (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the killing activities of LMP2A CAR-T cells to CNE1 cells compared with CD19 CAR-T cells and T cells. The results of ELISA showed that the content of IL-2 and IFN-γ in the co-culture supernatant of LMP2A CAR-T cells and LV-LMP2A-CNE1 cells was significantly higher than that of LMP2A CAR-T cells and CNE1 cells which had statistical difference (P<0.05); In vivo experiment, the volume of LMP2A CAR-T cell group was (80.3±10.0) mm³ which was significantly lower than that of the control groups, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion LMP2A CAR-T cells are successfully prepared and have an obvious targeting cytotoxicity on LMP2A-positive NPC cells.

AIM:To investigate the effect of low-intensity ultrasound combined with microbubble contrast agent on autophagic death of thyroid cancer cells,and to analyze the mechanism of autophagy activation and its effect on cell via-bility. METHODS:Human thyroid cancer cell line TPC1 was treated with low-intensity ultrasound at 20 kHz frequency and 80 mW intensity combined with microbubbles. The cell death and viability were analyzed by Live/Dead assay and CCK-8 assay 60,120 and 240 s after the treatment. The protein levels of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-Ⅱ(LC3-Ⅱ),autophagy-related protein 5 (ATG5) and SQSTM1/P62 were determined by Western blot. The number of in-tracellular autophagosomes was measured by the methods of monodansylcadaverine(MDC) staining,green fluorescent pro-tein (GFP)-LC3 transfection and transmission electron microscopy. The level of reactive oxygen species(ROS) was mea-sured and the effect of ROS on autophagy activation was evaluated by N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) treatment. The effect of ATG5 siRNA transfection on autophagy was analyzed for determining the role of autophagic death. RESULTS:Low-intensi-ty ultrasound combined with microbubbles significantly promoted TPC1 cell death and inhibited TPC1 cell viability (P<0.05) in a time-dependent manner. Compared with low-intensity ultrasound group and microbubble group,ultrasound com-bined with microbubbles significantly increased the protein levels of LC3-Ⅱ and ATG5, but inhibited the protein level of P62 (P<0.05). The results of MDC staining,GFP-LC3 transfection and transmission electron microscopy showed that ul-trasound combined with microbubbles significantly increased the number of autophagosomes in the TPC1 cells. Compared with low-intensity ultrasound group and microbubble group, ultrasound combined with microbubbles increased the level of ROS,while NAC significantly reduced the protein level of LC3-Ⅱ (P<0.05). Thansfection with ATG5 siRNA inhibited the autophagy,significantly decreased the percentage of cell death and increased cell viability (P<0.05). CONCLU-SION:Low-intensity ultrasound combined with microbubbles promotes the autophagic cell death by increasing the level of ROS in thyroid cancer cells,leading to death of thyroid cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the role of clinical pharmacists on drug therapy for a chemotherapy patient with drug-induced liver injury (DILI).METHODS:Clinical pharmacists participated in the therapy for a patient with colorectal cancer and suggested that ondansetron+metoclopramide+promethazine were given before chemotherapy for stopping vomiting because chemotherapy drugs might lead to gastrointestinal reaction.The patient suffered from DILI before second chemotherapy.According to the history of drug use and the characteristics of drug effects,clinical pharmacists estimated that DILI may be related to Chinese patent medicine (Guben yichang tablets) and TCM formula granules taken during the two chemotherapy periods.Clinical pharmacists recommended Polyene phosphatidylcholine injection 465 mg,ivgtt,qd+Reduced glutathione for injection 1 g,ivgtt,qd for protecting liver tissue,and additionally recommended Compound glycyrrhizin injection 60 mL,ivgtt,qd for inhibiting inflammation and regulating immune function.After liver function of the patient had been recovered,it was suggested to stop polyene phosphatidylcholine,reduced glutathione and compound glycyrrhizin,etc.Pharmaceutical care was also provided,including efficacy evaluation,ADR monitoring,medication education,telephone follow-up,etc.RESULTS:The physicians adopted the suggestions of clinical pharmacists.The liver function indexes of the patient recovered to normal,and then completed chemotherapy smoothly for 3 times.CONCLUSIONS:When tumor patients suffer from DILI during chemotherapy,clinical pharmacists should help physicians fmd and judge the drug factors leading to DILI based on the history of drug use and the characteristics of drug effects,and assist physicians to formulate and adjust medication plan so as to relieve the degree of DILI and guarantee the smooth development of chemotherapy.