Objective:This study aimed to evaluate the effect of early tocilizumab intervention to relieve cytokine release syndrome (CRS) following chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy.Methods:Twenty-two patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who received tocilizumab to relieve CRS response after CAR-T cell infusion in our research center from October 2015 to July 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the timing of tocilizumab intervention, patients were divided into the conventional and early intervention groups. Patients who received tocilizumab treatment after sustained high fever for 4 h were included in the early intervention group. The clinical data, CRS grade, and event-free survival (EFS) between the two groups were evaluated.Results:Compared with patients who used tocilizumab after severe CRS, no patients in the early intervention group died from CRS, and there was no increased risk of neurotoxicity. Eleven patients (84.62%) achieved complete remission with minimal residual lesions. The median EFS of patients in the early intervention and conventional groups was 2 (95% CI 0-5) and 7 (95% CI 3-11) months, respectively. Conclusion:Early tocilizumab intervention in patients with CRS reduces severe CRS and provides a more optimized therapeutic strategy for CRS caused by CAR-T cell therapy.

The eukaryotic genome is folded into higher-order conformation accompanied with constrained dynamics for coordinated genome functions. However, the molecular machinery underlying these hierarchically organized three-dimensional (3D) chromatin architecture and dynamics remains poorly understood. Here by combining imaging and sequencing, we studied the role of lamin B1 in chromatin architecture and dynamics. We found that lamin B1 depletion leads to detachment of lamina-associated domains (LADs) from the nuclear periphery accompanied with global chromatin redistribution and decompaction. Consequently, the inter-chromosomal as well as inter-compartment interactions are increased, but the structure of topologically associating domains (TADs) is not affected. Using live-cell genomic loci tracking, we further proved that depletion of lamin B1 leads to increased chromatin dynamics, owing to chromatin decompaction and redistribution toward nucleoplasm. Taken together, our data suggest that lamin B1 and chromatin interactions at the nuclear periphery promote LAD maintenance, chromatin compaction, genomic compartmentalization into chromosome territories and A/B compartments and confine chromatin dynamics, supporting their crucial roles in chromatin higher-order structure and chromatin dynamics.
Chromatin ; Chromosomes ; Genome ; Humans ; Lamin Type B/genetics*

Objective:To analyze the diagnostic value of metabolic makers in cerebrospinal fluid in advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients with leptomeningeal metastases (LM) .Methods:A total of 46 cerebrospinal fluid samples (LM group) from lung adenocarcinoma patients with LM admitted to Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School from December 2019 to December 2021 were collected, and 48 cerebrospinal fluid samples (control group) from patients with benign neurological diseases during the same period were collected. Metabolomics analysis of cerebrospinal fluid was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Principle component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal to partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used for modeling. Multi-criteria assessment was used to identify the different metabolites between the two groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, pathway enrichment analysis and other methods were used to screen metabolites and pathways related to LM from lung adenocarcinoma.Results:There were no statistically significant differences in the proportions of age ( Z=-0.41, P=0.210) , gender ( χ2=1.19, P=0.275) , history of smoking ( χ2=2.86, P=0.091) , Karnofsky performance status score ( χ2=0.65, P=0.419) and increased intracranial pressure ( χ2=0.65, P=0.419) between the LM group and control group. The models of PCA (R2X was 0.608 and 0.583, Q2 was 0.462 and 0.513 in electrospray ion positive and negative modes, respectively) and OPLS-DA (R2Y was 0.967 and 0.889, Q2 was 0.959 and 0.852 in electrospray ion positive and negative modes, respectively) showed that the overall data quality was good. Meanwhile, the model interpretation rate and prediction rate were effective. The permutation tests duplicated for 200 times and showed no over-fitting of the established model. The metabolic profiles of the two groups were significantly different. A total of 30 endogenously differential metabolites were screened by using multi-criteria assessment. Six potential biomarkers with larger area under the curve (AUC) were identified through ROC curve analysis, including tyrosine (AUC=0.967, 95% CI: 0.906-1.000) , phenylalanine (AUC=0.992, 95% CI: 0.973-1.000) , pyruvate (AUC=0.976, 95% CI: 0.935-1.000) , tryptophan (AUC=0.935, 95% CI: 0.880-0.973) , glucose (AUC=0.932, 95% CI: 0.880-0.975) and adenosine monophosphate (AUC=0.993, 95% CI: 0.987-1.000) . The 30 selected differential metabolites were enriched and analyzed for metabolic pathways, and 20 relevant metabolic pathways were matched. Among them, the four metabolic pathways most likely to cause changes in metabolites were glycolysis and glucose metabolic synthesis, pyruvate metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis. Conclusion:Untargeted metabolomics analysis can effectively screen specific cerebrospinal fluid metabolites in lung adenocarcinoma patients with LM. Six potential metabolites such as tyrosine, phenylalanine, pyruvate, tryptophan, adenosine monophosphate, glucose and their metabolic pathways may be involved in the pathogenesis of LM from lung adenocarcinoma.

Objective Drug resistance is the main cause of chemotherapy failure in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1), as a major influencing factor for reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism, has been proven to be associated with the poor prognosis of patients with HCC. This study aims to explore the role of TXNRD1 in the mechanism of multidrug resistance in HCC. Methods BEL/FU cells in BEL-7402 cell line were selected as the multidrug-resistant cell line. The siRNA was used for the intervention of TXNRD1 expression; quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to measure the expression of TXNRD1; CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the effect of TXNRD1 on hepatocyte ROS accumulation, resistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) and doxorubicin (DOX), and apoptosis in vitro; a xenograft tumor model was established to investigate the effect of auranofin (AUR) on drug resistance in vivo. The two-independent-samples t test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups. Results As a multidrug-resistant HCC cell line, BEL/Fu showed high mRNA and protein expression levels of TXNRD1 (both P < 0.05). Compared with 5-Fu or DOX treatment alone, the TXNRD1 inhibitor AUR combined with 5-Fu or DOX had had a significant reduction in the number of colony formation ( P < 0.01) and a significant increase in apoptosis ratio ( P < 0.001). The ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC) significantly weakened the effect of TXNRD1 knockdown by siRNA on the drug resistance of BEL/Fu cells, and the application of NAC effectively reduced the apoptosis ratio of cells after siRNA interference ( P < 0.001). Animal experiments also confirmed that compared with the nude mice treated with 5-Fu alone, the nude mice treated with 5-Fu and AUR had a significantly lower tumor mass ( P < 0.001) and a significantly smaller tumor volume ( P < 0.001). Conclusion TXNRD1 plays an important role in the drug resistance of HCC, and inhibition of its level in cells can effectively improve drug resistance. As a TXNRD1 inhibitor, AUR has great application prospects in the multimodality therapy for HCC.

BACKGROUND: Tumor markers (TM) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are useful for diagnosing leptomeningeal metastasis (LM). It has not been fully exploited the diagnostic possibilities of the CSF levels since the basic fact that the TM concentration of CSF depends strongly upon the serum levels as well as upon the condition of the blood brain barrier (BBB). To analyze the intrathecal TM synthesis and evaluate the integrity of BBB can be helpful for the definitive diagnosis of LM. Therefore, the aim of this study was to further explore the clinical value of intrathecal TM synthesis and BBB in the diagnosis for the lung cancer patients with LM. METHODS: Twenty-five lung cancer patients with LM and 57 patients with nonmalignant neurological diseases (NMNDs) admitted to Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from December 2016 to March 2020 were included. We compared the integrity of BBB and intrathecal TM synthesis between two groups, analyzed the correlation of CSF TM between the detection and intrathecal synthesis, and evaluated serial CSF cytology, the integrity of BBB and intrathecal TM synthesis when intrathecal chemotherapy for one patient. RESULTS: Ninety-four percent LM patients showed the dysfunction of BBB, and all LM patients showed at least one intrathecal synthesized TM in CSF. In one patient, the CSF cytology was negative for the first time, but LM was eventually diagnosed based on the the intrathecal TM synthesis and positive CSF cytology of repeated lumbar puncture. In LM group, no correlation was observed between the detection and intrathecal synthesized TM in CSF. In the control group, only 3.5% (2/57) NMNDs patients had the dysfunction of BBB and no patients had intrathecal TM synthesis, both the differences of which were statistically significant (P<0.05). Finally, evaluating the CSF cytology, integrity of BBB and intrathecal TM synthesis can be used to assess the intracranial treatment effect. Moreover, intrathecal TM synthesis changes earlier than cytology. CONCLUSIONS The evaluation of intrathecal TM synthesis and integrity of BBB are novel clinical diagnostic tools. In addition, serial measurement of intrathecal synthesized TM may play an important role in monitoring efficacy of lung cancer patients with LM, which is worthy of further promotion and clinical application.

Objective To make analysis and diagnosis on backhand twist technique used by player A, who is the leading men’s player of national table tennis team, so as to provide references for improving his backhand twist technique. Methods The three-dimensional kinematics test and analysis were used. The backhand twist techniques of player A and those of player B who has good backhand twist techniques were compared by quantitative data and picture analysis. Results At the stage of swinging racket backward, the racket swing amplitude, shoulder angle and wrist angle of player A were significantly smaller than those of player B. The roll angle of trunk of player A was significantly larger than that of player B. At the stage of swinging and hitting the ball, the shoulder angle, elbow angle of player A were significantly bigger than those of player B, while the increasing amplitude of shoulder angle and elbow angle, as well as the changing amplitude in roll angle of trunk of Lin Guoyuan were significantly smaller than those of player B. At the stage of swinging racket forward, the shoulder angle and elbow angle of player A were significantly bigger than those of player B. The increasing amplitude of shoulder angle and elbow angle, as well as the roll angle of trunk and its changing amplitude of player A were significantly smaller than those of player B. Conclusions The racket swing amplitude of player A was smaller, and the distance between the racket and the ball of player A was close at the end of swinging racket backward stage. During swinging and hitting the ball stage, the hitting point was far from the body, the shoulder joint was not stable enough to support, so that the wrist was used more. The center of gravity was not enough to force forward, and the outburst power was not concentrated. At swinging racket forward stage, player A’s braking was not active enough, which affected the stability of hitting the ball. At hitting the ball stage, the torsion of the trunk was smaller, and the waist power was not concentrated. On the basis of unaffecting the forehand outburst power, player A should slightly adjust his backhand twisting technique, or appropriately increase the the racket swing amplitude and torsion of the body. In the process of hitting the ball, the sequence of outburst power was the waist, the forearm and the wrist.

Objective:To explore the consistency of peripheral whole blood and venous serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels, and the value of peripheral whole blood PCT in evaluating pediatric bacterial infection.Methods:This multicenter cross-sectional parallel control study was conducted in 11 children′s hospital. All the 1 898 patients older than 28 days admitted to these hospitals from March 2018 to February 2019 had their peripheral whole blood and venous serum PCT detected simultaneously with unified equipment, reagent and method. According to the venous serum PCT level, the patients were stratified to subgroups. Analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to compare the demographic characteristics among groups. And the correlation between the peripheral blood and venous serum PCT level was investigated by quantitative Pearson correlation analysis.The PCT resultes were also converted into ranked data to further test the consistency between the two sampling methods by Spearman′s rank correlation test. Furthermore, the ranked data were converted into binary data to evaluate the consistency and investigate the best cut-off of peripheral blood PCT level in predicting bacterial infection.Results:A total of 1 898 valid samples were included (1 098 males, 800 females),age 27.4(12.2,56.7) months. There was a good correlation between PCT values of peripheral whole blood and venous serum ( r=0.97 , P<0.01). The linear regression equation was PCT?venous serum=0.135+0.929×PCT peripheral whole blood. However, when stratified to 5 levels, PCT results showed diverse and unsatisfied consistency between the two sampling methods ( r=0.51-0.92, all P<0.01). But after PCT was converted to ordinal categorical variables, the stratified analysis showed that the coincidence rate of the measured values by the two sampling methods in each boundary area was 84.9%-97.1%. The dichotomous variables also showed a good consistency (coincidence rate 96.8%-99.3%, Youden index 0.82-0.89). According to the severity of disease, the serum PCT value was classified into 4 intervals（<0.5、0.5-<2.0、2.0-<10.0、≥10.0 μg/L）, and the peripheral blood PCT value also showed a good predictive value (AUC value was 0.991 2-0.997 9). The optimal cut points of peripheral whole blood PCT value 0.5、1.0、2.0、10.0 μg/L corresponding to venous serum PCT values were 0.395, 0.595, 1.175 and 3.545 μg/L, respectively. Conclusions:There is a good correlation between peripheral whole blood PCT value and the venous serum PCT value, which means that the peripheral whole blood PCT could facilitate the identification of infection and clinical severity. Besides, the sampling of peripheral whole blood is simple and easy to repeat.