BACKGROUND: Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is indicated as a broad-spectrum medicine for a variety of diseases, including cancer and cardiac disease. While the role of ATO in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (HIRI) has not been reported. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify the effects of ATO on HIRI. METHODS: In the present study, we established a 70% hepatic warm I/R injury and partial hepatectomy (30% resection) animal models in vivo and hepatocytes anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) models in vitro with ATO pretreatment and further assessed liver function by histopathologic changes, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, cell counting kit-8, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) for extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 was transfected to evaluate the role of ERK1/2 pathway during HIRI, followed by ATO pretreatment. The dynamic process of autophagic flux and numbers of autophagosomes were detected by green fluorescent protein-monomeric red fluorescent protein-LC3 (GFP-mRFP-LC3) staining and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: A low dose of ATO (0.75 μmol/L in vitro and 1 mg/kg in vivo ) significantly reduced tissue necrosis, inflammatory infiltration, and hepatocyte apoptosis during the process of hepatic I/R. Meanwhile, ATO obviously promoted the ability of cell proliferation and liver regeneration. Mechanistically, in vitro  studies have shown that nontoxic concentrations of ATO can activate both ERK and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-serine/threonine kinase (PI3K-AKT) pathways and further induce autophagy. The hepatoprotective mechanism of ATO, at least in part, relies on the effects of ATO on the activation of autophagy, which is ERK-dependent. CONCLUSION Low, non-toxic doses of ATO can activate ERK/PI3K-AKT pathways and induce ERK-dependent autophagy in hepatocytes, protecting liver against I/R injury and accelerating hepatocyte regeneration after partial hepatectomy.
Animals ; Arsenic Trioxide ; Autophagy/physiology* ; Reperfusion Injury/prevention & control* ; Mice ; Male ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/physiology* ; Arsenicals/therapeutic use* ; Oxides/therapeutic use* ; Liver/metabolism* ; Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological features, immunophenotype, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of SRF-rearranged cellular perivascular myoid tumor.Methods:Two cases of SRF-rearranged cellular perivascular myoid tumor diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center from October 2021 to March 2022 were collected. Immunohistochemical staining, fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were performed, and the literature was reviewed.Results:Case 1, a 3-month-old boy presented with a painless tumor of the scalp, measuring about 2 cm in diameter. Case 2, a 3-year-old girl complained with a painless tumor of the knee, measuring approximately 1.5 cm in diameter. Microscopically, the tumor had a clear boundary and showed multinodular growth. The tumor was mainly composed of spindle cells arranged in long intersecting fascicles associated with thin, slit-like or branching ectatic vessels, focally forming hemangiopericytoma-like appearance. The tumor cells were abundant, but there was no obvious atypia. Mitotic figures (3-4/10 HPF) were noted. H-caldesmon and SMA were positive in both cases. Case 1 showed diffuse and strong positivity for Desmin, and focally for CKpan. Ki-67 proliferation index was 20% and 30%, respectively. FISH displayed NCOA2 gene translocation in case 1 and the RELA gene translocation in case 2. NGS detected the SRF-NCOA2 gene fusion in case 1 and the SRF-RELA gene fusion in case 2. Both patients underwent local excisions. During the follow-up of 5-14 months, case 1 had no local recurrence, while case 2 developed local recurrence 1 year post operatively.Conclusions:SRF-rearranged cellular perivascular myoid tumor is a novel variant of perivascular cell tumor, which tends to occur in children and adolescents. The tumor forms a broad morphologic spectrum ranging from a pericytic pattern to a myoid pattern, and include hybrid tumors with a mixture of pericytic and myoid patterns. Due to its diffuse hypercellularity and increased mitotic figures and smooth muscle-like immunophenotype, the tumor is easy to be misdiagnosed as myogenic sarcomas. The tumor usually pursues a benign clinical course and rare cases may locally recur.

In this study,the immunological characteristics of the PhoP protein were explored with a two-component system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb).Bioinformatics was used to predict the B and T cell epitopes of the PhoP protein.A re-combinant expression plasmid was constructed by PCR analysis of the phoP sequence and cloning into the prokaryotic expres-sion vector pET-28a(+).Competent Escherichia coli BL21 cells were transformed with the recombinant plasmid and expres-sion was induced with IPTG.The recombinant PhoP protein was purified by affinity chromatography.Serum levels of PhoP-specific antibodies in Mtb-infected mice and tuberculosis(TB)patients were analyzed with an ELISA.BALB/c mice were im-munized with the PhoP recombinant protein by intramuscular injection.Sera of mice were collected and antibody titers were detected with an ELISA and specificity was assessed by West-ern blot analysis.Mouse splenocytes were isolated and the pro-portions of IFN-y-positive cells and cytokine levels were detec-ted with an ELISpot and ELISA,respectively.Bioinformatics i-dentified 24 B cell and 11 T cell epitopes of the PhoP protein.A prokaryotic recombinant vector of PhoP was successfully con-structed and the recombinant PhoP protein was obtained by purification.Specific antibody levels to PhoP in sera of Mtb in-fected mice and TB patients increased significantly,with preci-sion of 99.9％and 82.5％,and specificity of 100％,respectively.PhoP protein immunization successfully induced production of specific antibodies in mice.Stimulated by antigens in vitro,IL-2 and IFN-γ levels were significantly increased in the splenocytes of immunized mice.Immunization with the PhoP protein induce a humoral immune response and Thl-dominated cellular immu-nity,indicating that the PhoP protein was immunogenic with diagnostic efficacy for TB.These results lay a foundation to clari-fy the role of PhoP in Mtb infection and application for diagnosis and prevention of TB.

The aim of this study was to establish a laboratory research model for the desiccation tolerance of Coxiella bur-netii(C.burnetii),based on an axenic culture system.The conditions for osmotic pressure in the axenic culture system of C.burnetii were set via a gradient.Quantitative PCR was used to determine the C.burnetii genome equivalents during the culture cycle under different osmotic pressures,and the growth curves were recorded.In addition,the bacterial manifestations of C.burnetii obtained from eukaryotic cell cultures or cell-free cultures were analyzed with phase contrast microscopy and transmis-sion electron microscopy(TEM).The bacterial infection levels and vacuole forming units(VFU)were measured by infection of BGMK cells.C.burnetii showed as many as 7 days of adaptive survival in osmotic axenic medium under high osmotic condi-tions.The bacteria shrank by dehydration under extremely high osmotic pressure and appeared primarily as hypo-hydrated small cell variants(SCVs).The VFUs were significantly diminished 24 hours after infection,as compared with the parallel contrasts.The method for researching desiccation tolerance was thus successfully established.This method provides a basis for further investigation of the genetic mechanisms of the anti-desiccation properties of C.burnetii in the natural environment,through proteomics and other methods.

Objective: We analyze the characteristics of Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection among diarrhea patients in Kunming from 2018 to 2020 and provide evidence for follow-up surveillance and prevention. Methods: A total of 388 fecal samples of diarrhea patients from four sentinel hospitals in Yunnan Province from 2018 to 2020 were collected. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the fecal toxin genes of C. difficile. The positive fecal samples isolated the bacteria, and isolates were identified by mass spectrometry. The genomic DNA of the strains was extracted for multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The fecal toxin, strain isolation, and clinical patient characteristics, including co-infection with other pathogens, were analyzed. Results: Among the 388 fecal samples, 47 samples with positive reference genes of C. difficile were positive, with a total positive rate of 12.11%. There were 4 (8.51%) non-toxigenic and 43 (91.49%) toxigenic ones. A total of 18 strains C. difficile were isolated from 47 positive specimens, and the isolation rate of positive specimens was 38.30%. Among them, 14 strains were positive for tcdA, tcdB, tcdC, tcdR, and tcdE. All 18 strains of C. difficile were negative for binary toxins. The MLST results showed 10 sequence types (ST), including 5 strains of ST37, accounting for 27.78%; 2 strains of ST129, ST3, ST54, and ST2, respectively; and 1 strain of ST35, ST532, ST48, ST27, and ST39, respectively. Fecal toxin gene positive (tcdB+) results were statistically associated with the patient's age group and with or without fever before the visit; positive isolates were only statistically associated with the patient's age group. In addition, some C. difficile patients have co-infection with other diarrhea-related viruses. Conclusions: The infection of C. difficile in diarrhea patients in Kunming is mostly toxigenic strains, and the high diversity of strains was identified using the MLST method. Therefore, the surveillance and prevention of C. difficile should be strengthened.
Humans ; Bacterial Toxins/genetics* ; Enterotoxins/genetics* ; Clostridioides difficile/genetics* ; Multilocus Sequence Typing ; Coinfection ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics* ; China/epidemiology* ; Clostridium Infections/epidemiology* ; Diarrhea/microbiology*

To prepare a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based subunit vaccine of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigen EsxV and study its immunological characteristics, the LNP containing EsxV and c-di-AMP (EsxV: C: L) was prepared by thin film dispersion method, and its encapsulation rate, LNP morphology, particle size, surface charge and polyphase dispersion index were measured. BALB/c mice were immunized with EsxV: C: L by nasal drops. The levels of serum and mucosal antibodies, transcription and secretion of cytokines in lung and spleen, and the proportion of T cell subsets were detected after immunization. EsxV: C: L LNPs were obtained with uniform size and they were spherical and negatively charged. Compared with EsxV: C immunization, EsxV: C: L mucosal inoculation induced increased sIgA level in respiratory tract mucosa. Levels of IL-2 secreted from spleen and ratios of memory T cells and tissue-resident T cells in mice were also elevated. In conclusion, EsxV: C: L could induce stronger mucosal immunity and memory T cell immune responses, which may provide better protection against Mtb infection.
Animals ; Mice ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Antigens, Bacterial ; Immunization ; Nanoparticles ; Vaccines, Subunit ; Mice, Inbred BALB C

Objective:To investigate the effect of ubiquitin binding enzyme 2T (UBE2T) on the radiosensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma and unravel its possible mechanism.Methods:A total of 45 patients pathologically diagnosed with different stages of lung adenocarcinoma and treated with radiotherapy in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University from March, 2019 to December, 2021 were enrolled, and the efficacy was evaluated according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST1.1). All patients were divided into radiosensitive group ( n=25) and radioresistant group ( n=20). Radiosensitive group was complete remission (CR)+partial remission (PR), and radioresistant group was stable disease (SD) + progression disease (PD). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to calculate the score based on the staining intensity and the number of positive cells. Chi-square test was combined to analyze the correlation between the expression level of UBE2T in paraffin specimens of lung adenocarcinoma patients and the radiosensitivity of patients. Lentivirus UBE2T-interfered (UBE2Tsh) A549 and UBE2T-overexpressed SPC-A-1 lung adenocarcinoma cells and their respective controls were constructed for irradiation and colony formation assay. The survivor fraction curve was fitted by single-hit multi-target model. The DNA double-strand break (DSB) marker γH2AX foci were detected by immunofluorescence (IF). The expression levels of UBE2T, γH 2AX and Rad51 proteins were detected by Western blot. Cell cycle and apoptosis rate of A549 were determined by flow cytometry. Binary variables were statistically analyzed by Fisher's exact probability method and measurement data were assessed by t-test. Results:High-expression level of UBE2T was correlated with the radiosensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma patients ( P<0.05). UBE2Tsh improved the radiosensitivity of A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells, and the sensitizing enhancement ratio (SER) was 1.795. UBE2T overexpression decreased the radiosensitivity of SPC-A-1 lung adenocarcinoma cells with an SER of 0.293. γH2AX foci number per cell were significantly increased in UBE2Tsh A549 cells after irradiation ( P<0.01) . Compared with the control group, the expression level of γH2AX protein was up-regulated ( P<0.01)and that of Rad51 protein was down-regulated in UBE2Tsh A549 cells after radiation ( P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the expression level of γH2AX protein was down-regulated ( P<0.05) and that of Rad51 protein was up-regulated in UBE2T overexpressed SPC-A-1 cells ( P<0.001). The proportion of UBE2Tsh A549 cells in G 2 phase was decreased ( P<0.01) and cell apoptosis was increased ( P<0.001). Conclusions:UBE2T might promote the radioresistance of lung adenocarcinoma cells by enhancing DNA DSB repair induced by radiotherapy, inducing cell cycle G 2 phase arrest, and reducing cell apoptosis.

Objective:To investigate the bacterial composition and antimicrobial resistance profile of clinical isolates from bloodstream infections in China.Methods:The clinical bacterial strains isolated from blood culture were collected during January 2020 to December 2020 in member hospitals of Blood Bacterial Resistant Investigation Collaborative System (BRICS). Antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted by agar dilution or broth dilution methods recommended by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI, USA). WHONET 5.6 was used to analyze data.Results:During the study period, 10 043 bacterial strains were collected from 54 hospitals, of which 2 664 (26.5%) were Gram-positive bacteria and 7 379 (73.5%) were Gram-negative bacteria. The top 10 bacterial species were Escherichia coli (38.6%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (18.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (9.9%), coagulase-negative Staphylococci (7.5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3.9%), Enterococcus faecium (3.3%), Enterobacter cloacae (2.8%), Enterococcus faecalis (2.6%), Acinetobacter baumannii (2.4%) and Klebsiella spp (1.8%). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus aureus were 27.6% and 74.4%, respectively. No glycopeptide- and daptomycin-resistant Staphylococci were detected. More than 95% of Staphylococcus aureus were sensitive to rifampicin and SMZco. No vancomycin-resistant Enterococci strains were detected. Extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis were 48.4%, 23.6% and 36.1%, respectively. The prevalence rates of carbapenem-resistance in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were 2.3% and 16.1%, respectively; 9.6% of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were resistant to ceftazidime/avibactam combination. The prevalence rate of carbapenem-resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii was 60.0%, while polymyxin and tigecycline showed good activity against Acinetobacter baumannii. The prevalence rate of carbapenem-resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 23.2%. Conclusions:The surveillance results in 2020 showed that the main pathogens of bloodstream infection in China were gram-negative bacteria, while Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen, and ESBL-producing strains declined while carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae kept on high level. The proportion and the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa were on the rise slowly. On the other side, the MRSA incidence got lower in China, while the overall prevalence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci was low.

Objective:To explore the clinical application and long-term safety of hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQ) in the treatment of rheumatic diseases.Methods:A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted between August 2017 and August 2018 in a random sample of eleven medical institutions of rheumatology and immunology in China. Patients who took HCQ for more than 3 months were enrolled into this study. The cumulative dose and long-term side effects of HCQ were recorded. The changes of laboratory indexes before and after treatment with HCQ were analyzed. Categorical variables were presented with counts and proportions, and evaluated by Chi-square test. Continuous parametric data were presented as Mean±standard deviation, and evaluated by Student's t test or Mann-Whitney U test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results:A total of 886 patients with rheumatic diseases were enrolled into this study, including 505 cases with systemic lupus erythematosus (57.0%), 210 cases with rheumatoid arthritis (23.7%), 80 cases with Sj?gren's syndrome (9.0%), 57 cases with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (6.4%), 12 cases of systemic vasculitis (1.4%), 10 cases of mixed connective tissue disease (1.1%), 7 cases of myositis (0.8%) and 5 cases with systemic sclerosis (0.6%). The most common long-term side effects of HCQ was skin or mucous lesions (12.4%) and vision problems (8.0%). Other adverse reactions included problems of digestive system (3.0%), nervous system (2.1%), musculoskeletal system (1.1%) and cardiovascular system (0.9%). 140 cases (15.8%) had stopped taking HCQ during the treatment. More than half of them decided to stop taking medicine by themselves. Fifty-four patients (6.1%) stopped using HCQ due to side effects while 24 of them took it again, and another 12 patients (1.4%) stopped the drug due to remission of illness. Patients were divided into three groups according to the cumulative dose of HCQ: less than 500 g, 500-1 000 g and more than 1 000 g respectively. There was significant difference in the incidence of long-term side effects among the three groups ( χ2=6.382, P=0.041). The last group (more than 1 000 g) suffered the highest incidence of long-term adverse reactions (37.1%). No severe adverse drug reactions were observed in this study. Conclusion:Hydroxychloroquine is widely used in the treatment of rheumatic diseases. The incidence of long-term side effects is 20.4%, is 6.1% lead to drug withdrawal, which are especially related to the cumulative doses. It should be adjusted properly according to the clinical application.

Studies have confirmed that microRNA (miRNAs) is involved in the development and progression of tumors by targeting multiple genes. However, the molecular mechanism of miR-654-5p in in- hibiting the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells through the targeted regulation of host cell factor 1 (HCFCl) is still unclear. The analysis of bioinformatics datasets found that miR-654-5p was downregu-lated in breast cancer tissues and was associated with poor prognosis (P = 0. 013). Quantitative real-time PCR (Quantitative real-time PCR, qRT-PCR) showed that the expression of miR-654-5p in MDA-MB-231 cells was decreased (P<0. 05), and the expression of miR-654-5p was significantly increased after transfection of the overexpressed plasmid (P<0. 05) as compared with the control group. The 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) proliferation experiment and Transwell assay showed that overexpression of miR-654-5p inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells (P<0. 05). Hub gene HCFCl of miR-654-5p was screened and constructed by Cytoscape software, and it was found that miR-654-5p was negatively correlated with the expression of HCFCl. The expression of HCFCl was increased in breast cancer tissues and closely correlated with lymph node metastasis, and patients with high expression of HCFCl had poor prognosis (P = 0. 0039). Dual-luciferase assay confirmed that miR-654-5p could bind to the 3'-UTR of HCFClmKNA (P<0. 05). Western blot results showed that compared with human normal breast epithelial cells MCF-10A, the expression of HCFCl was increased in MDA-MB-231 cells (P<0. 05), and the expression of HCFCl was significantly down-regulated after overexpression of miR-654-5p (P<0. 05). Transwell experiment results showed that the migration and invasion ability of MDA-MB-231 cells after overexpression of miR-654-5p was significantly decreased compared with the control group. Co-transfection of HCFCl can partially reverse the inhibitory effect of miR-654-5p on the migration and invasion ability of breast cancer cells (P<0. 05). In conclusion, miR-654-5p can inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells by regulating the expression of HCFCl.