Objective:To investigate a new method for rapid detection of the MYOD1 L122R mutation and to analyze the clinical and pathological characteristics of mutation-positive rhabdomyosarcoma.Methods:A MYOD1 mutation detection kit was developed using allele-specific Taqman fluorescence probe technology. A total of 80 rhabdomyosarcoma samples diagnosed at Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from June 2022 to June 2023 were collected for testing. The detection sensitivity, specificity, and consistency rate of the kit were compared with those of the gold standard Sanger sequencing. The demographic, histopathological, and molecular genetic characteristics of patients with MYOD1 mutations were analyzed.Results:Among the 80 rhabdomyosarcoma cases, there were 46 males and 34 females, with an age of onset ranging from 0 to 16 years [mean (6.0±4.4) years], including 32 embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, 18 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, and 30 spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma. The new kit screened a total of 11 mutations, of which 10 were spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma and one was embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Patients with MYOD1 mutations were typically older (four cases over 10 years old) but could also occur in young children (the youngest being 3-year and 2-month-old). The primary sites were the head and neck region in eight cases, limbs in two cases, and pelvic cavity in one case. Among the six patients with available staging information at initial diagnosis, one was classified as stage 2 and five were stage 3, all of which were intermediate risk. Among the 11 mutation patients, six had recurrence and metastasis, with three deaths; the remaining patients had not shown tumor progression until last follow-up. Compared with the wild type group, the expression level of MYOD1 in mutation patients increased significantly ( χ2=10.66, P=0.01), while the event-free survival rate ( χ2=9.925, P<0.01) and overall survival ( χ2=4.53, P=0.03) rate decreased. Compared with Sanger sequencing, the kit achieved 100% sensitivity and specificity. The kit had a minimum mutation content detection limit of 2% and the reaction could be finished within 2 hours. Additionally, this kit might also be used to detect the expression of MYOD1, thereby aiding the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma. Conclusions:The study has established a new method for accurate and rapid detection of MYOD1 mutation in rhabdomyosarcoma, particularly suitable for the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples in clinical settings. MYOD1 mutations more likely occur in spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma of the head and neck region in children. Patients with MYOD1 mutations have an extremely poor prognosis, which is independent of clinical staging and grading. MYOD1 mutation detection in rhabdomyosarcoma has significant value for auxiliary diagnosis and prognostic assessment.

Objective:To explore the effective way to improve the protection efficiency of intellectual property rights of medical institutions in the field of biomedicine by building an efficient patent pre-examination management system, so as to promote the transformation of achievements.Methods:Through literature review, case analysis and combined with the actual examination situation of the intellectual property protection center, the study analyzed and summarized the characteristics of long R&D cycle, rapid technology iteration, multidisciplinary intersection in the field of biomedicine, and the necessity of hospitals to carry out patent pre-examination work.Results:The pre-examination awareness of scientific researchers in medical institutions was weak, the drafting of application documents was not standardized, and the patent achievements were out of touch with the market.Conclusions:To accelerate intellectual property conversion of innovation achievements, innovation management strategies should be implemented: standardized processes, pre-evaluation, professional team support, process control and talent cultivation.

Objective:To investigate a new method for rapid detection of the MYOD1 L122R mutation and to analyze the clinical and pathological characteristics of mutation-positive rhabdomyosarcoma.Methods:A MYOD1 mutation detection kit was developed using allele-specific Taqman fluorescence probe technology. A total of 80 rhabdomyosarcoma samples diagnosed at Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from June 2022 to June 2023 were collected for testing. The detection sensitivity, specificity, and consistency rate of the kit were compared with those of the gold standard Sanger sequencing. The demographic, histopathological, and molecular genetic characteristics of patients with MYOD1 mutations were analyzed.Results:Among the 80 rhabdomyosarcoma cases, there were 46 males and 34 females, with an age of onset ranging from 0 to 16 years [mean (6.0±4.4) years], including 32 embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, 18 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, and 30 spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma. The new kit screened a total of 11 mutations, of which 10 were spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma and one was embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Patients with MYOD1 mutations were typically older (four cases over 10 years old) but could also occur in young children (the youngest being 3-year and 2-month-old). The primary sites were the head and neck region in eight cases, limbs in two cases, and pelvic cavity in one case. Among the six patients with available staging information at initial diagnosis, one was classified as stage 2 and five were stage 3, all of which were intermediate risk. Among the 11 mutation patients, six had recurrence and metastasis, with three deaths; the remaining patients had not shown tumor progression until last follow-up. Compared with the wild type group, the expression level of MYOD1 in mutation patients increased significantly ( χ2=10.66, P=0.01), while the event-free survival rate ( χ2=9.925, P<0.01) and overall survival ( χ2=4.53, P=0.03) rate decreased. Compared with Sanger sequencing, the kit achieved 100% sensitivity and specificity. The kit had a minimum mutation content detection limit of 2% and the reaction could be finished within 2 hours. Additionally, this kit might also be used to detect the expression of MYOD1, thereby aiding the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma. Conclusions:The study has established a new method for accurate and rapid detection of MYOD1 mutation in rhabdomyosarcoma, particularly suitable for the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples in clinical settings. MYOD1 mutations more likely occur in spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma of the head and neck region in children. Patients with MYOD1 mutations have an extremely poor prognosis, which is independent of clinical staging and grading. MYOD1 mutation detection in rhabdomyosarcoma has significant value for auxiliary diagnosis and prognostic assessment.

Objective:To explore the effective way to improve the protection efficiency of intellectual property rights of medical institutions in the field of biomedicine by building an efficient patent pre-examination management system, so as to promote the transformation of achievements.Methods:Through literature review, case analysis and combined with the actual examination situation of the intellectual property protection center, the study analyzed and summarized the characteristics of long R&D cycle, rapid technology iteration, multidisciplinary intersection in the field of biomedicine, and the necessity of hospitals to carry out patent pre-examination work.Results:The pre-examination awareness of scientific researchers in medical institutions was weak, the drafting of application documents was not standardized, and the patent achievements were out of touch with the market.Conclusions:To accelerate intellectual property conversion of innovation achievements, innovation management strategies should be implemented: standardized processes, pre-evaluation, professional team support, process control and talent cultivation.

Purpose To study the clinical and pathological features of angiomatoid fibrous histocytoma(AFH)and to ex-plore its diagnosis,differential diagnosis and prognosis.Meth-ods The clinicopathological and follow-up data were analyzed in 14 cases of AFH,and the literatures were reviewed.Results There were 11 males and 3 females.The age ranged from 11 months to 12 years and 11 months,with average 5.9 years.3 cases were located in limbs,and 5 cases in trunk,5 cases in head and neck region,and 1 of intracranial tumor.Histological-ly,14 cases were composed of fibrous capsules and lymphocyte sheaths,and cell nucleus were vacuolar,forming fascicles with focal whirling and synteny.Intralesional pseudoangiomatous spaces were noted in 9 cases.Calcification was found in 2 ca-ses.2 cases showed high mitotic acticity(11/10 HPF).Scle-rosing and/or myxoid stroma was seen in 3 cases.Tumors were immunopositive for desmin(10/14),EMA(12/14),CD99(12/14),SMA(9/12),ALK(7/8),and the average of Ki67 index was 16％.7 cases harbored EWSR1 rearrangenent(part-ner gene not identified),2 cases had EWSR1-ATF1 fusion and 2 EWSR1-CREB1 fusion.Clinical follow-up information was a-vailable for 14 cases(average 46 months).All the 14 cases were alive without recurrence and metastasis.Conclusion AFH is a borderline or low-grade malignant tumor,often demon-strates indolent behavior in children,but rarely recurs and me-tastasizes.The diagnosis and differential diagnosis require a comprehensive analysis of clinical features,histopathologic changes,immunohistochemical finding and EWSR1 or FUS gene detection results.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological features, immunophenotype and molecular genetic characteristics of congenital spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma.Methods:Sixteen cases (including 10 consultation cases) of congenital spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosed at the Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing China, from April 2017 to January 2022 were collected. These cases were evaluated for clinical profiles, histomorphological features, immunophenotype and molecular characteristics.Results:Among the 16 patients, 9 were male and 7 were female. Five cases were present during maternal pregnancy and 11 cases were found immediately after birth. The tumors were located in the chest wall, low back, retroperitoneum, extremities or perineum. The tumors consisted of fasciculated spindle-shaped cells with localized mesenchymal sclerosis and vitreous metaplasia. Immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor cells expressed Desmin, Myogenin, MyoD1, SMA, CD56 and ALK to varying degrees, but not other markers such as CD34, CD99, pan-TRK, S-100 and BCOR. FISH analyses with NCOA2 (8q13) and VGLL2 (6q22) gene breakage probes revealed a breakage translocation in chromosome NCOA2 (8q13) in 4 cases (4/11). In the 6 cases subject to sequencing, a mutation at the p.L122R locus of MYOD1 gene was detected in 1 case (1/6). Two cases were examined by electron microscopy, which showed bundle-arranged myofilaments with some primitive myofilament formation. Five cases were resected with simple surgery, 2 cases were biopsied and followed up with observation only, and 9 cases were treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Follow-up was available in 12 cases. At the end of the follow-up, 2 of the 12 patients developed local recurrences and 2 patients survived with disease.Conclusions:Congenital spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare subtype of congenital rhabdomyosarcoma. It more commonly occurs in the chest, back and lower limbs of infants than other sites. NCOA2/VGLL2 gene fusion seems to be the most common genetic change. Its prognosis is better than other subtypes of rhabdomyosarcoma and those in adolescents and adults with the same subtype. Analysis and summary of its clinicopathological features can help differentiate it from other soft tissue tumors in infants and children and provide the information for appropriate treatments.

There has been a large number of related literature reports on sleep disorders, but in pediatrics, especially for children aged 0-5 years old, sleep disorders have not received enough attention.In order to raise pediatricians′ awareness of sleep disorders in children aged 0-5 years old, the relevant studies during the past 10 years have been reviewed, and the clinical manifestations and treatments were summarized.The clinical manifestations of sleep disorders in infants aged 0-5 years old are not typical and the incidence is high.Sleep disorders have profound effects on the cognitive and behavioral development of children aged 0-5 years old.

Objective To investigate the correlation between homocysteine (Hcy) and cerebrovascular hemodynamic accumulative scores in primary hypertension patients. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2 767 patients with essential hypertension who were simultaneously tested for serum Hcy and cerebral vascular function in the health management/physical examination center in Chongqing General Hospital from October 2015 to March 2018. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) was also explored. Differences between cerebrovascular hemodynamic accumulative scores and its abnormal rate among different Hcy levels were evaluated using the analysis of variance and χ2tests, and logistic regression was used to analyze the correlation between Hcy and cerebrovascular hemodynamic accumulative scores. Results The median level of Hcy in primary hypertension was 11.8 (9.3-15.0) μmol/L. HHcy prevalence was 25.15% (27.01% in men and 19.80% in women), which was higher in men than women (χ2=14.576, P<0.001) and was increasing with age (P<0.001). The proportion of stroke, proportion of taking hypotensive medications, age, fasting plasma glucose, systolic pressure, pulse pressure, and Hcy were significantly higher in the abnormal score (<75 points) group (P<0.001) than in the normal score (≥75 points) group. The average cerebrovascular hemodynamic accumulative score was 86.99±16.10 points. The score in the highest quartile of Hcy (77.91±16.10) was significantly lower than that in other quartiles. The abnormal score rate (<75 points) was 15.25% and was increasing with the Hcy level (χ2=13.986, P<0.001). Logistic regression showed that Hcy in the second, third, and highest quartiles observed in abnormal scores was, respectively, 1.913-fold, 2.045-fold, and 7.497-fold higher than that in the lowest quartile after adjusting the confounding factors. Conclusion Hcy may be an independent risk factor for abnormal cerebrovascular hemodynamic accumulative scores in primary hypertension. Cerebrovascular dysfunction should be closely monitored when Hcy was higher than 15 μmol/L.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the methods and solve the technical bottlenecks in the preparation of recombinant human protein hZP3 using the baculovirus expression system and pave the technical ground for the production and application of recombinant hZP3.

METHODSThe recombinant vector pFASTBAC HTa-hZP3 was constructed and transferred to competent E. coli cells carrying bacmid to produce recombinant bacmid by homologous recombination. Sf9 cells were transfected with the recombinant bacmid to produce recombinant baculovirus. Full-length recombinant hZP3 (amino acids 1-424) and truncated recombinant hZP3 (amino acids 23-348) were expressed in the sf9 cells by infection with the recombinant baculovirus. The expression time of hZP3 was determined by Western blot and its purification was explored.

RESULTSThe recombinant bacmid and baculovirus were successfully constructed for expressing both the full-length and truncated hZP3. The maximal expression of recombinant hZP3 in the sf9 cells was achieved at 72-96 hours after baculovirus infection. Some of the recombinant hZP3 with His-tag could bind affinity matrix and got purified but most of the solubilized hZP3 passed through and the reasons remained unknown. Purified recombinant hZP3 labeled with Dylight Dye488 was able to bind human sperm.

CONCLUSIONIt is feasible to express recombinant hZP3 in insect cells using the baculovirus system though the yield of hZP3 needs to be optimized. The methods for efficient enrichment and purification of recombinant hZP3 require further exploration.

Baculoviridae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Egg Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Receptors, Cell Surface ; genetics ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection ; methods ; Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins

With the surge of high-throughput sequencing technology, it is becoming popular to perform the phylogenetic study based on genomic data. A bundle of new terms is emerging, such as phylogenomics, pharmacophylogenomics and phylotranscriptomics, which are somewhat overlapping with pharmaphylogeny. Phylogenomics is the crossing of evolutionary biology and genomics, in which genome data are utilized for evolutionary reconstructions. Pharmaphylogeny, advocated by Prof. Pei-gen Xiao since 1980s, focuses on the phylogenetic relationship of medicinal plants and is thus nurtured by molecular phylogeny, chemotaxonomy and bioactivity studies. Phylogenomics can be integrated into the flow chart of drug discovery and development, and extend the field of pharmaphylogeny at the omic level, thus the concept of pharmacophylogenomics could be redefined. This review gives a brief analysis of the association and the distinguished feature of the pharmaphylogeny related terms, in the context of plant-based drug discovery and sustainable utilization of pharmaceutical resource.
Drug Discovery ; Pharmacogenetics ; Phylogeny ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; genetics