Objective:To investigate the types and number of symptom clusters in patients undergoing sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer and explore the influencing factors of these symptom clusters.Methods:Totally 192 patients who underwent sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer in the Department of General Surgery at Peking University Third Hospital between January 2021 and January 2023 were selected by convenience sampling. A general information questionnaire, Post-sphincter-preserving Surgery Symptom Questionnaire, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) were used for data collection.Results:A total of 192 questionnaires were distributed, with 159 valid questionnaires returned. Exploratory factor analysis on 18 symptoms with an incidence rate of over 10.0% identified five primary symptom clusters: the psychological symptom cluster, increased defecation cluster, fatigue-pain cluster, sleep disturbance cluster, and constipation-related cluster. Logistic regression analysis showed that postoperative duration was an influencing factor for the psychological symptom cluster ( P<0.05) ; preoperative radiotherapy and postoperative duration were influencing factors for the increased defecation cluster ( P<0.05) ; postoperative chemotherapy was an influencing factor for the fatigue-pain cluster ( P<0.05) ; and weekly sedentary time was an influencing factor for the sleep disturbance cluster ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:Patients undergoing sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer experience multiple symptom clusters. Preoperative radiotherapy and prolonged sedentary behavior increase the risk of symptom clusters, and different postoperative periods are associated with varying risks for different symptom clusters. However, physical activity levels do not appear to influence the occurrence of symptom clusters. Healthcare providers should implement targeted interventions based on the symptom clusters and their influencing factors to reduce the incidence of symptoms in patients.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect and mechanism of gracillin from Reineckia carnea on autophagy in non- small cell lung cancer A549 cells. METHODS Using A549 cells as subjects， the effects of different concentrations of gracillin （0.25， 0.5， 1， 2， 4 μmol/L） on the proliferation of cells were detected by CCK-8 after being treated for different time （12， 24， 48 h）. Compared with the control group without medication， the effect of gracillin （2 μmol/L） on the formation of autophagosomes in cells was observed by transmission electron microscope after 24 h of exposure. The aggregation of GFP-LC3 on autophagosome membrane was detected by GFP-LC3 plasmid transfection after being treated with gracillin （0.25， 0.5， 1， 2 μmol/L） for 24 h. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot assay were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of family with sequence similarity 102 member A（FAM102A）， the expressions of autophagy-related proteins [p62， Beclin-1， microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B （LC3B）]， and the expressions of phosphoinositide 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathway-related proteins in A549 cells after being treated with gracillin （0.25， 0.5， 1 and 2 μmol/L） for 24 h. RESULTS Gracillin significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The IC50 was 2.55 μmol/L at 24 h. After 24 h of gracillin treatment， autophagosomes with bilayer membrane structure were found in the cell cytoplasm， and GFP-LC3 green fluorescent spots on autophagosome membrane were obvious， representing an increasing trend as drug concentration. Compared with the control group， mRNA and protein expressions of FAM102A （0.5， 1， 2 μmol/L groups）， protein expression of Beclin-1 （1， 2 μmol/L groups） and LC3B-Ⅱ/LC3B-Ⅰ ratio （2 μmol/L group） were significantly increased in different concentrations of gracillin groups， while the protein expression of p62 （1， 2 μmol/L groups）， and the protein phosphorylations of Akt （1， 2 μmol/L groups） and PI3K （2 μmol/L group） were all decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS Gracillin can promote excessive autophagy in A549 cells by up-regulating mRNA and protein expressions of FAM102A and inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway， thus inhibiting cell proliferation.

Background A large amount of iron deposition in the brain can cause neuronal damage by inducing oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and abnormal mitochondrial function. In addition, iron deposition is also reported to be closely related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The neurofibrillary tangles aggregated by tau hyperphosphorylation are one of the important pathological features of AD. Objective To investigate potential effect of exogenous trivalent iron ions on neuronal activity in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells and tau hyperphosphorylation and aggregation. Methods SH-SY5Y cells were treated with ferric chloride (FeCl₃) at four concentrations (10, 100, 200, and 400 mg·L⁻¹). Cell survival rate was then detected by CCK8 assay. Intracellular iron content was determined prussian blue (Perl's) by iron staining after 24 h exposure to FeCl₃ at 10 or 200 mg·L⁻¹. Transfection of tau-P301L plasmid was conducted to construct an AD-like cell model for tau overexpression. The differences in the expression of the phosphorylated tau (p-tau) protein in SH-SY5Y cells and SH-SY5Y cells with tau overexpression were detected by Western blotting after 24 h exposure to FeCl₃ at 10 and 200 mg·L⁻¹. After dilution with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), FeCl₃, human tauR3, and FeCl₃ + tauR3 were incubated at 37℃, and the fluorescence intensity reflecting tau aggregation level was measured by thioflavin T(ThT) method at 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and 96 h, respectively. Meanwhile, after 96 h coincubation of FeCl₃ and tauR3, the fibers formed by tau aggregation were observed under a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results After 24 h of FeCl₃ exposure, the cell survival rate of SH-SY5Y cells among all groups was statistically different (F=8.63, P<0.01). The cell survival rates in the 200 and 400 mg·L⁻¹ groups were 80.1% and 68.7% of the control group, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the nuclei of the 200 mg·L⁻¹ FeCl₃ group were mainly yellowish-brown after iron staining and the positive cell rate was up-regulated by 12.9% (P<0.01). After 24 h of FeCl₃ exposure , the p-tau (Ser396) protein expression was statistically different among all groups (F=11.6, P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the p-tau protein expression level of SH-SY5Y cells in the 200 mg·L⁻¹ group was up-regulated by 72.7% (P<0.01). After FeCl₃-treated SH-SY5Y cells with tau overexpression for 24 h, the p-tau (Ser396) protein expression was statistically different among all groups (F=27.8, P<0.01). Compared with the tau group, the p-tau (Ser396) protein expression level of SH-SY5Y cells in the tau + 200 mg·L⁻¹ group was up-regulated by 44.6% (P<0.05). Compared with the tauR3 group, the fluorescence intensities in the 84 and 96 h tauR3 + FeCl₃ groups were up-regulated by 49.9% and 53.7% (P<0.01) respectively. After 96 h of coincubation, compared with the tauR3 group, FeCl₃ + tauR3 aggravated tau aggregation and formed fiber deposition under TEM. Conclusion Exogenous trivalent iron ions may inhibit SH-SY5Y cell viability, promote the phosphorylation of tau in SH-SY5Y cells transfected with tau-P301L plasmid, and aggravate tauR3 aggregation and fiber production.

Background Occupational and environmental particulate matter may cause fibrosis, accompanied by RNA m⁶A modification changes. Neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) can cause mouse lung fibrosis, which contains a large number of fibroblasts. Objective To investigate m⁶A modification of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated protein 6/nuclear factor-κB (TRAF6/NF-κB) signaling pathway in fibrosis of human embryonic lung fibroblasts induced by Nd₂O₃, and identify the key m⁶A modification sites of TRAF6. Methods Designed concentrations of Nd₂O₃ (0, 1.563, 3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg∙L⁻¹) were infected with HELF cells for 24 and 48 h, and cell viability was detected to determine exposure time and dose. Measurements included indicators of fibrosis [hydroxyproline (HYP) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)], m⁶A methylation level, methyltransferases (METTL3 and METTL14), demethylases (FTO and ALKBH5), reading proteins (YTHDC2 and YTHDF2), fibrosis-associated genes (collagen-І, vimentin, and α-SMA), and proteins related to signaling pathway (TRAF6, NFKB1, P65, and P-P65). The enrichment of m⁶A in TRAF6 mRNA was measured by methylated RNA immunoprecipitation-quantitative real-time PCR (MeRIP-qPCR). Results The results of cell viability indicated that 6.25, 12.5, 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃ and 48 h exposure time were used for subsequent experiments. After 48 h exposure, compared with the control group, the HYP level in the 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃ group was increased, and the levels of TGF-β1 in the 6.25, 12.5, and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃ groups were increased (P<0.05); the overall m⁶A methylation levels of HELF cells in the 12.5 and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃ groups were increased (P<0.05). At mRNA level, compared with the control group, the mRNA expression levels of methyltransferases METTL3 and METTL14 (6.25, 12.5, and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) were increased (P<0.05); the mRNA expression level of reading protein YTHDF2 (6.25, 12.5, and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) was increased (P<0.05), while the mRNA expression level of YTHDC2 (25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) was decreased (P<0.05); the mRNA expression levels of demethylases FTO (12.5 and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) and ALKBH5 (25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) were decreased (P<0.05); the mRNA expression levels of fibrosis-related genes vimentin, α-SMA, and collagen-Ⅰ (6.25, 12.5, and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) were increased (P<0.05); the mRNA expression levels of pathway-related genes TRAF6 (25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) and NFKB1 (12.5 and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) were increased (P<0.05). At protein level, compared with the control group, the expression levels of methyltransferases METTL3 (25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) and METTL14 (12.5 and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) were increased (P<0.05); the expression level of reading protein YTHDF2 (12.5 and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) was increased, while the expression level of YTHDC2 (25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) was decreased (P<0.05); the expression level of demethylase FTO (25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃) was decreased (P<0.05); the expression level of fibrosis-associated protein vimentin was increased at 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃, and the expression levels of α-SMA and collagen-Ⅰ were increased at 12.5 and 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃ (P<0.05); the expression levels of TRAF6 and P-P65 were increased at 25 mg∙L⁻¹ Nd₂O₃ (P<0.05). The MeRIP-qPCR results showed that compared with the control group, the concentrations of m⁶A in all Nd₂O₃ groups were significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusions Upon exposure of HELF cells to Nd₂O₃, the alterations in fibrosis-related indexes increase the expression of some m⁶A methylases and decrease the expression of demethylases, thereby increasing the m⁶A methylase level, and may promote the progression of fibrosis by activating the TRAF6/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Malignant tumors are diseases that seriously threaten human health and social development. Traditional tumor therapies such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy cannot fully meet the needs of clinical treatment, and emerging immunotherapy has become a research hotspot in the field of tumor treatment. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been approved as a tumor immunotherapy method for the treatment of various tumors, such as lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer and colorectal cancer, etc. However, during the clinical use of ICIs, only a small number of patients experienced durable responses, which also led to drug resistance and adverse reactions. Therefore, the identification and development of predictive biomarkers is crucial to improve the therapeutic efficacy of ICIs. The predictive biomarkers of tumor ICIs mainly include tumor biomarkers, tumor microenvironment biomarkers, circulation-related biomarkers, host environmental biomarkers and combinatorial biomarkers. They are of great significance for screening, individualized treatment and prognosis evaluation of tumor patients. This article reviews the advances of predictive markers for tumor ICIs therapy.
Humans ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Lung Neoplasms ; Biomarkers ; Immunotherapy/methods* ; Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics* ; Prognosis ; Tumor Microenvironment

The estimated new cases of breast cancer (BC) patients were 2.26 million in 2020, which accounted for 11.7% of all cancer patients, making it the most prevalent cancer worldwide. Early detection, diagnosis and treatment are crucial to reduce the mortality, and improve the prognosis of BC patients. Despite the widespread use of mammography screening as a tool for BC screening, the false positive, radiation, and overdiagnosis are still pressing issues that need to be addressed. Therefore, it is urgent to develop accessible, stable, and reliable biomarkers for non-invasive screening and diagnosis of BC. Recent studies indicated that the circulating tumor cell DNA (ctDNA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), extracellular vesicles (EV), circulating miRNAs and BRCA gene from blood, and the phospholipid, miRNAs, hypnone and hexadecane from urine, nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled gas were closely related to the early screening and diagnosis of BC. This review summarizes the advances of the above biomarkers in the early screening and diagnosis of BC.
Humans ; Female ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; MicroRNAs/genetics*

As a reversible and dynamic epigenetic marker, N⁶-adenylate methylation (m⁶A) modification is the most common mRNA modification in eukaryotes. This paper briefly described how m⁶A can influence RNA splicing, stability, and translation after transcription, and then participate in a variety of signaling pathways and biological and pathological processes, regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis, epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT) processes, and tumor invasion and metastasis. In addition, according to current studies, m⁶A methyltransferases (writers) are believed to promote EMT and tumor development, and readers and erasers both promote and inhibit EMT in different research objects. In this review, we summarized the mechanism of m⁶A modification and its role in cell transformation, and pointed out the direction of disease treatment.

Tumor is a serious threat to human health. At present, surgical resection, chemoradiotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy are the main therapeutic strategies. Monoclonal antibody has gradually become an indispensable drug type in the clinical treatment of cancer due to its high efficiency and low toxicity. Phage antibody library technology (PALT) is a novel monoclonal antibody preparation technique. The recombinant immunoglobulin variable region of heavy chain (VH)/variable region of light chain (VL) gene is integrated into the phage vector, and the antibody is expressed on the phage surface in the form of fusion protein to obtain a diverse antibody library. Through the process of adsorption-elution-amplification, the antibody library can be screened to obtain the antibody molecule with specific binding antigen as well as its gene sequence. PALT has the advantages of short antibody production cycle, strong plasticity of antibody structure, large antibody yield, high diversity and direct production of humanized antibodies. It has been used in screening tumor markers and preparation of antibody drugs for breast cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer and liver cancer. This article reviews the recent progress and the application of PALT in tumor therapy.
Humans ; Bacteriophages/genetics* ; Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics* ; Gene Library ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use* ; Immunotherapy ; Peptide Library

Objective : To study the expression of QSOX1 in osteosarcoma tissues and cells and its role in prolifera- tion，migration and invasion． Methods : Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to verify the expression of QSOX1 in osteosarcoma tissues and cells，and the cell line MG63 with the highest expression was selected．Slow virus knocked down and selected stable strains shQSOX1 group and shCtrl group．Western blot was used to detect the expression level of QSOX1 protein in MG63 after transfection．CCK-8 assay was used to detect the level of cell proliferation．Scratch test verified the level of cell migration．Transwell test was used to detect the invasion ability of cells ; Western blot was used to detect the mRNA expression level of NF-κB signal pathway in shCtrl group and shQ- SOX1 group. Results : Western blot and immunohistochemistry showed that QSOX1 was low expressed in human osteoblast line hFOB1. 19 and adjacent tissues，but high expressed in osteosarcoma tissue and osteosarcoma cells(P < 0. 001) ．CCK-8 experiment showed that the proliferation ability of shQSOX1 group was inhibited compared with shCtrl group (P＜0. 05) ; In the scratch test，the migration ability of shQSOX1 group decreased (P＜0. 001) ; Transwell proved that the invasive ability of shQSOX1 group was affected (P＜0. 001) ; NF-κB was highly expressed in shCtrl group and low expressed in shQSOX1 group (P＜0. 001) ． Conclusion QSOX1 is highly expressed in osteo- sarcoma．Knockout of QSOX1 gene can inhibit the proliferation，migration and invasion of osteosarcoma．Knockout of QSOX1 makes NF-κB signal pathway is deactivated.

Objective: To investigate the effect of modified hyaluronic acid(HA) hydrogel-controlled release brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) on the growth, differentiation, and apoptosis of rat embryonic neural stem cells(rFNSCs). Methods: The experiment took rat embryonic stem cells as the research object. The experiments were divided into three groups, blank control group [rFNSCs co-cultured with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)(PLGA)and HA],conditional control group(rFNSCs co-cultured with BDNF-PLGA and HA), and experimental group(rFNSCs co-cultured with BDNF-PLGA and modified hyaluronic acid hydrogel that is Dex-HA). ELISA was used for detecting the release curve of BDNF in the controlled-release scaffold. The Live/Dead assay detected the apoptosis of rFNSCs in each group, CCK-8 experiment was used to test the cell proliferation activity of rFNSCs after coculture with hydrogel. The differentiation ratios of rFNSCs in different groups were detected by immunocytochemical staining. Results: ELISA result showed that the controlled-release scaffold could release BDNF for 14 days.Live/Dead result showed the number of rFNSCs apoptotic in experimental group was less than blank control group and conditional control group. CCK-8 experiment result showed that the cell proliferation activity of rFNSCs in the experimental group was showed stronger survivability than blank control group and conditional control group. The difference was statistically significant(P<0. 05). Moreover, immunocytochemical staining showed that the experimental group hydrogel could promote the neuronal differentiation of rFNSCs and reduce their differentiation into astrocytes in vitro compared with the blank control group and the conditional control group. The difference was statistically significant(P<0. 05). Conclusion modified hyaluronic acid hydrogel controlled release brain-derived neurotrophic factor can promote the growth and differentiation of rFNSCs and reduce their apoptosis.