Objective:To investigate risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes(APO) in women with hypertriglyceridemia(HTG) during late pregnancy despite normal thyroid function, focusing on thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor(TSHR) levels.Methods:A total of 242 pregnant women with normal thyroid function who delivered in General Hospital of Central Theater Command from October 2023 to June 2024 were divided into HTG( n=111) and non-HTG groups( n=131). Clinical data, lipid profiles, thyroid function, TSHR levels, and APO were compared, and the influencing factors of APO were analyzed. Results:Compared with non-HTG group, APO, adverse maternal outcomes, and gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM) were significantly more frequent in the HTG group( P<0.05). The HTG group also had higher triglyceride(TG), fasting plasma glucose(FPG), triglyceride glucose index(TyG), triglyceride/high density lipoprotein cholesterol(TG/HDL-C), thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH) and TSHR, with lower free triiodothyronine (FT 3)( P<0.05). TSHR was an independent risk factor for APO, maternal adverse outcomes, and GDM in all pregnant women( OR=1.112, 95% CI 1.007-1.229; OR=1.126, 95% CI 1.020-1.243; OR=1.133, 95% CI 1.025-1.253) and was also an independent risk factor for APO in the HTG group( OR=1.165, 95% CI 1.005-1.351). Conclusion:Pregnant women with normal thyroid function and HTG in late pregnancy are more likely to have APO, manifested as maternal adverse outcomes and GDM. TSHR is an independent risk factor for APO.

Objective:To investigate risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes(APO) in women with hypertriglyceridemia(HTG) during late pregnancy despite normal thyroid function, focusing on thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor(TSHR) levels.Methods:A total of 242 pregnant women with normal thyroid function who delivered in General Hospital of Central Theater Command from October 2023 to June 2024 were divided into HTG( n=111) and non-HTG groups( n=131). Clinical data, lipid profiles, thyroid function, TSHR levels, and APO were compared, and the influencing factors of APO were analyzed. Results:Compared with non-HTG group, APO, adverse maternal outcomes, and gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM) were significantly more frequent in the HTG group( P<0.05). The HTG group also had higher triglyceride(TG), fasting plasma glucose(FPG), triglyceride glucose index(TyG), triglyceride/high density lipoprotein cholesterol(TG/HDL-C), thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH) and TSHR, with lower free triiodothyronine (FT 3)( P<0.05). TSHR was an independent risk factor for APO, maternal adverse outcomes, and GDM in all pregnant women( OR=1.112, 95% CI 1.007-1.229; OR=1.126, 95% CI 1.020-1.243; OR=1.133, 95% CI 1.025-1.253) and was also an independent risk factor for APO in the HTG group( OR=1.165, 95% CI 1.005-1.351). Conclusion:Pregnant women with normal thyroid function and HTG in late pregnancy are more likely to have APO, manifested as maternal adverse outcomes and GDM. TSHR is an independent risk factor for APO.

Lipids have been found to modulate tumor biology, including proliferation, survival, and metastasis. With the new understanding of tumor immune escape that has developed in recent years, the influence of lipids on the cancer-immunity cycle has also been gradually discovered. First, regarding antigen presentation, cholesterol prevents tumor antigens from being identified by antigen presenting cells. Fatty acids reduce the expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and costimulatory factors in dendritic cells, impairing antigen presentation to T cells. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) reduce the accumulation of tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells. Regarding T-cell priming and activation, cholesterol destroys the structure of the T-cell receptor and reduces immunodetection. In contrast, cholesterol also promotes T-cell receptor clustering and relative signal transduction. PGE2 represses T-cell proliferation. Finally, regarding T-cell killing of cancer cells, PGE2 and cholesterol weaken granule-dependent cytotoxicity. Moreover, fatty acids, cholesterol, and PGE2 can improve the activity of immunosuppressive cells, increase the expression of immune checkpoints and promote the secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines. Given the regulatory role of lipids in the cancer-immunity cycle, drugs that modulate fatty acids, cholesterol and PGE2 have been envisioned as effective way in restoring antitumor immunity and synergizing with immunotherapy. These strategies have been studied in both preclinical and clinical studies.

Mevalonate metabolism plays an important role in regulating tumor growth and progression; however, its role in immune evasion and immune checkpoint modulation remains unclear. Here, we found that non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with higher plasma mevalonate response better to anti-PD-(L)1 therapy, as indicated by prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival. Plasma mevalonate levels were positively correlated with programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression in tumor tissues. In NSCLC cell lines and patient-derived cells, supplementation of mevalonate significantly up-regulated the expression of PD-L1, whereas deprivation of mevalonate reduced PD-L1 expression. Mevalonate increased CD274 mRNA level but did not affect CD274 transcription. Further, we confirmed that mevalonate improved CD274 mRNA stability. Mevalonate promoted the affinity of the AU-rich element-binding protein HuR to the 3'-UTR regions of CD274 mRNA and thereby stabilized CD274 mRNA. By in vivo study, we further confirmed that mevalonate addition enhanced the anti-tumor effect of anti-PD-L1, increased the infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells, and improved cytotoxic function of T cells. Collectively, our findings discovered plasma mevalonate levels positively correlated with the therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD-(L)1 antibody, and provided the evidence that mevalonate supplementation could be an immunosensitizer in NSCLC.

Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) or deubiquitinases facilitate the escape of multiple proteins from ubiquitin‒proteasome degradation and are critical for regulating protein expression levels in vivo. Therefore, dissecting the underlying mechanism of DUB recognition is needed to advance the development of drugs related to DUB signaling pathways. To data, extensive studies on the ubiquitin chain specificity of DUBs have been reported, but substrate protein recognition is still not clearly understood. As a breakthrough, the scaffolding role may be significant to substrate protein selectivity. From this perspective, we systematically characterized the scaffolding proteins and complexes contributing to DUB substrate selectivity. Furthermore, we proposed a deubiquitination complex platform (DCP) as a potentially generic mechanism for DUB substrate recognition based on known examples, which might fill the gaps in the understanding of DUB substrate specificity.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2023.04.002.].

Metastasis-associated drug resistance accounts for high mortality in ovarian cancer and remains to be a major barrier for effective treatment. In this study, SKOV3/T4, a metastatic subpopulation of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells, was enriched to explore potential interventions against metastatic-associated drug resistance. Quantitative genomic and functional analyses were performed and found that slug was significantly increased in the SKOV3/T4 subpopulation and contributed to the high resistance of SKOV3/T4. Further studies showed that slug activated c-Met in a ligand-independent manner due to elevated levels of fibronectin and provoked integrin V function, which was confirmed by the significant correlation of slug and p-Met levels in 121 ovarian cancer patient samples. Intriguingly, c-Met inhibitor(s) exhibited greatly enhanced anti-cancer effects in slug-positive ovarian cancer models both and . Additionally, IHC analyses revealed that slug levels were highly correlated with reduced survival of ovarian cancer patients. Taken together, this study not only uncovers the critical roles of slug in drug resistance in ovarian cancer but also highlights a promising therapeutic strategy by targeting the noncanonical activation of c-Met in slug-positive ovarian cancer patients with poor prognosis.