ObjectiveTo clarify whether METTL14 mediates the core role of acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) in promoting myelination and improving behavior in young autistic rats through gene intervention technology. MethodsThe ASD model was established by intraperitoneal injection of valproic acid (VPA) in pregnant rats. Male offspring were intracerebroventricularly injected with adenovirus-packaged METTL14 shRNA (sh-METTL14) or its control (sh-NC) on postnatal day 1, with a model group set as well. Subsequently, the juvenile rats were divided into model group, acupuncture group, acupuncture+sh-NC group, and acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group. The acupuncture group received acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) from postnatal day 7, once daily for 21 consecutive days. Neurobehavioral changes were evaluated by behavioral tests; METTL14 knockdown efficiency and the expression of METTL14, METTL3, and PTEN were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB); PTEN m⁶A levels were measured by RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR (RIP-qPCR); myelin ultrastructure, expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) and neurofascin 155 (NF155), and dendritic spine density were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and primary neuron culture. ResultsBehaviorally, knockdown of METTL14 significantly counteracted the beneficial effects of acupuncture in improving self-grooming, open field exploration, three-chamber social interaction, and Morris water maze learning and memory (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the acupuncture+sh-NC group, the acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group showed significantly decreased mRNA and protein expression of hippocampal METTL14 (P<0.01), and the upregulating effects of acupuncture on METTL3 and PTEN expression were reversed (P<0.01). Meanwhile, knockdown of METTL14 significantly inhibited the acupuncture-induced increase in PTEN m⁶A levels (P<0.01). Morphologically, knockdown of METTL14 attenuated the improvement of myelin structure by acupuncture, reversed the downregulation of MBP and upregulation of NF155 induced by acupuncture, and blocked the increase in dendritic spine density (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionMETTL14 is a key molecule mediating the therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Neiguan. Acupuncture at Neiguan upregulates METTL14, thereby enhancing m⁶A methylation modification of PTEN mRNA to stabilize its expression, ultimately promoting myelin development and improving behavioral symptoms in ASD juvenile rats. This preliminarily reveals the modern biological connotation of “opening Xuanfu and dredging myelin”.

ObjectiveTo clarify whether METTL14 mediates the core role of acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) in promoting myelination and improving behavior in young autistic rats through gene intervention technology. MethodsThe ASD model was established by intraperitoneal injection of valproic acid (VPA) in pregnant rats. Male offspring were intracerebroventricularly injected with adenovirus-packaged METTL14 shRNA (sh-METTL14) or its control (sh-NC) on postnatal day 1, with a model group set as well. Subsequently, the juvenile rats were divided into model group, acupuncture group, acupuncture+sh-NC group, and acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group. The acupuncture group received acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) from postnatal day 7, once daily for 21 consecutive days. Neurobehavioral changes were evaluated by behavioral tests; METTL14 knockdown efficiency and the expression of METTL14, METTL3, and PTEN were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB); PTEN m⁶A levels were measured by RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR (RIP-qPCR); myelin ultrastructure, expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) and neurofascin 155 (NF155), and dendritic spine density were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and primary neuron culture. ResultsBehaviorally, knockdown of METTL14 significantly counteracted the beneficial effects of acupuncture in improving self-grooming, open field exploration, three-chamber social interaction, and Morris water maze learning and memory (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the acupuncture+sh-NC group, the acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group showed significantly decreased mRNA and protein expression of hippocampal METTL14 (P<0.01), and the upregulating effects of acupuncture on METTL3 and PTEN expression were reversed (P<0.01). Meanwhile, knockdown of METTL14 significantly inhibited the acupuncture-induced increase in PTEN m⁶A levels (P<0.01). Morphologically, knockdown of METTL14 attenuated the improvement of myelin structure by acupuncture, reversed the downregulation of MBP and upregulation of NF155 induced by acupuncture, and blocked the increase in dendritic spine density (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionMETTL14 is a key molecule mediating the therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Neiguan. Acupuncture at Neiguan upregulates METTL14, thereby enhancing m⁶A methylation modification of PTEN mRNA to stabilize its expression, ultimately promoting myelin development and improving behavioral symptoms in ASD juvenile rats. This preliminarily reveals the modern biological connotation of “opening Xuanfu and dredging myelin”.

The incomplete degradation of tumour cells by macrophages(Mφ)is a contributing factor to tumour progression and metastasis,and the degradation function of Mφ is mediated through phagosomes and lysosomes.In our preliminary experiments,we found that overactivation of NADPH oxidase 2(NOX2)reduced the ability of Mφ to degrade engulfed tumour cells.Above this,we screened out liquiritin from Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch,which can significantly inhibit NOX2 activity and inhibit tumours,to elucidate that suppressing NOX2 can enhance the ability of Mφ to degrade tumour cells.We found that the tumour environment could activate the NOX2 activity in Mφ phagosomes,causing Mφ to produce excessive reactive oxygen species(ROS),thus prohibiting the formation of phagolysosomes before degradation.Conversely,inhibiting NOX2 in Mφ by liquiritin can reduce ROS and promote phagosome-lysosome fusion,therefore improving the enzymatic degradation of tumour cells after phagocytosis,and subse-quently promote T cell activity by presenting antigens.We further confirmed that liquiritin down-regulated the expression of the NOX2 specific membrane component protein gp91 phox,blocking its binding to the NOX2 cytoplasmic component proteins p67 phox and p47 phox,thereby inhibiting the activity of NOX2.This study elucidates the specific mechanism by which Mφ cannot degrade tumour cells after phagocytosis,and indicates that liquiritin can promote the ability of Mφ to degrade tumour cells by suppressing NOX2.

Numerous c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition(c-MET)inhibitors have been reported as potential anticancer agents.However,most fail to enter clinical trials owing to poor efficacy or drug resistance.To date,the scaffold-based chemical space of small-molecule c-MET inhibitors has not been analyzed.In this study,we constructed the largest c-MET dataset,which included 2,278 molecules with different struc-tures,by inhibiting the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50)of kinase activity.No significant differences in drug-like properties were observed between active molecules(1,228)and inactive mol-ecules(1,050),including chemical space coverage,physicochemical properties,and absorption,distri-bution,metabolism,excretion,and toxicity(ADMET)profiles.The higher chemical diversity of the active molecules was downscaled using t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding(t-SNE)high-dimensional data.Further clustering and chemical space networks(CSNs)analyses revealed commonly used scaffolds for c-MET inhibitors,such as M5,M7,and M8.Activity cliffs and structural alerts were used to reveal"dead ends"and"safe bets"for c-MET,as well as dominant structural fragments consisting of pyr-idazinones,triazoles,and pyrazines.Finally,the decision tree model precisely indicated the key structural features required to constitute active c-MET inhibitor molecules,including at least three aromatic het-erocycles,five aromatic nitrogen atoms,and eight nitrogen-oxygen atoms.Overall,our analyses revealed potential structure-activity relationship(SAR)patterns for c-MET inhibitors,which can inform the screening of new compounds and guide future optimization efforts.

OBJECTIVE: To report the blood group antigen and antibody specificity identification methods for a patient with high-frequency antibodies, and the process of finding and providing compatible blood for the patient. METHODS: A patient sent from the Blood Transfusion Department of Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital to Blood Transfusion Technology Research Laboratory of Taiyuan Blood Center in November 2022 was selected for the study. Classical serological methods were used to determine the patient's blood type, screen for unexpected antibodies, identify antibodies, and perform crossmatching. High-frequency antibody identification was carried out using red blood cells treated with various enzymes. Blood group genotyping was conducted using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) and Sanger sequencing. Multiple strategies were employed to address the patient's blood source problem. The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Taiyuan Blood Center [Ethics No. 2024 Ethics Review No.(2)]. RESULTS: The patient's blood type was B, RhD positive. Initial screening of the patient's serum with multiple screening cells and antibody identification cells in saline medium was negative, but positive in antiglobulin medium. The patient's serum showed varying reaction intensities with red blood cells treated with different enzymes. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and Sanger sequencing revealed a homozygous nonsense variant c.376C>T (p.Gln126Ter) in the ABCG2 gene, resulting in the Jr(a-) phenotype. During family donor selection, the patient's son was found to have a heterozygous variant c.376C>T (p.Gln126Ter), and another heterozygous variant c.421C>A (p.Gln141Lys), which predicted a Jr(a+w) phenotype. Crossmatch tests confirmed the compatibility of blood from the patient's son, which was used to address the urgent blood requirement. Later, rare blood from a Jr(a-) donor from the Guangzhou Blood Center was used for the patient's ongoing treatment, saving the patient's life. CONCLUSION Combining classic serological testing with blood group gene typing techniques successfully identified the rare Jr(a-) blood type and high-frequency anti-Jra antibodies. Enzyme-treated red blood cell identification methods confirmed the presence of anti-Jra antibodies. By searching within the family and seeking help from other blood centers, compatible blood was found. This approach may provide insights for resolving similar complex blood matching problems in the future.
Humans ; Blood Grouping and Crossmatching/methods* ; Blood Group Antigens/immunology* ; Blood Transfusion ; Male ; Isoantibodies/blood* ; Female ; Genotype

OBJECTIVE: To explore the regulatory mechanisms underlying the weak expression of ABO blood group antigens due to variants in the non-coding regions of the ABO gene. METHODS: From June 2014 to October 2023, a total of 29 samples from the Taiyuan Blood Center and local hospitals, which were serologically identified as having weak ABO antigen expression without detectable coding region mutations, were selected for this study. Full-length ABO gene sequencing was performed using third-generation long-read sequencing technology (Pacific Biosciences) to obtain complete haplotype sequences of the ABO gene. Variants in the non-coding regions were compared and identified to infer their regulatory effects on weak antigen expression. The procedures followed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki (2013 revision). The Medical Ethics Committee of Taiyuan Blood Center has granted an exemption from ethical review. RESULTS: 18 bp deletions in the -35 to -18 region of the promoter were identified in 7 samples. Variants in intron 1 (+5.8 kb) were detected in 7 samples, including ABO*A (28+5792_5793delCT (1 case) and ABO*B (28+5793T>C) located in the GATA binding region; ABO*B (28+5808C>T) (1 case) in the E-box region; and ABO*B (28+5875C>T) (4 cases) in the RUNX1 binding region. Nucleotide variants at splice sites were detected in 2 samples, namely ABO*B (C.98+1G>A) and ABO*B (C.204-2A>C). CONCLUSION Variants in the non-coding regulatory sequences of the ABO gene are a significant factor contributing to weak ABO antigen expression. In clinical ABO sequencing, it is essential to screen not only the conventional coding regions but also the flanking sequences, introns, and splice sites of the ABO gene to facilitate precise blood transfusion.
ABO Blood-Group System/genetics* ; Humans ; Alleles ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Haplotypes ; Introns

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of intratumoral area(ITA)and peritumoral area(PTA)ultrasound image-based bioin-formatics models for small breast cancer.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed data of 305 breast lesions from 292 patients with small breast nodules(diameter≤2 cm)who were treated at People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region between January 2021 and January 2025.The lesions were randomly assigned into the training(214 lesions)and validation sets(91 lesions)in a 7:3 ratio.Radiomics fea-tures were extracted from the intertumoral area(ITA)and peritumoral area(PTA)regions at 2,4,6,and 8 mm,followed by feature selection and dimensionality reduction.A Logistic regression(LR)algorithm was used to construct a model.The performance of the models were eval-uated via receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis,Hosmer-Lemeshow test,and decision curve analysis(DCA).Results:In the training set,the areas under the ROC curves(AUC)for the ITA,2 mm PTA,and 2 mm fusion models were 0.869,0.897,and 0.909,respect-ively.In the test set,these respective AUC values were 0.813,0.825,and 0.840.For breast lesions≤2 cm,<1 cm,and 1-2 cm,the overall ac-curacies of the 2 mm fusion model were 81.0%,82.7%,and 80.1%,respectively,whereas the respective overall accuracies of BI-RADS were 76.4%,81.7%,and 73.6%.Conclusions:ITA and PTA ultrasound imaging-based radiomics models had a high diagnostic value for small breast cancers.The fusion model can effectively improve predictive performance,outperforming the BI-RADS classification in diagnosing small breast lesions of different diameters.Thus,these models have the potential to serve as an auxiliary diagnostic tool in clinical practice.

AIM To evaluate the quality of Gegen Formula Granules.METHODS Linear calibration with two reference substances(LCTRS)was adopted in the predicting of retention time with puerarin and daidzein as internal standards.UPLC characteristic chromatograms were established.The contents of 3'-hydroxy puerarin,puerarin(internal standard),3'-methoxy puerarin,puerarin 6"-O-xyloside,puerarin apioside and daidzin were determined by quantitative determination analysis multi-components by a single marker(QAMS),after which their transfer rates were calculated.RESULTS Compared with relative retention time method,LCTRS demonstrated higher positional accuracy for characteristic peaks and wider application range for columns.There were 9 characteristic peaks in the characteristic chromatograms for 14 batches of formula granules and 15 batches of standard decoctions with the similarities of more than 0.95.The contents and transfer rates of various constituents in formula granules and standard decoctions were basically consistent.CONCLUSION The chemical constituents in formula granules and their standard decoctions of Puerariae lobatae Radix display good consistency,reliable preparation process is observable in the former.

AIM To evaluate the chemical constituent consistency in formula granules and traditional decoctions of Gouteng Jiangya Formula.METHODS HPLC characteristic chromatograms were established,the analysis was performed on a 30 ℃ thermostatic YMC-Triart C18 column(4.6 mm× 250 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.2％phosphoric acid flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 240 nm.Puerarin was used as an internal standard to calculate the relative correction factors of 3'-methoxy puerarin,puerarin apioside,magnolflorine,paeoniflora,daidzin,baicalin,palmatine,berberine,wogonoside and benzoylpaeoniflorin,after which the content detemination was made by quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker(QAMS).RESULTS The characteristic chromatograms of 9 batches of formula granules and 15 bacthes of traditional decoctions demonstrated the similarities of more than 0.90 at the detection wavelengths of 192,210,240,260,280,300,320,360 nm,along with similar total peak areas.Eleven constituents showed good linear relationships within their own ranges(r＞0.999 0),whose average recoveries were 97.27％-101.64％with the RSDs of 0.36％-1.11％,the result obtained by QAMS and external standard method demonstrated no significant differences(P＞0.05).The contents of various constituents in the formula granules approximated those in the traditional decoctions.CONCLUSION The consistent kinds and contents of various constituents are obversable in formula granules and traditional decoctions of Gouteng Jiangya Formula,which can provide a reference for the reasonable clinical application of this formula.

Objective:To explore the regulatory mechanisms underlying the weak expression of ABO blood group antigens due to variants in the non-coding regions of the ABO gene. Methods:From June 2014 to October 2023, a total of 29 samples from the Taiyuan Blood Center and local hospitals, which were serologically identified as having weak ABO antigen expression without detectable coding region mutations, were selected for this study. Full-length ABO gene sequencing was performed using third-generation long-read sequencing technology (Pacific Biosciences) to obtain complete haplotype sequences of the ABO gene. Variants in the non-coding regions were compared and identified to infer their regulatory effects on weak antigen expression. The procedures followed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the World Medical Association′s Declaration of Helsinki (2013 revision). The Medical Ethics Committee of Taiyuan Blood Center has granted an exemption from ethical review. Results:18 bp deletions in the -35 to -18 region of the promoter were identified in 7 samples. Variants in intron 1 (+ 5.8 kb) were detected in 7 samples, including ABO* A (28+ 5792_5793delCT (1 case) and ABO* B (28+ 5793T>C) located in the GATA binding region; ABO* B (28+ 5808C>T) (1 case) in the E-box region; and ABO* B (28+ 5875C>T) (4 cases) in the RUNX1 binding region. Nucleotide variants at splice sites were detected in 2 samples, namely ABO* B (C.98+ 1G>A) and ABO* B (C.204-2A>C). Conclusion:Variants in the non-coding regulatory sequences of the ABO gene are a significant factor contributing to weak ABO antigen expression. In clinical ABO sequencing, it is essential to screen not only the conventional coding regions but also the flanking sequences, introns, and splice sites of the ABO gene to facilitate precise blood transfusion.