OBJECTIVES: To explore the expression profile of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and their potential roles in prognosis and progression of Wilms' tumor (WT). METHODS: Four pairs of WT and adjacent tissues were collected for high-throughput circRNA sequencing to identify the differentially expressed circular RNAs. RT-qPCR was used to verify the expression levels of the top 6 candidate circRNAs in the clinical samples. hsa_circ_0001900 was selected for analysis of its correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis in 34 patients with WT. Sanger sequencing and RNase R digestion experiments were used to verify the cycling site and structural stability of hsa_circ_0001900 molecule. RESULTS: A total of 23 978 circular RNA molecules were identified in WT tissues by high-throughput circular RNA sequencing, and among them 614 were differentially expressed in WT. hsa_circ_0001900 showed the highest expression level among the differentially expressed circRNAs, which was consistent with the findings in clinical tumor samples and the sequencing results. Correlation analysis showed that hsa_circ_0001900 expression level was positively correlated with WT volume, and the children with high hsa_circ_0001900 expression had a lowered recurrence-free survival rate. The results of Sanger sequencing verified the circular splice site sequence of the molecule, and Rnase R digestion assay confirmed its stable covalent structure. CONCLUSIONS This study presents a comprehensive expression profile of circular RNAs in WT, and the expression level of hsa_circ_0001900 is related to the size of WT and the patients' prognosis, suggesting its possible role as a key driving gene in WT progression.
Humans ; RNA, Circular ; Wilms Tumor/pathology* ; Prognosis ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Kidney Neoplasms/genetics* ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Male ; Female

Flowering and bolting are important agronomic traits in cruciferous crops such as Brassica juncea. Timely flowering can ensure the crop organ yield and quality, as well as seed propagation. The WRKY family plays an important role in regulating plant bolting and flowering, while the function and mechanism of WRKY12 in B. juncea remain unknown. To explore its function and mechanism in bolting and flowering of B. juncea, we cloned and characterized the BjuWRKY12 gene in B. juncea and found that its expression levels were significantly higher in flowers and inflorescences than in leaves. BjuWRKY12 belonged to the Ⅱc subfamily of the WRKY family, and subcellular localization indicated that the protein was located in the nucleus. Ectopic overexpression of BjuWRKY12 in transgenic lines promoted bolting and flowering, leading to significant increases in the expression levels of flowering integrators SOC1 and FUL. Furthermore, yeast one-hybrid and dual luciferase reporter system assays confirmed that BjuWRKY12 directly bound to the promoters of BjuSOC1 and BjuFUL, undergoing protein-DNA interactions. This discovery gives new insights into the regulation network and molecular mechanisms of BjuWRKY12, laying a theoretical foundation for the breeding of high-yield and high-quality varieties of B. juncea.
Mustard Plant/metabolism* ; Flowers/growth & development* ; Plant Proteins/physiology* ; Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics* ; Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; MADS Domain Proteins/metabolism*

Brassica juncea is a yearly or biennial vegetable in Brassica of Cruciferae. The yield and quality of its product organs are affected by flowering time. WRKY proteins family can respond to biological and abiotic stresses, developmental regulation and signal transduction. WRKY75 is an important member of WRKY family which can regulate flowering, but the flowering regulation mechanism in B. juncea has not been reported. In this study, a gene BjuWRKY75 in B. juncea was cloned, and the encoded-protein belonged to the group Ⅱ of WRKY protein with highly conserved domain. BjuWRKY75 had the highest homology with BriWRKY75 of Brassica nigra. The relative expression level of BjuWRKY75 in flowers was significantly higher than that in leaves and stems, and it was expressed stably in leaves. BjuWRKY75 protein was localized in the nucleus and interacted with the promoter of the flowering integrator BjuFT, which contained the W-box response element for the interaction between protein and DNA. Thus, it could transcriptionally activate the expression of the downstream genes. The overexpression of BjuWRKY75 in Arabidopsis led to earlier flowering significantly. In conclusion, BjuWRKY75 could directly target the promoter of BjuFT and accelerate flowering. These results may facilitate further study on the regulation of flowering molecules of BjuWRKY75.
Arabidopsis/genetics* ; Flowers/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Mustard Plant/genetics* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Promoter Regions, Genetic

Lysine acetylation is one of the major post-translational modifications and plays critical roles in regulating gene expression and protein function. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are responsible for the removal of acetyl groups from the lysines of both histone and non-histone proteins. The RPD3 family is the most widely studied HDACs. This article summarizes the regulatory mechanisms of Arabidopsis RPD3 family in several growth and development processes, which provide a reference for studying the mechanisms of RPD3 family members in regulating plant development. Moreover, this review may provide ideas and clues for exploring the functions of other members of HDACs family.
Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Histone Deacetylases/metabolism* ; Histones ; Plant Development/genetics*

Flowering is a critical transitional stage during plant growth and development, and is closely related to seed production and crop yield. The flowering transition is regulated by complex genetic networks, whereas many flowering-related genes generate multiple transcripts through alternative splicing to regulate flowering time. This paper summarizes the molecular mechanisms of alternative splicing in regulating plant flowering from several perspectives, future research directions are also envisioned.
Alternative Splicing/genetics* ; Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics* ; Flowers/genetics*

ObjectiveTo analyze the drop-out rate of participants in antidepressant clinical trials and to explore the related influencing factors. MethodsA retrospective analysis was carried out on the participants of 9 antidepressant clinical trials conducted at the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from 2013 to 2020. A self-compiled questionnaire was used to collect the subjects' demographic data， disease characteristics and the final completion of the trial， thereafter， the participant drop-out rate and related influencing factors were discussed. ResultsA total of 157 cases were enrolled， including 120 cases completed and 37 cases dropped out the trail. The causes of drop-out were poor efficacy in 13 cases （35.14%）， presence of adverse reactions in 12 cases （32.43%）， withdrawal of informed consent in 8 cases （21.62%） and loss of follow-up in 4 cases （10.81%）. Correlation analysis showed that participant drop-out was positively correlated with the level of anxiety （r=0.224， P<0.01） and presence of adverse events （r=0.158， P<0.05）， meantime， negatively correlated with the level of education （r=-0.209， P<0.01） and overall efficacy （r=-0.545， P<0.01）. Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that education level （β=-0.611， OR=0.543， P<0.05）， number of visits （β=-1.831， OR=0.160， P<0.01） and overall efficacy （β=-2.286， OR=0.102， P<0.01） were the influencing factors of participant drop-out. ConclusionLow education level， first visit， poor outcome， high level of anxiety， and adverse events are the factors affecting participant drop-out in antidepressant clinical trials.

Objective To study the effects of serum C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) ,insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-Ⅱ ) , endothelin (ET) ,neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100B protein(S100B) on the prognosis of the patients with traumatic brain injury .Methods A total of 110 patients with craniocerebral trauma admitted in our hospital from January 2016 to January 2017 se-lected as the craniocerebral trauma group and further divided into the mild ,moderate and severe craniocerebral trauma groups ac-cording to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) .Then the levels of serum CNP ,IGF-Ⅱ ,ET ,NSE and S100B in all cases were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) .Their influence on the prognosis of the patients with craniocerebral trauma and the correlation among various indicators were analyzed .Results The levels of CNP and IGF-Ⅱat admission in the craniocerebral trauma group were significantly decreased ,while the levels of ET ,NSE and S100B were significantly increased ,the difference com-pared with the control group was statistically significant (P<0 .05) .Serum CNP and IGF-Ⅱlevels in the death group ,plant survival group and disabled group were significantly decreased .The difference was statistically significant (P<0 .01) .Serum CNP and IGF-Ⅱlevels in the moderate and severe craniocerebral trauma groups were gradually increased with the disease course progress ,while serum ET ,NSE and S100B levels were gradually decreased with the disease course progress ,the difference was statistically signifi-cant(P<0 .05) .In the patients with craniocerebral trauma ,the positive correlation existed between CNP and IGF-Ⅱ ,between ET and S100B ,between ET and NSE ,and between NSE and S100B(P<0 .01) ,while the negative correlation existed between IGF-Ⅱand ET ,between IGF-Ⅱ and S100B ,between CNP and ET ,and between IGF-Ⅱand NSE (P<0 .01) .Conclusion Serum CNP , IGF-Ⅱ ,ET ,NSE and S100B are correlated to the severity of craniocerebral trauma ,which has a higher clinical application value for judging the disease condition ,evaluating the prognosis in cradiocerebral trauma .

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of sequencing of adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy following breast-conserving surgery for patients with breast cancer. Methods: A total of 1 154 patients withT1-2N0-3M0 breast cancer retrospectively reviewed. All patients received sequential radiotherapy and chemotherapy following breast-conserving surgery. Among them, 603 patients received radiotherapy first and 551 patients received chemotherapy first. Log-rank tests were used to determine significance of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates in the Kaplan-Meier curve. Results: The 5-year DFS and OS rates for all patients were 93.0% and 97.8%. The 5-year OS rate was 98.6% in the radiotherapy first group and 96.4% in the chemotherapy first group (P=0.191), and the corresponding DFS rate was 92.7% and 93.2% (P=0.430), respectively. Among the patients with Luminal A subtype, the 5-year OS rate was 99.6% in the radiotherapy first group and 97.8% in the chemotherapy first group (P=0.789). Among the patients with Luminal B subtype, the 5-year OS rate was 94.2% and 96.0%, respectively (P=0.680). Among the patients with triple negative breast cancer, the 5-year OS rate was 100% and 90.9%, respectively, with statistically significant differences (P=0.019). Among the patients with HER-2 positive breast cancer, The 5-year DFS rate was 80.1% and 100%, respectively (P=0.045). Conclusions The OS and DFS rates in the chemotherapy first group are not significantly different from those of radiotherapy first group after breast-conserving surgery. Patients with HER-2 positive breast cancer in chemotherapy first group have a much higher DFS rate than that of radiotherapy first group, whereas patients with triple negative breast cancer in radiotherapy first group have a better OS rate than that of chemotherapy first group. Further research is warranted to investigate the benefit of different molecular types in different sequencing of radiotherapy and chemotherapy after breast-conserving surgery.

OBJECTIVETo obtain peptide mimicking epitopes of Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) through screening of a phage peptide library and to test their potential for induction of protection.

METHODSS. japonicum infected sera from Microtus fortis (IMFS) and normal sera from Microtus fortis (NMFS) were used respectively to screen a 12-mers random peptide library by testing the reactivity of anti-S. japonicum serum with the phagotopes. After three rounds of biopanning, the pooled phages were used to immunize mice, after which challenge infection was performed.

RESULTSOf 12 randomly picked clones, 10 clones selected using IMFS and 7 clones selected using NMFS were shown to be antigenic. Significant reduction in adult worms (22.6%) and a high reduction (68.9%) in liver eggs were achieved following immunization with phages screened with IMFS. However, no protection was elicited by those selected with NMFS.

CONCLUSIONThe results show that the phagotopes are both antigenic and immunogenic, suggesting a potential use of phage displayed peptide as novel vaccines against S. japonicum.

Animals ; Arvicolinae ; parasitology ; Epitopes ; Helminth Proteins ; immunology ; Peptide Library ; Schistosoma japonicum ; immunology ; Schistosomiasis japonica ; prevention & control ; Vaccines ; immunology

Objective\ To observe the long term results of expansive open door laminoplasty of cervical spine for cervical spinal stenotic myelopathy.Methods\ From April 1986 to March 1988, 98 cases were operated upon with expansive open door laminoplasty of cervical spine. Sixty one cases had been followed up for an average of 11 years and 8 months. The long term results were analyzed.Results\ The best results were obtained at the third year after operation among the OPLL (32 cases),DCS (20 cases) and CSM (8 cases),with an average JOA recovery rate for an average of 72.30%in OPLL, 67.74%in DCS and 67.80%in CSM. JOA recovery rate were 66.81%in OPLL, 66.57%in DCS and 66.1%in CSM at following up for an average of 11 years and 8 months. Instability of the cervical spine and reclosed open door were not found at the follow up for an average of 11 years and 8 months.Conclusion\ The long term results of expansive open door laminoplasty of cervical spine for cervical spinal myelopathy were good and stable. Expansive open door laminoplasty of cervical spine did not affect the stability of cervical spine.\;