1.Role of SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complex in Tumor Drug Resistance
Gui-Zhen ZHU ; Qiao YE ; Yuan LUO ; Jie PENG ; Lu WANG ; Zhao-Ting YANG ; Feng-Sen DUAN ; Bing-Qian GUO ; Zhu-Song MEI ; Guang-Yun WANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(1):20-31
Tumor drug resistance is an important problem in the failure of chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy, which is a complex process involving chromatin remodeling. SWI/SNF is one of the most studied ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes in tumorigenesis, which plays an important role in the coordination of chromatin structural stability, gene expression, and post-translation modification. However, its mechanism in tumor drug resistance has not been systematically combed. SWI/SNF can be divided into 3 types according to its subunit composition: BAF, PBAF, and ncBAF. These 3 subtypes all contain two mutually exclusive ATPase catalytic subunits (SMARCA2 or SMARCA4), core subunits (SMARCC1 and SMARCD1), and regulatory subunits (ARID1A, PBRM1, and ACTB, etc.), which can control gene expression by regulating chromatin structure. The change of SWI/SNF complex subunits is one of the important factors of tumor drug resistance and progress. SMARCA4 and ARID1A are the most widely studied subunits in tumor drug resistance. Low expression of SMARCA4 can lead to the deletion of the transcription inhibitor of the BCL2L1 gene in mantle cell lymphoma, which will result in transcription up-regulation and significant resistance to the combination therapy of ibrutinib and venetoclax. Low expression of SMARCA4 and high expression of SMARCA2 can activate the FGFR1-pERK1/2 signaling pathway in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma cells, which induces the overexpression of anti-apoptosis gene BCL2 and results in carboplatin resistance. SMARCA4 deletion can up-regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by activating YAP1 gene expression in triple-negative breast cancer. It can also reduce the expression of Ca2+ channel IP3R3 in ovarian and lung cancer, resulting in the transfer of Ca2+ needed to induce apoptosis from endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria damage. Thus, these two tumors are resistant to cisplatin. It has been found that verteporfin can overcome the drug resistance induced by SMARCA4 deletion. However, this inhibitor has not been applied in clinical practice. Therefore, it is a promising research direction to develop SWI/SNF ATPase targeted drugs with high oral bioavailability to treat patients with tumor resistance induced by low expression or deletion of SMARCA4. ARID1A deletion can activate the expression of ANXA1 protein in HER2+ breast cancer cells or down-regulate the expression of progesterone receptor B protein in endometrial cancer cells. The drug resistance of these two tumor cells to trastuzumab or progesterone is induced by activating AKT pathway. ARID1A deletion in ovarian cancer can increase the expression of MRP2 protein and make it resistant to carboplatin and paclitaxel. ARID1A deletion also can up-regulate the phosphorylation levels of EGFR, ErbB2, and RAF1 oncogene proteins.The ErbB and VEGF pathway are activated and EMT is increased. As a result, lung adenocarcinoma is resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Although great progress has been made in the research on the mechanism of SWI/SNF complex inducing tumor drug resistance, most of the research is still at the protein level. It is necessary to comprehensively and deeply explore the detailed mechanism of drug resistance from gene, transcription, protein, and metabolite levels by using multi-omics techniques, which can provide sufficient theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of poor tumor prognosis caused by mutation or abnormal expression of SWI/SNF subunits in clinical practice.
2.A time-stratified case-crossover study on association between short-term exposure to air pollutants and myocardial infarction mortality in Shenzhen
Ziyang ZOU ; Ruijun XU ; Ziquan LYU ; Zhen ZHANG ; Jiaxin CHEN ; Meilin LI ; Xiaoqian GUO ; Suli HUANG
Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2025;42(5):586-593
Background Air pollution remains a critical public health issue, with persistent exposure to air pollutants continuing to pose significant health risks. Currently, research investigating the association between air pollution and myocardial infarction mortality in Shenzhen remains inadequate. Objective To quantitatively assess the association between air pollutants and myocardial infarction mortality in residents. Methods Based on the mortality surveillance system of Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, we conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of
3.Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis of Demyelination in the Brain of Balb/c Mice Infected by Angiostrongylus cantonensis
Zhen NIU ; Xiaojie WU ; Liang YANG ; Zhixuan MA ; Junxiong YANG ; Ying FENG
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2025;46(2):293-300
ObjectiveTo investigate the demyelination induced by Angiostrongylus cantonensis (AC) infection in the brain of Balb/c mice and analyze the untargeted metabolomic changes in the corpus callosum, aiming to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. MethodsBalb/c mice were randomly assigned to a control group (n=6) and an infection group (n=6). The infection group was orally administered 30 third-stage larvae of AC, while the control group received an equal volume of saline. Body weight, visual function, and behavioral scores were measured on post-infection 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 days to assess neurological alterations. After 21 days, brain tissues were harvested for immunofluorescence staining, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and transmission electron microscopy to examine morphological changes in brain myelin and retina. Metabolomics analysis was performed, and differential metabolites were identified using volcano plots and heatmaps. The distribution of fold changes and bar charts were used to profile the key metabolites. These differential metabolites were then subjected to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and regulatory network analysis. ResultsOn the 9th day after AC infection, Balb/c mice showed a decline in neurological behavioral scores (P<0.05). By day 15, visual scores decreased (P<0.05), and by day 21, significant weight loss (P<0.001) and mortality were observed. Concurrently, transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence staining revealed significant myelin damage in the corpus callosum and a marked reduction in oligodendrocytes (P<0.001). HE staining showed severe retinal ganglion cell damage. Metabolomic analysis revealed that glycerophospholipids were the most abundant differential metabolites, with steroids and sphingolipids being relatively less abundant. Cholesteryl ester CE (20:2) was significantly upregulated (P<0.001), while phosphatidylmethanol (18:0_18:1) was significantly downregulated (P<0.01). KEGG enrichment and regulatory network analyses demonstrated that the differential metabolites were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways like steroid biosynthesis, bile secretion, and cholesterol metabolism, and were involved in key metabolic pathways such as sphingolipid metabolism, neural signal regulation, and glycerophospholipid metabolism. ConclusionsAC infection affects the metabolic state of mice via multiple pathways, modifying the levels of metabolites crucial for myelination and myelin stability. Demyelination may be closely linked to the disruption of these key metabolic pathways, particularly the dysregulation of cholesterol and sphingolipid metabolism, potentially playing a central role in demyelination onset. Furthermore, alterations in phospholipid metabolism and abnormal nerve signaling regulation may exacerbate myelin damage.
4.Causal association between periodontitis and hepatobiliary diseases: genetic insights from Mendelian randomization
ZHAO Li ; CHEN Shaopeng ; CHEN Zhen ; CHEN Yueqi ; YU Ting
Journal of Prevention and Treatment for Stomatological Diseases 2025;33(10):873-883
Objective:
To investigate the reciprocal causal relationships between periodontitis and hepatobiliary diseases through Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses, to provide evidence for joint prevention and clinical decision-making in patients with concurrent periodontitis and hepatobiliary diseases.
Methods:
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were extracted from the largest genome-wide association study on periodontitis (17 353 cases, 28 210 controls) and hepatobiliary diseases within the European ancestry and used as instrumental variables (IVs). The strength of the associations was examined by calculating the F-statistic. The SNPs significantly associated with the outcome were removed by scanning on Phenoscanner platform. Bidirectional causal associations between periodontitis and hepatobiliary diseases were estimated using inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and Weighted Median methods. The robustness of the findings was further verified through additional sensitive MR approaches, including Cochran’s Q statistic (IVW), Rucker’s Q statistic (MR-Egger), MR-PRESSO and Leave-one-out analysis. Further MR analyses, utilizing other available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on hepatobiliary diseases, were conducted to validate the results.
Results:
The IVW method found that periodontitis had a causal impact on acalculous cholecystitis (odds ratio = 1.277, 95% CI 1.097-1.485, P=0.002), implying an increased risk of acalculous cholecystitis associated with periodontitis, while the MR-Egger regression and Weighted Median failed to observe significant causal effects of periodontitis on acalculous cholecystitis. However, no bidirectional causal associations between periodontitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis or liver cancer were observed using IVW, MR-Egger regression and Weighted Median. The bidirectional causal relationships were deemed unlikely to be influenced by horizontal pleiotropy. Further, the validation analysis based on alternative GWAS data suggested parallel results.
Conclusions
The MR analyses suggest that periodontitis may elevate the risk of acalculous cholecystitis. Further investigations, including clinical studies and mechanistic explorations, are warranted to validate these findings. However, the MR analyses do not support bidirectional causal associations between periodontitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis or liver cancer.
5.Optical coherence tomography detection of non-culprit coronary lesions vulnerable plaques at high risk of developing major adverse cardiovascular events
Hong YANG ; Sen LIU ; Cheng LIU ; Meng-Wei WEI ; Qi-Qi SHAO ; Ya-Qi ZHOU ; Zhen-Yan FU
Chinese Journal of Interventional Cardiology 2024;32(11):635-641
Objective To investigate the value of optical coherence tomography(OCT)in predicting the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events(MACE)in patients of acute coronary syndrome(ACS).Methods Four hundred and forth-eight ACS patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)and OCT from February 2015 to February 2022 were selected as the study subjects.We found 749 non-culprit coronary lesions.And follow up the patients,median follow-up was 5 years[interquartile interval(IQR):3-7 years].Kaplan-meier was used to estimate the cumulative incidence of MACE,multivariate Cox regression was used to analyze the risk of MACE with OCT parameters non-culprit coronary lesions,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of OCT parameters for MACE in non-culprit coronary lesions.Results A total of 749 non-culprit coronary lesions were detected,and 41 MACE cases were caused by non-culprit coronary lesions imaged by OCT.Compared with plaques without thin-cap fibroatheroma(TCFA)and minimal lumen area(MLA)<3.5 mm2,the incidence of MACE was significantly associated with vulnerable plaques with TCFA and MLA<3.5 mm2(33%vs.3%,HR 13.62,95%CI 6.71-27.65,P<0.001).Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that larger maximum lipid arc(HR 1.02,95%CI 1.01-1.03,P<0.001),smaller maximum lipid cap thickness(HR 0.97,95%CI 0.96-0.99,P<0.001)and MLA(HR 0.31,95%CI 0.18-0.55,P<0.001)were independent risk factors for MACE.The area under ROC curve(AUC)of the thinnest fiber cap thickness for predicting MACE occurrence was 0.858(95%CI 0.802-0.913),and the optimal cutoff value was 66.5 μm.The AUC of maximum lipid arc for predicting MACE occurrence was 0.853(95%CI 0.786-0.920),and the optimal cut-off value was 180.35°.The AUC of MLA for predicting MACE was 0.821(95%CI 0.766-0.876),and the optimal cutoff was 3.575 mm2.Conclusions The non-culprit coronary lesions with TCFA and MLA<3.5 mm2 were significantly associated with an increased risk of subsequent MACE development at the lesion level,and OCT imaging helps early identification of the risk of MACE development in non-culprit coronary lesions in patients of ACS.
6.Up-regulation of Proinflammatory Cytokines in Rostral Ventromedial Medulla Contributes to Chronic Postsurgical Pain by Promoting 5-HT Release
Juanli DAI ; Zhen WANG ; Chaoxiong DONG ; Yuying LI ; Xuhong WEI
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2024;45(1):54-62
ObjectiveTo investigate the role of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) in chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) induced by skin/muscle incision and retraction (SMIR). MethodsSD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: ① Sham group; ② SMIR group; ③ SMIR+TNFα/IL-1β neutralizing antibody group; ④ SMIR+TNFα/IL-1β group and ⑤ SMIR+vehicle group. 50% paw mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) was measured by the up-down method, immunofluroscence was used to detect the TNFα and IL-1β expression and ELISA for the 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) level. ResultsSMIR elicited persistent nociceptive sensitization, upregulated TNFα and IL-1β expression in RVM neurons and astrocytes. Microinjection of TNFα or IL-1β neutralizing antibody into RVM inhibited the development of nociceptive sensitization and decreased the level of 5-HT in both RVM and spinal dorsal horn. While microinjection of recombinant TNFα or IL-1β into RVM enhanced the development of nociceptive sensitization and increased the level of 5-HT in both RVM and spinal dorsal horn. ConclusionUp-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines in RVM may contribute to SMIR induced CPSP by promoting 5-HT release.
7.Research progress on oral frailty in the elderly
Sen FANG ; Zhen CHENG ; Lei WANG
Chinese Journal of General Practitioners 2024;23(3):309-313
Frailty is a key intermediate state of aging, which is closely related to the adverse outcomes such as falls, disability, and death in the elderly, and seriously impairs their quality of life. It is proposed in recent years that oral frailty is also a type of frailty and can be used as a predictor and component of general frailty. This article summarizes the definition, epidemiology, assessment tools, possible mechanisms and intervention measures of oral frailty, to provide reference for further research in the field of oral frailty.
8.Stratified Treatment in Pediatric Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: Result of a Prospective Open-Label Multiple-Institution Study
Tingting CHEN ; Chenggong ZENG ; Juan WANG ; Feifei SUN ; Junting HUANG ; Jia ZHU ; Suying LU ; Ning LIAO ; Xiaohong ZHANG ; Zaisheng CHEN ; Xiuli YUAN ; Zhen YANG ; Haixia GUO ; Liangchun YANG ; Chuan WEN ; Wenlin ZHANG ; Yang LI ; Xuequn LUO ; Zelin WU ; Lihua YANG ; Riyang LIU ; Mincui ZHENG ; Xiangling HE ; Xiaofei SUN ; Zijun ZHEN
Cancer Research and Treatment 2024;56(4):1252-1261
Purpose:
The risk stratification of pediatric anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) has not been standardized. In this study, new risk factors were included to establish a new risk stratification system for ALCL, and its feasibility in clinical practice was explored.
Materials and Methods:
On the basis of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Berlin–Frankfurt–Munster 95 (NHL-BFM-95) protocol, patients with minimal disseminated disease (MDD), high-risk tumor site (multiple bone, skin, liver, and lung involvement), and small cell/lymphohistiocytic (SC/LH) pathological subtype were enrolled in risk stratification. Patients were treated with a modified NHL-BFM-95 protocol combined with an anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor or vinblastine (VBL).
Results:
A total of 136 patients were enrolled in this study. The median age was 8.8 years. The 3-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival of the entire cohort were 77.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 69.0% to 83.9%) and 92.3% (95% CI, 86.1% to 95.8%), respectively. The 3-year EFS rates of low-risk group (R1), intermediate-risk group (R2), and high-risk group (R3) patients were 100%, 89.5% (95% CI, 76.5% to 95.5%), and 67.9% (95% CI, 55.4% to 77.6%), respectively. The prognosis of patients with MDD (+), stage IV cancer, SC/LH lymphoma, and high-risk sites was poor, and the 3-year EFS rates were 45.3% (95% CI, 68.6% to 19.0%), 65.7% (95% CI, 47.6% to 78.9%), 55.7% (95% CI, 26.2% to 77.5%), and 70.7% (95% CI, 48.6% to 84.6%), respectively. At the end of follow-up, one of the five patients who received maintenance therapy with VBL relapsed, and seven patients receiving anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor maintenance therapy did not experience relapse.
Conclusion
This study has confirmed the poor prognostic of MDD (+), high-risk site and SC/LH, but patients with SC/LH lymphoma and MDD (+) at diagnosis still need to receive better treatment (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03971305).
9.Application of SGRT Combined with IGRT Isocenter Dual-guided Resetting in IMRT for Breast Cancer
Xue-mei CHEN ; Lu LIU ; Wei-xun CAI ; Ya-juan WANG ; Xiao-hua HE ; Zhen-yu HE ; Cheng-guang LIN ; Xiao-bo JIANG
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2023;44(1):85-92
ObjectiveThe objective is to investigate the possibility of isocenter dual-guided resetting of surface guided radiation therapy (SGRT) combined with image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) in postoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer. To assess the setup error accuracy between the new resetting mode and the traditional resetting mode. MethodsRetrospective analysis was performed on breast cancer patients who underwent ELEKTA infinity accelerator radiotherapy in sun yat-sen university cancer center from July 13, 2021 to October 15, 2022. According to different reset methods, the patients were divided into a simulation group (41 cases) and a dual-guided group (40 cases). The simulation group was reset using a simulator, CBCT scans were performed and setup errors were recorded during the first treatment; The dual-guided group was guided by AlignRT and combined with CBCT for isocenter dual-guided resetting, and the setup error obtained by CBCT registration was recorded. The global setup errors of chest region of interest (CROI) , the local residual errors of supraclavicular region of interest (SROI) and the resetting time of the two reset methods were calculated and compared respectively. The advantages of the CBCT error distribution in the dual-guided resetting of SGRT combined with IGRT were analyzed. ResultsThe median of the global setup errors (X/cm, Y/cm, Z/cm, Rx°, Ry°, Rz°) of the simulation group and the median of the dual-guided group in the CROI were statistically significant (P<0.05) except the Rz and Ry directions. The local residual errors of the two groups of the SROI were calculated. The median of the errors of X/cm, Y/cm, Z/cm, Rx°, Ry°, Rz° were statistically significant (P<0.05) except the X and Y axis. The resetting time of the simulation group was significantly longer than that of the dual-guided group (238.64±28.56) s, t=-24.555, P=0.000, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The CBCT error distribution of the dual-guide group was analyzed, and it was found that the absolute values of translation errors of X, Y and Z axis were all within 0.4 cm, while the proportions of ≤ 0.3 cm were 95%, 93% and 93%, respectively. The proportions of rotation errors of Rx, Ry and Rz ≤ 1.5 ° were 90%, 93% and 90%, respectively. ConclusionIn postoperative radiotherapy of breast cancer, SGRT combined with IGRT for isocenter dual-guided resetting can effectively correct the rotational setup errors and residual errors, and improve the accuracy of radiotherapy with less resetting time and high feasibility, which compared with the traditional simulator resetting mode. This precise, unmarked resetting method can be widely used in clinical practice.
10.Clinical analysis of 11 cases of high-grade B-cell lymphoma in children.
Juan LIU ; Juan WANG ; Jia ZHU ; Yu ZHANG ; Su Ying LU ; Fei Fei SUN ; Jun Ting HUANG ; Yan Peng WU ; Feng Yin CAI ; Rui Qing CAI ; Zi Jun ZHEN ; Xiao Fei SUN ; Yi Zhuo ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Hematology 2023;44(2):151-153


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