Objective To investigate the current distribution of radiotherapy resources in Gansu Province, evaluate the equity of resource allocation, and provide a scientific basis for optimizing regional resource allocation. Methods A questionnaire survey was carried out to assess radiotherapy resources in medical institutions across Gansu Province, China. The equity of radiotherapy resource distribution and associated disparities were assessed using the Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve, and Theil index. Results A total of 23 medical institutions in Gansu Province provided radiotherapy services, comprising 39 radiotherapy devices and 438 professionals, of whom medical physicists accounted for 16.9%. The radiotherapy frequency was 0.47 cases per thousand population. The Gini coefficients for radiotherapy resource distribution ranged from 0.38 to 0.56 by population and from 0.52 to 0.70 by geography. The Theil index for radiotherapy resources ranged from 1.36 to 3.67. Conclusion Radiotherapy resources in Gansu Province were insufficient, and the capacity of radiotherapy service was suboptimal. The equity of radiotherapy resource allocation by geography was worse than that by population. Therefore, it is imperative to address the shortage of radiotherapy resources, strengthen the professional workforce, enhance the capacity radiotherapy service and resource utilization, optimize resource allocation, and promote regional equity in radiotherapy provision in Gansu Province.

This study aims to establish a high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) method for determining the content of the classical swine fever virus (CSFV) E2 protein and screen the optimal stabilizer to enhance the stability of this protein. The optimal detection conditions were determined by optimizing the composition of the mobile phase, and characteristic chromatographic peaks were identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The specificity, repeatability, precision, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the method were assessed. The method established was used to determine the content of CSFV E2 protein antigen and vaccine. Differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) was employed to screen the buffer system, pH, and salt ion concentrations, and sugar, amino acid, and alcohol stabilizers were further screened. The results showed that using a 200 mmol/L phosphate buffer provided the best column efficiency. An antigen-specific chromatographic peak appeared at the retention time of 18 min, which was identified as the CSFV E2 protein by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The method exhibited high specificity for detecting the CSFV E2 protein, with no absorbance peak observed in the blank control. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the peak area for six repeated injections of the CSFV E2 protein was 0.74%, indicating good repeatability of the method. The RSD for repeated detection of two different concentrations of CSFV E2 protein samples by different operators at different time points was less than 2%, suggesting good intermediate precision of the method. The peak area of the CSFV E2 protein was linearly related to its concentration, with the regression equation showing R² of 1.000. The LOD and LOQ of the method were 14.88 μg/mL and 29.75 μg/mL, respectively. Application of the developed method in the detection of three batches of CSFV E2 protein antigen and three batches of vaccine demonstrated results consistent with those from the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay, which meant that the method could accurately determine the content of CSFV E2 protein antigen and vaccine. The DSF method identified 50 mmol/L Tris-HCl at pH 8.0 as the optimal buffer, and the addition of sugar and alcohol stabilizers further improved the stability of the CSFV E2 protein. The HPSEC method established in this study is simple, fast, and exhibits good accuracy and repeatability, enabling precise measurement of the CSFV E2 protein content. It is expected to play a crucial role in the quality control of the CSFV E2 vaccine. Furthermore, the strategy for improving the CSFV E2 protein stability, identified through DSF screening, has significant implications for enhancing the stability of the CSFV E2 vaccine.
Classical Swine Fever Virus/chemistry* ; Chromatography, Gel/methods* ; Animals ; Swine ; Viral Envelope Proteins/immunology*

BACKGROUND: In China, lung cancer remains the cancer with the highest incidence and mortality rate. Among early-stage lung adenocarcinomas (LUAD), the micropapillary (MPP) component is prevalent and typically exhibits high aggressiveness, significantly correlating with early metastasis, lymphatic infiltration, and reduced five-year survival rates. Therefore, the study is to explore the similarities and differences between MPP and non-micropapillary (non-MPP) components in malignant pulmonary nodules characterized by GGOs in early-stage LUAD, identify unique mutational features of the MPP component and analyze the relationship between the ZNF469 gene, a member of the zinc-finger protein family, and the prognosis of early-stage LUAD, as well as its correlation with immune infiltration. METHODS: A total of 31 malignant pulmonary nodules of LUAD were collected and dissected into paired MPP and non-MPP components using microdissection. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed on the components of early-stage malignant pulmonary nodules. Mutational signatures analysis was conducted using R packages such as maftools, Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF), and Sigminer to unveil the genomic mutational characteristics unique to MPP components in invasive LUAD compared to other tumor tissues. Furthermore, we explored the expression of the ZNF469 gene in LUAD using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to investigate its potential association with the prognosis. We also investigated gene interaction networks and signaling pathways related to ZNF469 in LUAD using the GeneMANIA database and conducted Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. Lastly, we analyzed the correlation between ZNF469 gene expression and levels of immune cell infiltration in LUAD using the TIMER and TISIDB databases. RESULTS: MPP components exhibited a higher number of genomic variations, particularly the 13th COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer) mutational signature characterized by the activity of the cytidine deaminase APOBEC family, which was unique to MPP components compared to non-MPP components in tumor tissues. This suggests the potential involvement of APOBEC in the progression of MPP components in early-stage LUAD. Additionally, MPP samples with high similarity to APOBEC signature displayed a higher tumor mutational burden (TMB), indicating that these patients may be more likely to benefit from immunotherapy. The expression of ZNF469 was significantly upregulated in LUAD compared to normal tissue, and was associated with poor prognosis in LUAD patients (P<0.05). Gene interaction network analysis and GO/KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that COL6A1, COL1A1, COL1A2, TGFB2, MMP2, COL8A2 and C2CD4C interacted with ZNF469 and were mainly involved in encoding collagen proteins and participating in the constitution of extracellular matrix. ZNF469 expression was positively correlated with immune cell infiltration in LUAD (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The study has unveiled distinctive mutational signatures in the MPP components of early-stage invasive LUAD in the Asian population. Furthermore, we have identified that the elevated expression of mutated ZNF469 impacts the prognosis and immune infiltration in LUAD, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in LUAD.
Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Adenocarcinoma of Lung/genetics* ; China ; Prognosis ; Transcription Factors

Objective To investigate the effects of long-term administration of tacrolimus(also known as FK506)on the pain-related behaviors in mice and to study the underlying mechanism of pain induced by FK506 via measuring the effect of FK506 on the synaptic expression and phosphorylation of alpha-amino-3-hyroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid(AMPA)receptor in the spinal cord dorsal horn of mice.Methods 1)A total of 24 mice were evenly and randomly assigned to two groups,a FK506 group and a Saline group.The FK506 group was given daily intraperitoneal injection of FK506 and the Saline group received normal saline.Both groups received injection once a day for 7 days in a row.Some of the mice(n=6 in each group)were monitored for the changes in the paw withdrawal threshold(PWT),the paw withdrawal latency(PWL),and the spontaneous pain behaviors to establish the pain model.The other mice(n=6 in each group)of each group underwent isolation of the dorsal horn when obvious pain symptoms were induced on day 7 of injection.Then,immunoblotting was performed to determine the synaptic expression and phosphorylation levels of GluA1 and GluA2 subunits of AMPA receptors.2)The mice were randomly divided into two groups,FK506+calcineurin(CaN)group and FK506+Saline group(n=6 in each group).After the pain model was constructed,the mice were given intrathecal injection of recombinant CaN(also know as 33 U)or normal saline.Then,60 minutes later,the PWT and the PWL of the mice were measured to investigate the role of CaN in FK506-induced pain.3)Another18 mice were selected.The mice were randomly and evenly assigned to three groups,a control group(receiving intraperitoneal injection of normal saline followed by intrathecal injection of normal saline),FK506+Saline group(receiving intraperitoneal injection of FK506 followed by intrathecal injection of normal saline)and FK506+CaN group(receiving intraperitoneal injection of FK506 followed by intrathecal injection of CaN).Then,60 minutes later,the spinal cords were isolated and subjected to immunoblotting assay to determine the role of CaN in FK506-induced AMPA receptor modification.Results 1)After 7 consecutive days of intraperitoneal injection of FK506,the PWT and PWL of mice dropped significantly,reaching on day 7 as low as 22.3%±0.05%and 66.6%±0.05%of the control group,respectively(P<0.01).The FK506-treated mice displayed evident spontaneous pain behavior,presenting significantly increased licking activities(P<0.01).These results indicated that FK506-induced pain model was successfully established.Immunoblotting assay showed that the total expressions of GluA1 and GluA2 subunits in the spinal dorsal horn of the FK506 group remained unchanged in comparison with those of the Saline group.However,FK506 specifically induced an increase in the synaptic expression of GluA1.In addition,the phosphorylation levels of GluA1 at Ser845 and Ser831 in FK506-treated mice were significantly increased in comparison with those of the control group(P<0.05).2)Compared with those of the mice in the FK506+Saline group,the PWT and the PWL of mice in the FK506+CaN group were significantly increased(P<0.05).3)Compared with those of the FK506+Saline group,the synaptic expression of GluA1 were decreased in FK506+CaN group(P<0.01)and the phosphorylation levels of GluA1 at Ser845 and Ser831 were significantly downregulated(P<0.001).Conclusion The hyper-expression and hyperphosphorylation of GluA1 subunit in the spinal cord dorsal horn resulting from CaN inhibition contributes to the FK506-induced pain syndrome.FK506 induces the synaptic hyper-expression and hyperphosphorylation of GluA1 in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord through CaN inhibition,thereby inducing pain.

Objective Immune infiltration,as well as their implications across various cancers,and to establish a clinical prognostic model based on the findings.Methods The expression profile and clinical information of endometrial cancer tissue and adjacent tissues in TCGA endometrial cancer database were used,the differential expression genes were screened out for analysis,and the mRNA co-expressed by LncRNA was analyzed by GO enrichment and KEGG signaling pathway.The differential genes between endometrial cancer and adjacent tissues were intersected with the basement membrane protein genes.The selected differentially expressed genes were combined with survival status and survival time to screen out Hub genes by Lasso-cox regression analysis.Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to establish a prognostic model,and pan-cancer analysis and immunoinfiltration correlation analysis were further performed.Results Six basal membrane protein Hub genes,ADAMTS5,EVA1C,THBS4,CTSD,ITGAV and LAMA1,were identified as associated with the prognosis of patients with endometrial cancer,and found that the survival rate of patients decreased significantly with the increase of risk score.Pan-cancer analysis found that these 6 genes were significantly different in most cancer types,and high expression in GBMLGG(glioma),LGG(low-grade glioma of the brain),LAML(acute myeloid leukemia),UVM(Uveal melanoma),ACC(adrenal cortical cancer)and other cancers had poor prognosis.The potential role of these genes in tumor immunotherapy was also explored,and significant negative correlation was found with Th 17 cells,Th2 cells,NK CD56 bright cells and other immune cells(P＜0.01),and significant positive correlation was found with Tcm,iDC,Eosinophils,aDC and other immune cells(P＜0.01).Conclusion Basal membrane protein gene has high clinical value in the diagnosis and prognosis of endometrial cancer,and can be used as a prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target for patients with endometrial cancer.

Objective:To investigate the effect of blocking P21 activated kinase 1 (PAK1) activity on the proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AMKL) cell lines (CHRF and CMK) .Methods:Cell counts were used to detect the effects of PAK1 inhibitors (IPA-3 and G5555) on AMKL cell proliferation inhibition and colony formation, and flow cytometry was used to detect its effects on AMKL cell cycle. The effect of PAK1 inhibitor on the expression of cyclin D1 and apoptosis-related protein Cleaved caspase 3 was detected using Western blot, while interference with the protein expression level of PAK1 in AMKL cells was assessed using lentivirus-mediated shRNA transfection technology. Flow cytometry was used to detect the effects of knockdown of PAK1 kinase activity on the ability of polyploid DNA formation and cell apoptosis in AMKL cells.Results:PAK1 inhibitors inhibited the proliferation of AMKL cells in a dose-dependent manner and reduced the ability of cell colony formation, and the difference was statistically significant when compared with the control group ( P<0.05) . Moreover, they also reduced the percentage of AMKL cells in S phase, and Western blot detection showed that the expression levels of phosphorylated PAK1 and cyclin D1 decreased significantly. Finally, PAK1 inhibitors induced AMKL cell apoptosis by up-regulating Cleaved caspase 3 and showed different abilities to increase the content of polyploid DNA in megakaryocytes. Only high concentrations of IPA-3 and low doses of G5555 increased the number of polyploid megakaryocytes, while knockdown of PAK1 kinase activity promoted AMKL cell differentiation and increased the apoptosis rate. Conclusion:PAK1 inhibitor significantly arrests AMKL cell growth and promotes cell apoptosis. Knocking down the expression of PAK1 promotes the formation of polyploid DNA and induces AMKL cell apoptosis. The above findings indicate that inhibiting the activity of PAK1 may control AMKL effectively.

Objective:To explore the status and influencing factors of stress disorder in different periods of postpartum women.Methods:From October 2019 to April 2021, convenience sampling was used to select 332 puerperae from 8 community health service stations in Xi'an as the research object. The Posttraumatic Stress Checklist-Civilian version (PCL-C) was used to investigate the puerperae in T1 (1 to 3 months postpartum) , T2 (4 to 6 months postpartum) , T3 (7 to 12 months postpartum) .Results:Among 332 puerperae, there were no significant differences in the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) positive rate, PTSD total score and symptom cluster scores in T1, T2 and T3 ( P>0.05) . From 1 to 3 months postpartum, occupation, husband participation, sleep, delivery mode, neonatal gender coincidence and initial delivery were the influencing factors of postpartum PTSD ( P<0.05) . From 4 to 6 months postpartum, pregnancy complications was the factor affecting postpartum PTSD ( P<0.05) . From 7 to 12 months, sleep was the influencing factor of postpartum PTSD ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:PTSD was relatively stable within one year in postpartum women. Targeted intervention measures should be taken according to the influencing factors of PTSD in different postpartum periods.

To rapidly and accurately manipulate genome such as gene deletion, insertion and site mutation, the whole genome of a very virulent strain Md5 of Marek's disease virus (MDV) was inserted into bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) through homogeneous recombination. The recombinant DNA was electroporated into DH10B competent cells and identified by PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. An infectious clone of Md5BAC was obtained following transfection into chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cells. Furthermore, a lorf10 deletion mutant was constructed by two step Red-mediated homologous recombination. To confirm the specific role of gene deletion, the lorf10 was reinserted into the original site of MDV genome to make a revertant strain. All the constructs were rescued by transfection into CEF cells, respectively. The successful packaging of recombinant viruses was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence assay. The results of growth kinetics assay and plaques area measurement showed that the lorf10 is dispensable for MDV propagation in vitro. Overall, this study successfully constructed an infectious BAC clone of MDV and demonstrated its application in genome manipulation; the knowledge gained from our study could be further applied to other hepesviruses.
Animals ; Chick Embryo ; Chickens ; Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial ; DNA, Recombinant ; Herpesvirus 2, Gallid/genetics* ; Marek Disease

In the nucleus, chromatin is folded into hierarchical architecture that is tightly linked to various nuclear functions. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms that confer these archi-tectures remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the functional roles of H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2), one of the abundant histone modifications, in three-dimensional (3D) genome organization. Unlike in mouse embryonic stem cells, inhibition of methyltransferases G9a and GLP in differentiated cells eliminated H3K9me2 predominantly at A-type (active) genomic compartments, and the level of residual H3K9me2 modifications was strongly associated with B-type (inactive) genomic compartments. Furthermore, chemical inhibition of G9a/GLP in mouse hepatocytes led to decreased chromatin-nuclear lamina interactions mainly at G9a/GLP-sensitive regions, increased degree of genomic compartmentalization, and up-regulation of hundreds of genes that were associated with alterations of the 3D chromatin. Collectively, our data demonstrated essential roles of H3K9me2 in 3D genome organization.