1.Computational pathology in precision oncology: Evolution from task-specific models to foundation models.
Yuhao WANG ; Yunjie GU ; Xueyuan ZHANG ; Baizhi WANG ; Rundong WANG ; Xiaolong LI ; Yudong LIU ; Fengmei QU ; Fei REN ; Rui YAN ; S Kevin ZHOU
Chinese Medical Journal 2025;138(22):2868-2878
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, computational pathology has been seamlessly integrated into the entire clinical workflow, which encompasses diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and biomarker discovery. This integration has significantly enhanced clinical accuracy and efficiency while reducing the workload for clinicians. Traditionally, research in this field has depended on the collection and labeling of large datasets for specific tasks, followed by the development of task-specific computational pathology models. However, this approach is labor intensive and does not scale efficiently for open-set identification or rare diseases. Given the diversity of clinical tasks, training individual models from scratch to address the whole spectrum of clinical tasks in the pathology workflow is impractical, which highlights the urgent need to transition from task-specific models to foundation models (FMs). In recent years, pathological FMs have proliferated. These FMs can be classified into three categories, namely, pathology image FMs, pathology image-text FMs, and pathology image-gene FMs, each of which results in distinct functionalities and application scenarios. This review provides an overview of the latest research advancements in pathological FMs, with a particular emphasis on their applications in oncology. The key challenges and opportunities presented by pathological FMs in precision oncology are also explored.
Humans
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Precision Medicine/methods*
;
Medical Oncology/methods*
;
Artificial Intelligence
;
Neoplasms/pathology*
;
Computational Biology/methods*
2.Advances in the role of protein post-translational modifications in circadian rhythm regulation.
Zi-Di ZHAO ; Qi-Miao HU ; Zi-Yi YANG ; Peng-Cheng SUN ; Bo-Wen JING ; Rong-Xi MAN ; Yuan XU ; Ru-Yu YAN ; Si-Yao QU ; Jian-Fei PEI
Acta Physiologica Sinica 2025;77(4):605-626
The circadian clock plays a critical role in regulating various physiological processes, including gene expression, metabolic regulation, immune response, and the sleep-wake cycle in living organisms. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are crucial regulatory mechanisms to maintain the precise oscillation of the circadian clock. By modulating the stability, activity, cell localization and protein-protein interactions of core clock proteins, PTMs enable these proteins to respond dynamically to environmental and intracellular changes, thereby sustaining the periodic oscillations of the circadian clock. Different types of PTMs exert their effects through distincting molecular mechanisms, collectively ensuring the proper function of the circadian system. This review systematically summarized several major types of PTMs, including phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, SUMOylation and oxidative modification, and overviewed their roles in regulating the core clock proteins and the associated pathways, with the goals of providing a theoretical foundation for the deeper understanding of clock mechanisms and the treatment of diseases associated with circadian disruption.
Protein Processing, Post-Translational/physiology*
;
Circadian Rhythm/physiology*
;
Humans
;
Animals
;
CLOCK Proteins/physiology*
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Circadian Clocks/physiology*
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Phosphorylation
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Acetylation
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Ubiquitination
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Sumoylation
3.Application of Mitochondrial Targeting Strategy of Nano-delivery System in Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment
Jun QU ; Shuang YAN ; Long-Tian-Yang LEI ; Fei-Jun OUYANG ; Hai-Tao ZHANG ; Xu-Ping QIN
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2024;51(1):70-81
Tumor is one of the major diseases that endanger people’s health. At present, the treatments used for tumor include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and so on. Nonetheless, the traditional treatments have some disadvantages, such as insufficient treatment effect, liable to cause multidrug resistance, toxicity and side effect. Further research and exploration of tumor treatment schemes are still necessary. As the energy converter of cells, mitochondria are currently considered to be one of the most important targets for the design of new drugs for tumor, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Nano-drug delivery carriers have the characteristics of being easily modified with active targeting groups, and it can achieve accurate targeted drug delivery to cells and organelles. This paper reviews the application of mitochondrial targeted nanoparticles in tumor diagnosis and treatment from the aspects of inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, promoting tumor cell apoptosis, inhibiting tumor recurrence and metastasis, and inducing cell autophagy.
4.An Enhancer LncRNA Regulates NFE2 Expression and Proliferation in Human Leukemic K562 Cells
Yan-Fei LU ; Song-Ya QU ; Jing-Jing ZHU ; Chao LIU ; Jian WANG ; Bing-She HAN ; Jun-Fang ZHANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2024;51(1):190-201
ObjectiveTranscription factor NFE2 was observed abnormal expression in myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patients. However, how NFE2 is transcriptionally regulated remains ambiguous. This study aims to explore the elements and molecular mechanisms involved in the transcriptional regulation of NFE2. MethodsActive enhancers were predicted by public NGS data and conformed experimentally via dual luciferase reporter assay. After that, PRO-seq and GRO-seq data was used to detect enhancer RNAs transcribed from these enhancers. RACE was utilized to clone the full length enhancer RNA (eRNA) transcripts, and RT-qPCR was used to measure their expression in different leukemia cell lines as well as the transcript levels during induced differentiation. Finally, to investigate the molecular function of the eRNA, overexpression and knockdown of the eRNA via lentivirus system was performed in K562 cells. ResultsWe identified three enhancers regulating NFE2 transcription, which located at -3.6k, -6.2k and +6.3k from NFE2 transcription start site (TSS) respectively. At the -3.6k enhancer, we cloned an eRNA transcript and characterized that as a lncRNA which was expressed and located in the nucleus in three types of leukemia cell lines. When this lncRNA was overexpressed, expression of NFE2 was upregulated and decreases of K562 cell proliferation and migration ability were observed. While knocking down of this lncRNA, the level of NFE2 decreases correspondingly and the proliferation ability of K562 cells increases accordingly. ConclusionWe identified an enhancer lncRNA that regulates NFE2 transcription positively and suppresses K562 cell proliferation.
5.Coronary artery perforation after using shockwave balloon during percutaneous coronary intervention treatment:a case report
Chen-Ji XU ; Fei LI ; Fa ZHENG ; Bin ZHANG ; Feng-Xia QU ; Jian-Meng WANG ; Ya-Qun ZHOU ; Xian-Liang LI ; Song-Tao WANG ; Yan SHAO ; Chang-Hong LU
Chinese Journal of Interventional Cardiology 2024;32(7):405-408
Coronary perforation is when a contrast agent or blood flows outside a blood vessel through a tear in a coronary artery.In this case,we reported a case of percutaneous coronary intervention for coronary calcified lesions,which led to iatrogenic coronary perforation and cardiac tamponade after the use of Shockwave balloon to treat intracoronary calcified nodules,and the management of PCI-related CAP was systematically reviewed through the literature.
6.A real-world study on the efficacy and safety analysis of paclitaxel liposome in advanced breast cancer.
Chun Xiao SUN ; Shu Sen WANG ; Jian Bin LI ; Yong Sheng WANG ; Qu Chang OUYANG ; Jin YANG ; Hai Bo WANG ; Xiao Jia WANG ; Wen Yan CHEN ; Peng YUAN ; Min YAN ; Ze Fei JIANG ; Yong Mei YIN
Chinese Journal of Oncology 2023;45(1):88-94
Objective: To explore the application and efficacy of paclitaxel liposome in the treatment of advanced breast cancer among Chinese population in the real world. Methods: The clinical characteristics of patients with advanced breast cancer who received paclitaxel liposome as salvage treatment from January 1, 2016 to August 31, 2019 in 11 hospitals were collected and retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome was progression free survival (PFS), and the secondary outcome included objective response rate (ORR) and safety. The survival curve was drawn by Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox regression model were used for the multivariate analysis. Results: Among 647 patients with advanced breast cancer who received paclitaxel liposome, the first-line treatment accounted for 43.3% (280/647), the second-line treatment accounted for 27.7% (179/647), and the third-line and above treatment accounted for 29.1% (188/647). The median dose of first-line and second-line treatment was 260 mg per cycle, and 240 mg in third line and above treatment. The median period of paclitaxel liposome alone and combined chemotherapy or targeted therapy is 4 cycles and 6 cycles, respectively. In the whole group, 167 patients (25.8%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with capecitabine±trastuzumab (TX±H), 123 patients (19.0%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome alone (T), and 119 patients (18.4%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with platinum ± trastuzumab (TP±H), 108 patients (16.7%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with trastuzumab ± pertuzumab (TH±P). The median PFS of first-line and second-line patients (5.5 and 5.5 months, respectively) were longer than that of patients treated with third line and above (4.9 months, P<0.05); The ORR of the first line, second line, third line and above patients were 46.7%, 36.8% and 28.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that event-free survival (EFS) and the number of treatment lines were independent prognostic factors for PFS. The common adverse events were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reactions, hand foot syndrome and abnormal liver function. Conclusion: Paclitaxel liposomes is widely used and has promising efficacy in multi-subtype advanced breast cancer.
Humans
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Female
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Breast Neoplasms/chemically induced*
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Paclitaxel/adverse effects*
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Liposomes/therapeutic use*
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Retrospective Studies
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Treatment Outcome
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Trastuzumab/therapeutic use*
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Capecitabine/therapeutic use*
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Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects*
7.Periodic dynamic observation and analysis of cellular and humoral immunity indexes of adults infected with Omicron BA.1.
Meng Xue GAO ; Yue LEI ; Li Ru GUO ; Jiang Wen QU ; He Fei WANG ; Xiao Man LIU ; Rui LI ; Mei KONG ; Zhi Chao ZHUANG ; Zhao Lin TAN ; Xiao Yan LI ; Ying ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 2023;57(12):2117-2121
Objective: To analyze the immunological characteristics and antibody changes of patients infected with the Omicron BA.1 and evaluate the possibility of secondary infection. Methods: A total of 104 patients infected with Omicron BA.1 in the Jinnan District of Tianjin from January 8 to February 2, 2022, were included in the study. The control group and case group were matched 1∶1 based on age, sex and vaccination status. Serum was collected from the case group and control group at 3, 6 and 9 months after infection. The serum levels of interleukin4 (IL-4), IL-5 and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), as well as the positive rates of IgG, IgG1 and IgG2, were detected by ELISA. Results: The highest concentration of IFN-γ in the case group at 6 months after infection was 145.4 pg/ml, followed by a decrease in concentration. The concentrations of IL-4 and IL-5 began to decrease at 6 months after infection (all P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the IgG2 positive rate between the case group and the control group at 6 months after BA.1 infection. However, at 9 months, there was a significant decrease compared to the control group (P=0.003). The ratio of IFN-γ/IL4 at 3 months after infection in the case group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the ratio between the case group and the control group at 9 months after infection. Conclusion: The cellular immune function has been impaired at 3 months after infection with BA.1, and the specific cellular immune and humoral immune functions decrease significantly after 6 months, and the risk of secondary infection increases.
Adult
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Humans
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Immunity, Humoral
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Coinfection
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Interleukin-4
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Interleukin-5
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Immunoglobulin G
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Interferon-gamma
8.Periodic dynamic observation and analysis of cellular and humoral immunity indexes of adults infected with Omicron BA.1.
Meng Xue GAO ; Yue LEI ; Li Ru GUO ; Jiang Wen QU ; He Fei WANG ; Xiao Man LIU ; Rui LI ; Mei KONG ; Zhi Chao ZHUANG ; Zhao Lin TAN ; Xiao Yan LI ; Ying ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 2023;57(12):2117-2121
Objective: To analyze the immunological characteristics and antibody changes of patients infected with the Omicron BA.1 and evaluate the possibility of secondary infection. Methods: A total of 104 patients infected with Omicron BA.1 in the Jinnan District of Tianjin from January 8 to February 2, 2022, were included in the study. The control group and case group were matched 1∶1 based on age, sex and vaccination status. Serum was collected from the case group and control group at 3, 6 and 9 months after infection. The serum levels of interleukin4 (IL-4), IL-5 and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), as well as the positive rates of IgG, IgG1 and IgG2, were detected by ELISA. Results: The highest concentration of IFN-γ in the case group at 6 months after infection was 145.4 pg/ml, followed by a decrease in concentration. The concentrations of IL-4 and IL-5 began to decrease at 6 months after infection (all P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the IgG2 positive rate between the case group and the control group at 6 months after BA.1 infection. However, at 9 months, there was a significant decrease compared to the control group (P=0.003). The ratio of IFN-γ/IL4 at 3 months after infection in the case group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the ratio between the case group and the control group at 9 months after infection. Conclusion: The cellular immune function has been impaired at 3 months after infection with BA.1, and the specific cellular immune and humoral immune functions decrease significantly after 6 months, and the risk of secondary infection increases.
Adult
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Humans
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Immunity, Humoral
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Coinfection
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Interleukin-4
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Interleukin-5
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Immunoglobulin G
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Interferon-gamma
9.Diagnostic value of a combined serology-based model for minimal hepatic encephalopathy in patients with compensated cirrhosis
Shanghao LIU ; Hongmei ZU ; Yan HUANG ; Xiaoqing GUO ; Huiling XIANG ; Tong DANG ; Xiaoyan LI ; Zhaolan YAN ; Yajing LI ; Fei LIU ; Jia SUN ; Ruixin SONG ; Junqing YAN ; Qing YE ; Jing WANG ; Xianmei MENG ; Haiying WANG ; Zhenyu JIANG ; Lei HUANG ; Fanping MENG ; Guo ZHANG ; Wenjuan WANG ; Shaoqi YANG ; Shengjuan HU ; Jigang RUAN ; Chuang LEI ; Qinghai WANG ; Hongling TIAN ; Qi ZHENG ; Yiling LI ; Ningning WANG ; Huipeng CUI ; Yanmeng WANG ; Zhangshu QU ; Min YUAN ; Yijun LIU ; Ying CHEN ; Yuxiang XIA ; Yayuan LIU ; Ying LIU ; Suxuan QU ; Hong TAO ; Ruichun SHI ; Xiaoting YANG ; Dan JIN ; Dan SU ; Yongfeng YANG ; Wei YE ; Na LIU ; Rongyu TANG ; Quan ZHANG ; Qin LIU ; Gaoliang ZOU ; Ziyue LI ; Caiyan ZHAO ; Qian ZHAO ; Qingge ZHANG ; Huafang GAO ; Tao MENG ; Jie LI ; Weihua WU ; Jian WANG ; Chuanlong YANG ; Hui LYU ; Chuan LIU ; Fusheng WANG ; Junliang FU ; Xiaolong QI
Chinese Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2023;46(1):52-61
Objective:To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of serological indicators and evaluate the diagnostic value of a new established combined serological model on identifying the minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) in patients with compensated cirrhosis.Methods:This prospective multicenter study enrolled 263 compensated cirrhotic patients from 23 hospitals in 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China between October 2021 and August 2022. Clinical data and laboratory test results were collected, and the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score was calculated. Ammonia level was corrected to the upper limit of normal (AMM-ULN) by the baseline blood ammonia measurements/upper limit of the normal reference value. MHE was diagnosed by combined abnormal number connection test-A and abnormal digit symbol test as suggested by Guidelines on the management of hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis. The patients were randomly divided (7∶3) into training set ( n=185) and validation set ( n=78) based on caret package of R language. Logistic regression was used to establish a combined model of MHE diagnosis. The diagnostic performance was evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic curve, Hosmer-Lemeshow test and calibration curve. The internal verification was carried out by the Bootstrap method ( n=200). AUC comparisons were achieved using the Delong test. Results:In the training set, prevalence of MHE was 37.8% (70/185). There were statistically significant differences in AMM-ULN, albumin, platelet, alkaline phosphatase, international normalized ratio, MELD score and education between non-MHE group and MHE group (all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that AMM-ULN [odds ratio ( OR)=1.78, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.05-3.14, P=0.038] and MELD score ( OR=1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.20, P=0.002) were independent risk factors for MHE, and the AUC for predicting MHE were 0.663, 0.625, respectively. Compared with the use of blood AMM-ULN and MELD score alone, the AUC of the combined model of AMM-ULN, MELD score and education exhibited better predictive performance in determining the presence of MHE was 0.755, the specificity and sensitivity was 85.2% and 55.7%, respectively. Hosmer-Lemeshow test and calibration curve showed that the model had good calibration ( P=0.733). The AUC for internal validation of the combined model for diagnosing MHE was 0.752. In the validation set, the AUC of the combined model for diagnosing MHE was 0.794, and Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed good calibration ( P=0.841). Conclusion:Use of the combined model including AMM-ULN, MELD score and education could improve the predictive efficiency of MHE among patients with compensated cirrhosis.
10.Cytotoxicity of 4 Wild Mushrooms in a Case of Yunnan Sudden Unexplained Death.
Wu LONG ; Peng-Fei QU ; Lin MA ; Rui WANG ; Yan-Mei XI ; Yu-Hua LI ; Sheng-Jie NIE ; Ting DUAN ; Jin-Liang DU ; Xue TANG ; Jing-Feng ZHAO ; Pu-Ping LEI ; Yue-Bing WANG
Journal of Forensic Medicine 2023;39(2):121-128
OBJECTIVES:
To explore the cytotoxicity of four wild mushrooms involved in a case of Yunnan sudden unexplained death (YNSUD), to provide the experimental basis for prevention and treatment of YNSUD.
METHODS:
Four kinds of wild mushrooms that were eaten by family members in this YNSUD incident were collected and identified by expert identification and gene sequencing. Raw extracts from four wild mushrooms were extracted by ultrasonic extraction to intervene HEK293 cells, and the mushrooms with obvious cytotoxicity were screened by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The selected wild mushrooms were prepared into three kinds of extracts, which were raw, boiled, and boiled followed by enzymolysis. HEK293 cells were intervened with these three extracts at different concentrations. The cytotoxicity was detected by CCK-8 combined with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) Assay Kit, and the morphological changes of HEK293 cells were observed under an inverted phase contrast microscope.
RESULTS:
Species identification indicated that the four wild mushrooms were Butyriboletus roseoflavus, Boletus edulis, Russula virescens and Amanita manginiana. Cytotoxicity was found only in Amanita manginiana. The raw extracts showed cytotoxicity at the mass concentration of 0.1 mg/mL, while the boiled extracts and the boiled followed by enzymolysis extracts showed obvious cytotoxicity at the mass concentration of 0.4 mg/mL and 0.7 mg/mL, respectively. In addition to the obvious decrease in the number of HEK293 cells, the number of synapses increased and the refraction of HEK293 cells was poor after the intervention of Amanita manginiana extracts.
CONCLUSIONS
The extracts of Amanita manginiana involved in this YNSUD case has obvious cytotoxicity, and some of its toxicity can be reduced by boiled and enzymolysis, but cannot be completely detoxicated. Therefore, the consumption of Amanita manginiana is potentially dangerous, and it may be one of the causes of the YNSUD.
Humans
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HEK293 Cells
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Sincalide
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China
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Amanita
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Death, Sudden

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