OBJECTIVES: To investigate CEACAM6 expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its regulatory effects on tumor cell proliferation, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). METHODS: CEACAM6 expression in NPC was analyzed using GEO datasets and validated by immunohistochemistry in NPC tissues and by Western blotting and RT-qPCR in NPC cell lines (HNE1, C666-1, HK1, 5-8F and CNE2Z) and normal nasopharyngeal epithelial NP69 cells. In the NPC cell lines, the effects of lentivirus-mediated CEACAM6 overexpression and knockdown on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and cytoskeletal structures were evaluated using CCK-8 assay, Edu staining, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and phalloidin staining. Western blotting was performed to determine the expressions of EMT-related proteins (FN1, ITGA5, ITGB1, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin) in the NPC cells and the effect of FN1 overexpression on ITGA5 and ITGB1 protein expressions. RESULTS: Analysis of the data from the GEO datasets suggested that CEACAM6 was significantly downregulated in NPC, which was associated with poor patient prognosis. Immunohistochemistry also showed low expressions of CEACAM6 in clinical NPC tissues (P<0.05). In NPC cells, CEACAM6 overexpression significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion and reduced the fluorescence intensity of actin. CEACAM6 overexpression also resulted in significant downregulation of FN1, ITGA5, ITGB1, N-cadherin and vimentin expressions and upregulation of E-cadherin expression, and FN1 overexpression obviously attenuated the inhibitory effect of CEACAM6 overexpression on ITGA5 and ITGB1 expressions. CONCLUSIONS CEACAM6 inhibits NPC cell migration and invasion by inhibiting EMT via regulating FN1, ITGA5 and ITGB1 expressions.
Humans ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Adhesion Molecules/genetics* ; Antigens, CD/metabolism* ; GPI-Linked Proteins ; Integrin alpha5/metabolism* ; Integrin beta1/metabolism* ; Cadherins/metabolism* ; Fibronectins ; Integrins

Inducing the degradation of KRAS represents a novel strategy to combat cancers with KRAS mutation. In this study, we identify ubiquitin-specific protease 2 (USP2) as a novel deubiquitinating enzyme of KRAS in multiple myeloma (MM). Specifically, we demonstrate that gambogic acid (GA) forms a covalent bond with the cysteine 284 residue of USP2 through an allosteric pocket, inhibiting its deubiquitinating activity. Inactivation or knockdown of USP2 leads to the degradation of KRAS, resulting in the suppression of MM cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, overexpressing USP2 stabilizes KRAS and partially abrogates GA-induced apoptosis in MM cells. Furthermore, elevated USP2 levels may be associated with poorer prognoses in MM patients. These findings highlight the potential of the USP2/KRAS axis as a therapeutic target in MM, suggesting that strategically inducing KRAS degradation via USP2 inhibition could be a promising approach for treating cancers with KRAS mutations.

Objective:To explore the consistency of MRI-based ovarian-adnexal report and data system (O-RADS) score and its diagnostic value for ovarian adnexal masses.Methods:The MRI data of 309 patients with ovarian adnexal masses confirmed by pathology were retrospectively collected from January 2017 to August 2021 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, including 327 lesions consisted of 250 benign lesions, 21 borderline lesions, and 56 malignant lesions confirmed by pathology. Borderline and malignant lesions were classified into the malignant group ( n=77) and benign lesions were classified as benign group ( n=250). Two radiologists scored all lesions according to the MRI-based O-RADS, and scored again after 6 months. The proportion of borderline/malignant lesions in each MRI-based O-RADS score was calculated. The weighted Kappa test was used to assess the intra-reader and inter-reader consistency of the image interpretation results. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of MRI-based O-RADS classification for distinguishing benign and malignant ovarian adnexal masses. Results:The weighted Kappa value of the MRI-based O-RADS score between the two radiologists was 0.810 (95%CI 0.764-0.855), and the weighted Kappa values of the two radiologists′ scores at different times were 0.848 (95%CI 0.806-0.889) and 0.875 (95%CI 0.835-0.914), respectively. The borderline/malignant lesions accounted for 0/16, 0.8% (1/127), 10.1% (10/99), 76.0% (57/75), 9/10 and 0/17, 0 (0/122), 8.0% (8/100), 76.2% (48/63), and 84.0% (21/25) of the lesions in the two radiologists based on the MRI O-RADS score of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. When adopting O-RADS score>3 as a cut-off value, the area under the ROC curve of the two radiologists for distinguishing benign and malignant ovarian adnexal masses was 0.928 (95%CI 0.895-0.954) and 0.942 (95%CI 0.911-0.965), respectively. The sensitivity was 0.857 and 0.896, the specificity was 0.924 and 0.924, and the accuracy was 0.908 and 0.917 respectively.Conclusion:The MRI-based O-RADS yields high diagnostic efficiency in the evaluation of benign and malignant ovarian adnexal masses, and the intra-reader and inter-reader consistency of the image interpretation is strong.

Objective To establish a solvent desorption inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method for determination of iodine in workplace air. Methods Iodine in workplace air was collected with alkaline activated carbon tube and desorbed with 10.0 mL pure water or 20 mmol/L sodium bicarbonate solution. Rhenium-185 was used as an internal standard for quantification. The sample was determined in standard mode and kinetic energy discrimination collision (KED) mode by ICP-MS. Results In standard mode, iodine showed a good linear range in the concentration of 9.0 to 1 100.0 μg/L, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 3 and a detection limit of 2.7 μg/L. In KED mode, iodine showed a good linear range in the concentration of 24.3 to 800.0 μg/L, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 1 and a detection limit of 7.3 μg/L. The average desorption efficiency using pure water ranged from 99.1% to 106.7%, with within-run relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.1% to 8.0% and between-run RSD of 4.9% to 9.3%. The average desorption efficiency using sodium bicarbonate solution ranged from 96.5% to 105.3%, with within-run RSD of 4.9% to 8.6% and between-run RSD of 2.5% to 9.9%. There were no statistical significant differences in the main effects of desorption solution, ICP-MS detection mode, their interaction on average desorption efficiency and within-run RSD (all P>0.05). Samples could be stored at room temperature for at least 7 days. Conclusion This method is highly sensitive, accurate, and suitable for the determination of iodine in workplace air. The sample pretreatment is simple and rapid.

Understanding the connection between brain and behavior in animals requires precise monitoring of their behaviors in three-dimensional (3-D) space. However, there is no available three-dimensional behavior capture system that focuses on rodents. Here, we present MouseVenue3D, an automated and low-cost system for the efficient capture of 3-D skeleton trajectories in markerless rodents. We improved the most time-consuming step in 3-D behavior capturing by developing an automatic calibration module. Then, we validated this process in behavior recognition tasks, and showed that 3-D behavioral data achieved higher accuracy than 2-D data. Subsequently, MouseVenue3D was combined with fast high-resolution miniature two-photon microscopy for synchronous neural recording and behavioral tracking in the freely-moving mouse. Finally, we successfully decoded spontaneous neuronal activity from the 3-D behavior of mice. Our findings reveal that subtle, spontaneous behavior modules are strongly correlated with spontaneous neuronal activity patterns.
Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods* ; Mice ; Neuroimaging ; Rodentia

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety of new oral anticoagulants （NOACs） and warfarin in the treatment of left ventricular thrombus （LVT）， and to provide evidenced-based reference for rational drug use in clinic. METHODS Retrieved from PubMed， Cochrane Library， Embase， Ovid Medline， CNKI， Wanfang and VIP during the inceptions to March 2022， after screening the literature and extracting data， the quality of randomized controlled trials （RCTs） was evaluated by using bias risk evaluation tool recommended by Cochrane systematic evaluator manual. Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of cohort studies， and RevMan 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis and bias risk analysis. RESULTS A total of 13 studies were included in the analysis， including 2 RCTs， 11 cohort studies and 2 261 patients； results of meta-analysis showed that there was no statistical significance in the incidence of complete LVT resolution [OR＝1.05， 95%CI（0.81，1.37）， P＝0.71]， the incidence of stroke/systemic embolism [OR＝0.89， 95%CI（0.67，1.18）， P＝0.42]， the incidence of massive haemorrhage [OR＝ 0.61， 95%CI（0.19，1.97）， P＝0.41]， the incidence of rehospitalization [OR＝0.84， 95%CI（0.49，1.46）， P＝0.54] or all-cause mortality [OR＝0.93， 95%CI（0.56，1.56）， P＝0.79] between 2 groups. The incidence of any bleeding event in trial group was significantly lower than that control group[OR＝ 025-80863493。0.65， 95%CI（0.45，0.93）， P＝0.02]. Subgroup analysis showed that complete LVT resolution of patients with follow-up ≤6 months in trial group was significantly higher than control group， and the incidence of any bleeding event was significantly lower in patients with follow-up ＞6 months and in the European region than control group （P＜0.05）. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of complete LVT resolution in patients with follow-up＞6 months， the incidence of any bleeding event in patients from Asia and America， or the incidence of any bleeding event in the two groups included in the RCT or the cohort study （P＞0.05）. The publication bias analysis showed that publication bias was less likely in the rate of complete LVT resolution but more likely in the incidence of any bleeding event. CONCLUSIONS NOACs can eliminate thrombus faster in the early stage， but with the prolongation of anticoagulation time， the efficacy of NOACs is comparable to warfarin， and the safety of NOACs in any bleeding event is better than warfarin.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between exposure to famine in fetus and infant period and the risks for hypertension in adulthood. Methods: A total of 5 960 participants born between 1956 and 1965 were included in the study and were divided into unexposed group (1963-1965), fetal exposed group (1959-1961), early- childhood exposed group (1956-1958) and transitional group (1962). Logistic regression model was used to explore the association between famine exposure in early life and the risk for hypertension in adulthood. Results: Both the fetal exposure and the early-childhood exposure were the risk factors for hypertension in adulthood (OR=1.249, 95%CI: 1.049-1.486 and OR=1.360, 95%CI: 1.102-1.679). Meanwhile, in rural area, compared with unexposed group, the fetal exposure (OR=1.401, 95%CI: 1.091-1.798) and the early-childhood exposure (OR=1.460, 95%CI: 1.145-1.862) were also associated with a greater risk of hypertension in adulthood. In addition, fetal exposure and early-childhood exposure to famine in women were associated with 36.0% and 31.9% increased risks for hypertension (95%CI: 7.8%-71.7% and 95%CI: 4.8%-66.0%) according to the stratified analysis. Conclusion Fetal exposure to famine might increase the risk for hypertension in adulthood.

Objective To explore the difference in efficacy between multiparametric MRI (Mp-MRI) based on prostate imaging reporting and data system version 2 (PI-RADS v2) and abbreviated biparametric MRI (Bp-MRI) in detecting prostate cancer (PCa) and clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa), and to evaluate the consistency of image interpretation between different readers. Methods The imaging, pathological and clinical data of patients with prostatic Mp-MRI in our hospital from February 2015 to June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. At the beginning, 250 patients were randomly selected. Two radiologists visually evaluated the images of those patients using two 5-point scoring schemes based on Mp-MRI and Bp-MRI. The remaining cases were independently proceeded by one of the radiologists using two schemes respectively. Weighted Kappa test was used to assess the consistency of the results interpreted by the two radiologists. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the efficiency of the two scoring schemes in detecting PCa and csPCa, and with Z test to investigate whether there was any difference in detection efficiency between the two schemes. Results Nine hundred and seventy eight patients were eventually enrolled in the study. The results of the consistency assessment showed that there was good agreement between the two radiologists, whether using Mp-MRI or Bp-MRI, with the weighted Kappa coefficient of 0.800 and 0.812, respectively. The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of PCa detected by Mp-MRI and Bp-MRI was 0.873 and 0.879, respectively, and the AUC of csPCa detected was 0.922 and 0.932, respectively. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between the AUC of PCa and csPCa detected by the two schemes (P>0.05). Conclusion The Bp-MRI scoring scheme has good stability in the evaluation of benign and malignant prostate, and its detection efficiency of PCa or csPCa is not lower than that of standard Mp-MRI based on PI-RADS v2.

Objective: To analyze the infection composition and drug resistance to Gram-negative (G^-) bacilli in children′s respiratory tract in Suzhou, in order to provide evidence for rational use of antibiotics clinically. Methods: G^- bacilli culture samples were collected from 21 561 cases of nasopharyngeal secretions from patients with respiratory tract infection admitted at the Department of Respiratory, Children′s Hospital of Soochow University from January 2007 to December 2016, including 21 246 cases in general wards, and 315 patients who were transferred to the respiratory department after treatment in the Intensive Care Unit(ICU), and the children were divided into the general ward group and the ICU group, and the pathogens were compared and the changes in bacterial susceptibility were dynamically observed between the 2 groups. Results: The primary G^-bacteria for respiratory infection was Haemophilus influenzae, followed by Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii.The detection rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the ICU group were 16.8% (21/125 strains)and 14.4%(18/125 strains), respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the general ward group [10.0%(208/2 071 strains), 9.2%(190/2 071 strains)]. The detection rates of G^-bacteria in the ICU group were 33.7%(106/315 cases), which were significantly higher than those in the general ward group [9.4%(1 997/21 246 cases)], and the difference was statistically significant(χ²=210.325, P<0.001). The rare G^-bacillus such as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Acinetobacter junii and Burkholderia onion were higher in the ICU group [17.6%(22/125 strains)] than that in the general ward group [6.4% (132/2 071 strains)]. The rate that of G^-bacteria with two or more mixed infection in ICU group [17.0% (18/106 cases)] was significantly higher than in the general ward group [3.4%(68/1 997 cases)], and the difference was statistically significant(χ²=47.3, P<0.05). For the mixed infection, the ICU group was mainly composed of Klebsiella pneumoniae mixed with Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Escherichia coli, while the general ward group was composed of Haemophilus influenzae mixed with Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Escherichia coli.The sensitivity of Haemophilus influenzae to Ampicillin, Sultamicillin, Cefuroxime, Cefaclor and Azithromycin decreased, and the sensitivity to Chloramphenicol, Tetracycline and Trimethoprim+ Sulfamethoxazole increased year by year, and there were statistically significant differences in different years (all P<0.05). The sensiti-vity to Escherichia coli to Ceftazidime decreased year by year, and the sensitivity to Ampicillin and Levofloxacin increased year by year, and there were statistically significant differences in different years (all P<0.05). The sensitivity to Klebsiella pneumoniae to Cefoperazone/Sulbactam and imipenem decreased, and the sensitivity to Ciprofloxacin and Levofloxacin increased, and there were statistically significant differences in different years (all P<0.05). The sensitivity to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Cefoperazone/Sulbactam and Ceftriaxone decreased year by year, and the sensitivity to Levofloxacin increased, and there were statistically significant differences in different years (all P<0.05). The detection rate of carbapenem-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed an increasing trend, and there were statistically significant differences in different years (all P<0.05). Conclusions The primary G^-bacteria for respiratory infections is Haemophilus influenzae, G^-bacilli especially, the mixed infection of G^-bacilli, is more likely to cause severe and critical respiratory infections.The resistance rate of G^-bacteria infection in children′s respiratory tract to commonly used antibiotics is generally on the rise.

Objective To set up the model of deiodinase ( Dio) 3b-/- zebrafish and to observe the effect of which on embryo development. Methods The zebrafish model of Dio3b-/- was set up by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, PCR and sequencing was used to confirm the efficiency of deletion. The heart rate of embryos at 48 hours post fertilization was counted. The locomotor activity of 5-7 days post fertilization larve was detected using behavior tracking system. Results The model of Dio3b knockout zebrafish was set up successfully. The heart rate of embryos Dio3b-/- increased ( P＜0. 001) and the locomotor activity of 5-7 days post fertilization larves lacking Dio3b gene increased (P＜0.05) significantly compared with that of wild type control respectively. Conclusion The deletion of zebrafish Dio3b gene results in the phenotype of hyperthyroidism and the model of Dio3b-/- is proper for studying the effect of partial excess thyroid hormone on embryo development.