Copper death-related factors can modulate mitochondrial function, chemotherapy sensitivity, and reshape the immune microenvironment, playing important roles in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Copper chelators, copper ionophores, and combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors all have significant antitumor effects. Multi-omics analysis reveals that copper death-related genes and cuproptosis-related long non-coding RNAs can serve as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This article focused on copper metabolism and copper-induced cell death, reviewing the theoretical foundations of precision therapy for HCC. It delineates the molecular mechanisms by which dysregulated copper homeostasis drives hepatocarcinogenesis and elucidates the translational directions necessary for future research.

Copper death-related factors can modulate mitochondrial function, chemotherapy sensitivity, and reshape the immune microenvironment, playing important roles in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Copper chelators, copper ionophores, and combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors all have significant antitumor effects. Multi-omics analysis reveals that copper death-related genes and cuproptosis-related long non-coding RNAs can serve as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This article focused on copper metabolism and copper-induced cell death, reviewing the theoretical foundations of precision therapy for HCC. It delineates the molecular mechanisms by which dysregulated copper homeostasis drives hepatocarcinogenesis and elucidates the translational directions necessary for future research.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of esketamine combined with different doses of remimazolam for induction of general anesthesia in pediatric patients.Methods:One hundred and sixty pediatric patients of either sex, aged 3-6 yr, of American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification Ⅰ or Ⅱ, with body mass index of 13-20 kg/m 2, undergoing elective general anesthesia under a laryngeal mask, were divided into 4 groups ( n=40 each) by the random number table method: esketamine combined with propofol group (KP group) and esketamine combined with different doses of remimazolam group (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 mg/kg) groups (KR1 group, KR2 group, KR3 group). Esketamine 0.8 mg/kg was intravenously injected in the preanesthesia room. After entering the operating room, propofol 2.5 mg/kg was intravenously injected in KP group, and remimazolam 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mg/kg were intravenously injected in KR1, KR2 and KR3 groups, respectively. When the child lost consciousness and the Modified Observer′s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Scale score<1, sufentanil and mevacurium were intravenously injected. When the Modified Observer′s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Scale score≥1, rescue sedation was performed, and 3 min later the laryngeal mask airway was inserted. The onset time of sedation, response to laryngeal mask airway placement, rescue sedation, hypotension, tachycardia, bradycardia, bucking, hiccup, injection pain and apnea were recorded, and the increase rate of perfusion index (PI) was calculated. Results:No response to laryngeal mask implantation occurred in the four groups. Compared with KP group, the onset time of sedation was significantly prolonged, the incidence of hypotension, bradycardia, injection pain and apnea was decreased, the incidence of tachycardia was increased, and the increase rate of PI was decreased in KR1, KR2 and KR3 groups, and the rate of rescue sedation and incidence of bucking were increased in KR1 and KR2 groups ( P<0.05). Compared with KR1 group, the onset time of sedation was significantly shortened in KR2 group and KR3 group, and the rate of rescue sedation and incidence of bucking were decreased in KR3 group ( P<0.05). Compared with KR2 group, the onset time of sedation was significantly shortened, and the rate of rescue sedation was decreased in KR3 group ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the increase rate of PI, hypotension, bradycardia, tachycardia, injection pain and apnea among KR1, KR2 and KR3 groups ( P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of hiccup among the four groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Esketamine 0.8 mg/kg combined with remimazolam 0.4 mg/kg can be safely and effectively used for anesthesia induction and has milder inhibition of respiration and circulation as compared with esketamine combined with propofol in pediatric patients.

BACKGROUND: Reports on the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) among Chinese patients with psoriasis are very limited. This study, conducted by rheumatologists, estimated the prevalence of PsA in a large number of Chinese patients with psoriasis. METHODS: Consecutive patients with a confirmed diagnosis of psoriasis attending nine dermatology clinics in five hospitals were recruited. All psoriasis patients were asked to complete a questionnaire comprising 16 questions to identify possible cases of PsA. All patients with one or more positive answers to the questionnaire were evaluated by two experienced rheumatologists. RESULTS: A total of 2434 psoriasis patients, including 1561 males and 873 females, were enrolled. Both the questionnaire and rheumatologists' examinations were completed in the dermatology clinics. The results identified 252 patients with PsA, comprising 168 males and 84 females. The overall prevalence of PsA among psoriasis patients was 10.4% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 9.1%-11.7%). By sex, the prevalence was 10.8% (95% CI, 9.2%-12.5%) for males and 9.6% (95% CI, 7.7%-11.9%) for females and there was no significant sex difference in the prevalence of PsA (P = 0.38). Of the 252 PsA patients, 125 (49.6%, 95% CI, 41.3%-59.1%) were newly diagnosed by rheumatologists. Consequently, the prevalence of undiagnosed PsA among psoriasis patients was 5.2% (95% CI, 4.4%-6.2%). CONCLUSION The prevalence of PsA in the Chinese population with psoriasis is about 10.4%, which is almost double that of previous reports in the Chinese population, but lower than that in Caucasians.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; Arthritis, Psoriatic/epidemiology* ; Rheumatologists ; Prevalence ; East Asian People ; Psoriasis/epidemiology*

Tyrosine is an important aromatic amino acid. Besides its nutritional value, tyrosine is also an important precursor for the synthesis of coumarins and flavonoids. Previously, our laboratory constructed a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain LTH0 (ARO4K229L, ARO7G141S, Δaro10, Δzwf1, Δura3) where tyrosine feedback inhibition was released. In the present study, heterologous expression of betaxanthins synthesis genes DOD (from Mirabilis jalapa) and CYP76AD1 (from sugar beet B. vulgaris) in strain LTH0 enabled production of yellow fluorescence. The engineered strain LTH0-DOD-CYP76AD1 was subjected to UV combined with ARTP mutagenesis, followed by flow cytometry screening. Among the mutants screened, the fluorescence intensity of the mutant strain LTH2-5-DOD-CYP76AD1 at the excitation wavelength of 485 nm and emission wavelength of 505 nm was (5 941±435) AU/OD, which was 8.37 times higher than that of strain LTH0-DOD-CYP76AD1. Fourteen mutant strains were subjected to fermentation to evaluate their tyrosine producing ability. The highest extracellular tyrosine titer reached 26.8 mg/L, which was 3.96 times higher than that of strain LTH0-DOD-CYP76AD1. Heterologous expression of the tyrosine ammonia lyase FjTAL derived from Flavobacterium johnsoniae further increased the titer of coumaric acid to 119.8 mg/L, which was 1.02 times higher than that of the original strain LTH0-FjTAL.
Flavobacterium ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; Mirabilis ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics* ; Tyrosine

Lycopene, as a high value-added terpene compound, has been widely concerned by researchers at home and abroad. Firstly, the ability of lycopene synthesis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae model strains S288c and YPH499 was analyzed and compared. The results showed that YPH499 was more suitable for lycopene synthesis as yeast chassis. Subsequently, the effects of constitutive promoters GPDpr, TEF1pr and inducible promoters GAL1pr, GAL10pr on Lycopene synthesis were compared. The results showed that when GPDpr and TEF1pr were used as promoters of crtE, crtB and crtI in lycopene synthesis pathway, the production of lycopene was 15.31 mg/L after 60 h fermentation in shaking flask. When GAL1pr and GAL10pr were used as promoters, the production was 123.89 mg/L, which was 8.09 times higher. In addition, the methylvaleric acid (MVA) pathway was further modified to overexpress the key enzyme gene of N-terminal truncation, tHMG1 (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase). The lycopene production was 265.68 mg/L, and the yield per cell was 72.79 mg/g. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain designed and constructed in this study can express lycopene in high yield per cell, thus could be used in the industrial production of lycopene after further construction and optimization.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; genetics ; Fermentation ; Industrial Microbiology ; Lycopene ; metabolism ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Species Specificity

Objective: By analyzing the clinical features of patients with dengue fever in Guangzhou from 2015 to 2018 to furnish the reference evidences for the diagnoses and treatment of dengue fever. Methods: A total of 406 dengue fever patients admitted to Zhujiang hospital during 2015 to 2018 were analyzed for the clinical manifestations and laboratory examination results, retrospectively. ZIKV, CHIKV and the serotypes of DENV were detected in some samples. Results: DENV serotypes were tested in 96 dengue fever patients and 69 cases were positive. Among them, 58 cases (84.1%) were DENV-1, 10 cases (14.5%) were DENV-2, 1 case (1.5%) was DENV-3, DENV-4 was negative and no co-infection with different serotypes of dengue virus was found. Of all the 406 patients, 371 (91.4%) were diagnosed as dengue fever and 35 (8.6%) were severe cases. The most common manifestations included fever, weakness and rash. Significantly higher incidence (P<0.05) of bleeding, coughing, expectoration, vomiting and abdominal pain were found in severe dengue fever. The most common laboratory findings were leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Significant increase(P<0.05) of total bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, serum creatinine, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin were observed. ZIKV and CHIKV nucleic acids were tested in 380 dengue fever patients and the result were negative for both. Conclusions The incidence of dengue fever in Guangzhou increased in 2017 and 2018.Most cases of dengue fever were mild and DENV-1 was the dominant serotype.

Few tools of gene editing have been developed in Bacillus licheniformis at present. In order to enrich the tools, an FLP/FRT gene editing system that can repeatedly use a single selectable marker was constructed in Bacillus licheniformis, and the system was verified by knocking out an alpha amylase gene (amyL), an protease gene (aprE) and knocking in an exogenous Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (vgb). First, knock-out plasmids pNZTT-AFKF of amyL and pNZTT-EFKF of aprE were constructed using thermosensitive plasmid pNZT1 as a carrier. The two knock-out plasmids contained respective homology arms, resistance genes and FRT sites. Then the knock-out plasmids were transformed into Bacillus licheniformis and the target genes were replaced by respective deletion cassette via twice homologous exchange. Finally, an expression plasmid containing FLP recombinase reading frane was introduced and mediated the excision of resistance marker. In order to expand the practicability of the system, knock-in plasmid pNZTK-PFTF-vgb was constructed, with which knock-in of vgb at pflB site was carried out successfully. The results showed that amyL and aprE were successfully knocked out and the marker kanamycin cassette exactly excised. The activities of amylase and protease of deletion mutants were reduced by 95.3% and 80.4% respectively. vgb was successfully knocked in at pflB site and the marker tetracycline cassette excised. The expression of integrated vgb was verified via real-time PCR. It is the first time to construct an FLP/FRT system for gene editing in Bacillus licheniformis, which could provide an effective technical means for genetic modification.
Bacillus licheniformis ; Gene Editing ; Plasmids ; Sequence Deletion

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of anterior superior malleolus flap and second toe transplantation for thumb reconstruction and soft tissue defect repair or first web reconstruction.Methods A total of 13 cases were underwent anterior superior malleolus flap and second toe transplantation for thumb reconstruction and soft tissue defect repair from June,2008 to January,2016.There were 9 males and 4 females.The average age was 25 years old,ranging from 18 to 52.There were 3 cases of Ⅲ-degree thumb defect with soft tissue defect of hand,6 cases of Ⅳ-degree thumb defect with soft tissue defect of hand,3 cases of single Ⅴ-degree thumb defect and 1 Ⅴ-degree thumb defect with soft tissue defect.There were 5 patients accompanied with injury of other fingers of the affected hand.And the thenar muscles were also damaged to a varied degree.There were 10 patients with soft tissue defect before surgery,with the wound surface ranging from 3 cm × 5 cm-6 cm × 13 cm.And the wound of other 3 cases was closed.After the surgery,follow-up visit was conducted on the appearance,sensation,function,daily life and working condition of reconstructed thumb,the appearance and function condition of donor site.Results The reconstructed thumbs and anterior superior malleolus flaps in 13 cases survived and healed primarily.The average post-operative followed-up time was 5.5 years,ranging from 2.5 to 10.0 years.The appearance of reconstructed thumb was satisfactory,and the temperature sensation,pain sensation and touch sensation were recovered.The two-points discrimination was 8-18 mm.Moreover,the flexion and extension function,opposing function and finger-to-thumb function was recovered,which could meet the demand of daily life and work.The appearance of donor site was satisfactory,without claudication,pain or dysfunction.The survival of transplanted skin area in the calf was good,with no ulcer noticed.According to the Trial Standard for Thumb and Finger Reconstitution Functional Assessment of Hand Surgery Society of Chinese Medical Association,there were 10 cases excellent results,2 good and 1 fair.Conclusion Application of anterior superior malleolus flap and second toe transplantation for first-stage thumb reconstruction and soft tissue defect repair or thenar muscles and first web reconstruction is an effective therapeutic approach.

Objective: To evaluate an assay permitting amplification of target 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) sequences directly from clinical specimens and distinction among serotypes of enterovirus (EV). Methods: A total of 518 rectal swabs and 148 nasal swabs tested positive by pan-enterovirus real-time PCR were collected. 5′-UTR and the viral protein 1 (VP1) gene fragments were amplified and sequenced separately for serotyping. The inconsistent samples by 5′-UTR and VP1 serotyping were further determined by using the serotype-specific RT-PCR. Results: A total of 553 (83.0%) samples were detected by 5′-UTR serotyping and 318 (47.7%) were detected by VP1 serotyping in all 666 positive specimens, and there was significant difference in the detection rates between two methods in rectal and nasal swabs (P<0.001). For the rectal swabs, the mainly detected serotypes were CoxA6 (217), CoxA16 (88), EVA71 (40), CoxA10 (28) and CoxA4 (27) by 5′-UTR serotyping. Compared with the VP1 serotyping, the sensitivity and specificity of 5′-UTR serotyping were 57.1%-100% and 67.4%-98.1% respectively, with varied consistence with serotypes (kappa value 0.214-0.283). For the nasal swabs, the most frequently detected serotype was EVD68, with the sensitivity of 100%, the specificity of 91.1%, and the poor consistence (kappa value 0.217). CoxA6, CoxA16, EVA71, CoxA10 and EVD68 were further confirmed by serotype-specific RT-PCR. Using VP1 serotyping combined with serotype-specific RT-PCR as a reference method , the effect of performance of 5′-UTR serotyping on diagnosis was increased. Conclusions The performances of 5′-UTR serotyping in enterovirus vary with serotypes. The application of 5′-UTR serotyping should be considered comprehensively according to the purpose of the study.