Objective To explore the correlation of MET status in patients with advanced prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma with the clinical pathological parameters and prognosis. Methods The specimen from 135 patients with advanced prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma was included. The expression of c-MET protein was detected via immunohistochemistry, and MET gene amplification was assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The relationships of c-MET expression and gene amplification with clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed. Results The positive expression rate of c-MET was 52.60% (71/135). Compared with the c-MET expression in adjacent tissues, that in tumor tissues showed lower heterogeneous expression. Among the cases, 1.71% (2/117) exhibited MET gene polyploidy, but no gene amplification was detected. Positive c-MET expression was significantly correlated with high Gleason scores and grade groups (P=0.0073). However, no significant relationship was found between c-MET expression and progression-free survival or post-treatment t-PSA levels. Conclusion c-MET protein is expressed at a relatively low level in advanced prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma, suggesting that c-MET may not be a viable target for ADC drug development in prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma.

Lignans are a powerful weapon for plants to resist stresses and have diverse bioactive functions to protect human health. Elucidating the mechanisms of stereoselective biosynthesis and response to stresses of lignans is important for the guidance of plant improvement. Here, we identified the complete pathway to stereoselectively synthesize antiviral (-)-lariciresinol glucosides in Isatis indigotica roots, which consists of three-step sequential stereoselective enzymes DIR1/2, PLR, and UGT71B2. DIR1 was further identified as the key gene in respoJanuary 2024nse to stresses and was able to trigger stress defenses by mediating the elevation in lignan content. Mechanistically, the phytohormone-responsive ERF transcription factor LTF1 colocalized with DIR1 in the cell periphery of the vascular regions in mature roots and helped resist biotic and abiotic stresses by directly regulating the expression of DIR1. These systematic results suggest that DIR1 as the first common step of the lignan pathway cooperates with PLR and UGT71B2 to stereoselectively synthesize (-)-lariciresinol derived antiviral lignans in I. indigotica roots and is also a part of the LTF1-mediated regulatory network to resist stresses. In conclusion, the LTF1-DIR1 module is an ideal engineering target to improve plant Defenses while increasing the content of valuable lignans in plants.

Objective:To investigate the effect of astragaloside IV (AS-IV) regulating the signal axis of stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α)/CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) on the mobilization of bone marrow endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to peripheral blood in diabetes skin ulcer (DSU) rats.Methods:Twenty four SPF grade male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were selected to make the model of type 2 diabetes rats by intraperitoneal injection of 30 mg/kg 1% (plastid ratio) streptozotocin, and then round full-thickness skin with a diameter of 2 cm was cut on both sides of the waist and back to make the skin ulcer model of diabetes rats. After that, they were randomly divided into AS-IV group (50 mg/kg AS-IV), blocker group (50 mg/kg AS-IV+ 5 mg/kg AMD3100) and model group. At the same time, a blank group ( n=8) was set up, The drug was administered via intraperitoneal injection, and the model group and blank group were treated with 0.9% NaCl of equal volume. On the 10th day, peripheral blood, femoral bone marrow, and wound neovascularization tissues of rats were collected. The number of EPCs in peripheral blood of each group of rats was measured by flow cytometry, and the protein expression of SDF-1α and CXCR4 in peripheral blood, femoral bone marrow, and wound neovascularization tissues of rats was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); At the same time, the wound healing rates of each group were tested. Results:On the 10th and 21st day after modeling, the wound healing rate of each group of rats was compared. The blank group healed the fastest, while the model group healed the slowest. The AS-IV group had better healing than the model group and the blocker group, and the difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). On the 10th day after modeling, the positive rates of peripheral blood EPCs in the white group, AS-IV group, and blocker group were significantly higher than those in the model group (all P<0.05), while the positive rates of peripheral blood EPCs in the blocker group were significantly lower than those in the AS-IV group (all P<0.05). On the 10th day after modeling, the protein expression of SDF-1α and CXCR4 in the wound, serum, and bone marrow of the model group was the lowest, while the protein expression in the blank group was the highest (all P<0.05). The protein expression of SDF-1α and CXCR4 in the wound, serum, bone marrow of the AS-IV group was significantly higher than that of the blocker group and model group, and the difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Astragaloside IV can promote the mobilization and migration of endothelial progenitor cells from bone marrow to peripheral blood in diabetes ulcer rats by regulating SDF-1α/CXCR4 signal axis, and can participate in angiogenesis of diabetes ulcer wounds as seed cells to promote the healing of diabetes skin ulcers.

Abrin,the most lethal plant-derived toxin known today,has attracted widespread attention from both the International Chemical Weapon Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.There is an urgent demand for the development of efficient detection and detoxification countermeasures against Abrin to adress its potential threats to human health and public safety.This review,based on clustering analysis of literature and on knowledge of the structures of various subtypes of Abrin,provides an overview of the analysis and detection techniques,the mechanism of toxicity,and detoxification countermeasures against Abrin.It concludes with an examination of the challenges and emerging trends in this field.The main analysis and detection techniques of Abrin include affinity-based analysis,physico-chemical-based analysis,and activity-based detection techniques.The challenges and developments in this field are also outlined.There is a pressing need to establish sensitive,specific,and accurate methods of measurement that are tailored to the structure and activity of Abrin in order to precisely assess and mitigate the toxin threat.Unfortunately,no effective antidotes have been deployed so far,with medical treatments confined to symptomatic care.Research and development of neutralizing antibodies remain stands as the most promising strategy for counteracting Abrin intoxication.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of protein A immunoadsorption (PAIA) combined with rituximab (RTX) in highly sensitized patients who underwent haplo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) .Methods:The clinical data of 56 highly sensitized patients treated with PAIA and RTX before haplo-HSCT at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University and Soochow Hopes Hematonosis Hospital between March 2021 and June 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The number of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibody types and the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI), humoral immunity, adverse reactions during adsorption, and survival within 100 days before and after adsorption were measured.Results:After receiving the PAIA treatment, the median MFI of patients containing only HLA Ⅰ antibodies decreased from 7 859 (3 209-12 444) to 3 719 (0-8 275) ( P<0.001), and the median MFI of HLA Ⅰ+Ⅱ antibodies decreased from 5 476 (1 977-12 382) to 3 714 (0-11 074) ( P=0.035). The median MFI of patients with positive anti-donor-specific antibodies decreased from 8 779 (2 697-18 659) to 4 524 (0–15 989) ( P<0.001). The number of HLA-A, B, C, DR, and DQ antibodies in all patients decreased after the PAIA treatment, and the differences were statistically significant (A, B, C, DR: P<0.001, DQ: P<0.01). The humoral immune monitoring before and after the PAIA treatment showed a significant decrease in the number of IgG and complement C3 ( P<0.001 and P=0.002, respectively). Forty-four patients underwent HLA antibody monitoring after transplantation, and the overall MFI and number of antibody types decreased. However, five patients developed new antibodies with low MFI, and nine patients continued to have high MFI. The overall survival, disease-free survival, non-recurrent mortality, and cumulative recurrence rates at 100 days post-transplantation were 83.8%, 80.2%, 16.1%, and 4.5%, respectively. Conclusions:The combination of PAIA and RTX has a certain therapeutic effect and good safety in the desensitization treatment of highly sensitive patients before haplo-HSCT.

The construction of efficient and stable Lactobacillus expression vector is critical for strain improvement and development of customized strains. In this study, four endogenous plasmids were isolated from Lacticaseibacillus paracasei ZY-1 and subjected to functional analysis. The Escherichia coli-Lactobacillus shuttle vectors pLPZ3N and pLPZ4N were constructed by combining the replicon rep from pLPZ3 or pLPZ4, the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene cat from pNZ5319 and the replicon ori from pUC19. Moreover, the expression vectors pLPZ3E and pLPZ4E with the promoter P_ldh3 of lactic acid dehydrogenase and the mCherry red fluorescent protein as a reporter gene were obtained. The size of pLPZ3 and pLPZ4 were 6 289 bp and 5 087 bp, respectively, and its GC content, 40.94% and 39.51%, were similar. Both shuttle vectors were successfully transformed into Lacticaseibacillus, and the transformation efficiency of pLPZ4N (5.23×10²-8.93×10² CFU/μg) was slightly higher than that of pLPZ3N. Furthermore, the mCherry fluorescent protein was successfully expressed after transforming the expression plasmids pLPZ3E and pLPZ4E into L. paracasei S-NB. The β-galactosidase activity of the recombinant strain obtained from the plasmid pLPZ4E-lacG constructed with P_ldh3 as promoter was higher than that of the wild-type strain. The construction of shuttle vectors and expression vectors provide novel molecular tools for the genetic engineering of Lacticaseibacillus strains.
Lacticaseibacillus ; Lacticaseibacillus paracasei ; Plasmids/genetics* ; Genetic Vectors/genetics* ; Lactobacillus/genetics* ; Escherichia coli/genetics*

Sclerostin, a protein secreted from osteocytes, negatively regulates the WNT signaling pathway by binding to the LRP5/6 co-receptors and further inhibits bone formation and promotes bone resorption. Sclerostin contributes to musculoskeletal system-related diseases, making it a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of WNT-related bone diseases. Additionally, emerging evidence indicates that sclerostin contributes to the development of cancers, obesity, and diabetes, suggesting that it may be a promising therapeutic target for these diseases. Notably, cardiovascular diseases are related to the protective role of sclerostin. In this review, we summarize three distinct types of inhibitors targeting sclerostin, monoclonal antibodies, aptamers, and small-molecule inhibitors, from which monoclonal antibodies have been developed. As the first-in-class sclerostin inhibitor approved by the U.S. FDA, the monoclonal antibody romosozumab has demonstrated excellent effectiveness in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis; however, it conferred high cardiovascular risk in clinical trials. Furthermore, romosozumab could only be administered by injection, which may cause compliance issues for patients who prefer oral therapy. Considering these above safety and compliance concerns, we therefore present relevant discussion and offer perspectives on the development of next-generation sclerostin inhibitors by following several ways, such as concomitant medication, artificial intelligence-based strategy, druggable modification, and bispecific inhibitors strategy.

Objective To observe the expression of ChemR23 induced by Angiotensin Ⅱ (Ang Ⅱ) in podocyte and its role in renal injury.Methods Conditionally immortalized mice podocytes were cultured in vitro.Immunofluorescence was used to observe the sub-cellular location of ChemR23.The expressions of ChemR23,Nephrin and Podocin stimulated by different concentrations of Ang Ⅱ were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blotting.Lentivirus targeting ChemR23 was used.The expressions of Nephrin and Podocin and the phosphorylation state of NF-κB P65 were detected by Western Blot.The inhibitor of NF-κB P65 was added to the cultural medium for 2 h before Ang Ⅱ stimulation.The effect of NF-κB P65 inhibitor on Ang Ⅱ-induced expression of Nephrin and Podocin was detected by Western Blot.Results It is showed that ChemR23 was located in cytosol and membrane.Compared with the normal control,the expression of ChemR23 was significantly increased by Ang Ⅱ in mRNA and protein level,while the expressions of Nephrin and Podocin were decreased (P ＜ 0.05).When using Lentivirus vector to interfere the expression of ChemR23,Ang Ⅱ-repressed expressions of Nephrin and Podocin were restored (P ＜ 0.05).Western Blot showed the level of phosphorylated NF-κB P65 was significantly increased by Ang Ⅱ stimulation (P ＜ 0.05),which could be inhibited by interfering the expression of ChemR23.When adding the NF-κB P65 inhibitor,the low expression of Nephrin and Podocin induced by Ang Ⅱ stimulation was restored (P＜0.05).Conclusions Ang Ⅱ can induce ChemR23 expression,which activates NF-κB P65 signaling pathway,and then inhibits the expressions of Nephrin and Podocin.Targeting ChemR23 is a potential way to alleviate podocyte injury caused by Ang Ⅱ.

Objective To observe the expression of NOD2 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related proteins in podocytes in high glucose environment,and explore the molecular mechanism of NOD2 involved in EMT.Methods The human glomerular podocytes were the subjects of study.α-SMA and Nephrin expressions were detected by immunofluorescence;the mRNA and protein expressions of NOD2,Snail and EMT related proteins (α-SMA,Desmin,E-cadherin,Nephrin) were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blotting.The podocytes were stimulated by high-glucose after shRNA interfering the of NOD2 expression,and the expressions of Snail and subsequent EMT-related proteins were detected by Western blotting.Prior to the activation of NOD2 by muramyl dipeptide (MDP),shRNA was used to interfere with the expression of Snail.E-cadherin,Nephrin,Desmin,and α-SMA were detected by Western blotting.Results After 24 hours of high glucose stimulation,PCR and Western blotting results showed that the expressions of NOD2 and Snail were significantly increased;the expressions of epithelial phenotype proteins E-cadherin and Nephrin were down-regulated;and the expressions of interstitial phenotype proteins Desmin and α-SMA were increased (all P ＜ 0.05);while there was no significant change in the hypertonic control group.After interference with NOD2,the abnormal expression of Snail and EMT related proteins were all recovered.After interference with Snail expression,Compared with the MDP group,the protein expressions of E-cadherin and Nephrin were significantly increased (all P ＜ 0.05);the expressions of Desmin and α-SMA were significantly decreased.Conclusions High glucose can induce NOD2 expression in podocytes,and promote podocyte epithelial-mesenchymal transition by upregulating Snail expression.Gene intervention targeting the NOD2/Snail/EMT pathway can reduce high-glucose-induced podocyte injury and may provide new ideas for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

Objective To investigate the value of renal CT volumetric texture analysis with machine learning radiomics in assessment of pathological grade of clear cell renal cell carcinoma(ccRCC). Methods Thirty-four biopsy-confirmed ccRCC subjects who had four-phase CT scanning (NC:non-contrast, CM: Corticomedullary, N: Nephrographic, E: Excretory) were collected retrospectively from June 2013 to October 2017 for the study.Non-rigid registration was performed on multi-phase CT images in reference to CM-phase.Each lesion was segmented on CM-phase CT images using our in-house volumetric image analysis platform,"3DQI".A set of fifty-nine volumetric textures,including histogram,gradient,gray level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM),run-length(RL),moments,and shape,was calculated for each segment lesion in each phase as parameters for the training/testing of Random Forest (RF) classifier. Four groups according to pathological Fuhrman grade on a scaleⅠtoⅣ,these tumors were then divided into low(Ⅰ+Ⅱ) and high grade ( Ⅲ + Ⅳ) groups. Feature selection was performed by Boruta algorithm. A 10-fold cross-validation method was applied to validate the RF performance by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the model. Results Subjects were divided into four groups by Fuhrman grade on a scaleⅠtoⅣ:3 cases gradeⅠ,19 cases gradeⅡ,8 cases gradeⅢand 4 cases gradeⅣ.In CM-phase,kurtosis and long-run-emphasis(RLE)were selected the most important textures for ccRCC staging among 59 features. The area under curve (AUC) of ROC was 0.88 (79% sensitivity and 82% specificity)by using kurtosis and RLE textures.The mean values of kurtosis and RLE were(-20.00±22.00)×10-2and(3.00±0.40)×10-2for low group,whereas(31.00±32.00)×10-2and(5.00± 0.02)×10-2for high group.Within the mean±SD range of statistics,radiomics can distinguish between low and high grade tumors.In multi-phase analysis,three most important features were selected among 236(59× 4) textures: kurtosis (CM-phase), GLCM homogeneity I (HOMO 1) (E-phase), and GLCM homogeneity 2 (HOMO2)(E-phase).The mean values of HOMO 1(E-phase)and HOMO 2(E-phase)were(19.00±0.03)× 10-2and(11.00±0.02)×10-2for low group,whereas(22.00±0.03)×10-2and(14.00±0.02)×10-2for high group. The AUC was 0.92(93% sensitivity and 87% specificity)by using these three textures. Conclusion This study has demonstrated that renal CT volumetric texture analysis with machine learning radiomics could preoperative accurately perform cancer staging for ccRCC.