CD33 Expression on Peripheral Blood Monocytes Predicts Efficacy of Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy Against Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has transformed cancer medicine, with anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1) therapy now well-utilized for treating NSCLC. Still, not all patients with NSCLC respond positively to anti-PD-1 therapy, and some patients acquire resistance to treatment. There remains an urgent need to find markers predictive of anti-PD-1 responsiveness. To this end, we performed mass cytometry on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 26 patients with NSCLC during anti-PD-1 treatment. Patients who responded to anti-PD-1 ICB displayed significantly higher levels of antigen-presenting myeloid cells, including CD9+ nonclassical monocytes, and CD33hi classical monocytes. Using matched pre-post treatment samples, we found that the baseline pre-treatment frequencies of CD33hi monocytes predicted patient responsiveness to anti-PD-1 therapy. Moreover, some of these classical and nonclassical monocyte subsets were associated with reduced immunosuppression by T regulatory (CD4+FOXP3+CD25+) cells in the same patients. Our use of machine learning corroborated the association of specific monocyte markers with responsiveness to ICB. Our work provides a high-dimensional profile of monocytes in NSCLC and links CD33 expression on monocytes with anti-PD-1 effectiveness in patients with NSCLC

Single-cell immune profiling reveals long-term changes in myeloid cells and identifies a novel subset of CD9(+) monocytes associated with COVID-19 hospitalization

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can result in severe immune dysfunction, hospitalization, and death. Many patients also develop long-COVID-19, experiencing symptoms months after infection. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the immune response to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, gaps remain in our knowledge of how innate immunity influences disease kinetics and severity. We hypothesized that cytometry by time-of-flight analysis of PBMCs from healthy and infected subjects would identify novel cell surface markers and innate immune cell subsets associated with COVID-19 severity. In this pursuit, we identified monocyte and dendritic cell subsets that changed in frequency during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and correlated with clinical parameters of disease severity. Subsets of nonclassical monocytes decreased in frequency in hospitalized subjects, yet increased in the most severe patients and positively correlated with clinical values associated with worse disease severity. CD9, CD163, PDL1, and PDL2 expression significantly increased in hospitalized subjects, and CD9 and 6-Sulfo LacNac emerged as the markers that best distinguished monocyte subsets amongst all subjects. CD9+ monocytes remained elevated, whereas nonclassical monocytes remained decreased, in the blood of hospitalized subjects at 3-4 months postinfection. Finally, we found that CD9+ monocytes functionally released more IL-8 and MCP-1 after LPS stimulation. This study identifies new monocyte subsets present in the blood of COVID-19 patients that correlate with disease severity, and links CD9+ monocytes to COVID-19 progression

Human CD79b⁺ neutrophils in the blood are associated with early-stage melanoma.

PurposeDue to their abundance in the blood, low RNA content, and short lifespan, neutrophils have been classically considered to be one homogenous pool. However, recent work has found that mature neutrophils and neutrophil progenitors are composed of unique subsets exhibiting context-dependent functions. In this study, we ask if neutrophil heterogeneity is associated with melanoma incidence and/or disease stage.Experimental designUsing mass cytometry, we profiled melanoma patient blood for unique cell surface markers among neutrophils. Markers were tested for their predictiveness using flow cytometry data and random forest machine learning.ResultsWe identified CD79b+ neutrophils (CD3-CD56-CD19-Siglec8-CD203c-CD86LoCD66b+CD79b+) that are normally restricted to the bone marrow in healthy humans but appear in the blood of subjects with early-stage melanoma. Further, we found CD79b+ neutrophils present in tumors of subjects with head and neck cancer. AI-mediated machine learning analysis of neutrophils from subjects with melanoma confirmed that CD79b expression among peripheral blood neutrophils is highly important in identifying melanoma incidence. We noted that CD79b+ neutrophils possessed a neutrophilic appearance but have transcriptional and surface-marker phenotypes reminiscent of B cells. Compared to remaining blood neutrophils, CD79b+ neutrophils are primed for NETosis, express higher levels of antigen presentation-related proteins, and have an increased capacity for phagocytosis.ConclusionOur work suggests that CD79b+ neutrophils are associated with early-stage melanoma

Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance

Silicon-based contaminants are ubiquitous in natural graphite, and they are thus expected to be present in exfoliated graphene. Here, the authors show that such impurities play a non-negligible role in graphene-based devices, and use high-purity parent graphite to boost the performance of graphene sensors and supercapacitor microelectrodes

Identification of Upstream Transcriptional Regulators of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Using Cardiac RNA-Seq Meta-Analysis

Ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), characterized by pre-existing myocardial infarction or severe coronary artery disease, is the major cause of heart failure (HF). Identification of novel transcriptional regulators in ischemic HF can provide important biomarkers for developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In this study, we used four RNA-seq datasets from four different studies, including 41 ICM and 42 non-failing control (NF) samples of human left ventricle tissues, to perform the first RNA-seq meta-analysis in the field of clinical ICM, in order to identify important transcriptional regulators and their targeted genes involved in ICM. Our meta-analysis identified 911 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with 582 downregulated and 329 upregulated. Interestingly, 54 new DEGs were detected only by meta-analysis but not in individual datasets. Upstream regulator analysis through Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) identified three key transcriptional regulators. TBX5 was identified as the only inhibited regulator (z-score = −2.89). F2R and SFRP4 were identified as the activated regulators (z-scores = 2.56 and 2.00, respectively). Multiple downstream genes regulated by TBX5, F2R, and SFRP4 were involved in ICM-related diseases such as HF and arrhythmia. Overall, our study is the first to perform an RNA-seq meta-analysis for clinical ICM and provides robust candidate genes, including three key transcriptional regulators, for future diagnostic and therapeutic applications in ischemic heart failure

Activity screening of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria isolated from alfalfa rhizosphere

Introduction: Some rhizobacteria by various mechanisms influence plant growth as they are called plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Scientists identified some PGPR characters involved in promoting plant growth, while all these characters are not able to study. The aim of this study was to evaluate PGP activities of bacterial isolates, (45 isolates belonged to rhizobium and 2 bacterial isolates belonged to Pseudomonas fluorescens), which were isolated from alfalfa (Medicago sativa) rhizosphere and root nodules grown around Zanjan. Materials and methods: These bacteria were isolated from alfalfa roots grown around Zinc industries in Zanjan province. After bacterial isolation and purification from root and soil samples, isolates were screened in vitro for plant growth promoting traits such as IAA (Indole Acetic Acid), ACC- deaminase (Amino Cyclopropan Carboxylate), HCN (Hydrogen Cyanide), siderophore, chitinase production and mineral and organic phosphate solubilization activities. Results: The results indicated that 43 bacterial isolates produced IAA (4.04- 4.95 μg/ml) and 15 isolates produced ACC- deaminase (0.23- 1.05 μg/ml). Only one isolate (Rm66) produced high amount of HCN. Qualitative siderophore production was observed in 9 isolates. None of the isolates produced chitinase. Solubilization of mineral phosphate was commonly detected in 19 isolates (4.33- 5.86 μg/ml), and 15 isolates solubilized organic phosphate (1.66- 144.28 μg/ml). Discussion and conclusion: This study shows that most of the bacterial strains which isolated from alfalfa cultivated lands had PGP activities and also a good potential to increase plant growth after inoculation with to seeds as eco- friendly fertilizers

Forage quality, water use and nitrogen utilization efficiencies of pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum L.) grown under different soil moisture and nitrogen levels

The increasing scarcity of water for irrigation is becoming the most important problem for producing forage in all arid and semi-arid regions. Pearl millet is a key crop in these regions which needs relatively less water than other crops. In this research, a field study was conducted to identify the best combination of irrigation and nitrogen (N) management to achieve acceptable pearl millet forage both in quantity and quality aspects. Pearl millet was subjected to four irrigation treatments with interaction of N fertilizer (0, 75, 150 and 225 kg ha-1). The irrigation treatments were 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of total available soil water (I40, I60, I80 and I100, respectively). The results showed that increasing moisture stress (from I40 to I100) resulted in progressively less total dry matter (TDM), leaf area index (LAI), and nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUzE), while water use efficiency (WUE) and the percentage of crude protein (CP%) increased. The highest TDM and LAI were found to be 21.45 t ha-1 and 8.65, in I40 treatment, respectively. TDM, WUE, CP% and profit responses to N rates were positive. The maximum WUE of 4.19 kg DM/m3 was achieved at I100 with 150 kg N ha-1. The results of this research indicate that the maximum profit of forage production was obtained in plots which were fully irrigated (I40) and received 225 kg N ha-1. However, in the situation which water is often limited and not available, application of 150 kg N ha-1 can produce high forage quality and guaranty acceptable benefits for farmers.Pearl millet Water stress Nitrogen Water use efficiency Nitrogen utilization efficiency Forage quality

The Clinical Manifestations, Treatment Efficacy and Adverse Drug Reactions in 62 Iranian Child with Wilson Disease

Introduction: The Wilson disease is an autosomal recessive disease in which the liver, central nervous system, eyes, blood and other parts of the body involved. Timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment of the disease requires awareness of the clinical presentations of this disease in children.Methods: This case series study included 62 patients with Wilson disease who admitted to children's Medical Center in the years 2012-2003.Results: 56% of patients were male. The average age of diagnosis was 9.73 years old (5-17 years) and this was higher in patients with early neurologic symptoms (P = 0.85.( 64.5% of the patients had the hepatic symptoms at the time of diagnosis and the most common type of hepatic involvement was cirrhosis (39.3%) and hepatitis (17.5%) respectively. 17.7% of the patients also had early neurological symptoms. A positive family history for the Wilson Disease were found in 27.4% of patients. 74.2% of patients had KF ring and the frequency of these symptom was higher in patients with early neurological involvement. 83.9% of patients were treated successfully with D-penicillamine and In 30% of patients, adverse drug reactions were seen.Conclusion: Children with unknown liver disease should be evaluated for Wilson disease and the first-degree relatives of patients should be screened. . D-penicillamine have important side effects, but due to the low cost and the availability is an appropriate drug to treat the Wilson disease..Key words: Wilson Disease, Hepatic Involvement, Neurologic Involvement , KF ring ,D-Penicillamine

Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance

Silicon-based impurities are ubiquitous in natural graphite. However, their role as a contaminant in exfoliated graphene and their influence on devices have been overlooked. Herein atomic resolution microscopy is used to highlight the existence of silicon-based contamination on various solution-processed graphene. We found these impurities are extremely persistent and thus utilising high purity graphite as a precursor is the only route to produce silicon-free graphene. These impurities are found to hamper the effective utilisation of graphene in whereby surface area is of paramount importance. When non-contaminated graphene is used to fabricate supercapacitor microelectrodes, a capacitance value closest to the predicted theoretical capacitance for graphene is obtained. We also demonstrate a versatile humidity sensor made from pure graphene oxide which achieves the highest sensitivity and the lowest limit of detection ever reported. Our findings constitute a vital milestone to achieve commercially viable and high performance graphene-based devices

Single Cell High Dimensional Analysis of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Reveals Unique Intermediate Monocyte Subsets Associated with Sex Differences in Coronary Artery Disease

Monocytes are associated with human cardiovascular disease progression. Monocytes are segregated into three major subsets: classical (cMo), intermediate (iMo), and nonclassical (nMo). Recent studies have identified heterogeneity within each of these main monocyte classes, yet the extent to which these subsets contribute to heart disease progression is not known. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained from 61 human subjects within the Coronary Assessment of Virginia (CAVA) Cohort. Coronary atherosclerosis severity was quantified using the Gensini Score (GS). We employed high-dimensional single-cell transcriptome and protein methods to define how human monocytes differ in subjects with low to severe coronary artery disease. We analyzed 487 immune-related genes and 49 surface proteins at the single-cell level using Antibody-Seq (Ab-Seq). We identified six subsets of myeloid cells (cMo, iMo, nMo, plasmacytoid DC, classical DC, and DC3) at the single-cell level based on surface proteins, and we associated these subsets with coronary artery disease (CAD) incidence based on Gensini score (GS) in each subject. Only frequencies of iMo were associated with high CAD (GS > 32), adj.p = 0.024. Spearman correlation analysis with GS from each subject revealed a positive correlation with iMo frequencies (r = 0.314, p = 0.014) and further showed a robust sex-dependent positive correlation in female subjects (r = 0.663, p = 0.004). cMo frequencies did not correlate with CAD severity. Key gene pathways differed in iMo among low and high CAD subjects and between males and females. Further single-cell analysis of iMo revealed three iMo subsets in human PBMC, distinguished by the expression of HLA-DR, CXCR3, and CD206. We found that the frequency of immunoregulatory iMo_HLA-DR+CXCR3+CD206+ was associated with CAD severity (adj.p = 0.006). The immunoregulatory iMo subset positively correlated with GS in both females (r = 0.660, p = 0.004) and males (r = 0.315, p = 0.037). Cell interaction analyses identified strong interactions of iMo with CD4+ effector/memory T cells and Tregs from the same subjects. This study shows the importance of iMo in CAD progression and suggests that iMo may have important functional roles in modulating CAD risk, particularly among females