Challenges and benefits of implementing DIBH for breast cancer radiotherapy: Experiences from Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center

Radiation therapy is used for breast cancer treatments to improve local control and overall survival but may also lead to unwanted complications such as cardiac toxicity and pneumonitis. Deep inspirational breath hold (DIBH) has been used to reduce doses to the heart and other organs near the treatment target to lower the risk of radiation-induced complications. In this study, we present our experience on the clinical implementation and application of DIBH for breast cancer patients, its dosimetric benefits in heart and other organ sparing based on comparisons with free breathing plans, effects on the treatment efficiency as represented by treatment imaging, and beam delivery times, as well as challenges during implementation and clinical application at our center

RETRACTED: Amorphous Selenium Nanoparticles Improve Vascular Function in Rats With Chronic Isocarbophos Poisoning via Inhibiting the Apoptosis of Vascular Endothelial Cells

AimThis study aimed to investigate the preventive effect and possible mechanism of amorphous selenium nanoparticles (A-SeQDs) on isocarbophos induced vascular dysfunction.MethodsA-SeQDs was made by auto redox decomposition of selenosulfate precursor. Male rats were given isocarbophos (0.5 mg/kg/2 days) by intragastric administration for 16 weeks to induce vascular dysfunction. During the course, A-SeQDs (50 mg/kg/day) was added to the water from week 5. Then, the rats were killed to observe and test the influence of A-SeQDs on the vascular dysfunction induced by isocarbophos. Finally, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with 10% DMEM of isocarbophos (100 μM) for 5 days to detect the related indexes. Before the use of isocarbophos treatment, different drugs were given.ResultsA-SeQDs could reduce total carbon dioxide, MDA, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, IL-1, and IL-6 while increasing oxygen saturation, NO content, and SOD activity in rats. A-SeQDs also resulted in relatively normal vascular morphology, and the expression of sodium hydrogen exchanger 1 (NHE1) and caspase-3 decreased in rats. Furthermore, in HUVECs treated with isocarbophos, A-SeQDs maintained mitochondrial membrane potential, inhibited the cleaved caspase-3 expression, and released cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol.ConclusionA-SeQDs can inhibit the apoptosis of HUVECs through the mitochondrial pathway, and effectively treat the impairment of vascular endothelial function caused by isocarbophos, which is NHE1-dependent

Combinatorial interactions between viral proteins expand the potential functional landscape of the tomato yellow leaf curl virus proteome

Viruses manipulate the cells they infect in order to replicate and spread. Due to strict size restrictions, viral genomes have reduced genetic space; how the action of the limited number of viral proteins results in the cell reprogramming observed during the infection is a long-standing question. Here, we explore the hypothesis that combinatorial interactions may expand the functional landscape of the viral proteome. We show that the proteins encoded by a plant-infecting DNA virus, the geminivirus tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), physically associate with one another in an intricate network, as detected by a number of protein-protein interaction techniques. Importantly, our results indicate that intra-viral protein-protein interactions can modify the subcellular localization of the proteins involved. Using one particular pairwise interaction, that between the virus-encoded C2 and CP proteins, as proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that the combination of viral proteins leads to novel transcriptional effects on the host cell. Taken together, our results underscore the importance of studying viral protein function in the context of the infection. We propose a model in which viral proteins might have evolved to extensively interact with other elements within the viral proteome, enlarging the potential functional landscape available to the pathogen.This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (grant number XDB27040206), the Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, CAS, and the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal and State Governments to RL D. RL-D was the recipient of a National Foreign Talents project (grant number G20200113006). LW is the recipient of a Young Investigator Grant from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant number 32100249). LM-P was the recipient of a Young Investigator Grant from NSFC (grant number 31850410467), a President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) postdoctoral fellowship (2018PB058 and 2020PB0080) from CAS, and a Foreign Youth Talent Program project (grant number 20WZ2503900) from the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission. BGG was the recipient of a President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) postdoctoral fellowship (2020PB0082), and a Foreign Youth Talent Program project (grant number 20WZ2504500) from the Shanghai Science and Technology CommissionPeer reviewe

Complete plastid genome of Rhododendron griersonianum, a critically endangered plant with extremely small populations (PSESP) from southwest China

The complete plastid genome of Rhododendron griersonianum, a critically endangered plant species with extremely small populations, was obtained using Illumina HiSeq X Ten and ONT PromethION sequencing. The full length of the plastid genome is 206,467 bp with an overall GC content of 35.8%, which encodes 118 unique genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA and 4 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all Rhododendron species formed a monophyletic clade. This study provides a valuable reference and will facilitate future studies related to the general characteristics and evolution of plastid genomes in the genus Rhododendron