Fragmentation-fraction ratio fΞb/fΛbf_{\Xi_b}/f_{\Lambda_b} in bb- and cc-baryon decays

We study the ratio of fragmentation fractions, $f_{\Xi_b}/f_{\Lambda_b}$, from the measurement of $\Xi_b^0\to \Xi_c^+\pi^-$ and $\Lambda_b^0\to \Lambda_c^+\pi^-$ with $\Xi_{c}^{+}/\Lambda_{c}^{+}\to p K^-\pi^+$. With the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(\Xi_c^+\to pK^-\pi^+)=(2.2\pm0.8)\%$ obtained under the U-spin symmetry, the fragmentation ratio is determined as $f_{\Xi_b}/f_{\Lambda_b}$=$0.054\pm0.020$. To reduce the above uncertainties, we suggest to measure the branching fractions of $\Xi_c^+\to p \overline K^{*0}$ and $\Lambda_c^+\to \Sigma^+ K^{*0}$ at BESIII, Belle(II) and LHCb.Comment: 13 pages, 1 table, 1 figure. Version published in EPJ

Characterization of the Antheraea pernyi abnormal wing disc gene that may contribute to its temperature tolerance

It has been known that the abnormal wing disc (awd) gene encodes a nucleoside diphosphate kinase and is closely related to wing development in Drosophila melanogaster and Bombyx mori. In the present study, the awd gene was isolated and characterized from Antheraea pernyi, a well-known wild silkmoth. The isolated cDNA sequence is 666 bp in length with an open reading frame of 462 bp encoding a polypeptide of 153 amino acids, which contains a putative nucleoside diphosphate kinases active site motif and conserved multimer interface. The deduced A. pernyi awd protein sequence reveals 75, 82 and 96% identity with its homologue of Homo sapiens, D. melanogaster, and B. mori, respectively. Semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that the awd gene was transcribed during all four developmental stages (egg, larva, pupa, and moth), and present in all tissues tested (blood, midgut, silk glands, Malpighian tublues, spermaries, ovaries, brain, muscle, fat body and body wall), with the highest abundance in Malpighian tubules. Interestingly, mRNA expression level in pupal fat body was significantly down-regulated after cold shock (4°C) compared with the control (26°C) and significantly up-regulated after heat shock (46°C). The results indicated that the A. pernyi awd gene is inducible, and that its expression effect is different after cold stress and heat stress. Consequently, we refer that the product of the awd gene may contribute to its temperature tolerance.Key words: Antheraea pernyi, abnormal wing disc gene, cloning, expression pattern, temperature stress

Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells and Cancer Immunotherapy

Despite largely disappointing clinical trials of dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines, recent studies have shown that DC-mediated cross-priming plays a critical role in generating anti-tumor CD8 T cell immunity and regulating anti-tumor efficacy of immunotherapies. These new findings thus support further development and refinement of DC-based vaccines as mono-immunotherapy or combinational immunotherapies. One exciting development is recent clinical studies with naturally circulating DCs including plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs). pDC vaccines were particularly intriguing, as pDCs are generally presumed to play a negative role in regulating T cell responses in tumors. Similarly, DC-derived exosomes (DCexos) have been heralded as cell-free therapeutic cancer vaccines that are potentially superior to DC vaccines in overcoming tumor-mediated immunosuppression, although DCexo clinical trials have not led to expected clinical outcomes. Using a pDC-targeted vaccine model, we have recently reported that pDCs required type 1 conventional DCs (cDC1s) for optimal cross-priming by transferring antigens through pDC-derived exosomes (pDCexos), which also cross-prime CD8 T cells in a bystander cDC-dependent manner. Thus, pDCexos could combine the advantages of both cDC1s and pDCs as cancer vaccines to achieve better anti-tumor efficacy. In this review, we will focus on the pDC-based cancer vaccines and discuss potential clinical application of pDCexos in cancer immunotherapy

Dc-based vaccines for cancer immunotherapy

As the sentinels of the immune system, dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in initiating and regulating antigen-specific immune responses. Cross-priming, a process that DCs activate CD8 T cells by cross-presenting exogenous antigens onto their MHCI (Major Histocompatibility Complex class I), plays a critical role in mediating CD8 T cell immunity as well as tolerance. Current DC vaccines have remained largely unsuccessful despite their ability to potentiate both effector and memory CD8 T cell responses. There are two major hurdles for the success of DC-based vaccines: tumor-mediated immunosuppression and the functional limitation of the commonly used monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). Due to their resistance to tumor-mediated suppression as inert vesicles, DC-derived exosomes (DCexos) have garnered much interest as cell-free therapeutic agents. However, current DCexo clinical trials have shown limited clinical benefits and failed to generate antigen-specific T cell responses. Another exciting development is the use of naturally circulating DCs instead of in vitro cultured DCs, as clinical trials with both human blood cDC2s (type 2 conventional DCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) have shown promising results. pDC vaccines were particularly encouraging, especially in light of promising data from a recent clinical trial using a human pDC cell line, despite pDCs being considered tolerogenic and playing a suppressive role in tumors. However, how pDCs generate anti-tumor CD8 T cell immunity remains poorly understood, thus hindering their clinical advance. Using a pDC-targeted vaccine model, we have recently reported that while pDC-targeted vaccines led to strong cross-priming and durable CD8 T cell immunity, cross-presenting pDCs required cDCs to achieve cross-priming in vivo by transferring antigens to cDCs. Antigen transfer from pDCs to bystander cDCs was mediated by pDC-derived exosomes (pDCexos), which similarly required cDCs for cross-priming of antigen-specific CD8 T cells. pDCexos thus represent a new addition in our arsenal of DC-based cancer vaccines that would potentially combine the advantage of pDCs and DCexos

DC-Derived Exosomes for Cancer Immunotherapy

As the initiators of adaptive immune responses, DCs play a central role in regulating the balance between CD8 T cell immunity versus tolerance to tumor antigens. Exploiting their function to potentiate host anti-tumor immunity, DC-based vaccines have been one of most promising and widely used cancer immunotherapies. However, DC-based cancer vaccines have not achieved the promised success in clinical trials, with one of the major obstacles being tumor-mediated immunosuppression. A recent discovery on the critical role of type 1 conventional DCs (cDC1s) play in cross-priming tumor-specific CD8 T cells and determining the anti-tumor efficacy of cancer immunotherapies, however, has highlighted the need to further develop and refine DC-based vaccines either as monotherapies or in combination with other therapies. DC-derived exosomes (DCexos) have been heralded as a promising alternative to DC-based vaccines, as DCexos are more resistance to tumor-mediated suppression and DCexo vaccines have exhibited better anti-tumor efficacy in pre-clinical animal models. However, DCexo vaccines have only achieved limited clinical efficacy and failed to induce tumor-specific T cell responses in clinical trials. The lack of clinical efficacy might be partly due to the fact that all current clinical trials used peptide-loaded DCexos from monocyte-derived DCs. In this review, we will focus on the perspective of expanding current DCexo research to move DCexo cancer vaccines forward clinically to realize their potential in cancer immunotherapy

Practical points in the medical treatment of overactive bladder and nocturia in the elderly

AbstractThe prevalence of overactive bladder (OAB) increases with age. Degeneration of the central nervous system in the elderly has been proposed as one of the pathogenic factors of OAB. Antimuscarinic therapy is effective in the treatment of OAB; however, intolerable systemic adverse events and cognitive dysfunction during treatment with nonselective antimuscarinic agents is of growing concern in elderly patients. The newly developed beta-3 adrenoceptor agonist mirabegron does not adversely affect flow rate and detrusor pressure, and its therapeutic efficacy and tolerability are similar in patients aged > 65 years and > 75 years, suggesting it might be the therapeutic choice in older patients with OAB. Nocturia can cause sleep deprivation at night and increase daytime sleepiness and loss of energy in the elderly. Desmopressin add-on therapy is effective in improving nocturia and storage symptoms. However, elderly patients with a baseline serum sodium level below the normal range are at high risk of developing significant hyponatremia