Tripartite motif containing 28 (TRIM28) promotes breast cancer metastasis by stabilizing TWIST1 protein.

TRIM28 regulates its target genes at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Here we report that a TRIM28-TWIST1-EMT axis exists in breast cancer cells and TRIM28 promotes breast cancer metastasis by stabilizing TWIST1 and subsequently enhancing EMT. We find that TRIM28 is highly expressed in both cancer cell lines and advanced breast cancer tissues, and the levels of TRIM28 and TWIST1 are positively correlated with the aggressiveness of breast carcinomas. Overexpression and depletion of TRIM28 up- and down-regulates the protein, but not the mRNA levels of TWIST1, respectively, suggesting that TRIM28 upregulates TWIST1 post-transcriptionally. Overexpression of TRIM28 in breast cancer cell line promotes cell migration and invasion. Knockdown of TRIM28 reduces the protein level of TWIST1 with concurrent upregulation of E-cadherin and downregulation of N-cadherin and consequently inhibits cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, Immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays demonstrated that TRIM28 interacts with TWIST1 directly and this interaction is presumed to protect TWIST1 from degradation. Our study revealed a novel mechanism in breast cancer cells that TRIM28 enhances metastasis by stabilizing TWIST1, suggesting that targeting TRIM28 could be an efficacious strategy in breast cancer treatment

Sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics of stillbirths in China: a census of nearly 4 million health facility births between 2012 and 2014

Background Very little is known about the burden and determinants of stillbirths in China. We used data from a national surveillance system for health facility births to compute a stillbirth rate representative of all facility births in China and to explore sociodemographic and obstetric factors associated with variation in the stillbirth rate. Methods We used data from China’s National Maternal Near Miss Surveillance System between Jan 1, 2012, and Dec 31, 2014, which covers 441 hospitals in 326 urban districts and rural counties. The surveillance aimed to enumerate all maternal deaths and near misses in health facilities, and collected data prospectively for all pregnant or post-partum women admitted to the obstetric department. We restricted the analysis to births of 28 or more completed weeks of gestation or 1000 g or heavier birthweight. We examined the strength of association between sociodemographic characteristics, gestational age, and obstetric complications and stillbirths using logistic regression, taking account of the sampling strategy and clustering of births within hospitals and in cases of more than one birth per woman. Findings There were 3 956 836 births and 37 855 stillbirths, giving a stillbirth rate of 8·8 per 1000 births (95% CI 8·8–8·9). The stillbirth rate was particularly high for women younger than 15 years of age (59·9 stillbirths per 1000 births), those who had not sought antenatal care (38·3 per 1000), the unmarried (32·5 per 1000), those with no education (26·9 per 1000), or those who had had four or more births (23·2 per 1000). A high proportion (29 319 [78·2%] of 37 514) of stillbirths occurred at gestational ages of younger than 37 weeks, and about two thirds (24 787 [66·1%] of 37 514) were in women without any maternal complication at the time of birth. Of babies born at normal gestations (37–41 weeks), maternal complications substantially increased the risk of stillbirth (odds ratio comparing antepartum or intrapartum complications with no complication 3·96 [95% CI 3·66–4·29]), but only a small proportion (1638 [4·4%] of 37 514) of stillbirths fell into this group. Interpretation Our analysis of nearly 4 million births in 441 health facilities in China suggests a stillbirth rate of 8·8 per 1000 births between 2012 and 2014. Stillbirths do not feature in the Chinese Government’s 5 year plans and most information systems do not include stillbirths. The Government need to start paying attention to stillbirths and invest strategically in antenatal care, particularly for the most disadvantaged women, including the very young, unmarried, and illiterate, and those at high parity

A juvenile mouse model of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis by active immunization

IntroductionAnti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is a common autoimmune encephalitis, and it is associated with psychosis, dyskinesia, and seizures. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis (NMDARE) in juveniles and adults presents different clinical charactreistics. However, the pathogenesis of juvenile anti-NMDAR encephalitis remains unclear, partly because of a lack of suitable animal models.MethodsWe developed a model of juvenile anti-NMDAR encephalitis using active immunization with an amino terminal domain peptide from the GluN1 subunit (GluN1356 − 385) against NMDARs in 3-week-old female C57BL/6J mice.ResultsImmunofluorescence staining suggested that autoantibody levels in the hippocampus increased, and HEK-293T cells staining identified the target of the autoantibodies as GluN1, suggesting that GluN1-specific immunoglobulin G was successfully induced. Behavior assessment showed that the mice suffered significant cognition impairment and sociability reduction, which is similar to what is observed in patients affected by anti-NMDAR encephalitis. The mice also exhibited impaired long-term potentiation in hippocampal CA1. Pilocarpine-induced epilepsy was more severe and had a longer duration, while no spontaneous seizures were observed.ConclusionThe juvenile mouse model for anti-NMDAR encephalitis is of great importance to investigate the pathological mechanism and therapeutic strategies for the disease, and could accelerate the study of autoimmune encephalitis

Sex determines which section of the SLC6A4 gene is linked to obsessive–compulsive symptoms in normal Chinese college students

Previous case-control and family-based association studies have implicated the SLC6A4 gene in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Little research, however, has examined this gene's role in obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) in community samples. The present study genotyped seven tag SNPs and two common functional tandem repeat polymorphisms (5-HTTLPR and STin2), which together cover the whole SLC6A4 gene, and investigated their associations with OCS in normal Chinese college students (N = 572). The results revealed a significant gender main effect and gender-specific genetic effects of the SLC6A4 gene on OCS. Males scored significantly higher on total OCS and its three dimensions than did females (ps < .01). The 5-HTTLPR in the promoter region showed a female-specific genetic effect, with the l/l and l/s genotypes linked to higher OCS scores than the s/s genotype (ps < .05). In contrast, a conserved haplotype polymorphism (rs1042173| rs4325622| rs3794808| rs140701| rs4583306| rs2020942) covering from intron 3 to the 3' UTR of the SLC6A4 gene showed male-specific genetic effects, with the CGAAGG/CGAAGG genotype associated with lower OCS scores than the other genotypes (ps < .05). These effects remained significant after controlling for OCS-related factors including participants' depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as stressful life events, and correction for multiple tests. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of the sex-specific role of the different sections of the SLC6A4 gene in OCD

Ni/SiO2 Catalyst Prepared with Nickel Nitrate Precursor for Combination of CO2 Reforming and Partial Oxidation of Methane: Characterization and Deactivation Mechanism Investigation

The performance of Ni/SiO2 catalyst in the process of combination of CO2 reforming and partial oxidation of methane to produce syngas was studied. The Ni/SiO2 catalysts were prepared by using incipient wetness impregnation method with nickel nitrate as a precursor and characterized by FT-IR, TG-DTA, UV-Raman, XRD, TEM, and H2-TPR. The metal nickel particles with the average size of 37.5 nm were highly dispersed over the catalyst, while the interaction between nickel particles and SiO2 support is relatively weak. The weak NiO-SiO2 interaction disappeared after repeating oxidation-reduction-oxidation in the fluidized bed reactor at 700°C, which resulted in the sintering of metal nickel particles. As a result, a rapid deactivation of the Ni/SiO2 catalysts was observed in 2.5 h reaction on stream

Adsorption of Cd(II) on mesoporous Al2O3 prepared from high-aluminum fly ash

Cadmium (Cd) pollution has increased in water bodies due to an increase in industrial and agricultural activities, threatening human health and ecosystem stability. In this study, high-alumina fly ash (HAFA) was used as a low-cost raw material to prepare mesoporous alumina (MA) adsorbents to remove Cd(II) from water. The adsorption performance of the synthesized MA for Cd(II) was investigated at different pH values, initial Cd(II) concentrations, and contact times. The results showed that MA was successfully prepared from HAFA, and showed a specific surface area of 318.7 m ^2 g ^−1 and average pore size of 4.5 nm. The adsorption of Cd(II) on the synthesized MA had the best adsorption environment at pH 7, and the contact time to reach the dynamic adsorption equilibrium was 60 min. The pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models accurately described chemisorption and monolayer adsorption of Cd(II) on the surface of the synthesized MA, respectively. The fitting results of the Intra-particle diffusion model show that the intraparticle diffusion of particles is not the only step controlling the rate during the adsorption of Cd(II) by synthetic materials. The maximum adsorption capacity of the synthesized MA for Cd(II) was calculated to be 88.26 mg g ^−1 using the Langmuir isotherm

Development and Characterization of Microsatellite Markers from the Transcriptome of <i>Firmiana danxiaensis</i> (Malvaceae s.l.)

Premise of the study: Firmiana consists of 12–16 species, many of which are narrow endemics. Expressed sequence tag (EST)–simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were developed and characterized for size polymorphism in four Firmiana species. Methods and Results: A total of 102 EST-SSR primer pairs were designed based on the transcriptome sequences of F. danxiaensis; these were then characterized in four Firmiana species&#8212;F. danxiaensis, F. kwangsiensis, F. hainanensis, and F. simplex. In these four species, 17 primer pairs were successfully amplified, and 14 were polymorphic in at least one species. The number of alleles ranged from one to 13, and the observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 1 and 0 to 0.925, respectively. The lowest level of polymorphism was observed in F. danxiaensis. Conclusions: These polymorphic EST-SSR markers are valuable for conservation genetics studies in the endangered Firmiana species

Research on the architectural design of the agricultural sightseeing tourist area

This paper combines the intelligent computer-assisted technology to carry out the architectural design and planning of the agricultural sightseeing area, and mainly plans the electricity consumption system of the agricultural sightseeing area to ensure that the agricultural sightseeing area can provide tourists with a good sightseeing experience at night. Moreover, this paper conducts an end-point analysis of the circuit system and analyzes multiple parameters, and combines the construction power demand of agricultural tourism areas to conduct power model analysis. The computer control system integrates various factor control methods, uses advanced control technology and control strategies, and fully considers the relationship between the control variables to realise the automation, intelligence and energy-saving regulation of the greenhouse environment of the agricultural sightseeing area. Finally, this paper takes the greenhouse system as an example to analyze the architectural planning. From the research point of view, it can be known that the architectural design method of agricultural sightseeing tourism area constructed in this paper has certain effects

Artificial neural network prediction to the hot compressive deformation behavior of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag heat-resistant aluminum alloy

The behavior of the flow stress of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag heat-resistant aluminum alloys during hot compression deformation was studied by thermal simulation test. The temperature and the strain rate during hot compression were 340–500 °C, 0.001 s−1 to 10 s−1, respectively. Constitutive equations and an artificial neural network (ANN) model were developed for the analysis and simulation of the flow behavior of the Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloys. The inputs of the model are temperature, strain rate and strain. The output of the model is the flow stress. Comparison between constitutive equations and ANN results shows that ANN model has a better prediction power than the constitutive equations