Effects of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) on the development of colon cancer via regulation of HIF-1α

Purpose: To investigate the influence of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) on rats with colon cancer (CC). Methods: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into CC group and control group. CC models were constructed. The expression of SOCS3 in CC tissues was determined by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Hematoxylin-eosin staining (H&E) was used to examine colon tissue morphology, while immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining assay was performed to determine the expression of SOCS3 protein in colon tissues. The content of HIF-1α, phosphorylated phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase (p-PI3K), and phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT) proteins was determined by Western blotting (WB). Results: Compared with that in the control group, the number of tumors in the CC group was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Protein and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expressions of SOCS3 were down-regulated in CC group (p < 0.05), while protein expressions of p-PI3K, p-AKT and HIF-1α were significantly elevated in CC group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: SOCS3 is poorly expressed in CC rats, and promotes the expression of HIF-1α by activating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. The findings, thus, provide a probable strategy for management of colon cancer

Effects of SOCS3 on the development of colon cancer via regulation of HIF-1α

Purpose: To investigate the influence of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) on rats with colon cancer (CC). Methods: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into CC group and control group, and then CC rat model was constructed. The expression of SOCS3 in CC tissues was determined by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Hematoxylin-eosin staining (H&E) was used to examine colon tissue morphology. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining assay was performed to determine the expression of SOCS3 protein in colon tissues. The contents of HIF-1α, phosphorylated phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase (p-PI3K), and phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT) proteins were determined by Western blotting (WB). Results: Compared with that in the control group, the number of tumors in CC group was significantly increased (p < 0.05). 2). On the other hand, protein and message ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expressions of SOCS3 were down-regulated in CC group (p < 0.05). 3), while protein expressions of p-PI3K, p-AKT and HIF-1α were raised in CC group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: SOCS3 is lowly expressed in CC rats, and promotes the expression of HIF-1α by activating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Thus, SOCS3 provides a therapeutic strategy for the management of colon cancer. Keywords: Colon cancer; Suppressor of cytokine signaling protein 3 (SOCS3); Hypoxia inducible factor-1

Hypericin Inhibit Alpha-Coronavirus Replication by Targeting 3CL Protease

The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an Alphacoronavirus (α-CoV) that causes high mortality in infected piglets, resulting in serious economic losses in the farming industry. Hypericin is a dianthrone compound that has been shown as an antiviral activity on several viruses. Here, we first evaluated the antiviral effect of hypericin in PEDV and found the viral replication and egression were significantly reduced with hypericin post-treatment. As hypericin has been shown in SARS-CoV-2 that it is bound to viral 3CLpro, we thus established a molecular docking between hypericin and PEDV 3CLpro using different software and found hypericin bound to 3CLpro through two pockets. These binding pockets were further verified by another docking between hypericin and PEDV 3CLpro pocket mutants, and the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay confirmed that hypericin inhibits the PEDV 3CLpro activity. Moreover, the alignments of α-CoV 3CLpro sequences or crystal structure revealed that the pockets mediating hypericin and PEDV 3CLpro binding were highly conserved, especially in transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV). We then validated the anti-TGEV effect of hypericin through viral replication and egression. Overall, our results push forward that hypericin was for the first time shown to have an inhibitory effect on PEDV and TGEV by targeting 3CLpro, and it deserves further attention as not only a pan-anti-α-CoV compound but potentially also as a compound of other coronaviral infections

Interictal magnetoencephalographic findings related with surgical outcomes in lesional and nonlesional neocortical epilepsy

Purpose: To investigate whether interictal magnetoencephalography (MEG) concordant with other techniques can predict surgical outcome in patients with lesional and nonlesional refractory neocortical epilepsy (NE). Methods: 23 Patients with lesional NE and 20 patients with nonlesional NE were studied. MEG was recorded for all patients with a 275 channel whole-head system. Synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) with excess kurtosis (g2) and conventional Equivalent Current Dipole (ECD) were used for MEG data analysis. 27 Patients underwent long-term extraoperative intracranial video electroencephalography (iVEEG) monitoring. Surgical outcomes were assessed based on more than 1-year of post-surgical follow-up using Engel classification system. Results: As we expected, both favorable outcomes (Engel class I or II) and seizure freedom outcomes (Engel class IA) were higher for the concordance condition (MEG findings are concordant with MRI or iVEEG findings) versus the discordance condition. Also the seizure free rate was significantly higher (x2 = 5.24, P \u3c 0.05) for the patients with lesional NE than for the patients with nonlesional NE. In 30% of the patients with nonlesional NE, the MEG findings proved to be valuable for intracranial electrode implantation. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a favorable post-surgical outcome can be obtained in most patients with concordant MEG and MRI results even without extraoperative iVEEG monitoring, which indicates that the concordance among different modalities could indicate a likelihood of better postsurgical outcomes. However, extraoperative iVEEG monitoring remains prerequisite to the patients with discordant MEG and MRI findings. For nonlesional cases, our results showed that MEG could provide critical information in the placement of intracranial electrodes

Consecutive Insulator-Metal-Insulator Phase Transitions of Vanadium Dioxide by Hydrogen Doping

We report modulation of a reversible phase transition in VO2 films by hydrogen doping. A metallic phase and a new insulating phase are successively observed at room temperature as the doping concentration increases. It is suggested that the polarized charges from doped hydrogens play an important role. These charges gradually occupy V3d-O2p hybridized orbitals and consequently modulate the filling of the VO2 crystal conduction band-edge states, which eventually evolve into new valence band-edge states. This demonstrates the exceptional sensitivity of VO2 electronic properties to electron concentration and orbital occupancy, providing key information for the phase transition mechanism.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Co-sensitization and cross-reactivity of Blomia tropicalis with two Dermatophagoides species in Guangzhou, China

Around 85.50% of patients were sensitized to Der p, 85.37% of patients were sensitized to Der f, and 71.54% of patients were sensitized to Blo t. Further, 70.14% of patients were co-sensitized to Blo t, Der p, and Der f, and only seven patients were sensitized solely to Blo t. With increasing sIgE levels for Blo t, the positive rates of severe-level (class 5-6) co-sensitization to Der p or Der f significantly increased. Blo t was moderately associated with Der p and Der f, with correlation coefficients of 0.6998 and 0.6782, respectively. Der p and Der f inhibited IgE binding to Blo t more strongly than Blo t inhibited IgE binding to Der p or Der f in the patient groups CBlo t  < CDer p and CBlo t  < CDer f .Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease [SKLRD-OP-201803, SKLRD-OP-201809]; Science and Technology Innovation Committee Project of Guangzhou [201831802]; Bureau of traditional Chinese Medicine Scientific Research Project of Guangdong [20192048]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [81601394, 81802076, 81871736]Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Kininogen Level in the Cerebrospinal Fluid May Be a Potential Biomarker for Predicting Epileptogenesis

Purpose: Epilepsy is a highly disabling neurological disorder. Brain insult is the most critical cause of epilepsy in adults. This study aimed to find reliable and efficient biomarkers for predicting secondary epilepsy.Materials and methods: The LiCl-pilocarpine (LiCl-Pilo) chronic epilepsy rat model was used, and rat cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected 5 days after status epilepticus (SE). The CSF was analyzed using the label-free LC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS. Differential expression of proteins was confirmed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting. The corresponding protein level in the CSF of patients with encephalitis in the postacute phase was determined using ELISA and compared between patients with and without symptomatic epilepsy after encephalitis during a 2-year follow-up.Results: The proteomics and ELISA results showed that the protein level of kininogen (KNG) was obviously elevated in both CSF and hippocampus, but not in serum, 5 days after the onset of SE in LiCl-Pilo chronic epilepsy model rats. In patients with encephalitis, the protein level of KNG in the CSF in the postacute phase was significantly elevated in patients with a recurrent epileptic seizure during a 2-year follow-up than in patients without a recurrent seizure.Conclusion: KNG in the CSF may serve as a potential biomarker for predicting epileptogenesis in patients with encephalitis

Synchronous multimode ultrasound for assessing right-to-left shunt: a prospective clinical study

BackgroundRight-to-left shunt (RLS) is associated with several conditions and causes morbidity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of synchronous multimode ultrasonography in detecting RLS.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 423 patients with high clinical suspicion of RLS and divided them into the contrast transcranial Doppler (cTCD) group and synchronous multimode ultrasound group, in which both cTCD and contrast transthoracic echocardiography (cTTE) were performed during the same process of contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. The simultaneous test results were compared with those of cTCD alone.ResultsThe positive rates of grade II (22.0%:10.0%) and III (12.7%:10.8%) shunts and the total positive rate (82.1748%) in the synchronous multimode ultrasound group were higher than those in the cTCD alone group. Among patients with RLS grade I in the synchronous multimode ultrasound group, 23 had RLS grade I in cTCD but grade 0 in synchronous cTTE, whereas four had grade I in cTCD but grade 0 in synchronous cTTE. Among patients with RLS grade II in the synchronous multimode ultrasound group, 28 had RLS grade I in cTCD but grade II in synchronous cTTE. Among patients with RLS grade III in the synchronous multimode ultrasound group, four had RLS grade I in cTCD but grade III in synchronous cTTE. Synchronous multimode ultrasound had a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 60.6% in the patent foramen ovale (PFO) diagnosis. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.041) and risk of paradoxical embolism score ≥ 7 (OR = 7.798) were risk factors for stroke recurrence, whereas antiplatelets (OR = 0.590) and PFO closure with antiplatelets (OR = 0.109) were protective factors.ConclusionSynchronous multimodal ultrasound significantly improves the detection rate and test efficiency, quantifies RLS more accurately, and reduces testing risks and medical costs. We conclude that synchronous multimodal ultrasound has significant potential for clinical applications

Research Progress on Food 3D Printing Based on Starch

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is an emerging manufacturing technology that enables personalized product design and precise modeling through digital control. In recent years, 3D printing technology has gained significant attention in the food industry due to its potential advantages, especially in the field of customized food processing. Starch is an important component of human diet, especially in the eastern diet structure primarily based on plant-based foods. Most starches possess excellent rheological, hydration, and gel properties, making them have natural advantages in outflow nozzle and printing molding and thus have great application potential in food 3D printing. In this article, recent progress in starch-based 3D printing is reviewed with respect to printing equipment types commonly used in starch-based 3D printing, printing technology using common starches as raw materials, the correlation between starch physicochemical properties and printing performance, starch modification for quality improvement of 3D printed products, the post-processing of starch-based 3D printed products and the influence of printing on starch structure. Furthermore, future prospects in the 3D printing field are presented