MiR-543 Promotes Migration, Invasion and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Esophageal Cancer Cells by Targeting Phospholipase A2 Group IVA

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of miR-543 and phospholipase A2 group IVA (PLA2G4A) in cell mobility and the invasiveness cascade in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to validate the interactive relationship between miR-543 and PLA2G4A. Methods: Microarray analysis showed the different expression levels of PLA2G4A in two ESCC cell lines (KYSE30 and KYSE180). The expression levels of miR-543 and PLA2G4A in ESCC tissues were confirmed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. The targeted relationship between miR-543 and PLA2G4A was studied and verified by a luciferase activity assay. Then, the invasion and metastasis ability of ESCC cell lines transfected with miR-543 mimics, miR-543 inhibitor, or PLA2G4A and miR-543 mimics were analyzed separately by Transwell migration and invasion assays. In addition, the roles of miR-543 and PLA2G4A in the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin were also investigated. Results: PLA2G4A up-regulated the level of E-cadherin and down-regulated the level of vimentin, which curbed ESCC cell mobility and invasion. In ESCC cells, the expression of miR-543 was significantly higher, whereas the expression of PLA2G4A was markedly lower. MiR-543 facilitated ESCC cell mobility and invasion by repressing PLA2G4A. Conclusions: MiR-543 enhanced the cell mobility and the invasiveness cascade in ESCC cells via the down-regulation of PLA2G4A expression

Changes of water clarity in large lakes and reservoirs across China observed from long-term MODIS

Water clarity is a well-established first-order indicator of water quality and has been used globally by water regulators in their monitoring and management programs. Assessments of water clarity in lakes over large temporal and spatial scales, however, are rare, limiting our understanding of its variability and the driven forces. In this study, we developed and validated a robust Secchi disk depth (ZSD) algorithm for lakes across China based on two water color parameters, namely Forel-Ule Index (FUI) and hue angle α, retrieved from MODIS data. The MODIS ZSD model shows good results when compared with in-situ measurements from 17 lakes, with a 27.4% mean relative difference (MRD) in the validation dataset. Compared with other empirical ZSD models, our FUI and α-based model demonstrates improved performance and adaptability over a wide range of water clarity and trophic states. This algorithm was subsequently applied to MODIS measurements to provide a comprehensive assessment of water clarity in large lakes (N = 153) across China for the first time. The mean summer ZSD of the studied lakes between 2000 and 2017 demonstrated marked spatial and temporal variations. Spatially, the ZSD of large lakes presented a distinct spatial pattern of “high west and low east” over China. This spatial pattern was found to be associated with the significant differences in lake depth and altitude between west and east China while China's population, GDP, temperature, and precipitation distribution have also contributed to a certain extent. Temporally, the ZSD of most lakes increased during this period, with an overall mean rate of 3.3 cm/yr for all lakes. Here, 38.6% (N = 59) of the lakes experienced a significant increase in their ZSD value during the past 18 years while only 8.5% (N = 13) showed a significant decreasing trend. Significant increases in lake ZSD were observed in west China, which were found to correlate with the increase of air temperature and lake surface area. This is possibly a response of the lakes in west China to climate change. In the lake systems of east China, which are predominately used as a drinking water source, the increase in lake ZSD was found to be strongly correlated with changes in local GDP (gross domestic production), NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) and lake surface area, suggesting a combined effect of the implemented management practices and climatic variability. The results of this study provide important information for water quality conservation and management in China, and also highlight the value of satellite remote sensing in monitoring water quality over lakes at a large scale and long-term

Influences of Canopy Nitrogen and Water Addition on AM Fungal Biodiversity and Community Composition in a Mixed Deciduous Forest of China

Nitrogen (N) deposition and precipitation could profoundly influence the structure and function of forest ecosystems. However, conventional studies with understory additions of nitrogen and water largely ignored canopy-associated ecological processes and may have not accurately reflected the natural situations. Additionally, most studies only made sampling at one time point, overlooked temporal dynamics of ecosystem response to environmental changes. Here we carried out a field trial in a mixed deciduous forest of China with canopy addition of N and water for 4 years to investigate the effects of increased N deposition and precipitation on the diversity and community composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, the ubiquitous symbiotic fungi for the majority of terrestrial plants. We found that (1) in the 1st year, N addition, water addition and their interactions all exhibited significant influences on AM fungal community composition; (2) in the 2nd year, only water addition significantly reduced AM fungal alpha-diversity (richness and Shannon index); (3) in the next 2 years, both N addition and water addition showed no significant effect on AM fungal community composition or alpha-diversity, with an exception that water addition significantly changed AM fungal community composition in the 4th year; (4) the increment of N or water tended to decrease the abundance and richness of the dominant genus Glomus and favored other AM fungi. (5) soil pH was marginally positively related with AM fungal community composition dissimilarity, soil NH4+-N and N/P showed significant/marginal positive correlation with AM fungal alpha-diversity. We concluded that the effect of increased N deposition and precipitation on AM fungal community composition was time-dependent, mediated by soil factors, and possibly related to the sensitivity and resilience of forest ecosystem to environmental changes

Utility of clinical metagenomics in diagnosing malignancies in a cohort of patients with Epstein-Barr virus positivity

BackgroundsDifferentiation between benign and malignant diseases in EBV-positive patients poses a significant challenge due to the lack of efficient diagnostic tools. Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS) is commonly used to identify pathogens of patients with fevers of unknown-origin (FUO). Recent studies have extended the application of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) in identifying tumors in body fluids and cerebrospinal fluids. In light of these, we conducted this study to develop and apply metagenomic methods to validate their role in identifying EBV-associated malignant disease.MethodsWe enrolled 29 patients with positive EBV results in the cohort of FUO in the Department of Infectious Diseases of Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University from 2018 to 2019. Upon enrollment, these patients were grouped for benign diseases, CAEBV, and malignant diseases according to their final diagnosis, and CNV analysis was retrospectively performed in 2022 using samples from 2018 to 2019.ResultsAmong the 29 patients. 16 of them were diagnosed with benign diseases, 3 patients were diagnosed with CAEBV and 10 patients were with malignant diseases. 29 blood samples from 29 patients were tested for mNGS. Among all 10 patients with malignant diagnosis, CNV analysis suggested neoplasms in 9 patients. Of all 19 patients with benign or CAEBV diagnosis, 2 patients showed abnormal CNV results. The sensitivity and specificity of CNV analysis for the identification for tumors were 90% and 89.5%, separately.ConclusionsThe application of mNGS could assist in the identification of microbial infection and malignancies in EBV-related diseases. Our results demonstrate that CNV detection through mNGS is faster compared to conventional oncology tests. Moreover, the convenient collection of peripheral blood samples adds to the advantages of this approach

Legume Plants Enhance the Resistance of Soil to Ecosystem Disturbance

Cultivation of legume plants is well known to improve soil N level and net primary productivity; besides, it may deliver other ecosystem benefits such as increasing soil carbon sequestration and soil food web complexity. However, little is known about whether legumes can improve the resistance of soils to ecosystem disturbances. In the present study, we compared the resistance of soils to an ecosystem disturbance (understory removal) in the presence or absence of a legume species (Cassia alata) in mixed tree species plantations in southern China. Soil physico-chemical and biotic properties were employed to quantify the resistance of soils to understory removal. Our results showed that the resistance indices of soil water content, omnivorous-predacious nematode abundance and nematode channel index to understory removal were greater in the presence of legumes than those without legumes in wet season. The resistance indices of fungal to bacterial ratio, fungivorous nematode abundance and total arthropod abundance were greater in the presence of legume than those without legume species in dry season. Our results indicate that legumes may enhance the resistances of soil physico-chemical and biological properties to the ecosystem disturbance. Our findings could provide a better understanding of the myriad ways in which legumes can positively affect ecosystem functioning

Contributions of understory and/or overstory vegetations to soil microbial PLFA and nematode diversities in Eucalyptus monocultures.

Ecological interactions between aboveground and belowground biodiversity have received many attentions in the recent decades. Although soil biodiversity declined with the decrease of plant diversity, many previous studies found plant species identities were more important than plant diversity in controlling soil biodiversity. This study focused on the responses of soil biodiversity to the altering of plant functional groups, namely overstory and understory vegetations, rather than plant diversity gradient. We conducted an experiment by removing overstory and/or understory vegetation to compare their effects on soil microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and nematode diversities in eucalyptus monocultures. Our results indicated that both overstory and understory vegetations could affect soil microbial PLFA and nematode diversities, which manifested as the decrease in Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H') and Pielou evenness index (J) and the increase in Simpson dominance index (λ) after vegetation removal. Soil microclimate change explained part of variance of soil biodiversity indices. Both overstory and understory vegetations positively correlated with soil microbial PLFA and nematode diversities. In addition, the alteration of soil biodiversity might be due to a mixing effect of bottom-up control and soil microclimate change after vegetation removal in the studied plantations. Given the studied ecosystem is common in humid subtropical and tropical region of the world, our findings might have great potential to extrapolate to large scales and could be conducive to ecosystem management and service

Improved delivery of natural alkaloids into lung cancer through woody oil-based emulsive nanosystems

Most antitumor ingredients found in nature have poor solubility. These ingredients are expected to have much better absorption and higher bioavailability than synthetic antitumor agents. Woody oil emulsive nanosystems carrying poorly soluble natural alkaloids were fabricated (evodiamine (EA) carried by fructus bruceae oil-based emulsive nanosystems, or EFEN). Fructus bruceae oil has two excipient-like properties (oil phase and stabilizer) that contribute to the formulation and one drug-like property (antitumor effects) that synergizes with the antitumor effect of EA. The properties of EFEN were compared with free EA, a blank nanoemulsion, an EA-loaded emulsive nanosystem, and a fructus bruceae oil-loaded emulsive nanosystem. For the first time, this suggests that increases in the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to poorly soluble natural alkaloids can be achieved by delivering drugs using woody oil-based emulsive nanosystems. In this study, woody oil-based emulsive nanosystems efficiently deliver poorly soluble natural alkaloids