The Emerging Role of Schwann Cells in the Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Its Potential Clinical Application.

As the primary glial cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), Schwann cells (SCs) have been proven to influence the behavior of cancer cells profoundly and are involved in cancer progression through extensive interactions with cancer cells and other stromal cells. Indeed, the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a critical factor that can significantly limit the efficacy of immunotherapeutic approaches. The TME promotes tumor progression in part by reshaping an immunosuppressive state.

Fragmentomics of plasma mitochondrial and nuclear DNA inform prognosis in COVID-19 patients with critical symptoms.

Background: The mortality rate of COVID-19 patients with critical symptoms is reported to be 40.5%. Early identification of patients with poor progression in the critical cohort is essential to timely clinical intervention and reduction of mortality.

An IGHG1 variant exhibits polarized prevalence and confers enhanced IgG1 antibody responses against life-threatening organisms.

Evolutionary pressures sculpt population genetics, whereas immune adaptation fortifies humans against life-threatening organisms. How the evolution of selective genetic variation in adaptive immune receptors orchestrates the adaptation of human populations to contextual perturbations remains elusive. Here, we show that the G396R coding variant within the human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) heavy chain presents a concentrated prevalence in Southeast Asian populations.

Heat inactivation does not alter host plasma cell-free DNA characteristics in infectious disease research.

Background: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a promising analyte for non-invasive liquid biopsy, carrying abundant signatures for disease diagnosis and monitoring. In infectious disease researches, blood plasma samples are routinely heat-inactivated before proceeding with downstream analyses. However, the effects of heat inactivation on cfDNA fragmentomic analysis remain largely unclear, potentially introducing biases or altering the characteristics of cfDNA.

Quality-of-life, mental health, and perspective on TKI dose reduction as a prelude to discontinuation in chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia.

Background: Treatment-free remission (TFR) has become the main target for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) dose optimization is crucial in managing adverse events, and improving adherence in clinical practice. In persons achieving a deep molecular response (DMR), some data suggest TKI dose reduction before discontinuation does not change success rate of achieving TFR, but this is controversial.

Bioinformatic-based genetic characterizations of neural regulation in skin cutaneous melanoma.

Background: Recent discoveries uncovered the complex cancer-nerve interactions in several cancer types including skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM). However, the genetic characterization of neural regulation in SKCM is unclear.

Methods: Transcriptomic expression data were collected from the TCGA and GTEx portal, and the differences in cancer-nerve crosstalk-associated gene expressions between normal skin and SKCM tissues were analyzed.

Factors associated with the incidence and the expenditure of self-medication among middle-aged and older adults in China: A cross-sectional study.

Background: With the accelerated ageing of population and the growing prevalence of various chronic diseases in China, self-medication plays an increasingly important role in complementing the health care system due to its convenience and economy.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the incidence of self-medication and the amount of self-medication expenditure among middle-aged and older adults in China, and to explore factors associated with them.

Methods: A total of 10,841 respondents aged 45 years and older from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) wave 4 which conducted in 2018 were included as the sample of this study.

Plasma cell-free DNA promise monitoring and tissue injury assessment of COVID-19.

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a complex disease that affects billions of people worldwide. Currently, effective etiological treatment of COVID-19 is still lacking; COVID-19 also causes damages to various organs that affects therapeutics and mortality of the patients. Surveillance of the treatment responses and organ injury assessment of COVID-19 patients are of high clinical value.

Successful treatment discontinuation in CML patients with full-dose and low-dose TKI: Results from real-world practice.

In clinical studies, some patients who achieve deep molecular response (DMR) can successfully discontinue tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). TKI dose reduction is also an important aspect of alleviating adverse effects and improving quality of life. This study aimed to explore the outcome after drug withdrawal in Chinese CML patients.

Bidirectional regulation between tumor cell-intrinsic PD-L1 and TGF-β1 in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in melanoma.

Background: Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is the predominant form of TGF-β and induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in melanoma. Tumor cell-intrinsic programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) plays a crucial role in maintenance of the EMT in melanoma. However, the relationship among tumor cell-intrinsic PD-L1, TGF-β1 and EMT is very complicated.

ACSL1 promotes imatinib-induced chronic myeloid leukemia cell senescence by regulating SIRT1/p53/p21 pathway.

Although tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) improve the prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients, resistance to TKIs and residual leukemia stem cells (LSCs) inevitably become the bottleneck of cure. Therefore, we need to explore novel treatment strategies based on conventional treatment strategies. Our previous study found that CML cell senescence may be one of the main factors to achieve clinical cure of CML.

Changes in the medical-seeking pattern and daily behavior of hematopoietic stem-cell transplant recipients during the COVID-19 epidemic: An online survey in Hubei Province, China.

Background: To curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, the Chinese government shut down Wuhan city from January 23rd to April 8th, 2020. The COVID-19 epidemic not only leads to widespread illness but also affects the diagnosis and treatment of hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) recipients.

Objective: To investigate the medical-seeking pattern and daily behavior changes in Hubei Province during the COVID-19 epidemic in Hubei Province during the lockdown.

The function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in COVID-19 lymphopenia.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic and presents a significant danger to public health. Lymphopenia is considered to be the defining characteristic of severe COVID-19, especially in elderly people. Lymphopenia has been suggested as a pivotal factor in disease severity.

Lineage-specific positive selection on contributes to the genetic susceptibility of COVID-19.

The Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 () gene, located on Xp22.2, attracts a great deal of attention because the protein it encodes is believed to be the functional cellular receptor for the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). However, recent studies are controversial, especially concerning the intrinsic link between diversity and COVID-19 susceptibility.

Stem cell like memory T cells: A new paradigm in cancer immunotherapy.

Stem cell like memory T (T) cells have emerged as the apex of memory T cell differentiation for their properties of self-renewal and replenishing progenies. With potent long-term persistence, proliferative capacity and antitumor activity, T cells were thought to be the ideal candidate for cancer immunotherapies. Several strategies have been proposed, such as manipulations of cytokines, metabolic factors, signal pathways, and T cell receptor signal intensity, to induce more T cells in vitro, in the hope that they could reach a clinical order of magnitude to provide more long-lasting and effective anti-tumor effects in vivo.

Rare Variants in Inborn Errors of Immunity Genes Associated With Covid-19 Severity.

Host genetic factors have been shown to play an important role in SARS-CoV-2 infection and the course of Covid-19 disease. The genetic contributions of common variants influencing Covid-19 susceptibility and severity have been extensively studied in diverse populations. However, the studies of rare genetic defects arising from inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are relatively few, especially in the Chinese population.

Prevalence and associated factors for workplace violence among general practitioners in China: a national cross-sectional study.

Background: General practitioners (GPs) were at risk of violence in their everyday working lives. Workplace violence (WPV) among GPs is a global public health concern. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with WPV among GPs in China.

Treatment-Free Remission in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and New Approaches by Targeting Leukemia Stem Cells.

The therapeutic landscape for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has improved significantly with the approval of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for therapeutic use. Most patients with optimal responses to TKIs can have a normal life expectancy. Treatment-free remission (TFR) after discontinuing TKI has increasingly become a new goal for CML treatment.

Circular RNA circCRKL inhibits the proliferation of acute myeloid leukemia cells via the miR-196a-5p/miR-196b-5p/p27 axis.

As a new type of non-coding RNA, the role of circular RNA (circRNA) in various diseases and tumors has received considerable attention. Studies have shown that circRNAs play an important role in the progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) via different mechanisms. However, the specific underlying molecular mechanism of circRNAs in the proliferation of AML cells remians unclear.

A Chinese host genetic study discovered IFNs and causality of laboratory traits on COVID-19 severity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 220 million infections and 4.5 million deaths worldwide. Current risk factor cannot fully explain the diversity in disease severity.

Trans-ethnic genome-wide association study of severe COVID-19.

COVID-19 has caused numerous infections with diverse clinical symptoms. To identify human genetic variants contributing to the clinical development of COVID-19, we genotyped 1457 (598/859 with severe/mild symptoms) and sequenced 1141 (severe/mild: 474/667) patients of Chinese ancestry. We further incorporated 1401 genotyped and 948 sequenced ancestry-matched population controls, and tested genome-wide association on 1072 severe cases versus 3875 mild or population controls, followed by trans-ethnic meta-analysis with summary statistics of 3199 hospitalized cases and 897,488 population controls from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative.

Transcriptional Start Site Coverage Analysis in Plasma Cell-Free DNA Reveals Disease Severity and Tissue Specificity of COVID-19 Patients.

Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) range from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia and death. A deep understanding of the variation of biological characteristics in severe COVID-19 patients is crucial for the detection of individuals at high risk of critical condition for the clinical management of the disease. Herein, by profiling the gene expression spectrum deduced from DNA coverage in regions surrounding transcriptional start site in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of COVID-19 patients, we deciphered the altered biological processes in the severe cases and demonstrated the feasibility of cfDNA in measuring the COVID-19 progression.