Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) (AML-MSCs) have been identified to play a significant role in AML progression. The functions of MSCs mainly depend on their paracrine action. Here, we investigated whether AML-MSCs functioned in AML cells by transferring METTL14 (Methyltransferase 14) into AML cells via exosomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnthropogenic nutrient additions are influencing the structure and function of alpine grassland ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms of the direct and indirect effects of nutrient additions on aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) are not well understood. In this study, we conducted an eight-year field experiment to explore the ecological consequences of nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorous (P) additions on the northern Tibetan Plateau.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the response of alpine grassland productivity to precipitation fluctuations is essential for assessing the future changes of ecosystem services. However, the underlying mechanism by which grassland productivity responds to wet and dry years after nitrogen (N) or/and phosphorus (P) nutrient addition remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of plant communities based on eight-year N or/and P addition gradient experiments in four grassland types across a precipitation gradient on the north Tibetan Plateau.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany recent studies have explored how global warming and increased nitrogen (N) deposition affect the structure and function of natural ecosystems. However, how ecosystems respond to the combination of warming and N enrichment remains unexplored, especially under asymmetric seasonal warming scenarios. We conducted a decade-long field experiment in an alpine grassland to investigate the effects of warming (ambient condition (NW), winter-only (WW), and year-round (YW) warming) and N addition on the temporal stability of communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdentifying ecological strategies based on functional traits can help us better understand plants' adaptations and changes in ecological processes, and thus predict the impact of climate change on ecosystems, especially in the vulnerable alpine grasslands. Herein, we investigated the plant CSR strategies of four grassland types (alpine meadows, AM; alpine meadow steppes, AMS; alpine steppes, AS; and alpine desert steppes, ADS) and its functional groups (grasses, sedges, legumes, and forbs) along the east-to-west gradient of decreasing precipitation on the northern Tibetan grasslands by using Grime's CSR (C: competitor, S: stress tolerator, and R: ruderal) analysis. Although alpine grasslands were dominated by S-strategy, our results also indicated that AM with higher water, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability had significantly lower S-strategy values and relatively higher C- and R-strategy values (C: S: R = 6: 63: 31 %) than those in AMS (C: S: R = 3: 94: 3 %,), AS (C: S: R = 3: 87: 10 %), and ADS (C: S: R = 1: 94: 5 %).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiodiversity-stability mechanisms have been the focus of many long-term community stability studies. Community functional composition (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a leading societal concern. eHealth literacy is important in the prevention and control of this pandemic. The purpose of this study is to identify eHealth literacy of Chinese residents about the COVID-19 pandemic and factors influencing eHealth literacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough many empirical experiments have shown that increasing degradation results in lower aboveground biomass (AGB), our knowledge of the magnitude of belowground biomass (BGB) for individual plants is a prerequisite for accurately revealing the biomass trade-off in degraded grasslands. Here, by linking the AGB and BGB of individual plants, species in the community, and soil properties, we explored the biomass partitioning patterns in different plant functional groups (grasses of and forbs of ). Our results indicated that 81% and 60% of the biomass trade-off variations could be explained by environmental factors affecting grasses and forbs, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
December 2021
The replacement of dominant sedges/grasses with secondary forbs is common in alpine rangelands, but the underlying plant ecological strategies and their relevance to leaf traits and their variabilities of different plant functional groups remain largely unknown. Here, we measured key leaf traits and analyzed the competitor, stress-tolerator and ruderal (CSR) strategies of major species with different functional groups (sedges, grasses and forbs) in an alpine meadow along a degradation gradient on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results indicated that S-selected species were dominant in both non-degraded (C:S:R = 1:95:4%) and severely degraded (C:S:R = 2:87:11%) meadows.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrazing exclusion using fences is a key policy being applied by the Chinese government to rehabilitate degraded grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and elsewhere. However, there is a limited understanding of the effects of grazing exclusion on alpine ecosystem functions and services and its impacts on herders' livelihoods. Our meta-analyses and questionnaire-based surveys revealed that grazing exclusion with fences was effective in promoting aboveground vegetation growth for up to four years in degraded alpine meadows and for up to eight years in the alpine steppes of the TP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo investigate the immune and gastrointestinal functional effects of lienal polypeptide (LP) treatment in tumor-bearing mice and carcinoma patients receiving radiotherapy (RT), and to detect hematological indicators and T lymphocyte subsets. Tumor-bearing mice were randomly divided into five groups: the control group, the RT group, the RT+LP-L (1.7 mg/kg, low dosage of LP) group, the RT+LP-M (5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffects of polo-like kinase (PLK1) on proliferation, migration and invasion capacities of gastric cancer cells through epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were investigated. Small-interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) with targeted interference in was designed and transfected into gastric cancer MGC-803 cells via Lipofectamine to inhibit the expression of gene in MGC-803 cells. The proliferation of MGC-803 cells was detected via methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo investigate the therapeutic effect of conversion therapy and its correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in unresectable rectal cancer with liver metastasis. A total of 116 cases of unresectable rectal cancer patients with liver metastasis were randomly divided into control and observation group, 58 cases in each group, all of these patients were treated by conversion therapy, patients in control were treated by FOLFOXIRI treatment program, and in observation group were treated by FOLFOXIRI program treatment and bevacizumab. Efficacy and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups, the levels of VEGF in portal vein and the expression of VEGF in cancer tissue were compared, after 5 years of follow-up, the prognosis of the two groups were observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study aimed to detect the mutation characteristics of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in Eca109 of Ec9706 cells, and to investigate their association with the nuclear genome (nDNA), thus providing a basis for gene targeting therapies for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In vitro‑cultured Ec9706 and Eca109 cells were analyzed the changes of single‑nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions/deletions (INDELs), copy number varia-tion, and structure variation (SV) of their genome by high‑throughput sequencing. The loci with SV on chromosome 1‑12 of the two ESCC cell lines were ≥5% of the mtDNA, but SV on chromosome 13‑22, X and Y was ≤3%; >40% of loci exhibited gain or loss; intergenic loci with INDEL changes and SNP features accounted for the majority of mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the present study was to detect mutations in the coding genes of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in three esophageal cancer cell lines and in tumor tissues obtained from 30 patients with esophageal cancer, to investigate the relationship between protein‑ and RNA‑coding gene mutations and esophageal cancer. mtDNA was extracted and the coding genes were sequenced and analyzed by comparing the sequencing results with the complete mitochondrial genome of Homo sapiens. The results revealed 39 mutations in the three esophageal cancer cell lines; the genes with the highest mutation frequencies included mitochondrially encoded cytochrome B (MT‑CYTB), NADH dehydrogenase 5 (MT‑ND5) and MT‑ND4 gene.
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