Neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy improves clinical outcomes of patients with esophageal cancer by mediating anti-tumor immunity of CD8+ T (Tc1) and CD16+ NK cells.

Background: Esophageal cancer (ESCA) is one of the most common tumors in the world, and treatment using neoadjuvant therapy (NT) based on radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy has still unsatisfactory results. Neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy (NICT) has also become an effective treatment strategy nowadays. However, its impact on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and regulatory mechanisms on T cells and NK cells needs to be further elucidated.

Functional requirement of alternative splicing in epithelial-mesenchymal transition of pancreatic circulating tumor.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) can provide valuable information regarding metastasis and potential therapies. However, current studies on the EMT overlook alternative splicing. Here, we used single-cell full-length transcriptome data and mRNA sequencing of CTCs to identify stage-specific alternative splicing of partial EMT and mesenchymal states during pancreatic cancer metastasis.

DeepCCI: a deep learning framework for identifying cell-cell interactions from single-cell RNA sequencing data.

Motivation: Cell-cell interactions (CCIs) play critical roles in many biological processes such as cellular differentiation, tissue homeostasis, and immune response. With the rapid development of high throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies, it is of high importance to identify CCIs from the ever-increasing scRNA-seq data. However, limited by the algorithmic constraints, current computational methods based on statistical strategies ignore some key latent information contained in scRNA-seq data with high sparsity and heterogeneity.

Equalization equal gain combining for a single-input to multiple-output underwater wireless optical communication system under a Gaussian beam.

In this study, we examined the performance of an underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system employing a single-input to multiple-output (SIMO) scheme and proposed an equalization equal gain combining (EEGC) algorithm for it under Gaussian beam conditions. Furthermore, based on a Yue spectrum with the instability of oceanic water stratification and a finite outer scale, we derived the closed analytical formulas for the scintillation index and spatial coherence radius in weak oceanic turbulence for a Gaussian beam, from which we could obtain the threshold of the detector spacing and the strength of oceanic turbulence. We then derived the closed-form formula for the upper bound average bit error rate of the EEGC SIMO system with ON-OFF keying modulation by using the hyperbolic tangent distribution function.

N-glycosylation at N57/100/110 affects CD44s localization, function and stability in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The glycosylation levels of proteins in cancer cells are closely related to cancer invasion and migration. CD44 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is significantly overexpressed in a variety of tumor cells and has been proven to promote the migration and motility of cancer cells, but the effect of its N-glycosylation modification on CD44 protein function in tumors is less studied. Here, we investigated the effect of six N-glycan chains (N25/57/100/110/120/255) on CD44s localization, function and stability in hepatocarcinoma cells.

Chaihu Shugan powder influences nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats in remodeling microRNAome and decreasing fatty acid synthesis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Chaihu Shugan powder (CSP) plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) through a variety of biological mechanisms. However, whether the mechanism involves microRNA (miRNA) regulation remains unknown.

Aim Of The Study: To investigate the effects of CSP on the miRNA expression profile of rats with NAFLD induced by high-fat diet (HFD), and to explore the mechanism of CSP in the treatment of NAFLD.

A multifactorial analysis of FAP to regulate gastrointestinal cancers progression.

Background: Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is a cell-surface serine protease that has both dipeptidyl peptidase as well as endopeptidase activities and could cleave substrates at post-proline bond. Previous findings showed that FAP was hard to be detected in normal tissues but significantly up-regulated in remodeling sites like fibrosis, atherosclerosis, arthritis and embryonic tissues. Though increasing evidence has demonstrated the importance of FAP in cancer progression, no multifactorial analysis has been developed to investigate its function in gastrointestinal cancers until now.

N-glycosylation by N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase IVa enhances the interaction of integrin β1 with vimentin and promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell motility.

N-glycosylation has been revealed to be tightly associated with cancer metastasis. As a key transferase that catalyzes the formation of β1,4 N-acetylglucosamine (β1,4GlcNAc) branches on the mannose core of N-glycans, N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase IVa (GnT-IVa) has been reported to be involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis by forming N-glycans; however, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. In the current study, we found that GnT-IVa was upregulated in HCC tissues and positively correlated with worse outcomes in HCC patients.

Hepatocyte-targeted delivery using oleanolic acid-loaded liposomes for enhanced hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.

Drug-loaded liposomes have been shown to be effective in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the systemic non-specific distribution of drug-loaded liposomes in tumor patients is a critical therapeutic challenge. To address this issue, we developed galactosylated chitosan-modified liposomes (GC@Lipo) that could selectively bind to the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR), which is highly expressed on the membrane surface of HCC cells.

Identification of shared characteristics in tumor-infiltrating T cells across 15 cancers.

Tumor-infiltrating T cells are essential players in tumor immunotherapy. Great progress has been achieved in the investigation of T cell heterogeneity. However, little is well known about the shared characteristics of tumor-infiltrating T cells across cancers.

The regulation loop of MARVELD1 interacting with PARP1 in DNA damage response maintains genome stability and promotes therapy resistance of cancer cells.

The DNA damage response (DDR) plays crucial roles in cancer prevention and therapy. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) mediates multiple signal transduction in the DDR as a master regulator. Uncovering the regulatory factors of PARP1 contributes to a more comprehensive view of tumorigenesis and treatment strategies.

Understanding metabolic alterations after SARS-CoV-2 infection: insights from the patients' oral microenvironmental metabolites.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 is a type of acute infectious pneumonia and frequently confused with influenza since the initial symptoms. When the virus colonized the patient's mouth, it will cause changes of the oral microenvironment. However, few studies on the alterations of metabolism of the oral microenvironment affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported.

Characteristics and factors associated with morbidity of migrant workers with pneumoconiosis: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To better understand the characteristics of migrant workers with pneumoconiosis in China, and the factors that contribute to their morbidity.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: This study was conducted in Shanghai, Nanning and Shenzhen, China, between December 2020 and December 2021.

Network analysis between neuron dysfunction and neuroimmune response based on neural single-cell transcriptome of COVID-19 patients.

Despite global vaccination efforts, COVID-19 breakthrough infections caused by variant virus continue to occur frequently, long-term sequelae of COVID-19 infection like neuronal dysfunction emerge as a noteworthy issue. Neuroimmune disorder induced by Inflammatory factor storm was considered as a possible reason, however, little was known about the functional factors affecting neuroimmune response to this virus. Here, using medial prefrontal cortex single cell data of COVID-19 patients, expression pattern analysis indicated that some immune-related pathway genes expressed specifically, including genes associated with T cell receptor, TNF signaling in microglia and Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and HIF-1 signaling pathway genes in astrocytes.

PGE-EP2/EP4 signaling elicits immunosuppression by driving the mregDC-Treg axis in inflammatory tumor microenvironment.

Active inflammation generally promotes immune activation. However, in the tumor microenvironment (TME), active inflammation occurs in parallel with immunosuppression, and both contribute to tumor growth. Why inflammation does not lead to immune activation in TME remains unclear.

MutCov: A pipeline for evaluating the effect of mutations in spike protein on infectivity and antigenicity of SARS-CoV-2.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a major threat to public health worldwide. Previous studies have shown that the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 determines viral infectivity and major antigenicity. However, the spike protein has been undergoing various mutations, which bring a great challenge to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Global Characterization of Peripheral B Cells in Parkinson's Disease by Single-Cell RNA and BCR Sequencing.

Immune system plays important roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the role of B cells in this complex disease are still not fully understood. B cells produce antibodies but can also regulate immune responses.

Long Non-coding RNA RMST Worsens Ischemic Stroke via MicroRNA-221-3p/PIK3R1/TGF-β Signaling Pathway.

Much efforts have been made to probe the mechanism underlying ischemic stroke (IS). This study was proposed to uncover the role of long non-coding RNA rhabdomyosarcoma 2 related transcript (RMST) in IS through microRNA-221-3p (miR-221-3p)/phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1)/transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) axis. Neurological behavioral function, pathological changes in brain tissue, oxidative stress, and inflammation responses in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mice were tested.

A CTCF-Binding Element and Histone Deacetylation Cooperatively Maintain Chromatin Loops, Linking to Long-Range Gene Regulation in Cancer Genomes.

Background: Genes spanning long chromosomal domains are coordinately regulated in human genome, which contribute to global gene dysregulation and carcinogenesis in cancer. It has been noticed that epigenetic modification and chromatin architecture may participate in the regulation process. However, the regulation patterns and functional elements of long-range gene regulation are unclear.

Quercetin loaded liposomes modified with galactosylated chitosan prevent LPS/D-GalN induced acute liver injury.

Quercetin (Que) has been proved to have various biological activities, including anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation and anti-virus, showing great potential in liver protection. However, its water insolubility leads to low bioavailability. Therefore, the development of a suitable drug delivery fashion is imminent.

Dexmedetomidine exerts cerebral protective effects against cerebral ischemic injury by promoting the polarization of M2 microglia via the Nrf2/HO-1/NLRP3 pathway.

Introduction: Cerebral ischemic injury is associated with long-term disability. Dexmedetomidine (Dex) can exert neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemic/reperfusion injury. The present study explored the mechanism of Dex in cerebral ischemic injury.

Hepatic protective effects of Shenling Baizhu powder, a herbal compound, against inflammatory damage via TLR4/NLRP3 signalling pathway in rats with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Objective: High-fat diet (HFD) and inflammation are two key contributors to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Shenling Baizhu powder (SLBZP), a classical herbal compound, has been successfully used to alleviate NAFLD. However, its specific mechanisms are not fully understood.