Identification of prognostic alternative splicing events related to the immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, and its 5-year survival rate is less than 20%, despite various treatments being available. Increasing evidence indicates that alternative splicing (AS) plays a nonnegligible role in the formation and development of the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the comprehensive analysis of the impact on prognostic AS events on immune-related perspectives in HCC is lacking but urgently needed.

Effects of breathing exercises using home-based positive pressure in the expiratory phase in patients with COPD.

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly have higher intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPi). A breathing exercise programme strategy employing an appropriate PEEP may improve their pulmonary functional capacity, exercise tolerance and health-related quality of life. Breathing with an expiratory resistive load, which is a method of modulating spontaneous breathing against PEEPi, has not been fully studied in patients with COPD.

Astragaloside IV Inhibits Cigarette Smoke-Induced Pulmonary Inflammation in Mice.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Astragaloside IV (AS) on cigarette smoke (CS)-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our results showed that AS alleviated CS-induced pathological injury in lung tissue. AS also increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and lung.

Metabolic reprogramming of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts and its impact on metabolic heterogeneity of tumors.

Tumor metabolism is characterized with up-regulated glucose uptake and glycolytic rate of tumor cells as the source of ATP and tumors growth, and regulated by a poorly defined combination of cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Metabolic heterogeneity of human tumors is dependent upon the mutational status of specific oncogenes and influenced by tumor microenvironment. Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) adapt in a dynamic manner to the metabolic needs of cancer cells, associated with tumorigenesis and resistance to treatments.