Novel PATL2 variants cause female infertility with oocyte maturation defect.

Purpose: Oocyte maturation defect (OOMD) is a rare cause of in vitro fertilization failure characterized by the production of immature oocytes. Compound heterozygous or homozygous PATL2 mutations have been associated with oocyte arrest at the germinal vesicle (GV), metaphase I (MI), and metaphase II (MII) stages, as well as morphological changes.

Methods: In this study, we recruited three OOMD cases and conducted a comprehensive multiplatform laboratory investigation.

Both epilepsy and anti-seizure medications affect bone metabolism in children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes.

Objective: Bone metabolism can be influenced by a range of factors. We selected children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (SeLECTS) and lifestyles similar to those of healthy children to control for the confounding factors that may influence bone metabolism. We aimed to identify the specific effects of epilepsy and/or anti-seizure medications (ASMs) on bone metabolism.

Associations between Borg's rating of perceived exertion and changes in urinary organic acid metabolites after outdoor weight-bearing hiking.

Background: Developing methods to monitor exercise load and evaluate body fatigue and muscle injury over time in hiking training remains a key problem to be solved. A widely used psycho-physical tool to assess the subjective perception of effort during exercise is Borg's rating of perceived exertion (BRPE) scale. Data on the relationships and validity of the BRPE compared to objectively assessed metabolic criteria are still lacking, especially urinary organic acid concentrations.

Effects of Intermittent Normoxia on Chronic Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Ventricular Hypertrophy in Rats.

Liu, Chunlei, Xu Chen, Ge Guo, Xiang Xu, Xin Li, Qingxia Wei, Yanying Shen, Hanlu Li, Jianxiu Hao, Ya Ping Tian, and Kunlun He. Effects of intermittent normoxia on chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy in rats. .

Effects of Proton Pump Inhibitors on the Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly used to lessen symptoms in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the effects of PPI therapy on the gastrointestinal microbiota in GERD patients remain unclear. We examined the association between the PPI usage and the microbiota present in gastric mucosal and fecal samples from GERD patients and healthy controls (HCs) using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Prediction model of in-hospital mortality in elderly patients with acute heart failure based on retrospective study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a clinical risk model that is predictive of in-hospital mortality in elderly patients hospitalized with acute heart failure (AHF).

Methods: 2486 patients who were 60 years and older from intensive care units of Cardiology Department in the hospital were analyzed. Independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality were obtained by binary logistic regression and then used to establish the risk prediction score system (RPSS).

Secretory Expression, Purification, Characterization, and Application of an Aspergillus oryzae Prolyl Aminopeptidase in Bacillus subtilis.

cDNA coding a prolyl aminopeptidase (PAP) was cloned from Aspergillus oryzae and over expressed in Bacillus subtilis with a 6×His tag in N-terminus. The recombinant prolyl aminopeptidase was secreted to extracellular by adding 2 mM CaCl and 5% D-sorbitol in TB medium; the enzyme activity in fermented supernatant increased from 7.2 to 41.

The predictive value of selected serum microRNAs for acute GVHD by TaqMan MicroRNA arrays.

Currently, the diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is mainly based on clinical symptoms and biopsy results. This study was designed to further explore new no noninvasive biomarkers for aGVHD prediction/diagnosis. We profiled miRNAs in serum pools from patients with aGVHD (grades II-IV) (n = 9) and non-aGVHD controls (n = 9) by real-time qPCR-based TaqMan MicroRNA arrays.

Identifying joint biomarker panel from multiple level dataset by an optimization model.

Aim: Joint biomarker panel takes advantage of coherence across multiple level datasets and holds the promise to improve disease diagnosis accuracy.

Methods: We collected 101 colorectal cancer and 95 benign samples, measured the molecular concentrations by serum assays and mass spectra, and developed LPGLO (Linear Programming based on Group Lasso Optimization) to identify the joint biomarker panel.

Results: A joint biomarker panel, with ten serum biomarkers and six mass spectra peaks, achieves LOOCV accuracy 0.

Relationship of serum polyunsaturated fatty acids with cytokines in colorectal cancer.

Aim: To investigate the relationship of serum levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with kinds of cytokines in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: Serum samples of 100 CRC patients were collected. The concentration of total n-3 PUFA which included C18:3 n-3, C20:5 n-3, C22:5 n-3, C22:6 n-3 and the total n-6 PUFA included C18:2 n-6, C18:3 n-6, C20:3 n-6, C20:4 n-6, and C22:5 n-6 were detected on GC-2010 Plus Gas Chromatograph with a OmegawaxTM 250 column.

A novel mixed integer programming for multi-biomarker panel identification by distinguishing malignant from benign colorectal tumors.

Multi-biomarker panels can capture the nonlinear synergy among biomarkers and they are important to aid in the early diagnosis and ultimately battle complex diseases. However, identification of these multi-biomarker panels from case and control data is challenging. For example, the exhaustive search method is computationally infeasible when the data dimension is high.

Identification and characterization of novel serum microRNA candidates from deep sequencing in cervical cancer patients.

Small non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in cancer development and progression, and serum profiles of cervical cancer patients may be useful for identifying novel miRNAs. We performed deep sequencing on serum pools of cervical cancer patients and healthy controls with 3 replicates and constructed a small RNA library. We used MIREAP to predict novel miRNAs and identified 2 putative novel miRNAs between serum pools of cervical cancer patients and healthy controls after filtering out pseudo-pre-miRNAs using Triplet-SVM analysis.

Over-expression of a proline specific aminopeptidase from Aspergillus oryzae JN-412 and its application in collagen degradation.

A strain that exhibited intracellular proline-specific aminopeptidase (PAP) activity was isolated from soy sauce koji and identified as Aspergillus oryzae JN-412. The gene coding PAP was cloned and efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 in a biologically active form. The highest specific activity reached 52.

Clinical value of serum tumor markers CA19-9, CA125 and CA72-4 in the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.

CA125 and CA72-4 are members of a family of high-molecular weight glycosylated proteins and are commonly considered as biomarkers in the diagnosis of ovarian and gastric cancer, respectively. However, recent studies have revealed that these two markers may be of clinical value in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. As the availability of data regarding CA72-4 and CA125 in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is limited, the aim of this study was to investigate the clinical value of serum tumor markers CA19-9, CA125 and CA72-4 in the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma according to logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and to investigate the correlation of these markers with tumor TNM stage and location.

A thermo-stable lysine aminopeptidase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Isolation, purification, characterization, and sequence analysis.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa NJ-814, isolated from garden soil, produced an extracellular aminopeptidase that was purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion exchange chromatography. The purity was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and the Mr value of the enzyme was estimated to be 55 kDa. The purified enzyme shows maximum activity at pH 9.

A novel differential predict model based on matrix-assisted laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and serum ferritin for acute graft-versus-host disease.

Clinical diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) mainly depends on clinical manifestation and tissue biopsies, leading to a delayed diagnosis and treatment for aGVHD patients when the early symptom is insignificant. Our objective was to investigate the possibility of prewarning the risk of aGVHD before and after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) by serum protein profiling combined with serum ferritin. The difference in polypeptide expression before and after transplantation had been compared by using CLINPROT technology, and serum ferritin levels have been analyzed simultaneously.

Purification and characterization of a urethanase from Penicillium variabile.

Urethanase produced by Penicillium variabile was purified through ultrasonication, concentration by polyethylene glycol 20,000, and Superdex G-200 gel filtration chromatography. The molecular weight of urethanase was determined to be around 96 kDa by gel filtration. The purified enzyme showed a single band in SDS-PAGE with the molecular weight of ~13.

Prognostic value of combined serum biomarkers in predicting outcomes in cervical cancer patients.

Background: We evaluated the prognostic value of pretreatment serum biomarkers in predicting outcomes in cervical cancer patients subjected to treatment.

Methods: Serum samples collected from 60 cervical cancer patients and 60 age-matched healthy individuals were used for the detection of 22 biomarkers, prior to therapy. Cox multivariate analysis and classification and regression tree analysis (CART) were performed to evaluate the prognostic factors.

Isolation and characterization of urethanase from Penicillium variabile and its application to reduce ethyl carbamate contamination in Chinese rice wine.

A strain with urethanase activity was isolated from mouse gastrointestine. By combination of morphological characterization of the colony, hyphae, and spore and the sequence analysis of its rDNA ITS, the strain was determined as Penicillium variabile and named as P. variabile JN-A525.

hTERT rs2736098 genetic variants and susceptibility of hepatocellular carcinoma in the Chinese population: a case-control study.

Background: The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase, which mediates pleiotropic effects, including the regulation of senescence and proliferation and plays an important role in carcinogenesis. This study attempts to clarify the genetic predisposition to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), focusing on the hTERT gene rs2736098 polymorphism.

Method: Four hundred patients with HCC and 400 non-cancer controls were genotyped to elucidate the potential association between hTERT rs2736098 polymorphism and HCC risks.