Total body water/fat-free mass ratio as a valuable predictive parameter for mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Hydration of fat-free mass (FFM), defined as the ratio of total body water (TBW) to FFM (TBW/FFM), is stable at 0.739 in adult mammals. However, an increase in the TBW/FFM ratio is common in hemodialysis (HD) patients.

The m6A Methyltransferase METTL3-Mediated N6-Methyladenosine Modification of DEK mRNA to Promote Gastric Cancer Cell Growth and Metastasis.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common cancer and the third deadliest cancer in the world, and the occurrence and development of GC are influenced by epigenetics. Methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) is a prominent RNA n6-adenosine methyltransferase (m6A) that plays an important role in tumor growth by controlling the work of RNA. This study aimed to reveal the biological function and molecular mechanism of METTL3 in GC.

Long Non-Coding LEF1-AS1 Sponge miR-5100 Regulates Apoptosis and Autophagy in Gastric Cancer Cells via the miR-5100/DEK/AMPK-mTOR Axis.

DEK and miR-5100 play critical roles in many steps of cancer initiation and progression and are directly or indirectly regulated by most promoters and repressors. LEF1-AS1 as a long non-coding RNA can regulate tumor development through sponge miRNA. The effect and regulatory mechanism of DEK on autophagy and apoptosis in gastric cancer (GC), and the role between miR-5100 and DEK or miR-5100 and LEF1-AS1 are still unclear.

Variation of TNF modulates cellular immunity of gregarious and solitary locusts against fungal pathogen .

Changes in population density lead to phenotypic differentiation of solitary and gregarious locusts, which display different resistance to fungal pathogens; however, how to regulate their cellular immune strategies remains unknown. Here, our stochastic simulation of pathogen proliferation suggested that humoral defense always enhanced resistance to fungal pathogens, while phagocytosis sometimes reduced defense against pathogens. Further experimental data proved that gregarious locusts had significantly decreased phagocytosis of hemocytes compared to solitary locusts.

Complete Genome Sequence of LM1 and Comparative Genomic Analysis.

The genus is attracting an increasing amount of attention because of its multiple functions and probiotic potential. In particular, the species is known to have great potential in industrial applications and exhibits numerous biological functions. However, the knowledge on this bacterium in insects is not investigated.

Prognostic value of members of NFAT family for pan-cancer and a prediction model based on NFAT2 in bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer (BLCA) is one of the common malignant tumors of the urinary system. The poor prognosis of BLCA patients is due to the lack of early diagnosis and disease recurrence after treatment. Increasing evidence suggests that gene products of the nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) family are involved in BLCA progression and subsequent interaction(s) with immune surveillance.

Transformation of glycerate kinase (GLYK) into Metarhizium acridum increases virulence to locust.

Background: Improvements in the virulence of the fungal pathogen Metarhizium acridum can crucially promote its efficacy to control locusts and grasshoppers. The polysaccharide components of the cell wall remarkably contribute to fungal virulence.

Results: Here we found that M.

Tryptamine accumulation caused by deletion of MrMao-1 in Metarhizium genome significantly enhances insecticidal virulence.

Metarhizium is a group of insect-pathogenic fungi that can produce insecticidal metabolites, such as destruxins. Interestingly, the acridid-specific fungus Metarhizium acridum (MAC) can kill locusts faster than the generalist fungus Metarhizium robertsii (MAA) even without destruxin. However, the underlying mechanisms of different pathogenesis between host-generalist and host-specialist fungi remain unknown.

Mito-TEMPO Alleviates Renal Fibrosis by Reducing Inflammation, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.

Background: Renal fibrosis is a common pathological symptom of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Many studies support that mitochondrial dysfunction and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are implicated in the pathogenesis of CKD. In our study, we investigated the benefits and underlying mechanisms of Mito-TEMPO on renal fibrosis in 5/6 nephrectomy mice.

High throughput monoclonal antibody generation by immunizing multiple antigens.

Recognizing proteins via the production of highly specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is crucial to identifying proteins for proteomic research. However, traditional mAb generation is time-consuming with low efficiency. In this study, we assessed the high throughput method of producing mAbs by immunizing mice with multiple antigens in order to obtain hybridomas against these multiple antigens in one cell fusion.

The locust genome provides insight into swarm formation and long-distance flight.

Locusts are one of the world's most destructive agricultural pests and represent a useful model system in entomology. Here we present a draft 6.5 Gb genome sequence of Locusta migratoria, which is the largest animal genome sequenced so far.

Altered immunity in crowded locust reduced fungal (Metarhizium anisopliae) pathogenesis.

The stress of living conditions, similar to infections, alters animal immunity. High population density is empirically considered to induce prophylactic immunity to reduce the infection risk, which was challenged by a model of low connectivity between infectious and susceptible individuals in crowded animals. The migratory locust, which exhibits polyphenism through gregarious and solitary phases in response to population density and displays different resistance to fungal biopesticide (Metarhizium anisopliae), was used to observe the prophylactic immunity of crowded animals.

Mimotopes selected with a neutralizing antibody against urease B from Helicobacter pylori induce enzyme inhibitory antibodies in mice upon vaccination.

Background: Urease B is an important virulence factor that is required for Helicobacter pylori to colonise the gastric mucosa. Mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that inhibit urease B enzymatic activity will be useful as vaccines for the prevention and treatment of H. pylori infection.

Preliminary separation of the growth factors in platelet-rich plasma: effects on the proliferation of human marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a storage vehicle of growth factors has been successfully used in clinical applications, but in most cases the platelets were autologous. However, the large volume of blood withdrawn has detrimental effects on patients with anemia or poor general health. To overcome these limitations, this study was designed to separate the growth factors in homologous platelet-rich plasma.

Production of mouse monoclonal antibodies against Helicobacter pylori Catalase and mapping the antigenic epitope by phage display library.

The Catalase of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) helps bacteria to protect themselves from oxygen toxicity and damage and have been identified an immunodominant antigen. To obtain mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Catalase and to map its antigenic epitope is potentially to develop a vaccine for prevention and treatment of H.

Production of mouse monoclonal antibodies against Helicobacter pylori Lpp20 and mapping the antigenic epitope by phage display library.

Lpp20, an outer membrane protein of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), has been identified as an immunodominant antigen. To obtain mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against it and to map its antigenic epitope is potentially to develop a vaccine for prevention and treatment of H.

An alternative strategy for high throughput generation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against human plasma proteins using fractionated native proteins as immunogens.

Construction of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) bank containing a vast variety of antibodies against human tissue proteins is important for proteomic research. A novel strategy of subtractive immunization using fractionated native proteins was developed for high throughput generation of mAb against human plasma proteins. By this novel approach, the bottleneck of antigen preparation can be overcome by combining repeated immunization of animals with subtracted fractions of plasma or tissue proteins and identification of target antigen by immunoprecipitation/mass spectrum strategies.

[Preparation of monoclonal antibodies against multiple antigens].

Objective: To prepare monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against multiple antigens by single cell fusion.

Methods: BALB/c mice were immunized with the multiple antigens, namely alpha fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), HBsAgiHBcAg and HBeAg, and hybridomas were employed using PEG as the fusing agent. The hybridoma cells were respectively screened with AFP, CEA, HBsAg, HBcAg and HBeAg by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and limited dilution.