Single Cell Atlas: a single-cell multi-omics human cell encyclopedia.

Single-cell sequencing datasets are key in biology and medicine for unraveling insights into heterogeneous cell populations with unprecedented resolution. Here, we construct a single-cell multi-omics map of human tissues through in-depth characterizations of datasets from five single-cell omics, spatial transcriptomics, and two bulk omics across 125 healthy adult and fetal tissues. We construct its complement web-based platform, the Single Cell Atlas (SCA, www.

Attenuating Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer through Angiopoietin-Like 4 Inhibition in a 3D Tumor Microenvironment Model.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a crucial role in metastatic cancer progression, and current research, which relies heavily on 2D monolayer cultures, falls short in recapitulating the complexity of a 3D tumor microenvironment. To address this limitation, a transcriptomic meta-analysis is conducted on diverse cancer types undergoing EMT in 2D and 3D cultures. It is found that mechanotransduction is elevated in 3D cultures and is further intensified during EMT, but not during 2D EMT.

mRNA vaccine in cancer therapy: Current advance and future outlook.

Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines are a relatively new class of vaccines that have shown great promise in the immunotherapy of a wide variety of infectious diseases and cancer. In the past 2 years, SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines have contributed tremendously against SARS-CoV2, which has prompted the arrival of the mRNA vaccine research boom, especially in the research of cancer vaccines. Compared with conventional cancer vaccines, mRNA vaccines have significant advantages, including efficient production of protective immune responses, relatively low side effects and lower cost of acquisition.

Maternal exposure to PM induces cognitive impairment in offspring via cerebellar neuroinflammation and oxidative stress.

Available evidence suggest that exposure to PM during pregnancy is associated with reduced cognitive function in offspring. This study aimed to investigate the effects of maternal exposure to PM on offspring cognitive function and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. In this work, pregnant C57BL/6 female mice were exposed to concentrated ambient PM or filtered air from day 0.

Prenatal exposure to concentrated ambient PM results in spatial memory defects regulated by DNA methylation in male mice offspring.

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM) exposures during pregnancy could lead to adverse birth outcomes, including neurobehavioral development defects. However, limited studies explored the effects and potential epigenetic mechanisms of maternal PM exposure on offspring spatial memory defects. This study aims to explore the effects and underlying epigenetic mechanisms of maternal concentrated ambient PM exposure in male mice offspring with spatial memory defects.

Endogenous stimuli-responsive nanoparticles for cancer therapy: From bench to bedside.

Cancer is complicated to treat because of its high propensity for recurrence and metastasis, and various side effects of conventional cancer treatments. With the development of nanotechnology, biology, material science and pharmacy, nanoparticles emerge as a promising method to load anti-cancer drugs to deal with the downsides of conventional treatments. Among the various class of nanoparticles, endogenous stimuli-responsive nanoparticles exert significant anti-cancer effects by releasing drugs due to the stimulations from pH gradient, redox as well as other enzymes of cancer microenvironment.

Children with type 1 diabetes in COVID-19 pandemic: Difficulties and solutions.

Children/adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) require holistic approach and continuous care. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has made challenges for the T1D children and their caregivers, professionals, and the healthcare system. This minireview aims to consolidate and discuss the difficulties and solutions of children with type 1 diabetes in the COVID-19 pandemic.

HTCA: a database with an in-depth characterization of the single-cell human transcriptome.

Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) is one of the most used single-cell omics in recent decades. The exponential growth of single-cell data has immense potential for large-scale integration and in-depth explorations that are more representative of the study population. Efforts have been made to consolidate published data, yet extensive characterization is still lacking.

Cellular Senescence: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential.

Cellular senescence is a complex and multistep biological process which cells can undergo in response to different stresses. Referring to a highly stable cell cycle arrest, cellular senescence can influence a multitude of biological processes-both physiologically and pathologically. While phenotypically diverse, characteristics of senescence include the expression of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, cell cycle arrest factors, senescence-associated β-galactosidase, morphogenesis, and chromatin remodelling.

PPAR-γ Modulators as Current and Potential Cancer Treatments.

Worldwide, cancer has become one of the leading causes of mortality. Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (PPARs) is a family of critical sensors of lipids as well as regulators of diverse metabolic pathways. They are also equipped with the capability to promote eNOS activation, regulate immunity and inflammation response.

Non-Coding RNA as Biomarkers for Type 2 Diabetes Development and Clinical Management.

Diabetes, a metabolic disease characterized by high blood glucose and other complications, has undefined causes and multiple risk factors, including inappropriate diet, unhealthy lifestyles, and genetic predisposition. The two most distinguished types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2 diabetes, resulting from the autoimmune impairment of insulin-generating pancreatic β cells and insulin insensitivity, respectively. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), a cohort of RNAs with little transcriptional value, have been found to exert substantial importance in epigenetic and posttranscriptional modulation of gene expression such as messenger RNA (mRNA) silencing.

Magnetic nanoparticles for cancer theranostics: Advances and prospects.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Nanoparticles have been broadly studied and emerged as a novel approach in diagnosis and treatment of tumors. Over the last decade, researches have significantly improved magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)'s theranostic potential as nanomedicine for cancer.

PPAR-α Modulators as Current and Potential Cancer Treatments.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. PPAR modulators may hold great potential for the management of cancer patients. Indeed, PPARs are critical sensors and regulators of lipid, and they are able to promote eNOS activation, regulate immunity and inflammation response, and affect proliferation and differentiation of cancer cells.

Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Circulating CircRNAs in Cancer.

Cancer has been regarded as one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity for cancer play a crucial role in preventing or treating cancer. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), which hold great potential for the management of cancer patients due to their abundance, stable property, and high specificity in serum, plasma, and other body fluids, can be used as non-invasive and blood-based biomarkers in cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Cases on Medical Staff of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital.

Purpose: To investigate the psychological impact of cases of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) on medical staff of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital.

Methods: The 287 online questionnaires were distributed to medical staff working at Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital, comprising three main sections and 17 questions: basic information, current departmental position, and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The threshold for emotional distress was defined to be a total score of 4 on the GHQ-12 and above.

A novel phenotype of 13q12.3 microdeletion characterized by epilepsy in an Asian child: a case report.

Background: The microdeletion of chromosome 13 has been rarely reported. Here, we report a 14-year old Asian female with a de novo microdeletion on 13q12.3.

Diabetes and Sarcopenic Obesity: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatments.

Sarcopenic obesity and diabetes are two increasing health problems worldwide, which both share many common risk factors, such as aging, and general obesity. The pathogenesis of sarcopenic obesity includes aging, physical inactivity, malnutrition, low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance, and hormonal changes. Nevertheless, there are two major reasons to cause diabetes: impaired insulin secretion and impaired insulin action.

Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative disease, making a unique contribution to chronic pain, edema, and limited mobility of knee joint. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a common complementary therapy for KOA and has been found effective. The aim of this review is to consolidate the current knowledge about the mechanism of four interventions of TCM: acupuncture, moxibustion, herbs, and massage in treating KOA, and how they alleviate symptoms such as pain, swelling, and dysfunction.

Diabetes and cancer: Epidemiological and biological links.

The incidence of diabetes and cancer has increased significantly in recent years. Furthermore, there are many common risk factors for both diabetes and cancer, such as obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and ageing. A large body of epidemiological evidence has indicated that diabetes is considered as an independent risk factor for increased rates of heterogeneous types of cancer occurrence and death.

Molecular Dynamics of the Recruitment of Immunoreceptor Signaling Module DAP12 Homodimer to Lipid Raft Boundary Regulated by PIP2.

Lipid raft microdomain of the plasma membrane is implicated in various biological and pathological processes. The involvement of lipid raft in T cell receptor (TCR) signal transduction has been widely studied, whereas the role of these structures in immunoreceptor signaling by DAP12 in natural killing (NK) cells remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) lipid localized to lipid raft boundary in our coarse-grained (CG) model raft-forming membrane, and this negatively charged lipid recruits DAP12 homodimer into lipid raft boundary through protein-lipid interaction between the basic-rich regions and signaling immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs) of DAP12 and PIP2.

Concentrated ambient PM exposure affects mice sperm quality and testosterone biosynthesis.

Background: Studies suggested that PM exposure could lead to adverse reproductive effects on male animals. However, the underlying mechanism is still not clear. Besides, animals in the majority of previous studies were exposed to PM through intratracheal instillation which should be improved.

From Pre-Diabetes to Diabetes: Diagnosis, Treatments and Translational Research.

Diabetes, a silent killer, is one of the most widely prevalent conditions of the present time. According to the 2017 International Diabetes Federation (IDF) statistics, the global prevalence of diabetes among the age group of 20-79 years is 8.8%.

MMP14 in Sarcoma: A Regulator of Tumor Microenvironment Communication in Connective Tissues.

Sarcomas are deadly malignant tumors of mesenchymal origin occurring at all ages. The expression and function of the membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase MMP14 is closely related to the mesenchymal cell phenotype, and it is highly expressed in most sarcomas. MMP14 regulates the activity of multiple extracellular and plasma membrane proteins, influencing cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) communication.

Reactive oxygen species: a volatile driver of field cancerization and metastasis.

Field cancerization and metastasis are the leading causes for cancer recurrence and mortality in cancer patients. The formation of primary, secondary tumors or metastasis is greatly influenced by multifaceted tumor-stroma interactions, in which stromal components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) can affect the behavior of the cancer cells. Many studies have identified cytokines and growth factors as cell signaling molecules that aid cell to cell communication.