PHR1 negatively regulates nitrate reductase activity by directly inhibiting the transcription of NIA1 in Arabidopsis.

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), as indispensable mineral elements, both play pivotal roles in plant growth and development. Despite the intimate association between nitrate signaling and inorganic phosphate (Pi) signaling, the regulatory function of Pi in N metabolism remains poorly understood. In this study, we observed that Pi deficiency leads to a reduction in the activity of nitrate reductase (NR), an essential enzyme involved in N metabolism.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Cation/Proton Antiporter Family in Soybean () and Functional Analysis of GmCHX20a on Salt Response.

Monovalent cation proton antiporters (CPAs) play crucial roles in ion and pH homeostasis, which is essential for plant development and environmental adaptation, including salt tolerance. Here, 68 CPA genes were identified in soybean, phylogenetically dividing into 11 Na/H exchangers (NHXs), 12 K efflux antiporters (KEAs), and 45 cation/H exchangers (CHXs). The genes are unevenly distributed across the 20 chromosomes and might expand largely due to segmental duplication in soybean.

SlPHL1 is involved in low phosphate stress promoting anthocyanin biosynthesis by directly upregulation of genes SlF3H, SlF3'H, and SlLDOX in tomato.

Phosphate (Pi) deficiency is a common stress that limits plant growth and development. Plants exhibit a variety of Pi starvation responses (PSRs), including anthocyanin accumulation. The transcription factors of the PHOSPHATE STARVATION RESPONSE (PHR) family, such as AtPHR1 in Arabidopsis, play central roles in the regulation of Pi starvation signaling.

PHR1 positively regulates phosphate starvation-induced anthocyanin accumulation through direct upregulation of genes F3'H and LDOX in Arabidopsis.

Phosphate deficiency promotes anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis through direct binding of PHR1 to the P1BS motifs on the promoters of F3'H and LDOX and thereby upregulating their expression. Phosphorus is one of the essential elements for plants, and plants mainly absorb inorganic phosphate (Pi) from soil. But Pi deficiency is a common factor limiting plant growth and development.

SlPHL1, a MYB-CC transcription factor identified from tomato, positively regulates the phosphate starvation response.

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) deficiency is a major limiting factor for plant growth and development. Previous reports have demonstrated that PHOSPHATE STARVATION RESPONSE 1 (PHR1) and OsPHR2 play central roles in Pi-starvation signaling in Arabidopsis and rice, respectively. However, the Pi-starvation signaling network in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is still not fully understood.

PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) negatively regulates anthocyanin accumulation by inhibiting PAP1 transcription in Arabidopsis seedlings.

Anthocyanin accumulation is a striking symptom of plant environmental response and plays an important role in plant adaptation to adverse stimuli. PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) is a member of the PIFs family that directly interacts with light-activated phytochromes, and it can not only regulate various light responses but also optimize growth as a key integrator of multiple signaling pathways. However, the mechanism by which PIF4 participates in the regulation of anthocyanin accumulation remains to be elucidated.

A continuous responder algorithm to optimize clinical management of small-cell lung cancer with progastrin-releasing peptide as a simple blood test.

This study aimed to investigate whether changes in progastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) levels correlate with treatment response and can be used to optimize clinical management of patients with small-cell lung cancer. Patients with small-cell lung cancer (any stage) receiving chemotherapy were eligible. ProGRP was measured in serum/plasma at baseline and after each chemotherapy cycle using the Elecsys ProGRP assay (Roche Diagnostics).

Novel circulating protein biomarkers for thyroid cancer determined through data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry.

Background: Distinguishing between different types of thyroid cancers (TC) remains challenging in clinical laboratories. As different tumor types require different clinical interventions, it is necessary to establish new methods for accurate diagnosis of TC.

Methods: Proteomic analysis of the human serum was performed through data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry for 29 patients with TC (stages I-IV): 13 cases of papillary TC (PTC), 10 cases of medullary TC (MTC), and six cases follicular TC (FTC).

Case study of an autoantibody panel for early detection of lung cancer and ground-glass nodules.

Purpose: Increasing lung cancer incidence in China with a high death rate due to late diagnosis highlights the need for biomarkers, such as panels of autoantibodies (AAbs), for prediction and early lung cancer diagnosis. We conducted a study to further evaluate the clinical performance of an AAb diagnostic kit.

Methods: Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, levels of seven AAbs in serum samples from 121 patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer, 84 controls (34 healthy individuals and 50 patients with benign lung disease), and 100 indeterminate solid nodules, were measured.

Gibberellins play dual roles in response to phosphate starvation of tomato seedlings, negatively in shoots but positively in roots.

Gibberellins (GAs), a group of plant hormones, and phosphate (Pi), a macronutrient, are essential for numerous aspects of plant growth and development. During Pi starvation, plants develop many adaptive strategies to cope. However, the detailed roles of GAs in Pi deficiency responses of plants are largely unclear.

DELLA proteins negatively regulate dark-induced senescence and chlorophyll degradation in Arabidopsis through interaction with the transcription factor WRKY6.

DELLA proteins' negative regulation of dark-induced senescence and chlorophyll degradation in Arabidopsis is through interaction with WRKY6 and thus repression of its transcriptional activities on senescence-related genes. Senescence is an intricate and highly orchestrated process regulated by numerous endogenous and environmental signals. Gibberellins (GAs) and their signaling components DELLA proteins have been known to participate in the regulation of senescence.

A reference interval for serum IgG subclasses in Chinese children.

Background: Reference intervals (RIs) for serum IgG subclasses vary greatly among different geographical regions. The present study aimed to establish RIs for serum IgG subclasses in Chinese children, which is essential for interpretation of laboratory findings and making clinical decisions.

Methods: This study was performed in accordance with guideline C28-A3, proposed by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

Adult reference intervals for IgG subclasses with Siemens immunonephelometric assays in Chinese population.

Objective: To determine the adult reference intervals for the Siemens IgG subclass reagents.

Methods: 636 blood samples of healthy adults were analyzed to determine the level of IgG subclass using the reagents of Siemens immunonephelometric assay with molecular biology kits.

Results: IgGSc reference intervals were as follows: IgG1 4.

GA-DELLA pathway is involved in regulation of nitrogen deficiency-induced anthocyanin accumulation.

DELLA proteins positively regulate nitrogen deficiency-induced anthocyanin accumulation through directly interaction with PAP1 to enhance its transcriptional activity on anthocyanin biosynthetic gene expressions. Plants can survive a limiting nitrogen supply by undergoing adaptive responses, including induction of anthocyanin production. However, the detailed mechanism is still unclear.

Characteristics of Allergic Pulmonary Inflammation in CXCR3Knockout Mice Sensitized and Challenged with House Dust Mite Protein.

Chemokine C-X-C motif receptor 3 (CXCR3) is a chemokine receptor that is mainly expressed by activated T lymphocytes. T cells play important roles in allergic pulmonary inflammation, which is a hallmark of asthma and elicits the localized accumulation of activated T cells in the lung. In China, a marked increase in the incidence rate of chronic allergic pulmonary inflammation has made it a major public health threat.

Phytochrome-interacting factors PIF4 and PIF5 negatively regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis under red light in Arabidopsis seedlings.

Light is an important environmental factor inducing anthocyanin accumulation in plants. Phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs) have been shown to be a family of bHLH transcription factors involved in light signaling in Arabidopsis. Red light effectively increased anthocyanin accumulation in wild-type Col-0, whereas the effects were enhanced in pif4 and pif5 mutants but impaired in overexpression lines PIF4OX and PIF5OX, indicating that PIF4 and PIF5 are both negative regulators for red light-induced anthocyanin accumulation.

PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 5 (PIF5) positively regulates dark-induced senescence and chlorophyll degradation in Arabidopsis.

Darkness is a known environmental factor that induces plant senescence. Here, Phytochrome-Interacting Factors (PIFs), several bHLH transcription factors involved in plant skotomorphogenesis, were examined for their roles in the regulation of dark-induced senescence and chlorophyll breakdown in Arabidopsis thaliana. After light-grown seedlings were transferred to darkness, green leaves turned yellow, and chlorophyll contents decreased, but membrane lipid peroxidation and cell death increased in wild-type Col-0.

Brassinosteroid is required for sugar promotion of hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis in darkness.

Brassinosteroid is necessary for sugar promotion of Arabidopsis hypocotyl elongation in darkness, and sugar positively regulates BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT1 (BZR1) at both transcription and protein levels. Sugar has the ability to induce Arabidopsis hypocotyl elongation in the dark, but the detailed mechanisms remain not well understood. Here, we report that the steroidal phytohormone brassinosteroid (BR) is involved in sugar promotion of hypocotyl elongation in the dark.

[Evaluation of the curative effect of functional endoscopic sinus surgery by acoustic rhinometry].

Objective: To evaluate the curative effect of Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) who suffered with chronic rhinosinusitis by acoustic rhinometry.

Method: We collected 60 patients who accepted FESS for chronic rhinosinusitis, and calculated the mean minimal cross-sectional area (MCSA), nasal volume (NV), nasal airway resistance (NAR) by acoustic rhinometry within endoscopy to estimate the curative effect of FESS.

Result: Four weeks after FESS, the patients' ethmoid sinus,maxillary sinus,frontal sinus and sphenoid sinus were clear by endoscopy.

Improvement of specific detection of circulating tumor cells using combined CD45 staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Background: Conventional cytokeratin (CK)-based methods to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) often present suboptimal sensitivities for decreased or non-expression of cytokeratin in some CTCs. We clinically investigated a new method that combines immunocytochemistry staining (ICC) of CD45 and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Methods: Circulating epithelial cells from 141 subjects were enriched using an EpCAM-independent strategy and then identified by either a combination of FISH with chromosome 8 centromere probe (CEP8) and ICC staining of CD45 (CD45-FISH) or ICC staining of CK.

[Relationship among the expression of GSK3β, PI3K/Akt, and IL-6 in chronic rhinosinusitis].

Objective: To explore the relationship among the expression of GSK3β, PI3K/Akt signaling transduction pathway,and cytokines IL6 in Chronic Rhinosinusitis.

Methods: We assayed mRNA and protein for GSK3β, PI3K, Akt by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC), and measured the cytokines IL6 mRNA by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the nasal tissue from the patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (CRSwNP), Chronic Rhinosinusitis without Nasal Polyps (CRSsNP) and control subjects.

Results: The relative expression levels of GSK3β, PI3K, Akt and IL-6 in CRSwNP were 0.

[Microstructural changes of olfactory mucosa in rat model with acute rhinosinusitis leading to olfactory dysfunction].

Objective: To observe the microstructural changes of olfactory mucosa in rat model with acute rhinosinusitis leading to olfactory dysfunction, and to provide foundation for further exploration of corresponding mechanism.

Methods: On the basis of prior successfully established rat model of acute rhinosinusitis through inoculation with Streptococcus pneumoniae and with the help of merocel strips, one hundred healthy SD rats were randomly divided into experimental group (80) and control group (20). After inoculation, every 20 rats in the experimental groups were sacrificed in first week, second week, third week and fourth week respectively; and all rats in the control group were sacrificed in first week after the inoculation.

Gibberellins negatively regulate light-induced nitrate reductase activity in Arabidopsis seedlings.

In the present study, the role of phytohormone gibberellins (GAs) on regulating the nitrate reductase (NR) activity was tested in Arabidopsis seedlings. The NR activity in light-grown Col-0 seedlings was reduced by exogenous GA₃ (an active form of GAs), but enhanced by exogenous paclobutrazol (PAC, a gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor), suggesting that GAs negatively regulate the NR activity in light-grown seedlings. Light is known to influence the NR activity through both photosynthesis and phytochromes.

Phytochrome interacting factors (PIFs) are essential regulators for sucrose-induced hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis.

Phytochrome interacting factors (PIFs) are members of a subfamily of basic helix-loop-helix transcript factors and have been proposed to act as positive regulators of hypocotyl elongation under normal condition. Here, we show that PIF1, 3, 4, 5 together play a central role in sucrose-induced hypocotyl elongation. When seedlings grown in light were transferred to darkness, exogenously applied sucrose significantly induced hypocotyl elongation in wild type Col-0, but this effect was impaired in all tested pif mutants, especially in the quadruple mutant pif1pif3pif4pif5 (pifq).