Murine SIGNR1 (CD209b) Contributes to the Clearance of Uropathogenic During Urinary Tract Infections.

Uropathogenic (UPEC), a Gram-negative bacterial pathogen, is a major causative agent of urinary tract infections (UTIs). However, the molecular mechanisms of how UPEC causes infections have not been determined. Recent studies indicated that certain enteric Gram-negative bacteria interact with and hijack innate immune receptors DC-SIGN (CD209a) and SIGNR1 (CD209b), often expressed by antigen-presenting cells (APCs), such as macrophages, leading to dissemination and infection.

Sleep Deprivation Modifies Noise-Induced Cochlear Injury Related to the Stress Hormone and Autophagy in Female Mice.

A lack of sleep is linked with a range of inner ear diseases, including hearing loss and tinnitus. Here, we used a mouse model to investigate the effects of sleep deprivation (SD) on noise vulnerability, and explored the mechanisms that might be involved , focusing particularly corticosterone levels and autophagic flux in cells. Female BALB/c mice were divided into six groups [control, acoustic trauma (AT)-alone, 1 day (d) SD-alone, 1d SD pre-AT, 5d SD-alone, and 5d SD pre-AT].

Hierarchical self-assembly of a PS-b-P4VP/PS-b-PNIPAM mixture into multicompartment micelles and their response to two-dimensional confinement.

Hierarchical self-assembly offers an elegant and energy-efficient bottom-up strategy for the fabrication of complex materials with precisely controllable morphologies and internal structures. Herein, pupa-like multicompartment micelles (MCMs) were readily fabricated via the hierarchical self-assembly of a polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) and polystyrene-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PS-b-PNIPAM) block copolymer mixture in a THF/water mixture solvent, which were unable to be obtained by any of the individual block copolymers (BCPs). This means that the hierarchical self-assembly is a result of the synergistic cooperation between the two BCPs.

Identification of Bredeney Resistant to Third-Generation Cephalosporins in Saudi Arabia.

The rapidly increasing prevalence and spread of antibiotic-resistant worldwide have become a thorny problem that poses a serious threat to human health. It is speculated that antibiotic abuse, frequent traveling, and mass gatherings accelerate this threat. To explore this hypothesis, we investigated 13 isolates from Medina, Saudi Arabia and 15 from China as the control group using typical methods of serotype identification, antibiotic resistance tests, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST).

ANKLE1 N -Methyladenosine-related variant is associated with colorectal cancer risk by maintaining the genomic stability.

The N -Methyladenosine (m A) modification plays an important role in many biological processes, especially tumor development. However, little is still known about how it affects colorectal cancer (CRC) carcinogenesis. Here, we first systematically investigate the association of variants related to m A modification with the CRC risk in 1,062 CRC cases and 2,184 controls by using our exome-wide association data and followed by two replication sets including 7,341 CRC cases and 7,902 controls.

Long non-coding RNA JPX correlates with poor prognosis and tumor progression in non-small-cell lung cancer by interacting with miR-145-5p and CCND2.

Emerging studies have shown that the aberrant expression and function of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in carcinogenesis and the development of various cancers. The long noncoding RNA JPX (lncRNA JPX) on the X chromosome is an activator of X-inactive-specific transcript (XIST) and is a molecular switch for X-chromosome inactivation. However, the exact mechanism by which JPX acts in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is not well studied.

Systematic Functional Interrogation of Genes in GWAS Loci Identified ATF1 as a Key Driver in Colorectal Cancer Modulated by a Promoter-Enhancer Interaction.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified approximately 100 colorectal cancer (CRC) risk loci. However, the causal genes in these loci have not been systematically interrogated. We conducted a high-throughput RNA-interference functional screen to identify the genes essential for proliferation in the CRC risk loci of Asian populations.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Contraception Methods Among Female Undergraduates in Dodoma, Tanzania.

Introduction Contraception is regarded as an important preventive measure of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), among youths. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of contraception among female undergraduates in Dodoma, Tanzania. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted among 347 female undergraduates of St John's University, Dodoma.

Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Interacts with CD209 Receptors To Promote Host Dissemination and Infection.

serovar Typhimurium, a Gram-negative bacterium, can cause infectious diseases ranging from gastroenteritis to systemic dissemination and infection. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this bacterial dissemination have yet to be elucidated. A study indicated that using the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core as a ligand, Typhimurium was able to bind human dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin (hCD209a), an HIV receptor that promotes viral dissemination by hijacking antigen-presenting cells (APCs).

A genetic variant in PIK3R1 is associated with pancreatic cancer survival in the Chinese population.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies with few early detection tests or effective therapies. PI3K-AKT signaling is recognized to modulate cancer progression. We previously identified that a genetic variant in PKN1 increased pancreatic cancer risk through the PKN1/FAK/PI3K/AKT pathway.

Bronchial epithelial cells of young and old mice directly regulate the differentiation of Th2 and Th17.

To determine whether or not house dust mite (HDM) and HDM+lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure causes a difference in T-cell subsets from young and old mice. The bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) from young and old mice were divided into three groups (PBS (control), HDM, and HDM+LPS). CD4 naive T cells from the spleen and lymph nodes were collected after 24 h of co-culture with BECs.

Polymorphisms of HOMER1 gene are associated with piglet splay leg syndrome and one significant SNP can affect its intronic promoter activity in vitro.

Background: In our previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) on the piglet splay leg (PSL) syndrome, the homer scaffolding protein 1 (HOMER1) was detected as a candidate gene. The aim of this work was to further verify the candidate gene by sequencing the gene and find the significantly associated mutation. Then we preliminarily analyzed the effect of the significant SNP on intronic promoter activity.

Exploits CD209 Receptors for Promoting Host Dissemination and Infection.

is a Gram-negative enteropathogen and causes gastrointestinal infections. It disseminates from gut to mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), spleen, and liver of infected humans and animals. Although the molecular mechanisms for dissemination and infection are unclear, many Gram-negative enteropathogens presumably invade the small intestine via Peyer's patches to initiate dissemination.

AWESOME: a database of SNPs that affect protein post-translational modifications.

Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation, ubiquitination, methylation, acetylation, glycosylation et al, are very important biological processes. PTM changes in some critical genes, which may be induced by base-pair substitution, are shown to affect the risk of diseases. Recently, large-scale exome-wide association studies found that missense single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play an important role in the susceptibility for complex diseases or traits.

Exome-wide analysis identifies three low-frequency missense variants associated with pancreatic cancer risk in Chinese populations.

Germline coding variants have not been systematically investigated for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here we report an exome-wide investigation using the Illumina Human Exome Beadchip with 943 PDAC cases and 3908 controls in the Chinese population, followed by two independent replicate samples including 2142 cases and 4697 controls. We identify three low-frequency missense variants associated with the PDAC risk: rs34309238 in PKN1 (OR = 1.

A Rare Missense Variant in TCF7L2 Associates with Colorectal Cancer Risk by Interacting with a GWAS-Identified Regulatory Variant in the MYC Enhancer.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of colorectal cancer have identified several common susceptible variants in gene regulatory regions. However, low-frequency or rare coding risk variants have not been systematically investigated in patients with colorectal cancer from Chinese populations. In this study, we performed an exome-wide association analysis with 1,062 patients with colorectal cancer and 2,184 controls from a Chinese population.

Targeted resequencing reveals genetic risks in patients with sporadic idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a genetic heterogeneous disease with high mortality and poor prognosis. However, a large fraction of genetic cause remains unexplained, especially in sporadic IPF (∼80% IPF). By systemically reviewing related literature and potential pathogenic pathways, 92 potentially IPF-related genes were selected and sequenced in genomic DNAs from 253 sporadic IPF patients and 125 matched health controls using targeted massively parallel next-generation sequencing.

Histo-epidemiological profile of breast cancers among women in the Central African Republic: about 174 cases.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide and leading cause of cancer deaths indeveloping countries. There is very limited data on BC in the Central African Republic. The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiological and histopathological characteristics of BC in Bangui.

Exome-wide analyses identify low-frequency variant in CYP26B1 and additional coding variants associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Genome-wide association studies have identified common variants associated with risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, these common variants cannot explain all heritability of ESCC. Here we report an exome-wide interrogation of 3,714 individuals with ESCC and 3,880 controls for low-frequency susceptibility loci, with two independent replication samples comprising 7,002 cases and 8,757 controls.

Functional role of PLCE1 intronic insertion variant associated with susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have consistently identified PLCE1 as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) susceptibility gene; however, the functional role of PLCE1 variants remains to be verified. In this study, we performed fine mapping of the PLCE1 region using our previous ESCC GWAS data and identified 33 additional risk variants in this susceptibility locus. Here, we report the functional characterization of a four-nucleotide insertion/deletion variation (rs71031566 C----/CATTT) in PLCE1 that was associated with risk of developing ESCC.

Identification of a functional polymorphism affecting microRNA binding in the susceptibility locus 1q25.3 for colorectal cancer.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified dozens of susceptibility loci for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, most of them lack functional genetic variants and clear biological mechanisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs involved in a variety of physiological and tumorigenic processes.

Reproductive risk factors associated with breast cancer in women in Bangui: a case-control study.

Background: Breast cancer (breast Ca) is recognised as a major public health problem in the world. Data on reproductive factors associated with breast Ca in the Central African Republic (CAR) is very limited. This study aimed to identify reproductive variables as risk factors for breast Ca in CAR women.

Behavioral risk factors of breast cancer in Bangui of Central African Republic: A retrospective case-control study.

Breast cancer is recognized as a major public health problem in developing countries; however, there is very little evidence of behavioral factors associated with breast cancer risk. This study was conducted to identify lifestyles as risk factors for breast cancer among Central African women. A case-control study was conducted with 174 cases confirmed histologically by the pathology unit of the National Laboratory and 348 age-matched controls.

Epidemiology of breast cancer: retrospective study in the Central African Republic.

Background: Breast cancer is recognised as a major public health problem in developing countries; however, there is very limited evidence about its epidemiology in the Central African Republic. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological and histopathological characteristics of breast cancer in Bangui.

Methods: This is a retrospective study based on the data collected from pathological anatomy records from 2003 to 2015 in Bangui.