Epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma (EITL, also known as type II enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma) is an aggressive intestinal disease with poor prognosis and its molecular alterations have not been comprehensively characterized. We aimed to identify actionable easy-to-screen alterations that would allow better diagnostics and/or treatment of this deadly disease. By performing whole-exome sequencing of four EITL tumor-normal pairs, followed by amplicon deep sequencing of 42 tumor samples, frequent alterations of the JAK-STAT and G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathways were discovered in a large portion of samples. Specifically, STAT5B was mutated in a remarkable 63% of cases, JAK3 in 35% and GNAI2 in 24%, with the majority occurring at known activating hotspots in key functional domains. Moreover, STAT5B locus carried copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity resulting in the duplication of the mutant copy, suggesting the importance of mutant STAT5B dosage for the development of EITL. Dysregulation of the JAK-STAT and GPCR pathways was also supported by gene expression profiling and further verified in patient tumor samples. In vitro overexpression of GNAI2 mutants led to the upregulation of pERK1/2, a member of MEK-ERK pathway. Notably, inhibitors of both JAK-STAT and MEK-ERK pathways effectively reduced viability of patient-derived primary EITL cells, indicating potential therapeutic strategies for this neoplasm with no effective treatment currently available.

The wild ground squirrel is a typical seasonal breeder. In this study, using RT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry, we investigated the mRNA and protein expressions of androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptors α and β (ERα and ERβ) and aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of hypothalamus of the wild male ground squirrel during the breeding season (April), the non-breeding season (June) and pre-hibernation (September). AR, ERα, ERβ and P450arom protein/mRNA were present in the MPOA of all seasons detected. The immunostaining of AR and ERα showed no significant changes in different periods, whereas ERβ and P450arom had higher immunoreactivities during the breeding season and pre-hibernation when compared to those of the non-breeding season. Consistently, both the protein and mRNA levels of P450arom and ERβ were higher in the MPOA of pre-hibernation and the breeding season than in the non-breeding season, whereas no significant difference amongst the three periods was observed for AR and ERα levels. These findings suggested that the MPOA of hypothalamus may be a direct target of androgen and estrogen. Androgen may play important regulatory roles through its receptor and/or the aromatized estrogen in the MPOA of hypothalamus of the wild male ground squirrels.

Urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) is a major global health problem. There have been no major advances for the treatment of UBC in the last 30 years. In this study, we attempted to discover novel candidate therapeutic biomarkers for UBC. We utilized a two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS-based proteomic method to compare and identify differentially expressed proteins in UBC and adjacent normal tissues. Thirty five differentially expressed proteins (over 2-fold, p<0.05) were identified. Further cluster analysis revealed these proteins were mainly involved in metabolism, apoptosis regulation, calcium ion binding and so on. Among them, phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1), significantly up-regulated in UBC, was selected for detailed analysis. Immunohistochemical data showed that increased expression of PGAM1 was correlated with the severity of histological grade. Knockdown of PGAM1 expression by RNAi contributed to a marked antitumor activity in vivo. Moreover, we found, upon attenuation of PGAM1, its substrate 3-PG (3-phosphoglycerate) was up-regulated and product 2-PG (2-phosphoglycerate) was down-regulated, which consequently inhibited aerobic glycolysis and oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) that are essential to cancer cell proliferation. Our finding showed that PGAM1 might serve as a promising therapeutic target for UBC.

The ability of immune cells to migrate within narrow and crowded spaces is a critical feature involved in various physiological processes from immune response to metastasis. Several in-vitro techniques have been developed so far to study the behaviour of migrating cells, the most recent being based on the fabrication of microchannels within which cells move. To address the question of the mechanical stress a cell is able to produce during the encounter of an obstacle while migrating, we developed a hybrid microchip made of parallel PDMS channels in which oil droplets are sparsely distributed and serve as deformable obstacles. We thus show that cells strongly deform droplets while passing them. Then, we show that the microdevice can be used to study the influence of drugs on migration at the population level. Finally, we describe a quantitative analysis method of the droplet deformation that allows measuring in real-time the mechanical stress exerted by a single cell. The method presented herein thus constitutes a powerful analytical tool for cell migration studies under confinement.

Podocyte apoptosis is a major mechanism that leads to proteinuria in many chronic kidney diseases. However, the concert mechanisms that cause podocyte apoptosis in these kidney diseases are not fully understood. The Rho family of small GTPases has been shown to be required in maintaining podocyte structure and function. Recent studies have indicated that podocyte-specific deletion of Cdc42 in vivo, but not of RhoA or Rac1, leads to congenital nephrotic syndrome and glomerulosclerosis. However, the underlying cellular events in podocyte controlled by Cdc42 remain unclear. Here, we assessed the cellular mechanisms by which Cdc42 regulates podocyte apoptosis. We found that the expression of Cdc42 and its activity were significantly decreased in high glucose-, lipopolysaccharide- or adriamycin-injured podocytes. Reduced Cdc42 expression in vitro and in vivo by small interfering RNA and selective Cdc42 inhibitor ML-141, respectively, caused podocyte apoptosis and proteinuria. Our results further demonstrated that insufficient Cdc42 or Nwasp, its downstream effector, could decrease the mRNA and protein expression of YAP, which had been regarded as an anti-apoptosis protein in podocyte. Moreover, our data indicated that the loss of stress fibers caused by Cdc42/Nwasp deficiency also decreased Yes-associated protein (YAP) mRNA and protein expression, and induced podocyte apoptosis. Podocyte apoptosis induced by Cdc42/Nwasp/stress fiber deficiency was significantly inhibited by overexpressing-active YAP. Thus, the Cdc42/Nwasp/stress fibers/YAP signal pathway may potentially play an important role in regulating podocyte apoptosis. Maintaining necessary Cdc42 would be one potent way to prevent proteinuria kidney diseases.

Recruitment of transcription machinery to target promoters for aberrant gene expression has been well studied, but underlying control directed by distant-acting enhancers remains unclear in cancer development. Our previous study demonstrated that distant estrogen response elements (DEREs) located on chromosome 20q13 are frequently amplified and translocated to other chromosomes in ERα-positive breast cancer cells. In this study, we used three-dimensional interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization to decipher spatiotemporal gathering of multiple DEREs in the nucleus. Upon estrogen stimulation, scattered 20q13 DEREs were mobilized to form regulatory depots for synchronized gene expression of target loci. A chromosome conformation capture assay coupled with chromatin immunoprecipitation further uncovered that ERα-bound regulatory depots are tethered to heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) for coordinated chromatin movement and histone modifications of target loci, resulting in transcription repression. Neutralizing HP1 function dysregulated the formation of DERE-involved regulatory depots and transcription inactivation of candidate tumor-suppressor genes. Deletion of amplified DEREs using the CRISPR/Cas9 genomic-editing system profoundly altered transcriptional profiles of proliferation-associated signaling networks, resulting in reduction of cancer cell growth. These findings reveal a formerly uncharacterized feature wherein multiple copies of the amplicon congregate as transcriptional units in the nucleus for synchronous regulation of function-related loci in tumorigenesis. Disruption of their assembly can be a new strategy for treating breast cancers and other malignancies.

The paper presents studies of Bose-Einstein Correlations (BEC) for pairs of like-sign charged particles measured in the kinematic range [Formula: see text] 100 MeV and [Formula: see text] 2.5 in proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 0.9 and 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The integrated luminosities are approximately 7 [Formula: see text]b[Formula: see text], 190 [Formula: see text]b[Formula: see text] and 12.4 nb[Formula: see text] for 0.9 TeV, 7 TeV minimum-bias and 7 TeV high-multiplicity data samples, respectively. The multiplicity dependence of the BEC parameters characterizing the correlation strength and the correlation source size are investigated for charged-particle multiplicities of up to 240. A saturation effect in the multiplicity dependence of the correlation source size parameter is observed using the high-multiplicity 7 TeV data sample. The dependence of the BEC parameters on the average transverse momentum of the particle pair is also investigated.

The aim of this study was to investigate the seasonal expression of androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptors α and β (ERα and ERβ) and aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) mRNA and protein by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry in the wild ground squirrel (WGS) testes. Histologically, all types of spermatogenic cells including mature spermatozoa were identified in the breeding season (April), while spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes were observed in the nonbreeding season (June), and spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes and secondary spermatocytes were found in pre-hibernation (September). AR was present in Leydig cells, peritubular myoid cells and Sertoli cells in the breeding season and pre-hibernation with more intense staining in the breeding season, whereas AR was only found in Leydig cells in the nonbreeding season; P450arom was expressed in Leydig cells, Sertoli cells and germ cells during the breeding season, whereas P450arom was found in Leydig cells and Sertoli cells during pre-hibernation, but P450arom was not present in the nonbreeding season; stronger immunohistochemical signal for ERα was present in Sertoli cells and Leydig cells during the breeding season; ERβ was only expressed in Leydig cells of the breeding season. Consistent with the immunohistochemical results, the mean mRNA level of AR, P450arom, ERα and ERβ were higher in the testes of the breeding season when compared to pre-hibernation and the nonbreeding season. These results suggested that the seasonal changes in spermatogenesis and testicular recrudescence and regression process in WGSs might be correlated with expression levels of AR, P450arom and ERs, and that estrogen and androgen may play an important autocrine/paracrine role to regulate seasonal testicular function.

Primary triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) are prone to dissemination but sub-clonal relationships between tumors and resulting metastases are poorly understood. Here we use cellular barcoding of two treatment-naïve TNBC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) to track the spatio-temporal fate of thousands of barcoded clones in primary tumors, and their metastases. Tumor resection had a major impact on reducing clonal diversity in secondary sites, indicating that most disseminated tumor cells lacked the capacity to 'seed', hence originated from 'shedders' that did not persist. The few clones that continued to grow after resection i.e. 'seeders', did not correlate in frequency with their parental clones in primary tumors. Cisplatin treatment of one BRCA1-mutated PDX model to non-palpable levels had a surprisingly minor impact on clonal diversity in the relapsed tumor yet purged 50% of distal clones. Therefore, clonal features of shedding, seeding and drug resistance are important factors to consider for the design of therapeutic strategies.

Whether anatomic resection (AR) achieves better outcomes than nonanatomic resection (NAR) in patients with primary intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is unclear. Data were retrieved for all consecutive patients who underwent liver resection for primary ICC from January 2007 to July 2017. The prognoses of the patients without direct invasion to contiguous organs or extrahepatic metastasis who underwent AR or NAR were compared. 85 patients underwent AR, and 65 patients underwent NAR. operation time were slightly decreased in the NAR group. The risk of Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC) IV in the AR group was significant higher than that in the NAR group. Cox regression analysis showed lymph node metastasis and adjuvant therapy were significant prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), respectively. After 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM), 29 pairs of patients were compared. The survival curves showed the NAR group had slightly improved DFS and OS than the AR group before and after matching. Thus, we conclude NAR was not inferior to AR in improving the survival outcomes for patients with primary solitary ICC lesions without direct invasion to contiguous organs or extrahepatic metastasis. Furthermore, patients may benefit from NAR.

Vegetation water content is one of the important biophysical features of vegetation health, and its remote estimation can be utilized to real-timely monitor vegetation water stress. Here, we compared the responses of canopy water content (CWC), leaf equivalent water thickness (EWT), and live fuel moisture content (LFMC) to different water treatments and their estimations using spectral vegetation indices (VIs) based on water stress experiments for summer maize during three consecutive growing seasons 2013-2015 in North Plain China.

Four-and-a-half LIM domains protein 1 (FHL1) mutations are associated with human myopathies. However, the function of this protein in skeletal development remains unclear.

Bevacizumab improves outcome for most recurrent glioblastoma patients, but the duration of benefit is limited and survival after initial bevacizumab progression is poor. We evaluated bevacizumab continuation beyond initial progression among recurrent glioblastoma patients as it is a common, yet unsupported practice in some countries.

Syndecan-1 (Sdc-1) shedding induced by matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) and additional proteases has an important role in cancer development. However, the impact of Sdc-1 shedding on chemotherapeutic resistance has not been reported.

It is largely recognized that fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) of many human carcinomas. Furthermore, FAP was recently also reported to be expressed in carcinoma cells of the breast, stomach, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, colorectum, and uterine cervix. The carcinoma cell expression pattern of FAP has been described in several types of cancers, but the role of FAP in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is unknown. The role of endogenous FAP in epithelium-derived tumors and molecular mechanisms has also not been reported. In this study, FAP was found to be expressed in carcinoma cells of OSCC and was upregulated in OSCC tissue samples compared with benign tissue samples using immunohistochemistry. In addition, its expression level was closely correlated with overall survival of patients with OSCC. Silencing FAP inhibited the growth and metastasis of OSCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, knockdown of FAP inactivated PTEN/PI3K/AKT and Ras-ERK and its downstream signaling regulating proliferation, migration, and invasion in OSCC cells, as the inhibitory effects of FAP on the proliferation and metastasis could be rescued by PTEN silencing. Our study suggests that FAP acts as an oncogene and may be a potential therapeutic target for patients with OSCC.

MiR-646 has been reported to be aberrantly expressed in human cancers. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of action of miR-646 in gastric cancer (GC) have not yet been investigated.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is a key enzyme that generates NADPH to maintain reduced glutathione (GSH), which scavenges reactive oxygen species (ROS) to protect cancer cell from oxidative damage. In this study, we mainly investigate the potential roles of G6PD in colorectal cancer (CRC) development and chemoresistance. We discover that G6PD is overexpressed in CRC cells and patient specimens. High expression of G6PD predicts poor prognosis and correlated with poor outcome of oxaliplatin-based first-line chemotherapy in patients with CRC. Suppressing G6PD decreases NADPH production, lowers GSH levels, impairs the ability to scavenge ROS levels, and enhances oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis in CRC via ROS-mediated damage in vitro. In vivo experiments further shows that silencing G6PD with lentivirus or non-viral gene delivery vector enhances oxaliplatin anti-tumor effects in cell based xenografts and PDX models. In summary, our finding indicated that disrupting G6PD-mediated NADPH homeostasis enhances oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis in CRC through redox modulation. Thus, this study indicates that G6PD is a potential prognostic biomarker and a promising target for CRC therapy.

Evasion of forkhead box O (FOXO) family of longevity-related transcription factors-mediated growth suppression is necessary to promote cancer development. Since somatic alterations or mutations and transcriptional dysregulation of the FOXO genes are infrequent in human cancers, it remains unclear how these tumour suppressors are eliminated from cancer cells. The protein stability of FOXO3A is regulated by Casein Kinase 1 alpha (CK1α) in an oncogenic RAS-specific manner, but whether this mode of regulation extends to related FOXO family members is unknown. Here we report that CK1α similarly destabilizes FOXO4 in RAS-mutant cells by phosphorylation at serines 265/268. The CK1α-dependent phosphoregulation of FOXO4 is primed, in part, by the PI3K/AKT effector axis of oncogenic RAS signalling. In addition, mutant RAS coordinately elevates proteasome subunit expression and proteolytic activity to eradicate nuclear FOXO4 proteins from RAS-mutant cancer cells. Importantly, dual inhibition of CK1α and the proteasome synergistically inhibited the growth of multiple RAS-mutant human cancer cell lines of diverse tissue origin by blockade of nuclear FOXO4 degradation and induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis. Our findings challenge the current paradigm that nuclear export regulates the proteolysis of FOXO3A/4 tumour suppressors in the context of cancer and illustrates how oncogenic RAS-mediated degradation of FOXOs, via post-translational mechanisms, blocks these important tumour suppressors.

Several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of bone mineral density (BMD) have successfully identified multiple susceptibility genes, yet isolated susceptibility genes are often difficult to interpret biologically. The aim of this study was to unravel the genetic background of BMD at pathway level, by integrating BMD GWAS data with genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) and methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs) data METHOD: We employed the GWAS datasets of BMD from the Genetic Factors for Osteoporosis Consortium (GEFOS), analysing patients' BMD. The areas studied included 32 735 femoral necks, 28 498 lumbar spines, and 8143 forearms. Genome-wide eQTLs (containing 923 021 eQTLs) and meQTLs (containing 683 152 unique methylation sites with local meQTLs) data sets were collected from recently published studies. Gene scores were first calculated by summary data-based Mendelian randomisation (SMR) software and meQTL-aligned GWAS results. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was then applied to identify BMD-associated gene sets with a predefined significance level of 0.05.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) has different roles in different types of cancer. However, the involvement and molecular basis of CTGF in tumor progression and prognosis of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have almost never been reported. In this study, we observed that downregulated CTGF expression was significantly associated with NPC progression and poor prognosis. Knockdown of CTGF markedly elevated the ability of cell proliferation in vivo and in vitro. Subsequently, we discovered that the reduction of CTGF increased the expression of miR-18b, an oncomir-promoting cell proliferation. Further, we discovered that attenuated CTGF-mediated upregulation of miR-18b was dependent on the increased binding of transcription factors Jun proto-oncogene (C-Jun) and v-Myc myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (C-Myc) to miR-18b promoter region via phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. Finally, we further found that miR-18b directly suppressed the expression of CTGF in NPC. In clinical fresh specimens, miR-18b was widely overexpressed and inversely correlated with CTGF expression in NPC. Our studies are the first to demonstrate that reduced CTGF as an unfavorable prognosis factor mediates the activation of miR-18b, an oncomir directly suppresses CTGF expression, by PI3K/AKT/C-Jun and C-Myc and promotes cell growth of NPC.