The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial to cancer progression and metastasis. Although multiple cellular miRNAs have been identified to regulate the EMT and metastasis in cancers, the ...role of viral miRNAs in cancer progression remains largely unknown. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated malignancy typically characterized by its early metastasis. In the present study, we have discovered the involvement of a viral miRNA, EBV-miR-BART7-3p, in the EMT and metastasis of NPC cells. Initially, we observed that EBV-miR-BART7-3p was highly expressed in NPC and positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage of NPC. Subsequently, we demonstrated that EBV-miR-BART7-3p enhanced cell migration/invasion in vitro, cancer metastasis in vivo, and particularly the EMT characterized by loss of epithelial markers and gain of mesenchymal features in NPC cells. Furthermore, mechanistic studies disclosed that EBV-miR-BART7-3p targeted a major human tumor suppressor PTEN, modulating PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling and eventually leading to the high expression and nuclear accumulation of Snail and β-catenin, which favor EMT. Knockdown of PTEN could phenocopy the effect of EBV-miR-BART7-3p, whereas re-expression of PTEN resulted in a phenotypic reversion. Moreover, these findings were supported by an observation of an EBV-positive cell model in which silencing of endogenous EBV-miR-BART7-3p partially attenuated cell migration/invasion and altered EMT protein expression pattern via reverting PI3K/Akt, Snail and β-catenin expression. Thus, this study suggests a novel mechanism by which EBV-miR-BART7-3p modulates the EMT and metastasis of NPC cells, and a clinical implication of EBV-miR-BART7-3p as a potential biomarker or therapeutic target.
Ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were continuously measured from February 2013 to October 2014 at an urban site in Wuhan. The characteristics and sources of VOCs and their effect on ozone ...(O3) formation were studied for the first time. The total VOC levels in Wuhan were relatively low, and of all VOCs, ethane (5.2±0.2 ppbv) was the species with the highest levels. Six sources, i.e., vehicular exhausts, coal burning, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) usage, the petrochemical industry, solvent usage in dry cleaning/degreasing, and solvent usage in coating/paints were identified, and their contributions to the total VOCs were 27.8±0.9%, 21.8±0.8%, 19.8±0.9%, 14.4±0.9%, 8.5±0.5%, and 7.7±0.4%, respectively. Model simulation of a photochemical box model incorporating the Master Chemical Mechanism (PBM-MCM) indicated that the contribution to O3 formation of the above sources was 23.4±1.3%, 22.2±1.2%, 23.1±1.7%, 11.8±0.9%, 5.2±0.4%, and 14.2±1.1%, respectively. LPG and solvent usage in coating/paints were the sources that showed higher contributions to O3 formation, compared to their contributions to VOCs. The relative incremental reactivity (RIR) analysis revealed that the O3 formation in Wuhan was generally VOC-limited, and ethene and toluene were the primary species contributing to O3 production, accounting for 34.3% and 31.5% of the total RIR-weighted concentration, respectively. In addition, the contribution of CO to the O3 formation was remarkable. The C4 alkanes and alkenes from the LPG usage also significantly contributed to the O3 formation. The results can assist local governments in formulating and implementing control strategies for photochemical pollution.
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•First study on VOC sources and their effect on O3 production in central China•The application of PBM-MCM on RIR calculation•Vehicular exhausts and coal burning are major contributors to VOCs in Wuhan.•Ethene and toluene contributed the most to O3 formation.
Photochemical smog, characterized by high concentrations of ozone (O3) and fine particles (PM2.5) in the atmosphere, has become one of the top environmental concerns in China. Volatile organic ...compounds (VOCs), one of the key precursors of O3 and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) (an important component of PM2.5), have a critical influence on atmospheric chemistry and subsequently affect regional and global climate. Thus, VOCs have been extensively studied in many cities and regions in China, especially in the North China Plain, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions where photochemical smog pollution has become increasingly worse over recent decades. This paper reviews the main studies conducted in China on the characteristics and sources of VOCs, their relationship with O3 and SOA, and their removal technology. This paper also provides an integrated literature review on the formulation and implementation of effective control strategies of VOCs and photochemical smog, as well as suggestions for future directions of VOCs study in China.
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•Characteristics and sources of VOCs in China are reviewed.•Relationship of VOCs with O3 and SOA in China are reviewed.•Integrated literature review on the control strategies of VOCs and photochemical smog is provided.•Future directions of VOC study in China are suggested.
Considerable evidences have shown that autophagy has an important role in tumor chemoresistance. However, it is still unknown whether the lncRNA HULC (highly upregulated in liver cancer) is involved ...in autophagy and chemoresistance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we for the first time demonstrated that treatment with antitumor reagents such as oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and pirarubicin (THP) dramatically induced HULC expression and protective autophagy. Silencing of HULC sensitized HCC cells to the three antitumor reagents via inhibiting protective autophagy. Ectopic expression of HULC elicited the autophagy of HCC cells through stabilizing silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) protein. The investigation for the corresponding mechanism by which HULC stabilized Sirt1 revealed that HULC upregulated ubiquitin-specific peptidase 22 (USP22), leading to the decrease of ubiquitin-mediated degradation of Sirt1 protein by removing the conjugated polyubiquitin chains from Sirt1. Moreover, we found that miR-6825-5p, miR-6845-5p and miR-6886-3p could decrease the level of USP22 protein by binding to the 3'-untranlated region of USP22 mRNA. All the three microRNAs (miRNAs) were downregulated by HULC, which resulted in the elevation of USP22. In addition, we showed that the level of HULC was positively correlated with that of Sirt1 protein in human HCC tissues. Collectively, our data reveals that the pathway 'HULC/USP22/Sirt1/ protective autophagy' attenuates the sensitivity of HCC cells to chemotherapeutic agents, suggesting that this pathway may be a novel target for developing sensitizing strategy to HCC chemotherapy.
AIMS: The response of microbial metagenome to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation in the rice rhizosphere remains poorly understood. We investigated the spatial and temporal ...variations of microbial communities and reconstructed metagenomes along the rice rhizosphere gradient during PAHs degradation. METHODS AND RESULTS: The experiment was performed in rhizoboxes, in which the rhizosphere region was divided into five 1‐mm thick layers. Based on denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis profiling and sequencing of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes, predicted metagenomes were reconstructed. The microbial communities in the rice rhizosphere were influenced by the PAHs concentration and distance from the root surface during PAHs degradation. Correlation network analysis showed that archaea played an important role in PAHs degradation. Predicted metagenomes can be clustered into two groups with high and low PAHs degrading potential, respectively. The relative abundance of genes for defense mechanisms, replication, recombination and reparation was significantly higher in samples with high PAHs degrading potentials. The relative abundance of the dioxygenase gene was greater near the root surface of the rice. However, the abundance of aldolase and dehydrogenase was constant in rhizosphere soils at different distances from the root surface. CONCLUSIONS: Distance from root surface and PAH concentrations affected the microbial communities and metagenomes in rice rhizosphere. The abundance of dioxygenase genes relating to PAH degradation in metagenomes mirrored the PAH degradation potential in rice rhizosphere. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our findings suggested that the predicted metagenomes reconstructed from 16S rRNA marker gene sequences provide further insights into the spatial variation and dynamics of microbial functioning that occur during bioremediation.
This article reports world averages of measurements of
b
-hadron,
c
-hadron, and
τ
-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group using results available through summer 2016. For the ...averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters,
C
P
violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and Cabbibo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix elements.
Aims
Oxidative stress limited the growth of cells and 2‐keto‐l‐gulonic acid (2‐KGA) production in vitamin C (Vc) fermentation system. The study aims to investigate the antioxidant effect of ...glutathione on promoting 2‐KGA in Vc fermentation system using Ketogulonicigenium vulgare 25B‐1 and Bacillus endophyticus ST‐1 as the co‐culturing microbes.
Methods and Results
The activities of antioxidant‐related enzymes and qPCR were used to study the antioxidant effect of glutathione addition in Vc fermentation system. The addition of GSH and GSH/GSSG increased 2‐KGA production and decreased fermentation time, and the highest 2‐KGA production increased by 40·63% and the lowest fermentation time shortened to 60 h when the addition of optimal concentration ratio of GSH/GSSG was 50 : 1. Moreover, the increased production of 2‐KGA was accompanied by up‐regulated the activities of total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T‐SOD), catalase (CAT) and over‐expressed oxidative stress‐related genes sod, gst, gr, zwf, gp, which resulted in scavenging reactive oxygen species to reduce oxidative stress in Vc fermentation system.
Conclusions
Glutathione showed a significant effect on increasing 2‐KGA production and decreasing fermentation time in Vc fermentation system. GSH/GSSG could maintain a dynamic balance with two forms of glutathione and the optimal concentration ratio of GSH/GSSG was 50 : 1.
Significance and Impact of the Study
Glutathione is proved to be effective to relieve oxidative stress. The promotion effects of GSSG and GSH on 2‐KGA production could help to further explore the optimization of co‐culture fermentation process for Vc industrial production.
In August 2016, continuous measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and trace gases were conducted at an urban site in Wuhan. Four high-ozone (O3) days and twenty-seven non-high-O3 days were ...identified according to the China's National Standard Level II (∼100 ppbv). The occurrence of high-O3 days was accompanied by tropical cyclones. Much higher concentrations of VOCs and carbon monoxide (CO) were observed on the high-O3 days (p < 0.01). Model simulations revealed that vehicle exhausts were the dominant sources of VOCs, contributing 45.4 ± 5.2% and 37.3 ± 2.9% during high-O3 and non-high-O3 days, respectively. Both vehicle exhausts and stationary combustion made significantly larger contributions to O3 production on high-O3 days (p < 0.01). Analysis using a chemical transport model found that local photochemical formation accounted for 74.7 ± 5.8% of the daytime O3, around twice the regional transport (32.2 ± 5.4%), while the nighttime O3 was mainly attributable to regional transport (59.1 ± 9.9%). The local O3 formation was generally limited by VOCs in urban Wuhan. To effectively control O3 pollution, the reduction ratio of VOCs to NOx concentrations should not be lower than 0.73, and the most efficient O3 abatement could be achieved by reducing VOCs from vehicle exhausts. This study contributes to the worldwide database of O3-VOC-NOx sensitivity research. Its findings will be helpful in formulating and implementing emission control strategies for dealing with O3 pollution in Wuhan.
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•Vehicular emissions were the largest contributor to VOCs in Wuhan.•VOCs from vehicular exhausts made the highest contribution to O3 formation.•Regional transport accounted for ∼60% and ∼30% of nighttime and daytime O3, respectively.•The reduction ratio of VOCs to NOx concentrations should not be lower than 0.73 for effective O3 control.
Local formation dominated daytime O3, while nighttime O3 was attributable to regional transport in Wuhan.
To evaluate the impact of emission control measures on the air quality in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of South China, statistic data including atmospheric observations, emissions and energy ...consumptions during 2006–2014 were analyzed, and a Weather Research and Forecasting - Community Multi-scale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model was used for various scenario simulations. Although energy consumption doubled from 2004 to 2014 and vehicle number significantly increased from 2006 to 2014, ambient SO2, NO2 and PM10 were reduced by 66%, 20% and 24%, respectively, mainly due to emissions control efforts. In contrast, O3 increased by 19%. Model simulations of three emission control scenarios, including a baseline (a case in 2010), a CAP (a case in 2020 assuming control strength followed past control tendency) and a REF (a case in 2020 referring to the strict control measures based on recent policy/plans) were conducted to investigate the variations of air pollutants to the changes in NOx, VOCs and NH3 emissions. Although the area mean concentrations of NOx, nitrate and PM2.5 decreased under both NOx CAP (reduced by 1.8%, 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively) and NOx REF (reduced by 7.2%, 1.8% and 0.3%, respectively), a rising of PM2.5 was found in certain areas as reducing NOx emissions elevated the atmospheric oxidizability. Furthermore, scenarios with NH3 emission reductions showed that nitrate was sensitive to NH3 emissions, with decreasing percentages of 0–10.6% and 0–48% under CAP and REF, respectively. Controlling emissions of VOCs reduced PM2.5 in the southwestern PRD where severe photochemical pollution frequently occurred. It was also found that O3 formation in PRD was generally VOCs-limited while turned to be NOx-limited in the afternoon (13:00–17:00), suggesting that cutting VOCs emissions would reduce the overall O3 concentrations while mitigating NOx emissions in the afternoon could reduce the peak O3 levels.
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•This paper analyzes energy consumption, emissions and pollutants concentrations in PRD region•The responses of air pollutants to emission controls of NOx, VOCs and NH3 are investigated.•Reducing NOx emissions results in reduction of regional PM2.5 but might increase PM2.5 in certain area.•Controlling NH3 emission is effective in reducing PM2.5 in PRD.•Cutting VOCs emission benefits the reduction of overall O3 and reducing NOx emission in the afternoon can reduce peak O3.
Ostraceous psoriasis is a rare variant of psoriasis, characterized by severe hyperkeratotic lesions resembling an oyster shell. Adalimumab is a biological agent that antagonizes tumor necrosis factor ...(TNF) and is used clinically in plaque psoriasis. Some medications such as lithium carbonate (LC) may aggravate or trigger psoriasis. Here, we describe a case of generalized ostraceous psoriasis associated with lithium carbonate, whose lesions completely improved after discontinuing lithium carbonate and using adalimumab.
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