Cardiac fibrosis remains an unresolved problem in cardiovascular diseases. Fibrosis of the myocardium plays a key role in the clinical outcomes of patients with heart injuries. Moderate fibrosis is ...favorable for cardiac structure maintaining and contractile force transmission, whereas adverse fibrosis generally progresses to ventricular remodeling and cardiac systolic or diastolic dysfunction. The molecular mechanisms involved in these processes are multifactorial and complex. Several molecular mechanisms, such as TGF-β signaling pathway, extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and degradation, and non-coding RNAs, positively or negatively regulate myocardial fibrosis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as significant mediators in gene regulation in cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have demonstrated that lncRNAs are crucial in genetic programming and gene expression during myocardial fibrosis. We summarize the function of lncRNAs in cardiac fibrosis and their contributions to miRNA expression, TGF-β signaling, and ECMs synthesis, with a particular attention on the exosome-derived lncRNAs in the regulation of adverse fibrosis as well as the mode of action of lncRNAs secreted into exosomes. We also discuss how the current knowledge on lncRNAs can be applied to develop novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or reverse cardiac fibrosis.
This study mainly evaluates the clinical characteristics and chest chest computed tomography (CT) findings of AFB-positive and AFB-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients to explore the ...relationship between AFB-positive and clinico-radiological findings.
A retrospective analysis of 224 hospitalized tuberculosis patients from 2018 to 2020 was undertaken. According to the AFB smear results, they were divided into AFB-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (positive by Ziehl-Neelsen staining) and AFB-negative pulmonary tuberculosis and patients' CT results and laboratory test results were analyzed.
A total of 224 PTB patients were enrolled. AFB-positive (n = 94, 42%) and AFB-negative (n = 130, 58%). AFB-positive patients had more consolidation (77.7% vs. 53.8%, p < 0.01), cavity (55.3% vs. 34.6%, p < 0.01), calcification (38.3% vs. 20%, p < 0.01), bronchiectasis (7.5% vs. 1.5%, p < 0.05), bronchiarctia (6.4% vs. 0.8%, p < 0.05), and right upper lobe involvement (57.5% vs. 33.1%, p < 0.01), left upper lobe involvement (46.8% vs. 33.1%, p < 0.05) and lymphadenopathy (58.5% vs. 37.7%, p < 0.01).
The study found that when pulmonary tuberculosis patients have consolidation, cavity, upper lobe involvement and lymphadenopathy on chest CT images, they may have a higher risk of AFB-positive tuberculosis.
Protein is the most important characteristic component of honey. The types and content of proteins in different kinds of honey are imparity, but those in the same kind of honey are very similar. ...Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method, used to detect proteins, was developed for authenticating of four mono-floral honeys (n = 45), including medlar honey, chaste honey, jujube honey and locust honey. Electrophoresis conditions including capillary inner diameter (50–70 μm), pH (2.5–9), the concentration of anionic surfactant (0.3–0.5 mmol L
−1
), injection time (3–7 s) and separation voltage (3–7 KV) were optimized. The results showed that the honey sample was highly stable and the detection limit was 10%, the relative standard deviation of retention time and peak area were lower than 1.40% and 1.76%, respectively. The CZE fingerprints were established on the basis of different protein characteristics in different mono-floral honeys combined with chemometric analysis. All 45 honeys could be correctly identified according to their floral origins. This method does not need to confirm the type of protein, and has the advantages of simple and fast verification of the authenticity of honey.
lncRNA ZNF593 antisense (ZNF593-AS) transcripts have been implicated in heart failure through the regulation of myocardial contractility. The decreased transcriptional activity of ZNF593-AS has also ...been detected in cardiac hypertrophy. However, the function of ZNF593-AS in cardiac hypertrophy remains unclear. Herein, we report that the expression of ZNF593-AS reduced in a mouse model of left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiomyocytes in response to treatment with the hypertrophic agonist phenylephrine (PE).
In vivo
, ZNF593-AS aggravated pressure overload–induced cardiac hypertrophy in knockout mice. By contrast, cardiomyocyte-specific transgenic mice (ZNF593-AS MHC-Tg) exhibited attenuated TAC-induced cardiac hypertrophy.
In vitro
, vector-based overexpression using murine or human ZNF593-AS alleviated PE-induced myocyte hypertrophy, whereas GapmeR-induced inhibition aggravated hypertrophic phenotypes. By using RNA-seq and gene set enrichment analyses, we identified a link between ZNF593-AS and oxidative phosphorylation and found that mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) is a direct target of ZNF593-AS. ZNF593-AS exerts an antihypertrophic effect by upregulating Mfn2 expression and improving mitochondrial function. Therefore, it represents a promising therapeutic target for combating pathological cardiac remodeling.
Stomach cancer is a serious global public health problem. The current burden of stomach cancer and its trends across time and location need to be understood to develop effective preventive ...strategies.
Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease study. The burden of stomach cancer and variations in time and geographical regions were assessed according to the age-standardized rate and estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) of the incidence and mortality rate between 1991 and 2017. We also investigated the associations between the relevant rates and sociodemographic index (SDI).
Overall, the age-standardized incidence rate (EAPC = -1.36, 95% confidence interval CI: -1.47 to -1.25), age-standardized mortality rate (EAPC = -2.2, 95% CI: -2.29 to -2.12), and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years rate (EAPC = -2.52, 95% CI: -2.63 to -2.43) decreased worldwide from 1990 to 2017. This trend varied across different countries and regions and according to sex and age. SDI had a significant negative correlation with the age-standardized mortality rate (P < 0.01, r = -0.28) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years rate (P < 0.01, r = -0.31). Similar negative correlations were observed between SDI and the EAPC.
The observed correlation between SDI and disease burden suggests that strategically implementing the screening and eradication of Helicobacter pylori, improving the medical level in countries with low SDI, and promoting the implementation of tobacco cessation policies would help reduce the disease burden of stomach cancer.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are aberrantly expressed in the pathophysiologic process of heart failure (HF). However, the functions of a certain miRNA in different cardiac cell types during HF are scarcely ...reported, which might be covered by the globe effects of it on the heart. In the current study, Langendorff system was applied to isolate cardiomyocytes (CMs) and cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) from transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-induced mice. Slight increase of miR-320 expression was observed in the whole heart tissue of TAC mice. Interestingly, miR-320 was significantly elevated in CMs but decreased in CFs from TAC mice at different time points. Then, recombinant adeno-associated virus 9 with cell-type-specific promoters were used to manipulate miR-320 expressions in vivo. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments showed the miR-320 overexpression in CMs exacerbated cardiac dysfunction, whereas overexpression of miR-320 in CFs alleviated cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy. Mechanically, downstream signaling pathway analyses revealed that miR-320 might induce various effects via targeting PLEKHM3 and IFITM1 in CMs and CFs, respectively. Moreover, miR-320 mediated effects could be abolished by PLEKHM3 re-expression in CMs or IFITM1 re-expression in CFs. Interestingly, miR-320 treated CFs were able to indirectly affect CMs function, but not vice versa. Meanwhile, upstream signaling pathway analyses showed that miR-320 expression and decay rate were rigorously manipulated by Ago2, which was regulated by a cluster of cell-type-specific TFs distinctively expressed in CMs and CFs, respectively. Together, we demonstrated that miR-320 functioned differently in various cell types of the heart during the progression of HF.
Cardiovascular diseases are one of the prime reasons for disability and death worldwide. Diseases and conditions, such as hypoxia, pressure overload, infection, and hyperglycemia, might initiate ...cardiac remodeling and dysfunction by inducing hypertrophy or apoptosis in cardiomyocytes and by promoting proliferation in cardiac fibroblasts. In the vascular system, injuries decrease the endothelial nitric oxide levels and affect the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells. Understanding the underlying mechanisms will be helpful for the development of a precise therapeutic approach. Various microRNAs are involved in mediating multiple pathological and physiological processes in the heart. A cardiac enriched microRNA, miR-21, which is essential for cardiac homeostasis, has been demonstrated to act as a cell-cell messenger with diverse functions. This review describes the cell type-specific functions of miR-21 in different cardiovascular diseases and its prospects in clinical therapy.
In immune processes, molecular - molecular interactions are complex. As MUC1 often appears to be an important molecule in inflammation and tumor immunity, it is necessary to summarize the leading ...countries, authors, journals, and the cooperation among these entities and, most importantly, to determine the main research directions related to MUC1 in this field and the associated research frontiers. A total of 3,397 related studies published from 2012-2021 were retrieved from the Web of Science core database. The search strategy is TS= (MUC1 OR Mucin-1) refined by WEB OF SCIENCE CATEGORY (IMMUNOLOGY) AND excluding PUBLICATION YEARS: (2022) AND DOCUMENT TYPES: (ARTICLE OR REVIEW) AND LANGUAGES: (ENGLISH) AND WEB OF SCIENCE INDEX: (Web of Science Core Collection. SCI), with a timespan of 2012 to 2021. Documented bibliometric visual analysis was performed by CiteSpace and VOSviewer. The number of studies has increased every year. There are 1,982 articles and 1,415 reviews from 89 countries and regions, 3,722 organizations, 1,042 journals, and 17,948 authors. The United States, China, and Germany are the major countries producing publications on this issue. The most published author is Finn OJ and the most influential author is June CH. The key words "chimeric antigen receptor" and "T-cell" highlight the current hot spots and future trends in this field. Research on MUC1 in the field of immunology is still evolving. Through the bibliometric analysis of the existing publications, the current research hotspots and future development trends in this field can be obtained.
Many microorganisms can enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state under various environmental stresses, while they can also resuscitate when the surroundings turn to suitable conditions. Cell ...walls play a vital role in maintaining cellular integrity and protecting cells from ambient threats. Here, we investigated the alterations in the cell wall of
TG9 at VBNC state under norfloxacin stress and then at resuscitated state in fresh lysogeny broth medium. Electron microscopy analyses presented that TG9 in the VBNC state had a thicker and rougher cell wall than that in exponential phase or resuscitated state. Meanwhile, the results from infrared spectroscopy also showed that its VBNC state has different peptidoglycan structures in the cell wall. Moreover, in the VBNC cells the gene expressions related to cell wall synthesis and remodeling maintain a relatively high level. It indicates that the morphological variations of TG9 at the VBNC state might result from kinetic changes in the cell wall synthesis and remodeling. As a consequence, the alterations in the cell wall of VBNC TG9 may somewhat account for its tolerance mechanisms to antibiotic treatment.
The largefin longbarbel catfish,
Hemibagrus macropterus
, is an economically important fish species in southwestern China, with males growing faster than females. This study presents a high-quality ...chromosome-level genome assembly of the largefin longbarbel catfish, generated by integrating Illumina short reads, PacBio HiFi long reads, and Hi-C data. The assembled genome size was 858.5 Mb, with a contig and scaffold N50 of 5.8 Mb and 28.4 Mb, respectively. A total of 656 contigs were successfully anchored to 30 pseudochromosomes with a BUSCO score of 97.7%, consistent with the number of chromosomes analyzed by karyotype. The genome contained 29.5% repeat sequences, and a predicted total of 26,613 protein-coding genes, of which 25,769 (96.8%) were functionally annotated in different databases. Evolutionary analysis showed that
H. macropterus
was most closely related to
H. wyckioides
, with a divergence time of approximately 16.3 million years. Chromosomal syntenic relationships among
H. macropterus
,
H. wyckioides
, and
Pelteobagrus fulvidraco
revealed a one-to-one relationship for most chromosomes, except for break, fission, and inversion of some chromosomes. The first high-quality reference genome will not only provide a valuable genetic resource for the study of sex determination mechanisms and genetic breeding of largefin longbarbel catfish, but also contribute to comparative analyses of genome and chromosome evolution within Siluriformes.
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