Common potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and its wild relatives belong to Solanum section Petota. This section's phylogeny and species delimitation are complicated due to various ploidy levels, high ...heterozygosity, and frequent interspecific hybridization. Compared to the nuclear genome, the plastid genome is more conserved, has a haploid nature, and has a lower nucleotide substitution rate, providing informative alternative insights into the phylogenetic study of section Petota. Here, we analyzed 343 potato plastid genomes from 53 wild and four cultivated species. The diversity of sequences and genomes was comprehensively analyzed. A total of 24 species were placed in a phylogenetic tree based on genomic data for the first time. Overall, our results not only confirmed most existing clades and species boundaries inferred by nuclear evidence but also provided some distinctive species clade belonging and the maternally inherited evidence supporting the hybrid origin of some species. Furthermore, the divergence times between the major potato clades were estimated. In addition, the species discriminatory power of universal barcodes, nuclear ribosomal DNA, and whole and partial plastid genomes and their combinations were thoroughly evaluated; the plastid genome performed best but had limited discriminatory power for all survey species (40%). Overall, our study provided not only new insights into phylogeny and DNA barcoding of potato but also provided valuable genetic data resources for further systematical research of Petota.
Potato and its wild relatives belong to Solanum section Petota. In this study, the phylogeny of Petota was confirmed on clade level based on 343 plastid genomes. The species identification rates of universal barcodes, nuclear ribosomal DNA, whole plastid genomes, and hypervariable regions were thoroughly evaluated.
Aim
This study aimed to investigate the function of long noncoding RNA RHPN1 antisense RNA 1 (lncRNA RHPN1‐AS1) in the progression of endometrial cancer (EC) and its underlying molecular mechanisms.
...Methods
The RHPN1‐AS1 expression was measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) in EC tissues and cells. The cell clones, proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, migration and invasion in Ishikawa and HEC‐1A cells were respectively measured by colony formation assay, cell counting kit‐8 assay (CCK‐8) assay, flow cytometry, wound healing assay and transwell assay. In addition, the protein expressions in Ishikawa and HEC‐1A cells were measured using western blot and Immunofluorescence assay.
Results
Our data showed the RHPN1‐AS1 expression was significantly upregulated in both EC tissues and cells. The expression of RHPN1‐AS1 was significantly correlated with FIGO stage, histological grade, and lymph node metastasis. Additionally, silencing RHPN1‐AS1 could inhibit proliferation, cell cycle progression, migration and invasion, and also promote apoptosis in Ishikawa and HEC‐1A cells. Moreover, silencing RHPN1‐AS1 could markedly elevate the expressions of caspase‐3 and Bax, but reduce the Bcl‐2 expression in Ishikawa and HEC‐1A cells. We also found that silencing RHPN1‐AS1 could significantly inhibit the phosphorylation of MEK and ERK in Ishikawa and HEC‐1A cells. After U0126 pretreatment, the inhibition effect of silencing RHPN1‐AS1 on the phosphorylation of MEK and ERK was strengthened.
Conclusion
Our study demonstrated that RHPN1‐AS1 could facilitate cell proliferation, migration and invasion, as well as inhibit apoptosis via activating ERK/MAPK pathway in EC.
T‐cell immunoglobulin mucin 3 (TIM3) contributes to immune suppression during progression of many cancers, but the precise role of TIM3 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is not clearly ...understood. In this study, we report that TIM3 expression was significantly up‐regulated in patients with HNSCC and associated with lymph node metastasis. Additionally, TIM3 expression was increased in patients with recurrent HNSCC and patients with preradiotherapy or prechemotherapy. We also characterized CD8+ T cells and CD11b+CD33+ myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in human HNSCC, and found that their expression was positively correlated with TIM3 expression. To determine the underlying mechanism of TIM3 in immune response during HNSCC progression, we utilized the Tgfbr1/Pten 2cKO HNSCC mouse model with TIM3 overexpression. Treatment with anti‐TIM3 monoclonal antibody effectively suppressed tumor growth through restoring effector T‐cell function by targeting CD4+TIM3+ cells and CD8+TIM3+ cells and decreasing MDSCs. Our findings demonstrate TIM3 expression in patients with HNSCC and suggest anti‐TIM3 immunotherapy as a novel therapeutic approach for effective treatment of HNSCC.
TIM3 is significantly increased in HNSCC, and its expression is correlated with CD8, CD11b, and CD33. TIM3 blockade reduces tumor growth in HNSCC mouse model by restoring effector T cells and reducing MDSCs in HNSCC mouse model.
•Deflection of the hourglass lattice panel is 60% less than that of the solid plate.•The hourglass lattice has higher face tearing resistance than the pyramidal one.•Front-face deflections of ...hourglass panels are 22%−38% less than pyramidal ones.
In this paper the enhanced lattice topology (defined as hourglass), with the improved resistance to tearing of face sheets, is used to improve the underwater blast impact performance of lattice truss structures. The stainless-steel lattices are fabricated by an interlocking and vacuum brazing method, all with a core relative density of about 4%. Their mechanical behaviors are investigated under quasi-static out-of-plane compression and underwater blast impact, in the latter case using an underwater shock simulator. Results show that the quasi-static compressive strength of the hourglass lattice is similar to that of the pyramidal lattice for the relative density chosen in this paper. The failure modes of the hourglass lattice panels subjected to underwater blast impact consist of core truss buckling, node imprinting and stretching of the front face sheets. The obtained results confirm that the hourglass lattice sandwich panel shows an approximately 60% reduction in the maximum panel deflection with respect to a monolithic plate of equal mass per unit area. Furthermore, the underwater blast impact performance of the hourglass lattice panels outperforms that of the pyramidal lattice panels of equal weight per unit area in the sense of resistance to stretching and tearing of the face sheets. Therefore, sandwich structure with the hourglass lattice design is a potential candidate for protective structures.
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In this study, polyaniline (PANI) is prepared by means of chemical oxidization polymerization and directly loaded on the modified fiber ball (m-FB) to obtain macroscale polyaniline/modified fiber ...ball (PANI/m-FB) composite, and then its removal ability of Cr(VI) is investigated. The effects of different parameters such as contact time, pH value and initial concentration on Cr(VI) removal efficiency are discussed. The experimental results illustrate that the favorable pH value is 5.0 and the maximum removal capacity is measured to be 293.13 mg g
−1
. Besides, PANI/m-FB composites can be regenerated and reused after being treated with strong acid. The kinetic study indicates that the adsorption procedure is mainly controlled by chemical adsorption. More importantly, the macroscale of composites can avoid secondary pollution efficiently. Benefiting from the low cost, easy preparation in large scale, environmentally friendly, excellent recycling performance as well as high removal ability, PANI/m-FB composites exhibit a potential possibility to remove Cr(VI) from industrial waste water.
Graphic Abstract
The polyaniline (PANI) was coated on modified fiber ball (m-FB) to remove Cr(VI) in waste water, and this kind of PANI/m-FB composites can avoid secondary pollution efficiently due to its macrostructure. Furthermore, the removal capacity can reach to 291.13 mg/g and can be multiple reused.
Summary
The HprK serine kinase is a component of the phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system (PTS) of bacteria that generally regulates catabolite repression through ...phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of the PTS protein PtsH at a conserved serine residue. However, many bacteria do not encode a complete PTS or even have an HprK homologue. Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) is a pathogen that cause black rot disease in crucifer plants and one of the few Gram‐negative bacteria that encodes a homologue of HprK protein (herein HprKXcc). To gain insight into the role of HprKXcc and other PTS‐related components in Xcc we individually mutated and phenotypically assessed the resulting strains. Deletion of hprK
Xcc demonstrated its requirement for virulence and other diverse cellular processes associated including extracellular enzyme activity, extracellular‐polysaccharide production and cell motility. Global transcriptome analyses revealed the HprKXcc had a broad regulatory role in Xcc. Additionally, through overexpression, double gene deletion and transcriptome analysis we demonstrated that hprK
Xcc shares an epistatic relationship with ptsH. Furthermore, we demonstrate that HprKXcc is a functional serine kinase, which has the ability to phosphorylate PtsH. Taken together, the data illustrates the previously unappreciated global regulatory role of HprKXcc and previously uncharacterized PTS components that control virulence in this pathogen.
Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with metastasis formation, generation and maintenance of cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, the regulatory mechanisms of CSCs have not been ...clarified. This study aims to investigate the role of TNF receptor‐associated factor 6 (TRAF6) on EMT and CSC regulation in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN). We found TRAF6 was overexpressed in human SCCHN tissues, and high TRAF6 expression was associated with lymphatic metastasis and resulted in poor prognosis in patients with SCCHN. In addition, elevated TRAF6 expression was observed in several HNSCC cell lines, and wound healing and transwell assay results showed that TRAF6 knockdown inhibited the migration and invasion ability of the SCCHN cells. Moreover, the expression of Vimentin, Slug and N‐cadherin was down‐regulated and that of E‐cadherin was elevated after TRAF6 knockdown but decreased by transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF‐β1) and CAL27 similar to mesenchymal cells formed after TGF‐β1 induction. In addition, the expression levels of CD44, ALDH1, KLF4 and SOX2 were inhibited after TRAF6 knockdown, and the anchor‐dependent colony formation number and sphere number were remarkably reduced. Flow cytometry showed TRAF6 knockdown reduced ALDH1‐positive cancer stem cells. We also demonstrated that TRAF6 is closely associated with EMT process and cancer stem cells using a Tgfbr1/Pten 2cKO mice SCCHN model and human SCCHN tissue microarray. Our findings indicate that TRAF6 plays a role in EMT phenotypes, the generation and maintenance of CSCs in SCCHN, suggesting that TRAF6 is a potential therapeutic target for SCCHN.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered responsible for tumor initiation and chemoresistance. This study was aimed to investigate the possibility of targeting head neck squamous cell carcinoma ...(HNSCC) by NOTCH1 pathway inhibition and explore the synergistic effect of combining NOTCH inhibition with conventional chemotherapy. NOTCH1/HES1 elevation was found in human HNSCC, especially in tissue post chemotherapy and lymph node metastasis, which is correlated with CSCs markers. NOTCH1 inhibitor DAPT (GSI-IX) significantly reduces CSCs population and tumor self-renewal ability in vitro and in vivo. Flow cytometry analysis showed that NOTCH1 inhibition reduces CSCs frequency either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents, namely, cisplatin, docetaxel, and 5-fluorouracil. The combined strategy of NOTCH1 blockade and chemotherapy synergistically attenuated chemotherapy-enriched CSC population, promising a potential therapeutic exploitation in future clinical trial.
The virulence of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) involves the coordinate expression of many virulence factors, including surface appendages flagellum and type IV pili, ...which are required for pathogenesis and the colonization of host tissues. Despite many insights gained on the structure and functions played by flagellum and pili in motility, biofilm formation, surface attachment and interactions with bacteriophages, we know little about how these appendages are regulated in Xcc.
Here we present evidence demonstrating the role of two single domain response regulators PilG and PilH in the antagonistic control of flagellum-dependent (swimming) and pili-dependent (swarming) motility. Using informative mutagenesis, we reveal PilG positively regulates swimming motility while and negatively regulating swarming motility. Conversely, PilH negatively regulates swimming behaviour while and positively regulating swarming motility. By transcriptome analyses (RNA-seq and RT-PCR) we confirm these observations as PilG is shown to upregulate many genes involved chemotaxis and flagellar biosynthesis but these similar genes were downregulated by PilH. Co-immunoprecipitation, bacterial two-hybrid and pull-down analyses showed that PilH and PilG were able to interact with district subsets of proteins that potentially account for their regulatory impact. Additionally, we present evidence, using mutagenesis that PilG and PilH are involved in other cellular processes, including chemotaxis and virulence.
Taken together, we demonstrate that for the conditions tested PilG and PilH have inverse regulatory effects on flagellum-dependent and pili-dependent motility in Xcc and that this regulatory impact depends on these proteins influences on genes/proteins involved in flagellar biosynthesis and pilus assembly.
•The efficacy of C-strain vaccines was evaluated against the subgenotype 2.1d CSFV emerging in China.•C-strain vaccines adapted to continuous ST cell line (CST) contain a unique M290K variation on ...the E2 protein.•There were antigenic differences between CST and CBT or CRT.•C strain could provide clinical but not pathological and virological protection against the subgenotype 2.1d CSFV.
Classical swine fever (CSF) is a devastating infectious disease of pigs caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV). The disease has been controlled following extensive vaccination with the lapinized attenuated vaccine C-strain for decades in China. However, frequent CSF outbreaks occurred recently in a large number of C-strain-vaccinated pig farms in China and a new subgenotype 2.1d of CSFV has been reported to be responsible for the outbreaks. Here we analyzed the molecular variations and antigenic differences among the C-strain-based commercial vaccines of different origins from different manufacturers in China, and reevaluated the vaccines against the emerging subgenotype 2.1d strain of CSFV. The results showed that the C-strain adapted to the continuous ST cell line (CST) contain a unique M290K variation on the E2 protein, compared to those of primary BT cells (CBT) or rabbit origin (CRT) and the traditional C-strain sequences available in the GenBank database. Serum neutralization test revealed the antigenic differences between CST and CBT or CRT. Notably, the neutralizing titers of porcine anti-C-strain sera against the CSFV isolate of subgenotype 2.1d were significantly lower than those against C-strain or Shimen strain. The C-strain-vaccinated, subgenotype 2.1d HLJZZ2014 strain-challenged pigs did not show any clinical signs and all survived. However, these pigs displayed mild pathological and histological lesions, and the CSFV viral RNA was detected in the various tissue and blood samples. Taken together, the C-strain-based vaccines of different origins showed molecular variations and antigenic differences, and could provide clinical but not pathological and virological protection against the subgenotype 2.1d CSFV emerging in China. Further investigation is needed to comprehensively assess the efficacy of C-strain of different doses against the subgenotype 2.1d CSFV.
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