Functional traits determine the occurrence of species along environmental gradients and their coexistence with other species. Understanding how traits evolved among coexisting species helps to infer ...community assembly processes. We propose fatty acid composition in consumer tissue as a functional trait related to both food resources and physiological functions of species. We measured phylogenetic signal in fatty acid profiles of 13 field‐sampled Collembola (springtail) species and then combined the data with published fatty acid profiles of another 24 species. Collembola fatty acid profiles generally showed phylogenetic signal, with related species resembling each other. Long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, related to physiological functions, demonstrated phylogenetic signal. In contrast, most food resource biomarker fatty acids and the ratios between bacterial, fungal, and plant biomarker fatty acids exhibited no phylogenetic signal. Presumably, fatty acids related to physiological functions have been constrained during Collembola evolutionary history: Species with close phylogenetic affinity experienced similar environments during divergence, while niche partitioning in food resources among closely related species favored species coexistence. Measuring phylogenetic signal in ecologically relevant traits of coexisting species provides an evolutionary perspective to contemporary assembly processes of ecological communities. Integrating phylogenetic comparative methods with community phylogenetic and trait‐based approaches may compensate for the limitations of each method when used alone and improve understanding of processes driving and maintaining assembly patterns.
We propose fatty acid compositions in consumers’ tissues as a functional trait which relates to both food resources and physiological functions of species. We inspected phylogenetic signals in fatty acid profiles from 13 field‐collected Collembola species and 37 Collembola species compiled from the literature. Long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids demonstrated phylogenetic signal that presumably suggest evolutionary constraint, while most food resource biomarker fatty acids exhibited phylogenetic lability that may imply niche partitioning in closely related species.
The present study was aimed at clarifying the expression of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), one of the target genes of oncogenic Ha-ras, in breast cancer and its correlation with clinicopathologic ...features, including the survival of patients with breast cancer.
The expression of AEG-1 in normal breast epithelial cells, breast cancer cell lines, and in four cases of paired primary breast tumor and normal breast tissue was examined using reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR was applied to determine the mRNA level of AEG-1 in the four paired tissues, each from the same subject. Furthermore, AEG-1 protein expression was analyzed in 225 clinicopathologically characterized breast cancer cases using immunohistochemistry. Statistical analyses were applied to test for the prognostic and diagnostic associations.
Western blot and reverse transcription-PCR showed that the expression level of AEG-1 was markedly higher in breast cancer cell lines than that in the normal breast epithelial cells at both mRNA and protein levels. AEG-1 expression levels were significantly up-regulated by up to 35-fold in primary breast tumors in comparison to the paired normal breast tissue from the same patient. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed high expression of AEG-1 in 100 of 225 (44.4%) paraffin-embedded archival breast cancer biopsies. Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation of AEG-1 expression with the clinical staging of the patients with breast cancer (P = 0.001), as well as with the tumor classification (P = 0.004), node classification (P = 0.026), and metastasis classification (P = 0.001). Patients with higher AEG-1 expression had shorter overall survival time, whereas patients with lower AEG-1 expression had better survival. Multivariate analysis suggested that AEG-1 expression might be an independent prognostic indicator for the survival of patients with breast cancer.
Our results suggest that AEG-1 protein is a valuable marker of breast cancer progression. High AEG-1 expression is associated with poor overall survival in patients with breast cancer.
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, many reports have indicated that children shed the virus longer than adults in stool, and that most of the children had mild or even ...asymptomatic infections, which increased the potential risk for feces to be a source of contamination and may play an important role in the spread of the virus. In this review, we collected relevant literature to summarize the duration of fecal viral shedding in children with COVID-19. We found that in about 60% of the cases, the fecal shedding time was between 28 and 42 days, which was much longer than that of adults. We further explored the possible reason for prolonged shedding and its the potential impact. The poor hand hygiene practices of children, their tendency to swallow sputum and/or saliva, the significant difference in expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in intestine between children and adults, and the variance in immune status and intestinal microbiome could be considered as potential casual agents of longer fecal viral shedding duration of children.
Conclusion
: Children with COVID-19 show prolonged fecal shedding compared to adults. Several mechanisms may be involved in the longer fecal viral shedding. Viral shedding in the stool could be contributing to a possible route of transmission. Therefore, we think that further preventive measures in children should be taken to reduce the spread of the disease.
What is Known:
• Children with COVID-19 are more likely to have asymptomatic infections and to experience mild symptoms.
• Some patients continue to shed the virus in feces, despite respiratory samples testing negative.
What is New:
• Children with COVID-19 carried a longer-term fecal viral shedding than adults.
• The poor hand hygiene practices of children, their tendency to swallow sputum and/or saliva, the difference in expression of ACE2 in intestine between children and adults, and the variance in immune status and intestinal microbiome could be considered as potential casual agents of longer fecal viral shedding duration of children.
Objective
The association between hyperuricemia and cardiovascular events has been documented in high‐risk groups, but is still undetermined in general populations, especially Chinese. This study ...assessed the temporal association between serum uric acid level, hyperuricemia, and cardiovascular mortality.
Methods
A prospective cohort study of 41,879 men and 48,514 women ages ≥35 years was conducted using data from the MJ Health Screening Centers in Taiwan. Mortality from all causes, total cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischemic stroke, congestive heart failure, hypertensive disease, and coronary heart disease were compared according to increasing serum uric acid levels.
Results
A total of 1,151 (21.2%) events of 5,427 total deaths were ascribed to CVD (mean followup 8.2 years). Hazard ratios (HRs) for hyperuricemia (serum uric acid level >7 mg/dl) were estimated with Cox regression model after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, cholesterol, triglycerides, diabetes, hypertension, heavy cigarette smoking, and frequent alcohol consumption. In all patients, HRs were 1.16 (P < 0.001) for all‐cause mortality, 1.39 (P < 0.001) for total CVD, and 1.35 (P = 0.02) for ischemic stroke. In subgroup analysis, the HRs for cardiovascular risk remained significant in patients with hypertension (1.44, P < 0.001) and in patients with diabetes (1.64, P < 0.001). In addition, in a low metabolic risk subgroup, the HRs for all‐cause mortality and total cardiovascular morbidity were 1.24 (P = 0.02) and 1.48 (P = 0.16), respectively.
Conclusion
Hyperuricemia was an independent risk factor of mortality from all causes, total CVD, and ischemic stroke in the Taiwanese general population, in high‐risk groups, and potentially in low‐risk groups.
A new metal‐free, ring‐expansion reaction of six‐membered N‐sulfonylimines with unstable diazomethanes, generated in situ from the N‐tosylhydrazones, has been developed. This reaction delivers ...valuable seven‐membered enesulfonamides by a Tiffeneau–Demjanov rearrangement and intramolecular proton transfer tautomerization process. Moreover, this ring‐expansion reaction can be carried out in a one‐pot fashion and scaled up to the gram scale by using aryl aldehydes, without the need to isolate the N‐tosylhydrazone.
A diazo thing: The title reaction between cyclic N‐sulfonylimines and diazo compounds generated in situ from the N‐tosylhydrazones is simple and functional‐group tolerant. It thus delivers valuable seven‐membered sulfonamides in up to 95 % yield. Moreover, this reaction can be carried out in one‐pot starting from the aryl aldehydes, without the need to isolate the N‐tosylhydrazone (right).
Cloud data auditing with file and authenticator deduplication can not only check the integrity of cloud data, but also reduce the cloud’s storage overhead significantly. In this paper, we propose a ...cloud data auditing scheme supporting file and authenticator deduplication. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed scheme is the first practical one that truly achieves low-entropy security. For the file with low-entropy, the malicious cloud cannot forge any authenticator to pass the auditing verification. The proposed scheme is user-friendly. Users do not need to keep interacting with the Third Party Auditor (TPA) in the auditing phase. We give the detailed security proof to show that the proposed scheme is secure. Comprehensive experiments show the efficiency of our scheme.
Carbohydrate-binding malectin/malectin-like domain-containing proteins (CBMs) are a recently identified protein subfamily of lectins that participates various functional bioprocesses in the animal, ...bacterial, and plant kingdoms. However, little is known the roles of CBMs in rice development and stress response. In this study,
OsCBM1
, which encodes a protein containing only one malectin-like domain, was cloned and characterized. OsCBM1 is localized in both the
endoplasmic reticulum
and plasma membrane. Its transcripts are dominantly expressed in leaves and could be significantly stimulated by a number of phytohormone applications and abiotic stress treatments. Overexpression of
OsCBM1
increased drought tolerance and reactive oxygen species production in rice, whereas the knockdown of the gene decreased them. OsCBM1 physically interacts with OsRbohA, a NADPH oxidase, and the expression of
OsCBM1
in
osrbohA,
an
OsRbohA
-knockout mutant, is significantly downregulated under both normal growth and drought stress conditions. Meanwhile, OsCBM1 can also physically interacts with OsRacGEF1, a specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the Rop/Rac GTPase OsRac1, and transient coexpression of
OsCBM1
with
OaRacGEF1
significantly enhanced ROS production. Further transcriptome analysis showed that multiple signaling regulatory mechanisms are involved in the OsCBM1-mediated processes. All these results suggest that OsCBM1 participates in NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS production by interacting with OsRbohA and OsRacGEF1, contributing to drought stress tolerance of rice. Multiple signaling pathways are likely involved in the OsCBM1-mediated stress tolerance in rice.
Background. Lepidium meyenii Walp. (Maca) has emerged as a functional plant food and traditional herb owing to its biological activities; Maca polysaccharides as an important active component of Maca ...have good immunomodulatory effect; however, studies on the immunomodulatory effect of Maca polysaccharides are mainly focused on macrophages; little attention has been devoted to the mechanisms and other immune cells. This study is aimed at investigating the immunomodulatory effects and mechanisms of Maca polysaccharides. Methods. Sixty mice were divided into five groups, and the mice were injected with cyclophosphamide to establish an immunosuppression model except for those in the common group. The body weights were measured, as well as immune-related indices, such as organ indices, haematological parameters, lymphocyte cycle, and proliferation, cytokine, and protein expression levels. Results. The weight loss and immune organ index decline caused by cyclophosphamide could be reversed by MP. Furthermore, MP increased WBC and HGB counts and reduced the ratio of G0/G1 phase obviously, increased the proportion of S phase and G2/M phase in peripheral blood lymphocytes, increased the counts of CD4+ T cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+, and reduced the inhibition rate of splenic lymphocytes. MP affected the production of cytokines by increasing IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2 levels and by decreasing IL-4 levels. MP increased the mRNA expression of T-bet and the protein expression of Bcl-2 in the spleen and decreased the protein expression of caspase-3 and Bax. Conclusions. Maca polysaccharides might be the basic material for Maca’s immunomodulatory effect. The mechanism was perhaps related to inhibiting lymphocyte apoptosis and promoting the balance of Th1/Th2 cell subsets.
Neuroprotection is defined as using a therapy that affects the brain tissue in the still-viable ischemic penumbra to salvage or delay the infarction. Catalpol, the main active principle of the root ...of Radix Rehmanniae, was reported to have pleiotropic neuroprotective effects in neurodegenerative diseases including ischemic stroke. Here, we evaluated the neuroprotective effects of catalpol in experimental acute ischemic stroke. Studies on catalpol in animal models of acute ischemic stroke were identified from 6 databases. Twenty-five studies involving 805 animals were included. Twelve comparisons showed significant effects of catalpol on decreasing infarct size according to 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining compared with the control (P<0.05). One study reported significant effect of catalpol on reducing infarct size according to magnetic resonance imaging scan compared with the control (P<0.05). Meta-analysis of these studies indicated that catalpol significantly improved the neurological function score according to Zea Longa score, Bederson score, balance beam-walking test, adhesive removal test, bar-grasping score, and corner test compared with the control (P<0.05). In conclusion, catalpol exerted neuroprotective effects for experimental acute focal ischemic stroke, largely through reducing oxidative reactions, inhibiting apoptosis, and repressing inflammatory reactions and autophagy. However, these apparently positive findings should be interpreted with caution because of the methodological flaws.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of highly prevalent cancer. Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has dramatically changed the landscape of treatment for many advanced cancers, but ...CRC still exhibits suboptimal response to immunotherapy. The gut microbiota can affect both anti-tumor and pro-tumor immune responses, and further modulate the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, particularly in the context of therapy with ICIs. Therefore, a deeper understanding of how the gut microbiota modulates immune responses is crucial to improve the outcomes of CRC patients receiving immunotherapy and to overcome resistance in nonresponders. The present review aims to describe the relationship between the gut microbiota, CRC, and antitumor immune responses, with a particular focus on key studies and recent findings on the effect of the gut microbiota on the antitumor immune activity. We also discuss the potential mechanisms by which the gut microbiota influences host antitumor immune responses as well as the prospective role of intestinal flora in CRC treatment. Furthermore, the therapeutic potential and limitations of different modulation strategies for the gut microbiota are also discussed. These insights may facilitate to better comprehend the interplay between the gut microbiota and the antitumor immune responses of CRC patients and provide new research pathways to enhance immunotherapy efficacy and expand the patient population that could be benefited by immunotherapy.
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•Gut microbiota (GM) shapes antitumor immune responses, affecting cancer immunotherapy, especially ICIs treatment.•Some beneficial or deleterious bacterial species have been reported to enhance or disrupt antitumor immunity in CRC.•GM complexly interacts with antitumor immunity via antigen cross-reactivity, pattern recognition receptors, and metabolites.•Modulating microbiota holds promise for enhancing ICIs efficacy, but current related clinical evidence is lacking in CRC.•Future research should identify precise GM manipulation methods to enhance CRC immunotherapy efficacy.
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