Interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), a member of the interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) family, is located downstream of the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)-mediated signaling pathway and is ...essential for the production of type I interferon (IFN-I). Activation of IRF7 inhibits various viral and bacterial infections and suppresses the growth and metastasis of some cancers, but it may also affect the tumor microenvironment and promote the development of other cancers. Here, we summarize recent advances in the role of IRF7 as a multifunctional transcription factor in inflammation, cancer and infection by regulating IFN-I production or IFN-I-independent signaling pathways.
Candida albicans
is an opportunistic pathogenic fungus, which tends to infect the host with defective immune function including cancer patients. A growing number of studies have shown that
C. ...albicans
infection increases the host susceptibility to cancer such as oral, gastric, and colorectal cancer. Cancer and anti-cancer treatment may also affect the colonization of
C. albicans. C. albicans
may promote the development of cancer by damaging mucosal epithelium, inducing the production of carcinogens, triggering chronic inflammation including Th17 cell-mediated immune response. In this article, we aim to elaborate the interaction between
C. albicans
and cancers development and summarize the potential molecular mechanisms, so as to provide theoretical basis for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancers.
Excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agricultural practices have demonstrated a significant impact on microbial diversity and community in soil by altering soil physical and chemical properties, ...thereby leading to a certain degree of soil salinization and nutritional imbalances. As an organic amendment, maize straw has been widely used to improve soil quality; however, its effect on the soil bacterial community remains limited in Calcarie-Fluvie Cambisols soil in semi-humid arid plateau of North China. In the present experiment, we investigated the effects of continuous straw utilization and fertilization on bacterial communities in Shouyang, Shanxi province, China. Soil samples were collected from 5 different straw utilization and fertilization modes in the following ways: straw mulching (SM), straw crushing (SC), cattle manure (CM), in which way straw is firstly used as silage and then organic fertilizer, control with no straw return (NSR), and control without fertilizers (CK), same amount of N+P fertilizer was applied to the regimes except CK. High-throughput sequencing approaches were applied to the V3-V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA for analysis of the bacterial abundance and community structures. Different long-term straw returning regimes significantly altered the physicochemical properties and bacterial communities of soil, among which CM had the most significant effects on soil fertility and bacterial diversity. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes were consistently dominant in all soil samples, and Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed significant association of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and available potassium (AK) with alternation of the bacterial community. Cattle manure had the most beneficial effects on soil fertility and bacterial diversity among different straw utilization and fertilization modes.
Ionic liquids (ILs) are promising nonderivatizing solvents for the dissolution of cellulose and lignin in biomass pretreatment processes, which are, however, retarded by sluggish dynamics. Recent ...investigations showed that cosolvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) can accelerate the dissolution dramatically. On the other hand, water is used as a common antisolvent to regenerate cellulose from solutions. To understand the co-/antisolvent effects in dissolving cellulose by ILs, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of the interfaces between an Iβ cellulose crystal and different solvent systems, including ILs, DMSO, water, and mixed solvent systems. The density profiles and pair energy distributions (PEDs) show that the anions interact much more strongly with the cellulose surface than the cations, which is responsible for the dissolution of cellulose. It was found that the number of chloride ions in contact with cellulose does not cause the co-/antisolvent effect. In contrast, the cellulose-chloride PEDs are sensitive to the addition of molecular solvents, such as DMSO and water. Detailed analyses show that multiple hydrogen-bond (HB) patterns are formed between chloride and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose that are noticeably changed in the presence of DMSO or water. A combined analyses of both the PEDs and HB patterns can provide valuable information about the enhancement of cellulose dissolution. The simulation results in this work present useful knowledge for the design of solvent systems for dissolving cellulose or other types of biomass.
Aortic aneurysm/dissection (AAD) is a life-threatening disorder lacking effective pharmacotherapeutic remedies. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) polymorphism is tied with various risk factors for AAD ...including hypertension, atherosclerosis, and hypercholesterolaemia although direct correlation between the two remains elusive.
Two independent case-control studies were conducted involving 307 AAD patients and 399 healthy controls in two geographically distinct areas in China. Our data revealed that subjects carrying mutant ALDH2 gene possessed a ∼50% reduced risk of AAD compared with wild-type (WT) alleles. Using 3-aminopropionitrile fumarate (BAPN)- and angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced AAD animal models, inhibition of ALDH2 was found to retard development of AAD. Mechanistically, ALDH2 inhibition ablated pathological vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotypical switch through interaction with myocardin, a determinant of VSMC contractile phenotype. Using microarray and bioinformatics analyses, ALDH2 deficiency was found to down-regulate miR-31-5p, which further altered myocardin mRNA level. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies verified that miR-31-5p significantly repressed myocardin level and aggravated pathological VSMC phenotypical switch and AAD, an effect that was blunted by ALDH2 inhibition. We next noted that ALDH2 deficiency increased Max expression and decreased miR-31-5p level. Moreover, ALDH2 mutation or inhibition down-regulated levels of miR-31-5p while promoting myocardin downstream contractile genes in the face of Ang II in primary human VSMCs.
ALDH2 deficiency is associated with a lower risk of AAD in patients and mice, possibly via suppressing VSMC phenotypical switch in a miR-31-5p-myocardin-dependent manner. These findings favour a role for ALDH2 and miR-31-5p as novel targets for AAD therapy.
Tanshinone IIA (TS), a pharmacologically active component isolated from the rhizome of the Chinese herb Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Danshen), has been clinically used in Asian countries for the ...prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease. Recently, the pharmacological properties of TS in the cardiovascular system have attracted great interest. Emerging experimental studies and clinical trials have demonstrated that TS prevents atherogenesis as well as cardiac injury and hypertrophy. In atherosclerosis, TS acts by inhibiting LDL oxidation, monocyte adhesion to endothelium, smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation, macrophage cholesterol accumulation, proinflammatory cytokine expression and platelet aggregation. TS has some activity and potential to stabilize atherosclerotic plaques. The cardioprotective effects of TS are mainly related to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. In this review, we focus on the protective effects and the mechanism of action of TS in the cardiovascular system, and provide a novel perspective on clinical use of TS.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the major health threats in developed countries. Changes in dietary components, such as more protein and lipid intake, can increase the risk of CRC. Diet affects CRC ...in many ways. They regulate the composition and function of gut microbiota, which have an amazing metabolic capacity and can produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as propionate, acetate, and butyrate. Butyrate is a principal energy source for colonic epithelial cells and plays an important role in maintaining the stability of gut microbiota and the integrity of intestinal epithelium. However, there are few studies reviewing the anti-CRC potentials of butyrate. This review summarizes the recent research progresses in the effect of gut microbiota imbalance and the decrease in intestinal microbial metabolite butyrate caused by unbalanced diet on CRC development, and discusses the mechanisms of butyrate-induced anti-CRC activities, which may guide people to prevent CRC by improving diet structures.
Abstract Physiological concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) have multiple protective effects in the cardiovascular system. Recent studies have implicated hydrogen sulfide (H2 ...S) as a new member of vasculoprotective gasotransmitter family, behaving similarly to NO and CO. H2 S has been demonstrated to inhibit multiple key aspects of atherosclerosis, including atherogenic modification of LDL, monocytes adhesion to the endothelial cells, macrophage-derived foam cell formation and inflammation, smooth muscle cell proliferation, neointimal hyperplasia, vascular calcification, and thrombogenesis. H2 S also decreases plasma homocysteine levels in experimental animal models. In the human body, H2 S production is predominantly catalyzed by cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE). CSE is the primary H2 S-producing enzyme in the vasculature. Growing evidence suggests that atherosclerosis is associated with vascular CSE/H2 S deficiency and that H2 S supplementation by exogenous H2 S donors (such as NaHS and GYY4137) attenuates, and H2 S synthesis suppression by inhibitors (such as D, L-propargylglycine) aggravates the development of atherosclerotic plaques. However, it remains elusive whether CSE deficiency plays a causative role in atherosclerosis. A recent study (Circulation. 2013; 127: 2523–2534) demonstrates that decreased endogenous H2 S production by CSE genetic deletion accelerates atherosclerosis in athero-prone ApoE−/− mice, pinpointing that endogenously produced H2 S by CSE activation may be of benefit in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. This study will facilitate the development of H2 S-based pharmaceuticals with therapeutic applications in atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases.
In recent years, some rare fungi have been increasingly recognized as new human pathogens. Here we reported the first fatal case of human severe pneumonia complicated by multiple organ dysfunction ...caused by Acrophialophora levis infection. However, its pathogenic mechanism and risk factors are unknown. Acrophialophora genus has only reported in six cases of human infection worldwide, but it has not been reported previously in China.
A 71-year-old male patient with severe pneumonia complicated with multiple organ dysfunction caused by A. levis infection. The fungal identification was based on micromorphology and sequence analysis of the internal transcriptional spacer (ITS) of ribosomal RNA genes recovered from lower respiratory tract secretions. The microbial characteristics, sensitivity to antifungal drugs of this isolated A. levis were studied. Anti-infective regimen, liposomal amphotericin B combined with tegacycline, was used to prevent infection. The next day, the fever decreased, body temperature fluctuated between 36.5 and 37.8 degree, cough and sputum decreased, and sputum volume decreased, with oxygen uptake for 5 L/min, blood oxygen saturation over 95%. After 17 days of treatment, CT reexamination showed that the lesions in the right lung and left upper lung were absorbed and pleural effusion was reduced. The next 8 days, the patient asked to return to the local hospital for treatment. The local hospital stopped using liposomal amphotericin B because of the absence of liposomal amphotericin B, and died of respiratory failure 2 days later.
This study is the first to report the occurrence, risk factors, molecular determinants, microbial characteristics and susceptibility to antifungal agents of A. levis infection in China. In addition, six published cases of human infection with Acrophialophora were reviewed.
PDF
