Meng Qing-hua

Aim . Pancreatic cancer is one of the most quickly fatal cancers around the world. Burgeoning researches have begun to prove that mitochondria play a crucial role in cancer treatment. Mitofusin2 (Mfn2) plays an indispensable role in mitochondrial fusion and adjusting function. However, the role and underlying mechanisms of Mfn2 on cell autophagy of pancreatic cancer is still unclear. Our aim was to explore the effect of Mfn2 on multiple biological functions involving cell autophagy in pancreatic cancer. Methods . Pancreatic cancer cell line, Aspc‐1, was treated with Ad‐Mfn2 overexpression. Western blotting, caspase‐3 activity measurement, and CCK‐8 and reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay were used to examine the effects of Mfn2 on pancreatic cancer autophagy, apoptosis, cell proliferation, oxidative stress, and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling. The expression of tissue Mfn2 was detected by immunohistochemical staining. Survival analysis of Mfn2 was evaluated by OncoLnc. Results . Mfn2 improved the expression of LC3‐II and Bax and downregulated the expression of P62 and Bcl‐2 in pancreatic cancer cells. Meanwhile, Mfn2 also significantly inhibited the expression of p‐PI3K, p‐Akt, and p‐mTOR proteins in pancreatic cancer cells. In addition, Mfn2 inhibited pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and ROS production. Assessment of Kaplan‐Meier curves showed that Mfn2 − pancreatic cancer has a worse prognosis than Mfn2 + pancreatic cancer has. Conclusions . Our finding suggests that Mfn2 induces cell autophagy of pancreatic cancer through inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Meanwhile, Mfn2 also influences multiple biological functions of pancreatic cancer cells. Mfn2 may act as a therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer treatment.

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are recently identified as important gene regulators with critical roles in cancer biology. In this study, we explored the effects of circ_0000388 on the malignant phenotypes of CC cells and its mechanism. Materials and Methods: Circ_0000388 expression and miR-337-3p expression in CC tissue samples were measured using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. CCK-8 was adopted to assess the effect of circ_0000388 on CC cell line proliferation. TUNEL assay was employed to probe the effect of circ_0000388 on apoptosis. Wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted to detect the effect of circ_0000388 on migration and invasion. Further, interaction among circ_0000388, miR-337-3p, and TCF12 (transcription factor 12) was determined by bioinformatics analysis, RT-PCR, Western blot, RNA immunoprecipitation assay, and luciferase reporter assay. Results: Circ_0000388 expression in CC clinical samples was upregulated and this was correlated with unfavorable pathological indexes. Circ_0000388 remarkably enhanced the proliferation and metastasis of CC cells. Circ_0000388 overexpression dramatically impeded miR-337-3p expression and it was identified as a sponge of miR-337-3p. Furthermore, circ_00003888 also enhanced the TCF12 expression, while the effect could be reversed by co-transfection with miR-377-3p. Conclusions: Circ_0000388 was a novel oncogenic circRNA in CC, and promoted cancer progression via regulating miR-337-3p and TCF12, and could be potentially used as a diagnostic biomarker and therapy target.

Background and Aims: It is challenging to predict the 90-day outcomes of patients infected with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) via prevailing predictive models. This study aimed to develop an innovative model to enhance the analytical efficacy of 90-day mortality in HBV-ACLF. Methods: In this study, 149 HBV-ACLF patients were evaluated by constructing a death risk prediction nomogram. Bootstrap resampling and an independent validation cohort comprising 31 patients from June 2019 to February 2020 were assessed for model confirmation. Results: The nomogram was constructed by entering and identifying five factors (age, total bilirubin, prothrombin activity (PTA), lymphocyte (L)%, and monocyte (M)%. Healthy refinement was achieved from the nomogram analysis, where the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.864 for the training cohort and 0.874 was achieved for the validation cohort. There was admirable concordance between the predicted and true results in the equilibrium curve. The decision curve assessment revealed the useful clinical application of the nomogram. Conclusions: We constructed an innovative nomogram and validated it for the prediction of 90-day HBV-ACLF patient outcomes. This model might help develop optimized treatment protocol recommendations for HBV-ACLF patients.

Objective:Observe the curative effect of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain on CINV pigeon so as to explore the possible mechanism.Methods: Use Cisplatin making pigeon acute CINV model and retardant CINV model.All pigeons were divided randomly into 8 groups: low dose of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain on acute CINV model,middle dose of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain on acute CINV model,high dose of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain on acute CINV model,saline solution on acute CINV model,acute CINV model without any drugs,ondansetron acute CINV model,Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling decoction on acute CINV model,Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain on retardant CINV model.Observe the curative effect of each group.Test the MTL assay in plasma by radiate-immunity method.Results: There are extremely anti vomiting effecting in ondasetron group,Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling decoction group,low dose of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain group and Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain on retardant CINV model group,simultaneity,the MTL assay in plasma were increased in the above mentioned groups.In the low dose of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain group,the anti vomiting effect is the most prominent,the MTL assay in plasma is affected mostly.There is no notable difference among the four groups.Conclusion: Low dose of Xiao Banxia Plus Fuling grain can extremely anti vomiting and affect the MTL assay in plasma.The mechanism may be that it is relative to the increase of MTL assay in plasma.

AIM:To study characteristic components and fingerprint of the essential oils of processed Rhizoma curcumae longae,and further use as one of evaluation of quality control. METHODS:The essential oils were ex-tracted by steam distillation from ten batches of samples,and the characteristic components of the essential oils were analysed by GC-MS. And then mutual fingerprint of the characteristic components was established by Microsoft Office Excel 2003. RESULTS:Twenty-seven characteristic components of essential oil consisted of Ar-turmerone,Tumerone,Curlone,α-Curcumene,α-Zingiberene,β-Sesquiphellandrene and their derivatives,which were compose of about 88. 8% ～94. 9% of the total essential oil. The retention time and peak area of the components appeared the characteristic fingerprint. CONCLUSION:The method and the fingerprint have a good reproducibility,and can be used to identify and evaluate the quality of processed Rhizome curcumae longae.