BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is an inflammation-associated tumor with a dismal prognosis.Immunotherapy has become an important treatment strategy for HCC,as immunity is closely related to inflammation in th...BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is an inflammation-associated tumor with a dismal prognosis.Immunotherapy has become an important treatment strategy for HCC,as immunity is closely related to inflammation in the tumor microenvir-onment.Inflammation regulates the expression of programmed death ligand-1(PD-L1)in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and affects im-munotherapy efficacy.Interleukin-17A(IL-17A)is involved in the remodeling of the tumor microenvironment and plays a protumor or antitumor role in different tumors.We hypothesized that IL-17A participates in tumor progression by affe-cting the level of immune checkpoint molecules in HCC.The upregulation of PD-L1 expression in HCC cells by IL-17A was assessed by reverse transcription PCR,western blotting,and flow cytometry.Mechanistic studies were conducted with gene knockout models and pathway inhibitors.The function of IL-17A in immune evasion was explored through coculture of T cells and HCC cells.The effects of IL-17A on the malignant biological behaviors of HCC cells were evaluated in vitro,and the antitumor effects of an IL-17A inhibitor and its synergistic effects with a PD-L1 inhibitor were studied in vivo.RESULTS IL-17A upregulated PD-L1 expression in HCC cells in a dose-dependent manner,whereas IL-17A receptor knockout or treatment with a small mothers against decapentaplegic 2 inhibitor diminished the PD-L1 expression induced by IL-17A.IL-17A enhanced the survival of HCC cells in the coculture system.IL-17A increased the viability,G2/M ratio,and migration of HCC cells and decreased the apoptotic index.Cyclin D1,VEGF,MMP9,and Bcl-1 expression increased after IL-17A treatment,whereas BAX expression decreased.The combination of IL-17A and PD-L1 inhibitors showed synergistic antitumor efficacy and increased cluster of differentiation 8+T lymphocyte infiltration in an HCC mouse model.CONCLUSION IL-17A upregulates PD-L1 expression via the IL-17A receptor/phosphorylation-small mothers against decapenta-plegic 2 signaling pathway in HCC cells.Blocking IL-17A enhances the therapeutic efficacy of PD-L1 antibodies in HCC in vivo.展开更多
BACKGROUND Gastric cancer(GC)is one of the most common malignancies worldwide,and Helicobacter pylori(HP)infection is a well-established risk factor for its development.Programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)expression is a ...BACKGROUND Gastric cancer(GC)is one of the most common malignancies worldwide,and Helicobacter pylori(HP)infection is a well-established risk factor for its development.Programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)expression is a crucial biomarker for predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment.While HP infection and PD-L1 expression in GC may be linked,the relationship between them remains unclear,in part because there have been conflicting results reported from various studies.AIM To perform a meta-analysis to assess the relationship between HP and PD-L1 expression in patients with GC.METHODS A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,and Web of Science databases.Observational studies that examined the association between HP infection and PD-L1 expression in patients with GC were included.Odds ratios and 95%confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the association.Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochrane’s Q test and I²statistic.A random-effects model was used due to significant heterogeneity across studies.RESULTS Fourteen studies involving a total of 3069 patients with GC were included.The pooled analysis showed a significant association between HP infection and increased PD-L1 expression in GC tissues(odd ratio=1.69,95%confidence interval:1.24-2.29,P<0.001,I^(2)=59%).Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.Subgroup analyses did not show significant variation based on geographic region,sample size,or method of PD-L1 assessment.Publication bias was minimal,as shown by funnel plots and Egger’s regression test.CONCLUSION HP infection is associated with increased PD-L1 expression in GC,suggesting that HP status may influence the response to programmed cell death protein 1/PD-L1 blockade therapy.展开更多
Over the last two decades,the dogma that cell fate is immutable has been increasingly challenged,with important implications for regenerative medicine.The brea kth rough discovery that induced pluripotent stem cells c...Over the last two decades,the dogma that cell fate is immutable has been increasingly challenged,with important implications for regenerative medicine.The brea kth rough discovery that induced pluripotent stem cells could be generated from adult mouse fibroblasts is powerful proof that cell fate can be changed.An exciting extension of the discovery of cell fate impermanence is the direct cellular reprogram ming hypothesis-that terminally differentiated cells can be reprogrammed into other adult cell fates without first passing through a stem cell state.展开更多
The brain's extracellular matrix(ECM),which is comprised of protein and glycosaminoglycan(GAG)scaffolds,constitutes 20%-40% of the human brain and is considered one of the largest influencers on brain cell functio...The brain's extracellular matrix(ECM),which is comprised of protein and glycosaminoglycan(GAG)scaffolds,constitutes 20%-40% of the human brain and is considered one of the largest influencers on brain cell functioning(Soles et al.,2023).Synthesized by neural and glial cells,the brain's ECM regulates a myriad of homeostatic cellular processes,including neuronal plasticity and firing(Miyata et al.,2012),cation buffering(Moraws ki et al.,2015),and glia-neuron interactions(Anderson et al.,2016).Considering the diversity of functions,dynamic remodeling of the brain's ECM indicates that this understudied medium is an active participant in both normal physiology and neurological diseases.展开更多
BACKGROUND Breast cancer(BC)continues to occupy a leading position in terms of morbidity and mortality from malignant neoplasms among the female population.One of the promising markers associated with BC progression i...BACKGROUND Breast cancer(BC)continues to occupy a leading position in terms of morbidity and mortality from malignant neoplasms among the female population.One of the promising markers associated with BC progression is programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1).Previously,we investigated PD-L1 expression in BC via a new antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 ligand 1(PDCD1 LG1)and reported that high PDCD1 LG1 expression in tumor cells is an independent factor for a high risk of regional metastasis in patients with BC.However,the prognostic significance of PDCD1 LG1 expression in BC stromal cells has not been adequately studied.AIM To study the features of PDCD1 LG1 expression in BC stromal cells and its relationship with BC clinicopathological characteristics.METHODS In a prospective single-center observational study,tumor samples from 148 patients with newly diagnosed BC were examined.The tumor sections were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies against PDCD1 LG1.In the tumor samples,the PDCD1 LG1-positive lymphocyte(PDCD1 LG1+LF)score,presence of nuclear PDCD1 LG1 expression in the LFs,PDCD1 LG1 expression in polymorphic cell infiltrates(PDCD1 LG1+polymorphic cell infiltrates[PCIs]),and cells of the fibroblastic stroma and endothelial cells of the tumor microvessels were assessed.Statistical analyses were performed using Statistica 10.0 software.RESULTS A PDCD1 LG1+LF score≥3 was detected more often at stages N0 and N3 than at N1 and N2(P=0.03).Moderate and pronounced PDCD1 LG1+PCIs and the presence of PDCD1 LG1+fibroblastic stroma were associated with negative estrogen receptor status(P=0.0008 and P=0.03,respectively),human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive(HER2+)BC(P<0.00001 and P=0.0005),and luminal B HER2+,non-luminal HER2+and triple-negative BC(P<0.00001 and P=0.004).The risk of metastasis to regional lymph nodes(RLNs)depend on lymphovascular invasion(LVI)and the PDCD1 LG1+LF score.In the absence of LVI and a PDCD1 LG1+LF score<3 or≥3,metastases in RLNs were absent in 66.6%and 93.9%of patients with BC,respectively.In the presence of LVI and a PDCD1 LG1+LF score<3 or≥3,metastases in RLNs were detected in 82.6%and 92.7%of patients with BC,respectively.CONCLUSION The results indicated that the combined assessment of the PDCD1 LG1+LF score and LVI can improve the accuracy of predicting the risk of metastasis to RLNs in patients with BC.展开更多
Generating dynamically feasible trajectory for fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)in dense obstacle environments remains computationally intractable.This paper proposes a Safe Flight Corridor constrained Sequent...Generating dynamically feasible trajectory for fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)in dense obstacle environments remains computationally intractable.This paper proposes a Safe Flight Corridor constrained Sequential Convex Programming(SFC-SCP)to improve the computation efficiency and reliability of trajectory generation.SFC-SCP combines the front-end convex polyhedron SFC construction and back-end SCP-based trajectory optimization.A Sparse A^(*)Search(SAS)driven SFC construction method is designed to efficiently generate polyhedron SFC according to the geometric relation among obstacles and collision-free waypoints.Via transforming the nonconvex obstacle-avoidance constraints to linear inequality constraints,SFC can mitigate infeasibility of trajectory planning and reduce computation complexity.Then,SCP casts the nonlinear trajectory optimization subject to SFC into convex programming subproblems to decrease the problem complexity.In addition,a convex optimizer based on interior point method is customized,where the search direction is calculated via successive elimination to further improve efficiency.Simulation experiments on dense obstacle scenarios show that SFC-SCP can generate dynamically feasible safe trajectory rapidly.Comparative studies with state-of-the-art SCP-based methods demonstrate the efficiency and reliability merits of SFC-SCP.Besides,the customized convex optimizer outperforms off-the-shelf optimizers in terms of computation time.展开更多
Deep-time Earth research plays a pivotal role in deciphering the rates,patterns,and mechanisms of Earth's evolutionary processes throughout geological history,providing essential scientific foundations for climate...Deep-time Earth research plays a pivotal role in deciphering the rates,patterns,and mechanisms of Earth's evolutionary processes throughout geological history,providing essential scientific foundations for climate prediction,natural resource exploration,and sustainable planetary stewardship.To advance Deep-time Earth research in the era of big data and artificial intelligence,the International Union of Geological Sciences initiated the“Deeptime Digital Earth International Big Science Program”(DDE)in 2019.At the core of this ambitious program lies the development of geoscience knowledge graphs,serving as a transformative knowledge infrastructure that enables the integration,sharing,mining,and analysis of heterogeneous geoscience big data.The DDE knowledge graph initiative has made significant strides in three critical dimensions:(1)establishing a unified knowledge structure across geoscience disciplines that ensures consistent representation of geological entities and their interrelationships through standardized ontologies and semantic frameworks;(2)developing a robust and scalable software infrastructure capable of supporting both expert-driven and machine-assisted knowledge engineering for large-scale graph construction and management;(3)implementing a comprehensive three-tiered architecture encompassing basic,discipline-specific,and application-oriented knowledge graphs,spanning approximately 20 geoscience disciplines.Through its open knowledge framework and international collaborative network,this initiative has fostered multinational research collaborations,establishing a robust foundation for next-generation geoscience research while propelling the discipline toward FAIR(Findable,Accessible,Interoperable,Reusable)data practices in deep-time Earth systems research.展开更多
基金Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province,No.21JR7RA373 and No.24JRRA295.
文摘BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is an inflammation-associated tumor with a dismal prognosis.Immunotherapy has become an important treatment strategy for HCC,as immunity is closely related to inflammation in the tumor microenvir-onment.Inflammation regulates the expression of programmed death ligand-1(PD-L1)in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and affects im-munotherapy efficacy.Interleukin-17A(IL-17A)is involved in the remodeling of the tumor microenvironment and plays a protumor or antitumor role in different tumors.We hypothesized that IL-17A participates in tumor progression by affe-cting the level of immune checkpoint molecules in HCC.The upregulation of PD-L1 expression in HCC cells by IL-17A was assessed by reverse transcription PCR,western blotting,and flow cytometry.Mechanistic studies were conducted with gene knockout models and pathway inhibitors.The function of IL-17A in immune evasion was explored through coculture of T cells and HCC cells.The effects of IL-17A on the malignant biological behaviors of HCC cells were evaluated in vitro,and the antitumor effects of an IL-17A inhibitor and its synergistic effects with a PD-L1 inhibitor were studied in vivo.RESULTS IL-17A upregulated PD-L1 expression in HCC cells in a dose-dependent manner,whereas IL-17A receptor knockout or treatment with a small mothers against decapentaplegic 2 inhibitor diminished the PD-L1 expression induced by IL-17A.IL-17A enhanced the survival of HCC cells in the coculture system.IL-17A increased the viability,G2/M ratio,and migration of HCC cells and decreased the apoptotic index.Cyclin D1,VEGF,MMP9,and Bcl-1 expression increased after IL-17A treatment,whereas BAX expression decreased.The combination of IL-17A and PD-L1 inhibitors showed synergistic antitumor efficacy and increased cluster of differentiation 8+T lymphocyte infiltration in an HCC mouse model.CONCLUSION IL-17A upregulates PD-L1 expression via the IL-17A receptor/phosphorylation-small mothers against decapenta-plegic 2 signaling pathway in HCC cells.Blocking IL-17A enhances the therapeutic efficacy of PD-L1 antibodies in HCC in vivo.
文摘BACKGROUND Gastric cancer(GC)is one of the most common malignancies worldwide,and Helicobacter pylori(HP)infection is a well-established risk factor for its development.Programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)expression is a crucial biomarker for predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment.While HP infection and PD-L1 expression in GC may be linked,the relationship between them remains unclear,in part because there have been conflicting results reported from various studies.AIM To perform a meta-analysis to assess the relationship between HP and PD-L1 expression in patients with GC.METHODS A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,and Web of Science databases.Observational studies that examined the association between HP infection and PD-L1 expression in patients with GC were included.Odds ratios and 95%confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the association.Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochrane’s Q test and I²statistic.A random-effects model was used due to significant heterogeneity across studies.RESULTS Fourteen studies involving a total of 3069 patients with GC were included.The pooled analysis showed a significant association between HP infection and increased PD-L1 expression in GC tissues(odd ratio=1.69,95%confidence interval:1.24-2.29,P<0.001,I^(2)=59%).Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.Subgroup analyses did not show significant variation based on geographic region,sample size,or method of PD-L1 assessment.Publication bias was minimal,as shown by funnel plots and Egger’s regression test.CONCLUSION HP infection is associated with increased PD-L1 expression in GC,suggesting that HP status may influence the response to programmed cell death protein 1/PD-L1 blockade therapy.
基金supported by Canada First Research Excellence Fund,Medicine by Design(to CMM)。
文摘Over the last two decades,the dogma that cell fate is immutable has been increasingly challenged,with important implications for regenerative medicine.The brea kth rough discovery that induced pluripotent stem cells could be generated from adult mouse fibroblasts is powerful proof that cell fate can be changed.An exciting extension of the discovery of cell fate impermanence is the direct cellular reprogram ming hypothesis-that terminally differentiated cells can be reprogrammed into other adult cell fates without first passing through a stem cell state.
基金supported by National Institute on Aging(NIH-NIA)R21 AG074152(to KMA)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(NIAID)grant DP2 AI171150(to KMA)Department of Defense(DoD)grant AZ210089(to KMA)。
文摘The brain's extracellular matrix(ECM),which is comprised of protein and glycosaminoglycan(GAG)scaffolds,constitutes 20%-40% of the human brain and is considered one of the largest influencers on brain cell functioning(Soles et al.,2023).Synthesized by neural and glial cells,the brain's ECM regulates a myriad of homeostatic cellular processes,including neuronal plasticity and firing(Miyata et al.,2012),cation buffering(Moraws ki et al.,2015),and glia-neuron interactions(Anderson et al.,2016).Considering the diversity of functions,dynamic remodeling of the brain's ECM indicates that this understudied medium is an active participant in both normal physiology and neurological diseases.
基金Supported by Russian Science Foundation,No.23-25-00183.
文摘BACKGROUND Breast cancer(BC)continues to occupy a leading position in terms of morbidity and mortality from malignant neoplasms among the female population.One of the promising markers associated with BC progression is programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1).Previously,we investigated PD-L1 expression in BC via a new antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 ligand 1(PDCD1 LG1)and reported that high PDCD1 LG1 expression in tumor cells is an independent factor for a high risk of regional metastasis in patients with BC.However,the prognostic significance of PDCD1 LG1 expression in BC stromal cells has not been adequately studied.AIM To study the features of PDCD1 LG1 expression in BC stromal cells and its relationship with BC clinicopathological characteristics.METHODS In a prospective single-center observational study,tumor samples from 148 patients with newly diagnosed BC were examined.The tumor sections were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies against PDCD1 LG1.In the tumor samples,the PDCD1 LG1-positive lymphocyte(PDCD1 LG1+LF)score,presence of nuclear PDCD1 LG1 expression in the LFs,PDCD1 LG1 expression in polymorphic cell infiltrates(PDCD1 LG1+polymorphic cell infiltrates[PCIs]),and cells of the fibroblastic stroma and endothelial cells of the tumor microvessels were assessed.Statistical analyses were performed using Statistica 10.0 software.RESULTS A PDCD1 LG1+LF score≥3 was detected more often at stages N0 and N3 than at N1 and N2(P=0.03).Moderate and pronounced PDCD1 LG1+PCIs and the presence of PDCD1 LG1+fibroblastic stroma were associated with negative estrogen receptor status(P=0.0008 and P=0.03,respectively),human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive(HER2+)BC(P<0.00001 and P=0.0005),and luminal B HER2+,non-luminal HER2+and triple-negative BC(P<0.00001 and P=0.004).The risk of metastasis to regional lymph nodes(RLNs)depend on lymphovascular invasion(LVI)and the PDCD1 LG1+LF score.In the absence of LVI and a PDCD1 LG1+LF score<3 or≥3,metastases in RLNs were absent in 66.6%and 93.9%of patients with BC,respectively.In the presence of LVI and a PDCD1 LG1+LF score<3 or≥3,metastases in RLNs were detected in 82.6%and 92.7%of patients with BC,respectively.CONCLUSION The results indicated that the combined assessment of the PDCD1 LG1+LF score and LVI can improve the accuracy of predicting the risk of metastasis to RLNs in patients with BC.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.62203256)。
文摘Generating dynamically feasible trajectory for fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)in dense obstacle environments remains computationally intractable.This paper proposes a Safe Flight Corridor constrained Sequential Convex Programming(SFC-SCP)to improve the computation efficiency and reliability of trajectory generation.SFC-SCP combines the front-end convex polyhedron SFC construction and back-end SCP-based trajectory optimization.A Sparse A^(*)Search(SAS)driven SFC construction method is designed to efficiently generate polyhedron SFC according to the geometric relation among obstacles and collision-free waypoints.Via transforming the nonconvex obstacle-avoidance constraints to linear inequality constraints,SFC can mitigate infeasibility of trajectory planning and reduce computation complexity.Then,SCP casts the nonlinear trajectory optimization subject to SFC into convex programming subproblems to decrease the problem complexity.In addition,a convex optimizer based on interior point method is customized,where the search direction is calculated via successive elimination to further improve efficiency.Simulation experiments on dense obstacle scenarios show that SFC-SCP can generate dynamically feasible safe trajectory rapidly.Comparative studies with state-of-the-art SCP-based methods demonstrate the efficiency and reliability merits of SFC-SCP.Besides,the customized convex optimizer outperforms off-the-shelf optimizers in terms of computation time.
基金Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,No.XDB0740000National Key Research and Development Program of China,No.2022YFB3904200,No.2022YFF0711601+1 种基金Key Project of Innovation LREIS,No.PI009National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.42471503。
文摘Deep-time Earth research plays a pivotal role in deciphering the rates,patterns,and mechanisms of Earth's evolutionary processes throughout geological history,providing essential scientific foundations for climate prediction,natural resource exploration,and sustainable planetary stewardship.To advance Deep-time Earth research in the era of big data and artificial intelligence,the International Union of Geological Sciences initiated the“Deeptime Digital Earth International Big Science Program”(DDE)in 2019.At the core of this ambitious program lies the development of geoscience knowledge graphs,serving as a transformative knowledge infrastructure that enables the integration,sharing,mining,and analysis of heterogeneous geoscience big data.The DDE knowledge graph initiative has made significant strides in three critical dimensions:(1)establishing a unified knowledge structure across geoscience disciplines that ensures consistent representation of geological entities and their interrelationships through standardized ontologies and semantic frameworks;(2)developing a robust and scalable software infrastructure capable of supporting both expert-driven and machine-assisted knowledge engineering for large-scale graph construction and management;(3)implementing a comprehensive three-tiered architecture encompassing basic,discipline-specific,and application-oriented knowledge graphs,spanning approximately 20 geoscience disciplines.Through its open knowledge framework and international collaborative network,this initiative has fostered multinational research collaborations,establishing a robust foundation for next-generation geoscience research while propelling the discipline toward FAIR(Findable,Accessible,Interoperable,Reusable)data practices in deep-time Earth systems research.
