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Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Hospital / health systemDalian, China

Research output, citation impact, and the most-cited recent papers from Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University (China). Aggregated across the NobleBlocks index of 300M+ scholarly works.

Total works
9.0K
Citations
336.3K
h-index
175
i10-index
7.3K
Also known as
Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Top-cited papers from Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Conservative Treatment of Acute and Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain
Maurits W. van Tulder, Bart W. Koes, L.M. Bouter
1997· Spine988doi:10.1097/00007632-199709150-00012

STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of the most common conservative types of treatment for patients with acute and chronic nonspecific low back pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Many treatment options for acute and chronic low back pain are available, but little is known about the optimal treatment strategy. METHODS: A rating system was used to assess the strength of the evidence, based on the methodologic quality of the randomized controlled trials, the relevance of the outcome measures, and the consistency of the results. RESULTS: The number of randomized controlled trials identified varied widely with regard to the interventions involved. The scores ranged from 20 to 79 points for acute low back pain and from 19 to 79 points for chronic low back pain on a 100-point scale, indicating the overall poor quality of the trials. Overall, only 28 (35%) randomized controlled trials on acute low back pain and 20 (25%) on chronic low back pain had a methodologic score of 50 or more points, and were considered to be of high quality. Various methodologic flaws were identified. Strong evidence was found for the effectiveness of muscle relaxants and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the ineffectiveness of exercise therapy for acute low back pain; strong evidence also was found for the effectiveness of manipulation, back schools, and exercise therapy for chronic low back pain, especially for short-term effects. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of the design, execution, and reporting of randomized controlled trials should be improved, to establish strong evidence for the effectiveness of the various therapeutic interventions for acute and chronic low back pain.

Ischemia-induced ACSL4 activation contributes to ferroptosis-mediated tissue injury in intestinal ischemia/reperfusion
Li Yang, Dongcheng Feng, Zhanyu Wang, Yan Zhao +4 more
2019· Cell Death and Differentiation870doi:10.1038/s41418-019-0299-4

Ferroptosis is a recently identified form of regulated cell death defined by the iron-dependent accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species. Ferroptosis has been studied in various diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. However, the exact function and mechanism of ferroptosis in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, especially in the intestine, remains unknown. Considering the unique conditions required for ferroptosis, we hypothesize that ischemia promotes ferroptosis immediately after intestinal reperfusion. In contrast to conventional strategies employed in I/R studies, we focused on the ischemic phase. Here we verified ferroptosis by assessing proferroptotic changes after ischemia along with protein and lipid peroxidation levels during reperfusion. The inhibition of ferroptosis by liproxstatin-1 ameliorated I/R-induced intestinal injury. Acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4), which is a key enzyme that regulates lipid composition, has been shown to contribute to the execution of ferroptosis, but its role in I/R needs clarification. In the present study, we used rosiglitazone (ROSI) and siRNA to inhibit ischemia/hypoxia-induced ACSL4 in vivo and in vitro. The results demonstrated that ACSL4 inhibition before reperfusion protected against ferroptosis and cell death. Further investigation revealed that special protein 1 (Sp1) was a crucial transcription factor that increased ACSL4 transcription by binding to the ACSL4 promoter region. Collectively, this study demonstrates that ferroptosis is closely associated with intestinal I/R injury, and that ACSL4 has a critical role in this lethal process. Sp1 is an important factor in promoting ACSL4 expression. These results suggest a unique and effective mechanistic approach for intestinal I/R injury prevention and treatment.

Efficient backsplicing produces translatable circular mRNAs
Yang Wang, Zefeng Wang
2014· RNA671doi:10.1261/rna.048272.114

While the human transcriptome contains a large number of circular RNAs (circRNAs), the functions of most circRNAs remain unclear. Sequence annotation suggests that most circRNAs are generated from splicing in reversed orders across exons. However, the mechanisms of this backsplicing are largely unknown. Here we constructed a single exon minigene containing split GFP, and found that the pre-mRNA indeed produces circRNA through efficient backsplicing in human and Drosophila cells. The backsplicing is enhanced by complementary introns that form double-stranded RNA structure to bring splice sites in proximity, but such structure is not required. Moreover, backsplicing is regulated by general splicing factors and cis-elements, but with regulatory rules distinct from canonical splicing. The resulting circRNA can be translated to generate functional proteins. Unlike linear mRNA, poly-adenosine or poly-thymidine in 3' UTR can inhibit circular mRNA translation. This study revealed that backsplicing can occur efficiently in diverse eukaryotes to generate circular mRNAs.

Alterations of the Gut Microbiome in Hypertension
Qiulong Yan, Yifang Gu, Xiangchun Li, Wei Yang +4 more
2017· Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology516doi:10.3389/fcimb.2017.00381

Introduction: Human gut microbiota is believed to be directly or indirectly involved in cardiovascular diseases and hypertension. However, the identification and functional status of the hypertension-related gut microbe(s) have not yet been surveyed in a comprehensive manner. Methods: Here we characterized the gut microbiome in hypertension status by comparing fecal samples of 60 patients with primary hypertension and 60 gender-, age-, and body weight-matched healthy controls based on whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing. Results: Hypertension implicated a remarkable gut dysbiosis with significant reduction in within-sample diversity and shift in microbial composition. Metagenome-wide association study (MGWAS) revealed 53,953 microbial genes that differ in distribution between the patients and healthy controls (false discovery rate, 0.05) and can be grouped into 68 clusters representing bacterial species. Opportunistic pathogenic taxa, such as Klebsiella spp., Streptococcus spp. and Parabacteroides merdae were frequently distributed in hypertensive gut microbiome, whereas the short-chain fatty acid producer, such as Roseburia spp. and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, were higher in controls. The number of hypertension-associated species also showed stronger correlation to the severity of disease. Functionally, the hypertensive gut microbiome exhibited higher membrane transport, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and steroid degradation, while in controls the metabolism of amino acid, cofactors and vitamins was found to be higher. We further provided the microbial markers for disease discrimination and achieved an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.78, demonstrating the potential of gut microbiota in prediction of hypertension. Conclusion: These findings represent specific alterations in microbial diversity, genes, species and functions of the hypertensive gut microbiome. Further studies on the causality relationship between hypertension and gut microbiota will offer new prospects for treating and preventing the hypertension and its associated diseases.

Posterior Vertebral Column Resection For Severe Spinal Deformities
Se-Il Suk, Jin-Hyok Kim, Wonjoong Kim, Sang‐Min Lee +2 more
2002· Spine491doi:10.1097/00007632-200211010-00012

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: To report a technique of vertebral column resection through a single posterior approach and its preliminary results in the treatment of moderate to severe spinal deformities with limited flexibility. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Vertebral column resection is a formidable operation reserved for moderate to severe deformities with limited flexibility. The authors devised a technique of vertebral column resection through a single posterior approach that offers significant advantages over the anterior-posterior vertebral column resection. METHODS: Seventy spinal deformity patients treated by posterior vertebral column resection were reviewed. Minimum follow-up was 2 years (range 2-3.3 years). There were 34 males and 36 females with a mean age of 27.4 years at the time of the operation. Etiologic diagnoses were adult scoliosis in 7, congenital kyphoscoliosis in 38, and postinfectious kyphosis in 25. The surgery consisted of temporary stabilization of the vertebral column with segmental pedicle screw fixation, resection of the vertebral column at the apex of the deformity via the posterior route, followed by gradual deformity correction and global fusion. RESULTS: The total number of resected vertebrae was 143: 76 in thoracic and 67 in lumbar. Mean operation time was 4 hours, 31 minutes with average blood loss of 2333 mL. The deformity correction was 61.9% in the coronal plane and 45.2 degrees in the sagittal plane. Complications were encountered in 24 patients: 2 complete cord injuries in severe adult scoliosis and thoracic kyphosis patient who had significant preoperative cord compromise, 6 hematomas, 4 root injuries (all incomplete), 5 fixation failures, 2 infections, and 5 hemopneumothoraxes. CONCLUSIONS: Posterior vertebral column resection is an effective alternative for moderate to severe deformities with limited flexibility. However, it is a technically demanding and exhausting procedure with possible risks for major complications.

Cold and hot tumors: from molecular mechanisms to targeted therapy
Bo Wu, Bo Zhang, Bowen Li, Haijing Wu +1 more
2024· Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy476doi:10.1038/s41392-024-01979-x

Immunotherapy has made significant strides in cancer treatment, particularly through immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), which has shown notable clinical benefits across various tumor types. Despite the transformative impact of ICB treatment in cancer therapy, only a minority of patients exhibit a positive response to it. In patients with solid tumors, those who respond well to ICB treatment typically demonstrate an active immune profile referred to as the "hot" (immune-inflamed) phenotype. On the other hand, non-responsive patients may exhibit a distinct "cold" (immune-desert) phenotype, differing from the features of "hot" tumors. Additionally, there is a more nuanced "excluded" immune phenotype, positioned between the "cold" and "hot" categories, known as the immune "excluded" type. Effective differentiation between "cold" and "hot" tumors, and understanding tumor intrinsic factors, immune characteristics, TME, and external factors are critical for predicting tumor response and treatment results. It is widely accepted that ICB therapy exerts a more profound effect on "hot" tumors, with limited efficacy against "cold" or "altered" tumors, necessitating combinations with other therapeutic modalities to enhance immune cell infiltration into tumor tissue and convert "cold" or "altered" tumors into "hot" ones. Therefore, aligning with the traits of "cold" and "hot" tumors, this review systematically delineates the respective immune characteristics, influencing factors, and extensively discusses varied treatment approaches and drug targets based on "cold" and "hot" tumors to assess clinical efficacy.

E3 ubiquitin ligases: styles, structures and functions
Quan Yang, Jinyao Zhao, Dan Chen, Yang Wang
2021· Molecular Biomedicine399doi:10.1186/s43556-021-00043-2

E3 ubiquitin ligases are a large family of enzymes that join in a three-enzyme ubiquitination cascade together with ubiquitin activating enzyme E1 and ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2. E3 ubiquitin ligases play an essential role in catalyzing the ubiquitination process and transferring ubiquitin protein to attach the lysine site of targeted substrates. Importantly, ubiquitination modification is involved in almost all life activities of eukaryotes. Thus, E3 ligases might be involved in regulating various biological processes and cellular responses to stress signal associated with cancer development. Thanks to their multi-functions, E3 ligases can be a promising target of cancer therapy. A deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of E3 ligases in tumorigenesis will help to find new prognostic markers and accelerate the growth of anticancer therapeutic approaches. In general, we mainly introduce the classifications of E3 ligases and their important roles in cancer progression and therapeutic functions.

Glycoproteomics Analysis of Human Liver Tissue by Combination of Multiple Enzyme Digestion and Hydrazide Chemistry
Rui Chen, Xinning Jiang, Deguang Sun, Guanghui Han +4 more
2009· Journal of Proteome Research398doi:10.1021/pr8008012

The study of protein glycosylation has lagged far behind the progress of current proteomics because of the enormous complexity, wide dynamic range distribution and low stoichiometric modification of glycoprotein. Solid phase extraction of tryptic N-glycopeptides by hydrazide chemistry is becoming a popular protocol for the analysis of N-glycoproteome. However, in silico digestion of proteins in human proteome database by trypsin indicates that a significant percentage of tryptic N-glycopeptides is not in the preferred detection mass range of shotgun proteomics approach, that is, from 800 to 3500 Da. And the quite big size of glycan groups may block trypsin to access the K, R residues near N-glycosites for digestion, which will result in generation of big glycopeptides. Thus many N-glycosites could not be localized if only trypsin was used to digest proteins. Herein, we describe a comprehensive way to analyze the N-glycoproteome of human liver tissue by combination of hydrazide chemistry method and multiple enzyme digestion. The lysate of human liver tissue was digested with three proteases, that is, trypsin, pepsin and thermolysin, with different specificities, separately. Use of trypsin alone resulted in identification of 622 N-glycosites, while using pepsin and thermolysin resulted in identification of 317 additional N-glycosites. Among the 317 additional N-glycosites, 98 (30.9%) could not be identified by trypsin in theory because the corresponding in silico tryptic peptides are either too small or too big to detect in mass spectrometer. This study clearly demonstrated that the coverage of N-glycosites could be significantly increased due to the adoption of multiple enzyme digestion. A total number of 939 N-glycosites were identified confidently, covering 523 noredundant glycoproteins from human liver tissue, which leads to the establishment of the largest data set of glycoproteome from human liver up to now.

Epidemiology and Clinical Correlates of AKI in Chinese Hospitalized Adults
Xin Xu, Sheng Nie, Zhangsuo Liu, Chunbo Chen +4 more
2015· Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology348doi:10.2215/cjn.02140215

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Comprehensive epidemiologic data on AKI are particularly lacking in Asian countries. This study sought to assess the epidemiology and clinical correlates of AKI among hospitalized adults in China. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 659,945 hospitalized adults from a wide range of clinical settings in nine regional central hospitals across China in 2013. AKI was defined and staged according to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria. The incidence of AKI in the cohort was estimated using a novel two-step approach with adjustment for the frequency of serum creatinine tests and other potential confounders. Risk factor profiles for hospital-acquired (HA) and community-acquired (CA) AKI were examined. The in-hospital outcomes of AKI, including mortality, renal recovery, length of stay, and daily cost, were assessed. RESULTS: The incidence of CA-AKI and HA-AKI was 2.5% and 9.1%, respectively, giving rise to an overall incidence of 11.6%. Although the risk profiles for CA-AKI and HA-AKI differed, preexisting CKD was a major risk factor for both, contributing to 20% of risk in CA-AKI and 12% of risk in HA-AKI. About 40% of AKI cases were possibly drug-related and 16% may have been induced by Chinese traditional medicines or remedies. The in-hospital mortality of AKI was 8.8%. The risk of in-hospital death was higher among patients with more severe AKI. Preexisting CKD and need for intensive care unit admission were associated with higher death risk in patients at any stage of AKI. Transiency of AKI did not modify the risk of in-hospital death. AKI was associated with longer length of stay and higher daily costs, even after adjustment for confounders. CONCLUSION: AKI is common in hospitalized adults in China and is associated with significantly higher in-hospital mortality and resource utilization.

Increased Fusion Rates With Cervical Plating for Two-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion
Jeffrey C. Wang, Paul W. McDonough, Kevin K. Endow, Rick B. Delamarter
2000· Spine344doi:10.1097/00007632-200001010-00009

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective review of all patients surgically treated with a two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with and without anterior plate fixation by a single surgeon. OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical and radiographic success of two-level discectomy and the effect of anterior cervical plate fixation. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Prior studies of multisegment fusions have shown decreased fusion rates correlating with the number of increased levels. The use of anterior plates for single-level cervical fusions is controversial. However, their use in multilevel fusions may be warranted because of the increased pseudarthrosis rates. METHODS: Over a 6-year period, 60 patients were treated surgically with a two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion by the senior author. Thirty-two patients had cervical plates, and 28 underwent fusions without plates. These patients were followed for an average of 2.7 years. Clinical and radiographic follow-up evaluations were performed. RESULTS: Of the 60 patients, 7 had a pseudarthrosis. The pseudarthrosis rates were 0% for patients with plating and 25% for those with no plating. This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.003). No correlation of pseudarthrosis with gender, age, level of surgery, history of tobacco use, or the presence of prior anterior surgery was found. There was significantly less graft collapse (P = 0.0001) in the patients without plates in whom pseudarthrosis developed (1.4 mm) than in those who had fusions with plates (0.3 mm). The amount of kyphotic deformity of the fused segment was 0.4 degree in patients with plating compared with 4.9 degrees in those without plating who developed a pseudarthrosis (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of plate fixation for two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is a safe procedure with no significant increase in complication rates. The pseudarthrosis rates are significantly higher in patients treated without plate fixation. No nonunions occurred in the patients treated with plate fixation. There was significantly less disc space collapse and kyphotic deformity with the plated fusions than with the nonplated fusions, in which a pseudarthrosis developed. The complication rates for plated fusions are extremely low and do not differ from those for nonplated fusions.

Genomic Profiling of Adult and Pediatric B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Yuanfang Liu, Baiyan Wang, Weina Zhang, Jin-Yan Huang +4 more
2016· EBioMedicine341doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.04.038

Genomic landscapes of 92 adult and 111 pediatric patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) were investigated using next-generation sequencing and copy number alteration analysis. Recurrent gene mutations and fusions were tested in an additional 87 adult and 93 pediatric patients. Among the 29 newly identified in-frame gene fusions, those involving MEF2D and ZNF384 were clinically relevant and were demonstrated to perturb B-cell differentiation, with EP300-ZNF384 inducing leukemia in mice. Eight gene expression subgroups associated with characteristic genetic abnormalities were identified, including leukemia with MEF2D and ZNF384 fusions in two distinct clusters. In subgroup G4 which was characterized by ERG deletion, DUX4-IGH fusion was detected in most cases. This comprehensive dataset allowed us to compare the features of molecular pathogenesis between adult and pediatric B-ALL and to identify signatures possibly related to the inferior outcome of adults to that of children. We found that, besides the known discrepancies in frequencies of prognostic markers, adult patients had more cooperative mutations and greater enrichment for alterations of epigenetic modifiers and genes linked to B-cell development, suggesting difference in the target cells of transformation between adult and pediatric patients and may explain in part the disparity in their responses to treatment.

Glycolysis gatekeeper PDK1 reprograms breast cancer stem cells under hypoxia
Fei Peng, J-H Wang, W-J Fan, Y-T Meng +4 more
2017· Oncogene321doi:10.1038/onc.2017.368

Abstract Glycolysis is critical for cancer stem cell reprogramming; however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we show that pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) is enriched in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), whereas depletion of PDK1 remarkably diminishes ALDH + subpopulations, decreases stemness-related transcriptional factor expression, and inhibits sphere-formation ability and tumor growth. Conversely, high levels of PDK1 enhance BCSC properties and are correlated with poor overall survival. In mouse xenograft tumor, PDK1 is accumulated in hypoxic regions and activates glycolysis to promote stem-like traits. Moreover, through screening hypoxia-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in PDK1-positive tissue, we find that lncRNA H19 is responsible for glycolysis and BCSC maintenance. Furthermore, H19 knockdown decreases PDK1 expression in hypoxia, and ablation of PDK1 counteracts H19-mediated glycolysis and self-renewal ability in vitro and in vivo . Accordingly, H19 and PDK1 expression exhibits strong correlations in primary breast carcinomas. H19 acting as a competitive endogenous RNA sequesters miRNA let-7 to release Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α, leading to an increase in PDK1 expression. Lastly, aspirin markedly attenuates glycolysis and cancer stem-like characteristics by suppressing both H19 and PDK1. Thus, these novel findings demonstrate that the glycolysis gatekeeper PDK1 has a critical role in BCSC reprogramming and provides a potential therapeutic strategy for breast malignancy.

Maternal Subclinical Hypothyroidism, Thyroid Autoimmunity, and the Risk of Miscarriage: A Prospective Cohort Study
Haixia Liu, Zhongyan Shan, Chenyan Li, Jinyuan Mao +4 more
2014· Thyroid319doi:10.1089/thy.2014.0029

BACKGROUND: Increasing data suggest that subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, but there are limited data on the association of these conditions in early pregnancy with subsequent miscarriage. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, we screened 3315 women at low risk for thyroid dysfunction at four to eight weeks' gestation from iodine-sufficient areas of China between January 2012 and September 2012. Thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4), and the autoantibodies thyroid-peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) were measured. Based on these results, women were divided into four groups for comparison: euthyroidism (ET), isolated SCH, isolated TAI (positive TPOAb or/and TgAb), and SCH with TAI (SCH+TAI). The SCH group was stratified into two subgroups (SCH 1 and SCH 2) on the basis of the level of TSH (2.5 ≤ TSH < 5.22 or 5.22 ≤ TSH < 10 respectively). Accordingly, the SCH+TAI group was also stratified into two subgroups (SCH+TAI 1 and SCH+TAI 2). The outcome of interest was miscarriage, defined as spontaneous pregnancy loss prior to 20 weeks. RESULTS: Compared to women with ET, the risk of miscarriage was significantly higher among women with SCH 2 (7.1% vs. 2.2%, aOR 3.40 [CI 1.62-7.15]; p = 0.002), isolated TAI (5.7% vs. 2.2%, aOR 2.71 [CI 1.43-5.12]; p = 0.003), SCH+TAI 1 (10.0% vs. 2.2%, aOR 4.96 [CI 2.76-8.90]; p = 0.000), and SCH+TAI 2 (15.2% vs. 2.2%, aOR 9.56 [CI 3.76-24.28]; p = 0.000). The gestational ages of 110 women at miscarriage were lower among women with subclinical thyroid abnormalities compared to ET (11.13 ± 3.21 weeks with subclinical thyroid abnormalities vs. 9.33 ± 1.71 weeks with ET; p = 0.024). In parallel with the higher TSH levels, there were earlier gestation ages at miscarriage between subgroups of SCH and SCH+TAI (SCH 1 vs. SCH 2: 10.79 ± 1.77 vs. 9.70 ± 1.47 weeks, p = 0.039; SCH+TAI 1 vs. SCH+TAI 2: 9.59 ± 1.97 vs. 8.88 ± 1.24 weeks, p = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: Women with SCH and TAI are at an increased risk of miscarriage between four and eight gestational weeks. Women with a combination of SCH and TAI were found to have the highest risk and earlier gestational ages of miscarriage.

A Review of the Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Rosmarinic Acid on Inflammatory Diseases
Chunxu Luo, Lin Zou, Huijun Sun, Jinyong Peng +4 more
2020· Frontiers in Pharmacology313doi:10.3389/fphar.2020.00153

Inflammatory diseases are caused by abnormal immune responses and are characterized by an imbalance of inflammatory mediators and cells. In recent years, the anti-inflammatory activity of natural products has attracted wide attention. Rosmarinic acid (RosA) is a water-soluble phenolic compound that is an ester of caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid. It is found in many plants, such as the those of the Boraginaceae and Lamiaceae families. RosA has a wide range of pharmacological effects, such as anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic, anti-tumorigenic and anti-inflammatory effects.The anti-inflammatory effects of RosA have been revealed through in vitro and in vivo studies of various inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, colitis and atopic dermatitis. This review aims to discuss the anti-inflammatory effects of RosA in inflammatory diseases and its underlying mechanisms.

A distinct glucose metabolism signature of acute myeloid leukemia with prognostic value
Wen‐Lian Chen, Jinghan Wang, Aihua Zhao, Xin Xu +4 more
2014· Blood307doi:10.1182/blood-2014-02-554204

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of hematological malignancies with high heterogeneity. There is an increasing need to improve the risk stratification of AML patients, including those with normal cytogenetics, using molecular biomarkers. Here, we report a metabolomics study that identified a distinct glucose metabolism signature with 400 AML patients and 446 healthy controls. The glucose metabolism signature comprises a panel of 6 serum metabolite markers, which demonstrated prognostic value in cytogenetically normal AML patients. We generated a prognosis risk score (PRS) with 6 metabolite markers for each patient using principal component analysis. A low PRS was able to predict patients with poor survival independently of well-established markers. We further compared the gene expression patterns of AML blast cells between low and high PRS groups, which correlated well to the metabolic pathways involving the 6 metabolite markers, with enhanced glycolysis and tricarboxylic [corrected] acid cycle at gene expression level in low PRS group. In vitro results demonstrated enhanced glycolysis contributed to decreased sensitivity to antileukemic agent arabinofuranosyl cytidine (Ara-C), whereas inhibition of glycolysis suppressed AML cell proliferation and potentiated cytotoxicity of Ara-C. Our study provides strong evidence for the use of serum metabolites and metabolic pathways as novel prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for AML.

The medical application of terahertz technology in non-invasive detection of cells and tissues: opportunities and challenges
Yu Liu, Hao Liu, Tang Meiqiong, Jiaoqi Huang +4 more
2019· RSC Advances299doi:10.1039/c8ra10605c

Terahertz (THz = 10<sup>12</sup> Hz) spectroscopy has shown great potential in biomedical research due to its unique features, such as the non-invasive and label-free identification of living cells and medical imaging.

Hiplot: a comprehensive and easy-to-use web service for boosting publication-ready biomedical data visualization
Jianfeng Li, Ben‐Ben Miao, Shixiang Wang, Wei Dong +4 more
2022· Briefings in Bioinformatics281doi:10.1093/bib/bbac261

Complex biomedical data generated during clinical, omics and mechanism-based experiments have increasingly been exploited through cloud- and visualization-based data mining techniques. However, the scientific community still lacks an easy-to-use web service for the comprehensive visualization of biomedical data, particularly high-quality and publication-ready graphics that allow easy scaling and updatability according to user demands. Therefore, we propose a community-driven modern web service, Hiplot (https://hiplot.org), with concise and top-quality data visualization applications for the life sciences and biomedical fields. This web service permits users to conveniently and interactively complete a few specialized visualization tasks that previously could only be conducted by senior bioinformatics or biostatistics researchers. It covers most of the daily demands of biomedical researchers with its equipped 240+ biomedical data visualization functions, involving basic statistics, multi-omics, regression, clustering, dimensional reduction, meta-analysis, survival analysis, risk modelling, etc. Moreover, to improve the efficiency in use and development of plugins, we introduced some core advantages on the client-/server-side of the website, such as spreadsheet-based data importing, cross-platform command-line controller (Hctl), multi-user plumber workers, JavaScript Object Notation-based plugin system, easy data/parameters, results and errors reproduction and real-time updates mode. Meanwhile, using demo/real data sets and benchmark tests, we explored statistical parameters, cancer genomic landscapes, disease risk factors and the performance of website based on selected native plugins. The statistics of visits and user numbers could further reflect the potential impact of this web service on relevant fields. Thus, researchers devoted to life and data sciences would benefit from this emerging and free web service.

Prevention and management of lung cancer in China
Qunying Hong, Guoming Wu, Guisheng Qian, Chengping Hu +4 more
2015· Cancer280doi:10.1002/cncr.29584

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. In China, the incidence of lung cancer has grown rapidly, resulting in a large social and economic burden. Several researchers have devoted their studies to lung cancer and have demonstrated that there are many risk factors for lung cancer in China, including tobacco use, environmental pollution, food, genetics, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the lung cancer incidence is still growing rapidly in China, and there is an even higher incidence among the younger generation. One explanation may be the triple-neglect situation, in which medical policies that neglect prevention, diagnosis, and supportive care have increased patients' mortality and reduced their quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the efficiency of prevention and early diagnosis not only by focusing more attention on treatment but also by drawing more attention to supportive care for patients with lung cancer.

RBMS1 regulates lung cancer ferroptosis through translational control of SLC7A11
Wenjing Zhang, Yu Sun, Lu Bai, Lili Zhi +4 more
2021· Journal of Clinical Investigation278doi:10.1172/jci152067

Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent nonapoptotic cell death, is a highly regulated tumor suppressing process. However, functions and mechanisms of RNA-binding proteins in regulation of evasion of ferroptosis during lung cancer progression are still largely unknown. Here, we report that the RNA-binding protein RBMS1 participates in lung cancer development via mediating ferroptosis evasion. Through an shRNA-mediated systematic screen, we discovered that RBMS1 is a key ferroptosis regulator. Clinically, RBMS1 was elevated in lung cancer and its high expression was associated with reduced patient survival. Conversely, depletion of RBMS1 inhibited lung cancer progression both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, RBMS1 interacted with the translation initiation factor eIF3d directly to bridge the 3'- and 5'-UTR of SLC7A11. RBMS1 ablation inhibited the translation of SLC7A11, reduced SLC7A11-mediated cystine uptake, and promoted ferroptosis. In a drug screen that targeted RBMS1, we further uncovered that nortriptyline hydrochloride decreased the level of RBMS1, thereby promoting ferroptosis. Importantly, RBMS1 depletion or inhibition by nortriptyline hydrochloride sensitized radioresistant lung cancer cells to radiotherapy. Our findings established RBMS1 as a translational regulator of ferroptosis and a prognostic factor with therapeutic potential and clinical value.

Plasma Phospholipid Metabolic Profiling and Biomarkers of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Based on High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Electrospray Mass Spectrometry and Multivariate Statistical Analysis
Chang Wang, Hongwei Kong, Yufeng Guan, Jun Yang +3 more
2005· Analytical Chemistry273doi:10.1021/ac0481001

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) followed by multivariate statistical analysis has been successfully applied to the plasma phospholipids metabolic profiling in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2). Principal components analysis and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were tested and compared in class separation between the DM2 and control. The application of an orthogonal signal correction filtered model highly improved the class distinction and predictive power of PLS-DA models. Additionally, unit variance scaling was also tested. With this methodology, it was possible not only to differentiate the DM2 from the control but also to discover and identify the potential biomarkers with LC/MS/MS. The proposed method shows that LC/MS combining with multivariate statistical analysis is a complement or an alternative to NMR for metabonomics applications.