Analysis of High-Frequency Ultrasound in the differential Diagnosis of Lumps in Foot and Hand

Objective:To investigate the ultrasonogram characteristics of common lumps in hand and foot,pursuing for greater understanding of hand and foot lumps.Methods:65 cases of ultrasonographic characteristics of lumps in hand and foot were retrospectively analyzed,including the location,size,shape,boundary,internal echo and posterior echo,surrounding relationship and blood flow.Results:Among 65 cases,there were 26 cases of tendon sheath cyst,16 cases of tenosynovitis giant cell tumor,10 cases of hemangioma,4 cases of tendon sheath fibroma,3 cases of epidermoid cyst,2 cases of Schwannoma,2 cases of fibrolipoma,1 case of angiolipoma and 1 case of neurofibroma.The preoperative and postoperative pathological diagnoses of 45 cases,accounting for 69.23%,were consistent,3 cases(4.62%)were misdiagnosed,which included that 2 cases of tenosynovitis giant cell tumor were misdiagnosed as tendon sheath cyst,1 case of neurofibroma as epidermoid cyst,and the preoperative diagnosis of the rest 17 cases(26.15%)were indefinite.Conclusion:The high-frequency ultrasound can diagnose properties of lumps in foot and hand well,providing diagnosis basis for further treatment in clinic.

OsEDM2L mediates m^(6)A of EAT1 transcript for proper alternative splicing and polyadenylation regulating rice tapetal degradation

N^(6)-methyladenosine(m^(6)A) modification affects the post-transcriptional regulation of eukaryotic gene expression, but the underlying mechanisms and their effects in plants remain largely unknown. Here,we report that the N^(6)-adenine methyltransferase-like domain-containing protein ENHANCED DOWNY MILDEW 2-LIKE(OsEDM2 L) is essential for rice(Oryza sativa L.) anther development. The osedm2 l knockout mutant showed delayed tapetal programmed cell death(PCD) and defective pollen development. OsEDM2 L interacts with the transcription factors basic helix-loop-helix 142 and TAPETUMDEGENERATIONRETARDATIONto regulate the expression of ETERNAL TAPETUM 1(EAT1), a positive regulator of tapetal PCD. Mutation of OsEDM2 L altered the transcriptomic m^(6)A landscape, and caused a distinct m^(6)A modification of the EAT1 transcript leading to dysregulation of its alternative splicing and polyadenylation, followed by suppression of the EAT1 target genes OsAP25 and OsAP37 for tapetal PCD. Therefore, OsEDM2 L is indispensable for proper messenger RNA m^(6)A modification in rice anther development.

A Robust CRISPR/Cas9 System for Convenient, High-Efficiency Multiplex Genome Editing in Monocot and Dicot Plants

CRISPR/Cas9 genome targeting systems have been applied to a variety of species. However, most CRISPR/Cas9 systems reported for plants can only modify one or a few target sites. Here, we report a robust CRISPR/Cas9 vector system, utilizing a plant codon optimized Cas9 gene, for convenient and high- efficiency multiplex genome editing in monocot and dicot plants. We designed PCR-based procedures to rapidly generate multiple sgRNA expression cassettes, which can be assembled into the binary CRISPR/ Cas9 vectors in one round of cloning by Golden Gate ligation or Gibson Assembly. With this system, we edi- ted 46 target sites in rice with an average 85.4% rate of mutation, mostly in biallelic and homozygous status. We reasoned that about 16% of the homozygous mutations in rice were generated through the non-homol- ogous end-joining mechanism followed by homologous recombination-based repair. We also obtained uni- form biallelic, heterozygous, homozygous, and chimeric mutations in Arabidopsis T1 plants. The targeted mutations in both rice and Arabidopsis were heritable. We provide examples of loss-of-function gene mu- tations in To rice and T1Arabidopsis plants by simultaneous targeting of multiple （up to eight） members of a gene family, multiple genes in a biosynthetic pathway, or multiple sites in a single gene. This system has provided a versatile toolbox for studying functions of multiple genes and gene families in plants for basic research and genetic improvement.

From Golden Rice to aSTARice:Bioengineering Astaxanthin Biosynthesis in Rice Endosperm

Carotenoids are important phytonutrients with antioxidant properties,and are widely used in foods and feedstuffs as Supplements.Astaxanthin,a red-colored ketocarotenoid,has strong antioxidant activity and thus can benefit human health.However,astaxanthin is not produced in most higher plants.Here we report the bioengineering of astaxanthin biosynthesis in rice endosperm by introducing four synthetic genes,sZmPSY1,sPaCrtl,sCrBKT,and sHpBHY,which encode the enzymes phytoene synthase,phytoene desaturase,β-carotene ketolase,and β-carotene hydroxylase,respectively.Transgneic overexpression of two (sZmPSY1 and sPaCrtl),three (sZmPSY1,sPaCrtl and sCrBKT),and all these four genes driven by rice endosperm-specific promoters established the Carotenoid/ketocarotenoid/astaxanthin biosynthetic pathways in the endosperm and thus resulted in various types of germplasm,from the yellow-grained β-caro- tene-enriched Golden Rice to orange-red-grained Canthaxanthin Rice and Astaxanthin Rice,respectively. Grains Of Astaxanthin Rice were enriched with astaxanthin in the endosperm and had higher antioxidant activity.These results proved that introduction of a minimal set of four transgenes enables de novo biosynthesis of astaxanthin in therice endosperm.This work provides a Successful example for synthetic biology in plants and biofortification in crops;the biofortified rice products generated by this study could be consumed as health-promoting foods and processed tO produce dietary supplements.

Development of ＂Purple Endosperm Rice＂ by Engineering Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in the Endosperm with a High-Efficiency Transgene Stacking System

Anthocyanins have high antioxidant activities, and engineering of anthocyanin biosynthesis in staple crops, such as rice （Oryza sativa L.）, could provide health-promoting foods for improving human health. However, engineering metabolic pathways for biofortification remains difficult, and previous attempts to engineer anthocyanin production in rice endosperm failed because of the sophisticated genetic regulatory network of its biosynthetic pathway. In this study, we developed a high-efficiency vector system for transgene stacking and used it to engineer anthocyanin biosynthesis in rice endosperm. We made a construct containing eight anthocyanin-related genes （two regulatory genes from maize and six structural genes from Coleus） driven by the endosperm-specific promoters,plus a selectable marker and a gene for marker excision. Transformation of rice with this construct generated a novel biofortified germplasm ＂Purple Endosperm Rice＂ （called ＂Zijingmi＂ in Chinese）, which has high anthocyanin contents and antioxidant activity in the endosperm. This anthocyanin production results from expression of the transgenes and the resulting activation （or enhancement） of expression of 13 endogenous anthocyanin biosynthesis genes that are silenced or expressed at low levels in wild-type rice endosperm. This study provides an efficient, versatile toolkit for transgene stacking and demonstrates its use for successful engineering of a sophisticated biological pathway, suggesting the potential utility of this toolkit for synthetic biology and improvement of agronomic traits in plants.

基于仿生微纳技术抗肿瘤策略研究进展

恶性肿瘤作为全球危害人类健康最主要的杀手之一,给人类生命健康带来极大危害.传统肿瘤的治疗手段主要为手术、化学药物治疗、放射治疗,均存在靶向性不足、造成一定的机体伤害等问题.因此,研究人员试图寻找出新型安全、有效、低成本的肿瘤诊疗方法.随着仿生学、分子科学、基因技术和纳米科学的发展,基于仿生微纳技术的肿瘤仿生治疗技术已成为当前诊疗研究的热点.研究人员从大自然中获取灵感,开发设计了众多仿生材料,并用于新型抗肿瘤策略研发.相较于传统肿瘤诊疗药物,其具有良好的生物相容性、优异的抗肿瘤效果、更低的成本.本文从改善肿瘤微环境角度出发,介绍了4类肿瘤仿生治疗策略及其应用优势,分析仿生抗肿瘤材料的治疗效果,总结仿生抗肿瘤材料研发面临的问题,并对后续应用进行展望.