人脑连接组学指导下的脑胶质瘤手术

随着世界范围内脑计划研究的大范围开展,人脑连接组学研究得到了快速的发展。宏观尺度上的人脑连接组学主要采用脑成像和电生理技术,建立人脑网络的结构和功能连接模式及拓扑特征,进而揭示健康和疾病状态下人脑网络的组织规律和运行机制。目前人脑连接组学,作为大脑结构-功能精准分析的重要手段,在神经系统正常发育、神经系统疾病等领域中不断应用。本文对人脑连接组学的历史发展、研究进展进行综述,探讨人脑连接组学在脑胶质瘤领域的临床应用与潜在挑战。

CRISPR-Cas13a system: a novel approach to precision oncology

A paper titled"The CRISPR-Cas13 a gene-editing system induces collateral cleavage of RNA in glioma cells",recently published in Advanced Science by the Kang group,reports the promising application of the CRISPR-Cas13 a system in cancer cells1.

A Novel Worm-like In-Pipe Robot with the Rigid and Soft Structure

Soft in-pipe robot has good adaptability in tubular circumstances,while its rigidity is insufficient,which affects the traction performance.This paper proposes a novel worm-like in-pipe robot with a rigid and soft structure,which not only has strong traction ability but also flexible mobility in the shaped pipes.Imitating the structure features of the earthworm,the bionic in-pipe robot structure is designed including two soft anchor parts and one rigid telescopic part.The soft-supporting mechanism is the key factor for the in-pipe robot excellent performance,whose mathematical model is established and the mechanical characteristics are analyzed,which is used to optimize the structural parameters.The prototype is developed and the motion control strategy is planned.Various performances of the in-pipe robot are tested,such as the traction ability,moving velocity and adaptability.For comparative analysis,different operating scenarios are built including the horizontal pipe,the inclined pipe,the vertical pipe and other unstructured pipes.The experiment results show that the in-pipe robot is suitable for many kinds of pipe applications,the average traction is about 6.8N,the moving velocity is in the range of 9.5 to 12.7 mm/s.

Non-traditional cognitive brain network involvement in insulo-Sylvian gliomas:a case series study and clinical experience using Quicktome

Background Patients with insulo-Sylvian gliomas continue to present with severe morbidity in cognitive functions primarily due to neurosurgeons’lack of familiarity with non-traditional brain networks.We sought to identify the frequency of invasion and proximity of gliomas to portions of these networks.Methods We retrospectively analyzed data from 45 patients undergoing glioma surgery centered in the insular lobe.Tumors were categorized based on their proximity and invasiveness of non-traditional cognitive networks and traditionally eloquent structures.Diffusion tensor imaging tractography was completed by creating a personalized brain atlas using Quicktome to determine eloquent and non-eloquent networks in each patient.Additionally,we prospectively collected neuropsychological data on 7 patients to compare tumor-network involvement with change in cognition.Lastly,2 prospective patients had their surgical plan influenced by network mapping determined by Quicktome.Results Forty-four of 45 patients demonstrated tumor involvement(<1 cm proximity or invasion)with components of non-traditional brain networks involved in cognition such as the salience network(SN,60%)and the central executive network(CEN,56%).Of the seven prospective patients,all had tumors involved with the SN,CEN(5/7,71%),and language network(5/7,71%).The mean scores of MMSE and MOCA before surgery were 18.71±6.94 and 17.29±6.26,respectively.The two cases who received preoperative planning with Quicktome had a postoperative performance that was anticipated.Conclusions Non-traditional brain networks involved in cognition are encountered during surgical resection of insulo-Sylvian gliomas.Quicktome can improve the understanding of the presence of these networks and allow for more informed surgical decisions based on patient functional goals.

Quantitative Analysis of Faults in Huizhou Sub-basin, Pearl River Mouth Basin

This study used 2D seismic profiles to investigate the Cenozoic evolution of faults in the Huizhou Sub-basin. It aims to define the basin structure style through describing the geometric fea- tures of the faults and quantitatively analyzing their activities. The results indicate that the boundary faults in the Huizhou Sub-basin display en echelon arrangement in plan view, which indicates that, it was caused by a kind of oblique extension. Calculating the fault slips shows long-term activities of faults occurred in the basin, and some boundary faults kept active after 5.5 Ma. The evolution history of the fault system is reconstructed. Initially, during the Eocene-Early Oligocene, mainly NNE-NE and NW trending faults and NE striking grabens and half-grabens formed in the basin and a series of faults system controlled the deposition. During the Late Oligocene--Early Miocene, the structural ac- tivities were relatively weak, the fault activity and the fault growth rate decreased sharply. Finally, in the late stage from Late Miocene to the present, the structure movement was re-activated, and some faults were also reactivated. Our study will help better understand the structural features and evolu- tion of the petroleum-bearing basins in the northern margin of the South China Sea.

Motion Characteristics of the Appendages of Mole Crickets during Burrowing

Mole crickets,Gryllotalpa orientalis,have a pair of fully specialized forelegs for burrowing and employ an efficient underground excavating pattern,which provides excellent biological example for design of bionic underground excavation equipment.In this study,the excavating pattern and kinematic features of mole crickets were obtained by using high-speed motion capture system and employing a transparent hydrogel as the analogue for soil.The two-dimensional motion characteristics of the forelegs of mole crickets during burrowing were captured and analyzed.The results show that the forelegs of the mole cricket employ a unique excavating pattern,which consists of foreword digging and horizontal expansion.We label this pattern a digging-expanding mode.An excavating cycle includes the digging and expanding motion of the forelegs,rotation caused by the midlegs and hindlegs,and forward thrust by the hindlegs.The excavating motion of the left and right forelegs is alternately carried out.This study can inspire the design of bionic tunnelling mechanisms and underground excavation equipment.

Downregulation of lncRNA-HOXA11-AS modulates proliferation and stemness in Glioma cells

Background: Glioma stem cells (GSCs) represent a subpopulation of cells within glioma that are characterized by chemotherapy resistance and tumor recurrence. GSCs are therefore important therapeutic target for glioma therapy.Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to regulate important functions in cancer. HOXA11-AS is one such lncRNA and has been shown to regulate cell proliferation via promotion of cell cycle progression in glioblastoma (GBM) cells. However, the specific roles of HOXA11-AS in GSCs remain unclear.Methods: Here we investigated the role of HOXA11-AS in driving GSC stemness properties via sphere-forming and protein chip assays.Results: Gain-of-function as well as loss-of-function results showed that the HOXA11-AS maybe a critical modulator in GBM recurrence as demonstrated by cell sphere-forming ability. Furthermore, we showed that induced expression of HOXA11-AS does increase the levels of stemness-related transcription factors (Oct4/Sox17/Sox2) in U87MG cells. In vivo xenograft experiments using the HOXA11-AS knockdown U87MG cells revealed that downregulation of HOXA11-AS could strongly inhibit tumor growth. Furthermore, we found that HOXA11-AS knockdown decreased the expression of cancer stemness markers in vivo.Conclusions: Collectively, these data suggests that HOXA11-AS is involved in GSC stemness and supports its clinical significance as a important therapeutic target in glioma.

Phylogenomic approaches in systematic studies

Phylogenomic approaches are growingly applied in the systematic studies of animals with the rapid advancement of sequencing and analytical tools.Aiming to accelerate the systematic studies using genome-scale data in China,this paper outlines the commonly used techniques for generating phylogenomic datasets:RNA-seq based transcriptome,targetenrichment based UCEs and AHE,RAD-seq,whole genome sequencing,and briefly discusses the pros and cons of each technique.Major analytical procedures for the 1 KITE transcriptome pipeline,the PHYLUCE(UCEs)and AHE pipelines and the PLWS(low-coverage whole genome sequencing)pipeline are summarized,and recent achievements valuable for phylogenomic analyses are introduced.

Periostin promotes EMT via inhibition of RIN1-mediated endocytosis of EGFR in gliomas

Purpose:Approximately 1/3 of brain tumors are gliomas.Previous glioma-related studies have reported increased expression of periostin(POSTN)in these cancerous tissues,but the role and mechanism of POSTN in glioma development remain unclear.Methods:Nanoscale liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry(nano LC-MS/MS)and RNA sequencing were used to identify diferential protein and mRNA expression in clinical glioma samples.Quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR)was used to measure the expression of POSTN in tissues and cells.The efects of POSTN on glioma cell migration and invasion were examined using wound healing,Transwell,and three-dimensional spheroid assays in vitro and a nude mouse xenograft model in vivo.The efects of POSTN on the stability,endocytosis,and degradation of EGFR were examined by immunoblotting and immunofuorescence staining.Truncation mutation analysis was performed to investigate direct interactions between POSTN and EGFR.Immunohistochemical staining was carried out to confrm the clinical signifcance of POSTN.Results:Overexpression of POSTN induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition(EMT)in glioma cells in vivo and in vitro.Mechanistically,POSTN downregulation inhibited EGFR signaling by promoting EGFR endocytosis and degradation.In addition,POSTN was found to bind to EGFR and RIN1,inhibiting EGFR endocytosis and degradation and thus activating the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.Conclusion:These fndings indicate the mechanism by which the POSTN/EGFR/RIN1 axis inhibits EGFR endocytosis and degradation,resulting in glioma cell EMT through the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.Targeting POSTN/EGFR/RIN1 interactions may guarantee benefcial outcomes of glioma treatment.