MicroRNAs(miRNAs), which play a role in tumorigenesis, may also serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. However, studies on human miRNA profiles in plasma from nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) patients are in their...MicroRNAs(miRNAs), which play a role in tumorigenesis, may also serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. However, studies on human miRNA profiles in plasma from nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) patients are in their infancy. Here, we used microarrays to perform systematic profiling of human miRNAs in plasma from NPC patients. We subsequently used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(Q-PCR) to validate miRNAs with aberrant expression that could serve as potential biomarkers. By comparing the plasma miRNA profiles of 31 NPC patients and 19 controls, 39 of 887 human miRNAs were found to be aberrantly expressed. Considering the fold change and P value, miR-548q and miR-483-5p were validated in 132 samples from 82 NPC patients and 50 controls. Moreover, high expression of miR-548q and miR-483-5p was further found in 3 NPC cell lines and clinical biopsy tissues from 54 NPC patients and 22 controls. Our results revealed that miR-548q and miR-483-5p are potential biomarkers of NPC. Combining the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) analyses of these 2 miRNAs, an area under the ROC curve(AUC) of 0.737 with 67.1% sensitivity and 68.0% specificity were obtained, showing the preliminary diagnostic value of plasma miRNAs. Moreover, most NPC patients with a poor outcome exhibited high expression(> median) of miR-548q(70.6%) and miR-483-5p(64.7%) in tissue samples, indicating their prognostic value. The high expression levels of miR-548q and miR-483-5p in plasma, cell lines, and clinical tissues of NPC patients indicate that their roles in NPC should be explored in the future.展开更多
Circulating microRNAs are robustly present in plasma or serum and have become a research focus as biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and prognosis.Centrifugation is a necessary procedure for obtaining highquality blood su...Circulating microRNAs are robustly present in plasma or serum and have become a research focus as biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and prognosis.Centrifugation is a necessary procedure for obtaining highquality blood supernatant.Herein,we investigated one-step and two-step centrifugations,two centrifugal methods routinely used in microRNA study,to explore their effects on plasma microRNA quantification.The microRNAs obtained from one-step and two-step centrifugations were quantified by microarray and TaqMan-based real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(Q-PCR).Dynamic light scattering was performed to explore the difference underlying the two centrifugal methods.The results from the microarray containing 1,347 microRNAs showed that the signal detection rate was greatly decreased in the plasma sample prepared by two-step centrifugation.More importantly,the microRNAs missing in this plasma sample could be recovered and detected in the precipitate generated from the second centrifugation.Consistent with the results from microarray,a marked decrease of three representative microRNAs in twostep centrifugal plasma was validated by Q-PCR.According to the size distribution of all nanoparticles in plasma,there were fewer nanoparticles with size>1,000 nm in two-step centrifugal plasma.Our experiments directly demonstrated that different centrifugation methods produced distinct quantities of plasma microRNAs.Thus,exosomes or protein complexes containing microRNAs may be involved in large nanoparticle formation and may be precipitated after two-step centrifugation.Our results remind us that sample processing methods should be first considered in conducting research.展开更多
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC),a highly invasive and metastatic cancer,is widely prevalent in South China,Southeast Asia,and North Africa.NPC patients with stages I and II are often asymptomatic.Therefore,NPC patients ...Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC),a highly invasive and metastatic cancer,is widely prevalent in South China,Southeast Asia,and North Africa.NPC patients with stages I and II are often asymptomatic.Therefore,NPC patients are usually diagnosed with advanced-stage(stages III and IV)at their first visit.Detection of NPC at early stage is the key to improve the survival of patients.Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)plays an essential role in NPC occurrence in endemic areas.EBV-based biomarkers,including EBV antibody in serum and EBV DNA in plasma,have been specifically proposed for NPC early detection.Herein,we summarize recent advances in biomarkers for the early detection of NPC.展开更多
Objective To determine the distribution of metabolites in the root barks of different tree peony cultivars for quality assessment. Methods Seven tree peony phenotypic cultivars with different colors were systematicall...Objective To determine the distribution of metabolites in the root barks of different tree peony cultivars for quality assessment. Methods Seven tree peony phenotypic cultivars with different colors were systematically analyzed using NMR-based metabolomics. Results A total of 16 metabolites from their methanol extracts were simultaneously identified and quantified, including one primary metabolite （sucrose） and 15 secondary ones （acetophenones, phenolics, monoterpene glycosides, flavonoids, and unsaturated fatty acids）. The quantitative data indicated that sucrose （90-180 mg/g） and acetophenones （15-100 mg/g）, and non-phenolics, monoterpene glycosides, flavonoids, and unsaturated fatty acids （2-15 mg/g） were the major metabolites in these tree peony cultivars. The significantly increasing levels of paeonoside with bioactivity were observed in ＂Xiangyu＂, ＂Wujinyaohui＂, ＂Roufurong＂, ＂Yaohuang＂, ＂Zhaofen＂, ＂Doulu＂, and ＂Yingrihong＂ in order. Opposite trends in the levels of paeonoside and paeonol were observed in ＂Xiangyu＂ and ＂Yingrihong＂, suggesting that the changes of the secondary metabolites in plants were influenced by primary metabolites, such as sucrose/glucose, and the different physiological processes occurred in different tree peony cultivars. Conclusion ＂Yingrihong＂ with red flower has the highest medicine quality whereas ＂Xiangyu＂ with white flower has the worst one based on the content of paeonoside.展开更多
Background:Tissue specimens for nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)research are scarce because of sampling dif-ficulties.Previous studies have suggested non-invasive nasopharyngeal brushing as an effective sampling method f...Background:Tissue specimens for nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)research are scarce because of sampling dif-ficulties.Previous studies have suggested non-invasive nasopharyngeal brushing as an effective sampling method for NPC diagnosis.The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of nasopharyngeal brushing in the acquisition of NPC nucleic acids for research.Methods:Nasopharyngeal brushing samples were acquired from 24 healthy individuals and 48 NPC patients.Tissues from 48 NPC and 18 nasopharyngitis patients were collected by endoscopic biopsy.The expression levels of tumor suppressor genes(TSGs)and Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-encoded microRNAs as well as EBV DNA copy number were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in both types of samples.Results:Among six TSGs examined,the expression levels of two genes were significantly decreased in nasopharyn-geal brushing and tissue samples from NPC patients as compared with those from healthy/nasopharyngitis indi-viduals.Four EBV-encoded microRNAs,mir-bart1-5p,mir-bart5,mir-bart6-5p,and mir-bart17-5p,were significantly up-regulated in both NPC brushing and tissue samples compared with those from healthy/nasopharyngitis controls(P<0.001).EBV DNA was significantly increased in both nasopharyngeal brushing samples(P<0.001)and tissue sam-ples(P<0.001)from NPC patients in comparison with those from healthy controls.Conclusions:Nasopharyngeal brushing can obtain sufficient tumoral materials for the analysis of viral nucleic acid,including EBV-encoded microRNAs and EBV DNA.For the detection of TSG expression,nasopharyngeal brushings was feasible but inferior to tissue samples.This study confirms nasopharyngeal brushing as an applicable sampling method that can aid in nucleic acid-based NPC research.展开更多
It is now widely recognized that appropriate measures are required for digital preservation to ensure that digital data can be accessed and used currently and in the future.Among all the risks of digital preservation,...It is now widely recognized that appropriate measures are required for digital preservation to ensure that digital data can be accessed and used currently and in the future.Among all the risks of digital preservation,format obsolescence is one of the most important.There have been several projects or initiatives dealing with the measurement method of format obsolescence risk,but there has been no mechanism to quantify the preservation risk or durability of digital formats based on a self-improving assessment model,executed with the aid of computers.This paper deals with a methodology for measuring the preservation durability of digital formats,especially for their risk assessment.This method is based on a quantitative assessment model for format risk,and can shift the non-quantifiable knowledge or experiences of field experts to a machine identifiable and processible form,or 'risk scores'.Results can be recognized and communicated by computers automatically and formally,which can assist in the automatic/semi-automatic risk management for digital preservation,sharing this quantified knowledge among communities. Because technologies are changing quickly,the quantitative assessment model for risks will not be a status quo situation.Thus,also presented is a method to fine tune the quantitative assessment model for risk of formats through a self-learning and self-improving style.展开更多
Objective： To understand the in vivo metabolic fate of 1,2,3,4,6-Penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose（PGG）naturally existed in many medicinal herbs and food plants such as Rhus chinensis,Paeonia suffruticosa,Paeonia lactif...Objective： To understand the in vivo metabolic fate of 1,2,3,4,6-Penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose（PGG）naturally existed in many medicinal herbs and food plants such as Rhus chinensis,Paeonia suffruticosa,Paeonia lactiflora and Mango.Methods： The metabolites of PGG in rat biofluids were characterized using high performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry（HPLC-QTOF-MS）.Results： Ten metabolites in urine,five metabolites in feces and two metabolites in plasma,were observed when the rats were administrated with a single intravenous injection of PGG（20 mg/kg）.Conclusion： PGG is firstly metabolized to gallic acid,then gallic acid undergoes sulfation,glucuronidation and methylation by rat liver.The determination of metabolites and the proposed metabolic pathway of PGG in vivo will be benefit to gain deeper insights into its pharmacological activities.展开更多
Dear Editor,Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)is a common malignancy in East and Southeast Asia,especially in South China.The etiology of NPC has been linked to genetic susceptibility,Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)infection,and e...Dear Editor,Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)is a common malignancy in East and Southeast Asia,especially in South China.The etiology of NPC has been linked to genetic susceptibility,Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)infection,and environmental factors.Accumulated evidence including multiple genome-wide association studies(GWASs)has revealed robust genetic predisposition of NPC.However,GWAS-identified genetic variants collectively account for only 8.2%of NPC heritability[1].The underlying inherited predisposition is largely undetermined.The strongest genetic signal for NPC consistently hits the human leukocyte antigen(HLA)region on 6p21[2].However,the highly polymorphic nature and complicated long-range linkage disequilibrium(LD)in the HLA region particularly obscure the causal variants driving the association.In addition,most genetic variants located in introns or intergenic regions.The causal genes mediating genetic effects on NPC risk have rarely been ascertained by GWAS alone.展开更多
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB504303)the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2011ZX11307)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (9151008004000002)
文摘MicroRNAs(miRNAs), which play a role in tumorigenesis, may also serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. However, studies on human miRNA profiles in plasma from nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) patients are in their infancy. Here, we used microarrays to perform systematic profiling of human miRNAs in plasma from NPC patients. We subsequently used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(Q-PCR) to validate miRNAs with aberrant expression that could serve as potential biomarkers. By comparing the plasma miRNA profiles of 31 NPC patients and 19 controls, 39 of 887 human miRNAs were found to be aberrantly expressed. Considering the fold change and P value, miR-548q and miR-483-5p were validated in 132 samples from 82 NPC patients and 50 controls. Moreover, high expression of miR-548q and miR-483-5p was further found in 3 NPC cell lines and clinical biopsy tissues from 54 NPC patients and 22 controls. Our results revealed that miR-548q and miR-483-5p are potential biomarkers of NPC. Combining the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) analyses of these 2 miRNAs, an area under the ROC curve(AUC) of 0.737 with 67.1% sensitivity and 68.0% specificity were obtained, showing the preliminary diagnostic value of plasma miRNAs. Moreover, most NPC patients with a poor outcome exhibited high expression(> median) of miR-548q(70.6%) and miR-483-5p(64.7%) in tissue samples, indicating their prognostic value. The high expression levels of miR-548q and miR-483-5p in plasma, cell lines, and clinical tissues of NPC patients indicate that their roles in NPC should be explored in the future.
基金supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (No.2011CB504303)the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No.2011ZX11307)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No.9151008901000134)
文摘Circulating microRNAs are robustly present in plasma or serum and have become a research focus as biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and prognosis.Centrifugation is a necessary procedure for obtaining highquality blood supernatant.Herein,we investigated one-step and two-step centrifugations,two centrifugal methods routinely used in microRNA study,to explore their effects on plasma microRNA quantification.The microRNAs obtained from one-step and two-step centrifugations were quantified by microarray and TaqMan-based real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(Q-PCR).Dynamic light scattering was performed to explore the difference underlying the two centrifugal methods.The results from the microarray containing 1,347 microRNAs showed that the signal detection rate was greatly decreased in the plasma sample prepared by two-step centrifugation.More importantly,the microRNAs missing in this plasma sample could be recovered and detected in the precipitate generated from the second centrifugation.Consistent with the results from microarray,a marked decrease of three representative microRNAs in twostep centrifugal plasma was validated by Q-PCR.According to the size distribution of all nanoparticles in plasma,there were fewer nanoparticles with size>1,000 nm in two-step centrifugal plasma.Our experiments directly demonstrated that different centrifugation methods produced distinct quantities of plasma microRNAs.Thus,exosomes or protein complexes containing microRNAs may be involved in large nanoparticle formation and may be precipitated after two-step centrifugation.Our results remind us that sample processing methods should be first considered in conducting research.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFC2500400)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81802708)+1 种基金the Key Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province,China(2019B110233004)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province,China(2019B030316031).
文摘Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC),a highly invasive and metastatic cancer,is widely prevalent in South China,Southeast Asia,and North Africa.NPC patients with stages I and II are often asymptomatic.Therefore,NPC patients are usually diagnosed with advanced-stage(stages III and IV)at their first visit.Detection of NPC at early stage is the key to improve the survival of patients.Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)plays an essential role in NPC occurrence in endemic areas.EBV-based biomarkers,including EBV antibody in serum and EBV DNA in plasma,have been specifically proposed for NPC early detection.Herein,we summarize recent advances in biomarkers for the early detection of NPC.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(21475103)Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province(2015JM2072)+2 种基金Program for Innovative Research Team of Shaanxi Province(2013KCT-24)Ministry of Science and Technology of the People′s Republic of China(2013YQ170525Subproject:2013YQ17052509)
文摘Objective To determine the distribution of metabolites in the root barks of different tree peony cultivars for quality assessment. Methods Seven tree peony phenotypic cultivars with different colors were systematically analyzed using NMR-based metabolomics. Results A total of 16 metabolites from their methanol extracts were simultaneously identified and quantified, including one primary metabolite （sucrose） and 15 secondary ones （acetophenones, phenolics, monoterpene glycosides, flavonoids, and unsaturated fatty acids）. The quantitative data indicated that sucrose （90-180 mg/g） and acetophenones （15-100 mg/g）, and non-phenolics, monoterpene glycosides, flavonoids, and unsaturated fatty acids （2-15 mg/g） were the major metabolites in these tree peony cultivars. The significantly increasing levels of paeonoside with bioactivity were observed in ＂Xiangyu＂, ＂Wujinyaohui＂, ＂Roufurong＂, ＂Yaohuang＂, ＂Zhaofen＂, ＂Doulu＂, and ＂Yingrihong＂ in order. Opposite trends in the levels of paeonoside and paeonol were observed in ＂Xiangyu＂ and ＂Yingrihong＂, suggesting that the changes of the secondary metabolites in plants were influenced by primary metabolites, such as sucrose/glucose, and the different physiological processes occurred in different tree peony cultivars. Conclusion ＂Yingrihong＂ with red flower has the highest medicine quality whereas ＂Xiangyu＂ with white flower has the worst one based on the content of paeonoside.
基金supported by the Major International Cooperation Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.81220108022)the National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars(No.81325018)+3 种基金the National Key Research and Development Program(No.2016YFC1302704)Guangdong Special Support Programs for High-level Personnel(No.2014TX01R201)the Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province(No.2014B050504004)the Health&Medical Collaborative Innovation Project of Guangzhou City(No.201604020003).
文摘Background:Tissue specimens for nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)research are scarce because of sampling dif-ficulties.Previous studies have suggested non-invasive nasopharyngeal brushing as an effective sampling method for NPC diagnosis.The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of nasopharyngeal brushing in the acquisition of NPC nucleic acids for research.Methods:Nasopharyngeal brushing samples were acquired from 24 healthy individuals and 48 NPC patients.Tissues from 48 NPC and 18 nasopharyngitis patients were collected by endoscopic biopsy.The expression levels of tumor suppressor genes(TSGs)and Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-encoded microRNAs as well as EBV DNA copy number were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in both types of samples.Results:Among six TSGs examined,the expression levels of two genes were significantly decreased in nasopharyn-geal brushing and tissue samples from NPC patients as compared with those from healthy/nasopharyngitis indi-viduals.Four EBV-encoded microRNAs,mir-bart1-5p,mir-bart5,mir-bart6-5p,and mir-bart17-5p,were significantly up-regulated in both NPC brushing and tissue samples compared with those from healthy/nasopharyngitis controls(P<0.001).EBV DNA was significantly increased in both nasopharyngeal brushing samples(P<0.001)and tissue sam-ples(P<0.001)from NPC patients in comparison with those from healthy controls.Conclusions:Nasopharyngeal brushing can obtain sufficient tumoral materials for the analysis of viral nucleic acid,including EBV-encoded microRNAs and EBV DNA.For the detection of TSG expression,nasopharyngeal brushings was feasible but inferior to tissue samples.This study confirms nasopharyngeal brushing as an applicable sampling method that can aid in nucleic acid-based NPC research.
基金Project supported by the National High-Tech R&D Program(863) of China(No.2009AA01Z143)the Research Foundation of the Ministry of Railways and Tsinghua University,China(No. 20091111068)
文摘It is now widely recognized that appropriate measures are required for digital preservation to ensure that digital data can be accessed and used currently and in the future.Among all the risks of digital preservation,format obsolescence is one of the most important.There have been several projects or initiatives dealing with the measurement method of format obsolescence risk,but there has been no mechanism to quantify the preservation risk or durability of digital formats based on a self-improving assessment model,executed with the aid of computers.This paper deals with a methodology for measuring the preservation durability of digital formats,especially for their risk assessment.This method is based on a quantitative assessment model for format risk,and can shift the non-quantifiable knowledge or experiences of field experts to a machine identifiable and processible form,or 'risk scores'.Results can be recognized and communicated by computers automatically and formally,which can assist in the automatic/semi-automatic risk management for digital preservation,sharing this quantified knowledge among communities. Because technologies are changing quickly,the quantitative assessment model for risks will not be a status quo situation.Thus,also presented is a method to fine tune the quantitative assessment model for risk of formats through a self-learning and self-improving style.
基金the National Key Scientific Instrument and Development Project of China (2013YQ170525)the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (no.IRT15R55)+1 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (no.81603259)Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2015JM2072)
文摘Objective： To understand the in vivo metabolic fate of 1,2,3,4,6-Penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose（PGG）naturally existed in many medicinal herbs and food plants such as Rhus chinensis,Paeonia suffruticosa,Paeonia lactiflora and Mango.Methods： The metabolites of PGG in rat biofluids were characterized using high performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry（HPLC-QTOF-MS）.Results： Ten metabolites in urine,five metabolites in feces and two metabolites in plasma,were observed when the rats were administrated with a single intravenous injection of PGG（20 mg/kg）.Conclusion： PGG is firstly metabolized to gallic acid,then gallic acid undergoes sulfation,glucuronidation and methylation by rat liver.The determination of metabolites and the proposed metabolic pathway of PGG in vivo will be benefit to gain deeper insights into its pharmacological activities.
基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFC2500400)the Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province,China(2021B1515420007)+4 种基金Sino-Sweden Joint Research Programme(81861138006)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou,China(201804020094)the Special Support Program for High-level Professionals on Scientific and Technological Innovation of Guangdong Province,China(2014TX01R201)National Natural Science Foundation of China(81973131,81903395,81803319,82003520)National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China(81325018).
文摘Dear Editor,Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)is a common malignancy in East and Southeast Asia,especially in South China.The etiology of NPC has been linked to genetic susceptibility,Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)infection,and environmental factors.Accumulated evidence including multiple genome-wide association studies(GWASs)has revealed robust genetic predisposition of NPC.However,GWAS-identified genetic variants collectively account for only 8.2%of NPC heritability[1].The underlying inherited predisposition is largely undetermined.The strongest genetic signal for NPC consistently hits the human leukocyte antigen(HLA)region on 6p21[2].However,the highly polymorphic nature and complicated long-range linkage disequilibrium(LD)in the HLA region particularly obscure the causal variants driving the association.In addition,most genetic variants located in introns or intergenic regions.The causal genes mediating genetic effects on NPC risk have rarely been ascertained by GWAS alone.
