YANG ZHANG^1,2,#, NANNAN QIN^5,#, XIJUN WANG^6,#, RUI LIANG⁷, QUAN LIU⁴, RUOYI GENG⁸, TIANXIAO JIANG⁸, YUNFEI LIU^8,*, JINWEI LI^3,4,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.3, pp. 563-576, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.029697 - 06 February 2024

Abstract Glycogen metabolism plays a key role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the function of glycogen metabolism genes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is still to be elucidated. Single-cell RNA-seq data were obtained from ten HCC tumor samples totaling 64,545 cells, and 65 glycogen metabolism genes were analyzed by a nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF). The prognosis and immune response of new glycogen TME cell clusters were predicted by using HCC and immunotherapy cohorts from public databases. HCC single-cell analysis was divided into fibroblasts, NT T cells, macrophages, endothelial cells, and B cells, which… More >

HENG ZHANG^1,#, WENJING CHENG^2,#, HAIBO ZHAO², WEIDONG CHEN², QIUJIE ZHANG^2,*, QING-QING YU^2,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.2, pp. 297-308, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.043138 - 28 December 2023

Abstract Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) belongs to the class of significantly malignant tumors found in humans. Recently, dysregulated fatty acid metabolism (FAM) has been a topic of attention due to its modulation in cancer, specifically CRC. However, the regulatory FAM pathways in CRC require comprehensive elucidation. Methods: The clinical and gene expression data of 175 fatty acid metabolic genes (FAMGs) linked with colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) and normal cornerstone genes were gathered through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-COAD corroborating with the Molecular Signature Database v7.2 (MSigDB). Initially, crucial prognostic genes were selected by uni- and multi-variate Cox… More >

JIANFA WU^1,2,#, QIANYI LIAO^3,#, LI ZHANG^1,2,#, SUQIN WU^1,2,*, ZHOU LIU^1,2,*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.2, pp. 373-391, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.031404 - 28 December 2023

Abstract The impact of different iron metabolism processes (DIMP) on ovarian cancer remains unclear. In this study, we employed various gene chips and databases to investigate the role of DIMP in the initiation and development of ovarian cancer. cBioPortal was used to determine mutations in DIMP-associated genes in ovarian cancer. Kaplan-Meier plotter was used to examine the influence of DIMP on the prognosis of ovarian cancer. By analyzing 1669 serous ovarian cancer cases, we identified a range of mutations in iron metabolism genes, notably in those coding for the transferrin receptor (19%), melanotransferrin (19%), and ceruloplasmin… More >

QINGPAN BU, PING LI, YUNFEI XIA, XINPEI WEI, KAI SONG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.11, pp. 2535-2546, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.030781 - 27 November 2023

Abstract Mannose, a different isomer of the hydroxyl group at the C-2 position of glucose, shares the same transport carrier protein with glucose to enter cells and participate in the regulation of glucose metabolism. It affects cell growth, differentiation, and function and plays an active role in tumor immunity and inflammatory processes. This paper provides theoretical support for expanding the clinical applications of mannose by exploring its constitution, metabolic pathways, and role in regulating immune cell function and treating immunology-related diseases. More > Graphic Abstract

MINGHONG WEI^1,#, CHENG XIAO^1,2,#, JIAN WU^1,3, LIHONG QIN^1,3, HONGLIANG LIU^1,3, YANG CAO^1,*, YUMIN ZHAO^1,3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.9, pp. 2115-2123, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.030364 - 28 September 2023

Abstract Background: The regulatory genes related to lipid metabolism affect the intramuscular fat (IMF) content and improve meat quality traits. Mediator Complex Subunit 4 (MED4), a vitamin D receptor protein, affects vitamin D, livestock growth, carcass traits, and triglyceride deposition. However, the physiological function of the MED4 gene on bovine adipocyte differentiation remains unknown. Methods: This study explored the function of the MED4 gene in preadipocyte differentiation in Chinese Red Steppe cattle. The overexpression plasmid and the interference sequences of the MED4 gene were constructed to detect the effects of the MED4 gene on adipogenesis and biomakers using More >

MENGQIN ZHU^1,2,3,4,#, TIANYI XU^5,#, HAN ZHANG^3,4, XIN FAN^3,4, YULAN WANG⁶, JIAJIA ZHANG^3,4, FEI YU^1,2,3,4,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.9, pp. 1931-1945, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028968 - 28 September 2023

Abstract Glutamine metabolism (GM) plays an important role in tumor growth and proliferation. Skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) is a glutamine-dependent cancer. However, the molecular characteristics and action mechanism of GM on SKCM remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the effects of GM-related genes on survival, clinicopathological characteristics, and the tumor microenvironment in SKCM. In this study, 682 SKCM samples were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Consensus clustering was used to classify SKCM samples into distinct subtypes based on 41 GM-related genes. Differences in survival, immune infiltration, clinical… More > Graphic Abstract

Shaochun Liu, Jiamin Hu, Haohua He, Junru Fu, Xu Jie, Dahu Zhou^*, Haihui Fu^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.7, pp. 2035-2049, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.028296 - 29 May 2023

Abstract OsPLS4 encodes a β-ketoacyl carrier protein reductase (KAR). The role of OsPLS4 in rice sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani) remains unclear. Our preliminary studies showed that premature leaf senescence mutants (pls4) were highly susceptive to sheath blight in the early stage of rice development. To explore the role of this gene in the development of rice sheath blight, the transcriptome profiles of the rice pls4 mutant and wild type were compared by RNA-seq. The results revealed 2,569 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The down-regulated genes were significantly enriched in the defense response-related biological processes. These down-regulated genes included the chitinase… More >

Yajun Li, Yihui Wang, Shuang Chen, Yu Gao, Yan Shi^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.7, pp. 2151-2164, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.027930 - 29 May 2023

Abstract

In recent years, in order to improve nutrient use efficiency, especially nitrogen use efficiency, fertilizer value-added technology has been developed rapidly. However, the mechanism of the effect of synergistic fertilizer on plant nitrogen utilization is not clear. A study was, therefore, conducted to explore the activities and gene expression of key enzymes for nitrogen assimilation and the gene expression of nitrogen transporters in wheat after the application of synergistic fertilizer. Soil column experiment was set up in Qingdao Agricultural University experimental base from October 2018 to June 2019. Maleic acid and itaconic acid were copolymerized with

… More >

Sheeba Naaz^1,2, Nadeem Ahmad², Asma A. Al-Huqail³, Mohammad Irfan⁴, Faheema Khan³, Mohammad Irfan Qureshi^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.6, pp. 1725-1742, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026100 - 11 April 2023

Abstract Cadmium (Cd) and Mercury (Hg) is among the heavy metals most hazardous for plant and human health. Known to induce oxidative stress in plants and disbalance equilibrium in the antioxidant defence system, these metals alter plant growth and cause damage at the cellular and molecular levels. Soybean is an important oilseed crop that is raised in soils often contaminated by Cd and Hg. The comparative studies on the deleterious effect of Cd and Hg and the defence system of antioxidants were not studied earlier in soybean plant. In this study, soybean plants were exposed to… More >

MIZUNA YANO¹, KOTA HIROI¹, TETSUYA YUASA¹, KENJI INOUE¹, OSAMU YAMAMOTO¹, TAKAO NAKAMURA², DAISUKE SATO¹, ZHONGGANG FENG^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.5, pp. 1095-1106, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028186 - 10 April 2023

Abstract Background: Human heart changes its energetic substrates from lactate and glucose to fatty acids during the neonatal period. Noticing the lack of fatty acids in media for the culture of cardiomyocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hiPS-CM), researchers have supplemented mixtures of fatty acids to hiPS-CM and reported the enhancement in the maturation of hiPS-CM. In our previous studies, we separately supplemented two polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or arachidonic acid (AA), to rat fetal cardiomyocytes and found that the supplementations upregulated the expressions of mRNAs for cardiomyocyte differentiation, fatty acid metabolism, and… More >