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The RAB interacting factor (RABIF) is a putative guanine nucleotide exchange factor that also functions as a RAB-stabilizing holdase chaperone. It has been implicated in pathogenesis of several cancers. However, the functional role and molecular mechanism of RABIF in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not entirely known. Here, we demonstrate an upregulation of RABIF in patients with HCC, correlating with a poor prognosis. RABIF inhibition results in decreased HCC cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. Our study reveals that depleting RABIF attenuates the STOML2-PARL-PGAM5 axis-mediated mitophagy. Consequently, this reduction in mitophagy results in diminished mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mitoROS) production, thereby alleviating the HIF1α-mediated downregulation of glycolytic genes HK1, HKDC1, and LDHB. Additionally, we illustrate that RABIF regulates glucose uptake by controlling RAB10 expression. Importantly, the knockout of RABIF or blockade of mitophagy sensitizes HCC cells to sorafenib. This study uncovers a previously unrecognized role of RABIF crucial for HCC growth and identifies it as a potential therapeutic target. RABIF upregulation promotes HCC growth, mitophagy, and glycolysis, and enhances sorafenib resistance, suggesting it as a potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary brain malignancy in adults, is notoriously difficult to treat due to several factors: tendency to be radiation resistant, the presence of the blood brain barrier (BBB) which limits drug delivery and immune-privileged status which hampers effective immune responses. Traditionally, high-dose irradiation (8 Gy) is known to effectively enhance anti-tumor immune responses, but its application is limited by the risk of severe brain damage. Currently, conventional dose segmentation (2 Gy) is the standard radiotherapy method, which does not fully exploit the potential of high-dose irradiation for immune activation. The hypothesis of our study posits that instead of directly applying high doses of radiation, which is risky, a strategy could be developed to harness the immune-stimulating benefits of high-dose irradiation indirectly. This involves using nanoparticles to enhance antigen presentation and immune responses in a safer manner. Angiopep-2 (A2) was proved a satisfactory BBB and brain targeting and Dbait is a small molecule that hijack DNA double strand break damage (DSB) repair proteins to make cancer cells more sensitive to radiation. In view of that, the following two nanoparticles were designed to combine immunity of GBM, radiation resistance and BBB innovatively. One is cationic liposome nanoparticle interacting with Dbait (A2-CL/Dbait NPs) for radiosensitization effect; the other is PLGA-PEG-Mal nanoparticle conjugated with OX40 antibody (A2-PLGA-PEG-Mal/anti-OX40 NPs) for tumor-derived protein antigens capture and optimistic immunoregulatory effect of anti-OX40 (which is known to enhance the activation and proliferation T cells). Both types of nanoparticles showed favorable targeting and low toxicity in experimental models. Specifically, the combination of A2-CL/Dbait NPs and A2-PLGA-PEG-Mal/anti-OX40 NPs led to a significant extension in the survival time and a significant tumor shrinkage of mice with GBM. The study demonstrates that combining these innovative nanoparticles with conventional radiotherapy can effectively address key challenges in GBM treatment. It represents a significant step toward more effective and safer therapeutic options for GBM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterojunctions combining 2D and 3D perovskites have caused a surge in the research on X‐ray detectors. The enhanced charge transport facilitated by the built‐in electric field further amplifies the potential of this material system, paving the way for highly sensitive and efficient X‐ray detectors. In this study, PA2PbBr4 single‐crystal film with a thickness of 10 µm is successfully grown on the surface of MAPbBr3 substrate via liquid phase epitaxial method, forming a 2D/3D heterojunction. This innovative detector exhibits a dramatically enhanced sensitivity of 3.81 × 104 µC Gy−1 cm−2 at an X‐ray tube voltage of 70 keV and a bias of 50 V mm−1, along with an ultra‐low detection limit of 11.84 nGy s−1, surpassing the performance of the conventional MAPbBr3 X‐ray detectors by a factor of four and 2 × 103 times higher than that of commercialized α‐Se detectors. Furthermore, the 2D/3D heterojunction exhibits exceptional self‐powered X‐ray detection capabilities, achieving a remarkable sensitivity of 3562.26 µC Gy−1 cm−2 at 70 keV X‐ray tube voltage. This superior performance implies reduced energy consumption, high portability, decreased ion migration, and provides inspiration for the next generation of high‐performance X‐ray detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) methylation has been widely regarded in numerous biological functions including CR. Nonetheless, the molecular process of m6A methylation behind CR in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has no apparent significance. We identified in this study that the expression of FTO alpha‐ketoglutarate dependent dioxygenase (FTO) was downregulated in CR NSCLC tissues and cells in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, RIP‐seq indicated that loss of FTO contributed to the elevated m6A methylation at 5′‐untranslated region of RNAs which were closely connected with tumor resistance and malignancy, and FTO exerted to exclude the recruitment of eIF3A to these target genes in CR NSCLC. Moreover, FTO‐enriched transcripts displayed a reduced translational capability in CR NSCLC compared to the regular NSCLC cells. Finally, we also identified RNA binding motif protein 5 (RBM5) that could specially interact with FTO in regular NSCLC compared to CR NSCLC. Deficiency of RBM5 resulted in the abnormal recognition of transcripts by FTO, and led to the translation silencing of genes associated with CR such as ATP7A, ERCC1, CD99, CDKN3, XRCC5, and NOL3. Taken together, our data characterized FTO as a novel translation regulator and revealed the molecular mechanism on gene translation through the synergistic effects with RBM5 and m6A methylation in CR NSCLC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radioresistance and immune escape are crucial reasons for unsatisfactory therapeutic effects of glioblastoma (GBM). Although triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) involved in forming immunosuppressive microenvironment, but the underlying mechanism and its roles in mediating cancer radioresistance remain unclear, moreover, the efficient delivery of drugs targeting TREM2 to GBM encounters serious challenges. Hence, this study aimed to elucidate the effect and mechanisms of targeted TREM2 silencing on reversing the radioresistance and immune escape of GBM aided by a glutathione-responsive biomimetic nanoparticle (NP) platform. Methods: Radioresistant GBM cell lines and TREM2 stable knockdown GBM cell lines were firstly established. RNA sequencing, colony formation assay, western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and co-immunoprecipitation assay were used to detect the molecular mechanisms of TREM2 in regulating the radioresistance and immune escape of GBM. The glutathione-responsive biomimetic NP, angiopep-2 (A2)- cell membrane (CM)-NP/siTREM2/spam1, was then constructed to triply and targeted inhibit TREM2 for in vivo study. Orthotopic GBM-bearing mouse models were established to evaluate the anti-GBM effect of TREM2 inhibition, multiplex immunofluorescence assay was conducted to detect the infiltration of immune cells. Results: TREM2 was a regulator in accelerating the radioresistance and immune escape of GBM through participating in DNA damage repair and forming a positive feedback loop with high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) to cascade the activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling. A2-CM-NP/siTREM2/spam1 was successfully synthesized with excellent passive targeting, active targeting and homologous targeting, and the in vivo results exhibited its remarkable anti-GBM therapeutic effect through promoting the infiltration of type 1 helper T cells and CD8+T cells, reducing the infiltration of type 2 helper T cells and regulatory T cells, repolarizing macrophages to M1-type, and decreasing the secretion of pro-tumor and immunosuppressive cytokines. Conclusions: Targeting TREM2 therapy is a promising avenue for optimizing radiotherapy and immunotherapy to improve the prognosis of GBM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction to solar fuels holds great promise for storing renewable energy and mitigating global warming. However, its widespread application is hindered by the low optical absorption and inefficient utilization of charge carriers. One prospective approach to enhance photocatalytic performance involves converting low-energy photons into thermal energy. In this work, we explore the utilization of the thermochromic effect to enhance the selectivity and activity of photocatalytic CO2 conversion, particularly in scenarios without photosensitizers and sacrificial agents. We have combined Mo-doped VO2 (M1V), a thermochromic material, with an InVO4 (IV) photocatalyst to enhance optical absorption and facilitate charge transfer in IV. The M1V-IV composite exhibits exceptional selectivity in solar-driven CO2 reduction, an excellent selectivity of 99% with a photothermal CO formation rate of 58.4 μmol h−1 g−1 in pure water under 330 mW cm−2 light irradiation. The CO evolution rate for M1V-IV is 1.5 times higher than that of the VO2–InVO4 composite and 6 times higher than that of pure IV. Comprehensive spectroscopic characterization and theoretical calculations disclose that the enhanced performance is attributed to the increased separation of charge carriers and the photocatalytic enhancement of CO2 reduction due to the thermal effect. We successfully propose a reaction mechanism for CO2 photoreduction on M1V-IV. This work introduces a novel strategy to enhance photocatalytic performance by leveraging the thermochromic effect in CO2 reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on covering and illumination properties of a specific class of convex polytopes denoted by P . These polytopes are obtained as the convex hull of the Minkowski sum of a finite subset of Z n and (1 / 2) [ - 1 , 1 ] n . Our investigation includes the verification of Hadwiger's covering conjecture for P , as well as the estimation of the covering functional for convex polytopes in P . Furthermore, we demonstrate that when an integer M is sufficiently large, the elements belonging to P that are contained in M [ - 1 , 1 ] n serve as an ε -net for the space of convex bodies in R n , equipped with the Banach–Mazur metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Chuanming Zong's program to attack Hadwiger's covering conjecture, which is a longstanding open problem from Convex and Discrete Geometry, it is essential to estimate covering functionals of convex bodies effectively. Recently, He et al. and Yu et al. provided two deterministic global optimization algorithms having high computational complexity for this purpose. Since satisfactory estimations of covering functionals will be sufficient in Zong's program, we propose a stochastic global optimization algorithm based on CUDA and provide an error estimation for the algorithm. The accuracy of our algorithm is tested by comparing numerical and exact values of covering functionals of convex bodies including the Euclidean unit disc, the three-dimensional Euclidean unit ball, the regular tetrahedron, and the regular octahedron. We also present estimations of covering functionals for the regular dodecahedron and the regular icosahedron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maximum of the Banach–Mazur distance , where ranges over the set of all -dimensional real Banach spaces, is difficult to compute. In fact, it is even not easy to find the maximum of over all . We prove that for all . As an application, the following result related to Borsuk's partition problem in Banach spaces is obtained: any subset of having diameter is a union of subsets of whose diameters are at most . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rezivertinib (BPI-7711) is a novel third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). This phase IIa study was part of a phase I/IIa study (NCT03386955), aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rezivertinib as the first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic/recurrent EGFR mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Patients received the first-line treatment of 180 mg rezivertinib orally once daily until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal of consent. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR) assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR). Secondary endpoints included disease control rate (DCR), duration of response (DoR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: From Jun 12, 2019, to Oct 17, 2019, 43 patients were enrolled. At the data cutoff date on Dec 23, 2021, the ORR by BICR was 83.7% (95% CI: 69.3–93.2%). The median DoR was 19.3 (95% CI: 15.8–25.0) months. The median PFS by BICR was 20.7 (95% CI: 13.8–24.8) months and 22.0 (95% CI: 16.8–26.3) months by investigators. Data on OS was immature. Totally, 40 (93.0%) patients had at least one treatment-related adverse event while 4 (9.3%) of them were grade ≥ 3. Conclusions: Rezivertinib (BPI-7711) showed promising efficacy and a favorable safety profile for the treatment among the locally advanced or metastatic/recurrent NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation in the first-line setting. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03386955. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA‐binding Motif Protein39 (RBM39) is identified as a splicing factor and transcription coactivator. Despite mounting evidence that RBM39 plays a critical role in the development of specific malignancies, no systematic pan‐cancer investigation of RBM39 has been conducted. As a result, we set out to investigate RBM39's prognostic significance and putative immunological activities in 33 different cancers. Based on TCGA and CCLE, GTEx, cBioportal and HPA, we used a series of bioinformatics approaches to explore the potential oncogenic role of RBM39, including analysis of the expression of the pan‐cancer species RBM39, the prognostic relationship between RBM39 expression and overall survival (OS), disease‐specific survival (DSS) and progression‐free interval (PFI), the relationship between RBM39 expression and clinical phenotype, analysis of the relationship between RBM39 expression and tumour mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), DNA methylation and immune cell infiltration. Our results showed that RBM39 is overexpressed in most cancers. RBM39 was positively or negatively correlated with the prognosis of different tumours. RBM39 expression was associated with TMB and MSI in 9 and 12 cancer types. In addition, RBM39 expression was associated with DNA methylation in almost all tumours. There are eight tumours were screened for further study, including BRCA, COAD, HNSC, LIHC, LUSC, SKCM, STAD, UCEC. In the screed tumours, RBM39 was found to be negatively correlated with the infiltration of most immune cells. In addition, the correlation with RBM39 expression varied by immune cell subtype. Based on RBM39's role in tumorigenesis and tumour immunity, we suggest it can serve as a surrogate prognostic marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To compare the survival and complications of neoadjuvant chemoradiation (NCRT) versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search of the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CNKI, Wanfang Data, CBM, and VIP databases from inception to November 2021. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan (version 5.3) and Stata version 15.0. Results: A total of 18 studies were included, which involved 3137 patients, The results of the metaanalysis showed that the pathological complete remission rate (odds ratio [OR] = 5.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.85–9.50, p<0.00001) and complete tumor resection rate (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.57–3.41, p<0.0001) in the NCRT group were significantly better than those in the NCT group. Our meta-analysis results showed that 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates (1-year overall survival [OS]: OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.11–2.05, p = 0.009; 3-year OS: OR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.36–2.21, p<0.0001; 5-year OS: OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.30–1.99, p<0.00001) in the NCRT group were significantly higher than those in the NCT group. NCRT can lead a significant survival benefit compared with NCT and there was no significant difference between the two neoadjuvant treatments in terms of postoperative complications. Conclusion: The use of NCRT in the treatment of patients with ESCC patients showed significant advantages in terms of survival and safety relative to the use of NCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the completeness of the computer-aided diagnosis system for the segmentation of large-sized lung tumors and the segmentation accuracy of small-sized lung tumors, a dual-attention 3D-UNet lung tumor segmentation network model was constructed. The upsampling operation in the traditional 3D-UNet network is replaced with the DUpsampling structure. By minimizing the loss between the pixels of the feature map and the compressed label image, a more expressive feature map is obtained, thereby improving the network convergence speed. On this basis, the spatial attention module and the channel attention module are integrated so that similar features in single channel and multichannel are related to each other, and the global correlation of feature maps is increased to improve the accuracy of segmentation results. The experimental results show that compared with methods such as 3D-UNet, the model effectively improves the accuracy of lung tumor cell segmentation, and the MIoU score on the public dataset LIDC-IDRI reaches 89.4%. The segmentation method will be closer to the facts and in line with the safety and health of human life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical curative effects and toxicity of recombinant human adenovirus-p53 injection (rAd-p53) plus chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT), or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for the treatment of cervical cancer. Methods: We identified 14 eligible studies in the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wangfangdate, CBM, and VIP databases from their inception to May 2021 and performed meta-analyses using RevMan version 5.3. Results: This analysis included 14 studies involving 737 patients. The results of the meta-analysis results showed significantly improved complete remission (odds ratio [OR] = 2.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.74–3.70, p < 0.00001), partial remission (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.14–2.14, p = 0.006), and object response (OR = 4.47, 95% CI: 3.02–6.60, p < 0.00001) rates in the rAd-p53 combination therapy group compared to those in the CT/RT/CRT group. The results of subgroup analyses of CT/RT/CRT were consistent with the overall results. Regarding the incidence of adverse reactions, only the occurrence rate of fever (OR = 18.21, 95% CI: 10.54–31.47, p < 0.00001) in the rAd-p53 combination group was higher than that in the CT/RT/CRT group. No other significant differences were observed in other adverse reactions. Conclusion: RAd-p53 combined with CT/RT/CRT for the treatment of cervical cancer showed significant advantages in efficacy and safety compared to those in the CT/RT/CRT group. Therefore, rAd-p53 has great potential as an effective therapy for cervical cancer. Systematic Review Registration: https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2021-5-0058/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been successively approved and widely used in clinical cancer treatments, however, the overall response rates are very low and almost all cancer patients eventually progressed to drug resistance, this is mainly due to the intricate tumor microenvironment and immune escape mechanisms of cancer cells. One of the main key mechanisms leading to the evasion of immune attack is the presence of the immunosuppressive microenvironment within tumors. Recently, several studies illustrated that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2), a transmembrane receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily, was a crucial pathology-induced immune signaling hub, and it played a vital negative role in antitumor immunity, such as inhibiting the proliferation of T cells. Here, we reviewed the recent advances in the study of TREM2, especially focused on its regulation of tumor-related immune signaling pathways and its role as a novel target in cancer immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Hyaluronic acid-mediated motility receptor (HMMR), a tumor-related gene, plays a vital role in the occurrence and progression of various cancers. This research is aimed to reveal the effect of HMMR in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We first obtained the gene expression profiles and clinical data of patients with LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Then, based on the TCGA cohort, the HMMR expression difference between LUAD tissues and nontumor tissues was detected and verified with public tissue microarrays (TMAs), clinical LUAD specimen cohort, and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort. Logistic regression analysis and chi-square test were adopted to study the correlation between HMMR expression and clinicopathological parameters. The effect of HMMR expression on survival was evaluated by Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and using the Cox regression model. Furthermore, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was utilized to screen out signaling pathways related to LUAD and the co-expression analysis was employed to build the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. The HMMR expression level in LUAD tissues was dramatically higher than that in nontumor tissues. Logistic regression analysis and chi-square test demonstrated that the high HMMR expression in LUAD has relation with gender, pathological stage, T classification, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. The Kaplan–Meier curve suggested a poor prognosis for LUAD patients with high HMMR expression. Multivariate analysis implied that the high HMMR expression was a vital independent predictor of poor overall survival (OS). GSEA indicated that a total of 15 signaling pathways were enriched in samples with the high HMMR expression phenotype. The PPI network gave 10 genes co-expressed with HMMR. HMMR may be an oncogene in LUAD and is expected to become a potential prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptides B And B' (SNRPB) is a core component of spliceosome and plays a key role in pre-mRNA splicing. Emerging evidence suggests that it involves in the development of several types of cancer. Our previous study has demonstrated SNRPB is highly expressed in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and functions as an oncogene. However, whether SNRPB contributes to cisplatin resistance in NSCLC is still unknown. In this study, we found that SNRPB negatively regulates cisplatin resistance in NSCLC cells. Knocking out of SNRPB could significantly decrease cisplatin-induced cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in H1299 cells. However, enforced expression of SNRPB in H460 cells can markedly promote cisplatin-induced cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Our results also indicate that overexpression of SNRPB enhances the inhibitory effects of cisplatin on H460 cell-mediated xenograft tumors. Our results suggest that SNRPB may be a prediction marker for NSCLC patients in response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrowband photodetectors are critical for the application of sensors in imaging systems, spectroscopic photodetectors, and optical communication. All-inorganic mixed-halide perovskite (CsPbBr3−3nX3n, X = Cl, I) crystals have emerged as outstanding wavelength-selective light detection materials. They exhibit tunable optoelectronic properties and high stability, and can realize color discrimination without a filter or a bulk spectrometer. This study demonstrates the successful fabrication of a series of centimeter-sized mixed-halide perovskite (CsPbBr3−3nX3n) single crystals using the modified Bridgman method. The optical absorption edges of these crystals are continuously tuned from 437 to 664 nm, corresponding to the bandgaps of 2.88–1.90 eV, by changing the halide composition. Subsequently, eight filter-free narrowband photodetectors are fabricated based on the CsPbBr3−3nX3n bulk crystals. The narrowband photodetectors exhibit a widely tunable response range from violet to orange, a full-width at half-maximum of <20 nm, and an optimal responsivity of 0.59 A W−1, which demonstrates excellent spectral discrimination capabilities. Finally, a filter-free color image sensor, which is integrated with the CsPbBr3−3nX3n narrowband photodetectors, is constructed. The sensor exhibits excellent color and shape recognition abilities. These results demonstrate the exciting potential of the all-inorganic mixed-halide perovskite bulk crystals for the fabrication of compact, high-performance filter-free color image sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently, RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) were reported to interact with target mRNA to regulate gene posttranscriptional expression, and RBP-mediated RNA modification can regulate the expression and function of proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. We systematically analyzed the expression of RBPs in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) and constructed an RBP-associated prognostic risk model. Methods: Gene expression data of normal pancreatic samples as well as PAAD samples were downloaded from TCGA-PAAD and GTEx databases. Wilcoxon test and univariate Cox analysis were, respectively, applied to screen differential expression RBPs (DE-RBPs) and prognostic-associated RBPs (pRBPs). Functional enrichment was analyzed by GO, KEGG, and GSEA. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by STRING online database. Modeling RBPs were selected by multivariate Cox analysis. Kaplan–Meier survival and Cox analysis were applied to evaluate the effects of risk score on the overall survival of PAAD patients. ROC curves and validation cohort were applied to verify the accuracy of the model. Nomogram was applied for predicting 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) of PAAD patients. At last, modeling RBPs were further analyzed to explore their differential expression, prognostic value, as well as enrichment pathways in PAAD. Results: RBPs (453) were differentially expressed in normal and tumor samples, besides, 28 of which were prognostic associated. DE-RBPs (453) are functionally associated with ribosome, ribonuclease, spliceosome, etc. Eight RBPs (PABPC1, PRPF6, OAS1, RBM5, LSM12, IPO7, FXR1, and RBM6) were identified to construct a prognostic risk model. Higher risk score not only predicted poor prognosis but also was an independent poor prognostic indicator, which was verified by ROC curves and validation cohort. Eight modeling RBPs were confirmed to be significantly differentially expressed between normal and tumor samples from RNA and protein level. Besides, all of eight RBPs were related with overall survival of PAAD patients. Conclusions: We successfully constructed an RBP-associated prognostic risk model in PAAD, which has a potential clinical application prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining DNA damage repair inhibitors and chemotherapeutic agents is an emerging strategy in cancer treatment. In this study, we engineered the polycation nanoparticle (NP), which co-encapsulated DNA damage repair inhibitor Dbait and chemotherapeutic drug Docetaxel (Dtxl), using H1 nanopolymer (folate–-polyethylenimine600–cyclodextrin), and the size of H1/Dbait/Dtxl was about 117 nm. We demonstrated that H1/Dbait/Dtxl enhanced the efficiency of radio-chemotherapy in prostate cancer cells by CCK-8 assay and colony-forming assay. Importantly, the improvement of radio-chemotherapy of H1/Dbait/Dtxl in prostate cancer was also validated in vivo, and the NP did not have a high toxicity profile. The results of immunohistochemistry and western blot supported that the improved therapeutic efficacy was through inhibiting DNA damage repair signalling pathway. Our study supports further investigations using NP to co-deliver DNA damage repair inhibitors and chemotherapeutics to improve the therapeutic efficacy of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNA (CircRNA) plays an important role in tumorigenesis and progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the pathogenesis of NSCLC caused by circRNA has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate differentially expressed circRNAs and identify the underlying pathogenesis hub genes of NSCLC by comprehensive bioinformatics analysis. Data of gene expression microarrays (GSE101586, GSE101684, and GSE112214) were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed circRNAs (DECs) were obtained by the "limma" package of R programs and the overlapping operation was implemented of DECs. CircBase database and Cancer-Specific CircRNA database (CSCD) were used to find miRNAs binding to DECs. Target genes of the found miRNAs were identified utilizing Perl programs based on miRDB, miRTarBase, and TargetScan databases. Functional and enrichment analyses of selected target genes were performing using the "cluster profiler" package. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by the Search Tool for the STRING database and module analysis of selected hub genes was performed by Cytoscape 3.7.1. Survival analysis of hub genes were performed by Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). Respectively, 1 DEC, 249 DECs, and 101 DECs were identified in GSE101586, GSE101684, and GSE112214. A total of eight overlapped circRNAs, 43 miRNAs and 427 target genes were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis showed these target genes were enriched in biological processes of regulation of histone methylation, Ras protein signal transduction and covalent chromatin modification etc. Pathway enrichment analysis showed these target genes are mainly involved in AMPK signaling pathway, signaling pathways regulating pluripotency of stem cells and insulin signaling pathway etc. A PPI network was constructed based on 427 target genes of the 43 miRNAs. Ten hub genes were found, of which the expression of MYLIP, GAN, and CDC27 were significantly related to NSCLC patient prognosis. Our study provide a deeper understanding the circRNAs-miRNAs-target genes by bioinformatics analysis, which may provide novel insights for unraveling pathogenesis of NSCLC. MYLIP, GAN, and CDC27 genes might serve as novel biomarker for precise treatment and prognosis of NSCLC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The addition of temozolomide (TMZ) to radiotherapy (RT) improves survival of patients with glioblastoma (GBM). However, TMZ + RT causes excess toxicity in patients. In this study, we prepared angiopep-2 (A2) modified lipid-poly (hypoxic radiosensitized polyprodrug) nanoparticles for TMZ delivery (A2-P(MIs)25/TMZ) to achieve synergistic effects against glioma. This A2-P(MIs)25/TMZ display highly promising advantages: (1) a hydrophobic P-(MIs)25 core where poorly water-soluble TMZ can be encapsulated; (2) nitro groups of the hydrophobic P-(MIs)25 core that are converted into hydrophilic amino groups (P(NH2s)25) under low oxygen conditions to mimic the oxygen-increased sensitization to RT; (3) a lipid monolayer at the interface of the core and the shell to modify the A2 (a specific ligand for low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1 (LRP-1), which are expressed in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and human glioma cells), thereby enhancing the drug encapsulation efficiency in glioma. These nanoparticles appear as a promising and robust nanoplatforms for TMZ and hypoxic cell radiosensitization delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor necrosis factor‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) can induce apoptosis in cancer cells while sparing normal cells, thereby leading to the development of TRAIL receptor agonists for cancer treatment. However, these agonist‐based therapeutics exhibit little clinical benefits due to the lack of biomarkers to predict whether patients are responsive to the treatment, as well as determine the resistance of cancer cells to TRAIL‐based agonists. Our previous study has demonstrated that ISG12a enhances TRAIL‐induced apoptosis and might serve as a biomarker to predict the TRAIL response. The downstream mechanism by which ISG12a augments TRAIL‐induced apoptosis remains to be elucidated. In this study, we found that ISG12a was localized in the mitochondria and nucleus and augmented TRAIL‐induced apoptosis through intrinsic apoptotic pathway. In addition, ISG12a interacted with NR4A1 and promoted its nuclear‐to‐cytoplasm translocation. Upon translocate to cytoplasm, NR4A1 targeted mitochondria and induced Bcl2 conformational change, thereby exposing its BH3 domain. Moreover, TRAIL treatment can induce NR4A1 expression through the activation of NF‐κB in TRAIL‐resistant Huh7 hepatoma cells. Knockdown of NR4A1 could overcome TRAIL resistance. However, in TRAIL‐sensitive LH86 liver cancer cells, TRAIL activated the Jun N‐terminal kinases signalling pathway. Overall, these results showed that both ISG12a and its interaction partner NR4A1 are involved in TRAIL‐mediated apoptosis in hepatoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coiled-coil-helix-coiled-coil-helix domain-containing protein 2 (CHCHD2), a novel cell migration determinant, is able to co-express with other genes of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway by using a computational expression screening technique. However, little is known about the expression and biological function of CHCHD2 in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Western blotting was performed to detect CHCHD2 expression levels in normal renal cells and carcinoma cells. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect an association between CHCHD2 expression and clinicopathological parameters in 75 RCC tissues using a tissue microarray. The function of CHCHD2 in the migration and angiogenesis of RCC cells was investigated using Transwell migration and tube formation assays. CHCHD2 expression was markedly increased in human RCC cells. The results of immunohistochemical analysis revealed that CHCHD2 expression was markedly associated with tumor grade (P<0.001). Notably, CHCHD2 knockdown inhibited RCC migration and tube formation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells. CHCHD2 knockdown further suppressed matrix metalloproteinase-2 protein levels and enzyme activity. An ELISA identified that CHCHD2 knockdown decreased the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor. The gathered data disclose information on the association of CHCHD2 with migration and angiogenesis of human RCC, and may strengthen the feasibility of targeting CHCHD2 as a potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between thyroid gland-dosimetric parameters and hypothyroidism induced by intensity-modulated radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 52 patients with NPC treated in the Department of Radiation Oncology of The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, from May 2008 to December 2016 were retrospectively enrolled in the present study and divided into two groups based on thyroid function: The euthyroid and hypothyroid groups. The association between hypothyroidism and clinical or dosimetric parameters were analyzed. Females had a significantly increased probability of suffering from radiation-induced hypothyroidism (RIHT), compared with males (P=0.010). The occurrence of RIHT was significantly negatively associated with thyroid volume prior to radiotherapy (P=0.048). Furthermore, the mean dose (Dmean) and V50 in the hypothyroidism group were significantly increased, compared with the euthyroidism group (P=0.017 and P=0.023, respectively). During the treatment optimization period, dose constraints associated with the thyroid gland demonstrated a significantly protective effect on thyroid function compared with the unconstrained group (P=0.034). According to the receiver operating characteristic curves, the threshold value was 5,160 cGy for Dmean and 54.5% for V50. The 3-year cumulative incidence of RIHT was 67.8% when the Dmean value was >5,160 cGy and 44.6% when the Dmean was <5,160 cGy (log rank test, P=0.036). Furthermore, the 3-year cumulative incidence was 66.1% when the V50 was >54.5%, and 29.9% when the V50 was <54.5% (log rank test, P=0.025). In conclusion, RIHT is associated with radiation dose, particularly with Dmean and V50 of the thyroid gland. Dose constraints associated with the thyroid gland significantly reduced the incidence of hypothyroidism compared with the unconstrained group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The therapeutic resistance to ionising radiation (IR) and anti-angiogenesis mainly impair the prognosis of patients with glioblastoma. The primary and secondary MET aberrant activation is one crucial factor for these resistances. The kringle 1 domain of hepatocyte growth factor (HGFK1), an angiogenic inhibitor, contains a high-affinity binding domain of MET; however, its effects on glioblastoma remain elusive.Methods: We formed the nanoparticles consisting of a folate receptor-targeted nanoparticle-mediated HGFK1 gene (H1/pHGFK1) and studied its anti-tumoural and radiosensitive activities in both subcutaneous and orthotopic human glioma cell-xenografted mouse models. We then elucidated its molecular mechanisms in human glioblastoma cell lines in vitro.Results: We demonstrated for the first time that peritumoural injection of H1/pHGFK1 nanoparticles significantly inhibited tumour growth and prolonged survival in tumour-bearing mice, as well as enhanced the anti-tumoural efficacies of IR in vivo by reducing Ki-67 expression, enhancing TUNEL staining-indicated apoptotic indexes, reducing microvascular intensity and reversing IR-induced MET overexpression in tumour tissues. Furthermore, we showed that HGFK1 suppressed the proliferation and induced cell apoptosis and enhanced sensitivity to IR in glioblastoma cell lines, mainly by suppressing the activities of MET receptor, down-regulating ATM-Chk2 axis but up-regulating Chk1.Conclusions: H1/pHGFK1 exerts anti-tumoural and radiosensitive activities mainly through the inhibition and reversal of IR-induced MET and ATM-Chk2 axis activities in glioblastoma. H1/pHGFK1 nanoparticles are a potential radiosensitiser and angiogenic inhibitor for glioblastoma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Autophagy is a metabolic response of cells to chemical and physical factors, such as nutrition or growth factor deprivation, proinflammatory state, hypoxia, accumulation of reactive oxygen species, presence of infectious agents, and DNA damage. Autophagy maintains the homeostasis of intracellular metabolism mainly by degrading cellular organelles and critical proteins. In a sense, autophagy protects cells from death. Radiotherapy is a powerful tool used to control tumor growth, and it can induce autophagy. The relationship between radiotherapy and autophagy is worthy of further investigation. Methods: We searched various electronic databases including PubMed for peer-reviewed English-language articles and selected articles on the mechanism of autophagy, its role in cancer development and cancer treatment, and the relationship between the effect of radiation therapy and autophagy intensity. Results: This review has recently shown that the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiation therapy can be increased by regulating autophagy. Conclusion: The effects of autophagy vary, and autophagy provides various ways of enhancing radiosensitivity, including inhibition of autophagy, increase in autophagy, and altering the outcome of autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant advances have been made in the field of cancer immunotherapy by orchestrating the body's immune system to eradicate cancer cells. However, safety and efficacy concerns stemming from the systemic delivery of immunomodulatory compounds limits cancer immunotherapies expansion and application. In this context, nanotechnology presents a number of advantages, such as targeted delivery to immune cells, enhanced clinical outcomes, and reduced adverse events, which may aid in the delivery of cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory agents. With this in mind, a diverse range of nanomaterials with different physicochemical characteristics have been developed to stimulate the immune system and battle cancer. In this review, we will focus on some recent developments and the potential advantages of utilizing nanotechnology within the field of cancer immunotherapy. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2017, 9:e1456. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1456 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxia plays a key role in tumour cell survival, invasion, and metastasis. An increasing number of studies have attempted to characterize the tumour response to hypoxia and to identify predictive markers of disease. Here we show that hypoxia increases tumour cell invasion and migration by the modulation of Rab11, an important molecule for vesicular trafficking. In our study, we found that Rab11, together with the activation of Rac1, could stimulate invasion and migration of cervical cancer cell lines HeLa/SiHa in hypoxia. Activation of Rac1 activity by hypoxia seems to be central to carcinoma invasion. We also found that these effects could be related to the integrin αvβ3. In addition, we studied the molecular pathway for this process. Our results showed that in cervical cancer cell lines HeLa/SiHa, Rac1 activation in hypoxia could stimulate invasion and migration, and this process was mediated by integrin αvβ3-mediated FAK and PI3K phosphorylation. Furthermore, hypoxia induced a dramatic increase in αvβ3 integrin surface expression, and this increase is dependent on Rab11. In conclusion, our study might provide a new mechanism for the effect of hypoxia on stimulating cervical carcinoma invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer cells release DNA fragments into plasma as circulating free DNA (cfDNA). However, quantitative measurement of tumor-derived DNA in cfDNA remains challenge. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess tumor-derived DNA in lung cancer patients. By optimizing competitive allele-specific TaqMan PCR (CAST-PCR), we assessed the copy number of mutated Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) alleles in the pre/post surgery plasma of 168 lung cancer patients. An absolute quantitative PCR method was developed to assess the number of total cfDNA . All mutations detected in tumors were also found in the plasma after surgery. At the time of 30 days after surgery, EGFR mutation of circulating cell-free DNA was detected only in two patients who recurred in 4 months after surgery. Compared to that of normal control at 30 days after surgery, five patients who recurred in 4 months had significantly higher circulating cell-free DNA ( P < 0.001), whereas six patients who recurred after 4 months ( P = 0.207) and five patients without recurrence ( P = 0.901) demonstrated significantly lower circulating cell-free DNA. Our findings suggest that cfDNA analysis in plasma is an alternative and supplement to tissue analysis and hold promise for clinical application. Stratification of patients according to cfDNA levels at 30 days after surgery might be helpful in selecting lung cancer patients for adjuvant therapy after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments were conducted in artificial stream tanks with juvenile Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, captured in the Yangtze Estuary to test two null hypotheses (1) juveniles have no preference for white or black substrates, and (2) white or black substrate color has no effect on juvenile feeding efficiency on the barcheek goby, Rhinogobius giurinus, a dark-colored prey of wild juveniles. Juveniles strongly preferred white substrate. However, in feeding tests, feeding efficiency by juveniles was similar on white or black substrates. Thus, substrate color had no effect on feeding efficiency. Results suggest the innate preference for white substrate is not a visual adaptation for capturing prey on a contrasting background, but is an adaptation predisposing juveniles to seek light-colored sandy substrate where forage abundance is greatest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, is a large member of Acipenseridae now found only in the Yangtze River and the Yellow and East China seas. The goal of this paper was to describe the skull of A. sinensis in the context of recent anatomical and systematic studies of sturgeons. Five specimens (354-670 mm standard length) were prepared as skeletons. The left and right parietals and frontals are broadly separated by a median fontanelle. The lateral-most lateral extrascapular variably supports the confluence of the supratemporal, occipital and trunk lateral lines. There is no distinct ventral supraorbital process as found in other sturgeons. The anterodorsal portion of the snout is unique among Acipenseridae by having a single large anamestic dorsal rostral bone instead of a series of separate dorsal rostral bones. There are 0-2 lateral rostral bones on each side positioned anterior to but not in contact with the horizontal arm of the jugal. The dorsal surface of the neurocranium lacks a pineal opening, and its anterior tip is sharply pointed in the smaller specimens examined and gently curved in larger specimens. The anteromedial arm of the palatopterygoid is broad relative to other acipenserids. These new morphological data are discussed and compared among Acipenseridae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T cell Ig and ITIM domain (TIGIT) is a newly identified inhibitory receptor expressed on T and natural killer (NK) cells. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells express CD3 and CD56 molecules, and share functional properties with both NK and T cells. However, it remains unknown whether TIGIT is expressed in CIK cells. Here, we show that TIGIT is expressed by CIK cells and interacts with CD155. By blocking TIGIT using an anti-TIGIT functional antibody, we demonstrate that CIK cells display increased proliferation; higher cytotoxic targeting of tumor cells expressing CD155; and higher expression of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Furthermore, increases in IFN-γ and cytotoxicity by blockade of TIGIT were reduced by blocking DNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1) signaling, implying that TIGIT exerts immunosuppressive effects by competing with DNAM-1 for the same ligand, CD155. Our results provide evidence that blockade of TIGIT may be a novel strategy to improve the cytotoxic activity of CIK cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This pilot trial is designed to determine whether PET/CT-guided radiotherapy dose escalation can improve local control while minimizing toxicity for the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: 67 patients were randomized into the three treatment arms: conventional chemoradiotherapy (group A), CT-guided dose escalation chemoradiotherapy (group B) and PET/CT-guided dose escalation chemoradiotherapy (group C). Radiotherapy was delivered using the simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) technique in the dose-escalation treatment arms. Patients received concurrent and adjuvant chemotherapy. Results: The use of PET/CT significantly changed the treatment volume delineation of the gross tumor volume. 3-year local progression-free (LPF) survival rates of three groups were 83.3%, 90.9% and 100%, respectively. The 3-year regional progression-free survival (RPFS) rates were 95.8%, 95.5% and 100%, respectively. The 3-year disease free survival (DFS) rates were 79.2%, 86.4% and 95.2%, respectively. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 83.3%, 90.9% and 95.2%, respectively. The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 79.2%, 86.4% and 95.2%, respectively. No patient had grade 4 late toxicity. Conclusions: PET/CT-guided dose escalation radiotherapy is well-tolerated and appears to be superior to conventional chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced NPC. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the effects of salinity on survival, growth, food conversion efficiency and plasma osmolality of juvenile Siganus guttatus in two independent experiments. In the first experiment, fish were transferred from 30 ‰ salinity to freshwater, 5, 10, 20 and 30 ‰ salinities for 192 h. No fish died when transferred directly from 30 ‰ to salinities >5 ‰. However, all fish died in the freshwater treatment. In the second experiment, survival, growth, feeding rate, food conversion efficiency and plasma osmolality of fish were analyzed during 6 weeks in salinities of 5, 10, 20 and 30 ‰ (control). At the end of this experiment, the final weight and the specific growth rate of fish were significantly greater at 10 ‰ than fish in all other treatments. Feeding rate increased significantly with decreasing salinity: 10 ‰ > 20 ‰ > 30 ‰. However, the food conversion efficiency was not significantly different between fish in any treatment. Plasma osmolality of fish in 20 and 30 ‰ salinity was significantly greater than fish reared at 10 or 5 ‰. A salinity of 13.95 ‰ (411.88 mOsmol/kg) was the point of isosmolality for juvenile S. guttatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the uptake of fluoride ions (F−) in tissues of juvenile Siberian sturgeon ( A cipenser baerii). Fish were fed diets containing 75.2 (Control), 162.6, 360.8, 710.2, 1478.3 mg F− kg−1 in triplicate for 12 weeks with F− added as NaF. Growth was inhibited in fish fed diets with 710.2 or 1478.3 mg F− kg−1, but was not inhibited in fish fed diets with 162.6 or 360.8 mg F− kg−1. The F− concentration in scute, cartilage, skin and gill increased with time and dietary F− concentration, and with the order of concentration at the end of the experiment, highest to lowest levels: scute (7721.3 mgF− kg−1), cartilage (2324.2), gill (721.4) and skin (262.5). Muscle, liver, gut and pylorus did not accumulate F− with increasing F− level in the diet. Thus, F− up to 360.8 mg F− kg−1 can be included in the Siberian sturgeon diet without an adverse effect on growth or survival. The F− as low as 162.6 mg F− kg−1 in diet increased F− concentrations in scute and cartilage, and the high concentration of F− in cartilage is possibly a danger to the consumption of cartilage in sturgeon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of juvenile Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis (Body weight, range 5 - 32 g) were determined under different environmental conditions, including water temperature, salinity, illumination intensity and metal ion concentration [Cu2+] by single factor experimental analysis. OCR and opercula frequency (OF) increased with rising of water temperature. The linear relationships between water temperature (WT) and OF with OCR can be described as OCR = 0.018 WT + 0.016 (R2 = 0.988, P < 0.01), OCR = 2.737 OF + 77.726 (R2 = 0.64, P < 0.01), respectively. The acute exposure experiments showed that the OCR also increased initially with an increase in salinity. The linear relationships between salinity (S) and OCR can be described as OCR = 8.1 x 10-5 S3 - 3.01 x 10-3 S2 + 0.0263 S + 0.2729 (R2 = 0.995, P < 0.01). Three days of acclimation to different salinities, the OCRs decreased sharply relative to the first day exposure values. The equation OCR = - 6.29 x 10-4 S2 + 0.0238 S + 0.2797 (R2 = 0.988, P < 0.01) illustrates the linear relationship between salinity and OCRs after 3-day exposure. After 3-day acclimation, the OCRs increased also with increasing light intensity, except for the ambient light group (i.e., 2000 lx) and the group exposed to direct sunlight (i.e., 20000 lx). After 1-day exposure to different Cu2+ concentrations (C), the OCRs decreased rapidly in all of the groups. But the OCR level being gradually different with the increasing of Cu2+ concentration, OCR = 0.237e - 0.09 C (R2 = 0.898, P < 0.01). The results provided us with some useful guide lines which may apply into protection and cultivation management of this endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was hypothesized that differences of body shape between pond-reared and tank-reared juvenile Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis may influence their swimming ability, and thus may play an important role in their stocking into the native population. In this study, morphological characters and critical swimming speed (Ucrit) of the pond-reared (body weight, BW = 1426.0 ± 53.8 g, n = 6) and tank-reared (BW = 1201.6 ± 91.4 g, n = 6) size-matched juvenile Chinese sturgeon were measured and compared. The Ucrit of pond-reared sturgeon was 81.3 ± 3.2 cm/s (relative critical swimming speed, Ucrit' = 1.32 ± 0.04 SL/s), which was not significantly higher (P > 0.05) than that of the tank-reared cohort (Ucrit = 76.2 ± 1.9 cm/s, Ucrit' = 1.40 ± 0.03 SL/s). Rearing condition had some significant effects on 12 of morphological characters of the Chinese sturgeon at their early life stage (P < 0.05), but there was only a tendency to be difference between the body shape variations as defined by PC1 (body and caudal length, body depth and caudal filament length) from the principal component analysis (PCA) with 12 size-adjusted morphological characters of the two different cohorts (P = 0.051). There was a significant negative relationship between Lg (Ucrit) (y) and PC1 (x), which could be described by the equation as follows: y = 1.897 - 0.002 x (r2 = 0.372, P = 0.035). These results indicated that rearing condition could not significantly influence the swimming ability associated with body shape of the juvenile Chinese sturgeon, but we should select streamline-bodied juveniles when releasing them into nature. Furthermore, the findings may be useful for a fish way and culvert design due to stringent regulatory requirement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted laboratory experiments with kaluga, Huso dauricus, and Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrenckii, to develop a conceptual model of early behavior. We daily observed embryos (first life phase after hatching) and larvae (period initiating exogenous feeding) to day-30 (late larvae) for preference of bright habitat and cover, swimming distance above the bottom, up- and downstream movement, and diel activity. Day-0 embryos of both species strongly preferred bright, open habitat and initiated a strong, downstream migration that lasted 4 days (3 day peak) for kaluga and 3 days (2 day peak) for Amur sturgeon. Kaluga migrants swam far above the bottom (150 cm) on only 1 day and moved day and night; Amur sturgeon migrants swam far above the bottom (median 130 cm) during 3 days and were more nocturnal than kaluga. Post-migrant embryos of both species moved day and night, but Amur sturgeon used dark, cover habitat and swam closer to the bottom than kaluga. The larva period of both species began on day 7 (cumulative temperature degree-days, 192.0 for kaluga and 171.5 for Amur sturgeon). Larvae of both species preferred open habitat. Kaluga larvae strongly preferred bright habitat, initially swam far above the bottom (median 50–105 cm), and migrated downstream at night during days 10–16 (7-day migration). Amur sturgeon larvae strongly avoided illumination, had a mixed response to white substrate, swam 20–30 cm above the bottom during most days, and during days 12–34 (most of the larva period) moved downstream mostly at night (23-day migration). The embryo–larva migration style of the two species likely shows convergence of non-related species for a common style in response to environmental selection in the Amur River. The embryo–larva migration style of Amur sturgeon is unique among Acipenser yet studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted laboratory experiments with Dabry's sturgeon, Acipenserdabryanus, from the upper Yangtze River to develop a conceptual model of early behavior. We daily observed fish from day-0 (embryo, first life interval after hatching) to day-30 feeding larva for preference of bright habitat and cover, swimming distance above the bottom, up- and down-stream movement, and diel activity. Hatchling to day-12 embryos and days 13–24 larvae were similar for ontogenetic behavior, i.e., neither initiated a dispersal migration, both swam within 15 cm of the bottom, both preferred bright habitat, and neither strongly preferred cover or open habitat. Embryos and larvae were weakly active day and night. Days 72–76 juveniles had a weak nocturnal downstream migration, indicating wild juveniles disperse from a spawning site. In other sturgeon species yet studied representing three genera on three continents, Dabry's sturgeon is the first that does not disperse as an embryo or larva. Development of Dabry's sturgeon is slow, requiring more cumulative temperature degree days per millimeter of larvae TL than is required for other sturgeons to develop into larvae. Thus, a dispersal migration that diverts energy from development may not be adaptive. The available information suggests the initial dispersal of early life intervals is likely done by females, which spawn in a dispersed spawning style, not the usual aggregated spawning style. Juvenile migrants had a black body and tail with a light line along the lateral scutes. The color of juvenile migrants shows that a dark body and tail is characteristic of Acipenser that migrate downstream as larvae or juveniles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted laboratory experiments with Volga River Russian sturgeon, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, to develop a conceptual model of early behavior. We daily observed fish from day-0 (embryos, first life interval after hatching) to day-29 feeding larvae for preference of bright habitat and cover, swimming distance above the bottom, up- and downstream movement, and diel activity. Hatchling embryos initiated a downstream migration, which suggests that predation risk of embryos at spawning sites is high. Migration peaked on days 0–5 and ceased on day 7 (8-day migration). Migrants preferred bright, open habitat and early migrants swam-up far above the bottom (maximum daily median, 140 cm) in a vertical swim tube. Post-migrant embryos did not prefer bright illumination but continued to prefer white substrate, increased use of cover habitat, and swam on the bottom. Larvae initiated feeding on day 10 after 170.6 cumulative temperature degree-days. Larvae did not migrate, weakly preferred bright illumination, preferred white substrate and open habitat, and swam near the bottom (daily median 5–78 cm). The lack of a strong preference by larvae for bright illumination suggests foraging relies more on olfaction than vision for locating prey. A short migration by embryos would disperse wild sturgeon from a spawning area, but larvae did not migrate, so a second later migration by juveniles disperses young sturgeon to the sea (2-step migration). Embryo and larva body color was light tan and tail color was black. The migration, behavior, and light body color of Russian sturgeon embryos was similar to species of Acipenser and Scaphirhynchus in North America and to Acipenser in Asia that migrate after hatching as embryos. The similarity in migration style and body color among species with diverse phylogenies likely reflects convergence for common adaptations across biogeographic regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]