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Abstract Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) shed from primary tumors must overcome the cytotoxicity of immune cells, particularly natural killer (NK) cells, to cause metastasis. The tumor microenvironment (TME) protects tumor cells from the cytotoxicity of immune cells, which is partially executed by cancer‐associated mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). However, the mechanisms by which MSCs influence the NK resistance of CTCs remain poorly understood. This study demonstrates that MSCs enhance the NK resistance of cancer cells in a gap junction‐dependent manner, thereby promoting the survival and metastatic seeding of CTCs in immunocompromised mice. Tumor cells crosstalk with MSCs through an intercellular cGAS‐cGAMP‐STING signaling loop, leading to increased production of interferon‐β (IFNβ) by MSCs. IFNβ reversely enhances the type I IFN (IFN‐I) signaling in tumor cells and hence the expression of human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA‐I) on the cell surface, protecting the tumor cells from NK cytotoxicity. Disruption of this loop reverses NK sensitivity in tumor cells and decreases tumor metastasis. Moreover, there are positive correlations between IFN‐I signaling, HLA‐I expression, and NK tolerance in human tumor samples. Thus, the NK‐resistant signaling loop between tumor cells and MSCs may serve as a novel therapeutic target.

In Chinese language and culture, there are many metaphorical habits that use upright or skew shapes to express morality. Three experiments were conducted to determine whether there is a psychological metaphor in the cognition of Chinese people. To explore the psychological metaphorical associations between moral concepts and upright/skew shapes, the Stroop-like paradigm was used in Experiment 1, which showed that participants responded faster to positive moral words. There are some disputes regarding whether the metaphorical association is unidirectional or bidirectional in mapping. In Experiment 2, the priming paradigm was adopted, and the results showed that the priming of upright/skew shapes affected the judgment of moral words, and the priming of moral words also affected the judgment of upright/skew shapes, indicating bidirectional mapping between moral concepts and upright/skew shapes. We also wanted to determine whether this metaphorical association had any effect on face recognition. In Experiment 3, participants were asked to judge neutral faces presented with quadrilateral or oblique quadrilateral faces. We found that participants tended to think that upright faces were more moral, while skew faces were more immoral. Our study found a psychological metaphorical association between moral concepts and upright/skew shapes, bidirectional mapping, and its effect on face cognition., Author(s): Cong-xing Wang [sup.1] , Yu-qin Yang [sup.1] [sup.2] , Zi-qing Ye [sup.3] , Jin-yun Wu [sup.1] , Ge Xu [sup.4] , Yi-duo Ye [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/020azk594, grid.411503.2, [...]

Despite existing studies showing that relative deprivation is a risk factor for migrant populations' social withdrawal, the underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. The current study used a moderated mediation model to investigate perceived social support as a possible mediator and in-group identity as a possible moderator in the relationship between relative deprivation and social withdrawal. A large sample of 1772 Chinese migrant adolescents completed questionnaires that measured relative deprivation, social withdrawal, perceived social support, and in-group identity. Relative deprivation was significantly and positively correlated with migrant adolescents' social withdrawal, and perceived social support partially mediated this relationship. Moreover, in-group identity moderated the indirect effect of relative deprivation on social withdrawal via perceived social support, with a high level of in-group identity weakening the association between relative deprivation and perceived social support. It is recommended that parents and educators pay closer attention to adolescents' perceived social support and in-group identity to provide appropriate interventions., Author(s): Meng Xiong [sup.1] [sup.2] , Zhi-qin Hu [sup.1] , Yi-duo Ye [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.410654.2, 0000 0000 8880 6009, Department of Psychology, School of Education and Sports Sciences, [...]

This study explored the chain mediating effects of rumination and anxiety in the relationship between online risky behavior and sleep quality among Chinese college students. A sample of 1039 Chinese college students (Mage = 19.49, SD = 1.14, 53.32% males) were investigated with Online Risky Behavior Scale (ORBS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scale (PSQI), Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS) and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The results showed that: (1) There is a significant positive correlation among online risky behavior, sleep quality, rumination and anxiety, and (2) Online risky behavior could not directly affect sleep quality, but it can affect sleep quality through the mediation of rumination and anxiety. The chain mediating effects includes three paths: The mediating role of rumination, the mediating role of anxiety, and the chain mediating role of rumination and anxiety after controlling for gender, grade, major, and network usage time. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how online risky behavior affects sleep quality and provide important practical guidance for improving sleep quality., Author(s): Wen-Fu Qiu [sup.1] , Jian-Ping Ma [sup.2] , Zhen-Yu Xie [sup.1] , Xiao-Tong Xie [sup.1] , Cong-Xing Wang [sup.1] , Yi-Duo Ye [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.411503.2, 0000 0000 [...]

The loss of contact inhibition is a key step during carcinogenesis. The Hippo-Yes-associated protein (Hippo/YAP) pathway is an important regulator of cell growth in a cell density-dependent manner. However, how Hippo signaling senses cell density in this context remains elusive. Here, we report that high cell density induced the phosphorylation of spectrin a chain, nonerythrocytic 1 (SPTAN1), a plasma membrane-stabilizing protein, to recruit NUMB endocytic adaptor protein isoforms 1 and 2 (NUMB1/2), which further sequestered microtubule affinity-regulating kinases (MARKs) in the plasma membrane and rendered them inaccessible for phosphorylation and inhibition of the Hippo kinases sterile 20-like kinases MST1 and MST2 (MST1/2). WW45 interaction with MST1/2 was thereby enhanced, resulting in the activation of Hippo signaling to block YAP activity for cell contact inhibition. Importantly, low cell density led to SPTAN1 dephosphorylation and NUMB cytoplasmic location, along with MST1/2 inhibition and, consequently, YAP activation. Moreover, double KO of NUMB and WW45 in the liver led to appreciable organ enlargement and rapid tumorigenesis. Interestingly, NUMB isoforms 3 and 4, which have a truncated phosphotyrosine-binding (PTB) domain and are thus unable to interact with phosphorylated SPTAN1 and activate MST1/2, were selectively upregulated in liver cancer, which correlated with YAP activation. We have thus revealed a SPTAN1/ NUMB1/2 axis that acts as a cell density sensor to restrain cell growth and oncogenesis by coupling external cell-cell contact signals to intracellular Hippo signaling., Introduction Cells within multicellular organisms are able to sense cell-cell contact and their density to control the proper tissue morphogenesis and organ size (1, 2). When cell density increases, contact [...]