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The article focuses on the purification of methane monooxygenase hydroxylase from Methylosinus trichosporium IMV 3011 by chromatography. The methane monooxygenase hydroxylase was characterized by electrophoresis and spectroscopy. Gel filtration determined the molecular mass of hydroxylase as 201.3 KDa.

Case Presentation: A 33-year-old man had fever for 2 months. He was admitted by the physician with the suspicion of pneumonia. However, both chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) showed no abnormality. Tuberculosis and hematological and autoimmune diseases were all excluded. A giant hepatic lesion (20 cm) was detected by ultrasonography with the diagnosis of hemangioma. Contrast enhanced CT scan was conducted and hepatic hemangioma was confirmed. Some areas of the hepatic lesion had lower density compared to surrounding tissues and necrosis of the tumor was suspected.Treatment: Right trisectionectomy was then performed and the symptom of fever disappeared after the operation. No bacteria grew in the culture of the necrosis tissue. Pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of hemangioma and the necrosis.Results: He was followed up for 5 months and no fever occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magnetic field (MF) sensor with a stable structure and high sensitivity has been proposed and experimentally verified. We used the water bath method to produce a layer of Fe 2 O 3 nanorods on a tapered few mode fiber (FMF) surface to form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The experiment found that the nanostructure produced on the surface of FMF were particularly stable and firm. Under the action of an external MF, the magnetic permeability of a Fe 2 O 3 nanorod will change, leading to a change in its refractive index, resulting in a linear shift in the resonance wavelength of MZI. The experimental results showed that the MF sensitivity of MZI reached -0.5348 nm/mT in 10 mT∼80 mT. In addition, MZI has a certain sensitivity to environmental humidity and temperature. A long-period fiber grating and a fiber Bragg grating are cascaded with MZI to achieve a simultaneous measurement of three quantities and eliminate their cross-sensitivity.

Background: Approximately 90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cases are driven by the untargetable non-G12C KRAS mutations, and only a small subset of patients are eligible for FDA-approved precision therapies. The practice of precision therapy in pancreatic cancer was limited by the paucity of targetable genetic alterations, especially in the Asian population., Methods: To explore therapeutic targets in 499 Chinese PDAC patients, a deep sequencing panel (OncoPanscan™, Genetron health) was used to characterize somatic alterations including point mutations, indels, copy number alterations, gene fusions as well as pathogenic germline variants., Results: We performed genomic profiling in 499 Chinese PDAC patients, which revealed somatic driver mutations in KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, SMAD4, ARID1A, RNF43, and pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) in cancer predisposition genes including BRCA2, PALB2, and ATM. Overall, 20.4% of patients had targetable genomic alterations. About 8.4% of patients carried inactivating germline and somatic variants in BRCA1/2 and PALB2, which were susceptible to platinum and PARP inhibitors therapy. Patients with KRAS wild-type disease and early-onset pancreatic cancer (EOPC) harbored actionable mutations including BRAF, EGFR, ERBB2, and MAP2K1/2. Compared to PGV-negative patients, PGV-positive patients were younger and more likely to have a family history of cancer. Furthermore, PGVs in PALB2, BRCA2, and ATM were associated with high PDAC risk in the Chinese population., Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that a genetic screen of actionable genomic variants could facilitate precision therapy and cancer risk reduction in pancreatic cancer patients of Asian ethnicity., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The molecular mechanisms whereby CD8 + T cells become "exhausted" in the tumor microenvironment remain unclear. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is upregulated on tumor cells and PD-1-PD-L1 blockade has significant efficacy in human tumors; however, most patients do not respond, suggesting additional mechanisms underlying T cell exhaustion. B7 superfamily member 1 (B7S1), also called B7-H4, B7x, or VTCN1, negatively regulates T cell activation. Here we show increased B7S1 expression on myeloid cells from human hepatocellular carcinoma correlated with CD8 + T cell dysfunction. B7S1 inhibition suppressed development of murine tumors. Putative B7S1 receptor was co-expressed with PD-1 but not T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3 (Tim-3) at an activated state of early tumor-infiltrating CD8 + T cells, and B7S1 promoted T cell exhaustion, possibly through Eomes overexpression. Combinatorial blockade of B7S1 and PD-1 synergistically enhanced anti-tumor immune responses. Collectively, B7S1 initiates dysfunction of tumor-infiltrating CD8 + T cells and may be targeted for cancer immunotherapy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To report five cases of isolated IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis (IAC) and to summarize their clinical characteristics and the differential diagnosis., Method: The clinical data of five patients with isolated IAC were retrospectively analyzed, including laboratory tests, imaging examination and liver pathology. Their treatment and prognosis were also discussed., Results: All five patients had no history of pancreatitis. All five patients presented with jaundice and three of them had fluctuant jaundice. The serum IgG4 levels was increased in all five patients. The images study showed bile duct stenosis in all 5 patients (2 in hilar bile duct, 2 in intrahepatic bile duct and 1 in hilar associated distal bile duct). The enlargement of pancreas was found in 2 patients. Liver pathology revealed fibrosis around small bile duct and IgG4-positive plasma cells infiltration in all 5 patients. Two patients underwent surgical procedure without relief. All five patients were relieved after the treatment of steroid. All patients were followed up from 6 months to 2 years and no recurrence was detected., Conclusions: Isolated IAC is a rare disease and it could be misdiagnosed as cholangiocarcinoma. The surgical procedure has the limited effect for the treatment of IAC and it should be avoided. IAC should be considered for patients with fluctuant jaundice of long history and enlargement of pancreas on imaging. Serum IgG4 test and liver biopsy are helpful for the diagnosis of IAC.

Objective: To study the clinical features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: The clinical manifestations, imaging features, pathological subtypes and treatment outcome of two cases with NAFLD-associated HCC were analyzed., Results: In these two cases, both were young, obese male patients, with contrast enhanced CT scan of hemangioma-like features. They had undergone surgical resection and both were reported as well-differentiated HCC pathologically. They were followed-up respectively up to 46 and 36 months post-operatively with no evidence of recurrence or metastasis., Conclusions: NAFLD-associated HCC has different radiological presentations from typical HCC. Incidental finding of any liver occupying lesions in NAFLD patients should raise immediate clinical attention.

The prevalence of liver dysfunction and malnutrition is common among patients with obstructive jaundice or cirrhosis, the poor nutrition status in patients with indications for hepatic resection increases the risk of postoperative complications and/or mortality. Hepatic surgery significantly affects body's metabolism and environment. Therefore, it is very important for patients with liver diseases undergoing hepatic surgery to receive essential nutritional support and fluid therapy during perioperative period. There are several principles in nutritional support and fluid therapy that surgeons need to pay attention to, for example, time, nutritional approach, fluid volume, choice of fat emulsions and amino acids. Some issues, such as albumin and plasma application, choice of crystalloid and colloid, liver protective therapy, also need further attention.

Sepiolite--an inexpensive, resourceful, fibrous yet inoffensive mineral--made DNA transformation rapid, simple and efficient but the mechanism for DNA transformation was still unclear. Through RNA competition test, we proposed the different transforming mechanisms from the previous report. Meanwhile, we optimized the transforming method and could transfer a colony stored at 4 degrees C for a month with plasmid through sepiolite fibers. The cells could be transformed well without competent cells preparation or incubation process. In sum, this was a novel potential transforming method, which could be explored further if the chemical method and electroporation could not be used.

To shorten the cultivation time and reduce the consumption of raw materials for microbial lipid production, oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides AS 2.1389 was cultivated using a two-stage culture mode, in which the cell propagation and lipid accumulation were separated. The yeast cells recovered from the propagation culture were re-suspended in glucose solution for lipid accumulation, through which lipid content over 55% of the dry cell weight was achieved, the longer the propagation stage was, the higher the lipid content. Analysis of the lipid indicated that the long-chain fatty acids with 16 and 18 carbon atoms were major components, suggesting that the lipid can be an alternative feedstock for biodiesel production.