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Meningiomas are common intracranial tumors, and the effect of surgical resection is often unsatisfactory. N6-Methyladenosine (m6A)-related regulator expression levels are related to cancer occurrence and development. This study aimed to investigate the roles of m6A RNA methylation regulators in meningiomas, as these are currently unclear. Two m6A methylation-regulated genes (METTL3 and IGF2BP2) were identified as survival-associated linear models for RiskScore through bioinformatics analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that the overall survival of patients with meningioma in the high-risk group was substantially shorter than that in the low-risk group. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis constructed a co-expression network based on the m6A methylation model (RiskScore). Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses identified the biological processes of hub module gene behavior, and Cytoscape constructed an m6A methylation-related gene regulatory network. In vitro experiments verified that the mRNA and protein expression levels of METTL3 and IGF2BP2 were lower in meningioma cells than in normal meningioma cells. Therefore, central regulators of m6A methylation (METTL3 and IGF2BP2) could potentially serve as novel therapeutic targets in meningioma. Subsequently, a novel methylation signature (RiskScore) was developed for prognostic prediction in patients with meningioma.

Background: We investigated the association of 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) with obesity and the additional role of gene-gene interaction., Methods: Participants were recruited within the framework of the Prevention of Multiple Metabolic Disorders and MS in Jiangsu Province cohort population survey of an urban community in China. In total, 820 subjects (513 nonobese adults, 307 obese adults) were randomly selected, and no individuals were consanguineous. Ten SNPs (rs135539, rs4253778, rs1800206, rs2016520, rs9794, rs10865710, rs1805192, rs709158, rs3856806, and rs4684847) were genotyped and analyzed., Results: After covariate adjustment, minor alleles of rs2016520 in PPARδ and rs10865170 in PPARγ were associated with lower BMI (P < 0.01 for all). Generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis showed significant gene-gene interaction among rs2016520, rs9794, and rs10865170 in 3-dimensional models (P = 0.0010); prediction accuracy was 0.6011 and cross-validation consistency was 9/10. It also showed significant gene-gene interaction between rs2016520 and rs10865170 in all 2-dimensional models (P = 0.0010); prediction accuracy was 0.6072 and cross-validation consistency was 9/10., Conclusions: rs2016520 and rs10865170 were associated with lower obesity risk. In addition, interaction was identified among rs2016520, rs9794, and rs10865170 in obesity.

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is the key component of telomerase catalytic activity, and is associated with tumorigenesis. Recent evidence suggests that the down-regulation of hTERT could rapidly induce an antiproliferative effect in tumor cells, independent of the telomere-elongating function of the enzyme. To test the immediate antitumor efficacy of this down-regulation, antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODN) targeting hTERT mRNA were transfected into two human pancreatic cancer cell lines in vitro. In both cell lines, single transfection with AS-ODN decreased the level of hTERT mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner (from 0.05 to 0.2 µM), while transfection with 0.2 µM hTERT AS-ODN for 24 h achieved the maximum down-regulation of hTERT mRNA. Additionally, 0.2 µM AS-ODN significantly reduced telomerase activity in the cell lines. However, after the first transfection with 0.2 µM AS-ODN, almost no inhibition of cell proliferation was observed in either of the lines, while multiple consecutive transfections with the same concentration of AS-ODN resulted in a continuous reduction in cell viability, the significant inhibition of colony formation ability and increased cell apoptotic rates. Cell cycle analysis indicated that hTERT AS-ODN mainly arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase in the cells. The data validate an antisense oligonucleotide approach to hTERT inhibition therapy in pancreatic cancer cells.

Objective: To investigate the distribution of HBV genotypes in Changzhou area and to clarify the genotype-related difference in the liver function, the level of HBV DNA and the long-term effect of lamivudine in the pathogenicity of HBV., Methods: Nested PCR and sequence analysis were conducted in 14 acute hepatitis (AH), 104 chronic hepatitis (CH), and 28 liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (LC/HCC) patients., Results: One hundred and forty six samples were positive for HBV DNA, and 51 samples were classified as genotype B (34.9%), 95 samples were classified as genotype C, serum ALT value was 383.8 +/- 335.7 IU in patients with HBV genotypes B, and 364.3 +/- 333.7 IU in genotypes C, HBV DNA value was 10(7.795 +/- 1.22) copies/ml in genotypes B and 10(7.69 +/0- 1.19) copies/ml in genotypes C, and there were 36 and 64 HBeAg positive cases in patients with genotypes B and C; there were no significant difference on the level of ALT, HBV DNA and the expression of HBeAg (P>0.05), but genotype C in LC/HCC was higher than CH (P<0.01). Twenty three genotype B and forty five genotype C patients received lamivudine treatment, after 48 weeks, 18 genotype B and 14 genotype C patients had higher ALT or HBV DNA positive., Conclusions: These results indicate that genotype B and C existing Changzhou area; genotype C is associated with the development of severe liver disease and better therapeutic effect could be obtained in the patients with genotype C.