This meta-analysis examines whether differences in biomarkers, such as programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and tumor mutation burden, are associated with improved response to immunotherapy and survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Background: Chenopodium quinoa Willd., a halophytic crop, shows great variability among different genotypes in response to salt. To investigate the salinity tolerance mechanisms, five contrasting quinoa cultivars belonging to highland ecotype were compared for their seed germination (under 0, 100 and 400 mM NaCl) and seedling's responses under five salinity levels (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400 mM NaCl).Results: Substantial variations were found in plant size (biomass) and overall salinity tolerance (plant biomass in salt treatment as % of control) among the different quinoa cultivars. Plant salinity tolerance was negatively associated with plant size, especially at lower salinity levels (< 300 mM NaCl), but salt tolerance between seed germination and seedling growth was not closely correlated. Except for shoot/root ratio, all measured plant traits responded to salt in a genotype-specific way. Salt stress resulted in decreased plant height, leaf area, root length, and root/shoot ratio in each cultivar. With increasing salinity levels, leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and lipid peroxidation generally increased, but catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities showed non-linear patterns. Organic solutes (soluble sugar, proline and protein) accumulated in leaves, whereas inorganic ion (Na + and K + ) increased but K + / Na + decreased in both leaves and roots. Across different salinity levels and cultivars, without close relationships with antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, POD, or CAT), salinity tolerance was significantly negatively correlated with organic solute and malondialdehyde contents in leaves and inorganic ion contents in leaves or roots (except for root K + content), but positively correlated with K + /Na + ratio in leaves or roots. Conclusion:Our results indicate that leaf osmoregulation, K + retention, Na + exclusion, and ion homeostasis are the main physiological mechanisms conferring salinity tolerance of these cultivars, rather than the regulations of leaf antioxidative ability. As an index of salinity tolerance, K + /Na + ratio in leaves or roots can be used for the selective breeding of highland quinoa cultivars.

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Numerous esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients exhibit tumor recurrence following radical resection. Invasion and metastasis are key factors in poor prognosis following esophagectomy. In the present study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry were used to define patterns of protein expression in ESCC tissues at different pathological stages. The expression levels of identified proteins were determined by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. A total of fifteen protein spots with >2-fold differences were observed when comparing results of 2-DE for stage III and stage I ESCC tissue sample. A total of 12 proteins were identified by mass spectrometry analysis and database searches. The results of immunohistochemistry and western blotting demonstrated expression levels of tropomyosin 3 (TPM3) were higher in stage III ESCC tissue compared with stage I (P<0.05). The findings of the present study identified twelve proteins, which are closely associated with ESCC invasion and metastasis, apoptosis and cell signal transduction. Furthermore, the overexpression of TPM3 may be important in ESCC invasion and metastasis.

Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai var. angustius W. T. Wang (Ranunculaceae) has been recorded to occur only in the Anhui, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, China. However, it is here revealed to be a much more widespread tetraploid (2n = 32) entity almost allopatric with the diploid (2n = 16) A. sinomontanum s.s. The former entity has a southern distribution in China, occurring in Anhui, Chongqing, northern Guangxi, Guizhou, southern Henan, northwestern Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi, while the latter has a relatively northern distribution, occurring in northeastern Chongqing, southern Gansu, Hebei, western Henan, western Hubei, eastern Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Sichuan. There is only minor overlap of the geographical distributions of the diploid and tetraploid populations, with both entities documented as co‐occurring in northeastern Chongqing and northwestern Hubei. The two entities also are very different from each other in karyotypic constitution. As A. sinomontanum var. angustius is fairly well differentiated from A. sinomontanun in external morphology, ploidy level, karyotypic constitution and geographical distribution, it seems justified to recognize A. sinomontanum var. angustius, an entity possibly of allopolyploid origin, as the independent species A. angustius (W. T. Wang) W. T. Wang.

Phylogenetic analyses were performed using multiple nuclear (ITS and ETS) and chloroplast regions (ndhF-trnL, psbA-trnH, psbD-trnT, and trnT-trnL) to test the monophyly of Aconitum subgen. Lycoctonum (Ranunculaceae) and reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships within the subgenus. The subgenus as currently circumscribed is revealed to be polyphyletic. To achieve its monophyly, sect. Galeata and sect. Fletcherum, both being unispecific and each having a unique array of characters (the latter even having the aberrant base chromosome number of x = 6), must be removed from the subgenus. The subgenus Lycoctonum should thus be redefined to include only two sections, the unispecific sect. Alatospermum and the relatively species-rich sect. Lycoctonum. The section Alatospermum, which is both morphologically and karyologically in the primitive condition, is resolved as the first diverging lineage of the subgenus Lycoctonum clade. The monophyly of sect. Lycoctonum is strongly supported, but all the ten series currently recognized within the section are revealed to be para- or poly-phyletic. Five major clades are recovered within the section. We propose to treat them as five series: ser. Crassiflora, ser. Scaposa, ser. Volubilia, ser. Longicassidata, and ser. Lycoctonia. Thus, a formal reclassification of subgen. Lycoctonum is presented, which involves segregating both sect. Galeata and sect. Fletcherum from the subgenus as two independent subgenera within the genus Aconitum, reinstating one series (ser. Crassiflora) and abolishing six series (ser. Laevia, ser. Longibracteolata, ser. Micrantha, ser. Ranunculoidea, ser. Reclinata, and ser. Umbrosa) within sect. Lycoctonum. The series affiliation of some species within the section is adjusted accordingly.

In order to gain better knowledge of the number and morphology of chromosomes in Aconitum subgen. Lycoctonum in China, 60 populations belonging to 20 species were cytologically studied. Chromosome numbers of six species (A. apetalum, A. finetianum, A. fletcheranum, A. longecassidatum, A. umbrosum and A. wangyedianense) are here reported for the first time. One species, A. fletcheranum, has 2n  12, and thus is a diploid based on x  6, a new base chromosome number for the genus Aconitum. Most of the remaining taxa are diploid (2n  16) based on x  8, but five taxa (A. angustius, A. brevicalcaratum var. brevicalcaratum, A. brevicalcaratum var. parviflorum, A.chrysotrichum and A. crassiflorum) are tetraploid with 2n  32, and one species (A. apetalum) is hexaploid with 2n  48, the highest ploidy level currently known in the subgenus. Disregarding differences in the presence or absence and number of satellites, the karyotypes of all the 2n  16 species are quite uniform (2n  2m  6sm  8st), but A. novoluridum, the only species of A. section Alatospermum, has an intrachromosomally less asymmetric karyotype (2n  2m  14sm), which lends further support for the primitive condition of its section as inferred from gross-morphology. Chromosomal variation in the subgenus and the relationships of some of the species are discussed.

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