The spread of the bla NDM-1 gene is gaining worldwide attentions. This gene is usually carried by large plasmids and has been discovered in diverse bacteria since it was originally found in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Here we report the complete sequences of a bla NDM-1 -bearing plasmid, pNDM-BJ01, and its variant, pNDM-BJ02, isolated from clinical Acinetobacter lwoffii strains. The plasmid pNDM-BJ01 is 47.3 kb in size and cannot be classified into any known plasmid incompatibility group, thus representing a novel plasmid with an unknown maintenance mechanism. This plasmid contains both a bla NDM-1 gene and a type IV secretion system (T4SS) gene cluster. The T4SS is assigned to the P-type T4SS group, which usually encode a short, rigid pilus, and the bla NDM-1 gene is located within a composite transposon flanked by two insertion elements of ISAba125. Plasmid pNDM-BJ02 is nearly identical to pNDM-BJ01 except that one copy of the ISAba125 element is missing, and it is therefore regarded as a variant of pNDM-BJ01. Sequence alignment indicated that this bla NDM-1 -containing composite transposon, which can also be captured by other mobile elements, was probably a product of multiple recombination events and can move as a whole by transposition.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common, clinically heterogeneous endocrine disorder affecting women of reproductive age, associated with endocrinopathy and metabolic abnormalities. Although some metabolic parameters have been investigated, very little information has been reported on the changes of small metabolites in biofluids. The aim of this study was to establish the metabolic profile of PCOS and compare it with that of controls. In this cross-sectional study of 34 women with PCOS and 36 controls, contents of small metabolites and lipids in plasma samples were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based techniques and analyzed using multivariate statistical methods. Significant decrease (P < 0.05) in the levels of amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, methionine, glutamine, and arginine), citrate, choline, and glycerophosphocholine/phosphocholine (GPC/PC), and increase (P < 0.05) in the levels of lactate, dimethylamine (DMA), creatine, and N-acetyl glycoproteins were observed in PCOS patients compared with the controls. Subgroups of patients with obesity, metabolic syndrome, or hyperandrogenism exhibited greater metabolic deviations than their corresponding subgroups without these factors. PCOS patients have perturbations in amino acid metabolism, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and gut microflora, as well as mild disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism. The elevated level of N-acetyl glycoproteins demonstrates the existence of low-grade chronic inflammation in PCOS patients.

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Elevated Golgi phosphoprotein 2 (GP73, also known as GOLPH2 or GOLM1) expression in serum and liver, which can be induced by viral infection and cytokine treatments, is intimately connected with liver disease, including acute hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its pathogenic roles in hepatic diseases have never been clarified in detail. Here, we showed that the upregulated GP73 is indispensable for SREBPs activation and lipogenesis. Notably, GP73 overexpression enhanced SCAP-SREBPs binding and its Golgi trafficking even under cholesterol sufficiency. Consistent with these functional findings, GP73 blockage could alleviate tunicamycin-induced liver steatosis by reducing SREBPs activation. A significant positive correlation of GP73 with genes in lipid metabolism pathway was also identified in liver cancer based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Our findings revealed previously unrecognized role of GP73 in lipid metabolism.

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