It has been previously reported that human embryonic fibroblasts and mouse embryonic fibroblasts can be converted into neuronal cells using chemical agents, along with forced expression specific transcriptional factors. However, the materials required for reprogramming in these approaches presents major technical difficulties and safety concerns. The current study investigated whether a cocktail of small molecules can convert human lung fibroblast cells into neurons. The small molecules valproic acid, CHIR99021, DMH1, Repsox, forskolin, Y-27632 and SP600125 (VCHRFYS) were used to induce MRC-5 cells into neuronal cells in vitro. Neuronal markers were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. The gene profiles were analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. MRC-5 is a human lung fibroblast cell line derived from normal lung tissue of a 14-week-old male fetus. The results of the current study demonstrated that MRC-5 fibroblasts can be directly converted into neuronal cells using a cocktail of seven small molecules (VCHRFYS), with a yield of ~90% Tuj1-positive cells after 7 days of induction. Following a further maturation period, these chemically-induced neurons possessed neuronal morphology and expressed multiple neuron-specific genes. In conclusion, a cocktail of small molecules that can convert fibroblasts MRC-5 cells into functional neurons without the exogenous genetic factors was identified, which has the potential to be useful in neurological disease therapy.
Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a familiar lung cancer with a poor prognosis. This study was meant to determine whether there are differences in survival between younger and older patients with early‐stage LUAD because of the rise in the incidence of LUAD in young individuals over the previous few decades. We analysed the clinical, therapeutic and prognostic features of a cohort (2012‐2013) of 831 consecutive patients with stage I/II LUAD who underwent curative surgical resection at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed for age, sex, tumour size, tumour stage and therapy in a 2:1 ratio between the two groups without taking gender, illness stage at operation or decisive treatment into account. Following PSM analysis to create a 2:1 match for comparison, the final survival study included 163 patients with early‐stage LUAD <50 years and 326 patients ≥50 years. Surprisingly, younger patients were overwhelmingly female (65.6%) and never smokers (85.9%). There were no statistical differences between the two groups in terms of the overall survival rate (P = 0.067) or time to advancement (P = 0.76). In conclusion, no significant differences stood out between older and younger patients with stage I/II LUAD regarding overall and disease‐free survival rates. Younger patients with early‐stage LUAD were more likely to be female and never smokers, which suggests that risk factors other than active smoking may be responsible for lung carcinogenesis in these patients.
This report describes a 68-year-old woman with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (“bronchiectasis”) associated with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection. She presented with cough, expectoration, bronchiectasis, and a negative QuantiFERON tuberculosis (QFT) test. But her sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) tested acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positive. The patient had a nine-year history of autoimmune liver disease and was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis for 1 year. Metagenomics next generation sequencing (mNGS) of her BALF sample reported positive for NTM and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). According to the patient's clinical features and consultations with respiratory and tuberculosis specialists, the patient was not prescribed anti-tuberculosis treatment. Rather, her symptoms improved with anti-PA treatment. This case report also emphasizes the importance of avoiding anti-tuberculosis treatment immediately after an initial diagnosis of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pneumonia.report also emphasizes the importance of avoiding anti-tuberculosis treatment immediately after an initial diagnosis of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pneumonia.
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