Cervical, ovarian and endometrial cancer are the three most common types of malignant tumor and the leading causes of cancer-associated death in women. Tumor debulking surgery followed by platinum and paclitaxel chemotherapy is the current treatment regime of choice. However, as a result of late diagnosis and chemoresistance, the survival rates of patients with advanced gynecological cancers remains unsatisfactory. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable noncoding RNAs that are present in a wide variety of tissue and cell types. With the enhancement of RNA sequencing methods, increasing numbers of circRNAs have been identified, and their functions are gradually being revealed. In recent years, circRNAs have received increasing attention for their regulatory roles in cervical, ovarian and endometrial cancer. The aim of the present review was to summarize the possible mechanisms of recently identified circRNAs; we hypothesize that a novel diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker may be identified to prolong the survival time of patients with gynecological malignancies.

A novel Cd(ii)-MOF with tunable photophysical behavior has been developed. The control of color, fluorescence emission and conductivity is achieved in a single crystalline conductance switch by incorporating donor and acceptor building blocks into a molecular wire.

Nod-like receptor (NLR) family caspase activation and recruitment domain containing 5 (NLRC5) is a newly identified sub-class of the NLR family. It regulates inflammation and has a key function in innate and adaptive immunologic reactions. Autophagy has been reported to be crucially linked to the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Our recent study identify there is a negative correlation between NLRC5 and autophagy in endometriosis, indicating that NLRC5 and autophagy together act as promising predictors in endometriosis patients. However, the mechanism associating NLRC5 and autophagy in endometriosis is still not completely understood. We hypothesize that autophagy could be involved in NLRC5-mediated inflammation in endometriosis. In order to validate the assumption, we evaluate the effects of NLRC5 and autophagy in the inflammation of ectopic endometrial stromal cells (EESCs) of ovarian endometriosis patients, to specifically determine whether autophagy is involved in NLRC5-mediated inflammation in EESCs. Our results show that over-expression of NLRC5 results in the up-regulation of autophagy in EESCs and inhibition of NLRC5 restricts the level of autophagy in EESCs. Furthermore, over-expression of NLRC5 and promotion of autophagy inhibit interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) expressions, whereas inhibition of NLRC5 and autophagy up-regulate IL-6 and TNF-a expressions in EESCs. Additionally, promotion of autophagy contributes to the NLRC5-mediated inhibition of IL-6 and TNF-a expressions in EESCs; inhibition of autophagy restricts NLRC5-mediated inhibition of IL-6 and TNF-a expressions in EESCs. Our results suggest that over-expression of NLRC5 promotes autophagy, thereby inhibiting inflammation in ovarian endometriosis.

Sophora moorcroftiana is a perennial leguminous low shrub endemic to the Yarlung Zangbo River basin in Tibet with irreplaceable economic and ecological value. To determine the drivers of evolution in this species, 225 individuals belonging to 15 populations from different geographic locations were sampled, and population genetics was studied using high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). Based on genetic diversity analysis, phylogenetic analysis, principal component analysis, and structure analysis, 15 natural populations were clustered into the following five subgroups: subgroup I (Shigatse subgroup) was located in the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River with a relatively high level of population genetic variation (means for PIC, Shannon and PI were 0.173, 0.326 and 0.0000305, respectively), and gene flow within the subgroup was also high (mean value for Nm was 4.67). Subgroup II (including Pop 7 and Pop 8; means for PIC, Shannon and PI were 0.182, 0.345 and 0.0000321, respectively), located in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River had relatively high levels of gene flow with the populations distributed in the upper and lower reaches. The Nm between subgroup II with subgroups I and III was 3.271 and 2.894, respectively. Considering all the genetic diversity indices Pop 8 had relatively high genetic diversity. Subgroup III (the remaining mixed subgroup of Lhasa and Shannan) was located in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the means for PIC, Shannon and PI were 0.172, 0.324 and 0.0000303, respectively. Subgroup IV (Nyingchi subgroup), located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, showed a further genetic distance from the other subgroups and the means for PIC, Shannon and PI were 0.147, 0.277 and 0.0000263, respectively. Subgroup V (Nyingchi Gongbu Jiangda subgroup), located in the upper reaches of the Niyang River, had the lowest level of genetic variation (means for PIC, Shannon and PI were 0.106, 0.198 and 0.0000187, respectively) and gene flow with other populations (mean value for Nm was 0.42). According to the comprehensive analysis, the S. moorcroftiana populations generally expanded from upstream to downstream and displayed a high level of genetic differentiation in the populations in the upper and lower reaches. There were high levels of gene exchange between the central populations with upstream and downstream populations, and wind-induced seed dispersal was an important factor in the formation of this gene exchange mode.