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Aim The present study aimed to assess the benefits of two-stent techniques for patients with DEFINITION criteria-defined complex coronary bifurcation lesions. Methods and results In total, 653 patients with complex bifurcation lesions at 49 international centres were randomly assigned to undergo the systematic two-stent technique (two-stent group) or provisional stenting (provisional group). The primary endpoint was the composite of target lesion failure (TLF) at the 1-year follow-up, including cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (TVMI), and clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). The safety endpoint was definite or probable stent thrombosis. At the 1-year follow-up, TLF occurred in 37 (11.4%) and 20 (6.1%) patients in the provisional and two-stent groups, respectively [77.8%: double-kissing crush; hazard ratio (HR) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30–0.90; P = 0.019], largely driven by increased TVMI (7.1%, HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.20–0.90; P = 0.025) and clinically driven TLR (5.5%, HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.19–1.00; P = 0.049) in the provisional group. At the 1 year after indexed procedures, the incidence of cardiac death was 2.5% in the provisional group, non-significant to 2.1% in the two-stent group (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.31–2.37; P = 0.772). Conclusion For DEFINITION criteria-defined complex coronary bifurcation lesions, the systematic two-stent approach was associated with a significant improvement in clinical outcomes compared with the provisional stenting approach. Further study is urgently warranted to identify the mechanisms contributing to the increased rate of TVMI after provisional stenting. Study registration http://www.clinicaltrials.com; Identifier: NCT02284750.

BackgroundHeat shock proteins (Hsps) are molecular chaperones that are involved in many normal cellular processes and stress responses, and heat shock factors (Hsfs) are the transcriptional activators of Hsps. Hsfs and Hsps are widely coordinated in various biological processes. Although the roles of Hsfs and Hsps in stress responses have been well characterized in Arabidopsis, their roles in perennial woody species undergoing various environmental stresses remain unclear.ResultsHere, a comprehensive identification and analysis of Hsf and Hsp families in poplars is presented. In Populus trichocarpa, we identified 42 paralogous pairs, 66.7% resulting from a whole genome duplication. The gene structure and motif composition are relatively conserved in each subfamily. Microarray and quantitative real-time RT-PCR analyses showed that most of the Populus Hsf and Hsp genes are differentially expressed upon exposure to various stresses. A coexpression network between Populus Hsf and Hsp genes was generated based on their expression. Coordinated relationships were validated by transient overexpression and subsequent qPCR analyses.ConclusionsThe comprehensive analysis indicates that different sets of PtHsps are downstream of particular PtHsfs and provides a basis for functional studies aimed at revealing the roles of these families in poplar development and stress responses.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1398-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 , which emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has rapidly spread to more than 58 countries and areas. 1 As of March 1, 2020, about 79 968 cases in mainland China have been confirmed and 2873 deaths have occurred. 1 The Chinese government is mustering medical personnel around the country to treat patients in Hubei province and preventing further spread of COVID-19 in every region of the country.At the same time, several studies concerning the epidemiological and clinical features of COVID-19 have been published in a timely manner, which has greatly helped health care workers and policy makers to understand COVID-19. Reading these reports, we noticed that many patients with COVID-19 had comorbid chronic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which collectively represent the most common noncommunicable epidemic in China currently. Among 44 672 individuals confirmed to have COVID-19 as of February 11, 2020, 2683 patients (12.8%) had hypertension and 873 (4.2%) had CVDs, 2 which were the most common coexisting conditions in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. 3,4 Furthermore, patients with comorbid CVDs were more likely to have severe illness associated with COVID-19 and had a much higher fatality rate: 10.5% for those with CVDs and 6.0% for hypertension, while the fatality rate was 0.9% in patients who reported no comorbid conditions. 2 This information indicated that individuals with underlying chronic CVDs were both more susceptible to COVID-19 and more prone to critical conditions and death. It is well known that acute pulmonary infection can potentially destabilize cardiac diseases, such as heart failure and coronary artery disease. Then deterioration of cardiac diseases would exacerbate COVID-19 management in turn.However, inadequate attention has been paid to comorbid CVDs in patients with COVID-19. Hitherto, to our knowledge, academic reports regarding clinical features of COVID-19 did not classify cardiovascular disorders clearly. For instance, the number of patients with specific cardiovascular diseases, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, and other conditions, were not provided. In addition, hypertension was reported independently of CVDs, even though it is clearly a CVD. It is possible that these CVDs have varying associations with COVID-19 prognosis.Dyspnea and fatigue, 2 cardinal symptoms of heart failure, are very common in patients with COVID-19, particularly in its severe stages. 4,5 Hence, the diagnosis of COVID-19 is made more difficult in patients with chronic heart failure. Also, both COVID-19 and heart failure give rise to hypoxemia, which is the basic pathophysiologi-VIEWPOINT

Adiponectin is an adipokine playing an important role in regulating energy homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. However, the effect of adiponectin on bone metabolism shows contradictory results according to different research studies. In this study femurs were isolated from genetically doublelabeled mBSP9.0Luc/␤-ACT-EGFP transgenic mice and were transplanted into adiponectin knock-out mice or wild type mice to investigate the effect of temporary exposure to adiponectin deficiency on bone growth and metabolism. We found that the growth of bone explants in adiponectin knock-out mice was significantly retarded. Histological analysis, microcomputed tomography analysis, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining revealed reduced trabecular bone volume, decreased cortical bone, and increased osteoclast number in bone explants in adiponectin knock-out mice. We then found that adiponectin inhibits RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis from RAW264.7 cells and down-regulates RANKL-enhanced expressions of osteoclastogenic regulators including NFAT2, TRAF6, cathepsin K, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase. Adiponectin also increases osteoclast apoptosis and decreases survival/proliferation of osteoclast precursor cells. Using siRNA specifically targeting APPL1, the first identified adaptor protein of adiponectin signaling, we found that the inhibitory effect of adiponectin on osteoclasts was induced by APPL1-mediated down-regulation of Akt1 activity. In addition, overexpression of Akt1 successfully reversed adiponectin-induced inhibition in RANKL-stimulated osteoclast differentiation. In conclusion, adiponectin is important in maintaining the balance of energy metabolism, inflammatory responses, and bone formation.Adipose tissue is not just an inert organ for energy storage. It also secretes proinflammatory cytokines and synthesizes a wide range of biologically active molecules known as adipokines (1, 2). Adiponectin, a 30-kDa protein containing a collagen-repeat domain at the N terminus and a globular domain at the C terminus, is among these adipokines (3). It has been reported that adiponectin plays an important role in regulating energy homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, and plasma adiponectin levels correlate positively with insulin sensitivity (4, 5). APPL1 (adaptor protein containing pleckstrin homology domain, phosphotyrosine domain, and leucine zipper motif), is the first identified protein interacting with adiponectin receptors and is suggested to be an adaptor protein responsible for the mediation of adiponectin signal transduction (6). Knockdown of APPL1 expression resulted in a significant reduction in insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation (6). In addition to its insulin-sensitizing effect, adiponectin has also been reported to have potent antiinflammatory properties by suppressing the expressions of inflammatory cytokines while inducing production of anti-inflammatory cytokines (7-9). However, unlike other adipose tissue-derived molecules, adiponectin mRNA and plasma protein levels were shown to decreas...

Flowering time and seed size are traits related to domestication. However, identification of domestication-related loci/genes of controlling the traits in soybean is rarely reported. In this study, we identified a total of 48 domestication-related loci based on RAD-seq genotyping of a natural population comprising 286 accessions. Among these, four on chromosome 12 and additional two on chromosomes 11 and 15 were associated with flowering time, and four on chromosomes 11 and 16 were associated with seed size. Of the five genes associated with flowering time and the three genes associated with seed size, three genes Glyma11g18720, Glyma11g15480 and Glyma15g35080 were homologous to Arabidopsis genes, additional five genes were found for the first time to be associated with these two traits. Glyma11g18720 and Glyma05g28130 were co-expressed with five genes homologous to flowering time genes in Arabidopsis, and Glyma11g15480 was co-expressed with 24 genes homologous to seed development genes in Arabidopsis. This study indicates that integration of population divergence analysis, genome-wide association study and expression analysis is an efficient approach to identify candidate domestication-related genes.

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SummaryThe genome of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis) was sequenced previously, the first in the Actinidiaceae family. It was shown to have been affected by polyploidization events, the nature of which has been elusive. Here, we performed a reanalysis of the genome and found clear evidence of 2 tetraploidization events, with one occurring ∼50–57 million years ago (Mya) and the other ∼18–20 Mya. Two subgenomes produced by each event have been under balanced fractionation. Moreover, genes were revealed to express in a balanced way between duplicated copies of chromosomes. Besides, lowered evolutionary rates of kiwifruit genes were observed. These findings could be explained by the likely auto-tetraploidization nature of the polyploidization events. Besides, we found that polyploidy contributed to the expansion of key functional genes, e.g., vitamin C biosynthesis genes. The present work also provided an important comparative genomics resource in the Actinidiaceae and related families.