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Three crude polysaccharide fractions, named CS-A, CS-B and CS-C, were prepared from the seeds of Cuscuta chinensis by hot water extraction and diluted alkali extraction subsequently, then EtOH precipitation, and tested for lymphocyte proliferation activity. CS-A showed a stimulating effect on concanavalin A or lipopolysaccharide induced mitogenic activity of lymphocytes. An acidic polysaccharide (CS-A-3beta) was purified from CS-A by anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The polysaccharide showed potent stimulating effects on lymphocyte proliferation and antibody production, but did not significantly influence the serum IgG level. Its structural features were elucidated by methylation analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, 1D and 2D NMR and ESI-mass spectroscopy. The data obtained indicated that CS-A-3beta had a backbone consisting of alpha-D-1,4-linked GalpA residues and beta-L-1,2-linked Rhap residues with branches at C-4 of Rhap residues and C-3 of GalpA residues, composed of arabinogalactan and glucobiose. This structure is typical for a pectic polysaccharide of the rhamnogalacturonan type. In addition, the effect of CS-A, CS-B, CS-C and CS-A-3beta on hydrogen peroxide induced cell lesion in rat pheochromocytoma line PC 12 was investigated. The results indicated that, besides its immunostimulating activity, CS-A-3beta had a protective effect against free radical-induced cell toxicity.

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Pancreatic cancer (PC) has a very poor prognosis and is usually diagnosed only at an advanced stage. The discovery of new biomarkers for PC will help in early diagnosis and a better prognosis for patients. Recently, N6-methyladenosine (m 6 A) RNA modifications and their regulators have been implicated in the development of many cancers. To investigate the functions and mechanisms of m 6 A modifications in the development of PC, 19 m 6 A regulators, including m 6 A-methyltransferases (ZC3H13, RBM15/15B, WTAP, KIAA1429, and METTL3/14), demethylases (FTO and ALKBH5), and binding proteins (YTHDF1/2/3, YTHDC1/2, IGF2BP1/2/3, HNRNPC, and HNRNPA2B1) were analyzed in 178 PC tissues from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database. The results were verified in PC cell lines Mia-PaCa-2, BXPC-3, and the control cell line HDE-CT. The m 6 A regulators-based sample clusters were significantly related to overall survival (OS). Further, lasso regression identified a six-m 6 A-regulator-signature prognostic model (KIAA1429, HNRNPC, METTL3, YTHDF1, IGF2BP2, and IGF2BP3). Model-based high-risk and low-risk groups were significantly correlated with OS and clinical traits (pathologic M, N, and clinical stages and vital status). The risk signature was verified as an independent prognostic marker for patients with PC. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis revealed m 6 A regulators (KIAA1429, HNRNPC, and IGF2BP2) were related to multiple biological behaviors in PC, including adipocytokine signaling, the well vs. poorly differentiated tumor pathway, tumor metastasis pathway, epithelial mesenchymal transition pathway, gemcitabine resistance pathway, and stemness pathway. In summary, the m6A regulatory factors which related to clinical characteristics can be involved in the malignant progression of PC, and the constructed risk markers may be a promising prognostic biomarker that can guide the individualized treatment of PC patients.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm and patients with IMT tend to have a favorable outcome after complete surgical resection. However, some tumors of IMT cases have recurred and grown rapidly after successful surgery. Epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma (EIMS) is a highly aggressive intra-abdominal IMT variant with epithelioid-to-round cell morphology. Currently, no standard therapy exists for recurrent or invasive IMTs and EIMS, but anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are recommended for those harboring ALK gene rearrangements. We herein report the first case of PRRC2B-ALK fusion associated IMTs with clinical and pathological manifestation matched the diagnosis criteria of EIMS and the durable clinical response of the sequential use of ALK TKIs (crizotinib, alectinib, ceritinib, and lorlatinib). A female patient with EIMS of the greater omentum was suffering from a rapid recurrence after cytoreductive surgery was done. Crizotinib was administered when PRRC2B-ALK fusion was detected, and partial response was achieved. The progression-free survival (PFS) of crizotinib was 5 months. Alectinib was administered based on the results of second next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis, which identified the secondary mutation ALK R1192P. The best overall response of alectinib treatment was a partial response (PR) and the PFS was 5.5 months. Ceritinib was prescribed as third-line therapy after alectinib resistance with ALK L1196M mutation. PR was achieved and the PFS of ceritinib was 6 months. The patient was taking lorlatinib after ceritinib resistance and achieved a stable disease at 2 months with the PFS more than 5 months. The overall survival was more than two years as of the time of manuscript preparation. We describe an EIMS of greater omentum caused by PRRC2B-ALK fusion gene and showed durable clinical response to the sequential use of ALK TKIs.

+ CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), are critical factors in controlling viral infection. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is closely associated with persistent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. NPC vaccine studies have focused on enhancing specific antiviral CTL responses. In this study, three vaccines capable of expressing the EBV-latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2) (a DNA vector, an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector, and a replication-defective adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) vector) were respectively used to immunize female Balb/c mice (4-6 weeks old) at weeks 0, 2 and 4, either alone or in combination. Our results suggest that combined immunization with DNA, AAV, and adenovirus vector vaccines induced specific cellular immunity more effectively than any of these vectors alone or a combination of two of the three, constituting a sound vaccine strategy for the prevention and treatment of NPC. EBV-LMP2

Background Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a serious parasitic disease caused by infection by larvae of Echinococcus multilocularis; it is the less common but substantially more deadly of the two major echinococcosis diseases that can occur globally but are concentrated in central Asia. Methods We here analyzed parasite circulating free DNA (cfDNA) in 149 plasma samples using a DNA-sequencing-based method (105 AE, 16 cystic echinococcosis, 4 liver cancer, 4 gallstones and 20 healthy volunteer). After identifying the Echinococcus-specific cfDNA (Em-cfDNA) sequences in the samples, we evaluated the utility of using Em-cfDNA for AE diagnosis and as a potential indicator of the effectiveness of surgical treatment. We also examined potential associations between Em-cfDNA levels and clinical features of AE patients. Results Our work demonstrates that varying reads of Em-cfDNA was detectable in the plasma 100% of preoperative AE patients, and all of the non-AE patients and healthy volunteers were negative. Em-cfDNA has good sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of AE, and we also found that Em-cfDNA levels apparently have reference value for evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of surgery interventions against AE lesions. Finally, our analysis revealed that Em-cfDNA levels can reflect meaningful information about lesion size in preoperative AE patients. Conclusions Our work demonstrated that sequencing-based monitoring of Em-cfDNA can be used in the clinic as a powerful diagnostic indicator for AE and its implications about the strong potential for using such a "liquid-biopsy" method for the ongoing monitoring of disease status in post-intervention AE patients.

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