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Objective: Since the essential involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the development and progression of GC, the study was for the exploration of the value of microRNA-7 (miR-7) in the evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer (GC) and its effects on apoptosis, proliferation and angiogenesis of GC. Methods: miR-7 expression in serum of GC patients before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were detected to explore its role in neoadjuvant chemotherapy of GC. The GC cells were transfected with miR-7 mimics/inhibitors, or siRNA-Raf-1 to figure out their roles in proliferation, migration, invasion, cycle distribution and apoptosis. Tumor xenograft was conducted to test tumor growth. Microvessel density (MVD) in tumors was tested by immunohistochemical staining. Results: miR-7 expression in serum of GC patients was lower than that of healthy controls while it was elevated after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Moreover, higher miR-7 expression was exhibited in chemotherapy-effective patients rather than chemotherapy-ineffective patients (P < 0.01). miR-7 expression in serum was connected with tumor size, degree of differentiation, TNM stage and lymphatic metastasis.miR-7 was decreased and Raf-1 was elevated in GC cells (both P < 0.05). Elevated miR-7 or declined Raf-1 inhibited GC cell migration, proliferation and invasion, cell cycle entry, xenografted tumor growth and MVD and stimulated apoptosis (all P < 0.05). Downregulated Raf-1 reversed the impacts of miR-7 knockdown on GC cells (all P < 0.05). Conclusion:Our study highlights that elevated miR-27a indicates the good efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in GC and miR-7 targets Raf-1 to suppress tumor development and angiogenesis of GC cells.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has alarming implications for individual and population level mental health. Although the future of COVID-19 is unknown at present, more countries or regions start to ease restrictions. The findings from this study have provided the empirical evidence of prevalence and patterns of mental disorders in Chinese general population before and after easing most COVID-19 restrictions, and information of the factors associated with these patterns. Methods A cross-sectional population-based online survey was carried out from February to March 2020 in the general population across all provinces in China. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was incorporated in the survey. Latent class analyses were performed to investigate the patterns of mental disorders and multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine how individual and regional risk factors can predict mental disorder patterns. Results Four distinctive patterns of mental health were revealed in the general population. After the ease of most COVID-19 restrictions, the prevalence of high risk of mental disorders decreased from 25.8% to 20.9% and prevalence of being high risk of unhappiness and loss of confidence decreased from 10.1% to 8.1%. However, the prevalence of stressed, social dysfunction and unhappy were consistently high before and after easing restrictions. Several regional factors, such as case mortality rate and healthcare resources, were associated with mental health status. Of note, healthcare workers were less likely to have mental disorders, compared to other professionals and students. Conclusions The dynamic management of mental health and psychosocial well-being is as important as that of physical health both before and after the ease of COVID-19 restrictions. Our findings may help in mental health interventions in other countries and regions while easing COVID-19 restrictions.

Introduction. Transmembrane protein 65 (TMEM65) is an inner mitochondrial membrane protein, which played important role in mediating autophagy, smooth muscle contraction, protein glycosylation, and immune response. In recent years, the interest had risen for exploring the function of the TMEM genes in the cancer fields. As a consequence, in our pan-cancer research of the TMEM65, we explored the function of the gene in kinds of database and tried to apply the finding in the clinical practice. Methods. In this research, we provide a comprehensive investigation of TMEM65 expression in a pan-cancer manner containing 33 cancer types. We evaluated the association of TMEM65 with the prognosis, immune infiltration, drug sensitivity analysis, GSVA enrichment analysis, TMB, MSI, NEO, and hotspot mechanisms. Results. TMEM65 was abnormally expressed in 24 types of cancers and showed correlation with the OS for 6 cancers and PFI for 9 cancers and kpI for 3 types. Moreover, the TME score, CD8 T effector, and immune checkpoint scoring systems showed a close correlation with the TMEM65. Moreover, TMEM65 was strongly correlated with some of the most common tumor-related genes and certain pathways (TGF beta signaling, TNFA signaling, hypoxia, pyroptosis, DNA repairing, autophagy, ferroptosis, and other related genes). Additionally, the TMEM65 showed correlations with the tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), NEO, and drug sensitivity. Finally, we confirmed several pathways by the GSEA and GSVA for the TMEM65 at the breast cancer aspects. Nomogram prediction model was also established for the breast tumors based on the TMEM65 level and other variables. Conclusion. Above all, the TMEM65 played important roles in predicting the prognosis of the cancers and correlated with the tumor immunity in the pan-cancer analysis.

Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a method with high sensitivity and convenience that has been extensively used to analyze the expression level of target genes. A reference gene with a highly stable expression is required to ensure the accuracy of experimental results. However, the report on appropriate reference genes in arrowheads (Sagittaria trifolia) is still limited. In this study, eight candidate reference genes (ACT5, UBQ, GAPDH, CYP, NAC, IDH, SLEEPER and PLA) were selected. The candidate genes were employed in a RT-qPCR assay in different tissues at different developmental stages of the same tissue (including corm, leaf and leafstalk) in arrowheads. Five statistical algorithms, GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, delta cycle threshold (ΔCt) and RefFinder, were used to evaluate the stability of these genes’ expressions in order to identify the appropriate reference genes. The results showed that UBQ was the optimum reference gene in leaf, leafstalk, root, stolon and corm, IDH exhibited the most stable expression during the expansion of corm, UBQ and PLA were the most stable reference genes in developmental stages of leaf and leafstalk, respectively. Finally, the reliability of reference genes was further confirmed by the normalization of PDS and EXP1 genes under different arrowhead tissues and developmental stages of corm, respectively. This study constitutes important guidance for the selection of reliable reference genes for analyzing the tissue- and developmental-stage-specific expression of genes in arrowheads.