Purpose Ovarian cancer (OC) has the highest mortality among gynecological malignancies. Therefore, it is urgent to explore prognostic biomarkers to improve the survival of OC patients. One of the most prominent metabolic characteristics of cancer is effective glycolysis. Hexokinase 1 (HK1), as the first rate-limiting enzyme in glycolysis, is closely related to cancer progression. However, the role of HK1 in OC remains unclear. Materials and Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to detect the expression of HK1 in OC patients. The chi-squared test was performed to examine the correlations between HK1 and patients’ clinical characteristics. Survival analyses were undertaken to determine the relationship between HK1 and patient survival, while the univariate/multivariate Cox model was used to evaluate the role of HK1 in patient prognosis. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to ascertain the related signaling pathways of HK1. RT-qPCR was implemented to validate the mRNA expression of HK1 in OC cells. MTT was used to detect cell viability after adding 2DG and knocking down HK1 in OC cells. HK1 protein expression was examined by Western blotting. Glucose uptake, lactate production, and ATP assays were undertaken following knockdown of HK1 in OC cells. Colony formation assays were performed to determine OC cell proliferation after HK1 knockdown. Transwell and wound healing assays were carried out to detect the invasion and migration of OC cells after HK1 knockdown. Results We found that HK1 expression was increased in OC tissues and cells, and HK1 was related to the clinical characteristics of OC patients. Survival analysis revealed that OC patients in the HK1 overexpression group had poor survival. Moreover, univariant/multivariate analyses showed that HK1 may be an independent biomarker for the poor prognosis of OC patients. OC cell viability and proliferation decreased after knockdown of HK1 . Consistently, glucose uptake, lactic acid production, ATP production, invasion, and migration were also decreased. Finally, GSEA enrichment analysis and Western blotting showed that HK1 was involved in MAPK/ERK signaling. Conclusion HK1 may be a biomarker for the poor prognosis of OC patients and a potential therapeutic target.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a tumor that exhibits glucometabolic reprogramming, with a high incidence and poor prognosis. Usually, HCC is not discovered until an advanced stage. Sorafenib is almost the only drug that is effective at treating advanced HCC, and promising metabolism-related therapeutic targets of HCC are urgently needed. The "Warburg effect" illustrates that tumor cells tend to choose aerobic glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), which is closely related to the features of the tumor microenvironment (TME). The HCC microenvironment consists of hypoxia, acidosis and immune suppression, and contributes to tumor glycolysis. In turn, the glycolysis of the tumor aggravates hypoxia, acidosis and immune suppression, and leads to tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion and metastasis. In 2017, a mechanism underlying the effects of gluconeogenesis on inhibiting glycolysis and blockading HCC progression was proposed. Treating HCC by increasing gluconeogenesis has attracted increasing attention from scientists, but few articles have summarized it. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms associated with the TME, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis and the current treatments for HCC. We believe that a treatment combination of sorafenib with TME improvement and/or anti-Warburg therapies will set the trend of advanced HCC therapy in the future.

Selective extraction of low-concentration thorium (Th(IV)) from wastewater is a very important research topic. In this paper, amidoxime cellulose was synthesized, and its composition and structure were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XPS, and elemental analysis. The adsorption experiment results showed that the adsorption reaction was a spontaneous exothermic process. When the solid–liquid ratio was 0.12 g/L and the pH value was 3.5, the adsorption percentage of the Th(IV) in water onto amidoxime-functionalized cellulose (AO-CELL) could reach over 80%. The maximum adsorption capacity can reach to 450 mg/g. At the same time, the adsorption selectivity, desorption process and reusability of the material were also studied. The results showed that the AO-CELL had a good selectivity for Th(IV) in the system with Sr2+, Cu2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Ni2+, and Co2+ as co-ions. In the nitric acid concentration of 0.06 mol/L system, the AO-CELL desorption rate of Th(IV) can reach 95%, and the adsorption rate of Th(IV) in aqueous solution of AO-CELL is still above 60% when the AO-CELL is reused four times. The above results show that the amidoxime cellulose adsorption material synthesized by our research group has good selective adsorption performance for Th(IV) of a low concentration in an aqueous solution and has a good practical application value.

Rationale: Kallmann syndrome (KS) is a rare inherited genetic disorder characterized by hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and hyposmia/anosmia. Early diagnosis is the key to timely treatment and improvement of prognosis in patients with KS. As the most common complication of KS, renal agenesis can provide clues to early diagnosis and treatment for KS. In this article, we report a case of KS with 8 rare urinary disorders for the first time. Patient concerns: A 19-year-old Chinese man presented with 8 rare urinary disorders and a history of bilateral cryptorchidism came to us for micropenis, hyposmia, and delayed puberty. Diagnosis: The patient presented with hyposmia, low levels of sex hormones and showed a weak response to the GnRH stimulation test leading to a diagnosis of KS. Two missense mutations were found in further whole-exome sequencing: 1) Kallmann syndrome 1 ( KAL1 ) gene in exon11, c.1600G > A, p. Val534Ile; 2) Prokineticin receptor 2 ( PROKR2 ) gene in exon 2, c.533G > A, p. Trp178Ser. which led to a diagnosis of KS. Interventions: The patient underwent replacement therapy of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG). The patient had previously undergone six surgeries for cryptorchidism and urinary disorders. Outcomes: The patient's puberty retardation was effectively alleviated. His serum testosterone (T) reached a normal level (8.280 nmol/mL). During the follow-up period, he presented with Tanner stage II pubic hair development. Conclusion: In this article, we report 8 rare urinary disorders with missense mutations of KAL1 and PROKR2 in a case of KS. Among them, bilateral giant kidneys, urinary extravasation of right renal, bilateral megalo-ureters, left ureteral terminal obstruction, bilateral renal cyst and bladder emptying disorder are reported for the first time, which enrich the integrity of urinary disorder types and provide clues to genetic counseling in patients with KS.