Breast cancer tissues and adjacent tissues were collected from 32 patients who were treated in The Third Hospital of Chengde City. Reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction results demonstrated that, compared with the adjacent tissues, interleukin (IL)‑23/IL‑23 receptor (R) gene expression levels were notably higher in breast cancer tissues. Furthermore, IL‑23 and IL‑23R expression levels were positively correlated with patients' tumor size, TNM stage and metastasis. Recombinant human (rh) IL‑23 (10 ng/ml) was used for the stimulation of the MCF‑7 cell line. Effects of rh IL‑23 (10 ng/ml) on cell proliferation was detected after MCF‑7 cells were incubated with rh IL‑23 for 48 h. Whether pre‑treatment with polyclonal antibody (PAb) IL‑23p19, a neutralizing antibody specific for IL‑23, may influence the effects of IL‑23 on cell behavior was also investigated. Cell proliferation assay and cell apoptosis assay were evaluated using MTT assay and flow cytometry assay, respectively. Results suggested that PAb IL‑23p19 reduced IL-23-induced cell proliferation whereas induced IL‑23 inhibited cell apoptosis. Western blot analysis was performed for the detection of molecules that may be responsible for the aforementioned changes. Results indicated that PAb IL‑23p19 treatment reduced IL‑23‑induced upregulation of B‑cell lymphoma‑2 protein expression and activation of the janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathway. The present results suggested that IL‑23 may be a potential prognosis marker and target for the treatment of breast cancer patients.

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Photosynthate partitioning between source and sink is a key determinant of crop yield. In contrast to sucrose-transporting plants, cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants mainly transport stachyose and stachyose synthase (CsSTS) synthesizes stachyose in the vasculature for loading. Therefore, CsSTS is considered a key regulator of carbon partitioning. We found that CsSTS expression and CsSTS enzyme activity were upregulated in the vasculature and downregulated in mesophyll tissues at fruiting. In situ hybridization and tissue enrichment experiments revealed that a cis-natural antisense noncoding transcript of CsSTS, named asCsSTS, is mainly expressed in mesophyll tissues. In vitro overexpression (OE), RNA interference (RNAi) and dual luciferase reporter experiments indicated that CsSTSs are negatively regulated by asCsSTS. Fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that asCsSTS transcript localized in leaf cytoplasm, indicating that the regulation of CsSTS by asCsSTS is a posttranscriptional process. Further investigation revealed that this regulation occurred by reducing CsSTS transcript stability through a DICER-like protein-mediated pathway. Chemically induced OE and RNAi of asCsSTS led to promotion or inhibition, respectively, of assimilate export from leaves and altered fruit growth rates. Our results suggest that the regulation of CsSTSs between the mesophyll and vasculature reduces sugar storage in mesophyll tissue and promotes assimilate export from the leaf when the plant carries fruit.

Aims: The causal relationship between COVID-19 infection and stroke has not yet been fully established. This study aimed to explore this causality using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR).Materials and Methods: Genetic variants associated with COVID-19 infection and stroke were both obtained from genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected as instrumental variables. The standard inverse variance weighted (IVW) was primarily used to assess this causality. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and stability.Results: The results showed that being hospitalized due to COVID-19 had a positive effect on stroke [OR = 1.05; 95% CI= (1.01, 1.10); p = 2.34 × 10−5] and ischemic stroke [OR = 1.06; 95% CI= (1.02, 1.11); p = 2.28 × 10−6] analyzed by inverse variance weighted. Moreover, the results revealed that severe respiratory symptoms due to COVID-19 had a positive effect on stroke [OR = 1.04; 95% CI= (1.00, 1.06); p = 0.04] and that the causal effect of severe respiratory symptoms due to COVID-19 on ischemic stroke estimated by IVW suggested a positive effect [OR = 1.06; 95% CI= (1.02, 1.09); p = 0.0068], too.Conclusion: In summary, this study showed that severe COVID-19 might increase the risk of stroke, thus much more attention should be paid to patients with severe COVID-19.

Pelvic actinomycosis is a rare disease which is hard to be distinguished from other diseases such as malignant tumors and tuberculosis due to its nonspecific clinical signs and symptoms. If pelvic actinomycosis can be diagnosed preoperatively, the patients can be cured with antimicrobial therapy avoiding surgery. It is especially of concern to distinguish pelvic actinomycosis from pelvic mass, if there is a history of intrauterine device use. We report a case of pelvic actinomycosis that was diagnosed after the postoperative pathology of a suspected uterine malignancy.