An effective blood-based method for the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not yet been developed. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) carrying cancer-specific genetic and epigenetic aberrations may enable a noninvasive 'liquid biopsy' for diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. Here, we identified an HCC-specific methylation marker panel by comparing HCC tissue and normal blood leukocytes and showed that methylation profiles of HCC tumour DNA and matched plasma ctDNA are highly correlated. Using cfDNA samples from a large cohort of 1,098 HCC patients and 835 normal controls, we constructed a diagnostic prediction model that showed high diagnostic specificity and sensitivity (P < 0.001) and was highly correlated with tumour burden, treatment response, and stage. Additionally, we constructed a prognostic prediction model that effectively predicted prognosis and survival (P < 0.001). Together, these findings demonstrate in a large clinical cohort the utility of ctDNA methylation markers in the diagnosis, surveillance, and prognosis of HCC.

Summary: Biological sequence diagrams are fundamental for visualizing various functional elements in protein or nucleotide sequences that enable a summarization and presentation of existing information as well as means of intuitive new discoveries. Here, we present a software package called illustrator of biological sequences (IBS) that can be used for representing the organization of either protein or nucleotide sequences in a convenient, efficient and precise manner. Multiple options are provided in IBS, and biological sequences can be manipulated, recolored or rescaled in a user-defined mode. Also, the final representational artwork can be directly exported into a publication-quality figure.Availability and implementation: The standalone package of IBS was implemented in JAVA, while the online service was implemented in HTML5 and JavaScript. Both the standalone package and online service are freely available at http://ibs.biocuckoo.org.Contact: renjian.sysu@gmail.com or xueyu@hust.edu.cnSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) regulate a variety of cellular processes through two distinct mechanisms, including covalent sumoylation and non-covalent SUMO interaction. The complexity of SUMO regulations has greatly hampered the large-scale identification of SUMO substrates or interaction partners on a proteome-wide level. In this work, we developed a new tool called GPS-SUMO for the prediction of both sumoylation sites and SUMO-interaction motifs (SIMs) in proteins. To obtain an accurate performance, a new generation group-based prediction system (GPS) algorithm integrated with Particle Swarm Optimization approach was applied. By critical evaluation and comparison, GPS-SUMO was demonstrated to be substantially superior against other existing tools and methods. With the help of GPS-SUMO, it is now possible to further investigate the relationship between sumoylation and SUMO interaction processes. A web service of GPS-SUMO was implemented in PHP + JavaScript and freely available at http://sumosp.biocuckoo.org.

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play nonnegligible roles in the epigenetic regulation of cancer cells. This study aimed to identify a specific lncRNA that promotes the colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and could be a potential therapeutic target. Methods:We screened highly expressed lncRNAs in human CRC samples compared with their matched adjacent normal tissues. The proteins that interact with LINRIS (Long Intergenic Noncoding RNA for IGF2BP2 Stability) were confirmed by RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays. The proliferation and metabolic alteration of CRC cells with LINRIS inhibited were tested in vitro and in vivo.Results: LINRIS was upregulated in CRC tissues from patients with poor overall survival (OS), and LINRIS inhibition led to the impaired CRC cell line growth. Moreover, knockdown of LINRIS resulted in a decreased level of insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein 2 (IGF2BP2), a newly found N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) 'reader'. LINRIS blocked K139 ubiquitination of IGF2BP2, maintaining its stability. This process prevented the degradation of IGF2BP2 through the autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP). Therefore, knockdown of LINRIS attenuated the downstream effects of IGF2BP2, especially MYC-mediated glycolysis in CRC cells. In addition, the transcription of LINRIS could be inhibited by GATA3 in CRC cells. In vivo experiments showed that the inhibition of LINRIS suppressed the proliferation of tumors in orthotopic models and in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models.Conclusion: LINRIS is an independent prognostic biomarker for CRC. The LINRIS-IGF2BP2-MYC axis promotes the progression of CRC and is a promising therapeutic target.

law firm, and other from Equity Quotient outside the submitted work. Dr Jagsi serves on the board of directors of ASCO and as vice chair of the ethics committee of ASTRO. This work is entirely separate from those roles. No other disclosures were reported.