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The recently emerged Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant has rapidly surpassed Delta to become the predominant circulating SARS-CoV-2 variant, given the higher transmissibility rate and immune escape ability, resulting in breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals. A new generation of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines targeting the Omicron variant are urgently needed. Here, we developed a subunit vaccine named RBD-HR/trimer by directly linking the sequence of RBD derived from the Delta variant (containing L452R and T478K) and HR1 and HR2 in SARS-CoV-2 S2 subunit in a tandem manner, which can self-assemble into a trimer. In multiple animal models, vaccination of RBD-HR/trimer formulated with MF59-like oil-in-water adjuvant elicited sustained humoral immune response with high levels of broad-spectrum neutralizing antibodies against Omicron variants, also inducing a strong T cell immune response in vivo. In addition, our RBD-HR/trimer vaccine showed a strong boosting effect against Omicron variants after two doses of mRNA vaccines, featuring its capacity to be used in a prime-boost regimen. In mice and non-human primates, RBD-HR/trimer vaccination could confer a complete protection against live virus challenge of Omicron and Delta variants. The results qualified RBD-HR/trimer vaccine as a promising next-generation vaccine candidate for prevention of SARS-CoV-2, which deserved further evaluation in clinical trials.

The objective of this study was to identify potentially significant genes and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in colon cancer for a panel of lncRNA signatures that could be used as prognostic markers for colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) based on the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). RNA-seq V2 exon data of COAD were downloaded from the TCGA data portal for 285 tumor samples and 41 normal tissue samples adjacent to tumors. Differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs were identified. A functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs was performed, followed by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction and significant module selection. Additionally, the regulatory relationships in differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs were assessed, and an lncRNA-lncRNA co-regulation and functional synergistic analysis were performed. Furthermore, the risk score model and Cox regression analysis based on the expression levels of lncRNAs were used to develop a prognostic lncRNA signature. A total of 976 differentially expressed mRNAs and 169 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified. MDFI and MEOX2 were the PPI network hubs. We found these lncRNAs to be mainly involved in vascular smooth muscle contraction and the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway. Several lncRNA-lncRNA pairs had co-regulatory relationships or functional synergistic effects, including BVES-AS1/MYLK-AS1, ADAMTS9-AS1/MYLK-AS1 and FENDRR/MYLK-AS1. The differential expression profile analysis of four candidate lncRNAs (MYLK-AS1, BVES-AS1, ADAMTS9-AS1, and FENDRR) in COAD tumors were confirmed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Moreover, this study identified a 14-lncRNA signature that could predict the survival for COAD patients.

BH3 (Bcl-2 homology domain 3)-only proteins have an important role in the cisplatin resistance of cells. However, the effect of BH3-only proteins on cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells has not been thoroughly elucidated. Our results from the present study indicate that Puma plays a critical role in the apoptosis of chemo-resistant ovarian cancer cells treated with BetA (betulinic acid). The reduction of Puma expression inhibits Bax activation and apoptosis. However, p53 gene silencing has little effect on Puma activation. Further experiments demonstrated that Akt-mediated FoxO3a (forkhead box O3a) nuclear translocation and the JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase)/c-Jun pathway only partially trigger Puma induction and apoptosis, whereas dominant-negative c-Jun expression with FoxO3a reduction completely inhibits Puma expression and cell death. Furthermore, our results suggest that JNK regulates the Akt/FoxO3a signalling pathway. Therefore the dual effect of JNK can efficiently trigger Puma activation and apoptosis in chemoresistant cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate the role of Puma in BetA-induced apoptosis and the molecular mechanisms of Puma expression regulated by BetA during ovarian cancer cell apoptosis. Our findings suggest that the JNK-potentiated Akt/FoxO3a and JNK-mediated c-Jun pathways co-operatively trigger Puma expression, which determines the threshold for overcoming chemoresistance in ovarian cancer cells.