The rarity of metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) has resulted in limited sonographic data. Given the inferior prognosis of MBC compared to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), accurate preoperative differentiation between the two is imperative for effective treatment planning and prognostic prediction. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of MBC and differentiate it from IDC by analyzing sonographic and clinicopathologic features.
Abstract Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) derived lung organoids (HLOs) provide a promising model to study human lung development and disease. However, whether HLO cells could reconstitute airway epithelial structure in vivo remains unclear. Here we established an orthotopic xenograft system for hESCs-derived HLOs, enabling stable reconstruction of human airway epithelium in vivo . Removal of the mouse airway epithelium by naphthalene (NA) treatment enabled xenografted organoid cells survival, differentiation, and reconstruction of airway pseudostratified epithelium in immune-compromised NSG mice. Compared to unsorted pool cells, CD47 high cells generated more ciliated cells and possessed thicker pseudostratified epithelium. RNA-seq data revealed that CD47 high cells highly expressed epithelial cell, lung progenitor, lung proximal cell and embryonic lung development associated genes. These data reveal that HLOs hold cell therapy potential in regenerative medicine by long-term reconstituting airway epithelium.
Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is spread primary via respiratory droplets and infects the lungs. Currently widely used cell lines and animals are unable to accurately mimic human physiological conditions because of the abnormal status of cell lines (transformed or cancer cells) and species differences between animals and humans. Organoids are stem cell-derived self-organized three-dimensional culture in vitro and model the physiological conditions of natural organs. Here we demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infected and extensively replicated in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)-derived lung organoids, including airway and alveolar organoids. Ciliated cells, alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells and rare club cells were virus target cells. Electron microscopy captured typical replication, assembly and release ultrastructures and revealed the presence of viruses within lamellar bodies in AT2 cells. Virus infection induced more severe cell death in alveolar organoids than in airway organoids. Additionally, RNA-seq revealed early cell response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and an unexpected downregulation of ACE2 mRNA. Further, compared to the transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2) inhibitor camostat, the nucleotide analog prodrug Remdesivir potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung organoids. Therefore, human lung organoids can serve as a pathophysiological model for SARS-CoV-2 infection and drug discovery.
Antibiotic resistance and the surge of infectious diseases during the pandemic present significant threats to human health. Trained immunity emerges as a promising and innovative approach to address these infections. Synthetic or natural fungal, parasitic and viral components have been reported to induce trained immunity. However, it is not clear whether bacterial virulence proteins can induce protective trained immunity. Our research demonstrates Streptococcus pneumoniae virulence protein PepO, is a highly potent trained immunity inducer for combating broad-spectrum infection. Our findings showcase that rPepO training confers robust protection to mice against various pathogenic infections by enhancing macrophage functionality. rPepO effectively re-programs macrophages, re-configures their epigenetic modifications and bolsters their immunological responses, which is independent of T or B lymphocytes. In vivo and in vitro experiments confirm that trained macrophage-secreted complement C3 activates peritoneal B lymphocyte and enhances its bactericidal capacity. In addition, we provide the first evidence that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) derived from trained macrophages plays a pivotal role in shaping central-trained immunity. In summation, our research demonstrates the capability of rPepO to induce both peripheral and central trained immunity in mice, underscoring its potential application in broad-spectrum anti-infection therapy. Our research provides a new molecule and some new target options for infectious disease prevention.
Endonuclease-deactivated clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated nuclease (dCas9) has been repurposed for live-cell imaging of genomic loci. Engineered or evolved dCas9 variants have been developed to increase the applicability of the CRISPR/dCas9 system. However, there have been no systematic comparisons of these dCas9 variants in terms of their performance in the visualization of genomic loci.Here we demonstrate that dSpCas9 and its variants deSpCas9(1.1), dSpCas9-HF1, devoCas9, and dxCas9(3.7) can be used for CRISPR-based live-cell genomic imaging. dSpCas9 had the greatest utility, with a high labeling efficiency of repetitive sequences-including those with a low number of repeats-and good compatibility with target RNA sequences at the MUC4 locus that varied in length from 13 to 23 nucleotides. We combined CRISPR-Tag with the dSpCas9 imaging system to observe the dynamics of the Tet promoter and found that its movement was restricted when it was active.These novel Cas9 variants provide a new set of tools for investigating the spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression through live imaging of genomic sites.
Additional file 1: Fig. S1 Establishment of the dLbCas12a-p300knock-in HEK293T cell line. Fig. S2 Circular gRNAs increase thetranscription efficiency of LbCas12a-based activators. Fig. S3 Establishment of the LbCas12a knock-in HEK293Tcell line and off-target analysis of LbCas12a with different gRNAs. Fig. S4 Circular gRNAs improve the DNA cleavage efficiency of LbCas12ain MCF7 cells. Fig. S5 comparison between cgRNA with other extendedstructuralized gRNAs. Fig. S6 Circular gRNAs improve the gene expressionor DNA cleavage of AsCas12a-based effectors. Fig. S7 Multiplexedgene activation and cleavage guided by cgRNAs. Fig. S8 Efficient andspecific RNA cleavage activity of CasRX with cgRNA. Fig. S9 Thetrans-cleavage activity of CasRx–mediated exogenous transcripts degradation. Fig.S10 The trans-cleavage activity of CasRx–mediated endogenous transcriptsdegradation. Fig. S11 The structures of circular gRNAs for LbCas12awith different linkers targeting IL1RN predicted by mFold. Fig. S12The structures of circular gRNAs for LbCas12a with different linkerstargeting IL1RN predicted by mFold. Fig. S13 The structures ofcircular gRNAs for CasRx with different linkers targeting STAT3predicted by mFold.