Hylomecon japonica is considered a natural medicinal plant with anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antibacterial activity. The assessment of climate change impact on its habitat suitability is important for the wild cultivation and standardized planting of H. japonica. In this study, the maximum entropy model (Maxent) and geographic information system (ArcGIS) were applied to predict the current and future distribution of H. japonica species, and the contributions of variables were evaluated by using the jackknife test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value confirmed the accuracy of the model prediction based on 102 occurrence records. The predicted potential distributions of H. japonica were mainly concentrated in Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Henan, Heilongjiang and other provinces (adaptability index > 0.6). The jackknife experiment showed that the precipitation of driest month (40.5%), mean annual temperature (12.4%), the precipitation of wettest quarter (11.6%) and the subclass of soil (9.7%) were the most important factors affecting the potential distribution of H. japonica. In the future, only under the shared socioeconomic Pathway 245 (SSP 245) scenario model in 2061–2080, the suitable habitat area for H. japonica is expected to show a significant upward trend. The area under other scenarios may not increase or decrease significantly.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers endangering women’s health. SRY-related high-mobility-group box 6 (SOX6) is associated with many cancers, though its role has not been reported in breast cancer. Here, we aimed to explore the expression and function of SOX6 in breast cancer. On the basis of the analysis of SOX6 in The Cancer Genome Atlas, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and Genotype-Tissue Expression databases, we revealed that SOX6 was downregulated in breast cancer, and we verified the results at the cellular level by means of western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR. When SOX6 was overexpressed, the proliferation of breast cancer cells was inhibited, and apoptosis was promoted. Moreover, the methylation level of the SOX6 promoter in breast cancer was significantly higher than that in normal tissues. 5′-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine reversed the high level of methylation that was caused by decreased expression of SOX6. This evidence suggests that SOX6 is a tumor suppressor gene associated with breast cancer. This study could provide a new target for breast cancer treatment.

Background: To understand the potential distribution and habitat suitability of H. japonica in China. And to provide guidance for the wild cultivation and standardized planting of H. japonica. Methods: The maximum entropy model (Maxent) and geographic information system (ArcGIS) were applied to predict the potential suitable habitat of H. japonica species, and the contribution of variables were evaluated by using the jackknife test. Results: The AUC value confirmed the accuracy of the model prediction based on 101 occurrence records. The potential distributions of H. japonica were mainly concentrated in Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi and other provinces (adaptability index>0.6). Jackknife experiment showed that the precipitation of driest month (35.6%), precipitation of wettest quarter (13.4%), the mean annual temperature (7.8%) and the subclass of soil (7.8%) were the most important factors affecting the potential distribution of H. japonica. Conclusion: The niche parameters of the most suitable growth area (adaptability index>0.8) for H. japonica were precipitation of driest month (5 mm), precipitation of wettest quarter (400-490 mm), the mean annual temperature (-2-4 °C) and the subclass of soil (Glossy Chernozem, Gleyic Lime, Haplic Gypsisols).