Epigenetic modifications may alter the proliferation and differentiation of normal cells, leading to malignant transformation. They can also affect normal stimulation, activation, and abnormal function of immune cells in the tissue microenvironment. Histone methylation, coordinated by histone methylase and histone demethylase to stabilize transcription levels in the promoter area, is one of the most common types of epigenetic alteration, which gained increasing interest. It can modify gene transcription through chromatin structure and affect cell fate, at the transcriptome or protein level. According to recent research, histone methylation modification can regulate tumor and immune cells affecting anti-tumor immune response. Consequently, it is critical to have a thorough grasp of the role of methylation function in cancer treatment. In this review, we discussed recent data on the mechanisms of histone methylation on factors associated with immune resistance of tumor cells and regulation of immune cell function.

Parentage analysis is an important method that is used widely in zoological and ecological studies. Current mathematical models of parentage analyses usually assume that a population has a uniform genetic structure and that mating is panmictic. In a natural population, the geographic or social structure of a population, and/or nonrandom mating, usually leads to a genetic structure and results in genotypic frequencies deviating from those expected under the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). In addition, in the presence of null alleles, an observed genotype represents one of several possible true genotypes. The true father of a given offspring may thus be erroneously excluded in parentage analyses, or may have a low or negative LOD score. Here, we present a new mathematical model to estimate parentage that includes simultaneously the effects of inbreeding, null alleles, and negative amplification. The influences of these three factors on previous model are evaluated by Monte-Carlo simulations and empirical data, and the performance of our new model is compared under controlled conditions. We found that, for both simulated and empirical data, our new model outperformed other methods in many situations. We make available our methods in a new, free software package entitled parentage. This can be downloaded via http://github.com/huangkang1987/parentage.

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) may lead to oxidative damage and metabolic disorder. The pathogenesis of human bowel inflammation is closely related to oxidative damage of intestinal epithelial cells caused by ROS. This study aimed to explore the high-value utilization of the byproducts of sea cucumber in antioxidant food for colitis prevention. The technology of protease hydrolysis combined with Cordyceps militaris fermentation was used to obtain fermented sea cucumber viscera protease hydrolysates (FSVHs). The results revealed that FSVH could enhance antioxidant capacity and alleviate oxidative damage and apoptosis by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and triggering the self-protection immune mechanisms. Moreover, the FSVH supplementation could upregulate antioxidant-related metabolic pathways of Caco-2 cells such as glutathione metabolism, confirming the enhanced antioxidant capacity of damaged cells. In summary, FSVH could exert protective effects on Caco-2 cells in response to oxidative damage, providing a promising prospect for sea cucumber resource utilization and colitis prevention.

To investigate the efficacy and patient satisfaction of the EarWell Infant Ear Correction System combined with modular parents’ nursing education's curative effect on deformed auricle. A total of 42 patients (29 boys and 13 girls; 73 ears; age ≤3 months) with auricle deformities who had received EarWell Infant Ear Correction System's treatment and modular parents’ nursing education in Guangzhou Children and Women's Medical Center between April and October 2018. The modular parents’ education program is standardized by EarWell system. Physician and patients’ parents compared the severity of auricle deformity separately before and after the treatment by using the auricle deformities visual analogue scales (VAS) rating system. Patient satisfaction was evaluated by using global aesthetic improvement scale (GAIS). The data collected of auricle deformities VAS and GAIS satisfaction score were applied to measure the treatment's effectiveness. All the 42 patients (73 external ears) completed the treatment with EarWell Infant Ear Correction System and modular parents’ nursing education. The mean age at initiation of treatment was 37.87 ± 19.44 days and the therapeutic time span was 47.21 ± 17.36 days. At the end of treatment, the physician's and patients’ guardians rating of the severity of auricle deformity were significantly improved separately compared to the initial rating (8.33 ± 1.27 vs. 6.51 ± 0.84; P < 0.005) (5.77 ± 1.59 vs. 8.19 ± 2.38 P < 0.05). During the treatment and parents’ home nursing care period, the side effect and complications were minor like skin eczema and irrigation; there were no severe complications such as necrosis of the skin and cartilage. The patient tolerance for the treatment was acceptable with the adequate parents’ nursing care. Most patients’ guardians were satisfied with the treatment outcomes of EarWell Infant Ear Correction System with more engagement of nursing care, the GAIS's rating were increased from pretreatment stage's 26.19% to treatment completed stage's 90.48%, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In this study, we proved that EarWell Infant Ear Correction System with its unique parents’ modular nursing care education, as a noninvasive treatment, reasonably improved auricle morphological malformation, and patients’ guardians satisfaction with few complications, which is worthy of a wildly clinical promotion.