Studies on plant diversity are usually based on the total number of species in a community.However,few studies have examined species richness(SR)of different plant life forms in a community along largescale environmen...Studies on plant diversity are usually based on the total number of species in a community.However,few studies have examined species richness(SR)of different plant life forms in a community along largescale environmental gradients.Particularly,the relative importance(RIV)of different plant life forms in a community and how they vary with environmental variables are still unclear.To fill these gaps,we determined plant diversity of ephemeral plants,annual herbs,perennial herbs,and woody plants from 187 sites across drylands in China.The SR patterns of herbaceous plants,especially perennial herbs,and their RIV in plant communities increased with increasing precipitation and soil nutrient content;however,the RIV of annual herbs was not altered along these gradients.The SR and RIV of ephemeral plants were affected mainly by precipitation seasonality.The SR of woody plants had a unimodal relationship with air temperature and exhibited the highest RIV and SR percentage in plant communities under the harshest environments.An obvious shift emerged in plant community composition,SR and their critical impact factors at 238.5 mm of mean annual precipitation(MAP).In mesic regions(>238.5 mm),herbs were the dominant species,and the SR displayed a relatively slow decreasing rate with increasing aridity,which was mediated mainly by MAP and soil nutrients.In arid regions(<238.5 mm),woody plants were the dominant species,and the SR displayed a relatively fast decreasing rate with increasing aridity,which was mediated mainly by climate variables,especially precipitation.Our findings highlight the importance of comparative life form studies in community structure and biodiversity,as their responses to gradients differed substantially on a large scale.展开更多
Background:The forest musk deer,a rare fauna species found in China,is famous for its musk secretion which is used in selected Traditional Chinese medicines.However,over-hunting has led to musk deer becoming an endang...Background:The forest musk deer,a rare fauna species found in China,is famous for its musk secretion which is used in selected Traditional Chinese medicines.However,over-hunting has led to musk deer becoming an endangered species,and their survival is also greatly challenged by various high incidence and high mortality respiratory and intestinal diseases such as septic pneumonia and enteritis.Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that Akkermannia muciniphila(AKK)is a promising probiotic,and we wondered whether AKK could be used as a food additive in animal breeding pro-grammes to help prevent intestinal diseases.Methods:We isolated one AKK strain from musk deer feces(AKK-D)using an im-proved enrichment medium combined with real-time PCR.After confirmation by 16S rRNA gene sequencing,a series of in vitro tests was conducted to evaluate the probiotic effects of AKK-D by assessing its reproductive capability,simulated gas-trointestinal fluid tolerance,acid and bile salt resistance,self-aggregation ability,hy-drophobicity,antibiotic sensitivity,hemolysis,harmful metabolite production,biofilm formation ability,and bacterial adhesion to gastrointestinal mucosa.Results:The AKK-D strain has a probiotic function similar to that of the standard strain in humans(AKK-H).An in vivo study found that AKK-D significantly amelio-rated symptoms in the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC)-induced murine diar-rhea model.AKK-D improved organ damage,inhibited inflammatory responses,and improved intestinal barrier permeability.Additionally,AKK-D promoted the reconsti-tution and maintenance of the homeostasis of gut microflora,as indicated by the fact that AKK-D-treated mice showed a decrease in Bacteroidetes and an increase in the proportion of other beneficial bacteria like Muribaculaceae,Muribaculum,and unclas-sified f_Lachnospiaceae compared with the diarrhea model mice.Conclusion:Taken together,our data show that this novel AKK-D strain might be a potential probiotic for use in musk deer breeding,although further extensive system-atic research is still needed.展开更多
MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are abundant in the brain and mounting evidence suggests their involvement in the critical processes such as neurodevelopment,synaptic plasticity,and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.Thus...MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are abundant in the brain and mounting evidence suggests their involvement in the critical processes such as neurodevelopment,synaptic plasticity,and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.Thus,miRNAs may be promising therapeutic drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.However,naked miRNAs are not able to enter cells directly,especially brain cells.Therefore,suitable carriers for safe and efficient miRNA delivery to brain cells are of great importance.Chitosan nanoparticles,with the excellent properties such as good compatibility and brilliant degradability,may act as a promising carrier for miRNA drug delivery.In this study,chitosan nanoparticles were prepared and their properties such as particle size,zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency were optimized to encapsulate miRNAs.The delivery efficiency of miRNA-loaded nanoparticles was then evaluated in both neuronal and microglia cells.The results demonstrated chitosan nanoparticles encapsulated miRNAs efficiently and showed excellent sustained releasing in vitro.Moreover,chitosan nanoparticles delivered miRNA to both neurons and microglia with very low toxicity and high efficiency.In conclusion,chitosan nanoparticles are promising carriers for the delivery of miRNAs to brain cells,which may be used for the early intervention and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.展开更多
The extracellular vesicles show great potential as a noninvasive biomarker for the early detection of cancer.Hence,there is an urgent requirement to create biosensors that are time-saving,simple,and easily scalable in...The extracellular vesicles show great potential as a noninvasive biomarker for the early detection of cancer.Hence,there is an urgent requirement to create biosensors that are time-saving,simple,and easily scalable in order to accomplish rapid,sensitive,and quantitative detection of extracellular vesicles.In this study,we present a self-propelled DNA walker powered by endonuclease Nt.Bbv CI,which enables the development of a“signal on”sensing platform for the rapid and highly sensitive detection of extracellular vesicles.The DNA motor employed tracks made of streptavidin magnetic beads,which consisted of substrate strands labeled with fluorescein and motor strands locked by aptamers.The aptamer recognition of the target protein on extracellular vesicles unlocked the motor strand,initiating the DNA motor process.After replacing the optimal buffer solution containing the endonuclease Nt.BbvC I,the motor strands autonomously moved along the streptavidin magnetic beads track,continuously releasing fluorescent molecules and producing detectable fluorescence signals.Under optimal conditions,the detection range was from 2×10~4particles/mL to 2×10~9particles/mL,with a detection limit of 2.9×10~3particles/mL,demonstrating excellent selectivity.This method has demonstrated good selectivity in different tumorderived extracellular vesicles and performs well in complex biological samples.The ability to effectively analyze surface proteins of extracellular vesicles in a short period of time gives our DNA walker a tremendous potential for developing simple and cost-effective clinical diagnostic devices.展开更多
Objective:To evaluate the global liter-ature output on the relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and cognitive function in al-cohol dependence syndrome using bibliometric methods and explore the ...Objective:To evaluate the global liter-ature output on the relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and cognitive function in al-cohol dependence syndrome using bibliometric methods and explore the status and trends in this field.Method:The literature on the application of BDNF in cognitive impairment caused by alcohol dependence syndrome published from 1995 to 2023 were retrieved from Web of Science,and the relevant information(publication characteristics,country and institution,author,number of publications,citation,journal and research field,corresponding author,key words,etc.)was recorded.The bibliometrix R package was used for quantitative and qualitative analysis of publication output and author contributions.Result:A total of 99 articles were included.The overall number of publications in this field has increased over time.The countries and institutions that contributed the most to the field were the United States and the Academy of Medical Sciences of Iranian universities,respectively.Most of the authors were from the United States,followed by Spain,China,and Iran.Ceccanti M,Fiore M were the most productive authors.Publications with Ceccanti M had the highest h-index.The most cited reference author is Haenninen H(227 citations),and the number one published journal is Alcohol.Most articles were published in 2020(n=12)and 2022(n=11),followed by 2019 and 2021(n=10).The corresponding author has the largest number of publications from the United States,and more publications from a single country tend to have more cooperation from other countries.BDNF and alcohol appeared more frequently in various keyword clouds.However,significant differences remained in the author keyword cloud,keyword plus word cloud,and paper topic word cloud.Conclusion:BDNF has great potential in the application of cognitive dysfunction caused by alcohol dependence syndrome.Bibliometric methods and data visualization techniques can help understand the current state of research progress and enable relevant scholars and practitioners to predict the development trends in this field.展开更多
Cytokinin is a critical growth regulator for various aspects of plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis, cytokinin signaling is mediated by a two-component system-based phosphorelay that transmits a signal from t...Cytokinin is a critical growth regulator for various aspects of plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis, cytokinin signaling is mediated by a two-component system-based phosphorelay that transmits a signal from the receptors, through histidine phosphotransfer proteins, to the downstream response regulators （ARRs）. Of these ARRs, type-A ARR genes, whose transcription can be rapidly induced by cytokinin, act as negative regulators of eytokinin signaling. However, because of functional redundancy, the function of type-A ARR genes in plant growth and development is not well understood by analyzing loss-of-function mutants. In this study, we performed a comparative functional study on all ten type-A ARR genes by analyzing transgenic plants overexpressing these ARR genes fused to a MYC epitope tag. Overexpression of ARR genes results in a variety of cytokinin-associated phenotypes. Notably, overexpression of different ARR transgenes causes diverse phenotypes, even between phylogenetically closely-related gene pairs, such as within the ARR3-ARR4 and ARR5-ARR6 pairs. We found that the accumulation of a subset of ARR proteins （ARR3, ARR5, ARR7, ARR16 and ARR17; possibly ARR8 and ARR15） is increased by MG132, a specific proteasomal inhibitor, indicating that stability of these proteins is regulated by proteasomal degradation. Moreover, similar to that of previously characterized ARR5, ARR6 and ARR7, stability of ARR16 and ARR17, possibly including ARR8 and ARR15, is regulated by cytokinin. These results suggest that type-A ARR proteins are regulated by a combinatorial mechanism involving both the cytokinin and proteasome pathways, thereby executing distinctive functions in plant growth and development.展开更多
Tissue engineering has become a promising strategy for repairing damaged cartilage and bone tissue. Among the scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications, injectable hydrogels have demonstrated great potential for u...Tissue engineering has become a promising strategy for repairing damaged cartilage and bone tissue. Among the scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications, injectable hydrogels have demonstrated great potential for use as three-dimensional cell culture scaffolds in cartilage and bone tissue engineering, owing to their high water content, similarity to the natural extracellular matrix(ECM), porous framework for cell transplantation and proliferation, minimal invasive properties, and ability to match irregular defects. In this review, we describe the selection of appropriate biomaterials and fabrication methods to prepare novel injectable hydrogels for cartilage and bone tissue engineering. In addition, the biology of cartilage and the bony ECM is also summarized. Finally, future perspectives for injectable hydrogels in cartilage and bone tissue engineering are discussed.展开更多
AIM: To report the visual outcomes and refractive status in premature infants with and without retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) who were or not treated. METHODS: The clinical records of all premature infants with or wi...AIM: To report the visual outcomes and refractive status in premature infants with and without retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) who were or not treated. METHODS: The clinical records of all premature infants with or without ROP and with or without treatment between 2007 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Basic demographic data, serial changes in ROP incidence, treatment and outcomes, and the refractive states were analyzed. Correlations among myopia and astigmatism progression, birth weight, gestational age, and treatment methods were also analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 562 screened premature infants(all Chinese, 1124 eyes), were recruited with a 378:184 maleto-female ratio. Birth weight did not directly influence ROP incidence. The overall ROP incidence was 16.55%(93/562 cases). The incidences in boys and girls were 16.14%(33/378 cases) and 17.39%(32/184 cases), respectively, and this difference was not significant. However, all infants with serious ROP(stage IV and V) were male. Myopia combined with astigmatism was common in premature infants with and without ROP(30.99%, 172/555 cases), and myopic refraction(including myopia and myopia combined with astigmatism) was more common in premature infants with ROP(48.84%, 42/86 cases). In the >8.00 diopter group, there were significantly more ROP infants than without ROP. Myopic refraction(including myopia and myopia combined with astigmatism) was most common in infants with ROP after treatment(63.63%, 7/11 cases). CONCLUSION: The refractive state is different between premature infants and mature infants. Those treated for ROP had a higher chance of developing myopia, astigmatism, and higher diopter.展开更多
Carotenoids, a class of natural pigments found in all photosynthetic organisms, are involved in a variety of physiological processes, including coloration, photoprotection, biosynthesis of abscisic acid （ABA） and ch...Carotenoids, a class of natural pigments found in all photosynthetic organisms, are involved in a variety of physiological processes, including coloration, photoprotection, biosynthesis of abscisic acid （ABA） and chloroplast biogenesis. Although carotenoid biosynthesis has been well studied biochemically, the genetic basis of the pathway is not well understood. Here, we report the characterization of two allelic Arabidopsis mutants, spontaneous cell death1-1 （spcl-1） and spc1-2. The weak allele spc1-1 mutant showed characteristics of bleached leaves, accumulation of superoxide and mosaic cell death. The strong mutant allele spc1-2 caused a complete arrest of plant growth and development shortly after germination, leading to a seedling-lethal phenotype. Genetic and molecular analyses indicated that SPC1 encodes a putative ζ-carotene desaturase （ZDS） in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. Analysis of carotenoids revealed that several major carotenoid compounds downstream of SPC 1/ZDS were substantially reduced in spc1-1, suggesting that SPC 1 is a functional ZDS. Consistent with the downregulated expression of CAO and PORB, the chlorophyll content was decreased in spc1-1 plants. In addition, expression of Lhcb1. 1, Lhcbl. 4 and RbcS was absent in spc1-2, suggesting the possible involvement of carotenoids in the plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signaling. The spc1-1 mutant also displays an ABA-deficient phenotype that can be partially rescued by the externally supplied phytohormone. These results suggest that SPC1/ZDS is essential for biosynthesis of carotenoids and plays a crucial role in plant growth and development.展开更多
Objective:To investigate the application value of loop-mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP),GeneXpert,mycobacterial culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT.TB(TSPOT),ratio of TB-specific antigen to phytohemagglutinin(TBAg/P...Objective:To investigate the application value of loop-mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP),GeneXpert,mycobacterial culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT.TB(TSPOT),ratio of TB-specific antigen to phytohemagglutinin(TBAg/PHA ratio)in the detection of mycobacterium tuberculosis in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the patients who underwent bronchoscopy from December 2018 to November 2019 in Tongji Hospital.The patients with positive tuberculosis culture or positive GeneXpert in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were selected as the case group,and those without tuberculosis served as the control group.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of LAMP,GeneXpert,culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT,and TBAg/PHA ratio.Results:For the patients with positive cultures as case,the sensitivity of LAMP,GeneXpert,smear microscopy,TSPOT and TBAg/PHA ratio was 73.49%,89.16%,25.30%,80.00%,33.85%,respectively,the specificity was 99.00%,100.00%,99.00%,86.00%,100.00%,respectively,the area under the ROC curve(AUC)was 0.849,0.938,0.633,0.830,0.669,respectively.For the patients with positive GeneXpert as case,the sensitivity of LAMP,mycobacterial culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT and TBAg/PHA ratio was 73.20%,74.23%,22.68%,68.92%,29.73%,respectively,the specificity was 99.00%,100.00%,99.00%,86.00%,100.00%,respectively,the AUC was 0.853,0.878,0.623,0.775,0.649,respectively.Conclusion:The sensitivity of GeneXpert was best.The sensitivity and diagnostic value of LAMP were slightly lower than those of GeneXpert,and were similar to tuberculosis culture.The sensitivity of smear microscopy was low.The specificity of TSPOT was low.When TBAg/PHA ratio>0.2 was used as a diagnostic index,the specificity was improved,but the sensitivity was low.展开更多
Due to their high specificity and affinity towards various targets,along with other unique advantages such as stability and low cost,aptamers are widely applied in analytical techniques.A typical aptamerbased electroc...Due to their high specificity and affinity towards various targets,along with other unique advantages such as stability and low cost,aptamers are widely applied in analytical techniques.A typical aptamerbased electrochemical biosensor is composed of a aptamer as the biological recognition element and transducer converting the biologic interaction into electrical signals for the quantitative measurement of targets.Improvement of the sensitivity of a biosensor is significantly important in order to achieve the detection of biomolecules with low abundance,and different amplification strategies have been explored.The strategies either employ nanomaterials such as gold nanoparticles to con struct electrodes which can transfer the biological reactions more efficiently,or attempt to obtain enhanced signal through multi-labeled carriers or utilize enzyme mimics to catalyze redox cycling.This review discusses recent advances in signal amplification methods and their applications.Critical assessment of each method is also considered.展开更多
An electrochemical sensor based on self-made nano-porous pseudo carbon paste electrode(nano-PPCPE)has been successfully developed,and used to detect Cd^2+ and Pb^2+.The experimental results showed that the electrochem...An electrochemical sensor based on self-made nano-porous pseudo carbon paste electrode(nano-PPCPE)has been successfully developed,and used to detect Cd^2+ and Pb^2+.The experimental results showed that the electrochemical performance of nanoPPCPE is evidently better than both glassy carbon electrode(GCE)and pure carbon paste electrode(CPE).Then the prepared nano-PPCPE was applied to detect Cd^2+ and Pb^2+in standard solution,the results showed that the electrodes can quantitatively detect trace Cd^2+ and Pb^2+,which has great significance in electrochemical analysis and detection.The linear ranges between the target ions concentration and the D PASV current were from 0.1-3.0 μmol/L,0.05-4.0 μmol/L for Cd^2+ and Pb^2+,respectively.And the detection limits were 0.0780 μmol/L and 0.0292 μmol/L,respectively.Moreover,the preparation of the nano-PPCPE is cheap,simple and has important practical value.展开更多
The feature of the surface coating can affect important properties of iron oxide nanoparticles(IONPs), it is therefore critical for further understanding how these materials react to physiological conditions, which is...The feature of the surface coating can affect important properties of iron oxide nanoparticles(IONPs), it is therefore critical for further understanding how these materials react to physiological conditions, which is still needed to fully exploit the potential of IONPs for their theranostic applications. In this work, we prepared IONPs which surface were modified with citric acid(CA), chitosan(CS) and folic acid conjugated chitosan(FA-g-CS). respectively. Their physicochemical properties were investigated using FT-IR, TEM,powder XRD, VSM, TGA, DLS and zeta potential. We found that CA-IONP dispersion was composed of monocrystalline particles while CS-IONP and FA-g-CS-IONP were composed of polycrystalline aggregates. All IONPs retained the crystalline structure of magnetite and exhibited the superparamagnetic behavior. Their saturation magnetization decreased with the increase in the amount of their organic coatings. Their drug loading capacities, drug release patterns and in vitro anticancer efficiencies were studied by using doxorubicin(DOX) as a model drug. DOX@CS-IONP and DOX@FA-g-CSIONP exhibited lower drug loading while showing higher water dispersity when compared with DOX@CA-IONP. All IONPs were surface charged and they tended to agglomerate in medium with high pH value and ionic strength. In the presence of chitosan or FA-g-CS coatings, their DOX release rate was slowed down compared with that of DOX@CA-IONP. Unloaded IONPs exhibited nearly no cytotoxicity on both cancer cells and normal cells in the presence of chitosan and FA-g-CS when compared with CA-IONP which presented high cytotoxicity. However, DOX@FA-g-CS-IONP showed significantly cytotoxicity on folate receptors(FRs) positive breast cancer cells while exhibiting nearly no cytotoxicity on FRs negative normal cells. Results presented in this study were valuable to the design and fabrication of IONPs-based system for better theranostic applications.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFF0805602)National Natural Science Foundation of China(32225032,32001192,32271597)+1 种基金the Innovation Base Project of Gansu Province(2021YFF0703904)the Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province(24JRRA515,22JR5RA525,23JRRA1157).
文摘Studies on plant diversity are usually based on the total number of species in a community.However,few studies have examined species richness(SR)of different plant life forms in a community along largescale environmental gradients.Particularly,the relative importance(RIV)of different plant life forms in a community and how they vary with environmental variables are still unclear.To fill these gaps,we determined plant diversity of ephemeral plants,annual herbs,perennial herbs,and woody plants from 187 sites across drylands in China.The SR patterns of herbaceous plants,especially perennial herbs,and their RIV in plant communities increased with increasing precipitation and soil nutrient content;however,the RIV of annual herbs was not altered along these gradients.The SR and RIV of ephemeral plants were affected mainly by precipitation seasonality.The SR of woody plants had a unimodal relationship with air temperature and exhibited the highest RIV and SR percentage in plant communities under the harshest environments.An obvious shift emerged in plant community composition,SR and their critical impact factors at 238.5 mm of mean annual precipitation(MAP).In mesic regions(>238.5 mm),herbs were the dominant species,and the SR displayed a relatively slow decreasing rate with increasing aridity,which was mediated mainly by MAP and soil nutrients.In arid regions(<238.5 mm),woody plants were the dominant species,and the SR displayed a relatively fast decreasing rate with increasing aridity,which was mediated mainly by climate variables,especially precipitation.Our findings highlight the importance of comparative life form studies in community structure and biodiversity,as their responses to gradients differed substantially on a large scale.
基金This research was funded by Shaanxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Projects(2021-QYZL-01,2021-QYPT-001)Key R&D Project in Shaanxi Province(2023-YBSF-463)+1 种基金the Foundation of Science and Technology in Shaanxi Province(2020TD-050)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(GK202205010).
文摘Background:The forest musk deer,a rare fauna species found in China,is famous for its musk secretion which is used in selected Traditional Chinese medicines.However,over-hunting has led to musk deer becoming an endangered species,and their survival is also greatly challenged by various high incidence and high mortality respiratory and intestinal diseases such as septic pneumonia and enteritis.Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that Akkermannia muciniphila(AKK)is a promising probiotic,and we wondered whether AKK could be used as a food additive in animal breeding pro-grammes to help prevent intestinal diseases.Methods:We isolated one AKK strain from musk deer feces(AKK-D)using an im-proved enrichment medium combined with real-time PCR.After confirmation by 16S rRNA gene sequencing,a series of in vitro tests was conducted to evaluate the probiotic effects of AKK-D by assessing its reproductive capability,simulated gas-trointestinal fluid tolerance,acid and bile salt resistance,self-aggregation ability,hy-drophobicity,antibiotic sensitivity,hemolysis,harmful metabolite production,biofilm formation ability,and bacterial adhesion to gastrointestinal mucosa.Results:The AKK-D strain has a probiotic function similar to that of the standard strain in humans(AKK-H).An in vivo study found that AKK-D significantly amelio-rated symptoms in the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC)-induced murine diar-rhea model.AKK-D improved organ damage,inhibited inflammatory responses,and improved intestinal barrier permeability.Additionally,AKK-D promoted the reconsti-tution and maintenance of the homeostasis of gut microflora,as indicated by the fact that AKK-D-treated mice showed a decrease in Bacteroidetes and an increase in the proportion of other beneficial bacteria like Muribaculaceae,Muribaculum,and unclas-sified f_Lachnospiaceae compared with the diarrhea model mice.Conclusion:Taken together,our data show that this novel AKK-D strain might be a potential probiotic for use in musk deer breeding,although further extensive system-atic research is still needed.
基金supported financially by the NSFC(Nos.62075098 and 62071119)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Nos.2017YFA0205301 and 2018YFC1602905)。
文摘MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are abundant in the brain and mounting evidence suggests their involvement in the critical processes such as neurodevelopment,synaptic plasticity,and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.Thus,miRNAs may be promising therapeutic drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.However,naked miRNAs are not able to enter cells directly,especially brain cells.Therefore,suitable carriers for safe and efficient miRNA delivery to brain cells are of great importance.Chitosan nanoparticles,with the excellent properties such as good compatibility and brilliant degradability,may act as a promising carrier for miRNA drug delivery.In this study,chitosan nanoparticles were prepared and their properties such as particle size,zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency were optimized to encapsulate miRNAs.The delivery efficiency of miRNA-loaded nanoparticles was then evaluated in both neuronal and microglia cells.The results demonstrated chitosan nanoparticles encapsulated miRNAs efficiently and showed excellent sustained releasing in vitro.Moreover,chitosan nanoparticles delivered miRNA to both neurons and microglia with very low toxicity and high efficiency.In conclusion,chitosan nanoparticles are promising carriers for the delivery of miRNAs to brain cells,which may be used for the early intervention and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.
基金supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Nos.62071119 and 62075098)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Nos.2017YFA0205301 and 2018YFC1602905)。
文摘The extracellular vesicles show great potential as a noninvasive biomarker for the early detection of cancer.Hence,there is an urgent requirement to create biosensors that are time-saving,simple,and easily scalable in order to accomplish rapid,sensitive,and quantitative detection of extracellular vesicles.In this study,we present a self-propelled DNA walker powered by endonuclease Nt.Bbv CI,which enables the development of a“signal on”sensing platform for the rapid and highly sensitive detection of extracellular vesicles.The DNA motor employed tracks made of streptavidin magnetic beads,which consisted of substrate strands labeled with fluorescein and motor strands locked by aptamers.The aptamer recognition of the target protein on extracellular vesicles unlocked the motor strand,initiating the DNA motor process.After replacing the optimal buffer solution containing the endonuclease Nt.BbvC I,the motor strands autonomously moved along the streptavidin magnetic beads track,continuously releasing fluorescent molecules and producing detectable fluorescence signals.Under optimal conditions,the detection range was from 2×10~4particles/mL to 2×10~9particles/mL,with a detection limit of 2.9×10~3particles/mL,demonstrating excellent selectivity.This method has demonstrated good selectivity in different tumorderived extracellular vesicles and performs well in complex biological samples.The ability to effectively analyze surface proteins of extracellular vesicles in a short period of time gives our DNA walker a tremendous potential for developing simple and cost-effective clinical diagnostic devices.
基金supported by grants from the Scientific Research Fund project of Education Department of Yunnan Province(2024J0314)Joint Special Project on Basic Research of Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology and Kunming Medical University(202501AY070001-206).
文摘Objective:To evaluate the global liter-ature output on the relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and cognitive function in al-cohol dependence syndrome using bibliometric methods and explore the status and trends in this field.Method:The literature on the application of BDNF in cognitive impairment caused by alcohol dependence syndrome published from 1995 to 2023 were retrieved from Web of Science,and the relevant information(publication characteristics,country and institution,author,number of publications,citation,journal and research field,corresponding author,key words,etc.)was recorded.The bibliometrix R package was used for quantitative and qualitative analysis of publication output and author contributions.Result:A total of 99 articles were included.The overall number of publications in this field has increased over time.The countries and institutions that contributed the most to the field were the United States and the Academy of Medical Sciences of Iranian universities,respectively.Most of the authors were from the United States,followed by Spain,China,and Iran.Ceccanti M,Fiore M were the most productive authors.Publications with Ceccanti M had the highest h-index.The most cited reference author is Haenninen H(227 citations),and the number one published journal is Alcohol.Most articles were published in 2020(n=12)and 2022(n=11),followed by 2019 and 2021(n=10).The corresponding author has the largest number of publications from the United States,and more publications from a single country tend to have more cooperation from other countries.BDNF and alcohol appeared more frequently in various keyword clouds.However,significant differences remained in the author keyword cloud,keyword plus word cloud,and paper topic word cloud.Conclusion:BDNF has great potential in the application of cognitive dysfunction caused by alcohol dependence syndrome.Bibliometric methods and data visualization techniques can help understand the current state of research progress and enable relevant scholars and practitioners to predict the development trends in this field.
文摘Cytokinin is a critical growth regulator for various aspects of plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis, cytokinin signaling is mediated by a two-component system-based phosphorelay that transmits a signal from the receptors, through histidine phosphotransfer proteins, to the downstream response regulators （ARRs）. Of these ARRs, type-A ARR genes, whose transcription can be rapidly induced by cytokinin, act as negative regulators of eytokinin signaling. However, because of functional redundancy, the function of type-A ARR genes in plant growth and development is not well understood by analyzing loss-of-function mutants. In this study, we performed a comparative functional study on all ten type-A ARR genes by analyzing transgenic plants overexpressing these ARR genes fused to a MYC epitope tag. Overexpression of ARR genes results in a variety of cytokinin-associated phenotypes. Notably, overexpression of different ARR transgenes causes diverse phenotypes, even between phylogenetically closely-related gene pairs, such as within the ARR3-ARR4 and ARR5-ARR6 pairs. We found that the accumulation of a subset of ARR proteins （ARR3, ARR5, ARR7, ARR16 and ARR17; possibly ARR8 and ARR15） is increased by MG132, a specific proteasomal inhibitor, indicating that stability of these proteins is regulated by proteasomal degradation. Moreover, similar to that of previously characterized ARR5, ARR6 and ARR7, stability of ARR16 and ARR17, possibly including ARR8 and ARR15, is regulated by cytokinin. These results suggest that type-A ARR proteins are regulated by a combinatorial mechanism involving both the cytokinin and proteasome pathways, thereby executing distinctive functions in plant growth and development.
基金supported by NSFC (nos 61471168, 61571187,61301043,and 61527806)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2016T90403)the Economical Forest Cultivation and Utilization of 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center in Hunan Province [(2013)448]
文摘Tissue engineering has become a promising strategy for repairing damaged cartilage and bone tissue. Among the scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications, injectable hydrogels have demonstrated great potential for use as three-dimensional cell culture scaffolds in cartilage and bone tissue engineering, owing to their high water content, similarity to the natural extracellular matrix(ECM), porous framework for cell transplantation and proliferation, minimal invasive properties, and ability to match irregular defects. In this review, we describe the selection of appropriate biomaterials and fabrication methods to prepare novel injectable hydrogels for cartilage and bone tissue engineering. In addition, the biology of cartilage and the bony ECM is also summarized. Finally, future perspectives for injectable hydrogels in cartilage and bone tissue engineering are discussed.
基金Supported by Health and Family Planning Commission of Jiangxi Province(No.20131080)
文摘AIM: To report the visual outcomes and refractive status in premature infants with and without retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) who were or not treated. METHODS: The clinical records of all premature infants with or without ROP and with or without treatment between 2007 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Basic demographic data, serial changes in ROP incidence, treatment and outcomes, and the refractive states were analyzed. Correlations among myopia and astigmatism progression, birth weight, gestational age, and treatment methods were also analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 562 screened premature infants(all Chinese, 1124 eyes), were recruited with a 378:184 maleto-female ratio. Birth weight did not directly influence ROP incidence. The overall ROP incidence was 16.55%(93/562 cases). The incidences in boys and girls were 16.14%(33/378 cases) and 17.39%(32/184 cases), respectively, and this difference was not significant. However, all infants with serious ROP(stage IV and V) were male. Myopia combined with astigmatism was common in premature infants with and without ROP(30.99%, 172/555 cases), and myopic refraction(including myopia and myopia combined with astigmatism) was more common in premature infants with ROP(48.84%, 42/86 cases). In the >8.00 diopter group, there were significantly more ROP infants than without ROP. Myopic refraction(including myopia and myopia combined with astigmatism) was most common in infants with ROP after treatment(63.63%, 7/11 cases). CONCLUSION: The refractive state is different between premature infants and mature infants. Those treated for ROP had a higher chance of developing myopia, astigmatism, and higher diopter.
基金grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Nos. 30330360, 30125025 , 30221002） Chinese Academy of Sciences （Grant No. KSCX2- YW-N-015）
文摘Carotenoids, a class of natural pigments found in all photosynthetic organisms, are involved in a variety of physiological processes, including coloration, photoprotection, biosynthesis of abscisic acid （ABA） and chloroplast biogenesis. Although carotenoid biosynthesis has been well studied biochemically, the genetic basis of the pathway is not well understood. Here, we report the characterization of two allelic Arabidopsis mutants, spontaneous cell death1-1 （spcl-1） and spc1-2. The weak allele spc1-1 mutant showed characteristics of bleached leaves, accumulation of superoxide and mosaic cell death. The strong mutant allele spc1-2 caused a complete arrest of plant growth and development shortly after germination, leading to a seedling-lethal phenotype. Genetic and molecular analyses indicated that SPC1 encodes a putative ζ-carotene desaturase （ZDS） in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. Analysis of carotenoids revealed that several major carotenoid compounds downstream of SPC 1/ZDS were substantially reduced in spc1-1, suggesting that SPC 1 is a functional ZDS. Consistent with the downregulated expression of CAO and PORB, the chlorophyll content was decreased in spc1-1 plants. In addition, expression of Lhcb1. 1, Lhcbl. 4 and RbcS was absent in spc1-2, suggesting the possible involvement of carotenoids in the plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signaling. The spc1-1 mutant also displays an ABA-deficient phenotype that can be partially rescued by the externally supplied phytohormone. These results suggest that SPC1/ZDS is essential for biosynthesis of carotenoids and plays a crucial role in plant growth and development.
文摘Objective:To investigate the application value of loop-mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP),GeneXpert,mycobacterial culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT.TB(TSPOT),ratio of TB-specific antigen to phytohemagglutinin(TBAg/PHA ratio)in the detection of mycobacterium tuberculosis in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the patients who underwent bronchoscopy from December 2018 to November 2019 in Tongji Hospital.The patients with positive tuberculosis culture or positive GeneXpert in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were selected as the case group,and those without tuberculosis served as the control group.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of LAMP,GeneXpert,culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT,and TBAg/PHA ratio.Results:For the patients with positive cultures as case,the sensitivity of LAMP,GeneXpert,smear microscopy,TSPOT and TBAg/PHA ratio was 73.49%,89.16%,25.30%,80.00%,33.85%,respectively,the specificity was 99.00%,100.00%,99.00%,86.00%,100.00%,respectively,the area under the ROC curve(AUC)was 0.849,0.938,0.633,0.830,0.669,respectively.For the patients with positive GeneXpert as case,the sensitivity of LAMP,mycobacterial culture,smear microscopy,TSPOT and TBAg/PHA ratio was 73.20%,74.23%,22.68%,68.92%,29.73%,respectively,the specificity was 99.00%,100.00%,99.00%,86.00%,100.00%,respectively,the AUC was 0.853,0.878,0.623,0.775,0.649,respectively.Conclusion:The sensitivity of GeneXpert was best.The sensitivity and diagnostic value of LAMP were slightly lower than those of GeneXpert,and were similar to tuberculosis culture.The sensitivity of smear microscopy was low.The specificity of TSPOT was low.When TBAg/PHA ratio>0.2 was used as a diagnostic index,the specificity was improved,but the sensitivity was low.
基金This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2017YFA0205301)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61527806,81902153 and 61871180)+1 种基金the Clinical Advanced Technology of Social Development Projects in Jiangsu Province(No.BE2018695)the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province(No.2017JJ2069).
文摘Due to their high specificity and affinity towards various targets,along with other unique advantages such as stability and low cost,aptamers are widely applied in analytical techniques.A typical aptamerbased electrochemical biosensor is composed of a aptamer as the biological recognition element and transducer converting the biologic interaction into electrical signals for the quantitative measurement of targets.Improvement of the sensitivity of a biosensor is significantly important in order to achieve the detection of biomolecules with low abundance,and different amplification strategies have been explored.The strategies either employ nanomaterials such as gold nanoparticles to con struct electrodes which can transfer the biological reactions more efficiently,or attempt to obtain enhanced signal through multi-labeled carriers or utilize enzyme mimics to catalyze redox cycling.This review discusses recent advances in signal amplification methods and their applications.Critical assessment of each method is also considered.
基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2018YFC1602905)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.61871180 and 61527806)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No.2017JJ2069)Hunan Key Research Project (No.2017SK2174) for the financial supports
文摘An electrochemical sensor based on self-made nano-porous pseudo carbon paste electrode(nano-PPCPE)has been successfully developed,and used to detect Cd^2+ and Pb^2+.The experimental results showed that the electrochemical performance of nanoPPCPE is evidently better than both glassy carbon electrode(GCE)and pure carbon paste electrode(CPE).Then the prepared nano-PPCPE was applied to detect Cd^2+ and Pb^2+in standard solution,the results showed that the electrodes can quantitatively detect trace Cd^2+ and Pb^2+,which has great significance in electrochemical analysis and detection.The linear ranges between the target ions concentration and the D PASV current were from 0.1-3.0 μmol/L,0.05-4.0 μmol/L for Cd^2+ and Pb^2+,respectively.And the detection limits were 0.0780 μmol/L and 0.0292 μmol/L,respectively.Moreover,the preparation of the nano-PPCPE is cheap,simple and has important practical value.
基金supported by the State Key Basic Research Program of the PRC(No.2014CB744501)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2017YFA0205301)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61527806,61471168 and 61871180)Open Funding of State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases(No.SKLOD2018OF02)
文摘The feature of the surface coating can affect important properties of iron oxide nanoparticles(IONPs), it is therefore critical for further understanding how these materials react to physiological conditions, which is still needed to fully exploit the potential of IONPs for their theranostic applications. In this work, we prepared IONPs which surface were modified with citric acid(CA), chitosan(CS) and folic acid conjugated chitosan(FA-g-CS). respectively. Their physicochemical properties were investigated using FT-IR, TEM,powder XRD, VSM, TGA, DLS and zeta potential. We found that CA-IONP dispersion was composed of monocrystalline particles while CS-IONP and FA-g-CS-IONP were composed of polycrystalline aggregates. All IONPs retained the crystalline structure of magnetite and exhibited the superparamagnetic behavior. Their saturation magnetization decreased with the increase in the amount of their organic coatings. Their drug loading capacities, drug release patterns and in vitro anticancer efficiencies were studied by using doxorubicin(DOX) as a model drug. DOX@CS-IONP and DOX@FA-g-CSIONP exhibited lower drug loading while showing higher water dispersity when compared with DOX@CA-IONP. All IONPs were surface charged and they tended to agglomerate in medium with high pH value and ionic strength. In the presence of chitosan or FA-g-CS coatings, their DOX release rate was slowed down compared with that of DOX@CA-IONP. Unloaded IONPs exhibited nearly no cytotoxicity on both cancer cells and normal cells in the presence of chitosan and FA-g-CS when compared with CA-IONP which presented high cytotoxicity. However, DOX@FA-g-CS-IONP showed significantly cytotoxicity on folate receptors(FRs) positive breast cancer cells while exhibiting nearly no cytotoxicity on FRs negative normal cells. Results presented in this study were valuable to the design and fabrication of IONPs-based system for better theranostic applications.
