Acute lung injury: a view from the perspective of necroptosis.

BACKGROUND: ALI/ARDS is a syndrome of acute onset characterized by progressive hypoxemia and noncardiogenic pulmonary edema as the primary clinical manifestations. Necroptosis is a form of programmed cell necrosis that is precisely regulated by molecular signals. This process is characterized by organelle swelling and membrane rupture, is highly immunogenic, involves extensive crosstalk with various cellular stress mechanisms, and is significantly implicated in the onset and progression of ALI/ARDS. METHODS: The current body of literature on necroptosis and ALI/ARDS was thoroughly reviewed. Initially, an overview of the molecular mechanism of necroptosis was provided, followed by an examination of its interactions with apoptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, PANOptosis, and NETosis. Subsequently, the involvement of necroptosis in various stages of ALI/ARDS progression was delineated. Lastly, drugs targeting necroptosis, biomarkers, and current obstacles were presented. CONCLUSION: Necroptosis plays an important role in the progression of ALI/ARDS. However, since ALI/ARDS is a clinical syndrome caused by a variety of mechanisms, we emphasize that while focusing on necroptosis, it may be more beneficial to treat ALI/ARDS by collaborating with other mechanisms.

Ferroptosis: a potential target for acute lung injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is caused by a variety of intrapulmonary and extrapulmonary factors and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Oxidative stress is an important part of the pathological mechanism of ALI. Ferroptosis is a mode of programmed cell death distinguished from others and characterized by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. This article reviews the metabolic regulation of ferroptosis, its role in the pathogenesis of ALI, and the use of ferroptosis as a therapeutic target regarding the pharmacological treatment of ALI.

Short-term responses of macroinvertebrate assemblages to the "ten-year fishing ban" in the largest highland lake of the Yangtze basin.

The rapid decline of freshwater biodiversity caused by overfishing has led to the implementation of a series of conservation measures, including fishing bans. However, existing studies have mostly focused on the effects of fishing bans on economically important species, while impacts on freshwater macroinvertebrates in lake ecosystems have been rarely studied. This study used a before-and-after methodology to determine the short-term effects of the "ten-year fishing ban" on the macroinvertebrates of the Dianchi Lake, the largest highland freshwater lake in the upper Yangtze basin, between 2015 and 2022. Following the fishing ban, the overall macroinvertebrate species richness (median [interquartile]) across sites increased from 4 [2-6] to 5 [4-7]. The total density increased from 128 [80-272] to 212 [140-325] n/m2. The median biomass increased from 0.18 [0.08-0.41] to 0.51 [0.26-2.36] g/m2. In particular, the Chironomidae density in the offshore sites increased from 16.00 [0.00-32.00] to 33.30 [16.00-48.00] n/m2, and the biomass increased from 0.03 [0.00-0.09] to 0.16 [0.07-0.22] g/m2. Within the inshore sites, the aquatic insect density increased from 4 [1.33-15.33] to 56 [22.00-86.67] n/m2. The Malacostraca density increased from 34.67 [11.67-95.33] to 110 [53.33-223.33] n/m2, and the biomass increased from 0.43 [0.11-1.00] to 1.48 [0.50-2.00] g/m2. Two endangered Margarya species were rediscovered at multiple sites compared to the pre-fishing ban period. A significant change in macroinvertebrate community structure across the lake was observed, which can be largely attributed to the fishing ban. The immediate increase in species richness, density, and biomass of most macroinvertebrate species suggests a combination of effects from both reduced exploitation pressure and lessened disturbances on lake habitats. The findings indicate that the fishing ban is beneficial for the recovery of most macroinvertebrate species in freshwater lakes.

Multi-Level Optimization and Strategies in Microbial Biotransformation of Nature Products.

Continuously growing demand for natural products with pharmacological activities has promoted the development of microbial transformation techniques, thereby facilitating the efficient production of natural products and the mining of new active compounds. Furthermore, due to the shortcomings and defects of microbial transformation, it is an important scientific issue of social and economic value to improve and optimize microbial transformation technology in increasing the yield and activity of transformed products. In this review, the aspects regarding the optimization of fermentation and the cross-disciplinary strategy, leading to the microbial transformation of increased levels of the high-efficiency process from natural products of a plant or microbial origin, were discussed. Additionally, due to the increasing craving for targeted and efficient methods for detecting transformed metabolites, analytical methods based on multiomics were also discussed. Such strategies can be well exploited and applied to the production of more efficient and more natural products from microbial resources.

Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals regulatory networks and key genes of microsclerotia formation in the cotton vascular wilt pathogen.

Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne, hemibiotrophic phytopathogenic fungus that causes Verticillium wilt in a broad range of economic crops. The microsclerotia (MS), which act as the main host inoculum, can survive long-term in soil resulting in uncontrollable disease. In order to clarify the mechanism of MS formation, we sequenced the whole genome-wide expression profile of V. dahliae strain V991. Compared with M1 (no MS formation), during the process of MS formation and maturation, 1354, 1571, and 1521 unique tags were significantly regulated in M2, M3, and M4 library, respectively. During MS formation, melanin synthesis-related genes were preferentially upregulated. The process is more likely to regulated by transcription factors (TFs) including C2H2, Zn2Cys6, bZIP, and fungal-specific TF domain-containing proteins; additionally, G-protein coupled receptors, Ca2+, small GTPases, and cAMP were involved in signalling transduction. Protein kinase-encoding (VDAG_06474) and synthase-encoding (VDAG_05314) genes were demonstrated to negatively and positively influence MS production, respectively. The gene expression dynamics revealed during MS formation provide comprehensive theoretical knowledge to further understanding of the metabolism and regulation of MS development in V. dahliae, potentially providing targets to control Verticillium wilt through interfering MS formation.

Diversity and bioactivities of fungal endophytes from Distylium chinense, a rare waterlogging tolerant plant endemic to the Three Gorges Reservoir.

BACKGROUND: The present study involves diversity and biological activities of the endophytic fungal community from Distylium chinense, a rare waterlogging tolerant plant endemic to the Three Gorges Reservoir. This study has been conducted hypothesizing that the microbial communities in the TGR area would contribute to the host plant tolerating a range of abiotic stress such as summer flooding, infertility, drought, salinity and soil erosion etc., and they may produce new metabolites, which may possess plentiful bioactive property, especially antioxidant activity. Therefore in the current study, the antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activities of 154 endophytes recovered from D. chinense have been investigated. Furthermore, the active metabolites of the most broad-spectrum bioactive strain have also been studied. RESULTS: A total of 154 fungal endophytes were isolated from roots and stems. They were categorized into 30 morphotypes based on cultural characteristics and were affiliated with 27 different taxa. Among these, the most abundant fungal orders included Diaporthales (34.4%) and Botryosphaeriales (30.5%), which were predominantly represented by the species Phomopsis sp. (24.7%) and Neofusicoccum parvum (23.4%). Fermentation extracts were evaluated, screening for antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Among the 154 isolates tested, 99 (64.3%) displayed significant antioxidant activity, 153 (99.4%) exhibited inclusive antimicrobial activity against at least one tested microorganism and 27 (17.5%) showed exclusive anticancer activity against one or more cancer cell lines. Specifically, the crude extract of Irpex lacteus DR10-1 exhibited note-worthy bioactivities. Further chemical investigation on DR10-1 strain resulted in the isolation and identification of two known bioactive metabolites, indole-3-carboxylic acid (1) and indole-3-carboxaldehyde (2), indicating their potential roles in plant growth promotion and human medicinal value. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that diverse endophytic fungal population inhabits D. chinense. One of the fungal isolate DR10-1 (Irpex lacteus) exhibited significant antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer potential. Further, its active secondary metabolites 1 and 2 also showed antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer potential.

More than 20 W fiber-based continuous-wave single frequency laser at 780†nm.

We demonstrate a 21.2 W continuous-wave single frequency 780 nm laser by utilizing single-pass frequency doubling of a 49.8 W 1560 nm fiber amplifier in a periodically-poled magnesium-oxide-doped lithium niobate (MgO: PPLN) crystal. The conversion efficiency of the frequency doubling reaches up to 42.6%. The high power 1560 nm Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is in-band pumped by a 1480 nm Raman fiber laser. Maximum output power of 49.8 W is obtained at an incident 1480 nm laser of 60.6 W, corresponding to an amplification efficiency of 79.7%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest reported continuous-wave single frequency 780 nm laser, which is developed for advanced quantum technology with Rb cold atoms.

More than 200 W random Raman fiber laser with ultra-short cavity length based on phosphosilicate fiber.

An over 200 W high-power first-order random Raman fiber laser (RRFL) at 1238 nm is demonstrated. The laser is based on a half-open cavity with a piece of 30 m phosphosilicate fiber. This RRFL is pumped by a conventional 1064 nm Yb-doped fiber laser. After suppressing the silica Raman component, a maximum output power of 206.7 W is obtained with a full width half-maximum linewidth of 7.1 nm at a pump power of 346.3 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 59.7%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest reported output power of RRFL on the basis of phosphosilicate fiber with the shortest cavity length.

High order cascaded Raman random fiber laser with high spectral purity.

An up to 8th order cascaded Raman random fiber laser with high spectral purity is achieved with the pumping of a narrow linewidth amplified spontaneous emission source. The spectral purity is over 90% for all the 8 Stokes orders. The highest output power is 6.9 W at 1691.6 nm with an optical conversion efficiency of 21% from 1062.0 nm. As a comparison, with conventional FBG-based fiber oscillator as pump source, only 47% spectral purity is achieved at 8th order. The temporal stability of the pump laser is proved to play a key role, because the time fluctuation of pump laser is transferred directly to Raman outputs and results in power distribution among different Stokes orders.

Sodium guide star laser pulsed at Larmor frequency.

589 nm lasers pulsed at Larmor frequency, several hundreds of kilohertz, can increase the brightness of a sodium guide star and are required in remote magnetometry with mesospheric sodium. By amplification of a continuous-wave single-frequency 1178 nm laser in a pulse-pumped Raman fiber amplifier and frequency doubling in an external cavity, high-power pulsed 589 nm laser at Larmor frequency is obtained for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The pulse format is mainly determined by the 1120 nm Raman pump laser, whose pulse repetition rate and duty cycle are adjustable. Active pulse shaping is applied to minimize the relaxation spike at the leading edge of the pulses. A reduction in pulse width and conversion efficiency from 1120 to 1178 nm is observed in the backwardly pumped Raman fiber amplifier due to the pump pulse transition effect. A 589 nm laser pulsed at a 350 kHz repetition rate and 20% duty cycle with average power up to 17 W is demonstrated as an operation example intended for a geomagnetic field of 0.5 G.

Sodium guide star laser pulsed at Larmor frequency: erratum.

We correct an improper statement on the geomagnetic field of an astronomical telescope site in our original paper [Opt. Lett.42, 4351 (2017)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.42.004351].

Secondary metabolites of plants from the genus chloranthus: chemistry and biological activities.

Chloranthus, a genus of the family Chloranthaceae, which is mainly distributed in eastern and southern Asia, has been used in Chinese folk medicine due to its antitumor, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activities. This review compiles the research on isolation, structure elucidation, structural diversity, and bioactivities of Chloranthus secondary metabolites reported between 2007 and 2013. The metabolites listed encompass 82 sesquiterpenoids, 50 dimeric sesquiterpenoids, 15 diterpenoids, one coumarin, and five other compounds. Among them, dimeric sesquiterpenoids, the characteristic components of plants from the genus Chloranthus, have attracted considerable attention due to their complex structures and significant biological features, e.g., antitumor, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities, and potent and selective inhibition of the delayed rectifier (IK) K(+) current and tyrosinase.

Interactions between Verticillium dahliae and its host: vegetative growth, pathogenicity, plant immunity.

Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus that causes vascular wilt diseases in a wide variety of crop plants, resulting in extensive economic losses. In the past 5 years, progress has been made in elaborating the interaction between this hemibiotrophic fungus and its host plants. Some genes responsible for the vegetative growth and/or pathogenicity in V. dahliae have been identified. Plants have accrued a series of defense mechanisms, including inducible defense signaling pathways and some resistant genes to combat V. dahliae infection. Here, we have reviewed the progress in V. dahliae-plant interaction research.

Endophytic Colletotrichum fructicola KL19 and Its Derived SeNPs Mitigate Cd-Stress-Associated Damages in Spinacia oleracea L.

The application of nanotechnology in agriculture has received much attention in order to improve crop yield, quality and food safety. In the present study, a Cd-tolerant endophytic fungus Colletotrichum fructicola KL19 was first ever reported to produce SeNPs, and the production conditions were optimized using the Box-Behnken design in the Response Surface Methodology (RSM-BBD), achieving a peak yield of 1.06 mM under optimal conditions of 2.62 g/20 mL biomass, 4.56 mM Na2SeO3, and pH 6.25. Following this, the properties of the biogenic SeNPs were elucidated by using TEM, DLS, and FTIR, in which the 144.8 nm spherical-shaped SeNPs were stabilized by different functional groups with a negative zeta potential of -18.3 mV. Furthermore, strain KL19 and SeNPs (0, 5, 10, 20 and 50 mg/L) were inoculated in the root zone of small-leaf spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) seedlings grown in the soil with 33.74 mg/kg Cd under controlled conditions for seven weeks. Impressively, compared with Cd stress alone, the strain KL19 and 5 mg/L SeNPs treatments significantly (p < 0.05) exhibited a reduction in Cd contents (0.62 and 0.50 folds) within the aboveground parts of spinach plants and promoted plants' growth by improving the leaf count (0.92 and 1.36 folds), fresh weight (2.94 and 3.46 folds), root dry weight (4.00 and 5.60 folds) and root length (0.14 and 0.51 folds), boosting total chlorophyll synthesis (0.38 and 0.45 folds), enhancing antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD) activities, and reducing the contents of reactive oxygen species (MDA, H2O2) in small-leaf spinach under Cd stress. Overall, this study revealed that utilizing endophytic fungus C. fructicola or its derived SeNPs could mitigate reactive oxygen species generation by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity as well as diminish the absorption and accumulation of Cd in small-leaf spinach, promoting plant growth under Cd stress.

Atmospheric HONO emissions in China: Unraveling the spatiotemporal patterns and their key influencing factors.

Nitrous acid (HONO) can be photolyzed to produce hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the atmosphere. OH plays a critical role in the formation of secondary pollutants like ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) via various oxidation reactions. Despite the abundance of recent HONO studies, research on national HONO emissions in China remains relatively limited. Therefore, this study employed a "wetting-drying" model and bottom-up approach to develop a high-resolution gridded inventory of HONO emissions for mainland China using multiple data. We used the Monte Carlo method to estimate the uncertainty in HONO emissions. In addition, the primary sources of HONO emissions were identified and their spatiotemporal distribution and main influencing factors were studied. The results indicated that the total HONO emissions in mainland China in 2016 were 0.77 Tg N (R50: 0.28-1.42 Tg N), with soil (0.42 Tg N) and fertilization (0.26 Tg N) as the primary sources, jointly contributing to over 87% of the total. Notably, the North China Plain (NCP) had the highest HONO emission density (3.51 kg N/ha/yr). Seasonal HONO emissions followed the order: summer (0.38 kg N/ha) > spring (0.19 kg N/ha) > autumn (0.17 kg N/ha) > winter (0.06 kg N/ha). Moreover, HONO emissions were strongly correlated with fertilization, cropland, temperature, and precipitation. This study provides vital scientific groundwork for the atmospheric nitrogen cycle and the formation of secondary pollutants.

Microbiological transformation of the triterpene nigranoic acid by the freshwater fungus Dictyosporium heptasporum.

The microbiological transformation of the triterpene nigranoic acid (3,4-secocycloarta-4(28),24(Z)-diene-3,26-dioic acid) (1) to 3,4-secocycloarta-4(28),17(20),24(Z)-triene-7ß-hydroxy-16ß,26-lactone-3-oic acid (2) and 3,4-secocycloarta-4(28),17(20)(Z),24(Z)-triene-7ß-hydroxy-16ß-methoxy-3,26-dioic acid (3) by the freshwater fungus Dictyosporium heptasporum YMF1.01213 has been demonstrated. The structures of the biotransformation products were determined by spectroscopic and MS analyses. Compound 2, characterized by the presence of a formed C-16/C-26 ester bridge, provided a novel nine-membered lactone ring structural skeleton for 3,4-secocycloartane triterpenoid derivatives. In addition, Compounds 1-3 exhibited weak anti-HIV activity in vitro. Compounds 2 and 3 were reported for the first time as natural product derivatives.

Research Progress on Autophagy Regulation by Active Ingredients of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury.

Autophagy is a highly conserved process that maintains cell stability in eukaryotes, participates in the turnover of intracellular substances to maintain cell function, helps to resist pathogen invasion, and improves cell tolerance to environmental changes. Autophagy has been observed in many diseases, and the symptoms of these diseases are significantly improved by regulating autophagy. Autophagy is also involved in the development of lung diseases. Studies have shown that autophagy may play a beneficial or harmful role in acute lung injury (ALI), and ALI has been treated with traditional Chinese medicine designed to promote or inhibit autophagy. In this paper, the molecular mechanism and common pathways regulating autophagy and the relationship between autophagy and ALI are introduced, and the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine that improve ALI symptoms by regulating autophagy are summarized.

Improved ammonia emission inventory of fertilizer application for three major crops in China based on phenological data.

NH3 has an important impact on atmospheric chemistry, and its reduction has become a potential pathway to alleviate haze pollution. The existing NH3 emission inventories still have significant uncertainties in terms of their temporal distributions. In this study, we combined satellite remote-sensing phenological data with ground-station phenological data to develop a method for the temporal allocation of NH3 emissions from fertilizer application. A high-resolution dataset for fertilizer application in China was established. We developed NH3 emission inventories for the fertilization of three major crops in China, with a resolution of 1/12° × 1/12°. The results showed that there was a significant temporal variation in fertilizer application dates across the country, mainly concentrated in June (17.16 %), July (19.08 %), and August (18.77 %). The majority of fertilizer application for the three major crops occurred during the spring and summer months, with a particular emphasis on April (5.72 Tg), May (7.05 Tg), and June (4.29 Tg). The total NH3 emission from the three major crops in China in 2019 was 2.73 Tg. The North China Plain (762.23 Gg) and Middle and Lower Yangtze River Plain (606.85 Gg) were identified as the primary regions for high NH3 emissions from fertilizer application. The results also showed that NH3 emissions from the three major crops were predominantly observed during summer, with a peak value in July (606.99 Gg), mainly because of the high proportion of topdressing fertilizers. Areas with high fertilizer application generally coincided with areas of high NH3 emissions. This study may be the first to utilize remote-sensing phenological data to establish the NH3 emission inventory, which is of great significance for further improving the accuracy of the NH3 emission inventory.

Research progress on the activation mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome in septic cardiomyopathy.

Sepsis is an uncontrolled host response to infection, resulting in a clinical syndrome involving multiple organ dysfunctions. Cardiac damage is the most common organ damage in sepsis. Uncontrolled inflammatory response is an important mechanism in the pathogenesis of septic cardiomyopathy (SCM). NLRP3 inflammasome promotes inflammatory response by controlling the activation of caspase-1 and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin IL-1ß and IL-18. The role of NLRP3 inflammasome has received increasing attention, but its activation mechanism and regulation of inflammation in SCM remain to be investigated.

Atmospheric ammonia in China: Long-term spatiotemporal variation, urban-rural gradient, and influencing factors.

In recent years, atmospheric ammonia (NH3) concentrations have increased in China. Ammonia control has become one of the next hot topics in air pollution mitigation with the increasing cost of acid gas emission reduction. In this study, using Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite observations, we analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution, the urban-rural gradient of the vertical column densities (VCDs) of NH3 and the contribution of influencing factors (meteorology, social, atmospheric acid gases, and NH3 emissions) in China from 2008 to 2019 using hotspot analysis, circular gradient analysis, geographical and temporal weighted regression, and some other methods. Our results showed that NH3 VCDs in China have significantly increased (31.88 %) from 2008 to 2019, with the highest occurring in North China Plain. The average NH3 VCDs in urban areas were significantly higher than those in rural areas, and the urban-rural gap in NH3 VCDs was widening. The results of circular gradient analysis showed an overall decreasing trend in NH3 VCDs along the urban-rural gradient. We used a geographically and temporally weighted regression model to analyze the contribution of various influencing factors to NH3 VCDs: meteorology (30.13 %), social (27.40 %), atmospheric acid gases (23.20 %), and NH3 emissions (19.28 %) factors. The results showed substantial spatiotemporal differences in the influencing factors. Atmospheric acid gas was the main reason for the increase in NH3 VCDs from 2008 to 2019. A more thorough understanding of the spatiotemporal distribution, urban-rural variations, and factors influencing NH3 in China will aid in developing control strategies to reduce PM2.5.