NONSTOP GLUMES1 Encodes a C2H2 Zinc Finger Protein That Regulates Spikelet Development in Rice.

The spikelet is an inflorescence structure unique to grasses. The molecular mechanisms underlying spikelet development and evolution are unclear. In this study, we characterized three allelic recessive mutants in rice (Oryza sativa): nonstop glumes 1-1 (nsg1-1), nsg1-2, and nsg1-3 In these mutants, organs such as the rudimentary glume, sterile lemma, palea, lodicule, and filament were elongated and/or widened, or transformed into lemma- and/or marginal region of the palea-like organs. NSG1 encoded a member of the C2H2 zinc finger protein family and was expressed mainly in the organ primordia of the spikelet. In the nsg1-1 mutant spikelet, LHS1 DL, and MFO1 were ectopically expressed in two or more organs, including the rudimentary glume, sterile lemma, palea, lodicule, and stamen, whereas G1 was downregulated in the rudimentary glume and sterile lemma. Furthermore, the NSG1 protein was able to bind to regulatory regions of LHS1 and then recruit the corepressor TOPLESS-RELATED PROTEIN to repress expression by downregulating histone acetylation levels of the chromatin. The results suggest that NSG1 plays a pivotal role in maintaining organ identities in the spikelet by repressing the expression of LHS1, DL, and MFO1.

MULTI-FLORET SPIKELET 2, a MYB Transcription Factor, Determines Spikelet Meristem Fate and Floral Organ Identity in Rice.

An understanding of flower and panicle development is crucial for improving yield and quality in majority of grass crops. In this study, we used mapping-based cloning to identify MULTI-FLORET SPIKELET2 (MFS2), which encodes a MYB transcription factor and regulates flower and spikelet development in rice (Oryza sativa). In the mfs2 mutant, specification of palea identity was severely disturbed and showed degradation or transformation into a lemma-like organ, and the number of all floral organs was increased to varying degrees. Due to the increase in the number of floral organs and development of extra transformed palea/marginal region of the palea-like organs, some mfs2 spikelets had a tendency to produce two florets. These defects implied that the mfs2 mutation caused abnormal specification of palea identity and partial loss of spikelet determination. We confirm that MFS2 is a transcriptional repressor that shows strong repression activity by means of two typical ethylene-responsive element binding factor-associated amphiphilic motifs, one of which locates at the C terminus and is capable of interaction with three rice TOPLESS and TOPLESS-related proteins. The results indicate that MFS2 acts as a repressor that regulates floral organ identities and spikelet meristem determinacy in rice by forming a repression complex with rice TOPLESS and TOPLESS-related proteins.

Integrated microRNA and mRNA sequencing analysis of age-related changes to mouse thymic epithelial cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in the regulation of gene expression during multiple physiological processes, including early development, differentiation, and ageing. However, their involvement in age-related thymic involution is not clear. In this study, we profiled the global transcriptome and miRNAome of thymic epithelial cells in 1- and 3-month-old male and female mice, and predicted the possible transcription factors and target genes of the four most significantly differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) (miR-183-5p, miR-199b-5p, miR-205-5p, and miR-200b-3p) by performing bioinformatics analyses. We also evaluated the relationships between the significantly DEMs and mRNAs. We performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction to confirm the changes in the expression of the miRNAs and their predicted target genes. We found that miR-183-5p, miR-199b-5p, miR-205-5p, and miR-200b-3p can be used as a biomarker group for mouse thymus development and involution. In addition, the predicted target genes (Ptpn4, Slc2a9, Pkib, Pecam1, and Prkdc), which were identified by mRNA sequencing analysis, were mainly involved in growth, development, and accelerated senescence. In conclusion, miRNAs and their predicted target genes likely play important roles in thymus development and involution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically analyze the relevance of miRNAs and their targets by mRNA sequencing in mouse thymic epithelial cells. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 70(7):678-690, 2018.

Effectiveness of Zhenqi Buxue Oral Liquid Combined with Progesterone for Treatment of Oligomenorrhea and Hypomenorrhea with Qi-Blood and Kidney (Shen) Essence Deficiency: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Zhenqi Buxue Oral Liquid (ZQ), progesterone capsules, and their combination in treating oligomenorrhea and hypomenorrhea with qi-blood and Kidney (Shen) essence deficiency. METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized, multi-center controlled trial between June 2022 to December 2022. Ninety-six oligomenorrhea and hypomenorrhea patients with qi-blood and Shen essence deficiency were randomly assigned to receive ZQ (ZQ group, 29 cases), progesterone capsules (PG group, 32 cases), or the combined Chinese and Western medicine (COM group, 31 cases) at a ratio of 1:1:1. Patients in the ZQ or PG group took daily 10 mL twice a day of ZQ or 200 mg once a day of progesterone capsules for 10 consecutive days on day 15 of the menstrual cycle respectively, and patients in the COM group received the same ZQ combined with progesterone capsules. The treatment course lasted for 3 months and follow-up was performed at 1 and 3 months after the end of treatment. Primary endpoint was the menstrual Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Scale (TCMSS) scores. Secondary endpoints included pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC) scores, clinical efficacy rate, 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scores, sex hormones and thickness of endometrium. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded. RESULTS: TCMSS scores after 1- and 3-month treatment in all groups were significantly lower than those at baseline (P<0.05). Only TCMSS scores after 3-month treatment in the ZQ and COM groups continuously decreased compared with those after 1-month treatment in the same group (P<0.01). TCMSS scores after 3-month treatment in the ZQ and COM groups were significantly lower than those in the PG group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with baseline, PBAC scores in the ZQ and COM groups after 3 months of treatment were also significantly higher (both P<0.01). The total effective rates of TCM syndrome of 3-month treatment were significantly improved in all groups compared with that after 1 month of treatment (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the COM group was the highest in the 3rd month of treatment and significantly higher than that of PG group alone (P<0.05). Compared with baseline, only the SF-36 scores of COM group were significantly improved after 3 months of treatment (P<0.05). No serious adverse reactions were observed after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of ZQ and PG, or ZQ only had better effects on reducing TCMSS scores compared with PG, and COM showed the higher total effective rate compared with monotherapy. Besides, COM could effectively improve menstrual blood loss and quality of life. ZQ combined with PG may be an effective and safe option for oligomenorrhea and hypomenorrhea patients with qi-blood and Shen essence deficiency.

The Diagnostic Potential of Circulating Autoantibodies to Amyloid-ß in Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: The profile of naturally occurring antibodies to amyloid-ß (NAbs-Aß) is altered in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the diagnostic potential of NAbs-Aß for AD is not clear yet. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the diagnostic capacities of NAbs-Aß for AD. METHODS: A total of 40 AD patients and 40 cognitively normal (CN) controls were enrolled in this study. Levels of NAbs-Aß were detected by ELISA. The correlations of NAbs-Aß levels with cognitive function and AD-associated biomarkers were examined by Spearman correlation analysis. Diagnostic abilities of NAbs-Aß were evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. The integrative diagnostic models were established by logistic regression models. RESULTS: We found that NAbs-Aß7-18 had the highest diagnostic capability (AUC = 0.72) among all single NAbs-Aß. The combined model (NAbs-Aß7-18, NAbs-Aß19-30, and NAbs-Aß25-36) had a noticeable improvement (AUC = 0.84) in the diagnostic capacity compared with each single NAbs-Aß. CONCLUSION: NAbs-Aßs are promising in the diagnosis of AD. Further investigations are needed to confirm the translational potential of this diagnostic strategy.

Associations of Naturally Occurring Antibodies to Presenilin-1 with Brain Amyloid-ß Load and Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Imbalance between the production and clearance of amyloid-ß (Aß) promotes the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Presenilin-1 (PS1) is the catalytic subunit of γ-secretase, which is involved in the process of Aß production. The profiles of autoantibodies are dysregulated in AD patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the relative levels and clinical relevance of naturally occurring antibodies to PS1 (NAbs-PS1) in AD. METHODS: A total of 55 subjects with AD (including both dementia and mild cognitive impairment due to AD), 28 subjects with cognitive impairment (including both dementia and mild cognitive impairment) not due to AD (non-AD CI), and 70 cognitively normal (CN) subjects were recruited. One-site ELISA was utilized to determine the relative levels of NAbs-PS1 in plasma. RESULTS: AD subjects had lower plasma levels of NAbs-PS1 than CN and non-AD CI subjects. Plasma NAbs-PS1 were negatively associated with the brain Aß load, as reflected by PET-PiB SUVR, and were positively associated with cognitive functions of participants. Plasma NAbs-PS1 discriminated AD patients from CN with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.730, a sensitivity of 69.09%, and a specificity of 67.14%, and they discriminated AD patients from non-AD CI subjects with an AUC of 0.750, a specificity of 70.91%, and a sensitivity of 71.43%. CONCLUSION: This study found an aberrant immunological phenotype in AD patients. Further investigations are needed to determine the pathophysiological functions of NAbs-PS1 in AD.

Design and Implementation of Chinese Common Braille Translation System Integrating Braille Word Segmentation and Concatenation Rules.

An important sign of the accessibility of Braille information is the realization of the mutual translation between Chinese and the Braille. Due to the irregularity and uncertainty of the Prevailing Mandarin Braille, coupled with the lack of a large-scale Braille corpus, the quality of Chinese-Braille translation seems to be poor. In July 2018, the National Language Commission released the "Chinese Common Braille Scheme" and advocated replacing the "Prevailing Mandarin Braille." Aimed at improving translation accuracy, this research, which is based on the self-built Chinese Common Braille corpus and combined with the HanLP (Han Language Processing) dictionary and the Chinese-Braille word corpus (a Braille word segmentation and concatenation dictionary for generating a unigram language model), uses the n-gram language model to design and implement a Chinese-Braille intertranslation system that integrates Chinese and Braille Word Segmentation and Concatenation Rules. More importantly, this research proposes an experimental plan for improving the Braille Word Segmentation and Concatenation Rules using a Chinese-Braille word corpus. Experiments show that in the field of educational literature, the accuracy rate of translation from Chinese to Chinese Common Braille has reached 95.01%, and the accuracy of Chinese Common Braille to Chinese translation has reached 90.15%.