Histone H1.0 couples cellular mechanical behaviors to chromatin structure.

Tuning of genome structure and function is accomplished by chromatin-binding proteins, which determine the transcriptome and phenotype of the cell. Here we investigate how communication between extracellular stress and chromatin structure may regulate cellular mechanical behaviors. We demonstrate that histone H1.0, which compacts nucleosomes into higher-order chromatin fibers, controls genome organization and cellular stress response. We show that histone H1.0 has privileged expression in fibroblasts across tissue types and that its expression is necessary and sufficient to induce myofibroblast activation. Depletion of histone H1.0 prevents cytokine-induced fibroblast contraction, proliferation and migration via inhibition of a transcriptome comprising extracellular matrix, cytoskeletal and contractile genes, through a process that involves locus-specific H3K27 acetylation. Transient depletion of histone H1.0 in vivo prevents fibrosis in cardiac muscle. These findings identify an unexpected role of linker histones to orchestrate cellular mechanical behaviors, directly coupling force generation, nuclear organization and gene transcription.

Modulating the Primary and Secondary Coordination Spheres of Single Ni(II) Sites in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Boosting Photocatalysis.

Though the coordination environment of single metal sites has been recognized to be of great importance in promoting catalysis, the influence of simultaneous precise modulation of primary and secondary coordination spheres on catalysis remains largely unknown. Herein, a series of single Ni(II) sites with altered primary and secondary coordination spheres have been installed onto metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with UiO-67 skeleton, affording UiO-Ni-X-Y (X = S, O; Y = H, Cl, CF3) with X and Y on the primary and secondary coordination spheres, respectively. Upon deposition with CdS nanoparticles, the resulting composites present high photocatalytic H2 production rates, in which the optimized CdS/UiO-Ni-S-CF3 exhibits an excellent activity of 13.44 mmol g-1, ∼500 folds of the pristine catalyst (29.6 µmol g-1 for CdS/UiO), in 8 h, highlighting the key role of microenvironment modulation around Ni sites. Charge kinetic analysis and theoretical calculation results demonstrate that the charge transfer dynamics and reaction energy barrier are closely correlated with their coordination spheres. This work manifests the advantages of MOFs in the fabrication of structurally precise catalysts and the elucidation of particular influences of microenvironment modulation around single metal sites on the catalytic performance.

Size-Dependent Electrochemical Performance Mediated by Stress-Induced Cracking in Zn2SnO4 Electrodes.

Correlating the microscopic structural characteristics with the macroscopic electrochemical performance in electrode materials is critical for developing excellent-performance lithium-ion batteries, which however remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that the Zn2SnO4 (ZTO) nanowires (NWs) with smaller diameters (d < 5 nm) exhibit slower capacity fade rate and better cycling stability, as compared with the NWs with larger diameters ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers. By applying in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we discover a strong correlation of cracking behavior with the NW diameter. Upon the first lithiation, there exists a critical diameter of ∼80 nm, below which the NWs neither crack nor fracture, and above which the cracks could easily nucleate and propagate along the specific planes, resulting in the deteriorated cycling stability in larger sized electrodes. Further theoretical calculations based on the finite element model and the climbing image nudged elastic band method faithfully predict the size-dependent cracking behaviors, which may result from the synergistic effect of axial stress evolution as well as preferential Li-ion migration directions during the first lithiation. This work provides a real-time tracking of the tempo-spatial structural evolution of a single ZTO NW, which facilitates a fundamental understanding of how the sample size affects the electrochemical behavior and thus offers a reference for future battery design and application strategy.

Cortical surface analysis for focal cortical dysplasia diagnosis by using PET images.

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is a neurological disorder distinguished by faulty brain cell structure and development. Repetitive and uncontrollable seizures may be linked to FCD's aberrant cortical thickness, gyrification, and sulcal depth. Quantitative cortical surface analysis is a crucial alternative to ineffective visual inspection. This study recruited 42 subjects including 22 FCD patients who underwent surgery and 20 healthy controls (HC). For the FCD patients, T1-weighted and PET images were obtained by a PET-MRI scanner, and the confirmed epileptogenic zone (EZ) was collected from postsurgical follow-up. For the HCs, CT and PET images were obtained by a PET-CT scanner. Cortical thickness, gyrification index, and sulcal depth were calculated using a computational anatomical toolbox (CAT12). A cluster-based analysis is carried out to determine each FCD patient's aberrant cortical surface. After parcellating the cerebral cortex into 68 regions by the Desikan-Killiany atlas, a region of interest (ROI) analysis was conducted to know whether the feature in the FCD group is significantly different from that in the HC group. Finally, the features of all ROIs were utilised to train a support vector machine classifier (SVM). The classification performance is evaluated by the leave-one-out cross-validation. The cluster-based analysis can localize the EZ cluster with the highest accuracy of 54.5 % (12/22) for cortical thickness, 40.9 % (9/22) and 13.6 % (3/22) for sulcal depth and gyrification, respectively. Moderate concordance (Kappa, 0.6) is observed between the confirmed EZs and identified clusters by using the cortical thickness. Fair concordance (Kappa, 0.3) and no concordance (Kappa, 0.1) is found by using sulcal depth and gyrification. Significant differences are found in 46 of 68 regions (67.7 %) for the three measures. The trained SVM classifier achieved a prediction accuracy of 95.5 % for the cortical thickness, while the sulcal depth and the gyrification obtained 86.0 % and 81.5 %. Cortical thickness, as determined by quantitative cortical surface analysis of PET data, has a greater ability than sulcal depth and gyrification to locate aberrant EZ clusters in FCD. Surface measures might be different in many regions for FCD and HC. By integrating machine learning and cortical morphologies features, individual prediction of FCD seems to be feasible.

The potential role of ubiquitination and deubiquitination in melanogenesis.

Melanogenesis is a critical biochemical process in which melanocytes produce melanin, a crucial element involved in the formation of coat colour in mammals. According to several earlier studies, melanocytes' post-translational modifications of proteins primarily control melanogenesis. Among the many post-translational changes that can affect melanin production, ubiquitination and deubiquitination can keep melanin production going by changing how proteins that are related to melanin are broken down or kept stable. Ubiquitination and deubiquitination maintain ubiquitin homeostasis, which is a highly dynamic process in balance under the action of E3 ubiquitin ligase and deubiquitinating enzymes. However, the regulatory mechanisms underlying ubiquitination and deubiquitination in melanogenesis are yet to be thoroughly investigated. As a result, there has been a growing focus on exploring the potential correlation between melanogenesis, ubiquitination and deubiquitination. This study discusses the mechanisms of ubiquitination and deubiquitination in the context of melanogenesis, a crucial process for enhancing mammalian coat coloration and addressing pigment-related diseases.

Constructing triple-network cellulose nanofiber hydrogels with excellent strength, toughness and conductivity for real-time monitoring of human movements.

In recent years, there has been a lot of interest in developing composite hydrogels with superior mechanical and conductive properties. In this study, triple-network (TN) cellulose nanofiber hydrogels were prepared by using cellulose nanofiber as the first network, isotropic poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) as the second network, and polyvinyl alcohol as the third network via a cyclic freezing-thawing process. The strong (9.43 ± 0.14 MPa tensile strength, (445.5 ± 7.0)% elongation-at-break), tough (15.12 ± 0.14 MJ/m3 toughness), and conductive (0.0297 ± 0.00021 S/cm ionic conductivity) TN cellulose nanofiber hydrogels were effectively created after being pre-stretched in an external force field, cross-linked by Fe3+ and added Li+. The produced composite TN cellulose nanofiber hydrogels were successfully used as a flexible sensor for real-time monitoring and detecting human movements, highlighting their potential for wearable electronics, medical technology, and human-machine interaction. CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS STUDIED IN THIS ARTICLE: Acrylamide (PubChem CID: 6579); Acrylic acid (PubChem CID: 6581); Ammonium persulfate (PubChem CID: 6579); N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (PubChem CID: 17956053); Sodium bromide (PubChem CID: 253881); Sodium hydroxide (PubChem CID: 14798); Sodium hypochlorite (PubChem CID: 23665760); Sodium chlorite (PubChem CID: 23668197); 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxide (PubChem CID: 2724126); Polyvinyl alcohol (PubChem CID: 11199); Lithium chloride (PubChem CID: 433294); Iron nitrate nonahydrate (PubChem CID: 129774236).

Selectivity Control in the Direct CO Esterification over Pd@UiO-66: The Pd Location Matters.

The selectivity control of Pd nanoparticles (NPs) in the direct CO esterification with methyl nitrite toward dimethyl oxalate (DMO) or dimethyl carbonate (DMC) remains a grand challenge. Herein, Pd NPs are incorporated into isoreticular metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely UiO-66-X (X=-H, -NO2 , -NH2 ), affording Pd@UiO-66-X, which unexpectedly exhibit high selectivity (up to 99 %) to DMC and regulated activity in the direct CO esterification. In sharp contrast, the Pd NPs supported on the MOF, yielding Pd/UiO-66, displays high selectivity (89 %) to DMO as always reported with Pd NPs. Both experimental and DFT calculation results prove that the Pd location relative to UiO-66 gives rise to discriminated microenvironment of different amounts of interface between Zr-oxo clusters and Pd NPs in Pd@UiO-66 and Pd/UiO-66, resulting in their distinctly different selectivity. This is an unprecedented finding on the production of DMC by Pd NPs, which was previously achieved by Pd(II) only, in the direct CO esterification.

Functional and effective connectivity analysis of drug-resistant epilepsy: a resting-state fMRI analysis.

Objective: Epilepsy is considered as a neural network disorder. Seizure activity in epilepsy may disturb brain networks and damage brain functions. We propose using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data to characterize connectivity patterns in drug-resistant epilepsy. Methods: This study enrolled 47 participants, including 28 with drug-resistant epilepsy and 19 healthy controls. Functional and effective connectivity was employed to assess drug-resistant epilepsy patients within resting state networks. The resting state functional connectivity (FC) analysis was performed to assess connectivity between each patient and healthy controls within the default mode network (DMN) and the dorsal attention network (DAN). In addition, dynamic causal modeling was used to compute effective connectivity (EC). Finally, a statistical analysis was performed to evaluate our findings. Results: The FC analysis revealed significant connectivity changes in patients giving 64.3% (18/28) and 78.6% (22/28) for DMN and DAN, respectively. Statistical analysis of FC was significant between the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral inferior parietal cortex for DMN. For DAN, it was significant between the left and the right intraparietal sulcus and the frontal eye field. For the DMN, the patient group showed significant EC connectivity in the right inferior parietal cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex for the DMN. There was also bilateral connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex, as well as between the left and right inferior parietal cortex. For DAN, patients showed significant connectivity in the right frontal eye field and the right intraparietal sulcus. Bilateral connectivity was also found between the left frontal eye field and the left intraparietal sulcus, as well as between the right frontal eye field and the right intraparietal sulcus. The statistical analysis of the EC revealed a significant result in the medial prefrontal cortex and the right intraparietal cortex for the DMN. The DAN was found significant in the left frontal eye field, as well as the left and right intraparietal sulcus. Conclusion: Our results provide preliminary evidence to support that the combination of functional and effective connectivity analysis of rs-fMRI can aid in diagnosing epilepsy in the DMN and DAN networks.

NRAS promotes the proliferation of melanocytes to increase melanin deposition in Rex rabbits.

Melanocytes play a major role in the formation of mammalian fur color and are regulated by several genes. Despite playing the pivotal role in the study of melanoma, the mechanistic role of NRAS (neuroblastoma RAS viral oncogene homolog) in the formation of mammalian epidermal color is still elusive. First of all, the expression levels of NRAS mRNA and protein in the dorsal skin of different colored Rex rabbits were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Then, the subcellular localization of NRAS was identified in melanocytes by indirect immunofluorescence. Next, the expression of NRAS was overexpressed and knocked down in melanocytes, and its efficiency was verified by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Subsequently, NaOH, CCK-8, and Annexin V-FITC were used to verify the changes in melanin content, proliferation, and apoptosis in melanocytes. Finally, we analyzed the regulation of NRAS on other genes (MITF, TYR, DCT, PMEL, and CREB) that affect melanin production. In silico studies showed NRAS as a stable and hydrophilic protein, and it is localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus of melanocytes. The mRNA and protein expression levels of NRAS were significantly different in skin of different colored Rex rabbits, and the highest level was found in black skin (P < 0.01). Moreover, the NRAS demonstrated impact on the proliferation, apoptosis, and melanin production of melanocytes (P < 0.05), and the strong correlation of NRAS with melanin-related genes was evidently observed (P < 0.05). Our results suggested that NRAS can be used as a gene that regulates melanin production and controls melanocyte proliferation and apoptosis, providing a new theoretical basis for studying the mechanism of mammalian fur color formation.

How Chromatin Stiffens Fibroblasts.

Fibroblasts are central to the acute and chronic response of tissues to stress: they are necessary for wound healing, involved in inflammatory responses and critical for long term remodeling of tissue. These diverse roles of fibroblasts arise from the cells' ability to respond to internal and extracellular cues regarding the physical state of the host tissue. In this article, we review recent evidence for the role of chromatin as a sensor of cellular stress and chromatin-dependent gene regulatory events that may be essential for fibroblast activation in the setting of injury. This emerging evidence highlights chromatin structure and accessibility as features necessary for our understanding of how cell type-specific epigenomes sense and respond to stress.

lncRNA2919 Suppresses Rabbit Dermal Papilla Cell Proliferation via trans-Regulatory Actions.

Hair follicles (HFs) are complex organs that grow cyclically during mammals' growth and development. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) cannot be translated into proteins and play crucial roles in many biological processes. In our previous study, candidate lncRNAs associated with HF cyclic regeneration were screened, and we identified that the novel lncRNA, lncRNA2919, was significantly expressed during catagen. Here, we identified that lncRNA2919 has no coding potentiality and is highly expressed in the cell nucleus, and downregulates HF growth and development-related genes, inhibits cell proliferation, and promotes cell apoptosis in rabbit dermal papilla cells. lncRNA2919 recruits STAT1 to form a compound. As a key transcription factor, STAT1 regulates the transcriptional expression of KRTAP11-1. Our study revealed that lncRNA2919 is involved in HF cyclic regeneration through the trans-regulatory lncRNA2919-STAT1-KRTAP11-1 axis. This study elucidates the mechanism through which lncRNA2919 regulates HF growth and development and the role of lncRNA2919 as a new therapeutic target in animal wool production and human hair-related disease treatment.

CDK1 promotes the proliferation of melanocytes in Rex rabbits.

BACKGROUND: The fur color constitutes one of the most important economic characteristics of fur animals and is determined by the content of melanin. A previous study has shown that the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) is a member of the protein kinase family, involved in forming the color of the fur in Rex rabbits. However, its effect on the melanocytes remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide evidence for the role of CDK1 in melanogenesis. METHODS: This study measured the expression of CDK1 in Rex rabbit skins of six coat colors using qRT-PCR. The CDK1-mediated regulation of the pigmentation-related genes and cyclin-dependent kinases were analyzed. The melanin content, proliferation, and apoptosis of the melanocytes were analyzed using the NaOH, CCK8, and Annexin V-FITC methods. RESULTS: The CDK1 expression in the skin of the rex rabbits with different coat colors was found to be regular, and the expression level was found to be the highest in the skin of the black rex rabbits (P < 0.05). The overexpression/knockdown of CDK1 was found to significantly increase/decrease the melanin content in the melanocytes (P < 0.01). Besides, CDK1 was found to significantly promote the proliferation of the melanocyte and inhibit apoptosis (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the overexpression of CDK1 was found to significantly affect the expression of the other melanin-related genes like TYR, PMEL, DCT, as well as the mRNA expression of the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4, CDK6, CDK8, CCNB1. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that CDK1 can serve as a key gene regulating melanogenesis, melanocyte proliferation, and apoptosis, providing a new theoretical basis for studying the mechanism by which the different colors of the fur evolve in mammals.

miR-129-5p Participates in Hair Follicle Growth by Targeting HOXC13 in Rabbit.

Mammalian hair formation is critically determined by the growth of hair follicles (HF). MiRNAs are crucial in the periodic development of hair follicles; they maintain epidermal homeostasis by targeting genes and influencing the activity of signaling pathways and related regulators. Our study discovered miR-129-5p to be overexpressed in the skin of Angora rabbits during catagen, and was negatively correlated with HOXC13 expression (Pearson's R = −0.313, p < 0.05). The dual-Luciferase reporter gene detection system and Western blotting confirmed that miR-129-5p targeted HOXC13. In addition, miR-129-5p overexpression was found to significantly inhibit the expression of hair follicle development-related genes (HFDRGs), such as BCL2, WNT2, CCND1, and LEF1 (p < 0.01), and promoted the expression of SFRP2, TGF-ß1, and FGF2 (p < 0.01), which was the same as the knockdown of HOXC13. In contrast, the knockout of miR-129-5p was the opposite, and it demonstrated similar results to the overexpression of HOXC13. CCK8 and flow cytometry demonstrated that miR-129-5p mimics significantly promoted the apoptosis of dermal papilla cells (DPCs) and inhibited proliferation (p < 0.01), while the inhibitor was found to reduce the apoptosis of DPCs and promote proliferation (p < 0.01). These results showed that miR-129-5p can participate in the periodic development of HF by targeting HOXC13, and it can induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation of DPCs. These results will help to understand the role and mechanism of miR-129-5p in the periodic development of HF, and will provide support for subsequent studies, not only providing a theoretical basis for genetically improving the quality of hair in animals in the future, but also a new theory and method for diagnosing and treating hair loss in humans.

Epileptogenic Zone Localization in Refractory Epilepsy by FDG-PET: The Comparison of SPM and SPM-CAT With Different Parameter Settings.

Refractory epilepsy is a complex case of epileptic disease. The quantitative analysis of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) images complements visual assessment and helps localize the epileptogenic zone (EZ) for better curative treatment. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and its computational anatomy toolbox (SPM-CAT) are two commonly applied tools in neuroimaging analysis. This study compares SPM and SPM-CAT with different parameters to find the optimal approach for localizing EZ in refractory epilepsy. The current study enrolled 45 subjects, including 25 refractory epilepsy patients and 20 healthy controls. All of the 25 patients underwent surgical operations. Pathological results and the postoperative outcome evaluation by the Engel scale were likewise presented. SPM and SPM-CAT were used to assess FDG-PET images with three different uncorrected p-values and the corresponding cluster sizes (k), as in voxels in the cluster, namely p < 0.0002, k > 25; p < 0.001, k > 100; p < 0.005, and k > 200. When combining three settings, SPM and SPM-CAT yielded overall positive finding scores of 96.0% (24/25) and 100.0% (25/25) respectively. However, for the individual setting, SPM-CAT achieved the diverse positive finding scores of 96.0% (24/25), 96.0% (24/25), and 88.0% (22/24), which are higher than those of SPM [88.0% (22/25), 76.0% (19/25), and 72.0% (18/25)]. SPM and SPM-CAT localized EZ correctly with 28.0% (7/25) and 64.0% (16/25), respectively. SPM-CAT with parameter settings p < 0.0002 and k > 25 yielded a correct localization at 56.0% (14/25), which is slightly higher than that for the other two settings (48.0 and 20.0%). Moderate concordance was found between the confirmed and pre-surgical EZs, identified by SPM-CAT (kappa value = 0.5). Hence, SPM-CAT is more efficient than SPM in localizing EZ for refractory epilepsy by quantitative analysis of FDG-PET images. SPM-CAT with the setting of p < 0.0002 and k > 25 might perform as an objective complementary tool to the visual assessment for EZ localization.

The self-healing of Bacillus subtilis biofilms.

Self-healing is an intrinsic ability that exists widely in every multicellular biological organism. Our recent experiments have shown that bacterial biofilms also have the ability to self-heal after man-make cuts, but the mechanism of biofilm self-healing have not been studied. We find that the healing process of cuts on the biofilm depends on cut geometries like its location or direction, the biofilm itself like the biofilm age, the growing substrate properties like its hardness, and also the environments such as the competitive growth of multiple biofilms. What is more, the healing rate along the cut is heterogeneous, and the maximum healing rate can reach 260 µm/h, which is three times the undestroyed biofilm expansion rate. The cut does not change the rounded shape growth of biofilms. Further study of phenotypic evolution shows that the cut delays bacterial differentiation; motile cells perceive the cut and move to the cut area, while the cut only heals when there are enough matrix-producing cells in the cut area. Our work suggests new ideas for developing self-healing materials.

GNAI2 Promotes Proliferation and Decreases Apoptosis in Rabbit Melanocytes.

GNAI2 (G protein subunit alpha i2) is a signaling modulator or transducer, involved in several transmembrane signaling systems, that plays a vital role in the melanogenesis signaling pathway. However, whether GNAI2 regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis in rabbit melanocytes is not known. We found that GNAI2 was differentially expressed in rabbits with different coat colors using qRT-PCR and Wes assays. Furthermore, it was observed that the rabbits with black skin had the highest GNAI2 levels, and those with white skin had the lowest expression. The coding sequence of GNAI2 was successfully cloned and inserted into pcDNA3.1 and pcDNA3.1-Myc vectors. It was observed that the GNAI2 protein was mainly localized in the cytoplasm using the indirect immunofluorescence staining assay. Overexpression of GNAI2 significantly increased melanin content, promoted melanocyte proliferation, and inhibited melanocyte apoptosis. On the contrary, the knockdown of GNAI2 using siRNA had the opposite effect. In addition, GNAI2 significantly increased the mRNA expression levels of the melanin-related genes TYR, GPNMB, PMEL, and DCT in rabbit melanocytes. The results suggested that GNAI2 regulated melanocyte development by promoting melanocyte proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis.

Bacitracin Methylene Disalicylate Improves Intestinal Health by Modulating Its Development and Microbiota in Weaned Rabbits.

Intestinal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and agricultural animals, especially newborns and weaned animals. Preventive treatments that help weaned animals maintain homeostasis and balance the hindgut microbial populations are desirable. The present study aimed to explore the impact of bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) on the intestinal health by analyzing the intestinal environment, morphology, expression of peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs), and flora of weaned rabbits. A total of 300 New Zealand weaned rabbits were randomly divided into the following five treatment groups for a 35-day feed trial: control group (basal diet), bacitracin zinc (BZ) group (50 mg/kg BZ), BMDa group (100 mg/kg BMD), BMDb group (50 mg/kg BMD), and BMDc group (rabbits fed a basal diet supplemented with 25 mg/kg BMD). In each treatment group, 28 rabbits were slaughtered for experimental analysis. The results showed that the supplementation of BMD increased the environmental acidity of the cecum of the weaned rabbits and reduced the ammonia-nitrogen concentration, which was beneficial to the survival of useful bacteria in the intestine. The morphology analysis of the duodenum using hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed that the villus length, villus/crypt ratio, and intestinal wall thickness increased in the BMD group, thereby improving the structure of the duodenum and the absorption capacity of the small intestine. Moreover, real-time polymerase chain reaction test showed that PGRPs (especially PGLYRP-1 and PGLYRP-2) in the intestinal had an antagonistic effect with BMD in the process of inhibiting pathogenic bacteria, resulting in their decreased expression (P < 0.05). Furthermore, through 16S rRNA sequencing in the cecal content, the abundance of the predominant phyla in the BMDa and BZ groups was found to be the closest. The abundance of the genera Lachnospira, Erysipelotrichaceae (p-75-a5), Paraprevotellaceae (YRC22), Mogibacterium, Peptococcaceae (rc4-4), Anaerovibrio, Succinivibrio, and Sphaerochaeta increased in the BMDa and BZ groups (P < 0.05). The relative abundance of Alistipes, Sedimentibacter, and Dorea significantly increased only in the BMDa group (P < 0.05). Conclusively, BMD, as well as microbes, improved the intestinal environment and structure to maintain the intestinal health of weaned rabbits.

'Chain and running' induced by mechanical interactions among cells of different phenotypes in the Bacillus subtilis biofilm.

In either a living system or a non-living system, the interaction among its constituent cells or particles is a fundamental aspect at all scales. For example, during the Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation, cells differentiate into multiple phenotypes to adapt to the environments; few hours after the initial inoculation, we find the phenotype of matrix-producing cells form "chain" structure surrounding the phenotype of the "running" motile cells. We use "chain" to characterize the structure of matrix-producing cells, and "running" to characterize the proliferation and growth of motile cells. Due to a large number of cells in the biofilm, it is impossible to construct a traditional kinetic model to describe the causal link between the single-cell movement and the colony behavior. Here, we obtain cell state information and cell group shape information through experiments; after the image analysis, we get the key interaction rules between cells, and then, we simulate the comparable movement of two cell types and the resulting colony geometry using the multi-agent model. Our work makes a better understanding of the relationship between the macroscopic shape of colonies and microscopic mechanical interactions among cells in the early stage of biofilm growth.

Deubiquitination of MITF-M Regulates Melanocytes Proliferation and Apoptosis.

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor-M (MITF-M) is the key gene in the proliferation and differentiation of melanocytes, which undergoes an array of post-translation modifications. As shown in our previous study, deubiquitinase USP13 is directly involved in melanogenesis. However, it is still ambiguous that the effect of USP13-mediated MITF-M expression on melanocytes proliferation and apoptosis. Herein, we found that MITF-M overexpressing melanocytes showed high cell proliferation, reduced apoptosis, and increased melanin levels. Besides, melanin-related genes, TYR, DCT, GPNMB, and PMEL, were significantly up-regulated in MITF-M overexpressing melanocytes. Furthermore, Exogenous USP13 significantly upregulated the endogenous MITF-M protein level, downregulated USP13 significantly inhibited MITF-M protein levels, without altering MITF-M mRNA expression. In addition, USP13 upregulation mitigated the MITF-M degradation and significantly increased the half-life of MITF-M. Also, USP13 stabilized the exogenous MITF protein levels. In conclusion, the MITF-M level was regulated by USP13 deubiquitinase in melanocytes, affecting melanocytes proliferation and apoptosis. This study provides the theoretical basis for coat color transformation that could be useful in the development of the new breed in fur animals.