Restoration of Pregnancy Function Using a GT/PCL Biofilm in a Rabbit Model of Uterine Injury.

Biomaterial scaffolds have been used successfully to promote the regenerative repair of small endometrial lesions in small rodents, providing partial restoration of gestational function. The use of rabbits in this study allowed us to investigate a larger endometrial tissue defect and myometrial injury model. A gelatin/polycaprolactone (GT/PCL) gradient-layer biofilm was sutured at the defect to guide the reconstruction of the original tissue structure. Twenty-eight days postimplantation, the uterine cavity had been restored to its original morphology, endometrial growth was accompanied by the formation of glands and blood vessels, and the fragmented myofibers of the uterine smooth muscle had begun to resemble the normal structure of the lagomorph uterine cavity, arranging in a circular luminal pattern and a longitudinal serosal pattern. In addition, the repair site supported both embryonic implantation into the placenta and normal embryonic development. Four-dimensional label-free proteomic analysis identified the cell adhesion molecules, phagosome, ferroptosis, rap1 signaling pathways, hematopoietic cell lineage, complement and coagulation cascades, tricarboxylic acid cycle, carbon metabolism, and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1 signaling pathways as important in the endogenous repair process of uterine tissue injury, and acetylation of protein modification sites upregulated these signaling pathways.

Metformin enhances epithelial cell growth inhibition via the protein kinase-insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 pathway.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal stromal-epithelial cell communication is a pathogenic mechanism in endometriosis, and metformin can modulate it. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP1) plays a role in endometriosis, but the exact mechanism is unknown. IGFBP1 is reportedly a downstream target of metformin in some diseases. We aimed to investigate the role of IGFBP1 in endometriosis development, whether it is associated with abnormal communication, and whether metformin affects IGFBP1 expression. METHODS: Patients who underwent surgical treatment for endometriosis or other diseases were enrolled. Ten patients with ovarian-type endometriosis and eight patients each who underwent surgical treatment for other lesions with or without endometriosis were selected, and their tissues taken for cell proliferation, western blotting, polymerase chain reaction, and knockdown experiments. RESULTS: Ectopic and eutopic stromal cells (EcSCs and EuSCs) lost their ability to inhibit epithelial cell proliferation, and IGFBP1 expression was downregulated in both groups of stromal cells compared to that in normal stromal cells (NSCs; 1.09 vs. 0.25, p = .0002 1.09 vs. 0.57, p = .0029). In an EcSC IGFBP1 overexpression model, the ability of EcSCs to inhibit epithelial cell proliferation was enhanced (EdU positivity decreased from 38% to 25%, p = .0001). Furthermore, adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation was downregulated in EcSCs and EuSCs compared to that in NSCs (0.99 vs. 0.42, p = .0006/0.99 vs. 0.57, p = 0.0032). Treatment of EcSCs with metformin increased AMPK phosphorylation (0.47 vs. 1.04, p = .0107) while upregulating IGFBP1 expression (0.69 vs. 1.01, p = .0164), whereas pre-treatment with an AMPK phosphorylation inhibitor abrogated metformin-induced IGFBP1 upregulation. CONCLUSIONS: IGFBP1 mediates aberrant stromal-epithelial communication in endometriosis. Metformin can upregulate IGFBP1 expression in EcSCs by activating AMPK, and upregulated IGFBP1 enhances the inhibition of epithelial cell proliferation. IGFBP1 is expected to be a therapeutic target for endometriosis.

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) is a protein that regulates cell growth and proliferation and is expressed at abnormal levels in patients with endometriosis. In some cases, metformin has been shown to modulate the expression of this protein. Here, we investigated the role of IGFBP1 in endometriosis development, whether it is associated with abnormal communication, and whether metformin affects IGFBP1 expression in endometrial cells. We found that downregulation of IGFBP1 in endometriosis diminished the ability of stromal cells to inhibit the proliferation of epithelial cells through inhibition of the protein kinase B and extracellular regulated protein kinase pathways. In addition, metformin upregulated IGFBP1 expression by activating adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase, suggesting that IGFBP1 may be one of the potential targets for drug therapy for endometriosis.

A new method for examining the co-occurrence network of fossil assemblages.

Currently, studies of ancient faunal community networks have been based mostly on uniformitarian and functional morphological evidence. As an important source of data, taphonomic evidence offers the opportunity to provide a broader scope for understanding palaeoecology. However, palaeoecological research methods based on taphonomic evidence are relatively rare, especially for body fossils in lacustrine sediments. Such fossil communities are not only affected by complex transportation and selective destruction in the sedimentation process, they also are strongly affected by time averaging. Historically, it has been believed that it is difficult to study lacustrine entombed fauna by a small-scale quadrat survey. Herein, we developed a software, the TaphonomeAnalyst, to study the associational network of lacustrine entombed fauna, or taphocoenosis. TaphonomeAnalyst allows researchers to easily perform exploratory analyses on common abundance profiles from taphocoenosis data. The dataset for these investigations resulted from fieldwork of the latest Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation near Daohugou Village, in Ningcheng County of Inner Mongolia, China, spotlighting the core assemblage of the Yanliao Fauna. Our data included 27,000 fossil specimens of animals from this deposit, the Yanliao Fauna, whose analyses reveal sedimentary environments, taphonomic conditions, and co-occurrence networks of this highly studied assemblage, providing empirically robust and statistically significant evidence for multiple Yanliao habitats.

2D/2D Biochar/Bi2WO6 Hybrid Nanosheets with Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Activities for Organic Pollutants Degradation.

In this work, a novel two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) hybrid photocatalyst consisting of Bi2WO6 (BWO) nanosheets and cotton fibers biochar (CFB) nanosheets was successfully prepared via a facile hydrothermal process. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by a variety of techniques, including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. It was revealed that amorphous CFB nanosheets were uniformly immobilized on the surface of crystalline BWO nanosheets, and an intimate contact between CFB and BWO was constructed. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared BWO and CFB-BWO photocatalysts were evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) in aqueous solutions under visible-light irradiation. Compared to the pristine BWO, the CFB-BWO composite photocatalysts exhibited significant enhancement in photocatalytic activities. Among all CFB-BWO samples, the 9CFB-BWO sample with the CFB mass ratio of 9% exhibited optimal photocatalytic activities for RhB or TC-HCl degradation, which was ca. 1.8 times or 2.4 times that of the pristine BWO, respectively. The improvement in photocatalytic activities of the CFB-BWO photocatalysts could be ascribed to the enhanced migration and separation of photogenerated charge carriers due to the formation of a 2D/2D interfacial heterostructure between CFB and BWO. Meanwhile, the possible mechanism of CFB-BWO for enhanced photocatalytic performance was also discussed. This work may provide a new approach to designing and developing novel BWO-based photocatalysts for the highly efficient removal of organic pollutants.

The mechanisms of Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu decoction in treating ischaemic stroke based on network pharmacology and experiment verification.

CONTEXT: Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu Decoction (HGWD) is effective in treating ischaemic stroke (IS). However, its mechanism of action is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: Network pharmacology integrated with in vivo experiments were used to clarify the underlying mechanisms of HGWD for treating IS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TCMSP, GeneCards, OMIM and STRING were used to retrieve and construct visual protein interaction networks for the key targets. The AutoDock tool was used for molecular docking between key targets and active compounds. The neuroprotective effect of HGWD were verified in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model rat. The Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into sham, model, low-dose (5 g/kg, i.g.), high-dose (20 g/kg, i.g.), and nimodipine (20 mg/kg, i.g.) groups once daily for 7 days. The neurological scores, brain infarct volumes, lipid peroxidation, inflammatory cytokines, Nissl bodies, apoptotic neurons, and signalling pathways were all investigated and evaluated in vivo. RESULTS: Network pharmacology identified 117 HGWD targets related to IS and 36 candidate compounds. GO and KEGG analyses showed that HGWD anti-IS effects were mainly associated with PI3K-Akt and HIF-1 signalling pathways. HGWD effectively reduced the cerebral infarct volumes (19.19%), the number of apoptotic neurons (16.78%), and the release of inflammatory cytokines, etc. in MCAO rats. Furthermore, HGWD decreased the levels of HIF-1A, VEGFA, Bax, cleaved caspase-3, p-MAPK1, and p-c-Jun while increasing the expression of p-PI3K, p-AKT1, and Bcl-2. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study initially elucidated the mechanism of HGWD anti-IS, which contributed to the further promotion and secondary development of HGWD in clinical practice.

Current Status of Tissue Regenerative Engineering for the Treatment of Uterine Infertility.

With the recent developments in tissue engineering, scientists have attempted to establish seed cells from different sources, create cell sheets through various technologies, implant them on scaffolds with various spatial structures, or load scaffolds with cytokines. These research results are very optimistic, bringing hope to the treatment of patients with uterine infertility. In this article, we reviewed articles related to the treatment of uterine infertility from the aspects of experimental treatment strategy, seed cells, scaffold application, and repair criteria so as to provide a basis for future research.

Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) expression plays an important role in the diagnosis and grading of endometrial cancer.

The research aimed to investigate the expression of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) in cancer tissues and normal endometrium and the expression of HLA-G in the three different grades of Endometrial cancer, to determine if HLA-G expression is related with the diagnosis and grading of endometrial cancer. The expression of HLA-G protein was analysed in the primary tumour in 97 tissue samples obtained from endometrial cancer, in which 30 samples were at pathological Grade 1; 37 samples were at Grade 2; 27 samples were at Grade 3; and the other 5 samples were obtained from normal endometrium. The HLA-G protein level was measured by immunohistochemical method and analysed according to the clinicopathological parameters of patients. A statistically significant difference (p < .05) was observed in HLA-G expression between the cancerous tissue and the normal endometrium (p = .0007), and the histochemistry score (H-score) of the negative control was 0.05 ± 0.03 (mean ± SD). Statistically significant correlations were also observed between samples of pathological Grade 1 and Grade 2 (p = .0126), Grade 2 and Grade 3 (p = .0359), Grade 1 and Grade 3 (p = .0001). Endometrial cancer cells express higher levels of HLA-G probably to escape immune surveillance, and HLA-G expression level is related with the pathological grade of endometrial cancer. Therefore, HLA-G detecting and quantifying could possibly help diagnosing, grading and treatment of endometrial cancer.Impact statementWhat is already known on this subject? The expression of a member of the non-classical HLA antigens, HLA-G, is one of the main ways for tumour immune escape and progression. The significance of HLA-G in tumour biology has been intensively investigated (Carosella et al. 2015), and now it is widely acknowledged that HLA-G expression in tumours is highly linked with immune suppressive microenvironments, advanced tumour stage, poor therapeutic responses and prognosis (Lin and Yan, 2018). However, to our knowledge, no research has been conducted on the correlation between HLA-G expression and pathological grades of endometrial cancer.What do the results of this study add? Our study demonstrated that the expression of HLA-G plays an important role in the pathological grading of endometrial cancer.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Measuring the level of HLA-G expression to help pathological grading of endometrial cancer is important in determining the treatment of patients with endometrial cancer and studying the underlying mechanisms of the development of endometrial cancer, while proving or finding new targeted therapies inhibiting or modifying these processes still requires further investigation.

The miRNA mir-582-3p suppresses ovarian cancer progression by targeting AKT/MTOR signaling via lncRNA TUG1.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common malignancies of the female reproductive system. The miRNA miR-582-3p is associated with a variety of tumors, and the aim of this study was to investigate the role and mechanisms of miR-582-3p specifically in ovarian carcinogenesis and progression. Low expression of miR-582-3p was noted in OC tissue and cell lines, and lower expression of miR-582-3p correlated with lower overall survival in OC patients. Knockdown of miR-582-3p promoted the proliferation and migration of OC cells, while overexpression inhibited them. TUG1, a long non-coding RNA, was found to bind to miR-582-3p, and inhibition of lncRNA TUG1 decreased viability and migration and weakened the effect of miR-582-3p knockdown in OC cells. Implantation of OC cells with reduced miR-582-3p caused increased tumor growth, while lncRNA TUG1 knockdown suppressed tumor growth and relieved the impact of reduced miR-582-3p in vivo. Phosphorylation of AKT and mTOR were significantly enhanced with decreased miR-582-3p expression, but lncRNA TUG1 knockdown attenuated this trend in vitro and in vivo. The novel miR-582-3p represses the malignant properties of OC via the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway by targeting lncRNA TUG1. This axis may represent valuable prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for OC.

A new cockroach (Blattodea, Corydiidae) with pectinate antennae from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber.

A new species of fossil cockroach, Fragosublattapectinata gen. et sp. nov., is described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The new species is assigned to the family Corydiidae based on the following combination of characters: pronotum with tubercles, tegmina obovate with smallish anal region and spinules on the antero-ventral margin of the front femur (type C1). The new species is the second reported cockroach with ramified antennae. This finding broadens the diversity of Blattodea in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber and provides further evidence of convergent evolution for antennal structures among different insect lineages.

NOL6 promotes the proliferation and migration of endometrial cancer cells by regulating TWIST1 expression.

Aim: To investigate the role and function of NOL6, a protein related to ribosome biogenesis, in endometrial cancer. Methods: Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry apoptosis assay, transwell assay and wound healing assays were carried out for evaluating cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry, western blot and tumor xenograft assays were carried out for detecting the level of protein expression and tumor formation. Results: We demonstrated that NOL6 is overexpressed in endometrial cancer and promotes cell proliferation and migration while reducing apoptosis. NOL6 regulates the expression of TWIST1, which can restore the changes in cells caused by NOL6 knockdown. Conclusions: NOL6 can promote the proliferation and migration of endometrial cancer cells by regulating TWIST1 expression.

Lay abstract In endometrial cancer, rapid tumor growth leads to increased protein synthesis and ribosome biogenesis. Our study confirmed the involvement of the protein NOL6 in endometrial cancer. We overexpressed TWIST1, MMP2 or MYC in endometrial cells and assessed the difference in cell growth, spread, death and tumor formation under different conditions. The results showed that NOL6 can boost the growth and spread of endometrial cancer cells by controlling TWIST1 expression. Our study provides a new understanding of the molecular mechanisms causing endometrial cancer.

Symmetry breaking-induced double-strand helices in H-bonded coassembly.

Double-strand helical structures are important in information storage of biomacromolecules, while the artificial synthesis depends on chirality transfer from the molecular to supramolecular scale, and the synthesis through symmetry breaking has yet been accomplished. In this work, we present the multiple-constituent coassembly of a melamine derivative and an N-terminal aromatic amino acid into double helical nanoarchitectures via symmetry breaking. Multiple intramolecular H-bond formation between constituents played key roles in directing the formation of helical structures. Intertwining of single helices with identical helical parameters afforded double helical structures, benefiting from the uniformity and monodispersity of nanoarchitectures. With introduction of coded chiral amino acid derivatives as chiral sources, the handedness could be readily manipulated with exclusive correlation to the absolute chirality of amino acids. Molecular flexibility of the melamine derivative facilitates the propeller-shaped complex formation to afford helical columnar coassemblies and double helical structures. This work presents a rational control over the emergence and properties of double helical structures in multiple-constituent coassemblies through symmetry breaking, which provides an alternative method towards the synthesis of topological chiral composites and chiroptical materials.

2D Heterostructure of Amorphous CoFeB Coating Black Phosphorus Nanosheets with Optimal Oxygen Intermediate Absorption for Improved Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a paramount role in a variety of electrochemical energy conversion devices, and the exploration of highly active, stable, and low-cost electrocatalysts is one of the most important topics in this field. The exfoliated black phosphorus (EBP) nanosheet with a two-dimensional (2D) layered structure has high carrier mobility but is limited by excessive oxygen-containing intermediate absorption and fast deterioration in air. We here report the fabrication of nanohybrids of amorphous CoFeB nanosheets on EBP nanosheets (EBP/CoFeB). The 2D/2D heterostructure, thanks to the electronic interactions and oxygen affinity difference between EBP and CoFeB nanosheets, is capable of balancing the oxygen-containing intermediate absorption to an optimal status for facilitating the OER process. While the crystalline EBP contributes to the improved conductivity, the amorphous coating protects EBP and thus ensures the catalytic stability. The EBP/CoFeB electrocatalyst shows excellent OER performance with an ultralow overpotential of 227 mV at 10 mA cm-2 with an ultrasmall Tafel slope of 36.7 mV dec-1 with excellent stability. This study may inspire more researches to develop heterostructured nanohybrid electrocatalysts for a diversity of electrochemical reactions.

In situ growth of Z-scheme CuS/CuSCN heterojunction to passivate surface defects and enhance charge transport.

Copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) has been considered as a promising hole transport material (HTMs), attributing to its inherent stability, low-cost, and suitable energy levels. To make it more attractive in practical applications, the drawbacks of CuSCN in poor charge transport and serious defect recombination are bottlenecks that need to be overcome. In this work, we propose an effective strategy of in-situ decorating CuSCN with copper sulfide quantum dots (CuS QDs), a simple one-step electrochemical deposition process, to solve these issues. Compared with the pristine CuSCN, the constructed Z-Scheme heterojunction of CuS QDs/CuSCN can significantly promote charge transport and restrict recombination. In addition, the decorated CuS QDs can not only passivate defects of CuSCN, but also provide more contacting sites to facilitate hole injection when employing as HTM. As a result, the average bulk charge lifetime was improved from 0.37 ms to 0.47 ms, and the surface recombination rate constant was suppressed. We believe that the excellent performances will pave it toward practical device applications, including solar cells, photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical sensors, and light-emitting diodes.

Hierarchical Predictive Coding-Based JND Estimation for Image Compression.

The human visual system (HVS) is a hierarchical system, in which visual signals are processed hierarchically. In this paper, the HVS is modeled as a three-level communication system and visual perception is divided into three stages according to the hierarchical predictive coding theory. Then, a novel just noticeable distortion (JND) estimation scheme is proposed. In visual perception, the input signals are predicted constantly and spontaneously in each hierarchy, and neural response is evoked by the central residue and inhibited by surrounding residues. These two types' residues are regarded as the positive and negative visual incentives which cause positive and negative perception effects, respectively. In neuroscience, the effect of incentive on observer is measured by the surprise of this incentive. Thus, we propose a surprise-based measurement method to measure both perception effects. Specifically, considering the biased competition of visual attention, we define the product of the residue self-information (i.e., surprise) and the competition biases as the perceptual surprise to measure the positive perception effect. As for the negative perception effect, it is measured by the average surprise (i.e., the local Shannon entropy). The JND threshold of each stage is estimated individually by considering both perception effects. The total JND threshold is finally obtained by non-linear superposition of three stage thresholds. Furthermore, the proposed JND estimation scheme is incorporated into the codec of Versatile Video Coding for image compression. Experimental results show that the proposed JND model outperforms the relevant existing ones, and over 16% of bit rate can be reduced without jeopardizing the perceptual quality.

Possible roles of HLA-G regulating immune cells in pregnancy and endometrial diseases via KIR2DL4.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules bind peptides originated from cellular synthesis and present them at the cell surface for recognition by receptors on immune cells like T lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells or mast cells. Such recognition plays a crucial part in autoimmunity, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-tumor responses. Human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is a member of non-classical HLA class I molecules which has been studied deeply in recent years into its role in pregnancy and endometrial diseases, including endometrial tumor, endometriosis and adenomyosis, etc. Understanding the mechanism of the maintenance of pregnancy and immune escape of endometrial diseases in a HLA-G dependent way is of current interest. Perception from studies in the expression of HLA-G and possible pathways is a vital part of understanding mechanisms related to immune escape.

Expression of BMP7 in cervical cancer and inhibition of epithelial­mesenchymal transition by BMP7 knockdown in HeLa cells.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) in cervical cancer tissues, the effect of BMP7 on the proliferation, migration and epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cervical cancer HeLa cells and the possible mechanism involved. Immunohistochemistry was used to stain the cervical cancer tissues and benign or precancerous lesions. Lentivirus containing BMP7 knockdown was transfected in HeLa cells and western blotting was performed to analyze BMP7 expression. At the same time, the influence of BMP7 knockdown on the expression of phosphorylated (p)­mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 1/5/9 and EMT­related markers [epithelial­cadherin, neural­cadherin, Vimentin, Snail and Slug] was detected. Cell Counting Kit­8 was used to detect cell proliferation. Transwell migration and invasion assays were performed to measure cell invasion and migration. The cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. Compared with normal cervical epithelial and paracancerous cells, the positive rate of BMP7 expression in cervical cancer tissues was significantly increased. As compared with the control group, the expression of BMP7 was decreased in HeLa cells transfected with lentivirus. The knockdown of BMP7 in cervical cancer HeLa cells inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, resulted in G1 cell cycle arrest and reversed the EMT process. In addition, the expression of p­Smad1/5/9 was significantly decreased in HeLa cells with BMP7 knockdown. BMP7 is expected to be a possible target for the treatment of cervical cancer.

Recent Progress and Development in Inorganic Halide Perovskite Quantum Dots for Photoelectrochemical Applications.

Inorganic halide perovskite quantum dots (IHPQDs) have recently emerged as a new class of optoelectronic nanomaterials that can outperform the existing hybrid organometallic halide perovskite (OHP), II-VI and III-V groups semiconductor nanocrystals, mainly due to their relatively high stability, excellent photophysical properties, and promising applications in wide-ranging and diverse fields. In particular, IHPQDs have attracted much recent attention in the field of photoelectrochemistry, with the potential to harness their superb optical and charge transport properties as well as spectacular characteristics of quantum confinement effect for opening up new opportunities in next-generation photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems. Over the past few years, numerous efforts have been made to design and prepare IHPQD-based materials for a wide range of applications in photoelectrochemistry, ranging from photocatalytic degradation, photocatalytic CO2 reduction and PEC sensing, to photovoltaic devices. In this review, the recent advances in the development of IHPQD-based materials are summarized from the standpoint of photoelectrochemistry. The prospects and further developments of IHPQDs in this exciting field are also discussed.

Hydrogenated ZnIn2S4 microspheres: boosting photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by sulfur vacancy engineering and mechanism insight.

In some oxide photocatalysts, changing their surface structure rather than crystal structure by introducing some defects (such as oxygen vacancies) has been proven to be effective in enhancing the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and thus photocatalytic activity. To the best of our knowledge, however, such a surface defect engineering strategy for sulfide photocatalysts has rarely been verified. The present work shows the first case of employing pressure hydrogenation to prepare hydrogenated ZnIn2S4 (H-ZIS) microspheres with surface-deficient porous structures, which are favorable for furnishing sufficient surface sulfur vacancies to realize excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions. The hydrogen evolution rate (HER) of H-ZIS is as high as 1.9 mmol h-1 g-1 (nearly 8.6 times that of the pristine ZIS sample), which rivals or exceeds those of previously-reported ZIS-based photocatalysts under visible light irradiation. Meanwhile, the inherent correlation between surface sulfur vacancies and photocatalytic activities of H-ZIS is also explored. Thus, this work demonstrates the feasibility of enhancing the hydrogen evolution capability of sulfide photocatalysts by the formation of sulfur vacancies through a pressure hydrogenation process.

MicroRNA-10a inhibits A30P α-synuclein aggregation and toxicity by targeting proapoptotic protein BCL2L11.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder around the world, and is characterized by progressive loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Certain microRNAs (miRNAs) are aberrantly expressed in the post-mortem brain tissues of patients with PD and in vivo PD model mice. However, the role of brain-enriched miRNA (miR)-10a in PD has not been studied. To investigate the regulatory role of miR-10a on α-synuclein (α-syn) in the pathology of PD, the present study aimed to examine whether upregulation of miR-10a attenuated A30P α-syn mutant aggregation and cellular toxicity. miRNA expression analysis by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that miR-10a expression was decreased in the midbrain of A30P α-syn transgenic mice and in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells transfected with A30P α-syn. In addition, miR-10a mimics were used to upregulate miR-10a expression. It was revealed that the upregulation of miR-10a suppressed α-syn intracellular accumulation and toxicity in α-syn-overexpressing SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, miR-10a overexpression resulted in a reversal of the A30P α-syn-induced upregulation of proapoptotic protein Bcl-2-associated X protein and cleaved caspase-3 expression and downregulation of antiapoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL2) expression. A luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that BCL2-like 11 (BCL2L11), an apoptosis inducer, was a novel target gene of miR-10a. A30P α-syn aggregation and toxicity were alleviated by knocking down endogenous BCL2L11 in SH-SY5Y cells using a small interfering RNA specific for BCL2L11. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that miR-10a may serve a functional role in α-syn-induced neuronal pathology by inhibiting expression of BCL2L11 and that upregulation of miR-10a expression may be a useful therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PD.

Hydrogenated TiO2 Thin Film for Accelerating Electron Transport in Highly Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cells.

Intensive studies on low-temperature deposited electron transport materials have been performed to improve the efficiency of n-i-p type planar perovskite solar cells to extend their application on plastic and multijunction device architectures. Here, a TiO2 film with enhanced conductivity and tailored band edge is prepared by magnetron sputtering at room temperature by hydrogen doping (HTO), which accelerates the electron extraction from perovskite photoabsorber and reduces charge transfer resistance, resulting in an improved short circuit current density and fill factor. The HTO film with upward shifted Fermi level guarantees a smaller loss on VOC and facilitates the growth of high-quality absorber with much larger grains and more uniform size, leading to devices with negligible hysteresis. In comparison with the pristine TiO2 prepared without hydrogen doping, the HTO-based device exhibits a substantial performance enhancement leading to an efficiency of 19.30% and more stabilized photovoltaic performance maintaining 93% of its initial value after 300 min continuous illumination in the glove box. These properties permit the room-temperature magnetron sputtered HTO film as a promising electron transport material for flexible and tandem perovskite solar cell in the future.