Prussian blue analogue derived from leather waste as a bifunctional catalyst in zinc-air batteries.

A Prussian blue analogue was synthesized using biomass leather waste as a precursor by doping with Co2+ ions. This material, demonstrates good performance in both the oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, and exhibits excellent charge-discharge performance and stability in zinc-air batteries.

Autoimmune diseases: targets, biology, and drug discovery.

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) arise from a breakdown in immunological self-tolerance, wherein the adaptive immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells, tissues and organs. AIDs impose excessive treatment costs and currently rely on non-specific and universal immunosuppression, which only offer symptomatic relief without addressing the underlying causes. AIDs are driven by autoantigens, targeting the autoantigens holds great promise in transforming the treatment of these diseases. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying different AIDs and the identification of specific autoantigens are critical. In this review, we categorize AIDs based on their underlying causes and compile information on autoantigens implicated in each disease, providing a roadmap for the development of novel immunotherapy regimens. We will focus on type 1 diabetes (T1D), which is an autoimmune disease characterized by irreversible destruction of insulin-producing ß cells in the Langerhans islets of the pancreas. We will discuss insulin as possible autoantigen of T1D and its role in T1D pathogenesis. Finally, we will review current treatments of TID and propose a potentially effective immunotherapy targeting autoantigens.

Physiological responses of typical subtropical landscape shrubs to artificial light at night.

Artificial light at night is rapidly spreading and has become an important component of global change. Although numerous studies have focused on its potential ecological impacts, the physiological response mechanisms of landscape plants to artificial light at night have rarely been quantified. With common landscape shrubs in subtropical regions of China, Hydrangea paniculata, Photinia fraseri and Ligustrum japonicum, as test materials, we exa-mined the responses of antioxidant enzyme system and biomass in the light environment at night under different light quality (yellow light, white light) with different light intensities (20, 40, 60 lx) . The results showed that artificial light at night significantly increased the membrane peroxidation, stimulated plant antioxidant protection systems and raised the antioxidant enzyme activities of the three species. The effects of light quality on plant antioxidant enzymes varied across dspecies. The peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities of H. paniculata under white light were 1.5 and 1.3 times as that under yellow light, respectively. Both enzyme activities of P. fraseri were 1.1 times as that under white light than under yellow light. The activities of two enzymes in L. japonicum under white light were 88.6% and 99.5% of those under yellow light, respectively. The antioxidant enzyme activities of the three species increased with increasing light intensity at night, whereas the contents of malondialdehyde increased rapidly and the antioxidant enzyme activities decreased when beyond a certain light intensity threshold (at 120 d, the threshold was about 40 lx). The protective enzymes that played the major role under nighttime light stress were different among the three species. For H. paniculata, POD and CAT complemented each other to resist stress-induced oxidative damage, while the main enzyme of L. japonicum was POD. The biomass of the three species increased significantly under artificial light at night. H. paniculata was the most sensitive to nighttime light stress, while L. japonicum had the strongest resistance to the stress. The deciduous shrub H. paniculata could tolerate the white night light lower than 40 lx, while the evergreen shrubs P. fraseri and L. japonicum could tolerate the yellow night light lower than 40 lx.

Stepwise changes in flavonoids in spores/pollen contributed to terrestrial adaptation of plants.

Protecting haploid pollen and spores against UV-B light and high temperature, 2 major stresses inherent to the terrestrial environment, is critical for plant reproduction and dispersal. Here, we show flavonoids play an indispensable role in this process. First, we identified the flavanone naringenin, which serves to defend against UV-B damage, in the sporopollenin wall of all vascular plants tested. Second, we found that flavonols are present in the spore/pollen protoplasm of all euphyllophyte plants tested and that these flavonols scavenge reactive oxygen species to protect against environmental stresses, particularly heat. Genetic and biochemical analyses showed that these flavonoids are sequentially synthesized in both the tapetum and microspores during pollen ontogeny in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We show that stepwise increases in the complexity of flavonoids in spores/pollen during plant evolution mirror their progressive adaptation to terrestrial environments. The close relationship between flavonoid complexity and phylogeny and its strong association with pollen survival phenotypes suggest that flavonoids played a central role in the progression of plants from aquatic environments into progressively dry land habitats.

Arabidopsis pollen-specific glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase-like genes are essential for pollen tube tip growth.

In angiosperms, pollen tube growth is critical for double fertilization and seed formation. Many of the factors involved in pollen tube tip growth are unknown. Here, we report the roles of pollen-specific GLYCEROPHOSPHODIESTER PHOSPHODIESTERASE-LIKE (GDPD-LIKE) genes in pollen tube tip growth. Arabidopsis thaliana GDPD-LIKE6 (AtGDPDL6) and AtGDPDL7 were specifically expressed in mature pollen grains and pollen tubes and green fluorescent protein (GFP)-AtGDPDL6 and GFP-AtGDPDL7 fusion proteins were enriched at the plasma membrane at the apex of forming pollen tubes. Atgdpdl6 Atgdpdl7 double mutants displayed severe sterility that was rescued by genetic complementation with AtGDPDL6 or AtGDPDL7. This sterility was associated with defective male gametophytic transmission. Atgdpdl6 Atgdpdl7 pollen tubes burst immediately after initiation of pollen germination in vitro and in vivo, consistent with the thin and fragile walls in their tips. Cellulose deposition was greatly reduced along the mutant pollen tube tip walls, and the localization of pollen-specific CELLULOSE SYNTHASE-LIKE D1 (CSLD1) and CSLD4 was impaired to the apex of mutant pollen tubes. A rice pollen-specific GDPD-LIKE protein also contributed to pollen tube tip growth, suggesting that members of this family have conserved functions in angiosperms. Thus, pollen-specific GDPD-LIKEs mediate pollen tube tip growth, possibly by modulating cellulose deposition in pollen tube walls.

Documenting the Sporangium Development of the Polypodiales Fern Pteris multifida.

Reconstructing the development of sporangia in seed-free vascular plants provides crucial information about key processes enabling the production of spores that are important in the life cycle of these plants. By applying fluorescence imaging in intact tissues using dyes and confocal microscopy, this study aimed to reconstruct the key steps during the development of sporangia. Special emphasis was taken on the cell wall structures of tapetum and spore mother cells that have been challenged by microscopical documentation in the past. After staining the cell wall and cytoplasm using calcofluor white and basic fuchsin, the sporangium development of Pteris multifida was observed using confocal microscopy. The clear cell lineages from the sporangial initial cell to stalk, epidermis, inner tapetum, outer tapetum, and sporogenous cells were revealed by confocal imaging. The sporangium development improved in this work will be useful for a general understanding of fern spore formation.

A cellular mechanism underlying the restoration of thermo/photoperiod-sensitive genic male sterility.

During anther development, the transformation of the microspore into mature pollen occurs under the protection of first the tetrad wall and later the pollen wall. Mutations in genes involved in this wall transition often lead to microspore rupture and male sterility; some such mutants, such as the reversible male sterile (rvms) mutant, are thermo/photoperiod-sensitive genic male sterile (P/TGMS) lines. Previous studies have shown that slow development is a general mechanism of P/TGMS fertility restoration. In this study, we identified restorer of rvms-2 (res2), which is an allele of QUARTET 3 (QRT3) encoding a polygalacturonase that shows delayed degradation of the tetrad pectin wall. We found that MS188, a tapetum-specific transcription factor essential for pollen wall formation, can activate QRT3 expression for pectin wall degradation, indicating a non-cell-autonomous pathway involved in the regulation of the cell wall transition. Further assays showed that a delay in degradation of the tetrad pectin wall is responsible for the fertility restoration of rvms and other P/TGMS lines, whereas early expression of QRT3 eliminates low temperature restoration of rvms-2 fertility. Taken together, these results suggest a likely cellular mechanism of fertility restoration in P/TGMS lines, that is, slow development during the cell wall transition of P/TGMS microspores may reduce the requirement for their wall protection and thus support their development into functional pollens, leading to restored fertility.

A dye combination for the staining of pollen coat and pollen wall.

The pollen coat, which forms on the pollen surface, consists of a lipid-protein matrix. It protects pollen from desiccation and is involved in adhesion, pollen-stigma recognition, and pollen hydration during interactions with the stigma. The classical methods used for pollen coat observation are scanning and transmission electron microscopy. In this work, we screened a collection of fluorescence dyes and identified two fluorescent brighteners FB-52 and FB-184. When they were used together with the exine-specific dye, Basic fuchsin, the pollen coat and the exine structures could be clearly visualized in the pollen of Brassica napus. This co-staining method was applied successfully in staining pollen from Fraxinus chinensis, Calystegia hederacea, and Petunia hybrida. Using this method, small pollen coat-containing cavities were detected in the outer pollen wall layer of Oryza sativa and Zea mays. We further showed these dyes are compatible with fluorescent protein markers. In the Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic line of GFP-tagged pollen coat protein GRP19, GRP19-GFP was observed to form particles at the periphery of pollen coat. This simple staining method is expected to be widely used for the studies of the palynology as well as the pollen-stigma interaction.

Development of the Middle Layer in the Anther of Arabidopsis.

The middle layer is an essential cell layer of the anther wall located between the endothecium and tapetum in Arabidopsis. Based on sectioning, the middle layer was found to be degraded at stage 7, which led to the separation of the tapetum from the anther wall. Here, we established techniques for live imaging of the anther. We created a marker line with fluorescent proteins expressed in all anther layers to study anther development. Several staining methods were used in the intact anthers to study anther cell morphology. We clarified the initiation, development, and degradation of the middle layer in Arabidopsis. This layer is initiated from both the inner and outer secondary parietal cells at stage 4, stopped cell division at stage 6, and finally degraded at stage 11. The neighboring cell layers, the epidermis, and endothecium continued cell division until stage 10, which led to a thin middle layer. The degradation of the tapetum cell wall at stage 7 lead to its isolation from the anther wall. This work presents fundamental information on the development of the middle layer, which facilitates the further investigation of anther development and plant fertility. These live imaging methods could be useful in future studies.

[Genetic regulatory pathway of gene related breast cancer metastasis: primary study by linear differential model and k-means clustering].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential genetic regulatory pathway of gene related breast cancer metastasis. METHODS: Microarray technique was used to identify the gene expression profile and to screen the differential expression genes in breast cancer with special emphasis on the metastasis factors. A gene chip was available, obtained from the surgical samples, including breast cancer primary tissues and metastasis tissues, of 30 female patients with breast cancer at different clinical stages. Then potential genetic regulatory pathway of gene related breast cancer metastasis was analyzed with a linear differential model and k-means clustering. RESULTS: Twenty-seven differential expression genes were identified. It was suggested that the potential regulatory pathway of gene related to breast cancer metastasis is made up of GRP, BPAG1, and SFRP2 genes. CONCLUSION: The metastasis of breast cancer is related to the cancerization caused by the abnormal expression of multiple genes. It is reliable to analyze the Genetic regulatory pathway of gene related breast cancer metastasis by using multiple bio-informatic measures.

On the alignment space.

Sequences with generalized errors which are called mutations in bioinformatics and generalized error-correcting codes are studied in this paper. In the areas of bioinformatics, computer science and information theory, sequences with generalized errors are discussed respectively for different aims. Firstly, we give the definitions of alignment distance and Levenshtein distance by expansion sequences and discuss their properties and relations. Then the modular structure theory is introduced for strictly describe the expansion sequences. We show that the expansion modular structures of sequences form a Boolean algebra. As applications of the modular structure theory, we give a new and more strict proof of triangle inequality for alignment distance. At last, the definition and construction of generalized error-correcting codes are studied, and some optimal codes with small length are listed.

Super pairwise alignment (SPA): an efficient approach to global alignment for homologous sequences.

Sequence analysis is the basis of bioinformatics, while sequence alignment is a fundamental task for sequence analysis. The widely used alignment algorithm, Dynamic Programming, though generating optimal alignment, takes too much time due to its high computation complexity O(N(2)). In order to reduce computation complexity without sacrificing too much accuracy, we have developed a new approach to align two homologous sequences. The new approach presented here, adopting our novel algorithm which combines the methods of probabilistic and combinatorial analysis, reduces the computation complexity to as low as O(N). The computation speed by our program is at least 15 times faster than traditional pairwise alignment algorithms without a loss of much accuracy. We hence named the algorithm Super Pairwise Alignment (SPA). The pairwise alignment execution program based on SPA and the detailed results of the aligned sequences discussed in this article are available upon request.