Age-Period-Cohort Analysis of Long-Term Trends in Ischemic Stroke Mortality in China Caused by Specific Risk Factors from 1990 to 2019.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to study the primary risk factors for the long-term trends of mortality rates in ischemic stroke (IS) in China. METHODS: Using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) database, research was conducted on the 11 primary risk factors for the mortality rates of IS in China from 1990 to 2019. This study employed joinpoint regression software and the age-period-cohort method to evaluate the trends of mortality rates divided by age, period, and cohort over time. RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) caused by a diet high in red meat and high body mass index in China showed an upward trend. ASMR increased first and then decreased due to smoking, diet high in sodium, particulate matter pollution, high fasting plasma glucose, and high systolic blood pressure. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), kidney dysfunction, low temperature, and lead exposure remained relatively stable during this period. In the 35-45 age group, the mortality rate of IS due to high LDL-C was up to about 60%, and smoking affected men more than women. Overall, high LDL-C, high systolic blood pressure, and particulate matter pollution were the most common risk factors in patients with IS. The risk of death rose with age. The period and cohort relative risks showed that metabolic risk factors had the greatest impact on the mortality of IS. CONCLUSION: Metabolic risk factors have become the primary risk factors for the ASMR of IS in China. Relevant authorities should pay attention to their long-term effects on IS. Effective public health policies and interventions should be implemented to reduce the burden of IS.

Doping Ferrocene-Based Conjugated Microporous Polymers with 7,7,8,8-Tetracyanoquinodimethane for Efficient Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

The design and synthesis of organic photocatalysts remain a great challenge due to their strict structural constraints. However, this could be mitigated by achieving structural flexibility by constructing permanent porosity into the materials. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are an emerging class of porous materials with an amorphous, three-dimensional network structure, which makes it possible to integrate the elaborate functional groups to enhance photocatalytic performance. Here, we report the synthesis of a novel CMP, named TAPFc-TFPPy-CMP, constructed by 1,1'3,3'-tetra(4-aminophenyl)ferrocene (TAPFc) and 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(4-formylphenyl)pyrene (TFPPy) monomers. The integration of the p-type dopant 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) into the TAPFc-TFPPy-CMP improved the light adsorption performance, leading to a decrease in the optical bandgap from 2.00 to 1.43 eV. The doped CMP (TCNQ@TAPFc-TFPPy-CMP) exhibited promising catalytic activity in photocatalytic CO2 reduction under visible light, yielding 546.8 µmol g-1 h-1 of CO with a selectivity of 96% and 5.2 µmol g-1 h-1 of CH4. This represented an 80% increase in the CO yield compared to the maternal TAPFc-TFPPy-CMP. The steady-state photoluminescence (PL) and fluorescence lifetime (FL) measurements reveal faster carrier separation and transport after the doping. This study provides guidance for the development of organic photocatalysts for the utilization of renewable energy.

Two Fluorescent Probes for Recognition of Acetylcholinesterase: Design, Synthesis, and Comparative Evaluation.

In this study, two "on-off" probes (BF2-cur-Ben and BF2-cur-But) recognizing acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were designed and synthesized. The obtained probes can achieve recognition of AChE with good selectivity and pH-independence with a linear range of 0.5~7 U/mL and 0.5~25 U/mL respectively. BF2-cur-Ben has a lower limit of detection (LOD) (0.031 U/mL), higher enzyme affinity (Km = 16 ± 1.6 µM), and higher inhibitor sensitivity. A responsive mechanism of the probes for AChE was proposed based on HPLC and mass spectra (MS) experiments, as well as calculations. In molecular simulation, BF2-cur-Ben forms more hydrogen bonds (seven, while BF2-cur-But has only four) and thus has a more stable enzyme affinity, which is mirrored by the results of the comparison of Km values. These two probes could enable recognition of intracellular AChE and probe BF2-cur-Ben has superior cell membrane penetration due to its higher log p value. These probes can monitor the overexpression of AChE during apoptosis of lung cancer cells. The ability of BF2-cur-Ben to monitor AChE in vivo was confirmed by a zebrafish experiment.

LncRNA HAND2-AS1 promotes liver cancer stem cell self-renewal via BMP signaling.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent liver cancer, characterized by a high rate of recurrence and heterogeneity. Liver cancer stem cells (CSCs) may well contribute to both of these pathological properties, but the mechanism underlying their self-renewal maintenance is poorly understood. Here, we identified a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) termed HAND2-AS1 that is highly expressed in liver CSCs. Human HAND2-AS1 and its mouse ortholog lncHand2 display a high level of conservation. HAND2-AS1 is required for the self-renewal maintenance of liver CSCs to initiate HCC development. Mechanistically, HAND2-AS1 recruits the INO80 chromatin-remodeling complex to the promoter of BMPR1A, thereby inducing its expression and leading to the activation of BMP signaling. Importantly, interfering with expression of HAND2-AS1 by antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and BMPR1A by siRNAs has synergistic anti-tumorigenic effects on humanized HCC models. Moreover, knockout of lncHand2 or Bmpr1a in mouse hepatocytes impairs BMP signaling and suppresses the initiation of liver cancer. Our findings reveal that HAND2-AS1 promotes the self-renewal of liver CSCs and drives liver oncogenesis, offering a potential new target for HCC therapy.

Identification of FMR1-regulated molecular networks in human neurodevelopment.

RNA-binding proteins (RNA-BPs) play critical roles in development and disease to regulate gene expression. However, genome-wide identification of their targets in primary human cells has been challenging. Here, we applied a modified CLIP-seq strategy to identify genome-wide targets of the FMRP translational regulator 1 (FMR1), a brain-enriched RNA-BP, whose deficiency leads to Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), the most prevalent inherited intellectual disability. We identified FMR1 targets in human dorsal and ventral forebrain neural progenitors and excitatory and inhibitory neurons differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells. In parallel, we measured the transcriptomes of the same four cell types upon FMR1 gene deletion. We discovered that FMR1 preferentially binds long transcripts in human neural cells. FMR1 targets include genes unique to human neural cells and associated with clinical phenotypes of FXS and autism. Integrative network analysis using graph diffusion and multitask clustering of FMR1 CLIP-seq and transcriptional targets reveals critical pathways regulated by FMR1 in human neural development. Our results demonstrate that FMR1 regulates a common set of targets among different neural cell types but also operates in a cell type-specific manner targeting distinct sets of genes in human excitatory and inhibitory neural progenitors and neurons. By defining molecular subnetworks and validating specific high-priority genes, we identify novel components of the FMR1 regulation program. Our results provide new insights into gene regulation by a critical neuronal RNA-BP in human neurodevelopment.

Electrospun TiO2 Nanofibers Featuring Surface Oxygen Vacancies as a Multifunctional Interlayer for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries in a Wide Temperature Range.

Despite great achievements having been made in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs), further improvements regarding rate performance, cycle life, and operating temperature are needed for realistic applications. Herein, we developed a simple electrospun method for the preparation of TiO2 coaxial nanofiber (TCNFs)-modified Celgard separators to suppress the polysulfide shuttling. LSBs with a TCNF/Celgard separator display excellent electrochemical performance. For an areal sulfur loading of 2.5 mg cm-2, the cells exhibited a capacity of 1279 mA h g-1 at 0.5 A g-1, remained 798 mA h g-1 at 2.5 A g-1, and low-capacity decay of 0.057% per cycle within 1000 cycles. At 50 and -10 °C, the capacity of the cells is maintained at 932 and 931 mA h g-1 after 80 cycles at 0.5 A g-1, respectively. Detailed structural analysis and theoretical calculations revealed that the hollow-structured TCNFs offer high density of accessible electropositive Ti sites and oxygen vacancies and thus enables efficient trapping of polysulfides and facilitates Li+ transfer, leading to excellent performance. The simplicity of this strategy and the diversity of hollow-structured metal oxides holds great promise to design separators for high-performance LSBs.

Chinese expert consensus statement on the clinical application of AFP/AFP-L3%/DCP using GALAD and GALAD-like algorithm in HCC.

BACKGROUND: Primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent world-wide malignancies. Half of the newly developed HCC occurs in China. Optimizing the strategies for high-risk surveillance and early diagnosis are pivotal for improving 5-year survival. Constructing the scientific non-invasive detection technologies feasible for medical and healthcare institutions is among the key routes for elevating the efficacies of HCC identification and follow-up. RESULTS: Based on the Chinese and international guidelines, expert consensus statements, literatures and evidence-based clinical practice experiences, this consensus statement puts forward the clinical implications, application subjects, detection techniques and results interpretations of the triple-biomarker (AFP, AFP-L3%, DCP) based GALAD, GALAD like models for liver cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The compile of this consensus statement aims to address and push the reasonable application of the triple-biomarker (AFP, AFP-L3%, DCP) detections thus to maximize the clinical benefits and help improving the high risk surveillance, early diagnosis and prognosis of HCC.

Burden of ischemic stroke in mainland China and Taiwan province from 1990 to 2019: with forecast for the next 11 years.

Ischemic stroke is featured with high incidence, mortality, and disability. The aim of this study is to use Global Burden of Disease database to describe and compare the burden of ischemic stroke in mainland China and Taiwan province and to further predict the expected changes in the next 11 years using statistical modeling methods. Information on ischemic stroke incidence and mortality in China (mainland and Taiwan province) during 1990-2019 was obtained from the Global Burden of Disease database to analyze the effects of region, gender, and age on the incidence and mortality of ischemic stroke in China. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was used to predict the age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized mortality rate of ischemic stroke in males and females in mainland China and Taiwan province in the next 11 years. The period from 1990 to 2019 witnessed an overall upward trend in the number of incidence and deaths in mainland China and Taiwan province. In 2019, there were nearly 2.87 million ischemic incidence cases with stroke in mainland China, with more female patients than male in the age group of over 60 years. Among the nearly 1.03 million deaths, the death toll of men under the age of 85 years was higher than that of women, while in Taiwan province, the number of incidence was 28 771, with more female patients of all ages than male. Among the 6788 deaths, the death toll of men under the age of 80 years was higher than that of women. In 2019, the age group with the highest number of patients in the two regions was 65-69 years, while the highest number of deaths was found in people aged 85 years and above. As our autoregressive integrated moving average model predicted, the age-standardized incidence rate value of ischemic stroke is expected to be 163.23/100 000 persons in mainland China by 2030, which would continue to increase, while the age-standardized mortality rate value of ischemic stroke is expected to be 16.41/100 000 persons in Taiwan province by 2030, which showed a decreasing trend. Disease burden of ischemic stroke is still increasing in mainland China and Taiwan province, and health resources should be deployed to implement effective prevention and control strategies, taking into account region, gender, and age.

Loganin attenuates neuroinflammation after ischemic stroke and fracture by regulating α7nAChR-mediated microglial polarization.

Fracture in acute stage of ischemic stroke can increase inflammatory response and enhance stroke injury. Loganin alleviates the symptoms of many inflammatory diseases through its anti-inflammatory effect, but its role in ischemic stroke and fracture remains to be explored. Here, mice were handled with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) followed by tibial fracture 1 day later to establish a pMCAO+fracture model. Loganin or Methyllycaconitine (MLA, a specific a7nAchR inhibitor) were intragastrically administered 2 or 0.5 h before pMCAO, respectively. And mouse motor function and infarct volume were evaluated 3 days after pMCAO. We found that loganin alleviated the neurological deficit, cerebral infarction volume, and neuronal apoptosis (NeuN+ TUNEL+ ) in mice with pMCAO+fracture. And loganin suppressed pMCAO+fracture-induced neuroinflammation by promoting M2 microglia polarization (Iba1+ CD206+ ) and inhibiting M1 microglia polarization (Iba1+ CD11b+ ). While administration with MLA reversed the protective effect of loganin on pMCAO+fracture-induced neurological deficit and neuroinflammation. Next, LPS was used to stimulate BV2 microglia to simulate pMCAO+fracture-induced inflammatory microenvironment in vitro. Loganin facilitated the transformation of LPS-stimulated BV2 cells from M1 pro-inflammatory state (CD11b+ ) to M2 anti-inflammatory state (CD206+ ), which was antagonized by treatment with MLA. And loganin induced autophagy activation in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells by activating a7nAchR. Moreover, treatment with rapamycin (an autophagy activator) neutralized the inhibitory effect of MLA on loganin induced transformation of BV2 cells to M2 phenotype. Furthermore, BV2 cells were treated with LPS, LPS + loganin, LPS + loganin+MLA, or LPS + loganin+MLA+ rapamycin to obtain conditioned medium (CM) for stimulating primary neurons. Loganin reduced the damage of primary neurons caused by LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia through activating a7nAchR and inducing autophagy activation. In conclusion, loganin played anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective roles in pMCAO + fracture mice by activating a7nAchR, enhancing autophagy and promoting M2 polarization of microglia.

Osthole inhibits the migration and invasion of highly metastatic breast cancer cells by suppressing ITGα3/ITGß5 signaling.

Metastasis is the leading cause of death in breast cancer patients. Osthole, as an active compound detected in the traditional Chinese medicine Wenshen Zhuanggu Formula, has shown a promising anti-metastatic activity in human breast cancer cells, but the underlying mechanisms remain ambiguous. In this study we elucidated the anti-metastatic mechanisms of osthole in highly metastatic breast cancer cells and a zebrafish xenograft model. We showed that the expression of integrin α3 (ITGα3) and integrin ß5 (ITGß5) was upregulated in highly metastatic MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-231BO breast cancer cell lines but was downregulated in poorly metastatic MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, which might be the key targets of osthole's anti-metastatic action. Furthermore, we showed that knockdown of ITGα3 and ITGß5 attenuated breast cancer cell migration and invasion possibly via suppression of FAK/Src/Rac1 pathway, whereas overexpression of ITGα3 and ITGß5 caused the opposite effects. Consistently, osthole significantly inhibited breast cancer metastasis by downregulating ITGα3/ITGß5 signaling in vitro and in vivo. These results provide new evidence that osthole may be developed as a candidate therapeutic drug for metastatic breast cancer.

Circular RNA circIPO11 drives self-renewal of liver cancer initiating cells via Hedgehog signaling.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most intractable tumors in the world due to its high rate of recurrence and heterogeneity. Liver cancer initiating cells also called cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a critical role in resistance against typical therapy and high tumor-initiating potential. However, the role of the novel circular RNA (circRNA) circIPO11 in the maintenance of liver cancer initiating cells remains elusive. METHODS: CircRNAs highly conserved in humans and mice were identified from 3 primary HCC samples by circRNA array. The expression and function of circIPO11 were further evaluated by Northern blot, limiting dilution xenograft analysis, chromatin isolation by RNA purification-PCR assay (ChIRP) and HCC patient-derived tumor cells (PDC) models. CircIpo11 knockout (KO) mice were generated by a CRISPR/Cas9 technology. RESULTS: CircIPO11 is highly expressed in HCC tumor tissues and liver CSCs. CircIPO11 is required for the self-renewal maintenance of liver CSCs to initiate HCC development. Mechanistically, circIPO11 recruits TOP1 to GLI1 promoter to trigger its transcription, leading to the activation of Hedgehog signaling. Moreover, GLI1 is also highly expressed in HCC tumor tissues and liver CSCs, and TOP1 expression levels positively correlate with the metastasis, recurrence and survival of HCC patients. Additionally, circIPO11 knockout in mice suppresses the progression of chemically induced liver cancer development. CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal that circIPO11 drives the self-renewal of liver CSCs and promotes the propagation of HCC via activating Hedgehog signaling pathway. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against circIPO11 combined with TOP1 inhibitor camptothecin (CPT) exert synergistic antitumor effect. Therefore, circIPO11 and the Hedgehog signaling pathway may provide new potential targets for the treatment of HCC patients.

Alternative splicing: An important regulatory mechanism in colorectal carcinoma.

Alternative splicing (AS) is a process that produces various mRNA splicing isoforms via different splicing patterns of mRNA precursors (pre-mRNAs). AS is the primary mechanism for increasing the types and quantities of proteins to improve biodiversity and influence multiple biological processes, including chromatin modification, signal transduction, and protein expression. It has been reported that AS is involved in the tumorigenesis and development of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). In this review, we delineate the concept, types, regulatory processes, and technical advances of AS and focus on the role of AS in CRC initiation, progression, treatment, and prognosis. This summary of the current knowledge about AS will contribute to our understanding of CRC initiation and development. This study will help in the discovery of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for CRC prognosis and treatment.

Fluorescent lateral flow immunoassay based on gold nanocluster for detection of pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

An ultrasensitive and rapid fluorescent immunoassay based on a broad-spectrum monoclonal antibody (mAb) was developed to detect pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in honey samples. First, Discovery Studio software was used to analyze and predict the target hapten, and retrorsine (RTS) was selected to react with succinic anhydride (HS) for hapten synthesization. A sensitive and broad-spectrum monoclonal antibody (mAb 13E1) was obtained for nine PAs. Then, fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) were conjugated with mAb as a label probe and used in establishing a qualitative and quantitative lateral flow immunoassay (AuNCs-LFIA) for the determination of four PAs (retrorsine, platyphylline, senecionine, integerrimine) in honey within 14 min. The limits of detection (LOD) were 0.083 µg/kg. The recovery in spiked honey samples were 87.98-119.57%, with coefficients of variation of ≤ 11.5%. A total of 45 commercial import honey samples from nine different countries were tested through AuNCs-LFIA and UPLC-MS/MS method, and satisfactory consistency (R2 = 0.995) was obtained. The rates of positive samples were 55.56% (25/45), and the average concentrations of four PAs were 3.24-46.47 µg/kg. This ultrasensitive multi-PA method provides an alternative analytical tool for evaluating the human risk posed by the consumption of PA-contaminated honey.

Structural and physicochemical properties of lotus seed starch-chlorogenic acid complexes prepared by microwave irradiation.

Lotus seed (LS) has a high starch content and possesses many useful functional properties, which are mainly attributed to its phenolic compound content. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of microwave irradiation (MW) treatment on the structural and physicochemical properties of a lotus seed starch-chlorogenic acid (CA) blend. MW treatment appeared to promote the formation of LS-CA complexes and the modified starch displayed more rougher structures than native starch. The particle size distribution of starch remained approximately constant when the microwave power was 200 W, but increased sharply with further increases in microwave power; a similar trend was observed in the swelling and solubility of starch. XRD and FT-IR spectra show that MW treatment degraded the ordered crystalline structure of starch, facilitating exposure of the starch chains originally buried in the crystalline and amorphous regions within the grains. During this treatment, CA interacted with starch molecules by hydrogen bonding and form a LS-CA complex, which inhibited the self-assembly process of starch chains. These findings demonstrated the potential use of MW treatment in controlling the storage and processing quality of lotus seed, or other starchy foods rich in polyphenols.

Drug-target interactions prediction using marginalized denoising model on heterogeneous networks.

BACKGROUND: Drugs achieve pharmacological functions by acting on target proteins. Identifying interactions between drugs and target proteins is an essential task in old drug repositioning and new drug discovery. To recommend new drug candidates and reposition existing drugs, computational approaches are commonly adopted. Compared with the wet-lab experiments, the computational approaches have lower cost for drug discovery and provides effective guidance in the subsequent experimental verification. How to integrate different types of biological data and handle the sparsity of drug-target interaction data are still great challenges. RESULTS: In this paper, we propose a novel drug-target interactions (DTIs) prediction method incorporating marginalized denoising model on heterogeneous networks with association index kernel matrix and latent global association. The experimental results on benchmark datasets and new compiled datasets indicate that compared to other existing methods, our method achieves higher scores of AUC (area under curve of receiver operating characteristic) and larger values of AUPR (area under precision-recall curve). CONCLUSIONS: The performance improvement in our method depends on the association index kernel matrix and the latent global association. The association index kernel matrix calculates the sharing relationship between drugs and targets. The latent global associations address the false positive issue caused by network link sparsity. Our method can provide a useful approach to recommend new drug candidates and reposition existing drugs.

Flavonoid analogues as urease inhibitors: Synthesis, biological evaluation, molecular docking studies and in-silico ADME evaluation.

A series of novel flavonoid analogues were designed and synthesized. The aimed compounds for urease inhibitory activities were clearly superior to the control drug thiourea (more than 10 times). Among these compounds, L2 (IC50 = 1.343 µM) and L12 (IC50 = 1.207 µM) exhibited the most excellent urease inhibitory activity in vitro. The molecular dockings of L2, L12 and L22 into urease were performed to explore the binding modes and their structure-activity relationship. Furthermore, these aimed compounds showed good druggable properties.

Application of quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis on an antibody and alternariol-like compounds interaction study.

The antigen-antibody interaction determines the sensitivity and specificity of competitive immunoassay for hapten detection. In this paper, the specificity of a monoclonal antibody against alternariol-like compounds was evaluated through indirect competitive ELISA. The results showed that the antibody had cross-reactivity with 33 compounds with the binding affinity (expressed by IC50 ) ranging from 9.4 ng/mL to 12.0 µg/mL. All the 33 compounds contained a common moiety and similar substituents. To understand how this common moiety and substituents affected the recognition ability of the antibody, a three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) between the antibody and the 33 alternariol-like compounds was constructed using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) methods. The q2 values of the CoMFA and CoMSIA models were 0.785 and 0.782, respectively, and the r2 values were 0.911 and 0.988, respectively, indicating that the models had good predictive ability. The results of 3D-QSAR showed that the most important factor affecting antibody recognition was the hydrogen bond mainly formed by the hydroxyl group of alternariol, followed by the hydrophobic force mainly formed by the methyl group. This study provides a reference for the design of new hapten and the mechanisms for antibody recognition.

Novel hapten design, antibody recognition mechanism study, and a highly sensitive immunoassay for diethylstilbestrol in shrimp.

Over the past few years, there has been a lack of progress in the quality of diethylstilbestrol (DES) antibodies used in immunoassay. In this study, a new immunizing hapten was designed for remarkably sensitive and specific antibody generation against diethylstilbestrol. By introducing a benzene ring instead of the traditional linear chain alkane as the hapten spacer, a more specific immune reaction was induced in the process of immunization. The developed polyclonal antibodies were characterized using the indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA). Under optimized conditions, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the best polyclonal antibody was 0.14 ng/mL and it displayed low cross-reactions (CRs) with the structural analogs such as hexestrol (HEX) and dienestrol (DI). The molecular modeling and quantum chemical computation revealed that the lowest CR of the DES antibody to DI was mainly due to the huge three-dimensional conformational difference between DES and DI. Finally, a highly sensitive icELISA method based on the polyclonal antibody was developed for the determination of DES in shrimp tissue. The limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 0.2 µg/kg in shrimp and the recoveries in the spiked samples ranged from 83.4 to 90.8% with the coefficient of variation less than 13.8%. These results indicated that the use of an aromatic ring as the immunizing hapten spacer arm could be a potential strategy for the enhancement of anti-DES antibody sensitivity, and the established icELISA was applicable to the trace detection of DES in shrimp. Graphical abstract.

Quantitative and rapid detection of amantadine and chloramphenicol based on various quantum dots with the same excitations.

Herein, we developed a sensitive and quantitative flow assay for simultaneous detection of amantadine (AMD) and chloramphenicol (CAP) in chicken samples based on different CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). In contrast to other reports, the QDs could be excited by the same excitations that lowered the requirements for the matching instruments. Under the optimal conditions, the strategy permitted sensitive detection of AMD and CAP in a linear range of 0.23 to 1.02 ng/g and 0.02 to 0.66 ng/g. The limits of detection were 0.18 ng/g and 0.016 ng/g, respectively. Moreover, the whole detection process could be completed within 20 min with no additional sophisticated instruments and complicated operations. Spiked samples were analyzed using both QD-based lateral flow immunoassay (QD-LFIA) and commercial ELISA kits with good correlation (R2 = 0.96). Moreover, this study laid the foundation and simplified the development of the requisite instrument. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

ST2/IL-33-Dependent Microglial Response Limits Acute Ischemic Brain Injury.

ST2, a member of the interleukin (IL) 1 receptor family, and its ligand IL-33 play critical roles in immune regulation and inflammatory responses. This study explores the roles of endogenous IL-33/ST2 signaling in ischemic brain injury and elucidates the underlying mechanisms of action. The expression of IL-33 rapidly increased in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes after 60 min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). ST2 receptor deficiency exacerbated brain infarction 3 d after tMCAO as well as distal permanent MCAO. ST2 deficiency also aggravated neurological deficits up to 7 d after tMCAO. Conversely, intracerebroventricular infusions of IL-33 after tMCAO attenuated brain infarction. Flow cytometry analyses demonstrated high levels of ST2 expression on microglia, and this expression was dramatically enhanced after tMCAO. The absence of ST2 enhanced the expression of M1 polarization markers on microglia/macrophages, and impaired the expression of M2 polarization markers after tMCAO. In vitro studies on various types of cultures and coculture systems confirmed that IL-33/ST2 signaling potentiated expression of IL-10 and other M2 genes in primary microglia. The activation of ST2 on microglia led to a protective phenotype that enhanced neuronal survival against oxygen glucose deprivation. Further in vitro studies revealed that IL-33-activated microglia released IL-10, and that this was critical for their neuroprotective effects. Similarly, intracerebroventricular infusions of IL-33 into IL-10 knock-out mice failed to provide neuroprotection against tMCAO in vivo These results shed new light on the IL-33/ST2 axis as an immune regulatory mechanism that serves as a natural brake on the progression of ischemic brain injury.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This is the first study to identify the function of interleukin (IL) 33/ST2 signaling in poststroke microglial responses and neuroprotection against ischemia. Using two models of ischemic stroke, we demonstrate here that ST2 deficiency shifted microglia/macrophages toward a M1-like phenotype, thereby expanding brain infarcts and exacerbating long-term behavioral deficits after stroke. Using stroke models and various in vitro culture and coculture systems, we further characterized a previously undefined mechanism whereby IL-33/ST2 engagement stimulates the production of IL-10 from microglia, which, in turn, enhances neuronal survival upon ischemic challenge. These results shed light on endogenous IL-33/ST2 signaling as a potential immune regulatory mechanism that serves to promote beneficial microglial responses and mitigate ischemic brain injury after stroke.