Ap-2ß regulates cranial osteogenic potential via the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

The skull is a fundamental bone that protects the development of brain and consists of several bony elements, such as the frontal and parietal bones. Frontal bone exhibited superior in osteogenic potential and regeneration of cranial defects compared to parietal bone. However, how this regional difference is regulated remains largely unknown. In this study, we identified an Ap-2ß transcriptional factor with a higher expression in frontal bone, but its molecular function in osteoblasts needs to be elucidated. We found that Ap-2ß knockdown in preosteoblasts leads to reduced proliferation, increased cell death and impaired differentiation. Through RNA-seq analysis, we found that Ap-2ß influences multiple signaling pathways including the Wnt pathway, and overexpression of Ap-2ß showed increased nuclear ß-catenin and its target genes expressions in osteoblasts. Pharmacological activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling using LiCl treatment cannot rescue the reduced luciferase activities of the ß-catenin/TCF/LEF reporter in Ap-2ß knockdown preosteoblasts. Besides, transient expression of Ap-2ß via the lentivirus system could sufficiently rescue the inferior osteogenic potential in parietal osteoblasts, while Ap-2ß knockdown in frontal osteoblasts resulted in reduced osteoblast activity, reduced active ß-catenin and target genes expressions. Taken together, our data demonstrated that Ap-2ß modulates osteoblast proliferation and differentiation through the regulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway and plays an important role in regulating regional osteogenic potential in frontal and parietal bone.

How digitalization works in promoting corporate sustainable development performance? The mediating role of green technology innovation.

How does organizational digitalization enable enterprises to achieve sustainable development? To explore this question, in this paper, sustainable development performance is characterized by the corporate's financial performance and environmental performance respectively, and the intermediary role of green technology innovation is explored. Taking China's listed companies from 2011 to 2020 as the research sample, the empirical results suggest the following: (a) corporate digitalization positively affects corporate sustainability in terms of its financial performance and environmental performance; (b) exploratory green-tech innovation fully mediates the relationship between digitalization and corporate sustainability, while the exploitative counterpart partially mediates this relationship and negatively affects financial performance; (c) state-owned enterprises tend to improve environmental performance through digitalization accelerating green-tech innovation process, while non-state-owned enterprises pay more attention to financial performance. Moreover, enterprises in high-tech industries focus on both financial performance and environmental performance, while enterprises in non-high-tech industries emphasize environmental performance. Therefore, this research can be conducive for enterprises to make full use of digitalization and green technology innovation to achieve sustainable development including the improvement of financial performance and environmental performance.

Shark New Antigen Receptor (IgNAR): Structure, Characteristics and Potential Biomedical Applications.

Shark is a cartilaginous fish that produces new antigen receptor (IgNAR) antibodies. This antibody is identified with a similar human heavy chain but dissimilar sequences. The variable domain (VNAR) of IgNAR is stable and small in size, these features are desirable for drug discovery. Previous study results revealed the effectiveness of VNAR as a single molecule or a combination molecule to treat diseases both in vivo and in vitro with promising clinical applications. We showed the first evidence of IgNAR alternative splicing from spotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum), broadening our understanding of the IgNARs characteristics. In this review, we summarize the discoveries on IgNAR with a focus on its advantages for therapeutic development based on its peculiar biochemistry and molecular structure. Proper applications of IgNAR will provide a novel avenue to understand its special presence in cartilaginous fishes as well as designing a number of drugs for undefeated diseases.