Flavonifractor plautii Protects Against Elevated Arterial Stiffness.

BACKGROUND: Dysbiosis of gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in vascular dysfunction and microbial diversity was reported to be inversely correlated with arterial stiffness. However, the causal role of gut microbiota in the progression of arterial stiffness and the specific species along with the molecular mechanisms underlying this change remain largely unknown. METHODS: Participants with elevated arterial stiffness and normal controls free of medication were matched for age and sex. The microbial composition and metabolic capacities between the 2 groups were compared with the integration of metagenomics and metabolomics. Subsequently, Ang II (angiotensin II)-induced and humanized mouse model were employed to evaluate the protective effect of Flavonifractor plautii (F plautii) and its main effector cis-aconitic acid. RESULTS: Human fecal metagenomic sequencing revealed a significantly high abundance and centrality of F plautii in normal controls, which was absent in the microbial community of subjects with elevated arterial stiffness. Moreover, blood pressure only mediated part of the effect of F plautii on lower arterial stiffness. The microbiome of normal controls exhibited an enhanced capacity for glycolysis and polysaccharide degradation, whereas, those of subjects with increased arterial stiffness were characterized by increased biosynthesis of fatty acids and aromatic amino acids. Integrative analysis with metabolomics profiling further suggested that increased cis-aconitic acid served as the main effector for the protective effect of F plautii against arterial stiffness. Replenishment with F plautii and cis-aconitic acid improved elastic fiber network and reversed increased pulse wave velocity through the suppression of MMP-2 (matrix metalloproteinase-2) and inhibition of MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) and NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-B) activation in both Ang II-induced and humanized model of arterial stiffness. CONCLUSIONS: Our translational study identifies a novel link between F plautii and arterial function and raises the possibility of sustaining vascular health by targeting gut microbiota.

Anti-resonant hollow core fiber with excellent bending resistance in the visible spectral range.

The development of wideband guided hollow-core anti-resonant fiber (HC-ARF) that covers the sensitive range of the human eye's visible spectrum is progressing rapidly. However, achieving low-loss wideband transmission with a small bending radius remains a challenging issue to be addressed. In light of this, we propose a novel, to our knowledge, HC-ARF with a nested double-semi-elliptical cladding structure in the visible spectral region. By employing finite element method simulations, we investigate the confinement loss, bending loss, and single-mode performance of this fiber design. The result shows that the confinement loss of this new fiber exhibits below 10-5 dB·m-1 across almost the entire visible band range, with a minimum loss of 1.55 × 10-7 dB·m-1 achieved for λ = 650 nm. Furthermore, this fiber demonstrates excellent resistance to bending and can maintain an ultra-low bending loss as low as 3 × 10-7 dB·m-1 even under extreme bending conditions with a radius of only 3 cm. Notably, its 3-dB bending radius reaches just 3.5 cm for λ = 532 nm. Additionally, it exhibits outstanding single-mode conductivity under various bending scenarios and achieves a high extinction ratio of up to 104 for higher-order modes after parameter optimization for specific wavelengths.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Interaction within the Carboxymethyl Cellulose-Modified Montmorillonite Lamellae at Aggressive CuCl2 Concentrations.

To elucidate the degradation mechanism of the CMC-modified MMT composite at aggressive Cu2+ concentrations, large scale molecular dynamics simulation was conducted for CuCl2 concentrations ranging from 0 to 800 mM. Both CMC and MMT followed the Langmuir isotherm for Cu2+ adsorption, and the adsorption capacity of CMC (8.75 mmol/g) was much higher than that of MMT (0.83 mmol/g). Despite the CMC mass ratio being only 4.1%, it adsorbed up to 34.3% of the total adsorbed Cu2+. The Cu2+ attraction ability hierarchy of oxygen-containing functional groups in the CMC is as follows: carboxylic oxygens > alcoholic oxygens > carbinolic oxygens > bridging oxygens > glucose oxygens. Carboxyls were the most effective in chelating and complexing with Cu2+, and they could be intentionally added in artificially synthesized polymer-MMT composites for Cu2+ containment. Formation of the Cu2+ cation bridge between CMC and MMT at aggressive CuCl2 concentrations contributed to the transition of CMC density distribution from unimodality to bimodality and enhanced resistance of polymer elution. As the CuCl2 concentration increased, the stoichiometric ratio between the chelated Cu2+ and carboxylic oxygens increased from 1:2 to 1:1, suggesting the evolution of the Cu2+ chelation mechanism.

Epigenetic Upregulation of H19 and AMPK Inhibition Concurrently Contribute to S-Adenosylhomocysteine Hydrolase Deficiency-Promoted Atherosclerotic Calcification.

BACKGROUND: S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) is a risk factor of cardiovascular disease; inhibition of SAH hydrolase (SAHH) results in SAH accumulation and induces endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. However, the effect and mechanism of SAHH in atherosclerotic calcification is still unclear. We aimed to explore the role and mechanism of SAHH in atherosclerotic calcification. METHODS: The relationship between SAHH and atherosclerotic calcification was investigated in patients with coronary atherosclerotic calcification. Different in vivo genetic models were used to examine the effect of SAHH deficiency on atherosclerotic calcification. Human aortic and murine vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were cultured to explore the underlying mechanism of SAHH on osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs. RESULTS: The expression and activity of SAHH were decreased in calcified human coronary arteries and inversely associated with coronary atherosclerotic calcification severity, whereas plasma SAH and total homocysteine levels were positively associated with coronary atherosclerotic calcification severity. Heterozygote knockout of SAHH promoted atherosclerotic calcification. Specifically, VSMC-deficient but not endothelial cell-deficient or macrophage-deficient SAHH promoted atherosclerotic calcification. Mechanistically, SAHH deficiency accumulated SAH levels and induced H19-mediated Runx2 (runt-related transcription factor 2)-dependent osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs by inhibiting DNMT3b (DNA methyltransferase 3b) and leading to hypomethylation of the H19 promoter. On the contrary, SAHH deficiency resulted in lower intracellular levels of adenosine and reduced AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) activation. Adenosine supplementation activated AMPK and abolished SAHH deficiency-induced expression of H19 and Runx2 and osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs. Finally, AMPK activation by adenosine inhibited H19 expression by inducing Sirt1 (sirtuin-1)-mediated histone H3 hypoacetylation and DNMT3b-mediated hypermethylation of the H19 promoter in SAHH deficiency VSMCs. CONCLUSIONS: We have confirmed a novel correlation between SAHH deficiency and atherosclerotic calcification and clarified a new mechanism that epigenetic upregulation of H19 and AMPK inhibition concurrently contribute to SAHH deficiency-promoted Runx2-dependent atherosclerotic calcification.

Predicting Rate Constants of Alkane Cracking Reactions Using Machine Learning.

Calculating the thermal rate constants of elementary combustion reactions is of great importance in theoretical chemistry. Machine learning has become a powerful, data-driven method for predicting rate constants nowadays. Recently, the molecular similarity combined with the topological indices were proposed to represent the hydrogen abstraction reactions of alkane [J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2023, 63, 5097-5106], which are, however, not applicable to alkane cracking reactions, another important class of combustion reactions, due to the cleavage of the C-C bond. In this work, a new feature selection scheme is proposed to describe both bimolecular and unimolecular cracking reactions. Molecular descriptors are elaborately selected individually for both reactants and products from those generated by the open-source software RDKit. Machine learning models combined with these molecular descriptors are proven to have the ability to accurately predict rate constants of both the hydrogen abstraction reactions of alkanes by CH3 and the alkane cracking reactions. The average deviation of the XGB-FNN model for prediction is around 60% for the hydrogen abstraction reactions of alkanes and 100% for the alkane cracking reactions. It is expected that the descriptors proposed in this work can be applied to build machine learning models for other reactions.

EH domain-containing protein 2 (EHD2): Overview, biological function, and therapeutic potential.

EH domain-containing protein 2 (EHD2) is a member of the EHD protein family and is mainly located in the plasma membrane, but can also be found in the cytoplasm and endosomes. EHD2 is also a nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttle protein. After entering the cell nuclear, EHD2 acts as a corepressor of transcription to inhibit gene transcription. EHD2 regulates a series of biological processes. As a key regulator of endocytic transport, EHD2 is involved in the formation and maintenance of endosomal tubules and vesicles, which are critical for the intracellular transport of proteins and other substances. The N-terminal of EHD2 is attached to the cell membrane, while its C-terminal binds to the actin-binding protein. After binding, EHD2 connects with the actin cytoskeleton, forming the curvature of the membrane and promoting cell endocytosis. EHD2 is also associated with membrane protein trafficking and receptor signaling, as well as in glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in the function of EHD2 in various cellular processes and its potential implications in human diseases such as cancer and metabolic disease. We also discussed the prospects for the future of EHD2. EHD2 has a broad prospect as a therapeutic target for a variety of diseases. Further research is needed to explore its mechanism, which could pave the way for the development of targeted treatments.

The possibility of visualizing TGF-ß1 expression in ApoE-/- mice atherosclerosis using MR targeted imaging.

BACKGROUND: Endothelial TGF-ß1 signaling is a primary driver of atherosclerosis-associated vascular inflammation. Targeted imaging and inhibition of the expression of TGF-ß1 may reduce the atherosclerotic vessel wall inflammation and stop the progression of atherosclerotic plaque. PURPOSE: To investigate the possibility of the anti-TGF-ß1-ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) specific probe as an imaging marker for the expression of TGF-ß1 in ApoE-/- mice atherosclerosis detected with 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Here, 70 ApoE-/- mice on a high-fat diet served as the experimental group and 30 C57BL/6 mice on a normal diet served as the control group. The morphology of plaques was viewed by H&E staining, and the expression and distribution of TNC and TGF-ß1 were detected by immunohistochemical staining. Another 40 mice in the experimental group were classified into a targeted group, which was administrated an anti-TGF-ß1-USPIO probe, and the pure group, which was injected with pure USPIO. RESULTS: The 7.0-T MRI showed that the relative signal intensity (rSI) changes of the targeted group decreased more than those of the pure group (-19.34 ± 0.68% vs. -5.61 ± 0.57%; P < 0.05). Histopathological analyses demonstrated expression of TGF-ß1 in atherosclerotic plaque formation progression from 10 to 28 weeks. The MR images of the expression of TGF-ß1 in atherosclerosis correlated well with the pathological progression of atherosclerotic plaque formation. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-TGF-ß1-USPIO could provide a useful molecular imaging tool for detecting and monitoring the expression of TGF-ß1 in atherosclerotic plaques by MRI.

A Kernel-Based Calibration Algorithm for Chromatic Confocal Line Sensors.

In chromatic confocal line sensors, calibration is usually divided into peak extraction and wavelength calibration. In previous research, the focus was mainly on peak extraction. In this paper, a kernel-based algorithm is proposed to deal with wavelength calibration, which corresponds to the mapping relationship between peaks (i.e., the wavelengths) in image space and profiles in physical space. The primary component of the mapping function is depicted using polynomial basis functions, which are distinguished along various dispersion axes. Considering the unknown distortions resulting from field curvature, sensor fabrication and assembly, and even the inherent complexity of dispersion, a typical kernel trick-based nonparametric function element is introduced here, predicated on the notion that similar processes conducted on the same sensor yield comparable distortions.To ascertain the performance with and without the kernel trick, we carried out wavelength calibration and groove fitting on a standard groove sample processed via glass grinding and with a reference depth of 66.14 µm. The experimental results show that depths calculated by the kernel-based calibration algorithm have higher accuracy and lower uncertainty than those ascertained using the conventional polynomial algorithm. As such, this indicates that the proposed algorithm provides effective improvements.

Efficient Transformation of Water Vapor into Hydrogen by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Loaded with Bamboo Carbon Bed Structured by Fibrous Material.

A new method of efficiently transforming water vapor into hydrogen was investigated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) loaded with bamboo carbon bed structured by fibrous material in an argon medium. Hydrogen productivity was measured in three different reactors: a non-loaded DBD (N-DBD), a bamboo carbon (BC) bed DBD (BC-DBD), and a quartz wool (QW)-loaded BC DBD (QC-DBD). The effects of the quality ratio of BC to QW and relative humidity on hydrogen productivity were also investigated in QC-DBD at various flow rates. The reaction process and mechanism were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 physisorption experiments, infrared spectroscopy, and optical emission spectroscopy. A new reaction pathway was developed by loading BC into the fibrous structured material to activate the reaction molecules and capture the O-containing groups in the DBD reactor. A hydrogen productivity of 17.3 g/kWh was achieved at an applied voltage of 5 kV, flow rate of 4 L/min, and 100% relative humidity (RH) in the QC-DBD with a quality ratio of BC to QW of 3.0.

Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral 1,2-Bis(Boronic) Esters Featuring Acyclic, Non-Adjacent 1,3-Stereocenters.

The construction of acyclic, non-adjacent 1,3-stereogenic centers, prevalent motifs in drugs and bioactive molecules, has been a long-standing synthetic challenge due to acyclic nucleophiles being distant from the chiral environment. In this study, we successfully synthesized highly valuable 1,2-bis(boronic) esters featuring acyclic and nonadjacent 1,3-stereocenters. Notably, this reaction selectively produces migratory coupling products rather than alternative deborylative allylation or direct allylation byproducts. This approach introduces a new activation mode for selective transformations of gem-diborylmethane in asymmetric catalysis. Additionally, we found that other gem-diborylalkanes, previously challenging due to steric hindrance, also successfully participated in this reaction. The incorporation of 1,2-bis(boryl)alkenes facilitated the diversification of the alkenyl and two boron moieties in our target compounds, thereby enabling access to a broad array of versatile molecules. DFT calculations were performed to elucidate the reaction mechanism and shed light on the factors responsible for the observed excellent enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity. These were determined to arise from ligand-substrate steric repulsions in the syn-addition transition state.

Targeting FSCN1 with an oral small-molecule inhibitor for treating ocular neovascularization.

BACKGROUND: Ocular neovascularization is a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment. While intravitreal anti-VEGF agents can be effective, they do have several drawbacks, such as endophthalmitis and drug resistance. Additional studies are necessary to explore alternative therapeutic targets. METHODS: Bioinformatics analysis and quantitative RT-PCR were used to detect and verify the FSCN1 expression levels in oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) and laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) mice model. Transwell, wound scratching, tube formation, three-dimensional bead sprouting assay, rhodamine-phalloidin staining, Isolectin B4 staining and immunofluorescent staining were conducted to detect the role of FSCN1 and its oral inhibitor NP-G2-044 in vivo and vitro. HPLC-MS/MS analysis, cell apoptosis assay, MTT assay, H&E and tunnel staining, visual electrophysiology testing, visual cliff test and light/dark transition test were conducted to assess the pharmacokinetic and security of NP-G2-044 in vivo and vitro. Co-Immunoprecipitation, qRT-PCR and western blot were conducted to reveal the mechanism of FSCN1 and NP-G2-044 mediated pathological ocular neovascularization. RESULTS: We discovered that Fascin homologue 1 (FSCN1) is vital for angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, and that it is highly expressed in oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) and laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV). We found that NP-G2-044, a small-molecule inhibitor of FSCN1 with oral activity, can impede the sprouting, migration, and filopodia formation of cultured endothelial cells. Oral NP-G2-044 can effectively and safely curb the development of OIR and CNV, and increase efficacy while overcoming anti-VEGF resistance in combination with intravitreal aflibercept (Eylea) injection. CONCLUSION: Collectively, FSCN1 inhibition could serve as a promising therapeutic approach to block ocular neovascularization.

CCL5/CCR5-mediated peripheral inflammation exacerbates blood‒brain barrier disruption after intracerebral hemorrhage in mice.

BACKGROUND: Owing to metabolic disequilibrium and immune suppression, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients are prone to infections; according to a recent global analysis of stroke cases, approximately 10 million new-onset ICH patients had experienced concurrent infection. However, the intrinsic mechanisms underlying the effects of infection related peripheral inflammation after ICH remain unclear. METHODS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was intraperitoneally injected into ICH model mice to induce peripheral inflammation. Neurobehavioral deficits, blood‒brain barrier (BBB) disruption, and the expression of CCR5, JAK2, STAT3, and MMP9 were evaluated after treatment with recombinant CCL5 (rCCL5) (a CCR5 ligand), maraviroc (MVC) (an FDA-approved selective CCR5 antagonist), or JAK2 CRISPR plasmids. RESULTS: Our study revealed that severe peripheral inflammation increased CCL5/CCR5 axis activation in multiple inflammatory cell types, including microglia, astrocytes, and monocytes, and aggravated BBB disruption and neurobehavioral dysfunction after ICH, possibly in part through the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: CCR5 might be a potential target for the clinical treatment of infection-induced exacerbation of BBB disruption following ICH.

Identification of MALT1 feedback mechanisms enables rational design of potent antilymphoma regimens for ABC-DLBCL.

MALT1 inhibitors are promising therapeutic agents for B-cell lymphomas that are dependent on constitutive or aberrant signaling pathways. However, a potential limitation for signal transduction-targeted therapies is the occurrence of feedback mechanisms that enable escape from the full impact of such drugs. Here, we used a functional genomics screen in activated B-cell-like (ABC) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cells treated with a small molecule irreversible inhibitor of MALT1 to identify genes that might confer resistance or enhance the activity of MALT1 inhibition (MALT1i). We find that loss of B-cell receptor (BCR)- and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-activating proteins enhanced sensitivity, whereas loss of negative regulators of these pathways (eg, TRAF2, TNFAIP3) promoted resistance. These findings were validated by knockdown of individual genes and a combinatorial drug screen focused on BCR and PI3K pathway-targeting drugs. Among these, the most potent combinatorial effect was observed with PI3Kδ inhibitors against ABC-DLBCLs in vitro and in vivo, but that led to an adaptive increase in phosphorylated S6 and eventual disease progression. Along these lines, MALT1i promoted increased MTORC1 activity and phosphorylation of S6K1-T389 and S6-S235/6, an effect that was only partially blocked by PI3Kδ inhibition in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, simultaneous inhibition of MALT1 and MTORC1 prevented S6 phosphorylation, yielded potent activity against DLBCL cell lines and primary patient specimens, and resulted in more profound tumor regression and significantly improved survival of ABC-DLBCLs in vivo compared with PI3K inhibitors. These findings provide a basis for maximal therapeutic impact of MALT1 inhibitors in the clinic, by disrupting feedback mechanisms that might otherwise limit their efficacy.

Improved dispersion-encoded full-range spectral interferometry for large depth, large inclination and rough samples.

In this study, we provide and validate an enhanced dispersion-encoded full-range spectral interferometry that offers improved measurement accuracy for samples characterized by significant depth, inclination, and roughness. Due to the low intensity of the optical signal in these samples, the optical signal is easy to be overwhelmed by the disturbance terms, demanding a more precise phase compensation. To address this issue, the direct current is removed by subtracting the envelope of the interference spectrum, allowing the weak signal near zero optical delay can be identified. Besides, considering the unwrapped phase error caused by the spectrometer aberrations, only the data with good phase continuity are preserved, which improves the accuracy of phase compensation. Using the proposed technique, the depth measurement range of the system is extended from 6 mm to 12 mm, while achieving an axial measurement precision of 2.5µm. In addition, the full-depth images of a ceramic standard step block and a 3D-printed sample are measured. It shows that our system exhibits superior adaptation to complex surfaces compared to the laser line profiler.

Profiling the activity of the para-caspase MALT1 in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia for potential targeted therapeutic application.

B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) remains a hard-to-treat disease with a poor prognosis in adults. Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1 (MALT1) is a para-caspase required for B-cell receptor (BCR)-mediated NF-κB activation. Inhibition of MALT1 in preclinical models has proven efficacious in many B-cell malignancies including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. We sought to examine the role of MALT1 in B-ALL and determine the biological consequences of its inhibition. Targeting MALT1 with both Z-VRPR-fmk and MI-2 efficiently kills B-ALL cells independent of the cell-of-origin (pro, pre, mature) or the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome, and spares normal B-cells. The mechanism of cell death was through apoptotic induction, mostly in cycling cells. The proteolytic activity of MALT1 can be studied by measuring its ability to cleave its substrates. Surprisingly, with the exception of mature B-ALL, we did not detect cleavage of MALT1 substrates at baseline, nor after proteasomal inhibition or following activation of pre-BCR. To explore the possibility of a distinct role for MALT1 in B-ALL, independent of signaling through BCR, we studied the changes in gene expression profiling following a 24-hour treatment with MI-2 in 12 B-ALL cell lines. Our transcriptome analysis revealed a strong inhibitory effect on MYC-regulated gene signatures, further confirmed by Myc protein downregulation, concomitant with an increase in the Myc degrader FBXW7. In conclusion, our evidence suggests a novel role for MALT1 in B-ALL through Myc regulation and provides support for clinical testing of MALT1 inhibitors in B-ALL.

Prognostic significance of positive peritoneal cytology in endometrial carcinoma based on ESGO/ESTRO/ESP risk classification: A multicenter retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the prognostic significance of positive peritoneal cytology (PC) on endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients under the ESGO/ESTRO/ESP risk classification. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed EC patients from 27 medical centers in China from 2000 to 2019. Patients were divided into three ESGO risk groups: low-risk, intermediate-risk and high-intermediate risk, and high-risk groups. The covariates were balanced by using the propensity score-based inverse probability of treatment weighting (PS-IPTW). The prognostic significance of PC was assessed by Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 6313 EC patients with PC results were included and positive PC was reported in 384 women (6.1%). The multivariate Cox analysis in all patients showed the positive PC was significantly associated with decreased PFS (hazard ratio [HR] 2.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.55-3.13, P < 0.001) and OS (HR 2.25, 95% CI 1.49-3.40, P < 0.001),and the Kaplan-Meier curves also showed a poor survival in the intermediate and high-intermediate risk group (5-year PFS: 75.5% vs. 93.0%, P < 0.001; 5-year OS: 78.3% vs. 96.4%, P < 0.001); While in the low-risk group, there were no significant differences in PFS and OS between different PC status (5-year PFS: 93.1% vs. 97.3%, P = 0.124; 5-year OS: 98.6% vs. 98.2%, P = 0.823); in the high-risk group, significant difference was only found in PFS (5-year PFS: 62.5% vs. 77.9%, P = 0.033). CONCLUSION: Positive PC was an adverse prognostic factor for EC, especially in the intermediate and high-intermediate risk patients. Gynecologic oncologists should reconsider the effect of positive PC on different ESGO risk groups.

Nintedanib Induces the Autophagy-Dependent Death of Gastric Cancer Cells by Inhibiting the STAT3/Beclin1 Pathway.

BACKGROUND: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are currently the most widely studied targeted therapies for gastric cancer. As a triple tyrosine inhibitor, nintedanib can alleviate the progression of a variety of cancers, but it is poorly studied in gastric cancer. AIMS: To investigate the effect of nintedanib on gastric cancer. METHODS: This study investigated nintedanib's effect on gastric cancer autophagy in vivo and in vitro, and the activity and morphological changes of gastric cancer cells were detected by MTT and HE staining. Proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT-related marker proteins of AGS and MKN-28 cells were detected. The effects of nintedanib on autophagy in gastric cancer cells were detected by acridine orange, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting assays. The regulation of nintedanib on STAT3 and Beclin1 was detected by qPCR and Western blotting assays. Subsequently, the effects of nintedanib on the tumor STAT3/Beclin1 pathway were verified by stably overexpressing STAT3 in gastric cancer cell lines and tumor-bearing experiments in nude mice. RESULTS: The results showed that nintedanib could inhibit gastric cancer cells' proliferation and EMT process. Meanwhile, autophagy was induced in AGS and MKN-28 cells, and the expression of autophagy-related protein Beclin1 was upregulated, and the phosphorylation level of STAT3 was downregulated. Nintedanib inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation and upregulated Beclin1 to inhibit tumor growth in gastric cancer cell lines with stable STAT3 overexpression and tumor-bearing experiments in nude mice. CONCLUSIONS: By inhibiting STAT3, nintedanib upregulated Beclin1 and caused autophagic death in gastric cancer cells.

TIP60 mediates stress-induced hypertension via promoting glutamatedmPFC-to-vCA1 release.

Hypertension is well-known to be influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Managing stress is one of the non-pharmacologic approaches to treating hypertension. It is, therefore, imperative to unravel the molecular mechanism by which stress conditions influence hypertension. In this study, TIP60 expressions in human blood samples and cell lines, glutamatedmPFC-to-vCA1 release, and receptor expressions in the Stress-induced hypertension mice were determined using western blotting, CSF (obtained by microdialysis), and ELISA. The study reports increased protein expressions of TIP60 in the peripheral blood of hypertensive patients and in cell lines representing hypertension. In Chronic restraint stress (CRS) conditions TIP60 expression and vCA1 glutamate release were found to be up-regulated, with high SBP and DSP indicating hypertension was induced. After electrical stimulation at the dmPFC, release of glutamate in the vCA1 increased, indicating that activity within the dmPFC drives the release of glutamate in the vCA1, which was blocked by injecting MG149 (a TIP60 inhibitor) into dmPFC. To further determine whether TIP60 was involved in glutamate release and eventually results in hypertension, MG149 was also injected i.p. alongside CRS modeling. The increased glutamate release, NR2B, and IL-18 expressions as well as the CRS-induced hypertension was therefore reversed by chronic application with MG149. Altogether, these results suggest that TIP60 influences the glutamatedmPFC-to-vCA1 release and receptor expressions. This study, therefore, proposes that stressful condition induces increased expression of TIP60 which lead to the transcription of genes that result in conditions that favors glutamate release and receptor expressions hence triggering hypertension.

Advanced Vibration-Based Fault Diagnosis and Vibration Control Methods.

Fault diagnosis and vibration control are the tracking of any aspect of an industry mechanical components' performance using reliably measured data and analytical simulations in conjunction with the heuristic experience, so that the current and expected future performance of the machine for at least the most critical limit events can be described in a proactive manner [...].

Action Recognition Based on Multi-Level Topological Channel Attention of Human Skeleton.

In action recognition, obtaining skeleton data from human poses is valuable. This process can help eliminate negative effects of environmental noise, including changes in background and lighting conditions. Although GCN can learn unique action features, it fails to fully utilize the prior knowledge of human body structure and the coordination relations between limbs. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Multi-level Topological Channel Attention Network algorithm: Firstly, the Multi-level Topology and Channel Attention Module incorporates prior knowledge of human body structure using a coarse-to-fine approach, effectively extracting action features. Secondly, the Coordination Module utilizes contralateral and ipsilateral coordinated movements in human kinematics. Lastly, the Multi-scale Global Spatio-temporal Attention Module captures spatiotemporal features of different granularities and incorporates a causal convolution block and masked temporal attention to prevent non-causal relationships. This method achieved accuracy rates of 91.9% (Xsub), 96.3% (Xview), 88.5% (Xsub), and 90.3% (Xset) on NTU-RGB+D 60 and NTU-RGB+D 120, respectively.