miR-144 affects the immune response and activation of inflammatory responses in Cynoglossus semilaevis by regulating the expression of CsMAPK6.

MicroRNAs are increasingly recognized for their pivotal role in the immune system, yet the specific regulatory functions of fish-derived microRNAs remain largely unexplored. In this research, we discovered a novel miRNA, Cse-miR-144, in the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis), characterized by a 73-base pair precursor and a 21-nucleotide mature sequence. Our findings revealed that the expression of Cse-miR-144 was notably inhibited by various Vibrio species. Utilizing bioinformatics and dual-luciferase assay techniques, we established that the pro-inflammatory cytokine gene CsMAPK6 is a direct target of Cse-miR-144. Subsequent in vitro and in vivo western blotting analyses confirmed that Cse-miR-144 can effectively reduce the protein levels of CsMAPK6 post-transcriptionally. Moreover, CsMAPK6 is known to be involved in the activation of the Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB). Additional investigations using qPCR and ELISA demonstrated that suppression of Cse-miR-144 leads to an upsurge in the liver mRNA levels of various immune genes (including MYD88, TRAF6, NF-κB, TRAF2, TRAF3, and TNF), alongside a marked increase in the production and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-8) in the bloodstream of C. semilaevis. These findings collectively underscore the potential of Cse-miR-144 as a key inhibitor of CsMAPK and its crucial role in modulating the immune and inflammatory responses in teleost fish. Compared to the siRNA, miRNA is a better tool in controlling the expression of target gene with a lower cost.

Stable Mg Single-Atom Solid Base Catalysts Anchored on Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Carbon.

Solid base catalysts are widely used in the chemical industry owing to their advantages of environmental friendliness and easy separation. However, their application is limited by basic site aggregation and poor stability. In this study, we report the preparation of magnesium (Mg) single-atom catalysts with high activity and stability by a sublimation-trapping strategy. The Mg net was sublimated as Mg vapor at 620 °C, subsequently transported through argon, and finally trapped on the defects of nitrogen-doped carbon derived from metal-organic framework ZIF-8, producing Mg1/NC. Because of the atomically dispersed Mg sites, the obtained Mg1/NC exhibits high catalytic activity and stability for Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde with malononitrile, which is a typical base-catalyzed reaction. The Mg1/NC catalyst achieves a high efficiency with a turnover frequency of 49.6 h-1, which is much better than that of the traditional counterpart MgO/NC (7.7 h-1). In particular, the activity of Mg1/NC shows no decrease after five catalytic cycles, while that of MgO/NC declines due to the instability of basic sites.

Anion Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemistry Calculations of Gas-Phase TaSi17Ì and TaSi18Ì Clusters: Structural Determination, Bonding Characteristics, and Multiplicity of Structural Forms.

This study explores the structures and chemical bonding properties of TaSi17̅ and TaSi18̅ clusters by employing anion photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical computations. Utilizing CALYPSO and ABCluster programs for initial structure prediction, B3LYP hybrid functional for optimization, and CCSD(T)/def2-TZVPPD level for energy calculations, the research identifies the most stable isomers of these clusters. Key findings include the identification of two coexisting low-energy isomers for TaSi17̅, exhibiting Ta-endohedral fullerene-like cage structures, and the lowest-energy structures of TaSi17̅ and TaSi18̅ anions can be considered as derived from the TaSi16̅ superatom cluster. The study enhances the understanding of group 14 element chemistry and guides the design of novel inorganic metallic compounds, potentially impacting materials science.

The behavioral and neurobiological response to sound stress in salmon.

INTRODUCTION: Noise associated with human activities in aquatic environments can affect the physiology and behavior of aquatic species which may have consequences at the population and ecosystem levels. Low frequency sound is particularly stressful for fish, since it is an important factor in predator-prey interactions. Even though behavioral and physiological studies have been conducted to assess the effects of sound on fish species, neurobiological studies are still lacking. METHODS: In this study we exposed farmed salmon to low frequency sound for 5 minutes a day for 30 trials and conducted behavioral observations and tissue sampling before sound exposure (timepoint zero; T0) and after 1 (T1), 10 (T2), 20 (T3) and 30 (T4) exposures, to assess markers of stress. These included plasma cortisol, neuronal activity, monoaminergic signaling, and gene expression in 4 areas of the forebrain. RESULTS: We found that sound exposure induced an activation of the stress response by eliciting an initial startle behavioral response, together with increased plasma cortisol levels and a decrease in neuronal activity in the hypothalamic tubercular nuclei (TN). At T3 and T4 salmon showed a degree of habituation in their behavioral and cortisol response. However, at T4, salmon showed signs of chronic stress with increased serotonergic activity levels in the dorsolateral and dorsomedial pallium, the preoptic area, and the TN, as well as an inhibition of growth and reproduction transcripts in the TN. CONCLUSIONS: Together, our results suggest that prolonged exposure to sound results in chronic stress that leads to neurological changes which suggest a reduction of life fitness traits.

Integrated Application of Multiomics Strategies Provides Insights Into the Environmental Hypoxia Response in Pelteobagrus vachelli Muscle.

Increasing pressures on aquatic ecosystems because of pollutants, nutrient enrichment, and global warming have severely depleted oxygen concentrations. This sudden and significant lack of oxygen has resulted in persistent increases in fish mortality rates. Revealing the molecular mechanism of fish hypoxia adaptation will help researchers to find markers for hypoxia induced by environmental stress. Here, we used a multiomics approach to identify several hypoxia-associated miRNAs, mRNAs, proteins, and metabolites involved in diverse biological pathways in the muscles of Pelteobagrus vachelli. Our findings revealed significant hypoxia-associated changes in muscles over 4 h of hypoxia exposure and discrete tissue-specific patterns. We have previously reported that P. vachelli livers exhibit increased anaerobic glycolysis, heme synthesis, erythropoiesis, and inhibit apoptosis when exposed to hypoxia for 4 h. However, the opposite was observed in muscles. According to our comprehensive analysis, fishes show an acute response to hypoxia, including activation of catabolic pathways to generate more energy, reduction of biosynthesis to decrease energy consumption, and shifting from aerobic to anaerobic metabolic contributions. Also, we found that hypoxia induced muscle dysfunction by impairing mitochondrial function, activating inflammasomes, and apoptosis. The hypoxia-induced mitochondrial dysfunction enhanced oxidative stress, apoptosis, and further triggered interleukin-1ß production via inflammasome activation. In turn, interleukin-1ß further impaired mitochondrial function or apoptosis by suppressing downstream mitochondrial biosynthesis-related proteins, thus resulting in a vicious cycle of inflammasome activation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Our findings contribute meaningful insights into the molecular mechanisms of hypoxia, and the methods and study design can be utilized across different fish species.

Molecular strategies of the pygmy grasshopper Eucriotettix oculatus adapting to long-term heavy metal pollution.

To study the heavy metal accumulation and its impact on insect exterior and chromosome morphology, and reveal the molecular mechanism of insects adapting to long-term heavy metal compound pollution habitats, this study, in the Diaojiang river basin, which has been polluted by heavy metals(HMs) for nearly a thousand years, two Eucriotettix oculatus populations was collected from mining and non-mining areas. It was found that the contents of 7 heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Sn, Sb) in E. oculatus of the mining area were higher than that in the non-mining 1-11 times. The analysis of morphology shows that the external morphology, the hind wing type and the chromosomal morphology of E. oculatus are significant differences between the two populations. Based on the heavy metal accumulation，morphological change, and stable population density, it is inferred that the mining area population has been affected by heavy metals and has adapted to the environment of heavy metals pollution. Then, by analyzing the transcriptome of the two populations, it was found that the digestion, immunity, excretion, endocrine, nerve, circulation, reproductive and other systems and lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and other cell structure-related gene expression were suppressed. This shows that the functions of the above-mentioned related systems of E. oculatus are inhibited by heavy metal stress. However, it has also been found that through the significant up-regulation of genes related to the above system, such as ATP2B, pepsin A, ubiquitin, AQP1, ACOX, ATPeV0A, SEC61A, CANX, ALDH7A1, DLD, aceE, Hsp40, and catalase, etc., and the down-regulation of MAPK signalling pathway genes, can enhanced nutrient absorption, improve energy metabolism, repair damaged cells and degrade abnormal proteins, maintain the stability of cells and systems, and resist heavy metal damage so that E. oculatus can adapt to the environment of heavy metal pollution for a long time.

Structural Determination and Bonding Characteristics of the Gas-Phase Ta2Si2Ì Anion and Its Neutral: Anion Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Theoretical Studies.

The structures and bonding characteristics of Ta2Si2̅/0 clusters are investigated using anion photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. The vertical detachment energy of the Ta2Si2̅ anion is measured to be 2.00 ± 0.08 eV using the 266 nm photon. It is found that the Ta2Si2̅ anion has three low-energy isomers with a C2v symmetric Ta-Ta dibridged structural framework, all of which contribute to the experimental photoelectron spectrum, while the Ta2Si2 neutral also has a C2v symmetric Ta-Ta dibridged structural framework. The charge-transfer from Ta atoms to Si atoms is discovered using atomic dipole moment corrected Hirshfeld analysis for the Ta2Si2̅ anion and Ta2Si2 neutral. Chemical bonding investigations show that both the Ta2Si2̅ anion and Ta2Si2 neutral have a strong covalent Ta-Ta bond, as well as σ and π double bonding patterns. Furthermore, the Ta atoms are linked together by a single 2c-2e Ta2 σ bond, whereas the Si atoms are linked together with the Ta atoms via four 2c-2e TaSi σ bonds, two 3c-2e TaSi2 σ bonds, one 4c-2e Ta2Si2 σ bond, and one 4c-2e Ta2Si2 π bond.

Multi-omics analysis revealed the brain dysfunction induced by energy metabolism in Pelteobagrus vachelli under hypoxia stress.

Hypoxia in water environment has become increasingly frequent and serious due to global warming and environmental pollution. Revealing the molecular mechanism of fish hypoxia adaptation will help to develop markers of environmental pollution caused by hypoxia. Here, we used a multi-omics method to identify the hypoxia-associated mRNA, miRNA, protein, and metabolite involved in various biological processes in Pelteobagrus vachelli brain. The results showed that hypoxia stress caused brain dysfunction by inhibiting energy metabolism. Specifically, the biological processes involved in energy synthesis and energy consumption are inhibited in P. vachelli brain under hypoxia, such as oxidative phosphorylation, carbohydrate metabolism and protein metabolism. Brain dysfunction is mainly manifested as blood-brain barrier injury accompanied by neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune diseases. In addition, compared with previous studies, we found that P. vachelli has tissue specificity in response to hypoxia stress and the muscle suffers more damage than the brain. This is the first report to the integrated analysis of the transcriptome, miRNAome, proteome, and metabolome in fish brain. Our findings could provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of hypoxia, and the approach could also be applied to other fish species. DATA AVAILABILITY: The raw data of transcriptome has been uploaded to NCBI database (ID: SUB7714154 and SUB7765255). The raw data of proteome has been uploaded to ProteomeXchange database (PXD020425). The raw data of metabolome has been uploaded to Metabolight (ID: MTBLS1888).

Preparation and In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Rectal In Situ Gel of Meloxicam Hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex.

Meloxicam (MLX) is one of the most effective NSAIDs, but its poor water solubility and low bioavailability limit its clinical application. In this study, we designed a thermosensitive in situ gel of the hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (MLX/HP-ß-CD-ISG) for rectal delivery to improve bioavailability. The best method for preparing MLX/HP-ß-CD was the saturated aqueous solution method. The optimal inclusion prescription was optimized using an orthogonal test, and the inclusion complex was evaluated via PXRD, SEM, FTIR and DSC. Then, MLX/HP-ß-CD-ISG was characterized regarding the gel properties, release in vitro, and pharmacokinetics in vivo. The inclusion rate of the inclusion complex obtained via the optimal preparation process was 90.32 ± 3.81%. The above four detection methods show that MLX is completely embedded in the HP-ß-CD cavity. The developed MLX/HP-ß-CD-ISG formulation has a suitable gelation temperature of 33.40 ± 0.17 °C, a gelation time of 57.33 ± 5.13 s, pH of 7.12 ± 0.05, good gelling ability and meets the requirements of rectal preparations. More importantly, MLX/HP-ß-CD-ISG significantly improved the absorption and bioavailability of MLX in rats, prolonging the rectal residence time without causing rectal irritation. This study suggests that the MLX/HP-ß-CD-ISG can have a wide application prospect with superior therapeutic benefits.

Preparation, In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Nanoemulsion In Situ Gel for Transnasal Delivery of Traditional Chinese Medicine Volatile Oil from Ligusticum sinense Oliv.cv. Chaxiong.

Ischemic stroke is a difficult-to-treat brain disease that may be attributed to a limited therapeutic time window and lack of effective clinical drugs. Nasal-brain administration is characterized by low systemic toxicity and is a direct and non-invasive brain targeting route. Preliminary studies have shown that the volatile oil of Chaxiong (VOC) has an obvious anti-ischemic stroke effect. In this work, we designed a nanoemulsion thermosensitive in situ gel (VOC-NE-ISG) loaded with volatile oil of Chaxiong for ischemia via intranasal delivery to rat brain treatment of cerebral ischemic stroke. The developed VOC-NE-ISG formulation has a suitable particle size of 21.02 ± 0.25 nm and a zeta potential of -20.4 ± 1.47 mV, with good gelling ability and prolonged release of the five components of VOC. The results of in vivo pharmacokinetic studies and brain targeting studies showed that intranasal administration of VOC-NE-ISG could significantly improve the bioavailability and had excellent brain-targeting efficacy of nasal-to-brain delivery. In addition, the results of pharmacodynamics experiments showed that both VOC-NE and VOC-NE-ISG could reduce the neurological deficit score of model rats, reducing the size of cerebral infarction, with a significant effect on improving ischemic stroke. Overall, VOC-NE-ISG may be a promising intranasal nanomedicine for the effective treatment of ischemic stroke.

Catalytically Stable Potassium Single-Atom Solid Superbases.

Solid superbases can catalyze diverse reactions under mild conditions, while they suffer from aggregation of basic sites and poor stability during recycling. Here we report a new generation of solid superbases derived from K single atoms (SAs) prepared by a tandem redox strategy. The initial redox reaction takes place between base precursor KNO3 and graphene support, producing K2 O at 400 °C. Further increasing the temperature to 800 °C, the graphene reduces K2 O to K anchored by its vacancies, leading to the generation of K SAs (denoted as K1 /G). The source of basicity in the K1 /G is K SAs, and neighboring single atoms (NSAs) possess superbasicity, which is different from conventional basicity originated from oxygen and nitrogen atoms. Due to the superbasicity as well as high dispersion and anchoring of basic sites, the K1 /G shows excellent catalytic activity and stability in transesterification reaction, which is much superior to the reported catalysts.

Integrated Analysis of Transcriptomic, miRNA and Proteomic Changes of a Novel Hybrid Yellow Catfish Uncovers Key Roles for miRNAs in Heterosis.

Heterosis is a complex biological phenomenon in which hybridization produces offspring that exhibit superior phenotypic characteristics compared with the parents. Heterosis is widely utilized in agriculture, for example in fish farming; however, its underlying molecular basis remains elusive. To gain a comprehensive and unbiased molecular understanding of fish heterosis, we analyzed the mRNA, miRNA, and proteomes of the livers of three catfish species, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, P. vachelli, and their hybrid, the hybrid yellow catfish "Huangyou-1" (P. fulvidraco ♀ × P. vachelli ♂). Using next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry, we show that the nonadditive, homoeolog expression bias and expression level dominance pattern were readily identified at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, or protein levels, providing the evidence for the widespread presence of dominant models during hybridization. A number of predicted miRNA-mRNA-protein pairs were found and validated by qRT-PCR and PRM assays. Furthermore, several diverse key pathways were identified, including immune defense, metabolism, digestion and absorption, and cell proliferation and development, suggesting the vital mechanisms involved in the generation of the heterosis phenotype in progenies. We propose that the high parental expression of genes/proteins (growth, nutrition, feeding, and disease resistance) coupled with low parental miRNAs of the offspring, are inherited from the mother or father, thus indicating that the offspring were enriched with the advantages of the father or mother. We provide new and important information about the molecular mechanisms of heterosis, which represents a significant step toward a more complete elucidation of this phenomenon.

[Pharmacokinetic study on five components in phthalide target areas of Chaxiong and its ß-CD inclusion compounds based on UPLC-MS/MS].

This study aims to establish a method for the determination of the concentration of five main components of phthalide target areas of Chaxiong(CPTA) and its inclusion of ß-CD in the plasma of rats, and determine the pharmacokinetic parameters, absolute bioavailability and relative bioavailability of CPTA/ß-CD inclusion compound in vivo. The plasma concentrations of senkyunolide A, N-butylphthalide, new osthol lactone, Z-ligustilide and butenyl phthalide were determined with UPLC-MS/MS. The content determination was conducted at the chromatographic conditions as follows: Shim-pack GIST C_(18)-AQ HP column(2.1 mm×100 mm, 3 µm), mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid solution(A)-acetonitrile(B), gradient elution, flow rate of 0.3 mL·min~(-1), column temperature of 35 ℃ and injection volume of 2 µL. The mass spectra were obtained with electrospray ion source(ESI), positive ion mode and multi reaction monitoring. CPTA/ß-CD inclusion compound was prepared by grinding method, DAS 2.0 software was used to model the data, and the absolute bioavailability of CPTA and relative bioavailability of inclusion compound were calculated. Finally, the methods for the determination of five components of senkyunolide A, N-butylphthalide, new osthol lactone, Z-ligustilide and butenyl phthalide in CPTA, were successfully established. The linear relationship among the five components was good within their respective ranges, r>0.99. The absolute bioavailability of the five components in rats was 22.30%, 16.32%, 21.90%, 10.16% and 12.43%, respectively. After CPTA/ß-CD inclusion was prepared, the relative bioavailability of the five components was 138.69%, 198.39%, 218.01%, 224.54% and 363.55%, respectively, significantly improved. This method is rapid, accurate and sensitive, so it is suitable for the pharmacokinetic study of extracts in traditional Chinese medicine and their preparations.

A high-density SNP-based genetic map and several economic traits-related loci in Pelteobagrus vachelli.

BACKGROUND: A high-density genetic linkage map is essential for QTL fine mapping, comparative genome analysis, identification of candidate genes and marker-assisted selection in aquaculture species. Pelteobagrus vachelli is a very popular commercial species in Asia. However, some specific characters hindered achievement of the traditional selective breeding based on phenotypes, such as lack of large-scale genomic resource and short of markers tightly associated with growth, sex determination and hypoxia tolerance related traits. RESULTS: By making use of 5059 ddRAD markers in P. vachelli, a high-resolution genetic linkage map was successfully constructed. The map' length was 4047.01 cM by using an interval of 0.11 cm, which is an average marker standard. Comparative genome mapping revealed that a high proportion (83.2%) of markers with a one-to-one correspondence were observed between P. vachelli and P. fulvidraco. Based on the genetic map, 8 significant genome-wide QTLs for 4 weight, 1 body proportion, 2 sex determination, and 1 hypoxia tolerance related traits were detected on 4 LGs. Some SNPs from these significant genome-wide QTLs were observably associated with these phenotypic traits in other individuals by Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR. In addition, two candidate genes for weight, Sipa1 and HSD11B2, were differentially expressed between fast-, medium- and slow-growing P. vachelli. Sema7a, associated with hypoxia tolerance, was induced after hypoxia exposure and reoxygenation. CONCLUSIONS: We mapped a set of suggestive and significant QTLs as well as candidate genes for 12 growth, 1 sex determination and 1 hypoxia tolerance related traits based on a high-density genetic linkage map by making use of SNP markers for P. fulvidraco. Our results have offered a valuable method about the much more efficient production of all-male, fast growth and hypoxia tolerance P. vachelli for the aquaculture industry.

An Automated Pipeline for Image Processing and Data Treatment to Track Activity Rhythms of Paragorgia arborea in Relation to Hydrographic Conditions.

Imaging technologies are being deployed on cabled observatory networks worldwide. They allow for the monitoring of the biological activity of deep-sea organisms on temporal scales that were never attained before. In this paper, we customized Convolutional Neural Network image processing to track behavioral activities in an iconic conservation deep-sea species-the bubblegum coral Paragorgia arborea-in response to ambient oceanographic conditions at the Lofoten-Vesterålen observatory. Images and concomitant oceanographic data were taken hourly from February to June 2018. We considered coral activity in terms of bloated, semi-bloated and non-bloated surfaces, as proxy for polyp filtering, retraction and transient activity, respectively. A test accuracy of 90.47% was obtained. Chronobiology-oriented statistics and advanced Artificial Neural Network (ANN) multivariate regression modeling proved that a daily coral filtering rhythm occurs within one major dusk phase, being independent from tides. Polyp activity, in particular extrusion, increased from March to June, and was able to cope with an increase in chlorophyll concentration, indicating the existence of seasonality. Our study shows that it is possible to establish a model for the development of automated pipelines that are able to extract biological information from times series of images. These are helpful to obtain multidisciplinary information from cabled observatory infrastructures.

A Flexible Autonomous Robotic Observatory Infrastructure for Bentho-Pelagic Monitoring.

This paper presents the technological developments and the policy contexts for the project "Autonomous Robotic Sea-Floor Infrastructure for Bentho-Pelagic Monitoring" (ARIM). The development is based on the national experience with robotic component technologies that are combined and merged into a new product for autonomous and integrated ecological deep-sea monitoring. Traditional monitoring is often vessel-based and thus resource demanding. It is economically unviable to fulfill the current policy for ecosystem monitoring with traditional approaches. Thus, this project developed platforms for bentho-pelagic monitoring using an arrangement of crawler and stationary platforms at the Lofoten-Vesterålen (LoVe) observatory network (Norway). Visual and acoustic imaging along with standard oceanographic sensors have been combined to support advanced and continuous spatial-temporal monitoring near cold water coral mounds. Just as important is the automatic processing techniques under development that have been implemented to allow species (or categories of species) quantification (i.e., tracking and classification). At the same time, real-time outboard processed three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning has been implemented to increase mission autonomy capability, delivering quantifiable information on habitat features (i.e., for seascape approaches). The first version of platform autonomy has already been tested under controlled conditions with a tethered crawler exploring the vicinity of a cabled stationary instrumented garage. Our vision is that elimination of the tether in combination with inductive battery recharge trough fuel cell technology will facilitate self-sustained long-term autonomous operations over large areas, serving not only the needs of science, but also sub-sea industries like subsea oil and gas, and mining.

The improved energy metabolism and blood oxygen-carrying capacity for pufferfish, Takifugu fasciatus, against acute hypoxia under the regulation of oxygen sensors.

Hypoxia frequently occurs in aquatic ecosystem, which is influenced by salinity, water temperature, weather, and surface water runoff. In order to shed further light on the evolutionary and adaptive mechanisms in fish under hypoxic condition, the impact of acute hypoxia (1.63 ± 0.2 mg/L) and reoxygenation (7.0 ± 0.3 mg/L) on oxygen sensors, energy metabolism, and hematological indices was evaluated in Takifugu fasciatus. Data from transcriptional level analysis show that the expressions of genes related to oxygen sensors (HIF-1α, PHD2, and VHL) were upregulated in the brain and liver under hypoxia and recovered under reoxygenation. The upregulation of GLUT2, VEGF-A, and EPO in conjugation with VEGF-A protein and hematological indices conferred the rapid adjustments of cellular glucose uptake and blood oxygen-carrying capacities in pufferfish. Higher levels of glycolysis-related mRNAs (HK, PGK1, and PGAM2), HK activity, and proteins (PGK1 and PGAM2) were detected in the brain and liver under hypoxic condition compared with control. Interestingly, the expression of MDH1 at the mRNA, enzyme activity, and protein levels was significantly increased in the brain at 0 or 2 h and in the liver at 8 h under hypoxic condition. In addition, although the enzyme activity and mRNA expression of LDH in the brain were not significantly changed, a persistent upregulation was observed in the liver during hypoxia exposure. This study demonstrated that pufferfish could counterpoise the energetic demands and hematological functional properties evoked by oxygen sensors after hypoxia. Our findings provided new insights into the molecular regulatory mechanism of hypoxia in pufferfish.

Comparative iTRAQ-Based Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Pelteobagrus vachelli Liver under Acute Hypoxia: Implications in Metabolic Responses.

More and more frequently these days, aquatic ecosystems are being stressed by nutrient enrichment, pollutants, and global warming, leading to a serious depletion in oxygen concentrations. Although a sudden, significant lack of oxygen will result in mortality, fishes can have an acute behavior (e.g., an increase in breathing rate, reduction in swimming frequency) and physiology responses (e.g., increase in oxygen delivery, and reduction in oxygen consumption) to hypoxia, which allows them to maintain normal physical activity. Therefore, in order to shed further light on the molecular mechanisms of hypoxia adaptation in fishes, the authors conduct comparative quantitative proteomics on Pelteobagrus vachelli livers using iTRAQ. The research identifies 511 acute hypoxia-responsive proteins in P. vachelli. Furthermore, comparison of several of the diverse key pathways studied (e.g., peroxisome pathway, PPAR signaling pathway, lipid metabolism, glycolysis/gluco-neogenesis, and amino acid metabolism) help to articulate the different mechanisms involved in the hypoxia response of P. vachelli. Data from proteome analysis shows that P. vachelli can have an acute reaction to hypoxia, including detoxification of metabolic by-products and oxidative stress in light of continued metabolic activity (e.g., peroxisomes), an activation in the capacity of catabolism to get more energy (e.g., lipolysis and amino acid catabolism), a depression in the capacity of biosynthesis to reduce energy consumption (e.g., biosynthesis of amino acids and lipids), and a shift in the aerobic and anaerobic contributions to total metabolism. The observed hypoxia-related changes in the liver proteome of the fish can help to understand or can be related to the hypoxia-related response that takes place in similar conditions in the liver or other proteomes of mammals.

Integrated analysis of mRNA-seq and miRNA-seq reveals the potential roles of sex-biased miRNA-mRNA pairs in gonad tissue of dark sleeper (Odontobutis potamophila).

BACKGROUND: The dark sleeper (Odontobutis potamophila) is an important commercial fish species which shows a sexually dimorphic growth pattern. However, the lack of sex transcriptomic data is hindering further research and genetically selective breeding of the dark sleeper. In this study, integrated analysis of mRNA and miRNA was performed on gonad tissue to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in the dark sleeper. RESULTS: A total of 143 differentially expressed miRNAs and 16,540 differentially expressed genes were identified. Of these, 8103 mRNAs and 75 miRNAs were upregulated in testes, and 8437 mRNAs and 68 miRNAs were upregulated in ovaries. Integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles predicted more than 50,000 miRNA-mRNA interaction sites, and among them 27,583 negative miRNA-mRNA interactions. A number of sex related genes were targeted by sex-biased miRNAs. The relationship between 15 sex-biased genes and 15 sex-biased miRNAs verified by using qRT-PCR were described. Additionally, a number of SNPs were revealed through the transcriptome data. CONCLUSIONS: The overall results of this study facilitate our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying sex determination and differentiation and provide valuable genomic information for selective breeding of the dark sleeper.

Formulations, hemolytic and pharmacokinetic studies on saikosaponin a and saikosaponin d compound liposomes.

The aim of this study was to develop and optimise a saikosaponin a and saikosaponin d compound liposome (SSa-SSd-Lip) formulation with reduced hemolysis and enhanced bioavailability. A screening experiment was done with Plackett-Burman design, and response surface methodology of five factors (EPC/SSa-SSd ratio, EPC/Chol ratio, water temperature, pH of PBS, and ultrasound time) was employed to optimise the mean diameter, entrapment efficiency of SSa and SSd, and the reduction of hemolysis for SSa-SSd-Lip. Under the optimal process conditions (EPC/SSa-SSd ratio, EPC/Chol ratio, water temperature and pH of PBS were 26.71, 4, 50 °C and 7.4, respectively), the mean diameter, the entrapment efficiency of SSa, the entrapment efficiency of SSd and the hemolysis were 203 nm, 79.87%, 86.19%, 25.16% (SSa/SSd 12.5 mg/mL), respectively. The pharmacokinetic studies showed that the SSa-SSd-Lip had increased circulation time, decreased Cl, and increased AUC, MRT and T1/2ß (p < 0.05) for both SSa and SSd after intravenous administration in comparison with solution.