LncRNA CHKB-DT Downregulation Enhances Dilated Cardiomyopathy Through ALDH2.

BACKGROUND: Human cardiac long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) profiles in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) were previously analyzed, and the long noncoding RNA CHKB (choline kinase beta) divergent transcript (CHKB-DT) levels were found to be mostly downregulated in the heart. In this study, the function of CHKB-DT in DCM was determined. METHODS: Long noncoding RNA expression levels in the human heart tissues were measured via quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization assays. A CHKB-DT heterozygous or homozygous knockout mouse model was generated using the clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 system, and the adeno-associated virus with a cardiac-specific promoter was used to deliver the RNA in vivo. Sarcomere shortening was performed to assess the primary cardiomyocyte contractility. The Seahorse XF cell mitochondrial stress test was performed to determine the energy metabolism and ATP production. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms were explored using quantitative proteomics, ribosome profiling, RNA antisense purification assays, mass spectrometry, RNA pull-down, luciferase assay, RNA-fluorescence in situ hybridization, and Western blotting. RESULTS: CHKB-DT levels were remarkably decreased in patients with DCM and mice with transverse aortic constriction-induced heart failure. Heterozygous knockout of CHKB-DT in cardiomyocytes caused cardiac dilation and dysfunction and reduced the contractility of primary cardiomyocytes. Moreover, CHKB-DT heterozygous knockout impaired mitochondrial function and decreased ATP production as well as cardiac energy metabolism. Mechanistically, ALDH2 (aldehyde dehydrogenase 2) was a direct target of CHKB-DT. CHKB-DT physically interacted with the mRNA of ALDH2 and fused in sarcoma (FUS) through the GGUG motif. CHKB-DT knockdown aggravated ALDH2 mRNA degradation and 4-HNE (4-hydroxy-2-nonenal) production, whereas overexpression of CHKB-DT reversed these molecular changes. Furthermore, restoring ALDH2 expression in CHKB-DT+/- mice alleviated cardiac dilation and dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: CHKB-DT is significantly downregulated in DCM. CHKB-DT acts as an energy metabolism-associated long noncoding RNA and represents a promising therapeutic target against DCM.

AGO2 Protects Against Diabetic Cardiomyopathy by Activating Mitochondrial Gene Translation.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is associated with cardiovascular complications. microRNAs translocate into subcellular organelles to modify genes involved in diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, functional properties of subcellular AGO2 (Argonaute2), a core member of miRNA machinery, remain elusive. METHODS: We elucidated the function and mechanism of subcellular localized AGO2 on mouse models for diabetes and diabetic cardiomyopathy. Recombinant adeno-associated virus type 9 was used to deliver AGO2 to mice through the tail vein. Cardiac structure and functions were assessed by echocardiography and catheter manometer system. RESULTS: AGO2 was decreased in mitochondria of diabetic cardiomyocytes. Overexpression of mitochondrial AGO2 attenuated diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction. AGO2 recruited TUFM, a mitochondria translation elongation factor, to activate translation of electron transport chain subunits and decrease reactive oxygen species. Malonylation, a posttranslational modification of AGO2, reduced the importing of AGO2 into mitochondria in diabetic cardiomyopathy. AGO2 malonylation was regulated by a cytoplasmic-localized short isoform of SIRT3 through a previously unknown demalonylase function. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that the SIRT3-AGO2-CYTB axis links glucotoxicity to cardiac electron transport chain imbalance, providing new mechanistic insights and the basis to develop mitochondria targeting therapies for diabetic cardiomyopathy.

LncRNA DCRT Protects Against Dilated Cardiomyopathy by Preventing NDUFS2 Alternative Splicing by Binding to PTBP1.

BACKGROUND: Dilated cardiomyopathy is characterized by left ventricular dilation and continuous systolic dysfunction. Mitochondrial impairment is critical in dilated cardiomyopathy; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we explored the cardioprotective role of a heart-enriched long noncoding RNA, the dilated cardiomyopathy repressive transcript (DCRT), in maintaining mitochondrial function. METHODS: The DCRT knockout (DCRT-/-) mice and DCRT knockout cells were developed using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Cardiac-specific DCRT transgenic mice were generated using α-myosin heavy chain promoter. Chromatin coimmunoprecipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and isoform sequencing were performed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: We found that the long noncoding RNA DCRT was highly enriched in the normal heart tissues and that its expression was significantly downregulated in the myocardium of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. DCRT-/- mice spontaneously developed cardiac dysfunction and enlargement with mitochondrial impairment. DCRT transgene or overexpression with the recombinant adeno-associated virus system in mice attenuated cardiac dysfunction induced by transverse aortic constriction treatment. Mechanistically, DCRT inhibited the third exon skipping of NDUFS2 (NADH dehydrogenase ubiquinone iron-sulfur protein 2) by directly binding to PTBP1 (polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1) in the nucleus of cardiomyocytes. Skipping of the third exon of NDUFS2 induced mitochondrial dysfunction by competitively inhibiting mitochondrial complex I activity and binding to PRDX5 (peroxiredoxin 5) and suppressing its antioxidant activity. Furthermore, coenzyme Q10 partially alleviated mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiomyocytes caused by DCRT reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that the loss of DCRT contributed to PTBP1-mediated exon skipping of NDUFS2, thereby inducing cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction during dilated cardiomyopathy development, which could be partially treated with coenzyme Q10 supplementation.

Nuclear AGO2 promotes myocardial remodeling by activating ANKRD1 transcription in failing hearts.

Heart failure (HF) is manifested by transcriptional and posttranscriptional reprogramming of critical genes. Multiple studies have revealed that microRNAs could translocate into subcellular organelles such as the nucleus to modify gene expression. However, the functional property of subcellular Argonaute2 (AGO2), the core member of the microRNA machinery, has remained elusive in HF. AGO2 was found to be localized in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of cardiomyocytes, and robustly increased in the failing hearts of patients and animal models. We demonstrated that nuclear AGO2 rather than cytosolic AGO2 overexpression by recombinant adeno-associated virus (serotype 9) with cardiomyocyte-specific troponin T promoter exacerbated the cardiac dysfunction in transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-operated mice. Mechanistically, nuclear AGO2 activates the transcription of ANKRD1, encoding ankyrin repeat domain-containing protein 1 (ANKRD1), which also has a dual function in the cytoplasm as part of the I-band of the sarcomere and in the nucleus as a transcriptional cofactor. Overexpression of nuclear ANKRD1 recaptured some key features of cardiac remodeling by inducing pathological MYH7 activation, whereas cytosolic ANKRD1 seemed cardioprotective. For clinical practice, we found ivermectin, an antiparasite drug, and ANPep, an ANKRD1 nuclear location signal mimetic peptide, were able to prevent ANKRD1 nuclear import, resulting in the improvement of cardiac performance in TAC-induced HF.

Changing prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in China between 1973 and 2021: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of 3740 studies and 231 million people.

OBJECTIVE: China concentrates a large part of the global burden of HBV infection, playing a pivotal role in achieving the WHO 2030 global hepatitis elimination target. METHODS: We searched for studies reporting HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) seroprevalence in five databases until January 2023. Eligible data were pooled using a generalised linear mixed model with random effects to obtain summary HBsAg seroprevalence. Linear regression was used to estimate annual percentage change (APC) and HBsAg prevalence in 2021. RESULTS: 3740 studies, including 231 million subjects, were meta-analysed. HBsAg seroprevalence for the general population decreased from 9.6% (95% CI 8.4 to 10.9%) in 1973-1984 to 3.0% (95% CI 2.1 to 3.9%) in 2021 (APC=-3.77; p<0.0001). Decreases were more pronounced in children <5 years (APC=-7.72; p<0.0001) and 5-18 years (-7.58; p<0.0001), than in people aged 19-59 years (-2.44; p<0.0001), whereas HBsAg seroprevalence increased in persons ≥60 years (2.84; p=0.0007). Significant decreases were observed in all six major Chinese regions, in both men (APC=-3.90; p<0.0001) and women (-1.82; p<0.0001) and in high-risk populations. An estimated 43.3 million (95% uncertainty interval 30.7-55.9) persons remained infected with HBV in China in 2021 (3.0%), with notable heterogeneity by region (<1.5% in North China to>6% in Taiwan and Hong Kong) and age (0.3%, 1.0%, 4.7% and 5.6% for <5 years, 5-18 years, 19-59 years and ≥60 years, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: China has experienced remarkable decreases in HBV infection over the last four decades, but variations in HBsAg prevalence persist in subpopulations. Ongoing prevention of HBV transmission is needed to meet HBV elimination targets by 2030. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO (CRD42021284217).

Application of RNA sequencing to understand the response of rice seedlings to salt-alkali stress.

BACKGROUND: Salt-alkali stress represents one of the most stressful events with deleterious consequences for plant growth and crop productivity. Despite studies focusing on the effects of salt-alkali stress on morphology and physiology, its molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we employed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to understand how Na2CO3 stress inhibits rice seedling growth. RESULTS: Na2CO3 stress significantly inhibited the growth of rice seedlings. Through RNA-seq, many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were shown to be potentially involved in the rice seedling response to salt-alkali stress. After 1-day and 5-day treatments, RNA-seq identified 1780 and 2315 DEGs in the Na2CO3-treated versus -untreated rice seedling shoots, respectively. According to the gene ontology enrichment and the Kyoto Encylopedia of Genes and Genomes annotation of DEGs, the growth-inhibition processes associated with salt-alkali stress involve a myriad of molecular events, including biosynthesis and metabolism, enzyme activity, and binding, etc. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the transcriptome analyses in the present work revealed several potential key regulators of plant response to salt-alkali stress, and might pave a way to improve salt-alkali stress tolerance in rice.

LncRNA ZNF593-AS Alleviates Contractile Dysfunction in Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

[Figure: see text].

The NR2B-targeted intervention alleviates the neuronal injuries at the sub-acute stage of cerebral ischemia: an exploration of stage-dependent strategy against ischemic insults.

Stroke is reported to be the second leading cause of death worldwide, among which ischemic stroke has fourfold greater incidence than intracerebral hemorrhage. Excitotoxicity induced by NMDAR plays a central role in ischemic stroke-induced neuronal death. However, intervention targeted NMDARs against ischemic stroke has failed, which may result from the complex composition of NMDARs and the dynamic changes of their subunits. In this current study, the levels of NR1, NR2A and NR2B subunits of NMDARs were observed upon different time points during the reperfusion after 1 h ischemia with the western blot assay. It was found that the changes of NR1 subunit were only detected after ischemia 1 h/reperfusion 1 day (1 d). While, the changes of NR2A and NR2B subunits may last to ischemia 1 h/reperfusion 7 day(7 d), indicating that NR2subunits may be a potential target for ischemia-reperfusion injuries at the sub-acute stage of ischemic stroke. Simultaneously, mitochondrial injuries in neurons were investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mitochondrial dysfunction was evaluated with mitochondrial membrane proteins oxidative respiratory chain complex and OCR. When the antagonist of NMDARs was used before ischemic exposure, the neuronal mitochondrial dysfunction was alleviated, suggesting that these aberrant deviations of NMDARs from basal levels led to mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, when the antagonist of NR2B was administrated intracerebroventricularly at the sub-acute cerebral ischemia, the volume of cerebral infarct region was decreased and the neural functions were improved. To sum up, the ratio of NR2B-containing NMDARs is vital for mitochondrial homeostasis and then neuronal survival. NR2B-targeted intervention should be chosen at the sub-acute stage of cerebral ischemia.

Neglected Drivers of Antibiotic Resistance: Survival of Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase-Producing Pathogenic Escherichia coli from Livestock Waste through Dormancy and Release of Transformable Extracellular Antibiotic Resistance Genes under Heat Treatment.

Extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae has caused a global pandemic with high prevalence in livestock and poultry, which could disseminate into the environment and humans. To curb this risk, heat-based harmless treatment of livestock waste was carried out. However, some risks of the bacterial persistence have not been thoroughly assessed. This study demonstrated that antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) could survive at 55 °C through dormancy, and simultaneously transformable extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (eARGs) would be released. The ESBL-producing pathogenic Escherichia coli CM1 from chicken manure could enter a dormant state at 55 °C and reactivate at 37 °C. Dormant CM1 had stronger ß-lactam resistance, which was associated with high expression of ß-lactamase genes and low expression of outer membrane porin genes. Resuscitated CM1 maintained its virulence expression and multidrug resistance and even had stronger cephalosporin resistance, which might be due to the ultra-low expression of the porin genes. Besides, heat at 55 °C promoted the release of eARGs, some of which possessed a certain nuclease stability and heat persistence, and even maintained their transformability to an Acinetobacter baylyi strain. Therefore, dormant multidrug-resistant pathogens from livestock waste will still pose a direct health risk to humans, while the resuscitation of dormant ARB and the transformation of released eARGs will jointly promote the proliferation of ARGs and the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Serum Ferritin in Geriatric Individuals in the Shanghai Region: Distribution, Correlations, and Reference Intervals.

BACKGROUND: Serum ferritin levels have a clinical application in diagnosing diseases. However, the clinical standard levels and distribution characteristics of serum ferritin based on reference intervals (RIs) in the geriatric Han Chinese population in the East China region have not previously been well reported. This work aimed to investigate the correlation between serum ferritin levels and 14 metabolic markers, analyse the distribution of serum ferritin, and establish serum ferritin RIs for geriatric (> 60 years) individuals in Shanghai. METHODS: Four hundred and sixty-nine healthy Chinese Han subjects (age, 61 - 95 years; median, 71 years) were recruited from the Health Examination Center of Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital in 2021. Serum ferritin was measured on a Roche Cobas 8000 e602, and 14 biochemical parameters were measured on a Siemens Atellica CH-930 to analyse distributions and correlations and to establish serum ferritin RIs for the elderly population in Shanghai. RESULTS: Serum ferritin levels were significantly different between genders (p = 0.06). The established RIs for serum ferritin were 24.44 - 627.09 ng/mL and 48.18 - 554.88 ng/mL in males and females, respectively. Correlation analyses revealed that ferritin levels were correlated with 7 parameters, including body mass index (BMI, p = 0.02), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT, p < 0.01), alanine aminotransferase (ALT, p < 0.01), triglycerides (TGs, p < 0.01), high-density lipoprotein (HDL, p < 0.01), total protein (TP, p < 0.01) and prealbumin (PAB, p < 0.01). When the participants were further divided by BMI, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was an additional variable that was positively correlated only in the overweight/obese group (p = 0.04), while globulin (GLO) was an additional variable that was positively correlated only in the other group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition and metabolism may play a great role in the regulation of serum ferritin levels in geriatric individuals in vivo. The RIs established for serum ferritin may provide precise references for further studies on ferritin-related disease in geriatric individuals.

Transcriptome modulation by endophyte drives rice seedlings response to Pb stress.

This study investigated the growth, SPAD value, chlorophyll fluorescence and transcriptome response of endophyte uninoculated and inoculated rice seedlings under Pb stress after treatment of 1 d and 5 d. Inoculation of endophytes significantly improved the plant height, SPAD value, Fv/F0, Fv/Fm and PIABS by 1.29, 1.73, 0.16, 1.25 and 1.90 times on the 1 d, by 1.07, 2.45, 0.11, 1.59 and 7.90 times on the 5 d, respectively, however, decreased the root length by 1.11 and 1.65 times on the 1 d and 5 d, respectively under Pb stress. Analysis of rice seedlings leaves by RNA-seq, there were 574 down-regulated and 918 up-regulated genes after treatment of 1 d, 205 down-regulated and 127 up-regulated genes after treatment of 5 d, of which 20 genes (11 up-regulated and 9 down-regulated) exhibited the same changing pattern after treatment of 1 d and 5 d. Using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) to annotate these DEGs, and it was found that many of DEGs involved in photosynthesis, oxidative detoxification, hormone synthesis and signal transduction, protein phosphorylation/kinase and transcription factors. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanism of interaction between endophyte and plants under heavy metal stress, and contribute to agricultural production in limited environments.

Synthesis of CoMoO4 Nanofibers by Electrospinning as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting.

To improve the traditional energy production and consumption of resources, the acceleration of the development of a clean and green assembly line is highly important. Hydrogen is considered one of the most ideal options. The method of production of hydrogen through water splitting constitutes the most attractive research. We synthesized CoMoO4 nanofibers by electrospinning along with post-heat treatment at different temperatures. CoMoO4 nanofibers show a superior activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and only demand an overpotential of 80 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm-2. In particular, the CoMoO4 catalyst also delivers excellent performances of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 M KOH, which is a more complicated process that needs extra energy to launch. The CoMoO4 nanofibers also showed a superior stability in multiple CV cycles and maintained a catalytic activity for up to 80 h through chronopotentiometry tests. This is attributed mainly to a synergistic interaction between the different metallic elements that caused the activity of CoMoO4 beyond single oxides. This approach proved that bimetallic oxides are promising for energy production.

Phenotype and metabolism alterations in PCB-degrading Rhodococcus biphenylivorans TG9T under acid stress.

Environmental acidification impairs microorganism diversity and their functions on substance transformation. Rhodococcus is a ubiquitously distributed genus for contaminant detoxification in the environment, and it can also adapt a certain range of pH. This work interpreted the acid responses from both phenotype and metabolism in strain Rhodococcus biphenylivorans TG9T (TG9) induced at pH 3. The phenotype alterations were described with the number of culturable and viable cells, intracellular ATP concentrations, cell shape and entocyte, degradation efficiency of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) 31 and biphenyl. The number of culturable cells maintained rather stable within the first 10 days, even though the other phenotypes had noticeable alterations, indicating that TG9 possesses certain capacities to survive under acid stress. The metabolism responses were interpreted based on transcription analyses with four treatments including log phase (LP), acid-induced (PER), early recovery after removing acid (RE) and later recovery (REL). With the overview on the expression regulations among the 4 treatments, the RE sample presented more upregulated and less downregulated genes, suggesting that its metabolism was somehow more active after recovering from acid stress. In addition, the response mechanism was interpreted on 10 individual metabolism pathways mainly covering protein modification, antioxidation, antipermeability, H+ consumption, neutralization and extrusion. Furthermore, the transcription variations were verified with RT-qPCR on 8 genes with 24-hr, 48-hr and 72-hr acid treatment. Taken together, TG9 possesses comprehensive metabolism strategies defending against acid stress. Consequently, a model was built to provide an integrate insight to understand the acid resistance/tolerance metabolisms in microorganisms.

Pressure-Tuned Multicolor Emission of 2D Lead Halide Perovskites with Ultrahigh Color Purity.

The chemical diversity and structural flexibility of lead halide perovskites (LHPs) offer tremendous opportunities to tune their optical properties through internal molecular engineering and external stimuli. Herein, we report the wide-range and ultrapure photoluminescence emissions in a family of homologous 2D LHPs, [MeOPEA]2 PbBr4-4x I4x (MeOPEA=4-methoxyphenethylammonium; x=0, 0.2, 0.425, 0.575, 1) enabled through internal chemical pressure and external hydrostatic pressure. The chemical pressure, induced by the C-H⋅⋅⋅π interactions and halogen doping/substitution strengthens the structural rigidity to give sustained narrow emissions, and regulates the emission energy, respectively. Further manipulation of physical pressure leads to wide-range emission tuning from 412 to 647 nm in a continuous and reversible manner. This work could open up new pathways for developing 2D LHP emitters with ultra-wide color gamut and high color purity which are highly useful for pressure sensing.

Hydroxychloroquine alleviates renal interstitial fibrosis by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Renal fibrosis is the ultimate presentation of chronic kidney disease, which progresses to end-stage renal disease. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been adapted for the treatment of autoimmune diseases; however, the potential mechanism underlying the role of HCQ in renal fibrosis remains unclear. C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into three groups (sham group, UUO group, and UUO + HCQ group (20 mg/kg)). HE and Masson staining were performed to assess kidney tissue damage and fibrosis, and western blotting was performed to assess the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), extracellular matrix (ECM), PI3K/AKT, and NF-κB-related proteins. PCR and TUNEL were adopted to detect inflammatory factors and cell apoptosis. HK-2 cells treated with TGF-ß1 were used for the in vitro experiments. HCQ may potentially have therapeutic effects on renal fibrosis mediated through 122 target genes, and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways of these genes were enriched for PI3K/AKT signaling based on network pharmacology. UUO mice that received HCQ demonstrated significantly less tubular damage than the UUO mice. HCQ treatment additionally blunted EMT in UUO kidneys and TGF-ß1-treated renal tubular epithelial cells, and alleviated ECM deposition in kidney tissue. Furthermore, HCQ treatment reduced UUO-induced inflammation and apoptosis. Mechanistically, HCQ treatment suppressed the activation of the PI3K/Akt and NF-kB pathways. This study demonstrated that HCQ ameliorated renal fibrosis by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways to attenuate inflammatory factors and the apoptotic function of renal tubular epithelial cells, thus providing renewed theoretical evidence for HCQ treatment of renal fibrosis.

Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation/Reperfusion-Induced Sirt3 Reduction Facilitated Neuronal Injuries in an Apoptosis-Dependent Manner During Prolonged Reperfusion.

Cerebral ischemia is a major cause of morbidity and permanent disability. To date, no treatments for cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury can be effectively administered beyond 4-6 h after the ischemic insult. Our study aimed to clarify the significance of Sirt3 during acute cerebral ischemia and explore Sirt3-targeted therapy for ischemic injuries. Upon establishing the oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) cell model, changes of Sirt3 protein levels and the effects of Sirt3 overexpression on primary hippocampal neurons were detected at indicated time points. Moreover, mitochondrial damage was observed in neurons upon OGD/R injury. The results showed that compared with the normoxia group, Sirt3 protein was significantly decreased in hippocampal neurons exposed to 1 h of OGD followed by 12 h of reperfusion. In addition, the reduction of Sirt3 protein levels contributed to OGD/R-induced neuronal injuries, a higher ratio of neuronal apoptosis, and extensive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, all neuronal injuries were partly rescued by Sirt3 overexpression induced by lentivirus transfection. Mitochondrial morphologies were significantly impaired after OGD/R, but partly salvaged by Sirt3 overexpression. We further explored whether pharmacologically activating Sirt3 is protective for neurons, and found that treatment with honokiol (a Sirt3 agonist) after OGD exposure activated Sirt3 during reperfusion and significantly alleviated OGD/R-induced neuronal injuries. Because mitochondrial functions are essential for neuronal survival, the current results indicate that Sirt3 may be an efficient target to suppress ischemic injuries via maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis. Our current findings shed light on a novel therapeutic strategy against subacute ischemic injuries.

Epidemiological Survey on Echinococcosis in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.

BACKGROUND: According to the latest data, the detection rate of echinococcus in Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County was 3.7%. The objective of this study is to further investigate the epidemiology of echinococcosis in Ho-boksar Mongol Autonomous County of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China and provide the scientific evidence for preventive and control measures. METHODS: We performed ultrasound examination of 521 people in Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and collected 508 serum samples, which were analyzed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data were analyzed by t-test and multinomial logistic regression for risk factor analysis. We collected 126 pieces of herder's dog feces and used double antibody sandwich method to detect the positive rate of fecal antigen. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of human echinococcosis in this region was 4.4% (23/521), including 4.0% (21/521) for cystic echinococcosis (CE), 0.38% (2/521) for alveolar echinococcosis (AE). It was found that CE seropositivity was significantly different from gender, age, ethnic group, occupation, culture, area, income and awareness of this disease. The seroprevalence rate of people aged 41 - 65 (3.74%) was higher than of age 0 - 17 (0.197%) (p > 0.05); Female serological positive (4.921%) was higher than male (1.772%) (p > 0.005); Mongolian serological positive (5%) was higher than Han (0.197%) and Kazakhs (1.181%) (p > 0.05); The herdsmen serological positive (2.756% was higher than students (0.197%) (p > 0.05); The primary school students serological positive (2.559%) was higher than children before school 0% (p > 0.05); Chagankule serological positive (9.211%) was higher than Bayinaow (8.497%) (p > 0.05); The seroprevalence rate of people with income < 2,000 (3.74%) was higher than people with income over 5,000 (0.197%) (p > 0.05); The seroprevalence rate of people who had no disease awareness (4.724%) was higher than those who had awareness of Hydatid disease (1.969%) (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression show age, ethic group and awareness of station are the influence factors of epidemiology of echinococcosis. Canine fecal antigen positive rate was 50% (p > 0.05). Narenhebuke (48.78%) was higher than chahet (20.00%), but there is no statistical difference (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The surveillance data and our study results tend to be consistent that echinococcosis has an increasing trend in Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County. Efforts should be continued, in both animals and humans by increasing training campaigns and public awareness.

Temperature-Responsive Photoluminescence and Elastic Properties of 1D Lead Halide Perovskites R- and S-(Methylbenzylamine)PbBr3.

Low-dimensional metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have received much attention due to their striking semiconducting properties tunable at a molecular level, which hold great potential in the development of next-generation optoelectronic devices. However, the insufficient understanding of their stimulus-responsiveness and elastic properties hinders future practical applications. Here, the thermally responsive emissions and elastic properties of one-dimensional lead halide perovskites R- and S-MBAPbBr3 (MBA+ = methylbenzylamine) were systematically investigated via temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) experiments and first-principles calculations. The PL peak positions of both perovskites were redshifted by about 20 nm, and the corresponding full width at half maximum was reduced by about 40 nm, from ambient temperature to about 150 K. This kind of temperature-responsive self-trapped exciton emission could be attributed to the synergistic effect of electron-phonon coupling and thermal expansion due to the alteration of hydrogen bonding. Moreover, the elastic properties of S-MBAPbBr3 were calculated using density functional theory, revealing that its Young's and shear moduli are in the range of 6.5-33.2 and 2.8-19.5 GPa, respectively, even smaller than those of two-dimensional MHPs. Our work demonstrates that the temperature-responsive emissions and low elastic moduli of these 1D MHPs could find use in flexible devices.

MiR-221-3p targets Hif-1α to inhibit angiogenesis in heart failure.

Angiogenesis is involved in ischemic heart disease as well as the prognosis of heart failure (HF), and endothelial cells are the main participants in angiogenesis. In this study, we found that miR-221-3p is highly expressed in vascular tissue, especially in endothelial cells, and increased miR-221-3p was observed in heart tissue of HF patients and transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-induced HF mice. To explore the role of miR-221-3p in endothelial cells, microRNA (miRNA) mimics and inhibitors were employed in vitro. Overexpression of miR-221-3p inhibited endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and cord formation in vitro, while inhibition of miR-221-3p showed the opposite effect. Anti-argonaute 2 (Ago2) coimmunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and western blotting were performed to verify the target of miR-221-3p. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) was identified as a miR-221-3p target, and the adverse effects of miR-221-3p on endothelial cells were alleviated by HIF-1α re-expression. In vivo, a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia (HLI) was developed to demonstrate the effect of miR-221-3p on angiogenesis. AntagomiR-221-3p increased HIF-1α expression and promoted angiogenesis in mouse ischemic hindlimbs. Using the TAC model, we clarified that antagomiR-221-3p improved cardiac function in HF mice by promoting cardiac angiogenesis. Furthermore, serum miR-221-3p was detected to be negatively correlated with heart function in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Our results conclude that miR-221-3p inhibits angiogenesis of endothelial cells by targeting HIF-1α and that inhibition of miR-221-3p improves cardiac function of TAC-induced HF mice. Furthermore, miR-221-3p might be a potential prognostic marker of HF.

NT-pro BNP in AECOPD-PH: old biomarker, new insights-based on a large retrospective case-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the common complications in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study aimed to evaluate the predicting ability of N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) in patients with AECOPD-PH and its relationship with the severity of PH. METHODS: A large retrospective case-controlled study (n = 1072) was performed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from January 2018 to December 2020, and patients were divided into stable COPD (n = 178), AECOPD (n = 688) and AECOPD-PH group (n = 206). Different statistical models were used to screen for reliable and stable biomarkers. RESULTS: In unadjusted analysis and PSM (model 1, 2, 3), red cell distribution width (RDW), total bilirubin (TBIL), and NT-pro BNP were higher in patients with AECOPD-PH than those in AECOPD group. Logistic regression analysis showed, when the range of NT-proBNP was 271-1165 pg/mL (OR: 0.293; 95%CI: 0.184-0.467; P < 0.001) and NT-proBNP > 1165 pg/mL (OR: 0.559; 95%CI: 0.338-0.926; P = 0.024), the morbidity risk of PH in AECOPD patients was increased, so did TBIL. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, at the cut-off value of NT-proBNP was 175.14 pg/mL, AUC was 0.651 (P < 0.001), which was better than TBIL (AUC: 0.590, P < 0.001). As for the results of rank correlation analysis, NT-proBNP had a weak correlation with severity of PH with AECOPD (rs = 0.299, P = 0.001) and its relative relevance with other biomarkers (RDW was 0.359 and TBIL was 0.238, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that NT-proBNP has a diagnostic efficacy in AECOPD-PH and NT-proBNP has a weak correlation with severity of PH with AECOPD.