Genomic Analysis of the Glutathione S-Transferase Family in Pear (Pyrus communis) and Functional Identification of PcGST57 in Anthocyanin Accumulation.

Anthocyanin accumulation in vacuoles results in red coloration in pear peels. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) proteins have emerged as important regulators of anthocyanin accumulation. Here, a total of 57 PcGST genes were identified in the European pear 'Bartlett' (Pyrus communis) through comprehensive genomic analysis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PcGST genes were divided into 10 subfamilies. The gene structure, chromosomal localization, collinearity relationship, cis-elements in the promoter region, and conserved motifs of PcGST genes were analyzed. Further research indicated that glutamic acid (Glu) can significantly improve anthocyanin accumulation in pear peels. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis showed that Glu induced the expression of most PcGST genes, among which PcGST57 was most significantly induced. Further phylogenetic analysis indicated that PcGST57 was closely related to GST genes identified in other species, which were involved in anthocyanin accumulation. Transcript analysis indicated that PcGST57 was expressed in various tissues, other than flesh, and associated with peel coloration at different developmental stages. Silencing of PcGST57 by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) inhibited the expression of PcGST57 and reduced the anthocyanin content in pear fruit. In contrast, overexpression of PcGST57 improved anthocyanin accumulation. Collectively, our results demonstrated that PcGST57 was involved in anthocyanin accumulation in pear and provided candidate genes for red pear breeding.

Heparin-Modified Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Suppress Lithium Chloride/Pilocarpine-Induced Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in Rats through Attenuation of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress.

The development of antiepileptic drugs is still a long process. In this study, heparin-modified superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (UFH-SPIONs) were prepared, and their antiepileptic effect and underlying mechanism were investigated. UFH-SPIONs are stable, homogeneous nanosystems with antioxidant enzyme activity that are able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and enriched in hippocampal epileptogenic foci. The pretreatment with UFH-SPIONs effectively prolonged the onset of seizures and reduced seizure severity after lithium/pilocarpine (LP)-induced seizures in rats. The pretreatment with UFH-SPIONs significantly decreased the expression of inflammatory factors in hippocampal tissues, including IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α. LP-induced oxidative stress in hippocampal tissues was in turn reduced upon pretreatment with UFH-SPIONs, as evidenced by an increase in the levels of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and a decrease in the level of lipid peroxidation (MDA). Moreover, the LP-induced upregulation of apoptotic cells was decreased upon pretreatment with UFH-SPIONs. Together, these observations suggest that the pretreatment with UFH-SPIONs ameliorates LP-induced seizures and downregulates the inflammatory response and oxidative stress, which exerts neuronal protection during epilepsy.

MoP quantum dots based multifunctional efficient electrocatalyst for stable and long-life flexible lithium-sulfur batteries.

The commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is challenging, owing to factors like the poor conductivity of S, the 'shuttle effect', and the slow reaction kinetics. To address these challenges, MoP quantum dots were decorated on hollow carbon spheres (MoPQDs/C) in this study and used as an efficient lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) adsorbents and catalysts. In this approach polysulfides are effectively trapped through strong chemisorption and physical adsorption while simultaneously facilitating LiPSs conversion by enhancing the reaction kinetics. MXene serves as a flexible physical barrier (MoPQDs/C@MXene), further enhancing the confinement of LiPSs. Moreover, both materials are conductive, significantly facilitating electron and charge transfer. Additionally, the flexible MoPQDs/C@MXene-S electrode offers a large specific surface area for sulfur loading and withstand volume expansion during electrochemical processes. As a result, the MoPQDs/C@MXene-S electrode exhibits excellent long-term cyclability and maintains a robust specific capacity of 992 mA h g-1 even after 800cycles at a rate of 1.0C (1C = 1675 mA g-1), with a minimal capacity decay rate of 0.034 % per cycle. This work proposes an efficient strategy to fabricate highly efficient electrocatalysts for advanced Li-S batteries.

The value of early diagnostic screens for the diagnosis of influenza A, B and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections.

BACKGROUND: Rapid diagnosis of influenza virus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections is of importance for therapeutic intervention. It was the aim of the study to evaluate screening tests for influenza A (Flu A), B (Flu B), and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) infections in young patients admitted to the hospital. METHODS: 522 children and juvenile patients were admitted to the hospital because of symptoms suspecting Flu A, B or M. pneumoniae infections. Gold Immunochromatography Assays were used to screen for Flu A and Flu B and rapid identification culturing with subsequent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out at admission for identification of M. pneumoniae infections. Diagnoses were based upon seroconversion during the clinical course. RESULTS: In the current study, 26% of 522 patients were shown to be infected with Flu A and 77% had positive screens using the Gold Immunochromatography Assays. 19% of 522 patients were infected with Flu B as diagnosed by seroconversion and 89% were detected by the screen. The rapid identification culture showed that 169 of 522 patients were M. pneumoniae positive. The positive samples based on rapid identification showed negative and poor concordance with PCR tests. The consistency test between the two screening methods mentioned above showed higher kappa value in the children group than infant group. CONCLUSIONS: The results are in agreement with literature and indicate that in juvenile patients and children the screening efficiency was limited. PCR assays may be applied prior to evaluation of antibody titres in the case of M. pneumoniae infections confirming previous results. The pronounced effect of age on the outcome has to be taken into account for evaluation of the screening methods.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Roles of Sucrose in Anthocyanin Accumulation in 'Kuerle Xiangli' (Pyrus sinkiangensis Yü).

Pear (Pyrus L.) is one of the most important temperate fruit crops worldwide, with considerable economic value and significant health benefits. Red-skinned pears have an attractive appearance and relatively high anthocyanin accumulation, and are especially favored by customers. Abnormal weather conditions usually reduce the coloration of red pears. The application of exogenous sucrose obviously promotes anthocyanins accumulation in 'Kuerle Xiangli' (Pyrus sinkiangensis Yü); however, the underlying molecular mechanism of sucrose-mediated fruit coloration remains largely unknown. In this study, comprehensive transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the essential regulators and pathways associated with anthocyanin accumulation. The differentially expressed genes enriched in Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes items were analyzed. The transcript levels of some anthocyanin biosynthetic regulatory genes and structural genes were significantly induced by sucrose treatment. Sucrose application also stimulated the expression of some sugar transporter genes. Further RT-qPCR analysis confirmed the induction of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes. Taken together, the results revealed that sucrose promotes pear coloration most likely by regulating sugar metabolism and anthocyanin biosynthesis, and this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms underlying the coloration of red-skinned pear.

Integration of quantitative diffusion kurtosis imaging and prostate specific antigen in differential diagnostic of prostate cancer.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) biomarkers in differentiating prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).A total of 43 cases of prostate diseases verified by pathology were enrolled in the present study. These cases were assigned to the BPH group (n = 20, 68.85±10.81 years old) and PCa group (n = 23, 74.13 ±â€Š7.37 years old). All patients underwent routine prostate magnetic resonance imaging and DKI examinations, and the mean diffusivity (MD), mean kurtosis (MK), and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were calculated. Three serum indicators (PSA, free PSA [fPSA], and f/t PSA) were collected. We used univariate logistic regression to analyze the above quantitative parameters between the 2 groups, and the independent factors were further incorporated into the multivariate logistic regression model. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the single indicator and combined model.The difference in PSA, f/t PSA, MK, and FA between PCa and BPH was statistically significant (P < .05). The AUC for the combined model (f/t PSA, MK, and FA) of 0.972 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.928, 1.000) was higher than the AUC of 0.902 (95% CI: 0.801, 1.000) for f/t PSA, 0.833 (95% CI: 0.707, 0.958) for MK, and 0.807 (95% CI: 0.679, 0.934) for FA.The MK and FA values for DKI and f/t PSA effectively identify PCa and BPH, compared to the PSA indicators. Combining DKI and PSA derivatives can further improve the diagnosis efficiency and might help in the clinical setting.

MRI and the pathology of breast invasive micropapillary carcinoma.

Diagnosis of breast invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) before surgery is of great value for determining the optimal treatment strategy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pathological features of IMPC. MRI features of IMPC were characterized in relation to the patients' clinicopathological features. Clinical manifestations, mammography results and/or MRI findings of patients with IMPC were retrospectively analyzed. Parameters included morphology, plain T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) signal intensity, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), the internal enhancement mode, early enhancement rates and time-intensity curve (TIC) types during dynamic enhanced scanning. A total of 10 lesions were detected by MRI in eight patients, with one case having three lesions with the mean diameter of 34.44 mm. In plain T2WI scanning, the lesions appeared inhomogeneous with a moderate or high signal intensity. When the b value was 800 sec/mm2, the average ADC value was 0.823±0.12×10-3 mm2/sec. A total of four cases exhibited mass-like enhancement, including an oval rim in one case (three lesions), irregular inhomogeneous enhancement in two cases and irregular uniform enhancement in one case. The margins were clear in one case (three lesions), irregular in two cases and spiculate in one case. Among the four cases with non-mass enhancement, the distribution was focal in two cases, linear in one case and regional in one case, and the internal enhancement mode was cluster-like in one case, heterogeneous in one case and uniform in two cases. The average early enhancement rate was 116.96±45.26%. TICs of type III were observed in all cases. In conclusion, MRI of IMPC demonstrated typical features of malignant tumors and lymphatic vessel infiltration, suggesting that MRI may exhibit guiding significance for the diagnosis and treatment planning of IMPC.