The downregulation of miR-22 and miR-372 may contribute to gestational diabetes mellitus through regulating glucose metabolism via the PI3K/AKT/GLUT4 pathway.

BACKGROUND: Identifying effective regulatory mechanisms will be significant for Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: The expressions of miR-22 and miR-372 in placenta tissues from 75 pregnant women with GDM and 75 matched healthy controls and HRT8/SVneo cells (a model of insulin resistance) were analyzed by qPCR. The expressions of PI3K, AKT, IRS, and GLUT4 in high glucose-treated HRT8/SVneo cells transfected with miR-22 or miR-372 mimics or inhibitors was assessed by Western blot. A luciferase gene reporter assay was employed to verify miRNAs' target genes. RESULTS: The expressions of miR-22 and miR-372 in placental tissues from GDM patients and HRT8/SVneo cells were significantly decreased compared with the respective controls. The GLUT4 expression was significantly decreased in the placenta tissues of GDM and HRT8/SVneo cells with high glucose transfected with miR-22 and miR-372 inhibitors. We confirmed that SLC2A4, the gene encoding GLUT4, was a direct target of miR-22 and miR-372. In this study, we report that the lower expressions of miR-22 and miR-372 in placental tissue from GDM patients. CONCLUSION: Our results further suggested that the downregulations of miR-22 and miR-372 may contribute to GDM through regulating the PI3K/GLUT4 pathway.

Ultrafast and selective capture of 99TcO4-/ReO4- from wastewater by hyper-branched quaternary ammonium group-functionalized resin.

99Tc primarily exists high mobility in the natural aqueous environment due to its extremely high solubility and non-complexing features, which can easily cause radioactive pollution. We herein report a general strategy for constructing a novel resin (SiPAN-PEI) with multiple positive charges nitrogen, exhibiting ultrafast adsorption kinetics (< 3 min), superior adsorption capacities (463.96 mg g-1), and excellent selectivity in the presence of excess competitive anions, which exceed those of most commercial resins. Moreover, based on impressive structure stability in extreme conditions, SiPAN-PEI can still maintain superior adsorption abilities after suffering irradiation, calcination, and immersion in strong acid. In addition, the separation performance kept excellently after five loading-washing-eluting cycles and the total adsorption ratio can still reach 97 %. Outstandingly, SiPAN-PEI can remove most of ReO4- from simulated nuclear wastewater through a sequential injection automatic separation system and can reduce the concentration of ReO4- to the maximum concentration standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO) in a short time. Leveraging density functional theory calculations and other characteristics clearly elucidated adsorption mechanism of anion-exchange between Cl- and TcO4-/ReO4-. In terms of superior adsorption property, SiPAN-PEI is demonstrated to be a pretty candidate for 99Tc elimination from wastewater.