The single-cell opioid responses in the context of HIV (SCORCH) consortium.

Substance use disorders (SUD) and drug addiction are major threats to public health, impacting not only the millions of individuals struggling with SUD, but also surrounding families and communities. One of the seminal challenges in treating and studying addiction in human populations is the high prevalence of co-morbid conditions, including an increased risk of contracting a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Of the ~15 million people who inject drugs globally, 17% are persons with HIV. Conversely, HIV is a risk factor for SUD because chronic pain syndromes, often encountered in persons with HIV, can lead to an increased use of opioid pain medications that in turn can increase the risk for opioid addiction. We hypothesize that SUD and HIV exert shared effects on brain cell types, including adaptations related to neuroplasticity, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation. Basic research is needed to refine our understanding of these affected cell types and adaptations. Studying the effects of SUD in the context of HIV at the single-cell level represents a compelling strategy to understand the reciprocal interactions among both conditions, made feasible by the availability of large, extensively-phenotyped human brain tissue collections that have been amassed by the Neuro-HIV research community. In addition, sophisticated animal models that have been developed for both conditions provide a means to precisely evaluate specific exposures and stages of disease. We propose that single-cell genomics is a uniquely powerful technology to characterize the effects of SUD and HIV in the brain, integrating data from human cohorts and animal models. We have formed the Single-Cell Opioid Responses in the Context of HIV (SCORCH) consortium to carry out this strategy.

GAE-LGA: integration of multi-omics data with graph autoencoders to identify lncRNA-PCG associations.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can disrupt the biological functions of protein-coding genes (PCGs) to cause cancer. However, the relationship between lncRNAs and PCGs remains unclear and difficult to predict. Machine learning has achieved a satisfactory performance in association prediction, but to our knowledge, it is currently less used in lncRNA-PCG association prediction. Therefore, we introduce GAE-LGA, a powerful deep learning model with graph autoencoders as components, to recognize potential lncRNA-PCG associations. GAE-LGA jointly explored lncRNA-PCG learning and cross-omics correlation learning for effective lncRNA-PCG association identification. The functional similarity and multi-omics similarity of lncRNAs and PCGs were accumulated and encoded by graph autoencoders to extract feature representations of lncRNAs and PCGs, which were subsequently used for decoding to obtain candidate lncRNA-PCG pairs. Comprehensive evaluation demonstrated that GAE-LGA can successfully capture lncRNA-PCG associations with strong robustness and outperformed other machine learning-based identification methods. Furthermore, multi-omics features were shown to improve the performance of lncRNA-PCG association identification. In conclusion, GAE-LGA can act as an efficient application for lncRNA-PCG association prediction with the following advantages: It fuses multi-omics information into the similarity network, making the feature representation more accurate; it can predict lncRNA-PCG associations for new lncRNAs and identify potential lncRNA-PCG associations with high accuracy.

FlhF affects the subcellular clustering of WspR through HsbR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

In bacteria, the second messenger cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is synthesized and degraded by multiple diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) and phosphodiesterases. A high level of c-di-GMP induces biofilm formation and represses motility. WspR, a hybrid response regulator DGC, produces c-di-GMP when it is phosphorylated. FlhF, a signal recognition particle-type GTPase, is initially localized to the cell poles and is indispensable for polar flagellar localization in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, we report that deletion of flhF affected biofilm formation and the c-di-GMP level in P. aeruginosa. Phenotypic analysis of a flhF knockout mutant revealed increased biofilm formation, wrinkled colonies on Congo red agar, and an elevated c-di-GMP level compared to the wild-type strain, PAO1. Yeast and bacterial two-hybrid systems showed that FlhF binds to the response regulator HsbR, and HsbR binds to WspR. Deletion of hsbR or wspR in the ΔflhF background abolished the phenotype of ΔflhF. In addition, confocal microscopy demonstrated that WspR-GFP was distributed throughout the cytoplasm and formed a visible cluster at one cell pole in PAO1 and ΔhsbR, but it was mainly distributed as visible clusters at the lateral side of the periplasm and with visible clusters at both cell poles in ΔflhF. These findings suggest that FlhF influences the subcellular cluster and localization of WspR and negatively modulates WspR DGC activity in a manner dependent on HsbR. Together, our findings demonstrate a novel mechanism for FlhF modulating the lifestyle transition between motility and biofilm via HsbR to regulate the DGC activity of WspR.IMPORTANCECyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is a second messenger that controls flagellum biosynthesis, adhesion, virulence, motility, exopolysaccharide production, and biofilm formation in bacteria. Recent research has shown that distinct diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) or phosphodiesterases (PDEs) produce highly specific outputs. Some DGCs and PDEs contribute to the total global c-di-GMP concentration, but others only affect local c-di-GMP in a microenvironment. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we report that FlhF affects the localization and DGC activity of WspR via HsbR and is implicated in local c-di-GMP signaling in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study establishes the link between the c-di-GMP signaling system and the flagellar localization and provides insight for understanding the complex regulatory network of c-di-GMP signaling.

TaVQ22 Interacts with TaWRKY19-2B to Negatively Regulate Wheat Resistance to Sheath Blight.

Wheat sheath blight caused by the necrotic fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia cerealis is responsible for severe damage to bread wheat. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are vital for stress resistance by plants and their homeostasis plays an important role in wheat resistance to sheath blight. Valine-glutamine (VQ) proteins play important roles in plant growth and development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the functional mechanism mediated by wheat VQ protein in response to sheath blight via ROS homeostasis regulation is unclear. In this study, we identified TaVQ22 protein containing the VQ motif and clarified the functional mechanisms involved in the defense of wheat against R. cerealis. TaVQ22 silencing reduced the accumulation of ROS and enhanced the resistance of wheat to R. cerealis. In addition, we showed that TaVQ22 regulated ROS generation by interacting with the WRKY transcription factor TaWRKY19-2B, thereby indicating that TaVQ22 and TaWRKY19-2B formed complexes in the plant cell nucleus. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that the VQ motif in TaVQ22 is crucial for the interaction, where it inhibits the transcriptional activation function of TaWRKY19-2B. In summary, TaVQ22 interacts with TaWRKY19-2B to regulate ROS homeostasis and negatively regulate the defense response to R. cerealis infection. This study provides novel insights into the mechanism that allows VQ protein to mediate the immune response in plants.

Preparative separation of the constituents from Ginkgo biloba L. leaves by a combination of multi-stage solvent extraction and countercurrent chromatography.

In this study, we employed a combination approach for the preparative separation of constituents from Ginkgo biloba L. leaves. It involved multi-stage solvent extractions utilizing two-phase multi-solvent systems and countercurrent chromatography (CCC) separations using three different solvent systems. The n-heptane/ethyl acetate/water (1:1:2, v/v) and n-heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (HepEMWat, 7:3:7:3, v/v) solvent systems were screened out as extraction systems. The polarities of the upper and lower phases in the multi-solvent systems were adjustable, enabling the effectively segmented separation of complex constituents in G. biloba L. The segmented products were subsequently directly utilized as samples and separated using CCC with the solvent systems acetate/n-butanol/water (4:1:5, v/v), HepEMWat (5:5:5:5, v/v), and HepEMWat (9:1:9:1, v/v), respectively. As a result, a total of 11 compounds were successfully isolated and identified from a 2 g methanol extract of G. biloba L through two-stage extraction and three CCC separation processes; among them, nine compounds exhibited high-performance liquid chromatography purity exceeding 85%.

Experimental Study on the Characterization of Aging Resistance Properties of Optical Cables in the Hydrogen-Containing Downhole Environment.

The utilization of downhole optical cables has significantly enhanced the efficiency and reliability of oilfield production operations; however, the challenging high-temperature and high-pressure conditions prevalent in oil-gas fields markedly reduce the service lifespan of these optical cables. This limitation severely impedes their application and further development in subterranean environments. In this study, a qualitative analysis was conducted on the structural materials utilized in two types of optical cables to identify these materials and assess the high-temperature tolerance and aging resistance properties of the optical fibers incorporated within. It was discovered that hydrogen infiltration into the subterranean optical cables predominantly accounts for their operational failure. To address this issue, an optical loss testing platform was established, facilitating the execution of a high-temperature and high-pressure hydrogen permeation aging experiment on the optical fibers, allowing for the evaluation of the hydrogen resistance capabilities of the two types of optical fibers. The findings from this study provide a theoretical foundation and methodological guidance for the optimization of optical fibers, aiming to enhance their durability and functional performance in adverse environmental conditions encountered in oil-gas field applications.

PM2.5 induce neurotoxicity via iron overload and redox imbalance mediated-ferroptosis in HT22 cells.

PM2.5 is an important risk factor for the development and progression of cognitive impairment-related diseases. Ferroptosis, a new form of cell death driven by iron overload and lipid peroxidation, is proposed to have significant implications. To verify the possible role of ferroptosis in PM2.5-induced neurotoxicity, we investigated the cytotoxicity, intracellular iron content, iron metabolism-related genes, oxidative stress indices and indicators involving in Nrf2 and ferroptosis signaling pathways. Neurotoxicity biomarkers as well as the ferroptotic cell morphological changes were determined by Western Blot and TEM analysis. Our results revealed that PM2.5 induced cytotoxicity, lipid peroxidation, as indicated by MDA content, and neurotoxicity via Aß deposition in a dose-related manner. Decreased cell viability and excessive iron accumulation in HT-22 cells can be partially blocked by ferroptosis inhibitors. Interestingly, GPX activity, Nrf2, and its regulated ferroptotic-related proteins (i.e. GPX4 and HO-1) were significantly up-regulated by PM2.5. Moreover, gene expression of DMT1, TfR1, IRP2 and FPN1 involved in iron homeostasis and NCOA4-dependent ferritinophagy were activated after PM2.5 exposure. The results demonstrated that PM2.5 triggered ferritinophagy-dependent ferroptotic cell death due to iron overload and redox imbalance. Activation of Nrf2 signaling pathways may confer a protective mechanism for PM2.5-induced oxidative stress and ferroptosis.

Hsp70 Inhibits the Replication of Fowl Adenovirus Serotype 4 by Suppressing Viral Hexon with the Assistance of DnaJC7.

Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) infection results in serious hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) in broilers, which has caused great economic losses to the poultry industry; however, the specific host responses to FAdV-4 remain unknown. In this study, we identified 141 high-confidence protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between the main viral proteins (Hexon, Fiber 1, Fiber 2, and Penton bases) and host proteins via a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay. We found that heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), the protein with the highest score, and its cofactor DnaJ heat shock protein 40 family member C7 (DnaJC7) could negatively regulate the replication of FAdV-4. Furthermore, the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of Hsp70 and the J domain of DnaJC7 were necessary for inhibiting FAdV-4 replication. We verified that DnaJC7 as a bridge could bind to Hsp70 and Hexon, assisting the indirect interaction between Hsp70 and Hexon. In addition, we found that FAdV-4 infection strongly induced the expression of autophagy proteins and cellular Hsp70 in a dose-dependent manner. Blockage of Hexon by Hsp70 overexpression was significantly reduced when the autophagy pathway was blocked by the specific inhibitor chloroquine (CQ). Our results showed that Hsp70 was co-opted by DnaJC7 to interact with viral Hexon and inhibited Hexon through the autophagy pathway, leading to a considerable restriction of FAdV-4 replication. IMPORTANCE FAdV-4, as the main cause of HHS, has quickly spread all over the world in recent years, seriously threatening the poultry industry. The aim of this study was to identify the important host proteins that have the potential to regulate the life cycle of FAdV-4. We found that Hsp70 and DnaJC7 played crucial roles in regulating the amount of viral Hexon and extracellular viral titers. Moreover, we demonstrated that Hsp70 interacted with viral Hexon with the assistance of DnaJC7, followed by suppressing Hexon protein through the autophagy pathway. These results provide new insight into the role of the molecular chaperone complex Hsp70-DnaJC7 in FAdV-4 infection and suggest a novel strategy for anti-FAdV-4 drug development by targeting the specific interactions among Hsp70, DnaJC7 and Hexon.

ProTICS reveals prognostic impact of tumor infiltrating immune cells in different molecular subtypes.

Different subtypes of the same cancer often show distinct genomic signatures and require targeted treatments. The differences at the cellular and molecular levels of tumor microenvironment in different cancer subtypes have significant effects on tumor pathogenesis and prognostic outcomes. Although there have been significant researches on the prognostic association of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in selected histological subtypes, few investigations have systemically reported the prognostic impacts of immune cells in molecular subtypes, as quantified by machine learning approaches on multi-omics datasets. This paper describes a new computational framework, ProTICS, to quantify the differences in the proportion of immune cells in tumor microenvironment and estimate their prognostic effects in different subtypes. First, we stratified patients into molecular subtypes based on gene expression and methylation profiles by applying nonnegative tensor factorization technique. Then we quantified the proportion of cell types in each specimen using an mRNA-based deconvolution method. For tumors in each subtype, we estimated the prognostic effects of immune cell types by applying Cox proportional hazard regression. At the molecular level, we also predicted the prognosis of signature genes for each subtype. Finally, we benchmarked the performance of ProTICS on three TCGA datasets and another independent METABRIC dataset. ProTICS successfully stratified tumors into different molecular subtypes manifested by distinct overall survival. Furthermore, the different immune cell types showed distinct prognostic patterns with respect to molecular subtypes. This study provides new insights into the prognostic association between immune cells and molecular subtypes, showing the utility of immune cells as potential prognostic markers. Availability: R code is available at https://github.com/liu-shuhui/ProTICS.

Femtosecond-laser-inscribed Bragg grating in hollow-core fiber for highly sensitive optofluidic sensing.

An optofluidic sensor based on a Bragg grating in hollow-core fiber (HCF) is experimentally demonstrated. The grating is inscribed into the HCF by femtosecond laser illumination through a phase mask. Periodic index modulation is introduced into the silica material surrounding the hollow core, causing cladding mode resonance, and multiple reflection peaks are observed in the grating spectrum. These reflection peaks later shift to longer wavelengths when high-index liquid is infiltrated into the HCF. The new reflection peak results from the backward coupling of the liquid core mode of the waveguide, the mode field of which overlaps with the grating modulation surrounding the liquid core. The resonant wavelength of the liquid-core fiber grating increases with the index value of the infiltrating liquid, and optofluidic refractive index sensing is realized with the device. The highest refractive index sensitivity, 1117 nm/RIU, is obtained experimentally in the index range of 1.476-1.54. The infiltrated hollow-core fiber Bragg grating also exhibits high temperature sensitivity due to the high thermal-optic coefficient of the liquid, and a sensitivity of -301 pm/°C is achieved in the temperature range of 25°C to 60°C.

Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of gastric cardia cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Aberrant DNA methylation has been found in various cancer types including gastric cancer, yet the genome-wide DNA methylation profile of gastric cardia cancer (GCC) remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to profile the DNA methylation pattern of GCC and identify promising diagnostic epigenetic biomarkers. METHODS: We investigated the genome-wide DNA methylation pattern in eight pairs of GCC and adjacent normal tissues using Illumina 850K microarrays. Subsequently, bisulfite-pyrosequencing and quantitative real-time PCR were performed on eight pairs of GCC-adjacent normal tissues for validation. Finally, we performed immunohistochemistry to examine ADHFE1 expression on 126 pairs of GCC-adjacent normal samples. RESULTS: DNA methylome analysis showed global hypomethylation and local hypermethylation of promoter cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) islands (CGIs) in GCC tissues compared with gastric cardia normal mucosa (P < 2.2 × 10-16 ). Differential methylation analysis identified a total of 91 723 differentially-methylated probes (DMPs), and the candidate gene with the largest average DNA methylation difference mapped to ADHFE1 (mean Δß = 0.53). Subsequently, three DMPs in the ADHFE1 promoter were validated by pyrosequencing. Notably, the mean methylation level of the three candidate DMPs (ADHFE1_cg08090772, ADHFE1_cg19283840, and ADHFE1_cg20295442) was negatively associated with ADHFE1 mRNA expression level (Spearman rho = -0.64, P = 0.01). Moreover, both mRNA (P = 0.0213) and protein (P < 0.0001) expression of ADHFE1 were significantly decreased in GCCs compared with the adjacent normal tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal DNA methylation aberrations in GCC and that ADHFE1 gene DNA methylation contributes to the risk of GCC, thus providing novel mechanistic insights into gastric cardia cancer carcinogenesis.

Transcriptional Circuitry of NKX2-1 and SOX1 Defines an Unrecognized Lineage Subtype of Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Rationale: The current molecular classification of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) on the basis of the expression of four lineage transcription factors still leaves its major subtype SCLC-A as a heterogeneous group, necessitating more precise characterization of lineage subclasses. Objectives: To refine the current SCLC classification with epigenomic profiles and to identify features of the redefined SCLC subtypes. Methods: We performed unsupervised clustering of epigenomic profiles on 25 SCLC cell lines. Functional significance of NKX2-1 (NK2 homeobox 1) was evaluated by cell growth, apoptosis, and xenograft using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9)-mediated deletion. NKX2-1-specific cistromic profiles were determined using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing, and its functional transcriptional partners were determined using coimmunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry. Rb1flox/flox; Trp53flox/flox and Rb1flox/flox; Trp53flox/flox; Nkx2-1flox/flox mouse models were engineered to explore the function of Nkx2-1 in SCLC tumorigenesis. Epigenomic landscapes of six human SCLC specimens and 20 tumors from two mouse models were characterized. Measurements and Main Results: We identified two epigenomic subclusters of the major SCLC-A subtype: SCLC-Aα and SCLC-Aσ. SCLC-Aα was characterized by the presence of a super-enhancer at the NKX2-1 locus, which was observed in human SCLC specimens and a murine SCLC model. We found that NKX2-1, a dual lung and neural lineage factor, is uniquely relevant in SCLC-Aα. In addition, we found that maintenance of this neural identity in SCLC-Aα is mediated by collaborative transcriptional activity with another neuronal transcriptional factor, SOX1 (SRY-box transcription factor 1). Conclusions: We comprehensively describe additional epigenomic heterogeneity of the major SCLC-A subtype and define the SCLC-Aα subtype by the core regulatory circuitry of NKX2-1 and SOX1 super-enhancers and their functional collaborations to maintain neuronal linage state.

Effect of the CYBA C242T Polymorphism on Preeclampsia Pathogenesis in the Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: Although the mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE) have not been entirely clarified, oxidative stress is thought to be its leading cause. As a major component responsible for reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during oxidative stress, p22phox, encoded by CYBA, is an essential subunit of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CYBA expression and its polymorphism are associated with PE. METHODS: Expression of CYBA was analysed in placentas from PE and control groups, as well as in HTR-8/SVneo cells stimulated with CoCl2 and TNF-α. Then, the CYBA C242T polymorphism in 1184 patients with PE and 1421 healthy controls was genotyped using the TaqMan probe, and the different distributions identified were confirmed by a case‒control association study. RESULTS: Expression of CYBA mRNA and protein in the placenta of pregnant women with PE was significantly increased compared to controls. Expression of CYBA mRNA was also increased in HTR-8/SVneo cells collected after 24 h of separate stimulation with cobalt chloride and TNF-α. There was no significant difference in the distribution of the C242T locus genotype and CYBA allele frequency between the case group and control group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CYBA may play a role in the pathogenesis of oxidative stress in PE, in which it may function by cooperating with the TNF-α-related inflammatory pathway. Although no discrepant distribution of the CYBA C242T polymorphism in the Chinese population was detected, it is necessary to examine multiple CYBA SNPs in diverse populations and perform functional experiments to gain further insights into its pathogenesis.

MD Investigation on the Interaction between Carbamazepine and Two CYP Isoforms, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5.

Carbamazepine (CBZ), a commonly prescribed antiepileptic drug, in human liver, is mainly metabolized by two isoforms of cytochrome P450 (CYP), CYP3A4 and CYP3A5. Therefore, the binding of CBZ with these two enzymes plays crucial role in the biotransformation of the drug into its active metabolite. In the present work, classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to investigate the detailed interaction mechanism between CBZ and these two CYP isoforms at the atomic level. The results revealed that although CBZ can bind with the two proteins, all kinds of the interactions, including hydrogen bonds, salt bridges, hydrophobic interaction, and π-π interaction, are isoform specific. The specificity directly leads to a binding environment difference at the active sites of the two isoforms, as represented by the electrostatic surface potential maps, which further results in the varied dynamic behavior of CBZ in the two isoforms. Our research will help to deepen the understanding of the physiological functions of CYP isoforms and opens the door for the rational design and development of isoform-specific inhibitors.

Differences of Atomic-Level Interactions between Midazolam and Two CYP Isoforms 3A4 and 3A5.

CYP 3A4 and CYP 3A5 are two important members of the human cytochrome P450 family. Although their overall structures are similar, the local structures of the active site are different, which directly leads to obvious individual differences in drug metabolic efficacy and toxicity. In this work, midazolam (MDZ) was selected as the probe substrate, and its interaction with two proteins, CYP 3A4 and CYP 3A5, was studied by molecular dynamics simulation (MD) along with the calculation of the binding free energy. The results show that two protein-substrate complexes have some similarities in enzyme-substrate binding; that is, in both complexes, Ser119 forms a high occupancy hydrogen bond with MDZ, which plays a key role in the stability of the interaction between MDZ and the enzymes. However, the complex formed by CYP 3A4 and MDZ is more stable, which may be attributed to the sandwich structure formed by the fluorophenyl group of the substrate with Leu216 and Leu482. Our study interprets the binding differences between two isoform-substrate complexes and reveals a structure-function relationship from the atomic perspective, which is expected to provide a theoretical basis for accurately measuring the effectiveness and toxicity of drugs for individuals in the era of precision medicine.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of resistant and susceptible wheat in response to Rhizoctonia cerealis.

BACKGROUND: Sheath blight is an important disease caused by Rhizoctonia cerealis that affects wheat yields worldwide. No wheat varieties have been identified with high resistance or immunity to sheath blight. Understanding the sheath blight resistance mechanism is essential for controlling this disease. In this study, we investigated the response of wheat to Rhizoctonia cerealis infection by analyzing the cytological changes and transcriptomes of common wheat 7182 with moderate sensitivity to sheath blight and H83 with moderate resistance. RESULTS: The cytological observation showed that the growth of Rhizoctonia cerealis on the surface and its expansion inside the leaf sheath tissue were more rapid in the susceptible material. According to the transcriptome sequencing results, a total of 88685 genes were identified in both materials, including 20156 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of which 12087 was upregulated genes and 8069 was downregulated genes. At 36 h post-inoculation, compared with the uninfected control, 11498 DEGs were identified in resistant materials, with 5064 downregulated genes and 6434 upregulated genes, and 13058 genes were detected in susceptible materials, with 6759 downregulated genes and 6299 upregulated genes. At 72 h post-inoculation, compared with the uninfected control, 6578 DEGs were detected in resistant materials, with 2991 downregulated genes and 3587 upregulated genes, and 7324 genes were detected in susceptible materials, with 4119 downregulated genes and 3205 upregulated genes. Functional annotation and enrichment analysis showed that the main pathways enriched for the DEGs included biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, carbon metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction, and plant-pathogen interaction. In particular, phenylpropane biosynthesis pathway is specifically activated in resistant variety H83 after infection. Many DEGs also belonged to the MYB, AP2, NAC, and WRKY transcription factor families. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, we suggest that the normal functioning of plant signaling pathways and differences in the expression of key genes and transcription factors in some important metabolic pathways may be important for defending wheat against sheath blight. These findings may facilitate further exploration of the sheath blight resistance mechanism in wheat and the cloning of related genes.

Low-temperature nanowelding silver nanowire hybrid flexible transparent conductive film for green light OLED devices.

Flexible organic light emitting diodes (OLED) have attracted great attention in many applications. MXene based flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) are the most promising next-generation electrodes for flexible electronics. Herein, the sandwich conductive structure of silver nanowires (AgNWs) network, new 2D nanosheets with excellent conductivity, hydrophilicity and mechanical flexibility and PEDOT:PSS contributes to a highly transparent and conductive hybrid electrode through a simple, scalable, low-cost spray method. The Ti3C2Tx/AgNWs/PEDOT-PET film shows a low sheet resistance (<30 Ω/sq) and high transmittance (>80%) at 550 nm. Flexible OLED with such hybrid anode has the maximum brightness, current efficiency and current density, as high as 10 040 cd m-2, 3.7 cd A-1and 535.5 mA cm-2, respectively. These results indicate that the novel Ti3C2Tx/AgNWs/PEDOT-PET TCFs have a great potential for high-performance flexible optoelectronic devices.

Olsenella uli-induced pneumonia: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Olsenella uli is anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria, commonly found in oral cavity or gastrointestinal tract, which has not been reported to be associated with lower respiratory tract infection. Herein, we report the first case of Olsenella uli infection in the lung. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year-old male farmer with no history of other respiratory tract diseases developed a cough with bloody sputum three times a day without obvious causes or other concomitant symptoms. After a period of treatment with empirical antibiotic, his condition did not improve. The computed tomography (CT) and lung biopsy results indicated bilateral pneumonia, and Olsenella uli was identified by micromorphology, sequence analysis and mass spectrometry analysis recovered from sputum. Ceftazidime, a third generation cephalosporin was used for the treatment, and the patient recovered after 10 days. CONCLUSIONS: Our report suggests a causative role of gingival bacteria in the pathogenesis of pneumonia, thus early diagnosis and prompt antibiotic therapy may play a role in the treatment of Olsenella uli induced pneumonia.

Identification of resistance to Fusarium head blight and molecular cytogenetics of interspecific derivatives between wheat and Psathyrostachys huashanica.

Psathyrostachys huashanica is a relative of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with many disease resistance genes that can be used to improve wheat disease resistance. In order to enrich the germplasm resources available in wheat genetics and breeding, we assessed Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in 45 interspecific derivatives between wheat and Psathyrostachys huashanica during two years from 2017-2018. Two interspecific derivatives comprising, H-34-8-2-6-1 and H-24-3-1-5-19-1 were identified as FHB resistant lines. These two lines were examined based on their morphology and cytogenetics, as well as by genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), molecular markers, and 660K genotyping array to determine their genetic construction. The results confirmed H-34-8-2-6-1 as a wheat-P. huashanica 1Ns long arm ditelosomic addition line and H-24-3-1-5-19-1 as a wheat-P. huashanica 2Ns substitution line. Assessments of the agronomic traits showed that H-34-8-2-6 had significantly higher kernel number per spike and self-fertility rate than parent 7182. In addition, compared with 7182, H-24-3-1-5-19-1 had a much lower plant height while the other agronomic traits were relatively similar. The two new lines are valuable germplasm materials for breeding FHB resistance in wheat.

Bromoacetic acid causes oxidative stress and uric acid metabolism dysfunction via disturbing mitochondrial function and Nrf2 pathway in chicken kidney.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, widespread utilization of disinfectants has led to a tremendous increase in the generation of disinfection byproducts worldwide. Bromoacetic acid (BAA), one of the common disinfection byproducts in the environment, has triggered public concern because of its adverse effects on urinary system in mammals. Nevertheless, the BAA-induced nephrotoxicity and potential mechanism in birds still remains obscure. According to the detected content in the Taihu Lake Basin, the model of BAA exposure in chicken was established at doses of 0, 3, 300, 3000 µg/L for 4 weeks. Our results indicated that BAA exposure caused kidney swelling and structural disarrangement. BAA led to disorder in renal function (CRE, BUN, UA) and increased apoptosis (Bax, Bcl-2, caspase3). BAA suppressed the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis genes (PGC-1α, Nrf1, TFAM) and OXPHOS complex I genes (ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4, ND4L, ND5, ND6). Subsequently, BAA destroyed the expression of Nrf2 antioxidant reaction genes (Nrf2, Keap1, HO-1, NQO1, GCLM, GCLC). Furthermore, renal oxidative damage led to disorder in uric acid metabolism genes (Mrp2, Mrp4, Bcrp, OAT1, OAT2, OAT3) and exacerbated destruction in renal function. Overall, our study provided insights into the potential mechanism of BAA-induced nephrotoxicity, which were important for the clinical monitoring and prevention of BAA.