An Untethered Soft Crawling Robot Driven by Wireless Power Transfer Technology.

Soft robots based on flexible materials have attracted the attention due to high flexibility and great environmental adaptability. Among the common driving modes, electricity, light, and magnetism have the limitations of wiring, poor penetration capability, and sophisticated equipment, respectively. Here, an emerging wireless driving mode is proposed for the soft crawling robot based on wireless power transfer (WPT) technology. The receiving coil at the robot's tail, as an energy transfer station, receives energy from the transmitting coil and supplies the electrothermal responsiveness to drive the robot's crawling. By regulating the WPT's duration to control the friction between the robot and the ground, bidirectional crawling is realized. Furthermore, the receiving coil is also employed as a sensory organ to equip the robot with localization, ID recognition, and sensing capabilities based on electromagnetic coupling. This work provides an innovative and promising strategy for the design and integration of soft crawling robots, exhibiting great potential in the field of intelligent robots.

SLC-30A9 is required for Zn2+ homeostasis, Zn2+ mobilization, and mitochondrial health.

The trace element zinc is essential for many aspects of physiology. The mitochondrion is a major Zn2+ store, and excessive mitochondrial Zn2+ is linked to neurodegeneration. How mitochondria maintain their Zn2+ homeostasis is unknown. Here, we find that the SLC-30A9 transporter localizes on mitochondria and is required for export of Zn2+ from mitochondria in both Caenorhabditis elegans and human cells. Loss of slc-30a9 leads to elevated Zn2+ levels in mitochondria, a severely swollen mitochondrial matrix in many tissues, compromised mitochondrial metabolic function, reductive stress, and induction of the mitochondrial stress response. SLC-30A9 is also essential for organismal fertility and sperm activation in C. elegans, during which Zn2+ exits from mitochondria and acts as an activation signal. In slc-30a9-deficient neurons, misshapen mitochondria show reduced distribution in axons and dendrites, providing a potential mechanism for the Birk-Landau-Perez cerebrorenal syndrome where an SLC30A9 mutation was found.

A Lycium barbarum extract inhibits ß-amyloid toxicity by activating the antioxidant system and mtUPR in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer's disease.

Lycium barbarum, a traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown to have antioxidant properties and has a protective effect in many diseases related to oxidative stress, such as neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Although the neuroprotective effects of L. barbarum extract (LBE) have been reported in several studies, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, the transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans strain CL2006 was used to investigate the function and molecular mechanism of an LBE in Alzheimer's disease (AD). LBE had high antioxidant potential and effectively delayed Aß-induced paralysis in the CL2006 strain. LBE inhibited the production of excessive reactive oxygen species by inducing the SKN-1-mediated antioxidant system, thereby inhibiting the generation of Aß and inhibiting mitochondrial damage. Importantly, LBE reduced Aß levels by inducing FSHR-1-mediated activation of the mtUPR. Therefore, our study not only reveals a new mechanism of LBE in the treatment of AD but also identifies a novel strategy for the treatment of AD by enhancing the mtUPR.

Fasting-mimicking diet alleviates inflammatory pain by inhibiting neutrophil extracellular traps formation and neuroinflammation in the spinal cord.

BACKGROUND: Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) promote neuroinflammation and, thus, central nervous system (CNS) disease progression. However, it remains unclear whether CNS-associated NETs affect pain outcomes. A fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) alleviates neurological disorders by attenuating neuroinflammation and promoting nerve regeneration. Hence, in this study, we explore the role of NETs in the CNS during acute pain and investigate the role of FMD in inhibiting NETs and relieving pain. METHODS: The inflammatory pain model was established by injecting complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into the hind paw of mice. The FMD diet regimen was performed during the perioperative period. PAD4 siRNA or CI-amidine (PAD4 inhibitor) was used to inhibit the formation of NETs. Monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) knockdown occurred by AAV-GFAP-shRNA or AAV-hSyn-shRNA or was inhibited by selegiline (an MAO-B inhibitor). The changes in NETs, neuroinflammation, and related signaling pathways were examined by western blot, immunofluorescence, ELISA, and flow cytometry. RESULTS: In the acute phase of inflammatory pain, NETs accumulate in the spinal cords of mice. This is associated with exacerbated neuroinflammation. Meanwhile, inhibition of NETs formation alleviates allodynia and neuroinflammation in CFA mice. FMD inhibits NETs production and alleviates inflammatory pain, which is enhanced by treatment with the NETs inhibitor CI-amidine, and reversed by treatment with the NETs inducer phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Mechanistically, the neutrophil-recruiting pathway MAO-B/5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) / G-protein-coupled receptor 35 (GPR35) and NETs-inducing pathway MAO-B/ Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are significantly upregulated during the development of inflammatory pain. MAO-B is largely expressed in astrocytes and neurons in the spinal cords of CFA mice. However, knockdown or inhibition of MAO-B effectively attenuates CFA-induced inflammatory pain, NETs formation, and neuroinflammation in the spinal cord. Moreover, within rescue experiments, MAO-B inhibitors synergistically enhance FMD-induced pain relief, NETs inhibition, and neuroinflammation attenuation, whereas supplementation with MAO-B downstream molecules (i.e., 5-HIAA and PMA) abolished this effect. CONCLUSIONS: Neutrophil-released NETs in the spinal cord contribute to pain development. FMD inhibits NETs formation and NETs-induced neuroinflammation by inhibiting the MAO-B/5-HIAA/GPR35 and MAO-B/ROS pathways in astrocytes and neurons, thereby relieving pain progression. Video Abstract.

Active Components of Leontopodium alpinum Callus Culture Extract for Blue Light Damage in Human Foreskin Fibroblasts.

Leontopodium alpinum is a source of raw material for food additives and skin health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the application of Leontopodium alpinum callus culture extract (LACCE) to prevent blue light damage to the skin. We screened and identified the blue light-damage-protecting activities and mechanisms of ten components of LACCE, including chlorogenic acid (A), isoquercitrin (B), isochlorogenic acid A (C), cynaroside (D), syringin (E), isochlorogenic acid (F), cynarin (G), rutin (H), leontopodic acid A (I), and leontopodic acid B (J), using a novel blue light-induced human foreskin fibroblast (HFF-1) cell injury model. The study examined the cytotoxicity of ten ingredients using the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, and selecting concentrations of 5, 10, and 20 µM for experiments with a cell viability above 65%. We explored the effects and mechanisms of action of these LACCE components in response to blue light injury using Western blotting and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also measured ROS secretion and Ca2+ influx. Our study revealed that leontopodic acid A effectively boosted COI-1 expression, hindered MMP-1 expression, curbed ROS and Ca2+ endocytosis, and reduced OPN3 expression. These results provide theoretical support for the development of new raw materials for the pharmaceutical and skincare industries.

Effects and Mechanism of the Leontopodium alpinum Callus Culture Extract on Blue Light Damage in Human Foreskin Fibroblasts.

Leontopodium alpinum is an important source of raw material for food, medicine, and modern cosmetics. The purpose of this study was to develop a new application for protection against blue light damage. To investigate the effects and mechanism of action of Leontopodium alpinum callus culture extract (LACCE) on blue light damage, a blue-light-induced human foreskin fibroblast damage model was established. The contents of collagen (COL-I), matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1), and opsin 3 (OPN3) were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and Western blotting. The calcium influx and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured via flow cytometry and the results showed that the LACCE (10-15 mg/mL) promoted the production of COL-I, inhibited the secretion of MMP-1, OPN3, ROS and calcium influx, and may play a role in inhibiting the activation of blue light on the OPN3-calcium pathway. Thereafter, high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were used to quantitatively analyze the contents of nine active ingredients in the LACCE. The results indicated that LACCE has an anti-blue-light-damage effect and provides theoretical support for the development of new raw materials in the natural food, medicine, and skin care industries.

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Panax notoginseng Flower Saponins Quantified Using LC/MS/MS.

Panax notoginseng (Burk) F. H. Chen is a traditional Chinese medicinal and edible plant. However, Panax notoginseng flower (PNF) is rarely used. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the main saponins and the anti-inflammatory bioactivity of PNF saponins (PNFS). We explored the regulation of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), a key mediator of inflammatory pathways, in human keratinocyte cells treated with PNFS. A cell model of UVB-irradiation-induced inflammation was established to determine the influence of PNFS on inflammatory factors and their relationship with LL-37 expression. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting analysis were used to detect the production of inflammatory factors and LL37. Finally, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was employed to quantify the main active components (ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc, Rd, Re, Rg1, and notoginsenoside R1) in PNF. The results show that PNFS substantially inhibited COX-2 activity and downregulated the production of inflammatory factors, indicating that they can be used to reduce skin inflammation. PNFS also increased the expression of LL-37. The contents of ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc, and Rd in PNF were much higher than those of Rg1, and notoginsenoside R1. This paper provides data in support of the application of PNF in cosmetics.

Adsorption Characteristics and Enrichment of Emodin from Marine-Derived Aspergillus flavipes HN4-13 Extract by Macroporous Resin XAD-16.

Emodin, a hydroxyanthraquinone derivative, has been used as medicine for more than 2000 years due to its extensive pharmacological activities. Large-scale production of emodin has been achieved by optimizing the fermentation conditions of marine-derived Aspergillus flavus HN4-13 in a previous study. However, the fermentation broth contained complex unknown components, which adversely affected the study of emodin. Herein, the conditions for the enrichment of emodin from A. flavipes HN4-13 extract using XAD-16 resin were optimized, and a separation method with high efficiency, simple operation, a low cost, and a large preparative scale was established. The adsorption process of emodin on the XAD-16 resin conformed to pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir models. The optimal conditions for the adsorption process were as follows: An emodin concentration, flow rate, and loading volume of 0.112 mg/mL, 2 BV/h, and 10 BV, respectively. For desorption, 50% ethanol was used to elute impurities and 80% ethanol was used to desorb emodin. After enrichment with XAD-16 resin, the emodin content increased from 1.16% to 11.48%, and the recovery rate was 75.53% after one-step treatment. These results demonstrate the efficiency of the simple adsorption-desorption strategy, using the XAD-16 resin for emodin enrichment.

A NAC Transcription Factor from 'Sea Rice 86' Enhances Salt Tolerance by Promoting Hydrogen Sulfide Production in Rice Seedlings.

Soil salinity severely threatens plant growth and crop performance. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a plant signal molecule, has been implicated in the regulation of plant responses to salinity stress. However, it is unclear how the transcriptional network regulates H2S biosynthesis during salt stress response. In this study, we identify a rice NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) transcription factor, OsNAC35-like (OsNACL35), from a salt-tolerant cultivar 'Sea Rice 86' (SR86) and further show that it may have improved salt tolerance via enhanced H2S production. The expression of OsNACL35 was significantly upregulated by high salinity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The OsNACL35 protein was localized predominantly in the nucleus and was found to have transactivation activity in yeast. The overexpression of OsNACL35 (OsNACL35-OE) in japonica cultivar Nipponbare ramatically increased resistance to salinity stress, whereas its dominant-negative constructs (SUPERMAN repression domain, SRDX) conferred hypersensitivity to salt stress in the transgenic lines at the vegetative stage. Moreover, the quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that many stress-associated genes were differentially expressed in the OsNACL35-OE and OsNACL35-SRDX lines. Interestingly, the ectopic expression of OsNACL35 triggered a sharp increase in H2S content by upregulating the expression of a H2S biosynthetic gene, OsDCD1, upon salinity stress. Furthermore, the dual luciferase and yeast one-hybrid assays indicated that OsNACL35 directly upregulated the expression of OsDCD1 by binding to the promoter sequence of OsDCD1. Taken together, our observations illustrate that OsNACL35 acts as a positive regulator that links H2S production to salt stress tolerance, which may hold promising utility in breeding salt-tolerant rice cultivar.

[Clinical features of children and their family members with family clusters of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection in Shanghai, China: an analysis of 380 cases]. / 上海380例家庭聚集性感染Omicronå˜å¼‚æ ªçš„å„¿ç«¥åŠå ¶å®¶å±žä¸´åºŠç‰¹å¾åˆ†æž.

OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical features and prognosis of children and their family members with family clusters of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant infection under the admission mode of parent-child ward. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 190 children and 190 family members with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection who were admitted to Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, the designated hospital for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), April 8 to May 10, 2022. RESULTS: Both the child and adult groups were mainly mild COVID-19, and the proportion of mild cases in the child group was higher than that in the adult group (P<0.05). Respiratory symptoms were the main clinical manifestations in both groups. Compared with the adult group, the child group had higher incidence rates of fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and wheezing (P<0.05) and lower incidence rates of nasal obstruction, runny nose, cough, dry throat, throat itching, and throat pain (P<0.05). Compared with the child group, the adult group had higher rates of use of Chinese patent drugs, traditional Chinese medicine decoction, recombinant interferon spray, cough-relieving and phlegm-eliminating drugs, and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir tablets (P<0.05). Compared with the adult group, the child group had a lower vaccination rate of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (30.5% vs 71.1%, P<0.001) and a shorter duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid (P<0.05). The patients with mild COVID-19 had a shorter duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid than those with common COVID-19 in both groups (P<0.05). The patients with underlying diseases had a longer duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid than those without such diseases in both groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both children and adults with family clusters of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection manifest mainly mild COVID-19. Despite lower vaccination rate of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in children, they have rapid disease recovery, with a shorter duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid than adults, under the admission mode of parent-child ward.

Upregulation of GBP1 in thyroid primordium is required for developmental thyroid morphogenesis.

PURPOSE: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is a common congenital endocrine disorder in humans. CH-related diseases such as athyreosis, thyroid ectopy, and hypoplasia are primarily caused by dysgenic thyroid development. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. METHODS: To identify novel CH candidate genes, 192 CH patients were enrolled, and target sequencing of 21 known CH-related genes was performed. The remaining 98 CH patients carrying no known genes were subjected to exome sequencing (ES). The functions of the identified variants were confirmed using thyroid epithelial cells in vitro and in zebrafish model organisms in vivo. RESULTS: Four pathogenic GBP1 variations from three patients were identified. In zebrafish embryos, gbp1 knockdown caused defective thyroid primordium morphogenesis and hypothyroidism. The thyroid cells were stuck together and failed to dissociate from each other to form individual follicles in gbp1-deficient embryos. Furthermore, defects were restored with wild-type human GBP1 (hGBP1) messenger RNA (mRNA) except for mutated hGBP1 (p.H150Y, p.L187P) overexpression. GBP1 promoted ß-catenin translocation into the cytosol and suppressed the formation of cellular adhesion complexes. Suppression of cell-cell adhesion restored the thyroid primordium growth defect observed in gbp1-deficient zebrafish embryos. CONCLUSION: This study provides further understanding regarding thyroid development and shows that defective cellular remodeling could cause congenital hypothyroidism.

Switchable electronic and enhanced magnetic properties of CrI3 edges.

Owing to its novel electronic and magnetic properties, two-dimensional CrI3 has great potential in the application of spintronic devices. However, as an inevitable line defect, the properties of the edges of CrI3 remain elusive. Here, via first-principles calculations with spin-orbit coupling, we investigated the thermodynamic stabilities, electronic and magnetic properties of thirteen CrI3 edges with different structures. We showed that zigzag edges are more stable than armchair edges, and a CrI3 nanoribbon can be either metallic or insulating depending on its chemical growth conditions. The edge stability and associated electronic properties can be understood in terms of the octahedron ligand field and electron counting model. In most cases, both the magnetic moment and Curie temperature can be enhanced by edges, which are in startle contrast to the surfaces of three-dimensional ferromagnetic materials, where a magnetic dead layer is often observed.

Bioactive Indole Diketopiperazine Alkaloids from the Marine Endophytic Fungus Aspergillus sp. YJ191021.

Six new prenylated indole diketopiperazine alkaloids, asperthrins A-F (1-6), along with eight known analogues (7-14), were isolated from the marine-derived endophytic fungus Aspergillus sp. YJ191021. Their planar structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, 1D/2D NMR data, and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT)/ECD calculation. The isolated compounds were assayed for their inhibition against three agricultural pathogenic fungi, four fish pathogenic bacteria, and two agricultural pathogenic bacteria. Compound 1 exhibited moderate antifungal and antibacterial activities against Vibrioanguillarum, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzicola, and Rhizoctoniasolani with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 8, 12.5, and 25 µg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, 1 displayed notable anti-inflammatory activity with IC50 value of 1.46 ± 0.21 µM in Propionibacteriumacnes induced human monocyte cell line (THP-1).

[Cross-subject electroencephalogram emotion recognition based on maximum classifier discrepancy].

Affective brain-computer interfaces (aBCIs) has important application value in the field of human-computer interaction. Electroencephalogram (EEG) has been widely concerned in the field of emotion recognition due to its advantages in time resolution, reliability and accuracy. However, the non-stationary characteristics and individual differences of EEG limit the generalization of emotion recognition model in different time and different subjects. In this paper, in order to realize the recognition of emotional states across different subjects and sessions, we proposed a new domain adaptation method, the maximum classifier difference for domain adversarial neural networks (MCD_DA). By establishing a neural network emotion recognition model, the shallow feature extractor was used to resist the domain classifier and the emotion classifier, respectively, so that the feature extractor could produce domain invariant expression, and train the decision boundary of classifier learning task specificity while realizing approximate joint distribution adaptation. The experimental results showed that the average classification accuracy of this method was 88.33% compared with 58.23% of the traditional general classifier. It improves the generalization ability of emotion brain-computer interface in practical application, and provides a new method for aBCIs to be used in practice.

[Analysis of time-frequency characteristics and coherence of local field potentials during working memory task of rats after high-frequency repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation].

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) is a painless and non-invasive method for stimulation and modulation in the field of cognitive neuroscience research and clinical neurological regulation. In this paper, adult Wistar rats were divided into the rTMS group and control group randomly. Rats in the rTMS group were stimulated with 5 Hz rTMS for 14 days, while the rats in the control group did not accept any stimulation. Then, the behavior and local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded synchronously when the rats perform a working memory (WM) task with T-maze. Finally, the time-frequency distribution and coherence characteristics of the LFPs signal in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during working memory task were analyzed. The results showed that the rats in the rTMS group needed less training days to reach the task correction criterion than the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the rTMS group has higher energy (P < 0.01) in θ band (4~12 Hz) and γ band (30~80 Hz). The coherence between the channel pairs decreases as the spatial distance of the channel pairs increases, and the rTMS group exhibits a higher coherence than the control group (P < 0.01). It is concluded that 5 Hz rTMS can improve the excitability of rat prefrontal cortical neurons to a certain extent, and has a positive effect on the working memory ability of normal rats. The results of this paper may provide important theoretical support for further research on the mechanism of action of rTMS on WM.

[Effects of virtual reality visual experience on brain functional network].

With the wide application of virtual reality technology and the rapid popularization of virtual reality devices, the problem of brain fatigue caused by prolonged use has attracted wide attention. Sixteen healthy subjects were selected in this study. And electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were acquired synchronously while the subjects watch videos in similar types presented by traditional displayer and virtual reality separately. Two questionnaires were conducted by all subjects to evaluate the state of fatigue before and after the experiment. The mutual correlation method was selected to construct the mutual correlation brain network of EEG signals before and after watching videos in two modes. We also calculated the mutual correlation coefficient matrix and the mutual correlation binary matrix and compared the average of degree, clustering coefficient, path length, global efficiency and small world attribute during two experiments. The results showed that the subjects were easier to get fatigue by watching virtual reality video than watching video presented by traditional displayer in a certain period of time. By comparing the characteristic parameters of brain network before and after watching videos, it was found that the average degree value, the average clustering coefficient, the average global efficiency and the small world attribute decreases while the average path length value increased significantly. In addition, compared to traditional plane video, the characteristic parameters of brain network changed more greatly after watching the virtual reality video with a significant difference ( P < 0.05). This study can provide theoretical basis and experimental reference for analyzing and evaluating brain fatigue induced by virtual reality visual experience.

Magnetic anisotropy of iridium dimers on two-dimensional materials.

Magnetic dimers with very large magnetic anisotropy have great potential in information storage applications. By using density functional theory calculations (DFT), we systematically investigated the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of bi-iridium (Ir2) dimers on four types of graphene-like two-dimensional (2D) material substrates. We considered four possible adsorption sites for Ir2 on each substrate. The Ir2 dimer prefers to remain at the single vacancy site with the largest binding energy for all the 2D materials considered. The spin moment and MAE of Ir2 can be largely affected by the substrate. On the substrate of germanene, the MAE of Ir2 can be enlarged to approximately 100 meV, even with the higher Ir2 areal density of 1.804 nm-2. Moreover, the direction of the easy magnetization axis is determined by the d states in the vicinity of the Fermi level. The present DFT results can be understood with the help of perturbation theory analysis.

Propionibacterium acnes related anti-inflammation and skin hydration activities of madecassoside, a pentacyclic triterpene saponin from Centella asiatica.

Madecassoside is a major pentacyclic triterpene saponin from Centella asiatica with multiple pharmaceutical activities. In this study, we focused on its Propionibacterium acnes related anti-inflammation and skin hydration activities, both of which play important roles in skin homeostasis and barrier function. Madecassoside significantly inhibited the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß, TLR2 and nuclear translocation of NF-κB in P. acnes stimulated THP-1 human monocytic cells. In addition, madecasssoside exhibited significant effects on enhancement of skin hydration through increasing the key moisturizing contributors of aquaporin-3, loricrin and involucrin in HaCaT keratinocytes as well as hyaluronan (HA) secretion in human dermal fibroblasts. The upregulation of HA synthases (HAS1, HAS2, HAS3) and inhibition to ROS formation accounted for the increment of HA content. Together, the in vitro study implied the potential medical and cosmetic application of madecassoside in skin protection.

A pilot study on interaction between donkey tetherin and EIAV stains with different virulent and replication characteristics.

Tetherin (BST-2) is an important host restriction factor that can inhibit the release of a diverse array of enveloped viruses from infected cells. Conversely, to facilitate their release and spread, many viruses have evolved various strategies to overcome the antiviral effect of tetherin in a species-specific manner. During the development of an attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine in our laboratory, we found that serial passage of a field-isolated virulent EIAV strains in horse and donkey as well as the cultivated donkey cells, produces several typical EIAV strains, including EIAVDV, EIAVDLV, and EIAVFDDV, which exhibit distinct virulence and replication features in vivo and in vitro. However, the role of host restriction factors in EIAV evolution during the serial passage is not well understood. This study aimed to evaluate whether these newly generated strains adapt differently to donkey tetherin (do-tetherin) based on their virulence. We found that do-tetherin exerts an inhibition on the release of the viral particles produced by all three strains, albeit with varying intensity: EIAVDV < EIAVDLV < EIAVFDDV. Additionally, all three EIAV strains could counteract the restriction mediated by do-tetherin via their envelope proteins (Env) with varying strength: EIAVDV > EIAVDLV > EIAVFDDV. These results indicate that donkey tetherin is involved in shaping of EIAV evolution during serial passage.

Inhibitory effects of Schisandra chinensis extract on acne-related inflammation and UVB-induced photoageing.

CONTEXT: Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (Schisandraceae) fruit extract (SFE) has been reported to induce non-specific tissue protection against inflammation in vivo. However, the effects of SFE on Propionibacterium acnes-stimulated acne and UVB-irradiated photoageing have yet to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: To systematically investigate the effects of SFE against P. acnes and photoageing in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative analyses of SFE were performed by HPLC. SFE concentrations from 2.5 to 50 µg/mL were tested. Specifically, ELISA was used to examine the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in THP-1 cells as well as of collagen I and matrix metalloproteinases-1 in HDF cells. The anti-bacterial effect of SFE was determined using the microdilution broth method. Glutathione and malondialdehyde levels were examined using the colorimetric and TBA methods, respectively. The degree of ageing was determined by cytochemical staining. RESULTS: SFE significantly inhibited P. acnes growth (MIC 0.5 mg/mL) and 50 µg/mL of SFE suppressed the production of interleukin-1ß, interleukin-8 and tumour necrosis factor α, by 59.67%, 62.69% and 68.30%, respectively, in P. acnes-stimulated THP-1 cells. Additionally, 10 µg/mL of SFE suppressed photoageing in UVB-exposed fibroblasts by decreasing metalloproteinase levels by 88.4%, inducing collagen by 58.4% and activating the anti-oxidant defence system, by limiting lipid peroxidation by 51.1% and increasing glutathione production by 34.1% (2.5 µg/mL SFE). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These results indicated that SFE could significantly ameliorate the inflammatory state in P. acnes-stimulated THP-1 and UVB-irradiated HDF cells, suggesting its potential as a novel agent for acne therapy and photoageing prevention.