Lipid nanoparticle encapsulated oleic acid induced lipotoxicity to hepatocytes via ROS overload and the DDIT3/BCL2/BAX/Caspases signaling in vitro and in vivo.

BACKGROUND: To date, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver disease associated with clinical complications. Dietary fatty acids have been suggested to be involved in preventing or reversing the accumulation of hepatic fat. However, contradicting roles of monounsaturated fatty acids to the liver have been implicated in various human and murine models, mainly due to the insolubility nature of fatty acids. METHODS: High pressure homogenization methods were used to fabricate oleic acid embedded lipid nanoparticles (OALNs). The in vitro and in vivo models were used to validate the physiological effect of this OALNs via various cellular and molecular approaches including cell viability essay, fluorescent staining, electron microscope, RNAseq, qPCR, Western blots, and IHC staining. RESULTS: We successfully fabricated OALNs with enhanced stability and solubility. More importantly, lipid accumulation was successfully induced in hepatocytes via the application of OALNs in a dose-dependent manner. Overload of OALNs resulted in ROS accumulation and apoptosis of hepatocytes dose-dependently. With the help of transcriptome sequencing and traditional experimental approaches, we demonstrated that the lipotoxic effect induced by OALNs was exerted via the DDIT3/BCL2/BAX/Caspases signaling. Moreover, we also verified that OALNs induced steatosis and subsequent apoptosis in the liver of mice via the activation of DDIT3 in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: In all, our results established a potential pathogenic model of NAFLD for further studies and indicated the possible involvement of DDIT3 signaling in abnormal steatosis process of the liver.

[Determination of the biological attribute of evidence at the scene using reverse transcription PCR and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of biological method to identify the biological attribute of samples at crime scene. METHODS: Thirty samples of ten blood stains, ten saliva stains and ten semen stains were selected, and all the samples were processed by the routine method and biomolecular method, respectively. Both RNA and DNA were isolated using DNA-RNA co-extraction technology and the mRNA was converted into cDNA using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Three pairs of specific primers were designed for blood stain, saliva stain and semen stain based on the different target genes in three specific tissues and the primers were amplified using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. The differences in these biological samples were evaluated by melting temperature (Tm) values and the size of the amplification fragment. RESULTS: The Tm values of blood stain, saliva stain and semen stain were (84.5 +/- 0.2) degrees C, (76.9 +/- 0.3) degrees C and (88.5 +/- 0.2) degrees C, respectively. The length of PCR fragments of them was 177bp, 134bp and 294bp, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compared with the routine method, RT-PCR with real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR is highly specific, sensitive and reliable to identify the biological attribute of evidence, and can be potentially applied to determine evidence attribute in forensic practice.

Transplantation of neural scaffolds consisting of dermal fibroblast-reprogrammed neurons and 3D silk fibrous materials promotes the repair of spinal cord injury.

Transplantation of tissue-engineered neural scaffolds bears great potential for reconstructing neural circuits after spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, a 3D porous silk fibrous scaffold (3D-SF) with biomimetic interconnected micro- to nanofibrous structure and good biocompatibility is fabricated. Then, a small-molecule combination CFLSSVY (CHIR99021, Forskolin, LDN193189, SB431542, SP600125, VPA, and Y27632) that efficiently reprograms rat dermal fibroblasts into neurons is screened, and these chemically induced neurons (CiNs) are shown to readily communicate on the 3D-SF and form neural scaffolds. After transplantation of these silk-based neural scaffolds into the stumps of transected spinal cords in rats, the damaged tissue is repaired significantly, as indicated by the reduced cavity areas, decreased GFAP expression, and improved axonal regeneration and myelination in the injury site. Moreover, the hindlimb movement and motor-nerve conductivity are greatly improved as indicated by the elevated BBB score, the alternate movement of two hindlimbs during the 45° inclined grid test, and the shortened latency and enhanced amplitude in cMEP detection. Together, these results demonstrate that transplantation of neural scaffolds consisting of 3D-SF and dermal fibroblast-reprogrammed neurons leads to significant nerve regeneration and functional recovery, providing a promising therapeutic strategy for SCI.

A versatile CeO2/Co3O4 coated mesh for food wastewater treatment: Simultaneous oil removal and UV catalysis of food additives.

Food waste water is one of the most urgent environmental problems for the close connection between food and our daily life. Herein, we use a simple hydrothermal method to prepare a highly efficient catalyst-CeO2/Co3O4 compound on the stainless steel mesh, aiming for food waste water treatment. Possessing the superhydrophilic property and catalytic ability under ultraviolet light, CeO2/Co3O4 coated mesh has successfully processed three representative contaminants in food wastewater, which are soybean oil (food oil), AR (food dye) and VA (food flavor) simultaneously with an one-step filtration. Besides, the mesh is stable in a wide pH range and performs well in reusability. Therefore, such a multifunctional material with simple preparation method, high processing efficiency and facile operation shows a promising prospect for practical production and application for food wastewater treatment.

Drinking water production by ultrafiltration of Songhuajiang River with PAC adsorption.

In recent years, membrane ultrafiltration (UF) of surface water for drinking water treatment has become a more attractive technology worldwide as a possible alternative treatment to conventional clarification. To evaluate the performance of ultrafiltration membranes for treatment of surface water in North China, a 48-m2 low pressure hollow fiber membrane ultrafiltration pilot plant was constructed. Ultrafiltration was operated in cross-flow and with powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption. Turbidity was almost completely removed to less than 0.2 NTU (below Chinese standard 1 NTU). It was found that PAC addition enhanced organic matter removal. The combined process of PAC/UF allowed to 41% removal of COD(Mn), 46% removal of DOC and 57% decrease in UV254 absorbance. The elimination of particles, from average 12000/ml in the raw water to approximately 15/ml in the permeated, was observed. When PAC concentration was below 30 mg/L, backwashing could recovery the membrane flux with backwash interval/backwashing duration of 1/30.

Role of extracellular exopolymers on biological phosphorus removal.

Three sequencing batch reactors supplied with different carbon sources were investigated. The system supplied with glucose gained the best enhanced biological phosphorus removal although all of the three reactors were seeded from the same sludge. With the measurement of poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) concentration, phosphorus content in sludge and extracellular exopolymers (EPS) with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), it was found that the biosorption effect of EPS played an important role in phosphorus removal and that the amount of PHA at the end of anaerobic phase was not the only key factor to determine the following phosphorus removal efficiency.