Identification and Characterization of Colletotrichum Species Associated with Anthracnose Disease of Plum.

Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) is commercially cultivated worldwide for the high levels of nutrients in the fruit. In recent years, anthracnose has been severe in some plum planting areas in China, resulting in a large number of necrotic leaves, blight and pre-mature leaf fall. In this study, anthracnose samples of plum leaves were collected from Hezhou, Guilin and Lipu, Guangxi Province, and Meishan city, Abe Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture of Sichuan Province. Characteristics of mycelia on PDA, morphology of appressoria and conidia, and analysis of sequences of several marker regions (internal transcribed spacer [ITS] region, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [GAPDH], chitin synthase [CHS-1], histone H3 [HIS3], actin [ACT], ß-tubulin [TUB2], and the intergenic region between apn2 and MAT1-2-1 [ApMat]). The resulting 101 Colletotrichum isolates obtained were identified as eight species: C. fructicola (50.5%), C. siamense (24.8%), C. karsti (8.9%), C. plurivorum (7.9%), C. aeschynomenes (3.9%), C. gloeosporioides (2%), C. celtidis (1%) and C. phyllanthi (1%). Representatives of all eight Colletotrichum species were found to cause disease on wounded leaves of plum seedlings in pathogenicity assays. As far as we are aware, this is the first report of anthracnose of plum caused by C. celtidis and C. phyllanthi in China.

First Report of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum plurivorum on Passion fruit in Guangxi, China.

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.) is popular for its rich taste and nutritional value. The planting area of passion fruit in Guangxi has reached 24,300 ha, with an annual output of 380,000 t (Qian 2023). In March 2023, leave spots on more than half of the plants (cv. Qinmi "NO.9"). Moreover, the incidence of disease on the leaves was approximately 20% in Shabu Town, Qinnan District, Qinzhou City, Guangxi, China (N20˚54'-22˚41', E107˚27'-109˚56'). Leaf diseases were orbicular or irregular in shape, white, whitish-grey, yellowish, or gray in color. When leaves were severely affected, larger blotches were formed with yellow halos. For pathogen isolation, three diseased leaf samples were collected from three gardens, respectively, and 5×5 mm tissues were cut from infected margins, surface-disinfected in 75% ethanol for 15 s, followed by 2% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, rinsed three times with sterile water, and incubated on PDA at 25°C under 12/12 h light/darkness. After 5 days, ninety cultures were isolated, sixty isolates with similar morphology were retained, and three representative isolates BY-1, BY-2, and BY-4 were randomly selected for further study. On PDA, colonies of the three isolates displayed white or grayish-white. Conidia were single-celled, hyaline, and cylindrical, measuring 17.3±1.5 × 6.3±0.7 µm, 17.8±1.7 × 6.0±0.6 µm, and 16.3±1.4 × 6.4±0.6 µm (n=90) for BY-1, BY-2, and BY-4, respectively. Appressoria were single, brown or black, and irregular in shape, measuring 10.2±1.1×6.5±0.5 µm, 10.5±1.3×7.3±0.6, and 10.9±0.8×7.0±0.8 (n=90) for BY-1, BY-2, and BY-4, respectively. These morphological characteristics were similar to Colletotrichum spp. as previously described (Damm et al. 2019). The isolates were further identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-ITS1/ITS4), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH-GDF/GDR), actin (ACT-512F/783R), partial sequences of the chitin synthase 1 (CHS-1-79F/354R), and beta-tubulin 2 (TUB2-T1/Bt2b) (Zhang et al. 2023). All sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: OR741759 to OR741761, GAPDH: OR767654 to OR767656, ACT: OR767657 to OR767659, CHS-1: OR767660 to OR767662, TUB2: OR767651 to OR767653). A phylogenetic tree was built with RAxML version 8.2.10 based on concatenated sequences of ITS-GAPDH-ACT-CHS-1-TUB2. The results revealed that the three isolates clustered with C. plurivorum. To confirm the pathogenicity of the three isolates, attached leaves of healthy 5-month-old passion fruit plants were injured in the middle region with sterile toothpicks and inoculated with 20 µL of spore suspension (106 conidia/mL), and the noninoculated control received 0.05% Tween-20 (6 leaves/plant, 3 plants/treatment). The inoculated plants were kept in a greenhouse at 25°C and covered with plastic bags to maintain high humidity. After 9 days, all inoculated leaves were symptomatic, whereas no symptoms were observed in the control. C. plurivorum was reisolated from infected leaves, confirming Koch's postulates. C. plurivorum has been reported to infect Abelmoschus esculentus (Batista et al. 2020) and Carya illinoinensis in China (Zhang et al. 2023). However, this is the first report of anthracnose caused by C. plurivorum on passion fruit in China. The results can provide a robust basis for scientific prevention and control of anthracnose.

Covalent organic framework film-based laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for rapid and sensitive quantification of homocysteine in human serum.

RATIONALE: Homocysteine (hcy) is a metabolite in the human body and an important determinant of cardiovascular health. To assist in the assessment of human cardiovascular safety, a rapid and accurate quantitative analysis method must be developed. Laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) has been widely used in biological, chemical, and medical analyses due to its excellent characteristics of high throughput, low sample consumption, and high speed. Here, an LDI-MS method based on covalent organic framework (COF) film was developed for the rapid and sensitive determination of hcy in human serum using an isotope-labeled internal standard. METHODS: We tried to cultivate COFs on indium-tin oxide substrate at room temperature to form a thin film, which was used in LDI-MS. Compared with the traditional organic matrices, the COF film had a clean background and a high signal response for the detection of hcy. In addition, using COF film as the substrate, with a high signal intensity and a clean background, can be helpful to analyze a series of small molecules such as amino acids, bisphenols (Bps), estrogens, and drugs. We evaluated the limit of detection (LOD) and the reproducibility of this method. Finally, the calibration curve was constructed for the quantification of serum hcy using an isotope-labeled internal standard and was applied for the rapid determination of hcy in clinical human serum. RESULTS: COF film-assisted LDI-MS had a higher response signal and a cleaner background compared to four conventional organic matrices. The LOD of the method for hcy was 0.5 µmol/L, equivalent to 500 fmol. This method exhibited excellent performance for small-molecule compounds, including amino acids, Bps, drugs, and estrogens. The reproducibilities of this method for shot-to-shot and dot-to-dot were determined to be good. This method was applied for the rapid analysis of hcy in clinical human serum, showing good correlation with those obtained by hospital testing. CONCLUSION: The COF film-based LDI-MS method had simple sample preparation, short analysis time, clean background, and good reproducibility for hcy analysis. As an important indicator of human health, the detection of serum hcy is of great significance to human health.

A reactive matrix for in situ chemical derivatisation and specific detection of cis-diol compounds by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry.

Analysis of cis-diol compounds is essential, because they play important roles in cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, and living organisms. Herein, we describe the development of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) method to analyse cis-diol compounds. In this method, a 6-borono-1-methylquinoline-1-ium (BMQI) reactive matrix was designed for in situ derivatisation of cis-diol compounds based on the boronate affinity interaction between boronic acid and cis-diol groups. Compared to traditional commercial matrices and other boronic acid reagents, BMQI can significantly accelerate the desorption/ionisation process, improve reproducibility, exhibit free background interference, and enhance signal intensity in the analysis of various cis-diol compounds even for amounts as low as 1 nmol. The BMQI-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) was successfully applied to the rapid screening and identification of sugar alcohols in different sugar-free foods. This work provides an alternative method to the LDI-MS analysis of cis-diol-containing molecules, and the method can be extended to other food samples and biofluids.

Research Progress on the Protective Effect of Brown Algae-Derived Polysaccharides on Metabolic Diseases and Intestinal Barrier Injury.

In the human body, the intestine is the largest digestive and immune organ, where nutrients are digested and absorbed, and this organ plays a key role in host immunity. In recent years, intestinal health issues have gained attention and many studies have shown that oxidative stress, inflammation, intestinal barrier damage, and an imbalance of intestinal microbiota may cause a range of intestinal diseases, as well as other problems. Brown algae polysaccharides, mainly including alginate, fucoidan, and laminaran, are food-derived natural products that have received wide attention from scholars owing to their good biological activity and low toxic side effects. It has been found that brown algae polysaccharides can repair intestinal physical, chemical, immune and biological barrier damage. Principally, this review describes the protective effects and mechanisms of brown algae-derived polysaccharides on intestinal health, as indicated by the ability of polysaccharides to maintain intestinal barrier integrity, inhibit lipid peroxidation-associated damage, and suppress inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, our review aims to provide new ideas on the prevention and treatment of intestinal diseases and act as a reference for the development of fucoidan as a functional product for intestinal protection.

Covalent Organic Framework Nanofilm-Based Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry for 5-Fluorouracil Analysis and Tissue Imaging.

Although matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has become a ubiquitous and effective tool for macromolecules, direct analysis of small molecules by MALDI-MS using conventional organic matrices poses a challenge. Herein, a large-area, uniform, and stable covalent organic framework (COF) nanofilm prepared directly on indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass was first introduced as a substrate for LDI-MS, which showed enhanced sensitivity, no background interference, and high reproducibility in the analysis of diverse small molecules. Taking into account all these merits, an attractive approach of COF nanofilm-based LDI-MS was developed to quantitatively evaluate the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in mouse plasma. A good linear relationship (10-20,000 ng/mL) and a low limit of detection (LOD) for 5-FU (∼100 pg/mL) were achieved. In view of the fact that the COF nanofilm was uniform and without the requirement of additional matrix spraying, it was further extended for LDI-MS imaging (LDI-MSI) to visualize the spatial distribution of 5-FU in mouse liver at different interval times after intravenous and intragastric administrations. The results indicated that the decay of 5-FU in mouse liver obtained with the COF nanofilm-based LDI-MSI was consistent with the tendency of 5-FU pharmacokinetics. This work not only offers an alternative solution for LDI-MS/MSI analysis of small molecules but also extends the application fields of COF nanofilm in MS research.

Real-World Application of Pre-Orchiectomy miR-371a-3p Test in Testicular Germ Cell Tumor Management.

PURPOSE: Current serum tumor markers for testicular germ cell tumor are limited by low sensitivity. Growing evidence supports the use of circulating miR-371a-3p as a superior marker for malignant (viable) germ cell tumor management. We evaluated the real-world application of serum miR-371a-3p levels in detecting viable germ cell tumor among patients undergoing partial or radical orchiectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum samples were collected from 69 consecutive patients before orchiectomy. Performance characteristics of serum miR-371a-3p were compared with conventional serum tumor markers (⍺-fetoprotein/ß-human chorionic gonadotropin/lactate dehydrogenase) between patients with viable germ cell tumor and those without viable germ cell tumor on orchiectomy pathology. Relative miR-371a-3p levels were correlated with clinical course. The Kruskal-Wallis test and linear and ordinal regression models were used for analysis. RESULTS: For detecting viable germ cell tumor, combined conventional serum tumor markers had a specificity of 100%, sensitivity of 58% and AUC of 0.79. The miR-371a-3p test showed a specificity of 100%, sensitivity of 93% and AUC of 0.978. Median relative expression of miR-371a-3p in viable germ cell tumor cases was more than 6,800-fold higher than in those lacking viable germ cell tumor. miR-371a-3p levels correlated with composite stage (p=0.006) and, among composite stage I cases, independently associated with embryonal carcinoma percentage (p=0.0012) and tumor diameter (p <0.0001). Six patients underwent orchiectomy after chemotherapy and were correctly predicted to have presence or absence of viable germ cell tumor by the miR-371a-3p test. CONCLUSIONS: If validated, the miR-371a-3p test can be used in conjunction with conventional serum tumor markers to aid clinical decision making. A positive miR-371a-3p test in patients after preoperative chemotherapy or with solitary testes could potentially guide subsequent orchiectomy or observation.

Age of Acquisition of Mandarin Modulates Cortical Thickness in High-Proficient Cantonese-Mandarin Bidialectals.

Previous studies showed that the onset age of second language acquisition (AoA-L2) can modulate brain structure of bilinguals. However, the underlying mechanism of anatomical plasticity induced by AoA-L2 is still a question in debate. In order to explore the issue, we recruited two groups of native Cantonese-Mandarin speakers, the early group began to speak in Mandarin at about 3.5 and the late group at about 6.5 years old. In addition, the early group had earlier experience in reading Chinese characters than the late group did. Through estimating the cortical thickness (CT), we found that (1) compared with the late group, the early group had thicker CT in the lateral occipital region, left middle temporal gyrus, and left parahippocampal region, which are all involved in visuospatial processing, probably reflecting the effect induced by the earlier or later experiences in processing the characters of Chinese for the two groups; and (2) compared with the late group, the early group had thicker CT in left superior parietal region, which is believed to be involved in language switching, maybe for the early group had the earlier experience in switching back and forth between Cantonese and Mandarin and therefore recruited the executive control network earlier. Our findings revealed the effects of the AoA-L2 in oral language acquisition as well as in written language acquisition as the main determinants of bilingual language structural representation in human brain.

A spherical covalent-organic framework for enhancing laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for small molecule detection.

A spherical vinyl-functionalized covalent-organic framework (COF-V) was prepared at room temperature by a facile method and applied as a novel substrate for surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SELDI-MS). Compared with conventional organic matrices, the spherical COF-V with high crystallinity and good monodispersity exhibited high sensitivity, no matrix background interference, wide-range applicability, high salt tolerance and reproducibility in the characterization of small molecules. Considering these advantages, the applicability of the spherical COF-V-based SELDI-MS method was successfully demonstrated by determining trace amounts of glucose in diabetic urine, which would be a promising candidate for clinical diagnosis of diabetes. In addition, the morphological effect and the desorption/ionization mechanism of the COF-V were investigated in detail and the results indicated that the spherical COF-V substrate could greatly enhance the LDI process compared with the bulk COF-V. This work not only extends the application of COFs in MS, but also offers a promising alternative for small molecule identification and clinical diagnosis of diabetes.

High-throughput screening of bisphenols using magnetic covalent organic frameworks as a SELDI-TOF-MS probe.

Core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework (Fe3O4@COF) nanospheres were rapidly synthesized at room temperature using the monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) as magnetic core and benzene-1,3,5-tricarbaldehyde (BTA) and 3,3'-dihydroxybenzidine (DHBD) as two building blocks (denoted as Fe3O4@BTA-DHBD), respectively. They can serve as a mass spectrometry probe for rapid and high-throughput screening of bisphenols (BPs) from pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). The Fe3O4@BTA-DHBD nanospheres showed some superior features involving average pore size distribution (2.82 nm), high magnetization values (42.5 emu g-1), high specific surface area (82.96 m2 g-1), and good chemical/thermal stability. It was used as both ideal adsorbent for enrichment of BPs and new substrate to assist ionization in SELDI-TOF-MS. The method exhibited good linearity in the range 0.05-4000 ng mL-1 with correlation coefficients (r) higher than 0.9920. Low limits of detection (LODs) (500 pg mL-1 for bisphenol A (BPA), 2 pg mL-1 for bisphenol B (BPB), 28 pg mL-1 for bisphenol C (BPC), 60 pg mL-1 for bisphenol F (BPF), 33 pg mL-1 for bisphenol AF (BPAF), 200 pg mL-1 for bisphenol BP (BPBP), 10 pg mL-1 for bisphenol S (BPS), 90 pg mL-1 for tetrabromobisphenol A (BPA(Br)4), and 380 pg mL-1 for tetrabromobisphenol S (BPS(Br)4)) and good recoveries (80.6-115%) of BPs in PPCPs were achieved. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of spot-to-spot (n = 10) and sample-to-sample (n = 5) were in the ranges 5-11% and 5-12%, respectively. The dual-function platform was successfully applied to the quantitative determination of BPs in PPCPs. It not only expanded the scope of the application of COFs but also provided an alternative strategy for the determination of hazardous compounds in PPCPs. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of the synthesis of core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework nanospheres (Fe3O4@COFs) and its application in the analysis of bisphenols by using Fe3O4@BTA-DHBD nanospheres as a MS probe based on surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

[Variation trend and influential factors for cesarean section rate in a general hospital in Changsha from 2008 to 2017].

OBJECTIVE: To know about the cesarean section rate and the changes of the indications for cesarean section in Changsha from 2008 to 2017, and to provide scientific basis for decreasing the cesarean section rate.
 Methods: We collected the clinical data of deliveries in a general hospital in Changsha from January 2008 to December 2017, and analyzed the cesarean section rate, the changes of the indications for cesarean section and the influential factors. 
 Results: The cesarean section rate in this hospital was 50.0% from 2008 to 2017, and the cesarean section due to social factors showed a decreasing trend year by year. Multiple-factor analysis of the cesarean section shows that advanced age, multi-parous pregnancy, gravida (≥4 times), abnormal fetal position and heavy fetus weight were dangerous factors, and the multipara was a protective factor.
 Conclusion: The cesarean section rate in a general hospital in Changsha is at a high level, and there are many factors affecting cesarean section. It is necessary to optimize the strategies and measures to reduce the cesarean section rate, and to control the cesarean section rate in a reasonable range.

Emerging Novel Metal Electrodes for Photovoltaic Applications.

Emerging novel metal electrodes not only serve as the collector of free charge carriers, but also function as light trapping designs in photovoltaics. As a potential alternative to commercial indium tin oxide, transparent electrodes composed of metal nanowire, metal mesh, and ultrathin metal film are intensively investigated and developed for achieving high optical transmittance and electrical conductivity. Moreover, light trapping designs via patterning of the back thick metal electrode into different nanostructures, which can deliver a considerable efficiency improvement of photovoltaic devices, contribute by the plasmon-enhanced light-mattering interactions. Therefore, here the recent works of metal-based transparent electrodes and patterned back electrodes in photovoltaics are reviewed, which may push the future development of this exciting field.

Photomodulated Electro-optical Response in Self-Supporting Liquid Crystalline Physical Gels.

Photoresponsive liquid crystal (LC) physical gels have attracted more and more attention because of the nature of strong response via light stimulus. Although many efforts on the breaking and recovering of physical gels through photoisomerization have been focused, fast electro-optical response and high mechanical properties even upon light irradiations are difficult to achieve at the same time. In this work, two kinds of azobenzene-containing gelators (AG1 and AG2) with different terminal groups were designed and synthesized. Both gelators could induce the nematic LC P0616A self-assemble into anisotropic phase-separated LC physical gels at low contents. Their phase-transition behavior, thermal stability, microstructure, and mechanical strength were systematically studied. Compared with AG2 in P0616A, the P0616A/AG1 gels showed better mechanical property. When the gelator content was above 3 wt %, the P0616A/AG1 gels possessed good self-supporting ability with a storage modulus more than 104 Pa. Thus, the photoresponsive electro-optical properties and structures of P0616A/AG1 gels were focused in detail. It was surprising that the electro-optical response speed of the P0616A/AG1 gels could be promoted upon UV irradiation. In particular, the decay time (τoff) was only about half when compared with the initial state, whereas the gels still exhibited good self-supporting ability; also the network of the LC physical gels had no change at macro- and microstructural levels. These exciting results would open a door for the application of this material in electro-optical devices.

[Study on quality evaluation of Dihuang (Rehmannia glutinosa) by two-dimension HPLC fingerprints and chemometrics methods].

The study is to establish the two-dimension HPLC fingerprints of Dihuang (Rehmannia glutinosa), by HPLC-PDA and HPLC-ELSD methods. The separations were performed on Waters Atlantis®T3（4.6 mm× 250 mm，5 µm）and Welch Ultimate®Hilic-NH2（4.6 mm× 250 mm，5 µm）columns with the gradient elution of acetonitrile-0.01% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile-water, respectively. The chromatographic display wavelength for PDA detector was set at 203 nm. For HPLC-ELSD, the nebulizer was set as cooling mode, the drift tube temperature was set at 60 °C and the gas pressure was 35.0 psi. Based on similarity evaluation system for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine, 26 and 10 chromatographic peaks were determined as common components for HPLC-PDA and HPLC-ELSD fingerprints, respectively. Chemometrics analyses, such as similarity analysis; cluster analysis and principal component analysis, were performed on the common peak areas in two-dimension fingerprints for 41 batches of Dihuang from multiple sources. The results showed that the HPLC-PDA fingerprint could distinguish dried rehmannia root between different sources, and HPLC-ELSD fingerprint could differentiate dried rehmannia root from prepared rehmannia root. The two-dimension fingerprints were established with advantages of a good degree of separation, abundant chemical information and multi-components identified including two nucleosides (adenosine and uridine)，four iridoid glycosides (catalpa alcohol，rehmaionoside D，rehmaionoside A and leonuride)，two phenylethanoid glycosides (acteoside and cistanoside A) and nine sugars. The method is simple and practical, which could be used for the identification and quality assessment for Dihuang.

MiR-181a-5p regulates 3T3-L1 cell adipogenesis by targeting Smad7 and Tcf7l2.

MicroRNAs are highly conserved non-coding small RNAs participating in almost all kinds of biological activities. MiR-181a has been reported to be involved in the differentiation of porcine primary preadipocytes, but the profound effect of miR-181a-5p on 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation and proliferation is still unclear. In this study, we found that supplementation of miR-181a-5p in 3T3-L1 cells significantly promoted the adipogenesis and inhibited cell proliferation with increased expression of adipogenic marker genes including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (Pparγ), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/ebpα), fatty acid-binding protein 4 (Fabp4), and Adiponectin, accompanied by an accumulation of lipid droplet, an increase of triglyceride content, and a decrease of cell proliferation. Furthermore, by using the luciferase assay, Smad7 and Tcf7l2, two important members of transforming growth factor-ß (TGFß) and Wnt signaling pathway, were proven to be the direct target genes of miR-181a-5p. Moreover, supplementation of miR-181a-5p in 3T3-L1 cells altered the expressions of proteins involved in the TGFß signaling pathway, such as TGFBR1, p-SMAD3, SMAD4, c-MYC, and p15. Taken together, these results indicate that miR-181a-5p promotes 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis through regulating TGFß/Smad and Wnt signaling pathway by directly targeting Smad7 and Tcf7l2.

MicroRNA-125b-5p inhibits proliferation and promotes adipogenic differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

Previous evidence has indicated that the microRNA-125b (miR-125b) family plays important roles in the regulation of cancer cell growth, development, differentiation, and apoptosis. However, whether they contribute to the process of adipocyte differentiation remains unclear. In the present study, we revealed that the expression level of miR-125b-5p, a member of miR-125b family, was dramatically up-regulated during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte into mature adipocyte. Supplement of miR-125b-5p into 3T3-L1 cells promoted adipogenic differentiation as evidenced by increased lipid droplets and mRNA levels of adipocyte-specific molecular markers, including peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α, fatty acid-binding protein 4, and lipoprotein lipase, and by triglyceride accumulation. CCK-8 assay showed that miR-125b-5p supplementation significantly inhibited cell proliferation. Flow cytometry analysis showed that miR-125b-5p impaired G1/S phase transition as well as the mRNA and protein expression of G1/S-related genes, such as Cyclin D2, Cyclin D3, and CDK4. Nevertheless, it had no effect on apoptosis. Additionally, by target gene prediction, we demonstrated that smad4 may be a potential target of miR-125b-5p in mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, accounting for some of miR-125b-5p's functions. Taken together, these data indicated that miR-125b-5p may serve as an important positive regulator in adipocyte differentiation, at least partially through down-regulating smad4.

Exploring Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and Polygalae Radix in Alzheimer's: Network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis.

Explore Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma (ATR) and Polygalae Radix (PR) mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment through network pharmacology. ATR-PR was investigated in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database, Batman, and Traditional Chinese Medicines Integrated Database (TCMID) to gather information on its chemical components and target proteins. Target genes associated with AD were retrieved from the GeneCards and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases. The integration of these datasets with potential targets facilitated the construction of an AD and ATR-PR protein-protein interaction (PPI) network using the STRING database. The resulting network identified the core active ingredients and main targets of ATR-PR in AD treatment. Cluster analysis of the PPI network was performed using Cytoscape 3.7.1. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted using the Metascape database. Molecular docking simulations revealed potential interactions between the main active ingredients and core targets. Our analysis identified 8 putative components and 455 targets of ATR-PR. We systematically searched for 1306 genes associated with AD, conducted Venn diagram analysis resulting in 156 common targets, and constructed a PPI network with 57 key targets. GO functional analysis highlighted the primary biological processes associated with oxidative stress. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of 64 signaling pathways, with the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway playing a key role. Molecular docking analysis indicated a high affinity between the potential targets of ATR-PR and the main compounds of AD. This study sheds light on the complex network of interactions involving ATR-PR in the context of AD. The identified targets, pathways, and interactions provide a foundation for understanding the potential therapeutic mechanisms. The involvement of oxidative stress-related processes and the crucial role of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway suggest avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer's disease treatment. Our proposition of the combined use of ATR-PR has emerged as a potential treatment strategy for AD, supported by a network pharmacology approach. This framework provides a robust foundation for future clinical applications and experimental research in the pursuit of effective Alzheimer's disease treatments.

Network pharmacology prediction and experiment validation of anti-liver cancer activity of Curcumae Rhizoma and Hedyotis diffusa Willd.

Objective: This study aims to elucidate anti-liver cancer components and potential mechanisms of Curcumae Rhizoma and Hedyotis diffusa Willd (CR-HDW). Methods: Effective components and targets of CR-HDW were identified from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. Liver cancer-related genes were collected from GeneCards, Gene-Disease Association (DisGeNET), and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Protein-protein interaction networks, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment were conducted to analyze the identified genes. Molecular docking was used to simulate binding of the active components and their target proteins. Cell activity assay, western blot, and senescence-associated ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-gal) experiments were conducted to validate core targets identified from molecular docking. Results: Ten active compounds of CR-HDW were identified including quercetin, 3-epioleanic acid and hederagenin. The primary core proteins comprised Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), Protein Kinase B(AKT1), etc. The pathways for Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/ AKT, cellular senescence, Fork head boxO (FOXO) were revealed as important for anti-cancer activity of CR-HDW. Molecular docking demonstrated strong binding between liver cancer target proteins and major active components of CR-HDW. In-vitro experiments confirmed that hederagenin and 3-epioleolic acid inhibited HuH-7 cell growth, reduced expression of PI3K, AKT, and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) proteins. Hederagenin also induced HuH-7 senescence. Conclusions: In summary, The authors' results suggest that the CR-HDW component (Hederagenin, 3-epoxy-olanolic acid) can inhibit the proliferation of HuH-7 cells by decreasing PI3K, AKT, and mTOR. Hederagenin also induced HuH-7 senescence.

Recent Advances in Biomass-Based Materials for Oil Spill Cleanup.

Oil spill on sea surfaces, which mainly produced by the oil leakage accident happened on tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, has bring irreversible damage to marine environments and ecosystems. Among various spill oil handling methods, using sorbents to absorb and recover spill oils is a perspective method because they are cost-effective and enable a high recovery and without secondary pollution to the ecosystem. Currently, sorbents based on biomass materials have aroused extensively attention thanks to their features of inexpensive, abundant, biodegradable, and sustainable. Herein, we comprehensively review the state-of-the-art development of biomass-based sorbents for spill oil cleanup in the recent five years. After briefly introducing the background, the basic theory and material characteristics for the separation of oil from water and the adsorption of oils is also presented. Various modification methods for biomass materials are summarized in section three. Section four discusses the recent progress of biomass as oil sorbents for oil spill cleanup, in which the emphasis is placed on the oil sorption capacity and the separation efficiency. Finally, the challenge and future development directions is outlined.

Construction of Covalent Organic Framework Capsule-Based Nanoreactor for Sensitive Glucose Detection.

Enzyme immobilization is critical to boosting its application in various areas. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are ideal hosts for enzyme immobilization due to their porous and predesignable structures. Nevertheless, the construction of COFs-based enzyme immobilization systems with high activity via existing immobilization methods (including covalent linkages and channel entrapment) remains a considerable challenge. Herein, a versatile approach was introduced to encapsulate enzymes within hollow COF capsule (named enzyme@COF) using metal-organic frameworks (including ZPF-1(C8H11N4O4.5Zn), ZIF-8(C8H10N4Zn), and ZIF-90(C8H6N4O2Zn)) as sacrificial templates. The obtained porous COF capsule could not only facilitate the efficient mass transfer of enzymatic reactions but also protect enzymes against the incompatible conditions, resulting in enhanced activity and stability of the encapsulated enzymes. Moreover, this approach offered an opportunity to spatially organize multienzymes in COF capsule to construct enzyme cascade system. For instance, glucose oxidase (GOx) and cytochrome c (Cyt c) were coencapsulated within COF capsule to construct GOx-Cyt c cascade. The integration of GOx and Cyt c within COF capsule achieved ∼1.6-fold improvement in catalytic activity than that of free enzymes and the resultant GOx-Cyt c@COF was successfully adopted as a nanoreactor for the sensitive determination of glucose in serum. This work provided a new insight into the design of COFs-based enzyme immobilization systems.