Identification of the Key Functional Domains of Bombyx mori Nucleopolyhedrovirus IE1 Protein.

The immediate early protein 1 (IE1) acts as a transcriptional activator and is essential for viral gene transcription and viral DNA replication. However, the key regulatory domains of IE1 remain poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the sequence characteristics of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) IE1 and identified the key functional domains of BmNPV IE1 by stepwise truncation. Our results showed that BmNPV IE1 was highly similar to Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) IE1, but was less conserved with IE1 of other baculoviruses, the C-terminus of IE1 was more conserved than the N-terminus, and BmNPV IE1 was also necessary for BmNPV proliferation. Moreover, we found that IE1158-208 was a major nuclear localization element, and IE11-157 and IE1539-559 were minor nuclear localization elements, but the combination of these two minor elements was equally sufficient to fully mediate the nuclear entry of IE1. Meanwhile, IE11-258, IE1560-584, and the association of amino acids 258 and 259 were indispensable for the transactivation activity of BmNPV IE1. These results systematically resolve the functional domains of BmNPV IE1, which contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of baculovirus infection and provide a possibility to synthesize a small molecule IE1-truncated mutant as an agonist or antagonist.

A Novel PIFA/KOH Promoted Approach to Synthesize C2-arylacylated Benzothiazoles as Potential Drug Scaffolds.

To discover an efficient and convenient method to synthesize C2-arylacylated benzothiazoles as potential drug scaffolds, a novel [bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodo]benzene(PIFA)/KOH synergistically promoted direct ring-opening C2-arylacylation reaction of 2H-benzothiazoles with aryl methyl ketones has been developed. Various substrates were tolerated under optimized conditions affording the C2-arylacylation products in 70-95% yields for 38 examples. A plausible mechanism was also proposed based on a series of controlled experiments.

A novel prognostic index of hepatocellular carcinoma based on immunogenomic landscape analysis.

Changes in immune responses to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are closely related to the occurrence, development, and prognosis of this disease. Exploring the role of immune-related genes (IRGs) in HCC would provide insights into the mechanisms regulating this disease. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) provide a platform for such research, owing to a large number of HCC samples available for comprehensive and systematic immunogenomics analyses. We analyzed the IRGs expression profile and clinical information of patients with HCC based on the TCGA and ICGC database. Potential molecular mechanisms and properties of the screened IRGs were analyzed across multiple databases. And we analyzed the correlation between IRGs, single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and copy number variation. A novel prognostic index, based on IRGs, was developed using the LASSO Cox regression algorithm, followed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to analyze the prognostic index. Information in the ICGC database was used to verify the reliability of the prognostic index. A total of 54 differentially expressed IRGs were found to be significantly associated with HCC prognosis, and there is a significant correlation between their expression level and copy number variation. Functional enrichment analyses indicated that the genes play active roles in tumor and immune-related signaling pathways. In addition, five potential biomarkers namely IRG, MAPK3, HSP90AA1, HSP90AB1, HSPA4, and CDK4, were identified. Finally, a novel prognostic index, based on IRGs (PSMD14, FABP6, ISG20L2, HGF, BIRC5, IL17D, and STC2), was found useful as an independent prognostic factor, not only for prognosis but also to reflect levels of infiltration in a variety of immune cells. Our team conducted a genomics study of IRGs in HCC and screened several clinically significant IRGs, and our model provides an effective approach for stratification and characterization of patients using IRG-based immunolabeling tools to monitor the prognosis of HCC.

The expression profiles and prognostic values of HSP70s in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The HSP70 family of heat shock protein plays a critical role in protein synthesis and transport to maintain protein homeostasis. Several studies have indicated that HSP70s are related to the development and occurrence of various cancers. METHODS: The relationship between the overall survival rate of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and the expression of 14 HSP70s from multiple databases, such as TCGA, ONCOMINE, cBioPortal was investigated. Western Blot and PCR were used to evaluate HSPA4 and HSPA14 expressions in various HCC cells to identify suitable cell lines for further experiments .Wound-healing assays, Transwell assays and EdU assays were used to verify the effects of HSPA4 and HSPA14 on the function of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: Hepatocellular carcinoma tissues significantly expressed the 14 HSP70s compared to the normal samples. Besides, the high HSPA1A, HSPA1B, HSPA4, HSPA5, HSPA8, HSPA13, and HSPA14 expressions were inversely associated with the overall survival rate of patients, tumor grade, and cancer stage. A PPI regulatory network was constructed using the 14 HSP70s proteins with HSPA5 and HSPA8 at the network center. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that HSPA4 and HSPA14 could be independent risk factors for the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Cell experiments have also confirmed that reducing HSPA4 and HSPA14 expressions can inhibit the invasion, metastasis, and proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, the HSP70s significantly influence the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. For instance, HSPA4 and HSPA14 can be novel therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma.

[Application of phylogenomics in Chinese medicine resources].

China is rich in the diversified Chinese medicine resources and is notable for the wide and long-term applications of Chinese medicine. However,the lack of genomic information on medicinal taxa leads to problems in relation to resource conservation and the downstream application of traditional Chinese medicine resources,which restricts the modernization process of traditional Chinese medicine. Molecular phylogenetics is an important tool to understand the origin and evolution of the earth's biodiversity and promote the conservation and use of medicinal taxa. With the development of sequencing technology,the combination of genomic data extends the traditional molecular phylogenetics to the research level of phylogenomics,making it more powerfully applied to all aspects of biological research. Undoubtedly,carrying out phylogenomic research on Chinese medicine species will greatly promote their resources conservation,molecular evaluation and identification,and the exploration and utilization of natural pharmacodynamic components,promoting the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. This article starts with a brief introduction of the developing history and basic research methods of phylogenomics,and then reviews the current research progress in phylogenomics related to traditional Chinese medicine resources. Finally,it discusses the problems existing in the current research and the next direction of phylogenomics research in medicinal taxa. The article will hopefully provide a reference for relevant researches in future.

[Synthesis of triterpenoid saponins from Aesculus chinensis based on transcriptome data].

Aesculus chinensis belongs to Hippocastanaceae family,bears medicinal and ornamental values. The oleanane type triterpenoid saponin aescin is regarded as active ingredient and accumulated in seed. In order to understand its molecular basis of the triterpenoid biosynthesis,we used high-throughput sequencing under Illumina Hi Seq 2000 platform to obtain the transcriptome data of seed and flower from A. chinensis to further mine the genes involved in its metabolic pathway. Unigene's de novo splicing was performed using Trinity software; the transcriptome results were annotated with KEGG database to predict the specific pathways of the aescin triterpenoid metabolism. Terpenoid and triterpenoid pathways were found from transcriptome data,and forty seven and twenty seven corresponding genes were uncovered respectively. It was found that there are eight kinds of enzymes related to the terpenoid metabolism pathway precursors and three kinds of enzymes related to the triterpenoid metabolism pathway. In this study,five genes corresponding to triterpene cyclase were analyzed in A. chinensis for the first time,which may participate in the synthesis of triterpenoid. It' s revealed that there were thirty three differential genes associated with the ko00900 and ko00909 pathways by analysis on the difference in transcriptome expression between seeds and flowers; seventeen unigenes were up-regulated and sixteen unigenes were down-regulated in the seeds relative to flowers. In this study, qRT-PCR experiments were used to verify the expression of three key enzyme genes of SQE( Unigene25806),HMGS( Unigene36710),and ß-AS( Unigene33291). The results of qRT-PCR were consistent with the transcriptome data. The candidate genes related to triterpenoid saponin aescin synthesis in A. chinensis found in this study can provide theoretical basis for the metabolism synthesis and regulation of aescin.

Novel Muscle-Specific Genes TCAP, TNNI1, and FHL1 in Cattle: SNVs, Linkage Disequilibrium, Combined Genotypes, Association Analysis of Growth Performance, and Carcass Quality Traits and Expression Studies.

TCAP, TNNI1, and FHL1 regulate muscle growth and development. In this study, four single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were discovered in almost all of the exon and intron regions of the TCAP, TNNI1, and FHL1 genes using DNA pooled sequencing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-RFLP, and forced-PCR-RFLP methods in 576 cattle. Four SNVs were significantly associated with the growth performance and carcass quality traits of the cattle. In addition, the haplotype, haplotype frequency, and linkage disequilibrium coefficient of three sequence variants were also evaluated in the cattle population. Haplotype analysis demonstrated that eight haplotypes were present in the Qinchuan cattle population and no haplotypes were present in the Chinese Holstein population; haplotype 1 had the highest frequency in the Qinchuan (42.7%) population. Statistical analyses of 12 combined genotypes indicated that some were significantly associated with the growth performance and carcass quality traits of the Qinchuan cattle population. Moreover, the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction results demonstrated that the bovine TCAP, TNNI1, and FHL1 genes were exclusively expressed in muscle tissue. These data support the high potentials of the TCAP, TNNI1, and FHL1 as marker genes to improve the growth performance and carcass quality traits of Qinchuan cattle or other animals selection programs.

Comprehensive Characterization for Ginsenosides Biosynthesis in Ginseng Root by Integration Analysis of Chemical and Transcriptome.

Herbgenomics provides a global platform to explore the genetics and biology of herbs on the genome level. Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer is an important medicinal plant with numerous pharmaceutical effects. Previous reports mainly discussed the transcriptome of ginseng at the organ level. However, based on mass spectrometry imaging analyses, the ginsenosides varied among different tissues. In this work, ginseng root was separated into three tissues-periderm, cortex and stele-each for five duplicates. The chemical analysis and transcriptome analysis were conducted simultaneously. Gene-encoding enzymes involved in ginsenosides biosynthesis and modification were studied based on gene and molecule data. Eight widely-used ginsenosides were distributed unevenly in ginseng roots. A total of 182,881 unigenes were assembled with an N50 contig size of 1374 bp. About 21,000 of these unigenes were positively correlated with the content of ginsenosides. Additionally, we identified 192 transcripts encoding enzymes involved in two triterpenoid biosynthesis pathways and 290 transcripts encoding UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs). Of these UGTs, 195 UGTs (67.2%) were more highly expressed in the periderm, and that seven UGTs and one UGT were specifically expressed in the periderm and stele, respectively. This genetic resource will help to improve the interpretation on complex mechanisms of ginsenosides biosynthesis, accumulation, and transportation.

[Application of high resolution melting curve to identification of Cimicifugae Rhizoma].

High-resolution-melting analysis (HRM) is a new technology derived from q PCR and is widely used in the study of polymorphism, genotyping, and single nucleotide mutation. Advantages of HRM include cost-effectiveness and time-efficiency over PCR-based genotyping. However, the application of HRM in the authentication of herbal products is still limited with few studies on the classification and identification of herbal products. In this study, Cimicifugae Rhizoma was used as an example to verify the stability and accuracy of HRM technique in identification of Chinese materia medica. HRM assay was established for identification based on ITS2 region of Cimicifugae Rhizomas and its adulterants(including 41 samples). Our findings showed that HRM allows not only the identification of adulteration but also the quantification of the most common admixture. This study is significant for better quality in the verification of the authenticity of herbal medicine. The method is promising for future identification of traditional Chinese medicinal materials.

Determination of Anticyclic Citrullinated Peptide Based on Biotin-Streptavidin-Amplified Time-Resolved Fluoroimmunoassay.

BACKGROUND: A rapid and sensitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA) based on the biotin-streptavidin amplification system was developed for the determination of anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP). METHODS: Europium-labeled streptavidin derivatives combined with europium and anhydride of diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid were used to label streptavidin, biotin was coupled with rabbit anti-human IgG to form a biotin-anti-human IgG bridge between streptavidin-europium and the anti-CCP antibody in the immunoassay. The anti-CCP assay was carried out by measuring the fluorescence of Eu(3+) -streptavidin at 615 nm. RESULTS: The presented method produced a wide linear range from 0.58 to 9,463 U/ml, while it was only 591.4-18.48 U/ml when using an ELISA kit, and featured a detection limit up to 0.5 U/ml for anti-CCP. The values determined by the biotin-streptavidin-TRFIA and ELISA correlated well (R(2) = 0.8927). The method was applied to determine anti-CCP in serum samples with satisfied recoveries of 96.45-104.63%. CONCLUSION: The assay results obtained by the present method showed that biotin-streptavidin-amplified TRFIA improve the traditional ELISA kit for anti-CCP detection. Therefore, it offers a better alternative immunoassay in rheumatoid arthritis management.

[Identification of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba by ITS2 Sequence].

OBJECTIVE: The ITS2 sequence was used to identify Ardisiae Japonicae Herba collected from the market, in order to ensure the medicine quality of the market and to provide a reliable technical method. METHODS: The certified samples, including Ardisia japonica and its adulterants, were 56 samples of 17 species. All the sequences of the samples including six related sequences downloaded from NCBI were analyzed by computing the Kimura 2-parameter (K2P) genetic distance and the neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree, then the method of DNA barcoding identification technology of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba based on ITS2 sequence was established. Combined with online comparison of sequences, the method was used to detect 15 samples of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba from the market to distinguish authenticity. RESULTS: The maximum and the average intra-specific K2P genetic distance of Ardisia japonica were all less than the minimum and the average inter-specific K2P genetic distance, and Ardisia japonica and its adulterants could be separated by computing the NJ phylogenetic tree. The identification results of online comparison and DNA barcoding identification were the same. In all of the 15 samples, 13 of them were genuine, and the other two samples were fake. CONCLUSION: The DNA barcoding identification technique method of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba is established based on ITS2 sequence, and it provides a reference method to distinguish the authenticity of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba quickly by gene recognition.

[Identification of moutan cortex and its adulterants by ITS2 sequence].

To explore a new method to identify Moutan Cortex to guarantee its safe use, internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequence was used to identify Moutan Cortex and its adulterants. DNA was extracted and target fragments were amplified. Sequences were analyzed and assembled by CodonCode Aligner V3.7.1. Genetic distances were computed and phylogenetic tree was constructed based on kimura 2-parameter (K2P) model by MEGA 5.0. The length of the 20 ITS2 sequences of Moutan Cortex from nine different places is 227 bp, and no variation site was detected. The maximum inter-specificK2P distance of Moutan Cortex is 0, the minimum intra-specific K2P distance is 0.041, the average intra-specific K2P distance is 0.222. According to NJ analysis, Moutan Cortex from different places can get together as one branch with bootstrap support values 99%, which indicates Moutan Cortex can be easily distinguished from its adulterants. Using ITS2 sequence can accurately identify Moutan Cortex and its adulterants, it is an effective supplementary to traditional identification methods.

BmNPV Bm60 is a key target gene used by a resistant strain of Bombyx mori to inhibit BmNPV proliferation.

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is a pathogen that causes significant losses to the silkworm industry. Numerous antiviral genes and proteins have been identified by studying silkworm resistance to BmNPV. However, the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV is unclear. We analyzed the differences between the susceptible strain 871 and a near-isogenic resistant strain 871C. The survival of strain 871C was significantly greater than that of 871 after oral and subcutaneous exposure to BmNPV. Strain 871C exhibited a nearly 10,000-fold higher LD50 for BmNPV compared to 871. BmNPV proliferation was significantly inhibited in all tested tissues of strain 871C using HE strain and fluorescence analysis. Strain 871C exhibited cellular resistance to BmNPV rather than peritrophic membrane or serum resistance. Strain 871C suppressed the expression of the viral early gene Bm60. This led to the inhibition of BmNPV DNA replication and late structural gene transcription based on the cascade regulation of baculovirus gene expression. Bm60 could also interact with the viral DNA binding protein and alkaline nuclease, as well as host proteins Methylcrotonoyl-CoA carboxylase subunit alpha, mucin-2-like protein, and 30 K-8. Overexpression of 30 K-8 significantly inhibited BmNPV proliferation. These results increase understanding of the molecular mechanism behind silkworm resistance to BmNPV and suggest targets for the breeding of resistant silkworm strains and the controlling pest of Lepidoptera.

Analysis of optical properties and response mechanism of H2S fluorescent probe based on rhodamine derivatives.

H2S plays a crucial role in numerous physiological and pathological processes. In this project, a new fluorescent probe, SG-H2S, for the detection of H2S, was developed by introducing the recognition group 2,4-dinitrophenyl ether. The combination of rhodamine derivatives can produce both colorimetric reactions and fluorescence reactions. Compared with the current H2S probes, the main advantages of SG-H2S are its wide pH range (5-9), fast response (30 min), and high selectivity in competitive species (including biological mercaptan). The probe SG-H2S has low cytotoxicity and has been successfully applied to imaging in MCF-7 cells, HeLa cells, and BALB/c nude mice. We hope that SG-H2S will provide a vital method for the field of biology.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of orf76 as an antiviral therapy against BmNPV in the transgenic silkworm.

Viral diseases pose a significant threat to livestock husbandry and plant cultivation. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted editing of viral genes offers a promising approach to antiviral therapy. The silkworm, Bombyx mori, is an economically important insect susceptible to infection by B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV), and viral outbreaks cause severe economic losses to the sericulture industry. Here, we identified BmNPV orf76 as a viral late gene that is highly similar to Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus Ac93. The deletion of orf76 abolished BmNPV proliferation and hindered the production of infectious budded viruses. We generated a transgenic line, Cas9(+)/sgorf76(+), that did not affect the growth or development of the silkworm and demonstrated that the transgenic line Cas9(+)/sgorf76(+) efficiently cleaved orf76 at the sgorf76 site, resulting in large deletions at 120 h post-infection, with no observed off-target effects. Survival analyses revealed that the transgenic line Cas9(+)/sgorf76(+) exhibited significantly higher survival rates than the control lines Cas9(-)/sgorf76(-), regardless of the BmNPV inoculation dose. Additionally, the number of BmNPV DNA copies and the expression levels of viral genes were markedly inhibited in the transgenic line Cas9(+)/sgorf76(+) compared with the control line Cas9(-)/sgorf76(-). The results provide a promising target for Cas9-mediated antiviral therapy against BmNPV, and the findings provide new insights for baculovirus gene function studies and lepidopteran pest control.

Picotesla-sensitivity microcavity optomechanical magnetometry.

Cavity optomechanical systems have enabled precision sensing of magnetic fields, by leveraging the optical resonance-enhanced readout and mechanical resonance-enhanced response. Previous studies have successfully achieved mass-produced and reproducible microcavity optomechanical magnetometry (MCOM) by incorporating Terfenol-D thin films into high-quality (Q) factor whispering gallery mode (WGM) microcavities. However, the sensitivity was limited to 585 pT Hz-1/2, over 20 times inferior to those using Terfenol-D particles. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a high-sensitivity and mass-produced MCOM approach by sputtering a FeGaB thin film onto a high-Q SiO2 WGM microdisk. Theoretical studies are conducted to explore the magnetic actuation constant and noise-limited sensitivity by varying the parameters of the FeGaB film and SiO2 microdisk. Multiple magnetometers with different radii are fabricated and characterized. By utilizing a microdisk with a radius of 355 µm and a thickness of 1 µm, along with a FeGaB film with a radius of 330 µm and a thickness of 1.3 µm, we have achieved a remarkable peak sensitivity of 1.68 pT Hz-1/2 at 9.52 MHz. This represents a significant improvement of over two orders of magnitude compared with previous studies employing sputtered Terfenol-D film. Notably, the magnetometer operates without a bias magnetic field, thanks to the remarkable soft magnetic properties of the FeGaB film. Furthermore, as a proof of concept, we have demonstrated the real-time measurement of a pulsed magnetic field simulating the corona current in a high-voltage transmission line using our developed magnetometer. These high-sensitivity magnetometers hold great potential for various applications, such as magnetic induction tomography and corona current monitoring.

Detection of egg white allergy in children by specific IgE microarray chemiluminescence immunoassay.

BACKGROUND: Allergen testing has emerged as a pivotal component in prevention and treatment strategies for allergic diseases among children and the utilization of specific IgE (sIgE) through a fully automated chemiluminescent microarray immunoassay (CLMIA) has emerged as a promising trend in the simultaneous detection of multiple allergenic components of children. METHODS: The accuracy and reliability of CLMIA were verified using children's serum samples that concentrated on allergens. the allergens. The clinical diagnostic practicability of CLMIA was assessed through comprehensive evaluations including measurements of the limit of detection (LOD), intra-batch, and inter-batch precision, linearity analysis, the cross-contamination rate, and the concordance rate with the Phadia system. RESULTS: After the optimization process of CLMIA, the LODs for allergens were calculated to be below 0.01 kU/L, demonstrating the high sensitivity of CLMIA. All components exhibited good linearity within the range of 0.1-100.0 kU/L and the coefficient of determinations (R2 > 0.99). The data of intra-batch precision (<10 %) and inter-batch data (<15 %) illustrated the high reproducibility of CLMIA. The cross-contamination rates for allergens (<0.5 %) showed the high accuracy of CLMIA without interfering. The positive concordance rate between CLMIA and the Phadia system exceeds 90 % with a good negative concordance rate (>85 %) and the Kappa coefficients (>0.8), suggesting the close alignment of CLMIA and the Phadia system and showing the satisfactory clinical potential of CLMIA in children's allergy disease. CONCLUSIONS: The application of CLMIA has been promising in allergen testing, especially for detecting multiple allergenic components in children.

Simultaneous screening of four epidermal growth factor receptor antagonists from Curcuma longa via cell membrane chromatography online coupled with HPLC-MS.

The epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) are significant targets for screening active compounds. In this work, an analytical method was established for rapid screening, separation, and identification of EGFRs antagonists from Curcuma longa. Human embryonic kidney 293 cells with a steadily high expression of EGFRs were used to prepare the cell membrane stationary phase in a cell membrane chromatography model for screening active compounds. Separation and identification of the retention chromatographic peaks was achieved by HPLC-MS. The active sites, docking extents and inhibitory effects of the active compounds were also demonstrated. The screening result found that ar-turmerone, curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin from Curcuma longa could be active components in a similar manner to gefitinib. Biological trials showed that all of four compounds can inhibit EGFRs protein secretion and cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, and downregulate the phosphorylation of EGFRs. This analytical method demonstrated fast and effective characteristics for screening, separation and identification of the active compounds from a complex system and should be useful for drug discovery with natural medicinal herbs.

Discovery of the cysteine dynamics during the development and treatment of diabetic process by fluorescent imaging.

Herein, a novel fluorescent probe RhoDCM was developed for monitoring the cysteine (Cys) dynamics. For the first time, the Cys-triggered implement was applied in relatively complete diabetic mice models. The response of RhoDCM towards Cys suggested advantages including practical sensitivity, high selectivity, rapid reaction, and steadiness in various pH and temperature conditions. RhoDCM could basically monitor the intracellular Cys level, both exogenous and endogenous. It could further monitor the glucose level via detecting consumed Cys. Furthermore, the diabetic mice models including the no diabetic control group, the induced model groups by streptozocin (STZ) or alloxan, and the treatment groups induced by STZ and treated with vildagliptin (Vil), dapagliflozin (DA), or metformin (Metf) were constructed. The models were checked by oral glucose tolerance test and significant liver-related serum indexes. Based on the models, the in vivo imaging and penetrating depth fluorescence imaging both indicated that RhoDCM could characterize the status of the development and treatment in the diabetic process via monitoring the Cys dynamics. Consequently, RhoDCM seemed beneficial for inferring the order of severity in the diabetic process and evaluating the potency of therapeutic schedules, which might be informatic for correlated investigations.

Imaging and detection of sulfite in acute liver injury with a novel quinoxaline-based fluorescent probe.

Herein, a novel fluorescent probe HZY was developed for monitoring the sulfite (SO32-) dynamics. For the first time, the SO32- triggered implement was applied in the acute liver injury (ALI) model. The levulinate was selected to achieve the specific and relatively steady recognition reaction. With the addition of SO32-, the fluorescence response of HZY exhibited a large Stokes shift of 110 nm under the 380 nm excitation. The merits included high selectivity under various pH conditions. Compared with the reported fluorescent probes for sulfite, HZY indicated above-moderate performances including remarkable and rapid response (40 folds, within 15 min), and high sensitivity (limit of detection = 0.21 µM). Further, HZY could visualize the exogenous and endogenous SO32- level in living cells. Moreover, HZY could gauge the changing levels of SO32- in three types (induced by CCl4, APAP, and alcohol) of ALI models. Both in vivo imaging and depth-of-penetration fluorescence imaging demonstrated that HZY could characterize the developmental and therapeutic status during the liver injury process by measuring the dynamic of SO32-. The successful implementation of this project would promote the accurate in-situ detection of SO32- in liver injury, which was expected to guide the pre-clinical diagnosis and clinical practice.