Differentiation of Uc-MSCs into insulin secreting islet-like clusters by trypsin through TGF-beta signaling pathway.

Differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (Uc-MSCs) into islet-like clusters which are capable of synthesizing and secreting insulin can potentially serve as donors for islet transplantation in the patient deficiency in islet ß cell function both in type 1 or type 2 diabetic patients. Therefore, we developed an easy and higher efficacy approach by trypsinazing the Uc-MSCs and followed culture in differentiation medium to induce of Uc-MSCs differentiation into islet-like clusters, and the potential mechanism that in the early stage of differentiation was also investigated by using RNA-sequencing and bioinformatics. Results show that induction efficacy was reached to 98% and TGF-ß signaling pathway may play critical role in the early stage differentiation, it was further confirmed that the retardant effect of differentiation progress either in cell morphology or in islet specific genes expression can be observed upon blocking the activation of TGF-ß signaling pathway using specific inhibitor of LY2109761 (TßRI/II kinase inhibitor). Our current study, for the first time, development a protocol for differentiation of Uc-MSCs into islet-like clusters, and revealed the importance of TGF-ß signaling pathway in the early stage of differentiation of Uc-MSCs into islet-like clusters. Our study will provide alternative approach for clinical treatment of either type I or type II diabtes mellitus with dysfunctional pancreatic islets.

Enhanced dielectric and conductivity properties of carbon-coated SiC nanocomposites in the terahertz frequency range.

C-coated SiC nanocomposites (SiC@C NCs) were one-step synthesized under a mixture atmosphere of Ar and CH4 using a DC arc-discharge plasma method. The microstructure of the composites could be controlled by varying the volume ratio of Ar and CH4. A strong response to the terahertz (THz) field was observed due to the existence of a graphite shell. The dielectric properties of SiC@C NCs can be enhanced by altering the thickness of the graphite shell. The thicker graphite shell results in a stronger absorption of THz waves and an enhanced real part of conductivity. Fitting the measured conductivity data using the Drude-Smith model reveals that the carrier transport in the SiC@C NCs and its counterpart, the SiC nanoparticles, is dominated by backscattering. The SiC@C NCs with enhanced conductivity are believed to be fundamental materials for various functionalized optoelectronic devices.

Electrical/thermal behaviors of bimetallic (Ag-Cu, Ag-Sn) nanoparticles for printed electronics.

In this work, Ag-Cu and Ag-Sn nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by a physical vapor condensation method, i.e. DC arc-discharge plasma. The as-prepared bimetallic NPs consist of metallic cores of Ag-Cu or Ag-Sn and ultrathin oxide shells of CuO or a hybrid of SnO and SnO2. Ag-Sn NPs exhibit a room-temperature resistivity of 4.24 × 10-5 Ω · cm, a little lower than 7.10 × 10-5 Ω · cm of Ag-Cu NPs. Both bimetallic NPs demonstrate typical metallic conduction behavior with a positive temperature coefficient of resistance over 25-300 K. Ag-Sn NPs exhibit thermally competitive stability up to 230 °C and a lower resistivity of 3.18 × 10-5 Ω · cm after sintering at 200 °C, giving it potential for application in flexible printed electronics.

Andrographolide promotes pancreatic duct cells differentiation into insulin-producing cells by targeting PDX-1.

Regeneration of ß-cells by differentiation of pancreatic progenitor cells has the potential to fundamentally solve the problems of the loss of ß-cell function and mass during disease progression in both type 1 or 2 diabetes. Therefore, discovery of novel differentiation inducers to promote islet regeneration is of great significance. Pancreatic and duodenal homeobox1 (PDX-1) is a key transcription factor that promotes the development and maturation of pancreatic ß-cells. To screen potential novel small molecules for enhancing differentiation of PNAC-1 cells, a human pancreatic ductal cell lines into insulin-producing cells (IPCs), we developed a high-throughput screening method through fusing the PDX-1 promoter region with a luciferase reporter gene. We screened and identified that andrographolide named C1037 stimulates PDX-1 expression in both mRNA and protein level and significantly promotes PANC-1 cells differentiation into IPCs as compared with that of control cells. The therapeutic effect of C037 in Streptozotocin induced diabetic mouse model through differentiation of pancreatic ductal cells into insulin positive islets was also observed. Our study provides a novel method to screen compounds regulating the differentiation of pancreatic progenitor cells having the potential of enhancing islet regeneration for diabetes therapy.

Arc-discharge synthesis of nitrogen-doped C embedded TiCN nanocubes with tunable dielectric/magnetic properties for electromagnetic absorbing applications.

The development of novel composites consisting of ceramic and C materials to alleviate increasingly serious electromagnetic radiation is of great significance in the microwave absorption (MA) field, considering their superior anti-oxidation/corrosion performances and good mechanical strength as well as adjustable dielectric loss capabilities. However, it is still a great challenge to broaden their effective absorption bandwidth (reflection loss value ≤-10 dB) and strengthen the absorption intensity simultaneously, which is mostly attributed to the unreliable impedance matching degree at the absorber/air interface. Herein, a feasible strategy is adopted to synthesize TiCN@N-doped C nanocubes, whose low graphitization degree provides desirable impedance matching conditions. In the meantime, masses of core/shell hetero interfaces ensure strong microwave absorption capability. Experimental results reveal that the optimal effective absorption bandwidth of the prepared TiCN@N-doped C nanocubes can reach up to 5.44 GHz with a thickness of 1.88 mm. Our work demonstrates that the TiCN@N-doped C nanocubes have potential for electromagnetic absorbing applications.