PvMR1, a novel C-type lectin plays a crucial role in the antibacterial immune response of Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei.

C-type lectins (CTLs) are important immune molecules in innate immune, which participate in non-self recognition and clearance of pathogens. Here, a new CTL with two distinct C-type lectin domains (CTLDs) from Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei, designated as PvMR1 was identified. The obtained PvMR1 coding sequence (CDS) was 1044 bp long encoding a protein with 347 amino acids. PvMR1 had two CTLD, a conserved mannose-specific EPN motif and a galactose-specific QPD motif, clustering into the same branch as the crustacean CTLs. PvMR1 was widely distributed in shrimp tissues with the highest transcription level in the hepatopancreas, with significantly induced mRNA expression on the hepatopancreas and intestines after immune challenge with Vibrio anguillarum. In vitro assays with recombinant PvMR1 (rPvMR1) protein revealed that it exhibited a wide range of antimicrobial activity, bacterial binding ability, and bacterial agglutination activity in a Ca2+-independent manner. Moreover, PvMR1 promoted bacterial phagocytosis in hemocytes. Furthermore, rPvMR1 treatment could significantly enhance the bacterial clearance in hemolymph and greatly improved the survival of shrimp under V. anguillarum infection in vivo. These results collectively suggest that PvMR1 plays an important role in antibacterial immune response of P. vannamei.

The platelet storage lesion, what are we working for?

BACKGROUND: Platelet concentrate (PC) transfusions are crucial in prevention and treatment of bleeding in infection, surgery, leukemia, and thrombocytopenia patients. Although the technology for platelet preparation and storage has evolved over the decades, there are still challenges in the demand for platelets in blood banks because the platelet shelf life is limited to 5 days due to bacterial contamination and platelet storage lesions (PSLs) at 20-24°C under constant horizontal agitation. In addition, the relations between some adverse effects of platelet transfusions and PSLs have also been considered. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of PSLs is conducive to obtaining high quality platelets and facilitating safe and effective platelet transfusions. OBJECTIVE: This review summarizes developments in mechanistic research of PSLs and their relationship with clinical practice, providing insights for future research. METHODS: Authors conducted a search on PubMed and Web of Science using the professional terms "PSL" and "platelet transfusion." The obtained literature was then roughly categorized based on their research content. Similar studies were grouped into the same sections, and further searches were conducted based on the keywords of each section. RESULTS: Different studies have explored PSLs from various perspectives, including changes in platelet morphology, surface molecules, biological response modifiers (BMRs), metabolism, and proteins and RNA, in an attempt to monitor PSLs and identify intervention targets that could alleviate PSLs. Moreover, novel platelet storage conditions, including platelet additive solutions (PAS) and reconsidered cold storage methods, are explored. There are two approaches to obtaining high-quality platelets. One approach simulates the in vivo environment to maintain platelet activity, while the other keeps platelets at a low activity level in vitro under low temperatures. CONCLUSION: Understanding PSLs helps us identify good intervention targets and assess the therapeutic effects of different PSLs stages for different patients.

QNZ exposure induces development toxicity and mechanisms of hatching inhibition in large-scale loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus) embryos.

QNZ is a quinazoline-type NF-κB inhibitor and is one of the hot anti-inflammatory drug candidates in recent years. With its development and application, QNZ will inevitably enter the aquatic environment posing a threat to aquatic organisms. To investigate the potential toxicity of QNZ in the early life stages of the organism, this study exposed embryos of large-scale loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus) to 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80 nM of QNZ. The hatching of embryos was significantly inhibited and hatching time was delayed. We explored the mechanism of hatching delay and failure. The results suggested that QNZ exposure reduced the number of hatching gland cells (HGCs) and hatching enzyme activity. Also, the frequency of spontaneous movements was inhibited by interfering with the expression of genes related to the cholinergic system and skeletal muscle development. Further, QNZ exposure induces a series of morphological changes (spine deformation, pericardial edema, tail deformation, and yolk sac edema) in embryos and newly-hatched larvae, and finally increased the deformity rate and mortality rate of newly-hatched larvae. The information presented in this study will provide a scientific basis for further studies into the potential toxicity of QNZ on aquatic organisms.

Intersecting distributed networks support convergent linguistic functioning across different languages in bilinguals.

How bilingual brains accomplish the processing of more than one language has been widely investigated by neuroimaging studies. The assimilation-accommodation hypothesis holds that both the same brain neural networks supporting the native language and additional new neural networks are utilized to implement second language processing. However, whether and how this hypothesis applies at the finer-grained levels of both brain anatomical organization and linguistic functions remains unknown. To address this issue, we scanned Chinese-English bilinguals during an implicit reading task involving Chinese words, English words and Chinese pinyin. We observed broad brain cortical regions wherein interdigitated distributed neural populations supported the same cognitive components of different languages. Although spatially separate, regions including the opercular and triangular parts of the inferior frontal gyrus, temporal pole, superior and middle temporal gyrus, precentral gyrus and supplementary motor areas were found to perform the same linguistic functions across languages, indicating regional-level functional assimilation supported by voxel-wise anatomical accommodation. Taken together, the findings not only verify the functional independence of neural representations of different languages, but show co-representation organization of both languages in most language regions, revealing linguistic-feature specific accommodation and assimilation between first and second languages.

Reproductive toxicity and cross-generational effect of polyethylene microplastics in Paramisgurnus dabryanus.

Pollution of microplastics (MPs) has become a global environmental issue due to the difficulty in its degradation and may cause unexpected ecological effects. Nevertheless, little is known about the potential effects of MPs on reproduction toxicity in aquatic species. In this study, adult loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus, F0 generation) were exposed to two concentrations (1 and 10 mg/L) of polyethylene MPs (PE-MPs) for 15 or 30 days, and the toxic effects in parental loach and the offspring (F1 generation) were examined. Our results showed that PE-MPs exposure could change the indicators content of antioxidant system in the brain, liver, and gonad. PE-MPs can accumulate in the gonads, disrupt the transcription of HPG-axis related genes, alter sex hormone levels, increase cell apoptosis and gonadal pathological lesions, lead to the damage of biological characteristics of semen, and affect the reproduction in F0 generation. PE-MPs remaining in the parental gonads can be transferred to the F1 generation embryos and accumulated on the embryonic chorionic membrane, increasing mortality and malformation rates, accelerating hatching time, and decreasing hatching rate and body length. These results suggest that PE-MPs leads to a potential adverse influence on reproduction and serious impacts on population sustainability. This work provides a new perspective into the effects of MPs on reproductive damage and cross-generational effects in teleost fish, which have implications in fields of freshwater ecology and environmental toxicology.

Missense mutation of SERPINC1 (p.Ser426Leu) in a young patient presenting as refractory and recurrent venous thromboembolism: A case report.

Genetic and acquired risk factors are extremely important mechanisms in the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Inherited antithrombin (AT) deficiency due to mutations in the SERPINC1 gene is a well-known risk factor for genetic thrombophilia. In this case, we reported a 28-year young abroad student who presented with refractory and recurrent VTE in-hospital. This patient presented with a 2-month history of right lower limb pain and 1 week of fever. The ultrasound showed deep venous thrombosis in the right common and superficial femoral veins. The CTPA confirmed acute pulmonary embolism with multiple filling defects in both pulmonary arteries. He was diagnosed with "pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, lower extremity venous thrombosis". The level of serum antithrombin was normal, yet gene sequencing revealed a heterozygous missense mutation of SERPINC1, c.1277C>T (p.Ser426Leu). The patient underwent anticoagulant therapy of heparin and inferior vena cava filter implantation. The patient had undergone recurrent VTE despite adequate anticoagulation with heparin during the first 2 weeks. The swelling, pain, and thrombosis of lower extremity veins got resolved from warfarin and rivaroxaban. Inherited antithrombin deficiency due to mutations in the SERPINC1 gene is the genetic basis of this patient, and warfarin/rivaroxaban, other than heparin, is beneficial.

The Brain Connectome for Chinese Reading.

Chinese, as a logographic language, fundamentally differs from alphabetic languages like English. Previous neuroimaging studies have mainly focused on alphabetic languages, while the exploration of Chinese reading is still an emerging and fast-growing research field. Recently, a growing number of neuroimaging studies have explored the neural circuit of Chinese reading. Here, we summarize previous research on Chinese reading from a connectomic perspective. Converging evidence indicates that the left middle frontal gyrus is a specialized hub region that connects the ventral with dorsal pathways for Chinese reading. Notably, the orthography-to-phonology and orthography-to-semantics mapping, mainly processed in the ventral pathway, are more specific during Chinese reading. Besides, in addition to the left-lateralized language-related regions, reading pathways in the right hemisphere also play an important role in Chinese reading. Throughout, we comprehensively review prior findings and emphasize several challenging issues to be explored in future work.

Functional Gradient of the Fusiform Cortex for Chinese Character Recognition.

Visual word recognition has been proposed to have a functional and spatial organization corresponding to hierarchical language-like word forms in the left fusiform gyrus (FG) during visual word recognition in alphabetic languages. However, it is still unclear whether the similar functional gradients of word-like representation exist during Chinese character recognition. In this study, we adopted univariate activation analysis and representational similarity analysis (RSA) methods to investigate the functional organization in the FG for Chinese character recognition using task fMRI data. Native Chinese readers were visually presented with four types of character-like stimuli (i.e., real characters, pseudo-characters, false characters, and stroke combinations). After analysis, we observed a posterior-to-anterior functional gradient in the left FG corresponding to the degree of likeness of stimuli to character. Additionally, distinct subregions of the left FG harbor different orthographic codes. The middle part of the left FG was involved in abstract orthographic processing, while the anterior part of the left FG was involved in lexical orthographic processing (i.e., mapping orthography onto phonology or semantics). Notably, for the right FG, we did not find similar coding pattern for selectivity to character likeness, indicating the asymmetry of the functional hierarchical organization in favor of the left hemisphere. In conclusion, our findings revealed that the left FG presents a posterior-to-anterior gradient functional processing for Chinese character recognition, which expands our understanding of the psychological, neural, and computational theories of word reading.

Toxicity of 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy acetic acid alone and in combination with cyhalofop-butyl to Cyprinus carpio embryos.

Herbicides may pose considerable danger to non-target aquatic organisms and further threaten human health. The present investigation was aimed to assess the effects of 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy acetic acid (MCPA-Na) on Cyprinus carpio embryos. Embryos were exposed to six concentrations of MCPA-Na (0, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 mg/L) for 96 h. A series of symptoms were observed in developmental embryos during MCPA-Na exposure, including increased death, hatching inhibited and morphological deformities. Further, MCPA-Na exposure leading to a series of morphological changes (pericardial edema, tail deformation, and spine deformation) in embryos, which were consistent with modifications in the associated genes. In this work, we also investigated the joint toxicity of herbicides (MCPA-Na and cyhalofop-butyl) commonly used in paddy fields on carp embryos, using the 96 h-LC50 of herbicides (59.784 mg/L MCPA-Na and 1.472 mg/L cyhalofop-butyl) and confirmed that a synergistic effect existing in the binary mixtures.

Prdx1 alleviates cardiomyocyte apoptosis through ROS-activated MAPK pathway during myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Apoptosis induced by oxidative stress blocks the recovery of heart function in myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI). Peroxiredoxin 1 (Prdx1) inhibits oxidative stress. However, the expression and function of Prdx1 in MIRI are unclear. In present study, Prdx1 protein level increased in rat MIRI model, associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Cultured rat embryonic ventricular myocardial H9c2 cells with hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treatment was utilized to mimic MIRI in vitro, showing that H/R treatment increased the ratio of p-p38/p38, p-JNK/JNK and apoptosis index. But Prdx1 ameliorate the up-regulation of p-p38/p38 ratio and p-JNK/JNK ratio, as well as decreased H9c2 cell apoptosis. SB203580 (p38 inhibitor) and SP600125 (JNK inhibitor) inhibited H9c2 cell apoptosis, and at the same time Prdx1 down-regulated the activation of p38 MAPK and JNK during H/R treatment. In addition, a ROS scavenger N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) down-regulated the protein level of p-p38, p-JNK and Prdx1, and H9c2 cell apoptosis. In summary, these findings indicated that Prdx1 inhibited MAPK pathway induced cells apoptosis, and ROS is the upstream regulator of H/R induced apoptosis.

Heat shock protein 70 protects cardiomyocytes through suppressing SUMOylation and nucleus translocation of phosphorylated eukaryotic elongation factor 2 during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion.

Myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (MIR) results in cardiomyocyte apoptosis with severe outcomes, which blocks cardiac tissue recovering from myocardial ischemia diseases. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is one of protective molecule chaperones which could regulate the nucleus translocation of other proteins. In addition, eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), which modulates protein translation process, is vital to the recovery of heart during MIR. However, the relationship between HSP70 and eEF2 and its effects on MIR are unclear. The expression and relationship between HSP70 and eEF2 is confirmed by western blot, immunoprecipitation in vitro using cardiomyocyte cell line H9c2 and in vivo rat MIR model. The further investigation was conducted in H9c2 cells with detection for cell-cycle and apoptosis. It is revealed that eEF2 interacted and be regulated by HSP70, which kept eEF2 as dephosphorylated status and preserved the function of eEF2 during MIR. In addition, HSP70 suppressed the nucleus translocation of phosphorylated eEF2, which inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis during myocardial reperfusion stage. Furthermore, HSP70 also interacted with C-terminal fragment of eEF2, which could reverse the nucleus translocation and cardiomyocyte apoptosis caused by N-terminal fragment of eEF2. HSP70 draw on advantage and avoid defect of MIR through regulating phosphorylation and nucleus translocation of eEF2.

Phosphorylated eEF2 is SUMOylated and induces cardiomyocyte apoptosis during myocardial ischemia reperfusion.

BACKGROUND: Cardiomyocyte apoptosis after myocardial ischemia reperfusion (MIR) blocks the recovery of cardiac function during revascularization treatment. Protein synthesis mediated by eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) is vital for the recovery of MIR. eEF2 promotes peptide elongation without phosphorylation of itself. However, the exact function of eEF2 during MIR is unknown. METHODS: We used suture tie-down of left coronary artery (LCA) to induce MIR in vivo, which was confirmed by electrocardiography and Evan's blue/triphenyltetrazolium chloride double staining. Hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treatment was utilized to stimulate H9c2 cells, which was detected by CCK8 assay to evaluate cell viability. eEF2, phosphorylated eEF2, SUMO, Bax, and Bcl-2 protein expressions and location of eEF2 and phosphorylated eEF2 were determined by western blot, immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescent staining. H9c2 cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. The effects of eEF2 full-length plasmid and its fragments on H9c2 cells were also detected. RESULTS: In vivo, phosphorylated eEF2 to eEF2 ratio decreased gently in rat MIR model. Immunocytochemistry showed that phosphorylated eEF2 translocated to the nucleus of cardiomyocytes during myocardial reperfusion. Furthermore, double immunofluorescent staining in H9c2 cells after H/R treatment also showed phosphorylated eEF2 translocated to the nucleus. Meanwhile, SUMOylation of eEF2 was detected. The overexpression of eEF2 upregulated Bcl-2 expression after H/R treatment, suggesting that eEF2 might reduce cardiomyocyte apoptosis during MIR. In addition, the N-terminal fragment of eEF2 transfection could promote apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: eEF2 plays a bidirectional role in regulating cardiomyocyte apoptosis during MIR, in which eEF2 can be SUMOylated and translocate into nucleus of cardiomyocytes to promote cardiomyocyte apoptosis when eEF2 is phosphorylated.

Continuous wet-process growth of ZnO nanoarrays for wire-shaped photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cell.

Well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays have been grown on metal-plated polymer fiber via a mild wet process in a newly-designed continuous reactor, aiming to provide wire-shaped photoanodes for wearable dye-sensitized solar cells. The growth conditions were systematically optimized with the help of computational flow-field simulation. The flow field in the reactor will not only affect the morphology of the ZnO nanorod⧹nanowire but also affect the pattern distribution of nanoarray on the electrode surface. Unlike the sectional structure from the traditional batch-type reactor, ZnO nanorods with finely-controlled length and uniform morphology could be grown from the continuous reactor. After optimization, the wire-shaped ZnO-type photoanode grown from the continuous reactor exhibited better photovoltaic performance than that from the traditional batch-type reactor.

Heat shock protein 70 inhibits cardiomyocyte necroptosis through repressing autophagy in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Irreversible damage of cardiac function arisen from myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI) leads to an emerging challenge in the treatments of cardiac ischemic diseases. Molecular chaperone heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) attenuates heat-stimulated cell autophagy, apoptosis, and damage in the heart. Under specific conditions, autophagy may, directly or indirectly, induce cell death including necroptosis. Whether HSP70 inhibits cardiomyocyte necroptosis via suppressing autophagy during MIRI is unknown. In our study, HSP70 expression was opposite to necroptosis marker RIP1 and autophagy marker LC3A/B expression after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MIR) in vivo. Furthermore, in vitro primary rat cardiomyocytes mimicked MIRI by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treatment. Knockdown of HSP70 expression promoted cardiomyocyte autophagy and necroptosis following H/R treatment, while the increase tendency was downregulated by autophagy inhibitor 3-MA, showing that autophagy-induced necroptosis could be suppressed by HSP70. In summary, HSP70 downregulates cardiomyocyte necroptosis through suppressing autophagy during myocardial IR, revealing the novel protective mechanism of HSP70 and supplying a novel molecular target for the treatment of heart ischemic diseases.

A Wearable All-Solid Photovoltaic Textile.

A solution is developed to power portable electronics in a wearable manner by fabricating an all-solid photovoltaic textile. In a similar way to plants absorbing solar energy for photosynthesis, humans can wear the as-fabricated photovoltaic textile to harness solar energy for powering small electronic devices.