Seasonal variability of lesions distribution in acute ischemic stroke: A retrospective study.

Seasonal variability could have an impact on the incidence and outcome of stroke. However, little is known about the correlation between seasonal variability and location of acute cerebral infarction. This study aimed to explore the relationship between onset season and the lesions distribution of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We retrospectively analysis data from 1488 AIS patients admitted to the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from 2018 to 2022. All subjects completed head magnetic resonance imaging examination (MRI) and were divided into four groups according to the onset seasons. The lesions distribution of AIS was evaluated for anterior/posterior/double circulation infarction (DCI), unilateral/bilateral infarctions, and single/multiple cerebral infarctions based on MRI. Logistic regression models were employed to assess the association of season with lesions distribution of AIS. Subgroup analysis was performed in different stroke subtypes. Of 1488 patients, 387 (26.0%) AIS occurred in spring, 425 (28.6%) in summer, 331 (22.2%) in autumn and 345 (23.2%) in winter. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that the winter group had 2.15 times (95% CI:1.44-3.21) risk of multiple infarctions, 2.69 times (95% CI:1.80-4.02) of bilateral infarctions and 1.54 times (95% CI:1.05-2.26) of DCI compared with summer group, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed an increased risk of multiple (p < 0.01) or bilateral infarctions (p < 0.01) in small-artery occlusion (SAO) subtype, and higher risk of bilateral infarctions (p < 0.01) or DCI (p < 0.05) in large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) subtype during winter. No significant associations of season with lesions distribution in cardioembolism subtype. Our study highlighted a prominent seasonal variability in the lesions distribution of AIS, particularly in LAA and SAO subtypes. The findings could help to formulating meteorological risk warning strategies for different subtypes.

WY-14643, a novel antiplatelet and antithrombotic agent targeting the GPIbα receptor.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hypolipidemia and platelet activation play key roles in atherosclerotic diseases. Pirinixic acid (WY-14643) was originally developed as a lipid-lowering drug. Here we focused on its antiplatelet and antithrombotic abilities and the underlying mechanism. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The effects of WY-14643 on platelet aggregation was measured using a lumi-aggregometer. Clot retraction and spreading on fibrinogen were also assayed. PPARα-/- platelets were used to identify the target of WY-14643. The interaction between WY-14643 and glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα) was detected using cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and molecular docking. GPIbα downstream signaling was examined by Western blot. The antithrombotic effect was investigated using mouse mesenteric arteriole thrombosis model. Mouse tail bleeding model was used to study its effect on bleeding side effects. KEY RESULTS: WY-14643 concentration-dependently inhibits human washed platelet aggregation, clot retraction, and spreading. Significantly, WY-14643 inhibits thrombin-induced activation of human washed platelets with an IC50 of 7.026 µM. The antiplatelet effect of WY-14643 is mainly dependent of GPIbα. CESTA, SPR and molecular docking results indicate that WY-14643 directly interacts with GPIbα and acts as a GPIbα antagonist. WY-14643 also inhibits phosphorylation of PLCγ2, Akt, p38, and Erk1/2 induced by thrombin. Noteworthily, 20 mg/kg oral administration of WY-14643 inhibits FeCl3-induced thrombosis of mesenteric arteries in mice similarly to clopidogrel without increasing bleeding. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: WY-14643 is not only a PPARα agonist with lipid-lowering effect, but also an antiplatelet agent as a GPIbα antagonist. It may have more significant therapeutic advantages than current antiplatelet agents for the treatment of atherosclerotic thrombosis, which have lipid-lowering effects without bleeding side effects.

Light-M: An efficient lightweight medical image segmentation framework for resource-constrained IoMT.

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is being incorporated into current healthcare systems. This technology intends to connect patients, IoMT devices, and hospitals over mobile networks, allowing for more secure, quick, and convenient health monitoring and intelligent healthcare services. However, existing intelligent healthcare applications typically rely on large-scale AI models, and standard IoMT devices have significant resource constraints. To alleviate this paradox, in this paper, we propose a Knowledge Distillation (KD)-based IoMT end-edge-cloud orchestrated architecture for medical image segmentation tasks, called Light-M, aiming to deploy a lightweight medical model in resource-constrained IoMT devices. Specifically, Light-M trains a large teacher model in the cloud server and employs computation in local nodes through imitation of the performance of the teacher model using knowledge distillation. Light-M contains two KD strategies: (1) active exploration and passive transfer (AEPT) and (2) self-attention-based inter-class feature variation (AIFV) distillation for the medical image segmentation task. The AEPT encourages the student model to learn undiscovered knowledge/features of the teacher model without additional feature layers, aiming to explore new features and outperform the teacher. To improve the distinguishability of the student for different classes, the student learns the self-attention-based feature variation (AIFV) between classes. Since the proposed AEPT and AIFV only appear in the training process, our framework does not involve any additional computation burden for a student model during the segmentation task deployment. Extensive experiments on cardiac images and public real-scene datasets demonstrate that our approach improves student model learning representations and outperforms state-of-the-art methods by combining two knowledge distillation strategies. Moreover, when deployed on the IoT device, the distilled student model takes only 29.6 ms for one sample at the inference step.

The added effects of cold spells on stroke admissions: Differential effects on ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological evidence suggests an association between low ambient temperature and stroke risk, but available data are limited particularly on associations with different stroke subtypes. AIMS: The aim of this study is to estimate the relationship between cold spells and stroke admissions, including the effect of cold spells on different stroke subtypes (ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)). METHODS: A total of 144,405 stroke admissions from the Tianjin Centre for Health and Meteorology Multidisciplinary Innovation in China, covering the period from January 2016 to December 2020, were studied, as well as meteorological and air pollutant data. A generalized additive model with a distributed lag nonlinear model was employed to assess the relationship, considering 12 different definitions of a cold spell based on various temperature thresholds and durations. The analysis controlled for lagged and nonlinear effects of temperature. Analyses were performed on all strokes as well as ischemic stroke and ICH. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in stroke admissions during cold spells. Generally, the increased risk during cold spells increased as the temperature threshold decreased, but was not significantly affected by the duration. The optimal model was obtained using the cold-spell definition based on an average daily temperature below the 10th percentile (0.11°C) for 2 or more consecutive days. According to this model, the effect of cold spells on ischemic stroke admissions had a significant lag effect and was long-lasting, with a single-day effect occurring on lag 7d, peaking on lag 13d (relative risk (RR) = 1.05; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02 to 1.09), and lasting until lag 20d. In contrast, the effect on ICH was immediate and short-lived, with the most significant single-day effect occurring on the current day (RR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.06 to 1.29) and limited within 3 days. 14.15% of stroke cases could be attributed to cold spells, with ICH exhibiting a higher burden than ischemic stroke except for strict temperature threshold definitions. CONCLUSION: Cold spells are associated with an increased stroke risk. Different patterns of association were seen for different stroke subtypes. The effect on ischemic stroke had a lag effect and a longer duration, whereas the effect on ICH had an immediate effect and a shorter duration. These findings support the development and improvement of stroke cold-spell early warning systems and highlight the importance of public health interventions to mitigate the adverse health impacts of cold spells.

Low ambient temperature exposure increases the risk of ischemic stroke by promoting platelet activation.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating epidemiological evidence suggests the association between low ambient temperature exposure and the risk of ischemic stroke, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: Given the crucial role of platelet activation and thrombosis in ischemic stroke, this study aims to investigate the effect of ambient temperature on platelet activation through multi-center clinical data in Tianjin as well as animal experiments. METHODS: From 2018 to 2020, nearly 3000 ischemic stroke patients from three stroke centers in Tianjin were included in the analysis, among them the ADP induced platelet aggregation rate was available. Meteorological data from the same period had also been collected. After controlling for confounding factors, the generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) was used to evaluate the correlation between environmental temperature and platelet aggregation rate. In further animal experiments, platelet function assessments were conducted on mice from the cold exposure group and the normal temperature group, including platelet aggregation, spreading, and clot retraction. Additionally, tail bleeding and mesentery thrombosis were also tested to monitor hemostasis and thrombosis in vivo. RESULT: A nonlinear "S" shaped relationship between outdoor temperature and platelet aggregation was found. Each 1 °C decrease of mean temperature was associated with an increase of 7.77 % (95 % CI: 2.06 % - 13.48 %) in platelet aggregation. The ambient temperature is not related to other platelet parameters. Subgroup analysis found that males, people aged ≥65 years, and hypertensive individuals are more susceptible to temperature changes. Furthermore, animal experiments demonstrated that the increased CIRBP levels and subsequent activation of p-AKT/p-ERK may be one of the reasons for cold exposure induced platelets activation. CONCLUSION: Both clinical data and basic research support that low ambient temperature exposure has the potential to increase platelet activation. These results provide a basis for understanding the potential mechanism of temperature variations on the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular diseases.

scPML: pathway-based multi-view learning for cell type annotation from single-cell RNA-seq data.

Recent developments in single-cell technology have enabled the exploration of cellular heterogeneity at an unprecedented level, providing invaluable insights into various fields, including medicine and disease research. Cell type annotation is an essential step in its omics research. The mainstream approach is to utilize well-annotated single-cell data to supervised learning for cell type annotation of new singlecell data. However, existing methods lack good generalization and robustness in cell annotation tasks, partially due to difficulties in dealing with technical differences between datasets, as well as not considering the heterogeneous associations of genes in regulatory mechanism levels. Here, we propose the scPML model, which utilizes various gene signaling pathway data to partition the genetic features of cells, thus characterizing different interaction maps between cells. Extensive experiments demonstrate that scPML performs better in cell type annotation and detection of unknown cell types from different species, platforms, and tissues.

Thermal Stability Improvement of Core Material via High Internal Phase Emulsion Gels.

Biocompatible particle-stabilized emulsions have gained significant attention in the biomedical industry. In this study, we employed dynamic high-pressure microfluidization (HPM) to prepare a biocompatible particle emulsion, which effectively enhances the thermal stability of core materials without the addition of any chemical additives. The results demonstrate that the HPM-treated particle-stabilized emulsion forms an interface membrane with high expansion and viscoelastic properties, thus preventing core material agglomeration at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the particle concentration used for constructing the emulsion gel network significantly impacts the overall strength and stability of the material while possessing the ability to inhibit oxidation of the thermosensitive core material. This investigation explores the influence of particle concentration on the stability of particle-stabilized emulsion gels, thereby providing valuable insights for the design, improvement, and practical applications of innovative clean label emulsions, particularly in the embedding and delivery of thermosensitive core materials.

Potential role of ambient temperature as a trigger for intracerebral hemorrhage: a time-stratified case-crossover study in Tianjin, China.

The adverse effects of ambient temperature on human health are receiving increasing attention, yet evidence of its impact on intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) onset is limited. Here, the relationship between ambient temperature and ICH was evaluated. A time-stratified case-crossover analysis was performed based on 4051 ICH patients admitted to five stroke units in Tianjin between January 2014 and December 2020. Conditional logistic regression was applied to evaluate the associations between the daily mean temperature (Tm) or daily temperature range (DTR) and ICH onset. We found a negative association between Tm and ICH onset (OR = 0.977, 95% CI 0.968-0.987) but not between DTR and ICH onset. In stratified analyses, men and individuals aged ≥ 60 years were more susceptible to low-ambient temperature effects; corresponding adjusted ORs were 0.970 (95% CI 0.956-0.983) and 0.969 (95% CI 0.957-0.982), respectively. Tm significantly affected patients with deep ICH (OR = 0.976, 95% CI 0.965-0.988), but had no effect on lobar ICH. There was also seasonal heterogeneity in the effect of Tm on ICH onset, with Tm being negatively associated with ICH onset only in the warm season (OR = 0.961, 95% CI 0.941-0.982). Results suggest that the low-ambient temperature might trigger ICH onset, especially for the male and elderly population, providing important health guidance to prevent cold exposure-induced ICH.

Temperature variability increases the onset risk of ischemic stroke: A 10-year study in Tianjin, China.

Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests a correlation between ambient temperature and ischemic stroke. However, evidence on the impact of daily temperature variability on the onset of ischemic stroke is lacking and limited. Objective: We aimed to investigate the short-term association between temperature variability and ischemic stroke occurrence in Tianjin. Methods: We performed a 10-year analysis of ischemic stroke patients hospitalized in two affiliated hospitals of Tianjin Medical University from 2011 to 2020. Daily meteorological data were collected from the Tianjin Meteorological Bureau. Temperature variability was calculated from the standard deviation (SD) of daily minimum and maximum temperatures over exposure days. A quasi-Poisson generalized linear regression combined with distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to estimate the effect of temperature variability on daily stroke onset, while controlling for daily mean temperature, relative humidity, long-term trend and seasonality, public holiday, and day of the week. Results: Temperature variability was positively associated with ischemic stroke. A 1°C increase in temperature variability at 0-1 days (TV0-1) was associated with a 4.1% (1.9-6.3%) increase of ischemic stroke onset. In a stratified analysis, men, people aged ≤65 years, and individuals with pre-existing hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperhomocysteinemia were more susceptible to temperature variability. Furthermore, the influence pattern of temperature variability on ischemic stroke was different in the cold season (November-April) and the warm season (May-October). Conclusion: Our findings suggested that short-term temperature variability exposure could increase the risk of ischemic stroke, which may provide new insights into the impact of climate change on health.

Comparison of clinical outcomes between laparoscopic orchiopexy and open orchiopexy in the treatment of palpable undescended testes.

Objective: To compare the clinical effects of laparoscopic orchiopexy (LO) and open orchiopexy (OO) in the treatment of palpable undescended testes. Methods: Seventy-six children with palpable undescended testes treated in Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital from June 2019 to January 2021 were selected in this observational retrospective study. Patients were grouped according to their different surgical methods, 33 patients received OO (Open-group) and 43 patients received LO (Laparoscopic-group). The clinical outcomes of the two groups were compared, including surgical-related indicators, near and long-term surgical complications and postoperative testicular growth. Results: Operation time, intraoperative bleeding, first ambulation time and hospitalization time in the Laparoscopic-group were lower than those in the Open-group (p<0.05). The short-term complication rate in the Laparoscopic-group was lower than that in the Open-group (2.27% vs 15.15%; p<0.05), but the long-term complication rate in the Laparoscopic-group was not significantly different from the Open-group (4.65% vs 3.03%; p>0.05). Follow-up was up to 18 months post-operation, with the rate of testicular growth (97.67% vs 96.97%; p>0.05) and testicular volume (0.59 ± 0.14ml vs 0.58 ± 0.12ml p>0.05) not significantly different between the Laparoscopic-group or Open-group respectively. Conclusion: LO is as clinically effective as OO in the treatment of palpable undescended testes, however, shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding and rapid recovery time have been noted with LO.

Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure variability and association with ischemic stroke subtypes in the subacute stage.

Background and purpose: Blood pressure (BP) variability (BPV) increases the risk of cerebral disease in both hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes. However, whether BPV is associated with different types of ischemic stroke remains unclear. In this study, we explored the relationship between BPV and ischemic stroke subtypes. Methods: We enrolled consecutive patients aged 47-95 years with ischemic stroke in the subacute stage. We categorized them into four groups based on their artery atherosclerosis severity, brain magnetic resonance imaging markers, and disease history: large-artery atherosclerosis, branch atheromatous disease, small-vessel disease, and cardioembolic stroke. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed, and the mean systolic blood pressure/diastolic blood pressure, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation were calculated. A multiple logistic regression model and random forest were used to test the relationship between BP and BPV in the different types of ischemic stroke. Results: A total of 286 patients, including 150 men (73.0 ± 12.3 years) and 136 women (77.8 ± 9.6 years) were included in the study. Of these, 86 (30.1%) patients had large-artery atherosclerosis, 76 (26.6%) had branch atheromatous disease, 82 (28.7%) had small-vessel disease, and 42 (14.7%) had cardioembolic stroke. There were statistically significant differences in BPV between subtypes of ischemic stroke in 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The random forest model showed that BP and BPV were important features associated with ischemic stroke. Multinomial logistic regression analysis demonstrated that systolic blood pressure levels; systolic blood pressure variability at 24 h, daytime and nighttime; and nighttime diastolic blood pressure were independent risk factors for large-artery atherosclerosis after adjustment for confounders. When compared to branch atheromatous disease and small-vessel disease, nighttime diastolic blood pressure and standard deviation of diastolic blood pressure were significantly associated with patients in the cardioembolic stroke group. However, a similar statistical difference was not seen in patients with large-artery atherosclerosis. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate a discrepancy in blood pressure variability among different ischemic stroke subtypes during the subacute stage. Higher systolic blood pressure and systolic blood pressure variability during the 24 h, daytime, and nighttime, and nighttime diastolic blood pressure were independent predictors for large-artery atherosclerosis stroke. Increased nighttime diastolic BPV was an independent risk factor for cardioembolic stroke.

A new phenylpropanoid-substituted epicatechin from the rhizome of Smilax china.

A new phenylpropanoid-substituted epicatechin, (2 R,3S,9R)-methyl {2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,8a,4a-tetrahydroxy-3,4-dihydro-2H,12H-pyrano[2,3-α]xanthen-12-yl}acetate (1) was isolated from the rhizome of Smilax china, along with twelve known compounds (2 - 13), which were isolated from the Smilax genus for the first time. On the basis of chemical evidences and spectral data analysis (UV, ECD, 1 D and 2 D-NMR, HR-ESI-MS), the structures of compound 1 was elucidated. Furthermore, all compounds have been tested for their inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells, and compounds 6, 7, 11 and 13 have obvious inhibitory effect, in which the IC50 value of compound 7 reached 11.63 ± 1.29 µM. Through target screening and molecular docking, we can speculate that compound 7 may exert its anti-inflammatory effect by binding to MAPKAP kinase 2 and Leukocyte Proteases Cathepsin G & Chymase.

The underlying mechanism of PM2.5-induced ischemic stroke.

Under the background of global industrialization, PM2.5 has become the fourth-leading risk factor for ischemic stroke worldwide, according to the 2019 GBD estimates. This highlights the hazards of PM2.5 for ischemic stroke, but unfortunately, PM2.5 has not received the attention that matches its harmfulness. This article is the first to systematically describe the molecular biological mechanism of PM2.5-induced ischemic stroke, and also propose potential therapeutic and intervention strategies. We highlight the effect of PM2.5 on traditional cerebrovascular risk factors (hypertension, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation), which were easily overlooked in previous studies. Additionally, the effects of PM2.5 on platelet parameters, megakaryocytes activation, platelet methylation, and PM2.5-induced oxidative stress, local RAS activation, and miRNA alterations in endothelial cells have also been described. Finally, PM2.5-induced ischemic brain pathological injury and microglia-dominated neuroinflammation are discussed. Our ultimate goal is to raise the public awareness of the harm of PM2.5 to ischemic stroke, and to provide a certain level of health guidance for stroke-susceptible populations, as well as point out some interesting ideas and directions for future clinical and basic research.

Living on the border of the CNS: Dural immune cells in health and disease.

With the discovery of functional lymphatic vessels and numerous immune cells in the dura mater, people have gradually realized that the dura mater is not only a biophysical barrier, but also seems to have become a newly emerging immune center that plays an important role in immune defense, immune surveillance, and immune homeostasis. This article will introduce in detail the composition and source of dural immune cells; as well as the changes in the dural immune landscape under various central nervous system (CNS) diseases (such as aging and neurodegeneration, autoimmune diseases, tumor, infection, stroke and migraine). Our final goal is to shed light on the immune function of the dura mater, and ultimately provide more possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment of CNS diseases from the perspective of regulating dura mater immunity.

The underlying mechanisms of cold exposure-induced ischemic stroke.

Growing evidence suggests that cold exposure is to some extent a potential risk factor for ischemic stroke. At present, although the mechanism by which cold exposure induces ischemic stroke is not fully understood, some potential mechanisms have been mentioned. First, the seasonal and temperature variability of cerebrovascular risk factors (hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation) may be involved. Moreover, the activation of sympathetic nervous system and renin-angiotensin system and their downstream signaling pathways (pro-inflammatory AngII, activated platelets, and dysfunctional immune cells) are also major contributors. Finally, the influenza epidemics induced by cold weather are also influencing factors that cannot be ignored. This article is the first to systematically and comprehensively describe the underlying mechanism of cold-induced ischemic stroke, aiming to provide more preventive measures and medication guidance for stroke-susceptible individuals in cold season, and also provide support for the formulation of public health policies.

A novel bifunctional-group salamo-like multi-purpose dye probe based on ESIPT and RAHB effect: Distinction of cyanide and hydrazine through optical signal differential protocol.

A novel bifunctional-group multi-purpose dye probe p-TNS has been designed and synthesized. The probe p-TNS has unique excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and resonance-assisted hydrogen bonding (RAHB) coupled system, was confirmed to detect cyanide and hydrazine by blocking the ESIPT effect. Cyanide can change the fluorescence of the solution from bright green to orange-red (116 nm Stokes shift), while hydrazine causes the bright green fluorescence to be quenched. The recognition mechanism of the probe p-TNS to CN- and N2H4 was proposed reasonably through spectral characterizations and theoretical calculations. Combined with theoretical calculations, it was speculated that the solvent dependence may be caused by the ICT effect in the molecule. The probe p-TNS could be prepared into test strips for the detection of cyanide and hydrazine. In addition, the probe molecule can also be used to detect trace amounts of cyanide in agricultural products, and respond to gaseous hydrazine by direct contact, indicating that the probe p-TNS has good practical application prospects. Therefore, this molecular framework provides a new way of thinking about detecting multiple target substances.

Novel single-armed nitrogen-heterocyclic salamo-based fluorescent sensors for the detection of Al3+ and CN.

Two novel single-armed nitrogen-heterocyclic chemosensors with basically similar structures, PDNS and PZNS, were synthesized to specifically identify Al3+ in DMS:H2O (1:1 v/v) solution by fluorescence emission spectroscopy, and the colour of PDNS and PZNS changed from yellow to colorless when Al3+ was added under daylight. This is the first time that nitrogen-heterocyclic is introduced into salamo-based chemical sensor. At excitation wavelengths of 361 and 365 nm, solutions of PDNS and PZNS changed to intense green-blue fluorescence. Furthermore, it was found that PDNS/PZNS and Al3+ have excellent binding capacity, the lower limit of detection (LOD = 6.25 × 10-9/1.26 × 10-9 mol·dm-3) is also calculated. In addition, sensor PZNS can detect Al3+ in a solution system with up to 95% water content and applicable pH range is 3-12. Compared to other salamo-based sensors, PZNS and PDNS have broader detection conditions and wider utilities. PZNS can also identify CN- in fluorescence spectrum. PZNS can be used for detection of Al3+ in aqueous systems in daily production and life.

Penicillium chrysogenum polypeptide extract protects tobacco plants from tobacco mosaic virus infection through modulation of ABA biosynthesis and callose priming.

The polypeptide extract of the dry mycelium of Penicillium chrysogenum (PDMP) can protect tobacco plants from tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), although the mechanism underlying PDMP-mediated TMV resistance remains unknown. In our study, we analysed a potential mechanism via RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and found that the abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthetic pathway and ß-1,3-glucanase, a callose-degrading enzyme, might play an important role in PDMP-induced priming of resistance to TMV. To test our hypothesis, we successfully generated a Nicotiana benthamiana ABA biosynthesis mutant and evaluated the role of the ABA pathway in PDMP-induced callose deposition during resistance to TMV infection. Our results suggested that PDMP can induce callose priming to defend against TMV movement. PDMP inhibited TMV movement by increasing callose deposition around plasmodesmata, but this phenomenon did not occur in the ABA biosynthesis mutant; moreover, these effects of PDMP on callose deposition could be rescued by treatment with exogenous ABA. Our results suggested that callose deposition around plasmodesmata in wild-type plants is mainly responsible for the restriction of TMV movement during the PDMP-induced defensive response to TMV infection, and that ABA biosynthesis apparently plays a crucial role in PDMP-induced callose priming for enhancing defence against TMV.

A newly synthesized visual bis(salamo)-based fluorescent chemosensor for exogenous detection of B4O72- in living cells and zebrafish.

A newly synthesized fluorescent chemosensor H6L was explored for detecting B4O72-, characterized by 1H NMR spectrum, mass spectrum and fluorescence spectra. During the detection process of B4O72-, the fluorescence is significantly enhanced and naked eye recognition can be performed under 365 nm UV light without any interference by other typical anions. The limit of detection is as low as 6.97 × 10-10 M. In addition, in order to broaden the application of salamo-based fluorescence sensors in the field of biology, except for the fluorescence imaging of HeLa cells, the first attempt of exogenous detection in zebrafish was conducted successfully.

Immune response and blood-brain barrier dysfunction during viral neuroinvasion.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which protects the CNS from pathogens, is composed of specialized brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) joined by tight junctions and ensheathed by pericytes and astrocyte endfeet. The stability of the BBB structure and function is of great significance for the maintenance of brain homeostasis. When a neurotropic virus invades the CNS via a hematogenous or non-hematogenous route, it may cause structural and functional disorders of the BBB, and also activate the BBB anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory innate immune response. This article focuses on the structural and functional changes that occur in the three main components of the BBB (endothelial cells, astrocytes, and pericytes) in response to infection with neurotropic viruses transmitted by hematogenous routes, and also briefly describes the supportive effect of three cells on the BBB under normal physiological conditions. For example, all three types of cells express several PRRs, which can quickly sense the virus and make corresponding immune responses. The pro-inflammatory immune response will exacerbate the destruction of the BBB, while the anti-inflammatory immune response, based on type I IFN, consolidates the stability of the BBB. Exploring the details of the interaction between the host and the pathogen at the BBB during neurotropic virus infection will help to propose new treatments for viral encephalitis. Enhancing the defense function of the BBB, maintaining the integrity of the BBB, and suppressing the pro-inflammatory immune response of the BBB provide more ideas for limiting the neuroinvasion of neurotropic viruses. In the future, these new treatments are expected to cooperate with traditional antiviral methods to improve the therapeutic effect of viral encephalitis.