The UL16 protein of HSV-1 promotes the metabolism of cell mitochondria by binding to ANT2 protein.

Long-term studies have shown that virus infection affects the energy metabolism of host cells, which mainly affects the function of mitochondria and leads to the hydrolysis of ATP in host cells, but it is not clear how virus infection participates in mitochondrial energy metabolism in host cells. In our study, HUVEC cells were infected with HSV-1, and the differentially expressed genes were obtained by microarray analysis and data analysis. The viral gene encoding protein UL16 was identified to interact with host protein ANT2 by immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry. We also reported that UL16 transfection promoted oxidative phosphorylation of glucose and significantly increased intracellular ATP content. Furthermore, UL16 was transfected into the HUVEC cell model with mitochondrial dysfunction induced by D-Gal, and it was found that UL16 could restore the mitochondrial function of cells. It was first discovered that viral protein UL16 could enhance mitochondrial function in mammalian cells by promoting mitochondrial metabolism. This study provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of mitochondrial dysfunction or the pathological process related to mitochondrial dysfunction.

Photoluminescence quenching of thermally treated waste-derived carbon dots for selective metal ion sensing.

In the present study, carbon-dots (CDs) were derived from the thermal oxidation of an agricultural waste, bitter tea residue, to obtain different sp2/sp3 ratios and electronic structures for metal sensing. The CDs obtained from calcination at 700 °C exhibited the highest photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) of 11.8% among all the samples treated at different temperatures. These CDs had a high degree of graphitization, which resulted in a strong π-π* electron transition, and hence in a high QY. The strong photoluminescence of the CDs could be used to sense the metal ions Ag+, Sr2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Sn2+ by monitoring their PL intensity at an excitation wavelength of 320 nm. The metals inhibited the PL intensity in the order Ag+ > Fe2+, Fe3+, Ni2+ > Sr2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Sn2+, which demonstrated that the CDs exhibited high metal ion detection capability and selectivity. The detection of Fe3+ using CDs was performed in the range of 10-100 ppm with a LOD (limit of detection) value of 0.380 ppm. Theoretical calculations demonstrated that Ag+, Sr2+, and Sn2+ induced charge transfer excitation and that Fe2+ and Ni2+ induced d-d transitions via complexation with the sp2 clusters. The charge transfer excitation and d-d transitions hindered the π-π* transition of the sp2 clusters, leading to a quenching effect. On the other hand, Li+, Na+, and K+ ions did not alter the π-π* transition of the sp2 clusters, resulting in a negligible quenching effect. In summary, the oxidation level and electronic structure of CDs derived from bitter tea residue could be tailored, and the CDs were shown to be a facile, sustainable, and eco-friendly material for metal sensing.

[Kinetic developmental genetics analysis of Hibiscus cannabinus plant height and stem diameter].

By using quantitative traits additive-dominance genetics model and developmental genetics model, this paper analyzed the developmental behaviors of gene expression for Hibiscus cannabinu plant height and stem diameter at its different growth stages. The results showed that at different growth stages, the unconditional and conditional genetics effects of plant height all showed dominance, while the additive effect was weak. No additive effect was found for stem diameter, but dominance effect was significant at each growth stage. Plant height and stem diameter all had active gene expression from July 28 to August 9, and from September 2 to September 14. There was no additive correlation between plant height and stem diameter, but positive dominance correlation was significant after August 21. The unconditional and conditional genetics effects of plant height and stem diameter were not completely the same. According to practice, conditional genetic analysis could indicate the gene expression more truly in the whole growth period. The ecological and genetics variation patterns of Hibiscus cannabinus plant height and stem diameter at different space-time growth stages implied by our research was of significance in Hibiscus cannabinus genetics and breeding in both theory and practice.