ABSTRACT
Holographic 3D display is highly desirable for numerous applications ranging from medical treatments to military affairs. However, it is challenging to simultaneously achieve large viewing angle and high-fidelity color reconstruction due to the intractable constraints of existing technology. Here, we conceptually propose and experimentally demonstrate a simple and feasible pathway of using a well-designed color liquid crystal grating to overcome the inevitable chromatic aberration and enlarge the holographic viewing angle, thus enabling large-viewing-angle and color holographic 3D display. The use of color liquid crystal grating allows performing secondary diffraction modulation on red, green and blue reproduced images simultaneously and extending the viewing angle in the holographic 3D display system. In principle, a chromatic aberration-free hologram generation mechanism in combination with the color liquid crystal grating is proposed to pave the way for on such a superior holographic 3D display. The proposed system shows a color viewing angle of ~50.12°, which is about 7 times that of the traditional system with a single spatial light modulator. This work presents a paradigm for achieving desirable holographic 3D display, and is expected to provide a new way for the wide application of holographic display.
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BACKGROUND: Littoral cell angioma (LCA) is a rare benign vascular tumor of the spleen. Given its rarity, standard diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations have yet to be developed for reported cases. Splenectomy is the only method of obtaining a pathological diagnosis and providing treatment to obtain a favorable prognosis. CASE SUMMARY: A 33-year-old female presented with abdominal pain for one month. Computed tomography and ultrasound revealed splenomegaly with multiple lesions and two accessory spleens. The patient underwent laparoscopic total splenectomy and accessory splenectomy, and splenic LCA was confirmed by pathology. Four months after surgery, the patient presented with acute liver failure, was readmitted, rapidly progressed to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and died. CONCLUSION: Preoperative diagnosis of LCA is challenging. We systematically reviewed online databases to identify the relevant literature and found a close relationship between malignancy and immunodysregulation. When a patient suffers from both splenic tumors and malignancy or immune-related disease, LCA is possible. Due to potential malignancy, total splenectomy (including accessory spleen) and regular follow-up after surgery are recommended. If LCA is diagnosed after surgery, a comprehensive postoperative examination is needed.
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In this paper, a method of color holographic display with speckle noise suppression is proposed. Firstly, the intensity information of the object is extracted according to the red, green and blue (RGB) channels. The band-limited phase is calculated and used as the initial phase for each color channel. Secondly, the double-step Fresnel diffraction algorithm is used to calculate the computer-generated holograms (CGHs), and a filter plane that dynamically adjusts the position of the filter in the optical path is designed. Then, a divergent spherical phase factor is added to the CGHs. Finally, the time average method is used to further reduce the speckle noise. When the CGHs of the RGB channels are loaded on the digital micromirror device and illuminated by the RGB lights emitting in a temporal sequence, the color reconstructed images with speckle noise suppression can be displayed. The validity of the proposed method is verified.
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In this paper, a liquid crystal axicon based holographic near-eye display system with large viewing area is proposed. The viewing area of the system is extended by implementing the liquid crystal axicon. The error diffusion algorithm is used to calculate the computer-generated hologram (CGH). When incident on the liquid crystal axicon placed at the back focal plane of Fourier lens, the reconstruction light modulated by the CGH is deflected into two directions resulting in a viewing area extension. Meanwhile, to illustrate the potential of the proposed system, two-dimensional viewing area extension is demonstrated. It combines the frequency spectrum shift with the proposed system and achieves a double expansion of the horizontal viewing area and three-times expansion of the vertical viewing area. Feasibility of the proposed system is verified by optical experiments. The proposed system has potential applications in holographic augmented reality (AR) display.
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Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common cause of a clinically acute abdomen. Crosstalk between acinar cells and leukocytes (especially macrophages) plays an important role in the development of AP. However, the mechanism mediating the interaction between acinar cells and macrophages is still unclear. This study was performed to explore the role of acinar cell extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the crosstalk between acinar cells and macrophages involved in the pathogenesis of AP. EVs derived from caerulein-treated acinar cells induced macrophage infiltration and aggravated pancreatitis in an AP rat model. Further research showed that acinar cell-derived EV miR-183-5p led to M1 macrophage polarization by downregulating forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1), and a dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that FoxO1 was directly inhibited by miR-183-5p. In addition, acinar cell-derived EV miR-183-5p reduced macrophage phagocytosis. Acinar cell-derived EV miR-183-5p promoted the pancreatic infiltration of M1 macrophages and increased local and systemic damage in vivo. Subsequently, miR-183-5p overexpression in macrophages induced acinar cell damage and trypsin activation, thus further exacerbating the disease. In clinical samples, elevated miR-183-5p levels were detected in serum EVs and positively correlated with the severity of AP. EV miR-183-5p might play an important role in the development of AP by facilitating M1 macrophage polarization, providing a new insight into the diagnosis and targeted management of pancreatitis. Graphical abstract of the present study. In our caerulein-induced AP model, miR-183-5p was upregulated in injured acinar cells and transported by EVs to macrophages. miR-183-5p could induce M1 macrophage polarization through downregulation of FoxO1 and the release of inflammatory cytokines, which could aggravate AP-related injuries. Therefore, a vicious cycle might exist between injured ACs and M1 macrophage polarization, which is fulfilled by EV-transported miR-183-5p, leading to sustainable and progressive AP-related injuries.
Subject(s)
Extracellular Vesicles , MicroRNAs , Pancreatitis , Acinar Cells/metabolism , Acute Disease , Animals , Ceruletide/toxicity , Down-Regulation , Extracellular Vesicles/genetics , Extracellular Vesicles/metabolism , Macrophages/metabolism , MicroRNAs/genetics , MicroRNAs/metabolism , Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism , Pancreatitis/genetics , Pancreatitis/metabolism , RatsABSTRACT
As one of the most ideal display approaches, holographic 3-dimensional (3D) display has always been a research hotspot since the holographic images reproduced in such system are very similar to what humans see the actual environment. However, current holographic 3D displays suffer from critical bottlenecks of narrow viewing angle and small size. Here, we propose a tunable liquid crystal grating-based holographic 3D display system with wide viewing angle and large size. Our tunable liquid crystal grating, providing an adjustable period and the secondary diffraction of the reconstructed image, enables to simultaneously implement two different hologram generation methods in achieving wide viewing angle and enlarged size, respectively. By using the secondary diffraction mechanism of the tunable liquid crystal grating, the proposed system breaks through the limitations of narrow viewing angle and small size of holographic 3D display. The proposed system shows a viewing angle of 57.4°, which is nearly 7 times of the conventional case with a single spatial light modulator, and the size of the reconstructed image is enlarged by about 4.2. The proposed system will have wide applications in medical diagnosis, advertising, education and entertainment and other fields.
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Fu brick tea (FBT) is a microbial-fermented tea, which is produced by the solid-state fermentation of tea leaves. Previous studies have proved that FBT aqueous extracts could attenuate obesity and gut microbiota dysbiosis. However, the bioactive components in FBT that contribute to these activities remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of FBT polyphenols (FBTPs) on obesity, gut microbiota, and gut microbiota-related intestinal oxidative stress and barrier function and to further investigate whether the antiobesity effect of FBTPs was dependent on the alteration of gut microbiota. The results showed that FBTP supplementation effectively attenuated obesity in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed rats. FBTP supplementation improved the intestinal oxidative stress and intestinal barrier function, including intestinal inflammation and the integrity of the intestinal barrier. Furthermore, FBTP intervention significantly attenuated HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis, characterized by increased phylogenetic diversity and decreased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Certain core microbes, including Akkermansia muciniphila, Alloprevotella, Bacteroides, and Faecalibaculum, were also found to be improved by FBTPs. Moreover, the antiobesity effect of FBTPs was gut microbiota-dependent, as demonstrated by a fecal microbiota transplantation experiment. Collectively, we concluded that FBTPs reduced obesity by modulating the gut microbiota and gut microbiota-related intestinal oxidative stress and barrier function. Therefore, FBTPs may be used as prebiotic agents to treat obesity and gut microbiota dysbiosis in obese individuals.
Subject(s)
Gastrointestinal Microbiome , Animals , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Obesity/drug therapy , Oxidative Stress , Phylogeny , Polyphenols , Rats , TeaABSTRACT
Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and caffeine constitute the most effective ingredients of weight loss in tea. However, whether combination of EGCG and caffeine exhibits anti-obesity synergy remains unclear. Here, we showed low-doses of EGCG and caffeine used in combination led to synergistic anti-obesity effects equivalent to those of high-dose EGCG. Furthermore, combination treatment exhibited a synergistic effect on altering gut microbiota, including decreased Firmicutes level and increased Bifidobacterium level. Other notable effects of combination treatment included synergistic effects on: increasing fecal acetic acid, propionic acid, and total SCFAs; decreasing expression of GPR43; and increasing microbial bile salt hydrolase gene copies in the gut, facilitating generation of unconjugated BAs and enhancing fecal BA loss. Additionally, combination treatment demonstrated synergistic effects toward increasing the expression of hepatic TGR5 and decreasing the expression of intestinal FXR-FGF15, resulting in increased expression of hepatic CYP7A1. Thus, the synergistic effect may be attributed to regulation of gut microbiota and BA metabolism.
Subject(s)
Anti-Obesity Agents/administration & dosage , Bile Acids and Salts/metabolism , Caffeine/administration & dosage , Catechin/analogs & derivatives , Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects , Obesity/drug therapy , Animals , Bile Acids and Salts/analysis , Catechin/administration & dosage , Cholesterol 7-alpha-Hydroxylase/metabolism , Drug Synergism , Drug Therapy, Combination , Fatty Acids, Volatile/analysis , Fatty Acids, Volatile/metabolism , Feces/chemistry , Liver/metabolism , Male , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/metabolism , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/metabolismABSTRACT
Purple-leaf tea cultivars are known for their specific chemical composition that greatly influences tea bioactivity and plant resistance. Some studies have tried to reveal the purple-leaf formation mechanism of tea by comparing the purple new leaves and green older leaves in the same purple-leaf tea cultivar. It has been reported that almost all structural genes involved in anthocyanin/flavonoid biosynthesis were down-regulated in purple-leaf tea cultivars when the purple new leaves become green older leaves. However, anthocyanin/flavonoid biosynthesis is also affected by the growth period of tea leaves, gradually decreasing as new tea leaves become old tea leaves. This leads to uncertainty as to whether the purple-leaf formation is attributed to the high expression of structural genes in anthocyanin/flavonoid biosynthesis. To better understand the mechanisms underlying purple-leaf formation, we analyzed the biosynthesis of three pigments (chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins/flavonoids) by integrated metabolic and gene expression analyses in four purple-leaf tea cultivars including Camellia sinensis var. sinensis and var. assamica. Green-leaf and yellow-leaf cultivars were employed for comparison. The purple-leaf phenotype was mainly attributed to high anthocyanins and low chlorophylls. The purple-leaf phenotype led to other flavonoid changes including lowered monomeric catechin derivatives and elevated polymerized catechin derivatives. Gene expression analysis revealed that 4-coumarate: CoA ligase (4CL), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), and UDP-glucose: flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) genes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway and the uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (HEME) gene in the chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway were responsible for high anthocyanin and low chlorophyll, respectively. These findings provide insights into the mechanism of purple-leaf formation in tea cultivars.
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In this paper, a curved composite hologram (CCH) generation method with suppressed speckle noise is proposed. The recorded 3D object is considered as many layers with different depths and the planar hologram (PH) for each layer is generated accordingly. Then the PH is transformed to curved hologram (CH). The CH of the recorded 3D object can be generated by superposing the CHs for all the layers. Also, the linear phase factor is superposed to the CH of the object. For different objects, the bending angle and linear phase factor of the hologram are different. The CCH is generated by superimposing the CHs of different objects. Finally, the CCH is encoded by using the error diffusion method and optimized by superposing of the digital lens. When the CCH is reproduced from different angles, the reconstructed images with suppressed speckle noise can be displayed. The experimental results verify the feasibility of the proposed method.
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Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a common and dreaded complication after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). The gut microbiota has been considered as an crucial mediator of postoperative complications, however, the precise roles of gut microbiota in POPF are unclear. A prospective study was developed to explore the effects of somatostatin on gut microbiota and we aim to identify the microbial alterations in the process of POPF. A total of 45 patients were randomly divided into PD group or additional somatostatin therapy group. The fecal sample of each patient was collected preoperatively and postoperatively and the gut microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Our study found that somatostatin therapy was independent risk factor for the occurrence of POPF, and it reduced the microbial diversity and richness in patients. At genus level, somatostatin therapy led to a decreased abundance in Bifidobacterium, Subdoligranulum and Dubosiella, whereas the abundance of Akkermansia, Enterococcus and Enterobacter were increased. The abundance levels of certain bacteria in the gut microbiota have significantly shifted in patients with POPF. The LEfSe analysis revealed that Ruminococcaceae could be used as microbial markers for distinguishing patients with high risk of POPF. Furthermore, Verrucomicrobia and Akkermansia could be used as preoperative biomarkers for identifying patients without POPF. Our prospective study highlights the specific communities related with somatostatin therapy and discovers POPF-associated microbial marker, which suggests that gut microbiota may become a diagnostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for POPF.
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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/s41420-020-00329-4.].
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In this paper, a fast hologram generation method is proposed based on the optimal segmentation of a sub-computer-generated-hologram (sub-CGH). The relationship between the pixels on the hologram and the corresponding reconstructed image is calculated firstly. Secondly, the sub-CGH corresponding to the object point from the recorded object is optimized and divided into the optimized diffraction area and the invalid diffraction area. Then, the optimized diffraction area of the sub-CGH for each object point is pre-calculated and saved. Finally, the final hologram can be generated by superimposing all the sub-CGHs. With the proposed method, the calculation time for the final hologram can be significantly reduced and the quality of the reconstructed image is not affected. Moreover, the proposed method has the advantages of perspective enlargement compared with the traditional method, and the experiment results verify its feasibility.
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Neonicotinoid insecticides (NNIs) are the most widely used insecticides in China and worldwide. Continuous use of NNIs can lead to their accumulation in soil, causing potential ecological risks due to their relatively long half-life. We used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to investigate the residual levels of nine neonicotinoids in greenhouse soils in Shouguang, East China, at different soil depths and with different crops (tomato and cucumber) after varying periods of cultivation. Seven neonicotinoids were detected in the soils of the tomato greenhouses and six were detected in the soils of the cucumber greenhouses, with total concentrations ranging from 0.731 to 11.383 µg kg-1 and 0.363 to 19.224 µg kg-1, respectively. In all samples, the neonicotinoid residues in the soils cultivated for 8-9 years were lower than in those cultivated for 2 years and 14-17 years. In the tomato greenhouse soils, the residual levels of NNIs were highest in the topsoil, with progressively lower concentrations found with depth. Under cucumber cultivation, the NNI residue levels were also highest in the topsoil but there was little difference between the middle and lower soil layers. Total organic carbon (TOC) decreased with soil depth while pH showed the opposite trend, showing a significant negative correlation in both types of soils (tomato soils ρ = -0.900, p = .001; cucumber soils ρ = -0.883, p = .002). Furthermore, TOC was significantly positively correlated, and pH was negatively correlated, with total NNI concentrations in both types of soils (TOC: tomato soils ρ = 0.800, p = .010; cucumber soils ρ = 0.881, p = .004; pH: tomato soils ρ = -0.850, p = .004; cucumber soils ρ = -0.643, p = .086). The results of an ecological risk analysis showed that acetamiprid represents a particularly high toxicity risk in these soils. Based on our analysis, NNI residues in the soils of tomato greenhouses and their associated ecological risks deserve more attention than those of cucumber greenhouse soils.
Subject(s)
Cucumis sativus , Insecticides/analysis , Soil Pollutants/analysis , Solanum lycopersicum , China , Chromatography, Liquid , Neonicotinoids , Soil , Tandem Mass SpectrometryABSTRACT
Processing of dark tea varieties, such as Fu brick tea, Liupao tea, Qianliang tea, and Qing brick tea, includes solid-state fermentation involving microorganisms. In this study, we analyzed the major chemical constituents of dark tea extracts and evaluated their modulatory effect on the gastrointestinal function in normal mice, including the improvement of gastrointestinal transit and intestinal microbial, as well as the attenuation of intestinal microbial dysbiosis and intestinal pathological damage, and the adjustment of immune function in antibiotic-treated mice. Substantial differences in major chemical constituents, including total polyphenols, total organic acids, water extract content, 18 free amino acids, gallic acid, and six tea catechins, were observed among Fu brick tea, Qianliang tea, Qing brick tea, and Liupao tea extracts. Extracts from the four dark tea varieties significantly promoted gastrointestinal transit and colonization of beneficial Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, and inhibited the growth of harmful Escherichia coli and Enterococcus in normal mice. In addition, Qianliang tea, Qing brick tea, and Liupao tea extracts significantly accelerated the reversal of the ampicillin sodium-induced pathological damage in the ileum, intestinal bacterial dysbiosis (Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, E. coli, and Enterococcus), and low immunity.
Subject(s)
Gastrointestinal Transit/drug effects , Microbiota/drug effects , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Tea/chemistry , Animals , Dysbiosis , Male , MiceABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Data from in vitro and animal studies support the preventive effect of tea (Camellia sinensis) against colorectal cancer. Further, many epidemiologic studies evaluated the association between tea consumption and colorectal cancer risk, but the results were inconsistent. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to systematically assess the association between tea consumption and colorectal cancer risk. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the related articles by searching PubMed and Embase up to June, 2019. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a fixed effect model. RESULTS: Twenty cohort articles were included in the present meta-analysis involving 2,068,137 participants and 21,437 cases. The combined RR of colorectal cancer for the highest vs. lowest tea consumption was determined to 0.97 (95% CI 0.94-1.01) with marginal heterogeneity (I2 = 24.0%, P = 0.093) among all studies. This indicated that tea consumption had no significant association with colorectal cancer risk. Stratified analysis showed that no significant differences were found in all subgroups. We further conducted the gender-specific meta-analysis for deriving a more precise estimation. No significant association was observed between tea consumption and colorectal cancer risk in male (combined RR = 0.97; 95% CI 0.90-1.04). However, tea consumption had a marginal significant inverse impact on colorectal cancer risk in female (combined RR = 0.93; 95% CI 0.86-1.00). Further, we found a stronger inverse association between tea consumption and risk of colorectal cancer among the female studies with no adjustment of coffee intake (RR: 0.90; 95% CI 0.82-1.00, P < 0.05) compared to the female studies that adjusted for coffee intake (RR = 0.97; 95% CI 0.87-1.09, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our finding indicates that tea consumption has no significant impact on the colorectal cancer risk in both genders combined, but gender-specific meta-analysis shows that tea consumption has a marginal significant inverse impact on colorectal cancer risk in female.
Subject(s)
Colorectal Neoplasms , Tea , Coffee , Cohort Studies , Colorectal Neoplasms/epidemiology , Colorectal Neoplasms/prevention & control , Female , Humans , Male , Prospective Studies , Risk , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
The understanding of soil microbiome is important for sustainable cultivation, especially under greenhouse conditions. Here, we investigated the changes in soil pesticide residues and microbial diversity and community structure at different cultivation years under a greenhouse system. The 9-to-14 years sites were found to have the least diversity/rich microbial population as compared to sites under 8 years and over 16 years, as analyzed with alpha diversity index. In total, 42 bacterial phyla were identified across soils with different pesticide residues and cultivation ages. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes represented the dominant phyla, that accounted for 34.2-43.4%, 9.7-19.3% and 9.2-16.5% of the total population, respectively. Our data prove that certain pesticides contribute to variation in soil microbial community and that soil bacteria respond differently to cultivation years under greenhouse conditions. Thus, this study provides an insight into microbial community structure changes by pesticides under greenhouse systems and natural biodegradation may have an important part in pesticides soil decontamination.
Subject(s)
Soil , Bacteria , China , Microbiota , Pesticide Residues , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S , Soil MicrobiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common digestive disorder. Its management depends on the severity; therefore, it is essential to stratify AP patients early. D-dimer, a coagulation indicator, appears to be associated with the pathogenesis of AP. The aim of this study was to evaluate D-dimer as an early predictor of the severity of AP. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a single-center retrospective study of 1260 patients diagnosed based on the revised Atlanta classification. Only patients hospitalized within 24 h of onset were included, and 334 patients were enrolled. Blood was collected at admission and 3 times within 48 h of admission. Values at admission and average of the 3 blood samples were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Furthermore, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to estimate the validity of the predictor and to define optimal cut-off points for prediction. RESULTS We found that 53.3% of the patients had mild AP (MAP), 24.3% had moderately severe AP (MSAP), and 22.4% had severe AP (SAP). D-dimer at admission and the average D-dimer could distinguish MAP patients from MSAP and SAP patients, with cut-off values of 3.355 mg/L and 4.868 mg/L, respectively. No difference in the parameters at admission was observed in multivariate analysis in distinguishing SAP from MSAP, but the average D-dimer level was significantly different with a cut-off value of 7.268 mg/L by comparing Ranson score, APACHE II score, and D-dimer level. CONCLUSIONS The average value of D-dimer levels could be used as a predictor of severity of AP. In general, patients with an average D-dimer level <4.868 could be diagnosed with MAP, >7.268 would develop into SAP, and between 4.868 and 7.268 would be MSAP.
Subject(s)
Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products/analysis , Pancreatitis/metabolism , APACHE , Acute Disease , Adult , China , Female , Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products/metabolism , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pancreatitis/classification , Plasma/chemistry , Predictive Value of Tests , Prognosis , ROC Curve , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
The binding constant (Kdoc) of organic pollutants (OPs) with dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important parameter in determining the partitioning of OPs in the aquatic environment. Most estimation models have focused on calculating the Kdoc of a specific group of OPs but failed to obtain Kdoc values of different OPs effectively over the last three decades. In this study, we attempted to build a general-applicable Kdoc model based on various organic compounds' Kdoc values from the literature since 1973. Two multiple linear regression models, a DOM nonspecific model and an Aldrich HA model, were developed based on two solid and easy to access parameters-molecular connectivity indices (MCI) and polarity correction factors (PCF). In addition, the models' corresponding Kow-Kdoc models, which were mostly used in previous model studies, were developed for comparison. The adjusted determining coefficient (adj-R2) and standard error of the estimate (SEE) of the DOM nonspecific MCI-PCF-Kdoc model were 0.815 and 0.579, respectively, whereas the adj-R2 and SEE for the MCI-PCF-Kdoc model of Aldrich HA reached 0.907 and 0.438, respectively. The Aldrich HA model showed higher pertinence to the nonspecific model. Furthermore, both models exhibited better fit than the Kow-Kdoc models. The dipole moment modification attempts did not significantly improve either MCI-PCF-Kdoc models; hence, the two models were not altered with the dipole moment. The robustness tests by a Jackknifed method showed that the two MCI-PCF-Kdoc models exhibited higher robustness than the Kow-Kdoc. Of all of the OPs, the phenols contributed the most to their robustness. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis showed that the two MCI-PCF-Kdoc models were sensitive to the robust parameters.
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Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is described as a progressive fibro-inflammatory disorder of the exocrine disease, which eventually leads to damage of the gland. Excessive activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) is a critical participant in the initiation of CP. Autophagy is involved in multiple degeneration and inflammation in acute pancreatitis and CP. In our study, we report that retinoblastoma coiled coil protein 1 (RB1CC1) expression and the autophagic level are elevated in activated PSCs. RB1CC1 is positively correlated with pancreatic fibrogenesis in tissues and plasma of CP patients. Knockdown of RB1CC1 restrains alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen expressions, and autophagy in activated PSCs in vitro. Furthermore, we show that RB1CC1 induces PSC activation via binding to ULK1 promoter and the direct interaction with ULK1 protein. These suppress ULK1 expression and its kinase activity. In mice, knockdown of RB1CC1 blocks autophagy and then inhibits the pancreatic duct ligation-induced pancreatic fibrosis. Consequently, our study highlights that RB1CC1-mediated autophagy is a key event for the activation of PSCs. Inhibition of RB1CC1 alleviates autophagy, which plays a critical role in anti-fibrotic activation in PSCs and CP progression. RB1CC1 could be a novel strategy for the treatment of pancreatic fibrosis.