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1.
Adv Mater ; : e2313853, 2024 Apr 29.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38684169

ABSTRACT

Organic acid-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as catalysts always suffer from weak stability and low recyclability due to the accumulation of organic oxidative products in the DES phase. Herein, a completely inorganic deep eutectic solvent (IDES) ZnCl2/PA with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) and phosphoric acid (PA) as precursors is constructed to realize liquid-liquid interface catalysis for desulfurization of fuel and product self-separation for the first time. Owing to the inorganic nature, the organic oxidative products are accumulated at the interface between the IDES and fuel rather than the IDES phase. With this unique feature, the IDES can be reused for at least 15 times without any further treatment in oxidative desulfurization process, showing a state-of-the-art cycle-regeneration stability. Moreover, compared with the reported organic DESs, the IDES also reveals more attractive catalytic oxidative desulfurization performance. Experimental and theoretical studies indicate that the strong coordination Zn···O═P and the strong adsorption energy between IDES and sulfides enhance the activation of H2O2 to reactive oxygen species, leading to the superior catalytic performance in oxidative desulfurization of fuel.

3.
Immunol Lett ; 266: 106842, 2024 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38355057

ABSTRACT

The APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mouse is a double transgenic murine model that harbors two transgenes for Alzheimer's Disease (AD)-related mutant proteins. We previously discovered that this double transgenic animal had a premature immunosenescence phenotype. However, it is unclear how this phenotype progresses to a later stage. This study aimed to elucidate the changes in systemic characteristics aside from those associated with AD between elderly APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mice and littermate control wild-type mice. Tumors in all organs were considerably more frequent in AD mice aged 24 months than in the control wild-type mice. In addition, the survival rate of aged AD mice was considerably lower than that of wild-type control mice. Further, we discovered that the phenotypic difference was mainly caused by severe immunological aging, as evidenced by a high proportion of exhausted T lymphocytes in AD mice compared to wild-type mice of the same age. Based on our findings, the harm produced by normal aging is not as severe as immunological senescence. Addressing immunological aging, as opposed to anti-aging alone, may be a more crucial target for a long life free of cancer.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease , Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor , Humans , Mice , Animals , Aged , Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/genetics , Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/metabolism , Mice, Transgenic , Disease Models, Animal , Alzheimer Disease/genetics , Aging/genetics , Amyloid beta-Peptides
4.
Molecules ; 28(23)2023 Nov 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38067473

ABSTRACT

Acidic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been considered desirable extractants and catalysts for desulfurization. However, their hydrogen bond donors (HBDs) are usually sole organic acids, which are not conducive to efficient green catalysis. Herein, a novel inorganic-organic dual-acid DES (DADES) was reported for efficient extractive and oxidative desulfurization. Benefiting from the physical interaction among the three components in a DADES, a transparent homogeneous liquid can be obtained even though inorganic acid (boric acid, BA) and organic acid (acetic acid, AA) can be immiscible. Furthermore, the dual-acid HBD can increase the acidity of the DADES and reduce its viscosity, accelerating its mass transfer efficiency and enhancing its catalytic activity. With 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) as the hydrogen bond acceptor, [Bmim]Cl/BA/0.3AA effectively activated hydrogen peroxide and achieved sulfur removal of 96.6% at 40 °C. Furthermore, the universality of the synergistic effect in various DADESs was confirmed by the modulation of the types of organic acids. This study not only motivates the construction of more intriguing novel DESs based on the DADES concept but also highlights their potential in clean fuel production.

5.
Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol ; 16: 2801-2812, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37841062

ABSTRACT

Objective: Microorganisms have been the main cause of refractory and high recurrence of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). This study attempted to observe the skin bacterial colony in healthy skin, diabetic skin and DFU skin. Methods: Forty-eight diabetes patients were recruited at Panyu Central Hospital from March 2021 to March 2022 and divided into DFU group (T group, n = 22), diabetes without foot ulcer group (TW group, n = 26). Besides, a healthy control group (H group, n = 10) was recruited at the same time. The swab samples of foot skin in the same position in the three groups were collected. The microorganisms obtained from the skin were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The composition of the skin microorganisms was determined, and the species diversity of the skin microbiota was analyzed by α and ß diversity. The species differences in the skin microbiota and the relative abundance of different operational taxonomic units (OUTs) with the most significant abundance were analyzed by linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe). Results: Significant changes were found in the composition of the skin microbiota in the T and TW groups relative to the H group. However, the species diversity of the skin microbiota was significantly reduced in the T and TW groups, with the lowest one in the T group. The composition of microbial diversity in the T group was significantly different from that of the TW and H groups. Among the skin bacterial colonies, the abundance of Staphylococcus, Enhydrobacter, and Corynebacterium_1 was obviously reduced, while that of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas was significantly increased. Conclusion: Changes in the abundance of Staphylococcus, Enhydrobacter, Corynebacterium_1, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas in the skin bacterial colonies can be the main causative factors for DFU. This study indicates that altering the microbiota composition of wounds may help the treatment of DFU.

6.
Gynecol Endocrinol ; 39(1): 2206912, 2023 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37132453

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate whether mutations in the minichromosome maintenance complex component (MCM) family genes were present in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) of Chinese descent. METHODS: A total of 365 Chinese patients with PCOS and 860 women without PCOS as control who underwent with assisted reproductive technology were enrolled. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of these patients for PCR and Sanger sequencing. The potential damage of these mutations/rare variants was analyzed through evolutionary conservation analysis and bioinformatic programs. RESULTS: Twenty-nine missense or nonsense mutations/rare variants in the MCM genes were identified in 365 patients with PCOS (7.9%, 29/365), all these mutations/rare variants were predicted to be 'disease causing' by SIFT and PolyPhen2 programs. Among those, four mutations were reported here for the first time, p.S7C (c.20C > G) in MCM2 (NM_004526.3), p.K350R (c.1049A > G) in MCM5 (NM_006739.3), p.K283N (c.849G > T) in MCM10 (NM_182751.2), and p.S1708F (c.5123C > T) in MCM3AP (NM_003906.4). All of these novel mutations were not found in our 860 control women, or also absent in public databases. In addition, the evolutionary conservation analysis results suggested that these novel mutations caused highly conserved amino acid substitutions among 10 vertebrate species. CONCLUSION: This study identified a high frequency of potential pathogenic rare variants/mutations in MCM family genes in Chinese women with PCOS, which further expands the genotype spectrum in PCOS.


Subject(s)
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome , Female , Humans , Polycystic Ovary Syndrome/genetics , East Asian People , Genotype , Mutation , Amino Acid Substitution , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Acetyltransferases/genetics , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
7.
Inorg Chem ; 62(23): 9199-9208, 2023 Jun 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37229753

ABSTRACT

Developing catalysts with optimized surface properties is significant for advanced catalysis. Herein, a rational architectural design is proposed to successfully synthesize yolk-shell nickel molybdate with abundant oxygen vacancies (YS-VO-NMO) via an acid-assisted defect engineering strategy. Notably, YS-VO-NMO with the yolk-shell structure shows complex nanoconfined interior space, which is beneficial to the mass transfer and active sites exposure. Moreover, the defect engineering strategy is of great importance to modulate the surface electronic structure and atomic composition, which contributes to the enrichment of oxygen vacancies. Benefiting from these features, the higher hydrogen peroxide activation is achieved by YS-VO-NMO to produce more hydroxyl radicals compared with untreated nickel molybdate. Consequently, the defect-engineered YS-VO-NMO not only features superior catalytic activity (99.5%) but also retains high desulfurization efficiency after recycling eight times. This manuscript provides new inspiration for designing more promising defective materials via defect engineering and architecture for different applications besides oxidative desulfurization.

8.
RSC Adv ; 13(17): 11782-11793, 2023 Apr 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37077994

ABSTRACT

Anti-bacterial photodynamic therapy is the most promising treatment protocol for bacterial infection, but low accumulation of photosensitizers has seriously hindered their development in clinical application. Here, with inherent outstanding affinity to bacterial cell envelope, sophorolipid produced from Candida bombicola has been conjugated to toluidine blue (SL-TB) through amidation reaction. The structure of SL-TB conjugates was identified by 1H-NMR, FT-IR and ESI-HRMS. The interfacial assembly and photophysical properties of SL-TB conjugates have been disclosed through surface tension, micro-polarity, electronic and fluorescence spectra. After light irradiation, the log10 (reduced CFU) of free toluidine blue to P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were 4.5 and 7.9, respectively. In contrast, SL-TB conjugates showed a higher bactericidal activity, with a reduction of 6.3 and 9.7 log10 units of CFU against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, respectively. The fluorescence quantitative results showed that SL-TB could accumulate 2850 nmol/1011 cells and 4360 nmol/1011 cells by P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, which was much higher than the accumulation of 462 nmol/1011 cells and 827 nmol/1011 cells of free toluidine blue. Through the cooperation of triple factors, including sophorose affinity to bacterial cells, hydrophobic association with plasma membrane, and electrostatic attraction, higher SL-TB accumulation was acquired, which has enhanced antibacterial photodynamic efficiencies.

9.
Mitochondrial DNA B Resour ; 8(11): 1294-1297, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38188436

ABSTRACT

We assembled the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Mastigias papua (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Mastigiidae) by the data generated from the next-generation sequencing platform. The complete mitogenome of M. papua was 16,560 bp in length, containing 14 protein-coding genes, two transfer RNA genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes. The base compositions were A 30.65%, C 15.16%, G 16.34%, and T 37.86%, with a gene arrangement similar to the mitogenomes derived from other representatives of Scyphozoa. Based on the 13 common protein-coding genes of 16 species within Scyphozoa, we constructed the phylogenetic tree and found that M. papua has a close relationship with Cassiopea andromeda and Cassiopea xamachana. All these species belong to an order of jellyfish Rhizostomeae, which have similar morphological characteristics. This is agreement with the conclusion we got by the phylogenetic relationship analysis using molecular data. This research has practical implications for advancing understanding of the phylogenetic relationships, taxonomic classifications, and phylogeography within Scyphozoa.

10.
Sensors (Basel) ; 22(24)2022 Dec 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36560036

ABSTRACT

Although deep learning-based techniques for salient object detection have considerably improved over recent years, estimated saliency maps still exhibit imprecise predictions owing to the internal complexity and indefinite boundaries of salient objects of varying sizes. Existing methods emphasize the design of an exemplary structure to integrate multi-level features by employing multi-scale features and attention modules to filter salient regions from cluttered scenarios. We propose a saliency detection network based on three novel contributions. First, we use a dense feature extraction unit (DFEU) by introducing large kernels of asymmetric and grouped-wise convolutions with channel reshuffling. The DFEU extracts semantically enriched features with large receptive fields and reduces the gridding problem and parameter sizes for subsequent operations. Second, we suggest a cross-feature integration unit (CFIU) that extracts semantically enriched features from their high resolutions using dense short connections and sub-samples the integrated information into different attentional branches based on the inputs received for each stage of the backbone. The embedded independent attentional branches can observe the importance of the sub-regions for a salient object. With the constraint-wise growth of the sub-attentional branches at various stages, the CFIU can efficiently avoid global and local feature dilution effects by extracting semantically enriched features via dense short-connections from high and low levels. Finally, a contour-aware saliency refinement unit (CSRU) was devised by blending the contour and contextual features in a progressive dense connected fashion to assist the model toward obtaining more accurate saliency maps with precise boundaries in complex and perplexing scenarios. Our proposed model was analyzed with ResNet-50 and VGG-16 and outperforms most contemporary techniques with fewer parameters.


Subject(s)
Neural Networks, Computer
11.
Anal Cell Pathol (Amst) ; 2022: 2522597, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36276611

ABSTRACT

Background and Purpose. Breast cancer ranks first in the incidence of female tumors. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one type of breast cancer, is more aggressive and has a worse prognosis. Demethylzeylasteral (T-96) is isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F. Our previous study found that T96 could inhibit TNBC invasion via suppressing the canonical and noncanonical TGF-ß signaling pathways. However, the antitumor effects and mechanisms of T-96 on TNBC have not been studied. This study is aimed at investigating the antitumor effect and mechanism of T-96 on breast cancer. Experimental approach. MTT assay, Live and Dead cell assay, and TUNEL were used to observe the antitumor effect of breast cancer cells treated with T-96. siRNA of LSD1, Co-IP, and molecular docking were used to explore the direct target and mechanism of T-96. Subcutaneous murine xenograft models were used to detect the efficacy of T-96 antitumor activity in vivo. Key Results. T-96 was more susceptible to inducing the apoptosis of highly metastatic TNBC cell lines (SUM-1315). An abnormal level of histone methylation is a crucial characteristic of metastatic cancer cells. LSD1 is a histone demethylase. We found that T-96 could significantly decrease the protein expression of LSD1, increase its target protein PTEN expression and enhance histone methylation. T-96 could also down-regulate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, which could be blocked by PTEN. Knockdown of LSD1 by siRNA blocked the pharmacological activity of T-96. And the molecular docking predicted T-96 processed affinity toward LSD1 through hydrogen bonding. Finally, T-96 was evaluated in a murine xenograft model of SUM-1315 cells. And T-96 could significantly inhibit tumor growth without showing marked toxicity. Conclusions & Implications. The results illustrated that T-96 exerted antitumor activity in highly metastatic TNBC by inactivating the LSD1 function.


Subject(s)
Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms , Humans , Female , Mice , Animals , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/genetics , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/metabolism , RNA, Small Interfering/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism , Histones/genetics , Histones/metabolism , Histones/pharmacology , Cell Line, Tumor , Molecular Docking Simulation , Histone Demethylases/genetics , Histone Demethylases/metabolism , Apoptosis , Epigenesis, Genetic , Transforming Growth Factor beta/pharmacology , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays , Cell Proliferation
12.
RSC Adv ; 13(1): 239-250, 2022 Dec 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36605628

ABSTRACT

The aggregation state of photosensitizers on the surface of bacterial cells is an important scientific problem for antibacterial photodynamic therapy (APDT). High accumulation and high photoactive state maintenance of photosensitizers are the prerequisite of high APDT efficiency. In this study, an amphiphilic di-cationic methylene blue photosensitizer (C12-MB) was synthesized through quaternization, and its structure, interface properties, photophysical properties and antibacterial photodynamic properties were studied. The results showed that C12-MB could reduce 4.27 log10 CFU and 4.8 log10 CFU for P. aeruginosa and S. aureus under irradiation of light at 660 nm, higher than the parent methylene blue. Through a spectroscopic study on photosensitizer adsorption over the bacterial surface, C12-MB can be accumulated with higher concentration, and the photo-active monomer content is 73% and 70% over P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, higher than those of methylene blue: 25% and 49%, respectively. The higher content of non-aggregated photo-active monomer could contribute to higher antibacterial photodynamic efficiency. For C12-MB adsorbed over bacterial surfaces, planar packing inhibition and electrostatic repulsion could contribute to lower C12-MB aggregation, which provides an useful reference for the structural design of high-efficiency photosensitizers.

13.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) ; 12: 712217, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34489867

ABSTRACT

Abnormal gene expression and secreted protein levels are accompanied by extensive pathological changes. Secreted frizzled related protein (SFRP) family members are antagonistic inhibitors of the Wnt signaling pathway, and they were recently found to be involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of metabolic diseases, which has led to extensive interest in SFRPs. Previous reports highlighted the importance of SFRPs in lipid metabolism, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we provide a detailed introduction of SFRPs, including their structural characteristics, receptors, inhibitors, signaling pathways and metabolic disease impacts. In addition to summarizing the pathologies and potential molecular mechanisms associated with SFRPs, this review further suggests the potential future use of SFRPs as disease biomarkers therapeutic targets.


Subject(s)
Cardiovascular Diseases , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/physiology , Metabolic Diseases , Animals , Cardiovascular Diseases/pathology , Cardiovascular Diseases/physiopathology , Gene Expression , Humans , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/chemistry , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/genetics , Metabolic Diseases/metabolism , Neovascularization, Physiologic , Wnt Proteins/metabolism , Wnt Signaling Pathway , beta Catenin/metabolism
14.
Immunol Res ; 69(6): 520-532, 2021 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34415527

ABSTRACT

The aging of the immune system is not only an inevitable result but also an important cause of physical aging. The aging of the immune system is rooted in the aging of hematopoietic cells (HSCs), which manifests as decreasing functionality of the adaptive immune system and the innate immune system. C57BL/6 mice of different ages were collected in this study to better understand the changes in the structures of the innate and adaptive immune systems in individuals of different ages and the distribution and changes in immune cells with stem cell properties. The immune cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems, including DCs, monocytes, macrophages, CD4+ T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes, were assessed, and the proportions of cells with stem cell properties among these immune cell populations were also tested. Overall, immune cells in the peripheral blood, spleen, and bone marrow of mice exhibit certain regular properties with increasing age. The trend of changes in immune cells in different immune organs differs with age. The changes in lymphocytes in the peripheral blood are more sensitive. Their proportions increase slowly with age and then decrease rapidly to a very low level (less than 5%) after a certain point (9 or 13 months old). Nine to 13 months of age is the most critical time point for assessing changes in the immune system of mice and the most critical time point for detecting changes in the proportion of stem cells. After 13 months of age, the balance and stability of stem cells in mice are disrupted, and animals begin to age rapidly. The ratio of Ly6A to E+CD117+ cells in the peripheral blood, particularly lymphocytes involved in adaptive immunity, represents a specific marker for predicting immune senescence and body senescence.


Subject(s)
Aging/immunology , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Hematopoietic Stem Cells/immunology , Animals , Mice
15.
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces ; 207: 111974, 2021 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34303113

ABSTRACT

Recently, increased attention has been focused on antibacterial photodynamic therapy (APDT) to treat multidrug-resistant bacterial infection due to the antibiotic abuse. Methylene blue has been used as a kind of efficient and cheap commercial photosensitizer in APDT. However, due to high hydrophilicity, methylene blue is not able to be transcellular intaken and accumulated efficiently. To promote accumulation and APDT efficiency of methylene blue, lipopeptide surfactin-methylene blue complex has been prepared through electrostatic interaction. The complex under LED irradiation was found to effectively reduce 5.0 Log10 CFU and 7.6 Log10 CFU for P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, respectively. The bacterial reduction efficiency is slightly higher than free methylene blue. The photosensitizers accumulation and APDT targeting protein have been characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy and protein electrophoresis techniques. These results demonstrated that more surfactin-methylene blue complex could be accumulated more into the cell, and inactivate bacteria through destroying intracellular protein under LED illumination. In comparison, free methylene blue under light could inactivate bacteria through destroying membrane protein and lipid structures. These results would provide valuable insight for developing advanced clinical medicine and designing photo-drug for photodynamic therapy.


Subject(s)
Photochemotherapy , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Lighting , Methylene Blue/pharmacology , Staphylococcus aureus
16.
Exp Ther Med ; 21(6): 637, 2021 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33968168

ABSTRACT

Secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) is a member of the SFRP family that contains a cysteine-rich domain homologous to the putative Wnt-binding site of frizzled proteins. In the present report, the effects of SFRP4 on murine brown adipocyte differentiation were evaluated, which exhibited an intrinsic capacity to differentiate with high efficiency. Brown preadipocytes were isolated from the scapular region of brown adipose tissue, which showed that the overexpression of recombinant active SFRP4 protein at three concentrations (1, 10 and 100 ng/ml) significantly increased the expression of adipocyte differentiation-associated genes (C/EBPα, C/EBPß, UCP-1, PRDM16, PGC1α and GLUT4) in a dose-dependent manner compared with the control group. Secondly, adiponectin protein expression was significantly inhibited in a dose-independent manner, while leptin was increased in brown adipocytes by incubation with the high concentration (100 ng/ml) of SFRP4. Thirdly, the role of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) was investigated in brown adipocytes and discovered that IL-1ß cannot induce SFRP4 mRNA expression in brown adipocytes, similar to human islet cells. These data suggested that SFRP4-treated brown adipocytes represent a valuable in vitro model for the study of adipogenesis and indicated that SFRP4 served various functions during brown adipocyte differentiation.

17.
Arch Gynecol Obstet ; 304(3): 671-677, 2021 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33987686

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Endometriosis is a common chronic gynecological disease greatly affecting women health. Prior studies have implicated that dysferlin (DYSF) aberration might be involved in the pathogenesis of ovarian endometriosis. In the present study, we explore the potential presence of DYSF mutations in a total of 152 Han Chinese samples with ovarian endometriosis. METHODS: We analyze the potential presence of DYSF mutations by direct DNA sequencing. RESULTS: A total of seven rare variants/mutations in the DYSF gene in 10 out of 152 samples (6.6%) were identified, including 5 rare variants and 2 novel mutations. For the 5 rare variants, p.R334W and p.G941S existed in 2 samples, p.R865W, p.R1173H and p.G1531S existed in single sample, respectively; for the two novel mutations, p.W352* and p.I1642F, they were identified in three patients. These rare variants/mutations were absent or existed at extremely low frequency either in our 1006 local control women without endometriosis, or in the China Metabolic Analytics Project (ChinaMAP) and Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) databases. Evolutionary conservation analysis results suggested that all of these rare variants/mutations were evolutionarily conserved among 11 vertebrate species from Human to Fox. Furthermore, in silico analysis results suggested these rare variants/mutations were disease-causing. Nevertheless, we find no significant association between DYSF rare variants/mutations and the clinical features in our patients. To our knowledge, this is the first report revealing frequent DYSF mutations in ovarian endometriosis. CONCLUSION: We identified a high frequency of DYSF rare variants/mutations in ovarian endometriosis for the first time. This study suggests a new correlation between DYSF rare variants/mutations and ovarian endometriosis, implicating DYSF rare variants/mutations might be positively involved in the pathogenesis of ovarian endometriosis.


Subject(s)
Dysferlin/genetics , Endometriosis/genetics , Ovarian Diseases/genetics , Adult , Asian People/genetics , China/epidemiology , Endometriosis/ethnology , Female , Humans , Mutation , Ovarian Diseases/ethnology
18.
Nature ; 590(7844): 47-56, 2021 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33536649

ABSTRACT

Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, found in trees, waste from agricultural crops and other biomass. The fibres that comprise cellulose can be broken down into building blocks, known as fibrillated cellulose, of varying, controllable dimensions that extend to the nanoscale. Fibrillated cellulose is harvested from renewable resources, so its sustainability potential combined with its other functional properties (mechanical, optical, thermal and fluidic, for example) gives this nanomaterial unique technological appeal. Here we explore the use of fibrillated cellulose in the fabrication of materials ranging from composites and macrofibres, to thin films, porous membranes and gels. We discuss research directions for the practical exploitation of these structures and the remaining challenges to overcome before fibrillated cellulose materials can reach their full potential. Finally, we highlight some key issues towards successful manufacturing scale-up of this family of materials.


Subject(s)
Biotechnology/methods , Biotechnology/trends , Cellulose/chemistry , Nanostructures/chemistry , Sustainable Development/trends , Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , Gels/chemistry , Humans , Porosity
19.
Exp Ther Med ; 21(1): 31, 2021 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33262817

ABSTRACT

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 8-13% of reproductive-age females worldwide and mutations or aberrant expression of androgen receptor (AR) may cause the onset of this disease. In the present study, 258 samples from Han Chinese patients with PCOS were analyzed for the presence of AR mutations via sequencing of all coding exons of the AR gene. A total of five heterozygous missense mutations, namely p.V3M, p.Q72R, p.S158L, p.S176R and p.G396R, were identified in five of the patients. Among these, p.S158L was a novel mutation that, to the best of our knowledge, has not been reported previously. Although the remaining four mutations have been reported previously, they existed at low frequencies or were absent in the control subjects and in the Exome Aggregation Consortium database. The results of evolutionary conservation and in silico analysis revealed that the p.V3M, p.S158L and p.S176R mutations were pathogenic, whereas the p.Q72R and p.G396R mutations were benign. Compared with the patients with PCOS without AR mutations or with benign AR mutations, markedly lower estrogen levels on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin injection were observed in the three patients with PCOS with potentially pathogenic mutations. In addition, patients with PCOS with pathogenic mutations had lower numbers of oocytes; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Of note, these observations should be interpreted with caution due to the relatively small sample size in the present study. Therefore, a larger number of samples should be collected to validate the results of the present study in future studies. In summary, the present study identified three potential pathogenic mutations in 258 Han Chinese patients with PCOS and these mutations may have an implication in the pathogenesis of PCOS.

20.
Asia Pac J Clin Oncol ; 16(2): e3-e11, 2020 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31970936

ABSTRACT

Cancer is a key cause of death worldwide. Despite the development of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and even immunotherapy, surgery remains the standard treatment for cancer patients. Recently, many studies have shown that propofol, a commonly used anesthetic drug, can affect the prognosis of cancer. In this review, we provide an overview of the molecular mechanisms of propofol in the development of cancer. Propofol not only affects epigenetic pathways, such as those involving miRNA, lncRNA and histone acetylation, but also modulates genetic signaling pathways, including the hypoxia, NF-κB, MAPK, SLUG and Nrf2 pathways. In addition, propofol influences the immune function of patients and impacts the degree of immunosuppression. Furthermore, we briefly summarize the clinical trials on the effect of propofol in cancer development. Ultimately, further studies distinguishing the types of tumors in clinical trials are needed to clarify the correlation between propofol and cancer.


Subject(s)
Hypnotics and Sedatives/therapeutic use , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Propofol/therapeutic use , Humans , Hypnotics and Sedatives/pharmacology , Propofol/pharmacology
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