Macrophage-hitchhiked arsenic/AB bionic preparations for liver cancer.

Macrophage-hitchhiked arsenic/AB bionic preparations were developed to improve the therapeutic effect on liver cancer by means of the tumor-targeting ability of macrophages in vivo. In vitro and in vivo cellular uptake assays demonstrated that arsenic/AB, with negatively charged particles of around 100-200 nm size, could hitchhike to macrophages. Dissolution experiments of arsenic/AB showed that arsenic/AB could delay the release of arsenic and ensure the safety of macrophages during its transport. Histological examination confirmed the safety of the preparations for major organs. In vivo distribution experiment showed that the arsenic/AB bionic preparations could rapidly accumulate in tumors, and in vivo treatment experiment showed a significant tumor inhibition of arsenic/AB. The therapeutic mechanism of liver cancer might be that the arsenic/AB bionic preparations could inhibit tumor growth by reducing inflammatory response and inhibiting CSF1 secretion to block CSF1R activation to induce more differentiation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) towards the anti-tumor M1 phenotype. Therefore, we concluded that the arsenic/AB bionic preparations could improve the distribution of arsenic in vivo by hitchhiking on macrophages as well as make it have tumor targeting and deep penetration abilities, thus increasing the therapeutic effect of arsenic on liver cancer with reduced side effects.

Epicoccanes A-D, Four Oxidative Dimers of Pyrogallol Analogues from Epicoccum nigrum.

Epicoccanes A-D (1-4) are four novel metabolites of an endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum. Their distinct unprecedented structures are hypothesized as oxidative dimers of pyrogallol analogues. Compounds 1 and 2 possess a novel spirobicyclo[3.2.1]octane-6,1'-cyclopentane or -cyclohexane core skeleton. Compound 3 is of a unique cage-like pentacyclic system, which unusually contained three continuous spiro-carbons. Compound 4 is a highly rearranged dimer with five contiguous chiral centers. The absolute structures of 1 and 2 were deduced by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations, and those of 3 and 4 were determined by X-ray crystallography. Compounds 1 and 4 showed potential antiliver fibrosis activity.

Beetleane A and Epicoane A: Two Carbon Skeletons Produced by Epicoccum nigrum.

Two novel natural products, beetleane A (1) and epicoane A (2), were obtained from the metabolites of an endophytic Epicoccum nigrum. Compound 1 has a unique beetlelike structure that is constructed by the fusion and further fold of an unusual [5.5.5.6]trioxafenestrane with a cycloheptane ring. Compound 2 possesses a compact cagelike structure with a unique 6/5/5/5/6/6/5 heptacyclic ring system. Both 1 and 2 showed strong antiliver fibrosis activity in vitro.

FeS2 /CoS2 Interface Nanosheets as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting.

Electrochemical water splitting to produce hydrogen and oxygen, as an important reaction for renewable energy storage, needs highly efficient and stable catalysts. Herein, FeS2 /CoS2 interface nanosheets (NSs) as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting are reported. The thickness and interface disordered structure with rich defects of FeS2 /CoS2 NSs are confirmed by atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy clarifies that FeS2 /CoS2 NSs with sulfur vacancies, which can further increase electrocatalytic performance. Benefiting from the interface nanosheets' structure with abundant defects, the FeS2 /CoS2 NSs show remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance with a low overpotential of 78.2 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a superior stability for 80 h in 1.0 m KOH, and an overpotential of 302 mV at 100 mA cm-2 for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). More importantly, the FeS2 /CoS2 NSs display excellent performance for overall water splitting with a voltage of 1.47 V to achieve current density of 10 mA cm-2 and maintain the activity for at least 21 h. The present work highlights the importance of engineering interface nanosheets with rich defects based on transition metal dichalcogenides for boosting the HER and OER performance.

Lefty promotes the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells by inhibiting nodal expression.

Trophoblast cells play a vital role in embryo implantation. Exploring cytokines secreted by trophoblast cells will be significant in revealing the molecular mechanism of embryo implantation. In vitro-cultured trophoblast cells treated with Lefty revealed that Lefty could downregulate the expression of Nodal while promoting the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Thus, Lefty may promote the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells, thereby reducing the amount of apoptosis of these cells. Lefty siRNA knockdown or overexpression of Nodal showed opposite effects to treatment with Lefty. When trophoblast cells overexpressing Nodal were treated with Lefty, Nodal expression increased, and MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression was still promoted. Additionally, the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells were upregulated, and trophoblast apoptosis was reduced. Together, these data reveal that Lefty can promote the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells and inhibit their apoptosis by downregulating Nodal expression while promoting the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. This finding provides new proof for the mechanism of trophoblast cell invasion in decidua.

[Analysis of urine screening results for school-age children in Zhucheng City of Shandong Province of China in 2013].

OBJECTIVE: To study the significance of urine screening for school-age children by analyzing urine screening results of school-age children from Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, China, in 2013. METHODS: A total of 37 344 school-age children were randomly selected from children 6 to 12 years of age in Zhucheng City. Morning urine was tested by routine screening test, and the children who tested positive were re-tested after two weeks. RESULTS: There were 2 388 children (6.39%) tested positive in the first screening, and 388 children (1.04%) tested positive again in the second screening. The positive rates in the first and second screening tests were 9.52% and 2.01%, respectively, in girls, which were significantly higher than those in boys (3.79% and 0.23%, respectively; P<0.05). Among the children who had positive test results in the second screening, 302 (0.81%) were diagnosed with urinary system diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Urine screening is an effective way for the early detection of some occult kidney diseases, which provides great benefits for early prevention and treatment of kidney diseases in children.

GLABROUS INFLORESCENCE STEMS regulates trichome branching by genetically interacting with SIM in Arabidopsis.

Arabidopsis trichomes are large branched single cells that protrude from the epidermis. The first morphological indication of trichome development is an increase in nuclear content resulting from an initial cycle of endoreduplication. Our previous study has shown that the C2H2 zinc finger protein GLABROUS INFLORESCENCE STEMS (GIS) is required for trichome initiation in the inflorescence organ and for trichome branching in response to gibberellic acid signaling, although GIS gene does not play a direct role in regulating trichome cell division. Here, we describe a novel role of GIS, controlling trichome cell division indirectly by interacting genetically with a key endoreduplication regulator SIAMESE (SIM). Our molecular and genetic studies have shown that GIS might indireclty control cell division and trichome branching by acting downstream of SIM. A loss of function mutation of SIM signficantly reduced the expression of GIS. Futhermore, the overexpression of GIS rescued the trichome cluster cell phenotypes of sim mutant. The gain or loss of function of GIS had no significant effect on the expression of SIM. These results suggest that GIS may play an indirect role in regulating trichome cell division by genetically interacting with SIM.