Rod-Shaped Hemoglobin Crystals: Clues to the Diagnosis of Hemoglobin C Disease.

The typical rod-shaped HbC crystals in the peripheral blood smear often provide the diagnostic clue to the HbC disease. This case highlights that a careful review of blood film morphology may be helpful to detect HbC disease, although this case's routine blood test is normal and do not meet the rules of re-examinations.

Cobalt-catalyzed cross-electrophile coupling of alkynyl sulfides with unactivated chlorosilanes.

Herein, we disclose a highly efficient cobalt-catalyzed cross-electrophile alkynylation of a broad range of unactivated chlorosilanes with alkynyl sulfides as a stable and practical alkynyl electrophiles. Strategically, employing easily synthesized alkynyl sulfides as alkynyl precursors allows access to various alkynylsilanes in good to excellent yields. Notably, this method avoids the utilization of strong bases, noble metal catalysts, high temperature and forcing reaction conditions, thus presenting apparent advantages, such as broad substrate scope (72 examples, up to 97% yield), high Csp-S chemo-selectivity and excellent functional group compatibility (Ar-X, X = Cl, Br, I, OTf, OTs). Moreover, the utilities of this method are also illustrated by downstream transformations and late-stage modification of structurally complex natural products and pharmaceuticals. Mechanistic studies elucidated that the cobalt catalyst initially reacted with alkynyl sulfides, and the activation of chlorosilanes occurred via an SN2 process instead of a radical pathway.

Mechanisms of harmful effects of Microcystis aeruginosa on a brackish water organism Moina mongolica based on physiological and transcriptomic responses.

To investigate the detrimental impacts of cyanobacterial bloom, specifically Microcystis aeruginosa, on brackish water ecosystems, the study used Moina mongolica, a cladoceran species, as the test organism. In a chronic toxicology experiment, the survival and reproductive rates of M. mongolica were assessed under M. aeruginosa stress. It was observed that the survival rate of M. mongolica fed with M. aeruginosa significantly decreased with time and their reproduction rate dropped to zero, while the control group remained maintained stable and normal reproduction. To further explore the underlying molecular mechanisms of the effects of M. aeruginosa on M. mongolica, we conducted a transcriptomic analysis on newly hatched M. mongolica cultured under different food conditions for 24 h. The results revealed significant expression differences in 572 genes, with 233 genes significantly up-regulated and 339 genes significantly down-regulated. Functional analysis of these differentially expressed genes identified six categories of physiological functional changes, including nutrition and metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, neuroimmunology, cuticle and molting, reproduction, and programmed cell death. Based on these findings, we outlined the basic mechanisms of microcystin toxicity. The discovery provides critical insights into the mechanisms of Microcystis toxicity on organisms and explores the response mechanisms of cladocerans under the stress of Microcystis.

Protective effect of SERCA2a-SUMOylation by SUMO-1 on diabetes-induced atherosclerosis and aortic vascular injury.

Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, the exact mechanism by which diabetes contributes to vascular damage is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SUMO-1 mediated SERCA2a SUMOylation in the development of atherosclerotic vascular injury associated with diabetes mellitus. ApoE-/- mice were treated with streptozotocin (STZ) injection combined with high-fat feeding to simulate diabetic atherosclerosis and vascular injury. Human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (HAVSMCs) were treated with high glucose (HG, 33.3 mM) and palmitic acid (PA, 200 µM) for 24 h to mimic a model of diabetes-induced vascular injury in vitro. Aortic vascular function, phenotypic conversion, migration, proliferation, intracellular Ca2+ concentration, the levels of small ubiquitin-like modifier type 1 (SUMO1), SERCA2a and SUMOylated SERCA2a were detected. Diabetes-induced atherosclerotic mice presented obvious atherosclerotic plaques and vascular injury, companied by significantly lower levels of SUMO1 and SERCA2a in aorta. HG and PA treatment in HAVSMCs reduced the expressions of SUMO1, SERCA2a and SUMOylated SERCA2a, facilitated the HAVSMCs phenotypic transformation, proliferation and migration, attenuated the Ca2+ transport, and increased the resting intracellular Ca2+ concentration. We also confirmed that SUMO1 directly bound to SERCA2a in HAVSMCs. Overexpression of SUMO1 restored the function and phenotypic contractile ability of HAVSMCs by upregulating SERCA2a SUMOylation, thereby alleviating HG and PA-induced vascular injury. These observations suggest an essential role of SUMO1 to protect diabetes-induced atherosclerosis and aortic vascular injury by the regulation of SERCA2a-SUMOylation and calcium homeostasis.

The diversity of planktonic bacteria driven by environmental factors in different mariculture areas in the East China Sea.

Planktonic bacteria play a crucial role in sustaining the ecological balance of aquatic ecosystems. However, their seasonal variations in different aquaculture areas within the East China Sea, along with their correlation to environmental factors, have not been extensively explored. In this study, each area with 3 sample points were set up to represent the fish aquaculture area, shellfish aquaculture area and non-aquaculture area. In 2019, we undertook four marine surveys along the Xiasanhengshan uninhabited island, during which we gathered surface seawater samples for both physicochemical analysis and high-throughput sequencing. This allowed us to obtain data about the physicochemical properties and microbial composition in each surveyed region. A short-term eutrophication phenomenon was present in the sea, and the spatial and temporal distribution of planktonic bacteria differed based on the mariculture area. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria accounted for >50 % of the community abundance in winter, spring, and autumn, while Cyanobacteria accounted for >30 % of the community abundance in summer. Because Cyanobacteria blooms are likely in summer, the relationship between Cyanobacteria and environmental factors was studied. Redundancy analysis showed that Cyanobacteria were consistently positively correlated with phosphate. Eutrophication and abnormal proliferation of Cyanobacteria in the study area necessitate ameliorations in the mariculture structure. The variation of genus in Proteobacteria is consistent with that of eutrophication, so some genera in Proteobacteria have the potential to become biological indicator species.

Proteome-wide identification and functional analysis of ubiquitinated proteins in Hepa1-6 cells by knockdown of E3 ubiquitin ligase SIAH1.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive malignancy that poses a serious threat to human life. The conventional therapies for HCC cannot substantially improve overall survival (OS), disease duration, and prognosis. Therefore, it is important to study the underlying mechanism of HCC and seek better methods for HCC prevention and treatment. Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification that modulates great cellular function by cooperating with E1, E2, and E3 ligases. Yet, the ubiquitination and lysine residues in HCC are still elusive. Seven in absentia homolog 1 (SIAH1), as an important E3 ubiquitin ligase, regulates ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis to function as a tumor suppressor in HCC. In the present study, we downregulated SIAH1 in the mouse HCC cell line Hepa1-6 and studied its function by using proteome-wide identification. Methods: SIAH1 was knocked down by SIAH1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in mouse HCC cell line Hepa1-6 cells, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis was conducted to analyze the ubiquitinated proteins. Functional analysis was performed using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment. Results: The systematic profiling showed a total of 550 differently expressed proteins (DEPs), including 263 upregulated DEPs and 287 downregulated DEPs. Considering the amino acid sequences around the modified lysine residues, seven proteins were identified as conserved ubiquitination motifs in the peptides. The ubiquitinated proteins were mainly distributed in the cytoplasm, nucleus, and plasma membrane. Functional analysis suggested that the ubiquitinated proteins were mostly enriched in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and extracellular space; in addition, the ubiquitinated proteins were mostly attributed to the protein binding, and disease. The ubiquitinated proteins modulate HCC by mapping lysine modification sites. Conclusions: The use of high-throughput characterization to identify novel and specific targets associated with SIAH1 is of great significance in terms of functional weight. The results obtained in this paper from the analysis of proteomic data provided novel insights into ubiquitination regulation in HCC, which pave the way for further research and mechanism discovery of HCC.

Tree barks for retrospective measurement and source appointment of airborne perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Tree bark is a useful bioindicator of atmospheric pollution. It is specially suitable for airborne perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) investigation due to persistence of ionic PFASs. The present work firstly systematically studied tree barks as a bioindicator of airborne PFASs. Comparison with the regular active and passive samplers found barks could produce long-term measurement of airborne PFASs, and could record the historical emission of PFASs with retrospective time frame as long as decades. Factors, e.g. tree type, trunk diameter, and sampling depth, can affect PFAS accumulation in barks, and these factors should be kept consistent during sampling. In a study area spatial distribution of airborne PFASs can be obtained by interpolation of bark results, and the concerned region can be located. Properties of the emission sources can be characterized, and the potential sources can be tracked based on the bark results. Their contributions can be further estimated by the source appointment strategies. In the economically and industrially developed study area of the present study, eight cities of southern Jiangsu Province of China, total ionic PFAS concentration of camphor bark samples collected in 34 sites was 0.44-359 ng/g dw (dry weight), dominated by perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs). Two types of possible sources were characterized as with long-chained PFCAs and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) as the main components respectively. The sources were appointed as fluoropolymer manufacturing and textile industries, the important PFAS application fields, and their relative contribution was estimated as 32.5% and 67.5% respectively. The present study can provide useful advice to the method framework of using barks for long-term occurrence investigation, concerned region location, and emission source appointment of airborne PFASs in a study area. Based on the bark results, effective strategies can be further made for PFAS pollution elimination and risk control.