Universal cell membrane camouflaged nano-prodrugs with right-side-out orientation adapting for positive pathological vascular remodeling in atherosclerosis.

A right-side-out orientated self-assembly of cell membrane-camouflaged nanotherapeutics is crucial for ensuring their biological functionality inherited from the source cells. In this study, a universal and spontaneous right-side-out coupling-driven ROS-responsive nanotherapeutic approach, based on the intrinsic affinity between phosphatidylserine (PS) on the inner leaflet and PS-targeted peptide modified nanoparticles, has been developed to target foam cells in atherosclerotic plaques. Considering the increased osteopontin (OPN) secretion from foam cells in plaques, a bioengineered cell membrane (OEM) with an overexpression of integrin α9ß1 is integrated with ROS-cleavable prodrugs, OEM-coated ETBNPs (OEM-ETBNPs), to enhance targeted drug delivery and on-demand drug release in the local lesion of atherosclerosis. Both in vitro and in vivo experimental results confirm that OEM-ETBNPs are able to inhibit cellular lipid uptake and simultaneously promote intracellular lipid efflux, regulating the positive cellular phenotypic conversion. This finding offers a versatile platform for the biomedical applications of universal cell membrane camouflaging biomimetic nanotechnology.

Facet Dependence of Biosynthesis of Vivianite from Iron Oxides by Geobacter sulfurreducens.

Vivianite plays an important role in alleviating the phosphorus crisis and phosphorus pollution. The dissimilatory iron reduction has been found to trigger the biosynthesis of vivianite in soil environments, but the mechanism behind this remains largely unexplored. Herein, by regulating the crystal surfaces of iron oxides, we explored the influence of different crystal surface structures on the synthesis of vivianite driven by microbial dissimilatory iron reduction. The results showed that different crystal faces significantly affect the reduction and dissolution of iron oxides by microorganisms and the subsequent formation of vivianite. In general, goethite is more easily reduced by Geobacter sulfurreducens than hematite. Compared with Hem_{100} and Goe_L{110}, Hem_{001} and Goe_H{110} have higher initial reduction rates (approximately 2.25 and 1.5 times, respectively) and final Fe(II) content (approximately 1.56 and 1.20 times, respectively). In addition, in the presence of sufficient PO43-, Fe(II) combined to produce phosphorus crystal products. The final phosphorus recoveries of Hem_{001} and Goe_H{110} systems were about 5.2 and 13.6%, which were 1.3 and 1.6 times of those of Hem_{100} and Goe_L{110}, respectively. Material characterization analyses indicated that these phosphorous crystal products are vivianite and that different iron oxide crystal surfaces significantly affected the size of the vivianite crystals. This study demonstrates that different crystal faces can affect the biological reduction dissolution of iron oxides and the secondary biological mineralization process driven by dissimilatory iron reduction.

A data-driven approach for understanding the structure dependence of redox activity in humic substances.

Humic substances (HS) can facilitate electron transfer during biogeochemical processes due to their redox properties, but the structure-redox activity relationships are still difficult to describe and poorly understood. Herein, the linear (Partial Least Squares regressions; PLS) and nonlinear (artificial neural network; ANN) models were applied to monitor the structure dependence of HS redox activities in terms of electron accepting (EAC), electron donating (EDC) and overall electron transfer capacities (ETC) using its physicochemical features as input variables. The PLS model exhibited a moderate ability with R2 values of 0.60, 0.53 and 0.65 to evaluate EAC, EDC and ETC, respectively. The variable influence in the projection (VIP) scores of the PLS identified that the phenols, quinones and aromatic systems were particularly important for describing the redox activities of HS. Compared with the PLS model, the back-propagation ANN model achieved higher performance with R2 values of 0.81, 0.65 and 0.78 for monitoring the EAC, EDC and ETC, respectively. Sensitivity analysis of the ANN separately identified that the EAC highly depended on quinones, aromatics and protein-like fluorophores, while the EDC depended on phenols, aromatics and humic-like fluorophores (or stable free radicals). Additionally, carboxylic groups were the best indicator for evaluating both the EAC and EDC. Good model performances were obtained from the selected features via the PLS and sensitivity analysis, further confirming the accuracy of describing the structure-redox activity relationships with these analyses. This study provides a potential approach for identifying the structure-activity relationships of HS and an efficient machine-learning model for predicting HS redox activities.

Complete pentachlorophenol biodegradation in a dual-working electrode bioelectrochemical system: Performance and functional microorganism identification.

Bioelectrochemical system (BES) can effectively promote the reductive dechlorination of chlorophenols (CPs). However, the complete degradation of CPs with sequential dechlorination and mineralization processes has rarely achieved from the BES. Here, a dual-working electrode BES was constructed and applied for the complete degradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP). Combined with DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP), the biofilms attached on the anodic and cathodic electrode in the BES were analyzed to explore the dechlorinating and mineralizing microorganisms. Results showed that PCP removal efficiency in the dual-working BES (84% for 21 days) was 4.1 and 4.7 times higher than those of conventional BESs with a single anodic or cathodic working electrode, respectively. Based on DNA-SIP and high-throughput sequencing analysis, the cathodic working electrode harbored the potential dechlorinators (Comamonas, Pseudomonas, Methylobacillus, and Dechlorosoma), and the anodic working enriched the potential intermediate mineralizing bacteria (Comamonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Geobacter), indicating that PCP could be completely degraded under the synergetic effect of these functional microorganisms. Besides, the potential autotrophic functional bacteria that might be involved in the PCP dechlorination were also identified by SIP labeled with 13C-NaHCO3. Our results proved that the dual-working BES could accelerate the complete degradation of PCP and enrich separately the functional microbial consortium for the PCP dechlorination and mineralization, which has broad potential for bioelectrochemical techniques in the treatment of wastewater contaminated with CPs or other halogenated organic compounds.

Bioaccessibility of arsenic, lead, and cadmium in contaminated mining/smelting soils: Assessment, modeling, and application for soil environment criteria derivation.

Soil environment criteria (SEC) are commonly derived from the total concentration of pollutants in soils, resulting in overly stringent values. Herein, we examined the feasibility of deriving the SEC by using the bioaccessibility of pollutants. In this regard, soil samples from 33 locations at 12 mining/smelting sites in China were collected and examined in terms of soil properties, chemical fraction distributions, and bioaccessibilities of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As). The gastric (GP) and intestinal phases (IP) of the potentially hazardous trace elements (PHEs) were measured by in vitro assays, showing that these values varied from 11 % to 72 %, 1-79 %, and 2-27 % for Cd, Pb and As, respectively. Pearson analysis showed that the GP and IP bioaccessibilities of these PHEs were mainly influenced by soil pH, CEC, and clay fraction and positively correlated with the sequential extraction form. The random forest regression (RF) model showed excellent performance in predicting the gastric phase (GP) bioaccessibilities of Cd, Pb, and As, with a mean R2 and RMSE of 0.86 and 0.31, respectively. Both the measured and predicted bioaccessibilities were feasible to be used to derive SEC. This work will contribute to the development of regional soil environmental standards based on bioaccessibility for Cd-, Pb-, and As-contaminated mining/smelting soils.

Consequences of compound training on the mobility of tennis players / Consequências do treinamento composto sobre a mobilidade dos jogadores de tênis / Consecuencias del entrenamiento compuesto en la movilidad de los tenistas

ABSTRACT Introduction: Considering the sports practice of tennis, several researchers are looking for the reasons that can benefit the movement technique of its players. It is currently believed that the use of compound training can provide beneficial results to tennis players. Although there is some empirical evidence, this theory lacks scientific references for developing based mobility training for its practitioners. Objective: Study the consequences of combined training on the mobility of tennis players. Methods: The experimental and statistical-mathematical method was adopted in 36 young tennis players. Divided equally between the experimental and control group, the former received 6 weeks of training by a compound experimental protocol. A comparative study was conducted on deceleration ability, mobility, and other indicators with the control group, which received conventional training in the same period. Results: In the standard 10m short-run deceleration test, the experimental and control groups showed no significant differences (P=0.66, 0.59>0.05). In terms of the completion time of the acceleration of the 30m run and the completion time of the fan-shaped run, simulating the movement characteristics of tennis shoes, there was a significant difference (P=0.11>0.05, P=0.82>0.05). Conclusion: Adding compound training into traditional tennis training can positively affect compound deceleration ability and movement ability among young tennis players. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: Considerando a prática esportiva do tênis, vários pesquisadores procuram os motivos que possam beneficiar a técnica de movimento nos seus jogadores. Atualmente acredita-se que o uso do treinamento composto possa fornecer resultados benéficos aos praticantes de tênis. Embora haja alguma evidência empírica, essa teoria carece de referências científicas para o desenvolvimento embasado de treinos de mobilidade aos seus praticantes. Objetivo: Estudar as consequências do treinamento combinado sobre a mobilidade nos jogadores de tênis. Métodos: Adotou-se o método experimental e estatístico-matemático em 36 jovens tenistas voluntários. Divididos igualmente entre grupo experimental e controle, o primeiro recebeu 6 semanas de treinamento por um protocolo experimental composto. Foi realizado um estudo comparativo sobre a capacidade de desaceleração, mobilidade e outros indicadores com o grupo de controle, que recebeu o treinamento convencional no mesmo período. Resultados: No teste padrão de desaceleração de corrida curta de 10m, tanto o grupo experimental quanto o grupo controle não apresentaram diferenças significativas (P=0,66, 0,59>0,05). Em termos do tempo de conclusão da aceleração da corrida de 30m e do tempo de conclusão da corrida em forma de leque, simulando as características de movimento do tênis, houve diferença significativa (P=0,11>0,05, P=0,82>0,05). Conclusão: Adicionar treinamento composto no treinamento tradicional do tênis pode proporcionar um resultado positivo na capacidade de desaceleração composta e a capacidade de movimentação entre jovens jogadores de tênis. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: Teniendo en cuenta la práctica deportiva del tenis, varios investigadores buscan las razones que pueden beneficiar la técnica de movimiento en sus jugadores. Actualmente se cree que el uso del entrenamiento compuesto puede proporcionar resultados beneficiosos a los tenistas. Aunque hay algunas pruebas empíricas, esta teoría carece de referencias científicas para el desarrollo de la formación en movilidad basada en sus practicantes. Objetivo: Estudiar las consecuencias del entrenamiento combinado en la movilidad de los tenistas. Métodos: Se adoptó el método experimental y estadístico-matemático en 36 jóvenes tenistas voluntarios. Divididos a partes iguales entre el grupo experimental y el de control, los primeros recibieron 6 semanas de entrenamiento mediante un protocolo experimental compuesto. Se realizó un estudio comparativo sobre la capacidad de desaceleración, la movilidad y otros indicadores con el grupo de control, que recibió un entrenamiento convencional en el mismo periodo. Resultados: En la prueba estándar de desaceleración en carrera corta de 10 metros, tanto el grupo experimental como el de control no mostraron diferencias significativas (P=0,66, 0,59>0,05). En cuanto al tiempo de finalización de la aceleración de la carrera de 30 metros y el tiempo de finalización de la carrera en forma de abanico, simulando las características de movimiento de la zapatilla de tenis, hubo una diferencia significativa (P=0,11>0,05, P=0,82>0,05). Conclusión: Añadir el entrenamiento compuesto al entrenamiento tradicional de tenis puede proporcionar un resultado positivo en la capacidad de desaceleración compuesta y la capacidad de movimiento entre los jóvenes tenistas. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

ORFV infection enhances CXCL16 secretion and causes oncolysis of lung cancer cells through immunogenic apoptosis.

Oncolytic viruses have been emerging as a promising therapeutic option for cancer patients, including lung cancer. Orf virus (ORFV), a DNA parapoxvirus, can infect its natural ungulate hosts and transmit into humans. Moreover, the ORFV has advantages of low toxicity, high targeted, self-amplification and can induce potent Th1-like immunity. This study explored the therapeutic potential of ORFV infection for human lung cancer therapy and investigated the molecular mechanisms. We used a previously described ORFV NA1/11 strain and tested the oncolysis of ORFV NA1/11 in two lines of lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Treatment of both cell lines with ORFV NA1/11 resulted in a decrease in cell viability by inducing cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase, suppressing cyclin B1 expression and increasing their apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner. The ORFV NA1/11-infected lung cancer cells were highly immunogenic. Evidently, ORFV NA1/11 infection of lung cancer cells induced oncolysis of tumor cells to release danger-associated molecular patterns, and promoted dendritic cell maturation, and CD8 T cell infiltration in the tumors by enhancing CXCL16 secretion. These findings may help to understand the molecular mechanisms of ORFV oncolysis and aid in the development of novel therapies for lung cancer.

Structure and core taxa of bacterial communities involved in extracellular electron transfer in paddy soils across China.

Microbial communities with extracellular electron transfer (EET) activity are capable of driving geochemical changes and cycles, but a comprehensive understanding of the key microbiota responsible for EET in complex soil matrices is still lacking. Herein, the EET activities, in terms of maximum current density (jmax) and accumulated charge output (Cout), of 41 paddy soils across China were evaluated from the exoelectrogenic properties with a conventional bioelectrochemical system (BES). The jmax with a range of 8.85 × 10-4 to 0.41 A/m2 and Cout with a range of 0.27 to 172.21C were obtained from these soil-based BESs. The bacterial community analyses revealed that the most abundant phylum, order, and genus were Firmicutes, Clostridiales, and Clostridum-sensus-stricto 10, respectively. Bacterial network analysis displayed the positive correlations between the majority of electroactive bacteria-containing genera and multiple other genera, indicating their underlying cooperation for the EET. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) model showed remarkable performance in describing the EET activity with 75 most abundant genera as input variables, identified that 32 genera were very important for governing the EET activities. Multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses further prioritized that the genera norank-c-Berkelbacteria and Fonticella were the key contributors, while the genus Paenibacillus was the key competitor against bacterial exoelectrogenesis in paddy soils. Moreover, the spearman analysis showed that the abundance of these keystone taxa was mainly influenced by the carbon content and pH. This approach provides a promising avenue to monitor the microbial activities in paddy soils as well as the links between microbial community composition and ecological function.

Unveiling metabolic characteristics of an uncultured Gammaproteobacterium responsible for in situ PAH biodegradation in petroleum polluted soil.

Exploring the metabolic characteristics of indigenous PAH degraders is critical to understanding the PAH bioremediation mechanism in the natural environment. While stable-isotopic probing (SIP) is a viable method to identify functional microorganisms in complex environments, the metabolic characteristics of uncultured degraders are still elusive. Here, we investigated the naphthalene (NAP) biodegradation of petroleum polluted soils by combining SIP, amplicon sequencing and metagenome binning. Based on the SIP and amplicon sequencing results, an uncultured Gammaproteobacterium sp. was identified as the key NAP degrader. Additionally, the assembled genome of this uncultured degrader was successfully obtained from the 13 C-DNA metagenomes by matching its 16S rRNA gene with the SIP identified OTU sequence. Meanwhile, a number of NAP degrading genes encoding naphthalene/PAH dioxygenases were identified in this genome, further confirming the direct involvement of this indigenous degrader in the NAP degradation. The degrader contained genes related to the metabolisms of several carbon sources, energy substances and vitamins, illuminating potential reasons for why microorganisms cannot be cultivated and finally realize their cultivation. Our findings provide novel information on the mechanisms of in situ PAH biodegradation and add to our current knowledge on the cultivation of non-culturable microorganisms by combining both SIP and metagenome binning.

Stimulation of phenanthrene and biphenyl degradation by biochar-conducted long distance electron transfer in soil bioelectrochemical systems.

The bioelectrochemical degradation of organic pollutants has attracted considerable attention owing to its remarkable sustainability and low cost. However, the application of bioelectrochemical system (BES) for the degradation of pollutants in soils is hindered by limitations in the effective distance in the soil matrix. In this study, a biochar-amended BES was constructed to evaluate the degradation of organic pollutants. This system was expected to extend the electron transfer distance via conductive biochar in soils. The results showed that biochar pyrolyzed at 900 °C facilitated the degradation of phenanthrene (PHE) and biphenyl (BP) in the soil BES (SBES), reaching 86.4%-95.1% and 88.8%-95.3% in 27 days, respectively. The effective distance of SBESs was estimated to be 154-271 cm away from the electrode, which increased 1.9-3 fold after the addition of biochar. Microbial community and functional gene analysis confirmed that biochar enriched functional degrading bacteria. These findings demonstrate that the promotion of long-distance electron transfer and the formation of soil conductive networks can be achieved by biochar amendment. Thus, this study provides a basis for the effective degradation of for persistent organic pollutants in petroleum-contaminated soils using bioelectrochemical strategy.

Confronting the threat of SARS-CoV-2: Realities, challenges and therapeutic strategies (Review).

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) appeared in2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly developed into a global pandemic. The disease has affected not only health care systems and economies worldwide but has also changed the lifestyles and habits of the majority of the world's population. Among the potential targets for SARS-CoV-2 therapy, the viral spike glycoprotein has been studied most intensely, due to its key role in mediating viral entry into target cells and inducing a protective antibody response in infected individuals. In the present manuscript the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for SARS-CoV-2 infection are described and a progress report on the status of SARS-CoV-2 research is provided. A brief review of the clinical symptoms of the condition and current diagnostic methods and treatment plans for SARS-CoV-2 are also presented and the progress of preclinical research into medical intervention against SARS-CoV-2 infection are discussed.

Enhanced degradation of triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) in bioelectrochemical systems: Kinetics, pathway and degradation mechanisms.

Triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) is one of the major organophosphate esters (OPEs) with increasing consumption. Considering its largely distribution and high toxicity in aquatic environment, it is important to explore an efficient treatment for TPHP. This study aimed to investigate the accelerated degradation of TPHP in a three-electrode single chamber bioelectrochemical system (BES). Significant increase of degradation efficiency of TPHP in the BES was observed compared with open circuit and abiotic controls. The one-order degradation rates of TPHP (1.5 mg L-1) were increased with elevating sodium acetate concentrations and showed the highest value (0.054 ±â€¯0.010 h-1) in 1.0 g L-1 of sodium acetate. This result indicated bacterial metabolism of TPHP was enhanced by the application of micro-electrical field and addition acetate as co-substrates. TPHP could be degraded into diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), hydroxyl triphenyl phosphate (OH-TPHP) and three byproducts. DPHP was the most accumulated degradation product in BES, which accounted more than 35.5% of the initial TPHP. The composition of bacterial community in BES electrode was affected by the acclimation by TPHP, with the most dominant bacteria of Azospirillum, Petrimonas, Pseudomonas and Geobacter at the genera level. Moreover, it was found that the acute toxic effect of TPHP to Vibrio fischeri was largely removed after the treatment, which revealed that BES is a promising technology to remove TPHP threaten in aquatic environment.

Solar Photothermal Electrodes for Highly Efficient Microbial Energy Harvesting at Low Ambient Temperatures.

Temperature is an important parameter for the performance of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs). Energy-intensive bulk water heating has been usually employed to maintain a desired temperature for the BESs. This study concerns a proof-of-concept of a light-to-heat photothermal electrode for solar heating of a local electroactive biofilm in a BES for efficient microbial energy harvesting at low temperatures as a replacement for bulk water heating approaches. The photothermal electrode was prepared by coating Ti3 C2 Tx MXene sunlight absorber onto carbon felt. The as-prepared photothermal electrode could efficiently raise the local temperature of the bioelectrode to approximately 30 °C from low bulk water temperatures (i.e., 10, 15, and 20 °C) under simulated sunlight illumination. As a result, highly efficient microbial energy could be harvested from the low-temperature BES equipped with a photothermal electrode without bulk water heating. This study represents a new avenue for the design and fabrication of electrodes for temperature-sensitive electrochemical and biological systems.

The Contrasting Effects of Alum-Treated Chicken Manures and KH2PO4 on Phosphorus Behavior in Soils.

Alum [KAl(SO)⋅12HO] is often added to chicken manure to limit P solubility after land application. This is generally ascribed to the formation of Al-PO complexes. However, Al-PO complex formation could be affected by the matrix of chicken manure, which varies with animal diet. Alum was added to KHPO (as a reference material) and two manures from typical chicken farms in China, one from an intensive farm (CMIF) and another from free-ranging chickens (CMFR). These were subsequently incubated with soils for 100 d to investigate P transformations. Alum reduced water-soluble colorimetrically reactive phosphorus (RP) from soils amended with manure more effectively than in soils amended with KHPO. Alum addition lowered Mehlich-3 RP in soils with CMFR but had no influence on Mehlich-3 RP in CMIF- or KHPO-amended soils. A comparison of P in digested Mehlich-3 extracts with RP in undigested samples showed significantly increased P in digests of alum-treated CMFR only. Fractionation data indicated that alum treatment increased P in the NHF-RP (Al-P) fraction only in soils with KHPO, but not in soils with manure treatments. Furthermore, NaOH-extracted nonreactive P was markedly higher in soil with alum-treated CMFR relative to normal CMFR. The CMFR manure was assumed to contain higher concentrations of organic P because these chickens were fed grains only. These results suggest that the formation of alum-organic P complexes may reduce P solubility. By comparing alum-treated KHPO and manures, it appears that organic matter in manure could interfere with the formation of Al-PO complexes.