The Role of SF1 and SF2 Helicases in Biotechnological Applications.

Helicases, which utilize ATP hydrolysis to separate nucleic acid duplexes, play crucial roles in DNA and RNA replication, repair, recombination, and transcription. Categorized into the major groups superfamily 1 (SF1) and superfamily 2 (SF2), alongside four minor groups, these proteins exhibit a conserved catalytic core indicative of a shared evolutionary origin while displaying functional diversity through interactions with various substrates. This review summarizes the structures, functions and mechanisms of SF1 and SF2 helicases, with an emphasis on conserved ATPase sites and RecA-like domains essential for their enzymatic and nucleic acid binding capabilities. It highlights the unique 1B and 2B domains in SF1 helicases and their impact on enzymatic activity. The DNA unwinding process is detailed, covering substrate recognition, ATP hydrolysis, and conformational changes, while addressing debates over the active form of UvrD helicase and post-unwinding dissociation. More importantly, this review discusses the biotechnological potential of helicases in emerging technologies such as nanopore sequencing, protein sequencing, and isothermal amplification, focusing on their use in pathogen detection, biosensor enhancement, and cancer treatment. As understanding deepens, innovative applications in genome editing, DNA sequencing, and synthetic biology are anticipated.

Synthesis of P, N-dopped carbon nanosheets for highly sensitive fluorescence analysis of nitrofuran antibiotics in fish.

The misuse of antibiotics has caused serious impacts on food safety and human health, making it crucial to develop rapidly and highly sensitive methods for detecting trace nitrofuran antibiotics (NFs). In this study, phosphorus, nitride-doped carbon nanosheets (PN/CNs) were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method based on graphitic carbon nitride. This prepared material showed excellent water solubility and stable optical properties. A new fluorescence sensing platform based on PN/CNs was constructed for the highly sensitive detection of four NFs. This sensitivity was mainly attributed to the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism. The limits of detection for nitrofurazone, nitrofurantoin, furazolidone and furaltadone were determined to be 13.41, 15.24, 16.37 and 19.94 nM, respectively. The high sensitivity and selectivity of PN/CNs for these four NFs were thoroughly evaluated by the Stern-Volmer equation and FRET quenching efficiency. This proposed method exhibited high sensitivity and can be successfully applied to detect NFs in fish.

Effects of yoga on clinical symptoms, quality of life and social functioning in patients with schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Yoga is gradually being explored as a potential complementary intervention in addition to psychiatric drugs for schizophrenia. However, there are conflicts on the efficacy of yoga for schizophrenia. This meta-analysis was aimed to evaluate the association of yoga intervention with reductions on clinical symptoms and improvements in quality of life (QoL) as well as social functioning among schizophrenia. METHOD: Systematic literature search was undertaken to identify all RCTs that compared yoga with active or passive controls for patients with schizophrenia from inception to July 2023. The outcomes were measurements of positive symptoms, negative symptoms, QoL and social functioning. Random-effects models were performed to calculate the effect sizes in the standardized mean differences reporting as Hedges' s g statistic. RESULTS: 19 studies enrolling 1274 participants with schizophrenia were included. Yoga had a medium effect on positive symptoms in the short term (Hedges's g = 0.31) and small effect in the long term (Hedges's g = 0.18). Medium significant effects were also found on negative symptoms in both the short term (Hedges's g = 0.44) and the long term (Hedges's g = 0.35). Yoga had a significant impact on improving both total QoL (Hedges's g = 0.34) and social functioning (Hedges's g = 0.45) with medium effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: Yoga was associated with significant reductions on negative and positive symptoms, and significant improvements in QoL as well as social functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Future research should explore the long-term efficacy of yoga for schizophrenia, encompassing more diverse populations.

Gold Nanoparticles: Construction for Drug Delivery and Application in Cancer Immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapy is an innovative treatment strategy to enhance the ability of the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells. However, dose limitations, low response rates, and adverse immune events pose significant challenges. To address these limitations, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been explored as immunotherapeutic drug carriers owing to their stability, surface versatility, and excellent optical properties. This review provides an overview of the advanced synthesis routes for AuNPs and their utilization as drug carriers to improve precision therapies. The review also emphasises various aspects of AuNP-based immunotherapy, including drug loading, targeting strategies, and drug release mechanisms. The application of AuNPs combined with cancer immunotherapy and their therapeutic efficacy are briefly discussed. Overall, we aimed to provide a recent understanding of the advances, challenges, and prospects of AuNPs for anticancer applications.

Investigation of Daily Glucose Profile of Inpatients in Non-endocrinology Departments in Chinese Population.

Background: Inpatient hyperglycemia is associated with poor prognosis and increased hospitalization expenses. China has a large population of inpatients with hyperglycemia, but their glucose monitoring states (including preprandial, postprandial and bedtime glucose) are unknown, especially in non-endocrinology departments. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 5,790 patients with hyperglycemia from 31 non-endocrinology departments were enrolled, and a total of 1,22,032 point-of-care blood glucose (POC-BG) records were collected. The "patient-day" unit of measure was used as a metric for the inpatient glucose. A total of 2,763 patients from endocrinology wards were included for the comparison of the improvement of glycemic management during hospitalization in non-endocrinology wards. Results: A total of 61.16% of patient-days had <4 POC-BG tests. Postprandial POC-BG was tested significantly less frequently than preprandial POC-BG (10.60% vs. 58.85% of all records, P < 0.001). The patient-day-weighted mean BG was higher in non-ICU wards than in the ICU (9.72 ± 3.37 vs. 9.00 ± 3.19 mmol/L, P < 0.001). The rate of hyperglycemia (BG >10 mmol/L) was 37.60% in all non-endocrinology wards (ICU vs. non-ICU: 33.19% vs. 39.17%, P < 0.001). In non-ICU wards, the rate of hyperglycemia (BG >10 mmol/L) was significantly higher in surgical wards than in medical wards (40.30% vs. 36.90%, P < 0.001). ICU had a significantly higher rate of achieving the blood glucose target than the non-ICU wards (32.50% vs. 26.38%, P < 0.001). In the non-ICU departments, medical wards had higher rate of achieving the blood glucose target than surgical wards (39.70% vs. 19.08%, P < 0.001). With increasing days of hospitalization, there was no improvement in glycemic control in non-endocrinology wards. The ICU had a significantly higher rate of hypoglycemia than non-ICU wards (4.62% vs. 3.73%, P < 0.05). In non-ICU wards, medical wards had a significantly higher rate of hypoglycemia than surgical wards (5.71% vs. 2.75%, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Both the frequency of BG monitoring and the daily glucose profile of inpatients in Chinese non-endocrinology departments were less than ideal and need to be urgently improved.

A monomer purified from Paris polyphylla (PP-22) triggers S and G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in human tongue squamous cell carcinoma SCC-15 by activating the p38/cdc25/cdc2 and caspase 8/caspase 3 pathways.

Recent studies have shown that the aqueous, ethanolic extracts and a monomer compound of Paris polyphylla exhibit anticancer activity toward several types of cancer cell lines, but the anticancer activity of (3ß,17α,25R)-spirost-5-ene-3,17-diol 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 â†’ 2)-ß-D-glucopyranoside, a monomer isolated from P. polyphylla (PP), named PP-22, has not been reported previously. In this study, we investigated the effect of PP-22 on human tongue squamous cell carcinoma SCC-15 cells in vitro. MTT assays showed that PP-22 inhibited the growth of SCC-15 cells and had no obvious inhibitory effects on human liver L02 cells. Flow cytometry assays showed that the percentages of apoptotic cells were increased. In addition, cleaved caspase-8, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) could be detected by Western blotting. Flow cytometry also showed that PP-22 triggered S and G2/M phases arrest in SCC-15 cells, and on the other hand, the expression of cyclin A, cyclin E2, cyclin B1, phospho-cell division cycle2 (p-cdc2)(Tyr15), p-Wee1, Myt1, and p53 was upregulated. Moreover, p-p38 levels increased, p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) levels decreased, and cdc25B expression was inhibited. Furthermore, the p38/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor SB203580 reversed the increase of the expression level of p38, p-cdc2 (Tyr15), cleaved caspase 3, cleaved PARP, p-p53, and p53 and reversed the decrease in cdc25B expression. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that PP-22 activated p38, inhibited cdc25B, increased p-cdc2 (Tyr15), and triggered S and G2/M phase arrest, as well as activated p53 through the p38-p53 pathway, inhibited the MAPK/ERK pathway, activated the caspase 8/caspase 3 pathway, and triggered the extrinsic apoptotic pathway in SCC-15 cells.

Pars Plana Vitrectomy and Evisceration Resulting in Death Due to Misdiagnosis of Retinoblastoma in Children: A Review of 3 Cases.

Retinoblastoma is a curable intraocular malignancy in children. However, in clinical practice, retinoblastoma can sometimes be misdiagnosed and mismanaged, leading to extraocular extension and even death. In this report, a series of 3 cases are related that emphasize the conditions and consequences resulting from misdiagnosis and mismanagement of retinoblastoma. The clinical features, imaging findings, histopatholigical examination, and management in 3 case reports of children with misdiagnosed retinoblastoma are presented. Two of the cases received pars plana vitrectomy after being misdiagnosed with Coats disease or ocular blunt trauma, whereas the third case received evisceration after being misdiagnosed with suppurative endophthalmitis. When the diagnosis of retinoblastoma had been confirmed after a second surgery was performed in our hospital, only 2 of the cases received adjuvant orbital radiotherapy. All 3 cases died of systemic tumor metastases. Intraocular surgical procedures should be avoided in any equivocal case until the possibility of latent retinoblastoma is eliminated.We strongly recommend that early enucleation be executed as soon as possible followed by postoperative adjuvant therapy under conditions wherein an intraocular surgery was inadvertently performed in an eye with retinoblastoma.