The regulation of GSH/GPX4-mediated lipid accumulation confirms that schisandra polysaccharides should be valued equally as lignans.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Acetaminophen (APAP) induced liver injury (AILI) is a common cause of clinical hepatic damage and even acute liver failure. Our previous research has shown that Schisandra chinensis lignan extract (SLE) can exert a hepatoprotective effect by regulating lipid metabolism. Although polysaccharides from Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis), like lignans, are important components of S. chinensis, their pharmacological activity and target effects on AILI have not yet been explored. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to quantitatively reveal the role of SCP in the pharmacological activity of S. chinensis, and further explore the pharmacological components, potential action targets and mechanisms of S. chinensis in treating AILI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The therapeutic effect of SCP on AILI was systematically determined via comparing the efficacy of SCP and SLE on in vitro and in vivo models. Network pharmacology, molecular docking and multi-omics techniques were then used to screen and verify the action targets of S. chinensis against AILI. RESULTS: SCP intervention could significantly improve AILI, and the therapeutic effect was comparable to that of SLE. Notably, the combination of SCP and SLE did not produce mutual antagonistic effects. Subsequently, we found that both SCP and SLE could significantly reverse the down-regulation of GPX4 caused by the APAP modeling, and then further improving lipid metabolism abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatoprotective effects of SCP and SLE is most correlated with their regulation of GSH/GPX4-mediated lipid accumulation. This is the first exploration of the hepatoprotective effect and potential mechanism of SCP in treating AILI, which is crucial for fully utilizing S. chinensis and developing promising AILI therapeutic agents.

Molecular characterization and functional analysis of Eimeria tenella ankyrin repeat-containing protein.

Chicken coccidiosis causes disastrous losses to the poultry industry all over the world. Eimeria tenella is the most prevalent of these disease-causing species. Our former RNA-seq indicated that E. tenella ankyrin repeat-containing protein (EtANK) was expressed differently between drug-sensitive (DS) and drug-resistant strains. In this study, we cloned EtANK and analyzed its translational and transcriptional levels using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and western blotting. The data showed that EtANK was significantly upregulated in diclazuril-resistant (DZR) strain and maduramicin-resistant (MRR) strain compared with the drug-sensitive (DS) strain. In addition, the transcription levels in the DZR strains isolated from the field were higher than in the DS strain. The translation levels of EtANK were higher in unsporulated oocysts (UO) than in sporozoites (SZ), sporulated oocysts (SO), or second-generation merozoites (SM), and the protein levels in SM were significantly higher than in UO, SO, and SZ. The results of the indirect immunofluorescence localization showed that the protein was distributed mainly at the anterior region of SZ and on the surface and in the cytoplasm of SM. The fluorescence intensity increased further with its development in vitro. An anti-rEtANK polyclonal antibody inhibited the invasive ability of E. tenella in DF-1 cells. These results showed that EtANK may be related to host cell invasion, required for the parasite's growth in the host, and may be involved in the development of E. tenella resistance to some drugs.

Probing the mechanism of interaction between capsaicin and myofibrillar proteins through multispectral, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation methods.

The interaction between myofibrillar proteins (MPs) and capsaicin (CAP) was investigated using multispectral, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation methods. The resulting complex increased the hydrophobicity of the tryptophan and tyrosine microenvironment as revealed by fluorescence spectral analysis. The fluorescence burst mechanism study indicated that the fluorescence burst of CAP on the MPs was a static one (Kq = 1.386 × 1012 m-1s-1) and that CAP could bind with MPs well (Ka = 3.31 × 104 L/mol, n = 1.09). The analysis of circular dichroism demonstrated that the interaction between CAP and MPs caused a decrease in the α-helical structure of MPs. The complexes formed exhibited lower particle size and higher absolute ζ potential. Furthermore, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, and hydrophobic interactions were found to be the primary factors facilitating the interaction between CAP and MPs, as suggested by molecular docking models and molecular dynamics simulations.

Effects of replacement partial sodium chloride on characteristic flavor substances of bacon during storage based on GC×GC-MS and non-targeted metabolomics analyses.

Comprehensive 2D gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GC-MS) and non-targeted metabolomics were employed to investigate the differences in key volatile flavor substances between bacon salted with alternative salt and traditional bacon during storage. The GC × GC-MS analysis revealed that among 146 volatile compounds in both types of bacon, alcohol, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, and alkenes were the most abundant. Additionally, non-targeted metabolomics indicated that the changes in amino acids and the oxidation degradation of lipids could be the main reasons for the flavor differences among the two kinds of bacon. Furthermore, the acceptability scores of both bacon types showed a general upward trend as the storage time increased, indicating that the metabolic of substances occurring during bacon storage significantly impact its overall quality. By partially substituting sodium chloride with 22% potassium chloride and 11% calcium ascorbate, coupled with appropriate storage conditions, the quality of bacon can be improved.

Meta-analysis of the association between RNF213 polymorphisms and clinical features of moyamoya disease in Asian population.

BACKGROUND: We performed this study to explore the relationship between ring finger protein 213 (RNF213) gene polymorphisms and clinical features in moyamoya disease (MMD). METHODS: Electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library) were conducted from inception to May 15th, 2022. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were generated as effect size for binary variants. Subgroup analyses were performed by the RNF213 polymorphisms. Sensitivity was used to examine the robustness of associations. RESULTS: A total of 16 articles and 3061 MMD patients were included and the association of five RNF213 polymorphisms on 9 clinical features of MMD were identified. Patients under 18 years of age at onset, familial MMD, cerebral ischemic stroke and posterior cerebral artery involvement (PCi) were significantly more common in mutant type compared with wild type of RNF213. Compared with each wild type, subgroup analysis showed that rs11273543 and rs9916351 remarkably increased risk of MMD on early onset, but rs371441113 evidently delayed the onset of MMD. Rs112735431 in mutant type was significantly higher than wild type in patients with PCi. Subgroup analysis in mutant type showed that rs112735431 conspicuously decreased intracerebral/ intraventricular hemorrhage (ICH/IVH) risk and yet rs148731719 obviously increased the risk in ICH/IVH. CONCLUSION: More attention should be paid to patients on whom the ischemic MMD occurs younger than 18 years old. RNF213 polymorphism screening and cerebrovascular imaging examination should be performed to evaluate intracranial vascular involvement, to achieve early detection and early treatment and avoid more serious cerebrovascular events.

Viromics Reveals the High Diversity of Viruses from Fishes of the Tibet Highland.

Aquaculture is important for food security and nutrition. The economy has recently been significantly threatened and the risk of zoonoses significantly increased by aquatic diseases, and the ongoing introduction of new aquatic pathogens, particularly viruses, continues to represent a hazard. Yet, our knowledge of the diversity and abundance of fish viruses is still limited. Here, we conducted a metagenomic survey of different species of healthy fishes caught in the Lhasa River, Tibet, China, and sampled intestinal contents, gills, and tissues. To be more precise, by identifying and analyzing viral genomes, we aim to determine the abundance, diversity, and evolutionary relationships of viruses in fish with other potential hosts. Our analysis identified 28 potentially novel viruses, 22 of which may be associated with vertebrates, across seven viral families. During our research, we found several new strains of viruses in fish, including papillomavirus, hepadnavirus, and hepevirus. Additionally, we discovered two viral families, Circoviridae and Parvoviridae, which were prevalent and closely related to viruses that infect mammals. These findings further expand our understanding of highland fish viruses and highlight the emerging view that fish harbor large, unknown viruses. IMPORTANCE The economy and zoonoses have recently been significantly threatened by aquatic diseases. Yet, our knowledge of the diversity and abundance of fish viruses is still limited. We identified the wide genetic diversity of viruses that these fish were harboring. Since there are currently few studies on the virome of fish living in the Tibet highland, our research adds to the body of knowledge. This discovery lays the groundwork for future studies on the virome of fish species and other highland animals, preserving the ecological equilibrium on the plateau.

Epidemiology and Genetic Diversity of Spirometra Tapeworm Isolates from Snakes in Hunan Province, China.

Sparganosis, caused by the plerocercoid larvae of Spirometra tapeworms, is a public health hazard worldwide. The prevalence and genetics of sparganum from snakes remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of sparganum infection in wild snakes in Hunan province and compared the prevalence of Spirometra tapeworms in snakes worldwide. Furthermore, the genetic diversity of collected isolates was analyzed using mitochondrial cytb and cox1 genes. The result shows that the sparganum infection rate in wild snakes (89.50%, 402/449) was higher in Hunan than in other regions. Genetic diversity analysis based on concatenated sequences revealed high genetic diversity but no distinct genetic structure among Spirometra populations. Phylogenetic analysis supported the division of European and Chinese Spirometra isolates and a single species in Chinese Spirometra isolates. The prevalence of Spirometra tapeworms in snakes is serious, and the risk of sparganosis should be further publicized.

Molecular Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Ascarids in Wild Animals.

Ascarid nematodes are the most common and harmful nematodes parasites in animals. By analyzing genetic variation, this study explores the genetic and phylogenetic relationship among ascarids from 11 different hosts. This study collected ascarid samples from the feces of nine animal species in Changsha Ecological Zoo of Hunan Province and two animal kinds in the College of Veterinary Medicine of Hunan Agricultural University. The mitochondrial gene (pcox1) and ribosomal ITS sequences were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed by PCR to identify the species of the samples. The phylogenetic tree was constructed based on two genes (cox1 and ITS) by the Neighbor-joining method, and the phylogenetic relationship was analyzed. The sequencing results showed that the sequence lengths of pcox1 and ITS genes in the samples were 441 bp and 838-1,177 bp, respectively. The difference rates were 0.00-1.70% in pcox1 gene and 0.00-7.30% in ITS gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed that ascarid worms from the white lion, Northeast tiger, South China tiger and cheetah were identified as Toxascaris leonina. Ascarids from the zebra were identified as Parascaris equorum, while those from chicken and peacocks were identified as Ascaridia galli. Ascarids of wolf and dog origin were Toxocara canis, the snake ascarids belonged to Ophidascaris filaria, and the bear ascarids belonged to Baylisascaris transfuga. There was a significant gap between different kinds of ascarid worms. We found that these two mitochondrial genes pcox1 and ITS showed a common characteristic that the intraspecific differences were significantly smaller than the interspecific differences, confirming that these two genes could be used as interspecific genetic markers for molecular identification of different ascarids origins. The intraspecific variation rate of the ITS gene was higher than that of pcox1, indicating that ITS can also be used in the genetic research of Ascaris species development. This study revealed the genetic evolution and phylogeny of ascarids in wild animals, and our results will help prevent and control ascarids in wild animals.

Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Spirometra Tapeworms from Snakes in Hunan Province.

Sparganosis is a neglected zoonotic parasitic disease that poses huge threats to humans worldwide. Snakes play an important role in sparganosis transmission because they are the most common second intermediate hosts for Spirometra parasites. However, the population genetics of Spirometra isolates from snakes is currently not well studied in China. The present study was performed to explore the molecular characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of Spirometra tapeworms from different species of snakes in Hunan Province. This study obtained 49 Spirometra isolates from 15 geographical areas in Hunan Province, Central China. Subsequently, the 18S and 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) fragments were amplified from the isolated parasites, and their sequences were analyzed to assess their genetic diversity. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the maximum likelihood algorithm. The results showed that sequence variations among these isolates were 0-2.3% and 0-0.1% for 18S and 28S rDNA, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis showed that all Spirometra isolates from Hunan Province were clustered into the same branch with Spirometra erinaceieuropaei isolated from other areas (China, Vietnam, Australia). Moreover, the phylogenetic trees revealed that Spirometra is closely related to Adenocephalus, Pyramicocephalus, Ligula, Dibothriocephalus, Schistocephalus, and Diphyllobothrium. The Spirometra isolates of different hosts/regions in Hunan Province are not host segregated or geographically isolated, and support for the taxonomic status of Spirometra tapeworms in China has been added. These results provide reference values for future accurate identification and taxonomic status of Spirometra tapeworms in China.

Unraveling the Structure-Property Relationship of Molecular Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells.

Clarifying the structural basis and microscopic mechanism lying behind electronic properties of molecular semiconductors is of paramount importance in further material design to enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells. In this paper, three conjugated quasilinear segments of 9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluorene, 9,9-dimethyl-2,7-diphenyl-9H-fluorene, and 2,6-diphenyldithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]thiophene are end-capped with two bis(4-methoxyphenyl)amino groups for structurally simple molecular semiconductors Z1, Z2, and Z3, which crystallize in the monoclinic P21/n, triclinic P1̅, and monoclinic C2/c space groups, respectively. The modes and energies of intermolecular noncovalent interactions in various closely packed dimers extracted from single crystals are computed based on the quantum theory of atoms in molecules and energy decomposition analysis. Transfer integrals, reorganization energies, and center-of-mass distances in these dimers as well as band structures of single crystals are also calculated to define the theoretical limit of hole transport and microscopic transport pictures. Joint X-ray diffraction and space-charge-limiting current measurements on solution-deposited films suggest the dominant role of crystallinity in thin-film hole mobility. Photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence measurements show that an enhanced interfacial interaction between the perovskite and Z3 could attenuate the adverse impact of reducing the energetic driving force of hole extraction. Our comparative studies show that the molecular semiconductor Z3 with a properly aligned highest occupied molecular orbital energy level and a high thin-film mobility can be employed for efficient perovskite solar cells, achieving a good power conversion efficiency of 20.84%, which is even higher than that of 20.42% for the spiro-OMeTAD control.

Crop Water Content of Winter Wheat Revealed with Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Imagery.

This study aims to efficiently estimate the crop water content of winter wheat using high spatial and temporal resolution satellite-based imagery. Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data collected by the Sentinel-1 satellite and optical imagery from the Sentinel-2 satellite was used to create inversion models for winter wheat crop water content, respectively. In the Sentinel-1 approach, several enhanced radar indices were constructed by Sentinel-1 backscatter coefficient of imagery, and selected the one that was most sensitive to soil water content as the input parameter of a water cloud model. Finally, a water content inversion model for winter wheat crop was established. In the Sentinel-2 approach, the gray relational analysis was used for several optical vegetation indices constructed by Sentinel-2 spectral feature of imagery, and three vegetation indices were selected for multiple linear regression modeling to retrieve the wheat crop water content. 58 ground samples were utilized in modeling and verification. The water content inversion model based on Sentinel-2 optical images exhibited higher verification accuracy (R = 0.632, RMSE = 0.021 and nRMSE = 19.65%) than the inversion model based on Sentinel-1 SAR (R = 0.433, RMSE = 0.026 and nRMSE = 21.24%). This study provides a reference for estimating the water content of wheat crops using data from the Sentinel series of satellites.

Bright Free Exciton Electroluminescence from Mn-Doped Two-Dimensional Layered Perovskites.

Two-dimensional (2D) perovskites incorporating hydrophobic organic spacer cations show improved film stability and morphology compared to their three-dimensional (3D) counterparts. However, 2D perovskites usually exhibit low photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) owing to strong exciton-phonon interaction at room temperature, which limits their efficiency in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Here, we demonstrate that the device performance of 2D perovskite LEDs can be significantly enhanced by doping Mn2+ in (benzimidazolium)2PbI4 2D perovskite films to suppress the exciton-phonon interaction. The distorted [PbI6]4- octahedra by Mn-doping and the rigid benzimidazolium (BIZ) ring without branched chains in the 2D perovskite structure lead to improved crystallinity and rigidity of the perovskites, resulting in suppressed phonon-exciton interaction and enhanced PLQE. On the basis of this strategy, for the first time, we report yellow electroluminescence from free excitons in 2D ( n = 1) perovskites with a maximum brightness of 225 cd m-2 and a peak EQE of 0.045%.

A Low-Energy-Gap Thienochrysenocarbazole Dye for Highly Efficient Mesoscopic Titania Solar Cells: Understanding the Excited State and Charge Carrier Dynamics.

Maintaining both a high external quantum efficiency and a large open-circuit photovoltage of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is a crucial challenge in the process of developing narrow-energy-gap dyes for the capture of infrared solar photons. Herein, we report two donor-acceptor organic dyes, C294 and C295, with a polycyclic heteroaromatic unit, 6,11-dihydrothieno[3',2':8,9]chryseno[10,11,12,1-bcdefg]carbazole (TCC), as the central module of the electron donor, and ethylbenzothiadiazole-benzioc acid as the electron acceptor. The interfacial charge recombination was successfully mitigated by introducing an additional branched aliphatic chain in C295. Furthermore, the O⋅⋅⋅S nonbonding interaction between the oxygen atom of the alkoxy group and the sulfur atom of the thiophene in C295 controlled the conformation of C295, resulting in a narrow energy-gap. Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements on C294 and the model dye C272 indicated that the elevation of the HOMO energy level decreased the kinetics and yield of hole injection owing to a reduction in the driving force and that the shortened excited-state lifetime caused by the narrowing of the energy gap was unfavorable for electron injection. By fine tuning the composition of the electrolyte, C294 and C295 eventually achieved high power conversion efficiencies of 11.5 % and 12.4 %, respectively, under full sunlight of air mass 1.5 global conditions.