The effect of perceived stress on binge eating behavior among Chinese university students: a moderated mediation model.

Introduction: Previous studies have demonstrated a strong link between perceived stress and binge eating behavior, but the psychological mechanisms underlying such phenomenon are not fully understood. The present study further addressed this issue in a life history framework, focusing on life history strategy and distress tolerance. Methods: Firstly, we investigated the mediation role of life history strategy on the relationship between perceived stress and binge eating behavior. Secondly, we examined the moderation role of distress tolerance on the effect of perceived stress on life history strategy, as well as on the direct effect of perceived stress on binge eating behavior. We analyzed data from 1342 Chinese university students. Results: Results indicated that life history strategy mediates the relationship between perceived stress and binge eating behavior; distress tolerance has significant moderating effects on the direct effect of perceived stress on binge eating behavior and their indirect effect via life history strategy. Discussion: Therefore, distress tolerance skills training and life history-based interventions might be potentially effective ways to reduce binge eating behavior triggered by perceived stress.

Efficient Production of 9,22-Dihydroxy-23,24-bisnorchol-4-ene-3-one from Phytosterols by Modifying Multiple Genes in Mycobacterium fortuitum.

C19 steroids and C22 steroids are vital intermediates for the synthesis of steroid drugs. Compared with C19 steroids, C22 steroids are more suitable for synthesizing progesterone and adrenocortical hormones, albeit less developed. 9,22-dihydroxy-23,24-bisnorchol-4-ene-3-one(9-OHBA), due to its substituents at positions C-9 and C-22, is a beneficial and innovative steroid derivative for synthesizing corticosteroids. We focused on the C22 pathway in Mycobacterium fortuitum ATCC 35855, aiming to develop a productive strain that produces 9-OHBA. We used a mutant strain, MFΔkstD, that knocked out kstds from Mycobacterium fortuitum ATCC 35855 named MFKD in this study as the original strain. Hsd4A and FadA5 are key enzymes in controlling the C19 metabolic pathway of steroids in Mycobacterium fortuitum ATCC 35855. After knocking out hsd4A, MFKDΔhsd4A accumulated 81.47% 9-OHBA compared with 4.13% 9-OHBA in the strain MFKD. The double mutant MFKDΔhsd4AΔfadA5 further improved the selectivity of 9-OHBA to 95.13%, and 9α-hydroxy-4-androstenedione (9-OHAD) decreased to 0.90% from 4.19%. In the end, we obtained 6.81 g/L 9-OHBA from 10 g/L phytosterols with a molar yield of 80.33%, which showed the best performance compared with formerly reported strains.

Turning pain into strength: prosocial behaviours in coping with trauma.

Background: Various coping strategies have been shown to alleviate the negative effects of trauma, yet the significance of prosocial behaviour in this realm has been notably underexplored. The present study explored the hypothesis that engaging in prosocial behaviour mitigates the impacts of trauma by promoting a sense of competence and relatedness, post-traumatic growth (PTG), and reconstruction of meaning.Methods: Three consecutive studies were conducted with college students to compare differences in consequence of prosocial behaviours between a trauma group and a control group. Study 1 (N = 96) used self-reported experiences of traumatic vs non-traumatic events; Study 2 (N = 43) used exposure vs. no exposure to video of an earthquake; Study 3 (N = 20) used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a prosocial-themed intervention vs. no intervention. Outcomes in all studies were assessed by self-report questionnaires.Results: Trauma damaged participants' sense of competence and meaningfulness. Prosocial behaviour relieved the impact of trauma on meaning, specifically manifested in the individuals' sense of meaningfulness and their search for meaning. Group interventions with a prosocial theme (based on effect size results) reduced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and enhanced PTG in victims. The promoting effect on PTG persisted a month later, and its enhancing effect on meaning manifested with a delay.Conclusion: Prosocial behaviour can potentially serve as a beneficial strategy for individuals coping with trauma because it helps enhance meaning and promotes PTG in victims. This conclusion is supported by laboratory experiments and a tentative small-scale intervention study, which provide an innovative perspective for future trauma interventions.

Prosocial behaviour can potentially serve as a beneficial strategy for individuals coping with trauma.Prosocial behaviour relieved the impact of trauma on meaning.Prosocial-themed intervention reduced PTSD and enhanced PTG in victims (based on effect size results).

Corrigendum: The utility of high-frequency 18 MHz ultrasonography for preoperative evaluation of acral melanoma thickness in Chinese patients.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1185389.].

Electrochemical Lithium Deposition on LixTi5O12.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have been regarded as one of the most promising next-generation high-energy-density storage devices. However, uncontrolled lithium dendrite growth leads to low Coulombic efficiencies and severe safety issues, hindering the commercialization of LMBs. Reducing the diffusion barrier of lithium is beneficial for uniform lithium deposition. Herein, a composite is constructed with Li4Ti5O12 as the skeleton of metallic lithium (Li@LixTi5O12) because Li4Ti5O12 is a "zero-strain" material and exhibits a low lithium diffusion barrier. It was found that the symmetric cells of Li@LixTi5O12 can stably cycle for over 400 h at 1 mA cm-2 in the carbonate electrolyte, significantly exceeding the usual lifespan (∼170 h) of the symmetric cell using a lithium metal electrode. In a full cell with Li@LixTi5O12 as the anode, the cathode LiFePO4 delivers a capacity retention of 78.2% after 550 cycles at 3.6C rate and an N/P ratio = 8.0. This study provides new insights for designing a practical lithium anode.

Smart Use of Skin Biopsy Punch in Treating Keloids: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of scarring has long been a problem due to high incidence and recurrence. Despite many existing treatment therapies, the efficacy remains unstable. OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy and safety of skin biopsy punch in combination with corticosteroid injection (BPCI) in treating keloids. APPROACH: This was a retrospective study. In total, 16 patients with keloids received BPCI. Changes in scar appearance, accompanied symptoms, and Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) were analyzed. Patient satisfaction, VAS scores, and adverse effects were also evaluated. RESULTS: Scar appearance, accompanied symptoms, and VSS scores improved significantly after the treatment. The total effective rate was 93.75% at an 18-month follow-up on average. The mean reduction rate of VSS score was 58.44% (p < 0.0001), especially in height and pliability (84.44% and 78.19%, p < 0.0001). The recurrence rate in this study was 12.5% (n = 2) at an 18-month follow-up on average. Mild adverse effects of pain, pruritus, hypopigmentation, and telangiectasia were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated BPCI might be an effective and safe therapy in keloids with a low long-time recurrence rate and well tolerance for patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these evidence-based medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

PD-Like Pathogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans Intestinally Infected with Nocardia farcinica and the Underlying Molecular Mechanisms.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn) and the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Although microbial infection has been implicated in the pathogenesis of PD, the associated virulence factors and the underlying molecular mechanisms require further elucidation. Here, we found that intestinal infection with Nocardia farcinica induced a series of PD-like symptoms in Caenorhabditis elegans, such as the accelerated degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, impaired locomotion capacity, and enhanced α-syn aggregation, through the disturbance of mitochondrial functions. To identify the potential virulence factors involved in these effects, we knocked out the nbtB/C and nbtS genes in N. farcinica, which are localized in the gene clusters responsible for nocobactin biosynthesis. The deletion of either gene partially rescued the degenerative effects of wild-type N. farcinica on dopaminergic neurons by attenuating mitochondrial dysfunction. LC-MS analysis further identified a decrease in the abundance of several siderophores in the two mutants, including nocobactin NA-a, nocobactin NA-b, and nocardimicin B. Collectively, our results demonstrated that intestinal N. farcinica infection in C. elegans facilitates PD-like pathogenesis and provides novel evidence for the involvement of pathogenic bacteria in neurodegenerative diseases via non-neuroinvasive mechanisms.

A Real-time augmented reality robot integrated with artificial intelligence for skin tumor surgery - experimental study and case series.

BACKGROUND: Skin tumors affect many people worldwide, and surgery is the first treatment choice. Achieving precise preoperative planning and navigation of intraoperative sampling remains a problem and is excessively reliant on the experience of surgeons, especially for Mohs surgery for malignant tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To achieve precise preoperative planning and navigation of intraoperative sampling, we developed a real-time augmented reality (AR) surgical system integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance three functions: AI-assisted tumor boundary segmentation, surgical margin design, and navigation in intraoperative tissue sampling. Non-randomized controlled trials were conducted on manikin, tumor-simulated rabbits, and human volunteers in xxx Laboratory to evaluate the surgical system. RESULTS: The results showed that the accuracy of the benign and malignant tumor segmentation were 0.9556 and 0.9548, respectively, and the average AR navigation mapping error was 0.644 mm. The proposed surgical system was applied in 106 skin tumor surgeries, including intraoperative navigation of sampling in 16 Mohs surgery cases. Surgeons who have used this system highly recognize it. CONCLUSIONS: The surgical system highlighted the potential to achieve accurate treatment of skin tumors and to fill the gap in global research on skin tumor surgery systems.

Inhibition of SIRT1 in the nucleus accumbens attenuates heroin addiction-related behavior by decreasing D1 neuronal autophagy.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of SIRT1 modulation on heroin addiction-like behavior and its possible biological mechanisms. Wild-type C57BL/6J and Sirt1loxp/loxp D1-Cre mice were used in this experiment, and Sirt1 loxp/loxp D1-Cre(-) mice were used as a control for conditional knockout mice. Mice were divided into saline control and heroin-dependent groups. Behavioral methods were used to record the withdrawal response, conditioned place preference (CPP) changes, and open field test results. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to observe the structure of autophagosomes in nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons. The expression of SIRT1 and autophagy-related proteins and genes, such as LC3Ⅱ, ATG5 , and ATG7 , was detected in the NAc of each mouse group via western blot, real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyzes, and immunofluorescence. The results of this experiment showed that compared with the saline group, mice in the wild-type heroin-dependent group showed marked withdrawal symptoms, with more autophagosomes observed in NAc via TEM. Compared with wild-type and Sirt1loxp/loxp D1-Cre(-) heroin-dependent groups, CPP formation was found to be reduced in the conditional knockout mouse group, with a significant decrease in spontaneous activity. Western blot, qPCR, and immunofluorescence results indicated that the expression of LC3Ⅱ, ATG-5, and ATG-7 was significantly reduced in the NAc of the Sirt1loxp/loxp D1-Cre(+) group. It was still, however, higher than that in the saline control group. These results suggest that inhibition of Sirt1 expression may prevent heroin-induced addiction-related behaviors via reducing D1 neuronal autophagy.

Histamine and receptors in neuroinflammation: Their roles on neurodegenerative diseases.

Histamine, an auto-reactive substance and mediator of inflammation, is synthesized from histidine through the action of histidine decarboxylase (HDC). It primarily acts on histamine receptors in the central nervous system (CNS). Increasing evidence suggests that histamine and its receptors play a crucial role in neuroinflammation, thereby modulating the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies have demonstrated that histamine regulates the phenotypic switching of microglia and astrocytes, inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and alleviates inflammatory responses. In the CNS, our research group has also found that histamine and its receptors are involved in regulating inflammatory responses and play a central role in ameliorating chronic neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we will discuss the role of histamine and its receptors in neuroinflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases, potentially providing a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of chronic neuroinflammation-related neurodegenerative diseases in clinical settings.

Metformin blocks BIK1-mediated CPK28 phosphorylation and enhances plant immunity.

INTRODUCTION: Metformin (MET), derived from Galega officinalis, stands as the primary first-line medication for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Despite its well-documented benefits in mammalian cellular processes, its functions and underlying mechanisms in plants remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to elucidate MET's role in inducing plant immunity and investigate the associated mechanisms. METHODS: To investigate the impact of MET on enhancing plant immune responses, we conducted assays measuring defense gene expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation, and pathogen infection. Additionally, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and microscale thermophoresis (MST) techniques were employed to identify MET targets. Protein-protein interactions were analyzed using a luciferase complementation assay and a co-immunoprecipitation assay. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that MET boosts plant disease resistance by activating MAPKs, upregulating the expression of downstream defense genes, and fortifying the ROS burst. CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE 28 (CPK28) was identified as a target of MET. It inhibited the interaction between BOTRYTIS-INDUCED KINASE 1 (BIK1) and CPK28, blocking CPK28 threonine 76 (T76) transphosphorylation by BIK1, and alleviating the negative regulation of immune responses by CPK28. Moreover, MET enhanced disease resistance in tomato, pepper, and soybean plants. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our data suggest that MET enhances plant immunity by blocking BIK1-mediated CPK28 phosphorylation.

Deciphering disulfidptosis: Uncovering a lncRNA-based signature for prognostic assessment, personalized immunotherapy, and therapeutic agent selection in lung adenocarcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND: Disulfidptosis, a recently identified type of regulated cell death, plays critical roles in various biological processes of cancer; however, whether they can impact the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains to be fully elucidated. We aimed to adopt this concept to develop and validate a lncRNA signature for LUAD prognostic prediction. METHODS: For this study, the TCGA-LUAD dataset was used as the training cohort, and multiple datasets from the GEO database were pooled as the validation cohort. Disulfidptosis regulated genes were obtained from published studies, and various statistical methods, including Kaplan-Meier (KM), Cox, and LASSO, were used to train our gene signature DISULncSig. We utilized KM analysis, COX analysis, receiver operating characteristic analysis, time-dependent AUC analysis, principal component analysis, nomogram predictor analysis, and functional assays in our validation process. We also compared DISULncSig with previous studies. We performed analyses to evaluate DISULncSig's immunotherapeutic ability, focusing on eight immune algorithms, TMB, and TIDE. Additionally, we investigated potential drugs that could be effective in treating patients with high-risk scores. Additionally qRT-PCR examined the expression patterns of DISULncSig lncRNAs, and the ability of DISULncSig in pan-cancer was also assessed. RESULTS: DISULncSig containing twelve lncRNAs was trained and showed strong predictive ability in the validation cohort. Compared with previous similar studies, DISULncSig had more prognostic ability advantages. DISULncSig was closely related to the immune status of LUAD, and its tight relationship with checkpoints KIR2DL3, IL10, IL2, CD40LG, SELP, BTLA, and CD28 may be the key to its potential immunotherapeutic ability. For the high DISULncSig score population, we found ten drug candidates, among which epothilone-b may have the most potential. The pan-cancer analysis found that DISULncSig was a risk factor in multiple cancers. Additionally, we discovered that some of the DISULncSig lncRNAs could play crucial roles in specific cancer types. CONCLUSION: The current study established a powerful prognostic DISULncSig signature for LUAD that was also valid for most pan-cancers. This signature could serve as a potential target for immunotherapy and might help the more efficient application of drugs to specific populations.

Air-Promoted Light-Driven Hydrogen Production from Bioethanol over Core/Shell Cr2O3@GaN Nanoarchitecture.

Light-driven hydrogen production from biomass derivatives offers a path towards carbon neutrality. It is often however operated with the limitations of sluggish kinetics and severe coking. Herein, a disruptive air-promoted strategy is explored for efficient and durable light-driven hydrogen production from ethanol over a core/shell Cr2O3@GaN nanoarchitecture. The correlative computational and experimental investigations show ethanol is energetically favorable to be adsorbed on the Cr2O3@GaN interface, followed by dehydrogenation toward acetaldehyde and protons by photoexcited holes. The released protons are then consumed for H2 evolution by photogenerated electrons. Afterward, O2 can be evolved into active oxygen species and promote the deprotonation and C-C cleavage of the key C2 intermediate, thus significantly lowering the reaction energy barrier of hydrogen evolution and removing the carbon residual with inhibited overoxidation. Consequently, hydrogen is produced at a high rate of 76.9 mole H2 per gram Cr2O3@GaN per hour by only feeding ethanol, air, and light, leading to the achievement of a turnover number of 266,943,000 mole H2 per mole Cr2O3 over a long-term operation of 180 hours. Notably, an unprecedented light-to-hydrogen efficiency of 17.6 % is achieved under concentrated light illumination. The simultaneous generation of aldehyde from ethanol dehydrogenation enables the process more economically promising.

A detection model of testis-derived circular RNAs in serum for predicting testicular sperm retrieval rate in non-obstructive azoospermia patients.

BACKGROUND: Microdissection testicular sperm extraction is an effective method to retrieve sperm from non-obstructive azoospermia patients. However, its successful rate is less than 50%. OBJECTIVES: To identify the predictive value of circular RNAs in serum for sperm retrieval rate in non-obstructive azoospermia patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 180 non-obstructive azoospermia patients were recruited in this study, including 84 individuals with successful sperm retrieval and 96 individuals with failed sperm retrieval. Our study contained two phases. First, 20 patients, selected from the 180 patients, were included in screening cohort. In this cohort, the top 20 circular RNAs from our previous testicular circRNA profiles were verified between successful and failed sperm retrieval groups using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Six circular RNAs with the most significantly different expressions were selected for further verification. Second, the 180 patients were included as discovery cohort to verify the six circular RNAs. Circular RNAs were extracted from serum in each participant. Logistic regression analysis was further performed to identify the predictive value and the area under the curve analysis was used to evaluate diagnostic efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: Six circular RNAs including hsa_circ_0058058, hsa_circ_0008045, hsa_circ_0084789, hsa_circ_0000550, hsa_circ_0007422, and hsa_circ_0004099 showed aberrant expressions between the successful and failed sperm retrieval group. In addition, both single-circular RNA panels and multi-circular RNA panels were finally verified to be significant in predicting sperm retrieval rate. Notably, multi-circular RNAs panels demonstrated better predictive abilities compared with single-circRNA panels, and the combined panel of six-circular RNAs (risk score = 1.094×hsa_circ_0058058+0.697×hsa_circ_0008045+0.718×hsa_circ_0084789-0.591×hsa_circ_0000550-0.435×hsa_circ_0007422-1.017×hsa_circ_0004099-1.561) exhibited the best predictive ability in the present study with an AUC of 0.977, a sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 86.5%. A higher risk score indicated a higher risk of failure in sperm retrieval. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our study was the first to report that testis-derived circular RNAs in serum have the ability to predict sperm retrieval rate in non-obstructive azoospermia patients, whether it is a single-circular RNA or a combination of multi-circular RNAs.

Classification of Action Potentials With High Variability Using Convolutional Neural Network for Motor Unit Tracking.

The reliable classification of motor unit action potentials (MUAPs) provides the possibility of tracking motor unit (MU) activities. However, the variation of MUAP profiles caused by multiple factors in realistic conditions challenges the accurate classification of MUAPs. The goal of this study was to propose an effective method based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify MUAPs with high levels of variation for MU tracking. MUAP variation was added artificially in the synthetic electromyogram (EMG) signals and was induced by changing the forearm postures in the experimental study. The proposed overlapped-segment-wise EMG decomposition method and the spike-triggered averaging method were combined to obtain the MUAP waveform samples of individual MUs in the experimental study, and the MUAP profile classification performance was tested. Since the ground-truth of MU discharge activities was known for the synthetic EMG, the MU tracking performance was further verified by mimicking the tracking procedure of MU discharge activities and the spike consistency with the true spike trains was tested in the simulation study. The conventional MUAP similarity index (SI)-based method was also performed as comparison. For both the experimental and the synthetic EMG signals, the CNN-based method significantly improved the MUAP tracking performance compared with the conventional SI-based method manifested as a higher classification accuracy (93.3%±5.4% vs 56.2%±13.9%) in the experimental study or higher spike consistency (71.1%±10.2% vs 29.2%±11.0%) in the simulation study with a smaller variation. These results demonstrated the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method to distinguish MUAPs with large variations accurately. Further development of the proposed method can promote the study on the physiological and pathological changes of the neuromuscular system where tracking MU activities is needed.

Discovery of Novel TLR7 Agonists as Systemic Agent for Combination With aPD1 for Use in Immuno-oncology.

We have designed and developed novel and selective TLR7 agonists that exhibited potent receptor activity in a cell-based reporter assay. In vitro, these agonists significantly induced secretion of cytokines IL-6, IL-1ß, IL-10, TNFa, IFNa, and IP-10 in human and mouse whole blood. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies in mice showed a significant secretion of IFNα and TNFα cytokines. When combined with aPD1 in a CT-26 tumor model, the lead compound showed strong synergistic antitumor activity with complete tumor regression in 8/10 mice dosed using the intravenous route. Structure-activity relationship studies enabled by structure-based designs of TLR7 agonists are disclosed.

Identification and Optimization of Small Molecule Pyrazolopyrimidine TLR7 Agonists for Applications in Immuno-oncology.

Small molecule toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 agonists have gathered considerable interest as promising therapeutic agents for applications in cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we describe the development and optimization of a series of novel TLR7 agonists through systematic structure-activity relationship studies focusing on modification of the phenylpiperidine side chain. Additional refinement of ADME properties culminated in the discovery of compound 14, which displayed nanomolar reporter assay activity and favorable drug-like properties. Compound 14 demonstrated excellent in vivo pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profiles and synergistic antitumor activity when administered in combination with aPD1 antibody, suggesting opportunities of employing 14 in immuno-oncology therapies with immune checkpoint blockade agents.

Low-Frequency Ultrasound Sensitive Piezo1 Channels Regulate Keloid-Related Characteristics of Fibroblasts.

Keloids are benign fibroproliferative tumors that severely diminish the quality of life due to discomfort, dysfunction, and disfigurement. Recently, ultrasound technology as a noninvasive adjuvant therapy is developed to optimize treatment protocols. However, the biophysical mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. Here, it is proposed that piezo-type mechanosensitive ion channel component 1 (Piezo1) plays an important role in low-frequency sonophoresis (LFS) induced mechanical transduction pathways that trigger downstream cellular signaling processes. It is demonstrated that patient-derived primary keloid fibroblasts (PKF), NIH 3T3, and HFF-1 cell migration are inhibited, and PKF apoptosis is significantly increased by LFS stimulation. And the effects of LFS is diminished by the application of GsMTx-4, the selective inhibitor of Piezo1, and the knockdown of Piezo1. More importantly, the effects of LFS can be imitated by Yoda1, an agonist of Piezo1 channels. Establishing a patient-derived xenograft keloid implantation mouse model further verified these results, as LFS significantly decreased the volume and weight of the keloids. Moreover, blocking the Piezo1 channel impaired the effectiveness of LFS treatment. These results suggest that LFS inhibits the malignant characteristics of keloids by activating the Piezo1 channel, thus providing a theoretical basis for improving the clinical treatment of keloids.

Two aquaporins, PIP1;1 and PIP2;1, mediate the uptake of neonicotinoid pesticides in plants.

Neonicotinoids (NEOs), a large class of organic compounds, are a type of commonly used pesticide for crop protection. Their uptake and accumulation in plants are prerequisites for their intra- and intercellular movements, transformation, and function. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underpin NEO uptake by plants is crucial for effective application, which remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that NEOs enter plant cells primarily through the transmembrane symplastic pathway and accumulate mainly in the cytosol. Two plasma membrane intrinsic proteins discovered in Brassica rapa, BraPIP1;1 and BraPIP2;1, were found to encode aquaporins (AQPs) that are highly permeable to NEOs in different plant species and facilitate NEO subcellular diffusion and accumulation. Their conserved transport function was further demonstrated in Xenopus laevis oocyte and yeast assays. BraPIP1;1 and BraPIP2;1 gene knockouts and interaction assays suggested that their proteins can form functional heterotetramers. Assessment of the potential of mean force indicated a negative correlation between NEO uptake and the energy barrier of BraPIP1;1 channels. This study shows that AQPs transport organic compounds with greater osmolarity than previously thought, providing new insight into the molecular mechanisms of organic compound uptake and facilitating innovations in systemic pesticides.

Rh/InGaN1-xOx nanoarchitecture for light-driven methane reforming with carbon dioxide toward syngas.

Light-driven dry reforming of methane toward syngas presents a proper solution for alleviating climate change and for the sustainable supply of transportation fuels and chemicals. Herein, Rh/InGaN1-xOx nanowires supported by silicon wafer are explored as an ideal platform for loading Rh nanoparticles, thus assembling a new nanoarchitecture for this grand topic. In combination with the remarkable photo-thermal synergy, the O atoms in Rh/InGaN1-xOx can significantly lower the apparent activation energy of dry reforming of methane from 2.96 eV downward to 1.70 eV. The as-designed Rh/InGaN1-xOx NWs nanoarchitecture thus demonstrates a measurable syngas evolution rate of 180.9 mmol gcat-1 h-1 with a marked selectivity of 96.3% under concentrated light illumination of 6 W cm-2. What is more, a high turnover number (TON) of 4182 mol syngas per mole Rh has been realized after six reuse cycles without obvious activity degradation. The correlative 18O isotope labeling experiments, in-situ irradiated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ISI-XPS) and in-situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy characterizations, as well as density functional theory calculations reveal that under light illumination, Rh/InGaN1-xOx NWs facilitate releasing *CH3 and H+ from CH4 by holes, followed by H2 evolution from H+ reduction with electrons. Subsequently, the O atoms in Rh/InGaN1-xOx can directly participate in CO generation by reacting with the *C species from CH4 dehydrogenation and contributes to the coke elimination, in concurrent formation of O vacancies. The resultant O vacancies are then replenished by CO2, showing an ideal chemical loop. This work presents a green strategy for syngas production via light-driven dry reforming of methane.