[Horizontal Variation Characteristics of Alpine Grassland Soil Function and Vertical Changes Along Soil Genetic Horizons in the Three-River Headwaters Region].

The Three-River Headwaters region is a hotspot for studying the response of soil function to climate change. To study the horizontal variation characteristics of alpine grassland soil function and vertical changes along soil genetic horizons, soil functional indicators (including respiration, nitrogen conversion rate, and enzymatic activity) of different genetic horizons in alpine grassland soil profiles and their correlations with environmental factors were analyzed. The results showed that there were no significant differences in soil functional characteristics between alpine meadows and steppes, and topsoil had higher respiration rates, nitrogen conversion rates, and enzymatic activities than those of subsoil. Total nitrogen was a key driver of soil functional characteristics in different genetic horizons, explaining 18.3%, 21.4%, and 27.5% of the horizontal variation in functional characteristics, respectively. Climate and vegetation factors mainly affected soil function indirectly by changing soil physicochemical properties in topsoil, but atmospheric nitrogen deposition still affected soil function in subsoil. These results indicate the significant nitrogen limitation of alpine grassland soil in the Three-River Headwaters region, and the findings provide a new insight into the maintenance of soil functional diversity and the response to climate change in the context of global climate change.

[Coupling Relationship Between Soil Functions and Environmental Factors Along an Altitudinal Gradient: A Case Study of the Meili Mountain].

Soil respiration and extracellular enzyme activity are important components of the material cycle of mountain ecosystems and play key roles in maintaining ecosystem functions. To explore the coupling relationship between soil functions and environmental factors, the soil functional indicators, environmental factors, and effects of altitude on the soil function of 36 soil samples from 12 altitudes of the Meili Mountain were analyzed. The results showed that there were significant differences in soil respirations and enzyme activities among altitudes of Meili Mountain, and high-altitude areas had higher soil functions. Soil functions increased with altitudinal difference. PCA analysis showed that the first three axes explained 56.7%, 17.4%, and 8.7% of the variance in soil functional elevation change, respectively, indicating that the functional changes related to carbon and phosphorus were higher than those related to nitrogen. There were significant correlations between environmental factors and soil functional indicators; soil function indicators had stronger correlations with soil physicochemical properties than with climatic factors. Altitude mainly affected soil function indirectly by affecting soil physicochemical properties and climatic factors. These results have great scientific significance for improving the understanding of the material cycle and ecological function of the Meili Mountain ecosystem and provide an important reference for in-depth study of the altitude distribution pattern and evolution characteristics of the soil function of the mountain ecosystem.

Integrated analysis from multi-center studies identities m7G-derived modification pattern and risk stratification system in skin cutaneous melanoma.

The m7G modification has been proven to play an important role in RNA post-transcriptional modification and protein translation. However, the potential role of m7G modification patterns in assessing the prognosis of Skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) and tumor microenvironment (TME) has not been well studied. In this study, we investigated and finally identified 21 available m7G-related genes. We used hierarchical clustering (K-means) to classify 743 SKCM patients into three m7G-modified subtypes named m7G/gene cluster-A, B, C. We found that both m7G cluster B and gene cluster B exhibited higher prognosis and higher immune cell infiltration in TME compared to other subtypes. EIF4E3 and IFIT5, two m7G related genes, were both markedly elevated in Cluster B. Then, we constructed an m7G score system utilizing principal component analysis (PCA) in order to evaluate the patients' prognosis. High m7G score subtype was associated with better survival prognosis and active immune response. Overall, this article revealed that m7G modification patterns were involved in the development of the tumor microenvironment. Evaluating patients' m7G modification patterns will enhance our understanding of TME characteristics and help to guide personal treatment in clinics in the future.

Global proteome response to Pb(II) toxicity in poplar using SWATH-MS-based quantitative proteomics investigation.

Lead (Pb) toxicity is a growing serious environmental pollution that threatens human health and crop productivity. Poplar, as an important economic and ecological forest species, has the characteristics of fasting growth and accumulating heavy metals, which is a powerful model plant for phytoremediation. Here, a novel label-free quantitative proteomic platform of SWATH-MS was applied to detect proteome changes in poplar seedling roots following Pb treatment. In total 4388 unique proteins were identified and quantified, among which 542 proteins showed significant abundance changes upon Pb(II) exposure. Functional categorizations revealed that differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) primarily distributed in specialized biological processes. Particularly, lignin and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway were strongly activated upon Pb exposure, implicating their potential roles for Pb detoxification in poplar. Furthermore, hemicellulose and pectin related cell wall proteins exhibited increased abundances, where may function as a sequestration reservoir to reduce Pb toxicity in cytoplasm. Simultaneously, up-regulation of glutathione metabolism may serve as a protective role for Pb-induced oxidative damages in poplar. Further correlation investigation revealed an extra layer of post-transcriptional regulation during Pb response in poplar. Overall, our work represents multiply potential regulators in mediating Pb tolerance in poplar, providing molecular targets and strategies for phytoremediation.

[Analysis of Nitrogen Transformation Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Forestland Soil in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: A Case Study of the Qilian Mountains and Southeast Tibet].

Mineralization and nitrification, two important processes of the N cycle in forest ecosystems, play an important role in the maintenance of ecosystem function and soil environmental quality. The net mineralization rate and net nitrification rate are two common indexes for evaluation of the N supply and N loss risk in soil. In order to study the soil N transformation characteristics and their influencing factors in woodlands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the inorganic N concentrations, net N mineralization rates, and net nitrification rates of 327 soils sampled from the Qilian Mountains and Southeast Tibet were analyzed using indoor incubation experiments. The results showed that the inorganic N concentration, net N mineralization rate, and net nitrification rate of the woodland soil in Southeast Tibet ï¼»109.70 mg·kg-1, 3.08 mg·(kg·d)-1, and 2.19 mg·(kg·d)-1ï¼½ were significantly higher than those in the Qilian Mountains ï¼»49.47 mg·kg-1, 0.70 mg·(kg·d)-1, and 0.69 mg·(kg·d)-1ï¼½. The net mineralization rate of soil was positively correlated with the mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), moisture index, and soil organic matter concentrations (P<0.001). There were no significant positive relationships between the net nitrification rate and the MAT and MAP, but the net nitrification rate was positively correlated with the net N mineralization rate (P<0.001). These results indicated that the N supply ability of woodland soil in Southeast Tibet is significantly higher than that in the Qilian Mountains, and the hydrothermal conditions (MAT and MAP) are likely responsible for the difference in the net mineralization rate between the two studied regions. The net mineralization rate is the limiting factor for the net nitrification rate, which has an important influence on the spatial distribution of the forest soil nitrification process in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. These results emphasize the important roles of climatic and environmental factors, such as hydrothermal conditions, on the net N mineralization and nitrification rates of woodland soil in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and will further deepen the understanding of the law of soil N transformation in woodlands in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Boosting visible-light photocatalytic H2 evolution via UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons decorated with ultrasmall NiO nanoparticles.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based materials possess numerous attractive characteristics; however, the application of MOF-based photocatalysts in the area of visible-light photocatalytic H2 evolution is still in its infancy. Herein, we develop a series of novel UiO-66-NH2-based composites with embedded NiO nanoparticles via solvothermal treatment and subsequent calcination. Their characterizations demonstrate intimate lattice-level contacts between UiO-66-NH2 photocatalysts and NiO nanoparticles. By optimizing each component, even without noble metal loading, the U6N-NiO-2 sample (the weight ratio of NiO to U6N-NiO-2 is theoretically calculated to be ca. 10 wt%) with 15 mg eosin Y as a sensitizer causes an enhanced H2 generation rate of 2561.32 µmol h-1 g-1 under visible-light irradiation using TEOA as a sacrificial reagent; furthermore, its corresponding quantum efficiency is as high as 6.4% at 420 nm. The H2 evolution activity of U6N-NiO-2 is about 5 times higher than that of the UiO-66-NH2 photocatalyst (denoted as U6N) and 23 times higher than that of U6N-NiO-2 without sensitizer. It is demonstrated that the high efficiency originates from the visible-light generated electrons of eosin Y and UiO-66-NH2, the efficient separation of carriers by the cascaded band structure and more negative CB of NiO as well as the good dispersion of NiO nanoparticles on the octahedral skeleton. This study provides new insights for the design of MOF-based materials without noble metal loading for visible-light photocatalytic H2 evolution.

Oxygen deficient Pr6O11 nanorod supported palladium nanoparticles: highly active nanocatalysts for styrene and 4-nitrophenol hydrogenation reactions.

The design and development of highly efficient and long lifetime Pd-based catalysts for hydrogenation reactions have attracted significant research interest over the past few decades. Rational selection of supports for Pd loadings with strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is beneficial for boosting catalytic activity and stability. In this context, we have developed a facile approach for uniformly immobilizing ultra-small Pd nanoparticles (NPs) with a clean surface on a Pr6O11 support by a hydrogen thermal reduction method. The hydrogenations of p-nitrophenol and styrene are used as model reactions to evaluate the catalytic efficiency. The results show highly efficient styrene hydrogenation performance under 1 atm H2 at room temperature with a TOF value as high as 8957.7 h-1, and the rate constant value of p-nitrophenol reduction is 0.0191 s-1. Strong metal-support interaction and good dispersion of Pd nanoparticles, as demonstrated by XPS and HRTEM results, contribute to the excellent hydrogenation performance. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) results suggest the presence of oxygen vacancies in the support, which serve as electron donors and enhance the adsorption and activation of reactants and subsequent conversion into products. Moreover, the catalyst can be recovered and reused up to 10 consecutive cycles without marked loss of activity. Overall, our results indicate that oxygen-deficient Pr6O11 nanorods (NRs) not only play a role as support but also work as the promoter to substantially boost the catalytic activities for organic transformations, therefore, providing a novel strategy to develop other high-performance nanostructured catalysts for environmental sustainability.

Carbon-Coated Fe3O4/VOx Hollow Microboxes Derived from Metal-Organic Frameworks as a High-Performance Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

As the ever-growing demand for high-performance power sources, lithium-ion batteries with high storage capacities and outstanding rate performance have been widely considered as a promising storage device. In this work, starting with metal-organic frameworks, we have developed a facile approach to the synthesis of hybrid Fe3O4/VOx hollow microboxes via the process of hydrolysis and ion exchange and subsequent calcination. In the constructed architecture, the hollow structure provides an efficient lithium ion diffusion pathway and extra space to accommodate the volume expansion during the insertion and extraction of Li+. With the assistance of carbon coating, the obtained Fe3O4/VOx@C microboxes exhibit excellent cyclability and enhanced rate performance when employed as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. As a result, the obtained Fe3O4/VOx@C delivers a high Coulombic efficiency (near 100%) and outstanding reversible specific capacity of 742 mAh g-1 after 400 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A g-1. Moreover, a remarkable reversible capacity of 556 mAh g-1 could be retained even at a current density of 2 A g-1. This study provides a fundamental understanding for the rational design of other composite oxides as high-performance electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Analysis of transcription profile to reveal altered signaling pathways following the overexpression of human desumoylating isopeptidase 2 in pancreatic cancer cells.

Human desumoylating isopeptidase 2 (DESI-2) is a member of the DESI family and contains a conserved PPPDE1 domain. Previous studies have demonstrated that DESI-2 overexpression may induce cell apoptosis. In the present study, differentially expressed genes were analyzed using a transcription microarray in DESI-2 overexpressing PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells. A total of 45,033 genes were examined by microarray, which identified 1,766 upregulated and 1,643 downregulated genes. A series of altered signaling pathways were analyzed, in which certain essential signaling factors, including retinoid X receptor (RXR), BH3 interacting-domain death agonist, Ras homolog gene family member A (RhoA) and Rho-associated protein kinase, were further investigated at the protein level. The release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase-3 were also detected by western blot analysis. Immunohistochemistry further revealed the expression features of RXR and RhoA in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues with various DESI-2 expression levels. The results serve as a valuable reference for the further elucidation of the functions of DESI-2 in pancreatic cancer.

High Phosphorylation Status of AKT/mTOR Signal in DESI2-Reduced Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Desumoylating isopeptidase 2 (DESI2) is a recently identified protein with unclear functions. In this study, a total of 132 tissue samples of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and 73 samples of pancreatic normal tissues were explored to assess DESI2 expression and its implications to AKT/mTOR signal. Immunohistochemistry showed DESI2 expression is significantly decreased in cancer tissues versus normal tissues, presenting lowest level in poorly differentiated cancer. Unlike DESI2, the key factors in AKT/mTOR pathway including p-AKT, mTOR, p-mTOR and p-P70S6K present high expression in pancreatic cancer. It is notable that p-mTOR is significantly increased in DESI2-lower cancer compared with DESI2-higher cancer, although mTOR presents no difference in the two groups. The relative p-mTOR/mTOR ratio is also significantly elevated in DESI2-lower cancer. Moreover, the samples whose p-AKT and p-mTOR scores both exceed the median are obviously increased in DESI2-lower cancer compared with DESI2-higher cancer. As a downstream molecule of AKT/mTOR pathway, p-P70S6K was found to display higher level in DESI2-lower pancreatic cancer. High phosphorylation status of those proteins in DESI2-reduced pancreatic cancer indicates that there is high activity of AKT/mTOR signal in condition of DESI2 reduction, which could provide clues to reveal the implications of DESI2 in carcinogenesis.

Human testis-expressed sequence 101 is limitedly distributed in germinal epithelium of testis and disappears in seminoma.

BACKGROUND: Testis-expressed sequence 101 (TEX101) was found to be highly expressed in testis and involved in acrosome reaction in previous studies. Recently, the metastasis suppressor function of TEX101 in cancer was disclosed, but the comprehensive investigation of its expression has rarely been reported. In this study, the expression features of TEX101 in normal human organs and seminoma were systematically analyzed. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry demonstrated intense staining of TEX101 in human testis tissues; however, its expression in 27 other types of normal human organs, including the ovary, was negligible. Higher expression of TEX101 was observed in the spermatocytes and spermatids of the testis, but relatively lower staining was detected in spermatogonia. Western blotting showed a single TEX101 band of 38 kDa in human testis, but it did not correspond to the predicted molecular weight of its mature form at 21 KDa. Furthermore, we examined seminoma tissues by immunohistochemistry and found that none of the 36 samples expressed TEX101. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed TEX101 to be a testis protein that could be related to the maturation process of male germ cells. The lack of TEX101 in seminoma indicated its potential role in tumor progression. This characteristic expression of TEX101 could provide a valuable reference for understanding its biological functions.

Implications of PPPDE1 expression in the distribution of plakoglobin and ß-catenin in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Human PPPDE peptidase domain-containing protein 1 (PPPDE1) is a recently identified protein; however, its exact functions remain unclear. In our previous study, the PPPDE1 protein was found to be decreased in certain cancer tissues. In the present study, a total of 96 pancreatic ductal carcinoma tissue samples and 31 normal tissues samples were assessed to investigate the distribution of plakoglobin and ß-catenin under the conditions of various PPPDE1 expression levels by means of immunohistochemistry. Generally, the staining of PPPDE1 was strong in normal tissues, but weak in cancer tissues. Plakoglobin was mainly distributed along the membrane and cytoplasm border in normal cells, but was less evident in the membranes of cancer cells. In particular, a greater percentage of cells exhibited low membrane plakoglobin expression in cancer tissue with low PPPDE1 expression (PPPDE1-low cancer) compared with that in cancer tissue with high PPPDE1 expression (PPPDE1-high cancer). The distribution of ß-catenin in normal tissues was similar to that of plakoglobin. However, ß-catenin was peculiarly prone to invade nucleus in PPPDE1-low cancer compared with PPPDE1-high cancer. Our data suggested potential links between PPPDE1 expression and the distribution of plakoglobin and ß-catenin in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, providing insights into the role of PPPDE1 in the progression of pancreatic cancer.

WNT16B from ovarian fibroblasts induces differentiation of regulatory T cells through ß-catenin signal in dendritic cells.

Treatment for cancer can induce a series of secreted factors into the tumor microenvironment, which can affect cancer progression. Wingless-type MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus) integration site 16B (WNT16B) is a new member of the WNT family and has been reported to play growth-related roles in previous studies. In this study, we found WNT16B could be expressed and secreted into the microenvironment by human ovarian fibroblasts after DNA damage-associated treatment, including chemotherapy drugs and radiation. We also demonstrated that fibroblast-derived WNT16B could result in accumulation of ß-catenin in dendritic cells and secretion of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß), which contributed to the differentiation of regulatory T cells in a co-culture environment. These results shed light on the roles of WNT16B in immune regulation, especially in regard to cancer treatment.

The preparation of VEGFR1/CD3 bispecific antibody and its specific cytotoxicity against VEGFR1-positive breast cancer cells.

Bispecific antibody (BsAb) has been proved to be a very effective antitumor approach because of its distinctive advantages of immune-mediated cytotoxicity. To enhance the ability to recruit and activate T lymphocytes for tumor-specific killing, we constructed and prepared a recombinant human single-chain Fv bispecific antibody (BsAb), named VEGFR1/CD3 BsAb, targeting VEGFR1 and CD3. The VEGFR1/CD3 BsAb was expressed in CHO-K1 cells and purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The CD3 and VEGFR1-binding activity of VEGFR1/CD3 BsAb was confirmed by flow cytometry. T lymphocyte activation and proliferation induced by VEGFR1/CD3 BsAb were also demonstrated in vitro. Notably, our VEGFR1/CD3 BsAb presented a powerful and specific killing effect against VEGFR1-positive human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 through activating T lymphocyte at very low concentrations, indicating that it will be a valuable antibody drug for treatment of VEGFR1-positive cancers in the future.

Human testis-expressed sequence 101 is limitedly distributed in germinal epithelium of testis and disappears in seminoma

BACKGROUND: Testis-expressed sequence 101 (TEX101) was found to be highly expressed in testis and involved in acrosome reaction in previous studies. Recently, the metastasis suppressor function of TEX101 in cancer was disclosed, but the comprehensive investigation of its expression has rarely been reported. In this study, the expression features of TEX101 in normal human organs and seminoma were systematically analyzed. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry demonstrated intense staining of TEX101 in human testis tissues; however, its expression in 27 other types of normal human organs, including the ovary, was negligible. Higher expression of TEX101 was observed in the spermatocytes and spermatids of the testis, but relatively lower staining was detected in spermatogonia. Western blotting showed a single TEX101 band of 38 kDa in human testis, but it did not correspond to the predicted molecular weight of its mature form at 21 KDa. Furthermore, we examined seminoma tissues by immunohistochemistry and found that none of the 36 samples expressed TEX101. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed TEX101 to be a testis protein that could be related to the maturation process of male germ cells. The lack of TEX101 in seminoma indicated its potential role in tumor progression. This characteristic expression of TEX101 could provide a valuable reference for understanding its biological functions.

Src suppressed C kinase substrate regulates the lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-alpha biosynthesis in rat astrocytes.

The protein kinase C (PKC) is known to be a critical component in the signaling cascades that lead to astrocyte-activation. To further understand the mechanism of PKC signaling in astrocyte-activation, we investigated the effect of SSeCKS, a PKC substrate, on LPS-induced cytokine expression in astrocytes by RT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Exposure of the cells to LPS induced rapid translocation of SSeCKS to the perinuclear sides, ERK activation and pronounced TNF-alpha production, which can be inhibited by the PKC inhibitor Gö6983. By using siRNA knockdown of SSeCKS expression, LPS-induced signaling events were partly inhibited, including ERK activation, inducible TNF-alpha biosynthesis and secretion. These results suggest that SSeCKS is involved in the LPS-induced TNF-alpha expression in astrocytes mediated by PKC.