A Negative Regulatory Feedback Loop within the JAK-STAT Pathway Mediated by the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase DUSP14 in Shrimp.

The JAK-STAT pathway is a central communication node for various biological processes. Its activation is characterized by phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of the transcription factor STAT. The regulatory balance of JAK-STAT signaling is important for maintenance of immune homeostasis. Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) induce dephosphorylation of tyrosine residues in intracellular proteins and generally function as negative regulators in cell signaling. However, the roles of PTPs in JAK-STAT signaling, especially in invertebrates, remain largely unknown. Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei is currently an important model for studying invertebrate immunity. This study identified a novel member of the dual-specificity phosphatase (DUSP) subclass of the PTP superfamily in P. vannamei, named PvDUSP14. By interacting with and dephosphorylating STAT, PvDUSP14 inhibits the excessive activation of the JAK-STAT pathway, and silencing of PvDUSP14 significantly enhances humoral and cellular immunity in shrimp. The promoter of PvDUSP14 contains a STAT-binding motif and can be directly activated by STAT, suggesting that PvDUSP14 is a regulatory target gene of the JAK-STAT pathway and mediates a negative feedback regulatory loop. This feedback loop plays a role in maintaining homeostasis of JAK-STAT signaling and is involved in antibacterial and antiviral immune responses in shrimp. Therefore, the current study revealed a novel inhibitory mechanism of JAK-STAT signaling, which is of significance for studying the regulatory mechanisms of immune homeostasis in invertebrates.

Structure and Phylogenetic Relationships of Scolopacidae Mitogenomes (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae).

The family Scolopacidae presents a valuable subject for evolutionary research; however, molecular studies of Scolopacidae are still relatively understudied, and the phylogenetic relationships of certain species remain unclear. In this study, we sequenced and obtained complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Actitis hypoleucos and partial mtDNA from Numenius arquata, Limosa limosa, and Limnodromus semipalmatus. The complete mtDNA contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. Scolopacidae contained three types of start codons and five types of stop codons (including one incomplete stop codon, T--). In 13 protein-coding genes, average uncorrected pairwise distances (Aupd) revealed that ATP8 was the least conserved while COX3 had the lowest evolutionary rate. The ratio of Ka/Ks suggested that all PCGs were under purifying selection. Using two methods (maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference) to analyze the phylogenetic relationships of the family Scolopacidae, it was found that the genera Xenus and Actitis were clustered into another sister group, while the genus Phalaropus is more closely related to the genus Tringa. The genera Limnodromus, Gallinago, and Scolopax form a monophyletic group. This study improves our understanding of the evolutionary patterns and phylogenetic relationships of the family Scolopacidae.

Vibrational stability improvement of a mirror system using active mass damping.

Addressing the demand for high stability of beamline instruments at the SHINE facility, a high stability mirror regulating mechanism has been developed for mirror adjustments. Active mass damping was adopted to attenuate pitch angle vibrations of mirrors caused by structural vibrations. An internal absolute velocity feedback was used to reduce the negative impact of spillover effects and to improve performance. The experiment was conducted on a prototype structure of a mirror regulating mechanism, and results showed that the vibration RMS of the pitch angle was effectively attenuated from 47 nrad to 27 nrad above 1 Hz.

40 Gb/s multimode all-optical regenerator based on the low-loss silicon-based nanowaveguide.

With the increasing demand for communication capacity, all-optical regeneration of multimode signals is a helpful technology of network nodes and optical signal processors. However, the difficulty of regenerating signal in higher-order modes hinders the practical application of multimode all-optical regenerators. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate the 40 Gb/s all-optical regeneration of NRZ-OOK signal in TE0 and TE1 modes via four-wave mixing (FWM) in the low-loss silicon-based nanowaveguide. By optimizing the parameters of waveguide section to enhance FWM conversion efficiency of two modes, and introducing Euler bending to reduce crosstalk between modes, the transmission loss of the silicon waveguide is 0.3 dB/cm, and the FWM conversion efficiency of the multimode regenerator is as high as -9.6 dB (TE0) and -13.0 dB (TE1). Both modes achieve extinction ratio enhancement of about 6 dB after regeneration. This silicon-based all-optical regenerator has great application potential in all-optical signal processing systems.

Low-loss grating coupler with a subwavelength structure on a thin-film lithium niobate substrate.

We demonstrated a low-loss O-band grating coupler on an x-cut thin-film lithium niobate substrate by implementing subwavelength and apodized structures. The subwavelength gratings were used to mitigate the refractive index discontinuity between the input taper and grating region, which was the first application of such a structure for grating coupler optimization on a thin-film lithium niobate substrate. The coupling efficiency was measured to be -1.99 dB/coupler at a wavelength of 1312.8 nm, which was the lowest loss among the reported lithium niobate grating couplers that do not use metal mirrors. The proposed design does not require metal mirrors or any additional material layers and can be easily fabricated with a single-step lithography and etching processes.

Thin-film lithium niobate-based electro-optic comb cloning for self-homodyne coherent communication.

As the optical communication industry advances, metropolitan area networks (MANs) and radio access networks (RANs) are extensively deployed on a large scale, demanding energy-efficient integrated light sources and simplified digital signal processing (DSP) technologies. The emergence of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) has given rise to high-performance, energy-efficient on-chip modulators, making on-chip optical frequency comb (OFC) more appealing. Owing to the phase uniformity and stability of this chip-scale device, it has been possible to eliminate the carrier frequency phase estimation (CPE) in DSP stacks using comb-clone-enabled self-homodyne detection. Here we report the first use, to our knowledge, of a TFLN on-chip electro-optic (EO) frequency comb to realize comb cloning and self-homodyne coherent detection. We transmit three optical pilot tones and eight data channels encoded with 20 Gbaud polarization-multiplexed 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (PM-16-QAM) over 10 km and 80 km standard single-mode fibers. The bit error ratios (BERs) of the eight channels reach below 10-3, a result made possible by our on-chip comb. The scalability and mass producibility of on-chip EO combs, combined with the simplified DSP, show potential in our proposed fifth-generation (5G) RAN and MAN transmission scheme.

D-arabinose acts as antidepressant by activating the ACSS2-PPARγ/TFEB axis and CRTC1 transcription.

CREB-regulated transcription coactivator 1 (CRTC1), a pivotal synaptonuclear messenger, regulates synaptic plasticity and transmission to prevent depression. Despite exhaustive investigations into CRTC1 mRNA reductions in the depressed mice, the regulatory mechanisms governing its transcription remain elusive. Consequently, exploring rapid but non-toxic CRTC1 inducers at the transcriptional level is important for resisting depression. Here, we demonstrate the potential of D-arabinose, a unique monosaccharide prevalent in edible-medicinal plants, to rapidly enter the brain and induce CRTC1 expression, thereby eliciting rapid-acting and persistent antidepressant responses in chronic restrain stress (CRS)-induced depressed mice. Mechanistically, D-arabinose induces the expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and transcription factor EB (TFEB), thereby activating CRTC1 transcription. Notably, we elucidate the pivotal role of the acetyl-CoA synthetase short-chain family member 2 (ACSS2) as an obligatory mediator for PPARγ and TFEB to potentiate CRTC1 transcription. Furthermore, D-arabinose augments ACSS2-dependent CRTC1 transcription by activating AMPK through lysosomal AXIN-LKB1 pathway. Correspondingly, the hippocampal down-regulations of ACSS2, PPARγ or TFEB alone failed to reverse CRTC1 reductions in CRS-exposure mice, ultimately abolishing the anti-depressant efficacy of D-arabinose. In summary, our study unveils a previously unexplored role of D-arabinose in activating the ACSS2-PPARγ/TFEB-CRTC1 axis, presenting it as a promising avenue for the prevention and treatment of depression.

The promotion of biofilm dispersion: a new strategy for eliminating foodborne pathogens in the food industry.

Food safety is a critical global concern due to its direct impact on human health and overall well-being. In the food processing environment, biofilm formation by foodborne pathogens poses a significant problem as it leads to persistent and high levels of food contamination, thereby compromising the quality and safety of food. Therefore, it is imperative to effectively remove biofilms from the food processing environment to ensure food safety. Unfortunately, conventional cleaning methods fall short of adequately removing biofilms, and they may even contribute to further contamination of both equipment and food. It is necessary to develop alternative approaches that can address this challenge in food industry. One promising strategy in tackling biofilm-related issues is biofilm dispersion, which represents the final step in biofilm development. Here, we discuss the biofilm dispersion mechanism of foodborne pathogens and elucidate how biofilm dispersion can be employed to control and mitigate biofilm-related problems. By shedding light on these aspects, we aim to provide valuable insights and solutions for effectively addressing biofilm contamination issues in food industry, thus enhancing food safety and ensuring the well-being of consumers.

Affinity-Driven Site-Specific High Mannose Modification Determines the Structural Polymerization and Function of Tetrameric IgM in a Primitive Vertebrate.

Teleost tetramer IgM is the predominant Ig in the immune system and plays essential roles in host defense against microbial infection. Due to variable disulfide polymerization of the monomeric subunits, tetrameric IgM possesses considerable structural diversity. Previous work indicated that the teleost IgM H chain was fully occupied with complex-type N-glycans. However, after challenge with trinitrophenyl (TNP) Ag, the complex N-glycans in the Asn-509 site of Oreochromis niloticus IgM H chain transformed into high mannose. This study, therefore, was conducted to examine the functional roles of the affinity-related high-mannose modification in tilapia IgM. The TNP-specific IgM Ab affinity maturation was revealed in tilapia over the response. A positive correlation between TNP-specific IgM affinity and its disulfide polymerization level of isomeric structure was demonstrated. Mass spectrometric analysis indicated that the relationship between IgM affinity and disulfide polymerization was associated with the Asn-509 site-specific high-mannose modification. Furthermore, the increase of high mannose content promoted the combination of IgM and mannose receptor (MR) on the surface of phagocytes. Moreover, the increased interaction of IgM and MR amplified the phagocytic ability of phagocytes to Streptococcus agalactiae. To our knowledge, this study demonstrates that site-specific high-mannose modification associates with IgM Ab affinity and its structural disulfide polymerization and amplifies the phagocytosis of phagocytes by the combination of IgM and MR. The present study provides evidence for understanding the association of IgM structure and function during the evolution of the immune system.

Dietary vitamin C and vitamin E with the risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection: A prospective population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The associations between dietary vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE) intake and aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD) remain unclear. This study aimed to prospectively investigate the associations between dietary VC and VE with the incident risk of AAD. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 139 477 participants of UK Biobank cohort were included in the analysis. Dietary VC and VE consumptions were acquired through a 24-h recall questionnaire. Cox proportional regression models were used to examine the associations between VC, VE intake and the risk of AAD. Incident AAD was ascertained through hospital inpatient records and death registers. During a median follow-up of 12.5 years, 962 incident AAD events were documented. Both dietary VC [adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 0.77; 95 % confidence intervals (CI), 0.63-0.93; P-trend = 0.008] and VE (adjusted HR, 0.70; 95 % CI, 0.57-0.87; P-trend = 0.002) were inversely associated with incident AAD when comparing the participants in the highest quartile with those in the lowest. In subgroup analyses, the associations were more pronounced in participants who were over 60 years old, participants with smoking history, hypertension or hyperlipidemia, who were under the high risk of AAD. CONCLUSION: Higher dietary VC and VE intakes are associated with reduced risk of AAD. Our study emphasizes the importance of diet adjustment strategies targeted on VC and VE to lower the incidence rate of AAD especially in the high-risk population.