Self-healing propagation of a longitudinally varying vector optical beam for distance measurement.

Based on the longitudinal manipulation of polarization, a special vector optical beam (VOB) with customized polarization variation in propagation direction can be generated, whose properties and applications remain to be studied. Here, the self-healing propagation behaviors of the longitudinally varying VOB after an opaque object are investigated, and the localized polarization responses on the object distance are revealed. On this basis, characteristic parameters are defined to measure the distance of object, achieving a minimum relative error of 0.63% in a longitudinal range of 300 mm. Besides, the correlations and uncoupling methods of object distance and size are discussed. Our studies open new ways to use the structural properties of VOB and may be instructive for laser measurement.

Tight focusing of the vector optical field with polarization varying along complex curves of the Poincaré sphere.

Different from the scalar optical field with spatially uniform polarization, the vector optical field exhibits inhomogeneous distribution of polarization on the cross section. Manipulating the variation of polarization in a single optical beam is important to acquire a flexible and controllable focused optical field. Previous studies mainly focused on the vector optical field with its polarization varying along a circular trajectory of the Poincaré sphere. Here, we demonstrate the tight focusing behaviors of the vector optical field with the polarization varying along complex curves of the Poincaré sphere, which is generated by the joint modulation of azimuthal phase and amplitude distributions of orthogonally polarized components. The longitudinal polarization component with a multipolar pattern in rotational symmetry can be achieved with similar distribution of the total focused field. The transverse and longitudinal spin angular momentum distributions in the focal space are discussed. Approximately pure transverse spin angular momentum can be constructed and manipulated in the focal space, which provides the possibility to manipulate the 3D spin flux for the applications of nano and spin photonics.

Vector optical field with the polarization varying along an arbitrary circular trajectory on the Poincaré sphere.

As an inherent feature of vector optical field, the spatial distribution of polarization brings additional degrees of freedom to engineer the optical field and control the interaction between light and matters. Here we focus on the variation of polarization in single vector optical field, which can be defined by the trajectory on the Poincaré sphere. Based on the amplitude-phase-polarization joint modulation method we propose, vector optical field, whose variation of polarization follows arbitrary circular trajectory on the Poincaré sphere, can be generated. Moreover, the tightly focusing behaviors of the vector optical fields with the polarization varying along parallel circles on the Poincaré sphere are compared. Relations between the circular trajectory and the central intensity of the hollow focal field are concluded.

Lyophyllin, a Mushroom Protein from the Peptidase M35 Superfamily Is an RNA N-Glycosidase.

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) hydrolyze the N-glycosidic bond and depurinate a specific adenine residue (A-4324 in rat 28S ribosomal RNA, rRNA) in the conserved α-sarcin/ricin loop (α-SRL) of rRNA. In this study, we have purified and characterized lyophyllin, an unconventional RIP from Lyophyllum shimeji, an edible mushroom. The protein resembles peptidase M35 domain of peptidyl-Lys metalloendopeptidases. Nevertheless, protein either from the mushroom or in recombinant form possessed N-glycosidase and protein synthesis inhibitory activities. A homology model of lyophyllin was constructed. It was found that the zinc binding pocket of this protein resembles the catalytic cleft of a classical RIP, with key amino acids that interact with the adenine substrate in the appropriate positions. Mutational studies showed that E122 may play a role in stabilizing the positively charged oxocarbenium ion and H121 for protonating N-3 of adenine. The tyrosine residues Y137 and Y104 may be used for stacking the target adenine ring. This work first shows a protein in the peptidase M35 superfamily based on conserved domain search possessing N-glycosidase activity.

[Research progress on bidirectional effect of microRNA on Alzheimer's disease and intervention with traditional Chinese medicine].

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease with recent memory impairment as the main clinical manifestation and senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles as the main pathological changes. In recent years, the effect of microRNAs on AD has attracted widespread attention. Patients with AD have abnormal expression of miRNA, which is closed related to regulation of AD pathophysiology-related genes. Therefore, this paper first elaborated neuroprotective and toxic effects of microRNA in AD, and then explored relevant traditional Chinese medicines that can regulate miRNA in the treatment of AD, so as to provide basis for revealing the pathogenesis relationship between miRNA and AD and provide ideas for further development of anti-AD traditional Chinese medicine.

Bessel-like beams with controllable rotating local linear polarization during propagation.

Bessel-like beams with controllable rotation of local linear polarization upon propagation are generated, which in fact achieve the evolution of polarization states along the equator of the Poincaré sphere during propagation. Based on the amplitude-phase joint modulation method, the rotation direction and rate of polarizations of the Bessel-like beam can be controlled easily by adjusting the radial indices and intensity ratio of two superposed beams. A rotation angle of $\sim$∼800 deg has been achieved after a propagation distance of 120 mm, corresponding to a rotation rate of $\sim$∼6.7 deg/mm, which is about three times higher than in previous works.

Control on helical filaments by twisted beams in a nonlinear CS2 medium.

Curved filament with large bent angle and controllable propagation behavior has always been great expectation and challenge due to its novelty and complexity. The unique properties of curved filaments make it possible to achieve many applications in micro-fabrication, spectroscopy and meteorology. Here we realize experimentally and theoretically control on helical filaments induced by twisted beams in CS2. The results show that helical filaments exhibit a robust pattern and high rotation rate. Specific intensity pattern of the twisted beam confines the filaments in fixed relative position and the azimuthal energy flux drives the rotating of the filamentation pattern. In addition, we demonstrated that the global orbital angular momentum (OAM) of twisted beams is still conservative to be zero, but local OAMs exhibit distinct variation during nonlinear propagation. Our idea has its significance which realizes the construction of helical filaments with flexibility and controllability and then facilitates to push the development of related researches.

Femtosecond polarization-structured optical field meets an anisotropic nonlinear medium.

Filamentation, as a universal femtosecond phenomenon that could occur in various nonlinear systems, has aroused extensive interest, owing to its underlying physics, complexity and applicability. It is always anticipated to realize the controllable and designable filamentation. For this aim, the crucial problem is how to actively break the symmetry of light-matter nonlinear interaction. A kind of extensively used approaches is based on the controllable spatial structure of optical fields involving phase, amplitude and polarization. Here we present an idea to control the optical field collapse by introducing optical anisotropy of matter as an additional degree of freedom, associated with polarization structure. Our theoretical prediction and experimental results reveal that the synergy of optical anisotropy and polarization structure is indeed a very effective means for controlling the optical field collapse, which has the robust feature against random noise.

Baicalin administration could rescue high glucose-induced craniofacial skeleton malformation by regulating neural crest development.

Hyperglycemia in pregnancy can increase the risk of congenital disorders, but little is known about craniofacial skeleton malformation and its corresponding medication. Our study first used meta-analysis to review the previous findings. Second, baicalin, an antioxidant, was chosen to counteract high glucose-induced craniofacial skeleton malformation. Its effectiveness was then tested by exposing chicken embryos to a combination of high glucose (HG, 50 mM) and 6 µM baicalin. Third, whole-mount immunofluorescence staining and in situ hybridization revealed that baicalin administration could reverse HG-inhibited neural crest cells (NCC) delamination and migration through upregulating the expression of Pax7 and Foxd3, and mitigate the disordered epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process by regulating corresponding adhesion molecules and transcription factors (i.e., E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Cadherin 6B, Slug and Msx1). Finally, through bioinformatic analysis and cellular thermal shift assay, we identified the AKR1B1 gene as a potential target. In summary, these findings suggest that baicalin could be used as a therapeutic agent for high glucose-induced craniofacial skeleton malformation.

Comparative Transcriptomic Assessment of Chemosensory Genes in Adult and Larval Olfactory Organs of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis.

The rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a notorious pest of rice in Asia. The larvae and adults of C. medinalis utilize specialized chemosensory systems to adapt to different environmental odors and physiological behaviors. However, the differences in chemosensory genes between the olfactory organs of these two different developmental stages remain unclear. Here, we conducted a transcriptome analysis of larvae heads, male antennae, and female antennae in C. medinalis and identified 131 putative chemosensory genes, including 32 OBPs (8 novel OBPs), 23 CSPs (2 novel CSPs), 55 ORs (17 novel ORs), 19 IRs (5 novel IRs) and 2 SNMPs. Comparisons between larvae and adults of C. medinalis by transcriptome and RT-qPCR analysis revealed that the number and expression of chemosensory genes in larval heads were less than that of adult antennae. Only 17 chemosensory genes (7 OBPs and 10 CSPs) were specifically or preferentially expressed in the larval heads, while a total of 101 chemosensory genes (21 OBPs, 9 CSPs, 51 ORs, 18 IRs, and 2 SNMPs) were specifically or preferentially expressed in adult antennae. Our study found differences in chemosensory gene expression between larvae and adults, suggesting their specialized functions at different developmental stages of C. medinalis. These results provide a theoretical basis for screening chemosensory genes as potential molecular targets and developing novel management strategies to control C. medinalis.

Piezoresistive MXene/Silk fibroin nanocomposite hydrogel for accelerating bone regeneration by Re-establishing electrical microenvironment.

The electrical microenvironment plays an important role in bone repair. However, the underlying mechanism by which electrical stimulation (ES) promotes bone regeneration remains unclear, limiting the design of bone microenvironment-specific electroactive materials. Herein, by simple co-incubation in aqueous suspensions at physiological temperatures, biocompatible regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) is found to assemble into nanofibrils with a ß-sheet structure on MXene nanosheets, which has been reported to inhibit the restacking and oxidation of MXene. An electroactive hydrogel based on RSF and bioencapsulated MXene is thus prepared to promote efficient bone regeneration. This MXene/RSF hydrogel also acts as a piezoresistive pressure transducer, which can potentially be utilized to monitor the electrophysiological microenvironment. RNA sequencing is performed to explore the underlying mechanisms, which can activate Ca2+/CALM signaling in favor of the direct osteogenesis process. ES is found to facilitate indirect osteogenesis by promoting the polarization of M2 macrophages, as well as stimulating the neogenesis and migration of endotheliocytes. Consistent improvements in bone regeneration and angiogenesis are observed with MXene/RSF hydrogels under ES in vivo. Collectively, the MXene/RSF hydrogel provides a distinctive and promising strategy for promoting direct osteogenesis, regulating immune microenvironment and neovascularization under ES, leading to re-establish electrical microenvironment for bone regeneration.

A Sixty-Year Research and Development of Trichosanthin, a Ribosome-Inactivating Protein.

Tian Hua Fen, a herbal powder extract that contains trichosanthin (TCS), was used as an abortifacient in traditional Chinese medicine. In 1972, TCS was purified to alleviate the side effects. Because of its clinical applications, TCS became one of the most active research areas in the 1960s to the 1980s in China. These include obtaining the sequence information in the 1980s and the crystal structure in 1995. The replication block of TCS on human immunodeficiency virus in lymphocytes and macrophages was found in 1989 and started a new chapter of its development. Clinical studies were subsequently conducted. TCS was also found to have the potential for gastric and colorectal cancer treatment. Studies on its mechanism showed TCS acts as an rRNA N-glycosylase (EC 3.2.2.22) by hydrolyzing and depurinating A-4324 in α-sarcin/ricin loop on 28S rRNA of rat ribosome. Its interaction with acidic ribosomal stalk proteins was revealed in 2007, and its trafficking in mammalian cells was elucidated in the 2000s. The adverse drug reactions, such as inducing immune responses, short plasma half-life, and non-specificity, somehow became the obstacles to its usage. Immunotoxins, sequence modification, or coupling with polyethylene glycerol and dextran were developed to improve the pharmacological properties. TCS has nicely shown the scientific basis of traditional Chinese medicine and how its research and development have expanded the knowledge and applications of ribosome-inactivating proteins.

Pore-Forming Cardiotoxin VVA2 (Volvatoxin A2) Variant I82E/L86K Is an Atypical Duplex-Specific Nuclease.

VVA2 (volvatoxin A chain 2) is a cardiotoxic protein purified from Volvariella volvacea. Its biological activities include hemolysis, writhing reaction, neurotoxicity, and ventricular systolic arresting activity. The cytotoxicity of VVA2 was mainly considered due to its pore-forming activity. Here we report a novel biological activity of its variants VVA2 I82E/K86K as a duplex-specific nuclease. Recombinant VVA2 variant I82E/L86K (Re-VVA2 I82E/L86K), deprived of the oligomerization property, shows increased nuclease activity compared to VVA2. Re-VVA2 I82E/L86K converts supercoiled DNA (Replicative form I, RF I) into nicked form (RF II) and linear form (RF III) in the presence of Mg2+ or Mn2+. Besides plasmid DNA, it also exhibits nuclease activity on E. coli genomic DNA rather than ssDNA or RNA. Re-VVA2 I82E/L86K preferentially cleaves dG-dC-rich dsDNA regions and shows the best performance at pH 6-9 and 55 °C. Our structure-function study has revealed amino acid E111 may take an active part in nuclease activity through interacting with metal ions. Based on the sequences of its cleavage sites, a "double-hit" mechanism was thereby proposed. Given that Re-VVA2 I82E/L86K did not exhibit the conserved nuclease structure and sequence, it is considered an atypical duplex-specific nuclease.

LncRNA THOR promotes endometrial cancer progression through the AKT and ERK signaling pathways.

The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) THOR is highly conserved and expressed in various human cancer tissues, although its potential role and underlying mechanism in endometrial cancer (EC) remain unknown. This study aims to explore THOR's biological function and molecular mechanism in EC progression. THOR expression in EC tissues and cell lines was detected by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH). THOR expression based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and clinical sample analyses was significantly higher in EC tissues than normal tissues, and higher THOR levels were closely associated with poor overall survival in EC. Additionally, a positive correlation between ISH-detected THOR expression and pathological grade was observed. CCK-8, colony formation, and transwell migration and invasion assays revealed that THOR significantly enhances the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of EC cells. Moreover, IGF2BP1 protein expression and ERK and AKT protein phosphorylation levels in EC cells increased significantly with THOR overexpression in EC cells. In conclusion, our findings suggest that THOR promotes EC cell growth and invasion, and IGF2BP1-mediated AKT and ERK signaling pathways activation might be involved. Clinically, THOR is significantly expressed in EC, and high THOR expression correlates with poor prognosis, making it a potential prognostic marker for EC.

[Analysis of oral condition and caries related factors of 152 deaf-mute students in Jing'an district, Shanghai].

PURPOSE: To investigate the oral condition of deaf-mute students in Jing 'an district, Shanghai, and to analyze caries related factors among deaf-mute students. METHODS: Using general survey method, 152 students aging from 9 to 18 years old from two schools in Jing 'an district of Shanghai underwent oral examinations and questionnaire survey. SPSS 22.0 software package was used for statistical analysis of the data. RESULTS: Among the 152 deaf-mute students, caries rate was 53.3%, DMFT index was 1.80±2.66, detection rate of gingival bleeding was 65.8%, detection rate of calculus was 69.7%, caries rate of first molar was 36.2%, and percentage of pit and fissure sealant was 0.6%. Among children aging 12-15 years old, the caries rate was 50.0%, DMFT index was 1.69±3.13, detection rate of gingival bleeding was 68.5%, and the detection rate of calculus was 70.4%, all were significantly higher than those of urban group aging 12-15 years old during the Fourth National Oral Health Epidemiological Survey. According to logistic regression analysis, frequency of daily brushing（P=0.009）, dental surface of brushing（P<0.001）, brushing time（P=0.005）, frequency of drinking sweet drinks and carbonated drinks（P=0.003）, and the knowledge of oral health care（P=0.036） were all related factors affecting the occurrence of caries among deaf-mute students. CONCLUSIONS: For the prevention and control of caries in deaf-mute students, we should further strengthen oral health education and promote the implementation of intervention measures such as local fluoridation, pit and fissure sealant and early dental caries filling, so as to effectively control the occurrence and development of caries in deaf-mute students.

CA125-Tn ELISA assay improves specificity of pre-operative diagnosis of ovarian cancer among patients with elevated serum CA125 levels.

BACKGROUND: CA125 is the most widely used serum marker for preoperative diagnosis of ovarian cancer. However, CA125 elevation is not specific to ovarian cancer. More than 60% of patients who have elevated CA125 levels do not have ovarian cancer. To overcome the low specificity of CA125, we identified a CA125 glycoform that was specifically elevated in ovarian cancer and that may help in the further triage of patients with elevated serum CA125 levels. METHODS: We used antibody-lectin ELISA to detect various CA125 glycoforms. Among 21 lectins tested, VVA, a plant lectin that preferentially binds Tn antigen, showed significantly stronger binding with ovarian cancer-derived CA125 than benign condition-derived CA125. CA125-Tn levels were tested among patients with elevated CA125 levels (n=328, including 68 ovarian cancer, 15 ovarian borderline tumors, and 245 benign conditions). The efficacy of CA125-Tn in diagnosing ovarian cancer was evaluated using ROC analysis. RESULTS: Medians and 25th to 75th quartiles of CA125-Tn levels were 0.31 (0.18-0.65) in ovarian cancer, 0.07 (0.02-0.12) in ovarian borderline tumor, and 0.07 (0.01-0.12) in benign conditions. AUC of the ROC curve was 0.890 (95% CI: 0.845, 0.935) for CA125-Tn to discriminate ovarian cancer cases from nonmalignant cases (borderline tumors and benign conditions). Its performance was even better among patients older than 45 y (AUC: 0.905, 95% CI: 0.841, 0.969). Specificity was improved from 35.1% for CA125 to 75.7% for CA125-Tn among patients older than 45 y when sensitivity was fixed at 90%. CONCLUSIONS: CA125-Tn ELISA assay can improve specificity of the preoperative diagnosis of ovarian cancer and serve as a further triage strategy for patients with elevated CA125 levels.

Emergence of fosA3 and bla CTX-M- 14 in Multidrug-Resistant Citrobacter freundii Isolates From Flowers and the Retail Environment in China.

We examined the prevalence and transmission of the fosA3 gene among Citrobacter freundii isolates from flowers and the retail environments. We identified 11 fosfomycin-resistant C. freundii strains (>256 µg/mL) from 270 samples that included petals (n = 7), leaves (n = 2), dust (n = 1) and water (n = 1). These 11 isolates were multidrug-resistant and most were simultaneously resistant to fosfomycin, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin and amikacin. Consistently, all 11 isolates also possessed bla CTX-M- 14, bla CMY- 65 / 122, aac(6')-Ib-cr, qnrS1, qnrB13/6/38 and rmtB. These fosA3-positive isolates were assigned to two distinct PFGE patterns and one (n = 9) predominated indicating clonal expansion of fosA3-positive isolates across flower markets and shops. Correspondingly, fosA3 was co-transferred with bla CTX-M- 14 via two plasmid types by conjugation possessing sizes of 110 kb (n = 9) and 260 kb (n = 2). Two representatives were fully sequenced and p12-1 and pS39-1 possessed one and two unclassified replicons, respectively. These plasmids shared a distinctive and conserved backbone in common with fosA3-carrying C. freundii and other Enterobacteriaceae from human and food animals. However, the fosA3-bla CTX-M- 14-containing multidrug resistance regions on these untypable plasmids were highly heterogeneous. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of fosA3 and bla CTX-M- 14 that were present in bacterial contaminants from flower shops and markets. These findings underscore a public health threat posed by untypable and transferable p12-1-like and pS39-1-like plasmids bearing fosA3-bla CTX-M- 14 that could circulate among Enterobacteriaceae species and in particular C. freundi in environmental isolates.

[Lung metastasis of human choriocarcinoma in mice: establishment of experimental metastatic model and its biological characteristics].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a satisfactory lung metastasis model of human choriocarcinoma using severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice and explore the appropriate cell concentration for the model. METHODS: Forty SCID mice aged between 5 - 6 weeks were randomly divided into four groups. 1 × 10(7) cells/ml × 0.1 ml, 5 × 10(6) cells/ml × 0.2 ml and 1 × 10(6) cells/ml × 0.1 ml of human choriocarcinoma cells JEG-3 were respectively injected in SCID mice of experimental groups by lateral tail vein, the remain group was assigned to the control group. The status and weight of mice were observed every three days. When these mice were being dying, the size and the number of the lesions of lung metastasis in every mouse were inspected with Micro CT. After Micro CT inspection, the SCID mice were executed dissected to note whether there were tumors on all organ surfaces with naked eyes, then made pathological sections from the metastatic foci of fresh lung tissues, and cultured primarily cells and purified cells and passaged cells isolated from the same metastastic foci. The pathological sections were observed under the microscope. The special antigen human chorionic gonadotropin-beta subunit (ß-hCG) of the choriocarcinoma cells was immunohistochemically detected in the pathological sections and the cells out of cultured primarily cells. The chromosomes of the cells out of cultured primarily cells were analysed. RESULTS: Of the group inoculated 1 × 10(7) cells/ml × 0.1 ml, all mice died when inoculating. In the group of 5 × 10(6) cells/ml × 0.2 ml, when inoculating, 3 mice died; the remain 7 mice were being dying on (18.0 ± 2.0) days after injection. 5 of them, there were 1 - 3 lesions of lung metastasis after Micro CT inspection in each mice, and the diameter of the tumors lesions reached 1.5 - 3.5 mm, which was choriocarcinoma confirmed by pathological sections. The special antigen ß-hCG was detected by immunohistochemical method in the pathological sections of pulmonary tissue with tumor and in the cells, which were purified and passaged from being cultured primarily cells isolated from metastastic foci of fresh lung tissues from the SCID mice. The chromosome numbers of these cells out of cultured primarily cells were variety from 19 to 128, and modal numbers were variety from 70 to 79. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully established the lung metastatic model of human choriocarcinoma in SCID mice by injecting JEG-3 cells into lateral tail vein, of which 5 × 10(6) cells/ml × 0.2 ml is the suitable concentration and volume for the model.

Engineering of Ribosome-inactivating Proteins for Improving Pharmacological Properties.

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are N-glycosidases, which depurinate a specific adenine residue in the conserved α-sarcin/ricin loop (α-SRL) of rRNA. This loop is important for anchoring elongation factor (EF-G for prokaryote or eEF2 for eukaryote) in mRNA translocation. Translation is inhibited after the attack. RIPs therefore may have been applied for anti-cancer, and anti-virus and other therapeutic applications. The main obstacles of treatment with RIPs include short plasma half-life, non-selective cytotoxicity and antigenicity. This review focuses on the strategies used to improve the pharmacological properties of RIPs on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cancers. Coupling with polyethylene glycol (PEG) increases plasma time and reduces antigenicity. RIPs conjugated with antibodies to form immunotoxins increase the selective toxicity to target cells. The prospects for future development on the engineering of RIPs for improving their pharmacological properties are also discussed.

Baicalin rescues hyperglycemia-induced neural tube defects via targeting on retinoic acid signaling.

We, in this study, studied whether or not antioxidant activities of Baicalin could reduce the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the presence of hyperglycemia. Using early chick embryos, we demonstrated that Baicalin at 6 µM dramatically reduced NTDs rate and impaired neurogenesis in E4.5-day and HH10 chick embryo neural tubes induced by high glucose (HG). Likewise, immunofluorescent staining showed that Baicalin mitigated the HG-induced regression of Pax7 expression in neural tubes of both HH10 and E4.5-day chick embryos. Additionally, PHIS3 immunofluorescent staining in neural tubes of both HH10 and E4.5-day chick embryos manifested that cell proliferation inhibited by HG was significantly reversed by the administration of Baicalin, and similar result could also be observed in neurosphere assay in vitro. c-Caspase3 or γH2AX immunofluorescent staining and quantitative PCR showed that Baicalin administration alleviated HG-induced cell apoptosis and DNA damage. Bioinformatics results indicated that retinoic acid (RA) was likely to be the signaling pathway that Baicalin targeted on, and this was confirmed by whole-mount RALDH2 in situ hybridization and quantitative PCR of HH10 chick embryos in the absence/presence of Baicalin. In addition, blocking RA with an inhibitor abolished Baicalin's protective role in HG-induced NTDs, suppression of neurogenesis and cell proliferation, and induction of apoptosis, which further verified the centrality of RA in the process of Baicalin confronting HG-induced abnormal neurodevelopment.