Evidence for CAT gene being functionally involved in the susceptibility of COVID-19.

Novel coronary pneumonia (COVID-19) is a respiratory distress syndrome caused by a new type of coronavirus. Understanding the genetic basis of susceptibility and prognosis to COVID-19 is of great significance to disease prevention, molecular typing, prognosis, and treatment. However, so far, there have been only two genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on the susceptibility of COVID-19. Starting with these reported DNA variants, we found the genes regulated by these variants through cis-eQTL and cis-meQTL acting. We further did a series of bioinformatics analysis on these potential risk genes. The analysis shows that the genetic variants on EHF regulate the expression of its neighbor CAT gene via cis-eQTL. There was significant evidence that CAT and the SARS-CoV-2-related S protein binding protein ACE2 interact with each other. Intracellular localization results showed that CAT and ACE2 proteins both exists in the cell membrane and extracellular area and their interaction could have an impact on the cell invasion ability of S protein. In addition, the expression of these three genes showed a significant positive correlation in the lungs. Based on these results, we propose that CAT plays a crucial intermediary role in binding effectiveness of ACE2, thereby affecting the susceptibility to COVID-19.

Graphene/ chitosan tubes inoculated with dental pulp stem cells promotes repair of facial nerve injury.

Introduction: Facial nerve injury significantly impacts both the physical and psychological] wellbeing of patients. Despite advancements, there are still limitations associated with autografts transplantation. Consequently, there is an urgent need for effective artificial grafts to address these limitations and repair injuries. Recent years have witnessed the recognition of the beneficial effects of chitosan (CS) and graphene in the realm of nerve repair. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) hold great promise due to their high proliferative and multi-directional differentiation capabilities. Methods: In this study, Graphene/CS (G/CST) composite tubes were synthesized and their physical, chemical and biological properties were evaluated, then DPSCs were employed as seed cells and G/CST as a scaffold to investigate their combined effect on promoting facial nerve injury repair. Results and Disscussion: The experimental results indicate that G/CST possesses favorable physical and chemical properties, along with good cyto-compatibility. making it suitable for repairing facial nerve transection injuries. Furthermore, the synergistic application of G/CST and DPSCs significantly enhanced the repair process for a 10 mm facial nerve defect in rabbits, highlighting the efficacy of graphene as a reinforcement material and DPSCs as a functional material in facial nerve injury repair. This approach offers an effective treatment strategy and introduces a novel concept for clinically managing facial nerve injuries.

Role of N6-methyladenosine RNA modification in gastric cancer.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation is the most prevalent internal modification of mammalian messenger RNA. The m6A modification affects multiple aspects of RNA metabolism, including processing, splicing, export, stability, and translation through the reversible regulation of methyltransferases (Writers), demethylases (Erasers), and recognition binding proteins (Readers). Accumulating evidence indicates that altered m6A levels are associated with a variety of human cancers. Recently, dysregulation of m6A methylation was shown to be involved in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer (GC) through various pathways. Thus, elucidating the relationship between m6A and the pathogenesis of GC has important clinical implications for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of GC patients. In this review, we evaluate the potential role and clinical significance of m6A-related proteins which function in GC in an m6A-dependent manner. We discuss current issues regarding m6A-targeted inhibition of GC, explore new methods for GC diagnosis and prognosis, consider new targets for GC treatment, and provide a reasonable outlook for the future of GC research.

[Study on the synchronous interactions between different thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots and BSA].

The modifier of quantum dots plays an important role in synthesis and nature of quantum dots, however the effect on the interaction between quantum dots and protein is not very clear until up to now. In the present paper, the interactions of CdTe quantum dots with bovine serum album (BSA) were studied by spectroscopy methods including ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrometry (UV-Vis), fluorescence spectrometry (FL) and infrared spectrometry (IR). The CdTe quantum dots were modified by three different thiol-complex including thioglycolic acid, L-cysteine and glutathione, i. e. thioglycolic acid capped CdTe quantum dots (CdTe(T)), L-cysteine capped CdTe quantum dots (CdTe(L)) and glutathione capped CdTe quantum dots (CdTe(G)) respectively. The quenching constant K(sv) and corresponding thermodynamic parameters, such as enthalpy change (deltaH(theta)), entropy change (deltaS(theta)), Gibbs free energy change (deltaG(theta)), were calculated according to Stern-Volmer equations. The results showed that CdTe(T), CdTe(L) and CdTe(G) all have a strong ability of quenching the fluorescence of bovine serum albumin, and the interactions of the three types of thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots with BSA were static quenching process. The quenching constant of K(sv)(TGA) is similar to K(sv)(GSH), which is much less than K(sv)(L-Cys). The binding forces of CdTe(T) and CdTe(L) with the BSA were the main contributions from hydrophobic force according to the thermodynamic parameters (deltaH(theta) > 0, deltaS(theta) > 0 and deltaG(theta) < 0), while the binding forces of CdTe(G) with BSA were composed of both hydrogen bonding force and hydrophobic force according to the thermodynamic parameters(deltaH(theta) < 0, deltaS(theta) > 0 and deltaG(theta) < 0). It was found that different functional group and molecular volume size of thiol surface modified reagent played an important role in the interactions between CdTe QDs and BSA.