Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) mediate both perception and release of semiochemicals in insects. These proteins are the ideal targets for understanding the olfactory code of insects as well as for ...interfering with their communication system in order to control pest species. The two sibling Lepidopteran species Helicoverpa armigera and H. assulta are two major agricultural pests. As part of our aim to characterize the OBP repertoire of these two species, here we focus our attention on a member of this family, OBP10, particularly interesting for its expression pattern. The protein is specifically expressed in the antennae of both sexes, being absent from other sensory organs. However, it is highly abundant in seminal fluid, is transferred to females during mating and is eventually found on the surface of fertilised eggs. Among the several different volatile compounds present in reproductive organs, OBP10 binds 1-dodecene, a compound reported as an insect repellent. These results have been verified in both H. armigera and H. assulta with no apparent differences between the two species. The recombinant OBP10 binds, besides 1-dodecene, some linear alcohols and several aromatic compounds. The structural similarity of OBP10 with OBP1 of the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus, a protein reported to bind an oviposition pheromone, and its affinity with 1-dodecene suggest that OBP10 could be a carrier for oviposition deterrents, favouring spreading of the eggs in these species where cannibalism is active among larvae.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Skin damages are defined as one of most common lesions people suffer from, some of wounds are notoriously difficult to eradicate such as chronic wounds and deep burns. Existing wound therapies have ...been proved to be inadequate and far from satisfactory. The cutting-edge nanotechnology offers an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize and invent new therapies or boost the effectiveness of current medical treatments. In particular, the nano-drug delivery systems anchor bioactive molecules to applied area, sustain the drug release and explicitly enhance the therapeutic efficacies of drugs, thus making a fine figure in field relevant to skin regeneration. This review summarized and discussed the current nano-drug delivery systems holding pivotal potential for wound healing and skin regeneration, with a special emphasis on liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, nanofibrous structures and nanohydrogel.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this study, mechanical properties of hypereutectoid steels after thermomechanical processing have been evaluated using standard mechanical tests and a theoretical model has been developed using a ...novel artificial neural network approach. The K-folder cross validation (K-CV) was used to improve the generalized regression neural network (GRNN) to model and predict the lamellar spacing and mechanical properties of hypereutectoid steels with a small sample data. The independent variables in the model were the alloying elements. The dependent parameters were the interlamellar spacing, tensile strength, yield strength, section shrinkage and hardness. A comparison between the predicted values by improved GRNN with the experimental data indicates that the well trained model can provide accurate results. The effects of alloying elements can be evaluated by the developed model and help to achieve the desired lamellar spacing and mechanical properties. This would help the materials engineer suitably design the alloying compositions to obtain the desired combination of plasticity and strength properties.
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GEOZS, IMTLJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Antennae are often considered to be the nostrils of insects. Here, we sequenced the transcriptome of the pheromone gland-ovipositor complex of
and discovered that an odorant receptor (OR) gene,
, had ...much higher expression in the ovipositor than in antennae or other tissues. To determine whether the ovipositor was involved in odorant detection, we co-expressed
and its co-receptor,
, in a
oocyte model system, and demonstrated that the OR was responsive to 12 plant odorants, especially Z-3-hexenyl butyrate. These odorants elicited electrophysiological responses of some sensilla in the ovipositor, and
and
were co-expressed within ovipositor sensilla. Two oviposition preference experiments showed that female moths lacking antennae still preferentially selected oviposition sites containing plant volatiles. We suggest that the expression of
in the ovipositor of
helps females to determine precise egg-laying sites in host plants.
CO2 reduction to carbon feedstocks using heterogeneous photocatalysis technique has been deemed as an attractive means of addressing both deteriorating greenhouse effect and depletion of fossil ...fuels. Nevertheless, deficiency of accessible active sites on the catalyst surface, low CO2 adsorption rate, and short carrier lifetime retard the photocatalytic CO2 conversion into hydrocarbon fuels. In this study, the controllable construction of spatially separated directional charge transport pathways over multilayered heterostructured transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) based photosystems for high‐performance photocatalytic CO2‐to‐syngas conversion are shown. In this scenario, ultrathin non‐conjugated insulating poly(diallyl‐dimethyl‐ammonium chloride) (PDDA) layer are intercalated in‐between TMCs and layered double hydroxide (LDH) and serve as an efficient electron transfer mediator, whilst LDH functions as a hole‐withdrawing regulator, both of which synergistically foster the spatial vectorial charge migration/separation over TMCs, thus endowing the TMCs/PDDA/LDH heterostructures with significantly boosted visible‐light‐driven photoactivity toward CO2 conversion into syngas. This study can inspire sparkling new ideas to realize fine tuning of charge motion for stimulating solar‐to‐fuel conversion.
Ultrathin non‐conjugated insulating poly(diallyl‐dimethyl‐ammonium chloride) (PDDA) serves as an efficient electron transfer mediator, and simultaneously layered double hydroxide (LDH) functions as a hole‐withdrawing regulator, both of which synergistically contributes to the spatially separated bi‐directional charge transfer pathways over transition metal chalcogenides toward significantly boosted CO2 photoreduction catalysis under visible light irradiation.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
We report herein the synthesis of carbogenic dots (CDs) by a one-step pyrolysis from
N
-acetylcysteine. The as-prepared CDs show excellent dispersibility with particle sizes in the range of 3–5 nm. ...Under stimulation with blue light, the CDs emit broad yellow fluorescence, which is still rarely reported by now. The optical properties were throughly investigated, and we found the CDs exhibit stable fluorescence, high quantum yield, and pH dependence. Moreover, an economical approach for constructing white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was developed by combining the yellow-emitting CDs with blue GaN-based LED chips. The white LEDs exhibit warm white light with the color coordinates of (0.34, 0.35), very close to the coordinates of balanced white-light emission (0.33, 0.33). These results suggest that the CDs can be a promising candidate as yellow-emitting phosphor for white LEDs.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Immunosuppressive molecules are extremely valuable prognostic biomarkers across different cancer types. However, the diversity of different immunosuppressive molecules makes it very difficult to ...accurately predict clinical outcomes based only on a single immunosuppressive molecule. Here, we establish a comprehensive immune scoring system (ISS
) based on 6 immunosuppressive ligands (NECTIN2, CEACAM1, HMGB1, SIGLEC6, CD44, and CD155) using the LASSO method to improve prognostic accuracy and provide an additional selection strategy for adjuvant chemotherapy of gastric cancer (GC). The results show that ISS
is an independent prognostic factor and a supplement of TNM stage for GC patients, and it can improve their prognosis prediction accuracy; in addition, it can distinguish GC patients with better prognosis from those with high prognostic nutritional index score; furthermore, ISS
can also be used as a tool to select GC patients who would benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy independent of their TNM stages, MSI status and EBV status.
Context: Naringin is a natural flavanone glycoside that is found in the Chinese herbal medicines and citrus fruits. Studies have demonstrated that naringin possesses numerous biological and ...pharmacological properties, but few reviews of these studies have been performed.
Objective: The present review gathers the fragmented information available in the literature describing the extraction of naringin, its pharmacology and its controlled release formulations. Current research progress and the therapeutic potential of naringin are also discussed.
Methods: A literature survey for relevant information regarding the biological and pharmacological properties of naringin was conducted using Pubmed, Sciencedirect, MEDLINE, Springerlink and Google Scholar electronic databases from the year 2007-2015.
Results: Naringin modulates signalling pathways and interacts with signalling molecules and thus has a wide range of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer activities, as well as effects on bone regeneration, metabolic syndrome, oxidative stress, genetic damage and central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Information was gathered that showed the extraction of naringin can be improved using several modifications. There has been some progress in the development of controlled release formulations of naringin.
Conclusion: Naringin is a promising candidate for further in vivo studies and clinical use. More detailed studies regarding its mechanism of action are required.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Glucosinolates are token stimuli in host selection of many crucifer specialist insects, but the underlying molecular basis for host selection in these insects remains enigmatic. Using a combination ...of behavioral, electrophysiological, and molecular methods, we investigate glucosinolate receptors in the cabbage butterfly Pieris rapae. Sinigrin, as a potent feeding stimulant, elicited activity in larval maxillary lateral sensilla styloconica, as well as in adult medial tarsal sensilla. Two P. rapae gustatory receptor genes PrapGr28 and PrapGr15 were identified with high expression in female tarsi, and the subsequent functional analyses showed that Xenopus oocytes only expressing PrapGr28 had specific responses to sinigrin; when ectopically expressed in Drosophila sugar sensing neurons, PrapGr28 conferred sinigrin sensitivity to these neurons. RNA interference experiments further showed that knockdown of PrapGr28 reduced the sensitivity of adult medial tarsal sensilla to sinigrin. Taken together, we conclude that PrapGr28 is a gustatory receptor tuned to sinigrin in P. rapae, which paves the way for revealing the molecular basis of the relationships between crucifer plants and their specialist insects.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Orphan nuclear receptor Nur77, which is low expressed in HCC, functions as a tumor suppressor to ...suppress HCC. However, the detailed mechanism is still not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that Nur77 could inhibit HCC development via transcriptional activation of the lncRNA WAP four-disulfide core domain 21 pseudogene (WFDC21P). Nur77 binds to its response elements on the WFDC21P promoter to directly induce WFDC21P transcription, which inhibits HCC cell proliferation, tumor growth, and tumor metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. In clinical HCC samples, WFDC21P expression positively correlated with that of Nur77, and the loss of WFDC21P is associated with worse prognosis. Mechanistically, WFDC21P could inhibit glycolysis by simultaneously interacting with PFKP and PKM2, two key enzymes in glycolysis. These interactions not only abrogate the tetramer formation of PFKP to impede its catalytic activity but also prevent the nuclear translocation of PKM2 to suppress its function as a transcriptional coactivator. Cytosporone-B (Csn-B), an agonist for Nur77, could stimulate WFDC21P expression and suppress HCC in a WFDC21P-dependent manner. Therefore, our study reveals a new HCC suppressor and connects the glycolytic remodeling of HCC with the Nur77-WFDC21P-PFKP/PKM2 axis.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ