With the notable surge in therapeutic peptide development, various peptides have emerged as potential agents against virus‐induced diseases. Viral entry inhibitory peptides (VEIPs), a subset of ...antiviral peptides (AVPs), offer a promising avenue as entry inhibitors (EIs) with distinct advantages over chemical counterparts. Despite this, a comprehensive analytical platform for characterizing these peptides and their effectiveness in blocking viral entry remains lacking. In this study, we introduce a groundbreaking in silico approach that leverages bioinformatics analysis and machine learning to characterize and identify novel VEIPs. Cross‐validation results demonstrate the efficacy of a model combining sequence‐based features in predicting VEIPs with high accuracy, validated through independent testing. Additionally, an EI type model has been developed to distinguish peptides specifically acting as Eis from AVPs with alternative activities. Notably, we present iDVEIP, a web‐based tool accessible at http://mer.hc.mmh.org.tw/iDVEIP/, designed for automatic analysis and prediction of VEIPs. Emphasizing its capabilities, the tool facilitates comprehensive analyses of peptide characteristics, providing detailed amino acid composition data for each prediction. Furthermore, we showcase the tool's utility in identifying EIs against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2).
Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a significant challenge in cancer therapy, with inherent and acquired resistance distinct. While conventional drug selection processes enable the isolation of ...cancer cells with acquired multidrug resistance, identifying cancer cells with inherent drug resistance remains challenging. Herein, we proposed a molecular beacon (MB)-based strategy to identify and isolate the inherent MDR cancer cells. A lipid/PLGA core-shell nanoparticulate system (DNCP) was designed to deliver MB for intracellular MDR1 mRNA imaging. DNCP-MB – possess a surface potential of −8 mV and a size of 150 nm – demonstrated effective delivery of MB, remarkable selectivity towards the selected intracellular mRNA targets, and low cytotoxicity. Following DNCP transfection, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was employed to differentiate MCF-7 cells into two distinct sub-populations: the Top 10 cells with a high level of MDR gene expression and the Bottom 10 cells with a low level of MDR gene expression, which represent inherent drug-resistant and non-drug-resistant cells, respectively. Intriguingly, we observed a positive correlation between elevated MDR1 mRNA expression and increased migration, enhanced proliferation rate, and tighter spheroid formation. Moreover, we conducted RNA sequencing analysis on the Top 10, Bottom 10, and MCF-7/ADR cells. The findings revealed a notable disparity in the gene ontology enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes between the Top 10 and Bottom 10 cells when compared to the Bottom 10 and MCF-7/ADR cells. This novel approach provides a promising avenue for isolating inherent drug-resistant cells and holds significant potential in unraveling the mechanisms underlying inherent drug resistance.
With the rising number of cases of non-vaginal delivery worldwide, scientists have been concerned about the influence of the different delivery modes on maternal and neonatal microbiomes. Although ...the birth rate trend is decreasing rapidly in Taiwan, more than 30 percent of newborns are delivered by caesarean section every year. However, it remains unclear whether the different delivery modes could have a certain impact on the postpartum maternal microbiome and whether it affects the mother-to-newborn vertical transmission of bacteria at birth.
To address this, we recruited 30 mother–newborn pairs to participate in this study, including 23 pairs of vaginal delivery (VD) and seven pairs of caesarean section (CS). We here investigate the development of the maternal prenatal and postnatal microbiomes across multiple body habitats. Moreover, we also explore the early acquisition of neonatal gut microbiome through a vertical multi-body site microbiome analysis.
The results indicate that no matter the delivery mode, it only slightly affects the maternal microbiome in multiple body habitats from pregnancy to postpartum. On the other hand, about 95% of species in the meconium microbiome were derived from one of the maternal body habitats; notably, the infants born by caesarean section acquire bacterial communities resembling their mother's oral microbiome. Consequently, the delivery modes play a crucial role in the initial colonization of the neonatal gut microbiome, potentially impacting children's health and development.
Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) is an effective technique for probing the magnetization dynamics of magnetic thin films. In particular, bilayer systems composed of a paramagnetic layer and a ...ferromagnetic layer are commonly used for FMR-driven spin pumping experiments. Spin pump-and-probe models have been adopted to obtain the spin Hall angle (θSHE) and spin diffusion length (λN) for various single layer and bilayer systems. Trilayer systems, however, have rarely been studied with the same model. In this work, we study the structural asymmetry effect on Pt/Co/Pt trilayers and find that the different thicknesses of Pt on two sides of Co may change the spin current sign. Furthermore, we propose a method that allows analysis of Pt/Co/Pt trilayers using the spin pump-and-probe model. The obtained values of θPt and λPt in the Pt/Co/Pt system are 0.116 nm and 1.15 nm, respectively, which are consistent with the values obtained from other Pt-based bilayer systems.
Antiretroviral peptides are a kind of bioactive peptides that present inhibitory activity against retroviruses through various mechanisms. Among them, viral integrase inhibitory peptides (VINIPs) are ...a class of antiretroviral peptides that have the ability to block the action of integrase proteins, which is essential for retroviral replication. As the number of experimentally verified bioactive peptides has increased significantly, the lack of in silico machine learning approaches can effectively predict the peptides with the integrase inhibitory activity. Here, we have developed the first prediction model for identifying the novel VINIPs using the sequence characteristics, and the hybrid feature set was considered to improve the predictive ability. The performance was evaluated by 5-fold cross-validation based on the training dataset, and the result indicates the proposed model is capable of predicting the VINIPs, with a sensitivity of 85.82%, a specificity of 88.81%, an accuracy of 88.37%, a balanced accuracy of 87.32% and a Matthews correlation coefficient value of 0.64. Most importantly, the model also consistently provides effective performance in independent testing. To sum up, we propose the first computational approach for identifying and characterizing the VINIPs, which can be considered novel antiretroviral therapy agents. Ultimately, to facilitate further research and development, iDVIP, an automatic computational tool that predicts the VINIPs has been developed, which is now freely available at http://mer.hc.mmh.org.tw/iDVIP/.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study demonstrates the use of positive matrix factorization (PMF) in a region with a major Petrochemical Complex, a prominent source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as a showcase of PMF ...applications. The PMF analysis fully exploited the quality and quantity of the observation data, sufficed by a cluster of 9 monitoring sites within a 20 km radius of the petro-complex. Each site provided continuous data of 54 speciated VOCs and meteorological variables. Wind characteristics were highly seasonal and played a decisive role in the source-receptor relationship, hence the dataset was divided into three sub-sets in accordance with the prevailing wind flows. A full year of real-time data were analyzed by PMF to resolve into various distinct source types including petrochemical, urban, evaporative, long-range air parcels, etc., with some sites receiving more petro-influence than others. To minimize subjectivity in the assignment of the PMF source factors, as commonly seen in some PMF works, this study attempted to solidify PMF results by supporting with two tools of spatially/temporally resolved air-quality model simulations and observation data. By exploiting the two supporting tools, the dynamic process of individual sources to a receptor were rationalized. Percent contributions from these sources to the receptor sites were calculated by summing over the occurrence of different source types. Interestingly, although the Petro-complex is the single largest local VOC source in the 20 km radius study domain, all monitoring sites in the region received far less influence from the Petro-complex than from other emission types within or outside the region, which together add up to more than 70% of the total VOC abundance.
A novel multilayer mixed matrix membrane (MMM), consisting of poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO), large-pore mesoporous silica molecular sieve zeolite SBA-15, and a carbon molecular sieve (CMS)/Al
2O
3 ...substrate, was successfully fabricated using the procedure outlined in this paper. The membranes were cast by spin coating and exposed to different gases for the purpose of determining and comparing the permeability and selectivity of PPO/SBA-15 membranes to H
2, CO
2, N
2, and CH
4. PPO/SBA-15/CMS/Al
2O
3 MMMs with different loading weights of zeolite SBA-15 were also studied. This new class of PPO/SBA-15/CMS/Al
2O
3 multilayer MMMs showed higher levels of gas permeability compared to PPO/SBA-15 membranes. The permselectivity of H
2/N
2 and H
2/CH
4 combinations increased remarkably, with values at 38.9 and 50.9, respectively, at 10 wt% zeolite loading. Field emission scanning electron microscopy results showed that the interface between the polymer and the zeolite in MMMs was better at a 10 wt% loading than other loading levels. The increments of the glass transition temperature of MMMs with zeolite confirm that zeolite causes polymer chains to become rigid.
▶ High gas separation performance of SBA-15/PPO mixed matrix membrane was prepared. ▶ The texture of SBA-15 was modified by different aging temperature. ▶ SBA-15 with large surface area and pore ...volume could be formed at high temperature. ▶ Polymer chains can penetrate into the pores of SBA-15 and lead to chain rigidity.
The authors previously synthesized a SBA-15/PPO multilayer mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) and demonstrated that the SBA-15 filler itself may create additional passageway for gas pass through. The objectives of this work were to investigate the effect of texture of SBA-15, including pore sizes, pore volume, and external surface area, on the structure of MMMs and gas permeation performance. To obtain different textures of mesoporous silica, various SBA-15 were prepared under different aging temperatures to modify the crystalline structure. Results show that selectivity for H
2/N
2 and H
2/CH
4 separation through the SBA-15/PPO MMM increased remarkably from 90 to 110
°C in SBA-15 aging temperature, with values at 49.7–102.9 and 63.3–140.4, respectively. This indicates that blocking and reducing the mobility of polymer chains by mixing a PPO matrix with SBA-15 of 110
°C aging temperature may significantly improve the gas separation performance of the MMM. The increments of glass transition temperature of the MMM suggest that the integration of larger SBA-15 crystals aged at 110
°C causes the polymer chains to become rigid.
A new class of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/carbon nanocomposite thin films was successfully prepared by incorporating (MWCNTs) into polyimide (PI) precursor solution. The carbon films were ...obtained in only one coating step by spin-coating technique on a macroporous alumina substrate and were pyrolyzed at 773 K. The structure and single gas permeation properties of PI-based carbon membranes incorporated with or without MWCNTs were investigated. From the FE-SEM images, the pure carbon membranes have a thin dense permselective layer with few closed pores while the permselective layer of the MWCNTs/carbon nanocomposite thin films are porous due to the structure of nanotubes. The MWCNTs/carbon nanocomposite thin films exhibited that the ideal carbon dioxide flux was 866.6 Barrer (1 Barrer = 1×10
−10 cm
3 (STP) cm cm
−2 s
−1 cm Hg
−1) and the separation factor of CO
2/N
2 was 4.1 at room temperature and 1 atm, which was 2–4 times of magnitude higher than that of pure carbon membrane prepared by the same procedures and conditions.
PDF
