The abnormality of the plasma membrane (PM) is an important biomarker for cell status and many diseases. Hence, visualizing the PM, especially in complex systems, is an emerging field in the life ...sciences, especially in low‐resource settings. Herein, we developed a water‐soluble PM‐specific probe utilizing electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction strategies with aggregation‐induced emission as the signal output. The probe could image the PM with many advanced features (wash‐free, ultrafast staining process, excellent PM specificity, and good biocompatibility), which were demonstrated by the PM imaging of neurons. The probe allowed for the first time the imaging of erythrocytes in the complex brain environment through a fluorescence‐based method. Moreover, the PM of the epidermal and partial view of the eyeball structure of live zebrafish are also revealed.
Insane in the membrane: A plasma membrane (PM)‐specific probe with aggregation‐induced emission characteristics for wash‐free PM imaging is presented. This is the first time that erythrocytes have been visualized in the brain through a fluorescence‐based method. Moreover, a partial view of the eyeball structure of live zebrafish was obtained through the in situ labelling of the epidermal PM.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), as an important kind of porous inorganic‐organic hybrid materials with inherent outstanding physicochemistry characteristics, can be widely applied as versatile ...precursors for the facile preparation of functional MOF‐derived materials. However, there are plenty of sophisticated factors during the synthetic process, which is far from reaching the goal of effectively controlling the nature of MOF‐derived materials (such as the composition, morphology and surface area). Therefore, it is urgently necessary to develop regular protocols and concepts for controllable syntheses of MOF‐derived materials. In this minireview, we mainly summarize and analyze complicated factors in the fabrication of MOF‐derived materials according to recently reported literatures, and this provides a new insight into the rational design and syntheses of MOF‐derived materials.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) serve as appropriate sacrificial precursors for fabricating MOF‐derived materials with high‐performance applications. However, it is very difficult to control the characteristics of MOF‐derived materials. Here, the complicated factors about the controllable syntheses are carefully summarized and discussed in this minireview, which will be beneficial to guide the synthetic concepts of MOF‐derived materials.
Non‐invasive dynamic tracking of lysosomes and their interactions with other organelles is important for the study of lysosomal function and related diseases. However, many fluorescent dyes developed ...so far to target lysosomes cannot be used to monitor these processes due to the high concentrations required for imaging, long cell penetration times, and non‐ideal photostability. In this regard, we synthesized three lysosomal targeting probes with large Stokes shifts, good stability, and high brightness. The Q‐P‐ARh dye, developed by us for the first time, can stain lysosomes at ultra‐low concentrations (1.0 nM) without affecting the physiological functions of the lysosomes. More importantly, its excellent anti‐interference ability and ultrafast lysosomal staining ability (within 1.0 min) clearly monitored the entire dynamic process of lipophagy. Ultimately, this method can greatly contribute to the study of autophagy pathways. This novel fluorescence platform shows great promise for the development of biological probes for application in pathological environments.
A series of brand‐new large Stokes shift and highly stable fluorescent dyes were constructed. In particular, the Q‐P‐ARh fluorescent dye as a near‐infrared emission lysosomal‐specific probe with ultra‐low concentration and ultra‐fast staining characteristics for the complete lipophagy process imaging is presented.
The ongoing global pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to active research in its associated diagnostics and medical treatments. While quantitative reverse ...transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is the most reliable method to detect viral genes of SARS-CoV-2, serological tests for specific antiviral antibodies are also important as they identify false negative qRT-PCR responses, track how effectively the patient’s immune system is fighting the infection, and are potentially helpful for plasma transfusion therapies. In this work, based on the principle of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), we develop an opto-microfluidic sensing platform with gold nanospikes, fabricated by electrodeposition, to detect the presence and amount of antibodies specific to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in 1μL of human plasma diluted in 1mL of buffer solution, within ∼30min. The target antibody concentration can be correlated with the LSPR wavelength peak shift of gold nanospikes caused by the local refractive index change due to the antigen–antibody binding. This label-free microfluidic platform achieves a limit of detection of ∼0.08ng/mL (∼0.5pM), falling under the clinical relevant concentration range. We demonstrate that our opto-microfluidic platform offers a promising point-of-care testing tool to complement standard serological assays and make SARS-CoV-2 quantitative diagnostics easier, cheaper, and faster.
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•Opto-microfluidic sensing platform is developed to rapidly detect antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in diluted human plasma with high sensitivity.•The sensing platform achieves the limit of detection of ∼0.5 pM (0.08 ng/mL) and takes up to 30 mins to complete the sample analysis.•The sensing principle is based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) involving gold nanospikes (fabricated by electrodeposition) in a microfluidic device, coupled with an optical probe.•The diagnostic platform demonstrates potential to complement existing serological assays and improve COVID-19 diagnosis.
Summary Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder; however, it remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. Although screening tools such as the Berlin questionnaire (BQ), ...STOP-BANG questionnaire (SBQ), STOP questionnaire (STOP), and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) are widely used for OSA, the findings regarding their diagnostic accuracy are controversial. Therefore, this meta-analysis investigated and compared the summary sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) among the BQ, SBQ, STOP, and ESS according to the severity of OSA. Electronic databases, namely the Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest dissertations and theses A&I databases, and China knowledge resource integrated database, were searched from their inception to July 15, 2016. We included studies examining the sensitivity and specificity of the BQ, SBQ, STOP, and ESS against the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) or respiratory disturbance index (RDI). The revised quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies was used to evaluate the methodological quality of studies. A random-effects bivariate model was used to estimate the summary sensitivity, specificity, and DOR of the tools. We identified 108 studies including a total of 47 989 participants. The summary estimates were calculated for the BQ, SBQ, STOP, and ESS in detecting mild (AHI/RDI ≥ 5 events/h), moderate (AHI/RDI ≥ 15 events/h), and severe OSA (AHI/RDI ≥ 30 events/h). The performance levels of the BQ, SBQ, STOP, and ESS in detecting OSA of various severity levels are outlined as follows: for mild OSA, the pooled sensitivity levels were 76%, 88%, 87%, and 54%; pooled specificity levels were 59%, 42%, 42%, and 65%; and pooled DORs were 4.30, 5.13, 4.85, and 2.18, respectively. For moderate OSA, the pooled sensitivity levels were 77%, 90%, 89%, and 47%; pooled specificity levels were 44%, 36%, 32%, and 621%; and pooled DORs were 2.68, 5.05, 3.71, and 1.45, respectively. For severe OSA, the pooled sensitivity levels were 84%, 93%, 90%, and 58%; pooled specificity levels were 38%, 35%, 28%, and 60%; and pooled DORs were 3.10, 6.51, 3.37, and 2.10, respectively. Therefore, for mild, moderate, and severe OSA, the pooled sensitivity and DOR of the SBQ were significantly higher than those of other screening tools ( P < .05); however, the specificity of the SBQ was lower than that of the ESS ( P < .05). Moreover, age, sex, body mass index, study sample size, study populations, presence of comorbidities, PSG or portable monitoring performance, and risk of bias in the domains of the index test and reference standard were significant moderators of sensitivity and specificity ( P < .05). Compared with the BQ, STOP, and ESS, the SBQ is a more accurate tool for detecting mild, moderate, and severe OSA. Sleep specialists should use the SBQ to conduct patient interviews for the early diagnosis of OSA in clinical settings, particularly in resource-poor countries and sleep clinics where PSG is unavailable.
Abstract Pyridinium functioned 7-hydroxy coumarin was presented as the first mitochondria-targeted ratiometric fluorescent probe CP for real time monitoring pH in living cells. Compared with ...commercially available mitochondrial trackers, CP possesses high specificity to mitochondria in living cells as well as good biocompatibility. Meanwhile, CP displays excellent pH sensitivity and anti-interference capability. Confocal image experiments confirm that CP can monitor mitochondrial pH changes associated with the mitochondrial acidification, cellular apoptosis and stress response efficiently in real time.
With advances in next-generation sequencing technologies, numerous novel transcripts in a large number of organisms have been identified. With the goal of fast, accurate assessment of the coding ...ability of RNA transcripts, we upgraded the coding potential calculator CPC1 to CPC2. CPC2 runs ∼1000 times faster than CPC1 and exhibits superior accuracy compared with CPC1, especially for long non-coding transcripts. Moreover, the model of CPC2 is species-neutral, making it feasible for ever-growing non-model organism transcriptomes. A mobile-friendly web server, as well as a downloadable standalone package, is freely available at http://cpc2.cbi.pku.edu.cn.
A ratiometric fluorescent probe () for ClO(-) based on the conjugate of coumarin-rhodamine was presented, which could sense ClO(-) with fast response (within 5 s), high sensitivity and excellent ...selectivity. More importantly, is the first mitochondria-targeted ratiometric fluorescent probe to image exogenous and endogenous ClO(-).
Abstract Background Network meta-analysis for multiple treatment comparisons has been a major development in evidence synthesis methodology. The validity of a network meta-analysis, however, can be ...threatened by inconsistency in evidence within the network. One particular issue of inconsistency is how to directly evaluate the inconsistency between direct and indirect evidence with regard to the effects difference between two treatments. A Bayesian node-splitting model was first proposed and a similar frequentist side-splitting model has been put forward recently. Yet, assigning the inconsistency parameter to one or the other of the two treatments or splitting the parameter symmetrically between the two treatments can yield different results when multi-arm trials are involved in the evaluation. Objectives We aimed to show that a side-splitting model can be viewed as a special case of design-by-treatment interaction model, and different parameterizations correspond to different design-by-treatment interactions. Methods We demonstrated how to evaluate the side-splitting model using the arm-based generalized linear mixed model, and an example data set was used to compare results from the arm-based models with those from the contrast-based models. Results & Conclusions The three parameterizations of side-splitting make slightly different assumptions: the symmetrical method assumes that both treatments in a treatment contrast contribute to inconsistency between direct and indirect evidence, whereas the other two parameterizations assume that only one of the two treatments contributes to this inconsistency. With this understanding in mind, meta-analysts can then make a choice about how to implement the side-splitting method for their analysis.
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