Alterations to the gut microbiota have been previously suggested to be tightly linked to chronic systemic inflammation, which is a major contributing factor to complications and disease progression ...in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Nevertheless, the effect of gut dysbiosis on the pathogenesis and/or production of inflammatory factors in CKD has not been extensively studied to date. In the present study, we conducted 16S ribosomal DNA pyrosequencing using fecal microbiota samples and analyzed the production of serum inflammatory factors in 50 patients with CKD and 22 healthy control (HC) subjects. The results revealed that compared to the HC subjects, patients with CKD exhibited a significant reduction in the richness and structure of their fecal microbiota. At the phylum level, compared to the HC group, patients with CKD also presented reduced abundance of Actinobacteria but increased abundance of Verrucomicrobia. Moreover, the genera
, and
were enriched in the fecal samples of patients with CKD, while
and
were enriched in those of the HC subjects. The abundance of
in the CKD group was significantly lower than that in the HC group (3.08 vs. 0.67%); this decrease in the abundance of
, an important probiotic, in patients with CKD is a striking discovery as it has not been previously reported. Finally, we analyzed whether these changes to the fecal microbiota correlated with CKD clinical characteristics and/or the production of known inflammatory factors. Altered levels of the microbiota genera
, and
were shown to be correlated with CKD disease-severity indicators, including the estimated glomerular filtration rate. Most notably,
was significantly negatively correlated with the production of interleukin-10. The results of the present study suggest that microbiota dysbiosis may promote chronic systemic inflammation in CKD. Furthermore, they support that modifying the gut microbiota, especially
, may be a promising potential therapeutic strategy to attenuate the progression of, and/or systemic inflammation in, CKD.
High levels of salinity induce serious oxidative damage in plants. Flavonoids, as antioxidants, have important roles in reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging. In the present study, the tobacco ...R2R3 MYB type repressor, NtMYB4, was isolated and characterized. The expression of
was suppressed by salinity. Overexpression of
reduced the salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco plants. NtMYB4 repressed the promoter activity of
and negatively regulated its expression. Rutin accumulation was significantly decreased in
overexpressing transgenic plants and
RNAi silenced transgenic plants. Moreover, high H
O
and
contents were detected in both types of rutin-reduced transgenic plants under high salt stress. In addition, exogenous rutin supplementation effectively scavenged ROS (H
O
and
) and improved the salt tolerance of the rutin-reduced transgenic plants. In contrast,
overexpressing plants had increased rutin accumulation, lower H
O
and
contents, and higher tolerance to salinity. These results suggested that tobacco NtMYB4 acts as a salinity response repressor and negatively regulates
expression, which results in the reduced flavonoid accumulation and weakened ROS-scavenging ability under salt stress.
The main area of the Jiaoshiba anticline of the Fuling shale gas field was taken as the research object, laboratory rock mechanical experiments and direct shear experiments were conducted to clarify ...the mechanical anisotropy characteristics and parameters of rock samples with rich beddings. Based on the experimental results, a 3D fracture propagation model of the target reservoir taking mechanical anisotropy, weak bedding plane and vertical stress difference into account was established by the discrete element method to analyze distribution patterns of hydraulic fractures under different bedding densities, mechanical properties, and fracturing engineering parameters (including perforation clusters, injection rates and fracturing fluid viscosity). The research results show that considering the influence of the weak bedding plane and longitudinal stress difference, the interlayer stress difference 3–4 MPa in the study area can control the fracture height within the zone of stress barrier, and the fracture height is less than 40 m. If the influence of the weak bedding plane is not considered, the simulation result of fracture height is obviously higher. Although the opening of high-density bedding fractures increases the complexity of hydraulic fractures, it significantly limited the propagation of fracture height. By reducing the number of clusters, increasing the injection rate, and increasing the volume and proportion of high-viscosity fracturing fluid in the pad stage, the restriction on fracture height due to the bedding plane and vertical stress difference can be reduced, and the longitudinal propagation of fractures can be promoted. The fracture propagation model was used to simulate one stage of Well A in Fuling shale gas field, and the simulation results were consistent with the micro-seismic monitoring results.
Shale oil resources have enormous potential and broad development prospects in China. Especially with the rapid development of horizontal well volume fracturing technology, the production of shale ...oil has been greatly increased, and it has become an important position to increase oil and gas storage and production. However, due to the existence of artificial and natural fractures produced by fracturing, gas channeling will occur in the process of huff-n-puff gas injection, which will affect the production and lead to poor development effect. In this paper, foam is used as an anti-channeling agent in the process of huff-n-puff gas injection. The results of microfluidic experiments show that the production mode of foam in porous media is liquid membrane hysteresis and liquid membrane separation. In porous media, foam first blocks large channels such as fractures, and then enters the matrix. The oil recovery mechanism of foam assisted gas injection in porous media is to improve the sweep efficiency and oil displacement efficiency of gas. Compared with N
2
huff-n-puff, the oil recovery of the first cycle of foam assisted N
2
huff-n-puff increased by 4.50%, and the third cycle increased by 9.58%. It is proved that foam has good anti channeling effect in gas huff-n-puff injection process. The research results provide an effective method for efficient gas injection development of shale oil.
-CMS (cytoplasmic male sterility) is the only male sterile system in tobacco breeding, but the mechanism of abortion is unclear. Cytological characteristics show that abortion in the
-CMS line msZY ...occurs before the differentiation of sporogenous cells. In this study, a comparative transcriptomic analysis was conducted on flower buds at the abortion stage of msZY and its male fertile control ZY. A total of 462 differentially expressed genes were identified in msZY and ZY, which were enriched via protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), oxidative phosphorylation, photosynthesis, and circadian rhythm-plant by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses. Most genes were downregulated in the ER stress pathway, heat-shock protein family, F1F0-ATPase encoding by the mitochondrial genome, and differentiation of stamens. Genes in the programmed cell death (PCD) pathway were upregulated in msZY. The transcriptome results were consistent with those of qRT-PCR. Ultrastructural and physiological analyses indicted active vacuole PCD and low ATP content in msZY young flower buds. We speculated that PCD and a deficiency in ATP synthesis are essential for the abortion of
-CMS. This study reveals the potential mechanism of abortion of tobacco
-CMS.
is a major gastroenteritis-causing pathogen in many Asian countries. Antimicrobial resistance in
has been recognized as a critical threat to food safety. In this study, we determined the prevalence ...and incidence of antimicrobial resistance in
in the southern Fujian coast, China. A total of 62 isolates were confirmed in retail aquatic products from June to October of 2018. The serotype O3:K6 strains, the virulence genes
and
, antibiotic susceptibility and molecular typing were investigated. Then plasmid profiling analysis and curing experiment were performed for multidrug-resistant strains. The results showed that the total occurrence of
was 31% out of 200 samples. Five strains (8.1%) out of 62 isolates were identified as the
O3:K6 pandemic clone. A large majority of isolates exhibited higher resistance to penicillin (77.4%), oxacillin (71%), ampicillin (66.1%) and vancomycin (59.7%). Seventy-one percent (44/62) of the isolates exhibited multiple antimicrobial resistance. All 62 isolates were grouped into 7 clusters by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA, and most of the isolates (80.6%) were distributed within cluster A. Plasmids were detected in approximately 75% of the isolates, and seven different profiles were observed. Seventy-six percent (25/33) of the isolates carrying the plasmids were eliminated by 0.006% SDS incubated at 42°C, a sublethal condition. The occurrence of multidrug-resistant strains could be an indication of the excessive use of antibiotics in aquaculture farming. The rational use of antimicrobial agents and the surveillance of antibiotic administration may reduce the acquisition of resistance by microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems.
Background
Chronic liver fibrosis is an inevitable stage for the development of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). However, anti-fibrotic therapies have been unsuccessful so far. The biological ...functions and molecular mechanisms of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the host immune system during chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, especially in fibrosis, are still largely unknown.
Method
The total RNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from asymptomatic carriers (ASCs) or CHB receiving at least 8 years of anti-viral treatments was analyzed using Arraystar microarray and validated
via
quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Correlation analysis was conducted based on correlation coefficients, Clusterprofile, and RNA Interactome Database (RAID). The functions of lncRNA in monocytes were determined
via
loss-of-function RNAi or gain-of-function lentivirus assays. The expression levels of mRNAs or proteins were evaluated using qRT-PCR, western blotting assay, or enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).
Results
A total of 1,042 mRNA transcripts (630 up-regulated and 412 down-regulated) were identified being differentially expressed between ASC and CHB patients. Through enrichment analysis we focused on the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-
β
) signaling pathway and validated their expression in a larger cohort. Moreover, we found that lncRNA ENST00000519726 (lncRNA-HEIM) was highly expressed in monocytes and further up-regulated upon HBV infection. LncRNA-HEIM played an important role in CHB patients with long-term antiviral treatments, and its elevated expression was remarkably correlated with the TGF-
β
signaling pathway, especially with the two members namely TGF-
β
and SMAD4. Furthermore, altering the endogenous lncRNA-HEIM level in monocytes significantly affected the production of TGF-
β
, as well as the fibrosis of hepatic stellate cells by affecting the expression of collagen I and
α
-smooth muscle actin (
α
-SMA).
Conclusion
These findings not only added knowledge to the understanding of the roles of which lncRNA-HEIM played in the activation of HSCs in CHB patients with long-term medication, but also provided a promising therapeutic target in the future treatment for liver fibrosis.
•We examined the link between FENDRR expression and survival in colorectal cancer.•We used bioinformatics to study FENDRR function in the stromal compartment.•FENDRR inhibited fibroblast activation ...and collagen generation in colorectal cancer.•Low FENDRR expression indicated poor prognosis.•FENDRR is a promising prognostic marker and therapeutic target for colorectal cancer.
Genetically abnormal fibroblasts are notably more prevalent in colorectal cancer (CRC) than in adjacent normal tissue, emphasizing their significance in driving the heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment. Functioning as a significant regulatory gene in the context of fibrosis, FOXF1 adjacent non-coding developmental regulatory RNA (FENDRR) has exhibited abnormal expression in colorectal cancer and interstitial localization in our experiments. However, current research on the role of FENDRR in cancer has focused solely on its impact on cancer cells. Its crucial role in the tumor stroma is yet to be explored. The goal of this study was to understand the relationship between atypical FENDRR expression, its distinct localization, and genetically abnormal fibroblasts in CRC. We aimed to establish the function of FENDRR within the stromal compartment of patients through bioinformatics. Our study confirmed that FENDRR suppresses cancer-associated fibroblasts by inhibiting their activation and collagen generation in CRC. Furthermore, our findings suggest that low FENDRR expression indicates a poor prognosis. Therefore, we propose that FENDRR is a promising therapeutic target for future studies in CRC.
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