Studies have shown that cadmium (Cd) exposure primarily occurs through diet, and Cd ingestion is a risk factor for atherosclerosis (AS). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. As a target ...organ, the gastrointestinal tract may play a key role in Cd-induced AS. Additionally, as curcumin is insoluble in water but stable in the stomach of acidic pH, it may play regulative roles in the gut.
We assess the effect of Cd exposure on gut flora, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) metabolism and macrophage polarization, further investigate whether curcumin protects against Cd-induced AS by remodeling gut microbiota.
The results of 16 S rRNA sequencing show that Cd exposure causes diversity reduction and compositional alteration of the microbial community, resulting in the increasing TMAO synthesis, the imbalance of lipid metabolism, and the M1-type macrophage polarization in the mouse model (ApoE-/-) of AS. As a result, the plaque area is increased with Cd exposure, shown by oil red O staining. TMAO synthesis is positively correlated with the concentration of blood Cd, and the dynamics of specific bacteria in this process were revealed at the phylum to genus levels. Moreover, the effects of intestinal flora and TMAO on Cd-induced AS are further confirmed via microbial transplantation from a mouse model not exposed to Cd, as the transplantation decreases plaque area. Finally, the gavage with curcumin reverses the Cd-induced pathological progression via gut flora restoration.
We first demonstrate that Cd exposure worsens the progression of AS via intestinal flora imbalance and increased TMAO synthesis. Curcumin was verified as a potential novel intervention for preventing Cd-induced AS via remodeling gut microbiota. This study elucidates a new approach for treating AS in regions with significant Cd exposure.
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•Cadmium (Cd) aggravates atherosclerosis (AS) via gut flora and its metabolite.•Curcumin alleviates AS via regulating gut flora and trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO).•Curcumin inhibits Cd-induced macrophage polarization via the recovered gut flora.•Cd exposure promotes TMAO synthesis related to specific gut flora.
Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been considered as a promising alternative for the next generation of electric storage systems due to their similar electrochemistry to Li‐ion batteries and the low ...cost of sodium resources. Exploring appropriate electrode materials with decent electrochemical performance is the key issue for development of sodium ion batteries. Due to the high structural stability, facile reaction mechanism and rich structural diversity, phosphate framework materials have attracted increasing attention as promising electrode materials for sodium ion batteries. Herein, we review the latest advances and progresses in the exploration of phosphate framework materials especially related to single‐phosphates, pyrophosphates and mixed‐phosphates. We provide the detailed and comprehensive understanding of structure–composition–performance relationship of materials and try to show the advantages and disadvantages of the materials for use in SIBs. In addition, some new perspectives about phosphate framework materials for SIBs are also discussed. Phosphate framework materials will be a competitive and attractive choice for use as electrodes in the next‐generation of energy storage devices.
Phosphate framework materials have attracted increasing attention as promising electrode materials for sodium ion batteries. The latest advances and progresses in the exploration of phosphate framework materials are reviewed, especially in relation to single‐phosphates, pyrophosphates and mixed‐phosphates. Phosphate framework materials will be a competitive and attractive choice for use as electrodes in the next‐generation of energy storage devices.
Sodium-ion battery has emerged as one of most promising technologies for large-scale energy storage system, and hence has stimulated extensive exploration of applicable electrode materials with low ...cost and superb electrochemical properties. Herein, 3D graphene decorated Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7) microspheres as a low-cost and environmentally friendly cathode material are synthesized by using a facile spray-drying method. The as-prepared NFPP@rGO composite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 128 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, a superior rate capability (35 mAh g−1 at 200 C), and a long cycling life (62.3% capacity retention over 6000 cycles at 10 C). The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to combined advantages of graphene coating on the surface of nanoparticles and the flexible 3D graphene network, which not only improve the electronic conductivity, but also accommodate the structural stress of the material during charging and discharging. Therefore, the NFPP@rGO microsphere with superior electrochemical performances, low-cost raw materials, simple synthetic route and high thermal stability is considered as a very attractive cathode electrode for sodium ion battery.
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•NFPP@rGO microsphere is synthesized by using a facile spray-drying method.•The NFPP@rGO composite exhibits high electrochemical performance for Na ion storage.•The excellent performance is attributed to combined advantages of graphene coating and 3D network.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators in various cellular processes. However, the potential involvement of lncRNAs in kinase signalling remains largely unknown. ...AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) acts as a critical sensor of cellular energy status. Here we show that the lncRNA NBR2 (neighbour of BRCA1 gene 2) is induced by the LKB1-AMPK pathway under energy stress. On energy stress, NBR2 in turn interacts with AMPK and promotes AMPK kinase activity, thus forming a feed-forward loop to potentiate AMPK activation during energy stress. Depletion of NBR2 attenuates energy-stress-induced AMPK activation, resulting in unchecked cell cycling, altered apoptosis/autophagy response, and increased tumour development in vivo. NBR2 is downregulated and its low expression correlates with poor clinical outcomes in some human cancers. Together, the results of our study uncover a mechanism coupling lncRNAs with metabolic stress response, and provides a broad framework to understand further the regulation of kinase signalling by lncRNAs.
Cancers are composed of populations of cells with distinct molecular and phenotypic features, a phenomenon termed intratumor heterogeneity (ITH). ITH in lung cancers has not been well studied. We ...applied multiregion whole-exome sequencing (WES) on 11 localized lung adenocarcinomas. All tumors showed clear evidence of ITH. On average, 76% of all mutations and 20 out of 21 known cancer gene mutations were identified in all regions of individual tumors, which suggested that single-region sequencing may be adequate to identify the majority of known cancer gene mutations in localized lung adenocarcinomas. With a median follow-up of 21 months after surgery, three patients have relapsed, and all three patients had significantly larger fractions of subclonal mutations in their primary tumors than patients without relapse. These data indicate that a larger subclonal mutation fraction may be associated with increased likelihood of postsurgical relapse in patients with localized lung adenocarcinomas.
Aberrant methylation of promoter CpG islands in cancer is associated with silencing of tumor-suppressor genes, and age-dependent hypermethylation in normal appearing mucosa may be a risk factor for ...human colon cancer. It is not known whether this age-related DNA methylation phenomenon is specific to human tissues. We performed comprehensive DNA methylation profiling of promoter regions in aging mouse intestine using methylated CpG island amplification in combination with microarray analysis. By comparing C57BL/6 mice at 3-mo-old versus 35-mo-old for 3627 detectable autosomal genes, we found 774 (21%) that showed increased methylation and 466 (13%) that showed decreased methylation. We used pyrosequencing to quantitatively validate the microarray data and confirmed linear age-related methylation changes for all 12 genomic regions examined. We then examined 11 changed genomic loci for age-related methylation in other tissues. Of these, three of 11 showed similar changes in lung, seven of 11 changed in liver, and six of 11 changed in spleen, though to a lower degree than the changes seen in colon. There was partial conservation between age-related hypermethylation in human and mouse intestines, and Polycomb targets in embryonic stem cells were enriched among the hypermethylated genes. Our findings demonstrate a surprisingly high rate of hyper- and hypomethylation as a function of age in normal mouse small intestine tissues and a strong tissue-specificity to the process. We conclude that epigenetic deregulation is a common feature of aging in mammals.
As promising cathode materials, iron‐based phosphate compounds have attracted wide attention for sodium‐ion batteries due to their low cost and safety. Among them, sodium iron fluorophosphate ...(Na2FePO4F) is widely noted due to its layered structure and high operating voltage compared with NaFePO4. Here, a mesoporous Na2FePO4F@C (M‐NFPF@C) composite derived from mesoporous FePO4 is synthesized through a facile ball‐milling combined calcination method. Benefiting from the mesoporous structure and highly conductive carbon, the M‐NFPF@C material exhibits a high reversible capacity of 114 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, excellent rate capability (42 mAh g−1 at 10 C), and good cycling performance (55% retention after 600 cycles at 5 C). The high plateau capacity obtained (>90% of total capacity) not only shows high electrochemical reversibility of the as‐prepared M‐NFPF@C but also provides high energy density, which mainly originates from its mesoporous structure derived from the mesoporous FePO4 precursor. The M‐NFPF@C serves as a promising cathode material with high performance and low cost for sodium‐ion batteries.
A mesoporous Na2FePO4F@C (M‐NFPF@C) composite derived from mesoporous FePO4 is synthesized through a facile ball‐milling combined calcination method. Benefiting from the mesoporous structure and highly conductive carbon, the M‐NFPF@C material exhibits a high reversible capacity of 114 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, excellent rate capability (42 mAh g−1 at 10 C), and good cycling performance (55% retention after 600 cycles at 5 C).
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. To explore the genetic origins of this cancer, we used whole-exome sequencing and gene copy number analyses to ...study 32 primary tumors. Tumors from patients with a history of tobacco use had more mutations than did tumors from patients who did not use tobacco, and tumors that were negative for human papillomavirus (HPV) had more mutations than did HPV-positive tumors. Six of the genes that were mutated in multiple tumors were assessed in up to 88 additional HNSCCs. In addition to previously described mutations in TP53, CDKN2A, PIK3CA, and HRAS, we identified mutations in FBXW7 and NOTCH1. Nearly 40% of the 28 mutations identified in NOTCH1 were predicted to truncate the gene product, suggesting that NOTCH1 may function as a tumor suppressor gene rather than an oncogene in this tumor type.
Morphologically heterogeneous prostate cancers that behave clinically like small-cell prostate cancers (SCPC) share their chemotherapy responsiveness. We asked whether these clinically defined, ...morphologically diverse, "aggressive variant prostate cancer (AVPC)" also share molecular features with SCPC.
Fifty-nine prostate cancer samples from 40 clinical trial participants meeting AVPC criteria, and 8 patient-tumor derived xenografts (PDX) from 6 of them, were stained for markers aberrantly expressed in SCPC. DNA from 36 and 8 PDX was analyzed by Oncoscan for copy number gains (CNG) and losses (CNL). We used the AVPC PDX to expand observations and referenced publicly available datasets to arrive at a candidate molecular signature for the AVPC.
Irrespective of morphology, Ki67 and Tp53 stained ≥10% cells in 80% and 41% of samples, respectively. RB1 stained <10% cells in 61% of samples and AR in 36%. MYC (surrogate for 8q) CNG and RB1 CNL showed in 54% of 44 samples each and PTEN CNL in 48%. All but 1 of 8 PDX bore Tp53 missense mutations. RB1 CNL was the strongest discriminator between unselected castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and the AVPC. Combined alterations in RB1, Tp53, and/or PTEN were more frequent in the AVPC than in unselected CRPC and in The Cancer Genome Atlas samples.
Clinically defined AVPC share molecular features with SCPC and are characterized by combined alterations in RB1, Tp53, and/or PTEN.
The powerful performance of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in image-to-image translation has been well demonstrated in recent years. However, most methods are focused on completing an ...isolated image translation task. With the complex scenes in optical images and high-frequency speckle noise in SAR images, the quality of generated images is often unsatisfactory. In this paper, a feature-guided method for SAR-to-optical image translation is proposed to better take the unique attributes of images into account. Specifically, in view of the diversity of structure features and texture features, VGG-19 network is used as the feature extractor in the task of cross-modal image translation. To ensure the acquisition of multilayer features in the process of image generation, feature matching is carried out on different layers. Loss function based on Discrete Cosine Transform is designed to filter out the high-frequency noise. The generated images show better performance in feature preservation and noise reduction, and achieve higher Image Quality Assessment scores compared with images generated by some famous methods. The superiority of our algorithm is also demonstrated by being applied to different networks.
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