Sensory neurons are distinguished by distinct signaling networks and receptive characteristics. Thus, sensory neuron types can be defined by linking transcriptome-based neuron typing with the sensory ...phenotypes. Here we classify somatosensory neurons of the mouse dorsal root ganglion （DRG） by high-coverage single-cell RNA-sequencing （10 950 ±1 218 genes per neuron） and neuron size-based hierarchical clustering. Moreover, single DRG neurons responding to cutaneous stimuli are recorded using an in vivo whole-cell patch clamp technique and classified by neuron-type genetic markers. Small diameter DRG neurons are classified into one type of low-threshold mechanoreceptor and five types of mechanoheat nociceptors （MHNs）. Each of the MHN types is further categorized into two subtypes. Large DRG neurons are categorized into four types, including neurexophilin 1-expressing MHNs and mechanical nociceptors （MNs） expressing BAil-associated protein 2-like I （Baiap211）. Mechanoreceptors expressing trafficking protein particle complex 3-like and Baiap211-marked MNs are subdivided into two subtypes each. These results provide a new system for cataloging somatosensory neurons and their transcriptome databases.
Flexible covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are intriguing for their dynamic properties distinctive from rigid counterparts but still suffer from limited accessibility. Especially, controlling ...flexibility of COFs is challenging and the impact of different flexibility on properties of COFs has rarely been unveiled. This article reports stepwise adjustment on flexibility of two-dimensional COFs, which is realized by the designed synthesis of rigid COF (R-COF), semi-flexible COF (SF-COF), and flexible COF (F-COF) through polymerization, linker exchange, and linkage conversion with a newly developed method for reduction of hydrazone, respectively. Significant difference in breathing behavior and self-adaptive capability of the three COFs are uncovered through vapor response and iodine capture experiments. Gas sorption experiments indicate that the porosity of F-COF could switch from "close" state in nitrogen to "open" state in carbon dioxide, which are not observed for R-COF and SF-COF. This study not only develops a strategy to adjust the flexibility of COFs by tuning their linkers and linkages, but also provides a deep insight into the impact of different flexibility on properties of COFs, which lays a foundation for the development of this new class of dynamic porous materials.
Exploring new linkage chemistry for covalent organic frameworks (COFs) provides a strong driving force to promote the development of this emerging class of crystalline porous organic materials. ...Herein we report a strategy to synthesize COFs with azo linkage, one of the most important functional unit in materials science but having not yet been exploited as a linkage of COFs. This strategy is developed on the basis of in situ linker exchange, by which imine-linked COFs are completely transformed into azo-linked COFs (Azo-COFs). Moreover, distinct properties of Azo-COFs from their corresponding imine-linked precursors are observed, indicating unique property of Azo-COFs. This strategy provides a useful approach to develop new linkage chemistry for COFs. It also has established a synthetic method for azo-linked COFs, which not only enriches the family of COFs but also offers a platform to explore properties and applications of this class of crystalline porous conjugated polymers.
An accurate active islanding detection method for grid-tied inverters in distributed generation using phase disturbance based on grid synchronisation is presented in this study. To have good ...performance on both power quality and islanding detection, a third-harmonic injection is generated by a new kind of phase disturbance and the scope of phase disturbance coefficient is precisely defined, besides, for extracting the third-harmonic component at the point of common coupling accurately, a selective harmonic extraction based on multiple second-order generalised integrators is also provided. Performances of the proposed method have been studied and confirmed through extensive simulations using MATLAB/Simulink platform.
A novel multiple-image encryption scheme using the nonlinear iterative phase retrieval algorithm in the gyrator transform domain under the illumination of an optical vortex beam is proposed. In order ...to increase the randomness, the chaotic structured phase mask based on the logistic map, Fresnel zone plate and radial Hilbert mask is proposed. With the help of two chaotic phase masks, each plain image is encoded into two phase-only masks that are considered as the private keys by using the iterative phase retrieval process in the gyrator domain. Then, the second keys of all plain images are modulated into the ciphertext, which has the stationary white noise distribution. Due to the use of the chaotic structured phase masks, the problem of axis alignment in the optical setup can easily be solved. Two private keys are directly relative to the plain images, which makes that the scheme has high resistance against various potential attacks. Moreover, the use of the vortex beam that can integrates more system parameters as the additional keys into one phase mask can improve the security level of the cryptosystem, which makes the key space enlarged widely. Simulation results are given to verify the feasibility and robustness of the proposed encryption scheme.
China has the largest apple planting area and total yield in the world, and the Fuji apple is the major cultivar, accounting for more than 70％ of apple planting acreage in China. Apple qualities are ...affected by meteorological conditions, soil types, nutrient content of soil, and management practices. Meteorological factors, such as light, temperature and moisture are key environmental conditions affecting apple quality that are difficult to regulate and control. This study was performed to determine the effect of meteorological factors on the qualities of Fuji apple and to provide evidence for a reasonable regional layout and planting of Fuji apple in China. Fruit samples of Fuji apple and meteorological data were investigated from 153 commercial Fuji apple orchards located in 51 counties of 11 regions in China from 2010 to 2011. Partial least-squares regression and linear programming were used to analyze the effect model and impact weight of meteorological factors on fruit quality, to determine the major meteorological factors influencing fruit quality attributes, and to establish a regression equation to optimize meteorological factors for high-quality Fuji apples. Results showed relationships between fruit quality attributes and meteorological factors among the various apple producing counties in China. The mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures from April to October had the highest positive effects on fruit qualities in model effect loadings and weights, followed by the mean annual temperature and the sunshine percentage, the temperature difference between day and night, and the total precipitation for the same period. In contrast, annual total precipitation and relative humidity from April to October had negative effects on fruit quality. The meteorological factors exhibited distinct effects on the different fruit quality attributes. Soluble solid content was affected from the high to the low row preface by annual total precipitation, the minimum temperature from April to October, the mean temperature from April to October, the temperature difference between day and night, and the mean annual temperature. The regression equation showed that the optimum meteorological factors on fruit quality were the mean annual temperature of 5.5-18°C and the annual total precipitation of 602-1121 mm for the whole year, and the mean temperature of 13.3-19.6°C, the minimum temperature of 7.8-18.5°C, the maximum temperature of 19.5°C, the temperature difference of 13.7°C between day and night, the total precipitation of 227 mm, the relative humidity of 57.5-84.0％, and the sunshine percentage of 36.5-70.0％ during the growing period (from April to October).
Background and Aim
Patients with cholelithiasis (CL) or cholecystectomy (CE) would have more chances of getting colorectal adenoma (CRA) or cancer (CRC). We aimed to figure out the effects of gut ...microbiota and bile acid on colorectal neoplasm in CL and CE patients.
Methods
This was a retrospective observational study that recruited 514 volunteers, including 199 people with normal gallbladders (normal), 152 CL, and 163 CE patients. Discovery cohort was established to explore the difference in gut microbiota through 16S rRNA and metagenomics sequencing. Validation cohort aimed to verify the results through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).
Results
Significant enrichment of Escherichia coli was found in patients with cholelithiasis or cholecystectomy both in the discovery cohort (16S rRNA sequencing, PNormal‐CL = 0.013, PNormal‐CE = 0.042; metagenomics sequencing, PNormal‐CE = 0.026) and validation cohort (PNormal‐CL < 0.0001, PNormal‐CE < 0.0001). Pks+ E. coli was found enriched in CL and CE patients through qPCR (in discovery cohort: PNormal‐CE = 0.018; in validation cohort: PNormal‐CL < 0.0001, PNormal‐CE < 0.0001). The differences in bile acid metabolism were found both through Tax4Fun analysis of 16S rRNA sequencing (Ko00120, primary bile acid biosynthesis, PNormal‐CE = 0.014; Ko00121, secondary bile acid biosynthesis, PNormal‐CE = 0.010) and through metagenomics sequencing (map 00121, PNormal‐CE = 0.026). The elevation of serum total bile acid of CE patients was also found in validation cohort (PNormal‐CE < 0.0001). The level of serum total bile acid was associated with the relative abundance of pks+ E. coli (r = 0.1895, P = 0.0012).
Conclusions
E. coli, especially pks+ species, was enriched in CL and CE patients. Pks+ E. coli and bile acid metabolism were found associated with CRA and CRC in people after cholecystectomy.
Food‐drug interaction is an important but overlooked issue. For example, little is known concerning whether or not the chemotherapy of cancers is affected by the well‐defined dietary chemicals such ...as 2‐(indol‐3‐ylmethyl)‐3,3′‐diindolylmethane (LTr1) derived from daily consumed cruciferous vegetables. This work, inspired by the described melanogenesis reduction by certain indoles, presents that LTr1 mitigates the melanogenesis and thus potentiates the in vitro and in vivo anti‐melanoma effectiveness of different chemotherapeutic agents including dacarbazine, vemurafenib, and sorafenib. In B16 melanoma cells, LTr1 was shown to inhibit the melanogenesis by acting towards the regulatory (R) subunit of protein kinase A (PRKAR1a) associated with the phosphorylation of cAMP‐response element binding protein (CREB). This allows LTr1 to reduce the expression of melanogenesis‐related enzymes such as tyrosinase (TYR), tyrosinase‐related protein 1 (TYRP1), and tyrosinase‐related protein 2 (TYRP2). Furthermore, LTr1 was addressed to bind to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and up‐regulate the expression of CYP1A1 encoding cytochrome P450 1A1, leading to the escalation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. The increased ROS generation promotes the cysteine‐to‐cystine transformation to inhibit the pheomelanogenesis in melanomas. Collectively, the work identifies LTr1 as a new melanogenesis inhibitor that modulates the PKA/CREB/MITF and AhR/CYP1A1/ROS pathways, thereby providing a new option for (re)sensitizing melanomas to chemotherapeutics.
Abietic acid (AA), an antibacterial terpenoid, was initially isolated from rosin which has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine to treat psoriasis. In our previous works, we found that ...water-processed rosin (WPR) can alleviate imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in mice. However, the efficacy of AA, the main component of WPR, against psoriasis remains unclear.
In this study, we confirmed the anti-psoriasis efficacy of AA (40 mg/kg daily for 7 days) in IMQ-induced psoriasis-like inflammation BALB/c mouse model by the psoriasis area severity index (PASI), flow cytometry, ELISA, histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. Furthermore, we detected the relative abundance of gut microbe using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to validate whether AA modulate gut microbe.
Oral administration of AA ameliorates IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation through reducing PASI scores, regulating the balance of Th17/Treg cells in the mouse spleen, and downregulating the level of serum cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-17A, TGF-1β, and IL-23. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the relative abundance of gut bacteria related to inflammation, such as, Anaerotruncus and Christensenella at genus level were decreased, while Kurthia, Citrobacter, and Klebsiella at genus level were increased in AA group mice. Additionally, the correlation analysis illustrated that the key microbiota had a close relationship with the psoriasis-like inflammation related indexes.
AA might exert the anti-psoriasis effect via inhibiting Th17-related immune responses, hinting that it might be a candidate for treating psoriasis. Meanwhile, the alteration of intestinal microbiota by AA treatment is another possible explanation for the amelioration of imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like inflammation.
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Abstract
Drought and cold stresses seriously affect tree growth and fruit yield during apple (Malus domestica) production, with combined stress causing injury such as shoot shriveling. However, the ...molecular mechanism underlying crosstalk between responses to drought and cold stress remains to be clarified. In this study, we characterized the zinc finger transcription factor ZINC FINGER OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA 10 (ZAT10) through comparative analysis of shoot-shriveling tolerance between tolerant and sensitive apple rootstocks. MhZAT10 responded to both drought and cold stresses. Heterologous expression of MhZAT10 in the sensitive rootstock ‘G935' from domesticated apple (Malus domestica) promoted shoot-shriveling tolerance, while silencing of MhZAT10 expression in the tolerant rootstock ‘SH6' of Malus honanensis reduced stress tolerance. We determined that the apple transcription factor DEHYDRATION RESPONSE ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN 2A (DREB2A) is a direct regulator activating the expression of MhZAT10 in response to drought stress. Apple plants overexpressing both MhDREB2A and MhZAT10 genes exhibited enhanced tolerance to drought and cold stress, while plants overexpressing MhDREB2A but with silenced expression of MhZAT10 showed reduced tolerance, suggesting a critical role of MhDREB2A-MhZAT10 in the crosstalk between drought and cold stress responses. We further identified drought-tolerant MhWRKY31 and cold-tolerant MhMYB88 and MhMYB124 as downstream regulatory target genes of MhZAT10. Our findings reveal a MhDREB2A-MhZAT10 module involved in crosstalk between drought and cold stress responses, which may have applications in apple rootstock breeding programs aimed at developing shoot-shriveling tolerance.
The transcription factor MhDREB2A activates MhZAT10 expression, and they coordinately regulate drought and cold stress by integrating multiple pathways in apple rootstock to improve shoot-shriveling tolerance.
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