The circadian clock plays a critical role in the regulation of host immune defense. However, the mechanistic basis for this regulation is largely unknown. Herein, the core clock gene cryptochrome1 ...(cry1) knockout line in Bombyx mori, an invertebrate animal model, was constructed to obtain the silkworm with dysfunctional molecular clock, and the dynamic regulation of the circadian clock on the immune responsiveness within 24 h of Staphylococcus aureus infection was analyzed. We found that deletion of cry1 decreased viability of silkworms and significantly reduced resistance of larvae to S. aureus. Time series RNA‐seq analysis identified thousands of rhythmically expressed genes, including immune response genes, in the larval immune tissue, fat bodies. Uninfected cry1 knockout silkworms exhibited expression patterns of rhythmically expressed genes similar to wild‐type (WT) silkworms infected with S. aureus. However, cry1 knockout silkworms exhibited a seriously weakened response to S. aureus infection. The immune response peaked at 6 and 24 h after infection, during which “transcription storms” occurred, and the expression levels of the immune response genes, PGRP and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), were significantly upregulated in WT. In contrast, cry1 knockout did not effectively activate Toll, Imd, or NF‐κB signaling pathways during the immune adjustment period from 12 to 18 h after infection, resulting in failure to initiate the immune responsiveness peak at 24 h after infection. This may be related to inhibited silkworm fat body energy metabolism. These results demonstrated the dynamic regulation of circadian clock on silkworm immune response to bacterial infection and provided important insights into host antimicrobial defense mechanisms.
Circadian clock dynamically regulates the immune response of Bombyx mori. The silkworm immune response to infection can be broadly classified into three stages: Stage 1: The first “transcription storm” and the peak of immune response at 6 h after infection; Stage 2: Gene transcription and immune response adjustment period at 12 h to 18 h after infection; Stage 3: The second ‘transcription storm’ and the peak of immune response at 24 h after infection.
Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a well-known environmental toxic metal that causes reprotoxicity in pregnant females. There are currently no appropriate interventions or treatments for Cr(VI) exposure ...during pregnancy. Herein, the protective effect of melatonin (MLT) against Cr(VI)-induced reprotoxicity is investigated by administrating MLT to pregnant mice exposed to Cr(VI). The results indicate that MLT effectively alleviates Cr(VI)-induced adverse pregnancy outcomes, restoring the decreased fetal weight and increased fetal resorption and malformation caused by Cr(VI) exposure to normal levels. MLT reduces the negative effects of Cr(VI) on follicular atresia and the development of primordial follicle in the maternal ovarian, thereby mitigating the decline in the reserve of primordial follicles. MLT alleviates Cr(VI)-induced oxidative stress, hence reducing the excessive accumulation of malondialdehyde in the maternal ovary. MLT inhibits Cr(VI)-induced apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells and the expression of cleaved caspase-3 in the ovary. MLT reduces the increase in serum follicle-stimulating hormone caused by Cr(VI) exposure, while elevating anti-Mullerian hormone levels. We demonstrate that MLT reverses Cr(VI)-induced reprotoxicity in pregnant mice, opening up a new avenue for treating reproductive defects caused by environmental stress.
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•MLT reverses Cr(VI)-induced reprotoxicity of pregnant mice.•MLT alleviates Cr(VI)-induced adverse pregnancy outcomes.•MLT eases follicular atresia and development failure of primordial follicle.•MLT inhibits Cr(VI)-induced ovarian granulosa cell apoptosis.•MLT mitigates Cr(VI)-induced follicular reserve depletion.
There is no criterion to guide and evaluate the anastomosis of laparoscopic low anterior resection (LAR). We developed a new technique for precise anastomosis. This study endeavored to evaluate the ...effectiveness and safety of this new technology.
Patients with mid-low rectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic LAR in our department were enrolled retrospectively between January 1, 2021 and July 1, 2023. During the LAR, the distance between the sacral promontory and the rectal stump was measured and used to determine the length of the sigmoid colon, which was preserved for anastomose. The demographic characteristics and short-term outcomes were analyzed.
Forty-nine patients (26 men, 23 women) with low and middle rectal cancer were retrospectively enrolled in the study. The distance of the tumor from the anal verge was 6.4 ± 2.7 cm. The operative time was 193 ± 42 min. All patients underwent precise anastomosis, among which 12 patients underwent freeing of the splenic flexure of the colon. According to our criteria, there was no redundant or tense state of the colon anterior to the sacrum after the anastomosis. Only one patient had a postoperative anastomotic leak (Grade B). All 15 patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy underwent terminal ileostomy. No postoperative death occurred within 30 days of the surgery. The median follow-up time in our study was 12 months. One patient developed a single metastasis in the right lobe of the liver in the eighth month after surgery and underwent microwave radiofrequency ablation, which did not recur in the four months of postoperative follow-up, and the rest of the patients survived disease-free without recurrence of metastasis.
Precise measurement of the proximal colon of the anastomosis can ensure accurate and convenient colorectal anastomosis and this may be a technique worthy of clinical application. However, its effectiveness needs to be further verified in a multicenter clinical trial.
More and more new diagnostic biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been found in association with advances in the standardization of 2-DE coupled with MS analysis. However, the diagnosis ...of HCC is still detected in the late stages of the disease, when treatment options are limited and prognosis is poor. The glycosylation of proteins is known to change in tumor cells during the development of HCC as the result of alterations in the levels of glycosyltransferases, such as increased fucosylation of Golgi Protein 73 and α-fetoprotein. These structural changes can influence the function or physiochemical properties of a protein, resulting in abnormal cancer cell behavior. Therefore, identification of HCC-related glycoprotein markers and analysis of glycan structural alterations might assist in the early detection of HCC. Here, we summarize lectin-based glycoproteomic strategies for the discovery of relevant biomarkers of HCC. The carbohydrate-binding specificities of different lectins offer a biological affinity approach that complements existing MS capabilities. These strategies involve the enrichment of glycoproteins or glycopeptides by lectins, followed by releasing carbohydrates with peptide-N-glycosidase F or reductive β-elimination. The obtained glycopeptides are then identified by automated MS/MS and structural analysis of glycans is performed through modern methods such as quadrupole IT-TOF, MALDI-TOF/TOF and lectin microarray. These strategies will lead to faster and more clinically adaptable tests with greater sensitivity and specificity.
Bacterial symbioses allow annelids to colonise extreme ecological niches, such as hydrothermal vents and whale falls. Yet, the genetic principles sustaining these symbioses remain unclear. Here, we ...show that different genomic adaptations underpin the symbioses of phylogenetically related annelids with distinct nutritional strategies. Genome compaction and extensive gene losses distinguish the heterotrophic symbiosis of the bone-eating worm Osedax frankpressi from the chemoautotrophic symbiosis of deep-sea Vestimentifera. Osedax's endosymbionts complement many of the host's metabolic deficiencies, including the loss of pathways to recycle nitrogen and synthesise some amino acids. Osedax's endosymbionts possess the glyoxylate cycle, which could allow more efficient catabolism of bone-derived nutrients and the production of carbohydrates from fatty acids. Unlike in most Vestimentifera, innate immunity genes are reduced in O. frankpressi, which, however, has an expansion of matrix metalloproteases to digest collagen. Our study supports that distinct nutritional interactions influence host genome evolution differently in highly specialised symbioses.
In this paper, using the self‐polymerization of norepinephrine (NE) and its favorable film‐forming property, a simple and green preparation approach was developed to modify a PDMS channel for ...enantioseparation of chiral compounds. After the PDMS microchip was filled with NE solution, poly(norepinephrine) (PNE) film was gradually formed and deposited on the inner wall of microchannel as permanent coating via the oxidation of NE by the oxygen dissolved in the solution. Due to possessing plentiful catechol and amine functional groups, the PNE‐coated PDMS microchip exhibited much better wettability, more stable and suppressed EOF, and less nonspecific adsorption. The water contact angle and EOF of PNE‐coated PDMS substrate were measured to be 13° and 1.68 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1, compared to those of 108° and 2.24 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1 from the untreated one, respectively. Different kinds of chiral compounds, such as amino acid enantiomer, drug enantiomer, and peptide enantiomer were efficiently separated utilizing a separation length of 37 mm coupled with in‐column amperometric detection on the PNE‐coated PDMS microchips. This facile mussel‐inspired PNE‐based microchip system exhibited strong recognition ability, high‐performance, admirable reproducibility, and stability, which may have potential use in the complex biological analysis.
Apple snails (Ampullariidae) are among the largest and most ecologically important freshwater snails. The introduction of multiple species has reinvigorated the field and spurred a burgeoning body of ...research since the early 1990s, particularly regarding two species introduced to Asian wetlands and elsewhere, where they have become serious agricultural pests. This review places these recent advances in the context of previous work, across diverse fields ranging from phylogenetics and biogeography through ecology and developmental biology, and the more applied areas of environmental health and human disease. The review does not deal with the role of ampullariids as pests, nor their control and management, as this has been substantially reviewed elsewhere. Despite this large and diverse body of research, significant gaps in knowledge of these important snails remain, particularly in a comparative framework. The great majority of the work to date concerns a single species, Pomacea canaliculata, which we see as having the potential to become a model organism in a wide range of fields. However, additional comparative data are essential for understanding this diverse and potentially informative group. With the rapid advances in genomic technologies, many questions, seemingly intractable two decades ago, can be addressed, and ampullariids will provide valuable insights to our understanding across diverse fields in integrative biology.
Although many deep-sea species are considered to have transoceanic distribution, this assumption has rarely been critically tested. Using Hesiolyra (Hesionidae) as a case study, we show that careful ...molecular and morphological analyses are required for refuting/accepting claims about such wide distribution. Hesiolyra is a genus of polychaetes commonly found in hydrothermal vents of the Eastern Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Nevertheless, H. bergi Blake, 1985, a species originally described from the Eastern Pacific Rise (EPR), is the only recognized species in this genus. Phylogenetic analyses based on the COI and 16 S rRNA genes revealed two monophyletic clades that were distinct from a clade consisting of H. bergi sequences. We erected two new species of Hesiolyra, herein named as H. longqiensisn. sp. from the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) and H. heteropodan. sp. from the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) and the Carlsberg Ridge (CR). Among them, H. longqiensisn. sp. is more closely related to H. bergi than to H. heteropodan. sp. . Morphologically, the two newly described species can be easily distinguished from H. bergi. The notopodia and neuropodia of H. bergi and H. longqiensisn. sp., are of similar sizes, but the morphology of their lyrate chaetae and their dorsal cirri alternation patterns are different. In H. heteropodan. sp., the notopodia are remarkably slimmer than the neuropodia, and it lacks lyrate chaetae. Overall, in this report two new species of Hesiolyra from the Indian Ocean ridges and show that the distribution of H. bergi is restricted to the Eastern Pacific Rise. Future exploration of other mid-ocean ridges is required to discover the true diversity of this genus of polychaetes inhabiting hydrothermal vent fields.
•Hesiolyra are common polychaetes living on chimney walls of hydrothermal vents.•The genus was considered to be monospecific.•Hesiolyra bergi from East Pacific Rise was the only recognized species.•We described two new species of Hesiolyra from Indian Ocean ridges.
An ultrasensitive protocol for surface plasma resonance (SPR) detection of adenosine is designed with the aptamer-based target-triggering cascade multiple cycle amplification, and streptavidin-coated ...Au-NPs (Au NPs–SA) enhancement to enhance the SPR signals. The cascade amplification process consists of the aptamer-based target-triggering nicking enzyme signaling amplification (T-NESA), the nicking enzyme signaling amplification (NESA) and the hybridization chain reaction (HCR), the entire circle amplification process is triggered by the target recognition of adenosine. Upon recognition of the aptamer to target adenosine, DNA s1 is released from the aptamer and then hybridizes with hairpin DNA (HP1). The DNA s1 can be dissociated from HP1 under the reaction of nicking endonuclease to initiate the next hybridization and cleavage process. Moreover, the products of the upstream cycle (T-NESA) (DNA s2 and s3) could act as the “DNA trigger” of the downstream cycle (NESA and HCR) to generate further signal amplification, resulting in the immobilization of abundant Au NPs−SA on the gold substrate, and thus significant SPR enhancement is achieved due to the electronic coupling interaction between the localized surface plasma of Au NPs and the surface plasma wave. This detection method exhibits excellent specificity and sensitivity toward adenosine with a detection limit of 4 fM. The high sensitivity and specificity make this method a great potential for detecting biomolecules with trace amounts in bioanalysis and clinical biomedicine.
Vitamin C (VC) is an essential nutrient for many animals. However, whether insects, including Bombyx mori, can synthesize VC remains unclear. In this article, the optimized HPLC method was used to ...determine the content of l‐ascorbic acid (AsA) in silkworm eggs, larvae and pupae, and the activity of l‐gulono‐1,4‐lactone oxidase (GULO), a key enzyme in VC synthesis. The RNA interference method was used to determine the effect of the BmGulo‐like gene on embryonic development and GULO activity in the pupal fat body. The AsA content increased significantly during E144 h–E168 h in the late embryonic stage and P48 h–P144 h in the middle‐late pupal stage, in which exogenous VC was not ingested. Furthermore, the body AsA content in larvae fed VC‐free feed also increased with larval stage. The GULO enzymatic activity was present in eggs and the fat bodies of larvae and pupae, even when the larvae were reared with fresh mulberry leaves. Moreover, the activity was higher in the later embryonic stages (E144 h–E168 h) and the early pupal stage (before P24 h). The GULO activity in the pupal fat body dramatically decreased when the screened BmGulo‐like gene (BGIBMGA005735) was knocked down with small interfering RNA; in addition, the survival rate and hatching rate of eggs significantly decreased 21% and 44%, respectively, and embryonic development was delayed. Thus, Bombyx mori can synthesize AsA through the l‐gulose pathway, albeit with low activity, and this synthesis ability varies with developmental stages.
Graphical
Silkworms can synthesize l‐ascorbic acid (AsA) in the egg and pupal stages, on the basis of changes in vitamin C content. (a) Silkworm generation development and sampling time axis. E0 h and E192 h, 0 h and 192 h after oviposition. 1L‐N, newly‐hatched larva. 2L‐E, 3L‐E, 4L‐E, and 5L‐E show newly exuviated (molted) larva of the 2st‐instar, 3th‐instar, 4th‐instar and 5th‐instar, respectively. P0 h and 312 h, 0 h and 312 h after pupation. (b) AsA content of silkworm dry weight.
HIGHLIGHTS
Silkworm can synthesize l‐ascorbic acid (AsA) through the l‐gulose pathway.
BGIBMGA005735 gene is a BmGulo‐like gene.
AsA synthesis ability varies with developmental stages.
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