Carbon nanomaterials field-effect transistor (FET)-based electrical biosensors provide significant advantages over the current gold standards, holding great potential for realizing direct, ...label-free, real-time electrical detection of biomolecules in a multiplexed manner with ultrahigh sensitivity and excellent selectivity. The feasibility of integrating them with current complementary metal oxide semiconductor platform and a fluid handling module using standard microfabrication technology opens up new opportunities for the development of low-cost, low-noise, portable electrical biosensors for use in practical future devices. In this article, we review recent progress in the rapidly developing area of biomolecular interaction detection using FET-based biosensors based on the carbon nanomaterials single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene. Detection scenarios include DNA-DNA hybridization, DNA-protein interaction, protein function and cellular activity. In particular, we will highlight an amazing property of SWNT- or graphene-FETs in biosensing: their ability to detect biomolecules at the single-molecule level or at the single-cell level. This is due to the size comparability and the surface compatibility of the carbon nanomaterials with biological molecules. We also summarize some current challenges the scientific community is facing, including device-to-device heterogeneity and the lack of system integration for uniform device array mass production.
Myogenic regeneration relies on the proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells. TECRL (trans-2,3-enoyl-CoA reductase like) is an endoplasmic reticulum protein only expressed in cardiac and ...skeletal muscle. However, its role in myogenesis remains unknown. We show that TECRL expression is increased in response to injury. Satellite cell-specific deletion of TECRL enhances muscle repair by increasing the expression of EGR2 through the activation of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway, which in turn promotes the expression of PAX7. We further show that TECRL deletion led to the upregulation of the histone acetyltransferase general control nonderepressible 5, which enhances the transcription of EGR2 through acetylation. Importantly, we showed that AAV9-mediated TECRL silencing improved muscle repair in mice. These findings shed light on myogenic regeneration and muscle repair.
Abstract
Complex biomedical data generated during clinical, omics and mechanism-based experiments have increasingly been exploited through cloud- and visualization-based data mining techniques. ...However, the scientific community still lacks an easy-to-use web service for the comprehensive visualization of biomedical data, particularly high-quality and publication-ready graphics that allow easy scaling and updatability according to user demands. Therefore, we propose a community-driven modern web service, Hiplot (https://hiplot.org), with concise and top-quality data visualization applications for the life sciences and biomedical fields. This web service permits users to conveniently and interactively complete a few specialized visualization tasks that previously could only be conducted by senior bioinformatics or biostatistics researchers. It covers most of the daily demands of biomedical researchers with its equipped 240+ biomedical data visualization functions, involving basic statistics, multi-omics, regression, clustering, dimensional reduction, meta-analysis, survival analysis, risk modelling, etc. Moreover, to improve the efficiency in use and development of plugins, we introduced some core advantages on the client-/server-side of the website, such as spreadsheet-based data importing, cross-platform command-line controller (Hctl), multi-user plumber workers, JavaScript Object Notation-based plugin system, easy data/parameters, results and errors reproduction and real-time updates mode. Meanwhile, using demo/real data sets and benchmark tests, we explored statistical parameters, cancer genomic landscapes, disease risk factors and the performance of website based on selected native plugins. The statistics of visits and user numbers could further reflect the potential impact of this web service on relevant fields. Thus, researchers devoted to life and data sciences would benefit from this emerging and free web service.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disease worldwide. Current guidelines of IBS are mostly based on the western populations and expected to vary in different ...communities. China has a large population and a vast literature is available on IBS. Due to linguistic variations in the literature, the studies are not widely known and their conclusions thus remain largely obscured to the western medical literature. In this article, we reviewed the published literatures on the investigations of IBS epidemiology, diagnosis, and management in the Chinese population and emphasized the different findings gleaned from the western publications. The detailed literature review will benefit understanding of and promote future study on IBS.
Gastric cancer (GC) lacks serum biomarkers with clinical diagnostic value. Multi-omics analysis is an important approach to discovering cancer biomarkers. This study aimed to identify and validate ...serum biomarkers for GC diagnosis by cross-analysis of proteomics and transcriptomics datasets.
A cross-omics analysis was performed to identify overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between our previous aptamer-based GC serum proteomics dataset and the GC tissue RNA-Seq dataset in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, followed by lasso regression and random forest analysis to select key overlapping DEGs as candidate biomarkers for GC. The mRNA levels and diagnostic performance of these candidate biomarkers were analyzed in the original and independent GC datasets to select valuable candidate biomarkers. The valuable candidate biomarkers were subjected to bioinformatics analysis to select those closely associated with the biological behaviors of GC as potential biomarkers. The clinical diagnostic value of the potential biomarkers was validated using serum samples, and their expression levels and functions in GC cells were validated using in vitro cell experiments.
Four candidate biomarkers (ILF2, PGM2L1, CHD7, and JCHAIN) were selected. Their mRNA levels differed significantly between tumor and normal tissues and showed different diagnostic performances for GC, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCs) of 0.629-0.950 in the TCGA dataset and 0.736-0.840 in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. In the bioinformatics analysis, only ILF2 (interleukin enhancer-binding factor 2) gene levels were associated with immune cell infiltration, some checkpoint gene expression, chemotherapy sensitivity, and immunotherapy response. Serum levels of ILF2 were higher in GC patients than in controls, with an AUROC of 0.944 for the diagnosis of GC, and it was also detected in the supernatants of GC cells. Knockdown of ILF2 by siRNA significantly reduced the proliferation and colony formation of GC cells. Overexpression of ILF2 significantly promotes the proliferation and colony formation of gastric cancer cells.
Trans-omics analysis of proteomics and transcriptomics is an efficient approach for discovering serum biomarkers, and ILF2 is a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target of gastric cancer.
This study recycles two abundant and low-cost industrial by-products, bone meal and fly ash, to develop a novel and sustainable binder (MPS) for the stabilization/solidification (S/S) of cadmium (Cd) ...and lead (Pb) in contaminated soils collected from a smelter site. The investigation encompasses analyses of soil pH, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), Cd/Pb leachability, and microstructure properties of MPS-stabilized soils and compares the S/S performances of MPS with conventional and widely used cement (graded PO 42.5). The findings revealed that MPS-stabilized soils maintained notably lower pH values than their cement-stabilized counterparts. MPS exhibited excellent strength performance approaching cement, and only 6% MPS is needed to meet the strength standard (> 350 kPa). Moreover, the Cd stabilization performance of MPS in contaminated site soils was also comparable to that of cement. 12% MPS-stabilized soils after 7-day curing equaled 28-day-cured 10% cement-stabilized soils in Cd leaching, meeting the limit. Notably, MPS could achieve the required Cd leachability at lower pH levels than cement, making it a low-alkalinity and sustainable binder. Additionally, MPS-stabilized soils showed enhanced acid-buffering capacities. Microscopic tests, including X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses demonstrated the formation of magnesium phosphate-based products, hydrotalcite, magnesium silicate hydrate gel, and Cd/Pb phosphate-based products as the predominant chemical mechanisms contributing to strength development and Cd/Pb stabilization, respectively. The study demonstrates the efficacy of MPS in stabilizing real contaminated soils from industrial sites and shows its potential as a promising binder for on-site S/S practices.
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•Bone meal and fly ash are recycled into a low-alkalinity, sustainable binder for S/S.•MPS binder shows an excellent efficiency for stabilizing contaminated site soils.•MPS binder exhibits strength and leaching properties comparable to those of cement.
Brassinosteroids (BRs) are essential for plant growth and development; however, their roles in the regulation of stomatal opening or closure remain obscure. Here, the mechanism underlying BR‐induced ...stomatal movements is studied. The effects of 24‐epibrassinolide (EBR) on the stomatal apertures of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) were measured by light microscopy using epidermal strips of wild type (WT), the abscisic acid (ABA)‐deficient notabilis (not) mutant, and plants silenced for SlBRI1, SlRBOH1 and SlGSH1. EBR induced stomatal opening within an appropriate range of concentrations, whereas high concentrations of EBR induced stomatal closure. EBR‐induced stomatal movements were closely related to dynamic changes in H₂O₂ and redox status in guard cells. The stomata of SlRBOH1‐silenced plants showed a significant loss of sensitivity to EBR. However, ABA deficiency abolished EBR‐induced stomatal closure but did not affect EBR‐induced stomatal opening. Silencing of SlGSH1, the critical gene involved in glutathione biosynthesis, disrupted glutathione redox homeostasis and abolished EBR‐induced stomatal opening. The results suggest that transient H₂O₂ production is essential for poising the cellular redox status of glutathione, which plays an important role in BR‐induced stomatal opening. However, a prolonged increase in H₂O₂ facilitated ABA signalling and stomatal closure.
The clinical significance of periconceptional folic acid supplementation (FAS) in the prevention of neonatal neural tube defects (NTDs) has been recognized for decades. Epidemiological data and ...experimental findings have consistently been indicating an association between folate deficiency in the first trimester of pregnancy and poor fetal development as well as offspring health (i.e., NTDs, isolated orofacial clefts, neurodevelopmental disorders). Moreover, compelling evidence has suggested adverse effects of folate overload during perinatal period on offspring health (i.e., immune diseases, autism, lipid disorders). In addition to several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes related to folate one-carbon metabolism (FOCM), folate concentrations in maternal serum/plasma/red blood cells must be considered when counseling FAS. Epigenetic information encoded by 5-methylcytosines (5mC) plays a critical role in fetal development and offspring health. S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a methyl donor for 5mC, could be derived from FOCM. As such, folic acid plays a double-edged sword role in offspring health via mediating DNA methylation. However, the underlying epigenetic mechanism is still largely unclear. In this review, we summarized the link across DNA methylation, maternal FAS, and offspring health to provide more evidence for clinical guidance in terms of precise FAS dosage and time point. Future studies are, therefore, required to set up the reference intervals of folate concentrations at different trimesters of pregnancy for different populations and to clarify the epigenetic mechanism for specific offspring diseases.
Spin waves can probe the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), which gives rise to topological spin textures, such as skyrmions. However, the DMI has not yet been reported in yttrium iron garnet ...(YIG) with arguably the lowest damping for spin waves. In this work, we experimentally evidence the interfacial DMI in a 7-nm-thick YIG film by measuring the nonreciprocal spin-wave propagation in terms of frequency, amplitude, and most importantly group velocities using all electrical spin-wave spectroscopy. The velocities of propagating spin waves show chirality among three vectors, i.e., the film normal direction, applied field, and spin-wave wave vector. By measuring the asymmetric group velocities, we extract a DMI constant of 16 μJ/m^{2}, which we independently confirm by Brillouin light scattering. Thickness-dependent measurements reveal that the DMI originates from the oxide interface between the YIG and garnet substrate. The interfacial DMI discovered in the ultrathin YIG films is of key importance for functional chiral magnonics as ultralow spin-wave damping can be achieved.