•Microbial fermentation is the key factor controlling the quality of dark tea.•Serial reactions modify the chemical constituents of tea leaves during fermentation.•Multi-omics approaches are used to ...reveal microbial impact on dark tea quality.
Dark tea is a unique fermented tea produced by solid-state fermentation of tea leaves (Camellia sinensis). It includes ripe Pu-erh tea, Fu brick tea, Liupao tea, and other teas. Microbial fermentation is considered to be the key factor controlling the quality of dark tea. It involves a series of reactions that modify the chemical constituents of tea leaves. These chemical conversions during microbial fermentation of dark tea are associated with a variety of functional core microorganisms. Further, Multi-omics approaches have been used to reveal the microbial impact on the conversion of the chemical components in dark tea. In the present review, we provide an overview of the most recent advances in the knowledge of the microbial bioconversion of the chemical components in dark tea, including the chemical composition of dark tea, microbial community composition and dynamics during the fermentation process, and the role of microorganisms in biotransformation of chemical constituents.
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing of DNA bases by plasmonic nanopores could pave a way to novel methods for DNA analyses and new generation single-molecule sequencing platforms. The ...SERS discrimination of single DNA bases depends critically on the time that a DNA strand resides within the plasmonic hot spot. In fact, DNA molecules flow through the nanopores so rapidly that the SERS signals collected are not sufficient for single-molecule analysis. Here, we report an approach to control the residence time of molecules in the hot spot by an electro-plasmonic trapping effect. By directly adsorbing molecules onto a gold nanoparticle and then trapping the single nanoparticle in a plasmonic nanohole up to several minutes, we demonstrate single-molecule SERS detection of all four DNA bases as well as discrimination of single nucleobases in a single oligonucleotide. Our method can be extended easily to label-free sensing of single-molecule amino acids and proteins.
Critical patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), even those whose nucleic acid test results had turned negative and those receiving maximal medical support, have been noted to progress ...to irreversible fatal respiratory failure. Lung transplantation (LT) as the sole therapy for end-stage pulmonary fibrosis related to acute respiratory distress syndrome has been considered as the ultimate rescue therapy for these patients.
From February 10 to March 10, 2020, three male patients were urgently assessed and listed for transplantation. After conducting a full ethical review and after obtaining assent from the family of the patients, we performed three LT procedures for COVID-19 patients with illness durations of more than one month and extremely high sequential organ failure assessment scores.
Two of the three recipients survived post-LT and started participating in a rehabilitation program. Pearls of the LT team collaboration and perioperative logistics were summarized and continually improved. The pathological results of the explanted lungs were concordant with the critical clinical manifestation, and provided insight towards better understanding of the disease. Government health affair systems, virology detection tools, and modern communication technology all play key roles towards the survival of the patients and their rehabilitation.
LT can be performed in end-stage patients with respiratory failure due to COVID-19-related pulmonary fibrosis. If confirmed positive-turned-negative virology status without organ dysfunction that could contraindicate LT, LT provided the final option for these patients to avoid certain death, with proper protection of transplant surgeons and medical staffs. By ensuring instant seamless care for both patients and medical teams, the goal of reducing the mortality rate and salvaging the lives of patients with COVID-19 can be attained.
It remains a great challenge to develop polymer‐based materials with efficient and color‐tunable organic afterglow. Two indolocarbazole derivatives IaCzA and IbCzA have been synthesized and doped ...into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrices. It is found that the resulting films can produce unique dual‐mode afterglow, which is composed of persistent thermally activated delayed fluorescence and ultralong organic phosphorescence. Besides, the IbCzA‐doped PVA film exhibits intense blue afterglow with Φafterglow and τafterglow up to 19.8 % and 1.81 s, respectively, representing state‐of‐the‐art dual‐mode organic afterglow performance. Moreover, our reported film has high flexibility, excellent transparency, and large‐area producibility; and the afterglow color of the film can be linearly tuned by temperature. Inspired by these distinctive properties, the PVA doped with IbCzA was employed as temperature‐sensitive security ink for anti‐counterfeiting and information encryption.
Two indolocarbazole derivatives IaCzA and IbCzA have been synthesized and doped into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrices. It is found that the resulting films simultaneously produce persistent thermally activated delayed fluorescence and ultralong organic phosphorescence, and their afterglow colors can be linearly tuned by temperature. Besides, the IbCzA‐doped PVA film presents state‐of‐the‐art dual‐mode organic afterglow performance.
The SERS‐based detection of protein sequences with single‐residue sensitivity suffers from signal dominance of aromatic amino acid residues and backbones, impeding detection of non‐aromatic amino ...acid residues. Herein, we trap a gold nanoparticle in a plasmonic nanohole to generate a single SERS hot spot for single‐molecule detection of 2 similar polypeptides (vasopressin and oxytocin) and 10 distinct amino acids that constitute the 2 polypeptides. Significantly, both aromatic and non‐aromatic amino acids are detected and discriminated at the single‐molecule level either at individual amino acid molecules or within the polypeptide chains. Correlated with molecular dynamics simulations, our results suggest that the signal dominance due to large spatial occupancy of aromatic rings of the polypeptide sidechains on gold surfaces can be overcome by the high localization of the single hot spot. The superior spectral and spatial discriminative power of our approach can be applied to single‐protein analysis, fingerprinting, and sequencing.
Sequencing in a hot spot: Sequencing of single proteins by surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) suffers from the signal dominance of aromatic amino acid residues and backbones, which hampers the ability to detect nonaromatic amino acid residues. A single, localized SERS hot spot in an electroplasmonic trap that allows the discrimination of aromatic and nonaromatic residues in single polypeptides is presented.
Background
Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is conventionally regarded as an inflammatory cytokine that has a pivotal role in anti-infection and tumor immune surveillance. It has been used clinically to treat a ...variety of malignancies. However, increased evidence has suggested IFN-γ can act to induce tumor progression. The role of IFN-γ in regulating antitumor immunity appears to be complex and paradoxical. The mechanism underlying the dual aspects of IFN-γ function in antitumor immunity is not clear.
Methods
(1) Lung cancer cells (A549 cells) were cultured with pleural effusion or supernatant of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs supernatant), and the expression levels of PD-L1 were detected by flow cytometer. The invasion capacity was measured in vitro using trans-well migration assays. (2) Pleural effusion mononuclear cells (PEMC) were separated by Ficoll Hypaque gradient. The expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and INF-γ in the tumor-associated macrophages was analyzed by flow cytometry. (3) A549 cells were stimulated with IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, or IFN-γ and then the expression levels were detected by flow cytometry. (4) The expression levels of phospho-ERK (
p
-ERK), phospho-AKT (
p
-AKT), and phospho-Sat3 (
p
-Stat3) were analyzed with Western blot after stimulation with IFN-γ. (5) Cotreatment of the A549 cells with MAPK/ERK-specific inhibitor PD98059, PI3K/AKT-specific inhibitor LY294002, or JAK/STAT3-specific inhibitor AG490, respectively, blocked IFN-γ-induced PD-L1 expression, and then PD-L1 expression was detected by flow cytometry.
Results
We demonstrated that TAMs could induce the expression of PD-L1 by the secretion of IFN-γ through the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK/STAT3) signaling pathway and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway in A549 cells. Furthermore, the signal pathway blockers LY294002 or AG490 could block the induced expression of PD-L1 by IFN-γ.
Conclusions
IFN-γ was not always successful as an antitumor agent. It also can promote tumor cells to evade immune surveillance. Researchers should be cautious in using IFN-γ as a therapeutic agent for cancer treatment.
To date, specific cytokines associated with development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and extrapulmonary multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) in COVID-19 patients have not been ...systematically described. We determined the levels of inflammatory cytokines in patients with COVID-19 and their relationships with ARDS and extrapulmonary MOD. The clinical and laboratory data of 94 COVID-19 patients with and without ARDS were analyzed. The levels of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin 6 IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha TNF-alpha) were measured on days 1, 3, and 5 following admission. Seventeen healthy volunteers were recruited as controls. Correlations in the levels of inflammatory cytokines with clinical and laboratory variables were analyzed, furthermore, we also explored the relationships of different cytokines with ARDS and extrapulmonary MOD. The ARDS group had higher serum levels of all 4 inflammatory cytokines than the controls, and these levels steadily increased after admission. The ARDS group also had higher levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 than the non-ARDS group, and the levels of these cytokines correlated significantly with coagulation parameters and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha correlated with the levels of creatinine and urea nitrogen, and were also higher in ARDS patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). All 4 inflammatory cytokines had negative correlations with PaO.sub.2/FiO.sub.2. IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha had positive correlations with the APACHE-II score. Relative to survivors, non-survivors had higher levels of IL-6 and IL-10 at admission, and increasing levels over time. The cytokine storm apparently contributed to the development of ARDS and extrapulmonary MOD in COVID-19 patients. The levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 correlated with DIC, and the levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were associated with AKI. Relative to survivors, patients who died within 28 days had increased levels of IL-6 and IL-10.
Plasmonic nanostructures can achieve subdiffraction‐limit light confinement with enhanced electric fields. By taking advantage of the light‐confinement effect, various plasmonic photodetectors that ...combine low‐dimensional (LD) semiconductor structures and plasmonic materials have recently demonstrated excellent plasmon‐enhanced device performance and attracted significant research interest. In this review, the state‐of‐the‐art progress in the development of various LD photodetectors with different plasmonic structures is briefly surveyed, in order to provide a clear picture of related fabrication methods, leading to maximized plasmonic enhancement. The fundamentals of localized surface‐plasmon resonance and plasmonic hot electrons are first introduced, followed by a summary of several prototypical LD photodetectors enhanced by metal nanoparticles (NPs), including noble‐metal NPs, poor‐metal NPs, and some plasmonic doped‐semiconductor NPs. The recent achievement of the newly developed LD photodetectors propelled by plasmonic hot carriers is also highlighted. Finally, some challenges and issues that need to be resolved in this field are proposed.
Recent progress in the development of various low‐dimensional photodetectors with different plasmonic structures is summarized in this review, in order to provide a clear picture of the related fabrication methods leading to maximized plasmonic enhancement.
CD73 (ecto-5'-nucleotidase) is implicated in the development of many types of cancer. CD73 inhibitors are currently being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. Understanding the ...molecular and cellular actions of CD73 inhibitors is the key to improving this line of therapy.
Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of CD73 and miR-30a-5p; Western blot and immunohistochemical assays were used to investigate the levels of CD73 and other proteins. Flow cytometry was used to determine cell cycle stage and apoptosis. CCK-8 and clonogenic assays were used to investigate cell proliferation. Wound healing, migration and invasion assays were used to investigate the motility of cells. A lung carcinoma xenograft mouse model was used to investigate the in vivo effects of CD73 and miR-30a-5p.
In the present study, we found that CD73 is overexpressed and miR-30a-5p is underexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous. Further, we showed that CD73 is a direct target of miR-30a-5p by luciferase reporter assays, qRT-PCR and western blot analysis. We also found that overexpression of miR-30a-5p in these non-small cell lung cancer cell lines inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the epithelial-to-mesenchymal phenotype was suppressed and cell migration and invasion were inhibited; these effects were brought about via the EGF signaling pathway.
Our findings reveal a new post-transcriptional mechanism of CD73 regulation via miR-30a-5p and EGFR-related drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer.
In this work, an efficient polymer‐based organic afterglow system, which shows reversible photochromism, switchable ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP), and prominent water and chemical ...resistance simultaneously, has been developed for the first time. By doping phenoxazine (PXZ) and 10‐ethyl‐10H‐phenoxazine (PXZEt) into epoxy polymers, the resulting PXZ@EP‐0.25 % and PXZEt@EP‐0.25 % films show unique photoactivated UOP properties, with phosphorescence quantum yields and lifetimes up to 10.8 % and 845 ms, respectively. It is found that the steady‐state luminescence and UOP of PXZ@EP‐0.25 % are switchable by light irradiation and thermal annealing. Moreover, the doped films can still produce conspicuous UOP after soaking in water, strong acid and base, and organic solvents for more than two weeks, exhibiting outstanding water and chemical resistance. Inspired by these exciting results, the PXZ@EP‐0.25 % has been successfully exploited as an erasable transparent film for light printing.
A series of efficient phosphorescence materials were developed by embedding phenothiazine, phenoxazine, and 10‐ethyl‐10H‐phenoxazine into epoxy polymers. It is found that the polymer film involving phenoxazine shows reversible photochromism, switchable ultralong organic phosphorescence, and prominent water and chemical resistance simultaneously. In addition, its potential application in erasable light printing has also been demonstrated.
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