Sociability stands as a crucial factor in the evolutionary success of all mammalian species. Notably, enriched environment (EE) housing has been shown to enhance sociability in mice. However, the ...precise underlying molecular mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we established an EE paradigm, housing mice for a 14-day period. Both enhanced sociability and an increased spine density in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of mice subjected to EE were detected. To elucidate the potential molecular pathway, we conducted high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) analysis of the entire mPFC from both EE and home-caged (HC) housed mice. Our analysis identified 16 upregulated and 20 downregulated proteins in the EE group. Among them, Extended Synaptotagmin 1 (ESyt1), an activity-dependent endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–plasma membrane (PM) tethering protein associated with synaptic function and growth, emerged as a potentially key player in the increased synapse formation and enhanced sociability observed in EE-housed mice. Further investigation, involving the knockdown of ESyt1 expression via
sh ESyt1
lentivirus in the mPFC, revealed that ESyt1 is crucial for increased spine density of mPFC and enhanced sociability of mice in an enriched environment but not in normal condition. Overall, our findings uncover a novel mechanistic insight into the positive influence of environmental enrichment on social behavior via ESyt1-mediated pathways.
•Efficiency of PVSCs after HQ treatment increases from 13.85% to 14.65%.•HQ modification lowers interface barrier between PEDOT:PSS and the active layer.•Leakage current in PVSC with HQ-modified ...PEDOT:PSS is significantly reduced.
Low bandgap lead-tin (Pb-Sn) hybrid perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) have gained a great deal of attentions due to their wide optical absorption range and environmental friendliness. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is widely used as a hole transport layer for PVSCs. However, the metallic property of PEDOT:PSS causes a barrier at the interface between it and the active layer, thereby hindering the transport of photogenerated carriers. In this paper, in order to eliminate the influence of the interfacial barrier, the PEDOT:PSS surface was treated by hydroquinone (HQ), which lowers the hole transport barrier at the interface, and consequently reduces the interfacial resistance as well. The leakage current in the device with the HQ-treated PEDOT:PSS is significantly reduced, and the surface modification improves the interfacial contact. Compared with the Pb-Sn hybrid PVSCs with the PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer, the power conversion efficiency of PVSCs with the HQ-PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer is improved by 5.7%.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are classified into two major phenotypes, M1 and M2. M1 TAMs suppress cancer progression, while M2 TAMs promote it. However, little is known regarding the role of ...TAMs in the development of ovarian cancer. Here, we investigated the relationship between TAM distribution patterns (density, microlocalization, and differentiation) and ovarian cancer histotypes, and we explored whether altered TAM distribution patterns influence long-term outcomes in ovarian cancer patients.
A total of 112 ovarian cancer patients were enrolled in this study, and the subjects were divided into two groups according to their survival (< 5 years vs. ≥ 5 years). Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to determine the density, microlocalization, and differentiation status of TAMs in ovarian cancer tissues for each histotype. Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of TAM-related parameters in ovarian cancer.
TAMs most frequently infiltrated into the cancer tissue of the serous histotype, followed by mucinous, undifferentiated, endometrioid, and clear cell histotypes (p = 0.049). The islet/stroma ratio of total TAMs varied among the cancer histotypes, with mucinous and undifferentiated cancers displaying the lowest and highest ratios, respectively (p = 0.005). The intratumoral TAM density significantly increased with increasing cancer stage and grade (p = 0.023 and 0.006, respectively). However, the overall M1/M2 TAM ratio decreased as the cancer stage increased (p = 0.012). In addition, the intra-islet M1/M2 ratio inversely correlated with the residual site size (p = 0.004). Among the TAM-related parameters, only the increased overall and intra-islet M1/M2 TAM ratios displayed prognostic significance in both the Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses; however, the values of these two parameters did not differ significantly among the cancer histotypes.
The patients with increased overall or intra-islet M1/M2 TAM ratios presented with an improved 5-year prognosis. Nevertheless, the TAM distribution patterns did not influence the overall outcomes of different ovarian cancer histotypes.
•A new phenol-responsive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probe is developed.•The immunoassay based on SERS detection exhibited good reproducibility, high sensitivity and selectivity.•The ...ultrasensitive profiling of cholera toxin (CT) in serum samples demonstrates the practical application of this method.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the current gold standard assay for biomarkers. However, its detection sensitivity is greatly limited by the colorimetric readout. Herein, we developed a high-performance immunoassay through the combination of traditional ELISA and ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) assay using a responsive SERS probe. The probe is a Au nanoplate constituted cabbage-like microparticle functionalized with synthesized phenol-responsive Raman reporter 4, 4’-dithiodibenzyldiazonium (DTDBD). The new SERS probe can detect trace amount of phenol with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.4 nM, and alkaline phosphatase (LOD of 0.04 mU/L) with phenol as an enzymatic product. More important, the ultrasensitive detection of cholera toxin (CT) in real serum samples indicates such ELISA-SERS assay promising for practical applications using alkaline phosphatase as an enzyme labeling and SERS probe as a signal readout. We envision that this new method can be employed as a universal platform for the profiling of any antigen using alkaline phosphatase as the enzymatic label to its corresponding antibody.
In this work, a simple and one-pot synthesis approach is developed to form and self-assemble Au nanoplatelets into Au superparticles (AuSPs) with spherical, mushroom- or cauliflower-like hierarchical ...structures. Surface-enhance Raman scattering (SERS) studies indicate that the as-prepared AuSPs possesses great SERS enhancement factor, good signal reproducibility, and excellent stability. Taking these key merits, we envision that such AuSPs have great potential for a wide range of practical applications in bioanalysis, clinic assays, and environmental monitoring.
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Ordered, hierarchical structures formed from nanoparticle (NP) self-assembly are of interest as they display the synergistic properties of the individual NP. Herein we report a one-pot approach to form and self-assemble gold (Au) nanoplatelets into brick-wall like (BWL) Au superparticles (AuSPs). We employ an aniline (ANI) derivative, N-(3-amidino)-aniline (NAAN) to reduce the Au precursor into Au nanoplatelets in the presence of Br−1. The corresponding oxidation product, poly (N-(3-amidino)-aniline) (PNAAN) functions as the capping agent and enables the face-to-face self-assembly of Au nanoplatelets into BWL AuSPs via the π-π stacking interaction. Systematically tuning the reaction conditions leads to spherical, mushroom- or cauliflower-like AuSPs. The significant electromagnetic enhancement of AuSPs via the formation of the nanogaps produces high-density hotspots for excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement, enabling the ultrasensitive SERS assay with detection limit of pM. Moreover, the as-prepared AuSPs exhibited the intense SERS signals under laser excitation with different wavelength and the excellent reproducibility after long-duration exposure in different media. The developed SERS sensor has a great potential for a wide application of bioanalysis, clinic assays and environmental monitoring.
The term ferroptosis, coined in 2012, has been widely applied in various disease research fields. Ferroptosis is a newly regulated form of cell death distinct from apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy, ...the mechanisms of which have been extensively studied. Chronic kidney disease, characterized by renal dysfunction, is a common disease severely affecting human health, with its occurrence and development influenced by multiple factors and leading to dysfunction in multiple systems. It often lacks obvious clinical symptoms in the early stages, and thus, diagnosis is typically made in the later stages, complicating treatment. While research on ferroptosis and acute kidney injury has made continuous progress, studies on the association between ferroptosis and chronic kidney disease remain limited. This review aims to summarize chronic kidney disease, investigate the mechanism and regulation of ferroptosis, and attempt to elucidate the role of ferroptosis in the occurrence and development of chronic kidney disease.
•Ferroptosis is a new type of regulated cell death different from apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy.•CKD is a common disease characterized by renal dysfunction, which seriously affects human life and health.•Ferroptosis is closely related to iron overload and lipid peroxidation.•Ferroptosis plays an important role in the occurrence and development of CKD.
In this article, a new relay-aided secure communication system is investigated, where a transmitter sends signals to a destination via an amplify-and-forward (AF) relay in the presence of an ...eavesdropper. We consider a general system configuration, where the source, relay, destination, and eavesdropper are all equipped with multiple antennas. In the practical scenarios of unknown eavesdropper's channel state information (CSI) and uncertainty of the eavesdropper's location, we aim to maximize the expected value of the system secrecy rate over the presumed distribution of the eavesdropper's channels, by exploiting the artificial noise (AN) transmitted by the source and relay nodes. The system design issue is formulated as a nonconvex stochastic optimization problem with a source transmission power constraint and a nonconvex relay transmission power constraint. A novel computational method is proposed to solve this challenging problem. The new method is developed based on an exact penalty function method together with a parallel stochastic decomposition algorithm. Numerical simulations are performed to study the effectiveness of the proposed scheme at various locations of the eavesdropper. Simulation results show that for most cases, secure communication can be achieved without the CSI knowledge of eavesdropper's channels, and the achievable secrecy rate follows the trend of a benchmark system where the eavesdropper's full CSI is available. In particular, the achievable system secrecy rate increases with the number of antennas at the legitimate users. Moreover, the optimal power allocated for the transmission of the AN increases with the system signal-to-noise ratio. The proposed computational method achieves a higher system secrecy rate than a conventional penalty function based approach.
Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have insulin resistance and are at an increased risk of diabetes. Recent evidence suggests that asprosin–a novel hormone secreted by white ...adipose tissue–may play a role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. However, the role of asprosin in NAFLD remains unclear. This study aimed to determine whether serum asprosin level could be used as a biochemical marker for NAFLD diagnosis.
Forty-three untreated NAFLD patients and 50 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were included. Circulating serum asprosin and adiponectin (another adipokine) levels were detected by ELISA. Other metabolic parameters related to NAFLD were also determined.
Increased circulating serum asprosin and decreased serum adiponectin levels were found in NAFLD patients unlike in healthy controls. A positive correlation was observed between asprosin and platelet counts (PLT) (r = 0.3653, p = 0.015), fasting blood glucose (FBG) (r = 0.3592, p = 0.017), triglyceride (TG) levels (r = 0.3383, p = 0.025), serum albumin (ALB) levels (r = 0.3273, p = 0.030), and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (r = 0.4799, p = 0.001), whereas a negative correlation existed between adiponectin and TG levels in the NAFLD group. Multivariate linear regression showed that FBG and HOMA-IR were independently related to asprosin levels. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed that asprosinAUC and adiponectinAUC were 0.735 (95%CI 0.633–0.836, P < 0.0001) and 0.702 (95%CI 0.597–0.807, p = 0.0007) respectively. Moreover, the combination of both biomarkers showed good sensitivity and specificity with AUC of 0.827, which was better than the single detection of asprosin or adiponectin.
High serum asprosin and low adiponectin level might be associated with the presence of insulin resistance in NAFLD, and the combination of asprosin and adiponectin could be a novel biomarker for diagnosing NAFLD. These data needed to be confirmed and extended in further large-population, well-designed clinical studies.
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