The aim of this study is to explore the effect of microRNA-103a (miR-103a) on astrocytes activation and hippocampal neuron injury in epilepsy rats by targeting brain-derived neurotrophic factor ...(BDNF).
The epilepsy rat model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lithium chloride-pilocarpine. Successful modeled rats were intralateroventricularly microinjected with miR-103a inhibitors, inhibitors negative control (NC), siRNA-NC and BDNF-siRNA, respectively. The RT-qPCR and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of miR-103a, BDNF and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in hippocampus tissues of rats. TUNEL staining was used to detect the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons. The RT-PCR and ELISA was used to detect the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in hippocampal tissues and in serum, respectively.
Increased expression of miR-103a, GFAP, and number of apoptotic neurons, decreased expression of BDNF and number of surviving neurons were found in hippocampus tissues of epilepsy rats. After miR-103a inhibitors interfered with epilepsy rats, there showed decreased expression of miR-103a and GFAP, increased expression of BDNF and decreased number of apoptotic neuron as well as increased number of surviving neurons. Compared with miR-103a inhibitors alone, epilepsy rats treated with BDNF-siRNA combined with miR-103a inhibitors significantly increased expression of GFAP in hippocampal tissues of epilepsy rats, increased number of apoptotic neurons and significantly decreased the number of surviving neurons.
Our study provides evidence that the inhibition of miR-103a can inhibit the activation of astrocytes in hippocampus tissues and improve the pathological injury of neurons of epilepsy rats by regulating BDNF gene.
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation, a well-known modification with new epigenetic functions, has been reported to participate in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), providing novel ...insights into the molecular pathogenesis of this disease. However, as the key component of m6A methylation, Wilms tumor 1-associated protein (WTAP) has not been well studied in HCC. Here we investigated the biological role and underlying mechanism of WTAP in liver cancer.
We determined the expression of WTAP and its correlation with clinicopathological features using tissue microarrays and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. And we clarified the effects of WTAP on HCC cells using cell proliferation assay, colony formation, Edu assay and subcutaneous xenograft experiments. We then applied RNA sequencing combined with gene expression omnibus (GEO) data to screen candidate targets of WTAP. Finally, we investigated the regulatory mechanism of WTAP in HCC by m6A dot blot assay, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) assay, dual luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay and Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay.
We demonstrated that WTAP was highly expressed in HCC which indicated the poor prognosis, and that WTAP expression served as an independent predictor of HCC survival. Functionally, WTAP promoted the proliferation capability and tumor growth of HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, ETS proto-oncogene 1 (ETS1) was identified as the downstream effector of WTAP. The m6A modification regulated by WTAP led to post-transcriptional suppression of ETS1, with the implication of Hu-Antigen R (HuR) as an RNA stabilizer. Then ETS1 was found to inhibit the progression of HCC and could rescue the phenotype induced by WTAP deficiency. Moreover, WTAP modulated the G2/M phase of HCC cells through a p21/p27-dependent pattern mediated by ETS1.
We have identified that WTAP is significantly up-regulated in HCC and promotes liver cancer development. WTAP-guided m6A modification contributes to the progression of HCC via the HuR-ETS1-p21/p27 axis. Our study is the first to report that WTAP-mediated m6A methylation has a crucial role in HCC oncogenesis, and highlights WTAP as a potential therapeutic target of HCC treatment.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the nanomaterials most widely used as antimicrobial agents in a range of consumer products, due to the environmental release of either the AgNPs themselves or silver ...ions. Although AgNPs appear to be more potent than silver ions, the mechanism behind the activity is not fully elucidated yet. The most common mechanism of toxicity of AgNPs proposed to date is the release of silver ions and/or the particle-specific functions. In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (a model for Gram-negative bacteria) was treated with AgNPs, and its proteomic response was comprehensively characterized to elucidate the antimicrobial mechanism of AgNPs in the microorganism. In total, 59 silver-regulated proteins (27 up-regulated and 32 down-regulated proteins) and 5 silver-binding proteins were identified. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that interference with the cell-membrane function and generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were the main pathways for the antibacterial effect. The pattern of membrane proteins regulated by AgNPs was similar to that found for silver ions. In addition, the same silver-binding proteins were obtained with both AgNPs and silver ions, which indicated that AgNPs probably affect the cell membrane and react with proteins by releasing silver ions. The elevation of intracellular ROS relative to that with silver ions confirmed oxidative damage caused by AgNPs, which may be ascribed to the nano-characteristics and higher uptake efficiency of the particles. These results demonstrate that the antimicrobial activity of AgNPs is due to the synergistic action of release of dissolved silver ions and particle-specific effects. The proteomic analysis of silver-binding and silver-regulated proteins in the present study provides insight into the mechanism of antimicrobial activity of such nanomaterials.
Rhizosphere and endophytic microbiota significantly affect plant growth and development by influencing nutrient uptake and stress tolerance. Herein, root and rhizosphere soil of Acacia species were ...collected and analyzed to compare the structural differences of the rhizosphere and root endophytic bacterial communities. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology was employed to analyze the rhizosphere and root endophytic bacterial communities. A total of 4249 OTUs were identified following sequence analysis. The rhizosphere soil contained significantly more OTUs than the root soil. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that bacterial communities exhibited significant specificity in the rhizosphere and root soil of different Acacia species. The most dominant phylum in the rhizosphere soil was Acidobacteria, followed by Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, whereas the dominant phylum in the root soil was Proteobacteria, followed by Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria. Among the various Acacia species, specific bacterial communities displayed different abundance. We systematically described the core bacteria in the rhizosphere and root endophytic bacterial communities and predicted their relevant functions. The type and abundance of specific bacteria were correlated with the nutrient absorption and metabolism of the Acacia species. This study addresses the complex host-microbe interactions and explores the rhizosphere and root bacterial community structure of different Acacia species. These results provide new insights into the role of rhizosphere and root endophytic bacterial communities on the growth and reproduction of Acacia, thus informing future efforts towards sustainable development and utilization of Acacia.
Motor imagery (MI) based brain-computer interface (BCI) is an important BCI paradigm which requires powerful classifiers. Recent development of deep learning technology has prompted considerable ...interest in using deep learning for classification and resulted in multiple models. Finding the best performing models among them would be beneficial for designing better BCI systems and classifiers going forward. However, it is difficult to directly compare performance of various models through the original publications, since the datasets used to test the models are different from each other, too small, or even not publicly available. In this work, we selected five MI-EEG deep classification models proposed recently: EEGNet, Shallow & Deep ConvNet, MB3D and ParaAtt, and tested them on two large, publicly available, databases with 42 and 62 human subjects. Our results show that the models performed similarly on one dataset while EEGNet performed the best on the second with a relatively small training cost using the parameters that we evaluated.
This paper is concerned with Caputo–Hadamard fractional Halanay inequality. A useful fractional derivative inequality regarding on x2 in the Caputo–Hadamard sense is obtained, which makes Halanay ...inequality more applicable to choose the Lyapunov function and to study the stability of fractional system.
A facile strategy to inhibit the recombination of photon-generated carrier and increasing the surface area simultaneously by in situ constructing chitin-derived carbon/g‑C3N4 metal-free ...heterojunction.
Display omitted
•A novel carbon/g-C3N4 heterojunction was constructed by doping chitin.•The CN possess reduced recombination rate, enlarged photoharvesting and surface area.•A acceleration of visible-light photocatalytic degradation of Rh B was accomplished.
Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), as a class of metal-free photocatalyst, possesses advantageous features, such as renewability, visible-light-response, and so on. However, the obstacles of high charge recombination rate and low surface area limit its practical application. In the present work, we developed an economic and eco-friendly method to in situ construct chitin-derived carbon/g-C3N4 heterojunction (CDC/CN) to inhibit the charge recombination and increase the surface area. The structure–function relationship is studied by XRD, HRTEM, PL spectra, DRS and photoelectricity test. It revealed that the heterojunction has multi-functions in enlarging photoharvesting, reducing the band gap, and recombination rate, which are essential to improve the photocatalytic performance. As the doping precursor, chitin can adjust the terminal group and microstructure of g-C3N4 due to the unbalance of electron density in the thermal polymerization of urea, leading to nearly 10 times increment of the surface area of g-C3N4. Subsequently, visible-light-induced degradation of Rhodamine B, a normal dye pollutant, was investigated to examine the catalytic activity, where the modified g-C3N4 exhibited significant enhancement of both photocatalytic activity and reaction rate in comparison with the pristine g-C3N4.
Brown carbon (i.e., light-absorbing organic carbon, or BrC) exerts important effects on the environment and on climate in particular. Based on spectrophotometric absorption measurements on extracts ...of bulk aerosol samples, this study investigated the characteristics of BrC during winter in Beijing, China. Organic compounds extractable by methanol contributed approximately 85% to the organic carbon (OC) mass. Light absorption by the methanol extracts exhibited a strong wavelength dependence, with an average absorption Ångström exponent of 7.10 (fitted between 310 and 450 nm). Normalizing the absorption coefficient (babs) measured at 365 nm to the extractable OC mass yielded an average mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of 1.45 m2/g for the methanol extracts. This study suggests that light absorption by BrC could be comparable with black carbon in the spectral range of near-ultraviolet light. Our results also indicate that BrC absorption and thus BrC radiative forcing could be largely underestimated when using water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) as a surrogate for BrC. Compared to previous work relying only on WSOC, this study provides a more comprehensive understanding of BrC aerosol based on methanol extraction.
•The majority (∼85%) of the OC mass in Beijing aerosol can be extracted by methanol.•A larger portion of brown carbon (BrC) absorption comes from OC insoluble in water.•OC extractable by methanol provides a better estimation of BrC compared to WSOC.•BrC absorption could be comparable with BC in the spectral range of UV light.•Anthropogenic BrC tends to be more light-absorbing than biogenic BrC.
Abstract A brain-computer interface (BCI) enables users to control devices with their minds. Despite advancements, non-invasive BCIs still exhibit high error rates, prompting investigation into the ...potential reduction through concurrent targeted neuromodulation. Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation technology with high spatiotemporal precision. This study examines whether tFUS neuromodulation can improve BCI outcomes, and explores the underlying mechanism of action using high-density electroencephalography (EEG) source imaging (ESI). As a result, V5-targeted tFUS significantly reduced the error in a BCI speller task. Source analyses revealed a significantly increase in theta and alpha activities in the tFUS condition at both V5 and downstream in the dorsal visual processing pathway. Correlation analysis indicated that the connection within the dorsal processing pathway was preserved during tFUS stimulation, while the ventral connection was weakened. These findings suggest that V5-targeted tFUS enhances feature-based attention to visual motion.
Abstract Developing artificial leaves to address the environmental burden of CO 2 is pivotal for advancing our Net Zero Future. In this study, we introduce EcoLeaf, an artificial leaf that closely ...mimics the characteristics of natural leaves. It harnesses visible light as its sole energy source and orchestrates the controlled expansion and contraction of stomata and the exchange of petiole materials to govern the rate of CO 2 sequestration from the atmosphere. Furthermore, EcoLeaf has a cellulose composition and mechanical strength similar to those of natural leaves, allowing it to seamlessly integrate into the ecosystem during use and participate in natural degradation and nutrient cycling processes at the end of its life. We propose that the carbon sequestration pathway within EcoLeaf is adaptable and can serve as a versatile biomimetic platform for diverse biogenic carbon sequestration pathways in the future.
PDF
