Despite its limitations, restriction enzyme (RE)-mediated cleavage remains the prevalent method for generating sticky ends in DNA assembly. Here, we present RNase HII Fusion (RH2Fusion), a robust system for user-defined sticky ends, enabling scarless assembly of multiple DNA fragments alongside simultaneous site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) at multiple sites. In bacterial cells, DNA fragments with ribonucleotide modifications are expected to form complementary 3' overhangs after RNase HII treatment, followed by annealing and recombination via the bacterial self-repair system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Atheroprotective shear stress preserves endothelial barrier function, while atheroprone shear stress enhances endothelial permeability. Yet, the underlying mechanisms through which distinct flow patterns regulate EC integrity remain to be clarified. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of Kindlin-2, a key component of focal adhesion and endothelial adherens junctions crucial for regulating endothelial cell (EC) integrity and vascular stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a highly aggressive malignancy that is characterized by early distant metastasis and poor prognosis. DNA methylation plays an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of OSCC. This study aimed to identify methylation-driven genes through bioinformatics analysis as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostic assessment of OSCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal venoms, distinguished by their unique structural features and potent bioactivities, represent a vast and relatively untapped reservoir of therapeutic molecules. However, limitations associated with extracting or expressing large numbers of individual venoms and venom-like molecules have precluded their therapeutic evaluation via high throughput screening. Here, we developed an innovative computational approach to design a highly diverse library of animal venoms and "metavenoms".
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe phosphate modification of drugs is a common chemical strategy to increase solubility and allow for parenteral administration. Unfortunately, phosphate modifications often elicit treatment- or dose-limiting pruritus through an unknown mechanism. Using unbiased high-throughput drug screens, we identified the Mas-related G protein-coupled receptor X4 (MRGPRX4), a primate-specific, sensory neuron receptor previously implicated in itch, as a potential target for phosphate-modified compounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, six silyl [PSiP] pincer cobalt(II) chlorides [(2-PhPCH)MeSiCo(Cl)(PMe)] (), [(2-PhPCH)HSiCo(Cl)(PMe)] (), [(2-PhPCH)PhSiCo(Cl)(PMe)] (), [(2-PrPCH)HSiCo(Cl)(PMe)] (), [(2-PrPCH)MeSiCo(Cl)(PMe)] (), and [(2-PrPCH)PhSiCo(Cl)(PMe)] ()) were prepared from the corresponding [PSiP] pincer preligands (), CoCl and PMe by Si-H bond activation. The catalytic activity of complexes for alkene hyrdosilylation was studied. It was confirmed that complex is the best catalyst with excellent regioselectivity among the six complexes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCirc Cardiovasc Interv
February 2024
Background: It is uncertain whether adjunctive thrombolysis is beneficial for patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 120 minutes of presentation. This study was to determine whether in patients presenting with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction a single bolus recombinant staphylokinase (r-SAK) before timely PCI leads to improved patency of the infarct-related artery and reduces the infarct size.
Methods: This is an open-label, prospective, multicenter, randomized study.
Acute or chromic bleeding, such as epistaxis, requires hemostatic materials to assist hemostasis. Even in complex cases, hemostatic materials must have other functions, including the promotion of healing and prevention of adhesion. Herein, a series of fibrosis-suppressive functional cRGD-modified crosslinking hyaluronic acid sponges were prepared.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Increasing evidence suggests that long noncoding RNAs play significant roles in vascular biology and disease development. One such long noncoding RNA, , has been implicated in the development of tumors. Nevertheless, the precise role of in cardiovascular diseases, particularly atherosclerosis, has not been thoroughly elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The risk of developing Alzheimer's disease is associated with genes involved in microglial function. Inositol polyphosphate-5-phosphatase (), which encodes Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase 1 (SHIP1), is a risk gene expressed in microglia. Because SHIP1 binds receptor immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs), competes with kinases, and converts PI(3,4,5)P to PI(3,4)P, it is a negative regulator of microglia function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Currently, noninvasive arteriography for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease is clinically limited to the computed tomography scanning, where patients have to be exposed to the radiation and risks associated with iodinated contrast. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance and safety of a novel ferumoxytol-enhanced coronary magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.
Methods: Thirty patients, 19 males, with a median age of 63 years old, and 17 with renal insufficiency, who were scheduled for invasive coronary angiography, were enrolled.
Targeted insertion of large DNA fragments holds promise for genome engineering and gene therapy. Prime editing (PE) effectively inserts short (<50 bp) sequences. Employing paired prime editing guide RNAs (pegRNAs) has enabled PE to better mediate relatively large insertions in vitro, but the efficiency of larger insertions (>400 bp) remains low and in vivo application has not been demonstrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
July 2023
Background: Lower plasma levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol (LDL-C) can reduce the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The loss-of-function mutations in (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) have been known to associate with low LDL-C in many human populations. PCSK9 genetic variants in Chinese Uyghurs who are at high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease due to their dietary habits have not been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDCAF1 is a substrate receptor of two distinct E3 ligases (CRL4 and EDVP), plays a critical physiological role in protein degradation, and is considered a drug target for various cancers. Antagonists of DCAF1 could be used toward the development of therapeutics for cancers and viral treatments. We used the WDR domain of DCAF1 to screen a 114-billion-compound DNA encoded library (DEL) and identified candidate compounds using similarity search and machine learning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient-derived tumor xenograft (PDX)/organoid (PDO), driven by cancer stem cells (CSC), are considered the most predictive models for translational oncology. Large PDX collections reflective of patient populations have been created and used extensively to test various investigational therapies, including population-trials as surrogate subjects in vivo. PDOs are recognized as in vitro surrogates for patients amenable for high-throughput screening (HTS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBroad-spectrum resistance has great values for crop breeding. However, its mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we report the cloning of a maize NLR gene, RppK, for resistance against southern corn rust (SCR) and its cognate Avr gene, AvrRppK, from Puccinia polysora (the causal pathogen of SCR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the direct transformation from graphite to diamond has been a long-standing challenge with great scientific and practical importance. Previously proposed transformation mechanisms, based on traditional experimental observations that lacked atomistic resolution, cannot account for the complex nanostructures occurring at graphite-diamond interfaces during the transformation. Here we report the identification of coherent graphite-diamond interfaces, which consist of four basic structural motifs, in partially transformed graphite samples recovered from static compression, using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiological systems mainly utilize chemical energy to fuel autonomous molecular motors, enabling the system to be driven out of equilibrium. Taking inspiration from rotary motors such as the bacterial flagellar motor and adenosine triphosphate synthase, and building on the success of light-powered unidirectional rotary molecular motors, scientists have pursued the design of synthetic molecular motors solely driven by chemical energy. However, designing artificial rotary molecular motors operating autonomously using a chemical fuel and simultaneously featuring the intrinsic structural design elements to allow full 360° unidirectional rotary motion like adenosine triphosphate synthase remains challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute brain injury (ABI) occurs frequently in patients receiving venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). We examined the association between peri-cannulation arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO 2 ) and ABI with granular blood gas data. We retrospectively analyzed adult patients who underwent VA-ECMO at a tertiary care center with standardized neuromonitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF