Surgical treatment of spinal tuberculosis: an updated review.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a worldwide disease which seriously affects the global public health. Spinal TB is the most common extra-pulmonary TB and may cause vertebral bone destruction, collapse, kyphosis and even paralysis. Anti-TB chemotherapy is considered the cornerstone treatment of spinal TB and surgery is often required for patients with severe kyphosis, impaired neurological function or spinal instability.

The altered hypothalamic network functional connectivity in chronic insomnia disorder and regulation effect of acupuncture: a randomized controlled neuroimaging study.

Background: The hypothalamus has been recognized as a core structure in the sleep-wake cycle. However, whether the neuroplasticity of the hypothalamus is involved in the acupuncture treatment of insomnia remains elusive.

Methods: We recruited 42 patients with chronic insomnia disorder (CID) and 23 matched healthy controls (HCs), with CID patients randomly assigned to receive real acupuncture (RA) or sham acupuncture (SA) for four weeks.

CXCL6-CXCR2 axis-mediated PD-L2 mast cell accumulation shapes the immunosuppressive microenvironment in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone malignancy and has a high propensity for local invasion and metastasis. The tumour microenvironment of OS is infiltrated by a large number of immune cells, which play a crucial role in its progression and prognosis. Mast cells are important innate immune cells in the tumour stroma and exhibit different phenotypes in diverse tumour microenvironments.

The mechanism of anthracene degradation by tryptophan -2,3-dioxygenase (T23D) in Comamonas testosteroni.

It is well known that anthracene is a persistent organic pollutant. Among the four natural polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degrading strains, Comamonas testosterone (CT1) was selected as the strain with the highest degradation efficiency. In the present study, prokaryotic transcriptome analysis of CT1 revealed an increase in a gene that encodes tryptophane-2,3-dioxygenase (T23D) in the anthracene and erythromycin groups compared to CK.

Dual-Dynamic Chemistries-Based Fast-Reprocessing and High-Performance Covalent Adaptable Networks.

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) possess multiple functions including reprocessing (or recyclability), self-healing, welding, shape shifting, 3D printing, etc., due to the network rearrangement from dynamic bonds, and favorable performance from their cross-linked feature, and they are supposed to be as sustainable alternatives to thermosets. However, the thermal and mechanical properties, and stability of CANs are often sacrificed for rapid network rearrangement.

Improving production of Streptomyces griseus trypsin for enzymatic processing of insulin precursor.

Background: Trypsin has many applications in food and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Although commercial trypsin is usually extracted from porcine pancreas, this source carries the risks of infectivity and immunogenicity. Microbial Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) is a prime alternative because it possesses efficient hydrolysis activity without such risks.

Rational engineering of multiple module pathways for the production of L-phenylalanine in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Microbial production of L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) from renewable sources has attracted much attention recently. In the present study, Corynebacterium glutamicum 13032 was rationally engineered to produce L-Phe from inexpensive glucose. First, all the L-Phe biosynthesis pathway genes were investigated and the results demonstrated that in addition to AroF and PheA, the native PpsA, TktA, AroE and AroA, and the heterologous AroL and TyrB were also the key enzymes for L-Phe biosynthesis.

Small RNA regulators in bacteria: powerful tools for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Small RNAs, a large class of ancient posttranscriptional regulators, have recently attracted considerable attention. A plethora of small RNAs has been identified and characterized, many of which belong to the major small noncoding RNA (sRNA) or riboswitch families. It has become increasingly clear that most small RNAs play critical regulatory roles in many processes and are, therefore, considered to be powerful tools for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Construction and application of novel feedback-resistant 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthases by engineering the N-terminal domain for L-phenylalanine synthesis.

3-Deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (DAHP synthase) encoded by aroF is the first enzyme of the shikimate pathway. In the present study, an AroF variant with a deficiency in residue Ile11 (named AroF*) was shown to be insensitive to l-tyrosine. According to three-dimensional structure analysis, nine AroF variants were constructed with truncation of different N-terminal fragments, and overexpression of the variants AroF(Δ(1-9)) , AroF(Δ(1-10)) , AroF(Δ(1-12)) and, in particular, AroF(Δ(1-11)) significantly increased the accumulation of l-phenylalanine (l-Phe).

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for production of 2-phenylethanol from renewable glucose.

2-Phenylethanol (2-PE) is an important aromatic alcohol with a rose-like odor and has wide applications. The present work aims to construct a synthetic pathway for 2-PE synthesis from glucose in Escherichia coli. First, the genes adh1 (encoding alcohol dehydrogenase) and kdc (encoding phenylpyruvate decarboxylase) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae S288c and Pichia pastoris GS115 were investigated in E.

Effect of castor oil enrichment layer produced by reaction on the properties of PLA/HDI-g-starch blends.

Blends of entirely bio-sourced polymers, namely polylactide (PLA) and starch, have been melt-compounded by lab-scale co-extruder with castor oil (CO) as a plasticizer. The enrichment of castor oil on starch had great effect on the properties of the blends. If the castor oil was mainly dispersed in PLA matrix, the properties of the blends were poor, but when the hexamethylenediisocyanate (HDI) was grafted on starch granules the ready reactions between the hydroxyl on CO and the isocyante on the HDI-grafted starch (HGSTs) brought CO molecules enriched on starch particles.

Enhanced production of L-phenylalanine in Corynebacterium glutamicum due to the introduction of Escherichia coli wild-type gene aroH.

Metabolic engineering is a powerful tool which has been widely used for producing valuable products. For improving L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) accumulation in Corynebacterium glutamicum, we have investigated the target genes involved in the biosynthetic pathways. The genes involved in the biosynthesis of L-Phe were found to be strictly regulated genes by feedback inhibition.

Preparation and characterization of poly(lactic acid)/starch composites toughened with epoxidized soybean oil.

Blends of entirely bio-sourced polymers, namely polylactide (PLA) and starch, have been melt-compounded by lab-scale co-extruder with epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) as a reactive compatibilizer. The starch granules were grafted with the maleic anhydride (MA) to enhance its reactivity with ESO. The ready reactions between the epoxy groups on ESO, the MA groups on MA-grafted starch (MGST) and the end carboxylic acid groups of PLA brought blending components together and formed a compatible compound.

Collagen II/hyaluronan/chondroitin-6-sulfate tri-copolymer scaffold for nucleus pulposus tissue engineering.

This study aims to investigate the bioactivity of collagen II/hyaluronan/chondroitin-6-sulfate tri-copolymer as bionic scaffold for nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue engineering. Collagen II (C II) (pH 1-2) was mixed with hyaluronan (HyA) and lyophilized to prepare C II/HyA matrices. Chondroitin 6-sulfate (6-CS) was covalently attached to the C II/HyA matrices using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS).

Construction of collagen II/hyaluronate/chondroitin-6-sulfate tri-copolymer scaffold for nucleus pulposus tissue engineering and preliminary analysis of its physico-chemical properties and biocompatibility.

To construct a novel scaffold for nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue engineering, The porous type II collagen (CII)/hyaluronate (HyA)-chondroitin-6-sulfate (6-CS) scaffold was prepared using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) cross-linking system. The physico-chemical properties and biocompatibility of CII/HyA-CS scaffolds were evaluated. The results suggested CII/HyA-CS scaffolds have a highly porous structure (porosity: 94.