ZW10: an emerging orchestrator of organelle dynamics during the cell division cycle.

Zeste white 10 (ZW10) was first identified as a centromere/kinetochore protein encoded by the ZW10 gene in Drosophila. ZW10 guides the spindle assembly checkpoint signaling during mitotic chromosome segregation in metazoans. Recent studies have shown that ZW10 is also involved in membranous organelle interactions during interphase and plays a vital role in membrane transport between the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus.

PLK1 phosphorylation of ZW10 guides accurate chromosome segregation in mitosis.

Stable transmission of genetic information during cell division requires faithful chromosome segregation. Mounting evidence has demonstrated that polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) dynamics at kinetochores control correct kinetochore-microtubule attachments and subsequent silencing of the spindle assembly checkpoint. However, the mechanisms underlying PLK1-mediated silencing of the spindle checkpoint remain elusive.

Land use, hydrology, and climate influence water quality of China's largest river.

Influences of multiple environmental factors on water quality patterns is less studied in large rivers. Landscape analysis, multiple statistical methods, and the water quality index (WQI) were used to detect water quality patterns and influencing factors in China's largest river, the Yangtze River. Compared with the dry season, the wet season had significantly higher total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and turbidity (TUR).

Patterns of fish communities and water quality in impounded lakes of China's south-to-north water diversion project.

Understanding the ecological impacts of large-scale hydraulic projects is critical for maintaining ecosystem health while meeting human water needs. It is, however, currently hindered by a lack of direct evidence on ecological impacts associated with this type of project particularly on water quality and fish communities. Here, we characterized patterns and variations of fish communities and water quality in five impounded lakes of the Chinese South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP), with the aim of better understanding potential ecological impacts of inter-basin water transfers.

Challenges to saving China's freshwater biodiversity: Fishery exploitation and landscape pressures.

China has over 1320 freshwater fish species, 877 of which are endemic. In recent decades, over-exploitation and landscape pressures have threatened them and led to a severe aquatic biodiversity crisis. In response, large-scale fishing bans have been promulgated to protect freshwater biodiversity in major Chinese rivers since the early 1980s.

All‑trans retinoic acid reduces endothelin‑1 expression and increases endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation in rabbits with atherosclerosis.

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is a natural derivative of vitamin A that ameliorates atherosclerosis (AS) by regulating inflammatory factors. However, studies concerning the role of retinoic acid in artery endothelial function are rare. Therefore, the present study investigated its role in regulating the production of endothelin‑1 (ET‑1) and nitric oxide (NO) in rabbits with AS.

Ultrasound-Stimulated Drug Delivery Using Therapeutic Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles.

The abnormal tumor vasculature and the resulting abnormal microenvironment are major barriers to optimal chemotherapeutic drug delivery. It is well known that ultrasound (US) can increase the permeability of the tumor vessel walls and enhance the accumulation of anticancer agents. Reconstituted high-density lipoproteins (rHDL) nanoparticles (NPs) allow selective delivery of anticancer agents to tumor cells via their overexpressed scavenger receptor type B1 (SR-B1) receptor.

Melatonin ameliorates myocardial apoptosis by suppressing endoplasmic reticulum stress in rats with long‑term diabetic cardiomyopathy.

The effects of melatonin (MLT), which exerts cardioprotective effects against myocardial apoptosis, in long‑term diabetic cardiomyopathy are not currently well defined. The present study aimed to investigate how MLT protects the heart through modulating myocardial apoptosis in rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). In total, 36 rats were randomly divided into three groups, including control (n=12), DM (n=12) and DM + MLT (n=12) groups.

Spatial Angular Compounding Technique for H-Scan Ultrasound Imaging.

H-Scan is a new ultrasound imaging technique that relies on matching a model of pulse-echo formation to the mathematics of a class of Gaussian-weighted Hermite polynomials. This technique may be beneficial in the measurement of relative scatterer sizes and in cancer therapy, particularly for early response to drug treatment. Because current H-scan techniques use focused ultrasound data acquisitions, spatial resolution degrades away from the focal region and inherently affects relative scatterer size estimation.

Toward optimization of in vivo super-resolution ultrasound imaging using size-selected microbubble contrast agents.

Purpose: Microvascular processes play key roles in many diseases including diabetes. Improved understanding of the microvascular changes involved in disease development could offer crucial insight into the relationship of these changes to disease pathogenesis. Super-resolution ultrasound (SR-US) imaging has showed the potential to visualize microvascular detail down to the capillary level (i.

Nuclear receptor retinoid-related orphan receptor alpha promotes apoptosis but is reduced in human gastric cancer.

Retinoid-related orphan receptor α (RORα) is a nuclear receptor, which regulates inflammation and immune responses, lipid metabolism and circadian rhythm. Although RORα suppresses breast tumor invasion, it is unknown whether RORα is dysregulated in gastric cancer leading to cellular survival. Therefore, we hypothesize that RORα is dysfunctional in gastric carcinoma and this causes decreased apoptosis in gastric cancer cells.