β-caryophyllene sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma cells to chemotherapeutics and inhibits cell malignancy through targeting MAPK signaling pathway.

Background: β-caryophyllene (BCP) is a naturally occurring bicyclic sesquiterpene extracted from various plants, and widely used as a medicinal agent for various diseases. During hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development, cancer cells generally exhibit increased cell proliferation due to mutations or aberrant expression of key regulatory genes. The current study determines the cytotoxic effects of BCP alone or in combination with doxorubicin (DOX) and cisplatin (DDP) on HCC cells, and elucidates the underlying mechanism of BCP to exert its anticancer activities.

Genome-wide association study reveals the advantaged genes regulating rice grain shape traits in northern China.

Background: Rice, a staple food for over half of the global population, exhibits significant diversity in grain shape characteristics, which impact not only appearance and milling quality but also grain weight and yield. Identifying genes and loci underlying these traits is crucial for improving rice breeding programs. Previous studies have identified multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and genes regulating grain length, width, and length-width ratio; however, further investigation is necessary to elucidate their regulatory pathways and their practical application in crop improvement.

CRISPR-Cas12a2-based rapid and sensitive detection system for target nucleic acid.

Infectious diseases are extremely important public health issues, where the design of effective, rapid, and convenient detection platforms is critical. In this study, we coupled SuCas12a2, a novel Cas12 family RNA-targeting nuclease, with conventional PCR and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), respectively, to develop novel detection approaches, named PCR-SuCas12a2 and RPA-SuCas12a2. SuCas12a2 possesses collateral cleavage activity and cuts the additional single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) added to the reaction system once the ternary complex RNA-SuCas12a2-CRISPR RNA (crRNA) is formed.

A digestive system microphysiological platform for assessment of internal-exposure risks and metabolic disease mechanisms induced by multi-size nano-plastics.

Nano-plastics (NPs) are emerging hazardous environmental contaminants that pose health risks with size-dependent toxic effects and are potential risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and lipid metabolism disorders including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, their underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. To shed more light on the causes of these risks, we developed a digestive system microphysiological platform (DS-MPP) for simulating dynamic internal-exposure of multi-size NPs in the gastrointestinal tract and liver.