The role of retinoid-related orphan receptor-α in cigarette smoke-induced autophagic response.

Background: Retinoid-related orphan receptor-α (RORα) and autophagy dysregulation are involved in the pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but little is known regarding their association. We investigated the role of RORα in COPD-related autophagy.

Methods: The lung tissues and cells from a mouse model were analyzed for autophagy markers by using western blot analysis and transmission electron microscopy.

The arachidonic acid metabolite 11,12-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid alleviates pulmonary fibrosis.

Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) are metabolites of arachidonic acid that are rapidly metabolized into diols by soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH). sEH inhibition has been shown to increase the biological activity of EETs, which are known to have anti-inflammatory properties. However, the role of EETs in pulmonary fibrosis remains unexplored.

Highly Sensitive Ratiometric Fluorescent Detection of Indium(III) Using Fluorescent Probe Based on Phosphoserine as a Receptor.

Indium is one of the most widely used scarce metals for manufacturing various electronic devices including notebooks, mobile phones, and PC monitors. Recent studies revealed that indium and its compound could cause several toxicities to human beings and animals. However, there is no report about ratiometric fluorescent detection of In(III) in aqueous solutions.

Tuning of the selectivity of fluorescent peptidyl bioprobe using aggregation induced emission for heavy metal ions by buffering agents in 100% aqueous solutions.

Smart fluorescent probes of which the detection of specific target molecules can be controlled are attracting remarkable interest. A fluorescent peptidyl bioprobe (1) was rationally synthesized by conjugating tetraphenylethylene, an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorophore with a peptide receptor (AspHis) that acted as hard and intermediate bases. The selective detection of 1 for specific metal ion in 100% aqueous solutions was controlled by the buffering agents with the chelate effect without the change of pH.

Highly sensitive and selective detection of Al(III) ions in aqueous buffered solution with fluorescent peptide-based sensor.

A fluorescent sensor based on a tripeptide (SerGluGlu) with a dansyl fluorophore detected selectively Al(III) among 16 metal ions in aqueous buffered solutions without any organic cosolvent. The peptide-based sensor showed a highly sensitive turn on response to aluminium ion with high binding affinity (1.84×10(4)M(-1)) in aqueous buffered solutions.